User talk:TheSandDoctor

  1. Home
  2. Wiki
Notice Coming here to ask why I deleted your article? Please read this page first...
Notice Coming here to ask about a block or other admin action that I have issued on another WMF wiki where I am an admin? Please discuss on your talk page there (if you have Talk Page Access) and ping me as it has nothing to do with enwiki and is outside of its processes. Please also do not assume that that WMF wiki has the same blocking policy or processes as enwiki.

If you have any questions about another WMF wiki or my actions on such edition, please leave it on my talk page on that wiki and I will see it as a notification/get back to you. enwiki is not the appropriate place to discuss concerns from other WMF wikis
RfA candidate S O N S% Ending (UTC) Time left Dups? Report
RfB candidate S O N S% Ending (UTC) Time left Dups? Report

No RfXs since 14:16, 11 July 2025 (UTC).—cyberbot ITalk to my owner:Online

  • This user dreams that their talk page will be full of cookies, cake, pie, and every other delicious delicacy


If you feel that I have reverted an edit or issued a warning in error, please let me know. I am human, and I do make mistakes. Please don't interpret an error on my part as a personal attack on you. It's not, I promise. I ask you to simply bring it to my attention; I am always open to civil discussion. Thank you. TheSandDoctor (talk) 04:52, 30 March 2017 (UTC)]][reply]
If I see something such as a box, template, image, etc., on another user/user talk page that catches my eye, I will "borrow" it. More than likely without asking.  ;) TheSandDoctor (talk) 04:52, 30 March 2017 (UTC)]][reply]

