Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2020 December 17

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December 17

Where can I get list of creation date of all articles?

Where can I get list of creation date of all articles? Or atleast sorting the articles according to creation date. Special:NewPages only gives me new articles of last 24 hours. Rizosome (talk) 04:31, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Rizosome, you can check the complete edit history of any given article, click "oldest" and see the edit that created the article. An exception might be the history of the relatively few articles created in the early months of Wikipedia, nearly 20 years ago. There were some major software changes back then that scrambled the edit histories. If you want a data dump of every article, that is beyond my expertise. Try Village pump/technical. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 04:43, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

@Rizosome: There are more than 6 million articles in the English Wikipedia alone. Such a list would be about 10,000 100,000 pages long if printed: call it about 20 200 volumes. This data might be useful as a database for research, but in that case you would want it as an actual computer database, not a "list". There is a lot of structured data at wikidata, but article creation date does not appear to be present there, so you will need to extract the data from en.wikipedia itself. As Cullen said, try WP:VPT. -Arch dude (talk) 16:08, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

A faster way to find the creation date of an article, Rizosome, (not wading through its edit history) is to go to the article in question and use the "page information" link in the menu on the left of all pages. This shows the Teahouse, for example, was created on 31 January 2003. Mike Turnbull (talk) 17:20, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

asking for donations

I keep getting requests for donations. as a medical scientists with decades of experience I find your websites reporting on the Coronavirus very political....electrons are not political...mechanisms of action are not political...its disappointing. But throughout history...people chose sides...some for money...some for love, some for hate, some for the truth...Truth...what is truth? Its self evident and if one uses logic...one finds truth exists in its essential undeniable form...if you deny truth then you must grant that the logical proposition that truth does not exist is true...haha if that is true then truth exists...by the way a cytokine response syndrome is the most common cause of the death in the coronavirus deaths that were reported truthfully (there's that word again) and Nf-Kb plays a part in that mechanism...so does COMT...as well as IL-8 and IL-10....with a negative correlation...oh yes TNF-alpha also plays a part in the storm...all of it is easily mediated...all of it....you don't even know what I just typed...or its significance...thats right these responses are easily mediated effectively upon contact with the proper compounds...yes the macrophages are regulated via these compounds....so when it comes to donations...why waste money I would rather give it to someone who is homeless and will appreciate the donation and put it to good use...have a wonderful Christmas, and may your new year be full of surprises that educate you... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:600:947F:A600:79A5:2914:9AA9:FA63 (talk) 04:34, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Hello IP editor. If you have some suggestions about how to improve any given article, then post specific proposed wording changes backed by links to reliable sources on the article talk page. As for whether or not you choose to donate money, that will have zero impact on the editorial decisions here. The Wikimedia Foundation has significant cash reserves and does not need your donation. Please feel free to donate it to services for homeless people instead. Happy Holidays! Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 04:50, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Contribution

I will start by saying that I really appreciate what Wikipedia does and I go to it frequently for information. That is why I have been donating for some time now.. I am, therefore, not appreciating the rather aggressive flagging up of my need to donate. There appears to be no way of dismissing these messages with an " I'm already donating" button. I'm no technology wizard but it appears to me that Wikipedia recognises my IP address so please connect the dots with regards to my donator status. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 185.69.144.180 (talk) 06:05, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

You are not registered, and are posting from an IP address, typically assigned by your ISP. This can change at any time, and be assigned to somebody else. There is no way Wikipedia can tell whether you have donated before. One solution is to register, and having done so, dismiss the donation request. Note that registering actually makes you more anonymous on Wikipedia. Right now, using simple, readily available tools, I can tell you are probably located in the London area in the UK. Once you register, all we will be able to tell about you is what you choose to tell us. HiLo48 (talk) 06:13, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

The software cannot tell who is at the other end of an IP address. Please create an account. Go to your Preferences, navigate to the Gadgets tab, and check the "Suppress display of fundraiser banners" box. For additional concerns please contact the Wikimedia Foundation at this email address: donate@wikimedia.org. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) (🎁 Wishlist! 🎁) 06:48, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

how to create wikipedia page

hi — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.123.82.88 (talk) 07:58, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

See Help:Your first article. {{u|Sdkb}} ^talk 08:57, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

(edit conflict)creating a new article (not yust "page") is one of the hardest tasks available on Wikipedia, it requires much time and effort as well as knowledge of Wikipedia policy. That being said, you can try to folllow these steps. Victor Schmidt (talk) 08:58, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Should I capitalize a middle letter used to form an acronym?

When an acronym includes a middle letter of a word, should that letter be capitalized in the phrase from which the term is derived, e.g., "TeleCommunications Access Method (TCAM)"? If so, should there be a redirect link with that capitalization? Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 14:51, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

@Chatul: I would say no, because the word is not normally capitalized, and it’s clear where the C in the acronym comes from. I did a Google search to see if it was capitalized in the references and it doesn’t look like it is. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 16:07, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

ACK

Please help I accidentally turned on visual editor and don't know how to turn it off

But, no, seriously. How do I turn off Visual Editor? Le Panini ^[🥪]

@Le Panini: There is a setting in preferences for that. RudolfRed (talk) 16:25, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Its under preferences -> editing -> turn off visual editor while in beta. RudolfRed (talk) 16:26, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Can we continue to disable VE after beta?

