Wikipedia:New contributors' help page/Archive/Feb 2007

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

OutLook Skateboards[edit]

I am the owner of OutLook Skateboards and we have been online for over 7 years. We are all over the net as well as my name is. I was wondering what I need to do to get my name/company on Wikipedia?

OutLook Skateboards LLC Vince Hamilton / Owner Po Box 33 Battery Park, VA 23304 [email protected]§ —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.80.3.248 (talk) 10:45, 1 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Hi there! Wikipedia is not a company or website directory, in order for a company or website to have an article on Wikipedia it needs to be notable, for more details on these criteria, see Wikipedia:Notability (companies and corporations) and Wikipedia:Notability (web). In general, you are strongly discouraged to write about yourself or your company, the way it works is if you or your company are notable enough, someone else will write an article about you. Please remember that Wikipedia is not an advertising service, and that articles should be written from a neutral point of view.
I hope this answers your question. — QuantumEleven 11:26, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
And please read our rules regarding Conflict of interest. -- John Broughton (☎☎) 02:45, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Citing References that are not available online.[edit]

I wish to add a technical reference to an article. I have this material (it's from Standards Australia) as printed matter but it's not available online (as least not for free). Am I able to use this as a reference even though I cannot link to it?

http://www.saiglobal.com/shop/script/Details.asp?DocN=AS242359480475

Thanks in advance, Anthrass 12:23, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As long as your information is from a reliable source, that's fine. It doesn't need to be online. You should still cite it, though. —PurpleRAIN 16:19, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, you pretty much need to use WP:CITE (see also WP:FOOT) when you have an offline reference. For online references, although using a cite isn't mandatory, it's still highly desirable - it's not mandatory because other editors can check the source, and because (hopefully) some other editor will (later) convert it from an embedded link to a cite. But with an offline source, anything less than full cite info is going to be highly problematical. -- John Broughton (☎☎) 02:43, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

two novels, two articles, one name[edit]

Collier7344 14:44, 1 February 2007 (UTC)I've looked through the faqs, but can't seem to find the specific advice I need. I wish to contribute an article about a novel. There already exists an article about a different novel with the same title. What should I use as the link? If it helps, the novel is a part of a series. Could I use the series name as part of the link name?[reply]

Please see Wikipedia:Disambiguation. What is the name of the novel? — Lost(talk) 14:46, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Collier7344 21:46, 1 February 2007 (UTC)The name is Amsterdam. I had a look at disambiguation. The only idea I could come up with is a double disambiguation, calving off novels named Amsterdam.[reply]

My suggestion would be to move Amsterdam (novel) to Amsterdam (Ian McEwan novel), and then make your new page Amsterdam (XYZ novel) where XYZ is the name of the author. Amsterdam (novel) would become a disambiguation page between the two novels, and Amsterdam (disambiguation) would need to be updated to link directly to both of the novels (not to Amsterdam (novel)). There might be other ways of distinguishing between them as well, such as Fantasy novel or Historical novel, etc. Find the one that seems most appropriate. —PurpleRAIN 21:58, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yep, PurpleRain is right. It's general guidelines to clarify by author name. If you'd like more information, Wikipedia:Naming_conventions_(books)#Standard_disambiguation talks about it more in detail. Feel free to let us know if you need any help. -- Natalya 22:05, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You can look at Fear Itself for an example of two novels with the same title: Fear Itself (Doctor Who) and Fear Itself (Batman novel), although the naming convention chosen here doesn't appear to be terribly consistent. —PurpleRAIN 22:06, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • I think that choice was made because the series the book was a part of were better known than the authors in that case. - Mgm|(talk) 09:05, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The page I wrote disappearred[edit]

I have just written a new page, Solidarity (South Africa), my first contribution. When I tried to paste an external link at the end of the article, the page disappeared and I was redirected to the tutorial page.

Needless to say, i particularly feel inclined to rewrite the article.Leischa 14:52, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Had you clicked the Save button after writing the article? If not, then it never made it into the Wikipedia database. My guess is that when you were pasting in the link, you accidentally hit the wrong key, and directed your browser to go back a page instead. If that's the case, then there's really no choice but to re-type the article (assuming that you've visited another page since then, and can no longer click the forward arrow to get back to the page you were on). If you're writing a very long article, it might be worthwhile to click Save periodically, and then go back and edit the article to add more. That way you can be sure that the article is being saved. —PurpleRAIN 16:30, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You could try to go into the history of your browser, and hope that a page with your text is saved there. OlavN 09:07, 5 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps you pressed the backspace key by mistake. When you are not in a textfield, the backspace key has the [un-helpful] function of going back a page. Nol888(Talk)(Review me please) 23:19, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

For some strange reason, whenever I use a skin other than Windows XP, the text in Wikipedia articles keeps shifting up and down. Any particular reason for this? Zeratul En Taro Adun!So be it. 22:47, 1 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That's strange - what browser are you using? Posting at the technical Village Pump might also be a good idea, that's where you'll find all the super-experts on the fine points of Wikipedia software. — QuantumEleven 09:07, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
fx owns. It's really weird, only happens on some pages but it doesn't seem to have any cause. It doesn't happen on IE, but IE sucks :D Zeratul En Taro Adun!So be it. 18:08, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Stardock has a knowledge base article on this. To fix it, add a bookmark to your bookmark bar. Removing the bar altogether or moving it somewhere else may also work. (Right click a blank space on the menu or navigation bar, and uncheck Bookmarks Toolbar or click Customize to move it). -- Consumed Crustacean (talk) 18:20, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you :D Zeratul En Taro Adun!So be it. 21:22, 2 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You might consider using Wikipedia as your bookmark :D 68.4.3.209 00:28, 20 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Is there any special protocl for linking to other pages?[edit]

I am new here, and am working on an article about a Buddhist organization that is mainly based in the US and Canada. I wanted to link my article to the Buddhism in United States and Buddhism in Canada pages, and I was wondering if I had to get permission first. Also, what is the protocol for getting other pages to link back to your article? Thanks for the help. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Amaranthxx (talkcontribs) 23:49, 2 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

No you don't have to have permission to wikify an article before you do you may want to read Wikipedia:Manual of Style (links) and Wikipedia:Only make links that are relevant to the context and if the article your linking to has mention of the first article you can always link it back. Also please remember to sign your posts by adding ~~~~ to the end of your comment.— WilsBadKarma (Talk) 00:03, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Starting again with a fresh article submission[edit]

Hello,

1. In the French Wikipedia I recently created an article that is linked as a stub to another article. This article is in English. I have created the same article in the English Wikipedia. I wish to have the first article in the French Wikipedia deleted. How do I go about this?

