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    November 10

    tildes? Where do I find them on my keyboard. (it's a German keyboard layout)

    Where do I find tildes on my German keyboard layout? BillyBobBluesStomper2 (talk) 05:12, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    See German keyboard layout. Apparently you need to use the AltGr key key (the righthand Alt key) to shift to the third symbol on the "+" key. Meters (talk) 05:19, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    For Wikipedia purposes it might be easier to just select the sign option. This is readily available in the Text editor, but I don't know how (or if) it works in the Visual editor. Meters (talk) 05:26, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Depending on your requirement, as an alternative you can always google any desired unusual symbol, then copy-and-paste an example into your typing stream (I do that myself with em-dashes and en-dashes at least, also sometimes with some very obscure diacritics). Tony 1212 (talk) 17:46, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    banned?

    why did i get banned 194.187.10.64 (talk) 09:13, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    What makes you think you are banned? Do you mean blocked? If you posted here you are not subject to a block, unless you have an account that was blocked- in which case you must return to your account and follow the instructions provided. 331dot (talk) 09:15, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    why did you change what i said about besiktas?! 194.187.10.64 (talk) 10:06, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    If you can't be bothered to specify either the edit or your username, don't expect people here to take the trouble to work out what these may be. -- Hoary (talk) 10:23, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I have no idea who Besiktas is, but edits like [1] are reverted because a WP-article is not a chat-room, and if you keep making edits like that someone will block you. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:55, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    What do you do when someone (an ip editor) has provided their real name and address on a talk page?

    Someone asked to cancel a service on that service's page saying they wish to cancel their subscription, with their full name and address visible. I'm not going to link it here for obvious reasons, but what is the correct procedure? Does it need to be deleted from the edit history as well or not, since its not a user revealing another users information, its a user volunarily giving information about themselves? MarkiPoli (talk) 11:08, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    User:MarkiPoli, email the oversight team. See WP:OS for more. Folly Mox (talk) 11:13, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Since it's personally identifiable information, it will need to be suppressed for the safety of the individual involved, even though it doesn't breach WP:OUTING since it's not tied to a Wikipedia account name. Folly Mox (talk) 11:14, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Ok, I will do that. I was a little confused because WP:OUTING doesn't say anything about an editor accidentally or deliberately posting their own information. Is there any specific policy regarding this? MarkiPoli (talk) 11:27, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    User:MarkiPoli, yes: WP:OSPOL, number 1. Folly Mox (talk) 12:55, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Yes, please ensure you send a request to the oversight email when you see instances of editors posting addresses, telephone numbers and other personally identifying information on Wikipedia (speaking with my oversighter hat on).-- Ponyobons mots 19:29, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    List not ordered

    All info in List of unsolved murders in Canada is just randomly added instead of chronologically. Can someone please put these in chronological order because it looks amateurish and ugly this way. Aquatic Ambiance (talk) 14:18, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    The article isn't protected. You can be bold and edit it yourself! ThatOneWolf (talk|contribs) 14:48, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @Aquatic Ambiance: Or, you can click on the up arrow in the Year column header to sort the table. GoingBatty (talk) 06:28, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Citing throughout a multivolume work

    Hi! I want to elegantly use this new work throughout a few articles, but it's in eight (relatively brief) volumes, and it doesn't seem likely that page numbers for the omnibus version would be helpful. Is there a canonical way of an inline citation that just bundles the volume and page number? I didn't see one. Remsense聊 14:59, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Here is a cite to a multi-volume series with a two-part treatment of a single area (Battersea) with chapters separately number in online PDFs - if you look at the source, you should be able to pick out the bits that are needed for your reference. (I admit it took me months to get it into this shape.)
    Saint, Andrew; Thom, Colin (2013). "Chapter 8: Industry" (PDF). Battersea. Part 1:Public, Commercial and Cultural. Survey of London. Vol. 49. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-300-19616-0. Retrieved 20 March 2023. -- Verbarson  talkedits 15:42, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    (edit conflict){{sfn|Xiang|2023|loc=vol 5, p 234}}[1] for example? [Dummy citation to remove big red error! Xiang (2023), A Brief History of the Chinese Language] Martin of Sheffield (talk) 15:49, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Thank you and @Verbarson, I think I'm going to go with the {{sfn|loc=}} method for now. Remsense聊 16:11, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    References

    1. ^ Xiang 2023, vol 5, p 234.

    I have a question about the reference desk.

