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This page contains discussions dated during the month of October 2008 from User talk:Hersfold. Please direct all current discussions there. Thank you.

October 1 - 10

William Penn Protection

Since I saw the "no talkback" part of your header, I thought I'd reply here and copy this response to my talkpage. Thankyou for protecting the page.

I think I probably asked the wrong question with my {{helpme}} template, it was supposed to be in two parts: does this need reporting to WP:RFPP? If so how do I do that?

I appreciate your busy, so I'll just ask if what I posted was okay to go on the WP:RFPP noticeboard.

NullofWest (talk) 22:17, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Yay! Someone does read my talk header! :-)
Yes, that probably could have been posted there; most requests for protection are due to high levels of vandalism from multiple sources. As for how to post, there are instructions on that page. All reports are in this type of format:
===={{la|Article title}}====
 '''Semi/Full/Move protection'''. Reason for request. ~~~~
If you're not entirely sure, you are welcome to ask me or another admin on their talk page, or go ahead and submit a report. If we don't think protection is needed, we'll explain why at RFPP. Hope this helped, sorry I didn't fully answer earlier. Happy editing! Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:16, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
Thankyou, the main reason for the request was that I couldn't find the relevant part of the instructions at the time, so wasn't sure what to do. I'll post a fresh request somewhere appropriate if I need help again in future. (if it's not urgent but is related to this probably at the RFPP talk page.) NullofWest Fill the Void 21:16, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Template help

Hi Hersfold, I was wondering if you could help me quickly on a template I was trying to make. You gave me some information at the help desk and I was trying to figure it out. You tould me to type: 

{| class="wikitable" style="blah blah blah"
|-
! Number !! Name
{{#if: {{{1|}}} | <!-- Code added if parameter 1 exists -->
{{!-}}
{{!}} 1 {{!!}} {{{1}}} }}{{#if: {{{2|}}} | <!-- Code added if parameter 2 exists -->
{{!-}}
{{!}} 2 {{!!}} {{{2}}} }}{{#if: {{{3|}}} | <!-- Code added if parameter 3 exists -->
{{!-}}
{{!}} 3 {{!!}} {{{3}}} }}
|}

However, when I type {{User:Arbitrarily0/Templates/Test|Joe|Mary|John}}, it looks like this: User:Arbitrarily0/Templates/Test Do you think you know what the problem is? Thanks for your help, αЯβιτЯαЯιŁΨθ (talk) 11:13, 1 October 2008 (UTC) 

{| class="wikitable" style="blah blah blah"
|-
! Number !! Name
{{#if: {{{1|}}} | <!-- Code added if parameter 1 exists -->
{{!-}}
{{!}} 1 {{!!}} {{{1}}} }}
{{#if: {{{2|}}} | <!-- Code added if parameter 2 exists -->
{{!-}}
{{!}} 2 {{!!}} {{{2}}} }}
{{#if: {{{3|}}} | <!-- Code added if parameter 3 exists -->
{{!-}}
{{!}} 3 {{!!}} {{{3}}} }}
|}
That looks like it works. Sorry about that, sometimes the newlines work out kinda weird. If you'd like, I've got some more information at User:Hersfold/Adopt/Templates and User:Hersfold/Adopt/AdvancedTemplates. Hersfold (t/a/c) 19:39, 1 October 2008 (UTC)
Yes, that does work. However, now it starts creating extra line breaks:
{{User:Arbitrarily0/Templates/Test|Joe|Mary|John}}
now yields:

User:Arbitrarily0/Templates/Test

Note all the extra lines. Is there anyway that this too can be fixed? Thanks a lot for your help, αЯβιτЯαЯιŁΨθ (talk) 01:01, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
Grr. I'll work on it in my sandbox, and copy the code to your template page when I'm done. Hersfold (t/a/c) 01:41, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Western Virginia Land Trust

Why did you delete this new article? It is not blatant advertising. There are several similar pages on other land trusts on Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branford_Land_Trust http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Lands_Trust http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Conservation_Trust_of_Georgia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Land_Conservancy

What specifically is advertising content on the Western Virgina Land Trust page that makes it different from these other articles?

Please advise and I will correct it.

Thank you

Wvlt (talk) 20:17, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

First off, based on your username, you appear to have a conflict of interest with the land trust. Wikipedia strives to be neutral at all times, and so to that end we ask users who have a personal affiliation with a subject to not write about that subject. Even if an editor doesn't intend to do so, things they write about that subject may be biased in one way or another. In this case, your article seems to be highly promotional and doesn't really establish why the land trust is notable. As for the other articles you mentioned, they are quite irrelevant when reviewing the merits of the article you wrote. WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS has some more information on that line of discussion. You may want to read through our policies on advertising and our guideline on how to write your first article. In the meantime, please do not continue to recreate your article. Doing so may lead to a block until we are sure you understand our policies and are willing to abide by them. I won't delete the article this time, but I will be asking another admin to review it. Hersfold (t/a/c) 20:34, 1 October 2008 (UTC)


