Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2023 February 7

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February 7

How do I edit an album title?

Hello, I edited an album name in an article, and a few moments later, it got rejected because of Manual Of Style. I'm confused by it. The album's title is fully capitalized. Here at this article, I wanted to edit the "Heroes and villains" section to be "HEROES & VILLAINS" because that's what the album's title is on Apple Music, and Spotify. WhatDoesOneChoose (talk) 00:43, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

I have already replied to you on this issue on your Talk page, but in case you didn't read it, I'll post it here: we do not stylize album titles in all caps as per MOS:CAPS. Jalen Folf (talk) 00:44, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Alright, thanks, I just wanted some more info. Thanks for keeping Wikipedia a source for everyone! WhatDoesOneChoose (talk) 00:48, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

All caps is a way to get attention. It's annoying to read. Wikipedia is made for the readers, not the article subjects. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:03, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Search Box AccessKey [f] not working with new skin in Firefox

Hi, with Windows FireFox 52.9.0 using the new Vector 2022 skin, the Alt-Shift-f shortcut to go to the search box doesn't appear to work? Visiting a page with the old skin (?useskin=vector) works fine. Am I missing something? Thanks. 5.65.109.196 (talk) 03:38, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

I tested it in an incognito mode window with the newest version of Firefox (109.0.1) and it works just fine. Tbh Firefox 52 is ancient and probbably no longer secure. Perhaps upgrading would be in order. Victor Schmidt (talk) 08:38, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Hi Victor, Thanks for taking the time to test this. Unfortunately, 52 ESR is the last version supported by the operating system (Vista) which is the last OS that can be supported by the underlying hardware (non-UEFI) which can't be changed. Personally I think it's a shame when developers are dismissive of software less than six years old as not being worthy of factoring for. I suppose I'll have to make a fix myself. Do you know if Wiki would be amenable to incorporating such a fix, if provided, or is V22 now "closed"? Thanks. 5.65.109.196 (talk) 16:37, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Tbh I do not have a definitive idea on wether the developers will implement a fix, but considering mw:Compatibility#Browsers it seems unlikely. I can't tell wether Firefox 52 would pass the JavaScript test for Grade B, but even then implementing a fix might or might not be tedious, because one would have to manually add keydown event handlers on at least every input element and the body. Victor Schmidt (talk) 20:20, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Hi @Victor Schmidt, Sorry for the delay. Yeah I see what you mean, and agree that would be unacceptably clunky as a solution. Having said that, there's good provision for browsing without JavaScript; indeed the previous skin's AccessKey worked without JS. There's even mention in CSS for User Agents such as e.g. MSIE 10. Recall IE11 dropped that UA in favour of Gecko imitation, and 11 came out in October 2013, so this suggests intended support for browsers at least twice as old as FF52. For this reason it would seem such support is intended. I've just had a look at how they're doing it. There's clearly been a great deal of thought put into compatibility here. It looks like the problem comes from duplicate use of the f AccessKey in two different places: the p-search div, and the searchInput form input, to cater for the two input methods. As it happens, FF can handle duplicates, with the caret moving between them, but a styles call to w/load.php? yields display:none for screen widths ≥1000px against p-search. When there are duplicate AKs and the "first" is hidden FF52 doesn't honour the key. Curiously, if any but the first is hidden the AK cycle works; if there is only one AK (hidden or not), the AK works; if all are visible, they all work. So, some possible solutions include:

• De-duplicating the AKs, with different keys for each — obviously unacceptable.

• Not hiding the p-search div — a fundamental UI feature of V22, so unacceptable.

• Simply moving the /wiki/Special:Search anchor after the form, which works and wouldn't even require CSS changes (because it renders OK in small screens, and isn't displayed in larger ones). Unfortunately I see this causes other problems for some other browsers, such as an older version of Opera, and it's invalid to rank one above the other.

