Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 July 21

= July 21 =

Is there anyway I can block myself from WP
I have an account but am not currently logged in because i'm ashamed to admit I have an adiction - lol. But seriously, I have a lot of work to do this coming week and would really like to stay off WP, therefore I was wondering whether it's possible for me to block my account for a set time? Of course I could always edit from IP during this time, but the article i'm currently engaged in is protected, hence why I think it would be good if i could block myself. 79.75.251.36 (talk) 00:22, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I dont think there is a way to do this, since you are not an admin and they are the only one's able to block any page. The best way would just be to ask an admin to do it for you. I am not an admin, but I know a couple and could list some really helpful ones if you need any. Let me know if you do on my talk page.  Meis funny  Gab 00:28, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * See WikiProject User scripts/Scripts/WikiBreak Enforcer. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:31, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Just curious how an admin that was willing to block you would be able to do so if you won't identify your account... --barneca (talk) 02:44, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I believe that would be with the checkuser privilege. See WP:EIW. --Teratornis (talk) 16:05, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * That would seem to be a pretty clear violation of the CheckUser policy. Algebraist 16:11, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, I should have mentioned that the checkuser privilege would only make it possible to identify the user from the IP, not that someone with the privilege would actually use it merely to enforce a Wikibreak. Which would follow from the links under WP:EIW. --Teratornis (talk) 21:17, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * You could take a Wikibreak and use the Wikibreak enforcer scripts available at WP:JS. – ukexpat (talk) 02:51, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * And while you're not looking at Wikipedia, you could read Wikipediholic. --Teratornis (talk) 21:17, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Wikified
I have wikified my page and I would like removed the sentence saying I need to Wikify my pageWmfgrant (talk) 00:49, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Your references might need to be formatted a little better first. Grk1011 (talk) 00:51, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * There are tons of external links in the body, too. − Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 02:18, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * For the record it's not "your page," and for anybody else who wonders what we're even talking about, it the William F. Grant article. I did some work to the reference and external links sections.   D a R kA g E 7 [Talk] 02:48, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Indeed so, see WP:OWN. – ukexpat (talk) 02:52, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * See WP:FOOT, WP:CITE, and WP:CITET for instructions about how to format references. --Teratornis (talk) 16:06, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Weird login problem
Guys, I'm having some kind of weird login problem...I haven't been able to log into en.wikipedia.org or de.wikipedia.org, from either of two computers, on my usual IP (66.110.254.215) since about 7 hours ago. No one else seems to be having a problem, and I'm not having a problem when I come in through dial-up (but...ewww). Anyone have advice? - Dan Dank55 (talk)(mistakes) 02:23, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * What error screen shows up? Describe the problem :) Calvin 1998 (t-c) 02:42, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, as of one minute ago, none :) I seem to be in now.  What I got was Firefox's "connection timed out" screen. - Dan Dank55 (talk)(mistakes) 03:41, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * That would be a problem with your Internet connection. Nothing serious… Calvin 1998 (t-c) 04:02, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Help with a table
I've been looking through the edit history of the Summer Bishil article. I'd like to fix the table that a user has put on that page and then put all the external links, cats, etc. back like they're supposed to be but I can't quite figure out what's wrong with the table. Could someone who's better at dealing with tables have a look at the article? Thanks, Dismas |(talk) 04:07, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * This has been fixed. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:16, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

help
this is off subject but I was on irc wikia they told me to talk about random things to go to wikia social irc would you please give me the link to that? I don't know where else to ask this and this isn't about wikipedia but its about wiki Bonne Nuit Bijou (talk) 04:14, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I have not heard of exactly what you seek, but it looks like a Google search gives some promising leads:
 * Good luck. --Teratornis (talk) 16:08, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Good luck. --Teratornis (talk) 16:08, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

mobile access
is there a mobile version of wikipedia. it takes a long time to load the normal page on my Blackberry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.95.137.193 (talk) 04:27, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, there is: try http://en.mobile.wikipedia.org/. The relevant on-wiki help page is at EIW. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 04:53, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Math fonts in wikipedia
How can I make sure that my Internet explorer browser has all the fonts nescessary to display all the math symbols in a wikipedia article? 67.68.16.239 (talk) 06:29, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * An excellent question. The MediaWiki software (which runs Wikipedia) uses a variant of a markup language called TeX for mathematical equations to resolve the very problem you bring up.   So, even though many fonts won't directly support a formula such as
 * $$\frac{p_{1}}{p_{2}} \ = \ \int_{B_{1}}\!\!\!f\ \Bigg / \int_{B_{2}}\!\!\!f \ \ \nsim\ \ \frac{B_{1}}{B_{2}}$$
 * ...it will still appropriately display in nearly all browsers. More information regarding your question can be found at WP:MATH and (less so) at Help:Special characters.  -- ShinmaWa(talk) 15:50, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

oversight?
Hello. Please see Wikipedia talk:Reference desk

It looks like a personal attack was removed using 'oversight', but it still remains in the edit history. Could an admin please complete this process.

