Help desk
< July 31	<< Jul \| August \| Sep >>	August 2 >

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.

August 1

Special:Export limit?

I've been trying to export the contents of a large category (8000 articles) in XML format, so that I can analyze it in AWB. However, whenever I try to do so, I can only get 5000 articles. Is there any way of getting the entire category short of downloading the full database dump?--Danaman5 (talk) 00:50, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No, there's a 5000 limit on just about everything. You should be able to export the category in two parts, though, right? Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 01:40, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

User Name?

What do we do if we can't remember our user name? I just switched computers so it doesn't automatically show up. I don't want to make a new account... -Hannah —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.197.207.119 (talk) 01:48, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you remember any pages you edited while logged in, you could look through their page histories for your username. Algebraist 01:49, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You could also try looking through the user creation log. Calvin 1998 ^(t·c) 03:28, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You might also look into your internet browser's history and check if you can find your userpage in it. --

\xi ri\pi i\vartheta \alpha \xi

09:24, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That won't work if they have switched computers (and the browser software with it) though, unless the properties/preferences have been transferred from the earlier browser. ≈ Chamal ^talk 09:30, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You could also try Special:ListUsers. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:19, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Why are some articles picked more often than others?

Why do I see featured articles on cricket, video games, rock bands, and astronomical objects more often than other subjects? Really! Can I customize so that the featured articles of the day reflect my interests rather than those of the staff? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jplmedley (talk • contribs) 04:56, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You might find featured articles you're interested in by using the portal directory. So, for example, if you like architecture, you can check out Portal:Architecture for a list of featured architecture articles. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 07:34, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The reason is that featured articles are promoted not for their subject matter, but for whether they meet the featured article criteria, such as professional prose, comprehensiveness, great sourcing and so on. This is done through a review process at featured article candidates. Once an article is promoted, it is featured on the main page. Because of the nature of Wikipedia, which has no centralized authority on who writes what, the topics that are featured are the result of what is brought to the featured article candidates page and passes. So if, for example, the only people who are interested enough and able to write articles which pass muster at WP:FAC are all writing astronomy articles, all we would get on the main page are astronomy articles. They do try to break it up by not showing on the main page featured articles on the same subject matter days in a row, and they recycle older featured articles for this purpose, but there is only so much you can do when the articles that are being submitted and passed cluster around certain topic areas.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 08:20, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Featured articles lists all featured articles. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:15, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There is also the problem that some subjects are inherently less amenable to writing featured articles. For example, the Wind power in China article would be difficult for most English speakers to improve to meet the featured article criteria, because much of the source information is in Chinese, and The PRC often blocks Wikipedia so we don't get the potential contributions of 1.3 billion people. The topic also suffers because the Chinese wind power industry is relatively young and expanding fast. The subject hasn't had as much time as, say, some astronomy topics have had for people outside Wikipedia to publish about. Writing about Jupiter for example is straightforward because it is easy to find many reliable sources about it in English. Many excellent photographs of Jupiter come from NASA and are thus in the public domain. The quality of information about wind power in China isn't nearly as good, mostly sketchy news accounts written by journalists who sometimes get the engineering details wrong, most of the photos that show up with Google Images search are not free content, etc. But we can expect the Wikipedia community to get better eventually even with the challenging topics. Also note that many articles on Wikipedia are worth reading without having gone through the featured article review process. You almost can't go wrong just by following links from any article you find interesting. Also search for articles, because sometimes Wikipedia has related articles written by different groups of editors who have not found each other to link up yet. --Teratornis (talk) 20:50, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Learn

Hi,

Can i learn By using wikipedia.org?

