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May 22

Line-break handling

Hi, I need help thinking of a way to avoid an ugly line-break. What I'm looking for is something that looks like this:

• Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'​s

Importantly the title (Castlevania II: Simon's Quest) should be linked and italic; the terminal 's portion should be unlinked and non-italic. And finally there should be no line-break between Quest and the terminal 's portion. The background for this question can be found in the last few edits at the history of I am Error and on my talk page here

Below are some of my attempts and the resulting problems.

Markup	Display	Problems
''[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest]]''{{'}}​s	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'​s	This appears correctly (italic linked title, non-italic unlinked 's portion), but it apparently line-breaks at the 's.
''[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest]]'''​s	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'​s	This contains an English usage error (the 's shouldn't be italicized) and it violates MOS:PUNCT.
''[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest]]''<nowiki>'​s</nowiki>	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'​s	Again it looks OK, but I worry that it would also line-break at the 's.
{{nowrap|''[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest]]''{{'}}​s}}	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'​s	This looks fine but now the entire expression is unable to be line-broken. If there must be a line-break it should fall between Simon's and Quest's
[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest|''Castlevania II: Simon's {{nowrap|Quest''{{'}}s}}]]	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest's	The problem is that the 's is now part of the link and it shouldn't be.
''[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest|''Castlevania II: Simon's]]'' {{nowrap|''[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest|Quest]]''{{'}}s}}	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest's	The problem is that it breaks the link into two halves.

I'm kind of running out of ideas at this point. Do any of you have any advice? -Thibbs (talk) 01:57, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

@Thibbs: I don't see the problem with the second example. You say "the 's shouldn't be italicized", and it isn't, at least for me. And where does it violate MOS:PUNCT? ―Mandruss ☎ 02:07, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

I now see that the apostrophe is italicized, after zooming in to 150%. ―Mandruss ☎ 02:08, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

How about bypassing the problem by rephrasing, which would make for easier reading anyway? Nintendo Life's Morgan Sleeper compared the translation of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest  to the quote. ―Mandruss ☎ 02:12, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Rephrasing would work for me. This may just be a case of imposing too many requirements. What I was hoping for is some kind of a special non-breaking apostrophe character (the equivalent of   or ‑) or something. I don't know. Thanks for your thoughts, Mandruss. -Thibbs (talk) 02:29, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Can it break before the apostrophe in your browser? In my Firefox it can apparently only break after the apostrophe so it can be avoided with an ordinary link followed by {{nowrap|'s}}: Castlevania II: Simon's Quest's. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:12, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Any luck with {{nowrap begin}}/{{nowrap end}}? —Cryptic 03:19, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Hmm, how about:

''[[Castlevania II: Simon's Quest|Castlevania II: Simon's <span class="nowrap">Quest]]''<nowiki>'​s</nowiki></span>

which produces Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'​s?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:42, 22 May 2015 (UTC) Nope, checked, doesn't work. Move along nothing to see here.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:51, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

• Thanks for your help everyone. I'm actually away from my computer all weekend long, but I'll implement these ideas when I get back on Monday. The problem was first noticed by JDspeeder1, so to answer PrimeHunter's question I am using Firefox myself so that solution would also work for me. Does it cause any problems for you, JDspeeder1? Thanks for your suggestion too, Cryptic. I'll make a few tests on Monday. And thanks anyway, Fuhghettaboutit. -Thibbs (talk) 13:45, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

My Sandbox

At the top right-hand corner of my screen (in Wikipedia), it says: "Talk Sandbox Preferences Beta Watchlist Contributions Log out". All of those (except one) are blue links. The "Sandbox" link is red. Why is that? It had been blue, for years and years. Then, all of the sudden, it turned red (probably a few months ago). What is this all about? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 02:25, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

The link is to User:Joseph A. Spadaro/sandbox with lower case 's'. You have only created User:Joseph A. Spadaro/Sandbox with upper case 'S'. The implementation was changed from a gadget to an extension last month.[1] It was also lower case 's' before so I guess you never used it, but I think it was an edit url and not a wikilink in the gadget. Only wikilinks are red for non-existing pages. See more, including how to remove the link, at Help:My sandbox. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:28, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. But, sorry, I didn't understand a word you said. Can you explain again, please, with less computer/technical lingo and jargon? I didn't understand any of that. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk)

The page User:Joseph A. Spadaro/Sandbox, with a big S, exists, so the link to it is in blue. The page User:Joseph A. Spadaro/sandbox, with a small s, does not exist, so the link to it is in red. The software used not to care about the difference between S and s, but it does care now. Maproom (talk) 05:43, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

