This is an archive of past discussions with User:Ecpiandy. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.
Latest comment: 13 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion
The subcats are going to wind up deleted......cats should only be created if there's a number of articles for each e.g. 5 at least, more like 10. Landforms and populated places in should be subcats of Category:Shuswap Country, and there will be sufficient entries to justify those. I don't know whether these are eligible for a speedy deletion but they were ill-advised and like some of the Okanagan cats recently created, overkill and outside Wiki guidelines.......making work for other people is all the creation of these cats do.Skookum1 (talk) 02:27, 23 April 2013 (UTC)
There are obviously enough articles available for one category, but I would not mind merging them into the main category if necessary. However, they would not be eligible for speedy deletion, which requires they be completed empty. It is also suggested that a few days should be provided for the creator to add Wikipedia entries. Actually, I've seen numerous categories for discussion debates where some of which are kept because they have borderline amount of articles that are required (where is usually around five or something, which you did state). Thanks for pointing that out. TBrandley (T • C • B) 03:01, 23 April 2013 (UTC)
"Edit warning"
Latest comment: 13 years ago5 comments3 people in discussion
Hi TBrandley, you undid my edit, but my edit was based on WP:RS. You didn't specify any solid reason except "edit warning". Is it a reason? Can't you seen Kww started edit-waring. Yes, I've used talk-page. There I've clarified myself according to wiki policies. But only one editor is stick to his statement bypassing the policies. Are you working as a proxy to Kww?--AsceticRosé05:12, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
No, he did not. I saw his revert after he did it, but he did not discuss it with me beforehand. You are edit warring, AsceticRose. Your claim that WP:OR applies has been refuted by multiple editors and your claim that WP:RS applies has been refuted by multiple editors. There is no consensus favoring your change, and it has been reverted multiple times by multiple editors. I am not bypassing policies, and you need to stop attempting to force your change in.—Kww(talk) 05:34, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
I'm not aware of the broad situation, but I did know that you were edit warning and thus I reverted it. See the bold, revert, discuss essay and please obtain a consensus on the article's talk page before enforcing the contribution again. Cheers. TBrandley (T • C • B) 05:49, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
Kww, you have given two false information here. You info about WP:OR & WP:RS refutation by multiple editors are clearly false on this discussion. It is only you who deny this. Editors like Tarc, Faizan, Mar4d have clearly backed by point. Please prove if I’m wrong. On the other hand, no editor has overtly supported your point.--AsceticRosé15:48, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
Singularity42, FormerIP, and Astrolynx clearly line up on my side. Most editors agree that the source is quite reliable for the Ahmadiyya's beliefs and does not present an OR problem. Even Tarc42 disagrees with your OR logic, he simply thinks that it may be correct to discount views widely thought of as heretical, making this solely a DUE weight issue. Aside from Tarc, the other editors in favor of the change can all be reasonably believed to be biased. I don't think Tbrandley's talk page is the right place for this. If you want to talk more, come to my talk page.—Kww(talk) 16:35, 27 April 2013 (UTC)
Latest comment: 13 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion
Think before you strip off comma-province dabs on places you don't know much about. Why? Because there's Seymour Arm, the arm of Salmon Arm, and there's also another one on the BC Coast, somewhere around Belize Inlet as I recall. Seymour Arm should be a dab page, and that tiny, obscure settlement is not the primary usage (the one on the coast is best known, actually, because of the recreational marine and fishing activity in the area).Skookum1 (talk) 18:09, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
Celista was another bad move, that place, if you stopped to read the article (?) was named for a Chief Celista of the Neskonlith Band, the version of the name given there is Seletsa. It remains to be seen what a comparison of cites on him (he's a notable figure in regional history) have to say about what the priority version of his name is, but this is another case where you've made yourself busy making changes to an article without investigating other possibilies about, gee what else might that refer to? Bad call.Skookum1 (talk) 18:12, 5 May 2013 (UTC)
why did you do this?
Latest comment: 13 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
I'm trying to sort out this which shouldn't be a redirect to Talk:Steamboats of Okanagan, it should be the talkpage for Steamboats of Lake Okanagan...when you move, or try to move (since your move was rightly reverted) an article page, you're supposed to move the talkpage to. And why do you have a problem using "the" before Okanagan? See my talkpage comments as to why I titled this "Lake Okanagan" in the first place, also.Skookum1 (talk) 04:04, 7 May 2013 (UTC)
A cookie for you!
Latest comment: 13 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 13 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
News and notes: First-ever community election for FDC positions Alongside the Signpost's interviews with the Wikimedia Foundation's (WMF) Board of Trustees candidates, the Signpost asked the candidates for the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) and its Ombudsperson position a series of questions relating to the positions they may be taking on. For the FDC candidates, this will include specific recommendations to the WMF on how to disburse over US$11million in donors' funds to affiliate organizations, something which appears to have garnered little attention from the editing community at large so far.
In the media: Pagans complain about Qworty's anti-Pagan editing In the continuing saga of User:Qworty's outing as author Robert Clark Young, several blogs and websites covered the now-banned user's anti-Pagan editing. In an article published on 22 May 2013, TechEye described Qworty's edits as a "reign of terror" and were pleased to find that he had not succeeded in removing several prominent Pagan biographies from the encyclopedia.
Foundation elections: Candidates talk about the Meta problem, the nation-based chapter model, world languages, and value for money The elections for the three community seats on the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees start on 8 June. This second and final part of the interview explores two broad themes: Meta, the site that hosts movement-wide coordination; and offline entities—the chapters and the new thematic organisations and user groups.
WikiProject report: WikiProject Geographical Coordinates This week, we plotted out the demarcations of WikiProject Geographical Coordinates, which aims to create a single standard of handling coordinates in Wikipedia articles.
Featured content: Life of 2π Twelve articles, four lists, and twelve pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
Technology report: Amsterdam hackathon: continuity, change, and stroopwafels Second only to the technical track of Wikimania in terms of numbers, the Berlin Hackathon (2009–2012) provided those with an interest in the software that underpins Wikimedia wikis and supports its editors a place to gather, exchange ideas and learn new skills.
