Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2008 December 31

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December 31

PRINTING PROBLEMS WITH WIKIPEDIA ARTICLES

My HP printer performs fine with all documents except Wikipedia. If I highlight 10 pages for print preview as slected on the screen, I get pages 1,2,3, etc. skip 4,5,6,7, get 8, 9, 10 etc. Has been this way for about two weeks. What's the problem? Thanks. [Contributor to Wikipedia.] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.140.234.3 (talk) 05:05, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you trying to print the printable version - selected from the link on the left hand side of the article page? – ukexpat (talk) 05:28, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

LMEX

Please define LMEX Index Value —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.96.226.86 (talk) 05:47, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Hello. Thank you for asking a question. Have you tried the WP:Reference Desk? There are volunteers there that try to answer almost any question in the world! It seems your question is more apt for that assistance area, as this Help Desk is designed to answer questions about Wikipedia itself. Thank you. ←Signed:→Mr. E. Sánchez ^{Get to know me!} / _{Talk to me!}←at≈:→ 18:18, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Question

ვიკიპედიის ქართული ვერსიის მესვეურებთან მაქვს წინადადება და ვერ ვპოულობ მათ კოორდინატებს. შეგვეხმიანეთ ელფოსტაზე <email address removed>—Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.177.168.179 (talk) 05:49, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Hello. I am afraid I could not understand your question, based on your set of characters. Please understand that this is the English Wikipedia and we provide assistance in that language. However, please be sure to visit one of our sister projects; there may be a Wikipedia written in your language. (Please do not provide your e-mail address, as we are unable to contact you through those methods) Thank you. ←Signed:→Mr. E. Sánchez ^{Get to know me!} / _{Talk to me!}←at≈:→ 18:21, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, I don't speak Georgian. Please go to ge:WP:Help desk to answer your question. --Macbookair3140 (talk) 19:27, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

The link to Georgian WP is ka:Main Page. – ukexpat (talk) 20:59, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Turn crisis to Christmas

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 21:34, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

What's point to be seem as vandlism when I turn crisis to Christmas to celebrate merry christmas. I rather to make financial Christmas even in 2008??

Turn crisis to Christmas what wrong?

Happy New Year. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 140.128.151.240 (talk) 06:40, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I cannot see any edits by your current IP address which you used to add your post here which changed crisis to christmas and was warned for vandalism for doing so, which is the best I can make out from your post as to what you're asking about. That having been said, randomly changing a proper and contextual use of crisis to christmas almost anywhere in the encyclopedia would indeed be improper. If that is what you did, and i'm not at all sure it is since your post is a bit confusing, doing so would replace proper information with a completely off-topic aside, thus hurting the integrity of the article.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:07, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

This may be from User:R8o6d4e0d0 who did nonsense like [1]. Please don't evade your block by posting here without logging in. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:41, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Reported as a sockpuppet --Macbookair3140 (talk) 21:03, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Linking to a section header with a template included

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 22:53, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I just posted to a user's talk page and then tried to link in another post to the section header I created which included in the header a template name in the form <nowiki>{{template}}</nowiki>. Just curious if there is any way to link to such a section header (without changing it, or adding an anchor). The normal linking method [[name of talk page#name of section header]] does not work of course. The actual header at issue is at the bottom of this talk page.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 07:17, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe try User talk:Mr.Z-man#Can refToolbar be modified to track the changes in .7B.7Bcite_book.7D.7D?. —teb728 t c 07:59, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Well now, that works! But I am not satisfied with parrotting. Can you help me understand why that works? Where does the .7B.7B.7D.7D come from? Where would I look to educate myself?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 09:06, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Apparently ".7B" stands for "{" and ".7D" stands for "}". I don't what kind of code that is, but symbols are usually replaced by something like this in the URL. For example, brackets are replaced by ".28" and ".29". Chamal ^talk 12:02, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I guess teb728 copied from the browser address bar after clicking the heading in the table of contents. See Help:URL. This version also works and it displays correctly: [[User talk:Mr.Z-man#Can refToolbar be modified to track the changes in %7b%7bcite book%7d%7d?]] renders as User talk:Mr.Z-man#Can refToolbar be modified to track the changes in {{cite book}}? PrimeHunter (talk) 12:33, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Those cryptic numbers are hexadecimal ASCII codes. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 13:31, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

