Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2023 June 15

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June 15[edit]

Do some templates require an assessment rating?[edit]

I was looking at Template_talk:Infobox_court_case and there is a message that says "This template does not require a rating on Wikipedia's content assessment scale." I always thought that assessments were voluntary and not required in any case. Is that not true? Do some templates require a rating, and if so why?

Also, I can't figure out where that message is even coming from. Is it part of {{WikiProject Law}} ? RudolfRed (talk) 03:12, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@RudolfRed: You are correct - that message is part of the {{WikiProject Law}} template. When {{WikiProject Law}} is added to article talk pages, it should include a |class= parameter. However, when {{WikiProject Law}} is added to template talk pages, the |class= parameter is not needed. GoingBatty (talk) 04:02, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the explanation. RudolfRed (talk) 04:05, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

How to Maximize Exposure to My Article Via the Version of the Subject's Name I Use in the Title?[edit]

I recently published a Wikipedia article -- the title of which is "Tennent H. Bagley" (which is what the publishers of his books have called him and put on those books' covers, etc) -- after another Wikipedia author had published an article on different person in which he referenced Bagley, but called him "Tennent H. (Pete) Bagley," instead. When one goes to that article, one sees that the words "Tennent H. (Pete) Bagley" are in red letters, signifying, as I understand it, that when that article was published, an article on Bagley per se hadn't been published here yet. Question: If I want to make it as easy as possible for people to find my article, should I keep its title as it is ("Tennent H. Bagley"), or should I change it to "Tennent H. (Pete) Bagley," even though people who are unfamiliar with him probably don't know that "Pete" was his nickname, and therefore wouldn't do a Google search for "Tennent H. (Pete) Bagley"? Advice needed. Thanks! PS -- Thinking out loud here -- Maybe retitling mine "Tennent H. (Pete) Bagley" would only be a problem for me exposure-wise if the people doing the Google-searching put the search term in quotation marks. Another Question: When people do a Google search for someone who isn't particularly famous, don't they normally put that person's name in quotation marks? (I do.)— Preceding unsigned comment added by Was Kisevalter Nash? (talkcontribs)

@Was Kisevalter Nash?: Focus on creating a high-quality article, and don't worry about Google search results. RudolfRed (talk) 05:01, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Also, when you post here or on other discussion pages or talk pages, please sign your posts using 4 tildes like ~~~~ RudolfRed (talk) 05:02, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The title of the article should reflect the the majority of reliable sources refer to the subject as explained in WP:COMMONNAME. The way he's referred to in other Wikipedia articles isn't really relevant because Wikipedia articles aren't considered to be reliable sources per se as explained in WP:WPNOTRS. If the link in the other article is WP:RED, the link's syntax can always be changed or WP:PIPEd so that it redirects to the article about the subject. -- Marchjuly (talk) 05:54, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
1) Is that something I can do, or does the author of the other article have to do it?
2) How do I put tildes in my signature?
3) Thanks. Was Kisevalter Nash? (talk) 06:18, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
0) Please always provide links to your article (Tennent H. Bagley) and "an article on different person". There are probably several million articles on "other persons"!
1) With only a very few exceptions, anyone can edit any article, so go ahead.
2) You don't need to put tildes into your signature. RudolfRed was commenting on your first post in this section which was unsigned. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 07:45, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

vaccines deaths from COVID 19 2021-2023[edit]

covid19 vaccines deaths all years Sidmcgoo (talk) 07:48, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, and welcome to the help desk. Did you have a question about using or editing Wikipedia? Skarmory (talk • contribs) 09:00, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
See COVID-19_vaccine_misinformation_and_hesitancy#Vaccines_as_a_cause_of_death. Shantavira|feed me 10:54, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

How to add placeholders to categories to prevent deletion?[edit]

This category was supposed to contain 7 pages, but they are all draft pages and will be removed from this category soon. But once one of the drafts is approved, this category should not be an empty category. Is it possible to set a placeholder to prevent the category from being deleted?

