Wikipedia:Help desk

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September 20

Using small tags and br in infoboxes

So right now I have an issue with another editor by using small tags in movie titles inside the infoboxes. That editor had some of the titles in these articles (X-Men (film series)#Crew & Fantastic Four in film#Crew in smaller text size and I think it just looks so inconsistent and unnecessary. The editor stated that without the small tags, the text won't fit inside the infobox but it looks perfectly fine without the small tags.

Also, that user had the characters' codename separated from their birthname by erasing the "/" and replacing it with the br and putting the codename of the characters in smaller text size. --SuperHotWiki (talk) 08:19, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Finding a template

In this WP Help page on templates, there are many templates divided according to category, but you have to know the category before you can find what you are looking for. I am looking for a template I once saw in a Talk page titled "Tangential discussion". I have no idea where to look and cannot see it on scanning the categories. Surely an alphabetical list of templates should supplement the category arrangement of templates? Where can I suggest this should be done and where I can find the template I am looking for, please? --P123ct1 (talk) 08:00, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

@P123ct1: An alphabetical list of templates can be found at Special:AllPages when switched to display templates. However, since there are over 330,000 template pages this isn't very useful. A better approach is to use the "Advanced" checkboxes at Special:Search to search for particular text strings in templates; but a search for 'tangential discussion' doesn't return much. I think your best bet is to search for the phrase "tangential discussion" in article talk pages and skim through the 77 results to see if you recognise any of the article names. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:00, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. --P123ct1 (talk) 09:25, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Very old stubs

Where can I find the list of articles created in the time period 2001-04 which are still stubs? Is there any tool for this?--Skr15081997 (talk) 10:55, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

The people who know about tools are found at WP:VPT.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 18:10, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Software companies based in California

You don't have the company Spyrus. It's small but have done work with many large companies. Take a look at their website and see what you think about adding them to the list of software companies in California. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.197.228.150 (talk) 11:18, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia is is not a directory. Content must be WP:verified by reliably published third party sources. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 13:20, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

And also see the notability guidelines for companies.--ukexpat (talk) 15:36, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

User page interference

Hi there, I have had a wikipedia user account since 2007 and have chosen not to create my own user page. This has meant that my user name always appeared in red. Today another editor decided without reference to me, to create my user page and as a result my user name now appears in blue. I am unhappy with this situation as I don't like the fact that another user can edit my user page. How can my red link be restored and how can I prevent other users editing my user page? Graemp (talk) 12:01, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I see he has already deleted the contents of your user page for you. But the link to it Graemp is still blue. I don't know why this is, or whether it can be changed. Maproom (talk) 12:14, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

My browser shows User:Graemp as red. GB fan 12:33, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I have deleted your userpage and protected it so that only admins can create it. If you ever want to create your userpage let me or another admin know so that the protection can be removed. GB fan 12:29, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

My browser does now too. thanks Graemp (talk) 12:34, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

To address the unasked question, or at least how I'm reading it, if a page is created and then simply blanked by anyone, then the link will still be blue. The page exists it just doesn't have any content. It's like having a cupboard without any food in it. It doesn't change the fact that it's still a cupboard. Having an admin delete it however removes the cupboard from existence and thus the link is again red. Dismas|^(talk) 13:17, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

The other unasked question is "Why would an experienced editor want to have an empty/redlinked User page?" It usually suggests that the editor is new and probably inexperienced, clearly giving a false impression in this case. This is a general question, not specifically aimed at the OP, though they, of course, are welcome to reply. HiLo48 (talk) 22:24, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

A few experienced editors choose to have a red-linked user page as a form of "eccentricity". That might be the case here. A special form of protection could be implemented so that user pages and subpages could only be edited by the user, but that would be better discussed at Village pump proposals. Robert McClenon (talk) 22:38, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Some "meta" questions about wikipedia.

Hello everyone, i'm quite sure that these question were already addressed but i was unable to find them through browsing the reference desk. So i hope that some kind user with good knowledge could help me. So let's start.

1. If i understood correctly the wikipedia's reference desk is like a Q&A site. But i see only "new" question in the section of the reference desk. This mean that if a question doesn't receive an answer within a certain time it gets archived? Or even if it gets answers after a certain time it gets archived nevertheless?(like reddit threads?) Does this method encourage replication of questions since a lot of users (me included) maybe are not able to find the same answer in the archives ? Could an "old question" receive a new answer or the archives are immutable?
2. I'm for the opinion that a good answer is the one that "fits" the reasoning of the reader (so it is not unique in general), but an helper for this is normally the reputation/votes/credits of the answerer. As far i saw on the wikipedia's reference desk a reader has no clue about the "reputation" of the answerer because that is not quantified like on stack exchange, quora and somewhere else. Did i miss it? Is there a way to show it? If there is no "numerical index for reputation" (like GDP is a numerical index of the economic power of a country) there are other methods to check it?
3. For now i don't have other questions, but many thanks in advance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pier4r (talk • contribs) 12:09, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

