Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 November 25

= November 25 =

hi
i am trying to find out wear abouts my grandad is burried in curry mallet church   i have tried to find out from somerset records  but  thay told me it will be  with the  the church records   but i have been told they may have been destroted in a fire  can you help please i was born in curry mallet  and my grandads name was james stodgell he passed away in july 1958/59  we lived at yew tree cottage lower street and he worked on  the farm  for glides as a farm hand  thanks  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.44.168.25 (talk) 00:29, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 00:35, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

AfD listing
I nominated Marina 106 for deletion by AfD using Twinkle but it had an error saying that it wasn't listed in today's listing correctly. Could someone take a look and fix it? Thanks Smartse (talk) 00:31, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * ✅ diff —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 00:38, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

some table help
I'm looking to make an "invisible" table within another table - That is, one that blends with its background. No borders or outlines. I'm using a template to make this table, so you can view the code at this locale.

It doesn't seem to be working though:

There are outlines that show up rather strangely as well, for me at least on Firefox 3.5 with OSX. -  ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ  τ ¢  00:50, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I seem to recall reading a similar question before, but I can't find it in the help desk archives. As far as I am aware, you can't hide some of the borders - they are either all there, or none of them are. You might want to ask about it at Help talk:Table --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 01:01, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Done, in my browser at least. Background must be "transparent"; not "none".  Intelligent  sium  01:09, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * The background was fine (for me at least) before, its the two outlines around the two table cells (the ones within the "Normal table") which I want kaput. -  ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ  τ ¢  01:13, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Unless you mean you want something like this:


 * (P.S.: I hope you don't mind my editing in your userspace).  Intelligent  sium  01:19, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * But it looks like you've got it.  Intelligent  sium  01:21, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Basically I want the image on the left, and the text spanning two lines to the right. I don't want the text on the second line to go beneath the image (as it is now). -  ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ  τ ¢  01:22, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * EDIT: After fiddling with what you did above, I got it to do what I wanted! Thank you -  ʄɭoʏɗiaɲ  τ ¢  01:42, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Missing symbols
For some reason, my browser doesn't display some commonly used symbols. I see empty spaces, or in some cases a square box. In the edit window, the dropdown menu "Symbols" is missing many of the symbols. I'm using Firefox 3.5.5 for Mac OS X. I found some guidance at Help:Special characters, but nothing specific to my browser/OS combination, so I'm at a loss as what to do. Any suggestions? 72.94.164.21 (talk) 01:22, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

How to make a redirect page?
How to make a redirect page? Such as redirect "Golden Forum" to "Hong Kong Golden Forum"?PowerY (talk) 01:55, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * See Help:Redirect. Algebraist 02:01, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I've created the redirect. Glass  Cobra  17:31, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Links
FC_Barcelona_season_2009–10

In this page under the "Squad stats" the template for "Others" is not working. How does one fix the link? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lafuzion (talk • contribs) 03:38, 25 November 2009


 * That link appears to be created by Template:Fb_ss_header, and the documentation there describes how to fix the problem. The key would appear to be finding an appropriate target article. Please post again here if you need help with creating the template required. --AndrewHowse (talk) 04:05, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * The problem is that there currently is no template for "Others" in that article. You can create one by clicking the current red link to Template:Fb competition 2009-10 Others. See how Real Madrid C.F. season 2006–07 uses Template:Fb competition 2006-07 Others to produce the text Others1 in the corresponding cell. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:18, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Why is the information not visible?
If you take a look on the Goliath II article, you will notice there are some general info in the box to the right, like language, running time and director and so on. But there is nothing about the release date inside this box. The problem is; it's already there, but it is not visible. Then take a look at articles like Fun and Fancy Free. Just like Goliath II, the box contains information about the release date. The only difference is that here you can see it. So why is it not visible in the Goliath II article? 84.210.31.205 (talk) 05:20, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * The Goliath II article uses the Template:Infobox Hollywood cartoon, while the Fun and Fancy Free article uses the Template:Infobox Film. The arguement labeling is different, the Hollywood cartoon infobox uses "release_date=" while the Film infobox uses "released=".  I have fixed the problem.  -- Jayron  32  05:25, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

