Help talk:Cite errors/Archive 8

Typhoon pages have common "WeatherPH" errors
Someone must have changed an include page or template that is causing errors on multiple pages, and I can't seem to locate the source... pages: Typhoon Fengshen, Typhoon Haiyan, Typhoon Ike, Typhoon Durian, Typhoons in the Philippines

All have the same error "WeatherPH" was defined multiple times with different content"

Quebec99 (talk) 14:27, 13 August 2023 (UTC)


 * The issue was in Deadliest Philippine typhoons, which I have now fixed. Aidan9382 (talk) 14:34, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks! Quebec99 (talk) 15:18, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

Problem despite seemingly correct context
Pay It Forward, I tried to edit that section while adding references, it worked multiple times but the last one is being weird and I can't for the life of me get it to work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward#History 24.60.130.99 (talk) 21:41, 19 August 2023 (UTC)


 * I've fixed the issue in this edit - one of the earlier tags was missing an ending  Aidan9382 (talk) 22:08, 19 August 2023 (UTC)

Cite error: There are &lt;ref> tags on this page without content in them
I got the error message above at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntington,_West_Virginia#Government_and_politics. However, there is plenty of content between the ref and /ref tags, so I don't know what my error was. Please advise. Dgndenver (talk) 11:46, 1 October 2023 (UTC)
 * A bot fixed it for you. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:57, 1 October 2023 (UTC)
 * I'm glad it's been fixed, but I would have learned more if I knew what my mistake was. Dgndenver (talk) 12:18, 2 October 2023 (UTC)
 * If you look again at your edit, you'll see that you added  to the end of the "City Council" heading. One of the editing toolbar buttons inserts exactly this text, so it's likely that you misclicked on that toolbar button without realising. It's a very easy mistake to make. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:29, 2 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Dgndenver (talk) 03:43, 3 October 2023 (UTC)

&lt;ref> issue
Ref: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_(2023_Indian_film) 183.83.146.214 (talk) 15:54, 3 November 2023 (UTC)
 * It looks like the problem has been resolved by subsequent edits. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:10, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

Missing key error still manifests at Virginia Woolf after fix
I don't understand why there is still a missing key error at Virginia Woolf, after I fixed a legitimate problem there.

I found Virginia Woolf at Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting, and sure enough, the page was displaying H:CERMK error:, due to having nothing to point to in the Bibliography section. I duly added a cite web to anchor the sfn about an American indie rock band in section, which established proper sfn ⟶ full-citation linkage with highlighting and everything looking good—except that the big, red, CERMK error still appeared in Preview mode, which seemed like a red flag. It went away after saving (that's already weird), but when I edited again, it came back again in Preview mode, and I made a dummy edit to comment on that, saved, and then it was back again after the save. Now, I'm thoroughly confused. See for details. Virginia Woolf is still listed at the category. Any help would be appreciated. Mathglot (talk) 08:26, 18 November 2023 (UTC)


 * The issue here is that the reference tag itself with the name Patton is never used (There's no occurance of  or equivilant in the article's text and sfn doesn't use this ref tag), which is what that error is actually complaining about. As far as I know, either the reference needs to be removed/commented out from the reflist (as its not in use) or it needs to have a use established in the wikitext to satisfy the error. Aidan9382 (talk) 08:39, 18 November 2023 (UTC)
 * That was very confusing, because as you say, that ref (which I never noticed, somehow) was causing the error message but *at the same time* (at least when I got there) there was no full citation that was connecting to the sfn, so I added a cite web to the Bibliography in this edit, which resolved the problem of the sfn connecting to the new cite web, but left the CERMK error in place, stemming from the ref which John of Reading just now fixed, with the result that Virginia Woolf no longer shows up in the category. All is good, now, but this was confusing. Thanks, all! Mathglot (talk) 08:58, 18 November 2023 (UTC)

2021–22 figure skating season
I need help from someone better than me at citations. The section in question can be found here: 2021–22 figure skating season. I have tried my best to resolve the problem, but only seem to have made it worse. Any help would be appreciated! Bgsu98  (Talk)  15:30, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The big red error message was telling you how to fix it, but sometimes it is difficult to see that the / character is in the wrong place. Using the "syntax highlighter" gadget can be helpful. You can find it in Preferences. – Jonesey95 (talk) 15:45, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I did click on that link, and you can see the multiple edits where I tried in vain to fix the problem. Thank you so much for your assistance! Bgsu98   (Talk)  15:47, 22 November 2023 (UTC)

Problem with text reference in entry for Willliam Rimmer (artist)
I've never done this before. It lacks a closing  tag and dropped a line of text. A red error appears. Please help.

devan03@emory.edu

User name: DEvans2 DEvans2 (talk) 02:38, 26 November 2023 (UTC)


 * @DEvans2 I've fixed these issues for you: you can see what changes I made at this diff. In particular, references need to start with   not , and when using the sfn template you should write page ranges as 1–2 rather than  .  Thank-you for your improvements to the article, and welcome to Wikipedia!  Best wishes, Wham2001 (talk) 15:23, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

The "Help" Instruction for Cite Errors
The "Help" instruction is confusing and clarifies nothing. The "ipsum" reference is not at all helpful in modeling how a short-form reference is created after initially entering a reference. The instruction should have a clear example of the long reference and the syntax for creating the short-form reference for that specific example.

The creator of the instruction on the Help page had to be kidding...

