Wikipedia:Help desk

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The help desk is frequently semi-protected, meaning the help desk pages cannot be edited by unregistered users (IP addresses), as well as accounts that are not confirmed or autoconfirmed (accounts that are at least 4 days old with at least 10 edits on English Wikipedia).

However, you can still get direct assistance on your talk page. ; a volunteer will visit you there shortly!

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New shortcut

 Courtesy link: Wikipedia:Gender

Hi. I made a new shortcut for the wikiproject gender studies. Could it please be reviewed? DarknessGoth777 (talk) 07:11, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

Shortcuts are usually reviewed relatively quickly, also there is a WP:NPP backlog drive this month. In case a reviewer sees this, I have added a link.

I am not sure this redirect is a good idea as it seems ambiguous and the project is marked as inactive. TSventon (talk) 07:29, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

You repurposed an existing redirect. While that may be good thing, please update the existing uses of it, which were clearly meant to point to the old target. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 11:18, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

Godwin Ubaka Okeke has a tag for speedy deletion

Hello all,

I created the article Godwin Ubaka Okeke and It was recently marked for speedy deletion. My question here is... can I rewrite the article or will that cause my harm. Akwugo (talk) 11:54, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

@Akwugo According to the discussion on your talk page, the issue is the copyright of the text you copied into your draft. I suggest you continue to discuss the issue on your talk page unless more general questions arise. Mike Turnbull (talk) 12:22, 5 May 2025 (UTC)

Category help

Might be an obvious answer, but is there any sort of category for works about Asian Australians? Sarsenet•he/they•(talk) 05:49, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Not according to Category:Works by nationality, but I'm also not readily seeing that any of the categories listed there combine multiple nationalities, which doesn't even account for the fact that "Asian" isn't a nationality. I think I'd have to advise against creating such a category, though you might ask at WT:CAT. DonIago (talk) 06:29, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

For naturalised or other migrants, see categories like Category:Chinese emigrants to Australia; for anyone else, categories like Category:Australian people of Chinese descent. Note also Category:Australian people of Asian descent and its regional subcategories, if the country of origin is not known precisely. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:51, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

To clarify, I'm looking for a category for media works (books, films, etc) about Australian people of Asian descent. I'll probably ask at WT:CAT then. Sarsenet•he/they•(talk) 04:49, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Sarsenet, Category:Works about Asian-Americans exists as a subcategory of Category:Asian-American culture. Category:Asian-Australian culture exists. You could create Category:Works about Asian-Australians, but asking at WT:CAT would make sense. What would you put in the category? TSventon (talk) 08:59, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

I also found Category:Indian-Australian films, Category:Pakistani Australian films and a Huffpost list of films starring Asian Australians. TSventon (talk) 10:51, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

New portal

How can i make new portal? Whatback11 (talk) 09:13, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Which new portal do you want to create? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 10:44, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

I want to make Draft:Portal:Politics of South Korea. Whatback11 (talk) 11:08, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Arrow symbol mystery

Could someone tell me what the arrow symbol below at the right means when Wikipedia places it at the beginning of a line in an article we're editing? I've seen it several times off and on now, and although I seem to be able to delete it I'd like to know why it comes.

Augnablik (talk) 10:22, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi Augnablik - I've never seen it in one of our articles, are you using the mobile or desktop version? - I assume it is a carriage return (enter) symbol, that has been copy-pasted in from another application. We used to get lots of obj in a dotted rectangles, from a similar problem. - Arjayay (talk) 10:46, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

As far as I recall, @Arjayay, it’s come just on my computer. Can’t swear to that, though.

I too thought of a carriage return — even though laptops no longer have carriages! — but considering each case, I couldn’t imagine why the symbol would be placed there.

If you’ve never seen the symbol, then it would seem it came because of my computer, or even my browser. Augnablik (talk) 11:20, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi Augnablik, if you go back in one of the affected pages' history, and re-open the version you saw it on, is it still there? If so, you could try opening it on another device, which would determine if it is your computer/browser. If it is "reproducible" then you could ask at WP:VPT, where the "techs" hang out. - Best wishes - Arjayay (talk) 12:06, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

Arjayay, I went back as you suggested and checked a lot of earlier versions of the article in which I think I saw one of those symbols most recently — but no luck. I remember that I often deleted the symbol when I'd see it, though.

