User talk : Juliancolton/Archive 38

--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:18, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

There'sNoTime

Alex Shih • Brian • Mushroom • Nakon • Oscarthecat • PeruvianLlama • Ragib • Reaper Eternal • Rossami • Tom

Interface administrator changes

Evad37 • Galobtter

Ritchie333

CheckUser changes

There'sNoTime

Keegan • Ks0stm

Oversight changes

There'sNoTime

Ks0stm • Sphilbrick

Guideline and policy news

The RfC on administrator activity requirements failed to reach consensus for any proposal.
Following discussions at the Bureaucrats' noticeboard and Wikipedia talk:Administrators, an earlier change to the restoration of adminship policy was reverted. If requested, bureaucrats will not restore administrator permissions removed due to inactivity if there have been five years without a logged administrator action; this "five year rule" does not apply to permissions removed voluntarily.

Technical news

A new tool is available to help determine if a given IP is an open proxy/VPN/webhost/compromised host.

Arbitration

The Arbitration Committee announced two new OTRS queues. Both are meant solely for cases involving private information; other cases will continue to be handled at the appropriate venues (e.g., WP:COIN or WP:SPI).
- paid-en-wpwikipedia.org has been set up to receive private evidence related to abusive paid editing.
- checkuser-en-wpwikipedia.org has been set up to receive private requests for CheckUser. For instance, requests for IP block exemption for anonymous proxy editing should now be sent to this address instead of the functionaries-en list.

Miscellaneous

Following the 2019 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Base, Einsbor, Jon Kolbert, Schniggendiller, and Wim b.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:13, 4 March 2019 (UTC)

NPR Newsletter No.17

Hello Juliancolton,

News

The WMF has announced that Google Translate is now available for translating articles through the content translation tool. This may result in an increase in machine translated articles in the New Pages Feed. Feel free to use the {{rough translation}} tag and gently remind (or inform) editors that translations from other language Wikipedia pages still require attribution per WP:TFOLWP.

Discussions of interest

Two elements of CSD G6 have been split into their own criteria: R4 for redirects in the "File:" namespace with the same name as a file or redirect at Wikimedia Commons (Discussion), and G14 for disambiguation pages which disambiguate zero pages, or have "(disambiguation)" in the title but disambiguate a single page (Discussion).
{{db-blankdraft}} was merged into G13 (Discussion)
A discussion recently closed with no consensus on whether to create a subject-specific notability guideline for theatrical plays.
There is an ongoing discussion on a proposal to create subject-specific notability guidelines for chemicals and organism taxa.

Reminders

NPR is not a binary keep / delete process. In many cases a redirect may be appropriate. The deletion policy and its associated guideline clearly emphasise that not all unsuitable articles must be deleted. Redirects are not contentious. See a classic example of the templates to use. More templates are listed at the R template index. Reviewers who are not aware, do please take this into consideration before PROD, CSD, and especially AfD because not even all admins are aware of such policies, and many NAC do not have a full knowledge of them.

NPP Tools Report

Superlinks – allows you to check an article's history, logs, talk page, NPP flowchart (on unpatrolled pages) and more without navigating away from the article itself.
copyvio-check – automatically checks the copyvio percentage of new pages in the background and displays this info with a link to the report in the 'info' panel of the Page curation toolbar.
The NPP flowchart now has clickable hyperlinks.

Six Month Queue Data: Today – Low – 2393 High – 4828
Looking for inspiration? There are approximately 1000 female biographies to review.
Stay up to date with even more news – subscribe to The Signpost.

Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings.

Precious anniversary

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:47, 25 February 2019 (UTC)

Thank you for the 1896 Cedar Keys hurricane, "which caused nearly $10 million in damage, unprecedented at the time—was moving so fast that it assaulted Florida with a "tidal wave" in the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 29, and sent trees crashing down upon the Gettysburg Battlefield later that very same day. Along the way, it blew down every tree in a forest the size of Northern Island, caused a dam failure that swept away one community's downtown sector in just moments, toppled an elm tree planted by Abraham Lincoln, prompted weary storm victims to draw comparisons between airborne tin roofing and "giant vampires," and rained quite prodigiously over William McKinley and his front porch campaign—1,000 miles of mayhem in just 24 hours."! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:08, 20 March 2019 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Original Barnstar
	Congrats on your DYK puggo (talk) 14:42, 20 March 2019 (UTC)

Today's Wikipedian 10 years ago

Awesome
Ten years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:33, 23 March 2019 (UTC)

... and again today! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:45, 1 April 2019 (UTC)

MfD nomination of Portal:New York roads

Portal:New York roads, a page which you created or substantially contributed to, has been nominated for deletion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; you may participate in the discussion by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Portal:New York roads and please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes (~~~~). You are free to edit the content of Portal:New York roads during the discussion but should not remove the miscellany for deletion template from the top of the page; such a removal will not end the deletion discussion. Thank you. Legacypac (talk) 00:31, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2019).

Administrator changes

Reaper Eternal • ThaddeusB

Bogdangiusca • Christopher Parham • Necrothesp • Schneelocke • Siroxo • Sarah

Mentifisto → Lofty abyss

Interface administrator changes

Mr. Stradivarius

Bureaucrat changes

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:38, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Kingturtle

Technical news

In Special:Preferences under "Appearance" → "Advanced options", there is now an option to show a confirmation prompt when clicking on a rollback link.
The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Please see meta:Community health initiative/User reporting system consultation 2019 to provide your input on this idea.

Arbitration

The Arbitration Committee clarified that the General 1RR prohibition for Palestine-Israel articles may only be enforced on pages with the {{ARBPIA 1RR editnotice}} edit notice.

Miscellaneous

Two more administrator accounts were compromised. Evidence has shown that these attacks, like previous incidents, were due to reusing a password that was used on another website that suffered a data breach. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately. All admins are strongly encouraged to enable two-factor authentication, please consider doing so. Please always practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure and unique to Wikimedia.
As a reminder, according to WP:NOQUORUM, administrators looking to close or relist an AfD should evaluate a nomination that has received few or no comments as if it were a proposed deletion (PROD) prior to determining whether it should be relisted.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:57, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Refund request

Hi tracing a red link from Great Southern and Western Railway for John Dewrance (Senior) ... understand you deleted Dewrance & Co. Ltd 27 April 2017 as a result of Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Dewrance & Co. Ltd. I am examining the possibility of re-creating an article either for John Dewrance (1st Locomotive engineer of the GS&WR of Ireland +...) or his company and request a WP:REFUND to draft or userfication. Thankyou. Djm-leighpark (talk) 16:29, 11 April 2019 (UTC)

I can see your likely busy or otherwise not particularly active so I'll take the request to WP:REFUND. Thankyou. Djm-leighpark (talk) 19:57, 14 April 2019 (UTC)

Hi Djm-leighpark, sorry for the delayed response. As you correctly observed, I haven't been very active on the project lately. I'm not sure whether you decided against filing an undeletion request, but as it doesn't appear that you've accessed the deleted article in any way yet, I simply restored it back to the mainspace for now. There's no particularly sensitive content, so I'm not concerned with rushing to hide it away in a draft or sandbox. Hopefully this helps, – Juliancolton | ^Talk 19:07, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

Thankyou ... I'd better take a look at it and see if I can do something ... Djm-leighpark (talk) 20:07, 22 April 2019 (UTC)

MfD nomination of Portal:Autumn and Portal:Winter

Portal:Autumn and Portal:Winter, pages which you created or substantially contributed to, has been nominated for deletion. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; you may participate in the discussion by adding your comments at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Portal:Autumn and please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes (~~~~). You are free to edit the content of Portal:Autumn and/or Portal:Winter during the discussion but should not remove the miscellany for deletion template from the top of the pages; such a removal will not end the deletion discussion. Thank you. UnitedStatesian (talk) 04:15, 23 April 2019 (UTC)

ArbCom 2019 special circular

Administrators must secure their accounts

The Arbitration Committee may require a new RfA if your account is compromised.

Use strong, unique passwords for your Wikipedia account and associated email
Change your password now if your Wikipedia account password or email password is reused on another website, exposed, or weak
Enable two-factor authentication now for improved security

View additional information

This message was sent to all administrators following a recent motion. Thank you for your attention. For the Arbitration Committee, Cameron11598 02:52, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

Administrator account security (Correction to Arbcom 2019 special circular)

ArbCom would like to apologise and correct our previous mass message in light of the response from the community.

Since November 2018, six administrator accounts have been compromised and temporarily desysopped. In an effort to help improve account security, our intention was to remind administrators of existing policies on account security — that they are required to "have strong passwords and follow appropriate personal security practices." We have updated our procedures to ensure that we enforce these policies more strictly in the future. The policies themselves have not changed. In particular, two-factor authentication remains an optional means of adding extra security to your account. The choice not to enable 2FA will not be considered when deciding to restore sysop privileges to administrator accounts that were compromised.

We are sorry for the wording of our previous message, which did not accurately convey this, and deeply regret the tone in which it was delivered.

For the Arbitration Committee, -Cameron11598 21:03, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2019).

Administrator changes

HickoryOughtShirt?4 • RexxS

Necrothesp

Bratsche • Kyle Barbour • Kzollman • Madman

Interface administrator changes

Pharos

Bureaucrat changes

Primefac

CheckUser changes

Reaper Eternal

Guideline and policy news

A request for comment concluded that creating pages in the portal namespace should be restricted to autoconfirmed users.
Following a request for comment, the subject-specific notability guideline for pornographic actors and models (WP:PORNBIO) was removed; in its place, editors should consult WP:ENT and WP:GNG.

Technical news

XTools Admin Stats, a tool to list admins by administrative actions, has been revamped to support more types of log entries such as AbuseFilter changes. Two additional tools have been integrated into it as well: Steward Stats and Patroller Stats.

Arbitration

In response to the continuing compromise of administrator accounts, the Arbitration Committee passed a motion amending the procedures for return of permissions (diff). In such cases, the committee will review all available information to determine whether the administrator followed "appropriate personal security practices" before restoring permissions; administrators found failing to have adequately done so will not be resysopped automatically. All current administrators have been notified of this change.
Following a formal ratification process, the arbitration policy has been amended (diff). Specifically, the two-thirds majority required to remove or suspend an arbitrator now excludes (1) the arbitrator facing suspension or removal, and (2) any inactive arbitrator who does not respond within 30 days to attempts to solicit their feedback on the resolution through all known methods of communication.

Miscellaneous

A request for comment is currently open to amend the community sanctions procedure to exclude non XfD or CSD deletions.
A proposal to remove pre-2009 indefinite IP blocks is currently open for discussion.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:37, 5 May 2019 (UTC)

NPR Newsletter No.18

Hello Juliancolton,

WMF at work on NPP Improvements

Niharika Kohli, a product manager for the growth team, announced that work is underway in implementing improvements to New Page Patrol as part of the 2019 Community Wishlist and suggests all who are interested watch the project page on meta. Two requested improvements have already been completed. These are:

Allow filtering by no citations in page curation
Not having CSD and PRODs automatically marked as reviewed, reflecting current consensus among reviewers and current Twinkle functionality.

Reliable Sources for NPP

Rosguill has been compiling a list of reliable sources across countries and industries that can be used by new page patrollers to help judge whether an article topic is notable or not. At this point further discussion is needed about if and how this list should be used. Please consider joining the discussion about how this potentially valuable resource should be developed and used.

Backlog drive coming soon

Look for information on the an upcoming backlog drive in our next newsletter. If you'd like to help plan this drive, join in the discussion on the New Page Patrol talk page.

News

Following a request for comment, the subject-specific notability guideline for pornographic actors and models (WP:PORNBIO) was removed; in its place, editors should consult WP:ENT and WP:GNG.

Discussions of interest

A request for bot approval for a bot to patrol two kinds of redirects
There has been a lot discussion about Notability of Academics
What, if anything, would a SNG for Softball look like

Six Month Queue Data: Today – 7242 Low – 2393 High – 7250

Stay up to date with even more news – subscribe to The Signpost.
Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings.
Delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of DannyS712 (talk) at 19:17, 17 May 2019 (UTC)

June 2019 WPTC Newsletter

Volume XIV, Issue 39, May 31, 2019

The Hurricane Herald is the arbitrarily periodical newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006; it has been almost thirteen years since that time. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from April 14–May 31, 2019. This edition's editor and author is Hurricane Noah (talk · contribs).

Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here.

← 34 · 35 · 36 · 37 · 38 →

Article of the month, by Jason Rees

History of tropical cyclone naming - The practice of using names to identify tropical cyclones goes back several centuries, with storms named after places, saints or things they hit before the formal start of naming in each basin. The credit for the first usage of personal names for weather systems is given to the Queensland Government Meteorologist Clement Wragge, who named tropical cyclones and anticyclones between 1887 and 1907. This system of naming fell into disuse for several years after Wragge retired, until it was revived in the latter part of World War II for the Western Pacific basin. Over the following decades, various naming schemes have been introduced for the world's oceans, including for parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and the Indian Ocean. The majority of these lists are compiled by the World Meteorological Organization's tropical cyclone committee for the region and include names from different cultures as well as languages. Over the years there has been controversy over the names used at various times, with names being dropped for religious and political reasons. For example, female names were exclusively used in the basins at various times between 1945 - 2000 and were the subject of several protests. The names of significant tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean and Australian region are retired from the naming lists and replaced with another name, at meetings of the various tropical cyclone committees.

Storm of the month and other tropical activity

Cyclone Fani was an extremely severe cyclonic storm that made landfall in Odisha, India on May 3. The storm achieved peak intensity as a near Category 5-equivalent cyclone with 3-minute sustained winds of 215 km/h (130 mph), 1-minute sustained winds of 250 km/h (155 mph), and a minimum central pressure of 937 hPa (mbar). Fani caused over $1.8 billion (2019 USD) in damage in India and Bangladesh and killed at least 89 people.

Since the last newsletter, twelve systems have formed.

Southwest Indian Ocean
In the Southwest Indian Ocean, Cyclone Kenneth made landfall in Mozambique approximately 1 month after Cyclone Idai, causing widespread flooding and destruction. Overall, Kenneth killed at least 52 people and caused more than $100 million in damage. Additionally, Tropical Cyclone Lorna formed over the eastern portion of the basin in late April and dissipated in early May without affecting land.
Australian Region
In the Australian Region, cyclones Lili and Ann formed in early May and both affected land. No deaths were reported, although Lili caused moderate damage in the Maluku Islands and East Timor.
South Pacific
In the South Pacific, a tropical depression formed in mid-may, but failed to intensify and dissipated a few days later.
South Atlantic
In the South Atlantic, Subtropical Storm Jaguar formed in late May and lasted for approximately two days before becoming extratropical.
Western Pacific
In the Western Pacific, three weak tropical depressions existed during the first half of May.
North Atlantic
In the North Atlantic, Subtropical Storm Andrea formed on the same day as Jaguar, but failed to intensify and dissipated on the next day.

The Eastern Pacific hurricane season began on May 15.
The Atlantic hurricane season will begin at 2:00 AM EDT on June 1.
The Central Pacific hurricane season will begin sometime after 12:00 AM HST on June 1.

Recent storms of the month
Edition	Storm
36	Cyclone Idai
35	Typhoon Wutip (2019)

New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter in April 2019

More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue in April 2019. Sorted chronologically. Struckout users denote users who have left or have been banned.

Super Typhoon Eden (talk · contribs)
SaiTheCyclone (talk · contribs)

To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!

Editorial for welcoming new users, by Hurricanehink

Every year, editors new and old help maintain the new season of season articles. The older users are likely used to the standards of the project, such as how to Wikilink and reference properly. Newer users might make mistakes, and they might make them over and over again if they don't know better. If anyone (who happens to read this) comes across a new user, please don't bite, because with enough pushback, they'll decide that this group of editors is too mean, and unfun. This is all a volunteer project; no one can force anyone to do anything. We're all on here because of our love of knowledge and tropical cyclones. If you find someone new, consider using the official WPTC welcome template - Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Welcome.

I also encourage that if you know any tropical cyclone researchers, please speak up and try recruiting them to edit. Veteran editors can't keep editing forever. Life gets busy, and the real world beckons!

Member of the month (edition) – Yellow Evan

Yellow Evan has been involved with WPTC since 2008. Since the last newsletter, Yellow Evan has taken 5 typhoon articles to good article status as well as created 2 more. Overall, he has created and/or significantly contributed to more than 130 good articles. Your work in the Western Pacific Basin is invaluable... Thank you for your contributions!

Latest WikiProject Alerts

The following are the latest article developments as updated by AAlertBot, as of the publishing of this issue. Due to the bot workings, some of these updates may seem out of place; nonetheless, they are included here.

Article alerts

Please comment on Talk:List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes

FYI. (3 New Sections.) Thank You.--Halls4521 (talk) 20:24, 4 June 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2019).

Administrator changes

Andonic • Consumed Crustacean • Enigmaman • Euryalus • EWS23 • HereToHelp • Nv8200pa • Peripitus • StringTheory11 • Vejvančický

CheckUser changes

Ivanvector

Guideline and policy news

An RfC seeks to clarify whether WP:OUTING should include information on just the English Wikipedia or any Wikimedia project.
An RfC on WT:RfA concluded that Requests for adminship and bureaucratship are discussions seeking to build consensus.
An RfC proposal to make the templates for discussion (TfD) process more like the requested moves (RM) process, i.e. "as a clearinghouse of template discussions", was closed as successful.

Technical news

The CSD feature of Twinkle now allows admins to notify page creators of deletion if the page had not been tagged. The default behavior matches that of tagging notifications, and replaces the ability to open the user talk page upon deletion. You can customize which criteria receive notifications in your Twinkle preferences: look for Notify page creator when deleting under these criteria.
Twinkle's d-batch (batch delete) feature now supports deleting subpages (and related redirects and talk pages) of each page. The pages will be listed first but use with caution! The und-batch (batch undelete) option can now also restore talk pages.

Miscellaneous

The previously discussed unblocking of IP addresses indefinitely-blocked before 2009 was approved and has taken place.
The 2019 talk pages consultation produced a report for Phase 1 and has entered Phase 2.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:48, 8 June 2019 (UTC)

Hey

Hey Julian check this page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Rymich13/Mentor --rymich13 (talk) 01:26, 8 June 2019 (UTC)

Hi Rymich13! Glad to see your renewed interest in contributing. :) How have you been? As you've probably gathered, it's a long time since I've been consistently active here. Real life and all that. I sometimes get called out for enforcing the 2012 versions of certain policies, so I'm probably in no position to resume mentoring. Plus, there's no promise I won't get sidetracked with work/hobbies/a new coffee shop and disappear for two more years without warning. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to try answering them to the best of my abilities. Otherwise, hope you have fun getting back into the swing of things! – Juliancolton | ^Talk 03:42, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

Juliancolton Do you have a separate chat service you use like WhatsApp or discord? If so what’s your name I’ll add you. --rymich13 (talk) 03:52, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

Not really. I'm best reached at Special:EmailUser/Juliancolton. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 03:59, 12 June 2019 (UTC)

SIAs are lists, not dabs

Please note that set index articles are list articles, not non-article disambiguation pages. I've undone the changes to the tropical storms SIA page's categorization as dabs rather than lists. -- JHunterJ (talk) 16:21, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

@JHunterJ: I'm aware of the difference between SIAs and dabs, but not of any guidelines that regulate SIA classification within individual WikiProjects. Nearly all the pages populating Category:Set indices on storms are assessed as Disambig-Class, so my changes only standardized a handful of non-conforming pages. With those changes reverted, Category:List-Class Tropical cyclone articles now contains about a dozen tropical cyclone indices out of nearly 700. That does not seem like an ideal solution. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 16:44, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

No, it's not ideal. It would be ideal if they were all properly categorized. Some being correctly categorized and some not -> all being incorrectly categorized is not an improvement, though. If the WikiProject doesn't have a plan to coordinate the fixes, incrementally fixing the miscategorized ones is the way to go. -- JHunterJ (talk) 17:47, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

You seem to be conflating categorization with assessment scale classification. This has no bearing at all on reader navigation, but is instead purely internal. As far as I can tell, the dabs and indices are all categorized correctly. My interest, for the moment, is in maintaining the Category:Tropical cyclone articles by quality hierarchy for WikiProject quality tracking statistics and directories. You're right in that many Dab-Class pages would be more accurately reclassified as SIA-Class in the long-run, but I'm disheartened at your eagerness to revert and admonish me instead of offering to help with any of these incremental fixes. A Category:List-Class Tropical cyclone articles that's evenly split between SIAs and actual content lists is an extremely unhelpful product. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 18:31, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

Keven McDonald

Hello Mr. Colton,

I'm Keven McDonald. Below is a message I just left on the talk page of SVTCobra:

Hello,

I'm Keven McDonald (yes, it's actually me). I want to thank you for the positive feedback you gave me on my talk page. A few days ago I set about correcting and updating a wiki page about me that was created by someone else. My goal was to tighten up some of the slightly inaccurate historical information, make some updates to the information box and most importantly fix some of the poor grammar, syntax and sentence structure. Finally, I wanted to add my photo to breathe some life into the page. What an adventure!

