Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 December 1

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December 1

A user is deleting information on a band's page... the info is being put up by the owner of the band!

Hi, my name is Jeff Waters and I am the owner of the music group ANNIHILATOR from Canada. Annihilator (band)

There is a user named: MetalDiablo666 who has deleted/altered my official "facts/bio/info" on the page. A few minutes ago, i used the "undo" function to revert back to the recent and correct version of the page... again, what this user did was delete the official stuff and somehow leave incorrect facts... How can I prevent him from changing this page again? He is not there to add facts or "help out"; he is deleting official facts that I uploaded. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Metaliker (talk • contribs) 01:28, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Even if you do own the band, you do not own or control the article about the band, nor do you have any right to control its content. With your obvious and massive conflict of interest, you should never have edited the article at all, much less been messing around with it for so long. You should have suggested improvements to the article on the talk page of said article, offering reliable, impartial sources of information to improve the article. --Orange Mike | Talk 01:51, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Space problem?

In the following article: Maher Arar - I can't seem to be able to distance "in" from "Canada" in the first sentence? Matt714 (talk) 02:09, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Are you saying you see "...Canadian citizenship who has resided inCanada..."? I'm not seeing that. ‑‑Mandruss ☎ 02:13, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Looks fine to me as well. Dismas|^(talk) 02:16, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

All is good, that just the way the text follows the infobox. Mlpearc (open channel) 02:21, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

It's normal in Chrome's incognito mode. Must be some extension I'm using: http://i.imgur.com/9m1bugd.jpg Matt714 (talk) 18:59, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

A question about editing on wikipedia

Are there any rules and/or guidelines on wikipedia which state that a user must contribute to wikipedia if they hope to have their user sub pages kept? So for example, can a user cease contributing to main space articles and instead contribute solely to their own user space, without having to worry about their user subpages being deleted? JayJ47 (talk) 02:49, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

There doesn’t appear to be anything listed here – providing that user space rules have not been broken. Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion--Aspro (talk) 03:15, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Yes, it says "User pages about Wikipedia-related matters by established users usually do not qualify for deletion." I've seen some material deleted, though, if it appeared that the user had stopped contributing to Wikipedia and instead was using his or her userspace for something else (posting a resumé, running a fantasy game, promoting a product, etc.) —Anne Delong (talk) 03:40, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Ok. Thank you both for your answers :) JayJ47 (talk) 03:51, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:User pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 04:07, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

@JayJ47: WP:NOTWEBHOST is also relevant where it says user pages "should be used primarily to present information relevant to working on" WP, & "...user pages should not function as personal webpages or be repositories for large amounts of material that is irrelevant to collaborating on Wikipedia". If you are only editing your userpages/subpages and not contributing to improving WP, your pages could well be deleted. 'Abandoned' draft pages for example are deleted fairly regularly. I had a few old drafts deleted, though they were on my old IP sub page, and hadn't been edited in years. Such things can be recovered though, If I decide I want to complete those pages. 220 of ^Borg 17:37, 3 December 2014 (UTC)

Page view comparison of multiple articles

I know that you can find out the page views of a particular page on Wikipedia by first clicking on the History tab and then clicking on "Page View Statistics". Is there a tool available where you can type the names of multiple articles and then compare the page views of all of the articles together. It would be a real time saver. Thanks. Gizza ^(t)(c) 05:32, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

@DaGizza: I don't know of any, and if there isn't one...well, I've been looking to hack something together as a side project in my spare time over break :) I'll keep you updated if I manage to throw something together in the next few weeks, but no promises. ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 08:20, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks SuperHamster :) Yeah I find the Google Trends and Alexa statistics very useful. It will be handy if Wikipedia can offer something similar. Gizza ^(t)(c) 12:16, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

In case you don't know, the page view tool has a pagename field next to the "Go" button. It only works on one page at a time but it's often faster than going via the page history. However, the field is currently broken for me. You can write the pagename directly in the url instead but I don't know whether it works for all characters. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:23, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Incorrect company logo

Hello,

I am writing on behalf of The Shepherd Building Group. I work for the company and need to change the logo on the page as it is incorrect.

The article is here: Shepherd Building Group

The user who uploaded the logo has not been instructed to by the company. I am unable to overwrite the image. Could I be advised how to gain control of editing the page. It can include any information that is taken from reliable sources, ?

