Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2009 September 3

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September 3

Sister projects can not refer to or use each other?

I think any term should be possible to define in Wiktionary and then use in editing any WP article, ie, these sister projects should be able to refer to or use each other as a default, transparent to users/editors. I believe I established (by experimenting) that for a term which WP does not contain, but which Wiktionary does define, WP does not link to the definition in Wiktionary. Why not? What obvious-in-hindsight bad consequence am I missing? For7thGen (talk) 00:08, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

See WP:NOT#DICTIONARY. We have a {{Wiktionary}} template for linking to Wiktionary entries from articles in Wikipedia; see it in action. Your question is unclear since you gave no examples. The reasons for or against linking from anything in Wikipedia to Wiktionary or anything else will vary from one case to another. There is no single blanket rule that covers any possible link to any possible Wiktionary entry. What Wiktionary entries do you want to link to, and from which Wikipedia articles? --Teratornis (talk) 02:22, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Are you aware that you can link to any page in a sister Wikimedia project? For example, if you wanted to link to callipygian or another (wonderful) unusual word used in a Wikipedia article that had a Wiktionary entry, you would type [[wikt:callipygian|callipygian]], which would result in callipygian. The same is true of links to pages in Wikisource, Wikibooks, Wikinews etc., as well as all other language versions of Wikipedia. You just need to know the prefix to use. Please note, however, that we only link words sparingly and for good reason. Please see WP:OVERLINK. We only make links that are relevant to context and understanding. If we linked every word on Wikipedia to a Wiktionary definition whenever possible, we'd all be blinded by the actinic blue glare lancing out from our monitors.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:38, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Just to clarify that what the querent wants to do is to create a Wiktionary entry for a term that he's made up and then link to that to explain its meaning when he uses it in Wikipedia articles. I think that he would do well to read WP:NEO. I doubt that Wiktionary would accept such an entry, and I've prodded the WP article he wrote to define Fathers-line table as failing WP:V. Deor (talk) 11:47, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Copyrighted problem still need help

So, I am the one who leave a question regarding the copyrighted problem like three days ago. Apparantly, my images still haven't got recovered. Is there really someone who can recover my images and give my images properly tagged? I have dealed with this issue for almost a month. I hope to get over this soon. Thanks (P.S. I left this message in a wrong page, sorry about that.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kaseyng53 (talk • contribs) 01:30, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I presume from your talk page these are images you uploaded to commons? If you have sent the permission emails to [email protected], be patient. That address is staffed by a small group of volunteers and sometimes they have a backlog. I similarly have an email waiting in the queue for over 3 weeks. This is as bad as I've seen it, usually it takes less than a week. But it is what it is. Maybe after you've been through the process a few times you could volunteer. If you have not sent the permission emails to that address, that is your next step. Ensure the email is explicit that the copyright owner will allow the wikimedia foundation free use of the images under a free license. Dave (talk) 02:59, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

As Dave says, it can take some time - my last one took about 2 weeks, but follow-up e-mails (a point needed to be clarified with the copyright owner) took a couple of days. The final part of Dave's response is important - if the response from the copyright owner is vague (along the lines of I give Wikipedia permission to use the image), then that would not be enough! When I request permission, I always send a copy of the 'Consent form' to be found at WP:CONSENT. Other than that, just double check you have followed the steps at Wikipedia:Requesting_copyright_permission#When_permission_is_confirmed. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 03:19, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

totally frustrated trying to place a picture on a page

Dear Wiki- I have used Wikipedia for two years now, and I have really enjoyed it.

However, I am totally frustrated- and demoralized. I have spent 2 hrs trying to place a picture on a page I helped to create. The page is called "Fred Russell".

Do I upload the picture to Commons? I did that. It is called "File: Russell Rice 2.0.jpg"

what do I type after "[[image:" ? The name of the file? The title at the top of the Commons picture file? Something else? I tried all different combinations, none worked.

It is just downright frustrating when the directions do not seem to say much or explain important aspects of this process: it says to upload to either Commons or English Wikipedia. I did both. The directions do not state specifically which "file name" or "title" to enter in the image text in the edit. Confused? Yes, I am. Completely. And hoping someone will help me out here.

Wiki gets so confusing and convoluted, I seem to run in endless circles trying to solve problems like this.

