Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2024 June 28

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June 28

Best way to verify facts about a fictional character

I'm reviewing Twilight Sparkle for GA status and I need to verify the veracity of the plot summaries (it's basically one massive plot summary). Do I just have to do my own research to figure stuff out? Thanks in advance! Cessaune [talk] 01:16, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

The source for a plot summary is usually assumed to be the work itself, so verifying that information would likely mean watching the relevant episodes. TornadoLGS (talk) 02:01, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Well is that what I have to do? That sounds like far too much work. Cessaune [talk] 02:02, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Fair point. That does seem excessive. It's not like watching one or two episodes. TornadoLGS (talk) 02:10, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

I suggest asking at WT:GAN as helpers here are not necessarily GA experts and it might be helpful to make the GA guidance clearer. TSventon (talk) 10:01, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Proper venue for discussing application of policy within a Wikiproject

I've been asking around on various pages to no avail. Recently there has been an ANI thread and several templates deleted due to a discussion that included how articles should cover active tropical cyclones (hurricanes, typhoons, etc). However, I think that how pages should cover active storms needs to be discussed further. The first suggestion was to take the matter to ArbCom, but it did not seem so serious. Next I suggested holding a discussion on the relevant project talk page (either Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Weather or Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Tropical cyclones), but others suggested holding it outside of project space to reduce bias and invite more outside opinion. One editor suggested WP:NPOVN but that seemed a poor fit. Following the suggestions of a couple others I did start a thread at Wikipedia:Village pump (policy), but I have gotten no response one way or the other there. Admittedly, that isn't quite the right place either as that page is more about discussing changes to policy. At this point I am not sure where this kind of discussion should be held. TornadoLGS (talk) 01:57, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@TornadoLGS That ANI thread seems quite thorough. Please note that Wikipedia is not particularly interested in transitory current events. Shantavira|^{feed me} 10:21, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@Shantavira Yes, the whole point was to have a discussion on what information should or should not be included per WP:NOTNEWS but there were a few points I still thought were worth going over. TornadoLGS (talk) 21:29, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

How to fix a problem with political party modules I have noticed

I've noticed that for templates such as {{Full party name with color|Janata Dal (United)}} and {{Full party name with color|Janata Dal (Secular)}}, the full name is only shown as Janata Dal. I see why this is important for {{Full party name with color|Labour Party (UK)}} and {{Full party name with color|Labour Party (Australia)}} maybe, but Janata Dal (United) and Janata Dal (Secular) have the same party name when their full names should include the bits in parentheses. A simple solution is to add a flag in the module that indicates whether the full party name should include text in parentheses, and consider that in all political party templates involving the full name. Where is the right place to get a discussion going on this issue? C1MM (talk) 04:49, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@C1MM On the template's Talk Page should be best. If it is not an often-edited template, you may need to WP:PING a couple of people who have previously worked on it. Mike Turnbull (talk) 11:19, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@C1MM: This can already be done with |dab=yes after a discussion at Template talk:Party name with color#Undisambiguated full name. It's currently only documented at {{Party name with color}} but it also works for {{Full party name with color}} which uses the same module. If you want it to be done automatically for some parties then you have to start a new discussion. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:36, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Forget the email id

I need some help with our page. We created a page for our company but forgot the email address we used to sign up. We've tried all the ones we can think of, but none are working. If you can help us out with this, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you in advance! 110.226.182.71 (talk) 05:47, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Some questions:

• What is "our page"?
• Who are "we"?
• Can you remember the user name you used?
• Can you remember the password you used?   Maproom (talk) 08:33, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

See H:RP, but if you cannot remember the username, password or email address it may be impossible to access the account. See also WP:BOSS.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 08:50, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia doesn't use email addresses to log on, it uses usernames plus passwords. Hence if you look in the contribution history of the article you say you created, you should find that username. If you can't remember the password, just create a new account and mention on its new userpage that you previously edited with that other account. Note that accounts are for one person only: your use of "we" might be interpreted as if you think it is acceptable to have role-based accounts (e.g. for the PR department). It is not. Also, if you edit an article about your company, then by the T&Cs here, you must declare you are a paid editor. See WP:PAID. Mike Turnbull (talk) 11:14, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

