Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 September 17

= September 17 =

"User account "Technical Communication" is not registered."
Would someone inform me of the procedure to get this account to be registered? — Preceding unsigned comment added by TechnicalCommunicaton (talk • contribs) 00:31, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * You are registered. -- Jayron  32  01:23, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * More specifically, User:TechnicalCommunicaton (without space) is registered; User:Technical Communicaton (with space) is not. Avic ennasis  @ 02:54, 18 Elul 5771 / 02:54, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

The "long running" one man crusade
This user appears to be on a mission to remove the term "long running" from Wikipedia. It seems tenuous and unconstructive - is there any protocol to follow in such a situation or just let him/her get on with it? He's deleted the several warnings placed by other editors from his talk page - AL LOCKE | talk  01:29, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Repeated vandalism after warnings can be taken to WP:AIV. Fill out a report there and an administrator will take appropriate action.--Slon02 (talk) 01:51, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks, but does it constitute vandalism? - AL LOCKE | talk  02:05, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * No, but refusal to discuss one's editing is a blockable offense. Have you left a specific message personally written which has described the problem and personally asked him to stop this specific action?  Try that, and if he doesn't respond, let me know.  -- Jayron  32  02:39, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks Jayron - AL LOCKE | talk  11:32, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Romanization of Farsi script
Looking at the romanized Farsi names, I have noticed that the International Guide and Standard for romanization of the Farsi script has not been used. Is it not the policy of Wikipedia to use this international standard? If not, then the romanization will be at the mercy of the author and thus not uniform. Kamimihan (talk) 03:45, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * The Wikipedia guidelines for transliteration of Persian are at Manual of Style/Persian. There are two possibilities here:
 * 1) Wikipedia's standard does match the international standard, but individual articles are ignoring that standard.
 * 2) Wikipedia's standard differs from the international standard.
 * I am inclined, given the sheer number of articles at Wikipedia, and the varying levels of maintenance thereof, that 1) is the real problem. If so, feel free to fix the problems yourself.  If 2) is the real problem, then start a discussion at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Persian and see about getting Wikipedia's standards in line.  But I think this may be more a problem of individual editors being unaware of the standards.  -- Jayron  32  03:58, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

unable to offer a correction to Joe McGinness article
The instructions say to go to the discussion page of an article (in this case the biography of Joe McGinniss) to send a message but there is NO such vehicle on the discussion page.

I want to point out Joe McGinniss is NOT the author of "The Making of a President, 1968" as listed in the first paragraph but of "The Selling of the President" as correctly stated later in the article. Perhaps someone twiddled with the text because the title suggests the Theodore White book of 1960, "The Making of the President." I hope you can pass this on to the proper editors. After circling through your website's instructions several times about how to report errors, I gave up. Best regards, Patricia Koza — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.24.146.181 (talk) 03:57, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I do not know why you were unable to make the edit, for the article is not protected, but in any case, I have done the edit for you. Regards, {&#124;Retro00064&#124;&#9742;talk&#124;&#x270D;contribs&#124;} 05:27, 17 September 2011 (UTC).


 * You can edit most articles yourself. You can click the "New section" tab at top of a discussion page. See more at Help:Using talk pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:53, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Voter ID laws in United States
I'm working on the map, and I want to put a template in. I have no idea what I'm doing, and the template I copied from was same-sex marriage in the U.S. I don't know how to fix the caption. Please help me!

Sc r ew ba ll 23 talk 04:04, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * It appears that you have fixed the caption as I don't see same-sex marriage anywhere in there.    ArcAngel    (talk) ) 05:00, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Setting the Signature button on the edit toolbar to use an em-dash instead of two hyphens
I swear that I have probably seen some setting or whatever somewhere to make the Signature button on the edit toolbar use a proper em-dash (—) character instead of two hyphens (--) when inserting the signature code, but I can not find it now that I want to change it (LOL). Could someone please tell me where to find this setting, unless it does not exist and I am mistaken? :-) I can not find it anywhere in "My preferences". Thanks! —{&#124;Retro00064&#124;&#9742;talk&#124;&#x270D;contribs&#124;} 05:14, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I think you are mistaken, but you can always set your preferences to use the em-dash before your signature by:

1-Go to your preferences

2-Scroll down until you see where it says signature

3-Type "&ndash" in the box, followed by the usual {|Retro00064|☎talk|✍contribs|}. Note: to use the em-dash instead of the -- before your signatures, you will need to type the four tildes manually and clicking the Signature and time stamp button will make your signature look like this: --—{&#124;Retro00064&#124;&#9742;talk&#124;&#x270D;contribs&#124;}.

