Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2022 October 23

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October 23

Username correction

I would like to edit my name if possible without creating a whole new account I accidentally put Martinez right after the period after my middle initial for instance, Manuel A.Martinez Jr. I prefer it to be.... Manuel A. Martinez Jr.

                👆 Space 🙏  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Manuel A.Martinez Jr. (talk • contribs) 08:18, 23 October 2022 (UTC) 

You can find information on changing your username here. ■ ∃ Madeline ⇔ ∃ Part of me ; 08:19, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

I would like to add a self made illustration on tonicity in the danish version on osmosis

My biology professor says that my illustration is very good at illustrating tonicity, and a lot of my classmates says that the illustration gave them a deeper understanding... when I tried to add the picture on the page, it got refused instantly. How can i add the picture on the page? Is there someone i can contact? NiklasKJensen (talk) 10:25, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

@NiklasKJensen, edits at da-WP has to be discussed there, en-WP does not "rule" other language WP:s. You can try the talkpage of the da-article in question, the talkpage of the editor who reverted you (see the "Se historik" tab on that article), or perhaps Wikipedia:Landsbybrønden. Good luck! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 17:51, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

Your illustration needs to first be uploaded to WP:Wikimedia Commons, which is used as an image source in most cases. You will be asked to relinquish the rights to your image, permitting reuse by anyone for any purpose, even commercial. You may otherwise choose to upload the image to the article, especially if you wish to use a non-free license. See image uploading instructions at dk.wikipedia.org.--Quisqualis (talk) 20:13, 23 October 2022 (UTC)::NiklasKJensen, pinging.--Quisqualis (talk) 20:17, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

Trying to sign in to Wikipedia

I am trying to sign in to Wikipedia but I can't remember my username. Is there a way for me to find it? Thanks 2A00:23C1:CD80:F801:A535:4980:AF08:8C74 (talk) 10:48, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

If you remember articles you have edited, try examining their edit histories to see if you recognize your username. If you attached an email address to your account, you can recover your login information by using the password recovery feature. If these things do not help, you will need to create a new account and say on your new user page that you lost access to your old account. 331dot (talk) 10:59, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

There are a couple of other suggestions at Help:Logging in#What if I forget my username? -- John of Reading (talk) 11:00, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

How to get my article approved

I am creating an article about myself. I am on-air personality. How can I have it published? Would you recommend any Wiki specialist or company who can help me publish it. What documents do you need to verify me as well as main things you need from me. The explanation in wiki is very obscure 2603:301D:2508:8500:5D85:D02B:3FD2:DAD8 (talk) 19:59, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

2603:301D:2508:8500:5D85:D02B:3FD2:DAD8 , So-called specialist companies exist to take your money. They may place the article you want onto Wikpedia, where it may be speedily deleted. Meanwhile, you have paid them "for an article". If they again try to get the article on Wikipedia for you, another deletion will result. The basic criterion for a Wikipedia article (especially a biography) is WP:notability: that the article's subject has been written about in depth in published, WP:reliable sources which are not in any way connected to the subject. We require 2 or 3 such sources. If your article has dozens of sources which mention you in passing, that is a definite delete. Companies really have you over a barrel in this situation. You don't know where they are operating, they are usually unlicensed, and they exist solely to make money. So they tend to be less than honest. Avoid.--Quisqualis (talk) 20:37, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

We're not going to recommend any companies that edit Wikipedia to you as most of them are either scammers or banned from Wikipedia. We also don't "verify" anything - that's on the sources you're supposed to be citing - and take a dim view of writing about oneself. We're not social media. —Jéské Couriano v^_^v ^{a little blue Bori} 20:35, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

Hello. You find the explanation obscure because you have the (unfortunately very common) misunderstanding that Wikipedia has anything at all to do with promoting oneself or contributing to one's online presence. It does not. It is an encylopaedia, which consists of neutrally written articles which summarize what reliable independent sources say about a subject, not what the subject says or wants to say. If you meet Wikipedia's criteria for notability, then there could be an article about you: it would not belong to you, and would not necessarily say what you wanted it to say. ColinFine (talk) 08:36, 24 October 2022 (UTC)

Signed in, but cannot edit

Hi all - not sure what has happened here, but for at least the last 3 days I have been unable to edit here (or at Commons), even though I am signed in with my Hassocks5489 username, because the edit window shows "This IP address range has been globally blocked" and "This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia" messages. This is only affecting my home PC; I'm writing this message on my phone, which is connecting to my home internet connection via WiFi. I looked at the various help links on the templates but got lost. Is there anything I can/need to do at my end to fix this? I'm not at all savvy about internet-related stuff, so please keep the explanations simple! Grateful thanks for any help, Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 20:22, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia:IP block exemption is what you need, User:Hassocks5489. Someone using the same IP address may have misbehaved on Wikipedia. Follow the instructions to resume editing on your PC.--Quisqualis (talk) 20:42, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

Thanks Quisqualis; I've submitted a request via that link. Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 20:53, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

Well, the request was declined, but a combination of information provided by the admin and some Googling led me to my internet settings, where I found that open proxies were enabled (not sure how that happened!). I disabled that option, restarted and all seems normal again. How odd! Hassocks5489 (Floreat Hova!) 22:06, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

User:Hassocks5489, Wikipedia:Open proxies are fine for reading Wikipedia, but not allowed for editing, as abusive users will use them to obscure their IP address.--Quisqualis (talk) 01:07, 24 October 2022 (UTC)

Could I buy an ad?

Instead of contributing could I buy an ad on Wikipedia? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:6010:BB00:5AA:31A7:E25B:3601:638D (talk) 20:46, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

No. Wikipedia does not have paid advertising. RudolfRed (talk) 22:48, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

You could buy an ad on another website that accepts advertising encouraging people to donate to the Wikimedia Foundation, but keep in mind that the WMF is rolling in excess cash and has no convincing demonstrated need for more money in 2022. I suggest that you donate your money to people who are genuinely hurting instead. Cullen328 (talk) 05:58, 24 October 2022 (UTC)

Edit request

Hello.

How to request an edit on article? ad topic? i tried this but i can't find my edit request on talkpage.... I would be very thankful if anyone can help me.

Best regards. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Patrick Müller7519 (talk • contribs) 22:54, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

Patrick Müller7519 If you attempted to edit an article talk page, you were not successful- you must click "publish changes". 331dot (talk) 23:22, 23 October 2022 (UTC)

OP blocked as sockpuppet. -- Hoary (talk) 07:30, 24 October 2022 (UTC)