2. In the aforementioned article, I submitted an image and attached the appropriate licensing message in the associated text field. However, the licensing message only appears to those who have logged in to Wikipedia. When someone is not logged in and clicks on the picture, a box appears that warns that, if the appropriate licensing is not declared within 7 days, the image will be deleted. How can I make the my appended licensing message appear to all users logged in or not? --3hierx 00:34, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Each language Wikipedia has different rules (and even different logins). I think you should ask both questions at the French Wikipedia, not here - sorry. -- John Broughton (☎☎) 01:51, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I would suggest that you leave the stub in the French Wikipedia. Perhaps other French speakers will find the article useful and develop it further. - cgilbert(talk|contribs) 02:24, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

G.K.[edit]

Who has won by the highest margin of votes in any kind of election in India & World so far & by how much & from which constituency? Which website can give me these information ?59.93.245.37 03:00, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I recommend that you ask at the Humanities Reference Desk. This page is more for Wikipedia-related questions. SubSeven 05:07, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

finding contributions[edit]

I contributed several edits but can't find them. Why? What can be done? R. Mirman 06:20, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Here's the list of your contributions [1]Lost(talk) 06:45, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a new page[edit]

How do you create a page?Loserhead509

See Help:Starting a new page. Also have a look at WP:VFAQLost(talk) 07:20, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

regarding hydrodynamics................[edit]

Sir, I want to ask a question:-

If a fluid kept in a beaker with its mouth closed, if it is moved up and down in a rapid motion, bubbles will form in liquid. I want to ask that whether there be any change in physical or chemical properties of the fluid present in the beaker. regards, sachin. ([email protected]) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 221.135.221.23 (talk) 12:37, 3 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

You should probably ask this question in here. I removed your e-mail address to prevent it from being a target of spammers. -- Anas Talk? 15:03, 3 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Susan B. Anthony[edit]

Hi, my name is Amanda. I am enrolled at my local college and in my speech class we have to write about a specific speech. I picked out the one by Susan B. Anthony but I cant seem to find the date of this publication. If you could help me, I would highly appreciate it. Thanks 05:27, 4 February 2007 (UTC)~~

Have you seen the external links section at Susan B. Anthony? Is the speech not available there? If not, then I'd suggest you ask either at the talk page of the article or at reference deskLost(talk) 11:38, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why can't I list my website if "x" added one?[edit]

Hello.

I'm very new to wikipedia, and I've already made a mistake and got a message about it.

I saw a few fansites listed on some of the pages, and since my website is based on the same television characters/shows, I thought I could add my site's URL. I did so on three pages with the editing tool, and today I found my links deleted and I also recieved a message from someone who told me that I can't add a personal site. I'd added my site to what I gather is his or her wikipedia site section that features one of the shows I have featured on my website. My site link has been removed from all three areas that I posted to.

I'm very confused because I know of two people who have their site's listed on one of the very same wikipedia pages that I added mine to. One of the site's listed is most definitely a fansite. It has photos, fan fiction, and a forum. I have the same on my site, but mine can't be listed. Why? How in the world is it okay for them, but not for me?

I wanted to get in touch with the perosn who sent the message, and apologize to them, but I couldn't find any way to do so.

My intent is not to offend anyone. I orginally signed up to wikipedia in case I find or already have helpful information to add. But when I saw the website listings in the external sections of pages, I thought it would be fine for me to add my own, since editing does allow such action.

I don't even know if I'm sending this message to the right place. [sigh]

Again, I have no intent to offend with anything I've done or may do. I'm slowly learning my way around.


To all affected by this - Please accept my apologies for such a blunder.


Thank you for your time and help.


Sincerly,

Lamcapri

Lamcapri 10:30, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hello and welcome to Wikipedia. There are some guidelines available about adding external links at WP:EL. However in spirit, the question that needs to be asked is whether the external link being added is adding any value to the article at wikipedia? If it is, then the site should be listed at the article. If however, one can simply take the additional information from the site and add it to the article, then there is not much point in adding the site. If the other sites are not adding value, please feel free to remove them as well. However dont just do it to make a WP:POINT. That would be in bad taste.
Have I managed to answer you? You are at the right place to ask this and can always ask more questions here or at my talk page. — Lost(talk) 11:36, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What's the right way to edit the page about my company and my own bio[edit]

I'd like to correct some errors both in the pages on craigslist and myself.

Jimmy asked me to ask here regarding protocol, so ... is it right for me to edit those pages, or what would you suggest?

Thanks!

Craig [email protected] Cnewmark 19:45, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You should read Wikipedia:Conflict of interest for detailed recommendations. If I were going to do this, I would make a statement on my user page about my connection to the articles I planned to edit, and that I would only be editing to improve accuracy. The only edits I would make would be ones that had ironclad, independent reliable sources, so the change could be evaluated for its sourcing, not its editor. If I wanted to argue for a change less well sourced, I'd make my best argument on the talk page, disclosing there as well what my involvement is, and asking for independent assistance. Always avoid deleting sourced information detrimental to the subject, as that can get you blocked for COI. If you believe it's unfair, bring it up on the talk page. Polite requests will generally be taken much better than angry complaints. That's my 2 cents. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 20:06, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Note that this can be pretty confusing, especially if an article has a statement that you know is wrong, but it has a reliable reference (say, it states your birthday is on a determined date citing an article from New York Times or CNN, but you know it is wrong). In this case, people may ask you a reliable source for your birthday (yes, verifiability is taken pretty seriously in determined articles). And even some people may consider you are doing original research, and remove your annotations! So, if that ever happens, try to converse in the article talk pages, most times consensus is reached fairly easily if they are "trivial" corrections (editors do not really like people removing correctly referenced information, even by the subject of the article itself, so you will have to explain, listen to suggestions, and try to ask for guidance). -- ReyBrujo 20:16, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Also, make sure you state in the talk page of articles you want to/have edit (and that are connected to you or your business) who you are, to prevent misunderstandings. I agree with Jeff Q that you should edit your user page at User:Cnewmark and put information about who you are and your connections, to prevent anyone from thinking you are doing sneaky edits. -- ReyBrujo 20:09, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, and one other thing: it will always be an uphill battle, and generally not a good idea to edit your own subjects, so be prepared for neutral editors to still reject your changes, preferring less involved editors to work on them. Wikipedia has had some rather public battles with conflict of interest, so many folks try to err on the side of rejecting edits from people too close to the subject. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 20:12, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, much appreciated! I've noted on both pages that I intend only to fix stuff, and add external links. I'll try to restrain my sense of humor. Cnewmark 21:39, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Attacked by a Deleter![edit]

I recently saw on my user discussion page that someone had speedily deleted the article I had submitted (on Ormus matter) - because another article on the same subject (unimpressive stuff) had been criticized by 9 skeptics and then withdrawn by the writer.

