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Main Page error reports

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To report an error in content currently or imminently on the Main Page, use the appropriate section below.

  • Where is the error? An exact quotation of the text in question helps.
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Please do not remove this invisible timestamp. See WT:ERRORS and WP:SUBSCRIBE. - Dank (push to talk) 01:24, 29 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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General discussion

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Turquoise protection lock

A protection symbol should be added to the top right corner of the main page, because the page is cascade-protected.(turquoise lock for cascade or gold lock because page is fully protected too.) RaschenTechner (talk) 14:12, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Mostly it isn't there because we don't want it there - this is a special page. — xaosflux Talk 14:33, 24 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This page is not labelled as a special page, it is just the "Main Page" RaschenTechner (talk) 12:38, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It doesn't have to be formally marked as special to be special. 331dot (talk) 13:30, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
But usually, all protected pages that are not formally marked as special have protection locks in the top right corner, even redirects. Except for the main page. RaschenTechner (talk) 13:48, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The main page is not a usual page. It is not an article, and does not need a lock icon. CMD (talk) 14:01, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
But non-article pages also have protection locks (like Wikipedia policies). RaschenTechner (talk) 14:04, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Why should a padlock be permanently displayed on the Main Page when it doesn't need to be? Many who arrive there are casual readers and won't know what that means. If you really want to be formal about this, consider it an WP:IAR exception. 331dot (talk) 15:44, 25 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
But this rule doesn't prevent you fom improving or maintaining Wikipedia. RaschenTechner (talk) 11:35, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Please tell us how your idea improves Wikipedia. Again, Why should a padlock be permanently(because this will never be unprotected) displayed on the Main Page when it doesn't need to be? Many who arrive there are casual readers and won't know what that means.
If you want policy to formally state that the Main Page doesn't need a padlock icon, then go to the policy talk page to propose that(but not everything needs to be written down, see WP:CREEP) 331dot (talk) 12:22, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The lock should indicate that the page is protected. Also, if casual readers want to know what it means, they can go to the Wikipedia protection policy page and figure out what it means. RaschenTechner (talk) 13:28, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That's what you want to do, but you don't indicate why this is a needed change. 331dot (talk) 14:31, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I already said this: Usually all protected pages have the protection icon RaschenTechner (talk) 16:49, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This one has never had it, again, why is this a needed change? What's the benefit? 331dot (talk) 16:54, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
People would know that this page is protected. They would also know what kind of protection is in place without needing to access the protection log, which is not accessible for unregistered users RaschenTechner (talk) 18:20, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
But what's the benefit to that? I'm honestly not clear on what the problem is that you are attempting to remedy. 331dot (talk) 18:25, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
People who are unregistered can not see that the page is cascade-protected. It's only a problem for those who are interested in Wikipedia protection but aren't registered yet. RaschenTechner (talk) 18:49, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Is that a large number of people? It seems more hypothetical; I've been here for 12 years and you're the first I've seen that claim this is a problem. 331dot (talk) 19:18, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It is not a large number of people. This is not the main problem, it's just that every non-special page has a protection icon when protected. Except the main page. RaschenTechner (talk) 20:43, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I too think a padlock is not necessary for the Main Page, which is uniquely exempted from MOS, standard layout rules for articles etc. It's pretty clear that the page is protected, obvious why, and adding a padlock wouldn't help anybody. It would just mess with the design for no useful purpose. Modest Genius talk 18:19, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Actually, the lock shows when you click the edit button, together with a huge warning that you have be careful. If you are an admin, that is, otherwise you probably cannot even do that. So, no need to add it extra. Tone 21:08, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I do sympathise with the OP somewhat. The Main page is special. On mobile, if you are logged in there is no edit button at the top (if it was there, clicking it could give you a popup telling you the page is protected) and the Talk page button is hidden down the bottom.
Logged out on mobile (don't test this is you don't like ads, I am still recovering) there is still no edit button and I couldn't find the Talk page button anywhere (might be a browser issue).
The presence of an edit button would help introduce the concept of protection to new editors.
This may all be by design, we don't want too many suggestions on this talk page, it is more convenient to have a barrier to entry for people who want to "improve" the Main page.
Having said all that, the status quo is not too bad. The experience on desktop is more like a regular article page, but most of our readers (and perhaps one day editors) are on mobile. Commander Keane (talk) 21:42, 26 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
What problem are you trying to solve?
Hypotheticals aside, was any actual breathing human confused about the main page's protection status specifically because it was missing its lock icon? ApLundell (talk) 05:32, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This is not the main problem, it's just that all non-special protected pages usually have protection locks. RaschenTechner (talk) 17:16, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'll repeat: what problem are you trying to solve? Remsense ‥ 论 18:47, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
All non-special pages that are protected normally have protection locks and the main page doesn't follow that norm. RaschenTechner (talk) 19:41, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I remember when the locks were introduced (I think it was shortly after semi-protection was implemented in 2005). I do not remember anyone ever asking for a lock displayed on the Main Page. There is no need to put visual clues on the Main Page to show that it is protected, just like there is no need to put visual clues to show it cannot be deleted. And "consistency" is not a reason to do it: the Main Page is a sui generis entity following its own rules. —Kusma (talk) 19:02, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You are unlikely to get any traction with this request. The main page is special even for special pages, it pretty much has a completely unique ruleset and isn't going to be helped by having a lock on it. I get that other pages might have something, but that doesn't mean the main page has to as well. Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 19:09, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Trying to understand RaschenTechner's point, the only problem I can think of that adding the lock helps is directing new users on how to fix errors on the Main page. Clicking "View source" is perhaps not clear enough for some. A clickable visual lock may help. I don't know how effective it would be, if at all. Not saying I want a lock though, the distraction is too great. On mobile there is nearly zero indication on how to fix errors. Commander Keane (talk) 19:22, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Would a new user necessarily even know what cascade protected even means? Lee Vilenski (talk • contribs) 19:51, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
A new user would just see a lock and click on it, or hover over it. The colour (I presume that's how cascade is differentiated) is not important to a new user. Commander Keane (talk) 20:02, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If the purpose is to help new users figure out how to report errors on the Main Page, a better way is to add a link to where they can report them, such as "Noticed an error on this page? Learn how to report it.". A padlock does not provide any indication that it's the way to report problems. Padlocks are the symbol for security, not bug reports. —k6ka 🍁 (Talk · Contributions) 01:11, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
If a new user clicks on View source, there is already a clear explanation of the protection, a link for reporting errors, and other help. In addition, Talk:Main Page has ample guidance in the header banners. Adding any protection lock icon would lead to more confusion for newcomers, not less, and it would clutter the page which is already very busy. Daniel Quinlan (talk) 20:51, 2 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Yes it is a great point that a lock could add more confusion, as mentioned they are not the universal symbol for editing. I don't know how intuitive View source is though. Perhaps instead an Edit button that gives instructions when clicked would be better. Hopefully new users are clicking Talk and seeing the "Report errors" link. However, there is misunderstanding with what "Talk" means in this setting for new users. A "Noticed an error..." link would the most obvious, but we don't even do that on articles. I would favour a little information symbol in the top right corner. It can explain what's what. Would also be nice on mobile, where there is no View source button at all. Commander Keane (talk) 02:01, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Main page history

