User talk:Fluffernutter/Archive 24
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 | This is an archive of past discussions with User:Fluffernutter. 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 20 | ← | Archive 22 | Archive 23 | Archive 24 | Archive 25 | Archive 26 | → | Archive 30 |
The Signpost: 18 February 2015
- Editorial: Recent retirements typify problem of admin attrition
Go Phightins! shares his thoughts on admin attrition and the size of the administrative backlog.
- In the media: Students' use and perception of Wikipedia
The Australian ("Wikipedia not destroying life as we know it", February 11) and Times Higher Education ("Wikipedia should be 'better integrated' into teaching", February 10) reported on a recent study performed at Monash University, titled "Students’ use of Wikipedia as an academic resource – patterns of use and perceptions of usefulness".
- Special report: Revision scoring as a service
The authors of this report inform us that the "goal in the Revision Scoring project is to do the hard work of constructing and maintaining powerful AI so that tool developers don't have to. This cross-lingual, machine learning classifier service for edits will support new wiki tools that require edit quality measures."
- Gallery: Darwin Day
Darwin Day is observed annually on February 12 to commemorate the life and work of scientist Charles Darwin. Here is a selection of images of life on the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin made key observations leading to his scientific theory of evolution by natural selection.
- Traffic report: February is for lovers
This week saw the 57th Annual Grammy Awards (#13 on the Top 25) held on 8 February dominating the traffic chart, as music lovers checked out Sam Smith (#3) picking up four awards, Beck taking album of the year, and performances including Sia (#9), Madonna (#11), and Annie Lennox (#16). But Valentine's Day (#1) proved the perfect time for the release of Fifty Shades of Grey, with the movie coming in at #5, the book of the same name at #2, and the primary actors at #14 and #15.
- Featured content: A load of bull-sized breakfast behind the restaurant, Koi feeding, a moray eel, Spaghetti Nebula and other fishy, fishy fish
Five pictures, six lists, and seventeen pictures were promoted
- Arbitration report: We've built the nuclear reactor; now what colour should we paint the bikeshed?
The most significant item on ArbCom's agenda this fortnight has been the closure of the Wifione case and subsequent fallout, although the fallout from GamerGate continues to linger.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:24, 20 February 2015 (UTC)
GOCE March newsletter
Guild of Copy Editors March 2015 Newsletter
  Blitz: Thanks to everyone who participated in the February Blitz. Of the 21 people who signed up, eight copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. Progress report: The blitz removed 16 articles from the requests list, and we're almost done with December 2014. Many thanks, everyone! Drive: The month-long March drive begins in about a week. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one article from the backlog. Sign up here! Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:41, 22 February 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-09
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent software changes
- All new accounts are now global.
- Your Meta user page is now shown if you don't have a user page on a wiki. You can report problems if you see any. You can ask a bot to delete your old user pages.
Software changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since February 18. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from February 25. It will be on all Wikipedias from February 26 (calendar).
- It is now easier to see template fields in VisualEditor. The fields are bigger.
- It is now easier to see when a button is disabled in VisualEditor.
- Sometimes when you copy-pasted a template in VisualEditor, it was replaced by HTML. This problem is now fixed.
- Tools in Labs will stop working for a few hours on February 24.
Meetings
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on February 26 at 00:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- At the moment you need to log in to edit Wikimedia wikis on mobile devices. You can say if anyone should be allowed to edit on the mobile sites. The discussion ends on March 15.
- Images in the interface will soon work better in Opera 12.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
16:28, 23 February 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 25 February 2015
- News and notes: Questions raised over WMF partnership with research firm
A report from the external research firm Lafayette Practice has declared that the Wikimedia Foundation is the "largest known participatory grantmaking fund." Several concerns have been raised with the report, the phrase being used (participatory grantmaking), the now-former Wikipedia article on that phrase, and an alleged conflict of interest by WMF staff members.
- Op-ed: Text from Wikipedia good enough for Oxford University Press to claim as own
Doc James tells us that "The one good thing that has come out of all of this is that Wikipedia’s content passing a major textbook publisher review processes is some external validation of Wikipedia’s quality."
- In the media: WikiGnomes and Bigfoot
Andrew McMillen's February 3 profile of and his quest to rid Wikipedia of the phrase "comprised of" has been one of the most widely circulated and commented upon media stories about the encyclopedia recently.
- Featured content: The Moon, Mars, Venus, and Saturn, in no particular order. Also, Kaiser Kong.
Eleven articles and twenty pictures were promoted in the week covered by this report.
- Gallery: Far from home
The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme, as well as an article you could help improve. This week, we feature subjects that are "far from home".
- Traffic report: Fifty Shades of... self-denial?
An odd juxtaposition this week, as interest in Fifty Shades of Grey coincided with the observance of the Chinese New Year and the annual festival of penance, Ash Wednesday.