If you want the link to be blue then create a page at User:Joseph A. Spadaro/sandbox. If you want the link to be removed then place this in your CSS:

li#pt-sandbox { display: none; }

PrimeHunter (talk) 12:41, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. Is there a way to make that RED link become a BLUE link? And is there a way to make that link to my "capital S" Sandbox (the way that it used to), as opposed to my "lower case s" sandbox (which is some new feature)? In other words, can I get it back to be the way that it used to be? So that the link at the top right of my page (which used to be blue and is now red) will link to the Sandboxes that I already have created (and are floating around at this page User:Joseph A. Spadaro/Sandbox)? I have some 70 pages with a "capital S" and I don't feel like renaming them all to "lower case s". Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:17, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure it's a great idea, but you could probably make the "little s" page a redirect to the "big S" page. Create the "little s" page and put #REDIRECT [[User:Joseph A. Spadaro/Sandbox]] on it. Rwessel (talk) 17:23, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

OK, thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:57, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Referencing errors on Sacraments of the Catholic Church

Reference help requested. What is wrong with this reference Thanks, Jackgarcia49 (talk) 04:12, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Hey Jack. ISBN number come in two flavors: those 10 digits long and those 13 digits long (after 2007). I am guessing that the place where you copied the ISBN number for this citation identified it as a ten digit number by placing the "10:" in front of it, but that is not part of the number, and is what was causing the error. In other words it's just 1-57455-720-3, not "10: 1-57455-720-3". Note that pages= automatically places "pp.", and page= automatically places "p.", so use the former for more than one page, the latter for a single page and place the abbreviation in neither. Also, I'm not sure what is meant by "93 #325". Was "93 & 325" meant?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:38, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

link on article set to blacklist

Hallo,
the wikipedia site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGS_S.A.) show the hint that a process set the link to blacklist. I still have no idea what's to. I don't know which link was blocked and why. I'm also not sure that I can request to setup the link to whitelist or only the writer can do this

Rainer — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.110.101.138 (talk) 06:25, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

That'll be the article SGS S.A.. The blacklisted links are to the subject's own web site, www.sgs.com. I have removed one such link which was used as a reference, against Wikipedia policy. The other two are at the foot of the infobox, and at the foot of the article. I do not know why the domain has been blacklisted, but the usual reason is someone adding spammy links to the domain to Wikipedia articles. Maproom (talk) 07:38, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

There is an explanation inside the messege (click the [show] link there):

a domain part in the link (sgs.com) is detected as a substring of pattern \bsgs\.com\b included in a local blacklist (MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist).

I think you may post a question about reasons of blacklisting the domain at the black-list talk page, either in the Troubleshooting or the Discussion section (MediaWiki_talk:Spam-blacklist#Troubleshooting and problems and MediaWiki_talk:Spam-blacklist#Discussion, respectively).

Then you can also propose un-listing the domain in MediaWiki_talk:Spam-blacklist#Proposed removals. --CiaPan (talk) 08:03, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

ref error

Sorry, but I seem to have messed up an entry that I was trying to clarify. I have the message that a closing ref is missing, but I was not aware that I used any. The page is Keilor, Victoria and the message is still showing.Vikinghunt (talk) 07:21, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

With this edit, you added an explanation of the name "Keilor" to the article Keilor, Victoria, and also accidentally added two empty ref tags at the start of the article. Another editor then undid both your changes. Maproom (talk) 07:32, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Polyimide spam

I need a paper's format.Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 111.202.56.43 (talk) 08:41, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

All references in wiki pages must have a <ref> tag at the beginning and a </ref> tag at the end or the error message will appear. VegasCasinoKid (talk) 08:46, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

To the OP: I see that you and others have made repeated attempts to add a promotional link to the article polyimide. If this continues, it is likely that the domain you are trying to link to will be blacklisted by Wikipedia. Maproom (talk) 08:58, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Language link to Commons

How come a link to a corresponding page at Commons does not show up as a 'language link' to the left on the page? See my profile page for an example. Tutlulu (talk) 09:37, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Because Commons isn't a different language Wikipedia. Those links are now handled through Wikidata anyway, but even before, they were for interlanguage links, not other purposes. --ColinFine (talk) 09:57, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

There are templates for linking to Commons and the sister projects, such as {{Commons}} and {{Commons-inline}}.--ukexpat (talk) 12:16, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

If it's for your user page then you could use {{User Commons}}. Articles and some other pages often have a "Wikidata item" link under "Tools" in the left pane. It goes to a page which can include links to other Wikimedia projects. For example, this help desk links to wikidata:Q4026300 which includes commons:Commons:Help desk. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:36, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Display issue in Firefox

While reading an article on Aerogel on your page (Aerogel) I noticed that the IUPAC definition, which appears to be a quote box, doesn't render properly in Firefox. If you make your browser window wider than about 1360 pixels, the quote box overwrites the table of contents area. I was logged in at the time, if that matters.

