WP:Village pump (technical)/Archive AJ#Special:Random

Could anybody out there tell me the way to upload small audio bits (in ogg or other formats), like a place name?

Also please help me how to link that to the article. ThxAnil 07:12, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

: Visit Special:Upload, and I think the only audio file type accepted are OGG Vorbis files (maybe MIDI too). Within an article, you might want to include one of the following:

:− Twas Now ( talk • contribs • e-mail ) 09:13, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

I need help with my popup issues. One time I attempted to remove the popup script but it didn't work and I enter a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation_popups/FAQ#That_didn.27t_work. code] to get rid of the script but everytime I log on, it keeps redirecting me immediately to my monobook.js after I log on to and it refuse me to go to other articles (or edit). Can someone remove my script or give me advice on what should I do. Thank you! This IP adress is edited by PrestonH--69.236.29.100 04:01, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

:Disable javascript, log in, blank your monobook.js, clear your cache, voila ^_^. --Splarka (rant) 08:45, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

How do I submit an article for the In the news ... spot, please? TerriersFan 23:10, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

:Might want to look at this - there is quite a lot of information on this and related links. x42bn6 Talk 23:43, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

::Ah, very useful thank you. TerriersFan 01:18, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

_ _ I propose to create a template {{tl|text}} whose handwritten text runs 21 lines on a steno pad.

_ _ This would arguably contravene a WP:TfD decision, but the new version i drafted (prior to realizing a former one had existed!) arguably answers all the objections raised at TfD. Historical details and opportunity to raise objections follow:

_ _ Template:Text was [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Undelete/Template:Text routinely deleted 08:38, 21 July 2005] by User:Radiant! per [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Templates_for_deletion&diff=19138741&oldid=19138677 TfD debate, complete as of 08:31, 19 July 2005]. Its complete content was the 7 chars "{{{1}}}". The debate follows:

:TfD notice for Text is also on Template:Mapquest because the latter may use the former.

:Huh? Note: the "What links here" page returns a couple of templates that call for a "text=" parameter, but they long predate this brand-new template. I don't think those intended to include this template. --Tabor 22:24, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

:* Note: I am wary about putting {{tfd}} on this template, in case it is now inadvertently being substituted anywhere. --Tabor 22:28, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

:*Delete very difficult to understand template. -Splash 00:28, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

:*Delete. {{text|Entirely useless template. View source to see what I mean.}} --Blu Aardvark | ^{(talk) | (contribs)} 08:41, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

:*Delete. Unexplained and unused. (SEWilco 02:32, 16 July 2005 (UTC))

:* Delete - it is not a sub-template of Template:Mapquest, which just uses a parameter called "text". An old bug used to make such parameters as {{{text}}} appear and link to non-existent templates because of the way the innermost curly-braces were interpreted. Template:Text serves no purpose. -- Netoholic @ 16:20, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

:* Mapquest template author note: That, was a parameter, like Netoholic stated. :--AllyUnion (talk) 07:05, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

_ _ Of the nominator & 4 other voters, only one has edited other than user talk pages in the last 2 months, and that one's user page features a bitter response to an arbitration verdict. This leaves me doubtful of the feasibility of reasonable reconsideration by any of the previous voters.

_ _ This is probably too trivial for attention, in which case i'll simply create my version & we can deal then with any objections. Add something here and [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Jerzy&action=edit§ion=new leave a new note] on my talk page, if you want to discuss it first here, probably including my initially keying the long portion here instead of onto Template:Text. (The included portion is the same old 7 characters.)
--Jerzy•t 22:21 & 22:28, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

When I highlight something in an edit box, it shows a mini-preview! Is this new, or am I just unobservant? Milto LOL pia 22:10, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

:It's new. It's annoying as heck—it moves the edit box when I select something requiring me to scroll the window. How do I turn it off? —Doug Bell ^talk 22:18, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

::It's from Popups. Put popupOnEditSelection=false; into your monobook.js to turn it off. Tra (Talk) 22:25, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

:::Thanks. I think it's entirely unusable (at least in IE) and doesn't even work correctly since the selection size gets messed up by the offset created by the preview text. Back to the drawing board on this one. —Doug Bell ^talk 22:33, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

