28bytes
The Signpost: 4 July 2024
edit- News and notes: WMF board elections and fundraising updates
- Special report: Wikimedia Movement Charter ratification vote underway, new Council may surpass power of Board
- In focus: How the Russian Wikipedia keeps it clean despite having just a couple dozen administrators
- Discussion report: Wikipedians are hung up on the meaning of Madonna
- In the media: War and information in war and politics
- Sister projects: On editing Wikisource
- Opinion: Etika: a Pop Culture Champion
- Gallery: Spokane Willy's photos
- Humour: A joke
- Recent research: Is Wikipedia Politically Biased? Perhaps
- Traffic report: Talking about you and me, and the games people play
Administrators' newsletter – July 2024
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2024).
Administrator changes
Technical news
- Local administrators can now add new links to the bottom of the site Tools menu without using JavaScript. Documentation is available on MediaWiki. (T6086)
Miscellaneous
- The Community Wishlist is re-opening on 15 July 2024. Read more
July music
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Pictured on the Main page: Brian's Mozart family grand tour, my story today, and Mozart related to all three items of music on my talk: our 2023 concert, an opera in a theatre where a Mozart premiere took place, and those remembered, Martti Wallén, a bass, and Liana Isakadze, a violinist from Georgia (whose article would be better with more details about her music-making). -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:59, 9 July 2024 (UTC)
My story today is - because of the anniversary of the premiere OTD in 1782 - about Die Entführung aus dem Serail, opera by Mozart, while yesterday's was - because of the TFA - about Les contes d'Hoffmann, opera by Offenbach. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:14, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
Today's story is about a photographer who took iconic pictures, especially View from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Manhattan, 9/11, yesterday's was a great mezzo, and on Thursday we watched a sublime ballerina. If that's not enough my talk offers the music from two amazing concerts. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:17, 20 July 2024 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Main Page history/2024 July 30b will have a baritone, a violinist, a composer and a Bach cantata, - almost too much, and the composer's article, Wolfgang Rihm, should be better, help wanted. - Plenty of music on my parents anniversary day ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:28, 30 July 2024 (UTC)
July 14/15 ANI thread
editName calling????
editHave you seen his uploads? Elinruby (talk) See? look at the below. He is going to try to use this as evidence of something or other until the cows come home. This entire report is pure fiction. Elinruby (talk) 12:32, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- @Elinruby: maybe don’t harass a bureaucrat who just showed you an inordinate degree of mercy Dronebogus (talk) 12:33, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- Would the two of you consent to a two-way interaction ban, and save the community the trouble of imposing one? Please? Mackensen (talk) 13:02, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
Mackensen I have never interacted with this editor in the first place! And I submitted an editor interaction report to prove that! Nor mentioned his name anywhere before this! I suggest you examine his uploads, re name-calling. If you feel the need to answer this please do so on my talk page, not here. Elinruby (talk) 13:19, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
ANI
editI will respect your close because you are an uninvolved admin and bureaucrat and I don’t want to get blocked for no good reason; however is User:Elinruby really deserving of “kindness” considering the evidence presented? Isn’t a warning about incivility and cross-wiki disruption at least in order? Dronebogus (talk) 12:29, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
User still replying in a thread you closed
editBecause my ping didn’t work here. Dronebogus (talk) 12:46, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- 28bytes. I'm sorry you have been deemed worthy of multiple posts on your own talk about the same thing. I know the feeling. For my answers to DB regarding this issue, please see my talk page discussion. ——Serial Number 54129 13:07, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- @Dronebogus: Edit conflicts are annoying, aren’t they? I e/c’ed three times trying to close that thread, and another two times trying to reply here on my own talk page. Anyway, I recommend letting it be, even if it’s the wrong version. The last thing we need is an edit war. 28bytes (talk) 13:18, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- I am not going to argue with you about the close, 28bytes, but am just pointing out that your closing is going to be used to misrepresent what happened even more than it already has been. I would like you to reconsider "name calling" since that