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May 7

Record Labels

I'm posting here hoping for a quick response. Does this make sense? I wanted a way to note that though the artist was signed to only one company, she has released on several imprints. I couldn't find a similar situation to base it off of. Opinions? Grk1011 (talk) 00:36, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know much about record labels, but it looks OK. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 00:50, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's a cool idea actually. -- Naerii 01:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Closing Pictures

Is there any way to close pictures when you're reading an article? You know for some of the more gruesome ones, where you just want the information not exactly the visuals. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.245.28.132 (talk) 01:03, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No, unfortunately, that's not an option. If you are on an article about something gruesome, you will get gruesome information. Wikipedia isn't censored and will never be for that reason. And...

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles. Calvin 1998 ^(t-c) 01:14, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You may be able to block certain images by using various programs, such as BlockSite, an extension, for Firefox. You can also block images from Wikipedia altogether using these programs, by blocking upload.wikimedia.org and commons.wikimedia.org. x42bn6 Talk Mess 01:17, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you use Mozilla Firefox as your Web browser, you can install the AdBlock extension; it allows you to right-click on any image on a Web page and block it (make it stop displaying). --Teratornis (talk) 05:11, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, you don't even need to do that in Firefox. Just right-click on the image and select 'Block images from upload....'. However, it shouldn't be too hard to write a script that does exactly what is wanted here. hmmm...... -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 15:45, 10 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators

Resolved

How do you tell if a user is an admin or not? Thanks. --MQDuck 01:55, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Go to Special:ListUsers and type the username in the box. If the user is an administrator it will say next to their name. See this as an example.¤~Persian Poet Gal ^(talk) 01:57, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can also look at the CAT:ADMINS for a list, but I don't think it is complete.--RyRy5 (talk ♠ Review) 02:14, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You could also add importScript('User:Ais523/adminrights.js'); to your monobook.js file which will make it so that it will automatically highlight the names of admins when it's linked to their page.--Sunny910910 ^{(talk|Contributions|Guest)} 02:16, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent, should be like that for everybody all the time! DuncanHill (talk) 08:49, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

To get a complete list of admins, go to Special:ListUsers and select "Administrators" from the "Group" pull-down list near the top of the page; here's the link. --Teratornis (talk) 05:09, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, all. --MQDuck 06:31, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Question

Is there a Barnstar for helping people? Also, if there is, what is the code for it? Camcd93 (talk) 07:31, 7 May 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Camcd93 (talk • contribs) 07:18, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try looking at WP:BARNSTAR and WP:PUA for ideas - e.g. {{subst:The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar|message ~~~~}} Bencherlite ^Talk 07:38, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Shared accounts

Resolved

Where do you report a shared account? I'd guess part of the AN but...... Dendodge..Talk^Help 11:42, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If the username implies that it has got multiple editors, then WP:UAA would be the place to report it. Otherwise, I would suggest raising it at WP:ANI. You could also pop a message on the account's talk page reminding them of the User account policy. StephenBuxton (talk) 11:51, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you think it's a sockpuppet then WP:SSP or WP:CHECK would be the place to go. Harland1 (^t/_c) 12:58, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The policy to remind this/these user(s) of is: Wikipedia:Username policy#Company/group names. (It's best to link to the exact policy or guideline, since the user(s) who are violating the policy or guideline may have no idea it exists.) Before "reporting" them, see if they will voluntarily comply with a notice on the account's talk page. --Teratornis (talk) 16:00, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

So if someone starts saying 'we' and editing two different articles at once etc. I use ANI, thanks!...... Dendodge..Talk^Help 16:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Do not understand why my edits were reverted