    Question asked, and answered. Wikipedia is not social media. Reference desks are for asking questions only.
    The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

    Is off topic things allowed on the Miscellaneous part of the reference desk? —The Industrial Me 1563 (talk) 16:55, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @The Industrial Me 1563: Ask on its talk page. Remember that all responders are volunteers, so even if you ask an OT question, and even if the community thinks it's OK to do so, nobody is obliged to respond. -Arch dude (talk) 18:02, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Is OT questions allowed on the talk page of the Miscellaneous part of the reference desk? Yes or no? —The Industrial Me 1563 (talk) 18:42, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    By definition the Miscellaneous desk is for topics not covered by the other desks. So I suppose it depends what you mean by "off topic". DuncanHill (talk) 18:47, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Would I get blocked if I publish any OT questions on the Miscellaneous desk or it’s talk page? And, what if we have a dedicated off topic form on Wikipedia and Wikipedia Commons? —The Industrial Me 1563 (talk) 18:52, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Neither Wikipedia nor Commons have 'off topic forums'. That isn't the purpose of the project. AndyTheGrump (talk) 19:08, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    All of the Reference desks are for asking factual questions. I cannot imagine any factual question that would be "off-topic", although obviously facecious, libellous, provocative or obscene questions will receive short shrift (meaning 4.).
    Questions about how to edit/use Wikipedia can be asked at the Teahouse (for beginners) or the Help desk (for more experienced users).
    The only other thing to remember is that Wikipedia is not social media, and is not intended for idle chat.
    Outside of those parameters, and at the risk of tempting fate, what, The Industrial Me 1563, would you consider to be a hypothetical example of an "off-topic question"? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.2.5.208 (talk) 19:15, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    My hypothetical off topic question would be “Click on the link!” and it would take you to a rickroll. Anyways, should I trust that IP or ignore them? —The Industrial Me 1563 (talk) 19:31, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    if you were supposed to categorically ignore IPs, they wouldn't be allowed to post. Remsense聊 19:33, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Implementing a template on Wikipedia

    Are there any tech experts out there that might have a clue on how to approach the topic at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)#Implementation of Template:Refideas editnotice? BOZ (talk) 16:59, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Hamas

    Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the US and most democratic governments and responsible people. Please make this correction. Blandy28 (talk) 19:52, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @Blandy28: Please see MOS:TERRORIST. Tollens (talk) 20:05, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    From the WP:LEAD of Hamas: "The group's attacks, including suicide bombings against civilian targets and indiscriminate rocket attacks, have led many countries and academics to designate Hamas a terrorist organization." In the article. you find Hamas#Terrorist_designation. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 09:02, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Have you made a specific request or recommendation at Talk:Hamas? —Tamfang (talk) 03:58, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Multiref anchors

    Do any of the multiref bundle templates support adding a name ID so that they may be anchored using something like Template:SfnRef? Krisgabwoosh (talk) 20:37, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    User:Krisgabwoosh, I think Template:R is capable of the functionality it seems like you're asking about.
    It's not super clear whether you're trying to reuse a bundled reference (which can also be done by wrapping {{harvnb}}s inside a pair of <ref> tags with the |name= parameter set), or whether you're asking if {{sfnmp}} will read a full citation's |ref= parameter that has been customised with {{sfnref}} (which it does). Folly Mox (talk) 16:07, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    My intention is the have one ref lead to two different citations. Something like this[1] highlighting two websites (presumably bundled) in the references section. Krisgabwoosh (talk) 01:07, 12 November 2023 (UTC) Krisgabwoosh (talk) 01:07, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    References

    1. ^ Ref 1 2015.

    Skipped a step in merge process

    I performed a merge of Biologics for immunosuppression into Biological response modifiers earlier, and in following WP:PROMERGE I provided the wrong copyright-required edit summary on the actual moving of content. I followed up on Biological response modifiers with a dummy edit with the required edit summary, which hopefully is fine. But, since Biologics for immunosuppression was made a redirect, when I try to make a dummy edit with the copyright-required edit summary, it's not appearing in that page's history. Kimen8 (talk) 21:04, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    User:Kimen8, {{R from Merge}}, which you correctly added in the BLAR, provides the text necessary for license compliance on the redirect page itself. Folly Mox (talk) 16:11, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Wonderful, thanks. Kimen8 (talk) 16:26, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Mobile media viewer caption issue

    The caption for this image in the mobile version of MediaViewer is currently some weird string of code (see below). Any ideas on how to fix this?

    Thanks, Andumé (talk) 21:08, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @I Am Andumé: A similar case was reported 25 October at phab:T211444. Until a patch is made and deployed, a possible fix here would be to only have pure text in the image caption at Fourth Geneva Convention#Part I. General provisions, but I don't think we should do that. It's useful to most readers to have the legend in the caption. If we move it outside the caption then it may not be moved back in when the bug has been fixed. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:59, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for the answer. I agree that the legend should be kept in the caption (after all, you can still see it properly outside of MediaViewer). Andumé (talk) 22:40, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Is there a bot that can do this task?

    The Organized crime task force and the Serial killer task force banners recently got added to the banner of Template:WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography using parameters. The previous banners (as wrappers of the new one with the parameters) were mass substituted. This has left ~6700 (see Category:Unknown-importance Crime-related articles, not counting ones that didn't have an initial basic crime importance) duplicates, that have both the original crime importance and task force importance but split between two duplicate banners. Is there any bot that can merge the importance values on the pages that have both templates so there aren't so many duplicates? Of course the ones that were not initially tagged with the original crime ones will have to be manually tagged as they don't have the basic importance parameter, but that's 500 which isn't as bad.

