Wikipedia:Teahouse

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How to get a mentor?[edit]

Hello all. I see that some new editors are assigned a mentor to be there as a guide, support, etc. Such a cool idea. How are folks assigned to a mentor, do you have to sign up? Do you just reach out to an editor and ask? Thanks :) Taevchoi (talk) 16:15, 22 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Taevchoi We only have enough mentors for about 50% of new accounts to get them at present. However, if you were in the half that didn't, then you can activate the Newcomer Homepage at Special:preferences (at the bottom there is a check-box). Once you have saved that change in your preferences, the homepage tab will be visible when you navigate to your userpage and that tab has the name of your assigned mentor. Mike Turnbull (talk) 17:31, 22 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you! Taevchoi (talk) 18:09, 22 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Michael D. Turnbull, are you saying a new editor can "force" themselves a mentor this way? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 18:46, 22 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Gråbergs Gråa Sång Yes. I am a mentor and wanted to check out how the newcomer homepage tab worked and what it looked like: in activating it on my account I was assigned a mentor (whom I have never contacted). Mike Turnbull (talk) 10:52, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Come to think of, I did that too. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:58, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Michael D. Turnbull, I'm in the 50% of editors who got a mentor. But now, two years after the Wiki start gate opened for me, I feel that so many senior editors have been like mentors in the Teahouse and other areas where we can ask questions that I'd be willing to "free up" my assigned mentor. Perhaps other editors would, too. Augnablik (talk) 01:43, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Augnablik Yes, I made exactly that point to the Growth Team at WP:Growth Team features/Mentor list#Suggestion to "retire" mentees on 15 April. That team has taken up the suggestion but it is not yet implemented (see that thread). Incidentally, I find that most of the newcomers who are assigned to me as a mentor never make contact and of those who do, most do so only once. Mike Turnbull (talk) 10:58, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It can also happen that assigned mentors don’t really connect with their mentees. Augnablik (talk) 12:05, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I don't actively check who is being assigned to me. I await their contact, which happens on my Talk Page. I currently have 625 mentees, with new ones being added at 2 to 4 per day. If I added a welcome message to all of them I would have little time to do anything else! Mike Turnbull (talk) 13:51, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You have 625 mentees? Dear God!
Is that the typical ratio per senior editor? Augnablik (talk) 14:29, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, my mentor dashboard is set so I get the "average" number. This perhaps explains why only 50% of new users on enWiki get the newcomer homepage. Note that, as I've already said, few of my assigned mentees ever contact me: about 30 have done so this year (see my Talk Page: they are the ones with timestamps in the section title, which is how this newcomer feature works). Mike Turnbull (talk) 14:38, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The idea of assigned mentors is a nice “warm fuzzy,” and appreciated as we start out on our Wiki editing journey making our way through the fog.
But if (1) there aren’t enough mentors to go around; and (2) mentor-mentee interaction isn’t as strong as anticipated when the program was initiated; and (3) mentees find good support from non-assigned senior editors simply through discussion like here in the Teahouse, perhaps assigned mentors aren’t really needed.
But something is. For awhile, at least. What about occasional Internet forums via threaded message boards. These could be available for all new editors to take part in, within some sort of time frame like 6 months or a year after they come to Wikipedia.
Since newbies would interact with several senior editors rather than just one — and in addition, with fellow newbies — this could actually expand their sense of connection with Wikipedia beyond what they have in the current assigned mentor arrangement. Augnablik (talk) 13:13, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If you'd like to make suggestions or otherwise ask questions about the current mentor feature, you can do so at Wikipedia talk:Growth Team features. The feature was created by the Wikimedia Foundation's Growth Team. -- Marchjuly (talk) 20:58, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for the invitation, @Marchjuly — can you say a little more about that team, though? Because GROWTH would seem to be a much larger focus than just mentorship. Augnablik (talk) 00:30, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not a member of the Growth Team, but there is more information about it on the link I included in my earlier post. -- Marchjuly (talk) 08:50, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Or the other way round :). Lectonar (talk) 12:33, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Seems that some accounts don't have mentorship, even with the homepage. (Homepage seems to be rolled out to all accounts.) All accounts technically do have an assigned mentor, but the panel is not visible to the other half of the new accounts. However, based on my past testing, "claiming" a mentee (from a mentor's dashboard) makes the panel visible, as I did on my own account. ~~2NumForIce (speak|edits) 15:18, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The use of euphemisms and weasel words?[edit]

I have a question about Wikipedia style policies on the use of euphemism and weasel words, in particular as used in article titles.  Eg. is it inappropriate to use the "unrest" as a euphemism for "riots". Do such style policies exist?  Can someone point me to them?

Is Wikipedia:Teahouse to ask this sort of question? RealLRLee (talk) 23:13, 22 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See MOS:WEASEL. As for whether 'unrest' rather than 'riot' is appropriate in a title, it would depend on the context, and on how appropriate sources described the event in question. AndyTheGrump (talk) 23:18, 22 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Looking at WP:EUPHEMISM, if the event meets the definition of riot then "riot" is preferred over "unrest". Do I have that right? RealLRLee (talk) 20:57, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No. The common name is generally preferred over others. Also the definition of something is often not so important to us directly anyway. We generally go by what reliable secondary sources say rather than editor interpretations of whether something meets some definition. Reliable secondary sources will normally rely on definitions but it's not something we're independently deciding. Nil Einne (talk) 07:16, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Would you please reference the applicable Wikipedia policy that supports your claim that WP:EUPHEMISM is to be ignored is selecting multiple possible common names? RealLRLee (talk) 22:35, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
WP:COMMONNAME. Note that WP:COMMONNAME is policy whereas WP:EUPHEMISM is a guideline. EvergreenFir (talk) 00:12, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Unable to resubmit[edit]

I am getting an error @Theroadislongwhen trhying to resubmit this with the requested changes. Any tips?

