Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 June 3

= June 3 =

Date of electronic publication
How do you cite find the date of electronic publication on an article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.67.70.166 (talk) 00:37, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * See Citing Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:03, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Sorry Primehuner, I don't really understand the above reply?


 * When citing a website, you should give the publication date if that is at all possible. Many articles in reliable sources will have a date in the heading of the article itself. With simple referencing, you could put, for example:

Jacqui Smith is to stand down as home secretary.


 * This reference would display as;

Jacqui Smith is to stand down as home secretary.


 * (ignore the 'demo' thing; I have to use that here to display multiple reference lists)


 * If you choose to use citation templates, you could give more details. For example;

Jacqui Smith is to stand down as home secretary.


 * This would display as;

Jacqui Smith is to stand down as home secretary.


 * (ignore the 'demo2')


 * For my own tips on this, see user:chzz/help/ref and user:chzz/help/refs.  Chzz  ►  05:03, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * My reply assumed the IP wanted to cite a Wikipedia article in some other work using a citation format with a date of publication. Citing Wikipedia shows how to cite Wikipedia in several formats. The help desk gets many such questions. It's question 5 and often 6 in the main FAQ. Your reply assumes the IP wants to cite some other work in a Wikipedia article. I'm not sure which assumption is right. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:29, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Inline Citations
If the wiki page shows this: This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009) How many inline citations do I need to remove this status? If the inline citations comes from newspapers, can I include them? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Athenak (talk • contribs) 05:09, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Hi Athenak,

I have written on the article discussion page for your article "Get Your Sexy Back". --James Chenery (talk) 05:53, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * You need to include ALL the reliable references in the text and sometimes a reference needs to be linked multiple times because it supports different parts of the text. - Mgm|(talk) 08:27, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Every fact should be supported by a reliable source. You can use one source for many facts. If you look at some of the featured articles, you will (hopefully) see that everything is referenced. If you need help with referencing, take a look at user:chzz/help/ref. Good luck with it.  Chzz  ►  08:50, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * That said, I don't think it should not be necessary to cite every sentence to remove the maintenance template. Citing everything that is contentious or likely to be challenged is a good start. decltype (talk) 09:00, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

www.wikipedia.org's main page has a text display problem...

 * http://www.wikipedia.org/

Hi everyone,

the (main) portal page which gives you a choice of which language wikipedia you wish to access (www.wikipedia.org) has a slight problem. I hope you don't mind me reporting the problem here.

It currently has: English               Japanese Spanish/German (centred and overlapping) French/Polish (centred and overlapping       Portuguese/Italian (centred and overlapping) Russian             Dutch

The overlapping text is sat directly on top of the other text.

There is no discussion tab, or talk page, for that page. I only noticed this today, but I am sure it was okay last week. I am using, at school, Internet Explorer v.6.0.29... Refreshing the window doesn't help. Thanks, --James Chenery (talk) 05:25, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * The problem seems to be in this edit—specifically the changes from style="position: absolute; …" to class="divTop10item" style="…" If I revert that part of the change in a private copy, it works right. —teb728 t c 08:41, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * That's a change I made in the /temp version.
 * m:Talk:Www.wikipedia.org template
 * Village pump (proposals)
 * I'll have to find a machine w/IE6 on it to see this. The change here involves the display: block; on the a-element — a rule pulled in by the class="divTop10item". I have a hunch that it's the right attribute and that a hasLayout tweak such at height: 1%; may sort it. Revert as folks see fit. I'll post a tweak to the /temp page as soon as I can. Cheers, Jack Merridew 09:25, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * all fixed. cheers, Jack Merridew 13:27, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Application forms and admission procedures
Sir My son Santosh Bagalkot, is interested to study in Engineering, Technology, Electronics,Communication engineering in the Russian Universities. Please give me details about procedures, prospects, application forms, Fees etc. He is Indian citiaen and is studying in engineering here in Electronocs branch in Bangalore ,with merit seat. Please let us know the right contact adress, agency, govt dept. My email adress is Contact information removed Thanking you Sir Prabhakar, Bagalkot —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.95.11.94 (talk) 07:04, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 2.8 million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the online free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is a help desk for asking questions related to using the encyclopedia. Thus, we have no inside track on the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the left hand side of your screen. If that is not fruitful, we have a reference desk, divided into various subjects areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. Someguy1221 (talk) 07:11, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Edit option from the pages should be removed because anybody can change the information and may provide us a wrong info.

