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Doc Frankenstein

The page Doc Frankenstein is awfully short of tone adequacy and does not give a clear, unbiased tone---it sort of reminds me of a newscast. Should a template be placed? (Epikman) (talk) 20:10, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

When to revert an article?

Hello Teahousers,

I am here to ask for your input on the culture of reverting articles. I have found the page telling me how to do it via this page. I know about edit warring and I know about RfCs run amok first hand.

My question is, what is the considerate time frame after one has tried to communicate with an editor about their edits, and about the preferred culture of discussion on a talk page before major edits are done, before one might consider a reversion to a previous version of an article?

Reverting a page seems like an escalation in almost all cases, at least to me. Does it have this sense for the rest of you too?

I want understand more of the culture of page reverting, from your personal experience. Knowledge is useful.

I hesitate to link the article that has me asking, as I don't want to have my questions here seem to be canvassing or pressure or escalation. I am generally looking for brief descriptions of your experience to help me navigate new waters with care and clarity.

Thank you and best wishes, AD64 (talk) 17:02, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Dead links

If an article has dead links that don't lead to other wiki pages, should I remove them, or should I not?Newrunner769 (talk) 16:24, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

If you are talking about internal wikilinks to articles which do not yet exist, see WP:red links. If you are talking about external urls, see WP:dead links. --David Biddulph (talk) 16:30, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

categories

how do i add categories, I don't know how to. Newrunner769 (talk) 16:18, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse. You'll find the answers at Wikipedia:Categorization. --David Biddulph (talk) 16:20, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Newrunner769 – In addition to David Biddulph's answer, there are a series of Category-specific tips at the WP Tip library. Regards, — JoeHebda • (talk) 17:45, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Draft:Riaz Ali Shah

Draft:Riaz Ali Shah was not acepted. I will tone it down and be nuetral but i think i have cited enough references to show notabiliuty. pleasze tel me how its not a notable person. i mean read the facts in it. in what world is a personal doctor of the founder of a country and a person who eradicates TB not notable? i fail to understand. i thought wkiapedia was made up of sterner stuff. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Legends2016 (talk • contribs) 15:28, 10 May 2016‎ (UTC)

It seems nice. Not that I know best, but the piece about his death might be the reason your draft was rejected. "It was not the will of god" and "perhaps for only this reason" do not seem formal. Dr. Gullible (talk) 16:10, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

There are many problems with your draft, I am afraid, Legends2016. Large parts of it are unsourced, and so it fails our requirement for verifiability. You ask how a personal doctor of a founder of a country can be judged not notable. Notability is not "inherited" from personal or professional relationships, but rather demonstrated by significant coverage in reliable, independent sources. The subject may well be notable, but your draft does not sufficiently demonstrate this with references to such sources. The "Extracts from speeches" section does not belong on Wikipedia and might be better suited to Wikiquote. These are just some of the problems that I spotted from a brief scan. Cordless Larry (talk) 16:17, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

articles

Can I simply copy and paste a whole copyright-free articles and add it to Wikipedia or not? shorouq★kadair 👱 (talk) 15:11, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Probably not, Super ninja2. It won't be a copyright infringement (assuming it is indeed released under a suitable free licence), but it is unlikely to be suitable in content. Wikipedia articles are required to be neutrally written, and based entirely on published information, with the sources cited online. Unless your source is one which has very similar criteria to Wikipedia, it won't be suitable. --ColinFine (talk) 15:42, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

I work at an institution and some of its Wiki entry is out of date

what is the best way to edit the pages? These are not opinions but errors of fact, but because I am an employee of the institution any changes made in normal editing have not been successful. I have tried submitting the first change by the talk page - is this the correct protocol? The page is University of West London UWL Ros (talk) 08:38, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, UWL Ros. Yes, that is exactly the correct protocol, but there are two extra points that will help you to get your changes accepted. First, if you add {{edit request}} to your request (with the double curly brackets) it will put it in a list of waiting edits, so it is more likely to be noticed. Secondly, as it stands, any volunteer editor that looks at your request will have to go and look for published sources for the information in order to add it to the article. You can make that easier for them by providing citations in your edit request. (You don't have to format them properly, but again, if you do, you make it easier for them - see referencing for beginners for how to do so). In general, sources independent of the subject are preferred, but for uncontroversial factual information, non-independent sources are acceptable.

One more, important point: if you are are an employee of the university, you are regarded as a paid editor, and you are required to disclose this, according to WP:PAID. --ColinFine (talk)

Citation

I'm creating a new page with the help of the artist. This may well mean that elements in the text can't be cited as they've never been published before, I have however provided these where I can. The material is accurate though as I have a pretty authoritative source. I've never submitted for review before but will in the next week or 2 when I'll include much more of the material sourced from the interview with Ross, but I imagine that the citations (or lack of) may be challenged. Is there a way round this? It's a draft page called Blue Rose Code (a Scots musician called Ross Wilson) if it helps to look... Draft:Blue Rose Code Weirydad (talk) 07:33, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Material sourced to an unpublished interview should not be included. Stick to material which is referenced to published reliable sources. --David Biddulph (talk) 08:55, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Hello, Weirydad. Yes, it's always helpful to include a link to an article you are asking about; and somebody has changed your URL to a Wikilink for clarity.

In answer to your question, I'm afraid not. A keystone of Wikipedia is Verifiability: if it hasn't been (reliably) published, then it doesn't go into a Wikipedia article. Period.

Another way of looking at this is to realise that Wikipedia has almost no interest in what anybody says about themselves (or what their friends, relatives, associates, employees etc say about them). It is only interested in what people who have no connection to a subject have (reliably) published about the subject. So to write an article you first need to assemble independent reliably published sources (and if you can't find any, the subject is not notable in Wikipedia's special sense, and no article will be accepted however it is written), and then forget anything you may know about the subject and write an article based wholly on those sources (though in your own words, not plagiarising).

On which subject, if you are working with the help of the artist, it is likely that you have a conflict of interest, and you should be aware of our policies and advice on that subject. You are not forbidden from creating the article (and working on a draft, as you are doing, is the best way to proceed). But you should declare your COI as recommended in that link, and be careful about keeping your language neutral and not promotional. --ColinFine (talk) 09:01, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback, I don't know if you reviewed the article but I have tried to be impartial about the document what's stated are facts. I've cited where these exist. When I say I'm working with the artist I'm not connected to him in any way but he has provided facts (DOB, area of Edinburgh, name of original label) but before I provide any more I wanted to ensure that I could do this reasonably and it sounds like I cant. I don't believe there is any conflict of interest but I'll read the article you reference. I believe the artist is notable given the work he's done and the fact that articles exist for many of his contemporaries. Weirydad (talk) 11:51, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

unreferenced section: how much time before deleting the section?

I noticed sections being deleted within a week or so from adding the tag and now wonder if there are any guidelines for that? DeVerm (talk) 03:22, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

It's much better to add references than to delete tagged statements unless, of course, the tagged statement is false. Discussion on the talk page would be preferable before early deletion in borderline cases. There seem to be different opinions on policy here. Perhaps someone can point to clear policies somewhere? Dbfirs 07:32, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Verifiability is the relevant policy here (and specifically WP:UNSOURCED), but it does not give a definitive answer regarding the amount of time before material should be deleted. However, it does make clear that once material has been removed, it shouldn't be reintroduced without a source. Cordless Larry (talk) 07:36, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

page info

Hey sir I just want to know that why my page has bebeen delated ...and how I can get it back — Preceding unsigned comment added by Akshay.swami7 (talk • contribs) 18:44, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

As is clearly stated here It was deleted as "U5: Blatant misuse of Wikipedia as a web host" - although you could ask the deleting editor User:JamesBWatson, given the reason for deletion, it is highly unlikely that it will be reinstated. - Arjayay (talk) 18:50, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

are there two uncoordinated new page review mechanisms?

