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Editing news 2021 #2

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When newcomers had the Reply tool and tried to post on a talk page, they were more successful at posting a comment. (Source)

Earlier this year, the Editing team ran a large study of the Reply Tool. The main goal was to find out whether the Reply Tool helped newer editors communicate on wiki. The second goal was to see whether the comments that newer editors made using the tool needed to be reverted more frequently than comments newer editors made with the existing wikitext page editor.

The key results were:

• Newer editors who had automatic ("default on") access to the Reply tool were more likely to post a comment on a talk page.
• The comments that newer editors made with the Reply Tool were also less likely to be reverted than the comments that newer editors made with page editing.

These results give the Editing team confidence that the tool is helpful.

Looking ahead

The team is planning to make the Reply tool available to everyone as an opt-out preference in the coming months. This has already happened at the Arabic, Czech, and Hungarian Wikipedias.

The next step is to resolve a technical challenge. Then, they will deploy the Reply tool first to the Wikipedias that participated in the study. After that, they will deploy it, in stages, to the other Wikipedias and all WMF-hosted wikis.

You can turn on "Discussion Tools" in Beta Features now. After you get the Reply tool, you can change your preferences at any time in Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing-discussion.

–Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk)

00:27, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

Mickmonaghan343

Hello Roy I wasnt sure how to contact you, U helped delete and old page draft of mine last year, A few weeks back i rewrote it and kept it to a minimal and got as much references to support it, another use suggested making singles and albums into a table which i did, I am wondering is this draft page on the list for reviewing or is it stuck in limbo as i edited the old original one, any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Luca_Stricagnoli

Mickmonaghan343 (talk) 11:45, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

Hi, and thanks for your note. Your draft was missing a template that was needed to start the review process. If you go to your draft now, you should see a big blue "Submit the draft for review!" button. Just click that and you should be all set. Note that the queue for reviews is pretty long, it'll probably be a few weeks before somebody gets around to reviewing it. -- RoySmith (talk) 11:59, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Julio and Marisol

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Julio and Marisol you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Some Dude From North Carolina -- Some Dude From North Carolina (talk) 14:41, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Julio and Marisol

The article Julio and Marisol you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:Julio and Marisol for issues which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Some Dude From North Carolina -- Some Dude From North Carolina (talk) 20:21, 17 June 2021 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Julio and Marisol

The article Julio and Marisol you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Julio and Marisol for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already appeared on the main page as a "Did you know" item, or as a bold link under "In the News" or in the "On This Day" prose section, you can nominate it within the next seven days to appear in DYK. Bolded names with dates listed at the bottom of the "On This Day" column do not affect DYK eligibility. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Some Dude From North Carolina -- Some Dude From North Carolina (talk) 16:21, 18 June 2021 (UTC)

Request to edit Horror film

Hey friend I love scary movies I was thinking since there's already a 1890s–1910s section on horror film I was wandering if you could unmerge the 1970s–1980s and make a 1970s section and 1980s section to horror film like normal even decades like most of the decades are on there it would look a lot better on the horror film article if all the decade sections look like this
1890s–1910s
1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Poaksyeydyjsmsk (talk) 15:36, 19 June 2021 (UTC)

Tech News: 2021-25

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

Recent changes

• The otrs-member group name is now vrt-permissions. This could affect abuse filters. [1]

Problems

• You will be able to read but not edit German Wikipedia, English Wikivoyage and 29 smaller wikis for a few minutes on 22 June. This is planned between 5:00 and 5:30 UTC. [2]

Changes later this week

• The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 22 June. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 23 June. It will be on all wikis from 24 June (calendar).

