Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 June 20

= June 20 =

Movie with Mare Winngham
What was the name of the movie that Mare Winningham starred in about/or a around 1987; as the Mother of a little girl living in the city and extreme poverty and has to give her to the state for adoption??? It was a really sad movie! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.22.182.21 (talk) 00:25, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * This isn't the appropriate place for your question, but the movie is God Bless the Child – ukexpat (talk) 00:33, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

NZ Winegrowers
Hi there,

I represent New Zealand Winegrowers, and there is a map which is inaccurate.

I want to upload a map that is accurate, but I cannot do so as Wikipedia will not let me.

Cheers Desmond Nash

Desmond Nash | Account Assistant  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Coranlill (talk • contribs) 00:40, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * See WP:Upload. By the way, you might consider removing your personal information from your signature and asking for oversight. Not everybody on Wikipedia is as friendly as we would like to assume, and I can almost guarantee you will get spammed. (just a suggestion). --Iamzork (talk) 01:24, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

alphabetization of category articles.
On the category page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Trees_of_Alaska the article "Picea sitchensis" is listed under "s". How do I fix that?

Luce nordica (talk) 01:05, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Articles are placed into categories by listing on the article page a a category link like so: . They almost always appear at the end of the article. If placed just like that, the category will then appear on the category page alphabetized by the article name. If, however, a pipe ("|") is placed in the the category link, anything you type after it will change the default categorization to whatever you type. So, for example,  will be categorized under "zzz" rather than under the article name. So without having looked at the article, it's likely that the category for the page your writing about appears like this:  rather than the default name of the article. It also may be that it contains a template that looks like this:  . That tells the software to pipe that name into all the categories listed below it, so to fix that you'd change the name in the template. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:17, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, the article contained the template . (The article was originally titled "Sitka Spruce" and had cat links in the form  . Nobody changed these after the article was moved last November, and someone using AWB recently "cleaned up" by replacing the pipes with the defaultsort template, without noticing the discrepancy.) I've removed the template, and the alphabetization in the cats is correct now. Deor (talk) 13:17, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Citing pamphlets
I'm working on the Heceta Head Light page, and two of my major sources are some pamphlets that I picked up the light itself (and I also got some photos of the bed and breakfast (former attendants house) but I don't know if I'll use them or not). My question is: how do I cite pamphlets? Because the light is government property, are the pamphlets as well? Thanks, and happy editing, Leonard^Bloom (talk) 01:49, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Try citation. --——  Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  08:01, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Heheh... ohh... Whoops. Thank you and much appreciated. Leonard^Bloom (talk) 17:22, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

User Boxes
I am confused on how to make them, can somebody help me?

--Piazzajordan2 05:07, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * This should help you out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Userboxes#Content_examples --Species8473 (talk) 06:41, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Deleted Content
This is the third time I have posted a link from the JUJUTSU page linking it to the American Federation of Jujitsu (www.amfedjujitsu.com).

Why does it keep getting erased? The AFJ has several articles including articles on Jujitsu in general, Yoshin Ryu Jujitsu and its History, Culture and Advancement.

Please help

Jvbush1017 (talk) 07:16, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I have left a notice on the talk page of the other involved editor (User:Nate1481). On your talk page the link is stated to be not in compliance with wikipedia policy on external links. Species8473 (talk) 07:30, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * (edit conflict):The last time it got erased it was described as spam. I have no understanding of jujutsu/jujitsu and it's difficult for me to gauge whether a link to that site properly adds to the article. The best place to ask the question is on Talk:Jujutsu. Also, I suggest you should ask User:Nate1481 to respond to the question. Hope this helps (oh, and welcome to Wikipedia by the way!) --85.158.139.99 (talk) 07:34, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I removed the link as it is about a single Jujutsu organisation in one country. There are at least a dozen big ones in the US and the same again globaly, linking to a specific organisations website is fine in an article on them or if there are 1 or 2 organisations but if there are potentially hundreds of equally valid links then the only way to be fair is to include none, and only link to articles that pass the notability criteria and put the external link there (see the list of modern styles). While this is not explicit in WP:EL as it is not clear if the link is just advertising, it is in the spirit of it. Hope that explains things. --Nate1481(t/c) 10:19, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * You are much better off including a link to the Open Directory Project like so:
 * --—— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  12:52, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --—— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  12:52, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * --—— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  12:52, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Jacqueline Amuzie
Jacqueline Amuzie had a page until at least June 14th (see Google cache), and then (I can't find an AfD discussion or anything) she didn't. The page is now a protected title. What happened? ImmortalWombat (talk) 08:19, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * The page was deleted by Daniel with the summary of "Courtesy deletion, OTRS # 2008062010000221. Sourcing is mailing to user-generated sites, sensitive issues, courtesy deletion. WP:BLPUNDEL". Ask Daniel for more information on this.  --——  Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  08:29, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Can't view images
Hi all,

My IE can't seem to open the images contained in the articles. All there is just a gray box with the image's title. But when I view Wikipedia from school, the images show up just fine. Any ideas?

