Wikipedia:Help desk

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December 7

How to create a newsletter

Hi friends,

I like to create a newsletter for my WikiProject so contributors can subscribe, how do I do it? The mw:Extension:Newsletter and mw:Extension:MassMessage seems not enabled in EN or META.

Or, it could be because I am not admin so I can't access Special:CreateNewsletter

xinbenlv ^{Talk, Remember to "ping" me} 02:13, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

The MassMessage Extension is enabled, as you can see on Special:Version. However, we cannot see how the extension is configured. To create a MassMessage recipient list, you would have to go to Special:CreateMassMessageList as an admin. For other ways, please see mw:Help:Extension:MassMessage#Creating delivery lists. Come back here if you have any problems. Victor Schmidt mobil (talk) 05:30, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Table help

I made a table in User:Melofors/sandbox#Minecraft servers, which doesn't seem to be working. It was working perfectly fine a few edits ago, as you can see here. Can someone please fix this? Thank you in advance! Melofors 07:42, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

 Fixed — It was a missing end-slash-character (syntax delimiter) from <ref name="kotaku"> 107.15.157.44 (talk) 08:09, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Turns out it was not a missing slash (which wouldn't make much sense in a markup opening tag anyway) but rather a whole missing closing ref tag - see special:diff/929669076#History. --CiaPan (talk) 14:21, 7 December 2019 (UTC)
(Ping User:Melofors. CiaPan (talk) 14:23, 7 December 2019 (UTC))

(The missing slash fixed the table; the missing </ref> fixed the references). 2606:A000:1126:28D:E579:84AC:9408:ADE (talk) 17:12, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

There was no 'missing slash'. I had to remove it to make a reference correct, and then the properly opened and properly closed reference was no longer spoiling the table. Check this comparison [1] – you'll see no slash added. --CiaPan (talk) 09:23, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error references no text

Hello. Really Really Really small mistake. In the Wikipedia page Most Disliked YouTube videos it says something along the lines of

“ PewDiePie achieved a video in the top 5 by specifically asking his own viewers to dislike his video.[15]”

But his video is now the 6th most liked video and it still has not been fixed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.100.172.252 (talk) 11:53, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

The source is from 2016, it says it was then the third-most disliked video, which seems likely to me. I changed the text to "In 2016," [...] "achieved a video in the top 3 by specifically asking his own viewers to dislike his video." Wakari07 (talk) 18:02, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Creating new categories

I've come across a group of articles that it might be useful to have a category for (Category:Photo League members, which would be under Category:American_photography_organizations). I've looked around but been unable to find a discussion page for new categories, or somewhere where one would propose them. Could you tell me the typical process? It is just WP:BEBOLD?ThatMontrealIP (talk) 12:03, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

@ThatMontrealIP: Catgorization is for particular user communities, so a "process" for category creation doesn't make a lot of sense: you need agreement among the affected community. I would just be bold, but if you can think of any possible reason someone would disagree, use the talk page at Wikipedia:WikiProject Photography to build consensus. -Arch dude (talk) 15:42, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

I want to create a new page 'নিতাই বসু' but it is showing restricted to administrators

I am trying to create a page on 'নিতাই বসু' নিতাই বসু, but I got the following message:

"The page title or edit you have tried to create has been restricted to administrators at this time. It matches an entry on the local or global blacklists, which is usually used to prevent vandalism. If you receive this message when trying to edit, create or move an existing page, follow these instructions:

Any administrator can create or move this page for you. Please post a request at the Administrators' noticeboard. You may also contact any administrator on their talk page or by email. Be sure to specify the exact title (especially by linking it) of the page you are trying to create or edit, and if it might be misunderstood (for example, an article with an unusual name), consider explaining briefly what you want to do. If you wrote any text, save it temporarily on your computer until you can edit the page."

Ipcould not figure out exactly where to ask for help, so I ended up here. I have already written the text in my personal sandbox [2]. Please let me know how to proceed to create the page নিতাই বসু.

Thanks, Nilotpal.sanyal (talk) 12:06, 7 December 2019 (UTC) Nilotpal

You are currently on the English version of Wikipedia. As the article is written in a foreign language, it wouldn't be suitable for this version. However, Wikipedia is written in hundreds of languages! You would be best placed to add your article to a different language wiki. Google translate told me the words were in Bengali, which the Wikipedia for this language can be found at bn.wikipedia. This might be wrong, but the main page has links to all different versions of Wikipedia, and would be the location for an article written in another language. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 12:18, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

I would add to the excellent advice above that each language version of Wikipedia is its own individual project, each with their own editors, policies, and requirements. 331dot (talk) 15:46, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

My correction to calories in Honey page was reverted to wrong info

I was researching sugars (proportions glucose, fructose, etc.) in various sweeteners and I noticed that contrary to other sources the Wikipedia Honey page stated 46 calories per TB. Further it was footnoted to a reference-- which I visited-- wherein it shows 63.8 kcal per TB. I assumed the wiki page showed a transcription error having reversed 64 to 46. I edited to show 64. I did not footnote my change, as the footnote in place goes to data that substantiates the changed data.

as per [8] https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/?query=ndbNumber:19296 https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169640/nutrients (showing 1 TB)

This number is not in dispute and the number I changed was not consistent with the attached footnote.

I received a message on my next visit to wikipedia stating my edit has been reverted back to the incorrect info as it "was not helpful".

As many people use wikipedia as a reference I believe it is important to fix the matter.

What further action can I take?

2601:982:8201:174:CCB1:D42C:2684:6494 (talk) 17:58, 7 December 2019 (UTC)Sherry

Your edit was perfect and thanks for helping. However, you did not add an edit summary, so your edit looked like a very common type of vandalism: a "drive-by" change to a number by an anonymous user without any explanation. Our over-worked anti-vandalism patrollers do not have time to carefully check references in a case like this. Please try again, but with an edit summary this time. -Arch dude (talk) 20:29, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

A helpful edit summary in such a case might read "fix typo: number as in source cited". Maproom (talk) 21:26, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Did not create the page

Hi, There's inaccurate information on my page that someone created. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julia_Chan_(chemist) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:6000:151B:1FE5:49E2:DDD9:C4E:56B (talk) 18:38, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Please detail the incorrect information, either here, or on the article talk page. Please also provide any independent reliable sources you have to support it if needed. If you are Julia Chan, I would suggest that you create an account and demonstrate your identity to Wikipedia by emailing the address written at WP:REALNAME.

