Happy Birthday!
Administrator account security (Correction to Arbcom 2019 special circular)
ArbCom would like to apologise and correct our previous mass message in light of the response from the community.
Since November 2018, six administrator accounts have been compromised and temporarily desysopped. In an effort to help improve account security, our intention was to remind administrators of existing policies on account security — that they are required to "have strong passwords and follow appropriate personal security practices." We have updated our procedures to ensure that we enforce these policies more strictly in the future. The policies themselves have not changed. In particular, two-factor authentication remains an optional means of adding extra security to your account. The choice not to enable 2FA will not be considered when deciding to restore sysop privileges to administrator accounts that were compromised.
We are sorry for the wording of our previous message, which did not accurately convey this, and deeply regret the tone in which it was delivered.
For the Arbitration Committee, -Cameron11598 21:04, 4 May 2019 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – May 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2019).
Interface administrator changes
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- A request for comment concluded that creating pages in the portal namespace should be restricted to autoconfirmed users.
- Following a request for comment, the subject-specific notability guideline for pornographic actors and models (WP:PORNBIO) was removed; in its place, editors should consult WP:ENT and WP:GNG.
- XTools Admin Stats, a tool to list admins by administrative actions, has been revamped to support more types of log entries such as AbuseFilter changes. Two additional tools have been integrated into it as well: Steward Stats and Patroller Stats.
- In response to the continuing compromise of administrator accounts, the Arbitration Committee passed a motion amending the procedures for return of permissions (diff). In such cases,
the committee will review all available information to determine whether the administrator followed "appropriate personal security practices" before restoring permissions
; administrators found failing to have adequately done sowill not be resysopped automatically
. All current administrators have been notified of this change. - Following a formal ratification process, the arbitration policy has been amended (diff). Specifically, the two-thirds majority required to remove or suspend an arbitrator now excludes (1) the arbitrator facing suspension or removal, and (2) any inactive arbitrator who does not respond within 30 days to attempts to solicit their feedback on the resolution through all known methods of communication.
- In response to the continuing compromise of administrator accounts, the Arbitration Committee passed a motion amending the procedures for return of permissions (diff). In such cases,
- A request for comment is currently open to amend the community sanctions procedure to exclude non XfD or CSD deletions.
- A proposal to remove pre-2009 indefinite IP blocks is currently open for discussion.
Tech News: 2019-19
16:27, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
Your bot only removed one template in Special:Diff/883079226, but there was a second template immediately below the first one which wasn't removed. --Stefan2 (talk) 19:53, 6 May 2019 (UTC)
Edit to Fine-tuned Universe
Hi Ron
Seems you are a gatekeeper of the Fine-Tuned Universe Wikipedia page. I am a new editor and submitted a one line link under "Defend fine-tuning". The link is a brief Youtube video (slide show with narration) that explains what fine-tuning is in laymen's terms. It does not take any positions on the cause; so it is unbiased.
It is focused on the what of fine-tuning not the why. My edit has been held from being published for 3 days now so I am wondering what the hold up is? Should I expect a confirmation of some sort regarding my suggested edit? Thanks
Al Silicon Valley (SF area) VideoCTO (talk) 19:49, 9 May 2019 (UTC) VideoCTO user name on Wikipedia
Repeat policy violator
Hi. Since you were one of the admins responsible for the two blocks that were previously imposed on User:24.140.79.53 for adding unsourced or poorly sourced content, I thought I'd let you know his/her activities have continued, and recently. The most recent violations were here and here, and noted on the editor's talk page. Can you help? Thanks. Nightscream (talk) 21:22, 12 May 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-20
00:48, 14 May 2019 (UTC)
Pending edit on Fine Tuning page
Hi Ron
I left you a message May 9th with no response. Please see your talk page. This is my first edit and I am in limbo at the moment. Thanks Al
VideoCTO (talk) 19:08, 16 May 2019 (UTC)
File source problem with File:Jeanette Mott Oxford.jpg
Thank you for uploading File:Jeanette Mott Oxford.jpg. I noticed that the file's description page currently doesn't specify who created the content, so the copyright status is unclear. If you did not create this file yourself, you will need to specify the owner of the copyright. If you obtained it from a website, please add a link to the page from which it was taken, together with a brief restatement of the website's terms of use of its content. If the original copyright holder is a party unaffiliated with the website, that author should also be credited. Please add this information by editing the image description page.
