User talk:MereTechnicality/Archive 1

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Section

Hi, I work for Wall to Wall, The Voice is not one of our productions, it was sold to ITV last year, thanks


Okay. Can you please sign your messages with four tildes (~) so I know who you are? Meretechnicality (talk) 12:24, 18 January 2017 (UTC)

Please do not reinstate unwanted warnings

I need to advise you that users are allowed to delete warnings from their own talk page. I will have to ask that if a user deletes any message from their own talk page that you respect their wishes and do not reinstate the message like you did on User talk:92.81.115.213. Thank you. CLCStudent (talk) 20:25, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

Oh, I didn't know that! I'm sorry, if that hasn't been undone, I'll do that now. Because it was so recent, I thought it might be the user trying to ignore it, but that may not be correct. Sorry! Meretechnicality (talk) 20:27, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

Frederick Charles Krueger

Hi!

Well I am new so this all looks really complicated to me. ;)

All horror fans know his name and it is not Fred. They call him that for short just like Freddy. His real name is Frederick Charles Krueger.

Proof on line(Isa also in books of horror encyclopedia and horror magazines):

IMDb character biography: http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0002143/bio#originalseries Movie wikia page: http://nightmareonelmstreet.wikia.com/wiki/Freddy_Krueger

Ash. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ash8668 (talk • contribs) 00:17, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

Hi! I'm sorry, but I think you might have meant to send this to User:Materialscientist. It's okay, we have similar names, and with so many users, it's easy to get confused. You should direct this message to him instead. MereTechnicality (talk) 02:48, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

FYI

Hi, Meretechnicality, I appreciate your efforts to help Wikipedia, even though perhaps it didn't sound like I did! The user in question has now been indefinitely blocked by another admin for vandalism. (This vandalism was stopped by an edit filter, so it doesn't show up in the user's contributions.) Thought you might like to know. Bishonen | talk 00:31, 19 January 2017 (UTC).

Thanks for the info. I did notice that they had a history of vandalism (in fact I undid one of their actions that got through!), but that wasn't my main concern. I think that he's editing an IP now, looking at his talk page, because he seems to think that I got him blocked. It's funny, I was trying to write an apology as he was banned. Meretechnicality (talk) 00:34, 19 January 2017 (UTC)

About Sikri village

Good morning sir, I am Azim Khan from India. Sir there are a lot of village in India with Sikri name, so I created a new page for Sikri with its district name Sikri, Sant Kabir Nagar. And the old one page Sikri want to use for list of villages and town with same name. Thank you :) AzimK95 (talk) 02:48, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Alright, feel free to do that. However, please provide edit summaries when you do! This way, there isn't just content disappearing without reason. I won't revert those now that I know, but others might, so please do summarize your edits. MereTechnicality (talk) 02:51, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Sir I am new on Wikipedia and don't know how to provide edit summaries. Can you help me? AzimK95 (talk) 02:54, 23 January 2017 (UTC)

Sure! Take a look at WP:ES, that should help.

Cap/Fury cover

Hi, I just want you to know that I uploaded the same image as you a second afterwards, I did not see that you had done so before after mine was already uploaded. I noticed that the one you chose has a website adress on it so I replaced it with mine. I hope you don't take offence.★Trekker (talk) 16:22, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

That's fine! It's better to have an image without a watermark anyway. Thanks for noticing! MereTechnicality (talk) 16:23, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

Apologies...

...for missing that. I was out at dinner. For future reference my thoughts are entirely in line with MPants. Only in death does duty end (talk) 22:35, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

HOW DARE YOU DO A NECESSARY HUMAN ACTIVITY?!
I'm joking, of course. Don't worry about it! The case is closed and if he brings it up again, just point him to the Admin's noticeboard where he was told not to list him as Jewish. MereTechnicality (talk) 22:54, 25 January 2017 (UTC)

New section

hi,

thank you for clearing my submission for publication. the page scott salvator . there is one user mr. ollie that keeps trying to speedy delete it, and ive edited and re-edited it. He will not stop and just re-deleted the page after you cleared it. would you please take another look at it? that other editor will not stop. thank you very much Nfarky (talk) 15:44, 26 January 2017 (UTC)nfarky

No apologies necessary

As far as I'm concerned, it was a minor mistake (and completely understandable, as I stated). Your closure of the DRN thread was perfectly in keeping with policy. There was nothing to apologize for. I hope my comment at the talk page didn't come across as being hard on you, because that wasn't my intention at all. MjolnirPants Tell me all about it. 02:34, 26 January 2017 (UTC)

I didn't take it like that at all! I have a tendency to over-apologize, because I'd rather err on the side of caution. MereTechnicality (talk) 02:36, 26 January 2017 (UTC)
Not a bad habit to have. I tend to engage in the occasional preemptive apology from time to time, but I'm also quite often accused of incivility due to the fact that my humor and style of argumentation come across as angry to many folk. I just wanted to be clear that I didn't think it was a big deal. Also, I made a minor correction to your close note at the DRN, indicating the talk page rather than ANI. MjolnirPants Tell me all about it. 15:15, 27 January 2017 (UTC)

Illwinter change edit

Hi, apologies if the edit wasn't following the rules but the original link that you restored is dead. There are no official forums for Dom4 but the Steam forums that I linked are officially endorsed by Illwinter. - Tagichatn (talk) Tagichatn (talk) 21:38, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Okay! Sorry about that! MereTechnicality (talk) 21:42, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Sigra Pty. Ltd.

Hello,

I noticed that you tagged Sigra Pty. Ltd. for speedy deletion A3. While your tag is unquestionably correct, it was applied only 3 minutes after the page was created. Current best practice on these articles is to wait 10-15 minutes from the page creation time to give the author a chance to expand the page. Let me know if you have any questions about this. Tazerdadog (talk) 23:18, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Oh, okay! I knew this but was remembering it as A1, not A3. Thank you for the clarification! MereTechnicality (talk) 23:19, 7 February 2017 (UTC)
Yep. that best practice applies to both criteria. Cheers, 23:33, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Speedy deletion declined: Venator FC

Hello MereTechnicality. I am just letting you know that I declined the speedy deletion of Venator FC, a page you tagged for speedy deletion, because of the following concern: Subject might be important/significant (see also Google News hits for this subject) / use WP:PROD or WP:AFD instead to allow other editors to participate in this decision. Thank you. SoWhy 21:15, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Addendum: To clarify my (semi-automated) notification: Your record on speedy deletion seems fine so far (assuming those deletions were correct which I haven't checked) but in cases like this one you need to be a bit more careful in the future. It took me maybe ten seconds to find 700 potential sources and anyway the article included a credible claim of significance, i. e. that people who participated will be able to participate in notable events because of it. Remember, significance is a far lower standard than notability and as such any credible claim that might set the subject apart from others is sufficient. I'm no MMA guy but if you consider taking this to AFD, you might want to check with WP:MMA first. Feel free to message or ping me if you need assistance with speedy deletion in the future. Regards SoWhy 21:42, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

Okay! Sorry about that. MereTechnicality (talk) 01:53, 8 February 2017 (UTC)

