Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2016 February 9

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February 9[edit]

Include a self-updating category in another page[edit]

I hope this is the right place for general wikimarkup questions, sorry if it isn't- I used to edit other wikis a lot and I swear there was a way to take the self-updating list of all the pages in a category that you'd actually find on the relevant Category: page, and include (transclude?) it in another main-namespace page as a template or similar. I can't figure out at all how to do it, though. Am I remembering wrong? -Skaramuche (talk) 00:43, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Skaramuche, I think you're looking for {{Category tree}}. -- Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 19:56, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Watch List Question[edit]

In the course of reviewing articles for AFC, I have added a very large number of pages to my watchlist, most of which I have no continuing need for, such as users who submitted drafts and the drafts themselves. I spent considerable time marking pages on the watchlist for unwatching, and then unwatched them. However, what I would really like is a way to mark all of the pages of a given type (e.g., user pages), and then unmark only those that I want to unmark and so keep. Is there a way that I can mark all user pages or all draft pages, and then unmark them selectively, rather than marking them selectively? Robert McClenon (talk) 01:03, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The simplest way is to click the link at the top of the watchlist that says "View and Edit Watchlist". This will display all the pages arranged in groups by space: Mainspace, User space, etc. You can then examine and uncheck the ones you want to remove. DGG ( talk ) 01:45, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Robert McClenon: "View and Edit Watchlist" supports shift-click to tick a range of boxes in one go. So you can click the first of the drafts, scroll to the end of the drafts, shift-click the last one to tick them all, and then go back to untick the ones you want to keep. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:05, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Shift-click was the answer. I knew about clicking. Robert McClenon (talk) 16:14, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Fate of Drafts and Draft Redirects[edit]

Related to the above question is a question about drafts in general and draft redirects in particular. Some of the large number of drafts were redlinks, and some were in italics. I know that the drafts listed in italics are redirects, typically to the article after it was promoted to article space, or possibly to a different name. Am I correct that these redirects will stay in Wikipedia indefinitely unless the article creator tags the draft redirect for speedy deletion, although that a bot fixes double redirects? Also, some of the drafts were redlinked. Presumably the draft existed when I (without a conscious action) watchlisted it, possibly by moving it or adding a decline template to it. Am I correct that draft redlinks have had either of two fates? Either the draft has since been deleted (whether speedily or by MFD), or the draft has been promoted to article space and its creator requested speedy deletion of the redirect from draft space to mainspace? It does appear that many drafts last a very long time and are commonly abandoned, and may be tagged as abandoned drafts, but I also see that a few editors have rescued abandoned drafts from speedy deletion by a third-party removal of the speedy template. (I guess some editors think that drafts should be preserved just in case.) Robert McClenon (talk)

Please see this link to the article: Rola (model) The details of the problems that I list below can be found in the link above.

According to Wikipedia’s policy of biographies of living persons, the paragraph addressing Rola’s Father’s Arrest violates the policy above and “must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page” for the following reasons:

1. It includes “contentious material about living persons” 2. The information is “potentially libelous” 3. The sources and citations for numbers 13, 14 and 17 are invalid. The link to the webpages do not work. 4. It does not adhere to the policy of “Biographies of living persons must be written conservatively and with regard for the subject's privacy.” 5. I would also like to raise the point that this information has the “possibility of being harm(ful) to (living subjects) (and this) must (always) be considered when exercising editorial judgment.” 6. Because Rola is a public figure, there is a lot of information out there to include about her, but this incident about her father’s arrest is not relevant to her career and/or to her celebrity persona. In fact, her father’s arrest has nothing to do with her talent or what she is famous for.

This material about Rola’s Father’s Arrest has been repeatedly inserted back in, after numerous efforts of trying to delete the information, resulting in the page becoming semi-protected and unable to edit. Therefore, I have no choice but to report the issue. Please help to permanently remove this information from Wikipedia. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Libera2016 (talkcontribs) 07:01, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Libera2016: This request has already been posted at the appropriate forum ==> Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard, which is watchlisted by experienced editors. Please do not post threads in several forums at once. Thank you for your consideration. GermanJoe (talk) 08:42, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Two additional points are in order. Posting the same issue at multiple noticeboards is considered forum shopping and annoys the regulars. Second, it has been pointed out at WP:BLPN that the Original Poster appears to be the modeling agency for Rola (model), and so has a conflict of interest. Robert McClenon (talk) 17:42, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Structure and Template not working[edit]

Hi, good day, I am trying to create a Biography from scratch and the formatting I am having difficulty in. Here is an example of what I am trying to achieve, for the bio I want to create, Bruce Lee The old code I was using is {{subst:Member Bio Template}} and it was not working. Please guide me as soonest and thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kezel3 (talkcontribs) 12:25, 9 February 2016‎ (UTC)[reply]

