User talk:Edison/Archive 7
Latest comment: 3 years ago by MediaWiki message delivery in topic The Signpost: 29 May 2022
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Administrators' newsletter – December 2018
News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2018).
Administrator changes
Al Ameer son • Randykitty • Spartaz
Boson • Daniel J. Leivick • Efe • Esanchez7587 • Fred Bauder • Garzo • Martijn Hoekstra • Orangemike
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following a request for comment, the Mediation Committee is now closed and will no longer be accepting case requests.
- A request for comment is in progress to determine whether members of the Bot Approvals Group should satisfy activity requirements in order to remain in that role.
- A request for comment is in progress regarding whether to change the administrator inactivity policy, such that administrators "who have made no logged administrative actions for at least 12 months may be desysopped". Currently, the policy states that administrators "who have made neither edits nor administrative actions for at least 12 months may be desysopped".
- A proposal has been made to temporarily restrict editing of the Main Page to interface administrators in order to mitigate the impact of compromised accounts.
Technical news
- Administrators and bureaucrats can no longer unblock themselves unless they placed the block initially. This change has been implemented globally. See also this ongoing village pump discussion (permalink).
- To complement the aforementioned change, blocked administrators will soon have the ability to block the administrator that placed their block to mitigate the possibility of a compromised administrator account blocking all other active administrators.
- Since deployment of Partial blocks on Test Wikipedia, several bugs were identified. Most of them are now fixed. Administrators are encouraged to test the new deployment and report new bugs on Phabricator or leave feedback on the Project's talk page. You can request administrator access on the Test Wiki here.
Arbitration
- Voting in the 2018 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 3 December 2018. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.
Miscellaneous
- In late November, an attacker compromised multiple accounts, including at least four administrator accounts, and used them to vandalize Wikipedia. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately. Sharing the same password across multiple websites makes your account vulnerable, especially if your password was used on a website that suffered a data breach. As these incidents have shown, these concerns are not pure fantasies.
- Wikipedia policy requires administrators to have strong passwords. To further reinforce security, administrators should also consider enabling two-factor authentication. A committed identity can be used to verify that you are the true account owner in the event that your account is compromised and/or you are unable to log in.
Obituaries
- Shock Brigade Harvester Boris (Raymond Arritt) passed away on 14 November 2018. Boris joined Wikipedia as Raymond arritt on 8 May 2006 and was an administrator from 30 July 2007 to 2 June 2008.
The Signpost: 24 December 2018
- From the editors: Where to draw the line in reporting?
Tell us what you think!
Did World Patent Marketing pay to get Wikipedia to include flattering information on their board member, now the Acting United States Attorney General?
A statistical insight into the English Wikipedia's very own online community newsletter.
- News and notes: Some wishes do come true
NPP wins the wish list poll; Wikipedia editors will be able to work better at night; new WMF appointments and new arbitrators; and who wants to be an admin?
- In the media: Political hijinks
Wikipedia says 'ta' to British M.P. and 'buh-bye' to U.S. President's image vandals.
- Discussion report: A new record low for RfA
Plus: reliable sources, notability, and fallout from the self-blocking software changes.
- WikiProject report: Articlegenesis
Discovering how new and unregistered users make articles with the members of WikiProject Articles for Creation.
- Arbitration report: Year ends with one active case
GiantSnowman asked to chill, and other disputes addressed by Arbcom (or not).
- Traffic report: Queen dethroned by U.S. presidents
The band relinquishes its first place hold; Aquaman is swimming into view for late December.
- Gallery: Sun and Moon, water and stone
Happy solstice, and happy New Year!
- Blog: News from the WMF
In and around the WMF and its projects from the WMF's web site.
- Humour: I believe in Bigfoot
Are you a believer?
- Essay: Requests for medication
When the desire to continue to have the privilege of editing Wikipedia overrides the body's innate desire to choke the living shit out of some bastard who really has it coming.
- From the archives: Compromised admin accounts – again
Compromised accounts – especially those of inactive admins.
Administrators' newsletter – January 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2018).
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Guideline and policy news
- There are a number of new or changed speedy deletion criteria, each previously part of WP:CSD#G6:
- G14 (new): Disambiguation pages that disambiguate only zero or one existing pages are now covered under the new G14 criterion (discussion). This is {{db-disambig}}; the text is unchanged and candidates may be found in Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as unnecessary disambiguation pages.
- R4 (new): Redirects in the file namespace (and no file links) that have the same name as a file or redirect at Commons are now covered under the new R4 criterion (discussion). This is {{db-redircom}}; the text is unchanged.
- G13 (expanded): Userspace drafts containing only the default Article Wizard text are now covered under G13 along with other drafts (discussion). Such blank drafts are now eligible after six months rather than one year, and taggers continue to use {{db-blankdraft}}.
- The Wikimedia Foundation now requires all interface administrators to enable two-factor authentication.
- Members of the Bot Approvals Group (BAG) are now subject to an activity requirement. After two years without any bot-related activity (e.g. operating a bot, posting on a bot-related talk page), BAG members will be retired from BAG following a one-week notice.
Technical news
- Starting on December 13, the Wikimedia Foundation security team implemented new password policy and requirements. Privileged accounts (administrators, bureaucrats, checkusers, oversighters, interface administrators, bots, edit filter managers/helpers, template editors, et al.) must have a password at least 10 characters in length. All accounts must have a password:
- At least 8 characters in length
- Not in the 100,000 most popular passwords (defined by the Password Blacklist library)
- Different from their username
- User accounts not meeting these requirements will be prompted to update their password accordingly. More information is available on MediaWiki.org.
- Blocked administrators may now block the administrator that blocked them. This was done to mitigate the possibility that a compromised administrator account would block all other active administrators, complementing the removal of the ability to unblock oneself outside of self-imposed blocks. A request for comment is currently in progress to determine whether the blocking policy should be updated regarding this change.
- {{Copyvio-revdel}} now has a link to open the history with the RevDel checkboxes already filled in.
Arbitration
- Following the 2018 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: AGK, Courcelles, GorillaWarfare, Joe Roe, Mkdw, SilkTork.
Miscellaneous
- Accounts continue to be compromised on a regular basis. Evidence shows this is entirely due to the accounts having the same password that was used on another website that suffered a data breach. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately.
- Around 22% of admins have enabled two-factor authentication, up from 20% in June 2018. If you haven't already enabled it, please consider doing so. Regardless of whether you use 2FA, please practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure and unique to Wikimedia.
The Signpost: 31 January 2019
- Op-ed: Random Rewards Rejected
Lab rats deflate research to be performed on the Wikipedia community.
Did you know that there was an admin who thought that the metaphor of the mop was a joke, and now they know it's not?
- News and notes: WMF staff turntable continues to spin; Endowment gets more cash; RfA continues to be a pit of steely knives
Rude or just forgetful? Eight-year WMF manager has disappeared; Facebook gives a million bucks, gets no love.
Heroes and unsung heroes: many good news stories about the work we are all doing together.
- Discussion report: The future of the reference desk
Plus: plagiarism from Wikipedia, user categories, and admin activity requirements.
- Featured content: Don't miss your great opportunity
Get yourself lost in 1730's Paris, and a wide range of other recently promoted content.
- Arbitration report: An admin under the microscope
Snowman flames newbies? Or just oversensitive snowflakes?
- Traffic report: Death, royals and superheroes: Avengers, Black Panther
The most popular articles of 2018 include a cornucopia of superheroes (Avengers: Infinity War)
- Technology report: When broken is easily fixed
Emergency server switch goes smoothly; technical glitches resolved; a new way to transfer files to Commons.
A tour of some of the world's greatest memorials courtesy the Prime Minister of India.
- News from the WMF: News from WMF
The world’s largest photo contest, a $1 million gift, Wikipedia’s birthday, WF appoints Valerie D'Costa.
- Recent research: Ad revenue from reused Wikipedia articles; are Wikipedia researchers asking the right questions?
And other new research publications.
- Essay: How
A narrative to get you oriented to how this place works, and to the key policies and guidelines.
- Humour: Village pump
More talk pages you don't want to miss.
- From the archives: An editorial board that includes you
Four years - and nothing changed?
Administrators' newsletter – February 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2019).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment is currently open to reevaluate the activity requirements for administrators.
- Administrators who are blocked have the technical ability to block the administrator who blocked their own account. A recent request for comment has amended the blocking policy to clarify that this ability should only be used in exceptional circumstances, such as account compromises, where there is a clear and immediate need.
- A request for comment closed with a consensus in favor of deprecating The Sun as a permissible reference, and creating an edit filter to warn users who attempt to cite it.
Technical news
- A discussion regarding an overhaul of the format and appearance of Wikipedia:Requests for page protection is in progress (permalink). The proposed changes will make it easier to create requests for those who are not using Twinkle. The workflow for administrators at this venue will largely be unchanged. Additionally, there are plans to archive requests similar to how it is done at WP:PERM, where historical records are kept so that prior requests can more easily be searched for.
Miscellaneous
- Voting in the 2019 Steward elections will begin on 08 February 2019, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 28 February 2019, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
- A new IRC bot is available that allows you to subscribe to notifications when specific filters are tripped. This requires that your IRC handle be identified.
The Signpost: 28 February 2019
- From the editors: Help wanted (still)
This may be too wordy, verbose and loquacious – and possibly redundant – but as you know, it takes others to check our work, and if there were more people in the Newsroom, we'd be able to double check ourselves and produce a better product for our readership; if you think you are up to it, you are welcome to join us and even copyedit the Editor-in-Chief's article intros.
- News and notes: Front-page issues for the community
Encyclopedias for Deletion; Corinne; scholarships; partial blocks; and administrators headcount.
This election will select 2 of 10 seats on the board. All Wikimedia users are stakeholders in the election outcome and should participate.
- Discussion report: Talking about talk pages
This month's major discussions include a WMF talk page consultation and a proposed current events noticeboard.
- Featured content: Conquest, War, Famine, Death, and more!
Horsemen of the apocalypse all represented in recently promoted content, alongside new life, pretty birds, great music, and other miscellaneous topics.
- Arbitration report: A quiet month for Arbitration Committee
Snowed in, maybe.
- Traffic report: Binge-watching
Netflix shows and TV sports dominate. A US politician breaks into the top 10.
- Technology report: Tool labs casters-up
Tool labs goes kaput, bots running wild (not really), interface administrators step into the breach, new gadgets and other tech happenings.
- Gallery: Signed with pride
A gallery of user signatures created by Wikipedians themselves.
When watchers want the whole truth, they wind up with the wiki! And Cultural Context Content comes out of a complete cartography.
Assume good faith even if it kills you.
- From the archives: New group aims to promote Wiki-Love
The creation of the Esperanza group.
- Humour: Pesky Pronouns
Not feeling blurbish right now.
Happy First Edit Day!
Have a very happy first edit anniversary!
From the Birthday Committee, CAPTAIN RAJU(T) 22:03, 1 March 2019 (UTC)
- Well it has been 14 years. I would have edited earlier, but I could not think of a clever user name. I was not elderly when I started, but I would say I am now. Edison (talk) 03:39, 2 March 2019 (UTC)
Merger discussion for Computation of radiowave attenuation in the atmosphere
An article that you have been involved in editing—Computation of radiowave attenuation in the atmosphere—has been proposed for merging with another article. If you are interested, please participate in the merger discussion. Thank you. Pierre cb (talk) 14:13, 3 March 2019 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – March 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2019).
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Guideline and policy news
- The RfC on administrator activity requirements failed to reach consensus for any proposal.
- Following discussions at the Bureaucrats' noticeboard and Wikipedia talk:Administrators, an earlier change to the restoration of adminship policy was reverted. If requested, bureaucrats will not restore administrator permissions removed due to inactivity if there have been five years without a logged administrator action; this "five year rule" does not apply to permissions removed voluntarily.
Technical news
- A new tool is available to help determine if a given IP is an open proxy/VPN/webhost/compromised host.
Arbitration
- The Arbitration Committee announced two new OTRS queues. Both are meant solely for cases involving private information; other cases will continue to be handled at the appropriate venues (e.g., WP:COIN or WP:SPI).
- paid-en-wp
wikipedia.org has been set up to receive private evidence related to abusive paid editing. - checkuser-en-wp wikipedia.org has been set up to receive private requests for CheckUser. For instance, requests for IP block exemption for anonymous proxy editing should now be sent to this address instead of the functionaries-en list.
- paid-en-wp
- The Arbitration Committee announced two new OTRS queues. Both are meant solely for cases involving private information; other cases will continue to be handled at the appropriate venues (e.g., WP:COIN or WP:SPI).