With respect to the picture, that issue is being resolved. Penn is claiming copyright and I've sent the form given to me by JGHowes along to the Athletic Department for their review. One of your colleagues called my reaction to the photo issue as "belligerent". To that I will admit to being annoyed at not being able to put my picture on a page about me. I've since come to better understand Wiki's position relative to copyright and, as mentioned, it's being resolved.

As for the other editions, even though everything I updated about myself is completely factually correct I've received feedback from some of your colleagues saying the editions were "unconstructive", "self interested" and "self promotional". In the information box I updated my education level and included some athletic awards omitted on the original page. In the body of the page I also included an update to my education (law school) and the fact that I currently operate my own business. With respect to my own business, I have seen inumerable wiki pages where the subject's business or current place of work was included so I didn't think this was an issue. I find it ironic that if an anonymous writer includes these things it's fine but if the subject includes accurate occupational information it's "self interested". One thing should be mentioned here, in one of my edits I did link back to my website. That was wrong. I should have taken a deeper dive into Wiki's rules before doing that. The link was removed.

Anyway, I want to thank you again for the positive and constructive feedback. Please pass this along to any of your colleagues who you feel should read what I've said here.

Kmacjdwiki (talk) 17:31, 18 June 2019 (UTC)Keven McDonald — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kmacjdwiki (talk • contribs)

(by talk reader) @Kmacjdwiki: I can appreciate that this process has been frustrating. Sadly, we find ourselves in this situation quite often. First, I'd like to point out that although an article might be about you, you are exactly the wrong person to edit it because of your conflict of interest. Because Wikipedia is ubiquitous, many people (and businesses) seek to edit/control the article where they have some equity and we (the volunteer editors) are under what feels like continuous assault from these people. This is probably why Wikipedians tend to be insular and prefer to only deal with other long-term well-accomplished volunteer editors rather than the self-interested drive-by editors. We want the objective best result for the encyclopedia not the specific parochial interests of involved parties tainted by money. Second, over the past decade we've developed a lot of sitewide rules that may seem both obscure and silly to outsiders like you. Again, we deal with tens of thousands of biographies and our solutions might not be to your liking. Finally, my advice to you is to simply forget this article exists. It will only be a sore point for you as you are both powerless to negotiate our bureaucracy and you are dis-empowered from preventing outright vandalism let alone honest disagreements. Honestly, those that have had the most success were journalists able to use their platform to write about Wikipedia's system of business and perhaps attract favorable coverage. Chris Troutman (talk) 18:18, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

Kmacjdwiki, Chris has done an excellent job summarizing the many delicate considerations surrounding biographical articles, especially where they have drawn the attention of their subjects, and I endorse every bit of his subsequent advice.

There are, of course, exceptions, but you'll find that most long-term Wikipedia editors are only interested in ensuring adherence to our central content policies. That said, there's absolutely room to improve the manner in which we as experienced users approach overwhelmed novices who may be inadvertently infringing upon those aforementioned rules. That last point is part of the reason why I opened a discussion at the conflict of interest noticeboard regarding your article; with the promise of uninvolved editors stepping in to offer their guidance, you'd be much less likely to unwittingly cross the three-revert threshold, for instance, and find yourself blocked. For my part, I'd been away from Wikipedia for some time until just this week, and am in the process of reacquainting myself with changes to policy and protocol in my absence. This being the case, it seemed more appropriate to hand the issue off and avoid the risk of giving you outdated or simply bad advice. What has always been true, though, is that contributors are allowed and even encouraged to preserve their anonymity. It may be your impression that pseudonyms are damaging to accountability, and you may be right, but you must assume until proven otherwise that all parties are acting in good faith, regardless of how the letters in their username are arranged. Some of the most divisive figures in this website's history have been very open with their real-world identities, while only two of the top-10 most prolific "featured article" authors edit under their (apparent!) real names. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 19:11, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

Julian, I must say, I think Chris troutman's message is exactly one of the things we need to improve when dealing with novices. Rather than an excellent summary, I found it to be undiplomatic gatekeeping and quite frankly insulting to Kmacjdwiki, calling him a "self-interested drive-by editor ... tainted by money". Stating he is "powerless" and "dis-empowered". And what the heck was that bit about journalists getting favorable coverage when they use their platform to criticize Wikipedia??? --SVTCobra (talk) 21:42, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

SVTCobra I can appreciate your view of the above comment, but while Chris troutman's (I'm sure you're tired of being pinged by now, but I hate discussing someone personally without giving them a chance to respond) post was characteristically terse, it was, as I read it, straightforward and objective on the whole. I viewed it as an attempt to be straightforward with Kmacjdwiki. I understood Chris's "powerless" and "dis-empowered" comments to be criticisms of Wikipedia's internal affairs; if that's the case, I agree with him that the system is unfair and almost oppressive to individuals who find their biographical information misrepresented here. In short, I believe the comment struck a cynical tone and not a patronizing one. But I may be wrong – and I assumed there must have been a story behind the journalist remark. Regardless, I thank you for holding me accountable and making sure nothing is taken for granted. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 02:41, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

Hello, Keven McDonald here. I've recently received yet another notice. I've been instructed by "SportGuy789" to refrain from further editing the site about me until I join the Conflict of Interest discussion. Although I did leave a brief comment on what appears to be the COI board, "SportsGuy" indicated the conversation was better held here.

Honestly, I don't know what's left to discuss. I made a few simple edits to a site about me. The updates to the information box were few and factual including only a few athletic awards omitted by the author. The corrections to the spelling, grammar, syntax and poorly constructed sentences have made the page more readable without interfering with the intent of the original author. The updates to the text of the page included only two things; the fact that I've earned a JD and that I now operate my own business. NONE of this should be a problem. Even the photo issue is now being handled in the manner prescribed by JGHowes. So, again, please tell me what's left to discuss?

What would be helpful to me is if, in addition to the notices, warnings, rules, admonitions and red flags I've received would be if someone would tell me PRECISELY what has to take place in order that my editions and updates be allowed. THAT WOULD ACTUALLY BE HELPFUL HERE!!

What I don't need is more of Mr. Troutman's obnoxious, condescending and thoroughly insulting comments about how "dis-empowered" I and other "self interested drive by editors" are. What I need now is to be told how and when my edits will be added to the page.

Thank you. I hope this adds to the discussion.

Kmacjdwiki (talk) 22:32, 18 June 2019 (UTC)Keven McDonald

@Kmacjdwiki: Post what you want changed about the article to that article's talk page. Then go to WP:RB and offer a reward (which can be free) for those edits to be completed. An un-involved third-party editor can handle it. Chris Troutman (talk) 22:40, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

All – I will clarify the exact issues with the edits on the Keven McDonald talk page , but not right now. It's a plethora of things and will take a while to put together, which is why I haven't yet done so. SportsGuy789 (talk) 23:36, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

Keven McDonald here. Can someone help me understand what "plethora of things" SportsGuy789 is referring to? Here is the "plethora" he refers to:

1. In the information box I updated the fact I went to law school and some athletic awards, broken down by school or organization, not mentioned by the original author.

2. In the body of the text I also included law school and the fact I now operate my own business. I included the name of my business which I've seen done on any number of Wiki pages. It's come to my attention that the fact that the business name is in all caps could be a red flag. I don't quite get why the size of the letters is relevant but I did it to be consistent with the way the business name appears on my business cards, stationery and website. Again, I find it hard to believe a business name in all caps is a problem or makes me a "self interested drive by editor".

3. Corrected some inaccuracies about my career. The original author made a reference to the fact that I never played a game in the NBA. That is not true. Although my NBA career was brief I did play in several games before being released. I should also note here that several years ago when this page was first brought to my attention I noticed the author incorrectly had my place of birth listed as South Orange, New Jersey. In fact I was born in Newark, New Jersey. I corrected that a long time ago.

4. Fixed some bad spelling, syntax, grammar and poorly written sentences. The page reads much better and none of the author's intent was altered.

5. Attempted to upload a photo. That situation is being handled the way I was told to handle it by one of your colleagues.

So, what "plethora" is he talking about?

Also, Troutman makes the suggestion above that I go out and find a complete stranger, offer them a reward (bribe), perhaps even a free reward (although I'm not familiar with the concept of a "free reward") to make the same edits that I've already made and this would make everything ok. Perhaps that makes sense in a far away universe of which I am unfamiliar but it makes absolutely no sense to me standing here on planet earth. If I, the subject of the page, is considered suspect for making harmless corrections about my own accomplishments how do the edits become more legitimate when made by a complete stranger? The fact that I was born in Newark, not South Orange would remain the same. The fact that I earned a JD would remain the same. The fact that I received the additional athletic awards would remain the same. The fact that I now operate my own business would remain the same. The fact that many of the sentences now make sense would remain the same. The fact that I played in a few NBA games would remain the same. Besides, how would Mr. Troutman be able to distinguish an "un-involved third-party editor" (his words) from a "dis-empowered" "drive by editor" (also his words).

Or perhaps I'm overreacting. Maybe Mr. Troutman was making an attempt at humor that I failed to appreciate. If so, it wasn't funny.

I hope this adds to the discussion.

Kmacjdwiki (talk) 00:59, 19 June 2019 (UTC)Keven McDonald

Let's try to keep discussion of content over at Talk:Keven McDonald. --SVTCobra (talk) 01:25, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

@Kmacjdwiki: I would not say you're overreacting. You're understandably frustrated and receiving differently framed instructions from multiple people. I'll try to shed light on a few of the key points:

Wikipedia is a collaborative work-in-progress, and no one person is expected to craft a finished product. We all attempt to improve upon previous changes. If you feel we're being too critical, know that any necessary corrections will eventually be made by someone else. This isn't hypothetical – one user has helpfully begun to add citations and refine the article's formatting.
As you've been correctly informed, extensively editing an article about yourself is strongly discouraged – all but forbidden. This is codified in our autobiography guidelines and borne out by the real-world concept of conflict of interest. I know it sounds crass, but it doesn't particularly matter that you think the edits constitute unambiguous improvements. Where conflicts of interest exist, all changes to content should be proposed at the appropriate venue (in this case, the article talk page) and implemented by uninvolved editors. Regardless of how uncontroversial your changes may seem, it's nearly impossible to remain impartial. Just think of how you're equating an encyclopedia entry with your personal business cards.
All information on Wikipedia must be supported by reliable sources of academic rigor. This is especially true of amendments to existing content. Again, to be completely objective, references must be supplied even if you're only adding that which you know to be true. See our document, Wikipedia:Verifiability, not truth.

A specific question about the veracity of some information has been raised at Talk:Keven McDonald, which is where I'll direct all future discussion about the article's substance. If you have any additional questions, concerns, or gripes about Wikipedia's editing environment in general, I'll happily continue to address them here to the best of my abilities. Otherwise, there's very little for you to do in relation to the article itself. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 02:41, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

Rosa

I do intend to take you up on your offer with Rosa. I want to address the issues you have presented before looking at any other issues. I was planning to do that tonight, but I am experiencing an outage (2 inches of rain last night and more now). I will try and get that done tomorrow morning. Noah^Talk 02:32, 17 June 2019 (UTC)

Hi Noah, thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you've decided to pursue further improvements to Rosa. You've crafted a solid base for the article – it just needs some polishing and a bit of fleshing out in spots. Like you, I won't be online much today, but the rest of the week should offer up more opportunities for helping you take care of the issues I spotted. I'm confident that with two of us working on it, it won't take very long at all to get it into position for another FAC. Just let me know where you think my attention would be best focused, and which areas you'd prefer me to stay far away from, if any. See you in the mainspace! – Juliancolton | ^Talk 14:22, 17 June 2019 (UTC)

I am working on implementing your suggestions now. Let me know if the Mexico section is any better. I am working on the US part now. Noah^Talk 02:14, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

All I have left to do is add in information on the 34 YO man's death. Feel free to look over the whole article if you would like. I hope I have adequately addressed all the other suggestions you put forth. Noah^Talk 23:10, 18 June 2019 (UTC)

Hurricane Noah Thanks for the follow-up. I'll take a look tomorrow morning and let you know where I think we stand. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 02:41, 19 June 2019 (UTC)

Hello? Is everything okay? It has been 10 days. Noah^Talk 20:58, 29 June 2019 (UTC)

@Hurricane Noah: My apologies. I'm sure you've already gathered that I haven't had much (or really any) time to devote to editing over the last couple weeks. As I don't foresee that changing for at least another couple weeks, you may be best off going on ahead without me. I won't stand in the way of another FAC attempt when you feel the article's ready. Again, I'm sorry I fell flat here. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 21:46, 29 June 2019 (UTC)

New Page Review newsletter July-August 2019

Hello Juliancolton,

WMF at work on NPP Improvements

More new features are being added to the feed, including the important red alert for previously deleted pages. This will only work if it is selected in your filters. Best is to 'select all'. Do take a moment to check out all the new features if you have not already done so. If anything is not working as it should, please let us know at NPR. There is now also a live queue of AfC submissions in the New Pages Feed. Feel free to review AfCs, but bear in mind that NPP is an official process and policy and is more important.

QUALITY of REVIEWING

Articles are still not always being checked thoroughly enough. If you are not sure what to do, leave the article for a more experienced reviewer. Please be on the alert for any incongruities in patrolling and help your colleagues where possible; report patrollers and autopatrolled article creators who are ostensibly undeclared paid editors. The displayed ORES alerts offer a greater 'at-a-glance' overview, but the new challenges in detecting unwanted new content and sub-standard reviewing do not necessarily make patrolling any easier, nevertheless the work may have a renewed interest factor of a different kind. A vibrant community of reviewers is always ready to help at NPR.

Backlog

The backlog is still far too high at between 7,000 and 8,000. Of around 700 user rights holders, 80% of the reviewing is being done by just TWO users. In the light of more and more subtle advertising and undeclared paid editing, New Page Reviewing is becoming more critical than ever.

Move to draft

NPR is triage, it is not a clean up clinic. This move feature is not limited to bios so you may have to slightly re-edit the text in the template before you save the move. Anything that is not fit for mainspace but which might have some promise can be draftified - particularly very poor English and machine and other low quality translations.

Notifying users

Remember to use the message feature if you are just tagging an article for maintenance rather than deletion. Otherwise articles are likely to remain perma-tagged. Many creators are SPA and have no intention of returning to Wikipedia. Use the feature too for leaving a friendly note note for the author of a first article you found well made or interesting. Many have told us they find such comments particularly welcoming and encouraging.

PERM

Admins are now taking advantage of the new time-limited user rights feature. If you have recently been accorded NPR, do check your user rights to see if this affects you. Depending on your user account preferences, you may receive automated notifications of your rights changes. Requests for permissions are not mini-RfAs. Helpful comments are welcome if absolutely necessary, but the bot does a lot of the work and the final decision is reserved for admins who do thorough research anyway.

Other news

School and academic holidays will begin soon in various places around the Western world. Be on the lookout for the usual increase in hoax, attack, and other junk pages.

Our next newsletter might be announcing details of a possible election for co-ordinators of NPR. If you think you have what it takes to micro manage NPR, take a look at New Page Review Coordinators - it's a job that requires a lot of time and dedication.

Stay up to date with even more news – subscribe to The Signpost.
Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings.

Administrators' newsletter – July 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2019).

Administrator changes

28bytes • Ad Orientem • Ansh666 • Beeblebrox • Boing! said Zebedee • BU Rob13 • Dennis Brown • Deor • DoRD • Floquenbeam¹ • Flyguy649 • Fram² • Gadfium • GB fan • Jonathunder • Kusma • Lectonar • Moink • MSGJ • Nick • Od Mishehu • Rama • Spartaz • Syrthiss • TheDJ • WJBscribe

¹Floquenbeam's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.

²Fram's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.

Bureaucrat changes

28bytes • WJBscribe • Wizardman

Interface administrator changes

MSGJ • TheDJ

CheckUser changes

Beeblebrox • BU Rob13 • DoRD

Oversight changes

Beeblebrox • BU Rob13 • DoRD • GB fan

Guideline and policy news

A request for comment seeking to alleviate pressures on the request an account (ACC) process proposes either raising the account creation limit for extended confirmed editors or granting the account creator permission on request to new ACC tool users.

In a related matter, the account throttle has been restored to six creations per day as the mitigation activity completed.

The scope of CSD criterion G8 has been tightened such that the only redirects that it now applies to are those which target non-existent pages.
The scope of CSD criterion G14 has been expanded slightly to include orphan "Foo (disambiguation)" redirects that target pages that are not disambiguation pages or pages that perform a disambiguation-like function (such as set index articles or lists).
A request for comment seeks to determine whether Wikipedia:Office actions should be a policy page or an information page.

Technical news

The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Community feedback is invited.

Miscellaneous

In February 2019, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) changed its office actions policy to include temporary and project-specific bans. The WMF exercised this new ability for the first time on the English Wikipedia on 10 June 2019 to temporarily ban and desysop Fram. This action has resulted in significant community discussion, a request for arbitration (permalink), and, either directly or indirectly, the resignations of numerous administrators and functionaries. The WMF Board of Trustees is aware of the situation, and discussions continue on a statement and a way forward. The Arbitration Committee has sent an open letter to the WMF Board.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:20, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Question on closed AfD

Based on the last point of WP:CLOSEAFD, I wanted to bring up one that you closed last month as 'no consensus/npasr' for two reasons. First, the one regular 'keep' on the AfD has subsequently been blocked as a 'spammer' (although he appears to be functioning with another username) and second, the page's creator appears to have an undisclosed COI (page subject is apparently employer) — these two items don't mix well. WP:COICOIN advises to not 'out' anyone so I am not specifying the page here and now, but I'm wondering if you might have some insight as to address this? I'm not sure how to balance AfD and COI without confusing things. Thanks, ogenstein (talk) 12:54, 27 July 2019 (UTC)

Hi Mothman,
It's hard to offer much useful advice without knowing which article/AfD is in question. If you have reason to believe COI guidelines are being violated based on on-wiki evidence (like if the user says "we" when talking about a business, or self-declares an affiliation with the group), it would not constitute outing to raise the issue at COI/N. If sensitive information has already been made public, either inadvertently by the user themself or by someone else, it needs to be taken care of, so you could email me (or, if it's really problematic, an oversighter). Otherwise, an AfD tainted by spammers and SPAs needs to be revisited. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 22:28, 29 July 2019 (UTC)

Hello

Hey Julian,

How's life treating you? Good to see you around a bit. Are you still getting in a fair amount of photography work? Well, just wanted to say hey. — Ched : ? — 10:19, 25 July 2019 (UTC)

Hey Ched, it's good to see you too my friend. All good on my end – and you? Photography takes up most of my time these days since I made the jump to full-time a while back. Nice to pay the bills doing something I really enjoy, but it sure isn't an easy way to make a living. A truly successful art business takes about 1 parts creativity and 10 parts unremitting self-promotion, and I'm sure you recall that I don't have the kind of outgoing, in-your-face personality of someone who thrives in that arrangement. But ya have to make it work when it's your calling.

I'd still like to get back into editing more meaningfully again, but we'll see how far I get on that. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 22:16, 29 July 2019 (UTC)

I'm hanging in there, even if age tends to be a bit kinder to the young than the slightly older. I'm glad you're still doing your photography - it's something you really are good at. I can say I've seen second hand how hard it is to make a living at it though. My brother is a photographer (mostly daycare and pre-school stuff), and it's been tough for him. The quality of the pictures that phones today can turn out makes it really tough for those who relish finding the proper lens, speed, exposure, etc. (and to be honest - my brother has a VERY "in-your-face" personality, at time excessively - but here is not the place to discuss that) Anyway - it really is great to see you about. — Ched : ? — 15:05, 30 July 2019 (UTC)

Nomination of Portal:Capital District for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether Portal:Capital District is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The page will be discussed at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Portal:Capital District (2nd nomination) until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the page during the discussion, including to improve the page to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the deletion notice from the top of the page. North America¹⁰⁰⁰ 08:10, 31 July 2019 (UTC)

38th edition of The Hurricane Herald

Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Newsletter/Archive 38 - here's the link to the latest newsletter! ♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 17:50, 1 August 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2019).

