Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2017 March 19

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March 19

VE help, please

I've just uploaded File:Craig County Courthouse, New Castle.jpg and have been using it to replace File:Craig County VA courthouse.jpg across various wikis, since the new photo shows the whole building rather than about half of it. I've succeeded in replacing most of its uses, but I'm having trouble with some wikis that use VE as the default — I can edit pages in languages that I can't read because I know which buttons do what, but since I don't know how to use VE, I can't edit these pages. Could someone familiar with VE edit the following pages?

• ar:مقاطعة كريغ (فيرجينيا)
• fa:شهرستان کریگ، ویرجینیا

Thanks! Nyttend (talk) 00:28, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

You can switch to source editing from inside VisualEditor on the pencil icon at the top right (top left in right-to-left languages). PrimeHunter (talk) 00:46, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Thank you; this enabled me to succeed in switching the photos. Nyttend (talk) 01:46, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Problem editing Apartheid

Any attempt to edit Apartheid seems to be rejected. The reason given is that the article contains a new link to banned site econlib.org (or something close -- I may have gotten it wrong. The edits I have attmpted don't include anything remotely close to that. Can somebody find out what's wrong and fix it? In the See also section, I was trying to add a wikilink to Born a Crime. Lou Sander (talk) 04:31, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

I can't explain what's going on. When I try to do the same thing (both with my non-admin sock and my main account), I get MediaWiki:Spamprotectiontext and a warning about econlib.org, even though that URL isn't in the page text. Nyttend (talk) 04:59, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Even weirder: I removed econlib from the spam blacklist and then tried to insert the link, and even then I got rejected because my edit added "econlib.org". Time for a Phabricator bug request? In case you wonder, I've restored the blacklist entry for econlib. Nyttend (talk) 05:03, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

@Nyttend: In my experience it can take a little time before edits to pages in the MediaWiki namespace are reflected by the software. Unlike template edits this delay also affects actions performed after the edit. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:24, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

•  Done. Added Born a Crime to the See Also section (post the work of Nyttend in removing econlib.org from the blacklist; the link was mentioned within the article in two places). Thanks. Lourdes 07:27, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Editing my Wikipedia Page

Hi,

I was in the process of creating a new Wikipedia page. I had not put up the page for review yet on Wikipedia and it has never been published. Yet, I can no longer find where the article that I was editing was. Can someone please help?

Thanks, 10:34, 19 March 2017 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Croosing Social (talk • contribs)

@Croosing Social: Hello, I think it is at Draft:Croosing. Your username might indicate that you have a connection to the subject and you should therefore read WP:COI and possibly WP:PAID. Please sign your posts on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~). Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 10:38, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

@Croosing Social: Please note there is no such thing like 'your Wikipedia page' – there may exist a page created by you or a page about you, but none of them would be 'your'. See Wikipedia:Ownership of content. --CiaPan (talk) 14:31, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

Turning the name of my sandbox into the name of my article

Hello, I've created a wikipedia entry through my "sandbox", and submitted it for review, but I can't edit the title of the page which is "User:Carlasmar007/sandbox"... How do I turn the name of my sandbox into the name of my article ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Carlasmar007 (talk • contribs) 12:56, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

What is the name you want to change the title to? Jarkeld (talk) 13:05, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Official Information Act 1997 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Carlasmar007 (talk • contribs) 13:19, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

I've renamed the article and moved it to the proper namespace (Draft) where it will be reviewed in due time. Jarkeld (talk) 13:24, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Thank you very much ! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Carlasmar007 (talk • contribs) 13:25, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Size of Wikipedia

Dear editors: At WP:Statistics, I have found graphs and tables showing the number of edits to Wikipedia over time, and the growth in the number of articles over time. There's also information about the current size of the encyclopedia. I haven't been able to find, though, what to me is an obvious metric, a graph or table showing the growth of the total size of all of the articles in the encyclopedia over time, or the amount of increase during various time periods. Can someone point me to this? Thanks.—Anne Delong (talk) 14:34, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

https://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/ChartsWikipediaEN.htm#3 shows "Combined size of all articles" but only until January 2010. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:47, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, PrimeHunter. I wonder why that particular statistic is no longer being kept. IMO it's a better indicator of the health of the project than number of edits or number of articles, because the more articles there are, the more time is spent improving the existing ones, and as editors gain experience they accomplish more with fewer edits than when they first joined. Anyway, I hadn't seen that report, so thanks again.—Anne Delong (talk) 22:31, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Family of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge

Please restore a pic title "Olive Middleton....". which was removed from this page at 18.35 on March 19th for no reason at all. This is vandalism, or accidental removal of a file by another editor - not me.