The help desk strikes again. Thanks everyone.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:02, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Also see Help:Magic words#Namespaces and URLs. Sometimes you may have to use {{anchorencode:x #y @}} to get funny characters to work in section anchors. It's best to avoid putting funny characters in section headings, if possible, as this can create problems for people who want to link to the sections. --Teratornis (talk) 21:31, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

About Content

If I submit my own article, is it possible that I copyright it so that no one else can edit it?

Please advice.

Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mohra sharif (talk • contribs) 12:08, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

The simple answer would be no. You do not own anything you submit here and anyone can edit your work. Please see the copyrights page for more info. Chamal ^talk 12:15, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Password

My usual account User:Wikisaver62 seems to have been hacked as the password I made for it does not work. I cannot have an e-mail sent password because I did not have an e-mail address then. However, if you look at the creation logs for this account's user + talk page you should see that Wikisaver62 made some edits while I was still in control This is wrong, sorry, i made the userpage and talk as Wikisaver (IMP) (I last logged in sometime in mid december, I am not exactly sure when.) Maybe you can then send this account the new password to my e-mail, please respond with all haste, thanks. Wikisaver62 (IMP) (talk) 13:16, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, we cannot do this, not least because there's absolutely no evidence whatsoever that you are who you say you are..._Gb^T/c 13:26, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I understand, I know there is no evidence and I was prepared for this answer. I have the same named account on several other wikimedia sites but they all have the same password; looks like the days of Wikisaver62 are over and cometh the hour for my original safeguard to come into action. (Thank God I made this account) I don't suppose there is anything I can do to show that i am who i say i am? Wikisaver62 (IMP) (talk) 13:31, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Last try here for me before I let go of my old account, please don't delete it, I would like to copy what I have done to put on my user page. Right; if you look at Wikisaver62's userpage history, you will see that the sentence explaining that I have a doppenganger named Wikisaver62 (IMP) was acually created by me while logged in as Wikisaver62, surely this shows that I am Wikisaver62? Maybe consult my adopter for confirmation (User:Res2216firestar)? Wikisaver62 (IMP) (talk) 13:36, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

As it happens, the user creation log shows that Wikisaver62 (IMP) was not created while logged in as another user. In any case, this is irrelevant; we are not capable of giving out new passwords by any means other than registered email. Algebraist 13:40, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

In other words, it's no use even if you can prove your identity. Best thing is to start off with another account. And the userpages will not be deleted unless there is a reason to do so, such as a violation of policy. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 13:44, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

OK, I give up, maybe I can begin again as Wikisaver (IMP) , or maybe I won't bother since I made so much effort and made so many good friends as Wikisaver62. I think i'll start by talking to Res. Thanks for your time anyway. Wikisaver62 (IMP) (talk) 13:43, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Just a minute, did you look at that wikisaver62 history, surely that goes with me? Wikisaver62 (IMP) (talk) 13:45, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

OK then, I have let go now, (although I will try on different computers and browsers to log in to Wikisaver62) Wikisaver62 (IMP) (talk) 13:47, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I am very sorry your main account was compromised. I am glad that you made a doppelganger account. In the future, may I suggest using a Committed Identity to help prove who you are? This publicly-displayed numerical hash reads a message that only you know, so in the event that the account is compromised, you may regain control by telling the hashed message to a trusted user. There's more instructions over at the Template's page. Thanks for your contributions. ←Signed:→Mr. E. Sánchez ^{Get to know me!} / _{Talk to me!}←at≈:→ 18:29, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Can I set a future expiration date for an article I create?