Administrator changes

Johnuniq • Kosack • Valereee

Ad Orientem • Ched • Gadfium • Jonathunder • Nick • Yelyos

Bald Zebra • Beetstra • Doug Bell • Journalist • Ruud Koot • Splash • Voice of Clam

Interface administrator changes

Dinoguy1000

CheckUser changes

RickinBaltimore

Oversight changes

Beeblebrox

RickinBaltimore

Guideline and policy news

Following a request for comment, the page Wikipedia:Office actions has been changed from a policy page to an information page.
A request for comment (permalink) is in progress regarding the administrator inactivity policy.

Arbitration

Editors may now use the template {{Ds/aware}} to indicate that they are aware that discretionary sanctions are in force for a topic area, so it is unnecessary to alert them.

Miscellaneous

Following a research project on masking IP addresses, the Foundation is starting a new project to improve the privacy of IP editors. The result of this project may significantly change administrative and counter-vandalism workflows. The project is in the very early stages of discussions and there is no concrete plan yet. Admins and the broader community are encouraged to leave feedback on the talk page.
The new page reviewer right is bundled with the admin tool set. Many admins regularly help out at Special:NewPagesFeed, but they may not be aware of improvements, changes, and new tools for the Curation system. Stay up to date by subscribing here to the NPP newsletter that appears every two months, and/or putting the reviewers' talk page on your watchlist.
Since the introduction of temporary user rights, it is becoming more usual to accord the New Page Reviewer right on a probationary period of 3 to 6 months in the first instance. This avoids rights removal for inactivity at a later stage and enables a review of their work before according the right on a permanent basis.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:23, 3 August 2019 (UTC)

Montsoreau

Hello Juliancolton, an article that I have mainly written has been nominated for Good Article by Suavemarimagno in march 2019. Would you mind to review it? or to give an advice for having it reviewed? Best, --Philippe49730 (talk) 11:54, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

Hi Philippe49730
With apologies, I don't currently have the time needed to commit to a full review of this relatively substantial article. I suspect that's one of the reasons reviewers have stayed away for so long – at ~5,500 words long and with nearly 200 citations, the article would likely require several days to adequately scrutinize. Regrettably, March 2019 could almost be considered recent in the context of GAN; many nominations were listed in the autumn of 2018 or even earlier. It's quite unfair to article writers, but I don't anticipate the backlog becoming any better-managed in the foreseeable future. For me, it sometimes makes sense to skip GAN altogether, and instead go to FAC after enlisting the help of a few uninvolved copyeditors. Sorry I can't be of greater assistance, – Juliancolton | ^Talk 21:56, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

Thank you very much for your answer Juliancolton. All my very best, --Philippe49730 (talk) 12:03, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

I apologize if you took my comments the wrong way

Hello Julian,

First off, thank you so much for your comments on the RfA. Your consideration means a lot in these stressful and anxious times. My goal is to always make the encyclopedia better. Reading your oppose really touched me. I never saw my comments in that intention and I want to apologize if it made me seem like someone who is demanding or rushing. At the FAC, I take every comment very seriously and use them to learn. I would never try to push back or deny someones comments unless I felt there was some criticism needed. I again really apologize if you felt I was being a bit demanding in the FA. I have learned from those comments and promise to do better. That avengers analogy was a light hearted comment that came from my mind (I literally rewatched Endgame the night before). I hope we can have a good wiki-relationship and work together. As for the RfA, I am keeping it open in order to answer and review all questions and concerns. I really do not want to disappoint NorthAmerica or the people who took time to comment.

Thank you again for your RfA comment. Best, AmericanAir88^(talk) 01:54, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

@AmericanAir88: Hi, thank you for stopping by and clarifying your position. Please know that I don't doubt your good intentions. FAC can be a grueling process, with lots of arcane customs and nuanced rules of etiquette. If you haven't been a participant there for years, it's easy to get lost. That you've given serious consideration to my concerns reflects very well on you as an editor and an individual, and leads me to believe that a successful second RfA is not far off. Who knows? maybe I'll even put my name behind it. In the meantime, I'd like to offer a bit of heartfelt advice which you can feel free to ignore: if it were me, I'd withdraw the RfA sooner than later. At this point, you've received volumes of solid input on how to position yourself for a second attempt, and folks are starting to repeat themselves. You're up to nearly 30 questions now, and you don't need the continued stress of trying to stay on top of them (or face admonishments for taking your time/answering out of order). Having nominated 15 users for RfA and participated in somewhere around 750 other candidacies, it's been my experience that voters in subsequent attempts view withdrawals as pragmatic and humbled, while "staying the course", so to speak, often garners some opposes the next time around if the result had been obvious for multiple days. But it's your call and only you can decide what's right. Best regards, – Juliancolton | ^Talk 21:35, 7 August 2019 (UTC)

@Juliancolton: Thank you so much for responding. I had a dental procedure yesterday that put me out and I am trying to answer all of the remaining questions. I am still staying with the RFA as I want to stay strong and believe the community is not at a total "oppose" consensus left. I want to do what is best for Wikipedia. Thank you. AmericanAir88^(talk) 20:09, 8 August 2019 (UTC)

Question from GA newbie

Hi Julian! Since you've kindly volunteered to mentor good article reviewers, could I ask you to take a look at Tiberius (son of Heraclius)? I've recently started reviewing GA nominations and having lots of fun with it. But with the Tiberius case, I've now edited the article very extensively myself so I'm wondering what the right process is at this point. Could I still pass it myself or should we request a new reviewer? Haukur (talk) 16:53, 20 August 2019 (UTC)

Backlog Banzai

In the month of September, Wikiproject Military history is running a project-wide edit-a-thon, Backlog Banzai. There are heaps of different areas you can work on, for which you claim points, and at the end of the month all sorts of whiz-bang awards will be handed out. Every player wins a prize! There is even a bit of friendly competition built in for those that like that sort of thing. Sign up now at Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/September 2019 Backlog Banzai to take part. For the coordinators, Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 08:18, 22 August 2019 (UTC)

"Template:Winter Storms" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Template:Winter Storms. Since you had some involvement with the Template:Winter Storms redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Magioladitis (talk) 08:03, 23 August 2019 (UTC)

A cup of tea for you!

Thanking you for your support during my recent unsuccessful RfA.Much appreciated. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 23:22, 23 August 2019 (UTC)

Hello!

Hi! Sorry to bother you. I'm currently nominating an article of mine for GA status; after some observations, I've found that you're a member of the Good Article WikiProject, and an frequent editor on Wikipedia per August. If you have time, could you review the article if nobody has done it yet? (I'm messaging several other users in this format, just in case)
If you decline due to various reasons, could you recommend another potential user to review it? Thank you in advance. Dhio-270599 08:45, 26 August 2019 (UTC)

Wikiproject Military history coordinator election nominations open

Nominations for the upcoming project coordinator election are now open. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. If you are interested in running, please sign up here by 23:59 UTC on 14 September! Voting doesn't commence until 15 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the coord team. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 02:38, 1 September 2019 (UTC)

Deleted Article

Hello, I've decided that I'm going to write a new article for flusha. The previous article was deleted and turned into a redirect 2 years ago, so I'm just letting you know about what I plan to do, as advised by the Teahouse. Unless if you have any objections, I will expand the redirect as per WP:RTOA.Lxxl (talk) 03:26, 5 September 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2019).

Administrator changes

Bradv • Chetsford • Izno

Floquenbeam • Lectonar

DESiegel • Jake Wartenberg • Rjanag • Topbanana

CheckUser changes

Callanecc • LFaraone • There'sNoTime

Oversight changes

Callanecc • Fox • HJ Mitchell • LFaraone • There'sNoTime

Technical news

Editors using the mobile website on Wikipedia can opt-in to new advanced features via your settings page. This will give access to more interface links, special pages, and tools.
The advanced version of the edit review pages (recent changes, watchlist, and related changes) now includes two new filters. These filters are for "All contents" and "All discussions". They will filter the view to just those namespaces.

Arbitration

A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2019 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.

Miscellaneous

A global request for comment is in progress regarding whether a user group should be created that could modify edit filters across all public Wikimedia wikis.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:37, 7 September 2019 (UTC)

New Page Review newsletter September-October 2019

Hello Juliancolton,

Backlog

Instead of reaching a magic 300 as it once did last year, the backlog approaching 6,000 is still far too high. An effort is also needed to ensure that older unsuitable older pages at the back of the queue do not get automatically indexed for Google.

Coordinator

A proposal is taking place here to confirm a nominated user as Coordinator of NPR.

This month's refresher course

Why I Hate Speedy Deleters, a 2008 essay by long since retired Ballonman, is still as valid today. Those of us who patrol large numbers of new pages can be forgiven for making the occasional mistake while others can learn from their 'beginner' errors. Worth reading.

Deletion tags

Do bear in mind that articles in the feed showing the trash can icon (you will need to have 'Nominated for deletion' enabled for this in your filters) may have been tagged by inexperienced or non NPR rights holders using Twinkle. They require your further verification.

Paid editing

Please be sure to look for the tell-tale signs of undisclosed paid editing. Contact the creator if appropriate, and submit the issue to WP:COIN if necessary. WMF policy requires paid editors to connect to their adverts.

Subject-specific notability guidelines' (SNG). Alternatives to deletion

Reviewers are requested to familiarise themselves once more with notability guidelines for organisations and companies.
Blank-and-Redirect is a solution anchored in policy. Please consider this alternative before PRODing or CSD. Note however, that users will often revert or usurp redirects to re-create deleted articles. Do regularly patrol the redirects in the feed.

Not English

A common issue: Pages not in English or poor, unattributed machine translations should not reside in main space even if they are stubs. Please ensure you are familiar with WP:NPPNE. Check in Google for the language and content, and if they do have potential, tag as required, then move to draft. Modify the text of the template as appropriate before sending it.

Tools

Regular reviewers will appreciate the most recent enhancements to the New Pages Feed and features in the Curation tool, and there are still more to come. Due to the wealth of information now displayed by ORES, reviewers are strongly encouraged to use the system now rather than Twinkle; it will also correctly populate the logs.

Stub sorting, by SD0001: A new script is available for adding/removing stub tags. See User:SD0001/StubSorter.js, It features a simple HotCat-style dynamic search field. Many of the reviewers who are using it are finding it an improvement upon other available tools.

Assessment: The script at User:Evad37/rater makes the addition of Wikiproject templates extremely easy. New page creators rarely do this. Reviewers are not obliged to make these edits but they only take a few seconds. They can use the Curation message system to let the creator know what they have done.

DannyS712 bot III is now patrolling certain categories of uncontroversial redirects. Curious? Check out its patrol log.

Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:15, 11 September 2019 (UTC)

11 years of adminship

Wishing Juliancolton a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Chris Troutman (talk) 01:41, 29 September 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2019).

Administrator changes

Barkeep49

Beetstra • KillerChihuahua • Kusma

Arcadian • Extraordinary Machine • Xeno

JamesBWatson → JBW

Interface administrator changes

— Ched (talk) 18:05, 15 October 2019 (UTC)

CheckUser changes

Courcelles • SilkTork • Timotheus Canens

Oversight changes

Courcelles • SilkTork • Timotheus Canens

Guideline and policy news

Following a discussion, a new criterion for speedy category renaming was added: C2F: One eponymous article, which applies if the category contains only an eponymous article or media file, provided that the category has not otherwise been emptied shortly before the nomination. The default outcome is an upmerge to the parent categories.

Technical news

As previously noted, tighter password requirements for Administrators were put in place last year. Wikipedia should now alert you if your password is less than 10 characters long and thus too short.

Arbitration

The 2019 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process has begun. The community consultation period will take place October 4th to 10th.
The arbitration case regarding Fram was closed. While there will be a local RfC focus[ing] on how harassment and private complaints should be handled in the future, there is currently a global community consultation on partial and temporary office actions in response to the incident. It will be open until October 30th.

Miscellaneous

The Community Tech team has been working on a system for temporarily watching pages, and welcomes feedback.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:55, 2 October 2019 (UTC)

Your instant recall page

(Non-administrator comment)I like that very much and I respect you for having it. I will not be signing it, not for a one off tiff at RfA. Hell, having that page balances my opinion back to where it was before your comment at RfA -- neither positive nor negative. Everyone has lapses, one should always judge and expect to be judged by others on how one recovers from, and does not repeat the lapses one inevitably makes. Jbh ^Talk 05:46, 14 October 2019 (UTC)

@Jbhunley: Thank you for saying so. I know the instructions could be improved (for instance, who qualifies as a "long-term" editor?) but I value simplicity and don't want the process bogged down with disclaimers and criteria. I genuinely do believe that, if three people who generally know their way around the project—regardless of editcount or account age—think I shouldn't be an admin anymore, then I probably shouldn't. If it turns out that there was no basis for recall, the community can reinstate me in seven short days. I've always subscribed to the nobigdeal school of thought, but nobigdeal must he true for both appointment and removal as an admin. Anyway, I suspect you understand my position, and if you have any suggestions on how the "introduction" to User:Juliancolton/Recall could be made more elegant and clear, I'd very much appreciate your feedback.

Re the Kees RfA, I owe you an apology for responding impulsively on being called out. I maintain that such a sharp reprimand was not necessary at first encounter, but that's your call, not mine; my job as an admin is to receive criticism in good faith and respond substantively. In this case I did not rise to those expectations. I'm not as active in community affairs as I once was, so I'm not sure when our paths will next cross, but I hope that our future interactions will not be negatively swayed by my behavior this week. Regards, – Juliancolton | ^Talk 17:26, 15 October 2019 (UTC)

I have a suggestion for your "Introduction".

Rule number 1: Come talk to Julian and try to come to some sort of understanding.
Rule number 2: If you followed Rule number 1, you won't need Rule number 2.

Thank you. No lingering issues for me. I was a bit harsher than I would typically be because of the circumstances - I had already dealt with a couple people, in my view, crossing the line addressing my oppose. After that seeing two admins 'picking on' someone who says they are 18 yrs old on their user page was just more than I could be dispassionate about. I try to be direct but not rude and I was a bit ruder than maybe was called for. I hope you will forgive me that.

As to the introduction to your recall, I do not think it really needs one although linking to it from your user or talk page, or some other way of making it more visible might be good. In that case maybe put something in about stating a reason along with a signature would help keep down bad faith signatures that the increased exposure could bring.

One of the issues here re voluntary recall is that there is no mechanism, beyond the individual admin's honor, to enforce it. This means that, in practice, the only admins who have and would follow a voluntary recall are not the ones who are problematic. I have been thinking about a way to make a 'voluntary' recall have enough teeth that they can be used by, for instance, marginal RfA candidates to remove the 'admin for life' concerns that can result in opposes. I wrote an essay last year, Binding community recall, to get my initial thoughts down. The core is based on the idea of logged voluntary editing restrictions, which were clarified at this RfC on enforcability of logged voluntary editing restrictions. The strength, in my opinion, is there should be no need for policy changes or overhaul of the admin system since it is an individual agreement between a given admin and the community

If you have any ideas or comments, positive or negative, on the idea or how it could be implemented I would be very interested. I think WP needs to realize that, with the current size and importance of enwp, being an admin is a big deal, that admins in general have a large effect on the editing environment and are now more than simple janitors. WP:FRAM is/was, whatever else, an outgrowth of this change.

Cheers. Jbh ^Talk 14:44, 16 October 2019 (UTC)

2019 US Banknote Contest

US Banknote Contest

November-December 2019

There are an estimated 30,000 different varieties of United States banknotes, yet only a fraction of these are represented on Wikimedia Commons in the form of 2D scans. Additionally, Colonial America, the Confederate States, the Republic of Texas, multiple states and territories, communities, and private companies have issued banknotes that are in the public domain today but are absent from Commons.

In the months of November and December, WikiProject Numismatics will be running a cross-wiki upload-a-thon, the 2019 US Banknote Contest. The goal of the contest is to increase the number of US banknote images available to content creators on all Wikimedia projects. Participants will claim points for uploading and importing 2D scans of US banknotes, and at the end of the contest all will receive awards. Whether you want to claim the Gold Wiki or you just want to have fun, all are invited to participate.

If you do not want to receive invitations to future US Banknote Contests, follow the instructions here

Sent by ZLEA at 23:30, 19 October 2019 (UTC) via MediaWiki message delivery (talk)

Air Bud: Aussie Rules

I noticed that, about a decade ago, Air Bud: Aussie Rules was nominated for deletion, and that the final consensus was to have the article redirected to Air Bud. Given that no reliable sources have even alluded to the film being considered by the scriptwriters at all, it probably is best to have Air Bud: Aussie Rules listed at Redirects for Discussion. 76.126.49.152 (talk) 21:38, 28 October 2019 (UTC)

"Air Bud: Aussie Rules" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Air Bud: Aussie Rules. Since you had some involvement with the Air Bud: Aussie Rules redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. 76.126.49.152 (talk) 19:31, 2 November 2019 (UTC)

New Page Review newsletter November 2019

Hello Juliancolton,

This newsletter comes a little earlier than usual because the backlog is rising again and the holidays are coming very soon.

Getting the queue to 0

There are now 804 holders of the New Page Reviewer flag! Most of you requested the user right to be able to do something about the huge backlog but it's still roughly less than 10% doing 90% of the work. Now it's time for action.
Exactly one year ago there were 'only' 3,650 unreviewed articles, now we will soon be approaching 7,000 despite the growing number of requests for the NPR user right. If each reviewer soon does only 2 reviews a day over five days, the backlog will be down to zero and the daily input can then be processed by every reviewer doing only 1 review every 2 days - that's only a few minutes work on the bus on the way to the office or to class! Let's get this over and done with in time to relax for the holidays.
Want to join? Consider adding the NPP Pledge userbox.
Our next newsletter will announce the winners of some really cool awards.

Coordinator

Admin Barkeep49 has been officially invested as NPP/NPR coordinator by a unanimous consensus of the community. This is a complex role and he will need all the help he can get from other experienced reviewers.

This month's refresher course

Paid editing is still causing headaches for even our most experienced reviewers: This official Wikipedia article will be an eye-opener to anyone who joined Wikipedia or obtained the NPR right since 2015. See The Hallmarks to know exactly what to look for and take time to examine all the sources.

Tools

It is now possible to select new pages by date range. This was requested by reviewers who want to patrol from the middle of the list.
It is now also possible for accredited reviewers to put any article back into the New Pages Feed for re-review. The link is under 'Tools' in the side bar.

Reviewer Feedback

Would you like feedback on your reviews? Are you an experienced reviewer who can give feedback to other reviewers? If so there are two new feedback pilot programs. New Reviewer mentorship will match newer reviewers with an experienced reviewer with a new reviewer. The other program will be an occasional peer review cohort for moderate or experienced reviewers to give feedback to each other. The first cohort will launch November 13.

Second set of eyes

Not only are New Page Reviewers the guardians of quality of new articles, they are also in a position to ensure that pages are being correctly tagged for deletion and maintenance and that new authors are not being bitten. This is an important feature of your work, especially while some routine tagging for deletion can still be carried out by non NPR holders and inexperienced users. Read about it at the Monitoring the system section in the tutorial. If you come across such editors doing good work, don't hesitate to encourage them to apply for NPR.
Do be sure to have our talk page on your watchlist. There are often items that require reviewers' special attention, such as to watch out for pages by known socks or disruptive editors, technical issues and new developments, and of course to provide advice for other reviewers.

Arbitration Committee

The annual ArbCom election will be coming up soon. All eligible users will be invited to vote. While not directly concerned with NPR, Arbcom cases often lead back to notability and deletion issues and/or actions by holders of advanced user rights.

Community Wish list

There is to be no wish list for WMF encyclopedias this year. We thank Community Tech for their hard work addressing our long list of requirements which somewhat overwhelmed them last year, and we look forward to a successful completion.

