Search the frequently asked questions

Search the help desk archives and other help pages

December 30[edit]

Scottish wikipeida full of typos[edit]

https://sco.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page it the English Wikipedia in the scottish dialect but its full of typos can a admin please fix the Scottish Wikipedia typos — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.173.78.70 (talk) 01:24, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

That is a separate project from this one, you will have to address any issues or concerns with it there. 331dot (talk) 01:27, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

It's in the Scots language, so what you may think are typos probably aren't. DuncanHill (talk) 01:30, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

There's even a link on the front page to Wikipedia:Spellin an grammar that addresses it. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 10:36, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Scottish wikipeida full of typos
Just couldn't resist. --CiaPan (talk) 13:43, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

I could rewrite pages using strange spelling to represent the Yorkshire dialect, but Yorkshire is not a (sub-)language because it doesn't have a parliament (yet). Dbfirs 14:32, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Accurately described subject as an E-7, added reaction of his men to his leadership.[edit]

I was informed by a user named Everedux that adding the correct pay grade of the subject Navy retiree (E-7) and the subject's comments on the men he led, along with an observation that this was indicative of his leadership abilities constituted "vandalism."

I am married to a man who spent 30 years in the US Navy, 14 of those as an E-9, and 12 of those as a Command Master Chief/Chief of the Boat. I fail to understand why a college student would find accurately listing Mr. Gallagher's pay grade and his comments on the men he led to be "vandalism" unless he is attempting to conceal aspects of the subject's life that he feels do not paint the picture he desires.

I am a monetary contributor to Wikipedia because I have believed in its usefulness and in methods by which I understood it was edited. I am concerned that the user who sent me the "level 2 warning" is claiming the power to silence military retirees and their families in the editing of Wikipedia to state truthful information and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom.

I perceived the "level 2 warning" to be a threat. If that is correct, I will not feel comfortable using Wikipedia in my work (I do always check it, but it is often my first go-to source for basic information) as I would regard it as internally contaminated by the bias of editors such as Everedux.

Am I correct?

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Peeweezers (talk • contribs) 02:39, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Your first attempt would likely have been reverted regardless, because it broke the format of the infobox.

Your opinion that Eddie Gallagher (Navy SEAL) is omg the best E-7 evar is, well, not the kind of tone that we like to use here; show don't tell. His opinion that his accusers are cowards may be relevant, though; please provide a source for the quotation. —Tamfang (talk) 02:56, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Idea...[edit]

You guys ever think about putting out actual donations bins? I’m sure people would give at least spare change if it’s convenient. Also there is the problem of people like myself who don’t use credit cards. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1702:3760:E920:70E2:3B09:D9D4:609E (talk) 04:13, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

"Us guys" who read and respond here on this Help Desk are here to help improve Wikipedia, by making edits and advising others on how to make edits. The guys you want to address are the Wikimedia Foundation, who keep the whole project running by running the servers, hiring legal support, etc., and raising the money to pay for it. Maproom (talk) 09:36, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Creating a new celebrity page[edit]

Hello,

is there a form to request a celebrity page to be created? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jadeagreaves (talk • contribs) 04:43, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Please see Wikipedia:Requested articles. Wakari07 (talk) 04:48, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Jadeagreaves Please note that Wikipedia does not have "celebrity pages". Wikipedia has articles about people that meet Wikipedia's special definition of a notable person, summarizing what independent reliable sources say about them. This can include "celebrities" but it is possible to be a celebrity and not merit a Wikipedia article. 331dot (talk) 09:48, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

I would like my submission to be read by a different reviewer, due to current reviewer's bias[edit]

Hi there,

My Wikipedia submission (Autistics for Autistics, A4A) is very good, lots of different sources, factual and balanced. It was wrongly rejected by someone who perhaps has older-fashioned views about autism and disability self-advocacy groups. I honestly can't think of any other reason why they would reject it.

This group is very important in Canada right now and needs an entry and I wrote a good one.

Please have another reviewer look it over.

Thank you very much.

- Barry — Preceding unsigned comment added by Barryc25 (talk • contribs) 07:14, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

@Barryc25: I've looked all of the sources cited, in light of our policies on notability and reliable sourcing.

A lot of the sources (such as this or this) don't mention Autistics for Autistics (A4A) at all. As such, they're completely useless as sources. If a source does not mention A4A, then the source is not about A4A and does not belong in the article.

Affiliated sources, like A4A Ontario's website, Facebook page, or even listings by related groups are not independent. You need unaffiliated, independent, professionally-published reliable sources to establish notability. Articles written by members of A4A are not independent, either. The same goes for interviews (which are primary sources).

Sources that are not specifically about A4A but only mention them in passing, such as this one, do not demonstrate notability. You need independent reliable sources that are specifically and primarily about A4A.

Wikipedia articles are never valid sources. We're user-generated and so not a reliable source. Even if a specific article was as good as a reliable source, there's the problem of circular sourcing that would require us to disallow Wikipedia articles as sources. If you meant for those to be links instead of references, put the article title in square brackets, [[like this]].

All of the above is what CaptainEek meant by "This submission is not adequately supported by reliable sources" and "Many of the sources are not independent, in that they are too closely affiliate with the subject or are published by the subject."

You can find clear instructions on how to write an article that won't be rejected by opening this link. If you follow them exactly, there should be no issues whatsoever.