Also out of curiousity - what is going on here - the attacker puports to be User:Loomis51, but that user is not blocked, maybe impersonation of something? Thanks87.102.86.73 (talk) 08:55, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Update - it seems it was oversight and the problem fixed.87.102.86.73 (talk) 09:00, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Can you reassess your own articles..?
I am only asking because my own articles seem to be getting so little feedback since their last assessment and it is becoming frustrating to watch as they still mill about in Start-Class territory. Are you allowed to reassess your own articles or is that against the rules (I assume it is the latter to be honest). MasterOfHisOwnDomain (talk) 09:00, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * As you don't own any articles here, you are more than encouraged to participate in any article's assessment. However, consensus is seldom found in groups of one.  -- ShinmaWa(talk) 15:31, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I just wanted to note that this may not necessarily be universally true. Take WikiProject Albums/Assessment, for instance. It says specifically about choosing articles to review, "You cannot choose an article if you have made significant contributions to it." (I mention that one first, because that's the project where I do assessments. :)) Assuming you're talking about Prehistoric medicine (based on your contribs), this is a part of multiple projects. I see you've already requested an assessment at History of Science and Archaeology. Your requests don't seem to have found any takers. :/ At both of those projects, their instructions say "Alternately, you can ask any member of the project to rate the article again.". They both have lists of members on their main project pages. You might want to find an active member there to approach or even place your request at the projects' talk pages.


 * I don't see that it was listed at WP Medicine. They seem to be pretty quick as a project to respond to requests there.


 * There's nothing at the History project about how to request assessment. I'd probably ask here.


 * Alas, some projects are more active than others. My own project is not so good at assessment, although recently I've noticed some movement in that direction. --Moonriddengirl (talk) 19:35, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks so much for responding to this, especially Moonriddengirl for the links that I will follow up. I've felt a bit, isolated, in past few weeks here on Wikipedia, so it's nice to know there are still people out there! MasterOfHisOwnDomain (talk) 10:27, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

adding a new page to wikipedia
i just wanted to know how can we add a new page to the wikipedia. Does it require any qualifications or not? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.212.126.39 (talk) 09:05, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * No, but ...
 * You will need to first register an account, which has many benefits, including the ability to create articles. Once you have registered, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.


 * Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.


 * If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Your first article and How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. Confusing Manifestation (Say hi!) 09:17, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * If you don't wish to register but still want to write the article, write a complete article (or a very good stub) and submit it over at Articles for Creation, where another editor can create the article on your behalf. Note that the editors will only create articles that won't be speedily deleted, so make sure that you follow the advice CM mentioned above.  -- ShinmaWa(talk) 15:33, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

puzzle question
Six women have gathered at a friend’s house for afternoon tea. While they are chatting, the doorbell rings. There is a census officer at the door who wants to note down their ages. The women are scandalized at the thought of revealing their true ages. Then the census officer offers a compromise. He says that his requirement will be fulfilled if he can get the average age of the women.

Can you think of a way by which the census officer can know the average age of the women without any of them knowing anyone else’s age? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.168.6.71 (talk) 11:49, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. Algebraist 11:53, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * (ec)Sorry, but firstly this page is for asking questions about Wikipedia. Secondly, Wikipedia doesn't do your homework (or tests) for you - since this puzzle is taken from this web page, I guess you'll just have to wait until 25th July 2008 to find the answer...! GBT/C 11:54, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * And while we will not do your homework for you, it does appear that the answer is readily available by someone who posted a big hint in the comments section of that webpage. :) Tiggerjay (talk) 15:56, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Adding an Acronym to a Page
I am working on a foundation page, and they are most commonly called by their acronym, so I was wondering what I should do so that if someone were to search for it then the pgae would pop-up. I guess a redirect? but how do you do that?

Dgschmitt (talk) 14:35, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * What's the acronym? It may already exist as a disambiguation page. If not, see WP:Redirect. If so, just add your article to the disambiguation page. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 14:39, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks WP:Redirect worked!!! Dgschmitt (talk) 15:06, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Creating an article
How do you go about creating an article?Wolfranger (talk) 16:12, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.


 * Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.


