User talk:Fluffernutter/Archive 21

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Tired

I'm tired. I'm tired of feeling like the community runs on high-octane rage and like every policy or content discussion is all that stands between us and the end of the world. I'm sick of seeing people talk to each other as if they're not speaking to another human being, because typing words on a page makes it so much easier to say things you wouldn't say to someone's face. I'm exhausted from trying, in a tiny way in a few tiny corners, to make things suck here a smidgen less, and mostly feeling like I've failed, when I can muster the energy to try at all.

This isn't a retirement message. I'm still here, and I'm still editing in my usual sporadic fashion. But I'm tired of the bad, and I want to hear the good. I would so, so appreciate it if anyone who stumbles across this message could leave me a note telling me what you love about Wikipedia. What you do or the community does that doesn't feel draining. What's gone right lately, for you and your work here, or for the project(s) themselves. Tell me something good that came out of your time here. Remind me why we put our energy into this thing in the first place. Show me somewhere on-wiki where people completely failed to be terrible to each other even though the chance was there. Show me editors being valued without being showered in the shiny baubles that make this feel a game of trinket collection instead of a collaboration.

Remind me of the good, guys. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 19:24, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks to everyone who's offered me their happy thoughts so far. Collapsing to keep the page from getting out of hand. Please feel free to continue to offer me your thoughts if you want! A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 23:42, 19 January 2014 (UTC)
The only reason I still edit enwiki at all is because of my colleagues out at the U.S. roads project, and the work that we are able to do. --Rschen7754 20:32, 24 October 2013 (UTC)
It's the knowledge equivalent of crack. Go deeper my friend.Two kinds of pork (talk) 21:05, 24 October 2013 (UTC)
Two responses. One not asked for: I readily appreciate your efforts on the "smidgen less" and do not think you have failed, at all, it is in fact a smidgen why I am still here. 2) Off-wiki, read something, explore it, and write content about it on wiki -- it is a gift to yourself and others. Alanscottwalker (talk) 21:23, 24 October 2013 (UTC)
In times of trouble, Magic Word NUMBEROFACTIVEUSERS comes to me.
Speaking words of wisdom: 122,687
-- that's how many folks who made an edit in the last 30 -- and only a tiny portion end up on the dramaboards. By signing up for admin and oversight you've skewed your sample to see Worst-a-pedia, not Wikipedia. Many folks volunteer for free to contribute to the best general body of knowledge ever assembled in the history of human civilization. That's pretty awesome, that's what keeps me going. That and I'll go off-wiki for months if I need to. NE Ent 01:19, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
I edit because Wikipedia is the main source of information for so many people, and I love that I'm improving it. I firmly believe that Wikipedia is the best thing on the internet. Howicus (Did I mess up?) 02:38, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
I just ran an edit-a-thon at a local library here in Chicago and not only was it productive, but it was great to be able to meet and interact both with editors that I'm familiar with and ones who I've never seen before. When I think of retaining editors, and generally having a good time volunteering with Wikipedia, I think events like these are a good approach and will go a long way to keeping attitudes about Wikipedia overall positive in spite of frustrations. I, JethroBT drop me a line 19:14, 28 October 2013 (UTC)
Kittens have the hereditary right and trait of being good and here in Wikipedia kittens are found aplenty, so they are one of the goods [pun intended]. You'll get one of those in a minute, you're lucky I never got one of those. Admins like you are good who left me a polite note when I needed one, I mean when I was new. What would new kids on-the-block do without good actions like those? I hope after brainstorming for an hour I have been able to come up with something to make you feel good and or remind that there is still something left in Wikipedia to rejoice over. Oh oh wait there are more! I am here, nah thats self-flattery [I am probably the first one do it ;)].