Finally, WP:Assume good faith is a foundational site principle. The problem is not the reviewer, nor even you, it's the draft, as noted above. What I wrote above is in light of the guide in that bold link, which I wrote a long time ago, so you can rest assured that the draft fails to meet standards we've had for a long time and that it's not just some user's feelings about a topic. Ian.thomson (talk) 07:45, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

How submit my new member article on Wikipedia?[edit]

I am a retired entertainment film industry (Director of Photography) and would like to get some guidance on how to get a written background article and summery of my career referenced on Wikipedia? Do I need a professional experienced editor to accomplish the help I may need? Please advice Best regards EricGoehano (talk) 09:34, 30 December 2019 (UTC)Eric

@Goehano: If anyone refers to themselves as a "professional" editor, or asks for money, IT IS A SCAM.

This is a volunteer-driven project. If anyone asks for money, they are violating our site's terms of use. They never produce articles that meet our notability standards and they have no reason to give you your money back after we delete that page.

Beyond that, we're not a social media site. We generally discourage people from starting or editing pages about themselves, too.

If, however, you completely follow these instructions on how to write articles that won't be deleted, you could start an article that other people could expand. Ian.thomson (talk) 09:40, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

New to Wikipedia[edit]

Hi I was interested in getting guidance on how to publish on Wikipedia a written reference about my career. I do have many references to what is written is correct and can be easily verified. I registered myself on Wikipedia as GOEHANO, was that a mistake? How can I have one of your representatives proof read, that was written about me, (not by myself) is in the correct form and could be published? Please advice, Best EricGoehano (talk) 10:13, 30 December 2019 (UTC)eric

Goehano I'm not sure what you mean by 'publish on Wikipedia a written reference'. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that has articles about subjects shown with significant coverage in independent reliable sources to meet Wikipedia's special definition of notability; in this case, the definition of a notable person. Typically, articles are written by independent editors unassociated with the subject who took note of the subject and chose to write about it on their own. Autobiographical articles are strongly discouraged(though not forbidden) per our autobiography policy(click to review). This is partially because people naturally write favorably about themselves and it is usually difficult for someone to adhere to a neutral point of view. I haven't seen someone successfully write about themselves in my years here, though it is technically possible. If you still wish to attempt such an enterprise, and truly feel you meet the notability criteria(there are also more specific criteria for certain fields, like actor, politician, athlete, etc.) you may use Articles for Creation to create and submit a draft for review by an independent editor before it is formally placed in the encyclopedia. 331dot (talk) 10:25, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

But please bear in mind, Goehano, that in an article about you, Wikipedia is essentially uninterested in anything you have said, written, or done, except as commented on publicly by somebody wholly unconnected with you. There may be a few references to sources connected with you (such as your website, your publications, or interviews with you) to support uncontroversial factual information; but the bulk of the article must be based on published sources in which you and your associates had no hand whatever. That is more or less what the notability criteria amount to. --ColinFine (talk) 17:10, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

@Goehano: Since you are in the film biz, I want to mention a common pitfall, which is using IMDB as one of those required sources. IMDB is no longer considered a reliable source here since their switch to being editable by anyone, with seemingly no effective editorial control (it's repeatedly been shown to be inaccurate). The AFI database is apparently still good, though. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 02:54, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

deactivate account[edit]

My 10 year old son has created a Wikipedia account (in violation of your terms of service), and we would like it removed. He has not authored or edited any pages. How can we achieve this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Smartcarplays (talk • contribs) 12:29, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Smartcarplays Accounts cannot be 'deactivated' or deleted, only abandoned. If you have access to your son's password you could change it without his knowledge to bar him from the account.(though nothing would prevent him from creating a new account elsewhere) I could be wrong but I don't believe there is anything in the Terms of Use prohibiting youths from creating an account- though there may be laws in your jurisdiction that affect this. Many youths have accounts here. 331dot (talk) 12:35, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

You may be able to obtain a courtesy vanishing. 331dot (talk) 12:35, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

You are the best person to judge whether this is an appropriate option for your son, but just a suggestion: why not encourage your son to try Wikipedia:The Wikipedia Adventure and to become an editor here? We have mature ten-year-olds who make constructive edits. If you know the account name, then you can look at his edits to make sure that he is not doing anything inappropriate. Dbfirs 13:02, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

You probably want to look at, and maybe direct him to, Advice for younger editors too, Smartcarplays. --ColinFine (talk) 17:13, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

@Smartcarplays: Since he does not need to log in to read Wikipedia or even to edit Wikipedia, it's unclear what you as a parent are trying to accomplish. If you (or anyone else) knows his user name, you can see his entire editing history. Make him aware of this so he will know you will ckeck to make sure he is not getting warned about disruptive editing or other youthful silliness and that he is not putting personal information anywhere on our site. If he edits without logging in instead, you have much less visibility into his activities.-Arch dude (talk) 18:07, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

@Smartcarplays: Just confirming the above, creating and using an account here is more secure than editing while not logged in because any edits made while not logged in are shown in history along with their IP address (see the history of this page at Special:History/Wikipedia:Help desk for some examples); if a user is logged in when they edit, the edits are marked with their username and the IP address is only available to a small number of administrators with NDAs, need to know, and strict privacy controls. As mentioned above, it's also easier for you as a parent to monitor what they write when the edits are associated with a single username instead of IP addresses that may change (especially often on phones). —[AlanM1(talk)]— 03:11, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

@Smartcarplays: P.S. Nobody can see what pages are being read (and not edited) here; such information should generally only be visible in your own browser history. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 03:14, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Michael French page[edit]

Hi, I am trying to edit the above page as much of the information held on the page is inaccurate. I have been sent a message to say that I will be blocked and I'm not sure why. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MickeyDaisyJimmyDipsey (talk • contribs) 14:24, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