 * If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Your first article and How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. Algebraist 16:14, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Zodiac, again
Quad Cities has been vandalized in a way I can't fix. DOR (HK) (talk) 16:38, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Looks like this is resolved. Do a purge if you still see it.  --——  Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  16:53, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * This time it was Infobox Weather/line. Algebraist 16:54, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Zodiac is in Oxford, and I can't fix it.. Tigger10 (talk) 17:16, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * It's gone again :D weburiedoursecretsinthegarden  17:18, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

If you see this, do a Zodiac template search to find the source. If there are no results, it was probably fixed; purging should clear it if it is still seen. --—— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  17:33, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately this doesn't work. The search index takes days to update and the vandalized templates have been fixed long before that. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:36, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Copyright problem
I am using biographical information that I wrote for my wikipedia entry. This information has been reproduced on other websites for publicity, as well as on my official website. The website is saying this is copyright infringement. Please help! Haroldholzer (talk) 18:12, 21 July 2008 (UTC).


 * See WP:GFDL. The material you publish on Wikipedia is copyright-free, so can be used/copied/modified without limitation. You have no rights over the text you publish here; see WP:DISCLAIMER. Hope this helps Very badly phrased sentence struck. Best, PeterSymonds (talk)  18:15, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Put it in your own words (ironic isn't it) and then add the source of the information. See Citing Sources. Also be aware of Autobiographies. Grk1011 (talk) 18:18, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I think the other users misunderstood. First, if you've published this information before on other websites, Wikipedia will mark it as a copyright violation because... well, it is. We don't know that this site belongs to you, so we have to treat it as if someone else uploaded the information here. If you really want to have it on Wikipedia, you should change the original website to release the data under the WP:GFDL. Note that this will mean that anyone can re-use your text for their own purposes, even commercial ones.
 * Second, Wikipedia has strict rules against autobiographies. It's not a good idea to write an article about yourself here. If you feel you are notable enough to have an article here, submit your name at requests for articles and someone independent can write one. &mdash;  The Hand That Feeds You :Bite 19:00, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Perhaps it would be helpful if Haroldholzer would clarify if the disputed text was on Wikipedia first or on the other sites first. The sentence "the website is saying this is copyright infringement" is vague as it is unclear which website (Wikipedia, the offical website, etc) is being referred to.  -- ShinmaWa(talk) 19:18, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm guessing it relates to Harold Holzer, which was deleted today under speedy deletion criterion G12 - blatant copyright infringement. If you can demonstrate that you wrote the text, and that you willingly release it under the GFDL, you should then contact the deleting administrator and ask them nicely to restore the page. Of course, the fact that you wrote an article on yourself suggests that you should also take a look at the conflict of interest guidelines. A look at the supposed "original" text (linked from a CorenSearchBot warning on the user's talk page) suggests it would need some editing to be written neutrally, as well. Confusing Manifestation (Say hi!) 22:49, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

How do I include the edit box?
The edit box that includes the below is not showing up on my domain's wiki. How do I include this to make it easier for my users to add/edit pages???

I also want to have ALL of those buttons on the top.


 * The edit box is from MediaWiki:Edittools. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:50, 21 July 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks! Which css file do I edit? Is it the file main.css under root/skins/monobook?  Rockower (talk) 21:44, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * No CSS editing is necessary, just go to MediaWiki:Edittools on your local wiki, and put the contents of ours on that page. That should fix everything up. Calvin 1998 (t-c) 21:47, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * mw:Extension:Multi-Category Search mentions two requirements. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:12, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Subsection edit tag positioning problem in Firefox
There seems to be a problem viewing General aviation in the United Kingdom in a Firefox browser. The Activities section has multiple images inserted at the top, all right aligned. This section also has multiple sub-sections. When viewed using Firefox, the edit hyperlinks for the sub-sections are incorrectly formatted, appearing all together in the last sub-section. Is there a fix for this? Thanks. --FactotEm (talk) 20:40, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * See WP:BUNCH. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:46, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Magic. Thanks. --FactotEm (talk) 21:02, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

Merging Templates
Hello. I want to propose merging Template:Treatybox and Template:Infobox Treaty. Do I follow the same process as if they were articles as shown in Help:Merging and moving pages? Or do I go to Templates for deletion? Sorry if this is obvious, but it is not clear to me. Thanks. --Allstar86 (talk) 23:13, 21 July 2008 (UTC)
 * WP:TFD is for deleting templates, following Help:Merging and moving pages would be better. Unless, of course, no merging is required, in that case, bring up the secondary template at WP:TFD with the reason being "Redundant with ". Calvin 1998 (t-c) 00:01, 22 July 2008 (UTC)