(1) Yes, all threads are archived after a week or so, and as a result the same (or very similar) questions are sometimes asked more than once. A repeated question can therefore receive a new set of responses. Usually, some smart-ass ref-desker—like me, for instance—will link to the earlier thread(s) on the topic in the responses. (2) Theoretically, the point of the ref desk is to direct querents to outside sources or Wikipedia articles that provide the information they are looking for. (That's why it's called the reference desk, not the "answer desk" or some such.) The value of the responses should therefore be independent of any qualifications or "reputation" that the individual respondents might have, so that such qualifications should ideally be completely irrelevant when the ref desk is operating as it should be. Deor (talk) 13:10, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Caveat emptor and free advice is almost always worth what you paid for it. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 15:40, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Sorry TheRedPenOfDoom i don't get your sentence, could you elaborate? Deor Many thanks, especially for the "theoretical" objective of the reference desk. Besides, could someone fix "question" to "questions" in the title (not so good in English here), since i end always in an edit conflict. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pier4r (talk • contribs) 16:09, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

My comment was essentially a joke "If you get free advice that is not helpful, hire a lawyer to demand your money back"

But to your point, no Wikipedia is not going to institute any policy of rating editors or the quality of their edits.

The reference desk has numerous people watching and attempting to help, and if something completely inappropriate is offered, one of the other watchers is likely to call it out. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 16:22, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Search indexing not working?

Last weekend I created two new articles: Amelia Watson and Firemen's Memorial (Manhattan). I've noticed that, a week later, neither of these pages appear in WP's internal search, and some other pages which I've edited also do not appear to have been indexed in that period. Is there something wrong with the indexing service? (Google picked up the new pages within minutes.) Pburka (talk) 13:22, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

This has been noted, but as stated in this thread

"Nobody is looking into the failure (that's why the [Bugzilla] ticket is marked as WONTFIX) as CirrusSearch will replace Lucene soon, and CirrusSearch is pretty ready for production"

AFAIK all efforts are being put into finalizing the new search, rather than mending the old one. - Arjayay (talk) 16:04, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the link. I'm disappointed that a core feature like search would be abandoned for some indeterminate number of weeks while waiting for a replacement to be deployed. Pburka (talk) 17:38, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Citing Social Media esp. Twitter

Hi. Are there formal rules about citing social media and more specifically, using Twitter?

I have only managed to find so far a section in: Wikipedia_talk:Citing_sources/Archive_33#Citing_Twitter.3F but nothing more formal. What someone tweets isn't any more reliable than forums or blogs surely? Richard Nowell (talk) 14:12, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I haven't checked the policies in detail, but I would say that Twitter is reliable in one special situation, and that is with respect to what was tweeted by the subject of the article. Other than that, Twitter is just a way for anyone to blog in 140 words at a time. Robert McClenon (talk) 14:29, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

The formal rules are: mostly dont because in most situations it is not appropriate. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 15:08, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

The section cited by the original poster was a question about the format for the reference in citing Twitter. As the discussion said, citing Twitter is only appropriate as information as to what the subject of the BLP had said. Also, the section cited by the original poster was in the policy talk page, and was never added to the policy. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:25, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for replies. I ask because a well-known scientist who was born in Nairobi, Kenya tweeted that he was English, and this is then used as a ref in the WP article about him. A person could claim to be any nationality, surely? The quote from that tweet was, by the way: "Thank you. I am English. Perhaps you're too young to remember a little thing called the British Empire?" Richard Nowell (talk) 15:25, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

it could not be used to establish his nationality; but, particularly if third party sources covered the tweet, it could be used for something like "In a tweet, he identified himself as a member of the British Empire." -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 15:34, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Not knowing the person, or their date of birth it is difficult to comment, however, Kenya is particularly complex - see British nationality law#Residual categories and particularly British Overseas citizen - However, he would not be English, he would be British - Arjayay (talk) 15:42, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

The individual in question, as noted, may be British as a British overseas citizen. He apparently self-identifies as English. Whether that self-identification is worth including in his BLP article is a matter of judgment, but a tweet may be a reliable source as to his self-identification. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:59, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

The WP article is on Richard Dawkins and the reference used is in the first sentence.Richard Nowell (talk) 16:19, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I've opened a discussion on the article talk page. Robert McClenon (talk) 17:13, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

The above article has been edited to provide clarification. For myself, it still seems strange that Twitter 'tweets' can be used at all. A person, celebrity etc could tweet whatever, then get another person to add that tweet's content to WP, ref'd by Twitter and all is well. That does not seem a reliable source of information- indeed it seems a very poor one. However, a third party editor could not remove the tweet's content as it is ref'd and OK. Much like blogs! Richard Nowell (talk) 10:18, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

See WP:SPS, which covers both this and blogs. In short, if Richard Nowell claims something on his own blog, or Twitter account, or whatever, we can cite that claim in our Richard Nowell article as a basis for saying "Nowell claims X". Whether or not the claim is accurate, nobody can dispute the simple fact that he has made such a claim. Of course, there are other issues at hand (e.g. undue weight; is the content even relevant?), for which reasons we might decide not to include it, but purely on verifiability grounds, there's no reason to exclude such a statement with such a source. Nyttend (talk) 11:45, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Thankyou, that explanation is helpful.Richard Nowell (talk) 12:23, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

The Captain America Bike

Mr. Peter Fonda has E mailed me about this bike (The Captain America Bike) that is going to auction. you can see my letter to MR. Fonda there his posted reply to me on Peter Fonda's FACEBOOK PAGE. It is on the left as you look at Mr. Fonda,s FACEBOOK PAGE

This bike is a FAKE BIKE!!

