Wikipedia:Teahouse/Questions/Archive 428

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Is there a way to get editorial help so that my draft article is accepted

Hi, this is the first time I've tried to create a Wikipedia page, and I understand why it was declined the first time I submitted it, but I don't understand why it was declined the second time. I have provided all the sources and references that I have, but the editor said they are not verifiable. All of them are from personal files from before 1974, very few sources are available online, and most of the print sources are now out of print. What should I do? The page in question is: http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Draft:Wallace_A._Ross ...Thank you! Valerie Ross (talk) 00:24, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

It looks like right now you need to clean up the citation format; move the press releases and the obituary into inline citations. The two print sources are fine as they are, it's the others that aren't formatted properly. I'd also suggest trying to work the external links into footnotes too. Looks like you have enough sources at this point, it's putting them into inline cites and other formatting stuff. My suggestion is to make the article a bit longer than one big paragraph, create some subsections, and so on. Montanabw^(talk) 00:45, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

@Valerie Ross: In addition to Montanabw's points, I would say to look at WP:Reliable sources if you're not familiar with it: basically, sources with a reputation for fact checking and accuracy. Adding external links for organizations he was a part of may not be as good as references that reinforce his notability: try to look for references that aren't directly connected to him, such as coverage in a national newspaper. Thanks, --Rubbish computer (Merry Christmas!: ...And a Happy New Year!) 01:20, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

@Valerie Ross: Two more things. If you are connected to the person this draft is about in some way, you need to include this on the talk page, and mention this when submitting the draft, and say how you are connected. It's not the end of the world, but having a conflict of interest is something everyone needs to be open about. Another point, that isn't very important, is that you can link a page faster by writing [[Draft:Wallace A. Ross]], rather than the url. I hope this helps, and feel free to ask if you have any more questions. --Rubbish computer (Merry Christmas!: ...And a Happy New Year!) 01:24, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Thank you Montanabw and Rubbish computer: I really appreciate your advice and will implement all of it immediately. Sorry to be such a rank novice, but I find the source formatting instructions on WP really confusing. Montanabw: would you be kind enough to show me how one of my incorrect citations should be formatted? I will then follow your clear example with the others. Many thanks again Valerie Ross (talk) 01:43, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

@Valerie Ross: It's fine. To "ping" somebody, you need to write {{u|Example}}, {{ping|Example}} or {{re|Example}}. This informs the user through linking their user page.

Pinging Montanabw. Rubbish computer (Merry Christmas!: ...And a Happy New Year!) 02:18, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Time out on DYK

Hi fellow Teahousers, I have what's probably a silly question. I created a new article about a horse 4 or 5 days ago and nominated it for DYK on the same day. Nobody has reviewed it. I haven't reviewed anybody else's nom, partly because this is my first and partly because I have such a problem bringing up the main DYK page on my phone that I don't think I'll even do DYK again. Anyway, what I'm wanting to know is, what happens if nobody looks at my nomination until after the article is 7 days old? Will it just lapse, or will it still be eligible because I nominated it the same day it was created? Thanks, White Arabian Filly (Neigh) 21:15, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

"A nominated article must be new (when nominated) ... For DYK purposes, a 'new' article is no more than seven days old". (WP:DYK#Eligibility criteria, emphasis added) Finnusertop (talk | guestbook | contribs) 21:19, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

It does often take a while for article DYK nominations to get reviewed, White Arabian Filly. I don't think your nomination will expire - it will just sit there until someone reviews it. As Finnusertop says, it's the article age when nominated that matters, not when it eventually gets reviewed. Cordless Larry (talk) 22:28, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks to both of you, I nominated it only a few hours after creation so that part shouldn't matter. I was just worried that it might lapse or something. Thanks! White Arabian Filly (Neigh) 22:40, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

The only problem I can see is that you haven't reviewed another nomination, but if I'm reading Wikipedia:Did you know#Eligibility criteria correctly then there is an exemption from that rule for people who have had fewer than five DYKs. Cordless Larry (talk) 22:53, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

I have reviewed the DYK nomination - well done, White Arabian Filly. There is a very minor change needed to the formatting of the hooks (they need to start with lower-case "that" rather than capitalized "That"). Apart from that, there is one item in the article that does not appear to be supported by its reference (marked with a {{failed verification}} tag), but officially that should not be strictly required for DYK. However, standards are implemented differently by different admins, and if you can address that problem then the nomination will go through more smoothly. Then monitor the DYK queue for any questions that come up at the last minute, and see when your article will be highlighted on the front page. When it does, take a screen shot - your first DYK is a milestone worth celebrating!--Gronk Oz (talk) 05:49, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, Gronk Oz. I put the "thats" in lowercase and found the correct ref for the part that didn't match its ref. White Arabian Filly (Neigh) 16:23, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

It looks good to go, as far as I can see, White Arabian Filly. I updated the review to say as much. Now comes the waiting and watching... --Gronk Oz (talk) 21:32, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

White Arabian Filly, another step - the article has been moved into "DYK Prep" area 4, at Template:Did_you_know/Queue#Prep_area_4_.5Bedit.5D. From there it will soon move to on of the Queues, located above the Prep areas on the same page. When that happens, you can see the schedule for when it will go live at Template:Did_you_know/Queue#Local_update_times.--Gronk Oz (talk) 02:58, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

White Arabian Filly, nearly there - the current schedule has your hook going live at noon 17 December (UTC), which is 4am in L.A. or 7am in N.Y., also on Thursday 17th.