Who I am trying to kid? For me in the last couple of months, I have been accused of gaming the system by none-other than my mentor, I have been subject to retaliation, I have not been able to write single GA untill now, I edit bollywood articles [Indian films] which though get million views a year will turn wikipedia slowly but surely into a bollywood-info-paedia 10-15 years later. Look at me Fluffernut, not for inspiration but for the fact even after being buried under several layers of glum each and every day I rise, draw a smile on my face and keep on editing with a hope even though there is none. Where does that hope comes from? My imagination. I suggest you use yours too you'll feel a lot better. Sohambanerjee1998 10:25, 25 November 2013 (UTC)

  • Fluff, I couldn't agree more. I've written about 60 fair sized articles and get criticised for not doing more, but I've run out of ideas and at the end of the day, I believe we should be left to write about the things we know about and are interested in. Being expected to write articles for the sake of wrting artcles defeats the purpose of voluntary collaboration. Nowadays, apart from watching over WP:WPSCH and cleaning up and expanding school articles for lazy creators, all I do is meta and admin stuff. Even there, I'm sick and tired of the constant bickering about admins and the tarring of them all with the same brush. While admins are expected to lead by example, some people hold them to ridiculously high standards and no matter what an active, front-line admin says or does, they are going to take flak for it. I've been on the verge twice this year of seriously considering handing my tools in, but the day I do that will be the day I abandon Wikipedia for good - and I will miss going to Wikimania. Kudpung ??????? (talk) 03:28, 7 December 2013 (UTC)
  • Hey Fluff. Don't hang out at your talk page often, so sorry about the tardiness of this note. The thing I've always found about Wikipedia is that it does split pretty nicely in two - the useful and the not useful. The "not useful", everything to do with the administration of the site, needs constant managing to ensure that the useful is done. That might mean things like arbitration cases over petty arguments, or admins stepping in to stop people acting horribly to each other. It takes a toll on those who do it, especially when you can see how life could just much simpler and no one will listen.
    The positive is out there though. Get out of the administration of the site and suddenly there's a world of Wikipedia, you can see the gratitude and the difference actually being made. I'm talking about places like the Teahouse, or the article review processes, or even the reference desks. People in Wikiprojects can be so grateful if you actually write articles. Socially, go to a meet up or two! The real people behind Wikipedia are the ones that make it for me, I've met dozens over the years and it's a whole lot harder to be angry when you meet them. I'll give you an example, I met User:Rich Farmbrough towards the beginning of the year, he appeared at a meet up, just after my first arbitration action - I expected retribution, an earbashing of immense proportions. Instead, I found a personable chap who was friendly and didn't appear to hold ill-will towards me. I've met a number of other banned users and found the same. I've met people who were trying to spam wikipedia, yet they were just people. Get yourself to meetups, you'll soon find what people love about Wikipedia. And if you ever fancy a chat, you know where to find me. WormTT(talk) 16:01, 16 December 2013 (UTC)
Well, since you asked, I'm just a lurker 99.99% of the time, but wikipedia is in my top 5 websites that I visit on a regular basis. I barely participate in the community, and usually feel like I'm not good enough or smart enough to contribute more than the occasional revert vandalism. Sometimes I'm just here for the "drama", but more than that, I'm here to learn. I learn about the subjects of the articles, but I also learn a lot about HOW the articles come to be...the wiki policies challenge me to be aware of my own assumptions and biases, and when things are working well, the discussions demonstrate just why we've been so successful as a social species: we can, with work, overcome our differences for a great good. I appreciate all of the hard work that goes into this project and I wish it weren't such a frustrating endeavour, but then...if it weren't difficult, anyone could do it, right?Quietmarc (talk) 03:26, 24 December 2013 (UTC)
I write articles, in one fairly narrow topic area, at a snail-like pace. I'm fortunate to have such a quiet WikiProject to work in, but I'm well aware of the bitterness that's out there. I've had one nasty spat, and I read far more of the goings-on in the "central" areas of WP than I ever comment about (that's how I wander onto pages like this, where I've never been). Writing about my chosen subject is my purpose. It's not easy; I have to absorb huge quantities of information from the sources, mull them over and let them all percolate through my mind, then try to integrate them with the next wave of sources. Yesterday I discovered that the sources that discuss my current project are so numerous that there are volumes of bibliographies just dedicated to cataloguing and analyzing them all. I yelled about how overwhelmed I felt. But then I looked back at the sources I had, and pieces started to fall into place and I started writing based on them. When that happens—when I can look at a subject and see how the disparate pieces of a subject fit together and how to make the article reflect the insight—that, for me, is what Wikipedia is for.
And it is still possible for us knowledge gluttons to cooperate. My current project ranges out of the usual topic area (ancient Egyptian religion) and into another, so I've recently talked to a couple of editors from the neighboring field (religion in ancient Rome). My one long conversation with them was amiable and kind of amusing. The Greece and Rome project in general seems to have that sense of camaraderie, if this is any indication. I'm sure they're not alone. There are still friendly people on Wikipedia, and if you can avoid the shouting, the joy of knowledge is still out there, too. A. Parrot (talk) 04:28, 24 December 2013 (UTC)
  • I've only just spotted this, but I'll offer a few thoughts. I'm pretty much inactive these days, largely because I've been ground down in many of the ways you suggest -- and being an admin tends to get you the worst from the worst. Sadly, there's a surprisingly large number of people on the internet who are happy to treat you as if you're the bad one in Pol Pot's family - when they're hiding behind their keyboards. And in some ways it's understandable. As a species we've evolved to understand and respond to body language and all sorts of visual clues in our interactions with each other, and when stripped of those we often tend to be more aggressive in our interactions. (Think about it yourself, and see if you can honestly say you've never treated anyone in this online medium more harshly than you would face-to-face - I certainly fail that test.)

