Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2019 September 20

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September 20[edit]

Password[edit]

Suddenly my password is not acceptable. We'll leave that for now but...

The message from Wikipedia is choose a 'more unique password'. You cannot have more unique. Either it is or it isn't. Not an error that should be on Wikipedia.Cannonmc (talk) 02:53, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Besides the obvious English error of "more unique" (they should have said "less common"), you have no idea whether your password is unique if you don't know my password (and every other password).
Per meta:Password policy your password:
  • Must be at least 8 characters
  • Must not be in the 100,000 most popular passwords (as defined by the Password Blacklist library)
  • Must not be the same as the username
You can read the list of the 100,000 most popular passwords here:[1] (looks like "123456" is now more popular than "password" or "qwerty").
Just use "Swordfish" (1171 on the list) as your password. They will never guess that one.[2] --Guy Macon (talk) 04:08, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The message is MediaWiki:Passwordinlargeblacklist. A similar message at MediaWiki:Passwordtoopopular said "more unique" earlier but was changed [3] at phab:T177018. "more unique" is a common term and there are different opinions about it. See e.g. [4] or many other discussions found with Google. Language changes and unique is often used to mean unusual. If the only correct meaning of a word was the original meaning or the logical meaning based on how the word was formed then a large part of English (and probably all human languages) would be wrong. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:59, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Primehunter makes a very good point. This may very well be one of those words that is in the middle of changing meaning. Still, I do favor some amount of pushback when someone starts trying to change the meaning of a word. It hinders communication if the meanings change too often or too quickly. Yes, you can decide to use non-standard fleemishes and the reader can still gloork the meaning from the context, but there ix a limit; If too many ot the vleeps are changed, it becomes harder and qixer to fllf what the wethcz is blorping, and evenually izs is bkb longer possible to ghilred frok at wifx. Dnighth? Ngfipht yk ur! Uvq the hhvd or hnnngh. Blorgk? Blorgk! Blorgkity-blorgk!!!! --Guy Macon (talk) 13:11, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Risk of confusion depends on context. It's hard to misunderstand "Please choose a more unique password". If it had said "Please choose a unique password" then users might think it had to be the only one, e.g. different from any alternative accounts. Unusual is mentioned as one of the meanings in the three online dictionaries I tried: wikt:unique, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/unique, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unique. See also https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/very-unique-and-absolute-adjectives. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:07, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
We could try "Yo bruv, your password is well minging, sort it!" instead. All words found in dictionaries, and used in a readily understandable way. DuncanHill (talk) 14:47, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Well ... since "unique" means something different to different people, "unique" is no longer unique -- Oh! the irony. —2606:A000:1126:28D:304D:E8A1:FEED:60B5 (talk) 17:46, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Obvious it should read "most uniquiest", so that even a quantum supercomputer won't be able to crack it, because the WP:CABAL demands it. Clarityfiend (talk) 18:58, 20 September 2019 (UTC) [reply]

A Glitch[edit]

Hello there,

I created this page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_A._Ball_(mathematician). Everything was alright until I noticed just now that a photo of some other person appears when I search for this page on google. However, whenever I am actually on the wikipedia page of Joseph A Ball (mathematician) (i.e., the page sited above), the right photo of the person appears. Could you please look into the matter?

Thanks! Sincerely, Haripada Sau. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Haripadasau215 (talkcontribs) 04:10, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Haripadasau215: Hello, Google draws information from many sources and often displays it in a way that implies it comes from Wikipedia. We have no control over what Google displays. There is a feedback link at the bottom of the panel in the search results. (Please remember to sign your posts on talk pages by typing four keyboard tildes like this: ~~~~. Or, you can use the [ reply ] button, which automatically signs posts.) Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 04:17, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

