Wikipedia:Help desk/Archives/2022 June 17

= June 17 =

Tables
Hello. How do I center the text in a content cell in a table? Cherrell410 (talk) 02:11, 17 June 2022 (UTC)


 * Like this:
 * {| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%"


 * cell1
 * style="text-align:center;" |cell2
 * cell3
 * }
 * Bazza (talk) 08:09, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, but how Cherrell410 (talk) 13:21, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * You need to look at the source code (what you see when you use "Edit source"). In this case, the code is style="text-align:center;" embedded into the correct table code. See H:TABLE for more instructions. Mike Turnbull (talk) 14:36, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * As says, press "edit source" next to "Tables" in the heading above, and you'll see the source code for this entire conversation, including the Wikitable I gave as an example and which you can copy into the source of the page you're editing.
 * If your using the Visual Editor to write your page, then it has tools for inserting a table, and aligning text in cells.
 * Finally, be aware of any accessibility issues there might be in centring text: some people find it less easy to read. Bazza (talk) 15:01, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia.org
Hello. When you open the wikipedia.org webpage, it says that the english wikipedia has 6 458 000+ articles. The english wikipedia main page says that it has 6 520 000+ articles. Is that number on wikipedia.org ever purged or updated? Cherrell410 (talk) 02:12, 17 June 2022 (UTC)


 * AFAIK the en.wp Main Page link is accurate; the wikipedia.org webpage is likely cached or only updated periodically. —Jéské Couriano  v^&lowbar;^v  a little blue Bori 03:15, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Ok Cherrell410 (talk) 13:22, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * In case you want to use it elsewhere,, there is a "magic word" that gives the correct number, automatically updated, currently . See my source code here for the bit you would need. Mike Turnbull (talk) 14:32, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Updates are usually reported at T128546. The latest was 13 June. PrimeHunter (talk) 15:30, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * @Michael D. Turnbull i was just wondering, but thanks. Cherrell410 (talk) 22:48, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

Inyo County Sheriffs. Left out was Allen B George. Sheriff from Nov. 7 1990 - 1996
I would like to place Allen B. George in context. He was left out of Sheriffs of Inyo County. Nov.7 1990-1996 Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:1970:511D:DB00:0:0:0:B040 (talk) 02:23, 17 June 2022 (UTC)


 * I was looking at the article and it said that the sheriff was Don Dorsey. Do you have a reference that I could read? Cherrell410 (talk) 02:54, 17 June 2022 (UTC)

Page that doesn't exist exists
This page has a notice at the top saying it has been deleted, but there is still text in the page. When 'View source' is pressed, the source can still be seen. However, there is no history. How can this page be deleted and exist at the same time? weeklyd3 (message me | my contributions) 02:54, 17 June 2022 (UTC)


 * @Weeklyd3: This is a configurable software message. If the page exists, it overrides the internal software message. If the page does not exist, it shows the default given by the MediaWiki software. —Kusma (talk) 11:16, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * @Kusma I'm not clear how what you wrote addresses OP's question. I think he might have wanted to ask: Why does that page, "MediaWiki:Enotif body", have a View source tab at the top, but does not have a View history tab?  The page MediaWiki:Enotif_reset, for instance, has both of those tabs.  If "Enotif body" doesn't exist, why does it have View source?  If it does exist, why doesn't it have a View history tab? - R. S. Shaw (talk) 05:07, 18 June 2022 (UTC)
 * See meta:Help:MediaWiki namespace. The Mediawiki namespace allows, amongst other things, users with the required write privilieges to customize the software interface by editing the corresponding MediaWiki-namespace page. Just to give an example, the legend on the "view history" tab is controled by MediaWiki:Histlegend in the local Wiki. If that page doesn't exit, the software will use the default (if it has one), mainly to aid in creation of new Wikis which /probbably/ don't have pages in the Mediawiki namespace yet. When a default is available (that is, it is a MediaWiki:-page who's location is defined by the MediaWiki software), that default is also displayed when viewing or (attempting to) edit a locally nonexistent MediaWiki:message name page. Such default views don't have a "view history" link since there is no local history. If, on the other hand, you're viewing a MedaWiki:-pge where no default is available (like MediaWiki:crazynonexistentpage), they behave like all other nonexistent pages, with the exception that they're automatically protected create=sysop by the software. Users with the required edit permission can override the default message contents by creating the local page, thereby starting a local history and therefore making the "view history"-tab appear. to get back to the example, MediaWiki:Enotif body is the MediaWiki default text for the Message "Enotif body", and therefore has no local history. MediaWiki:Enotif reset, on the other hand, is customized on enwiki since April 2015, and therefore displays the local text along with the "view history"-tab. Victor Schmidt (talk) 05:55, 18 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Short version which omits the purpose: There was a wiki page which has been deleted. MediaWiki instead displays a text which is part of MediaWiki itself. PrimeHunter (talk) 06:44, 18 June 2022 (UTC)
 * This is actually a deep metaphysical question. See This Is Not a Pipe for a similar issue. The text on MediaWiki:Enotif body is not intended to describe MediaWiki:Enotif body. The page is one of many items that are part of the configuration parameters of the MediaWiki software that customize it to create the MediaWiki instance that is the English Wikipedia. Many of these items are syntactically in the form of MediaWiki pages and are therefore syntactically identical to Wikipedia pages, which is convenient because it allows the administrators of this instance of the Mediawiki software to easily edit these parameter pages using the same tools that editors use to edit content pages. In this case, the MediaWiki software is written display the contents of a page named MediaWiki:Enotif body if the user attempts to access a page that does not exist. If you were running your own wiki using MediaWiki software on you own computer, you could change the "MediaWiki:Enotif body" on your Wiki to say whatever you like. -Arch dude (talk) 16:29, 18 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Wow. My head just exploded. 73.127.147.187 (talk) 01:22, 21 June 2022 (UTC)