User talk:Shizhao

欢迎到Wikipedia!

有些有用的链接 (Some useful links);

If you have any questions, see the help pages or add a question to the village pump.

Angela 01:01, 28 Aug 2003 (UTC)

SanSan

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Hi. I'm the author of this map. What license do you need for Wikipedia? I didn't have a problem with it being used when I uploaded it years ago, and I still don't. Sheesh. Citynoise (talk) 18:39, 16 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Summary field

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Can you put into the summary field either "zh-tw:", "zh:" or "zh-cn" whenever you insert an interlanguage link? Thanks, Jiang/talk 02:16, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Yes. --Shizhao 02:46, 18 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Shizhao, I believe that the interwiki links to the Chinese article on the airplane should stay. I don't understand why you would not want them... WhisperToMe 00:27, 19 Dec 2003 (UTC)

In Chinese, 飞机 no Aircraft,Aircraft is 航空器. aeroplanes = 飞机--Shizhao 02:02, 19 Dec 2003 (UTC)
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Shizhao - in general, interwiki links belong at the bottom of an article, not the top. →Raul654 00:38, Apr 1, 2004 (UTC)

thanks!--Shizhao 00:52, 1 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Moved copyvio

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I moved your copyright violation listing from WP:IfD to Wikipedia:copyright problems. Just so you know. grendel|khan 12:47, 2004 May 26 (UTC)

Thanks Shizhao, I took the information and copied it, then erased it, so as not to invade your privacy. I will give you a call tomorrow. Danny 03:08, 27 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Hmmm. I will find a solution. Danny 03:28, 27 May 2004 (UTC)[reply]

Yantai picture

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Hello. Thanks for uploading Image:Sd-yantai.png. I notice it currently doesn't have an image copyright tag, so I don't know its copyright status. Did you make this image yourself? If not, do you know where the image originally came from? Any information you could give me would be very much appreciated. Quadell (talk) (help)[[]] 00:56, Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)

Hi! Could you translate (may be briefly only) this article in Chinese. Note, taht native spelling of this city is Qazan. Thanks! --Untifler 19:41, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Article Licensing

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Hi, I've started a drive to get users to multi-license all of their contributions that they've made to either (1) all U.S. state, county, and city articles or (2) all articles, using the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike (CC-by-sa) v1.0 and v2.0 Licenses or into the public domain if they prefer. The CC-by-sa license is a true free documentation license that is similar to Wikipedia's license, the GFDL, but it allows other projects, such as WikiTravel, to use our articles. Since you are among the top 2000 Wikipedians by edits, I was wondering if you would be willing to multi-license all of your contributions or at minimum those on the geographic articles. Over 90% of people asked have agreed. For More Information:

To allow us to track those users who muli-license their contributions, many users copy and paste the "{{DualLicenseWithCC-BySA-Dual}}" template into their user page, but there are other options at Template messages/User namespace. The following examples could also copied and pasted into your user page:

Option 1
I agree to [[Wikipedia:Multi-licensing|multi-license]] all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:
{{DualLicenseWithCC-BySA-Dual}}

OR

Option 2
I agree to [[Wikipedia:Multi-licensing|multi-license]] all my contributions to any [[U.S. state]], county, or city article as described below:
{{DualLicenseWithCC-BySA-Dual}}

Or if you wanted to place your work into the public domain, you could replace "{{DualLicenseWithCC-BySA-Dual}}" with "{{MultiLicensePD}}". If you only prefer using the GFDL, I would like to know that too. Please let me know what you think at my talk page. It's important to know either way so no one keeps asking. -- Ram-Man (comment| talk)

DS image

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i believe the DS image i uploaded is a lot cleaner and visually appealing than the real picture of the PSP and DS. I do not understand its attempt at deletion. Lockeownzj00 02:11, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Bot doing weird things with interwiki

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Hi, Shizhao. If you could take a look at, say, Category:1991 births where your robot has just added a number of interwiki links. Now the problem is that those interwiki links are there twice, which looks rather weird. I suspect it is because of the template at Template:birthyr, which already includes interwiki links to Czech, German, French, Japanese, Norwegian, Slovenian and Chinese. Is there any way you could stop your bot from adding those specific languages to the birth years categories, and if there is, would you be kind enough to do so? Thanks, Sam Vimes 13:50, 25 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Appeal

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Hi, Shizao. Please do not add interwikis (de, fr, ja, no, zh) to the "births" and "deaths" Categories. These interwikis are already a part of "birthyr" and "deathyr" template. Look for example on Category:1973 births. Interwikis are doubled. Can you remove redundant interwikis from these categories, please? -- Darwinek 16:43, 25 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry--

Shizhao 17:58, 25 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Dubious bot edit to mu

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http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mu_%28letter%29&diff=22209429&oldid=19701491

You removed de even though it was immediately obvious without any need to be able to read german what the correct way of disambiguating it was. You also moved ja out of order at the same time. Please take at least some care when updating interwikis. Plugwash 23:34, 30 August 2005 (UTC)[reply]

User Categorization

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You were listed on the Wikipedia:Wikipedians/China page as living in or being associated with Beijing. As part of the Wikipedia:User categorisation project, these lists are being replaced with user categories. If you would like to add yourself to the category that is replacing the page, please visit Category:Wikipedians in Beijing for instructions. Rmky87 16:22, 18 September 2005 (UTC)[reply]


我的用戶號碼又被封了

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您好Shizhao,由於找不到閣下的電子郵件,只得在英文版跟您通話,我的用戶號碼又被封了,這次又不知是什麼原因,請閣下儘快解封我的IP,謝謝。--Iflwlou 18:58, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Shizhao, because I am unfind your Email address,only converses you in English version , my user name has been seal again, I do not know what reason, please solution to seal my IP as soon as possible, thanks. --Iflwlou 18:58, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Image removal

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I don't get it, why are you removing images from a whole bunch of articles? Dragons flight 20:25, 7 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Removal of images

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Can you tell me why you are removing images from articles? You left no reasoning on the dicussion page why you removed the images, nor did you give any advance warning of your action.

All of the images that you removed from Dodge Dart were posted under the "Promotional" tag and used in a fair manner under those tags. I have replaced the images that you removed.

If you continue to do this I will involve an Admin in this manner. Stude62 13:22, 14 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A notation on your edits state that you removed the images from Commons. Can I ask that in the future that you use the comment line at the time you act. It helps us to understand why the images are being deleted. Stude62 13:43, 14 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

You've reverted an EU sourced image of Chris Patten to a US government sourced, poorer image with no reason given whilst presumably migrating it to the commons. Going backwards doesn't help wikipedia.--Sully 18:30, 19 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you ! It is very nice of you to take the time to remove the broken links here at en:. Much appreciated! Jkelly 19:58, 14 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

有名

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你是有名的!! :)Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2006-02-20/China revisited [1] --pfctdayelise (translate?) 09:06, 24 February 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding your IFD noms

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When you are nominating images for deletion, please follow guidelines and notify the uploader appropriately. If the procedure is not followed, the images that were nominated cannot be deleted, even if there is a valid reason for it. Can I have your buy-in on this, as this would help all of us build and maintain Wikipedia? Thank you. -- Joe Beaudoin Jr. Think out loud 03:37, 2 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Spam blacklist

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You have listed the domain 167bt.com to the spam blacklist. An editor has requested that it be removed. Please leave a comment either on this page or on Meta regarding what I should do about this request. Thanks Naconkantari 21:18, 24 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Image:Header.jpg listed for deletion

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An image or media file that you uploaded or altered, Image:Header.jpg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Images and media for deletion. Please look there to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. Selket Talk 22:56, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

deleting drizt pic

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Wikipedia:Images_and_media_for_deletion/2007_April_9#Image:Drizztsojourn.JPG I would like to inform whoever this guy is, that the reference you have given :http://www.o-love.net/realms/head_elf.html is the set of OLD book covers, where as http://www.o-love.net/realms/head_dri.html#Homeland is the set of the new book covers, and the image is the third book. Also, this reference you gave is NOT offical, thus could even be wrong. Think twice before doing something similar again, o brother of China. --Cynehelm 11:04, 9 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

你懂不懂我在說三小朋友啊, 中國人--Cynehelm 17:09, 13 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You were mess-up. The interwiki link you add (es, id and zh) are article for a specify mech, not list. While the link you remove (th) is the list like this article, just pure list without description. L-Zwei (talk) 14:07, 7 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

致SHIZHAO兄

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我是中文維基上的1j1z2,要是您在2008-08-05 23:00(UTC+8)之前看到這個留言,請到meta的USERCHECK上看我的最新留言--1j1z2 (talk) 06:13, 5 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just a quick notice that your bot has been blocked for running without approval. Please get it approved at Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval before starting it again. (Note: I'm not 100% sure that this is your bot, if it isn't sorry for disturbing you) --Chris 13:48, 5 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Just a note: he has an open request on meta for a global bot flag, but not granted yet. Shizhao, I'd suggest waiting for that to be completed before you do anything more with this bot. You could also request a flag here, if Meta doesn't grant you one. I'm not too familiar with the Chinese Wikipedia, but please be aware that English Wikipedia tends to insist on a strict bot policy, so you need approval even for testing. Meanwhile, thank you for contributing to the interwiki work. It's sorely needed. Gavia immer (talk) 14:54, 5 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

List

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Do you know where can I find an up-to-date list of township-level divisions (xiang) of Yunnan Province? Thank you!--40fifw0 (talk) 02:35, 16 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

AfD nomination of List of places by name

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An article that you have been involved in editing, List of places by name, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of places by name. Thank you. GDibyendu (talk) 09:42, 30 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]


基督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong的栽赃和胡乱确认傀儡加以封杀用户

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我的帐号,User:Jediarc,被基督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong封杀。请大家看看User:Jediarc的贡献,破坏维基了吗?应该被封吗?基督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong封杀Jediarc的理由是“"确认为傀儡: 使用傀儡User:石皮土不破坏。如果阁下对此有异议,请向本人发email申诉"”。如果我发email给督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong,会有用吗?User:石皮土不根本不是我,可以查一下。?User:石皮土不的贡献中所写的你们说你们不是汉奸洋奴,那你们为什么要建立Wikipedia:维基小天使?天使是西方宗教里面的,你们分明是崇拜西方宗教,你们还敢说自己不是汉奸洋奴?—石皮土不 (留言) 2008年11月4日 (二) 05:45 (UTC) ” ,这根本不是我的观念。天使怎么会是西方宗教里面?中国文化中本就有天使的概念。请问基督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong,你凭什么确认User:石皮土不User:Jediarc的傀儡?管理员能够随便确认一个用户是傀儡吗?这不是随便栽赃一个人吗?User:Jediarc本身破坏维基了,还是对维基有贡献?为什么要封杀?应该怎么处理,希望维基参与者共同来讨论一下。 -流星天使 (留言) 2008年11月4日 (二) 16:52 (UTC) -(我是流星天使,但是好像一登陆流星天使就不能发言,所以重新注册了一个账户)Gdiarc (留言) 2008年11月4日 (二) 17:43 (UTC)

以上是User:1j1z2删除掉我的投诉。

另外,我佩服两个独裁的白种亚当子孙基督徒1j1z2、Gzdavidwongd的配合,甚至让人不得不怀疑这是不是一个人的两个傀儡账号,尽管可能不是(白种亚当子孙可能是个侮辱,实在忍无可忍。基督徒、独裁都是事实)。连接

  • (当前) (先前) 2008年11月4日 (二) 16:58 1j1z2 (对话 | 贡献) (47,430字节) (undo vandalism)
  • (当前) (先前) 2008年11月4日 (二) 16:57 Gzdavidwong (对话 | 贡献) 小 (保护 Wikipedia:互助客栈/其他: 被IP用户或新用户破坏: 十字军大屠杀傀儡破坏 ([edit=autoconfirmed] (终止于 2008年11月5日 (三) 16:57 (UTC)) [move=autoconfirmed] (终止于 2008年11月5日 (三) 16:57 (UTC))))

有关争议,参见

希望你能关注维基上最大的独裁迫害行为,基督徒管理员制造的这个问题,并讨论建一个防止独裁的不扼杀人的制度。谢谢。 -Gdiarc (留言) 2008年11月4日 (二) 17:43 (UTC)

以上内容,Gdiarc刚才在几个行政员、管理员的讨论页上留言,Gdiarc的贡献,刚才又被白种亚当子孙基督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong全部给删除了。他有权利去删除别人讨论页上的内容吗? -(Gdiarc被基督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong封了以后重新注册的账号)Gediarc (留言) 2008年11月4日 (二) 18:29 (UTC)

User:石皮土不”并不是我的傀儡,也就是说不是User:Jediarc的傀儡。但基督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong却栽赃“User:石皮土不User:Jediarc。请求你帮我提出做一个Check User。谢谢。希望大家都来讨论,制止基督徒管理员的独裁行为。 -Gediarc (留言) 2008年11月4日 (二) 18:29 (UTC)

以上中文版被基督徒管理员User:Gzdavidwong删除,只好到这里给你留言(连接如果要能正确显示,请找中文版,或者把这段复制到中文版去看)。如果你不希望本条留言留在这里,请看完后删除。打扰。 -Gediarc (talk) 18:48, 4 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

忘了说,我在英语版的账号是:User:Dicting。有事情请留言。 -Gediarc (talk) 19:11, 4 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Craig Gardner Image

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Hi there I don't really do much on Wiki any more but if you look at all the images that have added the villa player ones all come from my friend called Justin who said we could use them?

Photo request

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Would you mind photographing the Air China headquarters in Shunyi District whenever it is convenient and whenever the weather permits it? Thanks. WhisperToMe (talk) 12:12, 8 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi there Shizhao, and thanks for running this useful bot. However, I noticed that it's currently adding interwikis to template pages. Since pywikipedia does not work properly for adding interwikis to template on the English Wikipedia, please disable this. For an example of an error by the bot see this edit (the interwikis should have been added to the documentation page), for our policy regarding this please see Wikipedia:BOTPOL#Restrictions_on_specific_tasks. I'd also appreciate it if you could clear up any errors the bot may have madeon template pages. Best, - Kingpin13 (talk) 10:05, 12 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

May 2010

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Thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia. When you make a change to an article, please provide an edit summary for your edits. Doing so helps everyone to understand the intention of your edit. It is also helpful to users reading the edit history of the page. Thank you. Acather96 (talk) 19:34, 23 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

You are now a Reviewer

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Hello. Your account has been granted the "reviewer" userright, allowing you to review other users' edits on certain flagged pages. Pending changes, also known as flagged protection, is currently undergoing a two-month trial scheduled to end 15 August 2010.

Reviewers can review edits made by users who are not autoconfirmed to articles placed under pending changes. Pending changes is applied to only a small number of articles, similarly to how semi-protection is applied but in a more controlled way for the trial. The list of articles with pending changes awaiting review is located at Special:OldReviewedPages.

When reviewing, edits should be accepted if they are not obvious vandalism or BLP violations, and not clearly problematic in light of the reason given for protection (see Wikipedia:Reviewing process). More detailed documentation and guidelines can be found here.

If you do not want this userright, you may ask any administrator to remove it for you at any time. Courcelles (talk) 18:10, 19 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Template:Infobox album ‎

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Hello, your edit to Template:Infobox album apparently broke the "Singles" functionality. I have gone ahead and reverted. Thanks, -- Gyrofrog (talk) 20:13, 19 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think it did actually, that was due to my mistake on Template:Singles. However I don't think the edit you made would have had any effect. "Class" without a number is not a recognised parameter of {{infobox}}. — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:25, 20 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Actually I am more interested in how you edited this fully protected template as you don't appear to be an administrator? — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:28, 20 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]
sorry, error edit -Shizhao (talk) 12:01, 20 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Shizhao

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Shizhao, do you speak Russian? Mr. Lyon Kiborg 20:33, 2 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Tor exit

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Hello Shizhao, I'm facing some restrictions you've implaced on global. Specifically speaking, I cannot contribute/edit/reply messages on more than one occasions when certain messages pops up telling me that I cannot do so due to my end being a Tor Exit or Open Proxy (I get mostly the former but sometimes the latter too). Is there anyway to help me solve this problem? Best. (注:如有不懂之处,我也能以中文与你沟通,谢谢!) --Dave ♠♣♥♦™№1185©♪♫® 17:44, 3 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

请告诉我被认为是Tor exit的IP,如果顾虑隐私问题,可以写信到steward-l,或者也可以申请IP block exemption权限--Shizhao (talk) 01:17, 6 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Global block

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Hi Shizhao, you have global blocked becuase I use open proxy but it is very difficult for me to contribute on En WP and En WN. Please unblock my ip. Thanks. --Saqib Qayyum (talk) 07:13, 18 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Another Global Block

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Good evening, Shizhao. I've got a blocked user requesting unblock. Apparently, their IP was blocked globally by you, and is set to expire in October 2011. Could you have a look? The account here on en.wiki is User talk:Akbeer. Even if it's a "Sorry, no chance", some insight would be welcome. Thanks again! UltraExactZZ Said ~ Did 13:18, 13 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Eclipses

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Hello,

Can you please explain why you think that WP:CRYSTAL applies to articles about future eclipses? That policy is intended to prevent articles based on speculation. There is nothing speculative about eclipses in the next 100 years - their dates and characteristics are perfectly predictable and encyclopedic articles can be (and have been) written about them. Cullen328 (talk) 04:59, 31 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Block on Akbeer

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I see that you have still not responded to the request for a comment on the unblock request at User talk:Akbeer. The user has now been waiting for nearly three weeks. Can you comment? Even a simple dismissal would be better than leaving the issue unresolved. JamesBWatson (talk) 11:37, 31 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Ignoring KeepLocal template

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Hi Shizhao, in deleting File:Ohms law vectors.svg did you have a reason for ignoring the {{KeepLocal}} template or did you just not notice it? SpinningSpark 23:55, 8 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]

A barnstar for you!

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The Admin's Barnstar
不懈的管理员 Aoke1989 (talk) 11:28, 3 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Mistaken global account lock

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Since you're the one who locked my account, kindly see meta:Steward requests/Global#Global unlock for CaliforniaAliBaba. 61.18.170.45 (talk) 16:13, 9 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Jayalaithaa

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http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=J._Jayalalithaa&action=historysubmit&diff=447700445&oldid=447699513 Help needed in incorporating the facts present in my version and to stop monopoly of certain users (names can be seen in history page).Typekept (talk) 18:56, 31 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Fair use image

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What is wrong with using a fair use image in Chonma-ho ? - ☣Tourbillon A ? 06:58, 16 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Another check

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I see you've made a comment at WP:OPP regarding a possible open proxy on 70.125.85.158. Could you please also check this one as you had blocked it globally. I have also left you a message regarding this block on your meta user page. Thank you!--Jezebel'sPonyobons mots 04:21, 4 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

This is still open, awaiting your input regarding the global block. Could you please review the WP:OPP report on IP 222.166.181.218 as soon as you are able? Thank you, --Jezebel'sPonyobons mots 22:26, 10 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Page Curation newsletter

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Hey Shizhao. I'm dropping you a note because you've been using the Page Curation suite recently - this is just to let you know that we've deployed the final version :). There's some help documentation Wikipedia:Page Curation/Introductionhere that shows off all the features, just in case there are things you're not familiar with. If you find any bugs or have requests for new features, let us know here. Thanks! Okeyes (WMF) (talk) 12:01, 24 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Wikimedia Chrome apps

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Hi Shizhao. I am a fan of the Chrome apps you created for various WMF wikis, and use them regularly. You may be aware of the WMF's newest project, Wikivoyage, of which I am an avid editor. It would be great if you could create an app for Wikivoyage in Chrome (if there is no cost, of course). It would bring the new wiki even more exposure and give us a 1-up on the competition. Thanks in advance, JamesA >talk 02:45, 31 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Vandalism in Russian Wikipedia

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Dear steward! Circassian Cossacks from Russian Wikipedia headed by Pessimist2006 from the military prosecutor's office in Minsk and Alex Smotrov from the Greater Circassia in the USA claim that Rodzayevsky is the father of Russian liberalism and democracy. In their opinion, almost all Chinese assassinated diring the WWII, were Jews and Rodzayevsky had invited the Japanese to China to liberate Russia and China from Jews. The lands of China, Russia, Ukraine and the USA are to be owned by the Greater Circassia, in their opinion. The victims of the siege of Leningrad are responsible on the death of Circassian Cossacks from Waffen SS and Jewish police during the WWII. The WWII was the military crime of China and the USA and their allies, in their opinion. This is original research and vandalism. Circassian Cossacks privatised Russian Wikipedia to bring up new Tsarnayevs'. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.66.221.172 (talk) 05:47, 12 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes: The Wikipedia Library Newsletter

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Books and Bytes

Volume 1, Issue 1, October 2013

by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs)

Greetings Wikipedia Library members! Welcome to the inaugural edition of Books and Bytes, TWL’s monthly newsletter. We're sending you the first edition of this opt-in newsletter, because you signed up, or applied for a free research account: HighBeam, Credo, Questia, JSTOR, or Cochrane. To receive future updates of Books and Bytes, please add your name to the subscriber's list. There's lots of news this month for the Wikipedia Library, including new accounts, upcoming events, and new ways to get involved...

