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Contents


November 29

Template:Location_map_USA_North_Carolina

Resolved. — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 15:37, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

I had a go at trying to fix the template used in this article but without success (I used Template:Location_map_Alabama as an example). Has anyone any idea what's wrong with it? --Lo2u (T • C) 01:12, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

I don't see a problem. Could you be a bit more specific, please? — neuro(talk) 08:41, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Actually, it was fixed shortly after I posted that, with this[1] edit, but thanks.--Lo2u (T • C) 13:06, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Collapsible boxes

I would like to have a few boxes on my user page that can collapse (be hidden until [Show] is selected). I can't seem to find a template or an HTML tag to help me. Can you point me in the right direction? Thx! ←Signed:→Mr. E. Sánchez Get to know me! / Talk to me!←at≈:→ 03:52, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Example #3: Using divs

This method uses divs instead of table syntax. You can display some text here, and then have the user Click Show to display additional text.

-- GateKeeper(X) @ 05:45, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Super awesome. I also like your favorite box. Thanks!! ←Signed:→Mr. E. Sánchez Get to know me! / Talk to me!←at≈:→ 07:17, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
And there is the template {{hidden}}. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 08:36, 29 November 2008 (UTC)


Spelling

On most UK-related articles, I see US Spelling. Why is this? 78.150.156.0 (talk) 09:18, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Can you give us some examples? Also see WP:ENGVAR. Zain Ebrahim (talk) 09:55, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Oops on upload

I meant to upload an image of myself on Commons, but accidentally did so on Wikipedia. What do I do? (Or should I do anything?) Thx! ←Signed:→Mr. E. Sánchez Get to know me! / Talk to me!←at≈:→ 10:25, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Oh, okay. I'm already unified on all Wikimedia projects. I may want to use it later. Thanks! ←Signed:→Mr. E. Sánchez Get to know me! / Talk to me!←at≈:→ 11:14, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

postal and zip codes for the U.S.A. and Israel.

Pls what is the postal zip codes for the U.S.A. and Israel. Pls answer now Thank you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.199.144.164 (talk) 11:57, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

This page is for Wikipedia related queries. You might want the reference desk. — neuro(talk) 13:58, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Neuro's right, but the brief answer is: there are many. See postal code. --Fullobeans (talk) 14:36, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Template for citing British Library catalogue

I have needed to cite a couple of books (see talk:Shepton Mallet (HM Prison) which, due to age, do not have ISBN numbers. I can find them listed in the British Library Integrated Catlogue but I cannot find a template that allows me to reference their entry in the catalogue. There are templates for Library of Congress catalgue references (template:LCC and template:LCCN). Is there such a template or, if not, how do I create one (I am not very technical)? Thanks. Dmvward (talk) 12:07, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Regarding cropping a cc-by-2.0 image

Hey I was wondering if it is ok if you had a image on Flickr that was cc-by-2.0, but cropped it to remove unwanted things on it? Rvk41 (talk) 14:37, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Assuming it doesn't have an 'nd' (no derivatives) clause attached. See Creative_Commons#Types_of_Creative_Commons_Licenses - Mgm|(talk) 15:11, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Late LateShow Template (Ireland)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:The_Late_Late_Show on this template, te first section is titled 'Presenters - and is further defined by'Animals' and 'Humans'. On the human side are the actual presenters of the show, on the animal side is the owl that is a feature in the show's intro titles. This page should be under a section called others or something along those lines, which the absurd animal section deleted. Im not confident enoughin mytable editing abilities to attempt this so I'd appriecate any help in getting this done. Syferus (talk) 15:42, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

I don't really see how the owl is a presenter, but yes, I have never watched the show, so I'm not really informed enough to make a decision on that. — neuro(talk) 16:44, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

New branch of fitness science

My question is how do I introduce this new science at Wikipedia?

I am a structural engineer who had knees that were nearly useless. For several years I tried using the principles of building and construction and leverage to drive the resistance to my core mobility muscles doing their running motion, without loading these forces through my knees or feet.

After perfecting this in water (while wearing a life jacket) I realize that I had stumbled over a science that is not precisely recognized yet.

