User talk:28bytes/Archive 59
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| This is an archive of past discussions with User:28bytes. 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. |
| Archive 55 | ← | Archive 57 | Archive 58 | Archive 59 | Archive 60 |
The Signpost: 12 December 2024
- News and notes: Arbitrator election concludes
New arbs to be seated in January.
- Arbitration report: Palestine-Israel articles 5
Will the fifth try at achieving peace be a mudfight, or something better?
- Disinformation report: Sex, power, and money revisited
Should old acquaintance be forgot?
- Op-ed: On the backrooms
An editor's reflection on social capital and their changing relationship with Wikipedia culture. by Tamzin
- In focus: Are Wikipedia articles representative of Western or world knowledge?
Wikipedia aims to represent the sum of all knowledge. Is there an imbalance between Western countries and the rest of the world.
- In the media: Like the BBC, often useful but not impartial
Ballooning British bias bombast!
- Traffic report: Something Wicked for almost everybody
Fighting and killing – on screen, in politics, and in the ring – competes for attention with Disney.
- Opinion: Worm That Turned's reconfirmation RfA debriefing
The importance of feedback.
Happy First Edit Day!
| Hey, 28bytes. Just stopping by to wish you a Happy Wiki-Birthday from the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Have a great day! DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 06:06, 15 December 2024 (UTC) |
P.S. I am so sorry for the lateness. DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 06:06, 15 December 2024 (UTC)
You've got mail

It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.
Specifically, the "@28bytes.com" inbox. Also applicable to Jayen466. Happy Holidays! 85.209.177.219 (talk) 17:54, 22 December 2024 (UTC)
December music
My story story is about a it's a great woman, soprano Sigrid Kehl, and I found a 1963 Christmas Oratorio detail. 10 years earlier than that cantata cycle, Bach wrote seven cantatas for the 1724 season, based on seven songs, - my focus this year. Expect three stories for the three days they celebrated in Leipzig ;) - Enjoy the season! -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:58, 23 December 2024 (UTC)
Happy Holidays
| Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2025! | |
|
Hello 28bytes, 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 2025. Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages. |
The Signpost: 24 December 2024
- News and notes: Responsibilities and liabilities as a "Very Large Online Platform"
What the VLOP – findings of an outside auditor for "responsibilization" of Wikipedia. Plus, new EU Commissioners for tech policy, WLE 2024 winners, and a few other bits of news from the Wikipedia world.
- Op-ed: Beeblebrox on Wikipediocracy, the Committee, and everything
A personal essay.
- Opinion: Graham87 on being the first-ever administrator recall subject
Explanations for what led to it and what it was like to undergo it.
- In the media: Delhi High Court considers Caravan and Ken for evaluating the ANI vs. WMF case
Plus, the dangers of editing, Morrissey's page gets marred, COVID coverage critique, Kimchi consultation, kids' connectivity curtailed, centenarian Claudia, Christmas cramming, and more.
- From the archives: Where to draw the line in reporting?
Who's news?
- Recent research: "Wikipedia editors are quite prosocial", but those motivated by "social image" may put quantity over quality
And other new research findings.
- Humour: Backlash over Santa Claus' Wikipedia article intensifies
Good faith edits REVERTED and accounts BLOCKED.
- Gallery: A feast of holidays and carols
Peace on earth, goodwill to all!
- Traffic report: Was a long and dark December
Wicked war, martial law, killing, death and an Indian movie with a new chess champ!
Administrators' newsletter – January 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2024).
- Following an RFC, Wikipedia:Notability (species) was adopted as a subject-specific notability guideline.
- A request for comment is open to discuss whether admins should be advised to warn users rather than issue no-warning blocks to those who have posted promotional content outside of article space.
- The Nuke feature also now provides links to the userpage of the user whose pages were deleted, and to the pages which were not selected for deletion, after page deletions are queued. This enables easier follow-up admin-actions.
- Following the 2024 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been elected to the Arbitration Committee: CaptainEek, Daniel, Elli, KrakatoaKatie, Liz, Primefac, ScottishFinnishRadish, Theleekycauldron, Worm That Turned.
- A New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in January 2025 to reduce the number of unreviewed articles and redirects in the new pages feed. Sign up here to participate!