Resolved

Treelo reverted an edit of mine [1], i wanted to ask him why and wanted to explain him why my edits were valid, but he reverted my question on his discussion page [2]. I think this is not very fair.--77.10.108.22 (talk) 12:30, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I have no idea why Treelo decided to remove your comments, however, I can surmise that they either reverted your edits too quickly using WP:HUGGLE or because they were unsourced. Wisdom89 _{(_T / ^C)} 12:36, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your answer. May be that is why. I did not include my sources, but they are not really unsourced.I have sources and i would love include them, but only if my edits are not reverted again--77.10.108.22 (talk) 12:43, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Why not add your sources at the same time that you make the edit? Dismas|^(talk) 12:45, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Because i thought one was not supposed to add sources for listings. The information i wrote down was already given in the articles i listed. But now that i know i am supposed to add my sources i will... however i am not sure if that was why my edits were reverted or if there is another reason. I would love to write it again this time adding my sources, but i do not want to have my editis reverted again, so i better wait until somebody explains why they< were reverted.––77.10.108.22 (talk) 12:54, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can post your question as to why it was reverted on the reverting editor's talk page, and providing that you are respectful as you have been here, I'm sure you'll get a good answer. We're glad you want to improve your edits! -- Natalya 13:25, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that's pretty much true (no refs in lists), but if the list is more descriptive or wordy like yours, not just a list of names, people typically want references for it, since there may be some claim of specific info rather than just a list of names. If anything, sort of "over-source it" to be safe, and then edit it later. Treelo may have also reverted it because it looked unprofessional with the "and many more" line at the end, and maybe at a glance he thought it was vandalism or just an insertion of goofy information. I'd suggest that you make the edit again with sources and leave an edit summary about why you are adding the info in again. I also think that you should talk to him about it again, and maybe let him know about this topic on the Help Desk. Go ahead and make the edit again if you can find good references, and talk it through with the user if any other issues arise. Just some recommendations. :) --JamieS93 15:29, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This sounded familiar, so I searched the Help desk archive for: resilience and found:

Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2007 December 16#Somebody deleted my contributions

Are you the same user who asked that similar question before? If this is an ongoing dispute, it helps to mention that in your question so the Help desk volunteers can see what is going on. --Teratornis (talk) 15:54, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks a lot! Treelo reverted his edits. Seems he has been busy fighting vandals and thought i was one because of the line "and many more"--77.10.108.22 (talk) 18:12, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm glad you all got it sorted out! Just wanted to say that I think you did good to stay calm and just talk it through. An example of the nicer side of Wikipedian disputes and discussions; assuming good faith. :) --JamieS93 18:57, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia Editor

Would you know about any Editor that supports Wiki Markup language. I dont mean the one Wikipedia allready has I mean one that can be downloaded into the computer. Thanks So Much The WikiPost (talk) 13:06, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Something like this? Angus McLellan (Talk) 15:18, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think so, I think you should just use Notepad or Word or equivalent. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 15:34, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:EIW#EditSoft and WP:EIW#Tools. --Teratornis (talk) 15:50, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Editing/changing jpegs

How do I delete and replace an existing jpeg image associated with a listing?

I am already able to successfully edit the text on my page.

Thanks four your help in advance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.157.141.233 (talk) 14:12, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Which image do you have in mind? Normally, you should simply click "Upload a new version of this file" underneath the file summary near the bottom of the page. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 14:22, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Help:Image for more information about images. According to WP:ACCOUNT#Summary of benefits, you must create an account before you can upload an image. You posted your question without first logging in, and if you did not log in because you don't yet have an account, then evidently you must create one before you can upload images. Also note, what you call a "listing" is probably what we call a "page," and some pages are articles. I'm not sure what you mean by "my page," but see WP:OWN so you understand that on Wikipedia, we don't actually own pages we create or edit. Perhaps you meant "the page I was editing" or more specifically "the article I was editing." (We have to use precise language on Wikipedia because that's the only way for our 48,234,494 users to stay organized.) --Teratornis (talk) 15:38, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please add the page on a new topic

I am not going to get involved in creating new pages, because I don't have time and attention to do that just now I would gladly edit page once it exists, so for now maybe someone can add this to the index and create a page with just that link?

Title: Completed staff work Link: http://www.harari.com/blog/index.php?/archives/150-Completed-Staff-Work.html Link: http://www.johnstuartedwards.com/principle_of_completed_staff_work.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.249.47.8 (talk) 15:40, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, seems notable enough. I've added it to Wikipedia:Requested articles though, because that's the place to add requests. Note that this page is for asking questions about using Wikipedia only. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 15:45, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting

How do you delete pages? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tribe12 (talk • contribs) 15:59, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You must be an administrator to do that. weburiedoursecrets inthegarden 16:03, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you are not an administrator, you can ask an administrator to delete a page for you, or you can nominate an article for deletion. What page do you want to delete? If you want to delete a user page that you created, you can add the {{db-user}} template to it. If you want to delete an article, see WP:AFD and WP:EIW#Delete. Usually people ask Wikipedia:Why was my article deleted? but occasionally someone actually does want to delete something. See Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion for more information on what types of content you can get deleted. --Teratornis (talk) 16:10, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Revoke blacklisting please

hi there, i'd like to request a blacklisting to be revoked

i fully appreciate that Wikipedia is not a collection of external links and in the past i have just posted external links. however i now wish to add valuable content, properly referenced externally, but am unable to as i remain blacklisted

any help with this will be much appreciated

thanks and regards Christianmarais (talk) 16:06, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You should still be able to post links, as the blacklist only affects links not people (unless you're attempting to add blacklisted links). Which links are you trying to add? --Bfigura ^(talk) 16:10, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You personally have not been blocked from editing, however a link you were trying to add to an article is obviously listed on MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist, so the spam filter is preventing the save of that page. Alternatively, if you have not added any links, a link already present on the page will be preventing you from saving the page. Please could you tell us the page you were trying to edit, and we'll see what we can do. Thanks, Stwalkerster [ talk ] 16:12, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(E/C) Or are you asking that we remove a site from the blacklist? Again, we'd need to know which site, and why it should be removed. --Bfigura ^(talk) 16:12, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Your account was just created and has only edited this help desk. What do you mean by "blacklisted" and what is blacklisted? If you have a blocked account and want it unblocked then see Wikipedia:Appealing a block. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:14, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am trying to edit Brian Townsend's entry with a paragraph about his downswing in 2007, and how he has refocussed his game, referenced by a link to the pokerplayermagazine site which contains quotes from Brian and an indepth interview. When saving page I get a message saying the link is blacklisted by the spam filter, so i am guessing i'd like that link's blacklisting revoked if possible (tried posting the link here, but it wouldn't let me! thanks again Christianmarais (talk) 16:34, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

... OK, read that blacklist entry. i would like to ask that the PokerPlayer magazine website be removed from the blacklist because the site is incredibly informative, and contains exclusive, candid, recent, well-written interviews with poker players that will add value to the Wikipedia entries for those poker players Christianmarais (talk) 16:39, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There's a place here to request that. AndyJones (talk) 17:12, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Making articles/subarticles/charts

How do I add an entire subarticle within one article that I'm writing about. How do I first create a whole new article and then how can I put that link into the other article which contains information about it? Also, I can't figure out how to make a chart. Every time i click the button it just comes up as the letters and numbers rather than columns and rows– and it won't let me copy a graph from word either. Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lotus212 (talk • contribs) 16:08, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Your graph would have to be an uploaded image. As for subarticles, do you mean you have a part of the article which is large enough and notable enough to deserve its own page? If so, just create that page and wikilink it using [[Page to link to]]. -mattbuck (Talk) 16:12, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:EIW#Long and especially Wikipedia:Summary style for how to divide up large articles. Wikipedia's article namespace does not allow subpages. --Teratornis (talk) 16:14, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you are trying to arrange data into columns and rows, you probably want to read Help:Table. Also see WP:EIW#Table. If you have a table in a Microsoft Word document, you may be able to convert it automatically into a wikitext table; see WP:EIW#EditSoft. However, identifying and figuring out the tools is probably harder than just learning to edit tables on Wikipedia. --Teratornis (talk) 16:28, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Articles

The Article waodani. is messed up. Someone keeps reversing my edits. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tribe12 (talk • contribs) 16:29, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Waodani is a redirect page, and it doesn't look like you have any edits there or at the article it redirects to. From your contributions it doesn't look like you've edited a similar article recently. Can you link/diff? Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 16:45, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Tribe12 is presumably referring to the article Huaorani, which he/she believes ought to be at Waodani. Tribe12: I suggest you explain your reasons at Talk:Huaorani, and only move the page when there is consensus for the change. Algebraist 16:52, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, I didn't think to look back to October last year. Yes, this needs discussion; there seems to be consensus for the article to remain where it is. Also see Wikipedia:Requested moves (do NOT list this under uncontroversial proposals, as it will be quickly removed). Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 16:54, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

MS Word will not spell-check copied Wikipedia paragraph.

Spell check will not work on the two paragraphs I copied from Wikipedia . I get Microsoft word message:

“Word cannot find the spelling file msspell3.dll or mssp32.dll.”