- Recent research: Gender bias, SOPA blackout, and a student assignment that backfired
A monthly roundup of Wikimedia-related research
- WikiProject report: Be prepared... Scouts in the spotlight
This week's project is on a youth activity, one of the largest in the world; its project is commensurately large, containing around 136 active editors. It's WikiProject Scouting, a group of editors whose remit is everything relating to the Scouting movement, which has around 42 million members worldwide and celebrated the centenary of its founding only eight years ago.
- Blog: Join the Wikimedia strategy consultation
Editor's note: the Blog will be a recurring Signpost section that will highlight a recent post from the Wikimedia blog, run by the Wikimedia Foundation. This week's installment is written by Philippe Beaudette, the Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy, and focuses on planning for the future of the Wikimedia movement.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:38, 27 February 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 25 February 2015
- News and notes: Questions raised over WMF partnership with research firm
A report from the external research firm Lafayette Practice has declared that the Wikimedia Foundation is the "largest known participatory grantmaking fund." Several concerns have been raised with the report, the phrase being used (participatory grantmaking), the now-former Wikipedia article on that phrase, and an alleged conflict of interest by WMF staff members.
- Op-ed: Text from Wikipedia good enough for Oxford University Press to claim as own
Doc James tells us that "The one good thing that has come out of all of this is that Wikipedia’s content passing a major textbook publisher review processes is some external validation of Wikipedia’s quality."
- In the media: WikiGnomes and Bigfoot
Andrew McMillen's February 3 profile of and his quest to rid Wikipedia of the phrase "comprised of" has been one of the most widely circulated and commented upon media stories about the encyclopedia recently.
- Featured content: The Moon, Mars, Venus, and Saturn, in no particular order. Also, Kaiser Kong.
Eleven articles and twenty pictures were promoted in the week covered by this report.
- Gallery: Far from home
The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme, as well as an article you could help improve. This week, we feature subjects that are "far from home".
- Traffic report: Fifty Shades of... self-denial?
An odd juxtaposition this week, as interest in Fifty Shades of Grey coincided with the observance of the Chinese New Year and the annual festival of penance, Ash Wednesday.
- Recent research: Gender bias, SOPA blackout, and a student assignment that backfired
A monthly roundup of Wikimedia-related research
- WikiProject report: Be prepared... Scouts in the spotlight
This week's project is on a youth activity, one of the largest in the world; its project is commensurately large, containing around 136 active editors. It's WikiProject Scouting, a group of editors whose remit is everything relating to the Scouting movement, which has around 42 million members worldwide and celebrated the centenary of its founding only eight years ago.
- Blog: Join the Wikimedia strategy consultation
Editor's note: the Blog will be a recurring Signpost section that will highlight a recent post from the Wikimedia blog, run by the Wikimedia Foundation. This week's installment is written by Philippe Beaudette, the Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy, and focuses on planning for the future of the Wikimedia movement.
- Read this Signpost in full
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:00, 27 February 2015 (UTC)
Amendment request archived
Hi Fluffernutter, an arbitration amendment request you were listed as a party to has been archived to the Wifione case talk page. A motion was proposed but did not gain enough support among arbitrators. For the Arbitration Committee, --L235 (t / c / ping in reply) 01:19, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-10
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent software changes
- A Lua function to use Wikidata has changed. You need to update the pages that use it.
- You can use the Content Translation tool on Wikipedia in Uzbek and Minangkabau. You need to enable it in your Beta options.
- You can now hide banners if you don't have an account.
Software changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since February 25. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 3. It will be on all Wikipedias from March 4 (calendar).
- You can use the Content Translation tool on Wikipedia in Punjabi and Kyrgyz. You can ask for the tool in other languages.
- Editing the fake blank line in VisualEditor is now simpler. This change also fixed a few bugs.
- The TemplateData editor now warns you if a related page already has TemplateData.
- The TemplateData table now tells you if a template doesn't take any parameters.
Meetings
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on March 4 at 16:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join technical meetings in France and Mexico this year. You will be able to ask for help if you can't pay yourself.
Future changes
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
16:41, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 04 March 2015
- From the editor: A sign of the times: the Signpost revamps its internal structure to make contributing easier
We received a large amount of feedback in our survey indicating that our readers found the idea of contributing to the Signpost difficult due to our opaque internal structure.
- News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation and OTRS team both publish reports, indicate operating changes
The Wikimedia Foundation released their Quarterly Report last week covering the three months October to December of 2014.
- Editorial: Conspiracy theories distract from real questions about grantmaking report
Last week, my colleagues on the Signpost produced a news report covering a minor controversy about a report commissioned by the Wikimedia Foundation. Written by the staff of The Lafayette Practice, a French research firm, it proclaimed the WMF as a leader in the practice of participatory grantmaking.
- Traffic report: Attack of the movies
The Report this week is dominated by the Academy Awards, taking the top 4 spots and 13 of the Top 25.