January music
Happy new year 2025! Today, pictured on the Main page, Tosca, in memory of her first appearance on stage OTD in 1900, and of principal author Brian Boulton. -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:31, 14 January 2025 (UTC)
- Happy New Year Gerda! 28bytes (talk) 21:59, 14 January 2025 (UTC)
- Thank you! - Today I have a composer (trumpeter, conductor) on the main page who worked closely with another who became GA yesterday, - small world! To celebrate: mostly flowers pics from vacation ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:38, 20 January 2025 (UTC)
The Signpost: 15 January 2025
- From the editors: Looking back, looking forward
The 20th anniversary of The Signpost.
- Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2024
A lot of psephology!
- In the media: Will you be targeted?
HUMINT or humbug?
- Technology report: New Calculator template brings interactivity at last
Hallelujah!
- Essay: Meet the Canadian who holds the longest editing streak on Wikipedia
Johnny Au has edited for 17 years straight without missing a day.
- Opinion: Reflections one score hence
Some thoughts from the original editor-in-chief.
- News and notes: It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me... and I'm feeling free
Public Domain Day 2025, Women in Red hits 20% biography milestone, Spanish Wikipedia reaches two million articles, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- Serendipity: What we've left behind, and where we want to go next
The Signpost staff on achievements of '24 and hopes for '25.
- Op-ed: Elon Musk and the right on Wikipedia
The latest crusade?
- In focus: Twenty years of The Signpost: What did it take?
Our alumni speak!
- Arbitration report: Analyzing commonalities of some contentious topics
Applying the scientific method to a model of conflict that leads to arbitration.
- Humour: How to make friends on Wikipedia
This post fact-checked by real Wikipedian patriots.
Hello I'm being targeted and cyber bullied.
Hello thank you for your time. I'm having a rough time on wikipedia (I have been working on this draft Bruse Wane almost 10 years) I believe the article I have submitted meets wikipedias guideline under General Notability, And Notability under Wikipedia guidelines for (Musicians & Enables). It has been properly sourced with numerous independent references independent of the subject. I may have unintentionally ruffled a few feathers, On December 28th I was contacted by the user DoubleGrazing on my talk page about a possible conflict of Interest. After disputing the claim I asked him about what I felt was a snide comment towards me on the Admins LIZ's talk page. He said he did not like my Shirty response. Another user Buster D who seems to be following my every move entered the conversation and told me to lash out at my peril. "Lash out at your peril. BusterD (talk) 08:57, 29 December 2024" , Since then I believe I have been targeted by a circle of editors.
Instead of moving my draft to wikipedia's main space I sent if for review looking for help on its possible improvement. It was immediately declined by, the User Theroadislong (Who appears not be versed in what is considered sources of notability in the genre of Hip Hop Music). I started a topic on Theroadislong's talk page entitled "Who Sent Yah" in reference to my draft articles decline. The comment made during the conversation byTheroadislong' to DoubleGrazing showed they were clearly incahoots on the articles decline, with Theroadislong to DoubleGrazing" Heh! :) DoubleGrazing (talk) 09:07, 30 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]and now they are blocked as a sock of User:Edward Myer. Theroadislong (talk) 09:17, 30 December 2024 (UTC)"
I also received this message on my talk page from Buster D "Who told me to initially lash out at my Peril" I suspect that someone is about to remove your talk page privileges for your failure to act like a normal editor and unwillingness to accept your own responsibilities here. Unfortunately, your bad behavior will also likely translate into never seeing Draft:Bruse Wane published again. This is entirely on you, Edward Myer. Your bad behavior. Not theirs. BusterD (talk) 09:57, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply] "They are the ones exhibiting bad behavior because I took exception to a snide remark. Buster D has tried also tried to change the narrative with this statement when I felt he was stalking me"Edward Myer, there's quite a difference between stalking somebody and merely noticing one editor is acting badly (as admins User:Bishonen, User:331dot), User:UtherSRG, User:NinjaRobotPirate, User:C.Fred, User:DoubleGrazing,"
My Draft was once again declined on January 19th and I believe no matter how thoroughly sourced it is with citations of notability by the subject. It will never be approved as there is a personal vendetta being enacted against. me. My Draft is being held hostage. Once again as state by Buster D as he tries to change the narrative on my talk page "Unfortunately, your bad behavior will also likely translate into never seeing Draft:Bruse Wane published again. This is entirely on you, Edward Myer. Edward Myer (talk) 13:31, 19 January 2025 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – February 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2025).