Please stop nominating this article for deletion. It has been greatly improved.Nedyost (talk) 13:14, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Commonwealth

FYI: article, talk. Prince of Canada t | c 07:30, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Looks good. Keep up the good work. :-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 17:01, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

User:Mattkachu violating block

Same IP range as before. Considering you were the one to put the block notice on his page, I thought I'd come right to the source, thanks!--Vidkun (talk) 17:10, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

User(s) blocked. Thanks for the heads up. Hersfold (t/a/c) 17:14, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
ANd again.--Vidkun (talk) 21:03, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Stonehenge

Thanks for the prompt response to the Stonehenge semi request. Hopefully it'll slow down the vandalism! Cheers Psychostevouk (talk) 17:58, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

That's the hope. :-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:25, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Assistance Request with SSP

If I could request your assistance with one ssp that seems to have fallen well below the radar. Wikipedia:Suspected sock puppets/Thrindel was not done correctly and as such isnt listed on the ssp page. It seems to have degraded into another one of the slagfests over COI allegations on who Thrindel actually is. While there hasnt been anything put forth on the COIN this user is constantly attacked on user talk pages, and article talk pages. The contributors to the ssp have both been warned on thier respective talk pages for trying to out Thrindel. If you could take a look at that ssp, assistance is appreciated as it won't go anywhere I feel as it isnt done correctly to begin with (I dont think a ssp is the proper course of action for that matter). Thanks for any assistance. Knowledgeum :  Talk  20:25, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

I've closed it, someone apparently doesn't realize that  CheckUser is not magic pixie dust and SSP is even less so. Thanks for the note. Hersfold (t/a/c) 22:37, 2 October 2008 (UTC)

Yogurtland

Hersfold:

I wrote an article about Yogurtland, similar to the Pinkberry Pinkberry. The article cited review materials, similar to those cited in the Pinkberry pages and provided similar information, formatting and review. I know that in the past this page has been removed for "blatant" advertising, but the article in its current version provides a full assesment and contribution. I was curios, as this is my first article, why this page was removed and what can be done to have it undeleted.

Oxytousc (talk) 22:39, 2 October 2008 (UTC)oxytousc

Sorry for the long delay - you caught me as I was logging out and I forgot to check back later until I saw this just now. Your article was deleted for a highly promotional tone, exampled in phrases such as "inspired him to bring the frozen yogurt craze back to the United States," "currently 22 stores open nationwide including locations in Los Angeles, Orange County, Northern California, San Diego, New York, Las Vegas, Honolulu and Dallas," "up to 40% less expensive than other frozen yogurt shops," etc. Wikipedia strives to be neutral in all aspects, to ensure that the information we have is presented in a clear and unbiased manner for the best possible usage. The sources you provided also aren't what we consider to be reliable - they seem to be mainly reviews of the restaurant, whereas what we're looking for is mainly news coverage to ensure that the subject is notable enough for inclusion. You should look over the policies and guidelines I've linked to, as they should answer most of your questions, as well as our guide to writing your first article. I hope this helps, but if you need any more tips, drop me another line, or you can ask at the new contributor's help desk if you want a wider opinion. Welcome to Wikipedia. Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:51, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for unblocking my proxy's IP

Appreciate it! Jclemens (talk) 03:42, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Template and Category Help

Hello, I was wondering if you knew how to transclude the contents of a category. Thank you for your time.— Dædαlus Contribs /Improve 13:24, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Assuming you mean pages that are in the category and not just the blurb you see on the category page, it can't be done. {{Category:Foo Fighters}}, for example, will only produce "For more information, see Foo Fighters." along with the transwikis and all, but not the whole list of articles related to them. Sorry. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:24, 3 October 2008 (UTC)
:/ Well that is unfortunate. Are there any bots in existence that copy or update a user subpage regarding unblock requests?— Dædαlus Contribs /Improve 03:06, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
Not on-wiki, at least, not that I know of. There's an IRC bot that reports when a new one is added in #wikipedia-en-unblock, though. Just out of curiosity, though, why? You wouldn't be able to act on those requests. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:36, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
I know I wouldn't, but at times I like to read them to see what other admins would do.— Dædαlus Contribs /Improve 21:20, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you for the kind message, I appreciate it greatly. Ecoleetage (talk) 00:38, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Quite welcome. :-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:41, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Awwww..... you can give him one too, He did an outstanding job that I would have thought impossible! Schmidt, MICHAEL Q. 00:48, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Not this time, although I'll keep it in mind if I see him rescuing more articles. ;-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 00:50, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
Well, I am trying to save this article from deletion: [1]. :) Ecoleetage (talk) 01:41, 4 October 2008 (UTC)


sockpuppet claiming to be a meatpuppet

sorry to bother but could you have a look at Moviesz (talk · contribs)? --Soman (talk) 05:52, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Blocked. Thanks for the heads-up. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:05, 4 October 2008 (UTC)
thanx, --Soman (talk) 19:40, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Motto of the Day

