Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2022 January 19

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January 19

Search all of Wikipedia

The box in the upper right says "Search Wikipedia", but it only searches the English Language Wikipedia. Is there a place that I can search all of Wikipedia (all of the language wikipedias at least). I guess I can go to google, but I like having the more advanced features...Naraht (talk) 01:34, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

I don't think so. The search box at https://www.wikipedia.org/ lets you pick any language, but "all" doesn't seem to be an option. RudolfRed (talk) 02:00, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

You can use Wikidata. Zoozaz1 (talk) 02:06, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

That is apparently only searching Wikidata, not Wikipedia. --David Biddulph (talk) 02:12, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

David Biddulph yup. Tried that already.Naraht (talk) 20:43, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

The best way to do that is probably Google. Search for "[term] site:wikipedia.org". Cheers, {{u|Sdkb}} ^talk 03:08, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Sdkb Quite familiar with that, and have used it to search for errors across languages (like "John Hopkins University") which essentially add -site:en.wikipedia.org to focus on the ones outside English. But that definitely doesn't have the ability to do insource: or regex searches.Naraht (talk) 20:43, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

The Wikipedia Library and ... a block?

So I received a notice that I can access the super neato sounding Wikipedia Library. When I tried it says I have a block. I've been editing Wikipedia for many, many years and have no idea what that is about. Almost all of my edits are on the English Wikipedia, with some visual content added to WikiCommons. Other than that, iirc, I've made a few edits to the Spanish and German language Wikis. Literally none of them, as far as I can see anywhere, mentions a block of any kind. Ditto my entire talk page on English Wikipedia. I'd love to use this resource for helping with articles, but I don't know what is the cause for the hiccup. Any help would be most gratefully accepted. Thank you. --Surv1v4l1st ^{▌Talk|Contribs▌} 03:25, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

You were blocked on the Indonesian Wikipedia for having an unacceptable username (despite having made zero edits there). * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 03:41, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

@Surv1v4l1st: Special:CentralAuth/Surv1v4l1st shows a block at id.wikipedia.org (Indonesian Wikipedia) where you have no edits. Your account was created automatically, probably because you viewed a page while logged in. Google Translate says "Invalid username: please change". Google Translate on the linked page says: "Also, watch out for the uppercase i , the lowercase L , and the number 1 , which can look the same (I/l/1) in some fonts . Another example is the letter O and the number 0 (O/o/0) . The use of letters that can be misleading is highly discouraged, given the abuse that has occurred in the past." There is a User:Survivalist but they have no account at idwiki so you cannot be claimed to impersonate them there. It seems very unreasonable to disallow access for you. When originally reading the no-block rule, I did think it would hit some users unfairly. I don't know whether you have other options than to request an unblock at idwiki. They have id:Template:Unblock. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:58, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

It is possible for Wikipedia library staff to override the "not blocked" requirement, but I'm not sure what the process for requesting that is. * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 04:03, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Choosing English at Special:GlobalPreferences or id:Special:Preferences may help you navigate the site if you request unblocking. You can edit your own talk page. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:06, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/about/ says: "If your account is blocked on one or more Wikimedia projects, you may still be granted access to The Wikipedia Library. You will need to contact the Wikipedia Library team, who will review your blocks." The bottom has a contact link to https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/contact/. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:13, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Many thanks for the research on this one. I would have not guessed it was the Indonesian language Wiki. I've never edited there, nor have any knowledge of the language. I will try to figure out how to request an unblock there, but will admit navigating that site may be difficult. I did also email Wikipedia Library, but haven't heard back as of yet. Anyway, thanks again for the assistance; I greatly appreciate it. Now to find the way forward.--Surv1v4l1st ^{▌Talk|Contribs▌} 04:19, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

OK, I think (after some futzing about) got the unblock request done on the Indonesian side. As mentioned before, request has been submitted to the Library. Thanks again. :) --Surv1v4l1st ^{▌Talk|Contribs▌} 04:31, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Difference from Teahouse

What is the difference between this and the Teahouse? It seems like the same concept. Philosophy2 (talk) 05:55, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

@Philosophy2: not much difference. The Teahouse is meant to be a particularly non-threatening place where brand new people can ask very basic questions without being judged. But in practice, they are pretty much interchangeable.--Gronk Oz (talk) 06:02, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

@Philosophy2: The Help Desk is meant for anyone to request assistance or ask a question. The Teahouse is intended for new and/or inexperienced users to do the same, as Gronk Oz suggests, in a friendlier atmosphere geared towards them. 331dot (talk) 11:23, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

@Philosophy2: Generally, the tone at the Tea House is more gentle and forgiving, taking everyone's word that they are naive innocents who need special care and counsel in a quiet, non-judgmental atmosphere intended to nurture and advance the new user. The Help Desk is positioned as a blunter, more skeptical audience of brusque but highly competent tech support types who diagnose your troubles and send you on your way. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:28, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

I had to look up what "brusque" meant on Wikitionary. I learned a new word today, thank you.― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 17:50, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