::::I also managed to get rid of it, but now I can't preview pages at all (using the show preview button), it just takes me straight back to the editing box (though it gives me a preview of my edit summary). Is there a way to fix this aswell? James086^Talk 08:39, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

:::::The auto preview buggers up my browser, too (using IE 7). Where in the monobook do I put the above line? Proto ► 15:00, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

::::::Put it underneath the code that references popups. Tra (Talk) 16:00, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

:::::::Ugh! I hate that thing. I will definitely be disabling it. It's almost impossible to edit with that on. Firsfron of Ronchester 21:54, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Hello. I've found a wiki-method to draw Feynman diagram. [http://www.wikisophia.org/wiki/Feyn Here] it is. I want to include this in the MediaWiki. How can I do that? Vinograd19 21:34, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

:I believe last time the developers looked at WikiTex (which is what is being used) there were some possible security issues. Whether those have been resolved I don't know, but I would certainly like to see WikiTex or something similar on Wikimedia sites in future. the wub "?!" 17:54, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

If want to have differenct search alternatives lead to the same article, what do I do? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Drogo (talk • contribs) 16:44, 14 February 2007 (UTC).

:You can create a redirect from each of the different search alternatives to the article. Tra (Talk) 16:53, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Currently deleted edits are retrievable up to June 2004, it is time that we actually start cleaning out the deleted old mainspace page revisions for up to, say 2 years? I was reading up this, I do not believe that anyone would really want to look up for something on mainspace that was previously deleted for more than two years, and I'm sure there are costs for maintaining this database. Over half of what is created today is deleted everyday, and we know that several of them are spam/vanity/copyright violations. Do we really need to keep and retrieve them in five years' time, for example?

At the moment images are not undelete-able for up to June 2006, but in future it's going to take up a lot of space if we don't have a cut-off time. Let's be practical, do we really need to retain imagevios, CSD#I4s, CSD#I5s for more than a year that takes up gigs of space and maintenance costs? - Mailer Diablo 16:40, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

:It's not really disk space that uses up all the money. It's accessing the database that causes the problems. Since deleted content just sits on the server and doesn't need to be accessed except possibly very occasionally by an admin, it shouldn't really cause too many problems. Tra (Talk) 16:51, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

::Images are going to start adding up, however. They take up enough space to be problematic, unlike the deleted edits. Prodego ^talk 16:54, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I moved the following thread from the WP:AN. The articles in the pages named here have all been deleted, however it looks like this may be an ongoing problem in which there is a delay in updating Category:Proposed_for_deletion_for_over_five_days page. Any ideas? Kla'quot 04:36, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

The page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Proposed_for_deletion_for_over_five_days does not include articles from the following pages:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Proposed_deletion_as_of_6_February_2007
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Proposed_deletion_as_of_7_February_2007

Is this a problem with the software? Kla'quot 06:28, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

(pseudo-indent) I've noticed this before. Doesn't seem to be a problem with Template:Dated prod. The relevant part is...

{{#if: {{{day|{{{month|{{{year|}}}}}}}}}
|{{#ifexpr: {{#time:U}} > {{#time:U|{{{day}}} {{{month}}} {{{year}}} +5 days}}
|'''The {{#switch:{{NAMESPACEE}}|{{ns:2}}=user page|{{ns:3}}=user talk
page|#default=article}} may be deleted without further notice since this message has remained in place for five
days.'''{{hidden-delete-reason|Expired prod, concern:
{{{concern|{{{1|}}}}}}}}Category:Proposed for deletion for over five days
|The {{#switch:{{NAMESPACEE}}|{{ns:2}}=user page|{{ns:3}}=user talk page|#default=article}} may be deleted if
this message remains in place for five days.{{hidden-delete-reason|Prod, concern: {{{concern|{{{1|}}}}}}}}
}}

...and I know from experience that the red notice works correctly. The pages also categorise correctly. Purging the category doesn't work. Perhaps it's a job queue/large wiki lag thing.