You've got mail

[edit]
Hello, TheSandDoctor. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.
Sameerahmadsp (talk) 06:54, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Sameerahmadsp: That is something that can be requested on-wiki and doesn't need private communication. WP:RFPP is the venue to request both increases and decreases in page protection. However, after reviewing the protection history of Draft:Ali Al Suleiman I have some doubts in whether this is a worthwhile effort. Tagging in Ohnoitsjamie who was the protecting administrator. Writing your email in plural (we) seems odd. Is your account being used by more than one person, Sameerahmadsp? TheSandDoctor Talk 06:59, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your review of the Draft page above and for your efforts in safeguarding the integrity of Wikipedia.
I’d like to apologize for any confusion caused in my previous message, particularly regarding the use of plural phrasing like “we.” It’s simply a manner of expression I’m accustomed to, and I can confirm this account is operated solely by me.
As for the draft, I fully understand the concerns around promotional tone and the rationale for protection. However, I kindly ask for your support in reconsidering the possibility of recreating the draft with improved neutrality and full adherence to Wikipedia's editorial guidelines.
The individual featured in the draft is currently globally locked, which removes the concern of self-promotion. Moreover, we now have over three reliable sources in English, in addition to Turkish and Arabic sources, which help establish notability in accordance with Wikipedia’s standards.
I’d greatly appreciate any guidance you can offer—or if feasible, a temporary lifting of the protection so I may prepare a revised draft that meets all policy requirements.
With respect and appreciation, Sameerahmadsp (talk) 07:06, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Sameerahmadsp: To start, how about you create what you're thinking of in your sandbox at User:Sameerahmadsp/sandbox and then we can take a look and go from there? I don't want to unprotect the draft location without input from the protecting administrator here. I would also note that just because one account is locked doesn't in theory prevent someone from creating others. We've seen it countless times before. TheSandDoctor Talk 07:09, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
ok Sameerahmadsp (talk) 07:11, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
check again please Sameerahmadsp (talk) 07:17, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Sameerahmadsp: You haven't created anything in your sandbox and the protecting administrator has been pinged and will get here when they do. Patience is required. TheSandDoctor Talk 07:19, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
can you add the sources please ? Sameerahmadsp (talk) 07:20, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Is it reasonable for a page to exist for someone who has no known reliable sources? Some of the listed references include obscure blogs, and many of the links don’t even work. Isn’t that rather strange?
Meanwhile, the draft for this person with clear local and regional recognition—is denied, despite having more than ten credible sources in English, Turkish, and Arabic that support his notability. Sameerahmadsp (talk) 07:21, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Please see WP:OTHERSTUFF. That is not a helpful argument to make and it won't get you anywhere. If you see other articles without sources there are two routes forward:
  1. see if you can find reliable sources to add to it (WP:SOFIXIT principle) or
  2. if you can't find any, nominate it for deletion.
Just because some stuff exists without sources etc. doesn't mean we should add more in the same boat. I'm not going to create the draft for you in your sandbox as I know nothing about the topic. If you want to create it, I have given you a route forward that includes adding whatever sources you believe help demonstrate notability. Start in your sandbox. In writing this I reread your email and if you want the existing content restored, we're going to have to wait on Ohnoitsjamie to come back online. Based on the three sources you included in the email, only 2 of them are new. I am not particularly convinced but will defer to Ohnoitsjamie here. Usually in such instances though it is better to start from scratch. TheSandDoctor Talk 07:29, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your response and for clarifying the route forward.
I understand the relevance of WP:OTHERSTUFF and appreciate the principle behind it. My previous comparison was not intended as justification for inclusion, but rather to highlight inconsistency in how notability is sometimes assessed—particularly in cases where well-sourced subjects are being denied while other less-supported articles remain.
That said, I’m happy to take your advice and begin drafting the article in my sandbox. I’ll work on compiling and presenting the sources in a clear and policy-aligned way to help demonstrate the subject’s notability.
Regarding the restoration of the earlier draft, I understand it’s up to Ohnoitsjamie, and I’ll wait for their input. I do believe the additional sources (including two new ones you noted) strengthen the case, and I’ll continue refining the draft accordingly.
Thanks again for the guidance. I’ll proceed with a fresh start in line with your recommendations. Sameerahmadsp (talk) 07:32, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
This is not a political topic—we're discussing an individual who has received extensive and in-depth coverage. We have three Turkish sources published in English, along with broad media coverage in the Turkish press. Additionally, there are three Arabic sources and three Turkish sources from well-known newspapers.
Would you be kind enough to do me a favor and help add the English-language sources Sameerahmadsp (talk) 07:35, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry that your time was wasted by this prolific sockpuppeteer. OhNoitsJamie Talk 14:26, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Ohnoitsjamie: I had a feeling something was up for reasons. TheSandDoctor Talk 16:19, 6 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Check User request

[edit]

Hi @TheSandDoctor,

User:ShreyanaviAadhya Potential Sockpuppet / Meatpuppet trying to create an article about banned user Hanshi Shaswat Kumar, has recently disclosed on their talk page that they are associated and working for the banned user. User is actively resurrecting/recreating an article which was speedily deleted, they are aiming to do this via redirection Draft:Senkoukai Karate Draft:Karate India. A previous confirmed sockpuppet in this fashion somehow moved the article into the mainspace bypassing AFC.

I have only just noticed this account ShreyanaviAadhya.

On the archived Sockpuppet Investigation it redirects to Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/SPI/Clerks and says to contact an SPI Clerk and your account is listed and also the latest person to edit that particular investigation. Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/HanshiShaswatKumar/Archive

Apologies if I have requested this wrong but I am concerned as users associated to that particular banned user often start putting promotional vandalism into other pages and it spreads quickly.