See user’s edit history. Rationale for warnings clearly explained. 2600:387:5:80D:0:0:0:A2 (talk) 14:27, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

MickeyDaisyJimmyDipsey You tried to replace a sourced article with a completely unsourced text. If the information in the article is incorrect, you need to do more than just correct it- you need to add independent reliable sources to support the content you want to add. Wikipedia summarizes what such sources state. You may wish to discuss your concerns on the article talk page. 331dot (talk) 14:29, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Additionally, the edits have been consistently promotional in tone and have constituted edit warring. The user has also indicated that they’re writing on the subject’s behalf. 2600:387:5:80D:0:0:0:A2 (talk) 14:35, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

More Swag Please[edit]

Promotional merchandise

I have donated to Wikipedia probably five or six times over the years. I even bought a Wikipedia T-shirt in order to support Wikipedia. Which is why I think you should make more merchandise. I hate to say it, but people like to get stuff in return for their donations. Just think of PBS and all the gifts they hand out to their donors. it’s sort of a badge of pride. People like to show off what causes they care about. Hence why am writing you. More swag please! — Preceding unsigned comment added by WikiWikiJayJay (talk • contribs)

Thank you for your suggestion. Unfortunately, we here at the help desk are volunteers and have no control over merchandise or donations, or any link between the two. Here is where you can find merchandise. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 15:43, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Donations are handled by the Wikimedia Foundation that operates the computers Wikipedia is on; you should address any comments about fundraising to them. 331dot (talk) 17:05, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

defamatory article[edit]

Hello,

There is an Article about Zouave, where people put a contribution that are completely wrong and defamatory to the berber people in north Africa, and sparking a big controversy on social media.

This article was apparently put there to specify treason by the indigenous people, when in reality it is completely the opposite. This article is dangerous as it was written under some type of seperatist to justify certain action against the indigenous people of Algeria (berbers). Please review the article and get back to me on this. The article can remain there, but the berber, or Kabylie need to be removed completely from it. Again this is a defamatory article, and very controversial that can lead to terrible consequences for the indigenous people, and with no historical basis of Kabyle or berber people involved with the French Army,

Zouave

Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shassani79 (talk • contribs) 17:01, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

​You are deleting sourced information and switching it out with unsourced information (see Wikipedia:Don't hijack references). You either need to demonstrate that the cited source does not include the information, or you need to add much stronger reliable sources instead. You can discuss your concern on Talk:Zouave, but I'd recommend keeping the discussion calm and neutral since it usually has better results than using charged language ("defamatory / dangerous / written by seperatists"). Don't forget to point to reliable sources demonstrating your point. – Thjarkur (talk) 17:42, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Michael French page[edit]

Dear Wikipedia Help Desk, I'm trying to edit the Michael French wikipedia page as some of the information on there is factually incorrect. I have been in contact with several "adminitrators" but I'm still not clear on why the page keeps reverting to the previous incorrect version. I do not work for any business affiliated to Michael French, neither am I connected to him. Please could you advise. — Preceding unsigned comment added by MickeyDaisyJimmyDipsey (talk • contribs) 18:35, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

​First of all stop edit warring on the page. You are removing all the citations from the page, which leaves the page in a worse condition. Consider suggesting changes on the article's talk page. – Thjarkur (talk) 18:38, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

In this edit you told us that you are editing on behalf of the subject of the page. --David Biddulph (talk) 18:52, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Template to add x number of days to a date[edit]

I'm trying to set up a list of Up Helly Aa festivals, and want to include the date that each one occurs. Most of the festivals occur on the nth day of a particular month, for example Northmavine Up Helly Aa occurs on the third Friday of February. This is fine, as I can achieve this using Template:DatesWD. However, the Nesting and Girlsta Up Helly Aa occurs 10 days after the Lerwick Up Helly Aa, which is on the last Tuesday of January - a bit contrived, I know, but that's what it is.

Is there a template that allows me to enter a date, specify a number of days I'd like to add on, and it will output a new date? For example, I enter (in some format) 28 January 2020 and then specify 10 days to add on, and it would output 7 February 2020? If there's a template that does this I should be able to figure out the rest. Griceylipper (talk) 19:49, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Template:Infobox holiday can be used for this, for example the infobox on First day of summer (Iceland) inputs "first Thursday after 18 April" and calculates the dates for the next few years. The calculations are stored in Template:Infobox holiday/date where you can add more special cases, or you can request an addition on the main template's talk page. – Thjarkur (talk) 20:13, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks Þjarkur, I will request an edit on this template. Griceylipper (talk) 20:22, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

someone keeps reverting my changes[edit]

I am updating a personal page for a person and viewmont viking keeps reverting to the past one, which doesn't reflect the person's actual activities and up to date information. What can I do???

