Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2023 December 31

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December 31

DEFAULTSORT

I'm seeing examples with all-caps (e.g. "The Tortoise And The Hare") and normal capitalization. It doesn't say anything about it in the documentation, but I'm guessing that it should be all-caps? Clarityfiend (talk) 01:50, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@Clarityfiend: All caps would be "THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE" (don't do that). Sorting is case-insensitive so it doesn't matter whether the first letter of a word is capitalized. Many old DEFAULTSORT were made before it became case-insensitive. Back then it was common to capitalize all words. Some old editors still do that but I suggest to use casing like in article titles. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:40, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

You can see from the example what I meant. But good to know it's case insensitive. Clarityfiend (talk) 03:12, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Clarityfiend, you could check MOS:CAPS if you want detailed guidance on capitalisation in general. TSventon (talk) 10:23, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Korowa Anglican Girls' School

Ref number 8 is in red - I cannot fix it - please repair if you can. Thanks 175.38.42.62 (talk) 03:34, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

It wasn't fixed because the reference style - cite journal - was in error. The pdf is not from a journal or a magazine, it is simply an online publication of the school so I amended the past cite journal to be a cite web and that took care of the red linking issue. Shearonink (talk) 03:51, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Biography

I am looking for a biography by name. I know there is a Wikipedia bio, but it does not appear under the name 98.183.53.24 (talk) 03:41, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

It would help anyone answer your question if you spelled the name out... Shearonink (talk) 03:45, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

People are using Wikipedia for mere purpose of linkbuilding?

I have heard that people are become contributors on Wikipedia just to link back to their websites and they don't have any intention of contributing to the Wikipedia and its community. How can we prevent people from stuffing commercial content and links on Wikipedia? How do we identify a commercially motivation citation or commercially motivated page creation or editing ? As I am new to this, I am unable to figure this out, need help from the community. Yashrajkarthike (talk) 04:56, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@Yashrajkarthike: This has been going on for about 20 years. We have mechanisms to resist and largely eliminate the results of such activity. This includes some active editor communities. See WP:SPAM and WP:LINKSPAM as examples. This garbage does not remain on Wikipedia very long.-Arch dude (talk) 05:43, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Yashrajkarthike, Wikipedia administrators routinely block editors who are here to promote or advertise or spam. I am an administrator and I have blocked 9346 accounts, and roughly 2/3 were blocked for spam/promotion. Cullen328 (talk) 06:53, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@Yashrajkarthike: Link spammers are often more interested in better PageRank at Google than in getting clicks from the actual link. For many years we have automatically added nofollow to all external links so spammers get no PageRank here. We also have various tools to deal with the spam links people still try to add. Some of them are blocked by filters so the spammer isn't even able to save the link. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:22, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

user page

how to add a archive search on a user talk MAL MALDIVE (talk) 05:53, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

answer?? MAL MALDIVE (talk) 06:46, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Hello, MAL MALDIVE. Please read Help:Archiving a talk page. As for expecting a rapid answer, you are dealing with volunteers during a holiday weekend. Cullen328 (talk) 06:57, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Plus, it is the middle of the night in areas where most Teahouse hosts Help Desk volunteers live. Cullen328 (talk) 06:58, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

This isn't the Teahouse. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 07:46, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

thanks MAL MALDIVE (talk) 07:23, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

diplay title

CAN SOMEONE FIX MY USER PAGE DISPLAY TITLE ITS NOT SHOWING UP MAL MALDIVE (talk) 09:59, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@MAL MALDIVE: Please turn off caps lock, it is generally considered shouting. The Displaytitle of User:MAL MALDIVE is invalid as it does not canonalizes to "User:MAL MALDIVE". Possible alternatives would be {{DISPLAYTITLE:<span style="color:#AAA9AD; font-weight:bold; font-family:Brush Script MT;">User:MAL MALDIVE</span>}} (User:MAL MALDIVE) or {{DISPLAYTITLE:User:<span style="color:#AAA9AD; font-weight:bold; font-family:Brush Script MT;">MAL MALDIVE</span>}} (User:MAL MALDIVE). Victor Schmidt (talk) 10:19, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

thanks MAL MALDIVE (talk) 15:38, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

How to Create New Article on Wikipedia

MAtharraza92 (talk) 10:24, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@Atharraza92: Hello! Please read Wikipedia:Your first article. Deltaspace⁴² (talk • contribs) 10:31, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Hello, Atharraza92. If you were starting to learn engineering, would you make your first project to build a car from scratch? If you took up a musical instrument, would you arrange a public recital as the first thing you did? No, you would practise on less demanding projects while you learnt the craft.

