User talk:ToBeFree/A/3

Hey man, I read your message^[1] See, only article editing is enough for us. You guys do work at home. But do prevent vandalism from other users who do vandalism. If I'm that one of them, you could probably block me indefinitely. But I will follow your advice. Because you teach me a lesson today. I will create articles, do editing as I do before and I will try my level best to make you 1100+ administrators happy. It's my challenge. I hope you understand. It takes 1 or more years to habituated all rules. And I will do request permission for user access level increase when all criteria are fulfilled with.

With best regards, 🇮🇳DRCNSINDIA (talk) 07:37, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi DRCNSINDIA, thanks. The main goal should be improving the encyclopedia, not making administrators happy. For most improvements of the encyclopedia, no permissions are required. Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 12:55, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Ok as you say bro. Good bye hope your health would be good in future. 🇮🇳DRCNSINDIA (talk) 16:33, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

Can user:2a02:c7f:7f3a:ea00:acde:b00a:549e:b284 please be blocked ASAP. CLCStudent (talk) 17:47, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

(As a late reply, done 17:48, at 2a02:c7f:7f3a:ea00::/64) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:27, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

16:14, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Looks like a Deathismetal17 sockmaster, plus Binksternet also found other sleeper accounts, Kishkish3839 and Florencediva6654576666. Btw can you semi-protect Ritual (In This Moment album)? 115.164.61.44 (talk) 16:46, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

This talk page is not a replacement for WP:SPI. I will ignore such reports in the future. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:10, 7 December 2020 (UTC)

Hey, TBF! I answered a query at AIV this morning, and wasn't sure how to mark it (for bot archiving?) as resolved. I tried poking around a bit but I'm not seeing an 'instructions for admins' section. Or I'm just stupidly missing it. —valereee (talk) 20:29, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

Hey Valereee! A small, agreedly pretty hidden link at the top right of the page Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism/Administrator instructions. I like responseHelper. The bot ignores these templates, but other administrators are more likely to remove declined reports than unanswered ones. I personally try to remove all declined reports after having had a look at them. This ensures that at least four eyes agree with the removal. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:47, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

OMG, I'm so stupid! I swear I was looking just for that lol! Thanks! —valereee (talk) 21:09, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

Haha, no worries, I'm not sure how long it took me to find it the first time. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:28, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

Wait, so the AIV helper bot just removes (rather than archives) reports, and editors checking AIV can just do that same to sort of indicate, yep, agree with this disposition of the case? Sorry, wasn't paying enough attention before. :) —valereee (talk) 22:34, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

No worries again – yeah, the bot just removes them like any administrator may do. There's no strict policy about what to remove when and how, but I usually ping the reporting user in my edit summary when there's something they may like to be notified about (e.g. Special:Diff/993469231), or when the declining administrator took the time to write a custom message that lacked a ping. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:41, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

Hiho, thanks for being interested :-) We are a Webinar for a Berlin based public research institute for freshwater ecology and inland fisheries (part of the Leibniz Association). I am normally the Wikipedian User:Southpark but right now facing the real world with me real life name. All the other ones are scientist who hopefully one day will update and write wikipedia articles about freshwater ecology and what else interests them. They just have to learn how Wikipedia works - that's what we are doing right now. You can follow the whole course via The template. The biographies - this is just for a test to accomplish a "real article". It is more about the editing then the content. In case anything useful comes out of it, we will be thinking about moving it with the proper process into the proper namespace. But right now really the process is the goal, to get some scientists into the process to edit at all. -- Dirk Franke (talk) 21:48, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply – and I'm pretty impressed by the course templates. Sounds like a cool plan, thanks for doing this. Feel free to let me know if strange dewiki/enwiki related policy questions arise. The username-related block of Aquakulturinfo might be an example, but I see you have already mentioned this at User:Dirk_Franke/IGB-00#Additional_resources. I think this block could be converted to a {{uw-softerblock}}, allowing the creation of a new account for the same person. If the blocked person is interested in continuing to edit, I'll ask Nihonjoe for input. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:00, 10 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi ToBe, that would be really nice. I did not see his userpage but I am definitely sure it was created with good intentions (and I mislead about the naming policy which is rather different in en than in de.). I hope the class turns out well - it is a first "real life" test with these modules and we will see how it continues. Rule help is great - but - alas - normally one only finds out about the differences in the moment it is too late. But I will give a thorough read again and check what else i was not totally sure of when writing it. -- Dirk Franke (talk) 10:42, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

@Nihonjoe: Hi, could we interpret the deleted content of User:Aquakulturinfo as a disclosure of affiliation rather than advertising, and would you agree to convert the block to a soft WP:ISU-based one? They're part of a long-term editathon for scientists and mentored by de:User:Southpark. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:17, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

@ToBeFree: That's fine, as long as they change their username. ···日本穣 · 投稿 · Talk to Nihonjoe · Join WP Japan! 21:29, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

@Nihonjoe and Dirk Franke: Done, thanks :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:08, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi TBF. While reverting selected edits by Killtobefree6673, I noticed your reversal of previous socks in the prior edits of said articles. It's clear this user is just a sock of Sixsixsixstuff994 / Deathismetal14, names noted in your edit summaries. Could I trouble you take a look please. Robvanvee 07:46, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi Robvanvee, done :) Thanks for the notification. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:25, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

Done and a whole lot more. Thank you ToBeFree! Robvanvee 16:35, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

No worries ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:38, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

need to be unlocked — Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.43.255.135 (talk) 09:12, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

Your IP address is not blocked; you would else not be able to write messages on this page. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:15, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

21:33, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi ToBeFree! I cannot believe I actually saved my test edit. I meant to click cancel, but I am so used to clicking on save changes I must have done so. I honestly have no clue what was going through my head... thanks so much! HouseBlaster (talk) 23:57, 14 December 2020 (UTC)

Hey HouseBlaster, no worries! 😄 ~ ToBeFree (talk) 06:32, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi @ToBeFree: sir, last time I tried to request for confimed user but 1day less and reason is can be uploading a file. I know it's WP:Commons. But some files I want to upload locally on Wikipedia. Leave that part. I'm now having 100+ edits with a completion of 4 days but I am not granted autoconfirmed users. Please see to it.

Regards,

@GPReddy360:(No sign)

No. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 07:19, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:CE_Dr_Sumanta_Bhattacharya Already tagged with G11 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shinyedit (talk • contribs) 20:14, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Warned user. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:25, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Thelinkster2141 See today's edits. Most articles tagged with either patent nonsense or vandalism. Shinyedit (talk) 23:13, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi Shinyedit, there's a noticeboard for such complaints at WP:ANI, with instructions about other noticeboards if there's a more specific issue. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 23:53, 15 December 2020 (UTC)

has an unblock request on UTRS. --Deepfriedokra (talk) 19:23, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Thanks Deepfriedokra, I rarely use UTRS, but this was a very helpful ping :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:34, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for noticing that disgusting behaviour with the Fahrenheit issue. It's utmost dreadful :/. Kind regards. Oliszydlowski (talk) 10:40, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Oliszydlowski, I'm sorry for not having taken action earlier, and for initially having dismissed your reasonable concerns about this user. I assumed good faith too much and am glad they're gone. Sorry again. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 10:41, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Not a problem :) One can't always judge a user by his/her first actions. Oliszydlowski (talk) 10:43, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Thank you for banning scottrichard3 :) TigerScientist Chat 21:08, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi TigerScientist, You're welcome :) Just saying: Banning is something different; compare WP:BLOCK and WP:BAN. Best regards ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:10, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

our Miss Universe 2019 -> Zozibini Tunzi page has been vandalized by non-user (user with ip address from the Philippines) that trying to delete her bio and images. Please semi-protection the page! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.246.252.47 (talk) 13:25, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Please use WP:RFPP next time. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 13:53, 20 December 2020 (UTC)

Can we remove it based on WP:BURDEN? "Any material lacking a reliable source may be removed"? the sources aren't really that mainstream and its old. The group itself wasnt even anything more than a meeting. The articles in are overblown in small towns. Im surprised this made it in for such a small town since it never worked out. Oijdgoijg30jg (talk) 19:28, 21 December 2020 (UTC)oijdgoijg30jg

Hi Oijdgoijg30jg, thanks for asking – maybe we can, but I can't decide this unilaterally. A discussion at Talk:Bring New Orleans Back Commission is needed; please create a new section there and state all arguments for removal. Afterwards, we can invite the others to the discussion, and I'm relatively sure they won't object, as they likely don't have a strong opinion about the topic. Perhaps they were just concerned about the undiscussed removal without having a close look at the specific situation. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:53, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

20:52, 21 December 2020 (UTC)

Last time I used SP in similar circumstances, DESiegel had a number of unpleasant words for me. --Deepfriedokra (talk) 00:24, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Oh, interesting Whatever one does, someone will find a way to criticize it. Cheers ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:26, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Ayu Maulida page was totally damaged by haters, as you can see here -> 12345 & more!! it was edited by several non-user (user with ip address from the Philippines) this past few days and it's getting worst day by day. Please Semi-protection this page until May 31, 2021 or more longer protection to stop vandalism potential. Thanks... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 61.5.71.229 (talk) 05:44, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

Please use WP:RFPP. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:38, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

Maybe who is the LeonChow99,you can refer this page https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:LC99 .But who maybe another one,like CaradhrasAiguo. LeonChow99 use too much proxy that anyone can not sure who is who in first time.

By the way, he last IP at zh.wikipedia.org is 85.206.175.219 and 45.154.138.22.— Preceding unsigned comment added by 2402:7500:5D5:1BB0:0:0:7BB9:2EBC (talk) 10:58, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Interesting, thanks for the link, 2402:7500:5D5:1BB0:0:0:7BB9:2EBC – I lack insight into what happens behind zhwiki's scenes. :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:56, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

ToBeFree, not sure if you saw this SPI yet: Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/LemonadeDrinker. Apparently someone created two throw-away socks (Lexus220 & LemonadeDrinker) with separate proxies/VPNs to cause fuss in these Chinese politics related topics. And what this IP did was quite interesting, too. I guess CU policy won't allow those to be revealed, but there's certainly something orchestrated here. --Pudeo (talk) 21:04, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi Pudeo, indeed I didn't! Thanks for the notification; that's strange. Mh. I'm out 😅 Thanks for dealing with these. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:12, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

I hope you are having a nice holidays. I saw on the bring new orleans back site that the sources are a personal website with a lawyers adversitment on it. The sources arent real. you can check them yourself. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oijdgoijg30jg (talk • contribs) 17:43, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi Oijdgoijg30jg, thanks for the information; let's see what happens in the next few days. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:31, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

Hello ToBeFree, almost two weeks ago, you blocked 85.76.74.215 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • blacklist hits • AbuseLog • what links to user page • COIBot • Spamcheck • Blacklist hits • count • block log • x-wiki • Edit filter search • WHOIS • RDNS • tracert • robtex.com • StopForumSpam • Google • AboutUs • Project HoneyPot) for two weeks, but also 85.76.0.0/16 for two years for a specific user talk page. Yesterday I erroneously blocked the same range. In the meantime, a checkuser wrote at WP:AN#I blocked a range instead of a single IP address that “[the edit that caused your block] is their only edit on that whole /16 range, for the range of time that I can look at.”. I therefore unblocked the range, but did not reblock it for the single page since am not sure if you would still want that after the checkuser's statement. Please feel free to do so if you still see the need for it. ◅ Sebastian 10:51, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi Sebastian, thank you very much for the notification – I have had a look again and actually do still see the need. Thanks for the uncomplicated offer. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:27, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

This is interesting. The only edits I have done is (1) removing non-notable self-promotion at Chitungwiza and (2) noting on the reference desk that so-called "arabic numerals" were indeed developed in Europe based on Indian numerals - a fact you can fact check in the relevant Wikipedia article. And that you label reference desk edits as "harrassment". And that you feel warrants an immediate(!) no-warning(!!) two(!!!) year(!!!) block(!!!!).

Comments discussing facts on reference desks are "harrassment"? Really? Really really?

Do you consider this standard Wikipedia operating procedure? 85.76.76.98 (talk) 17:56, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

The block has nothing to do with you and does not affect your contributions in any way, but I'm pretty sure you're trolling and might need to be blocked as well. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:59, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

How am I trolling? Noting the fact that the european numeral "7" is not related to the arabic numeral "٧", in a discussion talking about how these numerals are drawn on paper, and these numerals being clearly visually different. Strictly relevant and to the point: clearly not visually similar! That european numerals were created based on various indian numerical systems, as documented in the relevant Wikipedia article. Please show me how I am trolling in stating these facts. I am really asking so I can improve my apparently horrendous manners. And, if you have the time, please explain how comparing these numerals constitutes "harrassment" and warrants blocks on talk pages that I have ever never touched. 85.76.76.98 (talk) 18:12, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

The block really has nothing to do with you. It is limited to these pages because someone else from the same IP address range has previously harassed other users in pretty ugly ways. Regarding the numbers, if you'd like to rename the article Arabic numerals, feel free to attempt gaining consensus for your proposed change on the article's talk page. Until that has happened (i.e. never), don't bother those who use the common term. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:17, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Yet I was blocked, personally. I note you give no evidence of claimed harrassment. I will not attempt to rename Arabic numerals, since being grossly misleading is not considered to be a problem on Wikipedia, as long as there is a "reliable source" somewhere. And there are people who read the article title and, without bothering to read the fine print below, consider themselves to be experts on the subject, and therefore anyone who pipes up is "harrassing".

