Help desk
< May 9	<< Apr \| May \| Jun >>	May 11 >

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.

May 10[edit]

New to your website[edit]

Goodmorning.

I am from Government Belaurus (Беларусь гатова ствараць) and I have job for Belaurus Government as editor for English branch of Wikipedia. This is my notification for you and general public. Many thank you and brave day. --Shuvuhikovsky (talk) 00:22, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Shuvuhikovsky, and welcome to Wikipedia. Just a quick note, you may want to read over our conflict of interest guideline before you start editing. Cheers and best of luck. — Ched : ? 01:59, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, you are very welcome to edit as an individual. But in general Wikipedia does not want what governments (or any other organisations) want to say about themselves: we want what other (reliable, published) sources have said about them.

How may I submit articles, etc written about me...[edit]

Hello -

I'm attempting to put myself on Wikipedia and understand you must prove your notability. I'm an actor, producer and writer in Los Angeles and do have links to articles, radio shows, etc about me. How may I submit these, and to whom?

To cut down on back and forth correspondence, I will provide some links to articles/interviews here in the event this can be approved here.

http://melissadilan.blogspot.com/2011/05/exclusive-interview-with-gregor-collins.html?spref=fb (article)

http://www.theentertainmentcorner.com/2010/09/gregor-collins-its-all-about-journey.html (article)

http://filmcourage.podbean.com/2010/06/14/filmmaker-arin-crumley-producer-richard-jacob-actor-gregor-collins-on-film-courage-ep-62/ (radio int.)

http://www.rexsikes.com/Rex_Sikes_Movie_Beat/Interviews/Entries/2009/12/1_Gregor_Collins___Actor___Producer.html (radio int.)

Thanks!

Gregorcollins (talk) 01:23, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Gregor, and welcome to Wikipedia. Just a quick note, you may want to read over our conflict of interest guideline before you start creating an article on yourself. It's usually a better practice to allow others to create an article about yourself than to attempt to do so on your own. One possible solution is to list your request at Wikipedia:Requested articles. Cheers and best of luck. — Ched : ? 01:56, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In fact, you should read the article WP:Autobiography. --ColinFine (talk) 18:53, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

2 Things I need to discuss[edit]

1. Could someone write a summary for The_Saturday_Big_Tent_Wedding_Party by Alexander_McCall_Smith? This summary from this website should be a help: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/alexander-mccall-smith/saturday-big-tent-wedding-party.htm 2. Is Eli Wallach of Polish-Jewish descent? This website says so: http://www.nndb.com/people/735/000022669/ Would that website be a good enough reason to put Wallach under the Category:American_people_of_Polish-Jewish_descent? Neptunekh2 (talk) 01:33, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

maybe it is better if you discuss this on the talkpages of these articles. mabdul 12:04, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Putting a photograph online[edit]

Hello. If I take a photograph for an article, how am I able to put it online? Thank you. And Adoil Descended (talk) 02:07, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

See WP:UPLOAD. Dismas|^(talk) 02:42, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Request an Article?[edit]

Is it possible to request an article and where would I do that? I want to request and/or make myself a list of nations according to their proven iron reserves (I haven't found the statistical data for this yet). Such a page does not exist yet and I could have sworn I've seen links around Wikipedia saying you can make a request for things like that. DrZygote214 (talk) 02:20, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Initially, decide if the subject is reliably sourced and notable. If it is, you can either create the article yourself with the article wizard or request it. To request an article, go to Wikipedia:Requested Articles, specifically the list of topics in the natural sciences, and select the matching field. Once there, add the title of the article you're requesting, along with a short description if necessary. For example, your entry on the list might look like this:

List of nations by proven iron reserves or * [[List of nations by proven iron reserves]] (without the nowiki tags).

I hope this helps. Meph^talk 02:35, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Enormous white space[edit]

I found large area of white space in "ICP0" page. Is there any one who knows how to fix it?

Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ajaxxer (talk • contribs) 05:08, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed it for now, although I think something else on the page is causing it. I'll look into it. — Bility (talk) 05:22, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, fixed it for real this time. It was a combination of a floating table and a missing semi-colon that created a huge left margin, almost all the way across the page. — Bility (talk) 05:29, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Highlighter search field[edit]

Is it possible to make the search field in the wikipedia main page highlighted?

It would be like in Google main page, where you can just start typing when you enter there. It's a pain in the butt to always reach for your mouse and click the search field when you wanna just get going. This feature would further improve the ease of use of Wikipedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.50.134.110 (talk) 05:51, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, there are various ways to achieve this. Have a look here. -- John of Reading (talk) 05:58, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

John's link didn't work for me, try this one - Main Page FAQ. CaptRik (talk) 11:24, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, my mistake. -- John of Reading (talk) 11:32, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Alternative click tab and you got there too. mabdul 11:51, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Protected FrontPage page[edit]

Hello,

why is Microsoft FrontPage protected? I wanted to correct the missing references tag, and it seems like it's protected, altough it is not visibly marked as such.

Also, the history of the article doesn't show too much vandalism

Sorry I am asking here, but I always forget the procedures for protecting/unprotecting. --78.128.179.22 (talk) 06:33, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The "logs" shows that the page has never been protected, so you could have fixed it as far as I can see. I've restored the sections that were blanked yesterday. I've seen reports that a software glitch sometimes displays "View source" instead of "Edit" when the page is not protected. If this seems to be happening for you, try clicking "View source" anyway and you may find that you can edit the page after all.

To ask for a protected page to be unprotected, go to WP:RFPP; or you can request that a specific edit be made for you by using {{edit semi-protected}} or {{edit protected}} on the talk page. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:34, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

OK, that was it. BTW, the same bug happened to me here right now - I still see just "View Source" on this page, and I don't see those [edit] links here (on this very page).

Thanks for helping! --78.128.178.223 (talk) 05:49, 12 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

JS/Exploit.JavaDepKit.A Trojan on the Computing Reference Desk?[edit]

I was trying to browse the Computing Reference Desk on my work computer, but the anti-virus software prevented access to it, saying there was a "JS/Exploit JavaDepKit.A Trojan". What has happened? 194.100.223.164 (talk) 10:31, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

One of the threads there was discussing some bad JavaScript. It wasn't "live" JavaScript and couldn't have been run, but I can see how it might have confused an anti-virus program. I have removed the JavaScript from the thread. Does that improve things for you? -- John of Reading (talk) 11:09, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia loading abnormally slow[edit]

I am a regular reader of Wikipedia.I have a broadband connection and normally it takes seconds to load any Wikipedia article page in my web browser. However today I find that although websites like google are taking seconds to load Wikipedia and other Wikimedia sites are taking are taking several minutes to load.What is the reason and what is the remedy.Ichgab (talk) 11:18, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I have the same problem. It seems to work properly if you Stop the load then reload the same link. Works on the 2nd or 3rd try most of the time but still rather slow. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.204.75.226 (talk) 11:51, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is still a bit slow on May 12. At least it is not as slow as it was on May 10. Bye Starionwolf (talk) 18:31, 12 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

transferring images from another language WP to this one[edit]

Hi,

I'm v. new here and have visited Hugo van der Goes but found that it has far fewer images than its Dutch counterpart. I tried to copy-paste the table, but the images themselves didn't come through. Could you advise me on what to do?

