Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2022 September 29

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September 29[edit]

notability tag[edit]

Hello, the page I created Linda Mitchell has been marked with notability tag. I have added more links and references - and left a note to the author who had tagged it. No response as yet, and I am wondering how do I ask for a review?

Thanks in advance !!

Tirutirutiru (talk) — Preceding undated comment added 07:13, 4 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Reference number 35 should have the quote written the correct way. Can you please do this? We cannot. Sorry and thanks 175.38.42.62 (talk) 02:02, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi IP 175! Could you give us some more specifics? I see you added a citation with a quote. The quote looks like an accurate duplication of the source's text. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 02:19, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
The source (number 35) is the exact same as number 42 - maybe the quote is OK as you seem to suggest - but surely these two refs should be doubled up and we leave the quote in? 175.38.42.62 (talk) 02:35, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Good point! You can see how I fixed it here, and the steps for doing so are listed at WP:REFNAME. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 02:42, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Article Draft declined[edit]

My first draft was declined for sounding too promotional and for not having enough supporting resources — Preceding unsigned comment added by Afomaa (talkcontribs) 08:08, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Correct. Do you have a question? You have been given sound advice on your talk page. Shantavira|feed me 09:59, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Afomaa Yes, the "Encyclopedic style" requires that facts are presented neutrally, even in a dry tone, instead of showing praise for the subject of the article. David10244 (talk) 04:30, 2 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Copyright[edit]

I am searching for various quotes and want to know if they are copyright for use in school text books please. 197.89.115.13 (talk) 09:04, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

If you mean that you want to put quotes or text from WP in school textbooks, see Wikipedia:Reusing Wikipedia content. And perhaps Wikipedia:General disclaimer. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:26, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
In a more general sense, it is normally permissible to quote short extracts from any published source in any book provided that the original author and source is duly credited. How short is short? – "it depends", and publishing companies normally have one or more employees in a Legal Department who are able to navigate the customs, procedures and laws pertaining. In certain circumstances (say, quoting a politician in a book favourable to one of their opponents), even a short quote might be objected to by the quotee (or their estate), which will at the least cause some friction, and could result in legal action and further consequences.
Textbooks – which I used to edit professionally – are, because of their educational nature, usually allowed a little more leeway than, say, a novel, but I recall on several occasions contacting an author directly (one of them was the then-Astronomer Royal, Francis Graham-Smith) to obtain their formal permission for quoting in full a passage of two or three paragraphs. If you are writing a textbook, presumably you are already working with a publisher/editor: to be on the safe side, ask them – it's part of their job to advise on and deal with such things. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.128.129 (talk) 14:10, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

British Colonial Era records and consensuses[edit]

Are British Colonial Era records and books not to be mentioned as sources in Wikipedia articles if not supported by Modern sources?

How concencuses are made in Wikipedia community and how to know if a concencus is already made on a certain topic? MrHyperForEver (talk) 10:12, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

For your first question, it depends. British colonial records might be reliable sources in certain contexts, but not in others. Probably yes for the boundaries between colonial administration entities. Maybe for general demographic data. Probably not for subtle statistics of caste self-identification. What is your use case?
Newer sources are generally preferred over older sources when reliable sources conflict, but an old scholarly paper is better than a new pop-magazine speculative article (related: Betteridge's law of headlines). TigraanClick here for my talk page ("private" contact) 12:55, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
You mean if about a certain caste's origins or statistics, it is not be cited as a source. MrHyperForEver (talk) 15:56, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@MrHyperForEver, that is generally correct. A helpful essay is this one: Caste Sources. Also, you should be aware that South Asian social groups (including castes) is an area covered by a special set of rules called "sanctions" (see General sanctions and CASTE for more info) because they have proven to be quite controversial. 199.208.172.35 (talk) 16:21, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Can Modern Pakistani and Indian government sources such as district reports and cencus reports be mentioned as a source. Is it allowed. MrHyperForEver (talk) 15:54, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@MrHyperForEver, government documents are primary sources (WP:PRIMARY) and often non-independent. They can be used, but they need to be used carefully and sparingly. Wikipedia is built around summarizing secondary sources (WP:SECONDARY) - use secondary sources as much as you can. 199.208.172.35 (talk) 17:03, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Can this book "Origins and History of Jats and Other Allied Nomadic Tribes of India: 900 B.C.-1947 A.D." be used as a source for describing different castes. MrHyperForEver (talk) 10:21, 1 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@MrHyperForEver, the place to start a discussion on whether a particular source is reliable is WP:RSN. 97.113.27.216 (talk) 14:30, 1 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

multiple user pages[edit]

how do i make multiple user pages 2006toyotacorrola (talk) 11:49, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

