Wikipedia:Help desk

Welcome—ask questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia! (Am I in the right place?)

• For other types of questions, use the search box, see the reference desk or Help:Contents. If you have comments about a specific article, use that article's talk page.
• Do not provide your email address or any other contact information. Answers will be provided on this page only.
• If your question is about a Wikipedia article, draft article, or other page on Wikipedia, tell us what it is!
• Check back on this page to see if your question has been answered.
• For real-time help, use our IRC help channel, #wikipedia-en-help.
• New editors may prefer the Teahouse, a help area for beginners (but please don't ask in both places).

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February 28

"Keep me logged in" doesn't keep me logged in

I keep getting logged out in Google Chrome even though I check the "Keep me logged in (for up to one year)" box. I think a browser privacy setting could be causing it. Third-party cookies are only blocked in Incognito Mode, but I am sending a "do not track" request with my traffic; could that be causing it? Raymond1922 (talk) 02:57, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

@Raymond1922A: Some Google searching reveals that each website can handle Do Not Track requests differently, but it may include not storing cookies. If that is the case, then yes that is the problem since Wikipedia uses cookies for tracking if you are logged in or not. RudolfRed (talk) 03:04, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

I'm wrong. See [1]], Wikipedia does not change behavior based on Do Not Track. Might be a Chrome thing? RudolfRed (talk) 03:06, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

I have this issue come up frequently, and I switch devices often. Is that a factor in your Wikipedia usage? @Raymond1922A Reconrabbit 03:24, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

I read "Keep me logged in (for up to one year)" as "Keep me logged in until I, my device or Wikipedia log me out for some reason, or for one year if longer". "for up to one year" is not a guarantee that you will stay logged in for a particular length of time. TSventon (talk) 11:28, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

I'm not logging out on purpose. I got repeatedly logged out in the last week or two on both my desktop and phone, on which Google Chrome is synced. Other sites aren't logging me out. Raymond1922 (talk) 13:32, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Admins blocking other admins

Can admins block other admins? Just a small question I wanted to ask 2003LN6 04:22, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

yes. ltbdl (talk) 04:26, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Marc Aliamo

I've been watching the original series Night Court and came across his name after some episodes, but using his given name of Michael Aliamo... it's not listed as one of the shows he was in...you might want to check it out... 2603:6081:4D06:7742:F114:92CF:DFE8:55FC (talk) 04:31, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

First off, you're in the wrong place. You should have asked this at the Entertainment section of the reference desk. However, IMDb lists two actors: Marc Alaimo (whose birth name is Michael Alaimo) and Michael Alaimo, for whom we have no article. The latter is listed as appearing in two episodes of Night Court. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:47, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Submit Button

Dear Wikipedia Help Desk,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to seek assistance regarding a technical issue I've encountered while editing a Wikipedia page.

I've been working on User:Erin1313/sandbox, and I've noticed that the submit button for reviews seems to be missing. Despite refreshing the page and trying different browsers, the submit button remains inaccessible.

Could you please advise on why the submit button might be missing and how I can resolve this issue? I've checked for any JavaScript errors and cleared my browser cache, but the problem persists.

Any guidance or assistance you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and assistance.

Best regards,

Erin Simpson Erin1313 (talk) 08:14, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

That's in your sandbox. It's not a draft, at least as far as Wikipedia knows. You'd have to move it to draftspace to see a Submit button. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:35, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Hi, Thank you! but may i know how to transfer my sandbox to draft space? Erin1313 (talk) 08:04, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Erin1313, I have moved that to Draftspace and submitted it for review.

I have, however, declined it for being inappropriate sources and containing language like "there is not a day that goes by that Erin doesn't hear or get sung this song by a fellow kiwi fan and it continues to make her smile knowing that a song can touch so many people." which is totally inappropriate for Wikipedia and you should remove it.

Every single statement must be backed up by an in-line citation from a reliable source. Language must be neutral throughout.

