Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2015 May 22

= May 22 =

Line-break handling
Hi, I need help thinking of a way to avoid an ugly line-break. What I'm looking for is something that looks like this: Importantly the title should be linked and italic; the terminal   portion should be unlinked and non-italic. And finally there should be no line-break between  and the terminal   portion. The background for this question can be found in the last few edits at the history of I am Error and on my talk page here
 * Castlevania II: Simon's Quest '​s

Below are some of my attempts and the resulting problems. I'm kind of running out of ideas at this point. Do any of you have any advice? -Thibbs (talk) 01:57, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * I don't see the problem with the second example. You say "the  shouldn't be italicized", and it isn't, at least for me. And where does it violate MOS:PUNCT? &#8213; Mandruss   &#9742;  02:07, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * I now see that the apostrophe is italicized, after zooming in to 150%. &#8213; Mandruss  &#9742;  02:08, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * How about bypassing the problem by rephrasing, which would make for easier reading anyway? Nintendo Life's Morgan Sleeper compared the translation of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest  to the quote. &#8213; Mandruss  &#9742;  02:12, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Rephrasing would work for me. This may just be a case of imposing too many requirements. What I was hoping for is some kind of a special non-breaking apostrophe character (the equivalent of &amp;nbsp; or &amp;#8209;) or something. I don't know. Thanks for your thoughts, . -Thibbs (talk) 02:29, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Can it break before the apostrophe in your browser? In my Firefox it can apparently only break after the apostrophe so it can be avoided with an ordinary link followed by : Castlevania II: Simon's Quest's. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:12, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Any luck with nowrap begin/nowrap end? —Cryptic 03:19, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Hmm, how about:

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest  '​s
 * which produces Castlevania II: Simon's Quest '​s ?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:42, 22 May 2015 (UTC) Nope, checked, doesn't work. Move along nothing to see here.--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 03:51, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your help everyone. I'm actually away from my computer all weekend long, but I'll implement these ideas when I get back on Monday. The problem was first noticed by, so to answer PrimeHunter's question I am using Firefox myself so that solution would also work for me. Does it cause any problems for you, JDspeeder1? Thanks for your suggestion too, Cryptic. I'll make a few tests on Monday. And thanks anyway, Fuhghettaboutit. -Thibbs (talk) 13:45, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

My Sandbox
At the top right-hand corner of my screen (in Wikipedia), it says: "Talk Sandbox Preferences Beta Watchlist Contributions Log out". All of those (except one) are blue links. The "Sandbox" link is red. Why is that? It had been blue, for years and years. Then, all of the sudden, it turned red (probably a few months ago). What is this all about? Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 02:25, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * The link is to User:Joseph A. Spadaro/sandbox with lower case 's'. You have only created User:Joseph A. Spadaro/Sandbox with upper case 'S'. The implementation was changed from a gadget to an extension last month. It was also lower case 's' before so I guess you never used it, but I think it was an edit url and not a wikilink in the gadget. Only wikilinks are red for non-existing pages. See more, including how to remove the link, at Help:My sandbox. PrimeHunter (talk) 03:28, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Thanks. But, sorry, I didn't understand a word you said.  Can you explain again, please, with less computer/technical lingo and jargon?  I didn't understand any of that.   Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk)


 * The page User:Joseph A. Spadaro/Sandbox, with a big S, exists, so the link to it is in blue. The page User:Joseph A. Spadaro/sandbox, with a small s, does not exist, so the link to it is in red. The software used not to care about the difference between S and s, but it does care now. Maproom (talk) 05:43, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * If you want the link to be blue then create a page at User:Joseph A. Spadaro/sandbox. If you want the link to be removed then place this in :


 * PrimeHunter (talk) 12:41, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. Is there a way to make that RED link become a BLUE link? And is there a way to make that link to my "capital S" Sandbox (the way that it used to), as opposed to my "lower case s" sandbox (which is some new feature)? In other words, can I get it back to be the way that it used to be? So that the link at the top right of my page (which used to be blue and is now red) will link to the Sandboxes that I already have created (and are floating around at this page User:Joseph A. Spadaro/Sandbox)? I have some 70 pages with a "capital S" and I don't feel like renaming them all to "lower case s". Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:17, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure it's a great idea, but you could probably make the "little s" page a redirect to the "big S" page. Create the "little s" page and put  #REDIRECT User:Joseph A. Spadaro/Sandbox  on it.  Rwessel (talk) 17:23, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

OK, thanks, all. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 18:57, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Referencing errors on Sacraments of the Catholic Church
Reference help requested.

