Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2024 February 15

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February 15

Clarification about investigative journalism vs medical research

Hi, a major investigative piece was published about the Vipassana movement by the Financial Times (serially, concluding yesterday) and I have attempted to include a write-up of its contents on the Vipassana Movement page. This has been edited out, most recently, with the log line

We need independent academic secondary sources for claims of vipassana induced psychological or psychiatric effects. Also WP:UNDUE

Firstly, I can't see why a journalistic investigation of health effects by a major and respected UK newspaper would be "UNDUE". To my mind removing the section seems like trying to "hush up" the reporting. Arided (talk) 09:14, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

No, the issue is that medical claims are treated much more carefully on Wikipedia. See WP:MEDRS. Remsense诉 09:17, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

But it's not really a medical claim to say "The FT has published a piece of investigative journalism, interviewing 20+ people who claim to have had serious negative mental health consquences following Goenka-style retreats." This is a point of fact! Arided (talk) 09:43, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

The fact is that the FT published something. The problem of using this in a WP article is the claim to have had .... bit, which does not prove cause-and-effect. Mike Turnbull (talk) 09:51, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Personally, I feel it is worth knowing that people who didn't perceive themselves as having any major mental health problems did manifest significant health problems at a retreat. Indeed, the journalist says in her reporting that what really matters from her perspective is the response of the people in the organisation to the health effects that manifested while attendees were under their watch. Her reporting shows that this response was pretty thin. I could do a better job writing up that part, but would need to figure out how to present the basic material here in the first place. To reiterate, it's not a medical claim, and it's not a water-tight case for cause and effect. It's a report from which people are able to draw their own conclusions, but only if they find out about it and listen to it. Arided (talk) 10:09, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Two comments:

1. The content added by Arided is about the harm reportedly done by a type of religious retreat. There's nothing medical about this. I doubt that WP:MEDRS applies.
2. Four of the sources cited by Arided were written by the same journalist. This seems disproportionate.

Maproom (talk) 10:41, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

"a major investigative piece was published ... serially, concluding yesterday". Hardly disproportionate. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:50, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Change of last name

Hi. I'm interested in editing a last name on wiki to have the married name, then nee maiden name. How is this achieved?

Many thanks. 2404:4404:18A0:8001:4973:2586:E7C1:BA8F (talk) 00:43, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Hello. You need to provide a reference to a reliable published source that verifies the change of last name. Read Referencing for beginners. Cullen328 (talk) 01:43, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Image Resize

I just had just added an oversize image to my article. Could someone resize this because I don't know how. Thanks help desk! ⚒️★MinecraftPlayer★³²¹⚒️ Let's Chat! 03:00, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@MinecraftPlayer321: Fixed by [1]. Many infoboxes like Template:Infobox automobile#Image just want the file name and then sets the size automatically. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:12, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@PrimeHunterThanks! ⚒️★MinecraftPlayer★³²¹⚒️ Let's Chat! 19:31, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Are links to Spotify permitted as references?

I was looking at the new article Restlezz. I am not convinced the subject is notable, so I looked at the references. Many of them are links to their songs on Spotify. I am old, so I don't know anything about Spotify, but these links look as though they allow you to actually play the song, rather than providing any information about it. Can anybody who knows more about this area please advise whether these are acceptable references? Gronk Oz (talk) 03:58, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@gronk oz: they are not. ltbdl (talk) 06:06, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@Ltbdl: Thanks for that. Those links had been removed in the meantime anyway, but it is good to know the rules.--Gronk Oz (talk) 22:39, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Fair use and PD images in the same biography

Is it permitted to have a both a "Fair Use" image and a public domain image in the same biography? For example a PD image of the subject as a young man, and a Fair Use image of the subject as an older man? Muzilon (talk) 07:55, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@Muzilon In short, no. If there is a PD (or at least acceptably licensed, not exactly the same thing) image of a person, non-free can't be used. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 08:46, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Someone better take a look at Johnny Rebel (singer) then. Muzilon (talk) 08:48, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Annoying, but yes. But it's fairly clear, see "Replaceable?" at [2]. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:12, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Worst problem on Wikipedia ever

Looking at Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor {{Cite web}} shows "Retrieved" but {{Citation}} shows "retrieved". Please fix this because currently Wikipedia is literally unusable. Polygnotus (talk) 11:06, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Don’t you think that it might be a bit pretentious to call this the ‘worst problem on Wikipedia ever’? - delta (talk) 16:02, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@Anotherdelta: I am almost certain they were making a joke. Tollens (talk) 18:46, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

|mode=cs1 seems to fix this, and of course we can change the template from Citation to Cite web, but why the inconsistency? Polygnotus (talk) 11:11, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@Polygnotus: I've just swapped it to {{cite web}}. {{citation}} uses WP:Citation Style 2 by default, while cite web uses WP:Citation Style 1. There's really no meaningful reason I'm aware of to prefer one over the other (but CS1 is used way more often). As long as an article is consistent internally it's fine either way. Tollens (talk) 11:16, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@Tollens: Why not let these citation styles fight to the death, and use the survivor? What is the advantage of having 2? Polygnotus (talk) 11:19, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@Polygnotus: That's basically what happens with any competing standards, really! I'm sure eventually, only one will be left. Unless perhaps we're thinking more along the lines of gladiatorial combat, in which case CS1 would clearly defeat CS2 by hurling its terminal punctuation at it. Tollens (talk) 11:29, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