Let me know if you have any questions. Qcne (talk) 11:18, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for that. I appreciate it! I will fix that. Erin1313 (talk) 08:05, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

@Erin1313 Just in case you want to develop future drafts in your sandbox, there is a template you can add at the top which will provide the "submit" button. See {{User sandbox}}. Mike Turnbull (talk) 12:11, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Thank you! I appreciate it so much. Erin1313 (talk) 08:05, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Would this paragraph be considered advertisement and should it be removed?

I'm pretty sure the general policy is that advertisements are not allowed. However, the Pudsey page has a sports section looks like an advertisement or just trivia which was reverted a number of times back in 2014. User was literally called "pudseyru". They also made this helpdesk post where they were told not to advertise their club:

https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Help_desk&direction=next&oldid=593778119

Going through the history of the page, there seems to be a trend of various different local clubs being added and removed. Currently we have this paragraph with a dead citation:

"Pudsey Runners running club was formed in 2013 and meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Pudsey Bowling, Running and Table Tennis Club. The aim of the club is to get non-runners into running and improve their fitness as well as developing the abilities of experienced runners. Pudsey Pacers Running Club was established in 1991 and focuses on road, fell and trail running for all abilities. They also host the annual Pudsey 10K Challenge, a demanding and popular mixed surface race, incorporating on and off-road sections."

Am I right in thinking this paragraph should just be removed? Don't want to be too bold. Rule0042 (talk) 10:24, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

It is certainly written to promote the running club. And without any independent sourcing, we have no grounds to see it of such significance that discussion of the club would merit inclusion even if rewritten. I'd remove it. AndyTheGrump (talk) 10:30, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Rule0042 Be BOLD! Theroadislong (talk) 10:31, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Thank you, done. Just didn't want to remove without verifying first. Rule0042 (talk) 10:36, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Baidu baike

Can I bring the contents of Baidu Baike to Wikipedia? Mamiamauwy (talk) 13:42, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Baidu Baike, which was founded after the Chinese government banned Wikipedia, has been criticised for its censorship, copyright violations, commercialist practices and abundance of unsourced information.

Regardless of questions of government control, censorship etc (and there are also possible copyright infringement concerns), it consists of user-generated content. Per WP:USERGENERATED we don't cite such content, and we certainly won't copy articles over to Wikipedia. AndyTheGrump (talk) 14:19, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Even though it is the same article, there are some cases where the content is poor in Wikipedia and there is a lot of content in Baidu Baike. So is it also not possible to get any information from Baidu Baike, find a reliable source about it, and write the content in Wikipedia? Mamiamauwy (talk) 14:32, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Reliable sources are reliable sources. There's no taboo about getting information from such sources to which BB led you, and writing a new article. Just don't model it on the BB article, so there will be no plagiarism issue. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:48, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

References

Added {{talkref}} so references will stay with this thread. Mike Turnbull (talk) 14:18, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

How much does a business license cost?

How much does a business license cost? 174.251.128.72 (talk) 15:12, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia does not issue business licenses. If you're looking for information about some other organization, their website is a good place to start; this help desk only deals with matters related to Wikipedia. 57.140.16.57 (talk) 15:28, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

If this were the place for such questions, I would suggest asking the City of Richmond. —Tamfang (talk) 23:52, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Restricted editing

Why can't you edit on some pages? 165.140.214.238 (talk) 15:17, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

Pages are protected for many reasons, usually related to some kind of ongoing disruption. See WP:Page protection for more. 57.140.16.57 (talk) 15:30, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

please fix an incorrect link

I'm not a Wikipedia editor and I do not want to be one. In the article on Mary McCartney the link to her mother in the Early Life section, Linda Eastman is not correct. The first paragraph in the Wikipedia article has the correct link (Linda McCartney). 151.200.20.185 (talk) 16:07, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

 Done Hello, I've just made the change. Thank you for reporting this. Mlkj (talk) 16:10, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

In future, when you find such a problem, please bring it up on the article's own Talk page. —Tamfang (talk) 23:54, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Editing questions

I'm a new editor and want to learn Wikipedia code by doing simple editing of noticed articles using system suggestions. I ran into some confusing things in the Con Murphy (Valley Rovers hurler) article. The article has a tone notice. I read it, and the tone seems to be encyclopedic, but I noticed there's a lot of information that doesn't have sources. I went into source mode and tried to put the refimprove template at the top instead, but when I preview my change, it gives me a script warning error about a news template, and a red template preview warning. I'm afraid to break anything. What am I doing wrong? Mike Gauya (talk) 23:26, 28 February 2024 (UTC)

