User talk:GhostInTheMachine

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

GhostInTheMachine • Talk • Barnstars • Help • Misc • Modules • Other • Layout • Photos • Projects • Scripts • Tidying • TidyingSD • UBX • WIP • 2025-11-06 14:06:31

Talk archive • 2006 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024 • 2025

This user knows that it can be a challenge to keep AGF in mind.

Is Lists of Olympic competitors really a list of lists?

[edit]

Hi, thank you for adding {{list of lists}} to List of Olympic competitors. This got me to thinking, is it really a list of lists, or is it just one multi-part list?

I'm leaning list-of-lists (agreeing with you) right now, so I added it to List of lists of lists#Sports. The one thing is I think that if the main page is pluralized that means all the sub-pages should be plural as well to match. Maybe a compromise could be to leave {{list of lists}} template / category, but move the page back to singular so all of them match? Curious for your thoughts. --Habst (talk) 00:46, 24 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The article itself contains links to lots of lists, so it seems OK to think of it as a list of lists. Since the article contains multiple lists, the article name should be Lists .... Each individual list "under" that is a single list, so should really remain as List ... — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 08:29, 26 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #219 is out: Accessing qualifiers in Wikidata statements

[edit]

There is a new update for Wikifunctions and Abstract Wikipedia. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we introduce the possibility of calling also qualifiers from Wikidata, we update you on the recent deployments of Wikifunctions and on the Wikifunctions presentations at Wikimedia events, we give you the recent updates on Types, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 17:46, 26 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]

The Oldest View - Categories

[edit]

Hi. I noticed that you've been assisting in placing categories for The Oldest View. Do you want me to follow the same structure as Parsons' Backrooms series or just leave it as it is?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backrooms_(web_series)#External_links Chadalvarez2021 (talk) 03:17, 4 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Don't over-think it. The categories are rather subjective. Is it SciFi or horror or both or something else? — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 07:25, 4 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #220 is out: Rich text now available in embedded function calls on 148 Wiktionaries and Incubator

[edit]

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we update you on the latest functions and types you can create, we announce that functions are now available to call on 152 projects, we talk about our presentations at Wikimedia meetings, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Also, we remind you that if you have questions or ideas to discuss, the next Volunteers' Corner will be held on October 6, at 17:30 UTC (link to the meeting).

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 08:55, 4 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-41

[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

  • Paste Check is a new Edit Check feature to help avoid and fight copyright violations. When editors paste text into an article, Paste Check prompts them to confirm the origin and licensing of the content. Starting Wednesday, 8 October, 22 wikis will test Paste Check. Paste Check will help new volunteers understand and follow the policies and guidelines necessary to make constructive contributions to Wikipedia projects.

Updates for editors

  • Mobile devices will receive mobile articles directly on the standard domain (like en.wikipedia.org), instead of via a redirect to an "m" domain (like en.m.wikipedia.org). This change improves performance. This week it will be enabled on Wikipedias. The existing mobile URLs and the "Desktop view" opt-out remain available. Learn more. [6]
  • New date filters, creationdate: and lasteditdate:, are now available in the wiki search engine. This allows users to filter search results by a page's first or last revision date. The filters support comparison operators (e.g. >2024) and relative dates (e.g. today-1d), making it easier to find recently updated content or pages within specific age ranges. [7]
  • Wikifunctions now supports rich text in embedded calls across the 150 wikis where it's enabled. To showcase this, the team created a Latin declination table that Wiktionary editors can use to automatically generate noun forms, producing clear, formatted results — see an example output. If you need any help or have any feedback, please contact the Wikifunctions Team. [8]
  • An edit link will now appear inside the categories box on article pages for logged in users, which will directly launch the VisualEditor category dialog. [9]
  • Recurrent item View all 34 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, there was a problem downloading pdf files last week and that has been resolved. [10]

