Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2015 April 16

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April 16[edit]

Visual Editor Adding New References[edit]

Hello WikiFriends, I feel silly. I've read the wiki edits page about 4 times now (I can't watch the video because my Java is being insane) and I've managed to figure out how to add in the footnotes but they aren't linking to the references. I am editing a page on a band for a class assignment so there are existing references and footnotes throughout the article, but when I try to add in my new reference the footnote reads 1 and the reference I added should be 8. If someone could walk me through a step by step of how to properly reference my websites and properly add in the footnotes that match those references I would greatly appreciate this so I do not fail my english project. Thanks!— Preceding unsigned comment added by TheKovacsCat (talk • contribs)

Hey KovacsCat. First, I would simply not use VisualEditor. It'll be nice when it actually works correctly but it's full of bugs. Since having looked at your contributions I don't see what page you have edited where this is occurring, I suspect you are previewing and have not posted yet. Anyway, here's how to reference, at it's most basic.
  1. At the point in the text where you want a footnote to appear, place opening and closing ref tags, and describing in between them the source: <ref>Source detail</ref>
  2. Make sure the article has a references section at the end (== references ==), which has placed in it the template {{reflist}} (you can also use <references />)
Wherever you placed the ref tags with content in between, that will display as a footnote in the text (entirely automatically numbered; you will never need to enter or worry about the numbering), and what you typed in between those tags will show up in the references section, where you placed the {{reflist}} template. You should try to describe your source with some detail in the citation. For example a book, would normally have name of author, title, page number, isbn, year of publication and name of publisher. There are various citation templates that can be placed between the ref tags to help format the citation.

Here's a working example. If I wanted to add a footnote at the end of this sentence to an article from the The Onion I'd type this:<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Onion|title=Cat General Declares War on String Unwinnable|page=6|date=January 10, 2007}}</ref>

When I saved it would look like this[1]

References

  1. ^ "Cat General Declares War on String Unwinnable". The Onion. January 10, 2007. p. 6.
I have placed just below a visual inline citation guide, which includes more detail on some of the things I've said above. Just click show. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:40, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Visual inline citation guide
Formatting references using inline citations

All information in Wikipedia articles should be verified by citations to reliable sources. Our preferred method of citation is using the "cite.php" form of inline citations, using the <ref></ref> elements. Using this method, each time a particular source is mined for information (don't copy word-for-word!), a footnote is placed in the text ("inline"), that takes one to the detail of the source when clicked, set forth in a references section after the text of the article.

In brief, anywhere you want a footnote to appear in a piece of text, you place an opening <ref> tag followed by the text of the citation which you want to appear at the bottom of the article, and close with a </ref> tag. Note the closing slash ("/"). For multiple use of a single reference, the opening ref tag is given a name, like so: <ref name="name"> followed by the citation text and a closing </ref> tag. Each time you want to use that footnote again, you simply use the first element with a slash, like so: <ref name="name" />.

In order for these references to appear, you must tell the software where to display them, using either the code <references/> or, most commonly, the template, {{Reflist}} which can be modified to display the references in columns using {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}. Per our style guidelines, the references should be displayed in a separate section denominated "References" located after the body of the article.

Inline citation code; what you type in 'edit mode' What it produces when you save

Two separate citations.<ref>Citation text.</ref><ref>Citation text2.</ref>


Multiple<ref name="multiple">Citation text3.</ref> citation<ref name="multiple" /> use.<ref name="multiple" />

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

Two separate citations.[1][2]



Multiple[3] citation[3] use.[3]




References_________________

  1. ^ Citation text.
  2. ^ Citation text2.
  3. ^ a b c Citation text3.

Templates that can be used between <ref>...</ref> tags to format references

{{Citation}} • {{Cite web}} • {{Cite book}} • {{Cite news}} • {{Cite journal}} • Others • Examples

NEW ARTICLE: PHILLIP RODGERS (GOLFER)[edit]

I just created this article. I misspelled this golfer's first name--it should be PHILIP (only one "L"). Would someone please correct the spelling for me?

Thanks,

--EditorExtraordinaire (talk) 04:03, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I could do it for you, but you can do it yourself. In the upper right there's the "Search" window and just to the left of that it says "More". If you click on that, one of the options below is "Move". Click on that and follow the instructions. There's more detail for controversial moves at Wikipedia:Moving a page, but no need to worry about that for this. If that doesn't work, or if you have any other questions, let us know.  SchreiberBike | ⌨  04:13, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you. Editor Tewapack helped me, but I appreciate your help also! --EditorExtraordinaire (talk) 06:05, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Checkusers[edit]

Hello, I have a question regarding the editors who are checkusers. Why does it not work when the accounts are stale like at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Nickaang

