Help desk
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January 23

Notes and references

What is supposed to come first? For instance, Test^[a][1] or Test^[1][a]? RodRabelo7 (talk) 00:35, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

RodRabelo7 Help:Explanatory notes has The Sun is pretty big.^[1][a] TSventon (talk) 01:14, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! RodRabelo7 (talk) 02:45, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Notation from official government source

Case in point. The United States Government NTSB or the FAA publish a letter, document, image, etc. on their offical web site or their official alternate sites linked to from their official web sites, such as twitter @NTSB_Newroom, a NTSB Flickr photo album, etc. Are these considered reliable sources? Do we have to wait until some third party (NY Times, etc.) notices and says on their website "Hey the NTSB just did this"? If commenting in a Wikipedia article that the NTSB or FAA published an item and a brief reference to the jist of the content, and same official web site or official alternate site is already linked in the External Links section of the article, what options are there for notation? For example, could I just say "(see NTSB Flickr link below)" or is a footnote stricktly required? QualityMattersJoe (talk) 02:19, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@QualityMattersJoe: Hi there! Publications from the NTSB or FAA are primary sources, where as a news organization is a secondary source They're both reliable sources, but Wikipedia prefers to use secondary sources to demonstrate notability. Whether a source is primary or secondary, we would create a footnote when the source supports a specific statement in the Wikipedia article. Happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 04:09, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@GoingBatty Assuming notability has already been demonstrated, should we still prefer to use the news source? The newspaper generally won't use an exact quote and it won't provide the same context as the government report, so it seems to be more likely to introduce an ambiguity than to clear one up. Ironically, we're not really allowed to make sense out of any ambiguity by reviewing information from additional sources, because that would be WP:Synth. We are required to worship at the altar of WP. This is all doctrine, so use of logic and reason constitutes ~~heresey~~ heresy! Fabrickator (talk) 23:19, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Fabrickator: WP:PST states "Deciding whether primary, secondary, or tertiary sources are appropriate in any given instance is a matter of good editorial judgment and common sense, and should be discussed on article talk pages." GoingBatty (talk) 03:38, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

How to search inside a short description in JWB

I'm thinking of doing a JWB run to change instances of Nur-Sultan inside short descriptions to Astana, but I have no idea how to search inside shortdescs and I don't know a single bit of regex. Can any fellow Wikipedians help me with this if possible? Thanks, Prodraxis _(talk) 02:42, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Prodraxis: Hi there! Try (\{\{\s*[sS]hort description\s*\|[^\}]+)Nur-Sultan to $1Astana for these articles. Happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 04:04, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks @GoingBatty for the help! I might use this when updating other shortdescs in the future as well. Prodraxis _(talk) 04:15, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Remove protection from Help:IPA/English

Hello. Help talk:IPA/English recommended to me to report here because it warned me its namespace (Help talk) was less watched. I would ask if you would remove protection from the Help:IPA/English page. It would be better to allow IPs to edit this page because I believe the reason of protecting this page is obsolete. --2601:204:E681:F150:6940:5789:671A:99B9 (talk) 02:58, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello IP editor, If you want to request unprotection, please go to this venue and request it. Regards, Prodraxis _(talk) 03:05, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Bosaso

@Dolf133 user always running to edit Bosaso history section by escaping discussions and compromise among editor, I am requesting your intervention Muscab30 (talk) 08:48, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This is beyond the scope of the help desk, see WP:DISPUTE.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 09:13, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Bangor, Oldtown and Milford Railroad

Hi Folks!! If anybody has any time, could they tell me what page number the Bangor, Oldtown and Milford Railroad appears in the Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, July 27, 1836, in [1] Thanks. I'm trying to clean the reference up and can't view newspapers.com. Thanks. scope_creep^Talk 09:16, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Scope_creep have you tried WP:TWL? Sungodtemple (talk • contribs) 13:34, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Scope creep: Edward Smith's name appears on page 3, per https://www-newspapers-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/image/662667437/?terms=Edward - I've updated the reference in the article. GoingBatty (talk) 21:44, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

How to add this image to infobox of Batley Variety Club?

File named The Batley Frontier - geograph.org.uk - 413091.jpg on Wikipedia Commons Danstarr69 (talk) 10:04, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Danstarr69: That's not an appropriate image to replace either of the current images in the infobox. It does not illustrate the article's topic, as required by MOS:IMAGERELEVANCE. It would be great, though, in the Batley_Variety_Club#Closure section of the article, which mentions the building's fortunes after the variety club closed. WP:Extended image syntax gives instructions on how to add it, if you need them. Bazza (talk) 10:15, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Bazza 7 I didn't say replace, I said add.

As I've just pointed out on Teahouse, it spent...

