Help desk
< May 16	<< Apr \| May \| Jun >>	May 18 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

May 17

Hi, this page has city/country messed up and I can't edit it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_League#Summits — Preceding unsigned comment added by Grizzly MC (talk • contribs) 00:52, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for pointing it out. I've corrected the column headings by making these edits. --David Biddulph (talk) 01:03, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Newspaper photos

I want to use a photo in a new Wiki page that I am writing. The photo was originally sent as a press release to multiple newspapers for their use to print. Of course, I do not own the rights to this photograph, I purchased it when the newspaper purged their photos, so may I use it, or is it copyrighted and it cannot be used? It was from 1975. Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Triad-spoke (talk • contribs) 01:04, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It's likely under copyright, but that's not 100% certain. First off: is it from the USA or from some other country? If any other country, it's under copyright, so it can't be used; if it's American, it's probably copyrighted still, but there are a few limited circumstances under which it would be in the public domain and thus usable. Nyttend (talk) 01:49, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It was property of the Chicago Daily News for publication. This performer also used it as a promotional picture on a menu in a venue that he was performing at. Would that mean that it meets the "Previous publication criterion?" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Triad-spoke (talk • contribs) 02:29, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Unpublished American works are often under "common-law copyright", but the promotional use isn't relevant; anything appearing in a newspaper has definitely been published. Thanks for the source details; this one's definitely copyrighted. For anything after the early 1960s, the only way it's in the public domain is if it didn't have a copyright notice, and a major publication like the Chicago Daily News would definitely have been placing copyright notices, since omitting the notice would mean that anyone could use their images and text without paying the royalties that would normally be a significant portion of the company's income. Nyttend (talk) 02:35, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

So, say I am a musician. I send a press release to the Daily News and tell them that I will be performing at Joe's bar and here is a picture of me. They publish my picture that I gave them with a blurb that I will be performing and stick the picture in their file. Thirty years later, they purge their files and someone buys the picture. I am now deceased. Because it was published in a newspaper, it is now illegal for anyone to use my picture anywhere because it was printed in a newspaper and it is now copyrighted? I can see if a newspaper photographer had taken the picture, then the newspaper owns the rights to it and rightly so. But this was a picture that was sent to them. Doesn't that make a difference? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Triad-spoke (talk • contribs) 18:49, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It depends on the arrangement the photographer has with the newspaper. When a photo is taken, usually the photographer owns the copyright. If they took it as part of a paid arrangement that gave rights to the subject, then the subject owns it. If when submitting to the newspaper there's a caveat along the lines of "all submissions become the property of..." then the newspaper owns it. So you can see, it is rather complicated. But an even simpler case: you take a photo and put it on Facebook. That photo is now copyrighted until 70 years after you die. So yes in your example, that is a perfectly likely case. Regardless of who took it or why, the photo is copyrighted to someone the instant it is "fixed in a tangible form". Crow^Caw 22:27, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

User talk:Mramoeba

This is about the page, not the editor account.

What's up with the columns? Scroll to the right, and you'll see a message I left him; it should be appearing below the Wikipedia Adventure badges, but for some reason it's next to them. The page code is quite normal; I can't see anything that would cause it to have columns like this or any other unusual layout issues. Nyttend (talk) 01:51, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

looks like it was looking for some text after the templates and the wiki title line wouldn't satisfy it. I added the word badges and it looks better. Gtstricky^{Talk or C} 02:19, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

That's odd. In my browser, your message appears in the usual place. You've got gremlins! Rivertorch^FIRE _WATER 02:23, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Gtstricky: I thought of that when I looked at the page history, but the version prior to your edit also looked normal to me. Rivertorch^FIRE _WATER 02:26, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Looks weird to me, too: [1]. The message is displayed correctly in the lower part of the talk page, but its title (the section header) hides behind the right edge of a window. Both in Chrome (logged-in) and IE (not logged). No idea about the reasons. --CiaPan (talk) 14:30, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Nyttend, this happens sometimes when a template uses a picture. The Template:Clear is used for such cases. Lourdes 16:29, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard

Я заменил маленький файл на файл гораздо лучшего качества. Зачем User:Carlotm отменил правку (special:diff/780810411)??? Не думаю, что такая деятельность полезна проекту. --Schekinov Alexey Victorovich (talk) 10:30, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Transl. ru→en by Google:

I replaced a small file with a file of much better quality. Why User:Carlotm canceled editing (special:diff/780810411)??? I do not think that such an activity is useful to the project. --Schekinov Alexey Victorovich

(translation posted by CiaPan (talk) 12:15, 17 May 2017 (UTC))[reply]

Schekinov Alexey Victorovich, hello. You should discuss this on the article's talk page (in English). Thanks. Lourdes 15:41, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

(Schekinov Alexey Victorovich, Здравствуйте. Вы должны обсудить это на странице обсуждения статьи (На английском). благодаря. Lourdes 15:41, 17 May 2017 (UTC))[reply]

My Wikipedia page not shown in google

My wikipedia page not show on google i have search many where that why my page not shown in google the result shown is that <meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow"/> its noindex are link there that why so please help me to get out from there and give me the solution — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rishu321 (talk • contribs) 11:57, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

On the assumption that this relates to SAS Online, new articles may not be indexed by Google for 30 days or until they have been reviewed, whichever is the shorter period. In the meantime, the page could be seen as promotional in tone and may need some re-wording to make it encyclopedic. On another note, please sign your posts on talk pages by typing four tildes (~~~~). Also, please don't refer to pages as 'yours' (see WP:OWN). Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 12:06, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Talk page, not Article itself, is indexed by search engines

Hi. I created an article for Nigerian record producer, Sess. The page is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sess_(producer). However, when I search for "Sess producer Wikipedia" on Google, the first result is a link to the article's talk page, and not the article itself. How do I fix this?MayowaGeorge (talk) 12:15, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hello MayowaGeorge. First, you should not use __INDEX__ on article pages (I have removed the same). Second, your article is new and search engines take time to index article pages. Third, why should it matter any way? Write back if you need more help. Lourdes 15:20, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I've added some project banners to the talk page, including the parameter blp=yes, and the talk page is now marked "noindex". -- John of Reading (talk) 05:57, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hi John of Reading thanks for that. I wanted to ask, where did you mark the talk page as noindex? I couldn't notice that in your edit. Thanks. Lourdes 14:19, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Lourdes: The blp=yes parameter tells the banner to start with the box "This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy..." using the {{BLP}} template. And that template outputs the __NOINDEX__ magic word to protect the article subject, just in case the talk page gets vandalised or the discussions get heated. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:10, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Got it. Lourdes 23:38, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

email as a reference

In the article Dale Spalding, an email is given as the source for his birth date. This is not something I have seen before, and I don't imagine its considered reliable. My question is, what should I do with it: delete the birth date and source, leave both and put a 'better source needed' tag, or remove just the source and add a 'citation needed' tag? Leschnei (talk) 13:27, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Leschnei Remove both, per WP:BLP. An email is not a published source, thus it fails verifiability. -- Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 13:31, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your quick response, I have removed them both. Leschnei (talk) 13:34, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Missing Hide/Show?

