Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2017 July 1

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July 1[edit]

Help me[edit]

Hey i am zaid. I want help from you. I want to edit waqar zaka's Wikipedia there all written wrong information that i want to correct it. When we go to edit and click edit button then vandalism something came and nothing happens so i have a correct information about him and can edit right information so help me that i can edit. Thank you

The question was answered on the article's talk page. Ruslik_Zero 13:21, 1 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't see an answer, but I added one.--S Philbrick(Talk) 16:59, 1 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Kindle location instead of page numbers[edit]

I need a way of showing a Kindle location instead of a page number. Since the book will provide a number of references throughout the article, I really need something equivalent to the {{rp|page=23}}. Otherwise I am just stuck with including
|at=Kindle location 5111
in the full citation - but this will seriously unbalance the listed references for the article, as I have printed versions of all the other main sources where I can use the rp template. Just putting the chapter number in does not really help, as it is a really long chapter - but I might have to go with that if there is nothing else.ThoughtIdRetired (talk) 13:39, 1 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hi ThoughtIdRetired. Does a paper version of the book exist? If there is (and assuming you don't have access, which I think has to be the case since you wouldn't have asked this question if you did), then you can probably get the page numbers provided to you through a post to WP:RX. If it's only electronic, then this is another example of an ongoing problem that I know of no solution to. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 16:42, 1 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Hi ThoughtIdRetired. Occasionally the Google books version has enough of the book available to see the page number. Newer Kindle books often show page numbers (if the publisher has provided that information). Otherwise the kindle location is the best we can do. If the book has chapters add the chapter the reference is in to help pin it down for paper book readers. StarryGrandma (talk) 21:53, 1 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Commas in image file names[edit]

Is comma (',') a valid character in a Commons filename?

I am having problems with several images recently uploaded to Commons by Jason.nlw, and I suspect that these are caused by commas in the file names. Jason.nlw has uploaded about 500 jpg images of album covers which have recently been released by a record company, for example c:File:Bois y Fro, album cover.jpg.

The problem I am getting is that when I add one of these images to an article it is not displayed, I get a white rectangle with a picture icon in the corner. Dennis O'Neill (tenor) is an example.

I have made a page at User:Verbcatcher/comma that includes all the album covers that Jason.nlw recently uploaded. With the latest Chrome browser on two computers almost all of the images whose file names contain commas do not display. All the images without commas display correctly.

After some investigation I am attributing this to an incompatibility between the latest Chrome browser for Windows 10 and Wikipedia pages that contain images with a comma in the file name. The images display correctly on Commons. An older version of Chrome works, and the Microsoft Edge and IE browsers work. I have tried clearing Chrome's cached images, cookies and browsing history.

Is there a known problem with commas in file names? c:Commons:File renaming does not specify any invalid characters in file names, although c:Template:Rename says that '/' is invalid.

When I display Dennis O'Neill (tenor), my Chrome console shows the following error:

Dennis_O'Neill_(tenor):48 GET https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Caro_Mio_Ben%2C_album_cover.jpg/220px-Caro_Mio_Ben%2C_album_cover.jpg net::ERR_RESPONSE_HEADERS_MULTIPLE_CONTENT_DISPOSITION

I searched for the error on the web. A contributor on this page commented "I have also found that comma in the filename will give that error (in Chrome only)." Another user responded that the issue could be resolved if you "quote the filename". This suggests a problem with the code generated by Wikipedia that should be raised with Wikipedia software engineering. What is the procedure for this? Verbcatcher (talk) 23:18, 1 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I just checked with Chrome Version 59.0.3071.115 (Official Build) (64-bit) on Windows 10 and there is not a problem with User:Verbcatcher/comma or Dennis O'Neill (tenor). You might want to take this to Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) and see if they can help. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 07:38, 2 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Hello everyone. Please ping me of this problem persists and i will try and arrange for the file names to be changed, as we obviously want people to be able to make the most of this new content. Cheers Jason.nlw (talk) 09:04, 3 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
@CambridgeBayWeather: Thanks for checking. I am using the same software versions as you. The problem has now gone away on both the computers where I observed it. However, I was not imagining the problem. I saved the non-working generated html for Dennis O'Neill (tenor): comparing this with today's working version, the comma in the jpg file name is now converted to %2C (the ASCII hex code for a comma). This change could be caused by a new release of Wikipedia systems software. I will watch for the problem reoccurring and raise it on Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) if I see it again. My motivation is to help fix problems in Wikipedia software, not my personal convenience. Thanks for your help.
@Jason.nlw:, as I have said, the problem has gone away, but I suspect that it could reappear. I suggest you do nothing about changing the existing file names, at least for now, but it may be a good idea to avoid commas in future file names. Thanks, Verbcatcher (talk) 21:51, 3 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Writing and editing in Wikipedia[edit]

I am a novice at creating on this site, but have used it a great deal for reference. I can not understand how to navigate to where I need to be to create an entry, or to edit other people's entries as needed. I am a retired English Professor, and enjoy editing, so can you steer me to where I can do some good? Directions in very non-computerese, please. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jjobe18 (talkcontribs) 23:24, 1 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Jjobe18, and welcome to Wikipedia. I hope you´ll like it, it´s a very special place. I suggest you start with Help:Editing. Keep asking questions if you have them, in general I would recommend at Wikipedia:Teahouse, which focus on helping new editors. Happy editing! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 17:52, 2 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, Jjobel8. I have just put some links on your user talk page which I hope will be helpful. One point I would make: writing for Wikipedia is very different from most other kinds of writing, including most academic writing. For example, a Wikipedia article should never contain any argumentation or conclusions, unless it is summarising the argument or conclusions of a single cited source; if there are inconsistencies in the sources, it may point this out, but should never attempt to resolve them; it should not address the reader, or refer to the writer (even as "we"). Having said that, editors with expertise are always welcome to help us improve our articles, as long as they remember that their expertise does not automatically give them or their edits priority over other editors. --ColinFine (talk) 18:03, 2 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Jjobe18. That's just how I felt when I started editing. There is so much detail to it. There is now a welcome to your talk page with a lot of blue links to click. Also click on blue links in this message. I know this all sounds complicated, but once you get into it you will find it gets much easier.
Wikipedia articles have a standard layout. Wikipedia:Writing better articles has a good section and shows how to create headings. Don't leave spaces at the beginning of the line. The Visual Editor makes it easy to create headings and subheadings. What order sections should go in is at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout. (I put a cheat sheet for myself at User:StarryGrandma/Samples).
Everything added these days has to have references (sources). But its fine to copyedit sections that aren't referenced yet. I've been doing references for five years and I still find it complicated. Using the simplest methods is fine. See Help:Referencing for beginners. What you know about a subject is very helpful for editing, but everything you add must be verifiable, that is has been published elsewhere first in a reliable source.
Please don't be taken aback by all this and keep editing. StarryGrandma (talk) 19:15, 2 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]