CSD etiquette

As an FYI, it is generally considered bad form to tag a page with a non-urgent CSD tag within a minute of creation. There isn't a guideline against it per se, but it is generally just good form to let people have a few minutes to try to fix it before they get a talk page notification telling them someone wants their page deleted. A1 and A3 have a de facto 15 minute grace period. A7 doesn't have this, but it still probably shouldn't be put on an article the second after creation. If you have any questions about patrolling new pages, you should see the tutorial at WP:NPP. Thanks for your efforts to help with the backlog. TonyBallioni (talk) 02:09, 9 February 2017 (UTC)

Okay! I knew about A1/A3's grace period (it was said a little further up the talk page) but didn't know about A7's. I will keep that in mind while tagging pages in the future. Thank you! MereTechnicality (talk) 02:10, 9 February 2017 (UTC)
Not a problem. There was an RfC about a month back that sided against making it a formal requirement, so you aren't doing anything wrong. Its just generally good not to place a tag on something one minute after someone created it. Seems a bit WP:BITEy, and if the article stays in such bad shape that you could spot it a minute after creation, it will likely be easily caught and not contribute to the backlog. TonyBallioni (talk) 02:14, 9 February 2017 (UTC)
Yeah, that was not my intent, but I can see how it could seem a bit bitey. Sorry, and thanks for letting me know! MereTechnicality (talk) 02:21, 9 February 2017 (UTC)

BLP PROD

Hi MT! I don't believe we've spoken before so it's a pleasure to meet you. I just wanted to ask you a quick question. I noticed you were placing BLP PRODs on a couple articles that I ended up adding a CSD A7 tag to. I was just curious about your reasoning behind your choice of deletion method. I'm totally not meaning to sound critical, I'm just curious. Again, it's nice to meet you! —Non-Dropframe talk 00:23, 10 February 2017 (UTC)

Heya, ND! Nice to meet you too! I mostly added those as BLP-PROD because I had previously been warned about being too hasty with A7 tags (I was told there's a ~15 minute grace period for new articles), and wanted to err on the side of not-biting anyone. Yes, some of the ones I tagged as BLP-PROD were CSD-A7, but those were too recent for me to tag as such. Hope that clears it up! MereTechnicality (talk) 00:27, 10 February 2017 (UTC)
Ah, I gotcha! I think, generally, the idea is to not add any sort of deletion tag too hastily, although, granted, CSD tags are usually the ones added hastily. In any case, if there's ever anything I can do for you, do let me know! —Non-Dropframe talk 00:31, 10 February 2017 (UTC)
Thanks! MereTechnicality (talk) 00:33, 10 February 2017 (UTC)

reporting-vs-discussion problematic usernames

Per WP:UAAI:"Do not warn someone about their name and then immediately report them to UAA. The entire point of a warning is to give someone a chance to stop doing something wrong. Don't ask someone to give up their name willingly if you're going to ask an administrator to block them. Either discuss or report." Beeblebrox (talk) 01:08, 11 February 2017 (UTC)

Sorry about that. I reported them, then thought afterward that I should let them know. I'll keep that in mind for the future. MereTechnicality ⚙ 01:37, 11 February 2017 (UTC)
It's not a huge deal, it just puts admins in a kind of awkward position when reviewing the report. Thanks for your understanding. Beeblebrox (talk) 01:40, 11 February 2017 (UTC)
I understand. If I need to do something similar in the future, I will make sure to do one or the other. Again, sorry about that! MereTechnicality ⚙ 01:41, 11 February 2017 (UTC)

Gap

He is infringing his own copyright, because he has explicitly provided the copyright, and hasn't released it to all in the world under a CC-BY-SA or equivalent copyleft. Strange case, but sometimes the rules work in favor of quality control. Robert McClenon (talk) 00:55, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

Hasty

I notice you are tagging new articles very quickly, sometimes within a minute or two of their creation. I would suggest you give the editors at least 10 minutes before doing so. There are those that might feel you are bitting newcomers. My best to you. reddogsix (talk) 03:29, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

Okay! My last few CSDs have mainly been spam, I think. There was one company entry that may have been a bit hasty, and I'm sorry about that. MereTechnicality ⚙ 03:30, 13 February 2017 (UTC)
No problem, I just wanted to spare you having someone get upset. 8-). reddogsix (talk) 03:38, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

SPI

That SPI you just started--if you did--needs to be moved to another account, User:Bashkiddy. Drmies (talk) 03:04, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

I did start the SPI. However, I don't have any evidence of Bashkiddy doing any sockpuppetry, so I can't put him on there. If you have any, feel free to put it in the case! MereTechnicality ⚙ 03:07, 13 February 2017 (UTC)
  • But I do. :) Please ask Bbb23 at the SPI to run CU again and figure out if User:St00pid is the one who is really at the bottom of all this. Thanks, Drmies (talk) 03:15, 13 February 2017 (UTC)
@Drmies: Alright, I requested it. I'd appreciate it if you gave a reason for that over at the SPI. MereTechnicality ⚙ 03:19, 13 February 2017 (UTC)
I left a note or two there. I figured you'd follow the bread crumbs from all the blocks I placed and realized that I am a CU, just not a smart one like Bbb23 (so I can't connect St00pid). That Bashkiddy was the oldest one I could connect to the ones you ran into; you couldn't see everything I could because you don't have admin glasses. And in the meantime I found another one, through another connection via a promotional article. Sorry, I wasn't being obtuse on purpose. And now Chance the Rapper is on TV, so I'm out. Peace! Drmies (talk) 04:10, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

Regarding nomination of "Amanda Davis"

I have withdrawn the nomination, as seen here: [1]. The article no longer breaks Wikipedia:BIO1E. Yoshiman6464 ♫🥚 12:21, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Pings

Hi MereTechnicality. Just to let you know that if you have to fix a ping template like this after you have signed the post, it won't trigger a notification for the user you are trying to ping. If you have to fix the template, you need to re-sign the post. See Wikipedia:Notifications#Triggering events for an explanation. Cordless Larry (talk) 21:42, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

Ah, makes sense that it would do that. Okay, I'll keep that in mind. MereTechnicality ⚙ 21:43, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

Vista Grove Deletion

User: MereTechnicality, thank you for responding to my question about deleting the Vista Grove, Georgia page. I started with PROD (proposed-deletion) and a user stated "this article may be controversial" and removed it. Next I attempted to add it to Articles for deletion via Current Discussions and the link to the date of the request. I must have missed a step or two because I only found an option to add it to the log. When I attempted to do so the link posted beneath the log. I would like to start the discussion. Do you have suggestions for the steps to post it correctly? Matthew R. Lee (talk) 03:43, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

Follow-up question about photo copyright

Hi User: MereTechnicality! You and others were very helpful --- my question is, what counts as explicit permission from the copyright holder? And the copyright holder would be the photographer? What if the photographs were purchased by the person being photographed?

Thanks!

Hi! Explicit permission would be something like an email from the person who took the photo to the Wikimedia foundation. There's more info about this at Wikipedia:Requesting copyright permission. Also, please sign your posts with four tildes (~) on talk pages. Thanks! MereTechnicality ⚙ 17:45, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

Don't Template the Regulars!

