Help desk
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February 25

How do I archive a source?

Could someone direct me to a FAQ or instructions for how to archive web sources for references? (Sorry, this seems like something I should be able to find but searching for "archive" gets way too many hits.) Much appreciation. – Reidgreg (talk) 00:09, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

You'll find useful advice at WP:Link rot, at WP:Using WebCite, and at Help:Using the Wayback Machine. --David Biddulph (talk) 00:33, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

You might also look at Using Archive.is. I use Archive.is when Wayback Machine isn't working properly. Eddie Blick (talk) 01:06, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

This page offers some additional options for archiving pages. (When I posted the previous note last night, I couldn't remember where I had saved the link to the page.) I have not tried any of them other than Wayback Machine and Archive.is, so I can't vouch for the others. Eddie Blick (talk) 01:36, 26 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

How can I stop someone from removing information I put up?

Hi Wikipedia.

I keep putting information up on a page about an organization that I am a member of. The information I have put in it completely valid and true. I have confirmation and permission from the founder of the organization, but people keep removing the content! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 165.255.101.96 (talk) 06:56, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, you post large among of materials from this source to Luciferianism article, such as like this edit, that is copyright violations did you know? SA 13 Bro (talk) 07:10, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, if you have any relationships to the founder of the organization, you may have WP:COI, so please be knowledgeable the policy guidelines on that. SA 13 Bro (talk) 07:41, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, IP user. The short answer to your question is, You don't: whoever you are, and whatever the subject, nobody owns a Wikipedia article. The slightly longer answer is that if somebody reverts an edit you make, and you want to take the matter further, your next step is to open a discussion on the article's talk page, not to apply your edit again: see BRD. A fuller answer in a case like this is that, while Wikipedia is keen that all articles are accurate according to what is said in reliable published sources, it is not interest at all in how the subject of an article wants to be portrayed. If you think that an article relating to your organisation needs a change, you should suggest the change, citing a reliable published source, on the article's talk page. Text from the organisation's website, even if the copyright issues can be sorted (which normally requires that the organisation release it under a licence that allows anybody to reuse it for any purpose) is rarely appropriate for a Wikipedia article, because it is usually not neutral, and not encyclopaedic, in tone. This is entirely proper on the organisation's website, but not acceptable in Wikipedia. --ColinFine (talk) 23:06, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

user script disables all wp javascript, even the editor

I tried installing a user script in a new common.js, according to the instructions. My common.js had the line

importScript( 'User:Thespaceface/MetricFirst.js' ); // Backlink: User:Thespaceface/MetricFirst.js

This script worked as intended, but lots, if not all, of javascript in wikipedia stopped working. The edit page editor appears to use javascript in the code text area, which no longer accepted input, so I couldn't fix it. As I'd just created the page, I couldn't revert it. Stuck. Trapped.

Eventually, I tried the "Mobile view" link at the foot of the page, and the mobile editor let me remove the above, and javascript in wp started working again.

What did I do wrong, or is that user script in error?

Jlittlenz (talk) 08:51, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Jlittlenz, I just tried it to see if I could tell what the problem was, but it worked fine for me (at least looking at the test at the top of User:Thespaceface/MetricFirst). I tried in Firefox, Chrome, IE and Edge and all fine. Sorry can't be of more help. Cheers KylieTastic (talk) 19:40, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Can you report what you see using Wikipedia:Reporting_JavaScript_errors? Ruslik_Zero 20:09, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Adding References or Notes section

If I am the first editor to add inline citations to the article or refer the source books what name should be right to use for this section? I usually use ==References== with template Reflist where inline citations will appear, but in some articles I see name "Notes" used for this purpose. Can somebody explain what are the general rule for this, for example - Notes we use for, References we use for and External sources or External links are used for...Lyupant (talk) 12:16, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Lyupant, I'm sure there used to be a fuller explanation but all I can find now is Wikipedia:Inline citation#References/Notes_section. Cheers KylieTastic (talk) 19:25, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Jon van Eerd

dear moderator, some time ago we submitted an article on dutch actor and playwright jon van eerd this was for reasons unclear to us not accepted. we hadn't had the time yet to properly meet with your requests.

