Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2011 May 2

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May 2

Measurement conversion

I can't seem to find a feature that I remember surely existing. Isn't there a template (or series of templates) in which you can type a measurement (weight, length, whatever), and the reader sees metric or imperial, depending on their user preferences? I've searched and searched, with no hint of where this might be. -- Zanimum (talk) 02:38, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

I think {{Convert}} is what you are looking for, though it doesn't provide the ability to change what users see based on their preferences. Rather, it allows a value to be given followed by a hardcoded conversion of that value to units of a measurement you specify.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 02:48, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Awesome, thanks Fuhghettaboutit! Exactly what I was looking for, albeit slightly different than I remembered. -- Zanimum (talk) 13:18, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

You're most welcome.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:32, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Adding a new page?

I know it's probably a stupid question, but how do you add a new page? I found something was missing, and wanted to make that page. How? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Diassie (talk • contribs) 07:44, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

A Wizard is available to walk you through these steps. See the Article Wizard.

Thank you.

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 with which all articles should comply. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite 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 Wikipedia:Your first article. You might also look at 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. An Article Wizard is also available to walk you through creating an article. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 08:06, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

The Shoes (French group): disambiguation

Hello! There is a French indie-pop and melodic electro-pop duo with the name The Shoes. I'm new here and for the time-being, i don't know how to write a good quality article about this group from Rheims. --78.123.94.187 (talk) 13:11, 2 May 2011 (UTC) (it was 78.123.91.16, but i can't do nothing about this for the moment. Our connection should be repaired tomorrow, i think, then i'll register

References

Please read the advice aqbout creating an article in reply to the previous question. It looks as if "The Shoes" may indeed be notable by Wikipedia's criteria - check at WP:BAND. Note that probably none of the references you supplied are acceptable for a Wikipedia article; but some of the individual newspapers features in the first reference will be acceptable. Note that you will probably need to call the article "The Shoes (band)" or perhaps "The Shoes (French band)" and either add a hatnote to the existing article Shoes (band), or perhaps create a disambiguation page. --ColinFine (talk) 14:26, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

I changed the title to "disambiguation" although disamgiguation is an almighty pun for a band disambiguation request. I am a "Made in Britain"™ national and live in France, I would also like to do some French band articles in English, maybe I can help?

Oh and by the way, do you have anything to do with the band, are you their manager, a groupie or part of the drumkit? Captain Screebo (talk) 22:03, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Editing a semiprotected page

Hi,

I've spent half an hour or so cruising the site, but I still can't find out how to edit a semi-protected page. I want to correct a grammatical error in the Platypus article (author uses "may" in error for "might" ).

I have set up my account, as user PureFlaxOil, but to no avail.

No rush - I know you are busy! - look forward to hearing from you whenever.

Cheers, Ian —Preceding unsigned comment added by PureFlaxOil (talk • contribs) 13:36, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

There are 2 ways to edit the page. One is for you to become autoconfirmed. That takes you making at least 10 edits and waiting a minimum of 4 days. The other is to go to the talk page of the article, Talk:Platypus, and and add {{editsemiprotected}} and then explain exactly what needs to be changed. You could also post it here and I can take care of it for you. GB fan (talk) 13:43, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

I've made the change that I think you were recommending. You will soon be autoconfirmed and able to make such corrections yourself. Dbfirs 16:25, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Adding to Polonium

How do I insert text, eg from a Word file?91.85.179.111 (talk) 14:22, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

You would have to click on "edit" tab at the very top of the article. If you're going to add a large amount of text, you may want to discuss the change first on the article's talk page. TNXMan 14:26, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

And you would have to copy and paste the text from the Word file. Wikipedia has no way of accepting it directly. --ColinFine (talk) 14:41, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

There is also some tool available, see Help:WordToWiki. I have no experience with this tool however and don't know how well it works. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 15:44, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Est.Profit / Loss Projections for Business plan