Updates for technical contributors

  • The field rev_sha1 in the revision database table is being removed in favor of content_sha1 in the content database table. See the announcement for more information.
  • The Reader Experience team will roll out Dark Mode user interface on all Wikimedia sites on October 29, 2025. All anonymous users of Wikimedia sites will have the option to activate a color scheme that features light-colored text on a dark background. This is designed to provide a more comfortable reading experience, especially in low-light situations. Template authors and technical contributors are encouraged to learn how to make pages ready for Dark mode and address any compatibility issues found in templates in their wiki before the enablement. Please contact the Web team for questions or any support on this talk page before the enablement. [11]
  • Starting on Monday, October 6, API endpoints under the rest.php path will be rerouted through a new internal API Gateway. Individual wikis will be updated based on the standard release groups, with total traffic increased over time. This change is expected to be non-breaking and non-disruptive. If any issues are observed, please file a Phabricator ticket to the Service Ops team board. [12]
  • 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 17:19, 6 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Feedback request: Maths, science, and technology request for comment

[edit]

Your feedback is requested at Talk:Java (programming language) on a "Maths, science, and technology" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

(replacing Yapperbot) SodiumBot (botop|talk) 19:31, 7 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – October 2025

[edit]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2025).

Administrator changes

removed

CheckUser changes

removed Vanamonde93

Arbitration

  • After a motion, arbitration enforcement page protections no longer need to be logged in the AELOG. A bot now automatically posts protections at WP:AELOG/P. To facilitate this bot, protection summaries must include a link to the relevant CT page (e.g. [[WP:CT/BLP]]), and you will receive talk page reminders if you forget to specify the contentious topic but otherwise indicate it is an AE action.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:57, 8 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #221 is out: Decision on location for abstract content and Quarterly Planning for October–December

[edit]

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we introduce our naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we discuss our plans and work for the upcoming quarter (October-December 2025), we report on the next events we'll be part of, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 17:47, 9 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Precious anniversary

[edit]
Precious
Five years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:16, 12 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please don't move articles in AfD

[edit]

Hi, you just moved Sean Taylor (Singer-Songwriter) to Sean Taylor (singer-songwriter) without a redirect. This creates an issue for the current AfD and makes the process a little more annoying. Could you please fix up the AfD? Thanks. jolielover♥talk 16:53, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ah. Not sure how to fix the AfD, do I need to create a redirect? I added a comment — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 16:59, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I honestly don't know either lol, if I was in your position, I'd move the AfD itself... but something tells me that's not a smart move. Maybe ask an admin? jolielover♥talk 17:11, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
(forgot to mention, it's discouraged in WP:AFDEQ) jolielover♥talk 17:15, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, but it was all in the timing — the version on my screen that I moved was, at that moment, not yet AfDed — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 17:34, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I could move the AfD, but I also suspect that would just make things worse. As things stand, the article links to the AfD and the AfD now has one keep vote, so the issue may just go away. I will fire a flare and see if an admin needs to alter things — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 17:32, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I moved the article as it was being proposed for deletion. Does the AfD need to be unmangled in some way? Or can any unmangling be left until the close? Or is it OK enough and can be left as is? — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 17:32, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
  • I think by far the best solution to this is to return the article to its original title, and move it to the better title if the discussion closes as "keep", so I've reverted the move. In the past I've seen a number of kinds of confusion caused by page moves during deletion discussions, so I think it best to avoid them unless the title is really grossly unacceptable. JBW (talk) 14:29, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Thanks for the unmangling. We can worry about a decent title should the article end up being kept — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 15:02, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-42

[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

  • Last week, improvements to account security and two-factor authentication (2FA) features were enabled across all wikis. These changes include user interface improvements for Special:AccountSecurity, the support of multiple 2FA methods via authenticator apps and portable security keys (previously users could only enable one method), and a new Recovery Codes module which facilitates fewer account lockouts due to lost two-factor apps and devices. As part of the Account Security project, work is continuing through the rest of 2025 on further user experience improvements, and support for passkeys as an alternate second factor.

Updates for editors

  • Another part of the Account security project is making 2FA generally available to all users. Along with editors with advanced privileges, such as administrators and bureaucrats, 40% of editors now have access to 2FA. You can check if you have access at Special:AccountSecurity. Instructions for activation are on the linked page. The plan is to continue increasing availability if it is determined that the user support capabilities are able to support global usage. [13]
  • This week, users at wikis where talk page Usability Improvements are already available by default (everywhere except the 12 wikis listed in T379264) will gain the ability to Thank a comment directly from the talk page it appears on. Before this change, Thanking could only be done by visiting the revision history of the talk page. You can learn more about this change. [14]
  • Users who have not verified their email address will soon be receiving monthly Notification reminders to do so. This is because users who have verified their email can more easily recover their account. These reminders will not be sent if the user is inactive or removes the unverified email from their account. [15][16]
  • Recurrent item View all 21 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, a fix was made for an occasional error with saving translated paragraphs in the Content Translation tool, and the related error messages are now easier to see. [17]

