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English Grammar

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Using a plural pronoun to refer to a singular person, is this to be politically correct or to anger people who use English as it is meant to be written? KevBuju (talk) 22:22, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

There's not a man I meet but doth salute me

As if I were their well-acquainted friend

William Shakespeare: A Comedy of Errors

I would have everybody marry if they could do it properly.

Jane Austin: Mansfield Park

So likewise shall my heauenly Father doe also vnto you, if yee from your hearts forgiue not euery one his brother their trespasses.'

Matt. 18:35, King James Bible, 1611.

AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:26, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

So if I refer to "your" question instead of "thy" question, it will make thee angry? I think thou needest move with the times. Maproom (talk) 22:45, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

...or at least, keep up with Geoffrey Chaucer: And whoso fyndeth hym out of swich blame, / They wol come up... The singular 'they' has been about for a very long time indeed. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:58, 14 October 2024 (UTC)

KevBuju, I use my cafetière as Bodum meant it to be used, I wear my shoes as Adidas meant them to be worn. Who or what is the entity that meant English to be written in such-and-such a way? -- Hoary (talk) 04:46, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

This appears to be a rant about English, rather than a question about using Wikipedia.

In any case, this is discussed at length in our article singular they. ColinFine (talk) 09:19, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

October 15

Mina Kolb - Actress.

Looking for any information on actress, Mina Kolb. There is nothing on Wikipedia about her. Can someone who knows her or knows of her please add info. Is she still alive? If not, when did she pass? I find no information online anywhere about her passing? Oshinsd (talk) 00:00, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not obligated to have an article for every somewhat famous person. Even if there is a Wikipedia article about her, it can only get its information from reliable published sources rather than people who personally knows this person. You should direct your search efforts elsewhere. Tutwakhamoe (talk) 02:46, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

When archive.org recovers from vandalism, perhaps you, Oshinsd, will be able to find something about her in a book, magazine or something that's available there. -- Hoary (talk) 04:36, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

@Oshinsd: Try asking at WP:Reference_desk/Humanities (this page is for questions about editing or using Wikipedia). Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:45, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Where to report vandalism

Vandal user: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/192.92.207.50

Not sure where to report said user to prevent them from causing more damange Alexllte (talk) 04:37, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

WP:ANV. To request protection for a page see WP:RFPP. Alexeyevitch^(talk) 04:41, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

done on ANV and RFPP, thank you for these references Alexllte (talk) 05:21, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Alexllte, yes, WP:ANV is the right place. But thank you for bringing it up here, and don't bother doing so there, as I've already blocked the IP. -- Hoary (talk) 04:56, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Source mode

Hi! I recently attempted to create an article, but accidentally overwrote a disambiguation page, which was understandably and fairly removed. Now, as I try to contribute by creating the article in the correct space, I see that all my sources have disappeared with a message saying, "The reference is defined in a template or other generated block, and for now can only be previewed in source mode." Is there a way to "reactivate" all the sources, or will I have to manually reinsert them?

Thank you in advance. Sincerely Testernnmann (talk) 08:25, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Testernnmann, try switching from visual editing to wikitext editing (this is also sometimes called "source mode"). There is a toggle in the upper right of the editing interface.

Someone once asked me on a talkpage why I had removed several of their sources, when in fact I had just placed them into a {{multiref2}}. I guess this explains what they were talking about. Folly Mox (talk) 08:42, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for the quick response! Just to clarify, does this mean the references will become visible again once I publish the page, or do I need to take specific action in "source mode" to make them appear? Testernnmann (talk) 08:46, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Oh, I see, you're currently in the visual editor and haven't published the edits yet. I was looking through your contributions to see if I could tell what was going on.