I was unable to recreate this problem in Internet Explorer, and do not have Chrome or Opera installed on this machine. I was also unable to find a bug reporting feature on your site. If one exists, and you would like me to post this on that bug tracking tool, let me know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stephenjay (talk • contribs) 16:06, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Stephenjay, please see mw:How to report a bug for instructions on filing bug reports. WP:VPT is a place where techni al issues in general may be discussed, its header links to the above bug reporter. BTW I can see the issue also, and may file a report later. DES ^(talk) 18:18, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Requesting deletion on user pages of old accounts

Hi, I have a question of requesting deletion of user pages for accounts I used before. The three accounts I used before are User:Basic Editor (edit | [[Talk:User:Basic Editor|talk]] | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views), User:Wiki-Vector (edit | [[Talk:User:Wiki-Vector|talk]] | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views), and User:Grammar Expert (edit | [[Talk:User:Grammar Expert|talk]] | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views). The issue is I have forgotten the passwords of those accounts, so I cannot log in to them nor I could recover the passwords for them because I did not setup any email addresses. However, I looked at the main page of the template and its presents this text "Warning: This page was last edited by a user other than the owner of the userspace in which it was used. Please make sure the page was tagged by the correct user before deleting.". I do not know what to do in order to request deletion of the pages I had use before (listed above) with my main user account Editor of 3000. I was wondering if I could have tag {{Db-u1}} on the user pages on the three accounts I used before with my main user account (Editor of 3000) that will lead to the result of them being deleted or is there another way I could have done to get the userpages deleted since I could not access the accounts I used before. Can someone please tell me on what I should do. Editor of 3000 (talk) 18:16, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

If you don't have the password, and hadn't set an email, there is no way we can determine that the accounts were yours. And in any case, none of the accounts have user pages - they have user talk pages, but these aren't eligible to be deleted under Db-u1. AndyTheGrump (talk) 18:28, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

references - probably entered them wrong

Hello,

In the Goodyear Blimp article, I noticed there was not a mention of the blimp based in Houston for twenty plus years so I added a paragraph on it (see fleet section). Then under external links I included links to two articles that prove my point. The external links are shown as [1] and [2] but the link titles aren't shown like the other external links on the page. Did I do something wrong? I was just trying to prove the paragraph I inserted.

Thank you for your help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shwylde (talk • contribs) 18:21, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Please take a look at WP:REFB for help.--ukexpat (talk) 18:25, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

And see the changes I made here to move your refs out of the External links section and link them to the content they support. Dwpaul ^Talk 18:26, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

And further, this edit made with the assistance of WP:REFILL (note that it also identified a couple of dead links).--ukexpat (talk) 19:48, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Signature

Hello. How do I edit my signature? — Preceding unsigned comment added by PillPullPoll (talk • contribs) 19:57, 22 May 2015 (UTC) Sorry. I mean I know how to make my signature appear on the page, but I want it to look different? PillPullPoll (talk) 19:58, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

See the Signature section of your Preferences. Dwpaul ^Talk 20:00, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Thank you. PillPullPoll (talk) 20:02, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Your signature looks fine to me. Why get egotistical and follow this Customizing your signature. – just because you can? We don't care how you signature appears. Rather, your esteem relies on the quality of your edits.--Aspro (talk) 20:12, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

@Aspro: some people might want their signature to look different so they can easily find their comments and replies to their comments in lengthy discussions. Other people might want find it annoying that the standard signature doesn't link to a persons contributions and want to fix that in their own signature. It is not egotistical to want improved functionality. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 21:20, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

At the bottom of my browser I have a find widow. Entering (say) Aspro gets me there. So I don't see the first point. I don't understand your second point.--Aspro (talk) 22:34, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

The second point: The default signature doesn't include a link to the editor's contributions, e.g. Special:Contributions/Aspro. Many editors update their signature to add this link. This is a reason to want to know where it is done. Dwpaul ^Talk 22:38, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

You answered that in your first post didn't you?--Aspro (talk) 23:01, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

It is not appropriate to criticize the OP for wanting to do something that has community support. Anyone who wants to try to change community consensus on this may do so at the Village Pump, but they should do so with the knowledge that it is considered a perennial proposal. The Help desk is for questions about how to use and edit Wikipedia. The OP's question has been answered adequately, which ends this thread. ―Mandruss ☎ 23:13, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

May 23

Theodoros Deligiannis

I find it hard to believe that someone who was assassinated while he was the incumbent Prime Minister of a country, "died in extreme poverty", as it is claimed in this article. There must have been a mistake. 46.103.17.198 (talk) 10:21, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

@46.103.17.198: You are welcome to research this and improve the article, with a reference or two to support the content. Or, you can post something like this on the article's talk page, and someone else with an interest in the subject might be inspired to have a look. But, contrary to popular belief, there is no Wikipedia "article corrections department" where people do whatever research and corrections are suggested by readers. We're all volunteers with our own areas of interest and other things on our plates. Best of luck,―Mandruss ☎ 10:30, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

The whole paragraph looks suspect to me, starting with the unreferenced PoV claim "The main fault of Deligiannis as a statesman was that he was unable to grasp the truth that ...". Maproom (talk) 10:49, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

error in edit notice

I don't know why this is happening. Can anyone fix that problem? It is normal here but something is happening when editing my userpage. Thank you.— Supdiop ^talk 10:45, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Fixed, you didn't close your table or Div tags - Happysailor ^(Talk) 10:51, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

@Happysailor: Thank you very much. — Supdiop ^talk 11:01, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Patriot Act

