Wikipedia:Teahouse/Questions/Archive 85

Rules for Television info boxes
OK... so I've encountered an issue while editing Rugrats. I added the show's logo and a picture of the cast to the info box and changed the colors of the infobox to reflect those of the show. An editor reverted my edits. I don't understand why those customization are allowed on other TV show articles (i.e. Family Guy, The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants) but not on the Rugrats article. I'm not a well experienced editor but I believe that my edits greatly benefit the article. I must say, I'm personally a very visual person and that's why I decided to begin contributing to Wikipedia, to visually enchance articles the best I can. And I understand it's hard with all the copyright restrictions, but I try my best to comprehend everything and follow the rules.

Now that I've rambled on for ages, my question is simply: Why are these types of edits OK on some articles but not others? CityMorgue (talk) 06:49, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Is there any way I can properly apply these types of edits to the article? CityMorgue (talk) 18:10, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hey, I know it can be confusing sometimes! Different editors have different ideas about what sort of illustrations and customizations are appropriate; that's why you see other articles that seem to include the additions you're trying to make.  Let's take 'em one by one: The picture of the main babies is nice, but the article already has a cast picture that shows everyone.  Since these images are non-free (that is, copyrighted), we have to keep our use of them to a bare minimum.  That means just one cast picture for most television programs.  Since there's already a cast picture, it's better to have the logo in the infobox.  As for the colors, there's still some disagreement over whether infobox headers should have customized colors or not; I think the consensus is leaning toward not, but I don't know for sure.
 * Have you tried engaging the editor who reverted your edit and asking why it was done? If you're polite and ask the question in a way that doesn't put the editor on the defensive, you're likely to get a polite response that points you to current discussions or guidelines that explain what he or she was thinking.
 * Hope this helps.
 * -- Powers T 22:27, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Google Doc URL
Hi! Is there a way I could link a Google Doc to a Wikipedia article I am creating and editing? Cmhardi1 (talk) 23:03, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Welcome to Teahouse! Which Google Doc article you want to link, where and how (read "which section" "References", "External links")? --Tito Dutta (contact) 23:12, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I have taken a look through the "External links" section and have managed to find an answer to this question. Much appreciated. Cmhardi1 (talk) 18:35, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

User Boxes
Hi,

I was just wondering how you edit/add to your user boxes?

Thanks Zoe Xlucky charmx (talk) 21:59, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi Zoe. There is an article here regarding creating the boxes for the right hand side http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Userboxes Brancoady (talk) 22:08, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your help. xlucky_charmx (talk) 13.36, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Using images from Facebook
I was wondering if it would be possible, when creating an article about a well known scholar, to take a picture from their Facebook profile page (an image that they have made available to the public)? Would the fact they have made this image publicly available mean it could be added as a primary picture in the article?

Also, on the topic of Facebook, would it be worthwhile linking to the individuals social networking pages in the external links section of an article? Brancoady (talk) 21:46, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi Brancoady! I'm not sure, but that would violate the external link policy. I've seen people use images from Flickr, but not Facebook. You should ask someone else because I'm not totally sure. JHU bal 27 • Talk •E-mail 21:56, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I notice that several famous people, David Beckham for example, does have a link to his Facebook page in the external links section. I think in this instance however it is probably not going to be something people are interested in for the topic. Brancoady (talk) 22:05, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Just to elaborate: Just because an image is "avaliable" to the public doesn't mean it's "useable" by the public. In this case, the image is still copyrighted by the person who took it. Therefore, you can't use it on Wikipedia (sorry!). Putting in a few (1/2) links to the pages is sometimes acceptable, but only if the persons actually use it actively. gwickwire  talk editing 21:59, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I had presumed this was the case, but was not sure if by physically marking an image as available to all on Facebook was a forfeit of the copyright on the image to creative commons. Thanks for clarifying this is not the case. With that in mind, how do people usually go about sourcing images for wikipedia?Brancoady (talk) 22:05, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Hello Brancoady, welcome to the Teahouse. JHUba127 is correct. Facebook is not an acceptable external link per our policies and guidelines. To go a bit further, per WP:LINKSTOAVOID:


 * Sites that require payment or registration to view the relevant content, unless the site itself is the subject of the article, or the link is a convenience link to a citation.
 * Sites that are inaccessible to a substantial number of users, such as sites that only work with a specific browser or in a specific country (Facebook is actually blocked in a number of countries and as a registered site is not accesible to all)
 * Social networking sites (such as Myspace and Facebook), chat or discussion forums/groups (such as Yahoo! Groups), Twitter feeds, Usenet newsgroups or e-mail lists
 * Blogs, personal web pages and most fansites, except those written by a recognized authority. (This exception for blogs, etc., controlled by recognized authorities is meant to be very limited; as a minimum standard, recognized authorities always meet Wikipedia's notability criteria for people.) (Facebook is a personal webite)