I've used the Wikipedia:Page Curation tool a little to review 'new' articles. Which I find using Special:NewPagesFeed. However there is also (also?) a {{New unreviewed article}} template that puts articles into the Unreviewed category. I can go to Category:Unreviewed new articles and find, atm, 28 new articles ureviewed for May 2016. While at Special:NewPagesFeed I find way more. And I can find articles that are "reviewed" per the curation toolbar and 'Unreviewed' at the same time because that New unreviewed article template is still there. Are there two parallel uncoordinated new article processes? I am so confused. Gab4gab (talk) 16:54, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

• I have suspected a bug recently because I've started finding new pages by new users marked as "reviewed" on the curation toolbar and nothing in the page history showing that anyone reviewed. I've suspected problems since the "extended confirmed user" permission was added. Sure seams like something odd is happening KylieTastic (talk) 18:21, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Translation

Hello Teahouse i recently tried - and failed - to create a wiki page, subject Michael Bolus Sculptor. I have just found a page: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bolus It's in German and seems short of references etc Is it possible to translate this page to the english wiki pages and then build on it with additional information? Greensaulberg (talk) 13:11, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse.. The advice is at Wikipedia:Translation. --David Biddulph (talk) 13:19, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Greensaulberg. If that article was translated and no sources added, it would be deleted as an unsourced biography of a living person. If you found and added sources to it, then it would be acceptable, provided that the subject meets our notability requirements. Cordless Larry (talk) 07:19, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Cordless. Subject is dead, 2013. How would i go about adding sources to the article if not reading German? If i understand you correctly then translating and moving it to english wiki, would immediately prompt it's deletion giving no time for citation adding etc Could it be translated to a sandbox maybe? Greensaulberg (talk) 08:11, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Greensaulberg. I suggest you translate it to a draft Draft:Michael Bolus (that's red because it doesn't exist yet). As long as it is not an attack page or a copyright infringement, nobody will interfere with it there, and you can work on the language and the references. You might get some assistance at WP:WikiProject Germany or WP:WikiProject Sculpture. --ColinFine (talk) 08:49, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Draft:Diffuse field acoustic testing (space facility)

I reviewed Draft:Diffuse field acoustic testing (space facility) and declined it, stating that it had insufficient references. I also said that, without wikilinks to other related articles, it was hard to assess whether its coverage was duplicated. I then received a standard request for feedback from an IP address, presumably its editor accidentally logged out. (Please log in before editing.) As I said, the draft lacks references, and it is difficult both to assess notability and to determine whether a stand-alone article is needed. Do any other experienced editors have any comments? Robert McClenon (talk) 12:59, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Table of contents

Recently, the default appearance for the table of contents when I visit a page is "collapsed". Is this a change in the mediawiki software (i.e., is everybody seeing this), or is it just me, and is there some way to reset it in my preferences that I just can't find? G S Palmer (talk • contribs) 12:36, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Low IT skills and need help.

I would like to create a Wikipedia entry as a sort of memorial to my late aunt, Maree Marsden (1926 - 2013), who was an Australian model, actress (stage and screen), journalist and PR pioneer. She and/or her work are well represented in the National Library of Australia, the National Museum of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archive, but I like Wikipedia and I would like to record a sort of life story in one place - I just don't know how to do it - I use my computer as a tool rather than a way of life and I find that my IT skills are low. Is anyone able to guide me through the process of creating a Wikipedia page please? I won't have any problem with the words or providing reliable back-up, but I am completely lost as to how to go about them process and I can't even work out how to start! Thanks Stephen Marsden StephenMarsden (talk) 04:38, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, StephenMarsden. First of all, you should be aware that Wikipedia does not host memorial pages unless the person is otherwise notable. Instead, we have articles about notable topics, so I encourage you to read our notability guideline for actors. I did a quick Google search for "Maree Marsden" which is a fairly distinctive name, and found very little other than a family-submitted obituary in The Age and a couple of mentions in cast lists. I did just a quick search so there may be things that I did not see at first glance. We are looking for significant coverage in independent, reliable sources. Of course, not all good sources are available online, but most notable 20th century show business personalities will have ample coverage in reliable sources readily available online. Please read Your first article and follow the excellent advice you will find there. By the way, you do not need to be an IT professional to write a halfway decent Wikipedia article, but you need to immerse yourself in our most important policies and guidelines, at least for a while. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 05:21, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

I have found what I think is a reliable source about her: http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/collections/Maree%20Marsden%20(Parry)%20collection. But we'll need more than that. Maproom (talk) 08:38, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

There's also the possible issue of a conflict of interest; I know it's mentioned in the Your first article link that Cullen provided, but it's worth drawing attention to. One way of looking at it might be that, if she is notable, someone unconnected will create her article. Then again, I don't think WP:COI prevents you from creating the article, but it is something that you should be mindful of.

A fun fact from Maproom's source is that her maiden name was Parry, and a search for "Maree Parry" actress gives you this potential goldmine. I would advise you to make a digital copy of any items that you refer to from that as, although verifiability does not require an online source (i.e. the fact that I could, in theory, travel to Oz and access that National Library book is sufficient), as an editor with a COI you may well find you're challenged. Being able to email another editor or the reviewer the sources might be helpful - or it might not, if they're suspicious that you've doctored them. Still, worth a try.

Another observation is that, as the collection Maproom found is called the Stephen Marsden collection, there's a very good chance that you yourself provided the information contained on the National Museum page. If that's the case, it makes it iffy, IMO. This is not a reflection on you. Bromley86 (talk) 11:37, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Moving beyond draft to published

I've edited a few Wiki articles, and now have created my first entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Michael_Stever

Sorry to say I don't find Wikipedia especially user friendly (sorry!) and I'm perplexed on the next step regarding having the draft approved and published.

Thanks, WordmasternewyorkWordmasternewyork (talk) 03:03, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi Wordmasternewyork. I cleaned up the draft a bit but then discovered that it appears to be a substantial copyright violation of the imdb bio for him (this) (I have also nominated all the pictures you uploaded to the Commons for deletion as apparent copyright violations.) I do not have time right now to clean it up, but that would involve deleting all content that it is a copyright violation, and possibly the entire article if it turns out that would leave almost nothing. Please understand that you cannot cut and paste copyrighted content here. I simply do not have time to say anything further, nor do the cleanup, though others here may pick up where I left off. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:33, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Wordmasternewyork. Following up on what Fuhghettaboutit wrote, anything you add to Wikipedia, other than brief properly cited quotations, must be your own original writing, and cannot be copied from any copyrighted source. Another observation is that the lead section of an article, which appears above the table of contents, ought to summarize the complete contents of the article, in this case, a person's life and accomplishments. The lead section of this draft article discusses only this person's influences. That is like summarizing Abraham Lincoln's life by saying that he overcame a tough childhood and was inspired by Whig idealism of the 1830s. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 05:54, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

The article has been scrubbed of copyvios.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 12:53, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

submission declined

I have just had my first submission declined. The reason given was: "This submission is not adequately supported by reliable sources." I feel that there are quite a lot of adequate sources referenced. How can I take this forward please? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Tom_Brown_%28Syndicalist%29 Tom Ferrour (talk) 20:39, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Tom Ferrour, and welcome to the Teahouse. I'm afraid that blogs are not usually considered reliable sources for establishing notability. Theroadislong (talk) 20:55, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Tom Ferrour. I agree with Theroadislong on this matter. Most of your references are to Libcom.org, which is a website where people can post articles that they have written, and there is no evidence of professional editorial control or fact checking. Is Brown discussed in books about the early history of the Communist Party of Great Britain, or the history of anarcho-syndicalism in the UK? Articles about him in respected historical journals would also be useful. Websites hosting user-submitted content or anything that resembles a blog are not acceptable sources. Also, you mention that he was involved in two dockworker's strikes. What was his role? What year? What cities? Is his involvement discussed in books about British dockworker organizing? Otherwise, the information is so vague as to be pretty much useless. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 22:12, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Hey Tom. I think you might find some useful and relevant information on the issue here at Wikipedia:Common sourcing mistakes (notability). Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:16, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

I've had a quick look for sources, Tom Ferrour. This is certainly reliable. This one initially looked promising, but needs to be treated with care as it looks to be self-published. There's a footnote in this that describes him as "one of the most significant anarcho-syndicalists of the era". Cordless Larry (talk) 08:55, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Publishing

I have created a page and I am wondering how I go about people being able to see it as when i log out and try to check my page its not finding it81.99.66.210 (talk) 18:40, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

You made this comment while logged out, so it is impossible for us to see your account's contribution history. Without seeing this or knowing the page name, it is difficult to answer your question. Cordless Larry (talk) 18:47, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

If you created the article in main space (there isn't a "User:" or "Draft:" at the start of the title), and it hasn't been deleted, then anybody searching for it in Wikipedia should find it, and when Google gets round to indexing it, anybody searching for it in Google should find it. If you created it somewhere else than main space, then it may or may not be easy to find.