What is the Patriot Act. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.105.205.183 (talk) 12:39, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Enter it in the search box at the top right to find Patriot Act. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:05, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

about my new article

I was created a wikipedia page. that was about my own organization. my organization name is Esoteric Research Center of Bangladesh (E.R.C.B). Why my article page is deleted ? please tell me because that page is hardly needed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Esoteric Research Centre (talk • contribs) 12:45, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Because your organisation wasn't notable enough- per WP:GNG and WP:CORP, it needs to have significant, independent coverage from reliable sources. Also, it's strongly discouraged to write about your own company/organisation, if you do please read WP:COI, and I would recommend using WP:AFC and Wikipedia :Article Wizard. Joseph2302 (talk) 13:11, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

More about the #tag:ref to refn conversions

Gadget850 changed multiple files and templates by changing #tag:ref to refn in references and in template source. I've been correcting problems that turn up at Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting. The template problems are particularly subtle. A few have been reverted. Gadget850 seems to have retired temporarily. Can someone with AWB or equivalent check the files and templates changed? Thanks. StarryGrandma (talk) 16:39, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Thank you Gadget850 for reverting these. On the positive side, the conversion uncovered and helped lead to fixes for some strange pre-existing problems. StarryGrandma (talk) 16:09, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Anna Kay Akana

The "article" on Youtube personality Anna Kay Akana is imho clearly promotional, and was very likely written by a professional promotion agency or editor employed by Akana.

The vast majority of cited sources are to text and video produced by the largely non-notable Akana herself, and the tone of the prose contains many completely unencyclopedic phrases.

The "article" was created in basically its current form by a single user who didn't work on a single article before or since and who didn't make a single edit past the very day they instated the article, clearly indicating that the "article" was completely written well before the page was created on Wikipedia and that the account is very likely a throwaway sockpuppet used by a professional promotional editor or agency working for Akana.

What should happen to that article? And why is clearly promotional content like this allowed to exist on Wikipedia in the first place? --89.0.235.97 (talk) 17:44, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia editors cannot patrol every article. I'm working on it now, removing lots of promotional/unsourced content. Joseph2302 (talk) 17:50, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia editors cannot patrol every article. -- I know. I was just hard-pressed to formulate a question. Imho the "article" should be stubbified, and probably deleted altogether. --89.0.235.97 (talk) 17:53, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Put it up for deletion, Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Anna Kay Akana. Joseph2302 (talk) 17:59, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, both for the quick response and for confirming my perception of the article as a puff piece. --89.0.235.97 (talk) 18:04, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

What do these code numbers mean?

Please refer to the following article: List of most recent executions by jurisdiction. Under the section for "United States", there is a list for each of the 50 states. I went into "edit mode" and I looked at the entries for that list. Just picking a random section, I have listed three states below.

{{LE|CC7862|New Hampshire|{{sort|1939-07-14|14 July 1939}}|[[Howard Long]]|[[murder]]|[[hanging]]}}

{{LE|3F9BBB|New Jersey|{{sort|1963-01-22|22 January 1963}}|[[Ralph Hudson]]|[[murder]]|[[electric chair]]}}

{{LE|CC7862|New Mexico|{{sort|2001-11-06|6 November 2001}}|[[Terry D. Clark]]|[[aggravating factor|aggravated murder]]|[[lethal injection]]}}

So, my question is: what is that code in front of the state name? They all seem to say "LE" and then, each state has a different alpha-numeric code. For example, New Hampshire is CC7862 and New Jersey is 3F9BBB. What do those mean? The "LE"? And the code numbers? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:26, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

The six digit hex code is the color of the square at the beginning of the line. Corresponding to the status of capital punishment for that state/government. Rwessel (talk) 18:32, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) "LE" seems to be short for "last execution". The template {{LE}} appears to have been created for that list article alone. Looking at the template code, the code you're referring to is a color code used in the article, where the editor simply assigned an arbitrary background color for each state. --89.0.235.97 (talk) 18:34, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. All of that technical / code stuff is way above my head. I noticed that that list was missing Washington, D.C. So, I went ahead and added in Washinton, D.C., to the bottom of the list (in correct alphabetical order). When I added the entry for Washington, D.C., I just did a "copy and paste" of one of the other states. I filled in the information that I knew, and left the rest as it was from the "copy and paste". Then, I later noticed these code numbers, which prompted my above questions. In any event, I want to insure that I did all of the codes (and the entry) correctly. Can someone look it over? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:43, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

The blue square indicates that legal executions are "Abolished for all crimes". Is that correct for DC? Rwessel (talk) 19:23, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Although it's not referenced, Capital punishment in the United States says "The District of Columbia has also abolished the death penalty; it was last used in 1957". So. yes, that's correct. Rojomoke (talk) 20:31, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 04:07, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Madehow.com a reliable source?