I think your references should become visible when you publish your edits. Apologies for my doubts below about the sourcing. Folly Mox (talk) 08:53, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

I gotta say though, if the sources here are the same ones you're planning to use, your time might be better spent finding new ones. A lot of these are not independent of the subject, press releases, something titled "Find a broker"? Folly Mox (talk) 08:46, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Recovering a (potentially) deleted page

I'm doing a research project on the Oxford University Poetry Society and have heard from previous members that there once existed a Wikipedia page for the society -- could I please receive help checking whether it ever existed? If so, how could I go about getting it restored or at least reading its contents? 192.76.8.83 (talk) 10:29, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

It was deleted via Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Oxford University Poetry Society. 331dot (talk) 10:32, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

331dot has pointed you to the Deletion discussion. It is possible to ask for a deleted article to be restored for you to work on (see WP:REFUND) but unless you can address the issues mentioned, this would be a waste of everybody's time.

In order for there to be an article, you would need to find at least three sources that meet all three of the criteria in golden rule: reliably published, wholly independent of the society, and containing significant coverage of the society. This would be unusual for a university society. ColinFine (talk) 13:28, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Refunding a specific deletion

Please see User talk:Maile66#Batman and Robin (disambiguation). Not sure how to "refund" a deleted page directly to a user page. Please advise. — Maile (talk) 12:23, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

See WP:REFUND. ColinFine (talk) 13:29, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

I don't think that answers Maile's question. I also don't know if there's a way to refund directly, but I went ahead and did it by refunding in place and then moving. Incidentally, I'm not sure that the dab page should have been deleted, and I've commented at the userspace draft's talk page. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 13:37, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Wiki bots

If i need the user:DatBot on the si:wikipediia.org, how to get that? no idea about wikipedia bots but need a bot to get backlogs on the sinhala wekipedia project. any experts who can help? VihirLak007 (talk) 12:39, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

I have no idea about the portability of bots to another Wikipedia. I suggest asking first at User talk:DatBot, or perhaps at WP:VPT. ColinFine (talk) 13:30, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks ill check VihirLak007 (talk) 13:47, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

@VihirLak007: At the top of the page you linked to is a notice saying "This user account is a bot operated by DatGuy (talk). " click on thE "talk" link and leave a messqge there. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:38, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Tysm ill check VihirLak007 (talk) 13:48, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Category:Articles on pre-1900 earthquakes

Why doesn't Category:Articles on pre-1900 earthquakes include all such articles? Batrachoseps (talk) 14:23, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Please see the notice at the top of the category, which says

"This is a tracking category.

It is used to build and maintain a list or lists of pages—primarily for the sake of the lists themselves and their use in article and category maintenance. It is not part of the encyclopedia's categorization scheme.

.

I don't fully understand its purpose, but it's clear that it is not necessarily supposed to contain all articles that meet the description. ColinFine (talk) 14:38, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

It needs to explain its purpose. For example, does the category mean that something in the article needs to be fixed? Batrachoseps (talk) 14:39, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

@Batrachoseps My interpretation is that Wikidata characterises AD 17 Lydia earthquake as an earthquake but the article doesn't (yet) have the template {{Infobox earthquake}}. So in that sense, if you were to "fix" the article by adding that template the article link would disappear from the category. Mike Turnbull (talk) 15:06, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

@Batrachoseps: It's listed as a tracking category which indicates it's supposed to be added automatically, usually by a template. The category creator posted at Talk:List of historical earthquakes#Proposal to redefine as "before 1900" (not 1901) in 2018. At the time it could be added by {{Infobox earthquake}}. However, the creator removed it from the infobox code in 2019.[1] It should probably be deleted now. The creator only has one edit since 2020 and that was in 2022. PrimeHunter (talk) 18:04, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

What to do when discovering a paid editor

Hi - I was doing some recent changes anti-vandal stuff the other day, and found Commend International (which looked like this when I first found it), and it was pretty clearly intended to be a promotional article, and it had only been moved into mainspace earlier that day (10th Oct). I cleaned up the article a bit, and gave the main contributor a COI notice on their user page, and they've just got back to me today saying that they worked for the company and received a fee to create the article. They were slow to reply, but have been upfront about it and seem to want to do the right thing. I'm not sure what the correct thing to do is here - I don't know enough about deletion/COI/paid editing to know if this warrants going to WP:AFD, or if is something to go to WP:AN about, or anything like that. Any advice (or action) from someone knowledgeable in this area would be appreciated. BugGhost🦗👻 15:18, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

If you think it is at all possible to salvage an acceptable article, you could just return it to draft space and ask the user to use the draft submission process, and not create it themselves. 331dot (talk) 15:24, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice - I don't think the article is awful, and it is somewhat sourced, so I'll draftify and talk to the editor like you suggest. Thanks BugGhost🦗👻 15:45, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Receiving Emails From wikipublishsolution.com - Is this a scam?