 * See Common objections. Yes, it can happen, but in general, the people who want to counter that outnumber the people who want to provide false information. Either way, this could happen on any website and in books and other media too. You should always doublecheck what you read, no matter where it comes from. A good Wikipedia article cites its sources so you can evaluate how much you trust those and check the article's accuracy. - Mgm|(talk) 08:23, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * The entire point of a wiki is that anyone can edit it SpitfireTally-ho! 08:26, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * How do you suppose all our articles will get written if no one can edit it? Or how they are kept up to date? Or for the matter: Who who would add the sources?. Answer: The people that edit the page. It is always possible that an article contains fake information - either intentionally added, or added by a user that thought that it was valid information. This is one of the examples why wikipedia should be used as a starting point for gathering information, or as a means to get an initial idea what a topic is about. Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 11:24, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Requested moves
In the page Requested moves, I made this request, but then the User:RFC bot, overwritten it. Please someone explain if I did something wrong or the bot is getting out of control? --Kaaveh (talk) 08:10, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I suspect it was a simple Edit conflict. To avoid this happening in the future, you could ask the owner of RFC bot if they can alter the bot to not act when an edit conflict occurs (if that is indeed the problem). - Mgm|(talk) 08:21, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

If someone uploaded a false image into a article
Hi, i'm LordThrall. I'm a pretty new user here, and i just corrected a mistake in the article Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.

In that article, a user named User:Chaos op Wiki removed the original images of that article, such as (box art) and  (gameplay image). He changed the box art to, and the gameplay image to.

As seen in, the images he uploaded are images of "Pokemon Chaos Black", which are bootleg games not developed by the official companies.

I want to know, is that considered vandalism or...?

Thanks. LordThrall (talk) 16:40, 3 June 2009 (+8 GMT)


 * Not necessarily, the user may not have been aware that the images were fake. decltype (talk) 08:50, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * That said, the user has now been blocked, after they continued their disruptive behaviour. In light of this, the user seems to have been acting in bad faith all along, and their edits did constitute vandalism. decltype (talk) 12:57, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

languages
How many different languages are there? Vanillabeffie26 (talk) 10:14, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * In the world? That's a slightly complicated question, with which users at our language reference desk should be able to help you (this board is just for questions about using Wikipedia).
 * If you're asking about Wikipedia: there are Wikipedias in 265 different languages. Gonzonoir (talk) 10:30, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Technically that number may vary a bit - some of the wiki's listed are closed for inactivity. Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 11:41, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

TOWN VEHICLE
do i have to claim any of these exspenses on my taxes i'm an hourly employee24.58.104.144 (talk) 12:12, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about 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.
 * Personally, I'd want to get an answer from an accountant or other professional! Regardless, you'll probably need to provide details on where you live, as taxes vary from country to country and even within countries.
 * Cheers, This flag once was redpropagandadeeds 12:23, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Nephrops norvegicus
I'm trying to create a page for the above, but it automatically redirects to Norway Lobster. How can I stop this and start a page just for Nephrops? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Whitbyseafoods (talk • contribs)


 * You can simply use this link which will not redirect you. To do it manually navigate to the Nephrops norvegicus page, which will automatically redirect you. Once you are redirected there will be a small text right under the title of the article you have been redirected to which will state "(Redirected from Nephrops norvegicus)" Clicking the link in that text will automatically link you to the page, with redirect disabled (Actually, it will be the same link as the one i added above). Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 13:18, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Simply follow this link. Incidentally, why would you like to create an article where one already exists? TN X Man  13:19, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Im not sure if this is correct for this case, but sometimes redirects are made out of articles that have a fairly direct relation. This means that a specific genus of an animal might be redirected to a main page about that animal. For example: If we would not have an article about Catantopinae then that page would probably be redirected to Grasshopper until someone writes it. Though normally this mainly goes for a latin genus being redirected to the name of an entire group. Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 13:24, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I've created a very stubby article for the genus Nephrops, which was formerly a redirect to Nephrops norvegicus, currently the only species assigned to the genus. Several other species which are now assigned to Metanephrops were formerly assigned to Nephrops, so having a stub which explains that seemed like a useful idea, and I suspect may have been the original querent's intent. -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  13:29, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I concur, the Norway Lobster article *is* Nephrops norvegicus Thedarxide (talk) 13:34, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * OP should also review wp:SPAMNAME, in light of --Sphilbrick (talk) 14:12, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

new article
how do you start a new article on wiki? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Vanceburg (talk • contribs) 13:12, 3 June 2009 (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. TN X Man  13:18, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Banned but have never used wiki account creation or even logged in!
Hey I tryed to make a wiki account but it says my ip is restricted even though this is a new laptop and internet connection! Help please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.254.49.122 (talk) 13:34, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * It is likely that you are on a shared ip address. Technically this means that your Internet Service Provider re-assigns a certain range of IP addressed among its users, or that it has a static outbound IP. In other words: You have received an IP that was previously used for vandalism purposes and has therefore been blocked.