    Sorry if I didn't explain this well D: PARAKANYAA (talk) 22:37, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @PARAKANYAA: Hi there! Try asking at Wikipedia:Bot requests. Happy editing! GoingBatty (talk) 06:27, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    November 11

    Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Winchilsea

    Ref 6 is in red, please repair if able - thanks 58.179.137.31 (talk) 04:07, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

     Fixed Tollens (talk) 04:59, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Request for easier access

    FYI
     – Added section header. GoingBatty (talk) 06:23, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    I suport Wikipedia by buying "Wikipedia pens, mugs, TShirts... etc But it difficult to find any link to the site. Should make it easier to access for seasonal shoppers and generate community spirit. Even this "Help Desk" seemed to create more hurdles with "log in" & "create an account"... Wikipedia has to be more demcratic and allow for "Techo-peasants"! 2607:FEA8:5661:6F00:DD73:A368:BEBD:179E (talk) 06:17, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi there! What specific changes do you have in mind? GoingBatty (talk) 06:24, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I'm not sure what site you mean. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. It does not sell mugs etc. Where are you buying them from? I stand to be corrected but as far as I can determine no Wikipedia merchandise is sold to support Wikipedia financially. You are only supporting the manufacturer and the retailer. Shantavira|feed me 09:35, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    They may be referring to https://store.wikimedia.org/ 331dot (talk) 09:46, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Thank you for the link. It was indeed difficult to find. Shantavira|feed me 13:30, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Warning for anyone outside of the USA from the FAQ: "We cannot provide any customs clearance estimates, but in most cases, shipments may spend anywhere from one to three days in customs. IMPORTANT: Any customs or import duties are charged once the order reaches its destination country and must be paid by the recipient of the order". Martin of Sheffield (talk) 14:16, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Articles by size

    I am interested in finding small Good and Featured Articles. Is there a way of searching for Good and Featured Articles with fewer than 10,000 bytes for example? Ykraps (talk) 08:50, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @Ykraps: Yes, the PetScan tool can do this. It can scan the articles in a category testing various page properties, including the length of the page in bytes. -- John of Reading (talk) 08:56, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @John of Reading: Thanks. It took some working out but I have managed to get what I want. Do you know if there is a way of linking those results or saving them so I can show them to someone else? --Ykraps (talk) 09:56, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @Ykraps The simplest thing to show someone would be Wikipedia:Wikipedia records#Articles (although that only lists the absolute record). Mike Turnbull (talk) 10:47, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @Ykraps: Have a look at the Petscan "Output" tab. You could try selecting "Wiki" format, which returns the results in a format that you could paste into a Wikipedia sandbox, or "Plain text", which just sticks the article names out one per line. -- John of Reading (talk) 12:23, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks both. --Ykraps (talk) 10:29, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Bundle AfD help

    I have started an AfD discussion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The Natural History of Fear. There are around 100 other articles in the same collection as this audio drama which I also believe fail to meet WP:GNG. These are listed at Doctor Who: The Monthly Adventures. I am aware of WP:BUNDLE, but is there an easier way to bulk nominate articles for deletion discussion? It will take me some time to go through every article and add a deletion tag linking back to the deletion discussion of The Natural History of Fear. Thanks! Torpedoi (talk) 09:21, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Search inside Wikipedia

    Firefox browser, Windows 7 Pro 64bit. On the main page of Wikipedia clock on the "search" icon or Alt+Shift+f does not get any results. Which make search in Wikipedia impossible. Jrvladr (talk) 10:47, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @Jrvladr You may have to click on the magnifying glass icon to open the search box. If that doesn't work, then the link Special:Search will. Mike Turnbull (talk) 10:51, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Gyros in Greece Have No Lettuce

    Hello, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyros The cardinal for this site keeps changing the edited part on gyros in Greece where it talks about lettuce. I've lived there, travel back there regularly, and have had hundreds of gyros from all over the country. There is rarely if ever any lettuce in them. Perhaps that person looked at pictures that have parsley in a gyro. Only rarely is there a strand of lettuce included in the toppings. Here's an example of a site with the list of ingredients that are traditional (toppings include tomato, onion, tzatziki): https://www.itinari.com/a-guide-to-ordering-gyros-in-greece-xfr8

    Please leave the "lettuce (rarely)" part, and then don't let the editor change the part where tzatziki is added "sometimes." It's been on 100% of gyros I've had. The person editing this page has clearly not been to Greece. Thanks! 24.180.80.253 (talk) 11:36, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    I have no idea what a gyro is, or a cardinal, but the place to discuss edits to an article is the talk page of that article. Bear in mind that Wikipedia simply reports what reliable sources say, not what you know from your personal experience. Shantavira|feed me 13:35, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Hostile UI