Does anyone know whether this is a scam? Received emails from this organization claiming they received an inquiry from another party seeking to create and edit a Wikipedia page under our brand name. 2605:A601:A30A:FF00:68BA:80E9:EBE8:AEB9 (talk) 16:11, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Yes, most likely. See WP:SCAM. Jauerback^dude?/_dude. 16:13, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Ignoring everything else on their hilarious website, one of their testimonials is quite literally from "John Doe". Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 16:21, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Yes, their website is amusing. I especially enjoyed Our highly intellectual writers guarantee impeccable content quality while the website as a whole reads as if it was written by someone who speaks other languages much better than English, along with some incompetent AI assistant. Cullen328 (talk) 16:29, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

In addition, the page has set off a warning from my Bitdefender antivirus (screenshot). So it looks like a definite one to avoid.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 16:40, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

October 16

Want to request move but process confusing and closer inactive

Hi. I want to request a move of PlanetRomeo but it is unclear how to do that. It makes sense that the article ought to be titled "ROMEO (social network)" — fyi, styling is in all-caps — but it has previously been moved as the site/app has changed names twice since its founding. The closer of the last move (in 2015) is @Jenks24, who is no longer active, and initiating a move review apparently requires posting on that user's talk page. That section on the article talk page suggests that posting there about subsequent moves is inappropriate. The name of the site/app was changed from PlanetRomeo in 2021, when the owner bought the romeo.com domain. Some of its users still informally use the previous names, so redirects both from "GayRomeo" and "PlanetRomeo" would seem to be in order. But after three years with the current name, most Wikipedia users searching for the article will be unable to find it, as it doesn't appear on the "Romeo" disambiguation page. The article itself requires significant editing I will be happy to do on my own, but moving it so that it's correctly titled seems like the top priority. I tried to do the move request myself but the specifics of the situation made it a challenge I don't seem to be up to. Any assistance is appreciated — Jamesmartinthompson (talk) 10:36, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Jamesmartinthompson, the move review process is only used for recent moves: something from nine years ago would just use another move request.

I'm not seeing anything at Talk:PlanetRomeo that indicates posting a move request there would be inappropriate. Can you let us know what is giving you that impression? I didn't see anything in the banner shell about not requesting another move, and the most recent talkpage activity apart from bot action and vandalism was eight years ago.

Please feel free to add {{rm}} to Talk:PlanetRomeo yourself (you can use Twinkle to make this easier, if you have it turned on in Special:Preferences). I don't know enough about MOS:DAB to provide an answer on the appropriateness of adding a link to the article at Romeo (disambiguation); perhaps others can weigh in, but I imagine you could also do this if you feel it's correct, and see if the addition is reverted (which is no big deal). Folly Mox (talk) 11:00, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Might be the {{rmtop}} boilerplate of Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. The current rmtop phrasing is slightly different but does still have that last sentence. Alpha3031 (t • c) 13:17, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Non RS sources in COI edit requests

Hi, I've recently seen several COI edit requests where the sourcing was to websites which appeared to be news websites but where closer examination suggested that they are places where companies can install press releases as though they were independent news stories. Of course, the pseudo-promotional nature of the text usually gives them away, but at the bottom of such articles there can be founds links to pages saying, for example,

If you are interested in adding your story, press release or other news, email our team

or with reports from happy customers such as We had a fabulous experience working with [name of website]. They were collaborative, worked hard to align with our marketing plan and shape the article accordingly.