Miscellaneous
- Following the 2019 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Base, Einsbor, Jon Kolbert, Schniggendiller, and Wim b.
Today's Wikipedian 10 years ago
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| Ten years! |
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Precious anniversary
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| biographies | |
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| ... you were recipient no. 1888 of Precious, a prize of QAI! |
The Signpost: 31 March 2019
- From the editors: Getting serious about humor
- News and notes: Blackouts fail to stop EU Copyright Directive
- In the media: Women's history month
- Discussion report: Portal debates continue, Prespa agreement aftermath, WMF seeks a rebranding
- Featured content: Out of this world
- Arbitration report: The Tides of March at ARBCOM
- Traffic report: Exultations and tribulations
- Technology report: New section suggestions and sitewide styles
- News from the WMF: The WMF's take on the new EU Copyright Directive
- Recent research: Barnstar-like awards increase new editor retention
- From the archives: Esperanza organization disbanded after deletion discussion
- Humour: The Epistolary of Arthur 37
- In focus: The Wikipedia SourceWatch
- Special report: Wiki Loves (50 Years of) Pride
- Community view: Wikipedia's response to the New Zealand mosque shootings
Vandalism
You and others have warned this editor for an extended period of time. But he just keeps on deleting RS-supported text he dislikes. For example, here. --2604:2000:E010:1100:C1A8:D36F:1207:BBE6 (talk) 20:43, 3 April 2019 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – April 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2019).
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Technical news
- In Special:Preferences under "Appearance" → "Advanced options", there is now an option to show a confirmation prompt when clicking on a rollback link.
- The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Please see meta:Community health initiative/User reporting system consultation 2019 to provide your input on this idea.
Arbitration
- The Arbitration Committee clarified that the General 1RR prohibition for Palestine-Israel articles may only be enforced on pages with the {{ARBPIA 1RR editnotice}} edit notice.
Miscellaneous
- Two more administrator accounts were compromised. Evidence has shown that these attacks, like previous incidents, were due to reusing a password that was used on another website that suffered a data breach. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately. All admins are strongly encouraged to enable two-factor authentication, please consider doing so. Please always practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure and unique to Wikimedia.
- As a reminder, according to WP:NOQUORUM, administrators looking to close or relist an AfD should evaluate a nomination that has received few or no comments as if it were a proposed deletion (PROD) prior to determining whether it should be relisted.
The Signpost: 30 April 2019
- News and notes: An Action Packed April
New Administrators, April Fools, our competitors, and other associated updates
- In the media: Is Wikipedia just another social media site?
Harassment, a black hole, the Mueller Report, and Mötley Crüe - just another social media site?
- Discussion report: English Wikipedia community's conclusions on talk pages
Plus: another round of paid editing discussion.
- Featured content: Anguish, accolades, animals, and art
April's admirable additions.
- Arbitration report: An Active Arbitration Committee
Policies and procedures, cases and controversies, and other ArbCom updates
- Traffic report: Mötley Crüe, Notre-Dame, a black hole, and Bonnie and Clyde
Round up the unusual suspects
- Technology report: A new special page, and other news
Welcoming English Wikipedia's newest admin (bot)
- Gallery: Notre-Dame de Paris burns
Photos and videos show the damage
- News from the WMF: Can machine learning uncover Wikipedia’s missing “citation needed” tags?
Wikimedia Foundation data scientists are using machine learning to predict whether—and why—any given sentence on Wikipedia may need a citation in order to help editors identify areas of content violating the verifiability policy.
- Recent research: Female scholars underrepresented; whitepaper on Wikidata and libraries; undo patterns reveal editor hierarchy
And other recent research results
- From the archives: Portals revisited
"The future of portals", a year later
Some editors will do anything to get a laugh
What we know we don't know, and why it might matter more than you might think
Maher discusses her tenure as ED, the editing community, harassment and diversity, the WMF's 3-5 year plan, airplane travel, books, and her future.
- Community view: 2019 Wikimedia Summit gathers movement affiliate representatives to discuss movement strategy
An overview of Wikimedia Summit 2019, a working conference to discuss the Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy Process, preparing draft recommendations for Wikimania 2019 in August.
ArbCom 2019 special circular
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Administrators must secure their accounts
The Arbitration Committee may require a new RfA if your account is compromised.
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This message was sent to all administrators following a recent motion. Thank you for your attention. For the Arbitration Committee, Cameron11598 02:35, 4 May 2019 (UTC)
Administrator account security (Correction to Arbcom 2019 special circular)
ArbCom would like to apologise and correct our previous mass message in light of the response from the community.
Since November 2018, six administrator accounts have been compromised and temporarily desysopped. In an effort to help improve account security, our intention was to remind administrators of existing policies on account security — that they are required to "have strong passwords and follow appropriate personal security practices." We have updated our procedures to ensure that we enforce these policies more strictly in the future. The policies themselves have not changed. In particular, two-factor authentication remains an optional means of adding extra security to your account. The choice not to enable 2FA will not be considered when deciding to restore sysop privileges to administrator accounts that were compromised.
We are sorry for the wording of our previous message, which did not accurately convey this, and deeply regret the tone in which it was delivered.
For the Arbitration Committee, -Cameron11598 21:03, 4 May 2019 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – May 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2019).
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Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment concluded that creating pages in the portal namespace should be restricted to autoconfirmed users.
- Following a request for comment, the subject-specific notability guideline for pornographic actors and models (WP:PORNBIO) was removed; in its place, editors should consult WP:ENT and WP:GNG.
Technical news
- XTools Admin Stats, a tool to list admins by administrative actions, has been revamped to support more types of log entries such as AbuseFilter changes. Two additional tools have been integrated into it as well: Steward Stats and Patroller Stats.
Arbitration
- In response to the continuing compromise of administrator accounts, the Arbitration Committee passed a motion amending the procedures for return of permissions (diff). In such cases,
the committee will review all available information to determine whether the administrator followed "appropriate personal security practices" before restoring permissions
; administrators found failing to have adequately done sowill not be resysopped automatically
. All current administrators have been notified of this change. - Following a formal ratification process, the arbitration policy has been amended (diff). Specifically, the two-thirds majority required to remove or suspend an arbitrator now excludes (1) the arbitrator facing suspension or removal, and (2) any inactive arbitrator who does not respond within 30 days to attempts to solicit their feedback on the resolution through all known methods of communication.
- In response to the continuing compromise of administrator accounts, the Arbitration Committee passed a motion amending the procedures for return of permissions (diff). In such cases,
Miscellaneous
- A request for comment is currently open to amend the community sanctions procedure to exclude non XfD or CSD deletions.
- A proposal to remove pre-2009 indefinite IP blocks is currently open for discussion.
The Signpost: 31 May 2019
- From the editors: Picture that
The North Face sneaks in advertisements, apologizes after being caught
- News and notes: Wikimania and trustee elections
Get ready to go to Wikimania in Stockholm where you might meet two new trustees
- In the media: Politics, lawsuits and baseball
Wikipedia finds itself up against China, Pennsylvania politicians and the Detroit Tigers
- Discussion report: Admin abuse leads to mass-desysop proposal on Azerbaijani Wikipedia
Neutrality and copyright concerns lead and part 2 of the talk pages consultation.
- Arbitration report: ArbCom forges ahead
Resignations, new cases, administrator security, and more
Who will be next to fill the throne at the top of the list?
- Technology report: Lots of Bots
Admin bots, approved bots, bots on trial, lots and lots of bots
- News from the WMF: Wikimedia Foundation petitions the European Court of Human Rights to lift the block of Wikipedia in Turkey
The WMF keeps working to stop Turkey from blocking Wikipedia.
And other new research publications
- Essay: Paid editing
We've been talking about paid editing forever
- From the archives: FORUM:Should Wikimedia modify its terms of use to require disclosure?
A debate from 5 years ago on whether we use to prohibit undisclosed paid editing
Administrators' newsletter – June 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2019).
Administrator changes
- Andonic • Consumed Crustacean • Enigmaman • Euryalus • EWS23 • HereToHelp • Nv8200pa • Peripitus • StringTheory11 • Vejvančický
CheckUser changes
Guideline and policy news
- An RfC seeks to clarify whether WP:OUTING should include information on just the English Wikipedia or any Wikimedia project.
- An RfC on WT:RfA concluded that Requests for adminship and bureaucratship are discussions seeking to build consensus.
- An RfC proposal to make the templates for discussion (TfD) process more like the requested moves (RM) process, i.e. "as a clearinghouse of template discussions", was closed as successful.
Technical news
- The CSD feature of Twinkle now allows admins to notify page creators of deletion if the page had not been tagged. The default behavior matches that of tagging notifications, and replaces the ability to open the user talk page upon deletion. You can customize which criteria receive notifications in your Twinkle preferences: look for Notify page creator when deleting under these criteria.
- Twinkle's d-batch (batch delete) feature now supports deleting subpages (and related redirects and talk pages) of each page. The pages will be listed first but use with caution! The und-batch (batch undelete) option can now also restore talk pages.
Miscellaneous
- The previously discussed unblocking of IP addresses indefinitely-blocked before 2009 was approved and has taken place.
- The 2019 talk pages consultation produced a report for Phase 1 and has entered Phase 2.
The June 2019 Signpost is out!
- Discussion report: A constitutional crisis hits English Wikipedia
Could this be a new relationship between the Foundation and ArbCom, and between the Foundation and enwiki?
- News and notes: Mysterious ban, admin resignations, Wikimedia Thailand rising
Many administrators resign related to Fram case; Wikimedia Thailand to host Wikimania 2020.
- In the media: The disinformation age
Or is it the information error?
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse.
- Traffic report: Juneteenth, Beauty Revealed, and more nuclear disasters
Readers look for info on what they watch, mostly Chernobyl.
- Technology report: Actors and Bots
Database changes, new scripts, Tech News, and more.
Wikimedia photographers surge to contribute to the Wiki Loves Earth campaign even while rogue clothing company The North Face replaces wiki illustrations with advertisements.
- Special report: Did Fram harass other editors?
(DELETED ARTICLE)
- Recent research: What do editors do after being blocked?; the top mathematicians, universities and cancers according to Wikipedia
And other recent research publications.
- From the archives: Women and Wikipedia: the world is watching
"If you don't clean up this mess, the adults are going to come and take your toys away from you."
To reduce the incentives driving undisclosed paid editing, Wikipedia could simplify the process and meet outsiders halfway.
- In focus: WikiJournals: A sister project proposal
Academic peer review meets Wikimedia.
- Community view: A CEO biography, paid for with taxes
How an Irish state-level paid editor tried to turn me into the villain.
Wikimedia community organizations elect two members for the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees.
Administrators' newsletter – July 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2019).
Administrator changes
- 28bytes • Ad Orientem • Ansh666 • Beeblebrox • Boing! said Zebedee • BU Rob13 • Dennis Brown • Deor • DoRD • Floquenbeam1 • Flyguy649 • Fram2 • Gadfium • GB fan • Jonathunder • Kusma • Lectonar • Moink • MSGJ • Nick • Od Mishehu • Rama • Spartaz • Syrthiss • TheDJ • WJBscribe
- 1Floquenbeam's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.
- 2Fram's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.
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Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment seeking to alleviate pressures on the request an account (ACC) process proposes either raising the account creation limit for extended confirmed editors or granting the account creator permission on request to new ACC tool users.
- In a related matter, the account throttle has been restored to six creations per day as the mitigation activity completed.
- The scope of CSD criterion G8 has been tightened such that the only redirects that it now applies to are those which target non-existent pages.
- The scope of CSD criterion G14 has been expanded slightly to include orphan "Foo (disambiguation)" redirects that target pages that are not disambiguation pages or pages that perform a disambiguation-like function (such as set index articles or lists).
- A request for comment seeks to determine whether Wikipedia:Office actions should be a policy page or an information page.
Technical news
- The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Community feedback is invited.
Miscellaneous
- In February 2019, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) changed its office actions policy to include temporary and project-specific bans. The WMF exercised this new ability for the first time on the English Wikipedia on 10 June 2019 to temporarily ban and desysop Fram. This action has resulted in significant community discussion, a request for arbitration (permalink), and, either directly or indirectly, the resignations of numerous administrators and functionaries. The WMF Board of Trustees is aware of the situation, and discussions continue on a statement and a way forward. The Arbitration Committee has sent an open letter to the WMF Board.
The Signpost: 31 July 2019
WMF grants program changes position on funding random individuals globally and 100 crore people in one region
- In the media: Politics starts getting rough
Are we ready for the sharp elbows?
