User talk:Reach Out to the Truth/Archives/4
Latest comment: 10 years ago by MediaWiki message delivery in topic The Signpost: 12 August 2015
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Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now create books on almost all wikis. It doesn't work yet on wikis using the language converter.
- VisualEditor had problems with categories in Safari. It sometimes moved or removed the categories. The issue is now fixed.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since March 4. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 10. It will be on all Wikipedias from March 11 (calendar).
- In VisualEditor the "Edit beta" button is now called "Edit" on the English Wikipedia.
- The feedback tool in VisualEditor now looks like the other tools. It also asks for information about your browser to help fix bugs.
- You now see the VisualEditor toolbar even if the rest of the page is still loading.
- You now see more information when you edit a link, a reference or other items in VisualEditor. You also see a clearer edit button in those tools.
- If you use the ContentTranslation tool you now see red links in the list of articles in other languages. The link is red if the article doesn't exist in the language of your options or of your browser. You can translate the article by clicking on the red link.
Meetings
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on March 11 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join a technical meeting in France in May. You can ask for help if you can't pay yourself.
Future changes
- You can get help to become a developer. You can learn more on the Google Summer of Code and Outreachy pages.
- You will soon be able to read technical reports in Phabricator.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:19, 9 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 11 March 2015
- Special report: An advance look at the WMF's fundraising survey
The Wikimedia Foundation gave the Signpost an advance copy of the results of a survey of English Wikipedia readers regarding Wikimedia fundraising, due for official release today.
- News and notes: WikiWomen's History Month—meetups, blog posts, and "Inspire" grant-making campaign
The community has arranged a number of commemorative initiatives focused on the gender gap, under the banner "WikiWomen's History Month".
- In the media: Gamergate; a Wiki hoax; Kanye West
ThinkProgress tech reporter Lauren C. Williams wrote a long article on how the Gamergate controversy has spilled over onto Wikipedia.
- In focus: WMF to NSA: "stop spying on Wikipedia users"
In an effort to protect and maintain the privacy of Wikipedia's thousands of editors, the Wikimedia Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the United States' National Security Agency, Department of Justice, and the Attorney General.
- Traffic report: Wikipedia: handing knowledge to the world, one prank at a time
A dull week, with only three new entries in the top 10; a UFC champion, a Google Doodle and a Hindu festival involving people throwing powder at each other (though that does sound fun).
- Featured content: Here they come, the couple plighted –
Six featured articles, three featured lists, and forty featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Op-ed: Why the Core Contest matters
I continue to be excited about the Core Contest because I see it as a way of encouraging the expansion of broad articles that are typically neglected by our article improvement incentives.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- The servers that resize images are using new software. You should report new problems that you notice with images.
- You can now see lists of bugs about Commons, Wikisource and Wiktionary.
- It is now easier to add special characters in VisualEditor. You can edit the list of characters for your wiki.
Problems
- Wikis were broken for a few minutes on Thursday due to a code error.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since March 11. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 17. It will be on all Wikipedias from March 18 (calendar).
- A puzzle piece icon (
) now shows hidden templates in VisualEditor. You can edit the template by clicking the icon. For example, you can now edit anchor templates. - You can now add examples, and details about old parameters, in TemplateData.
Meetings
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on March 18 at 23:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- The list of bad user names on your wiki will no longer work. The global list will replace it. You can ask to add rules for bad user names on Meta.
- You can comment on how you want to see Wikidata edits in your watchlist on other wikis.
- The final steps of single user login (SUL) will happen in April. You can see the rules to rename accounts.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:15, 16 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 18 March 2015
- From the editor: A salute to Pine
We announce with sadness and gratitude that Signpost publication and newsroom manager Pine will be stepping back to focus on other Wikipedia and Wikimedia-related endeavors.
- News and notes: SUL finalization imminent; executive office shake-ups at the Foundation
This process is now entering its long-awaited final phase with the upcoming SUL finalization, scheduled for April 15, less than a month away. ... Wikimedia Foundation chief talent and culture officer Gayle Karen Young announced her retirement from the Foundation this week. Young will be replaced in that role by interim chief operating officer Terry Gilbey. According to the Foundation's job description for the title as it was applied in the past, Gilbey will be in charge of "overall administration and business operations of the Wikimedia Foundation."
- In the media: NYPD editing articles regarding allegations of police brutality and misconduct
On March 13, Kelly Weill of Capital New York revealed that numerous Wikipedia edits originated from 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the NYPD. Most of the attention has focused on a number of their edits to articles about incidents of alleged police brutality and controversial police practices.
- Op-ed: Does the Wikimedia fundraising survey address community concerns?
The publication of the Wikimedia survey findings on fundraising questions came three months after significant concerns were voiced about the design and wording of the December 2014 fundraising banners and e-mails.
- Featured content: A woman who loved kings
Four featured articles, four featured lists, and thirty-five featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: It's not cricket
If not for Kayne West's dubious repeat at #1, the 2015 Cricket World Cup (#2) would have made the top spot, albeit in a generally slow news week.
.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since March 18. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 24. It will be on all Wikipedias from March 25 (calendar).
- The text of a reference is now more visible when you click on it. It has a blue background. Many wikis already have the blue color. Those wikis can now remove it from their CSS page.
- VisualEditor is now much faster. For many users it is now at least as fast as the wikitext editor.
- When you add a list of references in VisualEditor, you now see it right away. You can still change its group by editing it.
