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Joined 21 December 2019
Latest comment: 9 days ago by MediaWiki message delivery in topic Administrators' newsletter – July 2026
Administrators' newsletter – February 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2025).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversighter changes
Technical news
- Administrators can now nuke pages created by a user or IP address from the last 90 days, up from the initial 30 days. T380846
- A '
Recreated' tag will now be added to pages that were created with the same title as a page which was previously deleted and it can be used as a filter in Special:RecentChanges and Special:NewPages. T56145
Arbitration
- The arbitration case Palestine-Israel articles 5 has been closed.
The Signpost: 7 February 2025
edit- Recent research: GPT-4 writes better edit summaries than human Wikipedians
But an open language model is ready to help.
- News and notes: Let's talk!
The WMF executive team delivers a new update; plus, the latest EU policy report, good-bye to the German Wikipedia's Café, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- Opinion: Fathoms Below, but over the moon
Editor Fathoms Below reminisces over their successful RfA from February 2024.
- In the media: Wikipedia is an extension of legacy media propaganda, says Elon Musk
Plus, reports on the ARBPIA5 case, new concerns over projects targeting Wikipedia editors, John Green gets his sponsor flowers, and other news.
- Community view: 24th Wikipedia Day in New York City
Wikimedians and newbies celebrate 24 years of Wikipedia in the Brooklyn Central Library. Special guests Stephen Harrison and Clay Shirky joined in conversation.
- Arbitration report: Palestine-Israel articles 5 has closed
Ending with some bans, and a new set of editing sanctions.
- Traffic report: A wild drive
The start of the year was filled with a few unfortunate losses, tragic disasters, emerging tech forces and A LOT of politics.
* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * Sent manually via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 05:44, 7 February 2025 (UTC)
The Signpost: 27 February 2025
edit- News and notes: Administrator elections up for reapproval and 1bil GET snagged on Commons
French Wikipedia defends a user against public threats, steward elections, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- Serendipity: Guinea-Bissau Heritage from Commons to the World
"The only time I ever took photos in my entire life".
- Technology report: Hear that? The wikis go silent twice a year
From patrolling new edits to uploading photos or joining a campaign, you can count on the Wikimedia platform to be up and running — in your language, anywhere in the world. That is, except for a couple of minutes during the equinoctes.
- In the media: The end of the world
Or just the end of Wikipedia as we know it?
- Recent research: What's known about how readers navigate Wikipedia; Italian Wikipedia hardest to read
Of "hunters", "busybodies" and "dancers".
- Opinion: Sennecaster's RfA debriefing
User Sennecaster shares her thoughts on her recent RfA and the aspects that might have played a role in making it successful.
- Tips and tricks: One year after this article is posted, will every single article on Wikipedia have a short description?
What are they? Why are they important? How can we make them better? And what can you do to help?
- Community view: Open letter from French Wikipedians says "no" to intimidation of volunteer contributors
Liberté, liberté chérie.
- Traffic report: Temporary scars, February stars
Grammys, politics and the Super Bowl.
- Essay: The source, the whole source, and nothing but the source
Straight from the source's mouth. A source is a source, of course, of course!
- Obituary: Ümüt Çınar (Kmoksy) and Vinícius Medina Kern (Vmkern)
Turkish linguist wrote about languages and plants; Brazilian informaticist studied Wikimedia projects and education.
Administrators' newsletter – March 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2025).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversighter changes
Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment is open to discuss whether AI-generated images (meaning those wholly created by generative AI, not human-created images modified with AI tools) should be banned from use in articles.
- A series of 22 mini-RFCs that double-checked consensus on some aspects and improved certain parts of the administrator elections process has been closed (see the summary of the changes).
- A request for comment is open to gain consensus on whether future administrator elections should be held.
Technical news
- A new filter has been added to the Special:Nuke tool, which allows administrators to filter for pages in a range of page sizes (in bytes). This allows, for example, deleting pages only of a certain size or below. T378488
- Non-administrators can now check which pages are able to be deleted using the Special:Nuke tool. T376378
Miscellaneous
- The 2025 appointees for the Ombuds commission are だ＊ぜ, Arcticocean, Ameisenigel, Emufarmers, Faendalimas, Galahad, Nehaoua, Renvoy, Revi C., RoySmith, Teles and Zafer as members, with Vermont serving as steward-observer.
- Following the 2025 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: 1234qwer1234qwer4, AramilFeraxa, Daniuu, KonstantinaG07, MdsShakil and XXBlackburnXx.
The Signpost: 22 March 2025
edit- From the editor: Hanami
It's an ecstasy, my spring.
- Opinion: Talking about governments editing Wikipedia
Let them know what you think!
- News and notes: Deeper look at takedowns targeting Wikipedia
Read this, then forget all about it.
- In the media: The good, the bad, and the unusual
Life on the Wiki as usual!
- Recent research: Explaining the disappointing history of Flagged Revisions; and what's the impact of ChatGPT on Wikipedia so far?
And WMF invites multi-year research fund proposals
- Traffic report: All the world's a stage, we are merely players...
The Oscars, politics, and death elbow for the most attention.
- Gallery: WikiPortraits rule!
The photographers are the celebrities!
