Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 April 13

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April 13

Where can we get assistance with formatting tables?

Another editor and I are discussing some table formatting at Talk:Names of God in Islam, and I have no idea where to start. We want to add another column but I'm afraid of screwing it up. Is there a noticeboard specific for formatting with Wikimarkup? MezzoMezzo (talk) 03:39, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

WP:MOSTABLE and Help:Table. but coding for tables is absolutely non user friendly. the best bet is to create a sandbox page do your testing there. you can always "undo". -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 04:46, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Radical, thank you so much. MezzoMezzo (talk) 06:37, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Abandoned Articles

I've done a reasonable search for the answer to this question, but I seem to have either missed it, or one doesn't exist. Upon taking a look at a particular article, it seems to me some work is needed. In general, better organization and more detail could be added to make the article better. It also may contain information that should probably not be included or at least modified to more accurately reflect facts.

I would like to consult with the person who administers the page, but I don't see that contact reflected anywhere.

The article just seems to be abandoned.

Any suggestions? — Preceding unsigned comment added by JR Valdes (talk • contribs) 04:03, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

There isn't an individual "person who administers the page"; the editors who have previously contributed to the page are listed on the article's "View history" tab. If you have proposed changes, you can make them yourself, ensuring that you provide a meaningful edit summary and that you support any new material with references to published reliable sources. If you are not confident in doing that, you can make suggestions at the article's talk page, again providing supporting information to justify your suggestions. --David Biddulph (talk) 04:34, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Since David provided links for everything else except to explain what a talk page is, it's at WP:TALKPAGE.  :) And also, if you told us the name of the article, those of us who patrol this help desk could take a quick look at it and make at least some basic edits to clean up the more glaring errors. Dismas|^(talk) 12:32, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

The answer was very helpful. It verified much of what I assumed to be correct. The page is not terribly disorganized and would likely not appear to be deficient to the untrained eye. The problem is more with the lack of detail and expansion or clarification of the detail that already exists. If one were not an expert in the matter, it would seem perfectly fine, cited and supported, etc. The notes indicate "outdated" and "needs additional citations for verification". Thanks for the response.--JR Valdes (talk) 15:37, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Reproducing a French Wikipedia diagram

Anyone know of a way, short of importing fr:Modèle:Encadré (which does not appear to have a direct English equivalent), to reproduce the diagram seen at fr:Sitta przewalskii#Taxinomie? I thought {{Clade}} might be a way but I don't see how to use it to get the same result.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:58, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

{{Clade}} does something like the diagram in the French article. But

1. It has the branches going upwards and downwards, rather than horizontally and downwards (personally, I prefer this).
2. It is annoyingly hard to use – though a cladogram with only four leaves should not be too hard. I once started using it, and gave up a fraction of the way through, my results are here.

Maproom (talk) 06:06, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

To editor Fuhghettaboutit: I think this is right based on the code on the French Wikipedia article and a non-expert reading of the abstract of the reference.

Here you go!
Sitta   S. carolinensis S. magna Other nuthatches S. przewalskii

Anon126 (talk - contribs) 06:39, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

@Maproom, Anon126: Thanks for looking! I actually wanted to reproduce it exactly, vertically. So, I started importing the five templates involved and after doing three, with their translated names, on the fourth I discovered that we already have the templates here but not all were interwiki-linked (which I'll fix). See {{Tree list}}.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:48, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

creating a new page

how to create a new wikipedia page — Preceding unsigned comment added by Avinashdeos (talk • contribs) 05:02, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

You need to read WP:Your first article, and TRPoD had added some other useful links to your user talk page. --David Biddulph (talk) 05:09, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

OBJECTION FOR PUTTING US IN SHUDRA VARNA

I just want to notify you about your article regarding kushwaha community In classification part of your wikipedia page you have written that we come under shudra varna.But on the articles present on net and also on govt of india website http://www.ncbc.nic.in/Home.aspx go to CENTRAL LIST OF OBC'S .We are under OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES But the people who come under Shudra varna are schedule tribes and schedule castes refer to govt of india website http://ncsc.nic.in/. Now as it is written that we are shudra in wikipedia now we can use this claim and put a public interest litigation in SUPREME COURT OF INDIA to consider us as SCHEDULE TRIBES and we should get the benefits of reservation in schedule tribes.Thanking you and requesting you to do some HOME WORK while putting things on INTERNET as it is being viewed by billion's of people. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 101.62.97.37 (talk) 07:50, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but errors are to be expected on Wikipedia, as a community-maintained encyclopedia. But anyway, you can go ahead and fix the problem yourself. Sorry for the mistake, and thanks for your contribution to Wikipedia. Zhaofeng Li [talk... contribs...] 08:09, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

