Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 November 8

= November 8 =

Add user group
Is there any way to add a user group at a site like wikkii.com?  Btilm 01:28, 8 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Sure, the mediawiki software lets you do that, but the Wikimedia Foundation does run not that site, so you would have to ask the people who do run it about any changes. Prodego  talk  01:40, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * What do you mean by "user group"? The MediaWiki software has a specific technical meaning for that term. See mw:Manual:User rights. If that's not what you mean, please clarify. In any case, what you can or cannot do on a particular site is up to the site's administrators. It looks like wikkii.com is a free wiki hosting service. If I understand that correctly, it means you could probably create your own wiki there and set it up any way you want. If you are interested in doing that, read everything linked from WP:EIW. You might also want to set up your own Personal wiki running on the MediaWiki software so you can experiment with the setup and so on, without the added complication of trying to navigate someone else's server. See mw:Manual:Wiki on a stick. If you run your own wiki on a server, you need to maintain your own local backup copy anyway, in case the server dies. As you know, any site on the Web can vanish at any time, taking all your work with it unless you have maintained a working backup copy. --Teratornis (talk) 18:22, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

thanks for all the help... I made some major changes!
how do you think my page looks now? User:Theultravisitor/enjoythezoo Theultravisitor (talk) 02:44, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * This is not the place for reviews of draft articles. You need to go to Requests for Feedback --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 14:01, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Box in top right corner with basic facts/picture
In most articles, like Stephen Harper for example, have a box with basic facts and a picture of the topic. How do you do that? Pinkswimgirl98 (talk) 03:17, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Some variant of . See WP:INFOBOX for details. Intelligent  sium  03:27, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * (e/c) They are called infoboxes, and they are a special form of template. There is one for pretty much any topic imaginable. The infobox on the article you give as an example is called Template:Infobox officeholder. Infoboxes are added to an article by going to the infobox's page (which are always titled "Template:Infobox [TOPIC]"), then copying the code to the article by using the browser's clipboard function. Once you do that, it is only a matter of filling in the appropriate parameters by following the instructions in the green box. Xenon54 / talk / 03:29, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Editor Review
Would you please review me at Editor review/Btilm? I have been waiting for over two weeks. Thanks.  Btilm 04:14, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Look, I've been waiting for probably over a month now. You can wait...--Unionhawk Talk E-mail Review 04:30, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Check that. Make that over 2 months.--Unionhawk Talk E-mail Review 04:31, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * There is a backlog on the reviews. I have done a few reviews recently (so far, the oldest request I have dealt with was just a smidgeon under 3 months old!) - but may I suggest to both of you that you review one or two of the oldest requests?
 * I realise it takes time (as you need to look through the user's contributions (not just the log, but also some of them in more detail), talk page and archives, edit counts, any previous reviews, etc and then think how to phrase the review (I think my average on the reviews I have done has been about an hour) - but the more editors who review others, the more chance that the reviewed editors will then review others!
 * I intend on doing a few more reviews over the next week (starting with the oldest unreviewed request on the review page - I'm not going into the archives! - which means that unless someone else does one before Monday/Tuesday, I'd do Unionhawk next - 10 weeks old - then (if no one else does any) 11 more, then you Btilm! (2 weeks ago), but between Wikipedia and family commitments, there's only a limited amount of time! --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 13:44, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Using images from other Wikipedias
Is it possible/desirable to include images from other language versions of Wikipedia in articles in the English version? If so, how? If not, how does one go about copying an image across? 86.134.9.157 (talk) 04:28, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Any non-copyrighted (i.e. freely licensed) image can be uploaded to Commons - then it can be used on any Wikipedia. If you see a picture on another Wikipedia, chances are it's uploaded to Commons and thus will appear under the same name here. Xenon54 / talk / 13:54, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * If for some reason it is not on commons, have a look at the licensing shown on the file at the other Wikipedia. If it is compatible with that required for Commons (see Licensing on Commons it can be copied to Commons. If it is 'fair use' it can't be, and I'm not sure about uploading such an image to Wikipedia - if you gave us a link to a particular image, then we could give a definite answer! --  Phantom Steve  ( Contact Me, My Contribs ) 14:09, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * See WP:MITC. I like to use the Push-for-commons tool to search for images on a Wikipedia that are appropriately licensed for Commons. I have some notes in User:Teratornis/Notes about some of the images I have moved. If you want to move images, you will need to create an account and preferably unify it so you can use both the source Wikipedia and Commons via a single sign-on. --Teratornis (talk) 18:34, 8 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the replies. In my question, I had in mind the possibility of leaving the image in situ in the foreign-language Wikipedia and simply referencing it, or linking to it, from the English Wikipedia. It seems from the replies that this isn't an option. Is that correct? 86.133.245.83 (talk) 22:00, 8 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, only images at Commons and the same Wikipedia language can be displayed in a Wikipedia language. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:43, 11 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks PH. 86.134.30.206 (talk) 01:51, 11 November 2009 (UTC).