If the necessary information is not added within the next seven days, the image will be deleted. If the file is already gone, you can still make a request for undeletion and ask for a chance to fix the problem.
Please refer to the image use policy to learn what images you can or cannot upload on Wikipedia. Please also check any other files you have uploaded to make sure they are correctly tagged. Here is a list of your uploads. If you have any questions or are in need of assistance please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Wikiacc (¶) 02:32, 19 May 2019 (UTC)
Hi, dearest Ronhjones, how are you? Me fine.
Please, I have opened this little page, do you have 3 minutes to read it and correct the mistakes of my poor English? Just some minute. Thanks a lot and have a nice day.
Sincerely
Rei Momo (talk) 15:40, 19 May 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-21
13:04, 20 May 2019 (UTC)
Orphaned non-free image File:TC-GarthWilliams5.jpg
Thanks for uploading File:TC-GarthWilliams5.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).
Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in section F5 of the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. --B-bot (talk) 18:09, 20 May 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-22
15:33, 27 May 2019 (UTC)
The Signpost: 31 May 2019
- From the editors: Picture that
- News and notes: Wikimania and trustee elections
- In the media: Politics, lawsuits and baseball
- Discussion report: Admin abuse leads to mass-desysop proposal on Azerbaijani Wikipedia
- Arbitration report: ArbCom forges ahead
- Technology report: Lots of Bots
- News from the WMF: Wikimedia Foundation petitions the European Court of Human Rights to lift the block of Wikipedia in Turkey
- Essay: Paid editing
- From the archives: FORUM:Should Wikimedia modify its terms of use to require disclosure?
Hi, dearest Ronhjones, how are you? Me I'm fine.
Please, I've opened this small page, and I ask you some minute of your time to read it and correct the mistakes of my poor English.
Thanks a lot for your great help, and have a nice Sunday, see you soon!
Rei Momo (talk) 09:04, 2 June 2019 (UTC)
Author tagging a template for deletion is not db-author?
please explain why this edit is not considered {{db-author}}
? Frietjes (talk) 15:08, 2 June 2019 (UTC)
- @Frietjes: Ron is away. I've taken the liberty of completing the deletion. — JJMC89 (T·C) 02:21, 3 June 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-23
15:24, 3 June 2019 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – June 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2019).
- Andonic • Consumed Crustacean • Enigmaman • Euryalus • EWS23 • HereToHelp • Nv8200pa • Peripitus • StringTheory11 • Vejvančický
- An RfC seeks to clarify whether WP:OUTING should include information on just the English Wikipedia or any Wikimedia project.
- An RfC on WT:RfA concluded that Requests for adminship and bureaucratship are discussions seeking to build consensus.
- An RfC proposal to make the templates for discussion (TfD) process more like the requested moves (RM) process, i.e. "as a clearinghouse of template discussions", was closed as successful.
- The CSD feature of Twinkle now allows admins to notify page creators of deletion if the page had not been tagged. The default behavior matches that of tagging notifications, and replaces the ability to open the user talk page upon deletion. You can customize which criteria receive notifications in your Twinkle preferences: look for Notify page creator when deleting under these criteria.
- Twinkle's d-batch (batch delete) feature now supports deleting subpages (and related redirects and talk pages) of each page. The pages will be listed first but use with caution! The und-batch (batch undelete) option can now also restore talk pages.
- The previously discussed unblocking of IP addresses indefinitely-blocked before 2009 was approved and has taken place.
- The 2019 talk pages consultation produced a report for Phase 1 and has entered Phase 2.
Tech News: 2019-24
17:06, 10 June 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-25
20:37, 17 June 2019 (UTC)
Invitation
Not sure if you know who I am. We had interacted with each other here. I would like to invite you to notice this petition launched by WMF Taiwan branch and support the petition if you find convenient. Thank you so much!! --It's gonna be awesome!✎Talk♬ 17:33, 19 June 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-26
17:29, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
The June 2019 Signpost is out!
- Discussion report: A constitutional crisis hits English Wikipedia
- News and notes: Mysterious ban, admin resignations, Wikimedia Thailand rising
- In the media: The disinformation age
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
- Traffic report: Juneteenth, Beauty Revealed, and more nuclear disasters
- Technology report: Actors and Bots
- Special report: Did Fram harass other editors?
