Project:Village pump (miscellaneous)

Hi everyone,

I am conducting research (for my Masters) on content-gaps related to orphan articles. I am doing my best with Wikidata, but I cannot seem to find the appropriate attribute or combination of attributes that would let me extract orphan articles.

For context: An orphan article is one that has no other articles referencing to it. (Wikipedia:Orphan)

Does anyone have any pointers?

So far, I am using following two lines of SPARQL to narrow down orphan articles, but when I check the resulting list of articles, any given article does have links when I look under What Links Here.

?article schema:about ?item .

?item wikibase:sitelinks ?linkcount .

FILTER (?linkcount = 0) MNSanchez (talk) 15:14, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

:Is either :Category:All_orphaned_articles or {{url|1=https://randomincategory.toolforge.org/All_orphaned_articles?site=en.wikipedia.org}} helpful to you? Peaceray (talk) 15:31, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

::Hi Peaceray! Thank you for the super quick response. I did look into this for the English Wikipedia. However, I need to extract the orphans from different languages. Spanish, for example does not use the categories for their orphans.

::I have so far found a very inefficient way to do it... And I am hoping to get some help from the community to optimize this! (I posted it on Request A Query). If you have any advice. I would be very grateful. MNSanchez (talk) 14:04, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

:@MNSanchez to add to the comment above, you can't do this through Wikidata - that does not have any information about article to article links on individual wikis. Using "wikibase:sitelinks" will get you the number of links on Wikidata to individual language versions of that article (and any Wikidata item with sitelinks=0 would this presumably have no linked Wikipedia article)

:You can get access to the individual wiki's link tables using Quarry - see eg [https://quarry.wmcloud.org/query/17477 this query] for orphaned talkpages on mediawiki.org - but it might be more practical to identify them here as pages in :Category:Orphaned articles, which is fairly up to date. Andrew Gray (talk) 09:13, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

::Hi Andrew!

::I actually did find a way to do it through Wikidata using the mwapi API in SPARQL. It works, but it is very slow and times out, which I am hoping to resolve with the help of the community (See here).

::I am curious about Quarry. I will have to play around with it to get familiar with it because I have been spending all my energy into the [https://query.wikidata.org/#SELECT%20%3Fitem%20%3Farticle_name%20%3Farticle%20%3Fpointer%20%3Fpointer_name%20%3Fis_redirect%0AWITH%20%7B%0A%20%20SELECT%20%3Fitem%20%3Farticle%20%3Farticle_name%20%3Flink%0A%20%20WHERE%20%7B%0A%20%20%20%20%3Fitem%20wdt%3AP31%20wd%3AQ5%20.%20%23instance%20is%20human%0A%20%20%20%20%3Fitem%20wdt%3AP21%20wd%3AQ6581072%20.%20%23sex%20is%20female%0A%20%20%20%20%3Fitem%20wdt%3AP106%20wd%3AQ40348%20.%20%23occupation%20is%20lawyer%0A%20%20%20%20%3Fitem%20wdt%3AP27%20wd%3AQ414%20.%20%23country%20is%20Argentina%0A%20%20%0A%20%20%20%20%3Farticle%20schema%3Aabout%20%3Fitem%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%3Farticle%20schema%3Aname%20%3Farticle_name%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%3Farticle%20schema%3AisPartOf%20%3Forphan_item_sitelinks_lang%20.%0A%20%20%20%20VALUES%20%3Fcomparison_langs%20%7B%3Chttps%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2F%3E%7D%20%23%3Chttps%3A%2F%2Fde.wikipedia.org%2F%3E%20%3Chttps%3A%2F%2Ffr.wikipedia.org%2F%3E%20%3Chttps%3A%2F%2Fes.wikipedia.org%2F%3E%7D%20.%0A%20%20%20%20FILTER%20%28%3Forphan_item_sitelinks_lang%20%3D%20%3Fcomparison_langs%29%0A%20%20%7D%0A%7D%20AS%20%25women%0AWITH%20%7B%0A%20%20SELECT%20%3Fitem%20%3Farticle_name%20%3Farticle%20%3Fpointer%20%3Fpointer_name%20%3Fis_redirect%0A%20%20WHERE%20%7B%0A%20%20%20%20INCLUDE%20%25women%0A%20%20%20%20OPTIONAL%0A%20%20%20%20%7B%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20SERVICE%20wikibase%3Amwapi%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%7B%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20bd%3AserviceParam%20wikibase%3Aapi%20%22Generator%22%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20bd%3AserviceParam%20wikibase%3Aendpoint%20%22en.wikipedia.org%22%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20bd%3AserviceParam%20mwapi%3Agenerator%20%22linkshere%22%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20bd%3AserviceParam%20mwapi%3Atitles%20%3Farticle_name%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%23bd%3AserviceParam%20mwapi%3Aglhlimit%20%22100%22%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20bd%3AserviceParam%20mwapi%3Aglhnamespace%20%220%22%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%3Fpointer_name%20wikibase%3AapiOutput%20mwapi%3Atitle%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%3Fpointer%20wikibase%3AapiOutputItem%20mwapi%3Aitem%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20bd%3AserviceParam%20wikibase%3Alimit%20%22once%22%20.%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%7D%0A%20%20%20%20%7D%0A%20%20%7D%0A%7D%20AS%20%25pointers_to%20WHERE%20%7B%0A%20%20INCLUDE%20%25pointers_to%0A%20%20%7B%0A%20%20%20%20SELECT%20%3Fitem%20%28COUNT%28%3Fpointer%29%20AS%20%3Fpointer_count%29%0A%20%20%20%20WHERE%0A%20%20%20%20%7B%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20INCLUDE%20%25pointers_to%0A%20%20%20%20%7D%0A%20%20%20%20GROUP%20by%20%3Fitem%0A%20%20%20%20HAVING%20%28%3Fpointer_count%20%3D%200%29%0A%20%20%7D%0A%7D SPARQL query] I mentioned earlier. If you have any advice either regarding how to get started with Quarry or about the SPARQL query, I would appreciate it a lot!