- Discussion report: New proposals in aftermath of Fram ban
Resysop requests on the ’crat board prove controversial; plus, aftermath of Framgate.
- Arbitration report: A month of reintegration
Arbitration begins setting new boundaries after the June blow-up
It looks nice and cool up in those mountains
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse.
- Community view: Video based summaries of Wikipedia articles. How and why?
It's easy, education saves lives.
- News from the WMF: Designing ethically with AI: How Wikimedia can harness machine learning in a responsible and human-centered way
Or, how to avoid Artificial Ignorance
- Recent research: Most influential medical journals; detecting pages to protect
And other new research publications
- Special report: Administrator cadre continues to contract
A new record set: fewer than 500 active admins.
- Traffic report: World cups, presidential candidates, and stranger things
and don't forget the movies
Who is growing? Who is not?
Administrators' newsletter – August 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2019).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following a request for comment, the page Wikipedia:Office actions has been changed from a policy page to an information page.
- A request for comment (permalink) is in progress regarding the administrator inactivity policy.
Arbitration
- Editors may now use the template {{Ds/aware}} to indicate that they are aware that discretionary sanctions are in force for a topic area, so it is unnecessary to alert them.
Miscellaneous
- Following a research project on masking IP addresses, the Foundation is starting a new project to improve the privacy of IP editors. The result of this project may significantly change administrative and counter-vandalism workflows. The project is in the very early stages of discussions and there is no concrete plan yet. Admins and the broader community are encouraged to leave feedback on the talk page.
- The new page reviewer right is bundled with the admin tool set. Many admins regularly help out at Special:NewPagesFeed, but they may not be aware of improvements, changes, and new tools for the Curation system. Stay up to date by subscribing here to the NPP newsletter that appears every two months, and/or putting the reviewers' talk page on your watchlist.
Since the introduction of temporary user rights, it is becoming more usual to accord the New Page Reviewer right on a probationary period of 3 to 6 months in the first instance. This avoids rights removal for inactivity at a later stage and enables a review of their work before according the right on a permanent basis.
The Signpost: 30 August 2019
- News and notes: Documenting Wikimania and our beginnings
The oldest surviving Wikipedia edit restored to article history, Wikimania, and the mystery of a disappearing Funds Dissemination Committee.
- In focus: Ryan Merkley joins WMF as Chief of Staff
Working with leadership and the community, taking on both operational and strategic responsibilities
And the media report it all
- Discussion report: Meta proposals on partial bans and IP users
Can we survive without IP addresses?
- Traffic report: Once upon a time in Greenland with Boris and cornflakes
And some summer flicks with the usual heroes and villains
Should we break the law or publish the truth?
Or how to make a concentration camp disappear?
From streets to Wikipedia - What are editors from Hong Kong facing?
- News from the WMF: Meet Emna Mizouni, the newly minted 2019 Wikimedian of the Year
Emna Mizouni was named the 2019 Wikimedian of the Year.
- Recent research: Special issue on gender gap and gender bias research
A roundup of many recent publications examining Wikpedia's gender gaps in participation and content, and their possible reasons
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse
Administrators' newsletter – September 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2019).
Administrator changes
Bradv • Chetsford • Izno- Floquenbeam • Lectonar
- DESiegel • Jake Wartenberg • Rjanag • Topbanana
CheckUser changes
Oversight changes
- Callanecc • Fox • HJ Mitchell • LFaraone • There'sNoTime
Technical news
- Editors using the mobile website on Wikipedia can opt-in to new advanced features via your settings page. This will give access to more interface links, special pages, and tools.
- The advanced version of the edit review pages (recent changes, watchlist, and related changes) now includes two new filters. These filters are for "All contents" and "All discussions". They will filter the view to just those namespaces.
Arbitration
- A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2019 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
Miscellaneous
- A global request for comment is in progress regarding whether a user group should be created that could modify edit filters across all public Wikimedia wikis.
The Signpost: 30 September 2019
- From the editors: Where do we go from here?
Our constitutional crisis may continue
- Special report: Post-Framgate wrapup
Summary of actions around a formerly banned former administrator: Arbitration Committee action and withdrawn request for adminship
The internet may not be as stable as it seems
- Traffic report: Varied and intriguing entries, less Luck, and some retreads
Luck, Serena, Bianca, 9/11, bad films, mass murderers and other good stuff
- News from the WMF: How the Wikimedia Foundation is making efforts to go green
Wikipedia's footprint is equivalent to 251 average US homes’ energy use. Yes we can go green.
- Recent research: Wikipedia's role in assessing credibility of news sources; using wikis against procrastination; OpenSym 2019 report
And other recent research publications
Wikimedia Commons is not the only place to find freely licensed photos
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse
National libraries are planning to leverage Wikidata to interoperate and to bring information to the public
Administrators' newsletter – October 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2019).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following a discussion, a new criterion for speedy category renaming was added: C2F: One eponymous article, which
applies if the category contains only an eponymous article or media file, provided that the category has not otherwise been emptied shortly before the nomination. The default outcome is an upmerge to the parent categories
.
- Following a discussion, a new criterion for speedy category renaming was added: C2F: One eponymous article, which
Technical news
- As previously noted, tighter password requirements for Administrators were put in place last year. Wikipedia should now alert you if your password is less than 10 characters long and thus too short.
Arbitration
- The 2019 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process has begun. The community consultation period will take place October 4th to 10th.
- The arbitration case regarding Fram was closed. While there will be a local RfC
focus[ing] on how harassment and private complaints should be handled in the future
, there is currently a global community consultation on partial and temporary office actions in response to the incident. It will be open until October 30th.
Miscellaneous
- The Community Tech team has been working on a system for temporarily watching pages, and welcomes feedback.
The Signpost: 31 October 2019
- In the media: How to use or abuse Wikipedia for fun or profit
Sweden, Poland, Armenia, Russia, the Vatican, and clueless English pubs.
- Special report: “Catch and Kill” on Wikipedia: Paid editing and the suppression of material on alleged sexual abuse
"It's time for Wikipedia to grow up."
But they aren't entirely sure they see it
- Interview: Carl Miller on Wikipedia Wars
A discussion on info wars, government editing and our defences.
- Community view: Observations from the mainland
A different point of view
- Arbitration report: October actions
An "unblockable" is blocked; a former arb resigns.
Plus a few celebrities.
- Gallery: Wiki Loves Broadcast
The future of public broadcasting has arrived.
- Recent research: Research at Wikimania 2019: More communication doesn't make editors more productive; Tor users doing good work; harmful content rare on English Wikipedia
And other new research publications
Editing can have serious consequences.
- News from the WMF: Welcome to Wikipedia! Here's what we're doing to help you stick around
Twenty questions to get you started.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
Administrators' newsletter – November 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2019).
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Guideline and policy news
- An RfC was closed with the consensus that the resysop criteria should be made stricter.
- The follow-up RfC to develop that change is now open at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/2019 Resysop Criteria (2).
- A related RfC is seeking the community's sentiment for a binding desysop procedure.
Arbitration
- Eligible editors may now nominate themselves as candidates for the 2019 Arbitration Committee Elections. The self-nomination period will close November 12, with voting running from November 19 through December 2.
ArbCom 2019 election voter message
| | Hello! Voting in the 2019 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 on Monday, 2 December 2019. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate in the 2019 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add |
The Signpost: 29 November 2019
- From the editor: Put on your birthday best
"We get by with a little help from our friends"
- News and notes: How soon for the next million articles?
And when will we get the second extraterrestrial edit?
- In the media: You say you want a revolution
Everybody wants to change Wikipedia.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
- Arbitration report: Two requests for arbitration cases
Important or imprudent? Pondering portals. And an editor gets transported off-wiki for good.
- Traffic report: The queen and the princess meet the king and the joker
Could this be the end of the Terminator?
- Technology report: Reference things, sister things, stranger things
The latest tech news and updates.
- Gallery: Winter and holidays
Some interesting and unusual winter and holiday images.
- Recent research: Bot census; discussions differ on Spanish and English Wikipedia; how nature's seasons affect pageviews
And other new research publications.
- Essay: Adminitis
Some humor about the otherwise serious subject of burnout.
- From the archives: WikiProject Spam, revisited
Veteran editor: Wikipedia is losing existential battle against spam.
Coming to the end of a long road formulating the strategy.
Only now can we say!
Administrators' newsletter – December 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2019).
Administrator changes
- EvergreenFir • ToBeFree
- Akhilleus • Athaenara • John Vandenberg • Melchoir • MichaelQSchmidt • NeilN • Youngamerican • 😂
CheckUser changes
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- An RfC on the administrator resysop criteria was closed. 18 proposals have been summarised with a variety of supported and opposed statements. The inactivity grace period within which a new request for adminship is not required has been reduced from three years to two. Additionally, Bureaucrats are permitted to use their discretion when returning administrator rights.
- Following a proposal, the edit filter mailing list has been opened up to users with the Edit Filter Helper right.
Technical news
- Wikimedia projects can set a default block length for users via MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry. A new page, MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry-ip, allows the setting of a different default block length for IP editors. Neither is currently used. (T219126)
Arbitration
- Voting in the 2019 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 2 December 2018 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.
Miscellaneous
- The global consultation on partial and temporary office actions that ended in October received a closing statement from staff concluding, among other things, that the WMF
will no longer use partial or temporary Office Action bans... until and unless community consensus that they are of value or Board directive
.
- The global consultation on partial and temporary office actions that ended in October received a closing statement from staff concluding, among other things, that the WMF
The Signpost: 27 December 2019
- From the editors: Caught with their hands in the cookie jar, again
You can buy "cleaners" but you might not come away clean.
- News and notes: What's up (and down) with administrators, articles and languages
Active administrators and articles achieved are marking milestone metrics, but in diverging directions. Plus, the first time any court has found there exists a constitutional right to read Wikipedia.
Son of Wiki-PR.
- In the media: "The fulfillment of the dream of humanity" or a nightmare of PR whitewashing on behalf of one-percenters?
Praise for possibly pansophic Wikipedia from a Nobel laureate collides head-on with real-world events in December.
- Discussion report: December discussions around the wiki
Regarding integrity of information presented by Wikipedia, as well as the processes and people who ensure it remains trustworthy.
- Arbitration report: Announcement of 2020 Arbitration Committee
ArbCom election results and status of open and requested cases.
- Traffic report: Queens and aliens, exactly alike, once upon a December
We may have scrambled the headlines a bit.
- Technology report: User scripts and more
Customise your Wikipedia experience
- Gallery: Holiday wishes
Messages of holiday cheer from us to you.
- Recent research: Acoustics and Wikipedia; Wiki Workshop 2019 summary
16 recent papers, and other research news
- From the archives: The 2002 Spanish fork and ads revisited (re-revisited?)
A look at different approaches taken by Wikipedia's founders in 2002, as seen from the perspective of nine years when it was written; nearly twenty years ago now.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
There's still a long way to go.
- WikiProject report: Wikiproject Tree of Life: A Wikiproject report
Eight years after our last interview, WikiProject Tree of Life continues to thrive.
.jpg)
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MMXX Lunar Calendar
Have a great 2020 and thanks for your continued contributions to Wikipedia.
– 2020 is a leap year – news article.
– Background color is Classic Blue (#0F4C81), Pantone's 2020 Color of the year
Administrators' newsletter – January 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2019).
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Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment asks whether partial blocks should be enabled on the English Wikipedia. If enabled, this functionality would allow administrators to block users from editing specific pages or namespaces, rather than the entire site.
- A proposal asks whether admins who don't use their tools for a significant period of time (e.g. five years) should have the toolset procedurally removed.
- Following a successful RfC, a whitelist is now available for users whose redirects will be autopatrolled by a bot, removing them from the new pages patrol queue. Admins can add such users to Wikipedia:New pages patrol/Redirect whitelist after a discussion following the guidelines at Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Redirect whitelist.
Arbitration
- The fourth case on Palestine-Israel articles was closed. The case consolidated all previous remedies under one heading, which should make them easier to understand, apply, and enforce. In particular, the distinction between "primary articles" and "related content" has been clarified, with the former being
the entire set of articles whose topic relates to the Arab-Israeli conflict, broadly interpreted
rather thanreasonably construed
. - Following the 2019 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Beeblebrox, Bradv, Casliber, David Fuchs, DGG, KrakatoaKatie, Maxim, Newyorkbrad, SoWhy, Worm That Turned, Xeno.
- The fourth case on Palestine-Israel articles was closed. The case consolidated all previous remedies under one heading, which should make them easier to understand, apply, and enforce. In particular, the distinction between "primary articles" and "related content" has been clarified, with the former being
Miscellaneous
- This issue marks three full years of the Admin newsletter. Thanks for reading!