"Fitness Engineering" does not look at human body generically as does Human Physiology. It is a science of engineering joint and weakness bypassing devices that receive muscle effort and full motion range before their forces would enter joints, then return most (if not all) of the resistance to the motion and effort only to the effort applying muscles to strengthen them. "Human Physiology" often prescribes leg joint overloading exercises to little old ladies in walkers to increase their heart and mobility power.

Fitness Engineering designs devices that bypass their worn out joints to allow far more effort and range from, (and up to hundreds of times more external resistance to return only to) their big body muscles and hearts, allowing their body muscles and hearts to become and stay very strong despite worn out leg joints, balance disorders or motion debilitations. Without exception all of today's cardio and mobility strengthening exercises and devices still drive all of the exercises forces through joints, where they eventually to suddenly wear out or break them down, even on very powerful bodies.

Because modern fitness exercises drive far more force through joints, they eliminate millions of people who are too old, obese or physically disabled to walk stand or swim from having real exercise methods that can massively strengthen their body cores and hearts. Because there may be nothing wrong with their core muscles and hearts beside a weakness elsewhere, Fitness Engineering, is the new science of keeping muscle strengthening forces only where they are needed, nowhere else.

Like all real engineering sciences, Fitness Engineering is also a product constructing science as it develops devices that bypass the weak links of our bodies to allow our muscles to face motion resistance through their fullest range motions. Other sciences like Bio Mechanics and Bionics may seem similar to Fitness Engineering as aspects of all three cross over, but aspects of structural engineering cross into all sciences that deal with any form of physical matter that is affected in any way by gravity. Bio Mechanics is not a product developing science as it is a study of what nature has already engineered.

Bionics, like Fitness Engineering successfully concludes with a working physical product attached to the body; however bionic products do not differentiate between enhancing what the body already does, or could do with its own power. Bionics produces devices that add new or unnaturally enhance abilities beyond what nature provides our bodies.

Although the products of Fitness Engineering may have other uses that provide advanced or unnatural abilities, they are all primary designed to strengthen parts of individual bodies that modern joint overloading methods cannot, or only lightly reach. Fitness Engineering will always first focus muscle effort and resistance forces focused on specific muscles, with new devices or methods, however they are not limited to only doing this.

For Example a new device we have utility patents pending we trademarked as Lower Body Oars, can massively strengthen the hearts and core mobility muscles of millions of severely disabled people, and almost instantly cure the atrophy that plagues their stationary bodies, painlessly. However this same device can also provide athletes and swimmers with a new way to competitive speed race their bodies through water, under their own power.

There could be a debate as to Fitness Engineering being a branch of Bionics, because all of our announced device designs are body attached, however this is not an absolute aspect as we have also designed devices that do not attach. Likewise our first products are used in water but that is also not a prerequisite for Fitness Engineering, as we have plans for dry land and even outer space fitness devices. Many of these just increase the particular muscle strength and or range for the motions of a specific sport, activity or occupation.

Again my question is how do I introduce this new science at Wikipedia?

PS. You can watch a video of Body Oars working at bodyoars.com or a short musical version at Youtube.com by searching "Body Oars" there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by The Paddleman (talk • contribs) 17:08, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

If it's something you can up with - you don't, We don't publish original research. If it's something that people have published about in text books, scholar texts, articles in major news sources, then we have have an article on it. --Cameron Scott (talk) 17:13, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
(ec) Wikipedia is an encyclopædia, and as such, is not an appropriate place for introducing new scientific ideas. The appropriate place to introduce new scientific ideas is in scientific journals. Get a few papers published, and then a Wikipedia article might be appropriate. Algebraist 17:15, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

|

Resolved. — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 15:34, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

How can I type this symbol: | using a standard keyboard? It is sometimes irritating to have to select Wiki markup and then click on the thinnest symbol when I use it so often! Thanks. --DerRichter (talk) 19:07, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

SHIFT + BACKSLASH. Right above the enter key, there should be a key with \ and something that looks like ¦. The ¦ will type a |. Calvin 1998 (t·c) 19:14, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
||||||||||||||||| haha yes. That will save me so much time. Thanks. --DerRichter (talk) 19:15, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Reflist does not appear

Resolved.

