Wikibooks:Reading room/Archives/2009/September

Toolbox
How do I add stuff to the toolbar. And does the beta support tabs? Arlen22 (talk) 21:11, 13 August 2009 (UTC)


 * The beta has some tabs shown by default, but hides the others in a drop down where you have to hover your mouse over the arrow for the hidden tabs to appear. I personally do not like that and so am back to using the default skin.  The toolbox content changes based on the context of the page you are viewing.  Only the navigation and community boxes can have the links displayed in them changed, and then only by administrators. -- Adrignola talk contribs 02:06, 14 August 2009 (UTC)


 * How do you change the navigation and community boxes, in other words, where is the code? Arlen22 (talk) 14:48, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * You edit MediaWiki:Sidebar. Rather, you persuade the community or an administrator to add something to the page.  Depending on what is to be added it could be a big or small issue, as this affects the interface on every page of the wiki. -- Adrignola talk contribs 17:56, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * How does it know what you are talking about? Arlen22 (talk) 18:16, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * It has advanced artificial intelligence and continuously monitors all talk pages. Seriously though, what do you want changed?  If it seems like something that needs community consensus then we need to have a larger discussion.  Otherwise I could just make the change/addition.  All pages in the Mediawiki: namespace can only be edited by administrators.  -- Adrignola talk contribs 19:40, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Links that I personally use alot. And concerning the beta, it uses the vector skin, but I still could not get topbar buttons to show up. Arlen22 (talk) 17:26, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Improving DynamicPageList extension
Hello!

I would like to know what do you think about requesting an improvement for DynamicPageList extension in such way that we can use an option "showbasepagename = no" to allow us hiding the BASEPAGENAME part of a title like "Book/Chapter", showing just "Chapter" in the generated links.

I think this would help pt.wikibooks collaborators to organize some lists of recipes we have at our Cookbook, but it is possible all wikibooks projects could benefit from this feature, since we organize the books using the subpage feature. We could for example create lists of all chapters of a book showing only its SUBPAGENAME. This would be like a TOC, but dynamically generated.

I don't know how to program in PHP, but I can understand something and looking at the code of the extension I think the new option could be created easily, in a way similar to the following...

For example, we could add to the beginning of the function DynamicPageList's code: and then at the loop "foreach($aParams as $sParam)" would be needed something like: and after this the piece of code: should be replaced by something like: So it doesn't seems very difficult to do (I can be wrong)... Does anybody here knows php to confirm if is this what is needed, or have any considerations about the proposed change? Is it also of interest of en.wikibooks?

Helder15:58, 22 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Arlen22 (talk) 14:10, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * By the way, it seems that it is also simple to have 'alphabetical' as an option for the ordering of the lists, as was pointed at wikitech. Helder19:28, 8 September 2009 (UTC)
 * The code at first sight should by correct. About the alphabetical order, there is also an open bug --Ramac (talk) 20:09, 8 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Ramac, thanks by the link to the open bug ;-) Helder21:06, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

reverse of delete is restore by the way..!!

Er.RohitKashyap@gmail.com

Auto-review
How do I disable autoreview for my account? I want to be able to save stuff and see how it works in a transclusion without it being marked as stable. Arlen22 (talk) 16:46, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Subjects
Is there anything else that needs to be done to the subject classification? Arlen22 (talk) 00:07, 10 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Always :). But for the moment I might suggest
 * See if you can add any of the books in Category:Uncategorized modules to the appropriate subject pages.
 * Check through subjects you know/care about and see if the books there are appropriately categorized. The subject page looks the way you'd like it to, etc.
 * Thenub314 (talk) 09:18, 11 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Yeah I know, but I am wondering if they are ready to take over for the bookshelves completely. A couple things:
 * What about naming Subject:Major Subjects to Subject:Contents or Subject:Index? The current name makes it sound like they have peers but are the most important.
 * We should take a vote to see if everyone agrees with getting rid of Bookshelves completely.


 * I hope this helps. Arlen22 (talk) 15:15, 11 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Well, for what it is worth, I didn't get the sense we were ready. A conversation about this was just archived from this page, which didn't really create a feeling of consensus.  I personally do not like the idea of changing the Subject:Major Subjects page.  I like the current name for almost precisely for the reason you dislike it.  I also generally am not a fan of idea of voting as a way of making this decision, since it is "High impact". Thenub314 (talk) 18:26, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't get it, I thought the Major Subjects have no peers. Arlen22 (talk) 19:54, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

Random book‎
Hello!

What do you think of replacing your current MediaWiki:Common.js/RandomBook.js by a link to random article from toolserver? This can be done this way:
 * pt:MediaWiki:Randombook: Random book
 * pt:MediaWiki:Randombook-url: http://toolserver.org/~erwin85/randomarticle.php?lang=en&family=wikibooks&namespaces=0&categories=Alphabetical&subcats=1&d=10
 * An additional line with "** randombook-url|randombook" at MediaWiki:Sidebar

Helder17:54, 11 September 2009 (UTC)


 * I see two disadvantages to using a toolserver approach. Random book won't work if the toolserver is down and it can't return books from both the main namespace and the Wikijunior namespace. --dark lama  18:08, 11 September 2009 (UTC)

Help
Hi, My name is Ratheesh JR, i am writing an asignment about the topic polution. I need your assistance for the accomplishment regarding the below mentioned question.

which is the major environmental polution.