Jim Harwell aka relax777 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Relax777 (talk • contribs) 05:13, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I fixed it. The image at commons was under the filename File:Fred Russell Grantland Rice 1951.jpg so I just made that the name, and the image now shows fine in the article in question. --Jayron32 05:22, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Based on the apparent two sources of confusion you had placing the image, i.e., not using the full, exact name of the image and trying to use "Image:" rather than "File:", I have edited the image use policy to address them.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:25, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I see you have also uploaded File:Russell Rice 2.0.jpg. "Image:" and "File:" both work. The only problem in [1] and [2] was that you wrote "Russell Rice 2.0" instead of the full file name "Russell Rice 2.0.jpg". jpg is one of several file types allowed by the software and you have to give the full file name. You wrote the right file name with .jpg in your post here but not in any of your saved edits to Fred Russell. You can click the "Show preview" button to see whether an edit works as intended before saving it. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:21, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Non Latin title

I would like to know if it is invalid or not recommended:

• writing an article at en_wiki, in Arabic alphabet for example.
• Putting only the headline at en_wiki, in Arabic alphabet.
• Redirecting an Arabic headline into the English article.

There are cases such as the name of countries, towns, and names of people in which the original word is not Latin. Thank you --Email4mobile (talk) 07:53, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Hello!

• No, this is not allowed - all articles on the English Wikipedia must be in English, and English uses the latin alphabet.
• The title of the article (is this what you mean by headline?) must be in English, although the first line of the article will frequently give alternative names, for instance in the original language (see our article on Baghdad for a good example).

For more information, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English). — QuantumEleven 08:41, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the title of an article should be located at the most common English name and transliterated if there is none, but you can create a redirect to the English name at the Arabic title and use {{R from alternative language}}. I looked and found no guidance on when this should be done. Certainly we should not have every Arabic related subject with an Arabic redirect but if you have good reason to believe it will be useful I'd go ahead. I note that thinking up very famous Arabic topics and checking their redirects, I found most do have a redirect from the Arabic name. For example, see here and here. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:01, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much for clarification. In my opinion, there is some reason. The city name for instance, Sana'a can be also written as Sanaa, Sana, Sana' in some other sites. Hence, I thought it would be a good idea if I also redirect the original script صنعاء so that reader can type it in the en_wiki for example and be redirected immediately into Sana'a, without having to go through ar_wiki article because I assume they aren't aware of the language but did that as a kind of flexible search since it is a unique name.--Email4mobile (talk) 19:38, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

You're most welcome.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:15, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Searching for word

Hello, does anyone know if there is a way for a search to come up with all articles that contain a particular word, rather than opening an article which has that word as its title? If the search term is one after which no article is named, results show all articles containing that word, but if an article with that title exists, then the page comes up. Can anyone help? Thanks!Higginson21 (talk) 09:17, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Under the search box is a "go" button and a "search" button. If you press enter (or click on go) it will go to the article - if you click on the search button instead, it will search for the string in articles, not just in titles. However, you may find that as you type in a word you get a drop down list of suggestions, meaning you can't see the search button - just click somewhere on the page (where there isn't a link!) and this will go away, leaving the button visible for clicking. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 09:33, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Or just press tab twice and return (on most browsers). Algebraist 10:58, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I find Google is much better at searching Wikipedia than is Wikipedia. Just go there, type in your word and and limit your search to Wikipedia by also placing in the search field, site:en.wikipedia.org. You can also use a host of different advanced search options and search operators to target your search in various ways.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:45, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Proposed deletion

How do I remoce the proposed deletion notice it I added my sources? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Olgaleonard (talk • contribs) 12:23, September 3, 2009 (UTC)

You have done the right thing, remove the "proposed deletion" notice, although you should probably indicate on the article's talk page why you think you've improved the article sufficiently. You can find more information about the "proposed deletion" process here: Wikipedia:PROD#Objecting. — QuantumEleven 12:29, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

You'll want to read up on Wikipedia:Your first article. In its current state, the article might not meet Wikipedia guidelines (WP:N, WP:RS). ƒ(Δ)² 17:57, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Editing an already-existing page and the proper citation required

I'm very new to Wikipedia and apologize in advance for what may be a redundant question. I'm quite bewildered.

My father was an author and he has a page on Wikipedia which I'd like to edit.

I wish to add two books edited by my father which are not listed in his bibliography here on Wikipedia.

I have photographs of these unique editions and the titles can easily be found with a Google search.

My question is: Apart from the photographs, what would constitute a proper citation in this case?

Can anyone help me, please?