Thanks, Aasharam —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.4.82 (talk) 07:09, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Sure. Just type a topic in the search box and learn away. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 07:30, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There is also Wikipedia's sister project, Wikiversity, which exists solely for learning. hmwith τ 13:56, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Plus, there's Wikibooks--SPhilbrick T 14:31, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Open proxy

What are open proxies and why are they not allowed in Wikipedia? I saw this at the admins noticeboard - http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents#Ongoing_quick-fire_spam-vandalism 202.124.189.14 (talk) 12:01, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

See Open proxy and Wikipedia:Open proxies. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:04, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c)An open proxy is a proxy that is free and open to the public. A proxy is a computer that allows an Internet user to hide their IP address and other data originating from their computer. The traffic coming from the original user appears to the destination site to be coming from the proxy. Proxies can be used for a number of applications - the most common are probably getting around geolocation techniques (restricting a page to one country or a group of countries) and as "virtual gloves" to keep a user's "fingerprints" off an unsavoury site. Open proxies are banned from editing Wikipedia because many people can be using one at one time, and a vandal can hop from proxy to proxy, making themselves impossible to stop. There are only two exceptions: a few proxies have been set up to allow users in China to bypass the Great Firewall, and registered users in good standing can apply for permission to edit via proxy. Xenon54 (talk) 12:10, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

User talkpage protected

why this user talkpage is protected?? we are unable to post messages to him, per wikipedia policy usertalk pages should not be protected, unless he retires or take a break. but the user daily visits wikipedia and make some contributions. please unprotect the talkpage 59.92.139.155 (talk) 12:21, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Some people like to have their user and talk page locked on long breaks, and that is the case here. If you really really needed to, I suppose you could ask an admin to post for you, but there's really no point as the message won't be seen until the user gets back. Xenon54 (talk) 12:27, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

the user didn't take any break, he daily visits wikipedia, see his contributions 59.92.139.155 (talk) 12:30, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Contributions show that the user has made a large number of edits yesterday, and a few more today. Not exactly minor edits either, so I'd say that someone else might have a valid reason to contact him about his edits. ≈ Chamal ^talk 12:32, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I have unprotected User talk:Sanfy. The wikibreak was declared on June 14 but user contributions indicate it was aborted on June 20. Staying away from Wikipedia can be hard. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:18, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think that when talk pages are protected, there should be an unprotected subpage, such as User talk:Sanfy#Non-autoconfirmed posts. hmwith τ 13:53, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

User talk:Sanfy#Non-autoconfirmed posts is a section link to the same page. User talk:Sanfy/Non-autoconfirmed posts would be a subpage. I agree protected talk pages is a problem but the protection is often (not in this case) due to something likely to spill over to an unprotected subpage. I don't have a good solution. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:15, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If the only acceptable reasons for protecting talk pages are retirement or break, then it should be relatively easy to have the protection turned off automatically if the user edits. I'm not sure the rare need for this feature justifies the programming resources, but it's one of those things that could be put on a list - if there's need to make other programming changes related to user status, it might be easy to add it in at the same time.--SPhilbrick T 14:40, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, I could see protecting a user talk page for a short time due to gross vandalism from multiple places. We have had cases where a 4chan or anontalk vandalism campaign has targeted user talk pages, and we need to protect it for a short while to stem the tide of vandalism. But in general, long term talk page protection should not be undertaken. Even if one goes on a long-term Wikibreak, ask a few stalkers to keep an eye on the shop while you are gone... --Jayron32 14:46, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Save page from wrong editing

HI, I have found here some page, and I found in it many wrong information, and Im sure with no doubt that my info are right as the page on one actor and we know him personally, so I edited the correct info, but next day i found someone deleted my info and and others info as well and didnt put any other info instead, even he/she putted dead links istead of the orginial which it was here even before i come here or register,, Im now for sure someone is like to distory the facts, I know its an open site and anyone can edit anything specially if the article or the page is not ur creation, but how can I or other protect somehow any page form wrong edition, i guess its imposible, but there is no harm from asking anyway, as u most expert in these issues, and i cant come everyday to correct what other distory with this page, I hope u got me right, i dont mean any harm at all, I just want to protect my friends info from any such issue can effect him in future..