I hope that helped and Happy editing!  pluma  Ø  00:45, 18 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks mate. I knew that I could do that, but sometimes I sign with a valediction and figured that it would be better to not use a dash in those cases. :-) I thought that it would be more convienent to set the Signature button on the edit toolbar insert the proper em dash for me instead of me continuing to do it by clicking the em dash in the Insert/etc. panel below the edit summary field and then typing the four tidles :-). I have decided that having the em dash regardless of whether I use a valediction is okay and I will just put it in my signature code anyway. Regards, {&#124;Retro00064&#124;&#9742;talk&#124;&#x270D;contribs&#124;} 02:00, 18 September 2011 (UTC).

new word....
Hi, my 8 year old created a word in her language. How can I add to dictionary? I created an account but am not sure where to add her new word! Please guide me in the right direction. Is this considered an article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hypertype4000 (talk • contribs) 06:00, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * No. Wikipedia is for topics already reported in reliable secondary sources, and (in any case) Wikipedia is not a dictionary. - David Biddulph (talk) 06:06, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartism

My Namaskaras to you,

This is in conncetion with the update http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smartism&oldid=450459504

Here I've given enough evidence of Smartas getting misreprestented only to a sect of Brahmanas called Advaitis. The article put by me on Smartism is notupdated on Smartism.

So, I sincerely request you to change the name Smartism to Advaitism in the link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartism

or change the contents of Smartism. as given in the link

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Smartism&oldid=450459504.

Suggestions from various authors on this subject matter are welcome.

Dhanyavadah Pradeep.M.N.

Help with an image
I'm trying to update an image in the Wikimedia Commons:



and replace it with

as per this source.

However, for some reason the Commons won't let me register (the confirmation never arrived at my email). Since I am only interested in updating this image, my question isn't how to join the Commons, but what I can do to get this image updated. Thanks.  Serendi pod ous  07:28, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * You don't need to register separately, you can unify accounts across all Wikimedia projects so you use the same username and the same password for every Wikimedia Project, be it Commons, Wiktionary, or the Danish Wikipedia, etc. Simply click here: Special:MergeAccount. Once you have done that, login to Commons with the username and password you are using here on the English Wikipedia and click on the update this image link at the bottom of the page on File:EightTNOs.png.


 * But before you do that... the image File:8TNOs.jpg is rather small (800 × 580 pixels) isn't it? Do you have anything at similar sizes as the original (2,750 × 1,995 pixels)? That way the quality remains the same as the original. If the image is your own work, make sure to download the original size of the original file before editing it.--  Obsidi ♠ n   Soul   09:22, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

incorrect spelling of my name in Cash Harmon article
--175.39.75.109 (talk) 10:22, 17 September 2011 (UTC)In your article on Cash Harmon you have an incorrect spelling of my name as one of the writers of the TV show "The Unisexers". You write Derek Strachan. My name is Derek Strahan. Correct spelling will allow readers to access a number of entries on me in your search pages.


 * I've changed it, but remember that this is "Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that anyone can edit", so you could have corrected it yourself. - David Biddulph (talk) 10:40, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Financial problems
Please contact Anglia Building Society still has funds belong to myself, please inform of how to collect this money.

Sally Morris — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.202.169.47 (talk) 11:56, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 3.7 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 .alt/ talk \[alternative account of Phantomsteve] 12:26, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * AFAIK, Anglia Building Society merged with the Nationwide Building Society to become Nationwide Anglia. That in turn merged with the Hastings & Thanet Building Society to become the Anglia, Hastings & Thanet Building Society, which, following other mergers is now the Nationwide Building Society. You could try contacting them. Mjroots (talk) 04:57, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

birth date
Dear editor,

My bio is listed with birth date and birth place. I think these are confidential information. I wonder if they can be deleted from mine and others who are listed?

Thanks,

Ken Chong — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.96.197.139 (talk) 12:48, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * The information should not appear in Wikipedia unless it has already been published in reliable secondary sources. - David Biddulph (talk) 12:56, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * See Biographies of living persons. Are you referring to Ken P. Chong? PrimeHunter (talk) 14:04, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * The information appears to be cited in a reliable source - can someone verify this? If the information is not in the cited publication, it should be removed; if it is in the source, but it can be shown that the source is unreliable then it should be removed. If, however, it is a reliable source and the information is accurate in the article, then the information is available in a public source, and so should be left in the article. If I get a chance, I will look into this further. --  Phantom Steve .alt/ talk \[alternative account of Phantomsteve] 15:48, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Further, if that is the only source, I would suggest that the DoB should be just given as the year. If other reliable sources give the full date, they should be cited and the full date left in the article. As I say, I'll look into this more when I have more time, hopefully tomorrow --  Phantom Steve .alt/ talk \[alternative account of Phantomsteve] 15:52, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * The date of birth of Ken P. Chong does not appear to have been "widely published by reliable sources" so it should be removed on request from the subject per Biographies of living persons. The IP originally signed as "Ken P. Chong" but later removed the "P."  I don't see why he would change the name away from the title of the article if that was the bio he referred to. I cannot find other Ken Chong's in Wikipedia but this help desk gets a lot of posts from people who think we represent other websites or organizations, and my question whether it is him has not been answered so far. I'm uncertain whether we have a request from the subject of Ken P. Chong. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:39, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

