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I want to add an etymology to an article. Is there a standard style for this? Should it be added in the intro? (Example: "Melisma (from the Greek word ....) or something like that.) If so, is there a standard format? Or in a separate Etymology or Word Origin section?

And more generally, is there a way to find out the answer to questions on Wikipedia editing without a "help me" request like this? I'm an occasional Wikipedia editor, and don't know all the ins and outs of editing. I usually find an example of what I want to do, and use that as a model. But I'm sure a lot of this has been documented in a style guide somewhere and I just don't know where to find it.

Thanks.

Omc ( talk) 02:12, 15 December 2013 (UTC) reply

Hi, Omc – you'll find loads of info on this subject at wp:ETYMOLOGY, the linguistics page that deals with that subject. Also, since you're like many of us who find examples from which to edit, I found a search page that may interest you. It lists several articles with links to their etymology sections. This should get you started. In the future just do like I did: I typed "wp:etymology" in the Wikipedia search field to find the project, and I typed "mos:etymology" to find the search list. The search engine is your friend. Hope you thoroughly enjoy editing this encyclopedia! Joys! –  Paine Ellsworth  ^CLIMAX! 02:29, 15 December 2013 (UTC) reply

Thank you, Paine! Omc ( talk) 09:10, 15 December 2013 (UTC) reply

You're welcome!, Omc! –  Paine Ellsworth  ^CLIMAX! 06:41, 16 December 2013 (UTC) reply

This help request has been answered. If you need more help, you can ask another question on your talk page, contact the responding user(s) directly on their user talk page, or consider visiting the Teahouse.

I sometimes follow discussions on talk pages. Is there any way to find specifically the comments that have been added since I last looked at the page?

Thanks. Omc ( talk) 17:21, 15 December 2013 (UTC) reply

You can use your WP:Watchlist. Martijn Hoekstra ( talk) 17:37, 15 December 2013 (UTC) reply

Here's wishing you a belated welcome to Wikipedia, Omc. I see that you've already been around a while and wanted to thank you for your contributions. Though you seem to have been successful in finding your way around, you may benefit from following some of the links below, which help editors get the most out of Wikipedia:

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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a message on my talk page, consult Wikipedia:Questions, or place {{ helpme}} on your talk page and ask your question there.

Again, welcome! George Ho ( talk) 04:04, 17 January 2014 (UTC) reply

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Is there any way to look at a particular passage or section in the article and see who wrote it or touched it? I know that an article's revision history can be viewed, so that eventually it would be possible to figure out who wrote specific passages - but that could take a lot of work, and it's easy to overlook what I'm looking for.

Also, on the revision history pages, what specifically does the Filter field do? What fields are considered in the filtering?

Thanks. Omc ( talk) 16:41, 26 January 2014 (UTC) reply

Personally, I just select a part of a sentence and use the "find" in the browser to find the part - I do that on versions 100 apart (the default change on the history "next page"), then hone in once I've found the history page with the change - then try the middle then divide the next in two - just a "binary chop" on the page - until I find the revision. Obviously for pages with big histories one can do 500 apart. I've a vague felling there is another way, so I'll leave the help up. (Never found a use for the filter!)  Ronhjones   ^(Talk) 16:51, 26 January 2014 (UTC) reply

Use WikiBlame. -- Gryllida ( talk) 17:01, 26 January 2014 (UTC) reply

You could also use Replay Edits but it seems only useful if you know a relatively narrow time frame to replay. -- Gryllida ( talk) 17:04, 26 January 2014 (UTC) reply

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I'm watching/participating a talk page discussion which has disagreement abut what's a reliable source. The article is a biography of a living person, so that the Wikipedia BLP rules apply, and the issue is whether this person's clear statement that he's gay in an online video clip from an entertainment show is a legitimate source for the "personal life" section of the Wikipedia article on that person.

Some of the commenters on the talk page invoke the "reliable sources" rules and say that the rules against using tabloid-type sources should apply. I can understand the skepticism about using written statements from a entertainment news site or blog or tabloid-type source. But even if the web page might fail the "reliable source" test, it seems to me that a statement made by the subject of the article in a video on such a page does constitute a reliable source. (The video is an excerpt from a TV game show.)

But I'm relatively new to Wikipedia and can't find a clear statement on this point. I've looked at /info/en/?search=Wikipedia:Verifiability#Reliable_sources. I've also looked at /info/en/?search=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons#Avoid_self-published_sources and /info/en/?search=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons#Avoid_self-published_sources. But they focus on written statements and claims, and says nothing about videos.

Can anyone help me sort this out? The question seems to be: is a video statement out of the person's mouth disqualified because it appears on questionable source?

Thanks for any help. Omc ( talk) 08:49, 21 April 2014 (UTC) reply

The reliable sources noticeboard would be a good place for such a question. Personally I'd be rather skeptical - when we could (and do) cite the BBC and ITV News instead, there's not really a reason to cite a game show. There are also issues of undue weight; this does seem more like celebrity gossip than anything else. Huon ( talk) 15:03, 21 April 2014 (UTC) reply

Welcome! Regardless of whether the previous version is restored, you are welcome to create a new article there. The previous content was one sentence, "Kevin Wilshaw is a half-Jewish homosexual neo-Nazi white supremacist who was a well known organizer in the National Front before leaving the far right in 2017." with two sources: [1], [2]. VQuakr ( talk) 19:50, 19 October 2017 (UTC) reply

Hi,

In January, you left a Talk comment about the article for Nextdoor. I've written a an in-depth proposal describing my complete redraft of the article here: /info/en/?search=Talk:Nextdoor#Request_for_Review

Would you mind weighing in to the discussion?

Thanks! BC1278 ( talk) 20:25, 3 May 2018 (UTC)BC1278 reply

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