Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2013 November 15

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November 15

Wikipedia search function!

Sometimes when I use the search function, I get unsatisfactory results. For example: I typed in the city name of "Sedro-​Woolley, Washington".

I get the results window that says "The page "Sedro-​Woolley, Washington" does not exist. You can ask for it to be created, but consider checking the search results below to see whether the topic is already covered." Yet, the very first listing in the "search results below" is for "Sedro-Woolley, Washington". If there is any difference between 1) "Sedro-​Woolley, Washington" and 2) "Sedro-Woolley, Washington", I cannot see it. Two works in the search feature and one does not.

Frustrated,

Dave 75.85.105.221 (talk) 04:34, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Your dashes are different. Did you copy and paste in the search the first time from another location. If I search using a copy paste from your first post into a plain text editor it shows "Sedro-<200b>Woolley, Washington", so to computers those are different. I think if you clear your auto-completes from your browser and type in the search it should work properly for you. XFEM Skier (talk) 05:33, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

One of those searches contains a Non-breaking space. I can't fix it by creating a redirect since it requires an admin. Thanks ツ Jenova20 ^(email) 09:20, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Both above replies are a little inaccurate. The same normal hyphen-minus is used in both strings but the first contains a Zero-width space (not the same as a Non-breaking space) after the hyphen. You said I typed in the city name of "Sedro-​Woolley, Washington". Did you literally type on the keyboard? That string has the zero-width space which is sometimes added to pages by software but I would be surprised if it was added when you type with the keyboard in the search box. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:53, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Fort Hood Shooting

I didn"t see anything on Wikipedia about President Bush. While President Obama was addressing the post, President Bush was in Darnall and Metroplex hospitals visiting the wounded and families of the dead and wounded.

I'm a Navy veteran and was an Army wife living on post with my family when this occured. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.205.34.102 (talk) 05:15, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

If you have a source for that information, you might be able to find somewhere in the article about the Fort Hood shooting to place it. If you don't feel comfortable adding it yourself, you can certainly suggest it on the talk page for the article at Talk:Fort Hood shooting. Dismas|^(talk) 05:40, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Categorizing people with ambiguous birth years

I recently created the article Don Gorman, for whose subject I can't find a source for a year of birth. What we do have, however, is a source indicating that in 1996 he was aged 58. Working from a vague sense that this is how things are done I've included "(born 1937 or 1938)" in the lede. My question is, how do we categorize such an article? Presumably neither Category:1937 births nor Category:1938 births would be correct. Should it go straight into Category:1930s births? (but what if the years were 1939/1940?) Or Category:Year of birth missing (living people)? – Arms & Hearts (talk) 10:17, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

I would think if the source is good enough to rely on in the lead to give an exact "1937 or 1938", it's good enough for the category to be pegged as 1930s births. I know this is what we did for an FA where the year was also only know to a two year period in the same way (though it was 1910s). Not sure what to do if it it fell into the 1939 to 1940 gap. By the way, have you tried the 1940 census? If you know his father or mother's name and know or presume they were living in New Hampshire you would have a good bit of information to search with. Strike that. Apparently through NARA you can only search the 1930 census by name and need the location to search the 1940s, which wouldn't help here unless you located the parents in the 1930s, and used the same address to search the 1940s. I know there are third-party websites where you can search by name but I only know of pay sites. You can sign up for some for a one week free trial but they take down your credit card information and then you have to remember to cancel or they charge you automatically.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:44, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, I've added it to the 1930s category. – Arms & Hearts (talk) 02:47, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Man Booker Prize

The logo on the Man Booker Prize page is very outdated is it possible for it to be changed to the current one: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/themes/manbooker/images/header/h_logo_official_large.png — Preceding unsigned comment added by MatfieldMan (talk • contribs) 11:28, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

I see that you have made a request for the new image to be uploaded.

