User:Ohiostandard/Sandbox

PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ANY EDITS TO THIS PAGE IF YOU ARE NOT USER OHIOSTANDARD.

You are welcome to view this page in edit mode, however, since that's necessary to see which elements of the Wikipedia markup language I used to obtain the "prettyprint" effects that it presents. Just don't change or save anything here, please. Instead, use the Wikipedia sandbox - a place created to allow any user to experiment with editing, without worry of causing any harm - or create a personal sandbox of your own. For instructions on how to do so see this help link about user pages and then, more specifically, review this information about subpages to create a sandbox under your own user page.
-

Purpose of this Sandbox Page

Ohiostandard (me) created this page on 6 March 2009. My only purpose in doing so was to be able to learn about and experiment with the page-creation and edit process, without disturbing existing articles or the Wikipedia-wide virtual sandbox.

I understand I could create a subpage from this main user page for this purpose: I'll probably do so in the future, but for now I want to keep things as simple as possible and mean to experiment on this my main user page only. To learn how to create a subpage, see this page; the same reference includes information about how to use a subpage (of one's own user page) as a personal sandbox.

Wikimarkup help page

It's at Help:Wiki_markup.

Collapsing section about very clever animals I've known (example)

Blah, blah, blah, blah....

collapsing "Examples of animals that can stand on their heads and sing themselves to sleep"
Mr. Toad The disciples of carrot cake Far from the space between your ears Particularly ironic bunny rabbits Very tall fish Someone's auntie, I think My fourth grade teacher who had bad breath My fourth grade teacher's bad breath

More words that really don't mean anything but I want to get lots of typing in before my keyboard wears out. Click "show" to expand.

Forcing horizontal padding spaces inline

Using the following code:
This is a {{pad|2em}} padded sentence.

Will produce:
This is a   padded sentence.

See Template:Pad for more information.

Few if any edits outside this !vote or topic

The template that generates this text is {{spa}} with a corresponging instruction guide and usage notes essay at WP:SPA.

Here's another helpful (and completely unrelated) template: {{notability|biographies}} . Good for bandspam and such.

Please don't cite to Google News

Hi. Thanks for introducing citations to news stories into articles. But please note that you shouldn't introduce cites to Google News into articles as you did here

INSERT DIFF(S) HERE. AND ADD FOUR TILDES FOR SIG AT END WHEN YOU REUSE.

Links to Google News break very quickly since only the last 30 days of stories are retained on its site. ( I only learned of this recently myself, btw, when I saw mention of the problem in Template:Cite_news#Optional_parameters. ) Would you please revisit your edits on the article(s) (and anywhere else you might have cited Google News), find direct links to the underlying news article, and substitute the direct link(s) for the links to Google News? I, or other editors, might have already addressed one or more such instances, but it's a time-consuming process, and your review and assistance would be very greatly appreciated.

For content that's available from its original online publisher, it's probably best to find that, and link to it directly, if possible, but you can link to Google News Archive (external link here) for content that's not available online in its original context. Links to to Google News Archive are much more permanent, as I infer. But if you do so, please be careful to do two things:

1. Please be sure you're using the cite news template for your cite, as you should to cite all news stories. The cite web template should never be used to cite news stories, and a bare http ref doesn't provide fields for metadata that needs to be included.
2. Please be sure to place the link to the google-archived story in the optional "archive url" field of the "cite news" template, not in the plain "url" template field. If no direct link to the original publisher's site for the content can be found, the plain "url" field should be left blank in this case. Do not put the archived document's link in the plain "url" field. Failing to follow these caveats will cause links to appear in the references section that give our readers a mistaken impression as to the sourcing for the citation.

Most of the preceding is "boilerplate" text, btw, so it's possible that not all of it will apply to your edit(s). Sorry if that's the case, but the use of cites to Google News is such an extensive problem on Wikipedia, and I come across it so often, that it's just too inefficient to write a completely custom message to relay the same facts over and over. Thanks again for adding cites, and best regards,

Google Books quotations template

See template documentation here.

Usage:

{{Google books|id=Google books id ref|pg=Google books pg ref|text=text of quotation|title=description of link}}

or

{{Google books|id=Google books id ref|page=Google books (PA) page number|text=text of quotation|title=description of link}}

For example,

{{Google books|id=2jBqvVb0Q-AC|page=84|text=conjugate permutations have the same cycle type|title=Humphreys (1996), p. 84}}

or

{{Google books|id=2jBqvVb0Q-AC|pg=PA84|text=conjugate permutations have the same cycle type|title=Humphreys (1996), p. 84}}

creates

Humphreys (1996), p. 84, p. 84, at Google Books

which should link to and highlight the text of the quote. Note that the quote needs to be accurate, and contained within a single page which is available on Google books.

