Help desk
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December 15[edit]

Can't get rid of whitespace[edit]

At Willows, California, we have three large templates on the top half of the article: the infobox, the climate box, and a population chart. All of these appear commonly in articles, but generally they display the article on full width, while here nothing except whitespace appears directly below the infobox. Any idea what's wrong? I tried {{clear right}} above the population chart, but it had no effect, and previewing the page without the pushpin map (to shorten the infobox) likewise displayed in the same manner. Nyttend (talk) 01:35, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed was this stray code.--Moxy (talk) 01:50, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

waiting for my draft to be approved since a month[edit]

hello

I have been waiting for my draft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Ousepachan_Vaalakuzhy to be approved for a month. It would be of great help if anyone could help me get the draft approved.

thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rajeshsingri (talk • contribs) 05:11, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Rajeshsingri: It seems you have moved the draft to mainspace today...and then moved it back again (please don't do this) and re-submitted as of today. There is currently a backlog of articles awaiting review so prepare to be patient. The draft was previously declined as not correctly sourced, and although some have added, there are still some issues. You cannot use Wikipedia as a source. Please see WP:RS for what constitutes a reliable source, in particular WP:UGC. Please also see WP:REFB for a guide to correctly adding sources. If you have not already done so, please read WP:YFA and WP:MOS and also the links contained in the welcome message at your talk page. Please sign your posts on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~). Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 06:28, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Note: Article has been reviewed (and declined again). Eagleash (talk) 15:06, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

South African Radio Stations[edit]

Please add the following station to this page; WRFM105.9 www.wrfm.co.za — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.13.232.84 (talk) 08:41, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, IP user. You haven't said which of our five million articles you are talking about, but I guess it might be List of radio stations in South Africa. In any case, the answer is probably No. This is an encyclopaedia, not a business directory. If WRFM105.9 meets Wikipedia's criteria for notability - meaning that several people who are unconnected with it have chosen to write at some length about it and been published in reliable places - then there could be an article written about it (based on what those independent people have published: Wikipedia is basically not interested in what any person or entity says about themselves) and then it could be added to lists such as the one I linked to. It is quite likely that many of the current entries on that list should be removed, but it would take somebody significant time to go through removing non-notable entries. --ColinFine (talk) 18:00, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hi ColinFine, I have reasonable familiarity with radio in South Africa. You are correct in presuming many of the listed stations are not (yet) notable. A good first step in cleaning up the list would be to simply remove all that do not already have an article. The list should also be rearranged to distinguish three clearly different (legally defined) categories: public service stations (all part of the SABC), then commercial stations (SABC owns a few, the rest are privately owned), and finally community stations (owned by non-profit orgs and have a limited geographic footprint). It's past bedtime at my end, so I'm not going to do anything about it now. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 22:16, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Do the annoying pop-ups to donate go away if I make a donation?[edit]

I have an account that I created 10 years ago, but I only log in with it about once every couple years, such as for uploading an image. If I was to use this login profile daily and donate, will those annoying popups go away? They always cause the text I'm reading to shift up and down, which is annoying to the point of seeking out downloading a frozen mirror of wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.138.223.233 (talk) 15:01, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hello. You can disable fundraising banners and similar notices from popping up by logging in and going to Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets. Check on the boxes adjacent to "Suppress display of fundraiser banners" and "Suppress display of CentralNotices". Thanks. Lourdes 15:25, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, IP user. Lourdes is right, but I'll answer your question directly: No, they won't, because absolutely nothing in Wikipedia - neither people nor software - knows who has made donations and who hasn't. I believe this is intentional, to make sure that there can be no suspicion of improper behaviour. Donations are the business of the Wikimedia Foundation, which created and maintains Wikipedia, but does not let that informtion leak into it. As Lourdes says, if you register, and log in to your account, you can turn the messages off, but it still will not know whether or not your have donated. --ColinFine (talk) 18:26, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I don't believe that is correct. In some disucssions with donation people, they shared a canned email response which they use for some inquiries:

Thank you for your email and your support for the Wikimedia Foundation and free knowledge.

I'm sorry that you're continuing to see banners on Wikipedia. Donation banners are designed to show to donors that have enabled cookies on their browser, and to hide after the banner is shown a few times or after a donation. Hiding, however, depends upon a cookie that we insert in the browser. Banner hiding won't work if you clear your browser's cache, delete cookies, or change browsers or computers. Also, if you happen to see a large banner, this is designed to show only on the first view, and will appear in a reduced size on subsequent views.

There are several options available to you to hide the fundraising banners in the future.