Mr. Fonda is now looking into this Bike to see if it is in fact an original bike. and not a rebuilt bike

This was on Sept. 19th 2014 14:48, 20 September 2014 (UTC)118.172.199.218 (talk)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 4 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.Template:Z25--Skr15081997 (talk) 14:53, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I presume that you're referring to this section: Easy Rider#Motorcycles. You may have more luck posting on that article's talk page. Pburka (talk) 14:56, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Links to Wikipedia in other languages

I'm a complete beginner and intend making a contribution on the same subject to the English version and the Italian version of Wikipedia. My contribution includes a list of people who are on or the other, but not both and other people who are (for example) on the Spanish or German version. When I requested help on the Italian Wikipedia, I was told in that it was against the rules to include links to other language versions (although I attemped and it works), but I should create a "red" link to a page that says there is no page on the person in question (which theoretically should encourage another contributor to create the missing page). Are the Wikipedia rules not the same worldwide? If so is the sort of link I'd like to include (Interwikilink?) allowed or not?ScozzeseVolante (talk) 15:55, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I think what you are looking for is on the left hand margin, at the foot of the menu options, and is the cogwheel'Edit links' item by the Languages line. A good example is our Main Page, which has a load of links to other language versions of this main page. We, ordinary editors like you and me, create these links by knowing the language the other article is in, and by following the prompts to link to it. This is, naturally, only for articles about the same topic. Fiddle Faddle 16:01, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I think Fiddle Faddle may have misunderstood your question.

Firstly, there is no global rule - each language Wikipedia makes their own rules, so what is un/acceptable on the Italian Wikipedia does not hold here.
I think you need to read Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking#Interwiki links and the pages linked to from there - The general advice is "Inline interlanguage linking within an article's body text is generally discouraged because it leads to user confusion, but the use of {{ill}}, {{ill2}}, or {{ill-WD}} templates to show both a red link and an interlanguage link may be helpful in some cases" - Arjayay (talk) 16:22, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

@Arjayay: Fiddle Faddle is correct. ScozzeseVolante is asking about inter-language links, not interwiki links. Within the last couple of years, all of Wikipedia has moved to using Wikidata for language links. --NeilN ^{talk to me} 18:01, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Here is more specific help: Wikipedia:Wikidata#Managing_Interlanguage_links_with_Wikidata --NeilN ^{talk to me} 18:09, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

@NeilN:- Hopefully ScozzeseVolante will enlighten us. However, he was told it was "against the rules to include links to other language versions" (I don't think interlanguage links are "against the rules" even on the Italian Wikipedia) and he asked about "a "red" link to a page on the person in question" and I don't think Wikidata's interlanguage links can create a "red-link" - can they? Almost the same text as my quotation appears at Help:Interlanguage links#Inline links - to my understanding, he is asking about Inline links- Arjayay (talk) 18:48, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

@Arjayay: I see what you mean. My apologies. Yes, you can't link to a German article in the body of an English article, for example. --NeilN ^{talk to me} 18:57, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

This is perhaps not the correct way to follow up on your suggestions.... please advise if I'm using the wrong method... I'll try to give a clearer example of my query... there will be a list of opera/theatre directors with whom the person I'm writing the contribution about has worked. Two of them (Lluis Pascal and Huo DeAna) only appear on the Spanish version of Wikipedia - how can a create a link to their pages on my English or Italian contribution?ScozzeseVolante (talk) 18:55, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

@ScozzeseVolante: Are you going to write an Lluis Pascal article on the English Wikipedia? --NeilN ^{talk to me} 19:00, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

