This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
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
The WMF Anti-Harassment Tools team is seeking input on the second set of wireframes for the Special:Block redesign that will introduce partial blocks. The new functionality will allow you to block a user from editing a specific set of pages, pages in a category, a namespace, and for specific actions such as moving pages and uploading files.
Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of FunkMonk -- FunkMonk (talk) 12:40, 5 August 2018 (UTC)
You're an un participating admin and I would like your advise. I think that Im Haarknoten wohnt eine Dame is a content fork of Herta Müller since that information is already there in the prose section. Admittedly I had added it since the content, I believe, doesn't deserve it's own article. It's practically one sentence. And nobody had bothered expanding it.
I know you're known to be neutral so I'm asking for advise. What do you think? Could the two discussion be considered the same and am I forum shopping? Tyw7 (🗣️ Talk) — If (reply) then (ping me) 16:35, 5 August 2018 (UTC)
@Tyw7: I'd suggest you let it go. Sam Sailor is correct when he points out that consensus at AFD was to keep with multiple people explicitly stating that they believe this book is sufficiently notable to have its own article. As such, a merge discussion is inappropriate imho since the AFD already considered merging but rejecting this proposal. Regards SoWhy17:21, 5 August 2018 (UTC)
Generally, yes, but if a merge was discussed and rejected at an AFD, then a new merge discussion will likely be considered forum shopping as it was here. Regards SoWhy19:20, 5 August 2018 (UTC)
Authority control
Hello SoWhy. Are the links provided in the authority control template a source and can it be used to remove a BLPPROD (like in this case)? I am asking this because I am BLPPRODing some of the BLPs without sources. Regards, » Shadowowl | talk23:24, 8 August 2018 (UTC)
@Shadowowl: The authority control template's purpose is not to reference the subject but to provide a unified identifier, as Help:Authority control outlines. It only appears in the References section for article where this is the last section. That said, the point of BLPPROD is to remove articles that have no references to verify any of the article's claims and the authority control template does indirectly provide you with such references, e.g. [1] does verify that Albrow has 48 publications to his name. You can easily create a inline reference using this link if needed. Just because the link is within the authority control template and not separate does not change this. Hence, I would advise against using BLPPROD on such articles as it violates the spirit of the process. After all, WP:BLPPROD says without any sources (reliable or unreliable) or links to support the claims and links do in fact exist. Regards SoWhy07:21, 9 August 2018 (UTC)
@SoWhy: Hello, you have deleted the article for Pmsltech. I know there is lots of criteria on wiki to publish article. I have used the reference list that published many government websites. I believe small organization can't left information through wiki. Is this true? Dhiren Ray 09:21, 16 August 2018 (UTC)
@SoWhy: It means the statement is true. If you have not significant or important enough, then wiki can't listed. Will wait when wiki publish Pmsltech. Dhiren Ray 09:36, 16 August 2018 (UTC)
@SoWhy: Can you provide a quantifiable or qualitative definition for what is considered significant coverage? Wikipedia falsely associates an older party, Nationalist Party of Canada with the new Canadian Nationalist Party. The two are separate parties and not having two pages creates ambiguity. Is the following five news sources not sufficient?
Hi SoWhy. You closed this AfD as "no consensus". I'm not questioning that decision, but curious as to whether WP:COIN#WikiProfessionals might've impacted the close or is something which might need to be mentioned on the article or its talk page. -- Marchjuly (talk) 07:22, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
@Marchjuly: I'm confused. How could a discussion started ten days later have impacted the close? Not sure what you expect of me though. Maybe you could elaborate? Regards SoWhy07:33, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
Sorry about that OP; it was a bit jumbled as my mind was thinking one thing but my hands decided to type something slightly different. Anyway, my question I guess is whether something such as this is a good enough reason to for another AfD to be started or would it just be better to post something about it on the article's talk page. -- Marchjuly (talk) 07:41, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
@Marchjuly:WP:PAID violations are (at this time) not a reason for deletion of articles unless the creator was banned before creating the article (per WP:G5). If that's not the case, a new AFD should only be initiated if you think notability should be considered differently and following the advice in Wikipedia:Renominating for deletion. If you only believe the language is tainted because of the PAID violation, you can fix the language yourself or tag it with ((undisclosed paid)). Regards SoWhy07:51, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
Would you please reconsider the close of Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Adventures in Middle-earth. I do not believe the weight of policy was for Keep. One 'Keep or Merge' !vote seems to be a cut-paste used by that editors is, as far as I can see, all of their AfDs (In any event it was Keep only if more sources were found, else Merge.) ; Another applied an inappropriate SNG (NBOOK. An RPG is not a book per the exception for 'instruction manuals' ie rule books and 'Reference works' ie supplemental material to enhance the game). As to the sourcing I do not believe that it, even if the sources are not problematic, demonstrates enough significance to sustain an article independent of the company's article, which is where we generally discuss products which do not have so much coverage as to overwhelm the article. Thank you. Jbh Talk19:47, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
@Jbhunley: What is there to reconsider? You did not argue to delete and nor did anyone else except the nominator. That's when "Articles for deletion" discussions can be closed as "keep" which never means that the material cannot be merged somewhere else. But whether the material should be in a separate article or not is not for AFD to decide (cf. Wikipedia:Perennial proposals#Rename AFD).That's what we have WP:MERGEREQ for. So if you believe the material should be merged, you can use the proper channels to propose it. Regards SoWhy20:34, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
Merge is a proper outcome for an AfD and going through a separate merge request after an AfD which has, arguably, a consensus to merge is needless busy work. If you do not see a policy based consensus to merge, that is fine but to argue that it is not an appropriate AfD outcome is, quite frankly, nonsensical and against long established norms. Do you say you see no consensus at the AfD to merge ie do you judge the policy basis for Keep stronger than the policy basis for Merge or are you saying Merge is not a valid outcome? I ask for the avoidance of ambiguity and in case I have misunderstood your reply. Jbh Talk20:50, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
@Jbhunley: I did not say that merge is not a possible outcome. I said that I saw no such consensus at this AFD, lest I would have closed it as such. This might well be because the merge proposal was only made relatively late in the discussion, hence my point about the possibility to discuss a merger separately. I hope this clears it up. Regards SoWhy06:55, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
@Uanfala: I lowered it to WP:ECP which allows established editors to edit it while still keeping out most vandals. May I ask why you wished for this change? Do you wish to replace the redirect with an article? Regards SoWhy07:50, 26 August 2018 (UTC)
It was mainly on princicple (though time I'm on the encyclopedia that anyone can edit and I come across a page that almost no-one can edit, my usual reaction has been to pass it by in indignation, even if (or especially if) the page is in need of editing). In this case, I'm not sure what change is best, and would probably leave it to other people, but a change does seem necessary: this is a redirect that has so far been discussed twice at RfD (and in the last case the nominator has had to jump through hoops to get it tagged), and since the last discussion an article with that name has been created that changes the situation, so ultimately a move over the redirect or the creation of a separate dab page might be in order. – Uanfala (talk)10:58, 26 August 2018 (UTC)
I appreciate...