Latest comment: 13 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion
TBrandley, just watching your placement of your new Category:Populated places in the Okanagan Country.....you are aware, I hope, that there are already populated places categories on many of those articles, that that would be a parent for, or grandparent, e.g. Category:Populated places in the South Okanagan and others, including Category:Populated places in the Okanagan [post-edit - I thought that existed, the South Okanagan cat maybe I guess is only a subcat of Category:Okanagan - and Category:Populated places in Okanogan County, Washington, I think. Also though you've shown that "Okanogan Country" is used in the United States in the same way that "Okanagan country" is used in Canada......you're over-categorizing, and placing your new category where its subcats already are, and the use of "Okanagan Country" in that manner is more than a bit WP:OR and imposes the Canadian spelling of the name on US locations. Please improve articles, not just play category names unless the categories are appropriate. In my opinion, this one is completely superfluous.Skookum1 (talk) 03:54, 1 June 2013 (UTC)
Latest comment: 13 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hello! Now, some of you might have already received a similar message a little while ago regarding the Recruitment Centre, so if you have, there is no need to read the rest of this. This message is directed to users who have reviewed over 15 Good article nominations and are not part of WikiProject Good articles (the first message I sent out went to only WikiProject members).
So for those who haven't heard about the Recruitment Centre yet, you may be wondering why there is a Good article icon with a bunch of stars around it (to the right). The answer? WikiProject Good articles will be launching a Recruitment Centre very soon! The centre will allow all users to be taught how to review Good article nominations by experts just like you! However, in order for the Recruitment Centre to open in the first place, we need some volunteers:
Recruiters: The main task of a recruiter is to teach users that have never reviewed a Good article nomination how to review one. To become a recruiter, all you have to do is meet this criteria. If we don't get at least 5-10 recruiters to start off with (at the time this message was sent out, 2 recruiters have volunteered), the Recruitment Centre will not open. If interested, make sure you meet the criteria, read the process and add your name to the list of recruiters. (One of the great things about being a recruiter is that there is no set requirement of what must be taught and when. Instead, all the content found in the process section is a guideline of the main points that should be addressed during a recruitment session...you can also take an entire different approach if you wish!) If you think you will not have the time to recruit any users at this time but are still interested in becoming a recruiter, you can still add your name to the list of recruiters but just fill in the "Status" parameter with "Not Available".
Co-Director: The current Director for the centre is me (Dom497). Another user that would be willing to help with some of the tasks would be helpful. Tasks include making sure recruiters are doing what they should be (teaching!), making sure all recruitments are archived correctly, updating pages as needed, answering any questions, and distributing the feedback form. If interested, please contact me (Dom497).
Nominators, please read this: If you are not interested in becoming a recruiter, you can still help. In some cases a nominator may have an issue with an "inexperienced" editor (the recruitee) reviewing one of their nominations. To minimize the chances of this happening, if you are fine with a recruitee reviewing one of your nominations under the supervision of the recruiter, please add your name to the list at the bottom of this page. By adding your name to this list, chances are that your nomination will be reviewed more quickly as the recruitee will be asked to choose a nomination from the list of nominators that are OK with them reviewing the article.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to seeing this program bring new reviewers to the Good article community and all the positive things it will bring along.
A message will be sent out to all recruiters regarding the date when the Recruitment Centre will open when it is determined. The message will also contain some further details to clarify things that may be a bit confusing.--Dom497 (talk)
Latest comment: 13 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited Omak, Washington, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Diocese of Spokane (check to confirm|fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ• Join us at the DPL WikiProject.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that you've added some links pointing to disambiguation pages. Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ• Join us at the DPL WikiProject.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
WikiProject report: WikiProject Square Enix This week, we explored the fantasy worlds of video game developer Square Enix by interviewing WikiProject Square Enix. The project began in September 2006 as a spin-off of WikiProject Final Fantasy, but today covers that, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, and a variety of other game series, with exceptions explained in the interview below. The project is home to 32 pieces of Featured material and 104 Good and A-class articles.
News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation's new plans announced Last week the Wikimedia Foundation released its annual plan for July 2013 to June 2014. It provides a surprisingly frank view—of past achievements and failures, and future goals and risks—that could be afforded only by a non-profit that is confident and beholden to no commercial or political interests.
Featured content: Documents and sports Four articles, five lists, and sixteen pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
Arbitration report: Kiefer.Wolfowitz and Ironholds case opens; July 22 deadline for checkuser and oversight applications The case Kiefer.Wolfowitz and Ironholds was opened. Voting on the Tea Party movement case continued, after a failed attempt at moderated discussion. A group tasked with deciding the content of the lead section of the Jerusalem article has reported back to the committee. Applications for checkuser and oversight permissions close on 22 July.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Arbitration report: Fourteen editors proposed for ban in Tea Party movement case Fourteen editors have been proposed for a six-month page ban in the Tea Party movement case. In the Infoboxes and Kiefer.Wolfowitz and Ironholds cases, the workshop and evidence phases have closed, and proposed decisions are scheduled to be posted.
Traffic report: Greetings from the graveyard It's crickets and tumbleweeds this week, as the top 10 sees its lowest view-count since the project began. If Wikipedia were selling anything, we'd be having a fire sale by now.
News and notes: Chapters Association self-destructs The opening days of the annual Wikimania, referred to as the "pre-conference", are not typically newsworthy. This changed dramatically when the Chapters Association council met on Thursday.
WikiProject report: WikiProject Freedom of Speech This week, we journey into a WikiProject that focuses about what keeps Wikipedia running, the freedom of speech.