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

15:48, 21 June 2021 (UTC)

Burwell GA nomination

I am so sorry, I must have missed your first message. Yes, I can do this now if you are still able to do so. Burwell37902 (talk) 13:08, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

Please resubmit it as a new nomination and somebody else will look at it.. To be honest, I don't see how you missed my first message on your talk page, but immediately saw the message saying it had failed. By submitting an article for review, you're asking other people to do something for you. You need to be respectful of their time. -- RoySmith (talk) 13:17, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

E-mail received

I have received your e-mail. If you look at the editor in question's talk page, you will see that I left an explanation and some suggestions. – Jonesey95 (talk) 14:49, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Much appreciated. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:58, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 June 2021

• News and notes: Elections, Wikimania, masking and more

• In the media: Boris and Joe, reliability, love, and money

• Disinformation report: Croatian Wikipedia: capture and release

• Recent research: Feminist critique of Wikipedia's epistemology, Black Americans vastly underrepresented among editors, Wiki Workshop report

• Traffic report: So no one told you life was gonna be this way

• News from the WMF: Searching for Wikipedia

• Humour: Wikipedia's best articles on the world's strangest things

• WikiProject report: WikiProject on open proxies interview

• Forum: Is WMF fundraising abusive?

• Discussion report: Reliability of WikiLeaks discussed

• Obituary: SarahSV

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:15, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

Tech News: 2021-26

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

Recent changes

• Wikis with the Growth features now can configure Growth features directly on their wiki. This uses the new special page Special:EditGrowthConfig. [3]
• Wikisources have a new OCR tool. If you don't want to see the "extract text" button on Wikisource you can add .ext-wikisource-ExtractTextWidget { display: none; } to your common.css page. [4]

Problems

• You will be able to read but not edit the Wikimedia wikis for a few minutes on 29 June. This is planned at 14:00 UTC. [5][6]

Changes later this week

• The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 29 June. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 30 June. It will be on all wikis from 1 July (calendar).

Future changes

• Threshold for stub link formatting, thumbnail size and auto-number headings can be set in preferences. They are expensive to maintain and few editors use them. The developers are planning to remove them. Removing them will make pages load faster. You can read more and give feedback.
• A toolbar will be added to the Reply tool's wikitext source mode. This will make it easier to link to pages and to ping other users. [7][8]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

16:31, 28 June 2021 (UTC)

Thank U, Next

Hi, I was wondering when the restriction on the Thank U, Next album page would end. I've been meaning to add things to it and it's been restricted for a while now. I've always added information to Ariana's album pages, and have familiarized myself with Wikipedia guidelines and would never perform vandalism on it.

Thanks. Blowscalls (talk) 18:48, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

I'm afraid that page has been the target of extensive abuse over the years, so it needs to be protected. You can make an edit request on the article's talk page. -- RoySmith (talk) 18:53, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

Alright. I've added a suggestion at the talk page and have been ignored. An editor recently removed "widespread critical acclaim" and replaced "praise" with "compliments", and with no edit summary. Blowscalls (talk) 20:55, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

These are content issues that you need to discuss with your fellow editors. -- RoySmith (talk) 21:06, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

GAN Backlog Drive - July 2021

Good article nominations | July 2021 Backlog Drive
July 2021 Backlog Drive: This Thursday, July 1, a one-month backlog drive for good article nominations will begin. Barnstars will be awarded based on the number, length, and age, of articles reviewed. Interested in taking part? You can sign up here.
Other ways to participate: Join the conversations on our talkpage
You're receiving this message because you have conducted 10+ good article reviews or participated in the March backlog drive. Click here to opt out of any future messages. --Usernameunique

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:31, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

Created "Anthony Sims (artist)

Hey Roy Smith, so in 2019 I created a page for myself on Wiki. I did this because I didn't fully understand the dynamics of Wiki and over the past few years I think I have realized a lot and attempting to create my own wiki page has been a positive influences on my art career. Yes I know that I did it wrong. At times I was very wrong and that I screwed up - I may never get a page on Wikipedia.

I did try to create my page one last time and I really believe I meet the criteria now. I have a few article under the google news tab, I have two pieces in the Meridian Museum of Art's permanent collection, and I have worked with big name musicians from around the United States. Let me know what you think of the article that is here Anthony Sims (artist).