In the above page there is a "Crawley family tree" which appears to be from another "wiki" page. The name of the second wife of Baron Merton is Baroness Merton (formerly Mrs Crawley nee Isobel Turnbull. Upon Isobel's second marriage to Lord Merton she became Lady Merton/Baroness Merton - NOT Lady Isobel Grey (she is not the daughter of an earl). The references cited are correct but the titles displayed are wrong. I have corrected this information on the wiki page but it is not showing. Please fix up. Thanks Srbernadette (talk) 04:26, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Srbernadette: There no edits by you showing in the recent page history. Did you 'save' the page correctly? Eagleash (talk) 04:34, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Found the template - all good now - thanks
I created the family tree here on Wikipedia for our article. It is NOT from a fan page. PBS challenged the template for verification and all names must have a reliable source. No, the character of Isobel is not Baroness Merton. She is simply the Lady Merton. It was the Downton Wiki that came up with that and is not in any part of the Downton Abbey series or the film. All of the series books (that mention this) and film companion book state clearly Lord and Lady Merton. I have reverted that...again as original research and fan cruft. Please see the Downton Abbey (film) talk page for the full explanation.--Mark Miller (talk) 04:07, 21 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Here is the page. It's a template; Template:Downton Abbey family tree.--Mark Miller (talk) 04:12, 21 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Spelling name error[edit]

In the entry for Performance Poetry Australia (Australian performance poetry) the name Grant Caldwell is wrongly listed as 'Grant Caldwll' i.e. "The 1980s saw a greater development in performed poetry, with more professional poets earning their living by poeting, Geoff Goodfellow joined Jenny Boult in South Australia, komninos, Myron Lysenko, Liz Hall, Billy Marshall Stoneking, Lauren Williams, Kerry Scuffins, Kerry Loughrey, Carmel Bird, in Melbourne, Grant Caldwll, Chris Mansell, Les Wicks and Steven Herrick in Sydney"

Also is there any simple way I can add a complete item for Grant Caldwell on Wikipedia? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.250.0.127 (talkcontribs) 2019-09-20T08:27:22 (UTC)

Hello, IP user, and welcome to Wikipedia. For an uncontroversial correction like that, you can just go ahead and edit it: this is the encyclopaedia anyone can edit.
As for creating and article about Caldwell: anybody is welcome to add an article to the encyclopaedia, provided the subject is notable - which generally means that there is enough reliably published material about the subject, by people unconnected with the subject, to base an article on; but creating a new article is quite difficult, and I don't recommend if for new editors. I suggest you have a look at the "notability" page I linked to, and see if you can find enough published material about him to make an article possible (remember that nothing published by him, or by his associates, employers, or publishers, will count). If not, then it is not worth spending any more time on at present.
If you do find the material, you could make a request at requested articles (but the uptake is not good there); or you could try and interest somebody at WT:WikiProject Poetry or WT:WikiProject Australia in working with you. Or if you're feeling bold, you could read your first article, and try yourself (but if you're going to take that route, I advise you to create an account, and spend a few weeks improving existing articles first). --ColinFine (talk) 08:06, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Hi IP user, I have taken the liberty of adding a wikilink to Australian performance poetry in your post and correcting the typo in the article. TSventon (talk) 09:30, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Change Photo On Company Profile on Wiki[edit]

Dear all,

please advise how I can proceed with subject matter for Lebanese Air Transport.

With kind regards, — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nadine Bolbol (talkcontribs) 08:12, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

First, please read WP:PAID and WP:COI. Secondly, I have updated the logo for you - I assume this is what you wanted. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 09:07, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The article is Lebanese Air Transport ~~ OxonAlex - talk 09:08, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Change the date of birth-Eric Martin[edit]

The Eric Martin page on Wikipedia says that he was born in 10/10/1960 while actually he was born in 10/10/1956. I don´t see the "edit source" link for editing the section where this mistake is located. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tagomauro (talkcontribs) 12:44, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

What is the published reliable source to confirm the 1956 date? --David Biddulph (talk) 12:58, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Presumably this relates to Eric Martin (musician). His birth date is currently uncited as far as I can see, but I found this on allmusic confirming the date that's in the article. I don't know whether that counts as a WP:RS. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 13:16, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The archived Geocities site also says 1960. This is not a reliable source either, but unless we get a better source, we can't make the change. Dbfirs 14:53, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]


