Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 December 12

= December 12 =

IE8 behaving strangely
I have experimented with browsing certain articles using other browsers, and looking at the Bear article in IE8, there seems to be a lot of whitespace. However, looking again with Safari, the whitespace is gone. My concern is not that specific article, but overall. We have received this kind of complaint continually. Is there a way to "fix" Wikipedia to be compatible with all browsers? Intelligent  sium  04:03, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Well, first, IE8 doesn't have the best track record for "working". Second, I just tried out your example of Bear in IE8, both in normal and Beta, and found nothing out of the ordinary. About making pages work cross-browser: I hear there are ways to do it, but with IE8 the way it is, not very many people are willing to do it. Calvin 1998 (t·c) 04:22, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Does your monitor has an exceptionally high or low resolution by any chance? The white space is probably calibrated to the size screen most people use. - Mgm|(talk) 09:57, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Search suggestions. Please, please, please how to get rid of them!
Please how do I disable the search suggestions? I am referring to the AJAX thing that tries to predict what you are searching for and displays a drop down list of the predicted search strings. This is very, very annoying. I promise I will donate good money to Wikipedia, which I have very little of, if Wikipedia provides a way to disable this. Even if there is already a way to disable this, like in Google, and I am made aware of it by a response to this message I am typing, I pledge to donate $50 to Wikipedia. That is probably like a third of my Christmas gift budget this year. That is how annoying it is. I am not the only one who wants this. I have been googling, trying to find out how to disable this and all I find is many other people who hate these auto-suggestions as much as I do and with no answer to how to stop them. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.64.251.112 (talk) 04:46, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Registered editors can disable these from their "My Preferences" menu, under the "Search Options" tab. That said, I don't know how an unregistered visitor can disable these. -- saberwyn 04:56, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * They cannot. Unregisterred users don't have any preferences.  If they want preferences, they can register an account.  Membership has its privileges.  -- Jayron  32  05:00, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

I figured out you can just disable Javascript. But I guess I will go ahead and donate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.64.251.112 (talk) 05:05, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * If you don't want to register an account, another option is to instead of using Wikipedia's search box. If you search Wikipedia often, bookmark the search and add it to your browser's bookmarks toolbar. --Teratornis (talk) 05:08, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * While a donation is appreciated, his isn't American Expre$$. You don't have to pay to register.  Heck, you don't even have to pay cash to serve as an administrator.  Oh, but you will pay and pay and pay, in time, and frustration dealing with unhappy people, but that's true of a lot of public service jobs.  davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  05:10, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

FYI, bug 13848. --rainman (talk) 18:08, 13 December 2009 (UTC)

Reference issue
Hi, I have created and edited a page "Economic integration effects", but have no idea how to fix a reference problem. please help —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rdalimov (talk • contribs) 09:03, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Adding a references section and reflist list will correct this. I went ahead and set it up onto the page. Honestly, the citing is usually the more difficult portion to get down and you did quite well with that:) Kindly Calmer   Waters  09:09, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

where to Recommendations to Template:itn
where to Recommendations to Template:itn ?-58.152.253.54 (talk) 10:40, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Go to In the news/Candidates. ≈ Chamal talk ¤ 10:43, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

How do I edit the scientific classification section on an article?
I noticed an error in the scientific classification of Acer platanoides but I'm unable to find a method of editing this section. Is it possible to do so? Poshmoog (talk) 11:13, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Click the "edit this page" tab at top of Acer platanoides. The following code is currently there:


 * You can change the things to the right of '=' but normally not to the left. See Template:Taxobox. What do you want to change? There are some rules, for example about following systems in Wikipedia and matching the name of Wikipedia articles. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:12, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the response. I just wanted to change the family name. It's Aceraceae not Sapindaceae. Once again, thanks for your help, it's very much appreciated! Poshmoog (talk) 00:09, 14 December 2009 (UTC)


 * It doesn't appear to be that simple. It's not my subject but have you read Sapindaceae and Aceraceae? It's good if Wikipedia has consistency between articles. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:24, 14 December 2009 (UTC)

Refrain from donating
Sir, I am a 69 year old pensioner, if I refrain from donating will this limit my usage of Wikipedia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.128.59.135 (talk) 14:17, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Donating is voluntary and has no effect on your usage of Wikipedia. Most users don't donate. The site has no advertisements (except asking for donations!) and is run by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation which needs donations for some things like servers and a small staff. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:33, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

connecting copywright info to image
I have uploaded a photo in the article, "Ferdinand A. Brader" I own both the original drawing and the photo which I took. How do I get it OK'd Also, I do I get it to be larger in the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Katmaan (talk • contribs) 17:08, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Just so you can search more easily, it's spelled "copyright". Just because you bought the drawing does not mean you bought the right to copy it. It would depend on the chain of transactions from the artist to you. --Jc3s5h (talk) 17:21, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * You need to upload the image as a file. Try clicking the Upload file link in the toolbox on the left side of your screen.  Once the file is uploaded, then go back to the article and add whateverfilenameyougaveit.ext .  Assuming the original image is either a photo of Mr. Brader or a photo of one of his works, it is almost certainly in the public domain due to age.  When you upload it, you should give it a license tag indicating as much, probably pd-old if the creator died more than 100 years ago but possibly pd-us if it was published before 1923 or pd-art if it is a photo that is just of 2-dimensional public domain art, not including any frames or other items.


 * By the way, I reverted your edits, they were causing layout problems on Ferdinand A. Brader. davidwr/ (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  17:34, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * I put an image you uploaded, File:Gindelsberger1.jpg into the article. I also added public-domain copyright tags but I'm not sure if those are the right ones.  They are good enough to keep the image from being deleted as a copyright violation but they may be more restrictive than necessary.  Do you know the exact year this photo was published and the exact year the artist died?  If not, can you say for sure that it was published "no later than ___" and the at the artist died "no later than ___"?  This can help put the right public-domain tag on it. davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  18:24, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Is there a tutorial for the cite court template?
I'm trying to use the template to appropriately cite this case:. This is what I've got so far:

I'm not at all certain how to find the volume and reporter, and I'm not sure what the difference between the opinion and the pinpoint is. Also curious to know if there is a list of abbreviations for the different courts? -- Scarpy (talk) 17:53, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * You might find helpful information at Case citation and in the examples listed here. LeadSongDog come howl  18:27, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * See also Template:Cite court/doc, which (briefly) explains the template's parameters and includes a few usage notes. Xenon54 / talk / 18:37, 12 December 2009 (UTC)


 * There may be editors knowing more at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Law. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:51, 12 December 2009 (UTC)

Unable to log in OR create account
Despite spending ages trying I then get message " Already Taken" Sign In When I do message says " Username or password incorrect !!   What's going on ??

H Reast  <--email--@--blanked-->  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.28.170.137 (talk) 17:58, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * It sounds like somebody else has already taken the name you wanted. You'll have to choose another username which has not been taken. -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  18:08, 12 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Another possibility is that someone has a username very similar to yours and the software won't allow you to register it. You can check if a username is already registered by going to Special:ListUsers and searching for the name you want.  If it's not taken, go to Request an account.  If it is taken, you will have to pick a new name.  davidwr/  (talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail)  18:20, 12 December 2009 (UTC)