Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 June 7

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June 7[edit]

parsing error on wikipedia page for 'poundal'[edit]

received this error on wikipedia page for 'POUNDAL'

Failed to parse (syntax error): 4.66\,\text{slug} \cdot 8\,\tfrac{\text{ft}}{\text{s}^2} = 37.3\,\text{lb}_F</math Note: Slugs (32.174 049 lbm) and poundals (1/32.174 049 lbF) are never used in the same system, since each exists to solve the same problem and will cancel each other out; both should not be used together. Rather than changing either force or mass units, one may choose to express acceleration in units of the acceleration due to Earth's gravity (called g). In this case, we can keep both pounds-mass and pounds-force, such that applying one pound force to one pound mass accelerates it at one unit of acceleration (g): : - — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.17.143.76 (talkcontribs) 01:19, 7 June 2012‎ (UTC+1)

Corrected. Thanks for letting us know. - David Biddulph (talk) 00:30, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Image request[edit]

Hello, your FAQ suggested asking here for an existing member to upload an image for me as my account is too new to have been activated. I need to upload this image: http://www.simiansquared.com/simian_logo_tall.png for use in the article about the company. It is their logo and I think this constitutes fair use.

thanks,

IG — Preceding unsigned comment added by IndieGamerNet (talkcontribs) 03:02, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Where is the tall logo used? It looks to me like http://simiansquared.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/simian1.png is the logo. It's used on all pages I examined at http://simiansquared.com. The wide format would also look better in the infobox at Simian Squared. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:47, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

-- on their old site they had a press pack that had all four and explained that on box art they use the tall graphics- if you think the wide one is better though could you please upload that one and edit it into the article?

I'm still pretty new to this so i'm not too sure of all the wiki rules on what we should use so thanks for advising me :) I'll continue to read through the FAQ — Preceding unsigned comment added by IndieGamerNet (talkcontribs) 16:40, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I have uploaded http://simiansquared.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/simian1.png to File:Simian Squared logo.png and added it to Simian Squared. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:40, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Writing numerals from right to left[edit]

Dear Friends of Wikipedia, I have just completed my first Draft Article but still have two problems I am unable to solve: 1. Writing numerals from right to left. 2. I was unable to correctly format "Palm Sumday" and can't find what is wrong with it. I would be grateful for your assistance. Sincerely Paterimon — Preceding unsigned comment added by Paterimon (talkcontribs) 04:05, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It would be easier to answer your questions if you gave a link to your draft article, so we could see what you are asking about. I have looked for the article in your contributions list, and can't find it.
(1.) I guess that, by "writing numerals from right to left", you mean, embedding a number written in "arabic" numerals within Arabic text. I can't help with this, and I know it can be a difficult problem. But I hope I have helped other editors to understand your question.
(2.) I observe that you have mis-spelled "Palm Sunday". Maproom (talk) 08:12, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Someone copied my user page as his/her own[edit]

User Nimfy has copied the user page of Patrick Edwin Moran and used it as his own user page. I prefer to retain my own identity. Please get this user to make up his own personal details, etc. P0M (talk) 05:47, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've left User:Nimfy a polite note; hopefully he will adjust his userpage appropriately. Yunshui  07:01, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The editor hasn't been around for 10 months so I've deleted it. Dougweller (talk) 10:27, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you.P0M (talk) 01:07, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

User attrition data[edit]