...your bringing my humble essay to the community's attention -- though as I've gone to pains to point out [2], many others contributed. EEng18:31, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
@EEng: Nice of you but of course you did most of the work and credit where credit is due. I had to suggest that for it's too great not to have more people know about it. I just cited it in a GA review for Rust (video game) that contains this wonderful nugget of "duh!": In addition non-player characters, including attack helicopters, occasionally fly around attacking armed players. These hinder players, [...] Regards SoWhy18:43, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
The Great and Powerful Oz is pleased and gratified to learn that his essay was helpful in improving the project. EEng18:47, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
CJ Santos
I understand that the page is deleted, if you would be so kind to put it back to draft so i can work further and resubmit for you approval, i truly appreciate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kalaboomsky (talk • contribs) 03:39, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
@Kalaboomsky: Sure, you can find it at Draft:CJ Santos. Please make sure you address the reasons for deletion before resubmitting. Also, please remember to sign your posts on talk pages such as this one using ~~~~. Regards SoWhy07:31, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
Please allow me to recreate page
Hi
It is humble request, may I recreate page of Amar Fayaz Buriro who is a linguist and language engineer. Now you can google his name and see there are bulk of references available about his works. He is also awarded "Latif Award" by Government of Sindh Pakistan and Gold Medal from Sindh Graduates Association on his achievements. Please need your advice and favor. Regards
--Indusian1236 (talk) 06:01, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
@SoWhy:Thank you so much dear for prompt reply. So he is not notable though he is a notable linguist, language engineer and due to his accomplishments like development of Sindhi OCR, compiled Sindhi language corpus and writer, blogger? Please it is requested that may guide me to how his profile can be developed? There are lot of government website references as well educational websites. Advance thanks. Regards --Indusian1236 (talk) 11:06, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
@Indusian1236: Please read the linked pages above and show me those references from reliable third-party sources independent of the subject. Regards SoWhy12:17, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
dotGEARS
Hi SoWhy, I see you restored the dotGEARS article I created two years ago and tagged for CSD G7 earlier this year. Like in April, I still feel like the topic is not notable enough to warrant its own article: it lacks significant coverage and only has some by-the-side comments in a few sources (two of the five currently in the article are also potentially unreliable). Would you consider re-deleting or draftifying the article? Also, however it turns out, the proper name for this topic should be dotGears (MOSCAPS), right? Lordtobi (✉) 11:40, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
@Lordtobi: I wouldn't have restored the article if I hand't thought the company was notable, although I admit that it's borderline. Still, I believe in erring on the side of caution here. Afaict, there is more coverage in Vietnamese but I cannot read it. As such, I believe it makes more sense to have the article for others to add to it instead of deleting or draftifying (especially since the latter will likely end in a G13 deletion). As for the article title, you are likely correct. Regards SoWhy12:16, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
Hi again, I'm currently looking for reliable sources in Vietnamese, Google Translate is good at hand here to understand the principle of the message. I also moved the article to where it belongs (dotGears) and made a couple flow and sourcing edits. Since you believe the article could be lively, I will look to insert more later today, if I find the time. Lordtobi (✉) 12:24, 28 August 2018 (UTC)
On 29 August 2018, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Dungeons 3, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the video game Dungeons 3 was described as the closest its developer came to creating a successor to the popular Dungeon Keeper series? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Dungeons 3. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, ), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.
Ritchie333 00:02, 29 August 2018 (UTC)
Please don't give them ideas
A content fork on Corbyn's political stance would be a WP:NPOV nightmare. I'm sorry, I understand why you closed the AfD and I'm not disputing that you made the right call, but the partisan mudslinging around Corbyn needs to be curtailed, not expanded. Simonm223 (talk) 12:46, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
@Simonm223: We have a number of such articles created by WP:SPLIT because the main article became too long. It's perfectly NPOV acceptable to have an article like that in general. After all, the NPOV rules apply to all such articles. In this specific case, having an article like that means there is somewhere to merge the (important) information from the article that was under discussion. Regards SoWhy13:39, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
I get that. My concern is more about how difficult it becomes to patrol NPOV in cases where articles propagate like this. Things like Kilgour–Matas report are still sore points for me for this reason. Again, understand. It's just frustrating. LOL not your problem. Not your fault. Won't bother you further. Simonm223 (talk) 13:41, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
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.
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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.
Hi SoWhy,
I can see you declined the speedy deletion of the article here.
While I did consider going through the WP:AFD process, I looked for references that could assist even a claim of WP:SIGNIFICANCE and found none. I do not think it had any prospect of being kept at an AFD dicussion.
Please let me know if you disagree.
Pete AU aka --Shirt58 (talk) 11:02, 6 September 2018 (UTC)
@Shirt58: I held off handling this article because I considered myself biased due to my earlier decline which was rooted in the fact the founder had an article (which he no longer has today). So if you believe the deletion was correct, I won't object. Thanks for the note though, I really appreciate it! Regards SoWhy12:04, 6 September 2018 (UTC)
@Czar: Well, Frozen Throne is still waiting for GA-review, so it's two. I would like to GA WC 1 and 2 as well but I don't have access to many of the offline sources required for 20+ year old video games. If you are considering working on them and need help with stuff outside sourcing, I'd be happy to assist Regards SoWhy09:23, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
I have a knack for sourcing—happy to help with that (as are others at WT:VG). I've collected more sources for other Blizzard series, so while personally more interested in those, the World of Warcraft series recurs as perennial high-view count articles so I secretly hope that someone takes them up. :) czar10:56, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
@Czar: If you give me a list of sources I can access, I'll see what I can do. As for WoW, I only played it for a week when it was first in beta, 14 years ago. Those articles probably need to be taken care by someone who actually played the game, don't you think? Regards SoWhy11:01, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
fwiw, I've written about plenty of games I've never touched. To my eyes, better to have an article that does the topic justice (with understanding of gameplay systems grokked from videos as needed) than to have a thousand+ people read garbage every day. But no pressure, just curious czar11:06, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
Hello SoWhy. I was sent by User:GreenMeansGo, as he said that you're a better person to talk to with regards to video game articles. The other reason I'm writing to you is that I'm requesting a pre-GA review of the article mentioned above. I know I asked Lourdes about this, but that was nearly a month ago. Your help will be appreciated. Thank you. The Duke Talk page, please ping me anywhere else.22:59, 8 September 2018 (UTC)
@The Duke of Nonsense: I'm happy to help but seeing as the article is nominated for deletion, GA is not the most important thing now. I suggest you ask at WT:VG if someone with access to old magazines can help you establish the game's notability first. Come back when the AFD ended in keep and I'll pre-check for GA. Regards SoWhy09:42, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
Sorry if this seems sarcastic, but thanks for your help! One last question, what do you think will be the outcome of the AFD? Just curious. Thanks again. The Duke Talk page, please ping me anywhere else.10:15, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
@The Duke of Nonsense: I really can't tell. The article claims some sourcing in old Amiga magazines but I don't know whether this will be sufficient. If you can provide something online, it will definitely be helpful though. Regards SoWhy10:17, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
There is also a review by a YouTuber entitled Brutalmoose, who has over 436k subs. Would that help prove notability? Thank you. The Duke Talk page, please ping me anywhere else.10:28, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
@The Duke of Nonsense: Unless you can establish Brutalmoose as a reliable source, I wouldn't count on it. Regards SoWhy10:32, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
Now, with that said, I will come back in a week when hopefully the AFD concludes. I will now participate in the discussion and, attempt to get a pre-GA review for Hell's Bells (film). Thank you once again. The Duke Talk page, please ping me anywhere else.11:18, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
