Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 March 16

= March 16 =

block list
Is there a way to find a list of all currently active blocks on IPv6 addresses, short of trawling through Special:BlockList and ignoring the IPv4 blocks? Thanks! 00:13, 16 March 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:100:4759:4D52:6C43:4D9F:9EAB:5373 (talk)
 * Sounds like a job for the technical village pump.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 20:36, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

writing article
could i get someone to write an article for me --YasminPerry (talk) 03:00, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * On what subject? AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:06, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * See this topic above.— Vchimpanzee  ·  talk  ·  contributions  · 20:38, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Disruptive Edits to Article: Mansoor Ijaz
Dear Wikipedia Help Desk,

I am forced to write to you once again about disruptive edits made to my Wikipedia page on the date of the first Grand Prix race of the 2014 season in Melbourne.

The disruptive edit was made at 01:15 UTC by IP Address 90.195.168.185 registered to BSkyB in the United Kingdom, as set forth below this message.

I have used my own account to revert the edit with a disruptive edit remark. But I think we all know that this will happen again and again while our deal with Lotus F1 Team Limited continues to be negotiated. My Article has been periodically subjected to repeated instances of libelous or slanderous remarks against my person, and late last year, after numerous cases of disruptive edits, John Reaves semi-locked my page to prevent further vandalism.

I am therefore asking once again for my page to be semi-locked so that such disruptive edits and vandalism, which could interfere with the compliance and commercial aspects of the banking arrangements we are presently in the midst of concluding, are not allowed to continue.

I apologize that I must burden you again, but it seems that there are watchers of my page who see no end to the efforts to malign my person.

Kindly accept my request to re-lock my page from disruptive edits that could have a materially negative impact on our commercial transactions. Thank you.

Best Regards, Mansoor Ijaz ( talk ) 03:03, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Dear Wikipedia Help Desk,


 * A second attempt to disruptively edit my article has been made by User:TheRedPenOfDoom. Rationale given is obscure at best. The Formula One section of my article has been a part of the page for nearly a year and no such comment on relevance has ever been made during that time. The subject matter's current status is not a matter for public debate due to strict confidentiality provisions in place between Quantum and Lotus F1 Team Limited.


 * Mansoor Ijaz ( talk ) 03:28, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I looked at the content that the IP removed and I agree with the removal. It is not about the subject of the article. You cannot use wikipedia articles to base your business dealings and stature on. we have no obligation to cover them. the fact that inappropriate content has not been addressed for a long time does not privilege it to stay in the article after it has been recognized.--  TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom  03:32, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * I have to agree with The Red Pen of Doom here - long-winded and convoluted discussions about a complex and as yet inconclusive business deal concerning F1 don't belong in the article. If and when the deal is concluded, and to the extent that it directly concerns the subject of the article, it may merit inclusion - but that is up to Wikipedia contributors in general to determine, with due regard to Wikipedia policy. The subject of an article has no right to demand that particular topics are included or excluded - it isn't your article, it is ours. I suggest that you familiarise yourself with the Conflict of interest policy, and rather than editing the article yourself - which we strongly discourage except in very specific circumstances - you instead propose any changes on the article talk page. AndyTheGrump (talk) 03:44, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

Thank you both for your comments. I take on the point made by AndyTheGrump about a long-winded discussion about a yet-to-be concluded deal. I didn't insert the section on Formula One, and as readers and users of the Wikipedia pages added and subtracted to and from it, I did my best to help insure the section remained in a neutral and factually accurate point of view.

I have never asked for my article to be anything but fairly treated. Where I saw relevance to provide materials that would make the article a more complete biographical sketch, I did so under my own name as advised by senior Wikipedia editors in private mail correspondence from them. At least four senior editors have advised me how to manage and handle matters related to my article. I have done my utmost to remain within those guidelines.

I am happy to have a proper discussion with both of you that does not enter into the edit war it did tonight, as I am the affected living person. I am equally happy if you wish to opt for just removing my page if you think my life's work is not of relevance. What we should not do is use your authority as editors to just simply chop up an article just because you feel like it. That is not the spirit with which free editing was intended either.

