User talk:Zozo2kx/2011

DYK Feedback

Hi Zozo2kx,

I was just reviewing your nomination of Hikmat al-Shihabi for DYK. It looked fine, but I noticed a couple sentences were directly copied from a source. I can't seem to find the other source you cited online, could you check to make sure that you didn't accidentally paraphrase to closely from it? Thanks, Qrsdogg (talk) 01:56, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

Qrsdogg, thank you for reviewing and copyediting the article. I will take another run through it and make sure there's no paraphrasing. Thanks again. Yazan (talk) 03:53, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

your DYK

Hello! Your submission of Ali Farzat at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Regards.--Mbz1 (talk) 23:17, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for reviewing, I'll reply there. Yazan (talk) 02:31, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Salim Barakat

Materialscientist (talk) 06:02, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Ali Farzat

Yeah; I guess if you had used only googled sources, then you would have gotten a ....because you did not use sources in books :) ...with some you just cannot win :)

Anyway; Nice to see you are back! If is a bit "empty" around WP:Palestine at the moment...Al Ameer son and Tiamut being occupied by RL-concerns, & Nab and Zero also on wikibreak. I really miss building articles with them ..sniff. Hope you are well, cheers, Huldra (talk) 19:27, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks

Great thanks for your warm welcome. Preacher lad (talk) 19:32, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Long time, no see indeed

Salam Yazan! All is well (recent events in the Arab world have actually got me ecstatic). I presume you too are happy in this regard ;). I'm also very delighted to see that you're still editing, constantly creating great articles and improving others. I've recently decided to at least regularly stop by and help contribute so I look forward to collaborating with you whenever possible. I noticed you're interested in improving Umayyad Mosque. I think its necessary an article on a highly important subject like this should be elevated to at least Good article status. I would be more than happy to help you edit it but can't promise that I'll be fully committed like in the past. We should gather some sources individually and begin work ASAP. What do you think? --Al Ameer son (talk) 18:01, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

If you get your hands on Ross's book we would have plenty of information to edit the article. They have the book on Google books, but it's just a preview and it leaves out a lot of important info. I emailed you my email address just a second ago. If you don't receive it soon, tell me and I'll send it again. --Al Ameer son (talk) 18:36, 17 February 2011 (UTC)

Just moved the article. I added a little to the TODO list and will probably add more as we edit the article. I'm most likely going to begin editing the Arab period tomorrow. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:19, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Hikmat al-Shihabi

Dravecky (talk) 06:03, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Ali Duba

Dravecky (talk) 06:03, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Muhammad Mustafa Mero

Ed ^{[talk] [majestic titan]} 06:06, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for fixing my English! It was nice of you.Cheers.--Mbz1 (talk) 16:16, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome, happy editing. Yazan (talk) 16:35, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Ali Aslan

Materialscientist (talk) 18:03, 19 February 2011 (UTC)

Barnstar

Thank you for the barnstar. Cheers. --Meno25 (talk) 12:07, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Bab Sharqi and Bab al-Jabiyah

Thanks! Nice work! Keep it up! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 15:59, 20 February 2011 (UTC)

2011 Syrian protests

>> I was wondering, where should one list such article to garner further input/discussion.<<

• Pretty much, AfD is the main place for discussion if you're looking for opinions from uninvolved (neutral) editors -- i.e., those who look at whether the topic is notable enough for its own separate article, without opinions about the current content of the article. As far as persons who are already interested in a topic, then the discussion page inside the article itself is where to reach that audience. I think you're handling the AfD discussion just fine, even if other people have made some personal comments. It's understandable that people are going to have strong feelings about whether an article should be kept or deleted, and I always take that into account. When it comes to responding to a hostile statement, the best approach is to point out that they're wrong without looking even more hostile-- not always easy. Mandsford 14:40, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Saleh al-Ali

Thanks for this contribution to Wikipedia Victuallers (talk) 18:04, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Ali Farzat

Thanks for this contribution to Wikipedia SmartSE (talk) 00:03, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Syrian protests

Hey, why do you think there hasn't been any Syrian protests against the regime? --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 11:06, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

It's a completely different ball game when it comes to Syria. Most people despise the regime, but they don't hate the president. Mostly, because they see the last few years as a victory for Syria's foreign policy (it stood up to Bush, Mubarak, Saudi Arabia, and international isolation and came out on top). They associate foreign policy with the president. They associate internal difficulties (the economy, stagnating freedoms) with the regime (Prime minister, and deputy), and there's a lot of criticism of these in the press. It's a calculated game. There's also something to be said that Syria IS at war with Israel, and people take that seriously. People are scared that the best-case scenario is a weak system that can be manipulated by gulf petrodollars (like in Lebanon), or absolute chaos and an almost certain civil-sectarian war. All put together with the fact that Syrians are much better off than say, Egyptians (economically)... and you get a rather stable place. I don't like it, but that's how it is. There's some genuine hope that there'll be a real push for reform, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Yazan (talk) 11:19, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

This is a very good analysis on why people are staying home, IMHO. Yazan (talk) 11:28, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Tell Ramad

I replied at the same place. If I am wrong please explain me where I made mistake and I will be very happy to correct my review.--Antidiskriminator (talk) 15:47, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Thank you for your invitation which I gladly accept. --Antidiskriminator (talk) 19:53, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Khabur ware

The DYK project (nominate) 18:03, 22 February 2011 (UTC)

Proposed deletion of Embassy of Syria, London

The article Embassy of Syria, London has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

No evidence that the subject meets WP:NOTE.

