Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 June 25

= June 25 =

Political control on wikipedia in italian
I wonder if there is a procedure for handling the following problem: a group of persons who administer wikipedia using their power to impose their views (extreme left, feminism...) on many sensitive wikipedia pages. There is evidence that this is happening since years within the italian version of wikipedia. The evidence can be collected but it is lengthy and written in italian; just for example this is one newspaper article about a little part of the issue AnnSec (talk)  —Preceding undated comment added 06:22, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * This is the English version of Wikipedia; we do not have any say in or control over content on the Italian Wikipedia. Your concerns should be raised there. Yunshui 雲&zwj;水 12:51, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you, but my question was: is there any procedure within Wikipedia in the event that a national community goes so bad that raising concerns within that community is useless?   Since all communities share the same name wikipedia, I would expect the existence of some higher common organization (presumably managed by the English founder) that can handle such cases.  AnnSec (talk)  —Preceding undated comment added 21:29, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * The Wikimedia Foundation manages all the different language versions. If there were legal concerns or some sort of havoc was going on, it's within their power to shut down a Wiki. Well, technically, they could shut down all of Wikipedia, but generally they only intervene if there's a legal concern such as libel, copyright infringement, etc. If there is illegal activity going on on the Italian Wikipedia you should certainly present it to Wikimedia. Otherwise, they generally stay out of POV debates. CaseyPenk (talk) 23:33, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I would say it something more than POV debates: the systematic action of a politically-oriented group (including administrators) to control wikipedia keeping out who has different ideas. If this kind of situation deserves the attention of Wikimedia, how can I contact it? AnnSec (talk)  —Preceding undated comment added 08:40, 26 June 2012 (UTC)
 * See http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Contact_us contact methods for various purposes are explained there. Roger (talk) 09:05, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

Help for new poster in Wikipedia...
Are there Peope who will help guide persons who are interested in psting articles and information that is verifiable to Wikipeia?

Hiw can these editorial experts be contacted ?

Dr. Tim Lucas Adams, Th D — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amerivoter (talk • contribs) 00:22, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Yes, if you would like assistance, you can ask to be "adopted" by a more experienced Wikipedian. See WP:ADOPT.  For the occasional question on how to use Wikipedia, you can ask here or at the Teahouse or at the New Contributor's Help page (linked at the top of this page).  RudolfRed (talk) 00:39, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

help
how do you become a administrator--Panzer112 (talk) 02:32, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * See WP:ADMIN RudolfRed (talk) 02:55, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Article suggestion
PLS ADD AN ARTICLE ON THE ORACLES OF EMPEROR LEO THE WISE. THERE IS TOO MUCH CONFUSION ON THE INT ABOUT IT. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.4.156.70 (talk) 02:49, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I added a section header for your question. If you want to request an article, you can do so at WP:RA RudolfRed (talk) 02:55, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Leo VI the Wise mentions the oracles in the 'works' section.--Canoe1967 (talk) 04:18, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

This "unsigned" bla, bla, bla...
Hi

There is something damn funny when I edit talk pages and I am to sign it, I get fx.: "LFOlsnes-Lea 21:01, 24 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by LFOlsnes-Lea (talk • contribs)" with the strange and awkward "Preceding unsigned comment added by LFOlsnes-Lea (talk • contribs)". This is clearly an insult to me, that I'm supposed to tolerate having this "tailing" me like this, as if somebody is writing behind my back or supposedly, "I'm writing in my unconsciousness". Can you, please, make it GO AWAY??? I would be most grateful!

