Wikipedia:Help desk

Welcome—ask questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia! (Am I in the right place?)

• For other types of questions, use the search box, see the reference desk or Help:Contents. If you have comments about a specific article, use that article's talk page.
• Do not provide your email address or any other contact information. Answers will be provided on this page only.
• Check back on this page to see if your question has been answered.
• For real-time help, use our IRC help channel, #wikipedia-en-help.
• New editors may prefer the Teahouse, a help area for beginners (but please don't ask in both places).

Ask a question

September 17

Admins, please remove 2 foul rants...

These offensive remaining editorial rants attached to similar, reverted content caught my eye on the revision history page, if someone would please remove...

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killings_of_Tylee_Ryan_and_J._J._Vallow&diff=next&oldid=1034290494

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killings_of_Tylee_Ryan_and_J._J._Vallow&diff=next&oldid=1034290397

Thank you Sunny Clark (talk) 08:14, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

@Sunny Clark: I've revision deleted both, but in the future you may want to contact someone from this list (if you forget where, just ask about revdelling here without links) - this is an extremely travelled page, and putting a request here maximises eyeballs on something we want to reduce them. Cheers, Nosebagbear (talk) 12:25, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

{{request edit}} Update Filmography Amira El Sayed

Dear Wikipedia help desk,

Could you please update the filmography of the actress Amira El Sayed? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amira_El_Sayed Her updated filmography can be found here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5925224/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_5

It would also be great if you could update the external links with the following pages: https://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/deutschland-86-the-best-fashion-moments https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20141105_OTS0090/arik-brauer-gudrun-harrer-amira-el-sayed-und-bernard-jakoby-zu-gast-in-stoeckl https://www.mixcloud.com/BCR_Radio/pop-apocalypse-4-13042015-with-amira-el-sayed/ https://www.stern.de/kultur/auf-der-hollywoodschaukel-mit-----amira-el-sayed--man-unterdrueckt-sich-auch-selbst--3622502.html https://www.focus.de/kultur/medien/kultur-amira-im-wunderland_id_4097102.html https://www.focus.de/panorama/reportage/spiel-des-lebens-reportage_id_1984955.html

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.124.18.9 (talk) 08:55, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

Hello. You can make these edits yourself, or else you can request them on the talk page Amira El Sayed. However, to use a housebuilding analogy, you are asking somebody to build an extension on a house that is likely to fall down as it has no foundations. All Wikipedia articles should be based on reliable published sources independent of the subject, and that article has none: I have tagged it accordingly. It's possible that some of the sources you list above are independent, in which case adding them to the article - preferably as inline citations - would improve it immeasurably. --ColinFine (talk) 14:47, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

IMDb is not an acceptable source as it's a wiki. —A little blue Bori v^_^v ^{Jéské Couriano} 20:19, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

unable to request Page protection for The Grand Tour

There's a bit of BLP violation going on over at The Grand Tour, but when I try to request protection it returns an error saying "there is already a request" - but checking WP:RFP shows that there isn't...

Can anybody shed light on the error, and possibly assess whether PP is warranted at the same time? Thanks. Chaheel Riens (talk) 11:39, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

It was there at Wikipedia:Requests for page protection/Increase, & after I did a purge it showed up at WP:RFPP. --David Biddulph (talk) 11:44, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

Erhard Auer needs German translator with fluent English

Erhard Auer needs retranslation, typo fixes, Nazi templates and navboxes, current state seems to be from native German to English in German grammar. What hatnotes and categories should be used? .... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 14:13, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

@0mtwb9gd5wx: Thanks for pointing this out. I added the category Category:Articles needing translation from German Wikipedia to the article. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 21:34, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

