Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 May 14

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May 14

Added Hard Hat Records to the list of record labels

Hello, I have attempted to add our record label name Hard Hat Records, a Reg. Trademark, to the list of Wikipedia Record labels, but I have been unsuccessful in doing so, please tell me what I am doing wrong. Hard Hat Records is an old well established record label.

Thank you for your assistance,

Bobby Lee Cude,Hard Hat Records ,Reg Trademark — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hardhatrecords (talk • contribs) 01:13, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

You shouldnt be adding content about your company directly to articles because you have a conflict of interest. In order to be successful at adding content about your company you should provide reliably published third party sources about the company and its relevance to an article on the article's talk page for a neutral party to evaluate and determine whether its appropriate to include or not. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 01:30, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

It was added to List of record labels. This is just a page for splitting up the list into smaller sections. It would go on List of record labels: A–H after we have an article. Notability would need to be established and that is done through writing the article. You should not write the article or do any editing concerning Hard Hat Records as you have a conflict of interest. Note:I have blocked the username as it is a corporate name GB fan 01:34, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Added closing brackets to a link in the preceding, to correct its formatting. --ColinFine (talk) 08:03, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

United states senate missing from your page

hi you have a U.S. senate candidate missing from South Dakota

he is an independent candidate running out of Black Hawk SD

WWW.claytongwalker.us — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.107.152.182 (talk) 01:35, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

if reliable third party sources have given this candidate significant coverage, then you can help improve the encyclopedia by adding information. If they havent then we dont become a publicity arm for the campaign. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 02:46, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

See also WP:POLITICIAN - not every candidate for political office is notable.--ukexpat (talk) 13:38, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Unbiased Information?

Whenever the term 'objective' or 'unbiased' is identified with an on-line site I begin to to question whether that can be appropriately labeled as such. That applies both to the contributions and editing. It is not necessarily whether the content is questionable but the way it is written. I would say that most of the content of Wikipedia has a liberal bias to it. The way the articles are written certainly are. I have yet to find the content of any of the biographies I have read being made from a more conservative, or alternative point of view. Rather there seems to be a leaning toward a lack of objectivity. There are very few writers that can leave out their personal biases. Objectivity is very rarely possible. I find myself bombarded by point of view discrimination in the biographies I have found on this site. Therefore I find myself less informed by what I have read because the point of view of the contributor. I can no longer count on Wikipedia for accuracy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:8:A400:B03:A454:365:8BCB:84E1 (talk) 01:39, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Do you have even a single example to demonstrate your point? AlexTiefling (talk) 01:54, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

If it helps, we have BLP, NPOV, and other policies that deal with how to write more objectively. - Purplewowies (talk) 02:39, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

You may prefer Conservapedia to Wikipedia. It is not affiliated with Wikipedia, and does not have a liberal bias. Maproom (talk) 06:26, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Mobile view turn off

How does one switch off the mandatory mobile view on Android devices using Opera? —Xojo (talk) 02:15, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Should be a link somewhere near the bottom to go to desktop view, but depending on your version of Opera, it may not want to take. - Purplewowies (talk) 02:37, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. I use the Desktop link now, every time I make a WP query. How do I get the desktop view automatically, first thing, without having to scroll to the bottom of the page and choose the Desktop link, directly from my query or directly from following a link to WP? —Xojo (talk) 18:50, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

I find Chrome to be a better browser on Android - I even occasionally edit WP on my tab - but not my phone, its screen is simply too small. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 14:11, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

I also find Chrome a better browser. Right now, Opera is a poor, crippled, brain-damaged imitation of Chrome, which, nevertheless, for a variety of reasons, I must use--thus the question about Opera rather than Chrome. Is there a way using Opera Android to get the WP desktop view directly and immediately? —Xojo (talk) 18:50, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

What is this page?

