Help desk
< March 5	<< Feb \| March \| Apr >>	March 7 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

March 6

Incorrect reference

Misinformation of the authors of the referenced article. The referenced article was written just by Pondé RA. See DOI: 10.1007/s00430-010-0159-9 - Med Microbiol Immunol (2011) 200:7–11 Hidden hazards of HCV transmission - REVIEW Robério Amorim de Almeida Pondé — Preceding unsigned comment added by 177.0.122.238 (talk) 00:23, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. Telling us about a missing reference here is a good idea. Unfortunately, as far as I can see above you have not identified which page has this error on it. Since Wikipedia has almost 4 million articles, and your IP address has no edits other than this one, there's no way for us to locate what page you're speaking about.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:33, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Actually I take that back, it certainly would have helped but I guess are you here about Hepatitis C, and I have removed the second author from the citation after looking at the source.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 00:38, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

WP guidelines or policy for deciding what constitutes a political endorsement?

Has a Wikipedia policy been established for deciding what constitutes an endorsement of a candidate for office in an election? And for which endorsements are appropriate for inclusion in Wikipedia articles about specific campaigns? Can you point me to the policy or relevant discussions?

If there is no formal policy, is the absence intentional?

There are some statements that nearly everyone, if not everyone, would accept as clear endorsements. An example would be when the editorial board of a newspaper publishes an article shortly before an election stating that of the candidates seeking office, the board prefers Candidate X and urges readers to vote for Candidate X, or when a retiring elected official holds a press conference with his chosen successor and urges voters to cast their votes for that person.

There are many other situations in which it is not so clear that a formal endorsement is being made.

Is casually saying "I agree with a lot of what Candidate X says" an endorsement for office?

Is it an endorsement if the person only makes the statement with reluctance (for example, during an interview that is not primarily about the interviewed subject's opinion of the candidates and in which the interviewer must ask repeatedly to extricate that specific information)?

Is saying "I support Candidate X" while simultaneously saying "I support Candidate Y" and "I support Candidate Z" - all of whom are competing for the same seat - an endorsement suitable for inclusion among the endorsements listed in a WP article about a campaign? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dezastru (talk • contribs) 02:18, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think we have anything that specific, but I do think the original research policy would be relevant here, and more specifically our rule about synthesis. Basically, it's an endorsement if reliable secondary sources say it is. --N Y Kevin @198, i.e. 03:44, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Then I think there is a need for a set of guidelines to address some of the confusion on endorsements. Would the Village Pump be the place to open up a discussion on this?Dezastru (talk) 02:02, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Personally I don't agree with you, but if you want broader input, the village pump is the right place to go. Other possibilities are WT:V, WT:OR, WP:RSN, or WT:RS. If you genuinely want to create a brand-new guideline, the village pump is the place to start; if you just want clarification, pick one of those links. --N Y Kevin @154, i.e. 02:41, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Or you could start at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Elections and Referendums. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:44, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I think Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Elections and Referendums is what I am looking for. Thanks.Dezastru (talk) 04:59, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Where's my saved article?

I registered last night and wrote and saved an article draft. Now I can't locate it. Where is it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bulsonroad (talk • contribs) 04:35, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'm afraid I can't see that edit in your contributions. Are you sure you saved it? where did you think you saved it? Starfleet Academy Hail ML 05:11, 6 Mar, 2012 UTC

If you were not logged in it would be attributed to an IP address. Roger (talk) 07:48, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

What was it about? Maybe we could find it by content. —teb728 t c 09:20, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Redirects of words from other languages to English

One of the problems that faces me during using English Wikipedia that sometimes I have a word, place, or person in Arabic and want to search for the English. Sometimes if the article contains the Arabic equivalent it would show in search results, and the results might be many. I was wondering if it is OK to add redirects from Arabic text; so instead of going to search results the search will go to the page directly.