@0mtwb9gd5wx: the main problem with the article is that it has only one in line reference. In line references are needed in English Wikipedia but apparently not in the German one, which can be a problem when translating articles. I have also tagged it for cleanup and for expansion from the German article, but the volunteers who focus on cleaning up articles only work on articles with sufficient references. You could put a note of the work that needs doing on the article talk page, where hopefully anyone that wants to work on the article will see it. Unfortunately theer are many poor quality articles on Wikipedia and volunteers only improve the ones they are interested in. TSventon (talk) 08:58, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Erhard Auer was the Editor in Chief of the Münchener Post, it was shut down by Hitler in March 1933 immediately after he became the Reich Chancellor. Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party called the newspaper and its editors "Giftküche" (The Poison Kitchen) and "Münchener Pest ("Munich Pestilence" or "Munich Plague"). Hitler considered the paper one of his most vexing public adversaries, and the paper was the target of libel actions by the Nazi Party The paper was one of the few early warning voices regarding the dangers posed by the rise of the Nazi Party, although their warnings went largely unheeded at the time. Auer was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp and died 20 March 1945. The first book written on Erhard Auer and the Münchener Post was in 2013, in Brazil. .... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 01:09, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

2022 Winter Olympics article error

 Courtesy link: 2022 Winter Olympics
Can you fix the error please. 98.186.54.177 (talk) 16:56, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

What error are you seeing? —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 17:32, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

TV

FAFTA— Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.164.135.56 (talk • contribs) 17:41, 17 September 2021 17:41 (UTC)

Do you have a question in respect of how to use or edit Wikipedia? Eagleash (talk) 17:45, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

The Italian Coffee Company

I posted what is below on my talk page but I don't know if that is the right place.

Years ago I read an article on the Wikipedia about the Italian Coffee Company which is a coffeehouse that competes with Starbucks in Mexico. This article is gone. What happened? Who deleted it? Please bring back this article or create it.

Help will be greatly appreciated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mojosa17 (talk • contribs)

As far as I can tell there has never been an article here on Italian Coffee Company. Are you sure you've got the name right? Beeblebrox (talk) 19:21, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

I also checked List of coffeehouse chains and it does not have any Mexican-based listings. Beeblebrox (talk) 19:27, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

Ok, I found their website [1] and it does appear they have a substantial number of locations in Mexico, so it is likely an article could be created if one could dig up sufficient reliable sources to support it. Beeblebrox (talk) 19:42, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

Starting a WikiProject

Hello. Is there any process I have to go through if I'm interested in starting a WikiProject prior to creating it, or do I just go ahead an make one? — Mikehawk10 (talk) 21:13, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

@Mikehawk10: Here's some guidance Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide#Creating a WikiProject. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 21:31, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

Oh my that's a lot of steps. Thank you for sending me the link; I'll have to think a bit before creating it. — Mikehawk10 (talk) 21:44, 17 September 2021 (UTC)

September 18

linking other language page to english language

How can I link my Gujarati language page to corresponding English language page in Wiki data ? Rajan shah (talk) 01:34, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@Rajan shah: In the Wikidata page there is a box called Wikipedia, a collection of links to different language articles. Click on the edit button in the box. Provide the language code, for Gujarati, it is "GU" and add the Gujarati article name then save.--Chanaka L (talk) 02:30, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much.I tried but not able to see edit option on wikipedia section also on top page locked.Is adblocker is the reason for that?Rajan shah (talk) 05:36, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@Rajan shah: Please link the English and Gujarati articles so we can see the circumstances. The English article may have a "Wikidata item" link under "Tools". PrimeHunter (talk) 12:49, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_living_actors_from_the_Golden_Age_of_Hollywood

Was reading this item and there was a link inviting me to join the discussion. But when I clicked on the link I could see other peoples' comments but not where I could make a comment or observation. I just donated some money to wikipedia, so can I have some help with this? Thanks.PyePyeGirl (talk) 01:40, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@PyePyeGirl: Can you see a bold blue link like this, List of living actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, on top of the page. There is an edit button next to the said link. Click on it and add your comments at the bottom of the discussion.--Chanaka L (talk) 02:03, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@PyePyeGirl I assume you mean the deletion discussion, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of living actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood? On that page, click "edit source". New comments go at the bottom. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 08:42, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

iPhone app does not show numbers

Hello I just wanted to report an issue I noticed when using the iPhone app. When you look up for example any nascar drivers whose race win totals are normally under their profile they do not show up on the app. The field is there but not the numbers. Any chance of an update to fix this bug? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:342:100:2280:b0b1:7fb:b9a6:6661 (talk)