I'd advise consulting WT:WikiProject India about this, castes can often be a highly contentious topic. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 09:23, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

I doubt very much that you have any hope of succeeding in litigation based on information found in Wikipedia. We do not even treat our articles as being reliable sources ourselves. Our articles are not any kind of official document in any country, including India. By the way, I think it is astonishing that people can be classified as "other backward classes" in the modern world. SpinningSpark 12:07, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

"Other Backward Classes" is actually formal government classification. the movement which brought "handicapable" to the US has not yet gained a foothold in India. -- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom 13:20, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

The Kushwaha's are indeed are indeed scheduled as a Backward Class: [1] [2]. I've added this info to the Kushwaha-page. Joshua Jonathan -Let's talk! 10:36, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

wikipedia not finding subject

I am having trouble searching for Allesandro del Piero. The search engine doesn't list him as a result. I managed to find him by accessing the Juventus site however. I thought there may be a glitch. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.28.106.70 (talk) 08:53, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Try Alessandro Del Piero. Cheers. Melbourne3163 (talk) 08:58, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

A redirect from Alessandro del Piero to Alessandro Del Piero has existed since 2005, so I don't understand how the search could have failed. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 09:20, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

It's just a spelling error; original query spelt Alessandro as Allesandro. Melbourne3163 (talk) 09:27, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Special:Search/Allesandro del Piero starts with big colored letters saying "Did you mean: alessandro del piero". It correctly guessed what the poster wanted and gave a helpful message with a new search link leading directly to the article, but the poster apparently overlooked or ignored it. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:32, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

How to get listed on Wikipedia?

Hello, My name is Sagar Patil. I am a Freelance Music Composer. I want to inquire about how to get myself listed on wikipedia?

Waiting for the comments. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Slykesagar (talk • contribs) 13:44, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

No one gets "listed" on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia of topics that meet our WP:Notability guidelines. If you are notable according to the guidelines then an article can be written about you. You should not write that article because you have a conflict of interest, see WP:Plain and simple conflict of interest guide for information. You can request an article be written at WP:Requested articles. GB fan 14:22, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Slykesagar: To explain the major point in GB fan's reply: "notability" means that you have already been the subject of in-depth coverage in reliable sources, independent of you. If a couple of major newspapers, or web sites with a reputation for reliable editing, have written articles about you (not just listings or reprinting press releases) then Wikipedia can have an article about you. If that hasn't yet happened, then it can't. I corrected a link in GB fan's posting--ColinFine (talk) 14:43, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Hello & thank you for your time

I am the biological son of Comedian Pat Cooper who is listed on your site. I have noticed it is being managed by someone else and I am not able to actually edit at all. I've tried numerous times and then save the changes and it doesn't or won't appear. I think it is Locked by someone who wants complete control of the page even with some of information left out and not at all accurate. I have tried numerous times to edit and add very helpful and useful information and links about my father. Please tell me why I can't make the edits, save them, and update the Pat Cooper Wikipedia page?? Thank you for your time, Michael Caputo (comedian Pat Cooper's son) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sonofpat718 (talk • contribs) 17:54, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

To editor Sonofpat718: Strange, it does not seem to be protected, meaning anyone should be able to edit it. You can try again, making sure you click "Save page" instead of "Show preview". However, you may have a conflict of interest, so it may be better to raise any concerns here (click the [edit] link next to the heading) or on the talk page (Talk:Pat Cooper) first. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Anon126 (talk • contribs) —  Not again! Anon126 (talk - contribs) 18:47, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Are your edits in the page history [3] of the article? Click "prev" to see the edits. If your edits are not there then they were not saved. I suspect you either clicked "Show preview" or you ignored a message when you clicked "Save page". PrimeHunter (talk) 18:33, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Hello Michael. Wikipedia articles are not managed" by anybody: with few exceptions, anybody may edit them; but somebody closely associated with the subject of an article is strongly discouraged from editing the article, because of their conflict of interest. If there are things in the article which are wrong, please see WP:AUTOPROB; but note that Wikipedia works on what published sources have said, not on personal knowledge. --ColinFine (talk) 21:48, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Walsingham school motto

Subject: Walsingham school, St Pauls Cray Kent, you state "no Motto" the motto was "It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.13.76.151 (talk) 20:20, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

I have removed the "No Motto" claim from Walsingham School but our policies require a reliable published source to add information. Do you have a published source for the motto? I couldn't find one but that may be because the school closed in 1990. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:37, 13 April 2014 (UTC)