If you are, if you go to the Spanish article you'll see a "Editar los enlaces" link on the left hand side, right at the bottom. Clicking it goes to here. You can add a link to your English article after you've created it. --NeilN ^{talk to me} 19:13, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Are you perhaps asking about how to make an English article's text include a link to a parallel article in another Wikipedia? If that's what you want, just place a colon, the language code, another colon, and the name of the other article, and put them all in brackets. The language code is in the URL, before "wikipedia.org"; ours is en, the Italian is it, German is de, and Spanish is es. For example, to provide a link to the German version of the Help Desk, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fragen_zur_Wikipedia, just type [[:de:Wikipedia:Fragen zur Wikipedia]]. Alternate idea Were you hoping to add a link from our article to an existing article in another language, since we don't have an article on the topic? Just use {{ill|language code|article name}}, e.g. since we don't have an article about Naturschutzgebiet Warsteiner Kopf, {{ill|de|Naturschutzgebiet Warsteiner Kopf}} will produce de — it provides a link that would go to our article if we had one, and a link to the German article that already exists. If someone creates an English Wikipedia article entitled "Naturschutzgebiet Warsteiner Kopf", the link to the German article will disappear. Nyttend (talk) 19:48, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes, the latter of the two cases is the problem I'm trying to address.... I want to make my English text include a link to a person mentioned in my English article to an article on him in another Wikipedia.... the last of your suggestion seems the best to me, but as far as the Italian article I want to write is concerned, Italian contributors have said that I should only provide a "red" link which, when used, shows a message to the effect that there is no article on that person.ScozzeseVolante (talk) 23:00, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Hello, ScozzeseVolante. In English Wikipedia you may link to an article in another Wikipedia if there is no such article in the English Wikipedia (contrary to what NeilN says). Nyttend explains two methods of doing so, but I strongly recommend his second method, because if somebody subsequently creates a relevant article in English, the link will point to that without needing to be changed. Italian Wikipedia may have different rules, and may not permit such links. --ColinFine (talk) 12:21, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

ttrain station in bic

location of ttrain station in bic — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.223.173.69 (talk) 16:01, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 4 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.Template:Z25 Robert McClenon (talk) 16:06, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Gadget coding

I use the gadget that Special:Preferences describes as "Display an assessment of an article's quality as part of the page header for each article. (documentation)". The script provides a link to failed featured-article candidacies, but not successful ones; it causes anthropology to give a link to Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Anthropology/archive1, but it doesn't make Minnesota give a link to Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Minnesota. What code would cause it to provide a link to a successful FAC? Pyrospirit says that he'll happily make small changes, but "I do not plan on adding whole new features". If someone could suggest code to provide links to successful FACs, I assume that he'd be happy to add it. Nyttend (talk) 19:55, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Original research

Dear editors: I came across this article, Barabasti, which is supposed to be about a district, but has a large amount of unsourced information about politicians. It reads to me as though the information has been added by someone who lives in the district and knows these people, so I added an "original research" tag. Is this the appropriate tag, or is there something more specific to the situation of adding "notable people" where the editor decides who is notable? The article is not a BLP, and although it contains unsourced information about living people, it's not particularly controversial stuff. —Anne Delong (talk) 21:49, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

As a minor point, this was a case where the "multiple issues" tag could have been used to combine the two tags that you put on the article. The biographies of living persons policy does apply to articles that contain lists of people. It is my understanding that the BLP policy permits the deletion of the names of the people, except for those who are referenced. Robert McClenon (talk) 21:59, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I applied the "multiple issues" tag. Robert McClenon (talk) 22:06, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

I didn't see a cleanup tag that had to do with lists of people in an article that is not itself a BLP. Robert McClenon (talk) 00:36, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for checking this out, Robert McClenon. —Anne Delong (talk) 06:21, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

If the list entries were negative or controversial, it might be in order to actually delete them. Robert McClenon (talk) 14:31, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Deleting a page for the first time

I'm having trouble nominating Reality distortion field for deletion. I followed all the instructions on the "how to delete a page" page but something didn't come out quite right. Any help would be appreciated! StainlessSteelScorpion (talk) 23:23, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

 Done you had a typo. I fixed it for you. Fiddle Faddle 23:33, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Damn typo. What exactly had I done wrong? StainlessSteelScorpion (talk) 23:35, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

You had {{subset:afd2.. instead of {{subst:afd2.... --David Biddulph (talk) 12:46, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Reverting an edit without triggering notification

Is there a way to revert an edit without triggering notification? I have tried removing the 'undoafter' and 'undo' parameters in the url. Will that suffice? Kingsindian (talk) 23:58, 20 September 2014 (UTC)

Why would you want to do that? Britmax (talk) 12:53, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

September 21

question about photo

I took the photo at File:CDC 8600 mockup.jpg, cropped it slightly, and improved the lighting and color. It happens that the size of the JPG got larger in the process. The file is still very small and of low resolution. An editor came along and said that it should be smaller. Do I need to get the JPEG smaller, or is it OK as it is? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 01:21, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

I don't know if you noticed, but the file was tagged with "non free reduce" template shortly after you uploaded the revised version. That tag mentions "In most cases, this reduction will occur automatically: simply wait 24 hours and a robot will resize the image file." –with instructions as to what can be done if that does not occur. So, wait a day or so and see what happens. 71.20.250.51 (talk) 04:51, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I saw that. However, the file is very small and low-resolution anyway. I think it got tagged for reduction simply because my modification happened to be a larger JPEG file. The resolution of the revised one is no better than the original. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 07:00, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Twinkle

I have been told about the tool Twinkle. What exactly does Twinkle do? And if I want to use it, how do I activate it? The Chemistry Bookworm (talk) 06:14, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Have you seen the page Wikipedia:Twinkle? There should be enough detail there to get you started; if not, post back here. -- John of Reading (talk) 06:21, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

It is a great tool - check it out. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 07:02, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Am I blind? I can't see on that page what Twinkle actually does.Kdammers (talk) 11:16, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

What about the second sentence of the lede on that page?