@Kezel3: - Firstly, please "sign" your posts by putting a series of four tildes "~~~~" at the end, so we can keep track of who said what. Which article are you trying to edit? Your only other edit (apart from asking this question) was to the article Jack Warner (football executive). I can't find a template named like the one you tried, and there is no mention of anything like it at Wikipedia:WikiProject Biography - where did you come across it, and what is it supposed to do? The article you quoted on Bruce Lee does not use anything similar, so I am not sure what you're trying to do with that code... please expand.--Gronk Oz (talk) 12:48, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
googling "Member Bio Template" site:wikipedia.org gives me two (deleted) results: Quedow qrowns and Sunil Mahour. --Edgars2007 (talk/contribs) 13:34, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
...both non-existing. --CiaPan (talk) 13:54, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

German template for "citation needed"[edit]

Does anyone know the template on German Wikipedia for {{CN}}? Please ping me when you respond. --Jax 0677 (talk) 14:27, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Jax 0677: I think, they don't have such. This page explains, that they have deleted it several times for various reasons, as far as I can tell from Google translate. --Edgars2007 (talk/contribs) 14:46, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, German Wikipedia has decided by a vote that they won't use such a template for unsourced page content. Hence no such template exists there.Jo-Jo Eumerus (talk, contributions) 14:49, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Jax 0677: The German guideline page linked above recommends using this page-level template [1], which appears to be functionally equivalent to Template:Refimprove_section and can be used at the head of a page or a section.-- Elmidae (talk) 11:27, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Administrative feedback requested[edit]

Hello. Although I am familiar to editing Wikipedia, I am not an administrator. However, recently I have come across a few biographies of living persons in a certain category (while editing another biography) that seriously raised a red flag as to their inclusion on Wikipedia. I have stated my reasons on the subject's talk page and placed a deletion tag for discussion at the head of the article itself. Wondering if another editor in an administrative capacity could take a look at the notability of the subjects: [2] and [3]. Neither meet the requirements for Notable people under the entertainment (music) guidelines on musicians, composers, groups, etc. The occupation on one does not even coincide with the subject. Thank you. maineartists(talk to me) 10:22, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Hi maineartists - You did the correct thing by taking the articles to AfD! An administrator then is likely not needed, unless the page is a serious attack page, or very serious violation of the BLP policy. In this case, both pages seem okay, just maybe not noteworthy enough. In which case, AfD was the right place to take it! --allthefoxes (Talk) 15:54, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
It looks as if you didn't complete all the stages of the AFD submission, see WP:AFDHOW. --David Biddulph (talk) 17:24, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The first article has been properly nominated. The second has not been nominated. Do you have Twinkle? It greatly simplifies some functions including AFD. Robert McClenon (talk) 17:38, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Robert McClenon: You say that the first article has been properly nominated. Shouldn't it be listed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2016 February 8, and shouldn't Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tom Brier include the header information that is produced by the {{afd2}} template as shown at step II. of WP:AFDHOW?
I added the header for the first nomination, and a bot logged it. —teb728 t c 21:56, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you teb728 and allthefoxes. Dear Robert McClenon, I did not nominate the second because 1) I did not know if my initial steps for the first were correct (which I see now they were not) and 2) I did not want to appear to be hastily tagging articles for deletion. In regards to Twinkle, I worry as to how that action is perceived on Wikipedia; especially since there is no warrant in these cases of vandalism or unconstructive edits. Thanks all for your help! --Maineartists (talk) 7:04, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
One of the features of Twinkle is that it automates the completion of AFD and CSD nominations. This is not the same as using Twinkle to warn vandals or report vandals. Also, nominating two articles for deletion is not perceived as mass-tagging of articles for deletion. There are a few editors who mass-tag articles for deletion. You are not anywhere close to being one of them. If you see any more articles that you think don't pass notability, go ahead and use Twinkle to automate their AFD. Robert McClenon (talk) 00:42, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Special thanks, Robert McClenon! I am clearly still learning new things every day thanks to editors like yourself. I appreciate your help and attention. --Maineartists (talk) 8:22, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error ref no input[edit]

How do I clear this error message and add two products?

Assuming you are referring to List of backup software you have misplaced the ref tags as shown here. Remove them, and if you have content to add place it correctly and add appropriate references. Eagleash (talk) 18:03, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Please also sign your posts on talk-pages by typing four tildes (~~~~). Thanks. Eagleash (talk) 18:13, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]


Getting approval to use images in reports[edit]

Hello-

I am currently working on a Virtual Reality report and would like to use this image: Six degrees of freedom for the note.

Could I please have written permission for this?

