Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2019 February 19

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.

February 19

Question about the scope of Conflict of Interest (COI)

Two days ago, I was told I should not correct a recently added mistake I found on the California Highway Patrol page. I had posting my request for verification for several days with no response from the original poster or other editors. So, I deleted the inaccurate info. I was told I should not have edited the page because I had worked for the CHP 14 years ago. I was not basing my correction on my knowledge, but on direct contact with CHP HQ to see if things had changed in the 14 years since I left their employment. Basically, someone added incorrect information, without citing a source for the inaccurate information. There could never be any prove the added info was wrong because most organizations do not keep documentations on things they have not done. I was told that despite the material being added without citation (and being wrong based on statements from the CHP), I should not have attempted to revert the page back to its previous status because I once worked for the CHP.

So, here is my question. What level of previous and/or present contact or relationship with any organization/person/thing can I have before I should not edit anything about that organization/person/thing? I am a good researcher, and I have a very wide range of interests.

I am a citizen of an American Indian tribe. Does that mean I should not edit anything on American Indians, or just my tribe? My published work includes lots of information on many of the US and Canadian recognized tribes in North America. Does that preclude me from editing about all of them?

I helped to run computers at NASA's Johnson Space Center during Apollo and Skylab. Does that mean I should not edit anything about the American Space Program, just those missions, computers or some other subset?

While working in broadcasting and in theaters, I have worked with literally hundreds of entertainers of varying degrees of celebrity. You can see many of them in the 300+ photos I have put into public domain or other CC-rated licenses here at Wikipedia. Does this mean I cannot edit anything about any of them? What is the dividing line? Example, I worked as a stage manager for a one-night concert by the rock group Blue Oyster Cult in 1984. I have never encountered them again. Does COI mean I can never edit anything about them ever? Or, is there a limit to exposure or time basis for this call?

I have worked in many different professions during my 55+ years in the work force. Should I avoid any fields in which I once had a job?

I have traveled to 47 states in the USA, and much of Mexico. Does this mean I cannot edit about any place I have been?

I am not trying to be sarcastic. I am asking because I do not want to violate Wikipedia's rules.

Phil Konstantin Phil Konstantin (talk) 00:20, 19 February 2019 (UTC) (Philkon)

@Phil Konstantin: This verges on being out of scope for the help desk: we should probably direct you to WP:DISPUTE, or one of several other places. Briefly: There is a difference between interest and conflict of interest. Your degree of COI is a judgement call, which means editors may disagree. In general, I believe that the editor with the potential COI will generally have the best feeling for this. When there is a disagreement, treat this as you would a content dispute by trying to reach consensus on the talk page, and proceeding per WP:DISPUTE only if needed. Removing unsourced material is not a COI issue: any editor may remove unsourced material regardless of COI. -Arch dude (talk) 03:23, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Question about caption of image in infobox

Having just added a photo to an infobox (using Template:Infobox writer) in this article, I'm a bit puzzled by the use of the Caption parameter. I thought that it would override the caption at the bottom of the image, but instead it writes it at the side. I've had a look at WP:CAPTION but it doesn't cover this. Is this the way it's supposed to work? Laterthanyouthink (talk) 00:56, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

@Laterthanyouthink: Infobox parameters vary. Template:Infobox writer#Parameters says: "image Insert image name. Use only the file name such as abc.jpg, xyz.png, 123.gif, etc. Do not use syntax such as [[File:abc.jpg]] or [[File:abc.jpg|200px]]". PrimeHunter (talk) 01:15, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Oops! Thanks for pointing that out, PrimeHunter. It looks as if someone has kindly fixed it up for me. I'll check it out on the computer when I get back home. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 01:49, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Making text flow to the left of a panel

Dear expert helpers,

I want to have a panel (not an infobox) on the right of the page, which I have successfully coded but I haven't been able to get the body text of the article to flow around (to the left of) the panel.

Here it is:

How can I centre this heading?? Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque.

I'd also appreciate advice on how I can centre the heading. Cheers. SCHolar44 (talk) 01:18, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

How can I centre this heading?? Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque.