Can I mark my article for future expiration? I couldn't find any guidelines for steps that come after a proposed deletion and saw no further communication after my responses as directed by that proposed deletion (I waited until almost the last minute).

In other words, after I delete the proposed deletion... then what?

I added the article BackUp MyPC to share research I had done on a product I used in the not-too-distant past and which changed both product and company names and was difficult to locate using other means.

I did spend some time trying to find information about article expiration and such, but didn't find a single reference.

I'm clear about the notability of an isolated item, but the notability of an item that is part of the history of other "notable" items within WikiPedia and other current products is fuzzy for me.

I suppose I could have added an article about "PC Backup", the current product, and included BackUp MyPC as part of its history, but in point of fact I'm trying to help others like myself whose starting point is their CD of Backup MyPC.

---

Background:

WikiPedia holds extensive history of Backup Exec (the server software versions) and its owners over the years, but little or no mention of the same company's desktop product Backup Exec Desktop, which became BackUp MyPC (my article).

As a customer with no connection to any of these products or companies I have no idea how many copies of any of these products were sold and may still be in use and thus trigger actual searches.

CornanTheIowan (talk) 13:28, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Hi CornanTheIowan. There are two entirely separate deletion processes at work here. Proposed deletion, which the article had been nominated for, is a process that proposes to delete an article without discussion on the merits, if the template remains in place for a fixed period of five days. Anyone can remove the deletion template including the article creator, as you had done, and that ends that process, as it did here. However, anyone can nominate an article for deletion on the merits at articles for deletion which is where the article is now. That entirely separate deletion process results in a debate that lasts for five days after which an administrator will determine the consensus of opinions expressed and decide to delete, keep, merge, or otherwise based on what is said and revealed.

The deletion debate is at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Backup MyPC. You cannot effect that debate by removal of the template from the article (which is considered vandalism). As for what you should do to affect the outcome of the debate, you need to add content to the article showing the product's notability, best done by citing to reliable, independent secondary sources which discuss the product substantively. This also verifies the information content and shows it is not original reseach. You are also welcome to comment in the debate. Before you do so, it might be a good idea to read How to discuss an AfD and Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:22, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for your response. I posted this Help question before the second deletion process kicked in, but I gather there is no feature to allow an article to expire gracefully in the future.

The most appropriate course of action seems to be to create an article for the current product and company and then include my information as "history" in that article (it's not important to me if the article is retained as a separate article).

I would like to save myself the time of creating such an article if it would likely also be marked for deletion. It would certainly be "citable", but without sales figures I have no idea of whether that product (Migo Software's "PC Backup") would be considered "notable". My motive is to provide an indexable reference for Backup MyPC to help others understand the history of these products and companies, not to create sales leads for PC Backup (just to reassure everybody on this point!).

Regarding the defunct product Backup MyPC, I may well be trying to contribute bits of information that have already become uncitable on the Internet, even though the most recent events occurred in 2007. Even information that may be citable by WikiPedia standards when entered (such as information on the defunct predecessor companies that sold Backup Exec) will naturally become uncitable over time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by CornanTheIowan (talk • contribs) 12:53, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

'Uploader' status requested to add photo from new account

I have a photo to add to the unillustrated page Anthelion. I created an account a while ago so I could add a variety of photo illustrations that I've taken myself, however the image upload page won't let me as I'm not an autoconfirmed user. Please can someone assign 'Uploader' status on me? Otherwise I'll have to find ten random pointless edits to make before I'm allowed to upload photos, which seems counter-intuitive! Thanks --ThingOneSix (talk) 15:09, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Only stewards (who probably don't read this page) can assign uploader but it doesn't appear to be used in practice. Special:ListUsers/uploader only shows one case. If you register at Wikimedia Commons then you can upload images there right away (assuming the license conditions are acceptable to you) and use them in Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:16, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

formatting with logo problem

At the Al Arabiya article there's an enormous gap of white space between the intro and the table of contents. It has something to do with the infobox, but search me if i can figure out what. If anyone can either fix it or tell me how to fix it would be much appreciated. (this might be an easy fix; i'm less than usually savvy on these kinds of things).Bali ultimate (talk) 15:49, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