Hi. I've put together a little stub, necklace splitting problem. But the ref list does not appear for me, even though I have references in the article and {{reflist}} at the bottom. It did yesterday when I last added some material. What gives? Robinh 20:11, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

A hidden comment started with <!-- has to be closed with -->. Fixed. Algebraist 20:18, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Ach! Of course. Thanks, algebraist. Ironically, the reason I was trying to edit the article this evening was to remove the hidden comment. Best wishes, Robinh 20:39, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Why does my signature (which I type using four tildes) appear as plain text, while everyone else has a clickable username? This happens in the sandbox too. Robinh 20:55, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Because you told it to. You can change your signature at Special:Preferences. Algebraist 20:59, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Well you live and learn. Thanks! Robinh (talk) 21:05, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Using foreign characters in an article

Can anyone offer advice on typing foreign characters from a standard English keyboard and operating system? Does it have anything to do with UTF vs. 8 bit characters? I recently edited the page hyung and I believe I erased all of the foreign characters, but I cannot tell because they all appear as question marks on my screen in the first place. Thanks. User5802 (talk) 21:43, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

You need to install the right fonts to be able to read articles with foreign characters, and to able to edit them without damage. Have a look at Help:Multilingual support. Algebraist 21:51, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
Thank you very much Algebraist. User5802 (talk) 23:05, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
You are right that one of your edits [2] changed many foreign characters. Another editor reverted it. If you view the diff without the right font then you probably see red question marks on both sides of the diff, but there are only real question marks on the right side. I accidentally deleted special characters (mainly in interlanguage links) on a couple of pages long ago when I edited some pages in an old text editor. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:22, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
Yup I modified the article again once I had the proper fonts installed. User5802 (talk) 04:20, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Media-Wiki question

Resolved. — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 15:35, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Which is the Media-Wiki page for the "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" that appears under the title -- CD 22:14, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

MediaWiki:Tagline. :) Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 22:17, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

November 30

How do I delete my account?

My mother is furious because I created an account without permission. What is the deletion process? Grader12 (talk) 02:33, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Due to the fact that Wikipedia content is licensed under the GFDL, all edits must be kept for attribution purposes, and so your account cannot be deleted. You do, however, have the right to vanish, which you can exercise by (1) requesting your user page (found at Special:Mypage) and/or user talk page (found at Special:Mytalk) be deleted, by adding the {{db-userreq}} template to them; (2) requesting to change your username to something that is unconnected with you (possibly a random collection of letters and numbers); (3) never logging in to your account again. If you do this, you may not register a new username to continue editing Wikipedia as invoking your right to vanish is final. Woody (talk) 02:38, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
"Right to vanish" is mainly about the right to make a dramatic exit. If you simply stop editing, the same effect occurs, except you don't make a final, self-aggrandizing statement as you go out the door. If your mother doesn't want you to continue to edit Wikipedia, don't. This is a voluntary project, and if you just stop editing, no one is going to come to your house to make you start up again. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 04:17, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
I believe your mother is making a mistake. I believe the collaborative editing model of Wikipedia represents the future of work in the liquid fuels constrained world you are about to inherit. The sooner you learn to edit on Wikipedia, and to understand how Wikipedia manages to organize the efforts of millions of volunteers without an organization, the greater your competitive advantage will be over the bulk of people who don't yet get it. Also on Wikipedia, you have the chance to interact with some of the smartest people you are ever likely to meet - a privilege many parents spend heavily to buy temporarily for their children by sending them to college. On Wikipedia you can have something similar for free. Editing on Wikipedia has some risks, of course, but millions of parents accept the far greater risks inherent in sending their children to college. I hope your mother will read this, and if she has any questions, I invite her to pose them on my talk page. --Teratornis (talk) 20:11, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
Just in case there's been some kind of misunderstanding as to what a Wikipedia account involves - it basically boils down to the fact that your edits can be attributed to a single identity, rather than an IP address that could change. The only reasons I can imagine a parent might get upset about creating an account would be if they thought it (a) involved some kind of financial factor, or (b) would expose you to unsavoury types. As for (a), having an account neither costs nor earns you money (except in terms of lost productivity), and as far as (b) is concerned, no more than if you hadn't registered an account, although you would be wise to not reveal too many personal details anywhere on the internet if you think the wrong sort of people might see them and use them against you. Confusing Manifestation(Say hi!) 23:09, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

How do I Link to image page without embedding the image?