Many thanks, NottinghamNinja (talk) 11:20, 7 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi NottinghamNinja! I'm not actually a CheckUser but you're right that I'm a clerk. On WP:SPI there are instructions on how to open an investigation under the "How to open an investigation" heading. If you believe that account is HanshiShaswatKumar, you would put HanshiShaswatKumar in the box in that section, click submit, and fill out the form (including your evidence and the new account or accounts you believe related) and save the edit. TheSandDoctor Talk 12:24, 7 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you @TheSandDoctor! I will try and follow that. NottinghamNinja (talk) 12:47, 7 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
NottinghamNinja I'm glad that worked! Please see the feedback on the submission in Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/HanshiShaswatKumar. TheSandDoctor Talk 03:02, 8 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Me too @TheSandDoctor! Thank you again for your guidance :) NottinghamNinja (talk) 10:28, 8 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – July 2025

[edit]

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

Administrator changes

removed NuclearWarfare

Interface administrator changes

added L235

Guideline and policy news

Miscellaneous

  • The 2025 Developing Countries WikiContest will run from 1 July to 30 September. Sign up now!
  • Administrator elections will take place this month. Administrator elections are an alternative to RFA that is a gentler process for candidates due to secret voting and multiple people running together. The call for candidates is July 9–15, the discussion phase is July 18–22, and the voting phase is July 23–29. Get ready to submit your candidacy, or (with their consent) to nominate a talented candidate!
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:49, 7 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-28

[edit]

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

Weekly highlight

  • Temporary accounts have been rolled out on 18 large and medium-sized Wikipedias, including German, Japanese, French, and Chinese. Now, about 1/3 of all logged-out activity across wikis is coming from temporary accounts. Users involved in patrolling may be interested in two new documentation pages: Access to IP, explaining everything related to access to temporary account IP addresses, and Repository with a list of new gadgets and user scripts.

Updates for editors

  • Anyone can play an experimental new game, WikiRun, that lets you race through Wikipedia by clicking from one article to another, aiming to reach a target page in as few steps and in as little time as possible. The project's goal is to explore new ways of engaging readers. Try playing the game and let the team know what you think on the talk page.
  • Users of the Wikipedia Android app in some languages can now play the new trivia game. Which came first? is a simple history game where you guess which of two events happened earlier on today's date. It was previously available as an A/B test. It is now available to all users in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, and Chinese. The goal of the feature is to help engage with new generations of readers. [1]
  • Users of the iOS Wikipedia App in some languages may see a new tabbed browsing feature that enables you to open multiple tabs while reading. This feature makes it easier to explore related topics and switch between articles. The A/B test is currently running in Arabic, English, and Japanese in selected regions. More details are available on the Tabbed Browsing project page.
  • Bureaucrats on Wikimedia wikis can now use Special:VerifyOATHForUser to check if users have enabled two-factor authentication. [2]
  • Wishlist item A new feature related to Template Recall and Discovery will be deployed later this week to all Wikimedia projects: a template category browser will be introduced to assist users in finding templates to put in their “favourite” list. The browser will allow users to browse a list of templates which have been organised into a given category tree. The feature has been requested by the community through the Community Wishlist.
  • It is now possible to access watchlist preferences from the watchlist page. Also the redundant button to edit the watchlist has been removed. [3]
  • Recurrent item View all 27 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week.

Updates for technical contributors

  • As part of MediaWiki 1.44 there is now a unified built-in Notifications system that makes it easier for developers to send, manage, and customize notifications. Check out the updated documentation at Manual:Notifications, information about migration in T388663 and details on deprecated hooks in T389624.
  • Recurrent item Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

Meetings and events

  • WikidataCon 2025, the conference dedicated to Wikidata is now open for session proposals and for registration. This year's event will be held online from October 31 – November 02 and will explore on the theme of "Connecting People through Linked Open Data".

