Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2018 August 1

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August 1

Creating Wikipedia pages for a client

Hi our account username is wer1sg. We would like to enquire about the progress of the review of 2 wikipedia pages which we contributed for our client on the 3rd of July. The links are below: 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Tutorial/Citing_sources/sandbox&oldid=848611065 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Tutorial/Citing_sources/sandbox&oldid=848610883

We would greatly appreciate if you could inform us of the estimated waiting time for the articles to be reviewed as our client is following up. Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by wer1sg (talk • contribs) 03:34, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I hope that you have given your client his money back, as anybody unwisely paying someone to edit our free encyclopedia might reasonably hope for some competence in exchange for the payment. Your edits were to a sandbox page which clearly states (in the box at the top) "Content will not stay permanently; this page is automatically cleaned every four hours." If you were to continue to try to edit for payment, you would need to read the guidance at WP:conflict of interest and the mandatory requirement regarding paid editing. --David Biddulph (talk) 03:46, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

What is this symbol?

Sometimes when editing using the visual editor I see a carriage return symbol in the text. What is this and should I delete it? Popcornduff (talk) 03:41, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

@Popcornduff: It means that the wikitext contains a single line break which the software ignores (only double linebreaks are recognized, cf. Help:Line-break handling). As such, the VE indicates the existence of such single linebreaks to allow you to determine whether the text was supposed to be broken into a new paragraph here. If not, just remove the symbol to remove the linebreak. Regards SoWhy 12:32, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Got it. Thanks! I've wondered that for years. Popcornduff (talk) 12:37, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Help me writing Link

Hey Wiki I dont know how to provide link in references for a particular news. help me to slove this.i faced the problem when i providede reference link for the proper news.help me please {{subst:xlink|05:05, 1 August 2018‎ Jyothu}}

Try Help:Referencing for beginners. --David Biddulph (talk) 09:22, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

twitter

I find Wikipedia to be one of the least useful websites ever. For example I'm trying to figure out how to contact you and you contact page tells me I can but not how. How do I share a link on Twitter? There's no share button or anything else close I can find. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gregdgriffin (talk • contribs) 12:16, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Hi Gregdgriffin and welcome. You are not the first person to wonder about this. As you can see on Wikipedia:Perennial proposals#Share pages on Facebook, Twitter etc., this has been discussed multiple times in the past. The entry also includes a list of reasons why this was previously rejected, e.g. because we would have to choose which sites to include which is incompatible with remaining neutral and those sites require the addition of code we don't want to have. If you want to share an article, just copy the link from the address bar and paste it into Twitter. Regards SoWhy 12:28, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Gregdgriffin, depending on what browser you use, you may be able to install an add-on which will add a "tweet this page" option when you right click any web page. --NeilN ^{talk to me} 13:50, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I want to add my name as an Syrian oil painter

Hi, I would like to add my name as syrian artist who reside in USA. my name is Jala Kallas website www.jalakallas.com — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jalakallas (talk • contribs) 13:30, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Hello Jalakallas, and welcome to the English Wikipedia. I have posted a genuine welcome message on your user talk page. Wikipedia is trying to be an encyclopædia. Please do not try to use it for promotional purposes. Anything we can do to get you started with normal editing, don't hesitate to ask here or at the WP:TEAHOUSE. Thanks, Sam Sailor 13:43, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Hello, Jalakallas. In addition to what Sam Sailor posted above, please also read our policy about autobiographies. Thanks! LittlePuppers (talk) 15:00, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Vandalism in search results

Please see results for "Jack Benny". How do I report thus? 72.94.18.189 (talk) 15:17, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I'm not seeing anything odd in the search results. What are you seeing? Deor (talk) 15:58, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I am using the mobile version and see a list of files with supplementary information when I enter "Jack Benny" as the search argument. This information in the top entry should read something like "American comedian". It is now a collection of social media information ending in 'Kuwait'.72.94.18.189 (talk) 16:12, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

There was vandalism at Wikidata, which I have fixed. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:17, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