New positions: Sign up to be a Wikipedia Visiting Scholar, or a Volunteer Wikipedia Librarian

Wikipedia Loves Libraries: Off to a roaring start this fall in the United States: 29 events are planned or have been hosted.

New subscription donations: Cochrane round 2; HighBeam round 8; Questia round 4... Can we partner with NY Times and Lexis-Nexis??

New ideas: OCLC innovations in the works; VisualEditor Reference Dialog Workshop; a photo contest idea emerges

News from the library world: Wikipedian joins the National Archives full time; the Getty Museum releases 4,500 images; CERN goes CC-BY

Announcing WikiProject Open: WikiProject Open kicked off in October, with several brainstorming and co-working sessions

New ways to get involved: Visiting scholar requirements; subject guides; room for library expansion and exploration

Read the full newsletter


Thanks for reading! All future newsletters will be opt-in only. Have an item for the next issue? Leave a note for the editor on the Suggestions page. --The Interior 21:10, 27 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The Wikipedia Library's Books and Bytes newsletter (#2)

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Welcome to the second issue of The Wikipedia Library's Books & Bytes newsletter! Read on for updates about what is going on at the intersection of Wikipedia and the library world.

Wikipedia Library highlights: New accounts, new surveys, new positions, new presentations...

Spotlight on people: Another Believer and Wiki Loves Libraries...

Books & Bytes in brief: From Dewey to Diversity conference...

Further reading: Digital library portals around the web...

The Wikipedia Library Survey

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As a subscriber to one of The Wikipedia Library's programs, we'd like to hear your thoughts about future donations and project activities in this brief survey. Thanks and cheers, Ocaasi t | c 15:29, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes New Years Double Issue

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Books & Bytes

Volume 1 Issue 3, December/January 2013

(Sign up for monthly delivery)

Happy New Year, and welcome to a special double issue of Books & Bytes. We've included a retrospective on the changes and progress TWL has seen over the last year, the results of the survey TWL participants completed in December, some of our plans for the future, a second interview with a Wiki Love Libraries coordinator, and more. Here's to 2014 being a year of expansion and innovation for TWL!

The Wikipedia Library completed the first 6 months of its Individual Engagement grant last week. Here's where we are and what we've done:

Increased access to sources: 1500 editors signed up for 3700 free accounts, individually worth over $500,000, with usage increases of 400-600%
Deep networking: Built relationships with Credo, HighBeam, Questia, JSTOR, Cochrane, LexisNexis, EBSCO, New York Times, and OCLC
New pilot projects: Started the Wikipedia Visiting Scholar project to empower university-affiliated Wikipedia researchers
Developed community: Created portal connecting 250 newsletter recipients, 30 library members, 3 volunteer coordinators, and 2 part-time contractors
Tech scoped: Spec'd out a reference tool for linking to full-text sources and established a basis for OAuth integration
Broad outreach: Wrote a feature article for Library Journal's The Digital Shift; presenting at the American Library Association annual meeting
...Read Books & Bytes!

re: commons

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Hey there. I got your notice from Wikimedia Commons, and hope it's OK I post it here. Those images of the Perfect Storm flooding were taken by my mom, and she agreed to release them into the public domain. I took them out of a photo album. --♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 01:19, 17 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes, Issue 4

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Books and Bytes

Volume 1, Issue 4, February 2014

News for February from your Wikipedia Library.

Donations drive: news on TWL's partnership efforts with publishers

Open Access: Feature from Ocaasi on the intersection of the library and the open access movement

American Library Association Midwinter Conference: TWL attended this year in Philadelphia

Royal Society Opens Access To Journals: The UK's venerable Royal Society will give the public (and Wikipedians) full access to two of their journal titles for two days on March 4th and 5th

Going Global: TWL starts work on pilot projects in other language Wikipedias

Read the full newsletter


MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:00, 1 March 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Posters without a source

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A film poster does not need an online source. If the source info is "Scanned from an original," then that's all the info required. Please don't put files up for deletion without good reason, as it just creates unnecessary hassle for other users. Cheers. 121.216.56.226 (talk) 08:33, 16 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes - Issue 5

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 5, March 2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs)

  • New Visiting Scholar positions
  • TWL Branch on Arabic Wikipedia, microgrants program
  • Australian articles get a link to librarians
  • Spotlight: "7 Reasons Librarians Should Edit Wikipedia"

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:55, 19 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

File:Ruby Laffoon.jpg

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You recently tagged File:Ruby Laffoon.jpg with a disputed fair use tag. I'm not sure I understand the issue, as the rationale you gave only said "NOT the work in question". Can you please elaborate on what you meant so I can attempt to address the issue? Acdixon (talk · contribs) 13:37, 5 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes, Issue 6

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 6, April-May 2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs)

  • New donations from Oxford University Press and Royal Society (UK)
  • TWL does Vegas: American Library Association Annual plans
  • TWL welcomes a new coordinator, resources for library students and interns
  • New portal on Meta, resources for starting TWL branches, donor call blitzes, Wikipedia Visiting Scholar news, and more

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:59, 5 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The Wikipedia Library: New Account Coordinators Needed

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Hi Books & Bytes recipients: The Wikipedia Library has been expanding rapidly and we need some help! We currently have 10 signups for free account access open and several more in the works... In order to help with those signups, distribute access codes, and manage accounts we'll need 2-3 more Account Coordinators.

It takes about an hour to get up and running and then only takes a couple hours per week, flexible depending upon your schedule and routine. If you're interested in helping out, please drop a note in the next week at my talk page or shoot me an email at: jorlowitz@gmail.com. Thanks and cheers, Jake Ocaasi via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:41, 20 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes - Issue 7

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 7, June-July 2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

  • Seven new donations, two expanded partnerships
  • TWL's Final Report up, read the summary
  • Adventures in Las Vegas, WikiConference USA, and updates from TWL coordinators
  • Spotlight: Blog post on BNA's impact on one editor's research

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:20, 31 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes - Issue 8

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 8, August-September2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

  • TWL now a Wikimedia Foundation program, moves on from grant status
  • Four new donations, including large DeGruyter parntership, pilot with Elsevier
  • New TWL coordinators, Wikimania news, new library platform discussions, Wiki Loves Libraries update, and more
  • Spotlight: "Traveling Through History" - an editor talks about his experiences with a TWL newspaper archive, Newspapers.com

Read the full newsletter



MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:51, 7 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

New Wikipedia Library Accounts Now Available (November 2014)

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Hello Wikimedians!

The TWL OWL says sign up today :)

The Wikipedia Library is announcing signups today for, free, full-access accounts to published research as part of our Publisher Donation Program. You can sign up for:

  • DeGruyter: 1000 new accounts for English and German-language research. Sign up on one of two language Wikipedias:
  • Fold3: 100 new accounts for American history and military archives
  • Scotland's People: 100 new accounts for Scottish genealogy database
  • British Newspaper Archive: expanded by 100+ accounts for British newspapers
  • Highbeam: 100+ remaining accounts for newspaper and magazine archives
  • Questia: 100+ remaining accounts for journal and social science articles
  • JSTOR: 100+ remaining accounts for journal archives

Do better research and help expand the use of high quality references across Wikipedia projects: sign up today!
--The Wikipedia Library Team 23:25, 5 November 2014 (UTC)

You can host and coordinate signups for a Wikipedia Library branch in your own language. Please contact Ocaasi (WMF).
This message was delivered via the Mass Message to the Book & Bytes recipient list.

New Wikipedia Library Accounts Now Available (December 2014)

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Hello Wikimedians!

The TWL OWL says sign up today :)

The Wikipedia Library is announcing signups today for, free, full-access accounts to published research as part of our Publisher Donation Program. You can sign up for:

Other partnerships with accounts available are listed on our partners page. Do better research and help expand the use of high quality references across Wikipedia projects: sign up today!
--The Wikipedia Library Team.00:25, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

You can host and coordinate signups for a Wikipedia Library branch in your own language. Please contact Ocaasi (WMF).
This message was delivered via the Mass Message tool to the Book & Bytes recipient list.

Books and Bytes - Issue 9

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 9, November-December 2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

  • New donations, including real-paper-and-everything books, e-books, science journal databases, and more
  • New TWL coordinators, conference news, a new open-access journal database, summary of library-related WMF grants, and more
  • Spotlight: "Global Impact: The Wikipedia Library and Persian Wikipedia" - a Persian Wikipedia editor talks about their experiences with database access in Iran, writing on the Persian project and the JSTOR partnership

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:36, 8 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 1

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Hi! Thank you for subscribing to the WikiProject X Newsletter. For our first issue...

Has WikiProject X changed the world yet? No.

We opened up shop last month and announced our existence to the world. Our first phase is the "research" phase, consisting mostly of reading and listening. We set up our landing page and started collecting stories. So far, 28 stories have been shared about WikiProjects, describing a variety of experiences across numerous WikiProjects. A recurring story involves a WikiProject that starts off strong but has trouble continuing to stay active. Most people describe using WikiProjects as a way to get feedback from other editors. Some quotes:

  • "Working on requested articles, utilising the reliable sources section, and having an active WikiProject to ask questions in really helped me learn how to edit Wikipedia and looking back I don't know how long I would have stayed editing without that project." – Sam Walton on WikiProject Video Games
  • "I believe that the main problem of the Wikiprojects is that they are complicated to use. There should be a a much simpler way to check what do do, what needs to be improved etc." – Tetra quark
  • "In the late 2000s, WikiProject Film tried to emulate WP:MILHIST in having coordinators and elections. Unfortunately, this was not sustainable and ultimately fell apart." – Erik

Of course, these are just anecdotes. While they demonstrate what is possible, they do not necessarily explain what is typical. We will be using this information in conjunction with a quantitative analysis of WikiProjects, as documented on Meta. Particularly, we are interested in the measurement of WikiProject activity as it relates to overall editing in that WikiProject's subject area.

We also have 50 people and projects signed up for pilot testing, which is an excellent start! (An important caveat: one person volunteering a WikiProject does not mean the WikiProject as a whole is interested; just that there is at least one person, which is a start.)

While carrying out our research, we are documenting the problems with WikiProjects and our ideas for making WikiProjects better. Some ideas include better integration of existing tools into WikiProjects, recommendations of WikiProjects for people to join, and improved coordination with Articles for Creation. These are just ideas that may or may not make it to the design phase; we will see. We are also working with WikiProject Council to improve the directory of WikiProjects, with the goal of a reliable, self-updating WikiProject directory. Stay tuned! If you have any ideas, you are welcome to leave a note on our talk page.

That's all for now. Thank you for subscribing!

Harej 17:21, 9 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes - Issue 10

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 10, January-February 2015
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - ProjectMUSE, Dynamed, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and Women Writers Online
  • New TWL coordinator, conference news, and a new guide and template for archivists
  • TWL moves into the new Community Engagement department at the WMF, quarterly review

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:41, 4 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 2

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For this month's issue...

Making sense of a lot of data.

Work on our prototype will begin imminently. In the meantime, we have to understand what exactly we're working with. To this end, we generated a list of 71 WikiProjects, based on those brought up on our Stories page and those who had signed up for pilot testing. For those projects where people told stories, we coded statements within those stories to figure out what trends there were in these stories. This approach allowed us to figure out what Wikipedians thought of WikiProjects in a very organic way, with very little by way of a structure. (Compare this to a structured interview, where specific questions are asked and answered.) This analysis was done on 29 stories. Codes were generally classified as "benefits" (positive contributions made by a WikiProject to the editing experience) and "obstacles" (issues posed by WikiProjects, broadly speaking). Codes were generated as I went along, ensuring that codes were as close to the original data as possible. Duplicate appearances of a code for a given WikiProject were removed.

We found 52 "benefit" statements encoded and 34 "obstacle" statements. The most common benefit statement referring to the project's active discussion and participation, followed by statements referring to a project's capacity to guide editor activity, while the most common obstacles made reference to low participation and significant burdens on the part of the project maintainers and leaders. This gives us a sense of WikiProjects' big strength: they bring people together, and can be frustrating to editors when they fail to do so. Meanwhile, it is indeed very difficult to bring editors together on a common interest; in the absence of a highly motivated core of organizers, the technical infrastructure simply isn't there.

We wanted to pair this qualitative study with quantitative analysis of a WikiProject and its "universe" of pages, discussions, templates, and categories. To this end I wrote a script called ProjAnalysis which will, for a given WikiProject page (e.g. Wikipedia:WikiProject Star Trek) and WikiProject talk-page tag (e.g. Template:WikiProject Star Trek), will give you a list of usernames of people who edited within the WikiProject's space (the project page itself, its talk page, and subpages), and within the WikiProject's scope (the pages tagged by that WikiProject, excluding the WikiProject space pages). The output is an exhaustive list of usernames. We ran the script to analyze our test batch of WikiProjects for edits between March 1, 2014 and February 28, 2015, and we subjected them to further analysis to only include those who made 10+ edits to pages in the projects' scope, those who made 4+ edits to the projects' space, and those who made 10+ edits to pages in scope but not 4+ edits to pages in the projects' space. This latter metric gives us an idea of who is active in a certain subject area of Wikipedia, yet who isn't actively engaging on the WikiProject's pages. This information will help us prioritize WikiProjects for pilot testing, and the ProjAnalysis script in general may have future life as an application that can be used by Wikipedians to learn about who is in their community.

Complementing the above two studies are a design analysis, which summarizes the structure of the different WikiProject spaces in our test batch, and the comprehensive census of bots and tools used to maintain WikiProjects, which will be finished soon. With all of this information, we will have a game plan in place! We hope to begin working with specific WikiProjects soon.

As a couple of asides...

  • Database Reports has existed for several years on Wikipedia to the satisfaction of many, but many of the reports stopped running when the Toolserver was shut off in 2014. However, there is good news: the weekly New WikiProjects and WikiProjects by Changes reports are back, with potential future reports in the future.
  • WikiProject X has an outpost on Wikidata! Check it out. It's not widely publicized, but we are interested in using Wikidata as a potential repository for metadata about WikiProjects, especially for WikiProjects that exist on multiple Wikimedia projects and language editions.

That's all for now. Thank you for subscribing! If you have any questions or comments, please share them with us.

Harej (talk) 01:44, 21 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

A new reference tool

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Hello Books & Bytes subscribers. There is a new Visual Editor reference feature in development called Citoid. It is designed to "auto-fill" references using a URL or DOI. We would really appreciate you testing whether TWL partners' references work in Citoid. Sharing your results will help the developers fix bugs and improve the system. If you have a few minutes, please visit the testing page for simple instructions on how to try this new tool. Regards, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:48, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 3

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Greetings! For this month's issue...

We have demos!

After a lengthy research and design process, we decided for WikiProject X to focus on two things:

  • A WikiProject workflow that focuses on action items: discussions you can participate in and tasks you can perform to improve the encyclopedia; and
  • An automatically updating WikiProject directory that gives you lists of users participating in the WikiProject and editing in that subject area.

We have a live demonstration of the new WikiProject workflow at WikiProject Women in Technology, a brand new WikiProject that was set up as an adjunct to a related edit-a-thon in Washington, DC. The goal is to surface action items for editors, and we intend on doing that through automatically updated working lists. We are looking into using SuggestBot to generate lists of outstanding tasks, and we are looking into additional options for automatic worklist generation. This takes the burden off of WikiProject editors to generate these worklists, though there is also a "requests" section for Wikipedians to make individual requests. (As of writing, these automated lists are not yet live, so you will see a blank space under "edit articles" on the demo WikiProject. Sorry about that!) I invite you to check out the WikiProject and leave feedback on WikiProject X's talk page.

Once the demo is sufficiently developed, we will be working on a limited deployment on our pilot WikiProjects. We have selected five for the first round of testing based on the highest potential for impact and will scale up from there.

While a re-designed WikiProject experience is much needed, that alone isn't enough. A WikiProject isn't any good if people have no way of discovering it. This is why we are also developing an automatically updated WikiProject directory. This directory will surface project-related metrics, including a count of active WikiProject participants and of active editors in that project's subject area. The purpose of these metrics is to highlight how active the WikiProject is at the given point of time, but also to highlight that project's potential for success. The directory is not yet live but there is a demonstration featuring a sampling of WikiProjects.

Each directory entry will link to a WikiProject description page which automatically list the active WikiProject participants and subject-area article editors. This allows Wikipedians to find each other based on the areas they are interested in, and this information can be used to revive a WikiProject, start a new one, or even for some other purpose. These description pages are not online yet, but they will use this template, if you want to get a feel of what they will look like.

We need volunteers!

WikiProject X is a huge undertaking, and we need volunteers to support our efforts, including testers and coders. Check out our volunteer portal and see what you can do to help us!

As an aside...

Wouldn't it be cool if lists of requested articles could not only be integrated directly with WikiProjects, but also shared between WikiProjects? Well, we got the crazy idea of having experimental software feature Flow deployed (on a totally experimental basis) on the new Article Request Workshop, which seeks to be a place where editors can "workshop" article ideas before they get created. It uses Flow because Flow allows, essentially, section-level categorization, and in the future will allow "sections" (known as "topics" within Flow) to be included across different pages. What this means is that you have a recommendation for a new article tagged by multiple WikiProjects, allowing for the recommendation to appear on lists for each WikiProject. This will facilitate inter-WikiProject collaboration and will help to reduce duplicated work. The Article Request Workshop is not entirely ready yet due to some bugs with Flow, but we hope to integrate it into our pilot WikiProjects at some point.

Harej (talk) 01:58, 19 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes - Issue 11

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 11, March-April 2015
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs), Nikkimaria (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - MIT Press Journals, Sage Stats, Hein Online and more
  • New TWL coordinators, conference news, and new reference projects
  • Spotlight: Two metadata librarians talk about how library professionals can work with Wikipedia

Read the full newsletter



MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:31, 4 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Solstices, equinoxes, etc.

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You're redirecting pages to their Chinese equivalents. Are you taking the piss or what? Jimp 17:08, 19 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

The Wikipedia Library needs you!

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The Wikipedia Library

Call for Volunteers

The Wikipedia Library is expanding, and we need your help! With only a couple of hours per week, you can make a big difference in helping editors get access to reliable sources and other resources. Sign up for one of the following roles:

  • Account coordinators help distribute research accounts to editors.
  • Partner coordinators seek donations from new partners.
  • Outreach coordinators reach out to the community through blog posts, social media, and newsletters or notifications.
  • Technical coordinators advise on building tools to support the library's work.

Delivered on behalf of The Wikipedia Library by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:18, 11 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 4

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Newsletter • May/June 2015

Hello friends! We have been hard at work these past two months. For this report:

The directory is live!

For the first time, we are happy to bring you an exhaustive, comprehensive WikiProject Directory. This directory endeavors to list every single WikiProject on the English Wikipedia, including those that don't participate in article assessment. In constructing the broadest possible definition, we have come up with a list of approximately 2,600 WikiProjects. The directory tracks activity statistics on the WikiProject's pages, and, for where it's available, statistics on the number of articles tracked by the WikiProject and the number of editors active on those articles. Complementing the directory are description pages for each project, listing usernames of people active on the WikiProject pages and the articles in the WikiProject's scope. This will help Wikipedians interested in a subject find each other, whether to seek feedback on an article or to revive an old project. (There is an opt-out option.) We have also come up with listings of related WikiProjects, listing the ten most relevant WikiProjects based on what articles they have in common. We would like to promote WikiProjects as interconnected systems, rather than isolated silos.