While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

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

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. The speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Cordless Larry (talk) 01:39, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Near East Archaeology

Hi Yazan, thanks for your messages. It's great to collaborate with you on these projects. I have several other big Syrian archaeological sites planned that I will let you know about, but wondered if you could also lend me a hand with some Lebanese ones - Jebal Saaidé, Nachcharini and Moukhtara could all use your touch of professionalism and Arabic tweaking. I'm working on a really big (possibly the biggest) project after carrying out an initial survey of what I believe is a massive PPNB agricultural site near Rashaya, Lebanon in 2009 - very near the border of Syria. Your help getting all these nearby sites updated on here is hugely valuable promoting knowledge and ecouraging further investigation of this area for both countries. Shoukran! Paul Bedson (talk) 16:13, 23 February 2011 (UTC)

Thank you

		The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
		Seems to be the best-fitting barnstar I could give you my friend. This is for your tireless efforts at creating high-quality Syria-related articles and continously improving existing ones. Keep up the great work! Al Ameer son (talk) 05:27, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Niqmepa

The DYK project (nominate) 06:02, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Tell Ramad

Materialscientist (talk) 12:04, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Al-Rawda

Hello! Your submission of Al-Rawda at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Peter I. Vardy (talk) 17:37, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Tell Mashnaqa

Materialscientist (talk) 18:03, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

Removing "archaeological sites in Syria" cat

Hello. Adding new cats for bronze age etc to articles is fine, and I realize that technically "archaeological sites in Syria" is included in those. The problem is that when the current cat is removed, it no longer appears at the bottom of the article for people to click if they want to see more sites in Syria (and not just the Stone Age or whatever sites).Ploversegg (talk) 21:34, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

I am not so sure whether adding cats like Iron Age sites in Syria etc. is such a good idea. First of all, I already noticed that in some cases the category Archaeological sites in Syria had been replaced by Iron Age sites in Syria, even though the site is also occupied in the Bronze Age. Second, I think that a category like Stone Age sites in Syria should be replaced by Neolithic sites in Syria and (Epi)palaeolithic sites in Syria (if such categories are used at all). The term Stone Age is quite old fashioned nowadays. Third, in some cases, a site has been added to the wrong category (ie Mozan to Neolithic sites). Finally, multi-period sites like Tell Brak or Tell Halaf would end up with a long list of categories (Stone Age, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic, Roman, etc) where first they had only 1 category. To me, this is a little bit like overcategorization. But that's just my two cents... -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 00:17, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

EDIT I just noticed that the category Neolithic sites in Syria already exists, in which case it is better to rename Stone Age sites into Palaeolithic sites, to avoid confusion. That still leaves the Natufian/Epipalaeolithic undefined, though. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 01:09, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for your input. What I was trying to do was to reorganize the archaeology category in a similar fashion to the one in Greece (see Category:Archaeological_sites_in_Greece, the sites are split into period and region sub cats. While the parent category only has the more important places (Mari, Ebla, Ugarit, etc.).

One solution to the categorization overkill, would be to mention only the earlies (or most important level). Which is not the best of ideas, but it's one anyway. Yazan (talk) 04:06, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

The organization you suggest might not be such a bad idea, actually. You would have to find a good organization in periods, and preferably one that you could apply to other ANE countries as well (although that will probably be difficult). Anyway, I'll think about it. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 04:16, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

(indent) My suggestion for the period subcats would be:

• Paleolithic
• Epipalaeolithic
• Neolithic
• Bronze Age
• Iron Age
• Persian
• Hellenistic
• Roman/Byzantine
• Middle Ages

Yazan (talk) 07:19, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Not bad. Although, strictly speaking, Middle Ages/medieval doesn't apply to the Near East. Wouldn't Islamic be better? And it might be useful to add a category Ottoman as well. And a category Chalcolithic. Just a suggestion. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 14:22, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

I agree about the Islamic and Chalcolithic. But I'm not sure about the Ottoman. I don't know many Ottoman sites (if any) that are of "archaeological" importance. Most of Ottoman Syria is studied in strict architectural sense, and is categorized as such. I might be wrong, and I'm in no way an expert on the subject, but what exactly would constitute an Ottoman site in Syria?

Also, what about populating these categories. What do we do with epoch-spanning sites, like Hama for example, it has been settled since at least the early Neolithic. Should we list it in all these categories, up to now? (I would actually go for that, because it makes it easy for someone to discover the chronology of the region by sifting through the categories, but input would be appreciated). Yazan (talk) 17:41, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

The reason why there are so few Ottoman sites is because it is a neglected area in ANE archaeology, and especially in Syria. The continuity of settlement up to the present is one of the characterizing elements of ANE archaeology; leaving out Ottoman occupation in such a sequence (and Ottoman occupation of tells is, for example, very prominent in NE Syria where many modern villages on top of tells go back to that time) would make that element invisible. But I agree, it is not really important and could be left out to keep the number of categories limited. Why don't you past your suggestion in a few WPs such as WP Syria, WP ANE or WP Archaeology and get some feedback? It might also be of use to categorize sites in Iraq or Jordan or elsewhere in the ANE and it would be great to get some standardization in that field, since ANE related articles are generally in such a mess. I would also definitely put the Greece example with it, that shows very good how it could work.

I myself have been thinking about putting together some suggestions for organising articles on tells (along the lines of History of research, The site and its environment and Occupation history, as that seems to work very well for many tells) and post that on these WPs for feedback, but I want to think about that a little bit more. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 17:52, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Something else I just thought of, might it be an idea to organize the chronological categories not per country, but for the ANE as a whole? My idea is that people who are interested in Bronze Age sites are probably looking for sites of that period in Jordan, Syria, Iraq alike, rather than in Syria alone, since Syria as a country doesn't have any relevance for old sites. And if they are looking for sites in Syria, they can use the category per country. But maybe that's pushing it too far. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 18:11, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Please see this tentative suggestion (feel free to edit). Yazan (talk) 18:41, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Tentative suggestion

Zoeperkoe and I have been having a discussion on how best to categorize and organize archaeological sites in the Ancient Middle East, so that they'd be easily, and more intuitively accessible and navigable. We would like any feedback from participants, to come with some sort of a standard. It seems to make sense to categorize the sites by the different epochs during which they were occupied. So far the main epochs we could agree on were the following:

• Paleolithic
• Epipalaeolithic
• Neolithic
• Chalcolithic
• Bronze Age
• Iron Age
• Persian
• Hellenistic
• Roman/Byzantine (Sassanid for Mesopotamia)
• Islamic
• Ottoman

For an applied example of how this would look like, please see the main/parent category for archaeological sites in Greece, Category:Archaeological sites in Greece.