Yes, you are "using the common term", but in this particular case, the "common term" in "arabic numerals" says the glyph (which was the exact issue being discussed) for "seven" is "٧". You see no problem in that whatsoever? Like maybe "common term" might be just flat out wrong? Perhaps stating that simple fact is not "harrassment", worthy of two-year blocks? 85.76.76.98 (talk) 18:40, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

The block and the term "harassment" are not directed at you. They have nothing to do with your contributions. The alternative option would have been semi-protecting the user talk pages for a long time, which generally is not done and would prevent edits from every non-autoconfirmed user including all unregistered editors. If you are uncomfortable with visibly editing from an IP address range that has previously been used for harassment, feel free to create an account; an e-mail address is not required.

Regarding evidence, the deleted revisions in the following list are the reason for the block: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?target=85.76.76.98%2F16&namespace=3&tagfilter=&start=&end=&limit=30&title=Special%3AContributions&offset=20201220

Best regards,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:50, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

The block and the term "harassment" are not directed at you. Yet you explicitly blocked me for harassment. How is that not directed at me?

I never harassed anyone. I discussed the difference between the arabic and european numerals, in particular the difference between the arabic glyph "٧" and the european/indian glyph "7". In a discussion exactly centered on that glyph. Yet you block me for "harrassment". Because discussing arabic vs european vs indian numerals is "harrassment".

If someone doing what you are doing were to apply for adminship on Wikipedia, would you vote for or against them? Considering what you are doing here, are your an honestly impartial admin? If you take an honest look at what I said, do you genuinely say I harrassed people? Really really really? What I did was genuinely harrassment? 85.76.76.98 (talk) 19:13, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Your IP address 85.76.76.98 is within the CIDR range 85.76.0.0/16. The block is on 85.76.0.0/16 and was originally created at 2020-12-17T19:24:26, in direct response to harassment from 85.76.74.215 at 2020-12-17T18:03:23. See the block log:

The block has accidentally been modified to a full block by SebastianHelm at 2020-12-29T19:23:42; see the section above and WP:AN#I blocked a range instead of a single IP address. After the accident was noticed, the full block was removed. All I did was re-instating my original block, and my actions never had anything to do with you. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:21, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

You did not block me for some technical reason, you blocked me for fictitious "harrassment" on very specific pages.

This may need more eyes on it. Random drive-by blocks by a Wikipedia admin due to accusations of fictitious "harrassment" are not a positive thing for the project. 85.76.76.98 (talk) 19:29, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

The block existed before you made the edits you claim to have been the reason for the block. QED. If you have further concerns about the same topic or would like to request "more eyes", feel free to ask for community input at WP:ANI. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:31, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

I am going to do a first on all of the Internet here. Here goes: I am probably uttertly totally in the wrong in what I have said here!

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry ever so sorry!

Sebastian (talk · contribs) said that my comments regarding the arabic glyph "v" and the european glyph "7" are trolling, and he wants to block me from all of Wikipedia.

Somehow I confused his accusation with whatever you have been doing (fighting the good fight I am sure!)

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry ever so sorry!

For the life of me I can't figure out how I confused Sebastian and you! How on Earth did we talk past each other for so long?

The discussion of "v" vs "7" should be between SebastianHelm and I.

I can't figure out how we did not see this earlier! Mea culpa, mea ultima culpa! 85.76.76.98 (talk) 19:51, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

To be fair, I originally called it "trolling" above as well, so I'm not entirely without blame. I take that back, though; I didn't look closely enough at the situation to make such an assessment. Sorry for the hasty judgement. All the best and no worries, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:04, 30 December 2020 (UTC)

Sections merged to one big celebration with a cute kitten at the end ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:01, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2021!

Hello ToBeFree, 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 2021. Happy editing, Katniss May the odds be ever in your favor ♥ 17:34, 23 December 2020 (UTC) Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

Hey KatnissEverdeen, thank you very much! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:40, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Merry!

★Trekker (talk) is wishing you a Merry Christmas! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Don't eat yellow snow!

Spread the holiday cheer by adding {{subst:User:Flaming/MC2008}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Hey ★Trekker, thank you very much! Merry Christmas to you too, and thanks for the advice. 😆 ~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:55, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

Yo Ho Ho

Donner60 (talk) is wishing a foaming mug of Seasons Greetings! Whether you celebrate your hemisphere's Solstice or Christmas, Diwali, Hogmanay, Hanukkah, Lenaia, Festivus or even the Saturnalia, this is a special time of year for almost everyone!

Spread the holiday cheer by adding {{subst:User:WereSpielChequers/Dec20}} to your friends' talk pages.

That's very kind, thanks! Happy Holidays and a prosperous new year! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:56, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2021!

Hello ToBeFree, 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 2021. Happy editing, Fylindfotberserk (talk) 07:19, 24 December 2020 (UTC) Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

The same to you! Thank you very much! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:57, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2021!

Hello ToBeFree, 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 2021. Happy editing, MRRaja001 (talk) 09:12, 24 December 2020 (UTC) Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

Hey MRRaja001, thanks! Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2021 to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:58, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

A Joyous Yuletide to You!

JACKINTHEBOX • ^TALK is wishing you a Merry Christmas! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:Xmas2}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Hi and thanks, JackintheBox! Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:22, 24 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas ToBeFree!

"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold,

I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11 (King James Version)

Jerm (talk) is wishing you a Merry Christmas.

This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove.

Spread the cheer by adding {{Subst:Xmas4}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Thank you very much, Jerm! Merry Christmas to you too, and a happy new year! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:36, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Happy Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2021!

Hello ToBeFree, 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 2021. Happy editing, Hurricane Tracker 495 18:53, 25 December 2020 (UTC) Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

For being a great admin throghout 2020. --Hurricane Tracker 495 18:53, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Hey HurricaneTracker495, thank you very much – both for the kind wishes and the friendly feedback. And thank you very much for your numerous hurricane-related contributions! Merry Christmas, a Happy New year and best regards, 🌠 ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:59, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Merry Christmas

	Merry Christmas ToBeFree/A
	Hi ToBeFree/A, I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year, Thank you for all your contributions to Wikipedia,    –Davey2010Talk 19:14, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Hi TobeFree, Apologies for the late greeting!, You were on my list so not sure why you never got one!, Anyway late's better than never :), Hope you and yours are having or had a lovely Crimbo and wish you a happy and healthy New Year, Warm Regards, –Davey2010^Talk 19:14, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

25 December ain't late! Hey Davey2010, thank you very much, and the same to you and your family. Can't wait for having the first appearance in the scripts newsletter, ever. Can you do a one-time delivery here? ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:24, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Haha well to be fair the day is nearly over in the UK :), Many thanks! :), Warm Regards, –Davey2010^Talk 19:42, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Happy holidays!

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2025!

Hello ToBeFree, 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. Happy editing, User:Lowercase sigmabot III (talk) 17:53, 25 December 2024 (UTC) Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

~ Destroyer🌀🌀 20:09, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Hey Destroyeraa, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:37, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Happy New Year, ToBeFree!

Happy New Year!

ToBeFree,
Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia.
–Davey2010^Talk 00:37, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

   Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year fireworks}} to user talk pages.

Hey Davey2010! Happy 2021 to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:38, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Happy New Year!

	Happy New Year!
	Hello ToBeFree: Did you know ... that back in 1885, Wikipedia editors wrote Good Articles with axes, hammers and chisels? Thank you for your contributions to this encyclopedia using 21st century technology. I hope you don't get any unnecessary blisters. CAPTAIN RAJU(T) 01:05, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Spread the WikiLove; use {{subst:Happy New Year elves}} to send this message

Today I learned Happy New Year, CAPTAIN RAJU! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:39, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Happy New Year, ToBeFree!

Happy New Year!

ToBeFree,
Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia.
MRRaja001 ^(talk) 01:32, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

   Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year fireworks}} to user talk pages.

Hi MRRaja001, thanks! The same to you! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:40, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Happy New Year, ToBeFree!

Happy New Year!

ToBeFree,
Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia.
Fylindfotberserk (talk) 07:33, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

   Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year fireworks}} to user talk pages.

Hey Fylindfotberserk, Thank you very much! Happy New Year to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:15, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you sir and same to you. - Fylindfotberserk (talk) 06:53, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Happy New Year!

Empire AS ^Talk! — is wishing you a Happy New Year! It's the last day of 2020 and tomorrow will be 2021. Hope the coming year brings pleasures for you. Have a prosperous, enjoyable and a productive 2021. This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the New Year cheer by adding {{subst:New Year 2}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Empire AS ^Talk! 18:18, 31 December 2020 (UTC)

Hey Empire AS, thank you very much! The template code is a bit weird, I have substituted "2021" for an automatically generated "2022" now. Happy New Year to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:14, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

That's not weird. When you sent me this then according to the UTC, there was 2021, therefore, it happened. Thank you very much. Empire AS ^Talk! 06:36, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Oh I just noticed. I forgot to add includeonly tags within the CURRENTYEAR template. Therefore, it happened. I've now corrected the template. Thank you. :) Empire AS ^Talk! 07:13, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Ah You're welcome, thanks for the fix! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:20, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

I'm sorry. I was saying incorrectly that you were late to wish me the new year (have striked). But that wasn't the reality. My time zone isn't UTC, I just guessed that there would be the new year started when you wished me. That was due to a mistake in the template. I forgot to use <includeonly> tags within the {{CURRENTYEAR}} & {{NEXTYEAR}} templates. As a result, the template was substituted but not that 2 year templates. However, after realizing my mistake, I corrected it but till then it was very late as the template was substituted on a lot of talk pages. Thank you for wishing as well as notifying me. ;) Empire AS ^Talk! 19:09, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Whatever! No worries. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:10, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Happy New Year!

ToBeFree,
Thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia, and a Happy New Year to you and yours! ~ Destroyer🌀🌀 18:55, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

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– Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year}} to user talk pages.

Sorry, this is a bit late. I wish you a prosperous and safe 2021. Cheers, ~ Destroyer🌀🌀 18:55, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Hey Destroyeraa, thank you very much! 1 January isn't late. Happy New Year to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:08, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

Happy New Year! :)

Tatupiplu'^talk 10:38, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

How cute! Thank you very much, and a Happy New Year to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:48, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

we are new to this platform pls unblocked it we will fix this soon thx you — Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.135.194.140 (talk) 05:12, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi 112.135.194.140, which account name? ~ ToBeFree (talk) 05:14, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

can you please check on this user history (Sandy Anugrah), he loves to delete images from wiki biography page without any reason which is weird. I try to revert on Elvira Devinamira but yet he's doing the same thing again and again. I think this user should be blocked from wikipedia, its very disruptive ... (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16)--Terrence Tan (talk) 12:29, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Please use WP:ANI. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 12:47, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi please check about this and give a comment since this 2 users are very suspicious. Thanks--Terrence Tan (talk) 14:11, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Had a look. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:16, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Just today I've had to update the pages of 3 top Nigerian Artistes who released their albums last year. 2 of them released their albums over 6 months ago and it hasn't been updated on Wikipedia. Wikipedia pages are looking so outdated and old and. Yet y'all aren't interested in keeping them updated.

Instead you're more interested in making active editors feel unworthy. What we Wikipedia editors need is a nod and a nudge. The rollback option isn't different from the undo option all extended users have but yet I can't have that adminiship? Lol Amaekuma (talk) 20:20, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Amaekuma, thanks for keeping these pages updated – especially biographies require constant care, and I'm happy to see that you're donating your free time for this. While Wikipedia has a huge community of editors, keeping over six million articles up-to-date is an overwhelming task. There will always be articles about non-notable topics, there will be promotion, there will be biased paid contributions, there will be embarrassing hoaxes and even ugly attack pages about living people. Yesterday, I have reverted vandalism to a biography that went unnoticed for weeks and might already have appeared in Google's search results for the person's name. Coincidentally, the section below is about my response to the situation. So I'd say we're interested in the same things, or at least we do it for the same reason.

Regarding the rollback permission request at the bottom of Special:PermanentLink/997907232, I'm not sure what else to say – a clear requirement stated at the top of the page is a "measurable track record of counter-vandalism", and that isn't there yet. If rollback was identical to the normal "undo" process, there would be no need to apply; the application was done because you see rollback as an improvement over the currently-available tools. The two main problems with rollback, as opposed to Twinkle (which you can use right now and may do exactly what you're looking for), is the lack of an edit summary when reverting (WP:ROLLBACKUSE), and that rollback enables access to the powerful tool Huggle. If you're interested in reverting edits without providing an edit summary, or interested in using Huggle, please gain experience in the area first.

Rollback is not a reward for active editing, and declining a request for rollback is not a negative comment about your article edits. All I'm saying is that countervandalism seems to be unrelated to the (helpful!) contributions you have made so far. It really can't hurt to slowly start when entering a new area of Wikipedia. If I'd been playing basketball for years and were now interested in volleyball, I'd enter a volleyball club with modesty, not entitlement.

Best regards,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:14, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for your kind welcome. It takes some time to navigate but will learn more about the workings of wiki from the information you sent. Stay well. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elliott David (talk • contribs) 21:13, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

(Original title: Thank you!)