In response to your updated question: there is no benefit to having two. Like many things, unfortunately, it is just "that's what got made", and nobody has merged the two (because doing so would be a lot of work and make some people unhappy). Tollens (talk) 11:36, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Of course there will only be one standard eventually, just like left-hand drive cars and 60-cycle electricity. -Arch dude (talk) 20:24, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

How to change title page

How to change the tile page from Thitinart Na Pattalung to Ddnard na Patalung? Because she is now change her spelling name. Lakwilai (talk) 11:25, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Thitinart Na Pattalung has the option "Move". You can click on it, Lakwilai, and "move" it from the one title to the other. Incidentally, whatever its title, it's a terrible article, citing dubious looking sources. And I wonder: Why do your recent additions -- such as For 27 years, she has endured these challenges with remarkable grace, never once retaliating, explaining, or complaining. She remains silent in whatever she has been accused of. She still goes on doing her own meditation while helping others. Whoever needs her helps will always get helps. Gracefully, she stands firm and never compromised in her believes (completely unreferenced) -- seem to be written by a different person than the one who wrote Because she is now change her spelling name? -- Hoary (talk) 11:56, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

All your base are belong to us. MinorProphet (talk) 13:31, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Joining Wikipedia

Hi. I am a contribator to Wickipedia and would like to have direct access to the facilitity from my computor. How do I do this? Regards Derek John 31.52.202.24 (talk) 12:03, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Which facility, exactly? -- Hoary (talk) 12:19, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Hi Derek. To create an account, please visit Special:CreateAccount. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shantavira (talk • contribs)

If you mean an easier way to get to https://en.wikipedia.org then we may be able to help if you tell your operating system and browser, and how you currently get here. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:48, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Notifying an author who created a page on Wikipedia

Hello, I would like to request an article for speedy deletion using WP:A10. I know how to do the request, but I also want to notify the author. How do I notify the author? The Film Creator (talk) 14:43, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

I would recommend using WP:TWINKLE, which can automate the notification process. If you want to do it manually, each criterion has an associated notification template, like Template:Db-a10-notice. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 14:51, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

References of Sam Heughan

Why is all the Information under References NOT listed CHRONOLOGICALLY?? Makes no sense considering we lie in a computer aided age??? PITIFUL... 72.28.57.41 (talk) 15:28, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

References are in order of occurrence in the article text. This has been standard practice throughout the publishing industry for more than two centuries and was adopted by Wikipedia when it started 20 years ago, probably without much discussion. If you would like to start a discussion on this please do so on the appropriate discussion page (maybe Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style). It is beyond the scope of the help desk. -Arch dude (talk) 15:39, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Sam Heughan#References shows the reference text for inline citations. They are numbered and appear in the order they are used in the article where the number is also shown, and there are links both way. This system is much more practical than listing them chronologically and ignore where they are used. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:41, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Depending on the article in question, they may be listed in the order in which they appear in the text (through sequentially-numbered footnotes), alphabetically by author, or, indeed, chronologically. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:44, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Alphabetically by author tends to be when the references are mostly from books, and then the refs are really to the pages. George Washington a good example for that.Naraht (talk) 16:13, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

The reference system matters. Numbered inline citations are always in order of use as far as I know, also George Washington#References. That article uses a reference system where most of the numbered references have a link to another section George Washington#Bibliography which is alphabetical by author. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:48, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Page Removed

Wanting to recover my deleted page Basketball2024 (talk) 16:52, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

This will need to be more specific, because your user contributions are currently showing only two contributions.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 18:07, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

• Your user sandbox was deleted per WP:U5, which is misuse of Wikipedia as a web host.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 18:11, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

  How do I retreieve the material I wrote? Basketball2024 (talk) 19:52, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

  The message on your User Talk page tells you how to request that. ColinFine (talk) 19:54, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

What to do with split title

This has bothered me for a while. There was an article that was at the title of "List of Soviet and Russian [blank]", but was, per consensus, split into one article for both of those things. The old title currently points to the Soviet page, but I feel like this is misleading for a redirect (and I don't know what to categorize it as). I've run into this situation a few times. Any suggestions? PARAKANYAA (talk) 18:24, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@PARAKANYAA: Why is the name of the article secret? If you tell us, we can see what needs to be done. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 21:08, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Because IIRC I have run into this problem at least twice (though I forgot the name of the first one). The one that's currently bothering me is List of Soviet and Russian assassinations (i need to clean up and write a lead for both articles anyway) PARAKANYAA (talk) 21:11, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@PARAKANYAA: Fixed here. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 21:31, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Font change

Accessed Wikipedia today 15/2 to find that every single piece of text has had a horrible font change.