    I can not understand why do you keep updating (and in fact downgrading) your layouts. It is becoming more and more difficult to use wikipedia for someone who uses many languages. I have already changed my layout to monobook, but recently I noticed that when you try to change language of an article, you can no longer just pick one from alphabetically organised list, but you have to click "show X more" and fight with this clownish crap. Why supposed geographical origin of a language is more important to you than users convenience? It is such a shame that wikipedia contributes to this onepager internet madness. Mewczak (talk) 12:54, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    The UI changes on Wikipedia are pretty deliberative and do not remind me at all of the haphazard, arguably unethical process that other major websites use. Unfortunately it's not to everyone's taste, but design trends hold sway and go out of fashion, that's the nature of media. This ultimately what the web being a dynamic format enables, unfortunately. Remsense聊 12:57, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    You are right, I have overstated the similarity between wiki and other websites - it is certainly pretty far from suboptimal solutions in other places (because fortunately money is not in the game I guess). And at least the possibility to change your layout remains! Mewczak (talk) 13:11, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Okay problem solved I just learned that you can uncheck "use a compact language list" in your preferences. But I guess I will never learn why one has to put more and more effort (being logged in, changing preferences) to use webpages reasonably and why does wikipedia comfort to this AI dictatorship. Why in the hell would I care what is a guess of a computer about what language I prefer? What is going to be next? Mabe chat-like responses instead of articles, just like in google search engine? Mewczak (talk) 13:03, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    It's impossible to have a design layout that everyone on this planet likes, which is why accounts may choose older skins, though that is technically challenging (though possible) to enable for users without accounts. The current default skin was the result of much study, testing, and debate. Please see WP:VECTOR2022 for more information. 331dot (talk) 13:14, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    BND-Archive

    Hi Folks!! What is the copyright status of military images from the BND-Archive, the Bundesarchiv. I've found an image I would like to use. Are they public domain per chance? scope_creepTalk 14:57, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @Scope creep: check first if it has already been imported to Commons: c:Category:Images from the German Federal Archive. The ones in Commons have a CC-BY-SA-3.0 license. MKFI (talk) 15:22, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @MKFI: I found a Heinrich Reiser and thought that was it, but it was a man from the 19th century. For a second I thought I was sorted. Would the image be automatically under the CC-BY-SA-3.0 license. scope_creepTalk 15:31, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    On the signature it states:- BND-Archiv, Signatur P1/2831/1_OT, Bl. 170. I tried to find it in the archive but couldn't. Would somebody be able to find it and check if the image licences with a pd image. I could email them right enough. It is the Heinrich Reiser image here: [2] scope_creepTalk 15:40, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I've emailed them. scope_creepTalk 15:46, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Update a parent’s name

    On List of Frausters: Richard Whitney: the correct name of his mother is: Nellie Gertrude Merrill. I got this info from Website: Family Search. MaryKay2788 (talk) 15:34, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @MaryKay2788: More information needed for that citation, and you should be posting this on the talk page of the article you have a concern with. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 15:46, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Please discuss this on Talk:Richard Whitney (financier). It is not clear from the citations whether or not his mother's name is found in the sources given (and they are not online) but I rather doubt it: so it may indeed be wrong (it seems to say that both his mother and his father were Whitneys, which is of course possible, but unusual).
    However, Family Search is pretty clearly an aggregation of data from differentl places, and does not count as a reliable source. In WP:Reliable sources/Noticeboard/Archive 250#FamilySearch and LDS historical figures, an editor said Family Search is just a collection of user created data mixed up with primary sources. It is not a reliable source - no competent professional genealogist would use an entry from Family Search for anything. Instead, you go to the sources that should be cited in the Family Search entry and verify them before considering the information reliable.
    Personally, I think there is far too much detail about Whitney's family in the article anyway. ColinFine (talk) 18:12, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Proper usage of the ellipsis marks

    Hello. There seem to be different styles of using the ellipsis marks. Does WP use any standardized version. I wrote most of the article on Paul Martin (illustrator). Is my usage of the marks acceptable in these examples from that article:

    Stories of To-day and Yesterday ..., Frederick Houk Law, editor, February 1930. [My notes: The book title is very long, so only the first five words are stated. Space, three dots, comma.]

    "entered a huge, bright room ... This was my uncle's studio. ... Although my uncle" [My notes: This is a cut-out excerpt of a paragraph long, direct quote. The second sentence ends after the word "studio", hence the reason for the period.]

    "Overflowing pep and energy is expressed ...." [My notes: Direct quote. Space, four dots. The sentence does not end after the word "expressed." The full sentence goes, "Overflowing pep and energy is expressed by the youngster in the picture." The fourth dot is the period that ends the sentence.]

