Help desk
< November 13	<< Oct \| November \| Dec >>	November 15 >

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.

November 14

embedded images

Can you tell me how to make the equivalent of

<img src="http://www.uspto.gov/images/uspto_seal_120.gif" align=right vspace=1 hspace=5>

in your system. I read the Wiki page on images and I could not make anything I tried work, although I am an experienced HTML writer. I want to embed an image (preferably aligned, hspace and vspace optional) from an external source -- say my webpage on my university's server. The gif is not uploaded to Wikipedia, and I prefer not to upload it. BTW, that PTO seal image is a US Govt work and by law is not subject to copyright.

Can you just give me the equivalent in your code of the above img src code? Thanks.

While I am at it, I would like to embed an animated gif into a Wiki article to illustrate a point in an article and to criticize something -- again it is on my university's server. Will I have any problem?

PraeceptorIP (talk) 21:29, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Unfourtunately, you cannot link to an image from an external source; you must upload the image to Wikipedia (or to Wikimedia Commons) before using it. If you wish to upload an image you created (the animated GIF), you must first either release it to public domain, or license it under GPL or CC-by-SA. For US government images, such as the one you mentioned first, the appropriate selection on he upload screen would be "Official work of the US Federal Goverenment" - SigmaEpsilon → ΣΕ 05:35, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

photography/the rule of three

what is this00:20, 14 November 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.173.57.158 (talk)

You might find what you are looking for in the article about Rule of thirds. If you cannot find the answer there, you can try asking your question at Wikipedia's Reference Desk. They will be glad to try to answer questions about anything in the universe (except about how to use Wikipedia, which is what this help desk is for). I hope this helps. Algebraist 00:41, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Signpost

Why hasn't a signpost been delivered to my talk page since September 15th?--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 00:31, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Apparently, Ral315 has been too busy to run the bot. Algebraist 00:40, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Wierd

Why is Hurricane Boris (2008) looking diffrent than I editied and it is leavina a big space without the clear template? 00:53, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

Looks OK to me. Maybe something to do with your browser? Chamal ^talk 01:08, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Between the infobox and the image there is a huge space. Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home ,Sandbox Happy Veterans day 01:09, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c) I am not seeing any spacing problem with or without the clear template and I looked in both Safari and Internet Explorer. By the way, for subsequent uses of a named footnote, all you need to do is use <ref name="name" />.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 01:11, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Are you talking about the image in the infobox or one of the other two images? But either way, I don't see any extra space :) Try purging the page. Chamal ^talk 01:14, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The one with the label TD Two-E. Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home ,Sandbox Happy Veterans day 01:16, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Between that image and the infobox, there is a space about 5 lines, but there's text there. It's not empty space. And BTW, that image is there because it's placed on top of the paragraph starting with "After holding steady for about 48 hours...". If you want it closer to the infobox, you have to move it up the section. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 01:27, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It is as close as possibol but the image puts it down. Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home ,Sandbox Happy Veterans day 01:33, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I even notice space in other areas where they shoud not be. Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home ,Sandbox Happy Veterans day 01:39, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

What browser are you using? Can you post a screenshot? Algebraist 01:40, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am using internet explorer. Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home ,Sandbox Happy Veterans day 01:43, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I don't get it =/ I just tried with IE7 and it looks fine. Chamal ^talk 01:53, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I belive i fixed it byt its not out of the woods. Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home ,Sandbox Happy Veterans day 01:58, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Locating old edits

Hi, a couple of questions if I may:

1. Is there any way to find out when a particular passage of text was added to an article?

2. Is there any way to find out when a particular piece of text was deleted from an article (assuming you know at least some of the words that were in it)?

If the edit is recent then it's feasible to look through recent diffs, but what do you do if it was months or years ago? The times I've tried to do this I've used some flavour of "binary chop" method on the edit history, but pretty soon I lose the will to live. Matt 04:20, 14 November 2008 (UTC). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.134.55.164 (talk)

I use WikiBlame for that. —teb728 t c 04:41, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Which is now linked when you look at the article history:

External tools: Revision history statistics · Revision history search · Page view statistics

--—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 05:05, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you all. Matt 86.161.41.195 (talk) 18:58, 14 November 2008 (UTC).[reply]

Vandalism and other warning templates

Where do I go to find vandalism and other warning templates? --Crackthewhip775 (talk) 06:24, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

WP:WARN. --Fullobeans (talk) 06:37, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"{{#if:" expression

I'm having difficulty figuring out how to properly execute code within a template. Specifically, using the "if" expression within ParserFunctions. I want to know how to do the following:

IF the PAGENAME = 2008–09 WHL season THEN do THIS.