Nevertheless, this method leaves us with two main problems.

1. Some sites have spanned many different epochs (Hama has been first settled in the Neolithic, and has been continuously inhabited since), should we include the site in all the categories (and would that lead to too many categories in some articles)? Should we only include it in the category when occupation started and/or important epochs in its history.
2. Should this categorization be ANE-wide, or country-centric. Example, should it be Category:Neolithic sites in Syria or Category:Neolithic sites in the Ancient Near East? (The first would preserve the territorial/historical integrity of the area, and might better serve those who are interested in the study of ANE as one. The second would make it easier to focus on certain countries in the region)

I think this is an excellent text. I already expect comments on the use of this in Iraq, since Bronze/Iron Age is generally not used there in favour of ED/Akkadian/Old Babylonian etc. and I guess there might be similar problems in Iran, so in the end the suggestion to do this ANE-wide might just not work. But I say, post it anyway and we just see what kind of responses we get.

Yes I was thinking about that while writing it down. I am not sure about Egypt either. But if we can get a standard for the Levant/Turkey, that would be something in itself. I started the thread on WP:ANE and will link to it from relevant WikiProjects so we can have a centralized discussion. Yazan (talk) 19:04, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

Al-Rawda

Thanks for starting the article! It was on my to-do list but I just never found the time to do it. It is a very impressive site that definitely should be on Wikipedia; too bad I have never had the opportunity to visit it. Oh well, maybe in a few years... Oh, I also suggested an alt2 for dyk, but if you don't like it, just cross it out. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 04:01, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

It is an impressive site indeed. Thanks for greatly expanding the article. ALT2 is much better. I tweaked it a bit to remove the parenthesis. Yazan (talk) 04:17, 25 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Bab Sharqi

The DYK project (nominate) 18:02, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Bab al-Jabiyah

The DYK project (nominate) 18:02, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Damascus

Hi there. I've made a Template:Location map Syria Damascus which you may find useful for pinning landmarks in the city.♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:08, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, that's wonderful. It might make sense to make a special one for Old Damascus, maybe with less colors, so it won't be distracting. I'll see if that's possible! But thanks, this should be quite useful. Yazan (talk) 12:30, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Sure I'll make one for Old Damascus too in a closer scale. I know the colours are not the best but if the wiki foundation had listened to my proposal for our own mapping project we'd probably have many decent maps by now.. BTW I've nominated Citadel of Damascus for GA. I think with a bit of work it could pass.♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:33, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks. You might want to notify User:Zoeperkoe about Damascus citadel, he's the one who was doing most of the work and I think he's still working on it. Cheers! Yazan (talk) 12:35, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

OK. I've made a map of Old Damascus in use in Citadel of Damascus. I did a recolour job to improve its appearance.♦ Dr. Blofeld 12:42, 28 February 2011 (UTC) I've also made Template:Location map Syria Aleppo.♦ Dr. Blofeld 13:11, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Al-Rawda

The DYK project (nominate) 00:03, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Fadl ibn Salih

Marhaba Yazan. I just started the aforementioned article (actually a stub) on the Abbasid governor of Syria who erected the Umayyad Mosque's Bayt al-Mal. I couldn't find much info about him in English sources. Do you know where we could find the date of his death? I have his birth year already. About the mosque article, do you have any sources available for the Umayyad period? --Al Ameer son (talk) 01:27, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Most Arabic sources give his name as al-Fadl ibn Salih. His date of death is given by (Khayr al-Din Zirakly) as 172 Hijri (aged 50 years) = 788/789 and considering your sources of his return to Syria date it should be 789. I will look for more sources later though. Yazan (talk) 04:55, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

I nominated the article just now. I'm too lazy to archive my talk page man... maybe tomorrow ;) Btw, thank you for those sources. They contain tons of info.--Al Ameer son (talk) 05:34, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Tell Ghoraifé

The DYK project (nominate) 06:03, 1 March 2011 (UTC)

Citadel of Damascus

The copy-editing is neat. It's always good - although sometimes a little but confrontating as well ;) - to get comments on your writing. The history parts are complete as far as I am concerned, all that has to be finished now is the architecture section, and the lead needs to be rewritten as a more concise summary. I'll see if I can do the architecture this weekend; the sources on that are primarily French so I need some time for that, and I need to get them from the library. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 04:55, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Well, you've done some fantastic work on it already, and it will be a well-deserved GA. On another note, we're collaborating on the Umayyad Mosque now as well (care to join?) and it would be great if you could pass any refs that you came by while writing the article about the citadel. There's plenty resources on the architecture, but the history ones seem scarce. Anyway, good luck! Yazan (talk) 14:38, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Oh, and FYI, I should start working on this soon as well, you might be interested! Cheers. Yazan (talk) 14:39, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Ah, I was already surprised there's still no article on that site. I have to respectfully decline your offer on the Umayyad Mosque, as my next project is getting Euphrates to GA and after that it will be either getting Citadel of Damascus to A-status at MilHist (and who knows, maybe even FA, as I think it could potentially make it), or getting Tigris or History of Mesopotamia to GA. But if I can help with Sabi Abyad, let me know. I happen to know the excavators quite well and I have access to a lot of scientific literature on it. I could set up a dropbox or other fileshare to share some of them with you, if you like, or per email but I am not sure whether I enabled that in WP. Same goes for articles on the Umayyad Mosque, of course. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 16:35, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