is not what happened, but I will indeed let it be if you do not. However, yes, I got about three edit conflicts myself. Thank you for understanding that I had not yet seen the close. The post that Dronebogus so sanctimoniously removed is a fine example of why I thought it was worth sticking my neck out. Please see the example of what he is so strenuously defending. That is all, and thank you for your attention to this matter. Elinruby (talk) 14:14, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- Hi Elinruby. So there are really two issues as I see it. The first is the name-calling (i.e. the diff Dronebogus provided of you calling a third party an utter asshole, and Dronebogus’s comment in that thread calling a different third party an absolute jerk.) Given that a one-week block was just handed out to that third party for calling someone a moron in an edit summary, hopefully it’s obvious why I felt that closing the thread at that point would avoid unnecessary civility or NPA blocks. I simply asked everyone to stop doing that, which I believe is a fairly reasonable and uncontroversial ask.The second issue is your characterization of DB’s uploads, which I deliberately did not address because that is a Commons issue, or, if you feel that the Commons community is not doing the right thing, an issue to be escalated to the WMF (legal-reports@wikimedia.org) or to other authorities. It is not something the English Wikipedia community or its admins have any control over, and talking about concerning Commons uploads here is simply not going to have any effect on the uploads, or really accomplish anything other than antagonizing the uploader. 28bytes (talk) 14:34, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- well, that's an unnamed hypothetical asshole, but alright, I did say "assholes", and the nuns would have disapproved <g> You're right about that. As for Commons, I completely agree with you, (and thank you for the email link btw), but I am not the one who dragged someone to ANI over it.
- I did say I would not argue with you, and I am not, because this is one of the better explanations I have ever received of an admin action, but I do source verification and absolutely will hear about this close the next time someone takes me to ANI for a failed verification tag. Just saying. Thank you for the courteous reply though. Elinruby (talk) 15:35, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- Hi Elinruby. So there are really two issues as I see it. The first is the name-calling (i.e. the diff Dronebogus provided of you calling a third party an utter asshole, and Dronebogus’s comment in that thread calling a different third party an absolute jerk.) Given that a one-week block was just handed out to that third party for calling someone a moron in an edit summary, hopefully it’s obvious why I felt that closing the thread at that point would avoid unnecessary civility or NPA blocks. I simply asked everyone to stop doing that, which I believe is a fairly reasonable and uncontroversial ask.The second issue is your characterization of DB’s uploads, which I deliberately did not address because that is a Commons issue, or, if you feel that the Commons community is not doing the right thing, an issue to be escalated to the WMF (legal-reports@wikimedia.org) or to other authorities. It is not something the English Wikipedia community or its admins have any control over, and talking about concerning Commons uploads here is simply not going to have any effect on the uploads, or really accomplish anything other than antagonizing the uploader. 28bytes (talk) 14:34, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- I am not going to argue with you about the close, 28bytes, but am just pointing out that your closing is going to be used to misrepresent what happened even more than it already has been. I would like you to reconsider "name calling" since that is not what happened, but I will indeed let it be if you do not. However, yes, I got about three edit conflicts myself. Thank you for understanding that I had not yet seen the close. The post that Dronebogus so sanctimoniously removed is a fine example of why I thought it was worth sticking my neck out. Please see the example of what he is so strenuously defending. That is all, and thank you for your attention to this matter. Elinruby (talk) 14:14, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
- @Dronebogus: Edit conflicts are annoying, aren’t they? I e/c’ed three times trying to close that thread, and another two times trying to reply here on my own talk page. Anyway, I recommend letting it be, even if it’s the wrong version. The last thing we need is an edit war. 28bytes (talk) 13:18, 15 July 2024 (UTC)
The Signpost: 22 July 2024
edit- Discussion report: Internet users flock to Wikipedia to debate its image policy over Trump raised-fist photo
- News and notes: Wikimedia community votes to ratify Movement Charter; Wikimedia Foundation opposes ratification
- Obituary: JamesR
- Crossword: Vaguely bird-shaped crossword
Administrators' newsletter – August 2024
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2024).