Thank you both for your comments, which help me to understand what was behind the change. I think there is a better way to do it if you are open to that discussion. Mansoor Ijaz ( talk ) 04:13, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Please remember that Wikipedia, being an encyclopedia, is supposed to contain an overview of its subjects. Having a large section on a chronologically small topic (in other words, something that only occupies a small portion of your total time alive so far) really places undue weight on the subject.  We can assume that other parts of your life are significant in the long run: your place as a media commentator has gotten plenty of coverage over long periods of time, your place as an international negotiator has gotten more, and your personal life is intrinsically important to the article.  However, we can't assume that a few months of business dealings will be highly relevant to your life: we need to wait until the historians look at your life as a whole and deem them significant, or we need to wait until these business dealings keep going and become a part of your life for several years.  Without one or the other, we're placing a lot of emphasis on one element that's not necessarily occupied a major portion of your life.  Nyttend (talk) 04:43, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

ebt cards
I'm upset! I'm a single female that work two jobs. I'm intelligent,have more integrity than one would know! I would like to know why welfare cards allow individual's to buy candy,ready made sushi,all organic foods too! Pastries,cake etc.! Must I go on! This is absolutely, absurd! There are people eating better than me and I pay for it? WRONG!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 23.114.204.198 (talk) 05:31, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 4 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. -- Glaisher  [talk]  05:34, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

maxwelton station
I wish to upload photos to this page but even though i have registered and received a password I am not permitted to do so by the system — Preceding unsigned comment added by Michael Hickson (talk • contribs) 10:13, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Hi Michael. You can't yet upload images because your account is not autoconfirmed. You'll gain this user right when you have made 10 edits and your account is over 4 days old; your account is old enough but you haven't made any edits other than this one. Samwalton9 (talk) 10:16, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * If the photo has an allowed license then it's better to upload it to Wikimedia Commons at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, and that can be done right away. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:22, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

Google book ext. link
I searched for "White House staff live where" and got a hit on a book, which I used to partially answer a reference desk question (and add reference #3 to Executive Residence). However, I'm wondering if I should tidy up the link so it doesn't have my search string embedded in it. If so, how? Clarityfiend (talk) 10:21, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Yes, tidying up the url would be better, and not just to remove your search string. Many websites have a bunch of query parameters you don't need to view the content. Experimentation shows you can simply shorten this long link to this shorter one. The latter omits the language parameter  so I see the interface in Danish but that's OK. The book excerpt is still in English and I could get the interface in English by changing the language preference in my browser. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:15, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * If you use the cite tool above the edit box and select book and place your google books URL in the window and press the green arrow "fetch", the tool brings back a very simplified URL. --  TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom  14:05, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Wow! I didn't know about that cite tool. That'll make things easier for me. Many thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 10:14, 17 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Oh! — perhaps I have some 'splaning to do... While doing follow-up regarding post on reference desk (here), I checked the link provided.  I modified the URL string by selecting the 'clear search' option on the google books page, which gave me the URL without the search cruft, then selected the 'link to this page' option, which gave me the un-cruft link, which I used to replace link (here) —71.20.250.51 (talk) 22:52, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

Senior citizen" grivences such as violation of RTI rules by the DJB Executive engineers- regarding
Respected sir , I am senior citizen n of 70 years. In spite of my repeated requests under RTI to the DJB executive engineer, Karol bagh,North delhi regarding excess recovery of water charges of my quqarter, Im unable to get any information from the concern executive engineer.sinceJanuary,2014.I want to request the high authority to direct the enginer to obey the RTI rules. kindly let me know to whom I should contact for getting the RTI rules implemented.With regards,SR.citzen. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.180.36.107 (talk) 12:10, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 4 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. -- Glaisher  [talk]  12:46, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

who can access my sandbox
I'm just about to start my first attempt at writing a Wikipedia page in my sandbox and was under the impression that only I had access to its contents - is this not the case? The reason I ask is that I'm also working on a project in another language and when I ran a Web search with "sandbox" and the name of the page's subject, the first result enabled me to access my sandbox without logging in - is this normal, or have i done something wrong? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.91.127.113 (talk) 12:42, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Anyone can view any page on Wikipedia including your sandbox excluding some Special pages which is not relevant in this context. -- Glaisher  [talk]  12:45, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Also (with a few exceptions) sandboxes can be edited by any user. Peter&#160;James (talk) 14:27, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

So what advantages do I have from logging in? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.91.127.113 (talk) 13:03, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * See WP:BENEFITS -- Glaisher  [talk]  13:05, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * You can place User sandbox on the page to mark it as a sandbox and prevent indexing in external search engines (at least when they respect noindex). Other Wikipedia languages may have other templates but  will prevent search engine indexing in all Wikimedia wikis. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:50, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

