Help desk
< May 20	<< Apr \| May \| Jun >>	May 22 >

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.

May 21

Archaic warnings and unblock requests

Is it okay if I remove the archaic warnings and unblock requests from my talk page? I was stupid when I was in high school, and trying to rid myself of the bad reputation I had. Sincerely, LBHS Cheerleader (talk) 02:31, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@LBHS Cheerleader: Per WP:BLANKING you can always remove warnings from your user talk page as it is seen as an acknowledgement that you have read them. You can also remove declined unblock requests as long as the block is not longer active (which it isn't). --Majora (talk) 02:43, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. I thought I wasn't allowed to remove them, and I'm glad you clarified that. Sincerely, LBHS Cheerleader (talk) 03:01, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Authority Control and wikidata

I've found that when one adds the AC template, they are often blank because the wikidata entry for the item does not exist yet. How could I create a wikidata entry for say, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today?--Bellerophon5685 (talk) 03:16, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

There is already a Wikidata item for The Gilded Age: here. However, to create a new item item you would select 'create a new item' from the links on the left of any Wikidata page and complete as many of the fields as you can. Check via search though, that there is not already an item created via a page in another Wiki. If there is an item it can be linked to the en.Wiki via a field near the bottom of the Wikidata page. You can also see if a Wikidata item exists from the links on the left of a en.Wiki page (under 'tools'). Wikidata item will appear towards the bottom of that list. There is one for the help desk page (see left). Also the authority control may be blank because the appropriate data has not been entered at Wikidata. Eagleash (talk) 09:07, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

If there is already a wikidata entry for The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, then why doe it not show up on the page? I'm getting in some trouble with other members of the wiki community for adding alot of blank ACs.--Bellerophon5685 (talk) 20:03, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It's not enough that the article has a corresponding Wikidata item. The wikidata item must have one or more authority control properties filled in. That being said, authority control is typically used for authors, not works. See Wikipedia:Authority control and Template:Authority control. – Finnusertop (talk ⋅ contribs) 20:18, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

How do I fill in the wikidata properties?--Bellerophon5685 (talk) 21:00, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

You edit the Wikidata item by scrolling past the completed fields and clicking on 'add' to generate a new field. You select the field you require from the dropdown and then add the data. However, you will need the all relevant code/info/Nos. (such as VIAF) etc. to add the info. It's a little more technical than standard Wiki editing and you might be making things more difficult for yourself. With the greatest respect it might be better if you just didn't add AC to articles, particularly those which are about 'things' rather than people. I've found that information such as this is often added to Wikidata bio items by the regular editors without input from others. Eagleash (talk) 21:26, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Strange unit artifacts

I assume when I see something like 1.3-5.0 cm (0.51-1.97 in), this is just units and sig figs run amok, and not an over precise measurement of the original size? See here: https://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Drosera_rotundifolia#Morphology

Issues related to this pop up frequently, though this is particularly bad--it seems probable that the original measure was either 0.5-2", or 0.5-2.0". But that information is lost--and it potentially matters. In the former case, the original measure is just a rough estimate; in the latter, there was reasonable care in measuring size. It's possible to generate excellent significant figures automatically, using trivial numerical analysis--or just ordinary HS sig fig analysis. --Peter M — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.100.124.229 (talk) 06:43, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Click edit to see the code. It's made with {{convert|1.3|to|5.0|cm|in|adj=on}} which produces 1.3-to-5.0-centimetre (0.51 to 1.97 in). It was originally added to the article as "1.3-5 centimetres".[1] I don't know what the editor's source said. {{convert}} is a complicated template. {{convert|5.0|cm|in|adj=on}} by itself would have produced 5.0-centimetre (2.0 in). I don't know why the range version says 1.97 in instead of 2.0 in. Maybe the template prefers to convert "1.3-5.0" to two values with the same number of decimals. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:47, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The output is adjustable, {{convert|1.3|to|5.0|cm|in|adj=on|1}} produces 1.3-to-5.0-centimetre (0.5 to 2.0 in). Mjroots (talk) 17:18, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Lady

The first of the "References" - listed at the bottom of the article- has red typing. I do not know how to fix it. Please help. Thanks 101.182.69.169 (talk) 10:01, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It is asking for the title or name of the specific article, within the Encyclopaedia Britannica, that the information was sourced from. It is one of 1,000s within the encyclopaedia so possibly only the original editor will know. 10:09, 21 May 2017 (UTC)

I compared the original article version to the "Lady" article in the Project Gutenberg online version at Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition#External links. It was a match so I added |title=Lady. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:25, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I changed that to link to the archive.org version rather than the wikisource page not found. Links to the archive.org and Project Gutenberg EB 1911 are available at Encyclopædia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition#External_links.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 10:50, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Line breaks

How are line breaks decided in wikipedia? My question is prompted by the final paragraph of Air Canada Flight 624#Accident where a line break occurs immediately after the word landing and before the closing quote, which looks a little odd. Can I change this behaviour, or is it a function of my browser (chrome)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.2.106.75 (talk) 10:59, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This is controlled by your browser. My Firefox doesn't break there when I adjust the window width to end a line there. I changed the quotation character per MOS:STRAIGHT.[2] This may or may not have an effect in a given browser. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:26, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It works for me, thanks! 80.2.106.75 (talk) 11:43, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Having problems with Pop-ups

Resolved

Hi!