Thank you for your kind actions, your welcome message and for your contributions. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elliott David (talk • contribs) 21:15, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Hey Elliott David, thank you very much for the kind feedback! Take your time; Wikipedia is a huge world with some possibly surprising policies and guidelines. Reading through the "no original research" policy alone, for example, was extremely informative for me the first time. The general message is obvious, but the details made me say "Oh. I didn't know that, but it makes a lot of sense" to myself multiple times. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:36, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks again for helping me to understand wiki and for your input. It is much appreciated! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elliott David (talk • contribs) 23:09, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

You're welcome, thanks again for the kind feedback – feel free to ask if any questions arise. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:11, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

Hello there!Can you please put 2021 Secularism in India under protection. It's been repeatedly subjected to vandalism. --> – Addie666 (talk) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Addie666 (talk • contribs) 00:23, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

Addie666 just filed a report at Wikipedia:Requests for page protection, which I declined. There isn't a high level of IP vandalism as claimed, and I've warned the user just now for edit warring. Just figured I'd let you know. ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 11:39, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Oshwah, thank you very much for the information, and for dealing with the request as well as detailedly explaining the issue in response to Addie666's message on your talk page. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:50, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

No problem! :-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 22:49, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Addie666, thanks for creating a request at WP:RFPP. That's the correct page to ask for protection; my talk page is less suitable for such issues. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:50, 3 January 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2020).

Administrator changes Hammersoft Andres • Brion VIBBER • Rkitko • Thatcher

CheckUser changes Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek • Primefac Oversight changes Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek Joe Roe

Guideline and policy news

• Speedy deletion criterion T3 (duplication and hardcoded instances) has been repealed following a request for comment.

Technical news

• You can now put pages on your watchlist for a limited period of time.

Arbitration

• By motion, standard discretionary sanctions have been temporarily authorized for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes). The effectiveness of the discretionary sanctions can be evaluated on the request by any editor after March 1, 2021 (or sooner if for a good reason).
• Following the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Barkeep49, BDD, Bradv, CaptainEek, L235, Maxim, Primefac.

Hi, ToBeFree, hope you're fine. I want to ask a question that can I create an article on the List of awards and nominations received by a tv series? Recently, I've created some awards and nominations articles that were received by an artist (here). I don't know whether it would be fine to create such an article. Another question, Is it appropriate to create an article named List of most-viewed (singer)'s music videos on YouTube? There are some most viewed articles by country present like List of most-viewed Pakistani music videos on YouTube. Thank you. Empire AS ^Talk! 07:34, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

Hey Empire AS, be bold 🙂 I'm not an expert on list notability, but the people at the WP:Teahouse can probably help deciding. Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 12:25, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

Ok, thank you for suggesting. I'd try to create both. Empire AS ^Talk! 12:40, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

User:Tayi Arajakate is frequently restoring the disruptive additions on Namaste Trump. Even when he was told by other editors (NavjotSR, Brie, 1990sguy, Wareon, and others) to comply with the requirement of medical sources for medical claims. He is violating this norm by using outdated statements of politicians which were nothing more than political attacks. Apparently, you had told him not to restore the claims without gaining consensus on talk page through RFC but he is not listening and thinking that no one is watching so it would be okay to restore all of that now. 2402:8100:2401:8297:4C36:B96E:244C:1940 (talk) 04:46, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi 2402:8100:2401:8297:4C36:B96E:244C:1940, I'm not too fond of your reverts there either; they were the final straw for a year of semi-protection. Perhaps this was bound to happen, and the horrible end is less disruptive than endless horror. That said:  Done. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 06:07, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

Hello, how are you?

Quick question, do you have any idea if a semi-retired user can still edit on Wikipedia?

Thank you, Best Regards Ramy5077 (talk) 18:46, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Ramy5077, Thanks for asking.

Retirement is not a technical status. It is a user's expression of the words "I won't edit anymore". Retirement is often announced in anger by users who do return later: If they had actually stopped caring about the encyclopedia, they would also not have seen a need to announce a retirement.

Semi-retirement is not a technical status either. It is a user's expression of the words "I won't edit as often as before anymore". Semi-retirement is often announced by users who care about the community but suddenly lack the time to participate regularly.

Retirement has nothing to do with blocks or bans.

Asking a user "Why are you even editing during 'retirement'" or similar things is incivil, even if not intended to cause offense. It is effectively hurting someone for giving Wikipedia a second chance.

Best regards,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:56, 10 January 2021 (UTC)

15:41, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Seriously? Why did you had to talk on my talk page like bro why? Do you consider that is a violation of Wikipedia terms of service? — Preceding unsigned comment added by PBSKidsFan2006 (talk • contribs) 15:40, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi PBSKidsFan2006, I'm afraid your response confirms my concerns. Please wait a year or two before joining the encyclopedia. There is no need to rush this; the encyclopedia will still be there. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:56, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Hello admin, sorry to bother you but could you please revdelete the edit summary of this edit? Thank you. --Ashleyyoursmile! 19:02, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Hey Ashleyyoursmile, gone :) Thanks for the notification ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:04, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much. :) --Ashleyyoursmile! 19:06, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

		The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
		For, inter alia, being kind to User:PBSKidsFan2006 and generally being nice to people! Caius G. (talk) 23:43, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Hey Caius G., thank you very much for the kind feedback! And especially thank you for reviewing pending changes. It's a silent action that only leaves a secluded log entry behind; it is rarely positively noticed, and when an understandable mistake happens, it sometimes backfires disproportionally. I stopped doing it after a while because there was absolutely no feedback about whether my near-invisible actions had actually helped anyone. Let's change that. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:04, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

Aww, you're being too nice! How did you notice me doing PCR? Oddly enough, I was actually thinking about this today: Why even review pending changes if it doesn't increase your edit count (and we both know that this is the only number that matters ;))? Best, Caius G. (talk) 00:14, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

Something told me "look beyond Special:Contributions", no idea what it was :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:30, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

Hello. Hoping you're having a good time. I'm requesting for a protection for the page Philippines at major beauty pageants as unregistered users (IP users) keep on vandalizing it. Thank you. Lukewin (talk) 01:20, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Lukewin, thanks -  Done ~ ToBeFree (talk) 11:49, 14 January 2021 (UTC)

user:2603:8080:b200:2e3a:6886:f0bf:8f26:3bb4 is reverting all of my edits. Can they please be blocked? CLCStudent (talk) 19:27, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Gone, thanks ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:31, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

16:09, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

Good day. Hope your having a good time. I'm requesting for page protection for the pages Miss Universe Philippines, Miss Universe Philippines 2020, and Binibining Pilipinas 2020 as IP users are continuously vandalizing it. Thank you very much. King Archer (talk) 22:02, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi King Archer, thanks for the request. The usual place for such requests is WP:RFPP. I make an exception for general-sanctions-related protection requests, such as regarding WP:GS/PAGEANT, and my bar for applying indefinite semi-protection to pageant articles is extremely low, but you need to provide proof of sockpuppetry for these sanctions to apply. The page has been edited by sockpuppeteers, but they are blocked for having created sockpuppet accounts next to their main account, not for having used sockpuppets to edit the page.

For protection requests unrelated to general sanctions, please use WP:RFPP.

Best regards,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:47, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

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Reply tool

The Reply tool is available at most Wikipedias.

• The Reply tool has been deployed as an opt-out preference to all editors at the Arabic, Czech, and Hungarian Wikipedias.
• It is also available as a Beta Feature at almost all Wikipedias except for the English, Russian, and German-language Wikipedias. If it is not available at your wiki, you can request it by following these simple instructions.

Research notes:

• As of January 2021, more than 3,500 editors have used the Reply tool to post about 70,000 comments.
• We have preliminary data from the Arabic, Czech, and Hungarian Wikipedia on the Reply tool. Junior Contributors who use the Reply tool are more likely to publish the comments they start writing than those who use full-page wikitext editing.
• The Editing and Parsing teams have significantly reduced the number of edits that affect other parts of the page. About 0.3% of edits did this during the last month. Some of the remaining changes are automatic corrections for Special:LintErrors.
• A large A/B test will start soon. This is part of the process to offer the Reply tool to everyone. During this test, half of all editors at 24 Wikipedias will have the Reply tool automatically enabled, and half will not. You can still turn it on or off for your own account in Special:Preferences.

New discussion tool

The new tool for starting new discussions (new sections) will join the Discussion tools in Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures at the end of January. You can try the tool for yourself. You can leave feedback in this thread or on the talk page.

Next: Notifications

During Talk pages consultation 2019, editors said that it should be easier to know about new activity in conversations they are interested in. The Notifications project is just beginning. What would help you become aware of new comments? What's working with the current system? Which pages at your wiki should the team look at? Please post your advice at notifications-talk.

–Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk)

18:38, 21 January 2021 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/220.120.78.242 for sockpuppet investigation and multiple nonsense drafts, some already deleted. David notMD (talk) 10:41, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi David notMD, thank you very much for the notification. That's an interesting case. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:10, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

Despite you fixing the problems at Jalisco Cartel New Generation-Los Caballeros Templarios Cartel War (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) and blocking them for copyright issues (a block they evaded as an IP), they have now created Los Zetas-Gulf Cartel Civil War during the Mexican drug war (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) with exactly the same issues. The "Summary" section is a copy and paste from here (the same site whose copyright they violating previously). The "Mexican Army intervetion against the cartels in Tamaulipas and Nuevo León" section is copied without attribution from Joint Operation Nuevo León-Tamaulipas and Narco tank, and "The conflict" section contains content copied from here and probably elsewhere I haven't identified yet, as the standard of English is inconsistent with that of D10s Maradona. FDW777 (talk) 10:37, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

What a mess. Thank you very much for the notification and the detailed source research. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:06, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for sorting that out. You would think after being blocked for two weeks and previous articles being stubbed they would have made some effort to avoid copyright problems, but they just did the exact same thing again. Baffling! They also have a version of the article at User:D10s Maradona/sandbox that needs deleting as well due to the same copyright issues. FDW777 (talk) 21:21, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

Heh.  Done. Thanks again. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:11, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

18:30, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

John F. Kennedy Memorial High School (New Jersey) hasn't been edited in two weeks? Alansohn (talk) 22:47, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Alansohn, see the filter log at https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:AbuseLog&wpSearchTitle=John+F.+Kennedy+Memorial+High+School+%28New+Jersey%29 ; this is currently being targeted by the wave at https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:AbuseLog&wpSearchFilter=1112 ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:49, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

If you look at ANI, I was the one who first reported this phenomenon of notable people spam, so I'm impressed at the ability of the filter 1112 to detect and stop it. Thanks for the details. Alansohn (talk) 23:27, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Oh Well, thank you very much for noticing and reporting it then. Sadly, the filter is not perfect; it catches the first attempts by users who often continue to try evading the detection afterwards. I'm blocking those who try repeatedly, or those who add clear violations of the biographies of living persons policy, to prevent damage. I've tried page protection a few times, including on the page you've asked about, but the problem is so widespread that page protection is often not the right tool unless we want to semiprotect the entire encyclopedia. If you like to, I'll remove it from John F. Kennedy Memorial High School (New Jersey), or perhaps after a few days. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 23:31, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

@Alansohn: You can see a clear attempt to evade the filter at Special:Diff/1003216675; I find it quite interesting. Someone read the filter code (or a tutorial somewhere) and dodged it. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 23:36, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

The battle between vandals, counter-vandals and counter-counter-vandals is a never-ending cycle. At least until the TikTok fad wears off. Thanks again for your efforts i dealing with this particular vandalism crisis. Alansohn (talk) 23:50, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Hello ToBeFree, could you please block and revoke the TPA of Grows a nose? It's Evlekis again. Pahunkat (talk) 17:25, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

K6ka's has just done that. Sorry to bother you :-) Pahunkat (talk) 17:27, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Pahunkat, no worries :) Thanks for the notification, and do feel free to keep me updated about the LTA. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:40, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thanks for all the work you're doing to deal with the TikTok vandalism! ~Swarm~ {sting} 07:14, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Hey Swarm, thank you very much! I've seen you deal with that wave of vandalism too; you definitely get a barnstar as well. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 07:18, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks! This is crazy, I wonder if this is the biggest vandalism campaign we've ever had. And ironically, I don't even think most people realize it's happening thanks to the edit filters. Thank god for those, I can't imagine how bad this would be if we didn't have them. I wonder if the WMF is aware of the situation. ~Swarm~ ^{sting} 07:35, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Late update: Swarm, you may like to copy and modify to your preferences: User:ToBeFree/antivandalism-temp.js, based on User:Enterprisey/quick-vand-block. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:11, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Will do, thanks! ~Swarm~ ^{sting} 23:28, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	For blocking the vandal accounts. This is to let you know that it is very much appreciated. :) Ashleyyoursmile! 19:00, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Bro, you are so fast for those vandals! Shinyeditbonjour. 19:01, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Hey Ashleyyoursmile and Shinyedit Three of them. Made my day. Thank you very much! Currently got no time to add them to the topicons... ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:08, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

You got enough barnstars; you get a goat, cause you're the GOAT.

