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Getting permission to use photo

I'm creating pages for authors (most of whom are still alive) and trying to figure out the best way to get a photo for the articles. I've read the available policy and know that I can't just use a photo available online or even from press packs from their publishers. But I could potentially contact the authors directly (I don't know most of them personally, but I probably know someone who knows someone who knows them). So I could ask them to send me a personal photo that they're willing to release the rights to.

Is this a good way of getting a usable photo?

(Note: I know the "best" way of getting a photo would probably be asking them to themselves upload a personal photo to WikiCommons, but we're talking about people outside the US with limited English and some of them are older as well -- pretty safe to say they would not be comfortable doing that.)

Thanks! Larapsodia (talk) 19:23, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Larapsodia. The best way is for you to take the photographs yourself and upload them to Wikimedia Commons. Another option is go have a younger, more "tech savvy" friend or relative of each subject take the photo and do the upload. Photos taken previously must be handled with great care and permission must be granted by the copyright holder. Please read Requesting copyright permission and Donating copyrighted materials for complete details. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 19:46, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

My page

@cullen328 I am a small artist and am not very well known, how can i get an citation/referance? Noodlebomberplays (talk) 17:13, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Noodlebomberplays, if no one has written about you in any depth, then unfortunately it's not going to be possible for Wikipedia to have an article about you. I would also suggest that you have a read of Wikipedia:Autobiography, which notes that writing about yourself on Wikipedia is strongly discouraged. Cordless Larry (talk) 17:19, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

I am not Noodle Bomber, I am his fan Noodlebomberplays (talk) 17:20, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello again, Noodlebomberplays. If you are "not very well known", then you are not eligible for an encyclopedia article at this time. Please be aware that writing an autobiography is strongly discouraged. Instead, write hit songs and gain mass media attention. Then, someone else will write a Wikipedia article about you. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 17:22, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Again, I am not Noodle Bomber, I am his fan 62.68.177.136 (talk) 17:23, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

If you are not Noodle Bomber, why did you write "I am a small artist and am not very well known..." David notMD (talk) 18:12, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
And is there any relationship with blocked User:Noodlebomber? — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 20:54, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
As a result of this SPI report, both Noodlebomberplays and the IP is now blocked for sockpuppetry. theinstantmatrix (talk) 21:53, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

How to improve a long but low-quality article?

Hi. I'm considering attempting to make major improvements to the Elvis Costello article but am unsure how to approach it with regard to Wikipedia's rules and customs. It is a C-Class article that I think is poorly organized, outdated, weakly sourced (it has many cites, but the sources are often of poor quality), full of factual inaccuracies, missing significant information, and loaded with random trivia. As the definition of C-Class says: missing information and in need of better clarity, balance, and flow. All that sounds harsh, but my point is that I think the article might be beyond the point where it can be improved through incremental changes. It needs a major rewrite. I'd like to try to draft a rewrite in my sandbox, with advice from Teahouse hosts as I go, and then move the new content into the article when it's good enough. Is that an acceptable approach?

BTW, I left a message on the article's Talk page suggesting maybe paring down the article might make improvements easier and more likely, but I got no response.

Maybe I could have been more diplomatic, but I'd like to get this article at least up to a B-Class.

DrLuthersAssistant (talk) 23:09, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello, DrLuthersAssistant and welcome to the Teahouse.
  • First of all I advise you not to pay too much attention to article ratings below GA. They have no defined process, and are largely subjective. Nor is there any particular schedule on which articles are reassessed. Try to improve the article without worrying much about what rating it has or might achieve.
  • Secondly, you may draft such a rewrite if you like, although how much detailed advice you will get from the hosts here I can't say. Were you planning to do a cut&paste replacement with your draft when it is ready? That could be done, but would lose the draft's history. This is OK if you are the only editor, but not if others have work3ed with you on it. An admin (such as myself) could move the draft over the existing article and do a history merge, if you ask. Do announce such plans at the article talk page.
  • You might want to draft only a part of the article at a time, and do a sizable but less than total replacement, instead.
  • I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of response so far on the article talk page. it does not seem to be a very active page, the last post previous to yours was in November 2017.
I hope these thoughts are helpful. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 23:45, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