Updates for technical contributors

  • The Unsupported Tools Working Group has chosen Video2Commons as the first tool for its pilot cycle. The group will explore ways to improve and sustain the tool over the coming months. Learn more on Meta.
  • 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 18:56, 13 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #222 is out: Kicking Off the Naming Contest for Abstract Wikipedia; Visualizing functions

[edit]

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we kickstart our naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we present a beautiful representation of functions by a community member, we report on the next events we'll be part of, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 17:04, 15 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Adding further detail to the Domtar page

[edit]

Hi GhostInTheMachine, I’m from Kekst CNC, a global communications agency that works with Domtar to manage its communications.

We're engaging as a member of the Wikipedia community having signed the official agency/Wikipedia agreement set out here Wikipedia:Statement_on_Wikipedia_from_participating_communications_firms. This means we follow guidelines, most importantly understanding we have COI, meaning we let members of the Wikipedia community decide (or not decide) to make changes for us.

We would like to make some factual additions to the Domtar page to improve its content further. Please find these below. In summary, the requests we have are to: 1. Update to include the full picture of products and services that Domtar delivers 2. Add a section that includes recent coverage of sustainability initiatives Domtar participates in 3. Add more factual information about the acquisition by Paper Excellence 4. Add more factual information about Domtar’s other locations

We kindly ask that you review the copy shared below, and if you are happy with them, add them to the page? Thanks!

...//

Overview

While Domtar operated independently for several decades and was listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, the company was acquired by Paper Excellence Group in November 2021 and operated as a subsidiary until 2024 when Paper Excellence merged its companies under the Domtar name.[1]

Specifically, Domtar designs, manufactures, markets and distributes a wide range of forest products used everyday around the world. Their product offerings include: 1. Business, commercial printing, and publication papers with recognized brands such as Cougar®, Lynx® , Husky®, and Domtar EarthChoice® Office Paper, part of a family of environmentally and socially responsible uncoated freesheet papers[2] 2. Technical and specialty uncoated papers such as security papers and food packaging [3] 3. 100 percent recycled containerboard used to manufacture corrugated packaging[4]

Domtar owns and operates Ariva, formerly known as Domtar Distribution Group, an extensive network of paper distribution facilities.[5]

Sustainability initiatives

In April 2025, Domtar was recognized by Corporate Knights as one of the 25 most sustainable private companies in the world.[6]

On May 6, 2025, Domtar announced a new Sustainability Strategy outlining performance metrics and benchmarks through 2030, focusing on its woodlands and manufacturing operations in Canada and the United States.[7] The strategy aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and is structured around three core pillars, Environmental Stewardship, Our People and Communities, and Responsible Business, with 12 strategic objectives and associated performance targets for 2026 and 2030.[8]

In August 2025, Domtar was named a Sustainable Development Goal Leader, and a documentary film was produced in recognition of their sustainability efforts and strategy.[9]

The company released its first post-integration sustainability report, representing all business units, in October 2025.[10]

Acquisition by Paper Excellence

On May 11, 2021, privately held forest products company Paper Excellence announced that it was acquiring Domtar Corp. for US$2.8-billion.

Two years later, Paper Excellence Group acquired Resolute Forest Products, and in October 2024, Paper Excellence Group rebranded under the Domtar name, integrating Domtar Corporation, Resolute Forest Products, and Paper Excellence. Sister company Fibre Excellence, based in France, continues to operate separately.[11]

Other locations

As of 2019, amongst the COVID-19 outbreak, Domtar announced a temporary reduction at its paper-making capacity at its Kingsport Mill, Tennessee due to decreased demand during the pandemic. The Kingsport Mill was then converted to the company's first 100 percent recycled containerboard manufacturing facility,[12] which opened in May 2023.[13] Domtar is the second-largest recycler in the state of Tennessee.[14]

Permanent paper machine closures were completed at the Ashdown, Arkansas pulp and paper mill, and the Port Huron, Michigan paper mill. The company has indefinitely idled its Grenada newsprint mill as of September 2025.[15] AmeliaP KCNC (talk) 17:03, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