As far as any image you find on Facebook, it must clearly state that it is either in the public domain or has a license comaptible with use on Wikipedia CC attribution, commercial use acceptable. If not you would have to use what is called "Fair Use". See Non-free content for more details. The propblem is, if the subject is one that a free image could be available (as many public figures have) you would not be able to use fair use. I suggest looking through flicker for an image with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license and upload it via Wikimedia Commons.--Amadscientist (talk) 22:08, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Excellent, managed to find an image via Flickr with the license you mentioned. Have added to the article! Brancoady (talk) 23:12, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Brancoady, sadly the image you found doesn't have a suitable licence as it has the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) and the non-commercial part makes it ineligible for use either here or on Commons. NtheP (talk) 23:19, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, unfortunately that was not the right license. You could always contact one of the photographers on Flicker and request they release one image as "Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license". That has worked for me in the past. You could even ask the figure if they would allow one of their images to be released via an OTRS verification. Good luck and happy editing.--Amadscientist (talk) 23:24, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Ahhh, woops. I have emailed all of the people who have uploaded images of her to see if they will release with the correct license. Hopefully one of them will oblige! Thanks for your help Amadscientist & Nthep! Brancoady (talk) 23:45, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I went to flickr to look and got distracted when I noticed someone uploaded one of my works without permission. Grrrrr.--Amadscientist (talk) 23:47, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Spoken with the owner of the image who has very kindly changed the license! http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenthoughts/498904415/ Hopefully this will now be accepted! Brancoady (talk) 00:11, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Very good. Do you need this uploaded for you or are you able to do so yourself?--Amadscientist (talk) 00:17, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the offer, however I had already uploaded it under the old license (before I knew it wasn't allowed, of course!). So I have left a message on the page where it was nominated for deletion http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Caroline_Haythornthwaite.jpg - is this the correct thing to do? Brancoady (talk) 00:20, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, that's a good solution. I've closed the deletion request and marked the image as reviewed.  The next step is to add some categories to the image description page on Commons!  Let us know if you need some help; Commons doesn't have a Teahouse yet.  =)  Powers T 02:03, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Really? Uhm... I wonder if commons can benifit from establishing one?

Happy birthday Teahouse!
 — Keithbob • Talk  • 20:24, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Happy birthday! --Tito Dutta (contact) 22:06, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Why won't my URL format correctly?
Hello again! I am trying to update the information about last evening's Canadian Screen Awards, and I can't get one of my references, to the Toronto Star newspaper, to format properly. Can someone check it out? This will be a major article shortly, and I don't want to leave it looking bad. &mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 19:50, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Anne, fixed it for you but the url parameter needs the  in front of the www.etc to work correctly. NtheP (talk) 19:57, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I should have noticed that myself.&mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 20:02, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

What to do about a redirect
Dear editors: I would like to make a page about a bluegrass band called the Dixie Flyers. The band is notable enough to have an entry in the Canadian Encyclopedia of Music. The page name "Dixie Flyers" is currently redirected to Nashville Dixie Flyers, a minor hockey team from the 1960's in Nashville, Tennessee. Since there's no real page with the Dixie Flyers title, can I undo the redirect, create the page, and then create a disambiguation page instead? &mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 18:52, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Yes, undo the redirect, but you don't need to create a disambiguation page if there are only two possibilities. Just create a hatnote at the top of each page, referring to the other.  Cullen 328  Let's discuss it  19:33, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Anne, if there are only two articles with similar titles then probably the use of Hatnotes is a better solution. When you expand Dixie Flyers into an article about the band add   to the top of the page to distinguish the two.  You can add a similar hatnote to the top of Nashville Dixie Flyers to direct enquiries about the band to the right page. If you do expand the current redirect you need to check the existing links to that page {Special:WhatLinksHere/Dixie Flyers) to make sure the links are pointed to the correct page. NtheP (talk) 19:45, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, I'll do it soon. &mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 19:51, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I created the article User:Anne Delong/Dixie Flyers in my user space, but I was unable to move it to Dixie Flyers. I deleted the redirect, but it still didn't work.  I read the section on page moves and added a db-move tag to the page.  What happens now? &mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 04:27, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * The redirect is up for speedy deletion per your request, and it should be processed by an administrator soon. I am not an administrator, otherwise I would do it for you, Anne. I commend you for all your recent work to improve this encyclopedia.  Well done!  Cullen 328   Let's discuss it  04:46, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Quaestia
I've noticed that many pages on Ancient Roman senators/notables (example: Gaius Fufius Geminus (suffect consul 2 BC)) link to books on the Quaestia website, where you have to pay to read/access. Is it possible that Quaestia might be using Wikipedia as a way of directing potential customers to their online library? Would it be better to remove the links to the Quaestia site, or would that weakened the article (since those links are the sources)? Fantini (talk) 18:47, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Fantini, welcome to the Teahouse. No, Questia aren't directing potential customers to their site.  Questia are one of a number of organisations that offer a number of free subscriptions to their resources for Wikipedia editors (see The Wikipedia Library), this enables editors to have access to resources that otherwise would be quite costly.  The net effect of this is that the quality of articles is improved rather than be restrained by lack of access.  That other editors such as you and I do not have access to these online articles directly is not the point, there are numerous other sources used to verify articles, for example Times Newspapers, that live behind paywalls.  The object is that sources that can be verified are provided should someone have the inclination and/or money to check. NtheP (talk) 19:17, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * You might find WP:Resource exchange of interest. --ColinFine (talk) 23:14, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Redirection
I'm creating an article, I was wondering about redirection of a page. for example the current page is Joe Blogs, however if i just search for it as joe bloggs the page doesn't register. Rachel L Fisher (talk) 18:15, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Rachel, welcome to the Teahouse. Wikipedia searches aren't case specific so Joe Bloggs should show if you typed joe bloggs.  However spelling does matter, so you can create redirects from plausible alternative spellings like Joe Blogs to redirect to Joe Bloggs. NtheP (talk) 18:27, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * thanks for that. much appreciated. what code/tags do I use for a redirection? Rachel L Fisher (talk) 18:42, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Make a new page with whatever you want to redirect from. Insert the following code: #REDIRECT Joe Blogs Now it should work :) —  nerd  fighter  18:46, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Hidden entries in template
For some reasons, few entries of this template Template:Swami Vivekananda are not being displayed. To see this, go to edit mode and see |group4=Works and philosophy. There are 7-8 entries, but, in template, only 4 are being displayed. Any idea? --Tito Dutta (contact) 15:17, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hey, Tito! There was a stray set of double brackets ("]]") in that line, which was causing the rest of the list to not get rendered.  Should be fixed now. Writ Keeper &#9863;&#9812; 15:23, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Super excellent observation! --Tito Dutta (contact) 15:27, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Comments on an article
I am seeking some feedback regarding an article I have contributed to as part of a University assignment.