Hello, I was wondering if www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Tortilla-Chip.html is a reliable source. Thank you! --Bananasoldier (talk) 20:24, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Bananasoldier, I don't see any indications of who writes or publishes madehow.com, nor do I easily find any online reviews of the site. So I wouldn't be included to use it if I had an alternative. But no source is reliable for everything. What did you want to source to this site? DES ^(talk) 20:43, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

@DESiegel: I didn't have anything particular in mind, but there was a lot of information present on this website so I thought I might ask. There are plenty of other sources online, so there is no need to use this source. Thank you again! --Bananasoldier (talk) 20:50, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

The best place for this discussion would be the reliable source noticeboard. Thank you for asking the question here. Robert McClenon (talk) 03:08, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

May 24

Problem involving my personal sandbox

I have a problem I hope someone can help me with.  I was playing around in my user sandbox (just lots of miscellaneous testing of wiki code stuff, including some snippets I copied and pasted from a regular page).  Anyway when I have the stuff in my user sandbox user page everything is OK.  But when copy the exact same stuff into my user sandbox talk page, I immediately get the following warning:
This sandbox is in the User talk namespace. Either move this page into your userspace, or remove the {{User sandbox}} template.
I don't understand; I thought I could use both sections of my personal sandbox (User Page, and Talk) for more or less whatever I wanted (as long as it's not malicious or illegal).  Why am I being told to move it somewhere?  I don't even fully understand what they're telling me to do, let alone why they're telling me to do it.  I really appreciate any help anyone can provide.  Thanks.
P.S.  I apparently can make the warning go away by deleting the "{{User sandbox}}" at the start of the wiki code ; but I don't understand why this should be necessary in either section of my own personal sandbox.
Richard27182 (talk) 08:48, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Richard27182, While you may use sandbox pages pretty freely, it is usually assumed that a talk page is still a talk page. If you used a sandbox to draft an article, for example, the talk page would be where you and anyone you invited to join you discussed the draft. Or it could be where you experiment with wiki code designed for talk pages.

The template {{User sandbox}} includes code that checks what namespace it is transcluded into. If it is anything but the User: namespace, it displays the message you observed. This is present becauae it has happened that article drafts and other sandboxes were moved to other namespaces, including the main article space, in error. It is to warn about this that the message is generated.

You can hanve many persional sandboxes, as many aas you like (within reason). Your default sandbox is at User:Richard27182/sandbox. But pages such as User:Richard27182/sandbox2 User:Richard27182/sandbox_links or any similar name you like can be created and can hold anything that your default sandbox could hold, and each of them could have its own talk page. See WP:UP and Wikipedia:About the Sandbox for more. DES ^(talk) 12:29, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer, but I'm still a bit confused.  I think my main problem is I still don't completely understand the concept of "spaces" (namespace, mainspace, user space, etc); once I fully understand the concept of "spaces," I think the above answer will make a lot more sense to me.  In the meantime, I'd rather not create any new personal sandboxes and have just my regular personal sandbox because it's so easy to access; I just have to click the "sandbox" link at the top of the page when I'm logged in.  As a temporary solution could I just make sure that, when I'm using my personal user talk sandbox, I'll make sure that "{{User sandbox}}" doesn't appear anywhere in the wiki code?  (The warning did seem to suggest doing that as one possible solution.)
Richard27182 (talk) 09:38, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Namespace. User talk pages are not intended for sandboxes. It's possible to use them for that but it may confuse others. And as you have seen, some things behave differently for different namespaces so for example {{User sandbox}} should not be used. User talk:Richard27182/sandbox is two clicks away but there are many ways to get multiple normal user sandboxes two clicks away. Assuming your browser has JavaScript, one way is to use User:PrimeHunter/My subpages.js by adding this to Special:MyPage/common.js:

importScript('User:PrimeHunter/My_subpages.js'); // Linkback: [[User:PrimeHunter/My subpages.js]]

For me the produced link to the left of "Preferences" is "Subpages". For you it would be "Subpages" which currently only lists one page, but if pages like User:Richard27182/sandbox2 existed then they would automatically be listed. Another method which doesn't require JavaScript is to add user subpage links to User:Richard27182, either manually for each page or all automatically by for example adding {{Special:PrefixIndex/User:Richard27182/}}. Edits to your user page are also visible to others who view the page. The JavaScript method would only affect you. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:32, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

I'm still *very* new to all this and still have a lot to learn.  What I really need to know for the moment is this: will it cause any significant problems if I use my User talk:Richard27182/sandbox as a regular sandbox as long as I avoid having ''{{User sandbox}}" anywhere in the wiki code it contains?  I plan to eventually understand all this stuff about how the various spaces work, how to create additional sandboxes that are as easy to access as my regular sandbox(es) (User: and User talk:), etc.  But at this *very* early point in my Wikipedia editing "career," most of this is still foreign to me.  So my basic question is:
For the time being, will it cause any seroius problems if I use User talk:Richard27182/sandbox the same way I use User:Richard27182/sandbox, assuming I avoid having ''{{User sandbox}}" appear in the code it contains?
Richard27182 (talk) 23:08, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Who created a deleted page?

