User talk:Mike.lifeguard/Archive 10



VIN
I split material from Vehicle identification number into several modules - the history of the version from which all are derived exists at Vehicle Identification Numbers (VIN codes)/Overview; does the history need to be duplicated in all modules derived from that material? (generally this isn't needed for an article split on Wikipedia, but I'm not familiar with Wikibooks policy). Random832 (talk) 06:58, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
 * If I understand you correctly, then the current state of affairs is fine. As long as there is some indication in the edit history for each page that the content added came from some other page, then the history is intact. Hope that helps. – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; talk 17:31, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Double Redirect
Hello Mike, I'm new here and my first edit was to fix a double-redirect. The page (Javascript/List of Contributers) was not removed from the list (as has been the case on all other wikis with which I have had experience), but marked out. Is there some mistake I have made? Thanks for your help, Νεοπτόλεμος 18:37, 22 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Nope, that's how it's supposed to be. Good work. – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; talk 23:53, 22 December 2007 (UTC)

Unsure
We have this & this which all instinct tells me should be one page? I got there from this which may be worth keeping an eye open for. Cheers -- Herby talk thyme 13:31, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks; will take care of this later – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; talk 16:33, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
 * [[Image:Yes_check.svg|15px| ]]  – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; talk 02:35, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

AWB
Hi Mike, I asked WKnight if there are tools available that could help an eventual cleanup of the uncategorized pages (since I did the categories). In his answer he pointed me to AWB saying that you were a regular user of that tool. Before I take a detailed look at the tool I have a couple of questions for you if you have a minute:
 * Are you effectively using that tool?
 * Does it work?
 * Do we need special permission to use it at wikibooks (there is at wikipedia)?
 * Do you think it could help in the uncategorized pages cleanup?

Reagrds, -- Jacques (talk) (email) 14:07, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure how useful it would be for categorizing uncategorized pages - pywikipediabot would be more useful (I also have that). That process obviously can't be fully-auto, since the program can't decide how to categorize pages, but it is fairly straightforward. I'm fairly busy over the holidays, but come January, I can invest some time into categorization if you like. If you want to do it, go for it. No programming required, but it's bit more involved to get up and running. If you do it yourself, just remember that unless you have a bot account, you can't go full-speed (you're of course welcome to ask for a bot flag on a secondary account). – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; talk 16:30, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the answers. The idea is to try to do it myself to save you time. Tool looks good from the documentation. I'll try to install it and start one page at a time. If it works I will come back for further advice (bot account, etc.). -- Jacques (talk) (email) 18:49, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Health issues for gardeners
Hi Mike. I want to work on some health and safety stuff for the garden book, including proper lifting, carpel tunnel, eye washing, etc. If I start (and/or transwiki) some material for it, could you look it over for me? -- SB_Johnny | PA! 14:10, 23 December 2007 (UTC)
 * Abolutely! I'm a tad busy for now, but come Jan, I'll be around with more time. – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; talk 16:31, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Quick dewikify
Do you still need this? As you can tell, I don't come on WP often and people rarely talk to me. -raylu 06:23, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
 * If you can do it, I think it'd be very useful. Thanks! – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; talk 16:11, 29 December 2007 (UTC)
 * w:User:raylu/monobook.js There it is. My only concern is that it removes all blank lines following it. So if there is a wikify tag followed by intended blank lines, it will remove them. Not a big deal, I hope. I won't be using it for long, so you should probably mirror it somewhere. -raylu 07:47, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Copied, and will try to optimize later. – Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 00:02, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Aly4alo
I noticed you had welcomed this user. Just because you are relative to him, he has uploaded a non-tracable image. Could you please trace him with your tools, if possible? Laleena (talk) 01:43, 31 December 2007 (UTC)
 * CheckUser can't help in this case. I've deleted the unlicensed duplicates, and if no license info is provided for the remaining image after 1 week from the upload date, it'll be deleted as normal. Thanks for keeping an eye out. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 00:05, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! All the best for you and your family. Thanks for helping my integration into the project. Your support has allowed the .NET Development Foundation book to reach a first milestone with the integration of all the content into a more “textbook like” structure. -- Jacques (talk) (email) 19:43, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Welcome back
A great 2008 to you. Recent Meta "activity" noted :) Regards -- Herby  talk thyme 08:27, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Re:Warn.js
I'll see what I can do about the watchlist thing. The problem is that the code is part of a reusable library, so if i change the library it is going to affect all the rest of the scripts that rely on it (which is quite a lot at this point). If i set it to not watch the page, then scripts that I use on my talk page (for instance) will cause my talk page to be removed from my watchlist.