What is wrong with this reference

Thanks, Jackgarcia49 (talk) 04:12, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * Hey Jack. ISBN number come in two flavors: those 10 digits long and those 13 digits long (after 2007). I am guessing that the place where you copied the ISBN number for this citation identified it as a ten digit number by placing the "10:" in front of it, but that is not part of the number, and is what was causing the error. In other words it's just 1-57455-720-3, not "10: 1-57455-720-3". Note that pages= automatically places "pp.", and page= automatically places "p.", so use the former for more than one page, the latter for a single page and place the abbreviation in neither. Also, I'm not sure what is meant by "93 #325". Was "93 & 325" meant?--Fuhghettaboutit (talk) 04:38, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

link on article set to blacklist
Hallo, the wikipedia site (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SGS_S.A.) show the hint that a process set the link to blacklist. I still have no idea what's to. I don't know which link was blocked and why. I'm also not sure that I can request to setup the link to whitelist or only the writer can do this

Rainer — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.110.101.138 (talk) 06:25, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * That'll be the article SGS S.A.. The blacklisted links are to the subject's own web site, www.sgs.com. I have removed one such link which was used as a reference, against Wikipedia policy. The other two are at the foot of the infobox, and at the foot of the article. I do not know why the domain has been blacklisted, but the usual reason is someone adding spammy links to the domain to Wikipedia articles. Maproom (talk) 07:38, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * There is an explanation inside the messege (click the [show] link there):
 * a domain part in the link (sgs.com) is detected as a substring of pattern  included in a local blacklist (MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist).
 * I think you may post a question about reasons of blacklisting the domain at the black-list talk page, either in the Troubleshooting or the Discussion section (MediaWiki_talk:Spam-blacklist and MediaWiki_talk:Spam-blacklist, respectively).
 * Then you can also propose un-listing the domain in MediaWiki_talk:Spam-blacklist. --CiaPan (talk) 08:03, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

ref error
Sorry, but I seem to have messed up an entry that I was trying to clarify. I have the message that a closing ref is missing, but I was not aware that I used any. The page is Keilor, Victoria and the message is still showing.Vikinghunt (talk) 07:21, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * With this edit, you added an explanation of the name "Keilor" to the article Keilor, Victoria, and also accidentally added two empty ref tags at the start of the article. Another editor then undid both your changes. Maproom (talk) 07:32, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Polyimide spam
I need a paper's format.Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 111.202.56.43 (talk) 08:41, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * All references in wiki pages must have a tag at the end or the error message will appear. VegasCasinoKid (talk) 08:46, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * To the OP: I see that you and others have made repeated attempts to add a promotional link to the article polyimide. If this continues, it is likely that the domain you are trying to link to will be blacklisted by Wikipedia. Maproom (talk) 08:58, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Language link to Commons
How come a link to a corresponding page at Commons does not show up as a 'language link' to the left on the page? See my profile page for an example. Tutlulu (talk) 09:37, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Because Commons isn't a different language Wikipedia. Those links are now handled through Wikidata anyway, but even before, they were for interlanguage links, not other purposes. --ColinFine (talk) 09:57, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * There are templates for linking to Commons and the sister projects, such as Commons and Commons-inline.--ukexpat (talk) 12:16, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * If it's for your user page then you could use User Commons. Articles and some other pages often have a "Wikidata item" link under "Tools" in the left pane. It goes to a page which can include links to other Wikimedia projects. For example, this help desk links to Q4026300 which includes commons:Commons:Help desk. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:36, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Display issue in Firefox
While reading an article on Aerogel on your page (Aerogel) I noticed that the IUPAC definition, which appears to be a quote box, doesn't render properly in Firefox. If you make your browser window wider than about 1360 pixels, the quote box overwrites the table of contents area. I was logged in at the time, if that matters.