- Arbitration report: Bradspeaks—impact, regrets, and advice; current cases hinge on sex, religion, and ... infoboxes
In the first of what the author hopes will become a regular feature of the Arbitration report, the Signpost speaks to veteran arbitrator Newyorkbrad, who recently retired from the committee after almost seven years of arbitrating. The Signpost was keen to hear his thoughts on his time on the committee and on the past, present, and future of ArbCom.
- Interview: Meet a paid editor
Before being indefinitely blocked, User:FergusM1970 made more than 4600 edits on the English Wikipedia, spread over eight years. In the last two years, he was paid to edit several articles for clients that included the Venezuelan energy company Derwick Associates. We spoke with him about his experiences.
- In the media: Kanye West rebranded; Wikipedia in court; editors for hire
Numerous news outlets are reporting that the domain loser.com now redirects to the Wikipedia article for rapper Kanye West. Page views on West's Wikipedia article skyrocketed to almost 250,000 views on March 2, up from less than 19 thousand the previous day.
- Featured content: Ploughing fields and trading horses with Rosa Bonheur
Two featured articles, four featured lists, and 38 featured pictures were promoted this week..
- Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
The Signpost has arranged to mirror Tech news from Meta-Wiki to supplement the long-form tech coverage in our infrequent Technology report..
- Blog: Black History Month edit-a-thons tackle Wikipedia’s multicultural gaps
Black History Month is celebrated annually in the United States in February, to commemorate the history of the African diaspora. For this occasion, Wikipedians worked together to honor black history and to address Wikipedia's multicultural gaps in the encyclopedia, hosting Wikipedia edit-a-thons throughout the United States, from February 1 to 28, 2015.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:44, 5 March 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-11
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now create books on almost all wikis. It doesn't work yet on wikis using the language converter.
- VisualEditor had problems with categories in Safari. It sometimes moved or removed the categories. The issue is now fixed.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since March 4. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 10. It will be on all Wikipedias from March 11 (calendar).
- In VisualEditor the "Edit beta" button is now called "Edit" on the English Wikipedia.
- The feedback tool in VisualEditor now looks like the other tools. It also asks for information about your browser to help fix bugs.
- You now see the VisualEditor toolbar even if the rest of the page is still loading.
- You now see more information when you edit a link, a reference or other items in VisualEditor. You also see a clearer edit button in those tools.
- If you use the ContentTranslation tool you now see red links in the list of articles in other languages. The link is red if the article doesn't exist in the language of your options or of your browser. You can translate the article by clicking on the red link.
Meetings
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on March 11 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join a technical meeting in France in May. You can ask for help if you can't pay yourself.
Future changes
- You can get help to become a developer. You can learn more on the Google Summer of Code and Outreachy pages.
- You will soon be able to read technical reports in Phabricator.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:18, 9 March 2015 (UTC)
Sunday March 22: Wikipedia Day NYC Celebration and Mini-Conference
| Sunday March 22: Wikipedia Day NYC 2015 | |
|---|---|
  You are invited to join us at Barnard College for Wikipedia Day NYC 2015, a Wikipedia celebration and mini-conference for the project's 14th birthday. In addition to the party, the event will be a participatory unconference, with plenary panels, lightning talks, and of course open space sessions. We also hope for the participation of our friends from the Free Culture movement and from educational and cultural institutions interested in developing free knowledge projects.
We especially encourage folks to add your 5-minute lightning talks to our roster, and otherwise join in the "open space" experience! Newcomers are very welcome! Bring your friends and colleagues! --Pharos (talk) 21:58, 9 March 2015 (UTC) | |
(You can subscribe/unsubscribe from future notifications for NYC-area events by adding or removing your name from this list.)
User:Liam-dino
Dear Fluffernutter, Given that you gave this user a final warning in January you might be interested in reviewing the warning that I just gave them at User_talk:Liam-dino#March_2015. - Ahunt (talk) 20:55, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 11 March 2015
- Special report: An advance look at the WMF's fundraising survey
The Wikimedia Foundation gave the Signpost an advance copy of the results of a survey of English Wikipedia readers regarding Wikimedia fundraising, due for official release today.
- News and notes: WikiWomen's History Month—meetups, blog posts, and "Inspire" grant-making campaign
The community has arranged a number of commemorative initiatives focused on the gender gap, under the banner "WikiWomen's History Month".
- In the media: Gamergate; a Wiki hoax; Kanye West
ThinkProgress tech reporter Lauren C. Williams wrote a long article on how the Gamergate controversy has spilled over onto Wikipedia.
- In focus: WMF to NSA: "stop spying on Wikipedia users"
In an effort to protect and maintain the privacy of Wikipedia's thousands of editors, the Wikimedia Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the United States' National Security Agency, Department of Justice, and the Attorney General.
