Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2015 February 2

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February 2

Referencing errors on James McMaster

Reference help requested.

On the entry for "James McMaster," I used two quotations, both cited, from an article by someone named Egan who knew him; the first quotation has the full citation in the footnote, the second...is the one I messed up on inthe citing and don't know how to do it (it is same article) as I know Wikipedia doesn't use Ibid. If somebody can correct that footnote, great. Merci.

Thanks, John Loughery (talk) 00:32, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Basically, you are attempting to invoke a reference named "Egan", but there is no such reference in the article. Please read Help:Referencing for beginners#Same reference used more than once and add to this thread if you still have questions. ―Mandruss ☎ 00:57, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

@John Loughery: Help desk responders are often willing to fix simple errors where the intent is clear. This case doesn't look that clear to me, so I'll refrain from fixing it; perhaps someone else feels differently. In any case, it's bad form to introduce an error and then walk away, and I'm not sure that's not what you're doing. ―Mandruss ☎ 01:39, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

It has been fixed.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 22:20, 5 February 2015 (UTC)

Adding a subsection in the middle of a table

To help eliminate some confusion, I'm putting a table of area excavations by year into the Tel Kabri article and doing the work in my wee workspace. I don't want to post the table here as it will be beyond annoying for everyone involved, but how do I add a subsection in the middle? I don't know if that's how it should be referred to, but basically I want to put some sub-areas associated with Area D and make it clear that they're associated with Area D visually. I guess that means having the D label down to be left of the sub-area names, but also having it continue over them as it once existed without any subdivisions (and yes, I do see the irony in using something confusing in attempting to eliminate confusion). Specifically, I want to add the subdivisions of D-West, D-South 1, D-South 2, D-North, and D-West East. Thanks! Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 13 Shevat 5775 02:14, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I'm having trouble understanding your goal. Can you restate it using the standard terms row, column, cell, and heading? For example, if you want to insert a column, say which columns you want to insert it between. Another term is "span", referring to cells that span multiple rows or columns. There are examples at Help:Table. ―Mandruss ☎ 03:57, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Honestly, I'm a bit confused myself. So I drew it: [1] (sorry, my handwriting isn't best with bolder tipped pencils). Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 13 Shevat 5775 05:29, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

That's very creative. I was thinking about doing the same kind of thing using some kind of web-based whiteboarding, but I didn't know whether there existed anything like that that was registration-free and easy to use. To start with, I don't know of any way to inset those "sub-cells" within the "Area D" cell. You could eliminate the "Area D" part and simply have cells in the first column containing "Area D", "Area D-West", "Area D-South 1", etc. That leaves a fairly basic 11x8 table (which you could start by using the table feature in the Advanced toolbar of the wiki editor), except for the multi-level table heading. I would have to do some reading to tell you how to accomplish that, but this will get you started if you eliminate the "Expeditions" cell for now. ―Mandruss ☎ 05:50, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I'm a weird marriage of low and high tech. I'll have the latest gadgets and I'm pretty good with computers and always plugged in, but I do wear a pocket watch and waistcoat and that script of mine is based on Spencerian (but requires one of these to be written properly and cast spells by the looks of the ones in the picture...). Don't want to tackle web-based whiteboarding without a drawing pad, which I probably should get. Anyway, hmmm, that is a possibility, but I do kind of like the current format of the table. Now that I think about it though, having all those subsections might be a bit much. Another thing I could do is make a small hideable table in the Area D portion of the area list. If I can find a way not to make it look too cluttered it might prevent more than a few head-desks. As you can tell by D-West East, things got a little bit out of hand with area naming (There was talk of making a D-West East West or Area X at one point....) Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 13 Shevat 5775 06:01, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I would have simply mapped the separate areas and numbered them starting with 1. But, as is usually the case, I wasn't consulted. As for table construction, a table-within-a-table would be ambitious beyond my skill level. Someone else may be able to add helpful comments; in the meantime I hope I have been of some use. ―Mandruss ☎ 06:15, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

