Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2018 May 3

= May 3 =

items keep getting erased from a page on deana martin
I have been helping Deana Martin update her wiki page, because the links we put in from songs she has recorded to descriptions of those songs keep getting deleted. Also, the photo of the book cover she had uploaded (book is about her father) was deleted. After they were deleted the first time I went in and put connections to articles that showed she had recorded those song, but after a couple weeks those links disappeared again. Someone named Walter Gorilitz is the person deleting the links between songs. We don't know who he is or why he is deleting the links. Can you help me understand what is going on please

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deana_Martin

Vhackett (talk) 01:06, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Please use links instead of URLs here (Deana Martin): it makes life easier.
 * Please note that since you are assoiciated with the subject, you have a conflict of interest. This is not a value judgement, its just a fact. Therefore please read our policy at WP:COI. (In a nutshell, don't edit the article directly, make suggestions on its talk page instead.) If you are being compensated in any way for your editing, you must make a declaration of this in order to comply with our terms of service: see WP:PAID.
 * Please discuss these edits with the other editor by opening a new section on the article's talk page. Please assume good faith (WP:AGF). A polite discussion that assumes that the other editor is trying to improve the article usually works fairly well. In your case in particular, since you have a COI, you will be depending on other interested editors. If the discussion does not reach an agreement, come back here and we can tell you what to do next. -Arch dude (talk) 01:28, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * you've already asked this on your talk page. Please read Walter's comment there and please do not ask the same question in multiple places. Dairy &#123;talk&#125; 04:36, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Correction. The question was asked here and moved to the user's talk page. I did answer there. Walter Görlitz (talk) 04:55, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Actually, I think it was asked on an IP's talk page first. Dairy &#123;talk&#125;

Part of article on Eric Alterman
As of 5/2/2018, the article has the following:"(A potentially libelous section about Alterman containing references to deliberate falsehoods made with reckless disregard for the truth has been removed.)".. ..I wonder if this is appropriate. Thanks.144.35.45.75 (talk) 05:42, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * No, such comments belong on the talk page, so I've removed that sentence. It was added by  who also removed the disputed paragraph.  If you think the paragraph should be restored, then please discuss this on the talk page of the article.   Dbfirs  06:36, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

My article isn't showing?
I wrote a page for The London Allergy & Immunology Centre 3 months ago but I can't see it, how do I track the progress please? — Preceding unsigned comment added by AliaCoster (talk • contribs) 07:32, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * You started Draft:The London Allergy & Immunology Centre 25 February and submitted it for review 15 April. It was deleted 16 April per G11 as "Unambiguous advertising or promotion". Articles should be written from a neutral point of view and be based on published reliable sources showing the subject satisfies Notability (organizations and companies). See also FAQ/Organizations, and Paid-contribution disclosure if you work for the organization. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:15, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Draft:The London Allergy & Immunology Centre shows that it was deleted as G11: Unambiguous advertising or promotion. It isn't clear why you weren't notified on your user talk page. --David Biddulph (talk) 11:04, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Legally recognized places & notability guideline.
One can read at Notability (geographic features) that: "Legally recognized, populated places are presumed to be notable". But how can we document that a collection of buildings next to village, having a distinct name, is a legally recognized place? Should we trust Censuses that attribute some people to that place/area? Or should a local governing body exist so as to say that area is a legally recognized entity? Τζερόνυμο (talk) 08:00, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

English article - foreign references
Can I write an article in English, but provide references in e.g. Danish, German or other languages? If not, what to do if all of the references are in other languages than English? — Preceding unsigned comment added by JolitaHarba (talk • contribs) 08:29, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * You'll find the policy at WP:Verifiability. --David Biddulph (talk) 11:07, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Unable to reset password blocked globally?
Hi, received a notification that a failed login was attempted on my account. Immediately went to change password as a precautionary measure. It kept on resetting the page and new passwords didn't seem to stick. I can login fine, as is evident here, but I thought I'd try and request a new password as if I was locked out. Upon doing so I hit upon an error message stating I was blocked globally from requesting a new password.

Anyone able to advise? I don't want to lose access to my account even though I'm not as active as I once was. I'm trying to do all this on the mobile interface while at work, doesn't seem that intuitive a way of going about things so I'll apologise if in the wrong place. Many thanks.Narom (talk) 11:35, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * You can request at most 5 temporary password emails per hour. The bottom of the mobile version has a "Desktop" link to get the desktop interface. If you are logged in and know your password then you can use "Change password" at Special:Preferences without an email. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:51, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Many thanks for the reply. I have had no temporary passwords at all, requesting one tells me I'm globally blocked from doing so. Going to that page just doesn't seem to do anything. I can carefully enter passwords into both boxes and submit but nothing happens. The boxes empty themselves, no, error messages appear nor confirmation that it may have worked. I log out to test only for it to only work with my old password that I want to change. Since posting this I've received two more emails stating failed login attempts. Colour me confused. Narom (talk) 12:11, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Special:ChangePassword works for me in Firefox on a pc. I haven't tried a mobile device. PrimeHunter (talk) 12:26, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your help, it just seems it did not agree with me doing it on a mobile device. Now i'm home and at my desktop it changed exactly as youd expect. Cheers Narom (talk) 14:18, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Table cell problem
Could anyone help with this table problem, please?

