Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2019 July 18

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July 18

Editing Template:Chem molar mass/format/sandbox

I'm trying to change parameter 2 of Template:Val from ({{{uncertainty_to_use|}}}) to {{{uncertainty|}}} at the top section of the page, but each time I try, I get an error message that says Syntax error in JSON (help). I've tried reloading the page then making my edit again repeatedly. I then tried clicking Publish changes without making any edits first, and I got the same error message. Is there anything with my computer or browser that could be causing this, and could someone else please make the edit for me?

TemplateData, that delicate thing, had, (I think) an extra closing brace (}). I removed it and save the ~/doc page without getting the (more-or-less useless) error message. Try again.

—Trappist the monk (talk) 00:54, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Book title alphabetized under 'The'

I created a page for the book The Day That Went Missing and I am doing some editing on it while it waits to be reviewed. I discovered that on the Category pages where the book titles are listed alphabetically, it is listed under "T" for "The", rather than under "D" for "Day". Other books titles are properly listed - how do I get it to ignore the first word when alphabetizing? Thanks. Lilipo25 (talk) 01:51, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

See WP:Sorting. --David Biddulph (talk) 01:55, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Thank you - that solved it! Lilipo25 (talk) 02:50, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

I'll try to make a long story short...

I started adding some minor factlets to the William Leonard Hunt article regarding his "adopted" (a story in itself) son. Some of which seemed implausible, so I checked other sources to verify, resulting in discovering additional bits of info that I also added, ending up with this diff (which also includes some clarification of previous info). At this point I was surprised that his son, being quite famous in his day didn't have his own article (which would be Lulu Farini). So I redlinked it and decided to request an article creation. I believed that as an IP, I was not able do it myself and would simply put the request on a list with a brief description and some sources -- I've done that before.

However, I somehow ended up actually editing a draft article; you can now reach it by clicking on the red Lulu Farini link. The subject turns out to be rather complicated. For one thing, it relates to a famous traveling performer from late 18th / early 19th century and the contemporary accounts from that era tend to be sensational and contradictory. It doesn't help that s/he was known by at least 14 names (and two-ish genders -- another long story). At the moment the draft is not much more than a semi-organized collection of factlets and sources; some of which might be dubious.

The bottom line is... This article a bit much for a 1st-timer, and I can't just whip-up a publishable stub in a day or so by myself. To make matters worse, I'll be leaving soon for an extended period, with little or no spare time for tracking down reliable sources, sorting out conflicting information, uncertain timelines, etc.

Anyway ... since this is a help desk ... Help!    Sincerely, —107.15.157.44 (talk) 05:00, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Comment by the way, you can access the draft via Draft:Lulu Farini. OkayKenji ^{(talk page)} 05:02, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

The page has possibilities. Before you 'disappear' perhaps you could assign the sources you have found, to statements in the the content that they support. Thank you. Eagleash (talk) 10:47, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

I've done a few refs, etc. 107.15.157.44 (talk) 04:08, 20 July 2019 (UTC)

Edit extended protect

Hi all!!!!! how much long is seen a edit request on a talk page?, should I (as in terms of Wikipedia), "ping" an administrator, or wait until a person sees it? Thanks to yours. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 181.27.176.205 (talk) 12:00, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Normally, you can just wait, an editor will get to it eventually. On which talk page did you make the request, I cannot see any in your contributions. --MrClog (talk) 12:50, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

It could be the page AMIA bombing? OkayKenji ^{(talk page)} 17:48, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

i want to do a corrects on my player profil

Hello sir

there are some mistakes on one of my players profils i want to make a correct how i can do ? Botty — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fonsio1973 (talk • contribs) 13:41, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Fonsio1973 There are no "profiles" on Wikipedia; Wikipedia has articles. Please tell which article you are talking about and what you mean by "my players". . 331dot (talk) 13:43, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Questions to editor: Hominology submission

Help desk 1)Will Wikipedia show us what they will post for the public, if they will, beforehand? 2)Could we disagree and disallow them posting? 3)Can we ask them to change something in their version? 4)What is the average time frame for an editor to review a submission and approve it?

