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changes regarding Template:Syrian_civil_war_detailed_map

I'm contacting you here since I'm interested in discussing programming type info that most other contributors to the project won't follow.
Several months back, in addition to problems with slow editing, we started having problems with transclusion of the map into the main page. We did a variety of changes to reduce the size of both the map and the main page, most only having a temporary benefit. Finally we were able to reduce the size by about 200 000 characters, largely by reducing info that we would have rather kept, so the map transcluded into the main page for maybe a month, before again failing. (Failing meaning that the reference index at the bottom no longer worked.)
We then decided to access the map as a separate page, which has eliminated the transclusion problem.
Having the map as a template without transclusion gives a considerable space margin for future expansion without having to continually closely watch the size of the map, or the page into which it is transcluded. So I suggest that there be a policy that this type of template be considered a special case, as it is easily distinguished from other templates which may be better transcluded into a regular page.
The advantage of having a map as a template is that it could be initially transcluded, but if and when it becomes large enought to cause space problems, it could be readily used as a separate page without changing the map itself. Indeed, it is possible that other much smaller pages (than the main syrian civil war page) could continue to transclude the map page. (There was at least one other page doing so 6 months ago.)
Nothing in my comments is meant to say that I am definitely against again transcluding the map. Rather I think that the decision in such a case should be left to the main editors of the page. In this case, essentially Tradedia (originator of the project) and Luthar, collaborator from the beginning, as well as a few others. I stand with them. Note that they have accepted a number of my (essentially technical) recommendations to improve the map.
Another reason to write you here :
Being a programmer, I had thought of rewriting the templates used by our map template, to reduce the footprint, and make various other improvements. But not being familiar with WP code, and lacking the time, I hadn't yet looked at it. I do appreciate the efforts you have done in that regard.
There are enhancements to the sub-templates I would like to see, which would be advantageous for display on the map. A few examples :

1. The current location template allows displaying the label associated with an icon only "left", "right" (default), "top" (centered) or "bottom" (centered) of the icon. However often other orientations would be better, to avoid conflict with other items on the (very crowded) map. Such as top-to-left-of-centre (maybe coded as "nw"), bottom-to-right-of-centre ("se"), etc.
   
2. Coding size (from a non-programmer view) could be shortened, both to reduce typos and hopefully reduce the footprint. In the location template, we have the parameter "position" for label position relative to the icon. "lpos" (for label position) might be better.
3. Icons (or at least certain types) seem to be displayed just above the geographic position, instead of being centered on the positions. This is noticed in positioning of labels around an icon. If the label is positioned above, it is much closer than if positioned below. It affects at least animated .gif and filled circle .svg icons. So it seems that something in the icon definitions or location template (or sub-templates) needs to be corrected. Or maybe it is the label display code, since it seems to vary with the size of the label.
4. Local variables, if and when available could be used to reduce typos, and hopefully reduce the size of the interpreted map, particularly if transcluded. References to targets in the main page are very frequent. A very useful local variable in the map would be $scw = "Cities_and_towns_during_the_Syrian_civil_war". It would be used hundreds of times, in the form $scw#aziz , $scw#manjib , etc.
   

Note that many links were broken in order to reduce the map size. Most have not yet been corrected. (It is a lot of work to do.)
When they are all corrected, the map will probably be much bigger, using the current programming.
Ideally, the map would eventually be transcluded again, but only after we have a considerable margin that ensures that we will not encounter transclusion problems again. This could never happen, since if we had never had space problems, the main page would be considerably larger than it is now. (It is essentially tables with a very high density of references.) So it is not only the size of the map itself.
Changing to/from transclusion is a disruption (for editors and ordinary users of the page and associated map), and we are already kept very busy keeping the map up to date.
These are are just some of my ideas on the subject. I would appreciate any feedback you can give. Including any tools I could use to test the memory footprint, for example. Thanks :) André437 (talk) 03:35, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

