Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2021 April 5

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April 5

Piedmont College becomes Piedmont University

Hello, my name is Bob Glass. I am Dean of Libraries and College Librarian at Piedmont College in Demorest, GA.

On Monday, April 5, 2021, Piedmont College will be renamed Piedmont University. My administration has asked me to revise the Piedmont College https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedmont_College and the History of Piedmont College https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Piedmont_College entries.

Editing is one thing, and I think I have a fairly good handle on that. I am much less certain about how to rename the entries themselves successfully. I read somewhere in your documentation that when you rename a page, you have to have specific permissions for the images to be transferred during the renaming.

Both entries have pictures. So I would be grateful to have some advice.

Thanks for your help, Bob Glass Bglassga (talk) 00:02, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Bglassga First, please review the paid editing policy and make the required formal declaration. You should also review conflict of interest, and how to make edit requests as you should avoid direct edits. Regarding your request, retitling an article requires a page move, which you may request at requested moves. However, Wikipedia does not necessarily use the official or legal name of a subject as the title, but what is most commonly used. See WP:COMMONNAME. That said, this probably won't be too controversial. 331dot (talk) 00:11, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Bglassga: Thank you for making the declaration on your user page. You should also avoid removing unflattering information from these articles. If you have a concern about the information, feel free to post requests on the article talk pages with the {{request edit}} template, so your requests can be considered by an independent editor. Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 01:02, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Bglassga: Wikipedia will probably want to wait until the Piedmont website is updated before making the change. I searched online and only found an announcement that the college would be renamed in 2021, without a specific date. TSventon (talk) 13:43, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

How to highlight syntax with different colours in source editing?

How to highlight syntax with different colours in source editing in the default wikipedia edit interface? Also how can I do the same in edit comparison when I check Edit history? 16AdityaG09 (talk) 03:18, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@16AdityaG09: For source editing you can go to your preferences and navigate to the Gadgets tab, where you can check Syntax Highlighter. Alternatively, you can try out the New wikitext mode in Beta Features.

I'm not aware of any syntax highlighting while comparing diffs, but maybe someone else knows about that. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 04:29, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Syntax highlighting for more editing options. I don't know a syntax highlighter for diffs but "wikEdDiff" at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets gives an alternative diff which is often better when the default is poor. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:05, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Random question

were is the centre of the universe

Hi IP editor. This is the helpdesk for editing Wikipedia, it's not for questions of a philosophical or astrophysical nature. GirthSummit _(blether) 11:00, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Perhaps the folks over at the science reference desk can help you. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 14:27, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Here. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 16:32, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Between the "v" and the "e". Clarityfiend (talk) 19:11, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

It's not a question, it's a statement, and logically false. Neils51 (talk) 21:10, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

The answer is not a point in space but lies in spacetime, specifically in the past. Certes (talk) 22:02, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

Historic birth place

Please can someone point me at a policy or guideline on historic places of birth? For example, I'm fairly sure that someone born in what is now India or Pakistan before 1947 should have British India in the infobox. MOS:BIRTHPLACE doesn't cover it. I've found local rules (MOS:IMOS BIOPLACE has exactly the guidance I want for Ireland) but I'm looking for a worldwide view. All I can find so far is Template:Infobox person/doc#Parameters (under birth_place). Thanks, Certes (talk) 11:32, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

I think the guidance can be implied from WP:PLACE. I would interpret that as agreeing with you that the name commonly current at the time is relevant, with in some cases today's equivalent also mentioned if it wouldn't be obvious to readers. Mike Turnbull (talk) 13:23, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Specifically WP:MODERNPLACENAME is the relevant exemption to using modern name, because the historic name/jurisdiction is what cited references will use, and inform their political context growing up. The lead for Emma Goldman for example states: Born in Kaunas, Russian Empire (now Lithuania). I'll update MOS:BIRTHPLACE to include that.

