Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2022 January 11

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January 11[edit]

HELP! There seems to be a vandalism problem[edit]

Hello everyone. I seem to have spotted potential repeated vandalism problems. In less popular articles on FIFA competitions, there has been IP users that mess up the knockout stage bracket with fake matches. You can spot that they are fake mainly from countries featured that didn't actually participate in those tournaments, and match results that don't show up in the rest of the article. I thought I could fix those via reverting but then I realized that it is a much bigger problem. Anyway, I just fixed one knockout bracket for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup and looking through that article's edit history shows that the IP users have vandalized even more articles. Another article with a vandalized knockout stage bracket is 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Currently, it has yet to be fixed. I do not know if there are more pages affected with such vandalism, and I also do not know if lesser continental competitions are also affected. I also do not know how to add protections to pages, nor do I know how to actually deal with large scale vandalism. I also don't have a lot of time on hand. Any help will be greatly appreciated. -boldblazer 02:15, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Boldblazer: Hi there! You could try asking for help identifying and fixing the problems at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Football. If the IP users are still actively vandalizing, you can report the users at WP:AIV and request protection at WP:RFPP. Hope this helps, and happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 02:22, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Arthur Dooley ..[edit]

Hi my name is Paul Arthur Dooley the son of Arthur Dooley Liverpool sculptor ..the wiki page about my Father is not the truth or close ..I have tried to rectify and then it's removed ..I am PAUL DOOLEY AND I AM LEGALY IN CHARGE OF THE DOOLEY ESTATE ..can you help please kind regards — Preceding unsigned comment added by Paul Arthur Dooley (talk • contribs) 03:33, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Paul Arthur Dooley, editors have been leaving you messages on your talk page. On Wikipedia, claims must be supported by reliable sources. Even if it's true, original research isn't allowed. Tol (talk | contribs) @ 03:39, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
It's also irrelevant to Wikipedia if the user is the executor of Arthur Dooley's estate. Arthur Dooley is not the Arthur Dooley estate's article, it is Wikipedias's article about Arthur Dooley. See WP:OWN. Read the WP:COI link on your page, and propose changes with reliable sources on the article's talk page. Meters (talk) 03:47, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
 – Combined sections. GoingBatty (talk) 04:08, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I need help with my father's wiki please — Preceding unsigned comment added by Paul Arthur Dooley (talk • contribs) 04:03, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Paul Arthur Dooley: Per the Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle, I suggest you post your concerns on the article talk page Talk:Arthur Dooley with the {{request edit}} template and provide reliable published sources. You may also use the Wikipedia:Edit Request Wizard. (Please remember to sign your posts on talk pages by typing four keyboard tildes like this: ~~~~. Or, you can use the [ reply ] button, which automatically signs posts.) GoingBatty (talk) 04:11, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Paul Arthur Dooley: - you may be the executor of the estate, but you are not the owner of our article about this subject. If you are unwilling/unable to talk civily to our volenteers (as on your talk page) that may relate to the loss of your editing privileges. You owning documents does not really make differences to us, we require non-WP:PRIMARY source, that speaks about the subject from a reliable source.Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 09:47, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Note OP has been indefinitely blocked for disruptive editing. CodeTalker (talk) 19:38, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Reordering a bullet list[edit]