Over the last week or so, I've often gone to pages and found that the Hide or Show entries in the template headers have been missing. Any ideas?Naraht (talk) 16:23, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Naraht, would you be able to give an example? Thanks. Lourdes 16:33, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Lourdes Sure. In Alpha Phi Omega, neither of the templates at the bottom Template:Alpha Phi Omega National Presidents nor Template:Professional Fraternities have them. If I log out, then Hide/Show do show up. I'm guessing that one of my scripts is malfunctioning.Naraht (talk) 16:39, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

For what it's worth, they both work for me. †dismas†|^(talk) 19:09, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Naraht, which browser do you use (and is it updated)? Do you find the same issue while being logged in and being logged out? Do you find the same issue persisting while using other browsers (for example, if you're using Safari, can you try out Firefox or Chrome and confirm if the issue persists)? Thanks. Lourdes 00:28, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Lourdes Occurs at least at this point only in Chrome and logged in. *Not* when logged out on Chrome and *Not* when logged in on Edge (or whatever they are calling Internet Explorer now.Naraht (talk) 11:33, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I'll request PrimeHunter if he can give some inputs here. Thanks. Lourdes 14:14, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Is it consistent which articles are missing show/hide? What is your skin at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering? Do you have show/hide at the table of contents at Alpha Phi Omega#toc? Do you have show/hide at the navboxes at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Phi_Omega?useskin=modern? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:02, 19 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

PrimeHunterAll of them apparently, Vector, no, yes.Naraht (talk) 11:09, 19 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It sounds like a problem in User:Naraht/vector.js. Do the scripts appear to work? Can you try to blank the page? PrimeHunter (talk) 11:26, 19 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

PrimeHunter I blanked it and the hide/shows are back. Time to add scripts back in one at a time... Thanx!Naraht (talk) 11:30, 19 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

PrimeHunter Removed the one that the editor showed as a warning, the "Link Classifier on demand". addOnloadHook(function(){ addPortletLink('p-cactions', 'javascript:LinkClassifier.onDemand()', linkclassifier');}); Now I've got Hide/Show back. Wonder what went wrong with that one.Naraht (talk) 11:36, 19 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Help:Cite errors/Cite error ref no input

This seems to relate to South West Institute of TAFE where amongst other errors the OP added stray ref tags. I have reverted. Eagleash (talk) 17:09, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Recovering the content of my page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqeel_Solangi

Dear Sir/Ma'am, This is Aqeel Solangi, Its been quite sufficient time now, since I have been to Wikipedia. All the content on my page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqeel_Solangi has disappeared. I couldn't find a valid reason behind its abandonment. I need to understand that whether my page is going to be continued or should I loose hopes of its recovery and move on. In my earlier talk page I made myself clear and also sent email to permissions-commons@wikimedia.org and confirmed the freely licenses to all the written/visual content mentioned in my page/article, and couldn't get any reply on Talk page or above mentioned email. I don't know how this matter will be resolved, when no one is answering?

Anxiously waiting for the reply. Best. Aqeel Solangi Aqeel Solangi (talk) 17:39, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to have been removed because it was a copyright violation. It's still available here if you are quick to copy it. Dbfirs 18:11, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The image was deleted as a result of this discussion. Eagleash (talk) 18:21, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Entries that don't appear to meet criteria for notability or neutrality

Hello,

I notice a lot of Wikipedia entries with a lack of sources or sources that are not neutral. What are the guidelines for challenging either notability or neutrality on Wikipedia posts? Where is the line drawn between allowing a page to remain and deleting it? And who has the authority to decide on these matters?

Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Moondog500 (talk • contribs) 18:55, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Moondog500. Like most things on Wikipedia, this is determined by consensus. Any editor may nominate an article for deletion according to Wikipedia's Deletion policy: the actual deletion can only be performed by an administrator. There are two short-cut processes, used for deletions which are expected to be uncontroversal: any editor may object to these, and they will not go ahead. The full deletion process (Articles for deletion) involves a discussion which remains open for at least a week, for people to argue for or against deletion. At the end of the allotted time, an admin will judge if the consensus is to delete, and if so, will delete the article. --ColinFine (talk) 21:28, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Pressing Issue

Hi,

I'm a paid consultant to NBC News. In the profile of MSNBC president Phil Griffin, a sentence has been added saying Mr. Griffin has been accused of the crime of perjury. This is false and severely damaging to Mr. Griffin's reputation. The sentence reads: "Griffin is alleged to have committed perjury in a federal lawsuit involving former MSNBC host Ed Schultz." This sentence makes it seem as if Griffin was charged with the crime of perjury, which is without foundation. I can't make changes myself due to WP:COI and the severity of this false accusation merits it being dealt with immediately, rather than through the Request Edit process, which takes months.