Thanks for informing me! Kind of sad to know that there are so few participants, though...when I finish my examinations I'll [try and] remember to help! :) Littleghostboo[ talk ] 06:19, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

You're welcome. Fortunately, things have much improved since I sent out those messages - activity is back up again, and we have mottos scheduled through all of this month and half of next. Hope to see you around there! Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:10, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

WHG Kingston your edits

Hi Hersfold: I am kind of new at this talk page stuff but I note that you have made several good additions to the page on the Kingsford family leading me to suspect that you miight have Toronto connections or further information on the Kingsford (Kingston) diaries. I have been trying to locate the Kingston diaries, in the possession of Kingsford and have reason to believe he may have deposited them with a University Libray in Canada. Also if you have information on Kingsford's dates that would be helpful. I will try to sign my page with the appropriate markup but my username is Varnesavant if it doesn't appear elsewhere or external contact [email protected] if all else fails. Thanks. Varnesavant (talk) 11:33, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

To be honest, I'm not at all sure what articles you're talking about. I haven't made any substantial content contributions in a while, and those names aren't ringing any bells with me. If I have made any edits to those articles, it was likely to remove vandalism or something. I live in the United States, and don't know anyone living in Canada. You might try asking someone in Category:Canadian Wikipedians, or a member of Wikipedia:WikiProject Canada. Sorry I can't be of more help. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:25, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

NickNbeezy copyvios

NO END IN SIGHT. JBsupreme (talk) 17:39, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Blocked for 1 week. Hopefully he'll take notice. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:30, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

CfD nomination of Category:Deaths by age

Category:Deaths by age and it's sub-categories have been nominated for deletion. Having previously expressed an opinion on this category, if you would like to participate in the discussion, you are invited to add your comments at the category's entry on the Categories for discussion page. Thank you. --Pixelface (talk) 00:51, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Deletion process update

Just to let you know that there has been a recent update to the criteria for relisting AFDs. You can see the full details at WP:RELIST. The main update is that relisting an AFD a second time should only be done in exceptional circumstances. I'm letting you know because you have recently been active in relisting AFDs. Stifle (talk) 16:13, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Ok, thanks for the note. I'll take a look at the guideline. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:51, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you

Hi Hersfold,
I wanted to thank you again for helping me on my template problems. It's working great now. I've put the template at Template:Pages so now everybody will be able to use it. Please accept this barnstar from me, for you have most definitely earned it.

File:Vitruvian Original Barnstar.png The da Vinci Barnstar
For an incredible amount of template knowledge, and the willingness to help others with it.
αЯβιτЯαЯιŁΨθ (talk) 16:42, 5 October 2008 (UTC)
Well done to you as well! That looks like a well-planned template. Good work on that, and thanks for the star! Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:49, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Hai!

Hey; just wondering about this. How is Kunta1988 offensive? Master of Puppets Call me MoP! :) 03:59, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Kunt = cunt = not the best name for someone who says they're here to edit constructively. If you really want to unblock them, more power to you, but I fail to see how anyone who registers with a name like that is here to be a useful contributor. Mind you, I've had some bad experiences with names like that... Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:06, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Note

Good day, I was wondering if you could check up on this when you have time. Best regards, --Kanonkas :  Talk  04:39, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

I just posted on his talk page, oddly enough. :-) I'm also getting port 80 open, same as you, and it's staying open during multiple scans. I don't see any indication that it's secured in the manner he's mentioning. Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:46, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Re: Vandal Warnings

Hello. Just to let you know, "4im" warnings are only intended for very severe vandalism. Edits such as this should be given the next warning in line; in that case, a level 1, since the last warning was issued in July. Thanks! Hersfold (t/a/c) 05:04, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Oh, ok thanks. PwnerELITE (talk) 05:07, 6 October 2008 (UTC)


October 11 - 20

Magpul Industries question/comment

Hello,

I noted that you deleted Magpul's page on the account of "blatant avertising" and would like to contend this. I am not in am way related to Magpul, but threw up that page hoping that contributors would bring it up to Wikipedia's standards.

Magpul as a company is quite significant, in that this small company has been able to design a small arms platform which rivals the multi generational and multi million dollar efforts by the US Gov. and contractors. If there was too much "advertising" in the page, couldn't the excess be trimmed? I will work to de-avertise the page if you could restore it...

Regards - Gfreeman556 (talk) 20:27, 6 October 2008 (UTC) gfreeman556.

BTW: I'm a wiki noob!