- Administrators can now nuke pages created by a user or IP address from the last 90 days, up from the initial 30 days. T380846
- A '
Recreated' tag will now be added to pages that were created with the same title as a page which was previously deleted and it can be used as a filter in Special:RecentChanges and Special:NewPages. T56145
- The arbitration case Palestine-Israel articles 5 has been closed.
The Signpost: 7 February 2025
- Recent research: GPT-4 writes better edit summaries than human Wikipedians
But an open language model is ready to help.
- News and notes: Let's talk!
The WMF executive team delivers a new update; plus, the latest EU policy report, good-bye to the German Wikipedia's Café, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- Opinion: Fathoms Below, but over the moon
Editor Fathoms Below reminisces over their successful RfA from February 2024.
- In the media: Wikipedia is an extension of legacy media propaganda, says Elon Musk
Plus, reports on the ARBPIA5 case, new concerns over projects targeting Wikipedia editors, John Green gets his sponsor flowers, and other news.
- Community view: 24th Wikipedia Day in New York City
Wikimedians and newbies celebrate 24 years of Wikipedia in the Brooklyn Central Library. Special guests Stephen Harrison and Clay Shirky joined in conversation.
- Arbitration report: Palestine-Israel articles 5 has closed
Ending with some bans, and a new set of editing sanctions.
- Traffic report: A wild drive
The start of the year was filled with a few unfortunate losses, tragic disasters, emerging tech forces and A LOT of politics.
February music
On the main page Edith Mathis, who portrayed young women by Mozart, the video of a 1993 interview has videos of her performances, - yesterday's story. - "places" come with food and flowers, - sharing with you ;) -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:52, 14 February 2025 (UTC)
I pointed at a composer yesterday, as the main page had (wanted to come then, but was too slow), and today it's about a soprano whose performance impressed me, - see video. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:25, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
Discussion at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/2024 review/Phase III/Administrator elections
You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/2024 review/Phase III/Administrator elections.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:20, 21 February 2025 (UTC)
The Signpost: 27 February 2025
- News and notes: Administrator elections up for reapproval and 1bil GET snagged on Commons
French Wikipedia defends a user against public threats, steward elections, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- Serendipity: Guinea-Bissau Heritage from Commons to the World
"The only time I ever took photos in my entire life".
- Technology report: Hear that? The wikis go silent twice a year
From patrolling new edits to uploading photos or joining a campaign, you can count on the Wikimedia platform to be up and running — in your language, anywhere in the world. That is, except for a couple of minutes during the equinoctes.
- In the media: The end of the world
Or just the end of Wikipedia as we know it?
- Recent research: What's known about how readers navigate Wikipedia; Italian Wikipedia hardest to read
Of "hunters", "busybodies" and "dancers".
- Opinion: Sennecaster's RfA debriefing
User Sennecaster shares her thoughts on her recent RfA and the aspects that might have played a role in making it successful.
- Tips and tricks: One year after this article is posted, will every single article on Wikipedia have a short description?
What are they? Why are they important? How can we make them better? And what can you do to help?
- Community view: Open letter from French Wikipedians says "no" to intimidation of volunteer contributors
Liberté, liberté chérie.
- Traffic report: Temporary scars, February stars
Grammys, politics and the Super Bowl.
- Essay: The source, the whole source, and nothing but the source
Straight from the source's mouth. A source is a source, of course, of course!
- Obituary: Ümüt Çınar (Kmoksy) and Vinícius Medina Kern (Vmkern)
Turkish linguist wrote about languages and plants; Brazilian informaticist studied Wikimedia projects and education.
Administrators' newsletter – March 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2025).

- A request for comment is open to discuss whether AI-generated images (meaning those wholly created by generative AI, not human-created images modified with AI tools) should be banned from use in articles.
- A series of 22 mini-RFCs that double-checked consensus on some aspects and improved certain parts of the administrator elections process has been closed (see the summary of the changes).
- A request for comment is open to gain consensus on whether future administrator elections should be held.