Drmies (talk) 23:30, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much, Drmies, that's a nice surprise. Never had a goat before! It's cute, I hope it gets on well with the kittens. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:21, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

TIKTOK would be the platform to incite a Wikipedia raid. Shinyedit^bonjour. 17:39, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Yeah. Me neither. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:41, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Uw-ttraidblock (updated recently, now may also be used for IPs) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Shinyedit (talk • contribs) 18:51, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks :) Not yet, as I like my personalized one, but perhaps soon ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:07, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Can't keep up. I'm stepping away from filter 1112 - you're owning it! GirthSummit _(blether) 19:18, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the work on this, Girth Summit. If you like to, I'll notify you before I go to bed... ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:19, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

ToBeFree, ha! I think we're in similar time zones though, we'll need to let our American friends take over... GirthSummit _(blether) 19:21, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Ah well, this is why I love the English Wikipedia in particular. A city that never sleeps. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:23, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Ugh but I'm having coffee with ricotta pie. Thank you both; I appreciate it. Drmies (talk) 21:05, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

You might be surprised though that Americans are in all sorts of time zones... even in America. ☆ Bri (talk) 05:02, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

I do not have the right to initiate an SPI investigation. Your suggestion is a bit difficult for me to implement. Who can I ask to help initiate an investigation?2402:7500:5D0:D16F:0:0:3C13:D3D (talk) 22:52, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi 2402:7500:5D0:D16F:0:0:3C13:D3D, please click in the following order: WP:SPI, "How to open an investigation: Show", "If you are an anonymous (IP address) editor, and the case page is protected or does not exist, please click "show" to the right and use the box below: Show". Thanks and best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:56, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Thank you.2402:7500:5D0:D16F:0:0:3C13:D3D (talk) 22:59, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

No worries :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 23:00, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi User:ToBeFree. In regards to a user you recently blocked, User:Manz_Orale_Taib, I fear that they are evading the block by utilizing the following IP address, 49.149.220.87, since the latter is working on pages that the former worked on before they got blocked such as Power Rangers Dino Fury and Draft:Pagadian Explorers and continuing to add unsourced information. Could you look into it please? Blazewing16 (talk) 02:15, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Blazewing16, thank you very much for the report; please make such reports at WP:SPI. Luckily, Mz7 has seen the report and solved the problem. Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:17, 29 January 2021 (UTC)

Please revert the edits that just made by by Filipino fans Kenneth Saclote on Ayu Maulida page, he is deleting all of the references, information and photos of Ayu Maulida without any reason. Please block Kenneth Saclote! He is a sockpuppet user of Panikilicious who did the same deletion on Ayu Maulida a month ago! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 180.253.61.99 (talk) 04:54, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Original heading: "ToBeFree" ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:59, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Stimate domn,

Olga Cobel (1928-1941) fiica ofiterului roman din armata autro-ungar, Ion Cobel (K.K. Landwehr-Infanterieregiment Czernowitz Nr.22) si a Mariei Cobel (nascuta Aronet), din Patrautii de Jos, a cazut victima in timpul masacrului de la Fantana Alba. Va rog sa va informati, faptul ca i-am adaugat numele in lista de victime ii face dreptate copilei Olga, nu este vorba despre niciun scam sau altceva. Dar numele ei trebuie pomenit cu cinste printre ceilalti cazut victima in nemiloasa tragedie.

Cu mult respect,

Daniel Alexandru Cobel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sasha240 (talk • contribs) 16:06, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Sasha240, please have a look at our help page for adding citations. When you provide a reliable source, the information can be added. Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:59, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

so ToBeFree must be awake! Widr has been taking all your money while you were napping. Drmies (talk) 20:55, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Heh Even at the weekend, the frequency is high. I thought they do this at school. Thanks for dealing with them! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:34, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Now that you're back Ima go play with the dog a bit. Thanks, Drmies (talk) 21:35, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

👍 ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:37, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

Can user:2409:4054:1:c414:e9c8:421c:daa1:fcbc please be blocked ASAP. CLCStudent (talk) 14:04, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi CLCStudent, I guess they have now been hit by an autoblock. Not directly blocking the IP address for now. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:08, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

That IP edited again. CLCStudent (talk) 14:13, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

Blocked, thanks ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:14, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi, wanted to mention how useful the "CSD tag removed by page creator" tag is when wading through a watchlist. If there are any plans on reopening that discussion from last May about setting it to disallow then I would be in support of that! (Doesn't seem like anyone was really opposed to it) – Thjarkur (talk) 22:49, 23 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi Thjarkur, thank you very much for the reminder. I had completely forgotten about this. Trying again at WP:EFN#1060 to disallow. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 02:34, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

Bumping thread for 7 days. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:08, 24 January 2021 (UTC)

"14:32, 30 December 2020 ToBeFree talk contribs changed block settings for 85.76.0.0/16 talk preventing edits on the pages User talk:Aeengath, User talk:David J Johnson and User talk:Abc10 with an expiration time of 2 years (anon. only) (Harassment)" I don't understand how can anyone can blame me for harrassment. I have never even heard of these people, nor have I edited their pages. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.76.18.162 (talk) 04:04, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi 85.76.18.162, the block applies to a very broad range of IP addresses and is not directed at you at all. It also, as you have correctly noticed, does not have any effect on your editing, as it doesn't prevent edits to any pages you'd imaginably edit on Wikipedia. If you would like to remove the red block notice above the contributions list, feel free to create an account. Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 05:09, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2021).

Administrator changes Hog Farm Mattflaschen • Nandesuka • Savidan • Wangi

CheckUser changes Berean Hunter • Xeno Oversight changes Someguy1221 • Xeno

Arbitration

• The standard discretionary sanctions authorized for American Politics were amended by motion to cover post-1992 politics of United States and closely related people, replacing the 1932 cutoff.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2021 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2021, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2021, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• Wikipedia has now been around for 20 years, and recently saw its billionth edit!

22:38, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

please revert the disruptive content removal made by Nguyenquochieu2107. He is deleting so many information with references and photos of Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters on Miss Universe 2017 together with Panikilicious.

Please revert it now amd bring back the image of Demi Leigh! Lukewon (talk) 06:17, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Lukewon, please talk to the user on their talk page; if that doesn't help, see WP:Dispute resolution and WP:ANI. If you suspect sockpuppetry, use WP:SPI. Thanks ~ ToBeFree (talk) 08:27, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

Hello ToBeFree, I wanna say that I want to get my old account (KamilAleeBhat) back. If it is possible, could you please help me get through this? -- Kamil Ali Bhat (talk) 09:48, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) @Kamilalibhat: If you want to use "KamilAleeBhat" as your primary account name going forward, you can request the current account to be renamed to something else and then your "Kamilalibhat" account to be renamed to "KamilAleeBhat". If you are in control of both accounts and have enabled email on both, you can use Special:GlobalRenameRequest to make both requests (the second once the first was done for which you will be notified via email). Regards SoWhy 10:46, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much, SoWhy 🙂

Hi Kamilalibhat, if you have lost access to your old account, WP:USURP may perhaps be a possibility, but the account has edited already, making this a tough decision. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:43, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

I got it back via email! Thank you for your advice ☺ –KamilAli 17:47, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

You imposed protection on List of longest-living members of the British royal family with the result that nobody who cares has been able to update the relative position of the Duchess of Kent (who has now lived six weeks longer than but remains listed below Princess Patricia of Connaught). The "disruptive" editing you cited (always quickly reverted) is probably motivated by the difficulty some have in loading updated date counts (which is triggered by revisions but can otherwise be inhibted by browser caches). 96.250.80.27 (talk) 06:45, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi 96.250.80.27, feel free to submit an edit request by clicking "View source" and then the big blue button. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:53, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

17:40, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

It's been over 2 years now I just want my accounts back (including the Jakohl account) I have tried so many times but nothing happens, I follow the guidelines and moderator/admin suggestions but they still say I don't do it right but I've given up now so please reconsider and help.

2601:249:B80:7840:95C0:998C:73A3:D59B (talk) 17:50, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Parakeetman3905, do you still have access to your account? I'm generally willing to consider an unblock request, as it's been a long time and people change over time. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:16, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

I'm not really sure since I can't sign up or do anything since its an ip thing. I think I can enter but I have to use device out of my ip and account 2601:249:B80:7840:95C0:998C:73A3:D59B (talk) 20:50, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Your current IP address does not appear to be blocked – if it were, you couldn't edit this page. I'm sure we can find a solution even if you completely lost access, but that would be unnecessarily complicated if you can somehow log in. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:51, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

I was thinking about nominating Ed6767 for adminship as they seem to be very interested in anti-vandalism work with their script RedWarn. Do you think they would be a good candidate for adminship? Aasim (talk) 21:06, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Aasim, their activity has sadly steadily declined (see the month graph at https://xtools.wmflabs.org/ec/enwiki/Ed6767 ) and didn't raise above 2300 mainspace contributions. That's too early. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:08, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

I guess wait for them to have 5000 contribs before asking you again :) Aasim (talk) 21:37, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Heh. Well, there is no fixed limit, but it was 20,000 for me. Much more important is continuous activity for a year or two. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:40, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

On an unrelated note, I do not think I would be a good candidate for adminship at the moment. Plus, I see adminship as a little pointless unless if for some reason we do not have enough admins to handle all the admin backlog. Plus, we are all admins of our own PCs as well. Sorry bad pun but you know what I mean :) Aasim (talk) 21:48, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Hello admin, can you please take a look at Szczepan76? This is sock of the blocked user Szczepan777 and Szczepan67, both currently globally locked by Ponyo and Nthep. --Ashleyyoursmile! 10:18, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much, they are back again as 2001:B011:D006:2582:347C:5D45:FFC3:D020 (talk · contribs · IP contribs · WHOIS). Ashleyyoursmile! 10:24, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much for both notifications! Please let me know if this continues. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 10:27, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Additional note: Ashleyyoursmile, global locks are done by Stewards and can be requested at meta:SRG, in addition to the English Wikipedia block(s). ~ ToBeFree (talk) 10:29, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

I see, thanks for letting me know, and for taking care of it. :) Ashleyyoursmile! 10:30, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Hello ToBeFree! I'm only an occasional editor, but I have a major question about some edits I made today to the Eliot Page entry. As you may know Page recently came out as trans and makes it clear that they use he/him and they/them pronouns. However, the Wiki page uses "he" exclusively, which I believe is inaccurate. So I selected a few paragraphs and changed the pronouns to Page's other preferred pronoun. Within a few hours, my edits were changed back and the page was locked.

I am not an expert on either Wikipedia protocols or Elliot Page. However, I would like to open this up to further discussion. Of course, if Elliot himself has weighed in or would like to, I could completely respect his decision! But as far as I know he has specified use of both pronouns and has also mentioned nonbinary identity alongside being trans.

I would appreciate your advice on what a next step might be in accurately and fairly reflecting what is still a complex (and apparently controversial) issue. Thank you. Ananomal (talk) 21:40, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Ananomal, the short answer is "please avoid editing and even caring about this area of conflict until you have made at least 500 contributions to other Wikipedia articles about non-controversial topics." The long answer can be found on the article's talk page. As a rule of thumb, if you disagree with the result of the discussions there and in the talk page archive, your input would be welcome if you have gained the necessary amount of experience to engage in this area. I mean this seriously; this topic causes experienced editors to stumble and is thus completely unsuitable for your first steps. Stay away at all cost. Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:51, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you ToBeFree. I can and definitely will follow that advice. Thanks for your quick reply. Yours, Ananomal (talk) 01:07, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

This relieves me. You're welcome, and thanks. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:08, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for your edits to Genshin Impact.

You forgot to turn off pending changes on this page. Aasim (talk) 06:31, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Awesome Aasim, per WP:PC, "it is a good choice to leave pending changes enabled when other protections are applied." Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 06:44, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

With honest respect, I feel the warning notice that landed on my talk page was bit heavy handed WP:NOBRICKS :) for a single good faith edit, were i quickly admitted given good evidence i had made an error and agreed with the correction as soon as it was presented. ~ BOD ~ ^TALK 22:50, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

Hey Bodney, I can understand that impression, but these alerts are important to ensure awareness as defined by the Arbitration Committee's procedure, and they do not imply that any misconduct has happened. You are welcome to remove the notices at any time, now that they have fulfilled their purpose of ensuring awareness. They may, agreedly, seem pointless if you were already aware about their content. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:57, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

He may need his TPA revoked if he keeps at it. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 01:45, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi davidwr, thank you very much for the notification; at the moment their talk page edits seem to be relatively harmless. WP:UP#CMT is about declined unblock templates; removing the block notice is theoretically fine. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:48, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs) 01:50, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi, I see you've applied indefinite EC protection to the Wuhan lab leak theory article. Could you consider reducing this to, say, three months or six months? The problem with indef is, of course, just that. When all this COVID stuff is over and done with, new editors still won't be able to work on the article. Okay, they can request a downgrade, but I guess most don't and just move on. Thanks, Arcturus (talk) 13:02, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Arcturus, thanks for asking. This is not a normal indefinite protection. There was a discussion at WP:AN about disruptive editing by autoconfirmed users in this area, and the disruption likely has no fixed end date. All protections listed at WP:GS/COVID19 will be removed by the community in one single discussion as soon as the area does not require special treatment anymore. Additionally, I can remove or downgrade my numerous protections if the community takes too much time before doing this. Feel free to remind me to have another look in a few months or 2022 or so. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 13:33, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Additional note: The discussion that led to this specific protection is https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard&oldid=1006548817#Lab_leak_COVID_conspiracy_theory,_again ~ ToBeFree (talk) 13:36, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Okay TBF, thanks for looking at it again. I'll see how it goes over the coming months. Arcturus (talk) 13:44, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi ToBeFree, I can't access the article since you protected it, but I had a quick look at the promotional section devoted to the principal. I'd have cut the whole thing anyway, but additionally it's a copyright violation of . Thanks and cheers, 2601:188:180:B8E0:85B0:B2F8:1934:3327 (talk) 23:45, 13 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi 2601:188:180:B8E0:85B0:B2F8:1934:3327, thank you very much for investigating the origin of that section and for the notification. I can't remove it from the article's history as it is a list of things that can hardly be written in any other way (Wikipedia:Close_paraphrasing#Creative_expression), and because deleting all affected revisions would remove a significant part of the article's attribution (cf. WP:RD1). However, I have removed the unduly weighted section for now, in Special:Diff/1006639614, crediting you for finding this. I hope semi-protection for two weeks is okay with you, after the filter log entries and the edits that got through. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:00, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Absolutely, and thank you. Cheers, 2601:188:180:B8E0:85B0:B2F8:1934:3327 (talk) 00:02, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

You're welcome ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:11, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hallo frei... ich habe einen Interessenkonflikt. Kannst du mir bitte helfen?