I am trying to reflect David Edwards actual words here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mxaviere (talk • contribs) 21:44, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

​Your edits are highly promotional and not encyclopedic. First read our guidelines for editors with a conflict of interest, then go to the article's talk page and suggest edits using {{request edit}}, citing reliable sources. – Thjarkur (talk) 21:49, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Apart from the conflict of interest question which has been raised elsewhere, the problem is that you removed sourced text and replaced it by text which had no references (though it had misplaced external links). --David Biddulph (talk) 21:50, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Thank you all for your responses. That being said some of the links existing are no longer valid and should be removed, including some affiliations, etc... when reverting to the original text it's not accurate. I understand about removing links and making it more neutral if felt as promotional, but the information is currently wrong and needs to be edited, and whom better than by the person themselves, who should know best.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Mxaviere (talk • contribs) 06:32, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

100% wrong, as previously explained, such a person has a clear conflict of interest so should NOT be editing the page at all, not should anyone edit the page "on their behalf". - Arjayay (talk) 14:41, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Monsey Hanukkah stabbing[edit]

Hello, I would like to upload this image from the New York state government to illustrate this article. Is the image free? If so, would you be able to help me with the upload? When I click on it to save it on my computer, the image moves in and out. Thank you, Yoninah (talk) 21:58, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

@Yoninah: No, it is not a free image. It is labeled (C) All Rights Reserved. RudolfRed (talk) 22:06, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

That Flickr page says "(c) All rights reserved". If you believe that there is evidence that it is free of copyright, you need to tell us (and Commons, because that is where it would be uploaded) where that evidence is. --David Biddulph (talk) 22:06, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Thank you, I was just checking. I know that U.S. federal government sources often have copyrights but are free for use on Wikimedia Commons. I was just wondering if the same is true for U.S. state government sources. Yoninah (talk) 22:09, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Yoninah, I have never heard of a situation where "U.S. federal government sources often have copyrights but are free for use on Wikimedia Commons". I have heard of situations where a federal government site might host the material from another source that is copyrighted, but that material is not eligible for use on Wikimedia Commons. Most state government documents are fully copyrighted (one major exception is legislation). S Philbrick(Talk) 01:43, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

@Yoninah: With the exception of the US federal government. almost all governments including US state governments retain the copyright on work by their employees, so we cannot freely use them. The US federal government has ownership of the rights to work by US federal employees, but these works are immediately placed into the public domain, so we can freely use them. -Arch dude (talk) 02:38, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

OK. Thank you all for the explanation. Yoninah (talk) 11:36, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

@Yoninah: Commons:Flickr files, which explains the meanings of the various license symbols used on Flickr (every image has one, below the image on the right) and whether they can be uploaded to Commons, may be useful in future. – Arms & Hearts (talk) 13:23, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

possible malicious redirection from childfocus.be[edit]

At least I hope it's not my PC, but here I've commented out the "http:" URL from Child Focus because it redirects to the suspicious newly registered domain nonamebiaso48.live: See my talk post and whois info -84user (talk) 22:03, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

I see no evidence of it being redirected to that other domain. --David Biddulph (talk) 22:11, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

That's the problem, they dynamically change their hosts and targets. Some more digging tells me it's the malicious 2019 Annual Visitor Survey Pop-up Scam so I'm removing it where it appears in other places in wikipedia. Once a site shows itself to be insecure makes me doubly cautious. Potentially quite nasty. See https://nl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Child_Focus&type=revision&diff=55260920&oldid=55260918 and https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/14704979?hl=en . This also means that other malware domains were and will be using this scam (because they quickly change both the host and the redirected domains on discovery). -84user (talk) 22:31, 30 December 2019 (UTC) EDIT to add, for what it's worth I've sent a request to report a security issue with the registrant of the site in question via https://www.dnsbelgium.be/en/whois/contact-registrant/childfocus.be/confirm?uuid= . -84user (talk) 23:19, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

​Yes I also get the scam site. Most of this organization's domains have been usurped. Seems to be fairly common on articles of defunct businesses. I thought we had a bot that removed links to usurped sites. – Thjarkur (talk) 00:42, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

@Þjarkur and 84user: WP:URLREQ is where to report external links that need to be fixed. At the moment, www.childfocus.be seems to point to a valid (though it uses TLS 1.0) site for Child Focus with a 2019 copyright date, at 81.246.113.142. The DNS SOA record at ns1.register.be has a serial number that says it was changed 2019-09-05 (i.e. not recently). The IP address is not pointed to by any other DNS record. If this was being redirected, I don't see how, unless the site itself was hacked. Is it actually a "defunct business"? —[AlanM1(talk)]— 04:15, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

December 31[edit]

Please add 'already donated' button to your donation request[edit]

Hello. I donated recently while accessing Wikipedia on my phone. Then when I accessed it using my iPad I was asked to donated again. The only to options were yes or not now...not 'I've already donated'. Please add a third option. Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 149.167.115.249 (talk) 02:23, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for helping. Donations are collected by the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the servers that host the various Wikimedia projects, including this English Wikipedia. Any issues with regard to donations should be addressed to them. Their contact page is at Contact. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 04:21, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Thank you for contributing. The Wikipedia software has absolutely no knowledge of who has donated and who has not: that is held in the separate Wikimedia Foundation system, and for reasons of both privacy and neutrality nothing in Wikipedia can access it. Further, even if it did know who had donated, it would have no way of matching that up with an IP address: this changes when you access it from a different device, and may change even for the same device.