• So I suggest that there be a policy that this type of template be considered a special case, as it is easily distinguished from other templates which may be better transcluded into a regular page. If it's not getting transcluded, it's not really being a template. It might as well just have a lead and References section added and moved to mainspace.
• The current location template allows displaying the label associated with an icon only "left", "right" (default), "top" (centered) or "bottom" (centered) of the icon. However often other orientations would be better, to avoid conflict with other items on the (very crowded) map. Such as top-to-left-of-centre (maybe coded as "nw"), bottom-to-right-of-centre ("se"), etc. I was focusing on fixing the performance. I wasn't trying to add the functionality. You or someone else can do that if that's desired.
• Coding size (from a non-programmer view) could be shortened, both to reduce typos and hopefully reduce the footprint. In the location template, we have the parameter "position" for label position relative to the icon. "lpos" (for label position) might be better. That doesn't count against the footprint, so that would reduce readability without benefit.
• Icons (or at least certain types) seem to be displayed just above the geographic position, instead of being centered on the positions. This is noticed in positioning of labels around an icon. If the label is positioned above, it is much closer than if positioned below. It affects at least animated .gif and filled circle .svg icons. So it seems that something in the icon definitions or location template (or sub-templates) needs to be corrected. Or maybe it is the label display code, since it seems to vary with the size of the label. Everything is still displayed exactly the way it was before my rewrite, so I really don't know what to say about this.
• Local variables, if and when available could be used to reduce typos, and hopefully reduce the size of the interpreted map, particularly if transcluded. References to targets in the main page are very frequent. A very useful local variable in the map would be $scw = "Cities_and_towns_during_the_Syrian_civil_war". It would be used hundreds of times, in the form $scw#aziz , $scw#manjib , etc. We'd need a redirect for that to work. Unfortunately, the one we had was deleted ([[1]]).
• You can see details about the transclusion size in "Parser profiling data" below the edit window after hitting Show preview.
• Jackmcbarn (talk) 14:42, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

Sorry for taking so long to reply. I didn't notice your post until I noticed a problem with our page.

We have numerous animated icons, to indicate conflicts between various forces in the ongoing civil war. They no longer display animated, but as static images. Note that they still display correctly directly on my wp user page, so it is not my navigator. As you probably already know, removing the "invoke:" doesn't work. I would appreciate your help to fix the issue.

Also, relating to previous discussion :

1. There are much smaller pages that transclude our map, so if in the (now unlikely) event that we can no longer translude our map into the main page, other pages will still want to. Which is why I still would favour a policy which allows exceptionally invoking a (map) template directly. Keeping in mind that it almost always looks better to transclude if possible.
2. For adding any functionality to the module, I would appreciate any guidance/expertise that you might be willing to share. So far I don't have much experience with wikimedia formats, besides ordinary editing of pages, including some templates.
3. When I tried redirect shortcuts in the past I missed a nuance in the guidelines that might let us use that for our map. The guideline examples had ":" in the shortcut name. I still think that the editors went against the guidelines when they decided to remove our shortcut. But had it contained a ":", the decision well could have been different.

Related to that, I have another idea. Some languages have a "static" option to provide persistent variables across invocations. Is there a way of doing that with lua/scribunto, or maybe redefining the current page variable ? Say defining a default page in {{#invoke:location map|top}}, and automatically using it in subsequent invocations of {{#invoke:location map|mark}}, so all references "#something" refer to the main syrian civil war page, instead of whatever the current page happens to be ? Since there are a number of transclusions from other locations, and it would also make it much easier for map editors to verify their updates. As it is, when editing the map, links without the full page name are always broken in preview mode. This has contributed to the many links that are broken in the map.

Thanks again for any feedback. Particularly about the animated icon issue. André437 (talk) 08:08, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

It's impossible for any wiki markup to make animated images not display. It looks fine to me. Maybe your browser just can't handle that many animated images on one page. What browser are you using?

1. I'm not sure what "invoking a (map) template directly" means. Can you clarify?
2. There's lots of Lua tutorials on the Web (just Google for one). Then read mw:Extension:Scribunto/Lua reference manual to learn about the MediaWiki-specific stuff.
3. I'm not sure about the shortcut.

It's impossible to share any information between #invoke's. That was a deliberate design decision. Jackmcbarn (talk) 18:20, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

The animated images display was just a transient problem with my browser (Mozilla Seamonkey), only on the large map template, and not on other tabs loaded at the same time. Restarting the browser or rebooting alone didn't work. Finally rebooting and restarting the browser empty, then loading only the template did display the animated icons normally. And after reloading all the other tabs I normally use, it is still ok. Could have been some cache problem, that coincidentally started after you did the changes.

1. I had tried removing the "#invoke:" from the beginning of an "{{#invoke:location map|mark | ... }}" item, and the associated icon and label disappeared from the map. I had thought that maybe it was optional, and might be related to the icons not being animated.
2. Right. I've already started following some lua tutorials. Seems pretty straight forward. Looks a lot simpler than e.g. perl.
3. From what you say, it looks like the shortcut with ":" inside is likely the only option. Such shortcuts do work, but we didn't convert to it after just having contesting editors decide to reverse a previous distinctive shortcut with something other than ":", because they thought ordinary users wouldn't find that shortcut "intuitive". They didn't care what WP guidelines said. It took a lot of time and effort to make the map functional again, and it was better to avoid the risk of an equivalent problem.