63.229.203.188 (talk) 16:45, 7 May 2008 (UTC)Curt 5-07-08[reply]

Seems like a Word problem rather than a Wikipedia problem. Does it work for all other spellchecks? Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 16:46, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Computing reference desk. They specialize in answering computer questions and will try to answer any question in the universe except how to use Wikipedia, since that is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link and ask away. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps....... Dendodge..Talk^Help 16:48, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:EIW#Spell, in particular the Editor's index entry:

Spell checkers for various browsers: see Wikipedia:Tip of the day/September 2

and Wikipedia:Tools/Editing tools#Spell Checkers which looks to be much the same. --Teratornis (talk) 18:24, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Request to unblock the website www.batanguenos.com for adding to the external links of Batangas Municipalities in Philippines.

Dear Sir,

I'm also from batangas province, philippines. I tried to include the community website of the said location but it says that the LINK IS BLOCKED.

COULD YOU PLEASE UNBLOCK IT.

Thanks a lot.

Please sign your post by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box (as shown to the left ←). Do NOT sign in articles.

wiki is down

Resolved

can't use wiki anymore. as soon as i use firefox or try to login i get the following error:

"Wikipedia has a problem

Sorry! This site is experiencing technical difficulties.

Try waiting a few minutes and reloading.

(Can't contact the database server: Unknown error (10.0.0.101))"

on top of that everybody seems to have that problem. and the vandals and spammers all seem to be unblocked again...all hell currently breaks loose...DO SOMETHING! my username is SomeUsr —Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.233.77.168 (talk) 18:06, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try again every thing's working fine for me I logged out and then in again. Harland1 (^t/_c) 18:08, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's a common problem. It means too many people are online at once. It normally gets fixed in a couple a=of minutes, in fact - it has been!...... Dendodge..Talk^Help 18:10, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

working again. SomeUsr | Talk Contribs 18:50, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Darkstar, the video game. HOAX issue.

To Whomever it may Concern at Wikipedia,

A few years back an article on your site appeared with information pertinent to the video game we are producing titled DARKSTAR. We had nothing to do with the posting.

When we were appraised of it's existence, we reviewed the entry and it included the opinion from someone indicating the project was an elaborate hoax and therefore did not exist. There were also basic errors in the info as they listed actors NOT involved in the project, and other vital errors in facts and information. We went through quite a bit of effort to correct the inconsistencies, delete the "hoax" rumor (as this publicly does the project damage and harms our studio's credibility in this sensitive stage of sales and production), and also tried to upload new images to help prove the project's viability. Funny how our studio-owned images were rejected by Wikipedia due to our supposed lack of "copyright", but others who posted the site unauthorized by us were able to lift images from our website and do the same successfully. You need to fix this.

Someone by the name of SkyWalker has taken it upon themselves to delete Darkstar, and post yet another innuendo that our project is a hoax, a public, blatant, and nefarious accusation. We could care less whether Darkstar was added to your database. But the fact that it was added by someone not authorized by us, filled with data accusing my studio of "not being notable", and our project DELETED as a hoax makes this a big problem, especially since the project is STILL listed, but the link leads only to the thread of conversation that is full of lies, incorrect statements, and unresearched accusations. If there were suspicions that our project was a hoax, it should not have been added to your website to begin with. But it was, and without our approval, and included images that we own the rights to. The damaging data uploaded by the likes of SkyWalker, Gary King, and others who have chosen to partake in this process of trashing something they know nothing about on the internet has caused us a credibility problem with companies whom we are negotiating partnerships for distribution.

We did not receive one single email from anyone asking us to comment or prove the existence of our project, despite the fact our website and email was prominently displayed in the Wikipedia article we had nothing to do with posting. Never one single query from SkyWalker or anyone else to check on us. They did not bother to back up their accusations or actions, but instead, publicly stated we were not notable, and our project had no evidence of existence, because it was easy to do and did not require any of their labor.

All of this talk is about a project STILL IN PRODUCTION. Of course it's not on any of the gaming sites such as IGN, Gamespot, GameSpy, GamesIndustry and 1up (as referenced by SkyWalker), the game is in production. Not yet released. The only authorized info about Darkstar is on OUR WEBSITE at url redacted, everyone else has taken this data without permission and posted it on Wikipedia, IBDM, and others. We had nothing to do with this. Nor with the horrible and damaging commentary that has ensued.