Technical news
- Global blocks may now target accounts as well as IP's. Administrators may locally unblock when appropriate.
- Users wishing to permanently leave may now request "vanishing" via Special:GlobalVanishRequest. Processed requests will result in the user being renamed, their recovery email being removed, and their account being globally locked.
Arbitration
- The Arbitration Committee appointed the following administrators to the conflict of interest volunteer response team: Bilby, Extraordinary Writ
The Signpost: 14 August 2024
edit- In the media: Portland pol profile paid for from public purse
- In focus: Twitter marks the spot
- News and notes: Another Wikimania has concluded.
- Special report: Nano or just nothing: Will nano go nuclear?
- Opinion: HouseBlaster's RfA debriefing
- Traffic report: Ball games, movies, elections, but nothing really weird
- Humour: I'm proud to be a template
August thanks
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| story · music · places |
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Thank you for improving article quality in August! - Today's story is about a stage director, - watch Aida, so tender so cruel. -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:55, 20 August 2024 (UTC)
Today is the birthday of Alma Mahler. I believe that Siegfried Lorenz should be mentioned on the Main page among the Recent deaths. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:43, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
... and he appeared! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:10, 31 August 2024 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – September 2024
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2024).
Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, there is a new criterion for speedy deletion: C4, which
applies to unused maintenance categories, such as empty dated maintenance categories for dates in the past
. - A request for comment is open to discuss whether Notability (species) should be adopted as a subject-specific notability guideline.
Arbitration
- Following a motion, remedies 5.1 and 5.2 of World War II and the history of Jews in Poland (the topic and interaction bans on My very best wishes, respectively) were repealed.
- Remedy 3C of the German war effort case ("Cinderella157 German history topic ban") was suspended for a period of six months.
- The arbitration case Historical Elections is currently open. Proposed decision is expected by 3 September 2024 for this case.
Miscellaneous
- Editors can now enter into good article review circles, an alternative for informal quid pro quo arrangements, to have a GAN reviewed in return for reviewing a different editor's nomination.
- A New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in September 2024 to reduce the number of unreviewed articles and redirects in the new pages feed. Currently, there is a backlog of over 13,900 articles and 26,200 redirects awaiting review. Sign up here to participate!
The Signpost: 4 September 2024
edit- News and notes: WikiCup enters final round, MCDC wraps up activities, 17-year-old hoax article unmasked
- In the media: AI is not playing games anymore. Is Wikipedia ready?
- News from the WMF: Meet the 12 candidates running in the WMF Board of Trustees election
- Wikimania: A month after Wikimania 2024
- Serendipity: What it's like to be Wikimedian of the Year
- Traffic report: After the gold rush
Administrator Elections: Updates & Schedule
edit| Administrator Elections | Updates & Schedule |  |
| |
| You're receiving this message because you signed up for the mailing list. To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the list. | |
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:18, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
September music
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| story · music · places |
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Three stories related to today in memory, 11 September, 20 July and 20 June, the latter piece of art also pictured on the Main page. -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:53, 11 September 2024 (UTC)
Today is Schoenberg's 150th birthday! On display, portrayed by Egon Schiele, with a DYK hook from 2010 and another from 2014, about his 40th birthday, appeared on his 140th birthday. - See places for a stunning sunrise, on the day Bruckner's 200th birthday was celebrated (a few days late). --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:32, 13 September 2024 (UTC)
The Signpost: 26 September 2024
edit- In the media: Courts order Wikipedia to give up names of editors, legal strain anticipated from "online safety laws"
- Community view: Indian courts order Wikipedia to take down name of crime victim, editors strive towards consensus
- Serendipity: A Wikipedian at the 2024 Paralympics
- Opinion: asilvering's RfA debriefing
- News and notes: Are you ready for admin elections?