@Mike Gauya: Hi there! You would replace {{Tone|date=May 2017}} with {{more citations needed|date=February 2024}}, being careful that you don't accidentally edit one of the other templates. Happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 00:15, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

@Mike Gauya: If you're referring to the message stating "Script warning: One or more {{cite news}} templates have maintenance messages; messages may be hidden", that's referring to the incorrect formatting of the authors in reference #1, not the edit you're making. GoingBatty (talk) 00:16, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

@GoingBatty Thanks. I switched in the more citations template, but noticed the other red template error warning went away. I looked at the edit history and saw that you removed the item fullname= from the infobox. Was that the cause of the other error? I looked at the cite news template and it seems to be a lot of work to put so many authors' names into the different template fields. Is it a big deal if that error keeps showing up? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mike Gauya (talk • contribs) 01:36, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

@Mike Gauya: I presume removing the |fullname= parameter resolved the "red template preview warning". You don't have to fix the reference if you're not up to it. GoingBatty (talk) 02:49, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

February 29

Removing entries from "Suggested languages"

When I try to switch from an article in Wikipedia to the same one in a different language, the first section has a list of "Suggested languages" which seem to be remembered by some cookies or past preferences linked to my IP/machine/browser/whatever. I want to remove some of those languages from being offered in the pool of the suggested ones. Is there a way to do this? Zubizarreta5 (talk) 01:17, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Searching around, I've seen this question asked several times, often with no answer, or responses that claim no such thing exists in the interface. Yikes! Here's the documentation I could find: mw:Universal Language Selector/Compact Language Links DMacks (talk) 09:21, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

@Zubizarreta5: You can for example remove language code pt (Portuguese) from suggested languages at all wikis by saving this in meta:Special:MyPage/global.css:

.uls-lcd-quicklist .interwiki-pt {display:none;}

No other language takes the place under suggested languages. The list just gets shorter if Portuguese would have been there. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:49, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

How do I cancel my account

How do I cancel my account Rdeaki01 (talk) 01:36, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia accounts generally don't require deletion. If you mean cancelling a recurring donation to Wikipedia, see this page. If you really do want to delete your account, see WP:VANISH. Remsense诉 01:39, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Rdeaki01, two comments on Remsense's mention of WP:VANISH above. First, for an account to vanish doesn't mean that it's deleted. Actual deletion is never possible. Secondly, your question above is the only time that you, as "Rdeaki01" have "contributed to" (written anything for) Wikipedia. (You haven't even made any edits that were subsequently deleted.) It's unlikely that anyone would ever notice that a "Rdeaki01" had ever been present. A request to "vanish" would be a waste of people's time. -- Hoary (talk) 04:23, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

I assumed it's possible they are asking on behalf of another account, but this is worth mentioning regardless. Remsense诉 04:24, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Cite menu not showing up when editing

This is my edit menu logged in: [2]

This is my menu when logged out: [3]

I've always been able to access the menu logged in before without issue. Is there some extension I need to activate? ADifferentMan (talk) 05:12, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

@ADifferentMan: Hi there! When you're logged in and go to Preferences > Gadgets and go down to the Editing section, is the refToolbar box checked? GoingBatty (talk) 05:55, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

I just looked and it wasn't. It shows up after ticking that box. Thanks! ADifferentMan (talk) 06:10, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Joe Gatto

On the Pi Lambda Phi page Joe Gatto of impractical Jokes and founding member of the Phi Lambda Phi LIU Chapter is missing. "Formerly known as The tenderloins" CW Post 1998, Long Island University. Constitutional Kyle (talk) 06:21, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Constitutional Kyle, you are free, indeed encouraged, to add Joe Gatto to List of Pi Lambda Phi members. That list can be edited by anyone. All you need to do is provide a reference to a reliable source that verifies the content. Cullen328 (talk) 06:57, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Bananas

Do bananas stay less round than plantain? 2601:8C0:A01:C0A0:89DD:3EF2:7303:9145 (talk) 15:24, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Hello, IP user. I don't know what your question means, but I am confident that it is not appropriate to this page, which is about help in editing Wikipedia. If the Wikipedia articles banana and cooking banana don't answer your question, it is possible that somebody will be able to answer it at the Wikipedia reference desk; but I think you will need to clarify what you are asking. ColinFine (talk) 16:13, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

When would it be appropriate to use {{uw-vandalism4im}}?