Thank you so much in advance --Sarah.gkhia (talk) 12:44, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I assume that you're talking about Rajat Tokas.

With your first edit to the article, you added an external link.
With your second edit, you primarily tried to add an image before figuring out that they have to be uploaded to Wikipedia.
You later uploaded that image. However, there is no licensing information, so, unless that's provided to prove that the image is free, we cannot use it, & it will be deleted. See WP:Image policy.
In your next two rounds of edits, you just edited the website and moved around information in the infobox.

You didn't change any substantial information with any of these edits. It seems to be about the official website. Try starting a discussion on the talk page. Don't edit war. If no one can reach a conclusion, you can try dispute resolution. hmwith τ 13:51, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

-- no, im sry if u got me wrong, and u r right, but i never try to satrt any kind of war, i never do that, but the offcial site is done by rajat request himself, and someone is trying to put another site, that i was wondering, and for his date of birth, i ddint touch it as it should be 93 not 91, and i ddint want to edit that till i speak with rajat to conforum, thats it, im sry if u coudnt give my opinion right las time, sorry once again, and for the image I l;eft my comment there, but really i dont aware of what should i add or not, I fell like super confuse, im sry, i still new here and most of things i dont know how it should be done properly,i will check the imagie privacy link, and i hop i get soultion in it, thanks--Sarah.gkhia (talk) 16:52, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You should also be aware of our policy on original research. You are not allowed to include information based on personal interviews or the fact that "everyone knows it". The material has to be first published elsewhere before it can be cited here. TN X Man 17:25, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Is there anyway to get a random featured article

Is there a way that I can use the Random article link to only get featured articles? Thanks. 68.78.140.79 (talk) 15:00, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not the Random article link Special:Random, but see Wikipedia talk:Featured articles#Random Featured Article. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:25, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

RSS feeds for Watchlist

Is there a feature with the Wikipedia software that allows me to receive notifications of updates to my watchlist vis RSS feeds, or do I need to write my own script?--Zthatin (talk) 16:01, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There is indeed ;-)

This should do the job.

Wikipedia:Syndication is worth a read, too.

Cheers, TFOWR^{This flag once was red} 16:03, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

cool, thanks man--Zthatin (talk) 16:11, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Toolserver down?

Is the toolserver (such as file contribution gallery and edit count) not working or is it just me? • S • C • A • R • C • E • 17:35, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've been getting Java errors from Toolserver's edit count all day, if that helps? Cheers, TFOWR^{This flag once was red} 17:37, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I can't get access to that or my favorite, the gallery • S • C • A • R • C • E • 17:44, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

is arbitrary archive of talk page allowed?

The Talk page of "War of the Pacific" had been archived in a arbitrary sequence. Not according to the date (as I did the first time) but to, probably, dead threads.

I think, later, no one will find his thread or postings.

Is it allowed such criteria?.

--Keysanger (talk) 18:58, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You can add a search bar to the {{Archive box}} template which appears on Talk:War of the Pacific. That should make it easier for people to look up old discussion threads. See Template:Archive box#Search. If you want to reorganize the talk page archives, discuss it with the other editors on the talk page. --Teratornis (talk) 20:27, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I added the search bar. Thank you. But, is it warranted that all contributions are allways available?, Can someone delete a thread or a posting making it invisible for the search maschine? --Keysanger (talk) 20:59, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Changing Pages

ok well how do I change the osama bin laden page thank u for the help from tell me who's eating —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tell Me Who's Eating (talk • contribs) 19:17, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Have you tried clicking on the edit this page link at the top of the page? Is whatever information you are going to changed/add adequately documented at reliable sources? Can you add citations to these sources? If so, just edit the page. If you are planning on making a lot of changes, may I recommend that you discuss these on the talk page - it may be that your suggested changes have already been discussed and dismissed. -- PhantomSteve (Contact Me, My Contribs) 19:53, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c)Due to vandalism Osama bin Laden is semiprotected (against editing by brand new editors); so you won't be able to change it yourself until you become autoconfirmed. Before that you could propose changes on the talk page, Talk:Osama bin Laden. —teb728 t c 20:00, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Template Abbreviation