Thanks. Tinpotgeneral (talk) 11:58, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This should have worked, since the images are at Wikimedia Commons, which is shared by all the different-language Wikipedias. Did you change the Dutch "Bestand:" prefix into the English "File:" prefix? -- John of Reading (talk) 12:04, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You should be able to copy the wiki markup from the Dutch page into the English page and change "Bestand:" into "File:" like John says above. Of course, you would then have to translate the column headers, picture titles (but not their files names!), and so on. I started with this;

{| class="wikitable"
! '''Afbeelding'''
! '''Titel'''
! '''Datering'''
! '''Techniek'''
! '''Afmetingen'''
! '''Museum'''
|-
|[[File:Hugo van der goes monforte altarpiece detail 01.jpg|100px]]
|''Het Monforte-retabel''
|ca. 1470
|olieverf op paneel
|147x242 cm + 9x76,3 cm
|[[Gemäldegalerie (Berlijn)|Gemäldegalerie, Berlijn]]
|-
|[[File:Hugo van der Goes 010.jpg|100px]]
|''Dood van de Heilige Maagd''
|ca. 1470
|olieverf op paneel
|147,8 x 122,5 cm
|[[Groeningemuseum|Groeningemuseum, Brugge]]
|}

...and the images displayed correctly. It might be a good idea to check out other artist's articles to see if this kind of table is a commonly used feature here on the English Wikipedia. Astronaut (talk) 13:04, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

calls & messages history[edit]

hi, I would like to know after having cleared all calls history & massages on my phone nokia e71, is possible retrieve them. is there another location on my where i can have these information about receive,dial,miss call & messagers.

thanks for a prompt reply.

K pillay —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pillayk (talk • contribs) 14:40, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:03, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

script help plz[edit]

hi plz can anyone decode my boyfriend is driving me crazy being so sneaky plz help x —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.237.186.158 (talk) 14:40, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

If you need help with a computing problem, you could try the Computing Reference Desk. The volunteers there will try to answer your question, but you will have to give them much more detail first. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:06, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Creating a new page[edit]

Hello. My name is Radkris. I have written and published (in India) a new full-length crime fiction novel featuring Sherlock Holmes. I have obtained the necessary trademark licences before hand. However, I saw that I cannot create a page about myself. I should be much obliged if you could help me figure out how to create this page titled 'The Adventure of Black Drop'.

Thank you.

Radkris ig (talk) 14:53, 10 May 2011 (UTC)Radkris.[reply]

Wikipedia doesn't have a page on every book, only those that have attracted enough media or scholarly attention - the guidelines are at WP:NBOOK. It is unlikely that any newly-published work would pass those guidelines. In addition, as you have noted, you have a conflict of interest. I suggest you do nothing; if the book becomes notable, someone will write the article. Good luck with your writing career! -- John of Reading (talk) 15:15, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Creating new stub template[edit]

Resolved

Hello, I was wondering how i would go about creating a stub template for albums from the 2010s? It would have to look like {{Template:2000s-album-stub}}, but with the updated decade of course. Could someone point me in the right direction? Or give me a hand if it's not too time consuming, I've never done any template work and wouldn't even know where to begin! Thanks for any help, doomgaze (talk) 15:55, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You mean this template: {{2010s-album-stub}}? TN X Man 15:59, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Ah thanks, figured it was odd that no-one had made one yet. Thing is it's not on this general bit list of music-related stubs. Cheers, doomgaze (talk) 16:02, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Added it to the list with this edit. doomgaze (talk) 16:05, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Belmont Memorial Cemetary in Fresno, CA[edit]

Can you please add to your list of notable people burid there Paul S. Chaffee (Zoo Director and Veterinarian who they named the Fresno Chaffee Zoo after)? He was buried there in 1990. My husband is his youngest son. Thank you. (I am sure you can confirm he is buried there with their office if need be).. our e-mail is ^{[details removed]} if you need to reach us. thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.242.54.116 (talk) 17:16, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry, but usually these lists of notable people are restricted to those who already have Wikipedia articles. An article about a memorial park would quickly become unwieldy if it attempted to list the names of all those buried there. As is usual for this page, I have removed your email address to protect your privacy. -- John of Reading (talk) 18:08, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Vandal-fighting help request[edit]