@SCHolar44: You have a lot of odd or obsolete code. "width:100%" tells your outer borderless table to use the whole width of the window so there is no place for text to flow around it. Maybe my code gives the look and functionality you want. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:58, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

It certainly does! Many thanks! (Funnily enough, I had suspected the "width:100%" and substituted a smaller value to test it. Nothing changed -- but I now suspect I had changed one version in my text editor but not the version that went to the article draft.) And yes, the code was odd and obsolete -- culled from some examples around the place. I have analysed your simplification carefully. Much appreciation for your expertise and time -- not for the first time! SCHolar44 (talk) 02:13, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Mater Christi College

I could not find the publisher for ref number 3 - Please assist if you can. Thanks Srbernadette (talk) 04:19, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

The absence of a publisher parameter is the least of the problems. What is more significant is that the "reference" does not support the text to which you applied it, and that yet again you fabricated the content of the "quote" parameter, despite the fact that you have been warned in the past. If you use the "quote" parameter, the words in the "quote" must appear verbatim in the reference; do you understand that? Is there any clearer way that someone can explain it to you? I have tagged the reference as having failed verification, and removed the fictitious part of the "quote". --David Biddulph (talk) 06:25, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Please help

I have now found decent references RE Mater Christi College - but I got it wrong for reference 1 and 6. Please help. I am always grateful and am doing my best. Thanks.175.32.70.221 (talk) 07:35, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

I've reverted your edit so that you can get it right next time. --David Biddulph (talk) 07:38, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

clean up

How do i post a clean up request for an editor — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mimel123 (talk • contribs) 16:24, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Mime1123What article and what sort of clean up? ~ ONUnicorn^{(Talk|Contribs)}problem solving 16:31, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

An index of template messages is here: Wikipedia:Template messages. --Cornellier (talk) 17:42, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Episode air dates

How do I include two air dates of an episode in an Episode sublist? --Ici22222 (talk) 17:37, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Ici22222 Template:Episode list/doc has a note at the bottom saying "{{Start date}} emits metadata as part of the parent template's hCalendar microformat. It is only needed once per episode, and may be harmful if used twice or more." So I think you should pick one of the dates to show as the "original air date" and add further information in a Note: Bhunacat10 (talk), 10:43, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

Adding a caption to a double stack

Click "show" to see the images referred to
Illustrations of "racial types" from Man, Past and Present (1899) by Augustus Henry Keane.

The article Negroid contains a double row of historic "racial portraits" that would really benefit from a common caption (for various obvious reasons). This has been implemented as two parallel stacks (using {{stack}}). Any caption applied to either stack will stay in that column only and also displace the other column sideways. Is there a way to affix a common caption to both - something like an independent caption object that can be assigned to a group? --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 18:13, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

I modified the figure to use only one stack template and added a caption. Ruslik_Zero 20:44, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

OK, so transforming it into a single stack does solve one issue; thanks. Doesn't quite do what I want yet though, because the caption doesn't wrap if it's wider. See illustration. Any ideas?

 Done Alright, sidestepped the issue by combining all images into a composite. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 16:06, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

Very odd glitch: edit I did not make

Several days ago, I was following the recent edits of an editor of interest (read: likely vandal) and came to the article 4D film. 3-D is bad enough, what was this? Satisfying my curiosity with the first paragraph, and a glance at the filmography chart, I noticed that one term needed a Wikilink, and provided it. On to the next vandal, or so I thought. Today, I see I have been reverted. Wondering how a Wikilink could cause offense, I checked out the diff.

Much to my wonder, some (apparently young, fanboy?) editor very "invested" in the topic had gone through the article from beginning to end in an effort to "improve" it: improving one ref's "http" with an "s", adding a lot of unsourced content (including Michael Jackson's date of death), linking obscure terms like "rain" and lightning", rewriting a paragraph, and configuring some wording to conform to their concept of "proper" English prose. Included in their edit is my linking of (The National WWII Museum)! And yet, I got all the credit...

I live alone. My keyboard is at a 45-degree angle for my comfort, and, as far as I know, Mister Kitty cannot spell "Pokémon". Is there any predecent for this bizarre occurrence?--Quisqualis (talk) 18:41, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

@Quisqualis: You edited an old version from 26 January 2016.[1] This happens if you click Edit while you are viewing an old version or diff. I have not heard of bugs which can cause it. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:52, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Ugh! Thank you for noticing my mistake. I try never to do that, but I did have food poisoning that evening...--Quisqualis (talk) 19:06, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

William Jackson, Secretary of Constitutional Convention

The picture at the top is wrong. That's Pierce Butler (or at least it's the same picture). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.70.14.16 (talk) 19:37, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

The pictures on William Jackson (secretary) and Pierce Butler are different. Which article are you talking about? --David Biddulph (talk) 19:59, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Creating a page for TROPOPHILIA