How can I add a link to an image in the text of a page (such as talk page) without embedding the actual image? If I use the syntax "[[Image:Latin alphabet Aa.svg|this image]]", I get the embedded image, this image, as I would expect. I'd like to insert a blue link such as this image that links to the image page. I know I can use a fully qualified html link, but is there a wiki image link syntax for what I want to do? -- Tcncv (talk) 03:14, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Add a colon like this: [[:Image:Latin alphabet Aa.svg|this image]] — Sebastian 03:22, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
Thanks. -- Tcncv (talk) 03:26, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Subcats don't show up anymore after piping

Resolved.

A while ago, I added "|use" to "[[Category:Energy]]" in Category:Energy use comparisons. This category showed up earlier in Category:Energy, but now, instead of showing up under "U", it's gone. Am I blind, or what's wrong here? (The same happened with at lease one other subcat.) — Sebastian 03:21, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

I see it in the category. Note that category sorting is case sensitive and it's under "u". PrimeHunter (talk) 03:41, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
Oh, duh! I must have taken that for another "µ"  ;-) Thanks! — Sebastian 04:09, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Tom Murphy (Titan News Television Founder)

Tom Murphy (Thomas David Murphy) was born April 5, 1987 in Salem, OR. He was a student at West Salem High School in Oregon in which he was a co founder of "TNT" also known as Titan News Television in the Spring of 2003. Tom Murphy encountered complications with the student Leadership club the fallowing year with TNT and decided to leave its production to Student Chris Zigenhagel of Student Leadership and decided to spearhead a monthly show named "PTV" also known as Promethean Television. Tom Murphy was working within his Newspaper publications class alongside Lucas DeWilde on PTV under the supervision of Video Production teacher Grant Huhn and Newspaper teacher John Divelbiss. PTV would go on under student Lucas DeWilde after Tom Murphy graduated in 2005.Tom Murphy volunteers at Capital Community Television which is a subsidiary of Comcast. Tom Murphy is currently working towards a film and video bachelors of arts degree and still resides in Salem, OR. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Atomxmurphy (talk • contribs) 04:38, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

It looks like you are wanting to create a biography of person who may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline; most people are not notable enough to have an article on Wikipedia. Articles must demonstrate the notability of the subject, citing to reliable sources which verify their content. —teb728 t c 08:00, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
I hope Tom Murphy will find some time during his meteoric rise to small-screen stardom to read the friendly manuals on Wikipedia. The similarity between the username of the original poster and the subject of the biographical snippet suggests this is the start of an autobiography, in which case the O.P. should read Wikipedia:Autobiography. Actually, meteors typically fall rather than rise, and tend to burn out or explode within a few seconds of becoming visible, but I like the metaphor despite (or perhaps because of) this. --Teratornis (talk) 20:19, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

do an article

What I have to do if i want to add my link that is relevant to the Business Research article that is speaking about routine e-mail and memos, my link is http://routinemails.weebly.com/ so i tried to to link it to it but it didn't work. i created an article but also didn't work. please i need help because i need to know what is the good way to add the link about routine e-mail messages and memos please help in this —Preceding unsigned comment added by Comm 212 8 (talk • contribs) 06:41, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Your edits, Special:Contributions/74.57.17.11 and Special:Contributions/Comm 212 8 were reverted by a bot and by two different editors. Please take time to review our external links & spam guidelines, and take note that Wikipedia is not a repository of links, not a directory, nor an advertising service; amd when you have a conflict of interest, you should avoid linking to a site you are connected to. —teb728 t c 07:35, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Two articles on the same subject