but the real reason we are writing you, and we have no other way of contacting you, is that we were approached by someone who is called (Redacted) who offered to rewrite and submit the article in such a way that it would actually be placed in wikipedia. it was a kind offer with no strings attached. it became clear to us that it was a highly misleading and brutal email when the next came stating we would be charged $200 for doing it. there had been no mention of this, and since wikipedia prouds itself as a free encyclopedia we realized it was a scam. the email address that was used is (Redacted) we have written an email to her/him saying that we would report this to you. we also warned that we would proceed and take legal action should this harassment continue. we hope you appreciate this information. and we will proceed with perfecting our own contribution as soon as possible. thank you. ruth taling (pa to jon van eerd) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aletereen (talk • contribs) 15:00, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Ruth. As I expect you know, we are all volunteers here, so we tend to dislike the concept of paid editing, though it is not entirely forbidden. Wikipedia is a co-operative project, and there are no moderators, only administrators who deal with problem editors and vandals. Thank you for letting us know about the scam, but there is nothing we can do except look out for any contributions from this editor. You will need to read WP:Referencing for beginners, WP:COI and our policy on paid editing (assuming that you are paid by the subject of the article) before you continue. The Dutch Wikipedia cannot be used as a reference. I haven't checked whether Jon van Eerd meets our criteria for WP:Notability. By the way, please don't write in block capitals, and your threat of legal action has nothing to do with Wikipedia, so please don't mention it here. Best wishes from the UK. Dbfirs 15:50, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I have changed the all uppercase original post to lowercase. Apparently we have a parser for that. --Majora (talk) 19:58, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Images in tables

Is there a way of keeping all the elements in a column the same size, even when some contan images and others don't?—a kind of invisible placeholder, perhaps. Many thanks as ever. Happy remainder of the weekend! >SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 17:02, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

What do you mean by elements? Is it just cells? If it's cells then do you mean the same height? See Help:Table#Width, height for a possible approximation. I don't know a way to ensure all rows have exactly the same height, apart from specifying a height you are sure is larger than the highest content of any cell. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:41, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Your latter point might do it, PrimeHunter, many thanks for your help! ...SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 08:56, 27 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I have been accused of making edits I didn't make!

Three individuals have indicated that my IP address was used to make malicious edits. However, those edits could not have come from my computer as I'm the only one who has access to it. Please could someone kindly explain what could be going on?

Apologies if this is not quite the correct forum for this question.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.187.163.27 (talk) 17:06, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hi 86. I see you are on a dynamic IP, so perhaps that wasn't you on this address a week ago? As the messages all say, though, did not make the edits, consider creating an account for yourself...so you can avoid further irrelevant notices—that would settle it once and for all! Take care, >SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 17:14, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The message was left for your IP address at the time, which was being used by some other customer of BT. Next week someone else will probably be assigned this address, and you will have a different address. I have the same problem with BT. This problem can be solved by creating an account as suggested. Dbfirs 17:32, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Help with broken link in infobox

Towards the bottom of the infobox at the top of Israeli legislative election, 2015 usefully includes a wikilink to the full election results, with the word "below" linked. Unfortunately, that links to our main page. I can't find the broken detail in the article or in the template (I'm not great with templates or anything too technical). Can anyone help? The link should be to Israeli legislative election, 2015#Results --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 17:20, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Dweller: Oddly, they all seem to do that! >SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 17:30, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Missing parameter from the infobox call, cure in this edit. --David Biddulph (talk) 17:32, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I've fixed the other ones listed by SN54129. But there may be quite a few other ones since this particular Infobox template is linked to 177 pages. Not too many, but someone may want to run a bot to fix. Alex Shih (talk) 17:37, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I have fixed the template [1] so articles don't need fixes. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:41, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@PrimeHunter: While yer there, do you happen to anything about tablesa and their elements...? ;) ^^^ >SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 17:43, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Uuugh :) clearly not :) >SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 18:16, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

What are you referring to? PrimeHunter (talk) 20:02, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

S'alright PrimeHunter I just missed you; I wondered if you knew anyting about this...? ...SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 20:10, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks all --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 12:52, 26 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Referencing an image from the Portuguese Wiki

Hello:

I'm building a page in English and want to reference this image on the Portuguese Wikipedia.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pt/2/2c/Gilberto_Gil_-_Ra%C3%A7a_Humana.jpeg

How do I reference that in my code so the image shows up on my page that I'm creating? I am currently unable to do a cross search and embed that image.

