Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2010 March 19

= March 19 =

User Talk
Hello,I have joined wikipedia a few months ago. Today while visiting pages on architecture annonimously I recieved a notification saying I have a new message. I opened it (but I was not logged in) and this is what it said:

>

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia October 2009

Welcome to Wikipedia. The recent edit you made to the page Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University has been reverted, as it appears to be unconstructive. Use the sandbox for testing; if you believe the edit was constructive, please ensure that you provide an informative edit summary. You may also wish to read the introduction to editing. Thank you. Martin451 (talk) 06:28, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

February 2010

Welcome to Wikipedia. It might not have been your intention, but your recent edit removed content from Barisal City. When removing text, please specify a reason in the edit summary and discuss edits that are likely to be controversial on the article's talk page. If this was a mistake, don't worry; the text has been restored, as you can see from the page history. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia, and if you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. Thank you.--armoreno10 18:52, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia. Everyone is welcome to contribute constructively to the encyclopedia. However, please do not add promotional material to articles or other Wikipedia pages, as you did to Multi level marketing. Advertising and using Wikipedia as a "soapbox" is against Wikipedia policy and not permitted. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about Wikipedia. Thank you. OhNoitsJamie Talk 20:34, 18 March 2010 (UTC)

The thing is I have no idea who made those changes to those articles but it was not me. How did I get a message when I was not logged in? Is it normal to get messages meant for some other user? —Preceding unsigned comment added by HeidiD11 (talk • contribs) 01:00, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * IP addresses can get messages too. Was the computer you saw that from a public computer, especially one from a school? If so, then someone else probably vandalized something from that computer. --The High Fin Sperm Whale 01:11, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Or depending on how you get your internet service, you may have a dynamic IP, meaning that someone else, on some other computer, had that IP, perhaps only a short time before. In any case, once you log in you can generally forget about the IP and its messages. DES (talk) 01:25, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * We should change the notification message for IP addresses. If it says something like "You have a new message", that could be incorrect for a user who is not logged in. Non-logged-in users should get a notification like: "Your current IP address has a new message, which may or may not be for you." In real life, if you are not sure who you are talking to, you don't accuse a stranger of having done something wrong. Instead you would need some evidence that this person is actually responsible, and not merely someone who happens to be in the same neighborhood, or someone who superficially resembles the suspect. --Teratornis (talk) 02:38, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I would agree, but I feel that including "which may or may not be for you" would be extraneous and excessively conciliatory. &mdash;Akrabbimtalk 03:39, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Ideally we would test this on a meaningfully large sample of unregistered editors to see how many understand the distinction between themselves and the IP address the message is addressed to. Too much about Wikipedia's design is based on hunches instead of actual data about users. Perhaps it would be better not to say "Your IP address", which might imply it couldn't be anyone else's IP address. "The IP address you are using in your current session" would be more correct but is somewhat awkward. --Teratornis (talk) 17:45, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * The simplest solution, of course, would be to require users to log in before editing (which will never happen), or at least to let individual users somehow impose this requirement on themselves (which would probably require some sort of browser plug-in that warns you if you try to edit Wikipedia without logging in first). --Teratornis (talk) 17:57, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Help using
I was transcluding my guestbook onto my userpage when the caused everything on my userpage underneath the transclusion to be centered, although there is a on my guestbook. Is there anything wrong?  N ERDY S CIENCE D UDE  (✉ msg • changes) 01:57, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I have no idea why it was doing that but adding just after the template name on your userpage fixed it.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:11, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks for fixing it.  N ERDY S CIENCE D UDE  (✉ msg • changes) 02:16, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Probably improper nesting of tags. Stifle (talk) 08:11, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Fraternities
It seems to me every fraternity wants to make it known when a notable person was a member of their organization, but is this important to every biography posted? What are the guidelines to when you should have a fraternity listed and when you shouldn't? Reading these biographies, it usually looks like someone wedged it in there some how. This should be cleared up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.71.93.119 (talk) 03:50, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * The matter should be discussed on the talk page of the article involved. The question, IMO, is how significant fraternity membership was in the particular person's life, and how extensive our article is otherwise (in a very short article it might violate WP:UNDUE). DES (talk) 04:00, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Help me
I know this not the right place to ask this, but anyways:

I am in a desperate need of an auto-confirmed user to improve Portal:Star. --Extra999 (Contact me) 04:37, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * You should be auto-confirmed yourself. You should be able to edit it.  N ERDY S CIENCE D UDE  (✉ msg • changes) 04:42, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * I don't know how to fix the redlinks. But thanks to Buzzzsherman, he has done it for me. --Extra999 (Contact me) 05:03, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * I have set the footer and box-header for you..As this is were most have trouble when starting there first portal. If you need anymore help with it ple let me know!!!-->Buzzzsherman (talk) 04:48, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Demographics_of_South_Africa
I was really disappointed to see that the idea of racial segregation in South Africa is being reinforced by the presentation of content you have on our country: Demographics of South Africa Why do you find it necessary to provide separated information on the people of our country? It's nonesense! Please look up the meaning of uBuntu to understand what our culture is about and where our future lies. You might rethink the content layout to a more integrated approach. It is these kinds of small things that reinforce the world's opinions that we are still a country divided by race! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.244.64.126 (talk) 07:32, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Better places to discuss this:
 * Talk:Demographics of South Africa
 * Wikipedia talk:WikiProject South Africa
 * Only 3210 users watch this Help desk, out of registered Wikipedia user accounts, so the odds are low the small subset of users with interest in Demographics of South Africa would see your comment here. Also note that your comment may be too vague to let other editors understand what you think is wrong and how you want to improve it. --Teratornis (talk) 17:36, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Photos
I want to add a photo to the Steve Moria article that I have started to write. I have found a very nice picture on this website. I would like to establish the copyright of this photo and to use it if possible. I have a couple of questions: •• Fly by Night (talk) 10:16, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * 1) How would I go about doing that?
 * 2) If I were to email the website and to ask for permission would that be permissible?
 * The copyright is probably owned by Paul Young, who (I'm guessing) is a photographer for that organisation. If you use the "contact us" link, you can ask specifically for Mr. Young, and continue your correspondence there. If he agrees, ask him to give e-mail consent in this format to permissions-commons@undefinedlists.wikimedia.org so we have a record of it. Best, Peter Symonds ( talk ) 10:23, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks a lot. I've emailed them. Now let's wait and see what happens. •• Fly by Night (talk) 10:46, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

search: 'law brokers' incorrect claim. How can it be rectified or amended?
Morning

in the search for Law Brokers the entry is factually incorrect as it claims that Prime law Brokers the worlds first.... This is in fact an incorrect claim as Anthony Austin an Englishman formed Independent Law Brokers in 1993 having been working on the concept since May 2002. How can the entry be amended or corrected. There are a number of links to articles in various Law journals which are being asked to correct the position.

Many thanks Earl of Wentworth (talk) 10:40, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * [[Image:Crystal_Clear_app_utilities.png|20px]]Thank you for your suggestion. When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make those changes. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the  link at the top. The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold in updating pages. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes — they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills.  New contributors are always welcome. You don't even need to log in (although there are many reasons why you might want to).  --Mysdaao talk 12:16, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Gio-Goi - company article, clearly written by company (I.e. brochure/propaganda)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gio_Goi —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jlrosen (talk • contribs) 13:13, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * It doesn't look particularly bad, and it looks like it has good third-party references. If there is specific wording that you find objectionable, please discuss the issue on the talk page.  Powers T 13:32, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, it was pretty bad. has just cleaned it up. ≈ Chamal talk ¤ 13:34, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

IP address logged inadvertently.
Hello,

I've just made a major revision to Particle swarm optimization that took me several hours so as to bring it up to scientific journal quality. In the meantime my Wikipedia session must have timed out so when I finally submitted the revised page the author was logged as my IP address. Could you possibly change the author from the IP address to this account called 'Optimering'?

Thanks and sorry for the trouble.

Optimering (talk) 15:09, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, edits can no longer reattributed from IP addresses to usernames. See this page for the way it used to work. TN X Man  15:12, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * You can make a dummy edit while logged in with an edit summary that identifies your account as having made the previous edit, but your IP address will remain visible in the history. --Teratornis (talk) 17:27, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * In addition, if the edit was substantial, it probably deserves a mention on the talk page in any event, and you could use the occasion to note that any questions about the revision should be directed to you as opposed to the IP.-- SPhilbrick  T  18:36, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

How to insert a picture in a article
I uploaded the picture here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dumitru_Radu_Popa.jpg I want to insert it in the file: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumitru_Radu_Popa