Many new articles created by inexperienced users get deleted quickly for various reasons - often because they appear to be pure promotion, or are about topics which are not notable in Wikipedia's special sense. If that did happen, you should have got a message about it on your talk page. --ColinFine (talk) 19:22, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

How to understand some wikicode?

Hello Teahousers.

I've been editing a couple of articles (trying to get them out of stub status) and I realize that I can ask for the "quality" and "importance" ratings of an article to be either assessed for the first time reassessed by any number of relevant WikiProjects.

For the article on Mandarava, I'd like to ask for an assessment from WikiProject India. When I go to the (relevant page, there are these instructions:

"If you have made significant changes to an article and would like an outside opinion on a new rating for it, please feel free to add it to Category:India articles needing reassessment. This is done by putting |reassess=y to {{WikiProject India}} on the respective article's talk page."

Yet, in truth, I'm not at all sure what string of characters that should actually look like when I type it out on the talk page. Also, do I create a new section for this request or does it go at the top of the talk page?

Thank you for your help. Best, AD64 (talk) 17:15, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

p.s. and now it looks like just adding the example in my question has posted two templates here, yet neither of them seem to be any kind of assessment request? AD64 (talk) 17:16, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

I've redone the instance here, which was just {{WikiProject India}}. In order for it to display a reassessment, the wikicode must look like this: {{WikiProject India|reassess=y}}.

Output

For Talk:Mandarava, you should change {{WikiProject India|class=start|importance=mid|assess-date=April 2012}} to {{WikiProject India|class=start|importance=mid|assess-date=April 2012|reassess=y}}. That's all you need to do. -- The Voidwalker ^Discuss 18:10, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Thank you The Voidwalker for cleaning up my question as well as offering great support. I just added the code to Talk:Mandarava and it appears that all is well. Best, AD64 (talk) 18:22, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for doing that, AD64. As a general rule, any editor should feel free to set |class= to Stub, Start, C, B, or List class for any article. Anything "higher" than those ratings requires extra (virtual) paperwork or official processes. You can find the general description of what each rating class means at Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment#Grades. A few WikiProjects have slightly different rules, which will be documented in their pages. On a borderline case, it's okay to make your best guess. "Approximately right" is much, much better than "completely wrong". WhatamIdoing (talk) 09:04, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

This additional information is very helpful, WhatamIdoing. Thank you. I'll keep reading about all this and watching ratings on other articles to support the learning. As a new editor, I'm not yet confident in determining a rating for an article; especially one that I've been editing. Having another experienced editor offer a rating was very helpful feedback and gives me concrete information about what is present in the article as well as what is still missing. I'm sure I'll feel bolder to rate articles that I'm not currently editing going forward. Again, many thanks. AD64 (talk) 16:56, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

24

I recently went to the article 24 and was surprised it took me to the year 24 rather than the number 24 (24 (number)). Neither of these has anything like the views of 24 (TV series) and 24 (2016 film). Is this consistent with the principle of least surprise? Should there be a dab page or a different target? Advice / Opinions appreciated. EdChem (talk) 14:03, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, EdChem, and welcome to the Teahouse. You can find a related discussion ont the article's talk page. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 14:40, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, I wasn't aware that policy dictates year over number and ignores other pages with maybe 100x as many views. EdChem (talk) 14:49, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Illma Gore article

Illma Gore painted the picture of Donald Trump naked and ended up making it available free on her website. Would inclusion of this image be policy compliant and appropriate for her BLP? Has this been discussed somewhere on WP? Thanks. EdChem (talk) 13:58, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, EdChem. I can see nothing on her website which mentions the copyright status of her work, so we must assume that it is not free, and cannot be used. (The fact that she has chosen to let people download it for free does not mean that she has licensed it in a way compatible with Wikipedia). Sorry. --ColinFine (talk) 19:13, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

It may or may not qualify as fair use of non-free content though. If the visual art style of the particular image was discussed in the article, it could pass our non-free content criteria and be used in spite of its copyright status. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 23:42, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

hello

I will be visiting Tokyo for the first time from Jerusalem and would like to know if there is some out there interested in collaborating on translating article regarding Israeli art into Japanese?

Be happy to meet you in person in two weeks... Drkup(IMJ) (talk) 12:32, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Drkup(IMJ), and welcome to the Teahouse. The Teahouse is a place to ask questions and learn about editing Wikipedia, and I doubt many regulars here have experience translating into Japanese. You might have more luck finding people via Wikipedia:Translation and Wikipedia:Translators available. Cordless Larry (talk) 18:52, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Drkup(IMJ), please consider posting your request at WT:WikiProject Japan as well.

Also, one of our sister projects is a travel guide, so you might be interested in voy:Tokyo. Happy travels! WhatamIdoing (talk) 09:07, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

WP policy on commercial product comparison pages

Where can I find such policies? (Is this the right place to ask?) There are a number of software product comparison tables in WP with a mix of commercial and non-commercial products. I'm wondering whether it would be permissible to also include pages for tables to compare medical technology products marketed to the general public. AFAICS, there is no such wiki repository on the web; at best, such tables are rare and not updated. Given the national (and International) health focus, this would seem a most helpful addition, Thoughts and guidance welcome, humanengr (talk) 12:08, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Humanengr, and welcome to the Teahouse. I'm not familiar with these tables on Wikipedia, so could you give me some examples of articles that feature them? Cordless Larry (talk) 19:58, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

hi Cordless Larry e.g., Comparison of open-source operating systems, Comparison of file comparison tools, and many others shown from a WP search for <comparison table software>. humanengr (talk) 21:05, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, Humanengr. That's helpful, but I'm not really an expert in this area. I wonder whether any other regulars here have a view on this? On the one hand, I would say that the existence of those articles suggests that such comparisons are acceptable, but then on the other I am aware of WP:OTHERSTUFFEXISTS, and would not want you to start an article only for it to be rejected or deleted. Cordless Larry (talk) 06:58, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

What kind of sources do you have for this information, humanengr? It'll matter to the editors who usually work in this area. If you want, you can leave a message about your idea at WT:MED. I think you can expect them to very strongly prefer academic sources for everything. WhatamIdoing (talk) 09:10, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Cordless Larry and WhatamIdoing; I'll follow up there. humanengr (talk) 10:18, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

follow-on qqs, if I may: I do see that many software items in those tables are linked to their own WP pages. Is there WP policy re necessity for such linked pages or is that discretionary? Also, here the table would (presumably) cover only commercial products, not freeware or shareware as for software. I thought I had seen mention (on Reddit, maybe) that WP wasn't a shopping comparison site, and so that was also a concern. But as this would not include pricing info, I take it that's not an obstacle ?? Double-checking before proceeding. ;-) humanengr (talk) 13:26, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi again, Humanengr. Items that already have articles hopefully meet Wikipedia's notability requirements, but it's quite possible that there are notable products without articles yet, so I wouldn't have thought an article needs to exist in all cases. See Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists#Selection criteria and Wikipedia:Notability#Stand-alone lists, which may apply here. The best thing to do would be to create a draft article via Wikipedia:Articles for creation, where you will get feedback from experienced reviewers before it goes "live". Cordless Larry (talk) 13:36, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

And thanks again, Cordless Larry. So far, I've gotten positive feedback from WT:MED (thanks, WhatamIdoing for that pointer); and so will start drafting an article. humanengr (talk) 16:52, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

citations and sources f

If I find an article that has no sources or citations, or an article that need help improving it by introducing citations to additional sources, where should I bring these citations and sources from? shorouq★kadair 👱 11:08, 8 May 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Super ninja2 (talk • contribs) 11:08, 8 May 2016 (UTC)‎

Hello again, Super ninja2. Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources gives you guidance on what types of sources are considered reliable. I tend to find a simple Google search, plus Google Scholar and Google Books, pretty good for finding potential sources, but there may well be more appropriate tools for finding sources on particular specialist topics. Of course, not everything that Google returns will be reliable, so you need to assess each source before using it. Cordless Larry (talk) 19:20, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

images

If I find an image anywhere, how am I supposed to know if it is copyrighted or not? And if I can upload it on wikipedia or not? For example are the pictures that the celebrities and ather famous characters take on Instagram and other social media considered as copyright or not? shorouq★kadair 👱 10:30, 8 May 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Super ninja2 (talk • contribs)