- Recent research: What do editors do after being blocked?; the top mathematicians, universities and cancers according to Wikipedia
- From the archives: Women and Wikipedia: the world is watching
- In focus: WikiJournals: A sister project proposal
- Community view: A CEO biography, paid for with taxes
Administrators' newsletter – July 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2019).
- 28bytes • Ad Orientem • Ansh666 • Beeblebrox • Boing! said Zebedee • BU Rob13 • Dennis Brown • Deor • DoRD • Floquenbeam1 • Flyguy649 • Fram2 • Gadfium • GB fan • Jonathunder • Kusma • Lectonar • Moink • MSGJ • Nick • Od Mishehu • Rama • Spartaz • Syrthiss • TheDJ • WJBscribe
- 1Floquenbeam's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.
- 2Fram's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.
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- A request for comment seeking to alleviate pressures on the request an account (ACC) process proposes either raising the account creation limit for extended confirmed editors or granting the account creator permission on request to new ACC tool users.
- In a related matter, the account throttle has been restored to six creations per day as the mitigation activity completed.
- The scope of CSD criterion G8 has been tightened such that the only redirects that it now applies to are those which target non-existent pages.
- The scope of CSD criterion G14 has been expanded slightly to include orphan "Foo (disambiguation)" redirects that target pages that are not disambiguation pages or pages that perform a disambiguation-like function (such as set index articles or lists).
- A request for comment seeks to determine whether Wikipedia:Office actions should be a policy page or an information page.
- The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Community feedback is invited.
- In February 2019, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) changed its office actions policy to include temporary and project-specific bans. The WMF exercised this new ability for the first time on the English Wikipedia on 10 June 2019 to temporarily ban and desysop Fram. This action has resulted in significant community discussion, a request for arbitration (permalink), and, either directly or indirectly, the resignations of numerous administrators and functionaries. The WMF Board of Trustees is aware of the situation, and discussions continue on a statement and a way forward. The Arbitration Committee has sent an open letter to the WMF Board.
Tech News: 2019-27
21:23, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
Suitability of an infobox link
Could you please take a look at dankneen.com, used at Dan Kneen? I am unsure if it (now) complies with WP:ELOFFICIAL, particularly numbered points 1 and 2. Seems to be ostensibly 'retail/commercial' with a charity status from late Oct 2018.
Extract from Isle of Man index of charities: "To promote in the Isle of Man and elsewhere the relief of persons injured in motorsport events and the families of deceased competitors in need due to ill health, disability or financial hardship. To pomote (sic) public safety in motorsport and provision of improved safety facilities." Just done an update on the article. Thanks.--Rocknrollmancer (talk) 00:31, 2 July 2019 (UTC)
- I've just checked to see ronhjones is inactive since early April - is any tps can help with an answer?--Rocknrollmancer (talk) 00:50, 2 July 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-28
20:12, 8 July 2019 (UTC)
BBC IP - yet again!
Hello Ron, some time back you blocked a IP, who was constantly adding unsourced info to BBC pages. I regret to state that they have done some block evasion, with the usual unsourced info and unnecessary comment(s) and still from the West Country of the UK. As before, I have left warnings on their Talk page to no avail. They are now operating on 86.151.58.139 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). With thanks for your help. David J Johnson (talk) 10:13, 9 July 2019 (UTC)
- (talk page watcher) - David J Johnson, Unfortunately, Ron hasn't edited since April - so if you were looking for quick help you might want to try ANI, or another admin. -- Begoon 10:19, 9 July 2019 (UTC)
- Many thanks for your help. David J Johnson (talk) 10:55, 9 July 2019 (UTC)
Orphaned non-free image File:Florence Mary Anderson - Wiki.jpg
Thanks for uploading File:Florence Mary Anderson - Wiki.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).
Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in section F5 of the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. --B-bot (talk) 02:49, 10 July 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-29
15:29, 15 July 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-30
13:07, 22 July 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-31
21:42, 29 July 2019 (UTC)
The Signpost: 31 July 2019
- In the media: Politics starts getting rough
- Discussion report: New proposals in aftermath of Fram ban
- Arbitration report: A month of reintegration
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
- Community view: Video based summaries of Wikipedia articles. How and why?
- News from the WMF: Designing ethically with AI: How Wikimedia can harness machine learning in a responsible and human-centered way
- Recent research: Most influential medical journals; detecting pages to protect
- Special report: Administrator cadre continues to contract
- Traffic report: World cups, presidential candidates, and stranger things
Administrators' newsletter – August 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2019).