If the information is libelous and needs to be addressed as soon as practicable, please follow the instructions at WP:LIBEL. 331dot (talk) 18:49, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Are you Julia Chan? If so, you have a conflict of interest and shouldn't edit the article directly. Instead you should post suggested changes on the talk page Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 18:53, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Please also note that it's not your page. It is Wikipedia's article about you, and you have no control over it. However, if there is unreferenced inaccurate information on that page, you are free to remove it immediately and without discussion (see WP:BLP). For any other changes, since you have an unavoidable conflict of interest (see WP:COI), please make suggestions for change, with references, on the article's talk page. We really do want the info to be correct. -Arch dude (talk) 20:22, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

As Arch dude pointed out above, you should not edit the article about yourself, as you did in these four edits. --CiaPan (talk) 21:05, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Naming vs. Consistency & Constant updates

Hi, I'm going to lump 2 questions in here, there's probably no complete consensus, but if someone can help summarise best practice (and point to any policies/guidelines that clearly answer them, I may have missed something).

• I saw a move request at Talk:Pedro_Carlos_of_Orléans-Braganza and found WP:NCNT which isn't too clear about royal families that have no kingdom anymore (Brazil would be an empire, and 'prince' wouldn't be the monarch, although 'prince imperial' would). The problem is that we now have various articles about the family titled prince so and so (compounded by the fact there appear to be two different branches) whilst others (per WP:COMMONNAME) don't use 'prince'. A sub-question is if there is any specific WP:N rule for 'royalty', as some of these people don't have WP:SIGCOV to establish WP:N, at least not in English WP:RS.
• Another question that has cropped up has to do with updating information (e.g. youtube hits, song sales, etc.) Take for example Team_Trees which has a daily-updated table of how much this project has raised. This seems to head too far into WP:TRIVIA, but I'd like to know if there's a hard and fast policy/guideline/consensus.

Thanks all. (not watching, please ping) - ChrisWar666 (talk) 20:02, 7 December 2019 (UTC) Hmmm, another one:

• Partly to do with the question about updating, what about links to videos (e.g. for music) and itunes/amazon/shops throughout articles? From what I understand, they serve as references to themselves (although not preferred), but what about other situations? music videos on songs, for example? references to people's dates of birth? Any help/consensus? - ChrisWar666 (talk) 14:09, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

I guess this is too complex for the help desk, so I've taken it over to the Teahouse :) - ChrisWar666 (talk) 12:38, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Quit asking me for money

If you are going to be rude to me as well as call people names (which is just rude to begin with) with no proof to uphold calling names, which is somewhat childish. I have donated in the past but if I am continued to be treated rude in any way, I certainly will not donate again and I work at a Government job and can easily spread your wrongdoings.KimNFred (talk) 21:03, 7 December 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by KimNFred (talk • contribs) 20:11, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

KimNFred You can disable the donation request banners in your Preferences. I don't see where you were called a name or had rudeness directed at you, but if you continue with the attitude you showed to Muboshgu, you might find yourself blocked. This is a collaborative environment where you must work with others who may disagree with you. Understand that Wikipedia summarizes what independent reliable sources state. By the way, if your username is meant to suggest that two people have access to your account, you will need to change your username. 331dot (talk) 20:16, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Actually, that's OogaBoogaa, who has been "signing" edits with the fictitious username KimNFred. I've blocked OogaBoogaa as a disruptive editor. --Orange Mike | Talk 01:58, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

​They had their username changed from "KimNFred" to "OogaBoogaa" yesterday since they had gotten a warning for having a username implying shared use. – Thjarkur (talk) 16:54, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

enabling visual editor?

I'm helping out with an editathon this week, is VE not automatically enabled on new accounts? Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide indicates you must enable it in preferences -- is that just out of date? --valereee (talk) 21:12, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

​The source editor is the default one, but when they click on Edit they are presented with "Welcome, do you want to switch to the Visual editor?". – Thjarkur (talk) 21:27, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

Þjarkur, thanks! --valereee (talk) 21:35, 7 December 2019 (UTC)

December 8

Capitalizing main title

Hello,

On the page Association of Independent Evangelical Lutheran Churches, how does one capitalize the "I" in Independent and the "E" in Evangelical as that is the full name of the church and should be capitalized?

The Wiki page link is

Thank you for your help and assistance.

James W. Clifton — Preceding unsigned comment added by James Walter Clifton (talk • contribs) 00:20, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

@James Walter Clifton: You need to move the page to a title with those words capitalised. Danski454 (talk) 00:25, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

• Note: Fixed by OP. Eagleash (talk) 05:52, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Approved

Hello, may I please get in touch with an Administrator to get the role Approved. I recently had an account that was attached to my School Network. All accounts tied to it got revoked and I do not remember my username. I have made over 10 edits on this account already, however, and requested on the Approved Requests Page and got the bot said I already have the role which I don't. Thanks, AwesomeJedi (talk) 00:50, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

@AwesomeJedi: Actually, that response was to the user above you. Please do consider the advice given at the Teahouse and use the AfC process to create the article instead of trying (probably unsuccessfully) to get confirmed early. The advice is sound – creating an article is one of the hardest things to do successfully, and you may not enjoy the experience without the guidance of the editors at AfC that are specifically looking to work with new content creators. Thanks for listening. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 00:59, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

miss missouri usa 2020

the photo of megan renee kelly is not the correct person — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.131.166.254 (talk) 02:13, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Miss_Missouri_USA Does not have a photo of Megan Kelly. Which article are you referring to? If you saw it in a Google search, then that is something from Google and not Wikipedia. RudolfRed (talk) 02:43, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Proper cite and how to update existing.

Two part question.

1. What is the correct cite for this source?:

• ICTUR; et al., eds. (2005). Trade Unions of the World (6th ed.). London, UK: John Harper Publishing. ISBN 0-9543811-5-7. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |editor= (help)

My web research does not find editors for the 6th edition. ICTUR is the publisher for the 7th (2016) edition. And I have found editors for it.

2. There are over 100 articles that cite this source. They are the majority of the articles listed in Category:CS1 errors: explicit use of et al. I assume there are apps, I think Wikipedia calls them bots, that can be used to update a group of articles. What is the name of an appropriate bot and where do I find out about it? --User-duck (talk) 05:39, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Answers:

1. If you do not know who edited the 6th edition, omit |editors=. The error message in the above citation is present because 'et al.' is not an editor's name. When there are editors whose names are not included in the citation, use |display-editors=etal. I would write:

   {{cite book |year=2005 |title=Trade Unions of the World |edition=6th |publisher=John Harper Publishing |location=London |isbn=0-9543811-5-7}}

   Trade Unions of the World (6th ed.). London: John Harper Publishing. 2005. ISBN 0-9543811-5-7.

