Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 July 27

= July 27 =

We are writing an Article & need help with putting that Box on the right hand side
We are writing an Article & we have finished it

but we do NOT know how to "put" or "create" that Long Rectangular Box that goes on the Right Hand Side of all of the Articles

which shows, a Photograph or Logo of the Company the Name  of the Company or Person the Type  of Company the Industry when it was  Founded the Headquarters Address the Area Served the President of the Company the Products the Parent Company the Website etc, etc,

This is an example of what we are talking about

Coca Cola, Inc |---|  |              Coca Cola                    | |                                          |   |  Type                 Beverage            | | Industry             Food & Drink        | | Founded              1802                | | Headquarters         1789  Maiden Lane   | |                      Anytown, USA        | |                                          |   |  Area Served          Worldwide           | | President            John Doe            | | Products             Coca Cola,         | |                      Cheetos Chips       | | Revenue              US $  12.04 billion | | Parent               RC Foods, Inc.     | | Website              CocaCola.com        | -

I.A.O.P.M.R.M.R.T.M.M.P.A.F.S. (talk) 01:01, 27 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Try Help:Infobox which will walk you through the process. -- Jayron  32  01:07, 27 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Assuming that the 'article' you are referring to is the pile of garbage currently in your sandbox, this is not a web-hosting service for hoaxes, juvenile drivel, and vacuous self-promotion. If you aren't here to contribute usefully to the encyclopaedia, you are liable to find yourself blocked from editing. AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:11, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * To Andy: That wasn't nice. To IAOP etc etc.  There's thousands of people here, don't let Andy set the impression for the rest of us.  -- Jayron  32  01:13, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * It wasn't meant to be nice. I see no reason why we should waste time with self-evident trolls. AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:16, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * However, it is possible to be forceful - "If you are referring to User:I.A.O.P.M.R.M.R.T.M.M.P.A.F.S./sandbox, please understand it is not close to acceptable" without being mean.-- S Philbrick (Talk)  01:21, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * You say "we" are writing the article. If the name used by the person who posted here is used by more than one person, that is against Wikipedia's rules. Each person must have his or her own account.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  21:30, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

How to communicate with a contributor
I have been unable to find information on how to communicate with a contributor. I have found his Talk Page, with messages from others, but cannot find what I have to do to leave a message for him. I didn't think using Edit to add my comment to an existing topic there would be the right approach. (I frequently use Wikipedia, and have provided edits many times, so this should be easy for me, but it isn't. Please help. I don't need detailed instructions. Perhaps they're here, somewhere.Kenvandellen (talk) 03:10, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * You can either hit "new section" at the top of the talk page (may be labeled as something else depending on your skin) or you can edit the page and just add your new message at the bottom with a manual heading: ==Name of your heading==

Message. New topics are always added at the bottom. Monty 845  03:14, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Frustrated.
Why are some subjects locked from being edited and how does one obtain the ability to edit such subject.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PsychologyToOvercome (talk • contribs) 04:48, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Protection policy covers the details, but basically not everyone comes to Wikipedia with the intentions you or I have: that is, to improve it. Sometimes, Wikipedia's articles are bombarded by vandalism, people with an axe to grind, people using Wikipedia for self-promotion, etc.  Really, a variety of issues.  When it becomes impossible to maintain a reasonable level of stability in an article because it is a constant target for vandalism or other problems, it is unfortunately necessary to sometimes lock an article down to protect it.  Which specific article is giving you trouble?  -- Jayron  32  04:56, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Script to add links to Navigation left sidebar
I tried writing a script to modify and/or just add links to the sidebar and the topbar. It works for the topbar but isn't working for the side panel. Does anyone know how to do this or has anyone got a script for this already made that I could use? Thx. David Condrey (talk) 11:12, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * User:Dr pda/prosesize.js adds a link to the sidebar using "addPortletLink". Any use? -- John of Reading (talk) 11:39, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Hey John, thanks for the link. That didn't really help me out but I was able to figure it out after much trial and error. If you'd like to see what I did here's the script User:David_Condrey/common.js.  I'm quite satisfied.  :) Here's a screenshot of the result:   Sharing, as I'm pretty sure others may find this customization useful as well.  Thx! David Condrey (talk) 08:14, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Depression Alliance
I am a wikipedia user, not editor. I have just tried to look up Depression Alliance, a UK charity. The page has been deleted and following the link to the person who deleted it hasn't been helpful. I would like to know why it has gone.