DES, Thanks, this is all helpful. DrLuthersAssistant (talk) 03:22, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello, DrLuthersAssistant. I just finished reading Elvis Costello. I agree that the article can be improved as can the vast majority of our 5.6 million articles, but I disagree with your harsh assessment. Even more so, I disagree with your proposal to abandon the current version and substitute a complete rewrite. Over 600 editors have helped write that article in the past 14 years. Abandoning that work would be an insult to those 600 editors. In my opinion, the article provides a good overview of Costello's life and career. Nobody cares about the B or C rating. I could rate it B on a whim if I wanted to. The only ratings that matter are GA and FA. No, the article is not so poor that incremental changes are insufficient. Many well-referenced incremental changes are precisely what it needs. If you see a bad reference, explain why, and replace it with a better reference. If you see an inaccuracy, remove it, citing a current or new reference. Focus first on factual errors. Then improve the referencing. The article will then have a stronger backbone. Now, post a detailed critique of the structure and style of the article on the talk page. Engage with the still-active editors who have contributed the most over the years, and gain consensus for your proposed changes. Gradually improve the structure and style. Your goal should be a Good article rating. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 04:13, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
In my own area of interest (nutrition and dietary supplements) I have found article rife with error, repetition, weak referencing, etc. Rather than trying to tackle entire articles at once, I have moved sections into my sandbox, revised there, then replaced the original. When doing this, I have created a new section in the articles' Talk to explain why. My advice is focus on factual inaccuracies and readability, but leave the "random trivia" (your words) alone. Someone else thought that content important enough to add, so be be cautious in acting on your opinions on what are useful contributions. David notMD (talk) 11:19, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
P.S. They way to indent your replies is with one or more ":" rather than leaving a blank space at the beginning of your response. The later creates indented quotation style. David notMD (talk) 11:21, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
Hello David notMD. (talk) Thank you, this is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I will take your (and DES's) advice and take a more incremental approach, one section at a time. BTW, my goal is to get the article to a GA rating, if possible. I didn't realize there wasn't any real half-step on the way that meant anything. Thanks again. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DrLuthersAssistant (talk • contribs) 22:34, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Why are you all bullying my son?

This is likely block evasion per WP:BROTHER. I would strongly suggest WP:DENY moving forward. Mz7 (talk) 00:42, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.


Hi, I’m Brendan’s mother and I just wanted to tell you a little about him. He joined Wikipedia just wanting to be like everyone he looks up to here. All he’s talked about for the last week was becoming an administrator and all the nice people at the “teahouse.” It was the only thing that brightened him up, even more than visits from his friends. He was very upset last night and he told me about how he was being treated here. I was shocked and saddened by the things I heard, and I don’t understand how anyone could treat him that way with everything he’s going through. So I came here hoping to find some explanation for why everyone is being so cruel to him? - Cathy — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.198.182.107 (talk) 23:06, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello there and Sorry to hear about your Son's Condition. Right now he is blocked for 31 hours due to vandalism. After the block he will get another chance to edit constructively again. We are not trying to bully him here, He's only blocked for Vandalism. Thank You. Thegooduser Let's Chat 23:10, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

He only wanted to be an administrator like you and you blocked him? It was the most important thing in the world to him, and you blocked him for vandalism? Brendan is not a vandal and he has never vandalized anything in his life. This is unbelievable. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.198.182.107 (talk) 23:15, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

I am not an admin. Thegooduser Let's Chat 23:19, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

That still doesn’t explain why you accused my son of vandalism and blocked him. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.198.182.107 (talk) 23:21, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

You can look Here for more information. Thank You. Thegooduser Let's Chat 23:24, 28 April 2018 (UTC)

Why isn't there a "Men in Red" movement on Wikipedia

I am a regular contributor to the monthly "Women in Red" edit-a-thons, and I am all out for alleviating gender bias on wikipedia through addition of more women-centric articles on Wikipedia. However, I think it is only fair that a similar movement, agreeably shouldn't be as stern as the one for women, be promoted for men, as there are also certain areas that I have noticed that place women at an advantageous position than men. We need Wikipedia to cover that area sufficiently too.

Here is an illustrative example to show that the existence of wir movement does not translate to a forceful automatic non-existence of one for men. It has been statistically proven that articles on African subjects are some of the least represented on Wikipedia, hence we tend to have several Wikipedia-sponsored narratives and programs that are centered on encouraging editors to contribute to these areas, nonetheless WP advocacy and activities on American and British topics are still concurrently held across Wikipedia, even though geographically they are the most represented here. As it ought to be, the focus on Africa didn't stop similar programs created to increase the concentration on British and American articles.

Being from the masculine gender myself, I have noticed some men-centric topics and articles that are lacking on Wikipedia, despite meeting the notability guidelines. These is because women are more dominant in these fields, but doesn't mean the male versions shouldn't be equally significant on Wikipedia. A quick example is the Mr Nigeria, after so many years of consistent shows by the same body that does the female event, it is still yet to have a Wikipedia page, despite the show having so many past notable individuals as contestant and winners, and recently producing the first runner-up at Mr World. I recently began a research on the Draft:2018 Nigeria Women Premier League teams, to discover that only two women are head coach of NWPL teams, all the remaining managers are men, as a matter of fact we have more masculine women football advocates than feminine women football advocates in Nigeria. Same for 2017 NWPL teams. I am saying this to make everyone know that I have always loved Nigerian female football team with a passion since their early days, and this post is not intended to belittle the good work being done in improving general female topics on Wikipedia.