I'm still hopeful of finding a way to dynamically define a custom variable, which could then be used like "{{myvar}}#sometown" to solve the problem. To me it is a big plus to avoid polluting the main and other namespaces. As well as being immune to over-zealous editors that like to invent their own rules. I'll let you know if I find something along those lines that works.

In any case, thanks for your feedback and all your help André437 (talk) 11:41, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

If something starts with #invoke, it's using a module, not a template, in this case Module:Location map. So yes, as you discovered, blindly removing a #invoke will just break it. Also, a parameter to hold the page name won't help, because size is counted after the parameter is expanded. Jackmcbarn (talk) 21:22, 27 March 2014 (UTC)

Me again :)

After reflecting on everything you said, and the needs of our page/template, I do appreciate that a variable/constant local to the page will not reduce the transclusion size needed. But it would have another very important advantage in our case : the template will become considerably more readable and maintainable by editors of the template, with a supplementary advantage that it would be immune to arbitrary deletion by other editors.

I found an extention:Variables that adds local variables, and made a proposal to have it included in Wikipedia. Its' more recent versions have already been included in at least 170 other sites using Mediawiki, according to Mediawiki stats. It does more than we need, essentially a simple preprocessor, since it will also resolve equations.

My proposal is at : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)#Propose_installing_extension:variables_to_allow_variables_local_to_a_specific_page

Your reaction would be very much appreciated.

Thanks :) André437 (talk) 00:54, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

@André437: For technical reasons, Extension:Variables can't be installed here (and neither can anything that does what it does). Also, not only would it not help transclude size to use it, it would actually make it worse, because everything in the variable would be counted twice as many times. Jackmcbarn (talk) 02:17, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

I would be interested in knowing what these "technical reasons" might be. It can't be a limitation of Mediawiki itself, since at least 170 Mediawiki installations use a recent version of extension:Variables.

Also, if such an extension is properly applied, the transcluded size of the page should be exactly the same, to the byte. Like applying a macro to any other code, there should be no vestige of the extension other than the transformations it has performed.

e.g. if we have {{#vardefine:cc|myvalue}} and numerous {{cc}} in the page, once applied, {{#vardefine:cc|myvalue}} would be removed and the {{cc}} would all be replaced by "myvalue".

Regards André437 (talk) 09:39, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

It's incompatible with mw:Extension:Parsoid. Parsoid depends on being able to parse pages in pieces, which having any sort of state breaks. Jackmcbarn (talk) 12:41, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Interesting. That's why someone else mentioned a problem with extra parsing passes, and some other extension. Thanks for the info :)

BTW, nice to see you helping out on the map talk page. André437 (talk) 07:09, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-13

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please inform other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent software changes

• The latest version of MediaWiki (1.23wmf19) was added to test wikis and MediaWiki.org on March 20. It will be added to non-Wikipedia wikis on March 25, and all Wikipedia wikis on March 27 (calendar).

VisualEditor news

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Future software changes

• Typography Refresh will be enabled for test wiki and MediaWiki.org users who use the Vector skin on March 27. For users on non-Wikipedia wikis, it will be enabled on April 1, and for Wikipedia users on April 3. If you don't use Vector as your skin, you will not be affected.
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18:56, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

sevastopol map

actually, i cannot tell you. it is all based on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crimea_location_map.svg with some more details in the harbour regions taken from a couple of raster maps. sorry i cannot help you. --DLommes (talk) 01:35, 30 March 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-14

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please inform other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent software changes

• The latest version of MediaWiki (1.23wmf20) was added to test wikis and MediaWiki.org on March 27. It will be added to non-Wikipedia wikis on April 1, and all Wikipedia wikis on April 3 (calendar).
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09:20, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

@media screen

Note that @media screen is put in front of all core site CSS, not just this update. Therefor, it never needs to be included in local CSS. — Edokter (talk) — 20:05, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

It's not hurting anything though, right? Jackmcbarn (talk) 20:07, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Not really... but it's just terribly redundant. — Edokter (talk) — 20:37, 3 April 2014 (UTC)

Actually...

they should be alphabetical :-) DP 00:24, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Moving category pages

I see that you're working on making it possible to move category pages. Thank you! I had almost given up hope. — Scott • talk 19:29, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Stop edit-warring over map templates

Over the past 8 years of working with the map templates, there have been many changes, and your continual edit-warring over the prior templates is just making progress very difficult. The current Lua fork, installed as Template:Location_map is broken for various browsers, and it is sad that you cannot comprehend that fact. However, deleting the better map templates is not the answer, except in your twisted view. Step 1: Restore Template:Location_map_any to the original location, not a fly-by-night sandbox version which invites experimentation about the features. Your actions are just completely over-the-top unbearable crap and you really need to learn to be more cooperative. -Wikid77 (talk) 16:24, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

@Wikid77:

1. How am I edit-warring, exactly?
2. Template:Location map is the original template. Yours are the forks.
3. What exactly about Template:Location map is broken? The only example of it you showed me actually revealed that it works properly and your fork is broken.
4. Per Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Log/2014 March 14#Template:Location map all, Template:Location map all was moved to Template:Location map many/sandbox2. You can't just move it back to Template:Location map any against consensus.

