Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2014 November 23

= November 23 =

UCLA wikipedia page
Obviously some USC hackers got to the UCLA wikipedia page. Please correct this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.170.152.76 (talk • contribs) 01:02, 23 November 2014‎ (UTC)


 * Vandalism. Reverted. AndyTheGrump (talk) 01:04, 23 November 2014 (UTC)

General Robert Edward Lee
I asked for wikipedia to name all the revolutionary war veteran's. General Robert Edward Lee was not listed as a confederate General and I believe the Lee's name should be listed the're. I will check back to this site to see if General Robert Edward Lee has been listed.If It was'nt for the Lee family many of the slave's would not have family out hear today in 2014. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.92.127.93 (talk • contribs) 12:01, 23 November 2014‎
 * Robert Edward Lee was not a revolutionary war veteran. He was born in 1807 and the American Revolutionary War ended in 1783.  He is an American Civil War veteran and a very important one.  Where is his name missing that you believe it should be?   -- GB fan 12:10, 23 November 2014 (UTC)
 * After looking a little more are you talking about him not being listed at List of American Civil War generals. If you are, the Confederate generals are in a sub article, List of American Civil War generals (Confederate) just like the Union generals have their own list, List of American Civil War Generals (Union).  Hope this clears it up.  -- GB fan 12:46, 23 November 2014 (UTC)

banned ips?
I have two main IPs - one being a sub-network with an different IP,while the other belongs to a major organization - do I need to report/note this somewhere to avoid problems? the main IP is banned due to repeated vandalism,but the sub network seems to have no edits on it considering it has way less people on it CraftyDrac (talk) 17:23, 23 November 2014 (UTC)

Wives and surnames
IN READING THE BIO OF GEORGE CLOONEY'S CURRENT WIFE, THE WIFE IS REPEATEDLY REFERRED TO AS "CLOONEY". IF MY GRAMMAR SERVES ME, I BELIVE IT IS INCORRECT TO REFER TO THE WIFE VY THE HUSBAND'S LAST NAME WITHOUT USING A SALUTATION. OTHERWISE THE ARTICLE SEEMS TO BE REFERRING TO GEORGE CLOONEY, WHEN IN FACT IT WAS MRS. CLOONEY WHO ATTENDED OXFORD, ETC. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO CURRENTLY HANDLE NAMES IN A BIO. THANK YOU. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1:180:46f:c5e3:c370:13fe:bd87 (talk) 18:40, 23 November 2014 (UTC)




 * Please don't type in all capitals, as it is considered shouting. In Wikipedia articles, if a surname appears by itself and is the surname of the article's subject, it is assumed to refer to the subject. You will find the same thing in other articles such as Hillary Rodham Clinton (in places where it's referring to her after she began using the surname Clinton). The article never refers to her as "Mrs. Clinton" or "Ms. Clinton" in Wikipedia's voice. See WP:SURNAME. &#8209;&#8209; Mandruss  &#9742;  18:58, 23 November 2014 (UTC)


 * your remembrance of "grammar" (more appropriately "style guidance") has not been the widely accepted practice since circa 1970,-- TRPoD aka The Red Pen of Doom  19:14, 23 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Going back before 1970, it was the practice for wives to be referred to by their husband's name. So I have documents referring to "Mrs Robert Bacher". I know that she was Jean Dow, but it is anachronistic to refer to her that way. Hawkeye7 (talk) 19:32, 23 November 2014 (UTC)
 * It is necessary to make a distinction if you can't tell which one is being referred to. I don't know about Wikipedia but newspapers use their full name when it's not clear.— Vchimpanzee  •  talk  •  contributions  •  22:55, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

Referencing errors on Colm Wilkinson
Reference help requested.

I found a reference in English, and I'd hoped that by changing some wording and using that reference it would help. I would appreciate it if someone can fix my error! I have been editing 6+ years but spent my last year in a coma, and since then have been grasping what I can remember, and this is an example. Thanks- --Leahtwosaints (talk) 21:15, 23 November 2014 (UTC)


 * I fixed two CS1 errors in the ref you added, if that's what you were referring to. Your date was in an invalid format. archiveurl requires archivedate and was incorrect usage anyway because it didn't point to an archived page. I removed it. I also took the liberty of correcting some problems with title and work. &#8209;&#8209; Mandruss  &#9742;  21:28, 23 November 2014 (UTC)

Is it ok to copy from another user's User page?
I am thinking of writing a new article on the Welsh sculptor Frank Roper. While doing preliminary research I found an almost complete article on the subject on another user's User page: User:Michaelm70. Is it ok for me to post this article, or to incorporate text from it in a new article? I would check that the content is properly sourced and watch for material that might have been copied from elsewhere. I would credit the source in my edit summary comment. I hope posted a note on this user's Talk page, but so far I have had no response. This user has made no contributions since 2008.


 * 1) Is there a licensing problem? Presumably not because of the licence release notice that is displayed when I edit my user page.
 * 2) Is there a convention, or any issues of politeness or fair play that should prevent me using this material? Verbcatcher (talk) 22:04, 23 November 2014 (UTC)


 * See Copying within Wikipedia. Given that the original contributor hasn't been around since 2009, and given that you have had no response from them (though that would seem unlikely for a long-unused account) I don't see any reason why you should refrain from using the material. I'd attribute the material both in an edit summary and on the talk page, and leave a note on Talk:Michaelm70 stating what you have done. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:13, 23 November 2014 (UTC)