I was told to visit this web-site to find info on est. profit and loss projections for business plan on my trucking co. Al info is to be estimated for next 3 years can you help me with figures. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.167.254 (talk) 18:06, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Need estimated figures on filling out a est. profit/loss projection worksheet for my trucking co for a business plan —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.194.167.254 (talk) 18:09, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 3.5 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. TNXMan 18:34, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

metadata

Is metadata singular or plural? If plural, then is the singular metadatum? I could not see how to append this to the Discussion tab for the metadata definition. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.76.96.152 (talk) 18:39, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

According to Wiktionary, data is plural. Thus, metadata would also be plural. However, "datum" is not often used and "data" is used interchangeably in the singular and plural. TNXMan 19:00, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

How to handle inherently notable one line stubs?

What exactly is the way to correctly handle unsourced one line stubs of which consensus has determined that they are inherently notable? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 19:26, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Tag it with {{Unreferenced}} and search for sources. BurtAlert (talk) 19:29, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Well, since consensus for the articles in question seems to be that they are inherently notable, this tag doesn't seem to be necessary. I mean, for what do I need to find sources, if the subject is notable anyway per consensus? Is there some kind of tag to mark the subject of an article as inherently notable? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 19:45, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Another question: Is there a template or something for marking an article as inherently notable? I think often this might not be obvious to a reader or an editor who has not done a lot of editing on such articles before. Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 20:08, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Actually, all articles should have references - even stubs. This goes back to the principle of verifiability. I can claim that a (inherently notable) historic building exists in my town, but how does anyone know that it actually exists? TNXMan 20:12, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

In the article in question, consensus in an AfD discussion has determined that the topic is inherently notable, because it is related to another notable topic. I think this should be pointed out to a reader in form of a template or something. What template can I use for such cases? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 20:17, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

While I have less experience, I guess you still need to put on a citation, even it may be redundant.--Samuel di Curtisi di Salvadori 20:19, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

To more effectively illustrate what I am talking about, lets look at an example: Der Teufel sitzt im Spiegel. Per consensus in the AfD discussion for this article it was determined, that this book is inherently notable, because its author has received a Nobel price in literature. Thus it seems sources are not needed for this article. Is there some kind of template or tag to mark such articles in order for a reader to know why this subject inherents its notability? Toshio Yamaguchi (talk) 20:33, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

At least a cite for the fact that Herta Müller wrote that.--Samuel di Curtisi di Salvadori 20:50, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Sources aren't only used to verify that a topic is notable. They are also used to allow our readers to verify that information is true. :) The closest thing we have to a tag indicating a subject is inherently notable is the prior AfD tag at the article's talk page. That's really the only way to test out such things, particularly because consensus can change. What our guidelines mark as notable today may not be notable tomorrow, and vice versa. What the community considers as notable under the guidelines today it may not consider as notable tomorrow. (Notability is not temporary, but our interpretation of notability can be a bit subjective.) If we ever were to have a template, it would probably need to be a talk page template to avoid cluttering up the article, I should think, and it would probably need to have a field to explain under what criterion the article is believed to be notable. If you're interested in making one, you might fly it at WP:VPR and see how it's received. The important thing is that we not say anything in the template that might discourage improvement of the article or challenges to it. Just because I think it's inherently notable doesn't mean the community will agree. :) (Meanwhile, I'm going to add a bit to that article. :D) --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 10:55, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

"Thus it seems sources are not needed for this article." — I think you're missing the point of notability... it's only good for determining inclusion. Once an article has passed notability, then it still needs sources showing where the information on the page comes from. This is to give attribution and to show the content is not original research. A talk page notice would be relevant for deterring future nominations for deletion on the basis of notability, but it doesn't have anything to do with sourcing. — Bility (talk) 00:01, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

jobs

May i please know what jobs are available in wikipedia... —Preceding unsigned comment added by N mohith (talk • contribs) 19:37, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

If you are referring to paid jobs, as far as I know there are none. Everyone here is a volunteer. doomgaze (talk) 19:42, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Actually, there are a few. :) See wmf:Job openings. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 19:52, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Article consolidation: Nominating a move and a merge in the same time

This is from a person who have re-started editing here after a 2-year hiatus.