Greetings. Please read WP:DTTR - and, in future, please be aware that there is no time restriction when applying a WP:A7 template. That appears to be an error with the template you have used. Regards Exemplo347 (talk) 21:08, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

@Exemplo347: Sorry. I'm not great with words, so I usually use templates. I also saw you tagged a page about 3 minutes after creation, which I was told not to do because it seemed a bit bitey. I thought there was a "grace period" of about 10-15 minutes, after which it could be tagged under A7. If you look further up the talk page, you can see where I was told this. Again, sorry for templating you. MereTechnicality ⚙ 21:14, 21 February 2017 (UTC)
That's fine, I wasn't having a go at you, I just wanted to point it out for future reference. While it's true that a quick application of A7 can sometimes seem a bit bitey, common sense is key - if there's an article that is clearly being worked on, then I give them a bit of time to see what the end result will be. If it's just something blatant then there's no reason to wait, and there's no policy, guideline or even a consensus that suggests that editors are required to wait, despite many discussions about this fact. Good luck with your future editing! Regards Exemplo347 (talk) 21:19, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

Your submission at Articles for creation: Oliver Wendell Holmes Library (February 22)

Your recent article submission to Articles for Creation has been reviewed! Unfortunately, it has not been accepted at this time. The reason left by Triptothecottage was:
This submission's references do not adequately show the subject's notability. Wikipedia requires significant coverage about the subject in reliable sources that are independent of the subject—see the general guideline on notability and the golden rule. Please improve the submission's referencing (see Wikipedia:Referencing for beginners), so that the information is verifiable, and there is clear evidence of why the subject is notable and worthy of inclusion in an encyclopedia. If additional reliable sources cannot be found for the subject, then it may not be suitable for Wikipedia at this time.
 The comment the reviewer left was:
The article needs coverage from third-party sources, not just the library's own website.
Please check the submission for any additional comments left by the reviewer. You are encouraged to edit the submission to address the issues raised and resubmit when they have been resolved.
Triptothecottage (talk) 04:33, 22 February 2017 (UTC)


Teahouse logo
Hello! MereTechnicality, I noticed your article was declined at Articles for Creation, and that can be disappointing. If you are wondering why your article submission was declined, please post a question at the Articles for creation help desk. If you have any other questions about your editing experience, we'd love to help you at the Teahouse, a friendly space on Wikipedia where experienced editors lend a hand to help new editors like yourself! See you there! Triptothecottage (talk) 04:33, 22 February 2017 (UTC)
@Triptothecottage:, it's kind of funny that you invited me to the Teahouse because I'm actually a host there. Anyway, I will look for more references tomorrow morning. Thanks for reviewing my article! MereTechnicality ⚙ 04:44, 22 February 2017 (UTC)
@MereTechnicality: You're a very experienced editor to be referrring to the Teahouse! Whoops! Triptothecottage (talk) 04:46, 22 February 2017 (UTC)
@Triptothecottage: I do have a good amount of experience, though actually writing articles is not my forte (yet!) and I do think I turned in that draft a big prematurely. I realized just a few minutes ago that there may not be enough secondary coverage to warrant its own article; I need to go to bed but I'm going to CSD it in the morning. Thanks for reviewing and for your hospitality! MereTechnicality ⚙ 04:51, 22 February 2017 (UTC)

Pending changes reviewer granted

Hello. Your account has been granted the "pending changes reviewer" userright, allowing you to review other users' edits on pages protected by pending changes. The list of articles awaiting review is located at Special:PendingChanges, while the list of articles that have pending changes protection turned on is located at Special:StablePages.

Being granted reviewer rights neither grants you status nor changes how you can edit articles. If you do not want this user right, you may ask any administrator to remove it for you at any time.

See also:

Mz7 (talk) 21:34, 24 February 2017 (UTC)

Thanks! MereTechnicality ⚙ 21:35, 24 February 2017 (UTC)

Noah Purcell

I have cited my works on my Noah Purcell page. Please review them, and if they are valid, how do you remove the proposed for deletion tag? (lol)

Giraffe boii666 (talk) 01:02, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Hi, Giraffe boii666. I already removed the BLPPROD tag, so don't worry about it. You can remove those messages from your talk page as well. MereTechnicality ⚙ 01:07, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

NPP

Hi.If you are going to patrol new pages, please be sure to tag pages such as Dorothy Day Center appropriately. You may also find the instructions for qualified New Page Reviewers will help you understand more about this process. If you have any questions , don't hesitate to ask me on my talk page. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 01:42, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

@Kudpung: Okay. I was being a bit cautious because I accidentally acted a bit bite-y slightly before that. Sorry. MereTechnicality ⚙ 02:19, 25 February 2017 (UTC)

Reality Factory

Don't delete my page on reality factory

Hello, if you want to contest the deletion, please do it on the article's talk page. Please also sign your posts on talk pages with four tildes (~). MereTechnicality ⚙ 02:14, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

do you use reality factory and did you hear of it and I am new to wikipedia plus I posted the wikipedia page link over at http://www.realityfactory.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&p=41458&sid=d2096b4096ff809d8b7cf3dc40a503e1#p41458 so people is going to see it

Administrators' newsletter – March 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2017).

Administrator changes

Amortias • Deckiller • BU Rob13
Ronnotel • Islander • Chamal N • Isomorphic • Keeper76 • Lord Voldemort • Shereth • Bdesham • Pjacobi

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

  • A recent query shows that only 16% of administrators on the English Wikipedia have enabled two-factor authentication. If you haven't already enabled it please consider doing so.
  • Cookie blocks should be deployed to the English Wikipedia soon. This will extend the current autoblock system by setting a cookie for each block, which will then autoblock the user after they switch accounts under a new IP.
  • A bot will now automatically place a protection template on protected pages when admins forget to do so.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:14, 1 March 2017 (UTC)

Wulbac

Probably a hoax.Xx236 (talk) 13:14, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

It's for children.Xx236 (talk) 13:27, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2017).

Administrator changes

added TheDJ
removed Xnuala • CJ • Oldelpaso • Berean Hunter • Jimbo Wales • Andrew c • Karanacs • Modemac • Scott

Guideline and policy news

  • Following a discussion on the backlog of unpatrolled files, consensus was found to create a new user right for autopatrolling file uploads. Implementation progress can be tracked on Phabricator.
  • The BLPPROD grandfather clause, which stated that unreferenced biographies of living persons were only eligible for proposed deletion if they were created after March 18, 2010, has been removed following an RfC.
  • An RfC has closed with consensus to allow proposed deletion of files. The implementation process is ongoing.
  • After an unsuccessful proposal to automatically grant IP block exemption, consensus was found to relax the criteria for granting the user right from needing it to wanting it.

Technical news

  • After a recent RfC, moved pages will soon be featured in a queue similar to Special:NewPagesFeed and require patrolling. Moves by administrators, page movers, and autopatrolled editors will be automatically marked as patrolled.
  • Cookie blocks have been deployed. This extends the current autoblock system by setting a cookie for each block, which will then autoblock the user if they switch accounts, even under a new IP.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:55, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer granted

Hello MereTechnicality. Your account has been added to the "New page reviewers" user group, allowing you to review new pages and mark them as patrolled, tag them for maintenance issues, or in some cases, tag them for deletion. The list of articles awaiting review is located at the New Pages Feed. New page reviewing is a vital function for policing the quality of the encylopedia, if you have not already done so, you must read the new tutorial at New Pages Review, the linked guides and essays, and fully understand the various deletion criteria. If you need more help or wish to discuss the process, please join or start a thread at page reviewer talk.

