Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2015 February 13

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February 13

Preserving history with pagemove

When page A needs to be moved to page B, and page B has significant history, what do we generally do? Do we generally prefer to trash the history and just move A to B after deleting B, or do we generally move B to Talk:B/old and then move A to B? Someone's requested that {{Section OR}} be moved to {{Original research section}} for consistent naming (most section-level maintenance templates are "PROBLEM section"), and I was going to move it until I saw non-trivial edits in the history of the latter template that I'm hesitant to delete. It has three deleted edits already, but they're not significant; someone created the page and pretty quickly requested its deletion. Nyttend (talk) 01:58, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

@Nyttend: Generally we do a history swap. See Wikipedia:Requested moves/Closing instructions#Moving procedures; click [show] next to "Procedure for redirects with major histories". See also WP:SWAP. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:31, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

There are WP:HISTMERGE and Special:MergeHistory (for admins), is that what you mean? –Be..anyone (talk) 13:35, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

History merges are normally only done if the pages have the same origin, that is: we may merge the content from one page to another, but we only perform a history merge (which is something different than a merge) when the page histories are actually direct continuations of each other, usually arising as a result of a cut and paste move.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 13:41, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

A history merge would be a horrid idea here, as the two overlap chronologically. We'd end up with diffs like this one. Nyttend (talk) 15:03, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

I've experienced a type of swap. Look at this diff and both edit summaries at the top of the page.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 23:04, 17 February 2015 (UTC)

Question by WilliamPollock

I find Wikipedia impossible to decipher and need someone to write a page for me.

A real person whom I can talk to.

If you can help, <email address redacted again>

Colin Fine - Nonsense. History is written by victors, I'm only poor soldier.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by WilliamPollock (talk • contribs) 03:20, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Hello, WilliamPollock. That's not how we usually work, because it is so often helpful for others to be able to see what help people are asking for, and how they are helped. However, you and I (and many other users) have enabled email in our Wikipedia accounts, so it is possible for us to send each other emails from within Wikipedia. If you send me one, I will endeavour to answer you; however, unless you give me a strong reason to keep it private, I will probably reply to you here or on your user talk page rather than email. Alternatively, there is a "chat room" which may help (I've never used it myself): see WP:IRC/Tutorial.

If you want an article written, you can submit it at WP:requested articles; be aware, though, that there is quite a backlog, and how quickly it is picked up depends on whether it grabs anybody's interest. I see that you have twice requested the undeletion of an draft article (hoccomocco pictures) but I have failed to find a log of its having been deleted (this might be a limitation on my understanding of Wikipedia!) If it is Hoccomocco pictures that you are wanting to create, it doesn't look to me (on a very quick look) that it meets our criteria for notability - that multiple reliable sources unconnected with the company have written at length about it; so if you want an article to be written about it, the onus is on you to demonstrate that these sources do exist. --ColinFine (talk) 12:07, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/hoccomocco pictures has been deleted twice. It was restored but remained abandoned so was deleted again. See Wikipedia:Requests for undeletion#Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/hoccomocco pictures. --David Biddulph (talk) 12:16, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Wrong date on the NCR Corporation article

Just to let you know on the NCR Corporation article you put the date as 1884, but you probably meant 1984. No worries, having a great day. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.5.67.100 (talk) 06:18, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

NCR Corporation (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

If you scroll down the article you will see pictures of the latest technology from the 1880s. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:39, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Comment

I have been unsuccessfully trying to correct some reported date errors in citations on List_of_UK_caving_fatalities. In particular, it is objecting to the format "year=Dec–Jan 1996–1997". Any help would be welcomed. Langcliffe (talk) 10:43, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

It is an ambiguous date. Format it as:

• "Quaking fatality". Descent (133): 17. December 1996 – January 1997.