~ Shushugah (talk) 15:34, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you both. Certes (talk) 15:59, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Fano Amhara youth group

It IS a DESTRUCTIVE MESSAGE ABOUT AMHARA FANOS OR ARE YOU SIDING WITH ISLAMIC EXTREMIST I DO NOT GET YOUR POINT? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fekadu Assefa (talk • contribs) 12:00, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

I imagine that you are writing about your removal of material from the article Ethiopia. Wikipedia doesn't side with any faction. Wikipedia's point it to get across verifiable information. If you want to remove material from this article, get agreement beforehand, on Talk:Ethiopia. (Use of CAPITAL LETTERS will make you less persuasive.) -- Hoary (talk) 12:13, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Referencing a box in a physical archives - Which template

I wish to reference a membership certificate in a specific physical box in an archive (at https://archives.lib.umd.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/349146 ) in a list of notable alumni for a fraternity (the person to be added to the list is Curley Byrd) what reference template should be used?Naraht (talk) 14:02, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

{{cite archive}} might be suitable.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 14:21, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Trappist the monk Thank you, that looks very good, didn't know it existed!!!Naraht (talk) 21:28, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Nominating multiple hoax articles

If there are four hoax articles, all created by the same user and with similar subject, what is the best way to nominate all of them for deletion? Is it with the WP:Articles for deletion or the WP:Proposed deletion process?

While section "Dealing with Hoaxes" in WP:HOAX instructs to "mark it with {{hoax}} or {{image hoax}} and propose it for deletion" and doesn't mention AfD, WP:PROD itself says nothing about hoax articles, while WP:AfD has the section WP:BUNDLE mentioning them and, especifically, that AfD may be used to nominate "A group of hoax articles by the same editor". Excommunicato (talk) 14:34, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Excommunicato How obvious/blatant is the hoax? If it's obvious and blatant enough, I would use Speedy deletion critera G3. Otherwise I'd use AFD. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 16:29, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Pinging a user page redlink?

If I attempt to ping an editor using the [[User:blah-blah-blah|blah-blah-blah]] format on a talk page, but the user in question has not created a user page - will they still be alerted in the banner at the top of the page?

I've been in discussion with an editor who keeps saying they've no idea I'm pinging them in conversation, and I've just realised they don't have a user page. Could this be why? Chaheel Riens (talk) 16:06, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Chaheel Riens: The presence or absence of a user page has nothing to do with receiving pings. It is possible that they could have disabled pings in their preferences, but leaving a message on their talk page should still get their attention either way. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 16:09, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Chaheel Riens: Please always be specific in questions. If you had identified a ping attempt then we could probably see what went wrong. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:19, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Chaheel Riens: Does the user edit using one of the mobile apps? Some mobile apps don't support pings. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 16:26, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Chaheel Riens: As far a as I know, the construct [[User:blah-blah-blah|blah-blah-blah]] does not cause a ping, whether or not the user's page exists. Instead, you need to use one of the ping templates, e.g. {{re}}, as in {{re|blah-blah-blah}}. -Arch dude (talk) 17:07, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Arch dude: I am afraid this is false, as evident in Help:Notifications#Mentions. In fact, when I use Special:ExpandTemplates on the construct used to ping you right now, it gives <span class="template-ping">@[[User:Arch dude|Arch dude]]:</span> as an output, there is nothing special about the template. The existence or not-existence of a user page doesn't affect pings, because the Echo extension of MediaWiki simply looks for links to User pages, wether they are red or blue. Victor Schmidt (talk) 17:25, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

(edit conflict)

Arch dude - this should alert you. I receive many pings using this format, they appear in the bell alert as "xxxxx mentioned you..." - and have received them in the conversation I'm referencing.

PrimeHunter - I didn't want to be more specific as in this instance the user and I are engaged in a content dispute - one of his arguments is that he's unaware that I'm trying to reach out to him. I think he's choosing to ignore comments that he doesn't want to respond to, but for AGF I wanted to be sure. Anyway, I don't see how much more specific I could be - the question is fairly straight forward I think?

Good question about mobile editing. I don't think so, as none of his contributions have the mobile tag appended to them.