My Regards,

--Soulerich (talk) 14:50, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

@Soulerich: Please read WP:OWN. No editor has any ownership rights or any other special priviledges for any particular article. This includes the original creator of the article and anyone associated with the subject of the article. In fact anyone with a WP:COI is more restricted than a non-involved editor. You (or any editor) may "watch" a page and therefore be notified of changes, but you do not ave an option to preview other editors' work. -Arch dude (talk) 16:11, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

@Soulerich: You appear to be attempting to create a new article on Hominology in your sandbox. There are a large number of problems with this approach. Please read WP:YFA to see how to create a draft. Note carefully: 1) your subject must be notable (i.e. discussed in multiple reliable sources (WP:RS). I find no evidence of this on Google. If it is not notble, then no amount of editorial improvement will result in an acceptable article. 2) You cannot copy work that is published elsewhere on the Internet (or anywhere else) unless that work is stated to have an applicable permissive copyright license. We must remove any copied work to comply with copyright law. 3)Your sandbox is also not yet formatted properly. Look at other articles to see how to do this, and we can help. However, nobody is likely to help with formatting until you can resolve the notability and copyright issues, because the work would be wasted when the article is deleted. -Arch dude (talk) 16:27, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

@Soulerich: See also WP:FRINGE, WP:NPOV, and WP:NOR (or, more specifically, WP:NOTESSAY, as your draft is an essay with a point of view). Matt Deres (talk) 20:27, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Help:Cite errors/Cite error ref no input

There is nothing on the history of Machais and Washington County in the War of 1812 Known in Canada as the Canadian War of Independence. Suggested addition: "On 3rd September 1814, the British captured and burnt Bangor, Maine. On 11th September, Fort O'Brien which guarded the mouth of the Penobscot River and Machias was evacuated by the U.S.. Colonel Pilkington, who commanded the British forces, received a letter from the Commanding Officers of the county of Washington wherein they agreed that no militias would bear arms against the British for the rest of the war provided that inhabitants were protected in their properties and their usual occupations. The civilians offered the same undertakings to the British. The British therefore occupied Machais and Washington County together with about 100 miles of seaboard. In addition to the County of Washington, Castine was also garrisoned by the British until the end of the war." Source: The Canadian War of 1812 by C.P. Lucas, C.B. Published at the Clarendon Press Oxford, 1906. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Winder6980 (talk • contribs) 16:23, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

@Winder6980:Which of our 5.5 million articles does this refer to? If you are not comfortabe editing the article yourself, please place this information in a new section on that article's talk page in a new section and add {{edit request}} to your new section, and an interested editor may decide to do it. If that fails, come back here. -Arch dude (talk) 16:32, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Making a Wikitable collapsible or expandable

What is the HTML code to insert into a Wikitable to make that Wikitable collapsible or expandable? Also, is there a "help" page (or User's Guide or what-have-you) somewhere on here that explains the whole topic? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 16:58, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

@Joseph A. Spadaro: look at Help:Table. Search in that page for "Collapsible". It can be done in wikimarkup with no need to descend to the HTML level. (I think maybe I have been confused by some of your questions. When you say "HTML" I have assumed that you wished to use raw HTML instead of wikimarkup. Sorry).-Arch dude (talk) 17:19, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Thanks. I meant the "computer code" such as "class = wiktable sortable" or what-have-you. That sort of "computer code" that needs to be typed into the table to make it work/appear correctly. I don't know if those type of "commands" are called HTML or wiki-markup or what. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:35, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Basically, if it's in the HTML spec, it's HTML. If we use it here in Wikipedia and it's not in the HTML spec, it's Wiki markup. Very crudely, if it's enclosed in doubled curly braces or doubled square brackets, it's wiki markup. HTML will work on any page on any web site in any browser. Wiki markup works on Wikipedia (and other sites using Wikmedia software). The site converts it on the fly to HTML when your browser requests a page. -Arch dude (talk) 18:07, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

@Arch dude: Thanks. So, what about commands that you would type into a Wikitable ... for example: "class = wiktable sortable" ... is that HTML or Wiki-markup? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:49, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

"class = wikitable sortable " would be Wiki-markup not HTML, see the comment below. (actually the more correct format would be "class = "wikitable sortable""). Like User:Arch dude pointed out Help:Table could be helpful for a list of "commands". To make tables collapsible this particar section might help Help:Table#Collapsible tables. (Arch dude, sorry for answering your question) OkayKenji ^{(talk page)} 19:15, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Thanks! I need all the help I can get :-) -Arch dude (talk) 19:40, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

class="wikitable sortable" is actually CSS but allowed in wiki markup. The CSS classes wikitable and sortable are defined in MediaWiki or Wikimedia wikis. And to complicate things further, the sortable class can only lead to a sortable table because your browser loads wiki-specific JavaScript made for the purpose, and runs it when you view a table with the class. But in general, anything written in wikitext pages can be called wiki markup. The markup language just allows some elements of other languages while also adding its own elements. Note that .js and .css pages are not wikitext but pure JavaScript and CSS, and modules are written in Lua (programming language). If you avoid modules and .js and .css pages then don't worry what the wiki markup in wikitext pages is called as long as it works. PrimeHunter (talk) 20:08, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:26, 19 July 2019 (UTC)

How to make factual edits to biography section of a page?

