Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2020 September 26

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September 26[edit]

Many edits just adding a space?[edit]

I came across the edits of this user, that almost all seem to be just adding one single space. I don't understand why they are doing that. Is there something that can be done to slow them down, and to stop cluttering the histories up with tiny edit? Maybe they are just doing it to get their edit count up? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/RetroBreads Thanks peterl (talk) 00:31, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Contact a checkuser. —A little blue Bori v^_^v Hasteur Hasteur Ha-- oh.... 01:44, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
They're trying to become extended confirmed, you can see that the account was inactive until exactly three months after it was created. – Thjarkur (talk) 08:54, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Submitted a sock puppet investigation. They agreed behaviour unusual, and may be trying to circumvent XC, but closed the investigation as not likely a sock puppet. I've marked a number of these one-space edits as vandalism. How else to stop this behaviour or alert an admin? peterl (talk)

Shenandoah County[edit]

Please add Shenandoah County to your list. Box Office Brewery, 177 East King Street, Strasburg VA Thank you Mary Price — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.111.9.149 (talk) 02:49, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry, but this is the help desk for assistance in editing Wikipedia. It's not clear how your request relates. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 04:31, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Invisble reference error[edit]

Hi, I'm currently working on a draft article in my sandbox and have noticed that it's included in the hidden category 'User pages with reference errors'. I'm a bit stumped as to what's causing the problem as there isn't a visible cite error message and refTools error check isn't picking it up. I'm using the shortened footnote templates. I'd appreciate it if someone could take a second look (in case I'm missing something obvious) or point me in the direction of an editor who's experienced with this. Cheers, Jr8825Talk 03:21, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

@Jr8825: See Help:Cite errors/Cite error references duplicate key. In your case, the duplicate key is "FOOTNOTEBrownePearson200616–17". Jackmcbarn (talk) 03:25, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the quick spot @Jackmcbarn:. So I know for the future, how did you find the error? Jr8825Talk 03:29, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Jr8825: I'm not sure why you don't see it. For me, it's big and red right under the "Citations" heading. Jackmcbarn (talk) 03:31, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Hmm very strange, perhaps I need to clear my browser cache. Thanks again! Jr8825Talk 03:32, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Change in Cause of death of Sushant Singh Rajput[edit]

discuss at Talk:Sushant Singh Rajput- not here

The cause of death of indian actor Sushant Singh Rajput is still not confirmed by any government agencies as it's under investigation. Please change the cause of death from suicide by hanging to "under investigation". CBI is still investigating this case. No sources other than CBI is eligible to confirm the actual cause of death. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anjalisat (talkcontribs) 10:12, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Anjalisat Sorry, we summarize what independent reliable sources state, and they state that this man killed himself. If that changes, the article will be changed accordingly. We do not need an official government finding- which from what I understand people who do not think he killed himself would not likely believe anyway. Please review the talk page of that article for more information. 331dot (talk) 10:26, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Note that Talk:Sushant Singh Rajput is presently semi-protected specifically because of the relentlessness of requests like this. It's incredibly unlikely that these users will do any sort of follow-up and to that end, it's better to just revert the requests off, especially if they start flooding the page. —A little blue Bori v^_^v Hasteur Hasteur Ha-- oh.... 19:53, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Need help with copying code[edit]

Hey guys. Is there any way that images which gets updated on main page of Wiki commons gets updated simultaneously on my user page too. LearnIndology (talk) 11:32, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

LearnIndology, As far as I know, although it's quite easy to do on Commons - just add {{:Main Page/potd}} and {{:Main Page/motd}} to your user page, I don't think it's possible to do it here. ~~ Alex Noble/1-2/TRB 12:58, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@LearnIndology: Have a look at Wikipedia:Wikimedia Commons/POTD. This relies on a bot that updates a page here once a day with the image name and caption from commons. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:20, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks guys, but I need to increase the size of the image. I want to make sure it fills the whole empty space on my userpage, how can I do that? LearnIndology (talk) 13:51, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
PS It would be fine if anyone will do it by himself on my userpage. LearnIndology (talk) 13:55, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@LearnIndology: I've switched the coding to use a larger size. I don't know if there's a way to get the image to scale itself to fill whatever space is available to the left of the infobox. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:38, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The crest of arms in the above Wiki article about the UYS family is absurd and should be removed: it depicts a farmer with a little basket over his arm and 3 unions beside him -- as if UYS was derived from UNION... In the 1930's some enterprising artist invented family crests for dozens of families and sold them to gullible country folk in South Africa. No UYS family crest has been registered by the SA Bureau of Heraldry. Moreover, the UYS surname was originally NIJS from Amsterdam and Leiden. And they were humble sailors: not aristocracy with family crests. See articles by Dr JF UYS 'DIE EERSTE UYS' ('The First UYS') in FAMILIA (Journal of the Genealogical Society of South Africa) 2011 and 2013. 165.255.39.180 (talk) 11:34, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The claimed origin of the arms depicted is fairly well described in the article's text, though you are welcome to add to it any of the details above that you can cite to independent, published reliable sources. (Whether the source you mention qualifies may depend on the rigor of the Journal's editorial practices, since the author mentioned likely has a conflict of interest in the matter.)
Canting (punning) arms have been used for many centuries, and are not usually taken to suggest a real etymological derivation of the family name, although some people may have believed in such an origin: rather, such arms are often a deliberate joke based on the name.
In modern heraldic practice, most Heraldic authorities will design and/or grant arms to anyone within their jurisdiction who is of good standing, upon payment of the requisite fees; "aristocratic" origins or status are not a consideration and most arms bearers are not aristocrats. This certainly holds true in South African heraldry, where registration of arms with the Bureau is in any case voluntary, though it has the advantage of enabling one to sue if someone else "usurps" one's registered arms. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.219.33.80 (talk) 15:06, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

