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    February 3

    Userbox question

    Why does User:Benzband/Userboxes/Random acts of kindness have my username in it?--Bbb23 (talk) 00:39, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    It seems to input the username of whoever opens it by default. Tutwakhamoe (talk) 00:44, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    It appears that it is simply using a username form submit box. If your web browser is set to autofill such boxes, that is likely why that is happening. Since I have autofill disabled, it is simply prompting me for my username. It seems rather hack-ish and suspect to me. TiggerJay (talk) 00:45, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    It's coded with "Username Here" as placeholder. Your browser rembembers that at the same site you have entered Bbb23 in an input box with "username" in the placeholder ("Enter your username" at Special:Login), so the browser suggests the remembered string. It would probably still suggest Bbb23 if you were logged out, or somebody was logged in with another name in the same browser after only entering their own username at another site like Commons. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:20, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    How to put special font & color on my username?

    I see some users decorate their username and "talk" button when discussing. I don't think they're doing that all the time, I think it is done automatically. How can I do this too? Camilasdandelions (talk) 08:44, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi @Camilasdandelions, welcome to the help desk! WP:FANCYSIG could help. There's also Wikipedia:Signature tutorial with a nice gallery at the end. Be sure to not make it too annoying or hard to navigate (see WP:SIGAPP), have fun! Justiyaya 11:12, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    THANK you!! Camilasdandelions (talk) 11:31, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Rendering support for Microsoft Edge running on Windows

    I installed two different Linear B fonts, but my browser still won't render the script.--3family6 (Talk to me|See what I have done) 13:28, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    @3family6 I'm running the latest MS Edge on windows 11 and I see the font perfectly rendered at the link you supplied, without installing anything beyond whatever it is that the operating system of my PC already had. Maybe you need to uninstall the ones you added and let the system go back to its default. Mike Turnbull (talk) 14:44, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    ... on that page Help:Multilingual support, almost all scripts are fine in my browser, except for example Kaktovik numerals and Klingon! Mike Turnbull (talk) 14:49, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    I did not install the fonts until after the Linear B wasn't rendering.--3family6 (Talk to me|See what I have done) 16:12, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Numerous other fonts on that page won't load. I'm using Windows 10.--3family6 (Talk to me|See what I have done) 16:13, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    You probably need to take this to WP:VPT, with full details. Mike Turnbull (talk) 16:15, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Thank you.--3family6 (Talk to me|See what I have done) 12:39, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    copying and pasting a citation

    Help! I've edited a page and saved it, but then realised that I needed to add a citation, actually a reference that I already added elsewhere in the text (which appeared as number 5 in the list). When I go back into edit mode only two references appear in the list, both ones I created on my first edit, numbered 1 and 2. Number 1 is the one I now want to replicate elsewhere in the text but I seem unable to copy it. I'm sure in the past I could highlight the citation number, right click, copy and paste. That doesn't work now. How can I copy and paste an existing citation to use elsewhere? Stagememories (talk) 14:28, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    @Stagememories: You may want to use named references. —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 14:29, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks. I had a read but think this is beyond me. I'm not sure where to "define the named footnote"! Stagememories (talk) 14:54, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Hello, @Stagememories. The first time the reference is used, add name="something"> within the <ref> tag (where something is a suitable name for this reference), so it looks like <ref name="something">...</ref>.
    Then subsequent uses of the same references look like <ref name="something"/> (that's the complete citation). ColinFine (talk) 15:20, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @Stagememories If you are using the visual editor, the help about named references is at Help:Introduction to referencing with VisualEditor/4 Mike Turnbull (talk) 15:44, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Ah, as simple as finding the re-use tab! Bingo! Thanks Mike. Stagememories (talk) 17:41, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Just clarifying—since at one time I was unsure and ended up testing it—that the full reference doesn't need to appear earlier in the article than the "reused" occurrences in order to work. It just has to appear somewhere. First and subsequent are just the simplest way to explain what to do. Musiconeologist (talk) 18:44, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Painted portraits - transfer on behalf of courthouse?