Incidentally – though it is named "h_logo_official_large.png", it is quite small, and being a png it won't scale well, and won't look good if used in Man Booker Prize the way the old one is. The image currently used there is an svg, which scales nicely. Is it possible that somewhere in themes/manbooker/images there is an svg version, or a larger png? Maproom (talk) 11:57, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Technical problem

I have encountered problems in some recent edits on a couple of pages. Tried to make routine additions to Wayfarer (dinghy) of the following text: <no wiki>"An optional Asymetrical spinnaker and spinnaker chute is available; also available is a "sail patch" which provides flotation for the mast in the vent of a capsize (and particularly to prevent mast inversion –turtling."</nowiki> I did not intentionally touch anything in the footnotes. When I save it all of the footnotes were eliminated, which certainly was not my intention. I can't figure this out. Not sure if it is unique to me, a browser problem (I use Firefox, or if there is an issue on Wikipedia. I will also report this to the Village Pump techmical people. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 13:40, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

If you delete the references - the markup and the text between the <ref></ref> markup - from the article as you did here, the deleted references won't appear in the reference subsection of the article. When you added that text to the article lead, did you consider whether or not it defined the topic and/or summarize the body of the article with appropriate weight as per WP:LEAD? You also need to include an independent reliable source at the end of that sentence. -- Jreferee (talk) 14:46, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

I just edited the article and had no trouble posting my edit.[1] So I'm not sure this is a technical problem. -- Jreferee (talk) 14:57, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

(edit conflict) You have several times deleted all fifteen footnotes from the article, seen what you have done, and added them back in again. You have not achieved this by accidentally leaving an unpaired bracket so as to screw up the formatting. You have been physically removing over 4000 characters of references, before reversing what you have done. Are you by any chance using Wikipedia's "Visual Editor"? Maproom (talk) 14:53, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

It's not VisualEditor. Those edits say "Tag: VisualEditor" like in many edits at [2] (it actually took work to find an example, the first 500 at Special:RecentChanges had no VisualEditor but that just shows how little used it is). Let's keep discussion at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 120#Technical problem. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:30, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Username change

Hey How can I change my username?? thx — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lauracrowleygirl (talk • contribs) 15:35, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

@Lauracrowleygirl: Read WP:U and then request at WP:CHU. --Glaisher [talk] 15:38, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Difficulty with a new article, multiple names

Hi I was wondering if someone could help with this.

Right now I'd like to make an article for a short story collection originally from Sweden called 'Let the Old Dreams Die'. The US/UK edition comprised of material of two different books, one is also a short story collection called "Paper Walls" and the other is a book called "Let the Old Dreams Die" which has the title story.

So basically we have three books here: Paper Walls and Let the Old Dreams Die, from Sweden, and Let the Old Dreams Die, from the US, which has all the material from the former and the title story from the latter.

If I were to make an article, how should I go about this?--CyberGhostface (talk) 16:27, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

The first thing, CyberGhostface, before worrying about the name of the article, is to make sure that the book is notable. If it isn't there won't be an article and the name is unimportant. Read the general notability guideline and our specialized guideline for books. If you think that you can establish notability for this book, using independent reliable sources, then the article can be started. The article must have one title, for your description I would suggest Let the Old Dreams Die. Then the article can indicate that related content was included in Paper Walls in the UK. A redirect could be used to help readers searching under the alternate name. DES ^(talk) 16:38, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

{e/c} Firstly, be sure it meets Wikipedia:Notability (books) before spending too long writing the article. As for the title - as this is the English Wikipedia, and the English version has the title Let the Old Dreams Die, I think you should use that, with an explanation of the history in the lead, and a redirect to Let the Old Dreams Die at Paper Walls (book) or some similar disambiguation, as Paper Walls is an existing article on a 2007 album. Arjayay (talk) 16:45, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

How Do I Change The Logo On A Page?

I am looking to change the logo on the wikipedia page of the company I work for. The logo displayed on the Wikipedia page is outdated. We want to update to the current logo but the edit section of the page won't allow me to do this. I have tried embedding the logo using both the file name of the logo as saved on my computer as well as a URL from an online link. We are eager to get the logo changed ASAP. Any help on the matter would be greatly appreciated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hannahedun (talk • contribs) 16:51, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

First of all, before doing any edits to an article about a company where you are employed, please read our conflict of interest guideline. It would be better for you merely to suggest edits on the talk page and use the {{editrequest}} mechanism to have an independent editor vet any edits.

