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June 8

Software Error

Hi,

On the List of companies by revenue page, the table "Sortability" is buggy. When I tried to arrange the data by Revenue, it worked properly, but when sorted the data by both Market Capitalization and by Number of Employees, the sorting algorithm seemed alphabetic versus numeric.

An alphabetic sort could be like this:

a
add
b
c
cab

Where the numbers corresponding with each character are:

1
144
2
3
312

Of course, that is obviously not their correct numeric order. The number of digits should take precedence over the most significant digit.

I tried to figure out how to fix it myself on the page. I am new to editing, and am unfamiliar with the software and syntax used to make these tables, but it seemed that it was an internal software bug versus something that could be corrected by an edit.

Also, one piece of data looked weird to me: Vale's market capitalization = "$126,8"

Does that mean "$126,800" or "$1,268" or is it just completely incorrect?

Anyways, thanks for looking :)

I don't have a complete answer, as I have a meeting in minutes, but check out Help:Sorting. Thought perhaps the comma was the problem, but that link claims otherwise. I thought the references were a problems, but not clear why it works in one place but not the other. --SPhilbrick (Talk) 13:17, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I fixed it partially. The Exxon number was simply wrong, so I removed it. Several entries were "-" mostly because, I presume the info wasn't available. I think that field was viewed as text, so was inhibiting the sorting. The State Farm entry had a dash and a text entry, so I removed that as well. At least one had an N/A entry which I removed.

It largely sorts correctly with ironic exceptions. In some cases, someone used a template intended to make it sort correctly. However, that template's instructions say it should be used only when every field in the column uses the template, and that isn't the case.

There is more work to do. Many are sourced to a Forbes article, but I couldn't find any matching numbers, I think because the article has been updated, but the cell entries have not been. Someone needs to work on this. In the meantime, we probably need a maintenance template.--SPhilbrick (Talk) 21:05, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Committee (wrong title)

Hi I seek your assistance with changing the title of the above page to the 'National Alternative Dispute Resolution Advisory Council'. It is not a Committee (see www.nadrac.gov.au).

I would be grateful if you would amend the title as soon as possible.

Thank you RR79 — Preceding unsigned comment added by RR79 (talk • contribs) 00:06, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I've moved it to the correct title. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:58, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Must I be a famous person to create a new entry about myself?

I am a computer consultant, born in Hull, Yorkshire, England, and have lived for the last 21 years in Munich, Germany. Must I have achieved great success in personal or in business life to create a new entry? — Preceding unsigned comment added by BobWheldon (talk • contribs) 09:40, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Firstly you need to be notable to have a Wikipedia article written about you. Secondly you should not write about yourself as you have a conflict of interest; see WP:Autobiography. - David Biddulph (talk) 09:44, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

However, you are welcome to write about yourself on your own user page User:BobWheldon. Maproom (talk) 13:31, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Please see wp:USERPAGES for guidelines on the use of your userpage. LeadSongDog come howl! 13:44, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How to delete pages

I wish to ask how do you request to delete pages? The Deletion pages are a bit of a mish mash. The reason im asking is the following pages should be get get the axe:

Reason being I believe it falls under the same banner as the 100 Greatest series which had a number of page with top 20 list, but alas were chop and all we have no is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_%28UK_TV_series%29 Shouldn't all TV countdown page be treated the same? User:Crazyseiko (talk) 09:40, 8 June 2012‎ (UTC)[reply]

Please read: WP:PROD and WP:AFD. These pages are two of the options to nominate an article for deletion. Please read WP:BEFORE before nominating.Jarkeld (talk) 09:43, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My Page does not appear when searching.

Ive created a page to do with a local cemetery. Once atricle was finished I signed and timestamped it and then saved the page. However when I search for my topic on the Wiki search facility it tells me it does not exist and asks if I would like to create it. What am I doing wroung and how to I make my page visible? — Preceding unsigned comment added by St Josephs Rochsoles (talk • contribs) 10:07, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, you created the page at your userpage. As such it will not show up in regular searches. You could submit it via the article wizard. You might want to include a source on the basic information in the article before submitting. Jarkeld (talk) 10:18, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Magic words

I'd like to tweak P:OXFORD so that it doesn't display the Wikinews subpage unless a story has been added to it within the last six months. At the moment, I can use the following code to check for changes in 2012:

{{#ifeq: {{CURRENTYEAR}} | {{REVISIONYEAR|Portal:University of Oxford/Wikinews}} | [shows news page if updated in 2012] | [blank, or something else, if not updated in 2012}}

That's fine for now, but if a story is added to Wikinews in December 2012, I'd like to display it for some months in 2013 as well, which this approach doesn't allow. Is there an expression or formula that I can use that would calculate if the time between the last revision of the subpage and the present time is more than 6 months, say? Bencherlite ^Talk 12:21, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

By my reading of mw:Help:Magic words, the REVISIONxxx magic words can only report on the current page, and don't accept any kind of parameter to make them report on a different page. So not only can I not solve your problem, but I think your current code won't work either. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:03, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The magic word {{REVISIONYEAR}} only works for the page it's used in. It doesn't accept a parameter and if it did, the syntax would be {{REVISIONYEAR:page name}} and not {{REVISIONYEAR|page name}}. In your example, {{REVISIONYEAR|Portal:University of Oxford/Wikinews}} produces the red link 2023, but you don't see it because you compare it to something (it will never be equal to a year). You cannot retrieve information about the revision time of another page. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:04, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Incorrect information about me in article harming my reputation

Dear Sirs,

I am mentioned in the above article as the "Slovak woman". I did not practice witchcraft, never in my life, and never wanted to stop Bomjon's meditation. This information is strongly offending and false, and as I am a well-known member of the community of devotees, it is strongly harming my good name.

I was invited there by devotees to help as a volunteer translator in 2011, and I was enthusiastically working in his service all the time. I was and am his devotee and myself meditate. I never disturbed or blocked his meditation. I spent most my free time in silent meditation in the outside jungle, very far from Ram Bomjon. I was never "caught" at any witchcraft activity. My meditation was to promote the peace and love, and support Ram Bomjon in his mission. All was done inside my deep samadhi (meditation state). I never approached him in person.

Please correct your article, showing untrue data. Please also publish my website, explaining in detail all the affair. Thank you, Marici, Zsuzsanna Takacs, Slovakia. Halkoria.ewebsite.com

Thank you,

Zsuzsanna Takacs Citizen of Czech and Slovak Republics — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.212.40.249 (talk) 12:43, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Since the information was unsourced and it appears to be negative information about a living person, I removed it. Ryan Vesey Review me! 13:16, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Change photograph

I've never put in or taken out photos. How do I change out a photo, replacing an old shot with a new one? — Preceding unsigned comment added by PearlyG (talk • contribs) 13:13, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Does WP:Image tutorial help? --ColinFine (talk) 13:48, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

and s/he has added it back in. I'm having another go. Would welcome extra eyes, if possible StarM 23:42, 10 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Definition of censorship

Could you please direct me on where to go to get a proper definition or knowledge on reporting abusive actions by a editore.Also ould you please tell me why quoteing exact laws ad where to reference them is deemed as vandilsm Also could you please tell me what in ,your opinion constitutes censorism.It is my believe via the Constition of our United States that suppression of truthful,factual and verifiable information is censoreship,what is wikipedia's definition?Thank u for your time,,,paita — Preceding unsigned comment added by Paitalona (talk • contribs) 14:19, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Do WP:VANDALISM and WP:NOTCENSORED help?--ukexpat (talk) 14:26, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This person does not seem to speak English very well. They are trying to insert personal opinions as to the meaning of U.S. laws, unsourced, into the article coca tea and when challenged they accuse us of incivility, censorship and violation of the Constitution (apparently the U.S. constitution). At one point, this same person referred to "so- called sweden"! --Orange Mike | Talk 14:32, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See their talk page, the closed discussion at WP:DRN#Coca tea, User talk:ChrisGualtieri/Backlog which they created, the discussion at WP:WQA in particular, and this edit at Wikipedia talk:Requests for mediation. I don't think we can help this editor. Dougweller (talk) 15:04, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

And given the history of IPs adding similar material to Coca and Coca tea, we may have to consider protection if this continues. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dougweller (talk • contribs) 16:19, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See User talk:Paitalona#Regarding this user's edits. --Guy Macon (talk) 19:07, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Unwanted indentation

I'm trying to simple update some of the information on the page, and I deleted what looked like an unnecessary character. Now my alignment is all messed up. How do fix it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nicklols1010 (talk • contribs) 17:22, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In general, you can revert to a previous version, but in this case, it looked like you had added more, so I just added the |} in the appropriate place.