References

  1. ^ https://www.recyclingtoday.com/news/paper-excellence-group-rebrands-as-domtar-resolute-forest-products/
  2. ^ https://wedc.org/success-in-wisconsin/success-stories/employee-pride-product-excellence-drive-papers-success/
  3. ^ https://www.kingsresearch.com/blog/ultimate-guide-top-10-specialty-paper-companies
  4. ^ https://www.pulpapernews.com/20240906/15995/domtar-kingsport-mill-named-2024-business-recycler-year
  5. ^ http://www.ariva.ca/en/about.htm
  6. ^ https://www.corporateknights.com/rankings/other-rankings-reports/2025-private-25/the-25-most-sustainable-private-companies-in-the-world/
  7. ^ https://www.pulpapernews.com/20250827/16940/domtar-outlines-2030-sustainability-strategy
  8. ^ https://www.woodworkingnetwork.com/news/woodworking-industry-news/domtar-releases-sustainability-strategy-plan
  9. ^ https://tissueonlinenorthamerica.com/jackson-wijayas-domtar-featured-in-documentary-showcasing-2030-sustainability-vision/
  10. ^ https://stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2025/10/07/domtar-releases-first-post-integration-sustainability-report-marking-a-milestone
  11. ^ https://www.recyclingtoday.com/news/paper-excellence-group-rebrands-as-domtar-resolute-forest-products/
  12. ^ https://www.packaging-gateway.com/projects/domtars-containerboard-production-facility-kingsport-tennessee/
  13. ^ https://www.recyclingtoday.com/news/domtar-completes-kingsport-conversion-recycled-packaging-mill/
  14. ^ https://www.timesnews.net/business/domtar-named-tennessee-recycling-coalition-s-2024-business-recycler-of-the-year/article_e0856ebe-66f1-11ef-b577-8f248cc5e519.html
  15. ^ https://magnoliatribune.com/2025/09/11/domtar-shuttering-grenada-paper-mill-impacting-more-than-150-employees/

October 2025

[edit]

Stop icon You currently appear to be engaged in an edit war, according to the reverts you've made to List of prime numbers. This means that you are repeatedly reverting content back to how you think it should be, despite knowing that other editors disagree. Once it is known that there is a disagreement, users are expected to collaborate with others, avoid editing disruptively, and try to reach a consensus – rather than repeatedly reverting the changes made by other users.

Important points to note:

  1. Edit warring is disruptive behavior – regardless of how many reverts you have made;
  2. Do not engage in edit warring – even if you believe that you are right.

You need to discuss the disagreement on the article's talk page and work towards a revision that represents consensus among everyone involved. You can post a request for help at an appropriate noticeboard or seek dispute resolution if discussions reach an impasse. In some cases, it may be appropriate to request temporary page protection. If you continue to engage in edit warring, you may be blocked from editing. --JBL (talk) 22:31, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The description of the IP's edit as "vandalism" is also grossly inappropriate. Per WP:BRD, Mikeblas carried out a bold edit, the IP reverted, and now discussion should continue on the talk-page with the status quo ante in place until a consensus has been reached in favor of the change to a long-standing status. --JBL (talk) 22:32, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-43

[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.

Updates for editors

  • To optimize how user data is stored in our databases, the saved preferences of users who haven't logged in for over five years and have fewer than 100 edits will be cleared. When those users return, default settings will apply. [18]
  • Recurrent item View all 20 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, there was a broken link from the GlobalContributions interface message to the XTools GlobalContributions page which has now been fixed. [19]

Updates for technical contributors

  • The work to reroute all traffic to API endpoints under the rest.php route through a common API gateway is now complete. If any issues are observed, please file a phabricator ticket to the Service Ops team board.
  • Edits to Wikidata references or qualifiers will now be shown in RecentChanges and Watchlist entries on other wikis less often, reducing unnecessary notifications. This will reduce the overall quantity of 'noisy' entries. Wikidata's own pages remain unchanged. [20]
  • 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 19:32, 20 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #223 is out: Welcome Zaree and Laura! Naming contest round 1 kicked off

[edit]

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we welcome two new additions to the team, we update you on our naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we report on the next events we'll be part of, and we take a look at the latest software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 21:10, 23 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-44

[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.