I know this has been a long journey for me and I appreciate everyone at Wikipedia teaching me what credibility actually is. I have fully disclosed my COI and I am requesting you with all the information you have to make your best judgement. Thank you Reedjudge (talk) 17:18, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

@Reedjudge Hi, and thanks for your note. I think the best I can do is to refer to you WP:ARTIST and WP:Autobiography. I do thank you for the COI declaration; not many people bother, and it is appreciated. -- RoySmith (talk) 17:24, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

@Reedjudge, am I correct in interpreting your comment to mean that you had a number of previous accounts, namely the ones listed in Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/FadedOrange/Archive? Blablubbs|talk 18:21, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

@ Reedjudge, Yes. It was very immature and I have no excuse for the way I was acting. Due to wikipedia's guidelines I started working on how to get accepted into a museum. I did it in June 2020. I tried to make a page and didn't acknowledge the COI and got banned. Earlier this year my NFT's took off and I got several write ups. Last month in March I sold a painting as an NFT for $99,973. My career is taking off and I've spent the last two years trying to understand the rules and regulations on Wiki. Like I said, a lot of it was immature and stupid. I can't take any of it back and I'm happy I tried because if it wasn't for you all here I wouldn't be in a museum and I wouldn't have learned a lot of other valuable life lessons. Reedjudge (talk) 19:51, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

@Reedjudge well, I'll tell you what. Given your history, you need to get the community to unban you. I think your declaration of COI is a good step in the right direction (even if you didn't immediately come clean about your previous socks), so if you want, I'd be willing to start a thread on WP:AN asking that the Wikipedia:Standard offer be extended to you. I can't guarantee it will be accepted, but it really does seem like the only way forward for you, given your history. Also note that this absolutely doesn't guarantee that your article will be be accepted even if your ban is rescinded. -- RoySmith (talk) 20:08, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Ugh, strike all that. I just re-read the SPI archives, which I should have done earlier. You've been socking as recently as 2 months ago. -- RoySmith (talk) 20:13, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Yes but that was because of the write ups I got about my NFT success. I was just trying to make the article with the actual news links. It was honest and I just submitted it for review. I tried to create a SuperRare page because they are the 2nd largest NFT marketplace. I never meant to sock I just thought you would ban me if you knew it was me. Because that kept happening but I didn't know why or how. I did a lot more research and thats why I came to you today. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Reedjudge (talk • contribs) 20:19, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Barnstar of Good Humor
	Thank you for this perfect comment. You made my day better. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 21:10, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

@Whatamidoing (WMF) So much of what I do these days is making people unhappy (i.e. blocking socks, etc). Glad I could do something positive for a change. -- RoySmith (talk) 22:09, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

test

test -- RoySmith (talk) 15:26, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

try this again. -- RoySmith (talk) 15:38, 27 June 2021 (UTC)

And again. 69.115.77.204 (talk) 19:46, 2 July 2021 (UTC)

In case you're curious

Since  Unlikely seems to be the most mysterious CU code out there and you pinged me on one where I returned it, I'll give you my breakdown of what the various symbols mean when I use them:

•  Confirmed - behaviour and technical details are a match. Technical details do not have to be identical, but there's enough to say they're the same person when the whole picture is considered.
•  Technically indistinguishable - exactly the same but crazy common or extremely minor difference that makes it less than sure but more than likely (think someone changing between browser versions because they have multiple laptops.)
•  Likely - One account uses Firefox when the other uses Safari and everything else lines up
•  Possilikely (a mix between possible and likely) - try to avoid this one, but I basically only use it in geographic regions and providers I'm familiar with. Something along the lines of "The technical matters line up, but given the specifics of what they are, there is reason to believe that there is potential for a false positive"
•  Possible - same geographic region in an area where geolocation is decent. If crappy geolocation, might be able to stretch it to same ISP, but I'd likely leave a comment saying between unlikely and likely.
•  Unlikely - same country if it is a country with really crappy geolocation, but literally nothing else matches up. The geography just makes it impossible to say unrelated.
•  Unrelated it really, truly, isn't them.