GA Review

When does GA Review gets completed. It's been months since I nominated Mahavira for GA Review. Not even a single comment has been made till now. Will something happen or it will remain open indefinitely? -- Pankaj Jain Capankajsmilyo (talk · contribs · count) 03:42, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

I can't offer you an answer but my sympathies nonetheless. Mine has been without attention since July. I sometimes wonder the same as you do. Finnusertop (talk | guestbook | contribs) 04:17, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

I had a similar experience a few months ago, but finally, George Meany was accepted as a good article. The bottom line is that if you want your own article reviewed in depth, you should be willing to do some serious article reviewing yourself. Or at least answer Teahouse questions. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 09:01, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

Are you implying User:Cullen328 that Wikipedia is no different from the outside world in that the rule 'You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' applies here? I have got the impression that some editors collaborate to boost their mutual 'scores' in GA achievement by such means. A harmless occupation whilst it stays done in GF, but not fun for those who expect reviews to be taken on in the order of submission?SovalValtos (talk) 16:28, 13 December 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by SovalValtos (talk • contribs) 10:24, 13 December 2015‎ (UTC)

I don't think it's that so much as the fact that there aren't enough editors who are willing to conduct GA reviews. There are similar backlogs all over Wikipedia, SovalValtos. Cordless Larry (talk) 13:13, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

SovalValtos, I was not recommending back scratching, but rather helping out. The editor who reviewed George Meany for me was tough and thorough in evaluating my work. I have given close critical scrutiny to several of his articles, so there is no backscratching in our interactions. As for taking articles in the order of submission, if the oldest article is on a complex mathematical or biochemical topic, I would pass it by because I lack the expertise. I am more interested in biography, history, art and mountaineering. I know my strengths and weaknesses. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 19:09, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

If you haven't done many GA reviews, the best thing to do is to ping some of the regular reviewers and let them know your article is languishing. The GA CUP is a good place to find regulars, as that contest grants points for both reviewing and writing GAs. Also, Wikicup participants can get points for reviewing GANs, so that's another good place to ping people. Montanabw^(talk) 06:06, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

help me

What must I do to create an article on an organization that I likeShana ravi (talk) 04:13, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Shana ravi and welcome to the Teahouse. You must find out if there has been significant coverage of the topic in reliable sources that are independent of the organization. On Wikipedia this is called "notability" and if it's met, it means the topic can have its Wikipedia article. Finnusertop (talk | guestbook | contribs) 04:42, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Welcome to the Teahouse. I have removed the template {{help me}} which you tried to use as a heading for this thread, as that template {{help me}} is designed for use on user talk pages. As far as the answer to your question is concerned, have you read the links in the welcome message on your user talk page, and in particular WP:your first article? - David Biddulph (talk) 04:47, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Shana ravi. A way that I think is helpful to think about creating an article, is to realise that everything in it - everything - should come from a reliable published source. (Not the actual words, unless you are expliitly quotig them, but the information, arguments, conclusions). If you know a thing about the organisation, but cannot find a published source for it, don't put it in the article! (If you're sure it's true, you might be able to get some help if you post a question on the Reference desk asking if anybody can find a source for it). The other general advice I would give is to practice improving existing articles before you embark on the difficult task of creating a new article. Happy editing! --ColinFine (talk) 09:57, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Additions to Alex Kersey-Brown

Thank you for changing Alex's (called Malcolm or "Mac by his family when he was a child) birth date to the correct one. If you want a birth certificate to be forwarded and I will do so. He was not registered until early in 1941 and was called Malcolm, and then christened with the second name "Alexander". It is quite usual for certificates to be made a few months after the birth.) I attended Alex's funeral on the 11th December at the Yeovil Crematorium, Somerset.
I am sorry to have made a mistake by showing the McLaglen/MacLachlan link.I will approach this much more carefully. Cynthia14.Cynthia14 (talk) 10:29, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Cynthia14 and welcome to the Teahouse. What we really care about is that all of our information has been published in reliable sources. Finnusertop (talk | guestbook | contribs) 11:04, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Finding the user

Lets say a particular spam website is inserted in an article, either in the body as a reference, or in external link section. I want to find the user who inserted it. I have to go through revision history to find the user who inserted it. Is there any shortcut tool for it that will save my time? The Avengers 12:50, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