The deleter's page had no administrator mark, so can he just go around deleting topics he is skeptic to?

On his discusssion page he seemed to be working as an administrator (and evidently helping several users). I asked him there for an undelete, and he told me to apply for an undelete of what that other guy had written!

He also told me how to rephrase definitions for various topics. A valid objection - but it assumes the existence of text that can be changed - the basis for wiki-style cooperation.

As the history of my article is unimportant: Is it ok for me to (solidify my definitions and) simply resubmit it? OlavN 09:30, 5 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It is not a good idea to simply resubmit it, you could instead follow the procedure at Wikipedia:Deletion review (for Ormus matter), where a discussion will take place. But, a science article like this should be based on peer-reviewed journal articles, see Wikipedia:Reliable sources.--Commander Keane 23:20, 5 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

undelete an article[edit]

I wanted to add an article about myself - David Winters (musician), there was another David Winters (a scottish footballer) already listed. I thought by editing I could submit a new article, and may have unintentionally deleted his article. Can there be only one article per title - in this case a person's name? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by David Winters (talkcontribs) 18:47, 6 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Welcome to Wikipedia! This is quite common actually, and you can learn how to handle this by looking at disambiguation, but you're halfway there with "David Winter (musician)" and "David Winters (footballer)". I've reverted the article that you overwrote to the previous state. However, since, as you stated, you are writing an article about yourself, you probably shouldn't start that article. Please read WP:AUTO and WP:COI and also WP:NPOV. You are welcome to put that information onto your userpage at User:David Winters until someone writes that article though. --MECUtalk 19:43, 6 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • But remember, a userpage isn't a free advertising space. If you create a bio there without occasionally editing Wikipedia it is likely to get deleted. - Mgm|(talk) 10:20, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

customizing wiki[edit]

How to insert a categories accordion widget into left navigation? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 125.16.150.4 (talk) 04:39, 7 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

When I get signed into my Intranet portal, how do I get signed into my wiki? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 125.16.150.4 (talk) 04:42, 7 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

It sounds like both of these questions are about customizing the MediaWiki software. This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. If you're asking about how to use the software, you're probably better off asking at the MediaWiki support desk. If I misunderstood, and your questions are about using Wikipedia, please restate them with a little more detail so we understand what you need. —PurpleRAIN 15:19, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do you add a contribution?[edit]

I'd like to know how to add a brand new contribution to the wiki. Not editing a pre-existing entry, but creating the entry from scratch? How would i do that? Thank you in advance. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mmdesign (talkcontribs) 16:57, 7 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Help:Starting a new page -FisherQueen (Talk) 16:59, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia:Your first article might help as well. You might also want to look Wikipedia:Very Frequently Asked Questions, which answers this and other questions you might have. —PurpleRAIN 17:33, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do I delete a user?[edit]

I created User:Acountant as I didn't know I could change my username but changed my mind on changing my username and will keep the current user. How do I delete this anomaly account User:Acountant? Lord Metroid 20:45, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Never mind Lord Metroid 20:47, 7 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Help this neophyte translate/edit[edit]

I began a translation as a response to a proper 'request for translations' - then discovered there already exists an english version - it's just not as good.
I feel comfortable supplementing the english version with bits from the french but don't feel comfortable cutting out what's already on the english version page. any guidelines?
please reply on mytalk page Liloleme 00:08, 8 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ok, I replied on his talk page. Dåvid Fuchs (talk / frog blast the vent core!) 00:50, 8 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Addition of a Railroad Museum[edit]

I am impressed with your list of railroad museums. I would like to submit the Gold Coast Railroad Museum located in Miami, Fl as an additional railroad musuem. I do not really know how to add a museum, so please forward me information that will allow my staff to put our museum on your list with the brief description.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you,

Linda Lavalais

(personal information removed; answers are given on this page)

The preceding unsigned comment was added by Goldcoastrailroad (talkcontribs) 17:33, 8 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

You can create a new article on Wikipedia yourself; see the Introduction and Tutorial if you haven't already, and then specific information about when to create a new article and how to create a new article. Note that all articles have to be written in a neutral manner; this can be quite hard to do if you're the subject of the article or affilated with the subject (see the conflict of interest guidelines). Note also that articles require sources external to their subjects; for instance, you'll need to find some newspaper reports, or possibly academic papers, referring to the museum; this is to prove that the article is verifiable (otherwise we have no way of knowing it's true) and notable. Hope that helps! --ais523 18:02, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

longest living kidney transplant recipiant[edit]

Hi , I was brousing and saw you have listed the longest kidney transplant rec. being at 28 years,my mother had the procedure done 6-1976 & is still alive and well. I dont know if you would contact me or not. E-mail address is email address commented out Thanks Scott —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.173.60.115 (talk) 23:59, 8 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

We can only add documented information to Wikipedia. If you have a news article or other documentation stating that your mother has lived longer than 28 years with a transplanted kidney, then please include that information in the article, or mention it on the article's talk page. If the information isn't documented, then unfortunately it can't be used here. —PurpleRAIN 21:18, 9 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How to prevent an article from being deleted[edit]

Hi,

I had posted an biography about Digital Media Network (Digital Media Network was also the title) a global company that was founded 12 years ago. After posting the company profile it shown that it will be deleted because it was written as advertisement. Therefore we had analyzed some of our competitors such as Cisco and HP and did have out PR department rewrite this to fit the way these company's have formulate there biography. Still it was deleted again. Are only public company's allowed to post content about them and private owned company's are discriminated against. We do not understand what was spam on the second posting and if it is considered spam why are Cisco and HP allowed to post they biography?

Out intent is not to spam in any way but to provide users with information about the company and its high class management team.

What did we do wrong and how would we have to go about to get our official biography on to the site?