For many years, I have been using Lupin's pop up tool, but as I have repeatedly been getting notices that I shouldn't be using it any more as it is no longer supported, I thought I ought to do something about it. I have tried following the instructions on WP:POPUP, but all I have succeeded in doing is no longer having pop-ups when hovering my mouse over links. I tried undoing my work, but to no avail. Pop-ups are extremely useful when doing admin work, and I would love to get them back. Any ideas? Thanks! Stephen! ^Coming... 14:16, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Sjb72, did you use the manual or automatic installation method? Also, have you seen Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation popups/FAQ, which contains steps to resolve the issue you're facing? Lourdes 15:12, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I've followed the instructions (including clearing the cache), but it didn't work. So I deleted my commons and user js pages, and re-created User:Sjb72/common.js. I'm getting pop-ups now, but the background is transparent, making selecting things even harder LOL! I've followed the instructions on "sort of works, but doesn't", but still not getting anywhere. I suspect that I do need to edit some css page or something like that, but as I am not a programmer, I'm reluctant to go changing things I really don't understand. If it's any help, I'm using Google Chrome on Windows Professional. Stephen! ^Coming... 11:17, 22 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Sjb72, instead of using the common.js manual method, can you try using the Special:Preferences quick installation option and tell if that works? (remove the common.js addition before doing that) Thanks. Lourdes 14:22, 22 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Yay! Thanks, it works now! Stephen! ^Coming... 06:39, 23 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Etymology MOS

Is there any guideline on stating the parenthetical etymology of a word/title in a lead. This question specifically relates to Phaq'u Q'awa (Moquegua-Tacna) which I find excessive. There are four different meanings listed for "phaq'u", all similar colors. I would just pick one, probably light-brown. There are five meanings listed for "q'awa", and then two more phrases which combine both. If these are literal translations, are they relevant as the topic here is not a crevice or ravine, but just the opposite - a mountain. I'm not sure of the best way to handle this. I first read this on a tiny mobile screen and it was confusing at first.MB 16:02, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, you're right. Half of the short article is taken up with discussing details of the name, which if fine, but the reader doesn't need to drill down into the details of the Aymaran before finding out what and where the thing is.

I don't know if there's a MOS guidance on this -- maybe, I'll look it up now -- but in the meantime I just moved all that stuff below the lede into a new separate section, "Name". It is common practice for articles to have a short separate section "Name" or "Etymology", almost always the first section after the lede, when it's appropriate, such as here, where the name info is overwhelming the reader before she can even sink her teeth into the meat (so to speak). See how you like it now. You also are empowered to do similar things.

As to the deal with the name meaning "light brown, reddish, fair-haired, or dark chestnut", I dunno, I don't know Aymaran, so my guess is that the term phaq'u can mean all those things, so... I guess we have to include them all, I suppose, else risk misleading the reader. It's a matter of opinion; an argument could be made for stopping at just "light brown" in the name of not overwhelming the reader with minute details, and it's not false, exactly.

As to the fact that q'awa means "ravine" when actually the entity is a mountain, we can't help that -- people misname things all the time. I suppose it was named after a ravine that is in the mountain or something. I would not recommend adding the aside "...even though it is a mountain and not a ravine" because that's speaking in our own voice. I suppose the reader can figure it out. Herostratus (talk) 20:19, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The operative guidance is at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section, specifically MOS:FORLANG, where it says "If the subject of the article is closely associated with a non-English language, a single foreign language equivalent name can be included in the lead sentence...". Note it says single. The example given is "Chernivtsi Oblast (Ukrainian: Чернівецька область, Chernivets’ka oblast’) is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine..."

So, the article in question was in violation of that advice. Moving it down into the body of the article as I did is best practice I guess. Herostratus (talk) 20:34, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

That was what I was looking for. I wanted to shorten it to the closest translation that made some sense for the article, something like "brown ravine". But moving it entirely is probably even better. The same exists in the Phaq'u Q'awa dab page and the other mountains of the same name. I will fix those in the next day or so if you or someone else doesn't do it first. MB 20:46, 21 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

it sounds as if this is mostly resolved. On the question of the color: there are multiple way to specify a color more precisely. For example, you can use the HTML color or the Pantone color, if you can find a reference for the HTML or Pantone colro for "phaq'u". -Arch dude (talk) 20:07, 22 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]