"It provides users with three types of rollback functions and includes a full library of speedy deletion functions, user warnings and welcomes, maintenance tags, semi-automatic reporting of vandals, and much, much more."

--David Biddulph (talk) 11:45, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Why is Special:Getting started is placed?

Special:Getting started is a special page that dosen't exists, so you might as well change the link or remove it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikipedian 2 (talk • contribs) 07:01, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Did you see a link to it from a page somewhere? If so, which page? Special:SpecialPages doesn't show it in the list of created special pages. CaptRik (talk) 09:46, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Do you mean Special:GettingStarted linked at Help:Special page#Miscellaneous? It's a former part of an extension for new users. The extension is still installed but no longer uses the special page as far as I know so the link should probably be removed. It was removed from the extension documentation in February.[1] PrimeHunter (talk) 11:45, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Proper venue

I redirected Joseph DeLuca (racing driver) to United Airlines Flight 93 because I did not judge him to be independently notable, and IMO WP:ONEEVENT and WP:NOTMEMORIAL apply. (See my rationale at User talk:Clarityfiend#Joseph DeLuca.) However, that has been reverted by User:Taram. AfD doesn't seem to be quite the right place to go, or is it? Or is there some more suitable place to get this resolved? Clarityfiend (talk) 10:12, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

The article has been nominated for deletion. AFD is the proper venue, and redirect is a valid !vote that amounts to a mostly-deletion. Robert McClenon (talk) 14:29, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Now that I think about it, redirecting doesn't seem appropriate anyway. Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 00:33, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Userboxes

How can i make an userbox?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by TrainSimFan (talk • contribs) 20:08, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

With {{Userbox}}. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:24, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Extermal links to pages requiring registering

I'm working on an article that will list articles on work done by the person involved.... some have direct links to the entire issue of the magazine containing the article in question, others to the actual page, but some include a list to the home page of the publishers, with the first paragraph of the article and require visitors to register (free) to read the entire article - can I include this last type of link?ScozzeseVolante (talk) 22:27, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Hello, ScozzeseVolante. Yes, you may reference sources which are behind paywalls, if they are reliable sources which support the facts you are using them for. --ColinFine (talk) 22:47, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Unidentifiable cite error, revisited

Unable to find the cause of Cite error: A list-defined reference with group name "lower-alpha" is not used in the content, here. Need to correct the error to remove the article from an error tracking category.

This is a similar error to the one addressed here on September 16. John of Reading's strategy for locating the error doesn't work in this case because the error goes away in "Show preview". I looked at the one {{efn}} and all {{sfn}}'s in the article; if any is inside ref tags as in the earlier case, I can't see it. ‑‑Mandruss (talk) 23:31, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

I copied to one of my subpages and the error did not show. Purged the article and it went away. Go figure. --  Gadget850 ^talk 00:17, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. +1 trick. ‑‑Mandruss (talk) 00:23, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

September 22

Balzan F.C.

I would like to upload Balzan FC's new logo, but I don not seem able to as I am not a confirmed user. Also the kit colour needs updating. Please advise. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robmgt (talk • contribs) 00:39, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Balzan F.C. (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

The best place to take this up would be the Talk page for the article at Talk:Balzan F.C.. Dismas|^(talk) 00:53, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Balzan F.C. would be the place to discuss whether to do this; but Robmgt's question is about how to do it.

He is not a confirmed user, so he can't upload an image to English Wikipedia. But if he has an image unrestricted by copyright, he can he can upload it to Wikimedia Commons – which is a better place for it anyway. Maproom (talk) 14:24, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

John Lester Miller

I am an author of 4 books, over 100 papers and numerous patents. McGraw Hill and many others have requested that I have a Biography site.

The problem is there is one for a judge, and whenever I try to deconflict it, I get all my content removed. Please help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.223.169.122 (talk) 01:41, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

I think they mean that you should get your own website and put biographical info on it. Wikipedia is not a website hosting service, we only create articles on people if they warrant an article and there are enough sources to support it. - X201 (talk) 08:59, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

You should not be creating or attempting to create a page about yourself or otherwise inserting any content into Wikipedia articles about yourself. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 01:51, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

You can. however, go to the request an article page and make a suggestion there. It would help if you provided reliably published sources not affiliated with you that would help establish that you meet the basic requirements for being the subject of a stand alone article. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 01:56, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

He appears to be this John Lester Miller, not the John Lester Miller who is a deceased judge. It's out of my area of expertise, so I can't tell if he qualifies as an academic. Clarityfiend (talk) 04:01, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

urgent incorrect content about Demet Muftuoglu.