The site's areas are based on the ones laid out in the 1975-1976 excavations which would have used the Old Israel Grid (OIG) and been mapped and measured using dumpy levels, measuring tapes, plum-bobs, and the odd bit of string. They carried those areas over to the first big dig and the actual naming of the areas I think would have been based on "What comes next in the alphabet?" but I haven't the foggiest as to where T came from as the rest are A-F. We're just digging in their old Area D and dividing it up as it would make research very difficult for other people to research the site if we had a different set of areas. Isn't archaeology fun? We do have total stations now and the New Israel Grid (NIG), so at least measurements are more accurate. Ah you have been helpful and I appreciate it! I think I remember seeing an exceptionally complicated table somewhere that I used as a template (chopped up) for the original a month ago. I shall seek it out when I can. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 13 Shevat 5775 06:59, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

It can be done, by making the first column two cells wide and hiding some of the intermediate borders:

Area		Expenditure
		1957-1958 salvage excavations	1969 salvage excavations	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
Area A		1957-1958	-	1975-1976	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
Area B		-	1969	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
Area C		-	-	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
Area D		-	-	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
	Area D-West	-	-	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
	Area D-South 1	-	-	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
	Area D-South 2	-	-	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
	Area D-North	-	-	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
	Area D-West-East	-	-	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.
Area E		-	-	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.	etc.

I really don't know if that meets MOS:ACCESS though. It probably doesn't. --Redrose64 (talk) 11:13, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

It shows up fine on my iPad, but my iPad is always in desktop mode, and I wonder about phones. It might be best to have the separate Area D table then (which would have to have the same thing for D-South and would get us into Inception territory on one table). Also, I'm afraid it's expeditions, not expenditures. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 13 Shevat 5775 15:05, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Actually, I could just make another small bulleted list there and indent it normally. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 13 Shevat 5775 15:49, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

You are only in Inception territory if you don't know what level of table you are at :) Naraht (talk) 15:55, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref

need help trying to site a source, i changed some information on a page Keegan-Michael Key that was obviously incorrect (he did not get a masters in 'local astronomy') and i dont know how to cite the source correctly.Sorry! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.155.101.90 (talk) 05:22, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

That "unconstructive edit" was made on January 22. I have modified the language a little and added a full reference. Thank you. ―Mandruss ☎ 06:47, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurelle_Mehus

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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i need help. on my page a person keeps making changes i do not agree with. for example they insist on a different photo. it has become harassment. is there anyway to block these changes?

this person has also blocked me from making changes on wiki common- my photos.

can you help me or direct me to who can.

girlntundra — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girlntundra (talk • contribs) 06:14, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Hello Girlntundra. Wikipedia is the encyclopedia that anyone can edit. The other editor has just as much right to edit the article as you do, as long as they comply with policies and guidelines. That editor is explaining their changes in edit summaries, and on the talk page of an IP editor (is that you by chance?). You should discuss changes to the article on its talk page. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 06:24, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

You use the words "on my page". You don't own a page. As Cullen328 says, the other editor has as much right as you to edit the article. If you disagree, then, as mentioned, the first step is to discuss on the article talk page, Talk: Laurelle Mehus. If that does not work (and it hasn't really been tried yet), you should read dispute resolution and follow one of the procedures described there. You certainly haven't described anything that resembles "harassment". Robert McClenon (talk) 17:54, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

the problem is the individuals doing some of the edits have become bullies- is it possible to delete a page I created and photos I submitted? if so how do I do this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girlntundra (talk • contribs) 19:28, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Girlntundra. As Robert McClenon explained to you, it is not your page and you do not own it; furthermore, every time you edited, you "irrevocably agree[d] to release your contribution under the CC BY-SA 3.0 License and the GFDL". You cannot therefore delete it unless you can establish consensus that it should be deleted according to one of Wikipedia's policies. I do not see any evidence of bullying - I see an IP address edit-warring. Robert has explained the appropriate next steps to you if you wish to continue working on this article,. --ColinFine (talk) 22:43, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

talking to the user who edited the page last

Hi - Wanted to know how to talk to the user who edited the page last.If I go to view History tab and click talk against the user who last updated, will it help ? Devendraparmar1 (talk) 09:59, 2 February 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Devendraparmar1 (talk • contribs) 09:55, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Yes. This may help you. APK whisper in my ear 10:01, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

S-line Templates: Railjet

Hi, I am trying to get the S-line templates to work for Railjet series. For some reason these are not showing up in the articles correctly (see Budapest Keleti railway station, for example). Could you see what the problem is compared to one of the other rail series', for example Italian rail Category:Italy rail transport templates all work correctly.