I'm fairly sure the answer is no, except when that site already has a COIBot profile, like this one. — Jeraphine Gryphon ^(talk) 13:09, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict)Hi The Avengers. As soon as I write this, I'm sure some more brilliant editor will come around and add some even better answer, but if you look on the "View history" page of the article, you will find a link to the "Revision history search" (it's on the same line as "Page view statistics"). Click on that and you get to a page called "WikiBlame". Enter the phrase you are looking for plus whatever filter you care to use and hit go. This will let you see in what diffs the phrase has been added and narrow your search considerably. w.carter-Talk 13:10, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

Ok i will waiting the review. Thank you Chamith

When you say less promotional what do you mean exactly ? I defined differents components of Data Excellence discipline and I prove that a several companies and swiss governement use it. And also the famous analyst Gartner qualified on his blog as "an alternative future"in data era. I just want to prove that it is known in the data industry. If that's too promotional how do I reference this discipline while proving that it is known and recognized ?

There is a several data scientists who worked on this field: Mr Feuto, Peter Greenfield..etc. and Laure Berti-Equille published Wald el Abed's work on her book. Moreover Selway, Matt; Grossmann, Georg; Mayer, Wolfgang; Stumptner, Markus (2015-12-01) published his work on this book:"Formalising natural language specifications using a cognitive linguistic/configuration based approach". Information Systems 54: 191–208. doi:10.1016/j.is.2015.04.003.

I can add that we journals published articles on this discipline. I think my sources respected the guiding of Wikipedia. If this is not the case, can you tell me how do I knowing that my sources are reliable, recognized and respected the guiding principle of Wikipedia.

Thank you for helping me Happy Squirel !Yanniyolo (talk) 14:32, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Draft:I Love You More Than Words

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

---

I reviewed User:Msreza24/sandbox/I Love You More Than Words twice, and have now moved it to Draft:I Love You More Than Words. It contains the lyrics of a song. On the first review, I tagged it for speedy deletion as copyright violation and declined it. Although the CSD tag prompts for a web site, I decided to use common sense and decide that it isn’t necessary find a web site, because lyrics are “born copyrighted”. User:Msreza24 posted a message to my talk page, and noted that the song was his own, and removed the speedy deletion tag and resubmitted it. I declined it again, this time as a non-notable song, where the author appears to be self-publishing using Wikipedia, and applied the speedy deletion tag again anyway, saying that he would have to release the copyright explicitly either under a CC-BY-SA copyleft or into the public domain. I cautioned him about the removal of speedy tags from articles that he created himself. He then stated that the song is his own and is not copyrighted, and removed the decline tag and the speedy tag.

Since he is a new editor and has no other experience with Wikipedia, and did post to my talk page, I will do him the courtesy of coming here rather than to WP:ANI. I see three problems. The first still is copyright. He hasn’t explicitly released the copyright. Just saying it isn’t copyrighted doesn’t mean it isn’t copyrighted. The second is notability. I see no evidence that the song passes musical notability guidelines. The third is persistence. He doesn’t seem to want to listen. Can some other experienced editor reason with him and explain to him why he is wrong (or reason with me and explain to me why he is right)?

Robert McClenon (talk) 20:08, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

I think you're right. The song text in the article may not technically count as a copyvio if he is really the author and never bothered to get a copyright on it, but it's not notable and the article is pretty bad. I guess the best thing to do is delete it. I've dealt with the persistent people before too, and they generally either see the light or give up. It's his choice as to which he does. White Arabian Filly (Neigh) 21:02, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

The lyrics are automatically copyrighted as soon as they are published anywhere, including here. No formal registration is required. So, there are two separate but both compelling reasons to delete the article. The song isn't notable and the lyrics are a copyvio. The article has been posted to main space twice and deleted twice. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 21:08, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

On the one hand, I agree that there are two problems with the article. It is copyvio, because the song was "born copyrighted", and it isn't notable. The author maybe can do something about one of the problems. He may be able to explicitly release the copyright to a CC_BY_SA copyleft, or even to the public domain, if soundcloud.com will allow that. The song was first published to soundcloud.com, and I haven't looked up their rules. He can't do anything about notability. In particular, Wikipedia won't allow him to use Wikipedia to publicize the song and make it notable. That isn't how Wikipedia works. (We agree on that.) As a result, even if he releases the copyright, he only changes how the article will be deleted. If he is able to release the copyright, then the article will be deleted by AFD. If not, it will be speedied. I think that we agree. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:04, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

IMO the thing to do about his removing speedy deletion tags is to escalate the level of the {{uw-speedy}} warnings, and if he removes again after level 4, report him to AIV. More generally we need a way to communicate to new users that Wikipedia is not like social networking sites that they may be used to. —teb728 t c 23:10, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Seeking some editorial help

Hi, submitted my first Wikipedia article posted at: http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Draft:Leonard_Albanese

I thought I had fixed the issues surfaced at: This article has multiple issues, but it was still declined. All advice welcomed to improve this article and m future submissions.