Jackmcbarn (talk) 16:27, 6 April 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-15

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Recent software changes

• The latest version of MediaWiki (1.23wmf21) was scheduled to be deployed to test wikis and MediaWiki.org on April 3, however it was temporarily put on hold due to localization issues. (calendar).
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• CirrusSearch was enabled as the primary search method on over 400 non-Wikipedia wikis on April 2. [19]

Future software changes

• A new special page (Special:TrackingCategories) will soon list all the tracking categories on a wiki. [20] [21]
• All Wikiquote projects will start using language links from Wikidata on April 8. [22]
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• You will soon be able to download files directly from MediaViewer, the new multimedia tool. [25]
• MediaViewer will be enabled for all users on MediaWiki.org on April 10. Comments are welcome.
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08:00, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks!!

..for identifying/fixing the mistake on Ramla, and I´ll try to post my question the right place next time. See; that´s how clueless I am: didn´t even know where to post it..... just knew that Ramla has never, ever been in Jordan!

Cheers, and thanks again, Huldra (talk) 22:44, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

Location map many

pos top label

position left label

having blank parameters should not throw an error ... Frietjes (talk) 15:49, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Looking... Jackmcbarn (talk) 15:51, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

@Frietjes: Fixed. Jackmcbarn (talk) 15:55, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

also, it should be fine to have a gap in the numbering, see Surrey Hills AONB. Frietjes (talk) 15:59, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

@Frietjes: Also fixed. Jackmcbarn (talk) 16:07, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

(And now I broke the first thing again. Looking again... Jackmcbarn (talk) 16:08, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

and positionX no longer works. is the old template in a sandbox so I can check to make sure everything still works, and that nothing else has been silently broken? Frietjes (talk) 16:11, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

I restored the template back to the way it was until I get this fixed properly. Jackmcbarn (talk) 16:12, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

@Frietjes: The reason the thing you posted on my talk page re-broke is that "lon2" is (and has always been) incorrect and should be "long2". I should have the other issue fixed soon. Jackmcbarn (talk) 16:16, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

@Frietjes: Everything is fixed now (for real, I promise). Jackmcbarn (talk) 16:22, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

that's what I get for trying to create and example, rather than just linking to one. the actual examples are here, here, here, and here. Frietjes (talk) 16:22, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

thanks. I will see about making a more complete set of testcases if I have some time later today. Frietjes (talk) 16:24, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Reference needed to add a religion in Vellalar 'community' page

Dear Sir,

Do you need any reference material or source for my claim to add christianity religion in the above said page?

Regards Camilo — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chronicleof COGRLAHEPETA (talk • contribs) 16:49, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Yes. Please give a link to it on Talk:Vellalar (not here). Jackmcbarn (talk) 18:47, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Your sentence to Bryan Davis to Stocks

Would you please provide a link there? SYSS Mouse (talk) 01:19, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

@SYSS Mouse: Done Jackmcbarn (talk) 01:38, 12 April 2014 (UTC)

Stop targeting genuine artists! learn to accept defeat!

Please get a life! you have a terrible ego problem! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.167.204.75 (talk) 05:47, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for maintaining the integrity of Wikipedia's articles, as you did with the Indian pop star Adithya Srinivasan. It might take a while to teach all of India Wikipedia's guidelines, so thanks for contributing to the effort. Blue Rasberry (talk) 14:11, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-16

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please inform other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

We are looking for contributors to help write new issues every week. If you would like to help, please contact us.

Recent software changes

• The latest version of MediaWiki (1.23wmf22) was added to test wikis and MediaWiki.org on April 10. It will be added to non-Wikipedia wikis on April 15, and all Wikipedias on April 17 (calendar).
• MediaViewer was enabled for all users on MediaWiki.org on April 10. It will be enabled for all users on the Catalan (ca), Hungarian (hu) and Korean (ko) Wikipedias and English Wikivoyage on April 17. Comments are welcome. [27] [28] [29]
• Font issues caused by Typography refresh for Windows users were fixed on April 7. [30] [31]

VisualEditor news

• You will now see only three options when you try to add a template parameter in VisualEditor; you will see other options after a click. [32]
• The size changing controls in VisualEditor media editing dialog were simplified further.
• The wikitext editor tab will now fold into a drop-down menu in the Vector skin if there is not enough space on your screen. [33] [34]