Updates for editors

  • The Wikipedia iOS app has launched an A/B/C test of improvements made to the tabbed browsing feature for select regions and languages. The test, named “More dynamic tabs”, explores new tab experiences and includes “Did you know” and “Because you read” article recommendations. You can read more on the project page.
  • Autoconfirmed users on small and medium wikis with the CampaignEvents extension can now use Event Registration without the Event Organizer right. This feature lets organizers enable registration, manage participants, and lets users register with one click instead of signing event pages.
  • Recurrent item View all 31 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, the issue of flashing colors when holding or pressing the arrow keys under the dark mode settings in Vector 2022 has been fixed. [21]

Updates for technical contributors

  • The CampaignEvents extension will be deployed to all remaining wikis during the week of 17 November 2025. The extension currently includes three features: Event Registration, Collaboration List, and Invitation List. For this rollout, Invitation List will not be enabled on Wikifunctions and MediaWiki unless requested by those communities. Visit the deployment page to learn more.
  • The SwaggerUI-based REST sandbox experience is now live on all wiki projects. The sandbox can be accessed through the Special:RestSandbox page. Please report any issues to the MediaWiki Interfaces team board, or join the discussion on the project launch page. [22]
  • Transform endpoints with a trailing slash path in the MediaWiki REST API are now marked as deprecated. They will remain functional during this time, but removal is expected by the end of January 2026. All API users currently calling them are encouraged to transition to the non-trailing slash versions. Both endpoint variations can be found and tested using the REST Sandbox. See the MediaWiki REST API Deprecation page for more detailed information about the API deprecation policies and procedures.
  • A dedicated changelog now exists for the MediaWiki REST API. The changelog provides an overview of these changes, making it easier for developers to keep track of improvements and iterations. Announcements will also continue to flow through the standard communication channels, including Tech News and email distribution lists, but can now be more easily referenced from a central location. If you have feedback about the style, structure, or content of this changelog, please join the discussion.
  • Administrators can delete the tracking category which was previously added by the JsonConfig extension, as it is no longer used. See the categories linked from Q130635582. It is OK if there are still pages listed in the category as that is just a caching issue, and they will be automatically cleared out the next time each page is edited. [23]
  • 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 19:28, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #224 is out: Round 1 of “abstract content wiki” naming vote ending Monday; An example of short descriptions

[edit]

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we update you on our naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we announce our first experimentation with short descriptions on Wikidata, we talk about our presentations at the upcoming WikidataCon 2025, and we take a look at the latest Type and software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Also, we remind you that if you have questions or ideas to discuss, the next Volunteers' Corner will be held on November 3, at 18:30 UTC (link to the meeting).

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 13:48, 30 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Terse and unhelpful short descriptions

[edit]

I don't understand why you are editing short descriptions down to the point where they become useless to visitors. SDs have two principal uses (a) topic searches and (b) See Also lists where they help readers identify what lies behind an obscure topic name.

You may have missed the fact that the previous 40 character rule no longer applies (except to advise editors that there is an error in the app for iPhones where it fails to display anything beyond that). If you want to hunt down overly lengthy SDs, the focus now is on those >95 chars. 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 10:38, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

And WP:SDFORMAT says be written in plain text – without any type of markup or pictorial elements. It does not say ASCII characters only. Nor should it. --𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 10:57, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please read WP:SDFORMAT more carefully. The 40 character limit is still a strong requirement and plain text means plain. The two articles are being flagged in an error report — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 11:05, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
(a) No, SDFORMAT says "short", 40 characters is a guideline. If the result is to make the SD useless, then it is self-defeating. And it only got to be 40 because of the error in the iPhone version of the app. The rest of the world does not have that problem.
(b) Can you point me to the error report because if it is flagging characters in widespread use, then there is something seriously wrong with it. 𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 11:12, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

FYI, I have just opened a discussion, Wikipedia talk:Short description#SDFORMAT: "plain text" to debate the issue. --𝕁𝕄𝔽 (talk) 11:54, 2 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"List of FNCS winners" title

[edit]

Hey @GhostInTheMachine! I argue keeping the "FNCS" acronym in this title is appropriate. The tournament was named differently a few years ago, but the acronym has always been the same. In a way, early FNCS winners weren't Fortnite Championship Series winners – the tournament wasn't called that then. Do you agree? Rockfighterz M (talk) 14:02, 3 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not really. The initials FNCS mean nothing to most people, so expanding to use full words really helps. If the expansion of the initials changed at some point, then there is an argument for two articles — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 14:11, 3 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Sure, I see that. I suppose your title is better for those who don't know much about Fortnite, which is most readers here. On a "Fortnite fandom", the former title would have been better, I guess. Rockfighterz M (talk) 14:27, 3 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]
If there has been a change of name, then it would help if you added a note about that to the article lead section — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 14:30, 3 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-45

[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.

