User talk:K6ka/Archives/2017/August
Administrators' newsletter – August 2017
News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2017).
Administrator changes
Anarchyte • GeneralizationsAreBad • Cullen328 (first RfA to reach WP:300)
Cprompt • Rockpocket • Rambo's Revenge • Animum • TexasAndroid • Chuck SMITH • MikeLynch • Crazytales • Ad Orientem
Guideline and policy news
- Following a series of discussions around new pages patrol, the WMF is helping implement a controlled autoconfirmed article creation trial as a research experiment, similar to the one proposed in 2011. You can learn more about the research plan at meta:Research:Autoconfirmed article creation trial. The exact start date of the experiment has yet to be determined.
- A new speedy deletion criterion, regarding articles created as a result undisclosed paid editing, is currently being discussed (permalink).
- An RfC (permalink) is currently open that proposes expanding WP:G13 to include all drafts, even if they weren't submitted through Articles for Creation.
Technical news
- LoginNotify should soon be deployed to the English Wikipedia. This will notify users when there are suspicious login attempts on their account.
- The new version of XTools is nearing an official release. This suite of tools includes administrator statistics, an improved edit counter, among other tools that may benefit administrators. You can report issues on Phabricator and provide general feedback at mw:Talk:XTools.
The Signpost: 5 August 2017
- Recent research: Wikipedia can increase local tourism by +9%; predicting article quality with deep learning; recent behavior predicts quality
- WikiProject report: Comic relief
- In the media: Wikipedia used to judge death penalty, arms smuggling, Indonesian governance, and HOTTEST celebrity
- Traffic report: Swedish countess tops the list
- Featured content: Everywhere in the lead
- Technology report: Introducing TechCom
- Humour: WWASOHs and ETCSSs
This week's article for improvement (week 32, 2017)
Hello, K6ka.
The following is WikiProject Today's articles for improvement's weekly selection: Please be bold and help to improve this article! Previous selections: Genocide Convention • Search algorithm Get involved with the TAFI project. You can: Nominate an article • Review nominations Posted by: MusikBot talk 00:05, 7 August 2017 (UTC) using MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of WikiProject TAFI • |
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Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now see which Wikipedia language versions are read in a specific country. This tool is called Wikipedia Views Visualized. [1]
The Architecture Committee is now the Wikimedia Technical Committee. You can read the charter. [2]
Problems
- You can get an email when a page on your watchlist was edited. You can choose not to get emails for minor edits. There is a bug that means that you then don't get an email when someone does a normal edit after a minor edit. The developers are working on fixing this. Until it has been fixed you can activate "Email me also for minor edits of pages and files" at the bottom of "User profile" in your preferences if you want to. [3]
- The thanks button sometimes didn't work for mobile users. This was because of a new bug and has now been fixed. [4]
Changes later this week
The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 8 August. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 9 August. It will be on all wikis from 10 August (calendar).
Future changes
- Editors and readers who still use Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP will not be able to use Wikipedia. Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP can't connect securely to the wikis. When we allow them to do so it means that we get less security for everyone else. If you use Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP you can install Firefox 52 ESR instead. Around 0.1% of the traffic to the Wikimedia wikis comes from Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP. [5]
- Links to sections on Wikipedia don't work well in languages that don't use the Latin script. The URL in the address bar in your browser shows Latin characters like
.D0.A1.D1.81.D1.8B.D0.BB.D0.BA.D0.B8instead of the section heading in the wiki's language. Links to sections in non-Latin scripts will be in the script of that wiki in the future. This will happen in the next few months. [6][7] - Wiki pages printed by the web browser "Print" function will have an updated style. This new style will be similar to the when you download a page as PDF. It will be better at showing tables, infoboxes and headings. [8][9]
Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
21:45, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
Newbie question
Hey k6ka ☺ I spent the last couple of days reading about CVU, but noticed here that there are currently no instructors available. How do you suggest I proceed? Should I just read through wikipedia pages and get familiar with anti-vandalism practices and wait for a free instructor?
btw how did you get that fancy "new section" thing on your talk page? I want one too ♥
— Superuser27 talk 21:45, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
- Hi Superuser27. Sorry to hear that there are no available CVUA instructors at the moment. You can try contacting them and asking if they're willing to take you once a slot becomes available. Failing that, you can read the links under "Help" and then try your hand patrolling Special:RecentChanges and seeing if you can revert any vandalism. Don't be afraid if you seem slow or are overwhelmed by everything (I was in that boat when I first started vandal fighting here on Wikipedia!). The best way to get better at vandal fighting is to do more of it. Don't expect to get everything on your first try; just learn from your mistakes and keep rolling. While having a CVUA instructor is great, it is also possible to learn the basics on your own too (I did not have a CVUA instructor).