- Traffic report: Wikipedia: handing knowledge to the world, one prank at a time
A dull week, with only three new entries in the top 10; a UFC champion, a Google Doodle and a Hindu festival involving people throwing powder at each other (though that does sound fun).
- Featured content: Here they come, the couple plighted –
Six featured articles, three featured lists, and forty featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Op-ed: Why the Core Contest matters
I continue to be excited about the Core Contest because I see it as a way of encouraging the expansion of broad articles that are typically neglected by our article improvement incentives.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:26, 12 March 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-12
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- The servers that resize images are using new software. You should report new problems that you notice with images.
- You can now see lists of bugs about Commons, Wikisource and Wiktionary.
- It is now easier to add special characters in VisualEditor. You can edit the list of characters for your wiki.
Problems
- Wikis were broken for a few minutes on Thursday due to a code error.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since March 11. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 17. It will be on all Wikipedias from March 18 (calendar).
- A puzzle piece icon (
) now shows hidden templates in VisualEditor. You can edit the template by clicking the icon. For example, you can now edit anchor templates. - You can now add examples, and details about old parameters, in TemplateData.
Meetings
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on March 18 at 23:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- The list of bad user names on your wiki will no longer work. The global list will replace it. You can ask to add rules for bad user names on Meta.
- You can comment on how you want to see Wikidata edits in your watchlist on other wikis.
- The final steps of single user login (SUL) will happen in April. You can see the rules to rename accounts.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:15, 16 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 18 March 2015
- From the editor: A salute to Pine
We announce with sadness and gratitude that Signpost publication and newsroom manager Pine will be stepping back to focus on other Wikipedia and Wikimedia-related endeavors.
- News and notes: SUL finalization imminent; executive office shake-ups at the Foundation
This process is now entering its long-awaited final phase with the upcoming SUL finalization, scheduled for April 15, less than a month away. ... Wikimedia Foundation chief talent and culture officer Gayle Karen Young announced her retirement from the Foundation this week. Young will be replaced in that role by interim chief operating officer Terry Gilbey. According to the Foundation's job description for the title as it was applied in the past, Gilbey will be in charge of "overall administration and business operations of the Wikimedia Foundation."
- In the media: NYPD editing articles regarding allegations of police brutality and misconduct
On March 13, Kelly Weill of Capital New York revealed that numerous Wikipedia edits originated from 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the NYPD. Most of the attention has focused on a number of their edits to articles about incidents of alleged police brutality and controversial police practices.
- Op-ed: Does the Wikimedia fundraising survey address community concerns?
The publication of the Wikimedia survey findings on fundraising questions came three months after significant concerns were voiced about the design and wording of the December 2014 fundraising banners and e-mails.
- Featured content: A woman who loved kings
Four featured articles, four featured lists, and thirty-five featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: It's not cricket
If not for Kayne West's dubious repeat at #1, the 2015 Cricket World Cup (#2) would have made the top spot, albeit in a generally slow news week.
.
Tech News: 2015-13
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since March 18. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 24. It will be on all Wikipedias from March 25 (calendar).
- The text of a reference is now more visible when you click on it. It has a blue background. Many wikis already have the blue color. Those wikis can now remove it from their CSS page.
- VisualEditor is now much faster. For many users it is now at least as fast as the wikitext editor.
- When you add a list of references in VisualEditor, you now see it right away. You can still change its group by editing it.
Meetings
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on March 25 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- Talk pages using "LiquidThreads" on mediawiki.org will soon use the new system.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:09, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost – Volume 11, Issue 12 – 25 March 2015
- News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation adopts open-access research policy
Last week the WMF announced the release of its long-awaited open-access policy.
- Op-ed: How my father's railroad image collection now benefits the world: the value of digitization
Once when I was young, growing up in the 1990s, my father pulled his collection of railroad slides out from the basement, set up his projector, and shared a glimpse into American railway history with our family.
- Featured content: A carnival of animals, a river of dung, a wasteland of uncles, and some people with attitude
Four featured articles, three featured lists, and twenty-two featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Special report: Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year 2014
The Wikipedia Commons annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded, with 6,698 people voting, its largest participation yet.
- Traffic report: Oddly familiar
This week's list is reminiscent of lists from the early days of this project: a preponderance of famous faces, Reddit threads, and Google Doodles.
- Recent research: Most important people; respiratory reliability; academic attitudes
The authors attempt to answer the question "Who are the most important people of all times?" Their findings clearly show that different Wikipedias give different prominence to different individuals.
- Blog: The Wikipedia Library Team reflects on its new Visiting Scholars program
A university gives a top Wikipedia editor free and full access to the university library's entire online content—and the Wikipedia editor, who is unpaid and not on campus, then creates and improves Wikipedia articles in a subject area of interest to the institution.
Tech News: 2015-14
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now hide site banners even if you don't have an account.
