Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 July 5

= July 5 =

More problems with new page

 * Can somebody help?
 * I recently created page William Putnam (alpinist)
 * His full name, however, is William Lowell Putnam III, and is descendant of William Lowell Putnam ("the first"), who is of course, a different person.

WLP III figures in the Lowell Observatory article & I don't know how to "wikify" the name there without incorrectly directing readers to the WLP Sr. article.

The article(s) might be best renamed, and/or, some sort of disambiguation technique incorporated.


 * For anyone who might have the time or inclination to fix these troubles, thanks. Is beyond my ken.

Calamitybrook (talk) 01:26, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Since there is no other William Lowell Putnam III, I just went ahead and moved William Putnam (alpinist) to William Lowell Putnam III. So now you can just add a link directly to William Lowell Putnam III (and William Putnam (alpinist) will still point to that article as a redirect). In the future though, if you ever wanted to have the text of a link say one thing, while it actually goes to an article with a different title, you can do it like this:  Furry critters who are man's best friend  ... This will make a link that looks like this: Furry critters who are man's best friend, but actually points to the article Dogs. For more information on how to work with links on Wikipedia, check out the page Help:Links. ~ Mesoderm (talk) 01:45, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

How to search for any articles with a section named "X"
Hi, I'm trying to use the search feature to return a list of all articles that have a section with a particular title. (For example "Give me any articles that have a section titled 'In popular culture'"). Is there any way to do this currently? Thank you. ~ Mesoderm (talk) 01:31, 5 July 2011 (UTC)


 * I don't, but I would be one of the many grateful readers if you do start to clean up those sections. :-) Bielle (talk) 01:56, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * If you do not get an answer here, try WP:VPT where the techies stalk.--  SPhilbrick  T  02:21, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * If you don't find a better solution, one way to do this would be to post at AutoWikiBrowser/Tasks. Some AWB users have downloaded database dumps and can use a tool to scan them. I began a search for articles with an "In popular culture" section, and have posted 2000+ articles in User:John of Reading/Sandbox. I stopped the search at about the 20% mark, but feel free to ask for the full list of about 10,000 articles. That will keep you busy for a while... -- John of Reading (talk) 12:30, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * There is something wrong with the list. I went to entry 96, American Crow and there not only isn't a section header called 'In Popular Culture', the phrase doesn't exist at all on the page, either in the source or in the output (and yes, I did show all sections of the template at the bottom.Naraht (talk) 15:37, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * My database dump is from April, I'm afraid, so the list will include articles where the section has been deleted since then. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:43, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Just to confirm what John said, if you look at the American Crow article in March you will see a section "in popular culture" which was removed on 19 June-- SPhilbrick  T  16:21, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * OK, thank you for the explanation. The sad thing is that the 'In Popular culture' section wasn't that different than what is on most of the pages. :(Naraht (talk) 18:42, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks Sphilbrick. I'll try posting at WP:VPT. Even if this isn't currently available, it should be pretty easy to implement. I'll post here if anything interesting comes up. ~ Mesoderm (talk) 22:43, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Here is the thread if anyone wants to keep track of it. ~ Mesoderm (talk) 03:18, 6 July 2011 (UTC)

Well, unfortunately appears that this functionality is not available at the moment. There is currently a feature request bug outstanding on Bugzilla that has been stagnant since September 2010. I have posted a link to this thread on the bug report, as well as providing an example of how it could be useful here on Wikipedia. I'm personally unable to implement this myself, so I'll have to wait until I hear back from the developers. ~ Mesoderm (talk) 06:55, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Phony password change

 * (I posted this on Help talk:Email confirmation but I don't know if that was the best place for it. – Athaenara ✉ )

I received the following Wikipedia email: Subject: New temporary password for Wikipedia From: MediaWiki Mail  Date: Mon, Jul 4, 2011 at 7:46 PM To: Athaenara [redacted]

Someone from the IP address 201.37.76.147 requested that we send you a new login password for the English Wikipedia.