The article has been submitted for review, and me moved it as suggested to the "Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation" section, however the review process is rather backlogged at the moment, so would like some feedback from fellow Wikipedians.

I placed a similar question early on in the articles creation, with feedback being that there wasn't enough references, which we have now fixed.

Any feedback is most welcome. Nickjhanson (talk) 13:22, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Voceditenore has written a careful comment on the page itself, at Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Caroline Haythornthwaite. It still needs a lot of work. StarryGrandma (talk) 18:46, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * The feedback given seems really useful. However, I am not sure about voceditenores comments regarding using 'currently' with regard to where she 'currently' works. Almost every footballers page has 'currently plays for' so I dont see why 'currently works for' is any different? Can anybody shed any light on this? Brancoady (talk) 21:41, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * See WP:DATED. Words like "currently" should be avoided because they can date themselves quickly. Instead, a phrase like "As of March 2013, she worked at..." should be used. There's no indication regarding the time frame for "currently". If an article was written 10 years ago saying "Currently, Tony Blair is PM," well, it was correct when it was written, but not now. --Geniac (talk) 03:14, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I suppose this is where regularly checking and updating pages is key; probably why its seen as acceptable for famous footballers pages! Thanks. Brancoady (talk) 02:40, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Getting information
Hello, I am currently working with some people on creating an article about a person. I was just wondering how much of the factual information I should rephrase, or can I directly use the information, given I reference it? Thanks, Elir9 (talk) 12:02, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Welcome to the Teahouse, Elir9. Use your own words.  "Facts and ideas cannot be protected by copyright, but creative expression is protected."  See See creative expression for more detail.  Write your article in your own words, your own "creative expression."  You should still credit the source of the factual information, usually at the end of a paragraph or section.  You can use short quotes from sources either enclosed in quotation marks or in a blockquote with the source cited immediately after the quoted text.  You must avoid violating copyright and should avoid plagiarism.  Those links lead to dozens of other pages of policy, procedure and practice in Wikipedia but don't be overly concerned about reading all of them now.  If you continue to work in Wikipedia, you will learn more as you go along.  Hope this helps.  If you have a more specific question, come back again.  Take care, DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 13:01, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you, it makes things clearer!Elir9 (talk) 13:21, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Using sandbox as a group
I am new to Wikipedia and I am working in a group to create an article, we have been advised to use sandbox as a was to create a draft before submitting an article, is there a way we can all use one of our sandboxes to add information and edit and if so how would I link my sandbox to the rest of the group? Thanks Staceysavage1991 (talk) 11:43, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * That's very easy. You could choose anyone from your group and use that person's sandbox. For example, if it is User:Staceysavage1991 then just type in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Staceysavage1991/sandbox in to the address bar. Or the user who's sandbox is chosen might provide a link to other users on their talk page. -- Ushau97 talk  contribs 11:55, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi, Stacey. Welcome to the Teahouse and the world of Wikipedia.  I'm guessing that you and others noticed that  takes everyone to their own sandbox, not to yours.  You or any of your collaborators can create a sandbox and provide the address.  Just type in the address.  For example, right-click on User:Staceysavage1991/Sandbox and open it in a new page.  Type anything in the blank page and save it.  Then reload this page and you'll see that the redlink turned blue because it now exists.  Once your sandbox exists, you can add to it.  For example, User:Staceysavage1991/Sandbox/ArticleIdeas and User:Staceysavage1991/Sandbox/DraftArticle.  Take a look at my sandbox as an example.  Once created, you and your collaborators can all put a link to the sandbox on their userpage like Draft Article .  Then they can just click on the blue "Draft Article" and go straight to the draft.  Everyone will be able to edit the draft.  Hope this helps, DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 12:12, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Ah, you started! To make the link to your draft, have your collaborators copy-and-paste -Mark Griffiths draft onto their user or talk page.  It'll look like this: -Mark Griffiths draft and clicking on it will go to the draft.  Take care, DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 12:20, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you for all the feedback! Really helpfull Staceysavage1991 (talk) 13:18, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Adding audio to an article
Hi, i'm new to Wikipedia. I just wanted to know how one would go about adding an embedded media player onto an article that would play a short .mp3 audio track? Mogzilla91 (talk) 10:54, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi Mogzilla91; welcome to the Teahouse. Wikipedia doesn't support MP3 formatted recording; you would need to upload the file as an Ogg Vorbis file for it to be usable here. If you are able to convert the file to .ogg, then you can upload it using the "Upload file" link in your Toolbox menu (&larr;over there); just follow the step-by-step instructions. Once uploaded, you can use the file in an article using the template: add the code   and replace the italic text appropriately. Yunshui  雲 &zwj; 水  11:01, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you very much! Mogzilla91 (talk) 12:57, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Question about referencing
Hi as stated a lot recently on Teahouse I am engaging in a project for a Psychology of Internet behaviour course. If you look at my groups sandbox user:saoul91/sandbox my question is in my contribution on "human animal bonds" should the referencing method be the same as the rest of the article and if so then how do I reference in that same style? Liberum Conscientia (talk) 10:54, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi Liberum Conscientia. You've currently formatted your citations as external links, which, as you've surmised, isn't right - you need to use the citation template, as your fellow students have done. This short essay will help you to do so; it's pretty straightforward. Best of luck, Yunshui 雲 &zwj; 水  11:08, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Copyright issue
Dear editors: I was reading the article about Stonehenge, and I noticed a reference that seemed to be a blog. When I looked at the blog entry, it said the source was the National Museum of Wales. I realized that the article had been copied from this press release: ]. Should this entry be removed? No copyright material has been added to Wikipedia. Are press releases intended to be copied and so okay? The paragraph in Wikipedia has another source anyway. &mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 10:45, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi Anne, in theory, press releases probably are intended to be copied, although they cannot be copied here as the original page says quite clearly © the National Museum of Wales. But since, the material isn't copied to the WP article itself, I'd simply remove the blog source (almost unvariably unsuitable as a source) and directly reference it to the official press release. Or, just leave the non-blog source if that one's sufficient. Voceditenore (talk) 10:59, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks, I've done that. &mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 13:53, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Article For Education Keeps Getting Deleted
Hi guys, i was wondering if anyone would be able to help as i have a situation where a particular user keeps deleting an article i am creating for education purposes with a group of individuals. We are using an education banner in the code text but nevertheless this user keeps on deleting our page. We are writing about the Psychology of Internet Behaviour if that makes any difference. Any help would be appreciated.