I have a long list of exhibitions in Castlemaine Art Museum that is chronological. Reconsidering, I think it would be more useful if in reverse order; i.e. the most recent exhibition first. To do it manually would be a big tedious job. Is there a work-around to archive this re-ordering? Convert to numbered list then - somehow, maybe in spreadsheet software - reorder it? Convert to a table (how?) change order in outside software then paste back in? Thank you for any clues! Jamesmcardle(talk) 03:57, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Jamesmcardle, don't change it to reverse order. This is an encyclopedia, not a place to promote the latest exhibitions. History is important; keep all lists in chronological order. Cut down the lists of exhibitions and publications to the most important. Complete lists are for an organization's website, not here. StarryGrandma (talk) 04:05, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your quick and wise response - probably no need to reorder, as you point out. Much appreciatedJamesmcardle(talk) 06:03, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) @Jamesmcardle: Yes, you could copy the source into column B of a spreadsheet, then add number 1 to ### in column A, and then sort on column A in reverse order, and then fix the section headers (which would now be at the bottom of each section), and then paste it all into the article. However, you might first want to purge all the exhibitions that do not have an independent source to reduce the workload. Hope this helps, and happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 04:06, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your very rapid response and advice on the mechanics of reversing order. Both you and User:StarryGrandma suggest I cut the list down which I will therefore do for unreferenced exhibitions. I’m very grateful to both of you for good advice that came so quickly. Amazing! Jamesmcardle(talk) 06:08, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The other solution, whilst a bit of work, is to recreate as a table, and let it be sortable by users. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 09:43, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with others to use chronological order in lists but many readers probably want to find recent entries without lots of scrolling so I have added {{Table TOC}}.[1] I made it for long tables with anchors in some rows and haven't documented it yet but it can also be used for subsections. It requires manual updating if section headings are changed. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:03, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Language of sources[edit]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if it's allowed to use Dutch sources for an English Wikipedia page. Or the other way around. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:1811:8D15:4200:5B:C7FC:2551:ACA (talk) 10:46, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Sources may be in any language. (here)English helps, but is is not required if no English source is available. See the policy in this area. I can't speak to the Dutch Wikipedia, but I suspect that the policy is likely the same. 331dot (talk) 10:48, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Searching deletion log for partial title[edit]

The deletion log facility at Special:Logs requires me to enter the exact full title of the article, even with the same capitalization. I don't always know that, so is there a way to search for a partial name? For example, if I want to search for any of my own subpages that have been deleted, I would like to search for something like "User:Gronk_Oz/*" where the "*" would match anything. Is there such a facility?

Or alternatively, is there a way to download the log between certain dates so I can load into Word or Excel or something to use those tools to search?--Gronk Oz (talk) 12:01, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Gronk Oz: Administrators can search for partial titles (not just prefix) at Special:Undelete. I see:
PrimeHunter (talk) 12:12, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@PrimeHunter: Great, thanks.--Gronk Oz (talk) 12:33, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I have added this to MediaWiki:Dellogpagetext which is diplayed at top of Special:Log/delete:
Administrators can search for partial titles at Special:Undelete. Others can request help with {{Admin help}}.
PrimeHunter (talk) 12:57, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

cologne blue skin[edit]

hello, i found out that there was a cologne blue skin, but i could not find it in preferences. how do you use this skin? on wp:skin it says nothing about it. the skin does work though. Main Page?useskin=cologneblue Desktop.INI 13:17, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Desktop.INI: The skin is being phased out and has been removed from the preferences. Existing users who had previously selected it in their preferences can continue to use it, at least for now. There's developer discussion at phab:T223824. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:35, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) @Desktop.INI: Cologne Blue is deprecated and has been removed at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering unless you already have it. It's not maintained properly and will probably be removed completely at some time. It's currently still possible to select it at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Preferences?useskin=cologneblue#mw-prefsection-rendering. If you use it and report any interface issue then always say you have Cologne Blue. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:41, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, thanks! Desktop.INI 14:03, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Strange medical article[edit]

Hello! So while reverting vandalism, I came across this article: Alpha-thalassemia mental retardation syndrome. It appears to be an article related to a medical condition, however I'm not sure what to say about it's referencing situation. It appears to like reusing certain citations and using "X et al. XXXX" refs. Could someone provide some advice for what to do with the article? ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 19:15, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like they're using shortened footnotes. That's a pretty common referencing style, especially in more formal academic topics like medicine. Normally the footnotes are in a separate section from the full citation. I've done that to the article in question. ~ ONUnicorn(Talk|Contribs)problem solving 19:35, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Ah alright! So I would assume the article is properly referenced then? ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 19:39, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Blaze Wolf: Some editors will use {{sfn}} for the references, so a reader could click on the short Note and be taken to the full citation in the Reference section - see Revolver (Beatles album) for an example. GoingBatty (talk) 20:16, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Alright. I was unfamiliar with that style of referencing so it looked odd to me. I would assume the amount it reuses certain sources is fine as well? ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 20:42, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know of any policy that says you can't reuse a source as many times as is useful. Skarmory (talk • contribs) 21:26, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, this is absolutely fine, but probably should use {{sfn}}. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 21:30, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Online newspaper access[edit]