Best wishes, Thomas Thomanji 20:38, 9 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Thomanji. Wikipedia has a lot of policies on what content is acceptable and how it should be added. You might want to start by looking at Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion. This should help you understand what the reason was for your article to be deleted.
There is also the Wikipedia:Conflict of interest guideline, that says that it is very difficult for someone closely connected to a company to write a neutral article, which is required by the Wikipedia:Neutral point of view policy. Also, all subjects must be notable, and referenced by reliable sources.
What is often recommended is that you wait for someone else to write the article about your company. If the company is notable enough, that will eventually happen. You can also discuss the deletions at Wikipedia:Deletion review.
I hope that helps. Please let me know if there are further questions. —PurpleRAIN 21:00, 9 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Also, regarding your question why are Cisco and HP allowed to post they biography, the answer is that they also are not allowed to do so. If you look at the history tab of the articles on those two companies, I'm sure that you will find dozens, if not hundreds of editors have edited the articles over time. Wikipedia has never authorized any company or organization to write "their" own article, and in fact has a policy that no one owns any article here. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 22:38, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Image Deletion[edit]

Is it possible for me to delete images that I have uploaded to Wikipedia? If so, how? --Emote 06:48, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you add the {{db-author}} tag to the image, an administrator will come along and delete it. (Only administrators can actually delete the images). -- Natalya 17:20, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Please check my first article[edit]

Ok, I did my first article, please check it out. If you find any grammatical errors please correct them, as I'm not a native english speaker. Also if you have anything to recommend, comment so I can learn better. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by VoivodMacedonia (talkcontribs) 12:37, 10 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Not to discourage anyone here from doing so, but Wikipedia:Requests for feedback is the standard place (backlogged, unfortunately, at the moment) where editors can get feedback on new (or majorly improved) articles. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 22:43, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Vandals[edit]

How can i find and revert Vandles quicker? --Thunderinfo2 18:24, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Besides using popups, you could apply to get Vandal Proof or check out the other a-v desktop apps. Dåvid Fuchs (talk / frog blast the vent core!) 18:39, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
See Wikipedia:Cleaning up vandalism, you will find there a lot of helpful information. Jacek Kendysz 19:20, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

how do you...[edit]

hey...can you add like a person's name or soemthing like that to the website and write about aht person? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DJthekid190 (talkcontribs) 19:32, 10 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Hello! The person must be notable (the notability guideline for persons is here). See if this subject is notable, if not the article will be deleted quickly. Good luck! -- ReyBrujo 22:25, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, the real question is not whether you can write an article, but whether you should. You also must have reliable sources, the article must be written from a neutral point of view, and there must be no conflict of interest.
If the article you want to write meets all those criteria, then see Help:Creating a page and Wikipedia:Your first article for more information on starting the article. —PurpleRAIN 22:27, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, technically you can. However, you should not add an article about something that doesn't meet Wikipedia's criteria for notability - and, specifically, for individuals, this policy. If you do write an article about a non-notable person, you're wasting your time, because it's likely to be nominated for deletion and subsequently removed, as are more than 2000 articles each day (compared to about twice that number added each day). And you're wasting the time of other editors who look at new articles to see whether they are suitable for Wikipedia.
Here's something else to read that might answer your question: Wikipedia:list of bad article ideas, and Wikipedia:Your first article. And welcome to Wikipedia, by the way; we hope you'll find it a place where you can be a contributor. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 22:32, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting Article Content[edit]

Hi, I would like some advice about Hill and Plain RECON. It seems to me that most of this article(i.e. the detailed and personal descriptions of every member of staff) is useless. Is it OK to truncate this article into a stub? JPilborough 22:01, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If you consider that information is unnecessary, you can do so. Try to discuss in the article talk page before, to prevent people thinking you are blanking the article. From what I see, yes, most information is unnecessary and, in fact, the article may be deleted due lack of notability. If you have any question about personal information suitability, ask at Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard. In the meantime, I will propose its deletion. -- ReyBrujo 22:16, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, the deletion was already proposed, so I will just request a deletion discussion. -- ReyBrujo 22:17, 10 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Part of article disappears[edit]

Hi, I am writing an article in my "/draft1". Only the first half of the entered article displays on preview or when I save the page. The last character displayed on the incomplete saved page or preview is 'square'. Any ideas on where I have gone wrong?

Please reply to my user page Thanks! Axiosaurus 15:52, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Responded at User talk:Axiosaurus. Tra (Talk) 16:05, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Where is the list of banned topics?[edit]

I have written two articles here (on Ormus matter and PESWiki), and both were speedily deleted by someone who evidently didn't like the topics. (The last time I didn't even get a message about it, and don't know where the text is.) It seems Wikipedia isn't the place for people who do constructive work. At least there should be a list of banned topics, so that people don't write articles in vain. Is flagging for deletion only used by a decent minority of the admins? OlavN 09:30, 12 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ormus matter was deleted because there was previously consensus to delete ORMUS; see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/ORMUS. Likewise, there was previously quite a large debate (Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/PESWiki) where it was decided that an older article about PESWiki should be deleted. You may have been just unlucky in writing articles about things that were deleted in the past. (One thing you can do is to open the 'deletion log' link mentioned on the new-article screen before writing the article, to make sure it hasn't been deleted earlier; however, this would only have helped in one of the cases (PESWiki), as you used a slightly different name for the article about Ormus matter.) If you believe that for some reason the original result is not applicable to the new article (for instance, if the article is actually about something different), you could try taking the matter to deletion review. Hope that helps! --ais523 09:39, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
(edit conflict; echoing what ais523 mentioned) You'll find the relevant discussions here:
Please note that the articles weren't speedy deleted, but nominated at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion, where you'll find more information regarding the process and steps involved.
You can find the relevant AfD entries by looking at the deleted pages' deletion logs. The easiest way to get there (as far as I know), is to visit the deleted article as you normally would, which would bring you to an edit page, as if creating the article anew. In this case, clicking on the redlinks above will take you to that edit page. On that page, you'll find noted:

If a page was recently created here, it may not yet be visible because of a delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes and try the purge function. If a page previously existed at this exact title, check the deletion log and see Why was my page deleted?.

The text "deletion log" will be a link which will take you to deletion logs showing the relevant AfD entry for the page in question.
Articles can be listed at AfD by any Wikipedians, following the procedure at AfD. Hope this helps. —XhantarTalk 10:07, 12 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Note that the articles that you wrote and that were deleted were not the ones originally AfD'd, but according to speedy deletion criterion G4 if an article is deleted at AfD, a recreated version that doesn't address the original problems can be deleted speedily. --ais523 10:10, 12 February 2007 (UTC)
You can search Wikipedia including deletion discussions. For example: First enter Ormus in the normal search box and click "Search" (not "Go"). Then click the box at the bottom of the page saying "Wikipedia", and the search button at the bottom. That produces this search which includes Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/ORMUS. Searching PESWiki gives both Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/PESwiki and Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/PESWiki (capital W). PrimeHunter 14:59, 12 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I wonder if anybody notices this here, but I'll try: I really miss the text I wrote for the article PESwiki. Is it possible to retrieve it? OlavN (talk) 08:44, 28 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Lunartics[edit]

Dear Wikipedians...

Hello...

I am trying a add an article about my new project Lunartics, but Wikipedia appears to want to delete and can't understand why and don't know how to ask anyone...