EE Times and Electronic Engineering Times appears to be about the same subject. I would merge them, but I don't know which one of those names the article should be under. --Silver Edge (talk) 07:37, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Have a read of Wikipedia:Manual of Style (abbreviations)#Acronyms as words in article titles; I'm sure you're more familiar with the topic than I am. :) — Manticore 09:13, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
It would appear from the mag's website that it is most commonly known as "EE Times" so I would merge Electronic Engineering Times into EE Times, then redirect the former to the latter. – ukexpat (talk) 16:27, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Uploading a PD photohraph

I have prepared an article, and I want to add a couple of historical photographs (public domain and commons. I have spend hours and hours in Wilipedia and Commons trying to work out how to do this, but am in treacle. If I can be directed to an upload template for Wikidedia, I will upload the pics and if anyone wants to delete them, OK. Uploading to Commons seems unnecessary, and extra steps.Mav62 (talk) 11:38, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Here's the upload page: Special:Upload. Cheers. Chamal talk 11:40, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
Or you can use Wikipedia:Upload, which gives more details if you're not familiar with the image policy. I suggest you use that one. Chamal talk 11:41, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

What is an insecure admin account?

I noticed admins User:RickK and User:Zoe were blocked because they had an insecure account. Their userpage shows that their account has been indefinitely blocked as it has been compromised. They themselves reported about it at the admin's noticeboard (long time back).

So what is an insecure account and how is it compromised? --KnowledgeHegemony talk 14:12, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
An insecure administrator account is simply an account in which the password has been cracked (usually because of a weak password) or given out. It's a bit like if a normal Wikipedia account is compromised, but if someone gets into an admin account (or any type of passworded account); but a lot more damage can be done to Wikipedia with the +sysop flag. Both of these users left the project some time ago and were emergency desysopped; they probably didn't know about the compromise, and the accounts have been blocked to prevent any further abuse. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 14:15, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
(Just as a further note) It wasn't themselves who reported it; it was another person using their account. Apparently both users had the same password. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 14:28, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
Thanks! --KnowledgeHegemony talk 14:46, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
You're welcome. :) PeterSymonds (talk) 14:48, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

FA nomination

Resolved. — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 15:33, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Where do I go to nominate an article to become a featured article? Unless, of course it must be noticed by an administrator first. -- A talk/contribs 14:39, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Nope, it doesn't have to be nominated by an administrator. See the instructions at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates. See also the Wikipedia:Featured article criteria for what FAC reviewers look out for. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 14:41, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
Thanks! -- A talk/contribs 16:42, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Copyright rules

Resolved. — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 15:34, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

A new user has added a GNU copyright notice to the bottom of an article (Claudia E. McCarthy) he created. Although I have been editing for a couple of years now, this is the first time I have seen an explicit copyright notice in an article. Does this agree with Wikipedia's copyright policy? How should this be handled? Thanks. Truthanado (talk) 18:55, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

ask question about certain subject

I am new to this and don't understand what you mean when you say "sign question using a certain mark, where do I find the mark.

next is where can I ask a question about a certain drug?

thanks

This mark is the tilde. You will find it on your keyboard to the left of the "enter" (remember to hold shift + ~) button, and four tildes signs your name, like so: ~~~~. Alternatively, there is a link to the four tildes below the save button, to the right of "Sign your posts on talk pages:" Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 18:58, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
On some Dell keyboards in the US, the tilde is on the upper left of the keyboard, just left of the "1" / "!" key. Truthanado (talk) 19:01, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
and it's a real pain in the arse to access on many mobile devices - which more and more people are using every year.... --Cameron Scott (talk) 19:04, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
It would be interesting to know the percentage of Wikipedia edits made from mobile computing devices, particularly from the smaller ones. My guess would be that anything with a small screen is best for merely consuming pre-packaged information, rather than the type of reorganizing we do on Wikipedia. When I edit a Wikipedia article, I might open a dozen browser tabs, to view sources, other articles on Wikipedia, and Wikipedia's internal manuals. Even on a desktop computer, there is no such thing as too much display space for this kind of work. --Teratornis (talk) 05:41, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
See also Wikipedia:Sign#How to sign your posts. It walks you through how to sign posts on talk pages. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 19:59, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
And see Help:Edit toolbar, which describes this handy signature button Image:Button sig.png which I will demonstrate by clicking the one in my edit toolbar right now: --Teratornis (talk) 23:51, 30 November 2008 (UTC)
As to the drug question, you can ask on the Reference desk, but first read Wikipedia:General disclaimer and Wikipedia:Medical disclaimer. --Teratornis (talk) 23:53, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