The second form is need to refer to introductory text in a book (where the pg parameter begins "PR" rather than "PA"). For example:

{{Google books|id=ts4dUeNk3R8C|pg=PR15|text=satirizes American politics, an emerging consumerism, and dominant representations of the nation itself|title=xv}}

creates

xv at Google Books

The id and pg data can be found by searching Google books for the isbn and (keywords in) the quote. Once you find the Google books page with the quote, the id and pg data should be in the URL. To get the text of the quote right, it can be helpful to use the "Search in this book" facility on Google books. Also, it is enough to highlight the initial portion of long quotes, as Google books makes it easy for readers to scroll forwards to the rest.

( More documentation in the link posted at the top of this section. )

Wikimarkup for my custom signature

Here's the wikimarkup for my signature. Note that you must view it in edit mode to see all of it.

 – <font face="Cambria">[[User:OhioStandard|<font color="teal">'''OhioStandard'''</font>]] ([[User talk:Ohiostandard|talk]])</font>

Also note that although that final </font> tag might seem redundant, the Special:Preferences page won't accept the string as valid HTML without it.

Useful Wikipedia Stuff

{{Userlinks|Example}} produces this:

Example (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)

http://en.wikichecker.com/user/?t=BillMasen ( WikiChecker )

66.37.153.100 (talk · contribs · WHOIS) ( IPuser template w/b better using dnsstuff tools )

My current local time is 06:10 PM (), and if it is at 3:00 AM ... ( a template to display time of day ).

http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:MEDRS#Formatting_citations ( proper cite format for medical articles )

http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Template:Cite_news

http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Template:Cite_web

The following searches ANI and related boards for a user name. Substitute the actual user/account name for "UserNAMEgoesHERE" in the following string.

http://toolserver.org/~eagle/archivesearch.php?search=%28%5C%7B%5C%7B%5B%5E%5B%5D*%5C%7C%7C%5B%5E%7C%3A%2FA-Za-z0-9%5D%7C%5E%29UserNAMEgoesHERE%5B%5EA-Za-z0-9%5D&useregex=1&where%5B%5D=enpedia_3rr&where%5B%5D=enpedia_an&where%5B%5D=enpedia_ani&where%5B%5D=enpedia_cn

http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Special:Preferences

http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:Cheatsheet

http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_messages/User_talk_namespace

http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:Unsigned#Dealing_with_unsigned_comments

http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Resource_Exchange ( manual library researchers )

http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:Warn_vandalism#Warnings

Besides the templates you can find above, the following template is useful for IP vandalism where a whois search shows the address as being registered to a particluar company. Since the template performs a real-time reverse-IP lookup, it only functions properly when placed on the talk page for an IP. Because this instance occurs in my sandbox, it doesn't display as expected. If placed on an IP's talk page, however, the actual IP address will be displayed in place of the "Ohiostandard/Sandbox" literal that appears in preview mode and "normal viewing mode" below. As of the date I write this ( 9 June 2010 ) you can see an example at http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/User_talk:86.144.113.66

If you use the above template, you should also include the following, after it:

If this message has reached you in error, and you did not make these changes, it's probably because you're accessing Wikipedia from a shared computer or IP address. If that's the case, then please consider creating your own user-ID to avoid such messages in the future. Thank you.

This wikicode {{tick}} '''Done''' produces the result immediately below:

Y Done

COI Policy, and Disclosure Example

You might like to look at Wikipedia's conflict of interest guidelines and especially this example in order to understand how best to make such disclosures.

Creating In-Line Links

You should create INTRAwiki links (e.g. ones within Wikipedia that also refer to Wikipedia ) like this:

Dial-up access to the internet

For INTERwiki links, e.g. a reference you want to create within Wikipedia to Wikisource,

[[Wikisource:Amitabha's_forty-eight_vows|forty-eight vows]]

would be the best format, says Hermione1980. This produces a result of forty-eight vows in prettyprint.

To revert multiple edits, just go to the history, click on the timestamp of the edit you wish to revert to, select edit, and save.

To create a clickable link within a Wikipedia page (eg on a talk_page ) to a "Diff" of an article, you can do this, e.g.:

[http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Steve_Carson&diff=prev&oldid=285822238 here's a Diff link]

Or see also Help:Diff and Template:Diff.

What does the "Resolved" box mean?

