Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2017 May 6

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May 6

What does the 3F in this URL mean?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard#Why_is_a_live_stream_unreliable.3F

What does the 3F in this URL mean? Benjamin (talk) 00:09, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

It is a url encoding of the ? character. Pppery 00:17, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Thanks. Benjamin (talk) 00:18, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

A little more precisely, .3F including the period is an encoded question mark '?' for use in anchors. The link as a wikilink: Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard#Why is a live stream unreliable? It's listed at mw:Manual:PAGENAMEE encoding#Encodings compared. In the page name part of the url a question mark would have been percent-encoded as %3F, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who%27s_on_First%3F for Who's on First? An unencoded question mark in a url usually marks the start of a query string, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Example?action=history. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:25, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

how to block a wikipedia user

I'm being harassed by a wikipedia user who is almost threatening. User name is: Walter Gorlitz — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rev.mark82 (talk • contribs) 00:20, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

(edit conflict) @Rev.mark82: Hi Rev.mark82, welcome to Wikipedia - could you explain a little more about the situation? -- There'sNoTime ^{(to explain)} 00:26, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

WP:ANI Benjamin (talk) 00:24, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

@Rev.mark82: Uh... No, Walter Gorlitz has just left templated messages asking you to not use the site to promote your career. If you think that's harassment, you are failing to assume good faith, one of this site's most basic principles. Ian.thomson (talk) 00:30, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

No, he is wrong and he left personal attacks. That isn't his job. It is a personal opinion. He doesn't know whether every edit is note worthy or not. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rev.mark82 (talk • contribs) 00:41, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Regardless of the merits of this dispute, the proper place to request a user be blocked (for reasons other than blatant vandalism or edit warring) is WP:ANI, not here. Also, please sign your posts by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: , but do not sign in articles.. Pppery 00:46, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

The closest I see to a personal attack is "You don't seem to get it," which is not a personal attack -- it's stating that you don't seem to understand that this site is not for promoting your business. He does know that you have cited no sources whatsoever for your additions, so he's right that your additions are not noteworthy (no sources = no notability). Ian.thomson (talk) 00:54, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Folllow up to previous question "redirects vs aliases vs moves vs inaction"

Resolved

@Maproom: Well, I tried my first move of a protein page. Please see GRASP65. I get an error message "An Error has occurred retrieving Wikidata item for infobox", and, I guess obviously, the infobox doesn't show up. I tried to access previous versions of the page to copy the infobox, but they have the same error message. Can you please tell me how to transfer those infoboxes? Thank you. JeanOhm (talk) 02:28, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

I just looked at the next protein page to move, and I see the infobox apparently defined by {{Infobox_gene}}, but I don't see where the data for that box is located. This is bordering on magic, IMHO....JeanOhm (talk) 02:33, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

JeanOhm: GRASP65 appears to me to be working fine, with a functional and well-populated infobox.

The instructions for using the template {{Infobox_gene}}, at [[Template:Infobox gene]], include the statement "The infobox is populated by using the interwiki linked item of the protein to find the encoded gene item and then uses the gene item to populate the infobox." I confess that I don't know what that means. Interwiki links are a relatively new thing, and I have so far managed to avoid them. This page is probably relevant. Maproom (talk) 06:46, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

You are correct, Maproom. "Interwiki linked item" is a clumsy way of saying Wikidata item, and I have corrected the doc to say that more clearly. Pppery 14:37, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

The reason the infobox works now is that some anonymous IP update the sitelink on the relevant Wikidata page to bypass the redirect from move. Pppery 14:39, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

@Maproom and Pppery: Thank you both for looking into this. Since I expect that I am going to generate this same sort of problem with the other changes I should make, can you please explain to me how to do what @67.244.114.239: did (‎Changed link to [enwiki]: GRASP65) at the wikidata page? I don't see an "edit" option on the wikidata page. I've read some of the instructions at wikidata, and they say anybody can edit, but I don't see how. Do editors need special permissions to do that? Do I need to create a wikidata account? I can't even figure out how to do that. Thank you again. JeanOhm (talk) 18:10, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

I thought I had just figured something out. I logged in to wikidata using my unified account, and expected that I would be given the opportunity to edit a page, but alas, i still can only view the page history, not edit. JeanOhm (talk) 18:21, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Eureka! I just discovered that you edit individual items, not the entire page! 8-) JeanOhm (talk) 18:46, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

The user Nickag989 is vandalizing the WrestleMania24 Wrestling article, misuse of power, please help!