Please give some details..

Regards, Ratheesh JRLink title


 * I am sorry but this is not a general help desk. There is a general help desk at wikipedia that may be able to help you.  You may also search for a book on the topic here or at your local library. Thenub314 (talk) 07:46, 12 September 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia links vs. No links
Concerning Messier Index: I am wondering whether it would be better to only link to major figures on wikipedia or also stuff like constellations and black hole? Arlen22 (talk) 17:23, 1 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Wikibooks policy is only to link to WP (or anywhere) if it is essential. Books are supposed to be self contained, so information should be included within the text of the book rather than linked to. If you scatter a book with links, someone will probably come and remove them at some point! Unusual? Quite TalkQu 21:14, 1 September 2009 (UTC)


 * I fallow a different practice based on what I prefer as a reader. If something is refereed on a page that isn't yet covered on Wikibooks (on the same book or other) and it is important enough to the subject being introduced I'll link to Wikipedia at least on the first occurrence on the the first paragraphs. I agree that sometime later it should be substituted by links into that book or wikibooks, but not merely removed because they are from Wikipedia (or other sources).
 * This should be different when a transwiki occurs, then all links should be at least pruned and fixed for relevance.
 * As a reader it my opinion that this increases usability and reduce the complexity level of the content without altering its intrinsic value (ei: A book on a specific subject will be crosslinking to other relevant subjects that are out of the scope of that particular book. It will also help to cover knowledge that most readers are already "expected" to know, but may in fact be unaware of). --Panic (talk) 23:06, 1 September 2009 (UTC)


 * With respect to Messier Index, nearly all the pages were transwikied from Wikipedia pages and thus have a great deal of red links in them. -- Adrignola talk contribs 12:12, 2 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Yup I was only attempting to clarify that it wasn't a policy as refereed by QuiteUnusual nor a general practice, and stating my position on the subject. I clearly state that "when a transwiki occurs, then all links should be at least pruned and fixed for relevance." did you disagree with that ? (or was it just an indentation error and you weren't referring to my post)--Panic (talk) 17:38, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

I want to upgrade my brand new WRT54GL to tomato firmware. And I will upgrade my WRT54GL vs windows XP and IE. But in www.polarcloud.com/tomato, we are told to download Tomato_1_25.7z file, and then at the dowload page README-htm(sourceforge.net/projects/tomatofirmware/files/Tomato%20Firmware/Tomato%201.25/), at the paragraph: Read Before Upgrading then we are told to upgrade WRT54G_WRT54GL.bin file.

So I am a little confused about that. I will upgrade directly WRT54G_WRT54GL.bin or Tomato_1_25.7z file ? If it is WRT54G_WRT54GL.bin file we need to upgrade, where I can get this file ?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Jun

reuse rights
After reading through the guidlines for distribution of a wikibook i am looking for clarification. I have a fee for membership website designed for health care professionals and i want to have human physiology information posted to this site for members to view. Am i able to use the Wikibook on human physiology in this way?


 * Yes you are. Even if the membership was no free. You just have to preserve a link to Wikibooks or if the information is present, attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (remember to do it in a way that doesn't suggest that they endorsing you or your site) and you have to comply to any of the other copyright requirements, like using the same license if you aren't using an integral copy of the work, etc...
 * If the book you intent to use has a print version a direct copy of that should include any necessary information. You can even host a PDF copy on your site and include a online PDF viewer... --Panic (talk) 18:45, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Made a mess of a move to Commons
I just uploaded an updated version of Image:Vectors_parabola_due_to_gravity.png to Commons under the same name. I seem to have made a bit of a mess of it, since the pages in Wikibooks link to the old one (not the one on Commons). Is there an easy way to sort this out? --Sjlegg (talk) 08:47, 17 September 2009 (UTC)


 * I don't think you made a mess of anything. As I understand it the file just now needs to be deleted.  In the future, if you tag the old file here with a  template the file will be placed into a category for files awaiting deletion. And some admin here will come along and delete the local file so that it will not hide the one available at commons. Thenub314 (talk) 09:32, 17 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks - I will do. --Sjlegg (talk) 11:38, 17 September 2009 (UTC)

Out of topic question
(soon to be deleted by someone else) My 4th grade son has a question;What common household materials can we grow crystals from?
 * Water and sugar. --Panic (talk) 06:00, 22 September 2009 (UTC)
 * water and salt, Really, any crystaline material you have around the house will do, the problem is not how to grow crystals, but how to keep them from growing too fast, and thus being too small. The trick is to control their environment, and have patience. --Graeme E. Smith (talk) 14:27, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

Splitting up book?
How do I split a book up into smaller sections? Is there are tool that does this, or does it have to be done by hand? :) Newlisp (talk) 19:14, 23 September 2009 (UTC)