Could I urge regular editors/watchers of this page to add {{MPH alert}} to their user pages, or somewhere they are likely to see regularly. In short, it provides an alert if the wp:main page history has not been created by noon UTC on any given day. If the page has been created, it displays nothing. Normally there is a bot that does that creates the history page just before midday, but it's not been editing for the last week or so. I've been creating the pages manually, but yesterday I missed it and as a result no page was created. The process to create the history is very simple, and instructions are given in the alert. The template is transcluded at the top of this page, but it's easy to overlook. Thanks. — Voice of Clam (talk) 16:35, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Added. I will regularly create these snaps. – DreamRimmer (talk) 18:03, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
We thankfully have archives for all the sections of the Main Page that change from day-to-day (the exception being "In the news", but I don't think anything new was added there today), so you could probably recreate how the page would've looked on November 2 using those archives. ApexParagon (talk) 22:13, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
They can be recreated that way, but it takes a lot of effort and I don't have the time to do it at present. Doing a snapshot at the time is much simpler as it just requires substituting all templates using Special:ExpandTemplates. — Voice of Clam (talk) 08:39, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
ProcBot's main page snapshots task has been down since 21 October. Pinging @ProcrastinatingReader to draw their attention to this issue and to see if they can restart the bot. – DreamRimmer (talk) 08:48, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This should be resolved now. Apologies for the downtime. I don't know what the underlying cause is, but the infrastructure the bot lives on keeps running out of disk space every few months. (I think it's due to random temporary logs accumulating.) A restart tends to clear it up, but needs to be done manually. I'll try to carve out some time to properly investigate before this next happens. ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 12:04, 5 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
This is unusual. I have several scripts running on Toolforge at the same interval as yours, generating a large number of logs, yet I haven't encountered any storage issues. – DreamRimmer (talk) 07:52, 6 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The "USS Nevada" article