I wonder whether "We created a page for our company" merely means that Wikipedia has an article about your company and you think it was created by an unknown person at the company. We are an encyclopedia with millions of articles mostly written and maintained by volunteer editors with no affiliation with the subject. See Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure if you want to make edits about your company. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:01, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

The IP address belongs to Bharti Airtel, which is a lengthy article about an Indian company. The editing history looks like it contains several COI edits, so it's likely that one of the redlinked usernames is the account in question. ~Anachronist (talk) 15:25, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Bharti Airtel is an Internet service provider so I guess the poster is just a customer. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:58, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

I need permision

Would it be ok if I was to write down the title or subtitle of an article on Wikipedia that I am reading for the sole purpose of remembering where I finished off so that I can continue reading the article or would that be a copyright violation?

Thank you

Saleh Malaeb Salehmalaeb (talk) 10:45, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@Salehmalaeb No problem at all. In fact, you can download whole articles for personal use, if you like. Everything in Wikipedia is licensed under a Creative Commons license (see that link and WP:CCBYSA for details). Mike Turnbull (talk) 11:03, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

You can also make notes to yourself in your user space. You can use your sandbox, or create a sub-page under your username, like User:Salehmalaeb/Notes. ~Anachronist (talk) 15:20, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Thank you very much. Would it be ok to download an images off wikipedia and use it as a whatsapp profile? Salehmalaeb (talk) 13:13, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

Most (I am not sure if it is all) images on Wikipedia are covered under a Creative Commons 3.0 license, which does permit you to download images of Wikipedia to manipulate it (i.e setting an WhatsApp profile.) Thanks! Hanoi2020 (talk) 17:13, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

Ok thank you. Just to make it clear I write down the the title name or subtitle name on microsoft notes just to remember where i left off reading an article so is that ok too or do i only use userspace and/or sandbox? Salehmalaeb (talk) 19:03, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

I cannot easily imagine a copyright regime that would restrict your freedom to make note of a title in any way you like. The title is not the content. —Tamfang (talk) 21:36, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

No notification of replies to my comments

I recall I used to get a notification when someone clicked the "reply" link at the end of my comment without explicitly naming me in a {{ping}} or {{reply}} tag. I am running across replies that seem to have been made this way, but for which I never got notified. I don't recall changing anything in my user preferences, and I don't see any setting about this either. Would someone click the reply link at the end of this comment and reply without referencing my username, so I can confirm this? ~Anachronist (talk) 15:18, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Are you subscribed to the discussions in question? —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 15:31, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Ah, I see the problem. I thought I would be auto-subscribed to discussions I comment in. It seems I am not. ~Anachronist (talk) 16:22, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@Anachronist You can check which threads you have subscribed to, and remove them if you wish, at Special:TopicSubscriptions. Mike Turnbull (talk) 16:18, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Thank you. The problem was that my auto-subscribe setting wasn't enabled. ~Anachronist (talk) 16:24, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

getting wikipedia article seen on google

Anyone know why my article isn't showing up on google? It's on Wikipedia but I can't get it to show up on google even when I type in the name of the article followed by wikipedia.

Let me know! Thanks Richielemay29 (talk) 15:48, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@Richielemay29: Articles aren't indexed on search engines until a new pages patroller reviews it or at least 90 days have passed, whichever comes first. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 15:55, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

User Amage9 and User Luigi Rolly Bedin

I made a mistake by wanting to modify my Amage9 sandbox into the article Luigi Rolly Bedin, I modified the user instead of the article. Thanks in advance Amage9 (talk) 15:52, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Amage9, you moved your sandbox to User:Luigi Rolly Bedin the solution was to move it again to Luigi Rolly Bedin, so I have done so. TSventon (talk) 16:05, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@TSventon, thank you very much. Amage9 (talk) 17:03, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Timestamp

