Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2020 October 16

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.

October 16

Regarding Staff and Contractors of Wikimedia

If a staff or a contractors get caught with vandalism and they get blocked, can they get fired too? SpinnerLaserzthe2nd (talk) 00:32, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Yes. -- Hoary (talk) 01:22, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Interwiki links

They were there yesterday, under the toolbar. Deb (talk) 07:35, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

I don't know. For me they appear both in the new vector version and timeless. Is there any particular page you think about and which skin are you using? Victor Schmidt mobil (talk) 07:49, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

(ec) Deb They were there on this Help desk on my browser just before I clicked edit. They don't appear while I am in editing mode. —teb728 t c 07:48, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

They never appear in edit mode, but now they aren't there at all - yet they are there in all other Wikipedias. Surely my profile should be the same in French wikipedia as it is in English wikipedia? I've changed nothing and I'm using Modern, but I can see that they are still there in the Timeless skin so I guess there must have been a change to that. Deb (talk) 12:47, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

I momentarily switched over to that skin to test it out and I can confirm that the interwiki links don't appear in the sidebar. It sounds like a WP:VPT or Phabricator issue. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 15:41, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

OK, thanks. Deb (talk) 17:20, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Create a page

How can we create a profile page for organization? — Preceding unsigned comment added by SteveDhoni (talk • contribs) 08:01, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

I'll assume that this is related to your creation, Draft:Selva (which may have been deleted by the time that you read this). We cannot. We do not write about our organizations. We use independent, reliable, published sources to write about organizations of which we are not members. And if the results still somehow resemble PR releases, they must either be radically rewritten or be deleted. -- Hoary (talk) 08:08, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

I can't create new articles.

I've just finished writing a biography and published it. But every time I visit the edit source section, I still get the same article. Can you help please, anyone? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Greenkates2 (talk • contribs) 09:47, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Greenkates2 Note that "Publish changes" does not mean "publish this to the encyclopedia"; it should be understood to simply mean "save changes". I have added the appropriate information to your draft to allow you to submit it for review; click the "submit your draft for review" button in the box at the top of your draft. 331dot (talk) 09:50, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

331dot Does it mean that I can't write any other article for that matter? Thanks.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Greenkates2 (talk • contribs)

Greenkates2 You can create other drafts by using by using Articles for Creation. You can also create additional subpages such as User:Greenkates2/sandbox 2. 331dot (talk) 10:00, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Thank you :331dot. Still learning the ropes. Greenkates2 (talk) 10:09, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

When will my page be approved ?

I made a page on a local school in my area in July but it has yet to be approved. Please help me out getting it approved. I don't what is wrong or why is it taking so long.

The link of the submitted draft is Draft:Solitaire Global Schools

Thanks Worker bide — Preceding unsigned comment added by Workerbide (talk • contribs) 13:46, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

@Workerbide: There are currently 3,737 unreviewed articles in the draftspace. You should receive a response quickly, but the wait times can be upwards of 2 months in some cases. I wish you luck in getting your article through :) NonsensicalSystem^(err0r?)_(.log) 13:59, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

@Nonsensicalsystem but it has been so long. I don't what to do. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Workerbide (talk • contribs) 14:02, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

One problem is that you never submitted your article for review. I will add a template. ‡ Єl Cid of Valencia ^talk 14:09, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

@Workerbide: I made some improvements but your draft has insufficient sources to demonstrate notability. It's unlikely to be approved without more sources of media coverage. See WP:GNG. (Please remember to sign your posts on talk pages by typing four keyboard tildes like this: ~~~~. Or, you can use the [ reply ] button, which automatically signs posts.) TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 18:37, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

I am pretty new to Wikipedia and that article was my first foray into Wikipedia. When I first made that article, I did submit it for review, don't know why it didn't reflect that. Anyway, I could use all the help to make more pages. I want to contribute to wiki. workerbide —Preceding undated comment added 19:35, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Hello, Workerbide, and thank you for wanting to contribute to Wikipedia. I understand the wish to create new articles - I remember feeling that myself, when I was a new editor. But we have more than six million articles, and thousands and thousands of them - maybe millions - are in desperately bad shape. I believe that if a new editor spent a few months improving existing articles rather than trying to create a new one straight away, in most cases they would be adding hundreds of times more value to Wikipedia than their attempt at a new article does. --ColinFine (talk) 19:54, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

@El cid, el campeador: There was an AFC template at the bottom of the article at Special:Permalink/971392930. Or was there something wrong with it? There are now two – one at the top and one at the bottom. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 01:04, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

Article Vote Alert - Question

So for merges/splits/deletion there are templates which create an alert for other editors to discuss. If a vote (Over topic in the article, not about the entire article) is taking place, is there a template to use to alert editors to that vote? Thanks for help in advance. Elijahandskip (talk) 16:26, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