The new password for the user account "Athaenara" is "[redacted]". You can now log in to Wikipedia using that password.

If someone else made this request, or if you have remembered your password and you no longer wish to change it, you may safely ignore this message. Your old/existing password will continue to work despite this new password being created for you.

~Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org

I have no idea who 201.37.76.147 might be, I haven't requested a new password, and I cannot think of any legitimate basis for such a request from any anonIP. Is there any possibility that the "new password" can be used by someone else (who isn't me) to log in to my Wikipedia account? – Athaenara ✉  05:40, 5 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Hi, This question does not have anything to do with needing help with editing Wikipedia, but I will answer it anyway. The IP stated in the email you received is from Brazil and no, I checked and no one can log in to your account using the password provided in the email. Hope this helps Caleb Bond (talk) 06:22, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Since the password was sent to your personal email account, no one else can access the new password unless you leave your email password lying around. That's why the message says you can ignore it if you didn't request it. - 194.60.106.38 (talk) 07:00, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * @Caleb - This help desk is for questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia. It's a good venue for working out all kinds of issues, whether or not the user is trying to edit anything. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:14, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Thank you, all three. The phrase "log in to Wikipedia using that password" bothers me as it implies the "new password" is a functioning password.  I agree with John of Reading, as users cannot edit Wikipedia from registered accounts without proper passwords, but for future reference, what might have been a more correct help desk for my question?   – Athaenara  ✉  08:50, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * The "new password" is indeed a functioning password, though, I think, only for 24 hours or so. This email is sent by the "Email new password" button on the login page. It is sent to the email address saved in your preferences, so provided your email account is secure there is no security breach.
 * All sorts of user account / password / email-related issues turn up at this Help desk; feel free to post here again with just about any question relating to Wikipedia. At worst you'll be told which specialised noticeboard you should have used! -- John of Reading (talk) 09:06, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Which is always helpful when we stagger in, not sure where we should be going! Your additional insight is extremely helpful (and reassuring), thanks very much again, John of Reading!  – Athaenara  ✉  09:17, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Democratic Politics
Even if external intervention leads to the establishment of democracy in a country would it last long?Would it enjoy the support of its citizens?If yes give ten points. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.117.242.159 (talk) 12:11, 5 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Welcome to . Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misinterpretation, but it is our policy here not to do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn nearly as much as doing it yourself. Please attempt to solve the problem or answer the question yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know. DMacks (talk) 12:13, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Welcome to . Your question appears to be a homework question. I apologize if this is a misinterpretation, but it is our policy here not to do people's homework for them, but to merely aid them in doing it themselves. Letting someone else do your homework does not help you learn nearly as much as doing it yourself. Please attempt to solve the problem or answer the question yourself first. If you need help with a specific part of your homework, feel free to tell us where you are stuck and ask for help. If you need help grasping the concept of a problem, by all means let us know. DMacks (talk) 12:13, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Need to Change Company Name
I need to change our company name from Top Layer Security to Corero Network Security on Wikipedia as Top Layer was purchased by Corero. I put in a change request a few weeks ago and change hasn't been made. Please advise.EditsfromCorero999 (talk) 14:37, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * ✅  Phantom Steve / talk &#124; contribs \ 15:16, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Cannot find my page or any history of its deletion
Hello,

I have recently discovered that a page that I frequently used and edited, "Journal pagination", has disappeared from Wikipedia and now redirects to "Pagination." "Journal pagination" had existed for several years and had an extensive history of revisions. The current revision history lists only the history as a redirect, but does not contain any of the past four years of history for the original "Journal pagination" page. I have searched the deletion log and found no record of deletion for "Journal pagination". The content of "Pagination" does not replicate or include the content of "Journal pagination," which contained a description of how academic journals paginate and an alphabetized list of academic journals and their pagination style.