I would very strongly advise you that you will save yourself a great deal of frustration and disappointment if you forget about creating a new article for several months, while you gradually learn about how Wikipedia works (and most particularly about reliable sources and verifiability) by making improvements to existing articles. ColinFine (talk) 11:58, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

When you're learning church bell ringing, every practice night is a public performance – half a city can hear powerful bells. :-o Martin of Sheffield (talk) 13:58, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Can’t log in

I can’t log in and I click forgot password and enter my email address, I get no email from Wikipedia. Tried several times. 217.155.11.48 (talk) 16:52, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

If your email is not working to recover your password, your access to the account is unfortunately lost and you will need to create a new account. You can identify it as a successor to your old account("I'm User5678, I was previously User1234 but lost access"). 331dot (talk) 16:57, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Check your junk mail folder, though. 331dot (talk) 16:58, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Hard to say for sure, but it would have to be the right email address. If you have more than one email address, try the others.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 16:58, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Vandalism help request from Ian Young

I have noticed some vandalism at A9 road (Scotland). Namely, the latest addition by "Tedermeatballs" seems implausible on its face ("the freemasons" do not, I think, have a reputation as civil engineers). Although obviously I can't say for sure that this is false, their previous four edits (to the page on Leon King, reverted by themselves) seem to indicate a tendency to insert nonsense for the fun of it so I think just a "citation needed" isn't enough. Would an editor please assist me with fixing it? Thank you, iay (talk) 18:24, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@Ian Young: Hello! I've just reverted their edit and warned them on the talk page about addition of unsourced statements. When you come across edits like this (dubious, unsourced and without an adequate explanation), just be bold, revert them and write to the editor on their talk page. At worst case, they will just revert it back and explain why they did that change. Deltaspace⁴² (talk • contribs) 18:32, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Uploading a radio recording to commons

Hi, I recently recorded the last broadcast of DR Langbølge wanted to upload it onto commons either as Public Domain or CC-BY (just want attribution).
This was the last longwave transmitter that was commercial in Scandinavia.
When I tried to upload it, it threw this warning saying it's not allowed to upload .mp3 to commons. This is a historical recording, recorded on own equipment in Norway.
Is it okay to post it on commons I can just remove the music, by trimming it to 30mins and until the last interval signal is broadcast.
Cheers and a happy New Year Koltinn (talk) 18:45, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

You'll need to ask at c:COM:Village pump. But unless you have a positive reason to assert that it is either WP:PD or WP:CC-BY-SA, Commons won't accept it. Also, C:COM:File types#MP3 says Commons currently only accepts MP3 uploads by users with Autopatrol or higher rights, due to concerns about the capacity of the community to monitor for copyright violations. ColinFine (talk) 18:52, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Ok, I'll go and ask over there, thanks. Koltinn (talk) 19:03, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

It does not seem like the audio would be free for you to upload based on what you've said so far. Just because its previous vendor is defunct does not put it into the public domain—though of course I am unfamiliar with the particulars of IP law in Denmark. Remsense留 18:53, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Hello, Koltinn. The content of a radio broadcast is normally considered to be protected by copyright. What leads you to believe that this particular radio show is not protected by copyright? If the broadcast is in the public domain, then you have no right to attribution. If it has been freely licensed, then only the copyright holder has the right to attribution. Please clarify. Cullen328 (talk) 18:58, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

I could also ask them (DR) too if they think it's okay. Koltinn (talk) 19:39, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

You would be required to do so. All else being equal, they are the owners of the copyright for the broadcast, and would have to sign off on freely licensing it for upload to Commons, which would irrevocably allow for its further use under a free license. Remsense留 19:41, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Hire someone to write

Can I hire someone to write my page for me? I really need to get one done asap. Is there a list of people I can choose from? Thank you for any help you can provide.  :-) MrMarkSamuels (talk) 19:59, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Hi @MrMarkSamuels. You do not have a "page": any article about you would not be owned by you. I would recommend reading Wikipedia:An article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing.