I am getting this error message: No stashed content found for (followed by a nonsensical arrangement of letters and dashes and numbers) Saraalutz (talk) 06:01, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Previous people who helped with this error said that it might be caused by having the edit page open for a very long time before publishing the changes, that you might need to copy your changes (if they aren't lost), click edit again, paste your changes and then try again. – 2804:F14:80E4:8401:DCFE:5436:C21:470C (talk) 06:10, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I can only suggest you try again, your draft Draft:Debbie Matthews is VERY poorly sourced and will not be acceptable without better referencing. Theroadislong (talk) 06:33, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
in what way is the draft poorly sourced? can you be more specific please Saraalutz (talk) 06:36, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Most of the draft cites no sources at all. Where did you get all that infomation from? Only the list of "Media Appearances:" cites sources. Maproom (talk) 07:02, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Saraalutz The first 30+ paragraphs are totally unsourced. Theroadislong (talk) 07:17, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Saraalutz I believe you may have an undeclared 'conflict of interest' in writing about Debbie Matthews. Please follow the instructions and declare any connection you have with her on your userpage. See WP:COI for how to do this. If you are being paid in any way, you are obliged to declare who is paying you. Again, please read and follow WP:PAID to ensure you remain within our policy requirements whilst editing.
I am concerned that the large number of images you have uploaded to Commons suggests you have direct personal access to photographs collated by Debbie Matthews, and that you do not understand the way Wikimedia Commons works. I would point out that even if Debbie Matthews holds those photos, she will not own the copyright to many of them - especially those taken whilst she was racing on her bike and not holding the camera! Unless you were the photographer, yourself, you will not have the legal right to release another person's photos under a Creative Commons licence for anyone else to use. Equally, whilst we encourage you to cite news stories from newspapers in which she is mentioned, you may not upload photos of newspaper pages to Commons as they remain copyright of the newspaper publisher. You do not have the rights to release them, either. Do not be surprised if many of these photos are marked for future deletion. Kind regards, Nick Moyes (talk) 08:29, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Saraalutz, there is no way under the sun that such a poorly referenced draft can be accepted into the encyclopedia. You have provided no way for readers to verify that many, many claims in your draft are true. Please be aware that Verifiability is a core content policy, as is No original research which is also applicable. Cullen328 (talk) 08:31, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I declared my COI in my userpage. Where else do I need to declare it? Saraalutz (talk) 07:32, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Saraalutz I strongly recommend that you read Wikipedia:Writing Wikipedia articles backward. Shantavira|feed me 08:34, 23 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Can you review it again and tell me what *specifically* the draft: Debbie Matthews still needs? @Grabup Saraalutz (talk) 07:27, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Saraalutz: Replied to my talk page. GrabUp - Talk 07:41, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You have some neck charging for your poor editing! You are being paid by the subject to write this, do your client a favour and learn how Wikipedia actually works before submitting this again. Theroadislong (talk) 07:55, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It costs nothing to be kind. Try it sometime. @Theroadislong Saraalutz (talk) 01:24, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Saraalutz are you being paid for this or not? '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talkcontribs) 01:30, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Saraalutz has declared on their user page that they are being paid, my kindness extends to editing for up to 8 hours a day to help the encyclopaedia for free. I hate seeing people being taken advantage of by poor quality paid editing. Theroadislong (talk) 05:39, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

General question about WP:Tea[edit]

So, I was looking at the “Other Areas of Wikipedia”, and the description for The Teahouse and the Help Desk seem very similar. Would it be a good idea for a noob/old rusty editor to assume that WP:Tea and WP:HD are roughly similar, with Tea being more reserved for basic questions? The Phase Master 18:02, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Tea in action
@The Phase Master Welcome to the Teahouse! Yes - they're both very similar, but we do aim to welcome and support new users in particular, and in as friendly a way as possible. We have a less formal design layout here, too. And we do serve Tea to any editor, new or old. Here's one just for you! Of course, questions from anyone are always welcome. (The Help Desk does tend to take attract more technical questions, though.) Regards, Nick Moyes (talk) 18:14, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@The Phase Master Nope! They are absolutely nothing alike. Unlike the Help Desk, the Teahouse serves tea, therefore making us far superior and incomparable to them. Panini! 🥪 23:08, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Same but different[edit]

I need a list that is the same as this one but that has no logos instead of including logos. I would like to work on adding company logos/emblems to any article for a company that is currently lacking them, but I don't know a good way to create that list and then sort through it. Iljhgtn (talk) 21:38, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"the same as this one": the same as which one? And are you looking for a list format (to which you'll add items), or for a ready-made list of items? -- Hoary (talk) 22:30, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Ready made list. Here is the link that I forgot to include with my question: Category:Pages using infobox company with a logo from wikidata Iljhgtn (talk) 22:41, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Category:Pages using infobox company with a logo from wikidata Iljhgtn (talk) 22:41, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Iljhgtn: We don't appear to have a specific category for company articles lacking logos, but many such articles should be in Category:Wikipedia requested logos, if you want to trawl through that extremely large category. Deor (talk) 23:39, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I will review that category. Iljhgtn (talk) 01:04, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That category is all based on talk page logo requests? Iljhgtn (talk) 01:08, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Changing image in infobox for Tiangong Space Station article[edit]

Hello. I noticed that the article for the Tiangong space station currently has a simulated image as the main image in the infobox. Since lead images should be representative (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MOS:LEADIMAGE&redirect=no) it seems that it would be better for an actual image to be there instead. There are complete images of the space station from the China Manned Space agency (https://en.cmse.gov.cn/dmt/tj/shenzhou16/) and the disclaimer for media on the CMSA website says that fair use is allowed. I was trying to upload one of the images to replace the current lead image but couldn't figure out how since I'm new to editing Wikipedia and was confused by only text appearing when trying to edit the infobox. I would greatly appreciate help. GoldenOrbWeaver (talk) 23:14, 24 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, GoldenOrbWeaver. Allowing for "fair use" is not enough. What is required is a robust, legally binding license that explicitly allows for unlimited use by anyone, anywhere, for any purpose at all including commercial uses, with the only restriction being proper attribution. The Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license is the most common license that qualifies, but there are others. Cullen328 (talk) 01:41, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Wouldn't this fall under WP:NFCCP? All detailed images of the Tiangong (including the ones I previously linked) were released by the CMSA so there's no free equivalent, there's no market role being replaced, it seems like it's minimal usage if just one image is used, the photos have been published in various newspapers, it meets Wikipedia guidelines, it would be used in an article, and having an actual photo of the space station seems important to readers' understanding. I apologize if I'm misunderstanding this policy. There seem to be other images published by the CMSA in the article already also. GoldenOrbWeaver (talk) 05:28, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
There is definitely the possibility of a free alternative, GoldenOrbWeaver. It could be photographed from Earth with a telescope. It could be photographed from a US spacecraft and works by employees of the US federal government are in the public domain. Appearing in newpapers certainly does not qualify an image to be added to Wikipedia. Far from it. Cullen328 (talk) 18:57, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Here is an article about how amateur astronomers take photos of the International Space Station. Certainly, the same techniques can be used to take photos of the Tiangong Space Station. Cullen328 (talk) 19:02, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It probably couldn't be photographed from a US spacecraft because of the Wolf amendment. I've seen photographs of the Tiangong space station from the ground and even taken some myself, and because of the distance, they aren't very clear and don't show many details. Therefore, they don't seem to be a viable alternative. If the photos released by the CMSA allow free use, and fall under the criteria for using free use photos on Wikipedia, I don't see why they can't be used. Again, many of the photos already in the article were released by the CMSA, so I don't see why adding a complete photo would be any different. GoldenOrbWeaver (talk) 03:39, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
GoldenOrbWeaver, you are assuming that the other CMSA photos are being used properly. Where has that been established? Cullen328 (talk) 19:06, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Asking for feedback[edit]

Hello, I am seeking feedback for my article that I want to publish on wikipedia. It got declined twice and I have put every effort to integrate the provided feedback by the fellow wikipedians. I want to re-submit the artice and I want to make sure this time it won't be declined. Kindly give it a read and provide me with feedback for improvement.

