Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2022 December 9

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

December 9

Admin nomination

I have nominated myself for adminship but the request isn't displayed on the RFA page could someone check the source code or inform me of what to change so it is viewable there please? StarryNightSky11 ^☎ 00:43, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

StarryNightSky11 I see no edits by you to create an RFA nomination, so whatever you did was not published. I would advise you against nominating yourself, however, as the odds of success for you are very low. You don't have the edit history required, and you haven't demonstrated a need for the tools. 331dot (talk) 00:48, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

331dot, [1].

StarryNightSky11, I have to second 331dot's advice. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 00:53, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

I would echo 331dot's comment. You should not go through with an RfA at this time. WP:ORCP is open to you if you want feedback on your 'readiness'; personally, my impressions is that an editor with fewer than 10,000 edits would have to have an extraordinary track record, and a very expressed need for the tools, to be accepted by the community. Best Girth Summit _(blether) 00:58, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/StarryNightSky11 has been closed. DMacks (talk) 18:06, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intelectual Property Right Distribution Fund

Why is there no page for the AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intelectual Property Rights Distribution Fund aka AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund? Everytime I see AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund you guys have a link going to either one of the unions, AFM or SAG-AFTRA. The AFM & SAG-AFTRA Fund is a separate intity from those two unions and their website is https://www.afmsagaftrafund.org/. Can someone look into this?

SidSyd (talk) 00:59, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@SidSyd:Wikipedia editors are volunteers, and each of us does whatever tasks we wish to do, with almost no co-ordination and with no central planning. There are no "you guys" to respond to you. There are about 100,000 active editors in any given 30-day window, and perhaps 50 of them (us) are active on the help desk. If you think an article is needed you have as much right and responsibility to create that article as any of the other 100,000 active editors. Please look at WP:YFA to see how to proceed. -Arch dude (talk) 03:06, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

SAG-AFTRA headquarters

Hello, SidSyd. I am a Northern California editor who was in Southern California in 2015 to visit with a Wikipedia editor from Iceland (long story). While there, I happened to take a photo of SAG-AFTRA headquarters. So, I have paid a little bit of attention to this union over the years but I am far from an expert. The fact of the matter is that you are probably the Wikipedia editor most interested in the "AFM & SAG-AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund". Accordingly, if you think that there should be an article about this topic, it is incumbent on you to write the article. I will be happy to offer advice but you will need to do the heavy lifting. Cullen328 (talk) 07:01, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

The more concise answer is that nobody has yet volunteered to write that article. Are you up for it? Cullen328 (talk) 07:14, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Fair use images

Hi, Sri Lanka does not have the Freedom of panorama. It would be a shame if many landmarks deprived of an identifiable image. So can fair use images be used instead in such articles? Regards. Chanaka L (talk) 08:56, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@chanakal: it would need to meet the 10 criteria for non-free images. lettherebedarklight晚安 10:39, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@Lettherebedarklight: I have uploaded a dozen or so fair use company logos before, so I am aware of those criteria. I wanna know whether that works for panoramas as well? Cheers. Chanaka L (talk) 14:30, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

The very first of the criteria you were pointed to above, is "Non-free content is used only where no free equivalent is available, or could be created" Almost all panoramas can be created, by visiting the place and taking it yourself, so they fall at the first. - Please also see Wikipedia:Freedom of panorama which explains that (in most circumstances) we are covered by US law, not local law. [[Arjayay (talk) 14:45, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@Chanakal To be specific, that means that the Sri Lankan images have to be uploaded to the English Wikipedia using the {{FoP-USonly}} template but they do not have to meet the criteria for non-free images. However, unlike logos you may have uploaded in the past, you must own the copyright, which in practice usually means you took the picture yourself. Mike Turnbull (talk) 15:18, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@Arjayay: Thanks for the answer. @Michael D. Turnbull: Thanks, your reply answered my question. So Flickr photos with creative commons licence won't work for the freedom of panorama exception, correct? Uploaders themself should possess the copyright. Cheers, Chanaka L (talk) 03:09, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