What tool can I use to find out who was the author of a page that was deleted? I know that there is a tool, I saw it once, but I forgot the name, and now I can't find it. Vanjagenije (talk) 10:18, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

You can ask an admin like me. I don't know a general non-admin tool for pages, only Special:Log/upload for files. Help:What links here for a deleted page will often have a link to a user talk page where the author was notified. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:16, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

(e/c) If you know the exact name of the page, you can navigate to the now deleted page and click on "what links here" to see if the page was mentioned on their talk page. You can also search the user talk namespace for that (in quotes if more than one word) or an exact but partial title match being mentioned in a notification to someone of the deletion – most creators are informed on their talk pages upon a page being tagged for deletion, with the name of the page included in the notification. For example (using a page deleted almost ten years ago), if I wanted to find who was the author of "testosterone (band)" I would find the warning to the creator via this search. The history of deleted pages is only available to administrators and others with higher permissions. Sorry, I know of no tool.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:29, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

@PrimeHunter and Fuhghettaboutit: Thanks a lot for taking time to answer me. I know all those methods, of course. But I think I saw a tool that can be used to determinate who was the author of a page that is now deleted. There are many Wikipedia mirror sites (like deletionpedia) that keep data about deleted Wikipedia pages, so the tool I'm asking for seams quite possible to exist. Vanjagenije (talk) 15:22, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

It may exist but as I said I don't know of it. I almost never touch another person post but I have unlinked above. Sites like that are an abomination. They are containment vessel for the enshrinement of, among others, scads of actionable defamatory content and copyright violations and should not be linked.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:42, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Pinging

Forgive the elementary nature of this question, but when I "ping" someone in the midst of a comment on a Talk page, as in User1, where/how does that show up -- as simply a red "notification" number next to his username atop the page? And, if so, what is the notification -- a link to the Talk comment? Or, instead, will the entire comment appear on his Talk page? (What I want is that he see the comment.) Thanks very much. Charles J. Hanley 15:30, 24 May 2015 (UTC) Cjhanley (talk)

Cjhanley, I just pinged you, see what shows up for you. Normally, this shows up in the notification box, a red box with a white number (if there is at least one notification, it is grey if there are none). A user can change they way this displays for him- or herself, but few do change it. When user clicks on the box, a list of recent notifications is displayed, and for pings it will indicate the username of the user who created the ping, along with a link to the section where it was done. I don't think you can change how a ping to another user will appear. If you want that user to see a specific text, then leave a message on that user's user talk page. DES ^(talk) 15:44, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

That's great, DES. Thanks so much. Charles J. Hanley 15:56, 24 May 2015 (UTC) Cjhanley (talk)

@Cjhanley: also note that the ping only works if the 1) ping template with 2) the exact spelling and case of the actual user account name are 3) completed in the same save action as a fresh signature. If you miss any one of those three and go back to "fix it" in another edit, the ping will not work. If someone pings me with @TPROD aka The Red Pen of Doom: , I will not get a message because that is not my username. ---- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 02:21, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

ref error problem

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cocaine_analogues

@ ref # five it says "Cite error: The named reference Singh was invoked but never defined (see the help page)."

But it is defined just the same as every other linked instance of it! The same name in the code and all.

AnomieBOT (talk | contribs)‎ came through and took out all of the citations, and I undid the revision, and now that one won't show right. It was fine before. The strange thing, is, that in the history of the article, it still shows that as having a cite error, when it didn't used to.

Please help, Nagelfar (talk) 18:30, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Hi, Nagelfar. I can see many references to <ref name=Singh /> but the one that actually defines that reference (which will have the form <ref name=Singh>...</ref> appears to have been removed at some point. --ColinFine (talk) 19:02, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Nagelfar. I think ColinFine was mistaken. The problem was that this uses both standard references (with the <ref> tag) and a notelist with {{efn}}, and those notes include their own references. The reference list for the notes is separate from the regular ref list, and an item defined in one cannot simply be referred to by name from the other. I duplicated the content of the "Singh" reference at the first non-notes use of it, and changed all other non-notes references to the new name "Singh2". Note that this problem has been present sicne the notelist was first introduced to the article, back in march of this year with this edit. DES ^(talk) 20:57, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Thank you very much DESiegel. Your effort in correcting this is extremely appreciated. I've been nursing this particular article for nigh seven years. It was fine before, but just recently that one citation went kaput. Nagelfar (talk) 22:59, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

how come my {insert question here}

How come a wikipedia account doesn't transfer to another version? FamilycomputerFTW (talk) 18:49, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Hello, FamilycomputerFTW. It can do - see WP:Unified login. --ColinFine (talk) 19:04, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Based on your user name, FamilycomputerFTW , note that a Wikipedia account is for an individual, not a family. Each person using that family computer for editing Wikipedia will need their own personal account. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 19:07, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

The userpage suggests that the term "familycomputer" is a reference to the Famicom, not a group of people. Chaheel Riens (talk) 19:39, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

Trying to remove bias in article on G. Edward Griffin

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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I have changed the wording several times just to remove the bias...not change the facts. Someone keeps editing it back. They use 4-5 different names, however I believe it to be the same person as it's always within a minute or so and it's always the exact same wording as previously. If it cannot be changed so that it contains no bias then that leads me to believe most articles are biased so I will have to quit referring to Wikipedia ...and will instruct friends & family of the problems. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.112.152.148 (talk) 19:38, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

As multiple editors have explained, stopping you from inserting your personal bias and restoring the article to its sourced form is not inserting bias. As I have pointed out, your accusations of sockpuppetry (from a "govt defamation dept," no less) are just plain paranoid.