No worries, and Good luck on the Citadel, it would be great to see it on the main page. It would help a lot if I have access to some scholarly work on the site (Sabi Abyad), most of the sources I got are overviews, not very detailed. Dropbox would be great, if it's not too much of an imposition. You can email me through Wikipedia, I have mine set up. Thanks. Yazan (talk) 17:01, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

That should not be a problem. I have a few papers that you should definitely include in Sabi Abyad with some nice DYK material. I see what I can do, but it has to wait until the weekend. I also have to write papers in real life... ;)

That's great, thanks. Good luck in your research, I know the feeling. Cheers, Yazan (talk) 07:23, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

I'[m not sure where the walls area. Feel free to use Microsoft Paint or whatever package you have to outline it, nothing too prominent though..♦ Dr. Blofeld 14:43, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

DYK Stats & Mobilization of the Bulgarian Army in 1915

Hi, regarding this edit of yours: as I see it, Mobilization of the Bulgarian Army in 1915 appeared on the Main Page here at 18:00, 28 February 2011 (UTC) and was removed 6 hours later at midnight (UTC) here. It did not feature on the Main Page on 1 March. The entry of 00:00, 1 March 2011 (UTC) in Wikipedia:Recent additions#1 March 2011 is when it was archived after having appeared on the Main Page. Please correct me if I'm wrong. —Bruce1ee^talk 14:38, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Yes, you're absolutely right. I didn't realize it was the time the hooks were taken off the main page, my mistake! Apologies. Self-reverted. Yazan (talk) 14:46, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

No problem :) —Bruce1ee^talk 15:38, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Falafel

Thanks for the kind comments!!! -- nsaum75 ^{!Dígame¡‎} 14:51, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. Yazan (talk) 15:29, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

May I ask

...what this use of rollback was all about? NW (Talk) 05:59, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Dear god, what happened there? Well, I saw a comment being removed from the user's talkpage, I read the comment quickly and I didn't see anything offending, the user linked to a Wiki Signpost (hardly outing), so I rolled back. In hindsight I probably should've undoed rather than rollback, but am I missing something? Yazan (talk) 07:27, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, but it's probably not the trouble to explain it. It's no big deal, really, but in the future, it's best to leave things be in cases where the user claims outing and contact an admin. NW (Talk) 14:41, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Will do, thanks. Yazan (talk) 08:04, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Murad Pasha Mosque

Hello! Your submission of Murad Pasha Mosque at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Peter I. Vardy (talk) 16:41, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Thank you!

Thank you for fixing the image! It was really nice of you. Best wishes.--Mbz1 (talk) 14:07, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

You're welcome. Yazan (talk) 14:39, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Al-Fadl ibn Salih

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 10:02, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

GAN Citadel of Damascus

Hi, I more or less finished Citadel of Damascus and asked Reaper Eternal to start the review. The architecture section is more or less complete (there are some minor elements missing but the architecturel history of the citadel is so complex that I had to make some choices on what to leave out and what not) and I rewrote the lead. It was all done in a little bit of hurry, and I wasn't really completely focused on this topic at the moment (which is why I wasn't 100% happy with the early nomination), so it would be great if you could have another read on the architecture and lead as well and see if it all makes sense. I'll try to do that tomorrow as well, and also have another look at the comments by Diannaa. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 05:14, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Will do. A quick skim through it though, it looks more than ready for GA. Fantastic work, truly! Yazan (talk) 05:55, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the c/e! I hope it will pass without too much adjustment. After writing this, I think I have had enough of Ottomans, Mamluks and Ayyubids for a while. I think I'll go and write articles on some truly prehistoric sites instead ;) -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 15:04, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

Umayyad Mosque work

Marhaba Yazan. Just wanted to tell you I haven't forgotten about the Umayyad Mosque article and will be working on it tomorrow. I started to edit the architecture section somewhat, but then decided it would be better to finish the History section first. Also, how do you think we should structure the religious significance section? The mosque is important to a more diverse group of religions and religious sects than any other mosque in the region. I hope that's not an ignorant statement. On another note, I want to thank you for working on Dayr al-Shaykh. If it passes DYK it will be a result of your efforts at fixing any POV issues that may exist. --Al Ameer son (talk) 06:45, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

I haven't forgotten about it either, but I'm finding it very difficult to look up sources on its history. Nothing but snippets about the fires that ravaged it. The religious significance section; that's certainly not an ignorant statement, it's actually very true. I guess the best way would be to provide a subsection for each, Christianity/Shia Islam/Sunni Islam. If we come with other info on other sects, we could added in a general subsection. A little introduction to the overall importance of the place and some parts could be used as well (considered the forth holiest place in Islam, Minaret of Jesus, etc.). On another note, it's really wonderful to see WPSyria revived again by some fantastic editors like yourself and Zoeperkoe (See above, the citadel of Damascus was turned from this to this, and should pass GA anytime now). Anyway, I really hope this little storm in a cup over Dayr al-Shaykh could abate now, this deserves to be featured on the main page! Yazan (talk) 13:52, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

I found some decent info on the Mamluk history (a great deal of it is actually from your sources in the drop-box). I'll begin expanding the Ottoman section tomorrow or the day after. We should try to start an article on Tankiz, the Mamluk governor of Damascus, soon. There should be a good amount of info on him. As for the citadel, I was reading the it yesterday before I got your message. It's very informative and reads very well too. Truly an interesting article. Kudos to Zoeperkoe and yourself! WP Syria is finally getting the attention it has always deserved. --Al Ameer son (talk) 05:38, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Yes, was thinking it was odd that Tankiz was a redlink. On another note; I think we should have a Legacy section as well. There's a quite a bit written about the mosque's influence on later mosques (Like the Great Mosque of Aleppo, and the Mezquita in Cordoba, etc.) Yazan (talk) 05:53, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

