Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 September 27

= September 27 =

editing/adding to new bio material
Hi,

I was told I needed to add my name to your site for my artistic talents.

I was able to add my name and it is in place....

NOW, how do I go about adding my BIO/CREDITS to that site, so that when someone clicks onto my name....(if they ever do) they can read the material and maybe see some pictures are other entries to the site, if possible.

Thanks so much for your service....

DAD —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jimthedadkeith (talk • contribs) 00:35, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Well... Although it isn't against the rules, it is generally looked down upon when people create auto-biographies. This is because Wikipedia holds a neutral point of view and all articles must fit the guidelines of notablilty. Also, information on Wikipedia must come from a reliable third party source. So I suggest that you request a biography if you can provide reliable sources that have discussed or researched you. If not the article will most likely not be created becuase you aren't notable. I find this unfortunate but that is another story. Scottydude review 03:46, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Who told you that you need to add your name to Wikipedia? Did they actually tell you to list yourself on Wikipedia? One possibility: maybe you aren't referring to Wikipedia when you say "your site" or "that site." Sometimes people come to this Help desk asking questions about other sites or organizations about whom they have read articles on Wikipedia. Often this is because search engines such as Google list Wikipedia articles at or near the top of search results, sometimes even ahead of another organization's official site, so if you search for someone else, you might end up on Wikipedia instead. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, with articles about many topics. Wikipedia has no affiliation with the people or things behind most of these articles. What site do you want to put your bio and credits on? --Teratornis (talk) 06:36, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * A Google search for Jim "the Dad" Keith brought me to this video, which suggests some small-town notability, and this page, which I presume is the "artistic talents" originally mentioned; however, I'm not sure it's enough for an article. Also, we do already have a page on Jim Keith, though I doubt they're the same man. Glass  Cobra  09:15, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

FA nomination
Hi there, I'd like to nominate this article I've worked on for FA (Lists) Status: Mark of the Year. I've already had the article peer reviewed, and I've fixed up most of the discreptancies. Is there anything more that would need fixing up, and if not, what are the chances of this article passing FL status? Thanks -- Flewis (talk) 04:05, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * As soon as I looked at it, I saw a typo in the lead section. Which I fixed. You might want to edit with the Mozilla Firefox browser, which has a spell-check option that underlines possibly misspelled words in the edit window (for example: "discreptancies", which I'm seeing with a red underline just now). For information about featured content, see the links under WP:EIW. --Teratornis (talk) 06:44, 27 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree. 903M (talk) 02:21, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Snakes on a Plane
when was the film "snakes on a plane" was released in the U.K.?
 * Refer to the article Snakes on a Plane. If that does not give you the information you need, you can try the Entertainment Reference Desk. Cheers. C h a m a l    Talk   ±  05:16, 27 September 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree. If the information is vital, make sure you check the references for the exact date. 903M (talk) 02:22, 30 September 2008 (UTC)
 * The Internet Movie Database knows all. Go to http://www.imdb.com and type in the name of the movie, pick the movie from the list of similar-sounding names, look for the release date, and click "more" and you will find worldwide release dates.  If it's wrong in Wikipedia, please update the article.  davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  00:16, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Wikilinking within a page
I've written a paragraph about the Google Music service in List of Google products, in the Search section. Rather than repeat the paragraph in Google China, I'd like to wikilink to it. I can link to the section using #Search, but it's a long section. Is there a way to wikilink directly to that paragraph? (Maybe through adding some sort of 'anchor' at that point). Matt's talk 06:10, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

should have the desired effect, I believe. --erachima talk 06:11, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * See WP:EIW, Help:Anchors, Anchor, and Help:HTML in wikitext. --Teratornis (talk) 06:20, 27 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Understood and implemented, thanks to both of you. Matt's talk 07:19, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Question
IS THERE ANY OPTION IN HERE TO ASK QUESTION NOT FROM ?


 * Could you please restate the question more clearly? --erachima talk 06:49, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Page move/redirect
I changed an article title using Move. I changed it again as I had used upper case instead of lower case, in error. I've just checked some of the links from other pages and instead of going directly to the article, they go to a redirect page. Would someone mind fixing my cock-up please. The article's original name was: St Lythans. The correct (and the current) name: St Lythans burial chamber. The name to where some re-directed pages are sent: St Lythans Burial Chamber. Many thanks, Daicaregos (talk) 08:55, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Done. When you move a page, it automatically creates a redirect from the old page to the new page. To avoid being caught in an endless loop of redirects, however, you're only allowed to be redirected once. If that redirect page takes you to another redirect page, you come to a crunching halt. That's what happened here. All that needed to be done was to redirect the first page St Lythans not to St Lythans Burial Chamber but to St Lythans burial chamber. Sorted. GbT/c 09:00, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Many thanks :) Daicaregos (talk) 09:15, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Help to print a page
I am using a MAC PowerBook g4. Is it possible to print file:///Users/msjack/Desktop/Books_of_the_Bible.html