To opt-out of future mailings, you can remove yourself here

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:33, 3 November 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2019).

Administrator changes

GermanJoe • Girth Summit • Kees08 • Nosebagbear

DESiegel • GB fan • MSGJ • Voice of Clam • WilyD

DeltaQuad • Fang Aili • Pakaran

Bureaucrat changes

DeltaQuad • Pakaran

Interface administrator changes

MSGJ

CheckUser changes

L235 • Mz7 • SQL • ST47

Ivanvector

Oversight changes

L235 • Mz7 • ST47 • Stwalkerster • The Blade of the Northern Lights • Xaosflux

DeltaQuad • DGG • Julia W

Guideline and policy news

An RfC was closed with the consensus that the resysop criteria should be made stricter.

The follow-up RfC to develop that change is now open at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/2019 Resysop Criteria (2).

A related RfC is seeking the community's sentiment for a binding desysop procedure.

Arbitration

Eligible editors may now nominate themselves as candidates for the 2019 Arbitration Committee Elections. The self-nomination period will close November 12, with voting running from November 19 through December 2.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:15, 3 November 2019 (UTC)

My sandbox deletion

I have a question. If my sandbox is MY sandbox, and I'm allowed to experiment on it, how is it using Wikipedia as a web host? It is MY sandbox, and I can do whatever I want on it. Why are you deleting my work that was merely for fun? Sandboxes are supposed to be used for experimenting on Wikipedia, and that's what you did. Please restore my sandbox. This is seriously annoying if I can't just use a sandbox for what it is and not do what I want in it without it being deleted every 5 hours. Hurricaneboy23 00:18, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) @Hurricaneboy23: first off, you do not own your user pages and sandboxes. Yes, they are for you to experiment, provided the content in there is related to improving Wikipedia (i.e. building a better encyclopedia). Maintaining a page on hypothetical cyclones, as you claim to be doing so on your user page (I can't view the deleted material), is not useful to the project since there is no chance any of the material there becomes reality. WP:UPNOT describes material that should not be in user space (your hypothetical cyclones fall under "Excessive unrelated content"). Please do not use Wikipedia to host your predictions or fantasies; other venues like Hypothetical Hurricanes Wiki exist for such purposes. ~ KN2731 {talk · contribs} 05:16, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

@Hurricaneboy23: KN2731 is very much correct. There must be thousands of existing wikis where you can do things "merely for fun"—to say nothing of the ease with which you can just go create your own—so why choose the one where you've been told several times now that such edits are not welcome? Wikipedia is an encyclopedia utilized by millions of people, and even userboxes are visible to the public; deliberately falsifying information, especially in relation to deadly natural disasters, is disgraceful. We all welcome and appreciate your factual contributions to meteorology articles. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 21:32, 7 November 2019 (UTC)

A survey to improve the community consultation outreach process

Hello!

The Wikimedia Foundation is seeking to improve the community consultation outreach process for Foundation policies, and we are interested in why you didn't participate in a recent consultation that followed a community discussion you’ve been part of.

Please fill out this short survey to help us improve our community consultation process for the future. It should only take about three minutes.

The privacy policy for this survey is here. This survey is a one-off request from us related to this unique topic.

Thank you for your participation, Kbrown (WMF) 10:44, 13 November 2019 (UTC)

Happy First Edit Day!

Have a very happy first edit anniversary!

From the Birthday Committee, CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 08:11, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

ArbCom 2019 election voter message

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) 00:08, 19 November 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2019

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2019).

Administrator changes

EvergreenFir • ToBeFree

Akhilleus • Athaenara • John Vandenberg • Melchoir • MichaelQSchmidt • NeilN • Youngamerican • 😂

CheckUser changes

Beeblebrox

Deskana

Interface administrator changes

Puddleglum ^2.0 06:01, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

Guideline and policy news

An RfC on the administrator resysop criteria was closed. 18 proposals have been summarised with a variety of supported and opposed statements. The inactivity grace period within which a new request for adminship is not required has been reduced from three years to two. Additionally, Bureaucrats are permitted to use their discretion when returning administrator rights.
Following a proposal, the edit filter mailing list has been opened up to users with the Edit Filter Helper right.

Technical news

Wikimedia projects can set a default block length for users via MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry. A new page, MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry-ip, allows the setting of a different default block length for IP editors. Neither is currently used. (T219126)

Arbitration

Voting in the 2019 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 2 December 2018 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.

Miscellaneous

The global consultation on partial and temporary office actions that ended in October received a closing statement from staff concluding, among other things, that the WMF will no longer use partial or temporary Office Action bans... until and unless community consensus that they are of value or Board directive.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:48, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

New Page Review newsletter December 2019

Reviewer of the Year

This year's Reviewer of the Year is Rosguill. Having gotten the reviewer PERM in August 2018, they have been a regular reviewer of articles and redirects, been an active participant in the NPP community, and has been the driving force for the emerging NPP Source Guide that will help reviewers better evaluate sourcing and notability in many countries for which it has historically been difficult.

Special commendation again goes to Onel5969 who ends the year as one of our most prolific reviewers for the second consecutive year. Thanks also to Boleyn and JTtheOG who have been in the top 5 for the last two years as well.

Several newer editors have done a lot of work with CAPTAIN MEDUSA and DannyS712 (who has also written bots which have patrolled thousands of redirects) being new reviewers since this time last year.

Thanks to them and to everyone reading this who has participated in New Page Patrol this year.

Top 10 Reviewers over the last 365 days
Rank	Username	Num reviews	Log
1	Rosguill (talk)	47,395	Patrol Page Curation
2	Onel5969 (talk)	41,883	Patrol Page Curation
3	JTtheOG (talk)	11,493	Patrol Page Curation
4	Arthistorian1977 (talk)	5,562	Patrol Page Curation
5	DannyS712 (talk)	4,866	Patrol Page Curation
6	CAPTAIN MEDUSA (talk)	3,995	Patrol Page Curation
7	DragonflySixtyseven (talk)	3,812	Patrol Page Curation
8	Boleyn (talk)	3,655	Patrol Page Curation
9	Ymblanter (talk)	3,553	Patrol Page Curation
10	Cwmhiraeth (talk)	3,522	Patrol Page Curation

(The top 100 reviewers of the year can be found here)

Redirect autopatrol

A recent Request for Comment on creating a new redirect autopatrol pseduo-permission was closed early. New Page Reviewers are now able to nominate editors who have an established track record creating uncontroversial redirects. At the individual discretion of any administrator or after 24 hours and a consensus of at least 3 New Page Reviewers an editor may be added to a list of users whose redirects will be patrolled automatically by DannyS712 bot III.

Source Guide Discussion

Set to launch early in the new year is our first New Page Patrol Source Guide discussion. These discussions are designed to solicit input on sources in places and topic areas that might otherwise be harder for reviewers to evaluate. The hope is that this will allow us to improve the accuracy of our patrols for articles using these sources (and/or give us places to perform a WP:BEFORE prior to nominating for deletion). Please watch the New Page Patrol talk page for more information.

This month's refresher course

While New Page Reviewers are an experienced set of editors, we all benefit from an occasional review. This month consider refreshing yourself on Wikipedia:Notability (geographic features). Also consider how we can take the time for quality in this area. For instance, sources to verify human settlements, which are presumed notable, can often be found in seconds. This lets us avoid the (ugly) 'Needs more refs' tag.

Delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) at 16:10, 20 December 2019 (UTC)

Io Saturnalia!

		Io, Saturnalia!
		Wishing you and yours a Happy Holiday Season, from the horse and bishop person. May the year ahead be productive and distraction-free. Ealdgyth - Talk 16:32, 20 December 2019 (UTC)

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas, Juliancolton!
Or Season's Greetings or Happy Winter Solstice! As the year winds to a close, I would like to take a moment to recognize your hard work and offer heartfelt gratitude for all you do for Wikipedia. And for all the help you've thrown my way over the years. May this Holiday Season bring you nothing but joy, health and prosperity. CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 12:57, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Cheers

	Merry Christmas Juliancolton
	Hi Juliancolton, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year, Thanks for all your contributions to Wikipedia this past year, Onel5969 ^{TT me} 23:38, 22 December 2019 (UTC)

Good luck

豊かな十年へようこそ/WELCOME TO THE D20s

Miraclepine wishes you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a prosperous decade of change and fortune.
このミラ PはJuliancoltonたちのメリークリスマスも新年も変革と幸運の豊かな十年をおめでとうございます！
フレフレ、みんなの未来！/GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FUTURE!
ミラ P 04:17, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

Resources for finding county-level statistics

Census QuickFacts
Social Capital Variables Spreadsheet for 2014, PennState College of Agricultural Sciences, Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
Social Capital Project: Social Capital Index Data spreadsheet accompanying the U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Social Capital Project. “The Geography of Social Capital in America.” Report prepared by the Vice Chairman’s staff, 115th Cong., 2nd Sess. (April 2018)
Religious statistics by county
PeakVisor, search for "X County" to find high points in a county
ebird, gives bird species lists for each county
Midwest Herbaria, search to generate plant species lists for each county
Mycoportal, search to generate fungus and bryophyte species lists
NASS QuickStats database, gives agricultural figures by county for many data points
bestplaces.net--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 21:39, 31 December 2019 (UTC)

Cyclone Ada scheduled for TFA

This is to let you know that the Cyclone Ada article has been scheduled as today's featured article for January 3, 2020. Please check the article needs no amendments. If you're interested in editing the main page text, you're welcome to do so at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 3, 2020, but note that a coordinator will trim the lead to around 1000 characters anyway, so you aren't obliged to do so.

For Featured Articles promoted on or after October 1, 2018, there will be an existing blurb linked from the FAC talk page, which is likely to be transferred to the TFA page by a coordinator at some point.

We suggest that you watchlist Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors from the day before this appears on Main Page. Thanks! Jimfbleak - talk to me? 07:37, 9 December 2019 (UTC)

Thank you today for the article "about a natural disaster that can be considered a precursor to the subject of my most recent FAC, Cyclone Althea. Taking place one year earlier and a little to the south, Ada destroyed just about every resort in the booming Whitsunday Islands, ruining lots of holidays/vacations. Though all traces of the cyclone are long gone, it still periodically breaches the surface of the public consciousness when politicians talk about how nice it would be to erect a memorial somewhere, or belatedly honor particularly brave helpers in the storm's aftermath."! Happy 2020! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:29, 3 January 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2019).

Administrator changes

Dreamy Jazz • Newslinger • Rosguill

Deor • Spartaz • Xeno

Angusmclellan • clpo13 • Edgar181 • Matthewedwards • NCurse

CheckUser changes

Bradv • Casliber • David Fuchs • Maxim • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy • Xeno

Oversight changes

Bradv • Casliber • DGG • David Fuchs • Maxim • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy • Xeno

Someguy1221

Guideline and policy news

A request for comment asks whether partial blocks should be enabled on the English Wikipedia. If enabled, this functionality would allow administrators to block users from editing specific pages or namespaces, rather than the entire site.
A proposal asks whether admins who don't use their tools for a significant period of time (e.g. five years) should have the toolset procedurally removed.
Following a successful RfC, a whitelist is now available for users whose redirects will be autopatrolled by a bot, removing them from the new pages patrol queue. Admins can add such users to Wikipedia:New pages patrol/Redirect whitelist after a discussion following the guidelines at Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Redirect whitelist.

Arbitration

The fourth case on Palestine-Israel articles was closed. The case consolidated all previous remedies under one heading, which should make them easier to understand, apply, and enforce. In particular, the distinction between "primary articles" and "related content" has been clarified, with the former being the entire set of articles whose topic relates to the Arab-Israeli conflict, broadly interpreted rather than reasonably construed.
Following the 2019 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Beeblebrox, Bradv, Casliber, David Fuchs, DGG, KrakatoaKatie, Maxim, Newyorkbrad, SoWhy, Worm That Turned, Xeno.

Miscellaneous

This issue marks three full years of the Admin newsletter. Thanks for reading!

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:06, 4 January 2020 (UTC)

Nomination of Tropical Depression Ten (2005) for deletion

A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Tropical Depression Ten (2005) is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tropical Depression Ten (2005) until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. Java Hurricane 11:42, 13 January 2020 (UTC)

A goat for you!

Saw your edits.around, just wanted to say: Thank you!

Administrators' newsletter – February 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2020).

Administrator changes

Ergo Sum • Nick Moyes • QEDK • Wugapodes

Dennis Brown

Aude • BrownHairedGirl • CALR • Jengod • John Reaves • J.smith • Kim Dent-Brown • K1Bond007 • MECU • Refdoc • RHaworth

CheckUser changes

Opabinia regalis • Premeditated Chaos

Interface administrator changes

Guideline and policy news

Following a request for comment, partial blocks are now enabled on the English Wikipedia. This functionality allows administrators to block users from editing specific pages or namespaces rather than the entire site. A draft policy is being workshopped at Wikipedia:Partial blocks.
The request for comment seeking the community's sentiment for a binding desysop procedure closed with wide-spread support for an alternative desysoping procedure based on community input. No proposed process received consensus.

Technical news

Twinkle now supports partial blocking. There is a small checkbox that toggles the "partial" status for both blocks and templating. There is currently one template: {{uw-pblock}}.
When trying to move a page, if the target title already exists then a warning message is shown. The warning message will now include a link to the target title. [3]

Arbitration

Following a recent arbitration case, the Arbitration Committee reminded administrators that checkuser and oversight blocks must not be reversed or modified without prior consultation with the checkuser or oversighter who placed the block, the respective functionary team, or the Arbitration Committee.

Miscellaneous

Voting in the 2020 Steward elections will begin on 08 February 2020, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 28 February 2020, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
The English Wikipedia has reached six million articles. Thank you everyone for your contributions!

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:05, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

TheTexasNationalist99

Hi. Thanks for your edits to the Orange County, NY locations. Can you figure out what this editor is trying to do? He/she seems to be deleting significant material from hundreds of towns and cities, including well-referenced information about them. Are even the "technical" edits that they are making correct? -- Ssilvers (talk) 23:57, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

@Ssilvers: I'm genuinely not sure what this user is trying to do. They seem to believe that article "improvement" entails the wholesale removal of images, sources, and anything else that isn't a wall of text. Many location articles are quite cluttered, but this needs to be resolved carefully, deliberately, and one page at a time... it seems that we're very much throwing the baby out the bathwater with many of these recent edits. I'll keep a close eye on my watchlist in the coming days to hopefully keep this issue under control. Thanks for the note, – Juliancolton | ^Talk 03:47, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

@Ssilvers: and @Juliancolton:, I did not intend the wholesale removal of images, sources, and anything else that wasn't a wall of text. I was trying to see where they could be placed alternatively in the article. We shall resolve this via discussion. And hundreds of towns and cities? You are making false accusations...--TheTexasNationalist99 (talk) 18:39, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

TheTexasNationalist99, what you need to do is to explain, step-by-step, what changes you think ought to be made to each article on that article's Talk page. Then, if other editors agree with one or more of those changes, they can be made. I agree with Juliancolton's comments elsewhere that many of your edits appear to be poor stylistically or grammatically, and contain WP:MOS errors, in addition to simply deleting obviously relevant helpful information. So, please slow down and maybe we can help you to edit articles in a more constructive way. -- Ssilvers (talk) 02:31, 4 February 2020 (UTC)

Requests for permissions/Rollback

Hello, I would like to ask you to reconsider my request for rollback permissions. I get that Rollback is not meant to give anyone a competitive edge over other RC patrollers. My point was that I saw using Huggle is faster , speed isn't everything and it still has to be done accurately, constantly clicking links is annoying though when it can be done using a tool like Huggle, it seems to be more convenient than using the RC page and Twinkle, although it does the job.

If my request will not be reconsidered I would like to know in how many days I can re-request for the permission. (I couldn't find an answer to that) Thanks in advance, -- TruthToBeSpoken (talk) 18:06, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

@TruthToBeSpoken: I'm glad this is understood. I still feel your track record of anti-vandalism is short, and that it's therefore hard to judge how you'd deal with anything but clear-cut vandalism. And I'm still not thrilled with your comment about feeling a "rush" when you beat other vandal-fighters to the punch. I'd be willing to grant rollback on a probationary basis – perhaps for a month – with the intention of reinstating the right for good if it seems that you are indeed exercising due caution with rapid-fire tools like Huggle. Would that be acceptable? – Juliancolton | ^Talk 20:54, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Absolutely! Thank you for reconsidering. Will the right automatically expire and I just re-apply or should I contact you myself here one-month from now on March 8? With rush I meant the feeling of reverting a lot of vandalism which felt good. Thank you, -- TruthToBeSpoken (talk) 21:14, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Please feel free to contact me when the period is over, or apply on the main PERM page if you'd rather seek the opinion of someone else. It's your call. In the meantime...

Done and thanks for volunteering to help out in this added capacity. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 21:18, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! I'll be in touch once the period is over. -- TruthToBeSpoken (talk) 21:21, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer newsletter February 2020

Hello Juliancolton,

Source Guide Discussion

The first NPP source guide discussion is now underway. It covers a wide range of sources in Ghana with the goal of providing more guidance to reviewers about sources they might see when reviewing pages. Hopefully, new page reviewers will join others interested in reliable sources and those with expertise in these sources to make the discussion a success.

Redirects

New to NPP? Looking to try something a little different? Consider patrolling some redirects. Redirects are relatively easy to review, can be found easily through the New Pages Feed. You can find more information about how to patrol redirects at WP:RPATROL.

Discussions and Resources

There is an ongoing discussion around changing notifications for new editors who attempt to write articles.
A recent discussion of whether Michelin starred restraunts are notable was archived without closure.
A resource page with links pertinent for reviewers was created this month.
A proposal to increase the scope of G5 was withdrawn.

Refresher

Geographic regions, areas and places generally do not need general notability guideline type sourcing. When evaluating whether an article meets this notability guideline please also consider whether it might actually be a form of WP:SPAM for a development project (e.g. PR for a large luxury residential development) and not actually covered by the guideline.

Six Month Queue Data: Today – 7095 Low – 4991 High – 7095

To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here

16:08, 13 February 2020 (UTC)

Unblock request

Trodwixi (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) was blocked for personal attacks & harassment, but the only edit was to create then blank a user page which contains no obvious harassment. Can you fill me in on the background please? Email if you like. UTRS appeal #29048 applies. Thanks, Guy (help!) 09:33, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

@JzG: That was an unfortunate mistake on my part. Tridwoxi reported Trodwixi to UAA for impersonation, and while trying to validate this claim I misread the new user's contribution history. I have unblocked. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 14:40, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

Thank you both for your help. I do have a question. To avoid any misunderstanding in the future, would it be a good idea to change my username? Trodwixi (talk) 14:58, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

Trodwixi, yes please. Guy (help!) 15:38, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

Precious anniversary

Precious
Seven years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:34, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

RfB

I'm not sure when the last time you were asked was, but would you consider running for RfB since 2010? I can't say I always completely agree with you, but someplace somewhere sometime ago when I was a wee young editor, I remember your guidance lead me on the path to where I am today. I still take your view as a refreshing step to make sure I'm on the right page. -- Amanda (aka DQ) 06:33, 23 February 2020 (UTC)

I found it, it was my old admin coaching. -- Amanda (aka DQ) 06:41, 23 February 2020 (UTC)

Hey Amanda, thanks for the note. :) I'm really glad to hear that I've been some sort of positive influence over the years. I recall being so impressed by your evolution as an editor leading up to your adminship, and ultimately, your role as a pillar of the community. I'm honored if you think that I played even a tiny role in that! And of course I'm still thrilled that you decided to return after your recent break. To address your question, at the end of RfB_2, I promised myself that I wouldn't run again unless, by some miracle, I was still active in ten years. Honestly, I'm not sure whether to be disappointed or pleasantly surprised with myself for still being involved in the project now that those ten years are up.
My main concerns at this point would be as follows: my activity has been sporadic for many years as I've progressed through my education, career, and life; 2) I can think of a few instances since 2010 when I've been less gracious than I expect of myself, mostly during periods of frustration with the project; and 3, I'm not sure the current 'crats need any help (but you'd know best, of course!). Now that things seem a little more stable for me IRL, I expect to devote more time to the project for the foreseeable future. If that turns out to be the case, I could probably be persuaded to offer my services again somewhere down the line. I was a 'crat on Commons and Meta and had my share of fun with the buttons, so if I do ever throw my hat in the ring again, it'll only be because there's a real need that people think I could help fill. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 02:47, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

It seems like you are watching WP:BN enough to know that there has been a call for more 'crats, though some systemically oppose the idea. I honestly think you would be a solid addition (despite the currently running RfBs). I have finally been able to load your edit counter (I couldn't the other day when I posted this. I can see the sporadic activity concern, but I do think you can make an argument that you've still stuck around consistently. The other big thing I used in my RfB was my closure of RfX(C, D, etc.) to show that I really do listen to a community voice, and even your most recent BN closure indicates that you are a think first, act second person, which is need for the primary skillset of a crat.