Many Thanks!

(Lewishiley (talk) 10:12, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I can not find any deletion notification in your talk page. Could you provide the list of affected articles? --Tito Dutta (contact) 10:13, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * He's referring to Laura Widyanto, an article which has been repeatedly recreated with the content "more to come". Since we don't host placeholder articles, I've (repeatedly) advised the page creator, User:Seth Fasnacht-Conn to use his sandbox to construct the page. Yunshui 雲 &zwj; 水  10:25, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hello. There is no article by the title Psychology of Internet Behaviour or any other close name. I have even checked the deletion log for any article by that name but there is no deleted article by that name. This page shows that only 1 of your edits have been deleted. Furthermore I don't think admins will be deleting pages without any reason. Could you please be more specific in your question. -- Ushau97 talk  contribs 10:28, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * FWIW, I've thrown up a basic stub at the page in question, to help these two students get underway. There are probable notability issues (I can find very little on the professor in question), so it may not meet the inclusion requirements in any case, but at least there's something there now. Yunshui 雲 &zwj; 水  10:36, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Referencing guidelines
When referencing an article sourced from the internet, what would be the preferred referencing guidelines to use on a wikipage? Daniel.Frozenwind (talk) 09:59, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Welcome to Teahouse! You'll get help from here Referencing for beginners. --Tito Dutta (contact) 10:01, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Thank you, much appreciated! Daniel.Frozenwind (talk) 10:04, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

List of deceased admins!
Do we have a list of deceased admins somewhere? --Tito Dutta (contact) 09:57, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Welcome! You may be looking for Missing Wikipedians or Deceased Wikipedians. Cheers -- Ushau97 talk  contribs 10:01, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks for replies. 1) I know about "Copying within Wikipedia", I don't need to give any attribution when I am copying my own post (in this case my question somehow got posted at the bottom of the page, so, copied it to top). 2) No, I am not looking for those two lists, I have been editing those two articles. The complex form of the same question is: as far as I know, as token of honour, deceased admins' admin flags are not removed. I am interested to learn, do they keep any list, so that those deceased admins' names are not included in "inactive admins list"? --Tito Dutta (contact) 10:06, 4 March 2013 (UTC) Strikethrough one portion --Tito Dutta (contact) 10:07, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Can I directly quote from other Wikipedia articles?
I want to create a new article for an educational assignment and as well as other references and resources, can I quote from other related articles found on Wikipedia? Leanne Morgan (talk) 09:44, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * First of all, welcome to Wikipedia and the Teahouse! To answer your question, you could use other articles as sources. But not directly. This is how you do it. When you come across something you want from another article you could use it's citation and then write what you want in your article. Then you could cite the excerpt with the same reference in your article. Hope I have answered your question. Happy editing! -- Ushau97 talk  contribs 09:53, 4 March 2013 (UTC)
 * For more information see this page. -- Ushau97 talk  contribs 09:58, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Brilliant, thanks for your help! Leanne Morgan (talk) 10:05, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you, I always wondered about that as well.Penguin2006 (talk) 13:02, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Content edit
Can text be copy and pasted from outside sources aslong as it is referenced? Rachel L Fisher (talk) 09:43, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hello and welcome to Wikipedia and the Teahouse. The answer for your question is yes. As long as the license is compatible with Wikipedia you could use it. But be aware that you cannot use the exact text from sources which are copyrighted. Instead you could just change the text and then use it as a reference. Once again, welcome to Wikipedia and we hope that you will help Wikipedia a better encyclopedia. -- Ushau97 talk  contribs 10:05, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi Rachel, just to clarify, there are relatively few types of sources that are free to copy. These are: text from works originally published before January 1923, text from works published by the US government, text from works (including websites) which carry an explicit statement releasing them into the public domain or explicitly bearing a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. But not all Creative Commons licenses are suitable. If they specify no alteration of the text or no commercial use, the material can't be used here. Also, many non-US governments do not allow commercial use or do not allow copyring at all. If you are in any doubt about the text you want to use and its licensing, you can ask advice at Wikipedia talk:Copyright problems. It's OK to quote a sentence or two from a non-free copyright source, but it must be clearly marked as a quotation and attributed to its source with an inline citation. Hope that helps. Voceditenore (talk) 10:31, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

