Help talk:FAQ

Pronunciation

The stuff about pronunciation.

1. I see /#w#k##nr#/,#w#k##n#er#/ where # is an empty box. Does this mean I am missing a font? Where do I get the right font from? (I happen to be running WinNT4).
2. Is there a guide as to how the pronuciation scheme works, or do I just make a new entry and not bother with it? -- SGBailey

See Wiktionary:Pronunciation key as a /very/ tentative guide. Feel free to change it, too. --Ellmist Friday January 10th, 2003

[licensing provisions from WordNet]

Does WordNet's license allow wiktionary to copy its definitions? [1] Zardoz 05:01 May 14, 2003 (UTC)

It's sketchy. Check out Wiktionary:Princeton wordnet and its talk page, we're trying to get them to release the data under the GFDL. -- Merphant 07:37 May 14, 2003 (UTC)

Translations

Excuse me for my ignorance, but what must I type if I want to add a translation to some word? For example the equivalent of Hand in Bulgarian is ръка, or raka (if transliterated). How should I put it:

• Bulgarian: ръка f, raka

or maybe only

• Bulgarian: ръка f ?

Is there any standard for this?

I'm just about as lost as you are, but it seems (from extant examples) you'd write:

* [[Bulgarian]]: [[ръка]] ([[raka]]) ''f''

Urhixidur 14:38, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

Tagging

Concerning the tagging of all words. Couldn't you just not check all the words. It would only check the word if I click on it. You could have a seperate function somewhere for finding undefined words. Gbleem 05:42, 1 Apr 2004 (UTC)

• That seems not to be feasible if we want the links to appear different depending on whether or not they currently have a definition. It does seem to me that when editing the article, there could be an option to automatically create links to any word over 7 letters, or some such, but I think that it's easy enough to wrap [[ & ]] around a word -- and word definers should be aware of which words are most likely to be unknown by their readers. Vynce 05:32, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

To cite, or not to cite

It seems to me that if wiktionary is to be of use to Wikipedia, aside from being the black hole into which inapediapropriate definitions are thrown that some reference to other sources and siting is necessary, most especially for technical jargon. Hyacinth 20:46, 19 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Wiktionary:Webster goes against the advice of this page. Hyacinth 22:15, 3 May 2004 (UTC)

This also occurred to me. So everything in Wiktionary is uncited? That's very different from Wikipedia... how can the definitions be considered reliable?-89.240.240.181 21:06, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

On the contrary, cites are encouraged. However, because we are at an early stage, many entries are not yet cited. The preferred method is to produce cites demonstrating actual usage (rather than mention) as described in WT:CFI and detailed in WT:". --Enginear 14:30, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Question 11 (about importing) is a good one

though I think the question was not well-worded. The entire contents of the 1913 webster are pparently available from micra.com as public domain -- could the developers write a script to import all that data? or at least the data for words in that that do not exist at all in wiktionary (such as decussate)?

Vynce 05:25, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)

what is a timeline

Site notice change

There is a proposal to change the site notice at MediaWiki talk:Sitenotice. Uncle G 23:42, 19 May 2005 (UTC)

Pages in different languages?

I'm new to Wiktionary, and from looking around some, I see that there are pages with English definitions for words from many different languages. I was surprised to see that this wasn't addressed in the FAQ. Is this normal? What are the rules for this? Is there a style guide somewhere? How are pages for words from different character sets supposed to be named? Are there supposed to be separate pages for 私, わたし, and watashi, for example? What does a "multi-lingual dictionary" mean? I imagine that there's a page somewhere that addresses all of this, I'm just having trouble finding it. Thanks. -- Creidieki 18:31, 11 September 2005 (UTC)

So am I. The rules seem to be:

1 - Interwiki links from an English wiktionary page always link to the same spelling in the other language.

2 - A translation (in the proper section) indicates the target language and then gives a link to an English Wiktionary entry of that spelling (if different).

3 - In the foreign spelling page, a link to the foreign Wiktionary is given.

For example, in cat, you see:

====Translations====

'''domestic species'''

*French: (''general, male'') [[chat]] {{m}}, (''female'') [[chatte]] {{f}}

and the interwiki is:

[[fr:cat]]

The English entry for chat then has a French section:

==French==

===Noun===

'''[[:fr:chat|chat]]''' ''m''

#male [[cat]], [[tom]], [[tomcat]] (''f'': [[chatte]])

Similarly, the French entry for fr:cat identifies the word as English and provides a link to the French "fr:chat" entry.