Can anyone send me a few examples of correct usages that justified {{uw-vandalism4im}} 『π』BalaM314〘talk〙 15:37, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

@BalaM314 The usage of the various levels of warning message is described at WP:UWLS. You don't need to use these templates: if you prefer, just leave a polite but assertive message on the offending editor's Talk Page. Mike Turnbull (talk) 15:53, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Linking a book title to a copy of the book or a website that has the book

I have a book (Falcon Brigade, Combat and Command in Somalia and Haiti) that is listed and referenced in the Wikipedia site entitled, "Battle of Mogadishu (1993)". I noticed all of the books (with the exception of mine) referenced in the Published Account section are highlighted in blue and link directly to a photo of the book cover and info on the book. How do I rectify and establish a link? Thank you for your assistance.Zhwks (talk) 19:38, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Hello Zhwks, and thank you for the question. I've added a citation to the book that includes a link via the ISBN to sources for the material. I've also posted a standard notification to your talk page with guidelines regarding editing with a conflict of interest. VQuakr (talk) 19:49, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Thank you - much appreciated. Zhwks (talk) 21:24, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Remove Wikidata edits from watchlist

How do I filter out Wikidata changes from my watchlist? -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 20:17, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Verbarson, there should be an input above the list itself that says "Filter changes". Click it to pop up a list of filters, scroll to the end of that and uncheck "Wikidata edits". Rummskartoffel 16:21, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Rummskartoffel, thanks, I've already looked at that, and the "Wikidata edits" option is already unticked (as are all the options under "Type of change"). Does that mean I have to tick all those options except "Wikidata edits"? Tried that; seems to work. Can I be sure the other five options include everything else? -- Verbarson  ^talk_edits 17:36, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Huh, it didn't even occur to me you might have every option unticked, but I guess it makes sense that it'd just show everything in that case.

Verbarson, I think they should include everything, yes, unless you can think of something that wouldn't be covered by any of the other five options but which you would expect to be shown. Rummskartoffel 18:28, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Ripen fruit

How can you tell if a pineapple is ripe or not about? C.jamisonm96 (talk) 22:39, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

This page is for questions about using wikipedia. Your question would be better suited to one of the reference desks, perhaps the science one. Mikenorton (talk) 22:44, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Most "optimized" way to cite a bunch of chapters from one book that all have different authors?

There's one article I want to get to FA status one day, and the best English source is a book that each chapter is written by a different person with a distinct focus, idea and everything. I could use Rp templates which works for most articles I do, but since there's a lot of other books cited I think another way would be best, but I'm not really sure. Sorry if I didn't explain this the best. Most of the sources will probably be books. PARAKANYAA (talk) 22:48, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

I would use Template:Cite book for each book and Template:Harvc for each chapter, with each indented under its book. Then I'd use Template:Sfn for the citations and have each refer to the specific chapter and page being cited. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 23:07, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

That looks good, thank you :) PARAKANYAA (talk) 23:14, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

@Firefangledfeathers Is there a way using that method to get something approximating how the "orig-date=" parameter works on Cite book, for the individual chapters? Like if the chapter is initially from 1992, but the book was published in 2010, or is that not possible with these templates? PARAKANYAA (talk) 23:34, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