Hello, Super ninja2. The answer is that unless you can find positive evidence that it is free for use, you must assume that it is copyright and may not be used. Most pictures on the net are copyright: exceptions are usually clearly marked (eg some pictures on Flickr - but not all - are marked as license by CC-BY-SA). If an image is very old (before 1923 in the US) it is probably in the public domain, as are many images published by organs of the US Federal government (see for example NASA's statement on the subject. But in the absence of clear information, treat all images as copyright. --ColinFine (talk) 11:39, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Super ninja2. Adding to the accurate information that ColinFine wrote above, a photograph is automatically covered by copyright as soon as it is published. Posting on Instagram, Facebook or any other photo sharing social media website is a modern form of publishing. The photographer holds the copyright unless it has been formally assigned in writing to a paying customer, which is rare on social media. Here on Wikipedia, we mostly use photos that are free of copyright or freely licensed, and we require solid evidence of that. Under very limited circumstances, we allow use of irreplaceable non-free images Common examples are low resolution images of book and album covers and movie posters. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:24, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

Speedy deletion of my newly created page

User:Jagvinder Singh Virk. Wikipedia:Criteria_for_speedy_deletion#U5 Jagvinder Singh Virk (talk) 06:45, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Jagvinder Singh Virk. I have changed your URLs to Wikilinks, to make them more readable. Your user page is for you to share as much information as you wish about yourself as a Wikipedia editor. It may not be used for an article or something that looks like an article. Writing about yourself in Wikipedia is very strongly discouraged: see WP:Autobiography for why. If you meet Wikipedia's criteria for Notability (basically, that several people who have no connection with you have chosen to write in some depth about you and have published their writings in reliable sources) then Wikipedia may have an article about you, based almost entirely on what those independent people have published about you - Wikipedia has essentially no interest in what a subject says about themselves - but you should not be the one to write it. If you think you meet the criteria, then you can place a request at requested articles, but there is no guarantee that a volunteer will choose to take the request. Basically, Wikipedia is not a place for self-promotion (or any other kind of promotion), however you try and do it. --ColinFine (talk) 10:05, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Can i write an article about other person instead of writing about myself ?Sn6054884 (talk) 12:36, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Yes, if they meet the notability criteria, Sn6054884. However, you should create the article as a draft via Wikipedia:Articles for creation, not on your user page. Cordless Larry (talk) 13:57, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

If you want to write an article about someone else, see the policy on biographies of living persons. It is even more important that biographies of living persons be attributed to reliable sources than other articles, and the [[WP:NPOV}neutral point of view]] policy is strictly enforced. The purpose of the strict enforcement of these policies is to avoid possible harm to the living persons. As Cordless Larry says, it is a good idea to submit the draft biographies to Articles for Creation for review, especially because referencing, the attribution of the reliable sources, is not easy for experienced editors, let alone new ones. Robert McClenon (talk) 14:54, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Blocks

If you are blocked are you basically done with editing wikipedia? Can you start over with a new username? 2602:301:772D:62D0:AC3D:4398:AE27:4CAC (talk) 06:24, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Can you start over with a new username?

You mean using another account?

Creating another account is not a way to be unblock.Yes ji (talk) 06:33, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

What about CLEAN START? Also if you are blocked for one year, and then appeal, but are rejected, what is your recourse? 2602:301:772D:62D0:AC3D:4398:AE27:4CAC (talk) 06:35, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, IP editor. When an editor is blocked, the block template that is placed on their talk page includes instructions on how to appeal the block. That would be a good place to start. Cordless Larry (talk) 06:43, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

First, it appears that you are asking us for advice on block evasion. If you are in fact blocked, then posting here from an IP address is block evasion. If you are blocked, and you create another account and edit from it, that is sockpuppetry, and is very likely to result in all of your accounts being blocked and banned. Do not create multiple accounts due to blocks. Now, maybe you are just asking a hypothetical question. If so, just read the blocking policy. If you were blocked for a period of time, just wait for the block to expire. If you were blocked for one year, that is a very long block, but just wait for the block to expire. If you have a specific question, please be specific, because it sounds as though you are asking about block evasion. Robert McClenon (talk) 06:46, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Clean start is much harmful, read WP:SOCK, if you start Creating new accounts to be unblock, you maybe blocked from editing wikipedia by another reason named (Sock puppetry) and it will become more difficult for you to be unblock again ــ--Yes ji (talk) 06:53, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

It seems that you don't understand the complex policies either, and would also be better off to edit articles and learn by doing than trying to answer questions that you don't understand. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:06, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

This is incredibly confusing! I am not trying to evade a block, but the blocking policy is very confusing. I am trying to ask about a Clean Start, I also am trying to figure out what happens when a block (after a year) is appealed and then denied if that just means the person can no longer edit wikipedia. Thank you for answering my questions though - I do appreciate it. 2602:301:772D:62D0:AC3D:4398:AE27:4CAC (talk) 06:59, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Yes ji, WP:Clean start is a specific process whereby a user can stop using their account and start with a new one. It's not necessarily harmful. It's not a way around a block though. Rojomoke (talk) 09:54, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Either you are asking a multi-part hypothetical question, or you are asking because you are blocked under your previous account. If you are just introducing yourself to Wikipedia by reading the blocking policy, then maybe it has confused you more than necessary, and you should learn by editing articles or reading other policies rather than asking about that one policy. However, if you are blocked, you should read the block notice and respect the block, and may request unblock in accordance with the blocking policy. If you, the person behind the screen, are blocked for a year, you may respect the block for a year, or request unblock (which should be explained in the block notice). If you are blocked for a year, you aren't helping yourself by asking these questions because they are block evasion. If you just read a complex policy and it confused you, edit Wikipedia rather than confusing yourself further. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:04, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Robert here is the problem. The block I am referring to is a checkuser block. After the block was appealed (one year later), the appeal was declined because "checkuser was functioning correctly". So basically the person who was blocked appealed the block after one whole year, and the appeal was denied. SO this will be my last post on wikipedia as it is not my intention to break rules or defy blocks. I just feel like i am at a dead end and can never edit again. Just by asking questions it appears is a violation of a block. IM very sorry for breaking any rules and I guess I will leave UNLESS someone can tell me what to do once a block appeal is denied. Again, I am truly sorry for causing any problems, 23.242.76.20 (talk) 01:17, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

You are referring to an editor who appears to be yourself in the third person, but I will answer assuming that you are that person, but will also reply in the third person. If the block was a checkuser block and checkuser is functioning correctly, then the editor in question was engaging in sockpuppetry, and sockpuppetry is considered a very serious violation of Wikipedia norms. (Checkusers are a class of highly trusted functionaries who can look behind the scenes to check the IP addresses of registered users to determine whether two or more registered users are coming from the same IP address and so are sockpuppets.) You asked whether the editor in question can construct a new user account. That is precisely the problem, that they did create a new user account to evade a block, and that is sockpuppetry. You ask whether the editor in question is done with editing Wikipedia. The answer is: Yes, with a few exceptions. Wikipedia is not tolerant of sockpuppetry. Clean Start is not one of those exceptions. An exception, after six months of not editing Wikipedia, might be to request a Standard Offer, but asking this question here via an IP address has started the calendar back. Standard Offer may be requested in six months. Some Wikipedia editors are not inclined to grant a Standard Offer to anyone who has engaged in sockpuppetry. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:47, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

you just rejected an article and I am not sure why

I just wrote an article that was rejected and I am not sure why- I based it directly on a similar magazine posting which has far less information or links.

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

Soulcatcher180 (talk) 05:12, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

See WP:OTHERSTUFF. Just because that article slipped through the cracks doesn't mean that's how they're supposed to look. WP:42 covers most of the information you need to know to write a proper article. I've just WP:PRODed that other article.