So my question is, why is there no "Men In Red" movement on Wikipedia?

update: Mr Nigeria now has an article, last I checked when creating an article for a former contestant Alex Ekubo, it didn't, I never knew, but my narrative still applies in other countries national male contest. HandsomeBoy (talk) 20:50, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello. Women in Red was made to fix a specific issue of systematic bias I presume. You are free to make a Men in Red movement though, and I might be able to help. Emir of Wikipedia (talk) 20:57, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
Thanks for the reply, I'll hit you up when I am ready to put something together.HandsomeBoy (talk) 16:00, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
At the risk of stating the obvious, we don't have a Men in Red program because overall we do a pretty good job covering men on Wikipedia, and the men we're lacking fall under the general category of "things we need to improve". The reason there's a program with an explicit focus on women is because folks concluded that, though we're missing many articles on men, we're disproportionately missing articles on women.
Your question is kind of like the "why doesn't the US have a White History Month"? With the answer being that the US does a reasonably good job presenting white history, but a disproportionately poor job covering black history, thus Black History Month to try to address that imbalance.
So I don't see any purpose to a Men in Red since it's basically just the same as general redlinks: things we want to eventually cover and haven't yet, but there's no institutional slant that's making us less-likely to recognize notable men on Wikipedia. MatthewVanitas (talk) 01:16, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Becoming an admin

Hey everyone. Thanks for all the replies to my first question. It sounds like the answer is no, I can’t be an admin. I was really hoping I could be one. ~S.Brendan.S~ (talk) 11:40, 27 April 2018 (UTC)

You could, in time, become an admin, ~S.Brendan.S~, if you devoted significant time and effort, but not within the limited time frame you were thinking of. However, you could surely become a creator of good-quality articles, or a person who helps improve articles to more or less high standards. Many articles can be improved to GA standard with less work than you might think, and even FA is quite doable if you want to work on it, for many topics. Or new or expanded articles can be displayed via Did you know on the main page. Any of thee will allow you to create a body of useful and memorable work. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 15:01, 27 April 2018 (UTC)
I‘m just too weak from the chemo to do any more than get on here a couple times when I’m awake. Even after stoppping the toxic drugs and switching to comfort care, I’m still very foggy for most of the day. I just won’t recover enough to make good articles. I only want to be remembered as a Wikipedia admin, but it feels like no one here cares. ~S.Brendan.S~ (talk) 03:04, 28 April 2018 (UTC)
being An admin is my last hope so i started trying to edit articles again to prove myself but I’m being undone and I’m getting warnings... its like no one wants me here anymore ~S.Brendan.S~ (talk) 04:13, 28 April 2018 (UTC)


~S.Brendan.S~ I cannot imagine your suffering, and I will keep you in my prayers. I know you want admin status, but it appears you've only made around 30 edits in 6 days. I read that typical admins have had their account for at least 6 months and have made over 3000 edits or have created many articles. Do not be overwhelmed by this. Write about small and easy topics, and also make many small edits. Start small, and then go larger. You don't need to make drastic changes, just make enough edits for someone to notice you. Eventually, you can apply (just google how to do it) and wait for a response. You can make as many applications as you want at any time, although it is preferable to keep a clean record, although your first month is a grace period for the most part. If you don't get accepted, make more edits and try again. Remember to make helpful edits, and avoid edit disputes, even if they're not your fault. I am also trying to get admin status and I wish you luck in your quest do to so. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Erfson (talk • contribs) 02:16, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Contacting an editor

I recently made an edit and it was deleted. I then received a message to contact "Kind and God" along with a link to a page that had a link to this site, but no other obvious way to contact "King and God", or leave any type of message. So am I in the right place, and if not, where do I go? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.83.219.41 (talk) 03:52, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, IP editor. Leave your message at User talk:KingAndGod. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 04:03, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Block quote

How do I do a block quote? Jenhawk777 (talk) 03:51, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Jenhawk777. You can find all of the details at the Manual of Style. The shortcut to that section is MOS:BLOCKQUOTE. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 04:08, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
Thank you--have now copied it to my user page. Jenhawk777 (talk) 04:18, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

dont delete the truth

dont delete the truth dont be another bad guy in this world the world needs too know the truth — Preceding unsigned comment added by Numonie (talk • contribs) 04:23, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

I am sorry but I have deleted your userpage, Numonie. Wikipedia is not a place for preaching or self promotion. There are plenty of social media sites for that. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 04:29, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

UserGeorgi259 can I upload photos from this site? http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Georgi259 (talk • contribs) 06:44, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

No, that website has a copyright notice at the bottom of the page, so they must be assumed, for Wikipedia purposes, to own the copyright on all the images they show. Dbfirs 06:51, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
Hello Georgi259 and welcome to the Teahouse.
In general, photos from any website that includes a copyright notice at the bottom saying "all rights reserved" CANNOT be used on Wikipedia. In fact, we cannot use any photos from any website that does not explicitly offer a Creative Commons licensing statement that's compatible with the one WP uses. Getting involved with copyright violations is toxic to Wikipedia's mission, so we have to be quite strict about this. — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 06:53, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
Actually, another user pointed out that despite the copyright notices with "all rights reserved" there is an arrangement with that particular site that some images can be re-used. The images taken by BoolywoodHungama staff at parties and press events in India have been given a sort of blanket release under a CC-BY-3.0 license. For details, see commons:Template:BollywoodHungama. — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 08:23, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
I missed that arrangement, but be very careful to check who took the pictures, and where. There is a list here of images that might be copyright elsewhere so cannot be used. Dbfirs 10:44, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Is it possible to petition to the admin?