--Haytham ^Abulela 05:38, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Generally, no. There is the Arabic Wikipedia where many articles have links to the corresponding article here on the English Wikipedia. For word definitions, there is the Arabic Wiktionary where there are links to the corresponding definition on the English Wiktionary. That said, there are some exceptions - for example: القرآن; but I doubt you would find widespread support for creating a large number of Arabic redirects to all kinds of things. Astronaut (talk) 07:28, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Image problem

I can't figure out what's wrong with the photo at Attack on Pearl Harbor#Salvage. When I preview it, it looks fine, and the same coding on an earlier version also looks good. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:50, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed with this edit. I ran AWB on it to find the error. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:13, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 08:32, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Interwiki on mobile wp

Can anybody ask meta or the wmf to add interwiki links to other languages? I have to switch to the lagging full version wp to view an article in other languages. Thanks. --109.171.137.224 (talk) 08:26, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Try asking in Wikipedia:Mobile_Extension_Feedback--Hallows AG (talk) 09:14, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Twinkle

I discovered this tool that supposedly would make difficult tasks easier, but when I try using it a message pops up saying "Your account is too new to use Twinkle". How long do I have to wait? YumYamNam (talk) 08:46, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You would have to wait until your acount is auto confirmed. That is, your account would have to be 4 days old and have made at least to ten edits. You can request to be confirmed in WP:PERM. Happy editing!--Hallows AG (talk) 08:53, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That would be ten edits. Dismas|^(talk) 08:54, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

(ec)Twinkle is a very powerful tool - in inexperienced hands it can do a lot of damage. I'd definitely recommend that you first get substantial editing experience - several months and a few hundred edits - before attempting to use Twinkle. At this stage of your Wiki-career you should not even be thinking of attempting "difficult tasks". Take another look at the advice you were given yesterday on this page. Roger (talk) 09:04, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Twinkle auto-watchlisting

Resolved

Twinkle seems to add pages (especially warnings to IP userpages) I edit to watchlist even though I don't have auto watchlisting set in my preferences. Is there a way to prevent this watchlisting unless I specifically do so? --lTopGunl (talk) 08:59, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

You need to adjust your Wikipedia:Twinkle/Preferences. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:06, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Try this link. Uncheck "Add user talk page to watchlist when notifying".--Hallows AG (talk) 09:08, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks both. --lTopGunl (talk) 09:18, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

My page is not getting approved and no update on the status

Hi,

I have submitted a page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Finemetal. It was rejected at first submission due to some issues. So i have submitted it again after editing it. But its been many days and i have not got my page reviewed ( I Guess) . Kindly review my page and tell me if that is ok and approve it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Emobx (talk • contribs) 11:57, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The proposed article didn't have an AfC review template on it, which is probably why it got overlooked... I've reviewed and declined the submission; the only reference given is a listings website which is totally inadequate for sourcing. In addition, there is no need to copy text from other articles on Wikipedia; just linking to Helvetia is sufficient. Yunshui 雲‍水 12:55, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Extraneous |} in an article

I've poked and prodded but I can't get tease out the cause of a couple of problem characters here Medusa (Annie Lennox album)#Certifications. Can someone please take a look, a let me know what the cause was when its fixed? Thanks. Vranak (talk) 12:18, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

That is the end-of-table marker. It was showing in the article because there was a {{col-end}} with no corresponding {{col-begin}}. I have removed it. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:44, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks again. Vranak (talk) 12:47, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Looking under spirit I found an error

The Chinese do not use the word qi to describe spirit, they use the word Shen. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.50.248.170 (talk) 12:48, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you can cite a reliable source for this, please feel free to change the article accordingly. Yunshui 雲‍水 12:52, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Such a claim needs to be "filtered" by the fact that there is a very wide variety of dialects in the Chinese language family. Roger (talk) 13:39, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Quoting

How do I insert a pull-out quote in an article about a famous person? Kind of like an info box, but: (a) I just want to put the famous person's famous quote in it, and (b) if possible, I'd like to have it be further down the page than the usual upper-right placement of the info box. Thanks! Debrou (talk) 12:58, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Template:Cquote or Template:Rquote? See Category:Quotation templates. --Colapeninsula (talk) 14:30, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I recommend {{quote box}}. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 15:12, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

More to the point, we don't use pull quotes in articles. To quote the documentation at Category:Quotation templates: "Templates with quotation marks, especially decorative ones, such as those provided by the {{cquote}} template, are reserved for pull quotes and should not be used for quotations; they are intended for non-article pages, such as Wikipedia guidelines." We have Wikiquotes for that. --Orange Mike | Talk 20:39, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How is wiki markup stripped from search results?

