Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2018 December 1

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December 1

Different files with the same name

Three times today it happened to me that I uploaded a file to the Commons and then found out that I cannot use it on this Wikipedia because it already hosts a file under the same name. Is there a way around this annoying problem other than requesting that the file be renamed? The latest example is commons:File:Earl Palmer.jpg, which would be a free alternative to the fair use File:Earl Palmer.jpg that we have now. Surtsicna (talk) 00:22, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

And now again with File:Betty Shabazz.jpg and commons:File:Betty Shabazz.jpg. I suppose the fair use files will be deleted now, but there are also cases of free photos on Wikipedia having the same name as those on Commons, so I still wonder how to deal with that. Surtsicna (talk) 01:43, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

@Surtsicna: See {{ShadowsCommons}}. The appropriate thing now is to request deletion (via normal channels) of the non-free files here locally in favor of free ones on Commons. More so, in this case, both the ones in Commons are of better resolution.–Ammarpad (talk) 07:16, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

2268 failed login attempts

I got this message today: "There have been 2268 failed attempts to log in to your account from a new device since the last time you logged in. If it wasn't you, please make sure your account has a strong password." I checked my contributions and there were none that I didn't make. I did change my password, but it looks like they didn't get in. But 2268 attempts - that must be an automated attack, right? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 01:56, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Yes. There are other reports at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard#Password attack. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:59, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Thanks. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 06:59, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Resolved

NCAA Football season navbox template

I'm trying to put in 2019 But the Template is blocked forever. 68.103.78.155 (talk) 02:30, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

The reason why you can't is because the page has been semi-protected due to being a high traffic template. If there's an edit that needs to be made to it, click the "view source" button where the edit button would usually be, then click the "submit an edit request" option, and follow the instructions to make an edit request. However, there are a few important points to consider. Specifically, it can only be used for clearly uncontroversial changes and you must state clearly what changes need to be made. You can find more information at WP:EDITREQUEST. Once you've made the request, an autoconfirmed user will come along and accept or decline the request, though this may take a while. If the change you're making is likely controversial, you should get a consensus on the talk page before using the edit request template. I hope this helps you out and let me know if you have any further questions. Regards, --SkyGazer 512 ^{Oh no, what did I do this time?} 17:47, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Donation solicitation

I donated today but, as I continue to use your service, I still am getting hounded by giving pitches. I truly believe your service is commendable and that’s why I support it. Now that I’ve contributed, please turn off the pop-ups. Thanks so much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2D80:882B:A023:7D53:B8A9:86BC:1BD6 (talk) 02:47, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

I don't think it's possible to "turn this off". It's an authomatic thing, but you can close it everytime it appears.--SirEdimon (talk) 03:00, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

If you create an account then Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets has the option "Suppress display of fundraiser banners". PrimeHunter (talk) 03:05, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

To explain this a bit: if you choose not to create an account and log in, then the system has no way of knowing who you are, so no way of remembering anything about you. Wikipedia in any case has no knowledge of who has chosen to donate to the Wikimedia Foundation, but as PrimeHunter says, it can remember that a registered user has turned the message off. --ColinFine (talk) 10:18, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Creating a New Page for Johnny Reed

I am an entertainment professional and others have tried to find me on Wikipedia for my works. I've released 6 Music Albums, done voices for 100's of toys by major mfgs, and did the voice of King Kong, and co-produced independent films. How would I best go about creating a page with my information for the public? Thanks Johnny Reed — Preceding unsigned comment added by Johnny Reed (talk • contribs) 05:21, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

You or someone closely related to you is strongly discouraged from writing an article about you - see this page for more information about why. LittlePuppers (talk) 05:26, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

@Johnny Reed: See WP:AUTOBIOGRAPHY and WP:COI for why we generally do not encourage people to write or edit pages about themselves. Wikipedia is not a directory but a summarize of professionally-published mainstream academic or journalistic sources with no addition nor commentary.

If you're going to try to write an article about yourself anyway, here are the steps you should follow:

1) Choose a topic whose notability is attested by discussions of it in several reliable independent sources.

2) Gather as many professionally-published mainstream academic or journalistic sources you can find. Google Books is a good resource for this. Also, while search engine resutls are tnot sources, they are where you can find sources. Just remember that they need to be professionally-published mainstream academic or journalistic sources.

3) Focus on just the ones that are not dependent upon or affiliated with the subject, but still specifically about the subject and providing in-depth coverage (not passing mentions). If you do not have at least three such sources, the subject is not yet notable and trying to write an article at this point will only fail.