How does one provide and correct photos currently displaying the incorrect species for a description?
Both photos shown for Ctenosaura pectinata appear to be Ctenosaura similis. Besides discrepancies in the physical attributes, the photo data on where the pictures were taken supports this observation. How does one offer up alternate photos and correct the errors? Reference is:

Gunther Köhler 2002   Schwarzleguane: Lebensweise, Pflege, Zucht. Offenbach: Herpeton 2002 ISBN 3-936180-016 Trans: [Gunther Kohler: Black iguanas: life style, care, breeding. Offenbach: Herpeton 2002 ISBN 3-936180-016]

Glyphseeker (talk) 06:00, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * If you're certain of your identification you are free to remove the images from the article. Please do so, by deleting their entire file name of the one in the taxobos, just from the word file to through its extension, and the entire image html for the article one. Post a note with your source and a brief description of what is wrong on the article's discussion page. When you do that, you can then upload another image with proper copyright releases. --IP69.226.103.13 (talk) 06:51, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Plastic film calculation of thickness & its weight
how to calculate the thickness & weight of a plastic laminated film manually or if there is any formula for it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Padam.nahata (talk • contribs) 07:04, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Please do your own homework. Welcome to the Wikipedia Help desk. Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misevaluation, but it is our policy here not to do others' homework, but merely to aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn how to solve such problems. Please attempt to solve the problem yourself first. You can or. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, the Reference desk can help you grasp the concept. Do not ask knowledge questions here, just those about using Wikipedia. --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 08:22, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Toolbar
I want to put you in my right hand upper corner where google is. I don't like google as much as you guys and gals. please E-Mail me to let me know how? ok? Thank You CLETE 07:07, 25 November 2009 (UTC)07:07, 25 November 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by CletisArnold1 (talk • contribs)


 * I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 08:23, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Actually, he's not in the wrong place at all. He's asking how to turn the search bar in the top right of his web browser (which can be selected for Google, yahoo, etc.) into a Wikipedia search bar. Someguy1221 (talk) 09:28, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Ah, that makes sense now, thanks Someguy1221! I have strucken my previous response.
 * In that case: go to Microsoft's "Add Search Providers to Internet Explorer" page and follow the instructions. Wikipedia is on the list of the search providers on that page. --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 09:34, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Or if you're in Firefox 3.x: immediately left of the upper right hand search field, where you see the Google logo, there is a small down arrow. Click on this to see a list of other search engines you can use. Wikipedia is one of the preloaded options. Gonzonoir (talk) 10:00, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Reputation
Can someone help my reputation? Uncle Tech 08:46, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Hi Technogreek43, although its technacially impossible to actually leave your editing past behind you on wikipedia, if you decide you want to try and improve, most users will be more than happy to aid you in this.
 * What I recommend trying is getting adopted by a more experienced user. Although this may sound quite daunting or unwanted, its actually very easy and exceedingly helpful. To get adopted just go here and choose one of the users who have a green box next to them, simply leave a message on their talk page requesting adoption and they'll take it from there.
 * The main thing is that you show a genuine interest in improving, kind regards SpitfireTally-ho! 08:57, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