Your edits have gone from biased to sheer vandalism. By all means, leave the site and discourage anyone who thinks like you to stay away from it as well. Ian.thomson (talk) 19:41, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

To clarify what Ian Thomson has written, the IP is inserting non-neutral material non-consensus material. Multiple respected editors keep reverting the article. The IP doesn't recognize them as multiple respected editors and thinks that they are the same person. The IP has now taken to inserting attacks against the editors into the body of the article. Attacks in a talk page are a civility violation, but inserting attacks into the article itself is an unusual form of vandalism. Robert McClenon (talk) 20:35, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

talk page

what do I do if someone is leaving unwanted notes on my talk page?--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 19:52, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

You may remove them. Ruslik_Zero 19:58, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

can I block them from my page?--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 19:58, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

You may ban them from posting to your talk page. Certain required notices, such as notice that they have reported you to a noticeboard, override a user-imposed talk page ban. Other than that, if you have banned them from your talk page, continuing to post to it is considered disruptive editing. Robert McClenon (talk) 20:07, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

I see that you already have been deleting the unwanted posts. However, before banning anyone from unwanted posts, please consider that they may really be offering you reasonable advice. Robert McClenon (talk) 20:20, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

that is true... but how could that be if ive never spoken to this individual at any article talk page or article??--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 20:31, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

thank you--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 20:21, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

It is extremely common for the first interaction between Editor A and Editor B to be on B's talk page, where A is seeking to offer suggestions, ask questions, issue warnings, or otherwise interact in order to improve the encyclopedia (just as I am now here at the Help Desk). --Orange Mike | Talk 21:20, 24 May 2015 (UTC)

May 25

page

good morning im emailing to see how do I make a page on this site .im PhD physicist with ground breaking work within the medical field I am the only medical doctor o physics in the uk so people need to know about me and my life saving work thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vanglenn (talk • contribs) 01:35, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

@Vanglenn: Basically, you dont. Wikipedia is not a place to publish your original ideas nor to utilize as an advertising platform. When/If third party reliable sources have discussed your new idea in depth it may qualify as an article subject, but even then because of your close connection, you shouldnt be directly involved in creating or editing it. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 01:40, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Wikipedia is not the place for making autobiographies, see WP:AUTO, and also not the place to publish your original research, see WP:OR If nobody has created an article about you, it is likely that you aren't notable enough for Wikipedia- we require evidence of significant, independent coverage from reliable sources, per WP:GNG and WP:BIO. However, if you believe that you are notable, then Wikipedia: Article Wizard gives step-by-step guidance on creating a draft article, which can be submitted via WP:AFC for review. Joseph2302 (talk) 01:44, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Notability of late medieval MPs

Pages that list historic MPs like this; Lincolnshire (UK Parliament constituency) provide links to each MP no matter whether a page for them exists or not. Should there really be pages for each and every MP? When you get to the early ones information is scarce to find (although perhaps that is a reason for them having a page?) so the page is never going to be comprehensive, with probably just a a few sketchy details. Thanks. Sliven2000 (talk) 07:40, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

The answer is yes. The reason why is WP:REDLINK - X201 (talk) 09:40, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

In terms of encouraging more content the answer is definitely yes but still not 100% sure about what it says re. "Articles should not have red links to topics that do not warrant an article". Some MPs did something notable, a lot may have just turned up and slept through their term, i.e. some MPs were not noteable apart from being an MP. Sliven2000 (talk) 20:48, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

An elected MP is automatically notable per WP:NPOLITICIAN. Joseph2302 (talk) 20:55, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Per WP:POLITICIAN: "(People are likely to be notable if they meet any of the following standards...) Politicians and judges who have held international, national or sub-national (statewide/provincewide) office, and members or former members of a national, state or provincial legislature. This also applies to persons who have been elected to such offices but have not yet assumed them." In practice we seem to regard anyone holding national office as being inherently notable. Rwessel (talk) 20:59, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

INQUIRY TO ADD INFORMATION ABOUT KISUMU CITY

I would like to add information about various shopping malls and their specific locations within the city. Is this possible? and to what extent should I go without violating your terms and condition?Megaproperties (talk) 09:27, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

@Megaproperties: Wikipedia is not a directory or business listing. In order to be listed, a subject must first be notable enough for inclusion. For a mall, WP:CORP might be the closest to a specific set of notability requirements. In general, malls are seldom notable enough for an article. In general, places must have been written or reported about by reliable and independent sources. Also, if you have a professional connection to these malls, then you have a conflict of interest and may find it hard to write a neutral article without any promotional language. Dismas|^(talk) 10:37, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