I think my style and usage is pretty similar to KrakatoaKatie's. Ponyo might be a bit different, but she and I also tend to reach similar conclusions (and she's da best.) Anyway, you tend to ask good questions as a clerk, so I thought this might be helpful for you at least in terms of interpreting what I mean :) TonyBallioni (talk) 02:45, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Yeah, this is pretty much how I use it. Unlikely is often a geography issue. Sometimes there are browser differences, or time card discrepancies. I can't completely rule it out, but it's just, well, unlikely. I use possilikely more often than some CUs, but I'll almost never use it in India because everything's possilikely in India as a starting point. I'll also use likely if the UAs match but there's a geolocation issue that makes me not want to use tallyho. Consistency in using these is the key, and I try to give as much detail as I can, particularly if there's a behavioral issue that needs investigation. (And Ponyo really is da best.) Katie^talk 13:32, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

One thing that often worries me about not knowing exactly what a CU is trying to say, is that I don't know how much weight to give to my own observations. For example, if a CU also looks at timecards and notices similarities, they might work that into their "likely" evaluation. If I then notice the same similarities, my "Oh, look at that, they've all got the same schedule!" doesn't add any new information. Yet, I might say to myself, "The timecard data alone doesn't seem like enough, but in conjunction with the CU's 'likely', I'll call this a match". Oshwah tends to be chatty about details, so I like his CU reports :-) -- RoySmith (talk) 14:25, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

RoySmith - Thanks. :-) I try my best to include my thoughts and what I found without giving any technical details away, so that users know exactly what conclusion I drew and why. ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 22:46, 2 July 2021 (UTC)

@TonyBallioni, Thanks for the breakdown, and for your comments on Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Wikieditsjanuary2021. One of the frustrating things about being an SPI clerk is that different CUs have different ways of saying things so I spend a lot of time looking at CU results trying to figure out what was meant. Some CUs are very clear. Others, not so much. -- RoySmith (talk) 11:39, 30 June 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2021).

Administrator changes

Trialpears

AGK • Eliz81 • Mulad • ThaddeusB • Vianello • Who

Lacrimosus → Ikuzaf

Interface administrator changes

Ragesoss

CheckUser changes

AGK • DGG

Oversighter changes

AGK

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.

---

• Discuss this newsletter
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• Archive

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:27, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

SPI Archive question

Hello RoySmith, is Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/UnderArmourKid/Archive really meant to be a redirect page to the archive/1 or is that a mistake? The effect of the redirect is that the current archive is only accessible with &redirect=no added to the end of the URL. Best, Pahunkat (talk) 09:57, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

@Pahunkat thanks for the note. Yeah, that looks wrong. @GeneralNotability: I've opened a bug report. -- RoySmith (talk) 11:32, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

WP:SPI case

Hi! Would you care to take a look at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Ichika Kasuga#01 July 2021, seeing as you're already somewhat familiar with the case? TompaDompa (talk) 12:35, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

Done. -- RoySmith (talk) 13:12, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks! TompaDompa (talk) 13:15, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

UAK

Hi RoySmith and Blablubbs. Archiving of UAK went wrong due to renaming the archive. I'm not sure how to fix it, perhaps you could look into it? (Posting on both of your user talk pages.) Trijnstel_talk 13:49, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

PS. I already did this, but we should make sure this won't happen again. We should probably change the archive link on this page, but not sure how to do it. Trijnstel_talk 13:51, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

@Trijnstel thanks for the note, but please don't edit the SPI archives; they're reserved for SPI clerks and CU's. It looks like Blablubbs has already fixed it up, but given the note immediately above about another archiving gone wrong, it looks like we've got a problem with the scripts that needs looking into. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:45, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

Tech News: 2021-27

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

Tech News

• The next issue of Tech News will be sent out on 19 July.

Recent changes

• AutoWikiBrowser is a tool to make repetitive tasks easier. It now uses JSON. Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPage has moved to Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPageJSON and Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Config. Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPage/Version has moved to Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPage/VersionJSON. The tool will eventually be configured on the wiki so that you don't have to wait until the new version to add templates or regular expression fixes. [9]

Problems

• InternetArchiveBot helps saving online sources on some wikis. It adds them to Wayback Machine and links to them there. This is so they don't disappear if the page that was linked to is removed. It currently has a problem with linking to the wrong date when it moves pages from archive.is to web.archive.org. [10]

Changes later this week

• The tool to find, add and remove templates will be updated. This is to make it easier to find and use the right templates. It will come to the first wikis on 7 July. It will come to more wikis later this year. [11][12]
• There is no new MediaWiki version this week.