Thanks in advance,

Concomitant (talk) 13:00, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

You say they are unique editions - does that mean that they were not generally published? If you tell us who your father is, and the titles of the two books, we'd be able to look up information and see if they can be added to the article. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 13:08, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

PhantomSteve: Thanks for taking the time to answer. My father was Cornelius Ryan. The titles of the editions are "Across The Space Frontier" and "Conquest Of The Moon". They were, in fact, generally published and I essentially misspoke with the "unique editions" description. The editions I have are actually quite unique for a number of reasons which are not really germane to the question I posed. Please ignore the mention of "unique editions". My bad. Concomitant (talk) 00:53, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

Hi Concomitant - I hope you don't mind my butting in! I think in this case, it would be okay to just add the books to the Bibliography section of Cornelius Ryan. As you say, the books were widely published, and indeed are listed for purchase at Amazon.com and other sites. I'm pretty sure that a citation is not essential in this case, as it would be if you wanted to add controversial information or "material...that is likely to be challenged". Adding the ISBN would be useful, as Wikipedia automatically formats these in a way that allows any reader to click on them and be taken to a page that lists library catalogues which hold the book, thereby confirming its existence. If you need any help adding the text to the article, someone here should be able to help (you may want to start a new section at the bottom of the page, in case your question gets overlooked up here!) --☇Kateshortforbob _talk☄ 10:50, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

Adding a photo to a page.

I have been working on my friends page, he is an athlete, so I have been trying to add a photo to his page from a newspaper article. But have not been successful. Can you please assist me in this area??? Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Skeahey (talk • contribs) 16:19, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I have added the image to the page per your request. Wperdue (talk) 16:25, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

The image will be deleted as its non-free (unless you get the newspaper to release it under a free license). Since you are his friend, you could easily click a free image with his face visible in it. 59.95.106.110 (talk) 17:14, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

As the previous poster said, the image can't be used on Wikipedia - just take a photograph of your friend and upload it to commons. As you would have taken the photo, you can release it under CC-BY-SA as your own work. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:03, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Names in different languages in wiki english

Wikipedia is an english site so why are there different language translations in some aticles for example this article( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seljuq_dynasty ) is about seljuq dynasty and it has traslations of the name in 3 languages(Turkish, Persian and arabic) why not just english? Is there a rule to do this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mystery.sin (talk • contribs) 17:33, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Because where a word or term refers to an individual, institution, place, animal etc that is closely associated with a particular place, its name in the language(s) of that place is encyclopaedic information about it. The article title should be in English (or transliterated into English), as mentioned above, but giving the original form in relevant languages is helpful.

I looked for information about this in WP:Manual of style but didn't find any: I don't know whether there are guidelines elsewhere. --ColinFine (talk) 17:52, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

It can be found at WP:UEIA: The body of each article, preferably in its first paragraph, should list all common names by which its subject is widely known. When the native name is written in a non-Latin alphabet this representation should be included along with Latin alphabet transliteration. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 17:59, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Directions

how do you get from hwy. 18 to hwy 203 washington? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.191.110.10 (talk) 18:18, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia:Reference desk. They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 18:22, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Or, maybe Google Maps will be faster. Tim Song (talk) 00:03, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

biggest selling music artsit

It says on eminem home psge that he has sold 80 million albums worldwide but on biggest selling music artsit list it says he has only sold 70 million sales. And his album The Marshall Mathers LP has sold 30 million copys but on biggest sellimg albums of all time page it is not there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by A968 (talk • contribs) 18:44, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Record companies have a tendency to exaggerate or accidentally-on-purpose miscount sales. The Wikipedia listings are cited with a reliable source. Dendodge _T\^C 18:49, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Image help

Hi. I'm interested in possibly adding an image to Wikipedia but don't know how to navigate the fair use/can't use logic and practice. The image is used in this news article, and is shown full-size here. Can we use such an image in Wikipedia under a fair-use rationale? This image reflects a design that is fairly unique and would very much improve an article I am working on: Floating wind turbine. The image appears to have been previously released by the copyright holder in a press release, here, where there is also a clickable link to a high-res version of the image. Does the fact that it was explicitly released as a press photo make it any easier to utilize an image in Wikipedia? Would someone with image experience be willing to help me on this. Thanks. N2e (talk) 18:46, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

That image would fail WP:NFCC#1. The fact that they used it in a PR doesn't affect the copyright status; its still non-free. You can try contacting the copyright holder and see if they are willing to release it under an acceptable free license (CC-BY/CC-BY-SA/PD/CC-0), though. 59.95.102.223 (talk) 19:30, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

If the image absolutely cannot be replaced by a free version (which is unlikely in this particular case), then it can be used on Wikipedia under fair use, provided it's low-resolution. Otherwise, try finding other, free versions. I'm sure there are other pictures of floating wind turbines somewhere...--Unionhawk ^{Talk E-mail} 22:17, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the help! N2e (talk) 03:23, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

Download prompt when wikipedia link is clicked in Google search

This is about a Google search that offers a Wikipedia reference.

What is DISTURBING to me is the Windows Vista says the DOWNLOAD is suspect.