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

MediaWiki message delivery 00:02, 8 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Feedback request: All RFCs request for comment

[edit]

Your feedback is requested at Talk:JEL classification codes on a "All RFCs" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

(trialing replacing Yapperbot) SodiumBot (talk|botop) 16:31, 10 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-29

[edit]

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

Updates for editors

  • Featured templates, a new feature related to Template Recall and Discovery will be deployed this week to all Wikimedia projects: With this feature, editors will be able to quickly access a list of templates that are likely to be useful. These templates will be displayed in a list, under the "featured" tab of the template discovery interface. Administrators can define the list via the Community Configuration interface. The feature fulfills a request by the community through the Community Wishlist. [4][5]
  • Recurrent item View all 31 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, the request to add Malayalam fonts in the Wikisource Book Export Tool was resolved and now, the rendering of Malayalam letters in exported Wikisource books are accurate. [6]

Updates for technical contributors

  • Recurrent item Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

In depth

Meetings and events

  • WikiIndaba 2025 scholarship application and program submission is open until 23:59 GMT on July 20. WikiIndaba is a regional conference for African Wikimedians both on the continent and in the diaspora to unite and grow together. Submit your scholarship application and program proposal now!
  • WikiCon Brasil 2025 will take place on July 19-20 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The Brazilian community members are encouraged to register and attend!

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

MediaWiki message delivery 20:06, 14 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

TFA

[edit]
Precious
Eight years!

Thank you today for Red (Taylor Swift album), introduced (in 2021): "With the recording of this album, America's Sweetheart experimented and blurred the line between country and pop, producing what is widely considered one of the best albums of the 2010s; the next album in her chronology turned her into a fully-fledged pop machine."! -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:01, 21 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, Gerda Arendt! I couldn't have done it without Ippantekina's inspiration. TheSandDoctor Talk 03:37, 25 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-30

[edit]

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

Updates for editors

  • The Translation Suggestions feature in the Content Translation tool now has another level of article filters added to the "... More" category. Translators who use the Suggestions feature can now select and receive article suggestions that are customized to geographical locations of their interest using the new "Regions" filter. [7]
  • Administrators can now limit "Add a Link" to newcomers. The "Add a Link" Structured Task helps new account holders start editing, but some communities have requested the ability to restrict it to its intended audience: newcomers. Administrators can configure this setting within the Community Configuration feature.
  • Recurrent item View all 29 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week.

Updates for technical contributors

  • For AbuseFilter editors on some wikis, it is now possible to filter edits based on the RevertRisk score of the edit being attempted. It is only populated if the action being evaluated is an edit. For more information, please see the ORES/AbuseFilter variables documentation.
  • The Beta Cluster wikis have been moved from beta.wmflabs.org to beta.wmcloud.org. Users may need to update URLs in any tools, or in their password managers. Any related issues can be reported in the task.
  • Recurrent item Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

Meetings and events

  • WikiCite 2025 will take place from 29–31 August, both online and in-person in Bern, Switzerland. The event's goals are to reconnect communities, institutions, and individuals working with open citations, bibliographic data, and the Wikidata/Wikibase ecosystem. Registration is open and the call for proposals will be announced soon. [8]

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

MediaWiki message delivery 23:39, 21 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Rustymarvinsarte (03:57, 23 July 2025)

[edit]

How to make link for wiki page i edited --Rustymarvinsarte (talk) 03:57, 23 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Rustymarvinsarte: Please see this interactive tutorial; it should help you learn to edit etc. For creating Wikilinks between articles, please see Help:Link. TheSandDoctor Talk 04:54, 23 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from YerlanAimuratov (11:13, 24 July 2025)

[edit]

Hello! I would like to add some information to the existing DART mission wiki article, providing proper references to relevant scientific articles. What is the right algorithm to do that? --YerlanAimuratov (talk) 11:13, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hello @YerlanAimuratov:! I am admittedly not sure what you mean by the "right algorithm" to add information to a Wikipedia article. Please see this interactive guide to show you the basics of editing Wikipedia and let me know if you have any further questions. TheSandDoctor Talk 03:32, 25 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from The nectar possum on Lahore University of Management Sciences (12:31, 24 July 2025)

[edit]