No such gap here. What browser are you using? Algebraist 16:04, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I also got the gap with IE7. It disappeared when I moved an image from the end to the start of the lead.[2] PrimeHunter (talk) 19:48, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Runaways to GA

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 21:33, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I want to make Runaways a GA article. I have fixed other articles to GA status, mainly because I look at other articles as examples. However, since there is no main comic book article that is a GA, I find it would be more difficult. There are comic book character articles that are G, but then I don't know if those would be great examples. My main question is, should I do a peer review this early for someone to give me help? I'd like to know if there is anything else I could do. Thanks in advance! -- A ^talk/_contribs 17:49, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm not too familiar with the GA process. However, from reading the peer review page, I think it would be a good step, as it allows other editors to review the article. More eyes on an article are always a good thing. I hope this helps! TN‑X-Man 18:46, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! Have a Happy New Year. -- A ^talk/_contribs 18:48, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

User hash

Where is the page for user committed identities and is template page? --Melab±1 ☎ 18:29, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Template:User committed identity. Algebraist 18:35, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

When you know the exact terms you are looking for, look in the Editor's index. See WP:EIW#Login. You can search the Editor's index in your Web browser by browsing to it and pressing Ctrl-F. --Teratornis (talk) 21:35, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Ooo that {{keypress}} template looks useful - one to remember. – ukexpat (talk) 22:54, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I agree. --Teratornis (talk) 01:06, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Editcounters

None of the editcounters are working...
Does this happen to anyone else? TopGearFreak 19:37, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I believe WP:WANNABEKATE still works, at least as of a couple of hours ago. Were there any specific ones to which you could point? It may be that were some changes on the back end that broke the counters. TN‑X-Man 19:40, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

At the bottom of the 'my contributions' page, there are two links saying 'edit and action count' and 'contributions summary'. Neither of them work. WP:WANNABEKATE does work, though, but I find that the other ones, particularly the second one I mentioned, are better. TopGearFreak 20:25, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I was actually about to post here with more info. Apparently, the toolserver that hosts many of the edit counters is down/undergoing maintenance. I saw it in passing at WP:CHU, but haven't been able to find more info anywhere. TN‑X-Man 20:27, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

More specifically, this request was the one that mentioned it. TN‑X-Man 20:31, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Need an admin's help to fix Nut (hardware)

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 21:32, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Need an admin's help to fix Nut (hardware). It was attacked with page-move vandalism and I think that only an admin can fix it now. Thanks. — ¾-10 20:04, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I fixed it. A vandal had moved it twice and an admin accidentally deleted the wrong page. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:19, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! We're lucky to have someone like you providing help at this page. The project wouldn't work well without you, but with you, it is very robust. — ¾-10 20:25, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks! Though I'm sure this page would continue working fine without me, and for the whole of Wikipedia I'm just a small contributor compared to lots of others who do more in other places. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:44, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Wikipedia depends on there being people like you. --Teratornis (talk) 01:19, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Help with coordinates

I'm trying to convert coordinates to use with articles. One of the ones I need converted to use is LAT:32°44'31.83"N LON:96°47'40.65"W. Any help is appreciated (as well as the right template to use). Cheers! ←Signed:→Mr. E. Sánchez ^{Get to know me!} / _{Talk to me!}←at≈:→ 20:35, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I believe {{coord}} is the template for which you're looking. Check the documentation for full details. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 20:38, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Link to page "Pingu Episodes Series 4"

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 21:32, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