But who would adopt me with ym history? Heck, I was just unblocked half an hour ago... i even reported my self on the vandalism thing. I don't know. I guess I'll try this adopt thing... I just hope someone will care about me on this site. Uncle Tech 09:00, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Spend some time looking at the comments that each adopter has left about themselves, and try to make a choice from that, personally I'd recommend or, although you should check out their comments and see whether or not you think they'll be able to help you. Regards SpitfireTally-ho! 09:13, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Actualy I gave ana dopt request to the admin who blocked me: Carribean H. Q. I figure maybe the guy who blocked me would be the best to help me too. Uncle Tech 09:16, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Okay, Carribean doesn't actually list him/her-self as an adopter, however there's no harm in trying. What you seem to mostly need is some guidance and advice, rather than learning and experience, so maybe Carribean will be best suited to help you. Regards, SpitfireTally-ho! 09:21, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Uncle Tech, your signature does not appear to have a link in it (either to your user page or to your talk page). I have modified your user name above so that it will point to your user page, but if you could alter your sig, that'd be great! (WP:SIG says Signatures must include at least one internal link to your user page, user talk page, or contributions page; this allows other editors easy access to your talk page and contributions log. The lack of such a link is widely viewed as obstructive (emphasis mine)). Regards, --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 09:23, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Ooh, sorry about that. I think that's taken care of now. And also, I panicked when I was first unblocked and reported myself on the vandalism page out of unconfidence here on Wikipedia. It was about 2 minutes afteer I first posted here. If I removed that, would I get in trouble? Uncle Tech (talk) 09:34, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * (Puts on best Yul Brynner voice) "So it is written, so it shall be done" - I have removed the vandal report. --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 09:38, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks! I really don't know what I was thinking there... Oh well, it's over with noe. One again thanks! Uncle Tech (talk) 09:40, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Mass updation on Intranet
Hi I have My Company's Intranet Wiki .. I want to Upload a huge bunch of file in single page and also want that they can be searched by their name within document... is there any way that i can upload files together without manually typing everything from scratch... can i mass upload on my intranet.. if yes please let me know how... Ill be waiting for your reply.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bharat0306 (talk • contribs) 10:33, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Have you tried contacting the person responsible for your company's Wiki, or one of its admins? --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 10:36, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Well one of my admin has asked me to do this... we have inhouse software that we use.. and we want some of its file to be documented for further reference... so that all the new developers can easily refer that.. and also there should be some way that we can search that particular file according to name or description so that it reduce time that we require to go in and search that file on software.. I have around 260 files to be uploaded.. can i do that coz if ill try to upload each file manually that will take lots of time.. can you suggest me some way.. will wait for your response... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bharat0306 (talk • contribs) 12:39, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * As a note, if you have a conflict of interest, you are highly discouraged from editing articles about yourself, the company for which you work (or products it may sell), etc. TN X Man  12:46, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * If I understand your question correctly, you are asking for advice about uploading to your company wiki? I am afraid that this is the help desk of the English Wikipedia - we cannot give advice about using wiki software elsewhere. Your best bet would be to go to the website of the developer of your wiki software, and either look for a FAQ there, or a support desk. --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 12:51, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Well i really didnt understand what you meant... I am Trying to update something on my company intranet and that is wiki product i guess.. and i am new member so really dont know much about this.. and i tried going to English Wikipedia but didnt find any helpdesk for that.. if these is some thing that you are not supposed to resolve can you provide me with the link as in to whom should i refer this problem... please let me know.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bharat0306 (talk • contribs) 13:04, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Your admin should understand what I mean! OK...
 * Ask your admin what wiki software is used for your company Wiki. Once we know that, we may be able to point you in the proper direction. --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 13:20, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Missile
Sir, My Name is Eshwar Rao I am from Bangalore India. Army retired

I have asked this question on many website but I did not get positive result. I think now I am on correct website.

Our many scientist are working on this world regarding firing the missile to kill people or for destruction, but is there any one who has built an missile to fire water based or chemical used as firefighting compound used in the missile and fired to put the fire off. this can save our forest and many live on this earth we speak about global warming and other things to save the earth please guide people to do something to save our earth from fire and heat have any comments please write to me.
 * Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly three million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online 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 you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. SpitfireTally-ho! 11:48, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * See Aerial firefighting for the closest thing we have to what you describe. Rockets probably have insufficient payload to be useful for firefighting. Rockets are more useful for starting fires as this takes only a small amount of incendiary. --Teratornis (talk) 19:57, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