I already have a feature under "Danny Flynn" regarding my 23 career as a reasonably well known S F and fantasy artist www.dannyflynn.com

Lunartics is about to be a widely seen project, for children of all ages

Any help or advice would be warmly appreciated as obviously don't wish to be doing any wrong

yours Danny Flynn

(email removed to protect you from spam)

The article was deleted because its subject was considered to be not yet sufficiently notable; you may want to read the deletion discussion. Generally speaking, there should be press coverage independent of the subject itself, ot other sources (such as academic journals) not connected to the original subject, for something to be considered notable (otherwise, there's no reliable way to verify that the information is true using an independent souce, which is important to help keep it neutral). There was also a worry that the page might be self-promotion. You might want to read Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted? for more information. --ais523 09:03, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

electric harmonicas[edit]

Hi Guys,

There has been an interesting development to the harmonica in the first electric and now wireless instrument. Look at www.harmonix-harmonica.co.uk where you can see pics of the new harmonica. It is modular and has a cartridge system for changing key.

Regards Richard Smith Inventor. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 195.8.184.56 (talk) 11:17, 12 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Wikipedia doesn't generally report things like this until there is significant discussion in independent sources; for instance, newspaper reports, academic papers, or something like that. If you have the sources, you can add them to the article yourself (or place them here if you need more guidance). See Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:No original research for more information. --ais523 11:20, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Removing italics[edit]

How specifically can I remove the itlaics from the third paragraph of my article on Ailes Gilmour---- —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Gladiolii2 (talkcontribs) 00:23, 13 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

In the third paragraph is the wikitext ''Beauty's a Flower". '' starts the italics, but then the quote character was used - so the italics stay open. I have fixed the problem in Ailes Gilmour.--Commander Keane 01:35, 13 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What is the problem with the article about Marcus Tullius Cicero?[edit]

Hello!

I have for over a month tried my best to edit the article about Marcus Tullius Cicero. In December 2006, when I started to work on it, the article was rated an A page, although some editors wondered on the discussion page, how an article with so few references could be rated A.

I added some new material (with references) and corrected some wrong edits, maybe vandalism, like: "As everyone knows, Cicero was a homosexual etc.". I also tried to whip up some discussion on the discussion page. Yet, in January 2007, the page was rerated into a B article, much to my chagrin and worry.

Please, could anyone visit that site and tell me frankly what you think are its good and weak points! What should be augmented and what removed? Should it be broken into two articles or not? (I have suggested this breaking up, but I am not so certain that it is the best policy.)

What worries me also, that it seems to be the favourite place for persons who have no account, who work unsigned, and who often have very little knowledge about Cicero, to come and change, - for instance: "during the first century BC" to "during the second century BC" (the latter being plain wrong and skewing the whole article). I am feeling that my work on Cicero is useless, as it will be messed up nevertheless in a few days anyway.

Any suggestions? -- Tellervo 11:54, 14 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ratings are very dynamic. The most sacred of them is "featured article". That is what you must aim for. A and B are ratings given by certain wikiprojects. You may ask at the talk page of the article or of the wikiproject why an article was rated in a particular way. If you want some review on the article, Wikipedia:Peer review is the place to go. Any dubious claims need to be backed by references and it needs to be clarified to the anonymous contributors as well — Lost(talk) 04:32, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

the use of content[edit]

I am curently undertaking a first diploma for ict prcatitoners and would just like to ask for the use of your text about the televisions show lost for my website design modual. i would like to use some of the text in your artical and as the college policy would like to request for the use of the content of the text. because i would like to add the text onto my website about lost

as a good will guesture i will add a link to the wikipedia site and clearly state where the use of the informaton has orginally come from

please would you write back about this matter

my email addresse is adampotter123 at hotmail dot com

your responce will be much appresiated thank alot

adam potter —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.105.24.210 (talkcontribs)

BY default most wikipedia text is released under the GDFL. For info on citing Wikipedia as a source, see WP:CW. Dåvid Fuchs (talk / frog blast the vent core!) 17:58, 14 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Policy on linking/referencing commercial sites.[edit]

As evidence for the common use of a colloquialism, I would like to reference an on-line store. Apart from obtaining permission from the site itself to ensure copyright compliance, is there any policy I should be aware of in relation to this matter?

For reference, the wikipedia entry is Lysdexia, and the commercial site is [www.cafepress.com/smilemakers/554151 specific Cafe Press store].

JohnOAS 02:17, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'm very impressed that you asked this question! You're quite right that there is a relevant policy: it's WP:EL. The policy writes, under WP:EL#Links normally to be avoided, that we should avoid "[l]inks to sites that primarily exist to sell products or services." So unfortunately, I think this link would fall under the "to be avoided" category. If you can, I'd suggest finding mentions in news or other published sources per Wikipedia's guideline on reliable sources; only these reliable sources can be used as sufficient referencing for an article anyway (i.e., since this website doesn't count as a reliable source, it won't work as a reference anyway). If you can't find mentions in published sources, the article may not meet notability and verifiability criteria for an article :( You can also check WP:NEO to determine whether the article meets standards there. Let me know on my talk page if you have any questions or want to discuss anything. Thanks for checking before adding this, I can tell you're working to improve the encyclopedia and trying to do the right thing. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news! Let me know if I can be of any help. delldot | talk 03:40, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Moving information from one section (References) to another (___ in the Media), adding citation.[edit]

I added minor information to the entry on the Marquis de Lafayette. The addition should have appeared in the section entitled "La Fayette in the Media," but instead showed up in the "References" section. How do I move it to the correct section?

Additionally, in the box that requires an explanation of the edit, I cited the IMDB.com as my reference source. I don't know if that's enough to verify my information is correct, or if I have to add a citation (none of the other entries in the correct section have a citation).

I would appreciate any help you can offer. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by DSJH (talkcontribs) 07:38, 15 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

Hello & welcome! What happened is that you clicked the edit link for the "References" section rather than the one on "La Fayette in the media"— the links appear right next to the section headers at the top of each section. To fix it, the easiest thing to do is to click the "edit this page" tab at the top of the page, then cut and paste the material to where you want it to be. As for a citation, having it in the edit summary is insufficient, a person reading the article doesn't see the edit summaries. Additions to articles should be referenced from a reliable source per Wikipedia:Verifiability. To learn how to include citations you can read Wikipedia:Citing sources. Hope this helps you out. Best wishes and have a great day! —Elipongo (Talk|contribs) 08:24, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Marking text in the edit box[edit]

All of a sudden a new function that let user highlight text in the edit box makes the text show as in the article like a preview. It is highly annoying, can I turn it off? Lord Metroid 17:54, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, It's from popups. Add the line popupOnEditSelection=false; to your monobook.js to turn it off. Tra (Talk) 21:27, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, really appreciate it. Lord Metroid 09:52, 16 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

wrapping text[edit]

Hi I just inserted a rather large photo onto the Paul Klebnikov entry. It looks way out of wack now because everything is vertically stacked and it's way too long. How can I bring the text up tight around the photo? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 151.204.150.135 (talk) 19:51, 15 February 2007 (UTC).[reply]

I have fixed the picture for you, go to the article and see what I did. You can read Wikipedia:Images to learn more about using images in articles. I did notice that the image you uploaded has a website "watermark" imprinted on it and you also didn't leave a copyright rational on the image description page. Right now it looks like it may be a copyright violation and may be subject to speedy deletion because of this. Hope this helps you, best wishes and have a great day. —Elipongo (Talk|contribs) 20:42, 15 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Name changes[edit]

How do I change the name of an article I've written?