    Thanks, JimPercy (talk) 15:35, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Wikipedia does have stylistic guidance on this topic, yes, accessible via the charmingly named shortcut MOS:.... Folly Mox (talk) 15:42, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    It just doesn't go into enough detail beyond the basics. It might be helpful to know if any of my three examples look "off." JimPercy (talk) 15:59, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I'm not able to give an assessment based off the MOS, but since you asked if they look off, I can provide a personal opinion:
    All of the examples you brought here look ok. I've also truncated extremely long book titles (fashionable in the 1800s and thenabouts) without the use of ellipses.
    In the article itself, the ellipses used in excerpts seem like they could sometimes be replaced with quote marks and commas. For example, reference 30 (Ossining Citizen-Sentinel, 1932). You have a lot of ellipses separating unconnected facts published in the source. Since these are unconnected, you could make each excerpt its own quote, and separate them with commas (or full stops, or semicolons). You could also remove the excerpts entirely: it's not necessary to list out all the original text that is used to support article prose.
    Reference 29 feels a bit heavy-handed: you have "New ... Old" linking a source titled "The New Testament and the Old".
    In reference 50, you've used ellipsis to elide "(Inc.)" from the business name "R. L. Polk & Co. (Inc.)" (according to the source provided). "(Inc.)" could easily be dropped without ellipsis.
    On a somewhat related note, you've cited R. L. Polk & Co.'s Trow General Directory of New York City, Embracing the Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, sometimes with ellipsis following "New York City", sometimes not. It would be easier if this source were placed in a Sources subsection, so you could refer to it by a shortened term.
    I didn't make it through all 315 citations, and only really skimmed the ones I looked at, but someone here or at Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style may have further input. Folly Mox (talk) 16:50, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Ref. 30. I reworked it, getting rid of some of the ellipses, to make it less confusing or read smoother. I prefer keeping the text in there, since columns on illustrators before WWII are rare (unless among the most famous). Ref. 29. The usage of three dots there does seem odd. I changed those two keywords and deleted the ellipsis. Regarding: R. L. Polk. That will be a harder one to work on. The official title always seemed long, and the ending part of the title didn't remain constant. Thanks, JimPercy (talk) 23:04, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    English = No gaps
    American = Gaps
    English = No dots in acronyms.
    American = Dots everywhere, especially in acronyms.
    English = Quotation marks go outside commas and full-stops.
    American = Quotation marks go inside commas and full-stops.
    Worldwide English = Ellipsis should only have 3 dots, not 4 or more. Danstarr69 (talk) 20:26, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Right. Four dots are not good. I got rid of the extra dot in one of the above sentences. Re. "Overflowing pep and energy." Thanks, JimPercy (talk) 23:04, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    My training as a UK desk editor differs in places from Danstarr69's 'English' above. According to Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers at the University Press Oxford (OUP 39th Edition 1983):
    (p44) Marks of omission
    "To mark omitted words three points . . . (not asterisks) separated by normal space of line are sufficient; and the practice should be uniform throughout the work."
    "When three points are used at the end of a complete sentence a fourth full point should not be added (unless the incomplete sentence is a quotation within an overall sentence, when the normal sentence point will be added after the final quotation mark); normal space of line should proceded the first full point. But where the sentence is complete, the closing point is set close up, followed by three points for omission."
    (p45) Relative placing of quotation marks and punctuation
    "All signs of punctuation used with words in quotation marks must be placed according to the sense. If an extract ends with a point or exclamation or interrogation sign, let that point be included before the quotation mark; but not otherwise. When there is one quotation within another, and both end with the sentence, put the punctuation mark before the first of the closing quotation marks."
    Hope this is of relevance, though not necessarily identical to Wikipedia's MoS. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.2.5.208 (talk) 00:11, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Can't log in

    I never saw a place to create a "User Name" so assumed it would be my email address. I contributed $10 to Wikipedia so I could use it. I'm a teacher and assumed that this would be a good resource but if I can't log in - there isn't even "forgot my password" message ... I'm sorry I spent the $$$ 2603:6081:8F02:DB32:5541:FFCD:4C41:AB55 (talk) 16:38, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    You do not need to create an account to use (or edit) Wikipedia, neither is any payment required. Should you wish to create an account there are certain advantages. Please read the instructions at Wikipedia:Create an account. You cannot set your email address as your user name. Shantavira|feed me 16:54, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    There's no need to donate to the Wikimedia Foundation in order to use Wikipedia (or any of the other projects Wikimedia hosts). Creating an account is free, but donations are not tied to accounts in any way, for privacy reasons. Donating to Wikimedia does not grant an account any special privileges or access. Folly Mox (talk) 16:54, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I suspect you gave your email address as contact information when you donated and never created a Wikipedia account. It's different and independent processes. You can create an account at Special:CreateAccount. It's linked on a button on the login screen. PrimeHunter (talk) 17:39, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Just for completeness, @2603:6081:8F02:DB32:5541:FFCD:4C41:AB55|2603:6081:8F02:DB32:5541:FFCD:4C41:AB55 , the "reset password" page is Special:PasswordReset. Victor Schmidt (talk) 07:30, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    November 12

    Article review plus input on possible vandalism. What to do?

    Hello, after reverting a possible vandalism link insertion on ZeroGPT, I noticed suspect and false citations (https://www.sociobits.org/2023/03/gpt-zero-a-tool-to-recognise-texts-written-by-ai/12260) I flagged for deletion but think it would be better if the article was moved to drafts.


