Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2018 April 4

Help desk
< April 3	<< Mar | April | May >>	April 5 >

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.

April 4

Disruptive editing

So I just added true information on a Wikipedia page. But I got a warning about disruptive information. What does that mean in a nutshell? Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2607:FEA8:C320:16C:554E:484E:F6E0:E908 (talk) 02:10, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

This was my bad. While I was patrolling recent changes, I made an incorrect inference about their edit, assuming they were adding themselves to a list of notable people. Your edit was fine, and I am immensely sorry! The warning on your talk page has been removed, and you may edit the page again. Basically, I'd gotten your edit confused with an edit on another page that had recently been vandalized. Again, your edit was fine, and I am very sorry! Feel free to add your edit back to the page. — Katie <3 (talk) 02:20, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Duplicated article, with a twist

Lewiston, New York and Lewiston (village), New York are essentially the same; I've updated the latter to be the best version. However, there's also Lewiston (town), New York, which in my opinion is the primary topic. As I've noted in Talk:Lewiston, New York#Redirect or Disambiguation page?, this "town / village within the town with the same name" situation arises fairly frequently, at least in New York. In the sample I looked at, I counted 14 with the town article with an undisambiguated title (e.g. Adams, New York vs Adams (village), New York) versus three where both the town and village had disambiguated names (e.g. Allegany (town), New York vs Allegany (village), New York). So it seems to me the optimum solution is to move Lewiston (town) to Lewiston, but what happens to the edit history? The other, less troublesome option is to simply redirect Lewiston to Lewiston (town), with a hatnote to the village, but that's a bit sloppy. Comments? Clarityfiend (talk) 09:13, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

New York gets tricky in that as you have seen, in some cases the town and village are different entities. I'm not sure what to recommend though. :( Naraht (talk) 16:29, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

We have a similar situation in Wisconsin. We have a rule of thumb that the larger entity (i.e., city or village) will get the undifferentiated title, with a hatnote; and the smaller gets the parenthesis (again with the hatnote). So: Milwaukee, Wisconsin vs. Milwaukee (town), Wisconsin. If they are in different counties, then Jonesville, Smith County, Wisconsin vs. Jonesville, Johnson County, Wisconsin should suffice (with hatnotes). When there are more than two Jonesvilles, then a dab page also becomes necessary (as with the locally notorious case of Rome, Wisconsin. --Orange Mike | Talk 00:00, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Since it's been through Afd already, I gone ahead and implemented the simplest and easiest solution: redirecting Lewiston to the town page, with a hatnote to the village. That's good enough, if not the best way to do it. Clarityfiend (talk) 12:48, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Spanish Wikipedia help Comment

Hi. I came across a page on Spanish wikipedia that has been vandalised. Do we have a go to person for this kind of thing? The page is https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldas_de_Malavella Gbawden (talk) 10:05, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

The simplest option, in a clear case of vandalism, is to revert it to the un-vandalised version. But if you feel you ought to report it to someone, you should do so on Spanish Wikipedia. Maproom (talk) 10:48, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

It has been reverted now. I don't know a go to person for other wikis. When I have to contact a Wikipedia in a language I don't know, I look for a link under "Languages" in the left pane here at Wikipedia:Help desk or at Wikipedia:Village pump. I post in English and have received replies in English. You can change interface language to English at the local Special:Preferences. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:51, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Regarding the edit on the page Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact

Hello. My edit of the page Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact has been deleted as I added the phrase ", the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact," in The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, also known as the Nazi–Soviet Pact, the German–Soviet Non-aggression Pact, the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, or the Nazi German–Soviet Pact of Aggression ... with the reason "they did not appear constructive". I don't know if he meant that 'my edit was too small so I deleted it' or 'the phrase I added didn't have evidence'.

If it is the former one, then please ignore this post. If it is the later one, then I have the evidence. This name of the pact is used in Hong Kong, and I have an image of it in a textbook. However, I'm not sure if I should add a reference after the phrase like so. The following file is the image of the textbook. Thank you.

Jeffrey288 (talk) 11:25, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello, Jeffrey288. The place to discuss this is the talk page of the article, not here. You have been BOLD, somebody has reverted you, and the next stage is to discuss it on the article's talk page. But it will bolster your case if you do give a reference in that way. Please see WP:REFB for how to format the reference. --ColinFine (talk) 16:24, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

References

Attempt To Move Draft To Article Space - Please Help

Dear Wikipedia c/o,

I’m doing a project for my Masters degree in which I have to research and produce a wiki page for a UK figure, which will be assessed. I first successfully posted the page on musician/public figure Mykaell Riley (link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Mykaell_Riley) in February. It was taken down due to lack of citations in which I have now rectified. After a second attempt in moving it to the article space, it was taken down again by the same user. I have researched on my peers’ articles (with less references which is questionable) and their contributions are still ‘live’.

Please advise on what will qualify to have my contribution published? Thank you for your help!