A tremendous amount of work went into preparing this directory. WikiProjects do not consistently categorize their pages, meaning we had to develop our own index to match WikiProjects with the articles in their scope. We also had to make some adjustments to how WikiProjects were categorized; indeed, I personally have racked up a few hundred edits re-categorizing WikiProjects. There remains more work to be done to make the WikiProject directory truly useful. In the meantime, take a look and feel free to leave feedback at the WikiProject X talk page.

Stuff in the works!

What have we been working on?

  • A new design template—This has been in the works for a while, of course. But our goal is to design something that is useful and cleanly presented on all browsers and at all screen resolutions while working within the confines of what MediaWiki has to offer. Additionally, we are working on designs for the sub-components featured on the main project page.
  • A new WikiProject talk page banner in Lua—Work has begun on implementing the WikiProject banner in Lua. The goal is to create a banner template that can be usable by any WikiProject in lieu of having its own template. Work has slowed down for now to focus on higher priority items, but we are interested in your thoughts on how we could go about creating a more useful project banner. We have a draft module on Test Wikipedia, with a demonstration.
  • New discussion reports—We have over 4.8 million articles on the English Wikipedia, and almost as many talk pages as well. But what happens when someone posts on a talk page? What if no one is watching that talk page? We are currently testing out a system for an automatically-updating new discussions list, like RFC for WikiProjects. We currently have five test pages up for the WikiProjects on cannabis, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and Ghana.
  • SuggestBot for WikiProjects—We have asked the maintainer of SuggestBot to make some minor adjustments to SuggestBot that will allow it to post regular reports to those WikiProjects that ask for them. Stay tuned!
  • Semi-automated article assessment—Using the new revision scoring service and another system currently under development, WikiProjects will be getting a new tool to facilitate the article assessment process by providing article quality/importance predictions for articles yet to be assessed. Aside from helping WikiProjects get through their backlogs, the goal is to help WikiProjects with collecting metrics and triaging their work. Semi-automation of this process will help achieve consistent results and keep the process running smoothly, as automation does on other parts of Wikipedia.

Want us to work on any other tools? Interested in volunteering? Leave a note on our talk page.

The WikiProject watchers report is back!

The database report which lists WikiProjects according to the number of watchers (i.e., people that have the project on their watchlist), is back! The report stopped being updated a year ago, following the deactivation of the Toolserver, but a replacement report has been generated.


Until next time, Harej (talk) 22:20, 17 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Flensburg Pictures

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You have transfered a lot of good pictures of Flensburg to Commons, would it possible that you transfer also the following pictures. My words before the Link could be a good name for each single picture (file).

Greetins from Flensburg. :-) --Soenke Rahn (talk) 15:50, 21 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Most pictures are also there to find: http://www.panoramio.com/user/4315719?comment_page=1&photo_page=2&show=best --Soenke Rahn (talk) 16:18, 7 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes - Issue 12

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 12, May-June 2015
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs), Nikkimaria (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - Taylor & Francis, Science, and three new French-language resources
  • Expansion into new languages, including French, Finnish, Turkish, and Farsi
  • Spotlight: New partners for the Visiting Scholar program
  • American Library Association Annual meeting in San Francisco

Read the full newsletter

The Interior 15:23, 16 July 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Password?

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I almost gave you a vandalism warning for recent edits like this one. But when I reviewed your previous good work, I think someone may have guessed your password, and is pretending to be you. Or maybe your kids found your computer logged on. In either case, maybe you should change your password. Art LaPella (talk) 20:21, 21 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I have now reported this to Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents. Art LaPella (talk) 21:12, 21 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes - Issue 13

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 13, August-September 2015
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs), Nikkimaria (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - EBSCO, IMF, more newspaper archives, and Arabic resources
  • Expansion into new languages, including Viet and Catalan
  • Spotlight: Elsevier partnership garners controversy, dialogue
  • Conferences: PKP, IFLA, upcoming events

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:30, 1 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 5

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Newsletter • October 2015

Hello there! Happy to be writing this newsletter once more. This month:

We did it!

In July, we launched five pilot WikiProjects: WikiProjects Cannabis, Evolutionary Biology, Ghana, Hampshire, and Women's Health. We also use the new design, named "WPX UI," on WikiProject Women in Technology, Women in Red, WikiProject Occupational Safety and Health. We are currently looking for projects for the next round of testing. If you are interested, please sign up on the Pilots page.

Shortly after our launch we presented at Wikimania 2015. Our slides are on Wikimedia Commons.

Then after all that work, we went through the process of figuring out whether we accomplished our goal. We reached out to participants on the redesigned WikiProjects, and we asked them to complete a survey. (If you filled out your survey—thank you!) While there are still some issues with the WikiProject tools and the new design, there appears to be general satisfaction (at least among those who responded). The results of the survey and more are documented in our grant report filed with the Wikimedia Foundation.

The work continues!

There is more work that needs to be done, so we have applied for a renewal of our grant. Comments on the proposal are welcome. We would like to improve what we have already started on the English Wikipedia and to also expand to Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata. Why those? Because they are multilingual projects and because there needs to be better coordination across Wikimedia projects. More details are available in the renewal proposal.

How can the Wikimedia Foundation support WikiProjects?

The Wikimedia Developer Summit will be held in San Francisco in January 2016. The recently established Community Tech team at the Wikimedia Foundation is interested in investigating what technical support they can provide for WikiProjects, i.e., support beyond just templates and bots. I have plenty of opinions myself, but I want to hear what you think. The session is being planned on Phabricator, the Wikimedia bug tracker. If you are not familiar with Phabricator, you can log in with your Wikipedia username and password through the "Login or Register: MediaWiki" button on the login page. Your feedback can help make editing Wikipedia a better experience.


Until next time,

Harej (talk) 09:03, 26 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Hi,
You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:53, 23 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes - Issue 14

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The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 14, October-November 2015
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs), Nikkimaria (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - Gale, Brill, plus Finnish and Farsi resources
  • Open Access Week recap, and DOIs, Wikipedia, and scholarly citations
  • Spotlight: 1Lib1Ref - a citation drive for librarians

Read the full newsletter

The Interior, via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:13, 10 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Notice

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Please publish your opinion on Wikipedia talk:Flow. Thank you.--Shwangtianyuan STRONGLY CONDEMNS 2016 North Korean nuclear test 07:55, 13 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 6

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Newsletter • January 2016

Hello there! Happy to be writing this newsletter once more. This month:

What comes next

Some good news: the Wikimedia Foundation has renewed WikiProject X. This means we can continue focusing on making WikiProjects better.

During our first round of work, we created a prototype WikiProject based on two ideas: (1) WikiProjects should clearly present things for people to do, and (2) The content of WikiProjects should be automated as much as possible. We launched pilots, and for the most part it works. But this approach will not work for the long term. While it makes certain aspects of running a WikiProject easier, it makes the maintenance aspects harder.

We are working on a major overhaul that will address these issues. New features will include:

  • Creating WikiProjects by simply filling out a form, choosing which reports you want to generate for your project. This will work with existing bots in addition to the Reports Bot reports. (Of course, you can also have sections curated by humans.)
  • One-click button to join a WikiProject, with optional notifications.
  • Be able to define your WikiProject's scope within the WikiProject itself by listing relevant pages and categories, eliminating the need to tag every talk page with a banner. (You will still be allowed to do that, of course. It just won't be required.)

The end goal is a collaboration tool that can be used by WikiProjects but also by any edit-a-thon or group of people that want to coordinate on improving articles. Though implemented as an extension, the underlying content will be wikitext, meaning that you can continue to use categories, templates, and other features as you normally would.

This will take a lot of work, and we are just getting started. What would you like to see? I invite you to discuss on our talk page.


Until next time,

Harej (talk) 02:53, 20 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes - Issue 15

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 15, December-January 2016
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs), Nikkimaria (talk · contribs), UY Scuti (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - Ships, medical resources, plus Arabic and Farsi resources
  • #1lib1ref campaign summary and highlights
  • New branches and coordinators

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:20, 19 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 7

[edit]
Newsletter • February 2016

This month:

One database for Wikipedia requests

Development of the extension for setting up WikiProjects, as described in the last issue of this newsletter, is currently underway. No terribly exciting news on this front.

In the meantime, we are working on a prototype for a new service we hope to announce soon. The problem: there are requests scattered all across Wikipedia, including requests for new articles and requests for improvements to existing articles. We Wikipedians are very good at coming up with lists of things to do. But once we write these lists, where do they end up? How can we make them useful for all editors—even those who do not browse the missing articles lists, or the particular WikiProjects that have lists?

Introducing Wikipedia Requests, a new tool to centralize the various lists of requests around Wikipedia. Requests will be tagged by category and WikiProject, making it easier to find requests based on what your interests are. Accompanying this service will be a bot that will let you generate reports from this database on any wiki page, including WikiProjects. This means that once a request is filed centrally, it can syndicated all throughout Wikipedia, and once it is fulfilled, it will be marked as "complete" throughout Wikipedia. The idea for this service came about when I saw that it was easy to put together to-do lists based on database queries, but it was harder to do this for human-generated requests when those requests are scattered throughout the wiki, siloed throughout several pages. This should especially be useful for WikiProjects that have overlapping interests.

The newsletter this month is fairly brief; not a lot of news, just checking in to say that we are hard at work and hope to have more for you soon.

Until next time,

Harej (talk) 01:44, 24 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes - Issue 16

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 16, February-March 2016
by The Interior (talk · contribs), UY Scuti (talk · contribs)

  • New donations - science, humanities, and video resources
  • Using hashtags in edit summaries - a great way to track a project
  • A new cite archive template, a new coordinator, plus conference and Visiting Scholar updates
  • Metrics for the Wikipedia Library's last three months

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:16, 14 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 8

[edit]
Newsletter • March / April 2016

This month:

Transclude article requests anywhere on Wikipedia

In the last issue of the WikiProject X Newsletter, I discussed the upcoming Wikipedia Requests system: a central database for outstanding work on Wikipedia. I am pleased to announce Wikipedia Requests is live! Its purpose is to supplement automatically generated lists, such as those from SuggestBot, Reports bot, or Wikidata. It is currently being demonstrated on WikiProject Occupational Safety and Health (which I work on as part of my NIOSH duties) and WikiProject Women scientists.

Adding a request is as simple as filling out a form. Just go to the Add form to add your request. Adding sources will help ensure that your request is fulfilled more quickly. And when a request is fulfilled, simply click "mark as complete" and it will be removed from all the lists it's on. All at the click of a button! (If anyone is concerned, all actions are logged.)

With this new service is a template to transclude these requests: {{Wikipedia Requests}}. It's simple to use: add the template to a page, specifying article=, category=, or wikiproject=, and the list will be transcluded. For example, for requests having to do with all living people, just do {{Wikipedia Requests|category=Living people}}. Use these lists on WikiProjects but also for edit-a-thons where you want a convenient list of things to do on hand. Give it a shot!

Help us build our list!

The value of Wikipedia Requests comes from being a centralized database. The long work to migrating individual lists into this combined list is slowly underway. As of writing, we have 883 open tasks logged in Wikipedia Requests. We need your help building this list.

If you know of a list of missing articles, or of outstanding tasks for existing articles, that you would like to migrate to this new system, head on over to Wikipedia:Wikipedia Requests#Transition project and help out. Doing this will help put your list in front of more eyes—more than just your own WikiProject.

An open database means new tools

WikiProject X maintains a database that associates article talk pages (and draft talk pages) with WikiProjects. This database powers many of the reports that Reports bot generates. However, until very recently, this database was not made available to others who might find its data useful. It's only common sense to open up the database and let others build tools with it.

And indeed: Citation Hunt, the game to add citations to Wikipedia, now lets you filter by WikiProject, using the data from our database.

Are you a tool developer interested in using this? Here are some details: the database resides on Tool Labs with the name s52475__wpx_p. The table that associates WikiProjects with articles and drafts is called projectindex. Pages are stored by talk page title but in the future this should change. Have fun!

On the horizon
  • The work on the CollaborationKit extension continues. The extension will initially focus on reducing template and Lua bloat on WikiProjects (especially our WPX UI demonstration projects), and will from there create custom interfaces for creating and maintaining WikiProjects.
  • The WikiCite meeting will be in Berlin in May. The goal of the meeting is to figure out how to build a bibliographic database for use on the Wikimedia projects. This fits in quite nicely with WikiProject X's work: we want to make it easier for people to find things to work on, and with a powerful, open bibliographic database, we can build recommendations for sources. This feature was requested by the Wikipedia Library back in September, and this meeting is a major next step. We look forward to seeing what comes out of this meeting.


Until next time,

Harej (talk) 01:29, 20 April 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 2 May 2016

[edit]
Wikimedia Switzerland board members involved in paid-editing firm
More reports surface of pirates' new favorite database: Wikimedia Commons
Prince's death breaks traffic report records
Seven articles, six lists, and four pictures were promoted these weeks
Arbitration news
Making sense of Wikipedia's social network

The Signpost: 17 May 2016

[edit]
Christophe Henner and Nataliia Tymkiv respond to the Signpost's questions
Paid-editing controversy
Citations needed
Nine featured articles, eight featured lists, and six featured pictures
Prince gives way to Captain America
News from two arbitration cases
35 competitors move on to round 3

The Signpost: 28 May 2016

[edit]
Dates and venues for WikiCon USA 2016, WikiCon India 2016, 2016 Glam Boot Camp and 2016 Wikimedia Diversity Conference
Sue Gardner appears to be earning more money as the WMF's special advisor than she did as its executive director
Not everything you read online is fact
Another eight featured articles, three featured lists and five featured pictures
Mental health carries a powerful stigma. The more we are open about it, the less that weighs all of us down
Gamaliel and others case nears its end, and there are new 30/500 rules
Round-up of recent Wikipedia research
We've recently come into possession of a new tool.
Albin Olsson has been right there with them, capturing dramatic images of singers from around the world.

The Signpost: 05 June 2016

[edit]
The Signpost analyzes the WMF's revised annual plan
Recent press interviews
One article, one list, and seven images were featured this week
Film and television maintain a strong grasp on Wikipedia's readership
The final results of the heated case
We sat down with the writers of some of the most vistied Wikipedia articles

The Signpost: 15 June 2016

[edit]
WMF board chair Patricio Lorente answers questions
Wikimedia enters academic publishing
Eleven featured articles, nine featured lists and fourteen featured pictures
Recent media coverage of Wikipedia and Wikimedia
Two for the price of one—do the popular Commons image contest and Wikidata licensing serve the community as well as they should?
Wikipedia's most read articles in the last two weeks
Poetry: “it is the stuff of the soul; it speaks to the body, the mind, and the spirit alike.” Sonja Bohm worked for years to get all of Florence Earle Coates’ poetry online, and now proofreads poetry on the English Wikisource, the free library. We asked why.

Books & Bytes - Issue 17

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 17, April-May 2016
by The Interior, Ocaasi, UY Scuti, Sadads, and Nikkimaria

  • New donations this month - a German-language legal resource
  • Wikipedia referals to academic citations - news from CrossRef and WikiCite2016
  • New library stats, WikiCon news, a bot to reveal Open Access versions of citations, and more!

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:36, 16 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 9

[edit]
Newsletter • May / June 2016

Check out this month's issue of the WikiProject X newsletter, featuring the first screenshot of our new CollaborationKit software!

Harej (talk) 00:23, 25 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 04 July 2016

[edit]
News from Wikimania and the courts
Paid-contributions disclosure vs. outing
Reliability worries
Six articles, nine lists, one topic and thirteen pictures promoted
European football and politics dominate the top-10
From the Wikimedia Foundation blog

The Signpost: 21 July 2016

[edit]
Four seats to be filled in top WMF grantmaking body; General Counsel and Secretary Geoff Brigham leaves Wikimedia
New ArbCom restrictions; genetically modified food safety
Female scientists in India; Cracked.com probes Wikipedia's weaknesses
Promotions in four featured-content forums
Northern summer makes sport the winner
Plus a clerk appointment and two motions
Plus navigating the Chinese Wikipedia, and talkpage sentiment

The Signpost: 04 August 2016

[edit]
And the Signpost loses and gains a co-editor-in-chief
WMF and Alphabet are developing an algorithm designed to detect personal attacks
Plus Android and Taylor Swift
Condolences are being left on his English Wikipedia talk page
Pokémon Go led the chart for two weeks running
Eight articles, two lists and fourteen pictures were promoted
Plus: new Wiki Studies journal, Wikipedia usage on Twitter and more
WMF announces enhancements to the notifications system
New user scripts and other tech news

The Signpost: 18 August 2016

[edit]
Conference draws highly diverse and productive participation, and several years' advocacy pays off in a new government policy
Guest post recaps in-depth engagement of experts to address Wikipedia gender gap while improving coverage of their field
Wikipedia coverage ranged from sobering to playful in this issue's roundup
Eight articles, eleven lists, one topic and five pictures were promoted
Politics gives way to sports, TV and film
A review of numerous useful Wikipedia customizations
New case opened, and a reminder to administrators not to impose blocks based on private information

Books & Bytes - Issue 18

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 18, June–July 2016
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi, Samwalton9, UY Scuti, and Sadads

  • New donations - Edinburgh University Press, American Psychological Association, Nomos (a German-language database), and more!
  • Spotlight: GLAM and Wikidata
  • TWL attends and presents at International Federation of Library Associations conference, meets with Association of Research Libraries
  • OCLC wins grant to train librarians on Wikimedia contribution

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:25, 31 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 06 September 2016

[edit]
The Board’s two-year moratorium on new chapters and thematic organisations has expired; presentation of new criteria is reigniting smoldering controversies and introducing new ones
A comparison of the 15 most-read articles related to the Olympics, in seven language editions of Wikipedia
Wikipedia gaining ground in credibility among librarians; and a healthy helping of media coverage
An interview with WikiProject TV member CAWylie
Twelve articles, eight lists and four pictures were promoted
An update on two weeks of Wikipedia traffic, based on a new and improved tracking tool
New scripts and technical news
One study encounters critique of its ethics from Wikipedians; another critiques the ethics employed by Wikipedia
Switzerland's largest public science library is uploading 134k photos

The Signpost: 29 September 2016

[edit]
Medical school class's Wikipedia contributions profiled as case study; and a remembrance of Ray Saintonge, Wikimedian since 2002
This edition's roundup of media coverage
Nineteen articles, eleven lists, one portal and twelve pictures were promoted
TRM, CUOS '16, R&I, RfC
Four weeks of Wikipedia's most popular articles examined
Titles with numbers now sort numerically, and a new tool to check how template parameters are used

The Signpost: 14 October 2016

[edit]
Wikimedia Foundation reports on fundraising challenges and new initiatives; Indian botanists rally to build Wikimedia Commons' photo collection
A new "peer academy" is proposed to find and support leadership in volunteer communities
And this edition's roundup of media coverage
A new editor, a new parsing algorithm, and another server switch
Twelve articles, twelve lists and twenty-one pictures were promoted
Donald Trump remains a view-magnet, others change their channel
We explore the study, which sought insights from Wikipedia metadata into global events

Books and Bytes - Issue 19

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 19, September–October 2016
by Nikkimaria, Sadads and UY Scuti

  • New and expanded donations - Foreign Affairs, Open Edition, and many more
  • New Library Card Platform and Conference news
  • Spotlight: Fixing one million broken links

Read the full newsletter



19:07, 1 November 2016 (UTC)

The Signpost: 4 November 2016

[edit]
Victoria Coleman to fill long-vacant CTO role; Trustee Kelly Battles joins Quora executive team; last week for community input on Creative Commons 4.0 license
Plus our roundup of recent media stories
Winners of the tenth annual WikiCup competition announced and profiled
Progress on the 2015 Community Wishlist for tech features; and plans for a new Wishlist
Proposed best practices for communication and community involvement, and an improvement to Wikipedia's citation infrastructure
Fourteen articles, six lists and fourteen pictures were promoted
Two weeks of insights into the mind of the mob
Two cases closed, and an administrator loses editing rights
A recap of recent research in our realm


Help

[edit]

Dayao is a subdivion of Liuyang city, Hunan. i think the name Dayao, Liuyang is better than Dayao, Hunan. help me moving Dayao, Hunan to Dayao, Liuyang, thanks. Cncs (talk) 06:06 November 11, 2016

ArbCom Elections 2016: Voting now open!