We all have frustration with the project, we've all done stupid shit because of that frustration. I'm not going to outline the kind of things I have done here for public dissemination, but if you are concerned about it, i'm happy to engage in an email conversation on this matter and at least explain my end. The important part is we come back with an open mind and we don't do anything stupid enough in the first place to get blocked, desysoped or decrated.

My thought for the needs for new crats is in crat chats so we don't become as deadlocked as we did on this last one. Of course, that's not ever guaranteed, but it's less likely with the more active crats we have. WTT made a solid point of how many have fallen inactive or have been lost in the past year, and i'll make the point of us possibly losing at least 2 this year if activity doesn't pick up. This is not meant to be a sales pitch, you indicated you knew that this is a hard place to sit and decide consensus for a whole project, but I would like to have you as a colleague. -- Amanda (aka DQ) 03:31, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for this. You've given me quite a bit to think about. Let me organize my thoughts and I'll reach out to you via email soon. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 16:33, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

For whatever my opinion is worth Julian, I agree wholeheartedly with Amanda. You are one of the most level-headed, fair, and calm mannered admins I've known in my entire time on the site (and have always been quite mature for your age). I think your temperament is a perfect match for being a 'crat, and I don't believe the few times you've been willing to let yourself speak a bit too freely should (nor would) be counted against you by the majority of people at RfB. I hope you listen to her advice, but of course the decision is yours.

— Coffee // have a ☕️ // beans // 19:16, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Thanks Coffee. Your opinion is worth a lot to me, and I really appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I'm definitely taking all this feedback on-board. (And if any talk page stalkers want to argue the opposite position, I'd love to hear that, too!) But any case, it's always great to hear from you. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 20:58, 26 February 2020 (UTC)

Christophe Benoit

Hey there, saw your comments. Have you not heard the Chris Benoit story? His name was actually Christopher Benoit, he killed his wife, kid and then himself. Keep an eye on that account, you may be right and I wrong but it's worth watching. Hell in a Bucket (talk) 17:52, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

@Hell in a Bucket: I have heard the tragic story, and it's possible the username is a reference to that, but we very very rarely block accounts that have not edited for username violations. Plus, according to http://howmanyofme.com, there are 120 people in the US alone named Christopher Benoit. Worth keeping an eye on it, but I like to point to the Streisand effect in cases like this. The "offending" username would have likely slipped through the cracks, never to see the light of day, but now it's been plastered all over hundreds of watchlists by virtue of being reported at UAA. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 17:59, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

By the way, it's a pleasure to "see" you again. Been a while. :) – Juliancolton | ^Talk 18:08, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

Thanks and yes, the last few years were hectic but completed three college degrees and working on getting admitted into a graduate program. I hesitate writing that because I am lazy when I type and rarely spell check. Nice to see you too and thanks for the explanation, works for me. Hell in a Bucket (talk) 18:45, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

You've got mail

Hello, Juliancolton. 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.AlikotoSam (talk) 22:01, 27 February 2020 (UTC)

March Madness 2020

G'day all, March Madness 2020 is about to get underway, and there is bling aplenty for those who want to get stuck into the backlog by way of tagging, assessing, updating, adding or improving resources and creating articles. If you haven't already signed up to participate, why not? The more the merrier! Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 08:19, 29 February 2020 (UTC) for the coord team

F5pillar rollback request

Hi, am F5pillar sorry i didn't notice that Fastily already reply's my message first, thats why I requested it in the request page. Please don't be offended as you can see I request there first before replying his message. (Say something (talk) 17:19, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

@F5pillar: I don't think that is entirely truthful. You acknowledged Fastily's reply and then revisited your RFP/R request to correct your diction, at which time you had every opportunity to withdraw your request, or, at the very least, disclose that a direct request had already been denied. Also, per WP:CUSTOMSIG, please adjust your signature so at least some part of it refers to your real username. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 17:40, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

You Know I was waiting for the notification in my alert box, but seems he didn't tag my name which will make me see a alert in my notification box. So that's why I firstly request it in request page, and letter I went to view his talk page. You can see the time sent and the reply time. And on the signature, I will change it, its seems confuse to some replying my message. Thanks (Say something (talk) 09:24, 29 February 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2020).

Administrator changes

Money emoji

Athaenara • DeltaQuad

Fishhead64 • Kudpung • Mikaey

Bureaucrat changes

CheckUser changes

Oversight changes

Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Newsletter/Archive 39 ♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 00:54, 18 March 2020 (UTC)

Guideline and policy news

Following an RfC, the blocking policy was changed to state that sysops must not undo or alter CheckUser or Oversight blocks, rather than should not.
A request for comment confirmed that sandboxes of established but inactive editors may not be blanked due solely to inactivity.

Technical news

Following a discussion, Twinkle's default CSD behavior will soon change, most likely this week. After the change, Twinkle will default to "tagging mode" if there is no CSD tag present, and default to "deletion mode" if there is a CSD tag present. You will be able to always default to "deletion mode" (the current behavior) using your Twinkle preferences.

Miscellaneous

Following the 2020 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: BRPever, Krd, Martin Urbanec, MusikAnimal, Sakretsu, Sotiale, and Tks4Fish. There are a total of seven editors that have been appointed as stewards, the most since 2014.
The 2020 appointees for the Ombudsman commission are Ajraddatz and Uzoma Ozurumba; they will serve for one year.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:20, 2 March 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Hurricane Humberto (2019)

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Hurricane Humberto (2019) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Hurricanehink -- Hurricanehink (talk) 01:01, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Hurricane Humberto (2019)

The article Hurricane Humberto (2019) you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Hurricane Humberto (2019) for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Hurricanehink -- Hurricanehink (talk) 14:01, 6 March 2020 (UTC)

Request for rollback permissions

Hello Julian,

Yesterday my rollback rights automatically expired after one month (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Juliancolton&oldid=939809680#Requests%20for%20permissions/Rollback), I would like to request them permanently now or extend the permission for one month should you believe I do not yet have sufficient history after this month to grant the right permanently. Last 2 weeks I haven't been active fighting vandalism due to vacation. Thank you in advance, -- TruthToBeSpoken (talk) 12:15, 9 March 2020 (UTC)

@TruthToBeSpoken: OK, looks good (and it's hard to believe a month has already passed!).

Done – Juliancolton | ^Talk 13:35, 9 March 2020 (UTC)

@Juliancolton: Thank you for your trust. The month has passed really fast, I couldn't believe it either, and then it came to mind! -- TruthToBeSpoken (talk) 21:24, 9 March 2020 (UTC)

Rollback Rights

Hi, I had requested for Rollback rights a few days back. As you suggested I have tried to do rollbacks manually through the Recent Changes page. However, I am successful very fewer times because before I reach and do it somebody else would have done it already. That makes me wonder, is it means we have enough Rollbackers already or am I doing it too slow! I have tried to use Huggle but we need Rollbackers rights to use it. I would like to ask is there any other way we can do it more efficiently and fastly? Is there any chance you can give me the rights for a specific time period and then do the assessment? Thank you.
- The9Man | (talk) 06:23, 9 March 2020 (UTC)

@The9Man: I've gone ahead and assigned rollback to your account to hopefully make things easier. Please be sure to use the tool carefully and always verify before reverting. Best regards, – Juliancolton | ^Talk 13:49, 9 March 2020 (UTC)

@Juliancolton:, Thank you very much for showing the trust. I will take extra care while using the rights. - The9Man | (talk) 05:31, 11 March 2020 (UTC)

Request

Respected sir, I applied for Roll backer. I have been in wikipedia since December 2018. I kindly request you to go through my application and promote me to Roll backer if I'm eligible. If I'm not eligible, please mention me reasons so that I can improve my self. Thanking you. Your's obediently. Sri Harsha 191817 (talk) 11:51, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

Sir, I don't want to use it for power or misuse my power. I just want to revert vandalistic edits. Thanking you Sri Harsha 191817 (talk) 11:53, 15 March 2020 (UTC)

Sir I didn't ask admin to resign Sri Harsha 191817 (talk) 18:13, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Asking permission

Sir, what can I do to become a roll backer? Am I supposed to apply again or not needed? If I apply again, I won't do as I did now. I didn't know whether it was right or wrong. I was curious to know whether I was eligible or not. Other than that I didn't mean anything sir. Please forgive me sir. I promise you that I never repeat this again. Thanking you. Your's obediently. Sri Harsha 191817 (talk) 18:45, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Apology

Sir, I didn't ask to resign. It was another user. I'm extremely sorry sir. But please excuse me sir. I didn't ask any admin to resign. I think it was user "Vivek ji 123". I didn't remember. I just wanted to know whether I was eligible or not. Sir please forgive me if I did mistake. Even now I want to know where I went wrong. I convey my sincere apologies to all admins. Thanking you Sri Harsha 191817 (talk) 18:16, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Sir, please tell me what can I do to become roll backer. I want to become Roll backer and suppress vandalism. Please give me guidance sir Sri Harsha 191817 (talk) 18:19, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Sri Harsha 191817, (talk page watcher) here: you don't need rollback permissions to effectively fight vandalism. Use Twinkle. After you establish solid experience using Twinkle to revert and warn users over a period of time, admins will have a track record to look at when considering additional permissions. Personally, I find Twinkle much better for reverting vandalism than Huggle. Schazjmd (talk) 18:21, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Sir, My main intention is to make it clear that I didn't ask admin sir to resign. It was another user named "Vivek ji 123" who asked it. Not me sir. I didn't do mistake but admin sirs are mis-understanding me. I applied for different posts in order to suppress vandalism not for any other reasons. Thanking you Sri Harsha 191817 (talk) 18:25, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

@Sri Harsha 191817: You're right; I apologize for the error and I have retracted the false part of my comment. To answer your question below, it would be best to follow Schazjmd's advice and spend some time gaining more experience with anti-vandalism work. As they explain, rollback is helpful but not by any means necessary. There is no limit to how often you can apply, but it is generally wise to wait several weeks between requests. – Juliancolton | ^Talk 20:19, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

39th edition of The Hurricane Herald!

Administrators' newsletter – April 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2020).

Administrator changes

Cabayi • Lee Vilenski

Boing! said Zebedee

Jonny-mt • MarkGallagher • PeaceNT

Money emoji → Moneytrees

Bureaucrat changes

SilkTork • WereSpielChequers

CheckUser changes

NativeForeigner

Oversight changes

Someguy1221

Daniel Case

Guideline and policy news

There is an ongoing request for comment to streamline the source deprecation and blacklisting process.

Technical news

There is a plan for new requirements for user signatures. You can give feedback.

Arbitration

Following the banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold a Arbcom RfC regarding on-wiki harassment. A draft RfC has been posted at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Anti-harassment RfC (Draft) and not open to comments from the community yet. Interested editors can comment on the RfC itself on its talk page.

Miscellaneous

The WMF has begun a pilot report of the pages most visited through various social media platforms to help with anti-vandalism and anti-disinformation efforts. The report is updated daily and will be available through the end of May.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:00, 1 April 2020 (UTC)

Rollback rights request

Dear Juliancolton

I would request you kindly provide/approve rollback rights. I intend to use this tool to stop vandalism. I have gone through WP:VANDAL and WP:ROLLBACK and have reverted few times vandalism and helped in increasing the page protection on the basis of attacks. I have also made a Wikipedia:Requests for permissions/Rollback. Thank you. Amkgp (talk) 17:36, 4 April 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of 1893 Hurricane San Roque

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article 1893 Hurricane San Roque you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Usernameunique -- Usernameunique (talk) 02:41, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of 1893 Hurricane San Roque

The article 1893 Hurricane San Roque you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:1893 Hurricane San Roque for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already been on the main page as an "In the news" or "Did you know" item, you can nominate it to appear in Did you know. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Usernameunique -- Usernameunique (talk) 02:01, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

Great to see you around too

It was a combination of finally receiving a crat inactivity notice, a couple of recent life changes, and stay-at-home orders. I've always wanted to spend more time on wiki, but it took a perfect storm to get me going. I see you're still at it with the hurricanes. Still got your own IRC channel? bibliomaniac 1 5 06:16, 26 April 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2020).

Administrator changes

Gnangarra • Kaisershatner • Malcolmxl5

CheckUser changes

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:52, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Oversight changes

HJ Mitchell

Guideline and policy news

Discretionary sanctions have been authorized for all pages and edits related to COVID-19, to be logged at WP:GS/COVID19.
Following a recent discussion on Meta-Wiki, the edit filter maintainer global group has been created.
A request for comment has been proposed to create a new main page editor usergroup.
A request for comment has been proposed to make the bureaucrat activity requirements more strict.

Technical news

The Editing team has been working on the talk pages project. You can review the proposed design and share your thoughts on the talk page.
Enterprisey created a script that will show a link to the proper Special:Undelete page when viewing a since-deleted revision, see User:Enterprisey/link-deleted-revs.

Miscellaneous

A request for comment closed with consensus to create a Village Pump-style page for communication with the Wikimedia Foundation.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:19, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

"Timeline of the 2005 Pacific typhoon seaosn" listed at Redirects for discussion

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Timeline of the 2005 Pacific typhoon seaosn. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2020 May 2#Timeline of the 2005 Pacific typhoon seaosn until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. Regards, SONIC678 01:22, 2 May 2020 (UTC)

Pre-FAC review

Would you be willing to do a pre-FAC review of Hurricane Willa? Noah^Talk 23:23, 17 May 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2020).

Administrator changes

CaptainEek • Creffett • Cwmhiraeth

Anna Frodesiak • Buckshot06 • Ronhjones • SQL

CheckUser changes

SQL

Guideline and policy news

A request for comment asks whether the Unblock Ticket Request System (UTRS) should allowed any unblock request or just private appeals.
The Wikimedia Foundation announced that they will develop a universal code of conduct for all WMF projects. There is an open local discussion regarding the same.

Arbitration

A motion was passed to enact a 500/30 restriction on articles related to the history of Jews and antisemitism in Poland during World War II (1933–45), including the Holocaust in Poland. Article talk pages where disruption occurs may also be managed with the stated restriction.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:27, 1 June 2020 (UTC)

GA review of Stratopedarches

So, I'm reviewing Stratopedarches for GA, and I'm having trouble with the template. I'm pretty sure the article passed for everything, so it shouldn't be that difficult, except for the fact that I'm awful with wiki markup even though I use it so much. You think you could help, since you are good at GA stuff? I told the nom I'd have the review done yesterday. Ghinga7 (talk) 19:42, 3 June 2020 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer newsletter June 2020

Hello Juliancolton,

Your help can make a difference

NPP Sorting can be a great way to find pages needing new page patrolling that match your strengths and interests. Using ORES, it divides articles into topics such as Literature or Chemistry and on Geography. Take a look and see if you can find time to patrol a couple pages a day. With over 10,000 pages in the queue, the highest it's been since ACPERM, your help could really make a difference.

Google Adds New Languages to Google Translate

In late February, Google added 5 new languages to Google Translate: Kinyarwanda, Odia (Oriya), Tatar, Turkmen and Uyghur. This expands our ability to find and evaluate sources in those languages.

Discussions and Resources

A discussion on handling new article creation by paid editors is ongoing at the Village Pump.
Also at the Village Pump is a discussion about limiting participation at Articles for Deletion discussion.
A proposed new speedy deletion criteria for certain kinds of redirects ended with no consensus.
Also ending with no change was a proposal to change how we handle certain kinds of vector images.

Six Month Queue Data: Today – 10271 Low – 4991 High – 10271

To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here

TCR Images

Are we allowed to upload the images used in the TCR? specifically pg 27 and 29 in this case? Noah^Talk 22:44, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

I'm gonna jump in Hurricane Noah. No, the images are not allowable. If they were images made by NHC/NWS employees (like graphs or satellite imagery), then they would be good to use, but these images were taken by other people and published by the NHC. As a result, the images are not public domain, nor would they fall under fair use. ♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 13:24, 18 June 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2020).

Administrator changes

Malcolmxl5

John • TheCoffee • Tim!

Creffett → GeneralNotability

DeltaQuad → AmandaNP

CheckUser changes

Bbb23

Interface administrator changes

TonyBallioni

Guideline and policy news

A request for comment is in progress to remove the T2 (template that misrepresents established policy) speedy deletion criterion.

Technical news

Protection templates on mainspace pages are now automatically added by User:MusikBot II (BRFA).

Arbitration

Following the banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold an RfC regarding on-wiki harassment. The RfC has been posted at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Anti-harassment RfC and is open to comments from the community.
The Medicine case was closed, with a remedy authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for all discussions about pharmaceutical drug prices and pricing and for edits adding, changing, or removing pharmaceutical drug prices or pricing from articles.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:25, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

April–May 2020 GAN Backlog drive

		The Invisible Barnstar
		Thank you for completing 3 reviews in the April–May 2020 GAN Backlog drive. Your work helped us to reduce the backlog by over 60%. Regards, Harrias ^talk 08:10, 11 July 2020 (UTC)

Wikiproject Military history coordinator election nominations open

Nominations for the upcoming project coordinator election are now open. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. If you are interested in running, please sign up here by 23:59 UTC on 14 September! Voting doesn't commence until 15 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the coord team. Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 02:05, 1 September 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2020).

Administrator changes

Eddie891

Angela • Jcw69 • Just Chilling • Philg88 • Viajero

CheckUser changes

SQL

Guideline and policy news

Following a request for comment, the minimum length for site ban discussions was increased to 72 hours, up from 24.
A request for comment is ongoing to determine whether paid editors must or should use the articles for creation process.
A request for comment is open to resolve inconsistencies between the draftification and alternative to deletion processes.

Arbitration

A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2020 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
An open request for comment asks whether active Arbitrators may serve on the Trust and Safety Case Review Committee or Ombudsman commission.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:56, 2 September 2020 (UTC)

"Template:Vacation5" listed at Redirects for discussion

A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Template:Vacation5. The discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2020 September 4#Template:Vacation5 until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 21:46, 4 September 2020 (UTC)

TFA

Thank you today for your part of Hurricane Gordon (2006), about a hurricane not only for Florida, but with "individuals affected ... been eating fish and chips, drinking Guinness, or driving on the Autovía de los Pantanos"! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:54, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Hurricane Gonzalo scheduled for TFA

This is to let you know that the Hurricane Gonzalo article has been scheduled as today's featured article for October 12, 2020. Please check the article needs no amendments. If you're interested in editing the main page text, you're welcome to do so at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 12, 2020, but note that a coordinator will trim the lead to around 1000 characters anyway, so you aren't obliged to do so.

For Featured Articles promoted recently, there will be an existing blurb linked from the FAC talk page, which is likely to be transferred to the TFA page by a coordinator at some point.

We suggest that you watchlist Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors from the day before this appears on Main Page. Thanks! Jimfbleak - talk to me? 12:50, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Milhist coordinator election voting has commenced

G'day everyone, voting for the 2020 Wikiproject Military history coordinator tranche is now open. This is a simple approval vote; only "support" votes should be made. Project members should vote for any candidates they support by 23:59 (UTC) on 28 September 2020. Thanks from the outgoing coord team, Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 05:17, 15 September 2020 (UTC)

Apologies

Sorry for re-reverting you on 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. I thought it was an unexplained revert, but you did explain on Arthur's page. ~ Destroyeraa🌀 17:17, 23 September 2020 (UTC)

Happy Adminship Anniversary!

Wishing Juliancolton a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Megan☺️ ^{Talk to the monster} 07:35, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

October 2020 GAN Backlog drive!

-- Eddie891 ^Talk _Work 16:23, 30 September 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2020).