 * As for how to solve this: One of the methods for solving this issue is using a different PC with a different IP number to create an account. If the IP you are on is blocked for vandalism you can still log in on a valid account, even though its blocked. You could also try a request at WP:ACC, but i am not entirely sure if your request would fall into the requests scope. Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 13:52, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Anyone can request at WP:ACC, although blocked IPs get referred to an email system. Stifle (talk) 13:57, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Question about NASA photo
Hi everybody: first time here. It's pertaining the picture in this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:STS120LaunchHiRes.jpg I am asking permission to use the following picture from Wikipedia Commons. The information says that: "this file is in the public domain because it was created by NASA". I want to use the described picture for my sci-fiction book to be copyrighted soon. Otherwise, please let me know I can't use it. First Time Writer (talk) 14:07, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * If the image is in the public domain you don't need anyone's permission. Public domain means it is not owned or controlled by anyone; it is "public property" and available for anyone to use for any purpose including in your book. The only question then is whether the statement that it is in the public domain is correct. I believe it is, but that is something you might want to research further; check with an intellectual property lawyer, call NASA, etc.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:33, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Fuhghettaboutit already mentioned most, but i think i should add this: If you use public domain material in another product the material remains in the public domain itself - This means that i can use the photo in your book if i wished to use it. I can not, however, use you complete book. Hence, Hamlet is public domain, but if i were to write an adaption from it i could copyright my own version of it. However, keep in mind that "Copyright" interpretations only extends as far as a country border - different countries might have different laws on them.  Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 14:40, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Articles statistics...
How can I get an up to date statistics or bot on the Wikipedia number of articles in a specific language? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Email4mobile (talk • contribs) 14:13, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Statistics for the english version wikipedia can be found WP:ST here. An overview of all wiki's can be found on meta Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 14:20, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * And to complete this: The Multilingual Statistics page details the growth of the wiki's Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 14:25, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Improving search engine?
Is there a way to improve the Wikipedia searching just like Google does? In Google there is a phrase/word/term prediction and suggesting correction. In addition it is possible to search a phrase which eventually leads to a Wikipedia future article. Thanks--Email4mobile (talk) 14:19, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia searches with few or no results often have a "Did you mean: xxx" search link at the top, but maybe Google is better at guessing. I don't know what you mean by "it is possible to search a phrase which eventually leads to a Wikipedia future article". Is it something about red links? PrimeHunter (talk) 14:40, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I assume the second feature would be a "Not yet made" suggestion service, containing a ton of topics that have not yet received pages. Technically and practically that would be rather unfeasible if that was the case - after all, if you know something is missing, you just WP:STUB it. :) Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 14:44, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for your efforts :). I misspelled future(should be feature), sorry for my English. I meant that if I look for example the following in Google:

atmospheric pressure variation law

I can get my match, the suitable page which explained this law, barometric formula. This is not the case in Wikipedia search!

--Email4mobile (talk) 15:12, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Google is often better than Wikipedia at guessing the most relevant results for a search, for example by combining information about other pages linking to a given page. The word "variation" does not occur on barometric formula and that page is not included in Wikipedia's search on . "Featured article" has a special meaning in Wikipedia. Barometric formula is not a featured article. "atmospheric pressure variation law" with quotes has no Google hits so it doesn't appear to be a common name. If it had been then a redirect could be created on it. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:30, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Question regarding Reliable sources
Hello, i was wondering does ConsumerAffairs.com and sites like it qualify as a reliable source? I've been watching the Gold's Gym article for a while. There was a fair amount of criticism on their based on widespread complaints on sites such as this. In January somebody came and deleted it all, saying it was not a reliable source. The exact sites are here and here and here. I understand that blogs aren't acceptable, but a page of customer feedback (both positive and negative) seems to me the only way to gauge the validity of criticism. TastyCakes (talk) 14:42, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * The guideline for Reliable sources states that "Information in Wikipedia articles should be based on reliable, published sources with a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy, and articles should be based primarily on third-party sources.". As you can see by the wording, "Reliable Source" is rather open to interpretation. After all, what is the "fast-checking and accuracy" threshold to be a reliable source?