::Thank you! MNSanchez (talk) 14:09, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

:::Oh interesting! Yes, I had forgotten the magic of invoking the API within a query. I think for this particular use case it will be impractical - just too many articles involved if you're needing to look at "all women". I'll follow up over there. Andrew Gray (talk) 17:37, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

Hey I have a question, https://www.slashfilm.com (/Film), part of Static Media, is a reliable source? Franar8 (talk) 17:20, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

:This question really belongs at Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard (RS/N). Looking at references there to, it looks like it depends on what content from slashfilm you want to use and what you want to use it for. The determination of reliability for any source always depends on context, but it looks like slashfilm is in a particularly hazy zone that requires extra scrutiny when assessing reliability. So, ask at RS/N, linking what you want to use from slashfilm and where you want to use it. Donald Albury 18:52, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

:@Franar8, some previous discussions:

:*Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard/Archive_416#Websites_owned_by_Static_Media

:*Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard/Archive_272#Nickiswift.com

:*Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard/Archive_418#Is_SVG.com_reliable?

:Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 18:53, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

:Looks fine. It appears to be a news website that [https://www.slashfilm.com/about/ has employees] and writes decent quality articles. –Novem Linguae (talk) 18:53, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

:: Thank you so much to both of you. --Franar8 (talk) 19:01, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

I've run across what appears to be overexposure of a CDN's internal workings. There's a perfectly reasonable web page that describes California's state forests: https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/natural-resource-management/demonstration-state-forests .

But the actual content I want to cite is in a PDF it links to, "State Forest Overview Map", and its URL is:

https://34c031f8-c9fd-4018-8c5a-4159cdff6b0d-cdn-endpoint.azureedge.net/-/media/calfire-website/what-we-do/natural-resource-management/demostration-forests/files/resource-management---demonstration-state-forests.pdf?rev=147bfb62fb5d4e5dacd06b3818bc185c&hash=F0E97059CD9D40A8BCBE3E32CB624F4B

This seems suboptimal (not even counting the "demostration" misspelling). I'm concerned that if I use it as is, either it's subverting the CDN functionality (I know, not my problem), or it's going to break at the drop of a hat.

Any thoughts here? I'm really not sure if there's any other possible answer than "just use it and move on", but I wanted to see if anyone else has some clever ideas here. NapoliRoma (talk) 19:00, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

:I think all citations added to Wikipedia get archived by archive.org automatically after a couple hours/days. So if it does break it should be easy to add an archive link. Once the reference is archived, you can use a tool such as User:InternetArchiveBot to get the archive URL added to the citation (click "Run InternetArchiveBot on a specific Wikipedia article"). –Novem Linguae (talk) 19:12, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

::Makes sense, thanks. NapoliRoma (talk) 02:33, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

:An additional problem is that the link from https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/natural-resource-management/demonstration-state-forests to the PDF is what makes the PDF a reliable source. How should that be expressed in the citation(s)? Jruderman (talk) 21:19, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

::I hadn't really thought about a URL being part of the seal of legitimacy of a source, but I see how it could be considered in that light. For now, I've just used the standard {{tlx|cite web}} template, describing the web site as being the same California agency as for the page it's linked from. NapoliRoma (talk) 02:33, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

I feel like I/P articles have a very big issue of an excessive use of problematic sources, especially on less popular I/P articles. Usually these articles are either minor incidents from the ongoing Gaza war where the only reporting that is readily available is from problematic sources. The most common problematic sources are Al Jazeera English which is listen the Perennial sources page as biased on I/P and Middle East Eye which is 75% owned by the "former director for the Hamas-controlled Al-Quds TV" according to its Wikipedia Page. I could go ahead and try to change on of these articles but theres too many for me to get through, I feel like something more systematic and top down is needed. Denninithan (talk) 23:45, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

:You should probably get consensus before mass removing a generally reliable source. Perhaps others may disagree that the use of this source is a problem. –Novem Linguae (talk) 01:37, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

::Where would I even go to get consensus on something like that, I haven't really spent much time on the policies side of wikipedia usually I just write stuff. Denninithan (talk) 01:53, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