Resolved

 – Looks resolved to me. – ukexpat (talk) 15:45, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

What does it mean with sections that have a tick, and the "Resolved." text?--Mikespedia (talk) 15:28, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

It means that the question has been answered. Either the question asker or answerer can add the {{Resolved}} tag, and it serves to identify which questions can be safely skipped over by prospective answerers. Xenon54 / talk / 15:34, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

If you feel Xenon's reply resolved your question, please mark it so. Sebastian 15:50, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

Do I have to sign after it?--Mikespedia (talk) 09:40, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

That would be helpful, so others can see who considered the question resolved. Gonzonoir (talk) 09:56, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

For which the code would be {{Resolved|1= [optional text here].~~~~}}.  – ukexpat (talk) 15:44, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

There's also this, a pleasant alternative to a "bump":

Unresolved

Unresolved

 – Still hoping for an answer.

Unresolved

 – [optional text here]. – OhioStandard (talk) 21:26, 29 July 2010 (UTC)

Help Resources for Editing

There are many discrete pages about editing contributions, both within and without Wikipedia:

• The editing cheatsheet is a very useful and concise introduction to the editing & formatting markup language.

• The editing FAQ is likewise useful for its concision.

• There's an editing tutorial which I have yet to use.

• A more comprehensive editing page is also available.

• The Editing Policy & Guidelines page is also something I should review more carefully.

How to Handle Dead or Incorrect Links

Wikipedia policy says you shouldn't simply delete dead links, as they often still contain valuable information. To illustrate just one example of this, dead links of online newspaper articles may in some cases be appropriately convertible to references to off-line sources. Note that, at the end of this section, I provide examples of the actual wikimarkup text needed to deal with each of the following cases identified below. But also note that this can be tricky to get right, and that the underlying idea when reviewing an article is: Fix what you can fix, and tag the rest so that more experienced editors find and fix it.

In general, and in order of increasing complexity, you could deal with the problem in one of the following ways:

(1) At a minimum, just tag the link as dead by appending only the minimum wikimarkup text needed to identify it as such.

(2) More helpfully, you could try to find the current location of the resource using a search engine and then replace the bad url with the correct one.

But if a web search reveals no current page for the desired resource, you're left with two choices. You can:

(3) Just tag the link as dead, note the fruitless search on the article's talk page and on the clearinghouse page for dead links (see following), and leave it at that, or

(4) Look for a historical/expired copy of the information using a search engine's "cached page" function or the Internet Archive, also known as the "Way Back Machine".

If you don't find a historical/expired copy in that way, then you have no alternative to just marking the link as dead. If you do find a historical/expired copy, however, it would be helpful to incorporate that information into the article.

Unfortunately, the procedure for incorporating historical/expired page information is rather complex, and you should make sure you know what you're doing before you proceed. That's why, at most, your average user just reports the broken link via a post to the Wikipedia help page, and lets administrators deal with it. But see repairing dead links, citing sources - dead links, and using the wayback machine for more complete information if you want to become skilled at this yourself.

And (important) to prevent duplication of effort:

• If you repair a link that was previously tagged as dead, you should note your repair in the appropriate place on the dead links page, which serves as a clearinghouse for broken links on Wikipedia.

• If you perform a non-availing search to try to find a current location for the desired resource, you should note the failure of that search on the article's talk page and also on the aforementioned clearinghouse page for dead links. ( No reason another editor or administrator should go through an exhaustive or time-consuming search if you've already done so. )

Examples:

You'll need to view the following in edit mode to examine the wikimarkup language, but if a link points to a "page not found/404" error, or to an obviously incorrect page, and no correct one can be found to replace it, you can then append the "dead link" wikimarkup tag, viz. {{dead link}}, immediately after the wikimarkup for the link itself:

web site

Compare the above example to the following 12-March-2009 example of the right way to handle a dead or incorrect link, where no current correct one can be found to replace it, but when you have been able to find historical/expired information for the link. Do so in both "display mode" and "edit mode". Roll your cursor over each element of the displayed components while in display mode, and note the url information that appears (in Firefox, anyway) at the bottom of your browser window. Very cool. You'll need to be in edit mode to see the literal text and wikimarkup that results in the following "prettyprint", of course.

web site

In the second example, rolling one's cursor over the "dead link" superscripted literal shows that clicking on it would take one to the (dead) url's entries on the Internet Archive (aka "Wayback Machine") page. The Wikipedia editing engine is fancy-enough to cause that to happen, given the specific wikimarkup language used. This behavior differs from the first, simpler example shown above, in that the superscripted literal in that simpler example merely takes one to Wikipedia's dead link clearinghouse page.