Thank you. Msjack (talk) 09:47, 27 September 2008 (UTC)Jack


 * Have you tried the Computing section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 10:31, 27 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Unless you're referring to the Wikipedia article Books of the Bible. If you are, just click on "printable version" in the toolbax at the left of the page and then do a print preview to check if it's what you want. Then print! Zain Ebrahim (talk) 10:34, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Image not updating properly
Can an administrator help me with my problem uploading images? I uploaded a new version of Image:Power5.png. The new version is correctly shown in the latest thumbnail in the File history (a 4-cornered figure), and where it is used at Mandelbrot_set. BUT wherever else this file is used, an old version (a 5-cornered figure) persists!

I uploaded a new version of Image:Power-5.png. The new version is correctly shown in the latest thumbnail in the File history (a 6-cornered figure), and where it is used at Mandelbrot_set. BUT wherever else this file is used, an old version (a 7-cornered figure) persists!

I uploaded a new version of Image:Power-6.png. The new version is correctly shown in the latest thumbnail in the File history (a 7-cornered figure), and where it is used at Mandelbrot_set. BUT wherever else this file is used, an old version (a 9-cornered figure) persists! Cuddlyable3 (talk) 12:41, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * It looks like Image:Power-5.png is only used at Mandlebrot_set and your Sandbox. What other pages are you seeing it on where it appears to be the old version? Image:Power-6.png isn't appearing properly Mandlebrot set, at least not so far as I can see, but likewise is only used on Mandlebrot set and your Sandbox. GbT/c 12:48, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * These images are used only at Mandelbrot set Multibrot_sets and my Sandbox, plus of course on their own image pages. They now appear to be properly updated. Thanks. Cuddlyable3 (talk) 11:24, 29 September 2008 (UTC)

advise as to how to view past TV eipsodes
I dont know how to view past Tv episodes on this site. I located what I want to see but do not know how to view it. please advise. i am not too computer savy.

signed, Purplewaterhorse (talk) 18:41, 27 September 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. Calvin 1998 (t·c) 18:47, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * (e/c)Wikipedia does not host any kind of TV episodes here. Perhaps looking at List of video sharing websites will help. Glass  Cobra  18:52, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

Remove the external link icon
I know there's a way to remove the icon "external.svg" from external links, I just can't remember how to do it. Thanks in advance. — Hucz (talk) 20:07, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * x42bn6 Talk Mess 20:18, 27 September 2008 (UTC)

single set of curly brackets
What does a single set of curly brackets do? For an example of its usage, Template:Userboxtop. So far, no one on #wikipedia-en-faq can help me. ~ 10nitro (talk) 20:19, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * It's a table - so it creates something like this :

In the case of the userbox template, it's a one cell table, I think - there's an awful lot of other stuff in there to define the style of the table and how it appears, but at its heart it's a one cell table. GbT/c 20:33, 27 September 2008 (UTC)


 * Thanks! It didn't look like a table to me. We also got it on the IRC.  I was going to say that, but we had an edit confict.  Now I just had another on with Archeopteryx, he didn't create a new heading ~ 10nitro (talk) 20:43, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * For more information see Help:Table and WP:EIW. --Teratornis (talk) 01:53, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Image address
Today, I uploaded an image of a train going u a mountain. I succeeded, but unfortunately, there was no file name, so I couldn't attach it to my article. the following is the description: 

Here is the web address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Scenic_Railway_Mount_Tamalpais_California_42.jpg

Can somebody tell me the address so I can put it on the article? Contact me on my talk page.--Archeopteryx (talk) 20:36, 27 September 2008 (UTC)


 * [[Image:Scenic_Railway_Mount_Tamalpais_California_42.jpg]] ~ 10nitro (talk) 20:46, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, you should replace the underscores with spaces when linking internally. Calvin 1998 (t·c) 21:09, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * That's a style choice, it doesn't really matter. I generally do, but I just copy and pasted :) ~ 10nitro (talk) 23:01, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Manual of Style (links) doesn't seem to mention underscores, which seems odd. A possible disadvantage with underscores instead of spaces in a link is that they might confuse new users who aren't familiar with MediaWiki's conversion algorithms in Canonicalization. I don't think there is any functional difference. I understand the ease of copying page names from URLs, which will contain underscores in place of spaces. However, the vast majority of internal links I've seen on Wikipedia use spaces instead of underscores. --Teratornis (talk) 01:51, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

More expanding table questions
&#10003; Figured out answer to #2, Tt answered #3.