So I found two articles (let it be called A and B now) that should be merged under the Contest criteria in WP:MERGE. However, in my opinion, after the merger the merged article should be immediately moved to a name which is currently redirected to one of the two articles(A1). So, the entire request can be done two ways:

1. Request B to be merged into A(or vice versa), then request the merged page to move to A1. These two requested would be made in the same time, and would be dependent on each other.
2. Request both A and B to be moved to A1.

Which would be the preferable way to make this request?--Samuel di Curtisi di Salvadori 19:59, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Are you talking about a regular ol' merge or a history merge? If you mean a history merge, I'd suggest you take option 1. There is a chance that you will gravely confuse the admin who follows up if you take option 2. If you're talking about a content merge, I'd suggest moving article A to A1 and then merging article B to it in its new location. An admin does not need to help you with a content merge, and it will be easier to keep track of attribution if you move the article first. (Be sure to review Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia. :)) --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 20:27, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for the answer. There's another question on the logistics: since this is a simple content merge, I take it that you recommend option 2. In that case, I would require a move from A to A1 on the condition that B would be merged to A1 after the move. How should I do this?--Samuel di Curtisi di Salvadori 20:48, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Well, it depends on whether you think there's any chance that the merge will be contentious. If you think there's any chance whatsoever, you should first initiate a merge discussion at the talk page of one of the articles (the whole procedure is explained at Help:Merge, of course) and then wait to see if anybody objects. If not, feel free to drop by my userpage. I have tools and will use them to help out where needed. :) I can move the article for you, and then you can merge away. If somebody objects after the fact, I can also use my tools to help put things back as they were while the situation is resolved. --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 10:46, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

extreme home make over

I was watching one of your shows,the family did considerble help for people with chiari. I have been searching for just a family, I also have chiari. As well as my son. if you can help me locate that family, I would be grateful. thank-you very much. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.251.234.24 (talk) 20:01, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

I'm so sorry, but we're not connected with that show. We are Wikipedia. We provide articles about many subjects, including that one. You may wish to use a search engine or other resource to locate the appropriate contact address. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Good luck! --Moonriddengirl ^(talk) 20:05, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Asseting regional identity

Need help regarding classifing rabbis who lived in Palestine. An editor is demanding that in order for me to call such a rabbi "Palestinian" it is not enough that the RS states that he was born, lived and died in Palestine and was said to have flourished in Palestine. I need to find a source which specificly uses ther term "Palestinian" in describing him, which I find rather irrational. The mere fact that a person has spent his whole life there surely is enight to designate him Palestinian? Or is it? Chesdovi (talk) 20:35, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Isn't this against your topic ban? --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 20:37, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Dunno. where r the rules? Chesdovi (talk) 21:32, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

On your talk page, where it says "Debresser and Chesdovi are both topic banned from Israeli / Palestinian topic areas for 72 hrs due to disruptive editing and edit warring, with a healthy dose of personal attacks and incivility thrown in. This sanction is enacted under the Arbcom case sanctions and will be so logged. Please DO NOT CONTINUE this behavior after the 72 hr ban is over. Georgewilliamherbert (talk) 03:19, 2 May 2011 (UTC)". Those are the rules. --Jayron32 22:11, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Oh, I was looking forward to a response about Palestinian rabbis. That message did not direct me the the relevant rules of the topic ban, but I since have come accross them. It seems that discussion on talk pages and the like are permitted. Chesdovi (talk) 22:58, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Per WP:TOPICBAN that seems to be correct. But please do not go forumshopping here. The discussion is a fierce one, and it is not about sources, but about whether a Jew living in e.g. Jeruslaem of say 1850 for a few years of his life should be called a "Palestinian rabbi". That is being discussed elsewhere. Debresser (talk) 10:18, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Not it's not. This dispute, with SD, is different, as detailed in the first post here. Chesdovi (talk) 11:21, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Either way, the Help Desk is not for general questions, it is for questions related to editing Wikipedia. You're better off asking at the reference desk.--Obsidi♠n^Soul 12:27, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