So, two questions: what is this practice called, and what kind of action can be taken if COI editors (sometimes from large wiki-editing firms) are trying to install such press release type material? Axad12 (talk) 10:47, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

The sources' practice or the COI editors' practice? The practice that the sources are doing is WP:LAUNDERING. The COI editors? Trying to use terrible sources, I guess. Not really much you can do other than telling them not to do it, and maybe dragging them to a noticeboard if they're doing it repeatedly. Alpha3031 (t • c) 11:02, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. I meant from the standpoint of the COI editors. I was under the impression that it was a form of Astroturfing, but the article here doesn't fully support that idea.

I've recently been surprised to see long serving employees of two large wiki-editing companies using the tactic (whatever it is called), and another wiki-editing company even advertises the service on their website.

I'm sure that the companies/editors in question must be aware that the practice is contrary to Wikipedia policy. I assume that they're working on the basis that if the reviewing editor doesn't spot the problem with the sourcing in the edit request then no harm is done, but it seems to me to be an exceptionally bad faith activity. This is all the more the case when it's reasonable to assume that the requesting paid editor had previously installed the press release onto an apparently RS-looking website, with the intention of using it here as a source.

When I spot this is future, I wonder if there is a standard notice that can be placed on the users' talkpages. Not necessarily anything specific, but just something to formally request that they stop doing it. Axad12 (talk) 12:58, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

The closest template would probably be {{uw-unreliable}}, though you can always create your own template if you want to customise it, for example with a different icon like and phrasing or something. Call it uw-presswashing or uw-laundering or something like that. Alpha3031 (t • c) 13:25, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Article not appearing on internet search

Hello. I created the article John Dillwyn-Venables-Llewelyn. Whether I search the exact article title or namesakes (e.g. Sir John Venables-Llewelyn) it does not appear on any search engines (google, safari etc). It is only accessible via the link in the Dillwyn-Venables-Llewelyn baronets article, or my watchlist. Anyone have any ideas why this may be? TIA Mac Edmunds (talk) 14:51, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia has no control over how search engines work. The article John Dillwyn-Venables-Llewelyn was created in June 2024, so maybe they haven't got round to crawling it yet.--♦IanMacM♦ ^{(talk to me)} 16:16, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. I've created a few others and they have appeared immediately, so just confused me. Mac Edmunds (talk) 17:36, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

The article is the top result for me on DuckDuckGo. Confirming I also don't see it as a google result (having given up on page four or five). Folly Mox (talk) 22:36, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for your input. Mac Edmunds (talk) 09:01, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

@Mac Edmunds Although the article was reviewed by the new pages patrol on 8 September, making it available to search engines, it has had no edits since then. In my experience, if you were to edit it now Google and others would notice and index it quickly. Mike Turnbull (talk) 11:35, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks, I’ll give it a quick edit in a mo. Mac Edmunds (talk) 12:50, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Short description issue

When I look up Murder of Meredith Kercher on my mobile phone, the short description is "Template for Amanda Knox". How can this be fixed? Batrachoseps (talk) 14:55, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

@Batrachoseps: This should be fixed after this edit to the navbox at the foot of that article. -- John of Reading (talk) 15:21, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you! Batrachoseps (talk) 15:24, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Clarifcation on Options to hide an image

Can any of you guys clarify on what the following means? How do I block specific images in the search code using this code?

Disable images in search widget for certain skins

Search result images can be turned off by altering the respective common.css for the skin being used and adding a rule to not display background images for spans of the class .wvui-typeahead-suggestion__thumbnail. For example:

span.wvui-typeahead-suggestion__thumbnail {
  background-image:none !important;    
}

Kidgeorge (talk) 22:24, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Hello, Kidgeorge. This isn't about specific images. It's hiding all images that get put into a span with a class of "wvui-typeahead-suggestion__thumbnail", which I'm guessing will be images chosen by the software to appear when you are searching. ColinFine (talk) 22:32, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Is there any way to block specific images in the search bar. On the other hand, you can also disable specific images by filename or disable all images on an specfic page.

