Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 July 7

= July 7 =

How to delete my username from wikipedia?
Hi!

Please, I want to delete my Username:	******** User ID:	*******

Thanks a lot,
 * 01:19, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Due to the fact that Wikipedia content is licensed under the GFDL and the CC-BY-SA, all edits must be kept for attribution purposes, and so your account cannot be deleted. You do, however, have the right to vanish, which you can exercise by (1) requesting your user page (found at Special:Mypage) and subpages be deleted, by adding the template to them; (2) requesting to change your username to something that is unconnected with you (possibly a random collection of letters and numbers); (3) never logging in to your account again. The "right to vanish" does not mean anyone has the right to a fresh start under a new identity. Anyone who wants to continue editing should request a change of username instead so edits can be reattributed. — mono  21:55, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Delete all categories?
What is the purpose of categories? If no purpose, why not delete all of them.

Isn't the purpose to assist others in finding other similar articles. For example, if you are looking at German politicians but do not know many, you can use the category list to find others? Suomi Finland 2009 (talk) 00:55, 7 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Yes, but also so that if a template (say, music-stub) needs to be substed or modified all of a sudden, all the pages using it are easy to find and fix. In some ways, it's more for us and maintenance purposes, keeping track of how many articles there are on a given topic so that editors who are interested can look after them. so  nia ♫♪ 00:57, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, there is Special:WhatLinksHere, but as Sonia says, they are very useful for maintenance purposes such as keeping track of proposed deletions (that way, one does not have to create a separate PROD template for each day) and Articles for Creation (a custom sort key sorts the submissions by status and then by date). PleaseStand (talk) 01:45, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I use categories often for the exact reason that the OP states, to find related pages. Dismas |(talk) 08:10, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Editing a page
I wanted to edit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire-bellied_toad minimally, but the edit was hidden behind text. I got around that to edit, but I am still unsure of why one of the edits is so awkwardly placed. Is it possible to move it and if so could someone please? 10max01 (talk) 02:43, 7 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Seems you figured it out.  AJ Cham  02:55, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Er, I edited my post above after you read it - was going to delete the question because I got around it, but still would like to know if there is a way to move the edit (which is still placed awkwardly) link. (I had to just find out how many sections there were and edit from that, moving text so nothing covered it). If you don't know how, thanks for your time anyways. 10max01 (talk) 03:07, 7 July 2010 (UTC)


 * So you did, sorry about that. Could I ask what skin you are using?  I'm unable to recreate the issue you're having in vector or monobook.  Whilst it won't solve whatever is up with the page, you may be able to make things more convenient for yourself for the time being by using this gadget.  AJ  Cham  03:36, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

MySpace links in body of text
Would somebody be kind enough to remind me the guidelines about using external links, specifically MySpace, in the body of an article? I know it's discouraged but can't remember where I saw it. A quick look at my talk page might provide more insight. Thanks! 69.181.249.92 (talk) 06:31, 7 July 2010 (UTC)


 * See External links; the first paragraph says they should not normally be used in the body of an article, and MySpace is mentioned further down at Links normally to be avoided. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:03, 7 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Ah, that's why I couldn't remember; I think of that page as being about the EL section only. 69.181.249.92 (talk) 07:10, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

page deletion
hi there, i am trying to create a wikipedia page for BusinessClub Scotland but i see that my page was deleted.

04:54, 7 July 2010 Toddst1 (talk | contribs) deleted "BusinessClub Scotland" ‎ (A7: No explanation of the subject's significance (real person, animal, organization, or web content): Multiple reasons)

I was wondering if you could please tell me why this page was deleted.

this is a propsal of the page i am trying to create. if it is possible for comments on ammendments so that i can create this page.

== BusinessClub Scotland ==

BusinessClub Scotland is a Glasgow based initiative designed to help Scotland’s business community benefit from the country’s ambitious events programme.

== History ==

The development of the Club unique to Scotland was one of the key elements of the bid to bring the Commonwealth Games to Glasgow in 2014 Launched in February 2009, BusinessClub Scotland already has a growing membership of over 2000 registered contacts.