Interface administrator changes
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- Following a request for comment, the page Wikipedia:Office actions has been changed from a policy page to an information page.
- A request for comment (permalink) is in progress regarding the administrator inactivity policy.
- Editors may now use the template {{Ds/aware}} to indicate that they are aware that discretionary sanctions are in force for a topic area, so it is unnecessary to alert them.
- Following a research project on masking IP addresses, the Foundation is starting a new project to improve the privacy of IP editors. The result of this project may significantly change administrative and counter-vandalism workflows. The project is in the very early stages of discussions and there is no concrete plan yet. Admins and the broader community are encouraged to leave feedback on the talk page.
- The new page reviewer right is bundled with the admin tool set. Many admins regularly help out at Special:NewPagesFeed, but they may not be aware of improvements, changes, and new tools for the Curation system. Stay up to date by subscribing here to the NPP newsletter that appears every two months, and/or putting the reviewers' talk page on your watchlist.
Since the introduction of temporary user rights, it is becoming more usual to accord the New Page Reviewer right on a probationary period of 3 to 6 months in the first instance. This avoids rights removal for inactivity at a later stage and enables a review of their work before according the right on a permanent basis.
Tech News: 2019-32
13:24, 5 August 2019 (UTC)
Bots Newsletter, August 2019
Bots Newsletter, August 2019 | |
---|---|
Greetings! Here is the 7th issue of the Bots Newsletter, a lot happened since last year's newsletter! You can subscribe/unsubscribe from future newsletters by adding/removing your name from this list. Highlights for this newsletter include:
We thank former members for their service and wish Madman a happy retirement. We note that Madman and BU Rob13 were not inactive and could resume their BAG positions if they so wished, should their retirements happens to be temporary.
Two new entries feature in the bots dictionary
As of writing, we have...
These are some of the discussions that happened / are still happening since the last Bots Newsletter. Many are stale, but some are still active.
See also the latest discussions at the bot noticeboard. Thank you! edited by: Headbomb 17:24, 7 August 2019 (UTC) (You can subscribe or unsubscribe from future newsletters by adding or removing your name from this list.) |
Tech News: 2019-33
18:19, 12 August 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-34
15:21, 19 August 2019 (UTC)
The Signpost: 30 August 2019
- News and notes: Documenting Wikimania and our beginnings
- In focus: Ryan Merkley joins WMF as Chief of Staff
- Discussion report: Meta proposals on partial bans and IP users
- Traffic report: Once upon a time in Greenland with Boris and cornflakes
- News from the WMF: Meet Emna Mizouni, the newly minted 2019 Wikimedian of the Year
- Recent research: Special issue on gender gap and gender bias research
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
Tech News: 2019-36
09:07, 4 September 2019 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – September 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2019).
- Bradv • Chetsford • Izno
- Floquenbeam • Lectonar
- DESiegel • Jake Wartenberg • Rjanag • Topbanana
- Editors using the mobile website on Wikipedia can opt-in to new advanced features via your settings page. This will give access to more interface links, special pages, and tools.
- The advanced version of the edit review pages (recent changes, watchlist, and related changes) now includes two new filters. These filters are for "All contents" and "All discussions". They will filter the view to just those namespaces.
- A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2019 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
- A global request for comment is in progress regarding whether a user group should be created that could modify edit filters across all public Wikimedia wikis.