Please link an example and give an example of a missing number. I see numbers in the app, e.g. 59 wins on Kyle Busch under "NASCAR Cup Series career". PrimeHunter (talk) 03:14, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Editing the link on a redirect page

I have moved content on Castlemaine Art Museum from Castlemaine, Victoria page to a new article on the institution at Castlemaine Art Museum. There is an existing redirect page for Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum (its old name) which links from many pages to Castlemaine, Victoria. How do I get it to redirect to Castlemaine Art Museum instead? As it's a redirect I can't find a way to get into the redirect page. Thank you for your time, Jamesmcardle^(talk) 09:18, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Jamesmcardle, there are instructions at Wikipedia:Redirect#How to edit a redirect or convert it into an article, do ask here if you still have problems. TSventon (talk) 09:39, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Romani Wikipedia

Hello. So the Romani Wikipedia ([2]) has Romanian text on its interface (I think that's how the buttons such as the history or edit ones are called). The thanks button is shown as mulțumesc (thanks in Romanian), and a Wiki Loves Monuments banner is also shown in Romanian. Needless to say, Romani and Romanian have nothing to do with each other and I am pretty sure most Romanians are a bit tired of being compared to Gypsies. I have no idea where to report this however, the Romani Wikipedia is inactive and I am not sure if administrators there have enough power or maybe they need a higher permission. Where can I do this? Super Ψ Dro 10:18, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Meta is where you'd be asking about less-attended wikis. Hell if I know exactly what page on Meta, however. —A little blue Bori v^_^v ^{Jéské Couriano} 11:16, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@Super Dromaeosaurus: Few messages have been translated to Romani.[3][4] See translatewiki:Translating:How to start if you want to help. Would English or another language be a better first fallback language than Romanian for untranslated messages? PrimeHunter (talk) 12:03, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Yes, of course. English is preferred. Calling Romanians Romani is a typical racist insult used mostly in the western countries. I myself have been called one several times in real life situations as a Romanian in Spain. Using Romanian in the Romani Wikipedia looks to me as nothing but blatant mockery. I will report this on Meta, thank you both for your help. Super Ψ Dro 12:30, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@Super Dromaeosaurus: It's about which fallback language is best for Romani language users, not how Romanians feel about Romani. I don't know the languages. The linked fallback language says: "If you would like to change the fallback language definitions, please make a request in Wikimedia Phabricator." Romanian was suggested in phab:T7422. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:44, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Google Books citation tool alternatives...

Does anyone know of any alternatives to the Google Books citation tool which appears to be down? I rely on it very heavily for research. Many thanks No Swan So Fine (talk) 11:50, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@No Swan So Fine: There are many alternative citation tools listed at Help:Citation tools, but I don't know how similar they are to your preferred tool. It may be time to learn a new one? Biogeographist (talk) 17:41, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

How to put a Wikipedia page on Google Search

...

New artciles are not searchable until they are reviewed by New Page Patrol or after 90 days, whichever comes first. RudolfRed (talk) 17:04, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

... and blocked for spamming. MER-C 17:23, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Broken labeled section transclusion in Argumentation theory

The labeled section transclusions in the subsections of Argumentation theory § Stephen E. Toulmin's contributions are broken and I don't see the cause. Labeled section transclusion is working in a few other articles that I checked (for example, Scientific method § Invariant explanation). Can someone else take a look at this and suggest how to fix this? Thanks, Biogeographist (talk) 17:35, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

WP:NULLEDITing the page fixed it. No idea why or what the cause is. * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 17:42, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, but I did a WP:NULLEDIT (this revision) and it fixed the issue in the preview but issue persisted in the published revision. So, it's still broken and in need of a solution. Biogeographist (talk) 18:09, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@Biogeographist: Please be more specific than "broken". Say what you see and what you expect. It looks OK to me. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:42, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@PrimeHunter: Thanks, I just checked and you're right, it looks fine now. Strange. If you had seen it when it was broken, it would have been obvious: the transclusion templates were just a plain wikilink to the target page Stephen Toulmin—not a transclusion, not even a link to the transcluded section, just a wikilink to the page. Biogeographist (talk) 19:47, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

I don't know what would cause that. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:09, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

How to use an epub document for referencing?