Best wishes, LFOlsnes-Lea 04:34, 25 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by LFOlsnes-Lea (talk • contribs)


 * Hi there. Perhaps you already know, but a bot inserts those little notes. We do it so different comments are properly attributed to the right people. If you don't mind me asking, why do you prefer not to attach your name to your comments? If you're interested in going anonymous, you can log out and your IP address will be recorded (to be fair, that will indicate your general location but at least it won't be tied to your name or online identity). CaseyPenk (talk) 04:38, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Presumably because you're signed in as User:LFOlsnes-Lea. There's a bot (User:SineBot) that runs around looking for unsigned comments added to talk pages, and signs them for you.  If you're not LFOlsnes-Lea, hit the "Log out" button in the upper right corner of the window, and sign in with your correct account.  Or if you are not signed in, SineBot will sign your posts with your IP address.  Normally you should sign your posts with four tildes ( "~" ), and you'll get whatever signature you've configured for your account.   Rwessel (talk) 04:45, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * And there are ways to ask SineBot to not do his thing - see the bot's user page for more details. Rwessel (talk) 04:46, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * (This gets written a second time "because of edit conflict" forcing me to write this twice.) See, I sign with 4 tildes and still get the bot(tie) with the "unsigned" comment. This seems strange, almost as if the system doubts that I sign it! How can this be??? (With 4 tildes in.) That is, sometimes seen, sometimes I get the extra "unsigned" and sometimes not. But alright, while some people may like a bit of "programming humour", please, don't bite me for it in the future! Thanks for help. Cheers! LFOlsnes-Lea 04:52, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * It is because your signature does not provide a link to your talk page. A Signature is expected to contain one, afaik. So the 4 ~'s are actually processed, but the bot keeps complaining because your contribution doesn't contain that link.
 * Hope that helps 217.251.152.133 (talk) 05:27, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Over at "My preferences", delete everything from the box labelled "Signature" and remove the tick from "Treat the above as wiki markup". The four tildes will then show as a default signature like mine. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:49, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

verification of a biography of a living person & use of external links
Hi - I happened to browse through an article about a scientist and found that its content to be out-dated. As a result, I updated and expanded the article with the materials I googled on the internet. Yet the message box alerting readers about the authenticity of the sources has since been there. I went back and followed the guidelines of citations and references, but to no avail. Anyone can help out?

The article is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wei_Shyy

Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hkust5053 (talk • contribs) 04:41, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Hey there, and thanks for all your hard work on the article. You can see when those tags were added at this diff a while back, before your recent edits. You can go ahead and remove the tags at the top of the article if you feel they no longer apply - you have just as much right to do so as anyone else! CaseyPenk (talk) 04:54, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

External / interwiki links search
Is it possible to get an external links search limited to article space links only, correspondingly, is it possible to get an article space only search for interwiki links to news? The context is scoping a potential large scale reliability problem. Fifelfoo (talk) 05:25, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Regarding the first part of your question, the following limiters placed into a Google search should limit it to the mainspace (and exclude redirects): . I'm not sure at this time about the second part of your question--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:22, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Regarding the second part, I thought a search using the above limiters, combined with  would work but for reasons I don't understand, it only works if you take out all the namespace excluders. When you take them out it does work to find interwiki links to Wikinews, but you get results from all namespaces.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:44, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Helping with signature
Could anybody please help me in my signature? I have used Papyrus and Old English Text MT fonts in my sign, but the correct fonts aren't showing up, instead regular fonts are showing. Max Viwe &#124;  Viwe The Max  07:06, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * It looks right to me. Maybe your computer lacks support. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:04, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Maybe you do not have these fonts on your computer? If you use Windows: Go to your local drive (usually C) where you find the folder "Windows", then search it until you find another folder with the name "Fonts". Click on it and search for the fonts. If you can't find them, then search on Google, download and copy-and-paste them into the "Fonts" folder. Regards.-- GoP T C N 10:13, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

1983 world Cup winning Indian Cricket Team data
There is an issue with the Article with 1983 world Cup winning Indian Cricket Team data. Best bowling figures

This table lists the top ten players with the best bowling figures in the tournament. Kapil Dev is an Indian player and instead of India and Indian flag against his name, it is shown New Zealand and New Zaeland's flag. Please do the needful. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.248.23.74 (talk) 07:22, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I see you have corrected it in . Thank you. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:00, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Article evaluation needed
I am a new contributor, went to Feedback requests, but was referred to you for help.