S. M. Sullivan 04:51, 16 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

All you need to do is edit the page you wish to rename, then click the "move" tab (which is directly left of the "history" tab). See Wikipedia:Move for further information. -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 04:54, 16 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There is no move tab. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wrongporch (talkcontribs)
The move tab appears only after your account is atleast four days old. Since yours is a new account, you can request the move at WP:RMLost(talk) 16:36, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Tutorial overhaul[edit]

I really think you should give the tutorial an overhaul!

My user name is Larjon.

I have supplemented the article om Irving Wallace with

an own article on "The Celestial Bed".

I have had problems first in finding the tutorial;

then in following the logic!

Vänlig hälsning/Kind regards

Lars Jönsson

Private person

Sweden

You should find it much easier to find the Tutorial now (I just sent you a standard welcome message, which contains a link); sometimes a user isn't welcomed for a while, and then the Tutorial is harder to find (although it's often linked on Help Page answers). If you think you know how the Tutorial could be improved, why not make a suggestion at Wikipedia talk:Tutorial? --ais523 12:54, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Gateaux norm[edit]

Is there a Gateaux norm that is not Frechet?

Have you tried Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in knowledge questions, and will try to answer any question in the universe (except how to use Wikipedia, since that's what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. --ais523 18:10, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

communication[edit]

how can be power be used in aiding an individuals communication?

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Power (communication). If you cannot find the answer there, click here to post your question at that article's talk page. If that doesn't solve your problem, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They'll be glad to answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. -- Natalya 21:59, 16 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Where's My New Article?[edit]

Hello

I think I created a new article called Telecu. I created it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Introduction&action=edit&section=new

Now I can't find the article. Where is it?

Thanks!—Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnywhy (talkcontribs)

Hello, As Wikipedia:Introduction is only a introduction and test page, if you wanted to create the article called Telecu, you would have to go to where you wanted to start it first - in this case, Telecu. As this is an uncreated article, you could possibly create your first article on Wikipedia by adding correct and updated information to it - maybe even a Infobox to go with it! If you ever need more help, simply add {{helpme}}, followed by a question to your talk page and a friendly assistant will be along soon to assist you. Good luck with your editing! Extranet (Talk | Contribs) 22:56, 16 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What have I done wrong?[edit]

Hello! I returned to the page about Caecilia Attica, which I had edited earlier. I noticed, that one reference was missing, added it, and the result was a mess in the "references" part of the article. What went wrong?--Tellervo 12:57, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You added an unclosed <ref> tag. No worries, I've just fixed it. You may want to see WP:FOOT for more details on the <ref> element. PeaceNT 13:22, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Celts[edit]

I have recently made a page which is considered useful by the small minority of perople who have seen it and I'm sure people with and interest of the Celtic Nations would enjoy it too but it seems Wikipedia doesn't like it. The article itself is in English, Cornish and Welsh and is on the English Wikipedia. How could I ensure it is kept on Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Steven14rule (talkcontribs)

  • Don't try to keep it. Instead, contribute your knowledge to existing articles, writing in English on this Wikipedia and in Cymraeg or Kernewek when you contribute to those Wikipedias. -- RHaworth 20:29, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How do you use the talk functions?[edit]

My name is I. Thomson.

I have a question concerning, whereabouts is the link for the talk pages and how do i use the functions. I would like to discuss my changes, but i feel that cannot communicate if i do not.

At the top of each article, there are several tabs. Just between the main article tab and 'edit this page' is a tab that says 'discussion.' This is the talk page, and you can edit it just like you edit an article. I hope that answers the question. -FisherQueen (Talk) 22:58, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
New comments and sections go at the bottom. —Centrxtalk • 23:02, 18 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
To get to a talk page via the search or by typing in a URL, use Talk:Article, e.g. the talk page for the Wikipedia article is Talk:Wikipedia. If you want a user's talk page, use User talk:Username. —PurpleRAIN 15:24, 19 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please don't post to article talk pages every time you edit an article. You can explain what your edit is for, up to 200 characters worth, in the edit summary. Unless some reverts (reverses) your edit, in which case you should go to the talk page to discuss it, you're wasting your time, and the time of editors who read talk pages, if you fill them up with information that should only be in edit summaries. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 22:48, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Linking to a Wiktionary page?[edit]

How does one go about linking a word in a Wikipedia article to a Wiktionary definition? -NitrousExpress22

Usually, wiktionary:Animal. You would prefer to pipe it, though, like Animal. -- ReyBrujo 04:03, 19 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wiktionary's case-sensitive, so linking to wiktionary:animal would make more sense (normally piping to animal). --ais523 10:59, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
  • It should be used very rarely though. There should already be a lot of Wikipedia links in articles and adding wiktionary links too could hinder readability. - Mgm|(talk) 10:54, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I've heard that Wikipedia articles must be taken with a Grain of salt due to the religious affiliation of its founder, Jimmy wales, and the majority of its contributors and conversely that the articles are neutral and impartial although their authors may not be. Which is true? Can I rely on the articles to be neutral and impartial or should I take tham with a Grain of salt? 71.100.174.200 19:39, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia editors attempt to keep articles following a neutral point of view. However, because of the nature of the project, it is inevitable that there are both factual errors and neutrality problems. Basically, if you need to rely on a fact from Wikipedia, find another, more reliable source first. -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 19:57, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
due to the religious affiliation of its founder, Jimmy wales, and the majority of its contributors - there are 3+ million registered users, and millions of other people have edited without being registered. If there is any sort of religious affiliation shared by the majority of Wikipedia contributors, that certainly would be a shock to them. I suppose most are Christians, since the majority of those in the U.S. declare themselves to be Christians, and a majority (probably) of Wikipedia editors are from the U.S. (this is the English version of Wikipedia - and English is the native tongue of much of the British Commonwealth, which includes India, so whether in fact the majority of contributors are from the U.S. is speculation), but that's pure supposition.
So yes, don't absolutely rely on what you read in Wikipedia, if you can find a better source, but don't think there is some sort of religious conspiracy here - there isn't. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 22:44, 20 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Jimmy's religious beliefs have nothing to do with it. He barely edits at all, and I'm not even sure what his religious beliefs are. The reason you should be careful about trusting Wikipedia is because it's editable. Anyone can edit an article and that attracts vandals and other troublemakers, so you need to double-check things you find here against other sources like you should with any information you find. Never trust a single source, either on the internet or in regular paper sources. - Mgm|(talk) 10:10, 23 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Creating an article[edit]

how do i make an article —Preceding unsigned comment added by Catman433 (talkcontribs) 14:22, 21 February 2007

