Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2024 November 9

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November 9

Formatting fixes to closed discussions

Checking if instructions like "The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it." on an archived talk page discussion (e.g. an RfC or FA review) include correcting formatting or indentation to make it more legible. – Closed Limelike Curves (talk) 00:44, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

I would say in 99.5% of the cases it should be left completely unmodified even for things that otherwise make sense such as formatting. Especially in the case you're talking about it can actually change how replies and responses were intended. Sometimes the actual discussion ends up with messy formatting, but people are also actively reading and responding within that context, not the modified one you might put forward even with good intentions. An example of where I just today did edit a "closed" discussion was to revert someone who replied today to a closed discussion -- of course that doesn't belong there because it was never part of the discussion. TiggerJay (talk) 00:57, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Got it, thanks! – Closed Limelike Curves (talk) 01:21, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

@Closed Limelike Curves: WP:IAR. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 14:24, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Quincy Jones

no mention of music legend's death on the main page - why? Weberchas (talk) 12:05, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

@Weberchas It has been nominated but there is concern about the quality of the article. Mike Turnbull (talk) 12:10, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you! Weberchas (talk) 14:32, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Talk:List of pholidotans

Discussion has stalled for 8 days, and it seems pretty evident that no comments are likely to come. I tried to request closure at Wikipedia:Closure requests but I have been ignored for some reason. I'm not sure why that's the case because the appropriate 7-day timeframe has passed, and it seems unnecessary to keep this inactive, non-contentious, and seemingly resolved discussion going. I'm not sure of what I should do, therefore I require some assistance with this situation. If you can close this discussion, please do. Wolverine X-eye ^{(talk to me)} 15:19, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

I don't agree with the characterisation of the CR thread as I have been ignored. I'm also not sure I'm seeing the seeming resolution. It looks like there are two proposed merge targets and an attempted redirect as well? I see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Mammals has already been notified. Someone at CR will implement a close eventually if the discussion remains inactive, so maybe patience is the best advice here.

What is your view on the consensus generated by this discussion? I'm genuinely not understanding, perhaps due to subject matter inexpertise. Folly Mox (talk) 18:05, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

(commented at list article talk --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 18:27, 9 November 2024 (UTC))

Quick reminder that WP:MERGECLOSE suggests that the length of discussion is "7 days or more", ten days isn't really a length of time to be worried about the close. Lee Vilenski ^{(talk • contribs)} 19:37, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

A link on the semi-protected redirects category page is inproperly spelled

The link for to the social deduction game Among Us is written as, "amogus" Hail~Fire 15:48, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

@Hailfire150394: The link in Category:Wikipedia semi-protected redirects is not written as "amogus" which goes to the top of Among Us. It's not possible to list piped links in categories. It says Amogus which redirects to the section Among Us#Memes and mods where "amogus" is mentioned, one of eight occurrences on the page (including references). There is nothing wrong. It even has an entry at wiktionary:amogus. Even it had actually been a misspelling which wasn't mentioned in the article, it would still be correct to list it in the category when the redirect is semi-protected. We have numerous redirects from misspellings, mainly to help searchers who make the same misspelling. Category:Redirects from misspellings has 56,000 redirects (many others aren't categorized), but not Amogus since it's intentionally written like that. PrimeHunter (talk) 16:39, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Oh I think I know where I got confused from. It's because of the fact it's a redirect. I was treating it as if it was the proper link to the page. Hail~Fire 00:58, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

Lyricists, Song Writers, Poets, Composers, Musicians, Musical Instrument Innovators

Not an issue for Help desk/Archives. Referred elsewhere.

Is there or why isn't there a Library in the USA dedicated to exclusively those men & women who have been and are ICONS in the Music Industry, regardless their National Origin, gender and regardless the music genre'? Is there such a Library in existence, now?, which I am not aware about? MyMarue (talk) 20:40, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Hi, this is the help desk for Wikipedia, it is for questions about how to use this website. We do take more general/random questions like this over at the reference desk and there are also other websites that have forums for discussions like this. Just Step Sideways ^{from this world ..... today} 21:28, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

ALL "redlinks" are blue - PLEASE help

• Courtesy link: discussion on 1 November is archived at Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2024 November 1#Red Links are All blue now. TSventon (talk) 22:12, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