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BTW

I do not know, if you believe me or not, and I do not really care, if you do or you do not, but my review of your DYK a month or so ago was done because I did not associate you with the user, who used to hound me a year ago. I simply forgot your user name. See, I am completely missing a bad memory :-) I needed to review an article to add the diff for my own DYK nomination, and your article seemed to be a good choice, easy to review. If I remembered your user name, I would have never reviewed your article ever. Of course my review was done in a good faith, actually in a very good faith. I only wanted to help to make the article to be sourced better. As I've already told you, if somebody would have offered a new sources for one of my articles, I would have been very grateful to this editor. In any case I'll try to remember your user name, and promise to avoid you in the feature, except of course I need some more help with Arabic :-) Regards.--Mbz1 (talk) 06:09, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Sigh. I'll make this short; (1) I didn't wikihound you, I have more important things to do with my time, but then again I'm an evil marxist. (2) You're welcome to ask if you need any help with Arabic script, or if you need translation from Arabic sources. Best. Yazan (talk) 06:25, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

sabi abyad

Thanks for the nice barnstar; I'll have to edit some more Syria-related pages to truly deserve it ;) Anway, I had a look at the books you have for Sabi Abyad. Some more papers are here, here, here and here. They had some nice discoveries over the last few years that should definitely make some nice DYK material. I have to set up email for WP, but if you're willing to give your email in a PM I can send you these papers, in case you can't access them and if you're interested. -- Zoeperkoe (talk) 18:11, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

Hello, Zozo2kx. 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 at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

El Kowm

Hi Yazan! I've started work on the most important prehistoric site in the Middle East at El Kowm. It's a massive site with loads of documentation I'm wading through to put up discoveries such as a giant camel that should make for good DYK? material. Any help you can provide most welcome, it's really important for Syria. Cheers! Paul Bedson (talk) 17:24, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Murad Pasha Mosque

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 09:14, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Re:Wiki-break

Marhaba Yazan. Good luck with your efforts brother. The disaster in Japan is truly unbelievable and I could only hope that the tens of thousands missing there are found alive and found soon. Take however much time you need helping out. I've had a pretty slow week on wiki myself. I'll try to edit the mosque more in the coming days. Anyway, hope to see you here soon akh. Salam... --Al Ameer son (talk) 21:56, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

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DYK for Chapter 2 of the Syrian Constitution

Materialscientist (talk) 08:03, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

DYK for Preamble and Chapter 1 of the Syrian Constitution

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 00:03, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Chapter 3 of the Syrian Constitution DYK approval

First off, excellent work on the articles relating to the Syrian Constitution. It is very refreshing to see articles on topics that are often vastly under-represented on the English Wikipedia. I went ahead and gave an AGF approval for the Chapter 3 article but I did have some caveat comments. I think Thelma's confusion over the apparent discontinuity in the lead was valid and a confusion that other readers may also experience. Your explanation on the T:TDYK pages cleared things up beautifully but that clarity needs to find it ways into the article somehow. As a WP:WINE editor, I know that sometimes I take for granted what readers know about a subject and can miss seeing things that don't come across as clear to all readers as it may to me. I suspect it is the same case here. That one small point as well as some minor MOS clean up on the section headings are my only concerns about the article. But again, great work! Agne^Cheese/^Wine 02:26, 21 March 2011 (UTC)

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DYK for Chapter 3 of the Syrian Constitution

Thanks from me and the wiki Victuallers (talk) 08:03, 26 March 2011 (UTC)

Are you going?

You said before at my talkpage: "if there were any "such" protests, I'd be the first to board a plane and join them"

Are you going? --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 01:08, 28 March 2011 (UTC)

I can't leave Japan at the moment, but I'm doing what I can, IRL. Yazan (talk) 05:40, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Lets say democracy/free elections will occur, what is the likelihood of an Islamic state? --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 11:51, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

For now, watch out for Friday. Today's speech means blood will be spilled. I almost can't believe it, but I'm not sure what more could you expect from such a regime. Yazan (talk) 19:41, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

Why did I think democracy/free elections would be needed for an Islamic state? [1] --Supreme Deliciousness (talk) 11:08, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

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DYK for Jafr alien invasion

The DYK project (nominate) 16:04, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Updates

Salam Yazan! I haven't been editing the Umayyad Mosque's history section lately, but I've started working on the Architecture section which I will be focusing on for the next few days. We need some sources that talk about the dome and minaret. The Necipoglu book gives great detail about the mosaics and the fine art of the mosque which we should definitely have a section for, but not much info is provided on the architecture of the domes and minarets. Also, on another note I've recently created articles on the al-Daraj and al-Atatra neighborhoods of Gaza and on a famous Palestinian fighter, Abu Ali Iyad. I was wondering if you could provide the article with Arabic scripts, especially the latter since I nominated it for DYK.

Btw, I read your blog on recent events in Syria. Hope the Assad regime could deliver, but let's face it they (our dictators) never do. Ten years ago he promised reforms and nothing much has changed. This might be a difficult question that you don't have to answer, but do you think protests in Syria could really turn into revolutions like in Egypt and Tunisia and hopefully Yemen and Libya soon? Or at least pose a compelling challenge to the regime forcing it to deliver real democratic change and reform? --Al Ameer son (talk) 22:06, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Marhaba Ameer. I don't know what to tell you ya Ameer. I am not optimistic in the least. I had the slight hope that they might've learned a lesson from their predecessors, but, evidently No. I can't tell whether it will evolve into a full blown revolution. I hope so, but I don't think it will happen. The country is deeply divided along economic, sectarian, ethnic lines. The brave people who have been on the streets for the past two weeks have not been able to get real popular support, at most sympathy for those killed. I've always believed that if given a real shot, the people will overcome their sectarian divide, and especially the Alawites (my family is). But no, what I've seen was a truly disgusting entrenchment behind a regime that has been using them for 40 years now. Their immediate response might've been clumsy, but their behind-the-scenes maneuvering was so successful, it was obvious in his arrogant smirk in that fateful speech. They sidelined all the minorities (watch out for the next cabinet, every seat in there will have been a present to someone or some group), and they sidelined the middle class Sunni establishment. So what you have on the streets (outside of Daraa), are a handful of activists, a handful of Salafis, and very few others. But like I said, even if it fails in the short term, it has made a serious dent into the regime, and Syria won't be the same again. Personally, though, I don't know if I will ever want to go back to that place after it revealed its face. My generation (like that of father's) has certainly noted its first defeat.

