Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2021 February 13

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February 13[edit]

Number of edits[edit]

What is the correct number of number of changes? The one on Xtools or the "beta" option located above the screen.Dr Salvus (talk) 00:15, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Dr Salvus: Yes. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 01:00, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@AlanM1: I've not understood very well — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dr Salvus (talkcontribs)
@Dr Salvus: I guess you refer to "Number of edits" at Special:Preferences versus "Total edits" at https://xtools.wmflabs.org/ec/en.wikipedia.org/Dr%20Salvus. It depends whether a move is counted as one or two edits. There may be other actions which vary. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:47, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

How to find Wikipedia articles which are very near to deletion?[edit]

I mean Wikipedia articles with banner : This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy. Rizosome (talk) 00:30, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Rizosome: You an see current deletion discussions at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion#Current discussions. TimTempleton (talk) (cont) 00:47, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Timtempleton: I find this link. Does it contain all articles which are very near to deletion?— Preceding unsigned comment added by Rizosome (talkcontribs)

@Rizosome: unfortunally no. As far as I can tell, there is no central place where all articles are listed that could be no longer here tomorrow. Depending on the deletion mechanism used, they can be listed at several places:

@Victor Schmidt: I want to combine all deletion articles using search option here. Is that possible? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rizosome (talkcontribs) 07:07, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Addition to "notable people", in a U.S. City Wikipedia article[edit]

I live in Newton, Kansas. I was reading the Wikipedia article about Newton today, and noticed that a person who lived here (who invented a utensil now sold in the United States, as well as internationally), isn't listed under "Notable People". Then again, I'm not familiar with the criteria required to be considered notable, either. So it may be that I'm wrong on this. I don't write for Wikipedia, but if there is someone who does, (and if this inventor does meet the criteria), then you might want to include him. His name is Mike Miller, and if you Google his name as well as "knork", you can read articles about him and his knork invention (which came about when he was in 8th grade), and decide if he should be included. Many thanks for your time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 107.242.113.36 (talk) 01:08, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

To merit inclusion in a "notable people" list on an article about a city/town, there needs to be an article about them. They would merit an article if they met the Wikipedia definition of a notable person. Inventing something might qualify if independent reliable sources with significant coverage wrote about the invention or inventor. 331dot (talk) 01:12, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

wrong observatory location[edit]

At Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, you will see that the observatory's location is correctly listed as the Mojave Desert -- but with a bogus indication that it's in Utah.

The article's infobox is nested, and lists the location in two completely different ways -- as "Mojave Desert, California" and "Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, Fort Irwin, California, United States" -- but it doesn't mention Utah anywhere! What's up with that?

I suspect what's happening is that one of the infoboxes is starting with Mojave Desert and looking it up in Wikidata, and then more or less randomly picking one of the four different states that Wikidata (correctly) lists the Mojave Desert as being located in (P131). Or it might be something completely different; I'm kinda just guessing about the Wikidata connection.

Anybody know what it might take to fix this? —Steve Summit (talk) 03:43, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Scs: I posted about it at Template talk:Infobox observatory (Special:PermaLink/1006496691#location parm being ignored), as I think the local location parm should override whatever's in the wikidata. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 05:19, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@AlanM1: Thanks. Continuing the discussion there. —Steve Summit (talk) 22:13, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I have added this file from commons - File:Prince_Philip's_co-pilot_on_the_1962_tour_of_South_America_was_Captain_Peter_Middleton_(left).jpg - but it should be smaller I think. Please do this, I cannot, it doesn't work. Thankyou in advance 175.32.41.33 (talk) 10:22, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

 Done. Maproom (talk) 11:17, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The photo lacks its caption and does not have the usual thin grey border around it. The photo should be slightly larger too. Thanks 175.32.41.33 (talk) 12:04, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I've added the thumb keyword so that the caption gets displayed. Feel free to adjust the upright parameter to tweak the size; see Wikipedia:Extended_image_syntax#Using_"upright". -- John of Reading (talk) 12:50, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

(Merged thread)

Please see my concerns above RE this page. Thank you and I hope I am not confusing you all. 175.32.41.33 (talk) 12:37, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Can I protect any page?[edit]

Hi, I'm extended confirmed user. Can I protect any page or I need any special right? Dineshswamiin (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 11:59, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Dineshswamiin: only administrators/sysops can protect pages, and then only in line with our protection policies. ƒirefly ( t · c ) 12:15, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Page creation projects[edit]

Hi I would like to "sponsor" some page creation projects. How can I do? Dr Salvus (talk) 12:17, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Dr Salvus: what exactly do you mean by 'sponsor' page creation? ƒirefly ( t · c ) 12:28, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Firefly: How do I let other users know that I would like to create pages and that I would like to be helped with the creation of the article? Dr Salvus (talk) 12:31, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Dr Salvus: pretty much anyone can create pages, but if you want assistance, I would recommend creating the page in Draftspace and then submitting it to Articles for Creation for review. ƒirefly ( t · c ) 12:34, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Dr Salvus: There are lots of article requests that are submitted at WP:RA, I'm sure anyone who submitted one there would be grateful for your help in creating the article. RudolfRed (talk) 21:08, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Photograph from 1939 copyright issue[edit]

Hello!