- Essay: Unusual biographical images
And very unusual biographical images.
- Obituary: Rest in peace
Send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
Administrators' newsletter – April 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2025).
Administrator changes
Bureaucrat changes
CheckUser changes
Oversighter changes
Miscellaneous
- Sign up for The Core Contest, a competition running from 15 April to 31 May to improve vital articles.
The Signpost: 9 April 2025
edit- Special report: Wikipedian and physician Ziyad al-Sufiani reportedly released from Saudi prison
Fellow doctor Osama Khalid remains behind bars for "violating public morals" by editing.
- In focus: WMF to explore "common standards" for NPOV policies; implications for project autonomy remain unclear
Major changes to core content policy, or still-developing plan for new initiative?
- In the media: Indian judges demand removal of content critical of Asian News International
Defeat, or just a setback?
- News and notes: 35,000 user accounts compromised, locked in attempted credential-stuffing attack
Plus: 30-year anniversary of wiki software commemorated.
- Op-ed: How crawlers impact the operations of the Wikimedia projects
Our content is free, our infrastructure is not!
- Opinion: Crawlers, hogs and gorillas
What is to be done?
- Debriefing: Giraffer's RfA debriefing
Advice to aspirants: "Read RfA debriefs", including this one.
- Obituary: RHaworth, TomCat4680 and PawełMM
Rest in peace.
- Traffic report: Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, off to report we go...
Snow White sinking, Adolescence soaring, spacefarers stranded, this list has it all!
- News from Diff: Strengthening Wikipedia’s neutral point of view
The Wikimedia Foundation's announcement from Diff.
- Comix: Thirteen
Gadzooks!
The Signpost: 1 May 2025
edit- News and notes: India cut off from Wiki money; WMF annual plan and Wikimedia programs seek comment
As always, Wikimedia community governance relies on user participation; plus, more updates from the Wikimedia world
- In the media: Feds aiming for WMF's nonprofit status
Scrapers, an Indian lawsuit, and a crash-or-not-crash?
- Recent research: How readers use Wikipedia health content; Scholars generally happy with how their papers are cited on Wikipedia
And other new research findings.
- Arbitration report: Sysop Tinucherian removed and admonished by the ArbCom
And don't bite those newbies!
- Discussion report: Latest news from Centralized discussions
And don't bite those newbies!
- Traffic report: Of Wolf and Man
Television dramas, televised sports, film, the Pope, and ... bioengineering at the top of the list?
- Disinformation report: At WikiCredCon, Wikipedia editors and Internet Archive discuss threats to trust in media
Community volunteers network among themselves and use technology to counter attacks on information sharing.
- News from the WMF: Product & Tech Progress on the Annual Plan
A look at some product and tech highlights from the Wikimedia Foundation's Annual Plan (July–December 2024).
- Humour: Crisis erupts as furious admins, functionaries complain about crappy t-shirts
Hey! At least it is something!
- Comix: By territory
Zounds!
- In focus: Using AI on the Russian Wikipedia: opportunities or challenges?
Would a billion articles be a good idea?
- Community view: A deep dive into Wikimedia
There's a lot more to this than you think.
- Debriefing: Barkeep49's RfB debriefing
I wonder about having crats, but decided to become one anyway.
- Gallery: Meet the winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2024
Just beautiful photos!
- Obituary: JarrahTree, JohnClarknew and Yashthepunisher
Rest in Paradise.
Administrators' newsletter – May 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2025).
Administrator changes
Rusalkii
NaomiAmethyst (overlooked last month)
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, administrator elections were permanently authorized on a five-month schedule. The next election will be scheduled soon; see Wikipedia talk:Administrator elections for more information. This is an alternate process to the RfA process and does not replace the latter.
- An RfC was closed with consensus to allow editors to opt-out of seeing "sticky decorative elements". Such elements should now be wrapped in {{sticky decoration wrapper}}. Editors who wish to opt out can follow the instructions at WP:STICKYDECO.
- An RfC has resulted in a broad prohibition on the use of AI-generated images in articles. A few common-sense exceptions are recognized.
Miscellaneous
- A New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in May 2025 to reduce the backlog of articles in the new pages feed. Sign up here to participate!
The Signpost: 14 May 2025
edit- News and notes: WMF to kick off new-CEO quest as Iskander preps to move on — Supreme Court nixes gag of Wiki page for other India court row on ANI — code-heads give fix-up date for Charts in lieu of long-dead Graph gizmo
And comment is requested on a privacy whitepaper.
- In the media: Wikimedia Foundation sues over UK government decision that might require identity verification of editors worldwide
And other courtroom drama.
- Disinformation report: What does Jay-Z know about Wikipedia?
And how he knows it: all about lawyer letters and editing logs.
- In focus: On the hunt for sources: Swedish AfD discussions
Why the language barrier is not the only impediment to navigating sources from another culture.
- Technology report: WMF introduces unique but privacy-preserving browser cookie
And QR codes for every page!
- Debriefing: Goldsztajn's RfA debriefing
When an editor is ready to become staff at a public library (not a brother in a fraternity).
- Obituary: Max Lum (User:ICOHBuzz)
Rest in peace.
- Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 2)
The technology behind it, and the other stuff.
- Comix: Collection
Gadzooks!