Administrator changes

Ajpolino • LuK3

Jackmcbarn

Ad Orientem • Harej • Lid • Lomn • Mentoz86 • Oliver Pereira • XJaM

There'sNoTime → TheresNoTime

Guideline and policy news

A request for comment found consensus that incubation as an alternative to deletion should generally only be recommended when draftification is appropriate, namely 1) if the result of a deletion discussion is to draftify; or 2) if the article is newly created.

Technical news

The filter log now provides links to view diffs of deleted revisions (phab:T261630).

Arbitration

The 2020 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process has begun. The community consultation period will take place from September 27th to October 7th.
Following a request for comment, sitting Committee members may not serve on either the Ombuds Commission or the WMF Case Review Committee. The Arbitration Committee passed a motion implementing those results into their procedures.

Miscellaneous

The Universal Code of Conduct draft is open for community review and comment until October 6th, 2020.
Office actions may now be appealed to the Interim Trust & Safety Case Review Committee.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:43, 1 October 2020 (UTC)

TFA

Thank you today for Hurricane Gonzalo, a fine article indeed! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:28, 12 October 2020 (UTC)

Talk:NASA Astronaut Group 8/GA1

Hi, this is my first GA review and so I wanted to check with one of the GA mentors to make sure everything was done correctly. The page I have basically finished reviewing is here Talk:NASA Astronaut Group 8/GA1, I am waiting on fixes for mostly minor grammar issues. Thanks for your time and help! Footlessmouse (talk) 02:36, 18 October 2020 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of File:Beating the dead horse2.png

The file File:Beating the dead horse2.png has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

Orphaned file with no obvious value in transferring to Commons

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated files}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the file's talk page.

Please consider addressing the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated files}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and files for discussion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Salavat (talk) 15:14, 28 October 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2020).

Administrator changes

John M Wolfson

Bduke • Nilfanion • Philosopher • Rspeer • Yunshui

Interface administrator changes

TonyBallioni

CheckUser changes

EdJohnston • Oshwah • Yamla

Yunshui

Oversight changes

Anarchyte

Yunshui

Guideline and policy news

Community sanctions now authorize administrators to place under indefinite semiprotection any article on a beauty pageant, or biography of a person known as a beauty pageant contestant, which has been edited by a sockpuppet account or logged-out sockpuppet, to be logged at WP:GS/PAGEANT.

Technical news

Sysops will once again be able to view the deleted history of JS/CSS pages; this was restricted to interface administrators when that group was introduced.
Twinkle's block module now includes the ability to note the specific case when applying a discretionary sanctions block and/or template.
Sysops will be able to use Special:CreateLocalAccount to create a local account for a global user that is prevented from auto-creation locally (such as by a filter or range block). Administrators that are not sure if such a creation is appropriate should contact a checkuser.

Arbitration

The 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections process has begun. Eligible editors will be able to nominate themselves as candidates from November 8 through November 17. The voting period will run from November 23 through December 6.
The Anti-harassment RfC has concluded with a summary of the feedback provided.

Miscellaneous

A reminder that standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to post-1932 politics of the United States and closely related people. (American Politics 2 Arbitration case).

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:52, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

Kei Industries Limited

Hello, is Kei Industries Limited substantially different from the version you deleted following Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/KEI Industries? Thanks, Captain Calm (talk) 13:23, 1 November 2020 (UTC)

ArbCom 2020 Elections voter message

Hello! Voting in the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 7 December 2020. 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 2020 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) 01:32, 24 November 2020 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2020

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2020).

Administrator changes

Andrwsc • Anetode • GoldenRing • JzG • LinguistAtLarge • Nehrams2020

Interface administrator changes

Izno

Guideline and policy news

There is a request for comment in progress to either remove T3 (duplicated and hardcoded instances) as a speedy deletion criterion or eliminate its seven-day waiting period.

Technical news

Voting for proposals in the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey, which determines what software the Wikimedia Foundation's Community Tech team will work on next year, will take place from 8 December through 21 December. In particular, there are sections regarding administrators and anti-harassment.

Arbitration

Voting in the 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 7 December 2020 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:37, 1 December 2020 (UTC)

Natalis soli invicto!

		Natalis soli invicto!
		Wishing you and yours a Happy Holiday Season, from the horse and bishop person. May the year ahead be productive and distraction-free. Ealdgyth (talk) 14:59, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Voting for "Military Historian of the Year" and "Military history newcomer of the year" closing

G'day all, voting for the WikiProject Military history "Military Historian of the Year" and "Military history newcomer of the year" is about to close, so if you haven't already, click on the links and have your say before 23:59 (GMT) on 30 December! Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 23:34, 28 December 2020 (UTC) for the coord team

Administrators' newsletter – January 2021

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2020).

Administrator changes

Hammersoft

Andres • Brion VIBBER • Rkitko • Thatcher

CheckUser changes

Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek • Primefac

Oversight changes

Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek

Joe Roe

Guideline and policy news

Speedy deletion criterion T3 (duplication and hardcoded instances) has been repealed following a request for comment.

Technical news

You can now put pages on your watchlist for a limited period of time.

Arbitration

By motion, standard discretionary sanctions have been temporarily authorized for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes). The effectiveness of the discretionary sanctions can be evaluated on the request by any editor after March 1, 2021 (or sooner if for a good reason).
Following the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Barkeep49, BDD, Bradv, CaptainEek, L235, Maxim, Primefac.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:08, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2021

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

Administrator changes

Hog Farm

Mattflaschen • Nandesuka • Savidan • Wangi

CheckUser changes

Berean Hunter • Xeno

Oversight changes

Someguy1221 • Xeno

Arbitration

The standard discretionary sanctions authorized for American Politics were amended by motion to cover post-1992 politics of United States and closely related people, replacing the 1932 cutoff.

Miscellaneous

Voting in the 2021 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2021, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2021, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
Wikipedia has now been around for 20 years, and recently saw its billionth edit!

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:09, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Good article drive notice

This message has been sent to users signed up for the Good articles newsletter. Add or remove your name from the list to subscribe or unsubscribe from future updates. Alternatively, to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Wikipedians who opt out of message delivery to your user talk page.

-- For the drive co-ordinators, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:27, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Precious anniversary

Precious
Eight years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:20, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2021

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

Administrator changes

TJMSmith

Boing! said Zebedee • Hiberniantears • Lear's Fool • Only • WGFinley

Interface administrator changes

AmandaNP

Guideline and policy news

A request for comment is open that proposes a process for the community to revoke administrative permissions. This follows a 2019 RfC in favor of creating one such a policy.
A request for comment is in progress to remove F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a, which covers immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
A request for comment seeks to grant page movers the delete-redirect userright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target. The full proposal is at Wikipedia:Page mover/delete-redirect.
A request for comment asks if sysops may place the General sanctions/Coronavirus disease 2019 editnotice template on pages in scope that do not have page-specific sanctions?
There is a discussion in progress concerning automatic protection of each day's featured article with Pending Changes protection.

Technical news

When blocking an IPv6 address with Twinkle, there is now a checkbox with the option to just block the /64 range. When doing so, you can still leave a block template on the initial, single IP address' talkpage.
When protecting a page with Twinkle, you can now add a note if doing so was in response to a request at WP:RfPP, and even link to the specific revision.
There have been a number of reported issues with Pending Changes. Most problems setting protection appear to have been resolved (phab:T273317) but other issues with autoaccepting edits persist (phab:T275322).

Arbitration

By motion, the discretionary sanctions originally authorized under the GamerGate case are now authorized under a new Gender and sexuality case, with sanctions authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, any gender-related dispute or controversy and associated people. Sanctions issued under GamerGate are now considered Gender and sexuality sanctions.
The Kurds and Kurdistan case was closed, authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for the topics of Kurds and Kurdistan, broadly construed.

Miscellaneous

Following the 2021 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: AmandaNP, Operator873, Stanglavine, Teles, and Wiki13.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:14, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

April 2021 WikiProject Military History Reviewing Drive

Hey y'all, the April 2021 WikiProject Military History Reviewing Drive begins at 00:01 UTC on April 1, 2021 and runs through 23:59 UTC on April 31, 2021. Points can be earned through reviewing articles on the AutoCheck report, reviewing articles listed at WP:MILHIST/ASSESS, reviewing MILHIST-tagged articles at WP:GAN or WP:FAC, and reviewing articles submitted at WP:MILHIST/ACR. Service awards and barnstars are given for set points thresholds, and the top three finishers will receive further awards. To participate, sign up at Wikipedia:WikiProject_Military_History/April 2021 Reviewing Drive#Participants and create a worklist at Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/April 2021 Reviewing Drive/Worklists (examples are given). Further details can be found at the drive page. Questions can be asked at the drive talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:24, 31 March 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2021

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

Administrator changes

Alexandria • Happyme22 • RexxS

Guideline and policy news

Following a request for comment, F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a has been deprecated; it covered immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
Following a request for comment, page movers were granted the delete-redirect userright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target.

Technical news

When you move a page that many editors have on their watchlist the history can be split and it might also not be possible to move it again for a while. This is because of a job queue problem. (T278350)
Code to support some very old web browsers is being removed. This could cause issues in those browsers. (T277803)

Arbitration

A community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure is open until April 25.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:20, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2021

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

Administrator changes

Enchanter • Carlossuarez46

Interface administrator changes

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

Guideline and policy news

Following an RfC, consensus was found that third party appeals are allowed but discouraged.
The 2021 Desysop Policy RfC was closed with no consensus. Consensus was found in a previous RfC for a community based desysop procedure, though the procedure proposed in the 2021 RfC did not gain consensus.

Technical news

The user group oversight will be renamed to suppress. This is for technical reasons. You can comment at T112147 if you have objections.

Arbitration

The community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure was closed, and an initial draft based on feedback from the now closed consultation is expected to be released in early June to early July for community review.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:51, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2021

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

Administrator changes

Ashleyyoursmile • Less Unless

Husond • MattWade • MJCdetroit • Carioca • Vague Rant • Kingboyk • Thunderboltz • Gwen Gale • AniMate • SlimVirgin (deceased)

Guideline and policy news

Consensus was reached to deprecate Wikipedia:Editor assistance.
Following a Request for Comment the Book namespace was deprecated.

Technical news

Wikimedia previously used the IRC network Freenode. However, due to changes over who controlled the network with reports of a forceful takeover by several ex-staff members, the Wikimedia IRC Group Contacts decided to move to the new Libera Chat network. It has been reported that Wikimedia related channels on Freenode have been forcibly taken over if they pointed members to Libera. There is a migration guide and Wikimedia discussions about this.

Arbitration

After a Clarification request, the Arbitration Committee modified Remedy 5 of the Antisemitism in Poland case. This means sourcing expectations are a discretionary sanction instead of being present on all articles. It also details using the talk page or the Reliable Sources Noticeboard to discuss disputed sources.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:45, 9 June 2021 (UTC)

Hurricane Fay

This is to let you know that the above article has been scheduled as today's featured article for June 10, 2021. Please check the article needs no amendments. If you're interested in editing the main page text, you're welcome to do so at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 10, 2021. Congratulations on your work!—Wehwalt (talk) 14:14, 13 May 2021 (UTC)

Thank you today for the article, introduced "Despite not being as long as my last several nominations, this article may be one of my best. I personally find the storm fascinating, so I've spent an inordinate amount of time polishing the article over the past year, and the result is something I'm quite proud of."! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:27, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

GAN Backlog Drive - July 2021

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

Requesting help for GA nomination process

Greetings @Juliancolton:

I am reviewing an article for GA status for my first time, and, following instructions, am seeking a mentor to verify that I am not screwing up too badly. I noticed you were on the list, and so decided to badger you!

Would you be available to look at the review? Let me know! Horsesizedduck (talk) 18:01, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2021

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

Administrator changes

Trialpears

AGK • Eliz81 • Mulad • ThaddeusB • Vianello • Who

Lacrimosus → Ikuzaf

Interface administrator changes

CheckUser changes

AGK • DGG

Oversighter changes

AGK

Guideline and policy news

Consensus has been reached to delete all books in the book namespace. There was rough consensus that the deleted books should still be available on request at WP:REFUND even after the namespace is removed.
An RfC is open to discuss the next steps following a trial which automatically applied pending changes to TFAs.

Technical news

IP addresses of unregistered users are to be hidden from everyone. There is a rough draft of how IP addresses may be shown to users who need to see them. This currently details allowing administrators, checkusers, stewards and those with a new usergroup to view the full IP address of unregistered users. Editors with at least 500 edits and an account over a year old will be able to see all but the end of the IP address in the proposal. The ability to see the IP addresses hidden behind the mask would be dependent on agreeing to not share the parts of the IP address they can see with those who do not have access to the same information. Accessing part of or the full IP address of a masked editor would also be logged. Comments on the draft are being welcomed at the talk page.

Arbitration

The community authorised COVID-19 general sanctions have been superseded by the COVID-19 discretionary sanctions following a motion at a case request. Alerts given and sanctions placed under the community authorised general sanctions are now considered alerts for and sanctions under the new discretionary sanctions.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:26, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2021

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

Administrator changes

BusterD

Kees08 • Nickshanks • Protonk • Schissel • Ultraexactzz • Wknight94

CheckUser changes

Oversighter changes

ST47

Guideline and policy news

An RfC is open to add a delay of one week from nomination to deletion for G13 speedy deletions.

Technical news

Last week all wikis were very slow or not accessible for 30 minutes. This was due to server lag caused by regenerating dynamic lists on the Russian Wikinews after a large bulk import. (T287380)

Arbitration

Following an amendment request, the committee has clarified that the Talk page exception to the 500/30 rule in remedy 5 of the Palestine-Israel articles 4 case does not apply to requested move discussions.

Miscellaneous

You can vote for candidates in the 2021 Board of Trustees elections from 4 August to 17 August. Four community elected seats are up for election.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:18, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

Hurricane Humberto (2019)

This is to let you know that the above article has been scheduled as today's featured article for September 17, 2021. Please check the article needs no amendments. If you're interested in editing the main page text, you're welcome to do so at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 17, 2021. Congratulations on your work!—Wehwalt (talk) 13:39, 13 August 2021 (UTC)

Wikiproject Military history coordinator election nominations open

Nominations for the upcoming project coordinator election are now open. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. If you are interested in running, please sign up here by 23:59 UTC on 14 September! Voting doesn't commence until 15 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the coord team. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:58, 1 September 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2021

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

Administrator changes

Jake Wartenberg

Emperor • Viridian Bovary

Ashleyyoursmile → Viridian Bovary

Guideline and policy news

Feedback is requested on the Universal Code of Conduct enforcement draft by the Universal Code of Conduct Phase 2 drafting committee.
A RfC is open on whether to allow administrators to use extended confirmed protection on high-risk templates.
A discussion is open to decide when, if ever, should discord logs be eligible for removal when posted onwiki (including whether to oversight them)
A RfC on the next steps after the trial of pending changes on TFAs has resulted in a 30 day trial of automatic semi protection for TFAs.

Technical news

The Score extension has been re-enabled on public wikis. It has been updated, but has been placed in safe mode to address unresolved security issues. Further information on the security issues can be found on the mediawiki page.

Arbitration

A request for comment is in progress to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the Arbitration Committee election and resolve any issues not covered by existing rules. Comments and new proposals are welcome.

Miscellaneous

The 2021 RfA review is now open for comments.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:45, 3 September 2021 (UTC)

48th issue of Hurricane Herald newsletter

Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Newsletter/Archive 48 LightandDark2000 🌀 (talk) 19:50, 6 September 2021 (UTC)

Hurricane Fay (2014) scheduled for TFA

This is to let you know that the Hurricane Fay (2014) article has been scheduled as today's featured article for October 10, 2021. Please check the article needs no amendments. If you're interested in editing the main page text, you're welcome to do so at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/October 10, 2021, but note that a coordinator will trim the lead to around 1000 characters anyway, so you aren't obliged to do so.

For Featured Articles promoted recently, there will be an existing blurb linked from the FAC talk page, which is likely to be transferred to the TFA page by a coordinator at some point.

We suggest that you watchlist Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors from the day before this appears on Main Page. Thanks! Jimfbleak - talk to me? 15:08, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Edit request on user page

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= or |ans= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Please remove the template {{User Commons/Administrator}} on the user page as Juliancolton was removed the admin rights on Commons per C:Commons:Administrators/Inactivity section/Aug-Sep 2021 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 219.78.191.206 (talk)

Not done: According to the page's protection level you should be able to edit the page yourself. If you seem to be unable to, please reopen the request with further details. ‑‑ElHef (Meep?) 18:20, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Wikiproject Military history coordinator election nomination period closing soon

Nominations for the upcoming project coordinator election are still open, but not for long. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. If you are interested in running, please sign up here by 23:59 UTC on 14 September! No further nominations will be accepted after that time. Voting will commence on 15 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the current coord team. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:43, 10 September 2021 (UTC)

WikiProject Military history coordinator election voting has commenced

Hey y'all, voting for the 2021 Wikiproject Military history coordinator tranche is now open. This is a simple approval vote; only "support" votes should be made. Project members should vote for any candidates they support by 23:59 (UTC) on 28 September 2021. Voting will be conducted at the 2021 tranche page itself. Appropriate questions for the candidates can also be asked. Thanks, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:39, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

New Page Patrol newsletter September 2021

Hello Juliancolton,

Please join this discussion - there is increase in the abuse of Wikipedia and its processes by POV pushers, Paid Editors, and by holders of various user rights including Autopatrolled. Even our review systems themselves at AfC and NPR have been infiltrated. The good news is that detection is improving, but the downside is that it creates the need for a huge clean up - which of course adds to backlogs.

Copyright violations are also a serious issue. Most non-regular contributors do not understand why, and most of our Reviewers are not experts on copyright law - and can't be expected to be, but there is excellent, easy-to-follow advice on COPYVIO detection here.

At the time of the last newsletter (#25, December 2020) the backlog was only just over 2,000 articles. New Page Review is an official system. It's the only firewall against the inclusion of new, improper pages.

There are currently 706 New Page Reviewers plus a further 1,080 admins, but as much as nearly 90% of the patrolling is still being done by around only the 20 or so most regular patrollers.

If you are no longer very active on Wikipedia or you no longer wish to be part of the New Page Reviewer user group, please consider asking any admin to remove you from the list. This will enable NPP to have a better overview of its performance and what improvements need to be made to the process or its software.

Various awards are due to be allocated by the end of the year and barnstars are overdue. If you would like to manage this, please let us know. Indeed, if you are interested in coordinating NPR, it does not involve much time and the tasks are described here.

To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here. Sent to 827 users. 04:31, 16 September 2021 (UTC)

Wikiproject Military history coordinator election voting period closing soon

Hey y'all, voting for the 2021 Wikiproject Military history coordinator tranche will be closing soon. This is a simple approval vote; only "support" votes should be made. Project members should vote for any candidates they support by 23:59 (UTC) on 28 September 2021. Voting will be conducted at the 2021 tranche page itself. Thanks, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:32, 26 September 2021 (UTC)

Happy Adminship Anniversary!

Wishing Juliancolton a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Birthday Committee! Best wishes! CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 19:47, 27 September 2021 (UTC)

Nomination for deletion of Template:2009-2010 flu pandemic table

Template:2009-2010 flu pandemic table has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the entry on the Templates for discussion page. WikiCleanerMan (talk) 22:31, 27 September 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2021

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

Administrator changes

Blablubbs

Alvestrand • Black Falcon • Deathphoenix • Dppowell • Mark Arsten • JGHowes (deceased)

Oversighter changes

Mkdw

Interface administrator changes

Galobtter

Guideline and policy news

Following an RfC, extended confirmed protection may be used preemptively on certain high-risk templates.
Following a discussion at the Village Pump, there is consensus to treat discord logs the same as IRC logs. This means that discord logs will be oversighted if posted onwiki.

Technical news

DiscussionTools has superseded Enterprisey's reply-link script. Editors may switch using the "Discussion tools" checkbox under Preferences → Beta features.

Arbitration

A motion has standardised the 500/30 (extended confirmed) restrictions placed by the Arbitration Committee. The standardised restriction is now listed in the Arbitration Committee's procedures.
Following the closure of the Iranian politics case, standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, post-1978 Iranian politics, broadly construed.
The Arbitration Committee encourages uninvolved administrators to use the discretionary sanctions procedure in topic areas where it is authorised to facilitate consensus in RfCs. This includes, but is not limited to, enforcing sectioned comments, word/diff limits and moratoriums on a particular topic from being brought in an RfC for up to a year.