- A new filter has been added to the Special:Nuke tool, which allows administrators to filter for pages in a range of page sizes (in bytes). This allows, for example, deleting pages only of a certain size or below. T378488
- Non-administrators can now check which pages are able to be deleted using the Special:Nuke tool. T376378
- The 2025 appointees for the Ombuds commission are だ*ぜ, Arcticocean, Ameisenigel, Emufarmers, Faendalimas, Galahad, Nehaoua, Renvoy, Revi C., RoySmith, Teles and Zafer as members, with Vermont serving as steward-observer.
- Following the 2025 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: 1234qwer1234qwer4, AramilFeraxa, Daniuu, KonstantinaG07, MdsShakil and XXBlackburnXx.
The Signpost: 22 March 2025
- From the editor: Hanami
It's an ecstasy, my spring.
- Opinion: Talking about governments editing Wikipedia
Let them know what you think!
- News and notes: Deeper look at takedowns targeting Wikipedia
Read this, then forget all about it.
- In the media: The good, the bad, and the unusual
Life on the Wiki as usual!
- Recent research: Explaining the disappointing history of Flagged Revisions; and what's the impact of ChatGPT on Wikipedia so far?
And WMF invites multi-year research fund proposals
- Traffic report: All the world's a stage, we are merely players...
The Oscars, politics, and death elbow for the most attention.
- Gallery: WikiPortraits rule!
The photographers are the celebrities!
- Essay: Unusual biographical images
And very unusual biographical images.
- Obituary: Rest in peace
Send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
March music
Today I come, to proudly announce 300 years of Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1! - We sang works for (mostly) double choir by Pachelbel, Johann Christoph Bach, Kuhnau/Bach, Gounod and Rheinberger! -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:24, 25 March 2025 (UTC)
April music
Tout est lumière --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:18, 7 April 2025 (UTC)
What do you think of this Easter vs. 1 April discussion? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:19, 19 April 2025 (UTC)
Nothing happened. - My story is about music that Bach and Picander gave the world 300 years (and 19 days) ago, - listen (on the conductor's birthday) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:18, 20 April 2025 (UTC)
I finally managed to upload the pics I meant for Easter, see places (28!). - Also finally, I managed a FAC, Easter Oratorio. I wanted that on the main page for Easter Sunday, but no, twice. You are invited to join a discussion about what "On this day" means, day or date. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:29, 25 April 2025 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – April 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2025).

- Sign up for The Core Contest, a competition running from 15 April to 31 May to improve vital articles.
The Signpost: 9 April 2025
- Special report: Wikipedian and physician Ziyad al-Sufiani reportedly released from Saudi prison
Fellow doctor Osama Khalid remains behind bars for "violating public morals" by editing.
- In focus: WMF to explore "common standards" for NPOV policies; implications for project autonomy remain unclear
Major changes to core content policy, or still-developing plan for new initiative?
- In the media: Indian judges demand removal of content critical of Asian News International
Defeat, or just a setback?
- News and notes: 35,000 user accounts compromised, locked in attempted credential-stuffing attack
Plus: 30-year anniversary of wiki software commemorated.
- Op-ed: How crawlers impact the operations of the Wikimedia projects
Our content is free, our infrastructure is not!
- Opinion: Crawlers, hogs and gorillas
What is to be done?
- Debriefing: Giraffer's RfA debriefing
Advice to aspirants: "Read RfA debriefs", including this one.
- Obituary: RHaworth, TomCat4680 and PawełMM
Rest in peace.
- Traffic report: Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, off to report we go...
Snow White sinking, Adolescence soaring, spacefarers stranded, this list has it all!
- News from Diff: Strengthening Wikipedia’s neutral point of view
The Wikimedia Foundation's announcement from Diff.
- Comix: Thirteen
Gadzooks!
Crat chat for EggRoll97
I have opened up a 'crat chat for EggRoll97, see Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/EggRoll97 2/Bureaucrat chat. Primefac (talk) 15:50, 19 April 2025 (UTC)
The Signpost: 1 May 2025
- News and notes: India cut off from Wiki money; WMF annual plan and Wikimedia programs seek comment
As always, Wikimedia community governance relies on user participation; plus, more updates from the Wikimedia world
- In the media: Feds aiming for WMF's nonprofit status
Scrapers, an Indian lawsuit, and a crash-or-not-crash?
