Wikibooks:Reading room/Archives/2017/February

How do I embed images into my posts?
Hello, me again, I was wondering if anyone could be of assistance in explaining how to embed images into my posts on my discussions page for my assignments? I somehow managed to post the Facebook logo on my latest exercise but I really don't know how I did it because when I tried to post a Snapchat logo it didn't work. I'll get the hang of this all eventually! I tried looking up the Wiki markups on different help pages but I couldn't get to grips with the explanations. Thank you in advance. -Tinytalia (discuss • contribs) 21:01, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
 * There are a few options, depending on how exactly you choose to edit (we have a VisualEditor for instance or you can edit the source directly). The long explanation is here mw:Help:Images. The short explanation is that if you insert something like this, it will probably do what you want 90% of the time: FILE-NAME.JPG . It's really best if you include Alt text as well (so add this somewhere in the middle: " |Alt=ALT TEXT "). Let me know if you need more help--you can type and I will see it. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 21:54, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

Splitting chapters
I have noticed that the chapter "Calculus/Multivariable calculus" in the wikibook "Calculus" has gotten excessively long and merits a partition into multiple chapters. I am considering creating a new chapter "Calculus/Vector calculus" and copying over the appropriate material. Is there any template or rules that I should be aware of when performing the split? Math buff (discuss • contribs) 03:29, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I suggest, when creating the new chapter page, using an edit summary that says it's being split off from the other and using a wikilink to the pre-existing page; that way, the revision history of the new page contains a direct reference to the old one. --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 04:15, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

How do I 'comment' on a discussion page of another user?
Hello, I'm new to Wikibooks and I was hoping somebody could give me some pointers. I have joined as a part of a project at my University and I need to engage with other members of my group through their discussions pages, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to just click the edit option by their original post to leave my comments below or if that will interfere with their post at all. Can somebody please help me? Thank you in advance!

Tinytalia (discuss • contribs) 18:46, 7 February 2017 (UTC)
 * - "Add topic", or if you are engaged/engaging in an existing discussion, click "Edit" and add your comment (while indenting). Hope that is clear, and welcome! --Atcovi (Talk - Contribs) 00:13, 8 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, to reply to a comment on someone's talk page, as Atcovi says, edit that section and add your comment at the bottom, starting with one more colon than the one before (so, your comment here had no colons, Atcovi's had one, and mine has two). If you want to bring your comment to the attention of someone besides the owner of the talk page, you can put   at the start of the comment, where   is the username of the user you want notified; as Atcovi and I both pinged you, here. Adding your comment shouldn't interfere with anything provided you don't change any of the existing content in the section, and nobody else edits the section at the same time you do.  If you and someone else both try to edit the section at the same time, the first edit submitted will work, while the second one will get an "edit conflict" message.  When I get an edit conflict (on my laptop) I back up to the edit window and copy my comment onto the clipboard, so I can edit the new section again and paste my comment onto the bottom (adding another colon).  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 02:38, 8 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your help and welcoming! I appreciate it. I'm sure I'll get the hang of this all soon. Thank you very much for your help, I'm hoping I've pinged you both correctly here, I'll soon see. Thank you for your heads up on the "edit conflict", if I see that I won't panic and I'll try out what you suggested for it. Thank you both again! Tinytalia (discuss • contribs) 12:34, 8 February 2017 (UTC)
 * That pinged me, just fine. :-) --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 12:55, 8 February 2017 (UTC)

Hiya! I'm confused by the way my layout sometimes both when I'm typing and replying to a comment, like it comes up in a grey box instead of regular text and I can't figure out what I've done! Please help me it doesn't look very good!Hgfoster (discuss • contribs) 16:41, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Perhaps you have put a space at the start of a line? A colon at the start of a line indents it, but a space causes it to be shown in a fixed-width ("typewriter") font.  Here is an example:

This line of text starts with a space.
 * --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 17:27, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Oh thats exactly it! Thank you so much haha, didn't even realise I was doing that.Hgfoster (discuss • contribs) 19:36, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Changing completion status of a wikibook
Hello, how do I change the status of a book to which my students and I have contributed from "unknown completion" to "nearing completion?"Tem5psu (discuss • contribs) 20:34, 20 February 2017 (UTC)
 * There is a template, status. I was surprised to find only one mention of it in book Using Wikibooks, at Using Wikibooks/Cleanup and Maintenance.  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 23:51, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

The opening tag is malformed or has a bad name?
Hi there, I'm trying to get to grips with referencing a source and keep getting this message every time. I've had a look at the Help section for referencing and still not sure what I'm doing wrong. Thank you for your help in advance!
 * Tell me if this makes sense to you:
 * Here is the text you want to reference.
 * More text, going all the way to the end of the page.
 * Let me know if you need more help, please. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 02:38, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your help, that's perfect. And sorry for forgetting to sign off on my query, still getting to grips with Wikibooks. --EmilymDaniel (discuss • contribs) 09:23, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Please let me know if you need anymore help. You can post to your talk page and include and I will see it. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 15:57, 15 February 2017 (UTC)
 * Please let me know if you need anymore help. You can post to your talk page and include and I will see it. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 15:57, 15 February 2017 (UTC)

How do I reference on wiki books?
Hello, As part of my university project we have to create a wiki book. What is the best way to reference for wiki? How do I do it? Thank you.