- From the archives: Humor from the Archives
And more.
Administrators' newsletter – June 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2025).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- An RfC is open to determine whether the English Wikipedia community should adopt a position on AI development by the WMF and its affiliates.
Technical news
- A new feature called Multiblocks will be deployed on English Wikipedia on the week of June 2. See the relevant announcement on the administrators' noticeboard.
- History merges performed using the mergehistory special page are now logged at both the source and destination, rather than just the source as previously, after this RFC and the resolution of T118132.
Arbitration
- An arbitration case named Indian military history has been opened. Evidence submissions for this case close on 8 June.
Miscellaneous
- Voting for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) election is open until 17 June 2025. Read the voting page on Meta-Wiki and cast your vote here!
- An Articles for Creation backlog drive is happening in June 2025, with over 1,600 drafts awaiting review from the past two months. In addition to AfC participants, all administrators and new page patrollers can help review using the Yet Another AFC Helper Script, which can be enabled in the Gadgets settings. Sign up here to participate!
- The Unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in June 2025 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!
The Signpost: 24 June 2025
edit- News and notes: Happy 7 millionth!
Admins arrested in Belarus.
- In the media: Playing professor pong with prosecutorial discretion
Pardon our alliteration!
- Disinformation report: Pardon me, Mr. President, have you seen my socks?
A get-out-of-jail card!
- Recent research: Wikipedia's political bias; "Ethical" LLMs accede to copyright owners' demands but ignore those of Wikipedians
And other new research publications.
- Traffic report: All Sinners, a future, all Saints, a past
Holy men and not-as-holy movies.
- News from Diff: Call for candidates is now open: Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
Get your self-nomination in by July 2nd!
- Opinion: Russian Wiki-fork flails, failing readers and editors
After two years RuWiki fails to thrive.
- Debriefing: EggRoll97's RfA2 debriefing
With some sweet-and-sour sauce!
- Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 3)
Every thing you need to know about the Wikimedia Foundation?
- Comix: Hamburgers
Egad!
Administrators' newsletter – July 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2025).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following a talk page discussion, speedy deletion criterion G13 has been amended to remove "Userspace with no content except the article wizard placeholder text."
- WP:Manual of Style/Superscripts and subscripts was upgraded to a guideline following a RfC discussion.
Miscellaneous
- The 2025 Developing Countries WikiContest will run from 1 July to 30 September. Sign up now!
- Administrator elections will take place this month. Administrator elections are an alternative to RFA that is a gentler process for candidates due to secret voting and multiple people running together. The call for candidates is July 9–15, the discussion phase is July 18–22, and the voting phase is July 23–29. Get ready to submit your candidacy, or (with their consent) to nominate a talented candidate!
The Signpost: 18 July 2025
edit- News and notes: Is no WikiNews good WikiNews? — Election season returns!
Endowment tax form, Wikimania, elections, U4C, fundraising and a duck!
- In the media: How bad (or good) is Wikipedia?
And how do we know?
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Medicine reaches milestone of zero unreferenced articles
Five-year journey comes to healthy fruition.
- In focus: Wikimania 2025: Connecting Wikimedians across the world for 20 years
Wikimedians from around the world will gather in person and online at the twentieth annual meeting of Wikimania.
- Recent research: Knowledge manipulation on Russia's Wikipedia fork; Marxist critique of Wikidata license; call to analyze power relations of Wikipedia
As well as "hermeneutic excursions" and other scientific research findings.
- News from the WMF: Form 990 released for the Wikimedia Foundation’s fiscal year 2023-2024
The report covers the Foundation's operations from July 2023 - June 2024
- Discussion report: Six thousand noticeboard discussions in 2025 electrically winnowed down to a hundred
A step towards objective and comprehensive coverage of a project nearly too big to follow.
- Comix: Divorce
Drawn this century!
- Opinion: Women are somewhat under-represented on the English-language Wikipedia, and other observations from analysis
How data from the Wikipedia "necessary articles" lists can shed new light on the gender gap
- Community view: A Deep Dive Into Wikimedia (part 4): The Future Of Wikimedia and Conclusion
Annual plans, external trends, infrastructure, equity, safety, and effectiveness. What does it all mean?
- Obituary: Pvmoutside, Atomicjohn, Rdmoore6, Jaknouse, Morven, Martin of Sheffield, MarnetteD, Herewhy, BabelStone
Rest in peace.
- Traffic report: God only knows
Wouldn't it be nice without billionaires, scandals, deaths, and wars?
- Humour: New forum created for people who don't care about Wikipedia
If you are too blasé for Mr. Blasé and don't give a FAC.
Administrators' newsletter – August 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2025).
Administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following a request for comment, a new speedy deletion criterion, G15, has been enacted. It applies to pages generated by a large language model (LLM) without human review.
- Following a request for comment, there is a new policy outlining the granting of permissions to view the IP addresses of temporary accounts. Temporary account deployment on the English Wikipedia is currently scheduled for September 2025, and editors can request access to the permission ahead of time. Admins are encouraged to keep an eye on the request page; there will likely be a flood of editors requesting the permission when they realize they can no longer see IP addresses.