Oh, and get deleting - there's two days worth of stuff that needs to be prodded over the edge. MER-C 12:25, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

:Yeah, I'm not sure what to make of that, either. As MER-C said, the pages themselves all claim to be in the category, but the category page doesn't list them, and purging (both pages and category) seems to have no effect. Strange. The template seems fine, so it may be some odd trick of the server. – Luna Santin (talk) 23:01, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

:::Purging does not affect links tables (e.g. category lists, what links here, etc.). Those are rebuilt either when the page is saved or the next time the page is rendered after its links cache expires (often, but not always within 24 hours). Some classes of things are also handled more quickly through the job queue, but I believe the problem discussed here would not be. For a specific page, you can force an update by making a null edit to it, but there is no practical way (that I know of) to do this across entire categories. Dragons flight 06:44, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

:: I saw a similar problem recently with another category in which pages were added accidentally by an oversight in a transcluded template. After fixing the template and purging it, the pages no longer had the category, but it seemed to take 12 hours for the category itself to update. Gimmetrow 04:43, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I've seen that problem before (I wrote the prod code to do it). It's an issue with Mediawiki's category synchronization, I guess it's a task that gets put in the job queue but takes a while before it gets run. —Quarl ^(talk) 2007-02-14 05:34Z

Thanks everyone. Is the consensus that there is no feasible way to fix the problem? If we need to adopt an inelegant, brute-force workaround, I'd suggest creating a category for "prodded 3+ days ago" and another category for "prodded 4+ days ago". Admins can then check those categories and see whether they contain articles that were actually prodded 5 days ago. I warned you it was inelegant ;) Kla'quot 06:55, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

:Well, that would essentially be no different than checking the "Prod as of DAY MONTH YEAR" cats. Unless someone wants to sit around null-editing prod pages all day, there is no reason to have :Category:Proposed for deletion for over five days, as it will never list more than a small fraction of the pages that should be in it. --- RockMFR 23:13, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

This should have the /* */ added so that it becomes a section link. For example, instead of "New section edit summary", my edit summary here should be /* New section edit summary */ created section, that is, appearing as "→New section edit summary - created section". --Random832(tc) 16:12, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

:"→New section edit summary - ← created section", surely? This would just get out of hand, though; better would be a modified autosummary like you suggest, and a method of providing an edit summary other than the new section title if desired (e.g. a 'Section header' box and an 'edit summary' box; if the box were left blank, it would fill in the AES, and if a summary were given, that would be used (with the section prepended).) --ais523 16:32, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

::So can this be done by changing something in the Mediawiki: namespace, or will it need to be changed in the code (i.e. should file a bug report/feature request)? --63.173.196.33 13:38, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

:::It has to be requested on bugzilla:. --ais523 13:49, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

This is not really of relevence to Wikipedia, but it is to Wikiversity and it involves MediaWiki. I'm asking here as more people may read it. On standard web pages for education use, I regularly use forms for input of data and CGI scripts to analyse the data. In this way for example one can get the reader to answer simple quiz questions, get feedback on whether they are understanding the material, and run simple programs with the results presented back as a web page (actually we run very complex programs as well in this way, but that is another matter). These interactive uses are in my opinion crucial for web based education materials. I would like to use them on Wikiversity. Is it possible in MediaWiki? If so, where can I find the details? --Bduke 07:29, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

:It can be achieved through tags, however the use is uncommon and therefore I'm not sure about the exact mechanism behind. Maybe some developers could help. --Deryck C. 12:41, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

::See MediaWiki extensions. There may be an existing extension that does what you want, or you might write or request a new one. You might also investigate other wiki software, such as TWiki which inherently provides more interactivity, database, access control, and groupware features than MediaWiki does. For Web-based education, as opposed to Web-based documenting and reference (MediaWiki's strength), you may be better off with a structured wiki such as TWiki. To avoid duplicating efforts, see if there are any existing wikis that implement the kind of features and philosophy you want already. See: wikiindex:Category:Education, wikiindex:Category:Universities. --Teratornis 22:44, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

:::Many thanks. There are some usefull pointers here, but using a different wiki software is not on, as I want to add some materials to Wikiversity, which uses MediaWiki like Wikipedia. If MediaWiki's strengths are really only for documenting and reference, then work needs to be done by the technical folk to make it more appropriate also for education as that is what Wikiversity is all about. If that is not done, I suspect Wikiversity will fail. The software has to support all projects of the WM Foundation. Please keep the comments coming. Thanks. --Bduke 23:02, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

::::You could probably do a simple quiz by having each of the separate choices hyperlinking to a page that says if you got the answer right or not like this:

::::Question: 1 + 1 =

:::::a) 1

:::::b) 2

:::::c) 3

::::And instead of linking to the pages 'Correct' and 'Wrong', you could link to a subpage of the quiz page that says if you got the answer right or not, explains the question and then links you to the next question. To avoid people cheating and looking in the status bar for where the link leads, you could link the choices to a redirect to the answer page. Tra (Talk) 23:28, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

:::::See help:inputbox at Meta. You can do some quite nifty things with inputboxes. An example of their use on Wikipedia is at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/nominate. Creating quizzes would probably be possible with a combination of inputboxes and parser funcions. It's a pity that radio buttons can't be used. Graham87 02:18, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

::::::And it looks like there is a MediaWiki extension for this Quizzes. Graham87 02:29, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

:::When I wrote that documenting and reference are MediaWiki's strengths, I did not mean MediaWiki is restricted to these tasks, rather that the default distribution is optimized for them. MediaWiki is highly extensible, as a look at MediaWiki extensions makes clear. Other wiki software may provide other kinds of features "out of the box" which would require installing, or perhaps writing, extensions to MediaWiki. To see what extensions are already installed on Wikiversity, check its special page: Special:Version; it looks like you can request more extensions here: Wikiversity:Request custodian action.

:::Your prediction of failure for Wikiversity will almost certainly come true, because every artifact eventually breaks or becomes obsolete, just as people die, nations collapse, species go extinct, and the Universe eventually experiences Heat death. However, if I were betting money on the question of whether Wikiversity will "fail" within, say, a year, I would first consider the Wikimedia Foundation's track record of stunning success. The Foundation's products do not solve every conceivable problem, but they are popular with many people, so they must be doing enough things right to at least make their continued existence and use highly likely. At the moment, at least, Special:Statistics and Special:Recentchanges pages suggest Wikiversity is pretty active.

::::My point was really that Wikiversity is about education in a way that Wikipedia is not. Too many people in the modern university think that putting lecture notes on the web replaces the lecture. The expert advice is that web education has to be highly interactive and the current software does not strike me as being that suitable, but then I may need to study it much more. So far, I see Wikiversity as just adding lecture note type material. It will be a success when universities actually use it. --Bduke 12:16, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

:::::You can put custom JavaScript into the MediaWiki somewhere (Wikibits?) or you could have a script called in the monobook.js file of everone who wants interactive content. From there, the JavaScript can do anything. You might include special

Weird stuff! --Itayb 13:14, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

::fixed SGGH 13:30, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

:::Thanks. Itayb 14:54, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

Hey, my contributions list seems to have packed it, I've made contributions after the most recent one listed but they aren't showing, is there a case of the slave catching up and not displaying them? Or are some of my edits just dropping off the map? Cause that could mean trouble when it comes to chasing up my own work! SGGH 00:51, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

:It's more than likely just a caching issue; is it updated now? Another scenario not as likely since you said it was recent, but contribs to deleted pages won't show up in the list. —bbatsell ¿? ✍ 00:53, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

::Ahhh, I did't know that second bit! It was deleted pages that I was looking for, because when I tag for speedy delete, i often look back in my contributions, find the article, and check that the author hasnt just wiped the tag off. Thanks Bbatsell! SGGH 00:58, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

How do I link text to a category page?

-TheMeatballX 19:51, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

:Put Your text here. Note the colon before the word 'Category'. Tra (Talk) 19:54, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Thank You! That was driving me nuts!

-TheMeatballX 20:11, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

browsing through the Special:Listusers there is a user class "import", which currently has no users in it. Was wondering what this was, is this a relic that was used and is no longer needed, or something new that I've missed.