Wikipedia does not offer paid-editing services. We are all volunteers. There are private companies out there who do offer this service, but they are absolutely not endorsed by Wikipedia and often scam clients out of their money. I would not recommend this.

Please note there are no deadlines on Wikipedia. Why do you think you need an article about yourself written as soon as possible? Qcne (talk) 20:07, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Note: this user had already asked similar question here: Wikipedia:Help_desk/Archives/2021_August_27#Creating_a_new_page. Deltaspace⁴² (talk • contribs) 20:08, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

If you are in fact notable (more notable, for example, than the recently-deceased British horror writer Mark Samuels, an article about whom was deleted), somebody without being bribed or suborned will decide to create an article about you, over which you will of course have no control. There are no circumstances under which such an article needs to be done ASAP. Can you give us a hint as to why you believe you, Mr. Mark Samuels, are notable, in context of a planet of almost eight billion living human beings and billions more already departed? --Orange Mike | Talk 21:54, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

MrMarkSamuels, please be aware that a very large percentage of paid "Wikipedia editors" who advertise online are con artists. Be very cautious and do not get scammed. Cullen328 (talk) 22:09, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

And if they do provide the service you pay for, there is no assurance that it will not soon be undone or changed beyond recognition. —Tamfang (talk) 23:22, 3 January 2024 (UTC)

unable to correct an error

I cannot read those capchas(sic). Therefore, I am unable to correct an error.

Someone posted; "The James L. Key Elementary School was named for the late mayor in 1963." That's incorrect. The children in my family attended this school in the 1940s and the early 1950s.

 "By 1923, the Atlanta Consitution reported that the new cornerstone was laid for the construction of the new Fraser Street school; the new school would be named as James L. Key school.  By 1962, James L. Key would be converted into a school for Negro children." Rachal Grizzle (talk) 21:39, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

 Courtesy link: James L. Key ayakanaa ( t · c ) 21:55, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

What is the source of the passage you have quoted above? It's important to know whether or not it is what Wikipedia regards as a reliable source. ColinFine (talk) 22:44, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Sorry, replied to the wrong editor. Rachal Grizzle, what is the source? --ColinFine (talk) 22:45, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@ColinFine: I searched Google for "construction of the new Fraser Street school;" and found the source below. GoingBatty (talk) 22:48, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

(edit conflict) @Rachal Grizzle: It seems the James L. Key article does not have a source for the 1963 claim (unless it's buried in the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum source). It seems the quote you provided was from this source, which doesn't make it clear when the school was named. The best place to discuss this is the article's talk page - Talk:James L. Key - along with the source you've found.

Also, you can edit without logging in, thus avoiding the captchas. Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 22:47, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

The unreliable linked source's source appears to have been "Fraser Street School Cornerstone Laying Exercises Postponed". The Atlanta Constitution (1881–1945). 13 April 1923. I'll see if we have TWL access. Folly Mox (talk) 22:51, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Indeed. Page 6, no byline. Folly Mox (talk) 22:55, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@GoingBatty: I think you meant something like "Also, you can request an account and after four days and 10 edits that don't require a chapta you'll never see a chapta on the english Wikipedia again (provided that you always log in)"? I think I missed something when you can avoid chaptas by logging out. Victor Schmidt (talk) 15:04, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

@Victor Schmidt: No, I meant you won't have to fill out a CAPTCHA if you're not logged in, but I was wrong. Special:Captcha lists three instances when you might have to complete a CAPTCHA - two of which are related to having an account. I'm surprised Wikipedia:Why create an account? doesn't mention CAPTCHAs. GoingBatty (talk) 15:23, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

Name of page that does scripts review

Hello! Maybe I dreamed it, but I remember some page in the WP namesapce that reviews scripts which are posted to its subpages. I remember it having about 3 reviews. Any idea where it is? Aaron Liu (talk) 23:39, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

@Aaron Liu: Hello! What do you mean by scripts? Userscripts like HotCat or templates? Deltaspace⁴² (talk • contribs) 23:45, 31 December 2023 (UTC)

Yep, userscripts. I could've sworn I put that in my topic... Aaron Liu (talk) 23:56, 31 December 2023 (UTC)