What you can do, if you wish, is to create an account, and set a preference for that account to not see the fundraising banners: this still will not know whether or not you have donated, but the system will honour your request not to show you the banner when you are logged in. --ColinFine (talk) 09:12, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Citations bot[edit]

Hi, I am an old user, but Citation bot (button Citations) fails to process text. Where do I report that? Tgeorgescu (talk) 06:33, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

User talk:Citation bot#Bot down Wakari07 (talk) 09:32, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Notifying other editors of nomination of page deletion[edit]

Perhaps its better to ask over at Wikipedia talk:Guide to deletion but in the section WP:AFDLIST its says to "Place a notification on significant pages that link to your nomination, to enable those with related knowledge to participate in the debate." Does that mean to post the notification on the page or its talk page? (or maybe its talking about posting the link the the discussion to Wikiprojects?). Asking because found a Afd notice on Government College University Faisalabad. (link to diff) OkayKenji ^{(talk page)} 07:07, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

@OkayKenji: This is the right place for most questions :) My personal recommendation here, to avoid such troubles, is to use WP:Twinkle if you are going to nominate pages for discussion. Twinkle will automatically put all the right notices in all the right places. But if not, there should be a notification to the creating user, on talk pages of significant similar pages, as well as the regular AfD header on the page in question. I'll be honest, I nom a lot of pages for deletion but tend not to spread word of the deletion to other pages. But posting a note on the Wikiprojects that concern the page, especially if the article is controversial or the AfD may be controversial, can be a good idea. Captain Eek ^{Edits Ho Cap'n!}⚓ 07:31, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks! OkayKenji ^{(talk page)} 07:39, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Change Person's Photo[edit]

How do I change the photo/image in the information box on a person's page (someone I work for has an inaccuratley credited photo). Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by Richardmediatyrrell (talk • contribs) 09:38, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Richardmediatyrrell If you work for someone, you must read and comply with the conflict of interest and paid editing policies and formally declare that status(the latter is a Terms of Use requirement and mandatory). If the credit of a photo is incorrect, please make an edit request on the relevant article talk page. 331dot (talk) 09:44, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Hello, Richardmediatyrrell. I'm guessing that you're referring to the caption on the picture of Nandana Sen, which had the wrong year: I've corrected it. But 331dot is correct: if you work for Sen, you must make the required declaration and follow the relevant procedure for any further edits. --ColinFine (talk) 10:03, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

info box content questions[edit]

Hi, regarding article Gentlemen's Fury https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentlemen%27s_Fury I have a couple questions about editing content in the info box: -how do I unlink the names that are in red? -how do I change "production companies" to "production company?" Thanks for your help. Cleobarbara (talk) 15:27, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

To remove the links, just remove the double square brackets just like you would do in the article text. The infobox film template will display "production company" if you use |studio= instead of |production_companies=. MB 15:59, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Whilst it may not be relevant in this case Cleobarbara, just because something is a redlink, doesn't mean it should be removed. The relevant policy is at WP:REDLINK. If the person/item/subject is notable, the redlinks should be left intact. Without doing a little research, I couldn't tell you if the people in the infobox are notable, but worth keeping in mind. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 22:14, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Donation appeals[edit]

Dear friend, I appreciate all you wikipedians out there that gulp make this community service available, so I recently donated money to Wikipedia. The problem is I keep having appeals for money anyway. I want to tell them I ALREADY DONATED, but there is no way to do that. It would really be helpful if along with the appeals for donations, that along with "not now" and "donate now", that you also included an "already donated option". Thanks to you and Wikipedia, I do appreciate you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1003:B861:5E70:F5B8:8A11:ECB3:C5B5 (talk) 16:12, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

You can suppress the donation requests by creating an account and selecting that option in the Preferences. The system has no way to know if the person sitting at the computer has donated. We editors are not involved with the donation process; please address any comments to the Wikimedia Foundation that operates the computers Wikipedia is on and collects the money. 331dot (talk) 16:17, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Sheet Cover image[edit]

OK. So once again, I've attempted to upload this image Tip Toe Through The Tulips Original Sheet Music Cover. Like hundreds others on WP, the copyright is out of date, the music publishing company is no longer in existence, the "artist" (whoever it was) is dead, etc; however, for some reason, this one image never is allowed to stay on WP despite countless of other images i.e. sheet music covers from the same time, album covers, et al are allowed with a simple "copyright disclaimer" stating various reasons. Obviously, I'm just not uploading it correctly, or choosing the correct category, or writing the proper description. Could someone please assist in getting this image uploaded correctly so that it can stay on WP as it should. There is no reason why it shouldn't when a poster like this: Gold Diggers of Broadway Original 1929 Poster is allowed from the very film the song comes from. Thanks in advance. Maineartists (talk) 20:34, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Maineartists The problem is that when you uploaded it to Commons you didn't affix the appropriate copyright template. You wrote out the rationale for a {{PD-US-no notice}}, but didn't include the tag itself. Someone who was looking for the tag and didn't feel like reading a paragraph tagged it as missing copyright info. I've rectified it by adding the tag. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 21:30, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

ONUnicorn Oh, bless you! Thanks so much, ONUnicorn! Maineartists (talk) 22:16, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

No problem. :) ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 22:21, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Salzburg Protestants vs. Salzburger emigrants ??[edit]

Hello, I started to translate into French Salzburg Protestants, and I realize there is another page about the same event Salzburger emigrants. These pages could be merged, but I'm not familiar with the merging process here. Thank you for your answer and many wishes for the coming Year, --Pierrette13 (talk) 20:51, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

You can do it yourself if you familiar with the subject. The general information about the merging process can be found on WP:MERGE. Ruslik_Zero 14:21, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@Pierrette13: "Salzburg Protestants" is about the 30,000 protestants expelled from Salzburg and "Salzburger emigrants" is about 300 Salzburg Protestants who migrated to Georgia. I would recommend Wikipedia:Disambiguation, possibly by moving "Salzburger emigrants" to "Salzburger emigrants to Georgia (British colony)", rather than merger. TSventon (talk) 12:31, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Reordering table chronologically[edit]

Hi. Can someone please reorder the release history table in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone chronologically? I tried doing so with both the source and visual editors but something always would end up wrong. Would be much appreciated, thank you. QuestFour (talk) 22:07, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

QuestFour I made the table sortable. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 22:27, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Donations[edit]

