Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2016 July 1

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July 1

external link icon

Anyone here know where I can find the source image for the external link icon that MediaWiki uses?

http://example.com ← that image, right there

—Trappist the monk (talk) 00:45, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

@Trappist the monk: external-link-ltr-icon.png, File:Icon External Link.svg, 2000px-External.svg.png - NQ (talk) 01:12, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

@Trappist the monk: If you convert the following code using http://codebeautify.org/base64-to-image-converter, you'll get the exact source image. data:image/svg+xml,<%3Fxml%20version%3D"1.0"%20encoding%3D"UTF-8"%20standalone%3D"no"%3F><svg%20xmlns%3D"http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg"%20width%3D"12"%20height%3D"12"><path%20fill%3D"%23fff"%20stroke%3D"%2306c"%20d%3D"M1.5%204.518h5.982V10.5H1.5z"%2F><path%20d%3D"M5.765%201H11v5.39L9.427%207.937l-1.31-1.31L5.393%209.35l-2.69-2.688%202.81-2.808L4.2%202.544z"%20fill%3D"%2306f"%2F><path%20d%3D"M9.995%202.004l.022%204.885L8.2%205.07%205.32%207.95%204.09%206.723l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z"%20fill%3D"%23fff"%2F><%2Fsvg> - NQ (talk) 01:24, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Excellent, thank you.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 09:09, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

External link icons are part of the CSS for the skin. The above is for the default skin Vector. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:14, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Three questions about IP addresses

I have three questions about IP addresses. (1) How do I determine my own IP address? (2) Given any IP address, how do I determine its geographical location/origin? (3) Two editors -- User:JackofOz and User:Baseball Bugs -- have accused me of being a troll and a sock puppet. How do I resolve that? For Questions #1, #2, and #3, here is the relevant discussion: Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities#White history month?. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 01:56, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

You can go to https://whatismyipaddress.com/ to answer questions 1 and 2. As for question 3, you could try talking with them and see why they said that. However, you don't have to do anything. Accusations, regardless of our CIVIL policy, happen all the time. They mean nothing without proof. Or for the WP:DUCK test a lack of reasonable doubt. The reference desks have been plagued by trolls and everyone over there is a little touchy with the subject. --Majora (talk) 02:09, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Forgot to ping OP @Joseph A. Spadaro: --Majora (talk) 02:09, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

(edit conflict)@Joseph A. Spadaro:

1) You can use a simple tool like http://whatismyipaddress.com to determine your IP address and its approximate geographic location.

2) On Wikipedia, if you go to the linked contributions page of an IP address (example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/146.90.120.170), you'll be able to see a box which contains a Geolocate option.

3) Seems to be a simply misunderstanding, ignore.

I strongly advise that you don't disclose your IP address or your location publicly. - NQ (talk) 02:13, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

No one accused Spadaro of anything. They merely raised a question, which instead of answering, he responded with angry non-denial denials. The ref desks have been plagued by WASP-supremacist trolls, and the question "why isn't there a white history month?" falls into that troll's bailiwick. Those trolls also often raise the "PC" complaint. So Spadaro may well be innocent, but he's not doing himself any favors by chirping about "PC" and then becoming excessively outraged over a question that he won't answer. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:53, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Then perhaps this is a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings? We all are aware that written communication lacks many of the advantages of spoken communication. I am willing to extend the olive branch/peace pipe. What say you? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:26, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

All is well. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:14, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:53, 4 July 2016 (UTC)

Extended Confirmed user question

Does userspace edits count towards the 500 edits for the Extended Confirmed user? DatNuttyWikipedian (talk) 03:16, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Technically, yes. But many edits in userspace to reach that level can be seen as gaming the system. Topics under that restriction are heavily contested and controversial. It is probably a better idea to edit in other areas of the project to reach the 500 and not in userspace. That way you can be used to the methods and procedures of Wikipedia as a whole. --Majora (talk) 03:18, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

HOW TO SIZE AN IMAGE, AND WHERE TO FIND PREVIOUS UPLOADED IMAGES!

Hi, I'm new here.

I've added an image in sandbox, but wanted to upload it again to adjust the framing. When I tried to do the, I got an error message saying, "There is another file already on the site with the same content."

I tried uploading a different image, but this time, it took up all of the page, and I can't figure out how to adjust the size in visual editing, OR source editing.

Can someone help me? — Preceding unsigned comment added by RiverGibbsProductions (talk • contribs) 04:11, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Note: The user has been blocked. Dismas|^(talk) 12:22, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Exclude certain pages from auto-watch?

I have enabled the "Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist" preference; as I do a good deal of AfD and page patrol it is really useful to track changes to articles you nominate to deletion (most of them end up deleted anyways so the watchlist is not that cluttered at the end). For article content creation I prefer that as default as well.