    So what are the good things that make it worthwhile? Well, I've been mostly logged out of late, and I come across Wikipedia when I'm Googling to find out things - and it's surprised me to be reminded just how much I (and millions of others) use Wikipedia every day of the week. And you know what? It's bloody good! And *we* did that! You, me, and the countless others who've actually worked at it. And every time I find something I was looking for, learn something new, get information I need for my day job, or just enjoy a pleasurable bit of reading - I silently thank you for it (well, all the individual yous who've donated their own valuable time with no thought of personal gain, but you're one of them).

    So ignore those whose lives are so empty they have nothing more productive to do than denigrate the efforts and achievements of others. (Did you see what I did there? I was far more insulting to anonymous people than I would be face to face!) And instead think of the millions who benefit from this project every minute of every day - you're doing it for them, not for the very small minority of whingers and whiners. -- Boing! said Zebedee (talk)10:03, 24 December 2013 (UTC)


Saturday June 21: Wiki Loves Pride

Upcoming Saturday event - June 21: Wiki Loves Pride NYC

You are invited to join us at Jefferson Market Library for "Wiki Loves Pride", hosted by New York Public Library, Metropolitan New York Library Council, Wikimedia LGBT and Wikimedia New York City, where both experienced and new Wikipedia editors will collaboratively improve articles on this theme:

11am–4pm at Jefferson Market Library.

We hope to see you there! Pharos (talk)

(You can unsubscribe from future notifications for NYC-area events by removing your name from this list.)

The Signpost: 13 August 2014

Tech News: 2014-34

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Problems

  • There was an issue with ProofreadPage and WikiEditor on Wikisource wikis. It is now fixed. [9] [10]

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07:17, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

GOCE July drive and August blitz

Guild of Copy Editors July 2014 backlog elimination drive wrap-up

Participation: Thanks to everyone who participated in the July drive. Of the 40 people who signed up this drive, 22 copy edited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here.

Progress report: We reduced our article backlog from 2400 articles to 2199 articles in July. This is a new month-end record low for the backlog. Nice work, everyone!

Blitz: The August blitz will run from August 24–30. The blitz will focus on articles from the GOCE's Requests page. Awards will be given out to everyone who copy edits at least one of the target articles. The blitz will run from August 24–30. Sign up here!

Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978, and Miniapolis.

To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list. Newsletter delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:10, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

User:Kumioko

Kumioko has repeatedly declared that he feels this ban was invalid and the result of a small number of users trying to get him banned over and over until something finally stuck. As a result of what he feels was his mistreatment, he has committed to evading his ban as often as possible in order to point out that the "ban" was invalid and to prove that he cannot be restrained by a ban anyway; he appears to have access to sufficient IP addresses and/or technical expertise to do this indefinitely.

I've seen too many editors get banned over a dispute. Usually what happens is when user A is annoyed at User B's actions, User A goes to ANI to proposed a ban on User B. Others take up A's argument and B is banned before he has a chance to give his side of the story. I think it's time to have some sort of system where if a ban is agreed upon, the user gets reported to Arbcom and they can decide the proper sanction. RWCasinoKid (talk) 18:38, 23 August 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 August 2014

Tech News: 2014-35

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

VisualEditor news

  • There was a error when you put your cursor directly after a reference list. It is now fixed. [11]
  • You can now add colors to links in the editor using gadgets. You can do this to see links to redirects or disambiguation pages. [12]
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Future software changes