Thanks for the responses - never received so many alerts in such a short space of time - it seems likely that the editor probably is receiving alerts, but not acting upon them. I'll bear that in mind. Chaheel Riens (talk) 17:29, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Chaheel Riens: There are many possible reasons for pings to fail. What you really wanted to know is whether the user was pinged and all we can say is that a red link isn't an issue. You suspected that and have learned very little while all of us have spent time on it. That's not very productive. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:49, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

That's a little harsh I think? I asked a straightforward question, and got a straightforward answer - increasing my knowledge (and dare I say it, that of Arch Dude as well,) of how Wikipedia works, for which I thanked people. In that respect it was very productive. Chaheel Riens (talk) 19:43, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Chaheel Riens: You can also add a comment on the user's talk page. you can create that user's talk page if it does not already exist. The user is free to delete your comment on that talk page, but such a deletion is taken as an acknowledgement that the user has read the comment. If I recall correctly (maybe or maybe not, given my last suggestion) a user gets pinged when a comment is added to the talk page even of no explicit ping is added. I will try that now on your talk page -Arch dude (talk) 00:37, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Charles Greenfield (qualifier) vs. Charles Greenfield (non-Disambiguation)

Question: Is it OK to have an article that houses several biographies? When I wiki-linked Charles Greenfield and it came up BLUE, rather than RED, I was surprised. Two people by that name are both 20th century Brooklyn-connected and Cooper Union alumni. There's also the matter of Charles Norman Greenfield whose only incoming link belongs to someone else. The Norman article is nicely detailed, and looks important because he's the person involved in an important case.

It would seem that the case should link there, but that's not for this question, which, to recap, is: Can a biography article house several people's biographies? Pi314m (talk) 19:14, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Pi314m: Closely connected people can share a biography article in rare cases like the Wright brothers. Having the same name is not a valid reason just because they have some things in common like time period, city and education. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:39, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Pi314m which iography article houses several people's biographies? If only one Charles Greenfield has a Wikipedia article, then that article can be called Charles Greenfield, or use it as a redirect. When you link to a biography article, you need to check that it is the correct article and not an article about someone else with the same name. TSventon (talk) 19:33, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Pi314m: I thinkm I've solved what I understand to be your problem by moving the article you created Charles Greenfield (hospital administrator) to Charles Greenfield. I did this because of the two entries listed at the former disambiguation page, only was was known as "Charles Greenfield". Charles Greenfield now has a hatnote to the other article. Shhhnotsoloud (talk) 09:04, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

Do you think that the article written about emailSanta.com complies with WP:NPOV?

The article is about the named website that simulates sending emails to the character Santa Claus. A portion was written by the website's owner himself, and I was the one who tried to balance out the article by clarifying that the website is a simulation and not real (which is even mentioned in reliable sources) before moving it into the article space for him. Do you think that the article is neutral enough the way it is, or does it need some fixing up? It looks mostly fine to me, but I would like some other opinions. Thanks! Félix An (talk) 19:17, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

I think it is ok. Ruslik_Zero 20:15, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Peter Kehinde Asu

An article created by me was flagged for deletion, this is the 3rd article being flagged for deletion..... The other 2 were taken up by re uploaded by other editors after being deleted andbthey took the credit. Those pages are still live on wikipedia years after till date. This is so saddening and the same thing is about to happen again. It is very discouraging.

Here is my discussion concerning the article nominated for deletion below:

He was a philantrophist, the first chatered accountant from his home town who inspired a lot of chatered accountants from his community, reknowned auditor for multinationals and also a titled chief which was possible as a result of his major contributions to his community. In some of the links cited below it is obvious that he was a titled chief. I sourced for a lot of these links and it was only obvious that he was a very private person despite his notability. He was also the Chairman of Infinity microfinance bank, Nigeria as seen on page 4 of the first link below.

https://www.infinitymfb.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Published-Accounts-2018.pdf

Page 4 Meanwhile the Annual reports of the multinationals are online. They were all signed by him. Circa 1988 to 1993 or beyond Niger paints Nigerian Breweries Sun flag PZ Julius Berger and a host of others.

Here are other cited links in the article:

https://lawsdocbox.com/Politics/80531175-The-institute-of-chartered-accountants-of-nigeria-financial-members-as-at-may-22-2018.html

https://www.yumpu.com/xx/document/view/29224427/financial-members-list-the-institute-of-chartered-accountants-of-

https://kipdf.com/transformation-first-bank-of-nigeria-plc-annual-report-accounts-2010-nigeria-lon_5aadd5471723dd37770c4507.html

https://www.lafarge.com.ng/sites/nigeria/files/atoms/files/2018_annual_report_final_0.pdf

Page 45 https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/31686208/mise-en-page-1-ecobank-investing-in-africa-investinginafricanet

Page 29 https://www.fbnholdings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/FIRSTBANKOFNIGERIA31DECEMBER2012ANNUALREPORT.pdf

