User talk:Aaron Liu

  1. Home
  2. Wiki


the archive bot RFC again

[edit]

Here are my general comments to how you introduce the choices presented to readers of the RfC.

Currently you're illustrating the options for when "all three" pieces of data are active (an algo of 4 months, 3 minthreadstoarchive, 9 minthreadsleft). You are explaining that the example archive duration is converted from days to months, and you are discussing the case where "the minimum number of threads that can be archived at once is no longer absent".

But you are not making it very clear which part of the message relates to which parameter, and how the message changes when each is active/inactive. Plus, your phrasing for minthreadstoarchive is couched in a negative "no longer absent" that I find needlessly convoluted.


Ideally I would want to see:


Note how clarity is achieved all around.

Is the use of {{Human readable duration}} a change or is it not? You say both that the archive durations "will be" converted, and "like what the template currently does". Is it a change or is it status quo? Can't be both at the same time.

Clarity on when the sentence fragment for minimum number of threads appears and disappears. (I would assume it appears when minthreadstoarchive <> 1, but that's not what you're saying.) What ARE you saying?

I assume the other two parts (algo, minthreadsleft) always appear (i.e. unlike minthreadstoarchive their sentence fragments aren't conditional), and that the message would read (for option A) "Topics with timestamps are automatically archived by ClueBot III after 1 second of inactivity when more than 1 threads are present." In fact, this is what I assume you'd still get if all three parameters = 1? Either way, this is not clear. Maybe you're taking it for granted?

In a similar fashion, here are my guesses as to versions B thru D of the message without minthreadsleft:

  • Topics older than 4 months are automatically archived by ClueBot III if there are more than 9.
  • Topics are auto-archived by ClueBot III after 4 months of inactivity if there are more than 9.
  • After 4 months, inactive topics are automatically archived by ClueBot III if there are more than 9.

In other words, it would be useful if you could indicate the exact part of each option that appears/disappears, maybe using the span HTML tag:

B: Topics older than 4 months are automatically archived 3 or more at a time by ClueBot III if there are more than 9.
C: Topics are auto-archived by ClueBot III after 4 months of inactivity if there are more than 9, but only if there are a minimum of 3 topics to archive.
D: After 4 months, inactive topics are automatically archived by ClueBot III if there are more than 9 and 3 can be archived at once.

I am fully aware the actual parameter names change between archiving bots. I'm not using ClueBot III's terminology, I'm using Lower sigmabot III's.

Cheers, CapnZapp (talk) 11:07, 27 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure if I completely understood what you said, but I'll try my best.

But you are not making it very clear which part of the message relates to which parameter

Any viable option needs to make that clear by itself without additional detailing.
It says like what the template currently does in the upper-right corner. What is in the upper-right corner of the RfC's archives section example?
Nothing is guaranteed to always appear. When the age, bot name, or minthreadsleft is undetectable, the relevant sentence fragment disappears. Since I don't see any other option to divvying up into fragments than what you have guessed, and I want to preserve how the options will be displayed instead of e.g. eliminating the possible confusion of D's "9 and 3", I don't think I should do that. Aaron Liu (talk) 15:50, 27 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Tshembi on Wikipedia:Writing better articles (11:36, 10 September 2025)

[edit]

Hello how do I create a citation --Tshembi (talk) 11:36, 10 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome! Check out Help:Introduction to referencing with VisualEditor for a nice tutorial. Aaron Liu (talk) 17:04, 10 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Judgementalcatfish (12:19, 10 September 2025)

[edit]

what is a "mentor" do they just hire you or --Judgementalcatfish (talk) 12:19, 10 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Mentors are a feature to help newer Wikipedia editors. I believe it's automatic for newer accounts, but if you aren't interested you don't have to use the feature. Mentors are basically volunteer editors who know about Wikipedia and are willing to answer your questions. 🪷 nahida 12:21, 10 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
annnnd... we don't even get paid! :( Aaron Liu (talk) 17:02, 10 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Kevinldr1 (16:16, 13 September 2025)

[edit]

hey! please how can i create a new article? i’ve been trying to make a new article but i just don’t know how and it somehow doesn’t show to me, can you help me? thank you! --Kevinldr1 (talk) 16:16, 13 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hey @Kevinldr1! To start, use the big button at Wikipedia:Articles for creation instead of creating it at a talk page. Help:Your first article should walk you through what we expect of article content as well! Aaron Liu (talk) 01:36, 15 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

PEIS?

