Wikipedia talk:FAQ/Editing/Archive 1

message: The question "How do I figure out how big an article is?" seems misplaced under the redirect question, it doesn't have a proper heading so it doesn't appear in the TOC, and the answer depends on the availability of the search results, which are disabled... --Shallot 13:58, 16 Nov 2003 (UTC)
thread_title: 01

message: For en.wikipedia I'm wondering if there's a "standard" so to speak on which English to use.
Sometimes I see Briton Wiki users edit entire pages to change "color" to "colour", "favor" to "favour", and other miscellaneous Britishisms.  Do some situations legitimately call for this cross-pond nitpicking by some actual written Wikipedia-decided standard, or are some people just being a smartass when they do this?  Or is Wikipedia located in England somewhere and articles are indeed supposed to be written in British English, with North American English being "wrong" grammar?
Sorry if this question is in the wrong Discussion, I wouldn't know where else to ask this.
:: I suppose they think their correcting spellings. The most logical thing to do would go for the british spelling as thats where the language comes from.
:: See Manual of style. Zarniwoot 23:58, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  British English or North American English, or does it really matter? 

message: Under the "How do I make links?" section, the following appears
:  -- the "pipe trick": the part in parentheses will not be displayed.
First, what I think of as the "pipe trick" is shown on the line above this.  Second, this does not appear to work.  Is it out of date syntax? -- Mwanner | Talk 22:21, 7 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It works fine, so long as the link exists. Here are a couple of examples (edit to see the link invocation):
*Tolerance
*Tolerance
*Pol098 12:43, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: The "pipe trick"

message: I've got a bit of a query regarding Images. I'm writing an article about an educational system, and I would like to include a picture of the system's crest. Now I understand from reading this FAQ, and other pages that the creator of the image is required to release it to free domain for it to be able to be included. I remember from a discussion on another article's talk page (the name escapes me now) that such a declaration can be requested for in an e-mail and is valid. As this is the first time that I'm doing this, I'd appreciate a bit of advice as to the type of e-mail request to write and what exactly is required. Thanks in advance. Kaushik twin 19:11, 26 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: A Question

message: A day or two ago, the diacritics down below the edit screen, used for insertion into articles, formerly numbering in the dozens (including caron, hachek, Greek letters, etc.) have been whittled to a mere few.  Inquiries at the Village Pump and elsewhere have garnered no responses.  Who made this (bad) change and when will the missing diacritics be restored?  Badagnani 08:53, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Explanation at :WP:GC. They're now available through the dropdown box at the screen foot, where it says "Wiki": open it and pick the language you want. I think it actually is better, EXCEPT THAT there is no entry for French, although the French accents are by far the commonest. They also occur in Catalan, however. Staffelde 14:56, 14 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Diacritics missing 

message: Hey, I've uploaded my picture and entered the appropriate command...
thumb|JFB
And this results... -------------------------------------->
What is up with that?
-- JFB
How to rename or delete a uploaded image. Can't seem to find the info!
Fernvale 02:42, 9 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Help with image file... 

message: I picked up the use of piped links by seeing and copying examples, and have just come across the FAQ entry that says "Use piped links sparingly". Why sparingly? It is a very useful trick, and one that is very widely used indeed. I'm not trying to criticise the recommendation, just to find the reason behind it (I may then either criticise or conform).
As an example (not a good one, as there is a redirect from "blood pressure meter" to the article on sphygmomanometer), why not
: blood pressure meter
or
: average
or
: 7 :July :2005
(with ; instead of : — I don't know how to display the string I want)
Pol098 13:03, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Use piped links sparingly?