See also:Category:Towns in Changzhou --Fumikas Sagisavas (talk) 07:55, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Fumikas Sagisavas, I suggest letting the category be deleted and recreating it when the articles are published. Please do not create categories until there are articles to populate them. Liz, would it make sense to use Wikipedia:Requests for undeletion for categories deleted as empty under WP:C1? TSventon (talk) 08:48, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The relevant info is at WP:DRAFTNOCAT - X201 (talk) 08:45, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Categories are easy to recreate, if needed be. Cambalachero (talk) 17:00, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Trying to add information to the Infobox[edit]

and it just had the effect that it removes the Infobox and replaces it with the text that it used to describe it within the edit without it´s parameters. StrongALPHA (talk) 09:59, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

StrongALPHA, it would be easier to help if we knew which article this is about. Maproom (talk) 10:05, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
A typical error is a missing ]] or }} after an opening [[ or {{. We can say more if you save and link the edit. You can revert yourself if you don't want to leave the page in a bad state. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:17, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I think I´ve sorted the issue out, but thanks anyways. StrongALPHA (talk) 10:27, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@StrongALPHA: If the article in question is Daniel Bensaïd, then see WP:INFOBOXCITE. Adding references to infoboxes, as you've found out, makes the code a nightmare to debug. - X201 (talk)

Group Blocking of Accounts[edit]

Hello,

I held a Wikithon in April to train new users. On 19th April, all accounts that took part in the Wikithon, including my own (TrainingLaura https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:TrainingLaura&oldid=prev&diff=1150659414) were blocked because they were thought to be sock puppet accounts. This is not the case - please could you tell me how to get our accounts unlocked and what we should do at Wikithons in future to avoid this happening?

(I am using the account of one of my colleagues to send this message due to my own account being blocked)

Best wishes,

Laura UtopiaCaled0nia (talk) 11:27, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@UtopiaCaled0nia and TrainingLaura: your TrainingLaura account is not blocked. First step, use that account. In the meantime I'll drop a note to the blocking admin. One lesson to take from this: If you're doing group editing, say so on your userpage. -- zzuuzz (talk) 11:48, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Laura. The administrator who blocked the TrainingLaura account is named Materialscientist. My guess is that there was either some form of behavioral evidence or technical evidence that led to your account being blocked. If you're still able to log in to the TrainingLaura account, you might be able to post an WP:UNBLOCK request at User talk:TrainingLaura. Finally, please don't use your colleague's account anymore to edit or post messages on Wikipedia (even to post another response here) because doing so is a violation of WP:SHAREDACCOUNT and runs the risk of getting your colleague's account blocked as well. Users aren't allowed to share accounts and accounts can be blocked when they appear to have been WP:COMPROMISED. The best way for you to seek further assistance is, once again, to log into your TrainingLaura account and post an unblock request on that account's user talk page. If you're unable to log in to that account or can log in but are unable to post on the account's user talk page, you should seek assistance via WP:UTRS. -- Marchjuly (talk) 12:04, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the prompt reply. At the time, allowing my colleague Laura to briefly use my login seemed a reasonable option to address the apparent account blocking issue, which extends to all persons attending that induction session. Point about allowable account usage fully taken on board for future reference however. My editing contributions are not extensive, being part of a part-time voluntary work programme for a Scottish academic body, and I was unaware of the nuances related thereto. Every day is a school day, however, and I consider myself duly cautioned. I will screenshot these posts and pass them to my colleague, Laura, for her information. Thank you for your attention.
UtopiaCaled0nia (talk) 15:07, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I have removed the "Expand Italian" template from the page dedicated to Michele Santoro because, in my opinion, the corresponding page in Italian contains too many references to gossip. Could you please check and, if necessary, reinsert the template? JackkBrown (talk) 12:33, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@JackkBrown: You have properly exercised your editorial judgement. This implicitly asks other editors to evaluate your decision: see WP:BRD. There is no need to ask here at the help desk. If you are unsure, you may choose to document your decision on the article's talk page to start the discussion even prior to another editor's revert. -Arch dude (talk) 17:12, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia can't generate automatic references from the IUCN redlist website[edit]

Hi all

I'm trying to generate several references from https://www.iucnredlist.org/ using the Automatic option in Cite, however it just doesn't seem to work. This seems unusual given the popularity of the site for species articles, can someone explain/guess at why this might be happening? Is it an issue with Wikipedia or is the site not providing information that the Cite tool needs?

