Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2019 December 10

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December 10

Creating Page of a Global NGO

Respected Sirs,

I am an employee working with a global NGO. My profile is to look after its social sites. I need to create their page on Wiki but not getting the right path, how to start, where to start. Please help. Best regards. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.196.65.38 (talk) 05:09, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Don't. If your organization is notable by our definition, then someone else will eventually write the article. but if you insist in trying, then do all of the following, in order. Failure to follow these steps will waste your time and ours.

1. Create an account. This must be your personal account. We do not permit "role", "group", or "corporate" accounts. see WP:USERNAME.
2. Declare you status as a paid editor on you new account's user page. See WP:PAID
3. Carefully read and understand our notability critera. See WP:NCORP
4. Make absolutely sure you can document a claim of notability by gathering reliable sources. See WP:RS
5. Check the notability requirements again. Make sure you feel that other objective editors will agree with you. Really. If you cannot do this, your article will be deleted and your work will be lost.
6. Read a few of our articles about organizations similar to your to get a feel for the appropriate encyclopedic style.
7. Proceed to writing a draft by following WP:YFA. Try as hard as you can to stay objective. Make certain that you add your references.
8. Submit your draft.

Good luck all that. If the organization is notable we can help you get the article established. -Arch dude (talk) 05:52, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Hello 112.196.65.38. Another reason not to create an article about your organization is that it's not in your job description. If your job is "to look after its social sites", the first thing to note is that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not social media. So you can scratch Wikipedia off your to-do list.--Quisqualis (talk) 07:05, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

SANJAY JHA (POLITICIAN) - need to publish Primarily Speakership profile alongwith Political Career

Dear Wikipedia team,

This is with reference to Wikipedia page created in the name of SANJAY JHA (POLITICIAN).

We basically wanted to create this page primarily for his Speakership profile alongwith Political career data. Since the name Sanjay Jha who is CEO of Motorola was already exists, we were facing some challenges to publish the page with the title SANJAY JHA (Speaker). Please help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by KSbangera (talk • contribs) 05:49, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

@KSbangera: This is the Wikipedia help desk, where perhaps 20 or so random Wikipedia editors hang out to try to answer questions about using and editing Wikipedia. There is no coherent "Wikipedia team" to respond to your request. There have about 135,000 volunteer editors active in the last month, and they are not organized into any sort of formal teams. Each editor does whatever they want to do. With respect to Sanjay Jha (politician), You will need to attract the attention of editors who are interested in helping you. You might wish to try the talk pages of relevant Wikipedia projects, such as Wikipedia:WikiProject India. -Arch dude (talk) 06:05, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Sanjay Jha (politician) was recently moved to that title by someone from Wikipedia:WikiProject India after I asked there for help in determining the proper title. It has also undergone much editing since creation to remove unsourced/promotional language. All of OPs edits made today have been reverted. MB 17:31, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

OP is now blocked under NOTHERE and COI editing; was reported at WP:COIN. MB 19:06, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Oswald Engine article deleted

Can you please assist me please in locating and reinstating an article I contributed "Oswald Engine" in 2007 , it was categorized with Gas Engines, Marine Engines, this was along with other important contributions on the preservation and history of Gas Marine Engines that provided propulsion at a time between Steam and Diesel. It was deleted by and administrator "Muboshgu" who cited that it was insignificant. How can I locate it, I tried the "log" with no luck. This article was important to a large community of gas engine, fishery and foundry historians and gas engine collectors, many specializing in the California Marine Engines that were critical for the fishing fleet from 1900s to the 1950s. This contributed to the development of gas engines for motorcycles and automobiles creating a expansion in culture. It was very disturbing that this deletion was quickly approved by administrators or editors that were not knowledgeable in this area of history and technology and it's impact on society worldwide and also specific to the west coast. This was my first contribution to Wikipedia and if lost would be detrimental to future research in this area. I was planning to add additional images and details. Alan Black "ablack29" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ablack29 (talk • contribs) 06:11, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Ablack29, as the article was deleted under proposed deletion, it may be restored at Wikipedia:Requests for undeletion ~~ OxonAlex - talk 08:30, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

However, you should be able to demonstrate that you plan to improve the article to address the concerns in the deletion, and that the firm have received significant coverage to base an article on. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 08:35, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Origin of the word Christmas

The word "Christmas" consists of two parts, the first part is “Christ” which comes from the word "Christos" in Greek, and the word “mas” comes from the Coptic verb “misi” which means give birth.