The link to the above page has gone wrong. All I can get is an invitation to put in a correct file extension (Mime search says it's looking for "MIME application/x-gzip-compressed"). Can you assist, please. Thanks Kwerty (talk) 21:03, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Try going to your preferences and unchecking "Use external editor by default". Cheers! TN‑X-Man 21:06, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Was already unchecked, but link now working OK with no further action on my part! For whatever reason, it was only the Pingu series 4 link that was causing a problem; all the others were working fine. Thanks for the quick response and assistance. Kwerty (talk) 21:27, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

dealing with a frequent POV user

Resolved

 – Corruptcopper (talk) 17:18, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

I was editing an article that started to get into a edit war with one user repeatedly making a change, and a number of other editors (myself included) repeatedly undoing it, and trying to get him/her to talk on the talk page, which he/she finally did. The original issue has not been resolved, but has been improved. However it got me interested in the user, and after looking at the contributions made, I found many that I feel to be POV to varying degrees on a particular topic of a contentions political nature. What is the best course of action to take? Should I point it out to other editors on one of the more frequented talk pages, listing the POV changes, so that others can be aware of it, and be on the lookout? Put a note on the users page? Both?--Keithonearth (talk) 21:34, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

For general guidance see WP:EIW#Dispute. I have no specific answer because you did not ask a specific question. I.e., you gave us your qualitative assessment of another editor without identifying the editor and the edits so we can check for ourselves. You are addressing strangers on the Help desk, who probably do not already know who you are or whether you are telling the truth. Thus you should present evidence to support your claims which is independently verifiable. (I could dredge through your contributions to try to figure out what you are talking about, but I have to leave my computer now.) --Teratornis (talk) 21:45, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I could add that one useful function of Special:Contributions is to see what else a user has done, when you see one thing that attracts your interest (whether for good or bad reasons). So the investigation you are undertaking is very natural to do on a wiki. That's the whole point of tracking every edit by every user. --Teratornis (talk) 21:47, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry not to be more clear. My question is if it would be appropriate to name a user publicly that I feel has a particular agenda, and is engaging in frequent POV edits, and/or if there are other actions I could take. I could name the user here, and list the changes, if that's appropriate. I should also point out that none of the edits are blatantly POV just allot of little things that add up. --Keithonearth (talk) 22:23, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

it's not clear to me what outcome you're interested in with this editor - if some kind of mediation is what you're after, maybe pondering the procedures & options at WP:RfC#Request_comment_on_users would be helpful to you. Sssoul (talk) 22:38, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Image tags

Resolved

 – ukexpat (talk) 22:58, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm not a lawyer. Now that I've got that out, you are better informed as to how to answer my questions...

A user has uploaded a few images using the license that says the image is a poster. They've been using them to illustrate the person pictured in the poster. These can't be used for that purpose and they're really of no value here. So, I went to WP:CSD and tried to find an applicable reason for them to be speedied. As I said though, I'm not a lawyer. So could someone tell me what I'm supposed to tag the images with? Thanks, Dismas|^(talk) 21:37, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

I'd send them to WP:IfD. Dendodge Talk^Contribs 21:39, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! That page supplied me with this: "{{orfud}} if an image has a non-free copyright tag but isn't used in any articles" Dismas|^(talk) 21:52, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

author

Resolved

 – Corruptcopper (talk) 17:20, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

who is the author of the article banana? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.138.212.125 (talk) 22:41, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Banana and almost all articles on Wikipedia are written by multiple editors, not just one. If you click on the "history" tab on the top of an article, a list will be displayed of all the contributors to the article. If your purpose is to cite Wikipedia then see Wikipedia:Citing Wikipedia. You can also see Who writes Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:54, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Admin

Have any admins ever been indefinitely blocked at some point before they became an admin? 60.230.124.64 (talk) 23:44, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, obviously if they were, the block was rescinded. That being said, it is unlikely -- but by no means impossible -- that such a user could have become an admin. I do not know of any specifically, though I do know of some who were blocked for shorter periods of time. Hermione1980 23:54, 31 December 2008 (UTC)