Latest comment: 12 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion
I agree that North Korea is a crazily repressive country with a maniac family (but I can't call them communist; they have a cast system and a monarchy, what does that have to do with communism?, but that's not the point)... My point is this, the word totalitarian is vague and doesn't have a single (or for that matter two or three) definition and only carries with it a highly negative connotation, while dictatorship is also a negative loaded word, albeit true... The point is, I've never seen any other article here on Wikipedia on a dictatorship which describes the country as either authoritarian, totalitarian or something else. These words a highly loaded with negativity, and the description Juche single-party state should be enough, since it describes the situation exactly how it is. Of course, Juche quasi-monarchial single-party state would also work.... Back to the word, this discussion has been at the East Germany page, the Soviet Union, the Ba'athist Iraq page, and they have all ended up with not using the words dictatorship and totalitarian in the infobox.. North Korea should be no difference... I have problems with the words being featured in the infobox, that's all. --TIAYN (talk) 08:07, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
I don't get why North Korea should include the word dictatorship at all.... China doesn't have it, Vietnam doesn't have it, Laos doesn't have it, Cuba doesn't have it, Uzbekistan doesn't have it, Kazakhstan doesn't have it, Belarus doesn't have it and so on... Why should North Korea be any different, why??? I'm having problems understanding why North Korea should be exceptional... And since Wikipedia is neutral, the whole arguement that North Korea should be labelled a totalitarian dictotarial place because its a repressive hellhole, falls to pieces.
Secondly, everyone knows that North Korea is repressive (with the exception of 1 percent of the world population who thinks its fighting world imperialism... What??? ) .... I've started a discussion on the North Korea talk page, maybe more people will join .:) --TIAYN (talk) 08:33, 10 August 2013 (UTC)
See North Korea talk page
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Op-ed: Commons medical diagnostic images under threat from unresolved ownership Medical images have transformed many aspects of modern medicine. Over the past two decades the increasing sophistication of MRI, CT-scanning, and X-ray techniques has made these technologies the cornerstone of diagnosing a range of conditions, replacing what used to be largely guesswork by doctors. They can be the difference between life and death for a patient, and their importance is underlined by the tens of billions of dollars spent on them annually just in North America. For Wikimedia Foundation projects, advanced images are now a powerful tool for describing and explaining, and educating our worldwide readership of medical articles.
News and notes: WMF signals new grantmaking priorities In what will be remembered as a game-changing week for Wikimedia grantmaking, the Foundation's executive director, Sue Gardner, published a forthright and in places highly critical statement, Reflections on the FDC process, and grantmaking staff revealed that the WMF will significantly strengthen its targeting of optimal impact in funding.
Featured content: Bobby, Ben, Roger and a fantasia Six articles and two pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
Arbitration report: Infoboxes: After the war Editor's note: To go beyond the mere facts of cases, the "Arbitration report" invited several editors who participated in the recent Infoboxes case to comment on infoboxes: what they are, where new users can go to find out about them, specifications and protocols, best practices, and how the upcoming community discussion recommended by the Committee in the case decision should be framed.
WikiProject report: U2 Too This week, we revisited the enthusiastic editors at WikiProject U2. Started in June 2007, the project has grown in spurts, resulting in a collection of 8 Featured Articles and 24 Good Articles. The project maintains a to do list, portal, and a list of references.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Cite error: The named reference <ref name="geotransport"/> was invoked but never defined >>> seehttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Penticton&diff=prev&oldid=532728107 thanks --Frze> talk 07:17, 12 October 2013 (UTC)
GOCE September 2013 drive wrap-up
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
In past Backlog Drives, the goal was to reduce the backlog of Good article nominations. In the upcoming drive, another goal will be added - raising as much money as we can for the Wikimedia Foundation. How will this work? Well, its pretty simple. Any user interested in donating can submit a pledge at the Backlog Drive page (linked above). The pledge should mention the amount of money the user is willing to donate per review. For example, if a user pledges 5 cents per review and 100 nominations are reviewed, the total donation amount is $5.00.
At the time this message was sent out, two users have submitted pledges for a total of 8 cents per review. All pledges, no matter how much money, are greatly appreciated. Also, in no way is this saying you must make a pledge.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hello, TBrandley:
WikiProject AFC is holding a two month long Backlog Elimination Drive!
The goal of this drive is to eliminate the backlog of unreviewed articles. The drive is running from December 1st, 2013 – January 31st, 2014.
Awards will be given out for all reviewers participating in the drive in the form of barnstars at the end of the drive.
There is a backlog of over 4500 articles, so start reviewing articles! Visit the drive's page and help out!
A new version of our AfC helper script is released! It includes many bug fixes, new improvements and features, code enhancements, and more. If you want to see a full list of changes, visit the changelog. Please report bugs and feature requests there, too! Thanks. Northamerica1000(talk)05:13, 2 December 2013 (UTC)
GAN December 2013 Backlog Drive
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hello! Just a friendly reminder that the GAN Backlog Drive has begun and will end on December 31, 2013!
If you know anyone outside of the WikiProject that may be interested, feel free to invite them to the drive!
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Traffic report: Kennedy shot Who Summary:Doctor Who nearly got cancelled in its first week because its premiere was swamped by coverage of the JFK assassination, which happened the same day. Thankfully, producers saw fit to rerun it the next day, which is now its official anniversary date.
News and notes: One decade of Wikisource; FDC recommendations raise serious questions The sister project Wikisource, the digital library that hosts free-content primary sources, is now a decade old. Wikisource, which now has versions in 63 languages, is the sixth type of project to reach ten-year milestone and will be the last until 2016. The Wikimedia Foundation's volunteer Funds Dissemination Committee has published its recommendations to the Board of Trustees on 11 new applications for annual grants by 11 WMF-affiliated organisations. The maximum total budget for the current and upcoming March rounds is US$6M.
WikiProject report: Electronic Apple Pie This week, we returned to WikiProject Apple Inc. for a peek at their newest articles about the latest in gadgets and software. The last time we took a bite out of WikiProject Apple, they had just finished merging WikiProject Macintosh and WikiProject iPhone OS. Today, the project is hard at work rewriting their primary article, improving the subject's outline, and adding to the project's list of 25 Good Articles and 6 Featured Articles.
Featured content: F*&! Seventeen articles, four lists, and twenty-eight pictures were promoted to "featured" status in the last two weeks.
The concept is simple: upload photos of these two topics and share your work! Whether you upload one or one hundred, these images will help capture the culture of our state and illustrate Wikimedia projects. Have fun, and happy holiday season!