This was a very good WrestleMania, and it was highly praised all over the world and the internet. Until 2014, it was staed in the Reception section that this event was met with positive critical acclaim. But then some new user Nickag989 who has been on the wiki edit team for only 2 years, without any valid reason removed that part based on this personal perceptions. What gives him the right to do that and modify edits by legitimate wiki users who have been around longer than him and when the event actually took place? All WrestleMania articles in the reception section have statements on whether they were met with positive, mixed and negative receptions. All the big matches of WrestleMania were good and received high ratings, he career threatening mach received a 10/10. This was one of the very few WrestleManias named best major wrestling show of the year of Dave Meltzer's wrestling observer and newsletter. I have undone the edits by the 2 year member Nikag989 and re-wrote that the event received positive critical acclaim. But he keeps revering the edits without a valid reason! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bengoman1993 (talk • contribs) 10:00, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

User:Bengoman1993 - DO NOT yell "Vandalism" in order to try to "win" a content dispute (and this is a content dispute, or you would have reported it to WP:AIV). If you have been editing Wikipedia long enough to know what vandalism is, you have been editing long enough to know what isn't vandalism. Yelling "vandalism" when there is only a content dispute is a personal attack. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:14, 7 May 2017 (UTC)

How could you say that the event was very well received if it has only one source? Also I don't vandalise, you basically restored a broken version from 2015. If you add the "Best Major Show" bit, you point to the WON article, the problem is that no source is provide on that page either. See WP:RS for how to add sources. You might have problems here though since sources that require paid membership are usually discouraged (if you can find another reliable source that includes the info, that would be preferred). Nickag989^talk 10:09, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

And yet, please note that Wikipedia itself is not a reliable source. Nickag989^talk 10:11, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Nickag989 - please stop edit warring right now. Wikipedia works on consensus, and if another editor disagrees with your edits what you are required to do is discuss it and try to reach consensus - which involves persuading other editors (preferably including the person who originally disagreed with you), not simply asserting that you are right. But without looking deeply into the argument (I haven't the slightest interest in wrestling) I will observe that Wikipedia doesn't care what you think about a subject. Not even a little bit. It also doesn't care what I think about it, or what Nickag989 thinks about it. It only cares what people unconnected with the subject have published about it in reliable places: that's all. Looking at some of the material that you have added, it does not appear to me to be a neutral summary of what independent reliable sources have said, but some non-neutral writing that goes into far too much detail for an encyclopaedia, and does not appear to be cited to reliable sources. --ColinFine (talk) 10:35, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Archaic term

Am I allowed to edit an Islam-related article if the references I'm using use ancient terms such as "Mohammedanism" instead of Islam? If so, which guideline/policy is applicable? 92.2.68.56 (talk) 12:00, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

If you have a source in French, or Arabic, you can cite it, but convert what it says into modern English. The same goes for a source in antiquated English. Maproom (talk) 13:08, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

My first edit

I live in Gwangju. I figure it would be a good start to edit a thread about a city I live in.

I started by adding a photo. I managed to add the photo, but the photo ended up in the bottom right hand corner way below the article, along with the references.I must have messed something up. Could someone correct the mistake and more importantly tell me what I did wrong so as to prevent me from making the same mistake in the future.

Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Avillageofbigheads (talk • contribs) 14:21, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Please sign your posts by typing four tildes (~~~~) or clicking the signature button above the edit box which looks like this: , but do not sign in articles. Pppery 14:33, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

I've fixed the image positioning. The problem was that you were trying to cite the picture as if it were a source, and thus put in in <ref>...</ref> tags. All text in ref tags is shown in the references section. Pppery 14:33, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Ahh. understood. thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Avillageofbigheads (talk • contribs) 14:56, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Sun Yawei

Hi, I'm not sure what's going on with the infobox on Sun Yawei, but it's beyond my abilities to fix. Help is deeply appreciated. Red Fiona (talk) 16:00, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

@Redfiona99: I fixed it by undoing the most recent edit. -- John of Reading (talk) 16:23, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Thank you Red Fiona (talk) 16:26, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Why can't I copy and paste mathematical equations into Microsoft Word?

Every time I try to copy and paste mathematical equations along with the written article into Microsoft Office products, the math equations don't show up. Please explain why and if there is a possible solution to this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dunwikining (talk • contribs) 21:28, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

@Dunwikining: Have you tried the computing section of Wikipedia's Reference Desk? They specialize in answering knowledge questions there; this help desk is only for questions about using Wikipedia. For your convenience, here is the link to post a question there: click here. I hope this helps.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 22:53, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Oops Fuhghettaboutit, that link resulted in the question being posted on the redirect page rather than on Wikipedia:Reference desk/Computing (lowercase c thing). Dunwikining, equations in Wikipedia can be in several formats, or even images. See Help:Displaying a formula. When you paste to Microsoft Office choose the paste option "text" rather than the default and you will see the underlying code. You can use Word's equation editing and type the equations in yourself. There are also LaTeX to Word converters online. StarryGrandma (talk) 01:39, 7 May 2017 (UTC)