Technical news
- Administrators can now restrict the "Add a Link" feature to newcomers. The "Add a Link" Structured Task helps new account holders get started with editing. Administrators can configure this setting in the Community Configuration page.
Arbitration
- The arbitration case Indian military history has been closed.
- South Asia (WP:CT/SA) is designated a contentious topic. The topic area is specifically defined as
All pages related to the region of South Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal), broadly construed, including but not limited to history, politics, ethnicity, and social groups.
- The contentious topic designations for Sri Lanka (SL) and India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan (IPA) are folded into this new contentious topic.
- The community-authorized general sanctions regarding South Asian social groups (GS/CASTE) are rescinded and folded into this new contentious topic.
- South Asia (WP:CT/SA) is designated a contentious topic. The topic area is specifically defined as
- The arbitration case Article titles and capitalisation 2 has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case closed on 31 July.
- The arbitration case Transgender healthcare and people has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case will close on 11 August.
Miscellaneous
- Wikimania 2025 is happening in Nairobi, Kenya, and online from August 6 to August 9. This year marks 20 years of Wikimania. Interested users can join the online event. Registration for the virtual event is free and will remain open throughout Wikimania. You can register here now.
The Signpost: 9 August 2025
edit- News and notes: Court order snips out part of Wikipedia article, editors debate whether to frame shreds or pulp them
Plus a mysterious CheckUser incident, and the news with Wikinews.
- Discussion report: News from ANI, AN, RSN, BLPN, ELN, FTN, and NPOVN
A review of June, July and August.
- Disinformation report: The article in the most languages
Who is this guy?
- Community view: News from the Villages Pump
Threads since June.
- In the media: Disgrace, dive bars, deceased despots, and diverse dispatches
And slop.
- Crossword: Accidental typography
It's not a conlang, it's a crossword puzzle.
- Comix: best-laid schemes o' wikis an' men
gang aft agley, an' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy!
- Traffic report: I'm not the antichrist or the Superman
Everybody's Somebody's Fool.
(This message was sent to User talk:CupcakePerson13 and is being posted here due to a redirect.)
Administrators' newsletter – September 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2025).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- An RfC is open on whether use of emojis with no encyclopedic value in mainspace and draftspace (e.g., at the start of paragraphs or in place of bullet points) should be added as a criterion under G15.
Technical news
- Administrators can now access the Special:BlockedExternalDomains page from the Special:CommunityConfiguration list page. This makes it easier to find. T393240
Arbitration
- The arbitration case Article titles and capitalisation 2 has been closed.
- An RfC is in progress to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the Arbitration Committee election and resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
The Signpost: 9 September 2025
edit- News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation loses a round in court
UK Online Safety Act remains undefeated.
- In the media: Congress probes, mayor whitewashed, AI stinks
Plus Wiki rules, Wiki Spin, and physicists get street cred!
- Disinformation report: A guide for Congress
The price of Liberty is eternal vigilance.
- Recent research: Minority-language Wikipedias, and Wikidata for botanists
And other new research findings.
- Technology report: A new way to read Wikisource
Tis true: there's magic in the web of it.
- Traffic report: Check out some new Weapons, weapon of choice
With the usual mix of war, death, super heroes, a belt, and Wednesday.
- Essay: The one question
It's an easy one.
(This message was sent to User talk:CupcakePerson13 and is being posted here due to a redirect.)
The Signpost: 2 October 2025
edit- News and notes: Larry Sanger returns with "Nine Theses on Wikipedia"; WMF publishes transparency report
This time "not merely negative".
- In the media: Extraordinary eruption of "EVIL" explained
Wickedpedia wrangles post-truth politics.
- Disinformation report: Emails from a paid editing client
Unexpected news!
- Discussion report: Sourcing, conduct, policy and LLMs: another 1,339 threads analyzed
Fifty hot topics from fourteen noticeboards.
- Community view: The pressing questions of the modern WWW, as seen from the Village Pump
Policy, politics, icons, captchas, and LLMs.
- Recent research: Is Wikipedia a merchant of (non-)doubt for glyphosate?; eight projects awarded Wikimedia Research Fund grants
And other recent publications.
- Opinion: Some disputes aren't worth it
When to walk away.
- Obituary: Michael Q. Schmidt
Rest in peace.
- Traffic report: Death, hear me call your name
Celebrities, deaths and software.
- Comix: A grand spectacle
All invited!
(This message was sent to User talk:CupcakePerson13 and is being posted here due to a redirect.)
Administrators' newsletter – October 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2025).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Arbitration
- After a motion, arbitration enforcement page protections no longer need to be logged in the AELOG. A bot now automatically posts protections at WP:AELOG/P. To facilitate this bot, protection summaries must include a link to the relevant CT page (e.g.
[[WP:CT/BLP]]), and you will receive talk page reminders if you forget to specify the contentious topic but otherwise indicate it is an AE action.
The Signpost: 20 October 2025
edit- News and notes: Board shuffles, LLM blocks increase, IPs are going away
And the "Global Resource Distribution Committee" emerges.
- Special report: The election that isn't
Two shortlisted WMF Board candidates removed from the ballot.
- Interview: The BoT bump
Who was bumped and why?