Look at the ancient Egyptian pharos names: Ramsis = born from “RA” the ancient Egyptian deity of the sun. Ahmose (Ahmas) = Born of “Ah” the ancient Egyptian deity of the moon. Thotmose (Thotmas) = the birth of Thot. Applying the same rule, Christmas = the birth of Christ.

Hope I was able to deliver the correction. Ashraf — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:E000:1609:1B43:B1:3F68:3BA6:DE55 (talk) 07:24, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

If you are recommending a change to an article, then please place your recommendation on the article's talk page. If you have a reliable source, then you are free to change the article yourself if you cite the source. -Arch dude (talk) 07:42, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Special emphasis on "if you have a reliable source", because the explanation seems unlikely to me. Christmas#Etymology says it comes from "Christ's mass" with usage in the 11th century attesting to those roots and a source. Furthermore, since French, Italian and Spanish all use some local translation of "Nativity" for "Christmas", it is hard to believe that a Coptic word would have propagated through those areas first before reaching the British Isles. Tigraan^{Click here to contact me} 12:39, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Inserting Pdf as a reference

Hi,

How do I upload a Pdf file as a reference?

Thanks... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.200.140.140 (talk) 07:27, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

A reference must have been published in a reliable source. You do not need to upload the pdf, you just need to reference it. If it is available as a PDF on the web and that location has a license to that copy (e.g., the source itself has put it on the web), then you may link to the PDF from within your reference. If the source has not been published on the web, then an upload by you is (probably) not a reliable source. -Arch dude (talk) 07:38, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks - the PDF has not been published on the web but nevertheless is a reliable source. Could I receive information on how to upload it?

Thanks... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.200.140.140 (talk) 07:45, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Hi IP user. Simply - you shouldn't upload it. If it were, say a newsletter sent by email from a reliable source, it could be a reliable piece of media. Simply cite where it came from, and it'll be viewed as an offline source. Uploading has a few issues, as it could be doctored, or be a copyright voilation of someone else's work. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 08:17, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

It is a PDF of a print page from a newspaper. It is not available on line, but nevertheless it constitutes a reliable source. I need to include it as my edit is repeatedly being taken down - I'm guessing because it does not have a verifiable reference.

Therefore, I would be grateful if someone could let me know how to upload this PDF as a reference.

Thanks... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.200.140.140 (talk) 08:37, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Don't upload it, as this would be a copyright violation. And don't cite the PDF, as it has not been published. Instead, cite the newspaper, giving its name, date of issue, name of the author of the article, page and column number. Maproom (talk) 09:42, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for your advice, which I have followed. :-) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.200.140.140 (talk) 10:26, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

I believe the problem is that the newspaper in question is the Daily Mail. ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 19:36, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

Donating cash

Hi, Every year I receive the request to support your organisation by contributing £2 cash. I would love to donate but when I have previously enquired, I have been told it is not possible. I am an economic dinosaur and have and want no economic online presence, but would love to send you cash or a postal order. I would be quite prepared to take the risk of it not ending up in the right place. Is there any way that this can be done? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.155.203.146 (talk) 09:43, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

As an editor, thanks for wanting to donate(though donations are handled by the Foundation and not us). If you go to this page, it will tell you where you can mail a check to. 331dot (talk) 10:34, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

To clarify, you should not send cash in the mail- but a money/postal order should be okay. 331dot (talk) 12:20, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Donations

Tuesday 10 December 2019. Hi I recently made a small donation to your organisation but every time I open a new subject ,you keep flashing up "make a donation"(or words similar).Would you therefore change my algorithm so this stops.Thank You .Trevor Coffey West Sussex England UK. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.66.147.74 (talk) 13:13, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

The only way to stop seeing these messages is to create an account and then disable them. As IP addresses can be used by more than one person, there is no way to know who is using the IP address and if they have seen a message or not. In addition(as I've seen pointed out by someone else) when you make a donation to a charity in person on the street, and then pass the same location on the street the next day, do you expect the person seeking donations to be gone? 331dot (talk) 13:20, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Time Stamps

Are the time stamps in UTC time? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgtjdaniels (talk • contribs) 15:44, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Yes, unless you have specified a UTC offset at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 15:55, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Hello, Sgtjdaniels, yes, by default, timestamps in signatures and article histories are shown in UTC time. However, there is a preference item, under Gadgets | Appearances for "Change UTC-based times and dates, such as those used in signatures, to be relative to local time " which some people prefer. That only changes the display, not the stored timestamp. DES ^(talk)_{DESiegel Contribs} 16:00, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

The adjsutment also requires setting your local offset, as Trappist the monk described above. DES ^(talk)_{DESiegel Contribs} 16:01, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

How do I publish a translation of a foreign-language article in English?

