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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Lowercase sigmabot III (talk | contribs) at 01:38, 6 January 2014 (Archiving 12 discussion(s) from Wikipedia:Teahouse/Questions) (bot). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
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How can I remove wikilink to AR15 rifle from article Ksitigarbha?

In the first line of the article Ksitigarbha is a link " Michigan state police.gif", linking to a wikipedia article AR15 (rifle). I tried to remove this link because there is no connection to Ksitigarbha but did not succeed because this wikilink seems to be hidden. Do you have any idea how to find and delete this link? Best regards JimRenge (talk) 13:37, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse, Jim. You'll see similar symptoms mentioned on a number of occasions on the Help desk and elsewhere. These are relics of a number of acts of vandalism to templates (in this case Template:Infobox Chinese/Korean‎) a few days ago. Although the vandalism was quickly reverted, Wikipedia's cache is storing the vandalised versions of the pages affected. You can cure it for each page in turn by purging, with a command such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ksitigarbha?action=purge , but nobody has yet found a way of globally purging all the pages affected. --David Biddulph (talk) 13:46, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! JimRenge (talk) 13:52, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

I want to change the name of a section and would like to know if anyone is linking to that section. When I use the "What links here" page and type in the section name it seems to be just ignoring the section name. The specific section I want to rename is Message_passing#Message_passing_systems. When I enter "Message_passing#Message_passing_systems" into the page it seems to ignore everything after the pound sign. MadScientistX11 (talk) 20:14, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

Hi, no What links here won't pick up section links (see Help:What links here#Limitations) but you could try using Special:Linksearch instead. Only drawback is you have to enter your search term as a full URL rather than a wikilink. NtheP (talk) 21:02, 1 January 2014 (UTC)
Thanks! --MadScientistX11 (talk) 14:04, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

What to do?

There's an article that's going through what I would consider to be an edit war. One editor deleted a chunk of text that is major to understanding the subject of the article, citing that there are no sources for that section. Another editor added back the text, citing that the text needs to be there to fully understand the article. The original editor redeleted the text, citing WP:BURDEN. My concern is that the deleted section is a major portion of the article that needs to remain in the article at all costs, but I fear adding back the section only for it to be deleted AGAIN, and I'm not sure what would work as a source in this case. I'm at a loss of what to do. What can I do, and what should I do? What would work as a source in this case?

For the record, the article in question is Pyramid (game show).

Thanks! GameShowGeek (talk) 03:58, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Hi, GameShowGeek, and welcome to the Teahouse. It would help if you tell us what is the article in question. The best solution would be to add reliable references to that section of the article, so as to provide WP:Verifability. You can look out for some reliable sources and include them yourself. You can find out more about doing this here: WP:Reliable sources. Vanjagenije (talk) 11:48, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
GameShowGeek did actually say "the article in question is Pyramid (game show)", but didn't link it. Rojomoke (talk) 13:23, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
  • Hello GameShowGeek and welcome to the Teahouse! The reason that the other user is removing that section is that it is entirely unsourced, which is not allowed on the English Wikipedia. If you could find even a single source to back up the claims that the removed section makes, then I'm sure that it wouldn't be removed. Please see the golden rule of Wikipedia. Happy editing!!! Technical 13 (talk) 14:29, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

How to make major edits risk free.

I thought of a major change to the 'Rules' section of FreeCell to make it a whole lot better but since it was such a major change and I'm such an inexperienced editor, I didn't dare try making that change in case it made that section or part thereof worse and instead suggested the change in the 'Incomplete set of rules' section of its talk page. Is there a method of suggesting a major change and having it wait pending approval other then putting it in my sandbox where it's going to go unnoticed for so long. Is there anything that's sort of like a sandbox except that there's one for each article rather than one for each account where when ever I make a major edit, I can see less than 4 days later whether the change was approved, rejected, or modified by somebody else into a better edit than the one I originally made before the edit makes it's way into the article? Is there any Wikipedia Help page that I can read to make myself sometimes think up a really huge edit and be extremely sure it's not a harmful edit? Don't answer me by telling me that Wikipedia has a method of undoing all edits because I already know and I'm afraid of having my bad edits temporarily in a Wikipedia article. Blackbombchu (talk) 01:28, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

If you're concerned about making a large edit the best idea would be to post your idea on the Freecell talk page as you have done. Since you haven't had any reply, go and ask for opinions on the Board and table games or Video games wikiproject talk pages. I'm sure someone will be happy to go over and give an opinion :) Samwalton9 (talk) 02:37, 1 January 2014 (UTC)
I already got an answer on Talk:FreeCell and that answer opposed the change in its current form. Blackbombchu (talk) 15:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Why do some questions disappear from the teahouse list?

I had asked a question, received a response, and wished to ask a follow-up. However, the "Let's discuss it" on the response from the editor was not clickable, and now I see that the original question is gone from here, and I don't see it on my page?