I’ll keep a lookout to see if it will pop up again soon so I can bring it for your inspection. Augnablik (talk) 13:35, 6 May 2025 (UTC)

In one of my sandboxes today, that mysterious arrow I mentioned that sometimes appears to the left of a sentence beginning a new paragraph popped up several times on my work. Whenever I saw one, I copied it along with a line of text to show you here ... but then when I tried to paste it, the arrow disappeared.

I might mention that the arrow often disappears on its own from the original on my computer even without me deleting it.

Maybe the issue really does have something to do with my computer, as I haven't seen the arrow in text on on my phone. On the other hand, I hardly ever use my phone for Wiki editing. Augnablik (talk) 11:14, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

@Augnablik: I might know what you are encountering. Are you using the visual editor? If so, these arrows (carriage returns) indicate single line breaks. Double line breaks create a new paragraph, but single line breaks may be used variously to break up the appearance of the text in the source/code editor and are common after the end of inline references/footnotes. Since you can't see them otherwise in the visual editor, they appear as this arrow. The following text would produce one of these arrows after the </ref>:

Some people format their references with a lot of line breaks to make them easier to parse.<ref>{{Cite book
|first=John
|last=Doe
|date=2024
|title=Elements of Style
}}</ref>
The next sentence will appear to follow the one before the footnote to a reader, even though there are line breaks in the code.

-- Reconrabbit 14:30, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Yes, @Reconrabbit, I use the VE. Now you’ve confirmed what @Arjayay also thought the arrow meant. I do wonder why it happens sometimes but not others, though, because I always press Return (Enter) once to start a new paragraph.

I thought my question might end up unsolved like another one I’ve had a long time, more frustrating because it involves a cursor jumping up to the line above and to the left on my computer when I’m trying to type a capital letter or certain kinds of punctuation … only when I’m in Wikipedia and while I’m typing messages. No one at the Village Pump seems to know what that’s all about! Augnablik (talk) 15:53, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

I can only guess as to the source of your second problem. Maybe when you press the shift key, something interprets this as pressing the arrow keys or the "Home"/"Page Up" keys. -- Reconrabbit 16:26, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

But, then, why only when I’m in Wikipedia … and writing messages … Augnablik (talk) 03:08, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Archiving at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Religion

The bot is dumping everything into archive 1, which is fairly massive by now. Anyone up to fixing this, and perhaps "spread it out" properly? Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 06:14, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

The archiving instructions were accidentally reset in 2017. I'll move the 2016-2017 material from archive 1 into a new archive 13 and tell the bot to start archive 14. Archive 13 will be about 200K, which I don't think is too large for an archive page. -- John of Reading (talk) 07:04, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Thank you! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 07:17, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Request for Flexibility in Guidelines-First E-Political Party in the World (VSJP)

Dear Wikipedia Help Desk,

I am submitting this message as the founder of the *Vishwa Shanti Janata Party (VSJP)*, which is the **world’s first fully digital political party**, founded on April 2, 2025. We are officially active across global digital platforms including YouTube, Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, Threads, and Google Sites.

Our political activities are carried out entirely through the internet, making us a precedent in digital democracy. As such, our existence represents a shift in political structure aligned with modern technology and accessibility.

However, due to Wikipedia’s current guidelines, we find difficulty in meeting notability criteria through traditional media references. We respectfully request that Wikipedia acknowledges this **global digital transformation** and consider updating editorial inclusion for new-age political movements like VSJP.

All documents are publicly available and have been submitted to:

• UNESCO
• WIPO
• UN OHCHR
• Election Commission of India

We kindly ask for editorial review support or alternative recognition guidance.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

-- Aaryan Narasimhan Radhakrishnan Founder & International Leader – Vishwa Shanti Janata Party Chief Ambassador of World Peace | Digital Father of the World Website: https://www.vsjp.org Aaryan Narasimhan R (talk) 08:16, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Hello, Aaryan Narasimhan R. From the point of view of Wikipedia, we do not care what you and your political party says about itself. We care only about what reliable published sources entirely independent of your political party say about it. There are no special carve-outs for organizations that operate only digitally. Your party must meet Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies) to be eligible for a Wikipedia article. Cullen328 (talk) 08:51, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

May someone who knows Chinese railways please help me with my new article?

