Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2020 April 1

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April 1[edit]

Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref[edit]

I added a sentence to an article and tried to cite to a webpage as the reference, but I apparently did it wrong. How can I fix it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by CKevinMorrison (talkcontribs) 00:51, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Looking at your list of contributions, I suppose that you mean the article Robin Ventura. Do you? I don't notice anything odd in this article. Exactly where does the problem arise? -- Hoary (talk) 03:00, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

There should be a gap between the ref 1 symbol - [1] - and the word "He". I cannot do this. thanks 175.33.49.35 (talk) 02:10, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

If you answer the question I posed for you, I'll look at the problem and try to fix it. -- Hoary (talk) 03:03, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • Note: This seems to have been fixed; several intervening edits. Eagleash (talk) 11:36, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The visual editor tab seems to have disappeared[edit]

Hi! I'm a little confused atm. The visual editor tab seems to have disappeared for me and now I am only able to edit source. The drop down tab that normally is on the left hand side of the screen has also vanished. I'm not sure if this is the case for everyone (and that the visual editor is no longer a feature) or if this has just happened to my account. Any info on this would be super helpful. Thank you! Katnotcat (talk) 03:01, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

@Katnotcat: Please check in your preferences in the section on editing, that "Temporarily disable Visual editor while it is in beta" is not checked. Victor Schmidt mobil (talk) 05:34, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

How to set a constant in the context of a template, for use in calculations[edit]

This seems very basic, but the answer has eluded me. I want to assign a numerical value to a named constant so that the constant can be used to represent that value later in calculations, within a template. For example: a template for {{invetory}} might return a value for the number of apples, oranges, bananas, or fruit. I want to be able to set apples = 21, oranges = 42, and bananas = 63 within the template, then use those values later to calculate fruit = {{#expr: apples + oranges + bananas}}, without recursively calling the template for the values. How is this handled? Bcharles (talk) 09:52, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately MediaWiki doesn't support variables in templates, so the workaround for now might be template parameters ({{inventory|apples=21|oranges=42|bananas=63}} and {{#expr: {{{apples|}}} + {{{oranges|}}} + {{{bananas|}}} }}) 119.236.63.70 (talk) 10:50, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Commonscat position[edit]

What is the best way to position {{Commons cat}} to avoid the whitespace between the bullet items in the See also list at List of diamonds? MB 14:31, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

@MB: It should go at the top of the last section (whatever that may be... usually external links but not always) per WP:LAYOUTEL. It should not go in 'see also'. Cheers. Eagleash (talk) 14:56, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, remove the {{-}} template.
Trappist the monk (talk) 14:59, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Putting in the "last section" in this case would be the references section, which had the affect of causing excessive whitespace in the reflist - which is to be avoided per the {{commons category}} documentation. In this case, I think it is better in the "See also" section. Removing {{clear}}, which I didn't notice, fixed the problem. Thanks Trappist the monk for catching that. MB 15:27, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Rowspan alignment issue[edit]

Polity Head of State Head of Government
Title Name Period Title Name Period
Kingdom of Singapura
1299–1398
Maharaja
Sri Tri Buana 1299–1347 Bendahara Unknown
Sri Wikrama Wira 1347–1362
Sri Rana Wikrama 1362–1375
Sri Maharaja 1375–1389
Sri Parameswara 1389–1398
Malacca Sultanate
1400–1511
Sultan 1400–1414 Sri Wak Raja I 1400–1412
Sri Amar Diraja 1412–1444
Megat Iskandar Shah 1414–1424
Muhammad Shah 1424–1444

 I'm having some issues with a table I'm trying to create.





 I need the 1412–1444 row (in bold) in the Head of Government > Period  section to occupy a position on the table congruent with the height of the Sri  Amar Diraja row to its left - overlapping the bottom part of the Sri  Parameswara row, and spanning the Megat Iskandar Shah and Muhammad  Shah rows.

Polity Head of State Head of Government
Title Name Period Title Name Period
Kingdom of Singapura
1299–1398
Maharaja
Sri Tri Buana 1299–1347 Bendahara Unknown
Sri Wikrama Wira 1347–1362
Sri Rana Wikrama 1362–1375
Sri Maharaja 1375–1389
Sri Parameswara 1389–1398
Malacca Sultanate
1400–1511
Sultan 1400–1414 Sri Wak Raja I 1400–1412
Sri Amar Diraja 1412–1444
Megat Iskandar Shah 1414–1424
Muhammad Shah 1424–1444