I am not able to find a way of doing this Vetiver2 (talk) 15:43, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * You've correctly added File:Dumitru Radu Popa.jpg to your subpage User:Vetiver2/Dumitru Radu Popa. There's no such article Dumitru Radu Popa, but you can add the image to any page that exists the same way (with the syntax [[Image:Dumitru_Radu_Popa.jpg|thumb|alt=alt text|caption]] ).  --Mysdaao talk 16:00, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * I have tagged File:Dumitru Radu Popa.jpg for deletion as it is an exact copy of a file on Commons: commons:File:Dumitru radu popa.jpg. When the local file is deleted, you will have to update your link to the file to take account of the differences in capitalization: [[Image:File:Dumitru radu popa.jpg|thumb|alt=alt text|caption]] . – ukexpat (talk) 17:41, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Moving a page
Hello. I am going to move the page 'Off with Their Heads' to 'Off with Their Heads (album)' and create a disambiguation page with links to 'Off with Their Heads (album)' and 'Off with Their Heads (band)'. On the Move page it states "The old title will become a redirect page to the new title." Will this still allow me to have 'Off with Their Heads' as a disambiguation page? Would like to check this with an experienced user before I proceed. Any advise would be appreciated. Zarcadia (talk) 17:31, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * If there are only two articles that require disambiguation it is not necessary to create a disam page. Just put a hatnote on each article pointing to the other. – ukexpat (talk) 17:36, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * However, if there were a reason for a disambiguation page (and if there are only two articles with no primary term, such a page is acceptable although not required), you could simply edit the redirect page to convert it to a disambiguation page. DES (talk) 21:23, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Proper method for requesting deletion
While editing Cocos (Keeling) Islands, I discovered a link to Outline of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. The former article contains relevant content. The latter is an extensive outline with very little content. The two articles cover the same topic. The outline article seems to me redundant. Anyone who wanted to provide content under the categories listed in the outline could add that content to the existing article. What would be the correct process for requesting deletion of the outline article? If there is a template to be inserted, could you provide a link? I am a little embarrassed to say that I am not familiar with such tools. Thanks. (By the way, I have asked a related question at the Village Pump). Marco polo (talk) 18:02, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * My suggestion is to tread carefully. You've stumbled upon one of what are hundreds of outline articles. Whether they should exist, or be encouraged is a subject of intense debate. See this for more information, and this for a snippet of the debate. I don't think it is as simple as how to delete this particular article, but how to address the whole project. Personally, I'm not ready to invest the time necessary to form an opinion on the subject, so I've steered clear. You are welcome to join in the discussion, but it doesn't appear to be as simple as simply filing an AfD.-- SPhilbrick  T  18:33, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * As I stated in my Village Pump post, I am aware that this is politically fraught. I'm hoping that the Village Pump discussion might lead to a policy defining the minimum scope for an outline article. That said, I do think that this article should be deleted as redundant clutter.  I am not going to move to delete it until I mobilize support for the idea that there should at least be a minimum scope for outlines.  When that time comes, what would my next step be toward having it deleted?  Thanks.  Marco polo (talk) 18:50, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * As SPhilbrick mentions, it is wise to tread lightly. Technically, however, this would be covered by either an articles for deletion or WP:MFD request. WP:TFD covers templates, WP:CFD covers categories, and WP:FFD covers images and other media, so AFD or MFD are really your only options. TN X Man  19:23, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Marco polo (talk) 20:01, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

How to create a category
I am considering creating a category in the near future, but I am not currently aware of how to start one. I assume it is not as simple as quick-adding a page to a nonexistent category using HotCat, as categories have a page of their own. Immunize (talk) 19:44, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, it really is that easy. Just go to Category:Insert name here and add the content you need. You can then add pages to the category like normal. TN X Man  19:48, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * But check carefully that the category doesn't exist with a slightly different style of name. For example Category:Alumni of Harvard University exists as Category:Harvard University alumni. There are lots of other examples. – ukexpat (talk) 20:07, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

\ When you say Category:Insert name here, is that really where I should insert the content, or were you just using it as an example? Immunize (talk) 20:11, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * That's an example. You'd just link to whichever category you want to create, like Category:English sword swallowers, and go from there. Make sure that your new category is also in other categories.-- Beloved Freak  20:19, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Be sure also, if it is a child category of a broader category, to add that category itself to the parent category; i.e., the page Category:English sword swallowers would itself be added to Category:Sword swallowers and to Category:English entertainers. -- Orange Mike  &#x007C;   Talk  20:47, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