For some reason, the "USS Nevada (BB-36)" article was transcluded onto the Main Page, instead of simply being listed on the "Did you know?" section, making it now cascade-protected. In other words, the article is now unable to be edited by anyone other than administrators.

(If you check the source code of the Main Page, and scroll down to the list of transcluded pages, you'll see it listed.)

I don't think this was intentional, since no other mainspace articles featured on the Main Page are protected in this manner. Can an administrator please fix this? ApexParagon (talk) 01:54, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

This happens whenever {{USS}} (or another ship name template) is used to link ship names -- something about the template makes Mediawiki think the page is getting transcluded when it isn't. The fix is to use standard links on the main page instead of link templates. :Jay8g [V•T•E] 02:03, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I've removed the ship name template. ApexParagon, please post main page problems at WP:ERRORS as you'll get a quicker response. Schwede66 08:26, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

US elections & main page

Hello, I think the DYK section attempts not to feature blatantly political items in the immediate aftermath of immediately before an election, not even one for each side. Currently the main page has a picture of a US election map and a picture of a US politician who is actively campaigning for one side. The election is tomorrow. Are there/should there be similar guidelines for other sections of the main page—or is the stance that as long as the bias is for the right side and the greater good, that's hunky-dory? Thank you, Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 09:52, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Where do you see a picture of a US politician seeking election? I don't. It's not an "election map", it's a depiction of the party affiliation of US governors. 331dot (talk) 10:30, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The page has been changed. (I guess we'll have to live with the guy in a blue hat reading "De..." (?paired with a reworking of the Statue of Liberty?; previously, the three together...), Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 10:40, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
So this means the historic nature of Obama's 2008 election can never be in the Selected Anniversaries part of the main page, because he chooses to express his views about current elections? (And it's not like those views are surprising) 331dot (talk) 10:44, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No, it can be featured in any year that isn't an election year. It can also be featured in an election year if the date of the election is earlier than November 4 (on average that would be 2 out of every 7 election years). It's a longstanding convention that we avoid political hooks pertaining to a particular country in the days and weeks before that country holds an election. We ran Obama and McCain jointly as TFA on November 4, 2008, which at least achieves a balance... but even that I'm not sure it would be approved if it were suggested today.  — Amakuru (talk) 10:53, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I would get this if Obama was seeking office, but he's not. His views should surprise no one and it's not an endorsement of Kamala Harris to post about Obama. I could see leaving his image off, but the blurb could stay. 331dot (talk) 10:59, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That's quite a radical interpretation of any US politician. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:35, 4 November 2024 (UTC) Did you know..... that in 2024 Dominion Voting Systems in Puerto Rico produced hundreds of "garbage votes"??[reply]
Very good, Maculosae tegmine lyncis (talk) 10:40, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict) There was a picture and blurb about Barack Obama, which I've swapped out per the above issue. There is a long-standing convention that we don't feature blurbs about prominent stories or politicians, particularly when it's only from one side of the coin. Obama's election can always run next year. The FL I think is borderline. It clearly is an election map, showing red and blue states won by the two main parties in gubernatorial elections. Probably if I were the sole arbiter I'd err on the side of caution and remove it, but equally it's not totally obvious to me that it could be construed as unduly interfering with the election, given the even distribution of red and blue, and I imagine it would be controversial to swap this out so will leave for now.  — Amakuru (talk) 10:45, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Next year Kentucky Virginia elects a governor, and Obama will likely endorse the Democratic candidate, so it can't run next year either under this convention. 331dot (talk) 10:53, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
2026 is fresh congressional elections. 2027 Kentucky and Mississippi elect governors. 331dot (talk) 11:02, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm just surprised that Alaska is a left-wing state; and California's on the right. (Unless I click the map to be able to read the fuzzy blob on the right. Please add a key to the caption (as was asked for by @Jmchutchinson previously).) Bazza 7 (talk) 12:21, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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