I WP:COPYWITHINed and spiced things up a bit to create a Classic rail in China article. May someone please help me expand it? Thanks! Félix An (talk) 08:35, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

This is a place to get help with technical and practical matters around editing. For subject-related assistance, try the relevant Wikiproject, in this case at WT:WikiProject Trains and/or WT:WikiProject China. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 18:18, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Formatting in semi-protected edit requests

A new editor has made a couple of attempts to lodge a semi-protected edit request (most recently here) but it corrupts the display of the talk page in question, blanking a large section and failing to display their own post. I suspect it is connected with their inclusion of refs in the request and it won't corrupt and will display if these are removed. Is there a way for them to make the request with refs included or should they simply be omitted? Mutt Lunker (talk) 11:37, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

@Mutt Lunker Posts on talk pages can certainly include references. If done with <ref> </ref> tags, then the addition of a {{talkref}} template (not indented) at the foot of the section will format things correctly. It would help the other editor if you could restore their edit with that template included. Mike Turnbull (talk) 12:55, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

There was a non-balanced tag in a section from over 5 years ago. I fixed it.[1] DMacks (talk) 13:04, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Thanks all. Mutt Lunker (talk) 13:36, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Prior's Field School

 Courtesy link: Prior's Field School

Please fix up ref number 2 - it is not quite right. thank you Srbernadette (talk) 23:23, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Srbernadette You had the year of the access date as "20333". You've made this sort of simple error before and ask us to fix it. I'm wondering, do you use the preview button? 331dot (talk) 23:51, 7 May 2025 (UTC)

Christopher Bullock (civil servant)

 Courtesy link: Christopher Bullock (civil servant)

Ref number 44 and 45 were obtained from JOURNALS and I think I got it all wrong. They are not a "simple errors". Please leave in quotes in both. I will endeavour to use the preview button. Please fix and thank you. Srbernadette (talk) 00:13, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

They are both ridiculously simple errors. You used {{cite journal}} but did not include a |journal= field. DMacks (talk) 03:08, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

For refs number 44 and 45 - I have TRIED to put in "=journal" as suggested, but no good. Please fix up . So sorry. Srbernadette (talk) 04:39, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

You changed <ref>{{cite journal |title= Foo to <ref>{{|journal=|title=

What you need is <ref>{{cite journal |journal=Bar |title=Foo , where "Bar" is the name of the journal. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 11:27, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Issue with brackets

Hi there! What is it that I'm doing wrong here to not have Round 6? Thanks in advance, Alavense (talk) 15:27, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

I'm afraid you may have to provide a bit more context to your question. GMG^talk 15:28, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi, GreenMeansGo. I've added information for six rounds, but the template only shows five, so I guess there's something I must have done wrong. I just can't find it. Maybe someone can help me with that. Thanks. Alavense (talk) 15:30, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Checking the code, {{2NTeam-NTeamBracket}} does not appear to have implemented a round 6. The code ends at | RD5 = Fifth round. LightNightLights (talk • contribs) 16:20, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Oh, that's true... Thank you very much for noticing, LightNightLights. Kind regards, Alavense (talk) 16:24, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Source in Dropbox?

 Courtesy link: User:DrOrinScrivello/National Geographic Society Headquarters

I'm working on the above draft about a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The NRHP nomination form, which is a crucial source for the site's architecture, is found at this website (very bottom of the article under "Related Sources"), but unfortunately it's hosted on Dropbox. Is there a preferred remedy for this that makes it so someone clicking the source link in our article isn't greeted with an immediate download of the file? Barring any better options, is linking to the Dropbox file an acceptable last resort, or should I just treat it like an offline source and not link? I appreciate any guidance. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 15:28, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Hello, @DrOrinScrivello. I'm afraid I don't see how a filled-in application form on an unidentified dropbox account can possibly be a reliably published source. Who is the publisher? (You write "National Park Service" as though they are the publisher, but in what sense have they published it?)