Hello, i am nectar possum, how do i get a citation? --The nectar possum (talk) 12:31, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi The nectar possum! I want to assist you with this but I don't understand the question, admittedly. What do you mean by "get a citation" in this context? Do you mean that you want to add a citation (reference) to the article? If so, please see this guide to referencing. If you are wondering more about how to learn the basics of editing Wikipedia, please see this interactive guide. If I am totally off-base on both of those, please clarify what you're asking and I will do my best to assist. TheSandDoctor Talk 03:35, 25 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, i meant i want to add a citation The nectar possum (talk) 17:45, 25 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Ffywindia (05:37, 25 July 2025)

[edit]

Good morning! I hope you're doing well. I’m excited to begin working on a Wikipedia page for our organization Foundation for Youth Web, which is one of the largest youth-based organizations. But I’m a bit confused about where to start and how to properly execute the idea according to Wikipedia’s guidelines.

Could you kindly guide me on the first steps I should take? Your mentorship and advice would really help me move forward confidently.

Thank you in advance! --Ffywindia (talk) 05:37, 25 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Good day, Ffywindia! It is a pleasure to meet you and I am glad that you reached out and want to do this properly. I have a few simple steps for you to complete:
  1. First up: your current username isn't compliant with username policy based on your explanation here since Ffyw = Foundation for Youth Web. This must be dealt with immediately. Usernames must represent you as an individual, not a company/group/organization. Your account must also only be used by you. To know what usernames are available, search in Special:CentralAuth; if there are no results, it's available. You can either file a username change request here or tell me the username (on this page) you would like yours changed to and I can make it happen.
  2. If you are paid to edit Wikipedia you must disclose it. If you are doing this in your own individual capacity (not paid), you must disclose your conflict of interest with Foundation for Youth Web. (The process is slightly different but only complete whichever is most relevant).
  3. Please complete this interactive tutorial to show you a bit more about how Wikipedia functions.
I know that this can be a lot to take in, so once this is complete I'll share the rest of the guidance specific to wanting to create an article for Foundation for Youth Web. If you have any questions, please let me know. TheSandDoctor Talk 14:45, 25 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Feedback request: All RFCs request for comment

[edit]

Your feedback is requested at Talk:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on a "All RFCs" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

(trialing replacing Yapperbot) SodiumBot (botop|talk) 03:39, 26 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question about inappropriate user names

[edit]

@TheSandDoctor Hello. I saw a recent new user you blocked here, and had a question about reporting this. I have started mentoring new users and sometimes see user names that are not appropriate. I sometimes let them know about this, sharing the username policy with them, though am wondering if there is a tag or something that should also be put onto the page to alert admins about this? None of the options in Twinkle seem to be the right warning, but using this one you blocked as an example, what, if anything, should have been done to report this when we see it? Thank you. FULBERT (talk) 13:06, 28 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

(talk page stalker) If you feel a username requires immediate admin intervention, you can report it to the "Usernames for admin attention" (UAA) board. UAA should be one of the options under the "ARV" section of Twinkle. There are some more instructions at the top of that page for other alternatives, as well. Writ Keeper ⚇♔ 13:31, 28 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, Writ Keeper! What Writ Keeper said, FULBERT. TheSandDoctor Talk 02:47, 29 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks @TheSandDoctor and @Writ Keeper! FULBERT (talk) 16:54, 29 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-31

[edit]

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

Weekly highlight

  • The Community Tech team will be focusing on wishes related to Watchlists and Recent Changes pages, over the next few months. They are looking for feedback. Please read the latest update, and if you have ideas, please submit a wish on the topic.

Updates for editors

  • The Wikimedia Commons community has decided to block cross-wiki uploads to Wikimedia Commons, for all users without autoconfirmed rights on that wiki, starting on August 16. This is because of widespread problems related to files that are uploaded by newcomers. Users who are affected by this will get an error message with a link to the less restrictive UploadWizard on Commons. Please help translating the message or give feedback on the message text. Please also update your local help pages to explain this restriction. [9]
  • On wikis with temporary accounts enabled and Meta-Wiki, administrators may now set up a footer for the Special:Contributions pages of temporary accounts, similar to those which can be shown on IP and user-account pages. They may do it by creating the page named MediaWiki:Sp-contributions-footer-temp. [10]
  • Recurrent item View all 21 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week.