--  Gadget850 ^talk 10:51, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Gadget850 - that's cracked it. Langcliffe (talk) 11:16, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error ref too many keys

≤

Hello @Jilipama:, I am not sure, if you are still trying to fix that reference in The Andrews Sisters yourself. Help:Referencing for beginners is a good first read about basic referencing in Wikipedia. See especially the sections about the syntax of reference tags (every ref tag needs to be closed after the reference is finished) and using one reference more than once (a "ref name" must be defined in full detail once, then it can be used as short version later). If you have a specific question, please post here again for more information. GermanJoe (talk) 14:33, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Hindu Rashtra Dal

Please can you put it across the way it was ....rather than the way it wanted to be portrayed by a few non state actors.......In your article for NathuRam Godse...the Hindu Rashtra Dal has been termed as a hindu militan organistion...which is not true..so kinldy get the facts right and re-write them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 14.141.106.36 (talk) 14:52, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

I think this is about the article Nathuram Godse, which describes the Hindu Rashtra Dal as a militant organization, giving two references which say "Godse abandoned the RSS after some years, claiming that it lacked proper levels of militancy, and co-founded the Hindu Rashtra Dal", and "In the early 1940s Godse left the RSS to form a militant organization, Hindu Rashtra Dal, aimed at militarizing the mind and conduct of Hindus". Unless you can produce more convincing references stating that the Hindu Rashtra Dal was not a Hindu militant organisation, the statement that it was one will remain in the article. Maproom (talk) 15:31, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Block evasion noticeboard?

Is there a block evasion noticeboard? Would that fall under the auspices of the sock puppet investigation noticeboard? Dismas|^(talk) 14:54, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

If there evadng a block then WP:ANI is the best place, Sock puppetry is normally for editors using multiple accounts rather than block evasion. If theres many accounts its best to start an SPi and report the accounts to ANI for remedy while their socking stsuts is investigated. Amortias (T)(C) 16:25, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll take it to ANI. Dismas|^(talk) 16:29, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Resolved

How to upload an article

Hi-

I am a Professor and we were told it was a good idea to upload our research on Wikkipedia- can you tell me how to do this?-

Thanks so much- Dr. Levinstein (email address redacted] — Preceding unsigned comment added by Drlevinstein (talk • contribs) 16:21, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Drlevinstein. I'm afraid you have been misinformed. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, and does not host WP:original research, ever. Unless your research is purely a review of literature on some subject and does not contain any kind of argumentation or conclusions, it is not appropriate for Wikipedia. On the other hand, if you are able to use your expertise to write a new article which is suitable, or to improve existing Wikipedia articles in your area of study, that would be very welcome. Please see your first article. --ColinFine (talk) 16:37, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Dr. Levinstein, you might want to publish your research on our sister project. Wikibooks. See https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Help:Contributing for details. --Guy Macon (talk) 16:58, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Lord Toby Jug

I really am angry and upset that every time I edit my page with info and references, within in 10 seconds someone called Mcgeddion re-edits my page every time, it's been going on for nearly over two years now and I'm sick of it.. What he writes about me is incorrect every time. I want him barred from editing my page please ASAP thank you, if he cannot be banned from editing my page I'd like my page deleted.

Lord Toby Jug AKA Flingel Bunt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Toby_Jug — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.144.66.118 (talk) 16:45, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Well, first of all it's not your page and if you are the subject of the article and have been editing the page, you are in violation of Wikipedia's conflict of interest policy. Mlpearc (open channel) 16:56, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

@Mlpearc: Are they really, though? I thought it was highly discouraged, but not actually against the rules. Tharthandorf Aquanashi (talk) 22:48, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Please be aware that several of your edit summaries are misleading. Particularly this one where you are removing sourced info rather than "fixing a typo". McGeddon has been following WikiP procedure in their actions. MarnetteD|Talk 17:07, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

We do, however, have procedures that allow you to deal with error on pages about yourself. See Wikipedia:Plain and simple conflict of interest guide. As you can imagine, an encyclopedia cannot just allow anyone to put what they want in the article about them. (They keep deleting my attempts to create a page showing that I am Dalek Supreme just because it isn't "true". How rude!) but we really do want any legitimate errors to be fixed, and the Wikipedia:Plain and simple conflict of interest guide explains exactly how you can help us to do that. --Guy Macon (talk) 17:55, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

The article in question, for readers not using the mobile feature, is Lord Toby Jug. Robert McClenon (talk) 22:55, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

If there is inaccurate information on the page, then, regardless of whether you are Brian Borthwick, you can request edits at Talk: Lord Toby Jug, or can request corrections, or deletion of inaccurate information, at the biographies of living persons noticeboard. However, as previous editors have tried to advise, it is not "your page", even if you are Brian Borthwick. You can request that the page be deleted, but, since it appears that the subject of the page is notable as a British politician in the specific Wikipedia sense, it is unlikely that the page will in fact be deleted. Robert McClenon (talk) 23:04, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Need account help