2. For only a hundred or so articles you might make a request at Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Tasks; perhaps someone there would be interested in using WP:AWB to help clear that category.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 11:52, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

User-duck I use AutoWikiBrowser, what would you like done on this?Naraht (talk) 13:46, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Promotion

Please promote me to a Confirmed User role. I qualify. — Preceding unsigned comment added by J.Turner99 (talk • contribs) 10:24, 8 December 2019 (UTC) J.Turner99 I have also done numerous contributions via ip before my account was created. — Preceding unsigned comment added by J.Turner99 (talk • contribs) 11:22, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

@J.Turner99: You can make a request at Wikipedia:Requests for permissions but you have to state the reason for requesting it. You will be autoconfirmed anyway in two days. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:07, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref

The Suzuki article has a big red error message on it, right at the top— Preceding unsigned comment added by AlainV (talk • contribs) 8 December 2019 14:33 (UTC)

@AlainV:  Fixed (Please remember to sign your posts on talk pages by typing four keyboard tildes like this: ~~~~. Or, you can use the [ reply ] button, which automatically signs posts.) Please provide a link to any pages you need help with. Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 14:47, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Sorry, I didn't know what kind of status this page had. --AlainV (talk) 18:52, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Adding a reference without a weblink

I am trying to add references which are newspaper cuttings, for which I have the JPG file. I do not want the JPG file to be displayed on the wikipedia page, rather to just appear in the references section as a link.

The method I have tried is as follows. I upload the JPG file to flickr.com, get the link, and then add < ref >http://weblink...< /ref > in the body of the article. This worked fairly well last night, but when I view it this morning the size is way too big and I see no way of automatically getting it to be the correct size.

What I would rather do is use wikipedia's file command which is clearly is much richer in features, however I am not sure how to add a file without it being displayed on the page (ie. having the user have to click on it to view it). Nor do I know how to get it into the References section. How is this done? Acferrad (talk) 15:18, 8 December 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Acferrad (talk • contribs) 15:09, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

@Acferrad: There is no requirement for a reference to have a web link, so this doesn't matter. If the newspaper article was published after 1924, then it is still still copyrighted unless you have evidence otherwise, and you have no license to copy it to anywhere on the web. We enforce this rule on Wikimedia and wikicommons by deleting such files when we find them. We also do not permit links to material on the web that violate copyright. -Arch dude (talk) 15:40, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Also: in this era of Photoshop, we do not regard scans of clippings and the like as reliable sources. As Arch dude says, just reference the original article in its original appearance, with suitable level of detail to enable the reader to trace it. --Orange Mike | Talk 15:52, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

I think I worked out how to do it. All my cuttings are before 1924. For the cuttings I have the references for, I will include these. Acferrad (talk) 16:01, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Only log out of account on one session

I have recently been switching accounts a bunch; I just did the trial for my now-approved bot. However, because I use Firefox normally but it doesn't support one feature I need for the bot, some edits I did using the same code (each was manually approved) to test outside of the trial needed to be on Chrome. When I logged out of my main account on Chrome, it automatically logged me out of all my devices. Is there any setting to make it not do this? It's pretty annoying. DemonDays64 (talk) 16:39, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

​Not possible, sadly, apard from clearing local browser cookies instead of clicking on Log Out – Thjarkur (talk) 16:48, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

The Cerise Moth

NEED INFO ON THE CERISE MOTH,Y DON'T YOU HAVE ANY?CAN U CREATE A PAGE FOR THE CERISE MOTH — Preceding unsigned comment added by Panthra79 (talk • contribs) 18:50, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Panthra79, please keep discussions in one place. There are now responses to your post at the Teahouse. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 19:08, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Questions Regarding Process and Protocols for Dispute Resolutions & Anonymity for Editors

I'm new to Wikipedia editing and, admittedly, have much to learn about this process.

Question #1: When there is a dispute regarding a page (under New Section), who ultimately decides how that dispute is resolved? Is it resolved by a committee that reaches consensus? Or some other process? Who is on the committee, if that is the remedy? What is the criteria for becoming an editor with editorial control over protected pages? Are there any transparency requirements for such editors to identify by name and bio who they are? If not, why not? Has there been any deep discussion about the problematic nature of having anonymous editors with editorial control over a site designed to engage democratic participation?

Question #2: What can be done about the Sister Cities California page that is out of date and needs serious updating. It is a transcluded document and cannot be edited. Help!

Ah, never mind, no worries. A friend is teaching me how to update the sister cities CA page by using the code. Fingers crossed. LOl.Marcywinograd (talk) 22:44, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for your guidance. Marcywinograd (talk) 19:15, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

​Someone else will hopefully explain question #1, but regarding #2: You can edit List of sister cities in California by clicking on the pencil icon in the top right corner when editing, that will switch over to the Source Editor which is better equipped to editing that particular page. The problem with that page is that the lists are inside {{colbegin}} and {{colend}}, which the Visual Editor doesn't know how to handle. – Thjarkur (talk) 19:43, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

@Marcywinograd: For #1: please try hard to reach consensus via a discussion on the talk page. Please start by assuming the we are all here to build the best encyclopedia we can (see WP:AGF) even, (or especially) if the other party is being unreasonable. Only after that has failed, then proceed to WP:DISPUTE. -Arch dude (talk) 20:10, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Marcywinograd, there are no "committees" associated with articles and any editor is welcome to participate in discussions about article improvement. If an article is protected at a certain level, then only editors who meet the requirements of that protection level can edit the article directly. Read Wikipedia:Protection policy for all the details. Semi-protection is the most common, and that limits editing to registered accounts at least four days old with at least ten edits. This deters casual "drive by" vandalism and disruption by IPs and throw-away accounts. No editor nor any administrator has any "editorial control" over any page, although more experienced editors who have a deep understanding of policies and guidelines are often more influential in discussions. The basic way of resolving disputes is talk page discussion among interested editors leading to consensus. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 21:03, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Thank you, Cullen and Thjarkur, for your insights and guidance. Yes, the talk page is best, absolutely, for resolving differences. In terms of the Sister Cities page, if I don't know how to use anything but the visual editor, I'm assuming I can't edit the page. Is there some way to start over with that list--because it must be incredibly out of date.Marcywinograd (talk) 21:28, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

​I've removed the columns from List of sister cities in California so you should be able to edit it freely. – Thjarkur (talk) 23:29, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Thank you, Thjarkur, for your efforts to make this easy for me. I'm afraid I'm only botching it up, so I am going to stop and just work on putting together (in a file on my computer) an updated list of sister cities for CA. Then, perhaps my friend who is adept with software and code can help me enter it correctly. As of now, when I insert new sister cities without the code, using only the visual editor, I don't get the flag icon for that respective city--so it doesn't match what's there, format-wise. Marcywinograd (talk) 00:53, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