Future software changes

• The font used for body text on Wikimedia wikis will change to your system default sans-serif font. This temporary change will be enabled on all non-Wikipedia wikis on April 15, and on all Wikipedias on April 17. [35] [36]
• Files from Commons seen on another wiki will soon have a tab saying "View on Wikimedia Commons". The create tab will change to "Add local description" (see screenshot). [37]
• You will soon be able to hide Notification and Hovercards pop-ups by pressing the Esc key. [38] [39] [40] [41]
• Shorter lists of language links will soon work in right-to-left languages. Languages that you have used before will be shown in the list. [42]
• You will soon be able to send messages with the MassMessage tool to all pages in a given category. [43] [44]
• The date format user preference will soon be moved to the appearance tab. [45] [46]
• An IRC discussion with the Wikimedia Foundation Multimedia team will take place on April 16 at 18:00 UTC on the channel #wikimedia-office on Freenode (time conversion). [47]

Problems

• Wikimedia Foundation servers were updated after a security bug called Heartbleed was discovered last week. You should change your password as an extra precaution. [48]

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07:18, 14 April 2014 (UTC)

Location maps

I've seen and declined your G6 requests at {{Location map Algeria}} and {{Location map Africa}} — simply because I'm not sure what effect this would have. If we leave them as they are, redirects to the module talk subpage, or if we redirect them to pages of the current modules that accomplish the same purpose, will there be problems? In other words, will we actively be better off if we delete them? I'm just concerned that deletion would break old page histories, especially since these have been very heavily used in the past. By the way, I'd really appreciate a talkback, since I'll forget to reply otherwise. Nyttend (talk) 03:47, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

These were meta-templates used by Template:Location map, so no old revisions will break by deleting these (see https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Algiers&oldid=496907862 for example; it still works). Jackmcbarn (talk) 03:53, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

[edit conflict with your diff link] Let me explain what I think is the case: please tell me if I'm right or wrong. Deleting these pages would mangle old revisions of {{Location map}}. However, because the template is currently still working, and because there's no way to get a page to display the transclusion of a former version of a template, there's no way that these deletions would be able to be made visible on other pages, and there's no need to worry about mangling old revisions of the template itself. Right or wrong? If I'm right, then I'll happily delete them. Nyttend (talk) 03:58, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Right. Jackmcbarn (talk) 04:00, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Deleted; thanks for the explanation. I'm just always nervous about damaging old revisions, and nested templates always confuse me — I appreciate meta templates because of how powerful they are, but I'm still partly in sympathy with WP:AUM. Meanwhile, I'm not sure what you want to do with Module talk:Location map/data/Africa/doc, since it's a redirect to one of the pages I just deleted at your request. Nyttend (talk) 04:07, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Redirects fixed. Thanks for the notice. Jackmcbarn (talk) 12:20, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
	Thank you for fixing the map at Don Bolles! It was unexpected and out of the blue and I greatly appreciate what you've done. You're awesome! Crtew (talk) 12:31, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Malikus Saleh Airport

Thank you for notice me Malikus Saleh Airport is already created — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bappeda lhokseumawe (talk • contribs) 18:28, 16 April 2014 (UTC)

Template:Location map Alps

• See Wikipedia:Requested moves/Technical requests#Contested technical requests. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 21:22, 16 April 2014 (UTC)

Alliance Warfare

Hello I had written article about Alliance Warfare (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_Warfare) but it has deleted because it was about "web content and it's without any reason of being important" as you said. Actually It was about web game I saw this page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikariam) and other pages about such games so why those are still on Wikipedia but my page has deleted. You could improve rather than deletion. Thanks a lot. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Miladrahimi93 (talk • contribs) 15:15, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Things on Wikipedia need to be notable. See WP:42. Jackmcbarn (talk) 18:35, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Old font

Hello, Jackmbarn:

I added something to User:Seattle/vector.css ([49]) to change the font back to the old style. I went to Wikipedia today and it's changed back. Do you know how to write something to change it back? Thank you. Seattle (talk) 12:16, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Try asking on WP:VPT. Jackmcbarn (talk) 13:33, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

User:Gateiibangalore/sandbox

Why was this page tagged for speedy deletion, as this was a sandbox........? WooHoo! • Talk to me! 17:52, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Just because it's a sandbox doesn't mean there's no rules. Spam isn't allowed anywhere. Jackmcbarn (talk) 17:55, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

not sufficient?

how could WP:NOTNEWS not be sufficient? 115.187.78.204 (talk) 23:58, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