Hi, on WP:VP I asked about user attrition but received no response.. A sign or user attrition? Anyway, does anyone here have any idea if there is any serious data on that, preferably by some type user category (e.g. edited for more than 2 years, then quit, etc.). Else how can we talk someone (say at WMF) to get that data, so we don't wake up in a ghost town one day. Thanks. History2007 (talk) 09:18, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You might start with the stats at http://stats.wikimedia.org/ ; I think this internal page might be of interest. But I don't know that this tells you much about attrition of core users—people who edit a lot and perform the many administrative tasks that keep this place running (it's my impression that we've lost a lot and everything takes longer than it used to even with all our bots, filters, tools and scripts).--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:51, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I don't get the same impression, I've been around since mid 2007, I think routine maintenance and admin has slowed down because of the increased workload rather than a decrease in the Wikignome population - how many million articles do we have now? Roger (talk) 12:07, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You might be right. But a lot of core places that I monitor are always backlogged like they didn't used to be. For examples, WP:RM used to be more efficient even when everything was done by hand, and is constantly backlogged now. Helpme requests sit for hours or days sometimes. WP:AIV used to be monitored to such an extent that you could barely blink before it was empty again. Again, just my unscientific impression.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:20, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
My intuitive feeling about content contributors is the same as your impression about admin activities. I just mentioned that to another user in the context of a nice essay someone else had started. I have seen a number of editors with 10,000 to 30,000 edits just shrug their shoulders and walk. That can not be good news, and the pages they used to watch are now totally neglected. And I have seen no statistics on those either. Thanks for the link, now in the last graph titled "Very Active Editors for All Wikimedia Projects (100+ edits per month)" the same trend is confirmed on English Wikiedia (the blue line): a steady decline in active editors in the past 2 years (dropping from 4,000). And please note that the simultaneous increase in article count exacerbates that effect. If that trend continues, in 3 years there may be half as many long term active editors per article. As I said on the user talk page the determined users seem to be those driven by COI, while frustration is driving away the best editors. Something needs to be done if we are to avoid the wiki ghost town. History2007 (talk) 14:20, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Is Editing with a first account after editing with IP prohibited ?[edit]

I was banned because I got a first account and edited with it after I edited as IP user.

First I edited only as IP user, but I liked wikipedia little by little and I decided to get a first account and I edited with it.

But I was banned and I was very surprised. The person who banned me told to me that the reason was sock puppet.

I understand editing with a sedond account after editing a first accout is strictly restricted. I understand editing with IP after editing a first account is sometimes restricted according to the purpose of user.

But is Editing with a first account after editing with IP prohibited ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.30.21.117 (talk) 10:15, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

It's hard to provide advice on an issue like this because it probably all depends on the circumstances. Taking the question at face value, of course editors are welcome to first edit as an IP and to later create an account and continue editing—that's what we hope will happen. However, if "ban" means what is described at WP:BAN, then no. If you provide the username that was banned (do you mean blocked?), people can give meaningful advice. Johnuniq (talk) 10:26, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]


Thank you for reply . I used "ban" as "block". And I was a Japanese user and this happened in Japanese version. So probably you can not understand it if you read it. They are all written in Japanese. I want to be given general advice. I think if sock puppet includes this, all user become sock puppet user. --125.30.21.117 (talk) 10:41, 7 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.30.21.117 (talk) 10:41, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The rules regarding sockpuppetry are at Wikipedia:Sock puppetry. If you were indeed blocked under an account name, you are not allowed to use an IP address to get round that block. - David Biddulph (talk) 10:30, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for replay. This was happened in Japanese wikipedia and I was blocked in Japanese wikipedia but I was not blocked in English version and policies and guidelines of Japanese version may differ from English version but policies and guidelines of Japanese version are all translation of English version, so I want to be given some advice here . — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.30.21.117 (talk) 11:09, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Well the Japanese Wikipedia may have different policies and guidelines than the English one, so it's hard to know why you were blocked without knowing their policies. The notice on your talk page should include the policy under which you were blocked, if you think the block was unjust, you should appeal on your talk page there, we can't do anything on this Wikipedia about blocks on another Wikipedia. Quasihuman | Talk 10:57, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for reply. I was a Japanese user, and this happended in Japanese wikipedia but policies and guidelines of Japanese version are all translation of English version. So I questioned here. --125.30.21.117 (talk) 11:02, 7 June 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.30.21.117 (talk) 11:01, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I note that the guideline Wikipedia:Appealing a block has a Japanese version at Wikipedia:投稿ブロックへの異議申し立て. Perhaps that is of some help? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlkctb) 11:07, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
... and similarly there is a Japanese inter-wiki link on sockpuppetry. Please also be more careful with the indentation of your comments. If you are replying to someone else's comment, your comment should be indented one step further than theirs so that the flow of the conversation may be more easily followed. I have attempted to correct your indentation above. - David Biddulph (talk) 11:22, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
It's impossible to evaluate your case without seeing it. I'm guessing the block is based on specific circumstances and that general advice based on policy by itself will have low relevance to your case. You really have to take this up at the Japanese Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:34, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The page is here. http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%88%A9%E7%94%A8%E8%80%85%E2%80%90%E4%BC%9A%E8%A9%B1:Gtyuio Japanese administrators are very stubborn. I don't like to write personal name. But all Japanese people don't look at here so I write. They are all stubborn, but especially "Rakko", a very notorious administrator, who blocked me. I took that step but they decided to continue block. Policies and guidelines of Japanese version are all translation of English version and so the policies and guidelines are not different from those of English version. I don't think that editing with a first account after editing with IP is prohibited, because it is not written. But they insist that it is sock puppet even in this case. I really appreciate if some advice are given to persuade Japanese stubborn administrators. --125.30.21.117 (talk) 12:11, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