I have the references. I need to know how to apply them. Chesdovi (talk) 12:38, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Nah, it's for general questions. I don't think they will deal with content disputes as well though, but they might help gather other information that might help both of you reach a decision. Help desk can really only help with things like editing, policy questions, formatting, stuff like that. Whatever our opinions are here, if we give them, it would technically become forumshopping and you would technically be canvassing. It's better to try and reach a compromise with the editor you disagreed with or take it up to the actual wikiprojects the article's scope falls under. Otherwise, the topic ban would be useless and that is its primary purpose. That you two cool down a bit, examine both sides, maybe even talk a bit or apologize or something, and come to an agreement or at least a compromise. It is not a lull to gather more weapons.--Obsidi♠n^Soul 13:24, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

I see. Thanks for advice. Have left posts elsewhere. Best, Chesdovi (talk) 15:11, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Ralph Machio (actor USA)

I have been trying to edit the information in the "early Life" section for this actor. My addition of information about R. Machio high school years has beeen deleted three times. I added references to the high school publications documenting this information, a school newspaper and a school yearbook. Why is my addition of new inofrmation not staying on the page? I believe this information is acurate and valuable to this page. Please Reply, Thanks, S. Cooper —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.230.103.229 (talk) 22:10, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

If you pick the 'History' tab at the top of Ralph Macchio, you can see that your additions were reverted by User:Bbb23, with the following edit comments:

• IMDb not reliable for biographical info
• unsourced
• please take to Talk page to discuss new material and sources

I guess that Bbb23 doesn't regard those school publications as reliable sources, but I don't know. I suggest you follow his suggestion and start a discussion on the talk page. --ColinFine (talk) 22:28, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

It was more complex than that. The last change was made by a newly registered editor, User:Shcoop. I even went to the trouble to leave a Welcome message on Shcoop's Talk page AND a specific note about Macchio in which I said that I reverted "but not necessarily because it's inappropriate or can't go back in".

As for the reliable source issue, though, what Shcoop cited to did create a problem for me, and I don't know if it's been addressed before. A central issue on whether a source is reliable is whether it's verifiable. WP:SOURCEACCESS states that it doesn't have to be easily verifiable, but I'm not sure how to verify a school source from many years ago (say a yearbook) if it can't be accessed at all except through a copy owned by an individual. I wasn't actually going to keep the material out based on that, but does anyone here have any thoughts on that? I supposed I should ask on WP:RSN, but if anyone wants to comment here, they're welcome.--Bbb23 (talk) 00:53, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

I was able to hunt down and download a scanned copy of another publication from here: http://issuu.com/longislandernewspapers/docs/hhh_060310 The information can be verified, even though access is somewhat restricted (being fundamentally an offline source), I think it's safe to accept it.

Full citation is here:

• Danny Schrafel (June 3, 2010). "Huntington Gets Its Close-Up: WLIW21 documentary celebrating town's historic treasures premieres on June 7". The Half Hollow Hills Newspaper. 13 (14). Long Island Newspapers, LLC: A4. Retrieved May 3, 2011.

• {{cite journal|author=Danny Schrafel|date=June 3, 2010|title=Huntington Gets Its Close-Up: WLIW21 documentary celebrating town’s historic treasures premieres on June 7|journal=The Half Hollow Hills Newspaper|volume=13|issue=14|pages=A4|publisher=Long Island Newspapers, LLC|url=http://issuu.com/longislandernewspapers/docs/hhh_060310|accessdate= May 3, 2011}}

There is also apparently a documentary where he talked about his early life entitled "Hometown Huntington" by WLIW TV. Here: http://www.wliw.org/productions/heritage/hometown-huntington/692/

I would recommend that the edits be accepted. Nothing potentially libelous about it and seems to be attestable enough to AGF.--Obsidi♠n^Soul 12:53, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