Future changes

• Some Wikimedia wikis use Flagged Revisions or pending changes. It hides edits from new and unregistered accounts for readers until they have been patrolled. The auto review action in Flagged Revisions will no longer be logged. All old logs of auto-review will be removed. This is because it creates a lot of logs that are not very useful. [13]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

17:32, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

Garrett Reynolds (BMX riders)

Hello could you help me save this article thanks--OaxacaGenius (talk) 16:15, 7 July 2021 (UTC)

Articles for Creation July 2021 Backlog Elimination Drive

Hello RoySmith:

WikiProject Articles for creation is holding a month long Backlog Drive!
The goal of this drive is to eliminate the backlog of unreviewed articles. The drive is running until 31 July 2021.

Barnstars will be given out as awards at the end of the drive.
There is currently a backlog of over 1200 articles, so start reviewing articles. We're looking forward to your help!

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Wikipedia:WikiProject Articles for Creation at 21:54, 7 July 2021 (UTC). If you do not wish to recieve future notification, please remove your name from the mailing list.

July 14: Virtual Coney Island Meetup + NYC monthly collaboration

July 14, 7pm: Virtual Coney Island Meetup + NYC monthly collaboration

Welcome to Wikimedia New York City! You are invited to join the Wikimedia NYC community for our monthly online gathering (7-8pm) and knowledge-sharing workshop. To join the meeting from your computer or smartphone, just visit this link. More information about how to connect is available on the meetup page. Instead of our usual "WikiWednesday" Salon, we'll focus on the WikiProject NYC monthly collaboration and this month's subject of Coney Island. And rather than Zoom, we'll meet on a proximity chat virtual Coney Island beach and share over topical articles and collaborations. We look forward to seeing local Wikimedians, but would also like to invite folks from the greater New York metropolitan area (and beyond!) who might not typically be able to join us in person! Wednesday July 14 Virtual Coney Island Meetup (optional RSVP on-wiki). 7:00pm - 8:00 pm online via WikiConey on Gather

(You can subscribe/unsubscribe from future notifications for NYC-area events by adding or removing your name from this list.)

--Wikimedia New York City Team 14:40, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

Deletion review for Darnitsa (pharmaceutical company)

I have asked for a deletion review of Darnitsa (pharmaceutical company). Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, speedily deleted it, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. Kirotsi (talk) 19:57, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Incomplete DYK nomination

Hello! Your submission of Template:Did you know nominations/Leaders of the World at the Did You Know nominations page is not complete; if you would like to continue, please link the nomination to the nominations page as described in step 3 of the nomination procedure. If you do not want to continue with the nomination, tag the nomination page with {{db-g7}}, or ask a DYK admin. Thank you. DYKHousekeepingBot (talk) 03:17, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Tech News: 2021-29

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

Recent changes

• The tool to find, add and remove templates was updated. This is to make it easier to find and use the right templates. It was supposed to come to the first wikis on 7 July. It was delayed to 12 July instead. It will come to more wikis later this year. [14][15]
• Special:UnconnectedPages lists pages that are not connected to Wikidata. This helps you find pages that can be connected to Wikidata items. Some pages should not be connected to Wikidata. You can use the magic word __EXPECTED_UNCONNECTED_PAGE__ on pages that should not be listed on the special page. [16]

Changes later this week

• The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 20 July. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 21 July. It will be on all wikis from 22 July (calendar).

Future changes

• How media is structured in the parser's HTML output will soon change. This can affect bots, gadgets, user scripts and extensions. You can read more. You can test it on Testwiki or Testwiki 2.
• The parameters for how you obtain tokens in the MediaWiki API were changed in 2014. The old way will no longer work from 1 September. Scripts, bots and tools that use the parameters from before the 2014 change need to be updated. You can read more.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

15:30, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

SPI request

Hi, I was going to file a SPI report, but since the user involved is a newbie, I would like a SPI clerk to take a look and see if the evidence collected is worth a SPI. If/when time permits, can you take a look at the evidence below? I think that ElderZamzam (EZ) is a sock of TryDeletingMe (DM). Two years ago I reported DM's previous sock, ThreatMatrix (TM).