That said, any image to be displayed should first be uploaded to Wikipedia or better yet, to Wikimedia commons. Uploads to Wikipedia can be done using the upload wizard, Be sure that the image complies with our Wikipedia:Image use policy, and is under a free license or else is used under a valid fair use claim. (Logos are often under fair use, as was the previous logo on EDUN. Fair use images are not accepted at Commons.) You might want to look at the tags and source notes on the existing logo image. Once an image is uploaded the Picture tutorial will help you understand how to include it in an article. DES ^(talk) 17:01, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Files must be uploaded before they can be used. Due to copyright concerns, logos often have to be uploaded to the English Wikipedia and this can only be done by an autoconfirmed user. We can do it for you but where is the logo? I have seen Talk:EDUN#Changing the Logo and examined all recent edits to EDUN but couldn't find a url anywhere. [3] has a file name but no url. I also looked at the official website but couldn't find a logo there. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:11, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Logos are usually "fair-use" so cannot normally be uploaded to Commons. As the editor is not WP:Autoconfirmed (has not been registered four days, nor made 10 edits) they cannot upload files, so should see Wikipedia:Files for upload for what to do in these circumstances. Arjayay (talk) 17:12, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Files for upload requires a url. If we just get the url then we can also do it here, but it's hard to help when the poster hasn't said where the logo is. If you are eager to get something done ASAP then it would be a good idea say what you want done. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:22, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

This has been resolved at Talk:EDUN#Changing the Logo where a url was posted today. It turned out the logo was just four capital letters and even the official site writes it as letters without using an image. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:38, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

I am adding images

to a chart (or table or something) at Eli Harvey and I know that there is a way to do this so that the image fills the entire field rather than have a double border, and more. I tried to figure it out from other charts, but to no avail. So rather than drinking more coffee and trying harder, I decided to ask here. Thanks, Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 16:59, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Omit |thumb if you don't want the double border or a caption (the reason for the double border is to make a place for a caption). PrimeHunter (talk) 17:14, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Or replace |thumb with |frameless. ~HueSatLum 17:23, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

(edit conflict) And then use style="padding-left: 0em" and the same for right, top, and bottom to force a true fill. (See Help:Table.) I have done this on Eli Harvey. However, because of the position of the sun, that image is quite unclear at a small size. Can a better image be obtained? DES ^(talk) 17:26, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Thanks, you are both gentlemen/gentlewomen and scholars. And probably good cooks too. Carptrash (talk) 17:24, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Using interwiki data to find articles needed for English.

Given that the Interwiki data is now in a database, what would be the easiest way to find out the interwiki dataset which has the largest number of entries and *doesn't* contain a page in English?

I understand that may be caused by a situation where an English language article contains information that in most other languages is split between multiple articles and only one interwiki dataset can be chosen for an article. (OTOH, if French and German and Japanese have a concept split, then splitting the English article should be considered (even if not formally). My guess is that this would be a tool, but that the interwiki data may not have existed long enough for this to be created. Naraht (talk) 17:29, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Wikidata is a separate project. You might want to look through d:Wikidata:Tools, and if you don't see something there that meets your needs, you might want to ask at d:Wikidata:Project chat. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 00:39, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Silver City Daily Press Entry

Hello,

I'd like to try and update the page on the Silver City Daily Press (Silver City Daily Press) --I tried to do so about a year ago, but was turned down because I didn't cite any sources. However, I am the son of the owner, and I represent the company. If you look at the current page, it is terribly written, cites NOVELS as sources for info, and is horrible all around. I'm fairly certain our competitors have posted that info, as well (the novel citation makes the paper seem biased, through it is complete fiction).

That being said, the page contains virtually no information about the paper (Circulation, history, reach, etc,). How can I change it without getting my edits removed (which was the case last time I modified it?).

Please provide some guidance?