This question doesn't make much sense. The purpose of {{harvc}} is to avoid unnecessary duplication of bibliographic detail. Including something like |orig-date= in {{harvc}} would be unnecessary duplication. If you are citing a chapters by multiple authors in a single edited source, |orig-date= belongs in only one place: the base {{cite book}} template. Do not use the year from |orig-date= in {{harvc}} and {{sfn}}. For those two templates, use the year from |date= or |year= in the {{cite book}} template.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 00:01, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Well, the original date part wouldn't apply to the cite book template, only to the chapter (the chapter was published earlier), so it can't be in that. In that circumstance it should just be removed entirely. Maybe I should just stick with rp templates, clutter be damned.PARAKANYAA (talk) 00:11, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Wait. What? If you are citing an edited collection of chapters, the only date that matters is the publication date of the collection that you consulted. Some editors think that it is important to recognize that a collection that they consulted was previously published. When that is the case, the date of previous publication goes in |orig-date=. The purpose of a citation is to help our readers locate a copy of the source that you consulted so for that source, |orig-date= doesn't point to the collection the you consulted. The all-important date is the collection's publication date and it belongs in |date= (or |year= if you prefer).

No doubt, the individual chapters in your source were all written (and perhaps previously published) at different times but the publication of them as a collection in this source occurred at a specific date so for purposes of citing a chapter of this source, the collection's publication date is all that is required. If this collection was previously published, you may put the date of previous publication in |orig-date= if you think it important.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 00:46, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

If for some reason the original publication date of the chapter is relevant, I'd probably just added that as a note just after the end of the harvc template. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 01:49, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

@PARAKANYAA: See the sixth example ("Citing a chapter in a book with different authors for different chapters and an editor") at WP:Cite book#Examples. Deor (talk) 23:11, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, that's what I was doing, I just found it looked a bit messy/repetitive. I'd seen FA's do it better before but I wasn't exactly sure how that was done. PARAKANYAA (talk) 23:13, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

March 1

Help

How do I request two articles to be merged Maestrofin (talk) 01:04, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Per Proposing a merge,

If the need for a merge is obvious, editors can be bold and simply do it. [...] Articles that have been separate for a long time should usually be discussed first, especially those on controversial topics. [...] Create a discussion [...] usually done on the proposed destination page's talk page.

There are instructions on the exact steps in said guidance. Sincerely, Thinker78 (talk) 01:38, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Moses Montefiore

Ref. number 5 does not have a page number - is this a problem? Thanks for any advice or repairs to this page that you might consider necessary. 115.70.23.77 (talk) 04:26, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Political issues aside (speaking only with regard to general page numbers), it probably doesn't because Google Books usually doesn't show page numbers and that appears to be where it's accessed from. It having a quote is better than nothing but it would be better if it had one, yes PARAKANYAA (talk) 04:52, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

PARAKANYAA, the book in question is a 2023 ebook published by Rutgers University Press. Ebooks by their very nature lack page numbers. If Google Books displays content of a scanned paper book, then page numbers will be shown. Cullen328 (talk) 06:02, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, but sometimes there's a print copy which you can get numbers from. PARAKANYAA (talk) 06:06, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

PARAKANYAA, you are correct. The book in question was also published in paperback. Cullen328 (talk) 20:57, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

DRAFT: Francsico R Adriano Sr.

Hello, I have a draft and I want to submit for approval Francsico R Adriano Sr. I clicked publish but it does not seem to be submitted, please advise. Abehonest (talk) 07:55, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Hello, Abehonest, I submitted the draft as you requested. However, it is likely to be declined because it is poorly referenced. Please read Your first article and improve the draft accordingly as soon as possible. Cullen328 (talk) 09:43, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

"Publish" doesn't mean "publish to the main encyclopaedia", it just means "Save my work" - it was changed to emphasise that everything in Wikipedia (including drafts, user pages, talk pages) are publicly visible to those who know look for them. ColinFine (talk) 12:40, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Spammer claiming to be wikipedia administartor proposing to boost my page

Hello, I just want to alert you that there is a spammer targeting academia, which is claiming to be a Wikipedia editor and proposing to spice up your biography (I guess for a fee). I'm not sure it is a good idea to post the full text of the spam or the name of the person in question (maybe a pseudonym), I'll do it if you confirm it is ok. Otherwise, you can contact me at 18bkbm5lf _at_ mozmail.com (or via talk page, if I get a notification) and I'll provide the full mail.