You are receiving this because you are listed as an active member of WikiProject Oregon or WikiProject Washington. This message was delivered on behalf of Wikipedia:Meetup/Portland by EdwardsBot (talk) 19:46, 6 December 2013 (UTC)
The Wikipedia Library Survey
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Traffic report: Deaths of Mandela, Walker top the list When one edits this page for too long, one is tempted to appoint oneself as the psychoanalyst for the human race, or at least the English-speaking portion thereof. Since nearly everyone uses Wikipedia, the constant stream of TV updates, pointless celebrity scandals, and inquiries after who has died can seem like a dreary peek into humanity's surprisingly banal collective consciousness.
In the media: Edward Snowden a "hero"; German Wikipedia court ruling Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales caught headlines last week when he referred to former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden ... Loek Essers of the International Data Group, (IDG) News Service is reporting that a German court has held Wikipedia liable for its content, but still does not have to fact check the information in advance.
News and notes: Wiki Loves Monuments—winners announced Amid great anticipation the international prize winners have just been announced for the fourth annual Wiki Loves Monuments, now the world's largest photographic competition and one of the biggest events on the Wikimedia movement's calendar. ... The first prize has gone to David Gubler's photograph of a Swiss train crossing a viaduct.
WikiProject report: WikiProject Wine This week, the Signpost interviewed the Wine WikiProject.
Interview: Wikipedia's first Featured Article centurion On 7 December, Wikipedia editor Wehwalt reached the momentous milestone of 100 featured articles with History of Chincoteague, Virginia. Quite apart from the reading and research, that's around three-quarters of a million words of finalised text, not counting footnotes, image captions and the rest.
Featured content: Viewer discretion advised Three articles, one list, and eight pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
Technology report: MediaWiki 1.22 released On 6 December, the latest version of the MediaWiki software was released. In development from March 2013 through October 2013, the release featured anti-spam and counter-vandalism improvements.
Traffic report: Hopper to the top An animated Google Doodle for computer programmer and naval rear admiral Grace Hopper generated another record-breaking hit count for the year, though the count for the list overall was lower than for that of the previous holder.
News and notes: Nine new arbitrators announced A little more than six days after the close of voting, the results of the annual Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) elections have been announced. Of the 22 candidates, 13 managed to gain more supports than opposes, though only one gained the support of more than half of the voters. Eight were elected to two-year terms, and a ninth will serve for one year.
Technology report: Introducing the GLAMWikiToolset This week, the GLAMWikiToolset, or GWToolset, is being deployed to the Wikimedia Commons. It allows for GLAM organizations to batch upload content based on various metadata stored in an XML schema. In the past this has been done by various bots, but now it will be easier for GLAMs to do it directly.
The December blitz ran from December 8–14. The theme for this blitz was articles tied in some way to religion. Seven editors knocked out 20 articles over the course of the week. Our next blitz will be in February, with a theme to be determined. Feel free to make theme suggestions at the Guild talk page!
The January 2014 Backlog elimination drive is a month-long effort to reduce the size of the copy edit backlog. The drive begins on January 1 at 00:00 (UTC) and ends on January 31 at 23:59 (UTC). Our goals are to copy edit all articles tagged in October and November 2012 and complete all requests placed before the end of 2013. Barnstars will be awarded to anyone who copy edits at least one article, and special awards will be given to the top five in the following categories: "Number of articles", "Number of words", "Number of articles of over 5,000 words", "Number of articles tagged in October and November 2012", and "Longest article". We hope to see you there!
Coordinator election: Voting is open for candidates to serve as GOCE coordinators from 1 January through 30 June 2014. Voting will run until the end of December. For complete information, please have a look at the electionpage.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
I wish you a MerryChristmas and Happy New Year 2014! 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.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Recent research: Cross-language editors, election predictions, vandalism experiments Analyzing edits to the-then 46 largest Wikipedias between July 9 and August 8, 2013, a study identified a set of about 8,000 contributors with a global user account who have edited more than one of these language versions in that time frame.
Featured content: Drunken birds and treasonous kings Five articles, two lists, and five pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia.
WikiProject report: More Great WikiProject Logos We saved one last special report for 2013. After our well-received review of great WikiProject logos a couple years ago, it was only a matter of time before we collected a new batch of interesting iconography that showcases the creativity of the Wikipedia community. Hopefully, these logos will also inspire other projects to liven up their drab pages.
News and notes: IEG round 2 funding rewards diverse ambitions A significant move by the Wikimedia Foundation has been to broaden the types of activities it funds to develop several different programs for judging and allocating that funding, and to set up volunteer committees that initially assess applications for funding.
Technology report: OAuth: future of user designed tools Last month, the OAuth extension was deployed to all Wikimedia wikis. OAuth is a standard used for allowing users to authenticate third-party applications, also known as consumers, to take actions on their behalf.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Traffic report: A year stuck in traffic In fact, the majority are relatively evenly split between three themes: people of interest, television, and websites.
Arbitration report: Examining the Committee's year In 2013, the arbitration committee closed 10 cases, 9 amendment requests, and 26 clarification requests.
In the media: Does Wikipedia need a medical disclaimer? On New Year's Day, an article by Tim Sampson published in The Daily Dot and republished shortly after on Mashable covered the currently ongoing medical disclaimer RfC.
Book review: Common Knowledge: An Ethnography of Wikipedia Dariusz Jemielniak's book is the newest about Wikipedia, published in Poland in 2013 and with an English edition forthcoming in 2014.
News and notes: The year in review This was the year in which one journalist described the flagship site, Wikipedia, as "wickedly seductive". It was the year Wikipedia's replacement value was estimated at $6.6bn, its market value at "tens of billions of dollars", and its consumer benefit "hundreds of billions of dollars". But it was also the year in which one commentator forecast the decline of Wikipedia—that the project is in trouble from its shrinking volunteer workforce, skewed coverage, "crushing bureaucracy" and 90 percent male community.
WikiProject report: Where Are They Now? Fifth Edition The year 2013 has come and gone, adding 50 new WikiProject Reports to our long list of projects we've had the privilege to meet. Last year saw the continuation of our Babel series, featuring WikiProjects from other languages of Wikipedia. We also expanded our selection of special reports, offering readers a growing collection of helpful tips and tools as they participate in WikiProjects.
