Help desk
< February 27	<< Jan \| February \| Mar >>	March 1 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Help Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current Help Desk pages.

February 28

Help:Cite errors/Cite error references no text

This text does not give me a citation error:

<ref name="RAG" group="Heritage Gardens in Australia">
{{cite book|last1=Baldwin|first1=Myles|last2=Griffiths|first2=Simon|title=Rural Australian Gardens|date=2010|publisher=Murdoch Books|location=Crows Nest, Sydney|isbn=9781741964707|pages=287|edition=1|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4831506|accessdate=24 December 2016}}
</ref>

This text gives me an undefined error problem and I do not understand why? Is it about the need to use quotation marks, (which the citation app does not use.)

<ref group=Secret name="Secret Landscape">
{{cite web|last1=Chapman|first1=Karen|title=Landscape Design: A Secret Garden|url=http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/16335162/list/landscape-design-a-secret-garden|website=Houzz|accessdate=26 February 2017}}</ref>

— Preceding unsigned comment added by ruwoltj (talk • contribs)

I made a sandbox with your citations, and it worked fine, but I have a feeling "group" doesn't do what you think it does. Be sure to "edit" the source of the sandbox and see how I did it. Try not to save any changes you make, but don't worry too much. It's only a sandbox. Jc3s5h (talk) 23:34, 27 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Translating a page

Sorry, I couldn't find my answer in the FAQ or in the help desk archives.

I want to take a Wikipedia article that exists only on the German-language Wikipedia and make a version of it on the English-language Wikipedia. I have consulted all the Wikipedia instruction I can find on translating articles, but I don't understand it at all. It all seems to presume that I have already made the English-language target article/page, or that I already know how to do that.

Bottom line: I don't understand how start a new page/article. If I can establish the new page, then I can paste in my Wiki-formatted translation and do all the necessary linking with the original German article. Thanks. Mr.Slade (talk) 01:01, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Mr.Slade: You can search the wanted page name. If it doesn't exist then you should get an option to create it. See more at Wikipedia:How to create a page. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:19, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

An alternative suggestion to PrimeHunter's, Mr.Slade, is to go through the Articles for creation process, to produce a draft and have it reviewed. The reason I suggest this is that different language Wikipedias don't all have the same standards. If you're confident that the German article is of a quality (and specifically, has references of a quality) that will be immediately acceptable in enwiki, then by all means create the page directly as PrimeHunter suggests. But if there is any doubt, or if you are unsure what standard of notability and referencing is required in enwiki, I would advise creating it as a draft. --ColinFine (talk) 11:21, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Getting assessments for articles in WikiProject Books

Hello, I've tried to get several articles on books reassessed by WikiProject Books, following the procedure given here, but without success. There are now five requests for articles to be reassessed, and no indication of how long it will be before this happens. I placed the oldest request (for the article on The Evolution of Human Sexuality) some three months ago. How can I resolve this situation? FreeKnowledgeCreator (talk) 09:57, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

FreeKnowledgeCreator if you're getting no response from the books project, try Wikipedia:WikiProject Sexology and sexuality or WP:WikiProject Anthropology instead, and similarly with other book articles, go to the WikiProjects that relate to the subject of the book. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 15:17, 3 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Note however that an article may have different assessments in different WikiProject tags. Editors often only change the assessment for a WikiProject they are active in. And I think many WikiProjects don't have a similar procedure to request assessments. They may be annoyed if it's requested on the main talk page for the project. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:47, 3 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you to both of those who replied. I did, in one case, request an article assessment on the wrong page of a WikiProject, and although it was ignored, I saw no evidence that anyone was annoyed. FreeKnowledgeCreator (talk) 19:18, 3 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

What to do with dead links ?

I saw dead links in a couple of posts. Some of them are from prominent sites, others are either from a removed page of an active site or dead site. How can I deal with such links ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Manoj Online (talk • contribs) 06:58, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Manoj Online: There's lots of advice on this at Wikipedia:Link rot. I see that you've removed {{citation needed}} tags from several articles; please only do this if you can add a citation. It's important that readers can check where information is coming from. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:35, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

testing

suppose my product release date on tomorrow and i want to test whole product today but in that product one case is there one fuction have some protection ane it could take 7 days in that case how to test product in one day — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nehapj (talk • contribs) 09:37, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I suspect, based on your question, that you found one of our over 5.3 million articles and thought we were affiliated in some way with that subject. Please note that you are at Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and this page is for asking questions related to using or contributing to Wikipedia itself. Thus, we have no special knowledge about the subject of your question. You can, however, search our vast catalogue of articles by typing a subject into the search field on the upper right side of your screen. If you cannot find what you are looking for, we have a reference desk, divided into various subject areas, where asking knowledge questions is welcome. Best of luck. Excirial ^{(Contact me,Contribs)} 09:48, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Willie Bath

Hi, I have a page created with my name, I know not who by, it is contained in the Rough Diamond album page, my name highlights in red because there is no content, the other members of the band are highlighted in blue, because they have content. My simple question is how do I add content to a page created not by me, with my name. It is totally legit, I was in the band, and others too, referenced on Wikipedia, but the page is empty, I would like to have content added. How??

thank you

Will — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.107.120.105 (talk) 12:45, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Will. As you say, your name is a red link in the article Rough Diamond (album), indicating that nobody has written an article about you; whereas we do have articles about some of the other people. Having said that, at present neither of the articles David Byron and Clem Clempson currently meets our standards for referencing of articles about living people, and it is possible that one or other of them should be deleted.