sorry i made an edit mistake
Hi. Please reattribute work done as 202.110.209.167 to me, Radical Ghost. I made an edit and was unknowingly logged out before hand, so my IP address was put down. I searched around for instructions on how to change it, but the information i found was too confusing for me to follow, or was said to be outdated and no longer in use. I made to edits in the "Wink" page the the IP address 202.110.209.167. The first was the edit, the second was an undid edit. I would like it changed to my username "Radical Ghost". Thanks and sorry for the troubleRadical Ghost (talk) 12:45, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately it is impossible to "reattribute" any changes. The best we can do is add to the page of the IP that you have used that address at times in the past. —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 12:51, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * IP edits cannot be reattributed to an account, but Oversight says they can be removed from the page history if you don't want the IP address to be public. See Requests for oversight. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:56, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Or you or we could add that on your user page, you used to edit under that IP address, or add that specific edit on user page saying you made that edit. Both these edits actions can be done on the your talk page conversely.174.3.102.6 (talk) 14:04, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * I also made the same mistake as Radical Ghost and came across info to apparently change the IP address to a user ID, but found it too complicated. I did not know (not being great with computers) where to copy and paste the following two suggestions. Does anyone know or is this outated?

cd rm attribute.sql php maintenance/attribute.php OldUserNameOrIP NewUserName mysql < attribute.sql

 : Name of the user to assign edits to  --force : Reassign even if the target user doesn't exist  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Richwww (talk • contribs) 12:24, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

removing a link
Hello,

I am trying to create an article about my organization: tvtv Services, a branch of Sony UK. I found an old article named 'tvtv Digital'. I moved it to a new article, named it as 'tvtv Services' and changed the content in order to increase the coverage.

However, I want to delete the link, because it is misleading. The company has never been called 'tvtv Digital'. When I google 'tvtv Services' now, google gives the result link as 'tvtv Digital' and I want to avoid it. Is there a way to do that?

Thanks, —Preceding unsigned comment added by Orangegray (talk • contribs) 13:35, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * tvtv digital is an appropriate redirect and not misleading at all, as it is the name of the television channel as it appears on the freeview service in the UK, and is thus a very likely search term for readers looking for information.
 * Also, can I advise you to familiarise yourself with our guidelines on conflicts of interest - editing articles about your own company is discouraged, and the fact that the article currently reads like an advertisement is precisely the reason for this. Please endeavour to rewrite the article in a neutral tone. Also, the article currently lacks any references which are independent of the subject. This will also need rectifying. Regards,  AJ  Cham  13:41, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * See also FAQ/Organizations. It takes some time for Google to register changes in Wikipedia. We don't control that. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:25, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * If you really want to help that article out, please write those lists into good prose. And keep the ad words out of it please :D —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 14:35, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * And why use tvtv Services, isn't the name just tvtv ? —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 14:40, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks TheDJ and AJCham for the advise, it is my first article. so working on the article again.
 * tvtv Services is the legal name of the company. That is why I used it.
 * tvtv doesn't provide data to Freeview anymore. AJCham, are you sure it is still listed as a channel on Freeview? Thanks, Regards. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.212.199.56 (talk) 15:57, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Sorry forgot to sign--Orangegray (talk) 16:35, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

What Does "(top)" Mean?
If you look at this page, some of the edits will have (top) beside them at the end on the right. What does this mean?174.3.102.6 (talk) 14:00, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * It means that that edit is the latest edit on its page - so it will appear at the top of the page's edit history. Gandalf61 (talk) 14:03, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * It means that edit was the last one made to the page, and it has not changed since then. Please see Help:User contributions, #10, for more details.  --Mysdaao talk 14:05, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Copyrights for scanned images
What copyright applies to scanned images (pics of people, places from a newspaper, and book covers), and which copyright tag should be used? I couldn't find this among all the image guidelines. Is there a guideline I missed? Thanks in advance. - Draeco (talk) 14:32, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * A scan is a mechanical reproduction of something else. Usually these don't get their own copyright. So the copyright is the one that applies to the original. If you scan a newspaper, the copyright is the one of the Publisher of the newspaper. In those cases, usage of these materials on Wikipedia is only allowed as Fair Use. See our guideline on non-free materials. —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 15:09, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