I noticed today (I believe for the first time) that the timestamp of a signature is dim. Is that a new, uh, feature?--Bbb23 (talk) 16:07, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

dim? See also last point of meta:Tech/News/2024/26 – robertsky (talk) 16:17, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

I find it weird that they say "all" timestamps when it's definitely not happening on every page... It's also just low enough contrast that it makes my brain tick (and is below WCAG standards!). I know how I could mitigate that on a personal level, but I'd rather there just be a way to turn the entire functionality off. - Purplewowies (talk) 04:12, 29 June 2024 (UTC)

They do look greyer, and I notice they are now clickable links. 57.140.16.27 (talk) 21:55, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

With my custom CSS, which has custom colours for links, the timestamp links have the same colour as any other unclicked link, which has been wreaking havoc with my ability to quickly recognise which part of a signature is the username/talk page/etc. Suntooooth, it/he (talk/contribs) 02:15, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

trying to find the institution where i completed high school diploma just can’t find my diploma I earned

Hope someone can help I’m trying to find the institution where i completed high school diploma just can’t find my diploma I earned 2601:5CA:4400:C30:ED82:E3EE:1519:81C5 (talk) 16:59, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Are you sayng you don't know which high school you went to? If not please clarify your question. Shantavira|^{feed me} 19:00, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

This it the Help Desk for Wikipedia: it is for assistance in using and editing Wikipedia - nothing else. ColinFine (talk) 22:18, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Moving article from sandbox

I would like to move my article from the sandbox but there is no button to move it. I have changed appearance several times but still no avenue to move the article. Have done more than 15 edits and account was opened seven days ago. Please advise. SEQUINS24 (talk) 18:53, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

I have looked at User:SEQUINS24/sandbox, but to be honest it has zero chance of being accepted as an article at the moment. It could be moved to a WP:DRAFT article but would need a lot of work. Also, I would have to ask the obvious question of whether you are linked to Bruce Ovbiagele in some way, as this would lead to a conflict of interest.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 19:07, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@SEQUINS24: Perhaps you didn't see ianmacm reply to your question above, but it wasn't wise of you to move Bruce Ovbiagele to the article namespace at this time because it's not ready for article status. I've draftified the page for you to allow you more time to work on it and improve because leaving where it was would have almost certainly led to the page being either tagged or nominated for WP:DELETION. I suggest you take a look at Wikipedia:Notability (people), Help:Your first article, Help:Referencing for beginners for some general information on how you might try to improve the draft. You should also talke a look at Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not, Wikipedia:Conflict of interest, Wikipedia:Autobiography and Wikipedia:An article about yourself is not necessarily a good thing because those pages may also contain information that you might find helpful and might apply to your situation. I don't suggest you try to move the page back to the article namespace yourself again because doing so is almost certainly going to led to the page being nominated for deletion (absent any real significant improvements being made). Instead I suggest you submit the draft to Wikipedia:Articles for creation for review when you think it's ready. I've added a template to the top of the draft to make it easier for you to do so, but I don't suggest you do so right now because the draft will only be declined. -- Marchjuly (talk) 22:24, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Hi

I want to ask is it ok if an editor is continuosly creating redirects of potential articles? Doesn't it take away the attribution from the editor which was about to start the article? What @Kumarpramit: is doing is just making redirects of badminton tournament articles, just to pose as the first to start the page, while others are doing hardwork of expanding it without their article tally going upwards. Thankyou. zoglophie^•talk• 19:59, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Expanding an article from a redirect counts as a new article creation. Ruslik_Zero 20:20, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

I suggest you forget the articlecountitis you appear to be suffering from, and get on with improving the encyclopaedia. Almost nobody cares how many articles you have started and how many you haven't, and unless there is major problem with it, almost nobody goes back and looks at who chanced to create the first version of an article. (Looking at my record, I see that I have made 24 891 edits over almost 19 years, and have created a grand total of 14 articles). ColinFine (talk) 22:27, 28 June 2024 (UTC)