I donated this year as I've done in past years. I do this because I use it quite often & think it's a great reference. Why when I get into a page it starts bugging me for a donation?? It certainly knows that I visit Wikipedia quite often but not that I've donated? This becomes annoying after awhile. Keep up the great work you do on Wikipedia pages. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.119.59.200 (talk) 22:20, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Unfortunately, "it" does not know who has donated and who has not. However, if you create an account and log in, you can suppress the donation appeals in your preferences. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 22:30, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Need a mailing address[edit]

Would very much like to donate to Wikipedia. I do not use charge cards. Would like to have a mailing address to send funds directly to Wikipedia. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.253.212.0 (talk) 22:44, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Hello, thank you for your interest in supporting Wikipedia. Donations and all donation-related issues are handled by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF), not by volunteers though. You should find all relevant information, including alternative ways to donate and a mailing address for further questions, at Wikipedia:Contact us/Donors. GermanJoe (talk) 22:49, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Incorrect Policy Information for Kansas[edit]

Re: List of 2019 United States cannabis reform proposals

The map and information regarding Kansas law are incorrect. No amount of THC or cannabis is currently legal in Kansas. We have been advocating for change in Kansas for eight years and so we are well informed on current Kansas law. The misunderstanding happened after the passing of Claire and Lola's Law. This law is an affirmative defense law only and in now way acted upon, nor modified, Kansas statutes regarding the legal status of THC or cannabis. There are currently four states of total prohibition and Kansas is one of them. For further reference, please consult the National Conference of State Legislatures.http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx

Thank you for you assistance in correcting this information. I found no "Talk" link or any other suggested way of offering a correction. — Preceding unsigned comment added by KS Advocate (talk • contribs) 23:20, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

KS Advocate It appears you are using the mobile version of Wikipedia; if you switch it to the desktop version(there should be a link to do this at the bottom of every page) you can access the article talk page(Talk:List of 2019 United States cannabis reform proposals) to make your suggestion. 331dot (talk) 23:35, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

January 1[edit]

Biased reporting[edit]

I was going to donate to your campaign until I read the supremely biased article abourt stephan miller. Wow that was an exercise to propaganda!

I will never contribute again until your articles are vetted. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.80.234.200 (talk) 03:25, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

• Dear IP,

Please note that the Wikimedia Foundation does not (usually) control the contents of Wikipedia or any of its sister projects. If you see any questionable claims regarding a living person, please remove them yourself and if they are egregious or chronic feel free to report it to the biographies of living persons noticeboard and/or reach out to an administrator. If Miller has been deceased for at least a while you can tag the article with {{POV}} and explain your reasoning on the article's talk page. Again, if it's egregious or chronic you can reach out to the neutrality noticeboard. Either way, please don't base your decision to donate or not to donate to the Foundation based on the content of a single Wikipedia article.

Thanks,

– John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 03:51, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Stephan Miller is a deceased animal trainer. I guess the poster is thinking of somebody named Stephen Miller. But that's a disambiguation page for six people with the name. A claim of propaganda is likely to be about a living political figure so I'm guessing Stephen Miller (political advisor). There is extensive discussion at Talk:Stephen Miller (political advisor) and the archives. Please do not remove sourced content without learning more about Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:05, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

IP user, Wikipedia does not claim to be free of bias. Wikipedia summarizes what independent reliable sources state about article subjects. Any bias in those sources will then be reflected in Wikipedia. If you or Mr. Miller don't like what independent reliable sources say about him, that should be taken up with those sources, or Mr. Miller should adjust his behavior and activities so that those sources don't say such things about him. 331dot (talk) 04:47, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Skeet (Newfoundland) Post[edit]

Hello,

It has come to our attention that a local user is using wikipedia to write people's names falsely in the "Famous Skeets" section and edits it when someone tries to take their name off, putting the name back on. <redacted BLP vio.> — Preceding unsigned comment added by RRFrederick (talk • contribs) 05:00, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@RRFrederick: I cleand it up and warned the most recent two vandals. If this continues, take it to WP:AIV. Arch dude (talk) 05:49, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Link: Skeet (Newfoundland) —[AlanM1(talk)]— 06:42, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Haseeb lone[edit]

I made a page named as Haseeb Lone 4 days ago but still it is not displaying when i search as Haseeb Lone in Wikipedia or google. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Haseeblone9682567297 (talk • contribs) 08:08, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Hi Haseeblone9682567297 and welcome to the Teahouse. You seem to have a common misunderstanding about Wikipedia. It is not like social media where you post information about yourself, it is an encyclopaedia that has articles only on subjects that have been written about in independent sources elsewhere. You might like to read WP:User pages to see what is allowed on a user page, and adjust your page appropriately, changing to first person and describing what you intend to contribute to the encyclopaedia. It should not look like a pretend article. User pages are not indexed by Google. Dbfirs 08:26, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Uploading YouTube videos[edit]

I would like to upload two YouTube videos to Wikipedia. The first one is Moon Phases 2020 - Northern Hemisphere - 4K and the second one is Moon Phases 2020 - Southern Hemisphere - 4K. I know these videos are allowed on Wikipedia because they are both in the public domain. Can anyone tell me the steps needed to upload these videos? Interstellarity (talk) 14:14, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Normally you could use Video2Commons to upload these easily, but YouTube is having a bit of a spat with us over this tool and their terms of use, where they are currently blocking it. You can see further advice here.