Thanks in advance. — Hucz ^{(talk · contribs)} 07:22, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

User:Hersfold has a advanced template lesson in his user adoption center that might help. - Mgm|^(talk) 11:41, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

#if doesn't do that. You want {{#ifeq:{{PAGENAME}}|2008–09 WHL season|THIS|THAT}}, which produces THIS on if the pagename = 2008-09 WHL season and THAT otherwise. The documentation is at m:Help:ParserFunctions. Algebraist 12:08, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You are a LIFESAVER. Thank-you ever so much, Algebraist! — Hucz ^{(talk · contribs)} 12:30, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Template:NBA game log section

I would ask at Template talk, but since it is a redlink, I know there is no traffic. Can someone fix Template:NBA game log section to have the same color options as Template:NBA game log start. I would like to swap some colors at 2008-09 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team so that the months are blue on maize (the inverse of the start).--TonyTheTiger (t/c/bio/WP:CHICAGO/WP:LOTM) 08:57, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Username not created but is contrib

I attempted to create my username today and received the following error:

Login error The name "HumbleSage" is too similar to the existing account:

   * Humblesage (contribs)

Please choose another name.

Can you please assist me in registering this username as it matches my company and want it to represent our presence on wikipedia. Thank you very much. :)

65.31.64.106 (talk) 15:00, 14 November 2008 (UTC)Rob Holmes, HumbleSage.com Owner[reply]

Please see the username policy. Usernames similar to the names of businesses and institutions are not allowed, because it is seen as promotional. I am afraid that this username is too similar anyway, and would be denied. Thanks, PeterSymonds (talk) 15:04, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict with PS, as usual). Thank you for your interest, but Wikipedia is not the place to represent your company. In fact, there are several policies in place to prevent advertising, spamming, conflict of interests, and blatant usernames that represent companies. So, in short, you might want to think about advertising elsewhere. Tan | 39 15:05, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Seems kind of bitey here today. This page might have some good information for the IP OP. --Onorem ♠Dil 15:12, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

My apologies if it seemed bitey, though I can't understand how it can be read as such. PeterSymonds (talk) 15:14, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I was more looking at the last line of Tan's reply, but no reason to go off topic here. --Onorem ♠Dil 15:17, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the fast response. It wasn't my intention to advertise, spam or any of the like. I suppose I presented my request all wrong anyhow. I've actually gone by the nickname for over 15 years and was hoping to provide that knowledge to wikipedia. It's a bummer now because at this point I would have to convince those that feel I would use it as spam or what have you that it is not my intention. I guess I will have to use a different name. :(

P.S. I agree Dil.. seems really bitey. I did read the FAQ and other sources before I posted this. There is a LARGE amount of information to sift through just to get to know this wonderful tool. Sorry if I missed this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.31.64.106 (talk) 15:26, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You're welcome. :) Please note that inappropriate usernames on Wikipedia are almost never a reflection on the person themselves. This is why they are given a chance to be renamed at the appropriate page. But there are technical reasons why this rename cannot go ahead; the username is simply too similar to the existing one, and may cause problems further down the line. I hope this helps. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 15:33, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

OK Great! Hope to talk to all of you more sometime. :) EgaSelbmuH (talk) 15:43, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Logo quality

Hi, i was wondering what is wrong with the quality of the logo in the article Ardingly College. I dont know why the lettering has become so distorted? Perhaps someone can sort this out. Many Thanks 79.75.248.33 (talk) 15:28, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hello there, and thanks for your question. That particular logo has been uploaded at a lower resolution, because the logo itself is copyrighted. It has thus been released as a fair-use image, so it has to conform to the non-free content criteria. This stipulates that non-free images must be at a low resolution, to prevent the logo from being misused. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 15:36, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I reduced the size of the logo in the ibox so it looks a little less crappy. One point, that logo is a little different from the graphic on the school's website - is it correct to assume that the website has a redesigned version? Should the article use that one instead? – ukexpat (talk) 15:46, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Well that all depends. On one hand, the logo's intended purpose is to identify its associated organization. I think the current version does just that. On the other hand, if the logo has been updated, it is advised that a newer, more up-to-date version be used instead. The logo can most likely be obtained on their official website. Hope this answers your question. — Hucz ^{(talk · contribs)} 12:34, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

help

I wrong to include a web reference in causes of autism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Trèspacifique (talk • contribs) 15:39, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Are you wanting to cite Wikipedia in a document about the causes of autism? My apologies, but I'm having some trouble understanding your request. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 15:48, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(e/c)Looks like you already added it - do you want it removed, or is there something else with which you need assistance? – ukexpat (talk) 15:49, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