Featured content: 2013—the trends Over the past year 1181 pieces of featured content were promoted. The most active of the featured content programs was featured picture candidates (FPC), which promoted an average of 46 pictures a month. This was followed by featured article candidates (FAC; 32.5 a month). Coming in third was featured list candidates (FLC; 18 a month).
Technology report: Looking back on 2013 2013 saw a lot of changes to MediaWiki software and Wikimedia infrastructure.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Public Domain Day: Why the year 2019 is so significant Public Domain Day—January 1, 2014—gives me an opportunity to reflect on this important asset, mandated by the Constitution of the United States.
Traffic report: Tragedy and television The various maladies that befall humanity got some well-known faces this week: the death of the well-liked actor James Avery topped the list, but Michael Schumacher, who is in a coma after a skiing accident, also drew attention.
Technology report: Gearing up for the Architecture Summit MediaWiki developers will be meeting in San Francisco on January 23–24 for an Architecture Summit.
News and notes: WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing" On 8 January, the Wikimedia Foundation notified the Wikimedia-l mailing list that Sarah Stierch, a popular Wikimedian and the Foundation's Program Evaluation Community Coordinator, was no longer an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, as a result of being paid to create articles on the English Wikipedia.
Op-ed: WikiCup competition beginning a new year At the very start of the new year, 2014's WikiCup—an annual competition which has been held on Wikipedia in various forms since 2007—began.
Featured content: A portal to the wonderful world of technology Twelve articles, three lists, seven pictures, and a portal were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia in the last two weeks.
Technology report: Architecture Summit schedule published The proposed schedule for the MediaWiki Archicture Summit has been published. The two main plenary sessions will be about HTML templating, and Service-oriented architecture.
Op-ed: Licensed for reuse? Citing open-access sources in Wikipedia articles It is heavily ironic that two decades after the World Wide Web was started — largely to make it easier to share scholarly research — most of our past and present research publications are still hidden behind paywalls for private profit. The bitter twist is that the vast majority of this research is publicly funded, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide each year.
Traffic report: The Hours are Ours We now can get a far more accurate picture of which short surges in popularity are likely natural and which are not.
WikiProject report: WikiProject Sociology This week, we studied human social behavior with the folks at WikiProject Sociology.
I have reverted now. He has not yet signed his personal contract and there is a lot left. Before adding this kind of info it must be hundred percent completed. Please read and discuss on article talkpage and WT:FOOTY. QED237(talk)00:30, 24 January 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 22 January 2014
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
News and notes: Modification of WMF protection brought to Arbcom The Wikimedia Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy's application of pending changes level two on the article Conventional PCI—an action taken under its rarely used office actions policy—has escalated to the Arbitration Committee after an editor upgraded it to full protection.
Featured content: Dr. Watson, I presume Fifteen articles, nine lists, twenty pictures, and one topic were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.
Special report: The few who write Wikipedia On 15 January, Wikipedia turned thirteen years old. In that time, this site has grown from a small site that was known to only a select few to one of the most popular websites on the internet. At the same time, recent data suggests that there is a power curve among users, where the comparative few who are writing most of Wikipedia have most of the edits. The result of this is that there is going to be bias in what is created, and how we deal with it as Wikipedians is indicative of the future of the site. Furthermore, this brings up what we have to do in order to combat this bias, as there are many ideas, but the question is whether they will work or not.
Technology report: Architecting the future of MediaWiki This week we're interviewing Brion Vibber about the then-upcoming Architecture Summit. Brion is a long time Wikipedian, the first employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, and currently the lead software architect working with the mobile team.
In the media: Wikipedia for robots; Wikipedia—a temperamental teenager An article in USA Today announced that a European-funded project called RoboEarth that is designed to give robots a mechanism by which to access information to dispense.
Traffic report: No show for the Globes While the 71st Golden Globe Awards, held on 12 January, had an impact on the top 25, their presence was largely absent from the Top 10. With the exception of Best Actor winner Leonardo DiCaprio, the only Golden Globe entrants in the Top 10 are films that would have been there anyway.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
The 2014 WikiCup is off to a flying start, with, at time of writing, 138 participants. The is the largest number of participants we have seen since 2010. If you are yet to join the competition, don't worry- the judges have agreed to keep the signups open for a few more days. By a wide margin, our current leader is newcomer Godot13 (submissions), whose set of 14 featured pictures, the first FPs of the competition, was worth 490 points. Here are some more noteworthy scorers:
Featured articles, featured lists, featured topics and featured portals are yet to play a part in the competition. The judges have removed a number of submissions which were deemed ineligible. Typically, we aim to see work on a project, followed by a nomination, followed by promotion, this year. We apologise for any disappointment caused by our strict enforcement this year; we're aiming to keep the competition as fair as possible.
Wikipedians interested in friendly competition may be interested to take part in The Core Contest; unlike the WikiCup, The Core Contest is not about audited content, but, like the WikiCup, it is about article improvement; specifically, The Core Contest is about contribution to some of Wikipedia's most important article. Of course, any work done for The Core Contest, if it leads to a DYK, GA or FA, can earn WikiCup points.
If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 19:54, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 29 January 2014
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Traffic report: Six strikes out There are times when this job is hard. As an analogy, imagine navigating in fog at night, except you don't know where you are, you don't know where you want to go, and your flashlight keeps dying on you.
WikiProject report: Special report: Contesting contests Contests have existed almost as long as the English Wikipedia. Contestants have expanded hundreds of articles and made tens of thousands of edits. Although it may seem as though there aren't any negatives to contests, they have occasionally become a divisive topic on the English Wikipedia.
News and notes: Wiki-PR defends itself, condemns Wikipedia's actions Wiki-PR, a public relations agency, whose employees used a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts to create, edit, and maintain several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients, has told Business Insider that it was demonized by the online encyclopedia. Jordan French, Wiki-PR's CEO, said he believes the Wikimedia Foundation "painted" his company to look like an "evil entity" that is "scrubbing truths from Wikipedia".
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Traffic report: Six strikes out There are times when this job is hard. As an analogy, imagine navigating in fog at night, except you don't know where you are, you don't know where you want to go, and your flashlight keeps dying on you.