My edit to existing article "deleted" - how do I find out why?
This morning I created a user account. I made minor additions to an existing article ( Concept Maps) - I was creating a new topic (Knowledge Arena) and linking this new article of the existing article when I received notice of a conflict from [Andyjsmith] and have since discovered my edits and new article have been removed. I don't know why. Can anyone help? I am unsure how to find the answer in the FAQs etc.. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ray Oaks (talk • contribs) 14:48, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * If you look through the page history of Concept map by clicking the "history" tab on the top of the page, you'll see that Andyjsmith reverted all your edits with the edit summary "restored content fork material". I suggest you go to the user's talk page at User talk:Andyjsmith and ask why your edits were reverted.  For the deleted article, if you go to the former article title at Knowledge Arena, you'll see the deletion log.  Administrator Tnxman307 deleted the article with the reason "G7: One author who has requested deletion or blanked the page".  Either you requested the article be deleted, or you removed everything on the page, which can be taken as a request for deletion.  --Mysdaao talk 15:14, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * But Andyjsmith just made another edit to Concept map and reverted the change, putting back what you added. Also through the page history, you can see the edit summary "undid myself - got confused by a content fork article (now deleted)".  So there's no need to discuss it with the user now.  --Mysdaao talk 15:16, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * x2 Andyjsmith has reverted the edit, and restored your contributions - see here. In future if an editor undoes your work the best course of action is to discuss it with them on their talk page, or begin a discussion on the talk page of the article. Although the help desk probably wasn't the right place to come, I commend you for seeking to discuss the matter rather than edit war with the other contributor.  AJ  Cham  15:24, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Only administrators like me can see the page history of a deleted page. User:Ray The Oaks (apparently another account for you User:Ray Oaks, see WP:SOCK) created Knowledge Arena. Andyjsmith replaced the content with a redirect to Concept map using edit summary "redirect - unhelpful content fork". You blanked the page by removing the redirect code  without restoring the former content. Tnxman307 speedily deleted the page with deletion summary "G7: One author who has requested deletion or blanked the page". Note that G7 links to a policy which says: "If the sole author blanks a page other than a userspace page or category page, this can be taken as a deletion request". I see you have created Knowledge arena (the software distinguishes this from Knowledge Arena with capital A) instead. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:57, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

TracPhone
im trying to get a track phone because i am getting help from the state.(foodstamps) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.213.36.2 (talk) 16:08, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Hello. I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our roughly three million articles, and thought that we were directly affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online 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 you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. TN <b style="color:midnightblue; font-size:larger;">X</b> Man  16:15, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Rollback and page blanking
Is it okay to use rollback when an article is blanked (but not entire content replaced with nonsense) by a user (provided he is not the creator of the article, which means he requests for deletion)? Merlion 444  16:44, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Yep, sounds fine, but make sure that you use uw-blank rather than uw-vandalism. Cheers, SpitfireTally-ho! 16:48, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Confused about IP (non-account) block on my range
Every time I try to do anything logged out (usually not realising that I am logged out) I always get a message about my IP range being blocked, sometimes it's different. This only started happening after I changed my service provider to AT&T (specifically U-Verse). Can someone elaborate what's going on here? Shouldn't my range just be limited to my house? I'm a tad concerned. --Glaesisvellir (talk) 17:27, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * ISPs like U-Verse have a group (range) of IPs. They then allocate them to their users, such as yourself. However, these often change (every time you connect, you get a slightly different IP address, but still within the range used by U-Verse). The block is for a group of the IPs (as vandalism has occurred from several addresses within the range). If you are logged in, as you have seen, you don't have the problem - only unlogged-in editors within that range of IP addresses are blocked. --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 17:44, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Joint Account
Is it prohibited for two people to make a single account? Thanks-Shahab (talk) 18:44, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes. Please see this page. TN <b style="color:midnightblue; font-size:larger;">X</b> Man  18:47, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * OK Thanks.-Shahab (talk) 18:55, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Correct english?
Hey, I am from Germany and tried to contribute to the articles covering my home country. Could you do me a bid favour and tell me if you understand this sentence/if it is correct english: "The "Education and Science Workers’ Union" wants to abolish Gymnasium in favour of comprehensive schools. According to the Union Gymnasien are open to the average owning-class student, but only to the superior working class student. They hold the opinion that Gymnasium-students are not only selected by merit, but by mannerism and heritage" what I wanted to say is that according to that union the students at the Gymnasium were not nessescarily the smartest, but the most well-behaved with the right parents. Does "mannerism" and "heritage" make sense in that context? I had to look up both words in my dictionary and I am, not sure if I used them in the right way. Thanks a lot.-- 212.201.82.191 (talk) 21:33, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I think the words you've suggested are close to your intended meaning, but not quite there. "Mannerism" colloquially means a habit of speech or gesture, and (I believe) is generally used to refer to quite individual traits. "Heritage" is generally used to refer to ancestry, with rather more historical (or even genetic or racial) connotations than I think you want. I'd say "social background" would be a closer idiomatic use than those, and would phrase the paragraph like this:
 * "'The Education and Science Workers’ Union advocates the abolition of Gymnasium schools in favour of comprehensive schools, arguing that, while Gymnasium schools admit middle class students of average ability, working class students are admitted only if they are unusually academically able. The Union believes that Gymnasium schools select not only for academic merit, but for background and social class." Gonzonoir (talk) 21:40, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you Gozonoir. I will change that. would you like to have a look at Gymnasium (Germany)? I would really appreciate that.-- 212.201.82.191 (talk) 21:44, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Or would someone else like to look if that article makes sense? My english is a little rusty. Would be very nice of you all. Thank you.-- 212.201.82.191 (talk) 22:09, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * You're welcome. I've just copy edited the lead section of Gymnasium (Germany) and will look at the rest tomorrow; others should join in as they see fit :) Gonzonoir (talk) 22:29, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