Here is the table:

I need a single cell on the bottom row to the right of the column 1 heading "Notes", in which I can place text. The cell is shown above as the one containing the text "Widen this to 10 cols; delete cell to the right". It needs to be 10 columns wide. The cell currently to its right (wide and blank) needs to be discarded.

I can achieve this with a colspan instruction but the result is a gray cell and bold font, which I don't want.

A solution will be much appreciated! SCHolar44 (talk) 12:59, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * this?


 * —Trappist the monk (talk) 13:02, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Wow, Trappist! Many thanks!   SCHolar44 (talk) 13:06, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Weird page
Please look out this page: Talos (disambiguation).

It ostensibly contains an "asshole section", which doesn't show up in the "edit" mode.

Clearly to be fixed up. --Filippof (talk) 13:13, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * It was there for a bit, now I can't see it anymore. Maybe it had to do with a glitch from another wiki and they did something there that removed it here? I have no idea what that was 💵Money💵emoji💵 Talk 13:36, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Looks like transclusion vandalism, more common on templates.



L3X1 ◊distænt write◊  15:24, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * It was vandalism of Disambiguation page short description. The template has been protected and the vandal blocked. The list at "Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page" isn't always up to date. A null edit or any other edit will update it but a purge will not. I made a null edit and Asshole has been removed from the list. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:49, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Failed attempts
I keep receiving notices from WP that there have been multiple failed attempts to log into my account from a separate device within the past 2 days. Is this an actual live user trying to hack my account? or just a computer attempting over and over again? and finally: should I change my password? it's pretty strong now. Maineartists (talk) 14:49, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Here because I noticed many recent attempts wiki-wide. I'm not a security expert, but I wouldn't recommend changing your password if it is really strong, unless you fear you may have used it on a device with a key-logger installed or otherwise compromised. I just tried to log into my account with a incorrect password as a test and am awaiting the email from the website. I saw on village pump technical near the bottom that it could be bot, but I don't know if the developers at the 2FA-for-all-editors are testing random accounts. L3X1 ◊distænt write◊  15:19, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * You may not get an email notification if the login attempt is from an IP address or device you have recently logged in with. If your password is strong and not used at other websites then don't worry. Using the same password at multiple sites would be a big security risk. You can disable the notifications at Special:Preferences but may have to do it at the wiki where the login attempts are happening. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:40, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * My password is quite strong and not used anywhere else; so I will take your advice. Thanks! I appreciate your time. Maineartists (talk) 15:59, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * User:Maineartists, User:L3X1 - That is interesting, because I just received a failed login attempt message, and was about to a few questions here. I will not be changing my password, because I know very well what it is, and no one else has a chance at guessing it.  My question is whether repeated unsuccessful login attempts can be reported to CheckUser and whether CheckUser can soft-block the IP addresses or IP address ranges that the attempts are from.  Since another editor has also reported a failed login, my guess would be that a long-term abuser is behind the attempts, and that strong passwords will work just fine.  Can CheckUser investigate if the problem persists?  (I know that CheckUser doesn't publicly associate IP addresses with people, but that only means that they don't publicly associate them, because they do see the IP addresses.)  Robert McClenon (talk) 18:34, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