​Not adding the flags is fine, minor formatting like that is usually resolved later by other passing editors. The main thing the article needs are inline citations. – Thjarkur (talk) 00:59, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Thjarkur, so I am proceeding correctly, should my friend and I be switching out the links back to Wikipedia for each city, in other words linking instead to the respective city's sister city program page or some news article that verifies those city's sister cities? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Marcywinograd (talk • contribs) 11:01, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

​You can place your cursor at the end of the line and click on "Cite" where you can add a link to an external source that verifies the information. That will create the small "[1]" style citations. – Thjarkur (talk) 14:45, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Disabling "esc" key in rich text editor

I was a bit shocked recently to lose all my work editing page because I hit the Esc key. Is there a way to disable this behaviour? Stevage 22:33, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

​Does not appear to be possible (at least I wasn't able to solve this with a userscript). I try just to be careful to switch to the Source Editor every few minutes and save a backup on my computer. – Thjarkur (talk) 00:17, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Hmm, thank you. Switching to the source editor and back is a good idea. Stevage 01:45, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Why not these?

I noticed OANN. COM is described as "... an American right-wing to radical right wing pay television news channel"

Fix is described as, "... American conservative cable television news channel."

HOWEVER...

CNN nothing about its left leaning is the description.

MSNBC nothing about its MASSIVE FAR left leaning.

How about some balance here? Either remove the descriptors from OANN and fox or, add M to others.

The hypocrisy is not becoming — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:7930:4AC0:C007:F119:968B:BB33 (talk) 23:21, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Wikipedia describes things as most independent reliable sources do. If you have independent reliable sources that describe CNN differently, please offer them. 331dot (talk) 23:28, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

December 9

Donation

Just a quick question why do you guys keep pinging me for a donation when I gave a donation just a week ago for $20 do I have to see the banners that ask for money every time or are you not able to recognize and IP address thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:347:4100:ADE0:F0C8:E220:BA90:946B (talk) 01:29, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

(1) None of us volunteers who do all the work on Wikipedia has any control whatever over the banners, they are set up by Wikipedia's host the Wikimedia Foundation whose website is at https://wikimediafoundation.org/, if you want to complain about it to them.

(2) It would be pointless to even try to recognize IP addresses in order to not show previous donators the banners, because:

(a) Many IP addresses, such as those of computers in libraries, schools and workplaces, have more (sometimes many more) than one user, so 'delisting' that IP after a donation would prevent many users from ever seeing the banners;

(b) Many IP address users (like myself) have dynamic IP addresses which their ISPs change at varying frequencies, reassigning them between their customers as convenient, so 'delisting' such an IP would

(i) prevent later assignees from seeing the banners at all, and

(ii) would not prevent a donator from seeing the banners after their IP changes.

(c) Banners can be permanently switched off by anyone with a User account, which is trivial to set up and doesn't commit one to anything, so one could do so for that purpose alone;

(d) Most people like myself who do see the banners aren't annoyed by them and don't find the single click needed to close them particularly onerous;

(e) Since using Wikipedia is completely free of charge, unlike many comparable websites, having to see a banner occasionally (Oh noes!!1!) can be thought of as a teeny tiny usage fee.

Hope that gives you some food for thought. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.209.178 (talk) 02:06, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

First of all, thanks for your donation – it is definitely appreciated! In case it was missed, a quick and easy solution (for most people) is to register an account (click that link for info). There are several benefits in addition to not having to see the banners, including customization of many preferences to improve your user experience. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 07:14, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Move article/Change display title

I am updating the Resilience (engineering and construction) article to include a broader range of ideas about resilience. I would like to change the title to Resilience in the Built Environment but have not been able to. How can I know the reasoning for that? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resilience_(engineering_and_construction)

Ghaliaamm (talk) 02:10, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Hello, Ghaliaamm

To change the title of a page use the move function. However, this is only available to autoconfirmed users, users with an account at least 4 days old, who have made at least 10 edits. In any case, that is a sufficiently major change that I urge you to discuss it on the article talk page first (Talk:Resilience (engineering and construction). You will find detailed procedures to follow at Requested moves. DES ^(talk)_{DESiegel Contribs} 04:08, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

• Note: OP moved page, but to incorrect capitalisation. I am loathe to move it to the correct caps immediately, because, as noted above, it is not an entirely uncontroversial move and seems to have taken place without discussion. Courtesy ping Ghaliaamm. Eagleash (talk) 11:36, 9 December 2019 (UTC)
  • I added a merge tag to the article Resilience in the built environment, started a merge discussion on its talk page and informed OP. Also noting the existence of an article Urban resilience. Hope this helps. Wakari07 (talk) 02:38, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

you people have got to be out of your minds

everytime I search for stats ('x' vs. 'y') I get charts that don't match up. 'x' has one type of chart, and 'y' has a complete other. Sometimes the info I'm looking for may be in 'x' but missing in 'y' (on the same page). If you'd like, I can send you examples as I run into them again. Then, your info is not as correct as you might think; and 70% is not a good grade. If you think I'm gonna pay for 70% of any product that professes to be a pedia, you're nuts. I tell all my students that if they site Wikipedia in their reports, instead of the correct sites, they will get no better than a 70%. Truth on the internet is hard enough to find without you all selling 70% as an ok truth. That, my friends, is a lie. 70% of anything is a lie, a conjecture, a theory, a guess. And now, students are being sent into the work force feeling that the truth is something to be trifled with. No, I will not support your misleading website. I am ashamed of you. BTW- 70% of this text is misspelled, or otherwise misorganized. I suggest you just go ahead and accept it. I really do have a lot more to say, but this will suffice. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.33.242.191 (talk) 03:01, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

This is the Wikipedia help desk. Do you have a question about using or editing Wikipedia? -Arch dude (talk) 03:46, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Do you have specific examples of the issue? Captain Eek ^{Edits Ho Cap'n!}⚓ 07:17, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Do you know how to capitalize, or how to spell the word "cite"? Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:22, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

If your students cite Wikipedia as a source, you should fail them entirely. Wikipedia itself explicitly states that it is not a Reliable source and should not be cited as such. Instead, it should be used as a guide to the Reliable sources that it cites to support facts in articles: your students (and everybody else) should be consulting those cited sources directly if they want to give citations.

"Truths" are constantly changing as science and other disciplines advance: Wikipedia aims for "Verifiability, not Truth".