Hi, I translated the Wikipedia page for my company from Czech into English. I published it as a personal draft, but Wikipedia doesn't indicate what happens next, if anything. What do I do next to get the translation published for the general public? Thanks in advance for any help and I apologize for my "newbieness."

Here is the original page: cs:Mana (náhrada stravy) Here is my translation: User:Jack_Zagorski/Mana_(food) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jack Zagorski (talk • contribs) 16:09, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

The first thing you need to do is to read about conflict of interest and make the mandatory declaration of paid editing. Other advice is at WP:Translate. --David Biddulph (talk) 16:18, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Jack Zagorski, I've added a header to the draft, which contains a button to submit the article to Articles for Creation, where it will be reviewed. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 16:19, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

But, Jack Zagorski, far too many of the references on User:Jack Zagorski/Mana (food) are to the company's own website. Remember that Wikipedia is basically not interested in anything that the subject of the article says or wants to say, whether in its own publications, or in interviews or press releases: it is only interested in what people who have no connection with the subject have chosen to publish about it. To have any chance of that draft being accepted into en-wiki, you need to find some independent published sources which discuss Mana in some detail, and remove almost everything from the draft which can't be substantiated from an independent source. Sources in Czech are acceptable if there aren't any comparable ones in English. This is the trouble with translating articles from other-language Wikpedias: often existing articles (including older articles in en-wiki) do not meet current standards of notability and referencing. --ColinFine (talk) 16:54, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Hi, Jack Zagorski. To anticipate a possible confusion on your part arising from ColinFine's excellent advice above: each of the different language Wikipedias is a separate project, whose requirements has been arrived at by a separate language-specific concensus; thus the rules of source acceptability on the Czech Wikipedia may be different from those here on the English Wikipedia, which is reputed to be more strict than most. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.209.178 (talk) 18:57, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Wow, OK, great, thanks for the advice. All makes sense. I'll have to redo it a bit in that case. Will study these comments and get back with any other questions. Thanks a lot again! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jack Zagorski (talk • contribs) 11:23, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

Hi helpful people, I took your advice and totally redid the article. I still have to go through the steps and declare my COI, but in the meantime is it possible that I could get a "submit" button added to the new version, OxonAlex? Here is a link to the new version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jack_Zagorski/Mana_(meal_replacement) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jack Zagorski (talk • contribs) 14:18, 12 December 2019 (UTC)

@Jack Zagorski:  Done. --Ahecht (TALK
PAGE) 18:19, 12 December 2019 (UTC)

Extremely helpful, thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jack Zagorski (talk • contribs) 12:23, 13 December 2019 (UTC)

Week Zero

I Put in a reference can you fix the error for me please. 68.103.78.155 (talk) 16:47, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

 Done It was a simple typo. Wakari07 (talk) 16:57, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Just for explanation: Special:Diff/930160444. --CiaPan (talk) 17:16, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Changing links

I have been changing links from Portal:Contents to Wikipedia:Contents since that page was recently moved. I have been using the What links here button to determine what links still link to that page. Is there a tool I can use that can help me change links faster rather than do them manually? Would AutoWikiBrowser do the job? I previously applied for AWB rights but they got declined. Any help is appreciated. Please be sure to ping me in your reply. Interstellarity (talk) 17:52, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

​I don't think there's any need to update these links, WP:NOTBROKEN. Yes either AWB or JWB would do the job. If it were something that would need fixing you could always ask the folks at Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Tasks. – Thjarkur (talk) 18:56, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Þjarkur, Thank you. I asked at WP:AWB/Tasks to see if anyone is willing to do that. Interstellarity (talk) 19:10, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Evaluating the notability of an article where I can not read any of the sources

While looking through random articles, I came across San Michele, Cremona, which has a single source.. that I cannot read. I have a hunch that it is not notable, but am unable to check this. Where would I ask to get assistance? --MoonyTheDwarf (Braden N.) (talk) 18:04, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Moonythedwarf Leaving the issue of reviewing the source aside for a moment, more than one source is usually needed to support the notability of an article subject. Usually multiple sources are required. Regarding the one source, it is not required that sources be easy to access. If you doubt the source in some way, you can make that clear when debating the notability. You could also ask the editor that added it. 331dot (talk) 18:07, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