To piggy back on the question above. There is currently a preference that allows for disabling visual editor while it is in beta phase. Does anyone know if we will be able to continue to disable it when VE comes out of beta? RudolfRed (talk) 16:43, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Probbably, by modifying your prefs. in edit preferences, as "edit mode", select "Always give me the source editor". Victor Schmidt (talk) 17:05, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Are you speaking of a hypothetical future preference? Because that preference does not exist for me now. RudolfRed (talk) 17:10, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

AFAIK that select widget is not always visible (notably, its only visible when you haven't disabled VE, see the above section). Its under "Editing"-> "Editor" -> "Editing Mode". For me it currently has "Show me both editor tabs" selected. Victor Schmidt (talk) 17:26, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Alternatively, inserting the following code into common.css should also do the trick:

#ca-ve-edit, .oo-ui-tool-name-editModeVisual{
  display:none !important;
}

It will not prevent you from using VE manually though, notably by appending ?veaction=edit to the URL. Side note: the pref could also be hidden when you have enabled the 2017 Wikitext editor betafunction. Victor Schmidt (talk) 17:31, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

@Victor Schmidt: Thanks for the detailed explanation! RudolfRed (talk) 17:38, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Speedy deletion notice on talk page

Being a rare Wikipedia user, I was happy to find, dropping into my talk page after some years, that a page I created a decade or so ago had been deleted; I had completely forgotten about it. However, I am a bit concerned as I see that speedy deletion can be a bit of a stain on a person's record. In a way I suppose I deserve it; on the other, I certainly meant no harm. If I had known that the page still existed I would have deleted it myself long ago. Is there anything I can do about the speedy deletion notice on my talk page? Dljnobile (talk) 19:40, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

You can delete the notice, a record will remain in the page history. Theroadislong (talk) 19:45, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

It's really not a stain on your record, Dljnobile: there are certainly edits I made fifteen years ago that I'm embarrassed about now. But as Theroadislong says, you are permitted to remove nearly anything from your user talk page if you wish. --ColinFine (talk)

... and sometimes there are speedy deletions that never should have been made. Thincat (talk) 10:15, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Donate to Wikipedia

Hi Wikipedia,

I’m really grateful for the information that you guys have shared over the years and I wish to see you thrive for many many years to come. I want to donate but I do not have a PayPal or credit card to use, is there any other way to donate?

Thanks much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2000:15C0:7DE:613D:563D:294B:843A (talk) 20:02, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Alternative ways of donating, including a check by mail, are described on this page. 331dot (talk) 20:07, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

how do I fix Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref>/Cite error included ref

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Nhm3324 (talk • contribs)

@Nhm3324: I haven't found such an error in your contributions. If you save the edit or link a page with the error then we can see what is wrong. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:47, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

The error message will usually provide a link to the help page that explains the error. RudolfRed (talk) 22:01, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

It's Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref but they probably came here after clicking "Help desk" on that page. The linked page has general help. If that is not enough then we have to see the wrong code to give accurate help. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:35, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Why is my external link being flagged?

I'm not allowed to add an external link to Wikipedia from my website? The information, I feel, would add to the content that's written on the Wikipedia page. It would link to my blog where I go more in depth about that topic. Yes, I am an affiliate and offer products on that page. But the information would be useful for people going to the Wikipedia site. Is that violating Wikipedia rules? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Seedsandspades (talk • contribs) 22:14, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

@Seedsandspades: See WP:ADV for more detailed info for why this is disallowed. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 22:18, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

@Seedsandspades: Perhaps contact Sunset Magazine and see if they'll buy your piece. Pandemic era hobbying is getting a lot of attention. If it's published, you can put in a COI edit request on the talk page to at least add it as an external link. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 22:51, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Link to what? Where? I don't see any such edit in your edit history. --Orange Mike | Talk 22:20, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Click "filter log" at the top of Special:Contributions/Seedsandspades. They tried to add *[https://www.seedsandspades.com/best-bonsai-trees-for-beginners/ Bonsai trees for beginners]. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:30, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Official report/complaint about content on a page

Hi,

I would like to send an official complaint/report in regards to spam/ untruthful information that is being added to the Wikipedia page of Robert Cavallucci: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cavallucci

We have updated the page a number of times to remove the spam/untruthful information, but someone continues to add it back in, therefore I would like to report this issue to make Wikipedia aware of it and request that this issue be monitored.

Previous statements have been much more slanderous and defamatory, but currently the statement reads as follows:

"Bonita Mersiades is being sued by Football Queensland (FQ) chairman Ben Richardson and its CEO, Cavallucci, for a total of $800,000 over an article she published in January this year on her website Football Today."

As this matter is currently before the courts, it is not appropriate for it to be discussed publicly or referenced on any Wikipedia page.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Regards, Yani — Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.240.164.105 (talk) 22:42, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Would you happen to be Spe6trem4n? You're removing sourced content, which is why it's being reverted. Please take it to the talk page. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) (🎁 Wishlist! 🎁) 22:56, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

I just added some context to the article. The info that's there may be uncomfortable to one of the parties but it's properly sourced. Wikipedia only uses what's already published - there's no POV pushing and certainly nothing the courts would find problematic. Also, the article is almost a stub and could use more background. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 23:53, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

You make the following assertion: "As this matter is currently before the courts, it is not appropriate for it to be discussed publicly or referenced on any Wikipedia page." Wikipedia has no such policy and recognizes no such obligation. We report what has been published in reliable sources. See WP:NOTCENSORED-Arch dude (talk) 06:00, 18 December 2020 (UTC)