Miscellaneous FAQ
The purpose of this page of frequently asked questions is to answer questions that do not fit into any of the other categories, including linking to Wikipedia and some general questions about how Wikipedia is run.
[edit] Can you tell me anything about the Wikipedia logo?
- The current logo is described at Logo
- See International logo vote and Final logo variants for the selection process used.
- See Wikipedia:Wikipedia logos for more details and Logo history for Wikipedia's past logos.
- There are two errors in the Wikipedia logo, described here, and in this New York Times article.
[edit] What is the longest article in Wikipedia?
- The longest article changes often, but in general 'list of' type of articles have a high presence. For editorial clarity, very long textual articles are frequently split into sub-articles by sub-topic (e.g. The main article India has many sub-articles). A dynamically updated and current list can be found at Special:Longpages, for a database snapshot at any given time.
[edit] Where can I get the Wikipedia icon used in favorites or shortcuts?
- Right here: favicon.ico
[edit] Is allowing everyone to edit pages safe? What if someone starts defaming people?
Any sort of illegal material gets removed from active wikis quite quickly. See this discussion on Ward's Wiki for more thoughts.
- Wikipedia has received several threats of legal action, but none have yet been followed through. Under United States and international law, the Wikimedia Foundation is not responsible for defamation posted on Wikipedia.
[edit] What is the best way to link into Wikipedia from another site?
- To link to the multilingual Wikipedia home page, the preferred URL is http://www.wikipedia.org. Our older URL, http://www.wikipedia.com, still works but is deprecated. To link to the home page of the English Wikipedia, the preferred URL is http://en.wikipedia.org.
- If you want to link to a specific Wikipedia page, simply use, where XX is the code for the language the article is written in, XX.wikipedia.org/wiki/, plus the page name, changing spaces to underscores. For example, this is a link to the English-language article Mohandas Gandhi:
- <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Gandhi">Mohandas Gandhi</a>
- The currently valid language codes are listed on the Recent Changes page. The only exception is s, which links to http://simple.wikipedia.org/.
[edit] Are there any Wikipedia banners or graphics I can use for a link?
- A few of our contributors have made some. They can be found at Wikipedia:Banners and buttons. You can also use our logo. If you make your own Wikipedia graphics (please do!) and want them to be redistributed, simply upload them and link to them from the banner page.
[edit] Where's the article-a-day list? Can I add to it?
- The article-a-day list was a feature to send out Wikipedia articles via email. This feature was discontinued and replaced with the "Brilliant Prose" feature, now called "Featured Articles".
[edit] Is there a place where people ask for new entries?
- There are three places:
[edit] Is there any peer review process to validate the data that is displayed?
- We are all peers here and we all review each other's work. All articles are thus subjected to constant critical review in one sense, but no formal approval process is currently a standard procedure. However, the Wikiculture is an introspective one and policy and guidelines are evolving continually.
- In the most general sense, registered Wikipedians work within an area they define for themselves, and in technical areas like the sciences, social sciences, etc. there usually exists a large group of knowledgeable editors with a long list of articles on their Wikipedia:watchlist armed with the powerful tool of Help:Page history, to keep an eye on more expert content. There is no claim that this ad hoc system is foolproof, and attempts are being made constantly to improve upon it within the foundation goal of allowing open editing by anyone.
- In addition, potential page vandalism gets vigorous patrolling by experienced Wikipedians monitoring special pages dedicated to watching recent changes, changes by anonymous editors, and changes by new editors. Together, these patrols catch most deliberate or naive editing within a short while of the misguided edit.
- Some people have plans for formal peer review or article certification systems to work on top of Wikipedia, currently in a backlog of proposed policy changes. We'll be sure to point them out if and when any get up and running. For more information, see Wikipedia:Wikipedia approval mechanism.
- In addition, many of our better editors will place a 'matured' article up for peer review by using WP:Peer Review, and advertising for feedback on the WP:Village Pump. Prior to that stage, some editors interested in quality will ask a diverse group of personal contacts within the community by 'Spam-requesting' on the individual's talk pages for feedback and ideas on developing less mature articles. Both are voluntary processes, and generally raise the quality of both content and presentation from such sought out input. These measures also tend to expand the body of talent working on a particular article, again benefiting its quality.
[edit] How is Wikipedia backed up? Is it possible that an accident could destroy all this data?
- Database dumps are made weekly and a slave server is usually running a copy of the database. Contingency plans include backups of the site's configuration files. The database download is available for anyone wanting to keep off-site backups.
[edit] Is it "the Wikipedia," or just plain "Wikipedia"?
- Wikipedia, as a proper noun, does not take an article. When referring to the project as a whole, plain "Wikipedia" is standard usage. There is only one project known as Wikipedia without any further description or qualification, and that project has many languages:"Wikipedia currently has 8 430 032 articles in over 150 languages."
- When referring to individual editions of the project, each of which is usually described by its language, the edition takes an article. Example: the Romanian-language Wikipedia.
- When describing Wikipedia as one of many encyclopedias, reference works, or projects, an article is appropriate: "the Wikipedia encyclopedia", or "the Wikipedia project". In each case the article is attached to the common, not the proper noun (the encyclopedia, the project). (Similarly, note that we say "Britannica", but "the Encyclopædia Britannica" [the applying there to Encyclopædia] and "the OED" [the applying to Dictionary])
- When referring to one of these language editions, in comparison with other editions, an article is likewise used:
- : "The smallest Wikipedia" = the smallest language edition of Wikipedia
[edit] Why are some pages blue, and others white?
- Normal encyclopedia pages (those in the main namespace) are white. In the default skin (Monobook), other pages (talk pages, user pages) have a light blue background to indicate that they don't contain encyclopedic content, but are about Wikipedia.
- Different skins use different colors. For example, the Classic skin uses light yellow as the background of non-encyclopedic pages as opposed to the white background of encyclopedia pages.
[edit] Help! I found a website that's copying from Wikipedia!
- Chances are, they're allowed to do it, just as long as they comply with the GFDL, which all Wikipedia material is licensed under, which allows anyone to copy our material just as long as they provide a link back to Wikipedia.
- However, if you find a site that absolutely does not have the requisite link back, please by all means let us know on Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks based on the degree of compliance (see that page).
[edit] When does an article warrant having its stub template removed?
- The short answer is whenever you feel the article is no longer a Stub. See Find or fix a stub for more info.
[edit] What was the very first article?
- While the first edit ever made is believed to be a test edit by Jimbo, Wikipedia's founder, the oldest article still preserved is, as documented at Wikipedia:Wikipedia's oldest articles, the article UuU. It was created by the user User:Eiffel.demon.co.uk on 16 January 2001, at 21:08 UTC. This was on the second day after the start of Wikipedia.
- The first meaningful article is believed to be Transport.
[edit] Where can I find more Wikipedia tips?
- Here are some external and internal links:
[edit] Where can I find out more about Wikipedia?
- In Wikipedia's various departments. They are listed in the Wikipedia department directory.
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