Help desk
< February 11	<< Jan \| February \| Mar >>	February 13 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

February 12

Editing A Section

I'm an avid "WikiReader" (visit this site) but would like to make my first contribution. However, it seems overwhelming; should I cite it, or reference it, or link it, etc.---choosing what items seem appropriate is confusing.

Since I believe this may be my only "addition" for awhile, can I have someone else here do it for me? It's not a real big piece; a small paragraph, if that, for the Transportation section in Daegu, South Korea.

Thanks.

Cooldster (talk) 00:16, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You can take several approaches. Either you go to Wikipedia:Adopt-A-User to get a personal mentor, or you just dive in the deep end and write it yourself. (Providing a reference in any form is more important than the formatting and links, so definitely tell where the info came from so other people don't have to hunt down the source) - Mgm|^(talk) 00:33, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

- You can write the paragraph on my talk page and tell which article and where you would like to add it. Jay (talk) 04:31, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Legitimate website blocked by Wikipedia's spam blocker

Hey guys,
I've been editing the balance of trade article to create a citation in the second section to replace the {{fact}} tag. Unfortunately, the website I found to source the information was blocked by Wikipedia's spam filter, is there a way around this? A mock-up of the section is located here. — Kortaggio ^{Proclamations} _Declarations 00:53, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's not very edifying, but since I've already gone to the trouble of finding it, here is the thread that lead to the blacklisting. Algebraist 01:05, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm... On second thought, could it be possible that the site is not credible in the first place? After looking through the blacklist (before you suggested it, [edit conflict (gosh, you're fast!)]), it has been spammed before (on the same article, interestingly)--although it looks legitimate enough. Right now there are two options, either scrap the entire unsourced sentenced (China has a trade surplus^{[citation needed]}), or put in the source above. — Kortaggio ^{Proclamations} _Declarations 01:08, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Fast? It took me twelve minutes! Algebraist 01:12, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, the website is: tradingeconomics.com, didn't think I could write it without being blocked. — Kortaggio ^{Proclamations} _Declarations 01:10, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Only code that actually produces a link triggers the blacklist. If you leave out the http://, you're fine. Algebraist 01:12, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Pro career

Resolved

– ukexpat (talk) 15:18, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am trying to edit Aidin Nikkhah Bahrami page in English. So for everything has gone smoothly except one tiny problem. In the Infobox Basketball Player I have:

But when I save the editing, an extra line is added in the box in the article page which says Pro career career_start –present, how can I remove this detail?

I've changed the template so the career dates line is not present unless some information is provided. Algebraist 01:58, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks mate. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 145.94.62.196 (talk) 12:14, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

merging 2 topics?

I want to recommend merging 2 topics: EverQuest and Everquest, as these are identical and should not be 2 separate topics. EverQuest is the correct (and formal) spelling. I would be glad to help cutting ourt the duplicated materials and editing the old material to include unique portions from the misspelled topic that should be retained. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jopickard (talk • contribs) 02:12, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Everquest has redirected to EverQuest since 2007. There's no problem here. Algebraist 02:15, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Setting up contents

I am a first time user of Wikipedia and I just wanted to know how I set up sub sections for my contents: e.g.

Contents: 1. History 2. Media

 2.1. Newspapers

3. New media...

Also I have noticed some pages have an information box on the right hand side of the page with facts listed, logo's, etc. How do I create one of these?

Thankyou,

--Cfleetwood (talk) 05:49, 12 February 2009 (UTC)Cathy 12/2/09, 4.50pm[reply]

The table of contents is an outline of the named section. So to create it you add section and subsection headers in the text like these:

== History ==
== Media ==
=== Newspapers ===
== New media ==

For the infobox you add an infobox template at the top of the article. The exact template depends on what kind of subject the article has. If you tell us what the subject is, we could tell you the template. Or you could look at how they did it in an article with a similar subject. —teb728 t c 06:02, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See more at Help:Section and Category:Infobox templates. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:34, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Also see WP:LAYOUT. Are you asking about the User:Cfleetwood/n2n page you are editing? (It looks like the N2n Communications article you started initially got speedily deleted, and you are editing it in your userspace now.) See WP:BFAQ, if you haven't already. To get your references in shape, see: WP:FOOT, WP:CITE, and WP:CITET. --Teratornis (talk) 20:40, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If your background is in Public relations, you may wish to read the following in addition to the links we gave above:

WP:COI
WP:PEACOCK
Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2007-02-05/Astroturfing Wikipedia
and of course WP:NPOV which everyone who edits on Wikipedia must understand.