Will get back to editing soon. I have a few personal affairs to look after for now. Arabic scripts are done. Best Yazan (talk) 08:23, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Salam akhi. I've been trying to get rid of all the red links in the mosque article and so far I've taken care of 2 of 3. I was hoping you could provide Arabic scripts for Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Fadl and Janbirdi al-Ghazali. I plan on nominating the latter for DYK soon. Also, I'm going to start the article on Tankiz sometime soon as well and was hoping you could provide the Arabic script in this page instead of me bothering you again ;) --Al Ameer son (talk) 23:36, 7 April 2011 (UTC)

You are welcome

Giving you the DYK credit was my way to thank you for your help with the image that is very much appreciated.

I'd like to use the opportunity and to say that my heart is going out to peoples of Japan and Syria one of whom is fighting a horrible disaster and another is fighting an oppressive regime.

Happy editing to you too.--Mbz1 (talk) 17:06, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

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File permission problem with File:Syrian passport.jpg

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Etymology of Homs

Hi. A couple years ago you wrote the following in the article on Homs:

"Emesa" is a compound of Ham-Es: the natives are said by Avienus to have been devoted to the Sun god ("El-Gabal"). There is an apparent analogy between the names of places farther east; whose inhabitants were all worshipers of the Sun. Hence most names are an assemblage of his titles. The Sun was styled by the Amonians, and he was worshiped under this denomination all over Syria and Mesopotamia; especially at Emesa, Edessa, and Heliopolis.

You referenced a book called New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology by Jocob Bryant. I'm trying to improve the section, using information like what you wrote which has since been deleted, but I think you must have miscopied or abridged what you found in the book, because it doesn't make very much sense. Can you check on this? Thanks. Eric Kvaalen (talk) 13:49, 16 May 2011 (UTC)

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Proposed deletion of Hewar

The article Hewar has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

A7 -- no indicia of notability

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Nomination for deletion of Template:DamascusGates

Template:DamascusGates has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. — This, that, and the other (talk) 11:43, 20 May 2011 (UTC)

Nomination of Hewar for deletion

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Re:Umayyad Mosque

Ahlannnn Yazan. Wenak ya zalame? When you say "wandered into the Umayyad Mosque" do you mean on wiki or the actual mosque? Honestly, I was about to email you since I thought you may have gone to Syria to visit family or protest and things got ugly. Anyway, it's good to hear from you. I haven't edited the article as much I had liked to actually (got distracted with other stuff here and I've been on something of a wikibreak lately), but I'll get back on it soon. Speaking of, are you still on wikibreak? --Al Ameer son (talk) 19:02, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

I look forward to seeing you here then. I plan on editing next week or the week after as well. As for our beloved Syria, I really hope the people prevail. It appalls me that so many leftist and nationalist Arabs support the regime and believe the conspiracy theories it's invented. The Assads are no different than any of the mafia regimes that rule or ruled every other Arab country as if the Arabs weren't capable of self-rule and deserved nothing more than being subjects of the king or dictator's oppression and repression. The widespread and cynical brutality of the Assad regime and its near complete monopoly over politics, the economy and media are especially appalling. I held disdain for every Arab regime, but I always hated the Assads a little bit less for reasons you may understand. I was hoping that when the protests first erupted in Dera'a and Latakia Bashar wouldn't make the same foolish mistake his fellow dictators made by not introducing immediate reforms and allowing the people to openly vent their frustrations without fear of arrest, torture or death, but that didn't take place and I believe the regime will pay for that. And it's a shame that it won't happen sooner, because as you said, the economy will suffer greatly and I think the social harmony in Syria might begin to deteriorate if it hasn't already. And finally, as you can see, this is why I refrain from editing any of the articles on the Arab Spring ;) Anyway y'akhi, let's start editing again soon. --Al Ameer son (talk) 21:21, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

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United States ambassadors to Syria

i agree with the rename. please use the move function to incorporate the page history. Slowking4: 741k 17:52, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

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Merge discussion for Al-Sinnabra

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Proposed deletion of Beit al-Mamlouka Hotel

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• In the news: Journalist regrets not checking citation, PR firms issue advice on how to "survive" Wikipedia (but U.S. Congressman caught red-handed)

• WikiProject report: Images in Motion – WikiProject Animation

• Featured content: JJ Harrison on avian photography

• Arbitration report: After eleven moves, name for islands now under arbitration

• Technology report: Engineering report, sprint, and more testers needed

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:53, 23 August 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 August 2011

• News and notes: Abuse filter on all Wikimedia sites; Foundation's report for July; editor survey results

• In the news: Wikipedia praised for disaster news coverage, scolded for left-wing bias; brief news

• Recent research: Article promotion by collaboration; deleted revisions; Wikipedia's use of open access; readers unimpressed by FAs; swine flu anxiety

• Opinion essay: How an attempt to answer one question turned into a quagmire

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Tennis

• Featured content: The best of the week

• Arbitration report: Four existing cases

• Technology report: The bugosphere, new mobile site and MediaWiki 1.18 close in on deployment

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 09:23, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 05 September 2011

• News and notes: 24,000 votes later and community position on image filter still unclear; first index of editor satisfaction appears positive

• In the news: Britannica and Wikipedia like "apples and chairs"; should anyone who's anyone get an article?; and why fighting and barriers to editing may be useful after all