Littlekatie1 (discuss • contribs) 12:51, 28 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Hi, I'm guessing we're doing the same uni project. I've found a couple of decent pages that help with referencing.
 * Wikipedia:Help:Wiki markup has a section that gives a pretty basic overview of referencing and Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Citing sources goes into a bit more detail and has links to templates. Hope this helps. Imcgrouther18 (discuss • contribs) 15:47, 28 February 2017 (UTC)


 * Yes, think we are. Thank you for the links!}}

Changing book title
I'd like to continue work on an existing book which was started but not continued past an initial stage. The problem is I really hate the existing title and would like to rename it. Is there a way to move the book page and the half dozen sub-pages all at once rather than doing seven separate moves? Thanks in advance. --RDBury (discuss • contribs) 08:18, 21 February 2017 (UTC)
 * An admin can move the entire collection of pages at once, since it's relatively small. If you're adopting a book, it may make sense to propose the move at its main talk page and wait a bit before moving it, to give others a chance to respond to the idea; that may depend on various factors.  What is the current name of the book, and what are you thinking of renaming it to?  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 12:14, 21 February 2017 (UTC)
 * The current name is Beginning Rigorous Mathematics. First I dislike the word "beginning" since it doesn't describe the level of the audience; it's targeted to Freshman & Sophomore university students. Second, it doesn't include the word "proof" which is mainly what the book would cover. There hasn't been any work on the book for about five years now (just maintenance edits) and the only editor who's worked on it is no longer active, so I don't think there's a community there to get feedback from. The title I had in mind was "Introduction to Mathematical Proof", but I'd be willing to listen to other ideas. Books with similar scope and audience are "An Introduction to Proofs and the Mathematical Vernacular" and "Book of Proof".
 * Looking under Subject:Mathematical logic (one of the two subjects of the book), I see we have a book Mathematical Proof. There is, obviously, plenty of room for more than one book on a subject; it may be useful for you to think about the similarities and differences between the two books, as a help to your planning for BRM. I see from page information on BRM that it's on two users' watchlists (you can find that by viewing the page history and looking on the left nagivation bar; []).  When I had in mind major changes to book Conlang a few years ago, I proposed the changes on the main talk page and waited a few days for anyone to reply; nobody replied before I'd started, but about a month in to one of my major changes a contributor from the book's past came along and provided some useful input.  I'll add the main page of BRM to my own watchlist (that will, presumably, make three watchers, and I'll be curious to see how quickly it's reflected in the page info), and if a proposal on BRM's main talk page isn't challenged for a few days, I'll be happy to do the move myself.  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 12:11, 22 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I missed the other book. What probably happened was I was looking under Category:Subject:University level mathematics books and it's not listed there, and seeing BRM there I didn't count on there being another one. I'm guessing BRM is about 5% complete and Mathematical Proof is about 10% complete, and while there seems to be some overlap it's not clear that they should be merged. I do think there should be some book covering this material on Wikibooks, and it appears neither of the versions is being worked on. I'd like to help and it's a subject I've taught in the past so I believe I have a good idea what should be covered, but I feel like it's a "you can't get there from here" situation. --RDBury (discuss • contribs) 09:48, 23 February 2017 (UTC)
 * I hope it isn't that bad. It sounds like you know the subject and have something to contribute.  With some thought, it should be possible to work out what needs to change, then propose actions on the book(s) main talk page(s), and start rearranging things.  Case in point:  A while ago I tackled the problem of a Wikijunior book on religions; there had been more than one such book started, each with some ideas worth saving, but none of them had been successful.  I worked out that the most prominent of them had stalled because it was set up with a standard set of questions, to answer for each religion, that was based on structural assumptions that only applied well to religions similar to Christianity; this wasn't done with malice, I think, but it resulted in something that people couldn't extend over time.  After some planning, I merged the books (I think there were three of them) and revised the set of questions, and while I can't say it's growing like crazy, it's no longer stalled as it was.  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 13:51, 23 February 2017 (UTC)