Thanks

Katy Jobling

KatyJobling52 (talk) 09:12, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Please understand that this is not "your" page, it is Wikipedia's page about your company, please read our policy on ownership of articles. It can include any information that is taken from reliable sources, whether that is praise or criticism of the company.
You cannot "gain control of editing the page" - please read and follow our policy on conflict of interest, which explains why you should not be editing the page at all, and what to do if you want changes made. Similarly "The user who uploaded the logo" had no need to be "instructed to by the company".
If you wish the logo to be updated, please supply a URL of where the new logo can be found - or ask at files for upload - Arjayay (talk) 09:38, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

I assume that the logo you would like to see on the page is this one. Getting it into the article in place of the one currently there will be easy, except for one thing. Wikipedia is careful to obey laws regarding copyright, and only uses images which it is legally entitled to use, either because they are in the public domain, or under "fair use" rules. As far as I can tell, neither of these applies to Shepherd's current logo. If the company is willing to release its copyright in the image, there are (lengthy and tedious) instructions here. Maproom (talk) 10:52, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

I understand this is not my page and I understand I cannot fully gain control, this is not what I intend to do - I did not phrase this well. Apologies. I would simply like to update the logo on this page to the correct one. The correct logo is here: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=shepherd+group+logo&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=912&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=4kp8VL-mE-n5ywOa6oGADA&ved=0CCYQsAQ#facrc=_&imgdii=8ltYQczbpSHC4M%3A%3Bj6mC-gLwVnVY1M%3B8ltYQczbpSHC4M%3A&imgrc=8ltYQczbpSHC4M%253A%3BYBC3k-1zc0dItM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.yorkguildhallorchestra.com%252Fassets%252Fimages%252FShepherd-Group-logo-for-web.gif%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.yorkguildhallorchestra.com%252Fhtml%252Flinks.html%3B3477%3B1521

I am new to editing so if this link is not helpful I apologise. http://www.ses-ltd.co.uk/who-we-are/shepherd-group.html

Thank you KatyJobling52 (talk) 11:15, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

I've changed the logo image for the company. We can use logos under a claim of fair use. I don't know why anyone would need to go through the trouble of donating their own company logo. Dismas|^(talk) 11:40, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

SPI

On 21st November an editor was taken to WP:SPI for suspected sock-puppeting and there is a long backlog for dealing with these cases. This case is still low down on the list. Today the editor has opened yet another account in a different name (this is clear from comparing userpage details). Could details of this new suspected sock-puppet account be added to the current SPI form? ~ P123ct1 (talk) 10:41, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Sure. Just add the new account's name below, and in the same format as, the other entry or entries in the "Suspected sockpuppets" section, and add a signed and dated note—below your original explanation of the report (if you were the original filer) or in the "Comments by other users" section (if you weren't)—pointing out that you've added the account to the report. Deor (talk) 14:06, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Deor: Thanks. ~ P123ct1 (talk) 14:17, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Audio illutions

I want to put my problem(my wife)hearing from unknown source in Wikipedia,so that people concerened can read and if there is any of their suggetion can be redirected to me,or through wikipedia can I get to talk to reserchers on brain? how do I go about? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Premacharir (talk • contribs) 12:16, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm afraid that is not what Wikipedia is for. I would suggest you look elsewhere for a suitable website on which to discuss your issue. Yunshui ^雲_水 13:36, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

You could start by reading the Wikipedia article Hallucinations. There may be some further help in the footnotes to that article which may guide you to suitable websites where you can pursue this. ~ P123ct1 (talk) 14:27, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

References and categories not displaying properly

Hi! I seem to be experiencing a technical glitch, or I did something the wrong way, but cannot figure out what... I just created a new stub article, First Council of Dvin, put the reflist under a reference header at the bottom, then added a navbox and 2 categories, but they don't display when I save the page. The references appear but without a header, the rest not at all. Could anyone fix it or tell me how to do it?? Many thanks! Susuman77 (talk) 14:29, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Missing stuff often results from something being unclosed (e.g., a tag or template). I added a slash/stroke to the ref tag preceding the References section heading. ‑‑Mandruss ☎ 14:33, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Great! Thanks a lot for your fast response, I'll be careful to check that in the future. Susuman77 (talk) 14:35, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

there is a bug report on that, as the software does not detect if the last <ref> is unclosed. --  Gadget850 ^talk 02:35, 2 December 2014 (UTC)

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

There are other Wikipedia articles on this group in other languages, e.g. Arabic. (I do not mean translations of the en. version.) How do I look these up? ~ P123ct1 (talk) 14:48, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

To the left of the article text, under the heading "languages", are links to the articles in other languages. Just click on the link(s) for the one(s) you want to read. Deor (talk) 14:54, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

The links come through this Wikidata page. --David Biddulph (talk) 14:56, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

You can get there by clicking "Edit links" or "Wikidata item" in the left pane of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:42, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Actinic keratosis