Thanks

John Cummings (talk) 15:29, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know what you mean by the Automatic option in Cite but with the wikitext editor you can use {{make cite iucn}}. To do that, simply copy the citation from the IUCN species page and paste it into the {{make cite iucn}} template. For example, this is from the IUCN species page for Falco sparverius:
{{make cite iucn|BirdLife International. 2016. Falco sparverius. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22696395A93559037. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22696395A93559037.en. Accessed on 15 June 2023.}}
That produces a rendering that looks like this:
BirdLife International. (2016). "Falco sparverius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22696395A93559037. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22696395A93559037.en. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
AnomieBOT will then auto-subst {{make cite iucn}} to a matching {{cite iucn}} template; usually within an hour.
Maybe this also works somehow in visual editor; I don't know because I don't use that abomination of a tool.
Trappist the monk (talk) 16:31, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The "Automatic" option is a visual editor-only feature, I assume, which auto-fills out parameters if it can parse them. It's not great (misses a bunch of things, occasionally puts things in the wrong fields), but it's better than a bare URL when it can parse the needed parameters. Skarmory (talk • contribs) 21:00, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hi both, thanks for the replies, to be clear I'm not looking for an alternative to using the cite tool in visual editor, I'm trying to understand what specifically is going wrong and if the issue can be addressed. John Cummings (talk) 23:43, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Possible to get subject matter expert assistance in an AfD?[edit]

Hello, I've proposed an article for deletion but there seems to be a bit of an ouroboros of citations which result in the subject of the article being given undue weight. I think there would be real benefit in getting other people familiar with the specific field to weigh in beyond just myself, since this relates to the scholarly understanding of a specific topic (i.e. their entire theory is considered a fringe theory, but this is not apparent to the average reader, and it's so fringe that essentially nobody has mentioned it in serious publications in decades since it fell out of the mainstream) but I also have concerns about coming across as vote canvassing or meat-puppeting. Is there a standardized way to address when domain-specific knowledge is necessary/beneficial to evaluate an AfD? It's very, very hard to cite "this person is not taken seriously in the field" when they're taken so not-seriously that they're essentially never mentioned at all. It feels like a significant Catch 22. Warrenmck (talk) 17:18, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@Warrenmck Assuming this is about Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Allan R. Bomhard (3rd nomination). Have you considered WP:APPNOTEing in places like Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North America, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Linguistics and Wikipedia:Fringe theories/Noticeboard? "There is a project-related afd at X, your input is welcome." Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 17:43, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, I wasn't actually 100% sure if that was kosher, so I'm glad to know that's an option without it essentially being vote canvasing. Warrenmck (talk) 17:53, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
If the fringe theory is so fringe that no reliable sources mention it then I'm not sure why it belongs in the article at all. WPscatter t/c 18:22, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

dispute[edit]

charges $1588.00 SHOULD BE $15.00 HELP 2601:3CB:900:8520:D450:3868:C9F4:4C18 (talk) 17:46, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

If this is about a problem with your donation to the Wikimedia Foundation, then this web page may have the information you want. Wikipedia editors have no involvement in processing donations. Cullen328 (talk) 18:03, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I was reading through the archive when I noticed that a consensus was reached, yet it didn't seem marked in any way? Could someone please either provide an explanation or mark a consensus? Might be a little late, though Sincerely, Key of G Minor. Tools: (talk, contribs) 19:08, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]

There are lots of discussions that happen at the Village Pump. Can you clarify what you are asking for? There is already WP:CLEANSTART RudolfRed (talk) 00:12, 16 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
WP:CLEANSTART is not what the op was talking about. Cleanstart is for a new account, and they were talking about the same account. It looked like a consensus was reached of "forgive", but it wasn't marked in any way. I was wondering if there was a way to retroactively mark it. Sincerely, Key of G Minor. Tools: (talk, contribs) 19:45, 18 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]