WikiProject report: Special report: Contesting contests Contests have existed almost as long as the English Wikipedia. Contestants have expanded hundreds of articles and made tens of thousands of edits. Although it may seem as though there aren't any negatives to contests, they have occasionally become a divisive topic on the English Wikipedia.
News and notes: Wiki-PR defends itself, condemns Wikipedia's actions Wiki-PR, a public relations agency, whose employees used a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts to create, edit, and maintain several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients, has told Business Insider that it was demonized by the online encyclopedia. Jordan French, Wiki-PR's CEO, said he believes the Wikimedia Foundation "painted" his company to look like an "evil entity" that is "scrubbing truths from Wikipedia".
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
In the media: WikiVIP; Art Feminism; Medical articles; PR manipulation; Azerbaijani Wikipedia As reported in various media outlets this week, including The Next Web and The Daily Dot, this past week, Wikimedia Commons and various language Wikipedias are working together to encourage subjects of Wikipedia articles to record a 10-second clip of their voice to be appended to their Wikipedia article.
Technology report: Left with no choice Software evolution does not always mean that features are being added. It also means that old fat is being trimmed. It is no different for MediaWiki.
News and notes: WMF bites the bullet on affiliation and FDC funding, elevates Wikimedia user groups In a bold move, the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees has announced a major change in policy concerning affiliated groups in the worldwide movement, and FDC funding levels to eligible chapters and thematic organizations over the next two years. Both decisions were published last Tuesday after considerable post-meeting consultation with the FDC and the Affiliations Committee (AffCom). The core of the first decision is
Featured content: Space selfie Thirteen articles, three lists, and twenty-five images were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia from 19 January to 1 February.
Traffic report: Sports Day Two great sporting events, the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics, collide in one week, transforming the top ten into a festival of flying feet, a carnival of colliding caraniums and a bacchanal of bouncing balls, combined to influence Wikipedia's most popular articles last week.
WikiProject report: Game Time in Russia In celebration of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, we revisited the team at WikiProject Russia to learn how the project has changed since our first interview in 2011.
The March 2014 backlog elimination drive is a month-long effort to reduce the backlog of articles in need of copyediting. The drive begins on March 1 at 00:00 (UTC) and ends on March 31 at 23:59 (UTC). Our goals are to copyedit all articles tagged in December 2012 and January 2013 and to complete all requests placed in January 2014. Barnstars will be awarded to anyone who copyedits at least one article, and special awards will be given to the top five in the following categories: number of articles, number of words, number of articles over 5,000 words, number of articles tagged in December 2012 and January 2013 and the longest article. We hope to see you there!
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News and notes: Foundation takes aim at undisclosed paid editing; Greek Wikipedia editor faces down legal challenge The Wikimedia Foundation has proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' Terms of use to specifically ban undisclosed paid editing. ... Dimitris Liourdis, a lawyer in training who moonlights as an administrator on the Greek Wikipedia, is embroiled in a legal dispute with a Greek politician over alleged edits made to his Wikipedia article.
Technology report: ULS Comeback Runa Bhattacharjee has notified the community that the Foundation is ready to turn the Universal Language Selector back on.
WikiProject report: Countering Systemic Bias WikiProject Countering System Bias aims to combat imbalanced coverage while encouraging neglected cultural perspectives and points of view, both in articles and in the larger Wikipedia community. As you'll see from the varied experiences and motivations of our nine respondents, the biases that the folks at WP CSB tackle run the full gamut of human characteristics and dispositions. The interview that follows unveils many of Wikipedia's greatest shortcomings.
Featured content: Holotype Five articles, seven lists, forty-three pictures, and two portals were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia in the last two weeks.
Traffic report: Chilly Valentines Valentines Day got a somewhat muted reception this week, overshadowed by continuing coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi and the death of Shirley Temple.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
It's that time again! Starting on March 1, there will be another GAN Backlog Drive! There will be several changes compared to previous drives:
This drive will introduce a new component to it; a point system. In a nutshell, older nominations are worth more points than newer nominations. The top 3 participants who have the points will be awarded the Golden, Silver, or Bronze Wikipedia Puzzle Piece Trophy, respectively.
Unlike the December 2013 Backlog Drive, earning an additional barnstar if you reached your goal has been removed.
The allowance to have insufficient reviews has been lowered to 2 before being disqualified.
An exception to the rule that all reviews must be completed before the deadline has been created.
Also, something that I thought I would share with all of you is that we raised $20.88 (USD) for the WMF in the December 2013 drive. It may not sound like a lot but considering that that was raised just because we reviewed articles, I would say that's pretty good! With that success, pledges can be made for the upcoming drive if you wish.
More info regarding the drive and full descriptions regarding the changes to this drive can be found on the the drive page. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a message on the drive talk page.
I look forward to your participation and hope that because of it, some day the backlog will be gone!
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Hello TBrandley! There is a discussion that your input is requested on! I look forward to your comments, thoughts, opinions, criticisms, and questions!
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Hello TBrandley:
WikiProject AFC is holding a month long Backlog Elimination Drive!
The goal of this drive is to eliminate the backlog of unreviewed articles. The drive is running from March 1, 2014 to March 31, 2014.
Awards will be given out for all reviewers participating in the drive in the form of barnstars at the end of the drive.
There is a backlog of over 4500 articles, so start reviewing articles! Visit the drive's page and help out!
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Forum: Should Wikimedia modify its terms of use to require disclosure? About a week ago, the Wikimedia Foundation proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' terms of use to specifically ban paid editing, by adding a new clause titled "Paid contributions without disclosure". We have asked two users, one in favor of the measure (Smallbones) and one opposed (Pete Forsyth), to contribute their opinions on the matter.
Featured content: Odin salutes you Eight articles, three lists, and nine pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
WikiProject report: Racking brains with neuroscience This week, we found three Ph.D.s willing to give us a crash course on WikiProject Neuroscience.