Thanks Matt — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zé Luis Oliveira (talk • contribs) 18:12, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Zé Luis Oliveira , you can only use images hosted either on the local language, or images from Wikimedia Commons. So you can not use the Portuguese Wikipedia directly. If copyright allowed it could be moved to commons, or a copy added on English Wikipedia. Cheers KylieTastic (talk) 18:31, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Zé Luis Oliveira as the image appears to be an album cover pt:Raça Humana (álbum) the image would have to be uploaded here locally as Wikipedia:Non-free content - use the Wikipedia:File Upload Wizard (Upload file link on the left hand menu) and fill in the details for NFC content. Cheers KylieTastic (talk) 18:36, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Policy/Guidelines on historical articles

Is there a Policy or Guideline on the structure of a historical article? Thank you. Τζερόνυμο (talk) 19:39, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Τζερόνυμο: Not specifically, No; is there anything you're particularly working on? ...SerialNumber54129^{...speculates} 20:01, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

This question is a little to vague to provide a good answer. What is the subject area? “History” covers an awful lot of territory. Beeblebrox (talk) 20:00, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Take a look at WP:MOS for general guidance. We have very little guidance for the details of structure of articles of any type, except that the lede (WP:LEDE) should be present and should present a concise summary of the article. The lack of guidance is, I think, somewhat deliberate, and at the least is consistent with our "no rules" (WP:NORULES) policy. If you are uncomfortable with creating an article without structural guidance, I suggest you read a few articles of the general type you are thinking about, decide which ones have structure that you think is effective, and use one as a starting point for your structure. -Arch dude (talk) 03:43, 26 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you all for your anwsers. ...SerialNumber you are right, my question was a little vague, let me be more specific: When I am writing an article (or editing a stub) about a long term struggle (3-10 years of war or guerrilla like WW II, Algerian War etc), which format should my article have? Should it include the prelude or causes of the war? At the end, should it include "conclusion"?

Or maybe an "aftermath"? Τζερόνυμο (talk) 09:16, 26 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds like Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Content guide may be what you’re looking for. Beeblebrox (talk) 01:19, 27 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Incorrect information on page 'Dharmasena Pathiraja'

This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered.

Since the death of Dr Dharmasena Pathiraja, we have seen incorrect information has been added by a person with the username 'Villimbuhal'. This person claims a certain person called Sumathy Sivamohan is a long-term partner of Dharmasena Pathiraja. This information is completely incorrect and his surviving family has confirm this. Family is still in morning of the death and what these people are doing is a vile act and has no compassion. We have removed this incorrect information many times but user 'Villimbuhal' troll the page and change the content. The research done on online presence, we believe this user Villimbuhal' can be very closely related this so called Sumathy Sivamohan. We kindly request to put a stop to any changes done to this page by user 'Villimbuhal' or take this page out completely. Thank you for your kind consideration.

I have removed the sentence that mentioned Sivamohan. It was unreferenced, and did not relate to the body of the article. Maproom (talk) 21:10, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

one of Holland's best musicians imho

Hello,

one of the things that keep me wondering is when does someone have accumulated enough attention to be included in the wikipedia.

One of the best musicians in the Netherlands -my birth place- is Walter Latupeirissa, who has worked with Dana Fuchs, Walter Trout, Snowy White and many other internationally acclaimed artists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=walter+latupeirissa&title=Special:Search&profile=default&fulltext=1&searchToken=9l5b8t0u3uty9mkgsobluyuhk

are some results when you search him here.

What is the criterium of writing an article about an artist?

-which in essence is similar to the question 'is wikipedia only about the rich and famous, and fuck the rest of us' which is the attitude that prevails here imho.

regards, Bas— Preceding unsigned comment added by Basvossen (talk • contribs) 25 February 2018 23:18 (UTC)

Well, I was going to say that if Latupeirissa was notable enough, you could use the article at nl.wikipedia.org to create it here, but he doesn't appear to have an article there either! Regardless, the criteria for notability of musicians is at WP:MUSICBIO. Thanks, Black Kite (talk) 23:28, 25 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]