- Recent research: How readers use Wikipedia health content; Scholars generally happy with how their papers are cited on Wikipedia
And other new research findings.
- Arbitration report: Sysop Tinucherian removed and admonished by the ArbCom
And don't bite those newbies!
- Discussion report: Latest news from Centralized discussions
And don't bite those newbies!
- Traffic report: Of Wolf and Man
Television dramas, televised sports, film, the Pope, and ... bioengineering at the top of the list?
- Disinformation report: At WikiCredCon, Wikipedia editors and Internet Archive discuss threats to trust in media
Community volunteers network among themselves and use technology to counter attacks on information sharing.
- News from the WMF: Product & Tech Progress on the Annual Plan
A look at some product and tech highlights from the Wikimedia Foundation's Annual Plan (July–December 2024).
- Humour: Crisis erupts as furious admins, functionaries complain about crappy t-shirts
Hey! At least it is something!
- Comix: By territory
Zounds!
- In focus: Using AI on the Russian Wikipedia: opportunities or challenges?
Would a billion articles be a good idea?
- Community view: A deep dive into Wikimedia
There's a lot more to this than you think.
- Debriefing: Barkeep49's RfB debriefing
I wonder about having crats, but decided to become one anyway.
- Gallery: Meet the winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2024
Just beautiful photos!
- Obituary: JarrahTree, JohnClarknew and Yashthepunisher
Rest in Paradise.
Administrators' newsletter – May 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2025).

Rusalkii
NaomiAmethyst (overlooked last month)
Interface administrator changes
- Following an RfC, administrator elections were permanently authorized on a five-month schedule. The next election will be scheduled soon; see Wikipedia talk:Administrator elections for more information. This is an alternate process to the RfA process and does not replace the latter.
- An RfC was closed with consensus to allow editors to opt-out of seeing "sticky decorative elements". Such elements should now be wrapped in {{sticky decoration wrapper}}. Editors who wish to opt out can follow the instructions at WP:STICKYDECO.
- An RfC has resulted in a broad prohibition on the use of AI-generated images in articles. A few common-sense exceptions are recognized.
- A New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in May 2025 to reduce the backlog of articles in the new pages feed. Sign up here to participate!
The Signpost: 14 May 2025
- News and notes: WMF to kick off new-CEO quest as Iskander preps to move on — Supreme Court nixes gag of Wiki page for other India court row on ANI — code-heads give fix-up date for Charts in lieu of long-dead Graph gizmo
And comment is requested on a privacy whitepaper.
- In the media: Wikimedia Foundation sues over UK government decision that might require identity verification of editors worldwide
And other courtroom drama.
- Disinformation report: What does Jay-Z know about Wikipedia?
And how he knows it: all about lawyer letters and editing logs.
- In focus: On the hunt for sources: Swedish AfD discussions
Why the language barrier is not the only impediment to navigating sources from another culture.
- Technology report: WMF introduces unique but privacy-preserving browser cookie
And QR codes for every page!
- Debriefing: Goldsztajn's RfA debriefing
When an editor is ready to become staff at a public library (not a brother in a fraternity).
- Obituary: Max Lum (User:ICOHBuzz)
Rest in peace.
- Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 2)
The technology behind it, and the other stuff.
- Comix: Collection
Gadzooks!
- From the archives: Humor from the Archives
And more.
May music
Jadwiga Rappé - lovely voice --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:09, 25 May 2025 (UTC)
A first: two stories about two people who worked together and died the same day --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:07, 27 May 2025 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – June 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2025).
- An RfC is open to determine whether the English Wikipedia community should adopt a position on AI development by the WMF and its affiliates.
- A new feature called Multiblocks will be deployed on English Wikipedia on the week of June 2. See the relevant announcement on the administrators' noticeboard.
- History merges performed using the mergehistory special page are now logged at both the source and destination, rather than just the source as previously, after this RFC and the resolution of T118132.
- An arbitration case named Indian military history has been opened. Evidence submissions for this case close on 8 June.
- Voting for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) election is open until 17 June 2025. Read the voting page on Meta-Wiki and cast your vote here!
- An Articles for Creation backlog drive is happening in June 2025, with over 1,600 drafts awaiting review from the past two months. In addition to AfC participants, all administrators and new page patrollers can help review using the Yet Another AFC Helper Script, which can be enabled in the Gadgets settings. Sign up here to participate!