--Teratornis (talk) 21:06, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Adding an article in list of languages in which it is available

Hello, I have written an article on User(Computing) in Hindi in which it was not available. But now after finishing it, when I open User(Computing) article in another language say English or German, it must show Hindi(हिन्दी) in the list of languages in which this article is available as it shows some other languages on the left hand side. But it is not showing Hindi(हिन्दी) in the list of languages. How to add the new language in the list or it gets added automaically. The link is this: http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Username It is showing some 15-16 languages in which this article is also available but not Hindi. Please tell me hoe to do so. Thank You Rohit Rawat —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.177.74.251 (talk) 06:38, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Add [[hi:hindi title]] among the Wikipedia:interlanguage links at the bottom of the article. —teb728 t c 06:48, 12 February 2009 (UTC) Another way is to add interlanguage links like [[en:User (computing)]] at the bottom of your Hindi article. If I understand correctly, a bot will notice the change and insert a back link in the English article. —teb728 t c 07:06, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How do I edit the page for "Iron"?

I am an expert in the field of iron in non-heme iron containing enzymes. I would like to include a class of enzymes (arguably the most ubiquitous and important) on the iron page under its list of biological functions.

But there is no option for me to "edit this page" on this particular page. I am, however, able to edit many other pages. Is there a reason I cannot edit the page for iron? Can I gain access to the "iron" page for editing?

Thanks! Bkbutler83 (talk) 06:41, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Iron is semiprotected, which means that it can be edited only by editors who are WP:autoconfirmed. This is to prevent vandalism by anonymous and new editors. You will be autoconfirmed four days after you created your username and when you have ten edits. In the meantime you can suggest changes on the article talk page, Talk:Iron. —teb728 t c 06:55, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Since you are an expert, I should perhaps point out that Wikipedia does not publish original research: Anything you put in an article must have been published elsewhere first. —teb728 t c 07:11, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)::Hi Bkbutler83, The page Iron is currently semi-protected. That only means that un-registered users (those who haven't signed up with a user name such as you have) aren't able to edit the article. After you've made several edits, and you've been here for 4 days or more - you will be able to edit the article. It's called "autoconfirmed" and you can read about it here. I've also added a welcome template to your talk page. The bottom line is that after 4 days, and after you've made 10 edits - you will be able to add to the iron article. Welcome to Wikipedia, and cheers my friend. — Ched (talk) 07:09, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Rollbacks with Twinkle

I've been using Twinkle for rollbacks for a while now. For the last several days it hasn't been working for me. When I click it, it stops working at the message "Reverting page: data loaded..." It never goes further. Does anyone have any ideas what might be up? Monkey Bounce (talk) 07:07, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's probably related to the Wikipedia server, which sometimes hiccups and causes a general slowdown for everything. Gary King (talk) 07:21, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Syntax problem - ref after RTL foreign language place name

To the page Działoszyn, I just added the place name in two languages, German and Yiddish (the latter being RTL), with a web citation enclosed in a pair of '''<ref></ref>''' HTML tags. I didn't succeed in getting the web ref to display properly: please assist and advise. -- Thanks, Deborahjay (talk) 09:34, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The ref does display properly in the References section. If you want the ref to be displayed as in this article, use Template:Cite web. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 12:27, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the template – but apparently I didn't explain my problem: the disordered appearance of the bracketed number after the languages (not the display under the References heading, which also could be improved ;-) -- Deborahjay (talk) 14:16, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I see what you are talking about, but I have no idea what would cause that. I've tried using the {{cite web}}, but that does not help. The issue appears to be the Yiddish language template, as the reference displays correctly when it is removed. TN X Man 14:23, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Adding an LTR character fixed it. Algebraist 14:39, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How to send a file to a mail id

Hi I have a doubt regarding how to send a page to an email id. Can you help me? Its very urgent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.147.235.52 (talk) 13:29, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If I understand your meaning, you should be able to copy and paste the web address into the email you wish to send. Is this what you were referring to? TN X Man 13:56, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting a wikipedia entry I have just created

