Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2016 March 26

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March 26

Referencing errors on Areapal

Reference help requested.

Hello, I edited 4 links on this article yesterday because links were not working anymore. I guess I've done some mistake in the first mention. Can you please fix it? Thanks. Thanks, Rohit — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rohitbooklover (talk • contribs) 04:32, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

@Rohitbooklover: Fixed the error for you. It was caused by you inserting the dead-link template in the middle of the cite-web template, rather than after the cite-web template but before the </ref>. (Or, if you prefer a visual illustration, here's what fixed it) AddWittyNameHere (talk) 04:38, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Cannot log in using Firefox

I am unable to log in to Wikipedia using Mozilla Firefox 45.0.1 (the latest version). It also didn't work in a few previous versions. When I submit the login form, I am met with the following message:

Login error

There was an unexpected error logging in. Please try again. If the problem persists, it may be because you have cookies disabled, and you should check that they are enabled in your browser settings.

What can I do about this? --83.183.23.160 (talk) 12:43, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

I hope this is pointless to ask but I work in tech support and it often isn't... Did you do as it said and check your cookies? Also, have you tried clearing all cookies and cache? Dismas|^(talk) 13:16, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Cookies have always been enabled. However, removing all cookies related to wikipedia.org worked. Thanks! (If this is a common problem, the error message should advice the user to clear all cookies from wikipedia.org.) --83.183.23.160 (talk) 14:59, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

I've just tried the upgrade without any subsequent Wikipedia problem (Thank you for reminding me). I wonder what cookie setting is causing difficulties for 83.183.23.160. Dbfirs 18:46, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

I doubt it was a setting. I'm guessing that it was a corrupt cookie that wasn't discovered until the version of FF changed. The new version tried to use the old cookie and had problems. Then when the OP's cookies were deleted, the browser loaded a new one which wasn't corrupted and voila! Dismas|^(talk) 21:27, 27 March 2016 (UTC)

Dao De Jing

Tao Te Ching (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

In your page about the Dao De Jing you could put in about my version that was taught to me by Lao Tzu. It is available for free from my website life-in-crisis.infoFlowing Hands (talk) 12:50, 26 March 2016 (UTC) I am a traditional Daoist shaman, so I was taught this directly from Lao Tzu.

Hello, Flowing Hands. The best place to ask about changes to a particular article is the talk page for that article. However, I can tell you that the answer is no, unless the material you want added has been published in a reliable source: one with a reputation for editorial control and fact checking. Your own website almost certainly would not count for this, and adding the material would be regarded as original research, which is not permitted anywhere on Wikipedia. --ColinFine (talk) 18:07, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Since the original Lao Tzu, presumed originator of the Dao De Jing, lived at least 2,400 years ago (and we have no article on any more recent individual of that name), the OP's claim would anyway need some fairly robust RS corroboration! {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 5.66.243.108 (talk) 22:40, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Based on the OP's exact wording, they mean that a traditional Dao shaman teaches it with an unbroken line of succession from Lao Tzu. The claim of an unbroken line of succession does not qualify to Wikipedia as a reliable source. Robert McClenon (talk) 21:11, 27 March 2016 (UTC)

Using wiki ap

A pop up appeared when I used my wiki app I could not slide left right up or down and there was no X to close the page my only alternative was to remove it from my phone I must excess wiki through Safari directly because it was blocking my access thank you Craig — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1008:B020:67F6:8592:DA94:16E9:AC90 (talk) 15:59, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

Error

Greetings. Can someone remove the "< Talk:2" bit that keeps appearing on the talkpages of several military units such as the Talk:2/8th Battalion (Australia)?--Catlemur (talk) 22:18, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

That "< Talk:2" link occurs because the '/' in talk namespace is interpreted as: Namespace:Page/Subpage so MediaWiki thinks that 8th Battalion (Australia) is a subpage of the page Talk:2. In article namespace, there are no subpages but subpages are allowed in Talk:. I don't have a solution just an explanation. You can see this same thing happening in other article talk pages where the article title has a slash.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 23:18, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Hello, Catlemur. This is do to a technical feature of the Wiki software that we use, and is best ignored. In the main article namespace (mainspace) subpages are not allowed, so the name of the article is (quite properly) 2/8th Battalion (Australia). However in the article talk namespace, subpages are allows, so technically ther nis a page talk:2 whiach has a subpage Talk:2/8th Battalion (Australia), because the slash is parsed as causing a subpage. It doesn't really cause any problems, its just what happens when an article title includes a slash. DES ^(talk) 23:20, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

one inquire

hello how can i write new article into your website .. thanx — Preceding unsigned comment added by Alraed1983 (talk • contribs) 23:07, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

@Alraed1983: A welcome message has been posted to your talk page. Please read over the material that has been posted there. Dismas|^(talk) 00:33, 27 March 2016 (UTC)