- The Unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in June 2025 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!
June music
Stravinsky pictured on his birthday + Vienna pics - but too many who died -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:39, 17 June 2025 (UTC)
I heard this music, yesterday, - streamed a day before at a different location. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:04, 23 June 2025 (UTC)
While you are of course invited to check out my recommendations any day, today offers unusually a great writer of novels, music with light and a place with exquisite food. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:27, 28 June 2025 (UTC)
The Signpost: 24 June 2025
- News and notes: Happy 7 millionth!
Admins arrested in Belarus.
- In the media: Playing professor pong with prosecutorial discretion
Pardon our alliteration!
- Disinformation report: Pardon me, Mr. President, have you seen my socks?
A get-out-of-jail card!
- Recent research: Wikipedia's political bias; "Ethical" LLMs accede to copyright owners' demands but ignore those of Wikipedians
And other new research publications.
- Traffic report: All Sinners, a future, all Saints, a past
Holy men and not-as-holy movies.
- News from Diff: Call for candidates is now open: Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
Get your self-nomination in by July 2nd!
- Opinion: Russian Wiki-fork flails, failing readers and editors
After two years RuWiki fails to thrive.
- Debriefing: EggRoll97's RfA2 debriefing
With some sweet-and-sour sauce!
- Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 3)
Every thing you need to know about the Wikimedia Foundation?
- Comix: Hamburgers
Egad!
admin
make me a admin pls 2600:4040:A864:B000:40EF:543F:22E:D2D2 (talk) 20:20, 4 July 2025 (UTC)
- (Non-admin comment) Absolutely not. You need to create an account for that. Sparkschu Itai (talk) 10:14, 6 July 2025 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – July 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2025).

Interface administrator changes
- Following a talk page discussion, speedy deletion criterion G13 has been amended to remove "Userspace with no content except the article wizard placeholder text."
- WP:Manual of Style/Superscripts and subscripts was upgraded to a guideline following a RfC discussion.
- The 2025 Developing Countries WikiContest will run from 1 July to 30 September. Sign up now!
- Administrator elections will take place this month. Administrator elections are an alternative to RFA that is a gentler process for candidates due to secret voting and multiple people running together. The call for candidates is July 9–15, the discussion phase is July 18–22, and the voting phase is July 23–29. Get ready to submit your candidacy, or (with their consent) to nominate a talented candidate!
Administrator Elections | Call for Candidates
The administrator elections process has officially started! Interested editors are encouraged to self-nominate or arrange to be nominated by reviewing the instructions at Wikipedia:Administrator elections/July 2025/Candidates.
Here is the schedule:
- July 9–15 - Call for candidates
- July 18–22 - Discussion phase
- July 23–29 - SecurePoll voting phase
Please note the following:
- The requirements to run are identical to RFA—a prospective candidate must be extended confirmed.
- Prospective candidates are advised to become familiar with the community's expectations of administrators, which are much higher than the minimum requirement of having extended confirmed status. This includes reviewing successful and unsuccessful RFAs, reading the essay Wikipedia:Advice for RfA candidates, and possibly requesting an optional poll on their chances of passing.
- The process will have a seven day call for candidates phase, a two day pause, a five day discussion phase, and a seven day private vote using SecurePoll. Discussion and questions are only allowed on the candidate pages during the discussion phase.
- The outcome of this process is identical to making a request for adminship. There is no official difference between an administrator appointed through RFA versus administrator elections.
- Administrator elections are also a valid means of regaining adminship for de-sysopped editors.
Ask any questions about the process at the talk page. A separate user talk message will be sent to official candidates with additional information about the process.
If you are interested in the process, please make sure to watchlist the appropriate pages. A watchlist notice will be added when the discussion phase opens, and again when the voting phase opens.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:11, 9 July 2025 (UTC)
Administrator Elections | Discussion phase
The discussion phase of the July 2025 administrator elections is officially open. As a reminder, the schedule of the election is:
- July 18–22 - Discussion phase (we are here)
- July 23–29 - SecurePoll voting phase
- July 30–c. Aug 3 - Scrutineering phase
We are currently in the discussion phase. The candidate subpages are open to questions and comments from everyone, in the same style as a request for adminship. You may discuss the candidates at Wikipedia:Administrator elections/July 2025/Discussion phase.