Hello, sorry it's taken so long to get back. I've been very busy the last several days and was forced to take a wikibreak in order to get things done. As for the article, it read very much like a sales catalogue, and had very few reliable sources, including several that were in violation of our external links policy. You may want to look through WP:SPAM and WP:NPOV for more information; the use of "peacock" terms was one problem specifically note by another editors, an evaluation which I agree with. To quote some instances: "...has demonstrated amazing resiliency and reliability." "Magpul's rifle stocks consistently have improved upon the ergonomics and design of..." "the Magpul Masada began as an evolutionary upgrade". As for improvements, there haven't been any substantial improvements to the article since May. You personally don't appear to be very active either. If you feel as though you understand the above policies, I can restore the article and move it to your userspace for work, but I need to be sure you're going to work on it so it doesn't just get deleted again. Please let me know what you want to do. Hersfold (t/a/c) 01:09, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

AAU reminder notice

A friendly reminder from the Adopt-a-User project =)
Hey there Hersfold! This is a friendly reminder to update your status at Wikipedia:Adopt-a-User/Adoptee's Area/Adopters whenever it is appropriate in order to provide new users with the most up-to-date information on available adopters. Also please note that we will be removing adopters who have not edited in 60 days. If you become active again (and we hope you do!) please feel free to re-add yourself. Cheers!
 Done Hersfold (t/a/c) 01:15, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

IRC?

I keep hearing about discussions taking place in IRC. While I vaguely know what IRC is (which is to say, I read the article on it before coming here), I was curious as to where the wiki specific chats are taking place. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 14:26, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

In a bunch of different channels, all on freenode. WP:IRC has a list of all of them. Before you join, be aware that IRC discussions do not constitute a consensus - discussions relating to content issues should generally take place on-wiki. Also, with a few channel-specific exceptions, there is no public logging of conversations, however you are welcome to keep records for your on personal reference. Hersfold (t/a/c) 01:19, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Input requested

Hi. Last month, you'd declined an unblock request of G2bambino (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). He is now the subject of a community discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard#Specific_sanctions_proposals. I'd like to request for your input at that discussion. Thank you, Ncmvocalist (talk) 04:54, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

2010 Senate elections

Ok, November 2007 was too early, sure. But the 2008 election is almost over, and things are gearing up for 2010. Will we need to wait until someone files with the FEC? And I'm annoyed, but not angry. Let's talk about what the qualifications would be for an article, as these elections are now just over 2 years away and they're going to be pretty important. Chadlupkes (talk) 04:29, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

The election is still two years away, and we haven't even had this year's yet. You're not going to have any references for the article, most likely until those papers are filed, yes. Until that time, everything is going to be pure speculation, which is not what Wikipedia is for. You need reliable sources to verify anything you add, which is what you were told in the last AfD. Guessing what is going to happen is a violation of WP:CRYSTAL, and would be entirely original research. I'd suggest you look over those policies, as they're probably going to answer your questions for you. Hersfold (t/a/c) 15:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Template bug

Hi Hersfold, I was wondering if you knew how to fix a bug in this template I made. This code: {{Pages|1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24|25|26|27|28|29|30|31|32|33|34|35|36|37|38|39|40|41|42|43|44|45|46|47|48|49|50}} produces this (without the collapsible table):

Note the Expression error: Unexpected < operator and Expression error: Unrecognised punctuation character "{" . Do you know why this is happening? Thanks again for your help, αЯβιτЯαЯιŁΨθ (talk) 12:13, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

I'll keep looking at it when I get the chance. I'm not seeing it immediately. Hersfold (t/a/c) 15:50, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
Well, I found the problem, and know how to fix it, but you're not going to like it much. I tried to stick the template into my sandbox, and then subst: the code to see what was going on, and instead of getting fewer error messages, I got a lot more - see. Fortunately, it tells me what went wrong. You've written a template that's so big, it hits the template limit. Template limits are one of the cases where WP:PERFORMANCE can be seen in action. Making a massive page, or one with a lot of templates, is a potential way to break the wiki, but the developers have thought of it and set up these limits to prevent it from doing just that. Unfortunately, in the process, they occasionally break templates which can cause pages to explode as you've seen. Each page is limited to about 2 MB of content. When a template is transcluded, it doesn't take up a lot of space itself, and only shows a few bytes' difference in the page history. However, when the page is displayed, that template is expanded into what it actually is. So, the edit box won't have a lot of stuff in it, but the page itself can be huge. To prevent them from getting too huge, any template that will put the page over the set limits will not be expanded in this manner. Your template apparently does that around parameter 38, and so is regrettably useless beyond that point. On very large pages, it's very likely the problem would occur sooner.
I did a little work earlier trying to make the template more efficient, and will do so again in a moment, but we can only do so much, unfortunately. It'll probably have to be cut down to a maximum of 30 parameters to be of any practical use. Sorry. Hersfold (t/a/c) 18:52, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
Wow thanks. It seems that the template could be much smaller with some kind of loop. Are there any functions that create a for loop, or something similar? αЯβιτЯαЯιŁΨθ (talk) 23:23, 13 October 2008 (UTC)
Nope; since the page is only loaded once, it's not possible to do any sort of iterative or recursive function on the page without javascript, which can't be embedded into a page unless the devs set it up to be part of the wiki software, like the sortable tables. I've actually tried to set up a recursive template, but the devs have caught onto that as well and set the software up to detect and stop template loops. Sorry. Hersfold (t/a/c) 23:26, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Temperance Fountain