Kind regards,

Norman Lusardi Norman Lusardi (talk) 11:41, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Norman Lusardi: you should be aware that when citations are assessed (by a Wikipedia reviewer) to see if they establish that the subject is notable, they are judged on quality, not quantity. Which four of the the 28 citations in that draft do you think do most to show that Riley is notable? Maproom (talk) 14:08, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 171.61.162.251 (talk) 12:16, 4 April 2018‎ (UTC)

The error message in Nirmal Verma says "Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page)." and in that message the words "help page" are in blue to show that they are a wikilink, in this case to Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref. --David Biddulph (talk) 12:26, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

 Fixed The ref was not correctly placed between the ref tags, used a ref name already in use producing a further error message and was also not formatted correctly. Please see WP:REFB for a guide to adding references. Please remember to sign your posts on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~). Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 12:30, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Fix / cut a redirect?

Regarding Survivor (U.S. TV series) (w/ Jeff Probst): a contestant has a redirect link that is wrong, dating back to 2015. I'm still learning some of these edit fine points. The redirect should be changed back or eliminated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_Buchanan&oldid=663476587

Clearly, contestant Tom Buchanan has no relationship to a same-named character in ""The Great Gatsby".

Thanks for the help.

GeeBee60 (talk) 13:34, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

I assume that you weren't talking about Survivor (U.S. TV series) but about List of Survivor (U.S. TV series) contestants? Corrected in this edit. - David Biddulph (talk) 13:47, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Yes, thanks, exactly. Sorry I wasn't clearer. And now I know the fix. GeeBee60 (talk) 04:16, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

upload a picture

I am trying to upload a head shot of Sen. Mike Duffy (Canada). Although the page is not protected, when I try to save tyhe picture, I am given a notice that the page is protected. Jaquestheripper (talk) 13:45, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Where are you trying to upload it to? There's no way to upload an image direct to a Wikipedia article. First you should upload it to Wikimedia Commons (or in a few cases, where Commons won't accept it for copyright reasons but you can justify "Fair Use", to English-language Wikipedia), then once you've uploaded it, you can use the uploaded image in the article. Maproom (talk) 14:18, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

You write elsewhere that the picture is "copyright cleared". To be able to upload it to Commons, it needs to be released with an appropriate licence by the holder of the copyright (usually the photographer). See Wikipedia:Image use policy for details. Dbfirs 15:03, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Change of username

please change my name

michelle haverkamp

I do not use caps — Preceding unsigned comment added by Michelle haverkamp (talk • contribs) 16:07, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Is this in regards to your user page and id being "Michelle haverkamp" rather than "michelle haverkamp"? If so, for technical reasons, all articles (and in this case that includes files, categories, and user pages) start with capital letters, however because of situations like eBay, there are work arounds. If your user page or user talk page contains {{lowercase title}} then the user page will be displayed with a lower case m.Naraht (talk) 16:19, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Your user page is User:Michelle haverkamp which has to be created to add the code. Your user talk page is User talk:Michelle haverkamp. If you enter michelle haverkamp in the Signature field at Special:Preferences then your signatures made with ~~~~ will say that. Don't enable the box saying "Treat the above as wiki markup". The real username cannot start with a lowercase letter so upper case M will still be shown in many other places. It's optional whether to type m or M when you log in but it doesn't affect anything afterwards. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:12, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error references duplicate key

I have used the template to cite a web article. I filled in all the data, and then used the box called "Ref name" to give the article a short name (in this case, "casarasume"). I understand that the point of the ref name is to be able to use the short ref name in future cites instead of having to re-write all the details. However, when I wanted to re-use the same article as authority in another location in the article, I opened the Template web cite box and wrote only the ref name (casarasume). I have received an error message saying that "Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "casarasume" defined multiple times with different content (see the help page)."

Your help page is not helpful because it was written for people who do not use the templates. Please advise how I can correct this problem and save the updates I have made, correctly cited.

Peak Player (talk) 18:42, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

When I am editing, in the toolbar above the edit window there is a link "Named references" just to the right of the "Templates" dropdown. That "Named references" link allows the editor to select from reference names which have been defined. --David Biddulph (talk) 18:55, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Swapping a photo on a page

Hello, on March 21st I sent an email to 'permissions-commons@wikimedia.org' to get an image changed for this page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMO_Tower) and I attached the photo that should be used. I still dont see the image live on the page. How can I ensure the photo gets replaced accordingly? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Emily.penate (talk • contribs) 19:44, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello, Emily.penate. Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons are separate projects, both run almost entirely by volunteers. You have mailed the team at Commons who deal with permissions for material: they are likely to be fully occupied with that work, and will probably not be doing anything with the images themselves; they will almost certainly not be editing Wikipedia articles. You (or another editor) need to upload the picture to Commons, and then edit the Wikipedia article to use the new image. Please see c:First steps/Uploading files and Help:Pictures. --ColinFine (talk) 23:21, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Policy and Guideline on Internal Links

Hello all. User:Pangguanzhe recent created an article on William Liu and inserted internal links to many articles. This puts undue emphasis for William Liu. Should those links be removed? -Mys_721tx (talk) 20:09, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

@Mys 721tx: I don't think it is undue weight, but is likely a case of overlinking. If you want to clean it up so it more closely follows the encyclopdia's style guide, go ahead. RudolfRed (talk) 20:19, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