In short, what you need to do is find professionally-published mainstream academic or journalistic sources that are specifically about the subject but completely independent of the subject. You need at least two such sources. Sources that just happen to mention the subject but are about something else do not count. Sources that are affiliated with the subject also do not count. When you have the sources, paraphrase them, summarize the paraphrased material, and possibly paraphrase that resulting summary just to be sure you don't plagiarize (something we take very seriously here). Use the summarized paraphrases as the basis for the article, citing the sources for each bit of information. Avoid citing any other sources until after the article is approved. Then you can expand it using other sources that mention the subject (and, with limitations, affiliated sources). Ian.thomson (talk) 05:31, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Draft: YiChung Wang

I would like someone to take a look at Draft: YiChung Wang. I reviewed this draft and declined it, saying that it appears to be a hoax or joke (rather than an inadequately referenced biography of a non-notable person). The references appear to be to other pool players, not the subject. (It isn’t a very good hoax because it is inconsistently formatted, and because adding a death date of 2013 while claiming a career from 2012 to 2016 is jarring.) Would some other experienced editor please take a look and see if they agree with me? If so, is any further action beyond declining the draft appropriate? Robert McClenon (talk) 23:27, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

The author resubmitted it without taking any further action. I declined it again, but have now tagged it for speedy deletion as a hoax. Robert McClenon (talk) 23:46, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello Robert McClenon. The draft article uses an alleged Los Angeles Times article as a reference, with the title, "Still Behind the Eight-Ball : Color of Money Keeps Longtime Pool Player YiChung Wang Going". This article actually exists, but its real title is, "Still Behind the Eight-Ball : Color of Money Keeps Longtime Pool Player Ronnie Allen Going". The writer of the draft deliberately misrepresented the reliable source, and that is just one of many indications that the draft is a hoax. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 00:48, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Yes. After I spot-checked one of the references, I checked the rest of them. Cullen328 and I are saying the same thing. About the only fact that is stated that is almost certainly true is that the subject/author is a teenager. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:59, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

One can hope, Robert McClenon, that this young person will mature and go on to do productive things. When I was very young, I made phony phone calls a few times and later spraypainted anti-war slogans on concrete walls at high schools. Some vandals do reform thrmselves. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:42, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Orphan articles

Hello, I have this problem often pertaining to some of my works being marked as Orphan Article in spite of adding external and internal wiki leaks. Would be happy if someone can offer me an advice on that issue and how to avoid it next time.

Bajechele (talk) 18:06, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I have reinserted the orphan tag because the article is still an orphan. The box at the top of the article explains what an orphan is, and gives a link to WP:Orphan. It isn't a function of how many links there are from the article, but it is an orphan because no other articles have links to the article in question. --David Biddulph (talk) 18:23, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Becoming an Admin?

What is the next step after request for adminship ــ --Yes ji (talk) 12:57, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Without going out of my way to discourage you, I suspect rejection of that request? Anyway, there's WikiHow on the subject which is likely fairly accurate, or you can have a look at Wikipedia:Requests_for_adminship. Bromley86 (talk) 13:08, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi, I would strongly recommend you get some more experience before thinking about running for adminship (have a look at wp:NOTNOW). You can do almost anything without the admin tools. I've been here a year and I know I would not pass an RFA because I lack experience. Happily, I find I am able to do everything I have to do. Most commentors at Request for Admin expect a lot of experience in various areas and evidence of good judgment. If you want to know more about the process, I would suggest you look at past RFAs. Happy Squirrel (talk) 00:32, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Ok, Thanks for telling me, but i actually asked about another wiki where i made request, and asked another admin named Hindustanilanguage/مزمل and he appreciated me, and then he told me : "You need a little more experience, only 3 months more"

And then request (again)--Yes ji (talk) 06:22, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

The rules on other wikis are likely different, Yes ji, and what you are told on other wikis does not apply to Engish-language Wikipedia. I doubt that anyone has become an admin here with only three months of experience (except at the very start of the project in 2001). Cordless Larry (talk) 06:48, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Many of our other language Wikipedias are relatively new, and have shortages of administrators, as we did fifteen years ago, and so need enthusiastic new editors who are fluent in the language. Also, if you are interested in becoming an administrator, and your English is not at the near-native level, you would be better off to administer in your own language, just as we sometimes advise enthusiastic new editors whose English is at an intermediate ESL level to edit primarily in their own native language. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:16, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Reliable sources

Hi, i wrote an article, and it was declined due to not enough notable sources. How can i fix this? Arcmind (talk) 11:36, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi Arc. This is re. Vex? It's likely to be hard, as your current single source (needs more than 1 source to establish notability) is (a) a wiki (not usually reliable) and (b) presumably owned by the company involved (not useful in establishing notability and of questionably reliability when it comes to promotional statements).

You need to find reliable 3rd party sources. Books, news articles; that sort of thing. Once you have a number of those supporting statements made in the article, that will establish notability.

Also, sources used to support points need to be verifiable. So a ref like "Vex wiki" isn't very useful; in that case, you'd be best off linking directly to the relevant page.

If you want to read more, it was linked in the notice on the draft, but have a look at this: Wikipedia:Notability. Bromley86 (talk) 12:15, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I get it now, my article cannot be from the company, or it is a self promotion. And it has to have one or more sources from verifiable third party users right? thank you so much for your advice. I will see if any of third party sources exist. :) Arcmind (talk) 12:30, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Arcmind (talk) 12:30, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Yep, that's it. Good luck! Bromley86 (talk) 12:42, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Okay, thanks off to war i go! Arcmind (talk) 12:45, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Flirting with edit warring over bogus sources

Hi guys. I'm engaged in a content dispute atm. No problem; the existing editors are in 2 camps, no one is budging and so I've started a RFC. That should take care of itself in time.

A side issue is that the cites currently used to support the point are bogus. They just don't support it. It seems an open-and-shut removal case to me, but I keep getting reverted by an editor who has repeated displayed basic English comprehension problems and who refuses to explain why the sources should be used. I'm genuinely being neutral here - we're talking about the CIA Factbook, which doesn't leave a lot of scope for misunderstandings.

Anyway, I think WP:3O is the right way to deal with this sort of thing. Is that correct? Any other suggestions? Cheers, Bromley86 (talk) 11:35, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

You mention two methods of resolving a content dispute, Third Opinion and Request for Comments. Either of those is a reasonable step in content disputes. You should not try to do both at the same time. In your case, you started the RFC, and then you filed the Third Opinion request. The Request for Comments should be allowed to run for 30 days to its conclusion when it will be closed. A Request for Comments takes priority over a Third Opinion, so the Third Opinion request, while well-intentioned, will be declined, both because the RFC is running, and because, if you are, as you say, neutral, you are already a third party, and Third Opinion is not applicable. Just let the RFC run for 30 days. That is what you should do. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:24, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Robert McClenon. I saw the issues as different, not least because someone having a quick look at the current article would assume that the statement is well supported, and because the insistence of the other editor that such & similar sources are acceptable is disrupting the Talk page, but fair enough. Anyway, thanks for your help, Bromley86 (talk) 20:49, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

The article in question, by the way, is Iran, and the talk page is Talk: Iran. Also by the way, many Third Opinion volunteers will not respond to a question when there has been discussion between more than two editors, even if a particular question has only been discussed by two of them, because it is difficult to parse which parts of the discussion involve only the two editors. With more than two editors already involved, the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard (DRN) would be an option, but DRN volunteers generally will not accept a dispute when there is already an RFC in progress. If there are other questions that are not covered by the RFC, the best option is to open another RFC. If there is a specific issue about sourcing that is more specific than that of the RFC, you might try the reliable source noticeboard. Robert McClenon (talk) 22:17, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Steel-cut oats

Hello, I was trying to put an explanatory note in steel cut oats. Namely, the definition of a groat. I have made three separate attempts to add it, but the other party treats the matter with biting sarcasm, and he considers it closed, and one should consult the groat article page. Before the internet was a glimmer in somebody's eye, somebody would take the time to explain the used of a specialized term before using it throughout a passage. I believe that a hyperlink if overused is a form of intellectual laziness (like looking up a word in a dictionary, to find out it is defined by other words you do not understand). In other words ,your avoiding taking responsibility to explain what you brought up. I already, sent to the arbitration committee, who in turn sent me to the administration notice board.

What do I do next, if the other party does not respond in the noticeboard?