- In the media: An incident at WikiConference North America; WMF reports AI-related traffic drop and explains Wikipedia to US conservatives
...while Musk prepares to launch "Grokipedia".
- Traffic report: One click after another
Serial-killer miniseries, deceased scientist, government shutdowns and Sandalwood hit "Kantara" crowd the tubes.
- Humour: Wikipedia pay rates
Don't get too excited before you read this.
(This message was sent to User talk:CupcakePerson13 and is being posted here due to a redirect.)
Administrators' newsletter – November 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2025).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Guideline and policy news
- The speedy deletion criteria U5 has been repealed, with U6 and U7 replacing it. See the FAQ for more clarifications.
- Community-designated contentious topics may now be enforced and appealed at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard (AE) as a result of an RfC.
Technical news
- You can enable a handy user info card next to usernames, which when clicked displays edit count, blocks, thanks, and other information. To enable this feature, visit Preferences → Appearance → Advanced options →
Enable the user info card
Arbitration
- The arbitration case Transgender healthcare and people has been closed
- Uninvolved administrators may impose an AE participation restriction on any thread at the Arbitration Enforcement noticeboard.
Miscellaneous
- An unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in November 2025 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!
The Signpost: 10 November 2025
edit- News and notes: Temporary accounts go live and WMF board member self-suspends
ArbCom elections draw close, and Wikimania '27 in Santiago.
- Community view: Six Wikipedians' thoughts on Grokipedia, and the humanity of it all
It ain't a five course meal, according to one of our interviewees.
- Wikicup report: BeanieFan11, WikiCup victor of 2025, covers the results
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
- In the media: Jimbo's book, an argument about genocide, and a train of shame
Wikipedia's new rival, political controversy in Italy and other Wiki-reports.
- Recent research: Taking stock of the 2024–2025 research grants
$400,000 USD in total funding: what did we get?
- Opinion: With Grokipedia, top-down control of knowledge is new again
Does it shed any light on particular topics that are better suited to LLM-generation than others?
- Obituary: Struway
Rest in peace.
- Traffic report: The documentaried, the disowned, the deceased, Diwali and the Dodgers
You know your man is working hard, he's worth a deuce.
- Comix: Head of steam
'Sblood!
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ArbCom 2025 Elections voter message
editHello! Voting in the 2025 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 1 December 2025. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.
If you wish to participate in the 2025 election, please review the candidates and submit your choices on the voting page. If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:46, 18 November 2025 (UTC)
The Signpost: 1 December 2025
edit- News and notes: Election cycles come and go, and Wikimedia Foundation achieves record revenue in 2024–2025!
Admin and ArbCom elections upcoming, BoT elects two new members, task force advises to close Wikinews and keep Wikispore, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- In the media: Wales walk-off, antisemitism, supernatural powers, feminism turmoil, saints, and sex
Plus mammoth mummy sex-change operation completed!
- Recent research: At least 80 million inconsistent facts on Wikipedia – can AI help find them?
And other recent publications about contradictions and retractions.
- Disinformation report: Epstein email exchanges planned strategy, edits and reported progress
At work on Wikipedia whitewashing. How much should they be paid?
- Traffic report: It's a family affair
Even in these times there is something to be thankful for!
- Book review: The Seven Rules of Trust
Jimmy Wales and Dan Gardner write a book inspired by Wikipedia. What's in it?
- From the archives: "I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein ..."
The twists and turns of Epstein’s portrayal on Wikipedia.
- Humour: An interview with Wikipe-tan
A conversation about being the mascot of Wikipedia.
- Opinion: AI finds errors in 90% of Wikipedia's best articles
Using ChatGPT to fact-check a month's worth of Today's featured articles.
- Serendipity: Highlights from the itWikiCon 2025
A recap of the latest convention of the Italian Wiki-community, held in Catania from 7–9 November.
- Comix: Madness
It could happen to anyone.
(This message was sent to User talk:CupcakePerson13 and is being posted here due to a redirect.)
Administrators' newsletter – December 2025
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2025).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Technical news
- Starting on November 4, the IP addresses of logged-out editors are no longer being publicly displayed. Instead, they will have a temporary account associated with their edits.
- Administrators will now find that Special:MergeHistory is now significantly more flexible about what it can merge. It can now merge sections taken from the middle of the history of the source (rather than only the start) and insert revisions anywhere in the history of the destination page (rather than only the start). T382958
Miscellaneous
- The December 2025 administrator elections are scheduled from Nov 25 – Dec 15.
- An Articles for Creation backlog drive is happening in December 2025, with over 1,000 drafts awaiting review from the past two months. In addition to AfC participants, all administrators and new page patrollers can help review using the Yet Another AFC Helper Script, which can be enabled in the Gadgets settings. Sign up here to participate!
The Signpost: 17 December 2025
edit- Interview: Part 1: Bernadette Meehan
Say hello to the new WMF CEO.
- News and notes: We're gonna have a party!
And a new WMF CEO!
- In the media: The "bigg" bosses: Robertsky and the Pope
Pay up, big guys!
- Traffic report: Death and stranger things
And going for the FIFA prize!
- Gallery: A feast of holidays and carols
Something old and something new!
- Obituary: Michal Lewi (Iwelam) and Alan R. King (A R King)
Rest in peace.