Neither you nor anyone else are required to pay anything at all to use Wikipedia. If you don't want to respond to occasional polite requests for donations, ignore them as nearly everybody else does most of the time, in the wider world as well as on Wikipedia. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.209.178 (talk) 20:47, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

shock and awe

Hello,

As a follow up to my earlier question this morning, who wrote the bible? Who leaves a relationship and who stays, does the one who leaves the relationship the one you don't want? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.231.106.50 (talk) 05:37, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

This is the Wikipedia help desk. Do you have a question about using or editing Wikipedia? -Arch dude (talk) 05:42, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Since it should occupy you for some time, here's a link to Part 1 of a fairly detailed attempt to address your first question above. Your other questions are too undefined or ill-formed to be answerable. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.209.178 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 20:51, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Racist content on Wikipedia!

Hi,

My friend is a teacher and got one of her students to Google for information about the continents, which resulted in them finding the sentence "Africa is the continent of the brown people and it would be really nice if they stayed there".

This text doesn't appear to be on the page itself but as you can see on the following screenshot it's clearly in the Google cache: https://ibb.co/kmQyv9x

Needless to say this is unacceptable and needs to be addressed ASAP! — Preceding unsigned comment added by AdsKB (talk • contribs) 13:29, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

That bit of vandalism has already been removed. Heiro 13:32, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

…and didn’t last for more than three minutes here. However, Wikipedia doesn’t actually have any influence on what Google does (and Google seems to be surprisingly bad at this kind of thing). Cheers ⌘ _hugarheimur 14:45, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

The use of .m. in the following URL: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy

What does .m. mean? — Preceding unsigned comment added by HowardMorland (talk • contribs)

Mobile - its a link to the mobile website. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 16:14, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

thanks

And is one reason why it's very much better to use wikilinks than URLs in discussion pages like this one: that will open the version appropriate to the device in use. --ColinFine (talk) 17:19, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

("Security_warning") Wikipedia scared?

Would Wikipedia's drivers stay off the road just because 30% of the cars no longer can obtain safety support for their brakes?

What is the message behind what I saw yesterday:

Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/sec-warning

Your Browser's Connection Security is Outdated.

Wikipedia is making the site more secure. You are using an old web browser that will not be able to connect to Wikipedia in the future. Please update your device or contact your IT administrator.

I'm using Internet Explorer 11, the highest-numbered release.

I'm using Windows 7 Professional, for which Support from Microsoft ends Jan. 13, 2020,

... and with it IE 11 on Win7. Aside from Windows 8 (NINE was the German "Nein" = No), Windows 10 will not have a Windows 11 successor - 10 will be followed by 12.

(reminds of "Why is nine afraid of seven - because "seven ate nine") Even Microsoft Security Essentials will continue to support Win7.. for a while, so why is Wikipedia scared of non-malevolent users of Win7/IE11, and how safe is it for other wiki people to use, if they're on a highway with 30% non-inoculation? Isn't it time, if Wiki has some clout, to publicize that the 30% running Win7/IE11 are still welcome, and let Microsoft/Dell (from whom I've been buying) know that Apple will be happy to eat their lunch, if they close 30% of the dining room. P.S. Tailorable software often facilitates presenting another version identifier, just as, long ago, versions of DOS higher than 4 permitted returning a value of 4 to not "break" older software. Those of whom the author of the above sec-warning seem afraid can surely spoof as an acceptable version ID. P.P.S. If this desk can't help, is there another? Pi314m (talk) 17:44, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

@Pi314m:For technical issues, see WP:VPT. This is the Wikipedia help desk. Do you have a question about using or editing Wikipedia? -Arch dude (talk) 18:21, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

​They include some further details here, basically they want you to switch from IE11 to Edge or Firefox. IE11 users are 3% of global internet traffic. While you can spoof version IDs, you can't spoof a cryptographic protocol (required to connect at all). Turning off the ability of people on older browsers to even connect just three weeks from now seems unnecessary (but I see how Wikipedia hopes to be a force that ensures more people get general browser security). I haven't seen this discussed at the village pumps yet. – Thjarkur (talk) 23:54, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

• Short answer: the message says your browser uses TLS 1.0 or 1.1, which is Bad. Follow these instructions to activate 1.2, which is Good. Come back to WP:VPT if it does not fix the problem.

Longer answer: I am afraid the ship of backwards-compatibility has sailed when Wikipedia became HTTPS-only back in 2015. Here's a not-too-technical article for the background, but essentially, leaving users with the choice to connect with two protocols, one secure and one insecure, allows censor-happy governments to force the insecure version. Leaving only the choice of the secure version forces that government to choose between breaking or allowing the whole site (no selective censorship possible).

Here it is about TLS version rather than HTTPS itself, but the same applies. TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are broken versions of HTTPS, and simply allowing access by these (broken) versions causes trouble - here's a more technical article about how the "protocol dance" can be abused by attackers to downgrade even a TLS 1.2-capable connection to the older (insecure) versions. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 12:57, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Pinging @Pi314m and Þjarkur:. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 12:59, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

What?!

So I literally just write the founder of my school, and you guys give me a warning. I noticed that some things on my School's page could have been more detailed and then I write my founder. Then you give me a warning when I reload the page to see the edit. This feels really stupid when I was absolutely sure it was my school's page and I was adding info that could have been helpful to someone who might be interested in that school. My friends have had similar things happen where they were just adding important facts, that they knew wee absolutely true, and were given warnings. Like what?! I feel like there is some sort of automatic thing that happens whenever you make an edit. So stop. Because some people have important things to say, so not cool guys. This is very unreasonable, and I expect something to be done about it so the next time I edit something, that doesn't happen. You should be acting more professional like you are. Really. This sucks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1702:1BC0:1F60:5CA3:5012:E258:951E (talk) 18:51, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Content needs to be sourced, so we can verify its accuracy. Especially on articles about schools, which tend to attract bad edits. How do we, and the viewers, know that those people founded the school, and aren't just some students putting their names in articles as a joke. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 18:55, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

See WP:V, which is arguably our most important policy. The key quotation is that the burden to demonstrate verifiability lies with the editor who adds or restores material

If our content isn't verifiable, we would have no way of knowing if it was all made up. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 18:57, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Hello, IP user. Thank you for wanting to improve Wikipedia. The problem with your edit to Long-View Micro School is that it was unsourced. Wikipedia is nearly worthless if unsourced information has been added, because a reader has no way of checking whether the information is correct; so we don't allow unsourced information to be added. If your friends similarly added unsourced information, that will be why it was removed.

It is unfortunate that Optakeover didn't explain this when they reverted your edit, or even when they posted a warning on your User talk page. My guess is that they thought it was vandalism: people often add names to articles about schools just for a laugh. If you look at the history of Long-View Micro School you will see many examples of petty vandalism, including some where people's names were added inappropriately.