RTL punctuation

At Dona, Dona#Lyrics, the punctuation of the Yiddish original appears before each line, at least on my computer using Google Chrome. Does that look the same for others? If so, how can it be fixed? ◅ Sebastian 09:40, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Hello, Sebastian. You can just edit it to move the punctuation: I've done so for the first verse. --ColinFine (talk) 12:04, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Search icon

Im having problems based on the search icon or button, i can't search whats in my interest or even type what i need to search what could be the reaaon? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A03:2880:31FF:5:0:0:FACE:B00C (talk) 11:46, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Since as far as I know nobody else has reported this problem, it is probably in your browser. The best place to ask about technical problems is WP:VPT; but it is unlikely that anybody can help you if you don't specify the problem more: what system are you on? What app or browser are you running? What are you doing or trying to do, and what result do you see? --ColinFine (talk) 12:11, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Hi there! Do you still experience the problem after you turn off your device and turn it back on again? GoingBatty (talk) 15:41, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Edits to your entry on Patrick Poivre d'Arvor

Dear Sir or Madam,

I write to ask for you to edit the entry on Patrick Poivre d'Arvor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Poivre_d%27Arvor You ought to include a major sexual assault controversy, in his page.

(You have already done so for example on the page of Nicolas Hulot, similarly embroiled in a sexual assault controversy with numerous accusations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Hulot - and I thank you for that.)

Patrick Poivre d'Arvor is the target of complaints for rape and sexual assault or sexual harassment. In total, 27 women have denounced sexual violence by the former presenter of TF1. Two of these women were minors at the time of the alleged facts. Eleven have filed complaints.

Best regards,

Etelle Higonnet

Hullo, friend. You may be able to attempt this edit yourself, as long as you can back it up with reliable sources. You can also submit an edit request here if you would like. Thanks, EDG 543 ^{(message me)} 15:54, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

EDG 543 you are correct that the IP editor could, in theory, introduce this content for themselves, but I think a bit more needs to be said. IP editor, you should be very careful to ensure that what you write complies with the policy on biographies of living people. You must not write potentially controversial material about an identifiable living person anywhere on Wikipedia without providing a reliable source to back up your assertions. I considered deleting this thread, and revision deleting a whole bunch of diffs here, because these accusations were unevidenced in your post. However, I took a moment to see whether I could find any reliable sources supporting what you had written, and came across this, this and this. So, there are reliable sources that could support some additions to the article - just be sure to cite them, and to stick carefully to what they say. Girth Summit _(blether) 21:39, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

That was indeed top news for a time in France. The fr-wikipedia article section about this (fr:Patrick_Poivre_d'Arvor#Visé_par_plusieurs_enquêtes_pour_viols_et_agressions_sexuelles) is roughly as long as the entire en-wikipedia article is, and there is a line in the lead. If the IP editor does not change this themselves, ping me and I will try to write a couple of sentences. Tigraan^{Click here for my talk page ("private" contact)} 14:11, 20 January 2022 (UTC)

Error in Talk:Galton Board?

Is there something wrong with Talk:Galton Board?

If I view it in the Wikipedia App (on my Galaxy Tablet), there are 11 headings, but "Three dimensional bean machine", "Why a rectangle of pegs?" and "Probabilities of 1000 runs of the machine" show the same contents as "But how does it work?"

But if I choose "View article in browser" and then change to the Talk page, those three headings don't appear at all ... BUT two of them appear under the "Bean machine, bean made wrong?" heading, under an "Extended content" banner - some sort of formatting error? 194.193.168.77 (talk) 16:06, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

In desktop view it looks fine. The app and mobile browser may be getting confused by {{Collapse top}} hidden content. RudolfRed (talk) 18:03, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

To wall of shame, or to not wall of shame

(Apologies for the shakespeare reference in the header, I Couldn't help myself) Hello! So I recently encountered an IP who is currently block for disruptive editing and the IP removed their most recent warning and block message. I know this is technically ok per WP:NOTWALLOFSHAME, however the IP is also blocked. So what should I do in this case? Revert the edit and request their tpa revoked, or just leave it? ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 18:49, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Leave it. They are allowed to remove it. RudolfRed (talk) 18:55, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Alright sounds good. Wasn't sure if it would still apply if they were blocked. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 19:00, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Per WP:BLANKING they are allowed to remove the block notice; what they are not allowed to remove is any declined unblock request relating to the current block. --David Biddulph (talk) 21:11, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

Removing redirects from a category

I want to remove the entries "Would you like a Jelly Baby?" and "You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay, or you can call me..." from the category "1970s neologisms", since they are technically catchphrases and not neologisms, but there does not seem to be a way to that since the pages they redirect to are not listed under that category. Kotterdale99 (talk) 19:30, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

So, maybe there's a better way to do this, but here's the cheap trick I use to edit a redirect: Taking your first example, type it in to the search bar. You'll be redirected to the page on the fourth Doctor, but at the top of the page it will say "(Redirected from Would you like a Jelly Baby?)", and there will be a link in there that will take you to the redirect itself and allow you to edit it in the normal fashion. Beeblebrox (talk) 19:36, 19 January 2022 (UTC)

I thought there was a better way also, Beeblebrox, but according to WP:EDRED this is the official way! Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 13:21, 21 January 2022 (UTC)