There are instances where it blocks all images within a specific page or blocks some images while allowing others to be displayed. Other times, it doesn't block the images at all, even after you bypassed your cache. Kidgeorge (talk) 21:16, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

October 17

Page Review

An article was reviewed after a move but it still doesn't appear in Google Search Engine. Both the original name and the new name after the move do not appear. The review happened after the move was already done. But search engine doesn't see it. What could have caused that? Sarah Biryomumaisho (talk) 08:05, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

It takes time for Google to index new articles; Wikipedia has no control over this. Do you have a particular need for this article(you don't mention which one) to appear in search results quickly?

I see that you took a picture of a group of people that you wrote about, do you have a connection to the subjects of your edits? 331dot (talk) 08:07, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

WhatLinksHere and redirects

It's not a big deal, more of a curiosity, I'm not exactly a newbie but I don't understand this thing, here I fixed the Poor Millionaires (1959 film) wikilink in the Template:Dino Risi to avoid the redirect, but in the WhatLinksHere page most template entries are still listed under the Poveri milionari redirect. Am I missing something? --Cavarrone 09:32, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

@Cavarrone: It's based on stored link tables which are updated with a delay when a used template is edited. It's usually sorted out within hours. Individual articles using the template can be forced to update right away with a null edit of the article. PrimeHunter (talk) 11:05, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

See :mw:Help:What links here § Limitations and workarounds for documentation. Folly Mox (talk) 11:08, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you both very much! Cavarrone 11:39, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

I want to switch my account into a Translation Page account

Dear Team, I'm happy I can reach out to you as I meet problem while creating a translator volunteering account. I did not want my account an editing once, because I get signed on Wikipedia only for translation tasks in order to practice and improve my aptitude in that area. I am sure and convinced that it's been an error occured when I had to register. Then, I'll be happy to be backed up in that situation and have possibility to sign up without any problem for a new account as a volunteer translator on Wikipedia. I'll be proud of your undeniable assistance and I hope you'll be back to me soon in responding to my need. Thanks for your attention and leave With best regards Kokouvi Semanou Wikistranslator (talk) 09:38, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Accounts do not have formally designated purposes- you may use your account however you wish- if you intend to just translate articles, that's fine, you don't need to do anything special with your account. All accounts are capable of "editing"- "editing" is any change to Wikipedia, be it creating new content or translating existing content. 331dot (talk) 09:41, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

If you translate articles, it is up to you to make sure that the topic you are translating meets the notability requirements of the Wikipedia of the language you are translating for; each Wikipedia has its own policies as to what is acceptable, what is acceptable on one is not necessarily acceptable on another. 331dot (talk) 09:42, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Hello, Wikistranslator. It sounds as if you think that there is such a thing as a "translator account": there isn't, and I'm wondering where you got that idea from. As 331dot says, all accounts are editing accounts, even if the editing you do is all translating. You may find it helpful to read Translation. ColinFine (talk) 10:20, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for your helpful explanation. Wikistranslator (talk) 17:56, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

@Wikistranslator: Are you perhaps talking about a translator role on a Wikipedia in a language other than in English? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 20:00, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

underlining

As of a few days ago there is underlining everywhere on Wikipedia - or my wikipedia, which makes it unreadable. is there some way to disable this? The underlined words are also in a different colour, so the underlining is not necessary 74.12.129.84 (talk) 16:16, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

If it happens here at en.wikipedia.org when you are not logged in and the underlining is also on unlinked words then it sounds like something which is added by your software. What is your device and browser? Can you try another? Could it be a spell checker configured for another language so it marks most English words as unknown? Does it happen at other websites? PrimeHunter (talk) 16:51, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi. Thanks for answering. no its only on wikipedia and it's on linked words only. Not unlinked. The words are in blue as usual but they are also underlined, which is new. 74.12.129.84 (talk) 21:38, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

There is far from "everywhere" to "linked words only", and you only answered a few questions. It's hard to help with wrong or limited information but try Wikipedia:Bypass your cache. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:11, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

navbox help

i want to get all articles that have a specific navbox in it fall into a category. how to do that? its the සැකිල්ල:Monarchs of the Sinhala Kingdom navbox and the category is ප්‍රවර්ගය:සිංහලේ රජවරු(sinhala kings). if possible can someone edit the code? VihirLak007^hmu!/_duh. 18:56, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

You can insert the category into the Navbox template, between <includeonly> and </includeonly> pair. This will not insert the template itself into the category, but will insert any page into which the navbox is included, into the category.