Supported by the Scottish Government and the country’s leading business organisations, and working closely with Event Scotland, BusinessClub Scotland will ensure that Scottish companies are supported, engaged and given the chance to maximise the commercial opportunities generated by Scotland’s current and planned investment in major events. The initiative reflects the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring publicly funded activities contribute to greater economic growth for the country.

== [edit] References ==

produces dffgd &#91;messages·edits]. Or you could put an empty tag after the first:  produces dffgd [ messages·edits]. Algebraist 13:59, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * So & # 9 1 ; (ignore spaces) is the left bracket? That's what I was looking for. Thanks again. dffgd &#91;messages·edits] 14:05, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * &amp;#91; is indeed the html entity for the left square bracket right (facing) square bracket (i.e. the one you place to the left of your text). Ignore me-from-five-minutes-ago, I was stupid then. Gonzonoir (talk) 15:57, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Man, I really dislike the play sushi ads
Why do you allow these "play sushi" entertainment ads? They detract from the core content of the article, and in fact are completely unrelated... not to mention extremely irritating. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.79.212.146 (talk) 14:23, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * There should not be any advertisements in a Wikipedia article. If you do see advertisements, it could be that you are not viewing the article on the Wikipedia, but rather on another site that mirrors Wikipedia material. At which article were you looking? TN  X  Man  14:27, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

It's been on almost every wiki site - after some research, I think I may have a virus that generatesg the ads. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.79.212.146 (talk) 17:41, 7 July 2010 (UTC) It was in fact adware that I picked up from somewhere. After some research, I found Playsushi was a program I could easily uninstall from Control Panel\Programs\Programs and Features. This item is closed. However, it's nice to know this forum works and there are folks trying to resppnd to user questions. Tx TN  X  Man    !! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.79.212.146 (talk) 18:22, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Spelling of search terms
A specific example of something I encountered, if I enter the term nessi or NESSI, I am directed to the page for the Networked European Software and Services Initiatives. If I enter the term NeSSI, I am directed to the New Sampling and Sensor Initiative, which is the page I wanted. Particularly for acronyms, I may be directed to the wrong page, not know that I've reached a page with an ambiguous identifier, and not know the specific spelling to access the page that I want. How does one ensure that all of the relevant pages are listed for selection in the case where the same letters are used and only the case distinguishes one from the other?
 * I've added a "hatnote", with the text:
 * "Nessi" redirects here. For the New Sampling and Sensor Initiative, see NeSSI.
 * Hatnotes are used to disambiguate two pages with similar titles. A similar hatnote has already been placed on NeSSI. For more than two pages with similar titles, a disambiguation page is used, such as the one on AA. Intelligent  sock  15:41, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