    Hello, I'm following up on this question. After speaking with the local courthouse, I'm told it can be a bit difficult to get permission to use a camera in their facility, but they told me they'd be happy to e-mail professional photos already taken of each portrait. Assuming each portrait are out of copyright, what steps do I take with Wikimedia Commons to assert I have the appropriate permission to upload these photographs taken by courthouse officials on their behalf? Do they e-mail a third party or do I forward an e-mail somewhere for approval? --Engineerchange (talk) 14:54, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    The easiest is if they are willing to upload the photos themselves; but if they are not (as I guess might be the case) then the photographer must send an email as explained at donating copyright materials. You can't send this for them. ColinFine (talk) 15:22, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @Engineerchange and ColinFine: I'm not sure that Colin is correct here. As I understand it, a photograph of a two-dimensional work of art that is out of copyright is not itself copyrightable, so all you have to do is show that the copyright on the paintings themselves has lapsed. You shouldn't need to prove permission to use the photos. Deor (talk) 15:27, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Oh, right. ColinFine (talk) 18:14, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Concur: no permission is needed, from the photographer, or from the courthouse officials, or from anyone else. If any such permission were needed, then the material would not be acceptable for use on Commons. -Arch dude (talk) 10:16, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Make sure the photo is limited to the painting itself (not the frame, its setting in the building, etc. Otherwise, it could wind up being a photo of 3D rather than 2D, in which case it would have its own copyright. DMacks (talk) 10:22, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    I will go down a rathole here, only because copyright law is ludicrously complicated. If their picture has stuff other than the painting, you can crop to just the painting, and the result is in the public domain. Do this on your own computer and Wikipedia is in the clear. Technically, you personally might have violated the photographer's copyright, but you personally are free to consider yourself to be covered by the written permission granted by the officials based on your reasonable assumption that the local government received the copyright from the photographer. Don't ask, they won't tell. -Arch dude (talk) 20:57, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Adding an NFF while a copyvio is up

    The main image at 2024 Greenfield tornado is a likely copyvio (unchallenged at commons) and I wanted to replace it with a different, non-free image. Can I do this? The deletion argument hasn't concluded (receiving little participation) so it could be argued a "free" in quotes image does exist. Departure– (talk) 17:19, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    It now looks headed for deletion. @Departure–: do you have a local copy of the file to upload if/when the commons file gets deleted? DMacks (talk) 09:57, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    I was going to add a different photo. My question is, as it's clear to most that the image there is a copyvio, can I IAR and upload the image before discussion closes? Departure– (talk) 13:28, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Yes, you can do that. There's typically a few-day delay for deletion of claimed fair-use images that do not meet the fair-use criteria. DMacks (talk) 15:00, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Alright then. I don't know how much longer the Commons photo will stay on the site - it's been up for deletion for coming up on 4 months now. Departure– (talk) 15:03, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    WP:ATTACK says that "When deleting attack pages, it is important that you do not quote any of the content in your deletion summary." Does a similar rule apply (even if unwritten) to deleting copyright violations? JJPMaster (she/they) 20:01, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Well, yes, obviously, but the advice is mostly moot because deletion log summaries haven't been prefilled with the page's content for years. Probably decades by now. More important - for both - is that we often have to delete the entry from the creation log now, too. —Cryptic 20:06, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, I guess I have twice as many RevDels to do over there than I thought. JJPMaster (she/they) 20:40, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    February 4

    "delete" shown when deleting pages

    I recently deleted a page which had been marked for speedy deletion. I noticed that the page shown at the delete action itself is showing the literal word "delete" right at the top. Now this doesn't cause any trouble or difficulty, it's just a cosmetic thing I noticed. Where did it come from? JIP | Talk 11:00, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    @JIP, Simply i did not understand your question completely, though checked main public log and nothing named "Delete" that you deleted. I hope i am not wrong.––kemel49(connect)(contri) 16:56, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @KEmel49: I don't mean that it would appear on any page that I deleted. I mean that it appeared on the delete action page itself. Here's a copy-paste of what was shown when I tried to delete Talk:Greater United States (I didn't actually delete it, this was just a test to demonstrate this):

    Delete "Talk:Greater United States"

    delete
    This page has a history with 9 revisions: Page history
    Warning: Other pages link to or transclude the page you are about to delete.