My suggestion is, yes please, continue to help us improve Wikipedia. But find a published source for all information that you add, and cite it (See Referencing for beginners). And if somebody still removed your edit, engage with them, according to our BRD activity: that is how Wikipedia is supposed to work. --ColinFine (talk) 19:06, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

1. What?! isn't quite informative header for your question. When I browse through the page, or even worse: when I browse through archives of the page, which span many years full of different questions, how shall I guess that the What?! names this particular issue???
2. The claim facts, that they knew wee absolutely true is insufficient in Wikipedia. Maybe you know of facts which are true - but it's the reader, who needs to know the facts are true. Anyone can add any information - or misinformation! - to Wikipedia. And the only way to tell them apart is referencing to reliable, published sources. What you or I know does not count. --CiaPan (talk) 19:24, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Biography class rating system?

Hi Wikipedians,

I found a biography today on a person I know a fair amount about. It seemed like it had a fair amount of opinion but most problematic it had no sourcing in the text (ie NO references). However it is classed as "B-rated" which seems to me from reading the rating criteria is way too high.

How do we flag this up for editors or the biography team?? Thanks. --gobears87 (talk) 19:44, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

what is the article in question? You can just be WP:BOLD and change the rating on the talk page, if you think it is of a different quality. Whilst articles are sorted into Wikiprojects, any user can edit these (up to a point) if they are of a different class. Articles with a large amount of unsourced information probably wouldn't meet the B class criteria. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 19:51, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

The article is this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_C._Rose and I was stunned to find that a MUCH better article for someone similar, which is properly sourced, is actually still rated "start" class - it's a shocking comparison and reversal of what the ratings "should" be. This is the comparison article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Farrand I would be curious to know what a regular editor thinks of these two (& their classifications). Thanks. --gobears87 (talk) 19:54, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Thing is, there's no automatic system that can regularly go through all of our nearly 6 million ever-changing articles and rate them consistently and accurately: Artificial Intelligence simply isn't that good yet (which may be a good thing, see Technological singularity). Most ratings are done on an ad hoc basis by (probably too few) volunteers (since everyone who works on Wikipedia's contents is an unpaid volunteer, like yourself), whose rating standards will inevitably vary even if (as sometimes may be the case) they aren't trying to hype an article that they have a personal interest in.

Also, there are no presiding editors to whom things can be 'flagged up' (although you could try placing the 'Help me' template on an article's Talk page with an explanation of the problem and hope that someone will respond) – you are just as much an editor of Wikipedia as I or any of the other 100,000 or more different people who edit Wikipedia every month. The nearest thing to a 'biography team' is probably Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography, which you are welcome to investigate and join. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.209.178 (talk) 21:08, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

I agree with you, Lee Vilenski. An article that cites no sources at all does not deserve a "B" rating. Thank you for downrating it. Maproom (talk) 21:30, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Both articles were rated in 2007, when standards were a bit different. Sources in the James C. Rose article are cited in a "Bibliography" section, but not inline. The problem with that referencing style is that unlike with in-line references, it fails to specify which information came from which source. That said, it was considered acceptable in 2007. Meanwhile, the Beatrix Farrand article has changed much more since 2007 than the James C. Rose article did.  This is what it looked like when it received the start-class rating. Although the article has improved substantially since then, it has never been re-evaluated. That's one of the main problems with the article grading system. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 16:19, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Reset sandbox

I have been making edits to my sandbox and I think the page has somehow gotten corrupted. Is it possible to have my sandbox cleared and reset?Dtetta (talk) 20:14, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

You can look at User:Dtetta/sandbox and click on history. This is where you can revert the sandbox to any version you previously had... Or, you can simply select all and delete the lot, and have a blank version (old revisions will still persist. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 20:20, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

How does the Patient UK link work in Template:Medical resources?

I asked this in Template_talk:Medical_resources, but I am wondering if I might get a faster answer here. I see that a few articles (e.g. Hypervitaminosis and Ehlers–Danlos syndromes) that an external link to Patients UK in the Medical resources template (appearing at the bottom near external links) but that the Patients UK attribute in that template is not populated. Can someone tell me how this works? Is there another attribute that's populating two pieces of the template? If I want to link to an article on Patients UK is there a way to do it just with the Patients UK attribute (I can't find any examples of this case). - Scarpy (talk) 22:16, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Wikidata. It's in the template documentation.

Bother, I hate it when I click the wrong button...

in the template, this:

[https://patient.info/doctor/{{wdib|ps=1|qid={{{QID|}}}|P1461|{{{PatientUK|}}}}} {{{name|{{PAGENAME}}}}}]

|QUI= comes from the article's wikidata item; if |PatientUK= has a value, that value is returned by {{wdib}}. So:

{{wdib|ps=1|qid=Q423927|P1461|{{{PatientUK|}}}}} – |qid= from Hypervitaminosis

Hypervitaminosis

Concatenate:

https://patient.info/doctor/{{wdib|ps=1|qid=Q423927|P1461|{{{PatientUK|}}}}}:

https://patient.info/doctor/Hypervitaminosis

Or just make a link ...

—Trappist the monk (talk) 22:49, 9 December 2019 (UTC) 23:14, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

I made a donation

But the message that comes up that it was the price of my Tuesday coffee lol Not in Australia mate Lucky to get one for under 5 bucks — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8004:CC3:484A:2D94:E027:F608:2AA0 (talk) 23:26, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

We at the help desk don't control the fundraising at all. Questions, comments, suggestions, etc should go to donate @ wikimedia.org. RudolfRed (talk) 23:33, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Use of & in author list.

Why doesn't |author=Michael J. Denis & Kelli Weaver-Miner cause the article to show up in this list:Category:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list? Does something need to be changed? User-duck (talk) 23:58, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

One discussion in one place. Answered at Category talk:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list § Use of &.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 00:16, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

December 10

Creating Page of a Global NGO

Respected Sirs,

I am an employee working with a global NGO. My profile is to look after its social sites. I need to create their page on Wiki but not getting the right path, how to start, where to start. Please help. Best regards. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.196.65.38 (talk) 05:09, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Don't. If your organization is notable by our definition, then someone else will eventually write the article. but if you insist in trying, then do all of the following, in order. Failure to follow these steps will waste your time and ours.