is it possible to delete a "review waiting" box?
Hello, I'd like to delete the "review waiting" box from my User-sandbox and thus be able to continue editing further my article-to-be - to continue on a "clean table = without this yellow info-box. Is it possible? This would remove the text from the review-queue. Or is there another way to do it? Marjarau (talk) 17:29, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Marjarau, welcome to the Teahouse. You can just delete the   templates and resubmit when you are ready or you can edit it while it's still waiting for review.  There is nothing that says that the version reviewed has to be the same as the version when you added it to the review queue. NtheP (talk) 18:24, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi, Marjarau. I looked at your draft article on Ilona Harima.  From my Google search, she is notable and deserving of an article in en.Wikipedia.  I also saw that at least some Finnish sources provide summaries in English.  I reorganized your draft article so it is more like other en.Wikipedia articles.  If you prefer to do the work yourself, revert my edits.  Otherwise, I would enjoy spending some time collaborating.  More on your talk page.  Take care, DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 18:55, 3 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi, DocTree - thanks for the clarifications, I'd be glad for collaboration. I succeeded in erasing the review waiting box.

External link is still to be done. I hope the sources-section is acceptable. The one reference is the only one in wiki with a good English summary. All other texts are in Finnish only.Thanks, Marjarau (talk) 19:29, 3 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hello DocTree, thanks for the answer on March 4th. Now I have added further reading and external link. And erased sculptor from infobox. Ilona Harima (my mother) made too few sculptures to be noted here. I hope the general reference-level is enough to this short article. I am a biologist-librarian, retired. I went through kindergarten and middle-classes in the English School run by American nuns, here in Helsinki. Am trying my best to keep up my English! Marjarau (talk) 08:00, 4 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Just a remark about references. Sources used in English Wikipedia articles do not need to be in English, you are welcome to use Finnish (or any other language) sources here as references. Roger (talk) 11:55, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

How to indicate an article has been copy edited or do I
I have finished somewhere about a dozen edits so far, some selected from the urgent list. I am wondering if I need or can, or supposed to do anything to indicate that that particular article has been copy edited and could possibly be removed from the urgent copy edit list?Montykillies (talk) 09:18, 3 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi, MontyKillies. Welcome to Wikipedia and the Teahouse.  Are you working on the list on the Guild of Copy Editors (GOCE) Request page? The procedure recommended by the Guild is:
 * - Select an article to edit from the copyedit requested list.
 * -Add  or   indented with a colon under request to inform others (so you don't end up with two editors working at the same time and ending up with a conflict).  Sing Sign with four tildes.
 * - Edit the article. When you're finished:
 * - Add at the bottom of the talk page of the article.  Put your username and the date in so it looks like:


 * - Go back to the GoCE list to change the working or doing template to ✅ ✅ and sign it with four tildes again to show the date and time.
 * You should sign up for the March backlog elimination drive. I admire those with the skills to be good copy editors.  Alas, I'm great at stating facts concisely and accurately but my prose is rarely described as smooth or flowing.  Take care, DocTree (ʞlɐʇ·cont) Join WER 15:27, 3 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi Guys, I am selecting articles from the March list now, and the last few I have edited have been from the list. I have not been marking them with the doing or editing tag while doing them as I have been doing the edit all in one sitting and thought the chances of another editor doing the same article at the same time were small. I was not aware of the update action on the GOCE page. I will see if I can get that done on the articles I have finished editing. However, I do not know how to sign up for the March backlog elimination drive. I have just been doing it.Thanks for the info. I am sure I will be back many times for more help!Montykillies (talk) 22:35, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

Hi again guys (and girls!). I have finally got the issues resolved with help (thanks Doctree!) and some snooping on my own. I am sure there will be many more bumps in the road and I appreciate the willingness of all to help. Thankfully I can remove my stupid cap for the time being!!Montykillies (talk) 17:31, 5 March 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia visited link's color : needs to be changed
Hi!

I noticed that the current color for visited links makes visited links hard to spot after being visited. I strongly recommend that visited links stay the SAME color as unvisited links. (I'm not even color blind)

I'm not sure it's something that can be changed easily...

Also, talking about links, I would also like to suggest that:

-Links color be change to a more visible and contrasting color. It can be hard to distinguish a link from plain text, especially on aging or older LCD monitors (or users).

-Hovered links could also change color, no just be underlined. It would provide a stronger visual "haptic" feedback.

Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sirusdark (talk • contribs) 08:07, 3 March 2013 (UTC)


 * I'm pretty sure this is determined by your browser or computer's settings. Try looking there - hope this helps. Mono 23:57, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Articles for creation question
Hi,

I just created my first article and submitted it for creation yesterday. I was curious about how long this process will take. Will I receive some sort of confirmation/disapproval of the article after it has been reviewed? Will specifics be given about what needs work before resubmitting it if it doesn't pass the first time?

Here's a link to the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_creation/Andy_Gross

Thanks!