[edit]

Hi Aaron. I saw your edit at WP:RSP and wondered what PEIS means, and why you would revert back to a very old format which just happens to still work? -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 23:51, 14 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Valjean, explained in detail at WP:PEIS, post-expand include size refers to hard limits of the Wikimedia software with respect to rendering templates. Once exceeded, the page no longer renders correctly. The intent here is to reduce PEIS, previously 2,092,118 bytes, and now 2,091,948—a start, but not enough of a savings given the max value of 2,097,152. A better approach, imho, would be to remove some link- or character-templates which are easily replaced, like {{section link}}, {{slink}}, {{see also}}, {{Xmark}}, {{Tick}}, {{Em dash}}, {{clear}}, {{-}}, {{-}}, {{'}}, {{·}}, and {{Middot}}. I'll have a go at those in a bit. (talk page watcher) Mathglot (talk) 01:29, 15 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Mathglot is right! This limit is to prevent DDoS attacks through transcluding a ton of templates everywhere. Though, I have to say, the PEIS previously exceeded the max value and I had to also implement to previous consensus to remove the {{efd}}s, as mentioned on the article talk page. Check out what the lovely reflist template looked like before these edits: https://web.archive.org/web/20250907145516/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Perennial#References Replacing with the tag at least made all but like the last ten references show.
<references /> is not in any way discouraged, either. It's first-class MediaWiki syntax. There's nearly no advantage to using a plain {{reflist}} over it. Aaron Liu (talk) 01:34, 15 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Btw, the templates I listed above are mostly transcluded by other templates on the page, so we can't attack those directly. I have started section WT:RSP#Addressing hard template limits to discuss this. Mathglot (talk) 03:32, 15 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks so much to both of you. I learned something there. Keep up the good work. -- Valjean (talk) (PING me) 22:05, 15 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Jayden Sasu Dwamena (19:54, 16 September 2025)

[edit]

Hello --Jayden Sasu Dwamena (talk) 19:55, 16 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Jayden Sasu Dwamena (19:55, 16 September 2025)

[edit]

Please how do I create an article? --Jayden Sasu Dwamena (talk) 19:55, 16 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ey, welcome, and thank you for writing article content for Wikipedia! Help:Your first article is my favorite guide on how to get started. Also, take note that articles should only summarize information from all the good sources you can find. Good luck, and ask me if you need any help! Aaron Liu (talk) 20:46, 16 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Kevinldr1 (21:36, 16 September 2025)

[edit]

hello, i have edited some pages on wikipedia and i’ve added some very great infos and those infos were 100% real and i had a trusted and confirmed source, so today when i wanted to re-edit and add the source i found that the entire progress i have made was deleted by someone who claimed that my infos are wrong even tho he can’t proof them wrong! i was really disappointed because i spent all night working on those pages just so someone delete them instantly. is there anyway i can put those infos back or recover the edits i have made without going through that tiring process again? i’m gonna add source this time. --Kevinldr1 (talk) 21:36, 16 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hey @Kevinldr1! No worries: On Wikipedia, everything you submit is saved. Simply click on undo, and your work will be restored; but remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Instead of risking WP:edit war, I would suggest you discuss with the editor who reverted your changes first. For one, I agree with the message in the edit where they removed the "Leg X: LOCATION" rows from the table, where they mention why they reverted. (Also, I anticipate some to argue that Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information and that the information should be added to the relevant Wikidata page instead.) Let me know if you have any questions about anything! Aaron Liu (talk) 00:23, 17 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
thank you for your help, i’ve discussed my issue with the person who edited my page, i’m not a problematic person anyway and i love lana del rey and i just wanted to correct the confusion between the people about her tour gross. i’ll be more careful next time with adding source to the edits, and thank u for ur notes about the legs section, i just thought it’s best to add them to help organize the shows and because del rey herself announced the last part of her tour -which was held in the US- as the US leg, so i thought of adding that too. anyway thank u for ur help but i still don’t know how to recover my old edits on the page, i don’t know where to find the undo button, sorry if there is any inconvenience, i’m just new here. Kevinldr1 (talk) 11:45, 17 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Click on "History" near the top of the page, find the edit that reverted you, and click "Undo" in its listing. Aaron Liu (talk) 11:55, 17 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from CreativeIndeed (14:09, 17 September 2025)