Roughly 11 years as Batley Variety Club

At least 30-35 years as Frontier Nightclub

And has currently spent around 7 years as a JD Gym Danstarr69 (talk) 10:32, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Danstarr69: The majority of the article's current content is about the variety club, with other subsequent uses confined to a short section at the end. MOS:LEADIMAGE suggests just one image for the lead to illustrate the article's topic. The place for other images is in the most relevant article section (MOS:IMAGELOC), and your proposed addition should follow this. The image showing the interior of the club should be moved from the infobox to the paragraph which describes the interior, where it is appropriate. Bazza (talk) 11:39, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Where to find the history of Wikipedia

I'm sorry if this question is a bit off-topic. Wikipedia:History of Wikipedian processes and people, Wikipedia:Historic debates, and stuff like that all only goes to around the early 2010s, then it stopped. The History of Wikipedia page also feels very lacking as well. It just feels that there's something that has erased all of Wikipedia history, like in the Matrix... CactiStaccingCrane (talk) 16:00, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The problem may be that the information is scattered all over, including on meta. WP:NEWS has links to a lot of possible sources. Mike Turnbull (talk) 16:25, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Lost article

I was asked to reveiw a wikipedia article that I had been cited in. Unfortunately the email I was sent went to my old work email address and I can no longer access it. How can I find this page to check my citation. It still appears not to be published. Lucygwen.gillis (talk) 17:22, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Providing the name of the article would help, are you saying that you don't know what the article is called? Theroadislong (talk) 17:28, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The article was not published yet on wikipedia, wikipedia emailed to ask for me to reveiw how I was referenced. Is there a way I can search for articles that are still being processed? Lucygwen.gillis (talk) 17:40, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

"Gillis, Lucy Gwen" is mentioned in reference 39 in the Mangrove crab article. Is that what you are looking for? -- John of Reading (talk) 17:32, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I believe the article was about connectivity, which I have searched for and as I cannot find it I believe it is not published yet. Is there a way I can search for articles that are still being processed? Lucygwen.gillis (talk) 17:41, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Do you know the title of the work of yours that had been cited? A search like this one searches all pages on Wikipedia, both those that are part of the encyclopedia itself and all the behind-the-scenes pages such as half-written articles. -- John of Reading (talk) 17:55, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It seems highly unlikely that "wikipedia emailed to ask for me to reveiw how I was referenced" that's not how it works here. Theroadislong (talk) 18:12, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you very much for your reply. I will go through this link. Best wishes, Lucy Lucygwen.gillis (talk) 08:01, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I just wanted to let you know I found the article. Acutally it was published but a slightly different name (Faciliation Cascade) and I am well cited. Facilitation cascade

Thank you for your help, still a bit odd I received that email. Lucygwen.gillis (talk) 08:08, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Lucygwen. I echo Theroadislong in saying that the email you got is highly irregular. "Wikipedia" does not send out such emails (it doesn't exist in that sense). It is possible that a particular Wikipedia editor sent you such a mail, but I cannot imagine why.

The most likely is that this was sent by a scam-merchant, hoping you would pay them to "improve" your presence in Wikipedia - see WP:SCAM.

John has shown you how to search for draft articles. It is also possible that the "mention" they were referring to was in a draft article which has since been deleted, or has been edited and no longer mentions you. Sorry I can't be of more help. ColinFine (talk) 18:27, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, the email took me directly to the wikipedia and the article page and did not ask me for any details or any money. I was in the process of moving jobs so I could not go any further than with my reveiw, and how the cited my and other scientists was fine as far as I could see-so I don't believe it was a spam email but could be. I will search for through the draft articles! Thank you for your reply, the replies have been very useful :) Lucygwen.gillis (talk) 07:54, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I just wanted to let you know I found the article. Acutally it was published but a slightly different name (Faciliation Cascade) and I am well cited. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facilitation_cascade

Thank you for your help, still a bit odd I received that email. Lucygwen.gillis (talk) 08:07, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Lucygwen.gillis: Your email address is shown in the source so that's how somebody found you but it's odd that they mailed you. It may still have been a scammer trying to get you interested before asking for money to alledgedly do something for you in Wikipedia. If the mail sounded generic then somebody may have written a script to scan Wikipedia sources for email addresses and spam them. PrimeHunter (talk) 14:36, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Lucygwen.gillis: You might like to know that our sister project, Wikidata, has an entry about you also: Lucy G. Gillis (Q59682659). See d:User:Pigsonthewing/About you for more. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:16, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

yet another screwup

I've done something wrong here that is making the username link to User:Example, and I can't figure out what I did. Can anyone troubleshoot? Valereee (talk) 17:37, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

To correctly link you should do User:StarryNightSky11|StarryNightSky11 you accidentally did User:Username|StarryNightSky11. I will fix this for you. Paulpat99 (talk) 17:55, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

An Infor.

my question : is celebrity's Wikipedia made on their permission? Do they suggest us about what to be inputed in their Wikipedia page and what not ? Pls reply to this AL Creation (talk) 23:22, 23 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@AL Creation: Please don't ask in multiple places. This is answered at the Teahouse. RudolfRed (talk) 00:32, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]