This is all over Wikipedia today. This was some sort of mass action probably by a malicious bot of some kind. I don’t think the intention was really to breach accounts but rather to cause a bunch of chaos, which they seem to have succeeded at. (related threads are at WP:AN WP:TEA and WP:VPT) I myself haven’t gotten a notice today. It’s been a while, so I don’t remember, does the notification tell you the IP of the attempted login? Otherwise I don’t see how CU could be of use here. Beeblebrox (talk) 19:34, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I got a notification about a failed log in but it's good to see it wasn't just me. The notification doesn't mention the IP address. HickoryOughtShirt?4 (talk) 19:36, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks for verifying that. In that case there is no way for CU to do anything. If they actually succeeded at breaching an account it would be different, but CU can’t tell us who just attempted to log in. Someone in another thread noted that today is designated as “National Password Day” by some organization or other and I suspect this is some trolls way of “celebrating” that. Beeblebrox (talk) 19:48, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Then I hope things happen to that organization, and that most of all, they fail the GNG L3X1  ◊distænt write◊  20:08, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * That's funny because I just received messages about failed login attempts into my account today too. L293D (<b style="color:#000">☎</b> • <b style="color:#000">✎</b>) 20:12, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * FYI it happened to me 14:12 (UTC). <b style="color:#060">L293D</b> (<b style="color:#000">☎</b> • <b style="color:#000">✎</b>) 20:19, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yep, this appears to be a mass event affecting hundreds of users, but it is important to remind everyone that these password reset attempts are not a real security breach. This is just some troll. More information is at the thread at WP:AN. Beeblebrox (talk) 20:28, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Same happened to me. I sure as anything wasn't on Wikipedia eight hours ago. The last time somebody tried to break into my account, I ended up asking why the offending IPs weren't revealed. If someone tries to log into an account maliciously, they have surrendered "privacy" for their IPs, in my opinion. Apparently there is already a Phabricator task on the issue of login-attempting IPs, but it is still open. Master of Time   ( talk ) 20:35, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yeah, it’s apparently in the works but not up and running yet. The back office is apparently going to be making some sort of statement about this int he near future. This is on a scale of tens of thousands of failed login attempts over the last several hours. Beeblebrox (talk) 20:41, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

Collapsed subinfobox content won’t show
Hello experts,

I have copied a script from Template:Subinfobox bodystyle with the aim of having an infobox partially collapsed -- in the lower parts -- on opening. My problem is that clicking “Show” doesn’t expand anything (nothing happens). A shortened script is as follows:

Ideally, I’d also like to colour the section headings of the collapsed elements ("Operation" and "Technical" in the example shown) a little greyer than the background, to match the normal infobox headings as in "Overview"; and to centre the words "Operation" and "Technical", which at the moment are right-aligned.

I would be very grateful for help; I've tried my best but I fall short of my ambition at the moment! SCHolar44 (talk) 21:45, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * Your "show" links work but there is nothing to display. You can only use parameter names which are known by the template you are currently in. If that template is the general Infobox then you have to work with the numbered header/label/data parameters at Template:Infobox. I made an example here. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:37, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Aha! I get it now! Many thanks for sharing your expertise and taking the time.


 * Is there a way to avoid the subinfobox text being indented and to place its headings in the centre instead of on the right? SCHolar44 (talk) 11:10, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
 * You placed the subinfoboxes in the  parameter which is displayed in a cell to the right of the "Status" label. My example has now placed them in the   parameter which is displayed at the end. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:39, 4 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Thank you again for taking the trouble to advance my knowledge, . I'll be putting it to good use! SCHolar44 (talk) 12:52, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

how to change the name of an entry?
Hi, I am the co-editor of a journal that has resumed publication but under a bi-lingual name. How could I change the name of the entry (the old name of the journal) "Études phénoménologiques" to the new name "Études phénoménologiques - Phenomenological Studies"? Thank you — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gerard Ghislain (talk • contribs) 21:47, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

how to change the name of an entry?
Hi, I am the co-editor of a journal that has resumed publication but under a bi-lingual name. How could I change the name of the entry (the old name of the journal) "Études phénoménologiques" to the new name "Études phénoménologiques - Phenomenological Studies"? Thank youGerard Ghislain (talk) 21:48, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * By entry, I'm assuming you mean article? To my knowledge, you cannot change the name of an article. However, I'd suggest making a redirect from Phenomenological Studies to the French one, or instead, you can create a new article (with both language name) as the title, and merge the original article to it. I'd suggest the former. Hope this helps! Also, please do not make 2 of the same sections. <b style="color:purple; background:white">⇒ Lucie Person </b><b style="color:purple; background:white">(talk)</b> 22:52, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * , while is correct in that you can't change the name of an article, you can however WP:MOVE the article to a new name.  † dismas †|(talk) 22:59, 3 May 2018 (UTC)
 * , thanks for the clarification, that's what I meant by "merging". Sorry for the confusion! <b style="color:purple; background:white">⇒ Lucie Person </b><b style="color:purple; background:white">(talk)</b> 23:04, 3 May 2018 (UTC)


 * As I expect you know now, "merging" refers to the rarer and trickier process of combining the content of two separate articles on a subject.  <i style="color: blue;">D</i><i style="color: #0cf;">b</i><i style="color: #4fc;">f</i><i style="color: #6f6;">i</i><i style="color: #4e4;">r</i><i style="color: #4a4">s</i>  06:49, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Lupton family
In the subcategory "Joseph Lupton" - there is a strange symbol at the  end of the name  "Joseph Lupton". Should this be removed.? ThanksSrbernadette (talk) 23:30, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

it was a part of a parentheses. I removed it, not sure why it was there. <b style="color:#060">💵Money💵emoji💵</b> Talk 23:36, 3 May 2018 (UTC)