Heh, we crossed paths at the journal AfD. I was in the middle of implementing the same close as you. I didn't page swap because that would have improperly confused article histories, IMO, so I went with moving the page history to Talk:Journal/Attribution as an attribution subpage and blanking it. Merge and delete/the equivalent is difficult to do as a list of contributors when you have over 500 revisions, so I thought that was the most practical. TonyBallioni (talk) 15:22, 10 September 2018 (UTC)
I participated in the AfD you closed here: Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Bob_Tuke and I'm a little confused with your close, as I did review the new sources presented by the user who leaned keep and stated in the discussion I didn't think much of them along with one other user. Would you mind explaining your thought process behind the no consensus a little bit further? I don't mind the close, but thought it would have been a pretty clear delete based on the arguments presented. SportingFlyertalk22:01, 10 September 2018 (UTC)
@SportingFlyer: Sure, no problem. You and Redditaddict69 were the only ones to revisit the AFD and discuss the sources. Since a number of people !voted "keep" and no one !voted "delete" after sources were presented, it was unclear whether the sources are enough to keep the article but it was also unclear whether the other delete !voters would have affirmed their !votes given the new arguments. Hence, there was no clear consensus whether the subject is sufficiently notable for inclusion. That said, I probably should have amended WP:NPASR to the close since the close was mostly based on the lack of further participation and discussion of the sources, something a new AFD might be able to resolve. Regards SoWhy07:04, 11 September 2018 (UTC)
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Summer Lee
I am contacting you to request that you reopen Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Summer Lee. It closed as "non consensus" which , with 3 KEEP, 2 Delete, and 3 iVotes to DRAFTIFY the article on this political candidate who either will or will not be elected to a state legislature this fall was not unreasonable. I request that you reopen it for 2 reasons. One is that we have a bumper crop of candidate articles this summer and similar conversations on not-yet-elected candidates with no pre-existing notability are overwhelming closing at "delete." The other reason is that this conversation only ran for a week, and rolling an article over, sometimes even doing so twice, allows time for tempers ot cool and for more editors to participate - not infrequently producing a strong consensus. thanks for considering this.E.M.Gregory (talk) 18:52, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
@E.M.Gregory: Both appear to be prime candidates for WP:ATD-M to me, so why not propose that instead? I fail to see how the project will benefit from removing these articles when the names are viable search terms and people can expect to find something about those subjects, even if it is only in the context of the election. Regards SoWhy19:13, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
Except for the fact that both are very likely to win in November. But if you think they should be merged - because at this point both are non-notable, never-elected candidates, I will go ahead and merge to the election page. E.M.Gregory (talk) 19:54, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
Afaiaa, candidates are usually redirected or merged to election articles if they are not notable on their own, cf. WP:POLOUTCOMES. And ATD is not a one-way street. If they become notable, they can be spun back into their own articles. But as you indicate: If they are very likely to win, people are likely to look them up before the election and so it makes sense to mention them in this context. Regards SoWhy20:09, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
Hello, again. I have another question. User:JesseRafe, an editor who participated in the AfD, and who has been very active in adding to and deleting material from pages about Democratic Socialists of America candidates in recent weeks instantly un-merged both pages. I confess that it was the ongoing and widespread pattern of enthusiastic partisan editing this election season that had made me incline towards reopening the AfD in the hope of reaching a stronger consensus. I am turning to you now to ask what happens next.E.M.Gregory (talk) 21:13, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
@E.M.Gregory: I would suggest following the guidance at WP:PM. While an AFD can result in merge, it's essentially only for stuff that cannot be preserved in one form or another (cf. WP:PRESERVE) and this is not the case here. Regards SoWhy05:58, 14 September 2018 (UTC)
Hello,
My page was delated by mistake. I'm new to Wikipedia so I may have not known exactly how to format the page however I'm willing the fix the misdates. This page belong to a actor and video director. Could you guide me into the approbate direction to get it back up and running and let me exactly who it was delated.
I've included the links to the page below.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
I am new on Wikipedia and searching for a mentor. I liked your description most and would love to ask if you can support me to develop an article about myself. My name is Nataliya Stefanac. I am German Actress and Model. I am still growing on acting field and would really appreciate your support. Could you please check in Google about myself and write me an E-Mail to [removed]
On 25 September 2018, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos sold one million copies within a month of release in July 2002, making it the fastest-selling PC video game in history at that time? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, ), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.
... would you mind looking over this user's contributions, please? My natural inclination is a sockblock and G5 deletion, since it's clearly the same guy, but given what happened last time I'd rather you handled it as you see fit. Cheers, Yunshui雲水08:15, 28 September 2018 (UTC)
@Shhhnotsoloud: You are welcome. Credit goes to Tazerdadog as well though. I closed this as part of a test of a new tool called Wikum and Tazer was very helpful in preparing the discussion for me, especially weeding out those parts that were off-topic. Regards SoWhy15:16, 28 September 2018 (UTC)
Hi there SoWhy, this is Oshawott_12. I am “fairly” new to Wikipedia, and know all the basics, but I still need a bit of mentoring. If found you in the list of adoptees, and thought you might be a good choice. Would you be willing to adopt me? If come to a conclusion please be sure to ping me. Thank you.
124.217.188.78 (talk) 08:34, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
@Oshawott 12: Thanks for the vote of confidence. However, I'm afraid I am not as active as I would like at the moment, which is why I had deactivated my profile (which somehow got reactivated). If you are okay with that, I'd be happy to help whenever you have questions. On a side note, per Wikipedia:Protecting children's privacy I strongly suggest you remove all mentions of your age from your userpage. Not only is it potentially dangerous and a bad idea in general but other users will likely take you less seriously if you identify as underage, even if your editing might not reflect that. That is not helpful when aiming to encourage collaborative editing. Regards SoWhy09:04, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
Hi there, thank you for the reply. I am fine with you being inactive, and I will take my age information off. So after this, are you my official adopter? I'm not so sure about this process. Is there anything I have to do yet? Please notify me. Again, thank you for accepting my request.
You can place the ((adoptee)) template on your userpage but you don't have to. There is nothing more formal to do. Just come here and ask if you have any questions about Wikipedia. If I may make another suggestion, consider a less "flashy" signature. Highlights are distracting and the black text on red background is hard to read as well. Regards SoWhy09:32, 24 September 2018 (UTC)
I suggest you demonstrate some knowledge distinguishing vandalism from misguided edits. You can use Twinkle as a tool to "pseudo"-rollback edits like those. Also, you should really use edit summaries on all your edits (there is an option in preferences => Editing => "Prompt me when entering a blank edit summary" if you are forgetful). That helps others to understand your edits and thus also whether you know why you reverted something. Regards SoWhy07:17, 27 September 2018 (UTC)
Hello, thank you for taking action on Storify News. The creator had been misusing the Storify page to direct reference links to his own website. I had warned the user for disruptive editing as well. My reason to write to you is to request the deletion of the draft as well because the draft is a copied version on Storify, merged with the content of Storify News. Have a great day :) Csgir (talk) 13:27, 2 October 2018 (UTC)
There is an open request for comment on Meta regarding the creation a new user group for global edit filter management.
Technical news
Partial blocks should be available for testing in October on the Test Wikipedia and the Beta-Cluster. This new feature allows admins to block users from editing specific pages and in the near-future, namespaces and uploading files. You can expect more updates and an invitation to help with testing once it is available.
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Because of a data centre test, you will be able to read but not edit the Wikimedia projects for up to an hour on 10 October. This will start at 14:00 (UTC). You might lose edits if you try to save during this time.
Following a request for comment, the size of the Arbitration Committee will be decreased to 13 arbitrators, starting in 2019. Additionally, the minimum support percentage required to be appointed to a two-year term on ArbCom has been increased to 60%. ArbCom candidates who receive between 50% and 60% support will be appointed to one-year terms instead.
Nominations for the 2018 Arbitration Committee Electoral Commission are being accepted until 12 October. These are the editors who help run the ArbCom election smoothly. If you are interested in volunteering for this role, please consider nominating yourself.