I've noticed that in Wikipedia search results, most wikitext markup is stripped in the text that provides context for the search hit. For example, if I'm searching for "Dog", on the entry for Dog in the search results I'll see something like "The domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris is a subspecies of the gray wolf" in the search results, but the wiki text says something like "The '''domestic dog''', '''''Canis lupus familiaris''''',<ref>{{Cite|...}}...</ref> is a subspecies of the [[gray wolf]]". How do all those templates, tags, brackets for links, etc. get removed? When I search on many other MediaWiki wikis, I tend to see a lot of that markup in the search results, but in Wikipedia most of the markup is removed (I occasionally see some template parameters, but that's about it). Is there an extension or hook or something else that cleans up the search results? Or is there a way to configure MWSearch to return cleaner results? --Llarq (talk) 16:02, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you don't get an answer soon at this general help desk, I suggest you ask again at Village pump (technical). -- John of Reading (talk) 08:00, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the lead -- it's very kind of you to make sure I wasn't left hanging! I posted my question on the Village pump here. --Llarq (talk) 22:11, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Alan Ladd Biography

Hello.I was wondering if it would be possible to have the photo of Alan Ladd on the front page changed to a photo from another movie like "This Gun for Hire".The movie "Saigon" was not one of his better movies.An earlier photo would present him in a more attractive light.Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.138.71.2 (talk) 17:14, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Why? "An earlier photo would present him in a more attractive light" is not a valid argument for changing the picture. We have no interest in making the subjects look more (or less) attractive. --Orange Mike | Talk 18:03, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

... and, in any case, neither of the photos currently in the article is from "Saigon". - David Biddulph (talk) 18:55, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

How do I get to the search page?

If the thing I am searching for also happens to be the exact name of an article? I think you used to be able to choose whether you got the search page or an exact article, if one existed, but now I can't seem to find a way. 86.164.69.124 (talk) 19:03, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

See the first two paragraphs at Help:Searching. -- John of Reading (talk) 19:39, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, of course. Null search. I should have thought of that. Thanks. I had actually checked that article, but must have overlooked that bit until you assured me the answer was there! 86.164.69.124 (talk) 22:52, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Huggle issue

Asking here instead of the Huggle talk page only because a quicker reponse is more likely, but Huggle currently cannot seem to find the user whitelist. Can someone address this? Calabe 1992 20:18, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Is it giving you an error? because it seems to be working here. - Happysailor ^(Talk) 22:38, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Expansion of an existing article -- how does one request this?

In the article entitled "Columbus Day", I was trying to find reference to the date being changed from October 12th to October 21st -- as referenced in the book "Our Calendar" by Rev. George Nichols Packer, 1893 pp 55-57 and listed after the errata in The Project Gutenberg's eBook edition (#E36197 transcribed in May 2011 == http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36197/36197-h/36197-h.htm) -- where it states (Quote follows)

"THE COLUMBUS CELEBRATION.

THE WELLSBORO MAN WHO BROUGHT ABOUT THE CHANGE IN THE DATE. State Superintendent D. J. Waller, in the School Journal.

Who brought about the change in the date? It was down in the books as October 12th. The Committee of the National Educational Association issued circulars to the country to observe that day. Congress solemnly resolved that that day should be celebrated throughout the land. The Commissioners of the World’s Fair fixed upon October 12, as dedication-day, and sent out invitations to the exercises. Suddenly there was a change. Heralded by no newspaper discussion, preceded by no exhaustive treatise, without any authoritative decree, a change was made to October 21.

The following facts are indisputable. An aged retired minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, living in Wellsboro, Tioga County, Pa., author of a little book entitled “Our Calendar,” Rev. George Nichols Packer, saw the error. He possessed the confidence of Judge Henry W. Williams, of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. After laying the facts before him, he secured through him the approval by the several Justices composing that body, of an effort to change to the proper date, October 21st. Equipped with this approval, he secured the endorsement of his project by Governor Pattison and some of the heads of the Executive departments at Harrisburg. He then went to Washington, gained an audience with the President, laid the subject before the member of Congress from his district, and went before the Congressional Committee.