[edit]

Hello, Shizhao. Voting in the 2016 Arbitration Committee elections is open from Monday, 00:00, 21 November through Sunday, 23:59, 4 December to all unblocked users who have registered an account before Wednesday, 00:00, 28 October 2016 and have made at least 150 mainspace edits before Sunday, 00:00, 1 November 2016.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2016 election, please review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. Mdann52 (talk) 22:08, 21 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

ArbCom Elections 2016: Voting now open!

[edit]

Hello, Shizhao. Voting in the 2016 Arbitration Committee elections is open from Monday, 00:00, 21 November through Sunday, 23:59, 4 December to all unblocked users who have registered an account before Wednesday, 00:00, 28 October 2016 and have made at least 150 mainspace edits before Sunday, 00:00, 1 November 2016.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2016 election, please review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:08, 21 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 4 November 2016

[edit]
An overview of the English Wikipedia ArbCom election; brief notes as Asian and African initiatives wind down
Election prompts media to explore themes important to Wikipedians, including news literacy, privacy, and data security
115,000 images were submitted as part of the annual competition.
A sampling of photo submissions to the annual photography campaign
Eight articles, two lists and nine pictures were promoted
A close examination of the efficacy of the GA Cup contest, a longstanding effort to reduce the backlog of articles awaiting review
Empowering volunteers and local chapters to engage with fundraising would yield varied benefits
Someone is likely to dominate traffic for a long time

The Signpost: 22 December 2016

[edit]
Roundup of the year's news from the Wikimedia world, featuring Wikipedia's 15th anniversary and organizational disarray at the Wikimedia Foundation
WMF reflects, to some degree, on its past approaches to strategic planning
The German Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee loses more than half its members amid political feud
A proposal from the Inspire Campaign to address harassment was recently implemented to prevent unconstructive and malicious editing on user pages
Even a well executed outreach event can yield disappointing results
Wikipedia women in the news, and media reacts to 2016 ad banner campaign
Twenty-three articles, ten lists and twenty-one pictures were promoted
And a roundup of recently-added tools
Four weeks of popular article analysis
Winning photos in world's largest photography contest reveal a world of monuments—and the volunteers who love them
Privacy and Tor, and several other studies

The Signpost: 17 January 2017

[edit]
Building toward better recruitment and retention
A close look at the history of approving administrators on English Wikipedia, and a roundup of news
The wiki environment can appear deceptively uniform, but it masks strikingly different editorial experiences
The latest media reports
Twelve articles, thirteen lists and twelve pictures were promoted
Various minor developments
If you're reading this, you escaped 2016 alive
Data sets now available on Commons, wishes to be worked on in 2017, and a recap of the Wikimedia Developer Summit
And several other research papers reviewed and summarized

Books and Bytes - Issue 20

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 20, November-December 2016
by Nikkimaria (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), UY Scuti (talk · contribs), Samwalton9 (talk · contribs)

  • Partner resource expansions
  • New search tool for finding TWL resources
  • #1lib1ref 2017
  • Wikidata Visiting Scholar

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:59, 17 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 6 February 2017

[edit]
The two statements prompt extensive community discussion; plus, our updates on recent ArbCom decisions
Undisclosed paid editing by a financial broker mired in scandal spans years, impacting Wikipedia's editors and readers
Foundation's latest foray into political waters, and grants funding structured data and anti-harassment measures, met with enthusiasm and concern
Several developments in the $2.5 million strategic planning process explored, and a team within the software production department is sidelined
Our second interview with the productive WikiProject Birds crew
Veteran editing workshop leader responds to a previous Signpost op-ed
Wikipedia's response to Trump inauguration and a fruitful, public "edit war" lead our media updates
Plus the latest scripts, bots, and tech news
Three weeks of the most popular Wikipedia articles
Twenty-eight articles, seven lists, two topics and four pictures were promoted
Women's marches on seven continents attracted strong Wikipedia engagement; Media luminaries and a presidential candidate joined WMF boss Katherine Maher at a New York gathering

WikiProject Genealogy - newsletter No.1

[edit]
Newsletter Nr 1 for WikiProject Genealogy (and Wikimedia genealogy project on Meta)

Participation:

This is the very first newsletter sent by mass mail to members in Wikipedia:WikiProject Genealogy, to everyone who voted a support for establishing a potential Wikimedia genealogy project on meta, and anyone who during the years showed an interest in genealogy on talk pages and likewise.

(To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, see below)

Progress report:

Since the Projects very first edit 9 december 2002 by User:Dan Koehl, which eventually became the WikiProject Genealogy, different templates were developed, and the portal Portal:Genealogy was founded by User:Michael A. White in 2008. Over the years a number of articles has been written, with more or less association to genealogy. And, very exciting, there is a proposal made on Meta by User:Another Believer to found a new Wikimedia Genealogy Project, read more at Meta; Wikimedia genealogy project where you also can support the creation with your vote, in case you havnt done so already.

Future:

The future of the Genealogy project on the English Wikipedia, and a potential creation of a new Wikimedia Genealogy Project, is something where you can make a an input.

You can

Cheers from your WikiProject Genealogy founder and coordinator Dan Koehl

To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery Dan Koehl (talk) 22:28, 6 February 2017 (UTC)
[reply]

The Signpost: 27 February 2017

[edit]
The Signpost's poll suggests we should take a cautious approach to the Newsletter Extension, under development; and our RSS feed is functional once again
This month's edition focuses on research about the role of Wikipedia in education
Demonstrations of developers' experiments and works in progress
Is the Daily Mail fake news and your media roundup
A selection of CC0 images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
An overview of English Wikipedia's peer review process
Increased WMF spending every year is not sustainable
Fifteen articles, two lists, and six pictures were promoted
They may not mix in life, but they do in popularity
Republished from the Wikimedia blog

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 10

[edit]

This month, we discuss the new CollaborationKit extension. Here's an image as a teaser:

23:59, 3 March 2017 (UTC)

WikiProject Genealogy - newsletter No.2

[edit]
Newsletter Nr 2 for WikiProject Genealogy (and Wikimedia genealogy project on Meta)

Participation:

This is the second newsletter sent by mass mail to members in Wikipedia:WikiProject Genealogy, to everyone who voted a support for establishing a potential Wikimedia genealogy project on meta, and anyone who during the years showed an interest in genealogy on talk pages and likewise.

(To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please see below)

Progress report:

In order to improve communication between genealogy interested wikipedians, as well talking in chat mode about the potential new wiki, a new irc channel has been setup, and you are welcome to visit and try it out at: #wikimedia-genealogy connect

(In case you are not familiar with IRC, or would prefer some info and intro, please see Wikipedias IRC tutorial)

At m:Talk:Wikimedia_genealogy_project#Wikimedia_user_group is discussed the possibility of creating a genealogy-related Wikimedia user group: please submit comments and suggestions, and whether you would like to be a member in such a group. Prime goal for the group is the creation of a new, free, genealogy wiki, but there is also a discussion weather we should propose a new project or support the adoption of an existing project?

Read more at Meta; Wikimedia genealogy project where you also can support the creation with your vote, in case you haven't done so already.

Future:

The future of the Genealogy project, and creation of a new Wikimedia Genealogy Project, is something where you can make a an input.

You can

Don't want newsletters? If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list or alternatively to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Opted-out of message delivery to your user talk page.

Cheers from your WikiProject Genealogy coordinator Dan Koehl.

To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery

Genealogy project need your vote for creation of an email list

[edit]
Newsletter Nr 3 for WikiProject Genealogy (and Wikimedia genealogy project on Meta)

Participation:

This is the third newsletter sent by mass mail to members in Wikipedia:WikiProject Genealogy, to everyone who voted a support for establishing a potential Wikimedia genealogy project on meta, and anyone who during the years showed an interest in genealogy on talk pages and likewise.

(To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please see below)

Request:

In order to improve communication between genealogy interested wikipedians, as well as taking new, important steps towards a creation of a new project site, we need to make communication between the users easier and more effective.

At Mail list on meta is discussed the possibility of creating a genealogy-related Wikimedia email list. In order to request the creation of such a list, we need your voice and your vote.

In order to create a new list, we need to put a request it in Phabricator, and add a link to reasoning/explanation of purpose, and link to community consensus. Therefore we need your vote for this now, so we can request the creation of the mail list.

Read more about this email list at Meta; Wikimedia genealogy project mail list where you can support the creation of the mail list with your vote, in case you haven't done so already.

Future:

Don't want newsletters? If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list or alternatively to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Opted-out of message delivery to your user talk page.

Cheers from your WikiProject Genealogy coordinator Dan Koehl.

To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery

WikiProject Genealogy - newsletter No.4: Mail list created!

[edit]
Newsletter Nr 4, 2017-03-24, for WikiProject Genealogy (and Wikimedia genealogy project on Meta)

Participation:

This is the fourth newsletter sent by mass mail to members in Wikipedia:WikiProject Genealogy, to everyone who voted a support for establishing a potential Wikimedia genealogy project on meta, and anyone who during the years showed an interest in genealogy on talk pages and likewise.

(To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please see below)

Mail list is created:

The project email list is now created and ready to use!

Please feel free to subscribe at https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-genealogy

Future:

Don't want newsletters? If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list or alternatively to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Opted-out of message delivery to your user talk page.

Cheers from your WikiProject Genealogy coordinator Dan Koehl.

To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery

Books and Bytes - Issue 21

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 21, January-March 2017
by Nikkimaria (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), UY Scuti (talk · contribs), Samwalton9 (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

  • #1lib1ref 2017
  • Wikipedia Library User Group
  • Wikipedia + Libraries at Wikimedia Conference 2017
  • Spotlight: Library Card Platform

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:54, 6 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 9 June 2017

[edit]
Inviting new writers, editors, and ideas
WMF Board election results, and FDC elections begin
Two cases were closed from 19 February to 27 March.
Lead sentence metadata is out of control and a serious impediment to readability
Eighty-eight articles, forty-three lists, five topics and twenty-two pictures were promoted
Garfield is male, and other places Wikipedia made the news
...but are they real?; personality and attitudes to Wikipedia; large expert review experiment
Bots, scripts, tools, and changes from February to June 2017
Two weeks of film dominance: Baahubali and the Academy Awards

Books and Bytes - Issue 22

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 22, April-May 2017

  • New and expanded research accounts
  • Global branches update
  • Spotlight: OCLC Partnership
  • Bytes in brief

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:35, 20 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 23 June 2017

[edit]
While the English Wikipedia community produces no new requests for adminhood in June, the Wikimedia Foundation makes changes to the Product and Technology departments.
The anatomy of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's chest area has been the talk of the month. But so have high-profile edits, hacked articles, and one particular newborn growing up.
Exploring sourcing issues in Wikimedia projects, a solution in Wikidata and fact mining, and a newsletter to continue the conversation.
22 featured articles, 17 featured lists, 7 featured pictures
Summer blockbusters and sports, Trump and world events.
A researcher applies Marxist critiques of political economy to investigate whether gamification, a culture of altruism, and other anti-corporatist influences on peer production can create a sustainable gift economy in a project like Wikipedia.
Search now can include sister projects; EpochFail

The Signpost: 15 July 2017

[edit]
The English Wikipedia sees its first new admin of the season, discord rocks Wikimedia France, some tweaks to the WMF reorg, and a new WMF annual plan mark this issue's community news.
Recently promoted articles, lists, and pictures.
A grab bag of alt-right speech, classical scholars, the dark web, elicited European tourism, $500,000 golden parachutes, forgery, the Great Firewall, net neutrality, nukes, paid editing, porn, and terrorism.
A closer look at the research that found that the 2013 Snowden revelations coincided with a significant drop of pageviews for privacy-sensitive Wikipedia articles
...and is there anything we can do to stop it? Opinions and examples from across the project.
An interesting mix of patterns and colors to brighten your day...
Enjoy the Parameters: The Infobox Game can be enjoyed by everyone, not just those interested in water buffalo breeds, volcanic hotspots or the mysterious heteroisoform, and some day just might spawn an important facet of the financial derivatives industry.
Popular interest in celebrities, blockbusters and an upcoming season of a popular television show drive traffic, with a smattering of world events, holidays and a Reddit storm around – surprise – free porn for the U.S. Congress.
Syntax highlighting, changes to Recent Changes, Wikidata on the enhance watchlist, accessible editing buttons and jQuery upgrade may break scripts.
The heat turns up on the 32 contestants who entered round three: 13 featured articles, 82 good articles, 167 DYKs, but we had to pick just eight of them to advance.

The Signpost: 5 August 2017

[edit]
Wikimania in Montreal, lawsuit in Sweden, challenges in France
Local tourism gains +9% when Wikipedia articles are improved; significant improvements in predicting article quality with deep learning; recent editor behavior is a strong predictor of content quality
An interview with a project that is centered around comics.
Wikipedia and reliable sources of information continue to define each other
Plus plenty of sports, film, and television
The Canadian Supreme Court ruled that Google must remove search results worldwide, dismissing concerns that this may impede freedom of expression for people outside of Canada or inspire other countries to censor speech.
Wikimedia contributors support each other's projects in many unexpected ways
Recently promoted articles, lists and pictures – with a very heavy one in the mix
The Architecture Committee adopts a new charter and name; and the latest in script, bot, and tech news
An elite squad of highly insightful editors can lead the way for other editors who may need to retrain their faces into forming a smile.

Books and Bytes - Issue 23

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 23, June-July 2017

  • Library card
  • User Group update
  • Global branches update
  • Spotlight: Combating misinformation, fake news, and censorship
  • Bytes in brief

Chinese, Arabic and Yoruba versions of Books & Bytes are now available in meta!

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:03, 23 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 6 September 2017

[edit]
Please share your Wikimania 2017 experiences!
Some of the goings-on from Wikimania 2017.
Take your pick of the best of Wikipedia.
White supremacists v. anti-fascism groups, Mayweather v. McGregor, Moon v. Sun.
Wikipedia's medical and scientific content has come a long way since 2001. Here are some thoughts on how it may continue to evolve.
A list of recent research publications on various topics.
Plus the latest reports of vandalism and mistakes in Wikipedia.
WikiProject YouTube is a new project on both English and Simple English Wikipedia.
Syntax highlighting, failed login notifications, watchlist filters, and more.
Ships, typhoons, birds, and more!
They do the things you don't want to do (and sometimes things you don't want done).

The Signpost: 25 September 2017

[edit]
News from Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Macedonia, and Wikimedia Israel's; Autoconfirmed article creation trial begins
Also: Jeopedia, Dubaipedia, shaping science, fake quote reused by scholarly sources
The best that poultry has to offer
Plus the latest research publications.
Plus more tech news, and the latest scripts and bots
Complimenting this issue's Humour about chickens...
Finally we're seeing some initial successes, but the Wikimedia movement is still far from being environmentally sustainable.
Boxing, hurricanes, clowns, and more!
Newly featured birds, planes, and high achievers

Invitation to discussion about Per-user page blocking

[edit]

Hi there,

The Anti-Harassment Tools team is seeking input about building User Page (or category) blocking feature.

We’re inviting you to join the discussion because you voted or commented in the 2015 Community Wishlist Survey about Enhanced per-user / per-article protection / blocking.

You can leave comments on this discussion page or send an email to the Anti-Harassment Tools team.

For the Anti-Harassment Tools team SPoore (WMF), Community Advocate, Community health initiative (talk) 23:01, 3 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Please let us know if you wish to opt-out of all massmessage mailings from the Anti-harassment tools team.

Books and Bytes - Issue 24

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 24, August-September 2017

  • User Group update
  • Global branches update
    • Star Coordinator Award - last quarter's star coordinator: User:Csisc
  • Wikimania Birds of a Feather session roundup
  • Spotlight: Wiki Loves Archives
  • Bytes in brief

Arabic, Kiswahili and Yoruba versions of Books & Bytes are now available in meta!

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:53, 21 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 23 October 2017

[edit]
The Wikimedia Foundation publishes the latest fundraising report, convenes over the close of the strategic plan discussion, and moves into a new space.
A variety of topics promoted.
If your name is Ralph, well sorry.
Advocates for sharing offline information gather to make content, software, hardware, and social decisions.
A chat with a developer of open source software which allows users to download web content for offline reading, and the future of offline access to Wikipedia.
Fighting fake news and plagiarism.
Wikimedia UK's partnerships and achievements working with GLAM institutions.
Readers interested in the the death of Hef, Puerto Rico, films and television.

The Signpost: 24 November 2017

[edit]
The first ever Wikidata conference was a con we wanted. Problematic paid editing while in a position of trust: not so much.
Arbitration matters from October and November.
A new advanced search interface; the Community Wishlist Survey is back.
Brianboulton talks about featured articles on his 100th promotion.
A novel approach to recruit members for your project!
Wikipedia seen as flawed but important; conservative think-tank fellow wants his say; volunteer in Madison wants to close the gender gap.
Readers intrigued by the Netflix show Stranger Things, and by sexual assault allegations.
War memorials, soldiers, extinct species, and devastating hurricanes are some of the most recently promoted featured content.
And other new research publications.
The entertainment value of Wikipedia.

ArbCom 2017 election voter message

[edit]

Hello, Shizhao. Voting in the 2017 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 10 December. All users who registered an account before Saturday, 28 October 2017, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Wednesday, 1 November 2017 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2017 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:42, 3 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

This may interest you btw. Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 18:35, 4 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Books and Bytes - Issue 25

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 25, October – November 2017

  • OAWiki & #1Lib1Ref
  • User Group update
  • Global branches update
  • Spotlight: Research libraries and Wikimedia
  • Bytes in brief

Arabic, Korean and French versions of Books & Bytes are now available in meta!

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:57, 15 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 18 December 2017

[edit]
Global article creation contest/editathon exceeds expectations.
Astronaut is first to specifically contribute to Wikipedia from space.
Seventeen articles, twenty-nine lists, three pictures and one featured topic were promoted.
The media discuss online copyright issues, Wikipedia's coverage of the capital of Israel and creation of a "reasonably clean, honest and reliable" work on Earth and in space.
Evidence phase in Mister Wiki editors case is complete; the community is proposing remedies and the Arbitration committee is slated to make a decision by end of year. Meanwhile, voting has closed on 2017 elections.
Winners of the international photo competitions Wiki Loves Earth and Wiki Loves Monuments.
Looking back on a decade of contributions including over 1,000 images and over three dozen Featured Pictures, Charles shares his wildlife photography experience and tips.
And other recent research publications.
Including improved blocking tools, new user scripts, and the latest technical news.
We like our heroes and bad guys.
u-nye-loo-lay-doo? Dochvetlh vISoplaHbe’.

WikiProject Genealogy - newsletter No.5 -2017

[edit]
Newsletter Nr 5, 2017-12-30, for WikiProject Genealogy (and Wikimedia genealogy project on Meta)

Participation:

This is the fifth newsletter sent by mass mail to members in Wikipedia:WikiProject Genealogy, to everyone who voted a support for establishing a potential Wikimedia genealogy project on meta, and anyone who during the years showed an interest in genealogy on talk pages and likewise.

(To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please see below)

A demo wiki is up and running!

Dear members of WikiProject Genealogy, this will be the last newsletter for 2017, but maybe the most important one!

You can already now try out the demo for a genealogy wiki at https://tools.wmflabs.org/genealogy/wiki/Main_Page and try out the functions. You will find parts of the 18th Pharao dynasty and other records submitted by the 7 first users, and it would be great if you would add some records.

And with those great news we want to wish you a creative New Year 2018!


Don't want newsletters? If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list or alternatively to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Opted-out of message delivery to your user talk page.

Cheers from your WikiProject Genealogy coordinator Dan Koehl.