[edit]

Hi Aaron, I'm am trying to create a page for a public figure, I want to open the page up for edits by team members, how do I create a link to send to them so that they can can edit the page live --CreativeIndeed (talk) 14:09, 17 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ey, creating an autobiography is an extremely bad idea per the link in this sentence. I really doubt that your team meets our criteria for inclusion. There is very little benefit for the subject when they have a Wikipedia article, and there are many possible downsides. Aaron Liu (talk) 15:53, 17 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from OldSaltOfTheNorth on DabsMyla (22:08, 22 September 2025)

[edit]

Hi I have read the page suggested for me to edit, being asked to make it less subjective and less like a resumé. I am having difficulty seeing where it is not impartial, and the only way I could think of that would make it less resumé like would be to remove what appear to be accurate facts. Would you be able to explain some suggestions, or alternatively recommend I look for a different category of edit? --OldSaltOfTheNorth (talk) 22:08, 22 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome! Unfortunately, I can't see your editing suggestions, so could you tell me which article this is? Aaron Liu (talk) 22:34, 22 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Lebrown2222 (13:44, 23 September 2025)

[edit]

how do i implement zamn shes 12, its a historical event in 1982 --Lebrown2222 (talk) 13:44, 23 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ey, welcome, and thank you for writing article content for Wikipedia! Help:Your first article is my favorite guide on how to get started. Also, take note that articles should only summarize information from all the good sources you can find. Good luck, and ask me if you need any help! Aaron Liu (talk) 00:02, 27 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from JKW Cambridge (08:45, 24 September 2025)

[edit]

Hello. I submitted the beginnings of a page about a band that was prominent in 1960s Cambridge. Interestingly, very little about the band exists online, and given their popularity and duration, that seemed inappropriate to me. I was not a member of the band myself. I just happen to know someone who was and it was my initiative that there ought to be some kind of online information. My intention was to add further information and photos. However, it has been rejected. Why is that? --JKW Cambridge (talk) 08:45, 24 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Welcome. When drafts get rejected, the reviewer always leaves a note on the draft for the reason, which is also copied to your user talk page; you should've received a red notification in the bell icon. Your draft's reason for rejection starts with "This submission's references..." Happy editing, and good luck! Aaron Liu (talk) 00:03, 27 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from CPW Kingston (22:39, 26 September 2025)

[edit]

Hi Aaron --would you tell me how I can edit hte name of my page? We are no longer called Center for Photography at Woodstock. Now we are CPW Kingston. I appreciate the help. CPW Kingston (talk) 22:39, 26 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, welcome. I've sent messages to your talk page about this matter. The edit requests mentioned are also for moving pages. Aaron Liu (talk) 00:11, 27 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from JobbyBohn (21:55, 27 September 2025)

[edit]

How do I make my own article? --JobbyBohn (talk) 21:55, 27 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ey, creating an autobiography is an extremely bad idea per the link in this sentence, if that's what you mean. I really doubt that your team meets our criteria for inclusion. There is very little benefit for the subject when they have a Wikipedia article, and there are many possible downsides. Aaron Liu (talk) 22:12, 28 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Mogulsfn (21:59, 28 September 2025)

[edit]

wiki must be the most bias misinformation spreading forum in history --Mogulsfn (talk) 21:59, 28 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hey there! Personally, when I hear that out of the blue, I would readily pull out my printout of Wikipedia:Errors in the Encyclopædia Britannica that have been corrected in Wikipedia I have stowed away in my hair 24/7 :) Aaron Liu (talk) 22:11, 28 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
[edit]

Hi aaron, your fork of User:The Voidwalker/alwaysEditSectionLink, the description of which says "Should add section links to pages where there are sections but no editsection links.", doesn't seem to always work in my case. When i try to edit a transcluded template documentation, like the one at Template:Welcome, there are still no [section edit] links despite there being sections. Is it supposed to work with transcluded pages? Thanks. FaviFake (talk) 15:12, 29 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

