Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2023 August 6

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August 6[edit]

Confirmation[edit]

Cannot seem to receive confirmation email after several tries Madelinedelon (talk) 01:52, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Madelinedelon. You do not have email access enabled on Wikipedia. You can click on your "Preferences" tab to change this. Cullen328 (talk) 06:57, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use photograph of subject serving life sentence[edit]

Hi everybody, would uploading a photograph (booking or in court) of somebody (still alive) serving a life sentence in jail (perpetuity) comply with WP:NFC ? Tyvm NAADAAN (talk) 02:56, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, NAADAAN. According to Non-free content- images, Pictures of deceased persons, in articles about that person, provided that ever obtaining a free close substitute is not reasonably likely are permitted, if all the criteria described there are met. Please note that there is no exception for living prisoners. For years, some editors argued for an exception to that policy for Kim Jong Un, since there were no freely licensed photos of him available. Those efforts never succeeded. It was impossible for ordinary photographers to approach him, it was argued. North Korea was an impenetrable hermit kingdom, it was argued. And so on. And then, in 2018 and 2019, Kim Jong Un went on a diplomatic offensive, appearing at international press conferences alongside Donald Trump, and US government photographers captured many public domain images of him. Problem suddenly solved. Be patient. Cullen328 (talk) 06:51, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
That's what I assumed. Thank you! NAADAAN (talk) 17:46, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Looks like a big mess[edit]

.... 0mtwb9gd5wx (talk) 05:26, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
0mtwb9gd5wx, that editor has been blocked for two days for disruptive editing. Cullen328 (talk) 06:54, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

close my account[edit]

Please close my account Cthessen (talk) 05:45, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Cthessen. There is no way to close an account, because every edit you make must be attributed properly for legal reasons. If you never want to edit Wikipedia again, then simply log out of your account, never log in again, and forget about it. Cullen328 (talk) 06:32, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
See WP:VANISH.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 07:01, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Fix the Maurice Dantin[edit]

Can you fix the story book about Maurice Dantin? I put put in his birthday. 108.21.67.83 (talk) 07:50, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia has an article about Maurice Dantin. You have added what you say is his birthday. What is your reliable source for this, and what "story book" are you talking about? -- Hoary (talk) 07:59, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The DoB is (now) referenced in the Lede to what appears to be a reliable source. The only 'problem' I see is that the entry in the Infobox (with the same date) is displaying his current age immediately after the DoB, which seems inappropriate for someone who has been dead for 11 years. I'm not sure how the code works, so I'll leave it to someone who does to decide if this should be deleted. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.140.169 (talk) 12:46, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
 Done fixed the formatting. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 14:32, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
I see what you did there :-), and I'll try to remember it next time this comes up. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.140.169 (talk) 11:46, 7 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Fix 1998 in Greece[edit]

Can you fix the reference for Adjutant of the Hellenic Navy Demetrios Tsailas? He is serving for the President of the Hellenic Republic Constantinos Stephanopoulos (1998-2002). 108.21.67.83 (talk) 08:10, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Every article has a talk page. Please go to the talk page of the article in question, and at the foot of the talk page, make your suggestion, of course backing it up with a reliable source. -- Hoary (talk) 08:17, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Bethany (given name)[edit]

The name meaning for Bethany is incorrect and keeps being changed back to the incorrect meaning. 2607:9880:4218:73:69B7:CCAC:791E:D1A (talk) 12:07, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

 Courtesy link: Bethany (given name)
Indeed the name is incorrect, according to the citation in the first paragraph, and your attempts to correct it have been reverted by FenrisAureus, most likely in good faith albeit mistakenly. They may wish to reinstate your correction to reflect that the source suggests the meaning is "house of affliction" or "house of figs". Bazza (talk) 12:28, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
It's really complicated. See Bethany#Bethany. Not sure how to put this into Bethany (given name) -Arch dude (talk) 16:22, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The message starting this thread seems to assume that a particular given name has a particular meaning. I don't understand the reasoning for this. Even if a name has an undisputed etymology, why should the meaning of the etymon determine the meaning (if any) of the derivative? Also, the article in question cites a single website, behindthename.com, on which see this discussion. -- Hoary (talk) 22:31, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Apologies, fellow traveler! It appears I have made a mistake. I've retracted the warning on your page. No comment on the veracity of the source, but you'll have no issues from me if you reinstate the edit. — FenrisAureus (she/they) (talk) 04:43, 7 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Infobox question[edit]

Hello guys! Sorry if this is an obvious question, but I have a question on what type of infobox to add to William R. Steiger. From what the article tells me, he is some sort of government official, but I can't find any wikipedia articles for the government positions he held and I can't tell from other articles about people who held the same office which type of infobox to use. Does the nature of his job merit an officeholder infobox or should I use a standard biographical infobox? ❤HistoryTheorist❤ 22:20, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, HistoryTheorist. I would suggest the generic Template:Infobox person. Cullen328 (talk) 22:28, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

how do i make a new article?[edit]

how do i make a new article? P4592 (talk) 23:30, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

In essence you are asking "how do I build a house" without knowing anything about purchasing land, permitting, architecture, electrical work, framing, and so on. Writing a new article is the most difficult task to perform on Wikipedia, and it's good to first gain experience and knowledge by editing existing articles to get a feel for how Wikipedia works and what is expected of article content. You may also use the new user tutorial. However, if you still wish to proceed, please read Your First Article and use Articles for creation to create and submit a draft. You will want to first gather independent reliable sources that give your topic significant coverage. 331dot (talk) 23:36, 6 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Following this analogy, the foundation of the "house" (the Wikipedia article, that is), is a list of published, reliable sources that are independent of your topic, and that devote significant coverage to the topic. Once you have found such sources, writing an acceptable article is a straightforward proposition. Without finding such sources, it is simply not possible to write an acceptable article. Cullen328 (talk) 00:15, 7 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]