The Signpost: 27 January 2020
- From the editor: Reaching six million articles is great, but we need a moratorium
How long can we ignore Wiki-PR?
- News and notes: Six million articles on the English language Wikipedia
You ain't seen nothing yet.
- Special report: The limits of volunteerism and the gatekeepers of Team Encarta
How to survive the asshole consensus.
Plus politics and other oddities.
- Arbitration report: Three cases at ArbCom
The new arbs have a big load.
- Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2019
As only The Signpost can describe them.
The top 15 international photos.
- News from the WMF: Capacity Building: Top 5 Themes from Community Conversations
Growing our community and our abilities.
- Community view: Our most important new article since November 1, 2015
Well, it's a bit subjective.
Everybody needs to make a buck somehow — just not here, thanks.
And other new research publications.
- From the archives: A decade of The Signpost, 2005-2015
The first 10 years are the hardest.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Japan: a wikiProject Report
An interview with four members of the WikiProject Japan.
I may fall in love all over again!
A mentor to us all
Administrators' newsletter – February 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2020).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following a request for comment, partial blocks are now enabled on the English Wikipedia. This functionality allows administrators to block users from editing specific pages or namespaces rather than the entire site. A draft policy is being workshopped at Wikipedia:Partial blocks.
- The request for comment seeking the community's sentiment for a binding desysop procedure closed with
wide-spread support for an alternative desysoping procedure based on community input
. No proposed process received consensus.
Technical news
- Twinkle now supports partial blocking. There is a small checkbox that toggles the "partial" status for both blocks and templating. There is currently one template: {{uw-pblock}}.
- When trying to move a page, if the target title already exists then a warning message is shown. The warning message will now include a link to the target title. [1]
Arbitration
- Following a recent arbitration case, the Arbitration Committee reminded administrators
that checkuser and oversight blocks must not be reversed or modified without prior consultation with the checkuser or oversighter who placed the block, the respective functionary team, or the Arbitration Committee.
- Following a recent arbitration case, the Arbitration Committee reminded administrators
Miscellaneous
- Voting in the 2020 Steward elections will begin on 08 February 2020, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 28 February 2020, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
- The English Wikipedia has reached six million articles. Thank you everyone for your contributions!
Happy First Edit Day!
Have a very happy first edit anniversary!
From the Birthday Committee, CAPTAIN RAJU(T) 04:39, 1 March 2020 (UTC)
Happy First Edit Day!
Have a very happy first edit anniversary!
From the Birthday Committee, Bobherry Talk Edits 14:03, 1 March 2020 (UTC)
The Signpost: 1 March 2020
- From the editor: The ball is in your court
How to stop abusive commercial editing.
- News and notes: Alexa ranking down to 13th worldwide
Falling behind Chinese websites.
- Special report: More participation, more conversation, more pageviews
A statistical insight into the English Wikipedia's very own online community newsletter.
We're all over the map this month.
- Discussion report: Do you prefer M or P?
Wikimedia or Wikipedia?
- Arbitration report: Two prominent administrators removed
Arbitration Committee and the "blue wall of silence".
Numbers for vandalism and sockpuppeting included at no additional charge!
- Community view: The Incredible Invisible Woman
No more "Hidden Figures", let's work to make women visible on Wikipedia!
- In focus: History of The Signpost, 2015–2019
Covering Wikipedia for another five years!
And other new research results
- From the archives: Is Wikipedia for sale?
How long has Wikipedia been for sale? When will it stop?
- Traffic report: February articles, floating in the dark
Kobe sets another record.
- Gallery: Feel the love
Renewing our vows.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
Getting across the Wikipedia experience to the press.
- Opinion: Wikipedia is another country
Or: how to best bite a newbie.
- Humour: The Wilhelm scream
WikiWorld is back.
Administrators' newsletter – March 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2020).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, the blocking policy was changed to state that sysops
must not
undo or alter CheckUser or Oversight blocks, rather thanshould not
. - A request for comment confirmed that sandboxes of established but inactive editors may not be blanked due solely to inactivity.
- Following an RfC, the blocking policy was changed to state that sysops
Technical news
- Following a discussion, Twinkle's default CSD behavior will soon change, most likely this week. After the change, Twinkle will default to "tagging mode" if there is no CSD tag present, and default to "deletion mode" if there is a CSD tag present. You will be able to always default to "deletion mode" (the current behavior) using your Twinkle preferences.
Miscellaneous
- Following the 2020 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: BRPever, Krd, Martin Urbanec, MusikAnimal, Sakretsu, Sotiale, and Tks4Fish. There are a total of seven editors that have been appointed as stewards, the most since 2014.
- The 2020 appointees for the Ombudsman commission are Ajraddatz and Uzoma Ozurumba; they will serve for one year.
Request for Revision Deletion
Hi,
Sorry to bother you with this, but I didn't see any documentation on this and you were the last person to edit Wikipedia:Administrators' guide/Deleting. Where can non-admins submit a request? I've come across a few old edits that violate Wikipedia:Copyrights and can't figure out how to submit a request to delete a revisison (it's much less forward then say an AFD). Appreciate the help. Jakesyl (talk) 11:02, 10 March 2020 (UTC)
- Never-mind, found it
To avoid the Streisand effect, there is no dedicated on-wiki forum for requesting revision deletion under other circumstances. You can send a message to any administrator in Category:Wikipedia administrators willing to handle RevisionDelete requests either at their talk page or by email, especially if privacy is a concern.
- I'll go ahead and do that now. Thanks!
- Jakesyl (talk) 11:05, 10 March 2020 (UTC)
Precious anniversary
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| Two years! |
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The Signpost: 29 March 2020
- From the editors: The bad and the good
Getting ready for anything.
- News and notes: 2018 Wikipedian of the year blocked
Wheel war on Tatar Wikipedia.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject COVID-19: A WikiProject Report
An interview with members of the COVID Project.
- Special report: Wikipedia on COVID-19: what we publish and why it matters
Wikipedia presents solid widely-consulted information on COVID-19 and related topics.
- In the media: Blocked in Iran but still covering the big story
COVID-19, Zika, edit-a-thons, and macrons.
- Discussion report: Rethinking draft space
Plus: geonotices, reliable sources, and job titles.
- Arbitration report: Unfinished business
A new case, a case returns from limbo, and an RfC being prepared.
- In focus: "I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein …"
The twists and turns of Epstein’s portrayal on Wikipedia.
- Community view: Wikimedia community responds to COVID-19
Individually and in organized groups, Wikimedians stand up and make a difference.
New research publications on "the fear of being erased" and other topics.
- From the archives: Text from Wikipedia good enough for Oxford University Press to claim as own
Five years ago with a different crisis.
- Traffic report: The only thing that matters in the world
Going to movies and sport stadiums is history, and readers turn to Wikipedia for crucial medical information and updates.
- Gallery: Visible Women on Wikipedia
Images from the Whose Knowlege? campaign.
- News from the WMF: Amid COVID-19, Wikimedia Foundation offers full pay for reduced hours, mobilizes all staff to work remote, and waives sick time
The WMF responds.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
Administrators' newsletter – April 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2020).
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Guideline and policy news
- There is an ongoing request for comment to streamline the source deprecation and blacklisting process.
Technical news
- There is a plan for new requirements for user signatures. You can give feedback.
Arbitration
- Following the banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold a
Arbcom RfC regarding on-wiki harassment
. A draft RfC has been posted at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Anti-harassment RfC (Draft) and not open to comments from the community yet. Interested editors can comment on the RfC itself on its talk page.
- Following the banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold a
Miscellaneous
- The WMF has begun a pilot report of the pages most visited through various social media platforms to help with anti-vandalism and anti-disinformation efforts. The report is updated daily and will be available through the end of May.
The Signpost: 26 April 2020
- News and notes: Unbiased information from Ukraine's government?
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pitches in.
- In the media: Coronavirus, again and again
Plus the importance of language.
- Discussion report: Redesigning Wikipedia, bit by bit
The Wikimedia community discusses modifying or hiding the sidebar on the left of every page.
- Featured content: Featured content returns
Movies, roads, awards and more.
- Arbitration report: Two difficult cases
Even our best editors sometimes disagree.
- Traffic report: Disease the Rhythm of the Night
Coronavirus, coronavirus, and Joe Exotic.
A coronavirus cruise can't stop Roy!
- Recent research: Trending topics across languages; auto-detecting bias
And other new research results.
And it could get worse!
What COVID-19 data are available from the WMF?
- Opinion: Trusting Everybody to Work Together
In an increasingly factious world, Wikipedia's approach to collaboration and trust-building point to a brighter future.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
A Wikipedia editor reflects on his recent RfA and the health issues that became part of it.
- In focus: Multilingual Wikipedia
How to better integrate articles across language editions.
- WikiProject report: The Guild of Copy Editors
An interview with members of the WP:GOCE
Administrators' newsletter – May 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2020).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversight changes
Guideline and policy news
- Discretionary sanctions have been authorized for all pages and edits related to COVID-19, to be logged at WP:GS/COVID19.
- Following a recent discussion on Meta-Wiki, the edit filter maintainer global group has been created.
- A request for comment has been proposed to create a new main page editor usergroup.
- A request for comment has been proposed to make the bureaucrat activity requirements more strict.
Technical news
- The Editing team has been working on the talk pages project. You can review the proposed design and share your thoughts on the talk page.
- Enterprisey created a script that will show a link to the proper Special:Undelete page when viewing a since-deleted revision, see User:Enterprisey/link-deleted-revs.
Miscellaneous
- A request for comment closed with consensus to create a Village Pump-style page for communication with the Wikimedia Foundation.
The Signpost: 31 May 2020
- From the editor: Meltdown May?
Or will it be meltdown June?
- News and notes: 2019 Picture of the Year, 200 French paid editing accounts blocked, 10 years of Guild Copyediting
Many of these accounts now blocked on the English-language Wikipedia.
Worth Every Goddamn Second!
- Discussion report: WMF's Universal Code of Conduct
It's no April Fool's joke, but we discuss those, too.
Cultural context, diversity, and the future of languages.
- Featured content: Weathering the storm
Battles, bombs, wars, and more storms.
- Arbitration report: Board member likely to receive editing restriction
Sanctions of multiple flavors, and a non-decision on the breadth of discretionary sanctions.
- Traffic report: Come on and slam, and welcome to the jam
Time to bring on the Bulls.
Straight down the tubes.
- Gallery: Wildlife photos by the book
Birds, insects, elephants, a macaque and more.
- News from the WMF: WMF Board announces Community Culture Statement
Enacting new standards to address harassment and promote inclusivity across projects.
- Recent research: Automatic detection of covert paid editing; Wiki Workshop 2020
New results from academic research
- Community view: Transit routes and mapping during stay-at-home order downtime
Hello Columbus.
Community harnesses new technologies for remote participation in events and gatherings
- WikiProject report: Revitalizing good articles
Can our energy be turned into long-term change?
- On the bright side: 500,000 articles in the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
Rest in peace.
Administrators' newsletter – June 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2020).
Administrator changes
- CaptainEek • Creffett • Cwmhiraeth
- Anna Frodesiak • Buckshot06 • Ronhjones • SQL
CheckUser changes
Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment asks whether the Unblock Ticket Request System (UTRS) should allowed any unblock request or just private appeals.
- The Wikimedia Foundation announced that they will develop a universal code of conduct for all WMF projects. There is an open local discussion regarding the same.
Arbitration
The Signpost: 28 June 2020
- News and notes: Progress at Wikipedia Library and Wikijournal of Medicine
Plus Swedish biographies and the big oops!
- Community view: Community open letter on renaming
Reacting to the WMF's rebranding proposal.
- Gallery: After the killing of George Floyd
Protests and photos from around the world...
- In the media: Part collaboration and part combat
Racial justice, Facebook, LGBTQ+, Ryan Merkley, and a woman.
- Discussion report: Community reacts to WMF rebranding proposals
Many Wikimedia community members are upset about the WMF's plan to rebrand. Plus, a discussion of Fox News's reliability.
- Featured content: Sports are returning, with a rainbow
Battles, music, and animals feature prominently in this month's best content.
- Arbitration report: Anti-harassment RfC and a checkuser revocation
The RfC should keep everybody busy.
- Traffic report: The pandemic, alleged murder, a massacre, and other deaths
Plus Rajput, Musk, Epstein, Maxwell, Owens and Anonymous
- News from the WMF: We stand for racial justice
On these issues, there is no neutral stance.
