Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2021 January 11

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January 11

Should I edit the Wikipedia article about my school to reflect changes due to COVID-19?

I do not have any conflicts of interest with my school (I am not paid, required, or otherwise rewarded) to edit the article regarding North Toronto Christian School. I removed some promotional content on the article, and I added current modifications to the school program due to COVID-19. Is the mentioning of these "current events" suitable for Wikipedia? Would I have to change them all back if and when the pandemic ends? Thanks! Félix An (talk) 01:06, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@Félix An: Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a news source. Do not add a "current events" section. The information you add to the article should still be of interest 25 years from now. I believe that a school's response to Covid-19 will still be of interest, just as a school's response to the 1918 flu pandemic would be of interest today. So go ahead and add it, but write it as if for someone reading it in 2050. Don't use words like "currently" and "recently", don't talk about what will happen later in the year. If you do this correctly, the material will not need to be removed later, although it may need to be updated. You will still need to provide reliable sources, and the sources should (mostly) be independent of the school. -Arch dude (talk) 02:10, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

(Semi-)automated monitoring of links/references

To my understanding, edit filters (e.g. 657, 869, or 891) and the spam blacklist are the only fully-automated WP tools for monitoring references and external links; is that correct? Are there any semi-automated tools in that direction? — MarkH₂₁^talk 01:14, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@MarkH21: There are also bots that work in this area, for example AntiSpamBot. RudolfRed (talk) 05:42, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@RudolfRef: Is that it though? Are there no other tools like Wikipedia:ProveIt or WP:DABSOLVER for this type of thing? — MarkH₂₁^talk 20:08, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

Yesterday

Hopefully, this is a simple question: I noticed an article on the main Wikipedia page a couple of days ago, but I didn't have a chance to read it. And today I'd like to find it again. This must be a common issue.

Thanks, John Horn

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Hornjc (talk • contribs) 02:10, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@Hornjc: Each section of the main page has a "archive" link. click on that link to see past articles. -Arch dude (talk) 02:14, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

See also Wikipedia:Main Page history. PrimeHunter (talk) 02:41, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

adding some info to author stub for Resmaa Menakem

I do not have an account and don't want one, but this author is impressive and creative...has some new information, a good education and extensive experience to share. So I updated the brief bio on Wikipedia, adding credentials and footnote # 3 from his Amazon bio, as well as info on other books and a recent podcast. However cannot post it, probably because it's semi-protected. If anyone can, please do. [folllowing is the entire posting, including my changes as well as the original stub.]

proposed text

 <copy and paste, apparent copyright violation removed--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:47, 11 January 2021 (UTC)>

signed, C. Hats, reader — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:6C5E:547F:F418:F0A1:D49B:561F:9E44 (talk) 02:20, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Resmaa Menakem Does not appear to have ever been protected. If you hare having difficulties editing it or prefer not to edit directly, then please make your suggestions on its talk page. You may add {{request edit}} to attract the attention of an interested editor. -Arch dude (talk) 02:32, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

The majority of your proposed text is an apparent copyright violation, being directly copied and pasted from previously written, non-free material, without any attribution for that copying (e.g., through quote marks). Aside from limited quotation, you must put all information in your own words and structure, in proper paraphrase. As we often tell people: you may use external websites or other printed material as a source of information, but not as a source of sentences.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 14:47, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

How to find which article recieved most edits of all time?

How to find which article recieved most edits of all time? Rizosome (talk) 09:56, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@Rizosome: These are listed at Special:MostRevisions -- John of Reading (talk) 10:05, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Wikipedia records for other records. PrimeHunter (talk) 10:28, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

I find it strange how many articles in the top 1000 list (I only browsed that far) are about professional wrestling. JIP | Talk 01:49, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

Why is my archive link not working?

I manually created this Link by seeing old archive links. It is not working. What's the wrong in it? Rizosome (talk) 12:03, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@Rizosome: Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2021 January 11 has not been created yet. See Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives. Help desk arhcives are usually created around 3 days later. You are also missing an ending '?'. If you add that then the link should work when the archive is made. So should Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2021 January 11#How to find which article recieved most edits of all time? It's not possible to make a single link which both works after the original page is archived and displays posts made after the link was created. There is a rarely used workaround using mw:Help:Extension:ParserFunctions##ifexist to a test whether a predicted archive name exists and make the link dependent on that. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:28, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Table goes below infobox; how can I make it adjacent?

Dear Wikipedia helpers,

First, let me wish you all a very happy 2021, with my thanks added for your constant encouragement and helpfulness: we need more of it in the world!

I have just uploaded a new article, South Australian Railways K class (narrow gauge) – a shortish article (necessarily) with a long infobox of technical specifications. The table, which I would like to have in the place it appears in Edit mode, appears below the infobox and after the reflist rather than up the page and adjacent.