Best wishes

Sally

2.24.68.213 (talk) 16:13, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * The page was deleted under WP:CSD, as there was no assertion of the notability of the subject. See WP:N for the criteria that the subject of an article must meet before it can be included. Tevildo (talk) 17:12, 27 July 2014 (UTC)


 * I deleted the article because it did not assert notability. There are many, many charities in the United Kingdom; Wikipedia cannot list them all. We require some sort of third-party coverage; this article mentioned none. Perhaps there's dozens, hundreds, of newspaper articles and TV news stories about Depression Alliance, but how could I have known that? There was no such coverage mentioned in the article. It was basically "Depression Alliance exists. It is a registered charitable organization (link to their registration). Depression Alliance helps people who are troubled by depression. Depression is a serious ailment: here is a lot of proof that depression is a serious ailment. Let's say it again: Depression Alliance helps people who are troubled by depression. Depression Alliance also does fundraising; would you like to donate?"


 * .... and nothing else. Now do you understand why I deleted it? DS (talk) 17:22, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Entering mathematical formulas
I am sure this question has been asked countless times before. I need to post in Math forum using fairly complicated math formulas and I don't know where to start. Also I would like to have a "sandbox" if possible where I could try entering certain symbols and then see how they would look in the finished product but without any commitment. Can it be done? Thanks, - --AboutFace 22 (talk) 16:58, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * It's not something with which I'm particularly conversant, but the basic page dealing with producing formulas is Help:Displaying a formula. You can certainly create a sandbox simply by adding anything in the edit window of User:AboutFace 22/Sandbox and then playing away on that page to your heart's content. Deor (talk) 17:17, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Thank you very much for such a fast answer. I also have this question. Microsoft Word has a way to enter many formulas. I am wondering if I manage to enter all my formulas in MS Word on my local machine and then copied them to Wikipedia, would the Wikipedia accept them? Thank you --AboutFace 22 (talk) 17:22, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * You can't use the word document as it stands in Wikipedia, you must first convert the formulas to LaTeX. Word cannot accept or output LaTeX scripts directly, but you can get add-ons for Word that will do this (just search for them in the Word help menu).  You can also get stand alone TeX editors such as MiKTeX (you will probably have to download a bunch of other stuff to support it like ghostscript and pstoedit).  Frankly, I don't think any of that is worthwile.  If you want to work offline I suggest that you simply type the Latex into a text document.  You can check that it is displaying ok by previewing it in your sandbox on Wikipedia.  You don't need to actually save it to Wikipedia so it can stay private until you are ready to upload it.  I have a LaTeX system installed so I can enter formulae into graphics applications like Inkscape, but for what you need it is more trouble than it's worth.  It's not plug and play, you have to download several components separately and mess about with command paths to get it all to work together. SpinningSpark 18:48, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

SpinningSpark, thank you. I just tried the Sandbox, entered a few symbols, closed it and now I cannot find how to open it again. BTW, most of what I entered appeared incorrect, not the way I hoped it would appear. I may need it as a onetime thing. Another time may come months from now, so I am looking for a "cheap" solution. I don't know if such exists but I will definitely try to find it. Many thanks for your help --AboutFace 22 (talk) 21:00, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

OK, I figured out how to open (edit) the sandbox and am now working on it. --AboutFace 22 (talk) 21:12, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

It is coming along rather well. The whole thing is elementary and easy to use. Thanks --AboutFace 22 (talk) 22:03, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