The problem was poorly explained. On 7 January Pangguanzhe added a link to William Liu Zhongjing (since moved to William Liu) in the see also section of 27 different articles about China and politics. 26 of them were added in 11 minutes. None of the links look justified to me. Liu is just a historian and translator who has presumably written about those topics. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:24, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Harumi Nakamura

Can someone write the Japanese name of Harumi Nakamura apparead in this photo? The name is written in a label on wall, at the back of the woman head. Thanks! http://kaishindo.mck.or.jp/images/Event/original/Event_YPugL2yg2PsjSUkNLWpWYZXIHSvxGLBz_1.png

--151.49.116.0 (talk) 21:11, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Unfortunately not, IP. There is no proof that the woman in the photo (currently listed as "Anonymous from Tokyo" in supercentenarian tables such as this one) is actually called "Harumi Nakamura" other than the plate in that photo and online speculation. Unless you can provide a reliable source stating that the nameplate does indeed refer unquestionably to the woman in the bed (and not another patient, doctor, etc.), then the name cannot be replaced, as it was not released by the family and does not appear in public records. Regards, Dairy {talk} 04:07, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

I mean: in that label it is write Harumi Nakamura in Japanese. --151.49.116.0 (talk) 04:54, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Yes, but that label could refer to anyone. In particular, another resident of that room, or a past resident, or the doctor or nurse assigned to that patient. I agree that it is likely to be her name, but that's just my opinion, so I can't include it in an article unless a published source supports it. By the way, were you referring to a particular article where you wanted it changed, or just any article that mentions the woman? Because no article uses that image in it, and the image is not on Wikimedia Commons at all. Dairy {talk} 05:41, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Ok, I change strategy: what it is write in that label? --2001:B07:6442:8903:A1E1:2875:CD3C:69AA (talk) 09:42, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Reference Lists

When I want to add to a reference list that another author has made, what I see is

==References==

{{Reflist}}

How do I open the reflist in order to add to it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Roger Conner75 (talk • contribs)

@Roger Conner75: See Help:Referencing for beginners. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:30, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, but I DO understand what is there. I know how to make a reflist, but when I look at someone ELSI'S reflist I cannot actually see the list and clicking on the word contained in curly brackets opens nothing. Roger Conner75 (talk) 23:59, 4 April 2018 (UTC)Roger Conner75

• The reflist is automatically generated from the references. The references are inline throughout the article. You cannot "open the reflist" because it does not exist as a separate editable entity. To add a ref to the list, place the ref inline as described at Help:Referencing for beginners. Your ref will then magically appear in the reflist. -Arch dude (talk) 00:30, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Robert Burns

Under monuments in the Robert Burns profile it is missing a statue of him that is in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I have a picture I can send you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1010:B003:6C6B:E812:2F43:E89A:571D (talk) 21:52, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello, IP user. Wikipedia is almost entirely created by volunteers: there isn't a staff that can receive pictures and do something with them. If it is a picture that you took yourself (so you own the copyright) then you are welcome to upload it to Wikimedia Commons, and then add it to the article. Please see c:First steps/Uploading files and Help:Pictures. Alternatively, you could post on the talk page (Talk:Robert Burns, I presume), asking if there is an editor who will work with you on this. --ColinFine (talk) 23:29, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

Separating out Combined article

While stub sorting I came across the article Modern Quarterly, which is really about two separate publications, published in different places at different times. My understanding is that these should really be two separate articles, and that policy is not to allow them to both be described on the same page. (Right?) I just want to confirm I have the steps right, and I'm not missing anything. I should: 1) Pick one of the journals to move the article to, in order to preserve its history (probably Modern Quarterly (British Journal), 2) create a new Page for Modern Quarterly (American Magazine), and copy-and-paste the relevant content in, linking to the old page in the edit summary 3) place {{Histmerge|Modern Quarterly (British Journal)}} on the American Magazine talk page to ask an Admin to merge the histories, and 4) Turn the Modern Quarterly page into a disambiguation page, since it was automatically turned into a redirect in step 1.

Does this sound right? Would it be better to ask an admin to move/split the page rather than making the change first and going though the {{Histmerge}} request process? If so, would that go through WP:REQMOVE or somewhere else?

Thanks! Let me know if there's a page that documents this process. Wikipedia:Administrators' guide/Fixing cut-and-paste moves was the best I could find, but seems to be written from a post-hoc perspective. MarginalCost (talk) 23:32, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

There's a misunderstanding of the histmerge process here, which can't duplicate histories. What you should do is follow step 1, using a non-cut-and-paste move, and then follow step 2 and step 4. No histmerging should be necessary. {{3x|p}}ery (talk) 23:58, 4 April 2018 (UTC)

I agree. A history merge is not relevant. A history split could have been relevant but the problem is that edits about the two magazines are interweaved in the same page history. If all edits about one magazine had been consecutive then a history split could have handled it but that is too impractical here. Just do as pppery said. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:52, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

Resolved

Thanks to both of you! MarginalCost (talk) 01:02, 5 April 2018 (UTC)