SVG crop
Hi Ronhjones, I was wondering if you could help,
I've tried cropping File:ArcadiaGroup.svg following this page however it's not working well - I can crop vertically but then cannot crop horizontally so was wondering if you could maybe have a look and crop if possible?,
I didn't want to crop using free tools online as was afraid it would make a mess or do more damage internally so thought I'd ask you instead :),
Many thanks, –Dave | Davey2010Talk 19:20, 10 September 2019 (UTC)
- Hi again, I've cropped the image the best I can but wasn't entirely sure if A) I've even done it correctly and B) If I have done it right whether it then can be cropped tighter ?, Many thanks, –Dave | Davey2010Talk 21:09, 10 September 2019 (UTC)
- Davey2010, unfortunately, Ron hasn't edited since April, but I've cropped this one for you (and changed the licensing to
{{PD-Textlogo}}
. Cheers. -- Begoon 22:34, 10 September 2019 (UTC)- Ah sorry I assumed they were still editing, (Hope you're okay Ron!),
- Many thanks Begoon for your help it's as always very much appreciated :),
- Thanks, –Dave | Davey2010Talk 22:38, 10 September 2019 (UTC)
- Davey2010, unfortunately, Ron hasn't edited since April, but I've cropped this one for you (and changed the licensing to
Added to Missing Wikipedians page
Hi, Ronhjones. It has been a long time since your last edit. I have added you to the list of Missing Wikipedians. You are welcome to remove yourself once you (hopefully) return. I hope you are doing well in whatever you are doing. Your sterling contributions to many areas of Wikipedia are greatly appreciated. – Ammarpad (talk) 02:01, 18 September 2019 (UTC)
File:Kb_global,_kptv_kingsprimetv.png
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template. at any time by removing the
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Joseph Ozojie (talk • contribs) 15:49, 22 March 2019 (UTC)
Page on V. Balsara
Hi, V. Balsara had been a very talented yet neglected musical genius from India. It appears though he has been mentioned in multiple pages, the page created for him has been deleted. This is his entry at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3472893/ and here is an example of his versatility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7DqiuepiAk It will be great if a page for him can b restored or recreated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Supten (talk • contribs) 05:12, 13 April 2019 (UTC)
The Signpost: 30 September 2019
- From the editors: Where do we go from here?
- Special report: Post-Framgate wrapup
- Traffic report: Varied and intriguing entries, less Luck, and some retreads
- News from the WMF: How the Wikimedia Foundation is making efforts to go green
- Recent research: Wikipedia's role in assessing credibility of news sources; using wikis against procrastination; OpenSym 2019 report
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
Tech News: 2019-40
16:50, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – October 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2019).
Interface administrator changes
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- Following a discussion, a new criterion for speedy category renaming was added: C2F: One eponymous article, which
applies if the category contains only an eponymous article or media file, provided that the category has not otherwise been emptied shortly before the nomination. The default outcome is an upmerge to the parent categories
.
- Following a discussion, a new criterion for speedy category renaming was added: C2F: One eponymous article, which
- As previously noted, tighter password requirements for Administrators were put in place last year. Wikipedia should now alert you if your password is less than 10 characters long and thus too short.
- The 2019 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process has begun. The community consultation period will take place October 4th to 10th.
- The arbitration case regarding Fram was closed. While there will be a local RfC
focus[ing] on how harassment and private complaints should be handled in the future
, there is currently a global community consultation on partial and temporary office actions in response to the incident. It will be open until October 30th.
- The Community Tech team has been working on a system for temporarily watching pages, and welcomes feedback.
Help me
Hi I'm Sourav from Bangladesh.I need your help with the commons.Because of some of my mistakes.Blocking me from the commons I'm sorry with the humble reason I don't want to make the same mistakes I was blocked a second time.I request you to open the block with one last chance.You give me credit for this opportunity.Sincerely request you to open my block. Skh sourav halder 08:05, 4 October 2019 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Skh sourav halder (talk • contribs)
- Skh sourav halder - This administrator has not been active on Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons for six months. You can ask for help at
c:COM/ANB.--86.29.222.228 (talk) 11:33, 4 October 2019 (UTC)- @Skh sourav halder: Apologies, link above was not working. Put your request to
c:Commons:Administrators' noticeboard/Blocks and protections. Thank you.--86.29.222.228 (talk) 11:46, 4 October 2019 (UTC)- @Skh sourav halder: This is the correct place for you to ask for help. c:Commons:Administrators' noticeboard/User problems. Thank you.--86.29.222.228 (talk) 11:56, 4 October 2019 (UTC)
- @Skh sourav halder: Apologies, link above was not working. Put your request to
Tech News: 2019-41
15:36, 7 October 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-42
23:55, 14 October 2019 (UTC)
Orphaned non-free image File:Logo Central Bank Malta.jpg
Thanks for uploading File:Logo Central Bank Malta.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).
Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in section F5 of the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. --B-bot (talk) 02:42, 19 October 2019 (UTC)
Tech News: 2019-43
14:39, 21 October 2019 (UTC)
File:Edward Bernard Jakmauh.pdf
Hi - I'm following up on a file that was deleted in September. I think the reason was a failure to include licensing language in the article. I have a letter stating the licensing terms (CC-BY-SA 4.0). If I upload this letter, can I continue with the creation of this article? And where/how is it best to upload the letter? Wikijoewikijoe (talk) 14:29, 28 October 2019 (UTC)