In the first paragraph of the above mentioned article, a treatment listed is 'cannabis.' This requires a reference. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.111.102.2 (talk) 15:32, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

That comes from an edit made earlier this afternoon. Even if it was not vandalism it was unsourced as you correctly pointed out, so I have reverted the edit. --David Biddulph (talk) 15:41, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Alasdair Taylor (squash player) and James Dow (physician)

Could someone please review these articles for me. Thanks.Gomach (talk) 15:48, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for creating the articles. I renamed the existing Alasdair Taylor page to Alasdair Grant Taylor and created a disambiguation page. Thank you for adding James Dow (physician) to the existing disambiguation page. I created a redirect for James Findlay Dow. Robert McClenon (talk) 18:27, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Thank you very much.Gomach (talk) 18:39, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Fora Financial Wikipedia page

No. If you look at the box at the top of your sandbox page you'll see a green button with the text "Submit your draft for review!". You didn't press that button, so you haven't yet submitted the draft for review. You also need to read about conflict of interest. --David Biddulph (talk) 16:52, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Olympic Games, U.S. athlete sanctioned for political protest (minding his own business)

How can the Wikipedia index be improved to find my answer (or help me find the answer)

Around 1972, one or two American runners were sanctioned for standing around during the medal ceremony. They said they were minding their own business like white people minding their own business among black people. What happened/who were these famous people? Wowee Zowee public (talk) 19:07, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

No need to answer. I found the answer. It was Vincent Matthews and Wayne Collett. Both were banned from the Olympics afterwards. Wowee Zowee public (talk) 19:16, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Image licence question

The section on German compounds mentions the German language can be used to produce surprisingly long compound words. I have seen the word Banküberfallvorbereitungsüberwachungsdatenspeicherungsgesetz used in a German Donald Duck comic book, and it clearly seems to illustrate a surprisingly long German compound word. If I take a photograph of the panel where Chief O'Hara is arresting Black Pete, citing this (fictional) law, am I allowed to publish it on Wikipedia? After all, I don't own the copyright on the drawings of Chief O'Hara and Black Pete on the panel. JIP | Talk 19:00, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

@JIP: Hey JIP. Sorry, I don't think you can use it. Since nothing you've said indicates the image is in the public domain or bears a compatible free license, the issue is whether the intended use of this non-free copyrighted material would be permitted under fair use and I don't think it would. It's not as if this example of a surprisingly long German word is the only example one could use that would serve the same encyclopedic purpose. For that reason, it would likely not meet contextual significance and its use would be replaceable by a free equivalent. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 23:07, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

how to add a pdf file to a page

Hi,

I am editing the Wikipedia site for my old professor, George W. Hilton. Trains Magazine has sent me a new obituary that they ran in their November issue with their permission to post it on Wikipedia. But, while I know how to enter a link to a pdf that is on another site (eg, AEI), how do I attach the pdf file directly to George's Wikipedia site? When I click on edit the references, it does not take me to the reference section where there are presently four references. Thanks,

R Helms — Preceding unsigned comment added by RobertBHelms (talk • contribs) 20:52, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

We don't provide references by uploading them. What you should do is use the {{Cite magazine}} template to provide details of the reference so that anyone who wants to verify it can find it in, say, a library and check it for themselves.--ukexpat (talk) 22:09, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

Filedelinkerbot problem

Commons:File:Trevelin.jpg has recently been deleted, see Commons:Commons:Deletion requests/File:Trevelin.jpg. This image was used in articles in several Wikipedia languages. User:Filedelinkerbot quickly removed the reference to this file from Trevelin in English Wikipieda, but it has not removed the references in corresponding articles in eight other languages: br:Trevelin, cy:Trevelin, es:Trevelin, eu:Trevelin, fr:Trevelin, it:Trevelin, pt:Trevelin and sco:Trevelin. Should I raise this in User talk:Filedelinkerbot? I could edit these pages manually, but I am wary of editing a page in a language that I don't understand. In each case, a recent edit replaced a valid image with the now-deleted image. I hope that a new edit will prompt the restoration of the original image by an editor watching the page. Verbcatcher (talk) 22:47, 1 December 2014 (UTC)

@Verbcatcher: As far as I'm aware, Filedelinkerbot only operates on the English and German versions of Wikipedia. To expand the bot to run on other language-versions of Wikipedia would require the bot go through whatever bot-approval process those wikis have. I suppose that is something that could be discussed with the bot's operator, but in the mean time, I've started removing the images manually (and restoring the previous one when appropriate). ~SuperHamster Talk Contribs 22:58, 1 December 2014 (UTC)