Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2021 January 7

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January 7

Vandalism help request from 2601:5CC:8200:190D:A940:6857:BA5A:6EEB

I have noticed some vandalism at Martin Gray (writer). Namely, someone has edited the first sentence on this page to suggest that the Holocaust didn't happen or else that Martin Gray lied about being a victim of it. Would an editor please assist me with fixing it? Thank you, 2601:5CC:8200:190D:A940:6857:BA5A:6EEB (talk) 00:33, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I made an edit. I see the edit referred to (which is not vandalism) occurred back in September, so protection is not yet warranted.--S Philbrick(Talk) 00:40, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Chigan Madu Article is not available yet

Hello Rep an article i wrote about Chigan Madu is yet to be live kindly review

link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Chigan_Madu — Preceding undated comment added 00:35, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Chigan Madu, welcome to the Teahouse help desk. On Wikipedia, writing about yourself is strongly discouraged. Reviewers will not see this until you add a {{subst:submit}} to the page. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 01:01, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

how do i add a person ?

please let me know how do i add my self ? including a picture ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:1420:D530:609B:2D0F:60F2:3B99 (talk) 04:00, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

You should not. See the advice at WP:AUTO RudolfRed (talk) 06:23, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

WP e-mail

I feel rather stupid posting this problem, since I think that after 14 years I should know by now how most things on WP work. I attempted to change my e-mail address in my preferences today but was told that verification would be necessary and that I should follow the instructions in an e-mail I was being sent. I, however, never received an e-mail (I've checked the spam folder). I fear that the e-mail was sent to my old address, which I no longer have access to, rather than the new address I was trying to change to. What should I do to reset my e-mail preference? Deor (talk) 04:11, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Deor: From reading Help:Email_confirmation I think that the confirmation email will go to your new address. Double check that you have entered it correctly. There are some other troubleshooting ideas there also if you do not get the email. RudolfRed (talk) 06:46, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

divorce not between husband and wife

Dear Sir/Madam,

                I am the producer and the director of the film "Divorce not between husband and wife". this films is not completed and it has been shelved so this information is leading to lot of confusion in my carrier so I kindly request you to delete this page as soon as possible. Thanks

Regards M J Ramanan — Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.244.46.9 (talk) 06:05, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

You're going to want to bring your concerns to the talk page at Talk:Divorce: Not Between Husband and Wife. You may want to point out that some of the sources used in the article are now dead. You would get a lot more support if you can find reliable sources that state the film hasn't been completed. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 06:21, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Mr Ramanan, you may be puzzled that we do not consider a film's producer/director to be a reliable source about the film. The problem is that all we know with certainty about you, the person to whom we are replying, is that you are communicating via an IP address of 121.244.46.9. We cannot be sure if the person doing this is really M.J. Ramanan, rather than, for example, a prankster or even M.J. Ramanan's enemy. Such things do happen.

For reasons such as this, we only accept information if it has been published (and can therefore in theory be consulted and cross-checked by anyone), in a medium such as a newspaper, journal or book from a publisher with a reputation for editorial control and fact checking.

Every statement in every article should be cited to such a source (although most articles are not perfect in this regard) – where it is not it can, if challenged, be removed, but if it is cited to an apparently reliable source one would have to find and cite another reliable source saying something different, and present both alternatives in the article. Where a link to a source has died, we will first attempt to find a new link to that source or to another saying the same thing, rather than deleting the fact immediately.

A further important principle by which we operate is that no-one with a personal interest or involvement in a subject should edit the article directly, but instead confine themselves to offering information and sources on the article's Talk page, as Tenryuu has suggested above.

We rarely remove pages at the request of a subject or someone connected with them or it: we will certainly not remove this article as the film demonstrably exists and is notable (i.e. is well-documented in reliable sources). We do, however, want it to be accurate, so please do, as Tenryuu has advised, use its Talk page to point out inaccuracies, and suggest rewordings (along the lines of "replace 'X' with 'Y'", "remove 'X'", or "insert 'Y'", together with details of reliable sources for the information – note that these sources do not have to be online and linkable (although this helps), but they do have to be published.