US Court question
How many US Supreme Courts are there —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.5.95.249 (talk) 16:12, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * This is a question better placed on the reference desk (since this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia), but to save everyone's time, there's just the one: see Supreme Court of the United States. Gonzonoir (talk) 16:16, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Au contraire; there are 51. Each US state has a Supreme Court also. 76.230.11.163 (talk) 16:32, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * This is wrong information and even I know the answer. What about the Supreme Court of Guam?  Guam is in the USA.  What about Puerto Rico?  Massachusetts does not have a Supreme Court but does have a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Suomi Finland 2009 (talk) 16:38, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * And, of course, New York has many "Supreme Courts", none of which are actually "supreme" courts. Hullaballoo Wolfowitz (talk) 16:54, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * All of which, I think, points to a need for more precision in the question. Gonzonoir (talk) 08:19, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Names of jailed entertainers?
Can you tell me the names of well known (Wikipedia notable) living actors and actresses that have been sentenced to jail? There used to be a category but it was deleted. I thought that categories help locate articles. That reason was never used, just the "I like it" and "I don't like it" reasons. Please help and tell me the pertinent names. Thank you. Suomi Finland 2009 (talk) 16:36, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * See Categories, lists, and navigation templates. You could possibly make a list article. See Lists of people for other examples, and WP:EIW for instructions. I have no idea how the friendly deletionists would react to such a list. I suspect, but lack data to prove, that "over-listing" is less of a problem in some people's minds than "over-categorization". (For starters, we have a guideline page about over-categorization, but no analogous page about over-listing - other than the mere essay Listcruft.) That is, deletionists might smell blood in the water when they see a long list of categories at the bottom of an article, but an equally large number of list pages that list the article won't be as readily apparent, and therefore possibly less exciting. We have a Category:Incarcerated mobsters, so I don't understand the objection to whatever category you vaguely allude to. Obviously, it would help if you would tell us the name of the deleted category. If you don't feel like doing the work to create a list, and then seeing whether it survives, you could wait ten or twenty years for Wikipedia to gain semantic wiki features, and then it should be straightforward to query the encyclopedia for dynamic lists of articles that meet complex criteria such as living entertainers who have been incarcerated. Semantic wiki features might allow Wikipedia to be useful to diverse people while satisfying the deletionists' arbitrary sense of fastidiousness. --Teratornis (talk) 17:56, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Deleted article
My article Yoshukai International has disappeared, apparently deleted. I went to a lot of work on the research, and I'd like to have a copy for my archives. Could someone help me with this? Please contact me at my talk page. Thanks. Pkeets (talk) 17:15, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * As for the deletion, see Articles for deletion/Yoshukai International (2nd nomination). Regarding being provided the content, go to your preferences and enable your email.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:19, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks. The email address should be all set. Pkeets (talk) 17:30, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I notice other Yoshukai system articles have also disappeared. Could I get copies of these, as well? One was the general Yoshukai article, and one would have been U.S. Yoshukai, as I recall. Were there also others? Pkeets (talk) 18:56, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * You have everything I found from your deleted contributions.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 20:27, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I appreciate it. Pkeets (talk) 22:36, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

One more question about this. The images that went with the articles seem to have disappeared, as well. Is there any way I can find these? They appear to be Yoshukai logo.png and Yoshukai.jpg. Pkeets (talk) 01:25, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

Cannot edit reference section
I am trying to edit one of the links in the reference section of Juskatla, British Columbia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juskatla,_British_Columbia), as the link is broken and needs to be replaced. However, when I click on edit, none of the links in this section are available to be edited. It shows only the following:
 * The reason for that is because the article uses reflist. You would have to find where it shows up as [1], [2], [3] etc. in the article.  Mr. R00t    Talk  18:07, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Basically it uses inline citations which than link to the reflist You can find the references easily by clicking the '^' symbol in front of the references. --The High Fin Sperm Whale 18:11, 7 July 2010 (UTC)


 * See Referencing for beginners ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 22:55, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Stop users from editing my page
Question: How do I stop other users from editing my biography page. I am having trouble with other people posting up rude comments about me. I am having to check my page every morning and night, as well as during the day when someone tells me about another comment. Is there a preference setting? —Preceding unsigned comment added by DiNoviFan (talk • contribs) 18:12, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * It appears that you have a conflict of interest with the article, Alexandra DiNovi. Please note that you do not own the article and it is freely editable by anyone. If there are excessive amounts of vandalism, the article may be semi-protected, which disables editing for new and unregistered editors. TN  X  Man  18:30, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, you don't have to worry because the trouble-maker has been blocked from editing.  Kayau  Voting  IS   evil 01:32, 10 July 2010 (UTC)

How do I...... Post a page on WIkipedia
Hello,

I would like to post a page on Curtis Knapp Photographer. Your help page has me going all around. Where is the exact page to fill out such a posting. You may email me via the email I have for my wikipedia <schuylergehring at gmail dot com>.

I am an old student of Knapp's and manager now. You may know him for his more famous portraits of Madonna and Andy Warhol.

Sincerely, Schuyler Gehring —Preceding unsigned comment added by Schuylerg (talk • contribs) 21:23, 7 July 2010 (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 with which all articles should comply. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite 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 Your first article. You might also look at 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. An Article Wizard is also available to walk you through creating an article.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:33, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Salam
I searched about aryans but i didnt got the info i want. sometime ago from somewhere i got following info: Nuh(a.s)(believed as one of the prophets of muslims, on his nation god sent his wrath and ordered him to made a bigboat and to enter his followers in it in order to get away from the wrath). All the humanbiengs died and the human race continued by just hid three sons. one of his son became father of arabs, other of collored ppl and last of central asians. from the decsendants of the third originated five great nations 1. huns 2. mongols 3. agogmagog 4. turks 5. ARyANS

It is considered that the aryans of iran and india, germans, and sultan ghasnavi and shahabudin are all thier descendants. Moreover English, persian urdu and many other languages were made by them.

