Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2021 February 7

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February 7[edit]

Cleanup after promoting to mainspace[edit]

I have just promoted someone else's article to mainspace, after cleaning up and copyediting. I am not an official page reviewer, but have created quite a lot of pages myself, so have a reasonably good feel for what is acceptable by now, but am unfamiliar with the processes so need to ask this question. There are a number of project pages linking to the article, including AfC sorting ones, and I am not sure what to do about those - is there a bot which cleans them up? Laterthanyouthink (talk) 02:58, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Laterthanyouthink, the instructions for AfC reviewers at Wikipedia:WikiProject Articles for creation/Reviewing instructions#Step 4: Accepting a submission don't mention cleaning up bot links, so that shouldn't be a problem. You could ask at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Articles for creation if you are still concerned. TSventon (talk) 16:33, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for getting back to me, TSventon. Hmmm, I didn't actually follow that process, so not sure it will follow... But hopefully if there's any cleanup to be done it will eventually be discovered and fixed. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 04:02, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Super Bowl Handoff[edit]

On Monday Morning They will have a Super Bowl Handoff from the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host Committee to the Los Angeles Super Bowl Host Committee if that is true. 68.102.42.216 (talk) 04:35, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

and...?? S Philbrick(Talk) 18:31, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Should I mention Google blunder mistakes in Ravi Shastri page?[edit]

Primefac Lambiam Google shows former cricketer Ravi Shastri age as 120. Should I mention Google blunder mistakes in Ravi Shastri page? Source Rizosome (talk) 06:47, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Talk about trivia. Must have been a slow news day. I vote no. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 07:17, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
No. Yell at Google. We're not responsible for how they (ab)use their Knowledge Graph. —A little blue Bori v^_^v Takes a strong man to deny... 07:27, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Jéské Couriano But some movie wiki pages contains trivia information. Rizosome (talk) 07:29, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The argument "What about article x?" should be avoided in deletion discussions, and, for the same reasons, in prospective-inclusion discussions. This does not look notable. Wikipedia is not a newspaper; we record only notable information. Notable events usually receive coverage beyond a relatively short news cycle. If this is still a news item a year or so from now, we can reconsider.  --Lambiam 07:42, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]


Response to previous kelp me answer.[edit]

 – Turned into heading by Tenryuu.

I am not paid at all for the service I provide to the Aerodrome. I simply oversee their safety as they are farmers and have no idea what is required to meet aviation standards. I simply want to improve safety by promoting correct information about the aerodrome, particularly as it has a conflicted aerodrome identifier as stated in the article. I am not financially bettered by this post in any way. You may consider contacting the game reserve to verify this if that would make you more comfortable.

I work for an airline called Swift Flite, and that is where I am employed and earn my remuneration. I am not hiding anything and thus do not need to make any other disclosures. However, as stated before, just delete the post as you obviously see no value to aviation safety in it and that is ALL I was promoting — Preceding unsigned comment added by MatchStickPilot (talkcontribs) 11:05, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@MatchStickPilot: I think you meant to reply over at User talk:MatchStickPilot#Help me!? —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 11:55, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Editcountit[edit]

I am sick of editcountit. Are there any software on Wikipedia that allows you to increase the number of contributions? Dr Salvus (talk) 13:44, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe. Have a look at Wikipedia:Recent_changes_patrol#Tools--Shantavira|feed me 17:33, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Your post is a bit confusing to me. It doesn't sound like you're sick of it, but rather leaning into it; avoiding editcountitis would be to stop being concerned with your quantity of edits.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 19:54, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Dr Salvus: Perhaps you can clarify your meaning? —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 02:51, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@AlanM1: There is a way to make more edits on Wikipedia? I would like to increase my contributions Dr Salvus (talk) 13:26, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Dr Salvus, color me confused. If you want to make more edits, make more edits. What am I missing? S Philbrick(Talk) 18:30, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Shilbrick I opened this thread because I would like to know if there are software that allows you to make many changes in a short time. There are users who manage to make 1000 changes in 10 minutes and I would like to know if it is the skill of the user or the presence of semi-automatic software that allows this. Dr Salvus (talk) 18:44, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Dr Salvus: There is software, yes. There are bots that are written and run to automate important Wikipedia maintenance tasks. There are also user-run tools, like AWB, that can make some repetitive tasks faster and easier, which it appears you have found and to which you requested access before posting here. However, you need to have (and provide) a better reason than you just want to make a bunch of edits in a short time, which is what WP:EDITCOUNTITIS and respondents here and at the (declined) AWB access request are trying to communicate. I.e., what are these edits you want to make, and how do they benefit the encyclopedia and it's readers (not just yourself)?
(BTW, I see you've solved the signature problem.) —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 22:12, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hiding Wikidata from watchlist[edit]