The sentence is sourced to a column in the "Daily Caller" in which the writer reaches the conclusion, based on his on own analysis, that in a deposition Mr. Griffin falsely stated that he had seen Ed Schultz ask President Obama a question at a news conference. http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/26/did-msnbc-president-phil-griffin-commit-perjury-video/

The writer then speculates whether lying in deposition constitutes perjury and quotes an expert as saying that perjury requires proof that the person knew they were lying, and that perjury in civil deposition is rarely prosecuted. The writer then suggests facetiously that Mr. Griffin should defend himself by saying he was on acid.

In short, a column in which a reporter speculates he has caught Mr. Griffin in an inaccuracy has been blown up on Wikipedia to suggest Mr. Griffin was officially accused of committing a felony. Both the accusation of the false statement and the speculation of perjury constitute opinion, not fact. They constitute an "exceptional" claim and as such, would require multiple high quality sources to be included in this article. Please see WP: EXCEPTIONAL I think the entire sentence should be removed, since no one but this columnist ever made these claims.

Thanks,,

Ed

BC1278 (talk) 19:13, 17 May 2017 (UTC)BC1278[reply]

@BC1278: I've removed it. You might find WP:BLPN useful in the future. -- zzuuzz ^(talk) 19:23, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you zzuuzz.BC1278 (talk)BC1278

Ed, you might also find WP:PUBLICFIGURE useful in future, if you wish to understand how we handle such biographies. Thanks. Lourdes 00:25, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Irving Penn, the photographer

The photo that accompanies the text on Irving Penn, the photographer, is actually a photo of Truman Capote, the author !!! The photo is actually one that Irving Penn TOOK of Truman Capote...please fix ! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.108.115.11 (talk)

There is no photo in the article Irving Penn. Where are you seeing this incorrect photo? RudolfRed (talk) 20:25, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Are you by any chance referring to a photo or text shown to the right of a Google search? Google's Knowledge Graph uses a wide variety of sources. There may be a text paragraph ending with "Wikipedia" to indicate that particular text was copied from Wikipedia. An image and other text before or after the Wikipedia excerpt may be from sources completely unrelated to Wikipedia. We have no control over how Google presents our information, but Google's Knowledge Graph has a "Feedback" link where anyone can mark a field as wrong. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:02, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

When I do a Google search for "Irving Penn", I'm shown a batch of images, with [2] (shown smaller at [3]) as the lead image, so I'm confident that PrimeHunter's correct. Nyttend (talk) 01:05, 18 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I wan t to change my password

I am logged in, but I want to change my password. I forgot it, and I need the password to set a recovery email. Any ideas? PLEASE HELP! — Preceding unsigned comment added by EXR0N (talk • contribs) 22:11, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@EXR0N: I don't think you can do anything. The system is designed to prevent people from hijacking your account if they get access to a logged in browser. You only have five edits and can just create a new account. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:27, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@EXR0N: If you absolutely needed to hold on to your username (the way you really should have held on to your password), you could leave a message on your current talk page stating what your new username will be (make sure it is not already taken first), create a new account with that name, and then usurp your original account's username. But yeah, passwords (and recovery emails) are more important than user names. Ian.thomson (talk) 22:32, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I have a hard time believing a global renamer would do that, though. Particularly with someone who appears to be here to screw around (check out deleted contributions). --Floquenbeam (talk) 22:46, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Ah, yeah, I checked his contribs a good while before going to respond. Him forgetting his password is probably the Wikipedia equivalent of natural selection at this point. Ian.thomson (talk) 22:54, 17 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2017 May 17

Contents