On July 23, we will start the voting phase. The candidate subpages will close again to public questions and discussion, and everyone will have a week to use the SecurePoll software to vote, which uses a secret ballot. You can see who voted, but not who they voted for. Please note that the vote totals cannot be made public until after voting has ended and as such, it will not be possible for you to see an individual candidate's totals during the election. You must be extended confirmed to vote.
Once voting concludes, we will begin the scrutineering phase, which will last approximately four days, or perhaps a little longer. Once everything is certified, the results will be posted on the results page (you may want to watchlist this page) and transcluded to the main election page. In order to be granted adminship, a candidate must have received at least 70.0% support, calculated as Support / (Support + Oppose), and must also have received a minimum of 20 support votes. Because this is a vote and not a consensus, there are no bureaucrat discussions ("crat chats").
Any questions or issues can be asked on the election talk page. Thank you for your participation. Happy electing.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:52, 18 July 2025 (UTC)
The Signpost: 18 July 2025
- News and notes: Is no WikiNews good WikiNews? — Election season returns!
Endowment tax form, Wikimania, elections, U4C, fundraising and a duck!
- In the media: How bad (or good) is Wikipedia?
And how do we know?
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Medicine reaches milestone of zero unreferenced articles
Five-year journey comes to healthy fruition.
- In focus: Wikimania 2025: Connecting Wikimedians across the world for 20 years
Wikimedians from around the world will gather in person and online at the twentieth annual meeting of Wikimania.
- Recent research: Knowledge manipulation on Russia's Wikipedia fork; Marxist critique of Wikidata license; call to analyze power relations of Wikipedia
As well as "hermeneutic excursions" and other scientific research findings.
- News from the WMF: Form 990 released for the Wikimedia Foundation’s fiscal year 2023-2024
The report covers the Foundation's operations from July 2023 - June 2024
- Discussion report: Six thousand noticeboard discussions in 2025 electrically winnowed down to a hundred
A step towards objective and comprehensive coverage of a project nearly too big to follow.
- Comix: Divorce
Drawn this century!
- Opinion: Women are somewhat under-represented on the English-language Wikipedia, and other observations from analysis
How data from the Wikipedia "necessary articles" lists can shed new light on the gender gap
- Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 4): The Future Of Wikimedia and Conclusion
Annual plans, external trends, infrastructure, equity, safety, and effectiveness. What does it all mean?
- Obituary: Pvmoutside, Atomicjohn, Rdmoore6, Jaknouse, Morven, Martin of Sheffield, MarnetteD, Herewhy, BabelStone
Rest in peace.
- Traffic report: God only knows
Wouldn't it be nice without billionaires, scandals, deaths, and wars?
- Humour: New forum created for people who don't care about Wikipedia
If you are too blasé for Mr. Blasé and don't give a FAC.
Administrator Elections | Voting phase
The voting phase of the July 2025 administrator elections has started and continues until July 29 at 23:59 UTC. You can participate in the voting phase at Wikipedia:Administrator elections/July 2025/Voting phase.
As a reminder, the schedule of the election is:
- July 23–29 – Voting phase
- July 30–c. Aug 3 – Scrutineering phase
In the voting phase, the candidate subpages will close to public questions and discussion, and everyone who qualifies to vote will have a week to use the SecurePoll software to vote, which uses a secret ballot. You can see who voted, but not who they voted for. Please note that the vote totals cannot be made public until after voting has ended and as such, it will not be possible for you to see an individual candidate's vote total during the election. The suffrage requirements are similar to those at RFA.
Once voting concludes, we will begin the scrutineering phase, which will last for approximately four days, perhaps longer. Once everything is certified, the results will be posted on the results page (this is a good page to watchlist), and transcluded to the main election page. In order to be granted adminship, a candidate must have received at least 70.0% support, calculated as Support / (Support + Oppose), and a minimum of 20 support votes. Because this is a vote and not a consensus, there are no bureaucrat discussions ("crat chats").
Any questions or issues can be asked on the election talk page. Thank you for your participation. Happy electing.
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:36, 23 July 2025 (UTC)
July music
Administrators' newsletter – August 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2025).