To answer your question, it is NOT prohibited to contribute first as an IP user, and then as a registered user. However, I see a whole different story. You initially participated in the discussion on AIDS as an IP user. You then signed up for an account, and continued participating in the same discussion as a registered user. Some other participants asked you if the comments of the IP user belong to you, but you did not respond.

Under the policy of Japanese Wikipedia, editors are strongly encouraged to use single user account when participating in discussions. It is prohibited to manipulate multiple accounts to mislead discussions. Based on this policy, you are blocked for improper use of multiple accounts. Nevertheless, you counter argued that you did not violate the sock puppetry policy as IP user does not count as an account.

After observing series of your action, including but not limited to evading blockage by changing IPs and attempting to spread pernicious propaganda as you did on English Wikipedia, we have determined that we cannot afford your action any longer and imposed indefinite block.

You are always welcomed to start up a dialogue to request unblock as its procedures described above.--Tomo_suzuki ( talk ) 14:44, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That is not what it happened. You know I initially participated in the discussion as an IP user and signed up for an account and continued participating in the same discussion as a registered user because I responded so. Furthermore I did not make more than one account so I did not use multiple account. If I created second account, what is the name of that account? Furthermore I didn't edit with bad intention. It is totally what it happened. I used that procedures but they decided to continue my block. I feel I did nothing bad but I was brutally punished. --125.30.21.117 (talk) 15:59, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
it's easy. IP user(Anonymity account) is included in account. In order to understand especially the purpose of Wikipedia:Sock_puppetry.--Vigorous action (talk) 07:32, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
IP is not account. --125.30.21.117 (talk) 14:37, 9 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The fact that you don't see the concern here strengthens the rationale for your block in my opinion. If you edit a discussion as an IP and then continue editing the same discussion with an account, it appears that two people have your view rather than just you. It is fine to create an account, but you mustn't contribute to the same discussion with an account and with an IP without first declaring that you are the same person. Since I don't know the whole story, all I can tell you is that the most likely way for you to get unblocked is to declare the fact that you weren't fully aware of the policies and in the future you will only edit with that new account. Ryan Vesey Review me! 14:46, 9 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I said so and I read policies well, but they decided to continue blocking me. My account has been blocked for more than one year. Japanese administrators are strange people. --125.30.21.117 (talk) 08:26, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
In my understanding, you are claiming innocence based on your own belief that "IP is not an account" rather than admitting your mistakes. Whether or not you deliberately used multiple IPs and user IDs when contributing to the same discussion, you did in fact acted against our policy. I am afraid that your block will continue unless you stop putting the wrong slant on our policies. --Tomo_suzuki ( talk ) 09:44, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
IP is not account. This is not my personal belief. This is definition. There is a rule that editing with a second account after editing a first account is strictly restricted. There is a rule that editing with IP after editing a first account is sometimes restricted according to the purpose of user. However, the rule that editing as an IP and later creating an account and continue editing is prohibited is not written in Japanese guidelines as well as English guidelines. That rule is not written and that rule is only in administrators' brain. Administrators should not punish without law. --125.30.21.117 (talk) 11:05, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Please understand that we do not mean to "punish" you by blocking. As soon as you correctly understand our policy, your request for unblock will be reconsidered. Please also acknowledge the one simple fact that you joined the discussion as User:Gtyuio, then as 125.30.21.117, and then as 125.30.21.117. It wrongly appears that there are three users who have same opinions though there is one real, living you. You just ignored the warning about this and evaded the block. We had no other ways but to block you.--Tomo_suzuki ( talk ) 13:16, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
That is not true. You are telling a lie. --125.30.21.117 (talk) 18:59, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Short sections[edit]

Disregard
 – I feel I make problems out of things that are not really issues and not worth worrying about. I should be quiet until someone is actually going to complain about it. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlkctb) 23:58, 9 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