Here is what I wrote to a wikipedia staff whom sent me a link that lead me to select editors from a list whom can simply update the changes:

I am Cleopatra Fitzgerald a NYC Mayoral Candidate. Please update my political affiliation from Republican to Democratic Party since I just changed parties to Democratic. Also include this updated article and photo as reference in wikipedia https://ipsnews.net/business/2020/12/22/cleopatra-fitzgerald-nyc-is-making-an-impact-with-new-sensations/ My contact information is publicly available in my website and press release if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

The wikipedia article I am referring to is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_New_York_City_mayoral_election

Thank you so much and keep safe! https://cleopatrafitzgeraldforthefiveboroughs.us/

Cleopatra Fitzgerald ```` — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:7000:2F01:CC6C:31FD:E5A3:2A11:A27 (talk) 00:48, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Cleopatra Fitzgerald, Thanks for asking, and welcome to Wikipedia.

Sadly, I wasn't able to find reliable, secondary sources for the replacement, and the linked websites also do not seem to contain the information at the moment. I personally do believe you, but Wikipedia is a tertiary source that summarizes what other sources, preferably independent secondary sources, have published.

I have removed the contested information from the article (Special:Diff/1006656365). If I understand correctly, your concern was about the "(R)" next to your name, so I hope this approach is similarly acceptable while also complying with Wikipedia's policies.

To request the addition of content, please click "Talk" at the top of the Wikipedia article you would like to add content to. On the article's talk page, you can click "New section" and then use the code {{request edit}} to draw attention to your request. An experienced reviewer will answer the request. However, the request needs to comply with Wikipedia's policy against original research, specifically the section WP:PSTS, which deals with the distinction between primary, secondary and tertiary sources. I would copy the request to the article's talk page on your behalf, but it seems to conflict with this policy by citing primary, non-independent sources. An edit request citing only primary sources as justification for adding content about a living person to Wikipedia would quickly be declined (cf. WP:BLPRS).

Best regards,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:58, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Can user:EpicBruhLord please be blocked ASAP for vandalism? CLCStudent (talk) 12:16, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi CLCStudent, what a weird account. :) Thanks and  Done ~ ToBeFree (talk) 12:18, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi again TBF, could you advise me on deletion of content from userspace? I have some material at User:Arcturus/Lab leak‎ that I'd like to delete, if only to save space and tidy up, but I can't see how I can do this myself. It is already flagged for page deletion, along with other similar material, but it may not actually get deleted. Could you remove this for me? Many thanks, Arcturus (talk) 12:36, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) @Arcturus: You tag it with WP:G7 (using the template). Cheers, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 13:33, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Arcturus, if a regular deletion discussion is already running, please just let it run its course. Do feel free to state your agreement with deletion, specifically pointing out that you are the author, in the discussion. In some cases, this can lead to a speedy deletion, but it likely won't in this case. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:13, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Valentine Greets!!!

Hello ToBeFree, love is the language of hearts and is the feeling that joins two souls and brings two hearts together in a bond. Taking love to the level of Wikipedia, spread the WikiLove by wishing each other Happy Valentine's Day, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Sending you a heartfelt and warm love on the eve, Happy editing, D💘ggy54321 (xoxo😘) 03:50, 14 February 2021 (UTC) Spread the love by adding {{subst:Valentine Greetings}} to other user talk pages.

Hi Doggy54321, happy Valentine's Day to you too! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:11, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you! D💘ggy54321 ^(xoxo😘) 16:49, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Dear ToBeFree Thank you ever so much, it is deeply appreciated.

I can send you a screen picture of my current party affiliation but I do not have a wikipedia email. My party affiliation can be found by going to the State BOE website: https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/ (Redacted) I would like to be under the blue Democratic party line and be deleted from the red Republican line since I am no longer under the Republican party. ☮️🌹☘️

Many Thanks, Schönes Wochenende 🌞

CF ```` — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:7000:2F01:CC6C:31FD:E5A3:2A11:A27 (talk) 08:11, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Cleopatra Fitzgerald, You're welcome, and thank you for the clarification.

I now see the problem: The main heading was "Republican primary". I have removed the disputed entry in Special:Diff/1006762729. However, to request the addition of material (e.g. the addition of your name to the Democrats section), the burden to demonstrate verifiability lies with the editor who adds or restores material, and it is satisfied by providing an inline citation to a reliable source that directly supports the contribution. If there are reliable, secondary, published sources for the addition, please propose it at Talk:2021 New York City mayoral election, the talk page of the article, by clicking the text "request corrections on or suggest content" in the orange box at the top of that page.

Best regards and have a nice weekend too,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:49, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hello admin, you might want to see this since they are mentioning "lawyer". --Ashleyyoursmile! 18:08, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Pff. Thanks for the notification, Ashleyyoursmile. I won't remove TPA, though: Per WP:NLT, "Repeats of legal threats on the user's talk page have limited scope for disruption or chilling effect. The user should not be prevented from using their talk page until reasonable attempts have been made to open a civil discussion." ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:12, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

I see. Not related to this but just a random query, if someone says they will make "an official complaint" if their edits are reverted, does that imply legal threat in some way? This is regarding a report I opened at the ANI where a user is claiming to be the artist whose page they are editing and doesn't want some information to be there on that page. They said they will make an official complaint if their edits are reverted. Ashleyyoursmile! 18:22, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Ashleyyoursmile, first of all, I've had a look at the repeated edit warring and am hesitant to take action because the repeated removal may be exempt per WP:3RRNO. Regarding the threat, "official complaint" is ambiguous and may refer to Wikipedia's internal processes instead of off-wiki action. When voiced in this way by someone concerned about BLP content, kindly asking for clarification is probably the best approach. When asking for clarification, it is important to point to the WP:NLT policy so the asked user knows about your concern before answering. This way, they can easily defuse the situation. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:40, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

I wasn't sure what to make of it so I thought of asking you, since I'm inexperienced in this regard. Thank you for taking a look and letting me know. :) Ashleyyoursmile! 18:50, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

You're welcome, and no worries. Oh, and you may like to have a look at the original reason for creating this section again, as the situation has been resolved in an amicable way. :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:51, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

17:55, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Despite being given a final warning Billybostickson has continued his disruption, opening a dispute resolution noticeboard discussion despite him being a minority opinion. Although I will not repeat the WP:OUTING again, I will confirm that Billybostickson is part of an offwiki collective of users who promote the "lab leak" conspiracy theory and who have attempted to recruit users for WP:MEATPUPPETRY on "lab leak" related articles, which Billy himself has engaged in. (I will email details of this upon request). As such, given that Billy has been given the notice and has continued his disruption, can the topic ban be reinstated? Hemiauchenia (talk) 18:15, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Hemiauchenia, quod erat expectandum. Thank you very much for the timely notification. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:32, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for your prompt action, I was also keeping track of the situation by logging it at AN, but at some point, Wikipedia:Give 'em enough rope applies... The discussion over there can probably mostly be closed, though there's probably still an open question to answer about avoiding having to whack-a-mole duplicates (which might have an application in future instances of similar situations)... Cheers, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 20:00, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

And yet another wall of text unblock request... Sie haben ganz richtig geschrieben, "quod erat expectandum"... RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 20:08, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

(the informal address "Du" is fine, see also de:WP:DU :) ) No worries. The previous block was removed for mostly bureaucratic reasons, but I can be bureaucratic too. The current block is unrelated to the topic ban, making the lengthy appeal a completely irrelevant wall of text. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:18, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Ah. Das ist interessant. In French (which I know better), (z.B. User_talk:RandomCanadian/Archive_1#Vous_parlez_un_peu_français_;) it's usually "vous" (which is not capitalised even when used as the equivalent of the German Sie) (the templates addressed to the user on French WP also use "vous"). Cheers, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 00:43, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Today I learned it's even called "T–V distinction" after the Latin "tu" and "vos", which is almost identical to the French ones. And I had to think of an ABBA song from 1979... ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:13, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

While this is not directly related, it has been found that ScrupulousScribe has been convertly canvassing dormant editors who have previously expressed pro "lab leak" opinions via email to participate in the MfD discussion, which is the likely real source of the disruption. El C has blocked them for two weeks and revoked email access, see Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents#Topic_ban_violation_and_off-wiki_canvassing_by_User:ScrupulousScribe, but this should probably be noted in a section on the MfD itself. Hemiauchenia (talk) 18:40, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Hemiauchenia: Interesting, thanks. Hm. Theoretically, it shouldn't have an effect on the closing result. We'll see. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:09, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Would it be possible if I could ask if we could rev-delete Aissabuter (talk · contribs)'s edits, too? They are all copy and paste violations from Animals Area's pages.--Mr Fink (talk) 23:13, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Mr Fink, I assume the editor has written the content themselves and there is probably no actual copyright violation involved, but it does conflict with Wikipedia's copyright violations policy as it has been published outside of Wikipedia before and lacks proof of free licensing or actual authorship (Wikipedia:Copyright_violations#Contributor_is_copyright_holder). I think I have catched all the obviously affected revisions now; the list at Special:Diff/952348057 is probably not clearly copyrightable enough to justify revision deletion. The source of the user page at Special:Permalink/947003138 may be obtainable via the Internet Archive, but if I see correctly, it was at least not at https://web.archive.org/web/20200322210853/http://treesline.com/most-loyal-animals-to-their-partners/ . If you can find a copy of the original source, I'll delete the user page too. But again, I personally believe they're the copyright holder anyway, and this is just a very cautious measure I felt obliged to take after your notice. Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 23:54, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

I see, thank you for your explanation.--Mr Fink (talk) 00:18, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

Read your feedback on username policy. Thank you for the information. None of it applies to me so I'll hang on the username. Agency171 (talk) 18:22, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Agency171, thank you very much for the clarification. However, this raises two questions:

• Why did you choose "Agency" as a username?
• What is your connection to Trista Piccola?

Best regards,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:53, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi. Last month you blocked the user for two weeks for edit warring their pictures into articles, following an AIV report by me. The user has recently resumed activity, restoring edits over a smaller range of articles. While some images could be relevant, many are redundant, placed poorly within context, and incorrectly formatted. The user has previously demonstrated refusal to engagement in discussion, and I'm quite sure that if reverted he will edit war and step over 3RR, but that would be disrupting Wikipedia to game the system, and I don't want to waste everyone's time with such an exercise. An AIV report was not acted upon; thoughts on how best to proceed? --Paul_012 (talk) 13:48, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Paul 012, Thank you very much for the notification. While WP:AIV is for spam and vandalism (malicious, intentional disruption) only, and they have been doing this in good faith, their edits have been disruptive. This is an unusual case that could have been reported at WP:ANI, as it was spread across many pages. Normally, WP:ANEW is the place for edit warring reports, but that noticeboard is practically focused on single-page edit wars.

Because the onus to achieve consensus for inclusion is on those seeking to include disputed content, I have now restored the revisions without the images. And because the user had been blocked for the same behavior before, then continued without discussion, I have blocked them indefinitely. A discussion at WP:ANI would likely have led to a similar result, but notifying an administrator who has previously blocked the user for the same behavior is also a fine approach. There's not always a patent remedy for dealing with disputes; WP:Dispute resolution describes some ideas and WP:DISCFAIL is a nice essay, although not really applicable to this situation.

Best regards,
~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:01, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

		The Admin's Barnstar
		For numerous acts of kindness. 2601:188:180:B8E0:65F5:930C:B0B2:CD63 (talk) 16:16, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Hey 2601:188:180:B8E0:65F5:930C:B0B2:CD63, thank you very much! I'm always happy when I see a notification from you.

If only my semi-protections didn't prevent edits from you too :( If you ever decide to create an account, please notify me for manual confirmation. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:24, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you. I have one, which I drag out now only for emergencies, i.e., reverting vandalism on protected articles. As a registered, I made over 50,000 edits, mostly adding content and creating articles. Even helped get a few to featured status. Cheers 2601:188:180:B8E0:65F5:930C:B0B2:CD63 (talk) 16:31, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Ah, well then. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:35, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi ToBeFree

Is this is the right place to discuss my sandboxes? I'm rather amateur when it comes to Wikipedia.

Spcresswell

Hi Spcresswell, thanks for asking. The best place to join the discussion is the section that is currently at the bottom of WP:AN. Simply click "edit" next to the section heading, and add your message to the bottom. A signature should be added at the end (~~~~), and the reply should be indented like mine (with a colon, see "edit" here). Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:00, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi ToBeFree, I've joined the conversation to discuss the boxes. Thanks, ~ Spcresswell

Ah perfect, thank you very much, Spcresswell. If I forget to delete the pages after a while, feel free to remind me. I guess that could be in a week or two. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:26, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi,

I hope you're doing well.