I have recently created a Wikipedia biographical entry on Dovey Johnson Roundtree which has been tagged as needed internal citations. I contemplate a much more extensive entry at this point and would like to delete the present entry and then rework it and repost it as an entirely new entry. (Yes, I know this is precisely why you encourage folks to use the sandbox, etc. till they've worked these things out. Apologies on this.) Please let me know the procedure, if there is one, for deleting my own entry. I had not realized how extensive the requirements are for biographical entries on Wikipedia and would prefer to start from scratch and delete existing entry in meantime. Thank you for your help. Megavoice (talk) 14:01, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There is no reason to delete it. It appear to be a valid topic. Please do not confuse Wikipedia with a journal. The article is not your article. It is the community's article. Others have already begun editing the article and will continue to do so. Hopefully, it will be improved rather quickly. -- kainaw ™ 14:05, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you so much. I appreciate your assistance and yes, I will continue to expand and improve it with your assistance, which I believe I may require with the task of inserting the required "persondate" template at the end of the article. Megavoice (talk) 14:13, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have just added a {{Reflist}} template to show the inline references, an information box, and a {{persondata}} template (which will not be visible unless you have he correct code in your css file, or unless in edit mode). – ukexpat (talk) 15:16, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am afraid I may have confused the information box template somehow with the persondata template? I see that a large amount of data is in the info box, creating a huge info box and pushing the text so far down on the page that it has created a configuration problem (when I print out the entry, the second page of text doesn't even show up.) Can you tell me what I did wrong so I can fix this? tahnks Megavoice (talk) 18:11, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I will remove some of the "Known for" stuff just leaving the Keys case as that is the most important I think, and will also take out some of the Charlotte entries. Also, when you print, try using the "Printable version" link in the toolbox on the left-hand side of the page. We can continue discussions on the article's talk page. – ukexpat (talk) 18:27, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Autocomplete

The autocomplete function has stopped working - how can I restore this functionDocinsoton (talk) 15:13, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's turned on at the moment, actually (though it's been off at times recently). Have you ticked 'disable AJAX suggestions' in the 'search' section of your preferences? Algebraist 15:21, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Documented at WP:RFAQ#SEARCH. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 17:03, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Deleting a redirect

Resolved

– TN X Man 22:05, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Where do I talk to administrators to get them to delete a redirect? I am attempting to separate the redirect Alex Haley's Queen from the Queen: The Story of an American Familyarticle. The latter is the novel and the former is the film. I am working on an article for the film (User:RivkaRebecca/Alex_Haley's_Queen). Thanks in advance, Rivka (talk) 16:20, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Follow the instructions at WP:RFD#How to list a redirect for discussion. Deor (talk) 16:32, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You don't need to delete it if you are planning on turning it into an article. Go back to the top of the article and click on the link at (Redirected from Alex Haley's Queen)— this will allow you to edit the redirect page. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 16:35, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It worked! Thank you!! Rivka (talk) 21:49, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Taxes

What would be the percentage of taxes I would have to pay on a lottery winning of $2,500.00? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.216.166.126 (talk) 17:26, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

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 is what this Help Desk is for). Just follow the link, select the relevant section, and ask away. I hope this helps. TN X Man 17:27, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

But we cannot give financial, tax or legal advice. – ukexpat (talk) 18:30, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

And you did not tell us where you live, or where you won the lottery. Hopefully you will mention those details to your accountant. If you're looking for something worthwhile to do with the winnings, may I suggest foundation:Donate. --Teratornis (talk) 19:50, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Edit

How do you edit a locked page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.99.78.34 (talk) 17:34, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The short answer is "you can't". The long answer is: if it's semi-protected, you have to have an autoconfirmed account to edit it; if it's fully protected, you have to be an admin to edit it. You can place the {{editprotected}} template on the talk page, along with the change you want to make, and someone will come along and verify that it's a good change. Cheers, Hermione1980 17:53, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

And see WP:PROT. --Teratornis (talk) 20:57, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Cats on Commons files?

Is it possible to put Wikipedia categories on files from WikiMedia Commons and, if so, how? Thanks. -Drilnoth (talk) 18:27, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Go to the file's page on Commons and edit to add the categories as you would with a Wikipedia article. The HotCats gadget, which you can enable in the Gadgets section of your Commons Preferences makes the job much easier. If you need assistance, the Commons help desk should be able to help you out. – ukexpat (talk) 18:34, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, thanks. So the file will still work normally on Wikipedia? I didn't know that. -Drilnoth (talk) 19:04, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yes a file on Commons, like one of mine thumbnailed on the right, is linked in just the same way as those on Wikpedia. – ukexpat (talk) 19:37, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Do you mean categories at Commons, or categories here in the English Wikipedia? Just to clarify, the answer above is about adding categories at Commons. -- Rick Block (talk) 19:48, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