    Also, this user User:Mackgrav seems to have add a link to a competing service (https://hix.ai/gpt4 |website=HIX.ai), rather than an actual reputable and reliable source. I am new here but trying to really help this community and would like advice. I have warned the user. Comintell (talk) 03:11, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Removing the link and the message you put on their talk page seem reasonable to me. PiGuy3 (talk) 03:14, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks! Comintell (talk) 03:27, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I think the message is reasonable, Comintell, but please be aware that vandalism has a specific meaning in Wikipedia: it means editing intended to damage Wikipedia. Promotional editing, even spamming, is not necessarily vandalism: they may be well-intentioned, but just not understand quite what Wikipedia is. ColinFine (talk) 19:12, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    What's going on with the ref desk archives?!

    I tried to look up some questions that were supposed to be archived from early November, but they were nowhere to be found -- the archives only run until October 31, and there is nothing after that point (even though questions from early November were supposed to be archived automatically)! What's going on, and when can we expect these questions to be recovered??? 2601:646:9882:46E0:C195:DC40:D019:40A6 (talk) 09:01, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Pinging scs.  --Lambiam 10:09, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Except for the Computing section, where there was nothing yet to be archived, the November 2023 archives had been created, but, for some reason unknown to me, the links to these archives had not been made accessible through page Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives. I have now added them (manually, on page Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Answered questions).  --Lambiam 10:37, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I see now that they were always added by User:CiaPan, not by a bot as I expected. The entries are actually already present but commented out in the HTML code. The "adding" consists of the undoing of the commenting-out of the entries in the column for a new month. Rather than each month undoing the commenting-out for one column, it may be easier, when adding a section for the new year, not to comment out any months. The links to the month archives will then initially all be red, but I think this is harmless.  --Lambiam 11:07, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Yes, that part of the archiving task has always been manual.
    Oblivious me, I didn't even know who was taking care of it. Thanks to @CiaPan: and now @Lambiam: for their assistance. —scs (talk) 12:31, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks a million to all 3 of you! 2601:646:9882:46E0:14C6:F9B5:5479:2A27 (talk) 03:17, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @Lambiam, Scs, and PrimeHunter: Thank you all for taking care of the archives index. Hopefully I will continue updating it with the next month turn. CiaPan (talk) 13:23, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Cecaelia

    Hi, there are some instances in en.wiki of the fan word Cecaelia, indicating a fictional human-octopus hybrid. Is it acceptable?-- Carnby (talk) 10:11, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @Carnby It will depend on context. Taking the Chesley Awards, it seems an artist called his work that. Assuming that's correct, what problem do you see? The List_of_hybrid_creatures_in_folklore#Modern_fiction example seems fine too IMO, though I haven't checked the source. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:21, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    In Ursula (The Little Mermaid) and Descendants 2 it doesn't seem correct, IMHO. The characters weren't called this way.-- Carnby (talk) 10:30, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I see 3 uses in the Ursula article. IMO, the Ursula_(The_Little_Mermaid)#Part_of_Your_World:_A_Twisted_Tale one is ok-ish, but it doesn't justify the other 2, the use by Braswell doesn't justify the use by WP in this case. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 11:52, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Apparently, there's also Octopan (non-RS source). Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 12:16, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    See also Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Cecaelia and Wiktionary:cecaelia.  --Lambiam 10:42, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I am reminded of Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Great spider. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 11:46, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Scylla is probably related. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 11:58, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    I want to ask how to make an information box for weapon.

    Hi Wikipedia editors, and administrators too, in the article SIG MCX Spear, there is no summary box. How should I insert the code to keep the box appear. Thanks. 2001:EE0:4BC2:9B40:8C60:E4FE:CDA3:8239 (talk) 11:28, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    See Template:Infobox weapon.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 11:37, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    How come the right sidebar has vanished? Is that permanent or something that is merely optional, wherein each user could opt to show/hide it as they choose? I noticed it when I was on actors'/films' articles, and didn't have quick links on the side to jump over to the Media/Commons or Quotes. Please let me know. Thanks. --Cinemaniac86TalkStalk 11:52, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @Cinemaniac86: Look for a menu saying "Tools" at the top right. It has a "move to sidebar" option. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:05, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Aha! Thank you @PrimeHunter, you rock. Enjoy your day. Rather, enjoy my birthday! --Cinemaniac86TalkStalk 17:28, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    my hotmail account

    I cannot get hotmail email as I normally do. I ask google for hotmail and it usually goes to Outlook.com I then press ok and I then fill in my email and password as requested and then I access my emails. Today I am taken to wikipedia with a load of waffle as far as I'm concerned and I don't appear to have an way to get to my emails! Can you please explain what is going on. thank you 2A02:C7C:3E29:C200:2F7:9DA7:E483:F1E2 (talk) 12:41, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Google search results give a high position to the Wikipedia article Outlook.com which is an encyclopedia article about outlook.com. Try the actual website https://outlook.com. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:58, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Searching Wikipedia using wildcards to find people with certain initials

    I'm interested in finding a list of notable people with certain initials. I've been all over the search FAQ's, and I understand * stands for any string of characters not at the beginning of a word. But searching on "B* C*" does not give anything useful. Any suggestions?

