Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2021 December 18

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December 18

User page formatting / design

Hello,

Is there a page on different ways to design a user page? I want to improve mine but want some information / examples before I do it. Thank you, Thriley (talk) 02:48, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

@Thriley: You can see some examples at Wikipedia:User page design center. Hope this helps, and happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 03:05, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

@GoingBatty: Thank you! Thriley (talk) 03:14, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Templates

I'm trying to find a template regarding bias and also questionable sources in an article about a living person. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks. Bodding (talk) 03:47, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Bodding, the right directions are Wikipedia:Template index/Cleanup and Wikipedia:Template index/Sources of articles. -- Hoary (talk) 08:26, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Move a Wikidata page?

Sorry this may be off topic, but even as an experienced editor I sometimes find Wikidata hard to understand. I don't know whether they even have a help desk and didn't want to waste too much time trying to find it. So my question here: How do I "move" Canis lupus variabilis? It points to the Wikipedia article Canis variabilis, which used to be at Canis lupus variabilis (see the requested move at Talk:Canis variabilis). The corresponding Wikidata item needs to move as well, as it's generating an incorrect "Taxon identifiers" navbar at the bottom of Canis mosbachensis. {{Taxonbar|from1=Q20644616|from2=Q20720126}} – if I can't fix the Wikidata then I'll have to remove the {{Taxonbar}} to fix Wikipedia. – wbm1058 (talk) 05:12, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Yes, wbm1058, they have an (easily found) help desk: "Project chat". It's used for discussions, but also for humdrum questions. I too am a Wikidata ignoramus; I've asked questions there and swiftly received helpful responses. -- Hoary (talk) 08:22, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, I suppose it's easy to find if you already know where to look (Wikipedia:Project chat is a "project in red"). I'll re-post my question there. – wbm1058 (talk) 13:37, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

OK, I guess I have found that page before. I just forgot where it was. – wbm1058 (talk) 13:55, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

A wp:space "Intro for Wikipedia editors to wikidata" that covered things like this, how to nominate a wikidata thing for deletion, and so on would be useful. Unless, of course, one already exists and I just can't find it. Nosebagbear (talk) 13:39, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Hi, Wbm1058! At the risk of being terribly wrong, I'll hazard an answer.

First, let me say that standing practice at Wikidata doesn't distinguish between nomina and taxa. Nor does it deal well with different taxonomic concepts that share the same name but have different circumscription. For example, you're unlikely to find separate items for Canis lupus sensu stricto and Canis lupus sensu lato. Changing the model has been discussed several times over the years, without consensus for change. (This is a bit off topic from your question about renaming an item, but please bear with me, I'm getting there...)

Even though species items have the statement "instance of taxon", they are arguably "instance of scientific name", because when a species gets moved to a new genus, Wikidata (rightly or wrongly) retains items for both Oldgenus specificus and Newgenus specificus.

So it would be not unusual for WD to have items for both Canis variabilis and Canis mosbachensis variabilis. The items would need to have different "taxon rank" (subspecies, species) and "parent taxon" (Canis, Canis mosbachensis). I notice that Q20720126 currently says parent taxon "Grey wolf" (Canis lupus), which is inconsistent with either species name.

To the more general question of how do you move an item on Wikidata, the answer is "you don't", and you don't need to do a move to effect a rename. Q20720126 will always be Q20720126, and its label can be renamed without a move. I see you have discovered this, and SCIdude made some other changes following up on yours.

Items on Wikidata are supposed to be permanent concepts, but their meanings can drift over time and can differ between languages. One way to achieve more stability would be to have items for "Mosbach wolf" and "Zhoukoudian wolf" as distinct concepts, plus linked items for the different taxon names which would hold statements like taxon rank, parent taxon, basionym, type specimen. Another approach would be for "Zhoukoudian wolf" to directly have multiple statements of taxon name, taxon rank, etc. with one of each marked as Preferred. For that to work with your use case, {{Taxonbar}} would need to look at the taxon name property, not the label; I don't yet know whether that's how it works. (SCIdude changed the label and the taxon name around the same time.)

Apologies for the long reply, it's fraught topic. ⁓ Pelagic ( messages ) 22:09, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

For anyone reading along without a background in biology (disclaimer: I know little about the specifics of palaeontology), I guess the situation is like the following … One group of scientists think/thought that the group of fossil specimens known as Zhoukou wolf represents a subspecies of the broad collection "Canis lupus" that contains the grey wolf, domestic dog and maybe some other wolves. Another group holds that it's an extinct species that is distinct ancestor to a maybe narrower definition of "Canis lupus". A third group hold that it's a smaller warmer-climate variant of the also extinct Mosbach wolf. My interpretation may be way off base, but the point is that it's hard enough conveying that kind of nuance in free text, imagine trying to express it as structured data! ⁓ Pelagic ( messages ) 23:54, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Viewing history: option available in iOS but unable to locating a URL to view history in web browser on computer

Am I missing something? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cajimnemosf (talk • contribs) 14:06, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

@Cajimnemosf: Click the "View history" tab at top of pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:27, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Valley of Elah Images

I am creating a biblical children's books and I need permission to license the valley of Elah image in my book or get permission from the creator to include it in my book.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1702:3770:4970:E162:6B8F:69A0:467C (talk) 16:20, 18 December 2021 (UTC) 

Hello, IP user. Do you mean you want to use one or more of the photos in the Wikipedia article Valley of Elah? If so, go to the image in question and double click it, and it will take you to the description page which includes licensing information. Most pictures in Wikipedia (but not all) are licensed in a way that anybody may reuse them for any purpose (commercial or not), without requesting permission, as long as they properly attribute them and licence their use in a corresponding way. I see that the first image, File:Valley of Elah from Tel Azeka.jpg, is licensed in that way, but I haven't looked at the rest. See c:Commons:Reusing content outside Wikimedia for more information. --ColinFine (talk) 17:28, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

That specific image is "Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication"; meaning you can do whatever with it; no attribution required (but recommended). Details: [1] --2603:6081:1C00:1187:B13C:5B9D:C0CD:345A (talk) 17:35, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

Thank you. Sorry, I skimmed it and didn't notice it was different from what I was expecting. --ColinFine (talk) 22:23, 18 December 2021 (UTC)