Hi there,

I am reaching out because I work at Susan G. Komen and noticed some factual inaccuracies to our Wikipedia page. Knowing the restrictions on editing any information that could seem biased, I wanted to see how we could request edits to only factual information in the biography box to the right of the page, such as our organization's name, headquarters address, revenue and the name of our new scientific adviser and chairman of the board.

Here is a link to the page: https://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Susan_G._Komen_for_the_Cure

Any help that you can provide would be very much appreciated as we don't want to raise any concerns.

Thank you, Emily — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.215.70.162 (talk) 17:09, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Please read WP:COI. It advises you to make edit requests in a new section on the articles talk page, and add the magic incantation {{request edit}}. Please provide the suggested change and the reference for that change. And thanks for being mindful of the COI rules: we appreciate it. Note that some or all of you suggested changes may fall into the "uncontroversial fact" category. If you are absolutely certain of this and if you cite you source, you may make the changes yourself. -Arch dude (talk) 17:25, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Thanks! I have a follow up question: When you say to cite the source for things like organization name and address changes, is it okay to cite Komen.org?

Account

I just tried, for the first time, to create an account with you. However, it says that three accounts using my IP address have been created in the past four months. They’re not me! How do I get them removed? Thank you.

Beverly May — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1702:250:2920:4CE9:D94F:983D:4380 (talk) 18:45, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Hello, Beverly; welcome to the Helpdesk. I suggest you first read the following article section: Dynamic IP#IP address assignment.

Long story short, someone's IP address, depending on the way their Internet Service Provider (ISP) functions, may either be static (permanent), or it may be dynamic such that it changes from time to time. My own, for example, changes every time I switch off and then restart my router. It's likely that your IP, which when you posted your query was "2600:1702:250:2920:4CE9:D94F:983D:4380", is dynamic, so that it was different in the past and will be different in the future.

ISPs recycle dynamic IPs amongst their customers as convenient, so that particular IP ("2600 . . . 4380") was likely in use by someone else, another customer of your IP, when that customer created one of those previous accounts. Ditto for the other two accounts. This should not matter, because (i) dynamic IPs are common, so any account assigning system should not care how many accounts have been created by the same one over time; (ii) an existing account can be logged into from any IP (else how would one log in from one's separate home, work and local library systems?); and (iii) multiple persons in the same household (or school, or library) using the same system and therefore IP are actually required by Wikipedia to have separate accounts – account sharing is against the rules.

If, however, you have a static IP and/or the system is actually preventing you from opening an account, there must be other factors in play of which I'm unaware, so if you reply here to confirm either/both of those, others more knowledgeable will try to help you. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.122.177.55 (talk) 20:24, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Try using WP:ACC. NinjaRobotPirate (talk) 22:50, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Need to Edit a Reference But it does not show up

I submitted an article and it was rejected because a date in a reference didn't follow proper format. I am trying to fix it but the references do not show up under the draft for editing. All of the other information is there, but the references are missing. What can I do? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jwebbphd (talk • contribs) 20:39, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

References are embedded into the text. Ruslik_Zero 20:51, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

Jwebbphd, what you added to Draft:Childhood Emotional Neglect was, in Wikipedia's jargon, not a reference but a direct external link. Direct external links are not allowed in Wikipedia articles, and your edit was therefore removed by another editor. See Help:Referencing for beginners for guidance on how to do references acceptably. Maproom (talk) 21:07, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

submitting draft for review

I am a first time editor on wikipedia. I have created a draft for a new page, clicked "submit your draft for review" and it has not been submitted. Can you tell me what I am doing wrong? Thank you.Asternehopkins (talk) 21:01, 18 July 2019 (UTC)

I see that you found the submission button, but you need to read WP:Referencing for beginners, and also the WP:Manual of Style. --David Biddulph (talk) 21:08, 18 July 2019 (UTC)