  • URGENT: Please consider helping get the huge backlog (around 18,000 pages) down to a manageable number of pages as soon as possible.
  • Be nice to new users - they are often not aware of doing anything wrong.
  • You will frequently be asked by users to explain why their page is being deleted - be formal and polite in your approach to them too, even if they are not.
  • Don't review a page if you are not sure what to do. Just leave it for another reviewer.
  • Remember that quality is quintessential to good patrolling. Take your time to patrol each article, there is no rush. Use the message feature and offer basic advice.

The reviewer right does not change your status or how you can edit articles. If you no longer want this user right, you may ask any administrator to remove it for you at any time. In case of abuse or persistent inaccuracy of reviewing, the right can be revoked at any time by an administrator. — Coffee // have a ☕️ // beans // 00:51, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, Coffee. Have a great day! MereTechnicality ⚙ 01:05, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Deletion of Open Access page in Angola, Benin, France

Hello,

I would like to know why you have nominated the above mentioned pages for speedy deletion, and how to have them back online, I am migrating content from UNESCO Global Open Access Portal (GOAP) http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/portals-and-platforms/goap/access-by-region/africa/benin/ In the framework of this project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_United_Nations/Open_Access_Descriptions I am in fact working at UNESCO and I have added in every created page the section Sources with the cc licence from UNESCO,

If there are further action I need to take care in order for the page not to be deleted please let me know,

Thank you very much for your help,

Filippo — Preceding unsigned comment added by Filippo Morsiani (talk • contribs) 13:59, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

@Filippo Morsiani: Ah, I didn't see the free use tag at the bottom. When I ran it through my copyright-infringement detector it came back as probable infringement. Sorry about that! MereTechnicality ⚙ 14:10, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
@MereTechnicality:

Thx for your answer, how can i get the pages back?

filippo

@Filippo Morsiani: WP:REFUND. Please also sign your messages on talk pages by placing four tildes (~) after your message. MereTechnicality ⚙ 14:48, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Your Teahouse responses

I'm a couple of months behind so you may have gotten better at this.

Someone asked for help with "my page". That usually means an article, not a userpage. What we generally tell people on The Teahouse and the Help Desk is that it is not recommended that you create an article about yourself, and the description "my page" indicates the person may not have the correct impression of what Wikipedia is for, since people can't post biographies as if this were social media. Perhaps you know all this by now.

I haven't seen any more pings, but I'm sure you know not to precede the username with "Template".— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:38, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Alright, I'll keep that in mind. MereTechnicality ⚙ 20:40, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Dispute Resolution Noticeboard Volunteer Roll Call

This is a volunteer roll call sent to you on behalf of the current Dispute Resolution Noticeboard Coordinator, Robert McClenon, and is being sent to you because you have listed yourself as a volunteer at DRN. If you remain interested in helping at DRN and are willing to actively do so by taking at least one case (and seeing it through) or helping with administrative matters at least once per calendar month, please add your name to the roll call list. Those who do not add their name on the roll call list will be removed from the principal volunteer list after May 31, 2017 unless the DRN Coordinator chooses to retain their name for the best interest of DRN or the encyclopedia. Individuals whose names are removed after May 31, 2017, should feel free to re-add their names to the principal volunteer list, but are respectfully requested not to do so unless they are willing to take part at DRN at least one time per month as noted above. No one is going to be monitoring to see if you live up to that commitment, but we respectfully ask that you either live up to it or remove your name from the principal volunteer list.

Best regards, TransporterMan (TALK) 21:54, 27 April 2017 (UTC) (Not watching this page)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2017).

Administrator changes

added Karanacs • Berean Hunter • GoldenRing • Dlohcierekim
removed Gdr • Tyrenius • JYolkowski • Longhair • Master Thief Garrett • Aaron Brenneman • Laser brain • JzG • Dragons flight

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

Miscellaneous

  • Following an RfC, the editing restrictions page is now split into a list of active restrictions and an archive of those that are old or on inactive accounts. Make sure to check both pages if searching for a restriction.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:19, 2 May 2017 (UTC)

New Page Review - Newsletter No.4

Hello MereTechnicality,

Since rolling out the right in November, just 6 months ago, we now have 816 reviewers, but the backlog is still mysteriously growing fast. If every reviewer did just 55 reviews, the 22,000 backlog would be gone, in a flash, schwoop, just like that!

But do remember: Rather than speed, quality and depth of patrolling and the use of correct CSD criteria are essential to good reviewing. Do not over-tag. Make use of the message feature to let the creator know about your maintenance tags. See the tutorial again HERE. Get help HERE.

Stay up to date with recent new page developments and have your say, read THIS PAGE.

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, go here. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:43, 21 May 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2017).

Administrator changes

added Doug Bell • Dennis Brown • Clpo13 • ONUnicorn
removed ThaddeusB • Yandman • Bjarki S • OldakQuill • Shyam • Jondel • Worm That Turned

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

Miscellaneous

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:40, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2017).

Administrator changes

added Happyme22 • Dragons flight
removed Zad68

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

Miscellaneous

  • A newly revamped database report can help identify users who may be eligible to be autopatrolled.
  • A potentially compromised account from 2001–2002 attempted to request resysop. Please practice appropriate account security by using a unique password for Wikipedia, and consider enabling two-factor authentication. Currently around 17% of admins have enabled 2FA, up from 16% in February 2017.
  • Did you know: On 29 June 2017, there were 1,261 administrators on the English Wikipedia – the exact number of administrators as there were ten years ago on 29 June 2007. Since that time, the English Wikipedia has grown from 1.85 million articles to over 5.43 million.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:59, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer Newsletter

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your efforts reviewing new pages!

Backlog update:

  • The new page backlog is currently at 18,511 pages. We have worked hard to decrease from over 22,000, but more hard work is needed! Please consider reviewing even just a few pages a a day.
  • Some editors are committing to work specifically on patrolling new pages on 15 July. If you have not reviewed new pages in a while, this might be a good time to be involved. Please remember that quality of patrolling is more important than quantity, that the speedy deletion criteria should be followed strictly, and that ovetagging for minor issues should be avoided.

Technology update:

  • Several requests have been put into Phabractor to increase usability of the New Pages Feed and the Page Curation toolbar. For more details or to suggest improvements go to Wikipedia:Page Curation/Suggested improvements
  • The tutorial has been updated to include links to the following useful userscripts. If you were not aware of them, they could be useful in your efforts reviewing new pages:

General project update:

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, go here. TonyBallioni (talk) 03:48, 14 July 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2017).

Administrator changes

added Anarchyte • GeneralizationsAreBad • Cullen328 (first RfA to reach WP:300)
removed Cprompt • Rockpocket • Rambo's Revenge • Animum • TexasAndroid • Chuck SMITH • MikeLynch • Crazytales • Ad Orientem

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:12, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer Newsletter

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your efforts reviewing new pages!

Backlog update:

  • The new page backlog is currently at 16,991 pages. We have worked hard to decrease from over 22,000, but more hard work is needed! Please consider reviewing even just a few pages a a day.

Technology update:

  • Rentier has created a NPP browser in WMF Labs that allows you to search new unreviewed pages using keywords and categories.

General project update:

  • The Wikimedia Foundation Community Tech team is working with the community to implement the autoconfirmed article creation trial. The trial is currently set to start on 7 September 2017, pending final approval of the technical features.
  • Please remember to focus on the quality of review: correct tagging of articles and not tagbombing are important. Searching for potential copyright violations is also important, and it can be aided by Earwig's Copyvio Detector, which can be added to your toolbar for ease of use with this user script.
  • To keep up with the latest conversation on New Pages Patrol or to ask questions, you can go to Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Reviewers and add it to your watchlist.