- You can now add citations more easily with VisualEditor on the French and Italian Wikipedia. The tool adds the information when you add some types of links. In the future you will be able to add this tool to your wiki.
- All sites should now be faster if you have a recent browser.
- You could see a serious bug when editing some templates with VisualEditor. It was fixed quickly.
- VisualEditor could break when you edited an image. The issue was fixed quickly.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since March 25. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 31. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 1 (calendar).
- VisualEditor is now the main editing tool on 53 more Wikipedias.
- You can now edit the mobile site of all wikis without an account.
- You can test a new tool on the beta mobile site on the English Wikipedia. With the new tool, you can create lists of articles.
- You can now see that VisualEditor is opening even if you're not looking at the top of the page.
- VisualEditor doesn't leave empty titles with just nowiki tags any more.
Meetings
- You can join a meeting with the Wikidata team. The meeting will be on IRC on March 31 at 16:00 (UTC).
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 1 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:18, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost, 1 April 2015
- In focus: WMF's latest strategy document shows successes, vagueness, and the need for better data
The Wikimedia Foundation this week released a State of the WMF report, a 38-page "snapshot" of where it is and where it wants to go in the future.
- In the media: Wiki-PR duo bulldoze a piñata store; Wifione arbitration case; French parliamentary plagiarism
TruthRevolt targets another editor; edit stage right; the Nine Best Hoaxes to Have Hit Wikipedia
- Featured content: Stop Press. Marie Celeste Mystery Solved. Crew Found Hiding In Wardrobe.
Six featured articles, first featured lists, and twenty-four featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: All over the place
The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention.
- News and notes: New edits-by-mail option will "revolutionize" Wikipedia and its editor base
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will announce later today that it will begin accepting edits by mail for all of the projects under its scope, including Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons.
- Special report: Pictures of the Year 2015
The Wikimedia Commons' annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded. The first 53 top-voted entries were disqualified because they were all nude.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:42, 1 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 01 April 2015
- In focus: WMF's latest strategy document shows successes, vagueness, and the need for better data
The Wikimedia Foundation this week released a State of the WMF report, a 38-page "snapshot" of where it is and where it wants to go in the future.
- In the media: Wiki-PR duo bulldoze a piñata store; Wifione arbitration case; French parliamentary plagiarism
TruthRevolt targets another editor; edit stage right; the Nine Best Hoaxes to Have Hit Wikipedia
- Featured content: Stop Press. Marie Celeste Mystery Solved. Crew Found Hiding In Wardrobe.
Six featured articles, first featured lists, and twenty-four featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: All over the place
The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention.
- News and notes: New edits-by-mail option will "revolutionize" Wikipedia and its editor base
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will announce later today that it will begin accepting edits by mail for all of the projects under its scope, including Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons.
- Special report: Pictures of the Year 2015
The Wikimedia Commons' annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded. The first 53 top-voted entries were disqualified because they were all nude.
- Read this Signpost in full
- Single-page
- Unsubscribe
- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:43, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
VisualEditor News #2—2015
With Citoid in VisualEditor, you click the 'book with bookmark' icon and paste in the URL for a reliable source:
Citoid looks up the source for you and returns the citation results. Click the green "Insert" button to accept its results and add them to the article:
After inserting the citation, you can change it. Select the reference, and click the "Edit" button in the context menu to make changes.
The user guide has more information about how to use VisualEditor.
Since the last newsletter, the Editing Team has fixed many bugs and worked on VisualEditor's performance, the Citoid reference service, and support for languages with complex input requirements. Status reports are posted on Mediawiki.org. The worklist for April through June is available in Phabricator.
The weekly task triage meetings continue to be open to volunteers, each Wednesday at 11:00 (noon) PDT (18:00 UTC). You do not need to attend the meeting to nominate a bug for consideration as a Q4 blocker. Instead, go to Phabricator and "associate" the Editing team's Q4 blocker project with the bug. Learn how to join the meetings and how to nominate bugs at mw:Talk:VisualEditor/Portal.
Recent improvements
VisualEditor is now substantially faster. In many cases, opening the page in VisualEditor is now faster than opening it in the wikitext editor. The new system has improved the code speed by 37% and network speed by almost 40%.
The Editing team is slowly adding auto-fill features for citations. This is currently available only at the French, Italian, and English Wikipedias. The Citoid service takes a URL or DOI for a reliable source, and returns a pre-filled, pre-formatted bibliographic citation. After creating it, you will be able to change or add information to the citation, in the same way that you edit any other pre-existing citation in VisualEditor. Support for ISBNs, PMIDs, and other identifiers is planned. Later, editors will be able to improve precision and reduce the need for manual corrections by contributing to the Citoid service's definitions for each website.
Citoid requires good TemplateData for your citation templates. If you would like to request this feature for your wiki, please post a request in the Citoid project on Phabricator. Include links to the TemplateData for the most important citation templates on your wiki.