My Wiki Page

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronn_Torossian

My Wikipedia page is continually being edited with false information and non-links. Discuss it on talk page endlessly and cannot get help. Please assist. Ronn Torossian 165.254.85.130 (talk) 10:20, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Stop WP:FORUMSHOPPING, this is already being discussed at WP:ANI. I also believe that Ronn Torossian has been banned from Wikipedia for repeated sock/meatpuppetry. Joseph2302 (talk) 10:25, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Anthony Randolph (economist)

Dear Help Desk

I have created a page in Wikipedia on the historian Anthony Randolph Bridbury. However, the name of the page is displaying as Anthony Randolph (economist). How can I correct this error? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cameron stewart barnes (talk • contribs) 10:51, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

@Cameron stewart barnes: There is already an article at Anthony Randolph, which was why the "(economist)" was added. You could move it (see WP:RM), but cannot move it to Anthony Randolph, as another article exists- you could move it to Anthony Randolph Bridbury, which seems like a better name. Joseph2302 (talk) 10:59, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

I added a hatnote to Anthony Randolph. — Jeraphine Gryphon ^(talk) 11:19, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Actually, he seems most widely published and referred to as A. R. Bridbury so I have moved the article there. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 11:25, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Old drafts

Is there any way to find the oldest pages in the Draft namespace? (I mean the entire namespace, tagged or untagged pages.) :/ — Jeraphine Gryphon ^(talk) 11:15, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

What can we do for overlooked articles?

An article about a rather notable subject isn’t getting nearly the attention it deserves, with nearly all recent edits being infrequent IP vandalism or ineptitude. What’s the best way(s) to call more editors’ attention to such an article? —174.141.182.82 (talk) 12:15, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

If I may assume you're referring to The Walking Dead (comic book), I think a majority of editors would consider it, as pop culture, relatively insignificant in the larger scheme of things, and that's why it's not getting the attention you feel it deserves. It has 183 watchers, but I guess the active ones are mostly readers who don't edit. As to your specific question, I don't know of a way to "advertise" an article. ―Mandruss ☎ 12:30, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

You can become part of a Wikiproject and let them know about the article. If it is the Walking Dead comic as suggested above Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Comics would be a good place to start. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 13:43, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

And if the vandalism is particularly persistent, rampant or of particularly inappropriate nature (such as violations of our policies about living people) you can request the page be protected at WP:RPP (although that would also mean that you as an IP editor would not be able to edit and you would need to create an account - which is free, easy and more anonymous than your IP. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 13:46, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

The page heading does not correspond to the page title?

In the web browser, in the tab area where it says the title of the page, this article is labeled as "temperature" instead of "Curie temperature." I don't know how to fix this. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curie_temperature StainlessSteelScorpion (talk) 13:43, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

@StainlessSteelScorpion: What is your browser and your language setting at Special:Preferences? For me in Firefox with English in preferences it says "Curie temperature - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" (only the beginning is visible on a browser tab). This is what most browsers will probably display, since the generated html contains <title>Curie temperature - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</title>. <title>...</title> is mentioned at the end of HTML element#Document head elements. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:35, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Strange: after closing a few tabs, the "Curie" came into view. I use Safari and English. When I open more tabs again, it still says Curie, and cuts of the "the free encyclopedia" stuff instead. Must be a glitch with Safari. StainlessSteelScorpion (talk) 13:43, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Yes, that sounds like a browser glitch. I guess it displayed the start when the tab was originally opened but the tab was later narrowed and/or moved when more tabs were opened, and Safari displayed the wrong part. The full title should be visible when you hover over the tab. If you have a lot of tabs then the right end may have a ">>" icon you can click to show all full titles at the same time. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:55, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

confirmation code invalid

It keeps saying my confirmation code is invalid. What should i do? Could u please fix it!? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stasia Bollinger (talk • contribs) 14:44, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

I'm sorry, Stasia Bollinger, Wikipedia hasn't got any mind-readers. What are you trying to do when it (whatever "it" is in this instance) keeps saying this? --ColinFine (talk) 15:17, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

I guess you are trying to confirm an email address by clicking a link in a mail. Some email programs may break the confirmation link into two lines or not use the whole link when you click it. If that happens, please copy all parts of the link together into the browser address bar. You can also request a new mail at Special:ConfirmEmail. Note that it's optional to give an email address and most users never or rarely use email. You can edit just fine without it, but if you forget your password then you will need a working email address. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:26, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Login problems

Need to login in to my talktalk acount but can't remember my gmail or password then I signed up is there any other way off login — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.183.128.76 (talk) 16:52, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

This is not talktalk so I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 4 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck.Template:Z25 —teb728 t c 18:04, 25 May 2015 (UTC)

Memorial Day flags

Memorial Day, I'm a veteran and just walked through a cemetary in Santa Monica on Pico and 14 th st.and seen 200 about free masons graves all had the US flag, I thought only veterans got a flag. by the way I just found out today that Memorial Day was started by free slaves, maybe they should get the free flag?