Miscellaneous

Editors have approved expanding the trial of Growth Features from 2% of new accounts to 25%, and the share of newcomers getting mentorship from 2% to 5%. Experienced editors are invited to add themselves to the mentor list.
The community consultation phase of the 2021 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process is open for editors to provide comments and ask questions to candidates.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:04, 1 October 2021 (UTC)

Hurricane Fay

Please disregard the TFA notification left by Jimfbleak for October 10. We accidentally scheduled it for a second run in October when it had run in June.--Wehwalt (talk) 20:40, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

November 2021 backlog drive

New Page Patrol \| November 2021 Backlog Drive
On November 1, a one-month backlog drive for New Page Patrol will begin. Barnstars will be awarded based on the number of articles patrolled. Barnstars will also be granted for re-reviewing articles previously reviewed by other patrollers during the drive. Redirect patrolling is not part of the drive. Interested in taking part? Sign up here.
You're receiving this message because you are a new page patroller. To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here. (t · c) buidhe 01:58, 25 October 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2021

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

Administrator changes

Clpo13

Brian0918 • JDoorjam • Karanacs • MrDarcy • Mindspillage

Interface administrator changes

CheckUser changes

Dreamy Jazz • Ferret • GeneralNotability • Girth Summit • RoySmith

Oversight changes

Dreamy Jazz • LuK3

Guideline and policy news

Phase 2 of the 2021 RfA review has commenced which will discuss potential solutions to address the 8 issues found in Phase 1. Proposed solutions that achieve consensus will be implemented and you may propose solutions till 07 November 2021.

Technical news

Toolhub is a catalogue of tools which can be used on Wikimedia wikis. It is at https://toolhub.wikimedia.org/.

Arbitration

GeneralNotability, Mz7 and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2021 Arbitration Committee Elections. Ivanvector and John M Wolfson are reserve commissioners.
Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate themselves to stand in the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections from 07 November 2021 until 16 November 2021.

Miscellaneous

The 2021 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process has concluded with the appointment of five new CheckUsers and two new Oversighters.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:44, 1 November 2021 (UTC)

ArbCom 2021 Elections voter message

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) 00:12, 23 November 2021 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2021

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

Administrator changes

A Train • Berean Hunter • Epbr123 • GermanJoe • Sanchom • Mysid

Technical news

Unregistered editors using the mobile website are now able to receive notices to indicate they have talk page messages. The notice looks similar to what is already present on desktop, and will be displayed on when viewing any page except mainspace and when editing any page. (T284642)
The limit on the number of emails a user can send per day has been made global instead of per-wiki to help prevent abuse. (T293866)

Arbitration

Voting in the 2021 Arbitration Committee Elections is open until 23:59, 06 December 2021 (UTC).
The already authorized standard discretionary sanctions for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes), broadly construed, have been made permanent.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:24, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

Administrators will no longer be autopatrolled

A recently closed Request for Comment (RFC) reached consensus to remove Autopatrolled from the administrator user group. You may, similarly as with Edit Filter Manager, choose to self-assign this permission to yourself. This will be implemented the week of December 13th, but if you wish to self-assign you may do so now. To find out when the change has gone live or if you have any questions please visit the Administrator's Noticeboard. 20:06, 7 December 2021 (UTC)

FAR for Tropical Storm Allison

I have nominated Tropical Storm Allison for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Hog Farm _Talk 04:00, 11 December 2021 (UTC)

Survey about History on Wikipedia (If you reside in the United States)

I am Petros Apostolopoulos, a Ph.D. candidate in Public History at North Carolina State University. My Ph.D. project examines how historical knowledge is produced on Wikipedia. You must be 18 years of age or older, reside in the United States to participate in this study. If you are interested in participating in my research study by offering your own experience of writing about history on Wikipedia, you can click on this link https://ncsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9z4wmR1cIp0qBH8. There are minimal risks involved in this research.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Petros Apostolopoulos, paposto@ncsu.edu Apolo1991 (talk) 14:58, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

Io, Saturnalia!

		Io, Saturnalia!
		Wishing you and yours a Happy Holiday Season, from the horse and bishop person. May the year ahead be productive and distraction-free. Ealdgyth (talk) 14:58, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

Merry Christmas

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

And a Happy New Year!

May your holidays be filled with peace and joy. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year! CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 08:12, 26 December 2021 (UTC)
Adapted from {{Xmas6}}. Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:User:Altamel/Christmas}} to their talk page.

Discussion about a move that is blocked by a block you put in place

Hi, can you comment about my request to move? It's blocked because of a block that I think you put in. Discussion is happening here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requested_moves/Technical_requests CT55555 (talk) 18:13, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

GAN Backlog Drive – January 2022

Good article nominations \| January 2022 Backlog Drive
January 2022 Backlog Drive: On New Year's Day, a one-month backlog drive for good article nominations will begin. Barnstars will be awarded based on the number and age of articles reviewed. Interested in taking part? You can sign up here.
Other ways to participate: Join the conversations on our talkpage.
You're receiving this message because you have conducted 10+ good article reviews or participated in the March backlog drive. Click here and remove your username from the mailing list to opt out of any future messages. --Usernameunique

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles at 21:18, 31 December 2021 (UTC).

Administrators' newsletter – January 2022

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

Administrator changes

Amalthea • Ihcoyc (deceased) • Kateshortforbob • Kirill Lokshin • Rifleman 82 • Ryan Norton • Wrp103

Interface administrator changes

Mr. Stradivarius

CheckUser changes

Cabayi • Donald Albury • Enterprisey • Izno • Wugapodes

Opabinia regalis

Casliber • David Fuchs • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy

Oversighter changes

Cabayi • Donald Albury • Enterprisey • Izno • Wugapodes

Opabinia regalis

Casliber • David Fuchs • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy

Guideline and policy news

Following consensus at the 2021 RfA review, the autopatrolled user right has been removed from the administrators user group; admins can grant themselves the autopatrolled permission if they wish to remain autopatrolled.

Additionally, consensus for proposal 6C of the 2021 RfA review has led to the creation of an administrative action review process. The purpose of this process will be to review individual administrator actions and individual actions taken by users holding advanced permissions.

Arbitration

Following the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Beeblebrox, Cabayi, Donald Albury, Enterprisey, Izno, Opabinia regalis, Worm That Turned, Wugapodes.

Miscellaneous

The functionaries email list (functionaries-enlists.wikimedia.org) will no longer accept incoming emails apart from those sent by list members and WMF staff. Private concerns, apart from those requiring oversight, should be directly sent to the Arbitration Committee.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:24, 3 January 2022 (UTC)

How we will see unregistered users

Hi!

You get this message because you are an admin on a Wikimedia wiki.

When someone edits a Wikimedia wiki without being logged in today, we show their IP address. As you may already know, we will not be able to do this in the future. This is a decision by the Wikimedia Foundation Legal department, because norms and regulations for privacy online have changed.

Instead of the IP we will show a masked identity. You as an admin will still be able to access the IP. There will also be a new user right for those who need to see the full IPs of unregistered users to fight vandalism, harassment and spam without being admins. Patrollers will also see part of the IP even without this user right. We are also working on better tools to help.

If you have not seen it before, you can read more on Meta. If you want to make sure you don’t miss technical changes on the Wikimedia wikis, you can subscribe to the weekly technical newsletter.

We have two suggested ways this identity could work. We would appreciate your feedback on which way you think would work best for you and your wiki, now and in the future. You can let us know on the talk page. You can write in your language. The suggestions were posted in October and we will decide after 17 January.

Thank you. /Johan (WMF)

18:14, 4 January 2022 (UTC)

Nomination for deletion of Template:1973 Atlantic hurricane season timeline

Template:1973 Atlantic hurricane season timeline has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the entry on the Templates for discussion page. Gonnym (talk) 10:53, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2022).

Administrator changes

AustralianRupert • Cimon Avaro • Euryalus • Jehochman • Nunh-huh

28bytes

Bureaucrat changes

28bytes

Interface administrator changes

Evad37 • Galobtter

Guideline and policy news

The Universal Code of Conduct enforcement guidelines have been published for consideration. Voting to ratify this guideline is planned to take place 7 March to 21 March. Comments can be made on the talk page.

Technical news

The user group oversight will be renamed suppress in around 3 weeks. This will not affect the name shown to users and is simply a change in the technical name of the user group. The change is being made for technical reasons. You can comment in Phabricator if you have objections.
The Reply Tool feature, which is a part of Discussion Tools, will be opt-out for everyone logged in or logged out starting 7 February 2022. Editors wishing to comment on this can do so in the relevant Village Pump discussion.

Arbitration

Community input is requested on several motions aimed at addressing discretionary sanctions that are no longer needed or overly broad.
The Arbitration Committee has published a generalised comment regarding successful appeals of sanctions that it can review (such as checkuser blocks).
A motion related to the Antisemitism in Poland case was passed following a declined case request.

Miscellaneous

Voting in the 2022 Steward elections will begin on 07 February 2022, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2022, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
Voting in the 2022 Community Wishlist Survey is open until 11 February 2022.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:01, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

Racer's hurricane

This is to let you know that the above article has been scheduled as today's featured article for 9 March 2022. Please check that the article needs no amendments. Feel free to amend the draft blurb, which can be found at Wikipedia:Today's featured article/March 2022, or to make more comments on other matters concerning the scheduling of this article at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/March 2022. I suggest that you watchlist Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors from two days before it appears on the Main Page. Thanks and congratulations on your work!—Wehwalt (talk) 15:40, 5 February 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2022).

Administrator changes

Modussiccandi

BOZ • Brookie (deceased) • Jackmcbarn • Jamesday • Jonathunder • Master of Puppets • Saravask

CheckUser changes

Oversighter changes

Guideline and policy news

A RfC is open to change the wording of revision deletion criterion 1 to remove the sentence relating to non-infringing contributions.
A RfC is open to discuss prohibiting draftification of articles over 90 days old.

Technical news

The deployment of the reply tool as an opt-out feature, as announced in last month's newsletter, has been delayed to 7 March. Feedback and comments are being welcomed at Wikipedia talk:Talk pages project. (T296645)
Special:Nuke will now allow the selection of standard deletion reasons to be used when mass-deleting pages. This was a Community Wishlist Survey request from 2022. (T25020)
The ability to undelete the talk page when undeleting a page using Special:Undelete or the API will be added soon. This change was requested in the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey. (T295389)

Arbitration

Several unused discretionary sanctions and article probation remedies have been rescinded. This follows the community feedback from the 2021 Discretionary Sanctions review.

Miscellaneous

The 2022 appointees for the Ombuds commission are Érico, Faendalimas, Galahad, Infinite0694, Mykola7, Olugold, Udehb and Zabe as regular members and Ameisenigel and JJMC89 as advisory members.
Following the 2022 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: AntiCompositeNumber, BRPever, Hasley, TheresNoTime, and Vermont.
The 2022 Community Wishlist Survey results have been published alongside the ranking of prioritized proposals.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:46, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Precious anniversary

Precious
Nine years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:34, 25 February 2022 (UTC)

Thank you today for Racer's hurricane, introduced as "about a multi-faceted hurricane that proved one of the most severe of its time. It's among the earliest storms for which we have anything resembling a comprehensive record. Along its 2000+ mile track, it ensnared meteorologists, tossed ships ashore in droves, inundated barrier islands, and, as its last act, caused one of the great maritime tragedies of the 19th century. Using a variety of both contemporary and modern sources, I've created what I'm certain is the most comprehensive story ever told about this fascinating storm."! - Prayer for Ukraine --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:57, 9 March 2022 (UTC)

Adminship

Hi, I've just self-nominated for an adminship. I was wondering whether you would bes so kind as to also nominate me and check that I have completed the process successfully below. Thanks very much for your time. P.S The best example of my work is probably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_devolution I made the page myself and the vast majority of contributions. Titus Gold (talk) 22:59, 10 March 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2022).

Administrator changes

Firefly • Sdrqaz

Ad Orientem

Geschichte • Ryan Postlethwaite • Sabine's Sunbird • Wassupwestcoast

Interface administrator changes

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:02, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

Guideline and policy news

An RfC is open proposing a change to the minimum activity requirements for administrators.

Technical news

Access to Special:RevisionDelete has been expanded to include users who have the deletelogentry and deletedhistory rights. This means that those in the Researcher user group and Checkusers who are not administrators can now access Special:RevisionDelete. The users able to view the special page after this change are the 3 users in the Researcher group, as there are currently no checkusers who are not already administrators. (T301928)
When viewing deleted revisions or diffs on Special:Undelete a back link to the undelete page for the associated page is now present. (T284114)

Arbitration

Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Procedures § Opening of proceedings has been updated to reflect current practice following a motion.
A arbitration case regarding Skepticism and coordinated editing has been closed.
A arbitration case regarding WikiProject Tropical Cyclones has been opened.

Miscellaneous

Voting for the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines has closed, and the results were that 56.98% of voters supported the guidelines. The results of this vote mean the Wikimedia Foundation Board will now review the guidelines.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:13, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

New administrator activity requirement

The administrator policy has been updated with new activity requirements following a successful Request for Comment.

Beginning January 1, 2023, administrators who meet one or both of the following criteria may be desysopped for inactivity if they have:

Made neither edits nor administrative actions for at least a 12-month period OR
Made fewer than 100 edits over a 60-month period

Administrators at risk for being desysopped under these criteria will continue to be notified ahead of time. Thank you for your continued work.

22:52, 15 April 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2022).

Administrator changes

Colin M

David.Monniaux • Fribbler • Grue • Kpjas • West.andrew.g

CheckUser changes

Ks0stm

Oversighter changes

Ks0stm

Guideline and policy news

Following an RfC, a change has been made to the administrators inactivity policy. Under the new policy, if an administrator has not made at least 100 edits over a period of 5 years they may be desysopped for inactivity.
Following a discussion on the bureaucrat's noticeboard, a change has been made to the bureaucrats inactivity policy.

Technical news

The ability to undelete the associated talk page when undeleting a page has been added. This was the 11th wish of the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey.
A public status system for WMF wikis has been created. It is located at https://www.wikimediastatus.net/ and is hosted separately to WMF wikis so in the case of an outage it will remain viewable.

Arbitration

Remedy 2 of the St Christopher case has been rescinded following a motion. The remedy previously authorised administrators to place a ban on single-purpose accounts who were disruptively editing on the article St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine or related pages from those pages.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:34, 9 May 2022 (UTC)

"The Demented Cartoon Movie" listed at Redirects for discussion

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect The Demented Cartoon Movie and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 May 10#The Demented Cartoon Movie until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. Ten Pound Hammer • ^{(What did I screw up now?)} 00:57, 10 May 2022 (UTC)

New Page Patrol newsletter May 2022

Hello Juliancolton,

At the time of the last newsletter (No.26, September 2021), the backlog was 'only' just over 6,000 articles. In the past six months, the backlog has reached nearly 16,000, a staggering level not seen in several years. A very small number of users had been doing the vast majority of the reviews. Due to "burn-out", we have recently lost most of this effort. Furthermore, several reviewers have been stripped of the user right for abuse of privilege and the articles they patrolled were put back in the queue.

Several discussions on the state of the process have taken place on the talk page, but there has been no action to make any changes. The project also lacks coordination since the "position" is vacant.

In the last 30 days, only 100 reviewers have made more than 8 patrols and only 50 have averaged one review a day. There are currently 804 New Page Reviewers, but about a third have not had any activity in the past month. All 852 administrators have this permission, but only about a dozen significantly contribute to NPP.

This means we have an active pool of about 450 to address the backlog. We cannot rely on a few to do most of the work as that inevitably leads to burnout. A fairly experienced reviewer can usually do a review in a few minutes. If every active reviewer would patrol just one article per day, the backlog would very quickly disappear.

If you have noticed a user with a good understanding of Wikipedia notability and deletion, do suggest they help the effort by placing {{subst:NPR invite}} on their talk page.

If you are no longer very active on Wikipedia or you no longer wish to be part of the New Page Reviewer user group, please consider asking any admin to remove you from the list. This will enable NPP to have a better overview of its performance and what improvements need to be made to the process and its software.

To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here.
Sent 05:17, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

June 2022 Good Article Nominations backlog drive

Good article nominations \| June 2022 Backlog Drive
On 1 June, a one-month backlog drive for good article nominations will begin. Barnstars will be awarded based on the number and age of articles reviewed. Interested in taking part? Sign up here!
You're receiving this message because you have conducted 5+ good article reviews or participated in previous backlog drives. Click here to opt out of any future messages. (t · c) buidhe 04:26, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2022).

Administrator changes

Tamzin

Barek • Darkwind • Geometry guy • ProcseeBot • RoyBoy • Sean Whitton • Valereee • Visorstuff • WAvegetarian

Sn0wflake → VersedFenrir

CheckUser changes

Ivanvector

Guideline and policy news

Several areas of improvement collated from community member votes have been identified in the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines. The areas of improvement have been sent back for review and you are invited to provide input on these areas.

Technical news

Administrators using the mobile web interface can now access Special:Block directly from user pages. (T307341)
The IP Info feature has been deployed to all wikis as a Beta Feature. Any autoconfirmed user may enable the feature using the "IP info" checkbox under Preferences → Beta features. Autoconfirmed users will be able to access basic information about an IP address that includes the country and connection method. Those with advanced privileges (admin, bureaucrat, checkuser) will have access to extra information that includes the Internet Service Provider and more specific location.

Arbitration

Remedy 2 of the Rachel Marsden case has been rescinded following a motion. The remedy previously authorised administrators to delete or reduce to a stub, together with their talk pages, articles related to Rachel Marsden when they violate Wikipedia's biographies of living persons policy.
An arbitration case regarding WikiProject Tropical Cyclones has been closed.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:55, 2 June 2022 (UTC)

New Page Patrol newsletter June 2022

Hello Juliancolton,

Backlog status

At the time of the last newsletter (No.27, May 2022), the backlog was approaching 16,000, having shot up rapidly from 6,000 over the prior two months. The attention the newsletter brought to the backlog sparked a flurry of activity. There was new discussion on process improvements, efforts to invite new editors to participate in NPP increased and more editors requested the NPP user right so they could help, and most importantly, the number of reviews picked up and the backlog decreased, dipping below 14,000^[a] at the end of May.

Since then, the news has not been so good. The backlog is basically flat, hovering around 14,200. I wish I could report the number of reviews done and the number of new articles added to the queue. But the available statistics we have are woefully inadequate. The only real number we have is the net queue size.^[b]

In the last 30 days, the top 100 reviewers have all made more than 16 patrols (up from 8 last month), and about 70 have averaged one review a day (up from 50 last month).

While there are more people doing more reviews, many of the ~730 with the NPP right are doing little. Most of the reviews are being done by the top 50 or 100 reviewers. They need your help. We appreciate every review done, but please aim to do one a day (on average, or 30 a month).

Backlog drive

A backlog reduction drive, coordinated by buidhe and Zippybonzo, will be held from July 1 to July 31. Sign up here. Barnstars will be awarded.

TIP – New school articles

Many new articles on schools are being created by new users in developing and/or non-English-speaking countries. The authors are probably not even aware of Wikipedia's projects and policy pages. WP:WPSCH/AG has some excellent advice and resources specifically written for these users. Reviewers could consider providing such first-time article creators with a link to it while also mentioning that not all schools pass the GNG and that elementary schools are almost certainly not notable.

Misc

There is a new template available, {{NPP backlog}}, to show the current backlog. You can place it on your user or talk page as a reminder:

Very high unreviewed pages backlog: 12058 articles, as of 22:00, 10 November 2024 (UTC), according to DatBot

There has been significant discussion at WP:VPP recently on NPP-related matters (Draftification, Deletion, Notability, Verifiability, Burden). Proposals that would somewhat ease the burden on NPP aren't gaining much traction, although there are suggestions that the role of NPP be fundamentally changed to focus only on major CSD-type issues.

Reminders

Consider staying informed on project issues by putting the project discussion page on your watchlist.
If you have noticed a user with a good understanding of Wikipedia notability and deletion, suggest they help the effort by placing {{subst:NPR invite}} on their talk page.
If you are no longer very active on Wikipedia or you no longer wish to be part of the New Page Reviewer user group, please consider asking any admin to remove you from the list. This will enable NPP to have a better overview of its performance and what improvements need to be made to the process and its software.
To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here.