Young.benjamin (talk) 03:55, 7 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Your draft is not yet in the queue for review. Please add at the top and it will be added. There is always a backlog in the queue, so it could take a week or more before it is reviewed. You will receive a message on your talk page when it has been accepted or declined. If it is declined, the notice on the AFC page will explain why. If you need further help you can ask the reviewer who declined it or come back here to the Teahouse and we will try to help.--ukexpat (talk) 04:01, 7 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your help! Young.benjamin (talk) 04:57, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

Request a casual review of Rudnica, Lubusz Voivodeship
Hi to All! Earlier today I finished a copy edit on an article from the April 2012 list. It was an ugly article. Although not long, it took me 6 hours to beat it into shape! I was wondering if one of you senior editors would give it a casual review and let me know what you think. Yesterday I did an edit on Zenbooks off the request list which was a breeze to polish up since it was in good shape to begin with. But this article, Rudnica, Lubusz Voivodeship, was in rough shape to say the least. I would appreciate your comments! MontykilliesMontykillies (talk) 02:35, 7 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Big improvement! I cannot comment on the content except to say that it needs references. I did make a few wikignoming/manual of style edits that you will see here. --ukexpat (talk) 03:03, 7 March 2013 (UTC)


 * By the way, if you have an interest in copy editing you should think about joining the Guild of Copy Editors.--ukexpat (talk) 03:13, 7 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi, and many thanks for the comments. I am a member of the Guild, having joined five or six days ago. I have edited 23 articles so far, but I am just coming up to speed and am still lacking in some of the finer technical details, never having had any formal training in editing, nor was I an English major. I have some natural ability to make articles read easier which I will develop further as I go along. I am a High Voltage engineer and Physicist and forty years away from my college days.Montykillies (talk) 04:52, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

How to flag a bad edit?
Hi there, I just wanted to report some bad edits on an article (Creighton men's basketball). I tried to undo them but am unable to do so. I'm completely ignorant of Wikipedia policies or procedures, if someone would like to mentor me I'd appreciate it.

Plvcolin (talk) 23:29, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hello and welcome to Wikipedia! What may be the case is that the edits you want to undo are not the most recent ones? In which case, you may have to undo them by hand. Another (slightly drastic) possibility is to go to the articles page history and click on the date and time stamp of the last good version, and from there hit the edit button, then the save button, but this will remove every change since the date and time you clicked on.King Jakob  C2 23:37, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi Plvcolin, welcome to the Teahouse as well! I have reverted the IP addresses' edit to the encyclopedia followed by a warning. See this course for further assistance: you can be mentored at adopt-a-user or Counter-Vandalism Unit academy. TBrandley (what's up) 23:43, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Please review at AFC
Hi! I'm not sure if this is the right place, but can someone please give me feedback on/ review my article at AFC? Thanks. JHU bal 27 • Talk •E-mail 23:01, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thanks!

72.196.19.147 (talk) 23:46, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

citing films
Is there a way that I can cite the credits from films after I have seen them, or even cite scenes from a film or TV programme. On the edit page we get only four choices: web, news, book or journal. If I try film I get a red Template message. I feel that we should be able to cite other sources than those four. Jodosma (talk) 22:44, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Greetings, Jodosma. I think Template:Cite AV media may meet your needs. Other specialized templates for sources other than the "big four" you've listed can be found in Category:Citation templates amd its subcategories. Deor (talk) 23:44, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Where do I post a question as to whether something in an article is factually correct or not?
I have done some editing, all minor edits (punctuation, capitalization, syntax), but occasionally I come across the following two problems: a) something is not clear, but I do not know how to correct it, or b) something seems factually incorrect. I don't want to make a correction if I am not sure what is really correct. Where can I post a question about either one of these two issues? CorinneSD (talk) 21:59, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi, nice to see someone learning this business. There are plenty of difficulties but some of us have had fun at it for years and are glad to help. Every article has tabs at the top, including one marked "Discussion". Click that, and you'll be on the Talk Page, for example Talk:Helena Blavatsky. That's the first place for factual questions about the article's subject. If not satisfied there, a WP:Dispute resolution system exists. Jim.henderson (talk) 22:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi CorinneSD. Regarding unclear or confusing information, as Jim says, you might want to post to the talk page about it, but you can also tag the unclear information with an appropriate template, such as Clarify (for others, see Category:Coherency templates). For incorrect information, what you should do often depends on whether what you believe to be incorrect is or is not verified by a reliable source that is cited in the article for that content. If there is no source cited, then there are essentially three roads. First and best is to find a reliable source for the correct content then correct the content and cite the source. Barring that, you can tag the information as incorrect and/or needing a citation, by challenging it, most commonly with Citation needed, and if not provided, then remove the material after some time passes (usually at least a few days). Or, third, you can simply remove the material. The "WP:BURDEN" section of the verifiability policy, allows anyone to challenge and remove unsourced content they find that they dispute as inaccurate, immediately, and the burden then is placed on the person who wishes to keep or restore the material, to only do so if they verify the disputed content by citing a reliable source with an inline citation. Immediate removal should always be done for inaccurate and unsourced content in a biography of a living person, whether the content is positive or negative in nature. The same for egregious content anywhere that most people will recognize but for which there is no litmus test and no way I could describe because its manifests in so many different ways (apply the Potter Stewart rule). Best practice for other content, even though one is allowed immediate removal, is to first challenge with a tag, as noted. On the other hand, if the content is sourced but you know it's wrong, look to the source. Is it reliable? (if clearly not, be bold and treat as if no source at all). Is the information it purports to verify actually verified by it? (This is not at all uncommon; if not, remove and proceed as if no source was present or challenge with Failed verification). If the source does verify, do you have a competing source? Discuss that on the talk page. What to do for each has to be tailored to the special facts of each but I hope this overview helps. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:17, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