- Concept: List of xxtreme sports (redirected from Electrojousting)
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- Comix: display: flex-inline;
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Administrators' newsletter – January 2026
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2025).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversight changes
Guideline and policy news
- All general sanctions imposed by the community may now be enforced at the Arbitration Enforcement noticeboard (WP:AE) as a result of a recent RfC.
- Due to the result of a recent RFC, the administrator recall process is amended to extend the deadline for a re-request for adminship to 30 days or the next administrator election, whichever is later.
- Changes to the Access to Temporary Account IP Addresses Policy's disclosure rules include broadening the consecutive-blocks exception to cover all admin actions and removing the requirement to revision-delete permissible disclosures once they become unnecessary (instead requiring only their removal). See WP:TAIVDISCLOSE for more information.
Arbitration
- Following the 2025 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been elected to the Arbitration Committee: Aoidh, Asilvering, Girth Summit, Guerillero, HJ Mitchell, HouseBlaster, Izno, Sdrqaz, SilverLocust.
- The arbitration case Pbsouthwood has been suspended.
The Signpost: 15 January 2026
edit- News and notes: Wikipedia's 25th anniversary is here!
Where does the time go?
- Special report: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call
The internet is booming. We are not.
- Serendipity: The WMF wants to buy you books!
Really! A major triumph.
- WikiProject report: Time for a health check: the Vital Signs 2026 campaign
The campaign to get all of our top-importance medical articles up to B-class or above.
- In the media: Fake Acting President Trump and a Wikipedia infobox
D.J.T. assumes a new position.
- Community view: The inbox behind Wikipedia
What the Volunteer Response Team actually does!
- Recent research: Art museums on Wikidata; comparing three comparisons of Grokipedia and Wikipedia
And other research.
- Traffic report: Tonight I'm gonna rock you tonight
A world in white gets underway.
- Comix: Oh come on man.
Really?
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The Signpost: 29 January 2026
edit- Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2025
Everybody had a hard year, everybody had a good time.
- News and notes: Good news... but also bad news for the Public Domain
Benvenuto Betty Boop, arrivederci Italian Photos.
- News from Diff: Solving puzzles together
Maryana Iskander says farewell.
- In the media: Every view on the 25th anniversary of everything
Media about hard-core nerds, a place with paragraphs, baby globes, and wikipedes.
- Comix: Perspectives
Everybody has one.
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Administrators' newsletter – February 2026
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2026).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Arbitration
- Due to the result of a recent motion, a rough consensus of administrators at the arbitration enforcement noticeboard may impose an expanded topic ban on Israel, Israelis, Jews, Judaism, Palestine, Palestinians, Islam, and/or Arabs, if an editor's Arab-Israeli conflict topic ban is determined to be insufficient to prevent disruption. At least one diff per area expanded into should be cited.
Miscellaneous
- Voting in the 2026 Steward elections started on 06 February 2026 at 14:00 (UTC) and will end on 27 February 2026 at 14:00 (UTC). The confirmation process for current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
The Signpost: 17 February 2026
edit- In the media: Global powers see Wikipedia as fundamental target for manipulation
Attempted Wikipedia shenanigans apparent from Epstein, AI, various governments.
- News and notes: Discussions open for the next WMF Annual Plan
Plus, WikiFlix going places, steady progress on older FAs and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- Serendipity: Maintenance crews continue to slog through Wikipedia's oldest Featured Articles
Hundreds of old FAs have been triaged since project began, but thousands remain — and they need reviewers.
- Disinformation report: Epstein's obsessions
The sex offender's attempts to whitewash Wikipedia run deeper than we first thought.
- Technology report: Wikidata Graph Split and how we address major challenges
A personal perspective on a major update to the Wikimedia social machine.
- Traffic report: Deaths, killings, films, and the Olympics
I'll have the usual!
- Opinion: Incoming Incurables
A poem for Wikipedia Day 2026.
- Crossword: Pop quiz
Sharpen your pencil. How well do you really know Wikipedia?
- Comix: herculean
efforts.
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Administrators' newsletter – March 2026
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2026).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversight changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, the web archival service archive.today has been deprecated; links to the site should be removed.
- A request for comment is open to discuss retiring CSD criterion R3 in favour of handling such redirects through RfD.
Arbitration
- Following a motion, remedy 9.1 of the Conduct in deletion-related editing case has been amended to limit TenPoundHammer to one XfD nomination or PROD per 24-hour period.
- Following a motion, the Iskandar323 further POV pushing motion has been rescinded.
- The Arbitration Committee has passed a housekeeping motion rescinding a number of outdated remedies and enforcement provisions across multiple legacy cases. In most instances, existing sanctions remain in force and continue to be appealable through the usual processes, while some case-specific remedies were amended or clarified.
Miscellaneous
- Following the 2026 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: A09, AmandaNP, Barras, Count Count, M7, SHB2000, Teles and VIGNERON.
- An Unreferenced articles backlog drive is taking place in March 2026 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!
The Signpost: 10 March 2026
edit- Interview: Bernadette Meehan, new Wikimedia Foundation CEO
Part 2.
- News and notes: Security testing unleashes computer worm on Meta-wiki
Dormant worm awakes; a sketchy archiving site struck; ether burns.