Updates for technical contributors

  • Recurrent item Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

Meetings and events

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

MediaWiki message delivery 00:23, 29 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Forencisits (09:50, 29 July 2025)

[edit]

Hello, do we have to use references from web archive? or is it better to use? --Forencisits (talk) 09:50, 29 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Forencisits: I am not entirely sure what you mean. Online sources are nice because they are easily verifiable by others, but offline sources are acceptable (full stop) and even dead links provided that there is a web archive version of them available. Please see WP:REFB for getting started info. TheSandDoctor Talk 04:41, 30 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from KyleTheFox18 (18:09, 1 August 2025)

[edit]

Hi SandDoctor, I am new to editing and made my first edit very recently. It was an addition to the page for "Da Coconut Nut" about the viral video, which I thought could be relevant. Is it okay to cite Reddit and YouTube in cases like these? (i looked up reddit as a source on Wikipedia and it said it was not to be used i think) these were some of the only sources I could find. also, I am worried I gave too much weight to the recent copyright strike on the video. that is major enough to warrant significant elaboration, or might i have given too much weight to it? I am a pretty big newbie alas lol --KyleTheFox18 (talk) 18:09, 1 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The edit was reverted (and the reason seems valid) so I assume referencing Reddit or YouTube is unacceptable even when they are the only sources, unacceptable to the same level as original research? KyleTheFox18 (talk) 20:00, 1 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@KyleTheFox18: I am sorry that I somehow missed this. I thought that I had responded. Generally they are not considered reliable sources as they are self-published. That page should help explain the caveats around their use. Again, apologies for not responding. I could've sworn I did so I am genuinely surprised... TheSandDoctor Talk 00:43, 3 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
sorry, I did not see this either! thank you for the response. I will read up on that article. KyleTheFox18 (talk) 19:15, 6 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
It's alright! I know the feeling haha. I could've sworn I typed out a response the day you messaged but came across this Saturday and didn't see my reply and was like "what?!". I guess I accidentally closed the tab rather than hitting "Reply" or something. Oh well. I hope that helps! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I do generally try to get back to folks within a day or two, sometimes sooner. I am rather busy offline these days and we do this in our free time anyway . I used to have a lot more time like...5-8 years ago. That is when most of my contributions happened. How times change... TheSandDoctor Talk 04:12, 7 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-32

[edit]

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

Updates for editors

  • Editors can now enable the User Info card. This feature adds an icon next to usernames on history pages and similar user-contribution log pages. When you tap or click on the icon, it displays data related to that user account such as the number of edits, reverted edits, blocks, and more. It's part of a broader project to make it easier for moderators to evaluate account trustworthiness. The feature can be enabled in your global preferences, and later this week it will be available in local preferences. [11]
  • Everybody is invited to share comments on Collaborative Contributions, a project recently launched by the Connection team. The project aims to create a new way to display the impact of collaborative editing activities (such as edit-a-thons, backlog drives, and WikiProjects) on the wikis. Post your comments on the project talk page. [12]
  • Administrators can now define the default block duration for temporary accounts. To do that, they need to create a page named MediaWiki:Ipb-default-expiry-temporary-account and use a value defined in MediaWiki:Ipboptions. This allows administrators to easily block temporary accounts for 90 days, which is functionally equivalent to an indefinite block. The advantage of this solution is that it does not clutter Special:BlockList. More documentation is available. [13]
  • Recurrent item View all 27 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week.