WP:BODY says "Very short or very long sections and subsections in an article look cluttered and inhibit the flow of the prose." How can I avoid having many short section, when I have a number of unrelated subtopics in an article. In the case at hand, there are many different published facts about the topic, but there is not so much to say about each fact such that a reasonably long section could be made. Of course I could just make a section such as Other facts about .... and throw in everything there, but I believe this looks even less appealing than a couple of very short sections. Any advice? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlkctb) 10:59, 7 June 2012 (UTC) [reply]

As an additional question, when is a section very short as used in WP:BODY? Is a section consisting of 2 phrases, together comprising around 30 to 40 words very short? -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlkctb) 15:55, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How does one enter a footnote?[edit]

There are a great many FAQs about footnotes. I can't locate the one that simply informs a new user how to footnote an entry, i.e., how to enter a number, and how to relate that number to the same number at the bottom of the entry. EdenGeneva (talk) 12:29, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Is there some specific point in Help:Footnotes or WP:Referencing for beginners which is causing you difficulty? - David Biddulph (talk) 12:35, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) You add footnotes by using ref tags. For example, if you want to to add a footnote saying This is an example footnote, you would add <ref>This is an example footnote</ref> at the place in the Wiki markup where you want the footnote (the small number) to appear. If you then place {{Reflist}} somewhere on the page, the footnotes will be shown there. The numbering of those footnotes will be generated automatically. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlkctb) 12:46, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
What Toshiro Yamaguchi wrote is true. However, footnotes are usually used to provide citations to sources. Wikipedia does not have a house citation style, so if you are editing an existing article, you will have to observe the system previous editors have adopted and follow the same system. If you cannot detect any system (which is unfortunately true of many articles) ask on the article's talk page. Jc3s5h (talk) 13:02, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I have added a properly formatted reference to your sandbox.[1] Note that the reference numbers are created automatically. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:10, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How do you change the title of a page?[edit]

For example from Tom Smith to Tom Smith, Jr.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.49.219.160 (talkcontribs)

See WP:MOVE but also note WP:NCPDAB.--ukexpat (talk) 13:57, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How can I give wikipedia permission to use my copyrighted picture?[edit]

I own a picture & want to put it on a wiki article.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.49.219.160 (talkcontribs)

See WP:Donating copyright materials.--ukexpat (talk) 13:54, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

'Jeroen Speak' proposed for deletion[edit]

Hello, a page I created has been scheduled for deletion, I have now added referneces, but unsure how to remove the {{prod}} tag that you mention, nor am I sure yet if the references have been deemed suitable. Many thanks in advance for your advice. Score555 (talk) 13:43, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

There's no {{BLPPROD}} tag on the article any longer, and the references provided are adequate to prevent it being re-added. (More, and better, refs would be good, though). If anyone wishes to propose this for deletion now, it will need to be discussed by the community at Articles for deletion. Yunshui  13:52, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

numerical ordering[edit]

I have a bulleted list that i would like to automatically sort into numerical order. Can anyone help me on how to do this? thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.39.176.12 (talk) 14:35, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The best way to do that is in a table, see WP:TABLE.--ukexpat (talk) 14:58, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Search finding previous title[edit]

Dear Wikipedia-Community,

an article was started with the name "Michael Holick" by somebody else a while ago. I expanded it a lot and referenced it etc. The person's name I was writing about is actually "Michael F. Holick", not "Michael Holick". "Michael F. Holick" is the name that's used in his publications etc and he has a son also named "Michael", so the "F." is important. So I redirected the article from "Michael Holick" to "Michael F. Holick". The problem is, that if you search for "holick", it still displays "Michael Holick" and not "Michael F. Holick" in the search list. Any ideas or anybody out there who knows how to solve that problem?

