Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2020 October 25

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October 25

Any templates or similar to set up reminders?

I've got an event on here that is to be addressed at a certain time in the future. Are there any useful templates/wikitext that can use the Alerts or Notices system to remind me to attend to said event when the time is right? —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 04:30, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

IMO not, though if you want to make it with wikitext, you have to make it on a page that you are certinly looking at. user scripts are a bit more powerfull, though I dont remember seeing anything like that on enwiki. Victor Schmidt (talk) 08:28, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Victor Schmidt, ah, that blows. Thanks for the answer. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 19:14, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

@Tenryuu: {{Update after}} will place the article in a child category of Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating and (optionally) a specified category after the specified date. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 20:40, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

AlanM1, thanks for the heads up. Alas, this is for personal use and not for articles in particular. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 22:11, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

@Tenryuu: Maybe put the following on your user page or some place you'll see it regularly: {{#ifexpr:{{#time:Ymd}}<20201231|before|after}}, which will display before "after" on/after 2020-12-31 and "before" before then. Come to think of it, maybe someone has some reminder code that could be run from your common.js, which could display a banner on any page you view. I'd suggest searching/asking at WP:VPT. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 00:59, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

Of course, the wikicode version only gets updated when the page cache is refreshed, so unless there's something to cause that (like an edit or manually purging the page cache), it is not a great solution. —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 03:52, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

Tenryuu, would User:SD0001/W-Ping be what you're looking for? —valereee (talk) 14:14, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

Valereee, this could work! I always peruse my watchlist so I should definitely see when I need to do things. Thanks so much! —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 16:31, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

Tenryuu, happy to help! :) —valereee (talk) 16:39, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

How does one edit …

the double-dagger footnote in the info box near the top of COVID-19 pandemic? It should say ‘Infections’ rather than ‘Suspected cases’. Humanengr (talk) 04:51, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

@Humanengr: This text is embedded in the code for {{Infobox outbreak}}, so could be changed there. However, that would affect not only the COVID-19 pandemic article but all articles using that infobox, so the change would need discussion first. It would be possible to change the template so that different articles could show different text at that point. -- John of Reading (talk) 09:00, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Self redirects in Template:Interlanguage link

How are we supposed to treat self redirects within the Interlanguage link template? For example, Minato Aqua is a redirect to Hololive Production, but the article contains {{ill|Minato Aqua|ja|湊あくあ}}, rendering as Minato Aqua instead of a red link. I don't see a way to surpress linking in the template documentation. Any ideas? ◢  Ganbaruby!  (Say hi!) 06:17, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Hi, Ganbaruby. Sounds like a feature request you could make at Template Talk:Interlanguage link. --ColinFine (talk) 11:55, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Can I filter recent changes by category?

Is it possible to filter list of recent changes by category? For example, let us say that some editor is active mainly in Category:Tennis. Then this user is more likely to be able to help with articles from that category - and it might be useful if they have access to recent changes to that particular category. --Kompik (talk) 10:14, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

The simple solution would be to use the related changes link on the left sidebar when viewing the category page. The more complex solution which shows changes to the articles and their talk pages would be to setup an article list, and monitor those pages by a scrolling window as per Wikipedia:Village_pump_(technical)/Archive_141#Recent_changes_for_WikiProjects. A number of Wikiprojects have such a page and a related window (eg. Wikipedia:WikiProject_Lighthouses#Recent_changes) ...Jokulhlaup (talk) 16:53, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Thanks I did not notice the related changes link until you pointed it out. That seems like a great solution. (And, of course, if there is a Wikiproject which has the article list as you described, that helps a lot, too.) --Kompik (talk) 17:05, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Disambiguation pages linking to other disambiguation pages

I'm trying to upgrade a disambiguation page (Karakul in particular), and it's linking to multiple other disambiguation pages in the disambiguation part. It doesn't really feel right to me, but I'm pretty new to Wikipedia, so I'm not really sure about whether that's something that should happen or not. --YellowSkarmory (talk) 12:39, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

It is allowed for disambiguation pages to link to other disambiguation pages when the meaning is to extend the disambiguation. For example, if there were several notable people with the surname Karakul, it would be allowed to link to Karakul (surname) from Karakul. But if there is some specific individual meaning of "Karakul" that you were trying to link to but accidentally linked to a disambiguation page instead, then that should be fixed. JIP | Talk 12:56, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Question about dots

Hey I was working on List of films based on actual events and noticed most lines don't end with a dot, but some do. Is there a standard for this and if so what is it? Aquatic Ambiance (talk) 13:08, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

I'm not aware of any policy, but other editors might know better. My own rule of thumb is that unless the line of text forms a complete sentence, no full point is necessary.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 15:18, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

@Aquatic Ambiance: Our top-level guidance is to use editorial judgement instead of creating detailed guidelines. However, many of the guidelines within WP:MOS emphasize that consistency within an article is desirable. So, please use your editorial judgement to pick one or the other and then make them consistent. -Arch dude (talk) 15:46, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