- Recent research: Wikipedia and COVID-19; automated Wikipedia-based fact-checking
And other new research publications
Four signers of the open letter explain.
- Humour: Cherchez une femme
It's amazing what one can do.
A scientific scandal and the Ronaldo of investment banking.
- On the bright side: For what are you grateful this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
The history and impact of LGBTIQ+ contributions to Wikimedia projects.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Black Lives Matter
How Wikipedia is covering racial injustice, both in the outer world and on-site
Invite to Revive WikiProject:Shopping Centers!
Hey there, Edison! I'm Windyshadow32, a new member of the sadly inactive Wikiproject Shopping Centers. I am trying to revive this project to highlight the unique stories of malls across the country and the world especially as we lose more and more of them. Undoubtedly, we will lose shopping malls due to the challenges we face at this moment. Your account was listed as involved in the project, and I would like to know if you would like to help revive it! Your contributions to articles in the scope of this project make you a much-needed resource in getting this project back up and running again. I would love to have your assistance in assessing articles and finally putting together a list of shopping center pages by quality listing. I can't take on this massive project without you! Please let me know if you'd be willing to help; I really appreciate it!
Windyshadow32 (talk) 06:50, 16 June 2020 (UTC)
- There were a lot of mall articles up for deletion in 2006, and several of us worked pretty hard to devise bright-line rules to sort out regional malls which were well referenced and of considerable financial and cultural importance, from lesser malls of only local interest. But there were editors skilled at naysaying who smacked it down as "failed." This leaves a bad taste still, since so many hours were wasted. See WP:MALL. Edison (talk) 19:36, 23 June 2020 (UTC)
I appreciate your honesty. I had no idea about the history of this certain Wikiproject. Would you be willing to share with me any advice you may have to try and revive more interest or does this project have a real negative background that can't be salvaged? Windyshadow32 (talk) 04:48, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – July 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2020).
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Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment is in progress to remove the T2 (template that misrepresents established policy) speedy deletion criterion.
Technical news
- Protection templates on mainspace pages are now automatically added by User:MusikBot II (BRFA).
Arbitration
- Following the banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold an
RfC regarding on-wiki harassment
. The RfC has been posted at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Anti-harassment RfC and is open to comments from the community. - The Medicine case was closed, with a remedy authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for
all discussions about pharmaceutical drug prices and pricing and for edits adding, changing, or removing pharmaceutical drug prices or pricing from articles
.
- Following the banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold an
Administrators' newsletter – August 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2020).
Administrator changes
Oversight changes
Guideline and policy news
- There is an open request for comment to decide whether to increase the minimum duration a sanction discussion has to remain open (currently 24 hours).
- Speedy deletion criterion T2 (template that misrepresents established policy) has been repealed following a request for comment.
- Speedy deletion criterion X2 (pages created by the content translation tool) has been repealed following a discussion.
- There is a proposal to restrict proposed deletion to confirmed users.
The Signpost: 2 August 2020
- Special report: Wikipedia and the End of Open Collaboration?
Comparing Wikipedia to similar projects.
- COI and paid editing: Some strange people edit Wikipedia for money
And thanks for the photo, Ghislaine!
- News and notes: Abstract Wikipedia, a hoax, sex symbols, and a new admin
Plus lots of affiliations!
- In the media: Dog days gone bad
Pandemic, politics, and possibly paid editing.
- Discussion report: Fox News, a flight of RfAs, and banning policy
Plus a proposed massive invasion of privacy!
- Featured content: Remembering Art, Valor, and Freedom
soldiers, sports, and actors feature heavily this month.
- Traffic report: Now for something completely different
Death and Alexander Hamilton.
Sometimes you just have to ask.
- News from the WMF: New Chinese national security law in Hong Kong could limit the privacy of Wikipedia users
Privacy is critical to sustaining freedom of expression and association, enabling knowledge and ideas to thrive.
And other new research publications
Some editors aren't.
- Obituaries: Hasteur and Brian McNeil
Rest in peace.
Making Wikipedia the encyclopedia that anyone can review.
The Signpost: 30 August 2020
- News and notes: The high road and the low road
Will the Scots language Wikipedia survive?
- In the media: Storytelling large and small
COVID, Fox, Kamala, Scots, cryptocurrency, and more.
- Featured content: Going for the goal
Sports, music, military and more
- Special report: Wikipedia's not so little sister is finding its own way
Wikidata's profound impact on Wikipedia
- Op-Ed: The longest-running hoax
Watch out for those Mustelodons!
- Traffic report: Heart, soul, umbrellas, and politics
More politics than usual.
- News from the WMF: Fourteen things we’ve learned by moving Polish Wikimedia conference online
Celebrating of our community in a different format.
- Recent research: Detecting spam, and pages to protect; non-anonymous editors signal their intelligence with high-quality articles
And other new research results
- Arbitration report: A slow couple of months
Everybody deserves a vacation!
- From the archives: Wikipedia for promotional purposes?
A question from 2005 that we still haven't answered.
Rest in Peace.
Administrators' newsletter – September 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2020).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following a request for comment, the minimum length for site ban discussions was increased to 72 hours, up from 24.
- A request for comment is ongoing to determine whether paid editors
must
orshould
use the articles for creation process. - A request for comment is open to resolve inconsistencies between the draftification and alternative to deletion processes.
Arbitration
- A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2020 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
- An open request for comment asks whether active Arbitrators may serve on the Trust and Safety Case Review Committee or Ombudsman commission.
Happy Adminship Anniversary!
Have a very happy adminship anniversary on your special day!
Best wishes, CAPTAIN RAJU(T) 10:13, 5 September 2020 (UTC)
The Signpost: 27 September 2020
- Special report: Paid editing with political connections
WE charity and Justin Trudeau, Bell Pottinger, Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.
- News and notes: More large-scale errors at a "small" wiki
With inline parenthetical citations!
- In the media: WIPO, Seigenthaler incident 15 years later
A celebrity quiz, Scots, and a Crypto-hating Wikipedia editor
- Featured content: Life finds a Way
Animals, sports, military, and science feature heavily in this month's best content.
- Arbitration report: Clarifications and requests
Who is that guy JzG?
- Traffic report: Is there no justice?
Perhaps on the tennis court.
- Recent research: Wikipedia's flood biases
And other new research publications.
Administrators' newsletter – September 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2020).
Administrator changes
- Ajpolino • LuK3
- Jackmcbarn
- Ad Orientem • Harej • Lid • Lomn • Mentoz86 • Oliver Pereira • XJaM
There'sNoTime → TheresNoTime
Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment found consensus that incubation as an alternative to deletion should generally only be recommended when draftification is appropriate, namely
1) if the result of a deletion discussion is to draftify; or 2) if the article is newly created
.
- A request for comment found consensus that incubation as an alternative to deletion should generally only be recommended when draftification is appropriate, namely
Technical news
- The filter log now provides links to view diffs of deleted revisions (phab:T261630).
Arbitration
- The 2020 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process has begun. The community consultation period will take place from September 27th to October 7th.
- Following a request for comment, sitting Committee members may not serve on either the Ombuds Commission or the WMF Case Review Committee. The Arbitration Committee passed a motion implementing those results into their procedures.
Miscellaneous
- The Universal Code of Conduct draft is open for community review and comment until October 6th, 2020.
- Office actions may now be appealed to the Interim Trust & Safety Case Review Committee.
The Signpost: 27 September 2020
- Special report: Paid editing with political connections
WE charity and Justin Trudeau, Bell Pottinger, Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.
- News and notes: More large-scale errors at a "small" wiki
With inline parenthetical citations!
- In the media: WIPO, Seigenthaler incident 15 years later
A celebrity quiz, Scots, and a Crypto-hating Wikipedia editor
- Featured content: Life finds a Way
Animals, sports, military, and science feature heavily in this month's best content.
- Arbitration report: Clarifications and requests
Who is that guy JzG?
- Traffic report: Is there no justice?
Perhaps on the tennis court.
- Recent research: Wikipedia's flood biases
And other new research publications.
- The Signpost for this month was posted twice. Is that by order of the Department of Redundancy Department? Edison (talk) 12:31, 6 October 2020 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – November 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2020).
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Guideline and policy news
- Community sanctions now authorize administrators to place under indefinite semiprotection
any article on a beauty pageant, or biography of a person known as a beauty pageant contestant, which has been edited by a sockpuppet account or logged-out sockpuppet
, to be logged at WP:GS/PAGEANT.
- Community sanctions now authorize administrators to place under indefinite semiprotection
Technical news
- Sysops will once again be able to view the deleted history of JS/CSS pages; this was restricted to interface administrators when that group was introduced.
- Twinkle's block module now includes the ability to note the specific case when applying a discretionary sanctions block and/or template.
- Sysops will be able to use Special:CreateLocalAccount to create a local account for a global user that is prevented from auto-creation locally (such as by a filter or range block). Administrators that are not sure if such a creation is appropriate should contact a checkuser.
Arbitration
- The 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections process has begun. Eligible editors will be able to nominate themselves as candidates from November 8 through November 17. The voting period will run from November 23 through December 6.
- The Anti-harassment RfC has concluded with a summary of the feedback provided.
Miscellaneous
- A reminder that
standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to post-1932 politics of the United States and closely related people.
(American Politics 2 Arbitration case).
- A reminder that
The Signpost: 1 November 2020
- News and notes: Ban on IPs on ptwiki, paid editing for Tatarstan, IP masking
Branding pause, birthday.
- In the media: Murder, politics, religion, health and books
A possible conspiracy and 2 infodemics!
- Book review: Review of Wikipedia @ 20
We made it this far, but where do we go from here?
Getting input from editors.
- Discussion report: Proposal to change board composition, In The News dumps Trump story
Will editors be affected?
- Featured content: The "Green Terror" is neither green nor sufficiently terrifying. Worst Hallowe'en ever.
A hairy starfish flower might help!
- Traffic report: Jump back, what's that sound?
Here comes the judge.
- Interview: Joseph Reagle and Jackie Koerner
The co-editors of Wikipedia @ 20.
- News from the WMF: Meet the 2020 Wikimedian of the Year
Sandister Tei.
- Recent research: OpenSym 2020: Deletions and gender, masses vs. elites, edit filters
Ortega's hypothesis was right! (If you start with the right definitions and assumptions.)
- In focus: The many (reported) deaths of Wikipedia
The grove continues to grow – despite periods of dismal predictions.
ArbCom 2020 Elections voter message
| | Hello! Voting in the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 7 December 2020. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate in the 2020 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add |
The Signpost: 29 November 2020
- News and notes: Jimmy Wales "shouldn't be kicked out before he's ready"
Arbitration Committee elections begin.
- Op-Ed: Re-righting Wikipedia
Wikipedia deprecates more right-wing sources than left-wing sources ... but is it a problem?
- Opinion: How billionaires re-write Wikipedia
Billionaires are different from you and me.
And yes, it does!
- Featured content: Frontonia sp. is thankful for delicious cyanobacteria
The Réunion swamphen is a lot less thankful.
- Traffic report: 007 with Borat, the Queen, and an election
Plus Alex Trebek and the Queen's Gambit.
- News from Wiki Education: An assignment that changed a life: Kasey Baker
Wiki Education and changing our encyclopedia.
- GLAM plus: West Coast New Zealand's Wikipedian at Large
Succeeding one step at a time.
- Wikicup report: Lee Vilenski wins the 2020 WikiCup
Gog the Mild and The Rambling Man in second and third!
- Recent research: Wikipedia's Shoah coverage succeeds where libraries fail
And other new research publications.
- Essay: Writing about women
Male is not the default.
Administrators' newsletter – December 2020
News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2020).
Administrator changes
- Andrwsc • Anetode • GoldenRing • JzG • LinguistAtLarge • Nehrams2020
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- There is a request for comment in progress to either remove T3 (duplicated and hardcoded instances) as a speedy deletion criterion or eliminate its seven-day waiting period.
Technical news
- Voting for proposals in the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey, which determines what software the Wikimedia Foundation's Community Tech team will work on next year, will take place from 8 December through 21 December. In particular, there are sections regarding administrators and anti-harassment.
Arbitration
- Voting in the 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 7 December 2020 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.
The Signpost: 28 December 2020
New laws in the US and Europe might enable trolls; sad admin milestone for English Wikipedia, or not?
As 2020 draws to a close, this website has been splattered all over the headlines.
- Arbitration report: 2020 election results
Congratulations to the new Arbs!
Edit wars fought on the back of workers.
- Featured content: Very nearly ringing in the New Year with "Blank Space" – but we got there in time.
Texas amphibia, mongeese, and Normandy invasion plans grateful.