Updates for editors

  • Administrators will now find that Special:MergeHistory is now significantly more flexible about what it can merge. It can now merge sections taken from the middle of the history of the source (rather than only the start) and insert revisions anywhere in the history of the destination page (rather than only the start). [24]
  • For users with "Automatically subscribe to topics" enabled in their preferences, starting a new topic or adding a reply to an existing topic will now subscribe them to replies to that topic. Previously, this would only happen if the DiscussionTools "Add topic" or "Reply" widgets were used. When DiscussionTools was originally launched existing accounts were not opted in to automatic topic subscriptions, so this change should primarily affect newer accounts and users who have deliberately changed their preferences since that time. [25]
  • Scribunto modules can now be used to generate SVG images. This can be used to build charts, graphics and other visualizations dynamically through Lua, reducing the need to compose them externally and upload them as files. [26]
  • Wikimedia sites now provide all anonymous users with the option to enable a dark mode color scheme, featuring light-colored text on a dark background. This enhancement aims to deliver a more enjoyable reading experience, especially in dimly lit environments. [27]
  • Users with large watchlists have long faced timeouts when editing Special:EditWatchlist. The page now loads entries in smaller sections instead of all at once due to a paging update, allowing everyone to edit their watchlists smoothly. As part of the database update, sorting by expiry has been removed because it was over 100× slower than sorting by title. A community wish has been created to explore alternative ways to restore sort-by-expiry. If this feature is important to you, please support the wish! [28]
  • Recurrent item View all 31 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, the fixing of the persisting highlighting when using VisualEditor find and replace during a query. [29]

Updates for technical contributors

  • Since 2019 the Wikimedia URL Shortener at https://w.wiki is available for all Wikimedia wikis to create short links to articles, permalinks, diffs, etc. It is available in the sidebar as "Get shortened URL". There are 30 wikis that also install an older "ShortUrl" extension. The old extension will soon be removed. This means /s/ URLs will not be advertised under article titles via HTML class="title-shortlink". The /s/ URLs will keep working. [30]
  • On Thursday, October 30, the MediaWiki Interfaces and SRE Service Operations teams began rerouting Action API traffic through a common API gateway. Individual wikis will be updated based on the standard release groups, with total traffic increased over time. This change is expected to be non-breaking and non-disruptive. If any issues are observed, please file a Phabricator ticket to the Service Ops team board.
  • MediaWiki Train deployments will pause for the final two weeks of 2025: 22 December and 29 December. Backport windows will also pause between Monday, 22 December 2025 and Thursday, 2 January 2026. A backport window is a scheduled time to add things like bug fixes and configuration changes. There are seven deployment trains remaining for 2025. [31]
  • Recurrent item Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

In depth

  • In 2025, the Wikimedia Foundation reported that AI systems and search engines increasingly use Wikipedia content without driving users to the site, contributing to an 8% drop in human pageviews compared to 2024. After detecting bots disguised as humans, Wikimedia updated its traffic data to reflect this shift. Read more about current user trends on Wikipedia in a Diff blog post.

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

MediaWiki message delivery 19:30, 3 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – November 2025

[edit]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2025).

Administrator changes

added Toadspike
removed

CheckUser changes

added asilvering

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

Arbitration

Miscellaneous

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:34, 4 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Wikifunctions & Abstract Wikipedia Newsletter #225 is out: First round of voting for naming the wiki for abstract content closed; Calling for Wiktionary functions; Embedded Wikifunctions on Bengali Wikipedia and seven more Wiktionaries

[edit]

There is a new update for Abstract Wikipedia and Wikifunctions. Please, come and read it!

In this issue, we update you on the closing of the first phase of the naming contest for Abstract Wikipedia, we introduce a possible implementation of Wikifunctions for Wiktionaries, we talk about our latest outreach events, and we take a look at the latest Type and software developments.

Want to catch up with the previous updates? Check our archive!

Enjoy the reading! -- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 14:06, 6 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]