What is this page? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 18.111.57.104 (talk) 03:33, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Hello. This page is a help desk for people who wish to use or contribute to Wikipedia. If you have another question, ask below by editing this page again. You can make test edits at the sandbox. Anon126 (notify me of responses! / talk / contribs) 06:09, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

maharashtra

your wait for the sarkari deparment reqwastaed in maharashtra fo job iin which to apley for in job. the of goverment in taking .<ref name=deriyo group=dehradun>{{cite journal|last=subhash|first=subhash|coauthors=goverment|title=the goverment|journal=education|date=1/5/2014|volume=managment|series=line -1|issue=looking after|page=1|pages=1|doi=event|pmid=vnns|url=htpp//www.goverment|accessdate=13/52014}}</ref> — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.19.212.13 (talk) 07:02, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

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. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:33, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Fixing a Title

I would like to capitalize a letter in the title of an article I started - Muskrat french. How do I capitalize the 'f'? I have been unable to change the title. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jlaforest (talk • contribs) 07:09, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

You do this my moving the page to its new title: see Help:How to move a page. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:35, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

I have moved the page to Muskrat French. Maproom (talk) 07:58, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

secondary or tertiary sources

Hi

I have an article that has been refused on this basis:

This biographical article relies on references to primary sources. Please add references to secondary or tertiary sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful.

The article is about a music band from 30 years ago and they did not feature in any encyclopedias etc and so am not sure what sort of references would be suitable. there are references to a BBC interview that can still be viewed/listened to via the internet.

I can add references to music paper articles but some of which no longer exist (e.g. New music news) and some do (Music Week) - would these be suitable as sources? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Davidpapworth (talk • contribs) 10:32, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Paper articles are OK, as long as they refer to the band in a way that suggests it did something notable, rather than merely exist. From the sounds of things, this mysterious band from decades ago which didn't feature in any enyclopedias maybe shouldn't. They can't all be moderately famous. InedibleHulk (talk) 10:38, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Citing pdf files

When I find a useful source via Google in the form of a pdf file, I sometimes have great difficulty finding a suitable url to include in the citation. For example, today I have cited a paper "A defense of the caridoid facies; wherein the early evolution of the eumalacostraca is discussed" in the article Eumalacostraca, but if I click on the link, I get an error 404 message. Can you advise? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:27, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Seems you had an ellipsis where a bunch of gibberish should have been. I've replaced the gibberish, and it works for me. Give it a go? By the way, thanks for indirectly teaching me what a lophogastrid is. InedibleHulk (talk) 12:37, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, that works for me. I'm glad you learnt something useful! The trouble is, I have had this problem before and I no doubt will again, and I don't know how to sort it out myself. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 13:18, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

It appears that you are copying the url from the green line on the google results page. If this is too long, google shortens it with an ellipsis. You should instead copy the url from the address bar when you are actually on the page you want to link. You are guaranteed to have the right url that way. SpinningSpark 13:52, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

I have had trouble when using the default PDF reader that comes with Windows 8, because it opens as a separate app and there is no URL showing. In that case, I have found that if, while viewing the search engine results, I right-click on the item I am interested in, a list of options appears. In Firefox, one of the options is "Copy link location". Choosing that copies the correct URL to my paste buffer, and then I can paste it into a citation. I haven't tried this with other browsers, but there is likely something similar. —Anne Delong (talk) 14:05, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

By the way, it is preferable not to link directly to pdfs if at all possible, as this will cause difficulties for some readers. For instance it is much better to link to this page (Bell System Technical Journal vol.3) where the user can decide if they want to load the full pdf, the online reader, or plain text versions, or a bunch of other formats. The user may not want to download the full document at all—they may just have wanted the citation information, or the abstract. SpinningSpark 17:32, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, I'll see what I can do. Sometimes it is possible to shorten the url until you get to a page from which you can access the pdf file, right clicking it to obtain the link. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 18:16, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Password.

I have forgotten my password for logging in to Wikipedia. Wikipedia has said it sent me a new password yesterday. It didn't. I asked for a new one today and was told that since one was sent yesterday no help can be given until the 24 hours is up. I have still not received a new password. What now? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Hogbog (talk • contribs) 12:59, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Have you checked your e-mail spam folder? Some spam filters are too aggressive and catch Wikipedia e-mails. Failing that, are you sure that you still have access to the e-mail address that you originally submitted?--ukexpat (talk) 13:42, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

@Hogbog - I see you were logged in when you posted the question. I'm not sure but I think if you are still logged in you can probably change your user details without having to first get an email. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 14:20, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

The account was created today only nine minutes before its only edit which was to this page. I assume that is a temporary account for the purpose of asking for help. SpinningSpark 15:08, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Not sure if its been fixed but there was a problem sending Password resets a few weeks ago. It may have raised its head again. - X201 (talk) 15:20, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Typo in category header

HI,

In attempting to create a new category called "Villas in the United States," in attempting to follow the template I mistakenly created one titled "Villas by United States." How do I delete this incorrectly titled category?