The evidence in support of the proposition was so presented that it could not be successfully disputed. Congressman W. A. Stone skillfully enlisted influential collegiates in an effort to correct the error already widely spread. The correction by the National Legislature was in time to have its influence upon President Harrison, who named October 21 in his proclamation, as the day to be observed, and Boston and Chicago fell into line.

All honor to Rev. George Nichols Packer, of Wellsboro, Tioga County, Pennsylvania." (End Quoted Material)

I see no references to this in the article, nor can I find where the date was changed back either from the 21st to the 12th. How can one both have this added to the article, along with the "jump back" to the October 12th date?

Thanks for listening.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.75.66.236 (talk) 20:19, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Packer's short-lived triumph is not very well-documented. Apparently, while he shamed Congress into using the corrected date for the big nationwide blowout of 1892, almost everybody in the country went back to using the old Julian calendar date of the 12th. You'd have to find some solid references, possibly from books or articles on calendar reform and/or the Columbus Day commemoration (not all of us "celebrate" that event). --Orange Mike | Talk 20:33, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

References for which part? The book itself I refer to is a book on calendar reform and history. I have a copy of it (a real one, not the transcribed version I link to) -- and I cite the pages where it's mentioned (55-57). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.75.66.236 (talk) 20:42, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The book is by Parker himself, and thus questionable as to WP:NPOV! --~~

Report on a personal attack of a wiki user

To who can I report when a user keeps opening personal discussions about me?--123o (talk) 22:02, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Let me know what user and I will look into the case and report 'em for ya. Hghyux (talk) 23:01, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I'll save you a job Hghyux. It isn't a case of User:123o being a victim, it is more the case of them being the provoker, despite several editors telling him to stop it. He is making out that I am "personally attacking him", and tells people to not believe my claims against him - yet I provided factual evidence to show that 123o was the one making the attacks, not the victim of an attacker. All this started when I noticed some new templates being created for Eurovision Song Contest; templates that held overlapping information to templates already in use. I brought these templates to the attention of an admin user on the Eurovision project, and it was noted that they were overlaps, and shouldn't have been created without checking with the project first if they were necessary; so I nominated them for deletion. Shortly after the nomination, I receive posts on my wall using some capital letters, which is classified as shouting; post that demands that I delete templates that have had many man-hours work put into them, posts of a derogatory nature implying that I cannot read (as per this diff and this one); and further demanding posts that "I suggest we conclude this discussion here and let the editors give their professional opinions from now on" (which implies that I my right to comment is now being denied) - how can this be deemed as acceptable behaviour? I was quite upset about receiving this type of behaviour from another user, and asked another user for a second opinion to see if perhaps I was over-sensitive about the nature of 123o (talk · contribs)'s comments towards myself - and even "second opinion" noticed that his comments were "provocative in nature". Every time that User:123o has asked questions on my wall, I have replied back politely and with as much details as possible - each time I get nothing but abuse hurled back at me. The same user then continues to with provocation by posting this and this, only to receive this reply by a member of the project (who is also an admin), and furthermore posts another provoking attack against me on this one via another users talk page. User123o then replied back with this. Even the "second opinion" user I mentioned above, left this in response. I seriously urge that a rethink into who is the real victim of attacks here. Wesley☀Mouse 23:32, 6 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Upon further investigation, it appears this isn't the first time that 123o (talk · contribs) has gone about in a provoking an threatening behaviour over deletion of materials. Ironically, posting comments in the same mannerisms as another user also on the same thread. Wesley☀Mouse 01:15, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Please, this is getting out of control. This user keeps writing personal notes about me everywhere: He wrote several messengers in a public page, wrote some messages slaming me to various users with lies and now you can see he is stocking me here, referring to a discussion I made with another user long time ago. Although I am not so veteran in Wiki, I never got this attitude from someone. Is it possible to ask him to stop referring to me everywhere around here? This messages damage my good name, and I don't see how this behavior can be tolerated by someone, and can't see how is it connected to Wikipedia's targets. Thank you in advance.--123o (talk) 01:22, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to add that the last time I made a contact with this user was at 03:05, 6 March 2012. Since then he wrote personal notes about me 6 times in this page, once in this page and once in this page. I can't keep track where else did he write about me, but I don't believe it will stop anytime soon. --123o (talk) 01:33, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]