@Elijahandskip: You can always add a page and its talk page to your watch list. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 18:10, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

It isn't for me. So for example, on Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory, there is a debate (edit wars) in the lead statement and other parts of the article. Currently a name change vote is taken place (Has a notice on the article about the vote) and there is a vote for the lead statement (Doesn't have a notice at the top of he article.) My question is about creating a notice for a vote like the lead statement type vote.Elijahandskip (talk) 18:19, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

The feedback request service notifies people who have subscribed, thus bringing in unconnected editors. And anyone with the talk page on their watch list can participate as well. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 21:21, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Signature changes

Hello, how do i change my signature thing, i saw someone which had it with colors for their username, and i want to change the color and possibly other stuff Gameking1happy (talk) 17:51, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Gameking1happy, see WP:CUSTOMSIG. Just be sure to follow the guidelines further down. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 17:53, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

New to Wiki

Can I get a page creation walk-through? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 148.77.75.154 (talk) 18:03, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Welcome. This is a great place to start Wikipedia:The Wikipedia Adventure. And Help:Your first article. And register for an account. TimTempleton ^{(talk) (cont)} 18:09, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

lathom..

lathom.. I made a change in that article, you said what i said wasn't constructive... you read it...in the article its says THANKS FOR NOTHING... i my edit I thanked the former owner for what he did putting thousands of pounds to make everybody happy with memorabilia etc.. the man had to close down the club, because he had lost heart basically. he lost at least 5 barstaff dying then. then the Top Hat was when his wife had a massive stroke and he was her carer. and had to give up the club.. you take down my praise and keep on someone giving him stick...

i am confined to a wheelchair and a drummer when i went they used to have to carry up steps to get me in.and I joked with Brian Corrigan can't we have a ramp..and i was shocked a week after when i came to the club he had constructed a concrete ramp with rails. a Real decent man.

take mine out and leave a disgusting comment in. NOW YOU DISGUST ME — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.96.108.133 (talk) 18:31, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

I undid the vandalism. I will message the editor to find out more details to why he undid your edits.Elijahandskip (talk) 18:37, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Hello, IP user. The comment that another IP user put in the article in August did not belong there, and indeed was a piece of vandalism. Unfortunately, your reply was also inappropriate to a Wikipedia article. I think that Materialscientist must have noticed that you had introduced inappropriate material and removed it, without noticing that the previous edit had also been inappropriate. (My guess is that Materialscientist was using a semi-automated tool: the battle against vandalism in Wikipedia is arduous, and people can't spend a lot of time on each case checking the rights and wrongs). Elijanandskip has now removed the offending sentence as well as your reply. I

I hope you understand how your edit, though well-meant, was also not acceptable in Wikipedia: Wikipedia takes a neutral stance: an article should never either praise or condemn anybody (unless it is quoting a reliable published source that praises or condemns). --ColinFine (talk) 20:23, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

English pound symbol

I am trying to use the English pound symbol in John_Johnson_(inventor)#Europe, however I don't believe I have it correct for the 7,000 pounds in the first paragraph. Can an Englishman correct for this American editor - thanks. --Doug Coldwell (talk) 21:24, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Doug Coldwell, done. Popcornfud (talk) 21:29, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Doug Coldwell, {{GBP|7,000|long=no}} will do it for you if you ever need it again: £7,000. YorkshireLad  ✿  ^(talk) 21:55, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

It's worth noting, per WP:CURRENCY that we don't need to link to common currencies, such as the dollar or pound, outside of articles specifically talking about currencies. But, it's probably not a big deal. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 22:09, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

References all changed (my first sandbox article)

Each reference was entered correctly, then all of a sudden the whole list converted to grey type that reads: This reference is designed in a template or other generated block, and for now can only be previewed in source mode. When I click on that (normally it is in visual) nothing happens. How can I see my references again? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cohosh (talk • contribs) 23:19, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Not being able to imagine what happened, I decided to take a look for myself. You (as "Cohosh") have never created anything in any sandbox, or anyway you have never saved ("published" the "changes" to) anything in any sandbox. Where is this? -- Hoary (talk) 23:28, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

You're right, I never hit "Publish" because I wasn't finished because of what I just described above! I had no idea what happened to change the text. I'll hit the publish button——I just would hate to have to type in all of those references again. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cohosh (talk • contribs) 00:10, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

Cohosh, just remember that in this context "publish" doesn't mean "announce to Google, Bing, Duckduckgo and thereby to the world"; it just means "save so that you and others can look at it". And learning from mistakes, even ghastly ones, is what sandboxes are for. Incidentally, when you write a comment here or on another talk page, please end it with four consecutive tildes ("~"): this will add your username and the time. -- Hoary (talk) 01:06, 17 October 2020 (UTC)