MrX2077 (talk) 04:46, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, MrX2077. This appears to be a content dispute about oats that developed because you do not think that a wikilink to Groat (grain) is sufficient to define "groats". And it appears that you are taking this trivial dispute to ArbCom, an administrator's board, formal dispute resolution, and now here to the Teahouse? Really? Wikilinks are our main navigation tool and the primary way that we define terms for readers. If you object so strongly to such a central aspect of Wikipedia, then it is difficult to see how you can be happy as an editor here. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:19, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello MrX2077, to put it a little differently: On a paper encyclopedia the style you advocate makes sense: it saves sending the reader to thumb through the pages of a different volume for a definition. Similarly it makes sense for a writing which unlike an encyclopedia article is intended to be complete in itself. But for a web encyclopedia like Wikipedia the definition is only a click away. And this this style of relying on hyperlinks is used throughout Wikipedia. Indeed the use of hyperlinks is the central innovation of the web. —teb728 t c 11:00, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I basically agree with you MrX2077 as to the the underlying issue, and have left my comments at the talk page. That's where this question always belonged. I share the incredulity I perceive above about the quick and overblown elevation of this single article issue, two-person content disagreement into something much larger. For future reference, when you have a content dispute, go to the talk page first; post your concern; ping the user who disagreed with you to that post. Wait a while for a response (on Wikipedia conversations are much slower motion than many may be used to). If there is none after a suitable time, possibly return the edit once, and provide a detailed edit summary reflecting the talk page attempt for discussion and lack of response after time was waited. If reverted again, maybe seek a third opinion to attempt to gain some consensus. See more at Wikipedia:Dispute resolution. What you did was attempt to make an appointment at the FBI to discuss your neighbor's puppy peeing on your carpet. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:17, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I don't see a request to the Arbitration Committee. If you had made one, it would have been in the process of being declined, because the Arbitration Committee does not resolve content disputes, only conduct disputes, and this is a content dispute. However, to take the most charitable interpretation of your actions (since you admonished me for a lack of Christian charity toward an inexperienced editor after I admonished you for wasting the time of the mediation committee), your original problem was impatience in not waiting for the other party to reply to your talk page post, and then demanding mediation three times. You didn't wait for 24 hours for the other party to reply to your talk page post, and in Wikipedia, there is no deadline, and you should wait for at least 48 hours for another editor to reply before deciding that they aren't replying. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:44, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

The topic is Steel-cut oats. In any case, both formal mediation by the Mediation Committee and informal mediation at the Dispute Resolution Noticeboard (DRN) require extensive discussion on a talk page before moving to another forum. That means discussion by both editors, not merely posting a long comment by one editor. You didn't wait for a reply before deciding to try to get third-party assistance. Sometimes it is important to be patient. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:44, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I do see that there has been discussion, although not within the past 24 hours, by IP addresses. Were they you, editing logged out, or the other editor, editing logged out, or someone else? If they were you, please remember to log in before editing. In any case, there wasn't enough recent discussion, whether by registered or logged-out editors, to warrant a next step in dispute resolution. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:44, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

If you make a reasonable effort to discuss on a talk page, and another editor will not discuss, but reverts your edits, the most important rule is to avoid edit-warring. There are several ways to address failure to discuss. In this particular case, since I don't see any conduct issues, the one that I would advise considering (but not yet) is a Request for Comments. If the real issue is whether to include particular content, and that appears to be the issue here, an RFC rather than an administrative board should be the last step. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:44, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I want to create a page about a personality. I have some reliable resources. Please help

Hi I recently created a page of a personality Sanjay Ghodawat, a Business man from a small Indian city Kolhapur and used reliable references yet the page was deleted. Please help me in writing an article. Sameersodaye666 (talk) 04:44, 7 May 2016 (UTC) Sameersodaye666 (talk) 04:43, 7 May 2016 (UTC) Sameersodaye666 (talk) 04:41, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Sameersodaye666. The article you wrote was deleted because its text was overtly promotional. Wikipedia articles must be written from the neutral point of view. This is a core content policy, and is non-negotiable. Please read and study Your first article, and follow all of its recommendations carefully. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:29, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Draft:Ralph Garafola

I reviewed Draft:Ralph Garafola. I declined it and noted that the Awards and Press sections were indiscriminate unformatted run-on lists. I was then asked by User:PaintbrushArt the following:

HI Robert, I am trying to publish this article on Ralph Garafola. I have first hand knowledge that all information is 100% accurate. Now, in this last time submitting with changes, I am not sure i understand your response on Awards & Press section. This section was included in this article from the onset. Although these awards may not help make Garafola notable, they were awarded to him for his work. If I deleted this section, would this article be approved? Please, can you be very specific in your comments. It seems that people reviewing article decline without giving detailed advice on how to get it approved. I see many other unknown artist pages that appear on Wikipedia that have little and in some cases no content. Do they get published because they are not alive? I appreciate whatever help you can provide. Thank you PaintbrushArt

First, I acknowledge that I wasn’t specific about the rest of the draft. The other problem is that the draft doesn’t provide footnotes. These are strongly encouraged in all articles but are especially important in biographies of living persons. You have provided a hodge-podge of general (end-of-the-article) references, which is better than nothing, but not much better than nothing. Although the article can’t possibly be accepted with the current Press and Awards sections, because they aren’t in good paragraph form, deleting them won’t get the article accepted. I would suggest reworking and trimming them, as well as adding better footnotes, rather than deleting the sections.

By the way, some reviewers are very wary of being asked to provide "very specific" comments, for two reasons. First, many contributors want to think that an article is declined only for a very specific reason, when often there is a more general problem. Second, too many editors ask that question because they have a self-serving or conflict of interest agenda, and are interested only in getting their article accepted without regard to Wikipedia in general. You don’t fall into that class, because I see that you are pushing for this article because the subject is a hero of yours (which is not a conflict of interest). However, please try to understand why reviewers are wary of being asked for "very specific" instructions.

Do other experienced editors have other suggestion? Robert McClenon (talk) 00:17, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Robert McClenon. I notice that PaintbrushArt was advised to follow the excellent recommendations at Referencing for beginners in early April, but has not done so. I wonder why? Of course, the fundamental issue here is whether or not this painter is notable. I did a Google search and saw he wrote one book but it seems he has not been the subject of coverage in reliable books by others. I see no evidence that his paintings are in the collections of major museums, or that there have been solo museum exhibitions of his work, or that he is considered the originator of a recognized style or notable school of art. I do not see any significant coverage in art journals, or in major newspapers or magazines. I see no solid evidence of notability. There are countless thousands of wonderful artists who have had great careers but have not broken through to notability as defined here at Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate directory of every career artist on the planet. It is an encyclopedia containing biographies of notable artists. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 05:36, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Help on my page

Hi, I'm writing an article on a synagogue, and I have a couple of questions. First, how many sources should I have? I have 5 right now, but I was told that wasn't enough. Second, I made a typo on the title when I started the page, and I can't figure out how to fix it. Thanks! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Congregation_Emanu-El_Bn%27e_JeshurunJennaxel (talk) 22:04, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Jennaxel. There is no fixed number of references that is required: quality matters more than quantity. A hundred weak references (that don't or only barely mention the subject, or that are dubious sources, or are not independent) may have less weight than a single independent reliable secondary source which discusses the subject at some depth.

As for the name, you change that by moving the page; but my advice to people working on drafts is normally not to worry much about the title of the draft, because when it is reviewed and accepted, the reviewer will move it to an appropriate title in main article space. --ColinFine (talk) 23:07, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Jennaxel, I would judge your references to be sufficient but more, solid reliable sources is always better than fewer. I think it should pass as a Start class article. Maybe Joseph2302, the reviewer can weigh in here. You can always ask a question of the reviewer directly.

And Colin is correct, when the article is moved out of Draft space, it can easily be retitled. The synagogue is correctly identified in the article text, right? Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 23:25, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Jennaxel: ColinFine is right, quality matters more than quantity. I have looked at rejection notice on Draft:Congregation Emanu-El Bn'e Jeshurun: you weren't told that "5 wasn't enough", you were told that the references you had weren't good enough. Maproom (talk) 23:19, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Jennaxel. One thing that you can do is try to format your references better. Consider the book The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook, co-authored by notable rabbi and Jewish educator Kerry Olitzky. Wikilinking notable authors helps reviewers verify that their book is reliable. You did not wikilink the publisher, Greenwood Publishing Group, a solid academic house, another indication of reliability. You can link to the Google Books page for the book, and if it is searchable online, link to the page where in-depth coverage of your topic begins. You can list and link ISBN numbers. You can cite specific page numbers. All of these techniques help demonstrate that a given source is solid and reliable, and devotes significant coverage to the topic.