- Traffic report: 2020 wraps up
Punks and heroes, losers and winners, the bereaved and the deceased – they're all here.
No evidence of large-scale state-sponsored disinformation.
- Recent research: Predicting the next move in Wikipedia discussions
Six million talk page threads analyzed, and other research.
- Essay: Subjective importance
Is not important to notability.
The year that was 2020.
- Gallery: Angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity.
- Humour: 'Twas the Night Before Wikimas
And to all a good night!
Administrators' newsletter – January 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2020).
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Guideline and policy news
- Speedy deletion criterion T3 (duplication and hardcoded instances) has been repealed following a request for comment.
Technical news
- You can now put pages on your watchlist for a limited period of time.
Arbitration
- By motion, standard discretionary sanctions have been temporarily authorized
for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes)
. The effectiveness of the discretionary sanctions can be evaluated on the request by any editor after March 1, 2021 (or sooner if for a good reason). - Following the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Barkeep49, BDD, Bradv, CaptainEek, L235, Maxim, Primefac.
- By motion, standard discretionary sanctions have been temporarily authorized
The Signpost: 31 January 2021
- News and notes: 1,000,000,000 edits, board elections, virtual Wikimania 2021
Who else but Ser Amantio di Nicolao?
- Special report: Wiki reporting on the United States insurrection
From the Hill to the news to Wikipedia in minutes!
- In focus: From Anarchy to Wikiality, Glaring Bias to Good Cop: Press Coverage of Wikipedia's First Two Decades
A new "wiki journalism" is needed.
Are we getting lead by the nose?
Even the world's richest man is happy we exist!
- Technology report: The people who built Wikipedia, technically
Starting with trust, expanding, controversy, and opportunities.
- Videos and podcasts: Celebrating 20 years
Multimedia in many styles!
- News from the WMF: Wikipedia celebrates 20 years of free, trusted information for the world
Happy birthday!
- Recent research: Students still have a better opinion of Wikipedia than teachers
And other new research results
- Humour: Dr. Seuss's Guide to Wikipedia
With a special appearance by Senator Ted Cruz!
- Featured content: New Year, same Featured Content report!
...Well, except we did change the articles and pictures out. ...Mostly.
- Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2020
The end of the world as we know it?
- Obituary: Flyer22 Frozen
RIP.
Administrators' newsletter – February 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2021).
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Arbitration
- The standard discretionary sanctions authorized for American Politics were amended by motion to cover
post-1992 politics of United States and closely related people
, replacing the 1932 cutoff.
- The standard discretionary sanctions authorized for American Politics were amended by motion to cover
Miscellaneous
- Voting in the 2021 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2021, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2021, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
- Wikipedia has now been around for 20 years, and recently saw its billionth edit!
The Signpost: 28 February 2021
- News and notes: Maher stepping down
UCC launch.
- Disinformation report: A "billionaire battle" on Wikipedia: Sex, lies, and video
Edits of the rich and famous.
Free as in Liberty.
- In the media: Corporate influence at OSM, Fox watching the hen house
Wikidata, Turkey, Valentine's Day and all sorts of bias!
- News from the WMF: Who tells your story on Wikipedia
You can!
And other new research publications
- Featured content: A Love of Knowledge, for Valentine's Day
Stealing your heart, and Charles Darwin's notebooks.
- Traffic report: Does it almost feel like you've been here before?
Watching the Super Bowl at the Cecil?
- Gallery: What is Black history and culture?
In paintings, photos, and recordings.
Administrators' newsletter – March 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2021).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment is open that proposes a process for the community to revoke administrative permissions. This follows a 2019 RfC in favor of creating one such a policy.
- A request for comment is in progress to remove F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a, which covers immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
- A request for comment seeks to grant page movers the
delete-redirectuserright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target. The full proposal is at Wikipedia:Page mover/delete-redirect. - A request for comment asks if sysops may
place the General sanctions/Coronavirus disease 2019 editnotice template on pages in scope that do not have page-specific sanctions
? - There is a discussion in progress concerning automatic protection of each day's featured article with Pending Changes protection.
Technical news
- When blocking an IPv6 address with Twinkle, there is now a checkbox with the option to just block the /64 range. When doing so, you can still leave a block template on the initial, single IP address' talkpage.
- When protecting a page with Twinkle, you can now add a note if doing so was in response to a request at WP:RfPP, and even link to the specific revision.
- There have been a number of reported issues with Pending Changes. Most problems setting protection appear to have been resolved (phab:T273317) but other issues with autoaccepting edits persist (phab:T275322).
Arbitration
- By motion, the discretionary sanctions originally authorized under the GamerGate case are now authorized under a new Gender and sexuality case, with sanctions
authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, any gender-related dispute or controversy and associated people.
Sanctions issued under GamerGate are now considered Gender and sexuality sanctions. - The Kurds and Kurdistan case was closed, authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for
the topics of Kurds and Kurdistan, broadly construed
.
- By motion, the discretionary sanctions originally authorized under the GamerGate case are now authorized under a new Gender and sexuality case, with sanctions
Miscellaneous
- Following the 2021 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: AmandaNP, Operator873, Stanglavine, Teles, and Wiki13.
Happy First Edit Day!
Have a very happy first edit anniversary!
From the Birthday Committee, CAPTAIN RAJU(T) 21:55, 1 March 2021 (UTC)
Precious anniversary
| | |
| Three years! |
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The Signpost: 28 March 2021
- News and notes: A future with a for-profit subsidiary?
Or becoming more business-like?
- Gallery: Wiki Loves Monuments
2020 international winners
- In the media: Wikimedia LLC and disinformation in Japan
Plus CPAC misinformation
- News from the WMF: Project Rewrite: Tell the missing stories of women on Wikipedia and beyond
Telling women’s stories is a radical act.
- Recent research: 10%-30% of Wikipedia’s contributors have subject-matter expertise
And other recent research results
- From the archives: Google isn't responsible for Wikipedia's mistakes
Huge profits sustained by unpaid labor.
As in "free software" and "free culture".
- Obituary: Yoninah
Barukh dayan ha-emet ("Blessed is the true judge.")
- From the editor: What else can we say?
What can we link to?
- Arbitration report: Open letter to the Board of Trustees
Let's do the UCoC right!
- Traffic report: Wanda, Meghan, Liz, Phil and Zack
Another royal bash!
Administrators' newsletter – April 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2021).
Administrator changes
- Alexandria • Happyme22 • RexxS
Guideline and policy news
- Following a request for comment, F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a has been deprecated; it covered immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
- Following a request for comment, page movers were granted the
delete-redirectuserright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target.
Technical news
- When you move a page that many editors have on their watchlist the history can be split and it might also not be possible to move it again for a while. This is because of a job queue problem. (T278350)
- Code to support some very old web browsers is being removed. This could cause issues in those browsers. (T277803)
Arbitration
- A community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure is open until April 25.
The Signpost: 25 April 2021
- From the editor: A change is gonna come
But not soon enough.
- Disinformation report: Paid editing by a former head of state's business enterprise
The Trump Organization's paid editors
- In the media: Fernando, governance, and rugby
Jimmy does OK too!
- Opinion: The (Universal) Code of Conduct
Explicit behavioral expectations are better than unwritten social norms
- Op-Ed: A Little Fun Goes A Long Way
Why do we work so hard to avoid having a sense of humor?
- Changing the world: The reach of protest images on Wikipedia
Wikipedia's retweet and share buttons
- Recent research: Quality of aquatic and anatomical articles
And other research publications
- Traffic report: The verdict is guilty, guilty, guilty
Plus Godzilla and Kong
- News from Wiki Education: Encouraging professional physicists to engage in outreach on Wikipedia
Even a Nobel laureate can learn more!
The Signpost: 25 April 2021
- From the editor: A change is gonna come
But not soon enough.
- Disinformation report: Paid editing by a former head of state's business enterprise
The Trump Organization's paid editors
- In the media: Fernando, governance, and rugby
Jimmy does OK too!
- Opinion: The (Universal) Code of Conduct
Explicit behavioral expectations are better than unwritten social norms
- Op-Ed: A Little Fun Goes A Long Way
Why do we work so hard to avoid having a sense of humor?
- Changing the world: The reach of protest images on Wikipedia
Wikipedia's retweet and share buttons
- Recent research: Quality of aquatic and anatomical articles
And other research publications
- Traffic report: The verdict is guilty, guilty, guilty
Plus Godzilla and Kong
- News from Wiki Education: Encouraging professional physicists to engage in outreach on Wikipedia
Even a Nobel laureate can learn more!
Administrators' newsletter – May 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2021).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, consensus was found that third party appeals are allowed but discouraged.
- The 2021 Desysop Policy RfC was closed with no consensus. Consensus was found in a previous RfC for a community based desysop procedure, though the procedure proposed in the 2021 RfC did not gain consensus.
Technical news
- The user group
oversightwill be renamed tosuppress. This is for technical reasons. You can comment at T112147 if you have objections.
- The user group
Arbitration
- The community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure was closed, and an initial draft based on feedback from the now closed consultation is expected to be released in early June to early July for community review.
Administrators' newsletter – June 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2021).
Administrator changes
- Ashleyyoursmile • Less Unless
- Husond • MattWade • MJCdetroit • Carioca • Vague Rant • Kingboyk • Thunderboltz • Gwen Gale • AniMate • SlimVirgin (deceased)
Guideline and policy news
- Consensus was reached to deprecate Wikipedia:Editor assistance.
- Following a Request for Comment the Book namespace was deprecated.
Technical news
- Wikimedia previously used the IRC network Freenode. However, due to changes over who controlled the network with reports of a forceful takeover by several ex-staff members, the Wikimedia IRC Group Contacts decided to move to the new Libera Chat network. It has been reported that Wikimedia related channels on Freenode have been forcibly taken over if they pointed members to Libera. There is a migration guide and Wikimedia discussions about this.
Arbitration
- After a Clarification request, the Arbitration Committee modified Remedy 5 of the Antisemitism in Poland case. This means sourcing expectations are a discretionary sanction instead of being present on all articles. It also details using the talk page or the Reliable Sources Noticeboard to discuss disputed sources.
The Signpost: 27 June 2021
- News and notes: Elections, Wikimania, masking and more
Submit your candidacy today!
- In the media: Boris and Joe, reliability, love, and money
Will he hang it in the Oval Office?
- Disinformation report: Croatian Wikipedia: capture and release
Curious and curiouser!
- Recent research: Feminist critique of Wikipedia's epistemology, Black Americans vastly underrepresented among editors, Wiki Workshop report
Summaries of 26 new research publications
- Traffic report: So no one told you life was gonna be this way
We'll be there for you!
- News from the WMF: Searching for Wikipedia
How do our readers find us?
It's the wheel thing.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject on open proxies interview
Interview with volunteers at WikiProject on open proxies
- Forum: Is WMF fundraising abusive?
A calm discussion.
- Discussion report: Reliability of WikiLeaks discussed
WikiLeaks on multiple boards.
- Obituary: SarahSV
Requiescat in pace.
Administrators' newsletter – July 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2021).
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Guideline and policy news
- Consensus has been reached to delete all books in the book namespace. There was rough consensus that the deleted books should still be available on request at WP:REFUND even after the namespace is removed.
- An RfC is open to discuss the next steps following a trial which automatically applied pending changes to TFAs.
Technical news
- IP addresses of unregistered users are to be hidden from everyone. There is a rough draft of how IP addresses may be shown to users who need to see them. This currently details allowing administrators, checkusers, stewards and those with a new usergroup to view the full IP address of unregistered users. Editors with at least 500 edits and an account over a year old will be able to see all but the end of the IP address in the proposal. The ability to see the IP addresses hidden behind the mask would be dependent on agreeing to not share the parts of the IP address they can see with those who do not have access to the same information. Accessing part of or the full IP address of a masked editor would also be logged. Comments on the draft are being welcomed at the talk page.
Arbitration
- The community authorised COVID-19 general sanctions have been superseded by the COVID-19 discretionary sanctions following a motion at a case request. Alerts given and sanctions placed under the community authorised general sanctions are now considered alerts for and sanctions under the new discretionary sanctions.
The Signpost: 25 July 2021
- News and notes: Wikimania and a million other news stories
And one new admin!
- Special report: Hardball in Hong Kong
Three strikes and you're out?
- In the media: Larry is at it again
Bias, propaganda and more murderous mistakes!
- Board of Trustees candidates: See the candidates
Watch the video!
And other recent research publications
- Traffic report: Football, tennis and marveling at Loki
But you can call it soccer if you'd like.