The thing you want removed isn't "news." Jackmcbarn (talk) 23:59, 18 April 2014 (UTC)

Can you atleast reword the sentence and remove the word "illegality" becuase of WP:NPOV 115.187.78.204 (talk) 00:16, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

What wording do you suggest? Jackmcbarn (talk) 00:23, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

"In 2014 Russia was excluded from the G8 group as a result of of Putin's invasion and annexation of Crimea" 115.187.78.204 (talk) 00:27, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Done Jackmcbarn (talk) 00:34, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

thank you but i also noticed sentence (not it the intro) in Vladimir Putin#Outdoorsiness.2C_singing.2C_painting.2C_songs_about_him.2C_brands.2C_sayings that ends with a "" the sentece was this: "Some of the activities have been criticised for involving deception or being completely staged." am making a new request to have it removed 27.96.33.235 (talk) 02:42, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

JamesClifton

Dear Jack,

Re: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/American_Free_Soil_Party

Thank you for you help. I guess I can resubmit it after we have been around awhile, correct?

JamesClifton (talk) 00:37, 19 April 2014 (UTC) Pastor James Clifton April 18, 2014

Once you meet the notability standards, then you can, but it's recommended you wait until someone without a conflict of interest is willing to write one. Jackmcbarn (talk) 00:50, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Regarding Template:Submit an edit request/semi-preload

Howdy,

I've removed the CSD from Template:Submit an edit request/semi-preload pending more information regarding the deletion. After reviewing the linked pages, I found a few pages that were still using this template. Please let me know when these have been unlinked, or if you have any additional information, so I may proceed with the procedural deletion of this template. Thanks! Nakon 05:19, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Apparently somebody broke this in September 2010 and made it not subst correctly. I've now cleaned up all of those uses, so it should be good to delete now. Jackmcbarn (talk) 15:04, 19 April 2014 (UTC)

Hello

Hello — Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.73.137.170 (talk) 01:50, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

Module:Documentation

Hi there. Did you just update Module:Documentation without testing it in the sandbox first, thereby bypassing my beautiful suite of test cases? Because you should probably check the code against those before you put it up live... — Mr. Stradivarius ^{♪ talk ♪} 15:53, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

Though I didn't save to the sandbox, I did indeed test it first. I use a custom user script that makes mw:Extension:TemplateSandbox more powerful, so I can preview one page as if it were another, without having to save anything anywhere. Jackmcbarn (talk) 20:57, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

@Mr. Stradivarius: Jackmcbarn (talk) 20:58, 20 April 2014 (UTC)

Aha, that explains it. :) That's another very useful user script that I need to steal. — Mr. Stradivarius ^{♪ talk ♪} 04:26, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Vassula Ryden

Greetings! You have been randomly selected to receive an invitation to participate in the request for comment on Talk:Vassula Ryden. Should you wish to respond to the invitation, your contribution to this discussion will be very much appreciated! If in doubt, please see suggestions for responding. If you do not wish to receive these types of notices, please remove your name from Wikipedia:Feedback request service. — Legobot (talk) 00:10, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-17

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please inform other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Tech News updates

• You can now subscribe to an Atom or RSS feed to read Tech News in your news aggregator. The newsletter will now also show on the English Planet Wikimedia every Monday. [50]
• We are looking for contributors to help write a new issue every week. If you would like to help, please contact us.

Recent software changes

• The latest version of MediaWiki (1.24wmf1) was added to test wikis and MediaWiki.org on April 17. It will be added to non-Wikipedia wikis on April 22, and all Wikipedias on April 24 (calendar).
• CirrusSearch was enabled as a beta feature on 27 new wikis on April 18. [51] [52]
• Problems with various fonts in SVG files were fixed last week. Files that use DejaVu Sans Condensed, DejaVu Serif Condensed, DejaVu Sans Light, Kochi Gothic and Kochi Mincho fonts now show correctly. [53] [54] [55] [56]
• The page view statistics site developed by Henrik (stats.grok.se) should now work faster. [57]
• You can read a summary of the Wikimedia technical report for March 2014. [58]

VisualEditor news

• If you try to add a category which redirects to another category, VisualEditor will now suggest adding the target category directly. [59] [60]
• VisualEditor tabs will no longer appear on Education Program pages. [61] [62]
• You can now use VisualEditor on Meta-Wiki and the French Wikinews by enabling it in your preferences. [63] [64] [65]