However, I notice that certain automated tools like Twinkle or delsort.js edit generic pages (e.g. "List of politician-related discussions" at WP:DELSORT or the log of deletion discussions for the day) and as such add them to the watchlist. I do not wish to track those. Is anyone aware of a way?

Ideally there would be a user "exclude" file which the watchlist updater checks against regular expressions matching the title before adding to the watchlist, but I do not know if it is really feasible or already done.

Please ping when replying - even if I will watch this page. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 09:20, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

• Wikipedia:Twinkle/Preferences. Lourdes 13:30, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

That solves it for Twinkle. I will shop around the delsort scripts (WP:FWDS does not have the option, but others might). Thanks! Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 14:45, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Craig McLachlan

Ref number three is wrong 101.182.117.21 (talk) 09:23, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Resolved

No ref error showing for No.3. If you meant No.13 with the large red letter error message, it has been fixed. Eagleash (talk) 09:34, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Templates prefixing links with ":"

I've just noticed that when using a template that includes a link to a page, the internal WL is prefixed with a colon - [[:Skepta]] for example.

The link seems to work just as well and the colon doesn't appear in the article text, but why does it happen? I'm using Twinkle and the above example came from a level 1 Vandalism warning, but I've seen it before on other templates as well. Chaheel Riens (talk) 09:41, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

A colon in front will always make a link. It's allowed but unnecessary for articles. For pages in some other namespaces it's necessary to avoid namespace features. For example, [[:File:Example.jpg]] makes the link File:Example.jpg instead of displaying the file, and [[:Category:Help]] makes the link Category:Help instead of placing the page in the category. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:56, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Please see Help:Colon trick :- "The colon trick is a method of providing a link to a category, image or interwiki link without adding the page to the category, displaying the image or adding the interwiki link to the interlanguage links. It also allows for linking to pages with titles beginning with a recognized external link prefix, such as http:// or //Hus." - Arjayay (talk) 09:59, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Thanks. Chaheel Riens (talk) 10:10, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

re existing entries on Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason and her timelline

dear Wikipedia

My new biography Charlotte Mason Hidden Heritage and Educational Influence was published by Lutterworth Press Sept 2015. I have long been aware of many incorrect details in the Wikipedia biographical entry and timeline (no longer accessible) and am planning to do a complete re-write of both.

Technically I don't see how to do this. I should like to send in the 2 texts when completed but how should I do this? I am not very skilled with computing.

Thank you

Margaret Coombs — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.50.184.197 (talk • contribs)

The article in question is Charlotte Mason. The existing article needs massive changes to change the breathlessly worshipful tone and seemingly endless recount of every pearl of wisdom that dropped from Mason's lips; but I'm not sure, judging by the title of your book, that you are the best to do that task. What I would suggest you do for now is go through and pick out actual errors of fact. Make those changes, providing (of course) citations for the new information you add, and explaining any deletions you make as you go. This is usually the preferred method for article improvement; a total replacement such as you suggest is contrary to the way we operate here. --Orange Mike | Talk 12:08, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Killed some WP:PEACOCKs with fire, but for sure that is not over. I dropped a note at WT:EDUCATION.

Depending on what the replacement would be, it might be adequate; I have never seen a better advertisement for WP:TNT than this article. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 15:58, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Margaret, welcome to Wikipedia (usually abbreviated "WP"). First of all, a minor point: at the end of your posts, please sign by typing four tildes like this: ~~~~, it helps to know who said what, even though there are automated processes ("bots") to sign it for you.

I do not recommended that you include material from your own book into Wikipedia, for multiple reasons.

First of all, any copyright violation will be removed on sight. You should not use you own text or even close paraphrasing of it, unless you agree to release it under the terms of Wikipedia's license, which are (put bluntly) "anyone anywhere can use it for pretty much anything, and they do not owe you a single penny". Even if you agree to such use, you may not be allowed to do so depending on the contract with your editor. Finally, the fact that you sign with your name is no guarantee of your identity - I could sign "Winston Churchill" - so if you start copying content from your book it could still be reverted as copyright violation unless you can really prove who you are. You can read the page about donating copyrighted material.

However, we can and do use information from other sources (that is pretty much the basis of Wikipedia), and your book might be interesting for that. However, it is generally not a good thing to edit subjects you have a close connection with; because of that connection, your judgement may be clouded compared to what should be written in WP. Of course, editors on very specific subjects tend to have a connection with the subject - for instance, Nuclear physics probably was written by scientists working in that domain - but having published a book on the subject means you have a direct financial interest to promote it, which is the strongest conflict of interest possible short of being paid to edit Wikipedia.

This being said, you can still edit the article using the "edit" links; make sure to "preview" your changes before posting them, so that you know what the final article will look like. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 15:58, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Orphan talk page

Not sure if this is the right place – feel free to copy or move the question to a better one.