I hope you find this advice helpful. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.122.56.237 (talk) 12:03, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Hide bot edits in watchlist

I cannot find how I can hide bot edits in my watchlist. Is this possible and if so how do I do it? Dudley Miles (talk) 10:44, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

See WP:HIDEBOTS for specific bots. To hide all bot edits, click on the text box thing that says "Filter changes (use menu or search for filter name)". Then scroll down till you see "Human (not bot)" and tick it. You may want to save this as a default filter. ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 10:47, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

• Thanks for your help. Dudley Miles (talk) 11:21, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

​Another helpful tool is User:Evad37/Watchlist-hideAWB which hides those semi-automatic Auto Wiki Browser edits – Thjarkur (talk) 19:35, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

• Many thanks. I have installed it. Dudley Miles (talk) 20:57, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Blocking Kiev Day and Night

Hi, I wanna request to block Kiev Day and Night due to its notability. The Supermind (talk) 11:41, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Your request is unclear. Articles cannot be "blocked" – blocking means denying access, which we can do to users if they give us sufficient cause to. Notability is a basic requrement for the subject of an article, and this subject appears to be very notable (i.e. well documented in reliable sources and well cited, so we have no reason to delete the article or otherwise change its status.

Please explain clearly what it is you want us to do to or about the article (which you yourself have edited extensively), and explain your reasons. Do you perhaps mean "lock" or "protect"? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.122.56.237 (talk) 12:15, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

In particular, blocking applies to users. And we don't restrict editing access to pages (called page protection) unless there is a high level of vandalism, as this is Wikipedia, the encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Joseph2302 (talk) 12:27, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Sorry for confusion, I mean this article well-known by majority viewers, primarily by its unique TV format containing interview after scene that deviates from mainstream reality television series. It is the first one from Europe, and also from the world. The Supermind (talk) 22:18, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

The Supermind, could you re-parse what you want to happen? From what you're saying, I'm assuming that you mean that the subject is notable and the information is accurate, such that you want to prevent it from being changed? —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 22:54, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

This article needs a substantial re-write by someone fluent in both Ukrainian and English. I am afraid I cannot understand it. Therefore It should not be protected in its present form. Spinney Hill (talk) 09:42, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

AD & BC

To whom it may concern:

Each year at around this time I’m asked by Wikipedia to contribute to their page. I generally do so and also in an amount that’s greater than what suggested. I have a particular problem with the page. I am offended that you dare use BCE instead of BC. What gives you the right to change that? BC has been in use for over hundreds and hundreds of years. Are you trying not to offend Muslims? Are you trying not to offend atheists? Are you trying not to offend the PC police? Really? I expect you to return back to BC. If not, I will no longer contribute to your page. I will tell my friends not to contribute to your page either. In general I have found Wikipedia to be very useful. It’s a shame that you will bend to a politically correct culture. An encyclopedia should be dedicated to the truth. If that’s no longer your mission please let me know. Sincerely, Mark Anderson — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.134.188.167 (talk) 12:30, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

If you are interested in the current WP-guidance on this, see MOS:ERA. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 13:37, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I grew up with BC so I'm sympathetic to your preference. You can see the guidance at Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers#Chronological_items. Both are permitted but not within the same article. I think there's a movement to use BCE within academic articles and that probably drives some of the decisions in Wikipedia articles. Feel free to open a discussion if you'd like to provide input but I trust you understand that all of Wikipedia is not going to change a convention simply because of one person's preference.--S Philbrick(Talk) 13:56, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Each of the 6 million articles on Wikipedia was created by some individual volunteer editor. At least hundreds of thousands of editors have created articles. Each editor chooses the appropriate dating scheme for the article. Our convention for this is that other editors do not change the dating scheme without a compelling reason, just as we do not change the spelling conventions. Our editors come from all over the world and from many different academic traditions. Most article creators will choose the dating scheme that is most prevalent in their cited sources. There is no group of "PC editors" who wander around changing BC to BCE. -Arch dude (talk) 17:22, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I could've sworn there were two questions (either here or at the Teahouse, can't remember which) recently that were exactly like this. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 20:05, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

There were, and it comes up periodically. Mr Anderson, for your interest, I attended a school run by a Christian organisation (The Methodist Foundation, as it was then called) in the 1960s and '70's, and some of our history and other textbooks used BCE and CE where appropriate. In many contexts, BC and AD are not appropriate, and in others, it doesn't matter much one way or the other. Appreciate that this Encyclopedia is a global resource for all English speakers, the majority of whom are probably not Christian and therefore don't care about your parochial concerns. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.122.56.237 (talk) 20:48, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I am offended that you dare to use use AD and BC instead of the neutral CE and BCE. What gives you the right to criticize those that use CE and BCE? Are you trying to offend, e.g., Atheists, Budhists, Hindus, Jews and Muslims? Why do you believe that it is okay to offend others but not ok to offend you? And aren't *you* acting like the PC Police?