I've been trying to create a page about TROPOPHILIA (i.e., the love for change) but have failed over and over. Please help! This term was coined more than a decade ago but diffused through this book by Dr. Wandemberg: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078ZHSWWB — Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.125.244.244 (talk) 19:50, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Neither our sister project Wiktionary, nor the latest Oxford English Dictionary recognises the term, so I think it might be WP:Too soon. A neologism used in only one book is probably not WP:Notable. Dbfirs 20:46, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Link thumbnail

There's an article whose link won't show the corresponding thumbnails when shared or posted. Only text shows. It is the article called Casa chorizo, in the English version of Wikipedia. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 191.103.60.48 (talk) 20:27, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

It's unclear what you mean by "shared or posted". I guess you refer to a feature which sometimes shows a selected image from a linked Wikipedia page. Several such features use mw:Extension:PageImages. Per mw:Extension:PageImages#How does it select images?, only images in the lead (the part before the first section heading) can be selected as page image by this extension. Casa chorizo has no image in the lead so it has no page image. There are also features which do not use this extension and do show an image for Casa chorizo. I use Navigation popups in my Wikipedia account and see the first image when I hover over the article link. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:04, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

I think he's (she's?) referring to when you post a link on Twitter or Facebook and it sometimes shows a thumbnail, with a snippet of the article text. I just cleaned up the article and moved the images to the lede, and tried to post in Facebook but it doesn't seem to capture a thumbnail of the images. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 22:50, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

@Timtempleton: I don't think we should modify articles merely to accommodate the peculiarities of other websites. However, I agree that promoting the image up into the lede was an improvement for this article. This leads to the question: should WP:MOS state that we prefer that an article that has any images should have a image in the lede? -Arch dude (talk) 01:53, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

That sounds too strong if there is no representative image. For example, should the artist Daniel Arsham have a lead image of dancers on a set he designed? MOS:LEADIMAGE says: "It is common for an article's lead or infobox to carry a representative image—such as of a person or place, a book or album cover—to give readers visual confirmation that they've arrived at the right page." PrimeHunter (talk) 11:30, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

iCloud membership

How do I go about signing up for iCloud and paying for the membership. What does iTunes have to do with it? Is it possible to talk to a living breathing person? The system is telling me that I have an invalid logon which is my email address!! Please help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:B4A0:BD0:B543:7DB2:34E2:C486 (talk) 20:31, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

This help page is for asking questions about Wikipedia. You will need to contact Apple with your question, perhaps by starting at https://support.apple.com/ RudolfRed (talk) 20:46, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

how to get out of the sandbox

Folks,

I have created a page in the sandbox. I fail to see how I now get out of the sandbox to have my page placed on the net.

Thanks,

Carey Linde — Preceding unsigned comment added by Careylinde (talk • contribs) 23:07, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Hi Careylinde - welcome to Wikipedia. It appears you wrote a short draft on your user page. It's not in your sandbox. If this is just meant to be your user page, you're fine - it's visible. If you're trying to create a draft in your sandbox with the goal of eventually loading this as an article in mainspace, there are numerous issues, not the least of which is that you're not allowed to write about yourself, and the material you've written is unsourced. Several sources in independent third party media are required to demonstrate notability, a key requirement for inclusion on the encyclopedia. I recommend you read Wikipedia:Your first article. Here's info about drafting an article or practicing editing in your sandbox. Help:My sandbox Cheers! TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 23:17, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

And some more specific info about autobiographies. Wikipedia:Autobiography. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 18:25, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

Grammar question

In the lede of the article Aladdin, should "elevated" and "dīn" in "Excellent, Elevated of the Dīn" be capitalized? Musicfan122 (talk) 23:43, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

@Musicfan122: Probably not, but this is a question of editorial judgement, and you are an editor, just like the rest of us, so judge! As with all such, you may choose to just fix it and if someone disagrees, they can revert (see WP:BRD), or if you are unsure, raise the issue on the article's talk page and then wait a little for comments. -Arch dude (talk) 00:31, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

English is not my native language, that's why I asked. Musicfan122 (talk) 00:35, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

Probably a question for the article's talk page? My 2 cents: "Elevated" cap yes, because it's a title; "dīn" cap no, because it's a concept. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 00:36, 20 February 2019 (UTC)

Yeah I should've posted this on the talk page, thanks anyway! Musicfan122 (talk) 00:40, 20 February 2019 (UTC)