I actually finished the post in the sandbox however I cannot number my formulas. When I put numbers next to them I expect them to be printed at the right margin of the page. They do not stay there and come close to the formulas themselves. How is it done? Thanks. --AboutFace 22 (talk) 22:53, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * We have some templates that will do that, see Help:Displaying a formula. However, this is not part of LaTeX and the markup will not work anywhere outside of Wikipedia. SpinningSpark 00:13, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Ed Gein reference link
Someone put a faulty link and false birth date on Ed Geins page. Search any other site and they will tell you his birthday was August 27th. http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/gein/begin_2.html here is one example. I was going to use it as a link. The previous one was to a fake Wisconsin society site. I tried to put the link in as a reference but I did it wrong. I made an account just to fix this. Can someone fix it please!? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Emmasdilemmas (talk • contribs) 17:40, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * The original reference linked (now moved to another URL on the same website) was to his official state birth record. Now which do you think is more reliable, an official birth record or True Crime Library? 32.218.35.187 (talk) 21:18, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * They both indicate birth date: August 27, 1906.    71.20.250.51 (talk) 23:39, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Exactly. And the Wisconsin site was not a "fake". Much ado about nothing. 32.218.35.187 (talk) 01:44, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Proper handling of the article circumcision, more/other admins
The article circumcision suffers from biases, euphemistic language and withholding of information. It is at the moment POV and not of use in medical discussions as of the ethical and cultural arguments involved. Discussions on issues seem to be suppressed by sophistic arguments mainly through the user Zad. There had been frequent complaints about a considerable bias of Zad in administering the edits of the article.

My request is not to remove Zad, but to look for a more pluralistic board of admins that is not considered biased in a one-way-direction.

The article is of high importance, as the mass-experiments of mass-circumcisions of Africans - an unprecedented medical intervention. Africans have to use wikipedia-articles and follow any aspect of discussion. A simple line (defended by Zad) like "Circumcision does not appear to have a negative impact on sexual function." is deeply biased against psychological and logical arguments and studies proving the opposite are not accepted as source by the admin Zad.

In an edit-war sensitive issue like circumcision, the best way is to present both arguments. To outrule one argument as "unscientific" only judging by the representation in US-American medical literature seems rather uncommon for wikipedia.

The article is classified as a medical article, while most parts are cultural sciences involved (not to talk about moral philosophy or logics). This contributes to sophistry. Preconscious (talk) 18:25, 27 July 2014 (UTC)


 * We do not deal with editing disputes on this page, but we do give advice on where to find help resolving disputes (for that see WP:DR). It seems to me that User:Zad68 is not so much defending circumcision (although that might well be his opinion, I don't know and it doesn't really matter), but rather, he is defending the application of WP:MEDRS.  You should concentrate on countering that argument rather than probing into the motivations of editors.  It is the policy based arguments that will count in the end, not what the motivations of editors may or may not be.  MEDRS is a very strongly supported guideline on Wikipedia and arguing against it is likely to get you nowhere.  If you cannot find MEDRS compliant sources supporting your position you should probably give up.  If you can, and you still meet opposition, then is the time to look for dispute resolution. SpinningSpark 07:59, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

Infobox-Settlement type
Please help in defining the correct meaning for Settlement type option in Infobox. Some write it as Municipality, Corporation and some mention it as City, Town or Metro. Which is correct? What is the exact definition?--Vin09 (talk) 19:20, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * According to the documentation:
 * "Any type can be entered, such as City, Town, Village, Hamlet, Municipality, Reservation, etc. If set, will be displayed under the names, provided that either name or official_name is filled in. Might also be used as a label for total population/area (defaulting to City), if needed to distinguish from Urban, Rural or Metro (if urban, rural or metro figures are not present, the label is Total unless total_type is set)."  —71.20.250.51 (talk)
 * Thanks for info.--Vin09 (talk) 04:32, 28 July 2014 (UTC)

poem by Balagogbo Mabel
<< >> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.186.23.80 (talk) 20:12, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * Does this have anything to do with using or editing Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia? That's what this help desk is for. -- John of Reading (talk) 20:44, 27 July 2014 (UTC)

Malware check
I've been clearing the spam at a fairly popular blog (30,000+ visitors per month) and found that spammers or someone had posted this link:

Departments of the United Kingdom Government

There is no other link in the spam comment, so please check the Wikipedia article above in caseo malware has been edited into it. The comment is probably just an incompetent attempt at spam, but I thought I'd best mention it here.

Thanks for all your work, Anonamod — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.185.129.74 (talk) 23:07, 27 July 2014 (UTC)
 * The article and its "External links" look fine to me - but thanks for posting here. -- John of Reading (talk) 04:46, 28 July 2014 (UTC)
 * The article and its "External links" look fine to me - but thanks for posting here. -- John of Reading (talk) 04:46, 28 July 2014 (UTC)