Also, this editor - Esmgee - seems to insist ofn being longwinded: she refuses to say e.g. that the wife of Albert Kitson, 2nd Baron Airedale is Baroness Airedale - even though all of the newspaper reports and other citations give the woman her title. I believe that the text should be written as "Florence, Baroness Airedale" which is her correct title - with a link to the page of her husband. Thankyou Srbernadette (talk) 22:35, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

The place for such discussions is on the talk page of the article (Talk:Family of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge), or on the user talk page of the editor concerned, but not here at the help desk. The edit was obviously not vandalism. --David Biddulph (talk) 22:40, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

@Srbernadette: Have you asked Esemgee why they removed it? [1] --NeilN ^{talk to me} 22:41, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

As a side note, WP:HONORIFIC states that such titles do not belong in the body of the text after their first use. But yeah, content disputes are not in the purview of the help desk. --Majora (talk) 22:42, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Thanks - I understand that titles - WP:HONORIFIC - should be mentioned initially , and then only a surname is used. Esemgee has said that titles are simply "name dropping" and does not use them at all - not even initially. (see Lupton family page "talk"). I have used the correct title initially as advised byWP:HONORIFIC . Thanks Srbernadette (talk) 23:17, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Sorry, I have stuffed up the format - there is now a huge space with no text in the "Michael Francis Middleton" section. Please alter if able. Thanks Srbernadette (talk) 23:48, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

No there isn't and please stop creating new sections every time you ask a question about the same topic. Edit the same section please. --Majora (talk) 23:54, 19 March 2017 (UTC)

Please Majora, I do not mean to upset the editors - but opposite the file of the lady in her coronation robes there remains a vast space, a void - no text at all. The next section should be raised up we think. I cannot work out how to do this. I am sorry for getting things wrong. Srbernadette (talk) 00:31, 20 March 2017 (UTC) Thanks

As I've already stated. There is nothing wrong with the page. Period. The problem is on your end and therefore we cannot help you. As for the "we think" what exactly does that mean? You realize that shared accounts are strictly forbidden right? The use of the word "we" indicates that multiple people are in control of this one account. --Majora (talk) 00:41, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

No, no, I work at an educational institution and I have undergraduates who are always interested in the edits - no "shared accounts". We are surprised how odd the page looks - with the void section - on desk top compared with phones - that's all. I do not mean to alarm you. Thank you again Srbernadette (talk) 00:45, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

My Mistake - sorry - my own laptop has it all looking OK. the college laptops are struggling with the format. This has happened before. Sorry to upset the Wikipedia editors.Srbernadette (talk) 00:49, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

Dear Srbernadette. Thanks so much for responding! I really appreciate it; and understand your situation. Please do not feel the need to "apologize" to the Wikipedia editors. Just because one editor chooses to use the word "we" does not make them representative of WP as a whole; since there are editors who do not share their opinions, biting nature and constant need to hound rather than help. I did notice the "space" next to the image and how it could have been seen as such. A simple request of better understanding and question of further explanation could have cleared this matter up without the hostile exchange that was unwarranted, once again. This tactic has played itself out and is without merit, Majora. "We" are getting tired of seeing your clutter more than Srbernadette's. Re-visit the Talk Page if you are still having problems. Otherwise: move along. Maineartists (talk) 01:04, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

Aw...hilarious. I was just attempting to make sure they were following the policy for user accounts. Telling me to move along is certainly not in your power. So...yeah. Not going to happen. --Majora (talk) 01:06, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

I'm glad you find this so amusing. A bit sad, though ... as for "power": who uses that terminology? Good Lord, what are you wearing? a power rangers suit? ... perspective, dude. Maineartists (talk) 01:15, 20 March 2017 (UTC)