cheers

08:34, 1 March 2024 (UTC) 18bkbm5lf (talk) 08:34, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

It's almost certainly a scam. A lot of this happens. See, for example, Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2024-02-13/Disinformation report.   Maproom (talk) 08:43, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Scams happen everywhere, very little that can be done about it. When we find users like this, we block them, but usernames are cheap so they easily come back. The most important advice that can be given is to always be sceptical about anyone you do not know offering you stuff. Wikipedia, Internet, ice cream truck alike. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 09:22, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Hello, 18bkbm5lf. Please read Wikipedia:Articles for creation/Scam warning and provide complete details to paid-en-wp@wikipedia.org as soon as possible. Cullen328 (talk) 09:34, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Thank you, do not worry about me, I'm not going to get scammed this time. I have transmitted the message as requested. 18bkbm5lf (talk) 09:38, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

See all my logged in sessions in different devices

There is a way to see all my current logged in sessions in different devices and to log out of them? Yilku1 (talk) 12:34, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Hi Yilku1,

At least for me, when I am logged in on multiple devices and then 'Log out' on one of them, I no longer logged in on the others either. DMacks (talk) 06:37, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

How do I report a user?

. 109.166.132.227 (talk) 15:18, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

There are lots of different answers to that question, depending on the circumstances. Sometimes, the answer is "you don't report them, you open a discussion with them, to try and reach consensus". Sometimes the answer is "you don't report them, you put a user warning on their talk page". And sometimes you do report them, but there are different places to do this, depending on what the issue is. ColinFine (talk) 16:29, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

I agree with ColinFine, and the general principle is to be specific and provide a reasonable level of detail when asking for advice anywhere on Wikipedia. Cullen328 (talk) 20:49, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Old version of the image is displayed instead of the new one

Hello, I've recently uploaded a new version of File:Linguistic map of Italy.svg, but in that page's "Suggested Legend" section the previous version of this image is still displayed. How can I fix that? Cosocosa (talk) 15:34, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Purge the cache: ctrl + f5 Yilku1 (talk) 15:36, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Do I use the via or publisher parameters for this?

When I'm using citation templates, and there's a news source that was republished elsewhere (not about news agencies, ik the agency parameter) by a different source, do I put the republishing organization in the "via" or "publisher" parameters? I'm aware that if the non-aggregate news source is available that is preferred, but the one I most often run into this case with is an African news website (allAfrica) which has a lot that isn't accessible elsewhere anymore. PARAKANYAA (talk) 19:10, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

I would use via. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 19:12, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Thank you :) PARAKANYAA (talk) 19:13, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Add Only Verified Data

Do not write and add unsourced data to any page or article Harman Godara (talk) 19:34, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

@Harman Godara Agreed. That is a core policy explained at WP:V. Do you have a question related to this? Mike Turnbull (talk) 20:17, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

How can I become a moderator

Hi. I’m booking for watching out for an appropriate changes to articles and then misuse of editing 1f5g56y (talk) 20:47, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

FYI

Blocked for disruptive editing. Mike Turnbull (talk) 20:56, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Guideline on name changes

I'm writing an article on a German who immigrated to Latin America in the early 20th century. As was customary at the time, they took a Hispanicized version of their birth name – by which they are more well-known – without making any actual legal name change (that I know of). In that case, how would one go about writing their name in the article lead? I've dotted down a few forms:

• Spanish, born: Pablo Busch Wiesneer (born Paul Busch; 4 November 1867 – c. 1940)...
• Spanish first: Pablo Busch Wiesner (German: Paul Busch; 4 November 1867 – c. 1940) ...
• Birth name first: Paul Busch (Spanish: Pablo Busch Wiesner; 4 November 1867 – c. 1940) ...
• Both bold: Paul Busch (4 November 1867 – c. 1940), also known as Pablo Busch Wiesner, ...

Which would you go with, or is there a different form you prefer? Let me know. Krisgabwoosh (talk) 21:55, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Put the better-known name first and as the article's title per WP:COMMONNAME. Bolding the other name is IMO preferred. Definitely no italics though. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:17, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Another question would be if there's any precedent for individuals with multiple legal names. It's not a common occurrence, but happens occasionally when one has two nationalities. Krisgabwoosh (talk) 22:36, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Per Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Biography § Changed names,

In some cases, a subject may have changed their full name at some point after birth. In these cases, the birth name may be given in the lead as well, if relevant:

• From Jack Benny: Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) ...