I'm having an issue with a photo I uploaded. The photo is from a newspaper dated June 2, 1939. It depicts James F. Burke as winner of the National Trumpet Competition. The newspaper is unnamed but most likely a local newspaper that is no longer in business. There is no other information available as to who took the photograph. However, this photograph was sent to me by James Burke's daughter out of the family scrapbook. It is my understanding that a newspaper photo is widely distributed and as such would be considered public domain, especially given the date of the photo. I am hoping someone can please advise me on how to proceed. This photo provides documentation in other areas of Wikipedia such as the page National Trumpet Competition and that is an important facet of why his page was created. Looking forward to a reply.

Thanks. Mark --Mark O'Keeffe (talk) 16:40, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Mark O'Keeffe. Unfortunately not. Copyright is complicated, but neither appearing in a newspaper nor being widely distributed has any effect at all on whether a photo is in the public domain or not. Generally a work is in the public domain either if its copyright owner has explicitly released it, or by reason of age; but the details depend on the country, and may also depend on the lifetime of the creator. In the absence of clear evidence that the work is free of copyright, Wikipedia will not accept it. Wikipedia (but not Wikimedia Commons) does accept non-free images under tight restrictions, listed in non-free content criteria. One of those is that there is no reasonable hope of finding a free replacement, which probably does apply in your case; but another is that "Non-free content is used only if its presence would significantly increase readers' understanding of the article topic, and its omission would be detrimental to that understanding", which may be harder to justify in this case. Have a look at the criteria, and if you think you can meet them, then you can argue the case. --ColinFine (talk) 17:19, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Mark O'Keeffe: for the United States, you might want to check out Commons:Hirtle chart for information about copyright status. For that particular year, if it was published originally without a copyright notice (unlikely in the case of a newspaper) or if it was published with a notice but not renewed (far more likely) then it would be acceptable. Elliot321 (talk | contribs) 05:45, 14 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hello @Elliot321: Thanks for that tip. I researched 2 local papers and both were "done" by 1966. They may have been absorbed by another paper and I'll be calling them tomorrow to verify. Thanks again! Mark — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mark O'Keeffe (talkcontribs) 12:46, 14 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Mobile app[edit]

 – Created section header. GoingBatty (talk) 19:36, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

want to create a mobile app that can be a revolutionary step in the well being of humanity. Like Wikipedia, it will also do the work of giving information to people. But the concept of this mobile app is slightly different from Wikipedia. Would you like to help me I hope this mobile app can earn well. Are you ready to both earn and do good to humanity? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2409:4050:E39:3F6E:71D2:ADBD:8601:AA29 (talk) 19:13, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry, but this help desk is for questions about how to use and contribute to Wikipedia, which is not a place for you to promote or collaborate on your app, regardless of how noble the cause. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 19:48, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Convert to SVG?[edit]

How do I convert it to an SVG file? 121.200.86.194 (talk) 07:03, 14 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

What file are you trying to convert? -Arch dude (talk) 22:50, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
There is no general way to do this. You can use a program like Inkscape to trace an image, but it's lossy. Elliot321 (talk | contribs) 05:47, 14 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Template:Book working weirdly[edit]

I found this text in a reference in the article Lodz Ghetto mark:

{{Book|author=Janusz Parchimowicz.|title=Katalog monet polskich obiegowych i kolekcjonerskich od 1916|place=Szczecin|publisher=Wydawnictwo Nefryt|год=1997|isbn=8390570939}}

Here's how it renders:

{{Book|author=Janusz Parchimowicz.|title=Katalog monet polskich obiegowych i kolekcjonerskich od 1916|place=Szczecin|publisher=Wydawnictwo Nefryt|год=1997|isbn=8390570939}}

At least at the time I wrote this Help Desk question, it renders as the literal text {{subst:saved_book}} instead of invoking the template "saved_book". What is the reason for this? JIP | Talk 22:10, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

 Fixed in this edit. --ColinFine (talk) 22:43, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@JIP: ColinFine's edit has fixed the article, of course, but did not quite answer your question. The template {{Book}} expands to {{subst:saved_book}}, as you saw, but no further processing occurred because the subst keyword does not work at all inside <ref>...</ref> tags - see Help:Substitution#Limitation. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:08, 14 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The point, JIP, is however that {{book}} is not a citation template, but used for an entirely different purpose. I replaced it by {{cite book}}. --ColinFine (talk) 14:29, 14 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

What is the overarching group for articles about places?[edit]

I was trying to figure out the demonyms for different places and I noticed that doesn't seem to be a standard part of Wikipedia articles. I could go to a couple pages specifically and suggest the information be added but I was thinking it might be more useful to speak to some of the editors who edit those sorts of articles. A major editor sending out a request to add it to articles could get a lot of editors to add it to their local towns, for instance, while me going page to page adding it seems like an overly ambitious project. Nacoran (talk) 23:48, 13 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Nacoran: There is a wikidata property for this: d:Property:P1549. It may be possible to auto-fill it to {{infobox place}}. I have no ides how many "place" wikidata items have demonyms in wikidata. (Side note: Not being a scholar, I thought maybe demonym might be the name for the demon that inhabited a place. You can learn a lot while answering help desk questions.) -Arch dude (talk) 01:04, 14 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]