So I believe it will look like:

<includeonly>[[ප්‍රවර්ගය:සිංහලේ රජවරු]]</includeonly>

in the navbox si:සැකිල්ල:Monarchs of the Sinhala Kingdom. (I don't read Sinhala, so I'm guessing what it looks like) ColinFine (talk) 19:28, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

tried to do that and it made every page on that wikipedia with a navbox get added to that category. VihirLak007^hmu!/_duh. 19:37, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

I'm afraid I don't know then. I see you added that line before the closing }} of the main navbox template. Is it any different if you insert it after that? ColinFine (talk) 20:34, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

There might be people who can advise you better at WP:VPT. ColinFine (talk) 20:35, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

@VihirLak007: Edits to si:සැකිල්ල:Monarchs of the Sinhala Kingdom can only affect pages which transclude that template. It's not possible that it caused all pages using any navbox to add a category (unless the main navbox template transcludes the edited template but it doesn't). You also added the category to si:Module:Asbox which is used more. There is often a delay between adding/removing a category in a template/module and seeing the category appear/disappear on pages which use the template/module. Maybe this confused you about the cause. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:49, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

yeah i guess that's what happened. ill try to get a coding expert to help. this is too complicated for me. VihirLak007^hmu!/_duh. 21:54, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

@VihirLak007: I know a lot about templates and you already got correct code from ColinFine although it will add the category to any page using the template. If you only want to add it to articles using the template then you can say {{Main other|[[ප්‍රවර්ගය:සිංහලේ රජවරු]]}}. <includeonly>...</includeonly> is unnecessary if you do this. I checked that your wiki has si:Template:Main other. To avoid possible problems, place the code between the ending }} from the navbox and <noinclude> code. Remember there can be a delay. If you want to quickly test the effect on a specific article then you can make a null edit of the article after the template has added the code. PrimeHunter (talk) 22:31, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

it worked!!! Thank you so much. @ColinFine @PrimeHunter. Now i have to only wait for the module edits i did and reverted to update. All good. VihirLak007^hmu!/_duh. 22:44, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

@PrimeHunter also is there any way to speed up overall lua/module updates to effect all changes? VihirLak007^hmu!/_duh. 23:02, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Please do not do this. We have a guideline that says not to. It is generally problematic for our processes. Izno (talk) 23:02, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

The linked guideline is for the English Wikipedia. The request was for the Sinhala Wikipedia. I don't know the language or their practices but they are not bound by English guidelines. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:08, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

is there a way like "global replace" kind to add a specific category to the articles containing this template before reverting these edits? There quiet few articles to individually add that category. Any work arounds? VihirLak007^hmu!/_duh. 23:09, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

as primehunter mentioned, theres currently no guidleline against this in sinhala wikipedia project, but if any guideline to be made in the future, is there any work arounds to get this category added to these articles before reverting the template edit i did? VihirLak007^hmu!/_duh. 23:12, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

@VihirLak007: There is no automated process to add a category to the wikitext of pages using a given template. Some editors use Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser to perform such tasks efficiently, but it still requires an action for each page. PrimeHunter (talk) 23:59, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia

how do I create a Wikipedia page? Rlvshady (talk) 22:49, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

I suppose you mean a Wikipedia article, Rlvshady. First, get plenty of practice editing and improving existing Wikipedia articles. (Click on the link titled "Learn to edit".) Second, check whether the subject of your proposed article is "notable" as defined by and for English-language Wikipedia. If it is, then third, digest and follow H:YFA. (Skipping either the first or second of these three steps is very likely to waste a lot of your time.) Is the current content of your user page intended as the draft for an article? -- Hoary (talk) 23:05, 17 October 2024 (UTC) PS On the matter of the user page, see User talk:Rlvshady#Robert_Vincent. -- Hoary (talk) 04:07, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

October 18

One article or two?