User:Akbarirazia/sandbox Akbarirazia (talk) 12:24, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

As background, the page that was submitted was Draft:Amu Television so the versions that were rejected are in the history of that page. TSventon (talk) 12:46, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think it's notable, and looks promotional in nature. Wolverine XI (talk to me) 14:16, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I changed the content, could you please review it and be specific on which points look like promotional content.
Draft:Amu Television
Thank you! Akbarirazia (talk) 13:53, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hello,
I have posted this before as well. This is my article Draft:Amu Television, our fellows say it looks promotional. I have changed its content, I am requesting for a review and a specific feedback like which parts I should keep or remove.
I will really appreciate it 🙏 Akbarirazia (talk) 13:56, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Akbarirazia The most important problem is notability The draft is about an organisation, so it needs to show that the subject meets the guidance for inclusion of an organisation in Wikipedia, which requires multiple published sources that are in-depth, reliable, secondary and independent of the subject. There is background about what that means at WP:ORGCRIT. I found three sources in the 25 May version which could contribute to notability, but even they are based on interviews with Amu TV people. I would therefore recommend looking for better sources. Sources do not have to be in English. If you had better sources, then a summary of the sources would sound less promotional.
My thoughts on the sources on 25 May
TSventon (talk) 14:21, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"I'm not a robot" check fail[edit]

Hello! I hope you're doing well. Recently, I've encountered two issues while translating on my mobile phone: 1. I'm unable to publish my translations because the "I'm not a robot" test continually prompts me to type the displayed word, even after correctly entering it. 2. I'm unable to continue translations started on my mobile phone when using the desktop website on my PC. The "continue translation" button does not appear; only the "start translation" button is visible, which does not function correctly. Could you please assist me with resolving these issues or recommend someone who could help? Vasconcelos-Giovanni (talk) 16:30, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think you might be better off posting this to Wikipedia:Village pump (technical), which is specifically for technical issues. Someone else here at the Teahouse might be able to help you with this, but the village pump is your best bet for resolving problems like this. Adam Black tc 17:46, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hi! Thank you for your recommendation, I'll post my issue there. Vasconcelos-Giovanni (talk) 14:43, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, Vasconcelos-Giovanni, and welcome to the Teahouse.
From your language, and the error you are getting, I am guessing that you are trying to use the Content translation tool. That tool is not available to new editors: I believe that this is because new editors are not likely to understand the difficulties often involved in translating articles from other versions of Wikipedia.
Please study Help:Translation carefully.
Many articles in other versions of Wikipedia (and, indeed, many older articles in English Wikipedia) do not cite adequate reliable sources to establish that the subject meets Wikipedia's criteria for notability. Where this is the case, a direct translation will not be accepted into English Wikipedia.
This means that, unless you first check that the original article does cite adequate sources, a straight translation (whether by machine or human) is not going to be acceptable, and you're better off treating this as creating a new article in En-wiki - see WP:YFA for how to go about doing that. ColinFine (talk) 17:56, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hi! Thank you for your time! I'm trying to translate from English to Portuguese and the Content Translation Tool is available to me, even though I'm new here. Also, the article about the tool states: "this utility is currently suspended for newer editors on the English Wikipedia. This restriction does not impact translating pages from English". The problem is that I was able follow the procedure of translation, but I'm not being able to post the translation. Vasconcelos-Giovanni (talk) 14:39, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Moving a draft[edit]

Hi,

I would like to move the draft of an article (Draft:Kerstin Becker) from the namespace to my userspace (in order to continue working on it later on). How can this be done?

Best, Takeru Watanabe (talk) 18:06, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Takeru Watanabe. You could move it to your user space (eg User:Takeru Watanabe/Kerstin Becker) but I don't know why you would want to. Draft space is generally a better place for articles being developed; and while anybody could edit it in Draft space (or indeed in your user space) it is unlikely that anybody will do so without discussing it with you first.
The only possible problem with leaving it in Draft space is that if you do absolutely nothing to it for more than six months, it might get deleted; but if you make even one edit in that time, it will not. ColinFine (talk) 18:51, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, ColinFine. Thank you for your kind answer. Indeed, I wanted to rule out that the draft would be deleted if didn't edit it for a longer period of time. So, I'm now glad about your advice concerning the sixth month time frame.
May I ask yet another question? If I'm not quite sure about the notability of a person (in my case women writers and poets), might there be anybody willing to help me in that matter and discuss it before I submit the draft for review? Best, Takeru Watanabe (talk) 19:28, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Takeru Watanabe. As you are interested in women's biographies, you could ask at the Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red talk page. I see that you have mentioned the project on your user page. TSventon (talk) 19:36, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, TSventon, thank you, that's a very good idea. I'm going to do that. Best, Takeru Watanabe (talk) 19:46, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Article Up for Speedy Deletion[edit]

I've completed my first Wikipedia Article, and I just received a message about my article getting deleted due to the subject not being deemed significant or showing any importance of the subject. How do I correct this and contest it? Wikieditormneal (talk) 18:11, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Wikieditormneal, and welcome to the Teahouse,
As it says in the notice in Lorraine Whittlesea, If you created this page and you disagree with the given reason for deletion, you can click the button below and leave a message explaining why you believe it should not be deleted.
Note that neither discogs nor Apple Music is regarded as a reliable source (and so should rarely or never be cited), so your claim of notability rests solely on the two Baltimore Sun citations. I cannot read these, as they are not available in my area: does each of them meet the triple criterion of reliablility, independence, and substantial coverage of Whittlesea? (see WP:42). ColinFine (talk) 18:57, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
information Note: page name is Lorraine Whittlesey, currently tagged for WP:A7. Victor Schmidt (talk) 19:01, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hello! Thank you for your response. Yes, the articles meet the triple criterion of reliability, independence and substantial coverage of Whittlesey. Wikieditormneal (talk) 19:48, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This article has been deleted more that once, and was just moved back to draft. Stop recreating it. Work on the problems in the draft version. Meters (talk) 20:12, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Now at Draft:Lorraine Whittlesey David notMD (talk) 23:00, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This User is a paid one[edit]

