Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2022 January 5

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January 5

Dashes in US legal documents

In Emergency Use Authorization#History of legal authority for EUAs there are two types of dashes for US laws. Is that correct? Does the use of different dashes indicate different meanings? Or what is the correct dash to use? Juandev (talk) 08:51, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

@Juandev: Dash rules are complicated. Laws are not mentioned at MOS:DASH and dashes are not mentioned at MOS:LEGAL. I have a rule of thumb that if others have bothered to make en dashes instead of the simpler hyphens then en dashes are probably appropriate. Act of Congress#Public law, private law, designation also uses en dash so go with that. The hyphens at Emergency Use Authorization#History of legal authority for EUAs are in the source text while the en dashes are part of template output, another sign that en dashes are probably considered best. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:08, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

@PrimeHunter: I see. thx. Juandev (talk) 09:33, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

How to request a page be locked

I’m having a problem with a minor edit war on this article, Flitwick Manor. I removed some “Reputed haunting” material that was sourced only to IMDb, a site specifically deemed unacceptable as user-generated, here, Wikipedia:Reliable sources. The material has been repeatedly reinstated by three IP addresses, which are probably linked. The IPs are User talk:213.205.242.109, User talk: 213.205.242.185 and User talk:109.249.181.18. It’s worth noting that two of these IP addresses have previously received vandalism warnings. I have clearly explained that the material can go back in if it is referenced to a Reliable source. How do I go about getting Page Protection? I appreciate that this isn’t desirable, but I can’t see another way of getting the IPs to comply with our policies. I think only semi-protection would be required. Many thanks, KJP1 (talk) 09:21, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

@KJP1, WP:Requests for page protection is the place to ask. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:46, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

I've semi'd for a month. IMDB is not a reliable source. Mjroots (talk) 11:35, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Much appreciated. If the problem persists, I’ll head to Requests for PP. KJP1 (talk) 11:49, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Getting notice of Requests for Administratorship

I would be interested to hear about RfAs that come up from time to time, so I can vote or comment on them if I wish. Is there somewhere I can register to get that notice, or something I can put on my Watchlist that will let me know when an RfA comes up?--Gronk Oz (talk) 09:47, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

I get a Wikipedia wide message at the top of my Recent Changes list when a new RFA is started. I think that is something that must be enabled in your account preferences, under Banners. 331dot (talk) 10:11, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Many users transclude {{RFX report}} on their user or talk page but it doesn't send a notification and it isn't edited when an RfA starts. Wikipedia:Requests for adminship is edited (example) but also has other edits. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:23, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

You should get a site wide notice, but there is a delay from it being opened to it showing up. You could also watchlist Wikipedia:Requests for adminship, or transclude the report as above. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 11:03, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Thanks everybody - I have added the {{RFX report}} to my user page.--Gronk Oz (talk) 11:36, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Old history for over 500 changes to an entry

Hi,

Shapira Scroll, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapira_Scroll now has over 500 changes to it going back to 2018.

How do I find the history of previous changes so I can determine when a detail was first made? I know the detail was added sometime before March 4 2018, but by how much, I don't know

regards, Matthew Sydney, Australia 175.37.159.50 (talk) 11:59, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

You can install the Who Wrote Tool mw:Who Wrote That? or try wikiblame: http://wikipedia.ramselehof.de/wikiblame.php Vexations (talk) 12:28, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

WikiBlame is accessible via the "Find addition/removal" link from each page's history. --David Biddulph (talk) 09:38, 6 January 2022 (UTC)

There should be a button lower down on the history tab that says {newer 500 | older 500). The older 500 button will take you back to the 500 revisions before. Skarmory (talk • contribs) 09:22, 6 January 2022 (UTC)

Hello Matthew from Sydney. What I do is to click on the 500 button. It will look like this in the address bar:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shapira_Scroll&offset=&limit=500&action=history

Then I go to the address bar and put a 1 in front of the 500 so it reads 1500. The result will look like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Shapira_Scroll&offset=&limit=1500&action=history. That may give you enough past revisions. If not, play around with other numerals greater than 1500. Kind regards, Hu Nhu (talk) 03:35, 7 January 2022 (UTC)

Hello Wikipedia!

I just wanted to say, making a article is very hard or easy? --12Moon ligh12 (talk) 12:17, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Hello 12Moon ligh12 Some people find it easy, but most editors will tell you that of all the things you can do on Wikipedia, writing a new article from scratch is one of the hardest things. You might want start with something easier and try some of the tasks at Special:Homepage, where you can select Easy Edits. Vexations (talk) 12:25, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

@12Moon ligh12 If the topic you are thinking of meets the demands at WP:GNG, it is doable, otherwise what you write will be deleted sooner or later. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 13:46, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

@12Moon ligh12: If you want to create an article, along with the above I also suggest checking out WP:YFA which has advise for writing your very first article. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 18:49, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

@12Moon ligh12: Writing a new article from scratch - which entails finding and assessing sources, wordsmithing several paragraphs of text to sound neutral, etc. - is the hardest thing an editor can do. If a user has a finger in that particular subject's pie this difficulty is amplified because users in such situations have a skewed view of what is neutral. —A little blue Bori v^_^v ^{Jéské Couriano} 16:08, 6 January 2022 (UTC)

Application for employments

Application for employment security department — Preceding unsigned comment added by 105.112.58.122 (talk) 12:41, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

This is not a general question asking forum. 331dot (talk) 13:45, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Hi there! See https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/jobs/ - hope this helps! GoingBatty (talk) 16:29, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Which one is a better source?

Hello, I am trying to figure out which one of the following sources is more appropriate for Wikipedia. They both seem reliable but would this be considered secondary and this primary ? Which one would you use ? Thanks--Submarine00 (talk) 13:37, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Yes. Pretty much what you said. Assuming both are from reliable places, we generally care a lot more about secondary sources where companies say about a subject, rather than what they say about themselves. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 13:41, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

@ Lee Vilenski thanks for your reply. But what if the information needed in the source is not the company of the primary source but rather another subject mentioned in the articles? Would then be important to evaluate also the type of coverage(i.e in depth)?Submarine00 (talk) 14:03, 5 January 2022 (UTC)

Primary sources can be used to explain details about a subject. However, we prefer that information comes from places not tied to that subject. Best Wishes, Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 14:11, 5 January 2022 (UTC)