You shouldn't be doing that. To make user subpages simply type the user subpage you want to create into the search bar, which will popup a link to create the page. Sungodtemple (talk) 12:28, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
i mean subpages 2006toyotacorrola (talk) 13:19, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Then see the comment I put above. Sungodtemple (talk) 13:30, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
You can also put something like [[/This is a subpage]] on your user page and then follow the red link that it creates. Note the slash at the start. - X201 (talk) 13:33, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Or you can manually write the page name in the url after https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:2006toyotacorrola/ (may be tricky for certain special characters). Use any method to navigate to the non-existing page. Then you should have an option to create it. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:34, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Or use this input box:

Hope this helps, Victor Schmidt (talk) 19:14, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Setting footnote in Infobox country in ISO 3166 field (for Kosovo)[edit]

The infobox country in the article Kosovo lists XK as ISO 3166 code and .xk as proposed internet TLD. In the latter case, there is a footnote set that XK is not yet an official ISO 3166 code. This footnote logically belongs to the ISO 3166 field. However, it is not set there, as the template automatically links the "XK" entry to ISO 3166-2:XK, which then is a redirect to XK (user assigned code). You can't set the footnote there without ruining this link. But I guess there is a way for those who know how to?! --KnightMove (talk) 12:48, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Please help me ( Urgent)[edit]

Hello, someone named Storchy has recommended deleting my Wiki Page National Scholarship Portal.

Can an admin check the page and tell me the reason for this action. How can I inprove the page ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by NoworNever007 (talkcontribs) 12:59, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hello! The discussion about the reasoning to delete your page is here. You can participate in the discussion, and you can try to find what can you improve in the deletion discussion. ✠ SunDawn ✠ (contact) 13:02, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@NoworNever007: When you include numerous references using a commercial website, it’s considered spamming. Also, Wikipedia is not meant to be a directory WP:DIR to help students get scholarships. TimTempleton (talk) (cont) 13:58, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Please see Wikipedia:So your article has been nominated for deletion. Afd's are lucky not as urgent, they usally last for 7 days (sometimes even longer) unless the article meets one of the (much stricter) speedy deletion citeria or its snowing realy hard. Victor Schmidt (talk) 14:04, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Edit page and article don't agree[edit]

Looking at the page for Roque Santana Fernandes and the edit page and the article page are not the same. discovered it when I did a search for the word "ghats" and only came up with 1 instance. I have never seen this before and I am a bit baffled. Any thoughts? bobdog54 (talk) 22:14, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Bobdog54, the word only appears for me once in both modes. The article had some extensive editing today - did you view it in-between changes and therefore get different results? 199.208.172.35 (talk) 22:36, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
None of the revisions since 26 September say "ghats" more than once. What are you seeing and is it in the article view or edit page? Please always be specific in reports. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:51, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, I thought I had put that it was only in the article edit. bobdog54 (talk) 00:56, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Bobdog54: What do you mean "only in the article edit"? Don't you se "ghats" in the article view? I do, once, in Roque Santana Fernandes#Early and personal life which says: "Fernandes and his father were also involved in pilgrimage work and escorted people that came from ghats, to show their affection and respect to the pilgrims in Velliapura". Your first post sounded like you saw it more than once somewhere. Is that the problem? SAY WHAT THE PROBLEM IS!!! Otherwise you waste our time and make it very difficult to help you. ALWAYS say what the problem is when you ask for help. "not the same" is extremely vague. We aren't mind readers and we may see something different from you for various reasons. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:15, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Searching refs[edit]

Noticed a seeming network of link spammers. They're hiding the links in refs. I'd like to make sure none have gone unnoticed, how can I search through reference links? Duonaut (talk | contribs) 23:18, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Duonaut: Do you mean only refs? Special:LinkSearch shows all links. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:01, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Both instances I previously found were inside of a cite news template. Should have clarified. Duonaut (talk | contribs) 00:05, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@Duonaut: But why does it matter whether they are in refs? I don't know any feature where it makes a difference to finding them. Unless you mean you can find the page but not locate the link in the wikitext. Refs are usually defined where they are used, not where they are displayed. Windows browsers can usually search a string on the current page with Ctrl+f. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:27, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
@PrimeHunter: I was unsure whether search could find them as it returned nothing. But I assume it can search refs and thus there are none remaining based on what you're saying Duonaut (talk | contribs) 00:30, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]