Urhixidur 14:49, 26 September 2005 (UTC)

I'm glad to see people are adding Latin words with full definitions as there is no complete Latin-English/English-Latin dictionary on the web (that I know of). But why are they in en.wiktionary.org (e.g. accipere)? Shouldn't that be for the English language? --Logomachist 03:01, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Audio clips of proper pronunciation

Dear Wiktionary community,

Have you considered adding audio clips into Wiktionary to help people to pronunce words correctly. Quick storage estimates (32kbps mono MP3, 2s, 3 files per word)

words (m) 0.5 1 2 4 8 16

GB 11 23 46 92 183 366

-Jarno

• We have many of these. See bluegrass as an example chosen at random. SemperBlotto 11:31, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
• I have personally added over 1000 audio pronunciation files, but I welcome assistance in this regard. I would especially like to see files added for comparison with other accents, including as Canadian, British, Australian, and southern US. I will continue to add audio as time permits. Since the majority of words in Wiktionary still lack audio pronunciations, please feel free to leave specific requests on our requests page and I will address them as I can. To those who would assist, please note that the wiki projects generally use the .ogg format, because this format is free, and our preference is to upload the audio pronunciation files to Commons for use in any Wikimedia project. See brouhaha as an example of an audio pronunciation used across projects. One of these days, I'll write help for producing and uploading audio. --Dvortygirl 20:49, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Wiktionary:Webster 1913

A link to Wiktionary:Webster 1913 would be nice. Under Wiktionary:FAQ#Writing_definitions --Wonderfool 15:57, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

The Logo Question

The page is locked for some reason... someone should really add the logo question ("Q: The IPA for 'Wiktionary' in the logo doesn't look right. Shouldn't it be fixed?" "A: No.").

Because, really, it is the most frequently asked question. —Muke Tever 16:48, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

That's funny. But really, why is it like that? It's a made up word, so why not spell it the way it's pronounced, or vice versa? Does anyone actually pronounce it "Wiktionry"?????

Actually, an out-dated pronunciation is kind of appropriate. Kind of like the ligature in "Encyclopædia Britannica". 71.167.69.13 03:59, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Strong Disagreement with the Enforced Pronunciation of Wiktionary

If the pronunciation of a particular word is contentious, I don't believe that one of the possible pronunciations should be "shouted" from the top of every page on the site. In this case, the majority of the world's English speakers are being alienated. This is a major turn-off and reduces the perceived reliability of the site as a whole. The local dialect pronunciations of this word should be merely pointed out in wiktionary, not fought on the site's FAQ. --Gadlen 18:00, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

Typo in Wiktionary:FAQ

This page seems to be protected. Could a sysop please change "dictionaries abd glossaries" to "dictionaries and glossaries" in the third question under "Writing Definitions"? Thanks. -- Creidieki 20:40, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

Please fix link to Quotations page

There's currently a link to Wiktionary:quotations instead of Wiktionary:Quotations (note capitalization). Could an admin please fix this? This is in the "Examples" section. -- Creidieki 10:35, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

References

Is there a standard guide for including references? For that matter, is there a way to search for the R:-style templates? The only one I know of is the 1913 Webster's, but I'd like to be able to use one for, say, the 1991 Britannica. 203.26.177.2 16:47, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Go to Special:Allpages - select Template from the drop-down list, and search for words beginning with R: Cheers SemperBlotto 16:52, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm afraid there are not that many yet. Feel free to create one yourself! — Vildricianus 16:55, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Writing definitions Section

In the very last line of the Writing definitions section there is a grammar error. Perhaps an "is" would be in order. "The legal issues about this are very complex, and it is wise find other ways of expressing yourself so that fair use will not need to be a factor." -- Liquidhot 17:35, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, Liquidhot. Fixed. Rod (A. Smith) 19:10, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Page is now open for registered users. I once wanted to add some stuff before I was a sysop, and now I can't remember what it was. — Vildricianus 19:28, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Is there a guide to installing and integrating wiktionary to wikimedia?

This is something I've wanted to do for a while -- Uno 08:50, August 29, 2006

The MediaWiki approach is to install a separate Wiki for each sister project, each language. If you download the latest dump from http://downloads.wikimedia.org/ and create a separate wiki installation locally, you can import that dump. The page on meta: describes how to import an XML dump into a freshly installed Wiki, but I don't have that link handy. --Connel MacKenzie 18:50, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

DVD?

Is there a DVD (or CD) version of Wiktionary available somewhere? --Henri de Solages 10:38, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

I suppose you could burn one from http://download.wikimedia.org/enwiktionary/latest/ but AFAIK, there is no "static" version readily available. --Connel MacKenzie 22:14, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

A bunch of

I'd like to see "a bunch of" deleted from this page. Unfree 03:48, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

If I could, I'd render some of the questions in the original crayon colors they were written in. --Connel MacKenzie 22:16, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

I think, by merit of that last comment, I need a wikibreak. --Connel MacKenzie 22:20, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Clearly written

"Clearly written" is ambiguous. "Clearly" should be changed, perhaps to "evidently", "apparently", or "obviously". — This comment was unsigned.

I don't think that would be very clear, at all. --Connel MacKenzie 22:14, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Batch uploading

The following paragraph in batch uploading looks either vandalism (at worst) or a joke (at best).