"Here the reference named ipsum was defined twice, but the second definition's content differs from the first (only the first definition is taken):

''Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum."''

I'm aware this is standard filler content that is meant to be generic. The sheer pedantry of the "ipsum" generic gets in the way of a clear example that models syntax in defining and modeling a desirable reference. Its opaqueness is worse than useless.

I accessed the "Help" link to guide me in fixing multiple errors in entering references (discrepancies in formatting multiple references to the same source document) and this instruction page is not helpful.

Would someone please contact me with a CLEAR reference guideline for how to create the initial reference that defines the short (abbreviated) reference that can be entered after the first citation? I have dozens of references to fix in a long article and it would have been helpful to have a meaningful "Help" instruction.

The previous example on the "Help page" is no more helpful:

Is "foo" a standard code to be used when defining all short-form footnotes, or is it an example of a unique identifying tag that is defined by the user to be different for each defined entry?

Is >content< a code that flags the content to be entered, or is it a dummy content that should be replaced with the specific content of a citation? What is the proper syntax for that content that replaces the dummy?

Again, the instruction is so confusing and so lacking in clear examples that explain the syntax that it is worse than useless in the frustration it creates.

Ariadne000 (talk) 23:04, 11 December 2023 (UTC)

International Phonetic Alphabet
Error notes that one ref is not used, despite it being used, and another has no name, despite it having a name. No idea what I did wrong. — kwami (talk) 01:27, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I've fixed the errors. The first issue was because the ref was used after the where it was defined, and the second issue was nested reference definitions like the second example here. —Mx. Granger (talk · contribs) 03:12, 18 December 2023 (UTC)
 * I still don't understand what's wrong with the 2nd, but thanks. — kwami (talk) 07:41, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Attempting to convert references to footnotes.
Update: As of April 21, a bot had fixed my solution. Ryanisgreat4444 (talk)

Added referenced content on the main page though the references are not showing in the footnotes unless the edit button is clicked, after which all the relevant references are visible. Ideas on how to troubleshoot? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fanchen886374 (talk • contribs) 14:54, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

I think something wrong is Wolfoo page
I need to fix this pages but my goal is to go to teahouse but I do it tomorrow 2603:6011:B701:AE27:6C9B:96CC:6673:B8DA (talk) 02:22, 17 March 2024 (UTC)

How to undo a mistake of hitting ref
The page is under the Discography area of Lulu (the singer). I mistakenly hit the  while I was editing the page of Lulu (the singer). I thought the  was where I could explain my edit. Instead there was a Summary section so I put my explanation for the edit into that section.

However, when I saw the published page, it said "Cite error: There are tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).==TV shows== " but it was not clear to me how I could remove that wording since I did use my reason for the edit within the Summary section. Thus, I did not need to cite. How can I remove that notice? Emjb (talk) 23:27, 22 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Go to the place where you see that message; edit the section, and remove the empty  tags. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 01:14, 23 March 2024 (UTC)

Adding new item to list
I noted there was no reference to the Michigan Center Dam on this list of dams in Michigan. So I added Michigan Center Dam completed in 1911 But after I added the note, I was told I did not have at the end--but I did. And it does not show up on the page. So I don't know what to do about it. Jmlindner. Sorry. Help me if you can. Jmlindner (talk) 15:23, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I don't see any problems in . -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 18:23, 20 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I've reworked both pages. Would you kindly check them out?
 * How do you hide a url in a reference? I want to make "Michigan Dam Inventory" a hypertext that includes the url:
 * https://gis-egle.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/c0033d45400e484a9a9bfc83f9a60ce8/explore?location=42.882993%2C-83.185030%2C8.38
 * I'll keep this page up. Will your reply appear here? Jmlindner (talk) 22:24, 21 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I don't understand what you mean by hide a url in a reference. Please note that this is not a help forum, it is the talk page for discussing improvements to the page Help:Cite errors. But judging by, where you added an empty  tag pair, you need to read up on Help:Referencing for beginners. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 15:55, 22 April 2024 (UTC)
 * , may I suggest that if you have follow-up questions, that you ask them at the Teahouse? Thanks. Mathglot (talk) 01:18, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Spaces in ref names
It appears that a blank space in a ref name, as in , is not accepted. Should this be stated in the article? Zaslav (talk) 23:39, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Spaces are permitted. Where are you seeing this as a problem? -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 23:53, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I was editing Euler's constant to move what is now Ref. 13 in the Footnotes section from the References section, by converting the citation "r|Ram MurtySaradha2010" to "sfn|Ram MurtySaradha2010", but the WP compiler kept giving me an error message that it could not find the content of "Ram MurtySaradha2010". When I removed the space, the problem disappeared.  Is this enough information?  The edit history of Euler's constant will show some of this process. Zaslav (talk) 05:07, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I've been through the last few edits at that article, and don't see any error messages. -- Red rose64 &#x1f339; (talk) 12:46, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
 * I suspect that in the LDR you did  with no quotes, rather than   or   as is required when a space is in the name. It seems that making that mistake in an LDR doesn't produce a visible error message, the broken ref is just ignored (and then the references intended to use it generate the "was invoked but never defined" error). Anomie⚔ 20:06, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Values of name in ref tags and the value of the CITEREF used by sfn are different. One is generated manually, and the other is generated automatically. They can be the same by coincidence, but they are typically different. – Jonesey95 (talk) 13:02, 29 April 2024 (UTC)