Can you please contact me there is an urgent issue about an incorrect content about Demet Muftuoglu.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.96.35.74 (talk) 08:47, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia doesn't contact you, you can use this page, or if its private info that needs removing, contact Oversight. Is this about the unreferenced advertising spiel that was rejected yesterday? - X201 (talk) 09:03, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

I think that the definition of False Cognate is wrong in the article about False Cognate.

I think that the definition of False Cognate is wrong in this article. This is what I found searching the internet, and please, if you found a credible source showing I'm wrong please respond because I'm going crazy with this.

The article states: False cognates are pairs of words in the same or different languages that are similar in form and meaning but have different roots.

While a more correct definition would be: False cognates are pairs of words in the same or different languages that are similar in form but have different roots and meaning.

And there's also a lot of confusion about the difference of False Cognate and False Friend even with dictionaries like Macmillan Dictionary using both terms as the same with the definition of "a word in a language that looks or sounds similar to a word in another language but means something different". and this article that is hosted by Brown, but I don't know if it's a article from them or they are just hosting.

The difference is that although both False Cognate and False Friend are similar words with different meaning, False Cognate don't have common origin while False Friend could have. It's like... all False Cognate are False Friend but not all False Friend are False Cognate. The problem is that my research in English either came with articles saying they are the same, or articles quoting the difference given in this article from wikipedia, witch does not have a source for the definition given, like this one from Princeton, that is just a copy of the wikipedia page.

One example of False Friend would be the word Fabric in English with the word Fábrica in Portuguese that means Factory, they have the same root, the word Fabrica in Latin but different meaning.

One example of False Cognate would be the word Cute in English with the word Cute in Portuguese that means Skin, they are the same word with different roots, Cute in English being the Latin word Acutus while the Portuguese Cute being the Latin word Cutis.

The articles that I found supporting my claim is not in English, being the most comprehensive one this article in Portuguese. But since this terms were created in French, with the meaning being the same in almost every language, I don't think would be a problem. Mateusmat (talk) 13:00, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

References

@Mateusmat: Hey Mateusmat. Have you tried targeting books and scholarly research rather than a web search which does not tend to concentrate reliable sources? See searches like this and this. If you do indeed find the definition is incorrect you can cite a few of them when you revise the article. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:09, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

@Fuhghettaboutit: Hi... thanks for answering... I had found this articles before actually that could help, but I can't read it because I can't access it without a membership or paying 35 dollars. Mateusmat (talk) 13:38, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

@Mateusmat: You could ask for someone to provide a copy of the article to you at Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request. Even though articles are sometimes posted online for a short duration, they are often emailed and I see yours is not enabled. So, I suggest before making a request there, that you go to your preferences, scroll down to Email options at the bottom of the page, enter an email address, confirm it.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:07, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

staigue fort entry

Re. Staigue Fort entry: if it's 'Iron Age' then it can't be '300 AD'! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.227.133.179 (talk) 14:34, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

The place for this comment is the talk page, Talk:Staigue stone fort. However, are you saying that 300 AD was not in the Iron Age in Ireland? Robert McClenon (talk) 15:38, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

The Iron Age isn't set in stone (or, cast in iron) it means different dates in different places. - X201 (talk) 15:44, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

There are a number of different estimates for the age of the fort, but see Irish Iron Age for the Iron Age dates in Ireland. --David Biddulph (talk) 15:56, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

And the Irish Iron Age is listed as approximately 500 BC to 400 AD. Robert McClenon (talk) 21:57, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

I owned a website. Whether i can put article of my business in wikipedia.. If possible could you explain

I owned a website. Whether i can put article of my business in wikipedia.. If possible could you explain — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fantasyhome (talk • contribs) 15:16, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Almost certainly no. There are two issues. The first is general notability guidelines. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a directory. We will only write an article about your web site or business if it is "notable", meaning that it has been written about by independent reliable sources. Second, even if your business is notable, for you to write an article about it would violate conflict of interest guidelines. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:31, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

And if the name of that website is "fantasyhome", you should also change your username. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:48, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

ethical to add something you have authored

Assuming it's brief, is it kosher for me add a little relevant info to a page, from a published source that I wrote? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Capuchinpilates (talk • contribs) 16:52, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

The answer depends on whether you consider the addition to be ethical or questionable. Ask "What would my white haired old mother whom I love say?" If the answer is that it is ethical then consider doing so. If mum gives you the thumbs down, walk away. But it is better to make a request on the article's talk page for the addition to be made. There is a template to use to assist you, {{Request edit}}, whcih you place above your request. Fiddle Faddle 17:14, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

For more general info about the topic of conflicts of interest while editing, see WP:COI. Dismas|^(talk) 19:02, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

HOW TO IMPROVE THE WEB-PAGE

Hello,

I have edited the wiki page of Sanjay Sarma.

