Wikipedia:Help desk
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April 13[edit]
Banbury Road[edit]
I stuffed up number 3 reference badly. please repair sorry. 49.198.41.28 (talk) 03:26, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
Sorry, Im out of touch. Number 5 is also all over the place. Please fix if you have the time. And please leave in quote which I have tried to add Thank you so much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.198.41.28 (talk) 04:40, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
- Already
Done; and for the umpteenth time, please do not start (unnecessary) additional threads with the same heading. Eagleash (talk) 06:20, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
Please lock page indefinately[edit]
Please lock this page indefinitely https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Northern_Cyprus
Edit warring has been going on for months now. Sock obsessed accounts of shingling334 are vandalizing the article over the countries status, it has been mentioned not to add it on the article. It must be locked indefinitely to prevent it from sock accounts. I have reverted it back multiple times. See page history admin TU-nor has also kept reverting it.95.0.32.95 (talk) 10:29, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
Note: The IP has been temporarily blocked for six months for sockpuppetry. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 10:48, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
watchlist without my edits[edit]
How do I get my watchlist to show edits made by anyone other than me? I have been making a large number of minor edits to pages that link to Glossary of nautical terms (which has just been split, due to size constraints) and when taking a break from this huge number of edits, it would be nice to quickly and easily see what else is going on in my own sphere of interest in Wikipedia. I do intend to keep the edits in the link revision project in my watchlist for a while so I can detect any problems I might have caused. (Hopefully, none). Thanks, ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 14:52, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
- Please ping me with an answer as I might not spot a reply simply in my watchlist!! ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 14:53, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
- @ThoughtIdRetired: while you're on your watchlist page, there's a field you can type in that says "Filter changes (use menu or search for filter name)". Clicking in that box will give you a drop-down list of filters, one of which is "Changes by others". Checking that box will filter out contributions made by you. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 15:08, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
- Thanks - never spotted that list scrolled down. Been looking at a screen too long. ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 17:17, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
- @ThoughtIdRetired: while you're on your watchlist page, there's a field you can type in that says "Filter changes (use menu or search for filter name)". Clicking in that box will give you a drop-down list of filters, one of which is "Changes by others". Checking that box will filter out contributions made by you. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 15:08, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
use of podcasts in potential shortened footnotes-only subsection[edit]
Hello,
I'm currently working on a people article for which I'm finding that the most information-rich sources tend to be podcasts. These podcasts are long though, and often the parts which contain relavant information are spread throughout an episode. Many of the article's current podcast references are the same sans the timestamp, and as such I plan to replace these with references with shortened footnotes (WP:SRF).
I am a bit confused about how the reference section should be structured though. I want to clear this up before I implement these changes and start rewriting some sections. I plan to get the article up to GA status, so I want to make sure that what I plan to do is best-practice.
Similar to the Kylie Minogue FA, I plan to divide the References section into two subsections: Citations and Sources. Footnotes citing something like a news headline etc. will go in the Citations subsection, whereas a podcast which is referenced 5+ times will go in the Sources subsection and be referenced with shortened footnotes.
Questions:
1. Do you think structuring the references section in this way is acceptable for a (future) GA status people article?
2. Is it appropriate to include multiple podcasts in such a Sources subsection for a (future) GA status people article? There seems to be a pattern within FA media people articles that sources referred to with shortened footnotes tend to have ISBN numbers. I haven't seen a FA people article with a podcast referenced with shortened footnotes before, which has me a bit worried.
Neuroxic (talk) 16:39, 13 April 2022 (UTC)
- I've gone ahead and made the changes, this question can now be ignored. Neuroxic (talk) 14:10, 14 April 2022 (UTC)
April 14[edit]
Spaces in name[edit]
How can I put spaces in my wiki profile name? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Facethegreat (talk • contribs) 01:41, 14 April 2022 (UTC)
- Hi Facethegreat. I don't think that would be possible at this point unless you were to make a request to have your username changed as explained in Wikipedia:Changing username. You can try and make such a request, but there's no guarantees it would be granted. Another possibility would be for you to customize your signature to your new choice for a username as explained here; perhaps, that might be something that would work better for you. Finally, just for reference, a Wikipedia user name isn't really a "profile name" per se and Wikipedia user pages aren't really "profile pages" as you might find on some personal websites or social media sites. So, you might want to take a look at Wikipedia:User pages#What may I have in my user pages? for some ideas as to what types of content are considered acceptable for user pages and at Wikipedia:User pages#What may I not have in my user pages? for some ideas as to what types of content aren't considered acceptable for use pages. As of now, you've yet to create a user page, but just keep such things in mind if someday you decide to do so. -- Marchjuly (talk) 02:26, 14 April 2022 (UTC)
Why does Wikipedia have mixed up rules?[edit]
One rule says something, the other rule says the opposite. Shouldn't there only be one rule?