Regarding multiple names,

Multiple former names may be mentioned in the lead, boldfaced if they redirect to the article. However, it is not always appropriate to list every previous name of a subject, only the birth name and those that were in use during the period of notability.

• NBill de Blasio (born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961)  is a politician .... He was briefly known as Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm ...

The names should be distributed throughout the lead to mark major transitions in the subject's life:

• YAugustus (63 BC – 14 AD) was a Roman emperor .... He was born Gaius Octavius Thurinus into a wealthy family .... He assumed the name Octavian after his adoption ...

Incidentally, regarding the language template, per Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility § Other languages,

If text should not be italicized—such as the names of places or people—it is possible to add italic=no to override the default behaviour.

Sincerely, Thinker78 (talk) 04:02, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

That makes sense. In my case, though, I'm dealing with an individual who would have regularly used both names, dependent on which country they were in. He would use "Pablo" in Latin America and "Paul" in Germany, throughout his life.

The closest example I can approximate of one article using multiple translations of a given name would be the German monarchs William/Wilhelm I and Frederick/Friedrich III. In such a case, perhaps?:

• Pablo Busch Wiesener or Paul Busch (4 November 1867 – 3 May 1950).

I think I've just answered my own question. Krisgabwoosh (talk) 04:13, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

According to the guideline, the key is their birth name. There is different guidance for monarchs though. Regards, Thinker78 (talk) 04:21, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Would the birth name take precedence even if the translated name is the common name? Krisgabwoosh (talk) 04:25, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Actually in the examples above, the birth name does not take precedence. It may be good to follow this guidance in order to note which was the birth name, highlighting thus that the other name is not the birth name. But in this case for changed names. Sincerely, Thinker78 (talk) 05:05, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

I think I'll just go with: Pablo Busch Wiesener (born Paul Busch) and add an explanatory note. Can never go wrong with explanatory notes! Thanks for the help.

Uh... Sincerely Krisgabwoosh (talk) 06:33, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Notes

March 2

Regarding other users editing my talk page

Hello all, I recently noticed that I have received two notifications regarding my talk page. One comment/question was posted and then, before I could get to it, another random (to me, based on this user's edit log) user removed it for no reason. This wasn't a case of users asking me to remove anything inappropriate or anything; my talk page is a pretty bare place where I mostly tend to receive notifications for occasionally accidentally linking to disambiguation pages. I guess my question is: can anyone explain a situation like this, or has anyone experienced a situation like this? I still have the links to the two edits, if that would help with anything.

Thanks!! EPBeatles (talk) 01:02, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Hi, anyone can see your talk page history, it looks as though a new editor posted on your talk page and another editor thought the edit wasn't constructive and reverted it. Generally editors shouldn't delete posts on other editors' user pages, see Wikipedia:User pages. TSventon (talk) 01:43, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Pinging user:14 novembre, who removed the edit in question. Meters (talk) 01:46, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

It appears that the IP you undid on Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) [4] created an account to ask you about the edit, but did not add a link or diff, so it should not have been removed from your talk page. Meters (talk) 01:53, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

I need help in removing a "ghost" category

w:es:Teresa Broseta is for some reason included in w:es:Categoría:Personas intersexo (Which is FALSE).

However when I try to edit the page to remove the category it simply disappears from the list and does not show up in the editing mode at all. CLick back to read mode and it's there again. Please help. Dascomb1812 (talk) 01:30, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Dascomb1812, this is an en Wikipedia helpdesk, but I think the es article may be using Wikidata, where the gender was changed in November 2023. TSventon (talk) 01:59, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Apololgies for the wrong use of the forum, I did not realize. However your help was exactly what I needed so I wanted to thank you. Dascomb1812 (talk) 02:14, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

How to revert bulk incorrect changes?