Kosmon Sanctuary, Walton-on-the-Hill
Dear Provider of Information on this site

To inform you that the photo taken that is supposed to be of the Kosmon Sanctuary is actually nothing to do with the Kosmon Sanctuary. The building in the photo is actually a private residence that has no link to the Kosmon Sanctuary. The Kosmon Sanctuary is actually a flat-roofed hall attached to a cottage that is located further along the road from Walton Manor itself. Walton Manor is not a sanctuary but is converted into flats, with a single house remaining within the building. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.133.21.242 (talk) 15:27, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * There's no "Provider of Information" - anyone can edit even without an account here - see Template:Sofixit. I've made the changes to List of places of worship in Reigate and Banstead and Walton-on-the-Hill and requested a rename of the image on Commons. Peter&#160;James (talk) 15:57, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

paperless classroom
Can I use Wiki as a resourse for my music appreciation class? the goal being to go paperless and also use technology in the classroom.

Secondly can I use a page password so only my class can see the information posted?

Thank you/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnclaren1952 (talk • contribs) 15:34, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia is not a reliable source and so I would hope from an educational point of view you are strictly instructing your students "Don't believe everything (or even most) of what you see on the interwebs! Do your diligence and assess the sources!"
 * But the content itself is free to use. see Reusing Wikipedia content.-- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom  19:50, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * BUT: if you are asking whether you can set up pages somewhere in Wikipedia where you could post information for your students to use: then, definitely not. Wikipedia is not a webhost; we do not offer space on our servers for you to use that way. -- Orange Mike &#x007C;  Talk  20:32, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Maybe, when Johnclaren1952 wrote "Can I use Wiki", he meant "a wiki site", rather than "Wikipedia". The answer would then be "yes, if you choose a wiki site which allows such use, or if you set up your own wiki site". Maproom (talk) 19:51, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia Page for Luke Cooper
I was pleasantly shocked to see an article about me pop up on Wikipedia recently. It felt great that the market objectively viewed my commitment to entrepreneurship and community service so positively.

Aside from being a tech entrepreneur, a lot of my focus in the public sphere is around issues affecting young Black boys. They are inundated with negative images of "ghetto success" and need a new generation of role models, drawn from the legal profession, business and education, to counter under-performance and involvement in crime. I am working daily to achieve this. Especially so here in Baltimore, where more than 20% of the city's residents live below the poverty line.

At the risk of offending, I am asking the powers that be to please permit the page to remain. Although its does not capture all of my other national/regional media it is indeed accurate. And more importantly it serves as a great guide to others that are combatting abject poverty and desperation on a daily basis to see what success looks like. As for notability, I may not be as notable as the most notable figures in the community but my notability is comparable to many of the individuals there. Wikipedia is an amazing community because of group curation but also because of its noble non-profit cause. My purpose through entrepreneurship and the small fame I have achieved is to do the same charitable campaigning to rescue those suffering daily because of poverty and lack of opportunity.

Thank you.

Luke Cooper — Preceding unsigned comment added by Faktfinder (talk • contribs) 16:58, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Hello . There are no "powers that be": Wikipedia is governed by consensus. The discussion about deleting the page about you is at Articles for deletion/Luke Cooper. The sole criterion for whether the page will be kept is if there are reliable published sources, independent of you which talk about you (more than just a mention in passing): the worthiness of you or your activities does not enter into the question, and nor (emphatically) does any question of bringing your work to a wider audience. Wikipedia is only interested in topics which have already written about. If you know of any articles about you which have been published in a reliable place (such as a major newspaper or a book from a reputable publisher), and are independent of you (so they are not just written from a press release, or written by somebody close to you) you are welcome to contribute to the deletion discussion with these references; but postings to the discussion which do not address the central issue of notability (in Wikipedia's special sense) will not have any effect on the discussion. (If you do post to that discussion, be sure to declare explicitly that you are the subject: this will ensure that your contribution is treated on its merits, where being silent about your conflict of interest may prejudice editors against you). --ColinFine (talk) 01:08, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Copy of Wikipedia Articles and information
Can I make copies of Wikipedia pages and give them to students to enhance their learing experiences? Thanks

HL — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.22.189.18 (talk) 17:34, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Wikipedia articles are not reliable sources, and so handing them out to students without careful explanation of not blindly accepting sources would be problematic from an educational point of view.
 * but, all of the text content is licensed for free use and distribution with proper attribution and so from a copyright stand, yes you may distribute. Some of the images may be under copyright and so distribution of the copyright images would need a little extra work. see Reusing Wikipedia content.-- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom  19:35, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