To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery

The Signpost: 16 January 2018

[edit]
Two new WMF Communications department leadership appointments; a new way for Wikimedia communities to communicate their capacities.
Wikipedia manipulated and copied – again
Historical and pop culture articles promoted.
How do you make an average of 3,600 edits a week for over a decade? And what do you learn when you've done it?
Plus the latest technology upgrades, tools and news.
Notable missing articles.
In deciding to de-sysop an admin for efforts to evade discussion and review of paid edits made on behalf of a PR firm, Arbitration Committee doesn't significantly change the rules around paid editing, and leaves it up to the community whether to apply special restrictions to administrators.
A look back at the most popular articles in a tumultuous and intriguing year.

Books and Bytes - Issue 26

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 26, December – January 2018

  • #1Lib1Ref
  • User Group update
  • Global branches update
  • Spotlight: What can we glean from OCLC’s experience with library staff learning Wikipedia?
  • Bytes in brief

Arabic and French versions of Books & Bytes are now available in meta!
Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:36, 31 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 5 February 2018

[edit]
Should an editor's block history be a permanent "rap sheet", or does Wikipedia forgive and forget? A reform initiative has begun.
Exemplary content recognized between January 12 and January 20, 2018
Also: Polish quality, Russian political mythologization, and multilingual analyses
The Wikimedia Foundation's Analytics team compiles a clickstream dataset, now available as a series of monthly data dumps for English, Russian, German, Spanish, and Japanese Wikipedias.
Lessons on Creating a Featured List
The most popular articles for January 14 to 27
A partnership to improve and update Wikipedia's medical content
Politeness and collegial behavior about to be taken up by Arbcom, and perhaps a revisit of the infobox question.
Also, did UCF really win?
Enjoy the humour of another contributor

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 11

[edit]
Newsletter • February 2018

Check out this month's issue of the WikiProject X newsletter, with plans to renew work with a followup grant proposal to support finalising the deployment of CollaborationKit!

-— Isarra 21:26, 14 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 20 February 2018

[edit]
Sweden selected for Wikimania 2019; research report on shaping the future; a scarcity of RfAs.
There might be good things about an edit war.
Editor in self-imposed exile and infobox wars a thorn in the side of arbitration committee.
The Superbowl, the Winter Olympics, death, and accusations of unspeakable things.
An eclectic mix of promotions.
And other recent tech news.
Stubs get a lot of pageviews.

Welcome to The Wikipedia Adventure!

[edit]
Hi Shizhao! We're so happy you wanted to play to learn, as a friendly and fun way to get into our community and mission. I think these links might be helpful to you as you get started.

-- 08:05, Wednesday, February 28, 2018 (UTC)

Signpost issue 4 – 29 March 2018

[edit]
Is The Signpost on its last legs?
Wikimedia events, group recognition, and individual appointments are ongoing.
Arbcom considers new discretionary sanctions for infoboxes and an extension of 1RR.
Diplomats join Wikipedia for International Women's Day, the perfect "Human", how fringe theories are sustained, and perennial plagiarism from our pages.
Wakanda still fascinates; the Oscars happened; Winter Olympics come to a close; and International Women's Day gets over a million page views.
A plethora of content.
Reviewing a browser skin providing equal emphasis on both content and editing tools simultaneously.
Retrospective on article creation trial.
Nostalgia and trips down Memory Lane.

Books & Bytes - Issue 27

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 27, February – March 2018

  • #1Lib1Ref
  • New collections
    • Alexander Street (expansion)
    • Cambridge University Press (expansion)
  • User Group
  • Global branches update
    • Wiki Indaba Wikipedia + Library Discussions
  • Spotlight: Using librarianship to create a more equitable internet: LGBTQ+ advocacy as a wiki-librarian
  • Bytes in brief

Arabic, Chinese and French versions of Books & Bytes are now available in meta!
Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:49, 18 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 26 April 2018

[edit]
Following Kudpung's op-ed "Death knell sounding for The Signpost?" in the 29 March issue, user comments encouraged a burst of enthusiasm to keep the newspaper in print.
How to revive and evolve The Signpost? Big blue-sky proposals and small concrete proposals from the community and from two regular Signpost contributors.
Finally a free image Kim Jong-un. WMF wins legal battle. Stephen Hawking death tops all Wikipedia hits.
Internet companies use Wikipedia to police truth; Citogenesis proven yet again; early birthday greetings; and trains
A recent Community Health Initiative survey found only 27% of respondents are happy with the way reports of conflicts between Editors are handled on the Administrators' Incident Noticeboard (ANI).
New major editing policy starting immediately: creation of articles in mainspace is to be limited to users with confirmed accounts
The standards have been raised for sources used in judging the notability of nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
Wikipedia's myth of the clean Wehrmacht and what you can do about it. Or, how not to be one of "the worst distributors of pro-Nazi perspectives and the Wehrmacht myth".
Can Wikipedia mobilize the same energy to fill other gaps in coverage?
What should we do about Portals? Keep them, delete them, or mark them as historical? Or should they be more closely connected with their WikiProject(s)?
Quiet month for the Arbitration Committee
Combat, weapons, monuments and personalities.
What we learned about reader motivation from a recent research study
You might not get all excersized about essays but they can be as fun as talk pages
The most popular articles from March 25 to April 14.
Plus the latest tech news and userscripts.
Material promoted from March 2 through April 20.
Honoring a day in military history, as well as peaceful borders

Help us design granular blocks!

[edit]

Hello :-) The Anti-Harassment Tools team at the Wikimedia Foundation will start building these granular blocking tools in a few weeks and we've asked WMF designer Alex Hollender to help us make some wireframes so the tools are intuitive to MediaWiki users.

We have a first draft of how we think this tool should work. You can read the full proposed implementation here but here are the significant parts:

  • Granular blocks (page, category, namespace, and file uploading) will be built on top of Special:Block. These blocks will function as if they were regular blocks and allow for the same options, but only take effect on specific pages.
  • We will add a new checkbox for "Block this user from the whole site" which will be checked by default. When it is unchecked the admin will be able to specify which pages, categories, and/or namespaces the user should be blocked from editing.
  • Granular blocks can be combined and/or overlap. (For example, a user could be simultaneously blocked from editing the articles Rain, Thunder, Lightning, and all pages inside the Category:Weather.)
  • Only one block is set at a time, to adjust what the user is blocked from the administrator would have to modify the existing block.
  • Block logs should display information about the granular block
  • When a blocked user attempts to edit an applicable page, they should see a block warning message which include information on their block (reason, expiration, what they are blocked from, etc.)
  • If a category is provided, the blocked user cannot edit either the category page itself and all pages within the category.
  • If the File: namespace is blocked, the user should not be allowed to upload files.

We like this direction because it builds on top of the existing block system, both a technical and usability wise. Before we get too far along with designs and development we'd like to hear from you about our prosposal:

  1. What do you think of the proposed implementation?
  2. We believe this should be an expansion of Special:Block, but it has been suggested that this be a new special page. What are your thoughts?
  3. Should uploading files be combined with a File namespace block, or as a separate option? (For example, if combined, when a user is blocked from the File namespace, they would neither be able to edit any existing pages in the File namespace nor upload new files.)
  4. Should there be a maximum number of things to be blocked from? Or should we leave it up to admin discretion?

We appreciate your feedback on this project's talk page or by email. For the Anti-Harassment Tools team, SPoore (WMF) (talk) , Trust and Safety Specialist, Community health initiative (talk) 20:54, 9 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

[edit]
Roses are red,
Good message links are blue,
My proofreading stinks,
So here's a good link for you SPoore (WMF), Trust & Safety, Community health initiative (talk) 16:25, 10 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

.

The Signpost: 24 May 2018

[edit]
A busy office with minimal staff.
Kudpung has some thoughts on the reasons for becalmed forums and the reluctance of candidates to (wo)man the rigging.
Thoughts on how looking for the truth on Wikipedia brings out unexpected things in the real world.
After a recent Village Pump discussion, the Signpost looks at WikiProject Portals.
A busy month for discussions on major topics.
Science, sportspeople, video games, and history feature heavily in the community's picks this month.
Has an attempt to prevent historical revisionism become a content battleground?
De-recognition of Brazil user groups; brute-force attack on Wikipedia; Wikimedia Conference 2018; and assorted other silly things.
And the burning question of the day, is the monkey selfie going to space with the rest of Wikipedia?
No surprises here as the summer movie season begins.
Improved mobile app, searching, citations, inline maps, voting, and more.
Editor SusunW delves into reasons why she has created hundreds of articles about women.
Too many women still don't know that Wikipedia is editable.
Down the rabbit hole into the realm of third-grade mind.
May 25 is National Wine Day in the United States.
The dark and twisted world of Wikipedia's most powerful media institution: The Signpost.

Books & Bytes – Issue 28

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 28, April – May 2018

  • #1Bib1Ref
  • New partners
  • User Group update
  • Global branches update
    • Wikipedia Library global coordinators' meeting
  • Spotlight: What are the ten most cited sources on Wikipedia? Let's ask the data
  • Bytes in brief

Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Italian and French versions of Books & Bytes are now available in meta!
Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:33, 20 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 29 June 2018

[edit]
A Wiki not so Simple, a mayor motivating an editathon, a Marshall Plan, and a Wikimania under a cloud of criticism
Further developments on New Page Review and Articles for Creation work sharing
Admins volunteer to be abused – or so it seems
So it shouldn't get credit for our work, either.
Major grants announced, a new milestone for Afrikaans Wikipedia, a new WMF technical engagement team, an effort to start up a new library, two new admins – or maybe three fewer depending on your math.
Several online battles are juxtaposed with stories about cooperation and good deeds, Arbcom hovering over it all; notwithstanding, a good action movie script is not necessarily found here.
Community discussions include style updates to project-wide icons and the main page, procedural questions on royal names and jettisoning unsuitable drafts, and deeper questions of compliance with European privacy laws and the perennial issue of shrinking admin corps.
Enjoy the superb content
British politics case enters workshop phase and German war effort closes workshop, goes to Arbcom for proposals.
Two celebrities hang themselves, and the FIFA World Cup is underway
An AI assistant comes to watchlists; better mobile compatibility; new bots, tools and scripts; and more
Colorful and moving.
WMF appeals to Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime, and Communications Ahmet Arslan to lift the block of all language versions of Wikipedia for over a year.
Studying ourselves: 'driven by a sense of mission' according to researchers.
In our next episode...
Some essays are funny, some are serious; some are just, well what exactly?
Revisiting an editor's warning to count our kidneys and keep the wolves at bay

The Signpost: 31 July 2018

[edit]
Ships and shoes – and if you don't like it here, just go away!
How admin would-bes run the gauntlet.
Wikipedia referees wag a finger at Professional Wrestling editors.
New admins and Kudpung finally leaves NPP after 7 years.
One secret cabal that watches out for conspiracy theories, and another one out to stymie venture capitalists?
And more: a new user group for editing code, Women in Red, and arbitrator articles.
Spanning the gamut from warfare and destruction to pop culture to celebrations of nature and humanity's achievements.
We don't have "state agents" in a political debate, but couldn't talk about it if there were.
Finding the mathematician and Supreme Court nominee in this list is like playing Where's Waldo?.
Useful new gadgets.
Depictions of July events in several countries.
Those who study ancient Egypt.
And other recent findings, plus a roundup of research presentations at Wikimania.
Merge WikiProject Professional wrestling and ANI.
Get over it!
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Books & Bytes – Issue 29

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 29, June – July 2018

Hindi, Italian and French versions of Books & Bytes are now available in meta!
Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:02, 25 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 30 August 2018

[edit]
Keep straight on – there are trolls in the hedgerows.
"Imagine a world in which every single human being is a Wikimedian. That's my commitment!"
WMF pays possible Orangemoody ring for user research, and ditches MediaWiki for publishing its own blog. Knife-edge closures at RfA.
But unfortunately its output is incompatible with open licensing.
Plus: Simple English Wikipedia stays open, a discussion on draft header templates, bias blind spot by admins offered cash?
Astronauts named Armstrong, babes of the Brits, Cortinarius caperatus and all that.
"Bridging knowledge gaps, the ubuntu way forward".
Very high and very low hits; love and loss.
Citation bot and mapframe enhancements; new licenses for Data space; possible hiccup on 12 September; per-user page, namespace, and upload blocking; and miscellaneous new bots and tools.
Some of the best pictures of 2017.
Readers prefer the AI's version 40% of the time – but it still suffers from hallucinations.
Nothing funny about it.
Remind you of any Wikipedia articles?
The Wikipedia Plays.

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 12

[edit]
Newsletter • August 2018

This month: WikiProject X: The resumption

Work has resumed on WikiProject X and CollaborationKit, backed by a successfully funded Project Grant. For more information on the current status and planned work, please see this month's issue of the newsletter!

-— Isarra 22:24, 30 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Speedy deletion declined: Phoenix Qigong

[edit]

Hello Shizhao. I am just letting you know that I declined the speedy deletion of Phoenix Qigong, a page you tagged for speedy deletion, because of the following concern: (sub-)belief systems are not an eligible subject for A7 speedy deletion. Thank you. SoWhy 07:54, 5 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 1 October 2018

[edit]
We keep on publishing as long as you keep on reading.
Wikipedia dodges a bullet in Brussels... maybe.
Can Wikipedians help save the world's knowledge and shine a light on current events?
Plus: signatures, shortcuts, and reliable sources.
No valid new requests for arbitration, no new cases.
Fourth highest view count of the year; lowest view count since 2014; death, sports, and movies ever constant.
Plus the latest scripts, bots, and tech news.
A pictorial ode to the end of summer.
As the global community of volunteer Wikimedia editors mourns the destruction of this amazing museum, this post pays tribute to all editors who have contributed restlessly to tell the story of the National Museum, our history.
And other recent research papers.
What is a four-letter word for...
You know you should...

Books & Bytes, Issue 30

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 30, August – Septmeber 2018

  • Library Card translation
  • Spotlight: 1Lib1Ref spreads to the Southern Hemisphere and beyond
  • Wikimedia and Libraries User Group update
  • Global branches update
  • Bytes in brief

French version of Books & Bytes is now available in meta!
Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:43, 25 October 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 28 October 2018

[edit]
A slightly thinner issue, but out on time.
Is a missing article on a Nobel laureate a fail? What if her draft biography was declined as non-notable?
And it's richer than ever.
Breitbart begone; rescued by archivists; celebrating trolls?
Plus: two pending changes-related discussions, notability, and naming conventions.
Who's reading what?
Bots can do anything you want – well, almost.
WMF continues to stonewall development; NPP wishes again relegated to stocking fillers.
SPARQL adds sparkle to WMF projects.
We are all writing for Amazon.
No special effects here, just beautiful celestial images.
If it weren't free, of course.
Wikipedia has a long history of talk page tomfoolery.
The reviewer who declined the article gives his perspective.
The "holy-shit" slide.

ArbCom 2018 election voter message

[edit]

Hello, Shizhao. Voting in the 2018 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 3 December. All users who registered an account before Sunday, 28 October 2018, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Thursday, 1 November 2018 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2018 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:42, 19 November 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 1 December 2018

[edit]
Lay down your verbal weapons.
The experiences of a new user on Wikipedia, told in their own words.
What do the WMF devs have in store for the community?
Suppose they gave a blog and nobody came?
Looking both backward and forward to events concerning the community.
A personal reflection on Wikipedia's role as a repository of history.
Real-world news competes with the usual celeb fascination for Wikipedia's commentators.
It was a good 15 years. Plus: admins, notability, substubs, and new padlocks.
Arbcom takes its first new case since June.
The "Queen" of stage and screen, that is. Is there another?
Biology or technology? Form follows function in nature and the constructed world.
And other new research results.
Nope, don't care!
Wonky carrots invoke terror.
ARS might continue, but some Wikipedians might not.

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 13

[edit]
Newsletter • December 2018

This month: A general update.

The current status of the project is as follows:

  • Progress of the project has been generally delayed since September due to development issues (more bitrot than expected, some of the code just being genuinely confusing, etc) and personal injury (I suffered a concussion in October and was out of commission for almost two months as a result).
  • I currently expect to be putting out a proper call for CollaborationKit pilots in January/February, with estimated deployment in February/March if things don't go horribly wrong (they will, though, don't worry). As a part of that, I will properly update the page and send out announcement and reach out to all projects already signed up as pilots for WikiProject X in general, at which point those (still) interested can volunteer specifically to test the CollaborationKit extension.
    • Wikipedia:WikiProject X/Pilots was originally created for the first WikiProject X prototype, and given this is where the project has since gone, it's only logical to continue to use it. While I haven't yet updated the page to properly reflect this:
    • If you want to add your project to this page now, feel free. Just bear in mind that more information what to actually expect will be added later/included in the announcement, because by then I will have a much better idea myself.
  • Until then, you can find me in my corner working on making the CollaborationKit code do what we want and not just what we told it, per the workboard.

Until next time,

-— Isarra 22:44, 20 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes, Issue 31

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 31, October – Novemeber 2018

  • OAWiki
  • Wikimedia and Libraries User Group update
  • Global branches update
  • Bytes in brief

French version of Books & Bytes is now available on meta!
Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:34, 21 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 24 December 2018

[edit]
Tell us what you think!
Did World Patent Marketing pay to get Wikipedia to include flattering information on their board member, now the Acting United States Attorney General?
A statistical insight into the English Wikipedia's very own online community newsletter.
NPP wins the wish list poll; Wikipedia editors will be able to work better at night; new WMF appointments and new arbitrators; and who wants to be an admin?
Wikipedia says 'ta' to British M.P. and 'buh-bye' to U.S. President's image vandals.
Plus: reliable sources, notability, and fallout from the self-blocking software changes.
Discovering how new and unregistered users make articles with the members of WikiProject Articles for Creation.
GiantSnowman asked to chill, and other disputes addressed by Arbcom (or not).
The band relinquishes its first place hold; Aquaman is swimming into view for late December.
Happy solstice, and happy New Year!
In and around the WMF and its projects from the WMF's web site.
Are you a believer?
When the desire to continue to have the privilege of editing Wikipedia overrides the body's innate desire to choke the living shit out of some bastard who really has it coming.
Compromised accounts – especially those of inactive admins.

WikiProject Genealogy - newsletter No.6

[edit]
Newsletter Nr 6, 2018-12-25, for WikiProject Genealogy (and Wikimedia genealogy project on Meta)

Participation:

This is the sixth newsletter sent by mass mail to members in Wikipedia:WikiProject Genealogy, to everyone who voted a support for establishing a potential Wikimedia genealogy project on meta, and anyone who during the years showed an interest in genealogy on talk pages and likewise.

(To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please see below)

Now 100 supporters

[edit]

At 3 December 2018, the list of users who support the potential Wikimedia genealogy project, reached 100!

A demo wiki is up and running!

[edit]

You can already now try out the demo for a genealogy wiki at https://tools.wmflabs.org/genealogy/wiki/Main_Page and try out the functions. You will find parts of the 18th Pharao dynasty and other records submitted by the 7 first users, and it would be great if you would add some records.

And with those great news we want to wish you a creative New Year 2019!


Don't want newsletters? If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list or alternatively to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Opted-out of message delivery to your user talk page.

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2019!

Hello Shizhao, may you be surrounded by peace, success and happiness on this seasonal occasion. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Sending you heartfelt and warm greetings for Christmas and New Year 2019.
Happy editing,

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:53, 25 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

Cheers from your WikiProject Genealogy coordinator Dan Koehl.

To discontinue receiving Project Genealogy newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery

The Signpost: 31 January 2019

[edit]
Lab rats deflate research to be performed on the Wikipedia community.
Did you know that there was an admin who thought that the metaphor of the mop was a joke, and now they know it's not?
Rude or just forgetful? Eight-year WMF manager has disappeared; Facebook gives a million bucks, gets no love.
Heroes and unsung heroes: many good news stories about the work we are all doing together.
Plus: plagiarism from Wikipedia, user categories, and admin activity requirements.
Get yourself lost in 1730's Paris, and a wide range of other recently promoted content.
Snowman flames newbies? Or just oversensitive snowflakes?
The most popular articles of 2018 include a cornucopia of superheroes (Avengers: Infinity War)
Emergency server switch goes smoothly; technical glitches resolved; a new way to transfer files to Commons.
A tour of some of the world's greatest memorials courtesy the Prime Minister of India.
The world’s largest photo contest, a $1 million gift, Wikipedia’s birthday, WF appoints Valerie D'Costa.
And other new research publications.
A narrative to get you oriented to how this place works, and to the key policies and guidelines.
More talk pages you don't want to miss.
Four years - and nothing changed?