Thanks a lot,

best regards Matt

PS:

Michael F. Holick — Preceding unsigned comment added by Matthias3110 (talkcontribs) 14:39, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You moved the article only a few hours ago. The search engine will probably catch up in a few days.— Preceding unsigned comment added by David Biddulph (talkcontribs)
I have tagged it for deletion as too promotional - the whole thing reads like a cv, resume, or website profile.--ukexpat (talk) 15:02, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

HELP[edit]

IN TUNISIA SOMEONE TOLD ME ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH LINKEDIN WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT IT AS WE ARE MEMBERS ,WHAT DO WE DO. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.225.195.150 (talkcontribs) 16:42, 7 June 2012‎ (UTC+1)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. Yunshui  15:43, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Change your password. Please read LinkedIn.--Shantavira|feed me 16:19, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Cite Button[edit]

When you were editing, there used to be an extremely helpful "cite" button with "advanced", "special characters", and "help", but that disappeared suddenly. I found that the cite button made it much more useful to cite than having to type in all of the code. Is there any way to get it back? Brambleberry ChatWatch 16:24, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:REFTOOLS. You can enable the advanced toolbar via my preferences > editing > usability features and checking the box. The cite button - now a dropdown menu - appears at the extreme right of the editing toolbar. Karenjc 17:42, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, Karenjc! Brambleberry ChatWatch 22:24, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Just a BTW - is a signature allowed to contain an image file? Roger (talk) 07:44, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
No, Wikipedia:Signatures#Images forbids them and explains why. Someone has already mentioned this at User talk:Brambleberry of RiverClan. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:09, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

3RR[edit]

Hey guys. I've been trawling recent changes, reverting all kinds of vandalissm and got stuck in this. I've not {{subst:Uw-3rr}} on User talk:64.78.191.238, but I don't know how to go about further action. Thanks! 109.149.78.250 (talk) 16:55, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Look at the guidance at WP:DR RudolfRed (talk) 17:05, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Legal duties of a c.m.[edit]

what are the legal duties of a c.m if he knows some crime has happened? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.15.195.67 (talk) 17:47, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I am sorry, we cannot give legal advice.--ukexpat (talk) 18:06, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
And even if we were allowed to, we couldn't tell without knowing what part of the world you are talking about and what a c.m. might be. And in any case, this help desk is for questions about using and editing Wikipedia. --ColinFine (talk) 20:35, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Accidental Category Creation.[edit]

I've accidentally created a category, it appears that I was somehow able to create the category at a very high level.

Category:Larry Weir

I'm not sure how to proceed with having the category removed or moved. 009o9 (talk) 18:06, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I have added a {{db-g7}} to [[Category:Albums produced by Larry Weir]] for you. See Template:Db-g7 for more info. Rwessel (talk) 19:10, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Er, no. The problem (which 990o0 has already fixed) was in the name of the category, not its existence. They have already changed the 'Category' link in Teen Witch the Musical, and have therefore removed the db-g7 that you added. --ColinFine (talk) 20:34, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Vandals on the Wikipedia[edit]

Hello there. Is there a special page where I can find vandals and report them? Morgan Katarn (talk) 18:15, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You asked that yesterday, got an answer, and went there already. Did you forget?--Jac16888 Talk 18:22, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

No, I know that there is an admin noticeboard against vandalism but my question was how to find vandals so that I can find them and report them. Is there a special page?? Morgan Katarn (talk) 18:24, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Oh sorry I misread your question. You report them at AIV, and the only way to find vandals is to come across their edits, you could try monitoring Special:RecentChanges--Jac16888 Talk 18:31, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
There is more information and guidance at WP:HTSV and WP:R Van. Thank you for wanting to help. Karenjc 18:40, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Also, Twinkle RudolfRed (talk) 18:50, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I would suggest Lupin's Anti-vandal tool. You can add it to your javascript page and it filters recent changes for things that are likely to be vandalism. Ryan Vesey Review me! 19:37, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Ryan Vesey! I tried that but it is rather complicated. Can you please help me with that? What exactly do I have to do? Morgan Katarn (talk) 19:41, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
You've been here two days... I'd suggest you wait a little and get used to this place before getting stuck into Lupin's tool. Jac's suggestion about RecentChanges is a good one. Note you can filter it in different ways - have a play with its various settings. PS I love that you call it "the Wikipedia". It takes me back to my early days here. These days, the "the" seems to have become a thing of the past. --Dweller (talk) 19:50, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I don't find Lupin's tool to be an exceptionally powerful tool and it is often used before people get rollback rights, so I see no problem with using it. In order to use it Create Special:MyPage/Common.js and add the following script to the page. If you are on chrome just refresh the page, otherwise follow the instructions on top. Ryan Vesey Review me! 20:12, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
importScript('User:Lupin/recent2.js');