 But adding a rowspan="3" to the 1412–1444 row alters the height of the Sri  Amar Diraja row and eliminates the overlap on the Sri Parameswara row. The  1412–1444 row spans the Megat Iskandar Shah and Muhammad Shah rows  correctly, but I need to preserve the overlap on the Sri Parameswara row.  Thanks! Tiger7253 (talk) 15:22, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I think it can be done, by adding a whole new "1412-1414" row, with no content, and increasing the rowspan values of the various cells will incorporate sections of it. But I know from experience that actually doing this with WP syntax will be a headache, and I'm not going to try it myself. Maproom (talk) 15:32, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Tiger7253: The challenge in your current table is that there is no cell which is only in the row corresponding to 1412–1414, so the row may be rendered with height 0 by browsers. A way to try to avoid it is to declare a suitable minimum height of a cell which includes the row in a rowspan. Below I used style="height: 3em;" in the 1400–1414 cell. The result depends on circumstances but looks good on my screen. On a narrow screen "Sri Wak Raja I" may break in two lines and then my solution can stop working because 3em isn't enough to make the cell higher than it would otherwise be. 5em works on a narrow screen but looks bad with unnecessary height on a wide screen. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:08, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Polity Head of State Head of Government
Title Name Period Title Name Period
Kingdom of Singapura
1299–1398
Maharaja
Sri Tri Buana 1299–1347 Bendahara Unknown
Sri Wikrama Wira 1347–1362
Sri Rana Wikrama 1362–1375
Sri Maharaja 1375–1389
Sri Parameswara 1389–1398
Malacca Sultanate
1400–1511
Sultan 1400–1414 Sri Wak Raja I 1400–1412
Sri Amar Diraja 1412–1444
Megat Iskandar Shah 1414–1424
Muhammad Shah 1424–1444
PrimeHunter Immensely helpful answer, thank you. Tiger7253 (talk) 17:32, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

how exactly do I publish a new page?[edit]

i created this page, but it remains in 'draft'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_Sportive_du_Jeu_de_Paume_%26_de_Racquets

I can't figure out how to publish/ make it live..

help?

please respond by email — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wcholmberg (talkcontribs) 16:11, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Wcholmberg I'm afraid I deleted your draft as a blatant advertisement for your club. Wikipedia articles should only summarize what independent reliable sources state about a subject that meets Wikipedia's special definition of notability. Please read about conflict of interest and paid editing. If you can summarize what independent sources say about your club, you should use Articles for Creation to create and submit a draft for review. Even if technically able to, it is strongly recommended that users inexperienced in article creation not directly create articles, but instead use that process until they are more experienced. 331dot (talk) 16:15, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Editing Page as Brand[edit]

It was recently brought to our attention that the page for PODS Moving & Storage was flagged for being advertorial. Recognizing it's not recommended that the brand itself makes edit suggestions to its own page, we'd like editor suggestions on how to remediate the issue. We're more than happy to comply with the site's guidelines, as long as they're brand appropriate and accurate. Thank you.

Trent Brock PODS (talk) 20:48, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Please read WP:COI. Brand appropriateness is not of concern to Wikipedia. Only content supported by independent reliable sources and you should refrain from editing the article directly and instead follow the policy WP:DISCLOSE and request changes via the talk page. Praxidicae (talk) 20:50, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Trent Brock PODS What article are you referring to? PODS Moving & Storage has never existed. Praxidicae (talk) 21:00, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Courtesy link PODS (company). Theroadislong (talk) 21:05, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Trent Brock PODS: After complying with WP:PAID, by all means please make suggestions for improving the article on its talk page. Try as best you can to write as if you don't have a COI, but we realize that it's not really possible, so anther editor is likely to make some changes to the wording. And thanks for coming here to ask first. -Arch dude (talk) 21:35, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@Trent Brock PODS: - I made some edits to improve the article including removing excess promotionalism and trivial info sourced with press releases. I also removed the advert tag. You can make other edit request suggestions on the talk page. If you want to increase the chances that someone will help you, it would help if you would show the markup so other volunteer editors who respond don't have to code the requested edits themselves. See how another connected editor does it Talk:New York Life Insurance Company. Good luck. TimTempleton (talk) (cont) 22:55, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

computer filter[edit]

I thought the word "n*gga" in the article nigger was written #####. After I tried fixing it due to WP:Uncensored, I realized this is my computer filter doing it automatically. Since I can't change it back, because my filter automatically changes the word, the article is stuck with ##### for every time it is meant to say n*gga. Can someone please revert my edits? Sorry. --HillelFrei• talk • 20:58, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I've reverted your whole sequence of four edits. I hope that's what you wanted. Maproom (talk) 21:41, 1 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]