Future software changes

• MediaViewer will be enabled for all users on the Czech (cs), Estonian (et), Finnish (fi), Hebrew (he), Polish (pl), Romanian (ro), Slovak (sk), Thai (th) and Vietnamese (vi) Wikipedias on April 24. Feedback is welcome. [66]
• Edits by anonymous users will now be marked with a new CSS class (mw-anonuserlink). This way, you can easily make those edits use a different color, font or background. [67] [68]
• The user preference to remember login will soon be removed from all wikis. The edit review preferences will be moved to the recent changes tab, and the preference for the WikiLove tool will be moved to the editing tab. [69] [70] [71] [72]
• You will soon be able to give parameters to preloaded templates. [73] [74]
• You will soon be able to use CodeEditor in read-only mode on pages that you cannot edit. [75] [76]
• It is now proposed to replace Bugzilla, Gerrit and other tools by a single tool called Phabricator. You can test Phabricator and add your opinion on MediaWiki.org. [77]
• An IRC discussion about Phabricator will take place on April 22 at 03:30 AM UTC on the channel #wikimedia-office on freenode (time conversion). [78]

Problems

• For about 40 minutes on April 17, there were problems with page loading due to high server load.
• There is a problem with the rendering of formulas with MathJax. If you enabled MathJax in your preferences, you might need to turn it off and on again. [79]

Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by MediaWiki message delivery • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

08:34, 21 April 2014 (UTC)

An Article

I am having this problem with an article I am trying to create and it has an automated filter and semi-protection. I have to tried to save the page but will not allow me too. I found that the article name itself is the problem, can you remove the filter and semi-protection. 2602:30A:2E55:C520:45BF:E5D4:B1B6:849B (talk) 16:33, 24 April 2014 (UTC)

• Nope. This is long-term abuser User:Danny.ESQ. NawlinWiki (talk) 19:02, 24 April 2014 (UTC)

ANI notice

There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lfdder (talk • contribs) 20:39, 24 April 2014‎ (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-18

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please inform other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent software changes

• The latest version of MediaWiki (1.24wmf2) was added to test wikis and MediaWiki.org on April 24. It will be added to non-Wikipedia wikis on April 29, and all Wikipedias on May 1 (calendar).
• You can now use interwiki prefix c: to link to pages on Wikimedia Commons. [80]

VisualEditor news

• You will soon be able to set content language and direction with VisualEditor. [81]
• VisualEditor now works on all Wikipedias after broken MediaWiki:Common.js pages (and similar) were fixed last week. [82]
• VisualEditor dialogs now use an animation of moving lines rather than animated GIF images.

Future software changes

• CirrusSearch will be enabled as a beta feature on 41 new wikis, including Meta-Wiki and the Swedish (sv), Russian (ru), Polish (pl), Japanese (ja) and Chinese (zh) Wikipedias next week. This change means that CirrusSearch will now be enabled on all Wikimedia wikis.
• MediaViewer will be enabled for all users on the French (fr) and Dutch (nl) Wikipedias on May 1. Feedback is welcome. [83]
• The mobile version of Wikimedia wikis will soon include filters to limit the number of uploaded files that are copyright violations. [84]
• CodeEditor will soon have a status bar about errors and warnings. [85] [86]
• You can test a new version of Winter, a proposal to have a fixed toolbar at the top of wiki pages. Comments are welcome. [87]

Problems

• For about 30 minutes on April 21, there were problems with image scaling due to a high server load. [88] [89]
• On April 22, it was not possible to use the Collection extension for about 90 minutes due to a server move. [90] [91]

Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by MediaWiki message delivery • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

07:23, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Template:User contrib

You made some recent changes here that may have affected the functionality. The "distinct pages" portion no longer works. Can you try to restore that? BollyJeff | talk 17:51, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

@Bollyjeff:  Done Jackmcbarn (talk) 17:58, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

That ping won't work; you have to add 1) a link to the right username, and 2) a signature, in the same edit. If not, the notification isn't triggered. This should do the trick: User:Bollyjeff. — Mr. Stradivarius on tour ^{♪ talk ♪} 18:33, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks! BollyJeff | talk 19:17, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Responding to protected edit requests

Hi, when responding to protected edit requests, please don't damage existing page content, as you did with this edit. I've seen Technical 13 doing the same thing before, so presumably the two of you are using a script which is buggy. --Redrose64 (talk) 20:16, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

@Redrose64: That's actually a bug in Parsoid. I've been letting the Parsoid team know about all the bugs I see as I find them. There's really nothing anyone else can do about them. Jackmcbarn (talk) 20:24, 28 April 2014 (UTC)

Possible system gaming

I would like to return your attention to template:Location map Israel incident, where Sepsis II modified a long-standing version of Israeli map to "1949 borders" version without any discussion, suspiciously naming it File:Neutral Israel location map.svg instead of File:Israel location map.svg. I would like your feedback at WP:ANI following your remarks at the talk page. I shall also inform other administrators and editors involved in that incident, now posted at ANI - Gaming the system.GreyShark (dibra) 18:07, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