If you can cite this, what is to stop me filling in an application form, not submitting it but putting it on my Google Drive or Dropbox, and citing it?

Furthermore, even if you can justify that as a reliable source, it is clearly not an independent one, and so should be cited only in the limited ways that a primary source can be used.

A Wikipedia article should be a neutral summary of what independent reliable sources say about a subject, and very little else. ColinFine (talk) 19:07, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Thanks for the response, @ColinFine. These are valid questions. I've only been editing in this topic area for a couple of years, but my NRHP editing has been based on the guidance at WP:NRHP where these forms have been used as sources for many years.

The forms are researched and written by architectural historians and other subject matter experts, and are (what I assume is considered) published by the National Park Service (on their website here) when new listings on the Register are announced. Unfortunately these days they frequently don't digitize and post the forms themselves, which leaves it up to state government agencies to request them and do so themselves (Virginia posts theirs here). Washington DC has not posted their forms for a few years now, so the DC Preservation League that I linked in my first comment has requested and uploaded them. Unfortunately this particular one is linked to a Dropbox account, which I understand is unreliable, but the form itself is a reliable source. The independence can be debated (and I'm sure has been in the past), but from what I've seen they have long been used as a source for architectural details and historical information. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 20:14, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Hi, @DrOrinScrivello. I was not aware of WP:NRHP, and I haven't delved into what it says.

But it seems to me that there is a world of difference between an application form which has been published by the NPS, and one which has not.

Dropbox is not the issue: that's simply the medium by which the link has been made available. For most sources, a link is not an essential part of the citation, but simply a convenience for the reader.

You say that the form iself is a reliable source: I say that unless it has been published by a publisher with a reputation for editorial control and fact checking, then it is not a reliable source.

Consider a reader who wants to verify material from the WP article. They see a citation with authors, date, and publisher. They pick the link, and get to something which looks very much like a filled-in form, rather than a published document, hosted on some random DropBox site. What reason do they have for believing that this is the genuine application, and that all the information in it is accurate? Who put it there, and are they reliable?

Generally, a reader has the option of ignoring the URL (if one is provided) and obtaining the object in another way - such as ordering a copy from a major library. Is that possible here? ColinFine (talk) 21:05, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Omit global contributions link

I was away from Wikipedia for a good while (over a year, I think), during which time the "Global contributions" link was added to the toolbox when viewing a userpage. I have no use for this link, and I'm constantly clicking it when I intend to click the adjacent "User contributions" link. Is there any way to hide it? I already checked the list of available gadgets, but nothing refers to global contributions. Nyttend (talk) 20:07, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Just add:

#t-global-contributions { display:none }

to your common.css page. Ruslik_Zero 20:20, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Thanks! Can you remind me how to do this? I'm unclear if I paste it at the top of User:Nyttend/common.css, at the bottom, or even at a different page since I already have one. Nyttend (talk) 21:25, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Anywhere in that page without interfering with the existing code. Top and bottom both work. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:52, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

Christopher Bullock (civil servant)

Christopher Bullock (civil servant)

I'm sos sorry, but I cannot fix up references. 44 and 45. please fix up. It is too hard for me to redo them as journals. Please help. thank you. Srbernadette (talk) 22:34, 8 May 2025 (UTC)

 Done, hope this helps! JacobTheRox (talk) 12:44, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

I gave you a detailed description of how to fix this, above. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:02, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Floating reply button that links to itself

Hello! I noticed a floating "[ Reply ]" button on the Wikipedia:Update page, centred on the Viewport roughly half way down on the left side, which seems to be a matter of "position: fixed;" rather than "position: relative;" in the CSS. It does not reply to anything, it links to Wikipedia:Update, which is the same page the button is on! I wonder whether this button has actually ever served any purpose. It seems to have been added (not floating) in this version: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Update&oldid=1112554098, amidst a lot of other testing. Should this button be removed?