- News from the WMF: Uncapping our growth potential – interview with James Baldwin, Finance and Administration Department
Money, money, money.
- Humour: A little verse
Two poems of Wikipedia.
Administrators' newsletter – July 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2021).
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Guideline and policy news
- An RfC is open to add a delay of one week from nomination to deletion for G13 speedy deletions.
Technical news
- Last week all wikis were very slow or not accessible for 30 minutes. This was due to server lag caused by regenerating dynamic lists on the Russian Wikinews after a large bulk import. (T287380)
Arbitration
- Following an amendment request, the committee has clarified that the Talk page exception to the 500/30 rule in remedy 5 of the Palestine-Israel articles 4 case does not apply to requested move discussions.
Miscellaneous
- You can vote for candidates in the 2021 Board of Trustees elections from 4 August to 17 August. Four community elected seats are up for election.
The Signpost: 29 August 2021
- News and notes: Enough time left to vote! IP ban
Just do it!
- In the media: Vive la différence!
May Father Will forgive us!
- Wikimedians of the year: Seven Wikimedians of the year
With two musical celebrations!
- Gallery: Our community in 20 graphs
We just look at the pictures!
- News from Wiki Education: Changing the face of Wikipedia
Moving forward.
- Recent research: IP editors, inclusiveness and empathy, cyclones, and world heritage
A monthly overview of new research results.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Days of the Year Interview
You can start with your birthday article!
- Traffic report: Olympics, movies, and Afghanistan
Winners and losers.
- Community view: Making Olympic history on Wikipedia
Higher, faster, stronger and more informative!
Administrators' newsletter – September 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2021).
Administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- Feedback is requested on the Universal Code of Conduct enforcement draft by the Universal Code of Conduct Phase 2 drafting committee.
- A RfC is open on whether to allow administrators to use extended confirmed protection on high-risk templates.
- A discussion is open to decide when, if ever, should discord logs be eligible for removal when posted onwiki (including whether to oversight them)
- A RfC on the next steps after the trial of pending changes on TFAs has resulted in a 30 day trial of automatic semi protection for TFAs.
Technical news
- The Score extension has been re-enabled on public wikis. It has been updated, but has been placed in safe mode to address unresolved security issues. Further information on the security issues can be found on the mediawiki page.
Arbitration
- A request for comment is in progress to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the Arbitration Committee election and resolve any issues not covered by existing rules. Comments and new proposals are welcome.
Miscellaneous
- The 2021 RfA review is now open for comments.
Happy Adminship Anniversary!
The Signpost: 26 September 2021
- News and notes: New CEO, new board members, China bans
And one new admin!
- In the media: The future of Wikipedia
And a bit about the past.
But just disregarded the warnings.
- Op-Ed: I've been desysopped
But not banned!
- Disinformation report: Paid promotional paragraphs in German parliamentary pages
Did German Wikipedia love parliaments a little too much? Plus fake-bacon and a ponzi scheme.
- Discussion report: Editors discuss Wikipedia's vetting process for administrators
Emotional injury and rising standards against a backdrop of a dwindling sysop cadre: the 2021 Requests for adminship review grapples with tough issues.
- Recent research: Wikipedia images for machine learning; Experiment justifies Wikipedia's high search rankings
And other new research publications
- Community view: Is writing Wikipedia like making a quilt?
Help us piece together WikiProject Craft!
- Traffic report: Kanye, Emma Raducanu and 9/11
Or is it Donda, Leylah Fernandez, and Flight 93?
- News from Diff: Welcome to the first grantees of the Knowledge Equity Fund
$4.5 million for equity.
- WikiProject report: The Random and the Beautiful
An interview with members of the Random Page Patrol.
Administrators' newsletter – October 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2021).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, extended confirmed protection may be used preemptively on certain high-risk templates.
- Following a discussion at the Village Pump, there is consensus to treat discord logs the same as IRC logs. This means that discord logs will be oversighted if posted onwiki.
Technical news
- DiscussionTools has superseded Enterprisey's reply-link script. Editors may switch using the "Discussion tools" checkbox under Preferences → Beta features.
Arbitration
- A motion has standardised the 500/30 (extended confirmed) restrictions placed by the Arbitration Committee. The standardised restriction is now listed in the Arbitration Committee's procedures.
- Following the closure of the Iranian politics case, standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, post-1978 Iranian politics, broadly construed.
- The Arbitration Committee encourages uninvolved administrators to use the discretionary sanctions procedure in topic areas where it is authorised to facilitate consensus in RfCs. This includes, but is not limited to, enforcing sectioned comments, word/diff limits and moratoriums on a particular topic from being brought in an RfC for up to a year.
Miscellaneous
- Editors have approved expanding the trial of Growth Features from 2% of new accounts to 25%, and the share of newcomers getting mentorship from 2% to 5%. Experienced editors are invited to add themselves to the mentor list.
- The community consultation phase of the 2021 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process is open for editors to provide comments and ask questions to candidates.
The Signpost: 31 October 2021
- From the editor: Different stories, same place
What Wikipedians can and cannot do.
- News and notes: The sockpuppet who ran for adminship and almost succeeded
And will the last person to leave the C-Suite please turn off the lights?
Beam me up, Scotty – Matt Amodio for sure, and maybe just a few VIPs, billionaires, and Tucker Carlson.
Section 230 in practice – this Black life should matter to us.
- Discussion report: Editors brainstorm and propose changes to the Requests for adminship process
Proposals to solve eight core problems – what many describe as a broken process – identified in the 2021 RfA review.
- Recent research: Welcome messages fail to improve newbie retention
And other new research results
- Community view: Reflections on the Chinese Wikipedia
Were the bans justified?
- Traffic report: James Bond and the Giant Squid Game
Plus German elections and movies galore.
- Technology report: Wikimedia Toolhub, winners of the Coolest Tool Award, and more
Now discovering and accessing Wikimedia tools will be easier.
- Serendipity: How Wikipedia helped create a Serbian stamp
Details can make all the difference!
- Book review: Wikipedia and the Representation of Reality
Or you could watch the video!
- WikiProject report: Redirection
An interview with participants at WikiProject Redirect.
- Humour: A very Wiki crossword
24 clues to chew on.
Administrators' newsletter – November 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2021).
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Guideline and policy news
- Phase 2 of the 2021 RfA review has commenced which will discuss potential solutions to address the 8 issues found in Phase 1. Proposed solutions that achieve consensus will be implemented and you may propose solutions till 07 November 2021.
Technical news
- Toolhub is a catalogue of tools which can be used on Wikimedia wikis. It is at https://toolhub.wikimedia.org/.
Arbitration
- GeneralNotability, Mz7 and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2021 Arbitration Committee Elections. Ivanvector and John M Wolfson are reserve commissioners.
- Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate themselves to stand in the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections from 07 November 2021 until 16 November 2021.
Miscellaneous
- The 2021 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process has concluded with the appointment of five new CheckUsers and two new Oversighters.
1 new message!
Hello, I have strolled and looked at your user page and talk page! Tho, I don't think this is very notable, but this is notable for speedy deletion. :)
ArbCom 2021 Elections voter message
| | Hello! Voting in the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 6 December 2021. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate in the 2021 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add |
The Signpost: 29 November 2021
- In the media: Denial: climate change, mass killings and pornography
Will they deny non-fungible tokens next?
- WikiCup report: The WikiCup 2021
15th annual event closes with hundreds of articles improved
- Deletion report: What we lost, what we gained
1,767 nominations in November... AN/Is... DRVs... The largest AfD in history, possibly ever!
- From a Wikipedia reader: What's Matt Amodio?
Wikipedia democratizes knowledge, but is it in Jeopardy?
- Arbitration report: ArbCom in 2021
We should have at least one of these every year!
- Discussion report: On the brink of change – RFA reforms appear imminent
Editors propose modifications to Wikipedia's admin-making process.
- Technology report: What does it take to upload a file?
How MediaWiki works with media files.
- WikiProject report: Interview with contributors to WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers
From the silver screen to your computer screen
A worthy pilot but the photo didn't match the article!
Sharing the wealth of information!
Conjuring up the jesters again!
- Recent research: Vandalizing Wikipedia as rational behavior
And other recent research publications
- Humour: A very new very Wiki crossword
Answers to last month's puzzle included.
Administrators' newsletter – December 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2021).
Administrator changes
Technical news
- Unregistered editors using the mobile website are now able to receive notices to indicate they have talk page messages. The notice looks similar to what is already present on desktop, and will be displayed on when viewing any page except mainspace and when editing any page. (T284642)
- The limit on the number of emails a user can send per day has been made global instead of per-wiki to help prevent abuse. (T293866)
Arbitration
- Voting in the 2021 Arbitration Committee Elections is open until 23:59, 06 December 2021 (UTC).
- The already authorized standard discretionary sanctions for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes), broadly construed, have been made permanent.
Administrators will no longer be autopatrolled
A recently closed Request for Comment (RFC) reached consensus to remove Autopatrolled from the administrator user group. You may, similarly as with Edit Filter Manager, choose to self-assign this permission to yourself. This will be implemented the week of December 13th, but if you wish to self-assign you may do so now. To find out when the change has gone live or if you have any questions please visit the Administrator's Noticeboard. 20:05, 7 December 2021 (UTC)
The Signpost: 28 December 2021
- From the editor: Here is the news
And wishing our readers a healthy, fortunate and bountiful 2022.
- News and notes: Jimbo's NFT, new arbs, fixing RfA, and financial statements
Wrapping up 2021 with a pair of auctions, activity surrounding administrators, and an audit.
- Serendipity: Born three months before her brother?
Wikipedia and the Oxford Dictionary of Music have different opinions.
- In the media: The past is not even past
Even for Wikipedia critics in nappies!
And other new research results.
- Arbitration report: A new crew for '22
Elections certified, bans unlifted, mailing lists restricted, but no new cases.
- By the numbers: Four billion words and a few numbers
Commemorating a milestone: word count comparisons with other Wikipedias.
- Deletion report: We laughed, we cried, we closed as "no consensus"
More hats than a rodeo: the best, worst, and gnarliest AfDs of 2021.
- Gallery: Wikicommons presents: 2021
Some of 2021's most dramatic moments through Wikicommons images.
- Traffic report: Spider-Man, football and the departed
We'll always remember the Greek alphabet!
- Crossword: Another Wiki crossword for one and all
Answers to last month's puzzle included.
- Humour: Buying Wikipedia
Helpful how-to for the prospective buyer. Why settle for a measly single edit, when you can buy the whole thing?
Administrators' newsletter – January 2022
News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2021).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following consensus at the 2021 RfA review, the autopatrolled user right has been removed from the administrators user group; admins can grant themselves the autopatrolled permission if they wish to remain autopatrolled.
- Additionally, consensus for proposal 6C of the 2021 RfA review has led to the creation of an administrative action review process. The purpose of this process will be to review individual administrator actions and individual actions taken by users holding advanced permissions.
Arbitration
- Following the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Beeblebrox, Cabayi, Donald Albury, Enterprisey, Izno, Opabinia regalis, Worm That Turned, Wugapodes.
Miscellaneous
- The functionaries email list (functionaries-en lists.wikimedia.org) will no longer accept incoming emails apart from those sent by list members and WMF staff. Private concerns, apart from those requiring oversight, should be directly sent to the Arbitration Committee.
How we will see unregistered users
Hi!
You get this message because you are an admin on a Wikimedia wiki.
When someone edits a Wikimedia wiki without being logged in today, we show their IP address. As you may already know, we will not be able to do this in the future. This is a decision by the Wikimedia Foundation Legal department, because norms and regulations for privacy online have changed.
Instead of the IP we will show a masked identity. You as an admin will still be able to access the IP. There will also be a new user right for those who need to see the full IPs of unregistered users to fight vandalism, harassment and spam without being admins. Patrollers will also see part of the IP even without this user right. We are also working on better tools to help.
If you have not seen it before, you can read more on Meta. If you want to make sure you don’t miss technical changes on the Wikimedia wikis, you can subscribe to the weekly technical newsletter.
We have two suggested ways this identity could work. We would appreciate your feedback on which way you think would work best for you and your wiki, now and in the future. You can let us know on the talk page. You can write in your language. The suggestions were posted in October and we will decide after 17 January.
Thank you. /Johan (WMF)
18:13, 4 January 2022 (UTC)
The Signpost: 30 January 2022
- Special report: WikiEd course leads to Twitter harassment
Education, deletion and social media can be a volatile mix.
- News and notes: Feedback for Board of Trustees election
Plus, the incredible shrinking admin cadre.
- Interview: CEO Maryana Iskander "four weeks in"
"Impossible ideas can be created, not just imagined."