The likely solution will be for me to create an entirely new function with specifiable options (such as watch page, minor edit, etc) and then slowly transition all scripts over to use this new function. I'll get to work on it this evening when I get back home, and I'll let you know how it progresses. --Whiteknight (Page) (Talk) 18:02, 8 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Wrote a long thing, then realize I misread you. Yes, changing (or not) the watched status of a page would need to be a parameter, which isn't the case now. Thanks a ton. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 18:05, 8 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Okay, i completely rewrote a few functions, and updated the library. The script now uses your default values for page watching and minor edits. These will be the same as what you have set in the preferences. So, if you have "watch pages I edit" or "watch pages I create" enabled in the preferences, that's what will happen with the script. Same with the minor edits thing ("mark all edits minor by default").
 * Do me a favor, I want to get some people to test this script out so that I know I didnt mess it up worse. Also, give me some feedback about whether you want me to change the default behavior (mark them all as minor by default, don't ever watch them by default, etc). --Whiteknight (Page) (Talk) 00:08, 9 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Excellent! There was one missing comma (literally) that I poked darklama to find and fix. I think it'd be best to never watch those edits; it's just a welcome/warn. If there's some special case (like you're expecting a reply to a vandal warning or whatever) then you can watch the page separately for those special cases. As well, those are definitely minor edits, so that should be on. Great work though. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 03:27, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

An edit of yours
One of your edits was recently vandalized by 70.248.55.77 (actually a few minutes ago). I thougth you would be interested. (I reverted.). Thanks, Laleena (talk) 00:08, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

no problem
Np, sorry I forgot to patrol them before. Mattb112885 (talk to me) 23:01, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Ancient History/China/Ancient History
All that page is, is a template and four links to pages that have been moved. The page itself isn't needed anymore. It was intended as a link to four periods in ancient China, but those periods are linked to from the main China page. Νεοπτόλεμος 01:54, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Ahh; if the content is elsewhere, that changes things. Deleted. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 02:01, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Νεοπτόλεμος 02:02, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Stupid question
Why do the Bulletin Board topics appear on the Watchlist page? Just wondering, the bulletin board seems quite accessible. -- Jacques (talk) (email) 04:16, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * That's a coincidence for right now. Actually, the Bulletin Board is not watched by much of the community, I think. In the future, I hope to change it regularly, and it probably won't always be a re-hash of the BB. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mike.lifeguard (talk • contribs) 04:27, January 11, 2008.
 * Thanks for the answer. Jacques —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jacques Bergeron (talk • contribs) 14:59, January 11, 2008.

Honors World History Study Guide
I have agreed to transwiki the study guide. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Xz64 (talk • contribs) 04:38, January 11, 2008.
 * OK. Do you need help to do that? To which wiki is it being moved? – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 04:39, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * If you have any trouble with the move to Wikiversity, just let me know. I have contacts there ;) Once the content has moved, please put at the top of the pages. Thanks!  – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 15:40, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Too tempting
Sorry - had to edit (?) - feel free to "rollback"! -- Herby talk thyme 19:15, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * More thinking - to revoke the rights there should be a minimum of two admin/'crats agree on wiki that removal was necessary? Can't see I would do/want to do that on my own (I'd block for disruptive editing but not revoke?).  Cheers -- Herby  talk thyme 19:27, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, I don't like what I had very much, so feel free. For rollback abuse, I'd warn then revoke if they do it again. If it's not a big deal for +rollbacker then it's not for -rollbacker either. For that, I'd say any admin can revoke for misuse after a warning.
 * Patroller is a bit more tricky. I'd say that the granting admin can revoke with no other process. If someone else wants to revoke patroller then they need another admin to agree.
 * /me edits some more. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 19:39, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah - basically I agree with you. I think I'd want someone else's opinion on any removal anyway (emergencies excepted obviously).  It would be good to get this off the ground, cheers -- Herby  talk thyme 13:41, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
 * And... thinking... inactivity... If someone had been inactive for say 6 months would you want them to still have patroller rights?  I'll think too -- Herby  talk thyme 13:50, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm with you on inactivity - the shorter the better for me. I'd like to keep the +patroller pool small as well, to better supervise them. It's easier to see bad rollbacks than bad patrols, since the whole point is that once it's patrolled nobody needs to look at it. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 17:07, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Agree completely - however not everyone here shares my views on inactivity..:) I inclined to say anyone who has been active for a month or so is "eligible" but equally more than a handful here is unlikely (& PLEASE let us avoid the en wp bureaucracy/dramas!)  Cheers -- Herby  talk thyme 17:10, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