Thanks.

Casoulman (talk) 13:34, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Normally, you can add a speedy deletion template, like {{db-c2}}. But I have already removed the page for you. — Edokter (talk) — 13:43, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Great, thanks!

Casoulman (talk) 13:51, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Restrictions on who can edit a page

I am creating a page for a Professor and want to only have certain information on the wiki entry. Other sources are editing the page constantly and taking down or adding detail that is not necessarily wanted. Rather than having to update the page regularly to regulate - can put any restrictions on who can edit the page? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.61.159.84 (talk) 14:17, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

No, neither you nor the professor have any right to "regulate" the content of the page. Anyone is welcome to edit it as long as the content they add is properly sourced. The only specific protection the subject of an article has is stipulated in the WP:BLP policy. Attempts to "regulate" the article content will be regarded as unconstructive editing for which you could be blocked. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 14:25, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

(edit conflict) No, there are not. But among the people who usually should not edit a page are the subject of the page, and their friends, relatives, colleagues and employees. This is an encycylopaedia, not a directory: we have articles only on subjects (including people) who meet our requirements for notability (generally, that independent reliable sources have written about them), and the articles are neutral and confined to information from reliable published sources. If you are working for the professor in question, then you have a conflict of interest, and you are strongly discouraged from editing the page - you are welcome to make suggestions on that article's talk page, but neither you nor the Professor have any say on what actually goes on the page. --ColinFine (talk) 14:30, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Question about lead sentences in Wikipedia articles

Many – perhaps most – Wikipedia articles begin with a lead sentence that contains the BOLDED title of the article. For example, see 2014 World Snooker Championship. However, every so often, I see "hidden comments" within an article's editing space that state: "<!-- Per MOS:BOLDTITLE and WP:SBE, neither the article's title nor related text appears in bold. -->". For example, see 2014 Soma mine disaster. So, what's the deal? And which is it exactly? If indeed that's the Wikipedia policy (that the article title should NOT be bolded in the article's first sentence), then why does that occur in nearly all articles? And why do some editors – seemingly arbitrarily – select a minority of articles to enforce this "rule"? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 16:11, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

It shouldn't be arbitrary, per MOS:BOLDTITLE

• If the article's title does not lend itself to being used easily and naturally in the opening sentence, the wording should not be distorted in an effort to include it. Instead, simply describe the subject in normal English, avoiding unnecessary redundancy:

The example they then give isn't bolded. Also the MOS doesn't have to be followed if doing so yields an awkward result.AioftheStorm (talk) 16:28, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Also explained at Wikipedia:LEAD#Format_of_the_first_sentence.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 16:34, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:05, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

Insurance Policy

I have an insurance policy From The Union Central Life insurance Company from Cincinnati, Ohio and i am looking for a phone number to call and find out if the policy still exsist. Can You help me? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.15.125.23 (talk) 21:04, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 6 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. Dismas|^(talk) 21:13, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Anyway, Unioncentral.com has their contact details. DuncanHill (talk) 21:20, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

add external link to my Wikipedia biography

my question is how do I add an external link to my biography on Wikipedia?. The link is an INET [Institute for New Economic Thinking] video of me giving a seminar at the University of Chicago — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.178.168.202 (talk) 21:38, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Add an entry to the talk page of your biography explaining what you want adding, and why, and someone without a conflict of interest will review it and decide whether it merits inclusion. Rojomoke (talk) 22:16, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Reference in a foreign language

Is there a tag to attach to references which are in a foreign language? DuncanHill (talk) 22:01, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

You are not required to, but if you use a citation template like

{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = | work = | publisher = | date = | url = | format = | doi = | accessdate = 14 May 2014 }}

you can add in the parameter

| language = 

anywhere in the template and then either type the name of the language or the language code (en, de, ru...) into the parameter. Altamel (talk) 22:59, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks - there's a reference in an article I've got my eye on which is in German, and no translation has been provided. I'll see if I can add a language field to the citation. DuncanHill (talk) 23:52, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

If you are adding a reference to a source in another language, it might be a good idea to quote the relevant text from the source, and perhaps even add a translation (marked "Translation added"). --ColinFine (talk) 18:08, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

To add to Colin's advice, the guidance is at WP:NOENG. - David Biddulph (talk) 18:12, 15 May 2014 (UTC)