Hey, I hear you are in DC, so I wanted to ask a favor. When you have some time, would you mind validating some coordinates for DC landmark for me? According to sources Temperance Fountain is at the corner of 7th & Penn. NW, across from the Hancock statue, so I kind of guessed at coordinates based on Google Earth -- unfortunately the satellite imagery for that intersection isn't very clear (I put it at the southwestern corner). Would you happen to know if this is right? Thanks... howcheng {chat} 21:52, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I'm actually up in Baltimore, so while I am in the general area, I'm not really able to run by and take a look in person. I did fire up Google Earth, though, and poked around there. I'm not entirely certain that the given location is in fact correct; from what I can tell, there are a couple monuments there, and several pictures on Panoramio of each, but absolutely nothing of the Temperance Fountain. I find it hard to believe someone wouldn't have taken a picture of it, so I'm worried we're in the wrong place. As I said, though, I can't be much more certain that you are. Sorry, howcheng! Hersfold (t/a/c) 23:42, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

RfC/U

There is currently an open Request for Comment on User Conduct here, regarding G2bambino. As someone with past interactions with him, you are invited to comment. — [ roux ] [x] 15:24, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

I Have A Question

Hello. I was wondering if you could tell me where the daily question archives are, because I sometimes have a few questions to ask the administrators of Wikipedia with multiple replies. So, if you could show me the page with the questions asked each day, that would be appreciated. Thank you! BlueCaper (talk) 00:48, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you mean. We have questions asked on many different pages every day. Most will have a small box to the right side of the page that lists the archives for that page. If you can tell me which page in particular you're asking about, I can try to help you out more. Wikipedia:Questions might help you find the page you want. Hersfold (t/a/c) 01:02, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, Hersfold! It turns out that I found what I needed, and it was similar to your suggestions! It was Wikipedia:Reference_desk/Archives that I needed. So, thanks! BlueCaper (talk) 20:52, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

MOTD

Hey Hersfold, when approving a MOTD, I know that you add the motto to a new un-used date, but where you do put the discussion? iMatthew (talk) 11:34, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

You can move it to the top of Wikipedia:Motto of the day/Nominations/Decisions, where after a couple days someone will stick it in the appropriate archive. Thanks, iMatthew! Hersfold (t/a/c) 20:58, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

CEB

Hello Hersfold: I am interested in creating a department on Wikipedia titled "Code Enforcement Bureau (CEB)". it will be a department of established users who specialize in handing out citations, i.e. they will be recent changes patrollers. Although it may not be liked, the goal of the CEB is to alert users that what they did/edited was wrong, so to save the user much emotional pain when it is deleted. What is your opinion? --Archeopteryx (talk) 19:30, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

This sounds a lot like the WP:CVU, an already existing project that patrols recent changes, issues templated warnings, and reports repeat vandals to WP:AIV once they've vandalized past a level four warning. I'd recommend you take a look at that, as it sounds like your plan would be a bit redundant to what they're already doing. Hersfold (t/a/c) 22:06, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

About Cheat Pages

If you remember, you blocked me for 48 hours for continuously posting video games' cheat pages. I was just wondering: could I do that on Commons or not? BlueCaper talk 23:13, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

No, certainly not. Commons is intended as a repository of freely licensed images and files. They're not going to want that any more than we do, and in fact, none of the Wikimedia Foundation's projects would. As I think I've already told you, stuff like that needs to be on your own site, not here. Hersfold (t/a/c) 23:28, 18 October 2008 (UTC)
Oh. I was not going to create them anytime soon, anyways. I just wanted to know so I could clarify that for others who ask that same question. Thank you for informing me, Hersfold. You know, that should be one of the specific examples on the Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is Not page. -BlueCaper talk 00:07, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you and request,

Hey, thanks for the category tree thing, but besides that, I've recently been semi-involved with another editor, who has recently been blocked indef for disruption. Would it be possible of you to look in on his talk page? I finally lost my patience at the bottom, but his behavior.. I can't quite put my finger on it(I might already have), but something seems off, hopefully you'll see what I mean.

Wallamoose (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

Here you go.— Dædαlus Contribs /Improve 03:50, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Not entirely. I'm getting that you seem to be hinting this is someone who's been blocked before, but I don't have a clue who that would be. As for Gwen's actions, I fully support them, as that guy was being about as assholish (/me clicks "add to dictionary") as you can possibly be. I doubt a CU would be willing to look into it either, as without some sort of suspicion on who we're looking for, they'd just say Checkuser is not for fishing. Hersfold (t/a/c) 17:42, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
I know CU isn't for fishing, I wasn't requesting it, but in a way you did answer my request. You gave a name to his behavior, you named it's tone. That's all I was really asking for, because I couldn't quite pin it down. Thank you.— Dædαlus Contribs /Improve 20:17, 20 October 2008 (UTC)
Ok, you're welcome. Still not quite sure what I did, but I'm glad I helped. Hersfold (t/a/c) 23:39, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

October 21 - 31

Creating an Award Template

Hello. I have heard that you have created a kind of Barnstar. Do you know how to create a template for a non-Barnstar award? I am considering making Wikipedia Administrator Awards specifically meant for administrators to receive. -BlueCaper (talk) 02:35, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

You can use the same templates, or there are a few others you can use. To make your custom one, follow these steps:
  1. Go to the page you want to create the template at, say, Template:AdminAward
  2. Choose one of the templates listed below, and fill in the fields that are in ALL CAPS. Leave any {{{1}}} things alone.
Code Appearance
{{subst:award|image=IMAGE NAME.EXT|text={{{1}}}}}
Example
{{subst:award2|image=IMAGE NAME.EXT|text={{{1}}}|topic=AWARD NAME}}
A Barnstar!
Awesomeness Award
Example

Note: This is really the standard barnstar template, it just may display funny in this table.