Request 'bot status in the Beer parlour if you get complaints. If entries are not marked minor by default, go to Special:Preferences, [Editing] and check off "Mark all edits minor by default". --Gak 07:51, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Suggest logo change

I know, this will probably just be shot down, but I think I have a solution to all this logo dissent. Here's my idea of what it should look like:

1. The definition above Wiktionary should not be for Wikipedia, but for Wiktionaristi, as that shows that we are an omnilingual dictionary (and puts the definitions in proper order).
2. The definition below should remain wilco, but with a lowercase "w", to avoid confusion with the now-redirected Wilco
3. The pronunciation of "Wiktionary" should show both possible pronunciations, to show our dialect-neutral preferences (NPOV)
4. Open Content should be changed to open content to avoid confusion over capitalization
5. "Noun" should be changed to "proper noun"

Feedback, please? Teh Rote 17:34, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Downloading Wiktionaries in foreign languages

Instructions for downloading all of Wiktionary apparently apply only to en.wiktionary. Supposing I want to download Wiktionary in some other language? LADave 21:10, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Substitute for en in the URL the ISO code of the language you want.—msh210℠ 21:19, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

single log-in

is working smoothly, it should be changed on the article--Esteban.barahona 05:50, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Agreed. The Log In section of the FAQ should be updated with information from, and a link to, Meta:Help:Unified login e.g.:

All users can now manually unify their accounts. To do so, go to Special:MergeAccount on a wiki where you already have an account. The wiki where the account of that username has the most contributions will become the home wiki, and its email address and password will be exported to all other accounts.

But whatever text describes it in an FAQ style would be appropriate. The link to Meta:Help:Unified login is the important bit. Lantrix 08:15, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

The wikilink to Fair use is broken.

Looking for help? Look elsewhere, this template does not work!

If you want to request an edit to a protected page, ask for it at our Wiktionary:Grease pit. For entries (in main and Appendix namespaces) use the Wiktionary:Tea room.

Sorry, but there are simply too many categories for the few beleaguered Wiktionary admins to troll through.

--Yecril 11:55, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Huh?—msh210℠ 16:50, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

The writing definitions section is inadequate.

Ignoring the off-wiki link, the problem is that what it tells you to do only ensures that the definition covers all the examples but fails to get you to check that it doesn't cover anything that are not considered to meet the definition!!!.

In the wikipedia Wikipedia:GOODDEF they say:

A good definition is not circular, a one-word synonym or a near synonym, over broad or over narrow, ambiguous, figurative, or obscure.

I think it's really, really important that this be stated here.Wolfkeeper 17:51, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

wiktionary

Hi

I'm a linguist and I love words. I'd like to contribute to Wiktionary, but I find there's a lack of logic in how the site works. There's just too much information.

I don't understand why entries for a word from other languages have to be part of the "English" entry, when you simply link to that non-English entry.

The same goes for the categories. Say I choose "geography" as a category. I'll see "Geography words in English" "Geography words in Dutch", ... If I speak Dutch I can simply go to wikiwoordenboek and have a look at the categories there.

Wouldn't it make more sense to have a neat dictionary entry in one language and then link to entries in other languages in the sidebar, just like wikipedia does?— This unsigned comment was added by Lies Van Rompaey (talk • contribs) at 09:25, 22 August 2009 (UTC).

I'm taking theliberty of moving your question to WT:FEED and responding there.​—msh210℠ 20:13, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

book?

is there anyway to obtian one of the versions of wiktionary as a book. the Kurdish one is great compared to the print dictinaries we have at the moment, and would be great in book format. though the translations could do a bit of work. many entries dont include them.

82.198.250.7Amed Hirori

Links to Wikipedia

I have read this section and everything else I could find and I still can't find the answer to my basic question: what is a link to Wikipedia supposed to look like in Wiktionary? Here is one answer: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Help:FAQ#How_do_I_link_to_Wikipedia.3F It produces a weird-looking link.

Here is another answer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Interwikimedia_links It also produces a link that looks wrong to me.

Here is yet another answer: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Links

I still don't know how to edit the page so I am just giving up and going home even though my edit going to supply the origin of the word.

What I want is both how to link, and what it is supposed to look like in the article. Thanks for any help. Evangeline (talk) 20:31, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

The discussion edit box doesn't work properly

I'm posting with an iPad Air using Sefari, not quite the latest version as I was notified of an update to the iOS within the last day or two.

Severe bugs on a broadly used site seem extremely fishy to me and it could be evidence of a man in the browser mallware infection which I know for a fact has happened to me (as in I was apparently targeted as opposed to a more general form of malware infection that was intended to infect anyone who used a particular site, such as a bank of financial institution.) several times in the past.

The bugs I'm experiencing is an edit box that won't scroll and a problem with being able to select text properly and a save button that never becomes active (in another area of Wiktionary). Clearly, the save problems didn't show up with this edit box.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. TakenItEasy1 (talk) 05:52, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

The name of the tool preventing the user to save a page

I think this FAQ should include the name of the tool that prevents the users to save an entry. That's especially useful for the beginners, so they can read about this tool, about it's requirements and also to request features for improving it, to make it more useful. -- Fructibus (talk) 17:29, 5 November 2017 (UTC)