4) Summarize those sources left after step 3, adding citations at the end of them. You'll want to do this in a program with little/no formatting, like Microsoft Notepad or Notepad++, and not in something like Microsoft Word or LibreOffice Writer. Make sure this summary is just bare statement of facts, phrased in a way that even someone who hates the subject can agree with.

5) Combine overlapping summaries (without arriving at new statements that no individual source supports) where possible, repeating citations as needed.

6) Paraphrase the whole thing just to be extra sure you've avoided any copyright violations or plagiarism.

7) Use the Article wizard to post this draft and wait for approval.

8a) If the draft is accepted, never edit the article. If you see a change that needs to be made, make an edit request (based on our site's policies and guidelines) on the article's talk page.

8b) If the draft is rejected, pay close attention to the reason given, clicking any blue links in the explanation and reading up on that.

Doing something besides those steps typically results in the article not being approved, or even in its deletion. Ian.thomson (talk) 05:30, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

References for an Artist who is an illustrator

While creating a page for an artist who happens to be an illustrator, can I use his signed works in copyrighted books, independent articles on Urban Post, and articles in various magazines as references to prove notability? I did go through the guidelines for artist's page, but would like specific inputs since many of his illustrations are not available online, but are signed and feature in copyrighted books. Also is Urban Post regarded as being a trustworthy source and can be cited in the page? Thanks in advance, Vinvibes (talk —Preceding undated comment added 06:39, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Hello, Vinvibes. Nothing by the subject (whether signed or not) can contribute to their notability, which depends on whether other people have published material about them. I've never heard of Urban Post, and it doesn't seem to have been discussed at the reliable sources noticeboard; but when I go to their website, it looks to me as if they are basically a store. Links to commerce sites are discouraged, and I would doubt whether they count as an independent reliable source. What you need is to find a few places where people unconnected with your artist have chosen to write about him. --ColinFine (talk) 10:48, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Hi, ColinFine - thanks for responding. For artists I read that their works could be used to prove notability. So, if the work in question is a part of a book written by someone else, then will it work as a reference? Because after all, it denotes the popularity of the artist if his services are sought by authors for their books...Vinvibes (talk —Preceding undated comment added 13:42, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Unfortunately not. Anyone can publish a book these days, and they can ask any mate of theirs to illustrate it. Popularity doesn't count as notability of an artist in the Wikipedia sense.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:06, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

you guys rock

im flat broke or id donate; but ill have money sometime within a year and plan to donate then; in the meantime, THANKS for existing; and may you all get the good stuff in life you deserve for your efforts and aid — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.107.74.241 (talk) 06:51, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for your kind words! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:42, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Ref icon not working?

Any idea if it's my machine or is the ref icon not working this morning? Rather than bringing up the usual box, into which I can paste the web reference, it's doing this <ref></ref>.

Any help much appreciated. KJP1 (talk) 10:56, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

There are many ref features. If you refer to the icon [1] then I don't know what it normally does but currently it's just inserting <ref></ref> for me. I use a "Cite" link on the right where four citation templates can be chosen. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:21, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

That's exactly it. Normally, it brings up a template box, in the middle of the screen, into which one can paste a web reference. I then go to ReFill to sort the bare url. Odd. I shall try your alternative suggestion for present, but the icon's much faster. Many thanks. KJP1 (talk) 11:26, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

@KJP1: I removed the dialog from the software, because it was basically not doing anything, yet did use a lot of code. This dialog was in place for features that were never added to that dialog. Some of those features were later added to Reftoolbar instead. The dialog can't be faster, since it's basically doing the exact same thing, only the moment at which you paste sort of moved. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 11:52, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

I do note that most other buttons insert some 'dummy' text that you can replace though. Maybe we should add that to the ref insertion as well. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:14, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Char insert doesn't so the icon version of that shouldn't. Also, empty <ref></ref> tags will show an error message so that they can be noticed and fixed.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 13:55, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

TheDJ - Hi, not being very technical, I'm afraid I don't understand much of that, but I did find the icon very useful. I've used it for years and basically, if putting in lots of web refs, one could just bang them all in using the icon and then use refill to tidy up. It was certainly faster as now I have to add in all the separate bits of data myself. If it were possible to reinstate the icon, I'd much appreciate it. KJP1 (talk) 15:14, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

KJP1, i dont understand, why cant you bang them in now and use refill ??