The special character inserter has been improved, based upon feedback from active users. After this, VisualEditor was made available to all users of Wikipedias on the Phase 5 list on 30 March. This affected 53 mid-size and smaller Wikipedias, including Afrikaans, Azerbaijani, Breton, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mongolian, Tatar, and Welsh.
Work continues to support languages with complex requirements, such as Korean and Japanese. These languages use input method editors ("IMEs”). Recent improvements to cursoring, backspace, and delete behavior will simplify typing in VisualEditor for these users.
The design for the image selection process is now using a "masonry fit" model. Images in the search results are displayed at the same height but at variable widths, similar to bricks of different sizes in a masonry wall, or the "packed" mode in image galleries. This style helps you find the right image by making it easier to see more details in images.
You can now drag and drop categories to re-arrange their order of appearance on the page.
The pop-up window that appears when you click on a reference, image, link, or other element, is called the "context menu". It now displays additional useful information, such as the destination of the link or the image's filename. The team has also added an explicit "Edit" button in the context menu, which helps new editors open the tool to change the item.
Invisible templates are marked by a puzzle piece icon so they can be interacted with. Users also will be able to see and edit HTML anchors now in section headings.
Users of the TemplateData GUI editor can now set a string as an optional text for the 'deprecated' property in addition to boolean value, which lets you tell users of the template what they should do instead (T90734).
Looking ahead
The special character inserter in VisualEditor will soon use the same special character list as the wikitext editor. Admins at each wiki will also have the option of creating a custom section for frequently used characters at the top of the list. Instructions for customizing the list will be posted at mediawiki.org.
The team is discussing a test of VisualEditor with new users, to see whether they have met their goals of making VisualEditor suitable for those editors. The timing is unknown, but might be relatively soon.
Let's work together
- Share your ideas and ask questions at mw:VisualEditor/Feedback.
- Can you translate from English into any other language? Please check this list to see whether more interface translations are needed for your language. Contact us to get an account if you want to help!
- The design research team wants to see how real editors work. Please sign up for their research program.
- File requests for language-appropriate "Bold" and "Italic" icons for the character formatting menu in Phabricator.
Subscribe, unsubscribe or change the page where this newsletter is delivered at Meta. If you aren't reading this in your favorite language, then please help us with translations! Subscribe to the Translators mailing list or contact us directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. Thank you!
-Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk), 17:50, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-15
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can join a new email list for important news about Wikimedia Labs.
- You can read the last monthly report. In the future you can read team reports every three months. You can see current work on the roadmap.
- The number of articles in Special:Statistics is now updated once a month.
- You can use a new version of the Wikipedia app for Android. Using the app, you can now share a fact with your friends.
Problems
- The import tool was broken for a few days. Imports didn't add log entries. You can delete and import pages again if necessary.
- Labs was broken several times this week.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 1. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from April 7. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 8 (calendar).
- You can now add the same special characters with VisualEditor as with the wikitext editor.
- Many bugs around copy-paste in VisualEditor are now fixed.
- You can now use basic tools of VisualEditor in the new talk tool. You can add links, bold and italics. You can also mention people.
Meetings
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 8 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- You can again comment on how you want to see Wikidata edits in your watchlist on other wikis.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:42, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 08 April 2015
- Op-ed: We are drowning in promotional artspam
Wikipedia has been gravitating towards a vehicle for business and product promotion for too long.
- News and notes: Advancement department to be created at the Foundation, milestone fixes
March saw a number of high-level hirings and executive reorganizations in the Wikimedia Foundation.
- In the media: Wikipedia on 60 Minutes, Kickstarter, and in the classroom
The venerable CBS news program 60 Minutes profiled Wikipedia and the Wikimedia community.
- Traffic report: Resurrection week
How appropriate that the theme of Easter week would be resurrection from the dead.
- Featured content: Partisan arrangements, dodgy dollars, a mysterious union of strings, and a hole that became a monument
Four featured articles, seven featured lists, and 23 featured pictures were promoted this week.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Christianity
With Holy Week having recently drawn to a close, it is an apt time to examine WikiProject Christianity, which was created in 2006, and boasts over 200 active members.
- Arbitration report: New Functionary appointments
The Committee has voted on the 2015 appointments to the Functionary team.
- Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community.
- Read this Signpost in full
- Single-page
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:37, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 08 April 2015
- Op-ed: We are drowning in promotional artspam
Wikipedia has been gravitating towards a vehicle for business and product promotion for too long.
- News and notes: Advancement department to be created at the Foundation, milestone fixes
March saw a number of high-level hirings and executive reorganizations in the Wikimedia Foundation.
- In the media: Wikipedia on 60 Minutes, Kickstarter, and in the classroom
The venerable CBS news program 60 Minutes profiled Wikipedia and the Wikimedia community.