Why is is that when I try to use an image from ro.wikipedia.org in an en.wikipedia.org page it doesn't show? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Thela Brown (talk • contribs) 19:42, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Phantom edits, revisited
As I said the other day: I've been having issues with seeing some of my own edits (probably around 20-30%) over the past week or so. I'll make a change and it will be there in the preview, but when I save it, it's not there in the article or the article's edit history, yet it will be logged in my contributions list and when I click to edit the article again, the change does appear there in the text/code. I'm thinking maybe it's a delay of some sort, but if it is, it's a long one. An edit I made twelve hours ago has yet to appear.

That said, I withdrew the question after clearing my cache seemed to solve the problem. But now it's back after only 24 hours. Does anyone know what the problem could be?  Mbinebri  talk &larr; 14:47, 8 November 2009 (UTC)


 * It still sounds like your cache. See Bypass your cache. You should only have to press a key combination to see the current version of the viewed page. If it annoys you then look for your browser settings to disable caching permanently. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:20, 8 November 2009 (UTC)


 * The other thing it can be is that you or your Internet Service Provider is using a web proxy that is not correctly configured. —Th e DJ (talk • contribs) 15:03, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Why is my image not searchable and why can't I add it to the Vesuvius page ?
I recently added a really beautiful picture of Mt. Vesuvius taken from Sorrento under the file name: SYMVESUV.jpg

I can find it by going to "my contribs", but if I use the search box in wiki to search for its file name it can't find it. Also, if I try naming it in an addition to Mt. Vesuvius it can't find it.

Wazzup ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.103.28.57 (talk) 15:32, 8 November 2009 (UTC)


 * You need to search for it as a file: File:SYMVESUV.jpg. You need to add a copyright tag per the link on the file page. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 15:43, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Problems with a users signiture
This user is haveing trouble signing..he says that.."when I type four tildes it merely adds a static signature Jeremy Parzen 3:22 pm, Today (UTC+0) he is I think using a mac? What is going on with him? I have been discussing this and trying to help him here Off2riorob (talk) 15:35, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Did he check the signature box in his preferences? I would bet that he has the info pasted in there with the box checked. TN X Man  15:37, 8 November 2009 (UTC)


 * (e/c) Tell him to go to his preferences and take the checkmark out of "Sign my name exactly as shown". I think that will fix the issue.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:38, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I have asked him to look at that, it looks like that would cause the problem, thanks very much for your help. Off2riorob (talk) 16:44, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, it is working now, ta. Off2riorob (talk) 17:11, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

I am using a firefox explorer in a library, can't see chinese chracters on wikipedia
Is there something fonts or supporting language pack that I can download in order to show the characters? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.18.17.45 (talk) 17:54, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Does the text look like "Buchstabensalat" ("letter salad", garbled and random characters) or boxes? If that is the case, then there is probably nothing you can do. Public computers only include basic software and probably do not have the software required to display Chinese correctly. To prevent viruses and such from infiltrating the library's network, you probably are not allowed to install software. Sorry. Xenon54 / talk / 18:03, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

It's the letter salad like you described, I will have to ask the library about this, thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.18.17.45 (talk) 19:00, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Help:Multilingual support (East Asian) tells you what you need, but doesn't address your library's policies on installing software on its computers. You would have to find out who is in charge of the computers there, and ask them to follow those instructions. --Teratornis (talk) 18:12, 8 November 2009 (UTC)