I was wondering if I could start a petiton to the admin to rewrite BLP rules, or if all petitions are automatically ignored. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Erfson (talk • contribs) 02:01, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello, Erfson, and welcome to the Teahouse. Admins don't write the rules. They simply have certain tools to enforce them. We write the rules, the entire community of Wikipedians, including me and you. This is called consensus. If you want to change something in Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons, you can raise the issue on the talk page of that policy, here: Wikipedia talk:Biographies of living persons to see if others agree or disagree with you. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 02:09, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
Hello, Erfson. Finnusertop is absolutely correct to tell you that any changes to the BLP policy should initially be brought up at Wikipedia talk:Biographies of living persons. But you should understand that that policy has been much discussed and has wide consensus, and any major change would probably require a widely advertised RFC (Request for Comment) discussion to be accepted. Minor tweeks or refinements might be a different matter. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 13:20, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Uploading Photos

Could you tell me how to upload photos ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by James sandham (talk • contribs) 17:03, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

I suggest you start by reading User:Yunshui/Images for beginners - If that raises further questions, please ask them here - Arjayay (talk) 17:05, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Draft Review

How to submit my draft through AFC to review? — Preceding unsigned comment added by James sandham (talk • contribs) 17:23, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello there. You can submit your draft Here Thegooduser Let's Chat 17:26, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
Welcome to the Teahouse, James sandham. If you have already created the draft, you can submit it for review by adding the code {{subst:submit}} (including the curly brackets) to the top of the page. Cordless Larry (talk) 17:37, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

I corrected an template, what now?

Hey Wiki Team =)

I got this template on my article,

{{multiple issues| {{BLP sources|date=April 2018}} {{self-published|date=April 2018}} {{advert|date=April 2018}}

my questions are: - how can I respond to the volunteer, who made a post on user talk? I just want to respond. I got strange reactions, when i simply reply there in edit mode. - how can I request a deletion of the template. I am afraid of simply deleting it, because someone has to correct it before. Don't wanna risk some strikes, you know?

thanks for help, Otis

  • Hi, OtisRight. Unfortunately, having reviewed the article in full, I would deem those tags to be appropriate, and will address why individually: the article is a BLP, and as such must conform to our policy regarding biographies in terms of sourcing. Quite simply, the referencing in the article is abysmal, as the vast majority of claims are unsourced, so this tag is absolutely needed. In terms of using self-published sources, another editor identified some of the (scarce few) sources used in the article to have originated from the subject of the article. Given that this is a source - Nourida, Ateshi (2011). The Amazons of the Caucasus – the real history behind the myths. Berlin: Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. they are correct. This source is not permissible on Wikipedia. Finally, while not an overt advert, the article is promotional in tone, and seems to exhibit some qualities which are in opposition to what Wikipedia is. Ultimately, the tags are warranted, and should not be removed until the issues I have addressed are resolved. Moreover, the notability of the subject is not adequately demonstrated, and I fear that she may fail the general notability guideline. Sorry to tell you this, Stormy clouds (talk) 19:12, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
  • Note for other editors - this is the article in question. Stormy clouds (talk) 19:13, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Suggestions on citing books

Dear Wikipedia community! Thank you very much for providing a free opportunity for all of us to enhance Wikipedia's content. I am trying to write a page for a great violinist (Viktor Pikaizen) who is doubtless a notable subject, but because I'm new I'm finding difficulty with the references. I know him personally so I don't doubt all the information is true, I do realize, however, that this will not convince anybody. I have also found a book 'Conversations with Igor Oistrakh' which includes a lot of material but am having a problem: How do I quote this material? I can simply include a quote but isn't it required to have some link to online content that can be viewed? I tried Google Books but it usually only shows the first 3 results and they are too small to give enough context to demonstrate a point. Here is a sandbox draft of the article I'm writing, Thank you very much in advance! Samuel-chapkovski (talk) 19:35, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

@Samuel-chapkovski: - I know him personally sets alarm bells ringing, unfortunately. Please, if you are penning an article about this violinist, ensure that you have fully read and understood our policy regarding conflicts of interest. Aside from this, Wikipedia, as an encyclopedia, only incorporates information from reliable sources. A number of sources are required to demonstrate notability, and for a biography that threshold is higher. Your sandbox draft would not be permissible, as it lacks sufficient sources, and also has a heavy promotional tone. So, in short, in the absence of sources, and given your relationship to the subject, it is somewhat inadvisable that you write this article. Please review what Wikipedia is not, as a large amount of that policy is (sadly) applicable to your case. However, your enthusiasm is noted, and appreciated. Feel free to ask for further advice and assistance. Stormy clouds (talk) 20:18, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
Books don't have to be available on Google Books to be acceptable as sources, Samuel-chapkovski. See WP:SOURCEACCESS and Wikipedia:Offline sources on this. For instructions on how to cite sources, see Help:Referencing for beginners. Cordless Larry (talk) 20:30, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
Whoops. Apologies. Never noticed that I did not directly answer the OP's question. My bad. Thanks to our newest admin, for the catch. They are correct in this statement, and I agree that you should consult the referencing for beginners page for assistance. Stormy clouds (talk) 20:35, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Translation / Transferral of German Wikipedia article

Hello,

Is there a way to have an entry from the German wikipedia approved/transferred to the English version? https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joar_Nango. I have been trying to create a wikipedia for this artist. Although I referenced many reliable sources (similar to in the German wikipedia) my entry own was rejected. If there is a way for this wikipedia to be approved for the English version please let me know how to go about doing so.

