Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2016 June 26

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June 26

Is a histmerge required?

So, I have been working on an expansion/rewrite of ballistic fingerprinting for a while now and I am finally done. Instead of writing it in place I decided to write it as a draft and in the process expand the article to encompass the entire forensic firearm examination process. Also, since the expanded article details more than just ballistics I renamed it. See Draft:Forensic firearm examination for the completed draft that is ready for mainspace. My question is, since the draft is an expansion of the article already in mainspace does that require a histmerge? I did not copy and paste any information from the article to my draft. I rewrote everything. Normally, I would just move my draft to mainspace and redirect ballistic fingerprinting to the new name once I moved the draft to mainspace. But now I am not sure since the two are technically the same subject. The current mainspace article is just a small part of the new, expanded, article. What is the proper procedure for something like this? --Majora (talk) 02:02, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

On technical grounds, the process is simple. Move your draft to mainspace and redirect the previous article to your article. On merit, it's a tough call. You'll have to be sure there is no relevant material that you're foregoing in the previous article by redirection. You'll also have to be clear what the name of the article should be. There may be editors who prefer the previous name to your new article name. But as they say, if you're trying to improve the project, be bold. Your draft seems fine – although I am not an expert in the area. Go ahead, do it. And then discuss if someone challenges it. Lourdes 03:32, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

@Xender Lourdes: I don't think anyone would be opposed to the title move. The article draft is GA status at this point, and I intend to nominate it as such once the move is complete. The new title corresponds to what the article is about. I know there is no additional relevant material on the current mainspace article, all of it has been incorporated into the new one. I don't want to redirect the current article until I know whether or not a histmerge is necessary. Performing additional edits on the mainspace article could make history merging challenging and I would rather not cause any additional problems for an admin should that be necessary. I don't want to be bold unless I know for sure the proper way to handle this. --Majora (talk) 03:44, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Lost talkpage comments with page move

I recently moved "The Lady of the Camellias" to La Dame aux Camélias. I checked the box that said "Move associated talkpage", but it doesn't seem to have happened, because there had been comments on the old talkpage that aren't showing up under the new talkpage name. They were from a few years ago, so it's nothing urgent, but they should probably be in an archive or something, but I can't find them. What did I do wrong? Thanks! —PermStrump(talk) 04:32, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

@Permstrump: The talk page had edits after the initial redirect creation. Therefore, the page could not be moved normally. Either a page mover or an admin will have to move it. Or you can tag it G6-move. Which I will do so now. --Majora (talk) 04:37, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

The talk page has been moved. -- [[User:Edokter]] {{talk}} 10:52, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

@Majora and Edokter: Thank you! —PermStrump(talk) 14:41, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Table Calculations

Is there a way to automatically calculate values in a table? For example, can I automatically have a bottom cell that is the the sum of a column? Or the average? --Zackmann08 (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 08:05, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Not directly. You can create a template or module for that. You have something specific in mind? --Edgars2007 (talk/contribs) 08:07, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

I have asked for that capability to be added - presumably, it is on a list of desired features, but it hasn't bubbled to the top of the priority list.--S Philbrick(Talk) 14:39, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

@Edgars2007 and Sphilbrick: thanks for the responses. The section in question is here California Fire Yearly Stats. Just annoying to have to recalculate it. *first world problem*. Thanks! --Zackmann08 (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 19:13, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

@Zackmann08: Yes, it is a first world problem but as I pointed out in my proposal, one might think that computers would be good at this.

The proposal is here

It got some support but did not get enough to reach the top 10 list so I don't anticipate it being implemented soon.--S Philbrick(Talk) 19:25, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

@Sphilbrick: added my vote! I agree this would be super useful. --Zackmann08 (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 19:29, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Alignment of div cols

Is it possible to change the alignment of a div col so that everything is in a line? On my user page, I have a userbox but that makes it so there's a different middle for the first list (As shown in this screenshot). I'd like the top bit to be moved to where the green line points (Like this). Sorry if this is hard to understand, I don't really know how to word this. Anarchyte (work | talk) 10:42, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

It's not possible to govern the exact width of columns; the always take the available space. What you can do is use {{clear}}, which will force anything below it to move down any floating object (the userbox in this case). -- [[User:Edokter]] {{talk}} 10:58, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

oldformat=true

What's the purpose of adding ?oldformat=true to a Wikipedia URL? --Komischn (talk) 11:40, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

I don't think it has any effect. As a general rule, it is possible to add an arbitrary query string to any URL without changing the rendered content Pppery(talk) 12:09, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Where did you find a reference to this parameter btw ? —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 12:14, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