Notes

^ not including another ~6,000 redirects
^ The number of weekly reviews reported in the NPP feed includes redirects, which are not included in the backlog we primarily track.

FAR for Hurricane Irene

I have nominated Hurricane Irene (1999) for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. Hog Farm _Talk 02:21, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

NPP July 2022 backlog drive is on!

New Page Patrol \| July 2022 Backlog Drive
On 1 July, a one-month backlog drive for New Page Patrol will begin. Barnstars will be awarded based on the number of articles patrolled. Barnstars will also be granted for re-reviewing articles previously reviewed by other patrollers during the drive. Redirect patrolling is not part of the drive. Interested in taking part? Sign up here.
You're receiving this message because you are a new page patroller. To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here.

(t · c) buidhe 20:25, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2022).

Administrator changes

AA • Gwalla • Ioeth • Laurascudder • Moriori (deceased) • Nat • Rfl

Drilnoth → AFigureOfBlue

Bureaucrat changes

Lee Vilenski

Interface administrator changes

Nihiltres

Technical news

user_global_editcount is a new variable that can be used in abuse filters to avoid affecting globally active users. (T130439)

Arbitration

An arbitration case regarding conduct in deletion-related editing has been opened.

Miscellaneous

The New Pages Patrol queue has around 10,000 articles to be reviewed. As all administrators have the patrol right, please consider helping out. The queue is here. For further information on the state of the project, see the latest NPP newsletter.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:29, 10 July 2022 (UTC)

Hi, am i misunderstanding aphelion in Comet Kohoutek? This doesn't sound right

"Maran believed that the comet initially had a perihelion farther out than the orbit of Jupiter until it was gravitationally perturbed by a passing star, lowering its perihelion to within the orbit of Mercury and its aphelion to 4–5 million mi (6–8 million km) from the Sun; additional gravitational interactions between the comet and the planets would have shortened the comet's orbital period further to about 75,000 years." thanks for your time. Rich (talk) 17:28, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2022).

Administrator changes

Valereee

Anthony Appleyard (deceased) • Capitalistroadster • Samsara

Guideline and policy news

An RfC has been closed with consensus to add javascript that will show edit notices for editors editing via a mobile device. This only works for users using a mobile browser, so iOS app editors will still not be able to see edit notices.
An RfC has been closed with the consensus that train stations are not inherently notable.

Technical news

The Wikimania 2022 Hackathon will take place virtually from 11 August to 14 August.
Administrators will now see links on user pages for "Change block" and "Unblock user" instead of just "Block user" if the user is already blocked. (T308570)

Arbitration

The arbitration case request Geschichte has been automatically closed after a 3 month suspension of the case.

Miscellaneous

You can vote for candidates in the 2022 Board of Trustees elections from 16 August to 30 August. Two community elected seats are up for election.
Wikimania 2022 is taking place virtually from 11 August to 14 August. The schedule for wikimania is listed here. There are also a number of in-person events associated with Wikimania around the world.
Tech tip: When revision-deleting on desktop, hold ⇧ Shift between clicking two checkboxes to select every box in that range.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:44, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

New Page Patrol newsletter August 2022

Hello Juliancolton,

Backlog status

After the last newsletter (No.28, June 2022), the backlog declined another 1,000 to 13,000 in the last week of June. Then the July backlog drive began, during which 9,900 articles were reviewed and the backlog fell by 4,500 to just under 8,500 (these numbers illustrate how many new articles regularly flow into the queue). Thanks go to the coordinators Buidhe and Zippybonzo, as well as all the nearly 100 participants. Congratulations to Dr vulpes who led with 880 points. See this page for further details.

Unfortunately, most of the decline happened in the first half of the month, and the backlog has already risen to 9,600. Understandably, it seems many backlog drive participants are taking a break from reviewing and unfortunately, we are not even keeping up with the inflow let alone driving it lower. We need the other 600 reviewers to do more! Please try to do at least one a day.

Coordination: MB and Novem Linguae have taken on some of the coordination tasks. Please let them know if you are interested in helping out. MPGuy2824 will be handling recognition, and will be retroactively awarding the annual barnstars that have not been issued for a few years.

Open letter to the WMF: The Page Curation software needs urgent attention. There are dozens of bug fixes and enhancements that are stalled (listed at Suggested improvements). We have written a letter to be sent to the WMF and we encourage as many patrollers as possible to sign it here. We are also in negotiation with the Board of Trustees to press for assistance. Better software will make the active reviewers we have more productive.

TIP - Reviewing by subject: Reviewers who prefer to patrol new pages by their most familiar subjects can do so from the regularly updated sorted topic list.

New reviewers: The NPP School is being underused. The learning curve for NPP is quite steep, but a detailed and easy-to-read tutorial exists, and the Curation Tool's many features are fully described and illustrated on the updated page here.

Reminders

Consider staying informed on project issues by putting the project discussion page on your watchlist.
If you have noticed a user with a good understanding of Wikipedia notability and deletion, suggest they help the effort by placing {{subst:NPR invite}} on their talk page.
If you are no longer very active on Wikipedia or you no longer wish to be part of the New Page Reviewer user group, please consider asking any admin to remove you from the list. This will enable NPP to have a better overview of its performance and what improvements need to be made to the process and its software.
To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here.

Delivered by: MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:24, 6 August 2022 (UTC)

NPP message

Hi Juliancolton,

Invitation

For those who may have missed it in our last newsletter, here's a quick reminder to see the letter we have drafted, and if you support it, do please go ahead and sign it. If you already signed, thanks. Also, if you haven't noticed, the backlog has been trending up lately; all reviews are greatly appreciated.

To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:10, 20 August 2022 (UTC)

Wikiproject Military history coordinator election nominations opening soon

Nominations for the upcoming project coordinator election are opening in a few hours (00:01 UTC on 1 September). A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next coordination year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. If you are interested in running, please sign up here by 23:59 UTC on 14 September! Voting doesn't commence until 15 September. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the current coord team. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:51, 31 August 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2022).

Administrator changes

DanCherek • DatGuy • Femke • Z1720

Aldux • Graham Beards • Nyttend

Interface administrator changes

Mr. Stradivarius

Guideline and policy news

A discussion is open to define a process by which Vector 2022 can be made the default for all users.
An RfC is open to gain consensus on whether Fox News is reliable for science and politics.

Technical news

The impact report on the effects of disabling IP editing on the Persian (Farsi) Wikipedia has been released.
The WMF is looking into making a Private Incident Reporting System (PIRS) system to improve the reporting of harmful incidents through easier and safer reporting. You can leave comments on the talk page by answering the questions provided. Users who have faced harmful situations are also invited to join a PIRS interview to share the experience. To sign up please email Madalina Ana.

Arbitration

An arbitration case regarding Conduct in deletion-related editing has been closed. The Arbitration Committee passed a remedy as part of the final decision to create a request for comment (RfC) on how to handle mass nominations at Articles for Deletion (AfD).
The arbitration case request Jonathunder has been automatically closed after a 6 month suspension of the case.

Miscellaneous

The new pages patrol (NPP) team has prepared an appeal to the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) for assistance with addressing Page Curation bugs and requested features. You are encouraged to read the open letter before it is sent, and if you support it, consider signing it. It is not a discussion, just a signature will suffice.
Voting for candidates for the Wikimedia Board of Trustees is open until 6 September.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:12, 1 September 2022 (UTC)

Wikiproject Military history coordinator election voting opening soon!

Voting for the upcoming project coordinator election opens in a few hours (00:01 UTC on 15 September) and will last through 23:59 on 28 September. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next coordination year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. Voting is conducted using simple approval voting and questions for the candidates are welcome. If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the current coord team. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:26, 14 September 2022 (UTC)

Correction to previous election announcement

Just a quick correction to the prior message about the 2022 MILHIST coordinator election! I (Hog Farm) didn't proofread the message well enough and left out a link to the election page itself in this message. The voting will occur here; sorry about the need for a second message and the inadvertent omission from the prior one. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:41, 15 September 2022 (UTC)

TFA

September songs

Thank you today for Tropical Storm Carrie (1972), introduced in a personal way in 2011: "Call me Julian. Some days ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no activity in my contribution history, and nothing particular to interest me on FAC, I thought I would browse about a little and see the watery part of the project. It is a way I have of driving off the boredom, and regulating the keyboard. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the fingers; whenever it is a blank, empty page on my computer screen; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before articles for deletion, and bringing up the rear of every stub-class article I meet; and especially whenever my typos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately misspelling words, and methodically opposing people's nominations—then, I account it high time to expand an article as soon as I can."! -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:42, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

... and today I wrote an article about music premiered today, Like as the hart. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:49, 19 September 2022 (UTC)

October 2022 New Pages Patrol backlog drive

New Page Patrol \| October 2022 backlog drive
On 1 October, a one-month backlog drive for New Page Patrol will begin. Barnstars will be awarded based on the number of articles patrolled and for maintaining a streak throughout the drive. Barnstars will also be awarded for re-reviewing articles. Redirect patrolling is not part of the drive. Sign up here!
You're receiving this message because you are a new page patroller. To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here.

(t · c) buidhe 21:16, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

Wikiproject Military history coordinator election voting closing soon

Voting for the upcoming project coordinator election closes soon, at 23:59 on 28 September. A team of up to ten coordinators will be elected for the next coordination year. The project coordinators are the designated points of contact for issues concerning the project, and are responsible for maintaining our internal structure and processes. They do not, however, have any authority over article content or editor conduct, or any other special powers. More information on being a coordinator is available here. Voting is conducted using simple approval voting and questions for the candidates are welcome. The voting itself is occurring here If you have any questions, you can contact any member of the current coord team. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:13, 26 September 2022 (UTC)

Happy Adminship Anniversary!

Wishing Juliancolton a very happy adminship anniversary on behalf of the Birthday Committee! Best wishes! CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 00:28, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2022).

Administrator changes

ScottishFinnishRadish

Staxringold

Ahoerstemeier (deceased) • Ched

Interface administrator changes

Cyberpower678

CheckUser changes

GorillaWarfare

Guideline and policy news

Following an RfC, consensus was found that if the rationale for a block depends on information that is not available to all administrators, that information should be sent to the Arbitration Committee, a checkuser or an oversighter for action (as applicable, per ArbCom's recent updated guidance) instead of the administrator making the block.
Following an RfC, consensus has been found that, in the context of politics and science, the reliability of FoxNews.com is unclear and that additional considerations apply to its use.
Community comment on the revised Universal Code of Conduct enforcement guidelines is requested until 8 October.

Technical news

The Articles for creation helper script now automatically recognises administrator accounts which means your name does not need to be listed at WP:AFCP to help out. If you wish to help out at AFC, enable AFCH by navigating to Preferences → Gadgets and checking the "Yet Another AfC Helper Script" box.

Arbitration

Remedy 8.1 of the Muhammad images case will be rescinded 1 November following a motion.
A modification to the deletion RfC remedy in the Conduct in deletion-related editing case has been made to reaffirm the independence of the RfC and allow the moderators to split the RfC in two.
The second phase of the 2021-22 Discretionary Sanctions Review closes 3 October.

Miscellaneous

An administrator's account was recently compromised. Administrators are encouraged to check that their passwords are secure, and reminded that ArbCom reserves the right to not restore adminship in cases of poor account security. You can also use two-factor authentication (2FA) to provide an extra level of security.
Self-nominations for the electoral commission for the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections open 2 October and close 8 October.
You are invited to comment on candidates in the 2022 CUOS appointments process.
An RfC is open to discuss whether to make Vector 2022 the default skin on desktop.
Tech tip: You can do a fuzzy search of all deleted page titles at Special:Undelete.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:43, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

Hurricane Juan Featured article review

I have nominated Hurricane Juan for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets the featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" in regards to the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:08, 3 October 2022 (UTC)

Request for nomination as a wikipedia admin

I hereby request you to evaluate me and my chances of becoming a Wikipedia admin. I mostly use my mobile phone to make edits since i usually make them while on the go. If you find my edits and request okay, please nominate me. Alvinategyeka (talk) 03:15, 10 October 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2022).

Administrator changes

- Isabelle Belato
- Whpq

Interface administrator changes

CheckUser changes

Oversight changes

DGG

Guideline and policy news

The article creation at scale RfC opened on 3 October and will be open until at least 2 November.
An RfC is open to discuss having open requests for adminship automatically placed on hold after the seven-day period has elapsed, pending closure or other action by a bureaucrat.

Arbitration

Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate themselves from 13 November 2022 until 22 November 2022 to stand in the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections.
The arbitration case request titled Athaenara has been resolved by motion.
The arbitration case Reversal and reinstatement of Athaenara's block has entered the proposed decision stage.
AmandaNP, Mz7 and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2022 Arbitration Committee Elections. Xaosflux and Dr vulpes are reserve commissioners.

Miscellaneous

The 2022 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process has concluded with the appointment of two new CheckUsers.
You can add yourself to the centralised page listing time zones of administrators.
Tech tip: Wikimarkup in a block summary is parsed in the notice that the blockee sees. You can use templates with custom options to specify situations like {{rangeblock|create=yes}} or {{uw-ublock|contains profanity}}.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:23, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

GA Mentoring

Hey, I recently completed my first GA review over at Talk:Deveselu Military Base/GA1, and would appreciate if you could evaluate my review, provide any tips or advice for future reviews and comment on anything I did or did not do well, thanks in advance! Oxi (Contact me) 16:17, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

16th anniversary on Wikipedia!

Invitation to join the Fifteen Year Society

Dear Juliancolton/Archive 38,

I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you to join the Fifteen Year Society, an informal group for editors who've been participating in the Wikipedia project for fifteen years or more.

Best regards, Chris Troutman (talk) 19:41, 18 November 2022 (UTC)

Happy First Edit Day!

WikiProject Weather: Map Dot & Template/Infobox Colors

Dear project member, This message is being sent out to encourage new ideas and feedback on those proposed in regard to the colors debate for WikiProject Weather. For those who are unaware of what's been happening over the last year, I will give a brief summary. We have been discussing proposed changes to the colors of the dots on tropical cyclone maps and templates and infoboxes across the entire weather project in order to solve issues related to the limited contrast between colors for both normal vision as well as the various types of color blindness (MOS:ACCESS). We had partially implemented a proposal earlier this year, however, it was objected to by a number of people and additional issues were presented that made it evident this wasn't the optimal solution. We tried to come up with other solutions to address the issues related to color contrast, however, none of them gained traction and no consensus was generated.

We need your help and I encourage you to propose your own scale and give feedback on those already listed. Keep in mind that we are NOT making a decision on any individual proposal at this time. We are simply allowing people to make proposals and cultivate them given feedback from other project members. Please visit our project page for additional details. The proposal phase will close no later than December 31st at 23:59 UTC. Noah^Talk 03:11, 21 November 2022 (UTC)

ArbCom 2022 Elections voter message

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) 00:30, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2022).

Administrator changes

Interface administrator changes

CheckUser changes

Oversight changes

CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 23:03, 25 December 2022 (UTC)

Guideline and policy news

Consensus has been found in an RfC to automatically place RfAs on hold after one week.
The article creation at scale RfC has been closed.
An RfC on the banners for the December 2022 fundraising campaign has been closed.

Technical news

A new preference named "Enable limited width mode" has been added to the Vector 2022 skin. The preference is also shown as a toggle on every page if your monitor is 1600 pixels or wider. When disabled it removes the whitespace added by Vector 2022 on the left and right of the page content. Disabling this preference has the same effect as enabling the wide-vector-2022 gadget. (T319449)

Arbitration

Eligible users are invited to vote on candidates for the Arbitration Committee until 23:59 December 12, 2022 (UTC). Candidate statements can be seen here.
The proposed decision for the 2021-22 review of the discretionary sanctions system is open.
The arbitration case Reversal and reinstatement of Athaenara's block has been closed.
The arbitration case Stephen has been opened and the proposed decision is expected 1 December 2022.
A motion has modified the procedures for contacting an admin facing Level 2 desysop.

Miscellaneous

Tech tip: A single IPv6 connection usually has access to a "subnet" of 18 quintillion IPs. Add /64 to the end of an IP in Special:Contributions to see all of a subnet's edits, and consider blocking the whole subnet rather than an IP that may change within a minute.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:44, 1 December 2022 (UTC)

Merry Christmas!

~~~ Merry Christmas! ~~~
Joyeux Noël! ~ Buon Natale! ~ Vrolijk Kerstfeest! ~ Frohe Weihnachten!
¡Feliz Navidad! ~ Feliz Natal! ~ Καλά Χριστούγεννα! ~ Hyvää Joulua!
God Jul! ~ Glædelig Jul! ~ Linksmų Kalėdų! ~ Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus!
Häid Jõule! ~ Wesołych Świąt! ~ Boldog Karácsonyt! ~ Veselé Vánoce!
Veselé Vianoce! ~ Crăciun Fericit! ~ Sretan Božić! ~ С Рождеством!
শুভ বড়দিন! ~ 圣诞节快乐！~ メリークリスマス！~ 메리 크리스마스!
สุขสันต์วันคริสต์มาส! ~ Selamat Hari Natal! ~ Giáng sinh an lành!
Весела Коледа!

Hello, Juliancolton! Thank you for your work to maintain and improve Wikipedia! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 23:03, 25 December 2022 (UTC)

Spread the WikiLove and leave other users this message by adding {{subst:Multi-language Season's Greetings}}

Happy New Year!

Juliancolton,
Thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia, and a Happy New Year to you and yours! CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 21:43, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

– Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year}} to user talk pages.

CAPTAIN RAJU^(T) 21:43, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

Happy Kalends of January

		Happy New Year!
		Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year, from the horse and bishop person. May the year ahead be productive and distraction-free and may Janus light your way. Ealdgyth (talk) 13:52, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2022).

Administrator changes

Stephen

Interface administrator changes

Nihiltres

CheckUser changes

Moneytrees

Oversighter changes

Guideline and policy news

Speedy deletion criterion A5 (transwikied articles) has been repealed following an unopposed proposal.

Arbitration

Following the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Barkeep49, CaptainEek, GeneralNotability, Guerillero, L235, Moneytrees, Primefac, SilkTork.
The 2021-22 Discretionary Sanctions Review has concluded with many changes to the discretionary sanctions procedure including a change of the name to "contentious topics". The changes are being implemented over the coming month.
The arbitration case Stephen has been closed.

Miscellaneous

Voting for the Sound Logo has closed and the winner is expected to be announced February to April 2023.
Tech tip: You can view information about IP addresses in a centralised location using bullseye which won the Newcomer award in the recent Coolest Tool Awards.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:08, 6 January 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2023).

Administrator changes

Gimmetrow

CheckUser changes

Oversighter changes

Guideline and policy news

Following an RfC, the administrator policy now requires that prior written consent be gained from the Arbitration Committee to mark a block as only appealable to the committee.
Following a community discussion, consensus has been found to impose the extended-confirmed restriction over the topic areas of Armenia and Azerbaijan and Kurds and Kurdistan.

Technical news

The Vector 2022 skin has become the default for desktop users of the English Wikipedia.

Arbitration

The arbitration case Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 has been opened and the proposed decision is expected 24 February 2023.
In December, the contentious topics procedure was adopted which replaces the former discretionary sanctions system. The contentious topics procedure is now in effect following an initial implementation period. There is a detailed summary of the changes and administrator instructions for the new procedure. The arbitration clerk team are taking suggestions, concerns, and unresolved questions about this new system at their noticeboard.

Miscellaneous

Voting in the 2023 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2023, 21:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2023, 21:00 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
Voting in the 2023 Community Wishlist Survey will begin on 10 February 2023 and end on 24 February 2023. You can submit, discuss and revise proposals until 6 February 2023.
Tech tip: Syntax highlighting is available in both the 2011 and 2017 Wikitext editors. It can help make editing paragraphs with many references or complicated templates easier.

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:38, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

Featured article review Hurricane Gustav (2002)

User:SandyGeorgia has nominated Hurricane Gustav (2002) for a featured article review here. Please join the discussion on whether this article meets the featured article criteria. Articles are typically reviewed for two weeks. If substantial concerns are not addressed during the review period, the article will be moved to the Featured Article Removal Candidates list for a further period, where editors may declare "Keep" or "Delist" in regards to the article's featured status. The instructions for the review process are here. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:33, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2023

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2023).

Administrator changes

The Wordsmith

CheckUser changes

Oversighter changes