Literally the ONLY difference i can think of is if someone relies on the presence of an input field as a bigger target to right click and paste —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 22:04, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

TheDJ - ah, having tried it I now see that you're right. Just ignore me. KJP1 (talk) 08:23, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

Plus 9

At [[Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as spam]] (nowikied here to avoid upsetting AnomieBOT) and similar CSD category pages, the CSD categories right sidebar always seems to add nine to the actual number for copyright violations. It's not a lag, it's always there. I've poked around, but I can't figure out how to fix it. Any ideas? Jimfbleak - talk to me? 14:08, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

@Jimfbleak: [[:Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as spam]] with a colon in front produces Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as spam without adding the page to the category. I first saw "Copyright violations (10)" but then it changed to "Copyright violations (0)". Note the box saying: "If this page has been recently modified, it may not reflect the most recent changes. Please purge this page to view the most recent changes." See Wikipedia:Purge. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:53, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

PrimeHunter Doh... I'm used to purging pages, but it never occurred to me to do so at CSD. Thanks Jimfbleak - talk to me? 19:18, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

You have enabled both this script and the MediaViewer ...

When I open a picture in the english WP, it opens in a small black frame whith the name on top. Under this frame I read: "You have enabled both this script and the MediaViewer. You should decide for one script and disable the other." Ok, I have the MediaViewer on and I like it. But I have no idea what this script is and where I could switch it off. Thank you for help. --Meyer-Konstanz (talk) 13:45, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

That is likely coming from your global.js page. Try cleaning it –Ammarpad (talk) 17:44, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

@Meyer-Konstanz: Yes, this is from loading de:Benutzer:Schnark/js/fliegelflagel.js/define.js which uses de:Benutzer:Schnark/js/imagepopups.js which has the quoted message. MediaViewer can be disabled at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:09, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Thank you so much, Ammarpad and PrimeHunter for finding this! Meyer-Konstanz (talk) 21:12, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Editing

Dear friends, I am new on Wikipedia. As a member of the Association of Writers, I want to create an article on writer biography. But I would like to protect them from editing by other people. Is it possible? Thank you in advance! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Literatura Beograd (talk • contribs) 21:10, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

No, it is not possible. Wikipedia is "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit". "Anyone" includes "other people". Maproom (talk) 21:20, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Hello Literatura Beograd  :-)

The response to your question reminded me of when I first started contributing to Wikipedia – an experienced contributor did not provide a lead to where I could go to but instead left a withering criticism that left me wondering whether I should continue. I did continue, though, and the help I have received in this forum over the years has been amazing.

So I'll expand on Maproom's coment with a lead to the information you'll need. First, do you see "Help" near the top of the left-hand margin of any Wikipedia page? Click that and you will see a variety of topics that answer the questions that many newcomers have asked.

Maproom is right, of course, when he/she says "anyone can edit". If you are not happy with a subsequent edit you can start up a conversation on the article's Talk page, and if it's part of a bigger "project", on the project page. There are arbitration processes but I believe differences of opinion are almost always settled by the opinions of interested contributors. Often in the process some others' comments will result in the article being improved.

One of the things you'll come across is that you should sign off a question or comment on a Talk page like this one with four tildes (~). That automatically formats a standard signature that puts you username at the end.

I hope you'll enjoy the Wikipedia experience. The democratisation of knowledge is a noble cause that energises contributors and the end result of their efforts is amazing. Welcome! SCHolar44 (talk) 22:52, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Automatically counting list items?

Is there any way to automatically count the number of items in a list? For example at Wikipedia:Typo_Team/Members, members are asked to update the count when they add their name. This is prone to error and I would like to improve it to update the count automatically. Any templates or Wikipedia secret recipies I can use for this purpose? RudolfRed (talk) 22:07, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

Replace the unordered list markup (*) with ordered list markup(#)?

—Trappist the monk (talk) 00:06, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

@Trappist the monk: Thanks for the suggestion, I'll give it a look. How do other counting pages work? For example at CAT:ESP where it shows how many edit requests are outstanding? RudolfRed (talk) 21:51, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

If you are talking about the table above the category listing at Category:Wikipedia semi-protected edit requests, a bot does that.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 22:28, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

Of course, you might write some lua code to count the number of items in the list. This hack counts all of the unordered-list markup (*) that are preceded by a newline character:

{{#invoke:Sandbox/trappist the monk/count items|count_items}} → 1337

and yeah, it needs refining ...

—Trappist the monk (talk) 23:11, 2 December 2018 (UTC)

Ok, thanks RudolfRed (talk) 03:05, 3 December 2018 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error references duplicate key

Help with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Cite_errors/Cite_error_references_duplicate_key

Reference one herehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Farrar_(settler) I don't understand it and can't figure out how to correct itOldperson (talk) 23:04, 1 December 2018 (UTC)

@Oldperson: Fixed. LittlePuppers (talk) 23:58, 1 December 2018 (UTC)