What content should a category page contain? Immunize (talk) 23:32, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * At at bare minimum it should have a brief description and its parent category/ies. See also Category. – ukexpat (talk) 02:28, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

I have created two new categories, Category:Viral encephalitis and Category:Neurological disorders in children, and I would like an editor more experienced with categories to look them over. Immunize (talk) 14:39, 20 March 2010 (UTC)


 * They didn't have proper parent categories. Category:Viral encephalitis had none and Category:Neurological disorders in children had the parent category Category:Categories which it shouldn't have.  I have edited them so Category:Viral encephalitis has the parent categories Category:Encephalitis and Category:Viral diseases and Category:Neurological disorders in children has the parent categories Category:Neurological disorders and Category:Pediatrics.  If those are incorrect, feel free to change them.  I also added  to Category:Viral encephalitis so it links to the associated article Viral encephalitis.  It looks like there's no associated article for the other category.  A description of each category is the last thing it should have, but I don't know enough about the topics to add them.  --Mysdaao talk 15:19, 20 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Often, the talk pages of relevant Wikiprojects can be a great source of help on issues like this. In this case: Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Medicine. – ukexpat (talk) 19:29, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

African Americans
My name is James Wesley Chester. Your entry for defining those who are African Americans confuses people in that definition.

I would like to submit clarifying information.

I am an African American.

Is this how I do that?

Assuming the answer is 'Yes'...

My comments:

African American is an ethnicity peculiar to that group of people who are descendants of the descendants of American Slavery; the Institution and the practice.

An African American is first an American of natural birth, who is African ancestry, wholly or in part.

That person must also be a descendant of, a person who is descendant of a person was an African slave in one of the States, or Protectorates of the United States of America.

A person who is immigrant from another nation, albeit on the African continent, is not an African American simply because residency is established.

Such inclusion results in persons of European ancestry, but born in an African nation (acquisition of American citizenship notwithstanding) eligible for inclusion.

Recognizing that this definition is counter to hegemony of our culture, it is nonetheless, the fact.

Further African American is not hyphenated.

Such spelling confers nation-status on the continent of Africa.

As stated, Africa is not a nation but rather is a continent.

Insisting on this use of language further institutionalizes an imposed identity on a people who have no institutional power to immediately contradict the repressive effect of such usage.

Wikipedia should be better than that.

James Wesley Chester, President and Founder Institute for African American National Heritage

21:01, 19 March 2010 (UTC)21:01, 19 March 2010 (UTC)21:01, 19 March 2010 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.54.71.21 (talk)
 * Such suggestions would probably be best discussed on Talk:African American, or the talk page of the article the usage you disagree with. Note that the topic is contentious, adn wikipedia policy is that we report what has been published in reliable sources, we do not impose ruels of our own. If the term "African American" or indeed "African-American" is commonly sued, we report that. We report how it is used. If many people use it for people with "black" skin tone and appearance whose ancestors lived in Europe, we report that, whether such use is "correct" or not. If some reliable sources deem such use improper, we should report that also. DES (talk) 21:39, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * You can suggest adding this information into the article, or creating an article on this institution and adding this definition in to that new article.174.3.98.20 (talk) 22:24, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * There is a WikiProject African diaspora you may consider joining. See: Euphemism treadmill. To illustrate the diversity of approaches to troublesome language, note that the gay community has reclaimed formerly pejorative labels such as queer to de-stigmatize them. Wikipedia is generally descriptive rather than prescriptive; Wikipedia is not a suitable platform for "correcting" a prevailing usage. See WP:NOBLECAUSE. Before writing an article on Wikipedia about the institute with which you are affiliated, see WP:COI and WP:BFAQ. You can also request that someone else write an article about your institute. Good luck, and welcome to Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 00:08, 20 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I might add that according to the Recent African origin of modern humans model, every human in the Americas is an "African American", differing only in how long ago his or her ancestors left the ancestral continent of all humans. --Teratornis (talk) 03:33, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Historic Debate Of Clitoris And Autofellatio


In the historic debate, this section states that the pictures were deleted. Now were the pictures deleted off wikipedia, so these pictures are still on wikicommons?

