Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2022 March 1

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March 1

Cannot upload image

Hi there,

I'm trying to upload a schematic diagram to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Ribose-seq page for a school project. I made the diagram myself using Biorender,com, and I cannot understand why it is being automatically rejected. Is there a way to appeal this decision, please? I would upload the image here for context but it won't even let me do that.

Many thanks, Marie — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kmjohns (talk • contribs) 00:00, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Kmjohns Your account must be four days old with at least 10 edits, you are only a little short of each. 331dot (talk) 00:24, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

You may request it to be uploaded at files for upload. Alternatively, you can wait for autoconfirmed status. Cheers! Skarmory (talk • contribs) 02:02, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@331dot and Skarmory: My understanding is that autoconfirmed is not required to upload files on Commons.

Kmjohns, thanks for your work on the draft, and sorry to hear you're having trouble with the upload. Unfortunately, the image you're describing is probably under copyright, since even though you made it yourself, you made it out of components from Biorender.com, and that site does not appear to have released their content under a free license, so works derived from that content cannot be freely licensed, as is required here. You could try asking here if there is another rendering engine that releases their content under a free license. If you manage to find that, you can upload the work here by following the instructions, after which you'll be able to add it to the draft per the instructions here if you're using VisualEditor (or here for wiki markup). Sorry to be delivering bad news about the license hurdle, but thanks again for your work on the draft, and I hope you'll continue with your contributions. Cheers, {{u|Sdkb}} ^talk 02:37, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Sdkb: I would not be so sure about copyright. Biorender does claim to restrict the use of images cretaed from it (see section 3 of the terms), but many of their library assets are fairly simple geometric shapes, and (I suspect) they follow standard scientific literature conventions. As such, those assets are not protected by copyright in the US. Whether a drawing software can restrict copyright of (non-derivative) works created from it is a question for a lawyer, though. Tigraan^{Click here for my talk page ("private" contact)} 10:37, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Tigraan: Yeah, if all the components are below the threshold of originality, then we're good. @Kmjohns: If you can give us a link to the image hosted on another website, we can evaluate that for you. {{u|Sdkb}} ^talk 15:43, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Sdkb, 331dot, and Skarmory: I just realized this user said that it's for a school project. Could one of you possibly send them to the page about editing Wikipedia for school projects? I'm having trouble finding it at the moment. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 02:47, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Do you mean WP:STUDENTS? {{u|Sdkb}} ^talk 02:51, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Sdkb: Yep that's it. Thanks! ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 03:04, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Sdkb: That's true but Commons can only take free files. 331dot (talk) 07:48, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Hey folks, thanks so much for your help! I managed to upload the file using the wizard, it just wasn't working when I tried to upload to the page directly. Please feel free to mark this as resolved (as I'm not sure how), and feel free to check out my image now that my efforts have paid off! -Kmjohns (talk) 21:45, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

not logged in

I inadvertently didn't log in for this edit (Redacted). Could an administrator fix it and remove associated sensitive info there, here and in my contribution history? Bob K31416 (talk) 02:35, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Bob K31416, accidental logged out edits are oversightable. You can make a request at WP:Requests for oversight. Cheers, {{u|Sdkb}} ^talk 02:39, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Thanks to whoever fixed it. Unfortunately, did it again. If it doesn't get fixed, that's OK. Bob K31416 (talk) 04:05, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

@Bob K31416: As Sdkb suggested above, you can request for the username/IP of the revision to be hidden at WP:Requests for oversight. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 04:06, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Draft Review

For the past few months I have been interviewing an old Exxon executive from my hometown and just made a Wikipedia page about him… I submitted it for review but would love any feedback on the page if anyone has a sec. This is my first page made so it might be some errors/mistakes but would love feedback or a review! — Preceding unsigned comment added by John4243 (talk • contribs) 07:05, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

The article is Draft:Edwin J. Hess and it was reviewed and turned down on 11 January 2022. IMHO it's not too bad but there could be more reliable secondary sourcing.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 07:31, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