How to get this reviewed and remove the warning tag? Phidemit (talk) 18:50, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, — Preceding unsigned comment added by Phidemit (talk • contribs) 18:45, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

IMHO he passes WP:PROF so I have removed the tag.--ukexpat (talk) 18:56, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Adding image to infobox

How can you add a small image at the end of an infobox? I am trying to add the BBB accredited charity logo at the end of an infobox and am having trouble. Thank you in advance. Swaugaman (talk) 19:27, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Ibox parameters are "hard-coded" into the ibox template so it would be easier to just add it as a separate image below the ibox. But another question: what purpose would the image serve in the article? Just advertising that it is BBB-accredited? Not sure that would be appropriate.--ukexpat (talk) 19:58, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Merging 2 usernames

I imprudently have 2 usernames, both with over 20 edits, and would like to merge them under a new username. I hear it can't be done, is this still the case? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Capuchinpilates (talk • contribs) 21:17, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

It is true that you can't merge them, but you can put a note on each of the user pages to declare the link to the other. --David Biddulph (talk) 21:32, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Where is my course page?

Hi! I am embarrassed to ask this, but I am a relatively new user and I set up a course page for my students, who will be writing and editing wikipedia as part of an assignment. For the life of me I cannot find the page, even after logging in. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, ~brownels — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brownels (talk • contribs) 21:29, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Is User:Brownels/course_wizard/Timeline what you're looking for? Hint: Clicking "Contributions" at the top right of the page will give you a list of every edit made by your username, most recent first. ‑‑Mandruss (talk) 21:33, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Thank you!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brownels (talk • contribs) 21:34, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

September 23

Death of editor

I have come across a reliable source that indicates a Wikipedia editor has died. Is there any custom about whether to note this on the user's page? Jc3s5h (talk) 00:35, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Deceased Wikipedians may help you. Often, impromptu memorials and well-wishers sometimes show up on Wikipedian's user pages as well. --Jayron32 01:01, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Removing citation after an episode airs

I have had this question for months. This is about referencing for TV shows. This is becoming a current issue on Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 19). I know Wikipedia has many guidelines and policies about citing, but this is kind of logical. When adding a source for a dance, for instance, for a specific couple, we add the source. But this has been done and practiced on other pages as well (including DWTS) that when an episode airs we remove the source citing the dance they did. Considering it was seen on live TV by approximately 13-15 million U.S. viewers, is it necessary to cite the dances after the episode has aired? The scores are already referenced, is it really necessary to repeat it again. Also, this has been done on other TV shows. When an episode has been aired, the responsible crew for the episode, the sources are removed. For instance, Pretty Little Liars, Grey's Anatomy, and A LOT MORE. This should apply to already danced dance routines and the page itself, no? A know editor (to me anyways, they've contributed with 43,000 edits) has said this themself (skip to the third message in the beginning). "An aired episode is in itself a sufficient reference for its own content," they said, and I quote.

My final question (it's kind of mixed in my message): should the dances be referenced after the episode has aired? (This applies to scores, music, etc.)

I asked this question because an editor has been messing with the page, so I wanted to clear this out. An editor has made a point that can viewed on my talk page. Please ignore the personal opinion about the specific person.

And if you are going to answer no, please cite the policy in your answer so I can reference my edits.

Admins would be preferable to answer, please. (If you're not, it's fine)

Thanks,

Callmemirela (talk) 02:44, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

I cannot, for the life of me, imagine where removing a reliable source is more helpful to our readers. Yes, there is some information for which we are less demanding of sources (for example, plot summaries are generally assumed to be sourced to the work itself, because, duh). However, I've never heard of anyone arguing that a source should be removed to be replaced with nothing where sources already exist. I'm perplexed by any argument that says "This source was great yesterday, but today we don't need it anymore". --Jayron32 03:08, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Jayron32 I quite disagree. If an episode has been aired and the dance was done in public view and citation is needed, summaries should too. A summary can easily turn into fan fiction as well. The directors and writers responsible for the episode is never referenced after an episode airs. Neither should the DWTS with the scores, dances, music, etc. Those responsible for the episodes have their name written on TV, so were the scores. It can be easily seen. Why does the citation only apply to DWTS if the regular episodes from EVERY TV show does not do so as well. TV episode titles are never referenced either, well because it it's been confirmed and stuff. So have the scores, dances and music for DWTS. I personally disagree with that argument. If TV shows aren't referenced with those responsible for TV shows and the episode's summary, neither should the dances and scores after the episode has aired. Look at The Voice. The contestants, the judge's picks and the contestant's pick are neither referenced. It's one or another. This citation policy cannot be applied to just DWTS' information but not other TV shows. That is quite unfair. Callmemirela (talk) 03:41, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Removing the references is not a practice that falls under WP:V, since the information is now presented without a reference. Using Template:Cite episode is an alternative and accepted practice to cite information presented during the broadcast of a television episode. However, as references exist for the information, removing those references after the episode has aired is not aligned WP:IMPROVE. AldezD (talk) 03:11, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

A source that says "Tarzan and Jane have been signed for the upcoming season of Yet Another Unreality Show coming next month" cannot be a source for the article to state "Tarzan and Jane participated season 16 of Yet Another Unreality Show "; while the TV show itself (even if watched only by one person) is primary source that can verify that they appeared. A third party source that says "Last nights appearance of Tarzan and Jane on Yet Another Unreality Show ..." would still be better.

the dances scores music etc- while they can generally formally be cited to the primary source of the show itself- generally are merely WP:UNDUE coverage of WP:FANCRUFT and WP:TRIVIA based on the primary sources and Wikipedia editor's obsessions rather than what the third party reliable sources have deemed the important (a term used really loosely) about the subject. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 03:21, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Leaving a message

Hello, how are you?