  • The latest version of MediaWiki (1.24wmf18) is on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since August 21. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis on August 26, and on all Wikipedias on August 28 (calendar).
  • After August 26, you will have a central JavaScript and CSS page. They will be on Meta-Wiki and will work on all wikis. Read more on the help page. [16]

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09:21, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 August 2014

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

Recent software changes

  • You can now test a new Beta Feature to see links to other wikis in the sidebar. The links come from Wikidata. [17] [18]
  • You can now search pages that link to a page. Use the linksto: keyword in your search. [19] [20]
  • A redirect to a section now changes the URL in the address bar of your browser. If "Dog" redirects to "Animals#Dog", you now see "Animals#Dog" instead of "Dog#Dog". [21] [22]
  • If you are testing Flow, you now have a Flow tab in your Notifications. It is called "Messages". [23]

VisualEditor news

  • You can no longer delete required fields in templates. [24]
  • We fixed many Internet Explorer bugs. If you use Internet Explorer 11, you will get VisualEditor next week. Support for earlier versions is coming next. [25] [26] [27]
  • VisualEditor now looks better in Monobook. [28]
  • We fixed a bug where some of your typing could be undone when you used "cut" (Ctrl+X). [29]
  • You will no longer see empty or deleted categories among the suggestions when you add a category. [30]

Future software changes

  • The latest version of MediaWiki (1.24wmf19) is on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since August 28. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis on September 2, and on all Wikipedias on September 4 (calendar).
  • There is a proposal to build a database on Commons for file data. It will make it easier to see the author, license and topics. You can give feedback on this idea. You can also come to the IRC chat on September 3 at 18:00 (UTC) in #wikimedia-office at freenode. [31]
  • You can give feedback on Media Viewer until September 7. You can say what needs to be improved and ask other people to give feedback too. [32]
  • You can test a new version of the tool to show math. It uses MathML. Report bugs in bugzilla.
  • You will no longer be able to upload images from the mobile site. [33]

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07:49, 1 September 2014 (UTC)

Reference Errors on 3 September

Hello, I'm ReferenceBot. I have automatically detected that an edit performed by you may have introduced errors in referencing. It is as follows:

Please check this page and fix the errors highlighted. If you think this is a false positive, you can report it to my operator. Thanks, ReferenceBot (talk) 00:24, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

what I love about wikipedia

Hay Fluffernutter, I stumbled across your message a second ago and thought I would respond to what I love about wikipedia...

Also, did you know you are the reason I know what a fluffernutter is. The first time I saw an edit of yours I looked it up, had no idea people did that with marshmallow fluff. I think of you every single time I hear about a fluffernutter.

I believe in wikipedia, it is that simple. I'm not an idealist who believes that we are going to collectively document objective reality in it's purest form, I'm not a fundamentalist making sure to get truth out there, I am a pragmatist who believes that somewhere in the messiness and process and yelling and celebration we are able to collectively create something that other people find valuable, and in the debate we discover that we put a lot more brain power into television and music stars than we do into philosophy and science... and that is ok, people have a right to become obsessed with making sure every single episode of Lost is documented in excruciating detail while the Theory of Communicative Action page is left messy and uncorrected. That's why I am here, to spend time, when I have it, making a few pages a bit better than when I found them.

I also like Habermas, so there are a lot of tie in's between his philosophy and what we do here on wikipedia. Hope you are doing well.Coffeepusher (talk) 01:23, 4 September 2014 (UTC)

Block of User:MeropeRiddle

Question for you which I hope you will answer. You declined the unblock request of MeropeRiddle for being out of process.

Does this mean that you ultimately agree with the decision by Canens to oversight what he did? And if so, can you please tell us what part of the oversight policy allows for this?

If you don't agree, then why don't you unblock? 121.33.190.182 (talk) 22:04, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

The answers to everything you're asking are already on Merope's talk page. I declined your unblock request because there was already an open unblock request on the user's talk page, accompanied by multiple notes that the block was under discussion. There is no need to have two open in such a case, especially because yours was a polemic against another user more than it was an unblock request (not to mention the fact that we don't let people write other people's unblock requests, in general). No one has unblocked the user unilaterally because, as you can see from the block template that was placed on Merope's talk page, this is an Oversight Block, which is a type of block governed by specific rules. Oversight blocks are "sticky", for lack of a better word - an admin cannot lift it based solely on their own judgment, and it is required that such blocks be discussed with one or more oversighters prior to unblocking (because private information, which only oversighters can see, is involved). It is expected that such an unblock will be the result of a consensus of those oversighters, not "because someone uninvolved in the block is impatient". In this case, that discussion is already underway, and it would be contrary to the spirit of the policy for anyone to charge in and make a decision unilaterally about the block while they know it is being actively handled. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 22:15, 5 September 2014 (UTC) Edited to add, after edit conflict: I have removed your link to an offwiki site. You and I clearly both already know what we're discussing; there is no need to place links to questionable material to make your point. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 22:15, 5 September 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 03 September 2014