The above mentioned user is a paid editor as he disclose himself but he hasn't done any significant edit so far, how can he be paid for contributing to wiki.
--KEmel49 (talk) 20:30, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi KEmel49. Whoever this person may be, they aren't being paid by Wikipedia and aren't employed by Wikipedia. They're only required to declare their paid status in accordance with Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure and they've done this. Wikipedia policy and guidelines doesn't require them to make significant edits or justify why or how much they're being paid. You would need to ask them directly if you're interested in such things, but Wikipedia policy doesn't require that they respond to you if you do. So, unless you feel they're doing something that's not in accordance with relevant Wikipedia policies and guidelines, you might want to focus on something else. -- Marchjuly (talk) 20:44, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Ideally, an editor declares their paid status on their User page before making edits on a topic they have identified as paid. Which is what User:Seo.cypherms has done. In this instance an article or a draft about Arcade Business College does not yet exist, so the editor appears to be planning to create and then submit a draft. David notMD (talk) 00:32, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Not essays[edit]

A reviewer moved my article back to draft, because, " Unfortunately, I do not think it is ready for publishing at this time because Wikipedia articles are not academic essays.". Does that mean it needs to be "dumbed down"? Any elaboration appreciated, if known. Fixingthingsguy (talk) 20:52, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Fixingthingsguy, I guess this is about Draft:How the PET bottle became ubiquitous. No, dumbing-down is not the issue. But there's a lot of things wrong with that draft, which would prevent it trom being accepted as a Wikipedia article:
  • It's not an article about a subject, it's an essay about how (in your view) something happened. I assume that's what the reviewer meant.
  • It uses capitalisation and italics in seemingly random ways: "Polyethylene Terephthalate", "glass", "2-Liter".
  • It says "50 years ago" rather than giving a date. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, and hopes to exist for at least another 50 years, it's not a newspaper. "Today", likewise.
  • The punctuation is chaotic. Some periods are mid-sentence, some sentences have no period. Punctuation should always followprecede references, not precedefollow them.
The last three items will be fairly easy to correct. But while what you've written is not about a notable topic, it has little chance of being accepted. Maproom (talk) 21:17, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, that's very helpful. Fixingthingsguy (talk) 21:47, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Fixingthingsguy: a Wikipedia article should be a summary of what reliable sources have said about a subject, nothing more. It should not present any argumentation or conclusions at all, except possibly summaries of arguments or conclusions presented in one single source. It could summarise (separately) arguments or conclusions from two or more different sources, but should make no attempt to compare or reconcile them. ColinFine (talk) 22:02, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks . I'm getting a better picture of what I need to do. My grandson is likely never to ask, how did the plastic-like beverage bottle get ubiquitous! But if he was super observant, he might ask, how come all these beverage bottles in the grocery have a weird shape in the bottom. That might be a subject of interest. In which case I would tell him about these super smart people who tossed around various ideas and came up with a petal like base, that ensured the Coke bottle or Pepsi bottle would stand a lot of jostling around from manufacture to the dining table and stand upright at all times. How did they do that, grandad, and I would say, they made a preform that looks like a syringe with the small end closed, and shoved a burst of hot air that made it into a form that ends looking like a beverage bottle. And they received patents for that from the US Patent office. And, oh, by the way, they made trillions of these and now are struggling to find a way to recycle them without becoming a hazard for future generations.
How does that sound. Thanks in advance for any feedback
Regards Fixingthingsguy (talk) 00:36, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Maproom: On punctuation and reference indices: Really? 126.33.112.247 (talk) 22:00, 25 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Maproom is mistaken here. Punctuation should always precede references, except in limited circumstances. See MOS:CITEPUNCT. Adam Black tc 00:42, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You're right. Now corrected. Maproom (talk) 07:58, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

In anser to your question, not good. Articles consist of facts and references, not "telling". And are you aware that Polyethylene terephthalate has a section on bottles? Perhaps you have referenced content that can be added there versus a separate article. David notMD (talk) 00:46, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

How to revert redirecting mistake[edit]

I made a draft article Draft:Kepler-1972 but failed to find any publications on the astronomical object beyond its discovery paper and a few catalogs (thus failing notability criteria), so I tried to move it to my userspace. However, I mistakenly moved the draft to User:Kepler-1972. I reverted the edit so now the draft is restored, but I cannot figure out how to restore the (previously nonexistent) user page to its original state. This might cause some trouble if a new user tries to name themselves Kepler-1972. How can I (or anyone with the required permissions) fix this? I'm relatively new to Wikipedia, and I greatly appreciate your help. AluminiumWithAnI (talk) 03:20, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@AluminiumWithAnI I believe you can tag the page with {{db-u2}} if the user does not exist yet. '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talkcontribs) 03:39, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the advice! Tagged as {{db-u2}}. AluminiumWithAnI (talk) 04:05, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have now successfully moved the contents of the draft to my userspace, and a redirect is left at the original draft page. Which tag should I use to delete the redirect (for when the page needs to be used for another draft of the same topic in the future)? AluminiumWithAnI (talk) 04:21, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I think {{db-g7}} will work. '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talkcontribs) 04:26, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks again! Tagged it as such. AluminiumWithAnI (talk) 04:55, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Leesburg Stockade[edit]

We need our true story about only what we seventeen girls of the Lee County Stockade lived, endured and survived because we are the only people who lived, endured and survived this saga in 1963. Please assist me with this much needed endeavor. You may contact me at [redacted]. Please assist me with telling only our true story that no one else lived in 1963. Thank you very much. This true story needs to be told truthfully. 99.110.81.53 (talk) 03:50, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome to the Teahouse. If there are published reliable sources that are secondary and talk about what happened, by all means, contribute to Leesburg Stockade citing them. Wikipedia can't unfortunately take you at your word. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 06:02, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The article Shirley Green-Reese cites some relevant sources. Maproom (talk) 08:06, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Leesburg Stockade lists 14 by name, but states that there were more than that, possibly as many as 30 or 33. Your name (and others) can be added to that list if there is a reference to add that has more names. David notMD (talk) 11:42, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Americus movement lists 35 by name, but does not include a reference to confirm that list. David notMD (talk) 11:55, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The content you added to Leesburg Stockade was reverted because the reference you provided was your self-published book (listed at Amazon). Can you find a better source, perhaps a newpaper or magazine published at the time? You also described why there is/was confusion as to how many girls, as there appears to have been the original set - held for a long time - and another set of girls who boycotted the beginning of the school year on behalf of their held classmates, and were detained and added to the group at Leesburg for a few days before all were released. David notMD (talk) 13:34, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

COI question[edit]

Where would this person fall under the current guidelines of need to declare a COI:

Someone who, although never having met the subject of an existing or planned Wiki article, is beginning to feel very close and connected to that person, but not yet 100% so? Examples: on the secular level: an increasingly self-declared Swiftie; on the spiritual level, an increasingly self-declared devotee of a guru or saint?