Hi all. Is there a way for me to hide new data claims from my watchlist? I am finding I almost never interact with them and somewhat regularly now the mass gnoming (while appreciated!) deluges my watchlist to the point of being unusable. I’d rather not hide minor edits. Thanks in advance if someone can point me toward an option I’m overlooking. Innisfree987 (talk) 15:11, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Wait I just found it. Thank you. Whew! Innisfree987 (talk) 15:19, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Could use help after all. I removed it from active filters and it works, but if I navigate away and then back to the watchlist, Wikidata claims are there again. So I do need help making that stick. Thank you very much. Innisfree987 (talk) 15:26, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Innisfree987: The defaults for your watchlist filters are set in your preferences, at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-watchlist. In particular there's a checkbox "Show Wikidata edits in your watchlist". -- John of Reading (talk) 15:35, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you so much John of Reading. I have no idea why I kept overlooking that option, but now I see it! Much appreciated. Innisfree987 (talk) 15:38, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

English[edit]

Uses Of Article "The" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 102.5.130.227 (talk) 17:54, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. I'm not clear on what it is that you are asking. 331dot (talk) 17:58, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia has an article about The.--Shantavira|feed me 19:21, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Possible relevant: a variety of Wikipedia style guidelines related to the use of "the" are at MOS:THE.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 19:50, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Notifications not working[edit]

I've been having issues with other editors not receiving notifications from me. The past two weeks, I've noticed that whenever I contact another editor via their talk page or by using the "ping" or "reply to" templates, I haven't been getting any responses from them. I don't know if other editors just aren't receiving notifications from me, or if I'm just being ignored. I don't believe that I've been muted from the editors that I did contact recently. Yowashi (talk) 19:29, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Hey Yowashi. When something is broken that would affect many users–especially if it persists for a while—there will often be a few (or even a flood) of reports at the village pump technical. Since I didn't find the word "notification" there just now (nor anything related on a quick scan of the TOC), my (circumstantial evidence-based) guess is it's not broken, but let's try it out. Did you get the ping I am leaving on this post? If you ping me back on your reply, I will report back on whether I got it.

I have no idea if this might be involved, but please note that any post where you don't sign properly in the same edit of your save (e.g., accidentally typing five tildes), or the reverse, sign but don't link a user's name properly will result in a failed ping, and fixing it in a subsequent edit will only work if you do it right (see Help:Fixing failed pings). Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 19:45, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Fuhghettaboutit: Thanks for the response. I don't usually type the tildes in manually. Instead I use the option where you can insert the tildes instead. I'll type it in this time to see if it solves the issue. Yowashi (talk) 19:53, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Yowashi Got your ping, for what it's worth. (I can't see any way that typing four tildes, verses placing them by a tool that inserts the same text characters, could possibly result in any difference.) Maybe you're just facing the brunt of a statistical streak: a bunch of users just happens to have not responded to you, despite getting your pings, where it seems to you that a response is warranted and often would be provided under similar circumstances.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 19:58, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Fuhghettaboutit: Weird. Perhaps I was just doing something incorrectly as you stated in your first response, or I just haven't been lucky in getting responses. Thanks. Yowashi (talk) 20:10, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Duplicate articles[edit]