The checkuser utility has deliberate throttles set into to prevent abuse. For that reason, checkusers are not able to check or verify accounts which have not been used for too long. There's no technical reason why these throttles exist, but there are rules against the use on very old accounts. --Jayron32 12:21, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Jayron32: so they can't check if users over a certain age are the same? Is that not a little pointless? Or is it in case they happened to have the same IP as someone else a while ago?
You'd have to ask a checkuser directly, but my understanding is that they could technically (as in the data exists) but they aren't allowed to because policy has said they can't, so the software that lets them do the checkuser is deliberately throttled to not report IP addresses used by accounts over a certain age. --Jayron32 20:16, 17 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Updating copyright info in order to replace photos previously deleted for "Carlisle Military School"[edit]

Under the "Carlisle Military School" many photos were deleted because I did not fully comprehend correct coding. Subsequent to being notified that these photos had questionable copyright notations I had gone to the only known source of any "original" owner of said photos - Colonel Lanning Risher (whose family owned Carlisle when it was in existence). He gave me full permission to use any photos of Carlisle that was used in a book published by and for Carlisle Alumni (of which I am one): Zemp, Lachicotte; Camden-Carlisle Alumni Association Centennial Committee (1998). Carlisle & Camden : A Centennial History of Carlisle Military School and Camden Military Academy. Camden, S.C.: Midlands Printing Co. p. 151. This book used the very same photos that are part of Carlisles archives.

Even before I obtained this specific permission, I had requested those "editors" who had nominated these photos for deletion to please help in providing guidance in what s[pecifically is needed to keep these photos. No assistance was provided.

So now I ask again what category of "copyright licensing" is needed for photos several decades old - that are owned by the institution the wikipedia page is all about - when the only living person who represents this defunct institution had given permission to use said photos.

There has to be some assistance for novices. So far it appears that "experienced" editors are quick to see fault, nominate for deletion, and not even answering a request made by a user for assistance. SandHills (talk) 14:40, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia:Donating copyrighted materials explains what kinds of permission is needed, and how to properly document that permission so we can use previously published material at Wikipedia. --Jayron32 15:24, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Guidelines for identifying advertising[edit]

Apparently it has been more than a year since I logged into Wikipedia because it was not until today that I received a message about an article I had written (my only article) being proposed for deletion. So I'm way past the deadline for reacting to that. But I would like to understand more specifics about the guidelines under which the page for Scrolling Game Development Kit was deleted. The comment states that it was being proposed for deletion because it was "just being used as free advertising."

I see that similar pages for GameMaker and GameMaker: Studio have not been taken down on similar grounds, and am wondering if they should be, or if some aspect of those pages needs to be included in this page to make it similarly notable or reputable for inclusion on Wikipedia. For example, do I just need to provide links to external sources referencing the software? Would these suffice?

I could probably find more if I kept looking, but that's a start.

Is there any record of what the page used to look like or would it need to be rewritten? — Preceding unsigned comment added by BlueMonkMN (talk • contribs)

The article was deleted with the rationale "Absolutely no reliable sources to give any indication of why this should have a WIkipedia article. Article is just being used as free advertising"‎ [1] which suggests that a complete rewrite would be necessary. Though frankly, the links you provide do nothing to establish the notability of the software - we need evidence of significant coverage in third-party published reliable sources. Games using the software aren't third-party, and a passing mention on what amounts to a personal website is of no significance at all. If those are the best sources you have, you are wasting your time. AndyTheGrump (talk) 15:15, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Then my question is, should GameMaker be subject to similar scrutiny? Scrolling Game Development Kit has counterparts to every link listed on the GameMaker page:
BlueMonkMN (talk) 18:21, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
We have a policy called Other Stuff Exists which directly answers your question as to why the other articles have not been under the same scrutiny. However upon looking at the GameMaker article I can see no evidence to provide notability and thus have proposed it's deleted unless some proper sources are found. The GameMaker: Studio article however is referenced adequately. CaptRik (talk) 18:54, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia:Other stuff exists is generally not a rational for justifying the existence of your article. I've added a notability tag to GameMaker, but GameMaker: Studio seems sufficiently referenced. Gamemaker is a decade old, and would probably get promptly PROD'd if it had been created today - policies were a bit looser back then. But since it has been around so long, I'll start with just the tag. Rwessel (talk) 18:56, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
And I see CaptRik has gone ahead and PROD'd it. Rwessel (talk) 18:57, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, with all the server hiccups that just seemed to be happening, I didn't see your tag get added - sorry. Still, 7 days seems enough to make a decision on the article. CaptRik (talk) 19:43, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
@BlueMonkMN: In my personal opinion what happened to you and the article you wrote on Wikipedia is absolutely wrong. I am not a wp:admin and therefore cannot see the text of the deleted article. However all editors here are expected to assume good faith, but the implication of the wording used in of the deletion nomination are definitely assuming bad faith(Article is just being used as free advertising). The topic you are asking about is now hotly debated in the comments section of an Wikipedia Signpost OP ED. Ottawahitech (talk) 13:59, 17 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Copyright clarification[edit]

I uploaded a screenshot of a newscast displaying the flag of Utica, New York cut off by a podium. Originally the license for this image was non free symbol, and then later flag. An editor and I determined that non free news screenshot would be the most appropriate license instead of non-free symbol.