Example:
"Do not revert unnecessary edits (i.e., edits that neither improve nor harm the article" Wikipedia:Revert only when necessary
"Revert an edit if it is not an improvement" Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle
Ak-eater06 (talk) 03:07, 14 April 2022 (UTC)
- Because, Ak-eater06, different writers have different ideas. What you're quoting are mere essays. (This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not [...] one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.) -- Hoary (talk) 04:47, 14 April 2022 (UTC)
- User:Hoary thank you for that. I didn't look closely. Ak-eater06 (talk) 05:22, 14 April 2022 (UTC)
Question about citations and the Internet Archive[edit]
For the Marcel Aymé article I've been working on, I've added a number of citations that lead to works that are searchable and checkout-able on the Internet Archive. For the citations themselves I tried to put in links that lead to the exact page of the reference book on the IA, and this seemed to work initially, but now after saving my edit(s) if I click on the link in the citation I added, it just links to the book itself, usually just the front cover (this is whether I'm logged in or not at IA). I used the automatic citation feature for these; would it be better to do it, I guess, manually? (Does any of this make any sense?) Would someone be so kind as to look over some of my citation edits (I believe they're just about all to IA) and see if I've done them correctly? Hérisson Ford (talk) 06:57, 14 April 2022 (UTC)Hérisson Ford
- Try copying the URL at the specific page you would like to cite. For example, see this link to page 32 of French novelists, 1930-1960. Hack (talk) 07:07, 14 April 2022 (UTC)
- It may be better to write that citation template this way:
{{Cite dictionary |last=Brodin |first=Dorothy |entry=Marcel Aymé |entry-url=https://archive.org/details/frenchnovelists172bros/page/32/mode/2up |editor-last=Brosman |editor-first=Catharine Savage |dictionary=Dictionary of Literary Biography |volume=72: French novelists, 1930-1960 |date=1988 |location=Detroit, MI |publisher=Gale Research |pages=32–41 |via=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8103-4550-8}}
- Brodin, Dorothy (1988). "Marcel Aymé". In Brosman, Catharine Savage (ed.). Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 72: French novelists, 1930–1960. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. pp. 32–41. ISBN 978-0-8103-4550-8 – via Internet Archive.
- Because why? Because Brosman is the editor (see the title page); because French novelists, 1930-1960 is not the work's title but is part of the volume name; because 'Detroit, Mich. :' is not the publisher's name; because pages in a range are separated with an ndash character not a hyphen.
- —Trappist the monk (talk) 11:52, 14 April 2022 (UTC)
- It may be better to write that citation template this way:
April 15[edit]
Notices while e-mailing users?[edit]
When the Arbitration Committee is e-mailed, there is a notice that says to change the subject to something more specific. How is this placed on the Special:Emailuser page? I can't find anything in the source code of the account's user page. I.hate.spam.mail.here (talk | contributions) 05:44, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- They use the page: User:Arbitration Committee/Emailnotice. You can make yours here. Heart (talk) 05:55, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
how to edit a biography page to indicate a death?[edit]
Hi, there, I can't seem to find any documentation about editing a biography of a person to indicate that the person died (he died yesterday). Is there a policy or guideline about that? I've been editing/maintaining the page of the individual while he was living. He's not really a public figure, but I want to do it right. I realize that I need to wait until an official announcement in the news media. Thanks! Robert J Nagle (talk) 05:56, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- Hello, Robert J Nagle. It is really quite simple. You must create a reference to an indisputably reliable source that says this person has died. False death claims are commonplace on the internet and these false claims often creep into Wikipedia articles. The verifiability of the death, in cases like this, is a core content policy that cannot be ignored. Cullen328 (talk) 06:02, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- I don't do this often but here are a few things to consider:
- Change tenses as needed, for example: "Elvis Presley (born January 8, 1935) is a..." to "Elvis Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was a..."