Hi, I have an epub document that I want to use for the purpose of referencing but it doesn't have page numbers, just pages with a percentage through the book counter. How can I use it? Desertarun (talk) 19:27, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

@Desertarun: If a print edition exists, you can reference the print edition and add a {{Page needed}} tag at the end and hope that someone else can add a page number later. If I know some text from a book that I want to reference, often I can find the print page number by searching in Amazon.com's "Look Inside" feature or Google Books or HathiTrust or the Internet Archive, to mention a few sites with digitized books. If there is an alternative PDF edition, you can use the page numbers in the PDF. If there is no print or PDF edition, then you could just cite the relevant chapter title or chapter number or section title or section number and a short quotation, and anyone could navigate to the section or search for the quoted text in the EPUB to verify the citation. See also WP:PAGENUM. Biogeographist (talk) 20:55, 18 September 2021 (UTC)

September 19

What on earth happened to the Great Lakes in the interactive maps?

Hi!

I'm not sure if this is the right place, or if anyone else is having the issue, but in all interactive OpenStreetMap maps, Lakes Huron, Superior, and Michigan are struggling to be rendered at some zoom levels. What is causing this error? (For an example and to see if this isn't just me having this error, see Template:OSM Location map's interactive map, and zoom in on Michigan and watch the Great Lakes flicker weirdly. casualdejekyll (talk) 03:41, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

Just figured I'd note that St Mary's River, and everything downstream of the St. Clair River appear to be unaffected - just the lakes proper, and only those three lakes out of the five. casualdejekyll (talk) 03:47, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

I have no idea what is causing the problem, but I can confirm that, at a moderate zoom level, I could not see Lakes Superior and Michigan, which was a strange look. But as I zoomed in more, all the lakes rendered properly. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 17:38, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra

Ref number 5 is not correct - please fix if you are able. I was not sure what to do. Thank you114.76.38.200 (talk) 04:03, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

I don't see anything wrong with it. There are no errors reported. MB 04:09, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

@MB: the archive link is coming up as a 503 error. Mjroots (talk) 09:08, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

I get an error an all archive.org links - I think this is some problem on Internet Archive side. MKFI (talk) 11:07, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

Apparently there is a power outage in the area their servers are located in. – Rummskartoffel 19:07, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

Publish

I would like to know how long will it take to publish an article on wikipedia?

This is the link of the page that i want to publish.

RyoMoon0427 It will not be published until you formally submit it for a review. I will shortly add the appropriate information to allow you to submit it, but if you were to submit it now, it would be rejected. This is because it does not summarize what independent reliable sources with significant coverage have chosen on their own to say about the person, showing how they meet Wikipedia's special definition of a notable person. Wikipedia is not a place to merely tell about someone and what they do. Please read Your first article. 331dot (talk) 23:21, 19 September 2021 (UTC)

September 20

Privileges to delete pages.

Howdy. I am wondering about what privileges it takes to delete a page, and what I need to do to get it. Please ping me if someone answers, as I don't check this page at all. Thanks, Prairie Astronomer ^{Contributions} 01:34, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Only Wikipedia:Administrators can delete pages (with a few esoteric exceptions), and the place to request adminship is Wikipedia:Requests for adminship. The fact that I had to tell you that, though, makes you clearly unsuited to be an admin. * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 01:44, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

@Pppery: Sorry, I never read the policies or anything. I just tend to naturally be civil. When I first joined, I didn't receive a link to the policy page. I still try to just ask civil. Thanks for the information though. Prairie Astronomer ^{Contributions} 02:40, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