Maybe there's a better place for this request, but Wikipedia's loading for me today like a turtle wading through molasses, so I've given up on finding it.. User:96.55.23.26 keeps vandalizing Knossos, and since I can't get the site to load reliably, I could really use some help making sure the page gets cleaned up, the user warned, etc. Please? Anyone? Thanks! -- Avocado (talk) 17:18, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Added page to watchlist, reported user to Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism. Some people eh.... doomgaze (talk) 17:27, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! -- Avocado (talk) 17:42, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

No problem, just had a look and that user's been banned for 60 hours, hopefully they'll get bored by then! doomgaze (talk) 17:44, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Select a different language on mobile site[edit]

When I use Wikipedia, I often read the same topic in different languages. That gives more information in the topic and it helps to find out the truth. However, on the mobile site, there is no language selection. I have to switch to the "regular" version to select a different language. Is there a more convenint way to do that on mobile site. If not, can this feature be added in the mobile site? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.135.173.226 (talk) 17:32, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This is a known issue, already listed at bugzilla (see Bug 19834). There don't seem to be any specific plans for its implementation yet (this might change in the future). If anybody else knows of some concrete plans, please feel free to correct me. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 18:26, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Doing original research[edit]

I am currently translating a foreign video game, and had started a Wikipedia page for it back in 2008. There are currently no online resources related to it (hence why I am making it), and I was wondering if this will be an issue? I will have no references, and the only way to verify the information will be to play the game yourself, but that is why I am doing this.

Rollerfox88 (talk) 19:09, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Notability is the prime issue. What makes the subject notable, if there are no references to validate it? Zakhalesh (talk) 19:23, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Sources are not required to be online. They are, however, required to exist. "Old-fashioned" paper sources, like books, magazines, and newspapers, are perfectly acceptable. See Wikipedia:Offline sources for more information. WhatamIdoing (talk) 04:26, 11 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

New categories[edit]

I'd like to create a category that, right now, it only would have 4 articles in it (although it has potential to have more in the future). Would this be OK, or there is a minimum of articles a category should have before being created? --RR (talk) 19:29, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I reckon with 4 you would pass WP:SMALLCAT, shouldn't be a problem. The potential for future growth is also very much on your side. doomgaze (talk) 19:31, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Question about supposed lack of references[edit]

Hi everybody !

I have recently discovered that there is an article lacking on Wikipedia, about a TV serial, and I decide then to do it. I do first the French version in Wikipedia France, without problems, and then, I will to do it in the English one. Out of the fact I have a little bit struggled to find how to make a new article, and learned a lot, my article was refused by the review because it does not quote so much sources, the rewiever said. The fact is that I have given the reference of the official website (there is not so much informations about it, it remained quite confidential, explaining maybe why there is not article about it until now), and... done the article. As a matter of a fact, I haven't the level (either than the time) to make a really nice wikipedia article, with frames, links in, and so on. On the french version, another people more used with it arranged the things in least than two days, as I was expecting of a "collaborative encyclopaedia". With the same base, my article is refused in English, so I am a little bit wondering just now...

Here's the link : http://www.qudswiki.org/?query=Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Matrioshki_2_-_Three_years_later

Thanks for your help. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.128.94.21 (talk) 21:14, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

(someone else entirely trying to be helpful). The fr-wiki article is fr:Matrioshki 2, and to the best of my ability to tell is identical in content with the proposed version here except including a quote from the synopsis and being entirely unsourced. (of course, the English version could do with some copy-editing). Someone hit the first paragraph with the equivalent of {{wikify}}, but didn't query the lack of sources, the later paragraphs were added afterwards. I don't know whether it's a difference of policy or not. 128.232.241.211 (talk) 21:58, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