Dear SoWhy,
I am appealing for your help. You created a draft page for me, called the Foundation for Professional Development, which I have completed and submitted. It has been reviewed and rejected, for a lack of 'reliable, verifiable, independent sources'. I do not trust this particular editor, called Cabayi, because he/she is convinced that I am a 'meat puppet', as he or she calls me, and that I am being 'paid to spam Wikipedia'. Yes, I have been paid to write the content, because the Foundation is not proficient in English. But I am not being paid to spam wikipedia, and I am not a meat puppet. I have appealed to this Cabayi to let me finish the page and let it stand in its own merits, but this immediate rejection, unfortunately, only reinforces my belief that this person has made it a personal mission to disrupt and delete everything I do. I was happy to declare my interest in this, but I took down my declaration when it seemed to infuriate this Cabayi. In fact, everything I do seems to infuriate this Cabayi. Obviously I am cutting a long story short, but could you please have a look at this page and let me know if the refusal is justified, and if so, how I can fix it? And is it possible to let me know how I can prevent this Cabayi from bullying me and calling me names? Niki Moore (talk) 11:34, 5 October 2018 (UTC)
@Niki Moore: First of all, I am pretty sure, I told you you have to declare being paid (on your userpage) per Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure#How to disclose and Wikipedia:Conflict of interest#Paid editors, otherwise you are in violation of the Terms of Use. So if you do not add such a declaration of your conflict of interest as soon as possible, I will happily block you myself. As for the rest, drafts can be resubmitted for review after addressing the concerns raised and I'm sure Cabayi is happy to leave the draft for someone else to review. After all, there is no reason why they should be the one doing further reviews. In this instance they seem to be correct since the draft does not contain any reliable sources independent of the subject. Focus on that instead. Regards SoWhy12:07, 5 October 2018 (UTC)
Not really "happy" to let an undisclosed paid editor continue the efforts of User:Helga Swart and c:User:FPDComms2017, perhaps we can agree on "willing to acquiesce to SoWhy's request" while the material remains in draftspace. Cabayi (talk) 23:11, 5 October 2018 (UTC)
Dear SoWhy, Thank you for the link to the disclosure page, I have now made my disclosure. As this is the first time I have been paid to create a page, I did not know the correct format. With reference to the reliable sources... I have linked to the official Departmental List of educational establishments that list this university; I have linked to USAID, PEPFAR and Yale University - all independent pages. How many more do you think I need? If you could give me an idea of what still remains to be verified, I will go and hunt for those sources. Thanks! Niki Moore (talk) 09:04, 9 October 2018 (UTC)
Hi SoWhy, I had noticed this morning that you have changed my original Planetbase logo to a cover art one. Thank you for doing that but I was wondering why you decided to change it from the original one. D Eaketts (talk) 20:37, 11 October 2018 (UTC)
@D Eaketts: One of the points of cover art in the infobox is to allow readers to identify the subject better. A cover of the game as a reader would have seen or could see in the real world allows them to determine whether they have the right article. The logo is less helpful in this regard. Hence the replacement. Regards SoWhy06:00, 12 October 2018 (UTC)
True, I never thought of that and if I ever create a video games article again in the future. I will definitely think about this. D Eaketts (talk) 07:48, 12 October 2018 (UTC)
On 16 October 2018, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Unavowed, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the adventure video game Unavowed uses pixel art because the development studio lacked the resources to create a 3D video game? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Unavowed. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, ), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.
@Kamdica: Hi there. First of all, next time you leave a new message (not a reply to an existing thread), please be sure to fill in the subject/headline field so people notice there is something new. Also, remember to sign your messages by typing ~~~~ which will put your name and the date next to your comment. As for your question, you can use the VisualEditor to create the code quite easily. Just open a page in the VisualEditor as described on the linked page and use the "Insert" menu to add a table or graph. You can try it in the sandbox. If you really want to write the code manually, mw:Extension:Graph/Guide and Help:Table have more detailed information, although I really advice against doing it manually. Even many experienced editors have problems with such code. Regards SoWhy05:58, 18 October 2018 (UTC)
"Astur-Leonese languages" to "Asturleonese Language" move request
The title "Astur-Leonese languages" is misleading because it makes it seem like it's a group of languages, when they are all the same language, as explained on the article itself. Also look at the Spanish article's title (edited it seems by professionals in the field) to see that this change is also for consistency.
@SoWhy: Great, thank you! Do you know who I can get in contact with to change the name of the language "Asturian" on the menu of wikipedia to "Asturleonese"?
You may want to consider using the Article Wizard to help you create articles.
A tag has been placed on Captain Obvious, requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section G4 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because the page appears to be a repost of material that was previously deleted following a deletion discussion, such as at Articles for deletion. When a page has substantially identical content to that of a page deleted after a discussion, and any changes in the content do not address the reasons for which the material was previously deleted, it may be deleted at any time.
If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason, you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. However, be aware that once a page is tagged for speedy deletion, it may be deleted without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself, but do not hesitate to add information in line with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, and you wish to retrieve the deleted material for future reference or improvement, then please contact the deleting administrator, or if you have already done so, you can place a request here. Jip Orlando (talk) 14:51, 18 October 2018 (UTC)
SoWhy, I nommed this under G4 because the consensus at the AfD was delete and do not redirect. I have no opposition with recreating it as a redirect to wiktionary, which you had done previously. As it stands, the article was put back into a substantially similar state as it was before the AfD. Best wishes, Jip Orlando (talk) 14:52, 18 October 2018 (UTC)
@SoWhy: It does but the history remains for someone else to revert back to when the previous outcome was to clearly delete it. I just want to remove the temptation to revert back to a version that has been incrementally put back into its previous state, if that makes sense. Jip Orlando (talk) 15:00, 18 October 2018 (UTC)
@Jip Orlando: As you can see from the history, someone did already restore a previous version despite deletion, since I created it as an interwiki link when it was a redlink. I'd suggest you revert it back to the interwiki link and then request full protection at WP:RFPP for that version to conform with consensus, which would fix the problem without deletion (and is thus preferable). Regards SoWhy15:55, 18 October 2018 (UTC)
Can you place this in my userspace or just email me the wikicode? I'm somewhat surprised this didn't survive an AfD. It might be hard to find typical software reviews, but it's a very well known hack utility. I might be able to clean something up. SchmuckyTheCat (talk) 02:38, 23 October 2018 (UTC)
Cool, thanks. Judging by the amount of referral questions about this app I get on Quora I was wondering why there wasn't an article here. SchmuckyTheCat (talk) 09:18, 24 October 2018 (UTC)
Books & Bytes, Issue 30
The Wikipedia Library
Books & Bytes
Issue 30, August – Septmeber 2018
Library Card translation
Spotlight: 1Lib1Ref spreads to the Southern Hemisphere and beyond
Astro7770 tried to reply on your talk page to your message on their talk page, but for some reason the edit filter wouldn't let it thru. I'll leave them a message, but thought you should know. [3] --Floquenbeam (talk) 16:52, 31 October 2018 (UTC)
@Floquenbeam: Thanks for the notification and replying to them, I appreciate it. I left a note at WP:EFN so that someone with more skills might answer why this happened. Regards SoWhy20:42, 31 October 2018 (UTC)
Alison Thornton page
Thanks so much for your help with this page after it was tagged for speedy deletion. It's my first article and I'm using it to figure out editing. I've added several references and continue to work to improve the page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AGfangirl (talk • contribs) 02:01, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
@AGfangirl: No worries. Keep up the good work. Just a couple of tips: 1) Don't use external links in the article. If the subject has no Wikipedia entry, create a link anyway if you believe it should and a red link will be shown. 2) Try to add more references from reliable sources that discuss the subject in detail to avoid deletion by other venues (such as WP:AFD). 3) If you leave a comment on a talk page such as this one, be sure to include ~~~~ at the end to sign your post. Regards SoWhy11:21, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
@Oshawott 12: I fail to see much actual vandalism, most of those seem to be efforts by a new user not familiar with some of our rules. More importantly, they have not edited for almost two months, so there is no reason to act at this moment. They received plenty of warnings though, so if they do resume nonconstructive editing, report them to WP:AIV (for vandalism) or WP:ANI (for other bad faith editing); you can use Twinkle's "ARV" tab for reports to WP:AIV. Regards SoWhy08:55, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
Okay then, sorry for the misjudgement. I was on a page and saw like 10 to 20 warnings, so I thought he was vandalising. In addition, how I found him was also when he 'vandalised' a page. Sorry for the confusion! Oshawott 12 ==()== Talk to me!10:14, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
Partial blocks is now available for testing on the Test Wikipedia. The new functionality allows you to block users from editing specific pages. Bugs may exist and can be reported on the local talk page or on Meta. A discussion regarding deployment to English Wikipedia will be started by community liaisons sometime in the near future.