I´ve seen his passport when he applied for a visa, but you can also check this website and you´ll see a bunch of names and d.o.b. Enter his name, Eric Lee Martin — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tagomauro (talkcontribs) 16:49, 20 September 2019 (UTC) http://migranteweb.mte.gov.br/migranteweb/publico/consultarProcessoInternet/consultarProcesso.seam# — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tagomauro (talkcontribs) 16:49, 20 September 2019 (UTC) then scroll down and click Imprimir Estrangeiro. Check the downloaded file — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tagomauro (talkcontribs) 16:51, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

How to separate column entries from column entries inside wikicode of a wikitable?[edit]

If it is impossible, please note so. For example, take these wikitables, I want them to be combined horizontally, but see the problem below.

Set A
Person 1
Person 2
Person 3
Person 4
Person 5
Set B
Person 6
Person 7
Person 8
Person 9
Person 10

The problem is I want it to look like the following, but I want Persons 1-5, 6-10, etc. in the same area in the wikicode. Note that I have many more columns and rows in my real wikitable.

Set A Set B Set C ..
Person 1 Person 6 Person 11 ..
Person 2 Person 7 Person 12 ..
Person 3 Person 8 Person 13 ..
Person 4 Person 9 Person 14 ..
Person 5 Person 10 Person 15 ..
{| class="wikitable"
! Set A !! Set B !! Set C
|-
| Person 1 || Person 6 || Jake the Baker ..
|-
| Person 2 || Person 7 || Russ Megalodon Amora ..
|-
| Person 3 || Person 8 || Short Name ..
|-
| Person 4 || Person 9 || Long Nameeeeeee Hereeeeee Very Long ..
|-
| Person 5 || Person 10 || Peter ..
|}

The above table is the only way I see how to make the table, but I want Persons 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, etc. grouped together, and not Persons {1,6,11,..} , {2,7,12,..} , etc. grouped in the wikicode, since filling each person's name only makes sense vertically for me. And also note that each person name is of variable length, so it is not as tidy as the above table to visually see Persons 1-5, 6-10, etc.

If it is impossible to separate Persons 1-5 from Persons 6-10, etc. in the wikicode, please post that as the answer. WinterSpw (talk) 18:23, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@WinterSpw: I'm afraid I'm not following what you are asking. I'm not sure what you mean when you say "the same area of the wikicode." Can you put it in Excel the way you want it and upload a screenshot? TimTempleton (talk) (cont) 18:41, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Theoretically you can nest one table inside another table using syntax with <tr>, <td> tags. See Help:Table#Other_table_syntax. Ruslik_Zero 18:43, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
@Timtempleton: I mean something like the following pseudocode (note it is pseudocode), to separate column entries from column entries:
{| class="wikitable"
! Set A !! Set B !! Set C
|-
| code saying first column has the following people
| Person 1
| Person 2
| Person 3
| Person 4
| Person 5
|-
| code saying second column has the following people
| Person 6
| Person 7
| Person 8
| Person 9
| Person 10
|-
| etc. hopefully this is more understandable what I want.
|}
WinterSpw (talk) 19:22, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Like this, WinterSpw?
Set A Set B Set C

Person 1
Person 2
Person 3
Person 4
Person 5

Person 6
Person 7
Person 8
Person 9
Person 10

(See the source for how I did it) --ColinFine (talk) 22:17, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Ooh! This is a nice implementation, this might work. ColinFine But it doesn't have the line dividers for each row, so I guess I'll think about my wikitable some more. WinterSpw (talk) 01:46, 21 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Adding photos[edit]

Hi, how do I add a photo to a current article. Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by RossInnes (talkcontribs) 20:11, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@RossInnes: Please see WP:UPLOAD for a guide to adding images. Please free to come back here if you encounter difficulty. Eagleash (talk) 21:19, 20 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]