It's used by external skins and mirrors—notably Wikiwand—to tell browsers that they should display a particular page on vanilla Wikipedia rather than within their own site. Within Wikipedia itself it should have no effect. ‑ Iridescent 12:22, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Homoeopathy

article on homoeopathy is not true...plz do correct even the spelling of homoeopathy is incorrect... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dr. Neethu Venugopal (talk • contribs) 13:49, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Dr. Neethu Venugopal If you have questions about the article, then you should discuss them at the article's talkpage- please make sure that they are supported by reliable sources. As for the spelling, that's the commonest spelling of the term I believe. Joseph2302 (talk) 14:01, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

The usual spelling at least in the United States is Homeopathy, which is the primary title. If an article title has variant spellings, they are taken care of by redirects. If you have issues with the article, address them at the talk page, Talk: Homeopathy. Robert McClenon (talk) 14:04, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

I've only ever seen Homeopathy used as a spelling, and I'm English. Joseph2302 (talk) 14:17, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Well, one can't say that about many countries, including United States, where the spelling "Homoeopathy" is also used quite often. e.g. Clinical trials of homoeopathy, is amongst hundreds of reports on the US government's repository that use the alternative spelling... Nevertheless, the redirects take care of that. Lourdes 17:25, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Given how common the alternate spelling is (it's used, mostly in quotes, 27 times in the article itself), I've added the alternate spelling to the lead. Rwessel (talk)

Orange is the new black season four

Please remove that entry towards the end of the season that just says "Poussey dies." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.75.235.99 (talk) 16:41, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

@74.75.235.99: This is not the place to talk about changes to individual articles. You should either boldly perform the removal yourself or discuss it on the talk page of the article in question. Pppery (talk) 16:45, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Question about Sources

Hi there,

So, I would like to make a page on popstar Amanda Holley, a singer/songwriter of the legendary Tommy Boy Records. I have some questions regarding sources, however.

1. Do you accept high profile blogs as sources? Such as the following potential sources: http://www.hhkmag.com/amanda-holley-feenin-new-single/ or http://goodmusicallday.com/2016/06/amanda-holley-leaves-u-feenin/ 2. Would you accept an MTV or radio station interview they do a write-up of online as a source? 3. How many of these sources would be required in order to write an article?

Thank you guys in advance, sorry I'm new and not very clear on this :)

Best, Frequent Wikipedia user — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mlemon03 (talk • contribs) 16:52, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

• Mlemon03, I'll suggest you should necessarily read WP:BLP, WP:BIO, especially Wikipedia:Notability (music), WP:Verifiability, and specially the section on Blogs within the said policy. You can also additionally give a good read to WP:Reliable sources. These will give you a good understanding of what can be accepted and what cannot be accepted. Answering your specific questions, both the potential sources you've mentioned above seem unacceptable as they seem blatantly promotional (giving away the iTunes and Soundcloud download accounts). And on your question of MTV and other sources, list them here or preferably at WP:Reliable sources noticeboard for a quick feedback on whether they would be acceptable or not. How many sources are required to prove notability? It is an editorial judgement based on our guidelines. Read Wikipedia:Notability (music) to understand this part of your query. Don't hesitate to come back here for further assistance. Lourdes 16:59, 26 June 2016 (UTC)
• @Mlemon03: in addition to what Xender Lourdes said above, in general, two good sources or even one exceptional source can be enough to write an article (some editors will insist on multiple sources though). However, a thousand bad sources are not enough. It has to be "significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources". Even high-profile blogs, youtube channels etc. can be promotional hence unreliable or not independent. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 11:02, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

Image Question

Here is an immediate puzzle. A month or two ago the picture of the day featured a painting (not a photograph) of three people at dinner weirdly self-conscious. I have only the download address: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fra_et_romersk_osteria.jpg No information on the artist, no explanation of the peculiar head gear of one of the patrons, no explanation of who these people were. Who, at least, was the photographer of the painting? Question: is this picture available on the usual terms? I have I use for it. 208.124.213.186 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 19:30, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

The information you want can be found at the bottom of the file description page. Pppery (talk) 20:06, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

See also [1]. You can click "READ ABOUT THE ARTWORK" above the image. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:11, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Image Request Query

Dear All,

A Flickr user has queried the following to me;

"Sorry, but I don't wish to make my pictures available commercially to anyone, except perhaps Wikipedia. Is there a way I could license them (for nothing) to Wikipedia only?"

Is there any way around this?

Many thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Surrey101 (talk • contribs) 20:50, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Pretty much no. In short, other than images uploaded under the "fair use" guidelines (which likely do not apply), all images must be essentially free. The guidelines are at Wikipedia:Image use policy. Rwessel (talk) 20:58, 26 June 2016 (UTC)

Okay, many thanks. Surrey101 (talk) 21:17, 26 June 2016 (UTC)