See also my help desk question on the above broken link for helpful links on Wikipedia's policy for handling dead and incorrect links. And note that user PrimeHunter very kindly added, on the talk page for the affected article, some wikimarkup that documents the change he made by packaging a "before and after comparision" into a single reference, to wit:

  I have added a url parameter [1] which gives a link to archived versions...

Very helpful.

Wikipedia Template Messages

These are like macros. They're primarily used for inserting boilerplate, I believe, but can also perform more sophisticated functions through the use of tags in the Wikipedia markup language, aka (I think) "wikicode".

Here's another useful template:

Here's my favorite "welcome, new user" template:

To add a message in an additional paragraph before the last sentence, use:

{{subst:W-graphical|insert-your-custom-message-here}} for named accounts

{{subst:W-graphical-anon|insert-your-custom-message-here}} for anon/IP users.

Replace "insert-your-custom-message-here with your desired message. ( Or just leave it out. ) It will be inserted into the greeting before "Happy editing!"

Here's a "barnstar" template

		The Barnstar of Sustained Excellence in Helping New Users
		This is just an example. I've never received a barnstar. Sniff ... Ohiostandard (talk) 19:54, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

And here's another fun/useful one:

{{Alleged Humor}}

== Concern about your levity ==

Dear Example: Your edits have shown traces of a sense of humor, which is disruptive of the serious, somber, and relentlessly grim mood that so many other good people in all walks of life have exhibited just before burning out entirely. Be advised that if you continue on this present course, you face the risk of enjoying yourself while at work on this project, and you may even have a similar effect on other editors. Please consider very carefully whether you want to be responsible for such consequences. Thank you. -- — Ben TALK/HIST 00:14, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Here some

An editor recently placed some templates given to him by an admin on the article, reported a newspaper.

Ways to Sign Talk Pages

As the guidelines on the sign your posts page mention, it's probably best just to use the usual four tildes or perhaps the "space dash space 4tildes" sequence. Alternative methods require a lot of Wikimarkup in your signature, and that's a bit annoying for other users who are themselves editing a talk page you've contributed to; doing so makes your entry on a talk page appear unnecessarily long when viewed in edit mode.

  Here's the "space dash space 4tildes" signature I mentioned above. - Ohiostandard (talk) 04:26, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

( Note that the three leading spaces in the line above automatically generate a variety of call out box. )

But just to noodle around a bit, one could alternatively force one's signature to appear with no initial capitalization in the user name, as I saw user "ukexpat" did on a talk page; he's a charmingly humble chap, to be sure. View the following in edit mode to see the Wikimarkup he used to do it:

  The quick brown fox ... lazy dog. – ohiostandard (talk) 04:26, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Note (in edit mode) the five tildes at the end. Using five, rather than four, provides only a date&time stamp, and no user name info, for whatever precedes it.

I haven't determined exactly what the "nbsp" tags do; I presume they surround the intervening hyphen to force "ukexpat's" preferred spacing to be used, rather than allowing the editing engine to truncate/delete spaces. I suspect the "nbsp" tags refer in some way to "no backspace", but that's an investigation for another day.

Who's Making Anonymous Edits?

( Important Note: The text in this section should not be interpreted as information, nor as correct or helpful. Think of it as a longer version of "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog". Just wanted to see how embedding links to external sites works. )

When anyone edits without logging in to a Wikipedia user account, only his IP address is collected. The IP address associated with an such an edit can be "tracked back" to the user's organization in many cases, however. A WIRED magazine article about a search application called Wiki Scanner and related tools illustrates this. See this link or, (nearly) equivalently, this one to access these applications.

There are some free and helpful "track back" tools, including a reverse IP address lookup, here.

How to Create Footnotes to Document References

HINT: Select "edit this page" tab to see markup language in this section, rather than "prettyprint" result.

To create a footnote or reference, use this example format below, but be sure you create the References section first: The References section should include, under the References literal (section title) only the markup tag which presently appears in that section of this page. Note that footnotes are automatically numbered.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy polar bear.

More generally, the format to create a footnote looks like this:

word in article which footnote superscript should display after

The editing cheatsheet has more information about how to prepare and add footnotes and other references.

( EPF: the following is probably the best wikimarkup to use for creating footnotes. )

Clearwire has declined to comment upon these allegations, citing corporate policy.

...citing corporate policy.

Colored borders

You do not have new messages (last change).