I have contributed to Wikipedia, but perhaps for the last time. Velotrain (talk) 00:49, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

You deleted that question yourself, Velotrain. Perhaps that was inadvertent? Cullen328 Let's discuss it 01:09, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
Just a follow up comment, I think the UI for the teahouse should be given some thought. It's confusing that the way you enter the initial question is different from the way you then edit questions. Also, the fact that you can't see the various edit widgets (e.g. to make a link) is a pain. I sometimes write the question first in my Sandbox and then paste it into the teahouse. I seem to remember a general effort to roll out a better threaded discussion capability, is that still in the works? --MadScientistX11 (talk) 16:44, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Getting some feedback on my first article

I just finished my first article and I would like to get some feedback from experienced editors before requesting the article creation. I have it in my sandbox User:GambHerno/sandbox Thanks and any comments are welcomeGambHerno (talk) 15:44, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

This is essentially a biography of a living person, and must meet unusually strict standards. First, the person's real name is Nicholas Benedict. Nick Savoy is just a pseudonym, and I think the title of the page should be his real name. You might wish to read Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons. There has been some controversy about this person and his company. I also have a concern about notabiity. It also appears that most of the references for this person come directly or indirectly from the person or his company. There's a feel of sensationalist or populist propaganda to this article. There's already an article in Portuguese for him at pt:Nick Savoy.
Worst of all, a page of this name has been previously deleted from the English language Wikipedia, see Nick Savoy.
My opinion: find another article to write. Judgment has been passed on this one.Sbalfour (talk) 16:33, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
Hi, thanks for the feedback. I have been trying to collect what the sources say without any bias.I have put special emphasis in gathering enough notable sources and the great majority of them are totally unrelated to him or his company. I didn't know about previous attempts, but I think it is fair to evaluate it with the current content and suggest what to modify to make it a valid wikipedia article. Thanks again for the feedback.GambHerno (talk) 17:07, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
I'd like to distinguish the general content of the presentation and quality of writing (both of which are reasonable) from the standards for including an article in Wikipedia. The primary standards in question, those argued in the deletion discussion, are WP:Notability (people) and WP:SECONDARY. I agree with the previous consensus: 1) this person appears 'notable' due primarily through self-promotion and promotion of his company; 2) interviews, and etc printed in newspapers, blogs, websites, etc are not independent or authoritative secondary sources. The problem is with the nature of the person, not the nature of the article, and cannot be reasonably overcome. As a WP:first article, you faced an extraordinarily high burden getting a WP:BLP (Biography of Living Person) accepted. Now you face an almost insuperable burden of reversing a WP:consensus WP:delete decision. That discussion and decision appears to have been closed (and accepted) for several years. I understand the work you've put unto this, but I do not think there's a reasonable way forward with the article.Sbalfour (talk) 18:32, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Article rejected for improper use of citations

Hello, I need help with an article that was rejected for mis-use of citations. Can someone please help me. Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Dr. Florence Comite LewisDavidson (talk) 18:15, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

The article is essentially WP:BLP, a Biography of Living Person, and must meet some very high standards. The entire content of the article is the first sentence; she wrote a book, and the rest is her credentials. The last sentence "Dr. Comite is establishing her experience and expertise..." is WP:editorializing: who says that? (needs inline citation). Every paragraph should at least have a supporting inline citation at the end, and specific facts may also need a citation. Is her entire claim to notability the publication of a book? There may be a WP:notability issue if so. As a biography, basic facts like birthdate, and place of birth, parents names (if they're notable in any way), high school and college attended and degree(s) earned should be added. Rather than telling us she wrote a book, summarize the work she did that's published in her book.
Terms like "low T" in the text need to be defined, not just as "low Testosterone": the text needs discussion of the relevance of that issue as well as others, including of course citations to support those discussions. This article needs substantial work.Sbalfour (talk) 19:12, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

How to get a new page live if I have already saved it?

I wrote a new article about a month ago. It was however rejected since it had a lot of formatting errors. In the last month I studied extensively about how to write and format new articles. lately I edited my old article to perfection and saved it. I have received no mail or message on Wikipedia whether it is verified or even if it is awaiting verification(just as I could see the last time). I can see the article in my "sandbox" and "Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation". How do I know that it is awaiting verification to go live or is it not?Ayush Khaitan (talk) 20:39, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Welcome to the Teahouse. Your draft isn't currently awaiting review, as in this edit you deleted the feedback on the previous draft, and in doing so you removed the link which allowed you to resubmit it when ready. I have reinserted the tag, so you can resubmit when you are ready. --David Biddulph (talk) 21:45, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
Hi, Ayush Khaitan, and welcome. As I understand, we are talking about this article: Wikipedia talk:Articles for creation/Justin Paul. When you edited the article yesterday, you also removed from the article the tag that marked the article as declined. Now, David Biddulph reinserted the tag, and the article is currently tagged as "declined on 11 December 2013". If you wish the article to be reviewed again, you should resubmit it for review. Just go to the article, and click "Resubmit" link in the pink box at the top. The article will be reviewed again, but you'l have to wait for some time. Vanjagenije (talk) 21:49, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Hi, Ayush Khaitan. I polished your perfection a bit. Not too much, just a bit. Checkingfax (talk) 22:01, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Help?