Updates for technical contributors

  • Gadgets can now include .vue files. This makes it easier to develop modern user interfaces using Vue.js, in particular using Codex, the official design system of Wikimedia. Codex icons can be loaded through the gadget definition. The documentation has examples. For user scripts that use Vue.js, an API module now exists to load Codex icons. [14][15]
  • Module developers can now use a Lua interface to simplify the preparation of Lua modules for translation on Meta-Wiki. This improvement makes it easier for translators to find and edit module strings without dealing with raw Lua code. It helps prevent mistakes that could break the module during translation. Module developers and translators are invited to watch the demo video, read more about translatable modules to understand how it works, refer to Meta-Wiki's Module:User Wikimedia project for example usage, and share their feedback on how well it addresses the challenges in their workflow. The interface still has some performance issues, so it should not be used in widely used modules yet. [16]
  • Developers of external tools that connect to Wikimedia pages must set a user-agent that complies with the user-agent policy. This policy will start to be more strongly enforced in August because of external crawlers that are overusing Wikimedia's resources. Tools that are hosted on Wikimedia's Toolforge or Cloud VPS will not be affected by this for now, but should still set a user-agent. More technical details are available, and related questions are welcome in that task.
  • Parsoid Read Views is going to be rolling out to some smaller Wikipedias over the next few weeks, following the successful transition of Wikivoyages and Wiktionaries to Parsoid Read Views. For more information, see the Parsoid/Parser Unification project page. [17]
  • Recurrent item Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

Meetings and events

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

MediaWiki message delivery 03:37, 5 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Deletion review for Black Menace

[edit]

An editor has asked for a deletion review of Black Menace. Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, speedily deleted it, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. Nighfidelity (talk) 15:11, 7 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Nighfidelity: I see that this was closed before I had the chance to respond so replying here to remain accountable, but I just wanted to note that DRV isn't necessary for moving a draft years later to a previously deleted article title where a SALT doesn't apply. While DRV is a listed alternative if a title was salted, the best first choice of venue would probably be WP:RFUP or the salting admin's talk page asking for assistance to promote the draft. TheSandDoctor Talk 05:49, 8 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – August 2025

[edit]

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

Guideline and policy news

  • Following a request for comment, a new speedy deletion criterion, G15, has been enacted. It applies to pages generated by a large language model (LLM) without human review.
  • Following a request for comment, there is a new policy outlining the granting of permissions to view the IP addresses of temporary accounts. Temporary account deployment on the English Wikipedia is currently scheduled for September 2025, and editors can request access to the permission ahead of time. Admins are encouraged to keep an eye on the request page; there will likely be a flood of editors requesting the permission when they realize they can no longer see IP addresses.

Technical news

Arbitration

  • The arbitration case Indian military history has been closed.
    • South Asia (WP:CT/SA) is designated a contentious topic. The topic area is specifically defined as All pages related to the region of South Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal), broadly construed, including but not limited to history, politics, ethnicity, and social groups.
    • The contentious topic designations for Sri Lanka (SL) and India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (IPA) are folded into this new contentious topic.
    • The community-authorized general sanctions regarding South Asian social groups (GS/CASTE) are rescinded and folded into this new contentious topic.
  • The arbitration case Article titles and capitalisation 2 has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case closed on 31 July.
  • The arbitration case Transgender healthcare and people has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case will close on 11 August.

Miscellaneous

  • Wikimania 2025 is happening in Nairobi, Kenya, and online from August 6 to August 9. This year marks 20 years of Wikimania. Interested users can join the online event. Registration for the virtual event is free and will remain open throughout Wikimania. You can register here now.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:57, 7 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from TriadMagnetics (20:55, 11 August 2025)

[edit]

Hi,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfbox

I'm not sure how to make this edit, but there is currently false information in this article which emplies that molydenum is no longer used in the manufacture of Triad's A-11J A-12J. Although the material is regulated, it is still very much used. We source our lamination material from Carpenter and you can see the alloy contains molydenum: www.carpentertechnology.com/alloy-finder/hymu-80. So the A-11J and A-12J that we manufacture today are every bit the same as they were pre-1974. Not sure how to correct the information and not appear to be self-promoting. I just want to correct the incorrect information. Thx! --TriadMagnetics (talk) 20:55, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@TriadMagnetics: I removed the year as it wasn't supported by the sources present, but I took it as meaning that the original Wolfboxes were what were only made until 1974. TheSandDoctor Talk 03:11, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you. 66.173.120.139 (talk) 01:25, 13 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-33