- Recent research: Article-writing AI is less "prone to reasoning errors (or hallucinations)" than human Wikipedia editors
- Traffic report: Jump in the line, rock your body in time
RFA2024 update: Discussion-only period now open for review
editHi there! The trial of the RfA discussion-only period passed at WP:RFA2024 has concluded, and after open discussion, the RfC is now considering whether to retain, modify, or discontinue it. You are invited to participate at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/2024 review/Phase II/Discussion-only period. Cheers, and happy editing! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:38, 27 September 2024 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – October 2024
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2024).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Guideline and policy news
- Administrator elections are a proposed new process for selecting administrators, offering an alternative to requests for adminship (RfA). The first trial election will take place in October 2024, with candidate sign-up from October 8 to 14, a discussion phase from October 22 to 24, and SecurePoll voting from October 25 to 31. For questions or to help out, please visit the talk page at Wikipedia talk:Administrator elections.
- Following a discussion, the speedy deletion reason "File pages without a corresponding file" has been moved from criterion G8 to F2. This does not change what can be speedily deleted.
- A request for comment is open to discuss whether there is a consensus to have an administrator recall process.
Arbitration
- The arbitration case Historical elections has been closed.
- An arbitration case regarding Backlash to diversity and inclusion has been opened.
- Editors are invited to nominate themselves to serve on the 2024 Arbitration Committee Electoral Commission until 23:59 October 8, 2024 (UTC).
Miscellaneous
- If you are interested in stopping spammers, please put MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist and MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist on your watchlist, and help out when you can.
Administrator Elections: Call for Candidates
editAdministrator Elections | Call for Candidates
The administrator elections process has officially started! Interested editors are encouraged to self-nominate or arrange to be nominated by reviewing the instructions at Wikipedia:Administrator elections/October 2024/Call for candidates.
Here is the schedule:
- October 8–14 - Candidate sign-up (we are here)
- October 22–24 - Discussion phase
- October 25–31 - SecurePoll voting phase
Please note the following:
- The requirements to run are identical to RFA—a prospective candidate must be extended confirmed.
- Prospective candidates are advised to become familar with the community's expectations of adminstrators, which are much higher than the minimum requirement of having extended confirmed status. This includes reviewing successful and unsuccessful RFAs, reading the essay Wikipedia:Advice for RfA candidates, and possibly requesting an optional poll on their chances of passing.
- The process will have a one week call for candidates phase, a one week pause to set up SecurePoll, a three-day period of public discussion, followed by 7 days of no public discussion and a private vote using SecurePoll.
- The outcomes of this process are identical to making requests for adminship. There is no official difference between an administrator appointed through RFA or administrator elections.
- Administrator elections are also a valid means of regaining adminship for de-sysopped editors.
Ask any questions about the process at the talk page. A separate user talk message will be sent to official candidates with additional information about the process.
To avoid sending too many messages, this will be the last mass message sent about administrator elections. If you are interested in the process, please make sure to watchlist the appropriate pages. A watchlist notice will be added when the discussion phase opens, and again when the voting phase opens.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:35, 8 October 2024 (UTC)
The Signpost: 19 October 2024
edit- News and notes: One election's end, another election's beginning
- Recent research: "As many as 5%" of new English Wikipedia articles "contain significant AI-generated content", says paper
- In the media: Off to the races! Wikipedia wins!
- Contest: A WikiCup for the Global South
- Traffic report: A scream breaks the still of the night
- Book review: The Editors
- Humour: The Newspaper Editors
- Crossword: Spilled Coffee Mug
Administrator Elections: Discussion phase
editThe discussion phase of the October 2024 administrator elections is officially open. As a reminder, the schedule of the election is:
- October 22–24 - Discussion phase
- October 25–31 - SecurePoll voting phase
- November 1–? - Scrutineering phase
During October 22–24, we will be in the discussion phase. The candidate subpages will open to questions and comments from everyone, in the same style as a request for adminship. You may discuss the candidates at Wikipedia:Administrator elections/October 2024/Discussion phase.
On October 25, we will start the voting phase. The candidate subpages will close again to public questions and discussion, and everyone will have a week to use the SecurePoll software to vote, which uses a secret ballot. You can see who voted, but not who they voted for. Please note that the vote tallies cannot be made public until after voting has ended and as such, it will not be possible for you to see an individual candidate's tally during the election. The suffrage requirements are different from those at RFA.