Page 25 https://cdn.trombino.org/uploads/files/FBNH-Annual-Report-2010.pdf

Page 194 https://www.anan.org.ng/general2.aspx?id=menucol2d

https://www.forevermissed.com/peter-kehinde-asu/about

https://gramho.com/media/2103826865331547659

https://books.google.com.ng/books?id=xtbuCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA244&lpg=PA244&dq=chief+p+k+asu&source=bl&ots=tq7d2gy1RB&sig=ACfU3U3lRViwdRL74GHzJgaP0n_H6Q6Xng&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiioJmkt9rvAhXrCWMBHX4AB284ChDoATARegQIExAC#v=onepage&q=chief%20p%20k%20asu&f=false

--Eyitayo osunkoya (talk) 19:54, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Eyitayo osunkoya: These seem more like primary sources than secondary. While some primary sources are okay, they should not make up the bulk of an article, as they don't establish notability. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 20:24, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@User:Tenryuu can you kindly help make it scale being deleted? I would so much appreciate it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Eyitayo osunkoya (talk • contribs) 20:29, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Eyitayo osunkoya: Instead of asking people to comment here or on the article talk page, it might be better for interested editors to comment at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Peter Kehinde Asu. GoingBatty (talk) 21:06, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Investments

I am writing this email in reqards to an investment I have been paying for quite some time I would like to know what I have to do to finalize this — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8003:2C26:500:6CBC:1A26:CA4F:99F7 (talk) 21:12, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

The Wikipedia help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. Please contact whomever you are paying to ask about your investment. GoingBatty (talk) 21:16, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Wrong spelling of subject's name

Hi,

I am the niece of the writer Zalman Shneour. Whoever wrote the page about him misspelled his name. The official name is SHNEOUR, not SHNEUR. I know how to edit the text of a Wikipedia article, but not the actual main title. Could you, please, let me know how to do this or ask someone to correct it.

Thanking you in advance.

Bela48 (talk) 22:32, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

I tried to check the sources in Zalman Shneur, and the only one that worked, the first one (nobleprize.org), uses Shneur. Do you have other sources that spell it differently? MB 23:24, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

@Bela48: If you do have sources that spell it differently, please post your request and the sources at Talk:Zalman Shneur, and use the {{request edit}} template to ask an editor to make the change for you. Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 01:51, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

A Google search shows that most reliable English language sources about this writer (there was a famous rabbi with a similar name) use the Shneour transliteration. I will move the article. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 02:05, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

@Cullen328: After you moved the article, it looks like we combined to change the spelling in the article to "Shneour". Should the commons category also be changed? GoingBatty (talk) 02:16, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

GoingBatty, although I occasionally upload images at Commons, I am unfamiliar with the details of their categorization policies. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 02:50, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

x

Image size adjustment

hey! can someone please adjust the image size at Sip It (song). versacespacetalk to me 23:05, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

 Done - enlarged to fit infobox. MB 23:14, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Please do not add your personal email address.

"Please do not add your personal email address." I am not sure if that is a general rule of Wikipedia, or if it applies only to this Help Desk. I thought it was applied, globally. But, I am not really sure. In any event, I see that someone added their personal email address, here ---> Talk:Kristin Rossum#Comments. Does it need to be removed? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 23:27, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

I can't believe that comment survived for over 10 years. Not just the email address but the whole post needs to be removed and revdel'd. P-K3 (talk) 23:35, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Inexperienced editors, especially younger ones, are discouraged from posting personally identifying information such as email addresses. But some experienced, well informed editors choose to reject anonymity. Those editors can post email addresses if they wish. I am not anonymous and do not hide my real world identity. That is my personal choice as a well-informed adult. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 02:59, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Cullen328 Right but this is not a experienced well informed editor and it should not remain accessible in the edit history in my view.-- P-K3 (talk) 13:17, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

In addition to this, letting new editors post their email address on WP:HD and WP:TH might create an expectation that they would receive an answer to their query by email (which they will not). Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 07:12, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

There are quite a few comments that we could remove and consider redacting. A rough search shows plenty of sections like Talk:Advance-fee scam#pinball sale scammer - world cup soccer 94' along with a lot of legitimate false positives. That's just for pages beginning with A (to save time and reduce server load), and it misses some e-mail address which don't match my very basic regex. Certes (talk) 09:43, 6 April 2021 (UTC)