BUT I M UNABLE TO FIND THAT NATION ON WIKKIPEDIA. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.120.250.80 (talk) 22:35, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * The first part sounds very much like the fable of Noah (note that we have a stubby article on the Islamic view of Noah) but the the latter part about the founding of nations is something else I think. You say your heard this "somewhere". Can you explain a bit further?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:09, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * What he's looking for are Indo-Europeans, although his legend lumps in a few that are not indo-europeans (Mongols aren't AFAIK), and agogmagog isn't an ethnic group.--Elen of the Roads (talk) 13:52, 8 July 2010 (UTC)
 * What he seems to be actually looking for is Japhetic (a term for the supposed race descended from Noah's son Japheth). Deor (talk) 14:14, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Bizarre template with leading colon transcluding from the beyond
A user asked me about this very strange template on my talk page: (note the leading colon), which appears in this article; I am totally stumped. I am posting it below (collapsed) to show what it transcludes... from somewhere. It is not a normal template, or at least not like anyone I've ever encountered. First, Template:The Cleveland Show (season 2) does not exist and has never existed. One might think, then, that the colon is part of the name, but placing the colon as part of the template name just breaks the syntax, not even producing a link: Template::The Cleveland Show (season 2). Yet, this "template" can be substituted, but where the hell is it calling from? There's probably a very simple answer. Show me your magic.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:47, 7 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Weird. It looks like it comes from the article The Cleveland Show (season 2), but I have no idea why it's transcluding the way it does. so  nia ♫♪ 22:51, 7 July 2010 (UTC)


 * It is transcluding The Cleveland Show (season 2), which has content wrapped in <onlyinclude ></onlyinclude> so only that part transcludes. It uses The Cleveland Show (season 1) in the same manner. The colon has no effect. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 22:53, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Aha! I get it. So it's transcluding the article by that name, but because of the onlyinclude tags, it's transcluding only the portion inside. A very unusual arrangement. It's funny. I know and have used noinclude tags, and I know that you can transclude articles, but I never put it together. The colon being there, smugly pretending to have a function, didn't help. Thanks for trying Sonia, and thanks for the answer Gadget.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:01, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I believe the colon trick only works for File and Category. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 23:12, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * The colon does indeed have an effect. It allows an article to be transcluded (the main namespace prefix is blank, so only a colon is used to transclude pages from that namespace, just as the "User:" prefix is used to transclude pages from the main namespace). Without the colon, typing only yields


 * . I remember this issue coming up before at the help desk—I'll try to find a link. Intelligent  sock  23:22, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Here. Intelligent  sock  23:27, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Learned something new. Wonder where this is supposed to be documented? ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 21:40, 8 July 2010 (UTC)
 * I have added material on this into Help:Template (diff. Please do edit this for clarity and accuracy.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:04, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Merge IP with User
Can anyone tell me (in terms I can understand) how I merge my anonymous IP contributions with my proper Wiki user contributions? Is it even possible? Wikipedia is forever logging me out, and I often make edits and then realise I'm not logged in. It would be nice to tie in all my IP edits with my proper account. I read the help but I couldn't make head nor tail of it, so I figured I'd ask here. Apologies if this isn't the right place to ask. Thanks. P.S. It's July 8th here in the UK. :) Damage (talk) 23:42, 7 July 2010 (UTC)
 * You can't, unfortunately. However, a way to recognise when you're logged out is to change the colour of your "save page" button (see my vector.css for the code), so that it's a different colour when you're logged in. IP edits cannot be reassigned to an account, but you can go back to the page and edit it while logged in, saying "that was me" in the edit summary. That's about all you can do. However, doing this will link your IP (and thus your location) to your account, so you may not want to. so  nia ♫♪ 23:56, 7 July 2010 (UTC)