A user script is now available to quickly review unblock requests.
The 2019 Community Wishlist Survey is now accepting new proposals until November 11, 2018. The results of this survey will determine what software the Wikimedia Foundation's Community Tech team will work on next year. Voting on the proposals will take place from November 16 to November 30, 2018. Specifically, there is a proposal category for admins and stewards that may be of interest.
Arbitration
Eligible editors will be invited to nominate themselves as candidates in the 2018 Arbitration Committee Elections starting on November 4 until November 13. Voting will begin on November 19 and last until December 2.
The Arbitration Committee's email address has changed to arbcom-enwikimedia.org. Other email lists, such as functionaries-en and clerks-l, remain unchanged.
Thank you for responding to my request for assistance at the Teahouse, SoWhy. This concerns the pages for a poet David Dephy. The pages I'm attempting to identify with one name are these:
A. [[4]]
B. [[5]]
C. [[6]]
The primary objective is to have "A." be named "David Dephy", to have "B." removed as it would be unnecessary, and to have "C." linked to the one German Wiki page and vice versa. To do this I have to find out German Wiki rules for accomplishing it, or even if they'd welcome such a change.
Would you be able to help me navigate the German Wiki so that I might get the information I need to proceed? A preliminary question: Is there a German language version of our English language Teahouse? [[7]]
Thank you for your offer of help. I greatly appreciate it. I am happy to have this conversation at my talk page if that is preferable to you.
@PaulThePony: What you need basically is the German equivalent of ((db-move)) which unfortunately, those guys being very German indeed, does not exist in this form but only as a general speedy deletion criterion. I requested deletion of de:David Dephy for that reason. Once this is done, you can use the "Verschieben" button (i. e. "move") to move the German article to this name if the deleting de-wiki admin doesn't do it. The interface is the same at de-wiki, so you can read Help:How to move a page for orientation. As for the latter question, de:Wikipedia:Teestube did apparently exist but is deactivated. There is de:Wikipedia:Fragen von Neulingen (Help desk equivalent) though. Most Germans (like myself) speak English, so you can usually ask in English as well. Regards SoWhy08:11, 7 November 2018 (UTC)
That is very appreciated, SoWhy. Could you 'watch' that page along with me? I'm not sure what Carol.Christiansen's comment states. [[8]]. In addition to your fine work, I changed the first line of text to how I think it should read for consistency--having "David Dephy" as the title and also in the opening line. I tried to indicate my reasoning using Google Translate but am not sure if the German phrase is the best to communicate my reasoning. PaulThePony (talk) 16:35, 7 November 2018 (UTC)Paul
I rarely if ever look at de-wiki, so there is nothing really I can do by watching. FYI, those edits were reverts because you removed the real name of the subject. Some clarification is probably in order: Is "David Dephy" the nom de plume or "David Dephy Gogibedashvili"? Regards SoWhy17:50, 7 November 2018 (UTC)
"David Dephy" is both the name associated with his writing and the only name he goes by. I have only seen other sources reference "David Dephy Gogibedashvili". He never does. But I think maybe everything is settled on the de-wiki page, thanks to you! And I will follow it. PaulThePony (talk) 22:52, 7 November 2018 (UTC)Paul
Hello!
I wanted to show a friend of mine the Wikipedia page that had been deleted...
You deleted "Jonny Mellis Reinholm" from Wikipedia (English).
The reason: "Article about a band, singer, musician, or musical ensemble that does not credibly indicate the importance or significance of the subject"
I disagree!
It is obvious that you do not have very much knowledge about Swedish music or Swedish/Finnish Rock/Metal...
There is a Swedish version of this page but most of my friends speak English.
(Jonny happens to be a friend of mine but that is not the reason I write to you.)
I think the page should exist because of the impact he has made in Swedish musical culture.
Hello SoWhy, I hope your evening is going well. I recently stumbled upon a page while patrolling New Pages and saw you were previously involved in its deletion. In May 2018, you protected Cristian Dominguez from recreation because it has been repeatedly recreated and subsequently deleted per A7. It has again be recreated with Cristian dominguez (lowercase d) and the subject is still not notable. Can you please extend the protection to this title as well? HickoryOughtShirt?4 (talk) 01:08, 13 November 2018 (UTC)
@HickoryOughtShirt?4: My evening at that time was 2 AM, so it was indeed going well (or so I assume, I was blissfully asleep). I protected the different spelling as well. Regards SoWhy08:01, 13 November 2018 (UTC)
Dear SoWhy, thank you for adding the WikiProject templates to the article on Noah K. Do you think adding one for WikiProject Jazz would be a good fit as well? Also, I was curious how articles get reviewed/patrolled. Thank you for your edits on this and best regards, Artaria195 (talk) 20:50, 18 November 2018 (UTC)
@Artaria195: If you are unsure whether an article falls under the scope of a WikiProject, I recommend asking on their talk page (e.g. Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Jazz) or one of its members directly. I don't really know jazz well enough to give an informed answer. As for your other question, Wikipedia:New pages patrol has a pretty exhaustive overview on how patrolling works. Regards SoWhy08:30, 19 November 2018 (UTC)
Hello, SoWhy. Voting in the 2018 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 3 December. All users who registered an account before Sunday, 28 October 2018, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Thursday, 1 November 2018 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.
For tireless dedication to countless articles, helpfulness, cooperation and contributions to the Wikipedia. Personally I am proud to be a member because of your dedicated help you have shown the entire community as well as I.
Dear SoWhy, I'm rather new to Wikipedia, but have the sense that you are an expert editor. I am wondering if you would mind weighing in on an issue that is laid out on the talk page of the article I recently wrote on Noah K Talk:Noah K, relating to whether or not IMDb can be used as a source for biographical details. As far as I understand it, it can. Especially considering that as far as I know, IMDb cast/credits are independently verified by IMDb. Thank you, Artaria195 (talk) 19:30, 20 November 2018 (UTC)
(talk page stalker)@Artaria195: You're right about SoWhy being an expert editor, and I will definitely defer to his judgement. But, as I see it, the pivotal question here is:
Any potentially contentious material about living persons (BLPs).