Tech News: 2014-37

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

VisualEditor news

  • From Thursday, Internet Explorer 11 users will get VisualEditor. Support for earlier versions is coming next. [34] [35] [36]

Future software changes

  • The latest version of MediaWiki (1.24wmf20) is on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since September 4. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis on September 9, and on all Wikipedias on September 11 (calendar).
  • You will soon confirm a "Thanks" inline instead of in a dialog. [37]
  • You can read more about the plan to move to Phabricator, a tool that will help people develop the MediaWiki software and report bugs. [38]

Problems

  • There were problems with JavaScript and CSS on Friday, September 5 because of a code error.

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09:33, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 10 September 2014

Tech News: 2014-38

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 software changes

  • You can now change the style of links to disambiguation pages. This is done with the mw-disambig CSS class. [39] [40]
  • There was a problem on right-to-left wikis with Wikidata log entries. The text was messy in watchlists and recent changes. The problem is now fixed. The same problem will be fixed soon for user names. [41] [42] [43]
  • New users are randomly chosen for a test on 12 Wikipedias. They get messages with ideas of articles to edit. The ideas come from what they have already edited. [44]

Problems

  • There was a problem with loading images on September 10. [45]

VisualEditor news

  • If you don't select text when you add a link, the link now shows a number. [46]
  • The citation tool no longer offers to reuse a citation if there are none on the page yet. [47] [48]
  • You can now use help buttons in the "Page settings" menu to see what the options are for. [49]

Future software changes

  • The latest version of MediaWiki (1.24wmf21) is on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since September 11. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis on September 16, and on all Wikipedias on September 18 (calendar).
  • These changes are coming with the new version:
    • If you use Internet Explorer 7, JavaScript will no longer work. JavaScript tools and scripts will no longer work in that browser. You should update to a newer browser. [50] [51] [52]

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08:34, 15 September 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 17 September 2014

José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco

Hi, Fluffernutter. For some weeks now José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco (a FA) has faced daily vandalism. It's the same issue you saw at Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duke of Caxias: it seems that facebook redirects links from similar named towns to those articles, or something like that, I don't know. Could you temporarily raise the article's level of protection so that only older users can edit it? --Lecen (talk) 01:02, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Please take a look at what I said above. Kind regards, --Lecen (talk) 01:48, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
Semi-protected for a week; we'll see what things look like after that. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 02:52, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
Urgh... could you do it again? And this time for longer? It happened again.[53] --Lecen (talk) 12:56, 21 September 2014 (UTC)
(talk page stalker) I've given it a month. It seems some bizarre misunderstanding, and I'd prefer not to indef-protect the article for that, but I don't see many useful IP edits either. Huon (talk) 18:34, 21 September 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-39

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 software changes

Problems

  • There was a problem on the English Wikipedia on September 19. It was due to edits on a template used on many pages.
  • Sites were down for users in the Pacific area around 7:00 UTC on September 20. It was due to a problem in the San Francisco data center.
  • There were two bad bugs messing up articles in some browsers in VisualEditor. We fixed the bugs and updated the sites. [55] [56]

Software changes this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki (1.24wmf22) is on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since September 18. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis on September 23, and on all Wikipedias on September 25 (calendar).
  • If you have more than 2000 notifications, the oldest ones will be removed.[57] [58]
  • In the "Vector" skin, the icon used for users will show a neutral gender. [59] [60]
  • The VisualEditor template tool now tells you if a required field is missing. [61]
  • The "Cancel" button of the VisualEditor save window is now called "Resume editing". This shows that you can still edit and you won't lose your changes. [62]
  • There are new keyboard shortcuts in VisualEditor. Use Ctrl+Shift+6 for code and Ctrl+Shift+5 for strikethrough. [63] [64]
  • In VisualEditor, you can now see that you are switching to the source editing mode. Before, it was not clear it was happening. [65]

Future site changes

  • You can see a plan for the move to Phabricator. It's the new tool to track bugs. A guided tour will be done via video on September 24. [66]

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09:05, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

Taxidermy link

Hello Fluffernutter,

Being the biggest employer in Libby, MT, I only felt it was right that there was a link to us on the Libby, MT page. Often we get calls and emails on why we are not show on this page. I would like our link restored.