Created article with wrong name

Resolved

I accidentally created an article called George Lee (pilot. It should have been George Lee (pilot). Would some rename it, please? JMcC (talk) 17:25, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Done Britmax (talk) 17:29, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

new article

I have a two new articles I would like to put on Wikipedia, but I wanted someone who has more experience with Wikipedia to look it over and provide feedback before I do. I'd appreciate any help Gary.mexico (talk) 17:47, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I would suggest using the Articles for creation process, where your article will get reviewed. Regards, Thine Antique Pen (talk • contributions) 17:49, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Peacock warning and order of operations when writing an article for Wikipedia

Hello, I am creating a biographical article (Rudy Buttignol). Yesterday I added a couple of paragraphs: one was on "Service" into which I places a number of boards and committees; the other on film credits and such. Today I was going to add the citations.

However, late yesterday a helpful editor notified me that he had but a "Peacock" code on the work. He did not specify the problem area(s). So last night I removed the new paragraphs and put them onto a Word document so that I could work there on adding the citations before putting the cited paragraphs back onto the Wikipedia page.

My questions are three: (1) Do contributors complete the text & citations on Word before putting onto Wikipedia? (2) How does the Peacock label get removed? (3) How can I reach the helpful editor (David217) for clarification re the Peacock points? I found his site but couldn't see where to add a message.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sofiabrampton (talk) 17:56, 8 June 2012 (UTC) Sofiabrampton[reply]

1. Some folks edit in a text editor before posting to Wikpedia; others work straight in the edit box. Wherever you work, provide the citations in a Wikipedia-legible format, not in Word format. See WP:CITE for some guidelines.

2. We would remove the "peacock" warning if the problem were cured. Most of these awards (for example) are petty, non-notable stuff which seems to be there solely to pad the article and make the subject seem more important. If an award is not itself notable, it is probably unsuitable for the article. Remember: we must maintain a neutral point of view; we are not here to tell the world how useful (or useless) to society the subject is.

3. You communicate with another editor by posting to their talk page; in the case of David217, that would be User talk:David1217. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:05, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Football matches live information

Are informations about football matches (goals, yellow/red cards, substitution, and more) added live (i.e. during the match, right when they happen)? 117.5.2.58 (talk) 18:40, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If someone chooses to do so. --Jayron32 18:41, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I often use this site for live scores and streams. Wikipedia can not be live as else there would be too many edit conflicts. If you want live scores then I do not recommend you Wikipedia. Regards.--GoP _T ^C _N 19:36, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

However, apparently articles about UEFA Euro 2012 are live. 117.5.2.58 (talk) 20:26, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think you mean that you see the {{match in progress}} template in football related articles. Quoted from the link I provided: “Although live updates to unfinished matches are not in keeping with Wikipedia's purpose as an encyclopaedia [per Wikipedia's crystal ball policy], many editors like to provide them, and where this happens, use of this template makes the incomplete nature of the score clear to readers.” 71.146.10.213 (talk) 04:37, 9 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Talk page contribution

I can't see how to introduce a topic on the talk page of the article BAY STREET. Is it locked in some way? Torontonian1 (talk) 19:08, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Talk:Bay Street works OK for me when I preview a dummy edit. Do you see the "edit" tab at the top of the page? Ka renjc 19:21, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Or better yet, the "+" tab? That will give you an opportunity to add a heading to your comments there. Dismas|^(talk) 21:03, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The tab says "New section" by default. Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets has the option: Change the "new section" tab text to instead display the much narrower "+". PrimeHunter (talk) 23:40, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Note that all article titles are case-sensitive; so BAY STREET has nothing to do with Bay Street. --Orange Mike | Talk 02:26, 9 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Quick question regarding Peer Reviews

Resolved

I have a quick question. There are two peer reviews for List of Fairy Tail characters going on here, but another peer review has been going on here. Should we merge them into one if possible? Thanks, Darth Sjones23 (talk - contributions) 22:31, 8 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Already done. 71.146.10.213 (talk) 04:30, 9 June 2012 (UTC)[reply]