- As for the fancy "New section" text box, I used the following:
<inputbox> type=commenttitle page=User talk:K6ka </inputbox>
- To change the inputbox for use on your own talk page, change the "page" parameter to "User talk:Superuser27". More documentation on how to create inputboxes like these can be found here. —k6ka 🍁 (Talk · Contributions) 22:58, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
- Again, thank you! ♥
- Btw starting a line with
::is opening up an emoji table below the edit box and I can't close it unless I put another: - Edit: It appears that when I start a second line with the same indentation, the annoying box goes away. Still maybe someone should have a look at it, maybe add a "close" button :)
— Superuser27 talk 06:52, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
- Again, thank you! ♥
- @Superuser27: I'm not seeing an emoji table when I type two
::, are you using a mobile device? —k6ka 🍁 (Talk · Contributions) 11:20, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
- @Superuser27: I'm not seeing an emoji table when I type two
- No, I was on my PC, just like now, but I'm not able to reproduce the problem. Maybe it was just a glitch in the matrix ;) — Superuser27 contributions - talk 13:17, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
This week's article for improvement (week 33, 2017)
 An automobile engine is an example of an intermediate good, and is used in the production of the final good, the assembled automobile.
The following is WikiProject Today's articles for improvement's weekly selection: Please be bold and help to improve this article! Previous selections: Blackmail • Genocide Convention Get involved with the TAFI project. You can: Nominate an article • Review nominations Posted by: MusikBot talk 00:06, 14 August 2017 (UTC) using MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of WikiProject TAFI • |
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A cookie for you!
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To thank you for the help you gave me and how kindly you introduced me to the tools of WikiPedia! — Superuser27 contributions - talk 13:52, 14 August 2017 (UTC) |
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- Bureaucrats can now set users as confirmed. Previously only stewards could do this on most wikis. Nothing will change for wikis that have previously decided to let administrators set users as confirmed. [10]
Problems
- The symbols in the language list that show that an article is good or featured in that language doesn't work. Links to the Commons category in the sidebar doesn't work either. The developers are working on fixing it. [11][12]
Changes later this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 15 August. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 16 August. It will be on all wikis from 17 August (calendar).
Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
23:29, 14 August 2017 (UTC)
Well then...
I guess Freenode is off the wagon... lol ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 04:46, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
- It's back! ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 04:47, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
- Ehh... maybe not. I'm connected but it's being hella slow authing me... ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 04:49, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
- @Oshwah: Not too sure what happened, since I was asleep at the time. I'm guessing freenode staff misfired and accidentally K-Lined a whole bunch of legit users, and a whole mess of users trying to reconnect probably slowed the network down to a crawl. I also noticed a ton of spam private messages being sent to me between 3AM EST and 5AM EST. Looks like freenode's suffering from its size again. —k6ka 🍁 (Talk · Contributions) 11:33, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
- Yup, that's exactly what happened. ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 11:39, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
- @Oshwah: Not too sure what happened, since I was asleep at the time. I'm guessing freenode staff misfired and accidentally K-Lined a whole bunch of legit users, and a whole mess of users trying to reconnect probably slowed the network down to a crawl. I also noticed a ton of spam private messages being sent to me between 3AM EST and 5AM EST. Looks like freenode's suffering from its size again. —k6ka 🍁 (Talk · Contributions) 11:33, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
- Ehh... maybe not. I'm connected but it's being hella slow authing me... ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 04:49, 17 August 2017 (UTC)
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 at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.