However, User:Andrybak/Scripts/Archiver works! Unfortunately it doesn't support deleting the sections, it can only archive them :( ㅤ FaviFake (talk) 15:43, 29 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-40

[edit]

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

Weekly highlight

  • A major software upgrade has been made to Phabricator. The update introduces performance improvements, a refreshed search interface, enhancements to Maniphest task search, updates to user profile pages and project workboards, new Herald automation features, as well as general text input, mobile experience improvements and more. [1]

Updates for editors

  • The Community Tech team will release the new Community Wishlist extension on October 1, that will improve the way wishes will be submitted. The new extension will allow users to add tags to their wishes to better categorise them, and (in a future iteration) to filter them by status, tags and focus areas. It will also be possible to support individual wishes again, as requested by the community in many instances. The old system will be retired. There will be a brief period of downtime while the extension is deployed and wishes are migrated to the new system. You can read more about this in the latest update or you can consult the current documentation on MediaWiki.
  • As announced on Diff blog, the production trial of the hCaptcha service for bot detection has begun. The trial is currently using hCaptcha to protect account creation on Chinese, Persian, Portuguese, Indonesian, Japanese, and Turkish Wikipedias, where it will replace our existing CAPTCHA (FancyCaptcha). The goal with the trial is to better block bots while also improving usability and accessibility for users who encounter CAPTCHA challenges.
  • The CampaignEvents extension has been deployed to Wikimedia Commons. The extension makes it easier to organize and participate in collaborative activities, like edit-a-thons and WikiProjects, on the wikis. On Commons, anyone who is a registered user can use it as an event participant. To use it as an organizer, someone needs to have the event organizer right.
  • Sub-referencing, a new feature to re-use references with different details has been released to German Wikipedia. You can test the feature on testwiki or on betawiki as well. Please share your thoughts on using templates in sub-references or volunteer to become a pilot wiki.
  • On wikis using the Mentorship system, communities can now opt experienced editors out of Mentorship through Special:CommunityConfiguration/Mentorship. Within this setting, communities may define thresholds, based on edit count and account age, to decide when an editor is considered experienced enough to no longer receive Mentorship. [2]
  • The Editing Team and the Machine Learning Team are working on a new check for newcomers: Tone check. Using a prediction model, this check will encourage editors to improve the tone of their edits, using artificial intelligence. We invite volunteers to review the first version of the Tone language model for the following languages: Arabic, Czech, German, Hebrew, Indonesian, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Chinese, Farsi, Italian, Norwegian, Romanian and Latvian. Users from these wikis interested in reviewing this model are invited to sign up at MediaWiki.org. The deadline to sign up is on October 3, which will be the start date of the test.
  • The rollout of multiblocks had the side effect that non-active block logs may have been shown on Special:Contributions and on blocked users' user and user_talk pages. This issue will be fully resolved in a few days. As part of the fix, messages prefixed with sp-contributions-blocked-notice will be removed and replaced with those prefixed with blocked-notice-logextract in a few weeks. Please help translate the new messages and update any local overrides if needed.
  • There was a bug with links added using visual editor if they included characters such as [ ] | after the fragment identifier (#). They were not encoded properly creating an incorrect link. This has been fixed. [3]
  • One new wiki has been created: a Wikiquote in Malay (q:ms:) [4]
  • Recurrent item View all 21 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, the User Info Card now displays currently active global lock/blocks. [5]

Updates for technical contributors

  • Later this week, editors using Lua modules will be able to use the mw.title.newBatch function to look up the existence of up to 25 pages at once, in a way that only increases the expensive function count once.
  • A new Unsupported Tools Working Group has been formed as part of ongoing efforts to collectively determine technical work priorities, similar to the Product & Technology Advisory Council (PTAC). The working group will help prioritize and review requests for support of unmaintained extensions, gadgets, bots, and tools. For the first cycle, the group will be prioritizing an unsupported Wikimedia Commons tool.
  • Recurrent item Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

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

MediaWiki message delivery 20:48, 29 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]