Note though that you cannot upload the video with sound, as the music is copyrighted. If you have the software/skills to do so, you may wish to replace the sound with some other recording on Commons that is in the public domain. GMG^talk 14:21, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@GreenMeansGo: Is the sound copyrighted, but the video is in the public domain? Interstellarity (talk) 14:33, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@Interstellarity: That's what it looks like. For one video it specifies "copyright2017" for the audio. For the other, is simply says that the video is PD, but fails to make any statement on the copyright status of the audio, which we would probably then have to assume is also copyrighted. GMG^talk 14:47, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@GreenMeansGo: I uploaded it. I went here and here to get mp4 videos to upload it. I used Video2Commons to upload it and now I am requesting for the file to be renamed. Thanks for the help. Interstellarity (talk) 16:39, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@Interstellarity:  Done Both files renamed. Thanks for finding the source and uploading. If I can ever be of any help, feel free to drop by my talk page either here or on Commons. GMG^talk 17:20, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@GreenMeansGo: Thank you. I have implemented my uploads in the article Lunar phase. Interstellarity (talk) 17:25, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

Search user question[edit]

Is there a way to search the contributions of a user for a text string? Thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 15:54, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@Bbb23: I'm sure that someone at the Village Pump can write a search script to do this, but if it's just that string being added, you can look at the character count in the person's edit history to find matches. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 20:28, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Difference between policies and guidelines for Wiki[edit]

what is the difference — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.173.78.70 (talk) 22:02, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

That's quite a neuanced and wide question. Policies and guidelines can be used interchangeably in places. But policies could be overarching rules, whereas guidelines tend to be a bit more specialised. Please see the topic on this at WP:PG Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 22:10, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

This may sound like an extremely dumb question, but...[edit]

Is the "L" in "External links" capitalized? HighwayTyper (talk) 22:28, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

The simple answer is no. Headers are in sentence case, and not Camel case. WP:EL for more info. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 22:32, 1 January 2020 (UTC)

@Lee Vilenski: I think you meant Title case, rather than Camel case; Camel case would be ExternalLinks (with no space). You are, of course, correct that in Wikipedia we use sentence case for section headings. --David Biddulph (talk) 04:07, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

January 2[edit]

Bookspam[edit]

I was alerted to a change to an article which was a citation added to the Sources section, with no apparent use of that citation in the article. After looking at the user's talk page, I reverted the change, suggesting that maybe they meant to add it to the Further reading section. However, after looking further at this editor's contributions, it seems like a single-purpose account. They tried to create a draft article on a person who is an author, and all of their recent additions have been citations to papers written by this author. In earlier edits, they added text to the article directly referencing this author's work and mentioning him by name. I suspect that the account is owned by this author. I have now undone all of their edits and put a spam warning on their page, but at what point should an admin get involved? Laterthanyouthink (talk) 04:05, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Laterthanyouthink, you have given them fair warning, so if they continue I think admin actions might be appropriate Jimfbleak - talk to me? 08:32, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Okay, thanks Jimfbleak. I'll try to keep an eye on them. 09:01, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

FYI to other help desk page stalkers that the suspicious user was blocked. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 20:25, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

My edits are being deleted! Why?[edit]

I have made the same edit twice to the page on the actor Marc Singer. I am simply adding the fact that he has a daughter with his late wife.

Yet, twice now some guy named "SuperMario" or something has 'reverted' my edits. In other words, he has deleted them.

Why? Why? Why?— Preceding unsigned comment added by Charlie4845 (talk • contribs)

Hi Charlie4845. As per the edit summary of the reverting editor, "IMDb is user-edited and therefore not a reliable source of information. WP:BLPNAME also stands". See also WP:RS. I'll post a welcome message with some useful links for you to learn some more about editing on Wikipedia on your talk page. Also, please remember to sign your comments with four tildes (~) so that others know who posted them. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 05:30, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

(edit conflict) @Charlie4845: In other words, you did not cite a professionally-published mainstream academic or journalistic source (preferably a secondary or tertiary one, not primary) detailing their names. And for a non-famous child, you must present plenty of good sources that discuss the child enough to give us a reason to mention their name because we're not invading a child's privacy otherwise. Ian.thomson (talk) 05:32, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Please read WP:BLPNAME to decode the above. -Arch dude (talk) 05:35, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Page Still Under Review | Help[edit]

Hi Sir, I have written an article on Roney Singh and submitted it for review it's been days since I've heard something. Can you please review the regarding article? I'm hereby attaching the draft link of the submitted article. url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Roney_Singh It'll be very helpful. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Deepjoy66 (talk • contribs) 11:50, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

@Deepjoy66: I've done so just now. The article still isn't neutral. There's also the problem that the sources you cite are neither independent nor reliable. Try following the instructions at User:Ian.thomson/Howto. Ian.thomson (talk) 12:04, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

@Deepjoy66: - after trimming the non-encyclopedic parts, there's not much left to show notability. The sourcing is quite poor, and doesn't give us much to work with. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 23:27, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Hill, Ric K.[edit]

Sirs/Madams : I cannot find ANY information about AUTHOR Ric K. Hill in WIKIPEDIA. I have recently purchased three of his (?) books [published by CreateSpace Publishing Platform] but they contain NO biographic or personal data of any kind and I remain curious about this individual's place in both literature and geography. I have explored various pages in Wikipedia trying to ask for a page so entitled but do not have a computer background enough to do so. Can you help in any way? Thank you -Steve Prekker — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pdssteve (talk • contribs) 16:57, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