The Comettor page says it's been removed at 06:06, 27 June 2016, but the Talk:Comettor still exists at 13:00, 1 July 2016. Is there any general routine to detect and cleanup such issues? --CiaPan (talk) 13:02, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

I've tagged this one with {{db-g8}} This one has been deleted per G8. As for an automatic detection method, I don't know of one. —  crh ₂₃  (Talk) 13:07, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

It was listed at Wikipedia:Database reports/Orphaned talk pages and would have been deleted when an admin goes through the list. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:11, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Thank you, PrimeHunter, I didn't know such report exists. So, there's no need to worry about orphaned talk pages and reporting them, they will be cleaned-up on a (more or less) regular basis anyway, right? --CiaPan (talk) 13:23, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Only if an admin goes through the report. Otherwise, if an orphaned talk page needs to be deleted pronto, tag it as it gets added to the specific CSD G8 categ. Lourdes 13:28, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

There is an admin who regularly looks for and nominates orphaned talk pages, so as Lourdes said, no need to worry unless there is some reason it needs prompt attention.--S Philbrick(Talk) 13:32, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Resolved

Thank you! --CiaPan (talk) 13:54, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Source query

I would like to insert my source for editing the article about Patrick de Suarez d'Aulan

My source is a book published in 2009 written by Francois d'Aulan called ' un fil dans le tapis, histoire des Suarez d'Aulan " edition KARTHALA, ISBN:978-2-8111-0228-9

Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vintage project (talk • contribs) 13:45, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

It would help us if you stated in what capacity you wish to add this reference to Patrick de Suarez d'Aulan. I.e. do you work for him? Is he a relative etc?--Aspro (talk) 14:28, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

• Hello Vintage project and thank you for creating Patrick de Suarez d'Aulan.

To learn how to cite sources, i.e. the technical way to do it, you can read WP:REFB. However, it seems to me you would greatly benefit by learning why they should be cited.

I assume you inserted the source after you saw that the page was proposed for deletion as "unsourced biography of living person". However, even though the article will not be deleted on that basis (the reason is basically that information about living persons can be damaging if it is not verifiable), it might still be deleted on the basis that the subject lacks notability.

"Notability" in Wikipedia's meaning of the term is similar but not equivalent to "famous"; it means that sources that are (1) independent of the subject and (2) reliable have published at length about it. Unfortunately, your source most likely fails at least on the account that it is not independent of the subject, considering the author has the same name as the subject. Since I could not find any better source, I sent your article for discussion at Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Patrick_de_Suarez_d'Aulan.

Please comment further about that precise article at the Articles for Deletion page if you so wish; use the help desk page for other general questions. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 15:07, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

How to login without a registered email if forgot password

I created a Wikipedia account without a registered email and I forgot my password. Is there any other way from which I can reset my password? 182.64.92.80 (talk) 16:08, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

There are couple of other possibilities mentioned at Help:Logging in#What if I forget the password?, but they are unusual cases and unlikely to apply. If you cannot remember the password you will have to register a new account. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:44, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

I want to suggest a change to the page at www.wikipedia.org

I want to suggest a change to the welcome page at http://www.wikipedia.org (specifically I think it should say "the free encyclopedia" in different languages instead of giving the article count). Probably it's already been discussed, where can I look for that discussion, or make the suggestion if it hasn't been? Siuenti (talk) 18:55, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Your best bet for discussion about the main page would be at Talk:Main Page. Oops, shows how infrequently I visit the actual main page. clpo13_(talk) 18:58, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

That's for the English Wikipedia main page. Discuss http://www.wikipedia.org at meta:Talk:www.wikipedia.org template. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:15, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

Thank you, it's here [1] if anyone's interested. Siuenti (talk) 19:55, 1 July 2016 (UTC)

MICHAEL MOORE BIO ON WIKIPEDIA

Hello:

In re. to : Michael Moore

Your article states that Michael Moore at that time was the youngest.. to get elected to a school board.

Tom DiNapoli, (presently New York's State Comptroller) was ALSO elected in 1972 to the School Board. I know...I was there and alongside Tom on the Student Union. We went to school at Mineola High School and it happened in 1972. (Mineola High School in Albertson, New York)

Tom's bio is in many places, of course on the internet but here's one url: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02EFDC113FF93BA35751C0A9619C8B63

"Politics started for Mr. DiNapoli at 18, when he was a senior at Mineola High School and decided to run for the school board because he and other students felt the board was ignoring them. This was 1972; he was involved in the antiwar movement and his hair was less closely cropped than today -- kind of hair helmety, he explained. It wasn't a mullet, it was too early for that, but it was pretty long. "

TOM WON! So from first glance it looks likely that Michael Moore and Tom DiNapoli shared this distinguished accomplishment in 1972.

JoanJonidna (talk) 22:55, 1 July 2016 (UTC) Murphy

This is more suited to the talk page of the article concerned. Britmax (talk) 00:46, 2 July 2016 (UTC)