- Special report: What actually happened during the Wikimedia security incident?
A horrifying exploit took place, which could have had catastrophic and far-reaching consequences if used maliciously; instead, it seems to have happened by accident and was used for childish vandalism. How did this happen, and what did the script actually do?
- In the media: Indonesian government blocks Wikimedia logins; archive site scoured from Wikipedia after owner runs malware
As well as controversy over LLM translations.
- Recent research: To wiki, perchance to groki
Comparisons continue.
- Obituary: Madhav Gadgil, Fredrick Brennan, Mark Miller, Chip Berlet
Rest in peace.
- Opinion: Interface administrators and trusting trust
Potential attacks are the logical consequence of giving a group of users unlimited control over JavaScript.
- Technology report: English Wikipedia deprecates archive.today after DDoS against blog, altered content
After the archive site launched a DDoS campaign against a small blog in January 2026, a request for comment was started, with consensus to deprecate the site used almost 700 thousand times.
- Op-ed: Why is "Trypsin-sensitive photosynthetic activities in chloroplast membranes" cited in "List of tallest buildings in Chicago"?
The answer is slop.
- Essay: The pursuit of a button click
Volunteering for Wikipedia has its rewards. The thank-button, for example.
- In focus: Short descriptions: One year later
A discussion of the challenge set forth to the Wikipedia community one year ago!
- WikiProject report: Unreferenced articles backlog drive
Unreferenced articles in English Wikipedia - help us in the backlog drive!
- Community view: Speaking of planning ...
The WMF planning process is underway.
- Traffic report: Over the mountain, kissing silver inlaid clouds
Death and the Winter Olympics.
- Crossword: "It will never happen"
Want to take a break?
- Comix: BRIEn't
Or is it.
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The Signpost: 31 March 2026
edit- News and notes: Entirety of Wikinews to be shut down
All languages to be shut down in May; first AI agent blocked; new name for AfD?
- In the media: AI ban, newspapers disrupt archiving; and antisemitism complaints
Perennial challenges with AI, demographic representation, and attacks from people buying media influence.
- Community view: Videos from WikiConference North America 2025 in NYC
In attendees' own words.
- Disinformation report: Cleaning up after Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Nygard, and Mohamed Al-Fayed
Countering the edits of the rich and dangerous.
- WikiConference report: WikiConference North America 2025 in NYC review
About the conference series, and this conference particularly.
- Obituary: Dr. Subas Chandra Rout
Rest in peace.
- Traffic report: Call in the dogs of war, soldier of fortune
Though of course the picture needs to be Chuck Norris...
- Gallery: Canadian Rangers participate in Operation Enduring Encyclopedia
Analogies between how Wikipedia works and how Canada works.
- Comix: n00bsitting
...!
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Administrators' newsletter – April 2026
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2026).
Administrator changes
Checkuser changes
Oversight changes
Guideline and policy news
- The content of Wikipedia:Writing articles with large language models has been updated following a request for comment. It now prohibits using LLMs to generate content, with exceptions for translation and copy-editing.
Arbitration
- Following a motion, the GSCASTE extended-confirmed restriction in the Indian military history case has been narrowed. It now applies to caste-related topics in South Asia, and the preemptive protection remedy has been amended accordingly.
- The arbitration case Pbsouthwood has been closed.
- The arbitration case Maghreb has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case will close on 7 April.
The Signpost: 21 April 2026
edit- News and notes: Six Serbian Wikipedia editors banned following controversy about political bias
Plus, new bans for AI-generated content in place, a new drop in active admins, pranks on pranks, May admin election, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- In the media: Could Wikipedia be involved in Massachusetts' proposed social media ban for minors?
Another regulate-the-internet attempt casts a wide net.
- Gallery: March equinox
The progression of seasons in March.
- Traffic report: Time to change my galaxy in case, we outta space!
What catches the reader's eye? Death and film, per usual, and a loop around the moon per unusual.
- Comix: Of skirts and articles
When significant coverage is only skin deep.
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Administrators' newsletter – May 2026
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2026).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversight changes
Guideline and policy news
Technical news
- Changes to user permissions made from Meta are now included in the local user permissions log (T6055).
- The autoconfirmed user group will soon be modified such that the four-day account age requirement begins when an account makes its first edit (T418484).
Arbitration
- The arbitration case SchroCat has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case closed on 15 April.
- Per a recent motion, appeals of blocks from the conflict-of-interest VRT queue are, by default, appealed on-wiki through the normal unblock process. However, they may be heard by the Committee if COIVRTers disagree on the interpretation of the evidence or believe ArbCom would be better suited to hear the appeal. Administrators are also advised that loosening or lifting such blocks without the consent of someone with access to the queue or ArbCom can be grounds for desysopping.
- Per a recent motion, restrictions issued directly by the Committee may now be enforced with blocks which work exactly like contentious topic blocks.
- The arbitration case Maghreb has been closed.
Miscellaneous
- The May 2026 administrator elections are scheduled to run from April 29 to May 19. The call for candidates ends May 5.
- The 2026 Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) election is scheduled to run from April 25 to June 1. Candidacy submissions close on May 10.