Thank-you!

Rebecca — Preceding unsigned comment added by Reblem25 (talk • contribs) 20:04, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

There are a few things to consider here, Reblem25. First, the reason why the article wasn't approved. In this case, the draft at Draft:Joar Nango was never rejected. It looks like you simply forgot about it for a long time so it was deleted for inactivity. You can ask for it to be returned, here Wikipedia:Requests for undeletion/G13.
But if you want to create the article by translating from German instead, there are instructions here: Wikipedia:Translation#How to translate.
Please keep in mind that the article may or may not be suitable after all. That there is an article on the German Wikipedia is not a solid indication of that, because each Wikipedia edition has its own rules. The English Wikipedia tends to be stricter than the rest. But I suppose it's worth a try. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 22:02, 29 April 2018 (UTC)
Looking at this a bit more, the issue seems to be precisely the amount of sources available. If you included similar levels of sourcing that was in the German article and it was rejected, then you need to find more. If you can't find more, then there can't be an article. Reiterating what I said above: that the German Wikipedia has an article on the topic does not mean that the English Wikipedia should, because we have different (stricter) notability standards that require more sources. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 22:06, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Review of my Proposed Article

[[1]]

This is the link to my sandbox article not yet moved to the main space. I was wondering if anybody had any suggestions besides me adding pictures. It is title Physiological factors of Marathon Performence — Preceding unsigned comment added by Yacar.d (talk • contribs) 21:46, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

I see various errors of spelling, formatting, and grammar, all easily corrected. You have included a good number of references, and so avoided the most common mistake of new editors who immediately try to create an article. I wouldn't worry about pictures, they'll have no effect on whether your proposed article is accepted. I would advise you to trim all the irrelevant or unnecessary material: for instance, the second sentence is irrelevant to physiology, and there's no need to explain e.g. what "sweating" means, just make it a wikilink "sweating" so that readers who don't know what it does can look it up for themselves. Maproom (talk) 22:30, 29 April 2018 (UTC)

Kurd Mastiff (Pshdar)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kurd_mastiff_(pshdar).jpg — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mohamad137026 (talk • contribs) 08:59, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello. Why Kurd Mastiff (Pshdar)Not been registered in the world of dog breeds? While the most powerful race is among the working dogs. They are hundreds of times stronger than Turkish dogs known as Kangal.

Please register for this powerful breed that has a history of 5000 years Try to introduce this race to all people in the world Because it is very oppressed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mohamad137026 (talk • contribs) 08:54, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

@Mohamad137026: Hello and welcome to the Teahouse. This page is for asking questions about using Wikipedia, and not for general questions or for advocating for a cause. For dog breeds, you should contact the relevant organization in your country as to which breeds are registered. 331dot (talk) 08:58, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
@Mohamad137026:, assuming you are asking about your Draft:Kurd Mastiff (Pshdar), please note that Wikipedia articles should be based on multiple independent published reliable sources, not on personal knowledge or unpublished research. I suggest to read through WP:Your first article for a helpful step by step guide. A guide for referencing is available at WP:Referencing for beginners. If you need topic-specific advice from knowledgeable editors, you could also try asking at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Dogs or one of their more active members. Please do not link to unpublished draft pages from mainspace articles (I have reverted your change to dog breed, see edit history). Hope this helps a bit. GermanJoe (talk) 09:40, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
I wonder whether Draft:Kurd Mastiff (Pshdar) and Kangal dog are about the same breed. If the same, then we don't need another article on the same subject. If different, the differences could be mentioned in the draft. Maproom (talk) 09:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Draft Alexander Murray article

Hi Teahouse manager!

I am a new Wikipedia user, and struggling a bit to learn the ropes. After 5 or 10 years of not being able to figure out at all how to contribute, a went along, last Saturday, to do a course at the National Archive in London which has finally got me started.

So, hoping not to lose momentum, I dived straight in an wrote the article [expanded stub] about Alex Murray - one of those that I have long wanted to write. However, it was rejected by the reviewing editor who said it he couldn't figure out where it was "copied from".

I am not sure whether he meant I had not copied it to the correct place in Wikipedia, and he couldn't trace it to my "sandbox"; or he meant that he suspected I had plagiarised it. I am more inclined to believe the later interpretation as he said something like "it read as though it was copied". I am not sure what I can do to reassure him. In any event, I do not understand how, with sixteen references quoted, this could be copy-and-pasted, unless the whole thing were a straight-out copy.

In any event, the knowledge of my subject comes incidental to four or five years study of the family arising from efforts to write a biography of Alex Murray's infamous brother, John Murray of Broughton. I do know what I am talking about in respect of Sir Alex, and the draft article is all my own work.

What do I do now?

Apart from that, two things came up that I was wondering about: 1. How am I supposed to do the blue links to other articles, and 2. How do you do the bold, larger typed paragraph headings?