Best, TS — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.113.95.9 (talk) 20:30, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Before editing the page as your have a close relationship with it you should see WP:COI. You are encouraged instead of editing the talk page with requests for edits as it will be challenging for you to have a neutral point of view. Also all information on Wikipedia needs to be be verifiable by reliable external sources. While some information slips through the community of editors providing information without citations if often caught and reverted. Unfortunately personal knowledge is not verifiable if you provide reliable sources you can find editors willing to help. XFEM Skier (talk) 20:38, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

For basic factual data like circulation, the masthead statement of the paper itself should be a sufficient source. I agree that the current article is sub-standard. Place suggestions on Talk:Silver City Daily Press, and if you have a specific edit or edits to suggest you can use {{Edit request}}. DES ^(talk) 20:42, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

• I listed the page at Template:Did you know nominations/Silver City Daily Press. -- Jreferee (talk) 19:00, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Editing when there's no Edit button on a page

I wanted to edit the One Direction page but it has no edit button. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.90.202.189 (talk) 20:47, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

One Direction has been semi-protected since 13 August 2012. This means that only WP:Autoconfirmed users can edit it. This was done by User:Acalamari, in response to a high vandalism level. It may well be that the protecting admin would be willing to unprotect at this time. or see requests for unprotection. DES ^(talk) 20:55, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

You can also click the "View source" tab to see how to suggest an edit. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:11, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Adding edited information

• List of films shot in Oregon

I'm not sure how to add data to this url.

"Blast (2000 film)" Vernonia, OR 2000 "Untraceable" Portland, OR 2008 Tony711978 (talk) 23:08, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

You would have to find reliable sources supporting the information first, if these films are not mentioned in the sources already used in the article. I'm afraid IMDB doesn't count, as no fact checking is done there. Rojomoke (talk) 23:20, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

I found a source for Untraceable, but not for Blast.[4] -- Jreferee (talk) 14:20, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Edits do not appear

I added some comments to the following Talk Page Talk:Richard Hickock. Why are they not showing up? I looked through the edit page, but I can't seem to locate the problem. Any ideas? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 23:38, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

The comments of other editors on that Talk Page also seem to be "hidden" and do not appear. Why is this? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 23:40, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

Fixed.[5] Whenever this happens, look at the source code near the last displayed part. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:53, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

(edit conflict) As far as I can tall your comments and all others are visible. There were two identical section headings "Plagerized" which could have lead to section links going to the wrong place this not displaying what you thought you were displaying I have changed this. DES ^(talk) 23:56, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

My error, I looked at the history before the changes made by PrimeHunter, but edited after them. DES ^(talk) 00:02, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

I am still confused. What exactly caused the problem? I looked at the "differences" between versions as indicated above by Prime Hunter. But, all I noticed changed was that the four tildes indicating editors' signatures were deleted. Why were the tildes removed? And why would the tildes cause this problem? People always sign their posts with four tildes. Please explain what the issue is here. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 03:47, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Look again at PrimeHunter's first change. There was a '>' missing. Rojomoke (talk) 05:42, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Joseph A. Spadaro - Instead of reading <!--Autosigned by SineBot--> as hidden text, the '>' was missing so the text read <!--Autosigned by SineBot--. That left a "<!" looking to match up with a ">" or something else. Since "<!" could not find a suitable partner, the page got done messed up. To spot these subtle changes, you can add a show improved diff view button at the bottom of each diff page. In Preferences>Gadgets, put a check next to "wikEdDiff, improved diff view between article versions (not needed if wikEd is used)". -- Jreferee (talk) 10:57, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

Yes, the tildes were a sympton and not the cause of the problem. Everything after the initial <!-- became a part of the comment, including the tildes which don't expand to signatures inside comments. When I fixed the comment, the tildes would have expanded to my own signature so I removed them (I was too lazy to track down the posters in the page history and manually add their names). PrimeHunter (talk) 12:06, 16 November 2013 (UTC)

OK. Now I understand exactly what happened. Thanks, all! Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 04:44, 17 November 2013 (UTC)