If you can make a compelling case that wikipedia should require the use of terms biased towards a particular religion, maybe you can convince them to impose that policy; I won't hold my breathe. The current policy is that the initial editor is free to adopt the convention that he prefers and that a subsequent change requires discussion and consensus. Whether I like it or not, that's the policy. Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz Username:Chatul (talk) 20:51, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

What you choose to do with any donations you give is up to you; they do not (and should not) affect encyclopedic content. As another point, the use of dating depends on who uses the first instance. There are many stylistic differences on here that extend beyond the use of BC/AD and BCE/CE; national spelling orthographies, for one. I very much prefer Canadian English, but will abide by any {{Use American English}} or similar templates at the top of the page. Incidentally, maybe this is a good time to create {{Use BC/AD}} and {{Use BCE/CE}} to clear things up? —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 21:31, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Interpol pictures

Hiya, I was just wondering what pictures used on Interpol count as? There's a few missing persons / criminals that currently don't have a picture on Wikipedia, and if Interpol pictures fell under public domain or something similar, it could fill a lot of image needed requests. Thanks Naihreloe (talk) 13:05, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Naihreloe, Interpol terms of use can be found here which are decidedly not compatible with our licensing requirements. S Philbrick(Talk) 14:02, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Gas question

I need help on the molecules of a gas can you help me please i am only 7 please help me! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:5B0:2B37:85A8:D4B2:6497:EA69:63C6 (talk) 15:02, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Please ask this question over at the reference desk, science section. It's at WP:RD/S. But first, take a look at our articles on Molecule and Gas. You will need to get an adult to help with these because the words are complicated. The guys over at the reference sectino may know of some good simple explanations soemhwner4 on the internet. Good Luck and don't give up! -Arch dude (talk) 16:33, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Note that "Simple Wikipedia" may be of help for versions that younger readers can understand. The relevant pages are "here for Molecule". and "here for Gas".. Keep up with your science reading! Mike Turnbull (talk) 17:33, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

File:Southall FC 1883-84 team.jpg

I have received the following note and not sure how I can rectify this. Can you please give me some guidance re how I can rectify this please? Thank you.

Thanks for uploading File:Southall FC 1935-36 team.jpg. I notice that the file page either doesn't contain enough information about the license or it contains contradictory information about the license, so the copyright status is unclear.

Please note: The image is owned by Southall Football Club and Southall Football Club have given permission for me to publish it. I have included this information when I added the image. So I am not sure what the issue is and how I can rectify it.

Mark Roach Southall FC (talk) 15:31, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Mark Roach Southall FC: "Permission to publish" is insufficient. Instead, we need a formal CC-BY-SA license from the copyright holder (usually the photographer), who may or may not be the "owner of the image". -Arch dude (talk) 16:01, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

The 1883-84 will be out of copyright in the US & UK. The 1935-36 one may still be in copyright (UK copyright for a photo would expire 70 years after the photographer dies). If it's in copyright, you would need to use WP:Donating materials process to release it under a suitable copyright licence for Wikipedia. Joseph2302 (talk) 16:11, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Mark Roach Southall FC and Joseph2302: Sorry, my answer was directed at the 1935-36 picture, which is the subject of the "rejection" message. The earlier picture is in the public domain and can be uploaded, While the actual 1883-84 photograph may be the property of the club, the image content is not, and no permission from the club is needed or desired. -Arch dude (talk) 16:28, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

FYI; Joseph2302 probbably meant to link to WP:Donating copyrighted materials. Victor Schmidt (talk) 17:06, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Yes I did (although I created a redirect for what I typed, so it ends up on correct page anyway). Joseph2302 (talk) 17:09, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Capitalisation of literal translations of titles

How should an unofficial, literal translation of the title of an artistic work be capitalised?