    71.214.71.49 (talk) 15:54, 12 November 2023 (UTC)Erich[reply]

    Special:Search does support regular expressions, but my poor old brain has forgotten too much about them to provide you with a functional search string. Someone at WP:RD/C will probably have an answer for you. Folly Mox (talk) 17:33, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Hi Erich. The search box in the default vector 22 skin is pretty clever. You can just type in the initials you are looking for with spaces in between (and no * character) and you'll be likely to find the correct biography if it exists. So "A J B" for example gives ten suggestions. Mike Turnbull (talk) 17:46, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    The search box has some limitations which makes it poorly suited for this. Here is instead a search at https://grep.toolforge.org. It's for all articles and cannot be limited to people. PrimeHunter (talk) 19:44, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Chinese Politburo Articles Redux

    I raised this issue on October 31 and was advised to take it to "the talk page" before pursuing dispute resolution. Since it relates to an entire series of articles there is no particular "the talk page" on which to debate the matter on an article-content level. The user TheUzbek in recent months undertook to start Politburo Standing Committee articles for each iteration thereof and simultaneously delete any hint of which members of any successive Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party served on its standing committee. Having attempted to restore a bare bolding of the names of PSC members in one instance and been promptly reverted with a comment that there was no reason to include this information I mentioned the matter here. As I strongly believe that the inclusion of this information is absolutely standard (I have almanacs dating back to the 1970s and Statesman's Yearbooks from the 1990s that never fail to indicate which members of a Politburo are in its inner circle when a list is given) and being forced to follow a link to a PSC article for any hint is a nuisance, days later I went through and put back the bolding on the 16th/17th/18th/19th/20th Politburos and when he started reverting me posted to TheUzbek's talk page. TheUzbek responded that I was trying to force my opinion against a consensus that began when he deleted the always-previously-present information from the articles.

    I can not see any way the Politburo articles are improved by enforcing the lack of any indication of which members are on the Standing Committee and believe they are better with it included. The "third opinion" option on "Dispute resolution" appears geared to single articles rather than series. Can someone else please look over the issue in toto? 71.105.190.227 (talk) 16:49, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    71, I'm looking into this now. It is difficult to open a discoverable discussion when the topic is spread out over multiple pages, so I'll try going "one level up" to find a good spot for it. I have some separate notes about the formatting on the Politburo pages that I'd like to bring up with the user who has undertaken the tabulation formatting on these pages. I'll notify around whenever I've posted the discussion opener. Folly Mox (talk) 17:30, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I left out any mention of my own stylistic concerns with table formatting for now, and opened a discussion at Talk:Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party § Should Standing Committee members be indicated on individual Politburo articles? Hopefully a consensus can be found. Folly Mox (talk) 18:37, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Archive

    How can I create an archive to store all my discussions? They are beginning to be too many. JackkBrown (talk) 17:16, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @JackkBrown: Hi there! See Help:Archiving a talk page. GoingBatty (talk) 17:22, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Help:Archiving (plain and simple) Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 18:13, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Transcluding tables

    Is there a way to transclude only a certain amount of rows of a table from a different page? I doubt it, but it would be useful if that was possible, so I thought I would ask. PARAKANYAA (talk) 20:28, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Not really. Transclusion inserts a whole page in another. You could in principle put the rest of the table in <noinclude> ... </noinclude> tags and include the whole page, but I'm not sure how that would interact with table formatting.
    You could also possible cut and past the part of the table that was to be transcluded into a template, which could get transcluded in both places; but again, I'm not sure how that would interact with table formatting, and it would make editing the source page harder. ColinFine (talk) 20:44, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    I think labeled section transclusion should be able to handle individual table rows without breaking the formatting of the source table or destination table, but may be confusing both to implement and to edit afterwards.
    Doing the "shared rows" template thing mentioned just above would work as well, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if such a template ended up at TfD within a few months, and then substed back into the destination articles. Folly Mox (talk) 21:03, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    First reference: "Error 404. Page not found. Go back to the homepage"

    On the pecorino sardo page, the first reference does not work. JackkBrown (talk) 21:02, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Archive retrieved. Folly Mox (talk) 21:06, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @Folly Mox: thank you very much for this. JackkBrown (talk) 21:10, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    JackkBrown, you can find archives for deadlinked sources by following the instructions at WP:LINKROT. I have almost no success with archives other than Internet Archive, so I'll usually just try that one. I copy the dead url, go to https://web.archive.org/, and paste the link into the search bar. Usually, there's an archive, because URLs inside citation templates on Wikipedia are added to Internet Archive by an automated process. Most of the time, the first available archive will have the content that supports the article prose citing it. Sometimes, the earliest archive will already be a 404 or usurped domain, so the citation can be tagged with {{dead link}}. Very rarely, you'll need to check the |access-date= of the deadlinked citation to determine which archive snapshot is appropriate to source the content. Dead links shouldn't just be removed: please tag them instead if you're unable to fix them or find an alternative source. Folly Mox (talk) 21:13, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Putting in a external ref when the URL has spaces