[edit]

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

Updates for editors

  • The WikiEditor toolbar now includes its keyboard shortcuts in the tooltips for its buttons. This will help to improve the discoverability of this feature. [18]
  • The Product and Technology Advisory Council published a set of proposed experiments the Wikimedia Foundation can try to improve communication with community. Feedback on the proposals are welcomed until August 22 on this talk page.
  • The search bar on the Minerva skin (mobile) has been updated to use the same type-ahead search component that is used on the Vector 2022 skin. There are no changes in search functionality but there are minor visual changes. Specifically, the close-search button has been changed from an "X" to a back arrow. This helps to distinguish it from the other "X" button that is used to clear any text. [19]
  • Editors on some wikis will see a new toggle for "Group results by page" on watchlist, related changes, and recent changes pages. This is an A/B experiment that is planned to start on August 11, and will run for 3–6 weeks on the Bengali, Chinese, Czech, French, Greek, Portuguese, and Urdu Wikipedias. The experiment will examine how making this feature more discoverable might affect editors' ability to find the edits they are looking for. [20]
  • Recurrent item View all 31 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week.

Updates for technical contributors

  • The multiwiki datasets of Unicode data have been moved to Category:Unicode Module Datasets on Wikimedia Commons, to follow the idea of "One common data source, multiple local wikis". Most wikis have been updated to use the Commons version. You can ask questions at the talkpage. [21]
  • Lua code can add warnings when something is wrong, by using the mw.addWarning() function. It is now possible to add more than one warning, instead of new warnings replacing old ones. If you maintain a Lua module that used warnings, you should check it still works as expected. [22]
  • Recurrent item Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

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

MediaWiki message delivery 23:26, 11 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from WodenEmrys (00:09, 12 August 2025)

[edit]

There is a lot of information, but I literally signed up to add "Acapella Metal" with Van Canto as an example to the genres of metal wiki page. It's missing genres. I wouldn't think adding ACapella Metal to the list would be difficult, but how exactly would I do it? --WodenEmrys (talk) 00:09, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@WodenEmrys: Are you talking about adding "Acapella metal" to the "infobox" at the top-right of the Van Canto article? If so, genres linked should have their own articles and, sadly, there is currently no Wikipedia article for "Apacapella metal". It is also preferential to aim for staying general in infobox genres as outlined under the documentation's "genre" heading. The example the documentation gives is to choose "hip hop" over, say, "East Coast hip hop". The fact that the infobox genres cover acapella and power metal probably renders this exercise moot. Are there any other genres that you believe missing? If so, are they already mentioned in the body of the article itself? If not, do you have any sources for them? TheSandDoctor Talk 03:26, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Yennavo (13:10, 12 August 2025)

[edit]

Hello! I've modified the article on Ashmina Ranjit and believe that the message: 'This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information' is no longer needed. Request your advice on whether it can be deleted now. Thank you! --Yennavo (talk) 13:10, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Yennavo: I've looked and agree with you. Thank you for your contributions! I've removed the tag. There is only one tag left to deal with. It can be fixed by finding other articles on Wikipedia where it would be reasonable/suitable to link to the article on Ashmina so that it is no longer an orphaned article (meaning currently no articles link to it). TheSandDoctor Talk 16:08, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you @TheSandDoctor! I just realised that I missed linking correctly to the Nepalese Civil War which you fixed. I’ll try to be more thorough next time! Yennavo (talk) 16:34, 12 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Yennavo: And with this edit you've made it no longer an orphaned article. I've removed the last tag on it. Thank you!! TheSandDoctor Talk 12:46, 13 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]