Thanx. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.51.164.223 (talk) 13:25, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Which article?  Corvus cornix  talk  18:40, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Huggle
Is rollback required to revert vandalism using Huggle? Anonymous101 (talk) 13:39, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * It is, since recently. Would you like it granted? Best, PeterSymonds (talk)  13:46, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Having it granted would be helpful. Should I file a request at the rollback page or would you be willing to grant rollback? Anonymous101 (talk) 13:51, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I sure would, and it's been done. :) Best, PeterSymonds (talk)  13:55, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks Anonymous101 (talk) 13:56, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Posting
Godawgs07 (talk) 13:57, 20 June 2008 (UTC)How do I post a new article on Wikipedia?


 * See Your first article and Tutorial. Those should cover most of what you need to know. Welcome, and best wishes. PeterSymonds (talk)  13:59, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Vandalism on image page which seems to sort of not exist
There's some vandalism on this image page:, but the page shows up as a redlink, with a "create" tab instead of "edit" tab. What's to be done? AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 14:11, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * The picture is in the Wikimedia Commons. I'll revert the text for you.  However, if you ever encounter something like this, check Help:Reverting and apply it to Commons. --Sky Harbor (talk) 14:13, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Update: it was already reverted. --Sky Harbor (talk) 14:13, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * (edit conflict) I've removed the vandalism. As SkyHarbor says, it was listed on the Commons page. Cheers!  TN ‑ X - Man  14:14, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Blackberry Site
Hi,

Just wondering if there is a mobile site for Wikipedia that is more text oriented which is better for usage on mobile devices such as Blackberry's? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.100.60.18 (talk) 15:31, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * See WAP access. --——  Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  15:43, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * You might also want to look at Opera Mini, as it's quite good at rendering WP articles on the small screen.Gazimoff</b> <sup style="color:blue;">Write <sub style="color:black;">Read 16:04, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * And see WP:EIW. Depending on how capable your Personal digital assistant is, another option might be to install TomeRaider on it, to get a stand-alone copy of Wikipedia for offline reading. --Teratornis (talk) 17:06, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Did you know
Why aren't the afternoon installments of "Did you know?" being archived? The afternoon installments for yesterday and Wednesday aren't on there at all! I would have thought dating the installments would have made this easier to catch. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.105.233.55 (talk) 15:36, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Basically, there's just not enough editors involved in the project to keep up with it right now. Have patience and they'll get archived. Or, even better, sign up for an account and help pitch in! &mdash;  The Hand That Feeds You :Bite 22:35, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

References not displaying
In the article I have just written on Charles Darbishire I cannot get the references to display at the foot of the page or the headline References to appear in the contents despite using the correct protocols as far as I can see. Any help please? Graham Lippiatt (talk) 16:06, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * It looks like you missed a tag. Instead you had another tag. It was your very last reference, but it should be fixed now. Cheers!  TN ‑ X - Man  16:09, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Adding to the "Professional reviews" section of an album
I would like to add a link to the list of "Professional reviews" on the page of an album. How do I do this? Wanderousjed Wanderousjed (talk) 17:05, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure from your question which part of the process you are asking about. You know how to edit a question on the Help desk, so you probably understand how to do basic editing on Wikipedia. (If not, see WP:CHEAT, WP:TUTORIAL, Help:Editing, and Help:Section.) If you are asking about Wikipedia's external link guidelines, see WP:EL. If you are asking about style guidelines for articles about albums, see WP:ALBUM. If you tell us the title of the article you want to edit, and show us the link you want to add, we can give you an exact answer. --Teratornis (talk) 17:33, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

First entry.. need some advice.
I'm writing an entry about my favourite film maker and I'm coming across a few things that confuse me. Firstly, I was writing it in the sandbox and someone moved it to the regular page before I had completed it! So now I'm trying to edit it as fast as possible so the article doesn't get removed.

Now when I go to the live page it gives me the warning that this biography is written like a resume. Does anyone have advice to help make it so it's not? I don't want to add too many personal details and I'm not sure what I can do to make it less 'like a resume'.