The search problem was resolved, but the vandalism is still evident when Jack Benny is listed as a related article (for example at the bottom of The Jack Benny Program). Possibly a synchronization problem.72.94.18.189 (talk) 20:26, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I don't see the vandalism at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jack_Benny_Program so I guess it was cleared with a delay. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:56, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Video file

I asked this question last night but it disappeared:

I uploaded a video to Foucault pendulum - it was the second image on the right, to the right of the table of contents. Go back in the article's history - the file has been temporarily deleted because of this problem. It works if you click on the right arrow/start. But is there a way to have it show a still shot of the video? i read Help:Creation and usage of media files about showing a thumbnail, and I thought it was supposed to do it automatically. I don't know what is wrong. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 15:20, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I put a copy of it here. Why doesn't it display properly? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 23:28, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

The problem seems to be because it was an MP4 instead of WebM. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 01:01, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

first edit

I just created a first edit for an article under my own username/sandbox (what does this signify?). Simply, I wanted to add a bit to an article on the movie Triple Agent which has as its source a short story by V. Nabokov. This origin goes unmentioned in the article. This needs confirmation, but I am almost certain that the two narratives are one conception.Jungastein (talk) 16:14, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

@Jungastein: Your sandbox is where you can test edits or draft articles. To make a change to the article, you have to actually edit the article itself or at least make an edit request on the article's talk page (which would be Talk:Triple Agent).

However, there is the issue that we do not rely on editor certainty or original research. New information needs to cite professionally-published mainstream academic or journalistic sources. Ian.thomson (talk) 16:39, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

WIKI help in creating a new WIKI Page

Can you guide me to any WIKI help pages that provide helpful hints if one wants to create a new WIKI page about a person, not currently in WIKI? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Grizzlycreekflyfisher (talk • contribs)

See this guide to creating your first article. If the person is living also see our policies about biographies of living persons, and if you know the person or might be biased about them, see our page about conflicts of interest. LittlePuppers (talk) 17:31, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

• Grizzlycreekflyfisher, before you go to a lot of work, please read and understand our notability policy (WP:N). If the subject (person) is not notable by our definition, not yours, then you article (wiki page) will be deleted, no matter how good it is in every other way. -Arch dude (talk) 02:08, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

Could it be that the cancer is in remission?

I need help updating WP:CANCER with the numbers from Wikimedia Foundation#Financial summary.

I can fix the table (and looking at the numbers, I need to change my overall conclusion as well), but I don't have the skills to update the chart at File:Wikimedia Foundation financial development multilanguage.svg. Can someone please help? --Guy Macon (talk) 17:51, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Pinging Sameboat... LittlePuppers (talk) 18:10, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Deleted page/article

Hello

A biography page was deleted of a TV celebrity Lori Allen on March 2018 by user LANKIVEIL, who is shown as deceased when user name is clicked.

This page was created under my commission and is not a form of advertising but information on the biography of Lori Allen.

I do not have the original url. The page adhered to the guidlines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons

How can this page be un-deleted. We wish to make edits to the page and for it to be publicly viewable.

Thank you Eddie Allen— Preceding unsigned comment added by Bridalsbylori (talk • contribs)

@Lori Allen: Could you please explain what you mean by We when you say We wish to make edits to the page and for it to be publicly viewable. ...? Ian.thomson (talk) 02:11, 2 August 2018 (UTC)

Advice about possible COI editing on Berkeley College

I've been watching the article Berkeley College (history), and I've noticed what seems like it might be a COI editor (2018edits, talk, contribs) making some edits. I've done my best to try to keep it largely within policy, but I'd like some advice.

• I put a COI notice on their talk page, but they haven't responded (despite making several edits since)
• This is the only article they've edited
• I've put a {{COI}} notice on the article, though their contributions aren't especially major
• They don't really seem to know much about how Wikipedia works
• ClueBot reverted some of their edits that messed with the references

Where should I go from here? LittlePuppers (talk) 19:49, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Looking at only some of the edits, I don't see any COI, but I do see improper and unhelpful edits. I haven't seen an edit the user has made which is helpful, including adding links into the references and deleting the ref list altogether. In any situation like this, what you do is a) undo the edits (when applicable); and b) warn the user of their behavior. If/when they have been sufficiently warned but continue to make the same edits, report them to WP:AIV. ‡ Єl Cid of ᐺalencia ^ᐐT₳LKᐬ 19:56, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