OK, wrt my table question above (24Sep08 when archived) - I've tried this two different ways and both of them make my table rows bigger and thus seriously reduce their presentability. So 2 specific q's and 1 general: So, objective 1 - expandable sub-table that doesn't make the row heights bigger; objective 2 - I do have some understanding of styles, but is there a central resource to find in which files this stuff is specified? Thanks for any in-depth help, lord knows my feet aren't touching bottom right now! :) Franamax (talk) 23:39, 27 September 2008 (UTC)
 * 1) Looking at my hacking, in the table with "Expand Listing", I tried using the hidden begin template to encapsulate the expandable table. This works well except that hidden begin uses the NavFrame style, which has padding:4px; border:1px; (mw:common.css), and this makes the table row get big. I can defeat this in my own monobook.css - I experimented and purged, I'm 98% sure that style override makes the table row go to normal height. The problem here is that the hidden begin template has an undocumented parameter, but when I try border=0px in the template call, nothing happens. What the xxx am I missing?
 * Now, looking just below that table, I tried Calvin's pointers for a "collapsible collapsed" table as a row element - the bit captioned "...Miscellany for deletion". This is even worse, I've tried every style I can think of and I'm still getting an internal box with padding. Should I be applying a style farther out in the DOM?
 * 1) And generally, is there a wiki-index to where the various named styles are located? I've used various methods to download the various .css's, and some styles seem to be in .js's - then I searched at random through my downloads. Is there a comprehensive style index I haven't found yet?
 * The lack of replies suggests you are asking some difficult questions. See the links under WP:EIW - if the information about styles is in writing somewhere, we want the Editor's index to link to it. Maybe Catalogue of CSS classes will help, or lead to something that does. Also see the links under WP:EIW; maybe something there will help. Your original question appears to be in the archive now:
 * Help desk/Archives/2008 September 24
 * just in case anyone who is following along wants to look it up. It helps if you explain why you are trying to do something, not just what you are trying to do. See: describe the goal, not the step. If you tell us what you are really trying to accomplish, maybe someone can suggest an alternative approach that will work. Also, user pages seem less important to many Wikipedians than the articles and project pages. If you can argue convincingly that what you are trying to do on your user pages advances the goals of Wikipedia, you may motivate more people to try help. --Teratornis (talk) 18:15, 28 September 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes, I noticed the lack of responses, and was thinking of taking it to VPT instead. I always do my hacking in my own userspace, so it's a bad sign if people here will decline to answer questions on that basis (half of the problems I figure out for people on VPT are user-related).
 * As to the purpose, it's to produce an improvement on wannbekate's tool to allow a more in-depth look at editor contributions, for instance RFA and Arb candidates.
 * In any event, I got tired of waiting and figured out the problem myself. :) Thanks for the link to the CSS style catalogue though! Franamax (talk) 23:17, 28 September 2008 (UTC)
 * With registered users on Wikipedia, the odds are pretty good that someone out there can help with just about any question, but only perhaps a few dozen users are reading the Help desk at a given time. The problem is to find the people who know about what you are trying to do, and then get their attention, or read what they have written. If you are trying to do something complicated, or you are trying to add onto something that is complicated, then someone who doesn't already know what you know about an issue might need to spend as much time as you did getting up to speed on it. In some cases, you might be the only person on Wikipedia who has looked at a particular issue yet - and then you really are on your own. However, lots of people have done lots of things on Wikipedia, so a lot of success on Wikipedia boils down to getting really good at searching, particularly for the more advanced or arcane tasks. It also helps to just read a lot, without necessarily having an urgent goal in mind. Something you stumble across at random might give you ideas about how to solve some other problem you were thinking about. --Teratornis (talk) 18:27, 29 September 2008 (UTC)
 * In retrospect, since it was an override-CSS styles question, I should probably have gone straight to VPT. But like you say, someone might know, so I figured this desk would be the best place to start. I'm not fussed at not getting an answer here (although I'm concerned if my question was disregarded because I used an example in my userspace). I always knew I had VPT as a fallback, and the silence prompted me to get off my butt and figure it out myself anyway. I'll better hone a question for VPT to see if there's an answer for my Q#1, and I still think WP:HELP rocks! As to "read a lot, without...goal in mind" - yahh, 1-3 hours a day for the last year. Then I do some editing. :) Franamax (talk) 05:15, 30 September 2008 (UTC)