Does anyone know whether it's possible to get access to the online versions of pay walled UK newspapers through the Wikipedia library or similar? I'm thinking primarily of the Telegraph, the Times and, to a lesser extent, the FT. I don't use them enough to warrant paying for a subscription myself, but they're often used as sources in BLPs and it would be useful to be able to check them sometimes. Girth Summit (blether) 20:03, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Girth Summit, I dont believe it is possible. I haven't used it, but you could try Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange. I believe that some UK public libraries also offer access. TSventon (talk) 12:32, 12 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Also, if you can find an archived version of it (which may be possible through one of the internet archiving sites), then sometimes the whole article is viewable on the archived version. Joseph2302 (talk) 14:17, 12 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks both. It was a bit of a longshot, just wanted to make sure that there wasn't an obvious trick i was missing. Girth Summit (blether) 15:59, 12 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Article in mainspace with AFC template[edit]

Hello! I just came across the article Ivelisse Correa, which has the {{AfC submission}} template; however, it did not go through the Articles for Creation process (it was created directly in mainspace). I am not sure about the subject's notability, and in any case the article needs more work. If this had been an AFC draft moved incorrectly to mainspace, I would move it back to draft; but since it was never a draft to begin with, I don't know if draftifying it is the correct process, or if it would be better to nominate it at AFD. Could I get a second opinion on this? Thank you! –FlyingAce✈hello 20:15, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@FlyingAce: Since it had a draft template on it, I moved it to Draft:Ivelisse Correa. GoingBatty (talk) 20:25, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Question on Wikipedia:NOTESAL[edit]

I want to create this page: Comparison of systematic review tools/software. It would contain a table comparing characteristics of such software. Per Wikipedia:NOTESAL, it seems like I can create since Systematic review#Review tools is already a thing. So can anyone say if I create it other editors will or won't delete it?Iara Ai (talk) 20:34, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Standalone lists require more than one source talking about something - are there more references somewhere? Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 20:42, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Lee Vilenski:
--Iara Ai (talk) 21:23, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Transclude specific version of a file[edit]

How can I change “[[File:Crown n Stem Groups 02.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.2]]” at Talk:Crown_group#Pan-group=Scion so that it uses the version of File:Crown n Stem Groups.svg of 2022-01-04T07:40:06? ◅ Sebastian 22:39, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@SebastianHelm: It's not possible to display a former version of a file. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:45, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
You can, however, provide a link to https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/1/1a/20220109133818%21Crown_n_Stem_Groups.svg --David Biddulph (talk) 22:48, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for both your replies. I can't see why, when it's possible to view a given version – which means all the data are there – it isn't possible to transclude it. But we have to work with what we got here. ◅ Sebastian 04:09, 12 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
You could probably reupload the file, though I'm not too sure how commons works with stuff like that. Skarmory (talk • contribs) 05:08, 12 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Skarmory, that would be a workaround in extreme situations. But that would have to be weighed carefully against the cost: It would always create more data that need to be stored, administered and maintained. In this case, the whole point was to reduce the number of such independent files, so your workaround would defeat the purpose. ◅ Sebastian 10:12, 12 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

How do I add new content to a table?[edit]

I think that all townships within Wikipedia should have their Public Land Survey System shown. For Hollywood township this would be shown as: Township 117 North, Range 26 West, Fifth Principal Meridian of the Public Land Survey System. I have placed it under geography for the townships of Carver county but I believe it should be placed in the table to the right by underneath Coordinates or a new box on its own. I also believe that the user should be able click on adjacent townships identified as East, West North or South. Any thoughts? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Township,_Carver_County,_Minnesota — Preceding unsigned comment added by BradMoe (talk • contribs) 22:42, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, BradMoe. The "table" is called an infobox, and in this case it is {{infobox settlement}}. If you want to argue for adding a new field to that template, the place to suggest it is Template talk:Infobox settlement. You might also want to drop a note on the talk page of any appropriate WikiProject, such as WT:WikiProject United States (though there might be a more specific one), linking to the discussion you have started. Your suggestion about adjacent townships - I'm guessing you mean on the map? I suspect that is possible already, but I think it will have to be coded specifically for every township. I suggest asking about that at WT:WikiProject Maps. --ColinFine (talk) 23:13, 11 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]
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