John, the problem is that information derived from interviews like that has no place in Wikipedia, as it is not coming from what we deem a reliable source. What we look for here, is not what the subject has said, to you or even to some professional journalist. What we need is information from places like Barron's and Wired and The New York Times. --Orange Mike | Talk 15:05, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Help desk

What is help desk for? 2001:44B8:41C6:F700:CDB1:E760:9B90:B9E9 (talk) 10:54, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

It is for asking questions, just as you have done here; however, please read the message right at the top of the page for clarification as to its remit. I.e. only questions about how to use or edit Wikipedia. If you are looking for general questions try WP:RD or use the search box. Eagleash (talk) 12:04, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

I used to think it's already answered in the very first line of the page.... :) --CiaPan (talk) 13:29, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Coming back and lost

I have created dozens of articles for WP in the past, but not the last couple of years. Now I don't know whether I have gone blinder or stupider, but I can no longer find how to create a new article. Is it that the rules have changed while I was out, or what? Finally I went via the beginner route, and managed to submit the article, only to be told that it might be months etc...

Now, the article in question is just a redirect from PRIZM to South African National Antarctic Programme, and waiting that long for a redir is ridiculous; am I missing something, like some obvious entry point for seasoned authors/editors, or what?

As for any doubts as to whether the redir is worthwhile, I created it because I struggled to find any reference in context, and the research programme is cutting-edge cosmology, so I make no apology for making it easier to find.

Thanks for any help JonRichfield (talk) 12:22, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@JonRchfield: Hello, Typically, redirects do not require submission via the AfC process but can / should be requested via WP:AFC/R. As the term is covered in the target page I have created the redirect. For future reference you can create a draft article via WP:WIZ which is probably the most convenient for new (or returning users, who are a bit 'rusty') or WP:AFC. When completed a draft can be moved to main or you can create in main assuming you are WP:AUTOCONFIRMED. Eagleash (talk) 13:03, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

I have changed PRIZM to redirect to the existing disambiguation page Prizm which already lists South African National Antarctic Programme. Several of the entries are sometimes written in all caps. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:38, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Hi JonRichfield, Ping me if you have problems in the future. Cheers, · · · Peter Southwood ^(talk): 15:13, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

Thanks to all, PrimeHunter Pbsouthwood Eagleash I'll check out my status anon. Thanks for the assistanc and the new labelling, which is much better than just the bare PRIZM. JonRichfield (talk) 19:46, 4 March 2022 (UTC)

Can somebody make a hood olympics article?

On the Milk crate challenge article it says hood olympics, but the link doesn't work. And I don't know what it means. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 169.244.131.228 (talk) 13:58, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

American term. Short for neighbourhood. - X201 (talk) 14:11, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Really it's more American slang. I don't usually see Americans refer to a neighborhood as a "hood" outside of using it as slang. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 14:15, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

"Hood" is more than just a slang term for neighborhood though. It carries implicit associations with inner cities, poverty, race, and crime; but also pride, community, and resiliency in the face of adversity. I think an article theoretically could be written on hood culture, if someone was so inclined. That said, "hood olympics" is not a thing.~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 14:44, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

It sounds like somebody making a joke about what we do in the 'hood. I will assume good faith and hope that there was no racism intended on the part of the person making the joke. But like the unicorn said, that's not a thing. --Orange Mike | Talk 15:11, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

I haven't heard of it but Google has: hood olympics Milk crate challenge. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:51, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia needs this article