Changing a article title

Resolved. — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 15:33, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

I have created a page for the person W. Ian Lipkin. Unfortunately, Wikipedia automatically uncapitalized his last name and removed the W., ruining the page completely. This turned the page into Ian lipkin. I would like it if this were dealt with, but your instructions on changing an article name are wrong (even using an account older than 4 days) and so I cannot change the article name.

How can this be dealt with?

Y Done I moved it for you. :) Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 19:15, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

changing category titles

I want to change Category:UNO Mavericks football players to Category:Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks football players. How do you do that? DandyDan2007 (talk) 22:38, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Categories for discussion. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:10, 30 November 2008 (UTC)

December 1

I am new,,,

Hello,

How do I create an article?

sorry for that question i am just new here...—Preceding unsigned comment added by Carl526 (talk • contribs)

Before creating an article, please search Wikipedia first to make sure that an article does not already exist on the subject. Please also review a few of our relevant policies and guidelines which all articles should comport with. As Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, articles must not contain original research, must be written from a neutral point of view, should cite to reliable sources which verify their content and must not contain unsourced, negative content about living people.
Articles must also demonstrate the notability of the subject. Please see our subject specific guidelines for people, bands and musicians, companies and organizations and web content and note that if you are closely associated with the subject, our conflict of interest guideline strongly recommends against you creating the article.
If you still think an article is appropriate, see Help:Starting a new page. You might also look at Wikipedia:Your first article and Wikipedia:How to write a great article for guidance, and please consider taking a tour through the Wikipedia:Tutorial so that you know how to properly format the article before creation. – ukexpat (talk) 02:52, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Template:Infobox U.S. legislation

Hello - I'm trying to clean up {{Infobox U.S. legislation}}, and cannot figure out how (a) suppress the header "Legislative History" and the white space below the header unless at least one of the parameters is provided, or (b) how to suppress the header "Major amendments" unless |amendments= is provided. Can someone with more template savvy than I fix this? Thanks—G716 <T·C> 02:55, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

The relevant code appears to be here (I inserted some line breaks to keep it readable):
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;background-color:#BBDDFF;font-size:100%"|
{{#if: {{{leghisturl|}}}|<span class="plainlinksneverexpand">
[{{{leghisturl}}} Legislative history]</span>|Legislative history}}
Review Help:Parserfunctions#.23if: to refresh your memory on how the {{#if: ...}} works. As you can see from the end of the code snippet, the "else" part of the "if" condition is: |Legislative history}}. That is, if leghisturl is undefined, you get the "Legislative history" heading with no external link. If you want to hide the heading and everything under it unless at least one member of a set of input variables has a value, maybe you could use an {{#if: {{#expr: {{{variable1|}}} or {{{variable2|}}} or ... {{{variableN|}}} }} | all the code you want to appear | else do nothing }}. (I haven't checked this so I could be wrong. Read Help:Parserfunctions and maybe look for some other infoboxes to use as examples.) I suggest experimenting on a user subpage such as User:G716/Sandbox. Template coding experiments rarely work right on the first try, so it's best to get through the errors on a sandbox copy of a template, rather than destroy the production copy of the template. --Teratornis (talk) 06:00, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Monobook code

Is this code importScript('User:Smith609/toolbox.js'); safe to use? --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 05:06, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, I've added it myself, and there doesn't seem to be any problem so I guess it's safe. You can ask from User:Smith609 if you have any questions about the script. Cheers. Chamal talk 05:17, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Username Change Unfulfilled

I requested to change my username, but my username has yet to be changed. I'm wondering if my request didn't go through or something. Please help.