Similar to how the abbreviation for "Wikipedia:" in the search bar is "WP:", is there an abbreviation for "Template:"? Dog poster 20:05, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Shortcut#List of prefixes lists four namespace abbreviations that Wikipedia's servers automatically convert, and no abbreviation for Template: appears among them. --Teratornis (talk) 20:20, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) There is a "T:" shortcut, but it is only used for the most accessed templates, such as T:DYK and T:RFPP. A list of all template shortcuts is here. Xenon54 (talk) 20:24, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Also note that the T: shortcut is not automatically translated by Wikipedia's servers as the WP: shortcut is. So a particular T: shortcut would only exist if someone had explicitly created it as a redirect page. I think a generally better way to refer to templates in discussion context is to use the {{Tl}} template (and its variants), for example: {{Peak oil}}. This displays a clickable link to the template page, in the form of wikitext that someone can copy and paste to add the template to a page. --Teratornis (talk) 20:30, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Image upload... where did it go?

Hi, I'm trying to upload an image of George McWhirter for the George McWhirter article. I followed the intructions on uploading images and then saw the image and my summary and went to the sandbox to see if it had gone directly to the article, but couldn't find the image. I tried to return to the uploaded image I'd left, but it wasn't there...so I uploaded it again. I'm stuck. Please help me get the image into the article. Thanks. --Readerwild (talk) 21:55, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Add the code [[File:George McWhirter June 2009.jpg|thumb|right|]], which will make the picture display as such. Xenon54 (talk) 22:18, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

In addition to that, you need to edit the image description page, File:George McWhirter June 2009.jpg, to indicate by which free license you allow Wikipedia to use the image. I recommend {{cc-by}} or {{cc-by-sa}}. Without a free license the image ultimately will be deleted. —teb728 t c 23:55, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Also, articles about people (and various other things) usually use infoboxes (the boxes with the photo in the top right corner of George W. Bush is an example). If you put the following code on the article it will produce one:

{{Infobox Writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]] -->
| name         = George McWhirter
| image        = George McWhirter June 2009.jpg
| birthdate    = {{Birth date and age|1939|9|26}}
| birthplace   = Belfast
}}

There are lots more parameters you can add, like nationality, famous works and so on, listed at Template:Infobox Writer; but I've just put a few in to get you started.

I hope we haven't swamped you with all those answers - if you need any more help feel free to ask! Olaf Davis (talk) 13:16, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Feature picture

Is there a place to say you don't vote for a feature picture nomination? Dog poster 22:10, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome to oppose a nomination for a picture to have featured status on the nomination page. Hersfold ^(t/a/c) 22:22, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If you're talking about the guy to the right, I totally understand. Keepscases (talk) 06:02, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The guy to the right is George McWhirter from the preceding unrelated section. Dogposter has opposed File:Ridgefield Town Hall.JPG. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:21, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I know, I was trying to make a stupid joke. Keepscases (talk) 18:52, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestions?

I've been looking at the article Benjamin Perrin. I can't decide if I should nominate it for deletion or not. On the one hand, he was mentioned by the US state department for his anti-trafficking work, which I suppose could be construed as notable. On the other hand, none of the other 8 people awarded the same honour have their own article. I don't really see anything else that makes him notable. It appears Perrin wrote the article himself, adding to my dislike of the article. What would you guys do? I don't want to start an AFD for trivial reasons. TastyCakes (talk) 23:56, 1 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It does appear that the author/subject attempted to delete the content himself after the COI tag was added, but that edit was reverted. -- Tcncv (talk) 01:48, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The author created the page at Wikipedia:Articles for creation and has only wikified it after an experienced AfC worker accepted it and moved it to mainspace. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:11, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

hmm ok I'll leave it then. TastyCakes (talk) 16:56, 2 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]