- Add the death date to the info box and right after the name in the intro paragrapah
- Write a paragraph about his death, using citations.
- Change the talk page from {{WikiProject Biography|living=yes|...}} to {{WikiProject Biography|living=no|...}}
- Happy editing! Heart (talk) 06:05, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) Hi Robert J Nagle. You're correct in that you're going to need to be able to provide a citation to a pretty strong reliable source that allows such content to be verified before trying to add it to the article per WP:BLPSOURCES. Moreover, as you can probably guess and may have experienced before based upon the
paid-contributionCOI declaration on your user page, any time you post something likeI've been editing/maintaining the page of the individual while he was living.
, some users might be quick to assume the worst or at least that you've got an WP:APPARENTCOI. So, if you do have any sort of personal or professional connection with this individual, you probably should be up as front about it as possible. Perhaps, use the article talk page to discuss things and explain whatever connection you have to this person, and seek input from others as to how to best incorporate the information about their death into the article, even prehaps making edit requests instead of trying to do it yourself. -- Marchjuly (talk) 06:11, 15 April 2022 (UTC); [Note: Post edited by Marchjuly to strikethrough the incorrect reference to "paid-contributions" per the OP's response below. -- 07:24, 15 April 2022 (UTC)]- Who is the person in question? Since various people have been killed off on Wikipedia in hoax edits, it is always a no-no to do this without a reliable source.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 07:04, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Ianmacm I received a private email from a family member. I won't mention it publicly until the family has announced it publicly -- and certainly won't mention it on wikipedia until there is a bona fide obituary. Robert J Nagle (talk) 07:08, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Cullen328 thanks for the straightforward advice. @Marchjuly With regard to conflict of interest, I did not make a notice because it was not necessary at the time -- and I received no money or commercial benefit from editing the article, but I've been interviewing the person (an author) for a book I'm writing -- well, when he was alive anyway. Now, though, things have changed and there is theoretically a COI -- and so I definitely will do a declaration. (By the way, it is wrong to say that I have a paid-declaration on my user page -- I have never received money for any work I have done on any wikipedia page and the author mentioned there is not the same one I am talking about here). Robert J Nagle (talk) Robert J Nagle (talk) 07:06, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Robert J Nagle: My apologies for that error and mistaking your COI declaration for a paid-contribution declaration. Careless mistake on my part and I've gone back and corrected things. I was pretty sure the declaration was for a different person, but just was trying to state (rather poorly perhaps) that you probably knew about COI editing and how some users view it quite suspiciously even when its been declared. Anyway, sorry again for the error. -- Marchjuly (talk) 07:24, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Robert J Nagle: Another thing you need to do (besides those mentioned by HeartGlow30797 above) after you have a source to cite for the death is to change the category Category:Living people to Category:2022 deaths in the article. I've occasionally forgotten to do this myself. Deor (talk) 13:35, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Robert J Nagle: My apologies for that error and mistaking your COI declaration for a paid-contribution declaration. Careless mistake on my part and I've gone back and corrected things. I was pretty sure the declaration was for a different person, but just was trying to state (rather poorly perhaps) that you probably knew about COI editing and how some users view it quite suspiciously even when its been declared. Anyway, sorry again for the error. -- Marchjuly (talk) 07:24, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- Who is the person in question? Since various people have been killed off on Wikipedia in hoax edits, it is always a no-no to do this without a reliable source.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 07:04, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Robert J Nagle: Once you have a reliable source and undertake all of the changes mentioned above, please also change the associated Wikidata item. -Arch dude (talk) 17:43, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
copyright status of still image extracted from livestream of US Senate hearings[edit]
Question
I would like to confirm that I can use a screenshot from an archived livestream of a recent US Senate hearing. And that I should mark that image as an "Original work of the US Federal Government" during the upload to Wikimedia Commons.