@Pdssteve: Hello, as far as I can see Wikipedia does not have an article about this person. You are welcome to request that an article be created about them at WP:RA... *but* Wikipedia relies on what has been published about an individual in multiple independent reliable sources and if you have searched elsewhere and not found much, if anything about them, then there may not be enough for them to pass our general notablility guidelines or the more specific writer ones. If notability can be demonstrated then we want an article about them but if they do not match the criteria then attempts to create one will not be successful. Some hopefully helpful links will be left at your talk page. (Please sign your posts on talk pages by using four tildes like this: ~~~~.) Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 17:11, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Hello Pdssteve and welcome to Wikipedia! If this author only is published via selfpublishing services like createspace, it's likely that he is not WP:NOTABLE, in short meaning that WP demands that reliable sources independent of a him must have written enough about him to base an article on. Until there are such sources (and someone like for example you decides to start such an article), WP will not have an article about him, you have to make do with stuff like [1] and whatelse you can find. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 17:12, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

@Pdssteve: - a quick Google search doesn't turn up any media coverage of the author, nor of his books, suggesting there's not enough material for an article. (Please sign your posts on talk pages by using four tildes like this: ~~~~.) TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 19:53, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

DaBaby[edit]

The official birthdate of rapper DaBaby seems to be in question. Official public records state that he was born 12/21/1991 (https://mecksheriffweb.mecklenburgcountync.gov/Inmate/Details?pid=0000428030&jid=18-079642&activeOnly=False&prisType=ALL&maxrows=48&page=1) but DaBaby put out a tweet stating that he was born on the 22nd (https://twitter.com/dababydababy/status/1194098149394190336?lang=en). I'm not sure which source is the correct one. Help appreciated. CatcherStorm ^talk 22:42, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

@CatcherStorm: Official records and the Tweet are both WP:PRIMARY, but the official records would really need a non-primary source to establish that that is the correct individual and not someone else with the same name. I'm also more inclined to see a jail making a mistake in typing a date (...because America doesn't sync its records for some damn reason) than someone getting their own birthdate wrong. That's why those jail records aren't cited in the "Personal life" section of the article on him. Ian.thomson (talk) 23:03, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

Public record is out per WP:BLPPRIMARY. I'd go with Twitter per WP:BLPSELFPUB, if there are other conflicting sources we may need to think again. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 23:11, 2 January 2020 (UTC)

starting a wikipedia page[edit]

I am an administrator at a middle school and our students are working hard to gather information for a Wikipedia page for our school. How can I help them to get started? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robiousmiddle (talk • contribs) 00:03, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

@Robiousmiddle: Welcome! start by reading (and studying, not just reading) our notability guidelines. If your subject (the schoolO) is notable by that definition, then we want an article. It the subject is not notable, then we will delete any such article. This is the only rule for article inclusion. See WP:N. If you (and your student team) conclude that the subject is not notable, then find another subject to have them concentrate their efforts on. ONLY after you have a notable subject, proceed to WP:YFA. Good luck! -Arch dude (talk) 00:26, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

You should request a username change at WP:CHUS to something that does not indicate that you are editing on behalf of the school, although, honestly, you are. Given your inexperience and obvious conflict of interest, I also suggest that you not create an article but a draft, and when you think you're done, submit the draft to WP:AFC. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bbb23 (talk • contribs) 00:31, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

​Wikipedia's current view is that only notable schools should have a standalone Wikipedia page. Most middle schools are redirected to the page about their school district. Wikipedia tries to summarize what independant secondary sources have said about a topic, and for most middle schools those types of sources are limited. You could however start your school's own personal wiki hosted elsewhere, where you would be free to assemble oral history and primary information. – Thjarkur (talk) 00:33, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for your help. I will look into the personal wiki space. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robiousmiddle (talk • contribs) 01:06, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

@Robiousmiddle: Your school district's IT department might be willing to put up a computer With a Wiki for the district. This would allow you much more scope than you would get here on Wikipedia. The equipment cost would be trivial (a $100.00 computer suffices) but administration takes actual salaried work hours. -Arch dude (talk) 02:18, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

BLATANTLY plagiarizing!![edit]

I'm not sure who to report this to, but this website: https://everything.explained.today is BLATANTLY plagiarizing Wikipedia!!! Every page has been pulled from Wikipedia!! Can someone forward this to appropriate desk? This is horrible how they use everyone's hard work as THEIR own! Thanks, Buskieboy — Preceding unsigned comment added by Buskieboy (talk • contribs) 01:00, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

It's one of thousands of Wikipedia mirrors and since Wikipedia supports open exchange and distribution of information we actually encourage this. The page follows all of Wikipedia's requirements: It links to the GNU license, links to the original Wikipedia article, and says where the information comes from. – Thjarkur (talk) 01:31, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

@Buskieboy: more generally, Plagiarism is copying without attribution. If it's attributed, then it's not plagiarism, and if it's not attributed, then it is plagiarism. This is entirely separate from any other legal, ethical, or copyright issues. -Arch dude (talk) 02:04, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

Zbigniew Blazeje removed by copyright infringement[edit]

This entry is being removed due to it being the same as a Facebook page. I created the Facebook page. I created the Wikipedia page. I use a pseudonym on Facebook. Information about Zbigniew Blazeje is derived from sources documented in my footnotes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Danielkernohan (talk • contribs) 02:19, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

Why was my edit removed?[edit]

I’m not sure if you have looked up “stagecoach” yet but it clearly states it being a dance drama and singing club not just a carriage. So please may my edit remain since is is 100% true and states facts from my experience. I am deeply offended. Yours, Radiant-Shine 02:36, 3 January 2020 (UTC)Radiant-Shine (talk)