- A new noticeboard for non-urgent, batch page protection requests has been created, primarily for the enforcement of contentious topic restrictions.
The Signpost: 22 May 2026
edit- News and notes: Offline: Osama Khalid still in prison
He has been imprisoned since 2020 for his Wikipedia edits. A fresh campaign is calling for his release.
- In the media: Indonesian editors, you shall return!
And lawspam, may you be away.
- Disinformation report: Who is a typical paid editor? Who are their typical clients?
Remember the golden rule!
- Recent research: WikiLambda the Ultimate
Does Abstract Wikipedia help fight "One ring to rule them all" solutions for knowledge access - or does it implement one itself?
- Traffic report: This is where I'll be, so heavenly, so come and dance with me Michael!
A real off the wall thriller, invincible, can't beat it, or is it dangerous and just bad?
- Forum: WikiAnnotate: help us build a dataset of article quality evaluations
A research project to build better automated article assessment tools.
- In focus: Demystifying the 2026-27 Annual Plan
A guide to WMF's Tech Annual Plan for the next year.
- Opinion: Wikipedia isn't a battleground. So why does it feel like one?
Do we really have to fight?
- Serendipity: Wikinews: Into the Wikiverse
The early suggestions for what the wiki could have been.
- Special report: Wikimedia Foundation closes Wikinews after 21 years
Displaces 700 active editors among 31 language editions.
- Community view: Wikipedia's traffic drop: more on languages and freshness
Which topics are dropping, and is the pattern the same everywhere?
- Gallery: Earth Day and Mother's Day
Earth Day was on 22 April, and Mother's Day was on 10 May (in the US and many other countries).
- Comix: Brother, can you spare a page?
What would you say?
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Administrators' newsletter – June 2026
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2026).
Administrator changes
Bureaucrat changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, the "persistent usage of large language models" has been included as a common reason for a block.
Technical news
- Mandatory 2FA for bureaucrats: Bureaucrats without two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled have already lost access to their advanced rights on 26 May. Those who do not enable 2FA may be automatically removed from the groups in mid-June 2026, and from that point onward, new members must have 2FA enabled before they can be added. (T423119, T423120)
Arbitration
- The arbitration case SchroCat has been closed.
- The arbitration case Michael Jackson has opened. Evidence submissions in this case closes on 1 June.
Miscellaneous
- Voting for the 2026 Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) election closes on 1 June.
The Signpost: 21 June 2026
edit- From the editors: Ways for beginners to support The Signpost community journalism
Pointing the way to your contribution to The Signpost!
- News and notes: Community Tech development team disbanded
And English Wikipedia reaches a milestone in number of highly active editors.
- Disinformation report: PR for the people?
Or, "PR using PR for PR"?
- Recent research: Proposed tagging system for AI involvement; successful and unsuccessful AI tools for contributors
And other new research publications.
- In the media: Who won a 14th century battle and who won the 2026 Iran war?
Media take issue with portrayals of recent and medieval history on Wikipedia. Plus a team supporting Wikipedians gets dissolved, and a few other things.
- Community view: Putting the Wish into the Wishlist
A history of the Wikimedia community's request process to Foundation developers.
- In focus: A global standard for Neutral Point of View
Wikipedians are commenting on a proposed global standard for neutral point of view.
- On the bright side: Flowers, blue helmets, reefs, pride, and Juneteenth
Nice things around the world.
- Op-ed: Breathe, Don’t Panic, there is a different story about Wikimedia + AI futures
We can build a strategy about AI that doesn't just center on readers; there are still plenty of humans to write the encyclopedia and work on diverse global knowledge.
- Opinion: Wikimedia Foundation staff develop union and Wikimedia user community reacts
Why should editors support the Wiki Workers United union drive? Lessons the Wikimedia movement can learn from other labor struggles.
- Technology report: Community Tech team is disbanded, controversy erupts
WMF disbands Community Tech, sparking community backlash over the future of the Wishlist and concerns about unionization.
- Traffic report: 'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
Horror movies and Michael Jackson dominate theaters in the lead-up to the World Cup.
- WikiConference report: Report of Volunteer Supporters Network Annual Meeting 2026
Outreach staff of Wikimedia chapters host a global discussion.
- Comix: Take your turn
In a maze of twisty little edits, all alike.
- Humour: Group of banned T-shirt makers comes out of hiding to sell new Wikipedia-themed merchandise
It ain't WikiProject United Nations, but you will find some PUNs.
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Administrators' newsletter – July 2026
editNews and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2026).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversight changes
Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment asks whether the criteria for autoconfirmed and extended confirmed should be modified.
- A request for comment proposes an addendum for the Real name section of the Username policy.
Technical news
- The special page Special:RangeCalculator has been created for any users to use to find an IP range. (phab:T268429)
- The "indefinitely" button in Special:Block for temporary accounts can be replaced with a preferred block duration stated on MediaWiki:ipb-indefinite-expiry-temporary-account. (phab:T427125)
Arbitration
- Following a series of motions, changes to the contentious topics procedure to restructure awareness have been implemented.
- The arbitration case Michael Jackson has been closed.
Miscellaneous
- The 2026 Developing Countries WikiContest will run from 1 July to 30 September. Sign up now!
- 10 candidates have been appointed to the U4C.