- Black History Month: What are you doing for Black History Month?
Over 1,700 U.S. congressmen owned slaves. You can help document this.
More than you wanted to know about the massive NSPORTS RfC.
- WikiProject report: The Forgotten Featured
Interview with volunteers at the Unreviewed featured articles 2020 working group.
- Arbitration report: New arbitrators look at new case and antediluvian sanctions
The spirit of 2006 is going strong.
- Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2021
Royals, Freddy and movies.
How many more photos are needed?
- Obituary: Twofingered Typist
Rest in peace.
Will this method apply to other sensitive topics?
- Essay: The prime directive
Just imagine!
One editor doesn't think so.
- In the media: Fuzzy-headed government editing
Get down and party! But no COI editing!
- Recent research: Articles with higher quality ratings have fewer "knowledge gaps"
And other research results.
Copyright is almost always complicated, but we break it down for you.
- Crossword: Cross swords with a crossword
Featuring an experimental on-wiki entry box.
Administrators' newsletter – February 2022
News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2022).
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Guideline and policy news
- The Universal Code of Conduct enforcement guidelines have been published for consideration. Voting to ratify this guideline is planned to take place 7 March to 21 March. Comments can be made on the talk page.
Technical news
- The user group
oversightwill be renamedsuppressin around 3 weeks. This will not affect the name shown to users and is simply a change in the technical name of the user group. The change is being made for technical reasons. You can comment in Phabricator if you have objections. - The Reply Tool feature, which is a part of Discussion Tools, will be opt-out for everyone logged in or logged out starting 7 February 2022. Editors wishing to comment on this can do so in the relevant Village Pump discussion.
- The user group
Arbitration
- Community input is requested on several motions aimed at addressing discretionary sanctions that are no longer needed or overly broad.
- The Arbitration Committee has published a generalised comment regarding successful appeals of sanctions that it can review (such as checkuser blocks).
- A motion related to the Antisemitism in Poland case was passed following a declined case request.
Miscellaneous
- Voting in the 2022 Steward elections will begin on 07 February 2022, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2022, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
- Voting in the 2022 Community Wishlist Survey is open until 11 February 2022.
The Signpost: 27 February 2022
- From the team: Selection of a new Signpost Editor-in-Chief
Bye-bye 'bones!
- News and notes: Impacts of Russian invasion of Ukraine
Plus, the Steward Elections, Leadership Development Task Force and a contest.
Who are the students and how do we assure quality?
- Special report: A presidential candidate's team takes on Wikipedia
Vive l'encyclopédie libre!
- In the media: Wiki-drama in the UK House of Commons
Plus, Wiki Unseen, the "Sports Wars", and much more.
"The first casualty when war comes is truth".
- Technology report: Community Wishlist Survey results
Plus, DiscussionTools and dark mode.
- WikiProject report: 10 years of tea
Coffee in Teahouse and other secrets revealed in this interview with volunteers.
- Featured content: Featured Content returns
A fantastic diverse mix of a record-breaking amount of content.
- Deletion report: The 10 most SHOCKING deletion discussions of February
You WON'T believe #8!
- Recent research: How editors and readers may be emotionally affected by disasters and terrorist attacks
And other recent research publications.
- Arbitration report: Parties remonstrate, arbs contemplate, skeptics coordinate
The report on lengthy litigation.
Some evidence from people born in France.
- Gallery: The vintage exhibit
Some good-ol' posters, restored to its former glory.
- Traffic report: Euphoria, Pamela Anderson, lies and Netflix
Plus quarterbacks, half-timers, Olympians, and Hulu!
- News from Diff: The Wikimania 2022 Core Organizing Team
Meet the folks in charge!
- Crossword: A Crossword, featuring Featured Articles
Can you fill in the boxes with Wikipedia's best content?
- Humour: Notability of mailboxes
Does yours pass?
Happy First Edit Day!
Have a very happy first edit anniversary!
From the Birthday Committee, CAPTAIN RAJU(T) 00:04, 2 March 2022 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – March 2022
News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2022).
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Guideline and policy news
- A RfC is open to change the wording of revision deletion criterion 1 to remove the sentence relating to non-infringing contributions.
- A RfC is open to discuss prohibiting draftification of articles over 90 days old.
Technical news
- The deployment of the reply tool as an opt-out feature, as announced in last month's newsletter, has been delayed to 7 March. Feedback and comments are being welcomed at Wikipedia talk:Talk pages project. (T296645)
- Special:Nuke will now allow the selection of standard deletion reasons to be used when mass-deleting pages. This was a Community Wishlist Survey request from 2022. (T25020)
- The ability to undelete the talk page when undeleting a page using Special:Undelete or the API will be added soon. This change was requested in the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey. (T295389)
Arbitration
- Several unused discretionary sanctions and article probation remedies have been rescinded. This follows the community feedback from the 2021 Discretionary Sanctions review.
Miscellaneous
- The 2022 appointees for the Ombuds commission are Érico, Faendalimas, Galahad, Infinite0694, Mykola7, Olugold, Udehb and Zabe as regular members and Ameisenigel and JJMC89 as advisory members.
- Following the 2022 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: AntiCompositeNumber, BRPever, Hasley, TheresNoTime, and Vermont.
- The 2022 Community Wishlist Survey results have been published alongside the ranking of prioritized proposals.
Precious anniversary
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| Four years! |
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The Signpost: 27 March 2022
- From the Signpost team: How The Signpost is documenting the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
We stand in solidarity with free knowledge.
- News and notes: Of safety and anonymity
The diff that resulted in arrest and jail time in Belarus.
- Eyewitness Wikimedian, Kharkiv, Ukraine: Countering Russian aggression with a camera
A Ukrainian Wikipedian volunteers to document the war.
- Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary
Reporting from on the ground in Ukraine.
- Eyewitness Wikimedian, Western Ukraine: Working with Wikipedia helps
Holding up the elephants!
- Disinformation report: The oligarchs' socks
For whom do the Bells toil?
- In the media: Ukraine, Russia, and even some other stuff
Lenin did not say "Wow, check out those yachts"!
And other research publications.
- Wikimedian perspective: My heroes from Russia, Ukraine & beyond
The thought of cities being destroyed is unbearable.
- Discussion report: Athletes are less notable now
The Discussion Report returns with a diverse mix of community proposals.
- Technology report: 2022 Wikimedia Hackathon
Plus, Desktop Improvements and a new uploading tool for Commons.
- Arbitration report: Skeptics given heavenly judgement, whirlwind of Discord drama begins to spin for tropical cyclone editors
Unclear whether storm will make landfall.
- Traffic report: War, what is it good for?
Ukraine, Russia and Anna Sorokin.
- Deletion report: Ukraine, werewolves, Ukraine, YouTube pundits, and Ukraine
Things that go "boom" in the night.
The once-seen beauty of Ukraine, in high quality.
- From the archives: Burn, baby burn
A look at when early backups of Wikipedia were recovered.
- Essay: Yes, the sky is blue
There is such thing as over-citing.
- Tips and tricks: Become a keyboard ninja
And other useful Tips of the Day.
- On the bright side: The bright side of news
Happy-er current events.
Administrators' newsletter – April 2022
News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2022).
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Guideline and policy news
- An RfC is open proposing a change to the minimum activity requirements for administrators.
Technical news
- Access to Special:RevisionDelete has been expanded to include users who have the
deletelogentryanddeletedhistoryrights. This means that those in the Researcher user group and Checkusers who are not administrators can now access Special:RevisionDelete. The users able to view the special page after this change are the 3 users in the Researcher group, as there are currently no checkusers who are not already administrators. (T301928) - When viewing deleted revisions or diffs on Special:Undelete a back link to the undelete page for the associated page is now present. (T284114)
Arbitration
- Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Procedures § Opening of proceedings has been updated to reflect current practice following a motion.
- A arbitration case regarding Skepticism and coordinated editing has been closed.
- A arbitration case regarding WikiProject Tropical Cyclones has been opened.
Miscellaneous
- Voting for the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines has closed, and the results were that 56.98% of voters supported the guidelines. The results of this vote mean the Wikimedia Foundation Board will now review the guidelines.
New administrator activity requirement
The administrator policy has been updated with new activity requirements following a successful Request for Comment.
Beginning January 1, 2023, administrators who meet one or both of the following criteria may be desysopped for inactivity if they have:
- Made neither edits nor administrative actions for at least a 12-month period OR
- Made fewer than 100 edits over a 60-month period
Administrators at risk for being desysopped under these criteria will continue to be notified ahead of time. Thank you for your continued work.
22:52, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
The Signpost: 24 April 2022
- News and notes: Double trouble
The second case of Wikipedian persecution.
- In the media: The battlegrounds outside and inside Wikipedia
What's hot in the media this month.
- Special report: Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war
Writing Wikipedia, joining the armed forces, and volunteering.
- Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary (Part 2)
"Our proud Sparta bleeds too."
- Technology report: 8-year-old attribution issues in Media Viewer
Plus, a new status page and Desktop Improvements.
- Featured content: Wikipedia's best content from March
We showcase the best content that Wikipedians offered this past month.
A multi-national encyclopedia tries to move forward.
Wiki Loves Monuments 2021 winners announced.
- Interview: On a war and a map
How a war map predated Wikimedia's map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Serendipity: Wikipedia loves photographs, but hates photographers
Why not just link to an article to attribute famous photographers?
- Traffic report: Justice Jackson, the Smiths, and an invasion
Plus deaths, films, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
And other new research findings
- News from the WMF: How Smart is the SMART Copyright Act?
The deceptively simple Strengthening Measures to Advance Rights Technologies Copyright Act of 2022.
An elegant Wikipedia essay.
- Humour: Really huge message boxes
A serious statement of Wikipedia policy.
- From the archives: Wales resigned WMF board chair in 2006 reorganization
A look at when the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees was reorganized.
Administrators' newsletter – May 2022
News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2022).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, a change has been made to the administrators inactivity policy. Under the new policy, if an administrator has not made at least 100 edits over a period of 5 years they may be desysopped for inactivity.
- Following a discussion on the bureaucrat's noticeboard, a change has been made to the bureaucrats inactivity policy.
Technical news
- The ability to undelete the associated talk page when undeleting a page has been added. This was the 11th wish of the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey.
- A public status system for WMF wikis has been created. It is located at https://www.wikimediastatus.net/ and is hosted separately to WMF wikis so in the case of an outage it will remain viewable.
Arbitration
- Remedy 2 of the St Christopher case has been rescinded following a motion. The remedy previously authorised administrators to place a ban on single-purpose accounts who were disruptively editing on the article St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine or related pages from those pages.
The Signpost: 29 May 2022
- From the team: A changing of the guard
Your two new Signpost Editors in Chief.
- News and notes: 2022 Wikimedia Board elections
Plus, Form 990, fundraising, RfA and UCoC.
- Community view: Have your say in the 2022 Wikimedia Foundation Board elections
Community shortlisting in an affiliate-based process, and a poll for you to speak your mind.
A little more information, please.
- In the media: Putin, Jimbo, Musk and more
A varied collection of "special operations", and interviews.
- Special report: Three stories of Ukrainian Wikimedians during the war
Tales of hope, perseverance and even a little humor.
A new approach at the article level.
- Discussion report: Portals, April Fools, admin activity requirements and more
We summarize the drama for you.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject COVID-19 revisited
March 2020 WikiProject report interviewees return discussing project's evolution and future.
- Technology report: A new video player for Wikimedia wikis
Plus, Growth Features configuration, the Hackathon, and more.
- Featured content: Featured content of April
Showcasing the very best articles, pictures, videos, and other contributions from Wikipedians last month.
- Interview: Wikipedia's pride
An interview with queer Wikimedians.
- Serendipity: Those thieving image farms
Stopping them from taking your photos from Commons.
- Recent research: 35 million Twitter links analysed
And other recent research findings.
- Tips and tricks: The reference desks of Wikipedia
Helpful advice from Tips of the Day.
- Traffic report: Strange highs and strange lows
Were Johnny and Amber exchanging blows?
- News from Diff: Winners of the Human rights and Environment special nomination by Wiki Loves Earth announced
Photos raise awareness for nature protection and human impact on nature.
- News from the WMF: The EU Digital Services Act: What’s the Deal with the Deal?
New regulations governing online censorship.
A lighthearted video recalling the 2006 incident.
Exploring Featured Pictures of the world's oceans.
- From the archives: The Onion and Wikipedia
A look at when The Onion published an humorous article regarding Wikipedia.
On creative works.
- Humour: A new crossword
Test your word-puzzle skills!