3.  List it on the appropriate page of WP:AWARD, probably Wikipedia:Other awards.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask someone at Wikipedia:WikiProject Awards - they'll know more about this than I do. Hersfold (t/a/c) 03:39, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Here it is...for you!

Wikipedia Administrators Award
This Wikipedia Administrator Award is given to User:Hersfold, for his dedication and hard work. Thus, he is honored with this medallion as a token of appreciation of his faithful service to Wikipedia. Given by BlueCaper (talk) 10:37, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Does it look nice? The Omega symbol represents a head, like "head" (admin) of Wikipedia. I would have added color padding in the background if I knew how. BlueCaper (talk) 10:38, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

I later created another WAA, the Constructive Arbitrary Appreciation WAA, that has bricks for constructivity as a result of actions, and a gavel for the law and law enforcement. Here is the one I originally intended to give you:
Constructive Arbitrary Appreciation Wikipedia Administrators Award
This Wikipedia Administrator Award is given to User:Hersfold, for rightfully penalizing a Wikipedian who is now working to make sure that he or she does not do wrong anymore to Wikipedia. Thus, he is honored with this emblem as a token of appreciation of his enforcement of Wikipedia rules to protect Wikipedia. Given by BlueCaper (talk) 11:36, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
Good ideas, but just keep in mind administrators aren't cops. We don't penalize users; any action we take is directed to prevent disruption to the project. We may at times enforce rulings of the Arbitration Committee, but that's the only time we're taking any sort of penalizing action here. As for the images, you've got a good concept going, but you might want to head over to the Graphics Lab, as they may be able to clean up the images a bit and make them really shiny. ;-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:30, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
Yes, they are a bit rough. I did them simply with the Paint program that is on any Windows computer. I did contend with myself about whether or not deletions and blockings are punishment. I do not consider them technically penalizing, but they do deliver blows to the innocent creator of something deleted. I admit that in the past, I was newer to Wikipedia and tried to make an "Asian Capitals" page. What I didn't know was that I was basically requesting a merge of articles. It was deleted (twice), and I did complain. So, to be able to give out an award like this is very reconciling, although I should rethink the title of the CAAWAA. I have 5 others to make: two for 100 & 1,000 articles started, a "Hero WAA" for being a good role-model for Wikipedians, a newborn with a "Ω and W" head congratulating inauguration of administratorship, and a "Liberty WAA" for not abusing power.
You may also want to review existing awards - a lot of these are already in existence, or can easily be done with another existing award. Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:56, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
I said something to the Graphics Lab about the regular WAA. As for CAAWAA, I wish to rename it. I was going to ask what the Commons equivalent of moving a picture's page is, but I have decided that since the administration is not a form of penalization, it would be wrong to award them a picture with a gavel and bricks. So I will replace it with a new picture and make the title "Annihilation of Innocent Maiming (AIM) WAA." I will add the award on this talk page when I get around to creating the award, and I will put the {{done}} template before it. Oh, and please tell me whether or not it is possible to move Wikimedia Commons media. Yours truly, BlueCaper (talk) 19:44, 22 October 2008 (UTC) P.S.: Do you like my Wikipedia signature?
It's a bit complicated, but you'd be better off asking someone on Commons how that works. Basically you'll have to re-upload under a new name, and have someone delete the old one. Hersfold (t/a/c) 21:37, 22 October 2008 (UTC)
 Done!{| style="border:1px solid gray; background-color:#fdffe7;"

|rowspan="2" valign="top" | |rowspan="2" | |style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: bottom; height: 1.1em; color: black" | Annihilation of Innocent Maiming of Wikipedia Administrator Award (AIM WAA) |- |style="vertical-align:top; border-top:1px solid gray; color:black" | This Wikipedia Administrator Award is given to User:Hersfold, for righteously deleting or preventing the presenter's innocent but inappropriated posts of a Wikipedian who is now working to make sure that he or she does not do wrong anymore to Wikipedia. Thus, he is honored with this emblem as a token of appreciation of his perpetual and unflagging fight to protect Wikipedia. Given by BlueCaper (talk) 11:36, 22 October 2008 (UTC) |}

And, User:Pbroks13 has fixed up the WAA image and I invented the updated template:

Wikipedia Administrator's Award
{{{1}}} {{{2}}}

I am able to edit now

Yeah, I just logged in and I am able to edit now. I don't know the IP I used yesterday, they are assigned so randomly. Anyway, I've mailed the admin who blocked. Can I start editing now or would it be wiser to wait for a reply and clarification from the admin before starting to edit. I also wish to apply for an IP-block-exempt. This is the second time that I had been blocked for the same reason. I don't know if I had been hard-blocked the first time around (that was in March 2007) but the blocking admin unblocked me on receiving my mail and I started after I was unblocked.-RavichandarMy coffee shop 03:06, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Without knowing your IP address, or what blocks are affecting you, I'd rather not grant the exemption yet. You are welcome to continue editing, of course, but should this happen again, please use the {{unblock-ip}} code provided for you in your block message instead of {{unblock}}. This allows us to determine what block is affecting you, and therefore help you out easier. Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:07, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
I had been blocked as an "Open proxy". The IP range used by BSNL is 59.*.*.*. Thanks, anyway-RavichandarMy coffee shop 04:40, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
That doesn't help a whole lot - the software only allows us to block ranges up to 59.<defined number>.*.*. The open proxy bit concerns me, however - are you using some form of anonymizing proxy to edit from? Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:43, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Nope, I don't. As I said earlier, I use a BSNL connection. BSNL assigns the IPs dynamically. I don't know about the technicalities which BSNL uses. But no, I don't use any anonymizing proxies.-RavichandarMy coffee shop 04:47, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Image:Symbol_comment_vote_20px.png

[copied from Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion/2008 October 21]

The result of the debate was: speedy delete under G7, although I'm not sure why David didn't do it himself.... Hersfold (t/a/c) 17:12, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

I explained why on my talk page; I'm not the image's author; I'm merely the file's uploader. I provided almost none of the its substantial content. —David Levy 03:24, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
True, but by uploading that version of the image, you were the only one who made substantial edits to that image. So G7 probably still applied. Oh well. Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:00, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
Yeah, I prefer to err on the side of caution, but I obviously don't object to the deletion (and certainly don't advocate needless bureaucracy). So unless someone objects (which I doubt will occur), I'd say that the outcome is fine. —David Levy 04:17, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Possum Observatory

Hello... not certain that one warrants a "delete", as opinion was pretty much evenly split between keeping/moving the material and deleting it. --Ckatzchatspy 07:14, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

I closed it as "delete" because there wasn't much content to be moved to a new article as was suggested, and even those in favor of moving the article felt as though the observatory wasn't notable enough for an article. I'm open to restoring any content people want to use for an article on Drummond, but I didn't see that there was a consensus to keep the article on the observatory. Does that help explain it at all? Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:14, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Women's suffrage

Hi, can I ask why Women's suffrage has been semi-protected for a month rather than indefinitely? The vandalism is coming from lots of different IPs and previous temporary protections did not prevent the vandalism from resuming. Also, the page is pretty important. Thanks. --Helenalex (talk) 09:43, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

I also agree to the above statement, based on it's past history. Just not sure as to why certain articles are always targeted to get vandalized though. That-Vela-Fella (talk) 15:00, 23 October 2008 (UTC)
I generally prefer to see a longer protection log before I indefinitely protect something, even for semi-protection. This article has only been protected three times, and never for more than three months at a time. Anonymous users do have useful edits to make as well, and it is sort of against the spirit of the site to make them register to edit such an article. If vandalism continues after the protection expires, we can always put it back on. It's really no big deal. Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:19, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Regarding Your Decision to Delete the Article Guitar Zero 2

Hello, I am the original writer. First off, let me just say that I respect your decision to take down the article. However, some things came to my attention. You mentioned that those who voted to save the article to look at the article WP:SOCK. I realize that some of the forums members have made accounts for the sole purpose of voting to save the article. However, I would like to point out that webdeulist and teancum, while being members of the game's forums, are sincere Wikipedia members. Secondly, there is a link to WP:ATA in the article's deletion page. Was this aimed at everyone or just those who voted to save? Because truthfully I don't feel that either side made very strong arguments. Also, I would just like to know how you came to the decision. I do not argue with it in any way and truthfully, I was going to take the article down myself (or request it to be taken down) for the time being. But I would just like to know how you made the decision. It could help me if I ever rewrite the article when/if the game reaches the notability standards of Wikipedia. Lastly, I would like to say thanks for providing a link to Wikipedia's notability article on the article's deletion page. --Lts100 (talk) 14:54, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