Personally, it would be my judgement that this doesn't automatically apply to the statement in question. Disputed content includes cast lists, which clearly appertains to BLPs. Which means that it falls down to being a question of whether the content in question is contentious. But then you're in a disputed category, and it looks to me like there isn't really independent verification. So it is a dodgy source. ∰Bellezzasolo✡Discuss19:51, 20 November 2018 (UTC)
@Bellezzasolo: Thanks for your input. I can't imagine how including K's child acting experience and television music credit could possibly be contentious. The cast lists on IMDb are independently verified, so this seems like a good enough source for this purpose. In addition, it seems drastic for a previous editor to have completely cut the material from the article altogether, rather than at most, just leaving a "better source needed" citation if the source isn't fully adequate. Thanks, Artaria195 (talk) 19:59, 20 November 2018 (UTC)
@SoWhy: Understood, thanks your input SoWhy. I'll do a little research and see if I can find any other sources to support this. Do you know of any good wikipedia approved databases for credits etc. ? Thanks, Artaria195 (talk) 20:22, 20 November 2018 (UTC)
@Artaria195: Yes, on screen credits are usually sufficient to verify whether a person has appeared in a certain film or series since readers can look at the work in question to verify this. Regards SoWhy10:13, 21 November 2018 (UTC)
Noah K Article in Deletion
Dear SoWhy, I'm not sure if you can help, but Roy Smith has put my article on Noah K in articles for deletion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Noah_K. It seems like aggressive and totally non-neutral editing. K indisputably meets multiple criteria in WP:MUSICBIO (#1, #5, and #10). I'm guessing that this editor waited for the IMDb material to come out of the article and then slapped the deletion notice on it. In fact, since K appears as himself on screen and performs his music on the episode of Once and Again in question ("Chance of a Lifetime") the episode should be the source cited and then the point is moot. I have explained all the other sources in the my response on the AfD page linked above. I very much appreciate your assistance, Artaria195 (talk) 16:07, 21 November 2018 (UTC)
Some editors have a strict view of conflict of interest and might assume articles created by editors with such a conflict are per se unwanted. If the subject meets the notability criteria, I'm confident, the discuss will not lead to a deletion. I don't participate in such discussions when someone asks me to as a matter of principle but what you can do is add and name more sources to prove the subject's notability beyond the shadow of a doubt. Regards SoWhy21:01, 21 November 2018 (UTC)
Hi, RationalWiki is holding their annual elections using Meek STV now [9]. Apparently, they use OpenSTV to tally the results [10]. OpenSTV was a free and open-source software, but the developer discontinued the project, and instead focussed on its online version at opavote.com. Stack Exchange elects their moderators using this method too. It is frustrating that MediaWiki (or WMF projects in general) cannot implement this voting system and hold the elections in a fair and meaningful manner. 4nn1l2 (talk) 10:57, 23 November 2018 (UTC)
@4nn1l2: The problem is less the willingness of people to change the system and more that we are all volunteers and thus changing it requires someone willing to change the code. Maybe someone will do so still. Regards SoWhy11:00, 23 November 2018 (UTC)
Surely I don't blame normal users such as you or me or any other volunteer in general, but I think WMF can play a more active role, at least for their Board elections. But I guess they are busy with Wikimania or this conference or that meeting... 4nn1l2 (talk) 11:08, 23 November 2018 (UTC)
Apologies if it appeared that I was engaging in edit warring, truth is I've been trying my best to avoid edit warring with this current issue, which is why I put the information off, since that was the point of discussion. If it appeared I was engaging in edit warring I sincerely apologize as I am biased in the discussion in question.
Anyways, I put something on the Admin noticeboard about having this edit dispute solved, but I figured I would ask you directly if you could close the RfC on BTS (band) and address the concerns on the talk page for BTS band and Talk:BTS (band)/2018 controversy since it seems there are two sets of editors with very strong views towards whether or not we need a draft, and said editors keep redoing and undoing each other, and for that I apologize. You can find a tl;dr of my initial request for a third party here. DanielleTH(Say hi!)18:15, 24 November 2018 (UTC)
@DanielleTH: I was merely informing you that your actions might be considered problematic even without meeting the WP:3RR threshold since the same editing led to the page being protected the last time. As for the discussion, I fail to see actual consensus that wording has to be agreed on before any such information can be added to the page. If you want my opinion as a neutral observer, I suggest you revert yourself and tag the section with ((Disputed section|Controversy section)) instead. There's no rule that there can't be collaboration on the talk page to improve a section but it should not be removed completely imho since when it exists, interested editors will be able to find out about the dispute from the template. Regards SoWhy20:30, 24 November 2018 (UTC)
You have mentioned that you've rejected the CSD because he won a major award. I believe you are referring to the BC Roy award, but I couldn't find even one reliable source mentioning him in the list of winners, all I could find is his CV on various sites with the award in his set of achievements. Unless a reliable source is provided for that, his Notability is still doubtful Daiyusha (talk) 14:59, 26 November 2018 (UTC)
@Daiyusha: His notability might very well be doubtful. WP:A7, which you used, does not require notability or a reliable source to back anything up, just a credible claim that this subject might be significant or important. You are free to take it to WP:AFD if you cannot establish notability. Regards SoWhy15:11, 26 November 2018 (UTC)
John Morris Football Agent
Hi There
I just wanted to contact you as the page I created was deleted by you. I would still like to create the page so I am keen to get specific feedback to ensure that the article does not get deleted again. I have read the guidelines, however I would really appreciate the opportunity to discuss the detail and ensure that I get it right next time rather than keep going through trial and error and waste a lot of peoples time with multiple reviews.
@Keiran1980: I deleted the article because it read like a fluff piece promoting Morris with no salvageable content. Articles should be written from a neutral point of view, not in favor or against the subject. If you are unsure, may I suggest using the article wizard for your next attempt? Not only does it explain exactly what is expected, the resulting draft will also be reviewed by an experienced editor before it's put into the encyclopedia, making it much more likely that it does not get deleted again. Regards SoWhy16:54, 29 November 2018 (UTC)
@SoWhy - Ok, fair point. I will take a look. Thanks for the feedback. Hopefully I can ensure it has the right tone next time. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Keiran1980 (talk • contribs) 17:01, 29 November 2018 (UTC)
Adopting
Hello SoWhy, I saw your ad on the Adopting area and I wanted to reach out to you since you seem experienced. I have a huge drive to learn more about Wikipedia and its functions.
I am currently writing an article on psychological dependence and I would love it if you could take a look at it and tell me what you think.
@Laboz125: While I'm always happy to help, I have probably neither the knowledge nor the language skills to analyze psychological sources and articles well, so I don't know how much help I could actually be. As such, you probably can find someone more helpful from the list at Wikipedia:WikiProject Psychology/Participants, e.g. Doczilla who is both an admin and an actual psychology professor. Regards SoWhy09:19, 2 December 2018 (UTC)
@SoWhy: I will definetely check it out, thank you. If you however have some critique about the articles language you´re more then welcome to message me. Have a good day!
A request for comment is in progress to determine whether members of the Bot Approvals Group should satisfy activity requirements in order to remain in that role.
A request for comment is in progress regarding whether to change the administrator inactivity policy, such that administrators "who have made no logged administrative actions for at least 12 months may be desysopped". Currently, the policy states that administrators "who have made neither edits nor administrative actions for at least 12 months may be desysopped".
Administrators and bureaucrats can no longer unblock themselves unless they placed the block initially. This change has been implemented globally. See also this ongoing village pump discussion (permalink).
To complement the aforementioned change, blocked administrators will soon have the ability to block the administrator that placed their block to mitigate the possibility of a compromised administrator account blocking all other active administrators.
In late November, an attacker compromised multiple accounts, including at least four administrator accounts, and used them to vandalize Wikipedia. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately. Sharing the same password across multiple websites makes your account vulnerable, especially if your password was used on a website that suffered a data breach. As these incidents have shown, these concerns are not pure fantasies.
Shock Brigade Harvester Boris (Raymond Arritt) passed away on 14 November 2018. Boris joined Wikipedia as Raymond arritt on 8 May 2006 and was an administrator from 30 July 2007 to 2 June 2008.