 * Personally i would advice asking this question at Reliable sources/Noticeboard, a noticeboard that specializes in reliable sources. Unless some editor here has specialist knowledge on he exact definition and workings of reliable sources, your best bet is there :). Excirial ( Contact me, Contribs ) 14:51, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * (e/c) I think not. There are contexts where they could be, but not for general citation use. Specifically, such online complaint logs are reliable source for a statement such as "numerous consumer complaints have been made to online websites that after driving X car for more than 50,000 miles, the johnson rod falls often out of alignment with the doohickey" . But these are not reliable sources for the underlying fact, i.e., it would not be proper to say "johnson rods often fall out of doohickeys after 50,000 miles of use" . These consumer written complaints are perfectly trustworthy or authoritative as to what they say, but not as to the trustworthiness of what they say. They are not "generally regarded as trustworthy or authoritative" as to car assessment, nor do random members of the public with no particular credentials have a "reputation for fact-checking and accuracy".--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:58, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Hmm ok thanks guys, the thing that was removed specifically was "Gold's Gyms have also been described as having an intimidating environment for inexperienced customers", which I think was a fairly common on the complaints page. Other than that, they were used as supporting information for stuff that is still there and sourced as from the Tucson Citizen, namely that they have heavy handed contracts that are hard to get out of and that their billing system makes a lot of errors.  Does that change anything?  TastyCakes (talk) 15:04, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * They are perfectly reliable sources for the statement "they have been described as" because they do so describe. But they don't belong in the article for a different reason. Not because they're unreliable in the context, but because they give undue weight to a tiny statistical sample; some random small group of people's opinions and anecdotal experiences. Anyone can cite anything said somewhere for the purpose of saying it was said; that's undeniable, and that will always be correct, but describing such anecdotal opinions is unencyclopedic. We don't pay lipservice in an article on Einstein to some random person's opinion who says they've disproved general relativity by experiments in their basement, even if they did indeed say it.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:22, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Ok, I can see that for the bit about it being intimidating - it is a pretty subjective matter. But what about the billing irregularities and not living up to their contracts?  If you look down the list at the Consumer affairs link, there are dozens of similar looking complaints.  At what point does it stop being a statistical smattering and start being a notable trend?  TastyCakes (talk) 15:29, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't know at which point it changes, but I don't think Wikipedia can say anything about it until it's published elsewhere. Then we can say, "XY University has identified billing irregularities, etc. after reviewing info from Consumer Reports". TN X</b> Man  16:16, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * There's a saying in the (medical) sciences: The plural of anecdote is not data. Let's suppose that the CA website has fifty user-submitted complaints about billing irregularities.  Is that a lot?  Does the company in question have one location, or one thousand?  Do they have a hundred clients, or a million?  Are there widespread, serious problems, or are the few people with out-of-the-ordinary problems all accumulating at one complaints site because it comes up in the same Google search?  You need to have some reliable source with some sort of editorial discretion and fact-checking ability publish an analysis.  TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:46, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Hmm ok, point taken, I'll leave them out of the article. TastyCakes (talk) 16:51, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Assignment symbol in formulae
Hello, is it really impossible to insert an assignment symbol := into mathematical formulae? Just a stylistic preference over &larr;. TIA. -- Regregex (talk) 15:05, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * At Table of mathematical symbols, it is called definition. You can display it with:


 * $$:= \!\,$$ which renders as $$:= \!\,$$
 * Was missing from WP:MATH, added. Without the  you of course get $$iter := 1$$ Thanks again. -- Regregex (talk) 17:15, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Using inline templates ("tags")
I've found pages on making and discussing these tags, but no guideline on usage, specifically when editors on a single page (article) keep on adding and removing them. Yes, I do have a specific situation in mind, but would just like to ask generally -- is there a policy/guideline/essay discussing this type of problem? Thanks, - Hordaland (talk) 16:10, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * There is an essay at Tagging pages for problems but it's not specific to inline tags. If editors disagree on a specific article then, like other problems, it can be discussed on the article talk page where editors can try to reach consensus. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:45, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Thank you, that was helpful. - Hordaland (talk) 09:24, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