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, go here. TonyBallioni (talk) 20:33, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2017).

Administrator changes

added Nakon • Scott
removed Sverdrup • Thespian • Elockid • James086 • Ffirehorse • Celestianpower • Boing! said Zebedee

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

  • You will now get a notification when someone tries to log in to your account and fails. If they try from a device that has logged into your account before, you will be notified after five failed attempts. You can also set in your preferences to get an email when someone logs in to your account from a new device or IP address, which may be encouraged for admins and accounts with sensitive permissions.
  • Syntax highlighting is now available as a beta feature (more info). This may assist administrators and template editors when dealing with intricate syntax of high-risk templates and system messages.
  • In your notification preferences, you can now block specific users from pinging you. This functionality will soon be available for Special:EmailUser as well.

Arbitration

  • Applications for CheckUser and Oversight are being accepted by the Arbitration Committee until September 12. Community discussion of the candidates will begin on September 18.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:35, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer Newsletter

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your efforts reviewing new pages!

Backlog update:

  • The new page backlog is currently at 14304 pages. We have worked hard to decrease from over 22,000, but more hard work is needed! Please consider reviewing even just a few pages a day.
  • Currently there are 532 pages in the backlog that were created by non-autoconfirmed users before WP:ACTRIAL. The NPP project is undertaking a drive to clear these pages from the backlog before they hit the 90 day Google index point. Please consider reviewing a few today!

Technology update:

  • The Wikimedia Foundation is currently working on creating a new filter for page curation that will allow new page patrollers to filter by extended confirmed status. For more information see: T175225

General project update:

  • On 14 September 2017 the English Wikipedia began the autoconfirmed article creation trial. For a six month period, creation of articles in the mainspace of the English Wikipedia will be restricted to users with autoconfirmed status. New users who attempt article creation will now be redirected to a newly designed landing page.
  • Before clicking on a reference or external link while reviewing a page, please be careful that the site looks trustworthy. If you have a question about the safety of clicking on a link, it is better not to click on it.
  • To keep up with the latest conversation on New Pages Patrol or to ask questions, you can go to Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Reviewers and add it to your watchlist.

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, go here. TonyBallioni (talk) 02:16, 19 September 2017 (UTC)

Vecauce Parish

Most of the other Latvian parishes have their own English Wikipedia pages, many short (the Latvian Wikipedia pages being longer) - see Municipalities of Latvia: therefore VP should be treated the same. Jackiespeel (talk) 17:11, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

@Jackiespeel: Okay. You can remove the merge tags then. MereTechnicality ⚙ 17:14, 20 September 2017 (UTC)
Could you put in a 'translate from corresponding Latvian WP page' tag instead please. Jackiespeel (talk) 17:30, 20 September 2017 (UTC)

Stub sorting. You can help!

Hello MereTechnicality,

I noticed you marked an article as a stub using the {{stub}} template. Did you know that there are thousands of stub types that you can use to clarify what type of stub the article is? Properly categorizing stubs is important to the Wikipedia community because it helps various WikiProjects to identify articles that need expansion.

If you have questions about stub sorting, don't hesitate to ask! There is a wealth of stub information on the stub sorting WikiProject, and hundreds of stub sorters. Thanks! (if you need it, I could list the articles you added {{stub}} to.)-- I dream of horses  If you reply here, please ping me by adding {{U|I dream of horses}} to your message  (talk to me) (My edits) @ 04:46, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

I dream of horses: Thank you, I will make sure to properly do that in the future. MereTechnicality ⚙ 13:00, 21 September 2017 (UTC)

regarding harsh vardan deo wiki page

DEAR Sir,

You have marked wikipedia page of harshvardan deo without any reason. we have given all the reference of real person. We request you to please activate our page without reason you can remove and you don't have any right to do it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 103.40.199.93 (talk) 10:12, 22 September 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – October 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2017).

Administrator changes

added Boing! said Zebedee • Ansh666 • Ad Orientem
removed Tonywalton • AmiDaniel • Silence • BanyanTree • Magioladitis • Vanamonde93 • Mr.Z-man • Jdavidb • Jakec • Ram-Man • Yelyos • Kurt Shaped Box

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

Arbitration

  • Community consultation on the 2017 candidates for CheckUser and Oversight has concluded. The Arbitration Committee will appoint successful candidates by October 11.
  • A request for comment is open regarding the structure, rules, and procedures of the December 2017 Arbitration Committee election, and how to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:23, 2 October 2017 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer Newsletter

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your efforts reviewing new pages!

Backlog update:

  • The new page backlog is currently at 12,878 pages. We have worked hard to decrease from over 22,000, but more hard work is needed! Please consider reviewing even just a few pages a day.
  • We have successfully cleared the backlog of pages created by non-confirmed accounts before ACTRIAL. Thank you to everyone who participated in that drive.

Technology update:

  • Primefac has created a script that will assist in requesting revision deletion for copyright violations that are often found in new pages. For more information see User:Primefac/revdel.

General project update:

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, go here. TonyBallioni (talk) 17:47, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – November 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2017).

Administrator changes

added Longhair • Megalibrarygirl • TonyBallioni • Vanamonde93
removed Allen3 • Eluchil404 • Arthur Rubin • Bencherlite

Technical news

Arbitration

Obituaries

  • The Wikipedia community has recently learned that Allen3 (William Allen Peckham) passed away on December 30, 2016, the same day as JohnCD. Allen began editing in 2005 and became an administrator that same year.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:50, 2 November 2017 (UTC)

ArbCom 2017 election voter message

Hello, MereTechnicality. Voting in the 2017 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 10 December. All users who registered an account before Saturday, 28 October 2017, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Wednesday, 1 November 2017 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2017 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 18:42, 3 December 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2017

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2017).

Administrator changes

added Joe Roe
readded JzG
removed Ericorbit • Perceval • Thingg • Tristanb • Violetriga

Guideline and policy news

  • Following a request for comment, a new section has been added to the username policy which disallows usernames containing emoji, emoticons or otherwise "decorative" usernames, and usernames that use any non-language symbols. Administrators should discuss issues related to these types of usernames before blocking.

Technical news

Arbitration

Miscellaneous

  • Over the last few months, several users have reported backlogs that require administrator attention at WP:ANI, with the most common backlogs showing up on WP:SPI, WP:AIV and WP:RFPP. It is requested that all administrators take some time during this month to help clear backlogs wherever possible. It should be noted that AIV reports are not always valid; however, they still need to be cleared, which may include needing to remind users on what qualifies as vandalism.
  • The Wikimedia Foundation Community health initiative is conducting a survey for English Wikipedia contributors on their experience and satisfaction level with Administrator’s Noticeboard/Incidents. This survey will be integral to gathering information about how this noticeboard works (i.e. which problems it deals with well and which problems it struggles with). If you would like to take this survey, please sign up on this page, and a link for the survey will be emailed to you via Special:EmailUser.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:58, 2 December 2017 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer Newsletter

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your efforts reviewing new pages!