• Dynamically applying the AK during load as a postfix, contingent on JS support. After all, as far as search goes, the situation is:

	Legacy Search	Modern Search
JavaScript	Supported	Supported
No JavaScript	Supported	Not Supported

and with these permutations, if you want the new search, you need JS anyway, for instance to support the query calls to /w/api.php?action=query, therefore it would seem safe to assume "modern" browsers using the latest search support will support JS. We already know this sort of code is in use for things like fix-ups for browser-specific ToolTips e.g. [f]->[Alt+Shift+f], applied during load to suit, as found in updateTooltipAccessKeysvia getAccessKeyModifiers. Therefore it wouldn't seem unreasonable to apply the f AK to the p-search div around the same time, allowing for automatic fallback.

Obviously such a change needs full regression. I'm afraid I don't have a test bed for all historic browsers and all the complexity therein, but I'd expect Wiki devs are set up for this. If they're serious about broad support (all indications being that they are) then I think this might be worth proffering. What do you think?

5.65.109.196 (talk) 21:22, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

"For this reason it would seem such support is intended." No. it just takes very long to get rid of old crap. —TheDJ (talk • contribs) 21:26, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

HaHa, I can see you're not keen! IE-Mode through Edge has been pledged until 2029 at least, so it will be a long wait for that one, like you say. What do you think of the odds of getting a commit here? (Thanks for your work on VLC btw.) 5.65.109.196 (talk) 22:31, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

Original research forbidden on Wikipedia

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

Unlike Wikivoyage that allows this, why did Wikipedia forbid original research on these articles? Why are reliable sources required when adding content to this article? What is the purpose of forbidding original tease research on any article? Any reason? How? Give me some examples about this topic. This is my question. —2600:1010:B12F:8241:4023:8412:3E31:EDA7 (talk) 08:50, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Wikipedia is a place to summarize what independent reliable sources say about a topic. It is not a place for people to post their own conclusions about a topic, even if part of scientific research. We can have independent sources that discuss original research, such as part of a peer reviewed journal, or a news report about the findings of research, but not the research itself. Wikivoyage has a different purpose than Wikipedia. Original research is also allowed at Wikisource. 331dot (talk) 09:24, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

For every subject, there are a few editors who are competent enough to do that in a way that will result in reliable articles, but there is no way to check who they are without massive bureaucracy. --Hob Gadling (talk) 10:04, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

How to make an article

how do you make a article? 2077f (talk) 13:13, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

There are links in the welcome message on your user talk page, including to the advice at WP:Your first article. --David Biddulph (talk) 13:38, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Blocked?

Hi, My username is brett.lindenbach and I have some unique expertise that I'd like to share by helping to edit Wikipedia's content on these topics. However, when I tried to make an edit on my iPhone, I was told that my IP address was blocked. I do not know the reason for this, and I'd like to find out and hopefully rectify the situation. When I log in, I do not find any information about why I was blocked. Please advise. Thanks, Brett Brett.lindenbach (talk) 14:21, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

@Brett.lindenbach: We cannot give details without knowing the IP address. An IP address can be shared between many people in different places, it can change frequently on the same Internet connection, and many blocks are for a whole IP range. See Wikipedia:Appealing a block and Wikipedia:IP block exemption for some general information. Your account is not blocked. Is it OK if you just have to log in to edit? The login form has an option "Keep me logged in (for up to one year)". PrimeHunter (talk) 14:51, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Retaining Existing Styles?

I'm having a bit of a one-sided dispute I'm having over the MOS on Leonidas I. There is an IP editor who keeps changing the date format from "BC" to "BCE". Should this be reverted due to MOS:VAR? Explodicator7331 (talk) 14:36, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

@Explodicator7331 WP:BCE gives advice about what to do, which is to raise the issue on the Talk Page if there is a good reason to change the established style in a given article. Mike Turnbull (talk) 15:07, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Help removing my name

Hi,

My name was associated with Akbaruddin Owaisi and a company that I own. I have removed it and I am not comfortable having my details in the view/ edit history. Please can I have help having this removed. This relates to the charity Habeeb-e-Millat Trust. Syedmustafahussaini (talk) 15:12, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Syedmustafahussaini Please contact an oversighter, see WP:OVERSIGHT. 331dot (talk) 15:27, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Syedmustafahussaini, your edit makes sense: it is absolutely unrelated information.