Also for some reason, the articles are being added to the Category:Railjet templates, which does not usually happen for rail templates. Could this be looked into please?

Thanks Metropolitan456 (talk) 11:15, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

@Metropolitan456: To categorise a template and not the pages that transclude it, it is necessary to use <noinclude>...</noinclude>, like this. When doing that, it is important to ensure that the noinclude follows the "real" template code directly (like this), without intervening spaces or line breaks, otherwise those will end up in the transcluding page. The {{s-line}} group are difficult to understand, and sensitive to miscoding: you will find plenty of experienced people at WT:RAIL. --Redrose64 (talk) 12:41, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Surname lists

I believe that redlinks should not appear in lists on disambiguation pages and under "See Also" headings in articles. What about lists of surnames, auch as Crisp (surname)? It would make sense to me to disallow redlinks, but I have been unable to find a policy on this.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 12:02, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

MOS:SAL is what you're looking for, specifically WP:CSC that all entries must meet wikipedia's notability criteria or be demonstrated that it can belong to that list without it becoming indiscriminate. CaptRik (talk) 12:29, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Disambiguation pages can also have red links per MOS:DABRL. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:38, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

A "See also" list item should definitely never be a redlink because then there is nothing to see. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 14:12, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Green font

I've been away from editing Wikipedia for a while and one thing I've noticed is the now widespread adoption of green font for text on talk pages. I think it's being used to quote instead of using italics but there is no explanation of its adoption and use on the pages of Wikipedia devoted to Wiki Markup. Can you provide any explanation? Thanks! Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 15:55, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

See Template:Tq. --David Biddulph (talk) 15:58, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

@Liz: Previously asked and answered at Help talk:Wiki markup#Green font?. Please don't post the same question in multiple places. --Redrose64 (talk) 17:18, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

My page is repeatedly deleted why?

Hi My name is Julio J Garcia. I am a pastor and evangelist. My Pastor has a page on here Rodney Howard Browne. I am trying to start a wiki page for myself as well, but it keeps being deleted any reason why?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Julio — Preceding unsigned comment added by Juliojgarcia (talk • contribs) 17:40, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Reverand, it most likely didn't meet notability requirements and because it's an article about yourself it presents a conflict of interest problem. It's best to directly contact the admin who deleted the page on their talk page. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 13 Shevat 5775 17:43, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

"Julio Jerry Garcia is a charismatic Christian preacher and evangelist. He is pastor of Revival Ablaze a ministry which he founded in 2001, and heads With His Stripes Ministry. He was born in New York and has resided in Tampa, Florida, USA since the events of 9/11."

No sources or claim to notability. "Charismatic" is promotional should have been Wikilinked, and neither ministry has an article. The only place they show up on the entire web is in that sentence. InedibleHulk (talk) 17:49, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Yes, there is also the promotional aspect, use of puffery, and use of euphemisms. If you want to edit Wikipedia you need to review guidelines, and if there is to be an article about you, someone else should write it, and notability must be established. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 13 Shevat 5775 17:56, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Changing or adding a photo

Hi there- I am trying to change out, or add a new main photo to our business's wiki page. I added a photo last week but it is still not showing up and all I see is a photo of our venue that is about 10 years old. What did I do wrong? How can I update that photo?? Thank you for your help.