— TheMagnificentist 11:07, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
- TheMagnificentist, the username you have requested is not eligible for usurpation; it has made significant edits on other wikis. You should also be patient when filing an usurpation request, since there is a waiting period (about one week at WP:CHU/U; about one month at m:SRUC). —k6ka 🍁 (Talk · Contributions) 11:23, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
- Should I request at m:SRUC then? — TheMagnificentist 11:26, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
- @TheMagnificentist: It has made significant edits on other wikis. It can't be usurped at all, regardless of where you file the request at. —k6ka 🍁 (Talk · Contributions) 11:27, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
- Ah okay, I'll look for a different username then. — TheMagnificentist 11:32, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
- @TheMagnificentist: It has made significant edits on other wikis. It can't be usurped at all, regardless of where you file the request at. —k6ka 🍁 (Talk · Contributions) 11:27, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
- Should I request at m:SRUC then? — TheMagnificentist 11:26, 18 August 2017 (UTC)
This week's article for improvement (week 34, 2017)
The following is WikiProject Today's articles for improvement's weekly selection: Please be bold and help to improve this article! Previous selections: Intermediate good • Blackmail Get involved with the TAFI project. You can: Nominate an article • Review nominations Posted by: MusikBot talk 00:05, 21 August 2017 (UTC) using MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of WikiProject TAFI • |
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Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now test the new Timeless skin on the test wiki and mediawiki.org. You can turn it on in your preferences. You can report bugs in Phabricator. It will come to more wikis soon. [13][14]
- Your watchlist can now have the option to unwatch pages. You have to turn this on in your preferences. [15]
- If a table has several columns you can often choose which column you want to use to sort the table. This has not worked for some columns for readers who have used Firefox or Safari. This has now been fixed. [16]
- The RelatedArticles extension has shown related pages on Wikivoyages. You will now see the related pages at the end of the article together with an image. Previously the links were in the sidebar. Wikis that want this extension can request it on Phabricator.
Changes later this week
- Videos will now be played in the WebM format in all browsers. Previously some browsers used Ogg Theora (.ogv). If you use Safari, Internet Explorer or Edge you may see slower playback speed at high resolutions. Instead we will get better quality and smaller file size. You can still upload video as Ogg files. They are automatically converted to WebM. This doesn't affect Ogg audio files. [17]
- The default font in the edit window will change for some users this week. Instead of using the browser default, it will be monospace. Users can change this in their preferences. This should only change this for some users on Macs and iOS devices. [18]
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 22 August. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 23 August. It will be on all wikis from 24 August (calendar).
Meetings
- You can join the technical advice meeting on IRC. During the meeting, volunteer developers can ask for advice. The meeting will be on 23 August at 15:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 22 August at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
18:01, 21 August 2017 (UTC)
This week's article for improvement (week 35, 2017)
Hello, K6ka.
The following is WikiProject Today's articles for improvement's weekly selection: Please be bold and help to improve this article! Previous selections: Emigration • Intermediate good Get involved with the TAFI project. You can: Nominate an article • Review nominations Posted by: MusikBot talk 00:06, 28 August 2017 (UTC) using MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of WikiProject TAFI • |
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Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- Syntax highlighting is now a beta feature on Wikimedia wikis with text written from left to right. It will come to right-to-left wikis later. This beta feature is based on CodeMirror. [19][20]
- You will now get a notification when someone tries to log in to your account and fails. If they try from a device or IP address that have logged in to your account before you will be notified after five failed attempts. You can turn this off or choose to get an email notification in your preferences. You can also turn on to get an email when someone logs in to your account from a new device or IP address. [21]
Problems
- Some pages show the error
Lua error in mw.wikibase.entity.lua at line 34: The entity data must be a table obtained via mw.wikibase.getEntityObject. This problem happens on pages with a Lua module that use Wikidata. This has now been fixed and no new pages will get this problem. You still need to fix pages that were broken before and still show the error message. You can see how on this page. [22]
Changes later this week
- You can block users from sending you notifications. [23]
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 29 August. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 30 August. It will be on all wikis from 31 August (calendar).
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 29 August at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join the next meeting with the Technical Committee. The topic this week is Migrate to HTML5 section ids. The meeting will be on 30 August at 21:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- In the future you will have global preferences. This means you could set something in your preferences to work in the same way on all wikis. You will not be forced to use global preferences. The developers are now asking if editors need exceptions. This is where you want to use global settings on almost all wikis, but have some wikis where you want it to work in a different way. If you want this you need to tell the developers now. You can do so on the talk page. [24]
- New filters for edit review is a beta feature to improve recent changes pages. It will work on watchlists from 5 September. [25]
- The jQuery library will be upgraded to version 3 in September 2017. Wikis can ask on Phabricator to get it early, so they can help find and solve problems now.
Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
22:10, 28 August 2017 (UTC)