I forgot my password to this account, gave up and created another account, Perrys Landing, and, you guessed it, found my password about 2 seconds later. Can I get the new account deleted or merged? I'd like to keep my edit history and this user name if possible. Dr. Mike (talk) 19:37, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

There is no User:Perrys Landing. Let me know what the name of the new account is and I will try to get it all sorted out for you. An easy way to do this is to log on with the new account and post a comment here from that account. --Guy Macon (talk) 19:56, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Guy Macon, Here it is. Thanks. PerrysLanding (talk) 00:18, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

PS, Guy, you could have tried Special:ListUsers. Nyttend (talk) 01:07, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

I could have, but doing it the way I did it confirmed for me that he controls both accounts. --Guy Macon (talk) 11:51, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

OK, this one will be pretty simple. Not counting the above, you made two edits using the PerrysLanding account. Just undo them (doesn't matter which account you do that from) with the edit summary "Wrong account" and immediately redo them from your normal account with the edit summary "Correct account". This will put the two edits in the correct edit history.

After you do that I will clean up the PerrysLanding page with Template:retired and post an explanation on that page explaining what happened, a link to this conversation, and instructions for anyone who wishes to start using PerrysLanding as a username some time in the future. --Guy Macon (talk) 01:17, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Guy Macon, okay done. Thanks for the help. Dr. Mike (talk) 04:33, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Done. You can forget that the second account ever existed now. --Guy Macon (talk) 11:51, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

I forgot how to Wiki, what's the best way to include page numbers when using a book

I decided to start working on User:Ryan Vesey/Xerotine siccative again and I no longer remember what the best way to include page numbers if I'm including information from many areas of a book. I thought I remember a relatively effective way of including page numbers using {{rp}} Is that still considered to be the best way? I don't plan on using it if I only use one page from a book. Ryan Vesey 20:07, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Also, how what's the way of writing a template so it links to the template, rather than using the nowiki tags? Ryan Vesey 20:08, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

See Help:References and page numbers

See {{tl}}

--  Gadget850 ^talk 21:04, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) @Ryan Vesey: I will have to leave the first question for someone else to answer. I can answer the latter one though: To link a template you can use either the {{tl}} template or the {{tlx}} template which will result in slightly different formatting. So, for linking the RP template the result would be either {{rp}} or {{rp}}. Excirial ^{(Contact me,Contribs)} 21:06, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

When using <ref name=something>citation</ref>, and when I'm using different pages in different citations to it (for example, citation #2 in Sacred Heart Catholic Church (Dayton, Ohio)), I always use {{rp}}: it's easy and quick, and its meaning is easy to discern. At the same time, I don't use it when every citation goes to the same page; see citation #3 in the same article. It's the easiest way, as far as I know, to provide proper citation of individual pages while using the ref name= feature. Nyttend (talk) 22:14, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

How does one thank the Arbitration Committee for their service?

I wanted to give thanks to the Arbitration Committee for serving the encyclopaedia and the community. I went to the talk page, but it was blank.

How would one go about thanking the Arbitration Committee?

(If this is not the right place for this, I apologise. I don't know where would be more appropriate to ask it, though.) Tharthandorf Aquanashi (talk) 22:46, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

See WP:ARBCOM#LISTS. They've got a mailing list, and anyone can send mail to it; nothing is sent to the members until a moderator approves it, but that's a mechanism to prevent spam and other problematic stuff, not a way of keeping out a thank-you note. Be careful to include a good subject line; as noted at the link I gave you, Almost all incoming email is spam that we delete at moderation. Please include an informative subject line to avoid deletion.. Nyttend (talk) 23:03, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

First, this Help Desk is a reasonable place to ask questions, including yours. Second, you may also go to the user talk page for any arbitrator and post thanks to his or her page, or, from the user talk page, you may use the Email This User feature. You may also put a barnstar on the user talk page of an arbitrator. Thank you for wanting to express appreciation for the services of the Arbitration Committee in dealing with conflict in the English Wikipedia. Robert McClenon (talk) 23:08, 13 February 2015 (UTC)