- Traffic report: Resurrection week
How appropriate that the theme of Easter week would be resurrection from the dead.
- Featured content: Partisan arrangements, dodgy dollars, a mysterious union of strings, and a hole that became a monument
Four featured articles, seven featured lists, and 23 featured pictures were promoted this week.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Christianity
With Holy Week having recently drawn to a close, it is an apt time to examine WikiProject Christianity, which was created in 2006, and boasts over 200 active members.
- Arbitration report: New Functionary appointments
The Committee has voted on the 2015 appointments to the Functionary team.
- Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community.
- Read this Signpost in full
- Single-page
- Unsubscribe
- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:37, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
Vacation
Enjoy your vacation - I'm leaving on Sunday myself. — Ched : ? 22:37, 10 April 2015 (UTC)
- Much deserved! Enjoy! --Scalhotrod (Talk) ☮ღ☺ 02:17, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-16
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can read the latest news about VisualEditor.
- You can now use the new translation tool on 22 Wikipedias. You now see the tool the first time you create a new page.
- The list of bad user names on your wiki no longer works. The global list replaces it. You can ask to add rules for bad user names on Meta.
Problems
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 8. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from April 14. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 15 (calendar).
- Developers will start to rename 1.5 million accounts on Wednesday. After that all accounts will be unique and will work on all wikis.
- All users can now test link previews ("Hovercards") on several Wikipedias.
Meetings
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 15 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
16:40, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
April 29: WikiWednesday Salon and Skill-Share NYC
| Wednesday April 29, 7pm: WikiWednesday Salon and Skill-Share NYC | |
|---|---|
 You are invited to join the Wikimedia NYC community for our inaugural evening "WikiWednesday" salon and knowledge-sharing workshop by 14th Street / Union Square in Manhattan. We also hope for the participation of our friends from the Free Culture movement and from educational and cultural institutions interested in developing free knowledge projects. We will also follow up on plans for recent and upcoming editathons, and other outreach activities. After the main meeting, pizza and refreshments and video games in the gallery!
Featuring a keynote talk this month on Lady Librarians & Feminist Epistemologies! We especially encourage folks to add your 5-minute lightning talks to our roster, and otherwise join in the "open space" experience! Newcomers are very welcome! Bring your friends and colleagues! --Pharos (talk) 18:28, 14 April 2015 (UTC) | |
(You can subscribe/unsubscribe from future notifications for NYC-area events by adding or removing your name from this list.)
AN post regarding your TBAN
Fluffernutter,
I've filed a request to restructure the TBAN you placed on me about a year ago. I'm not looking to have it lifted, but rather restructured. Feel free to chime in, it's here on the AN board . The short summary of it is, I requested my TBAN on Chelsea Manning stay, but my blanket ban on transgender topics be lifted, and that MOS:ID be lifted with the understanding that for 6 months I would remain banned, broadly construed from MOS:ID, 6 months after that, I could revert obvious vandalism only. 6 months beyond that I would specifically have to request that ban be lifted. KoshVorlon R.I.P Leonard Nimoy "Live Long and Prosper" 11:14, 15 April 2015 (UTC)
April 2015 GOCE newsletter
| Guild of Copy Editors April 2015 Newsletter
March drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's backlog-reduction drive. Of the 38 people who signed up, 18 copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. April blitz: The one-week April blitz, again targeting our long requests list, will run from April 19–25. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one article from the requests page. Sign up here! May drive: The month-long May backlog-reduction drive, with extra credit for articles tagged in December 2013, January and February 2014 and all request articles, begins soon. Sign up now! Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.
|
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:28, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 15 April 2015
- News and notes: Erik Möller leaving Foundation; annual plan grants under community review
The Wikimedia Foundation's vice president for engineering, Erik Möller, will leave the WMF on April 30.
- In the media: Saving Wikipedia; Internet regulation; Thoreau quote hoax
Time profiles Lila Tretikov, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, and paints a grim picture of the challenges faced by Tretikov and the encyclopedia.
- Blog: Single-User Login provides access to all wikis
Later this month, everyone will be able to use the same user name on every wiki, thanks to Single-User Login.
- Traffic report: Furious domination
If it wasn't for Easter, Fast and Furious related articles would have taken the top four spots this week. The latest installment of the movie franchise, Furious 7, tops the chart for the second straight week.
- Featured content: Au-delà de les Alpes, le chien lit de Sainte Bernard. Sous les pavés, les trimes d'argent! Mes enfants, suivez-moi!
Six featured articles, four featured lists, and fourteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Read this Signpost in full
- Single-page
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:31, 17 April 2015 (UTC)
Redirect you created is up for discussion
Hello! I am completely shocked to find out that I've been notified by the nominator that WP:SEALION is up for discussion and you, the creator of the redirect, haven't. In any case, now you know. Here's a link to the RfD. PeterTheFourth (talk) 04:26, 18 April 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-17
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- There was sometimes a problem when saving a page in VisualEditor. It is now fixed on all wikis.