I did not instigate a download; just wanted to read what was there (Kubla Khan).

Since when does download the file normal for wikipedia?

It seems onyly at URL reading "en.wikipedia.com"

Ed Diephaus —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.224.123.201 (talk) 19:09, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Several Internet Explorer users have reported such problems when visiting Wikipedia from Google. Google attaches something to the link which can apparently cause miscommunication between Google, Wikipedia and the browser. It can be avoided by manually copying the url to the browser address bar instead of clicking the link on the Google page. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:31, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Also see this.----occono (talk) 22:05, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

It could also be the result of a virus or malware. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 22:05, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

I meant this, sorry.----occono (talk) 22:06, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Biomass pellets

What is new in the Biomass Pellet/Briquet business. Are there uniform sizes for each cut (Pellets & Briquets)? Thank you Walter Hein <e-mail redacted> 19:57, 3 September 2009 (UTC)~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Whein19 (talk • contribs)

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions and will try to answer just about any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps.

Numbering table rows

How do I automatically number the rows of a wiki table? If not possible, is there a way to add a "total" row to the bottom of a table? --Pascal⁶⁶⁶ 21:12, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Not in Wiki markup. But you can create a spreadsheet in Excel, OpenOffice.org Calc, or Gnumeric (which has those features) and then convert it to Wiki markup. Xenon54 / talk / 21:51, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Now cf. Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 127#Size of tables! --Marsupium (talk) 11:33, 10 February 2016 (UTC)

instrument anagram of cart horse

instrument anagram of cart horse —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.106.171.190 (talk) 21:36, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

orchestra? TastyCakes (talk) 21:41, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Orchestra indeed. Not necessarily an instrument, but it does have to do with music. Please visit the Reference desk for any further questions that don't have to do directly with Wikipedia. Xenon54 / talk / 21:49, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Problem adding information to page.

Resolved

 – Tim Song (talk) 23:50, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

In editing a page I get a box around my text and the text is totally different than the rest.... The information is not displayed correctly. What am I doing wrong and how can I correct it? The page in question is Blues Saraceno. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Filmkilla (talk • contribs) 23:31, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

 Done. Formatting fixed. The page needs wikification, though. You should not have leading spaces in front of paragraphs; that caused all the trouble because they stopped the reformatting. See WP:Formatting and Help:Editing. Tim Song (talk) 23:50, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

If there is a blank space at the start of a line you get

this --Orange Mike  |  Talk 23:50, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Picture description problem

In this picture's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:David_Boreanaz_Jaime_Bergman_May_2006.jpg description there is a link that is red even though the article exists. I tried to fix this but in the beta version of wikipedia there is only a create tab and in the old version there is only a view source tab which when chosen will show the following message "Wikipedia does not have a File page with this exact title." Any ideas what is wrong?--Sgv 6618 (talk) 23:42, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Name was not correct (one 'n' too many). Fixed by somebody else, not me. --Orange Mike | Talk 23:52, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I have sorted out the link - The picture is actually hosted on Commons not Wikipedia, where there are a load of photos for David Boreanaz, but none for Jaime Bergman - I've specified the link as explicitly to the English Wikipedia for Jaime Bergman (leaving David as a link to Commons). -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 23:54, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

To clarify, Sgv 6618, the reason why you only had a Create tab and no Edit tab is that your link goes to the Wikipedia version of the file, which links in turn to Commons. So, it is possible to create an image with that name on Wikipedia, but to edit the current image you would have to go to Commons. I hope that makes sense! -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 23:57, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

Thank you I totally missed it was on Commons!--Sgv 6618 (talk) 01:09, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

UAA en français

Hello. Does anyone know the equivalent of WP:UAA on the French Wikipedia? I need to know because I saw a username there yesterday that was inappropriate, but no one may have caught it for a while because it was in English. Thank you. Intelligentsium 23:57, 3 September 2009 (UTC)

If you know French, fr:Wikipédia:Nom d'utilisateur is the username policy page. If there is an equivalent to UAA, it would almost certainly linked from there. Xenon54 / talk / 00:10, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

I looked at it using Google Translate and didn't see an equivalent to UAA. If you want to sign up, it'd be different, the link is Créer un compte ou se connecter, but I can't find an equivalent to UAA, which is what Intelligentsium is looking for. The nearest I can find (and my French ain't brilliant) is Wikipédia:Vérificateur d'adresses IP/Requêtes. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 00:26, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

That's CheckUser. Intelligentsium 00:49, 4 September 2009 (UTC)

I think I've found it. It seems to be grouped with the administrators' noticeboard[ there. Well, thanks anyway. Intelligentsium 00:57, 4 September 2009 (UTC)