See Help:Starting a new_page and Wikipedia:Your first article for information on creating your own page. -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 03:25, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Unable to get a Deletion Review[edit]

I tried 24 hours ago to get a deletion review for my speedily deleted article Ormus matter (by following the procedure given in WP:Deletion_Review), but it hasn't yet appeared.

I inserted this line (between double braces) in WP:Deletion_Review:

subst:Newdelrev|pg=Ormus matter|reason=<inserted a 10-15 line explaining text here>

I didn't post the message to the deleting admin, but would wait until my case became visible. I wonder: Would he make it become visible? OlavN 08:33, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You placed the nomination inside a comment (<!-- ... -->) by mistake. I've restored it for you. --ais523 08:58, 21 February 2007 (UTC)
In general, when someone edits a page, if the change isn't immediately visible, the editor has done something incorrectly. (I'm trying to think of exceptions; none come to mind.) -- John Broughton (♫♫) 04:07, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
In reply to John Broughton: the most common exceptions are monobook.js and monobook.css exceptions (a few pages in MediaWiki space also apply). --ais523 12:24, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

The Celestial Bed[edit]

My contribution has been marked as not having adequate references...

Please look at may article, and give me some clue to where a reference is needed!

Kind regards. Larjon 16:51, 21 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Larjon - Wikipedia articles aren't supposed to be book reports, which is basically what The Celestial Bed is. Did you write it for a class? Sentences like "As far as I have researched, the authors homework is without flaw" are not acceptable in Wikipedia - who is the "I", for example, when an article can have hundreds of editors? (Please see WP:OWN.) Similarly, The plot is not much. The good guys versus the bad ones... Character description is a bit flat is unacceptable (as a WP:NPOV violation) unless that evaluation comes from a reliable source.
The policy on articles about books is Wikipedia:Notability (books). You'll see there that the first criteria is "The book has been the subject of multiple, non-trivial published works. Your article doesn't cite any newspaper articles, magazine stories, other books, and anything else that was published that covered this book.
Please read the policy on original writing - it basically says that Wikipedia isn't where someone can put what they wrote; rather, the information in articles has to be published somewhere else, first, and that "somewhere else has to be a reliable source. You definitely need to fix this article, if it's fixable, before someone proposes it be deleted. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 04:04, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How to put an image unto a page??[edit]

How to put an image unto a page??How?Amos1992 10:51, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

See Help:Image. PeaceNT 10:57, 22 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Location of "Create Page" button.[edit]

I am a new user and have read that I am to click the "Create Page" button to submit an article. I have been unable to locate any such button. Any advice would be appreciated. I am logged in as a member.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.Booth Vance 23:51, 23 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Go to the search bar and type in the title of the article that you want to create. If it doesn't exist, you may want to check the search results to see if it is in there. If there's nothing relating to the topic, then go back up to the top. There will be a message in big bold letters: "No page with that title exists." Beneath that is "You can create this page or request it." Click on the "create this page" link and a page will pop up to allow you to write the article. bibliomaniac15 00:06, 24 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Need a new page[edit]

I can't find a page about the playwright Terry Johnson. If there isn't one, I would like to create one, but there is already a page about someone called Terry Johnson (a US politician). I guess I would need to create a disambiguation page and link to this existing page plus my new one. I'm afraid I'm not sure how to get this right. I also don't know what to call my new page. Thankyou for any pointers! Robin 07:36, 24 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The easiest way to achieve this would be to create a new page named "Terry Johnson (playwright)". Then, at the top of that page, place this code: {{For|the U.S. politician of the same name|Terry Johnson}}. Following that, go to the politican's page, and place this tag at the top: {{For|the playwright of the same name|Terry Johnson (playwright)}}.
See Wikipedia:Disambiguation for more information. -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 07:58, 24 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Fancy Sigs[edit]

OK, so I may not be new, but I think this is the best place to ask - if it's not feel free to point me in the right direction.

What I want is a fancy, colourful signature with a cool font. If anyone can help me out on how to get one, I will be eternally grateful! Let's hope this works! 08:19, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Two perfect places for you: See here or here. Choose one and make your request. Good luck. PeaceNT 08:28, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Bulletpoints/Creating links/Photos[edit]

1) How do you creat Bulletpoints? 2) How do you make tables? 3) How do yo make a link between two existing pages and a new one? 4) How do you get photos onto this site? CorreyBonnick 19:27, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

1) Start a line with an asterisk: *. For example:
* This is an example.
...produces:
  • This is an example.
If you want to indent some items in your bulleted list, precede them with one or more colons. For example:
* Item 1
:* Item 1(a)
:* Item 1(b)
* Item 2
...produces:
  • Item 1
  • Item 1(a)
  • Item 1(b)
  • Item 2
2) Please see Help:Table
3) To create a link to another article on Wikipedia (called a "wikilink"), enclose the name of the article to which you want to link between four square brackets. For example:
This links to [[Main Page]].
...produces:
This links to Main Page.
4) Please see Wikipedia:Uploading images and Wikipedia:Image use policy. You can also search for images at Wikimedia Commons.
Hope this helps! —XhantarTalk 19:50, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, identing bullet points is better done using multiple asterisks:
* Item 1
** Item 1a
** Item 1b
* Item 2
produces
  • Item 1
    • Item 1a
    • Item 1b
  • Item 2
which may look similar, but renders into simpler HTML and avoids weird layout problems in some browsers. Generally speaking, when indenting you should precede the symbol you want to use (e.g. * for bullet) with the symbols used in the line above, i.e. you would use ** to indent bullets within bullets, and :* to create bullets within a talk-page reply. Hope that helps! --ais523 16:11, 26 February 2007 (UTC)
Thanks for correcting me! I guess replying on talk pages is what made me think :'s should be used in articles as well, so as to not end up with something like
        • this :)
XhantarTalk 18:32, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Disappearing picture[edit]

The picture I uploaded for the article on St Crispin's School has been removed by vandals and seems to have completely disappeared. How do I find it again? Has someone deleted the image completely? It's not showing up in any of the old history versions of the article? Dahliarose 21:03, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Exactly which image are you referring to? -- Chairman S. Talk Contribs 21:06, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think it might be File:St Crispins School Wokingham logo.jpg. The image is still in the article, but it's part of the infobox, so it appears near the top of the article as | logo = [[File:St_Crispins_School_Wokingham_logo.jpg|140px]]. Tra (Talk) 21:49, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes the picture has come back again now. Thank you for fixing it. I don't know where it went in the meantime. Dahliarose 23:23, 25 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

where is my page?[edit]

i posted an article and it is now gone. i've looked at the deleted pages, marked for deletion ,etc. and it s not on those lists. i also saw that on the notable vegans page user Tartarugafechada deleted my entry as well. is there an explaination for this? the page i created was Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.....i thought this was within the guidlines since Isa Chandra Moskowitz from Vegan with a Vengence/Post Punk Kitchen also has a page.