Bdoctor23 Bdoctor23 (talk) 16:40, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia is particularly fussy about Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons, and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest, especially when the submission seems to be designed to promote the subject. Do you have some connection with the subject? Leonard Albanese is clearly notable in the Boca Raton News which promotes his business, but is he notable elsewhere, other than for his $40 million bankruptcy in June 2012 which, I observe, you have failed to record? You also haven't mentioned Edward Popkin and Mizner Estates. I think these would feature prominently in your proposed article since they seem to be the main details reported outside your local news-sheet. I apologise if this advice seems harsh. Dbfirs 18:08, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

References. Actors page Christopher Lee Power

Hi I started a page about the English actor and writer Christopher Lee Power and I am new to this. I have done a page but been told that the references are wrong. Is there any thing that is right on the page and what can I include. Do I have to include a reference to everything. is there anyone on here that will be able to help me finish it.Leepbreaking (talk) 19:54, 12 December 2015 (UTC)

Welcome Leepbreaking, A quick search of Google only brings up IMDB biographies and other small Wikis. Sorry. One tip, is after the first mention of somebody's full name only use their last name (surname/family-name) going forward‍—‌not their first name. Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 00:36, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

Leepbreaking, it's not that the references are "wrong", but that they have been judged insufficient to establish the subject's notability. On Wikipedia, notability is established by significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the topic. I would suggest looking for online news coverage of Power as a starting point. I very quickly found this, for example, which looks like a good source. Cordless Larry (talk) 08:53, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

This question is related to this one.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:24, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Actor Christopher Lee Power page

Hi I have been referencing the actor Christopher Lee Powers page with good references I have now found so many such as in newspapers, magazines etc. He has also written an inspirational autobiography called Breaking Free From The Street to the Stage which is becoming a feature film. I found a few references to that and there are some world wide press coverage for that as well. I have a TV interview he did regarding the book becoming a film . Should I add that. I noticed as well that I included two reference links to his book which was Amazon and his publishes but they have vanished. Was that my mistake or Wikipedia. Lastly I notice he is the Uncle to Max Power who is a football player with Wigan Athletics. I found a reference in a newspaper and Max is on Wikipedia. Should I add that. Leepbreaking (talk) 10:50, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Leepbreaking and welcome to the Teahouse. User Theroadislong had removed the information about the autobiography among with the Amazon links with the following edit: [1], so you might want to ask them. Finnusertop (talk | guestbook | contribs) 11:01, 14 December 2015 (UTC) (ping @Theroadislong: Finnusertop (talk | guestbook | contribs) 11:02, 14 December 2015 (UTC))

Hello, Leepbreaking. In answer to your specific questions: an interview he did is a primary source: it can be used as a reference, but only in a very limited way, because it is not independent. We do not normally link to commercial sites such as Amazon, and in any case, normally the only thing that such a reference could establish is that the book in question exists, which is not of itself enough to justify mentioning it in an article. As for his nephew: if you have found a reliable reference that says they are related, it's certainly worth mentioning it (with a link to Max Power (footballer) and a citation to the source). --16:33, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

This question is related to this one.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:25, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Help in Editing SAP SE

Hello, I've posted a suggested edit to the SAP SE article. It involves the company's focus on cloud-based services and software, but have not yet received a response from the Wikipedia community. As an SAP employee, I cannot make direct edits and would certainly appreciate your help/guidance! Thank you!! Harper70 (talk) 16:00, 14 December 2015 (UTC)Harper70

Harper70 hello and welcome to The Teahouse. I have taken the liberty of moving your question to the top of the page, because here in The Teahouse, new questions are asked at the top, unlike most Wikipedia talk pages. We're not sure why some software causes the questions to appear in the wrong place.

We appreciate your respecting our concern about conflict of interest. It's not that you are not allowed to edit the article, but depending on the type of information involved, it is sometimes better to request the edit be made as you have. For non-controversial information it may be fine as long as you provide a reliable source. A source independent of the company is preferred but for some edits it is not necessary. As an SAP SE employee you would have to follow the rules for conflict of interest if you did edit. I will look at your idea and see if anything can be done.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:23, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

The sources look pretty good based on a brief look at what they are. At home, my Internet is slow, so I'm not going to try looking at each one. One of the edit requests seems like a good one but the sources are definitely required. The others I'm a little concerned about. I'd like to see someone else take a look and make sure.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 21:22, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

How do I create an article?

Helpme! I don't know how to get started creating a "page" for the museum I manage. We need a page to list about what we have at the museum, a short history, pics of the collections, listing of major festivals and events

Would you please direct me to where Wikipedia explains in idiot friendly terms how to set up a Wikipedia page? I certainly could use some assistance. Thank you.Oren Dunn City Museum (talk) 21:43, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

I hope no one objects, but I took the liberty of fixing your heading.