If you click the X in the top right-hand corner of our blue banner, it will hide for one week. Please note this behavior does not apply to the first banner you see, but every banner thereafter. If you return to the ['Thank You' page](https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Thank_You/en) it will give the cookie a chance to reinsert. You can also create an account on Wikipedia - banners are not typically shown to users that log-in to Wikipedia accounts.

More information on creating an account can be found [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Why_create_an_account%3F).

Thank you for your patience and support, and please let me know if I may be of further help.

This email identifies some reasons why some will continue to get the message, but I read it as suggesting that it should go away for many.--S Philbrick (Talk) 01:44, 16 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Can these links be used?[edit]

I'm curious the following pages (for example Atlanta Film Critics Circle) within pages are allowed, in this cases that of award ceremonies, as those below have no link within them; is it a violation to include them or is it possible to leave them with the other list:

Atlanta Film Critics Circle
Boston Online Film Critics Association
Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society
North Texas Film Critics Association
Phoenix Critics Circle
Phoenix Film Critics Society

on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Dunkirk

All comments are welcome.--Bartallen2 (talk) 17:55, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

No article Atlanta Film Critics Circle exists. Atlanta Film Critics Circle Awards exists, but has only one reference, which does not establish the subject as notable. Boston Online Film Critics Association does not exist. "Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society" is not an article, but is the name of an unreferenced section of List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Nolan: is your question about that article? Maproom (talk) 00:30, 16 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

My question is whether an article not existing can still be included? Boston Online Film Critics Association does not exist, but given that the film in question received several awards nominations from that respective association, is it against Wiki rules to include it? Many thanks --Bartallen2 (talk) 11:03, 16 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Created a page that disappeared no talk button[edit]

Hello, I went to the page of author J. Robert Lennon and saw there was no page for one if his books that is quite good, Familiar. Clicking the link invited me to create the page. I created it (without logging in) at considerable time investment with appropriate quotes, sources etc. and updated/submitted it.

The page never appeared. The link is red with the invitation to create it still appearing--which I'm loathe to do only to have my work evaporate again.

Is what I submitted archived somewhere? Awaiting some vetting process and overlooked? Is work by those not logged in not used? This was done several months ago now.

Any help or follow up to send my work live appreciated. J.

PS Also, in trying to contact you, the Wikipedia help page says there is a "Talk" button to address things like this at the top of the page. I don't see one at all- if it exists the help should be more specific. Is it some particular page view--restructed to those logged on? All I see at top of a page viewing on my android tablet in a normal web browser are: the translation icon on the left and on the right a download icon, star for favorite, and the edit pencil as is icon on each section.

Pss This help section in general needs some introduction/context for new users--I'm posting this to a forum? Not a person who follows up on tjis as the term "help desk" implies--like an actual help desk is/was with a person to snswer questions....is that even the right term (unqualified) if this is just a forum thread?

This all feels like more wasted effort to a newbie whose work was already lost... maybe larger help issue is making new users welcome/user friendly interfaces. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.235.106.27 (talk) 18:14, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry that you ran into trouble. Unregistered editors cannot create articles. I'm not sure why it let you start on that. Your best bet is to read WP:YFA and then use the article wizard there to create a draft article for review. RudolfRed (talk) 18:58, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I once was in a similar situation. I discovered that my (unsaved) edit could be retrieved from my browser (Firefox) by pressing 'back' a few times. Note however, this presumably will only work for the current browsing session. 2606:A000:4C0C:E200:ACD6:943D:BA3A:3FD4 (talk) 22:14, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Sources and Citations[edit]

Hi! Am I able to use ANY website as a valid source? — Preceding unsigned comment added by JetStream1 (talk • contribs) 19:27, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

No, only websites that have "a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy", see Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 20:07, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Meghan Markle[edit]

My reasons for returning so-called "trivial" information on this page was placed on the article's talk page as follows - "We have tried to find published evidence of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie both sharing common ancestors - e.g. Madeleine Ernard and her carpenter husband Zacharie Cloutier (1617-1708) - but there is none. On the other hand, the Washington Post, New York Times and other major global media outlets have published the proven SHARED ancestry between Markle and Prince Harry. The couple's common ancestor - Sir Philip Wentworth and his wife - were the great grandparents of Jane Seymour, wife of Henry VIII. This fact will remain relevant to both Harry's ancestry and Markle's. That is why the major global papers, television networks and historians will continue to refer to this information. Please accept this. Cheers 101.182.160.40 (talk) 21:58, 15 December 2017 (UTC)'[reply]

You should continue to discuss at the talk page to reach agreement with the other editors involved. Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 22:09, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Ok - will do! Please keep a check on this page if you are able. Thanks 101.182.160.40 (talk) 01:37, 16 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]