I assume someone 100% self-declared would have an “official” COI, right?

Augnablik (talk) 04:34, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Augnablik. Great question! Being a fan does not - at least under the guidelines here - mean that you are regarded as a having a conflict of interest. It will make it difficult for you to be neutral, but we do not expect that editors are neutral - just that the articles we produce are. However, if the editor is activly involved with the subject off-wiki, such as actively opposing them or actively supporting them (president of a fan club, writing articles about them for media sources, etc) then it will enter COI territory. - Bilby (talk) 06:20, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This particular question I raised is a more internal than external COI issue, @Bilby. The hypothetical editor in the case I described isn't actually doing anything externally but coming to feel ever closer internally to a person who's the subject of an article ... to the point that the subject of the article seems more and more like an old friend or a kindred spirit, perhaps even moving to the point that the editor might feel drawn to defend the subject if it seemed warranted.
I realize this question might sound "overly molecular" — and obviously hard to use a yardstick to measure — but I'm asking for a reason. Augnablik (talk) 14:25, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If an editor who feels "close" to a subject cannot be neutral about it, then it's best for that editor to act as if a COI exists.
I've seen this happen before: an editor adds all sorts of promotional puffery to an article, and when questioned about a conflict of interest or paid editing, the editor responds "I have no association, I'm just a fan."
When you're a "fan" who is intent on elevating a subject and removing negative information, you have a COI as far as I'm concerned. To me, this seems to be a big hole in our WP:COI guidelines. ~Anachronist (talk) 19:25, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, @Anachronist — you’ve confirmed something I’ve been wondering about recently: that there doesn’t seem to be much, if anything, about a strong internal connection to the actual or potential subject of a Wiki article being a COI.
I can think of many people who I feel deep kinship with but have never met or done anything on behalf of — except perhaps call them to others’ attention — with whom I feel a much closer connection than many people I have met and done something on behalf of.
If someday I ever decided to throw my journalistic and academic training — not to mention support of “Wiki transparency” — to the wind as I worked on production of an article, I really think it would be for one of the people on my my unmet but deeply resonated-with list.
I’ll leave aside the haunting question of “can we ever be 100% unbiased anyway” and hope that you and other senior editors will pick up on my original question. To me, it seems a very practical one that many other still-newish editors like me might also have. Augnablik (talk) 02:26, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
My 18 years on Wikipedia have honed my skills at dispassionate neutral editing. One way to do this is to work on topics that interest you but you have no strong feelings about. The only "feeling" that may come into play might be fond memories of a movie that has no Wikipedia article, but there's no personal investment, so you can remain detached. Honing this skill also helps me better identify non-neutral or unreliable reporting outside of Wikipedia.
Being interested but detached is how I approached each article I created, listed on my user page. I took an interest in the topic, started investigating, and eventually had enough information to write an article about it. Note that this is the opposite approach to that taken by new editors, who typically try to write an article first (based on what they know or feel) and then look for sources. That is the WP:BACKWARD way to write. Me, I learned to look for sources first, and if I can't find anything sufficient even for a stub article (and I've written several stubs), then I simply don't write about the subject. ~Anachronist (talk) 04:53, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Your story, @Anachronist, is valuable because it’s a combination of personal, relevant, and interesting.
If we newbies had more such stories, I think we’d get much further faster through the thickets of WP:DO’s and WP:DONT’s. Thanks. Augnablik (talk) 06:43, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Worried about copyright and image use[edit]

On the Bubble canopy article, I would like to add a box for the XB-42 and would like to use a image on the XB-42's article page, that is public domain, but Im not sure if im able to use other peoples uploaded images, I have checked the rules, but im still not sure. A-37Dragonfly (talk) 04:43, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You can freely use any uploaded images. Pinchedloaf (talk) 04:52, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you A-37Dragonfly (talk) 04:54, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@A-37Dragonfly: Unfortunately, Pinchedloaf gave an incorrect response. There are some images that are not free of copyright and have restrictions on where and how they can be used: see Wikipedia:Non-free content criteria.--Jasper Deng (talk) 06:26, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If a picture has been labeled public domain, and is a government made photo, is it fine to use even if it wasnt uploaded by you (5th image on XB-42 article), im new to wikipedia and I still dont fully understand the copyright stuff A-37Dragonfly (talk) 07:08, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, if an image is public domain you can use it for any purpose. Ca talk to me! 13:58, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
(Im using visual editor) How do I add images? I went to the article, clicked on the box for the gallery, and when I went to add the image, it said "your recent uploads", which i do not have any A-37Dragonfly (talk) 04:59, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@A-37Dragonfly There is a full tutorial for adding images using the visual editor at this link. Mike Turnbull (talk) 13:55, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you :D A-37Dragonfly (talk) 19:44, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The UI is a bit confusing, but you have to search with the file name in the "Search multimedia" bar where it says "your recent uploads".
For additional info, check out WP:Adding images. Ca talk to me! 13:56, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you :D A-37Dragonfly (talk) 19:45, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yi Sun (academic)[edit]

I have following 4 issues and would like fix them, but do not know how.

The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for academics. (April 2024)
This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (April 2024)
Some of this article's listed sources may not be reliable. (April 2024)
This article is an orphan, as no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; try the Find link tool for suggestions. (April 2024)

Suny8616 (talk) 07:55, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Suny8616 Welcome to the Teahouse. To ask questions here, please click the blue box at the top of this page. I have started a new section for you. The blue text in those message are links. Rather than have us repeat information here, please click on those links for help with those specific issues. Shantavira|feed me 08:14, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I removed the academic notability tag, as his holding an endowed chair professorship and AAAS membership qualifies. David notMD (talk) 12:04, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Help finding a template[edit]

Resolved

Hi!

There's a template I want to use but I forgot how it's called.