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod

<! The following is copied from the help desk. > I've noticed that on some userpages, in the section where the user tells about themself, that they have created a border around the edge of the information they put there. How is this done? Mr. Prez (talk) 14:16, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Borders are made by putting something in a table which may only have one cell. Click "edit this page" to see the code used to produce a given page. Some of the code may be transcluded from other pages listed at the bottom of the edit window. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:32, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Actually, using tables for this task is a somewhat outdated solution. Instead, you should enclose the text in <div> tags and set the borders (and other things, such as background colour, if desired) using CSS. For example:

<div style="background-color: #EEFFE6; border: 1px solid LightSlateGray; padding: 5px;">
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. ...
</div>

Produces:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Hope that helps. AJCham 16:48, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. Mr. Prez (talk) 11:28, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Test Section

blah, blah, blah

Thanks for disclosing your involvement in the industry. The roles you disclose that are germane to the topic of this article do NOT present any problem in themselves, although you may wish to copy some of the above disclosures more completely to your user page, as is suggested by the conflicts of interest page. That page also answers your questions about the propriety of citing one's own research where that research has been published in well-accepted, independent media. Such citations are not disallowed by the no original research policy. Work that has been published by legitimate, independent media outlets, including mainstream scholarly journals, does not qualify as "original" in the sense that the term applies to Wikipedia.

You'll learn more about this as you go along, but I'll just state here that no original research is just one of three core content policies on Wikipedia, along with neutral point of view and verifiability. Because these policies determine what is acceptable in articles, it's very helpful for editors to become familiar with them. That familiarity is especially necessary when contemplating edits to a controversial article like this one. But despite its controversial nature, and possibly excepting the prospect of citing your own research, I'd nevertheless encourage you to be bold in editing to improve this article, always provided you're able to adhere to the spirit and letter of those three core guidelines. That's the principal way articles get improved, in my opinion. I'd also suggest that you carefully review the comments above, under the heading "This article needs reworking", comments with which I very much agree. Thanks again for your participation; I very much look forward to seeing your contributions to the actual article. Ohiostandard (talk) 02:20, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

To correct flow and layout problems

“ I've never taken PAC money, and I have rejected all special interest money because I have stood strong and taken legal action against many of those special interests ” — Richard Blumenthal

In August 2010, McMahon damaged Blumenthal's credibility by publicizing an apparent flip-flop he made on PAC donations. She used both TV ads and mailers to portray him as "dishonest" for accepting over $480,000 in PAC money in 2010, and $17,000 he accepted during the '80s.
(there's an edit-mode-visible tag,<br clear=all> just above)

Not in citation given (tag)

Some commentators in 2005 suggested that for practical purposes very large elephants usually cannot be lifted overhead or made to attend university classes by lawn bowling enthusiasts

Custom barnstar creation

		The Knight-Defender of Consensus Barnstar
		For your extraordinary effort in promoting and helping organize the process of consensus, without which Wikipedia would be impossible, and for doing so with such impartiality and admirable patience, you are hereby awarded this shield and Coat of Arms! Thank you for your fine work!  – OhioStandard (talk) 22:29, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

FF FF E0

F0E68C

		The Chanteuse of Sincere Gratitude Barnstar
		For your generous work in contributing images and soundclips to the encyclopedia, you are hereby awarded this barnstar, which, when presented at the ticket booth for the not yet sold out performance of any popular female vocalist, along with the full ticket price, will enable you to attend said performance as an enthusiastic fan and audience member! Thank you for your fine work!  – OhioStandard (talk) 10:19, 24 March 2012 (UTC)

		The Sherlock Holmes Award for Exceptional Sleuthing to Discover the Facts in an Unfamiliar Area of Inquiry
		Conferred for your tenacity and scholarship in researching the legal constraints on the disposal of nuclear waste at sea in connection with the Challenger Deep article. Not many editors will take such care to discover the facts in an area outside their area of training and expertise, and you did! We would have been all to seek without your scholarship in tracking down sources and taking the time to understand a rather complex series of documents. The article is very much the better for your exceptional diligence, and you should be proud of your contribution. Thanks!  – OhioStandard (talk) 17:59, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

File:Detective Barnstar Hires.png		The Sherlock Holmes Award for Exceptional Sleuthing to Discover the Facts in an Unfamiliar Area of Inquiry
		Conferred for your tenacity and scholarship in researching the legal constraints on the disposal of nuclear waste at sea in connection with the Challenger Deep article. Not many editors will take such care to discover the facts in an area outside their area of training and expertise, and you did! We would have been all to seek without your scholarship in tracking down sources and taking the time to understand a rather complex series of documents. The article is very much the better for your exceptional diligence, and you should be proud of your contribution. Thanks!  – OhioStandard (talk) 17:59, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

External Links

• A pleasant example of an external link.
• Another charming example.