Background
- Livestream on YouTube: www
.youtube .com /watch?v=nZT1vEjCv8A - Target article: Joseph DeCarolis
Process
- File upload wizard ▶ Release rights ▶ This file is not my own work ▶ This work was made by the United States government ▶ Original work of the US Federal Government = ✘
Comment
The main issue is whether the livestream in question is indeed an original work of the US Federal Government. Any help gratefully received. RobbieIanMorrison (talk) 07:49, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- Hello, RobbieIanMorrison. That is the official YouTube channel of the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a federal agency. Therefore, the video is free of copyright and in the public domain. Proceed as you described at Wikimedia Commons. Cullen328 (talk) 17:03, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- As Cullen said, it's in the public domain and as such, you may want to directly upload it to commons:. Public domain images are suggested to be hosted from there. —CX Zoom[he/him] (let's talk • C • L) 17:20, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- Many thanks Cullen328 and CX Zoom (I am a bit more versed in copyright and related rights in a European context). RobbieIanMorrison (talk) 18:52, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- As Cullen said, it's in the public domain and as such, you may want to directly upload it to commons:. Public domain images are suggested to be hosted from there. —CX Zoom[he/him] (let's talk • C • L) 17:20, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
Resolved
Ten or 10?[edit]
Should this numer be written as "ten" or "10"? Dr Salvus 09:10, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- See MOS:NUMERAL. RobbieIanMorrison (talk) 09:49, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
Vandalism help request from bobbyjoeandy Replace BCE with BC Page [[1]][edit]
I have noticed some vandalism at PAGENAME. Namely, BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE VANDALISM HERE. Would an editor please assist me with fixing it? Thank you, Bobbyjoeandy (talk) 13:57, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Bobbyjoeandy: If the vandalism is persistent across different editors, please submit a request at Wikipedia:Requests for protection. If it's one editor (unregistered or otherwise), please go to WP:AIV. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 14:37, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- Comment: how is the existing date format vandalism? Sumanuil. 05:28, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
Christos Aslanis or Χρήστος Ασλάνης[edit]
Hi there, I have just uploaded successfully my bio file and photos in greek and english, however in the search my name doesnt come out. Is there anything else I should do in order to publish my information? Thank you for your kind assistance and looking forward to hearing from you. Sincerely yours, Christos Aslanis — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kaliona!23 (talk • contribs) 16:28, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- Hello, Kaliona!23. This is your only edit to the English Wikipedia although I notice that you uploaded a lot of images to Wikimedia Commons. Please read WP:AUTOBIOGRAPHY. In short, trying to write a Wikipedia article about yourself is a bad idea. Cullen328 (talk) 16:56, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Kaliona!23: I note that you have uploaded commons:File:CHRISTOS ASLANIS wikipedia - bio 1.pdf which purports to be "my bio file". This is not, and will never be, an article within Wikipedia in any language and I suggest you delete it. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, where volunteer editors write about notable topics and people (unconnected to them), not some sort of social media or LinkedIn. Mike Turnbull (talk) 19:14, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
Where's the category for general link issues?[edit]
I'm putting together an edit request to fix the help links on the links to be fixed area (how ironic) in Open tasks and was wondering if there's a category for link errors. Could someone help me find it? IHaveAVest (talk) 18:19, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
- @IHaveAVest: Is this what you're looking for? Category:All articles with dead external links TimTempleton (talk) (cont) 19:15, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
April 16[edit]
Why is an official government website blacklisted?[edit]
I am trying to add an "external link" to an article. The link is to an official governmental site. Whenever I try to add it, I get a warning that says "this site is blacklisted, so it cannot be added" (or some such). Why would an official governmental site be blacklisted and, thus, disallowed?
The article is Todt family murders.
The "blacklisted" external link site is:
[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiKkuyt2pf3AhU2hIkEHYwPCEc4ChAWegQIBBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myflfamilies.com%2Fchildfatality%2Freports%2F2020-016608.pdf&usg=AOvVaw0NRGQYpXATyROH0Xp6PsmE] .