2021 Uttarakhand glacial outburst flood and 2021 Uttarakhand glacier burst both cover more or less the same event. They should be merged. Already proposed this on the talk page of the former. Aquatic Ambiance (talk) 20:15, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Aquatic Ambiance:  Done Thanks for pointing out. They've since been merged. CX Zoom (talk) 20:52, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism help request from 71.238.67.218[edit]

I have noticed some vandalism at Azealia_Banks. Namely, In the "background information" box in the top right of the page, the website link azeliabanks.com, goes to a random gambling website. Would an editor please assist me with fixing it? Thank you, 71.238.67.218 (talk) 20:49, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think someone vandalized Wikipedia by intentionally adding an incorrect URL. Instead, the azealiabanks.com URL used to be her official website but is no longer active, and someone else took over the URL to redirect to an unrelated website. I removed the URL from the infobox and added an archived version of her website in the External links section. Thanks for the report! GoingBatty (talk) 21:54, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, it looks like she didn't pay to renew the domain registration. For a while the site displayed "azealiabanks.com is for sale on GoDaddy Auctions. Click here for more details." It seems from the end of Azealia Banks#Personal life that she has some issues. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:04, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

How to add a request for new feature[edit]

Hello, I want to request the Wikipedia volunteers to add a new feature for editing Wikitables. I went to Wikipedia:Village_pump_(technical), but it says that new features have to be requested at Phabricator. I'm unaware of how to use Phabricator. How do I add a request? Thanks! CX Zoom (talk) 21:04, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@CX Zoom: Which feature? Maybe it's already possible or there is already a request for it. See Wikipedia:Bug reports and feature requests. Our MediaWiki software is used by thousands of wikis so MediaWiki features are not requested or implemented here at the English Wikipedia. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:28, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@PrimeHunter: Thanks a lot for the link you've provided. It helped me a lot. I went through the instructions and did not find an existing request that addresses the same concerns as mine. So, I added a new request here [1]. I believe that I did not mess things up but I am not really sure about it. So, it would be very helpful if someone can review the request I have added there. Thanks again! CX Zoom (talk) 11:52, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@CX Zoom: There are some fundamental problems with it. You don't distinguish between wikitext size and HTML size. The editors write the wikitext, e.g. {{party shading/Republican}}. MediaWiki processes the wikitext and produces HTML which is sent to the readers, e.g. style="background-color:#FFB6B6". The vast majority of users are readers, and the wikitext size is irrelevant to them. HTML does not have conditional cell formatting so some formatting code has to be sent to the readers. Wikipedia:TemplateStyles makes it possible to introduce local classes like republican and send class="republican" to readers instead of style="background-color:#FFB6B6", but you cannot send only R. For the wikitext, there are ways to reduce repetition if the table is built with templates. See Help:Table#Row template. Your suggestion would require the formatting code to be stored somewhere and specify which cells it applies to. Wikitables don't come with named cells like A1, A2, ..., B1, B2, ... in a spreadsheet, so it would be harder to use than a spreadsheet. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:57, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Timestamp ahead 5 hours[edit]

My signature and edit timestamps have been consistently ahead 5 hours; how do I change that? henrysz ▪ 💬 ▪ 👀 23:37, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Your timestamp is in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Presuming you're on the East Coast of North America, that time zone is five hours behind UTC. —A little blue Bori v^_^v Takes a strong man to deny... 23:46, 7 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@Henrysz: At the top right of your screen, click on Preferences > Appearances, and you go to the Time offset section to have Wikipedia display in your local time. GoingBatty (talk) 00:55, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
However, that setting does not affect the timestamp in signatures. For that, enable "Change UTC-based times and dates, such as those used in signatures, to be relative to local time" at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets. Do not change the time that is actually saved in the signature. We want it to be UTC. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:15, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]
@PrimeHunter: You're right (of course), but it does change how those timestamps appear in your watchlist, user contributions, and page histories. GoingBatty (talk) 04:01, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]