Oren Dunn City Museum hello and welcome to The Teahouse. I could tell you how to write the article, but we need to solve some problems first.

If the name of the museum is Oren Dunn City Museum, you need to change your username. Names of businesses and organizations are not allowed because they appear to be for promotional purposes, and because we only allow one user per username.

Also, is your museum notable, meaning it has been discussed in detail by independent reliable sources with a neutral point of view? If not, it cannot have an article on Wikipedia.

It sounds to me like you want to create a web site, in which case the Computing reference desk would be of assistance.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 22:04, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

(edit conflict):Unfortunately, you are not the best person to create a Wikipedia article because of your Wikipedia:conflict of interest. Your user name is also a violation of Wikipedia policy. As a private editor (with a different user name) you should declare your connection with the museum, then request an article. You could start it in a sub-page of your talk page (we'll show you how when you register as a genuine editor). Wikipedia is not concerned about what the museum needs. You should look for articles written by independent writers who have written about the museum, and report what these say. Try to avoid promoting the museum because any promotional material will be rejected. Dbfirs 22:11, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Please understand, Oren Dunn CIty Museum. that Wikipedia has almost no interest in what your museum (or any other topic) has to say about itself. A Wikipedia article should be based almost 100% on what people unconnected with the subject have published about it. --ColinFine (talk) 23:53, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

wikigraph displaced a row of data Saskatchewan student associations

List of Canadian students' associations (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

Hello

oops.

when I inserted the urgsa and tried to put it in the graduate school column, it took the entire row below for University of Saskatchewan OSheri (talk) 22:49, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

 Done. Hello, OSheri, and welcome to the Teahouse. Tables are tricky, and I think every one of us has messed them up. When you do, your best friend is the "view history" tab on the article, which will allow you to undo your last change. It also allows you to do "before and after" comparisons so you can see what has been changed between two versions; you could do that to my change to see how I fixed the table after Liz undid your change. Hope this helps!--Gronk Oz (talk) 03:57, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

question about editing

every time I try to create a page or a move a page it doesn't work. the same with editing and changing obvious mistakes for me but down right correct in other areas. for example when I tried to edit a page about the number of schools in Hampshire, in particular the Hawley primary school section to change the location name to Hawley (it's actually location, and I know because I live near it) it didn't work. this is hindering I ability edit and a would like a answer (preferably in the next two days) ? British Mapping (talk) 19:49, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

New (and unregistered) users aren't able to create or move pages; you have to wait until you become "autoconfirmed" (after four days and ten edits to articles). If this doesn't answer your question, then please describe what exactly happens when you try to do these things and at what point do you get stuck. — Jeraphine Gryphon ^(talk) 19:58, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

However, that shouldn't stop you from editing existing articles, British Mapping. But there are no edits to article on any schools in your user contributions. What exactly did happen when you tried to edit them? --ColinFine (talk) 20:07, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

well I tried to change the link from blackwater to Hawley which is it's correct location.

British Mapping (talk) 20:13, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

You said you tried to change it. Which article was this in, and what happened (exactly) that told you that you hadn't succeeded in changing it? --ColinFine (talk) 20:36, 14 December 2015 (UTC)

Hi British Mapping. I can see that you created a now-deleted template at Template:Side project (though I can't see its former content). Is that where you tried to make the change? If so, I can't imagine how a new template could ever make such a change. Templates are a pretty advanced area for a new editor. —teb728 t c 07:01, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Is this trolling?

Howdy Teahousers, earlier today I received a kitten from a new user with a message saying something like "you give good advice thnx". I have never dealt with the sender in any way. I looked at their contribs, and they have never edited an article. Their sandbox, which you can see here looks like it contains material copied from an animal care website. They've sent similar messages to other users. Are they just a troll trying to draw me and other users who are interested in animals out? I don't want to post at ANI because this may be totally innocent. Thanks, White Arabian Filly (Neigh) 03:15, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

It seems innocent for now. They may simply be luring and have seen you give good advice to someone else. Perhaps they need to be told that we are here to build an encyclopedia. Happy Squirrel (talk) 03:20, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

I would assume good faith for now, White Arabian Filly. Another explanation is that you might have provided advice to the person in the past, when they were editing without a user account. Cordless Larry (talk) 09:19, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

White Arabian Filly, as Larry says, assume good faith, ignore them and move on. I have encountered such do-gooder users before who think it's a good idea to spread some random-act-of-kindness-love on the WP. They usually end up spreading it a bit too far and get blocked. w.carter-Talk 09:45, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

As a matter of fact, White Arabian Filly, you are giving good advice here on Teahouse. It's not inconceivable that we have friendly talk page stalkers. Finnusertop (talk | guestbook | contribs) 13:25, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