External Link with invalid characters
I used this link: http://poortman.kb.nl/zoek2.php?begin=1&eind=20&VELD%5B%5D=2&QUERY%5B%5D=&OPERATOR%5B%5D=&doc%5B%5D=4&FREEQUERY=Q_NAAM3.TN_ID=6154&OPDRACHT=Publicaties+van+Geert+M.N.++Verschuuren&YEQ=&YEAR=&YEAR1=&YEAR2=

instead of the original link that uses brackets, which are invalid in Wikipedia: http://poortman.kb.nl/zoek2.php?begin=1&eind=20&VELD[]=2&QUERY[]=&OPERATOR[]=&doc[]=4&FREEQUERY=Q_NAAM3.TN_ID=6154&OPDRACHT=Publicaties+van+Geert+M.N.++Verschuuren&YEQ=&YEAR=&YEAR1=&YEAR2=

The link does show up; however, it does not work, whereas the original one works well!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Genesispc (talk • contribs) 16:25, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes. You can see more about percent-encoding at Help:URL. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:27, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * For what it's worth, I couldn't get either URL to work. I copied the first one into my browser's address bar, and it returned an error . (I then changed the percent encoded brackets from, e.g., %5B to %5b (per PrimeHunter's link) but that still returned an error). I'd suggest trying the first one again; it's possible you caught it on either side of the problem starting, and when you tried the percent-encoded version it had stopped working. Cheers, <b style="color:#000">This flag once was red</b>propagandadeeds 17:45, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * The hex encoding of %5B and %5b is equivalent— it is not case sensitive. Neither link works for me. This looks like the return from a search query— what terms did you search for to get this result? ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 18:52, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia in other languages
How could I find out what articles are available in Cornish and Scots Gaelic, please? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.83.68.105 (talk) 17:09, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * You'd have to go to those Wikipedias. -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  17:17, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * If you have specific articles in mind, go the article here and look at the left side of the page. You should see a list of other language Wikipedias that have the same article. Or, you could go to the Wikipedias themselves. You can find a list of other Wikipedias at List of Wikipedias. TN <b style="color:midnightblue; font-size:larger;">X</b> Man  17:17, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * The Cornish Wikipedia at http://kw.wikipedia.org has 1750 articles according to List of Wikipedias. There is an alphabetical list at kw:Special:AllPages. The Scottish Gaelic at http://gd.wikipedia.org has 7035 articles with a list at gd:Special:AllPages. Or do you mean which English articles also have a version in that language? PrimeHunter (talk) 17:21, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

how do you create a citation in Microsoft Word That Will Work for Wikipedia
Hello, my question is if I am creating a Wikipedia article using Microsoft Word before I upload onto Wikipedia, how do I create a citation? Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.115.183.133 (talk) 18:16, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * See Citing sources. Write plain text as described there and don't use Word formatting techniques. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:49, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Upgrade of Wikimagic for ISBN
I'm looking for information on what would be required to write code to extend the Wikimagic for ISBN so that it correctly hyphenates it. An example would be having ISBN 0201175894 would be transformed into ISBN 0-201-17589-4 rather than ISBN 0201175894. I believe I have the resources to design the program, I just have no idea what language it would be in and who would be able to give permission and review my work.Naraht (talk) 19:23, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * See Development, Bug reports and feature requests, and ISBN. If you want to become a MediaWiki hacker, you could download the software and install it on your computer (see mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick). Then you could possibly write your own MediaWiki extension to process ISBN numbers differently. Once you figure out how to do that, then you could solve the puzzle of learning how to influence the development team. --Teratornis (talk) 04:53, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much. I've already brought it up on ISBN. It appears that this feature request has already been made (10685) in bugzilla and is currently listed as RESOLVED WONTFIX. It seems that I've got to resurrect it if I'm going to see it made.Naraht (talk) 13:35, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Why do you need this feature? As far as I can tell, the non-hyphenated ISBN link works just fine. Is the lack of hyphens causing problems somewhere? Since the site software accepts as input an ISBN number with or without hyphens, if you really need the hyphens to be there, you could probably insert them with a bot program. On Wikipedia, there is usually more than one way to do a job, so consider what your true goal is, and look for the simplest way. --Teratornis (talk) 19:07, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

May I borrow your brain?
Here are the goals of the OOK WikiProject:


 * 1) Increase awareness of readers of the existence of the outlines on Wikipedia
 * 2) Complete the existing outlines
 * 3) Create an outline for every subject that is extensive enough to benefit from having an outline (core subjects and major or extensive fields).  There are thousands of these.
 * 4) Recruit as many editors to work on these as possible (we need thousands of editors working on these)
 * 5) Get a link to the main outline page or links to the major outline subject areas displayed on the Main Page (in addition to the portal links at the top of the page)
 * 6) Increase the OOK to higher quality than Britannica's Outline of Knowledge (published in its Propaedia volume).