Backlog update:

  • The new page backlog is currently at 12713 pages. Please consider reviewing even just a few pages each day! If everyone helps out, it will really put a dent in the backlog.
  • Currently the backlog stretches back to March and some pages in the backlog have passed the 90 day Google index point. Please consider reviewing some of them!

Outreach and Invitations:

  • If you know other editors with a good understanding of Wikipedia policy, invite them to join NPP by dropping the invitation template on their talk page with: {{subst:NPR invite}}. Adding more qualified reviewers will help with keeping the backlog manageable.

New Year New Page Review Drive

  • A backlog drive is planned for the start of the year, beginning on January 1st and running until the end of the month. Unique prizes will be given in tiers for both the total number of reviews made, as well as the longest 'streak' maintained.
  • Note: quality reviewing is extremely important, please do not sacrifice quality for quantity.

General project update:

  • ACTRIAL has resulted in a significant increase in the quality of new submissions, with noticeably fewer CSD, PROD, and BLPPROD candidates in the new page feed. However, the majority of the backlog still dates back to before ACTRIAL started, so consider reviewing articles from the middle or back of the backlog.
  • The NPP Browser can help you quickly find articles with topics that you prefer to review from within the backlog.
  • To keep up with the latest conversation on New Pages Patrol or to ask questions, you can go to Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Reviewers and add it to your watchlist.

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, go here. — TonyBallioni (talk) 20:27, 12 December 2017 (UTC)

New Years new page backlog drive

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your efforts reviewing new pages!

Announcing the NPP New Year Backlog Drive!

We have done amazing work so far in December to reduce the New Pages Feed backlog by over 3000 articles! Now is the time to capitalise on our momentum and help eliminate the backlog!

The backlog drive will begin on January 1st and run until January 29th. Prize tiers and other info can be found HERE.

Awards will be given in tiers in two categories:

  • The total number of reviews completed for the month.
  • The minimum weekly total maintained for all four weeks of the backlog drive.

NOTE: It is extremely important that we focus on quality reviewing. Despite our goal of reducing the backlog as much as possible, please do not rush while reviewing.

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, go here. — TonyBallioni (talk) 20:24, 30 December 2017 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – January 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2017).

Administrator changes

added Muboshgu
readded Anetode • Laser brain • Worm That Turned
removed None

Bureaucrat changes

readded Worm That Turned

Guideline and policy news

  • A request for comment is in progress to determine whether the administrator policy should be amended to require disclosure of paid editing activity at WP:RFA and to prohibit the use of administrative tools as part of paid editing activity, with certain exceptions.

Technical news

Arbitration

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:37, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – February 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2018).

Administrator changes

added None
removed Blurpeace • Dana boomer • Deltabeignet • Denelson83 • Grandiose • Salvidrim! • Ymblanter

Guideline and policy news

  • An RfC has closed with a consensus that candidates at WP:RFA must disclose whether they have ever edited for pay and that administrators may never use administrative tools as part of any paid editing activity, except when they are acting as a Wikipedian-in-Residence or when the payment is made by the Wikimedia Foundation or an affiliate of the WMF.
  • Editors responding to threats of harm can now contact the Wikimedia Foundation's emergency address by using Special:EmailUser/Emergency. If you don't have email enabled on Wikipedia, directly contacting the emergency address using your own email client remains an option.

Technical news

  • A tag will now be automatically applied to edits that blank a page, turn a page into a redirect, remove/replace almost all content in a page, undo an edit, or rollback an edit. These edits were previously denoted solely by automatic edit summaries.

Arbitration

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:52, 4 February 2018 (UTC)

New Page Reviewer Newsletter

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your efforts in reviewing new pages!
The NPP backlog at the end of the drive with the number of unreviewed articles by creation date. Red is older than 90 days, orange is between 90 and 30 days old, and green is younger than 30 days.

Backlog update:

  • The new page backlog is currently at 3819 unreviewed articles, with a further 6660 unreviewed redirects.
  • We are very close to eliminating the backlog completely; please help by reviewing a few extra articles each day!

New Year Backlog Drive results:

  • We made massive progress during the recent four weeks of the NPP Backlog Drive, during which the backlog reduced by nearly six thousand articles and the length of the backlog by almost 3 months!

General project update:

  • ACTRIAL will end it's initial phase on the 14th of March. Our goal is to reduce the backlog significantly below the 90 day index point by the 14th of March. Please consider helping with this goal by reviewing a few additional pages a day.
  • Reviewing redirects is an important and necessary part of New Page Patrol. Please read the guideline on appropriate redirects for advice on reviewing redirects. Inappropriate redirects can be re-targeted or nominated for deletion at RfD.

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, go here. 20:32, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2018).

Administrator changes

added Lourdes†
removed AngelOfSadness • Bhadani • Chris 73 • Coren • Friday • Midom • Mike V
† Lourdes has requested that her admin rights be temporarily removed, pending her return from travel.

Guideline and policy news

  • The autoconfirmed article creation trial (ACTRIAL) is scheduled to end on 14 March 2018. The results of the research collected can be read on Meta Wiki.
  • Community ban discussions must now stay open for at least 24 hours prior to being closed.
  • A change to the administrator inactivity policy has been proposed. Under the proposal, if an administrator has not used their admin tools for a period of five years and is subsequently desysopped for inactivity, the administrator would have to file a new RfA in order to regain the tools.
  • A change to the banning policy has been proposed which would specify conditions under which a repeat sockmaster may be considered de facto banned, reducing the need to start a community ban discussion for these users.

Technical news

  • CheckUsers are now able to view private data such as IP addresses from the edit filter log, e.g. when the filter prevents a user from creating an account. Previously, this information was unavailable to CheckUsers because access to it could not be logged.
  • The edit filter has a new feature contains_all that edit filter managers may use to check if one or more strings are all contained in another given string.

Miscellaneous

Obituaries

  • Bhadani (Gangadhar Bhadani) passed away on 8 February 2018. Bhadani joined Wikipedia in March 2005 and became an administrator in September 2005. While he was active, Bhadani was regarded as one of the most prolific Wikipedians from India.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:00, 2 March 2018 (UTC)

About the Reverting of the Changes in the Toyota Supra edit page

After receiving this message, I must thank you about reverting the changes, for it wasn't my intention to make them. Actually, I was surprised to see that my IP was marked as responsible for the changes. I don't recall making them, and the edit page of the Toyota Supra and the article itself does not appear in my Borwser History. I almost never make edits on articles. My only guess is that my IP is a shared IP adress, but then I certainly do not know how am I shearing it with. Again, thanks for reverting the changes. 186.96.84.226 (talk) 18:04, 29 March 2018 (UTC)Charles

New Page Review Newsletter No.10

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your work reviewing New Pages!
Notability
General notability guideline
Subject-specific guidelines
See also

ACTRIAL:

  • ACTRIAL's six month experiment restricting new page creation to (auto)confirmed users ended on 14 March. As expected, a greatly increased number of unsuitable articles and candidates for deletion are showing up in the feed again, and the backlog has since increased already by ~30%. Please consider reviewing a few extra articles each day.

Paid editing

  • Now that ACTRIAL is inoperative pending discussion, please be sure to look for tell-tale signs of undisclosed paid editing. Contact the creator if appropriate, and submit the issue to WP:COIN if necessary.