Thanks Samuraishenobi (talk) 02:16, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Hi Samuraishenobi. Wikipedia is not a directory service, which means we don't list businesses just because they exist or are in a certain place. If your company is notable according to Wikipedia's policies (that means multiple, independent sources will have covered it in-depth, as an important element in its field, etc), that's one thing, but please do not add links just because you think people should be able to get to your business through Wikipedia. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 02:19, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Capital Impact Partners draft rejected -- guidance requested

Hi there, My submission for a profile of the non-profit Capital Impact Partners was rejected (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Capital_Impact_Partners). In the note indicating its rejection, it said it needs outside sources. I was confused because I cite several outside sources. Can you give me some guidance on what kind of edits I need to make to get it accepted? Thank you for your time! Lauramullane (talk) 19:16, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

@Lauramullane: Though the template I used covers both issues, the biggest problem in your draft is that it is written and structured mostly like a promotional brochure rather than an encyclopedia article. The best way I can sum that up is that we're not interested in hearing why your organization is great; we're interested in hearing why other, unrelated people and organizations care about your organization. To pull out a few examples: "Company X is the highest-rated Y for Z years running" is PR content, not an encyclopedic statement; a bare list of board members and "leadership" is something you'd see in a prospectus, not an encyclopedia article; "Since 1984, Capital Impact Partners has helped member-owned businesses and homeowner communities access markets, services and infrastructure that further benefit the community as a whole" is what a press release would say, not an encyclopedia article. That's just some items that I picked out on a quick skim, but the fact is that the whole article gives off a tone of "Hey, let's promote how great Capital Impact Partners is!" and not "These are the facts about a company called Capital Impact Partners." Wikipedia's dispassionate house style can be difficult for someone writing on behalf of an organization to master, because your instinct is to write positive content, not neutral content.

However, in addition to these tone concerns, there are actually two more pressing ones that I notice. First, I see spots where you seem to have copied statements directly from cited sources into your draft. Wikipedia's copyright policy is very strict and prohibits this, and violating this policy can lead to your article being deleted and your account being blocked. Second, if, as it appears, you are a PR representative or reputation consultant, you are operating in violation of Wikimedia's Terms of Service. People who are editing Wikipedia in the pay of an article subject are required to conspicuously disclose that fact at the time of their editing. Failure to do this can result in local or global termination of your editing rights, not to mention the kind of PR stink companies don't want. Please read the relevant section of the Terms of Service and make any necessary disclosures as stipulated there. Please also keep in mind that even if you follow the disclosure policy, we have a local policy that strongly, strongly discourages people with a conflict-of-interest like I'm guessing yours is from editing articles about their employers, due to the inherent bias that can be very difficult to overcome in that position. This section of that policy is the most important for your purposes. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 21:44, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 September 2014

GGTF

We would love you to join the Gender Gap task force.

There you can coordinate with editors who are addressing the effect of the gender gap on women on Wikipedia – whether as article subjects, editors or readers. If you would like to help, please sign up or visit the talk page.

Happy editing, SlimVirgin (talk) 20:08, 28 September 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2014-40

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 software changes

Software changes this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki (1.25wmf1) is on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since September 25. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis on September 30, and on all Wikipedias on October 2 (calendar).
  • Errors from Scribunto (Lua) are now shown on the page. Before, you had to click on "Script error" to see them. [70] [71]
  • You can add an "autovalue" for a field in TemplateData. When users add the template to a page, the value will be added automatically. An example is when a clean-up template shows the date it was added. [72]
  • If you change a user preference but don't save it, it now asks if you want to save it. [73] [74]
  • The PDF export tool has changed. The new one has better language support but it doesn't offer ZIM and EPUB formats. [75]

Future changes

  • You can watch a video showing Phabricator, the new tool to track bugs. You can also read more about the move from Bugzilla.
  • JavaScript authors: Many old methods will be removed soon. Please check your scripts and gadgets and replace the old methods by the new ones if needed. [76]