Thanks for your help!

ps. The link to the entry is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Mettler —Preceding unsigned comment added by Grimfilm (talk • contribs) 17:54, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The safest way to edit a new article when you are just learning to get through Wikipedia's minefield of complex policies and procedures is to edit it as a subpage of your user page. Jumping straight into creating new articles can be one of the most difficult ways to get started with Wikipedia, since a new article must comply with all sorts of rules you haven't read about yet. Instead of learning one thing at a time, at a comfortable pace, you have to know a gazillion things to create a new article that "sticks." Being new at anything is difficult; the philosophy on Wikipedia is to let the new user "pay later," by making it easy to "run up a tab" by doing all sorts of things before one is really ready. The opposite approach would be to channel new users through some sort of structured training program before letting them do things like create new articles, but Wikipedia tries to pretend it is not a bureaucracy, so instead of forcing people to show they know the rules before letting them do things, we just let people do whatever they want, and then smack down their edits that violate the rules. I'm not saying Wikipedia's approach is "wrong," obviously we have articles that say the site works, but we do leave quite a bit of roadkill along the way. See Why was my article deleted? for some things you can do to prepare for, or possibly avoid, the worst. --Teratornis (talk) 18:25, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * It appears you created the page at Peter Mettler:sandbox. That placement is a live article in the real encyclopedia and not what Wikipedia calls a sandbox, so it was appropriate that somebody moved it to the more natural article title Peter Mettler. Do you want it moved to your user sandbox at User:Grimfilm/Sandbox? PrimeHunter (talk) 18:28, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I added some links to your user page to help you keep track of your user subpages, and for style guidance. (You can customize your user page to your liking; the material I added is merely a suggestion.) Since you are new to Wikipedia, you may not know how to respond to PrimeHunter's question here yet. See Help:Talk page for the message style we follow on the Help desk. --Teratornis (talk) 19:27, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks so much, PrimeHunter and Teratornis. This was really helpful! Grimfilm (talk) 23:13, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

new articles
'I keep trying to figure out how to actually start a new article but I can never find anything useful! How do I create a whole new article?'

From, .:~Popsinger-superstar~:. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Popsingersuperstar (talk • contribs) 18:30, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Type the name of the article that you want to create, exactly as you'd like it spelled, into the search box and hit "Go". There will be a link in the error message that comes up saying something like "Would you like to create this article?" and it will be red in color.  Click that and away you go.  Though you may want to confirm that the subject is notable and you should have reliable sources for your information.  Dismas |(talk) 18:33, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * See Your First Article specifically Your First Article. Woody (talk) 18:34, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Overlapping "section lines"?
This problem is hard to describe with words, so see the "Poundcake" article for clarification. On the "Poundcake" article, the lines under the different sections ("Power drill", "Music video", and "Trivia" are overlapping the infobox on the song. This is the first time this has happened to me, and I'm unsure as to how I should fix the problem. Xnux   the   Echidna  20:24, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't see the problem. I'm using Firefox 2.0 at this computer.  What browser are you using?   Corvus cornix  talk  20:41, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm using Internet Explorer 7.0. I don't think it's a problem with the browser, because "Poundcake" is the only article that's doing that on my computer.
 * Hm. I see what you're saying.  I went and looked at the article with IE7 and I see the same thing.  I don't even see the lines with Firefox.   Corvus cornix  talk  21:05, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The problem went away when I moved the for template above the infobox. —teb728 t c 21:35, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * How weird.  Corvus cornix  talk  22:39, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Adding new articles to WikiProjects
A few days ago an anon posted here inquiring about a translation of the article on Teddy Stauffer on German Wikipedia. Surprised at how well I could read the German, I decided to translate it. The article should probably be added to some WikiProjects like Biography and Jazz. Is that something I should do? Or do project members have a way of finding new articles. —teb728 t c 21:06, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * You should add an interwiki link to the German article by using Teddy Stauffer below the category links, but if the WikiProject people are on their toes, they'd be reviewing the categories that you've added for the article and can do what they will with it from there.  Corvus cornix  talk  21:24, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Prayer assistance
I have a friend who is a Buddhist and has been told he has cancer. I am a Catholic and have no understanding of your faith, however I wish to ask for assistance in sending a prayer for him.21:09, 20 June 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.4.214.217 (talk)
 * Until now, I had never thought of prayer as something that required assistance - I thought it was how people asked divine beings for assistance. This is the Help desk for Wikipedia, where we answer questions about using Wikipedia; you may have mistaken Wikipedia for the subject of one our articles. For questions relating to religion, you can ask on: Reference desk/Humanities. --Teratornis (talk) 22:52, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Hide
I don't know how to explain this but how do I hide something on my userpage. I have a section titled "CD's I Own" and I want to be able to hide it, to make my page shorter. Can somebody teach me how to, or do it for me please, thank you!

--Piazzajordan2 21:25, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * If you want to hide it from the page when you save, but still in the page text, use this: . Edit this section, and look at an example below.  Soxred  93  21:34, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Does this help you? :) —αἰτίας •'discussion'• 22:10, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

Link from an article to a Category WITHOUT the word "Category" appearing
I'd like to link to the Category page "Irish novelists" from the phrase "Irish novelist" (singular) in my article. However, I can find no way to do this.... all I can create is Irish novelists, which results in Irish novelists (plural -- the title of the Category).