User112008 (talk) 05:22, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Purging

I am experiencing a purging problem that is not local to my machine. I have recently edited {{Illinois State Senate}} so that #14 should be in bold when on his page, but it is still behaving like a redirect in the template. This is just one example of purge problems I have been having. Another is at WP:GAR where I nominated 2008-09 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team earlier today and I can not yet see it at GAR although I can see in the transcluded page includes it. What is going on?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 05:36, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

I spoke with a technical support person on the other side of the world about my purging and he also could not see the bolding that was intended.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 05:39, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
I see both, so I would assume the problem is that it got stuck in the mw:job queue for a while. Have you tried clearing your browser cache? Calvin 1998 (t·c) 07:31, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
I was thinking it was my browser cache, but someone on the other side of the world who had nothing in cache saw what I saw. What acts do you suggest for clearing my cache though?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 07:45, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
P.S. although I now see Jones in bold, I still can not see the page at GAR.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 07:47, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
Nope, I don't see it either. Must be stuck in the queue. — neuro(talk) 09:54, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
It is not stuck in the queue because I can see it at User:VeblenBot/C/GAR.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 21:32, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
That doesn't change anything, the bot reads raw data. — neuro(talk) 17:24, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

O.K. Here is another annoying example. At Template:CA cities and mayors of 100,000 population I have made two copyedits that do not appear when the template is transcluded at various pages such as Sunnyvale, California. I received a complaint and told the person I changed the template, but it does not show.--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 00:05, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

External Links to Commercial Websites

Is it alright for commercial websites designed solely to sell merchandise to be linked to from an external links section of a Wikipedia article. 71.113.88.249 (talk) 08:27, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Santa Claus/Father Christmas

Should these articles make a bit clearer from the outset whether father christmas/santa claus is real or not. thanks 79.75.225.71 (talk) 12:53, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Who do you think is coming to these articles with the idea he's real and upon reading any length is going to be confirmed in that thought? What problem does this address? The second sentence in the lead for the first begins "The legend may..."; the second paragraph of the latter starts "The symbolic personification of Christmas as a merry old figure..." I don't see the issue.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:05, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
"Father Christmas is a name used in many English speaking countries, for the gift-bringing figure of Christmas. The same figure with the same name exists in other countries (in that country's language), such as France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Romania (Romance countries). The character is similar to, and in some places such as Australia and the UK, interchangeable with Santa Claus. Although "Father Christmas" and "Santa Claus" have for all practical purposes been merged, historically the characters were different."

no mention in that lead summary. perhaps it should start by saying something like Father Christmas is a fictional character.... ?

Father Christmas is not a fictional character in every sense, he is more a personification. I can imagine such a lead being disputed. — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 14:59, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
This should really be discussed on the article talk pages. Personification is probably a good term for this; fictional is problematic, as ther is some historical basis. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 15:48, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Unfair and unbalaced contributions

Sir,

If I find inaccurate and unfair comment concerning individuals how can I have such contribution withdrawn from the site?—Preceding unsigned comment added by Gdad300 (talk • contribs)

See WP:BLP. You can remove the information yourself, but if it is contested, request input. :) — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 14:56, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Citing annual reports

Wikipedia:Citation templates

Which template should be used for citations of SEC filings? -- Zanimum (talk) 15:19, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

It it is normally issued as a published report, then {{cite paper}} would be appropriate. Do note that this would be considered a primary source. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) talk - 15:28, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Dynamically requesting wikipedia content to include in another site.

Hello,

I am wondering where I can find information on how to get wikipedia content dynamically. I have a web site that has local pages "city_name.domain-name.com" and I would like to include wikipedia content on those pages.

For example, if the page name was atlanta.domain-name.com I would like to display a widget of content from the wikipedia page on Atlanta, GA : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta,_ga .

I have seen web pages (hotpads.com) / applications (Vicinity app) that do this but I am not sure how they have accomplished it. For example the iPhone application Vicinity seems to grab wikipedia content based on my current lat/lon location. How does it do that? Is there an wikipedia API or something?

Please forgive me if the answer to this question is glaringly obvious.