Sarah — Preceding unsigned comment added by DHDCamarillo (talk • contribs) 18:11, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Which article you are referring to? AndyTheGrump (talk) 18:16, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

250px width as common in infoboxes

You uploaded commons:File:Don Harrington Discovery Center in Amarillo, Texas.jpg so I guess you are thinking of Don Harrington Discovery Center. The article has not been edited since June. It would have to be edited with the "Edit" tab to give the new file name and an appropriate caption. But if you have the infobox in mind then the buildings would be so small that readers can hardly see anything. A cropped version only showing the building to the right would probably be more suitable for an infobox. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:25, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Laurelle Mehus again

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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I am dealing with individuals doing edits that have become "bullies"

can I delete a page I created and photos I submitted?

if so how do I do this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girlntundra (talk • contribs) 19:26, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

You may use the templates {{prod}} or {{afd}} to submit the article for deletion. However, this will not guarantee the article will be deleted. The proposal for deletion will be reviewed, and if no reason for deletion is found, it will be declined.

Please note that the other editors have been sincerely and good-naturedly trying to actually improve the content. You (assuming you are the anon user who I've been dealing with), on the other hand, have been indiscriminately reverting every edit to the article by other users. This is what I see as "bullying", not actively trying to improve the article. JIP | Talk 19:36, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

jip - I disagree. I do not know the system well enough to express myself but I promise you if you look at the article since it was created changes have been made and not reverted. A "editor" decided they wanted a certain photo- when I changed this to keep a magazine cover what followed was constant bullying because that editor believed it was their way - period. compare the two articles - 90% has now been deleted and the previous version had been approved. I realize you are coming into "this edit" at the end and I understand how it may look. thank you for your direction. girlntundra — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girlntundra (talk • contribs) 19:52, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I will not enter into discussions about the content. My only concern with the article Laurelle Mehus is the constant apparent attempt at ownership of the article. If I see further indiscriminate reverting of edits by all other editors, like what I've been seeing here for about a month now, I'll be forced to issue a block and/or a protection until the dispute is resolved. Any edits by you (assuming you are the anon user I am talking about) which are not simply indiscriminate reverting of other users' edits but genuine attempts of improvement to the article will be tolerated. JIP | Talk 19:57, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

as I said earlier if you look at when the reverting started you will see the "editor" was reverting my edits and it started with the insistence of a photo - it is not ownership for any edits - it is trying to represent the article in the best light. can you please issue a block for ALL PARTIES doing edits until this is resolved? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girlntundra (talk • contribs) 20:04, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

No. Looking at the edit history, the only editor who has done nothing but blindly revert other editors' contributions is User:173.214.228.60 (I'm assuming this is you, but you are editing under a different account. However you mentioned this was "your page" and the way you keep talking about "your edits" makes it sound like it is.) I will only issue a block for constant indiscriminate reverting, not for anything else. What you should be doing is to actually explain why your version or your changes are better, and why you feel your photograph is more suitable. This is what all other editors, except you, have been doing for years now. Besides, really, if I were to issue a block for every editor involved in the article, it would be considered abuse of adminship, and I would be stripped of administrator privileges. JIP | Talk 20:15, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

ok what I meant by my page- is I created the page and the page is about me. again if you look at ALL edit history you will see this mess happened with the insistence of a photo. on the help page it said if the subject was about you- to contact the help page. I am asking you to mark this page disputed and block all edits until it is resolved. as adminship do you have that authority or can you direct me to the correct person. thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girlntundra (talk • contribs) 20:23, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I will only perform any administrator action if I see you, or anyone else, perform blind, indiscriminate reverting of other users' edits again. So far the only user I've seen to do that is you. To repeat, I'm only here to enforce the "no ownership of articles" policy. I have no opinion about the content of the article. Also, please note that if you really are Laurelle Mehus yourself (which I see no reason to suspect you are not), that still doesn't mean you have any sort of final say about the article. JIP | Talk 20:43, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

the wiki help states to contact this page. as the person who the article is about i am asking you to mark this page disputed and block all edits until this is resolved. if you can not do this please forward this to the correct person and post on here who i am to contact. thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girlntundra (talk • contribs) 21:00, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I see no reason to do anything to the page, or to you, or to any other editor, unless I see further indiscriminate reverting. What you should be doing is to stop replying to me here and instead discuss the article's contents at Talk:Laurelle Mehus. Other contributors to the article have tried to initiate discussions there, but you haven't replied at all, only complained about their actions here and reverted their edits to the article. JIP | Talk 21:06, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