What is the syntax for what I'd like to do? Related to this, how does one use the Search window to search for a Category? It seems only ARTICLES are returned from the Search, not categories themselves. Thanks Checker (talk) 21:35, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * 1-Try Irish novelist
 * Thanks! I actually thought I'd tried that but must have left something out since it worked when I copied your code over! If you know whete this syntax can be found in Help, please post the link here. Thanks. Checker (talk) 00:40, 24 June 2008 (UTC)


 * 2-Search for "Category:xxx" (without the quotes).  Corvus cornix  talk  21:37, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks! That works fine. There really ought to be something about these questions in the Help. If there is, I couldn't find it. If you know where your answer can be found in Help, please post the link here. Thanks. Checker (talk) 00:40, 24 June 2008 (UTC)


 * A particularly easy way to search for a category is to click on the Categories line header of the category list of a page with categories. —teb728 t c 21:50, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * See Help:Category. Categories are one of the more confusing features of Wikipedia, so you should read that help page several times. Another way to search the category namespace is with Google custom, like this:
 * Great, but it's not clear to me from your code how one gets to that search page on Google...or is it Wikipedia using "Google Search" code on its site? IOW, where is that search page located -- i.e. the actual URL?! Checker (talk) 00:40, 24 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Great, but it's not clear to me from your code how one gets to that search page on Google...or is it Wikipedia using "Google Search" code on its site? IOW, where is that search page located -- i.e. the actual URL?! Checker (talk) 00:40, 24 June 2008 (UTC)


 * If you like searching Wikipedia (and parts of Wikipedia) with Google, you can put the Help desk searches template on your user page for quick access. --Teratornis (talk) 22:43, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

new articles
How do I get to a place to start writing my article? I read the instructions several times and I still do not under stand.

PPLLLEEAASSEE answer back, Katie or Doglove19 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Doglove19 (talk • contribs) 21:42, 20 June 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.
 * 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.  Soxred  93  21:51, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * A step by step guide: [[Image:Symbol move vote.svg|20px]] Please see Your first article.


 * 1) Ensure that you have an account and you are logged in. If you don't have an account, create one
 * 2) Make sure the subject is notable enough to have their own article.
 * 3) Find references
 * 4) Make sure no article on the subject exists under a different title by typing the subject into the search box to the left (←) and clicking 'Search'
 * 5) Type the page name in the search box to the left (←) and click 'Go'
 * 6) Click 'Create this page'
 * 7) Create the article, including all your references, making sure you adhere to the Manual of Style and our article layout guidelines
 * 8) Be aware that Wikipedia deletes thousands of new articles for failing to adhere to our policies and guidelines. New articles by new users are at extra risk of deletion, due to new users' unfamiliarity with our rules. Consider gaining experience by editing existing articles before attempting to create new ones.Please sign your post by typing four tildes ( ~ ) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: [[Image:Signature_icon.png]]. Do NOT sign in articles. ......<em style="font-family:Bradley Hand ITC;color:#008000"> Dendodge  .. Talk Help 12:19, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church
I want to know if there were any sexual claims by priests in St. Anthony Catholic Church in Chadwicks, New York while it was in service? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.44.183.98 (talk) 21:45, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * This is the help desk for using Wikipedia. Your question would be better suited to the Reference Desk. <font style="color:darkorange;">BradV  21:52, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

school marm
origination of the term school marm referring to a certain tree growth —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.236.136.225 (talk) 22:26, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Try asking on Reference desk/Language. --Teratornis (talk) 22:37, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * A Google search: finds some pages that claim this is a slang term from the logging industry. --Teratornis (talk) 22:46, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * It refers to a tree or piece of tree where the limbs have grown together to form a closed crotch. Tough to cut, but useful for holding an axe while sharpening.  Probably a reference to the perceived virtuousness of a schoolteacher. --——  Gadget850 (Ed)  <sup style="color:darkblue;">talk  -  22:52, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

List of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year
Could someone take a look at List of Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year. I have checked in both Firefox and IE, so I don't think it is just me, but the last table under the header "2007" does not define correctly, like the other tables in this list. I have tried many different things and cannot seem to be able to define the width. Could someone help me out? <font face="Harlow Solid Italic"><font size="2px" color="teal"> « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @  '' 23:20, 20 June 2008 (UTC)


 * The tables are exactly as they should be - the bottom one is smaller because the last column doesn't need to be so big. -mattbuck (Talk) 23:29, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Nvm, I figured it out, what I wanted was all the tables to be the same width no matter what. <font face="Harlow Solid Italic"><font size="2px" color="teal"> « Gonzo fan2007 (talk ♦ contribs) @  '' 23:36, 20 June 2008 (UTC)