Please also use the 'named reference" technique, so that a single reference can be cited once, and then invoked as many times as you want. This reduces clutter in your reference list. See WP:REFNAME for the coding details. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 23:52, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Actually, I don't think 4 is a significant enough number anyway, plus there were question marks on the talkpage about whether some of them were actually reliable sources or just self-published sources. As a result, I didn't think the sources showed it passed WP:GNG.

If an experienced editor disagrees, feel free to move it to article space. Joseph2302 (talk) 23:46, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for responding here Joseph. Sometimes the AFC denial templates are pretty formulaic and impersonal. But I know there is always a backlog of drafts to review. I think Jennaxel received some helpful advice from you and other editors here. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 16:56, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Edit request approved on Talk page; what happens next?

I submitted edit requests for the following page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Council_on_Global_Affairs and they were all approved recently. Am I allowed to now make the edits on the Edit Source page, or does a Wikipedia editor have to do that? If it's the latter, how soon can this be done? Thank you. Lauren at the Council (talk) 18:44, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Lauren at the Council. I see that your requests at Talk:Chicago Council on Global Affairs were all marked as answered by a new editor, Kinosaurus Rex. They must not have read Wikipedia:Edit requests, because editors are supposed to respond to the request rather than simply marking it as answered. I will reset your requests. You might have to wait some time longer for a proper response, I'm afraid. Cordless Larry (talk) 18:51, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

By the way, Lauren at the Council, you are just as much a Wikipedia editor as anyone else, even if you are new here. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 19:50, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

I think that perhaps Lauren at the Council meant to refer to Wikipedia editors who do not have a conflict of interest with the topic - hence the requested edits. Cordless Larry (talk) 20:14, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

@Cordless Larry: That is correct; I'm trying to follow the procedure for COI edits. Thank you for resetting the edit requests. Once the edits are approved, how do I proceed from there? Lauren at the Council (talk) 14:16, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

The editor who approves the edit will usually make it too, Lauren at the Council. Cordless Larry (talk) 14:29, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

merging stubs and changing titles

I have merged a stub--Value-rational action--into an existing article--Instrumental action. I now wish to rename main article as Instrumental action and Value-rational action, and redirect the stub. Please show me how. Thanks.TBR-qed (talk) 17:12, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi TBR-qed. You need to fix the copyright infringement you (I'm sure unintentionally) engaged in. You must provide copyright attribution when you merge content. Please read the instructions at Wikipedia:Merging#How to merge and Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia and especially that page's subsection at WP:PATT. Though easier to do in the first place, this can be fixed using dummy edits. Here's my suggestion for the whole shebang:

1. If you're sure this meets WP:AND, per your talk page proposal, move the page to Instrumental action and value-rational action – note the lowercase "v", I don't think the V should be upper case as you suggested it – or should the title maybe be, more concisely Instrumental and value-rational action?
2. Redirect the page at Value-rational action to the title you have moved the other to, also placing {{R from merge}} on the page and leave a copyright attribution edit summary when you do so like: "Content merged to [[Name]];
3. Make a dummy edit to the title you moved, providing a copyright attribution edit summary like: Note: prior edits by me merged content from [[Value-rational action]]; see that page's history for attribution.

Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 21:45, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks; very helpful; but some fog remains. I mostly understand redirect, but not "R from merge". What does that mean, and what goes in that space, if "R from merge" is filler? The copyright infringement and dummy edits I understand not at all. Can you give me some more pointers. GratefullyTBR-qed (talk) 21:40, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

I have read the wp:copyright infringement policy. It appears to apply to posting someone else's work as original, which is not what I did. I replaced existing wording with new material, and fail to see how that infringes. Please clarify.TBR-qed (talk) 13:46, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Star the Dog is an orphan page can someone help me fix that?

Star the Dog page 108.167.4.178 (talk) 13:53, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

 Done – Added a couple of links to this article; removed Orphan notice. Also added See also section. Enjoy! — JoeHebda • (talk) 00:25, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Star the Dog

Following is copy-paste from my talk page. Joe

I appreciate you fixing the Star the Dog page very much. One concern I have is Star is globally know as Star the Dog or by her facebook page and many articles Star - The New York Pit Bull. Is it possible to give the page the name Star - The New York Pit Bull? I appreciate any help.

Thank you, Charlie 108.167.4.178 (talk) 03:27, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

Wondering if this can be done? Or should there be a discussion on the article's talk page first? — JoeHebda • (talk) 13:50, 8 May 2016 (UTC)

@JoeHebda and 108.167.4.178: This looks like a task for a simple redirect. ... A-and done. Star the New York Pit Bull redirects to Star (dog). Variations, like [[Star - The New York Pit Bull]], produce no hits but give suggestions for what you might want, and the top one is the right one:

You may create the page "Star - The New York Pit Bull", but consider checking the search results below to see whether the topic is already covered.

• Star (dog)
  Star is a mixed-breed female pit bull who was shot by the New York City Police Department in 2012 while she was protecting her homeless owner who was in


Star the Dog already redirects to Star (dog).

--Thnidu (talk) 03:51, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Deleting a second copy of an article

How do I delete a second copy of an article I submitted? I'm not sure which copy I should delete as one of them is under review. If you could guide me in deleting the one that is not currently under review, I will be grateful. Also, how do I delete a second user name. It appears that I have two and I would like to delete the one I created a long time ago. Thank you very much. Shyamw1Shyamw1 (talk) 12:47, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Shyamw1, I only found User:Shyamw1/sandbox. Where is the second copy? Was it written by you under another account name? Because you need to stick with one user account. You need to provide us with links to each version and state which version you intend to submit and which one you would like deleted. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 15:11, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

The other draft is presumably Draft:G. Parthasarathy, generated by user Wshyam? See section #User:Shyamw1/sandbox and Draft:G. Parthasarathy. --David Biddulph (talk) 17:33, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

Shyamw1, regarding having two accounts, you should immediately stop using the one you are abandoning and blanking the user and the user talk page would be helpful. If you want a draft of an article that you wrote deleted, and you are the only editor who contributed to it, just place {{Db-author}} at the top of the page. You have to decide which version you want to submit to Articles for Creation. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 23:30, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

The two versions of the biography are almost the same, so it makes little difference which one you keep and which one you delete. It is important to abandon one of the accounts and would be a good idea, as User:Liz said, to blank the user page and talk page, because otherwise you may be charged with sockpuppetry, the improper use of multiple accounts, which usually results in a block or a ban. I would advise you to review the version of the biography that you keep very carefully for peacock language such as "As a visionary educationist" and remove all peacock language (not just that statement). Using the word "visionary" should always be sourced, never in the voice of Wikipeida. "Educationist" sounds strange to Americans (I don't know about Indians or Britons) and I would suggest replacing it as per the English varieties guideline with "educator" (but without "visionary"). It doesn't matter which version you request be deleted. Whichever version you keep, add more independent reliable sources. You currently only have one. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:58, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Article not meeting NPOV Guidelines

Dear Team , I suspect this article Soulmate (band) is not meeting guidelines of Wikipedia:Neutral point of view Also it might have missed AFC submissions process as inline citations are not supporting individual statements but I also feel they are notable. I might be wrong though since its very old page. Someone have a look Catrat999 (talk) 22:45, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Catrat999. I'm sorry that it's taken so long for you to receive a reply. From the article history, it doesn't look like Soulmate (band) was created via the AfC process, so it wouldn't have been subject to review. If you feel that it is not neutral, one option is to tag it by adding {{POV|date=May 2016}} to the top of the article. You could also outline your concerns on its talk page, or attempt to fix the tone yourself. Cordless Larry (talk) 21:17, 3 May 2016 (UTC)

Dear Cordless Larry, Thank you sir. I tagged it as per the instruction. Have I done it right ? And no worries about delay in reply , I understand how complex it is to handle several queries every day. Regarding editing any article I think I need some more time to fix issues on any random article because my edit might hurt sentiments of owner of the article . But I do have another question for you, I read there are more than 0.3 million articles who haven't gone though AFC process and many might have such issues. Is there any process or known method where I can help wikipedia by identifying such articles and informing about it to respective team who is skilled to fix such issues? I am not sure how helpful it will be but if I can do something to organise it, I would love to take that job.Thanks and RegardsCatrat999 (talk) 01:58, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