    You are about to delete Talk:Greater United States along with all of its history. Please:

    Confirm that you intend to do this and that you are doing it in accordance with the deletion policy.
    Review the prior deletion/restoration log below.
    Check "What Links Here" before deleting. Links to this page will not be changed.
    Provide a deletion summary which clearly explains why you are deleting the page. You may use one of the common reasons from the dropdown menu, a handwritten summary, or both.
    Ensure that the deletion summary does not contain inappropriate or libellous content.
    If you are deleting as a result of a deletion debate, please link to that discussion in the summary.

    I have bolded the place where the word "delete" appears. JIP | Talk 18:09, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @JIP, I don't have that specific user right to delete any page nor ever experienced that. better ask at Wikipedia:Village pump (technical) or Administrator's noticeboard.––kemel49(connect)(contri) 19:00, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    I see what you are talking about, can't say I ever noticed it either. This might be an issue for VPT to answer. Beeblebrox Beebletalks 19:02, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    I added a links but its showing a 1 how can i show what the 1 represents like the others in the external link Megafilms422 (talk) 17:59, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    @Megafilms422: [(link) (alt text)]. Simple as that. Note there is a space between the URL and the alt text. —Jéské Couriano v^_^v threads critiques 18:01, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @Megafilms422, jeske shown you a basic example. for details, see Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking§External links section.––kemel49(connect)(contri) 16:59, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    February 5

    Regarding the deletion of the image in wikipidea.

    Let me know the reason for deleting the image on Anudeep Dev wikipedia and how can i make image stable on the wikipedia. Kummari sathish (talk) 10:50, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Hi @Kummari sathish, that image appears to have been deleted for a copyright violation (see c:File:Anudeep Live Performing.jpg). You can upload and use any image that is free to use, either by being released under a free license or being in the public domain. Ultraodan (talk) 11:02, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @Kummari sathish Rule of thumb: Any random picture you find on the internet is under copyright and can't be used on Wikipedia. More at Wikipedia:Image use policy. File:PVR Raja and Anudeep Dev.jpg may be of interest to you. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 13:21, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    COI

    I want to make a page for the artist Stephen Gjertson, However we are distantly related. Would declaring a COI make sense here if I were to make a page? Mgjertson (talk) 18:21, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    The best way of doing this would be to create a draft article. This would allow other editors to offer feedback before the article went live in mainspace. If it was created straight away and was considered to have problems it might be deleted quickly, which is always disappointing. It is also worth mentioning guidelines like An article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing, as once the article is created, other people will edit it and it will not be like a LinkedIn profile or similar.

    Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL
    Based on the tool above, I do wonder whether he currently meets the general notability guideline.--♦IanMacM♦ (talk to me) 19:13, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Yeah, I was looking for sources and not much came up. Apparently there was already a page about him that was deleted for advertisement, and considering I can't find more than a handful of secondary sources I think it's best for me to not make a page. Thanks! Mgjertson (talk) 19:25, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Presidential visits

    I noticed that in all pages of Barack Obama's presidential visits, visits to his private family home in Kenwood, Chicago are excluded, yet Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago visits, as well as Joe Biden's visits to his Delaware home, are included in their respective presidential travel pages (here and here). I would like to hear input on what the standard should be for presidential visits to their private homes - should they be included in their presidential visit articles or not? Thanks, President Loki (talk) 22:50, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    @President Loki, the Help desk isn't really a good venue for that sort of discussion. I'd suggest bringing the question up at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Presidents of the United States. Schazjmd (talk) 23:25, 5 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    February 6

    Interviews as sources

    As we know, interviews are problematic. Wikipedia:Interviews is a page devoted to them; but it's merely an essay, thus lacking the heft of a guideline, let alone a policy. Interviews bring up the matter of independence -- but Wikipedia:Independent sources too is a mere essay. I thought I remembered some more authoritative page (probably a guideline) that dealt with interviews and their (mis)uses; but now that I look for it, I can't find it. Is there anything?