1. Create an account. This must be your personal account. We do not permit "role", "group", or "corporate" accounts. see WP:USERNAME.
2. Declare you status as a paid editor on you new account's user page. See WP:PAID
3. Carefully read and understand our notability critera. See WP:NCORP
4. Make absolutely sure you can document a claim of notability by gathering reliable sources. See WP:RS
5. Check the notability requirements again. Make sure you feel that other objective editors will agree with you. Really. If you cannot do this, your article will be deleted and your work will be lost.
6. Read a few of our articles about organizations similar to your to get a feel for the appropriate encyclopedic style.
7. Proceed to writing a draft by following WP:YFA. Try as hard as you can to stay objective. Make certain that you add your references.
8. Submit your draft.

Good luck all that. If the organization is notable we can help you get the article established. -Arch dude (talk) 05:52, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Hello 112.196.65.38. Another reason not to create an article about your organization is that it's not in your job description. If your job is "to look after its social sites", the first thing to note is that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not social media. So you can scratch Wikipedia off your to-do list.--Quisqualis (talk) 07:05, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

SANJAY JHA (POLITICIAN) - need to publish Primarily Speakership profile alongwith Political Career

Dear Wikipedia team,

This is with reference to Wikipedia page created in the name of SANJAY JHA (POLITICIAN).

We basically wanted to create this page primarily for his Speakership profile alongwith Political career data. Since the name Sanjay Jha who is CEO of Motorola was already exists, we were facing some challenges to publish the page with the title SANJAY JHA (Speaker). Please help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by KSbangera (talk • contribs) 05:49, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

@KSbangera: This is the Wikipedia help desk, where perhaps 20 or so random Wikipedia editors hang out to try to answer questions about using and editing Wikipedia. There is no coherent "Wikipedia team" to respond to your request. There have about 135,000 volunteer editors active in the last month, and they are not organized into any sort of formal teams. Each editor does whatever they want to do. With respect to Sanjay Jha (politician), You will need to attract the attention of editors who are interested in helping you. You might wish to try the talk pages of relevant Wikipedia projects, such as Wikipedia:WikiProject India. -Arch dude (talk) 06:05, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Sanjay Jha (politician) was recently moved to that title by someone from Wikipedia:WikiProject India after I asked there for help in determining the proper title. It has also undergone much editing since creation to remove unsourced/promotional language. All of OPs edits made today have been reverted. MB 17:31, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

OP is now blocked under NOTHERE and COI editing; was reported at WP:COIN. MB 19:06, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Oswald Engine article deleted

Can you please assist me please in locating and reinstating an article I contributed "Oswald Engine" in 2007 , it was categorized with Gas Engines, Marine Engines, this was along with other important contributions on the preservation and history of Gas Marine Engines that provided propulsion at a time between Steam and Diesel. It was deleted by and administrator "Muboshgu" who cited that it was insignificant. How can I locate it, I tried the "log" with no luck. This article was important to a large community of gas engine, fishery and foundry historians and gas engine collectors, many specializing in the California Marine Engines that were critical for the fishing fleet from 1900s to the 1950s. This contributed to the development of gas engines for motorcycles and automobiles creating a expansion in culture. It was very disturbing that this deletion was quickly approved by administrators or editors that were not knowledgeable in this area of history and technology and it's impact on society worldwide and also specific to the west coast. This was my first contribution to Wikipedia and if lost would be detrimental to future research in this area. I was planning to add additional images and details. Alan Black "ablack29" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ablack29 (talk • contribs) 06:11, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Ablack29, as the article was deleted under proposed deletion, it may be restored at Wikipedia:Requests for undeletion ~~ OxonAlex - talk 08:30, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

However, you should be able to demonstrate that you plan to improve the article to address the concerns in the deletion, and that the firm have received significant coverage to base an article on. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 08:35, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Origin of the word Christmas

The word "Christmas" consists of two parts, the first part is “Christ” which comes from the word "Christos" in Greek, and the word “mas” comes from the Coptic verb “misi” which means give birth.

Look at the ancient Egyptian pharos names: Ramsis = born from “RA” the ancient Egyptian deity of the sun. Ahmose (Ahmas) = Born of “Ah” the ancient Egyptian deity of the moon. Thotmose (Thotmas) = the birth of Thot. Applying the same rule, Christmas = the birth of Christ.

Hope I was able to deliver the correction. Ashraf — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:E000:1609:1B43:B1:3F68:3BA6:DE55 (talk) 07:24, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

If you are recommending a change to an article, then please place your recommendation on the article's talk page. If you have a reliable source, then you are free to change the article yourself if you cite the source. -Arch dude (talk) 07:42, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Special emphasis on "if you have a reliable source", because the explanation seems unlikely to me. Christmas#Etymology says it comes from "Christ's mass" with usage in the 11th century attesting to those roots and a source. Furthermore, since French, Italian and Spanish all use some local translation of "Nativity" for "Christmas", it is hard to believe that a Coptic word would have propagated through those areas first before reaching the British Isles. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 12:39, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Inserting Pdf as a reference

Hi,

How do I upload a Pdf file as a reference?

Thanks... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.200.140.140 (talk) 07:27, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

A reference must have been published in a reliable source. You do not need to upload the pdf, you just need to reference it. If it is available as a PDF on the web and that location has a license to that copy (e.g., the source itself has put it on the web), then you may link to the PDF from within your reference. If the source has not been published on the web, then an upload by you is (probably) not a reliable source. -Arch dude (talk) 07:38, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks - the PDF has not been published on the web but nevertheless is a reliable source. Could I receive information on how to upload it?

Thanks... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.200.140.140 (talk) 07:45, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Hi IP user. Simply - you shouldn't upload it. If it were, say a newsletter sent by email from a reliable source, it could be a reliable piece of media. Simply cite where it came from, and it'll be viewed as an offline source. Uploading has a few issues, as it could be doctored, or be a copyright voilation of someone else's work. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 08:17, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

It is a PDF of a print page from a newspaper. It is not available on line, but nevertheless it constitutes a reliable source. I need to include it as my edit is repeatedly being taken down - I'm guessing because it does not have a verifiable reference.

Therefore, I would be grateful if someone could let me know how to upload this PDF as a reference.