I need the following contribution to be evaluated and, if good enough, to be added to the regular Wikipedia’s articles. Many thanks. Paterimon

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Paterimon/sandbox&action=edit&preload=Template%3AUser_sandbox%2Fpreload&editintro=Template%3AUser_sandbox — Preceding unsigned comment added by Paterimon (talk • contribs) 10:20, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * It seems to be in Arabic. Electriccatfish2 (talk) 13:56, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * As the page title is "Arabic Terms for Christian Feasts of the Eastern Byzantine Church", this is not surprising. But it appears to me (using the above link, which is to the raw source rather than to the article itself) to use html markup, rather than Wikipedia-style markup. Maproom (talk) 15:11, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Robert S. Prattico
Insulting that the author "Robert S. Prattico" remains on Wikipedia as a deleted page. This is misleading to people who actually search for his works. I should have never tried to honor his talent by adding him to this site. It is still insulting and not good for the character/online visibility of the Author for people who are searching for him because of his published book to see a deleted page on wikipedia. It is not fair that it has to remain in deletion and that when people search for his name and/or books, it comes to a wiki's deleted site. I petition that it be removed from wikipedia entirely. I would have never tried to create a page for him on wikipedia if I knew that his work would be treated this way. Please remove all trace of "Robert S. Prattico" from your site. I am embarrassed and feel terrible that this has happened for him. The general online public should not search for him and see a deleted wikipedia site. This is not fair to him and makes him look not credible at all. Please remove it entirely. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Exitblur (talk • contribs) 12:33, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't see that he appears on Wikipedia as a deleted page when I do a google search, he appears in a file (File:Robert S. Prattico.jpg) and he also appears in the help desk archives. I will start a discussion on noindexing our archives. Ryan Vesey  Review me!  12:46, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * My initial reaction is to be opposed, but I'll listen to arguments. I think we ought to be very careful about the use of no-index. Nothing requires Google or any other service to honor it, and if we use it too frequently, someone may just decide that it should be ignored. I support the use of no-index for draft articles in user space, but don't see a compelling reason why Help or help archives should be hidden from view. SPhilbrick (Talk)  14:47, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * The deleted page does not appear in either Bing or Google's indexing as far as I can see. What search engine are you using? All I can find is an image, hosted at Wikimedia Commons. Yunshui 雲&zwj;水 12:49, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * A look at this tells me there is more to this than meets the eye and that Wikipedia should be careful of becoming involved. And all because you wrote a long winded section header. Streisand Effect, anyone? Britmax (talk) 12:55, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I believe the complaint is currently here; it's already been explained that visibility in search engine results will decrease over time, and beyond Wikipedia's scope. Dru of Id (talk) 13:47, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Assuming the source and author of the picture at Commons are entered correctly, this is an example of why creating an article about yourself is generally a bad idea. Adrian J. Hunter(talk•contribs) 13:54, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

He is second on the list of http://www.metacrawler.com/ as a deleted page. It may stay a few more days yet.--Canoe1967 (talk) 14:00, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * ...and it's now gone from Yahoo!.Dru of Id (talk) 21:57, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

Copyright
Hi I own the copyright to the image of a painting that is on Wikipedia, I would like to be able to update the page to inform people that I own the copyright so they know who to contact for requests. Can I do that? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.193.84 (talk) 13:56, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Is it hosted on english wikipedia, or is it linked from the commons database? I have an account over there as well if you need help. Can you give us the name of the image?--Canoe1967 (talk) 14:06, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi it's the USA Wikipedia the painting is 'The Hands Resist Him' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.193.84 (talk) 14:12, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I added the website to the artist as the source. Is that okay now?--Canoe1967 (talk) 14:17, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi thanks for your help, how do I see where you have put that? is it on the main wiki page for the item? also I'm not the artist I bought the copyright to this image off the artist, so I really need a reference in someway to me so people can contact me, is that possible?
 * If you click on the image in the article, it will take to the image page. You can edit that page the same as you did to this page.--Canoe1967 (talk) 14:28, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi Done, can you kindly check if my edit is acceptable. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.193.84 (talk) 14:36, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * It looks okay to me. They are for sale on the artist's site. I assume you are aware of that?--Canoe1967 (talk) 14:38, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi yeah, I'm aware, I have bought the copyright as I am a movie script writer. Thanks again for your help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.193.84 (talk) 14:41, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * You are very welcome. I will mark this section resolved.--Canoe1967 (talk) 14:46, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Adding a new feature to Wikipedia
Who do I talk to about potentially adding a new feature to Wikipedia?