@El cid, el campeador: Okay, thanks for the advice, and your and Theroadislong's work on the article. My concern about a COI comes from a) this being the only article they've edited, b) the use of ®, c) them trying to add external links, and d) the overcapitalization. It's more of a hunch than anything definite, but it wasn't helpful to the article and I considered it to be a possibility. LittlePuppers (talk) 20:06, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Publishing article

Autoctono~enwiki (talk) 20:19, 1 August 2018 (UTC)I have finished an article in my page. How do I submit it for publication?

@Autoctono~enwiki: Add {{subst:submit}} to the top of the draft. You might want to move it to a subpage of your user page. LittlePuppers (talk) 20:32, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

What to do about the racism and western centric biases I face here?

Hi I am an on and off editor of wikipedia. I recently wrote my talk page describing that I want to edit wikipedia to help undo the western centric biases despite the general racism/condescension editors of colour face. I didn't mention anyone in particular. But already my talk page has been nominated for deletion by some senior editor, who doesn't like me saying I want to combat racist editing. My experience of condescension and racism here explains in part why there are so few editors of colour. I would like to know are there any groups for non-white editors, and also what I can do to combat the biases I see around me. Josslined (talk) 20:33, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

Dear Josslined, everything on Wikipedia needs to be based on neutral secundary sources. You are not supposed to make up anything in an article yourself. If you have a disagreement about content, for example about a bias, you can refer to sources. If you cannot agree with someone about the sources, you can get more input via a requests for comment. There can exist bias in society and in the sources. Wikipedia cannot solve this bias. We base ourselves on the information that is available. We base ourselves on sources and do not make up information ourselves. As for your second question, I am not aware of any editorgroup of non-white editors. I assume Wikimedia Usergroup China, Turkey or India will be non-white. Though also mostly non-english. You might be interested in this Wikiproject: WikiProject African diaspora. Sincerely, Taketa (talk) 21:27, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

(edit conflict) I'm finding what you wrote above hard to understand. (I'm not disputing your claim of western bias.) I see no evidence that your talk page has been nominated for deletion; indeed that would be most unusual for a talk page. The only recent deletion of content on your talk page was by yourself. No material has ever been redacted from your talk page. So where is, or was, the material about whose deletion you are complaining? Maproom (talk) 21:28, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

@Maproom: The user page was deleted. LittlePuppers (talk) 21:37, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

• You don't have to fight this alone. The folks concerned about this sort of thing have a project at Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias. The specific problems that concern you overlap with these larger concerns, and you may get some support if you join that project and comment on its talk page. Please don't give up. On the other hand, please do assume good faith (WP:AGF) even (or maybe even especially) when another editor appears to be acting in a biased or contentious manner. It's the right thing to do and it makes for a better collaborative environment for us all, and as a practical matter it makes your arguments look good and the other guy's arguments look bad. -Arch dude (talk) 22:55, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

• @Josslined: think also the 2017 Wikipedian of the Year was Felix Nartey is a good example - he is from Ghana and has helped recruit more editors from his community and expanded Wikipedia's coverage about Ghana. We have millions of articles but there are still lots of areas of Wikipedia that need development and improvement - one of the best ways to counter systemic bias is to just start adding content about the topics that interest you. This can be more rewarding then going into it with a mindset of trying to "undo" an existing bias. Good luck! Seraphim System ^(talk) 23:06, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

I don't enjoy seeing accusations of racism thrown around simply because editors are following WP policy. These rules exist on neutral grounds, and they are necessary to ensure content here is verifiable and accurate. A wiki without verified and accurate content is useless to everyone. So please, assume good faith and don't assume that racist editors are to blame for the issues you face getting into editing. All editors are volunteers and their demographic ID is not something that WP questions or collects. Also, we do have Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa and Wikipedia:WikiProject Asia, as well as groups for individual non-Western countries. ‡ Єl Cid of ᐺalencia ^ᐐT₳LKᐬ 03:32, 2 August 2018 (UTC)