Books & Bytes, Issue 32

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 32, January – February 2019

  • #1Lib1Ref
  • New and expanded partners
  • Wikimedia and Libraries User Group update
  • Global branches update
  • Bytes in brief

French version of Books & Bytes is now available on meta!

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:30, 26 February 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 28 February 2019

[edit]
This may be too wordy, verbose and loquacious – and possibly redundant – but as you know, it takes others to check our work, and if there were more people in the Newsroom, we'd be able to double check ourselves and produce a better product for our readership; if you think you are up to it, you are welcome to join us and even copyedit the Editor-in-Chief's article intros.
Encyclopedias for Deletion; Corinne; scholarships; partial blocks; and administrators headcount.
This election will select 2 of 10 seats on the board. All Wikimedia users are stakeholders in the election outcome and should participate.
This month's major discussions include a WMF talk page consultation and a proposed current events noticeboard.
Horsemen of the apocalypse all represented in recently promoted content, alongside new life, pretty birds, great music, and other miscellaneous topics.
Snowed in, maybe.
Netflix shows and TV sports dominate. A US politician breaks into the top 10.
Tool labs goes kaput, bots running wild (not really), interface administrators step into the breach, new gadgets and other tech happenings.
A gallery of user signatures created by Wikipedians themselves.
When watchers want the whole truth, they wind up with the wiki! And Cultural Context Content comes out of a complete cartography.
Assume good faith even if it kills you.
The creation of the Esperanza group.
Not feeling blurbish right now.

The Signpost: 31 March 2019

[edit]

The Signpost: 30 April 2019

[edit]
New Administrators, April Fools, our competitors, and other associated updates
Harassment, a black hole, the Mueller Report, and Mötley Crüe - just another social media site?
Plus: another round of paid editing discussion.
April's admirable additions.
Policies and procedures, cases and controversies, and other ArbCom updates
Round up the unusual suspects
Welcoming English Wikipedia's newest admin (bot)
Photos and videos show the damage
Wikimedia Foundation data scientists are using machine learning to predict whether—and why—any given sentence on Wikipedia may need a citation in order to help editors identify areas of content violating the verifiability policy.
And other recent research results
"The future of portals", a year later
Some editors will do anything to get a laugh
What we know we don't know, and why it might matter more than you might think
Maher discusses her tenure as ED, the editing community, harassment and diversity, the WMF's 3-5 year plan, airplane travel, books, and her future.
An overview of Wikimedia Summit 2019, a working conference to discuss the Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy Process, preparing draft recommendations for Wikimania 2019 in August.

Books & Bytes, Issue 33

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 33, March – April 2019

  • #1Lib1Ref
  • Wikimedia and Libraries User Group update
  • Global branches update
  • Bytes in brief

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:41, 21 May 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 31 May 2019

[edit]
The North Face sneaks in advertisements, apologizes after being caught
Get ready to go to Wikimania in Stockholm where you might meet two new trustees
Wikipedia finds itself up against China, Pennsylvania politicians and the Detroit Tigers
Neutrality and copyright concerns lead and part 2 of the talk pages consultation.
Resignations, new cases, administrator security, and more
Who will be next to fill the throne at the top of the list?
Admin bots, approved bots, bots on trial, lots and lots of bots
The WMF keeps working to stop Turkey from blocking Wikipedia.
And other new research publications
We've been talking about paid editing forever
A debate from 5 years ago on whether we use to prohibit undisclosed paid editing

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 14

[edit]
Newsletter • June 2019

Updates: I've been focusing largely on the development side of things, so we are a lot closer now to being ready to actually start discussing deploying it and testing it out here.

There's just a few things left that need to be resolved:

  • A bunch of language support issues in particular, plus some other release blockers, such as the fact that currently there's no good way to find any hubs people do create.
  • We also probably need some proper documentation and examples up to even reference if we want a meaningful discussion. We have the extension documentation and some test projects, but we probably need a bit more. Also I need to be able to even find the test projects! How can I possibly write reports about this stuff if I can't find any of it?!

Some other stuff that's happened in the meantime:

  • Midpoint report is out for this round of the project, if you want to read in too much detail about all the problems I've been running into.
  • WikiProject Molecular Biology have successfully set up using the old module system that CollaborationKit is intended to replace (eventually), and it even seems to work, so go them. Based on the issues they ran into, it looks like the members signup thing on that system has some of the same problems as we've been unable to resolve in CK, though, which is... interesting. (Need to change the content model to the right thing for the formwizard config to take. Ugh, content models.)

Until next time,

-— Isarra 21:43, 21 June 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The June 2019 Signpost is out!

[edit]
Could this be a new relationship between the Foundation and ArbCom, and between the Foundation and enwiki?
Many administrators resign related to Fram case; Wikimedia Thailand to host Wikimania 2020.
Or is it the information error?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse.
Readers look for info on what they watch, mostly Chernobyl.
Database changes, new scripts, Tech News, and more.
Wikimedia photographers surge to contribute to the Wiki Loves Earth campaign even while rogue clothing company The North Face replaces wiki illustrations with advertisements.
(DELETED ARTICLE)
And other recent research publications.
"If you don't clean up this mess, the adults are going to come and take your toys away from you."
To reduce the incentives driving undisclosed paid editing, Wikipedia could simplify the process and meet outsiders halfway.
Academic peer review meets Wikimedia.
How an Irish state-level paid editor tried to turn me into the villain.
Wikimedia community organizations elect two members for the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees.

Books & Bytes Issue 34, May – June 2019

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 34, May – June 2019

  • Partnerships
  • #1Lib1Ref
  • Wikimedia and Libraries User Group update
  • Global branches update
  • Bytes in brief

French version of Books & Bytes is now available on meta!
Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:21, 12 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 31 July 2019

[edit]
WMF grants program changes position on funding random individuals globally and 100 crore people in one region
Are we ready for the sharp elbows?
Resysop requests on the ’crat board prove controversial; plus, aftermath of Framgate.
Arbitration begins setting new boundaries after the June blow-up
It looks nice and cool up in those mountains
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse.
It's easy, education saves lives.
Or, how to avoid Artificial Ignorance
And other new research publications
A new record set: fewer than 500 active admins.
and don't forget the movies
Who is growing? Who is not?

Invitation to participate in a discussion about publicly disclosing subscribers of TWL resources

[edit]

Hi Shizhao, I have started a discussion over our Village pump with the aim of maintaining a public list of all editors who are granted access to any TWL resource. Your thoughts and opinions on the proposal are welcome:-) Regards, WBGconverse

The Signpost: 30 August 2019

[edit]
The oldest surviving Wikipedia edit restored to article history, Wikimania, and the mystery of a disappearing Funds Dissemination Committee.
Working with leadership and the community, taking on both operational and strategic responsibilities
And the media report it all
Can we survive without IP addresses?
And some summer flicks with the usual heroes and villains
Should we break the law or publish the truth?
Or how to make a concentration camp disappear?
From streets to Wikipedia - What are editors from Hong Kong facing?
Emna Mizouni was named the 2019 Wikimedian of the Year.
A roundup of many recent publications examining Wikpedia's gender gaps in participation and content, and their possible reasons
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse

Books & Bytes – Issue 35, July – August 2019

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 35, July – August 2019

  • Wikimania
  • We're building something great, but..
  • Wikimedia and Libraries User Group update
  • A Wikibrarian's story
  • Bytes in brief

Read the full newsletter

On behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:58, 27 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 15

[edit]
Newsletter • September 2019

A final update, for now:


The third grant-funded round of WikiProject X has been completed. Unfortunately, while this round has not resulted in a deployed product, I am not planning to resume working on the project for the foreseeable future. Please see the final report for more information.

Regards,

-— Isarra 19:24, 29 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding my block at the Chinese Wikipedia

[edit]

Hi Shizhao A couple minutes ago, I was blocked my Wcam because I violated copyright rules and having a sockpuppet account (even though I stated in my userpage that this is one of my accounts and the reasoning behind the creation of my current account). I issued an apology regarding my recent actions on the Chinese Wikipedia and that this account is my current account. I also stated that when I get a second chance, I will follow the rules carefully. At the time when I upload the rules, I did not pay attention to the rules. SpinnerLaserz (talk) 00:52, 30 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 30 September 2019

[edit]
Our constitutional crisis may continue
Summary of actions around a formerly banned former administrator: Arbitration Committee action and withdrawn request for adminship
The internet may not be as stable as it seems
Luck, Serena, Bianca, 9/11, bad films, mass murderers and other good stuff
Wikipedia's footprint is equivalent to 251 average US homes’ energy use. Yes we can go green.
And other recent research publications
Wikimedia Commons is not the only place to find freely licensed photos
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse
National libraries are planning to leverage Wikidata to interoperate and to bring information to the public

The Signpost: 31 October 2019

[edit]
Sweden, Poland, Armenia, Russia, the Vatican, and clueless English pubs.
"It's time for Wikipedia to grow up."
But they aren't entirely sure they see it
A discussion on info wars, government editing and our defences.
A different point of view
An "unblockable" is blocked; a former arb resigns.
Plus a few celebrities.
The future of public broadcasting has arrived.
And other new research publications
Editing can have serious consequences.
Twenty questions to get you started.
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.

ArbCom 2019 election voter message

[edit]
Hello! Voting in the 2019 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 on Monday, 2 December 2019. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2019 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:03, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes – Issue 36

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 36, September – October 2019

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:21, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 29 November 2019

[edit]
"We get by with a little help from our friends"
And when will we get the second extraterrestrial edit?
Everybody wants to change Wikipedia.
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
Important or imprudent? Pondering portals. And an editor gets transported off-wiki for good.
Could this be the end of the Terminator?
The latest tech news and updates.
Some interesting and unusual winter and holiday images.
And other new research publications.
Some humor about the otherwise serious subject of burnout.
Veteran editor: Wikipedia is losing existential battle against spam.
Coming to the end of a long road formulating the strategy.
Only now can we say!

The Signpost: 27 December 2019

[edit]
You can buy "cleaners" but you might not come away clean.
Active administrators and articles achieved are marking milestone metrics, but in diverging directions. Plus, the first time any court has found there exists a constitutional right to read Wikipedia.
Son of Wiki-PR.
Praise for possibly pansophic Wikipedia from a Nobel laureate collides head-on with real-world events in December.
Regarding integrity of information presented by Wikipedia, as well as the processes and people who ensure it remains trustworthy.
ArbCom election results and status of open and requested cases.
We may have scrambled the headlines a bit.
Customise your Wikipedia experience
Messages of holiday cheer from us to you.
16 recent papers, and other research news
A look at different approaches taken by Wikipedia's founders in 2002, as seen from the perspective of nine years when it was written; nearly twenty years ago now.
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
There's still a long way to go.
Eight years after our last interview, WikiProject Tree of Life continues to thrive.

The Signpost: 27 January 2020

[edit]
How long can we ignore Wiki-PR?
You ain't seen nothing yet.
How to survive the asshole consensus.
Plus politics and other oddities.
The new arbs have a big load.
As only The Signpost can describe them.
The top 15 international photos.
Growing our community and our abilities.
Well, it's a bit subjective.
Everybody needs to make a buck somehow — just not here, thanks.
And other new research publications.
The first 10 years are the hardest.
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
An interview with four members of the WikiProject Japan.
I may fall in love all over again!
A mentor to us all

Books & Bytes – Issue 37

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 37, November – December 2019

Read the full newsletter

On behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:10, 1 February 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 1 March 2020

[edit]
How to stop abusive commercial editing.
Falling behind Chinese websites.
A statistical insight into the English Wikipedia's very own online community newsletter.
We're all over the map this month.
Wikimedia or Wikipedia?
Arbitration Committee and the "blue wall of silence".
Numbers for vandalism and sockpuppeting included at no additional charge!
No more "Hidden Figures", let's work to make women visible on Wikipedia!
Covering Wikipedia for another five years!
And other new research results
How long has Wikipedia been for sale? When will it stop?
Kobe sets another record.
Renewing our vows.
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
Getting across the Wikipedia experience to the press.
Or: how to best bite a newbie.
WikiWorld is back.

The Signpost: 29 March 2020

[edit]
Getting ready for anything.
Wheel war on Tatar Wikipedia.
An interview with members of the COVID Project.
Wikipedia presents solid widely-consulted information on COVID-19 and related topics.
COVID-19, Zika, edit-a-thons, and macrons.
Plus: geonotices, reliable sources, and job titles.
A new case, a case returns from limbo, and an RfC being prepared.
The twists and turns of Epstein’s portrayal on Wikipedia.
Individually and in organized groups, Wikimedians stand up and make a difference.
New research publications on "the fear of being erased" and other topics.
Five years ago with a different crisis.
Going to movies and sport stadiums is history, and readers turn to Wikipedia for crucial medical information and updates.
Images from the Whose Knowlege? campaign.
The WMF responds.
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.

The Signpost: 26 April 2020

[edit]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pitches in.
Plus the importance of language.
The Wikimedia community discusses modifying or hiding the sidebar on the left of every page.
Movies, roads, awards and more.
Even our best editors sometimes disagree.
Coronavirus, coronavirus, and Joe Exotic.
A coronavirus cruise can't stop Roy!
And other new research results.
And it could get worse!
What COVID-19 data are available from the WMF?
In an increasingly factious world, Wikipedia's approach to collaboration and trust-building point to a brighter future.
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
A Wikipedia editor reflects on his recent RfA and the health issues that became part of it.
How to better integrate articles across language editions.
An interview with members of the WP:GOCE

Issue 38, January – April 2020

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 38, January – April 2020

  • New partnership
  • Global roundup

Read the full newsletter

On behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --15:58, 29 April 2020 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 May 2020

[edit]
Or will it be meltdown June?
Many of these accounts now blocked on the English-language Wikipedia.
Worth Every Goddamn Second!
It's no April Fool's joke, but we discuss those, too.
Cultural context, diversity, and the future of languages.
Battles, bombs, wars, and more storms.
Sanctions of multiple flavors, and a non-decision on the breadth of discretionary sanctions.
Time to bring on the Bulls.
Straight down the tubes.
Birds, insects, elephants, a macaque and more.
Enacting new standards to address harassment and promote inclusivity across projects.
New results from academic research
Hello Columbus.
Community harnesses new technologies for remote participation in events and gatherings
Can our energy be turned into long-term change?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
Rest in peace.

Books & Bytes – Issue 39, May – June 2020

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 39, May – June 2020

  • Library Card Platform
  • New partnerships
    • ProQuest
    • Springer Nature
    • BioOne
    • CEEOL
    • IWA Publishing
    • ICE Publishing
  • Bytes in brief

Read the full newsletter

On behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:13, 11 June 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 28 June 2020

[edit]
Plus Swedish biographies and the big oops!
Reacting to the WMF's rebranding proposal.
Protests and photos from around the world...
Racial justice, Facebook, LGBTQ+, Ryan Merkley, and a woman.
Many Wikimedia community members are upset about the WMF's plan to rebrand. Plus, a discussion of Fox News's reliability.
Battles, music, and animals feature prominently in this month's best content.
The RfC should keep everybody busy.
Plus Rajput, Musk, Epstein, Maxwell, Owens and Anonymous
On these issues, there is no neutral stance.
And other new research publications
Four signers of the open letter explain.
It's amazing what one can do.
A scientific scandal and the Ronaldo of investment banking.
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
The history and impact of LGBTIQ+ contributions to Wikimedia projects.
How Wikipedia is covering racial injustice, both in the outer world and on-site

The Signpost: 2 August 2020

[edit]
Comparing Wikipedia to similar projects.
And thanks for the photo, Ghislaine!
Plus lots of affiliations!
Pandemic, politics, and possibly paid editing.
Plus a proposed massive invasion of privacy!
soldiers, sports, and actors feature heavily this month.
Death and Alexander Hamilton.
Sometimes you just have to ask.
Privacy is critical to sustaining freedom of expression and association, enabling knowledge and ideas to thrive.
And other new research publications
Some editors aren't.
Rest in peace.
Making Wikipedia the encyclopedia that anyone can review.

The Signpost: 30 August 2020

[edit]
Will the Scots language Wikipedia survive?
COVID, Fox, Kamala, Scots, cryptocurrency, and more.
Sports, music, military and more
Wikidata's profound impact on Wikipedia
Watch out for those Mustelodons!
More politics than usual.
Celebrating of our community in a different format.
And other new research results
Everybody deserves a vacation!
A question from 2005 that we still haven't answered.
Rest in Peace.

Books & Bytes – Issue 40

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 40, July – August 2020

  • New partnerships
    • Al Manhal
    • Ancestry
    • RILM
  • #1Lib1Ref May 2020 report
  • AfLIA hires a Wikipedian-in-Residence

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:15, 10 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Books & Bytes – Issue 40

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 40, July – August 2020

  • New partnerships
    • Al Manhal
    • Ancestry
    • RILM
  • #1Lib1Ref May 2020 report
  • AfLIA hires a Wikipedian-in-Residence

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --14:26, 10 September 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 27 September 2020

[edit]
WE charity and Justin Trudeau, Bell Pottinger, Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.
With inline parenthetical citations!
A celebrity quiz, Scots, and a Crypto-hating Wikipedia editor
Animals, sports, military, and science feature heavily in this month's best content.
Who is that guy JzG?
Perhaps on the tennis court.
And other new research publications.

The Signpost: 27 September 2020

[edit]
WE charity and Justin Trudeau, Bell Pottinger, Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs.
With inline parenthetical citations!
A celebrity quiz, Scots, and a Crypto-hating Wikipedia editor
Animals, sports, military, and science feature heavily in this month's best content.
Who is that guy JzG?
Perhaps on the tennis court.
And other new research publications.

The Signpost: 1 November 2020

[edit]
Branding pause, birthday.
A possible conspiracy and 2 infodemics!
We made it this far, but where do we go from here?
Getting input from editors.
Will editors be affected?
A hairy starfish flower might help!
Here comes the judge.
The co-editors of Wikipedia @ 20.
Sandister Tei.
Ortega's hypothesis was right! (If you start with the right definitions and assumptions.)
The grove continues to grow – despite periods of dismal predictions.

Books & Bytes – Issue 41

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 41, September – October 2020

  • New partnership: Taxmann
  • WikiCite
  • 1Lib1Ref 2021

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:48, 18 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 29 November 2020

[edit]
Arbitration Committee elections begin.
Wikipedia deprecates more right-wing sources than left-wing sources ... but is it a problem?
Billionaires are different from you and me.
And yes, it does!
The Réunion swamphen is a lot less thankful.
Plus Alex Trebek and the Queen's Gambit.
Wiki Education and changing our encyclopedia.
Succeeding one step at a time.
Gog the Mild and The Rambling Man in second and third!
And other new research publications.
Male is not the default.

The Signpost: 28 December 2020

[edit]
New laws in the US and Europe might enable trolls; sad admin milestone for English Wikipedia, or not?
As 2020 draws to a close, this website has been splattered all over the headlines.
Congratulations to the new Arbs!
Edit wars fought on the back of workers.
Texas amphibia, mongeese, and Normandy invasion plans grateful.
Punks and heroes, losers and winners, the bereaved and the deceased – they're all here.
No evidence of large-scale state-sponsored disinformation.
Six million talk page threads analyzed, and other research.
Is not important to notability.
The year that was 2020.
Spinning in infinity.
And to all a good night!

Books & Bytes - Issue 42

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 42, November – December 2020

  • New EBSCO collections now available
  • 1Lib1Ref 2021 underway
  • Library Card input requested
  • Libraries love Wikimedia, too!

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --14:00, 25 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 31 January 2021

[edit]
Who else but Ser Amantio di Nicolao?
From the Hill to the news to Wikipedia in minutes!
A new "wiki journalism" is needed.
Are we getting lead by the nose?
Even the world's richest man is happy we exist!
Starting with trust, expanding, controversy, and opportunities.
Multimedia in many styles!
Happy birthday!
And other new research results
With a special appearance by Senator Ted Cruz!
...Well, except we did change the articles and pictures out. ...Mostly.
The end of the world as we know it?
RIP.