It would be such a dramatic new way of viewing Wikipedia that I would like to start a dialog about it.

I have a demonstration website, but I do not want to reveal it here, as we are still testing and debugging it.

But there is enough there that the right people will get the idea very quickly.

In other words, I don't want to give the URL out (publicly) and have it go viral before everything is sorted out.

Jroehl (talk) 14:53, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * See WP:VPT for a start. Dismas |(talk) 14:57, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * If you don't want to "go public" you shouldn't be posting about it anywhere on WP because the entire site is "public". Roger (talk) 16:23, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Copyright
I recently made a page on Cynthia Brian and it was deleted due to a copyright infrigment. How do I let Wikipedia know that I have permission from the original owner to post here. Any help would be greatly appreciated. THank You --Navigator01 (talk) 15:35, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * The page that it was a copy of, here is completely unsuitable as an encyclopedic article about her. It would be best to just re-write the article.  You must first decide if she is notable per WP:BIO.  I have not read anything about her, so I don't know if she meets the criteria.  Dismas |(talk) 15:39, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

I am aware it was a copy of that article but she gave me express permission to be able to use that article. In fact she told me what to write. Also I checked out the WP:BIO page and met most guildlines. And she is New York Times Bestselling author. And also how is that article completely unsuitable? Thank You --Navigator01 (talk) 16:19, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Have you ever looked at an encyclopedia? Britannica or The World Book, perhaps? Did its articles contain stuff like "X is a much in demand lecturer on luxury cruise lines and spas around the world, inspiring others to be the stars they were born to be by creating a life they design" or recommendations that readers tune in to their subjects' radio programs? You, and Ms. Brian, need to take a close, hard look at (among other things) WP:NPOV, WP:COI, WP:PEACOCK, and WP:AB (the last since she's telling you what to write). Deor (talk) 16:44, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * And WP:SPAM. --ColinFine (talk) 21:23, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Template question
Why are the undefined parameters of Template:NFCC issue note shown at 14th Lok Sabha, even though I made the parameters conditional? Can somebody fix it (or tell me how to do it myself)? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 16:34, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Additionally, can someone fix the category, so that it only shows the month and the year or tell me, how to do it? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 17:33, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Well, first, you really shouldn't be using a user-space template in an article, but aside from that... It looks like you made most of the parameters optional, but not #'s 4, 7, and 10. This is a line from your code, with matching brackets highlighted:

|  (Discuss)  [etc... the lines with 7 and 10 follow the same form]


 * Notice that the (Discuss) link at the end is not included in an #if: block. That's why it's displaying in all cases. You may also want to make these named parameters so it's a little more obvious what they do. Hers fold  non-admin (t/a/c) 17:39, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * To answer your second question, most dated maintenance categories are done in the form . This would render (currently) as "Category:Articles that suck from June 2012". Hers fold  non-admin (t/a/c) 17:44, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Note also that the template itself will need to be substed for that to work - otherwise it'll continually display as being "from" the current month. An alternative commonly used with the cleanup templates is to include a |from= parameter that sticks in the date in "Month YYYY" format. Hers fold  non-admin (t/a/c) 17:48, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Hmm, somehow appears at the top of the page instead of creating a proper category. What's wrong with that? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 18:06, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * It looks like the template you're using as a base already takes this into account. Use these parameters instead:


 * Then, when using the template, ensure that the first parameter (which for consistency should not be the first parameter but rather ) is in the "Month YYYY" format. Hers fold  non-admin (t/a/c) 18:16, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I think most of the issues are fixed now. I removed the categorization by month entirely. One last question: How can I make Category:All articles with problems regarding the non-free content criteria appear as a hidden category? I guess it shouldn't show up under the normal categories like it does right now, right? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 19:54, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I fixed it and made the category hidden. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 19:59, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

disambiguation / Fighting
hi! was this wise? i thought, that there should be just one step between Fighting and Fighting (film)... before it was a little bit non-intuitive: Fighting, combat(automatically), Fight and then Fighting (film)... Thx. Bye --Homer Landskirty (talk) 17:20, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia talk:Disambiguation discusses things like that all the time. They may give opinions or seek consensus on the best routing.--Canoe1967 (talk) 17:26, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * oki - i relocate it from here to there... --Homer Landskirty (talk) 20:24, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

How to create a page for my book
Dear Sir/Madam

I am the author of the book Nayko Island and I would like to create a wikipedia page to let people know about me and my book. Is this possible? Can someone help me please because I am totally lost. I am not sure if your site will let me create a page but I would really appreciate it and any help you can give me.