OK, thanks to all. I haven't said anything to them, so I won't. I was curious about it, and the possibility of them seeing my Teahouse posts did occur to me later. White Arabian Filly (Neigh) 14:27, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Sandbox

What is the difference between the sandbox and original article? Shana ravi (talk) 05:06, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Shana ravi. When you mention an "original article", I assume that you are referring to an encyclopedia article, located in what editors sometimes call "main space", which is the body of the encyclopedia, readily visible to our readers. However, we have several kinds of behind-the-scenes pages used for administering and developing the encyclopedia. A sandbox page is a page for the specific purpose of experimenting, trying things out, and drafting new content. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 05:22, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Sometimes an editor develops a draft that is meant to improve an existing article by copying and pasting the existing article into a sandbox and then editing the sandbox and then submitting the sandbox to Articles for Creation. This approach is deprecated because the submission will be declined as duplicating the existing article, and we can't simply accept the draft in place of the article, because that would lose the history of the existing article. A sandbox may be used to develop a draft of a new article (one where we don't previously have an article). The AFC reviewers will then typically move the sandbox into draft space. A sandbox can also be used for any of a variety of other sorts of experiments. A sandbox can basically be used for any sort of testing or experimenting that isn't forbidden (no attack pages, blatant promotion, or obvious copyvio). Robert McClenon (talk) 17:04, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

What are these templates?

What are Template:Use Indian English and Template:Use dmy dates and when and how should they be used? -- Pankaj Jain Capankajsmilyo (talk · contribs · count) 03:04, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Hi Capankajsmilyo. Do you see the boxes saying "Template documentation" with a "Usage" section on the template pages? Something sometimes hides certain content in some circumstances and I wonder whether that is happening to you here. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:24, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Hello Capankajsmilyo. There are different conventions for spelling and formatting dates/times in different parts of the world, and these tags indicate the preference for which one to use in a particular article. Each article should consistently use one variety of English - see Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#National_varieties_of_English.--Gronk Oz (talk) 03:46, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the replies, by How I meant what would happen if I add these template to a page? -- Pankaj Jain Capankajsmilyo (talk · contribs · count) 03:58, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Hello, Capankajsmilyo. If you use a template properly, you will be improving the encyclopedia. So, feel free to add Template:Use Indian English to any article about an Indian topic. But, if you add it to Angela Merkel or Abraham Lincoln, do not be surprised if people get upset. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 05:29, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Hi Capankajsmilyo, I think what you mean is what effect do the templates have on articles? That is an interesting question: As described in the template documentation, the direct effect is to add the article in a hidden category with all other articles that use the template. The templates are also visible in wikicode to editors to advise them what variety of English and date format to use in the article. They are also used bots for various purposes. —teb728 t c 06:37, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Hi Capankajsmilyo. These templates do not display anything different on the page, but they still have an effect in addition to letting other editors know which convention should be used in this article, as mentioned above. Reading the template documentation, it seems that {{Use Indian English}} also hooks into a different dictionary for the article, so that bots can respect this choice when doing their maintenance and use the appropriate spelling. Similarly, the date format is also used by some bots. Is that the sort of information you were looking for?--Gronk Oz (talk) 13:37, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. That is exactly what was searching for. -- Pankaj Jain Capankajsmilyo (talk · contribs · count) 13:47, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

@Capankajsmilyo: you might be interested in a script adds the Usexyz dates template and automatically converts all dates in the article to that format. Handle with care; it should only be used to enforce the date format the article already uses, not to force one's own preference: WP:Mosnumscript. Finnusertop (talk | guestbook | contribs) 13:54, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Capankajsmilyo, a dmy or mdy template should respect the predominate (status quo) date format of the article. Cheers! {{u|Checkingfax}} {Talk} 23:36, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Protocol for finding a sponsor or requesting articles

Hi, Could someone please clarify what is the best wiki-etiquette for finding a sponsor or requesting articles? From reading this article (http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Wikipedia:Your_first_article#Are_you_closely_connected_to_the_article_topic.3F) it seems clear that I have a conflict of interest for creating articles for the organisation I work for. However, I would love to work with a volunteer editor (sponsor) or request an article as is suggested in the "Are you closely connected to the article topic" section. I have created a list of possible wiki users that might be interested in helping us out from our current page history, but what is the best way to go about contacting these people? Thank you! PubRelNewCol (talk) 02:49, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, PubRelNewCol. I have a combination of bad news and good news for you. The bad news is that your username violates our policies and must be changed. Wikipedia does not allow shared group accounts. Your username implies and your user page explicitly states that it is a shared group account for a public relations team for a college. Our general policy is one person, one account, although disclosed secondary accounts are allowed for security reasons. Group accounts are never allowed.