I was unable to recreate this problem in Internet Explorer, and do not have Chrome or Opera installed on this machine. I was also unable to find a bug reporting feature on your site. If one exists, and you would like me to post this on that bug tracking tool, let me know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stephenjay (talk • contribs) 16:06, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * , please see How to report a bug for instructions on filing bug reports. WP:VPT is a place where techni al issues in general may be discussed, its header links to the above bug reporter. BTW I can see the issue also, and may file a report later. DES (talk) 18:18, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Requesting deletion on user pages of old accounts
Hi, I have a question of requesting deletion of user pages for accounts I used before. The three accounts I used before are, , and. The issue is I have forgotten the passwords of those accounts, so I cannot log in to them nor I could recover the passwords for them because I did not setup any email addresses. However, I looked at the main page of the template and its presents this text "Warning: This page was last edited by a user other than the owner of the userspace in which it was used. Please make sure the page was tagged by the correct user before deleting.". I do not know what to do in order to request deletion of the pages I had use before (listed above) with my main user account Editor of 3000. I was wondering if I could have tag Db-u1 on the user pages on the three accounts I used before with my main user account (Editor of 3000) that will lead to the result of them being deleted or is there another way I could have done to get the userpages deleted since I could not access the accounts I used before. Can someone please tell me on what I should do. Editor of 3000 (talk) 18:16, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * If you don't have the password, and hadn't set an email, there is no way we can determine that the accounts were yours. And in any case, none of the accounts have user pages - they have user talk pages, but these aren't eligible to be deleted under Db-u1. AndyTheGrump (talk) 18:28, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

references - probably entered them wrong
Hello,

In the Goodyear Blimp article, I noticed there was not a mention of the blimp based in Houston for twenty plus years so I added a paragraph on it (see fleet section). Then under external links I included links to two articles that prove my point. The external links are shown as [1] and [2] but the link titles aren't shown like the other external links on the page. Did I do something wrong? I was just trying to prove the paragraph I inserted.

Thank you for your help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shwylde (talk • contribs) 18:21, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Please take a look at WP:REFB for help.--ukexpat (talk) 18:25, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * And see the changes I made here to move your refs out of the External links section and link them to the content they support.  Dwpaul  Talk   18:26, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * And further, this edit made with the assistance of WP:REFILL (note that it also identified a couple of dead links).--ukexpat (talk) 19:48, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Signature
Hello. How do I edit my signature? — Preceding unsigned comment added by PillPullPoll (talk • contribs) 19:57, 22 May 2015 (UTC) Sorry. I mean I know how to make my signature appear on the page, but I want it to look different? PillPullPoll (talk) 19:58, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * See the Signature section of your Preferences.  Dwpaul  Talk   20:00, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Thank you. PillPullPoll (talk) 20:02, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * Your signature looks fine to me. Why get egotistical and follow this Customizing your signature. – just because you can? We don't care how you signature appears. Rather, your esteem relies on the quality of your edits.--Aspro (talk) 20:12, 22 May 2015 (UTC)
 * some people might want their signature to look different so they can easily find their comments and replies to their comments in lengthy discussions. Other people might want find it annoying that the standard signature doesn't link to a persons contributions and want to fix that in their own signature.  It is not egotistical to want improved functionality. ~  ONUnicorn (Talk&#124;Contribs) problem solving 21:20, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * At the bottom of my browser I have a find widow. Entering (say) Aspro gets me there. So I don't see the first point. I don't understand your second point.--Aspro (talk) 22:34, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * The second point: The default signature doesn't include a link to the editor's contributions, e.g. Special:Contributions/Aspro. Many editors update their signature to add this link.  This is a reason to want to know where it is done.  Dwpaul   Talk   22:38, 22 May 2015 (UTC)


 * You answered that in your first post didn't you?--Aspro (talk) 23:01, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

It is not appropriate to criticize the OP for wanting to do something that has community support. Anyone who wants to try to change community consensus on this may do so at the Village Pump, but they should do so with the knowledge that it is considered a perennial proposal. The Help desk is for questions about how to use and edit Wikipedia. The OP's question has been answered adequately, which ends this thread. &#8213; Mandruss  &#9742;  23:13, 22 May 2015 (UTC)