Thanks... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.200.140.140 (talk) 08:37, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Don't upload it, as this would be a copyright violation. And don't cite the PDF, as it has not been published. Instead, cite the newspaper, giving its name, date of issue, name of the author of the article, page and column number. Maproom (talk) 09:42, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for your advice, which I have followed. :-) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.200.140.140 (talk) 10:26, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Donating cash

Hi, Every year I receive the request to support your organisation by contributing £2 cash. I would love to donate but when I have previously enquired, I have been told it is not possible. I am an economic dinosaur and have and want no economic online presence, but would love to send you cash or a postal order. I would be quite prepared to take the risk of it not ending up in the right place. Is there any way that this can be done? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.155.203.146 (talk) 09:43, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

As an editor, thanks for wanting to donate(though donations are handled by the Foundation and not us). If you go to this page, it will tell you where you can mail a check to. 331dot (talk) 10:34, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

To clarify, you should not send cash in the mail- but a money/postal order should be okay. 331dot (talk) 12:20, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Donations

Tuesday 10 December 2019. Hi I recently made a small donation to your organisation but every time I open a new subject ,you keep flashing up "make a donation"(or words similar).Would you therefore change my algorithm so this stops.Thank You .Trevor Coffey West Sussex England UK. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.66.147.74 (talk) 13:13, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

The only way to stop seeing these messages is to create an account and then disable them. As IP addresses can be used by more than one person, there is no way to know who is using the IP address and if they have seen a message or not. In addition(as I've seen pointed out by someone else) when you make a donation to a charity in person on the street, and then pass the same location on the street the next day, do you expect the person seeking donations to be gone? 331dot (talk) 13:20, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Time Stamps

Are the time stamps in UTC time? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgtjdaniels (talk • contribs) 15:44, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Yes, unless you have specified a UTC offset at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 15:55, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Hello, Sgtjdaniels, yes, by default, timestamps in signatures and article histories are shown in UTC time. However, there is a preference item, under Gadgets | Appearances for "Change UTC-based times and dates, such as those used in signatures, to be relative to local time " which some people prefer. That only changes the display, not the stored timestamp. DES ^(talk)_{DESiegel Contribs} 16:00, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

The adjsutment also requires setting your local offset, as Trappist the monk described above. DES ^(talk)_{DESiegel Contribs} 16:01, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

How do I publish a translation of a foreign-language article in English?

Hi, I translated the Wikipedia page for my company from Czech into English. I published it as a personal draft, but Wikipedia doesn't indicate what happens next, if anything. What do I do next to get the translation published for the general public? Thanks in advance for any help and I apologize for my "newbieness."

Here is the original page: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mana_(n%C3%A1hrada_stravy) Here is my translation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jack_Zagorski/Mana_(food) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jack Zagorski (talk • contribs) 16:09, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

The first thing you need to do is to read about conflict of interest and make the mandatory definition of paid editing. Other advice is at WP:Translate. --David Biddulph (talk) 16:18, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Jack Zagorski, I've added a header to the draft, which contains a button to submit the article to Articles for Creation, where it will be reviewed. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 16:19, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

But, Jack Zagorski, far too many of the references on User:Jack Zagorski/Mana (food) are to the company's own website. Remember that Wikipedia is basically not interested in anything that the subject of the article says or wants to say, whether in its own publications, or in interviews or press releases: it is only interested in what people who have no connection with the subject have chosen to publish about it. To have any chance of that draft being accepted into en-wiki, you need to find some independent published sources which discuss Mana in some detail, and remove almost everything from the draft which can't be substantiated from an independent source. Sources in Czech are acceptable if there aren't any comparable ones in English. This is the trouble with translating articles from other-language Wikpedias: often existing articles (including older articles in en-wiki) do not meet current standards of notability and referencing. --ColinFine (talk) 16:54, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Hi, Jack Zagorski. To anticipate a possible confusion on your part arising from ColinFine's excellent advice above: each of the different language Wikipedias is a separate project, whose requirements has been arrived at by a separate language-specific concensus; thus the rules of source acceptability on the Czech Wikipedia may be different from those here on the English Wikipedia, which is reputed to be more strict than most. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.209.178 (talk) 18:57, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Week Zero

I Put in a reference can you fix the error for me please. 68.103.78.155 (talk) 16:47, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

 Done It was a simple typo. Wakari07 (talk) 16:57, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Just for explanation: Special:Diff/930160444. --CiaPan (talk) 17:16, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Changing links

I have been changing links from Portal:Contents to Wikipedia:Contents since that page was recently moved. I have been using the What links here button to determine what links still link to that page. Is there a tool I can use that can help me change links faster rather than do them manually? Would AutoWikiBrowser do the job? I previously applied for AWB rights but they got declined. Any help is appreciated. Please be sure to ping me in your reply. Interstellarity (talk) 17:52, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

​I don't think there's any need to update these links, WP:NOTBROKEN. Yes either AWB or JWB would do the job. If it were something that would need fixing you could always ask the folks at Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Tasks. – Thjarkur (talk) 18:56, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Þjarkur, Thank you. I asked at WP:AWB/Tasks to see if anyone is willing to do that. Interstellarity (talk) 19:10, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Evaluating the notability of an article where I can not read any of the sources

While looking through random articles, I came across San Michele, Cremona, which has a single source.. that I cannot read. I have a hunch that it is not notable, but am unable to check this. Where would I ask to get assistance? --MoonyTheDwarf (Braden N.) (talk) 18:04, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Moonythedwarf Leaving the issue of reviewing the source aside for a moment, more than one source is usually needed to support the notability of an article subject. Usually multiple sources are required. Regarding the one source, it is not required that sources be easy to access. If you doubt the source in some way, you can make that clear when debating the notability. You could also ask the editor that added it. 331dot (talk) 18:07, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

331dot, I am aware it is not required, I am querying where I can ask for assistance evaluating a source I cannot access. MoonyTheDwarf (Braden N.) (talk) 18:18, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Moonythedwarf, Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request may help. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 18:23, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Sources

Is it possible to use pdf's of newspaper articles as sources if the newspaper is unavailable online? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.174.134.2 (talk) 18:51, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Hello and welcome to the Teahouse. It is not required that a source be online or free to access, only that it be publicly available(private documents in private hands are not acceptable, for example). You don't even need to make a pdf available, just provide the appropriate citation information. Please see WP:CITE for more information. 331dot (talk) 19:00, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

[Edit Conflict] No, because pdfs are easily faked. Instead you should cite

the byline (author's name), if any,

the title of the article,

the name of the newspaper in italics,

its city of publication (if not included in name of newspaper),

the date of publication, and

the page number(s) of the article if known (this is optional),

by using the appropriate "cite news" citation template (which you will be able to find by reading through Wikipedia:Citing sources).

Cited sources do not have to be online (though this is more convenient for everybody), they only have to be possible to access, even if this means having to visit a specific library to consult an archived copy or a microfiche (for example) of the newspaper. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.209.178 (talk) 19:11, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Legal Process / Also question on edits.

Can tell me how to serve legal process? Also, please advise if everything documenting edits to Wikipedia pages is just what you see on the site itself, or is there some internal documentation that they have access to that the general user can’t see. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgtjdaniels (talk • contribs) 19:07, 10 December 2019 (UTC)