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

09:44, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Hello Fluffernutter

Hi, what I edited was unbiased. It was based on facts and Nazism for you is biased to make what I posted biased. But if you saw it unbiased, then it makes my post unbiased and if you look into the facts and the resources historians provided us. — Preceding unsigned comment added by UnitedTheologists (talk • contribs) 15:35, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

I too have reverted your edit. I see no citations and it appears to be just your personal view. You need to provide a reference to a reliable source that supports the commentary - QuiteUnusual (talk) 15:37, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
(edit conflict)What I hear you saying, UnitedTheologists, is that it's clear to you that Joaquins are like Nazis. However, this is an encyclopedia. It doesn't matter what you, personally, feel is clear or fair; it matters what reliable sources say from a neutral perspective about the topic. I, personally, think it's quite clear that dogs are way better than cats, but that doesn't mean I can go to the Wikipedia article about cats and write "all cats are basically evil, hitler loved cats so that's my proof" - because that's not an independently-verifiable, neutral fact, it's just me concluding something based on equating something I think with something else.

The basic question here is, are there neutral, reliable sources that say "Joaquins are just like Nazis, because [the reasons you give]"? If there aren't - and please be sure to review our sourcing and neutrality policies before deciding - then the statement you're trying to add doesn't belong on Wikipedia. If there are, then you need to cite your comment to the neutral, reliable sources that verify it. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 15:43, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Talk:Confusion of Tongues

Is being hit hard by User:Wikinger - normally he uses open proxies but I know too little about proxies to be comfortable, but if they are proxies obviously they need long blocks. You may know all this so sorry if I'm telling my grandmother how to suck eggs, whatever that means. Dougweller (talk) 16:15, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, meant to explain that my revert was because that was just Wikinger again - I can see why you got confused, I think he was trying for that. Dougweller (talk) 16:17, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
Wow, yeah, that history confuses the hell out of me. I was mass-rollbacking user:185.59.16.30's work (which, coincidentally, smells of LTA - is that also Wikinger? is the whole run of IPs on that talk?) and didn't look too closely at what else had gone into the recent past edits there. Thanks for the heads-up, I'm going to double-check the other reverts I did from that IP history to make sure nothing else got borked. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 16:30, 29 September 2014 (UTC)
Yes, Wikinger again. Dougweller (talk) 17:59, 29 September 2014 (UTC)

COI declaration for OTRS edits

I have posted to PUMP, FTNB and VTR that I believe a clear policy requiring COI declaration for OTRS edits is needed. Please comment if you see fit. Thanks. - - MrBill3 (talk) 05:42, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 01 October 2014

Tech News: 2014-41

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

Changes this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki (1.25wmf2) has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since 2 October. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from 7 October, and on all Wikipedias from 9 October (calendar).
  • If you make a code mistake when editing a Lua script, you won't be able to save your edit. [84] [85]
  • We fixed some more Internet Explorer bugs. If you use Internet Explorer 10, you will be able to use VisualEditor next week. Support for earlier versions is coming next. [86]
  • On Thursday, the tool to edit TemplateData will come to 30 more wikis. [87] [88]
  • You can help sort bugs in the Book and PDF export tool on October 8. [89]
  • 1% of logged-out readers are getting pages from servers that run the HHVM tool. HHVM should make pages load faster. [90]

Future changes

  • You can look at the plan of the Mobile team for their future work. [91]
  • More changes to Media Viewer are coming. It will be easier to disable it, and you will see the caption below the image. [92] [93]

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

06:10, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

Yes! and Oh noes!

Yes! and Oh noes, I did not know you have been having health issues. I am so very sorry to hear that, and hope all is well soon. Please do let me know if there is anything I can do for you. KillerChihuahua 14:44, 8 October 2014 (UTC)

Get well soon! All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 22:44, 8 October 2014 (UTC).

ANI on Main Street Fairness issue

Thanks for the heads up about the ANI discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents#POV pushing on Marketplace Fairness Act and Alliance for Main Street Fairness. I stopped years ago editing articles that were related to my employer at the time. Even though I am no longer an Amazon employee, I have no interest in using Wikipedia (or any forum) as a means of debating political issues with total strangers. Wikipedia is particularly useless at presenting objective information about politically-sensitive matters. Good luck with cleaning up those articles — they're still a mess. White 720 (talk) 20:26, 9 October 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 08 October 2014

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