Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2018 November 23

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November 23

Table headers in Gadgets

So, there is this option under "Testing and development" in Preferences > Gadgets:

Make sure that headers of tables remain in view as long as the table is in view (requires Firefox v59 or Safari)

This seems to be a great feature any reason why it doesn't work in other browsers such as Chrome and Edge though? I would love to try this out but I am currently using Microsoft Edge. Gotitbro (talk) 03:42, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

@Gotitbro: There's ongoing discussion about this at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(technical)#Sticky_table_headers. –Ammarpad (talk) 06:30, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Can we use a video of an academic conference as a source?

Hello, I watch a lot of academic conferences and sometimes I find a speaker can outline a topic in an informal way which really helps to clarify an issue. So I was wondering if we can use a video as a source for an article. Thanks! Seahawk01 (talk) 05:02, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Hello, Seahawk01. The answer is Yes, if it is reliably published, for example if it is on the website of a major newspaper, or on the official YouTube channel of a reputable source. Not if it is posted by some random person, or by the speaker themselves. See IRS. (If it is posted by an organisation the speaker works for, it may be reliable but not independent: in that case, see SPS). There is a citation template {{cite video}}. --ColinFine (talk) 10:06, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Thanks ColinFine, this is very helpful. Yes, I'll be using things like symposiums held at major law schools where the speakers are all well-cited authors in their field. Thanks also for all the links to docs and templates! Seahawk01 (talk) 03:38, 24 November 2018 (UTC)

Seahawk01, the above answer is quite wrong. Major newspapers are generally not reliable sources, because their writers are typically experts in getting out information but not experts on the subjects being studied, and their publications are not generally reviewed by people who are experts. Please depend on major law schools and well-cited authors in their fields, not journalists. Nyttend (talk) 22:10, 24 November 2018 (UTC)

Hi Nyttend, definitely! Actually, just now I was going through Stop-and-frisk in New York City replacing newspaper references with academic articles. So, I totally agree with this. As for AV references, it would be something like this (see below). I do want to ask can you provide a link to YouTube? I've heard of people being banned in the past for doing so. Maybe play it safe and just not include the link! Thanks again. Seahawk01 (talk) 02:56, 25 November 2018 (UTC)

References

You're quite welcome! Actually, people get banned for providing YouTube links only if the links are spam; we're fine with a YouTube link that's truly helpful for a page. And if you're citing an online video, you ought to include a link to it; anything born digital should have a link, since it doesn't have a physical original that can be consulted. Unfortunately, you might have some difficulty adding those links, since there's a bot that reverts the addition of inappropriate links (including YouTube) by comparatively new users. Why don't you run a test: find a place where one of these videos ought to be cited, add the citation, and see if you get reverted by a bot. [If it reverts you, you'll know it: it will leave a note at your talk page.] If not, good; if so, come here (or come to my talk page) and ask for assistance, and a get-around-the-bot plan shouldn't be hard to make. Nyttend (talk) 12:18, 25 November 2018 (UTC)

Hi Nyttend, thanks again for all your help! I think having a good video of an academic conference as reference can be a tremendous asset in explaining a subject! OK, I am trying a two step process...first put in reference unlinked (at Terry stop), then link it to YouTube with the next edit and let's see if the bots revert it. If so, will post a message on your user page :-) Seahawk01 (talk) 02:47, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

You're quite welcome! What you've just done is perfectly fine for persuading humans (particularly your reference to WP:HD in the edit summary), but unfortunately it's the worst idea from a ward-off-the-bot perspective :-) It's actually rather common that spammers will add links to existing text ("this text is fine, so I'll just bury my link..."), so the bot likely will be watching out for this kind of behavior in particular. So if the bot reverts you, try adding a complete citation (including link) where there wasn't anything before. And please use a different video every time that you do a test of this sort, since some bots are programmed not to revert a reversion (hit "undo" on the bot's edit, and it won't remove it again), and for all I know they won't revert the same link twice in short succession, even on different pages. So if you use a different video every time, you'll get the best sense of what you can and can't do. Nyttend (talk) 02:56, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

PS, see the history of Matthew Lowton (one of the bot's last edits) to see how the bot typically works. Like elsewhere, the bot reverts within a minute or two of the link being added, so you're safe. Maybe you've been editing enough that the bot ignores you, or maybe adding the link to existing text is exempted. Why don't you next try adding a complete citation where none existed before? Nyttend (talk) 03:04, 26 November 2018 (UTC)

Jahangir_Jiaul

Jahangir_Jiaul — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jahangirpkd (talk • contribs) 07:22, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

@Jahangirpkd: did you have a question that we can help with? --Gronk Oz (talk) 07:43, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

request edit

I would like to amend the link References section in the following page

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

The "Italian Ski Resorts Overview" is linking to our old URL

Please can you amend the link to the following

https://www.holidayhomesinitaly.co.uk/ski-regions/

Thank you Mark — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sparky2705 (talk • contribs) 11:12, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Sparky2705 A duplicate request was declined on your user talk page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Teb728 (talk • contribs) 12:58, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Pokemon Infobox

hey boys, its my first time making an infobox so please dont crucify me, but i kinda got stuck whilst trying to make a pokemon infobox by translating a very good one i found on the Catalan Wikipedia, if anyone can be of help so i can learn from my mistakes it would be amazing! my version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Infobox_Pok%C3%A9mon_species Original version: https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantilla:Infotaula_de_Pok%C3%A9mon Spaicol (talk) 15:29, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Matthew Hedges

Matthew Hedges is a British student who has been sentenced to life imprisonment in the United Arab Emirates, covered by dozens of news articles. German Wikipedia has a page about him created on 21 November 2018. However, the page cannot be created on English Wikipedia because the page name was locked after repeated deletion in 2015. What is the appropriate way to get this page unlocked and created? Krubo (talk) 19:54, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Krubo I've asked the admin who protected Matthew Hedges, Bbb23, whether they'll unprotect it. Joseph2302 (talk) 20:11, 23 November 2018 (UTC)

Krubo Article is now unlocked. I've created a short stub article, feel free to contribute. Joseph2302 (talk) 20:30, 23 November 2018 (UTC)