I would like to ask you for some mentoring, or DYskooling. I think I have a good hook for the Yellow vest movement, but wondered what you might think. (It's described on the talk page. ( Saint Etienne mayor) For the moment I haven't added it to the article.) Does a DYK need to be nominated within 7 days of its creation? @Mélencron:, as the page creator, maybe you have thoughts on this? — 🍣 SashiRollst · c20:07, 7 December 2018 (UTC)
@SashiRolls: Yes, DYK requires that the article is nominated within 7 days of a) creation or b) five-fold expansion or c) achieving Good Article status. Also, it is ineligible if it has been on the Main Page before. In this case, all four apply. The article was created more than 7 days ago and neither expanded five-fold nor made a GA within the last seven days. Additionally, it still appears on WP:ITN. Regards SoWhy08:33, 8 December 2018 (UTC)
Ah! I didn't realize it was sockpuppeting on the main page as "French fuel protests". I wonder where I would go to inquire about changing the name? I think the article might be almost to class B now. It's only been multiplied by 3, not 5 though, in the last seven days, you're right, and the 1 December move doesn't make it count as a creation, I gather. Thanks for summarizing those rules for me. — 🍣 SashiRollst · c20:30, 8 December 2018 (UTC)
Adoption help
Hi there SoWhy, this is your adoptee Oshawott. I'd like to ask you for some advice on the 2 articles that I made, one being Vexxed and Hypixel (Minecraft). Would there be any cleaning up I need to do? Is there anything I need to fix? I'd like some expert advice from you. Thanks! Oshawott 12 ==()== Talk to me!00:42, 6 December 2018 (UTC)
@Oshawott 12: Generally speaking, don't forget to add categories to articles you create. Especially Category:Living people is very important as it tracks all WP:BLPs. Then, on the subjects. "Vexxed": Infoboxes should be at the start of the code and the lede should make it clear that this is a pseudonym. Also, the image you uploaded for him is likely to be deleted since you did not offer any licensing details. Wrt the image, remember that copyrighted images of living people are not allowed to be used (see WP:NFCC) and that Commons does not allow copyrighted content at all. Also, the sourcing is thin and imho not sufficient to establish his notability. #1 and #4 are not reliable sources, #5 is just his words recycled and #3 only mentions him in passing, focusing on something else. You should really add more references from reliable sources to avoid deletion. Hypixel looks better, with #1 to #3 arguably reliable enough, although some more references surely won't hurt. Regards SoWhy13:37, 6 December 2018 (UTC)
Sure the guy isn't a Sockpuppet or something? I just got thanked for a really old edit by him which seemed bizarre! Govvy (talk) 11:54, 12 December 2018 (UTC)
@Govvy: I see no indication of that, those edits seem to be mere test edits. Also, remember that the "thank" link appears regardless of how old the edit is. Regards SoWhy15:19, 12 December 2018 (UTC)
k, I saw you rv'ed one edit, and I got this thank at the same time, I've seen more sockpuppets of late with similar descriptions on the user page, I just thought it was fishy, cheers though, Govvy (talk) 15:24, 12 December 2018 (UTC)
There are no "independent reliable sources" yet and while fairness may be a moral term, discrimination is a legal one. I believe my article is being discriminated against as religious persecution, which is of course against the law. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Revparker (talk • contribs) 13:06, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
You are correct, I was NOT threatening legal action against Wikipedia, as everyone can likely tell I am just extraordinarily frustrated with Wikipedia right now. How is a PhD-level scholar such as myself unable to get one article published with Wikipedia? It's been simply maddening! Ah, I just want to scream "Bah Humbug" but instead I wish you and the Wikipedia family a Merry Christmas. I guess, whether I like it or not, Wikipedia has become a part of the family now so thanks for your help. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Revparker (talk • contribs) 13:37, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
Hey SoWhy, since you're being so helpful I was wondering if you could take a look at the stub I am submitting and tell me if you think it will be accepted or rejected:
As I said above, please don't do that. Writing shorter does not overcome the lack of notability or, in this case, even any indication of significance; in fact, no amount of editing can overcome a lack of notability. As such, I removed the stub you created and give you the same advice I gave you before: Work on the draft and establish why this church is more notable. Your core argument for including this particular church at the moment would lead to any church anyone ever concocted being included which clearly is not the point of an encyclopedia (because I doubt you would like to read about "The Most Holy SoWhy Church" I happen to be a member, founder and megapope of, do you?). Regards SoWhy14:03, 14 December 2018 (UTC)
Hello there, you recently declined speedy on this where as the article claims that it was formed in 2012 by local public, private, and non-profit partners. I don't see there are any claims of this being government organisation. Neither their website claims anything like that nor the parent organisation, Samaritan Health Services, claims to be government organisation. Please look into this. Regards. Hitro talk08:41, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
A talk page claim should have verification. It is not convincing specially when the parent organisation article was created by the same user 5 hours earlier. It would have been easily deleted by any other admin. Now taking this to AfD and elongating the process is waste of time. Regards. Hitro talk09:31, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
@HitroMilanese: You might want that but A7 does not require it. That another admin might have mistakenly deleted this, does not mean that deletion would have been correct. Since the concept of coordinated care organizations seems notable, the correct way of action would be to merge there per WP:ATD-M, not AFD. Only if you took it to AFD instead of following policy, it would be a waste of time. Regards SoWhy09:58, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
Since you have denied speedy, you are going to defend your action. And we have nexus of policies that can be conjugated to prove any point. You have given an easy way to contest A7 by stating that "You might want that but A7 does not require it", it means anyone can contest speedies by claiming any hoax on talk page. I prefer to use WP:COMMONSENSE in these cases. However, I am not taking this to AfD because it is not an AfD material. It is and was a Speedy material because the article does not credibly indicate the importance or significance of the subject. This one is going to linger in mainspace for years to come. I rest my case here. Regards. Hitro talk10:23, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
@HitroMilanese: You are surely aware that a credible claim of significance excludes obvious hoaxes, are you not? Arguing that the article meets A7 because the article does not contain a claim of significance is the kind of WP:BURO argument people have accused me of making in the past, i.e. following the letter of the policy instead of the spirit. WP:COMMONSENSE actually dictates that when deciding whether to delete something, all circumstances should be considered, including claims that could easily be integrated in the article but happen to have been made on another page. Regards SoWhy10:31, 18 December 2018 (UTC)
I hope I'm welcome to add to this conversation and mean no disrespect. The details of CCOs and ACOs are complicated (which is why I think no one created a CCO page in the 6 years they've existed). I added some details about me to my userpage so that there's some perspective why I edit pages for a few days then disappear for months at a time. I really do appreciate the input from the multiple people who did edits on my content. I will be sourcing more reference materials soon and will try to improve the pages I created. I do not get paid to do this, nor has anyone asked me to do this. I am working on these pages for myself as I find this relaxing and distracting from my work IRL. Thanks again for not deleting my pages and letting me improve them over the last 24 hours. Respectfully, Helios688 (talk) 02:41, 19 December 2018 (UTC)
(talk page watcher)@Helios688: You can probably avoid any articles you create being tagged/nominated for speedy deletion, etc. if you don't add them to the mainspace looking like this. (Sorry, the actual version I draftified can no longer be viewed by anyone whose not an admin because of the copyvio that it included, but it was about the same just with an extra paragraph.) It would be better to continue to work on stuff such as that as a WP:USD or a WP:DRAFTS because it will let you edit at your own pace, and most experienced editors will leave you be as long as there aren't any major policy/guideline issues (e.g., copyvios, BLP violations, etc.) than need addressing. Once you add anything the mainspace, it's there for anyone to edit (for better or for worse), which means it's also there to nominated/tagged for deletion. -- Marchjuly (talk) 05:10, 19 December 2018 (UTC)
Sorry,i used a proverb,actually I mean "can you tell me about the articles you have made,i want to create an edit about Wikipedia users,so you impressed me.With this article I will gain alot of knowledge since I am a beginner".So can you? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zimbali Beyoncé (talk • contribs) 12:50, 21 December 2018 (UTC)
Spread the WikiLove; use ((subst:Season's Greetings1)) to send this message
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Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2019!