The article we need is: Propaganda during 2022 Ukrainian War. There has been a lot of propaganda in the news- especially in the Ukraine official twitter account. KaptianKharisma (talk) 17:41, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a newspaper; we don't necessarily have articles about stuff happening in the past couple of days, until they are written about by reliable sources. And I'm concerned that you are singling out one particular source for your assertions. --Orange Mike | Talk 17:44, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@KaptianKharisma: Could this information (cited with reliable sources) be added to a section of 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, until it gets large enough to warrant its own article? GoingBatty (talk) 18:16, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@GoingBatty: I'm sure propaganda during this event has enough reliable sources, I don't know about having a article. KaptianKharisma (talk) 18:28, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@KaptianKharisma: Well if you can find 3 reliable sources that talk about the propaganda then I think it should be fine to add to the article on Russia's invasion on Ukraine. But please, read WP:RS first. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 18:35, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@KaptianKharisma: I would be incredibly cautious in how you go about this if you do write or edit it; it's in a topic area under sanctions and so any article's going to both be gone over with a fine-toothed comb and attract massvive swarms of partisan editors. —Jéské Couriano v^_^v ^{a little blue Bori} 19:52, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Plot Summary - Fear the Walking Dead

Hi there,

I recently wrote a plot summary for episode 7 of series 7 of Fear the Walking Dead. I viewed the website today and found that my writing had been deleted. I hadn't written anything offensive, I wrote a summary of what happened in the episode while I was watching it. Can you please tell me why my plot summary has been deleted while all the others are still showing?

Thanks in advance. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C5:2090:BD01:1190:28D8:62AF:CACD (talk) 17:40, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Hi there! If you go to Fear the Walking Dead (season 7) and click on the "View history" tab, you can see that it was deleted in this edit by Tobi999tomas, who stated "This is ridicilously long." Per the Wikipedia:BOLD, revert, discuss cycle, feel free to have a discussion about this at the article's talk page: Talk:Fear the Walking Dead (season 7). GoingBatty (talk) 18:23, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

The parameter is called ShortSummary. Template:Episode list/sublist#Parameters says: "A short 100–200 word plot summary of the episode." You wrote around 900 words. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:40, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Hi again, Thanks for letting me know. I've found the copy of the piece I wrote, I'll shorten it and post it on the page when it's ready. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C5:2090:BD01:C83B:4DBA:F8CE:FBA7 (talk) 16:39, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

If Wikimedia Foundation is non profit organization, then how it generate revenue?

From Wikimedia Foundation, it says:It was established in 2003 by Jimmy Wales as a way to fund Wikipedia and its sibling projects through non-profit

Same page also mentioned this line: ...annual revenues in excess of US$150 million. Rizosome (talk) 18:44, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Rizosome: All organizations need to raise money (revenue) to perform their work. While corporations will ensure their revenue exceeds their costs, so they can create a profit, non-profit organizations just need to pay for their costs. GoingBatty (talk) 19:15, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Huh, I never knew that was the distinction. I guess I never looked into that, lol. Skarmory (talk • contribs) 03:20, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

To answer your original question, they mainly get money through user donations (although I wouldn't be surprised if they do also get money from other places). ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 04:08, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Reusing the same site over and over -- and over

Hello Everybody,

I am using one reference web page for a number of cites in a Wikipedia article.

I can reuse the same cite -- or create a new cite each time. The reference web page is generic -- specifically I cannot link to (for example) paragraph 12 on the referenced web page. I can only provide a cite link to the main url. The information is very easy to find on the referenced web page.

So my question is -- what is Wikipedia's preferred best practice in this instance) should I create a new cite each time (and Wikipedia will automatically create an unique number for that site, or always reuse the same cite -- (and Wikipedia will repeat the same cite number.)

Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rowby (talk • contribs) 19:27, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Rowby: I think specifics might help. Are you citing the exact same title/URL multiple times or just multiple pages from the same domain? But WP:OPCIT, WP:NAMEDREFS, and WP:DUPREF might help. Though for some references there might already be a template which might help with multiple citations to the same work (I'm thinking of something like {{MSW3}}). What citations are you trying to make? Umimmak (talk) 19:36, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Rowby Very good question. Only create one citation, give it a name if you wish, then call it up whenever you need to reuse it. See WP:REFNAME for details, and use template {{RP}} to add a different page number each time. Nick Moyes (talk) 19:37, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Rowby, I believe that you're asking about repeated references to the same web page. Whatever you want to refer to repeatedly -- whether it's a web page, a book or something else -- one reference to it (preferably but not necessarily the first reference) should look like <ref name="petulant_ptarmigan">author(s) (if known), title, publication info, URL and access date if applicable</ref> and every other reference to it should be much shorter and simpler: just <ref name="petulant_ptarmigan" /> -- within which, "petulant_ptarmigan" is just my arbitrary (and rather laboured) example of a valid string that one wouldn't accidentally use elsewhere. If what you're referring to is a printed work and some/all of the time you want to add a particular page number, page span, or set of these, then you do just the same, but each time you want to add the number(s)/span(s) you append the "Rp" template to do so. Thus if you want one of these references to cite pages 8–12 and 26 of the work, you'd specify <ref name="petulant_ptarmigan" />{{Rp|8–12, 26}}. -- Hoary (talk) 08:21, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

If I have a value/string I'm using several places on a page, can I define it somewhere and not repeat myself?

this is not a great example, considering it's only used twice, but if I wanted to replace the wikistress level # on my user page, in the 2 places it's used, with a named variable (or better yet constant) that I only have to change in one place... is there a way to do that without creating a template (which would over-complicate the matter)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Macks2008 (talk • contribs) 19:50, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Actually you cannot (without a template). Ruslik_Zero 19:58, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

huh, for real? That seems like an opportunity for improvement in the software, since not every variable needs to have effectively global scope (like templates do, at least within the project)--Macks2008 (talk) 20:28, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

There aren't many obvious use-cases for variables in writing encyclopaedia articles, which is what we are all here for. You can create a template in your user space, and then transclude it using its whole name, like {{User:Macks2008/Mywikistress}}. ColinFine (talk) 23:29, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

It would have some uses in articles and many in templates, especially if you could change the value of the variable during the page. mw:Extension:Variables offers this but is not installed in Wikimedia wikis. It has been repeatedly rejected in Phabricator requests linked at mw:Extension:Variables#References. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:42, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

The Wikipedia mobile app's top read section

How does the app generate the top read list and is it possible to view it on the website? KaraLG84 (talk) 19:59, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@KaraLG84: Hi there! If you don't receive an answer here, you might want to ask at mw:Talk:Wikimedia Apps. GoingBatty (talk) 20:10, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@GoingBatty: Thanks. I just noticed that someone already asked this over there. KaraLG84 (talk) 20:42, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Changing Page Name

I would like to know how to change the name of this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Elliott

From "Pauline Elliott" (her former name) to "Pauline Hanson" (her current name).

Fivethreefourtwo (talk) 20:11, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

You can do this by selecting the drop down box "more" at the top of the page. *However*, there is already an article Pauline Hanson for the Australian politician. The article title for the sports person should be something like Pauline Hanson (tennis player) with a disambig at the top of the page for the Australian politician.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 20:20, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Fivethreefourtwo: Per WP:NAMECHANGES, you should also provide published reliable sources for her new name. GoingBatty (talk) 21:22, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

There is sourcing here. I don't doubt that this is correct because she married Jack Hanson and took his name.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 07:28, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

@Fivethreefourtwo: That source does not state that she took his name. If you have any conflict of interest, you must declare it on your user page. GoingBatty (talk) 14:49, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Her Linkedin profile [1] isn't an ideal source, but she is now described as Pauline Hanson rather than Pauline Elliott. I suspect that blue chip sourcing here could be difficult, because she was never very well known as a tennis player.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 16:40, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

WP:LINKEDIN notes that it can be used as a source for things like this, given that the account is officially verified. --Jayron32 17:11, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

• I've been WP:BOLD and moved this to Pauline Hanson (tennis player). Hope this is OK.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 11:07, 3 March 2022 (UTC)

• Seems okay to me based on above discussion (and name change is self-verified by person). Joseph2302 (talk) 11:08, 3 March 2022 (UTC)