@Greyshark09: I gave my version of the story at ANI. Jackmcbarn (talk) 00:12, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

Pennsylvania location map

Hello Jack. Can you review what I did with your request and see if it is what you expected? I assume you're already considered the Whatlinkshere and that it's OK. Thanks, EdJohnston (talk) 00:32, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

Yes. That looks good, thanks. Jackmcbarn (talk) 01:23, 1 May 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-19

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please inform other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent software changes

• The latest version of MediaWiki (1.24wmf3) was added to test wikis and MediaWiki.org on May 1. It will be added to non-Wikipedia wikis on May 6, and all Wikipedias on May 8 (calendar).
• The Compact Personal Bar was added as a beta feature to test wikis and MediaWiki.org on May 1. It will be added as a beta feature to non-Wikipedia wikis on May 6, and to all Wikipedias on May 8. To test it, you can enable it now in your preferences on MediaWiki.org. [92]
• It is now easier to disable the CodeEditor tool. [93]

VisualEditor news

• External links in VisualEditor are now in the same light blue color as in MediaWiki. [94]
• The template tool now tells you if a parameter is obsolete. [95]
• You can now add "suggested" parameters in TemplateData; VisualEditor will add them like required ones. [96]
• There is a new type for TemplateData parameters: wiki-file-name for file names. [97][98]
• Editing formulae in VisualEditor will soon be enabled for all users. [99] [100]
• You will soon be able to try a new beta feature to edit text in another language. [101] [102]

Future software changes

• MediaViewer will be enabled for all users on the Japanese (ja), Portuguese (pt), Spanish (es), Swedish (sv) and Telugu (te) Wikipedias on May 8. Feedback is welcome. [103]
• You can help translate about 100 new language names that have been added to our data source. They are used, for example, as hover text for interwiki links. Send an e-mail to Nemo if you want to help.
• If you click on a redirect page in your watchlist, you will soon access the redirect itself. [104] [105]

Problems

• For about 40 minutes around 00:20 UTC on April 29, there were problems with page loading due to high server load.

Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by MediaWiki message delivery • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

07:29, 5 May 2014 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Jackmcbarn. You have new messages at Northamerica1000's talk page.
Message added 03:48, 6 May 2014 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Per your recent revert to a page I edited, check out this discussion at my user talk page. Thanks, NorthAmerica¹⁰⁰⁰ 03:48, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

Template:WDL

see the script errors in the recently added examples in the doc. Frietjes (talk) 18:06, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

Fixed. (Why wasn't there a test case for that?) Jackmcbarn (talk) 19:30, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

yes, shocking that the documentation doesn't include all the features, or reflect all the possible usages in practice. by the way, {{WDLtot}} is identical to {{WDL}} with the exception that it uses a bold font and a different background color. Frietjes (talk) 19:47, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. That one's ported now as well. Jackmcbarn (talk) 20:00, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

I have an error with the new version of this template. Can you take a look, page HNK Hajduk Split league record by opponent. Dr. Vicodine (talk) 10:43, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

@Dr. Vicodine: Fixed. Jackmcbarn (talk) 17:32, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. Dr. Vicodine (talk) 18:41, 11 May 2014 (UTC)

Your query

Hi Jack, sorry to take so long to reply about Antônio Petrus Kalil. I wasn't around when you posted it and it's taken me a while to look at it. You asked whether it could be unprotected. I added protection because it was so problematic for such a long time. If you want to edit it, and you're willing to watch that no BLP violations creep in, I'd be willing to unprotect it for you. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 00:34, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

Jammu and Kashmir - A disputed Territory according to UN.

While Kashmir is disputed territory as per UN announcements are resolutions, Why Wikipedia is not reflecting the same in their pages?. Is Wikipedia is biased towards india?. While Wikipedia itself showing it a dispute in its other pages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_dispute

Please reflect true situation regarding Jammu and Kashmir. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Aqeel73 (talk • contribs) 13:45, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Template Page

Change was accidental Jack, many thanks for reversion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Leopardtail (talk • contribs) 20:12, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

Sockpuppet Investigation

Hi, I am not sure if this is the full case but I believe on the unblock request I was told as long as the edits were not as bad/harming as the other ones due to the people who took over my account... BrokenMirrors246 (talk) 16:31, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

Any updates please post.. also you could at least reply after making such claims you know... BrokenMirrors246 (talk) 09:45, 18 May 2014 (UTC)

On Wikipedia:Giants

I accidentally moved my page to Wikipedia:Giants, but capitalize Giants (all caps) and that's actually a redirect to the NFL team's subpage.The Ultimate New England Patriots Guy (talk) 04:11, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

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