Special report: Diary of a protester: Wikimedian perishes in Ukrainian unrest Ukraine has been gripped by widespread protests over the past three months. Due to a decision by former president Viktor Yanukovych—at Russia's urging—to abandon integration with the European Union, the country was (and in many ways still is) split between the Europe-favoring Ukrainian-speaking western half and the Russian-speaking east and south. Hundreds have died during the unrest, leaving thousands of family members and friends to bury their loved ones. This week our Wikimedian colleagues in Ukraine are facing that challenge after the death of one of their own.
News and notes: Wikimedia chapters and communities challenge Commons' URAA policy Following a trend started by Wikimedia Israel, Wikimedia Argentina has published an open letter challenging the recent deletion of hundreds of images from the Commons under its policy on URAA-restored copyrights, relating to the United States' 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
Traffic report: Snow big deal The 2014 Winter Olympics had more of an impact on the Top 25 than the Top 10, which had to shoulder old stalwarts like the death list, Reddit threads, TV shows and the eternal presence of Facebook; still, with four slots, it's the most searched topic on the list.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
And so ends the most competitive first round we have ever seen, with 38 points required to qualify for round 2. Last year, 19 points secured a place; before that, 11 (2012) or 8 (2011) were enough. This is both a blessing and a curse. While it shows the vigourous good health of the competition, it also means that we have already lost many worthy competitors. Our top three scorers were:
Godot13 (submissions), a WikiCup newcomer whose high-quality scans of rare banknotes represent an unusual, interesting and valuable contribution to Wikipedia. Most of Godot's points this round have come from a large set of pictures used in Treasury Note (1890–91).
Adam Cuerden (submissions), a WikiCup veteran and a finalist last year, Adam is also a featured picture specialist, focusing on the restoration of historical images. This month's promotions have included a carefully restored set of artist William Russell Flint's work.
Hahc21 (submissions), who helped take Thirty Flights of Loving through good article candidates and featured article candidates, claiming the first first featured article of the competition.
Cwmhiraeth (submissions), who takes the title of the contributor awarded the highest bonus point multiplier (resulting in the highest scoring article) of the competition so far. Her high-importance salamander, now a good article, scored 108 points.
After such a competitive first round, expect the second round to also be fiercely fought. Remember that any content promoted after the end of round 1 but before the start of round 2 can be claimed in round 2, but please do not update your submission page until March (UTC). Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page. Remember, if two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points equally.
If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 00:01, 1 March 2014 (UTC)
A cup of coffee for you!
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Traffic report: Brinksmen on the brink There's nothing like a good old bit of Cold War nostalgia, combined with a suitably scary international incident, to focus our attention on the real world. That said, nothing could stem our outpouring of affection for the beloved comedian Harold Ramis, whose death managed to top the week in the face of those international concerns.
News and notes: Wikipedia Library finding success in matching contributors with sources This week, the Signpost caught up with the Wikipedia Library (TWL), which aims to connect reference resources with Wikipedia editors who can use them to improve articles. Funded through the Wikimedia Foundation's Individual Engagement Grants program, TWL has a new "visiting scholars" initiative and a microgrants program in the works.
Featured content: Full speed ahead for the WikiCup The WikiCup competition is ongoing, while six articles, three lists, and ten pictures were promoted to "featured" status of the English Wikipedia this week.
WikiProject report: Article Rescue Squadron This week, the Signpost delved into the English Wikipedia's Article Rescue Squadron.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
News and notes: Wikimedians celebrate International Women's Day, Women's History Month Wikimedians around the world gathered to celebrate Women's History Month and the associated International Women's Day by holding editathons. If you lived in the United Kingdom, you had the opportunity to attend Wikimedia UK's event at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, part of University College London and host to one of the largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts in the world.
Traffic report: War and awards An intensely busy week, as a confluence of celebratory, curious and urgent topics pushed typical residents like Facebook and Deaths in 2014 out of the top ten entirely.
Featured content: Ukraine burns Five articles, two lists, and 52 pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
WikiProject report: Russian WikiProject Entomology This week, we interviewed Anaxibia from the Russian-language Entomology WikiProject.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Forum: Wikimedia Commons mission: free media for the world or only Wikimedia projects? Non-US editors and chapters have taken issue with a multitude of image deletions done on the Wikimedia Commons to comply with the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, a US law that brought the country into compliance with the Berne Convention.
WikiProject report: We have history This week, we visited WikiProject History, an ancient project with roots dating back to 2001. The project is home to 196 pieces of Featured material and 483 Good and A-class articles independent of the vast accomplishments of its various child projects. WikiProject History maintains a lengthy list of tasks, oversees the history portal, and continues to build Wikipedia's outline of history.
Featured content: Spot the bulldozer Twelve articles, fourteen lists, and six pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
News and notes: Foundation-supported Wikipedian in residence faces scrutiny One of the first university Wikipedian in residence positions, hosted at Harvard University in 2012, has jumped back into the spotlight amid questions about its ethical integrity.
Traffic report: Into thin air The utterly mystifying events surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which has not fallen from the sky so much as vanished from it entirely, has left an information-starved public scrambling for precedents, some logical, some... not.
Technology report: Wikimedia engineering report The Wikimedia engineering report for February 2014 has been published. A summarized version is also available. Major news include
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Comment: A foolish request April Fools' Day is rapidly approaching. Every year, members of the community pull pranks and make (or attempt to make) humorous edits to pages across the project. Every year, the community follows April Fools' Day with a contentious debate about whether or not it is necessary to impose limits on April Fools' Day jokes for future years. It is a polarizing issue.
Traffic report: Down to a simmer Topics like the 2014 Crimea crisis or the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 eased down the list, making way for such traditional topics as St Patrick's Day, Reddit threads and even Google Doodles, which have reappeared after a long absence.
Recent research: Wikipedians' "encyclopedic identity" dominates even in Kosovo debates Have you wondered about differences in the articles on Crimea in the Russian, Ukrainian, and English versions of Wikipedia? A newly published article entitled "Lost in Translation: Contexts, Computing, Disputing on Wikipedia" doesn't address Crimea, but nonetheless offers insight into the editing of contentious articles in multiple language editions through a heavy qualitative examination of Wikipedia articles about the Kosovo in the Serbian, Croatian, and English editions.