WIKI HELP - Contact - us - subject - directs me to this page - you. i am asking you to mark the page disputed - and while disputed to block all edits. i have asked if you can not do this- please direct me to the correct person / department. please also give me detailed instructions on how to delete the page and photos. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Girlntundra (talk • contribs) 21:24, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I see no reason to do anything about this than what I have already stated above. There is no "dispute" going on at the page unless you or someone else starts blindly and indiscriminately reverting other users' edits again. JIP | Talk 21:25, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

User:Girlntundra says: "the page is about me". That means that she is saying that she is Laurelle Mehus. If that is true, then the policy on autobiography and the policy on conflict of interest apply, and she should not be editing the article at all, only discussing the article on its talk page. The history of the article being edited alternately as User:Girlntundra and as an IP address go back to its creation in 2011, so that it appears that she alternately edits logged in and edits logged out. Once again, you do not have the right to lock the page, and you do not own the page. Robert McClenon (talk) 21:39, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

"Once again, you do not have the right to lock the page, and you do not own the page." The indentation makes it sound like this comment was directed at me. I'm fairly sure you intended to direct it to User:Girlntundra. I have spent hours telling her that she doesn't own the page just because she's the subject, but every single comment fell on deaf ears. This is the most blatant case of ownership of articles I've seen in years. JIP | Talk 09:17, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

@Girlntundra:, I see your point about the magazine cover image, and I have gone ahead and re-added it to the page underneath the infobox, while leaving the image that clearly shows her/your face as the main lead image. I would invite you to come to the article's talk page to discuss that and any other issues you have with the recent changes to the article. I and other editors will be very happy to explain why each and every change was made, and what problems we have with the article, both as it was and as it stands. We will be happy to help you understand what Wikipedia is and how it works and all the relevant policies. Our goal is not to destroy the article or make it worse; our goal is to make it better, make it conform with the rest of the encyclopedia, make sure it is accurate, neutral, and verifiable. So please, come talk to us at Talk:Laurelle Mehus and let's work together instead of fighting. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 02:13, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Difference between safesubst: and subst:

I have known how the "subst:" modifier on Wikipedia works for about a decade now. But it appears there's now another modifier, "safesubst:". I'm afraid I don't quite understand the difference between the two. Could someone give me specific examples? JIP | Talk 19:46, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

safesubst was introduced in 2010. It's a bit technical but there is documentation at Help:Substitution. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:08, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

I read that documentation and still didn't understand the difference. Can you show me a specific example where subst: and safesubst: work differently, including what was typed, what was saved to the wikitext, and what was rendered? JIP | Talk 20:16, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

There is an example at Help:Substitution#Examples. I have saved it as a real example at User:PrimeHunter/sandbox3 so you can see the rendering difference for yourself and check that the only difference in the source is subst versus safesubst. No substituion was performed when I saved. I simply wrote the code you still see in the source. safesubst is used when coding templates which may be substituted by callers. Your template edits appear to be simple wikitext edits in navboxes so I don't think you need to understand the difference. If you are merely using a template and not coding the template itself then it doesn't matter whether your use writes {{subst:templatename}} or {{safesubst:templatename}}. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:01, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Louisa Bone page is not a legitmate page

it was made by someone about themselves — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.46.46.76 (talk) 20:14, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

The page has been deleted. Rojomoke (talk) 20:35, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Article title MOS Question

So there's The Odyssey (TV_series) a 1995 Canadian television series, and now there's Odyssey (TV series), a 2015 NBC Series. Given the similarity, I wasn't sure at what point do you start to disambiguate the titles further such as moving to Odyssey (2015 TV series) and Odyssey (1995 TV series, etc. Would it only be for exact name overlaps? I couldn't find a MOS noticeboard, so I came here. Q ^{T C} 20:35, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