Subject-specific notability guidelines

Nominate competent users for Autopatrolled

  • While patrolling articles, if you find an editor that is particularly competent at creating quality new articles, and that user has created more than 25 articles (rather than stubs), consider nominating them for the 'Autopatrolled' user right HERE.

News

  • The next issue Wikipedia's newspaper The Signpost has now been published after a long delay. There are some articles in it, including ACTRIAL wrap-up that will be of special interest to New Page Reviewers. Don't hesitate to contribute to the comments sections. The Signpost is one of the best ways to stay up date with news and new developments - please consider subscribing to it. All editors of Wikipedia and associated projects are welcome to submit articles on any topic for consideration by the The Signpost's editorial team for the next issue.
To opt-out of future mailings, go here. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:06, 30 March 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – April 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2018).

Administrator changes

added 331dot • Cordless Larry • ClueBot NG
removed Gogo Dodo • Pb30 • Sebastiankessel • Seicer • SoLando

Guideline and policy news

  • Administrators who have been desysopped due to inactivity are now required to have performed at least one (logged) administrative action in the past 5 years in order to qualify for a resysop without going through a new RfA.
  • Editors who have been found to have engaged in sockpuppetry on at least two occasions after an initial indefinite block, for whatever reason, are now automatically considered banned by the community without the need to start a ban discussion.
  • The notability guideline for organizations and companies has been substantially rewritten following the closure of this request for comment. Among the changes, the guideline more clearly defines the sourcing requirements needed for organizations and companies to be considered notable.
  • The six-month autoconfirmed article creation trial (ACTRIAL) ended on 14 March 2018. The post-trial research report has been published. A request for comment is now underway to determine whether the restrictions from ACTRIAL should be implemented permanently.

Technical news

Arbitration

  • The Arbitration Committee is considering a change to the discretionary sanctions procedures which would require an editor to appeal a sanction to the community at WP:AE or WP:AN prior to appealing directly to the Arbitration Committee at WP:ARCA.

Miscellaneous

  • A discussion has closed which concluded that administrators are not required to enable email, though many editors suggested doing so as a matter of best practice.
  • The Foundations' Anti-Harassment Tools team has released the Interaction Timeline. This shows a chronologic history for two users on pages where they have both made edits, which may be helpful in identifying sockpuppetry and investigating editing disputes.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:23, 2 April 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – May 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2018).

Administrator changes

added None
removed Chochopk • Coffee • Gryffindor • Jimp • Knowledge Seeker • Lankiveil • Peridon • Rjd0060

Guideline and policy news

  • The ability to create articles directly in mainspace is now indefinitely restricted to autoconfirmed users.
  • A proposal is being discussed which would create a new "event coordinator" right that would allow users to temporarily add the "confirmed" flag to new user accounts and to create many new user accounts without being hindered by a rate limit.

Technical news

  • AbuseFilter has received numerous improvements, including an OOUI overhaul, syntax highlighting, ability to search existing filters, and a few new functions. In particular, the search feature can be used to ensure there aren't existing filters for what you need, and the new equals_to_any function can be used when checking multiple namespaces. One major upcoming change is the ability to see which filters are the slowest. This information is currently only available to those with access to Logstash.
  • When blocking anonymous users, a cookie will be applied that reloads the block if the user changes their IP. This means in most cases, you may no longer need to do /64 range blocks on residential IPv6 addresses in order to effectively block the end user. It will also help combat abuse from IP hoppers in general. This currently only occurs when hard-blocking accounts.
  • The block notice shown on mobile will soon be more informative and point users to a help page on how to request an unblock, just as it currently does on desktop.
  • There will soon be a calendar widget at Special:Block, making it easier to set expiries for a specific date and time.

Arbitration

Obituaries

  • Lankiveil (Craig Franklin) passed away in mid-April. Lankiveil joined Wikipedia on 12 August 2004 and became an administrator on 31 August 2008. During his time with the Wikimedia community, Lankiveil served as an oversighter for the English Wikipedia and as president of Wikimedia Australia.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:05, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

NPR Newsletter No.11 25 May 2018

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your work reviewing New Pages!
Notability
General notability guideline
Subject-specific guidelines
See also

ACTRIAL:

  • WP:ACREQ has been implemented. The flow at the feed has dropped back to the levels during the trial. However, the backlog is on the rise again so please consider reviewing a few extra articles each day; a backlog approaching 5,000 is still far too high. An effort is also needed to ensure that older unsuitable older pages at the back of the queue do not get automatically indexed for Google.

Deletion tags

  • Do bear in mind that articles in the feed showing the trash can icon may have been tagged by inexperienced or non NPR rights holders. They require your further verification.

Backlog drive:

  • A backlog drive will take place from 10 through 20 June. Check out our talk page at WT:NPR for more details. NOTE: It is extremely important that we focus on quality reviewing. Despite our goal of reducing the backlog as much as possible, please do not rush while reviewing.

Editathons

  • There will be a large increase in the number of editathons in June. Please be gentle with new pages that obviously come from good faith participants, especially articles from developing economies and ones about female subjects. Consider using the 'move to draft' tool rather than bluntly tagging articles that may have potential but which cannot yet reside in mainspace.

Paid editing - new policy

  • Now that ACTRIAL is ACREQ, please be sure to look for tell-tale signs of undisclosed paid editing. Contact the creator if appropriate, and submit the issue to WP:COIN if necessary. There is a new global WMF policy that requires paid editors to connect to their adverts.

Subject-specific notability guidelines

  • The box at the right contains each of the subject-specific notability guidelines, please review any that are relevant BEFORE nominating an article for deletion.
  • Reviewers are requested to familiarise themselves with the new version of the notability guidelines for organisations and companies.

Not English

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

News

  • Development is underway by the WMF on upgrades to the New Pages Feed, in particular ORES features that will help to identify COPYVIOs, and more granular options for selecting articles to review.
  • The next issue of The Signpost has been published. The newspaper is one of the best ways to stay up to date with news and new developments. between our newsletters.
Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:34, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – June 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2018).

Administrator changes

added None
removed Al Ameer son • AliveFreeHappy • Cenarium • Lupo • MichaelBillington

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

  • IP-based cookie blocks should be deployed to English Wikipedia in June. This will cause the block of a logged-out user to be reloaded if they change IPs. This means in most cases, you may no longer need to do /64 range blocks on residential IPv6 addresses in order to effectively block the end user. It will also help combat abuse from IP hoppers in general. For the time being, it only affects users of the desktop interface.
  • The Wikimedia Foundation's Anti-Harassment Tools team will build granular types of blocks in 2018 (e.g. a block from uploading or editing specific pages, categories, or namespaces, as opposed to a full-site block). Feedback on the concept may be left at the talk page.
  • There is now a checkbox on Special:ListUsers to let you see only users in temporary user groups.
  • It is now easier for blocked mobile users to see why they were blocked.

Arbitration

  • A recent technical issue with the Arbitration Committee's spam filter inadvertently caused all messages sent to the committee through Wikipedia (i.e. Special:EmailUser/Arbitration Committee) to be discarded. If you attempted to send an email to the Arbitration Committee via Wikipedia between May 16 and May 31, your message was not received and you are encouraged to resend it. Messages sent outside of these dates or directly to the Arbitration Committee email address were not affected by this issue.

Miscellaneous

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:00, 1 June 2018 (UTC)

NPP Backlog Elimination Drive

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your work reviewing New Pages!