Should it be capitalised like a normal sentence (with capital letters only for the first word of each sentence or part of the title and proper nouns), or like an English title (with capital letters for all words except prepositions, conjunctions and articles of four or fewer letters)?

To me, capitalising it like a normal sentence makes more sense, as is a translation of a title, not a title in itself, and it is formatted with quotation marks around it and in Roman text, not in italics like a title is. Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles suggests that this is the rule, as it states "Where the work is not known by an English title, give the translation in parentheses without special formatting in sentence case".

However, it is not clear from that if sentence case applies to translations of the titles of works that also have an official title that is a less direct translation (and used as the article title), and in the large majority of articles I've come across which have such translations, English title capitalisation is used.

Even other pages of guidelines also contradict that one in the Manual of Style: in Wikipedia:Naming conventions (films), one example of a direct translation is in English title caps ("37.2 °C in the Morning"); the other uses no capital letters at all ("chaos").

I would appreciate some clarification on this and consistency in the guidelines. --Tempjrds (talk) 16:25, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

The People's Supermarket

Can someone de-italicise the name of this article please? It's the name of a shop and should be roman, but there's a television infobox lower down the article which I think is causing the problem. Spicemix (talk) 17:51, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

 Done -- John of Reading (talk) 17:54, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Link that no longer relates to article

What is the appropriate thing to do when an article contains a link that presumably once contained relevant content but no longer has it? For example, see Mitzi Martin. Citation 1 (as I write this post) is from Movies at msn.com. That page probably changes content frequently, and as far as I can see, it now contains nothing about Mitzi Martin. No archive was included in the citation. I have seen similar situations with citations to a Yahoo! Movies page that now has no content related to the article's subject. Does Wikipedia have a procedure for situations like this? Eddie Blick (talk) 19:33, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Moving draft to sandbox

Hi, is there a guide anywhere for how to move a draft page to your sandbox? There's a couple of drafts that are not going to be ready within 6 months but I want to keep the work I've put in. Red Fiona (talk) 20:59, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Redfiona99: If you keep working on the draft it won't be deleted. It is only if no work is done on a draft for 6 months does it become a candidate for deleting. RudolfRed (talk) 21:09, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Also, if it gets deleted for not being worked on for 6 months, it can be restored, no questions asked, at WP:REFUND. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 21:49, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Can't reset email address for Username

Hi, I have two Wikipedia accounts which I have used for editing. I'm not exactly sure how this came about. I used the Username Ivan007 for most of my editing going back about thirteen years. I have a lot of work under this Username. I have ost the password for this Username and when I try to reset it I do not get an email. I have not changed my email address during this period. I have tried multiple times with variants on my email address, but never get a response. I have a second Username, Ivanpope, which I am currently using for page edits. I have the username for this account. I am currently signed in on this account. I need to know how I can retrieve or reset the email address for my Ivan007 account. I have a growing suspicion that someone has gained access to my account and changed the email address. Thanks for any help. Ivanpope (talk) 23:29, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Ivanpope: Ivan007 has not specified an email address. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:50, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you PrimeHunter - but what does that mean? Is it possible to set one now - or how do I reset the password? Thanks. Ivanpope (talk) 10:23, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

@Ivanpope: If you don't know the password then you cannot gain access. See Help:Logging in#What if I forget my password? In rare cases a user with a large edit count or advanced user rights can get a developer to set an email address for an account if they have good evidence it belongs to them. Then a password reset is possible but Special:CentralAuth/Ivan007 only shows 299 edits. That is considered low. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:45, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, that's useful if unusable information. So I guess there's no way to retrieve the account? I know it's not your fault, but who sets up an account system with no method of resetting passwords? Isn't that kind of insane? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ivanpope (talk • contribs) 11:34, 9 January 2021 (UTC)

@Ivanpope: The reset method is via email, which is optional. If you choose not to enter an email address for your account, then there is no other way to verify the account belongs to you and so the password cannot be changed. WP:CID might be another option. RudolfRed (talk) 19:59, 9 January 2021 (UTC)