Hello SoWhy, may you be surrounded by peace, success and happiness on this seasonal occasion. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Sending you heartfelt and warm greetings for Christmas and New Year 2019. Happy editing,
Azkord (talk) 04:38, 25 December 2018 (UTC)
Hello SoWhy, may you be surrounded by peace, success and happiness on this seasonal occasion. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Sending you heartfelt and warm greetings for Christmas and New Year 2019. Happy editing, TheSandDoctorTalk07:29, 25 December 2018 (UTC)
@649pardeep: Because a previous deletion discussion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Johnny Orlando came to the conclusion that this person is not sufficiently notable for inclusion and the new version did not improve upon this. You are welcome to demonstrate his notability by creating a draft with sufficient reliable sources that cover him extesively. If you do so, I'll be happy to restore this. Regards SoWhy19:53, 27 December 2018 (UTC)
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Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Dungeon Siege III you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of David Fuchs -- David Fuchs (talk) 20:40, 9 January 2019 (UTC)
the edit on tbl2018 page called the brandlaureate awards
i will like to reconfirm that im not directly or indirectly compensated to edit the page called the brandlaureate awards. If thats the issue, then i would request to bring up the page. We're working on creating a wikipedia page for some time. we have no fees/money/compensation related. Thank you.
@Tbl2018: Are you saying that you are multiple people using this account that are all interested in editing that article without any relation to the subject? Regards SoWhy07:53, 16 January 2019 (UTC)
The page G.N.P.C. which you had declined speedy has been speedily deleted by User:DGG in spite of my adding claims and references (to remove a later prod) and a request on the talk page to take it to AfD instead. I don't frequent enwiki so I don't know whether it is common for one admin to speedily delete a page after another has declined speedy. I have messaged DGG but requesting your input as well. Best wishes -- Raziman T V (talk) 22:29, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
Aly Ryan
Hi, how's it going? I was planning on creating a page for Aly Ryan, a German singer and participant in the upcoming Unser Lied Fur Tel-Aviv 2019 (a German article already exists, but I wouldn't be directly translating this) - however I noted that the page had been deleted before, and you were the last admin to delete it. I'm just wondering would it be an issue if I were to create this article again, just in case. Thanks! Serhatserhatserhat (talk) 17:56, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
Hey, I'm a little confused on why you labeled this as "violations of the biographies of living persons policy" under the "real person slash" category when that's the literal definition of that category. Also, it mentions two other living people under that category as well so why are they allowed to be mentioned, but not the ones you removed? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2605:e000:ac9f:5b00:d8a7:67ff:5a13:eb5 (talk • contribs) 08:18, 26 January 2019 (UTC)
Hi SoWhy! You created a thread called What to do when a noticeboard question goes unanswered? at Wikipedia:Teahouse, but it has been archived because there was no discussion for a few days. You can still find the archived discussion here. If you have any additional questions that weren't answered then, please create a new thread.
Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Unavowed you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of TarkusAB -- TarkusAB (talk) 22:21, 28 January 2019 (UTC)
The article Unavowed you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold . The article is close to meeting the good article criteria, but there are some minor changes or clarifications needing to be addressed. If these are fixed within 7 days, the article will pass; otherwise it may fail. See Talk:Unavowed for things which need to be addressed. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of TarkusAB -- TarkusAB (talk) 22:21, 29 January 2019 (UTC)
Hype Auditor is a pretty basic analytical tool for measuring Instagram followers manipulation, and is considered a standard reference for judging an Instagram following, I understand your edit was probably a good faith one but its accidental vandalism, and presenting a biased view of someone who gets paid by companies for each follower that she may have, and buying followers is a scam, and is not considered bias or an unreliable source.
@AntiRevisionism: An automated tool can only tell you assumptions based on analytical algorithms. Citing such numbers and drawing the conclusion that because the tool assumes this it must be true constitutes original research and is thus not allowed. You are welcome to find and add a reliable sourceper our definitions that states this but as far as I can tell, such a source does not exist. Even the "Hype Auditor" link you provided contains no such claim. Since this is a negative claim about a living person, per our Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons such material has to be attributed to a published reliable source per the aforementioned policy. Last but not least, avoid using the term "vandalism" to refer to edits you disagree with. Vandalism has a very distinct meaning on Wikipedia and using it to refer to good-faith edits might lead to you being sanctioned. Regards SoWhy08:18, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
Speedy deletion
Hi,
Thanks for your message.
I now understand that A categories are not appropriate for drafted articles.
What other means are there of putting forward drafted articles for deletion and, if you do not mind, could you briefly explain them?
Draft articles can only be speedy deleted if they meet any of the [WP:GSCD|general criteria]] (G1 to G14). If they don't, you can nominate it for deletion at WP:MFD. In most cases, there is no rush to delete a draft quickly, so we can just wait for it to become "stale" which makes it eligible for WP:G13 deletion after six months. Regards SoWhy11:10, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
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I was writing the contest to save FactEntry article but in the interim, you have deleted the page. Even I justified the same to Tom who requested for the speedy deletion of the page. I wrote this article in a way Wikipedia prefers, non promotional content and valid references. This open source platform already have pages on similar organization and businesses. Could you help me understand what should I do to retain this?
@Vikaskukreja83: You can start by finding actual reliable sources that are independent of the subject and cover the subject in detail. All you added where business entries on various sites and (recycled) press releases. Judging from doing a short Google search, it's unlikely that these exist but I'm happy to be proven wrong. If (and only if) you can provide me with such sources, I'll undelete the article. Regards SoWhy08:32, 13 February 2019 (UTC)
Press release, clearly not independent of the subject.
Interview, clearly not independent of the subject.
Press release, clearly not independent of the subject.
Press release, clearly not independent of the subject.
Directory Entry, likely created by subject and definitely not significant coverage.
I urge you to read the links I provided which contain a lot of helpful examples. Generally speaking, a source needs to be independent of the subject (which precludes press releases and anything based on press releases as well as interviews and suchlike) and reliable (having a history of fact-checking etc.). Examples include articles in established newspapers or scientific books. What you should be looking for is basically something like full-length expose in the New York Times, not a one sentence mention in We Are Paid By The People We Write About Weekly. Regards SoWhy09:26, 13 February 2019 (UTC)
@SoWhy: Thank you for justifying the resource section. I have understood that I need to find a resource which has specifically mentioned about FactEntry and not others. I guess this should be independent to the subject in this case. I shall come back to you with a valid one. Thanks once again for letting me understand with examples you provided.
DYK for Adele Spitzeder
On 15 February 2019, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Adele Spitzeder, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that some sources believe Adele Spitzeder(pictured) created the first documented Ponzi scheme in 1869? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Adele Spitzeder. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, ), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.
Zhuhai Fornia Medical Device Company speedy deletion
If I'm recalling correctly one of the cited sources for this page was a title that was literally something like "List of Notable Medical Device Manufacturers". This does not seem like something which fits into the statement on the WP:CSD page which says, "Administrators should take care not to speedy delete pages or media except in the most obvious cases." --▸₷truthious Ⓑandersnatch◂02:30, 23 February 2019 (UTC)
@Struthious Bandersnatch: Actually, the only "source" was something called "Key Portable Medical Device Vendors Worldwide" by something called "China Portable Medical Devices Report" with no link and no Google hits for it except Wikipedia mirrors. A7 requires a credible claim of significance and a non-notable publication allegedly claiming something which no one backs up is not one. That, combined with the fact that there are literally no Google hits for the company name that are not Wikipedia (mirrors) indicates that the subject is most likely not significant enough for inclusion. You are welcome to provide me with some actual sources and I'll be glad to undelete it. Regards SoWhy12:20, 23 February 2019 (UTC)