@Chanakal Actually, provided the Flickr image is correctly licenced with CC BY SA (and doesn't have the NC restriction) you should be able to upload it to English Wikipedia in combination with the FoP tag. Make sure you give full attribution to the source using a URL: unlike Commons, the local upload doesn't have an import-from-Flickr option. Mike Turnbull (talk) 15:23, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

@Michael D. Turnbull: I uploaded this file, file:Lotus tower.jpg. Could you be able to check and tell me whether I have done it properly? Thanks in advance Chanaka L (talk) 16:43, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

@Chanakal Yes, that looks fine. In particular you are supposed to keep the same version of the CC BY license, which you have done. Mike Turnbull (talk) 18:01, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

TROOS

There are no such thing ass TREWS in fact the term TREWS is a tad insulting to the originators - by all mean offer TREWS as an explanation for sounding but please stop the corruption of. TROOS but please remove this TREWs as there is no such word. 2A00:23C8:691C:3701:557C:BD80:7416:C4BC (talk) 12:30, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@2A00:23C8:691C:3701:557C:BD80:7416:C4BC, what is this about? There doesn't appear to be any article at Troos or Trews that describes an initialism/acronym. Do you have a question about reading or editing Wikipedia? casualdejekyll 13:13, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

NPROF

Longtime editor here, but need help evaluating WP:NPROF. What's the best way of soliciting assistance to gauge an academic's notability? I'm not very experienced in this particular area. I tried an RfC but that was shut down immediately.

Article link: Linda Gerdner

--Drm310 🍁 (talk) 13:29, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Well it's a bit of a moot point for this article now, since it's been deleted. However, just as a general question, I'd still like to know what's the best way to find help with WP:NPROF issues. Thanks. --Drm310 🍁 (talk) 18:45, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Drm310 you could ask at WP:HED, or WP:WIR for female academics, but I would suggest attempting your own review to see whether the subject is at least possibly notable first. TSventon (talk) 18:58, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Thanks TSventon, much appreciated. --Drm310 🍁 (talk) 19:10, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

false information

Hi there I am the subject of a wikipedia page which is full of false information and I believe someone is deliberately changing it. Could you help? I've tried to change some of it but it has reverted / been changed again to show more false information. Most of the work it says I have done isn't true, neither is my place of birth. I'd be happy if the page was removed completely Here is the link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Foster_(writer) Many thanks, Jon foster Fosterjr (talk) 16:00, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

I have reverted the vandalism & warned the vandal. Thank you for letting us know. - David Biddulph (talk) 16:04, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

donations

I don't want to use any CC to donate. Is there a way to donate with a old-fashion check?```` Requestinghelp (talk) 16:04, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Hi there, I assume you're referring to donating to the Wikimedia Foundation. In that case, info can be found here. Cheers! DonIago (talk) 16:10, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Make a redirect article

So, I want to make a redirt article from "Saint Jadwiga" and "Jadwiga the Saint" to "Jadwiga of Poland," yet when I look up how to make a redirect article, part of the article mentioned in the steps does not appear. I was wondering if anyone knew a better way to. NicoTheBold (talk) 16:38, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Which instructions are you reading? WP:Redirect and/or Help:Redirect? What are you not seeing? I can't see any sign of failed attempts. --David Biddulph (talk) 16:47, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Nevermind. The problem was solved. NicoTheBold (talk) 16:56, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Indian or Native American or First Nation?

I am working on an article called United States Government Indian Trading Factories, 1795-1822.