Can someone please explain this to me.

Thanks

§danielleppDaniellepp 00:23, 26 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The page Colleen Patrick-Goudreau was deleted by Jimfbleak (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA), who said that it was unsourced, not notable and was not written to a neutral point of view. I would suggest that you contact him at User talk:Jimfbleak or failing that, try Deletion review. Tra (Talk) 00:38, 26 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

links[edit]

Hi, After noticing at least three of my transcripted interviews with comedians posted in Wikipedia (Gary Gulman, Colin Mochrie, Norm MacDonald), I thought I would go ahead and link my other interviews to comedians who have Wikipedia pages. They have since been taken down. I was told that it looked like spam. The guidelines for external links, under the heading "What should be linked", says, "Sites with other meaningful, relevant content that is not suitable for inclusion in an article, such as reviews and interviews." This is consistent with what I've noticed. So I'm wondering why my effort was thwarted.

After saying I was spamming (it seems an overzealous Dirk Beetstra isn't clear on the definitition of pernicious spam), I was told that "some of [my] recent contributions seem to be advertising or for promotional purposes." It's certainly not advertising, as no one receives any money for hits to the interviews (there is no advertising). Is it promotional? Well, I guess it is but that's not the intent. I just happened to have conducted all the interviews.

So given your policy on external links (interviews: good), what can you tell me? Any advice? Guy

Well, first I'll link the guidelines for external links and spam for the benefit of other people who might be wondering about the answer, although you seem to have found them. Spam is a sufficient problem in Wikipedia that people sometimes get a little trigger-happy in removing what looks like spam. One thing you could try is to go to the Talk ('discussion') page for the articles in question, suggest the link there and your reasoning, and see whether other people who edit that article agree with you; if nobody disagrees after a while, you can add the link with 'see talk' in your edit summary to explain your actions. This behaviour should reduce the chance of being mistaken for a spammer. You could also communicate with the user who removes it by visiting their User Talk page and editing it (mine is User talk:ais523, for instance). Hope that helps! --ais523 18:22, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
Also have a read of what a conflict of interest is. (as you are the site owner. Cheers! —— Eagle101 Need help? 20:05, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

User Pages and articles[edit]

A while back, in a discussion on Articles for Deletion about Fictionpress, one or some of the people suggested adding the old Fictionpress article to a person's userpage, but no one did this. When I found this disscusion, I wanted to try this (I think fictionpress should have a wikipedia article), but could not say this in that discussion because it was Archived and there was a note saying not to add to the discussion. At the time I looked around but didn't find any Help pages on putting articles on userpages (still don't know of any). The reason the page was deleted and why it was suggested to put it on a user page was that it had almost no sources cited in it.

So, not realizing this was probably against the rules, I found the old wikipedia page with a Google search (it was on Ask.com or something) and copied that onto my userpage. I tried to find sources for stuff and correct the mistakes I could find. But after a day or two I discovered no new sources for the article and even after considering deleting content without sources, I more or less gave up on the article. Though not permanently. I left it in my userpage.

Just recently, I saw something saying something about it being against the rules to copy articles to your userpage (I guess you have t ask an admin?). So, I just now deleted the article from my userpage so I could ask what I should have done and what I should do now. I don't even know if this is the right place for this question. My question is essentialy: did I brake any rule(s)? If so; what should I do now? --illumi 21:54, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know where you read that it's against the rules to have articles in userspace, it's actually quite common. Most people, however, keep articles that they are working on in subpages of their user pages; that way it's not sitting out there on your main userpage which could, I suppose, create some confusion. Good luck with the article! —Elipongo (Talk|contribs) 00:03, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks. --illumi 00:48, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I keep seeing "You have new messages (last change)." at the top of my page.[edit]

I keep seeing "You have new messages (last change)." at the top of my page. How do I stop it from showing up? 216.250.179.247 22:34, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • Have you clicked the "new messages" link? --KFP (talk | contribs) 22:45, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Yes, several times. But now it's gone, so, thanks anyway.

216.250.179.247 23:37, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The banner means that someone has left a message on your user talk page. The talk page for your IP Address is located here User talk:216.250.179.247. In this case someone was making a comment about an addition of a list of notable people to the Minnesota article. If you didn't make the edit in question, the message may have been meant for someone else. Because you're editing from an IP address that could be shared with other people, such crossed messages are inevitable. To avoid messages and possibly even editing blocks meant for others, I recommend that you create an account. Creating an account is a good idea for a lot of other reasons too. Hope this helps you some, have a great day! —Elipongo (Talk|contribs) 23:50, 27 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Excuse Me...[edit]

If I wanted to created a place like the Smash Wiki but for webcomics, could I and how do I do it?--Linkmasta 01:00, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia and other wikis (such as that one) are based off the MediaWiki software, which can be used to create similar projects. -- Natalya 01:27, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Drop by wikia.com. I think they have a webcomic wiki already and it would be a shame if you both did work the other already did. - Mgm|(talk) 12:22, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Several pages on Montemagno[edit]

There is already a page on Montemagno, a commune in Asti (Italy). I've added a page on Montemagno, Calci, a village that used to be a commune. There is also a Montemagno, Lucca (in Camaiore). And probably more. Searching for Montemagno takes me directly to the page on Montemagno, Asti with no indication that there are other Montemagnos. What can I do to make a search at least indicate that there are several Montemagnos? And while I am at it, how do I create a less ugly URL for Montemagno, Calci (with underscores rather than %20, for example)? Thank you. TaSK 10:07, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • You can't do anything about the %-signs, URLs are automatically changed after you type them and anything that isn't changed can't be. As for the different articles. You need WP:DISAMBIG. I'll look into it. - Mgm|(talk) 12:12, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]