SUBMISSION AND LACK OF RESPONSE
I'm sorry Wikipedia is not end-user accessible. Seems to be high-end academics with pages and pages about themselves. If you are interested.

I tried to submit an article, following the style of Nikon and Coca Cola but was rejected almost immediately. Let me tell you some detail, before you flush this email.

I wanted to introduce a new product to the world and a new word. I know you are thinking 'dictionary' or wikipedinary but the point is I could not understand why a branded product gets clearance over another. My entry was quite interesting and had technical back up too.

The application was a genuine case and if you want to see it I might be able to retrieve from the wiki bucket.

If I donate that counts too - you'll find my name on the list.

Please advise what I should do to get approval.

Ken —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.113.175.250 (talk) 22:48, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * New products and new words are almost always not notable enough to meet our inclusion criteria. When a product becomes notable and there are sources in support, then maybe. Please also read WP:SPAM and don't SHOUT!. – ukexpat (talk) 22:51, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Further to Ukexpat's reply, may I just point out that both Nikon and Coca Cola are very established brands, which have received lots of coverage in reliable sources over the years that they have existed. I think that most people (in the Western World at least) have heard of Nikon and would know that they have something to do with cameras. I think that most people in the developed world have heard of Coca Cola! (In fact, some of my friends say that Christmas hasn't really begun until they see the first "Holidays are Coming" advert with the lorry advertising Coke!).
 * For a new brand or product to merit inclusion in Wikipedia, it would be necessary for it to receive significant coverage from very reliable sources (for example, a two-page spread in the New York Times, written by staff writers, not a re-write of a press release, or a paid-for promotional piece of writing). Offhand, I can't think of a new brand or product that has been included in Wikipedia within a year of it starting up.
 * Incidently, donations made have no effect on editing decisions on Wikipedia - never have, never will. The purpose of the fundraising is to help pay for the upkeep of the servers that are used for all of the WikiMedia Foundation projects (including Wikipedia), and for the 33 staff who work for the WikiMedia Foundation.
 * I am sorry that you feel let down by not being allowed to create your article, but Wikipedia has policies and guidelines on this, including the Wikipedia Guidelines on Notability and the Wikipedia Guidelines on Notability for Companies. --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 23:16, 25 November 2009 (UTC)


 * See also FAQ/Organizations. The critical thing to keep an article about a product or company is not how well written, interesting or technically detailed the article is, but how much coverage the subject has received in independent reliable sources as required in Notability. Other media like a newspaper would have other criteria but Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and doesn't aim to present interesting new products which may or may not become famous in the future. If the writing is not perfect then other editors can improve it, but if there are insufficient reliable sources then the article is deleted. Only administrators like me can see the content of deleted articles (but I haven't seen yours). PrimeHunter (talk) 23:45, 25 November 2009 (UTC)