- VisualEditor sometimes showed empty warnings for wikis using Flagged Revisions. This is now fixed on all wikis.
- You can get the new version of the Wikipedia app for iOS. With it you can share facts with your friends.
- If you write JavaScript, you should stop using importScript and importStylesheet.
Problems
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 15. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from April 21. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 22 (calendar).
- Developers are renaming 1.5 million accounts. After that all accounts will be unique and will work on all wikis.
- If your wiki has the auto-fill tool for citations, you can now use it when you edit a reference.
- You can now give examples for template options in TemplateData.
Meetings
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 22 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- You will soon be able to add and remove tags on edits.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:30, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 22 April 2015
- Special report: Sony emails reveal corporate practices and undisclosed advocacy editing
A Signpost investigation of the released data has revealed Sony's corporate practices regarding Wikipedia and uncovered what appears to be undisclosed advocacy editing of Wikipedia by Sony employees and possibly by others.
- In the media: UK political editing; hoaxes; net neutrality
Wikipedia appears to have been drawn into the drama of the upcoming, hotly contested UK general election.
- News and notes: Call for candidates as the movement approaches the Wikimedia Board elections
The Affiliates Committee this week announced the organization of a community referral for comment, currently open on the meta-wiki, to address upcoming changes to the way that the Affiliations Committee will review movement-affiliated user-groups in the future.
- In focus: 2015 Wikimedia Foundation election preparations underway
2015 will see through the biennial community election for the three community-elected seats on the Board of Trustees—the "ultimate corporate authority" of the Wikimedia Foundation and the level at which the strategic decisions regarding the Wikimedia movement are made.
- Featured content: Vanguard on guard
Six featured articles and fifteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: A harvest of couch potatoes
Couch potatoes rule this week, as 9 of the top 10 slots were taken by either movies, TV, or sports.
- Gallery: The bitter end
The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme.
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:44, 23 April 2015 (UTC)
Paul Bilzerian
Thanks for the edit, but I'm not sure how it's libelous to call Paul Bilzerian a thief and a criminal. Look at the first paragraph in the article on Paul Bilzerian. He was convicted and was ordered to return his ill-gotten gain, which he instead absconded with after setting up those vaunted trust accounts for his sons to shield it from the SEC. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.202.12.238 (talk) 02:10, 26 April 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-18
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- All accounts are now unique and work on all wikis.
- You can read a report from experts who tested the security of MediaWiki.
- There was a problem between VisualEditor and an antivirus software. It is now fixed.
- You can help test VisualEditor to see if it works in your language.
Problems
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 22. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from April 28. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 29 (calendar).
- It is now clearer that you can delete several rows and columns when you edit tables in VisualEditor.
- You now see more information when you search for a template in VisualEditor.
- You can now cancel when you add citations on desktop, or edit links on mobile, in VisualEditor.
- You can now see the list of other formats for videos only after they're ready.
Meetings
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 29 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:10, 27 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 29 April 2015
- Wikimania: Choice of small village for Wikimania 2016 ruffles feathers
Esino Lario is set to host Wikimania 2016, but volunteers and others have raised a host of concerns that raise serious questions about the town's suitability for hosting such a large conference.
- News and notes: Wiki Loves Monuments evaluation sees diminishing returns and increasing cost
The evaluations reveal that in the last three years, WLM has possibly fallen victim to its own success and seen diminishing returns.
- In the media: Scottish MEP blocked for edit warring; ranking articles by importance
David Coburn, a Member of the European Parliament for the Scotland region for the UK Independence Party, was blocked from editing Wikipedia on April 6.
- Featured content: Another day, another dollar
Ten featured articles, nine featured lists, and twenty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: Bruce, Nessie, and genocide
Though the continued predominance of movies, TV, and sports noted in last week's report largely continues, three additional topics joined the Top 10 this week.
- Recent research: Military history, cricket, and Australia targeted in Wikipedia articles' popularity vs. quality; how copyright damages economy
Reader demand for some topics (e.g. LGBT topics or pages about countries) is poorly satisfied, whereas there is over-abundance of quality on topics of comparatively little interest, such as military history.
- Technology report: VisualEditor and MediaWiki updates
- Read this Signpost in full
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- MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:11, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
Tech News: 2015-19
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now chat with other users in Phabricator.
- There was a rare problem with VisualEditor. The text of another wiki could be added to your edit. The issue is now fixed.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 29. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from May 5. It will be on all Wikipedias from May 6 (calendar).
- It is now easier to add a link in VisualEditor. You can see an image and a description about the page.
Meetings
- You can join a meeting with the Language team. The meeting will be on May 5 at 14:30 (UTC).
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on May 6 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join an event in France on May 22−25. You need to sign up before May 8.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:10, 4 May 2015 (UTC)