I still remember how you helped me in making my first edits on Wikipedia. It's been over a year now. And now I feel confident that I can contribute in other parts such as NPP.

I've applied for the NPR permission two months back. But It's still pending. Can you please see if I qualify for the NPP?

Wikipedia:Requests_for_permissions/New_page_reviewer

Thanks - Tatupiplu'^talk 07:21, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi Tatupiplu', nice to meet you again! I'll need a while to review this. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 12:27, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Bumping thread for 14 days. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 12:27, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Already declined by Rosguill, recommending to join WP:NPPSCHOOL. Sorry ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:01, 8 February 2021 (UTC)

Can user:2601:181:4680:1540:8b8:b800:109f:4d1a please be blocked ASAP? CLCStudent (talk) 19:29, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

 Done ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:29, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Can user:68.197.237.91 please be blocked ASAP? CLCStudent (talk) 19:47, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

 Done ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:48, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Brilliantly put. Bishonen | tålk 22:04, 22 February 2021 (UTC).

~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:08, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

00:16, 23 February 2021 (UTC)

Heading added ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:12, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

I also want to say thank you! But I will also need to you know that I need help with making a new page. Not for myself but I'll have to figure out what I will make it about. ~ 0crock 3:37, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi 0crock, I strongly recommend against creating an article before having gained enough experience by editing existing articles. The probability of overestimating a topic's notability (WP:42) without such experience is very high. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:48, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

ToBeFree I made a draft already, draft:Red devil battlebot But now I could really use some help with completing it, I have gotten quite unmotivated to complete it and could really use some help from someone. ~ 0crock 6:52, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Ah. Okay, I have had a look and tagged two concerns about the draft at the top. I recommend having a look at the Task Center for ideas unrelated to article creation, as this is really too early. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:57, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

I understand this is too early, and know about how it isn't ready for release, but I am not very creative when it comes to writing articles, and not a good coder either, this is my first attempt at something like this and could really use some help with writing and what to say. ~ 0crock 7:00, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

"I'd like to swim in the ocean" – "I recommend slowly learning to swim in a less dangerous area." – "I understand it's too early for me to swim in the ocean. But this is my first attempt swimming in the ocean and I could use some help with it." Well... The best help I can offer is "Please don't do that yet" ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:05, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Am I being mocked? I wanted to do something different than just doing small edits on random pages, and I'm being mocked for being stumped. Kind of childish. ~ 0crock 7:13, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

0crock, no, sorry, this was not meant to mock you. I have tried to provide an analogy that you'd likely agree with, as in many cases, such analogies help to understand the problem. And the problem, I'm afraid, is exactly "I don't want to swim in a small pool, give me the ocean NOW". ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:17, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

ToBeFree I do not want to be stuck making two-word edits on pages I found on "Random Article", instead I want to try something else that would probably reachable with another person working on it with me. ~ 0crock 7:20, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

This is completely reasonable and understandable, 0crock. And as my main concern is about notability of new topics, that concern could be alleviated at the same time: You may like to try expanding a short article about a topic that is clearly notable but lacks a good article yet. This can be done in a team by working on multiple sections in parallel. If you are multi-lingual, you can additionally provide help many others can't by using sources in languages other than English. Or if you are a good photographer, you can additionally provide help many others can't by illustrating the article. I'm relatively certain that you have skills that differentiate you from other editors, and if you notice them and find a way to use them, you've not only found a good learning experience, but even provided work that wouldn't have been done by anyone else for years. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:26, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

ToBeFree Is it possible to add a picture of my cat to something like images of tortoiseshell tabbys? ~ 0crock

Hmm – while the articles Tortoiseshell cat and Tabby cat are already well-illustrated (perhaps even over-illustrated in the former case), Wikimedia Commons always needs images, and other wikis than the English Wikipedia might currently lack images for the topic, providing a chance for adding one of yours. If the image is of very high quality, it may be discussable to replace an existing image by it, but for cat pictures, I'm afraid I personally would avoid having such a discussion with someone else who also loves their cat photo and wants to keep it in the article.

And now that a pet is mentioned... Please be careful when uploading photos; do not upload images that contain geolocation (EXIF tags etc) or that otherwise allow de-anonymization. Translation was a better example than photography; I just wanted to provide a second example, but the second example was not good. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:41, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for blocking them - not sure if you know but this is an IP-hopping LTA. Bot-like replacement of links contrary to WP:NOTBROKEN, together with WP:OVERLINKing. Targets British political articles, Children's BBC programmes, Mr Bean. Has been blocked under numerous IP addresses. DuncanHill (talk) 21:52, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Hi DuncanHill, no problem, thanks for the report – yeah, I had probably even blocked the same person multiple times before, but I didn't have a blocked username/IP to point to with a sockpuppetry block reason, so I just blocked them for what they still do. 😅 ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:02, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

That's cool. I don't know if there ever was a username, and they've been through so many IPs I doubt I could find the first one again! DuncanHill (talk) 22:12, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

I believe that you indefinitely blocked a user, Acullen2486, for persistently adding unsourced or poorly sourced content. They only made one edit. Has this person added unsourced material on a different account in the past? I, with a clearly superior 1 month and 5 days of editing and a lack of knowledge of what happened, think indefinitely blocking them didn't follow the policy of not biting newcomers. Essentially, I want to know why they were blocked. PrinceTortoise (talk) 22:58, 27 February 2021 (UTC)PrinceTortoise (talk) 22:46, 27 February 2021 (UTC)PrinceTortoise

Hi PrinceTortoise, the user has deliberately damaged the encyclopedia (vandalism) by inserting fake information about living people to Wikipedia articles, in Special:AbuseLog/28760853 and Special:Diff/1003214606, the former of which caused a warning to be displayed that was ignored. Such accounts are usually blocked without warning, indefinitely. Relevant policies are the biographies of living persons policy and the blocking policy, section "Disruption-only". The user can appeal the block at any time, and I usually grant unblock appeals from such users if some time has passed since the incident. Best regards, ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:48, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

That makes sense. Thanks for linking relevant policies. PrinceTortoise (talk) 01:12, 28 February 2021 (UTC)PrinceTortoise

No problem ~ ToBeFree (talk) 11:50, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

Ajmer pushkar — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2401:4900:463E:9E1D:C457:D4E9:3B4E:DA09 (talk) 01:25, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

? ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:53, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Hello, IP 106.202.71.41 (talk · contribs · IP contribs · WHOIS) triggered the filter while trying to edit this SPI and userpage of the master. I just wanted to let you know that they might be trying to evade the block. --Ashleyyoursmile! 05:39, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

You blocked DestinationFearFan a couple of days ago. They are now editing as an IP. Mo Billings (talk) 17:34, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi Mo Billings, thank you very much for the quick notification. Please revert their contributions per WP:BE. I'll deal with the rest. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:00, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

19:07, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2021).

Administrator changes

TJMSmith

Boing! said Zebedee • Hiberniantears • Lear's Fool • Only • WGFinley

Interface administrator changes

AmandaNP

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment is open that proposes a process for the community to revoke administrative permissions. This follows a 2019 RfC in favor of creating one such a policy.
• A request for comment is in progress to remove F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a, which covers immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
• A request for comment seeks to grant page movers the delete-redirect userright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target. The full proposal is at Wikipedia:Page mover/delete-redirect.
• A request for comment asks if sysops may place the General sanctions/Coronavirus disease 2019 editnotice template on pages in scope that do not have page-specific sanctions?
• There is a discussion in progress concerning automatic protection of each day's featured article with Pending Changes protection.

Technical news

• When blocking an IPv6 address with Twinkle, there is now a checkbox with the option to just block the /64 range. When doing so, you can still leave a block template on the initial, single IP address' talkpage.
• When protecting a page with Twinkle, you can now add a note if doing so was in response to a request at WP:RfPP, and even link to the specific revision.
• There have been a number of reported issues with Pending Changes. Most problems setting protection appear to have been resolved (phab:T273317) but other issues with autoaccepting edits persist (phab:T275322).

Arbitration

• By motion, the discretionary sanctions originally authorized under the GamerGate case are now authorized under a new Gender and sexuality case, with sanctions authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, any gender-related dispute or controversy and associated people. Sanctions issued under GamerGate are now considered Gender and sexuality sanctions.
• The Kurds and Kurdistan case was closed, authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for the topics of Kurds and Kurdistan, broadly construed.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2021 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: AmandaNP, Operator873, Stanglavine, Teles, and Wiki13.

Hey, can you (or a talk page stalker) block User:Suffusion of Yellow alt 6 with autoblock disabled? I want to see how block messages display in the android app. Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 19:37, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

Hey Suffusion of Yellow, sure. Works as intended? Are 3 months okay? ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:43, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks. The block message was only shown after I tried to publish the page. And it was just "Your user account has been blocked from editing on this wiki". Hmm, I wonder if it choked on the template? Can you reblock, with a short, plain text message? Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 19:50, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

Interesting. The last time I had a look, templates were displayed as plain text without transclusion on the mobile website. Re-blocked with a shorter notice and without template. How does it look now? ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:54, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

The mobile web issue was actually fixed IIRC. The app, again, displayed the same "Your user account has been blocked from editing on this wiki" message. Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 19:56, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

At least I did get an alert about the user talk message (the iOS app doesn't do this apparently). So that's something. Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 20:01, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

Meh. Thanks for testing this. Someone, not sure how jokingly, suggested somewhere that we could just block all app users using a filter to cause the WMF to do something about the problem. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:04, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

(edit conflict) But when I tried to edit (logged in to a different not-directly-blocked account) from behind Tor, once I got a giant pile of unparsed wikitext. Like it was expanding the template, but not parsing the links. Tried it about five more times (with a new connection each time) but I just got the same "Your user account has been blocked from editing on this wiki". No mention that it was the IP not the account. Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 20:58, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Less jokingly after reading this thread and the one at PR's talk page. Having an RFC close with consensus to block all app users, without actually doing it, might be enough to push the issue. Imagine an RFC closed with "Consensus to block all app users using a filter in 90 days unless X, Y, and Z are fixed". It's radical, but those phab tickets have been around a while, and ANI threads taking up community time are a regular occurrence, so I don't think it's really that unreasonable. Levivich ^harass/_hound 20:53, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

The WMF is smart; filters can't actually see tags on edits (thus, afaics, it's not possible for the filter to block edits tagged as "iOS app edit"). The functionality for this is also pending in some phab task somewhere :D ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 21:09, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

That didn't even require a ping Hi Levivich and ProcrastinatingReader, with the ultimatum I'd support the proposal. I've had my share of the frustration at phab:T263943. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:15, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

It'd be possible to block both apps by checking for user_app, though... Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 21:18, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

Sounds like necessary collateral damage to me. Not like it doesn't have its own issues. Ultimatum sounds like a decent idea. Not like we'll ever get to the point where the filter is actually being used. Ironically, per User_talk:ProcrastinatingReader#Another_thing_about_the_app, we'll have to be creative about the name of the filter page due to how it renders (or doesn't render, rather) (something like MediaWiki:Abusefilter-warning-sorry-please-wait-for-WMF-to-fix) ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 21:27, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

It seems that both pings and talk messages trigger an email message by default with new accounts. So a less drastic solution might be to require that all app users have a confirmed email address. Yes, this is possible with a filter (though it probably shouldn't be) with user_app & !user_emailconfirm. Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 22:00, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

Regarding "probably shouldn't be", the error message displayed by Special:EmailUser differentiates between "no valid email address" and "chose not to receive e-mail from other users", so it's public information – a useful one when helping users with lost account access on IRC. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:05, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

Proposing a deny filter with "MediaWiki:Abusefilter-warning-please-add-email-address" seems okay in the meantime. This will also mean getting rid of IP editing on mobile apps, though. So I guess this is just a less extreme ultimatum, still. ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 22:13, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

But only the iOS app will even display "<abusefilter-warning-please-add-email-address>". The android app will just display "An automated filter has identified this edit as potentially unconstructive, or potential vandalism. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and only neutral, notable content belongs here." That's a worse situation (all users getting yelled at for no reason) than what we have now (some users getting yelled at for no reason). So the ultimatum will need to be: (1) Fix X, Y and Z, or (2) Disable the app from your end (I.E. push out an update to make it read-only on enwiki), or we'll (3) (drawing a blank here) Suffusion of Yellow (talk) 23:04, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

In fairness, it'll be the WMF's PR problem. An extreme ultimatum doesn't seem to be problematic, since it'll almost certainly never come to it, so long as it can get community buy-in. That or we can whine at User talk:Jimbo Wales about it (though, I've already done that, and tbf it did get the priority of the tasks escalated but I dunno if he had anything to do with it) ProcrastinatingReader (talk) 23:08, 28 February 2021 (UTC)

X Y and Z could be old phab ticket #s, and multiple co-proposers might help (not me). Levivich ^harass/_hound 19:28, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Hier. Denkst du das der Seitenschutz ist notwendig? Es ist unwahrscheinlich das einen neuen Konsens für diese Seite enstehen wird. Auf diesem Grund, der Seitenschutz ist sicherlich die beste Reaktion. Grüße, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 15:07, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

CambridgeBayWeather, you have closed the deletion discussion of the draft. Can I interpret it as a possible reason for fully protecting the page with a link to the discussion? ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:52, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