Is there any way to revert it personally or have the update undone. It’s not pleasant 81.168.75.73 (talk) 19:35, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Talk page font size - seems to be a mobile issue. 57.140.16.1 (talk) 21:26, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Incorrect thumbnail image displayed in search bar

Hi, I'm currently editing Murder of Brianna Ghey and I've noticed when I search for the article in Wikipedia's search bar, the image that shows up next to article is a map instead of the image of the victim. I think this happened because the infobox image was replaced a number of times a week ago.

Is this something that can be fixed, or do we just have to wait for it to update? — nullh1ve (talk) 19:50, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Nullh1ve, It happened because the free use image had an incorrect license and was deleted. There is no free use image of Ghey.

Images only show up in previews if they're free use, not fair use. PARAKANYAA (talk) 20:19, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for clearing that up! — nullh1ve (talk) 20:25, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

A small correction on terminology. "Previews" refers to what is displayed when hovering over a link. Non-free images are allowed in previews and File:Brianna Ghey.jpg is displayed for Murder of Brianna Ghey. The question was not about previews but images shown next to search results in mobile search. Non-free images are disallowed there so the next image File:Culcheth Linear Park Entrance.png is shown. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:37, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

my bad D: PARAKANYAA (talk) 21:40, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Maplink vs. Location map

Is there a policy or guideline for when to use {{Maplink}} and when to use {{Location map}} in infoboxes? Andumé (talk) 20:46, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

I'd like to know this too. I use locationmap when I have a choice because I really dislike how maplink looks, but is there a specific policy reason? PARAKANYAA (talk) 21:25, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

The Internet-related article's stub status: Inquiry on how to expand and improve it

Dear Wikipedia Team, I hope you are doing good. I recently came across the Wikipedia article titled "Semantic search" and I noticed that it currently holds a stub status, with the message prompting for expansion. I wanted to reach out to inquire about the process for expanding and updating this article. I have written a comprehensive and updated piece on the same topic, "Semantic Search and SEO in 2024" which I believe could greatly enhance the existing content on Wikipedia. My article covers recent developments and provides additional insights that I think would be valuable to include. Could you please provide guidance on how I can proceed to edit the article and present my updated content for consideration? I'm eager to contribute to the improvement of this article and ensure that Wikipedia users have access to accurate and relevant information on this topic. Thank you for your time and assistance. I look forward to your response. Best regards, ShanDigitalMarketing ShanDigitalMarketing (talk) 21:59, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Before you do anything else you will need to request a user name change as yours is not appropriate. Theroadislong (talk) 22:31, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Hello, SDM. The important thing to realise is that a Wikipedia article summarises what independent reliable sources say about a subject: nothing more. In particular, it should not contain any argumentation, synthesis, conclusions, or recommendations. In this is it different from most kinds of writing. I suspect (but I may be wrong) that your existing piece will not be suitable as it stands, but it may well be that the research you have done will provide a foundation for suitable writing.

If I'm wrong, and you think the piece is suitable as it stands, then there's the question of copyright. If the piece has not already been published, then there's no problem: it's yours, and you can license it in the way that Wikipedia requires, simply by editing it into the article. But if the piece has already been published, then it depends what copyright is claimed in the publication. You may need to formally grant a licence: see donating copyright materials.

The other thing, besides what Theroadislong says about user username (see CHU), you need to consider if you have a conflict of interest in writing on this topic. If you have, that does not prevent you from working on it, but you should probably not edit the article directly, but should propose your changes on the talk page. See edit request ColinFine (talk) 22:46, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

Place to ask for a map to be updated (map of US State Guards)

Hello, the article for US State Guards used to have a map at the top showing which states have an SG. It no longer does, and the former map was made in 2019 and did not include Florida which was since added.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:State_Defense_Force_Map_December_2019.png

Where can I ask for someone to change the color of Florida and possibly other changes? Thanks? TapTheForwardAssist (talk) 22:35, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@TapTheForwardAssist: The creator of the file has not been active on Commons since 2019. You may download the file in its largest version to your computer, modify it using a paint program (e.g., the GIMP), and upload your new version. -Arch dude (talk) 23:24, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

@TapTheForwardAssist: You can ask at Wikipedia:Graphics Lab/Map workshop. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 12:19, 16 February 2024 (UTC)