As I said before, Parallax Studio would have no problem if DARKSTAR had never appeared on Wikipedia at all. But it did, and has now been trashed by invisible "posters" on your site, and now obliterated from view with the reason given (still posted on your site) that our product does not exist and is a hoax. Our fan-base has noticed and have emailed. A video game publisher in Canada we are negotiating with noticed and commented. We are also right now in the process of negotiating royalties with Pegi Cecconi at Anthem Records (the record company for RUSH), and I'm sure if they suspected we were not viable it would impact our project significantly. There are real potential dollar damages here, and something needs to be done immediately. I would love an audience on the phone, out of this antiseptic cyberspace that some folks seem fit to do corporate terrorism and try to discount, slander, and harm a production they know NOTHING about.

Skywalker talks of "evidence" and that there is none for the existence of Darkstar. There is plenty of evidence our project exists, and can easily be proven. If only someone would contact us before hanging us out to dry on the internet. But no.

What there is NO evidence of, is that Darkstar is a hoax. Those proclaiming this did not attempt to contact us to give us the opportunity to prove anything. This activity has some definite legal liability issues we all need to discuss immediately. This issue only came to my attention last evening. I take this very seriously, and require some activity and response to rectify this issue. At the very least we require an immediate public retraction. People like SkyWalker should be ashamed of him/herself for participating in such a vicious endeavor, and Wikipedia should find a way to filter such activity for legal liability reasons.

A side-note. You list a game titled Darkstar One, and give it pretty good press. I met with the makers of this game (Askaron) at the 2003 E-3 show for purposes of partnering with them to distribute our Darkstar. They were very enthusiastic after meeting with us, and said they loved our project. Yes they indeed did. Three years later they stole our name and released their game. Many of the elements in theirs are lifted directly from the press packet we gave them. Wikipedia has done NO research on either of the Darkstar projects, and have picked one over the other...and chosen to discount and slander ours while helping to promote alleged plagiarists.

I await your reply, ready to provide documentation.

J. Allen Williams Parallax Studio

url redacted —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.206.244.112 (talk) 20:11, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like a case of WP:ORG, in which the article about your organization failed to meet the notability guideline. Furthermore, most articles on Wikipedia are posted without knowledge/consent of those involved; in fact, that is encouraged per the conflict of interest policy. Information that appears to be a hoax (when no information can be found to support the existence of the company, or a claim) then it is generally removed. Secondary coverage (i.e. not a primary source, eg. an official website) is important in determining notability; you say you have evidence that the company is notable? Please, then, provide your sources. The notability guideline appears to be the most significant problem here. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 20:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Since the original has been deleted per this deletion discussion, I can't verify anything about the content of the article, but it should be something of a moot point now. Also, please note that Wikipedia does not write articles, individual contributors do. If you feel that one of the contributors has posted material that may be libelous, the most effective response would be to contact our information team (who can take action, if need be) via one of the methods here. Best, --Bfigura ^(talk) 20:38, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have courtesy blanked Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Darkstar (computer game), and removed the link to the deleted article in the Darkstar dab page. Does that address your concerns? --barneca (talk) 20:44, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is not the place for anyone to generate press about video games, anyway. The only sources about this game were apparently to the game's developers and other crew member's websites. When this game gets published or mentioned in a major gaming periodical (and the IMDB page seems to be authored by this Parallax Studio member, anyway). Regardless, your product is not currently notable for inclusion. And while it was wrong to say it is a hoax, there's nothing concrete that mentions it existance other than the coding in your computers. If you are seeking real world legal due process actions against any Wikipedia editor, you will be blocked from editing this website until your legal matters are dealt with. Is this what you want, Mr. Williams?—Ryūlóng (竜龙) 20:46, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't read the above as a "legal threat"; I read it as someone who's pissed off. Let's take it easy on the rhetoric, both the "this is slander" kind and the "you're gonna get blocked" kind. I'll ask again; do you (Mr. Williams) have any remaining concerns now that I've made the changes mentioned above? --barneca (talk) 20:51, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well, technically, it is. Slander is a criminal offence and accusing someone of it counts as a legal threat. I cannot add to what has been said above so I will simply summarise:

Wikipedia deletes articles about anything that cannot be proven by reliable third-party sources