What term for Indian is proper and politically correct to use. Creuzbourg (talk) 17:03, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Hello, Creuzbourg. I suggest that you read Native American name controversy. This is an unresolved issue. First Nations is a term associated with Canada. Since you are writing about events in the United States 200 years ago, I suggest that you use the common term of that era, which was Indian, perhaps with a clarifying note linking to Native Americans in the United States. The existence of the National Congress of American Indians indicates that the term Indian in this context is not defunct. Cullen328 (talk) 17:28, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@Creuzbourg If you're writing for Wikipedia, then you need to bear in mind WP:COMMONALITY: as a non American-English speaker, I would understand "Native American" to mean what I think you're intending. "Indian" is ambiguous for me, even if not as "politically incorrect" as it might be elsewhere; and "First Nation" is not a term seen much here. Native Americans in the United States seems to agree and gives links to other articles on the same subject. Bazza (talk) 17:30, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Generally, for the indigenous people of what later became the lower 48 states, the general consensus is that either "Native American" or "American Indian" is appropriate when speaking of such people in a general context, while noting the specific people group or nation (such as Wampanoag or Navajo) may be more appropriate when referring to a specific person. In general it is better to use "American Indian" than just "Indian", which in most of the world means someone from India, but there is often no preference for between either "Native American" or "American Indian" as long as one is consistent within the same article. --Jayron32 17:52, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Cullen328 Bazza 7 Jayron32 Thanks for the information. I am writing for Wikipedia. The first thing I will do is to change the name of the article to United States Government Fur Trading Factories, 1795-1822 to avoid confusion with the Subcontinent. I've read the Native American name controversy. It reminds me of an episode in the Simpsons: American Indians like Apu and Native Americans like Homer Simpson. At least I know what to choose from. Creuzbourg (talk) 21:47, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Wikitionary Question

Hello. I recently created a page for the etymology of the Persian word "رای." I was trying to enter my citations but i got an error stating that I was spamming. The error also said that I could get my account banned, which i obviously do not want. Could somebody elaborate why this is? or possibly enter the citation for me? this is the citation I would like to enter:

Qaemmaqami, A. R., & Khatebey, A. (2013, July 9). رای و رأی ([New Persian] rāy and [arabic] ra'y). Academia.edu. Retrieved December 9, 2022, from https://www.academia.edu/3992194/%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D9%88_%D8%B1%D8%A3%DB%8C_New_Persian_r%C4%81y_and_Arabic_ra_y_

This is the link to the page: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C

There is also a Persian word "رای" of Arabic origin, however the words are distinct in their etymology and pronunciation. Maybe Wikitionary thought I was creating another page for a word that already has a page? I am very confused and would greatly appreciate some assistance. MarkParker1221 (talk) 18:57, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@MarkParker1221, this is the help desk for English Wikipedia, not Wiktionary. There's a list of various discussion forums at Wiktionary here. 199.208.172.35 (talk) 19:10, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

I see, thank you very much. MarkParker1221 (talk) 20:39, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Looking for a guide

Hi there, I'm new to editing Wiki pages and would like to speak with someone who's done this. I've been hired to update a page of a business and I need to know how to make sure that the updates don't break the rules. DebSchell (talk) 19:36, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

The first thing you need to do is to read about conflict of interest and to make the mandatory declaration of paid editing. One might wonder why the client has hired someone who doesn't know how to do the job. - David Biddulph (talk) 19:41, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Hello, DebSchell. I'm afraid you are rather in the position of somebody who has been hired to build a building for a client without having any knowledge of local building regulations (Wikipedia's policies) or of whether the site has been surveyed and found suitable for building on (whether the business meets Wikipedia's criteria for notability - most businesses don't). Further, it is very likely that the building they want you to build is one that it is not possible to build here - one that they own and control, and can use for their own purposes.

Once you have made the mandatory declaration, I suggest you study NCORP, Your first article, Neutral point of view, and An article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing. You might also like to browse through Special:log/delete and see how many articles we delete, mostly because they were created by editors insufficiently experienced to understand the requirements. Looking at that page just now I see fifty deletions in the last three quarters of an hour, of which I think four were drafts about organizations and companies.

If this sounds discouraging: I'm afraid it is meant to. You are most welcome to be a Wikipedia editor. But creating a new article is much harder than people think, and doing so with a conflict of interest is harder still. ColinFine (talk) 23:19, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

David Biddulph, ColinFine: DebSchell says she's been hired to update the page, not to create it. DebSchell: the easiest and least troublesome way for you to get the article updated is to go to the article's talk page, and detail the changes you want made, listing a source for each change to confirm that it's correct. It's probably best to start by specifying just one change (with its source) so you get a feel for how this procedure works. If you jump straight in by requesting a rewrite of the whole article or a long list of changes, your request is likely to be rejected or ignored. Maproom (talk) 08:00, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

My apologies, DebSchell - I missed that you were talking about updating a page, not creating one (Thank you Maproom). So not all I said is relevant to you - but some still is. In particular, that the article will not necessarily say what your clients want it to say. You are welcome to make edit requests, but if the editor who happens to consider the request regards it as promotional, it will not get implemented, at least not in the way you asked. ColinFine (talk) 11:41, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Thank you for the assistance. I will work to figure this out. 2600:4040:F084:EC00:8C17:C5D4:5C51:ACB3 (talk) 14:31, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

how do i add a new page for knowledge?