Once voting concludes, we will begin the scrutineering phase, which will last for an indeterminate amount of time, perhaps a week or two. Once everything is certified, the results will be posted on the main election page. In order to be granted adminship, a candidate must have received at least 70.0% support, calculated as Support / (Support + Oppose). As this is a vote and not a consensus, there are no bureaucrat discussions ("crat chats").
Any questions or issues can be asked on the election talk page. Thank you for your participation. Happy electing.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:23, 22 October 2024 (UTC)
Invitation to participate in a research
editHello,
The Wikimedia Foundation is conducting a survey of Wikipedians to better understand what draws administrators to contribute to Wikipedia, and what affects administrator retention. We will use this research to improve experiences for Wikipedians, and address common problems and needs. We have identified you as a good candidate for this research, and would greatly appreciate your participation in this anonymous survey.
You do not have to be an Administrator to participate.
The survey should take around 10-15 minutes to complete. You may read more about the study on its Meta page and view its privacy statement .
Please find our contact on the project Meta page if you have any questions or concerns.
Kind Regards,
Administrator Elections: Voting phase
editThe voting phase of the October 2024 administrator elections has started and continues until 23:59 31st October 2024 UTC. You can participate in the voting phase at Wikipedia:Administrator elections/October 2024/Voting phase.
As a reminder, the schedule of the election is:
- October 25–31 - SecurePoll voting phase
- November 1–? - Scrutineering phase
In the voting phase, the candidate subpages will close to public questions and discussion, and everyone who qualifies for a vote will have a week to use the SecurePoll software to vote, which uses a secret ballot. You can see who voted, but not who they voted for. Please note that the vote tallies cannot be made public until after voting has ended and as such, it will not be possible for you to see an individual candidate's tally during the election. The suffrage requirements are different from those at RFA.
Once voting concludes, we will begin the scrutineering phase, which will last for an indeterminate amount of time, perhaps a week or two. Once everything is certified, the results will be posted on the main election page. In order to be granted adminship, a candidate must have received at least 70.0% support, calculated as Support / (Support + Oppose). As this is a vote and not a consensus, there are no bureaucrat discussions ("crat chats").
Any questions or issues can be asked on the election talk page. Thank you for your participation. Happy electing.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:30, 25 October 2024 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – November 2024
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2024).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversighter changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following a discussion, the discussion-only period proposal that went for a trial to refine the requests for adminship (RfA) process has been discontinued.
- Following a request for comment, Administrator recall is adopted as a policy.
Technical news
- Mass deletions done with the Nuke tool now have the 'Nuke' tag. This change will make reviewing and analyzing deletions performed with the tool easier. T366068
Arbitration
- RoySmith, Barkeep49 and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2024 Arbitration Committee Elections. ThadeusOfNazereth and Dr vulpes are reserve commissioners.
- Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate from 3 November 2024 until 12 November 2024 to stand in the 2024 Arbitration Committee elections.
- The Arbitration Committee is seeking volunteers for roles such as clerks, access to the COI queue, checkuser, and oversight.
Miscellaneous
- An unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in November 2024 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!
The Signpost: 6 November 2024
edit- From the editors: Editing Wikipedia should not be a crime
- In the media: An old scrimmage, politics and purported libel
- Special report: Wikipedia editors face litigation, censorship
- Traffic report: Twisted tricks or tempting treats?
Reminder to participate in Wikipedia research
editHello,
I recently invited you to take a survey about administration on Wikipedia. If you haven’t yet had a chance, there is still time to participate– we’d truly appreciate your feedback. The survey is anonymous and should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. You may read more about the study on its Meta page and view its privacy statement.
Take the survey here.
Kind Regards,
The Signpost: 18 November 2024
editArbCom 2024 Elections voter message
edit Hello! Voting in the 2024 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 2 December 2024. 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 2024 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 {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:19, 19 November 2024 (UTC)