The Signpost: 28 February 2021

[edit]
UCC launch.
Edits of the rich and famous.
Free as in Liberty.
Wikidata, Turkey, Valentine's Day and all sorts of bias!
You can!
And other new research publications
Stealing your heart, and Charles Darwin's notebooks.
Watching the Super Bowl at the Cecil?
In paintings, photos, and recordings.

Books & Bytes – Issue 42

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 42, January – February 2021

  • New partnerships: PNAS, De Gruyter, Nomos
  • 1Lib1Ref
  • Library Card

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:28, 22 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 28 March 2021

[edit]
Or becoming more business-like?
2020 international winners
Plus CPAC misinformation
Telling women’s stories is a radical act.
And other recent research results
Huge profits sustained by unpaid labor.
As in "free software" and "free culture".
Barukh dayan ha-emet ("Blessed is the true judge.")
What can we link to?
Let's do the UCoC right!
Another royal bash!

The Signpost: 25 April 2021

[edit]
But not soon enough.
The Trump Organization's paid editors
Jimmy does OK too!
Explicit behavioral expectations are better than unwritten social norms
Why do we work so hard to avoid having a sense of humor?
Wikipedia's retweet and share buttons
And other research publications
Plus Godzilla and Kong
Even a Nobel laureate can learn more!

The Signpost: 25 April 2021

[edit]
But not soon enough.
The Trump Organization's paid editors
Jimmy does OK too!
Explicit behavioral expectations are better than unwritten social norms
Why do we work so hard to avoid having a sense of humor?
Wikipedia's retweet and share buttons
And other research publications
Plus Godzilla and Kong
Even a Nobel laureate can learn more!

Books & Bytes – Issue 43

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 43, March – April 2021

  • New Library Card designs
  • 1Lib1Ref May

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:12, 10 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 27 June 2021

[edit]
Submit your candidacy today!
Will he hang it in the Oval Office?
Curious and curiouser!
Summaries of 26 new research publications
We'll be there for you!
How do our readers find us?
It's the wheel thing.
Interview with volunteers at WikiProject on open proxies
A calm discussion.
WikiLeaks on multiple boards.
Requiescat in pace.

The Signpost: 25 July 2021

[edit]
And one new admin!
Three strikes and you're out?
Bias, propaganda and more murderous mistakes!
Watch the video!
And other recent research publications
But you can call it soccer if you'd like.
Money, money, money.
Two poems of Wikipedia.

Books & Bytes – Issue 45

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 45, May – June 2021

  • Library design improvements continue
  • New partnerships
  • 1Lib1Ref update

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:04, 30 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 29 August 2021

[edit]
Just do it!
May Father Will forgive us!
With two musical celebrations!
We just look at the pictures!
Moving forward.
A monthly overview of new research results.
You can start with your birthday article!
Winners and losers.
Higher, faster, stronger and more informative!

Books & Bytes – Issue 46

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 46, July – August 2021

  • Library design improvements deployed
  • New collections available in English and German
  • Wikimania presentation

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:15, 22 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 26 September 2021

[edit]
And one new admin!
And a bit about the past.
But just disregarded the warnings.
But not banned!
Did German Wikipedia love parliaments a little too much? Plus fake-bacon and a ponzi scheme.
Emotional injury and rising standards against a backdrop of a dwindling sysop cadre: the 2021 Requests for adminship review grapples with tough issues.
And other new research publications
Help us piece together WikiProject Craft!
Or is it Donda, Leylah Fernandez, and Flight 93?
$4.5 million for equity.
An interview with members of the Random Page Patrol.

The Signpost: 31 October 2021

[edit]
What Wikipedians can and cannot do.
And will the last person to leave the C-Suite please turn off the lights?
Beam me up, Scotty – Matt Amodio for sure, and maybe just a few VIPs, billionaires, and Tucker Carlson.
Section 230 in practice – this Black life should matter to us.
Proposals to solve eight core problems – what many describe as a broken process – identified in the 2021 RfA review.
And other new research results
Were the bans justified?
Plus German elections and movies galore.
Now discovering and accessing Wikimedia tools will be easier.
Details can make all the difference!
Or you could watch the video!
An interview with participants at WikiProject Redirect.
24 clues to chew on.

Books & Bytes – Issue 47

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 47, September – October 2021

  • On-wiki Wikipedia Library notification rolling out
  • Search tool deployed
  • New My Library design improvements

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:59, 10 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

ArbCom 2021 Elections voter message

[edit]
Hello! Voting in the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 6 December 2021. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2021 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:01, 23 November 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 29 November 2021

[edit]
Will they deny non-fungible tokens next?
15th annual event closes with hundreds of articles improved
1,767 nominations in November... AN/Is... DRVs... The largest AfD in history, possibly ever!
Wikipedia democratizes knowledge, but is it in Jeopardy?
We should have at least one of these every year!
Editors propose modifications to Wikipedia's admin-making process.
How MediaWiki works with media files.
From the silver screen to your computer screen
A worthy pilot but the photo didn't match the article!
Sharing the wealth of information!
Conjuring up the jesters again!
And other recent research publications
Answers to last month's puzzle included.

The Signpost: 28 December 2021

[edit]
And wishing our readers a healthy, fortunate and bountiful 2022.
Wrapping up 2021 with a pair of auctions, activity surrounding administrators, and an audit.
Wikipedia and the Oxford Dictionary of Music have different opinions.
Even for Wikipedia critics in nappies!
And other new research results.
Elections certified, bans unlifted, mailing lists restricted, but no new cases.
Commemorating a milestone: word count comparisons with other Wikipedias.
More hats than a rodeo: the best, worst, and gnarliest AfDs of 2021.
Some of 2021's most dramatic moments through Wikicommons images.
We'll always remember the Greek alphabet!
Answers to last month's puzzle included.
Helpful how-to for the prospective buyer. Why settle for a measly single edit, when you can buy the whole thing?

The Signpost: 30 January 2022

[edit]
Education, deletion and social media can be a volatile mix.
Plus, the incredible shrinking admin cadre.
"Impossible ideas can be created, not just imagined."
Over 1,700 U.S. congressmen owned slaves. You can help document this.
More than you wanted to know about the massive NSPORTS RfC.
Interview with volunteers at the Unreviewed featured articles 2020 working group.
The spirit of 2006 is going strong.
Royals, Freddy and movies.
How many more photos are needed?
Rest in peace.
Will this method apply to other sensitive topics?
Just imagine!
One editor doesn't think so.
Get down and party! But no COI editing!
And other research results.
Copyright is almost always complicated, but we break it down for you.
Featuring an experimental on-wiki entry box.

Books & Bytes – Issue 48

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 48, November – December 2021

  • 1Lib1Ref 2022
  • Wikipedia Library notifications deployed

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --15:13, 2 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 27 February 2022

[edit]
Bye-bye 'bones!
Plus, the Steward Elections, Leadership Development Task Force and a contest.
Who are the students and how do we assure quality?
Vive l'encyclopédie libre!
Plus, Wiki Unseen, the "Sports Wars", and much more.
"The first casualty when war comes is truth".
Plus, DiscussionTools and dark mode.
Coffee in Teahouse and other secrets revealed in this interview with volunteers.
A fantastic diverse mix of a record-breaking amount of content.
You WON'T believe #8!
And other recent research publications.
The report on lengthy litigation.
Some evidence from people born in France.
Some good-ol' posters, restored to its former glory.
Plus quarterbacks, half-timers, Olympians, and Hulu!
Meet the folks in charge!
Can you fill in the boxes with Wikipedia's best content?
Does yours pass?

Books & Bytes – Issue 49

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 49, January – February 2022

  • New library collections
  • Blog post published detailing technical improvements

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:06, 25 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 27 March 2022

[edit]
We stand in solidarity with free knowledge.
The diff that resulted in arrest and jail time in Belarus.
A Ukrainian Wikipedian volunteers to document the war.
  • Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary
Reporting from on the ground in Ukraine.
Holding up the elephants!
For whom do the Bells toil?
Lenin did not say "Wow, check out those yachts"!
And other research publications.
The thought of cities being destroyed is unbearable.
The Discussion Report returns with a diverse mix of community proposals.
Plus, Desktop Improvements and a new uploading tool for Commons.
Unclear whether storm will make landfall.
Ukraine, Russia and Anna Sorokin.
Things that go "boom" in the night.
The once-seen beauty of Ukraine, in high quality.
A look at when early backups of Wikipedia were recovered.
There is such thing as over-citing.
And other useful Tips of the Day.
Happy-er current events.

The Signpost: 24 April 2022

[edit]
The second case of Wikipedian persecution.
What's hot in the media this month.
Writing Wikipedia, joining the armed forces, and volunteering.
"Our proud Sparta bleeds too."
Plus, a new status page and Desktop Improvements.
We showcase the best content that Wikipedians offered this past month.
A multi-national encyclopedia tries to move forward.
Wiki Loves Monuments 2021 winners announced.
How a war map predated Wikimedia's map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Why not just link to an article to attribute famous photographers?
Plus deaths, films, and the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.
And other new research findings
The deceptively simple Strengthening Measures to Advance Rights Technologies Copyright Act of 2022.
An elegant Wikipedia essay.
A serious statement of Wikipedia policy.
A look at when the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees was reorganized.

The Signpost: 29 May 2022

[edit]
Your two new Signpost Editors in Chief.
Plus, Form 990, fundraising, RfA and UCoC.
Community shortlisting in an affiliate-based process, and a poll for you to speak your mind.
A little more information, please.
A varied collection of "special operations", and interviews.
Tales of hope, perseverance and even a little humor.
A new approach at the article level.
We summarize the drama for you.
March 2020 WikiProject report interviewees return discussing project's evolution and future.
Plus, Growth Features configuration, the Hackathon, and more.
Showcasing the very best articles, pictures, videos, and other contributions from Wikipedians last month.
An interview with queer Wikimedians.
Stopping them from taking your photos from Commons.
And other recent research findings.
Helpful advice from Tips of the Day.
Were Johnny and Amber exchanging blows?
Photos raise awareness for nature protection and human impact on nature.
New regulations governing online censorship.
A lighthearted video recalling the 2006 incident.
Exploring Featured Pictures of the world's oceans.
A look at when The Onion published an humorous article regarding Wikipedia.
On creative works.
Test your word-puzzle skills!

Books & Bytes – Issue 50

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 50, March – April 2022

  • New library partner - SPIE
  • 1Lib1Ref May 2022 underway

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:52, 1 June 2022 (UTC) (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 26 June 2022

[edit]
Office actions to secretly delete stuff when told to? Well, at least not if they're Putin's.
Belarusian Mark Bernstein to serve 36 months of "home chemistry" for unapproved posting, Slate covers historically large adminship bid, UBI economist with goofy infobox caption thinks it's funny.
A review of Wikipedia's fundraising messages and financial status.
Just three for the history books this month (or not).
Famed FP ace steps up to run main page outfit. Millions tremble in fear, or something.
And who can forget the black-breasted buttonquail.
Don't be dumb, says math whiz: avoid the gambler's fallacy. Illustrated for your pleasure.
Tables "like to socialize" and "share genes": ooh la la!
What's the deal with Anita Forrer, redlinked woman of mystery who saved Schwarzenbach archives?
Google and Internet Archive sold on new product, more customers hoped to follow.
Plus editing stampedes for cheery subjects: shootings, deaths, and virus.
Lest Southern Hemisphere be forgotten.
Can we offer you a nice crossword in this trying time?

The Signpost: 1 August 2022

[edit]
The future of stuff? Who knows, but two articles were written by a computer this month.
Wikipedia and human rights, publishers and the Internet Archive, Russia and Wikipedia.
Real news or silly season?
IGNORANCE IS NOT STRENGTH.
"This year's victory was sad and dull."
Candidate op-eds, open question spaces, and more.
Was Minecraft YouTuber a GNG pass in life, or only in death?
Mass murderers, sex criminals, Ponzi schemers, insider traders, and business people.
The last three months of arbitration through the eyes of a GPT-3
GPT-3 whips it out.
And when is 'today'?
The world shows its messy complexity.
More lists expected next month.
It doesn't have to be a pain in the butt!
PAC2 explains the item documentation template.
Education, climate change, and journalism.
Zoom and enhance.
And other new research findings.
But Commons is a treasure trove.
All the things about theatre that the general public misses out on.
Ten years ago, Russian Wikipedia went dark in protest of new Russian laws. Today...
Strange mysteries of our animal world.

Books & Bytes – Issue 51

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 51, May – June 2022

  • New library partners
    • SAGE Journals
    • Elsevier ScienceDirect
    • University of Chicago Press
    • Information Processing Society of Japan
  • Feedback requested on this newsletter
  • 1Lib1Ref May 2022

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:45, 1 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 31 August 2022

[edit]
jimmy@wikipedia.org donate@wikimedia.org (not a typo?) wants a moment of your time.
Why the 'Festival Edition' was less than perfect, and what we can do better.
But Annie Rauwerda is the real thing!
2022 elections, new page patrol, Fox News, Vector 2022, Royal Central and external links
Change and stability.
All there is to know about userboxen.
Sometimes Citation bot is not enough.
Plus, the Private Incident Reporting System, and new bots & user scripts!
One exterior, one interior.
Also includes a campaign to "Suck for Luck".
And other new research
Because there really is no real theme this month you can grab onto to give a catchy title.
Some articles aren't worth saving
Edinburgh in August.
Because the Signpost needs a cartoon.
The Signpost looks back on The Signpost: New reports, conceived in a spirit of collaboration, and dedicated to the proposition of information and, uh, more information for all.

Books & Bytes – Issue 52

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 52, July – August 2022

  • New instant-access collections:
    • SpringerLink and Springer Nature
    • Project MUSE
    • Taylor & Francis
    • ASHA
    • Loeb
  • Feedback requested on this newsletter

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:21, 30 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 30 September 2022

[edit]
Candidates sign off and peel out – Sigalov is on and Peel is in.
Just what is NPP? Why does it need the WMF? Why does it need YOU?
Was Katherine Maher a former encyclopedia salesperson?
The latest from the Wikimedia Deutschland Movement Strategy & Global Relations Team.
Source reliability, NPP, and appearance discussions.
Find out firsthand what our newest admin, ScottishFinnishRadish, does with a chainsaw.
Some Articles for Deletion just drag on.
Suggestion: promote removal of visible copyright signs of images under a CC-BY license.
And other research news.
Repeat after me: I solemnly swear not to put "oh my!" in a headline.
This month: A FACBot upgrade, a completed list of lists.
Lo!
When Commons gives you a blank space...
Yes, again.

The Signpost: 31 October 2022

[edit]
Or maybe the spit -- only time will tell.
News from Twitter, Commons and the WMF C-Suite.
501(c)(3) application approved, Amazon donates another million.
Wading into several controversies.
I can has Kremlin sockfarms?
And other new research publications.
The newest sysop speaks on the process that got them there.
Featured content from October.
The strength of Wikipedia is the peer review afterwards.
More serial killers than you can shake a stick at!
What tales echo in these hallowed halls.

Books & Bytes – Issue 53

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 53, September – October 2022

  • New collections:
    • Edward Elgar
    • E-Yearbook
    • Corriere della Serra
    • Wikilala
  • Collections moved to Library Bundle:
    • Ancestry
  • New feature: Outage notification
  • Spotlight: Collections indexed in EDS

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:19, 17 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 28 November 2022

[edit]
Joe Roe's close sows dough woes, manifestos... vetoes? overthrows?
Ineffective altruism, return of the toaster, Jess Wade keeps wading through it, Russia censors searches, schools embrace Wikipedia.
An interview with Wikimedia's Chief Advancement Officer.
Oh, just one more thing... AI couldn't help but notice you use that punctuation a little bit more than most people...
Are government goons prowling our fair encyclopedia?
Have we gotten past the point where better articles makes us a better encyclopedia? And what comes next?
Heather Ford's new volume on Wikipedia, knowledge and power in the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
Facebook's Galactica demo provides a case study in large language models for text generation at scale: this one was silly, but we cannot ignore them forever.
Okay, six hundred, but either way, the bionic editor speaks.
Productively doing nothing
And other research findings.
Do consider joining FPC, though: we need you.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
A lost article from our deep annals
The weeks and weeks, as reviewed by Wikipedia's readers.
Search upgrades, lawsuits, paid editing, and personal reflection.
A toast to good health, a health to good hoax, a hoax to good toast.

ArbCom 2022 Elections voter message

[edit]

Hello! Voting in the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 12 December 2022. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2022 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:24, 29 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 1 January 2023

[edit]
Plus admin update and cool tools for the new year.
Sometimes you need to read more than just the headlines!
Interview of ComplexRational about their recent request for adminship.
Wikifunctions might drag it down.
Frustrations and successes.
Congratulations.
And other new research findings.
How Iranian press agencies help Wikipedia to reflect football in a better way.
You head into the featured content report. Amongst the features you see astronauts, both Gilbert and Sullivan, Ursula K. Le Guin's incredibly talented mother, and Billboard charts. It is pitch black, you are likely to be eaten by a grue.
It is mostly about football!
In which a couple sentences of text recontextualises an image.
Photographers, Sandy Hook, the shocking use of Nazi symbols in articles about Nazis, and "You wouldn't recognise a fact if it bit you in the ass".

The Signpost: 16 January 2023

[edit]
It's not just a phase! Well, maybe it is.
Long-time contributors imprisoned for 32 and 8 years after "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals".
UCoC draws nearer, alongside the rise of the machines, in mainspace this time.
Wikipedia's birthday, a cute dog, and nipplefruit.
The depths of Commons, at your fingertips. Or eyetips.
Debunking widely-told myths about New York's grandest and centralest railway station.
The economics of Wikipedia.
When notability conflicts with what it might be used for.
7,000,000-year Landmasses for Subduction discussions considered "too long".
Allow us to bring you back, back, back, to days of Wikifun rampant.
...and your ambigram. Also: Boring lava fields, birds of Tuvalu, and commelinid family names with etymologies.
War, sports, and all types of chaos.
The editor with five million edits, the death of Aaron Swartz, and rollback.

Books & Bytes – Issue 54

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 54, November – December 2022

  • New collections:
    • British Newspaper Archive
    • Findmypast
    • University of Michigan Press
    • ACLS
    • Duke University Press
  • 1Lib1Ref 2023
  • Spotlight: EDS Refine Results

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --14:14, 23 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 4 February 2023

[edit]
Last issue's vow for "something to show for these efforts" revisited.
As well as the continued rise of the machines, and Amanda Keton's WMF departure.
Section 230 before the Supreme Court in two cases, with broad implications for the web.
Or Santos on Wikipedia?
WMF issues salvo in latest battles of the Posting Wars
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Isamaa party sponsor Parvel Pruunsild files claim in Tartu County Court against WMEE head Ivo Kruusamägi and Reform Party politicians.
English Wikipedia among most "global" and Thai Wikipedia's among most "Western", but non-Western works neglected overall.
And other new research publications.
An interview with those who pitch in together
Letting you find out about yourself (and others).
An exceptionally good period for featured articles.
Can we have a chat?

The Signpost: 20 February 2023

[edit]
UCoC Enforcement Guidelines pass, Wikimedia Enterprise financials, GPTs gone wild, and a speedy deletion criterion removed.
Also: Russ Baker's BLP, the digital commons, the NSA, and more on Pakistan.
Gautam Adani and his companies possibly behind scheme featuring scores of socks, infiltration of articles for creation process.
GPT: friend or foe?
Your one-stop hooker's handbook.
But much else to be found.
Lovey-dovey stuff for Valentine's.
And maybe a side of AI.
Also: let's delete images of Muhammed! Let's delete portals!
Yesterday's controversies, reported on today.
A musical interlude.

The Signpost: 9 March 2023

[edit]
A lack of transparency.
Using failed AI Galactica's worst mistakes to test a new AI.
Probable answers: No, no, maybe?
Seriously, even the chef has a major military history connection.
And other new research publications.
Wikizine, Wikipedia Zero, Single User Login, and Wales allegedly editing his girlfriend's article.

Books & Bytes – Issue 55

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 55, January – February 2023

  • New bundle partners:
    • Newspapers.com
    • Fold3
  • 1Lib1Ref January report
  • Spotlight: EDS SmartText Searching

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:45, 16 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 20 March 2023

[edit]
Be part of the Wikimania 2023 program!
One year in: volunteering, science, art, and candlelight.
Everything is broken, again.
Seriously, it's only a fortnight's worth!
An interview with Wikipedia's newest admin.
All the pop culture that's fit to print, with a sprinkling of cocaine (bear).