    Specifically, a page in the Russian Wikipedia: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Андросов, Валерий Владимирович. The external link machine assumes that "Валерий Владимирович", coming after a space, is a comment. The spaces are necessary. Squeezing them out or replacing them with underlines doesn't work. This is for a talk page, to be used inline, so {{translated page}} can't be used (altho it surely contains code to handle this), and doesn't point to any template that could. Herostratus (talk) 21:54, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Have you tried replacing them with %20? That's the standard for URL escaping. Folly Mox (talk) 22:17, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Oh, sorry, what you're actually looking for is [[:ru:Андросов, Валерий Владимирович]], which produces ru:Андросов, Валерий Владимирович. Folly Mox (talk) 22:19, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    H:IW for the deets. Folly Mox (talk) 22:22, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    @Herostratus: Please always link pages where you have a problem. I don't know the circumstances or what you mean by "The external link machine" but underscores work fine in all situations I know: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Андросов,_Валерий_Владимирович. %20 also works: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Андросов,%20Валерий%20Владимирович. A wikilink can keep the spaces: ru:Андросов, Валерий Владимирович. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:55, 12 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Well boy howdy, you're right. I must have made a typo or something when I put in the underscores. Oof, sorry for bothering you. Carry on, and fear no evil. The page in question is Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Valery Androsov. Herostratus (talk) 01:44, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    November 13

    Edit-a-protected-page button

    When you visit a protected page, you're shown a "View Source" tab instead of "Edit", and when you click it, you're given a button to make an edit request. There's no button if the talk page is also protected. There's a link to Wikipedia:Requests for page protection/Edit in the resulting message, but it's in a paragraph and less obvious. How could this be converted into a button like the one used when the talk page is not protected? 123.51.107.94 (talk) 00:37, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    I don't think we should do that. If the talk page is protected then it may be because the edit request button was repeatedly abused to post unwanted junk on the talk page. Let's not replace it with a similar button so the same junk can easily be posted to Wikipedia:Requests for page protection/Edit. That page cannot serve its purpose if it has to be protected so it seems OK to "protect" it a bit by requiring people to actually read a few instructions before going there. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:08, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Deletion of text

    An editor decided my unpublished article infringed copyrighted material. The editor deleted 90% of my article, destroying hours of my work. I cannot undo this destruction. Given that my article was unpublished, it seems to me that I should have had an opportunity to address the alleged copyright issues before most of my article was deleted.Sylvan1971 (talk) 05:29, 13 November 2023 (UTC)Sylvan1971 (talk) 05:27, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    User:Sylvan1971, given your background I won't spout policy at you. You may have luck requesting an admin at WP:RFU to email you a copy of the draft at the time it was revdelled. Folly Mox (talk) 05:32, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    For clarity though, anything saved to Wikipedia is technically "published", no matter what namespace it is in. WP:RFU also specifically states it will not provide copyvio material, which I misremembered. Folly Mox (talk) 05:38, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Sylvan1971, this is exactly the reason why the "Save" button was changed to "Publish" a while back. Every page in Wikipedia - Userspace, Draft space, everything - is publicly readable and so "published", and copyright infringement is not permitted anywhere.
    As a practical note, starting with copyright material and trying to edit it to make it acceptable sounds to me like an extremely unproductive and risky way of working - it is likely to lead to close paraphrasing. Though it is an entirely different issue from Writing Wikipedia articles backwards, it is similar in that what you are doing is starting with something unacceptable and trying to massage it into something acceptable. In both cases, it is possible, but difficult and much more work than the recommended approach. ColinFine (talk) 12:12, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Russian labels have been randomly showing up as placemarks on Google Earth all of a sudden. I tried turning off some layers and no success until I turned off Wikipedia. I love both GE and Wikipedia. I hope you can fix this. Andrew AMorgan (talk) 07:07, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    I want to make my own user page can anyone help

    pls help XUnknown Entity (talk) 08:28, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    You've already made your user page- User:XUnknown Entity. 331dot (talk) 08:39, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    And please don't ask the same question in multiple places. ColinFine (talk) 12:13, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    Hello, I am trying to make a wikipedia page for my college.

    My page is just being deleted because of the lack of the secondary sources. I have added the secondary sources what else should I do? BibekChand (talk) 08:57, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    BibekChand You should first stop attempting to edit the redirect. The best way to create a new article is to use the submission process via the Article Wizard. You will need to first gather the independent reliable sources you have and then summarize what they say- your attempt did not do that. See WP:BACKWARD. 331dot (talk) 09:03, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
    Reminder: Kantipur Engineering College is currently nominated for deletion. 🛧Midori No Sora♪🛪 ( ☁＝☁＝✈) 10:45, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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