However, I am not persuaded that the page history should be purged as well. 331dot pointed you to requests for oversight, but WP:OSPOL has a strict list of criteria. The closest would be "Removal of non-public personal information", but the information you removed is sourced to a UK government website, so it is public.

Wikipedia allows some small amount of control to article subjects (for instance, requests to remove the date of birth would usually be obeyed even if it is entirely legal and within-policy to keep it). However, that mostly applies to the reader-facing version, not to the page history, which we try to keep as legible as possible for everyone.

Feel free to request oversight, but I would not be surprised if it was declined. Tigraan^{Click here for my talk page ("private" contact)} 12:09, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

can I put the link to my website on the sandbox page?

I put the link to my website on a talk page where it did not belong, and got a notice from @Moops so I came here about the sandbox page. 47.203.176.217 (talk) 17:25, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Self promotion is not allowed. TY — Moops ^⋠T⋡ 17:29, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

See WP:WWIN — Moops ^⋠T⋡ 17:29, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

oh, a reply to the question from the same person that inspired me to ask the question, hi @Moops! Nice user2 (talk) 23:58, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Hi Nice user2, please consider what Wikipedia is (an encyclopedia) and keeping the conversation pertinent to only subject matter that will best aid the building of this shared project. TY — Moops ^⋠T⋡ 00:22, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

This was an old question and I have been meaning to remove it, but thanks for answering.😊 Nice user2 (talk) 16:42, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

IP user: if you create an account, you may use its user page to give some indication of what your interests are and what sort of editing you will do. That summary may include a link to a personal website (see WP:UP) provided it is not used for promotion/advertising. Mike Turnbull (talk) 18:17, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Where to Report Being Attacked

Someone keeps attacking me here and using an outdated ethnocentric term, even though I've said it is offensive. I get it. This person refuses to let me edit an article. He or she disagrees. Fine. etc. But surely this person could be told to leave me alone instead of continuing to war against me. Where specifically should I report this? CinemaScholar (talk) 23:24, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Already asked and answered at the Teahouse. 199.208.172.35 (talk) 23:32, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

That answer merely sent me to a page with many links. I would like to please have someone answer my question. CinemaScholar (talk) 00:22, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

Go to WP:ANI. Read the blue section near the top of the page labeled "Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents", follow the directions contained within. After making your post, drop the ANI notice at the reportees talk page, as detailed at the end of those instructions. Heiro 00:32, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

@CinemaScholar To repeat what was told to you at the Teahouse, going to Wikipedia:ANI will not be worth any time if the only thing you seek to gain is sympathy. The user you accuse must have actually violated one of Wikipedia's policies. As I said, if they haven't done that, it is a waste of time. Club On a Sub 20 (talk) 16:26, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

A question about barnstars.

How do I add a barnstar on my homepage like on the homepage of @Moops ?Nice user2 (talk) 23:53, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

@Nice user2: If you look at WP:BARNSTAR it has the code to use for each barnstar. Edit your page and add the code for the barnstar you want. Normally, other editors would give you barnstars, but you give them to yourself if you want to. RudolfRed (talk) 00:40, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

This was not exactly my goal but still helpful to my goal,thank you. Nice user2 (talk) 16:43, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

I figured it out!I have to go to my talk page, go to edit source, copy the barnstar code, and paste it on my main page like I did here.----->{| style="background-color: #fdffe7; border: 1px solid #fceb92;"

|rowspan="2" style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 5px;" |

|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 3px 3px 0 3px; height: 1.5em;" | The Brilliant Idea Barnstar

|-

|style="vertical-align: middle; padding: 3px;" | There we go! Thanks for fixing your user page! Tails Wx 23:17, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

|} Nice user2 (talk) 16:50, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

Oookaay, didn't exactly work like on my main page, but you probably get the point. Nice user2 (talk) 16:52, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

@Nice user2: I believe the colons you used for indenting here broke the table syntax. GoingBatty (talk) 17:28, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

Ok,well it worked where I intended it to. Nice user2 (talk) 18:13, 8 February 2023 (UTC)