How can we achieve these goals?

Any ideas you might have would be most appreciated.

I look forward to your replies on my talk page.

The Transhumanist 19:38, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Discussion concerning consensus moved to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Outline of knowledge. The Transhumanist 18:43, 6 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm still interested in some ideas on the above. The Transhumanist  18:43, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Uploading images
Why is uploading pictures to wikipedia so difficult and bureaucratic? I have a picture I uploaded to my files and want to put it on a relevant page but there seems to be no link to do so. Blaze33541 (talk) 20:45, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I am guessing from your contributions that you are talking about File:GaYbor sticker.JPG. First, what you need to do is fill in the image description template with a description, source of the picture (own work, website, etc.), the date taken, and author (presumably you). Then, add the code . Replace the caps with the appropriate information. Xenon54 (talk) 20:51, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

About biographic note in the list of Opera Directors
I was surprised to see that I was out of your large list of the Opera stage professionals (Directors, designers and producer) where I belong since 1964, having produced many hit in major Opera Houses (such SCALA, MET, ROH, Salzburg, Paris,Wien,Rome,Buenos Aires) and many DVD of opera that still in the market. Even surprised that I was quoted occasionaly (3 times)not for my work, but for some collaboration with other artist (such the designer Frigerio) - I wonder if in order of having a proper biographic note edited in your list, I had to do send a new one spcially written for Wikipedia (and in this case how long can be and were shall be sent - for example using this page?) or it will be better to send a copy of a recent bio-note printed in one of the last House-program of a Theatre were my production had been presented - for ex. the one from Covent Garden in Sept.2008 for Puccini's "The girl of the golden west". In that occasion, my production - wich is in the repertoire of that Theatre since 1977, therefore running for a record of 31 years after having remained absent from 1991) was indicated by the Financial Times as deserving the "icononic status" once bilonging to the famous "Tosca" that Zeffirelli did with Callas and lasted for more than 40 years..

Thanks for any information and best wishes. Piero Faggioni —Preceding unsigned comment added by Donquisirob (talk • contribs) 20:46, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Writing an article about yourself is strongly discouraged(please see WP:AUTO) because of possible neutral point of view problems. However, a solution would be to write an article at WP:AFC, with references to show the sources for your article, so that other editors can review it, and make sure that it meets all of Wikipedia's standards. Fingers OnRoids  21:05, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Making 2 to 1 ?
On the page Steinway & Sons there are 2 "link boxes":

Is it possible to put the 2 "link boxes" together? I think it will look better if we have only 1 "link box", like the article Sun. Fanoftheworld (talk) 22:44, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * See sisterlinks. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 22:50, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks. Fanoftheworld (talk) 10:49, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Bot
I set up (or thought I did) an archiving bot on the Conservatism. I set the time limit for three weeks and it hasn't cleared out posts from last year. What did I do incorrectly? Soxwon (talk) 22:46, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I'd think a better place to ask would be Bot owners' noticeboard. They could probably address the problem better than anyone at the help desk. Fingers OnRoids  00:42, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I fixed the archive page. Mainspace articles don't have subpages. Let's wait and see if it archives now. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:02, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Popup sticking
I recently started using popups and I do find them useful sometimes but one thing drives me crazy. Sometimes a popup stays after I move my cursor away... forever. The only way to get it off the page is to refresh. Clicking escape works sometimes if I haven't hovered long. This occurs completely randomly as far as I can tell. Since I looked through the popups page and FAQ and found nothing on this, I suspect it's just my computer and there's nothing I can do short of a hammer and a new one but I thought I'd ask.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:44, 3 June 2009 (UTC)


 * I run into that from time to time too. Sometimes it seems to help if I clear the cache.  Often, I'll just shut everything down, and run a little tool to clean out all the junk .. I'll look to see where it is and get back to ya on the URL .. it's a freebie. — Ched :  ?  03:13, 4 June 2009 (UTC)


 * at majorgeeks.com: ATF cleaner. It seems to help a little while. — Ched :  ?  03:17, 4 June 2009 (UTC)