Kind regards

Danielle Watson Maddie6130 (talk) 19:25, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Greetings. You can seek this information at Starting an article and Your first article. Keep in mind that the rules found at Conflict of Interest and Notability must always be followed. Perhaps you should wait until someone else feels that the subject is notable enough to warrant its own article. Happy editing, hajat  vrc  with WikiLove @ 19:42, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia is explicitly not for letting people know about a subject. Only when other reliable sources have discussed a subject does it meet the criteria for notability and only then can it have an article. --ColinFine (talk) 00:10, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Have other people (book reviewers, etc) said anything about your book? Have you ever been interviewed by newspapers or other mainstream media? Those are the type of reliable neutral sources needed to write an article. Roger (talk) 13:35, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

Transclusion
Is there a way to transclude an article from the French Wiki into an article in the English Wiki? If so, what is the markup to use. and its variants don't seem to work for me.


 * There's no way to do cross-wiki transclusions. There shouldn't be any need to do so in any event... can I ask why? Also, please remember to sign questions and comments on discussion pages with four tildes: ~ Hers <em style="font-family:Bradley Hand ITC;color:gold">fold  non-admin (t/a/c) 19:46, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, there is. Can I ask what and where? Dru of Id (talk) 20:09, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * See New contributors' help page/questions. Dru of Id (talk) 20:22, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Seems silly to retype a page which is mostly pictures (:fr:Armorial de la famille de Wittelsbach) into the :en:House of Wittelsbach. JMvanDijk  —Preceding undated comment added 21:20, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

Citing with same source but different sections
Suppose that one has got a big book and is citing a particular article with it. In different areas of the article they give citations on different areas of the book. How should they cite it? Shall he repeat his citation to same book but just changing the page names in each case? V ani s che nu m<sup style="margin-left:-3.2ex">Talk 20:47, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Other editors prefer different methods; however, I prefer Rp. You can use a named reference and then follow it up with the template to give a page number. Ryan Vesey  Review me!  20:50, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * See Help:References and page numbers for a variety of methods. ---— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk 21:01, 25 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your kind and informative answers. I am really amazed at the quickness of response from both of you. The answers are complete. Now I know how to cite like that. Thank you very much.


 * I would like to ask an another (but a silly) question: Suppose one has got links to each page (e.g; google books), is it reasonable to put a link to each of the pages. Is there any way to do that, without repeating other data about the book (just like the ways you two have provided, but with an extra link to the individual pages)? V ani s che nu m<sup style="margin-left:-3.2ex">Talk 21:31, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * I'm not entirely sure it it can do it, but using shortened footnotes may be able to do what you desire. Try reading that page. Ryan Vesey  Review me!  22:18, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your kind reply. And now, I have got a solution for the same in google books. Just search in the searchbar provided at the preview of the book and click go. Then a page which shows the results appear. e.g; searching for PCTFE. Getting info about the page number from sfn generated references, one can click on the same page in the search results and enter it. Thank you! V ani s che nu m<sup style="margin-left:-3.2ex">Talk 22:37, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

I have a reference error on this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Sbones5/workshop
I've looked at all the help sections and bugs and I can't figure out hoe to fix this. The tags all look correct to me. Any help on this will be appreciated!

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sbones5 (talk • contribs) 23:41, 25 June 2012 (UTC)

✅ It seems to me that the problem was an unwanted space inside the syntax < /ref>. i.e., it was put as < /ref> V ani s che nu m<sup style="margin-left:-3.2ex">Talk 23:51, 25 June 2012 (UTC)