I am wondering what happened to the original page, why I cannot locate a valid revision history or record of deletion, and whether/how I can obtain an archived copy of the page? Any help would be great. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dgraysay (talk • contribs) 15:52, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * I think this is the history you're looking for. This redirect was created very recently (2011-06-26); I can't opine on the subject myself, but if you think the subject of Journal pagination warrants its own article, it might be good to propose it at the pagination talk page - frankie (talk) 16:00, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * When you are redirected there will be a note at the top of the page telling you this and a link, that link will take you to the redirect page (and overrides the redirect so it doesn't redirect you this time.) That lets you get tot the history and edit for the redirect page.  This is the easiest way to get there.  RJFJR (talk) 16:02, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Worst Vandal
This question doesn't have anything to do with using wikipedia, but it didn't fit anywhere else, and I problably wouldn't have gotten a response if I posted this on the vandalism talk page. So who was the worst vandal ever? Or atlest give me some examples.-- GoldenGlory84 (talk) 17:19, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Try the reference desk for this query.    ArcAngel    (talk) ) 17:23, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Examples are User:Willy on Wheels, who created multiple vandalbots to vandalise Wikipedia, User:Bambifan101. There are many others. For a full list, see WP:BANNED. Island Monkey talk the talk 17:26, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Entirely subjective, but Long-term abuse may also provide some insight. Rehevkor ✉  17:26, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * On a lighter note, have you seen Village stocks? Not vandalism, but still pretty impressive... -- John of Reading (talk) 18:27, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * We generally try to forget about vandals- denying them recognition is a very effective strategy. TN X Man  18:30, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

honor?
I heard JimmyWales banned people himself? Does he actually meet with them? If so, wouldn't the vandals consider it an “honor” to meet him? A person who has been editing Wikipedia since October 28, 2010. (talk) 16:11, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

No.-- GoldenGlory84 (talk) 16:51, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Userboxes
Hello, is there anyway to centering just a userbox? Thank-you Loopus9 (talk) 19:26, 5 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Depends on exactly what you want centered and where you want it centered. The problem with that question is that most userboxes are transcluded, and they're specifically coded to align by default to the left.


 * However, you can enclose it in an invisible small centered table. Like the following:


 * The code to the above is relatively simple:


 * You can also have it hold multiple userboxes per an example in my userpages with WIP userboxes here. Also see Userboxes and Help:Table. --  Obsidi ♠ nSoul  20:16, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Template Usage
How can one generate a list of articles which use a particular template? In my case I am interested in the use of template:BridgeHand because I have made an improved variant of it BridgeHandNWES which can supercede it in most cases (I think). I simply want to verify each use of the original on the expectation that there will be relatively few such uses that I can replace one-by-one as appropriate. Newwhist (talk) 20:01, 5 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:BridgeHand? --Martynas Patasius (talk) 20:12, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks Newwhist (talk) 20:36, 5 July 2011 (UTC)
 * You can find this link yourself by going to the template page and clicking "What links here" in the toolbox section at the left. See Help:What links here. -- John of Reading (talk) 20:54, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

Identical duplicate pages
I couldn't locate a procedure on how to report duplicate identical pages -- not two articles on the same subject, but exact copies with different URLs.

There are two identical pages for the same television show. They appear to have been put up at almost the same time, possibly being promoted by the TV channel, because they spam a list of all the channel's original programming (completely irrelevant to the subject TV show) at the bottom of each page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Babysitter%27s_a_Vampire_%28TV_series%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Babysitter%27s_a_Vampire,_The_Series — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mjwm44 (talk • contribs) 23:34, 5 July 2011 (UTC)


 * The latter is a redirect to the former. If you click the latter link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Babysitter%27s_a_Vampire,_The_Series then there is a message below the title saying "Redirected from My Babysitter's a Vampire, The Series". Wikipedia does not change the url for redirects, we just display the same content at the two url's. See also Redirect. By the way, the redirect was automatically created when the page was moved to a new name. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:06, 6 July 2011 (UTC)