• DM and their sock were focused on the Yugoslavia conflicts, doing Serb nationalism POV pushing aimed at describing other parties of the conflicts as terrorists, highlighting crimes committed by non-Serbs in the conflicts in UNDUE ways or writing content in that way that gave the impression that the conflict was started by non-Serbs only. Examples include [17][18][19][20][21]. The same thing is being done by EZ, with examples including [22][23].
• In all these years on Wiki, I have seen and reported many Balkan editors, POV pushers and sock masters, but the only one with deep interest in air flight and related documents (airports, entry rights, passports and visa stuff) has been DM [24][25][26][27][28][29]. EZ is doing the same thing [30][31][32].
• In all these years, DM has been one of the only two Serb nationalism POV pushers with a major focus on Middle East's wars (the other being VJ-Yugo). Examples include: [33][34][35]. DM's userpage contained flags of Middle East armies/warlords [36]. EZ is doing the same thing [37][38][39][40][41][42].
• DM edited from Australia. EZ edits from Australia. If needed, I would like to send the evidence for this via email.
• To sum up, in all of these years, TryDeletingMe and ElderZamzam have been the only Serb nationalism POV pushers with all the following characteristics: an unique deep interest in air flight and related documents, focus on Middle East wars and geolocation in Australia. I doubt another Serb nationalism POV pusher (or some Balkan POV pusher, for that matter) would have all of these at the same time. Ktrimi991 (talk) 20:26, 20 July 2021 (UTC)

@Ktrimi991 I only took a brief look at this but I'd say there's enough here to be worth an SPI. -- RoySmith (talk) 20:29, 20 July 2021 (UTC)

OK, thank you. I will file a SPI then. Ktrimi991 (talk) 20:37, 20 July 2021 (UTC)

Problematic IP

Hi, I'm not certain if is an issue or not, but I noticed you were involved with this sock puppet investigation here. This IP might still be active: Special:Contributions/147.226.103.110. I have reason to believe that IP is TheLawGiverOfDFT editor. They both edit at the same times, they write in the same style, and that IP seems to be very deeply involved in the same matters that motivate TheLawGiverOfDFT. I'm not certain if that matter has been taken of or not; if has not been, should an investigation be opened? Thank you for your time and help, and I hope all is with you. --A.S. Brown (talk) 07:20, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

That IP has made exactly 1 edit, and that was 2 months ago. I don't understand why this is an issue. -- RoySmith (talk) 10:55, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
	Hi Roy. For your excellent work at SPI, including dealing with blocks, page-locks and socks! Thank you very much. Lugnuts Fire Walk with Me 17:51, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

Hi Roy. Sorry to bother you, but I've just spotted you added protection to this page, but it was this page I mentioned in the SPI report. Sorry, the names are a bit confusing! Please could you protect the 2021 page, and it might be worth doing the same to this page as well, as this season follows on from the 2021 season in September of this year. Any questions, please get back to me, and thanks again for your help. Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 06:17, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

@Lugnuts remind me, which SPI are we talking about here? -- RoySmith (talk) 11:28, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Hi Roy. This one. I mention the article here. Thanks Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 11:33, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

I'm not 100% sure it's justified from my reading of the histories, but I've gone ahead and semi-protected them for 6 months. WP:RFPP will be a better place to ask for additional protections if needed. -- RoySmith (talk) 11:46, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Thank you Roy. Lugnuts ^{Fire Walk with Me} 11:47, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

No problem. Hope I get to keep the barnstar even after messing up on protecting the wrong page :-) -- RoySmith (talk) 13:52, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Partial block

Hi Roy, I just blocked an IP that is part of a range of IPs that you partially blocked. My block of the single IP expires before yours. Does the range block take over at the expiration? I'm not very experienced with partial blocks.--Bbb23 (talk) 18:39, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

@Bbb23 Wow, I have no clue. Sounds like WP:VPT time :-) -- RoySmith (talk) 18:50, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Haha, nice to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't know. :-) --Bbb23 (talk) 18:51, 22 July 2021 (UTC)

Allow me to create Draft for Bmcabana SF

I want to construct all the information for Bmcabana SF, because I see User Thabo Daniels has messed things. Now no one expect extended users can create the page. I will only submit for review is the article is ready, I will follow all wikipedia policies

Thank you. Zefu zungu (talk) 12:54, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

Sorry, I can't do that. That page has been the target of extensive abuse. You'll need to find something else to write about. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:41, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