You did submit references, but they are not third party (by someone other than the subject discussed) or reliable (IMDB is created by user input and has repeatedly shown to have poor editorial control). Has the Flemish press discussed this tv show in newspapers? Has the show won any awards? Do we already have an article on the director? If you answer these questions, your chances to have the article accepted improve drastically. P.S. The French edition is seperate from the English Wikipedia with their own rules and procedures. Something accepted there, is not neccesarily going to be accepted here. --Mgm|^(talk) 06:55, 11 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your answers. The fact is that the DVD has gone out without press I can read (I personnaly can't dutch), and the impact of the DVD is sitll quite limitated - and the fact the first season was quite unoffially "banned" frm the most of TV, and not supported by european union for funding (subject too much sensible) is surely for something in the discretion of the serial (which is mentionned in the discuss page of the first season in a 2008 comment). Well, I gave the sources I found. I don't know what is really need outer from the official website and IMDB, because the proper of the source is that you give what you have and you can not create something you haven't : the lack of sources is not something pertinent to give a subject away. The other problem with sources is either you quote, either you make a bad copy (or reformulation) of things said about, but... I really have some difficulties (I try to understand) in the logic of sources (or maybe I haven't perfectly understood what wikipedia is calling a "source") : there is no (i think) article about the director, but the fact is if I want to make the article about the director, the article won't be validate because there is no article about the films he made. So, it's quite... circular... If I quote word for word, it's a forbidden plagiarism (written in red in the down part of the article), but if I formulate with my own words from the website, and I resume the subject from the synopsis giving the address of the synopsis, it lack of sources. If a make a translation about the french version I wrote, it looks like a bad translation of mine (well, obviously ;-)), and the fact we haven't a lot of informations about something may mean that his subject does not worth to be on wikipedia, even it exists, and it's attested... so, what will be, after more than 3 millions articles, the article which worth to be in ?

I don't want to offense, and I really apologize if my paragraph seems to, I just try to understand (really).

Thanks for your help ! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.128.1.226 (talk) 14:02, 11 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. A simplified version of what you really need is really just this: A topic is presumed to be notable if it has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject.

Once you can provide that, you have met the most basic criteria for inclusion. Anything else needed after that would usually be minor things that can be fixed.

For help in figuring out if the film itself is notable or not, please see Wikipedia:Notability (films). If the film does not meet the criteria, then I'm sorry but it can not be included (though that may change in the future).

For help in figuring out which sources are good and which sources are 'bad', see Wikipedia:Reliable sources. And here are some quick points:

Sources have to be from outside sources - you can not use Wikipedia as a reference for another Wikipedia article. Also you can actually write an article on the director independent of the film, if he has gotten enough attention elsewhere. Every article on Wikipedia stands alone on its own sources, the absence or presence of other articles related to it does not matter.
You can not use personal knowledge - even if you did see the film. It has to have been published elsewhere (again not on Wikipedia) where other users can read about it and verify that the information you wrote is attested.
They have to be independent - they must not be connected to, published by, or otherwise influenced by the subject of the article. That's the reason why using the film's official website does not help you prove notability.
They have to be reliable - they are not sites with user-generated content like IMDB, blogs, Youtube, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. all of which can be edited by just about anyone and are thus unreliable. Refer to Mgm|^(talk)'s explanation above.
And they must prove the information you have written in the article - You would need to rewrite it in your own words of course. You can still stay true to the meaning without having to copy something word-for-word

Examples of good sources include reviews and articles in newspapers and magazines (offline or online). Note that this excludes press releases because they are prepared by the company itself and thus not independent.--Obsidi♠n^Soul 14:51, 12 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

http://www.qudswiki.org/?query=Kaspersky_Lab[edit]

It states "Kaspersky Labs currently has Jackie Chan as their product spokesman"

I really can't believe this.. surely its made up by someone? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.194.153.39 (talk) 22:28, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There are two sources in the article to confirm the information and google has plenty of hits. It doesn't look like someone made it up. GB fan (talk) 22:35, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) Yes, this is very true, both Google and the Kaspersky website show it (plus, from someone who as seen the actual commercials, it's kinda funny) A p3rson ‽ 22:37, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]