[Richard Graeme Knight 30.4.2018 9:32 London time - sorry I don't know how o do the "tilda thing" - if the character exists on my keypad I don't know where it is]' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:C7D:B304:3D00:2555:BBF0:3306:F293 (talk) 08:34, 30 April 2018 (UTC) Richard Graeme Knight (talk) 10:11, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

If your keyboard doesn't have a ~ key, just copy these: ~~~~. I guess your question is about Draft:Alexander Murray? Maproom (talk) 09:58, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Submitting a draft that was initiated by another user

Hello tea sommeliers,

I have edited a draft that was created by another user. They had an undeclared COI, so the changes in the draft page are largely from me. As they are unable to do further edits, is there a way that I might be able to submit it myself for assessment? Or do I submit it to cleanup first? (sorry, I'm unsure how best to do this, because all draft articles I've previously submitted, are ones that I began from the start!) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Scarlet_Grace With many thanks! SunnyBoi (talk) 05:07, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello SunnyBoi and welcome (back, I think) to the Teahouse.
You can submit a draft, whether you have worked on it or not, if you think it still needs review but has a good chance of being accepted. You shouldn't do this if the principal contributor is still working on it, but that's apparently not a concern in this case. It benefits the project to move a worthwhile draft forward. — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 05:36, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
Hi @SunnyBoi: I proofread the copy and added several citations. One reference in particular linked from her IMDb publicity page (Hertfordshire Mercury) returns a 404 Page not Found error; it's not available through the Internet Archive either. The article looks ready to move to main space or submission through Articles for Creation, though it's borderline as to whether or not it will meet notability standards without additional reliable secondary references. IMDb is user-generated hence not considered a reliable source. Her official homepage is a primary source; talent agency profiles aren't of much use, so the only secondary source of note is her interview with Tresa Magazine. Aloha, ー「宜しく 」 クロノ  カム  07:24, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
This is an actress who is still at drama school and has had a couple of bit parts. I would not advise submitting this article, per WP:TOOSOON. Guy (Help!) 07:52, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
Most (all?) of the references are not suitable (interviews with SG, PR, headshot photos, her website, IMDb), and thus do not justify there being an article. I agree with WP:TOOSOON. David notMD (talk) 11:13, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
Hello everyone, thanks for your feedback!
Hi 「宜しく 」 クロノ  カム , I had trouble with the references too, I had added a note on the talk page about the same date but variant titled articles in the Hertfordshire Mercury? But I agree that the broken links are rather frustrating. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_talk:Scarlet_Grace
Thanks — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) for letting me know about the principal contributor rule!
Thanks Guy (Help!) & David notMD (talk) for advising about too soon. I agree, I had just worked on their existing draft after it was raised in the teahouse, and so that I could learn a bit more about these kinds of bios. Thanks everyone! SunnyBoi (talk) 12:38, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Will draft approval really take two months?

I've written several new articles (biographies of prominent modern Arabic writers), and most of them I created by clicking the red link and just making the page directly. (Made some mistakes starting out, but I feel like I've got the hang of it now.) But the latest one I did (on Lebanese poet Inaya Jaber), I created as a draft, so I could see how that process works. When I submitted the draft for review, though, the message that popped up said that it could take up to two months for it to be reviewed.

Does it really take that long? If so, I'd rather just make it into a real page right away. Would the best way to do that be to blank the draft, and just copying everything into a new article?

Thanks for the help! Larapsodia (talk) 13:34, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

@Larappodia: The time does vary but indeed it does take a long time, at maximum about two months. The best way to do it would be to move the draft: see this help page Galobtter (pingó mió) 13:40, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Conflict of interest

how do I resolve this issue? i already read it but still usually don't have idea. Davidtran84 (talk) 06:37, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

To resolve the issue (which is of establishing that the subject is notable), you will need to find several reliable independent published sources that discuss the subject, and cite them in the article. At present, Holy Cross College of Calinan cites three sources, which are all pages of the College's own web site and so not independent. Maproom (talk) 13:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

source editing seems a bit wonky to me

hi guys! first time sippin' tea here, so i hope i get this right. two questions!

i've been trying to use the source editor but some of the drop-down menus don't seem to render correctly. for instance, if i'm trying to use the "ref" template, i can click to render the dropdown but it's hidden underneath the source editing div. is this a chrome browser issue or is there another place i should ask about this?

second: is there a collection of tools/plugins/maybe a video tutorial i could watch that discusses the best tools/extensions to use while editing?

nice to meet yall! ー Egdoth (talk) 06:50, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello Egdoth and welcome to the Teahouse.
The source editor is a complicated pile of Javascript and its rendering of user interface items can be thrown off by your browser settings, among other things. I noticed this myself when I temporarily changed Chrome to a larger font size and found that various drop down lists would not display properly. If you feel up to it, you can file a bug report at WP:Phabricator.
About all I can suggest is that you try a different computer, a different browser, or reset your preferences to get as close as you can to a "standard" setup to see if the editor behaves better for you.
I consider the Twinkle tool to be a useful add-in. I've also collected a fair number of tools in my sidebar, but setting them up takes a little work. Which tools are helpful depends on what sort of WP editing you engage in. In general, I advise starting out with learning how to do things unassisted by tools, then finding tools that match your needs. — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 15:06, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

retrieving deleted post

Hi I submitted a post for approval but it was "speedily deleted". Is there a way to retrieve the content so I can address the issues without having to start all over? Thanks SurlyAaron — Preceding unsigned comment added by Surlyaaron (talk • contribs) 14:42, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Hello Surlyaaron and welcome to the Teahouse.
If we're talking about Draft:Condé + Beveridge I'm afraid the answer is no. That draft was deleted because it was seen to be a copyright violation. Copyright violation is toxic to WP's mission and material violating copyright will not be restored. Starting over is what you need to do. Your contributions must be written in your own words, but be based on published sources. — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 14:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Hi Thanks for the reply. Sadly I spent many hours inputting links, sources, etc. I wish the prohibited area was the only part deleted. Sigh. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Surlyaaron (talk • contribs) 14:57, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