The vast majority of articles weren't created via AfC, Catrat999, but many of those will be well-written. Having been through AfC is no guarantee either, because it doesn't stop people adding non-neutral material later on. The way to flag these articles is to tag them. You almost got it right, but you included the markup that I used to display the code here without tagging the Teahouse as POV. You can see how I fixed your edit here. Cordless Larry (talk) 06:08, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

Ok thats interesting :) So I do learnt two things a) how to tag and b) if I need to share those codes at Teahouse how to share it without tagging Teahouse. Thank you so much for correcting my tag Cordless Larry sir. Well one last question please. Have a look on this article Madhura Sreedhar Reddy. Here there are no citations at all along with POV issues, so with the help of some other article I added another tag on it that it needs additional citations but actually I wanted to tag that there are no citations at all. Will it work ? So conclusion is there are many different different issues and I dont know respective code for tagging respective issue. Is there a wiki page where I can read what needs to be tagged depending on situation. I dont want to bother you again and again for such small issues. With time I ll get there (Y) . Sorry for any inconvenience. Best Regards Catrat999 (talk) 20:49, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

There are several pages, Catrat999, indexed at Wikipedia:Template messages. Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup is particularly helpful for this type of issue. You did a good job tagging that article, although {{unreferenced}} might be a better template to use than {{refimprove}}. Cordless Larry (talk) 20:55, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

Correction, Catrat999: it should be {{BLP unsourced}}, as the article is about a living person. I see that Theroadislong has proposed it for deletion as an unsourced biography. Cordless Larry (talk) 21:09, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

Ok but my intensions were not to delete it, I was just aiming to improve it as per the guidelines, the owner of the article will be so upset with me. I have corrected tag though have a look. And thank you so so much Cordless Larry sir. These templates are great read, I will start my work now :) And thank you for the appreciation sir that give me some confidence to proceed. Best Regards Catrat999 (talk) 21:20, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

There's no ownership of articles on Wikipedia, Catrat999, and the article will not be deleted immediately. If sources are not added within seven days, though, it will be, because biographies of living people should have sources per Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons. If the article creator is upset, then they should have referenced their sources in the first place. Cordless Larry (talk) 21:34, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

Ya that make sense Cordless Larry Sir. Thank you :) Hope whoever wrote that article is atleast getting some notification about this tag else I am sure no one will correct it. Also I was thinking after applying tags for cleanup, I will share list of those articles here so that you can review if I did any mistake in tagging. Is that ok with you ?Please let me know whenever you think I am wasting your time:) Cheers Catrat999 (talk) 21:40, 4 May 2016 (UTC)

Sure, Catrat999. Just post on my talk page or if you post here, notify me by including {{u|Cordless Larry}} in your post. Cordless Larry (talk) 06:40, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Cordless Larry Sir, I got another round of feedback from my reviewer, He says still very POV, I have reworked on my project , I request you also to kindly review it once again, so that I ll consolidate both the reviews and correct it again. Draft:Purplehed Records. And regarding the list of other articles for clean up, I ll send you on your talk page (Y). Best Regards Catrat999 (talk) 19:02, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Where is this new feedback, Catrat999? The template at the top of the draft says that it is still awaiting review. I've never been involved in reviewing drafts, so I will leave this to those who do that regularly and know more about it. Cordless Larry (talk) 22:17, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

New review I got here User_talk:Onel5969#Mentoring_Request :) No Cordless Larry sir I was not asking to review in that sense, just as a mentor I was wondering if you might be able to give me some advice so that I can improve on writing before someone actually reviews it officially, Like last time you expressed your views :) But never mind if you are not comfortable. Best Regards Catrat999 (talk) 23:02, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Since you've submitted the draft for review, it's probably best to just wait for the outcome of that. Cordless Larry (talk) 10:14, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Dear Cordless Larry - Have a look whether I have applied correct tags on below articles Rohan Shah, Sachida Nagdev, Anurag Singh (cricketer born 1990), Anurag Singh . Best RegardsCatrat999 (talk) 10:06, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Those all look fine, Catrat999. Good job. I don't have time to look for possible sources now, but the unsourced BLPs are possible candidates for deletion. Cordless Larry (talk) 10:14, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Thank You Cordless Larry Sir! So shall I Continue clean up in same direction? Or you suggest me to use {{unreferenced}} instead of BLP ?

If the articles are biographies of living people, then you should use the BLP-specific tag. Cordless Larry (talk) 10:28, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

One clarification, Catrat999: if a BLP article was created after 18 March 2010, you should use the deletion tag instead. This is explained in the documentation at Template:BLP unsourced and Template:Prod blp. Cordless Larry (talk) 10:34, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

How can I create my own article?

Ok, so im new in the Wikipedia and I wanted to know if there's anyway we as editors could make an article of our own? Is there a special button? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Othello A. Sugreghetto (talk • contribs) 18:08, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, Othello A. Sugreghetto. Yes, you can and you may create a new article. But this is something I always advise new editors against trying until they have been editing for a while and have learnt how things work in Wikipedia. (I would argue strongly against providing a "create a new article" button, for that reason). Creating an article that will be accepted is quite hard, involves skills and activities that most new editors do not expect, and often leads to frustration.

Have a read of your first article, to begin to get an idea of what is involved. Then as I say, I recommend working on existing articles for weeks or months. You could also look at some draft articles which have been reviewed but not accepted, to see what reviewers are looking for and why they have not accepted the drafts. (You can find links to plenty of these at Category:Pending AfC submissions: some have never been reviewed, but quite a lot are being resubmitted, and you can see the comments on a previous rejection). --ColinFine (talk) 18:51, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Publishing an article

I can't figure out how to publish the article I wrote . I can't get past the draft stage. Can some one help. Title is mustafa Karoli — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shazelwood1 (talk • contribs) 01:30, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse. As an obvious hoax, Draft:Mustafa Karoli has been tagged for speedy deletion. David Biddulph (talk) 07:21, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Make an Article

There is a semi-popular social media/"meme sharing" app that I want to work together with other users of the the app to make a Wikipedia article about it. The app is called Pictophile. Would it be an ok thing to make a new article about? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.31.67.122 (talk) 11:46, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

Hello, IP editor. The answer is "possibly". If you read Your first article, you will see that the whole process starts with finding sources: places where people who have no connection with the app have published substantial writing about it (not just passing mentions), in reliable places. That does not include social media, wikis, or most blogs, and it also doesn't include anything based on a press release or an interview with the people who made the app. We need to know that several people have thought the App worth writing about, in places like reputable magazines or books (websites are OK as long as they have a reputation for editorial control and fact checking).

If you cannot find any sources like this, then the app is not currently Notable in Wikipedia's special sense, and you shouldn't spend any time working on it because an article is not going to be accepted however you write it. If you can find sources, then use the articles for creation process to make a draft. Forget everything you know about the app (and especially any opinions or evaluations you have) and write your draft entirely based on what the reliable independent sources say (but in your own words, not just copying the text).

Writing a new article from scratch is not easy, and it baffles me why so many people that come here want to do that as the first thing they do; but if you understand the links I've given, and find your sources, there is no reason why you can't create a good article. --ColinFine (talk) 13:34, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

On my page how do I post a pic up?

How do I post a image on my page? Bstocker006 (talk) 16:02, 10 May 2016 (UTC)

TOC for mobile pages?

I have two separate but related questions:

1. Is there any way to add a table of contents to the mobile version of my talk page? I would like to be able to find particular items in that page without scrolling through the whole thing.
2. Is there any way to view a page's table of contents in the mobile view? Obviously, unlike my own userspace pages, there should not be a way for me to force a visible table of contents onto a mainspace page, but is there any way that I can see it? When you open a mobile page, all you see of it is the introductory section and the titles of the collapsed top-level (H2) sections. If it's an article you're not familiar with and you're looking for some particular kind of detail about the subject, if that material is in a subsection, the only way to find it is to open and scroll through every top-level section that seems like it might contain it. In a long and detailed article that can be an awful waste of time.--Thnidu (talk) 19:17, 10 May 2016 (UTC)