With regard to an article about you, there are two separate issues. The first one is whether you meet Wikipedia's criteria for notability: this is not about fame or importance or popularity, but simply whether enough has been published about you in reliable sources completely indpendent of you to base an article on (Wikipedia has almost no interest in what anybody or any organisation say or have said about themselves: it is only interested in what people unconnected with them have published about them). If no such material exists, then I'm afraid that, like most of us, you are not currently notable, and the red link should probably be removed (turned into unlinked text).

If such sources exist, the next question is who can write an article based on them. Autobiography is strongly discouraged in Wikipedia, because it is so difficult to write in a neutral way about yourself. What you could do, if you have found enough independent sources about you (I cannot stress the independence too strongly: the source needs to have nothing to do with you, your bands, your friends, your associates), then you could post a request for an article at Requested articles. There is a big backlog there, and articles are written by volunteers; but if you find and mention some solid high quality sources, that probably improves the odds of somebody picking your case up. --ColinFine (talk) 14:54, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Colin, many thanks for your response, although it is quite negative. I should point out firstly that David Byron is deceased and today is the anniversary of his death in 1985. There is plenty written about myself and the other members, I appear in books etc, but it begs the question, who wrote the article and why? It references me on another page for another band which of course links back to the empty content, not sure where to go with this I am getting no younger, but it does appear slightly typical of Wikipedia that the info is either out of date or incorrect, I know it is a herculean task taken by you all, but I would rather not be mentioned at all than have half or no story, so rather than change my name from red to black, I would prefer it removed altogetheThanks Will — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.107.120.105 (talk) 15:33, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Will, if you click on the Rough Diamond (album)'s "View history" tab at top right, you will be able to see that there have been dozens of contributors to the article since it was instigated on 25 July 2006 by an editor with the user name Uriahheep, who is no longer active.

Dropping your name is not an option we would find acceptable, since it would falsify by omission the facts about the band and we are, after all, an encyclopedia. My guess would be that an article about you based on published sources (and also one about Damon Butcher, who is also redlinked) would be perfectly do-able for someone willing to undertake it. If they did, I'm sure you would be able to advise them of many useful published Reliable Sources of information.

Please understand that a redlink is not in any way detrimental: it just shows that we think there should be an article about you, but no-one has gotten around to writing it yet. As you say, compiling and maintaining Wikipedia is a herculean task, and we have a maxim that Wikipedia has no deadline. We regularly add articles about historical figures long dead.

Later this week, I intend to add your name and that of Damon Butcher to the (large) list of Requested Articles so that someone with, hopefully, more experience of researching and writing articles about musicians might be prompted to start on yours. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.12.75.147 (talk) 16:49, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Fernando Suarez

Please read Fernando Suarez and tell me he did not write that article himself. --Bergamoty Hatio (talk) 13:05, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Bergamoty Hatio, I've cleaned it up. I think he is probably notable, and there is at least an attempt at balance, but feel free to tag or edit as you see fit. Jimfbleak - talk to me? 14:36, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

2017–18 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Article

Can You Put the Article Into The Draft Space please. 68.102.39.189 (talk) 19:03, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

...why? TimothyJosephWood 20:18, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Is it possible to change the name of a page?

I am trying to change the name of the page from "The Outskirts" to "The Outcasts", the title of the film has changed. Unfortunately, I have been unable to change the name of the page and have only been able to update the title in the information sections. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Heather.vye (talk • contribs) 19:54, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed it is. Autoconfirmed accounts can move a page by following the instructions at WP:MOVE. If your account is not yet autoconfirmed, you can request a move at WP:RM/TR. However, be aware that the new title should be supported by reliable sources. clpo13_(talk) 19:56, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Do you have any sources other than IMDB which say the name has changed? Only place that suggests name change is IMDB, which isn't considered reliable as it's user-generated. Joseph2302 (talk) 20:11, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

File tagged as unused and for deletion, but still used in draft

File:The_Russian_Bride_-_movie_poster.jpg has been tagged as unused, to be deleted in a week. The article that used it has been moved back to Draft:The Russian Bride for now. I'm not sure what needs to be done in this case. Lyrda (talk) 21:29, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Lyrda: Fair-use images are not allowed in drafts and other non-article pages so it has to be deleted. Your account cannot delete files so an administrator will do it. It can be undeleted or uploaded again if the draft becomes a real article. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:57, 1 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Negatively-biased information on my Wikipedia entry page

Harold Puthoff here. I have been very frustrated by finding that I cannot correct false statements on my wikipedia page, or provide references that support my activities (which are not entered there). I have added material and provided sources to correct the record, but to no avail - and now the edit button has been removed (claiming I was involved in an editing war). Material has been submitted on the Talk forum, but that does not result in corrections to the page. Statements negative about my scientific work published in a popular book by an author who is attempting to develop some negative meme trumps my submitted list of publications in Tier 1 journals like Physical Review, and authorship of a graduate-level textbook published in English, French, Russian and Chinese, let alone being nominated for a very prestigious prize in physics. The entries appear to be authored by someone who wants to disparage my scientific work because of some oppositely-held viewpoint, despite being program mgr for well over two decades for highly-classified DoD and intelligence programs, the records of which are now declassified and available.

As the new phrase goes, my wikipedia page is 'fake news,' but seems there is nothing to be done to correct the record with reference materials galore. 97.79.128.58 (talk) 23:06, 28 February 2017 (UTC)Harold Puthoff[reply]

It's not "your" Wikipedia page. It is a page that documents what professionally published mainstream academic and journalistic sources have written about you. You have been continually censoring sourced information ([1] [2] [3]). Your publications are no assessment of how your ideas are perceived by the mainstream scientific community -- sources that you are not affiliated with are needed to determine that. Ian.thomson (talk) 23:13, 28 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]