@Surlyaaron: You can ask for the content to be returned to you by email. Follow the instructions here: Wikipedia:Requests for undeletion. Explain the situation to them by saying that you only intend to re-submit the parts that are not copyright violations. You don't need to tell them your email address. Simply go to Special:Preferences and check "Allow other users to email me". – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 15:41, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Yay! I will give that a try. It will help a lot. Thanks very much. surlyaaron — Preceding unsigned comment added by Surlyaaron (talk • contribs) 15:46, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Add my website

Dear Concern

how processes to add my website in to Wikipedia — Preceding unsigned comment added by 39.59.54.71 (talk) 16:07, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. If you are trying to advertise or promote your site, this is not the place for it. RudolfRed (talk) 16:19, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Thomas Chapel C.M.E. Church

I wish to add an article published in the Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society, Volume XLII, July 2015, concerning this church. Our website is located at www.jacksonpurchasehistory.org. The article was written by Jeannette Dean, curator of the museum that is currently housed in the Church. I was editor of the Journal in 2015 and can give permission for it to be reproduced here. Miss Dean and I are friends and I have visited this church many times. I wanted to upload the article file but don't know how to go about it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SarahBradyStrange (talk • contribs) 16:50, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Hi, SarahBradyStrange and welcome to the Teahouse. Please do not try to upload the article file, for two reasons: your website says The JPHS Journal is copyrighted as a whole body of work; and an article written for a historical journal is unlikely to be in the format required by Wikipedia. We do have articles on churches if they are WP:Notable, but we are not a repository for articles written for other purposes. Please find independent WP:Reliable sources such as newspapers where the church has been written about in detail, and summarise, in your own words, what these say. The article in your journal can be used as a source, of course, but it alone is maybe insufficient to establish notability in the Wikipedia sense. Dbfirs 17:08, 30 April 2018 (UTC)
We have an article on Thomas Chapel C.M.E. Church. SarahBradyStrange, did you mean you wanted to replace the text there with your friends article? This [2] is not the article, is it? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 17:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Are Children Allowed to Edit and Use Wikipedia?

I'm a middle schooler. I know I can use Wikipedia, but can I edit, make things, etc? — Preceding unsigned comment added by CoolStuffYT (talk • contribs) 01:06, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Hello CoolStuffYT and welcome to the Teahouse.
We don't judge content contributions by the age of the contributor. If you hadn't said anything, we need not ever know anything about how old you are. There are no age restrictions on becoming an editor. As an editor, you are expected to conform to Wikipedia's style, policies and guidelines, just like every other editor is expected to. — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 01:34, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
@CoolStuffYT: Please read WP:GFYE for the guidance given to younger editors. RudolfRed (talk) 01:43, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Question about using information

Hi I'm new to this site and I have a question. I'm writing my Memoir of when I came from Cuba in 1962 and would like to use some of the historical information concerning Cuba's early beginnings for my future published book. I just want to sumarize some of the information on the wikipedia site. Is all this information about Cuba in the public domain? Can I copy the historical information concerning Cuba to my manuscript?

Thank you Helena — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.112.161.58 (talk) 02:02, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, IP editor Helena. You can re-use any of the text and the freely-licensed images, but you must provide attribution. Please see Reusing Wikipedia content. Please also complete your due diligence by also reading the sources listed at the end of any Wikipedia article. Our articles vary in quality and are only as good as the sources they summarize. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 02:15, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Question

If I am writing a Wikipedia essay. Where can someone review it? Thegooduser Let's Chat 02:07, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Hello Thegooduser and welcome back to the Teahouse.
Presumably you are developing your essay in your userspace somewhere, so giving other editors a pointer to it will let them see what you have in mind. If you don't want to expose your essay that far, you could offer to email it privately to editors who express interest for review. Announcing your proposed essay here and on your userpage may be all that's required. — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 02:49, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Mysterious ghost edits

Hi, there's something strange going on in the United Airlines Flight 811 article. Every couple of days an IP uses the lead section as a test bed for unit conversion, e.g. 72.4 feet (22.1 m), and then just as mysteriously deletes the conversion and goes away until the next time! Very odd. It almost looks as if they have a bot running specifically to do this for some unknown reason. The edit is always removed so it doesn't leave any lasting vandalism on the page, but it's just getting a bit irritating now so I wondered if there was anything we can do to stop it. I think I've seen this behaviour on a couple of other articles, but Flight 811 is the main one that I'm concerned about. Thanks, Rodney Baggins (talk) 08:38, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

You could warn the IP with Template:Uw-selfrevert. --David Biddulph (talk) 08:45, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
OK will do, thanks. Rodney Baggins (talk) 08:55, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Problems with displaying of text

Hello all I'm a new to Wikipedia I was randomly looking at articles when I found a problem with one of the pages I'm giving the link to the particular page below : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitaram_Yechury

For some reason unknown the text is being displayed in a sort of abnormal way It would be good to know why is that and how that can be changed ?