Per WP:COI, companies are not necessarily informed of articles about them

Hoax is a perfectly acceptable term in the Wikipedia comminity

And may I add, without making a threat - rather a statement, that making false accusations of a criminal offence is, in itself, a criminal offence. I hope not to make you feel unwelcome and I agree that all this policy can be confusing. I don't expect you to understand it all but I am simply quoting it here...... Dendodge..Talk^Help 22:41, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see the point of escalating the war of words; Please take a look at Wikipedia:Legal#What a legal threat isn't. If someone says "I think what is being done to me is slander", that isn't a legal threat, it's a statement of fact. If someone says "do what I say or I will sue you for slander", then it crosses the line to a threat, and then for reasons listed in WP:LEGAL, we block from editing. Also, I'm really pretty sure slander isn't a criminal offense, but a civil one, and also, I'm really quite confident (although IANAL) that saying "I think I've been slandered" is not a crime. --barneca (talk) 22:54, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm speaking on the shakier grounds of English law, coming from an English family of solicitors, and I'm not sure how much of that applies to the American WMF. A lot of cases could be classified under either criminal or civil but this one, I agree, would almost certainly be a civil one...... Dendodge..Talk^Help 23:05, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It should be noted that neither the deletion comment nor the AFD make any claim that Darkstar is a "hoax". The only time the word "hoax" was used was that an editor believed that this game was unlikely to be a hoax, given the amount of information provided. WP:NOTABLE, WP:CRYSTAL, and WP:RS were invoked quite heavily, but not WP:HOAX. It's possible that someone put a {{hoax}} tag on the article, but since that was deleted, it's impossible for me to say. However, the the text of the hoax template reads: "It is believed that some or all of its content might [emphasis theirs] constitute a hoax". I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that a statement of opinion made in good faith and believed to be true is not defamation -- ShinmaWa^(talk) 16:31, 8 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Now I find he is asking other(s) to remove the POV tag again for him.

I find Messianic Judaism‎ POV and I added a POV tag, etc.

Another editor, User:A Sniper, removed the POV tag from Messianic Judaism‎ and I put it back, etc.

Now I find he is asking other(s) to remove the POV tag again for him.

Please advise. --Carlaude 23:20, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

It seems that the two of you have started an edit war, and in particular a revert war. Based solely on your description of events (i.e. not looking at the article itself), I would point out that (a) {{POV}}, and indeed all cleanup tags, require you to detail your concerns on the article's talk page, without which the tags can be removed, (b) the recommendation to make changes is BRD - be bold, get reverted, then discuss things, don't just go back and forth, (c) if the user is trying to get other users to help edit war with you rather than engaging in discussion, then that is not allowed, and I would suggest that (if discussions with him about canvassing don't stop him) it may be worth raising a Wikiquette alert. My final suggestion to put both of you in the right would be to learn about the correct way to handle a dispute. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 23:36, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There are clear guidelines that a POV tag should not be placed on an article randomly and before dialogue on the talk page. The talk page itself has a controversial notice urging users to talk before making changes. I suggested that the user take their contention to the talk page, and they did so AFTER already placing the tag. I also stressed that there are many regular editors of all backgrounds who have worked on the article, paragraph by paragraph, seeking consensus and avoiding edit wars. This user jumped immediately to accusing me of 'vandalism' (as opposed to assuming good faith) for removal of the tag, and stated that they 'won't stand for' my having suggested to another regular user that they remove the tag (since I do not want to violate WP:3RR - it was not my intention to seek the aid of others in creating an edit war. My main admonition was to DIALOGUE on the talk page. In any event, the user has jumped in with accusations of POV and vandalism but appears to be foisting a POV by placing the tag without consensus. I wonder: why haven't other users, even those personally attached to the subject matter, placed a POV tag there? Best, A Sniper (talk) 23:43, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also see WP:EIW#Contro for some guidelines about controversial articles. --Teratornis (talk) 06:17, 8 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for that, Teratornis. The talk page for the article has a clear controversial notice asking for consensus of the users before major changes are made. Users of several backgrounds have stated that a POV tag is inappropriate. The user who has come to the Help Desk has made this a personal issue (WP:NPA) and seems to be getting worked up about everything - I wish an admin would check the edit history to see how this has been handled. Best, A Sniper (talk) 18:45, 9 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

E.E. Smith Article reference

The article on the science fiction author E.E. Smith contains a refernce to a 1947 to smith from John Campbell.

On th ediscussion page fo rthe article, someone named DocW says that he has located the letter. How may I contact DocW?

Wysoed (talk) 23:30, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Click the "talk" next to an editor name to get to their talk page, in this case User talk:Doc W (I now see you have already posted there a few minutes ago). Doc W has not edited since 21 April. If you don't bget a reply then you can also try contact at Special:EmailUser/Doc W. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:46, 7 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]