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel: there are currently 2900 unreviewed articles, and 4000 unreviewed redirects.

Announcing the Backlog Elimination Drive!

  • As a final push, we have decided to run a backlog elimination drive from the 20th to the 30th of June.
  • Reviewers who review at least 50 articles or redirects will receive a Special Edition NPP Barnstar: Special Edition New Page Patroller's Barnstar. Those who review 100, 250, 500, or 1000 pages will also receive tiered awards: 100 review coin, 250 review coin, 500 review coin, 1000 review certificate.
  • Please do not be hasty, take your time and fully review each page. It is extremely important that we focus on quality reviewing.

Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings. — Insertcleverphrasehere (or here) 06:57, 16 June 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2018).

Administrator changes

added Pbsouthwood • TheSandDoctor
readded Gogo Dodo
removed Andrevan • Doug • EVula • KaisaL • Tony Fox • WilyD

Bureaucrat changes

removed Andrevan • EVula

Guideline and policy news

  • An RfC about the deletion of drafts closed with a consensus to change the wording of WP:NMFD. Specifically, a draft that has been repeatedly resubmitted and declined at AfC without any substantial improvement may be deleted at MfD if consensus determines that it is unlikely to ever meet the requirements for mainspace and it otherwise meets one of the reasons for deletion outlined in the deletion policy.
  • A request for comment closed with a consensus that the {{promising draft}} template cannot be used to indefinitely prevent a WP:G13 speedy deletion nomination.

Technical news

  • Starting on July 9, the WMF Security team, Trust & Safety, and the broader technical community will be seeking input on an upcoming change that will restrict editing of site-wide JavaScript and CSS to a new technical administrators user group. Bureaucrats and stewards will be able to grant this right per a community-defined process. The intention is to reduce the number of accounts who can edit frontend code to those who actually need to, which in turn lessens the risk of malicious code being added that compromises the security and privacy of everyone who accesses Wikipedia. For more information, please review the FAQ.
  • Syntax highlighting has been graduated from a Beta feature on the English Wikipedia. To enable this feature, click the highlighter icon () in your editing toolbar (or under the hamburger menu in the 2017 wikitext editor). This feature can help prevent you from making mistakes when editing complex templates.
  • IP-based cookie blocks should be deployed to English Wikipedia in July (previously scheduled for June). This will cause the block of a logged-out user to be reloaded if they change IPs. This means in most cases, you may no longer need to do /64 range blocks on residential IPv6 addresses in order to effectively block the end user. It will also help combat abuse from IP hoppers in general. For the time being, it only affects users of the desktop interface.

Miscellaneous

  • Currently around 20% of admins have enabled two-factor authentication, up from 17% a year ago. If you haven't already enabled it, please consider doing so. Regardless if you use 2FA, please practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure and unique to Wikimedia.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:22, 3 July 2018 (UTC)

NPR Newsletter No.12 30 July 2018

Chart of the New Pages Patrol backlog for the past 6 months. (Purge)

Hello MereTechnicality, thank you for your work reviewing New Pages!

June backlog drive

Overall the June backlog drive was a success, reducing the last 3,000 or so to below 500. However, as expected, 90% of the patrolling was done by less than 10% of reviewers.
Since the drive closed, the backlog has begun to rise sharply again and is back up to nearly 1,400 already. Please help reduce this total and keep it from raising further by reviewing some articles each day.

New technology, new rules
  • New features are shortly going to be added to the Special:NewPagesFeed which include a list of drafts for review, OTRS flags for COPYVIO, and more granular filter preferences. More details can be found at this page.
  • Probationary permissions: Now that PERM has been configured to allow expiry dates to all minor user rights, new NPR flag holders may sometimes be limited in the first instance to 6 months during which their work will be assessed for both quality and quantity of their reviews. This will allow admins to accord the right in borderline cases rather than make a flat out rejection.
  • Current reviewers who have had the flag for longer than 6 months but have not used the permissions since they were granted will have the flag removed, but may still request to have it granted again in the future, subject to the same probationary period, if they wish to become an active reviewer.
Editathons
  • Editathons will continue through August. Please be gentle with new pages that obviously come from good faith participants, especially articles from developing economies and ones about female subjects. Consider using the 'move to draft' tool rather than bluntly tagging articles that may have potential but which cannot yet reside in mainspace.
The Signpost
  • The next issue of the monthly magazine will be out soon. The newspaper is an excellent way to stay up to date with news and new developments between our newsletters. If you have special messages to be published, or if you would like to submit an article (one about NPR perhaps?), don't hesitate to contact the editorial team here.

Go here to remove your name if you wish to opt-out of future mailings. — Insertcleverphrasehere (or here) 00:00, 30 July 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – August 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2018).

Administrator changes

added Sro23
readded KaisaL • Ymblanter

Guideline and policy news

  • After a discussion at Meta, a new user group called "interface administrators" (formerly "technical administrator") has been created. Come the end of August, interface admins will be the only users able to edit site-wide JavaScript and CSS pages like MediaWiki:Common.js and MediaWiki:Common.css, or edit other user's personal JavaScript and CSS. The intention is to improve security and privacy by reducing the number of accounts which could be used to compromise the site or another user's account through malicious code. The new user group can be assigned and revoked by bureaucrats. Discussion is ongoing to establish details for implementing the group on the English Wikipedia.
  • Following a request for comment, the WP:SISTER style guideline now states that in the mainspace, interwiki links to Wikinews should only be made as per the external links guideline. This generally means that within the body of an article, you should not link to Wikinews about a particular event that is only a part of the larger topic. Wikinews links in "external links" sections can be used where helpful, but not automatically if an equivalent article from a reliable news outlet could be linked in the same manner.

Technical news

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:31, 5 August 2018 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – September 2018

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2018).

Administrator changes

added None
removed Asterion • Crisco 1492 • KF • Kudpung • Liz • Randykitty • Spartaz
renamed Optimist on the run → Voice of Clam

Interface administrator changes

added Amorymeltzer • Mr. Stradivarius • MusikAnimal • MSGJ • TheDJ • Xaosflux

Guideline and policy news

  • Following a "stop-gap" discussion, six users have temporarily been made interface administrators while discussion is ongoing for a more permanent process for assigning the permission. Interface administrators are now the only editors allowed to edit sitewide CSS and JavaScript pages, as well as CSS/JS pages in another user's userspace. Previously, all administrators had this ability. The right can be granted and revoked by bureaucrats.

Technical news

  • Because of a data centre test you will be able to read but not edit the wikis for up to an hour on 12 September and 10 October. This will start at 14:00 (UTC). You might lose edits if you try to save during this time. The time when you can't edit might be shorter than an hour.
  • Some abuse filter variables have changed. They are now easier to understand for non-experts. The old variables will still work but filter editors are encouraged to replace them with the new ones. You can find the list of changed variables on mediawiki.org. They have a note which says Deprecated. Use ... instead. An example is article_text which is now page_title.
  • Abuse filters can now use how old a page is. The variable is page_age.

Arbitration

  • The Arbitration Committee has resolved to perform a round of Checkuser and Oversight appointments. The usernames of all applicants will be shared with the Functionaries team, and they will be requested to assist in the vetting process. The deadline to submit an application is 23:59 UTC, 12 September, and the candidates that move forward will be published on-wiki for community comments on 18 September.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:23, 2 September 2018 (UTC)
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