This is a 3- or 4-page PDF file of an official report issued by a Florida state governmental agency. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 04:39, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- The government site is not blacklisted. Linking to it through Google's URL redirection service is. Directly linking to https://www.myflfamilies.com/childfatality/reports/2020-016608.pdf works just fine. * Pppery * it has begun... 04:51, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- Perfect. Thank you so much! Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 05:19, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- Almost all redirection sites are blacklisted per policy. Shantavira|feed me 09:01, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- Perfect. Thank you so much! Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 05:19, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
![](http://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20220416202131im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fb/Yes_check.svg/20px-Yes_check.svg.png)
Writing A new Article[edit]
Hello,
I want to create an page for an antrepreneur.
What are the steps after finish the article until it is public — Preceding unsigned comment added by Codros (talk • contribs) 06:28, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- See WP:FIRST. But if it is written in the style of a LinkedIn profile and the main sources are blogs, personal websites etc, it will probably not make it to mainspace. There may also be a conflict of interest.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 06:36, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- The article is Draft:Ionuț Gabriel Bălan and it does have the problems mentioned above.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 07:49, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- To make the article suitable for acceptance into this encyclopedia, most (or all) factual statements need to be backed with a a published reference that is cited, inline, in the text. These are called references. The statement "Gabriel was born in Focșani Romania on the 24th of November 1989" needs an inline reference. The statement "His first gig, around the year 2007, was selling cars" needs an inline reference. And so on.
- As @User:Ianmacm has said, if this is written like a LinkedIn profile, it won't be accepted. Also, the person must be notable. 73.127.147.187 (talk) 08:14, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- Hello, Codros. I suspect that a big part of your difficulty is that, like many people, you think that "creating a page for" is something we do on Wikipedia. It is not (though people sometimes use the phrase loosely). A more accurate characterisation would be "creating an encyclopaedia article about". The article will not belong to its subject, it will not be controlled by the subject, it will not be for the subject's benefit except incidentally, it will not neceesarily say what the subject wants to say, and it should be nearly 100% based on what people unconnected with the subject have chosen to publish about the subject, not on what the subject or their associates say or want to say. ColinFine (talk) 14:46, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
Letter case[edit]
Are capitalics (is it called "capitalics" or "capitals"?) correct after – symbol at FV103 Spartan#Operators? Eurohunter (talk) 08:34, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- (It's called "capitals" or "capital letters".) The answer to your main question is "no" (see MOS:CAPS). Bazza (talk) 08:55, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Bazza 7: Good to know. What to do if I fix whole article then after 6 month a lot of users add capitals to their new added content? Eurohunter (talk) 15:29, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- I prefer to include links to guidelines, etc., in the edit summary: for example, "remove capitals (MOS:CAPS)". If others come along later and add new content which doesn't conform, then simply repeat! If you don't already, you can keep an eye on what you edit by always ticking "Watch this page" on the edit form. Bazza (talk) 16:52, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Bazza 7: Good to know. What to do if I fix whole article then after 6 month a lot of users add capitals to their new added content? Eurohunter (talk) 15:29, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- By the way, "capital letters" are also referred to as "uppercase letters" (e.g., A, B, C, D) ... as opposed to "lowercase letters" (e.g., a, b, c, d). Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:03, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- I agree. The throwback to a simpler time is very cool. I made a new redirect, also. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:53, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
Template:Uw-brd[edit]
At Template:Uw-brd, it says that {{subst:uw-brd|Article}} references a specific article. I tried typing {{subst:uw-brd|Template:Eisbrecher}} at User talk:X750, but the template link did not show up. Do you know why? Please {{ping}} me when you respond. --Jax 0677 (talk) 15:00, 16 April 2022 (UTC)
- @Jax 0677: The code for the template doesn't define any parameters to change, so the documentation is misleading. To be more specific, the documentation is pulled from {{single notice}}, which is a templated documentation for single-notice warnings. I added the
|nopage=
parameter to remove some of the examples, but one remains. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 15:28, 16 April 2022 (UTC)- Reply - @Tenryuu:, can "{{subst:Uw-brd||Additional text}} or {{subst:Uw-brd|2=Additional text}}" be removed from Template:Uw-brd? --Jax 0677 (talk) 15:47, 16 April 2022 (UTC)