Basically if a page doesn't exist on this wiki (enwiki), there's a template that do direct you to a different version of Wikipedia.

Something along the lines of:

The significance of the event led to the creation of 269 life [fr], an animal liberation movement founded in October 2012. [1]

Thanks to anybody who can help me remember this template's name. QuickQuokka [⁠talkcontribs] 08:18, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@QuickQuokka: You're looking for {{interlanguage link}}. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 08:19, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

Infoboxes[edit]

Howdy! How do you add the map images to infoboxes? Also, the "part of the..." stuff. I want to add them to my articles. Thanks TheBrowniess (talk) 08:40, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi TheBrowniess,
Depending on the infobox in question, putting the subject's coordiantes, using {{coord|display=inline}} in the coordinates= field causes a map to appear. And there are other fields to tweak exactly what map image gets used. "part of the..." is probably a specific template, could you give an example of what you're thinking of here? -- D'n'B-t -- 09:15, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@TheBrowniess: There are numerous different infobox templates with different parameters which should be documented on the template page. Template:Infobox military conflict has a partof parameter. There are others but most infobox templates have no such parameter. If they do then it may not always be called partof. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:57, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
What I meant by all of that is this: 2002 Ivorian coup attempt TheBrowniess (talk) 15:24, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I assume you mean the "part of" sidebars you can see at for example Reiki. You can hit "Edit source" in an article where you see one you want to use elsewhere and copypaste the relevant code. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 11:59, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you! I did just that. TheBrowniess (talk) 15:23, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Question: who has Rocky the sock ape?[edit]

By Mandi Ahonen Mandi Ahonen (talk) 12:11, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Mandi Ahonen Welcome to the Teahouse. Do you have a question about editing Wikipedia? That's what we are here for. Mike Turnbull (talk) 13:47, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Improving representation from the Global South is tricky[edit]

Every minor English indie band has copious notes online but unfortunately that's not the case for profound writers from the Global South. I'd hoped to add more about South Africa literature but I don't think that's going to happen - too many sources aren't up to Global North standards. I understand why Wikipedia has to be strict about references but I wish there was more understanding of the conditions others are working under. Atinyfrog (talk) 13:26, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Atinyfrog We have quite a lot of people in the Category:South African writers and you could check out some of these for the type of sources used. They don't have to be in English, provided they are reliable. Mike Turnbull (talk) 13:31, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Citing magazine scans[edit]

Hello! I'm a new editor, currently going through the list of articles with bare URL sources to try and fix them. A few times I've come across PDFs or JPGs, etc that are scans of magazines that include reviews of games, such as ST Format's review on this game. Is it appropriate to use these even when they are not "officially" online from the original publisher? --Beanut H Butter (talk) 13:33, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Beanut H Butter, and welcome to the Teahouse.
Thank you for taking on this valuable but often overlooked task.
The important part of a citation is the bibliographic information which will allow a reader to find the source (even if they have to order it from a major library!) - things like title, author, publication, page, date. If the source is available online, then it is helpful to readers and reviewers to include a URL; but for most sources this is not a requirement.
To answer your question directly: you may include a URL to a non-official online copy (eg a scan) only if you are satisfied that the copy you are linking to is not a copyright violation. So if it's a scan of an article or book that is 100 years old, any copyright has almost certainly expired, and you're fine. But if it's only fifty years old, it may or may not still be in copyright (and this depends on what country it was published in as well) so you'll have to do some research before you can tell whether you are allowed to link to it. And if it's recent, you would need to show that the text had been licensed in a way that allowed anybody to copy it (such as CC-BY-SA, or that whoever posted it had explicit permission from the copyright owner to do so. But as I said above, in most cases a URL is not actually required. ColinFine (talk) 17:15, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This makes sense, thank you for the response! I'll do some more research on these matters to make sure there's no copyright problems. I really appreciate the help. Beanut H Butter (talk) 18:51, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Provide a free photo[edit]

Hello, I have a photo I took under Charles Bridge showing (not very clearly but unmistakenly) a Freemason compass. I looked online and someone was selling a similar photo (wth). Can I give it to wikipedia for free? 107.143.76.152 (talk) 13:53, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I created an account ^ this is me. Eotf537 (talk) 13:56, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Eotf537. You can absolutely can, thank you. You may upload it to Wikimedia Commons (you should be able to log in to Commons using the same account as on Wikipedia) using their Upload Wizard which will ask you a bunch of questions guiding you to select an appropriate free licence. If you were taking a photo of a public artwork then Freedom of Panorama laws might apply but I shouldn't think they would with a logo on a bridge. (by the way, are we talking about the Charles Bridge in Prague or a different one?) -- D'n'B-t -- 14:27, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

MediaWiki version[edit]

Does anyone know the version of MediaWiki that is powering Wikipedia right now? Is it the latest version or what? Just wondering because I read somewhere that Fandom uses an older version. Bzik2324 (talk) 14:01, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, @Bzik2324! The special page Special:Version will tell you the answer to this, along with a lot of other information about the software behind Wikipedia. As of this writing, it tells me Wikipedia's running MediaWiki 1.43.0-wmf.6. --bjh21 (talk) 15:17, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Providing translations[edit]

Hello! I’m new to Wikipedia and glad to finally be here. I specifically decided to join to provide translations to Portuguese, and now am wondering how to do that. Thanks in advance. Mvacarn (talk) 17:19, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Mvacarn Is Wikipedia:Translate us what you're after? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 18:09, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
See pt: Ajuda:Guia de edição/Guia de tradução, and bemvindo! Mathglot (talk) 19:08, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Reping: Mvacarn. Mathglot (talk) 19:12, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Citing a newspaper article accessed through a university database[edit]