It would have to be The Odyssey (1995 TV series), but I don't think years are needed here. When the actual titles are different and there are no other TV series to confuse them with, they can have a hatnote to eachother with no need to link to Odyssey (disambiguation). {{Distinguish}} could be used. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:46, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

correcting a date of birth

Hi I noticed that a page about me has an incorrect date of birth but I cant' seem to edit this. Can you advise me on how to get this done? The page is Ian Hanmore. My date of birth is 16th October 1953 but is currently shown as March 1945 Thanks, Ian Hanmore Ian Hanmore (talk) 22:59, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

@Ian Hanmore: As the subject of the article, you should not be editing it, per WP:AB and WP:COI. Instead, you may start a section on the article's talk page, using the "New section" link at the top of that page. Please provide a reliable, published source supporting your claim; Wikipedia cannot simply take your word for it. When user Squinge reverted your first attempt, they stated in their edit summary that "the source says 1945", and that appears to be true. That source is here. Unless you can provide a more convincing source (or two), the 1945 date will have to stand. I have reverted your second attempt. ―Mandruss ☎ 23:49, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

That "source" says at the bottom it gets its info from Wikipedia. Temporary solution: remove the birthdate, as it is contested unsourced info in a BLP. Longer-term solution: somebody find a reliable source and re-add it. Mr. Hanmore, a "reliable source" on Wikipedia means something different that how normal humans would interpret it; we can't really take your word for it, as we have no way of knowing that you are actually Mr. Hanmore. There's no harm in a blank date of birth if there's no reliable documentation for it. --Floquenbeam (talk) 00:15, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

I have already removed all disputed details, agree with Floquenbeam (see WP:BLPSPS). However, new information needs a reliable source per Wikipedia standards as well, so I have left this information empty for now. GermanJoe (talk) 00:20, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

@Traptor12: was the user that added the date as part of what appears to be a strong of useful edits, perhaps he can work with you to find a good source.Naraht (talk) 12:54, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Article written about me by one of my students

Hi - I'm a college professor and one of my students who does research work for me, in a well-meaning gesture, has created a Wikipedia page about me. I wasn't aware he was going to do it, but now that he has, it's clear that it is a conflict of interest because he works for me.

What should he do? Request the page be deleted? Remove all the content and leave it for others? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 152.3.43.170 (talk) 23:48, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

What is the title of the article? ―Mandruss ☎ 00:03, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

The relevant article talk page should be tagged with {{Connected contributor}}, and the article itself tagged with {{COI}}. The user (your student) should also disclose their connection on their talk page and refrain from further edits directly to the article. They should also report the article to WP:COIN for review. Thank you for your diligence in this matter. Alanscottwalker (talk) 00:13, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Is the article accurate? If the article contains any inaccuracies, then our policy on biographies of living persons provides that they should be corrected immediately. As to whether the article should be deleted, that would depend on whether you (the subject of the biography) are considered academically notable. If so, the article can be retained after any necessary edits are done. If you are not considered "notable", then the article will be deleted soon in accordance with either of two deletion procedures. User:Mandruss asked you the title of the article because there isn't any one-size-fits-all right answer other than looking at the article (but please follow the advice of User:Alanscottwalker). Robert McClenon (talk) 00:21, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Do not delete all of the content from the article and leave it for others. Deletion of the content of an article, known as blanking, is a form of vandalism and can result in being blocked from editing. You should not edit the article, based on our conflict of interest policy, but you may request edits on the article's talk page, in particular if there are inaccuracies. There is no one-size-fits-all answer about what to do, but blanking the article is a wrong answer. Robert McClenon (talk) 00:29, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll ask him to make the changes. The title is Bill Adair (journalist). I'll leave it to you to decide whether I'm notable! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Adair_(journalist) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2606:A000:B244:3B00:B520:1AD3:E20F:9EA1 (talk) 01:47, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

The most polite, friendly, and reasonable discussion of this nature that I've seen in some time! Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 14 Shevat 5775 01:59, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

It's probably far too late, but the article's creator could have marked the article with {{db-self}}. However, once other people start making significant changes, that deletion reason no longer applies. --Redrose64 (talk) 08:40, 3 February 2015 (UTC)