@Prairie Astronomer: If you believe that a page should be deleted, you can, if it's uncontroversial, request a speedy deletion or a proposed deletion; if it would be controversial, you should consider drafting a request for deletion. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 02:19, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

@Prairie Astronomer: Administrators to not make deletion decisions. They act on the consensus reached by all interested Wikipedia editors in a process called an "AfD" (WP:AFD), or in response to either of the other two processes described above (WP:PROD, WP:SPEEDY). This means that except for the last technical act of deletion, you have just as much "privilege" to delete as anyone else. -Arch dude (talk) 02:47, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford

The authenticity of the pic of Lord Hussey himself in the info box was in doubt so I removed it, but now the page is a real mess. Please help. Thanks. 114.76.38.200 (talk) 06:17, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

 Done (not by me). Maproom (talk) 06:56, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Are school yearbooks reliable sources to verify graduation year?

I was wondering because I was looking at the page of the actress Dilshad Vadsaria and there were two links in regards to the college she attended. The second one was a class of 1999 yearbook and her picture was among the seniors that graduated that year. I asked an editor who frequently edits that page if I could put she graduated in 1999 and pointed that source out to him, he removed it(even though it had been there for at least two years) and said the source wasn't appropriate. Seeing as how that yearbook was actually published online, I really don't see how it would be inappropriate. This is the site where it came from

https://doczz.net/doc/2731249/class-of-1999-----university-of-delaware

99.21.95.87 (talk) 03:59, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Interesting question, you should ask over at Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard.Herostratus (talk) 04:55, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

I transferred from one high school to another during my senior year. Yearbooks are published before graduation day. If a student transfers, drops out, gets expelled or gets killed between the publication of the yearbook and the actual graduation, the yearbook will be inaccurate. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 06:25, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Sometimes, yearbooks are utterly inaccurate from beginning to end. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 06:36, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Well the reason I'm asking is because there's a dispute over this actresses' age. Her page has her birth year listed as 1985/1986. And the yearbook in question is a college one not a high school one. And like I already mentioned, her picture is among the seniors of 1999. Other articles mention her attending that college and she herself briefly talks about it in this one.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120307133520/http://cornellsun.com/node/37761

So regardless whether or not she graduated from there, unless she's some of super genius, I think it's very unlikely she'd already be a college senior by age 12-13.99.21.95.87 (talk) 07:38, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Nonsensical TV episode color coding

In various articles about television series, there are tables showing seasons or episodes with color coding that isn't explained anywhere. For example: List of The Mod Squad episodes, List of Grimm episodes, List of Gilligan's Island episodes, List of 24 episodes, and so on. NO color key given on any of these pages. Why is that? How can any reader be expected to know what these colors mean? ~Anachronist (talk) 05:22, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

It seems obvious to me that these colours have no intrinsic meaning, but are merely used (arbitrarily and differently in each article) to distinguish between different seasons: for example, in the first of those articles, Season 2 is marked pink in the initial table of seasons, and the table of Season 2 Episodes further down has matching pink header row and row dividers; other seasons are matched in the same way, and the scheme is followed in the last table of Home release DVDs.

Similar 'coding' is present in the other articles, but with different colours as there is (as far as I know) no standard for such things. I do note that the colours used in the Grimm article are not well chosen as they are too similar to one another.

Ultimately it's a matter Graphic design, here mildly helpful but more about the aesthetics. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.2130.195} 90.200.67.3 (talk) 05:42, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Possibly, but I am skeptical. If the point were simply to distinguish between seasons, then it would make more sense to adopt a consistent key like a rainbow going from red to violet, rather than random colors. Note also that the parent article of each list article also uses the same colors as the list, and there is absolutely no need for the colors in the parent article because it's just a list of seasons. And as you pointed out, in some cases similar colors are used. I thought perhaps the colors were an indication of viewership critics' consensus rating, but I cannot tell. ~Anachronist (talk) 06:03, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford

Please see my easier question posted above, I have made a big mistake. Sorry. Thanks 114.76.38.200 (talk) 06:19, 20 September 2021 (UTC)