Hi! I attempted to check some sources on an article that failed verification and have successfully located one of them. However, I accessed the newspaper article through a paid database provided by my university (I am a student). I am aware of Template:Cite news, specifically the template for article clips accessed through an aggregation service, but navigating to the link to said newspaper article in an incognito window prompts me to log into my university account to proceed further, which is what I presume most people would see. How do I go about citing this source? If it helps, the aggregation service is Gale. 50shadesofweird (talk) 21:22, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@50shadesofweird Include the link you have, but it's important you add as much other info you can (you probably have to do it "by hand"), publisher, author, date etc. You can add a |url-access=subscription parameter to your cite. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 21:46, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Got it, thank you! 50shadesofweird (talk) 21:53, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

question about a vs an[edit]

should a or an be used before the word "uruguayan". I'm finding some people say its pronounced with a "ur" sound at the beggining but others say its "yur" Gaismagorm (talk) 22:47, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Gaismagorm. Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Uruguay/Archive 3#A vs. an says "a". PrimeHunter (talk) 23:10, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
alright, well I'll get to work on fixing the pages that mage the mistake of using "an", is that okay? Gaismagorm (talk) 23:22, 26 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Gaismagorm: It was a small discussion in 2017 and not added to any guideline. It seems good enough for adding new content but if you want to make mass changes like the currently 765 search results on "an Uruguayan" (versus 3554 on "a Uruguayan") then I suggest a new discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Uruguay with a proposal to add it to Wikipedia:WikiProject Uruguay#Conventions. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:00, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Gaismagorm: You can look at Commonly misspelled English words and with fairly minimal effort find ample misspelled words. Or you can just make up misspellings (e.g. transposing letters). I tried this with "cantaloupe", and doing a search for "canataloupe", I got a hit on Dominic Frasca for "canataloupe music". There was of course the possibility that it was intentionally spelled this way, but I was able to quickly confirm that it actually was a typo. Consider this suggestion of something to fix as my gift to you. Fabrickator (talk) 00:26, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
thanks, I've actually done this a lot before (I went through a lot of country demonyms and the proper a/an for them). thanks for the advice. Gaismagorm (talk) 00:45, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Personally, I don't see this as something to be corrected. Both usages and pronounciations are frequent and understanding is not impacted. Ca talk to me! 01:35, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Gaismagorm: Google ngrams prefers "a". Maproom (talk) 06:53, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Talk page archives[edit]

Hello! I'm wondering how to change the formatting of the archive box on a talk page. I would like to change the formatting on this page to look like the formatting on this page. How do I do that? Wafflewombat (talk) 03:55, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Wafflewombat I believe what you're looking for is {{talk header}}. '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talkcontribs) 05:11, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yep! Thank you. Wafflewombat (talk) 05:33, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

User Templates[edit]

Is there a way to create User Templates? If only administrators can, who and where do I ask? CreatorMH (talk) 03:56, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It's actually easier than you think. For Userboxes, (a simple example) you can just make a subpage, and paste the code used from other userboxes and modify it. ABG (Talk/Report any mistakes here) 04:51, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@AlphaBetaGamma. Thank you very much. CreatorMH (talk) 04:57, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Note that you can transclude (the mechanism normally used for templates) a page from any space using the curly brackets {{ ... }}: it just defaults to Template:. So if you created a template in your user space called User:CreatorMH/MyTemplate, you could use it in a page by {{User:CreatorMH/MyTemplate}}. ColinFine (talk) 10:53, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

i want to make some name badges[edit]

please ThisIsMyUsernameToday (talk) 04:02, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@ThisIsMyUsernameToday what name badges are you referring to? '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talkcontribs) 04:53, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
the usertags ThisIsMyUsernameToday (talk) 04:54, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Are you referring to the user tags on Fandom? If so, this is the wrong place to ask. ABG (Talk/Report any mistakes here) 04:59, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
no i mean like the user tags on my user profile ThisIsMyUsernameToday (talk) 05:16, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Huh? Could you describe them with more detail? '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talkcontribs) 05:17, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@ThisIsMyUsernameToday, maybe you mean userboxes? StartGrammarTime (talk) 05:21, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
yes thats what i meant ThisIsMyUsernameToday (talk) 07:19, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You can learn more about creating userboxes at Template:Userbox. If you wish to create userboxes, you can create them in the Template namespace or in your Userspace by doing “User:ThisIsMyUsernameToday/Foobar” in the search bar and creating the user subpage. Thank you, Cowboygilbert - (talk) ♥ 19:51, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
ThisIsMyUsernameToday, as I look at your list of contributions, I wonder whether you're here (A) in order to improve the encyclopedia, or (B) in order to have fun. Comments? -- Hoary (talk) 05:38, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
im here to improve the encyclopedia ThisIsMyUsernameToday (talk) 07:18, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Article's language[edit]

If you look at the recent revision history for the article Lara Fabian, in the early life section, someone changed the spelling of the word Recognized to it's British spelling, Recognised, I have reverted that person's edit, mentioning that the article's language shouldn't be changed until further discussion. My question is, should the article be written in British English or American English? 70.50.199.125 (talk) 04:39, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome to the Teahouse. The closest style guidelines can be found at MOS:RETAIN, where generally the variety found in the first post-stub revision that introduced an identifiable variety is used. That being said, I find that many European articles tend to use British orthography, probably because that's what most editors interested in those subjects are usually exposed to. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 05:18, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
We also have this. Lectonar (talk) 07:19, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Arguably the article should be written in Canadian English, which uses recognized, per MOS:TIES. TSventon (talk) 07:30, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
IP editor. We have templates that can be used to confirm which variety of English is preferred for an article. In view of this discussion, I've added the {{Use Canadian English}} one for future reference. Mike Turnbull (talk) 13:55, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Should the article be written in British English or American English - that depends: are Canadians British or are they American? Seriously though, it looks to me like Canadian English tends to prefer ize.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ "Canadian, British and American: It's all English, but the spelling is different". Resources of the Language Portal of Canada.
  2. ^ "American English vs. Canadian English (Spelling Differences)". Proofed.com.

IKEA Foundation request help[edit]

Hi editors, I'm Altaf with the IKEA Foundation. I made a request to add a History section to the IKEA Foundation article on April 16 but so far it has not received a response. I have posted to several WikiProjects and to individual editors to see if there was any interest but so far have heard nothing. I realize there is no deadline on Wikipedia, but I was wondering if there is anything else I could do to drum up interest? Thanks in advance for your insight. AMfromIKEA (talk) 07:18, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@AMfromIKEA Perhaps because they saw this discussion, an editor has suggested you go ahead with the change you proposed. There is a specific template {{edit coi}} you can use for such requests which are more likely to be followed up quickly since there are some editors who specialise in working on them. That helps when there are few people with the article on their watchlist. Mike Turnbull (talk) 13:37, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Edit summary[edit]

A sentence like: "They also wrote a play, Underwood's Finest Hour, about an obstetrician distracted during a birth by the radio broadcast of a Test match, which played at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in 1981." can be improved by untangling its component ideas. Is there a term I can use for such a sentence ? Doug butler (talk) 08:11, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Doug butler, not a native speaker of the language, so I'm not sure, but I've seen "run-on sentence" used as a catch-all on Wikipedia for sentences that could be broken up. — Usedtobecool ☎️ 08:26, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Doug butler, do you mean to describe it, or in the edit summary after you detangle it? Perhaps WP:CLARIFY covers it? There's some tags and info on that page that might be what you're looking for. StartGrammarTime (talk) 10:24, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Doug butler: For the act of doing the untangling, I'd recognise recast, or rephrase. Bazza 7 (talk) 12:04, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Bazza 7, "recast" is perfect for the edit, but is there a grammatical term for a sentence where proximity of a verb to the wrong object results in confusion if not ambiguity? Doug butler (talk) 13:28, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Doug butler: Try Syntactic ambiguity. Bazza 7 (talk) 14:38, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You could re-order the garden-path sentence as
They also wrote a play, Underwood's Finest Hour, which played at Hammersmith's Lyric Theatre in 1981, about an obstetrician distracted during a birth by the radio broadcast of a Test match.
Maybe not ideal, but an improvement. Maproom (talk) 14:48, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Referencing same source[edit]

If I want to reference the same source twice on an Wikipedia article, how do I do that?