The comments I made may not apply to everyone. However, generally when someone !votes "SAVE", it's an indicator that they're not a regular Wikipedia contributor, since the standard comments are Keep/Delete/Redirect/whatever. For what it's worth, however, webduelist (talk · contribs), X orange90 x (talk · contribs), Bm2092004 (talk · contribs), and in fact yourself, have all made very few edits outside of the Guitar Zero 2 article or the AfD. Encouraging users on an off-site forum to "vote" to keep an article is considered meatpuppetry and a violation of policy.
The WP:ATA link was directly mainly at those who commented in favor of keeping the article. All of the comments made by those in favor of deletion made valid points based on relevant policies and guidelines, specifically notability, verifiability, reliable sources, and Wikipedia is not a Crystal Ball. The comments in favor of keeping the article centered mainly on "the project is not dead", "articles on similar games haven't been deleted", "the game will be up once the lawsuit is figured out", "there are YouTube references as well", etc. None of those are valid arguments against deletion: simply because something exists does not mean it should have an article; other article's existence or non-existence is irrelevant for a discussion on Article X, as they do not set precedent; there is no guarantee the lawsuit will be figured out, and we have no way of accurately predicting that; YouTube, blogs, and forums, are all considered unreliable sources because they can be self-published or easily modified at will, and depending on the content may violate our policy on external links.
The decision to delete the article was made based on the consensus of the discussion. Consensus is not counting votes (hence why we call comments in a deletion discussion "not-votes" or "!votes"), it's judging what people agree with more, as well as what arguments are more relevant to policies and guidelines. In this case, and as I've just explained, the comments in favor of deletion were more well-phrased, made by users who weren't obviously here just for that purpose, and as it turns out there were more of them anyway (again, not that it matters). Reviewing the policies, guidelines, and essays I linked to in the last paragraph should help you out there. I hope this answers your questions, but you are welcome to contact me again if they don't. Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:44, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for the speedy reply, I think you have told me all that I needed to know. --Lts100 (talk) 17:21, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

No IRC?

What about Pidgin? It's fair easy to get that set up to use IRC (that's what I use). Give me a shout if you need a hand :). ~~ [ジャム][talk] 07:04, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I don't have much time to be on IRC anyway - it turns out I'm going to have to completely reinstall Windows, and so all of my free time right now is essentially burning CDs of all my Windows files, of which I have a LOT.
Thank you for the offer, though; maybe once I get things fixed up I'll take you up on that. :-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 16:27, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Welcome back :). ~~ [ジャム][talk] 09:09, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. :-) Hersfold (t/a/c) 15:14, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Note

If you haven't already, you may want to check this out.  :-( Nutiketaiel (talk) 14:53, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I don't really have time just now to work on that, although I do want to comment a couple times before any massive changes start happening. Thanks for the heads-up. Hersfold (t/a/c) 19:39, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

Advertising language

Hay there. I've lately tried to create an article on Eight Hotels Australia. First time it was deleted pretty much right away with the message that I wrote the text as an advertisement. I changed it and this time it's not deleted right away, but I still received the same same message. So my question now is; how can I make it not sound like advertising? I have looked at articles on Hilton Hotel and Four Seasons Hotels and in my eyes I don't write all that different. Could you let me know what or where I am doing something wrong? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ehkevin (talk • contribs)

You might try asking the administrators who actually deleted your pages; however the article was, and still is, written very much like a sales brochure for the hotels. I'd highly recommend you read through our policy on neutrality to see how you can work on this some, as well as our guideline on advertising. In general, reading other articles as a "template" for your own isn't the best idea, as each subject has its own claims to notability and other information specific to it. There is also the tendency for confirmation bias, that is, you seeing in the existing article what you want to see in yours. Let me know if you still have any questions after reading through those pages, and I'll try to help you out. Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:24, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Message Bar

You have gotten rid of my fake messages bar. I am a bit upset. So, I just would like to better understand why. You said you took it off because it was disruptive. Who was it disruptive to and why? Why did you find the little joke as a problem? If you would, please put your answers on my talk page. Thank you-- Mattkenn3 talk 00:11, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

Our userpage guideline clearly states that it is not appropriate to mimic the Mediawiki interface on your userpage. The reason for this is that, while intended as a joke, many users take the orange bar seriously and will assume someone is trying to talk to them. This is especially the case for editors who fall under at least one of the following categories:
  1. Administrators, due to the controversial nature of the actions they undertake
  2. Bureaucrats, for the same reason
  3. Arbitrators or Mediators, in case their attention is urgently needed on a case
  4. Bot operators, if their bot is malfunctioning
  5. Bots themselves, which are often programmed to stop running if a new messages bar is detected
  6. Users using AutoWikiBrowser will be forced to stop editing if the software sees what it thinks is a new messages bar
  7. Users engaged in a content dispute
  8. Users who try to answer their messages quickly
  9. Users expecting a response from someone
This is not simply my decision, as I said. This is something which has been discussed multiple times by the community, and each time it has been deemed to be generally disruptive by the community as a whole. I don't have a problem with this being done on April Fools Day, if you'd like to put it back up for that day only, as that is a day when we all try to have a little fun. However, most other times we're here to build an encyclopedia, and fake message bars can be distracting to that purpose. I hope that helps to explain this some, although do let me know if you have any more questions. Hersfold (t/a/c) 04:51, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

RfC/U request

A Request for comment/User conduct has been initated here regarding User:Roux (formerly User:PrinceOfCanada). As someone wish past interactions with this user, you are invited to comment. --G2bambino (talk) 16:31, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

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