User talk:Mike Peel/Archive 17

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Wikidata weekly summary #203

Wikidata weekly summary #204

This Month in GLAM: March 2016





Headlines

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The Signpost: 14 April 2016

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Wikidata weekly summary #205

Disambiguation link notification for April 23

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The Signpost: 24 April 2016

Wikidata weekly summary #206

Question about using Wikidata

Hi, I've noticed you've done some work on using wikidata in infoboxes. I wanted to ask your opinion on using quantity datatypes. I've noticed that the unit generally comes out singular rather than plural (e.g. 1000 foot instead of 1000 feet). Also is there a good way to feed the quantity through {{convert}} to get it displayed in metres as well? Thanks — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 10:01, 25 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi @MSGJ:. I'm away at the moment, so I can only reply briefly. This is something I want to look into in more detail, at the moment I haven't seen a way to put it through convert, but it should be possible - you just need to be able to fetch the number and the unit separately. @RexxS: might be able to help more with the implementation here.
There's the added problem with units in that Wikidata currently assumes an uncertainty in the last significant figure, which isn't always right (e.g. see South Pole Telescope, where a diameter of 10 +- 0.1m is given, but I'm sure that the diameter is much more accurate than that in reality - we should just be saying 10m there). However, as an initial step in using wikidata for numbers with units, it seems to be OK to me - and hopefully things will get better over the course of the year. :-) Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 17:27, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
Martin, The call to getRawValue(PropertyID) will return the raw numeric value, with the presumed precision (like 10.0). I've written a call (getUnits(PropertyID)) at line 636 in Module:Wikidata/sandbox to crudely fetch the units (I think).
Try pasting:
  • {{convert|{{#invoke:Wikidata|getRawValue|P2386|FETCH_WIKIDATA}}|{{#invoke:Wikidata/sandbox|getUnits|P2386|FETCH_WIKIDATA}}}
  • {{convert|{{#invoke:Wikidata|getRawValue|P2386|FETCH_WIKIDATA}}|{{#invoke:Wikidata/sandbox|getUnits|P2386|FETCH_WIKIDATA}}}}
into South Pole Telescope #See also and previewing it.
It needs a lot more testing and probably some refining, but once we can get a usable version, we can copy it into the main Module:Wikidata without disturbing what's already there. See what you think. --RexxS (talk) 20:30, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
@RexxS: you're missing a closing bracket in the code sample, but this seems work very well - nice work. :-) It would definitely be a good feature to add to module wikidata. Although, it may need some liaising between Wikidata (maybe with @Lydia Pintscher (WMDE)'s help) and {{convert}}-coders to make sure that all units are supported, e.g. try this one in the SPT article:
  • {{convert|{{#invoke:Wikidata|getRawValue|P2046|FETCH_WIKIDATA}}|{{#invoke:Wikidata/sandbox|getUnits|P2046|FETCH_WIKIDATA}}}}
Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 21:51, 25 April 2016 (UTC)
Sorry about the bracket, Mike. The problem with the units, of course, will always be that there are divers ways of writing units. Wikidata exports one format, like "square metre" and {{convert}} expects another, like "m2" or "sqm", but doesn't understand "square metre" or even "sq m" (which I expected it to). I could write a lookup table in the module to take the Wikidata format and return the format that {convert} expects, but I think that first I'd rather explore the possibility of convincing the maintainers of {convert} to accept more natural unit formats such as those that Wikidata exports. --RexxS (talk) 01:38, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

I'm glad this has generated some interest. I agree that code would be a good addition to Module:Wikidata, and it would be ideal if {{convert}} accepted the unit that wikidata exported. Before I post on Template talk:Convert about this, clarify one thing for me: if someone changed the label of square metre (Q25343), would that potentially disrupt all articles using this unit, or could the lookup be based on the item number? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:05, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