I asked for help with this problem before and nobody even believed me. I need genuine technical help. ALL links that should be red on all of wikipedia are blue. Every single one of them, with no exception whatsoever. This has been going on for over a week and I have not seen one single red-colored link in that time, but I have wasted a lot of time clicking on blue links that gave me the this-page-does-not-exist error message. I am NOT talking about redirects. I am NOT talking about links that display a name different from the article they link to. I am talking about links which have the word "redlink" in their url when I mouseover them, and display this error message when I click on them: "Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for [Bitumenpicus minimus] in Wikipedia to check for alternative titles or spellings. You need to log in or create an account and be autoconfirmed to create new articles. Alternatively, you can use the article wizard to submit a draft for review, or request a new article. Search for "Bitumenpicus minimus" in existing articles. Look for pages within Wikipedia that link to this title. Other reasons this message may be displayed: If a page was recently created here, it may not be visible yet because of a delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes or try the purge function. Titles on Wikipedia are case sensitive except for the first character; please check alternative capitalizations and consider adding a redirect here to the correct title. If the page has been deleted, check the deletion log, and see Why was the page I created deleted?" Someone demanded that I list EVERY SINGLE link that looks like this to prove I wasn't lying. I compiled a very long list of links as examples, but I can't find the conversation now. Please, I need technical help, NOT people calling me a liar. This makes it extremely difficult to browse Wikipedia because I waste an enormous amount of time clicking on blue links that should be red. 98.240.217.220 (talk) 22:02, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Try quitting your browser and reopening it.

If that does not help, restart your device.

Whatever the outcome of each step, please come here afterwards and tell us. 🇺🇦 Fiddle^Timtrent Faddle^Talk to me 🇺🇦 22:09, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

IP editor I have posted a link to your previous query at the top of this section. Were you able to follow the (somewhat technical) advice provided? TSventon (talk) 22:18, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you very much for your the link, TSventon. I had been unable to reach the page at all after my last post there, so I didn't see any further replies. I have an older browser and the advice about reprogramming the CSS programming language is beyond my comprehension, unfortunately. I don't even know what CSS is. Is there a way for me to stop using "Vector 2022"? 98.240.217.220 (talk) 22:42, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

There are suggestions for turning off the new skin at Wikipedia:Vector 2022#Without an account. TSventon (talk) 22:49, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Oh wow that browser add-on fixed everything! Thank you TSventon! 2601:441:5000:13E0:7063:9715:54DE:9B3A (talk) 22:54, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

And simultaneously my IP address changed too (I was 98.240.217.220) 2601:441:5000:13E0:7063:9715:54DE:9B3A (talk) 22:56, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

I am happy to give most of the credit to the editors who did responded to the previous question. TSventon (talk) 23:43, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

You can also create an account (easy and free) and set the skin to Vector legacy (2010) at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering. Then you don't need a browser add-on. The blue links are a possible sign that you have an old browser which doesn't work with the way Vector 2022 makes red links. By the way, we only asked for one example. You then linked a page and said all links were blue there but we wanted a specific example to avoid possible misunderstandings. Then you posted many specific examples. We only needed one. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:57, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Hello

I'm new to Wikipedia. It's my first time reverting an IP address's edit for improperly or uncited material, and I want to know if I've done good. Please look at my last 3 edits apart from making this question. Size5football (talk) 22:10, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

I'm not seeing anything in your revert or your message on their talk page that is inappropriate. Welcome to the project. -Ad Orientem (talk) 22:58, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

@Ad Orientem Thank you very much. May I ask what project this is? Size5football (talk) 23:11, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia. It's commonly referred to as the project by regulars. -Ad Orientem (talk) 23:13, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Oh, thank you very much, @Ad Orientem. Have a good rest of your day. Size5football (talk) 23:14, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Refs, Sources, Citations

This was a bit long running question i had. I have seen sources and citations subsections under reference section. And sometimes references and sources in their own sections. like wise is there a hierarchy for these? like what comes under what section or is it random. (regarding references, citations, sources, notes, external links, see more, bibliography etc). is there a guideline concerning these? VihirLak007^hmu!/_duh. 23:49, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Looks like the Standard appendices and footers section of the Manual of Style addresses your question. FactOrOpinion (talk) 00:32, 10 November 2024 (UTC)