Hi! I've got a doubt. If a company has a name between 2000 and 2010 (for example), but in 2010 it changes to another name from 2010 until now, is it better to have one article for all the history of the company, or is it good to split it into two articles? I have seen a lot of articles which have all the history in the same one, but my mind is telling me "hmm, you could separate it and create two articles". So which is the correct option? Greetings! Tajotep (talk) 00:07, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Don't split an article due to a name change. You can make a redirect for the other name. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:17, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Just one article per subject. Benjamin Disraeli was often known as Lord Beaconsfield, but that doesn't justify creating a second article about him. (That second link is a redirect.) Maproom (talk) 07:22, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Yes, I know. I'm not referring to if Microsoft changes to Microsoft Corporation (for example), I ask it because I remember seeing, for example, "Twitter" in one article and "X" in another one, and I'm also asking it to know what to do when a company buys another one, but in this case is different because the two articles would be preserved. Thanks! Tajotep (talk) 08:59, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Changing a code on a template documentation

Hi, I'm looking to change the code on the template documentation, Template:GamePlatformKey for Xbox Series X/S from XSX to XSS/XSX. How do I do this? Helper201 (talk) 04:47, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Also, I'll be looking to change the link Xbox Series X/S on the page to the actual Wikipedia page title of Xbox Series X and Series S and was wondering how to do that as well. Helper201 (talk) 04:49, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

@Helper201: You asked about this at Template talk:GamePlatformKey#Xbox Series X and Series S and then four minutes later you asked about it here. All Wikipedians are volunteers which means you might have to be a bit patient and wait for somebody to respond to your questions. Since someone named jmcgnh has responded to your question on the template's talk page, I suggest you continue the discussion there. Doing so will make it easier for others to participate and also avoid splitting the discussion (which often leads to confusion). Finally, templates can be tricky to edit because even the smallest change can affect lots of pages in ways that might be hard to anticipate; so, it's probably best that you be WP:CAUTIOUS in editing this particular one and continue discussing why you feel the change is needed on the template's talk page. -- Marchjuly (talk) 05:53, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

"Places"

When I click a location coordinates link it takes me to a "places" map. I'd rather see the geohack page to let me choose which map I want to see it. How do I get "places" to 'go away' and never come back? 2001:1970:5363:7800:F884:A218:65B4:5D62 (talk) 05:38, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

I haven't heard of that. Please give an example. Does it happen here: 57°18′22″N 4°27′32″W. What happens here which should be the same: https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Wikipedia:Help_desk&params=57_18_22_N_4_27_32_W_. PrimeHunter (talk) 09:59, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Receiving an error message when trying to open PDF-versions of Wikipedia entries

To whom it may concern: I am currently (Octorber 18, 2024 at 11:30 CEST) receiving an error message whenever I try to open the PDF version of a Wikipedia entry (regardsless of whether I am using Firefox or MSEdge).

Kind regards, Nikolaj Lunoe (Copenhagen, Denmark) 185.107.14.10 (talk) 09:33, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Are you referring to the Download as PDF link? I tried it on a random article and it worked fine. Is there a particular article you're not able to download? jlwoodwa (talk) 09:52, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

IP editor. There have been intermittent problems with downloading .pdf versions of articles. See Phabricator.

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T376438

Mike Turnbull (talk) 10:37, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Userbox

How can I group userboxes in my userpage? CometVolcano (talk) 09:56, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Does {{userboxgroup}} do what you want? jlwoodwa (talk) 10:15, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Article layout

Hi all, I randomly came across Saarlouis. Is there a way to get the {{stack}} and pics to align on the right-hand side? They intrude on the text at the moment. I had a quick go but couldn't find a solution. Cheers, MinorProphet (talk) 12:54, 18 October 2024 (UTC)