For example, I want to reference this article twice on the Unomattina estate article. https://www.ilmattino.it/spettacoli/televisione/unomattina_estate_serena_autieri_tiberio_timperi_gigi_marzullo-7470381.html. Soafy234 (talk) 08:46, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Soafy234 see WP:NAMEDREFS. '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talkcontribs) 08:49, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Soafy234! I haven't had much experience doing this with the visual editor. But what you normally do in code is give the first ref a name, like <ref name="ThisIsMyReference">...</ref> and then you can refer to it later just by using that name, as in <ref name="ThisIsMyReference" />. But if you are using the visual editor I can check for you. Do you use it when editing? - Bilby (talk) 11:31, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I used the source editing to do it as I am more familiar with it than the visual editor. Soafy234 (talk) 17:41, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If you are using WP:Visual editor, you can simply copy and paste the reference numbers, and it will automatically format it in code for you. Ca talk to me! 12:19, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I could not figure out how to do this but I used the source editing to use the same source twice when referencing. Soafy234 (talk) 17:59, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Outdent other's comments[edit]

Can you {{Outdent}} others comments if they are really very narrow? ExclusiveEditor Notify Me! 12:10, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@ExclusiveEditor Normally the template goes immediately before your own comment so it remains clear who replied to whom. See Help:Talk pages#Indentation for the guidance. Mike Turnbull (talk) 13:28, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Can anyone review this page?[edit]

Hello! I made a Wikipedia page about another school in Kuala Lumpur. But later the page was moved to draft with a set of instructions, I followed the instructions and moved it back to mainspace. But since it was already an old page it wasn't reviewed. Can anyone review the page or tell me how to resubmit it so that it would be rereviewed? N niyaz (talk) 15:40, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Well, that's one way to tell the story, @N niyaz. Here's another: after I declined this draft at AfC for lack of evidence of notability, you resubmitted it without any improvement, made a couple of minor edits, and a few minutes later moved it yourself into the main article space, where it has now been tagged for not meeting our notability criteria.
Just so we're clear, are you now asking for that AfC review which you submitted it for, or do you want new page patrol to review it? And would you like me to do either, or do you prefer to wait for someone else to review it instead? -- DoubleGrazing (talk) 16:15, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Just so you know, there are like atleast 100 more articles about schools in Malaysia the same as that wikipedia page. I do not understand what is the problem. N niyaz (talk) 16:30, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
And yes please I want a new page patrol to review it. N niyaz (talk) 16:31, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
See other poor quality articles exist for that argument. Theroadislong (talk) 16:34, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have new page patrolled and sent it to WP:AFD it doesn't appear to pass the notability criteria for schools. Theroadislong (talk) 17:21, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
N niyaz please don't move it back to draft, you bypassed the WP:AFC process as a consequence new page patrolling has sent it to WP:AFD. You can continue to edit and improve it still. Theroadislong (talk) 17:30, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Literature by Disabled Authors[edit]

In 2007, I wrote a book about my adventures backpacking alone across all 6 habitable continents. The book is titled "Travels in a Blue Chair, Alaska to Zambia - Ushuaia".

I am trying to determine if Wikipedia has a section on Disability Literature and related Authors? I have not found such a section yet.

How does one go about creating one? Thanks in advance.

Walt 2607:FEA8:1380:276:7588:11CB:506:D4F7 (talk) 15:50, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Walt and welcome to the Teahouse. The nearest I can find is Category:Writers with disabilities but that may not be comprehensive as the word "disability" is not precise. Please do not set about authoring an article about your book unless you can show that it meets our definition of being notable. Mike Turnbull (talk) 15:58, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

What's the longest article title on Wikipedia?[edit]

We have this, which is a whopping 250 characters. Is there a single article with a longer title that exists (or has existed)? 47.153.138.166 (talk) 16:25, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

hi ip user! not sure which articles specifically count, however there is a title length limit of 255 bytes, with each byte I believe being one character, so that would be the maximum character limit. happy reading! 💜  melecie  talk - 16:35, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Welcome to the Teahouse, IP editor. Full details at WP:Wikipedia records#Title_length. Mike Turnbull (talk) 17:31, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
According to Wikipedia:Unusual articles#Unusual names that is indeed the longest name of any article. Just Step Sideways from this world ..... today 17:34, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Can an IP review good articles?[edit]

I don't know... it seems kind of illegal to me. I still want to help out, though. 47.153.138.166 (talk) 19:02, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No. 78.208.34.48 (talk) 19:33, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Per WP:GAN/I#R2, no, you need to be registered. AstonishingTunesAdmirer 連絡 19:42, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Edit problem entries within a category[edit]

I add book covers to pages which do not have one on a regular basis. Occasionally I see an article listed in the category that I work from Category:Books with missing cover which has an entry that is clearly not correct. One example is Michael Hussey from the "H" section of the aforementioned category. Is there a way for me to remove something like this, where it is obviously just a BLP and not a evidently a book article with a missing image in its infobox? Iljhgtn (talk) 19:36, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Iljhgtn. Thank you for doing this maintenance task.
The reason Michael Hussey appears in that category is that the section Michael Hussey#Underneath the Southern Cross has an {{infobox book}} in it, without a cover. It almost certainly cannot have cover art in the article, because the cover is probably copyright, and the WP:NFCC will not allow a non-free image to be used in that context.
The good news is that if you edit that {{infobox book}} to add the parameter exclude_cover = yes, it should be removed from the category. ColinFine (talk) 19:47, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Where/how can I add that in the infobox? Please do it, and then I will refer to this one as an example for the future for my own didactic purposes. Iljhgtn (talk) 19:51, 27 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]