IPhone 3GS support
Does your mobile beta support iPhone 3GS? The buttons to open article subsections don't work half the time. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.21.29.81 (talk) 16:45, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

article
how can i send an item or article to a friend? i'm new to all this and 79 yrs. old. i want to send something to my female friend. thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.29.255.63 (talk) 16:51, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * If you have an email address, you may email the contents of the article to her. You may also copy them by hand or on to your computer and give them to her in person, or you may memorize the contents of the article and tell them to her. There are many ways of doing this. Inter  change  able | talk to me  17:50, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Assuming you have e-mail, go to the left side panel of the article, and click on Print/Export, then click on Download as PDF and follow the instructions on the next page to download the pdf file to your computer. Then you can attach that file to an e-mail and send it to your friend. If you don't have e-mail, just print the article and mail it to her.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:58, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * If she has Internet and can use a browser then you can also mail her the url of the article. Your browser should display the url in the address bar, for example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk for this page. This will work in many browsers and computers: Click once on the url so it becomes highlighted. Press Ctrl. Make an email. Press Ctrl to insert the url in the text of the mail. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:54, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

IPA articles
I'm not sure of the proper forum în which to post this, because so many articles have been affected.

Someone has removed the infoboxes with the audio and images of the characters from all of the consonant articles. They really added some colour to the pages. I'd revert them myself, but I can't tell which one made the edits. Inter change  able | talk to me  17:48, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * This link shows that some relevant templates were changed by on the 15th. The discussion at User_talk:Kwamikagami may help you, or you could start a new section on that page. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:19, 18 September 2011 (UTC)

Nuclear warfares
Explain how nuclear warfares has contributed to gene mutation — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shamyso (talk • contribs) 18:11, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * [[Image:Pictogram voting delete.svg|20px]] 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 people's homework for them, 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. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 18:57, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

page ratings
Why are the page ratings all positive?209.66.200.45 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:00, 17 September 2011 (UTC).
 * They are not. Use the one-star and two-star ratings to express negative feedback about an article. For example, the one-star and two-star "Well-written" ratings have the descriptions "Incomprehensible" and "Difficult to understand". -- John of Reading (talk) 19:20, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Photo in infobox appearing in its original full size
Hi, There is a problem with the photo in the infobox of an article which I regularly update. In the article Fariha Pervez the photo is appearing in its original size even though I have set the image size to 200 x 300. I tried using another photo but it also appears in the original size rather than the size manually entered for the infobox. I have been noticing this problem for a few days now. I will be grateful if you can help me out in this problem. Best Regards — Preceding unsigned comment added by FarihaPervezFan (talk • contribs) 19:07, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I have fixed the image_size parameter. Those parts of the Picture tutorial that talk about image sizes apply equally to the image_size parameter in infoboxes. -- John of Reading (talk) 19:26, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

hello..
Good day to who it may consign. Am Kingsley Lukoko by name from (Redacted) and am in a search for any free education in any of the university. e-mail (Redacted) and also mobile number (Redacted) address for farther information (Redacted) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.186.22.113 (talk) 19:18, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * This help desk is only for Wikipedia, sorry. However, Wikipedia does have a lot of articles on universities.Jasper Deng (talk) 19:22, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Where to go to Patrol Recent Changes?
Hello there. I've loved contributing to Wikipedia, but I just can't find where to patrol! I've seen articles about, telling you how to do it, but actually where do you patrol? Thanks for your help! Pinkstrawberry02 (talk) 21:54, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Special:RecentChanges  Jebus989 ✰ 21:59, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * ... which you'll hopefully find as "Recent changes" in the left-hand menu, perhaps under "Interaction". - David Biddulph (talk) 22:01, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Article requests
I'd like to request an article be added, but not write it myself. I tried the right bits but can't seem to add it to the list of requests. I'm looking to have Urrard House, Killiekrankie, Scotland added to wikipedia, but have no idea how to go about it.

Please could someone create and article? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.151.109.4 (talk) 22:50, 17 September 2011 (UTC)
 * You can add the topic by following the instructions at Requested articles to bring it to the attention of interested editors.--Slon02 (talk) 23:49, 17 September 2011 (UTC)


 * When you get to the right section, click the "edit" link to the right of the section heading. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:50, 18 September 2011 (UTC)