I am having difficulty in trying to leave a message to one of my classmates?

Thanks ––Lolalore (talk) 05:34, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Dear Lolalore, Wikipedia is not a social networking service like Facebook or Twitter. You can talk to other Wikipedia users about creating an encyclopedia by using using talk pages. -- Sincerely, Taketa (talk) 05:52, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Hi, Lolalore, and welcome to Wikipedia! I see you have been using your user pages to learn how to use Wikipedia syntax – I wish more new editors would do that before starting to make "live" edits. Anyway, if your classmate has registered an account with Wikipedia, and you know their username, you go to their "talk page" and add your message at the bottom. Your own talk page, for example, has the URL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Lolalore and can be linked to here as User talk:Lolalore. Maproom (talk) 07:04, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Unidentifiable cite error caused by cite doi

This article has an error message, Cite error: A list-defined reference has no name, in its References section. The error goes away when a ref, <ref name=Zhu2008>{{cite doi|10.1182/blood-2008-05-078154}}</ref>, is removed from the end of the second paragraph in this section. I need to correct the error to remove the article from an error tracking category, but I don't know how to do so. ‑‑Mandruss (talk) 06:49, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Hi Mandruss, the problem was in using the cite doi template. I have replaced this by a handwritten version [2], which removes the error. Also since this source was in there a couple of times already I made them all into a single ref. Sincerely, Taketa (talk) 07:44, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, but I was looking for a better understanding, a la teach a man to fish.

• Do all uses of cite doi produce this error? If not, what was different about this case that did?
• Was it impossible to correct the error while still using cite doi? If so, why?
• How did you determine what to replace the cite doi with? ‑‑Mandruss (talk) 07:53, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

The problem was at Template:Cite doi/10.1182.2Fblood-2008-05-078154 and not in the article. A bot didn't fill in the citation as it should and a user tried to fix it but didn't know how. The bot has since been fixed according to User talk:Citation bot/Archive1#Bot dev575 is failing to retrieve citation information for DOI citations (1 MB page, you don't need to read it). PrimeHunter (talk) 08:57, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, PrimeHunter. If I understand you correctly, it would have been better to correct the template and leave the article alone. What correction is required to the template? ‑‑Mandruss (talk) 09:41, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

I reverted the edits which broke the template, & the citation bot has filled in the remaining detail, so the template now looks OK. --David Biddulph (talk) 10:30, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

I reverted the article changes and the error is gone. Thanks. ‑‑Mandruss (talk) 11:37, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Fishing

The best time to go fishing, is every chance you get. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.177.118.215 (talk) 08:23, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Yes, but what is your question about how to use or edit Wikipedia. —teb728 t c 08:30, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

HELP me, please I was only selfish......the name of your site has rendered use of my computer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I chose to go into much of a curiosity location the information you say you have within your organization and access to requisite is quality...this is true for me. I cannot even retrieve my very important data that I have stored information. I want to have you correct the access Your computer that renders my Wikipedia source MY data us and then you must send the data you have that belongs to ME!

Lynn Edward Ganze cell number is (Redacted)

Please: unlock my computer and then make a an attempt to send me a response to your work you think you will have done for Me!

Lynn Ganze (Redacted) write me a note that explains all this work you have chosen make amends.

Thank you so very much,

Lynn Ganze — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:6000:9503:C100:6874:B895:58C9:9753 (talk) 10:41, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Any data on Wikipedia is not yours, it is content that has been generated by Wikipedia editors (perhaps even including you) and has been released under the CC BY-SA 3.0 License (see the agreement at the bottom of every submit page "By clicking the "Save page" button, you agree to the Terms of Use and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the CC BY-SA 3.0 License and the GFDL with the understanding that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient for CC BY-SA 3.0 attribution." Wikipedia does not lock your computer, although your editing of Wikipedia may be restricted or blocked for violations of various Wikipedia policies-- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 12:11, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Balzan FC kit colour

I would like to update the kit colour of Balzan FC from a current all red top (FF0000) to a horizontal red and white striped top. Please advise.

I would also like to show Balzan's second kit. This is all dark blue with a small white and red horizontal stripe in the chest area. Please advise. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robmgt (talk • contribs) 12:52, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

In the section #Balzan F.C. above, it was suggested that you raise your query at Talk:Balzan F.C.. --David Biddulph (talk) 13:02, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

Encyclopedia

How do I submit an artist biography for wikipedia Encyclopedia inclusion.