- Following a request for comment, a new speedy deletion criterion, G15, has been enacted. It applies to pages generated by a large language model (LLM) without human review.
- Following a request for comment, there is a new policy outlining the granting of permissions to view the IP addresses of temporary accounts. Temporary account deployment on the English Wikipedia is currently scheduled for September 2025, and editors can request access to the permission ahead of time. Admins are encouraged to keep an eye on the request page; there will likely be a flood of editors requesting the permission when they realize they can no longer see IP addresses.
- Administrators can now restrict the "Add a Link" feature to newcomers. The "Add a Link" Structured Task helps new account holders get started with editing. Administrators can configure this setting in the Community Configuration page.
- The arbitration case Indian military history has been closed.
- South Asia (WP:CT/SA) is designated a contentious topic. The topic area is specifically defined as
All pages related to the region of South Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal), broadly construed, including but not limited to history, politics, ethnicity, and social groups.
- The contentious topic designations for Sri Lanka (SL) and India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (IPA) are folded into this new contentious topic.
- The community-authorized general sanctions regarding South Asian social groups (GS/CASTE) are rescinded and folded into this new contentious topic.
- South Asia (WP:CT/SA) is designated a contentious topic. The topic area is specifically defined as
- The arbitration case Article titles and capitalisation 2 has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case closed on 31 July.
- The arbitration case Transgender healthcare and people has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case will close on 11 August.
- Wikimania 2025 is happening in Nairobi, Kenya, and online from August 6 to August 9. This year marks 20 years of Wikimania. Interested users can join the online event. Registration for the virtual event is free and will remain open throughout Wikimania. You can register here now.
The Signpost: 9 August 2025
- News and notes: Court order snips out part of Wikipedia article, editors debate whether to frame shreds or pulp them
Plus a mysterious CheckUser incident, and the news with Wikinews.
- Discussion report: News from ANI, AN, RSN, BLPN, ELN, FTN, and NPOVN
A review of June, July and August.
- Disinformation report: The article in the most languages
Who is this guy?
- Community view: News from the Villages Pump
Threads since June.
- In the media: Disgrace, dive bars, deceased despots, and diverse dispatches
And slop.
- Crossword: Accidental typography
It's not a conlang, it's a crossword puzzle.
- Comix: best-laid schemes o' wikis an' men
gang aft agley, an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy!
- Traffic report: I'm not the antichrist or the Superman
Everybody's Somebody's Fool.
August music
Today's story - short version: ten years ago we had a DYK about a soprano who sang in concerts with me in the choir, - longer: I found today a youtube of an aria she sang with us then, recorded the same year, - if you still have time: our performances were the weekend before the Iraq war ultimatum, and we sang Dona nobis pacem (and the drummer drummed!) as if they could hear us in Washington. -- Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:09, 18 August 2025 (UTC)
Check out my talk for an Independence day, or: the pic of Oksana Lyniv was taken on 24 August. There's listening and reading in today's story, and I like both. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:02, 24 August 2025 (UTC)
On top of my talk: birthday of a great violinist and Requiem for a great friend. We sang Paradisi gloria from the Stabat Mater in the end. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:30, 31 August 2025 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – September 2025
News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2025).
- An RfC is open on whether use of emojis with no encyclopedic value in mainspace and draftspace (e.g., at the start of paragraphs or in place of bullet points) should be added as a criterion under G15.
- Administrators can now access the Special:BlockedExternalDomains page from the Special:CommunityConfiguration list page. This makes it easier to find. T393240
- The arbitration case Article titles and capitalisation 2 has been closed.
- An RfC is in progress to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the Arbitration Committee election and resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
The Signpost: 9 September 2025
- News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation loses a round in court
UK Online Safety Act remains undefeated.
- In the media: Congress probes, mayor whitewashed, AI stinks
Plus Wiki rules, Wiki Spin, and physicists get street cred!
- Disinformation report: A guide for Congress
The price of Liberty is eternal vigilance.
- Recent research: Minority-language Wikipedias, and Wikidata for botanists
And other new research findings.
- Technology report: A new way to read Wikisource
Tis true: there's magic in the web of it.
- Traffic report: Check out some new Weapons, weapon of choice
With the usual mix of war, death, super heroes, a belt, and Wednesday.
- Essay: The one question
It's an easy one.