status of pending article
I sent in "Baltimore Presstman Cardinals" for review ten days ago. Where can I find its status? Ripeditor (talk) 21:31, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Hi and welcome back. Doesn't look like you ever submitted it for review as it's still sat in your userspace at User:Ripeditor/Baltimore Presstman Cardinals.  To submit for review you need to click on the link that says "Submit the page!" in the banner at the top of the page.  Before you submit it,I suggest you find some more references from independent sources as currently the only references you have are from the team's own website.  If you submit it as it stands it's likely to be swiftly declined because of the lack of references. NtheP (talk) 21:41, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Writing style
Hi, I'm currently in the process of co-writing an article however I have found that we are referring to the subject by different formalities i.e. sometimes by the forename, others by the surname and sometimes even "she". What I wanted to know is if there is a preferred method and should it be consistant or can it interchange? Saoul91 (talk) 18:45, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Use a mix of "she" and the surname, never the forename. Roger (talk) 18:55, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Full name first time a person is mentioned, surname in subsequent mentions, unless it's obvious who you're talking about and comes soon after using the name, in which case she/he is fine. ie. You don't need to repeat the surname several times in quick successsion, especially within the same sentence, unless someone else has also been mentioned and it might be confusing who you're talking about. Footnote73 (talk) 19:36, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * See WP:LASTNAME for more.--ukexpat (talk) 19:52, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you. I will do that. 108.45.60.103 (talk) 23:16, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

User boxes
Hi,

I have tried to create a user box but it hasn't shown up and was just wondering what I am doing wrong?

Here is a link to the article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Xlucky_charmx/Evelyn_Ellerman

Thanks ZoeXlucky charmx (talk) 18:27, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi, Zoe! You need to remove the wikicode with the arrows, dashes and exclamation point.  That is wikicode to hide whatever is in between it!  BTW, that box is actually called an infobox.  A userbox is a whole different animal.  Hope that helps!  Gtwfan52 (talk) 18:34, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi, ok, thank you, that's great!! Sorry, i'm new to this, so keep getting confused with things.  Thanks again.  xlucky_charmx (talk 22:15, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * No problem, Zoe! Wikicode is anything but intuitive.  We are glad you have joined the cadre of Wikipedia editors, and feel free to come here anytime with any questions you might have about the technicalities of it all.  As my dearly departed Daddy used to say, "The only stupid question is the one you don't ask."  Welcome to Wikipedia, and happy editing! Gtwfan52 (talk) 23:48, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

How to get an article upgraded from Stub
Dear editors: I have come across a number of articles about bluegrass musicians that have been rated by Wikiprojects as Stubs. Some of them have been expanded quite a bit and have some independent references and inline citations. They aren't really stubs any more. How do I get these articles upgraded to Start-class? Here's an example: the article about Kenny Baker. Since these were rated by members of the Wikiprojects, I don't feel that I should change them. Some of the pages have banners from the Wikiproject:roots music. It's not very active. Should I just join the project and then change the banners? What's appropriate? &mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 18:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Ann- If you know what state they are from, it can be helpful to go to that States Wikiproject page and ask there. KY and WV are rather helpful folksCoal town guy (talk) 18:23, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hello Anne! While articles are typically graded by members of a Wikiproject, if you are knowledgeable about the subject and you did't write the article yourself feel free to update it. Thanks! —  nerd fighter  18:24, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * You can simply change the rating if you believe it is justified. WP:Bold covers it. Roger (talk) 18:25, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Thanks again everyone! One more point:  If one Wikiproject upgrades the article, do the others change automatically?  I don't seem to remember seeing any inconsistent banners.  &mdash;Anne Delong (talk) 18:46, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * You can change the rating to Start, others will probably agree, however, if its a total difference than what is expected, others, nicely chime in. Coal town guy (talk) 18:53, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi again, Anne. They don't change automatically, but some projects use bots to go through their unassessed articles and fill them in with the assessment (if any) from the other projects on the page. Also, lots of times one editor will just fill in the assessments on all the project banners if they are start or stub. Higher assessments probably should be done by the projects, as some of them have differing criteria for what constitutes a C, B, A article. Featured and Good articles are assessed centrally and those ratings will appear "automatically" on all project banners. Voceditenore (talk) 18:59, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

coding birth/death dates?
Hi there! I've noticed that some biographies code birth and death dates of their subject, and I presume this is how biographies get pulled up on the Wiki home page on On this day... column on their anniversaries of such. I definitely don't see anything in the rich text editor or Formatting help, and I've searched for code. Can someone point me to a guide on this? noranoodle (talk) 17:51, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Good question. Take a look at the Birth date, Birth date and age, Death date and Death date and age templates and their documentation.--ukexpat (talk) 17:55, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Also take a look at WP:DATECoal town guy (talk) 18:21, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * fascinating and very helpful! So many options and have bookmarked the MoS for future inquiries - thanks! noranoodle (talk) 22:40, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

