Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors

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Administrators: Clear all reports

Errors with "In the news"

"Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig (pictured) are released from detention in China shortly after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou is released from house arrest in Canada." That is needs to be a was. Primergrey (talk) 07:02, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

ITN uses simple present tense, and that doesn’t read better to me. Stephen 10:42, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Gererally we use present tense for blurbs, but this might be an exception becuase it follows after, which implies a past event.—Bagumba (talk) 10:51, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

I'm familiar with ITN being written in present tense, however "[they] are released shortly after Meng Wanshou is released..." does not read as correct in any tense. Primergrey (talk) 11:11, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Errors in "Did you know ..."

Current DYK

• The hook James McDivitt, while technically correct, is likely to mislead, particularly among readers already predisposed to misread in that direction. At the very least, I think it should be clarified that the "UFO" was "probably a piece of ice or multi-layer insulation that had broken off". BilledMammal (talk) 04:31, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
  • It's fine. I don't think WP needs to compensate for some people incorrectly associating UFOs only with green people.—Bagumba (talk) 10:48, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
• (McDivitt) Here is the recently discussed "pictured" issue again. Should it be deleted? 71.175.88.163 (talk) 11:21, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

• I saw that, too. But we're still getting consensus on the issue, and this will have rotated off the main page in less than half an hour. — Maile (talk) 11:35, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

• I think the rotation interval is 24 hours now. 71.175.88.163 (talk) 11:41, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

• In the second hook, "wasn't" should be expanded to "was not". Primergrey (talk) 07:04, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

 Done. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 08:52, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

• I don't understand the quirky hook saying "... that "why" is the only lyric of "Why"?" Perhaps it's just me not knowing English enough. Lyric(s) means to me the text of a song, and if the text of that song would be printed I think it would by "Why?" and not "why". Why don't we just say something like "... that that the lyrics of "Why" are only one word? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:20, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
  • Reading the article will explain clearly: The lyrics of "Why" consist of Ono repeating the word "why" over and over again. There is no question mark in either the lyrics or the song title.[1] The hook is a statement of fact. The subject matter's bizarreness might make it appear "quirky". Stating that the lyrics are only one word would be wrong, or ambiguous at the best. Bazza (talk) 10:02, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
  • Having why in quotes refers to the word itself (Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Words as words), so basically it means that the word why is the only one used in the lyrics of the song "Why".—Bagumba (talk) 10:44, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
• ... that "why" is the only lyric of "Why"? Generally, the first "why" should be in italics per MOS:WAW, and it also distinguishes from the quoted song title "Why". However, perhaps it was intentinal quirkiness, that is also allowed grammatically. Also pinging DYK participants @Rlendog and Theleekycauldron:.—Bagumba (talk) 11:07, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Errors in "On this day"

Today's OTD

• Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming (pictured) discovered penicillin when he noticed a bacteria-killing mould growing in his laboratory. Penicillin is badly sourced article, can it be unbolded? Fleming's article looks fine from a cursory glance. Joseph2302 (talk) 00:10, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

   Done  — Amakuru (talk) 06:19, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

• Pope John Paul I - "papal election" is a redirect. The Rambling Man (Keep wearing the mask...) 06:57, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

  But article is very poorly referenced so should be pulled in any case. The Rambling Man (Keep wearing the mask...) 07:03, 28 September 2021 (UTC)

Errors in the summary of the featured list

Friday's FL

(August 16)

Monday's FL

(August 19)

Errors in the summary of the featured picture

Notice to administrators: When fixing POTD errors, please update the corresponding regular version (i.e. without "protected" in the page title) in addition to the Main Page version linked below.

Any other Main Page errors

Please report any such problems or suggestions for improvement at the General discussion section of Talk:Main Page.