Banjara article needs protection

• RoySmith, Banjara Article has been continuously disrupted by disruptive editor, So they need small protection for some time.Thanks in advance.Grayson Indica (talk) 05:43, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

  Hi, and thanks for your note, but could I ask that you take this to WP:RFPP? I took a quick look and it's not clear to me that the page merits protection, but the folks at RFPP are more experienced making that kind of call. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:53, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanku @RoySmith: first I will learn after that I will request you or disturb you,thanks alot Grayson Indica (talk) 05:45, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

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Completing your Typequick DYK review

Hi RoySmith,

I have now responded to your comments at Template:Did you know nominations/Typequick. Please can you respond asap? :)--Coin945 (talk) 17:48, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

• I've now edited the article to address your concerns. Please respond at your nearest convenience.--Coin945 (talk) 03:18, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

  I have given my review. In fact, I've spent longer on this review than any other DYK review I've ever done. If you believe I'm in error, please take it up at Wikipedia talk:Did you know. I'm happy with whatever outcome that leads to, but I've explained why I failed the review and continuing to berate me because you don't like my review is not appropriate. -- RoySmith (talk) 03:26, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

  Thank you for your kind reply @RoySmith:. I have now addressed your three points, so the review may need an update. In the meantime I have requested a second opinion. Be well, --Coin945 (talk) 19:10, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

  I guess I need to be more clear about this. I have finished my review. It is not incomplete. It is not unfinished. It is not pending additional review. Your submission failed due to the reasons stated in the review, most significantly that it fails WP:NPOV, and in my opinion, that issue is so significant that it will not be fixed by some minor editing. If you disagree with that, please take it elsewhere. I am sorry to be so abrupt, but you don't seem to be getting it. -- RoySmith (talk) 19:14, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

Tech News: 2021-30

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

Recent changes

• A new version of MediaWiki came to the Wikimedia wikis the week before last week. This was not in Tech News because there was no newsletter that week.

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• The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 27 July. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 28 July. It will be on all wikis from 29 July (calendar).

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21:10, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

Request for an SPI Clerk

Hi RoySmith! Since you're an SPI Clerk, I was wondering if you think it would be appropriate to put an unconfirmed sock tag on User:CutePeach. They were suspected earlier this year and have also been accused of being a sock in the current ongoing Arbitration report about them. ––FORMALDUDE^(talk) 22:09, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

Hi, and thanks for your note. I don't know that there's any official policy, but in general I think it's best to leave applying socking tags to the SPI team. -- RoySmith (talk) 22:24, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

Sounds good, thanks for the quick response! ––FORMALDUDE^(talk) 22:26, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

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Dreamy Jazz ^{talk to me | my contributions} 08:55, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

RfC notice

This is a neutral notice sent to all non-bot/non-blocked registered users who edited Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Linguistics in the past year that there is a new request for comment at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Linguistics § RfC: Where should so-called voiceless approximants be covered?. Nardog (talk) 10:55, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Deletion review/Log/2021 July 17

Just wanted to drop by and say kudos for this close. Sometimes the outcome that best reflects the general consensus or feel of a debate isn't one which is readily obvious in bolded letters, and I 100% agree with your choice & rationale here. (I read through this DRV about three times in the past three days, and couldn't work out the best way to close it - mainly because I didn't think of this option!) Cheers, Daniel (talk) 21:46, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

@Daniel Thanks. And for all that, I see somebody has since deleted it. Oh well. -- RoySmith (talk) 22:16, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

Haha this is becoming a bit of a caravan crash. The target of the redirect was G4'd, so naturally the redirect was deleted per G8. The target article was then un-G4'd. So I'm going to be bold and undelete the deleted redirect, your ECP should still hold. (Ping @Materialscientist: who correctly deleted the redirect per G8 - just as an FYI.) Daniel (talk) 22:20, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

I agree with Daniel that this was an excellent close. Thank you, Cunard (talk) 08:57, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2021).

Administrator changes

BusterD

Kees08 • Nickshanks • Protonk • Schissel • Ultraexactzz • Wknight94

CheckUser changes

TheresNoTime

Oversighter changes

TheresNoTime

ST47

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.

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