... to be in a category here, like anything under Category:Wikipedia images, the category is added to a local description file for the image. Images on Commons may or may not have local description files. In either case, when you click on the image you'll be at the local description file. To add it to a category here, either edit the page you arrive at and add the category or click "create this page" and add the category. The image above currently has no local description file, while File:050817-N-3488C-028.jpg is a Commons image with a local description file if you want to see the difference. -- Rick Block (talk) 19:58, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

For more information about categories in the English Wikipedia and on Wikimedia Commons, see the entries in their respective Editor's indices:

Note that there is often not a one-to-one mapping of categories between Wikipedia and Commons. In some cases this might not be easy to "fix", that is, the category structures may be different because someone specifically wants them to be different. Also note that if your file is on Commons, it is not actually "on" Wikipedia - it only appears to be. The category structures of the two sites are completely invisible to each other. That is, categorizing a file on Commons has no effect on how it is categorized on Wikipedia, and vice versa. The categories on Commons exist for the convenience of Commons users, and the categories on Wikipedia exist for the convenience of Wikipedia users. Image categories are (probably) not very interesting to people who only read Wikipedia. Image categories are more useful for editors who keep track of images and put images in articles. --Teratornis (talk) 20:01, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry; what I was asking was, if an image is being used on Wikipedia but actually located on Commons, can Wikipedia categories be added to the Wikipedia display page of the image so that it appears appropriately? I think I've seen this before... File:Barnstar-atom3.png is categorized on Wikipedia into Category:Images of Wikipedia barnstars, even though the image itself is on Commons. When I click "edit this page," the current Wikipedia page contains only the category on it, with the rest of the page coming from Commons. Thanks; is it OK to put Wikipedia cats on Commons images in this way, or is that generally discouraged? I just think that it could help with some... well... categorization. :) -Drilnoth (talk) 20:16, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It is possible but I always thought it was discouraged, I also see no benefit for it. An image should be well categorised on commons, since that's where you look for images, not Wikipedia. With some exceptions of course like the barnstars category you mentioned. Garion96 (talk) 20:35, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It's difficult to discuss these things in the abstract. Give some examples of the images and categories you have in mind, and someone can comment on whether Commons needs those categories, or whether the equivalent categories already exist on Commons under some other names. In some cases it can make sense to extend the category structure on Commons, but even when there is a direct correspondence between categories on Wikipedia and Commons, the category names often differ. Frequently an image category on Wikipedia will have a name starting with "Images of ...", whereas on Commons it's understood that most of the content consists of images so they don't usually say "Images of...". Categories on Wikipedia can also categorize articles, whereas on Commons the site mostly consists of images and other media files. Commons doesn't really have articles, but it has gallery pages in its "article" space. --Teratornis (talk) 20:50, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

One example is Category:Images of Wikipedia barnstars. It's very Wikipedia-specific, so would Commons want such a category? -Drilnoth (talk) 21:23, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

How do I see when my account was created

Resolved

– TN X Man 21:46, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hello I would like to find out the exact date and time my account was created; how do I do this? L07ChLeo3 21:14, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Here. Algebraist 21:16, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Ok thank you L07ChLeo3 21:22, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Grammar

I have a problem with an anonymous user editing Gerard Piqué's article to change his playing position from "Centre back" to "Centre Back". Obviously, this is only a grammatical issue ("back" should not be capitalised as it is not a proper noun), so it seems petty to take this to WP:AIV or WP:3RR. What should I do? – Pee Jay 23:11, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I would first make absolutely sure you're in the right — I had a similar problem a ways back, and it turns out that I was wrong. Next, try engaging with the user on his/her talk page. An explanation in an edit summary, instead of a plain reversion, would also go far. If the user persists in reverting after that, take it to 3RR. Hermione1980 23:15, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am absolutely sure that I am right. I have plenty of experience editing articles related to association football. I just don't know how to deal with editors who persist with making grammatical errors. Cheers for the tip :-) – Pee Jay 23:19, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Don't forget that 3RR applies to you as much as to the other editor. —teb728 t c 02:02, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Also, WP:3RR and WP:EDITWAR do NOT contain exceptions for being "right", even "absolutely right" even the sort of "I've been here longer editing these kinds of articles for many years so I get the right to be more right than you are right". What will make you right is to file for dispute resolution methods, such as third opinion or request for comments. If many other neutral editors come out in support of your version, you have the weight of consensus on your side. If its just you enforcing the "right" version, its edit warring plain and simple. But before you even try dispute resolution, you should try polite conversation. It actually works most of the time. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 02:24, 13 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]