(Which pictures were these?)174.3.98.20 (talk) 21:27, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Did you follow the links to the archived discussions? The image names should still be there. If the image(s) are no longer on Wikipedia or Commons, you might find them on the Internet Archive. --Teratornis (talk) 00:13, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Duck Soup (1970's) Band Member Info Availability
Text for an article on "Duck Soup (1970's band)", though partially appearing as result of Google search (under Wikipedia heading), when clicked on goes only to Wikipedia New Contributors Help Page; no actual article appears. Same result when searching for band members names: Richard Grossman, Bill Koepnick, Jimmy Hayne -- it appears that there is an article (partial text appears with these names mentioned) but no way to get to it. 75.17.185.138 (talk) 21:44, 19 March 2010 (UTC)


 * Searching for "Duck Soup (1970's band)" on Google results in a link to New contributors' help page because a user wrote about the band there. The section has since been archived, and is now at New contributors' help page/Archive/2010/March.  There is no such article about the band on Wikipedia.  --Mysdaao talk 14:53, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

Er? Eh?
Why is every page here vadalized? &lt;font face="Courier"&gt;&#91;&#91;User:Komododragonfan16&#124;&lt;font color="red"&gt;&#39;&#39;&#39;Kommy&#39;&#39;&#39;&lt;font&gt;&#93;&#93;&#91;&#91;User talk:Komododragonfan16&#124;&lt;font color="yellow"&gt;&#39;&#39;&#39;boy&#39;&#39;&#39;&lt;/font&gt;&#93;&#93;&gt;&#93;&#93;&#91;&#91;Special:Contributions/Komododragonfan16&#124;&lt;font color="green"&gt;&#39;&#39;&#39;16&#39;&#39;&#39;&lt;/font&gt;&#93;&#93; (talk) 22:15, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Because there are so many vadals? Seriously, though, every page here isn't vandalized. Is there an unfixed page in particular you had in mind? --Floquenbeam (talk) 22:20, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I mean vandalized! And so, why is practically every page vandalized? &lt;font face="Courier"&gt;&#91;&#91;User:Komododragonfan16&#124;&lt;font color="red"&gt;&#39;&#39;&#39;Kommy&#39;&#39;&#39;&lt;font&gt;&#93;&#93;&#91;&#91;User talk:Komododragonfan16&#124;&lt;font color="yellow"&gt;&#39;&#39;&#39;boy&#39;&#39;&#39;&lt;/font&gt;&#93;&#93;&gt;&#93;&#93;&#91;&#91;Special:Contributions/Komododragonfan16&#124;&lt;font color="green"&gt;&#39;&#39;&#39;16&#39;&#39;&#39;&lt;/font&gt;&#93;&#93; (talk) 22:32, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure that's the case either. There is a lot of vandalism, because there are a lot of bored schoolchildren, and anyone can edit here. There's no such thing as a free lunch; the big benefit we get out of allowing anyone to edit comes with the cost of dealing with vandalism.  So far, we've decided it's worth the cost. --Floquenbeam (talk) 22:44, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * I found this essay a helpful read when i first started looking at vandal edits and the motivation behind them; The motivation of a vandal. You might find it might explain their behaviour Ottawa4ever (talk) 23:05, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Quite a few pages will get vandalized at some point, but the percentage of current page revisions that are vandalized at any given time is not too large because most vandalism gets corrected pretty quickly by constructive editors. As to why you see vandalism on the English Wikipedia, that's because we have not yet implemented flagged revisions like the German Wikipedia has. The English Wikipedia invites vandalism in something like the way leaving your house with the doors open would invite theft from persons so inclined. The English Wikipedia has developed impressive tools to combat the vandalism we invite, like leaving the doors open but having advanced weaponry inside the house to neutralize the burglars who accept the invitation. As to why anyone would accept the invitation, see Psychopathy, Narcissism, and (above all) Adolescence. --Teratornis (talk) 23:49, 19 March 2010 (UTC)
 * Komodo dragonfan16, if I may briefly digress, there are two things you need to fix with your signature. 1., you need to untick the "Sign my name exactly as shown" box on Special:Preferences. 2., you should change the name your signature displays. Signing as "Kommyboy16", which is different from your actual username, will only cause confusion, and I must warn you that "Commie" (pronounced the same as "Kommy") is a still a common slang term for "Communist". Xenon54 / talk / 23:50, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

I've fixed. And I am not a communist in any way. Kommy is shor for Komodo dragon Kommy  boy  16. 11:01, 20 March 2010 (UTC)

I've tweaked my sig to say "Komodo". Komodo boy  16  11:03, 20 March 2010 (UTC)