(edit conflict) Looks like you have added it all right. You can also use the template Cite web for adding the ref. Just follow the instructions there. Cheers. Chamal ^talk 15:52, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Status

I have noticed on certain userpages they have a nice Status Button with a colour representing their status (Green = Online, Red = Offline, Grey = Unknown) but I was wondering how you do this?? Limideen 16:42, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can find a range of designs and texts at Wikipedia:Editor activity indicator, with the codes provided. :) Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 16:44, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Signatures

Where do you get the template that reminds people to always sign there comments? Hairy Perry 18:00, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I believe you're looking for {{uw-tilde}}. If the user is an established editor, however, it may be better to drop them a personalized note. Cheers! TN‑X-Man 18:03, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Greeting new users with speedy deletions?

Hello, I have been using Twinkle to respond to vandalism and to mark pages that don't belong in an encyclopedia. I have been thinking about it, and it seems rather cold to greet a new editor with a deletion notice just because their first edit is an inadequate article. Is there any friendlier way to greet these people and tell them about why their article isn't appropriate, short of writing a new message for every single person? Thank you. Loves Macs (talk) 18:49, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

{{firstarticle}} is a good alternative. :) Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 19:00, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

There's also {{Nn-welcome}}. Cheers.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 20:25, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I find Friendly to be an incredibly useful little tool; it puts several welcome templates at your fingertips (including {{firstarticle}}) which address problematic first edits. --Fullobeans (talk) 22:02, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I always give a {{welcome}} for all logged-in users whose Talk page was redlinked before I issue them any warnings. Little Red Riding Hoodtalk 01:13, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Personal bio page

How to create a page with an person's books, writings or other accomplishments. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.121.84.149 (talk) 19:25, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

You can be bold and add such things to a specific page, bearing in mind to keep a neutral point of view. A list of books by a person is usually best on the main page itself, rather than another page. If the person's contributions are enormously significant (for example Compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven) then they may warrant a separate page, but only if there are so many that main page becomes unbalanced. Please also remember verifiability and reliable and independent sources. Best, PeterSymonds (talk) 19:29, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

i get the impression that you're talking about creating a new biographical article; reading WP:Your First Article and WP:Biographies of Living Persons should help. Sssoul (talk) 20:39, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Editing

How do u create a new article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.4.21.202 (talk) 21:10, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Check out Wikipedia:Your first article. It has both the technical steps, and the process steps to avoid having that first article quickly deleted. - TexasAndroid (talk) 21:17, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed, I got get deleted or merged rather quick. IP's can no longer created an article Leave Message ,Yellow Evan home ,Sandbox Happy Veterans day 21:29, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Userpage

I want to add some userboxes in my userpage in a table format in the right side, but it disperses the DYK templates [1]. Please help how can I add a table properly. Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 22:01, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It looks fine on my screen. Did you fix it? If not, what is your screen resolution size? - Mgm|^(talk) 22:44, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I use Firefox and my screen resolution is 1024 768. If I add a table at the right side of my userpage, the dyk column is split into two separate columns, one in left upper corner the other in right lower corner. Is there any table format so that I can put the userboxes in the format of a row, instead of a format of column? Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 23:03, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Will this work? (You can remove the border, and the percentages will allow it to stretch). - Mgm|^(talk) 23:30, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

DYK (in two columns)

Userboxes

- Yeah, a better idea, however I just noticed the userpage of User:Grutness. The table he had is exactly what I wanted. Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 23:52, 14 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  - I like this version. But the problem is that when I add the article column, it crosses the DYK section. Is there any way so that I can ad a userbox column in the right hand side of the userpage, but the column will not cross the DYK section? Otolemur crassicaudatus (talk) 00:05, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think that is possible. If you did that the text in the DYK boxes would be squished into a smaller space (the text across multiple lines making it unreadable). There's only enough room to have three columns of this width on a page (with the screen size we both use). - Mgm|^(talk) 10:16, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

If you put the DYKs in two columns, the layout you showed from Grutness should work fine. - Mgm|^(talk) 10:17, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]