This image was used to create a flag, specifically using an SVG seal which was previously made from available information, and then using the colors within the news screenshot to create a flag based upon this screenshot.

Is there a copyright issue based upon our process? Can an SVG copy of this flag replace the low resolution PNG copy? Buffaboy talk 16:05, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Since no one has answered, I'm going to suggest WT:C. I'm not saying that is the right place, but maybe someone there can get you to the right place.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 21:58, 17 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I got a response earlier today, but thanks for reaching out anyways. Buffaboy talk 22:18, 17 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Reference Citations for Sylvia Lewis bio page verification[edit]

Hello Wiki Help - T

The bio on this page:

Sylvia Lewis

...was created by the webmaster for the official Sylvia Lewis website at http://www.sylvialewis.net/ with Ms. Lewis' approval. All information on her Wiki page is documented on her website. Is it possible to use the website as the reference citation for the whole page and remove the warning box at the top asking for citations/verification? This box gives the impression the information on the page is not accurate, but in fact all information on on the page is indeed correct, coming from the biographical source herself.

Thank you for your help / guidance.

Appreciatively,

The folks at sylvialewis.net — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.167.100.172 (talk) 16:48, 16 April 2015‎ (UTC)[reply]

No, you certainly can't use the subject's website as the reference citation for the whole page. You need to read about reliable sources, and to understand that Wikipedia is looking for published references independent of the article subject. Information from the subject is not acceptable, for reasons given at WP:Autobiography. If the page was created by the subject's webmaster, then they need to read about conflict of interest. --David Biddulph (talk) 17:02, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref[edit]

zindel segal I am unable to remove this error from my page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.150.161.93 (talk) 16:58, 16 April 2015‎ (UTC)[reply]

The clue is in the error message that says: "Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).". In case that isn't clear enough, the words "help page" are a wikilink, in this case to Help:Cite errors/Cite error included ref. --David Biddulph (talk) 17:26, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Back ground music[edit]

Hi, The actors on your program speak very soft and the background music drowns out their voices. The music is ok but I would like to be able to hear the story lines also. Thanks and I hope this is the proper place for this comment. Take care.... David

This is the help desk for Wikipedia - an online encyclopaedia. We are not a broadcaster of television programs. AndyTheGrump (talk) 18:12, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

passportland.com[edit]

I have a question, found a domain (passportland.com) which is used in 39 articles and it looks like the content is no longer available/maintained. what are the options for this? Howicus told me instead of removing the URL I should try to find the URLs in the wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20120611170314/http://www.passportland.com/images/dassonleville-renee/dassonleville-renee.html but I have no time to do that right now. Just wanted to report it. Thanks!

Hello, Huggi. There is a template you can tag them with, {{linkrot}}. Everything about this topic is in the page WP:LINKROT. --ColinFine (talk) 20:11, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you ColinFine, but I've been to: Wikipedia:Link_rot#Automated_tools where I found the note: "There have been bots..." this means there is no one doing the work for me, are there any other options, really don't wanna edit 39 articles manually? In addition to your reference, would be very nice to see some practical examples on the page of WP:LINKROT and {{linkrot}}, that might help to understand the concept better (just my 2 cents). AND THIS LOOKS REALLY UGLY NOW: see Belgian_passport --Never stop exploring (talk) 03:58, 17 April 2015 (UTC) sorry to: User:David_Biddulph, did not realize that I was deleting something.[reply]

The Face On The Barroom Floor[edit]

It is a great article. Mention is made of Tex Ritter's and Hank Snow's recording of this poem. At one time I had a recording on a 78 RPM record issued by MAJESTIC Records, Number 5004A narrated by Paul Douglas. Thank You

RfC building in a sandbox[edit]

Can I work on an RfC presentation in my sandbox, including the template, without it being treated as a real RfC? ―Mandruss ☎ 20:19, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

There is {{Proposal draft notice}}, but even with that I don't think you can add the {{rfc}} template. When I did something like that, I mocked up a version of the template's output (see User talk:SchreiberBike/Workspace/Universe}} so it would look roughly right. Good luck.  SchreiberBike | ⌨  20:35, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, how about if I used only "Show preview" in my sandbox without saving? ―Mandruss ☎ 20:40, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know for sure, but I've done it a several times and it's never caused a problem.  SchreiberBike | ⌨  20:47, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I think Mandruss has the best idea, then once you have that section of text the way you want it you can set the template to {{tl|rfc|topic 1|topic 2}} until you start the RfC. Mlpearc (open channel) 20:55, 16 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
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