I just asked the question at Template talk:Convert #Interoperability with Wikidata before coming here where I saw your question, Martin. Sorry if I've jumped the gun. The formatting of the unit name is performed by a call to the Wikibase API, whose only documentation that I can find is at mw:Extension:Wikibase Client/Lua #mw.wikibase.entity:formatPropertyValues. That was changed not so long ago to give us the actual unit name, rather than the link to the unit page that is stored in Wikidata. Consequently, I can't be sure that the call is making use of the label on the page for the unit (because the conversion is performed in the API, not in our Module) - although I'd be surprised if it didn't use the label for internationalisation reasons.
I can see your concern: any vandal on Wikidata could cause multiple problems here that will not be obvious as to the source. But that's going to be the case every time we fetch information from Wikidata, although the scale could be far worse. My solution would be to protect some Wikidata pages like d:Q25343 (square metre). I can't see any point in having something so fundamental being editable by any drive-by IP vandal. In any case, the disruption here would be limited to seeing something like Area 78.5 square leg[convert: unknown unit], which wouldn't be too difficult to track down for anyone who had seen it before. --RexxS (talk) 09:42, 26 April 2016 (UTC)
I don't think using the label is ever going to fly, and not just for reasons related to vandalism. What about gallon (Scots) (Q5519125), gallon (US) (Q23925413), gallon (UK) (Q23925410), beer gallon (Q23925527) or even dry gallon (Q5309589)? All different units, but all could feasibly and in good faith be called just "gallon". Change their labels, you may say, but there are probably articles where the context is clear and you wouldn't want to keep using "US gallon" or "imperial gallon". I think we need to use the item number (if possible) and then use a lookup to convert that into what {{convert}} is expecting. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:42, 26 April 2016 (UTC)
Can I suggest that this discussion is moved to Module talk:Wikidata? I think it's something that will be of general interest there, and the discussion's already going beyond that which should take place on a user talk page. ;-) Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 12:34, 26 April 2016 (UTC)
 Done — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 12:47, 26 April 2016 (UTC)

The Signpost: 2 May 2016

Wikidata weekly summary #207

Ashley van Haeften

Hello, Are you administrator on this Wikipedia also or only Commons. I would like you to unlock article on BLP "Ashley van Haeften" former Chair of Wikimedia UK. My draft article is here. Mohsinpathania (talk) 18:31, 5 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Mohsinpathania: As I was personally involved in this, I'm not going anywhere near it. Please try Wikipedia:Articles for creation or Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 14:25, 6 May 2016 (UTC)

...has also passed GA now...any ideas on content missed or underrepresented please let me know....Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 05:46, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #208

The West Country Challenge

Hi, Are you going to join in at: Wikipedia:WikiProject England/The West Country Challenge. I'd particularly appreciate your help with getting the right things included in the core articles & missing articles lists at this stage as we are still preparing for the contest.— Rod talk 21:21, 7 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Rodw: thanks for the ping. I'll try to contribute if I can - I've got several big things on at the moment, so it will depend on how much free time I find myself with over the next few months. I think I'll be visiting Bath and area for a weekend at the end of this month, though - let me know if there are any particularly high-value targets in that area that we need photos of and I'll see if I can stop by them with my camera. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 18:21, 9 May 2016 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: April 2016





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Wikidata weekly summary #209

The Signpost: 17 May 2016

Robin Marshall

I saw you edited the list of professors in School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester. Looking down that list surely Robin Marshall is emeritus now? I wonder if there are other corrections? Billlion (talk) 08:26, 18 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Billlion: I'm not sure about Robin Marshall, but there are various updates that are probably needed to that list - e.g., both Rod Davies and Richard Davis have passed away; Ian Browne and Peter Wilkinson are both emeritus; 'Ralph Spender' is misspelt (should be 'Spencer'); and new professors (such as my boss, Clive Dickinson) aren't listed. The best reference here is probably the staff list - I don't want to edit the list myself for COI reasons, though, beyond adding the wikilink... Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 17:11, 18 May 2016 (UTC)
I looked at that list and it wasn't up to date either. These things used to be in a publication called the University Calendar.Wonder if that still exists.Billlion (talk) 21:23, 18 May 2016 (UTC)
@Billlion: There is the staff directory at directory.manchester.ac.uk - but I think the staff list on the physics website (and others) is drawn from that nowadays. I checked yesterday, and apparently Robin is now emeritus. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 16:54, 21 May 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata based infobox

Hello Mike! Hope you're doing well. You once shared a Wikipedia article about a telescope or observatory on Facebook, which used an infobox that used data directly from Wikidata (the infobox essentially used nothing saved on the article itself). Do you remember that article? I am looking for it to study how exactly it works, with the hopes of applying it elsewhere. Best regards, Rehman 02:00, 21 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Rehman: The infobox template I've been working on is {{Infobox telescope}}, and the canonical example I use for it in action is South Pole Telescope. It runs using Module:Wikidata. Let me know if you have any questions about how it works - I'd be very happy to see this approach being used more widely. :-) Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 16:50, 21 May 2016 (UTC)
Thank you! Yes, I hope so too. Cheers, Rehman 13:55, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for May 23

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Wikidata weekly summary #210