Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 March 31

= March 31 =

reporting disruptive editing
I posted a complaint about disruptive editing on 03/29/2012. The person I complained about and another person who had had a similar experience with the problem editor responded. THEN THE WHOLE SECTION DISAPPEARED...and the problem individual is back to arbitrarily deleting my stuff again (as in WP:IDONTLIKEIT. What happened, how do I report it, and how to I undo it?Smm201`0 (talk) 01:01, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * It was archived. The archiving said: "Archiving 5 thread(s) (older than 24h) to Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive744." PrimeHunter (talk) 01:28, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Wizard of the Grand and Honourable Order of Geeks required...
... for a glitch regarding a new Wikiproject: Small News. For some reason, the display is all scrunched up when viewed on my browser (Windows 7, Google Chrome), with all the text lines for each section, apart from the headings, superimposed on top of each other. I assume that it was displaying properly when entered... AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:13, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

P.S. I've just checked, and it displays properly on Internet Explorer. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:16, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * PPS - Top of page heading (35px) over-writes itself in Firefox. Others seem OK. Ariconte (talk) 03:22, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * It's scrunched in Safari, and so is the Adrienne Rich poem excerpt at the bottom of the page. ("Scrunched" being a technical term involving the vertical axis: i.e., the font size or x-height is too large relative to the leading or line height.) Rivertorch (talk) 05:32, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Evidently we've proved beyond reasonable doubt that we've broken the internet, or at least the bit that we were trying to use - but a Wizard is still required if we are to mend it. Rumour has it that such Wizards never sleep, so I still live in hope that one will come to our rescue... AndyTheGrump (talk) 05:55, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Sometime actual Wizards are busy in real life. Having tried a number of "fixes" (fortunately in preview mode) to no avail, I'd settle for anyone with just a bit of a clue. Rivertorch (talk) 06:30, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Maybe the clueful are congregated at the geeky pump. idk—I'm going offline now. Rivertorch (talk) 06:34, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

UFC Pages
Can you turn back to having specific events please. If not I will find another site to find all my information from. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.208.83.40 (talk) 04:08, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Which UFC are you referring to? We aren't mind readers - and neither are we a site for 'all information'. This is an online encyclopaedia, not an exercise in telepathy and omniscience... AndyTheGrump (talk) 06:09, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Likely a reference to this, which we're currently in the process of pruning. The Blade of the Northern Lights  ( 話して下さい ) 06:58, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Recent changes: what's the red exclamation mark against the new page indicator?
On Special:RecentChanges, there's a red exclamation mark against some "N" new page indicators. What does the red exclamation mark signify? --A bit iffy (talk) 07:04, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * It means "not patrolled yet". Bielle (talk) 07:14, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks. --A bit iffy (talk) 07:23, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Verification of reliability
The article on Jayne Mansfield has the following content.

Can someone verify the following part of it?

I don't have access to the certificate and have no clue of its credibility. 13:18, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I suggest you ask at WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request or perhaps Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Genealogy. When you ask there, try not to copy so much of the article - it will be enough to give the article name and the footnote number or name. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:20, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Trying that. But, I don't think a request for verification should go without the content that needs to be verified. If the marriage certificate is true then almost all the biographers are wrong. How would someone who can't even read three lines of post find that out of a whole article? Aditya (talk • contribs) 03:30, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Contacting wikipedia is a nightmare!
Contacting wikipedia is a nightmare! I didn't know before I needed to. For conacting you guys, i think, there needs to be different formats other than standart wikistyle. When i clicked on the left "contact wikipedia", i found myself in a mess! There is a loooong list for contacting which makes it very difficult for a first time usage.

Anyways I want to say why i needed concact wikipedia: The Eastern Turkestan issue seems to have been in big dispute, but the chinese editors do not allow it to be in "biased state" with POV mark. Can you please call the attention of an expert on this issue. I am afraid if i do that, the chinese editors will revert it instantly.

Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 46.104.30.234 (talk) 13:23, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Chinese editors prohibit you from editing? Who are those to stop you? Remember, be bold, and edit the pages yourself. Always remember to follow Neutral point of view before publishing your edits; as like "Example's candy is not better than me" is violating NPOV. I hope you understood. Dipankan says..  ( "Be bold and edit!" ) 14:25, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Could you be more specific? The East Turkestan article has had only four edits in the last week.  Dismas |(talk) 14:59, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Maybe I feel, the IP does not refer to this article, or probably not on the English wikipedia, the Chinese one. Anyways, I am not sure. extra 999  ( talk ) 15:13, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

After an earlier encounter with the Live Help Desk, I was quite disillusioned to discover that the principles - Be polite, and welcoming to new users - Assume good faith - Avoid personal attacks were completely obliterated in a few sentences. I still have no idea how to flag the neutrality of an article, and the tone was hostile like Fox News. If that's the mentality, I have little choice but to refuse appeals for fiscal help as well as endorse the credibility of the articles. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.223.85.236 (talk) 22:34, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

I got a message from response by AnkhMorph which was quite irrelevant to the concerns I raised. As for the April Fool's jokes in the front page's "Did you know" section--deliberately omitting crucial facts about the articles (the California is in England, the gang leader is a leader of baboons, the Virgin Mary is a book)--it seems like a desperate attempt to generate page hits, and, worse lacks comedic value. Leave the jokes to the funny pages, where at least some cartoonists swap casts on April Fool's day (it was a big thing c. 1996, well over 50 cartoonists got into the act), creating actual humor. The only thing Wikipedia offers outside of irrelevance is hubris. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.223.85.236 (talk) 11:20, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

user name on Commons
Hi, I previously made an account with the same username on Wikipedia Commoms (before unified logins were create). I seemed to have forgotten the password, and the email address associated with the account is now closed, would I have to usurp the account or is there another process for this? Thanks. Gsingh (talk) 17:46, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * You have to usurp. See commons:Commons:Changing username for the procedure. Neither your account here nor commons:User:Gsingh has specified an email address at Special:Preferences. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:56, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * But I don't yet have a username yet for commons, so what would my current name be? Gsingh (talk) 22:48, 31 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Create a Commons account with any name before filing the request. Explain that you are the user with the unified login. You can state so on your user talk page here at the English Wikipedia with mention of the temporary Commons name, and then link to it from the Commons request. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:10, 1 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your help, I've posted a request on the commons page. Gsingh (talk) 04:41, 1 April 2012 (UTC)

Vandalism
Hi, 24.5.131.52 keeps vandalizing the article Terry Whitfield.--LIbertyInSpace (talk) 19:08, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I have reverted the vandalism and warned them to stop. If they continue, please report them to WP:AIV.  -- Jayron  32  20:31, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Menton
Would you please add the following to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menton

Lesley Blanch MBE, FRSL (1904-2007) British writer and legendary literary figure, formerly married to novelist and diplomat, Romain Gary, who lived in Menton Garavan from the early 1970s until her death in 2007. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.25.51.138 (talk) 19:14, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * ✅, based on what I found here. However, in the future, you too can do this.  You don't need any permission to edit a Wikipedia article and make it better, and every word written at Wikipedia was written by people exactly like you.  -- Jayron  32  20:27, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

Does anyone know what's wrong with the edit counter?
For every day that passes, the backlog gets a day longer. What gives? Vranak (talk) 20:33, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Replication lag. See the discussions at the village pump. RudolfRed (talk) 20:44, 31 March 2012 (UTC)
 * The link is Village pump (technical)/Archive 120. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:48, 31 March 2012 (UTC)