I do vaguely remember seeing an infobox in which a section was collapsed, and that would suit the article, I think -- the "Specifications" section is detailed and probably not of primary interest to the general reader -- but I can't recall the article it was in.

If anyone can suggest a solution, it would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Simon – SCHolar44 🇦🇺 💬 at 12:37, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@SCHolar44: I have removed float from the table. It would be possible to float on the left with text in the middle but that works poorly on narrow screens. {{Infobox locomotive}} has no option to initially collapse the Specifications section. PrimeHunter (talk) 13:23, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@SCHolar44: I'm afraid you can't make them adjacent on my phone even with the smallest font available. :( --CiaPan (talk) 14:19, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Many thanks, PrimeHunter – again! Cheers, Simon – SCHolar44 🇦🇺 💬 at 08:57, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

Is there a way to change what the title says?

I want to have my sandbox title say "Gameking1happy's Sandbox" but still be User:Gameking1happy/sandbox, how could I do this? Gameking1happy (talk) 14:52, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@Gameking1happy: While it is technically possible to move the page, I realy want to warn you against doing so: Gameking1happy's Sandbox is in article namespace, where is doesn't belong (since its a sandbox). Victor Schmidt (talk) 15:01, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

You cannot. You can change the formatting - ie you can have the title displayed in bold or italics, etc., but you cannot change the actual name that is displayed. See Template:DISPLAYTITLE.‡ Єl Cid of Valencia ^talk 15:06, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@Gameking1happy: Pages that are not meaningful to the encyclopedia or the editing community belong in your "userspace", which means they must be named User:Gameking1happy/something . —[AlanM1 (talk)]— 05:05, 12 January 2021 (UTC)

External Links

Hi,

Is it accepted to add a photo taken by me to Wikimedia Commons, include that photo in a Wikipedia article and give a link to my webpage where it is already published?

Regards — Preceding unsigned comment added by Exploreslk (talk • contribs) 15:23, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Well you can upload a photo you took onto Commons, as long as you own the rights to the photo and are willing to release the rights to the photo into the public domain. As for the second issue.. inserting a link to your personal page into the Wikipedia article is likely to be seen as self-promotion, and WP is not meant for promotional purposes. Really, if your purpose here is to promote yourself or your website, I would advise finding a different site - and there are a lot of great sites out there for that purpose. Best ‡ Єl Cid of Valencia ^talk 15:39, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@Exploreslk: A visible link in the article to your web site is almost certainly inappropriate. However, you can and should add a link to your web site on the file's description page at Commons. This is for purposes of attribution (in this case, to yourself), not advertisement or any of those other bad things. It's also a good idea to ad the CC-BY-SA license terms for that image to your web site, just to make sure someone who is checking does not think the Commons copy is violating the web site's copyright. -Arch dude (talk) 16:13, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Note that this user has been indefinitely blocked for promotion. ‡ Єl Cid of Valencia ^talk 16:29, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Kalmar Union as a symbol for Scandinavia

Some articles, such as Fredrik Lindgren (speedway rider), use the flag of the Kalmar Union to represent Scandinavia as a whole. I think this usage in regards to modern events is an anachronism, because the Kalmar Union was disestablished almost half a millennium ago. Can the flag of the Kalmar Union be used, and if not, what should be used instead? JIP | Talk 18:57, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

@JIP: It can be used in Wikipedia in any context where a cited reliable source uses it. I do not think it should be used in any other context. -Arch dude (talk) 19:09, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

I mean, is it meaningful to have the flag in a table such as this:

2006 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 16) (17)

Race no.	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
3 /10	Swedish SGP	9	7	(1,2,1,2,1)	1
7 /10	Scandinavian SGP	17	-	-	17

when the whole 2006 Speedway Grand Prix happened almost half a millennium after the dissolution of the Kalmar Union and isn't even really related to the Kalmar Union in the first place? JIP | Talk 19:32, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

No. I would certainly remove these misuses of the Kalmar Union flag. Unlike the EU, Scandinavia is not a united political unit and does not have any sort of official flag or seal. The inclusion of the Kalmar flag, while maybe clever, is improper. Also, just for practical purposes, Scandinavia =/= Kalmar Union. Add - to make more clear, there is no official Scandinavian flag, to my knowledge, and therefore, nothing should be used. As Arch said, if there is a flag used in the context of that race, that could be used, but otherwise, it's just attempting to fit a square peg into a round hole. ‡ Єl Cid of Valencia ^talk 19:48, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

It seems there is a problem though. It appears that the template Template:SGP Career/event uses Template:Flagicon to generate the flag icon, and that template is used on quite a lot of articles, some of which have legitimate reasons to use the flag of the Kalmar Union. Fixing this would require adding custom rules. JIP | Talk 20:02, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

If official or reliable sources don't use the flag then we shouldn't. The official site uses the flag of the host country Sweden in