NOT on the map
Hey folks, I am fascinated by remote places that are often NOT on a map anymore. While I have gone to GNIS, I am usually greeted with the geocoordinates of UNKNOWN. Is it an acceptable practice to acquire geocoordinates by using a map and creating them?Coal town guy (talk) 15:24, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Hi CTG and welcome to the Teahouse! I am no expert on the maps Wiki-Project guidelines, but it seems to me that what you are doing sounds a tad like original research. Are you going to go online and find the coordinates, or use a map and place the location yourself? Go   Phightins  !  15:28, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * EXACTLY why I am asking. The method I use is to find a period topo map, then using an overlay, I can get the geo coordinates by using google or another COTS product. So, the only "original" effort, I suppose would be the process of getting the coordinates?? Otherwise, what method could I use to show the veracity of a place. I think we can all agree, UNKNOWN is a lonely lonely place to be, and not notable per se...is it? Many thanks for the replyCoal town guy (talk) 15:33, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Coal town guy, you have an excellent question here. Based on my experience (and there are many folks here with a lot more experience than me who might disagree), I think what you're doing should be done cautiously, but does fall within policy.  If you're using modern maps and your conclusions are not otherwise controversial, then I think you can argue successfully that you've consulted two consistent reliable sources and are presenting the information you found in both.  The fact that you know WP:OR and WP:SYNTH and thought to ask the question gives me confidence to trust that you know what you're doing.  Garamond Lethe t c  18:21, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Many thanks for the reply. I have a few postmarks from these places. It has been easy to upload a postmark and show, hey, they had a PO, and well, that is pretty much a de facto statement they were "notable". However, it would be great to be able to cite a source that would chase away any ambiguityCoal town guy (talk) 18:28, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I don't know if you're being tongue-in-cheek or serious :) A postmark on an envelope you've received wouldn't be a suitable source for a Wikipedia article. We'd need some sort of reliable published source to prove the place existed. Sionk (talk) 02:15, 7 March 2013 (UTC)

How to remove my user name from the artical piece.
Hi I put toget a short page on my son a semi pro footballer.

It has his name as the artical heading but it also includes my user name.

How can i remove this ?Hylo64 (talk) 14:09, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * The User:Hylo64/ prefix is there because the page is still located in your userspace - basically, your draft is currently a subpage of your userpage. You've requested a review at Articles for creation (quite correctly), which means that the page will shortly be moved to the Articles for creation namespace (Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation). Once it's been reviewed and passed, it will move again to the article mainspace, where all prefixes will disappear. I hope that helps to explain; please ask for clarification if you need it. Yunshui 雲 &zwj; 水  14:15, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Sorry, my mistake - you actually asked for an AFC review of your sandbox, which was empty at the time. If you want to list User:Hylo64/Craig hyland for review, add the text  to the top of that page, and it will be moved and reviewed. Yunshui  雲 &zwj; 水  14:21, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Infobox Wikipedia editor
Most probably we had an infobox Wikipedian or Wikipedia editor somewhere (not infobox person), can someone give me the link? --Tito Dutta (contact) 23:55, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Welcome back to the Teahouse, Tito Dutta! The link you're looking for is Template:User infobox. Be sure not to reveal anything personal about yourself, especially if you are a minor. Happy editing! ö   Brambleberry   of   RiverClan  00:03, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Bang on target! Awesome! I have also a suggestion in return, see if it helps you anyhow. I don't know how you added the talback template at my talk page, but, it was unsigned (unsigned posts are not archived by the bot and creates trouble later). You can follow this process to add Teahouse talkback template. Know any better way to add Teahouse talkback template? Please share! --Tito Dutta (contact) 00:18, 6 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Install Paste Email (Plus) addon (Firefox, Chrome)
 * The in paste email's draft box, save this as a draft (I have it) {{WP:Teahouse/Teahouse_talkback|WP:Teahouse/Questions|question title goes here|ts=~}
 * When you'll add a TB template, you just need to replace "question title goes here".
 * If you need to write same type of posts everywhere, you can store it there and insert using just two clicks. I have bunch of stored drafts like–
 * Article for creation rejection message  Please add more citations where the subject or topics related to the subject is discussed in details. See blow, there are some links from where you can Find sources. If you have any question or comment you can post at my talk page clicking here. That's all for now. Good wishes. --~  etc.
 * DYK accept message (though I have almost never used it)  Thanks for submitting the nomination. The article looks good, has recently been created, article prose has more than 1500 characters, copyvio checked. Good to go! --~ 
 * Yep. Go to your common.js page (in Tito's case: User:Titodutta/common.js) and add the following:

""
 * Every user talkback signature on this page will then have a little |TB| link by it - click on this to send an automatic talkback message, without even having to leave this page. (You may need to refresh your cache to get it to work.) Yunshui 雲 &zwj; 水  08:39, 6 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Though not working My Commons page is broken for some script which I need to find out and remove), but, excellent tip! --09:43, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Russian Youth
My first question here so mind me if i'm being a butt. I am doing a project for school and i'm researching the culture of Russian Youth. Barely scraping information off the web and finding books only from the 90's I turned to Wikipedia and could not find an article. I've looked in Russian Culture, and looked for a seperate article. I'm not sure where youth culture could be put or if it exists but I am now considering putting my research somewhere so someone doesn't have as hard a time as me. To the point: I am wondering where I would add such information. Would I create a new article or add a new piece to the Russian culture page? Perhaps there is an article on Russian Youth and their culture but I missed it? Any replies are going to be greatly appreciated and I look forward to editing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DrAaronStein (talk • contribs) 15:58, 5 March 2013 (UTC)
 * I would recommend making it as a separate page. If there's specific subcultures you want to focus on, it might be helpful to make those individual pages instead.  Some of the pages listed at the list of subcultures might be helpful to look at for inspiration (there is also an article for Japanese youth culture, but it doesn't seem very well-written).  Most of the pages dealing with national culture don't seem to have anything about youth subcultures, but rather things such as art, literature, tradition, etc. so I don't blame you for having trouble finding information about it.


 * Strachkvas (talk) 17:37, 5 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your response and references, I'm sure they'll greatly help me! As soon as I'm done my project I'll look into adding an appropriate version as a new article. Since I couldn't find a lot of up-to-date information I'm not sure if I'd be able to do much about subcultures. I'm sure if I were to get the article out a few people would be willing to pitch in their knowledge and whatnot. DrAaronStein (talk) 13:36, 6 March 2013 (UTC)