@Aquatic Ambiance: Those points are not sentences themselves, they are not parts of a sentence, either, so neither dots nor any other terminating punctuation marks are necessary. But I'm not a native English speaker, so my opinion shouldn't weigh much. --CiaPan (talk) 16:46, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

@Aquatic Ambiance: Some of the film descriptions on that page (e.g., those for Edison, the Man and 5 Fingers) are, in fact, complete sentences and should therefore have a period at the end. Most, however, are not. MOS:LISTFORMAT says, among other things, "Use the same grammatical form for all items in a list – avoid mixing sentences and sentence fragments as items," so I think the best course of action would be to reformat the list so that all items are sentence fragments (as nearly parallel as possible grammatically), without any punctuation at the end of each. The descriptions should also be changed so that either a capital or a lowercase letter is used at the beginning of each. Deor (talk) 17:12, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

@Aquatic Ambiance: Proper English grammar governs in the absence of specific guidance. Sentences are terminate by periods while clauses (like list items and photo captions) are not. If an entry in a list of non-sentences is a sentence because it is otherwise awkward, punctuate it as a sentence.

Thanks. A different question regarding the same article if that's ok: what titles should be used first with foreign films? The English title or the original, foreign title? For instance this film The Secret of Blood. Should it be placed as The Secret of Blood (Czech: Tajemství krve) or Tajemství krve (English: The Secret of Blood)? Thanks in advance Aquatic Ambiance (talk) 17:03, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

@Aquatic Ambiance: I think that, for consistency of reference, it would be best to list the title used for the linked Wikipedia article first—so "The Secret of Blood (Czech: Tajemství krve)". Usually, we use an English title for an article name if one is widely recognized, using the foreign-language title only if the film "has never been widely released in the English-speaking world". See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (films)#Foreign-language films. Deor (talk) 18:21, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

@Deor: Thanks. That's what I was already thinking. Will do. Aquatic Ambiance (talk) 20:23, 26 October 2020 (UTC)

Complaint

I am extremely annoyed that you deleted my page it was educational and informative. Please put it back up. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A00:23C4:222A:FD01:6C69:ECB:D04F:51C5 (talk) 15:17, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Please provide more detail, this thread is the only edit from the IP (anon account) used to post here. We cannot see what it is you need help with. Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 15:22, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

You may wish to read Wikipedia:Why was the page I created deleted?, Wikipedia:So your article has been nominated for deletion, and/or Wikipedia:What to do if your article gets tagged for speedy deletion. Seagull123 Φ 17:03, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

Previews

Hey how to enable previews as the link to enable preview is not working pl help — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2405:201:4015:8047:21D8:1381:6025:58F4 (talk) 16:08, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

If the link does not work, you probbably can only wipe your broswer's data for en.wikipedia.org to reset that. Victor Schmidt (talk) 16:27, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

External website

Wikipedia I have went to a website which I found on Wikipedia.... in the description on your website, you sent me to a website that's suppose to be a support forum... but when I got there asking for support, it's very clear that the website has been hijacked by a terrorist group of some sort, as nearly every member there starts cussing and belittling me, telling me I need to leave, all because I asked a support question.

Wikipedia can you remove this page or at least make sure people know that this website is not a safe website? You advertise it one way but when you get into the website, you get attacked because everything on your website giving info about this other website is WRONG as this comes off more like a terrorist group of sissies, rather than an enthusiast website.

mopedarmy is the page.

I will be continually contacting your team and your website until you change this, as you were the one that sent me there with bad info like it was a helpful group. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1004:B092:32B5:14F2:835A:1EA3:C274 (talk) 16:12, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

• Note: Moped Army is possibly the Wikipedia article concerned. There is an external link to the organisation's website. (Obviously Wikipedia is not responsible for its content). Eagleash (talk) 16:28, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

On a cursory inspection of the website and its forums, I can see nothing untoward. Could the OP please tell us which of the 5 forums he posted on, and what was the title and approximate date of his post? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.218.14.156 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 18:31, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

• Note: OP blocked after multiple posts of the same issue. Eagleash (talk) 12:25, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

Hunter biden laptop

Why isn't there any information about the Joe Biden/Hunter Biden/Biden Family corruption scandal available on your site???

Are you intentionally covering up active news stories??? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:8801:2F80:2071:C9D5:3365:A6BE:1868 (talk) 19:02, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

What are you talking about? See Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory. --Orange Mike | Talk 19:15, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

There's Biden–Ukraine conspiracy theory, but egad! It's missing from Donald Trump's lies. (Of course, if we tried to make a complete list, it might break the Interweb.) Clarityfiend (talk) 23:08, 25 October 2020 (UTC)

IP Conservapedia is always available so that you can remain blissfully ignorant. MarnetteD|Talk 23:14, 25 October 2020 (UTC)