I know how to edit Wikipedia, but I can't add new page's for specific content, If you can add new page's then how do I add them?

Is it only for employees? SuperMarioGlitchy10 (talk) 20:18, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@SuperMarioGlitchy10: Check out WP:YFA for steps on creating an article. It is not an easy task for new users, I suggest you work on improving existing articles first. RudolfRed (talk) 20:27, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Hello SuperMarioGlitchy10. An account needs to be at least four days old and have made at least ten edits in order to create a new article. Read and study and take seriously all of the advice at Your first article before you try. Cullen328 (talk) 23:05, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

As a new user you cannot create pages until your account is 'auto-confirmed' (10 edits / 4 days old). From my perspective you'd be best reading up on guidance on creating your first article via this link, but I'd also recommend first focusing on pages that are already here and adding or modifying existing content that you feel would be a benefit to the encyclopaedia to gain experience on editing before creating your first article. StarryNightSky11 ^☎ 00:58, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

@SuperMarioGlitchy10 There are no "employees" here at wikipedia. Everyone here is a volunteer, and once your account reaches 10 edits and 4 days old, you will be able to make an article through the AfC process Club On a Sub 20 (talk) 16:52, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

WP:TWL American National Biography paywall

Hello! I'm attempting to access American National Biography through The Wikipedia Library; however, it still appears that most of the articles are still paywalled. Would anyone be interested in confirming this as well? Thanks so much! Silikonz💬 20:45, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

@Silikonz Hi there! If you don't receive a response here, you might want to ask at Wikipedia talk:The Wikipedia Library. Happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 02:42, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

@Silikonz: I can at least confirm that I'm having the same issue. As an example, I can no longer access the biography entry on Ranger, Joseph (1760?–?), which I was able to read using TWL access back in May. GoingBatty is probably right that WT:TWL is the place to go for further support. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 03:47, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

​Thanks. That's odd. I might ask there, it seemed less active though. I'll 'cross-post' this over. Silikonz💬 17:00, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Cite error

I keep getting this error despite completely removing all the references and starting from scratch. It appears it may be because I reused a reference, but that is allowed, right? ERROR:

1. Cite error: The named reference cv was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Page: Gene Brody - Wikipedia

Any help appreciated. Academicmedia (talk) 21:27, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

There is a <ref name=cv/> in the infobox.Naraht (talk) 21:29, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Thanks, yes. That was from a previous editor, so I missed it. Thanks much. Academicmedia (talk) 21:41, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Same Name, Same University...

Cooper Union's Architecture school is named after its alumnus Irwin S. Chanin who graduated in 1915. (I have a solid reference for this) Irwin S. Chanin is notable and an article exists. Alpha Mu Sigma was founded at Cooper Union in 1914 and one of its founders is Irwin S. Chanin. (I have a solid reference for this). What documentation would be needed to add the fact that he is the founder of Alpha Mu Sigma to the article on Irwin S. Chanin and link from the Alpha Mu Sigma page. Note Cooper Union is a pretty small school (currently 800-900, don't believe it was bigger 100 years ago) and Irwin S. Chanin is a pretty unusual name. *But* the same rules should apply if this was two John T Smiths attending Ohio State right? Note, I've contacted Cooper Union and the best they can do is agree with both facts. Ideas? Would a 1914 yearbook showing only one Irwin Chanin do? (not saying that is available)Naraht (talk) 21:27, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Hello, Naraht. I see that Irwin Chanin says that he founded that fraternity. That unreferenced assertion was added by another editor yesterday. I suggest that you add the reference you found and stop worrying about whether or not there were two people of the same name at Cooper Union at the same time. That being said, such errors have happened before. Read the comments I wrote at Talk:Frederick Meyer 12 years ago. Cullen328 (talk) 22:51, 9 December 2022 (UTC)