 * You have to do it by hand, remember to place an announcement on the talk page if the book is active (wait 7 days) and to tag any page you delete as result of the split for edit history merge. --Panic (talk) 19:23, 23 September 2009 (UTC)


 * thanks! can't see it being done immediately though... Newlisp (talk) 21:09, 23 September 2009 (UTC)


 * actually it didn't take as long as I thought ... :) Newlisp (talk) 17:18, 26 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Great work. I've taken a look and noticed that there isn't a use of   by using  and there seems to be some significant red links to images...
 * The images at least should be turned into normal links (so to make life easier to readers) and some information added to the page requesting someone to create similar images, or are you working on them ? --Panic (talk) 19:26, 27 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks! Yes, images will be uploaded and links corrected when my four days as total newbie at WikiBooks have elapsed (probably today/tomorrow). The source colouring is a problem, because the built-in "lisp" version doesn't work for every section of code (you found one that works OK!). I'm currently trying to find out how to get a new Geshi syntax module added to Wikibooks. May take some time :( Newlisp (talk) 21:48, 27 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Remember to use Commons for the images. See the proposal that is on the verge of being adopted. --Panic (talk) 23:33, 27 September 2009 (UTC)

Taking over an abandoned project?
I wanted to add to the book Running with Linux, but don't want to be confined to the original authors guidelines and outline. I wanted to make it a more complete install and troubleshooting guide then a "pocket install guide". The book seems to have been abandoned as the original author stopped updating it over a year ago without ever adding much content. Would this be a problem? --Brandished (talk) 01:02, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Place a post on the book's talk page give it 7 days for any opposition to materialize and if not reshape the project at your will (if more people are attracted by your contributions try to provide some extended information on what you intend to do, so to avoid exacerbating the problem of having too many cooks on the same kitchen), try not to delete any useful content (if something is to be removed see if it fits elsewhere). It is my opinion that one should place content above structure. Free content will always be assured to prevail over time (even outside of the project) and structure will be ever changing on a Wikibook. --Panic (talk) 01:21, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the reply. I'll go ahead and put up a notice in the book. --Brandished

secure.wikimedia.org
Hi, MediaWiki:Common.css imports CSS styles for Template:Mbox from secure.wikimedia.org. But sometimes secure.wikimedia.org may fail to load. So, mboxes styles are not shown as a result of server failure on secure.wikimedia.org. This happened for me for once. Just wanted to inform. Srhat (talk) 21:24, 6 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Well, if the styles are loaded from the non-secure version, people using the secure version will never load them at all. That was the reason the links were changed to the secure version in the first place.  It's a trade-off we'll probably have to live with.  -- Adrignola talk contribs 21:32, 6 September 2009 (UTC)


 * OK, I understand. Do loading from both secure and non-secure cause errors? Srhat (talk) 21:43, 6 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Depending on your browser and whether it prompts you to permit it or not, the browser might not load any non-secure content when visiting a secure page. -- Adrignola talk contribs 21:58, 6 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi, I mean if we import these css files from both secure and non-secure, people visiting secure site will load only secure css but people visiting non-secure will load both secure and non-secure css. If we do this, do loading from both secure and non-secure cause errors? If no, we can do this. Srhat (talk) 08:14, 7 September 2009 (UTC)


 * I see what you're saying. I've added links for the non-secure versions.  It will not cause errors; duplicating the CSS entries from two sources means the entry loaded last will take precedence, but both sources contain the same content so it's not an issue.  Now, if secure.wikimedia.org fails to load, you'll still pull the mbox styles from the non-secure server when using the non-secure site.  Hopefully this resolves the problem you encountered. -- Adrignola talk contribs 17:08, 7 September 2009 (UTC)


 * OK, thanks. Srhat (talk) 20:35, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

Shot notes and examples about tansportation model in modelling and optimisation plus the possible answers

How to create a Gadget to disable some script?
Hello!

I'm trying to have the same behavior of MediaWiki:Gadget-RemoveImageTools.js at pt:MediaWiki:Gadget-Busca nos livros.js: a feature enabled by default which could be disabled by the users.

So, I did a copy of the gadget code to our pt:MediaWiki:Common.js and the replaced the old gadget code by a variable.

But the script is still being loaded even if I enable the (new) gadget (which should disable the script).

Does anybody knows what am I doing wrong? Helder00:30, 16 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Did you try purging your web browser's cache? --dark lama  01:32, 16 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes! Still not working... =/
 * By the way, I was looking at the HTML source of the generated pages and noticed that here your main MediaWiki:Common.js is loaded after the Gadgets, but at pt.wikibooks (and en.wp) it is loaded before. Will the variable be loaded after the script from Common.js (and then have no effect on that script)? And why the projects load the scripts in different order? Helder13:03, 16 September 2009 (UTC)
 * Hmm.. curiously, right now the Common.js is being loaded after the Gadgets (both at en.wp and at pt.wb), and the script is working now. Maybe there was a software update... Thanks! Helder16:09, 20 September 2009 (UTC)