Crazynas ^t 13:25, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

:That provides direct-upload access to Special:Import, which we do not generally use except for rare maintenance situations. --brion 16:55, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

A simple/hard question: by default, MySQL creates a single ibdata1 when in InnoDB mode. This file extends itself as you add information. I am using a single mysql server, creating one database per language to execute some queries, and this means the single ibdata1 file holds every database:

mysql> show databases;
+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| information_schema |
| afwiki             |
| anwiki             |
| arwiki             |
| azwiki             |
| bowiki             |
| dewiki             |
| enwiki             |
| eswiki             |
| fiwiki             |
| frwiki             |
| itwiki             |
| jawiki             |
| lawiki             |
| metawiki           |
| mysql              |
| nlwiki             |
| nnwiki             |
| ocwiki             |
| papwiki            |
| pawiki             |
| plwiki             |
| ptwiki             |
| ruwiki             |
| simplewiki         |
+--------------------+
25 rows in set (0.33 sec)

I would like (if possible) having a single ibdata file per database, since I am guessing that would speed some queries. Is there a simple way of doing this without having to manually change my.cnf every time I want to create a new database? I don't think every Wikipedia language is run in its own dedicated server (regardless of front ends). :-) Would forcing MySQL to create index files instead of adding them in the ibdata file make queries and updating faster? Are the MySQL configuration for Wikipedia servers public? Thanks in advance. -- ReyBrujo 00:33, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

:Recent versions of MySQL have an option to use a separate file for each table I believe, but not per database. (Yes, you will have to change my.cnf, but only once.) It won't necessarily help performance, but if you import lots of data and then drop it frequently you might get warm fuzzies about the disk space recovery. --brion 16:57, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

I was testing my copy of MediaWiki, and found these in the DefaultSettings.php:

// Experimental permissions, not ready for production use
//$wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['deleterevision'] = true;
//$wgGroupPermissions['bureaucrat']['hiderevision'] = true;

I commented them out, and found they worked!!

The log comments appear as (example from my wiki):

(Deletion log); 00:50 . . WikiSysop (Talk | contribs | block) (changed revision visibility for User:WikiSysop/Sandbox: changed 1 revisions to 0: test over: hiderevision extension testing done)

I'm surprised this wasn't used before they had the oversight feature! --sunstar net^talk 00:55, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

:These were probably commented out because they hadn't been fully tested, therefore you might encounter some bugs when you use them. For a small wiki, this shouldn't cause too many problems but with a large wiki like Wikipedia, if a bug was found and a vandal exploited it, they could wreck havoc. As for oversight, the main difference between oversight and what you're describing is that any admin can hide revisions as you're doing, but special permissions are needed with oversight. Also, the oversight logs aren't public. Tra (Talk) 02:21, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

:Indeed, it only sort-of works. ;) It's still under development; Oversight was added as a temporary solution which, while hackish, gets the job done for now. --brion 17:11, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

What would be the feasibility of having "What links here" return not just the name of the page that links to the target page, but also the text displayed by the link? For example, if the page John Doe contained the text "his co-conspirator", then "What links here" for Richard Roe would show "John Doe, with the text 'his co-conspirator'". This could be useful in making sure the principle of least surprise is followed, as well as catching subtle violations of NPOV. -- Antaeus Feldspar 14:53, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

:Not very feasible at this time; would require changes to the database structure and expensive rebuilding of all data. --brion 17:13, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

This is related to the discussion going on at ANI and VPR, and see also this. but this specific aspect is a technical issue and belongs here.

How difficult would it be to change the code so that the New Message box appears outside the content box (i.e. above the title or entirely outside the main monobook "frame"), thereby making it easily distinguishable from parodies of it (which necessarily appear in the content box after the title header)? --Random832(tc) 21:36, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

:Changing the position of the new messages box will not stop it being forged, since a fake box can go absolutely anywhere with css. For example, remove the <nowiki> tags from this:

:What might help to stop the new messages box being forged is to make it include the current username, e.g. for me, it would appear as Tra: You have new messages (last change). That way, it would be much harder to forge as the person putting it on their user page would not know the identity of the person visiting. Tra (Talk) 22:09, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

I meant changing the position in the generated HTML source. By "content box" i meant

There is a picture on the page Vertical launching system that should show several destroyers firing missiles, but everytime I check the page all I see is a red "X" and the photo cpation where the image should be. I have no idea how to fix this, so any help anyone could provide would be apreciated. TomStar81 (Talk) 03:28, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

: I don't have the same problem - have you done a hard refresh on your browser? If it still doesn't work, please let us know what browser you are running, and what the name of the image is. Cheers! Yuser31415 05:53, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

There may be a problem with the page Wikipedia:Citation templates. It appears to me as an almost blank page with the following fragment of text: "