I really don't want to say anything until I know what RandomCanadian is saying. Also which page do you want to fully protect? CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Huliva 19:35, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

(It's not entirely correct German, so that was a kind gesture but led to slight confusion even on my side) They have linked to https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=COVID-19_lab_leak_hypothesis&action=history suggesting protection of the page, saying that it's unlikely for a new consensus to be formed about the future of this page. They believe that protecting the page surely is the best reaction. As the page is already extended-confirmed protected indefinitely, it's a request for full protection. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:43, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Appears you understood exactly what I said, so my meager efforts at German were not entirely fruitless. Cheers, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 20:36, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

:D In response to the HTML comment and correction, yes, "Seitenschutz" is correct, "Geschützung" was a bit strange but understandable. The sentence "Denkst du das der Seitenschutz ist notwendig" looks more like "Do you believe that the [existing] page protection is [really] necessary?" than "Do you agree that [additional] protection is needed?". To reduce ambiguity, either "Denkst du, der aktuelle Seitenschutz ist wirklich notwendig?" or "Findest du auch, dass die Seite stärkeren Schutz benötigt?" could be used. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:41, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

I have no real problem with full just not indefinite full. I'm not a fan of indefinite for any type of protection. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Huliva 21:42, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Understandable, thank you very much for the consideration. In this specific case, I expect "indefinitely" to be "until the sanctions in this area are removed by the community", which is fine with me. As it would be hard to justify indefinite full protection and not even the deleting administrator agrees with such a measure, I won't change the protection for now. If edit warring becomes a persistent issue, I might later add a few months of full protection on top of it. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:53, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Fully protected redirects because of deletion discussions are not unprecedented, but no problem with wait and see for the time being (although the deletion discussion was less than two weeks ago, so if we're having issues already...). Thanks, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 22:06, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Ah my error. I thought you meant the COVID-19 lab leak hypothesis page. But the redirect isn't a problem. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Huliva 22:13, 2 March 2021 (UTC)

I think you mean you thought we meant the COVID-19_misinformation page. What a sentence. And indef ECP it is for now :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:48, 2 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks so much. — Preceding unsigned comment added by AidTheWiki (talk • contribs) 14:50, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Hey AidTheWiki, you're welcome! Be bold and feel free to ask if any questions arise. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:43, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Re: WP:FCOI, "An editor has a financial conflict of interest when they write about a topic with which they have a close financial relationship. This includes being an owner..." That was an instance of clear-as-a-bell PAID. It says so in the section, and it deserved a block. And all the long badgering was a violation of WP:PAYTALK. Form the POV of a non-admin, it the admins are not going to help out in these situations, it makes being an editor here difficult. --- Possibly (talk) 19:15, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Possibly, I was trying to explain the difference between "financial COI" and "paid editing". Paid editing is one (common) form of financial COIs, but it isn't the only possible form of a financial COI. The quoted section of the COI guideline describes exactly this difference. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:23, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

The section of the policy is called "Paid editing". In the section, various types of FCOI are described, which both require disclosure. The text about "An editor has a financial conflict of interest" is not a get-out-of-jail free card for business owners and shareholders of companies to come in here and disrupt our normal processes without disclosing that they have a financial stake. In this case the editor had voted at an AFD without disclosure of their COI/PAID status (they came clean later), and was bludgeoning every discussion they were in. They also had zero interest in contributing to Wikipedia outside of their narrow company interests; in short, they were wasting everyone's time. This is precisely the type of situation where we need a person with a block button, so we can get on with things without being disrupted by those with a financial interest int he outcome of our work.--- Possibly (talk) 19:47, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Possibly, you can probably safely ignore them if that's your concern. The closing administrator will not be influenced by the bludgeoning, and I don't expect continued disruption after the deletion discussion. There is currently no reason to assume that blocking the editor has any helpful preventative effect; any possible damage is already done. Interacting with the editor in the current situation only fuels an unnecessary fire. I'd be happy if you could reconsider this situation, and Special:Diff/1010867300, after a few weeks (I promise to do so too). ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:52, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Sorry but in this case you missed the point. You could have gently warned them or pblocked them from the AFD, which they have very much influenced. Ignoring it and saying effectively don't worry about it, when three editors have pointedly complained about it, is not helpful. I've never taken issue with an admin's point of view, but I do with this.--- Possibly (talk) 20:04, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

17:50, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

	The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
	Thank you for all the help, support and guidance you provided here — Amkgp 💬 04:35, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Amkgp, this is very kind, thank you for the heartwarming farewell gesture. Don't worry too much about this, please. You have shown clear interest in improving the encyclopedia, and while your way of doing so was unusual, I don't question the motivation behind it, and I'd like to welcome you back one day. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 13:57, 10 March 2021 (UTC)

Good day. You blocked the IP 203.54.177.154 last June, and I just reverted vandalism from the IP user on their user talk page. Is it customary to revoke talk page access to unregistered users? --Drm310 🍁 (talk) 14:55, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

 Done :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:07, 12 March 2021 (UTC)

23:20, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

Trevor Ariza has traded to the Miami Heat. You are telling me it is incorrect info. When I looked at the news, they said he traded. Look it up if you want to. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.231.81.94 (talk) 22:12, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi 70.231.81.94, you're probably looking for JBchrch's talk page (User talk:JBchrch), as JBchrch has reverted your edit. I have messaged JBchrch in the past and you have probably clicked the "talk" link in one of my signatures, ending up on the wrong page. I have informed JBchrch about your question. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 23:29, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi 70.231.81.94, thanks for reaching out. I think you are right: when I saw your edits, I looked it up on Google News and could not find anything, so I assumed it was incorrect. Sorry about that. Now I see that other people have updated the article to reflect that Ariza has indeed moved to the Miami Heat. I will leave a message on your talk page to give you useful links if you want to keep on contribution to Wikipedia.--JBchrch (talk) 07:12, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi. I noticed you made this edit to Josef Newgarden last July. I'm not sure if you're aware, but there has been an ip-hopper who has been vandalizing IndyCar driver articles for some time now. Their favourite target is James Hinchcliffe and they have gotten that page protected multiple times, and the IP edits from that time on Newgarden's article have the same hallmarks. I don't believe there was an edit war regarding Newgarden's DOB, just some vandalism. GhostOfDanGurney (talk) 02:14, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi GhostOfDanGurney, thank you very much for the information. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 11:44, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

You're welcome. I don't know how to calculate ranges on wiki, but I've noticed that the user's IP always starts with 2804, then usually contains ":14D:5C6[x]:" next. if I was able to compile all of their edits, I could probably try going to WP:LTA about it. GhostOfDanGurney (talk) 12:20, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

If the difference happens in the third IPv6 block, the range is huge and probably can't be blocked without enormous collateral damage. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 15:48, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Oof. Well thank you, then haha. GhostOfDanGurney (talk) 16:11, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

No worries, do feel free to create a page documenting the issue with diffs. I'm sure there is something that can be done, perhaps using an edit filter. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:38, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Ah, cool! Something to put on my to-do list, then. Thanks again! GhostOfDanGurney (talk) 17:21, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi, I'm letting you know since you blocked "user:Md.Aftab Uddin Toufiq". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Boipokha is a sock of Md.Aftab Uddin Toufiq. Please see https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Boipokha Thanks. --আফতাবুজ্জামান (talk) 15:59, 19 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi আফতাবুজ্জামান, please use WP:SPI to report sockpuppetry, and provide evidence when doing so. Feel free to inform me after creating a report. Thank you very much in advance. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:57, 19 March 2021 (UTC)

Sorry, i can't publish checkuser data. Anyway, thank you. --আফতাবুজ্জামান (talk) 19:42, 19 March 2021 (UTC)

Ah. আফতাবুজ্জামান, the block does not seem to be marked as a checkuser-based block in the log, nor on the user's nonexistent userpage. And as a bnwiki checkuser, you are allowed to create a report here mentioning checkuser data as evidence, which can for example be shared via the cuwiki. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:47, 19 March 2021 (UTC)

Hello, apologies to bother you. IP 98.245.190.43 (talk · contribs · IP contribs · WHOIS), who is currently blocked, is abusing their talk page repeatedly , , . Can you perhaps take a look? --Ashleyyoursmile! 19:02, 21 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks Ashleyyoursmile, page protected until a checkuser had a look ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:04, 21 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much, ToBeFree. Ashleyyoursmile! 19:05, 21 March 2021 (UTC)

I am seeking an uninvolved admin to address an insult. Romanian content was removed simply because it is Romanian. This has no place on Wikipedia. If possible please revert and delete revision Special:Diff/1013415724 so viewers do not get offended. Thank you--Frobozz1 (talk) 19:39, 21 March 2021 (UTC)

This is already being dealt with, on the user's talk page, at WP:ANI and using revision deletion. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:17, 21 March 2021 (UTC)

16:51, 22 March 2021 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Tenebrae/Archive. It has just come off a year long block. Might be a good idea to renew that. Mo Billings (talk) 16:00, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

@Mo Billings: This wasn't about editing your comment (and I didn't do that - see how I put back the template right after). This was supposed to be minor and non-controversial formatting (templates should not be in headers, except maybe for a few exceptions, but this isn't one of them). Anyway, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 16:17, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

@Mo Billings: Since you're asking for a guideline, WP:SECTIONHEADINGOWN. "Link (or template) markup may be removed from section headings, but the link should be re-created at the first use of the term, or in a hatnote." RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 16:23, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

@RandomCanadian: I'm not sure why you want to do this on ToBeFree's talk page, but I suggest that you stop doing editing other people's comments completely. Mo Billings (talk) 16:31, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

I wanted to do it here cause it was about an edit here...? Anyway, if the direct quote above was not clear enough, and if it doesn't bother Tobias, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 16:41, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

thanked you for the edit and saw it undone a minute after :) Whatever. Neither revision breaks the page. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:32, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

The IP address seems to be pretty static, and blocking it could perhaps somehow be justified, but I currently see no need to do so: If they evade the block, it could be very helpful for us to see this happening from this specific IP address. Their edits would be reverted per WP:REVERTBAN and the IP would be blocked. If their IP address has changed in the meantime, it would be a problematic block, and I can't know for sure. Autoblocking is enabled, so every login creates an automatic 24-hour IP block behind the scenes. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:32, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

See here. This is completely inappropriate given his actual ban from the topic and subsequent cban. VAXIDICAE💉 17:25, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi Praxidicae, thank you very much for the quick notification. I didn't expect a ban violation to happen from an account that is already blocked sitewide... ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:45, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi there - could you take a look at the block settings on this range? I came across it in some behind-the-scenes work I was doing. The log entry says to log in to edit, but I don't see anon-only in the block entry, so I don't think that would work? ‑‑ElHef (Meep?) 18:28, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Oh! You're right. I just need a quick "okay" from NinjaRobotPirate, as that would effectively reduce their block, something I didn't yet do there. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:30, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Ah, I have misread the block log. ElHef, thank you very much for the notification. The incorrect block description and the Draft namespace restriction are now gone. Sorry ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:29, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi, could you please re-review my request to have rollbacker permissions granted to my account? The archived request is found [here]. Admittedly, only a few edits made since you responded to my request could have qualified for rollback (since they were not blatant vandalism but were more "borderline" in nature), reviewing my edit history since then should reveal an understanding of the process, and, in particular, warning users for various types of unconstructive edits. It is actually quite difficult to catch blatant vandalism through manual patrolling since there are so many bots in operation doing this very thing. Even still, if more work is required on my part I would appreciate any suggestions you may have. Thank you, Johnnie Bob (talk) 23:17, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi Johnnie Bob, thanks for asking, and for your contributions!  Done ~ ToBeFree (talk) 23:34, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you! Johnnie Bob (talk) 23:50, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

17:29, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

I am concerned with the article Binibining Pilipinas 2021 as many unregistered editors keep on editing it without reliable sources. A lot of IP address users keep on changing the content with no references presented. I am requesting for your help to protect this article to prevent further vandalism. Thank you. King Archer (talk) 10:27, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi King Archer, thanks for asking!  Done ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:26, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi, you appear to be using a bot or some self-automated process to make mass edits. Note this is inappropriate. You are expected to review every edit, just as if you were making an edit using Wikipedia's edit form when editing by hand. Do not sacrifice quality for speed, and review all changes before saving. Sun Creator^(talk) 19:07, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

Hi Sun Creator, this was a reversion of mass edits that were found to be problematic in the AN discussion linked in the edit summary; it seems to conform to WP:ROLLBACKUSE #5. The point of the reverts is to enforce manual review of every edit. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:13, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

"it is considered inappropriate to use it in situations where an explanatory edit summary would normally be expected." Sun Creator^(talk) 19:15, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

Sun Creator, I have provided a very explanatory edit summary, even including a permanent link to the discussion. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:17, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

A generalised statement is not a very explanatory edit summary. Please review WP:ROLLBACK. Sun Creator^(talk) 19:30, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

(uninvolved) Tobias's statement is sufficient (he could have linked to the exact section; and maybe to a more recent revision; but the statement is clear enough for someone interested in trying to figure out what the legitimate concerns were); but it is not an improper use of rollback, especially if there are legitimate concerns about socking or improper editing (and telling an admin how to do that seems misguided). RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 21:05, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

That's very kind, thank you. While I had simply chosen not to push my point further and accept the recommendation to re-read WP:ROLLBACK (which I actually did!), it is relieving to hear that I'm not entirely stubbornly trying to run through a wall ignoring guidelines here. Because I myself, per definition, can never rule out having done something silly and not even getting the point. I'm human and I do my best to prevent that from happening, but I obviously need feedback if it does. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 21:10, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

I'm myself not too much one who reads the exact texts too often (per IAR - if there's something that looks right to do, I'll do it). To be fair, I did myself take a re-read; and "5. To revert widespread edits (by a misguided editor or malfunctioning bot) unhelpful to the encyclopedia, provided that you supply an explanation in an appropriate location, such as at the relevant talk page" is more than explicit enough for this. Cheers, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 21:15, 29 March 2021 (UTC)

	The Admin's Barnstar
	Thanks for your quick response by unprotecting hundreds of old TFA pages. The work is much appreciated :) ಮಲ್ನಾಡಾಚ್ ಕೊಂಕ್ಣೊ (talk) 06:48, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

Hey ಮಲ್ನಾಡಾಚ್ ಕೊಂಕ್ಣೊ, thank you very much for the unprotection request and the kind feedback! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:18, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2021).