Thanks in advance — Preceding unsigned comment added by Navaneeth M Nambiar (talk • contribs) 09:07, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Now fixed. Some strange content had got into the alma_mater field of the infobox, causing the infobox to mis-render. Maproom (talk) 09:14, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

What are Talk and Sandbox pages for?

I have a confusion about the uses of Talk page and Sandbox page. What are their purposes and how should I use them? — Preceding unsigned comment added by EllisVincent (talk • contribs) 10:23, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Each Wikipedia article has one talk page associated with it, to be used for discussion of that article. Each editor can have any number of sandboxes as subpages of their user page, used for articles they are creating. Wikipedia also has Draft:Sandbox, where anyone can make test edits without doing any harm – but anything left there is likely to get deleted. Maproom (talk) 11:23, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
Welcome to the Teahouse, EllisVincent. In addition to what Maproom has explained, each user also has their own talk page, where other editors can leave them messages and they can reply. Cordless Larry (talk) 11:31, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Margraves of Provence

There is an issue with the article William V of Provence. The article should be called William III of Provence. I tried to move it but William III of Provence already redirects to William III, Count of Toulouse, who was actually also the Fifth ruler of Provence called William. How do I fix this? Help would be appreciated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jasgray04 (talk • contribs) 11:12, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

The article was already created as William III of Provence actually, but Bearpatch moved it to William V, because that's what the sources said. So if an article has been moved to a new title, if the move was not obvious vandalism, it's generally expected to have a discussion before moving back. If you would like to discuss, feel free to add 
{{subst:Requested move|NewName |reason= Why}}
to the bottom of the talk page. Due to the page you want to move it to already being a redirect that does NOT redirect to the current page title, an administrator will have to be the one to move the page (somebody please correct me if I'm wrong). Hope this helps, and let me know if you have any other questions about this.--SkyGazer 512 What will you say? / What did I do? 12:39, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Including a Picture in the Infobox

I cannot find a HOW-TO for adding a Picture to the Infobox. I have already added the Picture tu the article, but not the infobox, which would be the appropriate location. The Article is Grabmal_Robert_Cauer_der_Jüngere

As there are a few Articles where I would be willing to add a picture I would be thankful for a hint how to do it.

Thanke you — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bef Taucher (talk • contribs) 14:08, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Hi Bef Taucher, and welcome to Wikipedia! Since you want to edit the German Wikipedia, your question might be better answered at de:Wikipedia:Fragen von Neulingen, their version of the Teahouse. But in this case, I could figure it out: You need to add the filename of the image you want to the |BILD= parameter of the Infobox, without the "File:" (or "Datei:", or "Image:") prefix. On the English Wikipedia, you can use the |image= parameter. Also, please sign your posts on talk pages and discussion pages like this with four tildes: ~~~~. rchard2scout (talk) 14:19, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
Note that on the English Wikipedia there can be different syntaxes for images in different infobox templates, which causes some confusion. I do not know whether similar inconsistency occurs between templates in dewiki. --David Biddulph (talk) 14:24, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
Different infobox types can have different parameters, both in different languages and within the same language. There is usually a documentation page. Your example uses de:Vorlage:Infobox Bauwerkt. I see you use VisualEditor. Click the infobox, click "Bearbeiten", and enter the file name alone Grabplatte Robert Cauer der Jüngere.jpg in the BILD field. If you switch to the source editor on the pencil icon then write | BILD = Grabplatte Robert Cauer der Jüngere.jpg. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:32, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Changing the title of a wiki page

I have just created a page about a journalist I admire, however in creating the page I neglected to capitalise the first letter of his last name. How do I rectify this oversight please? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kinkz27 (talk • contribs) 18:57, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Hi Kinkz27, welcome to the Teahouse. I see you figured out how to move the page. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:08, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Linking to sections question

Was just wondering why this link Psychopathy#Sociopathy works but PewDiePie#Controversial videos, network drop and streaming (2017) doesn't. Thanks. Alduin2000 (talk) 18:18, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

@Alduin2000: Second link works for me to go the that section. What problem are you seeing? RudolfRed (talk) 18:23, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
Upon experimentation it seems the second link doesn't work whilst in mobile view (it just goes to the top of the article) but it does in desktop view, for me anyway. No idea how that works seen as though the other link works fine either way. Thanks anyway, RudolfRed. Alduin2000 (talk) 18:37, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
If a page has collapsing or expanding content then it can fool some browsers. The browser may initially go to the correct position at the time but then fail to adjust the position after the content moves around. If you click in the address bar and press enter after the page has fully loaded then the browser may move to the correct position. @Alduin2000: If you don't actually refer to the link you posted but to the link you added here then it failed because you made a space after #. I have fixed it. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:54, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
@PrimeHunter: neither with or without the space works for me so it must just be my browser. Thanks for correcting the article though! Alduin2000 (talk) 19:10, 1 May 2018 (UTC)
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