(UPDATED - SEE BELOW) I noticed that Wondabyne has changed a large number of articles about Australian places to insert a timezone of UTC+10. The problem is that this is wrong. Entire states observe Daylight Saving Time ("summer time") for much of the year, including right now. Is there some way to do a bulk revert? Gronk Oz (talk) 05:26, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

There might(?) be an admin tool that can do it, without that using redwarn or twinkle and doing them individually is probably fastest, although some (including [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]) have AEST as the "normal" time and AEDT as the summer time, so (from what I understand) some are right, since both are observed. (Although I don't see any sources so there's that and I'm not sure how similar the daylight time observations in Australia compare with Arizona) Shaws username . talk . 05:43, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

@gronk oz: mass rollback, but it requires rollback. ltbdl (talk) 05:51, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

UPDATE - on closer inspection, I found that (at least some of) these articles already had DST entries. So those ones will be okay. (I know I should have checked more thoroughly before wasting everybody's time, sorry about that - for some reason, some articles already had the DST parameter but not the standard time.) I have asked the editor concerned to confirm whether they checked them all before making their changes. If so, I am happy to apologize and move on...--Gronk Oz (talk) 05:58, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

I noticed this case independently; I've mass-reverted the edits as block evasion. Graham87 (talk) 09:39, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Help pages

Are help pages policy? 2003LN6 06:05, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

@2003 LN6: no. ltbdl (talk) 06:54, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Hello, 2003 LN6. Policy pages are marked clearly as policy at the top of the page. Help pages may not formally be policy pages, but most help pages are widely accepted and many of them do a very good job of explaining and clarifying policy. Cullen328 (talk) 09:03, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

How to fix a NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID error.

I've been receiving a NET::ERR_CERT_AUTHORITY_INVALID error which means I cannot visit en.wikipedia.org at all because the website uses HSTS.

This is a new problem that has popped up in the past couple of days. I am running a browser called Brave at version 1.41.100 which has been working fine up until a couple days ago.

Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this? Thanks for your help! Cbird1057 (talk) 06:25, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

@cbird1057: to bypass this, click "advanced" and "proceed to en.wikipedia.org". or is this something different? ltbdl (talk) 07:06, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Creating portal as draft

Can i create a portal as a draft and later move it as a portal? MAL MALDIVE (talk) 08:49, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Creating a totally new page with the same/similar subject

As I explained the situation before, I would like to edit (but I see that it's not possible) the content of the Transactional Analysis wikipedia page. It will be more than an edit because I think this content needs to be fully changed so that people who are interested in it could get a much better insight on it. My question is now; can I create a totally new page about Transactional Analysis with a new content and proper references, with the same name or maybe with a very similar name? Would this be accepted and approved by Wikipedia team? many thanks in advance for your support and response. BowlbyMaya (talk) 09:01, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

If you think that the article needs to be wholesale rewritten, it might be a good idea to discuss this on the talk page first, to see if other editors agree or have other ideas, before you invest the time needed to perform the rewrite. 331dot (talk) 09:33, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

BowlbyMaya, the answer is "no". Wikipedia has one and only one article about each discrete topic. We do not have multiple articles about Issac Newton or Taylor Swift or Astronomy, although each of those articles have appropriate spinoff articles. But each discrete, narrowly defined topic should have a single article. Your statement that I would like to edit (but I see that it's not possible) the content of the Transactional Analysis wikipedia page appears to be false. Transactional analysis is unprotected, and any editor is free to edit that article, in compliance with Wikipedia's Policies and guidelines. Efforts to edit so that people who are interested in it could get a much better insight on it are a violation of WP:Righting great wrongs. That objective is contrary to the purpose of Wikipedia. We do not care at all about "better insights" on Wikpedia, but rather whether or not a specific article accurately summarizes what reliable sources entirely independent of the topic say about the topic. Literally nothing more and nothing less. As a matter of policy, acceptable Wikipedia articles are written from the Neutral point of view and cannot promote the topic in Wikipedia's voice in any way. Cullen328 (talk) 09:49, 2 March 2024 (UTC)

Thank you very much for your reply and explanation! BowlbyMaya (talk) 09:56, 2 March 2024 (UTC)