New article to read[edit]

hey Romulus32, can you make a new article? I want to watch and read your new article, bro! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 117.1.166.84 (talk) 12:03, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Courtesy ping for Romulus32, who is otherwise unlikely to be aware of this request. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.219.33.80 (talk) 14:38, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Cathedral Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida[edit]

It is necessary an edition in the title of the page Basilica_of_the_National_Shrine_of_Our_Lady_of_Aparecida, in 2016 the church was recognized as a Cathedral, therefore nowadays the most recognized name is Cathedral Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Aparecida (see the Portuguese version of the page). This also will help to provide better access to information. 84.241.197.175(talk) 12:47, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Please discuss this on the article's talk page. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 22:58, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for the answer, but this request is already on article's talk page since 29 July 2020, with no modifications or answers until now. 84.241.197.175(talk) 23:21, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
If you're unable to move it yourself and the move isn't controversial, you can submit a technical move request here. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 02:57, 27 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Tenryuu 🐲 Also not possible,WP:RM#TR is protect, therefore the last possible modifications and requests on the page were 27 days ago. 84.241.197.175(talk) 08:52, 29 September 2020 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.241.198.213 (talk) [reply]

Brownsville Texas Incident of 1906[edit]

The Brownsville Texas Incident of 1906: It was LTC (Ret) William Baker's tireless research and persuasive legal brief, while stationed at the Pentagon in 1972, that convinced the Secretary of the Army to reverse President Theodore Roosevelt’s decision to discharge without honor the 167 black soldiers of the First Battalion Twenty-fifth Infantry accused of shooting up the town of Brownsville Texas in 1906. Colonel Baker certified the lone survivor, Dorsie Willis in 1973, who received $25,000 in compensation after 66 years. This reversal is documented in the New York Times obituary of Colonel Baker by Sam Roberts, October 8, 2018, and by Secretary of the Army Howard H. Calloway in 1972, who honored Baker with the Pace Award and the Legion of Merit. Colonel Baker's book on the topic, The Brownsville Texas Incident of 1906: The True and Tragic Story of a Black Battalion's Wrongful Disgrace and Ultimate Redemption, was published May 5, 2020, Red Engine Press. It won a Silver Medal from the Military Writers Society of America, September 2020. Thank you for your response. Dr. Bettye Foster Baker. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:982:8202:43F0:D04C:6F67:5130:A71F (talk) 17:30, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Is this about an existing article (maybe Brownsville_affair?). If so, please start a discussion on that article's talk page. RudolfRed (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:42, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Punctuating a hyperlink[edit]

Could anyone please tell me whether or not a hyperlink consisting of a word should include any punctuation marks immediately following it, like a period or comma? (Edit: Went ahead and made the edit so the period was part of the hyperlink, though if anyone says otherwise, then I'll change it.)--Thylacine24 (talk) 19:08, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I would say "no", because then you have to pipe it. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:46, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Orangemike: What if it's an external link, which are usually piped anyway? (Sorry not to specify that I was talking about external links.)--Thylacine24 (talk) 20:54, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Thylacine24:I !vote "no". The punctuation should not be part of the blue text. For me, this is more about how you and the reader should think about the syntax. The blue text in within the clause or sentence. The punctuation should come after the clause or sentence consistently. Consider the case of a series of comma-separated clauses, one of which ends in blue text. If the comma is within the blue text, then you get one blue comma and the rest of the commas are black, violating the principle of parallel structure. -Arch dude (talk) 21:07, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Arch dude: Thanks for telling me. I'll take your word for it and reverse the edit I made, if no one's replied to it. Also, tangential question, could you please tell me if my tense usage in the first sentence of my earlier response ("which are usually") was grammatically correct? Sorry to bother you over it.--Thylacine24 (talk) 21:12, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
I tend to place punctuation inside external links because of that icon that appears after them, I feel it can look off to have text+icon+period. – Thjarkur (talk) 22:55, 26 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Thjarkur: Thanks, but I'll go with what the other two responders here have said, unless/until someone else agrees with you.--Thylacine24 (talk) 00:40, 27 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Thylacine24 and Thjarkur: Might be worth a search at WT:MOS to see if it's been discussed before. I agree this looks awkward: Example.com. However, this is kind of weird, too: Example. This is another solution that binds the EL icon more tightly to the link by putting a space before the period: Example.com . I tend to add a space like this in emails and other writing outside Wikipedia to make it clear that the period is not part of the URL, though I think that within mainspace here, I'd just find a way to avoid having punctuation immediately after an EL. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 17:36, 27 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@AlanM1: I couldn't find anything searching the MOS talk archives. Could you please tell me if you think I should rephrase the sentence (if no one's responded yet)?--Thylacine24 (talk) 23:38, 28 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Thylacine24: I think that putting the punctuation after the hyperlink is the lesser of evils, and most in keeping with current practice. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 23:47, 28 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@AlanM1: Thanks for telling me. I didn't actually think to look to see if anyone had responded until just now, and no one has.--Thylacine24 (talk) 01:56, 29 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]