Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2019 December 27

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December 27[edit]

Hunter Biden[edit]

The information on his political scandals, especially in Ukraine hasn’t been debunked. It hasn’t even been investigated. This answer was clearly written by someone who is partisan. Definitions shouldn’t be partisan. They should be factual. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.13.46.159 (talk) 00:08, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

If you have specific concerns about the Hunter Biden article, you are free to discuss them on its article talk page- but if you just want to repeat unsubstantiated Republican talking points, you will need to find another website for that- somewhere that you are told what you want to hear, inside your bubble. Here, we summarize what independent reliable sources say. 331dot (talk) 01:02, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The article talk page is at Talk:Hunter Biden. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 05:58, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

what's going on????[edit]

I have an account with wikipedia, its one of my most fave sites. But it seems that when I enter my user name & psswrd it tells me it's wrong.I even used a psswrd generated by y'all and sent to me via email, it still tells me it's wrong Now I've checked, re-checked, then re-re-checked again more times than I can count and I'm sick of it. Can my accountbe deleted so I can just start over with a new account? cause this one is just pissing me off. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:E000:C7D0:78AE:10BB:2CB8:C52D (talk) 05:49, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry if this is obvious, but is your CapsLock on? Passwords and usernames are case-sensitive. Make sure you are entering them exactly as in the email. If you cannot recover it, feel free to just create a new account and just abandon the other one. It won't be deleted, but no harm in just not using it again. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 06:02, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Notice of unsigned comments[edit]

For multiple comments and requests I've entered on the talk page of a page I'm requesting updates to, I sign the requests with 4 tildes. I've tried using both the insert function, and manually typing them. Each time the post includes my username and the time/date stamp. But an automatic script keeps indicating that my comments are unsigned, and appends "Preceding unsigned comment added by Ellisap (talk • contribs)" to the posts.

Talk:John E. Fogarty International Center

What am I doing wrong? How do I correct my posts, or at least sign them correctly in the future?

A.Ellis 13:49, 27 December 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ellisap (talkcontribs)

AND it just happened again here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ellisap (talkcontribs) 13:51, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Your signature apparently does not contain any link. Maybe that's why the bot is not recognising it. Navigate to Preferences → User profile and look for "signature" section. Untick the box preceding "Treat the above as wiki markup" and also empty the textfield above it. Your signature will become normal (the default one) and the bot will no longer follow you around (provided that you indeed signed properly) – Ammarpad (talk) 14:22, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! I just updated the settings. Let's see if it works. Fingers crossed. So far so good. Ellisap (talk) 14:27, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Ellisap: See WP:SIG for info about signatures. —[AlanM1(talk)]— 10:33, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Afican American Perspective on Racism[edit]

Why are my edits not being accepted? Do African American not get a say on Wikipedia? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.66.118.132 (talk) 16:26, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your good faith edits to that page. We (other Wikipedia editors) have no way of knowing if you are African American, white American, European, African, or anything else. Your edit removed a large chunk of sourced material from the article, which looks like vandalism to people who watch out for that sort of thing. It sounds like in reality, you weren't trying to harm or vandalize the article, you simply thought that one particular incident was being given too much weight in that biography and were boldly editing in accordance with that thought. The fact that your edits have been reverted means you are now on the "Discuss" portion of the Bold, revert, discuss cycle, which is a hallmark of Wikipedia editing. I would encourage you to visit Talk:Ani DiFranco and explain why you feel that incident is being given too much weight in the article and should be removed. Other interested editors will discuss it with you and hopefully be able to reach a consensus. ~ ONUnicorn(Talk|Contribs)problem solving 16:35, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The talk page of the article is at Talk:Ani DiFranco. You should not add personal comments within the article. Such inappropriate material will always be reverted. Dbfirs 18:27, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I've semi-protected the article from disruptive edits from this isp, who may well have an undisclosed COI Jimfbleak - talk to me? 15:29, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Artist[edit]

Good afternoon . I wanted to create a page of an upcoming artist by the name of Rio from Cleveland , Ohio . — Preceding unsigned comment added by CleOh216 (talkcontribs) 19:46, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Courtesy notice - OK to ignore. Account has been blocked for disruptive editing of Rio disambiguation page. See User talk:CleOh216. TimTempleton (talk) (cont) 20:44, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Providing a translation of one word in an article[edit]

Article Avangard_(hypersonic_glide_vehicle) uses an English-language (Latin/Roman) alphabet transliteration of the Russian name - (Russian: Авангард) - of the missile throughout.

However, it seems that the Russian word (Russian: Авангард) translates to vanguard:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Ftass.ru%2Farmiya-i-opk%2F7436431

It seems that using the name "Avengard" (the name in Russian rather than the translated form) in English for this missile is currently conventional, but it strikes me that it'd make sense to provide a translation to the meaning of the word at some point in the article.

Is this a sensible idea? And if so, how should I do it?

One thing I'm not sure of is the appropriate Wikipedia markup to use for a single translated word.

Thanks.

Michael F 1967 (talk) 20:20, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

You could see the articles Mir, Soyuz T-15 or Salyut 7 for inspiration. The figurative translation is avant-garde, according to my Oxford Russian dictionary. Wakari07 (talk) 00:11, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks - suggestion followed. Michael F 1967 (talk) 17:23, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

What is going on, am I blocked or something?[edit]

I was going to edit something on Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion, and I pressed the pencil button that allows me to edit, but nothing happened, it’s not my internet connection, am I topic banned? Please help me. Thanks. The person who should not be named (talk) 23:47, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@The person who should not be named: I think that's a bug in the mobile editor, probably phab:T198011. When you switch to desktop mode, are you able to edit? Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 00:01, 27 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I’m sorry, can you please tell me what desktop mode means? --The person who should not be named (talk) 00:14, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@The person who should not be named: Try logging in from a desktop computer, instead of a phone. Or, click the "Desktop" link at the very bottom of most pages. Or just click this link. Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 00:40, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Suffusion of Yellow: I don’t have a phone, I have an iPad and I haven’t got a computer yet. --The person who should not be named (talk) 01:26, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Suffusion of Yellow: Thanks for the help, I can still edit other articles on the mobile version, how do I stop using this? I switched it to desktop mode. The person who should not be named (talk) 14:37, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

[1]. I’m switching back to mobile until further notice The person who should not be named (talk) 15:16, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, I use mobile (that includes tablets) devices to edit quite a lot, and as above, there is a lot that doesn't work quite right. Regular editing is fine, but you will find certain things don't quite work, or some things you won't be able to edit (you might also find creating new articles/moving articles is a bit more difficult as well.) I usually click the "desktop" button at the bottom of the page and then go back to mobile view when I'm done.
It is being worked on - quite a bit - but it's not great yet. Sadly, that's where we are currently with this. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski (talkcontribs) 15:53, 28 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]