The good news is that we have a mechanism for editors who have a conflict of interest to draft articles, subject to review by experienced uninvolved editors. That process is called Articles for Creation. So, change your username, read, study, ponder and re-read Your first article, and take all of its advice to heart. Then, use Articles for Creation to draft articles. I emphasize the importance of studying and understanding this essay, because many new editors claim to have read it, and still submit mediocre, non-compliant draft articles. But you work for a college, right? You wouldn't try to submit any mediocre, non-compliant article drafts, would you? Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 03:35, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Hello and welcome. First of all, thank you for working within policy and being so transparent. The first thing to do would be to post suggested changes, with sources, to the article talk page. If editors are watching, this is probably the fastest and easiest way to find someone (or many someones) to work with. If no one responds in a week, you may want to reach out to an interested (and active) editor on their talk page. Again, clearly explain the change and sources. To check if an editor is active, go to their user page and click "user contributions" in the left sidebar and see what they have been doing recently. Happy Squirrel (talk) 03:34, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

My previous advice was assuming an article already exists about your company. If not, I reccomend following the process at wp:AfC. That way your article will get reviewed before being published. Happy Squirrel (talk) 03:36, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Thank you Happysquirrel and Cullen³²⁸ for your advice. You have both been very helpful! I will explain the situation to my supervisors and proceed with the process accordingly. Since it looks like this account will be deleted I bid you adieu! PubRelNewCol (talk) 00:11, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

DAY MONTH YEAR Dating Style

What is the policy about using "DAY MONTH YEAR" Dating Style. Is it only for British relayed articles or European or non-US?Srednuas Lenoroc (talk) 01:37, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Hi Srednuas Lenoroc. See Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Dates, months and years. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:45, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

CSD

What is G6 Housekeeping pages? The Avengers 07:37, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, The Avengers. The G6 tag is for requesting deletion of pages for the "uncontroversial maintenance" of the encyclopedia. There is a long and boring (to most people) list of applicable types of pages at WP:G6. Cullen³²⁸ Let's discuss it 07:52, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

It also applies to pages nobody seems to like.[2][3] Thincat (talk) 08:48, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Counting how many times a template is used

Is there a way to get a count of how many times a template is used in articles? I know I can use "what links here" to list those articles, but there could be countless thousands of them - can I just get a count somehow?Gronk Oz (talk) 03:33, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Hi Gronk Oz. "What links here" for templates has a link saying "Transclusion count". It counts all pages and only the total number of pages. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:59, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Perfect! Thanks for that, PrimeHunter. --Gronk Oz (talk) 11:59, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

To become an admin

Hi, I wish to take admin responsibility of a certain individual named 'Luke Rockhold'.. I wish to maintain/ have control over editing of his wikipedia page. I want to update his career, records, matches etc as accurately as possible with the official statuses.

How can I do this and be accepted as admin by Wikipedia members just for this particular page? (7leumas (talk) 15:41, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

We don't have a concept like that on Wikipedia. Nobody owns specific articles (see WP:OWN).

See Wikipedia:Administrators for how we define the word "admin" here. — Jeraphine Gryphon ^(talk) 15:44, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

You're completely free to edit Luke Rockhold, you don't need any special permission for it. Your edits just have to be in line with our policies.

I have to ask, is there a reason why you're asking this? If you're doing this as a part of your job or you know this guy personally then it means you have a conflict of interest. — Jeraphine Gryphon ^(talk) 15:49, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

(e/c) Hello 7leumas. You cannot. Pages do not have administrators (see the post and the link in it above), and us editors – which includes you me and all administrators – do not own articles. See Wikipedia:Ownership of content.

You may, as an editor, make sure the page has up to date content, but the manner of doing this must comply with our policies and guidelines. This would include, among others, citing to reliable sources that verify changes/updates made (and possibly any removals) with due regard for weight; writing in a neutral manner and with the content containing no original research.

Note also two overarching issues: i) As an article on a living person there are stricter requirements and certain things you must not do; and ii) though this might possibly not apply to you, the very fact you're asking this question makes me think you might have a conflict of interest in editing this article. If that is the case, it may be that other than the addition of simple and uncontroversial facts with sources cited alongside (and removal of unsourced, negative or controversial material), you should only make suggestions on the article's talk page (Talk:Luke Rockhold), rather than directly editing the article. Best regards--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 15:55, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Inline citations

Hi, I am working on getting an initial draft published and need to learn more about the in line citations. We have a long list of publications and also many citations but I need to see how the works are referenced correctly. Does anyone have some good examples that I can see? Have previously sought help directly from Sam Sailor and have made corrections to the article base on Sam's feedback. It's just the inline citations that I am a bit stumped on. Thanks in advance. Virginia.VirginiaHalford (talk) 05:02, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

@VirginiaHalford: I am assuming that your question refers to your draft here. Just to clarify, there are two separate issues here. First is the list of publications by the person, as Sam Sailor commented there, you can just put this in a section called "Selected publications". The second issue is reliable sources discussing/mentioning the work by the academic to establish notability. You might want to read WP:PROF to get an idea as to what sort of sources for the latter category you need.