Thanks! I copied and pasted that link into your link what you said and you can check my contributions and see my book and please tell me if I did it right. Morgan Katarn (talk) 20:35, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry, the link I provided you was incorrect. "Common" should have been lowercase. It appears you did it correctly before that. If so, you should look on the left side of your screen in the toolbox. There should be a section that says "Filter recent changes". Click that. Ryan Vesey Review me! 20:40, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
See Category:Wikipedia_counter-vandalism tools. I like WP:Huggle. I see that quite a few others use WP:STiki. Wtmitchell (talk) (earlier Boracay Bill) 21:09, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Citing[edit]

I have a bunch of articles that I want to use as references for a Wiki page I am writing. The only problem is that these articles are saved to a cloud and I cannot get URL's for them. Please advise. Socialfactor (talk) 19:08, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

A URL is desired, but not necessary. For something to be included it has to be verifiable, but it doesn't need to be verifiable through the internet. I assume they are newspaper articles? Then I would suggest filling out {{Cite news}} with the information and without a URL. Ryan Vesey Review me! 19:34, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

M[edit]

How do I turn Mechanical pest control into a GA.--Deathlaser (talk) 20:32, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Start with WP:GA RudolfRed (talk) 22:01, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Deathlaser. This is a hard question to answer because there are many things that need to come together before an article is ready for good article (or featured) consideration. Have you looked at the good article criteria? Some things you can do relatively easily and others are not so easy. Obviously, the article needs to be well written, engaging, substantially free of spelling and grammatical errors and many people can't do this. Likewise, the articles needs to be fairly broad in its coverage of all aspects of the topic and only some have the ability to organize and gather the salient material (and discard the material that does not belong or limit it based on an assigment of weight to it) to make this a reality. But most people even if with some effort, can learn how to make an article comply with various aspects of the manual of style and make other edits. You can try to find free pictures to add. You can make the lead of the article compliant (right now it does not summarize the rest if the article); you can expand the existing citations to provide proper attribution (they currently do not provide nearly enough information). You can make sure all of the sources are reliable ones, and replace with better ones if they are not. And of course, you need to start searching for more sources to add material and cite to. I recommend starting with a Google Books search and simply opening up links you find, reading the material to learn about the subject for expansion and adding nuggets of information as your find them, carefully citing to the source for each one you find (but never copying ther words used). I'm sorry if this is a bit sprawling but the general nature of your question invited that. After the article is well along, you can request a copyedit--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:36, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Subject of new article has the same name as subject of an existing article[edit]

I want to write an article about a trail runner called Daniel Rowland, but if you search for "Daniel Rowland", an article about an 18th century Welsh Calvanist comes up. How do I create an article of the same name, but it's a different person? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Walkerwriter (talkcontribs) 21:32, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps Daniel Rowland (athlete)? Jarkeld.alt (Talk) 21:36, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Good solution. It's usual to add headers at the beginnings of the two (or more) articles involved to guide the reader to the "other" article if they've not found the one they expected (so, for instance, Daniel Rowland might have a header reading something along the lines of "This article refers to the Welsh Calvinist minister: for the trail runner see Daniel Rowland (athlete)"). There's a set of guidelines at WP:DAB for how to go about all this, including how to create a disambiguation page, of which Phil Vickery is a completely random example to show what a disambiguation page, or "dab page" looks like. Tonywalton Talk 21:55, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
See WP:HATNOTE for how to do what Tonywalton suggested. --ColinFine (talk) 22:31, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
One doesn't generally need to create a dab page when there are only two articles for people with the same name (and one is titled with the bare name). A hatnote suffices. Deor (talk) 22:39, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sock puppet template not working properly[edit]

{{Uw-agf-sock}}

I tried to add the template to to a Talk page with both the article and additional text specified. It didn't expand either. I then added it with just the article and put the additional text outside the template here. Still doesn't expand the article.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:23, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That looks more like a bug in the documentation than a bug in the template. The template source seems not to take any parameters at all. The template appears not to be intended to refer to any specific edits at all; what are you actually trying to say? Tonywalton Talk 22:42, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I was going to refer to the article that evidenced the possible sock puppetry, and I was going to add the text I added outside the template inside the template.--Bbb23 (talk) 22:56, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I have edited the template [2] to make the documentation show there are no parameters. If somebody wants to add code for parameters then go ahead. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:12, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 23:39, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. The last time I tried to edit a template all springs came out the back, so I left this strictly alone! Tonywalton Talk 23:54, 7 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]