I was hoping the only policy would be "admin discretion, and they're responsible for their own rights changes" - I'm trying to keep this as minimalist as possible. I'm going to wait to see some more comments at the !vote before making more changes, I think. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 17:15, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Explanation of New Category
Hi, Mike.lifeguard! I've seen your name all over but have never chatted with you. Thanks for being a great admin. Anyway, I am a GA at Old Dominion Univ. in Virginia, and for the past couple years, our students have taken part in the creation of their own textbook Social and Cultural Foundations of American Education. Now, times have changed, so we've decided to create a new book--the one you found. When I categorized all the modules in the old book, User:SBJohnny told me that it would be ok for me to categorize every module with the book's title. If you'd like me to try something else this time, I'll be happy to, but I thought I'd better explain.

By the way, if you have any suggestions for me, I'd sure appreciate it! Thanks, and keep in touch if you have time.

Pete (talk) 23:12, 11 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Didn't notice the category matched the title - that's perfect. Normally when pages are created with no content I'll tag it with, but I recognized your username from that previous project. As long as those page aren't mistakes I'll go back and patrol them. Thanks for the note. If you need help, this is one place. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 23:14, 11 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Ah, yep... Pete knows what he's doing, no worries Mike! -- SB_Johnny | PA! 02:03, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

WB:AUTOBLOCK
could you delete this? I made a better one - WB:AUTO. Thanks, --- Anonymous Dissident  Talk 08:26, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, deletion is prob not needed - what's the harm in it staying? Thanks anyway. --- Anonymous Dissident  Talk 08:27, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Put both up as shortcuts - no problem having both. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 17:08, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Cover for New Book
Hi, I am working to find a nice cover photo for my new book from the Commons. As you probably remember, my ignorance caused me to misrepresent the license of an Asian Fan Dance photo last semester, and I wonder if you can remind me again about this policy. I would like to save a copy of a Commons image on my local machine, and then edit in text including the book's title and contributors. After this is done, I would like to upload the image to the Commons again and use it as the cover photo. What type of license should I attach to this modified version of the image? I surely appreciate your help. Wikibooks is a great community, and I definitely don't want to abuse it.

Pete (talk) 15:27, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm not an expert, but I think it'll be the same license that the original image had. You might ask on commons:Commons:Help desk - folks at Commons deal only with images, so they really know their stuff. See commons:Commons:Licensing for an example(!) – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 17:04, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

Your note
I have that option enabled but it doesn't work any more (I don't see the tabs). I use Firefox, if that's helpful. Laleena (talk) 21:47, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
 * That's odd; it's working for me. The warn tab should appear on Contribs and user talk pages; the welcome tab should appear when editing a non-existing user talk page. Do you have javascript enabled? Try a hard-reset (in firefox: CRTL+SHIFT+R) and let me know if you still have problems. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 21:49, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
 * The tabs still won't appear. They did before, and I enabled it, and I did as you suggested, but it won't work. Huh? Laleena (talk) 12:48, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Huh? is right. If you have javascript enabled, and you're using a browser that's not ancient, it should work. I'm using firefox, and it works fine for me. Can you go to a page where the tabs should appear, and report whether you're getting warnings in Tools>Error Console? – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 16:20, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Works now. Thanks! Laleena (talk) 17:43, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Re:warn.js
I did a few tests this morning, and I have to admit that i'm not getting any errors on this script. Do me a favor and clear your cache, just to make sure that your browser is using the most recent version of the script. You say that you get the error, but that the script still posts messages? --Whiteknight (Page) (Talk) 15:00, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Done and still getting it. It's an error after everything important has happened. The user gets warned/welcomed; this doesn't affect function, but it's strange. I wouldn't have noticed anything except that firebug tells me 1 error, and then the message & code I quoted before. I suppose no fix is really necessary. – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 16:17, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Weird...
Hey Mike, could you figure out what's going on here? This page's TOC box links to Ancient History/Greece/Introduction, but sends you straight to editing the page. The TOC is also here, but sends you straight to the artcile. Νεοπτόλεμος 16:56, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm not getting that; it sends me to the page each time. purge the page cache, then confirm it still happens? – <font color="Indigo">Mike.lifeguard  &#124; <font color="Indigo">talk 17:06, 13 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Works now. That was strange. Thanks! Νεοπτόλεμος 17:07, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Your note
I didn't realize, but never mind. Thanks! Laleena (talk) 17:59, 13 January 2008 (UTC)