As to using inline references, the basic idea is very easy: you need to write <ref>Citation Text</ref> to create a citation with the Citation Text. For more details, you can read WP:INCITE. There are various templates which make it easier to cite journals, newspapers etc. See Citation templates for more details. Let me know if you have any more questions. Kingsindian ♝ ♚ 05:25, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

VirginiaHalford, to give you examples of how inline citations work, I have added a couple to your draft article. In the table, on the first two entries of "Fellowships", I have added inline references to support the statement that he is a FRACS and FRCS. (As an aside, did you realize you had doubled up with those entries in the "Education" section as well...) And to complete the story of the references, if you scroll right down to the bottom of the article, you will see the list of References (only two of them at the moment), which is built automatically from those tags in the body of the article. I hope this helps; please come back here if we can help further.--Gronk Oz (talk) 16:05, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I'm writing about actress from India who comes from regional background

Hello Everyone,

I'm new here on Wikipedia and wanted to write an article about local actress from regional background in India, but due to limited sources and my English as an second language I'm unable to write like others and some text which I copied from source link. please help me in this.

Thanks in advance.

Vivektiwari9 (talk) 12:00, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Is there a way for someone to have access to someone else's chalk board or whatever the practice area is for each person. If that is the case, the other contributor can compose and I can go over it to correct what I know which from editing Indian articles I can understand the predicament the originator of this question is in. Then it can be submitted for review about content, style and notability.Srednuas Lenoroc (talk) 17:35, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The article is currently at User:Vivektiwari9/sandbox. If you obtain permission via User talk:Vivektiwari9, then you could help to edit that page. In particular, the article needs to establish Wikipedia:notability through accounts published in Wikipedia:reliable sources. You need to be aware that Wikipedia is particularly strict regarding Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons. Dbfirs 21:06, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

That article isn't about an actress. That article is an autobiography of a man. The submission of autobiographies, while not forbidden, is strongly discouraged due to conflict of interest. If the biography of the actress is developed in draft space, anyone will be able to edit it. Read WP:Drafts and Articles for Creation. Robert McClenon (talk) 21:58, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Colored links to redirect pages

Hi, there. I was just wondering if there is another way I could visualise links to redirect pages, in a similar way purple links notify previously-visited pages. According to here, redirects are only visualised if you either hover over the link or have previously visited the page. Is there a way they could be visualised without doing either of those things? Thanks. Neve-selbert 23:42, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Hello Neve-selbert, if you install the User:Anomie/linkclassifier script on your /common.js page, all categories of links will be displayed in different colors. For example, all redirects will be displayed in green instead of the usual blue or purple. You can also adjust the settings of the script to suit your own preferences. w.carter-Talk 23:49, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, but I already have this script installed. How do I change the settings? Neve-selbert 23:54, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

Neve-selbert, if you already have the script installed, how come you don't see the redirects in green? Did you install it right? Please double check. Anyway, to adjust the settings, take a look at the page for the script (User:Anomie/linkclassifier) where it is described how you do that. w.carter-Talk 00:04, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

I have managed to get it working now; thanks for the help, I very much appreciate it. Neve-selbert 00:14, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

Admin and non-admin

I recently made a post to Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents. My post was closed within 30 minutes by a non-administrator. I have searched high and low for a policy about non-admin closures on this board, but have not been able to find anything. I'd have to wonder if this is accepted, since it is a board for admin attention. Thank you for your help. Magnolia677 (talk) 01:36, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I have moved this question up, Magnolia677, as the Teahouse operates with new posts going at the top of the page (unline regular talk pages) and your question might not have been spotted at the bottom of the page. Cordless Larry (talk) 11:28, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

It's accepted if it's reasonable, which it was. — Jeraphine Gryphon ^(talk) 14:52, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

You mean a non-admin can close a discussion on ANI? Is there a policy about this someplace? I wasn't able to find one. Thanks again. Magnolia677 (talk) 22:38, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

The closest I could find is Wikipedia:Non-admin closure but it focuses closing AfDs and RfCs. I know I closed ANI cases before I became an admin after I saw that they were resolved (a sockpuppet blocked, a topic ban imposed, a complaint withdrawn, etc.). If you believe that a case was closed prematurely, you can revert the closure and add a statement to the case why you believe it should remain open. If it turns into an edit war, please contact an admin as a premature case closures by non-admins can definitely be reverted. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 22:57, 16 December 2015 (UTC)

I just had a look at the ANI thread in question; in this particular case I suggest letting it be. Not one you probably want to draw more attention to re WP:BOOMERANG as it was a very unnecessary complaint to begin with. If a case was spuriously closed by a non-admin it would be noticed and re-opened by an admin anyways. Note that administrators are "special" only in that they have extra buttons; they do not have any special privileges on closures except as specifically granted by the community. Anyone can close a discussion thread if they have the competence and insight to do so. VQuakr (talk) 06:40, 17 December 2015 (UTC)