News and notes: Commons Picture of the Year—winners announced Results for the two-stage 2013 Commons Picture of the Year have been announced. This year's winning photograph (above) shows a lightbulb that has been cracked, allowing inert gas to escape—and oxygen to enter, so that the tungsten filament burns. From the flames rise elegant curls of blue smoke.
Featured content: Winter hath a beauty that is all his own Four articles, two lists, and twelve pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
Op-ed: Why we're updating the default typography for Wikipedia On 3 April, we will roll out some changes to the typography of Wikipedia's default Vector skin, to increase readability for users on all devices and platforms. After five months of testing, four major iterations, and through close collaboration with the global Wikimedia community, who provided more than 100 threads of feedback, we’ve arrived at a solution which improves the primary reading and editing experience for all users.
Technology report: Why will Wikipedia look like the Signpost? As you have probably read on this weeks op-ed, or via various other channels of announcement, 3 April will see the introduction of the Typography refresh (or update) for the Vector skin on all Wikipedias. Other projects like Commons will have this update rolled out a few days prior.
WikiProject report: From the peak This week, the Signpost interviewed the English Wikipedia's Mountains WikiProject.
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A quick update as we are half way through round two of this year's competition. WikiCup newcomer Godot13 (submissions) (Pool E) leads, having produced a massive set of featured pictures for Silver certificate (United States), an article also brought to featured list status. Former finalist Adam Cuerden (submissions) (Pool G) is in second, which he owes mostly to his work with historical images, including a number of images from Urania's Mirror, an article also brought to good status. 2010 champion (Pool C) is third overall, thanks to contributions relating to naval history, including the newly featured Japanese battleship Nagato. Cliftonian (submissions), who currently leads Pool A and is sixth overall, takes the title for the highest scoring individual article of the competition so far, with the top importance featured article Ian Smith.
With 26 people having already scored over 100 points, it is likely that well over 100 points will be needed to secure a place in round 3. Recent years have required 123 (2013), 65 (2012), 41 (2011) and 100 (2010). Remember that only 64 will progress to round 3 at the end of April. Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page; if two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points equally. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 22:55, 31 March 2014 (UTC)
Participation: Thanks to all who participated in the drive and helped out behind the scenes. 42 people signed up for this drive and 28 of these completed at least one article. Final results are available here.
Progress report: Articles tagged during the target months of December 2012 and January 2013 were reduced from 177 to 33, and the overall backlog was reduced by 13 articles. The total backlog was 2,902 articles at the end of March. On the Requests page during March, 26 copy edit requests were completed, all requests from January 2014 were completed, and the length of the queue was reduced by 11 articles.
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News and notes: Wikimedia conferences—soul-searching about costs, attendance, and future The run-up to the conference has seen the unfolding of two fractious threads on the Wikimedia public mailing list, both of which may serve as background for the last session at Berlin: "Future of the Wikimedia Conference".
WikiProject report: Deutschland in English This week, we visited with WikiProject Germany.
Special report: On the cusp of the Wikimedia Conference The annual Wikimedia Conference is about to start in Berlin, hosted by Wikimedia Germany, which won the bid to hold the event over three others. This will be the fifth time the chapter has hosted the Wikimedia Conference—it did so from 2009 to 2012, with attendance ranging from 100 to 180 Wikimedians. This year 160 people are expected at the four-day event, which is mainly for representatives of affiliated Wikimedia organisations. The conference has been built around two themes: Organisation, structures, and grants and Success and impact.
Featured content: April Fools The Signpost's "Featured content" writers had a bit of fun this week.
Traffic report: Regressing to the mean The mysterious fate of MH370 still tops the list, but in all other respects our readership has retreated from the real world into its pop-cultural happy place: TV, movies, music, Reddit and Google Doodles all made an appearance.
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News and notes: Round 2 of FDC funding open to public comments Community review is open for the four applications in the second and final round of applications to the WMF's Funds Dissemination Committee for 2013–14. Three eligible organisations have applied for funding under the newly named "annual program grants": Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Norway, and the India-based Centre for Internet and Society, which last November was recognised as eligible to apply for FDC funding purposes.
WikiProject report: WikiProject Law This week, we interviewed the Law WikiProject.
Special report: Community mourns passing of Adrianne Wadewitz "I remember laughing and talking and laughing and talking at Wikimania 2012. I took this picture of her that she used for a long while as a profile pic. Someone on Facebook said it looked 'skepchickal', which she loved."
Traffic report: Conquest of the Couch Potatoes Television has always been a topic of choice on this site, but it exploded this week. Fully six slots were devoted to television shows, as the final episode of How I Met Your Mother, one of the most popular Wikipedia searches of the last few years, coincided with the season finale of The Walking Dead and the upcoming fourth season of Game of Thrones. The number rises to 8 if movies released on video and new TV tech are are included.
Featured content: Snow heater and Ash sweep Five article, five lists, and ten pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.
Participation: Out of 17 people who signed up for this blitz, eight copy-edited at least one article. Thanks to all who participated! Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here.
Latest comment: 12 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
Special report: 2014 Wikimedia Conference—what is the impact? The annual Wikimedia Conference wound up last Sunday, 13 April—a four-day meeting costing several hundred thousand dollars, hosted in Berlin by Wikimedia Germany and attended by more than 100 Wikimedians.
Op-ed: Five things a Wikipedian in residence can do Hey you—yeah you, the Wikipedian! Do you want to help a museum, a library, a university, or other organization explore ways to engage with Wikipedia? Great—you should offer your expertise as a Wikipedian in residence!
News and notes: Wikimedian passes away Cynthia Ashley-Nelson, who edited as "Cindamuse" on the Wikimedia projects, passed away in her sleep at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin on 10 April.
Wikimania: Winning bid announced for 2015 After just over a month of deliberation, the Wikimania jury has selected Wikimedia Mexico's bid to host Wikimania 2015 in Mexico City, with a proposed date of 15–19 July.
Traffic report: Reflecting in Gethsemane If I were the kind of person who made snap judgments based on flimsy evidence, I'd say our readership is in a funk.
Featured content: There was I, waiting at the church Fourteen articles, four lists, seven pictures, and one topic attained "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.
Done Ronhjones (Talk) 18:58, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