FYI: Bbb23 asked about the acceptability for yearbooks on WP:RSN, and Collect's answer was: With the exception of signed articles which are attributed to a known person, material relating to anticipated graduating class (as such information is unlikely to be otherwise in any non-yearbook source other than self-published ones) etc. Not generally usable for "facts" and nonusable for opinions.--Samuel di Curtisi di Salvadori 13:09, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Actually, there were several comments, Collect's being one. You can read the thread here.--Bbb23 (talk) 00:42, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Note: above source given is not a yearbook, it's a newspaper. It verifies that he indeed went to that school and grew up in the area. It does not, however, confirm that he took part in those plays. The documentary might help with that, but I have no access to it. Point is, they are accessible to the general public, if not easily.--Obsidi♠n^Soul 15:39, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

I can't read the image of the newspaper (way too small), but I would accept an editor's representation as to a newspaper source if it's cited properly. However, I still see no support for the play issue, and I don't see how the school publications are accessible to the general public.--Bbb23 (talk) 00:47, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Yep, the plays mentioned aren't supported, his being born there and having gone to the school is implied clearly enough though. Ironically the picture used is from the yearbook. I don't know if I can send you the pdf (as it's copyrighted), but you can actually download it by registering. I can give you a screenshot here though if you want: click.--Obsidi♠n^Soul 11:51, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

Editing a list

I want to add our ERP software to the list of ERP packages. I can click on edit and see the list, but even when I add the special characters I see in front of the existing packages, my package doesn't join the list properly. I am new to Wikipedia. Do I read correctly that I have to add an article about the company to be able to add to this list? 23:08, 2 May 2011 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Athiercelin (talk • contribs)

You say you want to add "our" software to the list? Please read the FAQs for organizations. Anyway, if you are trying to edit List of ERP software packages, copy

|-

| Adempiere || Java || GPL || started as a fork of Compiere || Spain

|-

into the list where your software is alphabetically and replace the information with your software's info. BurtAlert (talk) 23:15, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

Yes, only software with articles can be put onto our List of ERP software packages. You are, however, discouraged from writing your own article; please read our policy on conflicts of interest. Also bear in mind that WIkipedia is an encyclopedia, and as such only topics that have received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject can be covered. If you still feel that your software is notable enough for inclusion, you can read Wikipedia:Your first article. doomgaze (talk) 23:23, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

When I look at the existing list, the company names have a link to information about the company. Is that considered an article? If I can't put in company info, how does it get listed for all those companies?Athiercelin (talk) 23:53, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

It gets included by other editors who believe that the subject is notable, and can be appropriately referenced. - David Biddulph (talk) 13:17, 3 May 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not the place for business listings. Encyclopedia articles about notable subjects get created by volunteer editors. When you went to edit the list, you would have noticed right at the very top a comment that says: "...Please do not add web links or products which do not have Wikipedia articles" That suggests to me that non-notable products will be quickly removed. The general rule is to first create the article about the notable subject, then add it to a list if a suitable list exists. Astronaut (talk) 11:55, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

trouble geting my book edits to "stick"

Hope you can help. I created, and saved a book called Particle Physics Final. the problem is when I call up that file and rearrange the article, add a chapter title, and then save the file under the same name, I find that the changes I made were not saved. Wh would that be?

As a work around, I saved my book with changes under a different file name. Sometimes my changes get saved, sometimes not.

I can't figure this out. I'm using the same process to save my book, but I don't get the same results.

Can you help me with this?

thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zangobob (talk • contribs) 23:16, 2 May 2011 (UTC)

According to the page history, in the latest edit you deleted the page contents. As for edits not being saved, is it possible you are forgetting to click the "Save Page" button? - it is very easy to do especially if you already have a preview on the screen. I am of course assuming you are using Wikipedia's own editor to edit the page, rather then some external editor configured in your preferences. Astronaut (talk) 11:52, 4 May 2011 (UTC)