Template creation in sandbox
How can I create a template within my own sandbox? I created US Open championships in the template namespace but only because it wasn't clear to me how to create this in my sandbox.--Wolbo (talk) 19:15, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * You can use the same template code in your sandbox. It can be transcluded for demonstration purposes by including the namespace as in . Userspace pages should not be transcluded in mainspace articles.   will always transclude the current version of the page so if you expect to use the sandbox for other purposes later, it's a bad idea to transclude it in a discussion. A page at User:Wolbo/US Open championships would be better in that case. A few things like templates with namespace checks may behave differently in userspace, but in your example there should be no issues. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:39, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Thx. I have created a sandbox for templates but if it transcludes the entire page does it mean I can only put (the code of) one template on the page? I would like to create several (versions of) templates but in that case is it possible to select one specific template to transclude?--Wolbo (talk) 23:13, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * There are ways to transclude different selected parts of a page but it's tricky and I haven't seen it done for this purpose. I suggest you either create separate pages or omit transcluding the page and instead link to it if you want others to see it. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:00, 17 March 2014 (UTC)
 * OK, sounds like separate pages is the way to go. Thx.--Wolbo (talk) 08:17, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Two columns, with a table in each
There is a long, narrow table HERE. It will never get any longer than it is. I'd like to break it up into two side-by-side columns, separated by some space. The first column would have the table heading and would end after "Second VP-40". The second would also have the table heading and would include the rest of the items. Providing that this is possible, can somebody please do it, or show me how it is done? (I have a few more tables that need this treatment. Once I see how it's done, I can figure out how to handle them). Lou Sander (talk) 20:16, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * Hi! I went ahead and took care of it in this edit. Basically, all I did was divide your giant table into two smaller ones, then place them into a new table with two columns. Here's the skeleton of the code I used:


 * Hope this helps, ~Super Hamster  Talk Contribs 21:27, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * It did! I repeated your fix in two other tables, and now I've got just what I want. There's one little loose end that I'll work on later. Lou Sander (talk) 00:50, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

Master Lu
Hi, The article named - Master Lu been deleted yesterday. Is it possible you can advise why this is been taken off. Also can you pls advise in detail how the article should be improved in order to meet Wiki standard? thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Maggiejhan (talk • contribs) 21:11, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
 * This question has been asked at multiple venues. A response is already at User_talk:Josve05a. Mkdw talk 21:22, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * And it has been recreated again, with poor referencing, at Lu Jun Hong (Australia). Astronaut (talk) 15:27, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Crash left editor in EDIT MODE for all computer actions (Browsers, Desktop, eMail app)
Browser: Firefox 3.6.28 Mac OSX: 10.4.11 Computer: Intel Core 2 Duo - -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  Good Day,

Read an article that needed an edit. Set username & password for Login. While beginning Edit encountered problem & crash. Then could not Login again (password was rejected). Amazingly found myself still in edit mode but didn't seem to be working.

Attempted to clear cache as suggested. Now find that even when not at Wikipedia, ALL OF MY COMPUTER ACTIONS (OTHER BROWSERS, DESKTOP, etc.) Have a BLACK LINE BOX everywhere around: Browser windows, folder windows, window items, items selected anywhere, even at the top of an email.

Extremely frustrating, wish I had NEVER ATTEMPTED to clarify an article comment. I really need help, nothing seems to get me back to where I started running OK. - -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.219.156.62 (talk) 21:18, 16 March 2014 (UTC)


 * Hi! I believe your computer's VoiceOver setting somehow managed to turn on. Head over to your computer's System Preferences, and under 'Universal Access' there should be the option to turn off VoiceOver. Hope this helps, ~Super Hamster  Talk Contribs 22:03, 16 March 2014 (UTC)

THANKS..that cleared the "black line boxes over all windows, but I still get warnings that DOCUMENTS ARE UNTAGGED and "assitive technology will not be able to interact with application. NEED ADDITIONAL HELP TO CLEAR THAT ASPECT.
 * Where is that happening? I know (in Windows), I get untagged document warnings in Adobe Reader because I use the Read Out Loud settings. Are you having this issue with PDFs? - Purplewowies (talk) 04:14, 19 March 2014 (UTC)