::: If it is about a particular use of a source, the article talk page is the place. If it is about then general use of a source, it is WP:RSN. However, before you start a section on a source at RSN you should read the previous discussions about those sources at RSN and also look at their entry in WP:RSP. If you don't have more to offer than was already discussed, you might consider whether restarting the same discussion again with the same evidence has a chance of a different outcome. Zero^talk 03:07, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

:Are there Israeli sources that you think may have the "excessive use" and "problematic" features from the ongoing Gaza war? I ask because the reporting environment in Israel is quite difficult right now in terms of reporting restrictions. Sean.hoyland (talk) 06:06, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

:It's important to remember that it's officially okay for sources to be biased (WP:RSBIASED). The goal is for Wikipedia editors to behave in an unbiased way, so that the result is an article in which Wikipedia editors have fairly and proportionately presented the views of all the reliable sources – including biased reliable sources. WhatamIdoing (talk) 02:33, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

A contest will take place from July 1, 2025, to July 31, 2025, on Bangla Wiktionary to enrich its entries. A central notice request has been placed to target both English and Bangla Wikipedia users, including non-registered users from Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. Thank you. Aishik Rehman (talk) 20:49, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

Have a look at [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Silambarasan&diff=prev&oldid=1295415118 these edits] to an article talk page.

Can anyone identify the language, and preferably provide a translation? Andrewa (talk) 05:48, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

:I suppose that this is a language spoken in India wrote in "Latin script" instead of one of the "Brahmic scripts".

:This is a bit like if you was writing English with "Cyrillic script".

:Concerning the "{{Diff|page|prev|1295415118|edit}}" that you shared with us.

:I don't know what is the language but I'm sure that this is one of the language spoken in India

:It sound like one of the many languages spoken there and the IP is in India.

:I saw the others edits made by this IP. This IP was not used to edit on another "Wikimedia project" than "Wikipedia in English".

:I found an "{{Diff|page|prev|1295414223|edit}}" that seems to include a bit of English.

:This is maybe a "English-based creole language" but I don't know if such language does exist in India.

:This is maybe a "Mixed language" but I don't know if such language does exist in India..

:This is maybe a text with many "loan words" from English.

:I think to the possibility that these two edits aren't wrote in the same language.

:Why not try with a characters converter in "brahmic scripts" to try many brahmic scripts and send the results to an automatic translator ?

:You can maybe find the language(s) used for these two edits with this method. Anatole-berthe (talk) 07:13, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

::Maybe Tamil. nenjinil vantha devathai might be நெஞ்சினில் வந்த தேவதை = The angel who came into my heart. Sean.hoyland (talk) 07:32, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

:::Concerning this "{{Diff|page|prev|1295415118|edit}}".

:::When I tried to identify the language of the text in "Latin script" with "Google translate". It did suggested me "Tamil" as a language.

:::Now , I read your message. I think that there are a high probability that the text was wrote in "Tamil" with "latin characters" instead of "Tamil script".

:::The other "{{Diff|page|prev|1295414223|edit}}" is maybe on the same subject because of the word "angel". Anatole-berthe (talk) 07:53, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

::Maybe song lyrics. Sean.hoyland (talk) 07:37, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

While I still have not identified the language, Goggle Translate eventually rendered it as

The angel who came to my heart mixed with life will come to hear with the moon that goes with the wind

Thanks to those who have helped. Andrewa (talk) 09:20, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

:You could try asking the person who posted it, either on the article talk page or the user talk page. It's unlikely, but you could possibly get a reply. Phil Bridger (talk) 09:30, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

::I think likewise that he can post a message on the "User talk page".

::Also , I think likewise that he can use ""Talk:Silambarasan"".

::These are good ideas even if I think that this is unlikely to expect an answer.

::I have another idea. The user under an IP address did made two edits when I'm writing these lines.

::Maybe , this user will continue to contribute. In this case , maybe we could get more material for a linguistical analysis. Anatole-berthe (talk) 10:03, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

:Imagine saying that to someone face to face, then just standing there staring at them to see what happens. Sean.hoyland (talk) 09:51, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

The language appears to be tamil. I'm guessing that Silambarasan is locally famous in India (or part of it) for singing that particular song, and that the IP who added these lyrics doesn't understand much about English Wikipedia, and it's a good question as to whether they understand English. We of course assume good faith and that they were trying to add relevant and accurate content.

Thanks again to all who have helped. Andrewa (talk) 10:18, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

:I don't know if "Silambarasan" did already singed this song.

:This actor is a native Tamil speaker.

:Therefore , I think that there are a high probability that you did found the right hypothesis. Anatole-berthe (talk) 11:04, 14 June 2025 (UTC)

If I suspect that certain editors are undisclosed paid editors, what is the best way to handle that without causing undue drama? Nosferattus (talk) 16:20, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

:See {{section link|Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure|Reporting undisclosed paid editors}} and Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Conflict of interest reports for steps to take. isaacl (talk) 16:56, 18 June 2025 (UTC)