The Signpost: 03 April 2023

[edit]
Errata regretted.
Skynet believed to be in violation of the new Universal Code of Conduct.
Taking the phrase "gaming the system" to the next level.
Desysop case request still in accept/decline phase.
Thou gildest e'en the Signpost's trade.
And a dataset of article revisions to provide a corpus for promotional content.
A retrospective of the best and worst pranks.
Do important banks sock? Maybe – but don't grab your money and run just yet!

The Signpost: 26 April 2023

[edit]
Plus: Wikipedians get own Mastodon account, and Wikiprojects move to uniform quality assessment.
Covering Russia, Poland, the Vatican, the U.S., and the "perilously thin" boundary between real life and Wikipedia.
The prolific editor, former Arbitration Committee member and co-founder of Wikimedia New York City died in April.
No news is good news, and this isn't no news.
The problem we haven't solved.
Can Wikipedia help keep AI agents honest?
In this article, we will look at The Signpost statistics. More precisely: Signpost article statistics by year, TOP 20 titles of Signpost articles, TOP 20 article authors, and the home wikis of article authors.
First of a two part series summarising the priorities for the Wikimedia Foundation's next fiscal year (July 2022–June 2023) including staffing, budget and other changes, and how to provide your feedback.
And somehow made it more readable than when it's not rhyming.
2011 and on.
The Selfish Hatnote, the Disambiguation Singularity, and other information-theoretic conundra of encyclopedic note.
Wrestling bumps world-changing technology from the #1 spot, imagine that.

The Signpost: 8 May 2023

[edit]
... and at WP:Mastodon.
Fake fines, false alarms and faux headlines!
And other new research publications.
...Layout lovers will hate this featured content's title.
There will likely be more to say next issue.
The second article in a series describing the priorities and work of the Wikimedia Foundation. The article invites Wikimedians to collaborate with the Foundation.
First national-level conference in the Indian subcontinent in seven years.

The Signpost: 22 May 2023

[edit]
... and a referendum on Jimmy Wales' traditional role as a final court of appeal in arbitration policy.
Opposing scholars on ArbCom case.
Includes stronger sourcing restriction, and a nod to the UCoC.
And other new research results.
Bird is the word for featured pictures.
Celebs and Bollywood film dominated reader interest, as usual, but with a new persistent presence on the lists of a certain AI.
An online conference with 12 distributed trans-local in-person meetup "Nodes" on 5 continents.

Books & Bytes – Issue 56

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 56, March – April 2023

  • New partner:
    • Perlego
  • Library access tips and tricks
  • Spotlight: EveryBookItsReader

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:03, 24 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 5 June 2023

[edit]
Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee Building Committee Commences Command By Convening.
Also: Goog gets delist ask for en-wp yt-dl ar-ticle, wacky football fails.
Now is not this ridiculous, and is not this preposterous? A thorough-paced absurdity - explain it if you can.
Plus mortalities, and movies about mermaids.

The Signpost: 19 June 2023

[edit]
Problems with emergency emails sent to WMF.
... and an AI writer explains why he just bought a paper encyc.
Poetry still present.
And other new research findings.

The Signpost: 3 July 2023

[edit]
... and a new Elections Committee.
A few editors who fought many times to keep advertisements out.
Are you now, or have you ever been, a Wikipedia editor?
In which featured pictures have a pleasing orange/blue colour scheme for some reason.
Don't worry, they are mostly harmless.
Mission to ensure stability in conflict-ridden area.

The Signpost: 17 July 2023

[edit]
Gitz666 unglocked, Wikimania scholarships given and a new admin anointed.
Ruwiki on the Ruinternet, Rauwerda on TEDx, and Jimbo on Fridman.
Philadelphians and Tanzanians say goodbye.
The collaboration process for the 2023 English fundraising campaign is kicking off now, right from the start of the fiscal year.
Wikidata queries investigate nepo babies.
A summary of various tools designed over the years.
And various other research on large language models and Wikipedia.
Bold move intended to "get some variety" into Wikipedia arguments.
The annual report that tries to understand the Signpost through data, written in 2020, which never saw the light of day until now.
In which choices have been made™.
Sex, drugs and violence, English, math and science.

Books & Bytes – Issue 57

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 57, May – June 2023

  • Suggestion improvements
  • Favorite collections tips
  • Spotlight: Promoting Nigerian Books and Authors

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:22, 18 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 1 August 2023

[edit]
And French gov't proposes legislation to slam Wikipedia, others.
Or just another brouhaha?
Hot damn, it's damned hot!
Three editors have departed.
You don't really want to do this stuff by yourself, do you?
A serious visual investigation.
A compilation of over 3M citations.
Possible solutions after being re-harassed.
Due to unfortunate events, this issue is published as is, in its unfinished state.
Oppenheimer, Barbie, and a couple other scandals.

The Signpost: 15 August 2023

[edit]
Jimbo promises more transparency, Wikimania in Singapore, move away from Tides still planned, and Wikifunctions rolls out.
Harsh words from problematic fave Glenn Greenwald.
Rigorous Review of Content for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Wikipedia.
Damn kids need to get off our lawn and onto RfA.
Because one gets some secondary skills when one has 645 featured pictures.
The innards of the Signpost received a major overhaul in March/April 2019. Here's how we reduced behind-the-scenes busywork and improved writers resources.
For whom does the Creative Commons enforcement clause toll?
An announcement of 335,000 new images on Wikimedia Commons.
Some improvement on last week.
Case request cited misuse of tools by administrator who last used tools in 1661.
Barbenheimer, Pee-Wee Herman and the Women's World Cup.

The Signpost: 31 August 2023

[edit]
News for the editoriat. Stuff that matters.
Wikipedia really comes into its own, editorially and artistically.
"Poli", which means "many", and "tics", which means "under-the-table Wikipedia article whitewashing campaigns".
And other recent research publications.
The good, the bad, and the nonsense.
A message from the Counter-Fun Unit.
I just poured HOT GRITS down my pants ohh yeah

Books & Bytes – Issue 58

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 58, July – August 2023

  • New partners - De Standaard and Duncker & Humblot
  • Tech tip: Filters
  • Wikimania presentation

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --14:27, 12 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 16 September 2023

[edit]
Plus: Africa news, funding report, U4C draft, roads fork and another ChatGPT block.
Plus a new judge, an "unimportant" record, and staying in the swim!
A Wikipedian and a friend.
Non-flammable, BPA-free, and really whips the llama's ass.
Covering all of August. Pretty much.
The Signpost brings you the latest from the source.
Sports, film and singers. We've got it all!

The Signpost: 3 October 2023

[edit]
Finances during Tides Foundation management of the endowment are shown for the first time.
Plus Harvard, Yale, Lords and Commons, partners and trolls!
And other new research publications
The first issue to feature two poetry article
Material must be written with the greatest care and attention; the level of detail and commentary regarding the antlers of living persons is to be kept to a minimum.
Tamzin reflects on the hunt.
Taylor Swift with an NFL tight end and Lauren Boebert with a Democrat?

The Signpost: 23 October 2023

[edit]
Long time passing
Also: High fives, Wikipedia as a guide for counterfeiters and crossword makers, and Iskander at the UN.
The benefits of research.
These titles never make much sense even at the best of times, so why not be random?
They are still fighting.
Sounds good!
"Cite altered state" to join the distinguished ranks of CS1 templates

The Signpost: 6 November 2023

[edit]
"Is this an ArbCom case request or an M. Night Shyamalan movie?"
Plus Gaza bias, Speaker Johnson, Maher, the music of websites, and antisemitism.
And three new admins!
You should learn some of our rules!
The winner is...
Do you ever wonder where Wikipedia articles come from?
And other new research findings.
Only literally.
A systematic approach.
Plus Kollywood, Killers of the Flower Moon, and ongoing war.

The Signpost: 20 November 2023

[edit]
Comic-con, Media summit, and a classic!
Plus: Sockpuppet investigators asking for help.
Or if it's Indian sport or cinema.
And other new research findings.
Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2024 are now open!

Books & Bytes – Issue 59

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 59, September – October 2023

  • Spotlight: Introducing a repository of anti-disinformation projects
  • Tech tip: Library access methods

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:15, 27 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

ArbCom 2023 Elections voter message

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Hello! Voting in the 2023 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 11 December 2023. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

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The Signpost: 4 December 2023

[edit]
Just as his term was ending!
Plus Apple Pay, fiction, registration, expulsion, and elimination!
An analysis of a literary mystery.
Continuing years of efforts to improve free-to-read access.
"I think we ought to read only the kind of comics that wound or stab us. If the comic we're reading doesn't wake us up with a blow to the head, what are we reading for?" — Franz Kafka
And so are you.
Quite literally, and other fascinating featured articles, pictures and lists
If you don't fancy the sport that occupies over 25% of the slots in these lists, there's always movies, celebrities, and political follies to fall back on – or an unusual fired-for-the-weekend CEO.
This page in a nutshell: Whether or not someone has denied unsavory allegations — though such a denial may not merit being given equal weight in an article — a worthless shitpost should still be included.

The Signpost: 24 December 2023

[edit]
Wikipedia article histories are public records that can be easily examined, so unlike other websites, we can answer this question thoroughly.
Not the best of times for Wikipedians across the world, but there are still glimpses of hope...
Forky on forky on forky, plus a strange donation scheme and other interesting bits of news.
Wiki goes dark and adopts Palestine flag logo; intellectual property rumblings from the bowels of the law.
Wikimedia Russia closes after founder is declared a "foreign agent".
No more must Wikipedia always be a lightbulb in the dark — except metaphorically of course.
And other new research publications.
Peace on earth, goodwill to all!
the dilution makes it stronger.
The Signpost Crossword is a 2018 online multiplayer social deduction game that takes place in space-themed settings where players are colorful, armless cartoon astronauts.
Bollywood, Hollywood, and both kinds of football to close out December.
The debugging will continue until performance improves.
Heartwarming — MUST READ — You Won't BELIEVE #4!!!!!
Winner receives a special prize!
Edit summary: "Only need this page for about 30 minutes to demonstrate to a friend how easy it is to create a Wikipedia page. Then it will be deleted."

The Signpost: 10 January 2024

[edit]
The Signpost can now drink beer and chant slogans in Canada. What slogans should we chant for the next nineteen years?
Mickey & You: What can you do?
A techie looks at the big questions.
Let the games begin! The 2024 WikiCup is off to a strong start. With copyright enforcement, AI training and freedom of expression, it's another typical week in the wiki-sphere!
The first of two installments, regarding a process of many installments.
Watch out for those space ships!
What are the editorial processes behind covering some of the most politically polarizing and contentious topics on English Wikipedia?
Rest in peace.
Around the world in 365 days (with many stops in India).
The good news is that I've perfected the templates that allow other people to make actually good crosswords.
Getting down to brass tacks &c.

Books & Bytes – Issue 60

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 60, November – December 2023

  • Three new partners
  • Google Scholar integration
  • How to track partner suggestions

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --13:36, 24 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 31 January 2024

[edit]
Plus WMF child rights impact assessment, Chinese Wikipedia changes admin rules
A stream of consciousness about plagiarism on Wikipedia from the perspective of a user who directly witnessed it.
And how you can stop them!
Another wobble, more Ackman, our usual pathological optimist, and football in dirty pants!
Everything you really wanted to know about writing featured articles.
And other new research publications.
Writing a good subheading for a one-sentence joke is basically like writing an entire second joke so I'm not going to do it.
Job changes, death, sex, murder, suicide and a vacation!

The Signpost: 13 February 2024

[edit]
"the exact extent of the obligations" unclear... many such cases!
Lower, trust me!
Finding the right bumblebee among all the bumblebees!
The usual odd articles about Wikipedia.
The hunt for Bertil Ragnar Anzén.
Plus films, Grammys and a rumble!
&c.
That's more than weakly!

The Signpost: 2 March 2024

[edit]
Plus, the U4C Charter keeps planting seeds, the RfA process is set to become more sustainable, and more news from the Wikimedia ecosystem.
And other new findings
Plus, naughty politicians, Federal judge not a fan, UFOs and beavers.
Rest in peace.
If you say it loud enough the views will come your way!
135 battle it out; 67 advance

Books & Bytes – Issue 61

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 61, January – February 2024

  • Bristol University Press and British Online Archives now available
  • 1Lib1Ref results

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:32, 5 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 29 March 2024

[edit]
Much effort was spent drafting a movement charter about becoming "essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge". How much is spent maintaining it?
Signpost interviews Wikimedia Foundation leadership on fundraising banners
And does it have anything to do with the unusual decision to let a zero-edit user open an arbitration request?
Can we compete with social media? Will aoomers forget Wikipedia?
And several papers look at climate change on Wikipedia
WLM winners announced, Wikimania 2024, a new Wikimedia movement affiliate, and active enwp admins reach a record low.
Worldwide women turned blue and controversies on Serbian & French Wikipedia.
Let me take you to the movies.
The only worthwhile grievance is the one that prompts satire.
margin: 0 auto !important;

Books & Bytes – Issue 62

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 62, March – April 2024

  • IEEE and Haaretz now available
  • Let's Connect Clinics about The Wikipedia Library
  • Spotlight and Wikipedia Library tips

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --11:03, 23 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 25 April 2024

[edit]
Plus, tribute songs and shout-outs outweighing vandalism and hoaxes, a dispute about the real king of the platform and other bits of news.
Plus, new updates on the privacy and research ethics whitepaper and the graphs outage situation, and an Iranian former steward is globally banned from Wikimedia projects
Outcomes of the event including newly published videos and photos, the archived conference website and program, and some attendee reflections on its significance.
A WikiProject report on the 📰🌍 globe's finest news source!
And other recent research publications
Plus Godzilla meets Francis Scott Key!

The Signpost: 16 May 2024

[edit]
WMF trustee elections, U4C results, Italian ArbCom, WMF and Endowment annual reports.
We don't know yet, but there is some encouraging news, nevertheless.
Some go out with a bang, some with a whimper, few with much of a comprehensible explanation.
Plus, the WMF joins the Unicode Consortium, Chris Albon talks about AI tools on Wikipedia, communities address under-representation on the site.
More queries are failing, and more frequently, so what is to be done?
It do be like that sometimes.
With cricket and some cute baby reindeer!

The Signpost: 8 June 2024

[edit]
The Form 990, as well as highlights and FAQs, are now available for review.
A new model for collaboration between the WMF and the community?
Hoaxes and the genesis of information.
First line, sixth paragraph, body text or unified Reich?
Outlining progress against the four key goals
A letter.
And various research findings about Wikidata and knowledge graphs.
No we didn't write it, but we tried to cite it
An essay.
... and flagging your articles with big ugly red notices! (This is a good thing.)
Movies, deaths, elections (but no cricket).
Some stuff's only okay in the privacy of the home.
Project in shambles – "it had never occurred to us that this was possible".
Hypertext.

The Signpost: 4 July 2024

[edit]
Three new admins, but overall numbers still shrinking.
Will we weather the storm?
Unbundling, automation, fighting spirit, and a bot named Reimu Hakurei.
Debate unsettled after seventeen years.
Advocacy organizations, a journalist, mycophobes, conservatives, leftists, photographers, and a disinformation task force imagine themselves in Wikipedia.
A journey to a sister project.
Rest in peace.
An article about Etika's appeal and legacy in pop culture.
A virtual visit to the Inland Northwest.
"Simply not good enough".
How well do you know the main page (no peeking)?
...!
Special:Diff/1 and related techno-trivia more complicated than you'd think.
And other new publications on systemic bias and other topics.
Elections, movies, sports.

Books & Bytes – Issue 63

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 63, May – June 2024

  • One new partner
  • 1Lib1Ref
  • Spotlight: References check

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:16, 18 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 22 July 2024

[edit]
Iconic photograph, invalid fair use exemption criterion #3a claimant, or both?
Establishment of power-sharing agreement between WMF corporation and volunteer user community in limbo.
Natalia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, on the Charter vote results, the resolution, meeting minutes, and proposed next steps.
A lost Signpost submission from fifteen years ago brought into the light, as good and true now as it was then.
Failing forks, smart and well-researched stories, LGBT rights, and oral sex!
Rest in peace.
Do you know these Wikipedia quotes?
Dems in disarray, GOP in chaos — analysts say news expected, but few can predict how race will shape up from here.

The Signpost: 14 August 2024

[edit]
A STORM over an AI that writes articles. And other notes of interest.
And other findings.
Musk's Twitter acquisition and rebranding have caused long debates on Wikipedia.
And Movement Charter ratification vote comments have been published
Possibly paid articles.
HouseBlaster's reflections on his RfA. In particular, do not ask superlative questions.
Just normally weird!
Come in, you whippersnapper, have a cup of tea.

The Signpost: 4 September 2024

[edit]
JCW compilation now tracks free DOIs, Wiki Loves Monuments getting started, WMF's status as UN observer stymied by China for fourth time.
Updates from the Portland pol's case, the war in Gaza, and other Wiki-related reports.
And other new research findings
Who are they, why are they running and what are they bringing to the Board?
What all happened in Katowice?
Hannah Clover shares her fondest memories of her first Wikimania.
The Olympics (yay!) and the American election (oh no).
"I can't remember whether he is an incompetent moron, or an incorrigible POV warrior, or some other thing, but either way, to hell with him."

Books & Bytes – Issue 64

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 64, July – August 2024

  • The Hindu Group joins The Wikipedia Library
  • Wikimania presentation
  • New user script for easily searching The Wikipedia Library

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --16:34, 11 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 26 September 2024

[edit]
ANI (but probably not the one you're thinking of), bias and bans, crisis and Clover, Engelhorn's euros, and will the zoomers inherit the project?
In response to a takedown request, Wikipedia editors reached a consensus on how to handle it appropriately.
User Hawkeye7 opens up on his experience as a media representative following the Australian team at the latest Summer Paralympics in Paris.
User asilvering reflects on their recent successful request for adminship.
More changes to RfA on the way in October, final results for the U4C elections revealed, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
Picture this: medicine, drugs, JFK, Cleopatra, anachronism, and global catastrophe.
And other recent research publications.
Band reunions and Beetlejuice!

The Signpost: 19 October 2024

[edit]

The Signpost: 6 November 2024

[edit]

Books & Bytes – Issue 65

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 65, September – October 2024

  • Hindu Tamil Thisai joins The Wikipedia Library
  • Frankfurt Book Fair 2024 report
  • Tech tip: Mass downloads

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:49, 12 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 18 November 2024

[edit]

ArbCom 2024 Elections voter message

[edit]

Hello! Voting in the 2024 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on #time:l, j F Y. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2024 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the [[Special:SecurePoll/vote/Template:Arbitration Committee candidate/data|voting page]]. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add Template:Tlx to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:04, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 12 December 2024

[edit]

The Signpost: 24 December 2024

[edit]

Books & Bytes – Issue 66

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 66, November – December 2024

  • Les Jours and East View Press join the library
  • Tech tip: Newspapers.com

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --17:33, 10 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 15 January 2025

[edit]

The Signpost: 7 February 2025

[edit]

The Signpost: 27 February 2025

[edit]

Books & Bytes – Issue 67

[edit]

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 67, January – February 2025

  • East View Press and The Africa Report join the library
  • Spotlight: Wikimedia+Libraries International Convention and WikiCredCon
  • Tech tip: Suggest page

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --18:48, 19 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 22 March 2025

[edit]

The Signpost: 9 April 2025

[edit]

The Signpost: 1 May 2025

[edit]

Books & Bytes – Issue 68

[edit]
The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 68, March–April 2025

In this issue we highlight two resource renewals, #EveryBookItsReader, a note about Phabricator, and, as always, a roundup of news and community items related to libraries and digital knowledge.

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --10:18, 13 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 14 May 2025

[edit]

The Signpost: 24 June 2025

[edit]

Books & Bytes – Issue 69

[edit]
The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 69, May–June 2025

In this issue we highlight a new partnership, Citation Watchlist and, as always, a roundup of news and community items related to libraries and digital knowledge.

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team – 13:10, 1 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 18 July 2025

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