Regards,

Travis

See mw:API and WP:REUSE. – ukexpat (talk) 16:53, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Need help Changing IP address to User Name

I edited history of an article, forgetting to log in. My ip address is in history of edits and I wish to replace that IP address with my User Name for security purposes. Please provide procedures for doing this. Thank you. DimeaDuzn (talk) 16:57, 1 December 2008 (UTC)DimeaDuzn

Unfortunately, that is not possible. Once an edit is made, it is impossible to change the username/IP address that made the edit. TN‑X-Man 17:02, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Moving a page

Hi,

I tried to move a page from the name "Boris Uspensky" to a new one "Boris Andreyevich Uspensky" (the full name of the person), because I have opened another item with a person also named Boris Uspensky (full name Boris Aleksandrovich Uspensky)

I read the instructions, they seemed simple, just press the tab "Move". But I cannot find the tab anywhere ??????

Can I ask an administrator to make the move ?

Thanks,

Allan —Preceding unsigned comment added by Agamborg (talk • contribs)

Only autoconfirmed users are able to move pages. Your account is over 4 days old, but you haven't made more than 10 edits yet, so you are not quite autoconfirmed. Until you become autoconfirmed, you can request that a page be moved at WP:RM. Ioeth (talk contribs friendly) 17:12, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
In this case, using a disambiguating title for your second article is probably better than moving the first one to use the full name. Take a look at WP:DISAM. I would suggest leaving the first article - Boris Uspensky - with its current title. Then give your second article a title including a disambiguating description in parentheses. You can then use the appropriate hatnote on each article, to point to the other. Alternatively, move Boris Uspensky to a disambiguating title, create the second article with its own disambiguating title, then edit Boris Uspensky (which will now be a redirect page following the move to a new title) to turn it into a disambiguation page as described at WP:DISAM. Contact me on my talk page if you need help with any of this. – ukexpat (talk) 17:50, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
I added the appropriate hatnotes to each page, so I think we are OK with respect to disambiguation. If articles are written about other people named Boris Uspensky, we can go the disambiguation page route. – ukexpat (talk) 18:15, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Interpage diffs

Is there possibly some tool to compare diffs between pages? -- Mentisock 17:30, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Do you want to compare diffs of 2 separate pages, or simply compare the contents of 2 separate pages in a diff-like view? Ioeth (talk contribs friendly) 17:49, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
Most likely the former (but anything helps...) -- Mentisock 19:07, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Katt Williams

Can somebody with a vandal fighting tool go cleanup Katt Williams under the section about his life, please! HairyPerry 17:52, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, if you tell us what is wrong. :) — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 18:21, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
When I say look under life, its pretty self explanatory when it says "Katt Williams was born gay and he married Nick Cannon..." and "Katt Williams started being a gay comedian..." You know what I mean? :-)—Preceding unsigned comment added by HairyPerry (talk • contribs)
That vandalism was reverted by you and the page semi-protected by User:Ioeth. If you still see it, try bypassing your browser cache and/or purging the page. – ukexpat (talk) 19:25, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Seeking approval for Pete Snyder article

This is an article I have drafted and posted to my user subspace. In preparation, I have carefully followed WP:NOR, WP:BIO and WP:BLP among other applicable guidelines. Because I have a financial interest in the subject (i.e. he is my employer), I would like an uninvolved editor to review the article as I have written it and move it, approve me to do so, or offer feedback on how it could be improved before asking for admittance to the mainspace again. Let me know, and feel free to check out my user page for more about my editing activities. Thanks. NMS Bill (talk) 18:03, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

The article looks good; it is well-written and well-sourced. I recommend that you move it into the article space yourself. You may want to leave a note on the article's talk page with information similar to the message you left here. Cheers! Ioeth (talk contribs friendly) 18:12, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
Looks good. If he is your boss, you may wish to get a picture of him - I will add an infobox in in a minute, hopefully you won't mind. — neuroIT'S MY BIRTHDAY! 18:33, 1 December 2008 (UTC)
Thank you both for your quick comments. Feel free to add the userbox and/or move it, otherwise I will do so shortly. I don't have a photograph yet, but that's a great idea as well. Thanks again.