• WikiProject report: Riding with WikiProject London Transport

• Sister projects: Wiki Loves Monuments 2011

• Featured content: The best of the week

• Opinion essay: The copyright crisis, and why we should care

• Arbitration report: BLP case closed; Cirt-Jayen466 nearly there; AUSC reshuffle

• Technology report: Pencils down in Google Summer of Code, August analysed and integrated HTTPS support in action

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 01:10, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 12 September 2011

• News and notes: Foundation reports on research, Kenya trip, Mumbai Wikiconference; Canada, Hungary and Estonia; English Wikinews forked

• In the news: 9/11 coverage, Wikimedia hypothetically rebranded and Wikipedia golf 2.0

• WikiProject report: Politics in the Pacific: WikiProject Australian Politics

• Featured content: Wikipedians explain two new featured pictures

• Arbitration report: Ohconfucius sanctions removed, Cirt desysopped 6:5 and a call for CU/OS applications

• Technology report: What is: agile development? and new mobile site goes live

• Opinion essay: The Walrus and the Carpenter

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 00:57, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 19 September 2011

• From the editor: Changes to The Signpost

• News and notes: Ushahidi research tool announced, Citizendium five years on: success or failure?, and Wikimedia DC officially recognised

• In the news: Wikipedia: yesterday's news? Calls for women, doctors, and scholars of humanities; Wales makes Wikimedia work "look easy"

• Sister projects: On the Wikinews fork

• WikiProject report: Back to school

• Featured content: The best of the week

• Arbitration report: ArbCom narrowly rejects application to open new case

• Technology report: MediaWiki 1.18 deployment begins, the alleged "injustice" of WMF engineering policy, and Wikimedians warned of imminent fix to magic word

• Popular pages: Article stats for the English Wikipedia in the last year

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 10:59, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 September 2011

• Opinion essay: The global mission, the image filter and the "German question"

• Recent research: Top female Wikipedians, reverted newbies, link spam, social influence on admin votes, Wikipedians' weekends, WikiSym previews

• News and notes: WMF strikes down enwiki consensus, academic journal partnerships, and eyebrows raised over minors editing porn-related content

• In the news: Sockpuppeting journalist recants, search dominance threatened, new novels replete with Wikipedia references

• WikiProject report: A project in overdrive: WikiProject Automobiles

• Featured content: The best of the week

• Arbitration report: "Broadly construed" explained, voting begins on Senkaku Islands case, invitation to comment on CU/OS candidates

• Technology report: 1.18 deployment on track, "mythical" Git migration scheduled, editor decline statistics improved

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 02:50, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 3 October 2011

• News and notes: Italian Wikipedia shuts down over new privacy law; Wikimedia Sverige produce short Wikipedia films, Sue Gardner calls for empathy

• In the news: QRpedia launches to acclaim, Jimbo talks social media, Wikipedia attracts fungi, terriers and Greeks bearing gifts

• WikiProject report: Kia ora WikiProject New Zealand

• Featured content: Reviewers praise new featured topic: National treasures of Japan

• Arbitration report: Last call for comments on CheckUser and Oversight teams

• Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 06:24, 6 October 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 10 October 2011

• Opinion essay: The conservatism of Wikimedians

• News and notes: Largest ever donation to WMF, final findings of editor survey released, 'Terms of use' heavily revised

• In the news: Uproar over Italian shutdown, the varying reception of BLP mischief, and Wikipedia's doctor-evangelist

• WikiProject report: The World's Oldest People

• Featured content: The weird and the disgusting

• Arbitration report: Senkaku Islands closes; administrators authorized to place articles on discretionary sanctions

• Technology report: 1.18 deployment and HTTPS switchover completed, but developer help now needed with new projects

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 03:46, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 17 October 2011

• News and notes: Arabic Wikipedia gets video intros, Smithsonian gifts images, and WikiProject Conservatism scrutinized

• In the news: Why Wikipedia survives while others haven't; Wikipedia as an emerging social model; Jimbo speaks out

• WikiProject report: History in your neighborhood: WikiProject NRHP

• Featured content: Brazil's boom-time dreams of naval power: The ed17 explains the background to a new featured topic

• Arbitration report: Case requests on ethnic strife and a WikiProject declined, Abortion case stalls but topic bans look to be lightened on amendment

• Technology report: WMDE renew investment in Toolserver, first offsite backup programme of Wikimedia begun

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 11:33, 18 October 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 October 2011

• From the editors: A call for contributors

• Opinion essay: There is a deadline

• Interview: Contracting for the Foundation

• In the news: Are Wikipedians reluctant journalists?; Wikipedia:The Musical

• WikiProject report: Great WikiProject Logos

• Featured content: The best of the week

• Arbitration report: Abortion; request for amendment on Climate Change case

• Technology report: WMF launches coding challenge, WMDE starts hiring for major new project

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 11:49, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

New Page Patrol survey

New page patrol – Survey Invitation Hello Zozo2kx! The WMF is currently developing new tools to make new page patrolling much easier. Whether you  have patrolled many pages or only a few, we now need to  know about your experience. The survey takes only 6 minutes, and the information you provide will not be shared with third parties other than to assist us in analyzing the results of the survey; the WMF will not use the information to identify you. If this invitation  also appears on other accounts you  may  have, please complete the  survey  once only.  If this has been sent to you in error and you have never patrolled new pages, please ignore it. Please click HERE to take part. Many thanks in advance for providing this essential feedback. You are receiving this invitation because you  have patrolled new pages. For more information, please see NPP Survey. Global message delivery 14:01, 26 October 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 31 October 2011

• Opinion essay: The monster under the rug

• Recent research: WikiSym; predicting editor survival; drug information found lacking; RfAs and trust; Wikipedia's search engine ranking justified

• News and notes: German Wikipedia continues image filter protest

• In the news: Citizendium on the rocks, Shankbone celebrated, and the week in vandalism

• Discussion report: Proposal to return this section from hiatus is successful

• WikiProject report: 'In touch' with WikiProject Rugby union

• Featured content: The best of the week

• Arbitration report: Abortion case stalls, request for clarification on Δ, discretionary sanctions streamlined

• Technology report: Wikipedia Zero announced; New Orleans successfully hacked

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 18:36, 1 November 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 7 November2011

• Special report: A post-mortem on the Indian Education Program pilot

• News and notes: Wikimedia Norway awarded, Halloween on the Main Page, Wikimedia UK recognised

• In the news: The Economist assays the encyclopaedia's challenges, Jimbo speaks on net future, and an inclusionist alternative emerges.