Thank you,

Reagan

The image is hosted at commons and appears to be in the public domain according to the licence. Eagleash (talk) 18:13, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Just to be completely clear, as it is a public domain image you do not need permission to use it, it's completely free. It is available in a variety of sizes at File:6DOF_en.jpg. -- Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 20:08, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, Reagan. There is no need for permission to use an image that you know is in the public domain. However, you are apparently writing a report, so you should do two things:

  • State that the image is in the public domain. This is not strictly required but it is good practice, because there are other usable images are copyrighted with a licence that permits them to be copied, and for those you do need to say what the license is.
  • Attribute the image. That is, state exactly where you got it and acknowledge the original creator. You need to do this for anything you copy into a report, to avoid the very serious academic infraction of plagiarism. If your report is not for school, you should do this anyway because it's the right thing to do.

You can do both at once with a brief footnote like this:

 *Image six degrees of freedom. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Horia Ionescu at English Wikipedia.  retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:6DOF_en.jpg .

Problems with editing Wikidata[edit]

I'm not sure whether this is the right place to ask, but I couldn't find any help desk on Wikidata so far.

I have found that when I click on "Edit links" in the "Languages" section on the left menu of a Wikipedia article and am taken into Wikidata, clicking the "Edit" button on the "Wikipedia" section doesn't provide me with a helpful interface that automatically completes entries for me as I type. Rather, I am expected to know the arcane Wikidata syntax from memory. Usually, when I go back to the Wikidata page and refresh the page in my browser, I get the helpful automatic interface.

Is this a problem with Wikidata or my browser? How am I supposed to edit Wikidata without the helpful automatic interface anyway? Is anyone else having this problem?

And is there any help desk on Wikidata itself I could ask this question in? JIP | Talk 19:58, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

JIP, I can't help with the underlying problem, but I can assure you that d:Wikidata:Project chat is a good place to request help. Nyttend (talk) 13:26, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Problem with e-mail[edit]

Hello. I have an issue when I try to sent e-mails through my wikipedia e-mail. The message that I get is: «Your registered email address ***@***.com has been unsubscribed due to multiple message delivery failures. You can verify your email address again.» Unfortunately the technicians in el.wikipedia.org don' t help me. I can receive e-mails but I can't sent e-mails. Even when I confirm my e-mail address, the problem isn't solved even temperately. I've changed my e-mail address but nothing happened. Could you please help me? Thank you --Ανώνυμος Βικιπαιδιστής 20:12, 9 February 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ανώνυμος Βικιπαιδιστής (talkcontribs) 20:12, 9 February 2016‎ (UTC)[reply]

Is your problem related to sending emails from the Greek Wkipedia, or from here at the English Wikipedia? If the former, it is unlikely that anyone here will be able to solve your problem. --David Biddulph (talk) 22:29, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you David Biddulph for your answer. I have problem with both, Greek and English Wikipedia. --Ανώνυμος Βικιπαιδιστής (talk) 07:44, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Image problem[edit]

I have prepared an article in my sandbox for review and hopefully posting, but I have not been able to upload the photos and graphics to accompany the article. I am logged in and have had my account for a number of months. However I get an error message when I've filled out the necessary fields in the Media upload dialog box. Please advise.

William O'Daly (Wodaly) Wodaly (talk) 21:30, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

You may not be able to upload images until your account is autoconfirmed. - David Biddulph (talk) 21:35, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
To confirm, you need 10 edits and your account to be at least 4 days old to become autoconfirmed. Joseph2302 (talk) 21:38, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Wodaly: Are you at en.wikipedia.org or commons.wikimedia.org when you get the error message? What does it say? PrimeHunter (talk) 21:59, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

White Pride article page[edit]

I have just been shown this article on Facebook and was just a little upset, I am an ex soldier, served my country and crown and would have given life doing so if it had needed be. What I do find very 'Racist' and very upsetting and disturbing is that your article 'White Pride' implies that being white and proud to be white is to be racist, now even though I was brought up in a semi strict religious background does NOT make me religious, being baptised as a baby and not having a choice does NOT make me religious so being born white to white parents does 100% NOT make me a racist or a white supremacist, I would like this article to either be removed or reworded so that it does not imply that being white makes you racist or a supremacist in any way or form. Thank you, Stephen [details removed] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.106.95.241 (talk) 23:16, 9 February 2016

The article White pride says the term is sometimes used in a racist way and sometimes not, and also makes the same point you do that is not racist. We have no control over what Facebook shows you. RudolfRed (talk) 23:35, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict)The Wikipedia article White pride does not imply that to be white is to be racist. It does state that some white people are racist. I agree it could do more to make it clear that those people are a bunch of prats, rather than just hinting at this by using a picture in which two of them have had their faces pixellated out. However, Wikipedia's duty is to describe things as they are, rather than as we would like them to be. It also has articles on Mexican drug gangs, but it does not support their activities. Maproom (talk) 23:40, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]