    And if no there is not, any tips for efficaciously countering You're citing something that announces itself as "not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines", one that has "not been thoroughly vetted by the community". So really it's just your opinion against mine? -- Hoary (talk) 00:09, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    @Hoary: Wikipedia:Independent sources is an explanatory essay, which means it links to a policy or guideline. WP:NPOV may be the most relevant policy here? —Tenryuu 🐲 ( 💬 • 📝 ) 00:42, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    WP:NPV has no instance of the string "interview". Further, it wants "as far as possible, without editorial bias, all the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic". Well, the view that some celeb takes of himself, as published in an interview in The Guardian or similar, surely is a significant view as published by a reliable source. Moreover, WP:NPV barely mentions the independence of sources; and for this, it links to WP:Independent sources. Now, as it happens English is my first language and I can, if I wish, read this essay with ease. But I don't wish. As I skimread it, I see a photo of a cup of coffee (or Bovril or who knows what) with the caption "It doesn't matter if you love it or hate it. If you aren't selling it, you're probably an independent source about it." This strikes me as so obviously wrongheaded that my minor appetite for reading the page quite withers away. I can hardly expect a new user to read something so long. -- Hoary (talk) 01:47, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Like all sources, it depends on what it's used for. Interviews are primary sources for the subjects being interviewed, so their use should comply with WP:PRIMARY. They're neither secondary nor independent to the subject, so they don't indicate notability as described by WP:GNG. Regarding essays, Wikipedia:Quote your own essay is a good read. They're shorthands so we don't have to type out the same 3,000 word argument every time it comes up. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 00:43, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Alien, WP:PRIMARY is an (important) ingredient of WP:No original research. This only mentions interviews in its footnotes. Essays are indeed handy for citing. I just wish that their creators put more effort into the shorthand aspect. Of course, if I find guidelines inadequate (insufficiently informative, or verbose), I'm free to make or (much more wisely) suggest changes to them. I plead laziness. But a sanity check: Usedn't there to be some reasonable, concise, helpful prescription/proscription/advice about interviews in one or more of the guidelines? -- Hoary (talk) 01:58, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Hoary, I think it is a bit of a mistake to describe any given essay as "merely an essay". Not all essays are equal. As the standard essay header says, Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.. So, the issue as I see it is not so much whether the use of interviews is described only in an essay, but rather whether or not that essay and related essays represent widespread norms. If the essay is cited by thousands of editors going back decades with negligible pushback, we can conclude that it represents a widespread norm.
    When it comes to interviews, I believe that most editors agree that most interviews published by reliable sources are reliable for WP:ABOUTSELF content, even if interviews are often considered potentially questionable. Unless the article subject has a reputation as a liar, who would quibble with "My father was a machinist and my mother taught a kindergarten class"? But "My father was North Dakota's greatest poet" would require toning down for neutrality and additional sources. The standard is that the material is neither unduly self-serving nor an exceptional claim.
    In my experience, the real bone of contention is whether or not interviews contribute to notability. Since the WP:GNG memorably says A topic is presumed to be suitable for a stand-alone article or list when it has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject, then it is clear that an understanding of independence is essential. You are correct that Wikipedia:Independent sources is "merely" an essay, but it is a special kind of essay that has a header saying that This is an explanatory essay about the policies and guidelines and the guideline in question links to that essay in its very first sentence. One can only assume that this particular widely read essay represents "widespread norms" since that header and that link have persisted for so long. Here is where I believe that editorial judgment enters into the equation. Let's say that multiple respected major magazines and newspapers going back many years have published completely different interviews of a person with detailed introductory sections providing original biographical reporting about the person and their unique contributions before getting to the Q and A section, and there was no hint of press agent involvement. Even if grudgingly, I think that most editors would see those interviews as indicators of notability. On the other hand, if a trade magazine called Widget World runs a story about 2025 widget breakthroughs and quotes Joe Jones, the chief engineer of North American Widgets as saying "We have perfected the fourth generation widget", then that brief interview is not evidence that Joe Jones is notable (or that their widget model is a breakthrough). Between those two extremes, there is a continuum, and good editorial judgment is the ability to conclude that a good source is good enough and that a mediocre source should be disregarded. Cullen328 (talk) 09:53, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    Ayd with line break

    Hi, is there an easy way with {{Ayd}} to make the year and day figure separated with a comma appear under each other in the table cell? Cause when I try to set the separation parameter to ,<br> it doesn't work... . I would like it to look like this, using the template if possible:

    2 years,
    9 days

    — Antoni12345 (talk) 16:13, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

    @Antoni12345: That's using content to affect layout, and might be contrary to MOS:NOBR. Bazza 7 (talk) 16:42, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @Antoni12345, With that {{Ayd}} template, you simply can't display that. You have to done that manually as you did here as example.––kemel49(connect)(contri) 16:50, 6 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
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