331dot, I am aware it is not required, I am querying where I can ask for assistance evaluating a source I cannot access. MoonyTheDwarf (Braden N.) (talk) 18:18, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Moonythedwarf, Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange/Resource Request may help. ~~ OxonAlex - talk 18:23, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Sources

Is it possible to use pdf's of newspaper articles as sources if the newspaper is unavailable online? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.174.134.2 (talk) 18:51, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Hello and welcome to the Teahouse. It is not required that a source be online or free to access, only that it be publicly available(private documents in private hands are not acceptable, for example). You don't even need to make a pdf available, just provide the appropriate citation information. Please see WP:CITE for more information. 331dot (talk) 19:00, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

[Edit Conflict] No, because pdfs are easily faked. Instead you should cite

the byline (author's name), if any,

the title of the article,

the name of the newspaper in italics,

its city of publication (if not included in name of newspaper),

the date of publication, and

the page number(s) of the article if known (this is optional),

by using the appropriate "cite news" citation template (which you will be able to find by reading through Wikipedia:Citing sources).

Cited sources do not have to be online (though this is more convenient for everybody), they only have to be possible to access, even if this means having to visit a specific library to consult an archived copy or a microfiche (for example) of the newspaper. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.209.178 (talk) 19:11, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Also note that pdfs of newspaper and magazine clippings after 1923 are generally going to be copyright violations. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:36, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Legal Process / Also question on edits.

Can tell me how to serve legal process? Also, please advise if everything documenting edits to Wikipedia pages is just what you see on the site itself, or is there some internal documentation that they have access to that the general user can’t see. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgtjdaniels (talk • contribs) 19:07, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Sgtjdaniels Hello and welcome to the Teahouse Help Desk. I'm not sure what you mean by 'serve legal process'; we cannot give you legal advice, you should consult a competent attorney in your jurisdiction for legal advice. If you are preparing to engage in a legal action involving Wikipedia in some way(such as against Wikipedia itself), you will need to be blocked from editing until your legal action is resolved. Please read WP:NLT for more information. 331dot (talk) 19:19, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

I'm in law enforcement and asking for the correct address or web address to serve a court subpoena for records from Wikipedia. Thank You. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgtjdaniels (talk • contribs) 20:32, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Sgtjdaniels Please see this page for information on how to contact the legal department of the Wikimedia Foundation. 331dot (talk) 20:47, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

MS Private School

Caroline Education Community International Public School Academy

Drexell Claytor, Authorized Signer

Source: [Mississippi Secretary of State] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.241.49.21 (talk) 21:31, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Your post is unclear. If you are suggesting changes to an article, you can start a discussion on that article's talk page. RudolfRed (talk) 21:47, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Strange error

Every time I go to edit a specific article, it displays an old version of it rather than the current one. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Excelsius (talk • contribs) 21:40, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Excelsius, Howdy hello! Thats probably because you have a link to the old article, or your browser is going to that old version because it saved the URL. The easiest way to get around that is to just search the article in the Wiki search bar, which should take you to the most recent version. Captain Eek ^{Edits Ho Cap'n!}⚓ 21:43, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

… Or click “Article” at the top of the page. —Tamfang (talk) 23:29, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error ref no input

Please add a reference to Non helical models of DNA structure, sub title Experimantal studies of circular DNA structure. Xu, YC. 2019 Evidence falsifying the double helix model. Symmetry, 11, 1445. doi:10.3390/sym11121445 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ycxu2019 (talk • contribs) 23:38, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

@Ycxu2019: please make suggestions for changes to the talk page of the affected article. Please include your citations there -Arch dude (talk) 00:32, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

Help! My name is Sue Redford.

I do not see "Save page" Can you help? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sue Redfprd (talk • contribs) 23:56, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

Sue Redfprd Hello. You should not post your personal information in this public forum, for your own security. You can fix the spelling of your username by making a username change request at either Special:GlobalRenameRequest or WP:CHUS. 331dot (talk) 23:59, 10 December 2019 (UTC)

I would add that "Publish changes" is equivalent to "Save changes". 331dot (talk) 00:00, 11 December 2019 (UTC)