• Discussion report: Special report on the ArbCom Elections steering RfC

• WikiProject report: Booting up with WikiProject Computer Science

• Featured content: Slow week for Featured content

• Arbitration report: Δ saga returns to arbitration, while the Abortion case stalls for another week

• Technology report: Full steam ahead on Visual Editor, the avoidance of lock-breaking and 1.18b1 release

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 13:39, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 14 November 2011

• News and notes: ArbCom nominations open, participation grants finalized, survey results on perceptions on Wikipedia released

• In the news: Fundraising vs ads redux, WikiConference India nigh, a world lit up with articles

• WikiProject report: Having a Conference with WikiProject India

• Featured content: Writing featured content: Advice from Sturmvogel 66; Sports, sports, sports!

• Arbitration report: Abortion and Betacommand 3 in evidence phase, three case requests outstanding

• Technology report: Coding Challenge results; Wikimedians to wait and see if Athena really does represent "wisdom, courage and inspiration"

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 23:49, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 21 November 2011

• News and notes: Last-minute candidates for ArbCom, the Sue Gardner European Tour hits London

• In the news: Indian wikiconference heralds expansion, fundraiser in Silicon Valley major donor coup, import of Wikipedia reconsidered

• Discussion report: Much ado about censorship

• WikiProject report: Working on a term paper with WikiProject Academic Journals

• Featured content: The best of the week

• Arbitration report: End in sight for Abortion case, nominations in 2011 elections

• Technology report: Mumbai and Brighton hacked; horizontal lists have got class

Read this Signpost in full · Single-page · Unsubscribe · EdwardsBot (talk) 02:08, 22 November 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 November 2011

• News and notes: Arb's resignation sparks lightning RfC, Fundraiser 2011 off to a strong start, GLAM in Qatar

• In the news: The closed, unfriendly world of Wikipedia, fundraiser fun and games, and chemists vs pornstars

• Recent research: Quantifying quality collaboration patterns, systemic bias, POV pushing, the impact of news events, and editors' reputation

• WikiProject report: The Signpost scoops The Bugle

• Featured content: The best of the week

• Arbitration report: Voting underway in the elections, finally a final decision on Abortion, scant movement on requests

• Technology report: Foundation appears correct to back improved smartphone support; and how a Reddit slip meant no-one could read anything for thirty minutes

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• EdwardsBot (talk) 07:59, 29 November 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 05 December 2011

• News and notes: Amsterdam gets the GLAM treatment, fundraising marches on, and a flourish of new admins

• In the news: A Wikistream of real time edits, a call for COI reform, and cracks in the ivory tower of knowledge

• Discussion report: Trial proposed for tool apprenticeship

• WikiProject report: This article is about WikiProject Disambiguation. For other uses...

• Featured content: This week's Signpost is for the birds!

• Arbitration report: Elections due to finish this week, little activity on Betacommand 3, Abortion case amended

• Technology report: Incremental dumps help mirrors, full screen search helps mobile visitors, and two MediaWiki releases help external sites

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• EdwardsBot (talk) 19:54, 6 December 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 12 December 2011

• Opinion essay: Wikipedia in Academe – and vice versa

• News and notes: Research project banner ads run afoul of community

• In the news: Bell Pottinger investigation, Gardner on gender gap, and another plagiarist caught red-handed

• WikiProject report: Spanning Nine Time Zones with WikiProject Russia

• Featured content: Wehwalt gives his fifty cents; spies, ambushes, sieges, and Entombment

• Arbitration report: Betacommand 3 workshop revived, two cases set for acceptance and the ArbCom elections finish on a whimper

• Technology report: Trials and tribulations of image rotation, Article Feedback version 5, and new diff colours

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• EdwardsBot (talk) 19:04, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 19 December 2011

• News and notes: Anti-piracy act has Wikimedians on the defensive, WMF annual report released, and Indic language dynamics

• In the news: To save the wiki: strike first, then makeover?

• Discussion report: Polls, templates, and other December discussions

• WikiProject report: A dalliance with the dismal scientists of WikiProject Economics

• Featured content: Panoramas with Farwestern and a good week for featured content

• Arbitration report: The community elects eight arbitrators

• Technology report: Visual editor demo launched, hailed as "most important change to our user experience ... ever"; but elsewhere over-hasty deployments criticised

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• EdwardsBot (talk) 05:11, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image File:Syriatel logo.png

⚠

Thanks for uploading File:Syriatel logo.png. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Skier Dude (talk) 06:39, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

 Done template removed Skier Dude (talk) 07:14, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

The Signpost: 26 December 2011

• Opinion essay: Openness versus quality: why we're doing it wrong, and how to fix it

• Recent research: Psychiatrists: Wikipedia better than Britannica; spell-checking Wikipedia; Wikipedians smart but fun; structured biological data

• News and notes: Fundraiser passes 2010 watermark, brief news

• WikiProject report: The Tree of Life

• Featured content: Going through the roster with Killervogel5 and a plethora of featured content

• Arbitration report: Three open cases, one set for acceptance, arbitrators formally appointed by Jimmy Wales

• Technology report: Wikimedia in Go Daddy boycott, and why you should 'Join the Swarm'

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• EdwardsBot (talk) 04:40, 28 December 2011 (UTC)