Administrator changes

Alexandria • Happyme22 • RexxS

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, F7 (invalid fair-use claim) subcriterion a has been deprecated; it covered immediate deletion of non-free media with invalid fair-use tags.
• Following a request for comment, page movers were granted the delete-redirect userright, which allows moving a page over a single-revision redirect, regardless of that redirect's target.

Technical news

• When you move a page that many editors have on their watchlist the history can be split and it might also not be possible to move it again for a while. This is because of a job queue problem. (T278350)
• Code to support some very old web browsers is being removed. This could cause issues in those browsers. (T277803)

Arbitration

• A community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure is open until April 25.

Just an FYI but the protection you placed on this page expired today. With the trial going on, it might be the site of some activity. I've added it to my Watchlist. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 01:03, 2 April 2021 (UTC)

Oh. Hey Liz, thank you very much for the notification; I had forgotten about that protection. I'll need to get some sleep, but I'd be grateful for anyone reprotecting that page as soon as a need arises. On pages related to controversial, highly viewed topics in general, I personally favor quick protection over the usual "we'll remove further vandalism when it happens, it's an open encyclopedia and no edit can permanently damage a page". Because permanent damage to Wikipedia's reputation can very well happen in my opinion if we don't get such pages right. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 02:13, 2 April 2021 (UTC)

This is about the report of Microwave Anarchist at Special:Permalink/1015824123 (AIV), removed by me in Special:Diff/1015824575. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:11, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi, I submitted this report because the user had accused me of lacking civility in my own talk page. He should have at least been warned for that. I am feeling very uneasy about continuing my journey at Wikipedia because I don't feel comfortable enough. This accusation is deeply offensive to me.--Sakiv (talk) 19:53, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi Sakiv, thank you very much for explaining your concerns; I can understand what you mean. I have had a look at Special:Diff/1015806611, Special:Diff/1015806692, Special:Diff/1015802694, Special:Diff/1015807241, Special:Diff/1015808055 and Special:Diff/1015808411 before removing the report for now. I have recently responded to a relatively similarly unnecessary case at Special:Permalink/1015494909, and my explanations there apply to this situation too. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 20:11, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for sorting out my mistake at User:Certes/Western. I'm used to getting these things right for IPv4 but haven't used IPv6 subranges other than /64 in anger. I think the vandal has either grown up or been discouraged by an edit filter we added in April 2020. If you've seen any more recent activity, please let me know; we can probably filter it out. Certes (talk) 22:53, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Hey Certes, no worries! Yeah, switching from IPv4 to IPv6 will be a long-term task; I wonder if that's done in... 2050? 2100? At least for public IP addresses. I guess using "10.x.x.x" for small local networks will remain popular forever, as the numbers are much easier to remember and come with an implicit "not accessible from the Internet" guarantee. Regarding the vandal, they have returned as 107.77.232.13. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 23:14, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the extra information. I had hoped that they would have given up after six years, if only because PAW Patrol must appeal to a narrow age range. Cheyenne Autumn had somehow slipped off my watchlist. At least the filter still seems to be catching most cases, and the one that slipped through suggests certain text that I can search for regularly. Certes (talk) 23:30, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Well apparently they've been doing this nonsense for years, and on the same IP address range. Blake Gripling (talk) 02:15, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi Blakegripling ph, yup, that's a pretty persistent case with a static /64 IP address range, which is completely weird and convenient at the same time. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 17:34, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

19:39, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

You blocked 212.77.152.93 this morning for harassment/edit warring; they switched to 41.66.203.14 and continued. Could you block that IP for a week as well? Thanks. Grandpallama (talk) 14:09, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi Grandpallama, Thank you very much for the notification – please let me know if this continues, and feel free to revert their block-evading edits. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:12, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

(talk page watcher) They're using a type of proxy service that's hard to detect and block, so this might require some whac-a-mole (extending the IP blocks won't help, the proxy endpoints behave exactly like regular residential IPs). Blablubbs|talk 14:22, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Ah, thanks. I do sometimes choose at least a few weeks as a block duration for such cases, perhaps just to clarify that any further edits from the same user are not only practically, but also technically block evasion and qualify for reversion without much discussion. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:27, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Yeah, I think that's a good strategy – I didn't mean to imply that your blocks were excessive, just that lengthening them significantly (i.e. the typical 6-24 months that people hand out for normal proxies) wouldn't really keep the proxies blocked in most cases (and it can lead to collateral in countries where ISPs have lots of users on the same shared IP). Blablubbs|talk 14:38, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Ah, I'll keep that in mind, thank you very much – I now also remember User_talk:ToBeFree/A/3#Proxy_IP_block which was probably a similar case. I was hesitant to remove, even to shorten, the block there, but you're correct and there was no vandalism from the IP address ever since. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:46, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Yep, same deal – pretty likely to even be the same service. We're wading into beans-ish territory here, but I can send you an e-mail if you're interested in the technical details. Best, Blablubbs|talk 15:12, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Anyway, they're back: Special:Contributions/41.215.171.43. Blablubbs|talk 15:16, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Blocked. -- ferret (talk) 15:20, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

That makes sense, based on the geolocation data. Grandpallama (talk) 14:28, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Hello, I think they have returned again as 41.66.203.149 (talk · contribs · IP contribs · WHOIS), mass-reverting Blablubbs's edits of the previous IP. Ashleyyoursmile! 15:56, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Blocked. -- ferret (talk) 16:02, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Can't they vandalize Wikipedia when I'm not eating? They want attention, and doing this while I'm away is counterproductive for both sides. Thank you very much, ferret. :) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 16:28, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi ToBeFree. Maybe you could look at what's going on between Super Dromaeosaurus and Legione-Romana. You've already blocked Legione-Romana once for 72 hours, but the disagreement between the two continues and now has devolved into back and forth posting of warnings on each other's talk page. In all honesty, I've got no idea who's right in a content or context sense of the word, but things have turned into a WP:BATTLEGROUND at Talk:Aromanian language, etc. It's quite clear that there are many things that Legione-Romana doesn't not yet understand about Wikipedia. The account is only a about a week old so mistakes are understandable. However, being unfamiliar isn't really an excuse when an editor seems to be more interested in WP:RGW than WP:DR. Do you think suggesting like WP:3O or WikiProject involvement might settle things down or is there no more WP:ROPE left to give? -- Marchjuly (talk) 22:08, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi Marchjuly, thank you very much for the notification. When comments such as "I am not interested in your stories!" are placed on an article's talk page, I'd say all hope for a content-related discussion is lost. The next step might be a conditional unblock, either with a prohibition from editing the article directly, or with a general expectation for them to avoid this conflict and gain experience in other areas of the encyclopedia for a while.

I have asked Super Dromaeosaurus to remain civil regarding their latest edit summary and not to revert again for a while; it seems reasonable to expect them to adhere to this without the need for a block. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 22:34, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for looking at this and trying to figure out a way to sort things out. It's unfortunate that someone needed to be blocked, but it's sometimes such a thing is necessary to try and get things to settle down. -- Marchjuly (talk) 00:13, 8 April 2021 (UTC)

You're welcome. Yeah, I'd say if we're serious about calm content discussion instead of edit warring, we also need to prevent those who refuse to discuss from continuing to frustrate those who favor discussion. If a single-purpose account is used to turn Wikipedia into a battleground, that process should probably be stopped before we can start looking at the whole situation again to attempt proper dispute resolution. If it had been a simple edit war, it would have been easy to direct the discussion to the talk page, but Legione-Romana currently seems to take the situation so personal that they're currently unable to engage in productive content discussion. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 00:46, 8 April 2021 (UTC)

• Hello ToBeFree, turns out Legione-Romana is a sockpuppet. Already in 2018 was User:Verginia's star trying to change articles related to Aromanians. Notice the similiarity between the pages they edit and the ones Legione-Romana did (Common Romanian, Aromanian language [notice removal of "Common Romanian" as the linguistic ancestor]...). You can also notice the common use of "!" or of ending the messages with "Regards" (see their talk page). This issue is more serious than it looked like, this user has been harming Wikipedia for way longer than we thought (maybe even 2015! see Verginia's star's talk page's last message) and the fact that they already used a new account indicates they will probably use another one in the future. I've seen the banner that shows up in your talk page when editing and I can open a formal investigation if you'd like, but I wanted to let you know before and know if you could take a look and maybe avoid the long process. Super Ψ Dro 10:03, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

  Hi Super Dromaeosaurus, thanks for the notification, but can you create an investigation at WP:SPI so I (or someone patrolling SPI) can have a closer look later? This makes it easy to refer to the SPI for evidence, and it keeps such accusations in a central place with standardized procedures. Thank you very much in advance! ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:48, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

Sure then, I'll do it later.Super Ψ Dro 19:22, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

Super Dromaeosaurus, thank you very much for the hint. I found enough evidence to revoke their talk page access and have invited Drmies for review. The user has had their attention, the SPI is done at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Verginia's star. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 01:59, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Great. Thank you for looking into it. Super Ψ Dro 09:34, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Sorry to wade into this as a third party, but this edit war covers more than just Aromanian. Similar disputes manifesting as edit wars between Super Dromaeosaurus and other users can be found on a number of pages on related and similar topics, including Aromanians in Greece and Moldovan Cyrilic, that have resulted in mutliple warnings. While the ban on Legione-Romana is obviously justified, the involvement of Super Dromaeosaurus in a significant number of disputes consistently related to unsourced or against-consensus edits regarding South-Eastern European languages suggests that perhaps further attention is required. TheGlaswegian (talk) 17:15, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

To be honest I've gotten very tired of those disputes and I'm planning to start moving back to some old interests I had. You or anyone can take a look at my contributions if you wish, I don't really intend to defend myself even if I get a topic ban or something (which would perhaps be more healtier to me even). I also considered cleaning my huge watchlist and just keep it to the articles I created, but didn't do it yet because it's just too long to clean up (right now, it has 3,267 articles, a massive source of stress I can't keep up with). With or without external action, that period of my time here is reaching an end soon. And this dispute with this Aromanian user was one of the final events I needed to decide this. Super Ψ Dro 19:22, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the feedback, TheGlaswegian; every coin has two sides. As far as I'm concerned in this specific case, as one side of the coin was a sockpuppet, I'm not interested in directing further attention to their victim of harassment. My job in this causa is done. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 02:01, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

An IP you had blocked temporarily, which had been reverting my edits, namely 174.18.3.40, is back at it, and is also harassing me on my talk page. Please look into this matter as soon as possibly. Thank you. FloorMadeOuttaFloor (talk) 08:22, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Hi FloorMadeOuttaFloor, thank you very much for the notification, others have dealt with the issue. Please also report such cases at WP:AIV to ensure a quick response from any administrator. ~ ToBeFree (talk) 14:39, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Oops! Thanks for removing the thing, I was trying to report the vandal but instead reported the person who reverted the vandal. Noah ^💬 17:42, 13 April 2021 (UTC)

No worries ~ ToBeFree (talk) 19:51, 13 April 2021 (UTC)

(Duplicated by the unblock request at User talk:O revolucionário aliado) ~ ToBeFree (talk) 07:00, 15 April 2021 (UTC)

I am bringing this to your attention because you correctly identified Barbaria (East Africa) as a "sockpuppetry-infested mess". Rashicy and Guutaale135 state on his user pages that they are alts. The former also admits to being Suldaanka Saycla. You can see here that both "alts" made the exact same edit on the same page within ten hours of each other. I do not believe this meets WP:VALIDALT. Thanks, Srnec (talk) 18:38, 17 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you very much, Srnec, for the kind feedback and the notification. I didn't see that yet, and I agree that this is not a proper way to use two accounts. Fortunately, Liz has also noticed the problem and provided advice to them that will hopefully prevent a need for a block. As a recommendation from my personal usage, I have now also provided them with advice on how to get out of the two-account mess entirely (Special:Permalink/1018371110#Alternate_account). ~ ToBeFree (talk) 18:52, 17 April 2021 (UTC)

I don’t know about Barbaria being a sock puppetry invested mess because I haven’t been here that long, but I can assure you I’m not a sock I just have a alt for a illegitimate reason which is allowed on Wikipedia platform. Rashicy (talk) 19:51, 17 April 2021 (UTC)

@Srnec: Rashicy (talk) 19:51, 17 April 2021 (UTC)