Thanks! ProfessorPuffin (talk) 02:33, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

@ProfessorPuffin: It's the reply tool "Enable quick replying" at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing. The link did work for me but there was nothing to reply to so it was confusing and I have disabled it.[2] PrimeHunter (talk) 09:28, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

How can I fix vandalism in a page preview (*not* the actual page)

I have found that the page previews for Frederick Douglass have been vandalized (a slur between the words "abolitionist" and "orator"), but I don't know how to fix this since it is not actually on the page itself, only in the preview. JayTeeEll (talk) 05:08, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

@JayTeeEll: Oh, that's unfortunate... The page previews should be updated by a cache purge of the page, which I have just done, but it hasn't updated yet... I'll try to figure this out some more. Trim02 (talk) 05:59, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for looking into this! I'd be interested if you find out more. JayTeeEll (talk) 06:14, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

This may be related to WP:AN#URGENT: Racial slurs appearing when one hovers over Africa. —Jéské Couriano v^_^v ^{threads critiques} 06:33, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

I did a test and a normal purge did seem to update the page preview, but it might just been a coincidence ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Trim02 (talk) 06:37, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Alright I think a normal purge DOES update the page preview, but you'll have to remember to purge your own browser cache as well (easy thing to forget) Trim02 (talk) 06:59, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

ok, so I don't know if it was just a coincidence, but after reading your link I tried the Help:Purge#forcerecursivelinkupdate option, and now the page previews don't show the vandalism anymore. So thanks for your help! JayTeeEll (talk) 06:33, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

I want to add a content on exiting Wikipedia page

Hhvb Mohiiiɓbb (talk) 11:35, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Mohiiiɓbb, if you want to add content to an existing Wikipedia page, then (provided that the material is both worthwhile and referenced) go ahead and add it. If the page is "protected", preventing you from editing it, then make an edit request on its talk page. -- Hoary (talk) 12:05, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Archiving

Hi there, I am trying to set up auto-archiving on my talk page and cannot for the life of me get it to work. Is there anyone who can be bothered to help? Additionally, I'd like to set up one-click archiving but did what was my best guess at how to set it up to no avail. It would be helpful for me to have these two tools so if anyone can lend a hand that would be much appreciated :)
Thanks, JacobTheRox (talk) 12:36, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

@JacobTheRox: That setup should be fine, but since the bot only checks things once a day you'll need to wait 24 hours or so.

Your "best guess" edit has copied the tool rather than installed it. I've added installation instructions to the documentation at User:Elli/OneClickArchiver. -- John of Reading (talk) 13:26, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Haha I've fixed it anyway since but I knew I'd done something stupid! Thanks for your help; I've manually archived my talk page since but for some reason I thought it updated hourly. Best wishes, JacobTheRox (talk) 13:36, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Would it be appropriate to include translation in title?

Recently, I've created the article Noladeti Lashalom, and I want to rename it to "Noladeti Lashalom (I was born for peace)" since that is the translation of the title. I have looked in the naming policies and did not find anything relevant. The new title would be pretty long, so I seek your opinion on what to do with it Someonefighter (talk) 17:05, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

@Someonefighter I'm not sure if the MOS covers this but I found an example for another song Viva la Vida which doesn't have the translation in the title. If readers were likely to use "I was born for peace" to search for the article, then a WP:REDIRECT might be appropriate. Mike Turnbull (talk) 17:16, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

You probably want Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English-language sources), which says follow usage in English-language sources, if any. Noladeti Lashalom seems to be consistent with other members of Category:Israeli songs. TSventon (talk) 17:26, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Thank you! (to both @TSventon and @Michael D. Turnbull). I will keep the title as it is Someonefighter (talk) 17:33, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

Page Creation-Sanatan Kadakia/Executive Producer

Hello Everyone,

I am a film producer in American independent film industry. I have executive produced seven feature films. I want to have my page created if allowed. how can i have my page created?

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10067735/ Skadakia6 (talk) 18:10, 9 May 2025 (UTC)

It is strongly reccomended not to write your own article - see Wikipedia's guidance on autobiographies. If you are notable enough for an article then someone will write one. CoconutOctopus talk 18:31, 9 May 2025 (UTC)