Just wanted to bring a promising editor at the helpdesk to your attention. XOttawahitech (talk) 01:55, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Hello! I responded there (the help desk)! ///EuroCarGT 02:01, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
@EuroCarGT: I am afraid there was a misunderstanding. The help I asked for was not for myself, but for user:Nancyprancy12 who posted this: Wikipedia:Help_desk#Help_for_Submitting_a_New_Bio at the Helpdesk. XOttawahitech (talk) 22:04, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
@Ottawahitech: Oh, thanks for notifying me. Seems resolved now. ///EuroCarGT 22:09, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Problem linking articles in different languages

Hi there! I am trying to link the page about Potential Natural Vegetation with its German counterpart Potenzielle Naturliche vegetation, and the Dutch one. Apparently there is a conflict of addresses i can't solve?Velanidia Foundation 23:04, 2 January 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Velanidia Foundation (talkcontribs)

 Done I have merged the two WikiData items. (diff). benzband (talk) 23:16, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
Thanks! :-)

Velanidia Foundation 23:27, 2 January 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Velanidia Foundation (talkcontribs)

Blue text with pecked underscore.

Hello. Thanks for inviting me to tea. Milk and no sugar please.

Here you go! Vanjagenije (talk) 22:01, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Here is a very basic question. When text appears in blue with a dotted (pecked) line underneath, what does this mean, and more to the point what can I do about it -- i.e. how to get rid of it. If I have already identified a word or phrase at its first use in blue so as to direct a reader to its wikipage, I don't necessarily want to direct the reader again at every repeat use of the word or phrase. Also, some of the items are so obvious to a person reading the type of article that it does not seem very appropriate to put them in blue. Hope my question makes sense.

Is a newcomer to the tearoom allowed two questions on the same day/visit ?

If so, when I want to refer to the same reference (source) a second or third time in article, how best to do this. "Opcit" seems the obvious method, but I am conscious that as articles are edited the work cited immediately above may become a long way from the subsequent reference if new material and new references are inserted in between.

I expect I could find the answers if I studied the instructions more thoroughly, but as you have invited questions.... Hope I'm not wasting your precious time.

Diakonias (talk) 15:35, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Hi Diakonias, I'm not entirely certain what the blue text with a dotted underscore is, but I can answer your other questions (You can ask as many as you like!) :) The typical practice is to wikilink the first mention of a topic per section, so as not to overlink for almost exactly the reasons you say. You also don't need to wikilink basic and obviously well understood words.
To refer to the same reference a second time, name it the first time you use it by changing the <ref> tag to <ref name="XYZ"> and use it elsewhere by writing <ref name="XYZ"/>. Obviously change XYZ to different things for each unique source and call them whatever you like!
Don't worry about asking loads of questions; there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers ;) Samwalton9 (talk) 15:46, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
Hello Diakonias. I ran into that "pecked underscore" problem myself about six months ago. It was caused by malware on my computer. It had nothing to do with Wikipedia's software. Clicking those links led to bad advertising sites. It was a struggle to remove it, with I recall three separate hard drive cleanings, each more aggressive and thorough. If I am right, good luck to you with the cleanup. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 20:19, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Like this?Tooltip UK (see {{Abbrlink}}). Mr Stephen (talk) 23:54, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

[show/hide] button alignment after header text

I have list of names in an article that I want to subdivide by having portions of them hidden under a [show] button. But when I use the

heading
text

template, the button gets stuck way over on the right hand margin, when one would not think to look (because the names are short, and left-aligned on the page). Furthermore, if there's a right-floating image over there, the button lands in the middle of the image. That's got to be a bug. I want the [show/hide] button to work like the section [edit] button that's always just at the right place, to the right hand side of the heading. How do I do that? (This is not within a table or any other collapsible frame).184.76.111.134 (talk) 15:48, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Welcome, and thanks for your question. Looking over the templates used for collapsing content that are available, I've not been able to find one where the position of the "show" can be moved someplace else other than the far right margin. Other hosts are welcome to chime in if there is a workaround, but I'd recommending using a collapsible table instead. I, JethroBT drop me a line 19:40, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
The Contents inset box on this very page has a [hide] button that is adjacent to the "Contents" header, rather than right-aligned. How did they do that?Sbalfour (talk) 23:40, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
The Table of Contents on all pages is like that. Take today's featured article, for instance: Gagak Item. benzband (talk) 23:48, 2 January 2014 (UTC)
The documentation of {{Show}} shows a way with a fixed width table. Help:Collapsing shows a way where the table expands to full width or the longest line:
PrimeHunter (talk) 23:57, 2 January 2014 (UTC)