Meetings
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on March 25 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- Talk pages using "LiquidThreads" on mediawiki.org will soon use the new system.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:10, 23 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost – Volume 11, Issue 12 – 25 March 2015
- News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation adopts open-access research policy
Last week the WMF announced the release of its long-awaited open-access policy.
- Op-ed: How my father's railroad image collection now benefits the world: the value of digitization
Once when I was young, growing up in the 1990s, my father pulled his collection of railroad slides out from the basement, set up his projector, and shared a glimpse into American railway history with our family.
- Featured content: A carnival of animals, a river of dung, a wasteland of uncles, and some people with attitude
Four featured articles, three featured lists, and twenty-two featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Special report: Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year 2014
The Wikipedia Commons annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded, with 6,698 people voting, its largest participation yet.
- Traffic report: Oddly familiar
This week's list is reminiscent of lists from the early days of this project: a preponderance of famous faces, Reddit threads, and Google Doodles.
- Recent research: Most important people; respiratory reliability; academic attitudes
The authors attempt to answer the question "Who are the most important people of all times?" Their findings clearly show that different Wikipedias give different prominence to different individuals.
- Blog: The Wikipedia Library Team reflects on its new Visiting Scholars program
A university gives a top Wikipedia editor free and full access to the university library's entire online content—and the Wikipedia editor, who is unpaid and not on campus, then creates and improves Wikipedia articles in a subject area of interest to the institution.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now hide site banners even if you don't have an account.
- You can now add citations more easily with VisualEditor on the French and Italian Wikipedia. The tool adds the information when you add some types of links. In the future you will be able to add this tool to your wiki.
- All sites should now be faster if you have a recent browser.
- You could see a serious bug when editing some templates with VisualEditor. It was fixed quickly.
- VisualEditor could break when you edited an image. The issue was fixed quickly.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since March 25. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from March 31. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 1 (calendar).
- VisualEditor is now the main editing tool on 53 more Wikipedias.
- You can now edit the mobile site of all wikis without an account.
- You can test a new tool on the beta mobile site on the English Wikipedia. With the new tool, you can create lists of articles.
- You can now see that VisualEditor is opening even if you're not looking at the top of the page.
- VisualEditor doesn't leave empty titles with just nowiki tags any more.
Meetings
- You can join a meeting with the Wikidata team. The meeting will be on IRC on March 31 at 16:00 (UTC).
- You can read the notes from the last meeting with the VisualEditor team.
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 1 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:18, 30 March 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost, 1 April 2015
- In focus: WMF's latest strategy document shows successes, vagueness, and the need for better data
The Wikimedia Foundation this week released a State of the WMF report, a 38-page "snapshot" of where it is and where it wants to go in the future.
- In the media: Wiki-PR duo bulldoze a piñata store; Wifione arbitration case; French parliamentary plagiarism
TruthRevolt targets another editor; edit stage right; the Nine Best Hoaxes to Have Hit Wikipedia
- Featured content: Stop Press. Marie Celeste Mystery Solved. Crew Found Hiding In Wardrobe.
Six featured articles, first featured lists, and twenty-four featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: All over the place
The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention.
- News and notes: New edits-by-mail option will "revolutionize" Wikipedia and its editor base
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will announce later today that it will begin accepting edits by mail for all of the projects under its scope, including Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons.
- Special report: Pictures of the Year 2015
The Wikimedia Commons' annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded. The first 53 top-voted entries were disqualified because they were all nude.
The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter, Q1 2015
The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter
Volume 8, No. 1 — 1st Quarter, 2015
Previous issue | Index | Next issue 
Project At a Glance
As of Q1 2015, the project has:
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The Signpost: 01 April 2015
- In focus: WMF's latest strategy document shows successes, vagueness, and the need for better data
The Wikimedia Foundation this week released a State of the WMF report, a 38-page "snapshot" of where it is and where it wants to go in the future.
- In the media: Wiki-PR duo bulldoze a piñata store; Wifione arbitration case; French parliamentary plagiarism
TruthRevolt targets another editor; edit stage right; the Nine Best Hoaxes to Have Hit Wikipedia
- Featured content: Stop Press. Marie Celeste Mystery Solved. Crew Found Hiding In Wardrobe.
Six featured articles, first featured lists, and twenty-four featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: All over the place
The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention.
- News and notes: New edits-by-mail option will "revolutionize" Wikipedia and its editor base
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will announce later today that it will begin accepting edits by mail for all of the projects under its scope, including Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons.
- Special report: Pictures of the Year 2015
The Wikimedia Commons' annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded. The first 53 top-voted entries were disqualified because they were all nude.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can join a new email list for important news about Wikimedia Labs.
- You can read the last monthly report. In the future you can read team reports every three months. You can see current work on the roadmap.
- The number of articles in Special:Statistics is now updated once a month.
- You can use a new version of the Wikipedia app for Android. Using the app, you can now share a fact with your friends.
Problems
- The import tool was broken for a few days. Imports didn't add log entries. You can delete and import pages again if necessary.
- Labs was broken several times this week.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 1. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from April 7. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 8 (calendar).
- You can now add the same special characters with VisualEditor as with the wikitext editor.
- Many bugs around copy-paste in VisualEditor are now fixed.
- You can now use basic tools of VisualEditor in the new talk tool. You can add links, bold and italics. You can also mention people.
Meetings
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 8 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- You can again comment on how you want to see Wikidata edits in your watchlist on other wikis.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:42, 6 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 08 April 2015
- Op-ed: We are drowning in promotional artspam
Wikipedia has been gravitating towards a vehicle for business and product promotion for too long.
- News and notes: Advancement department to be created at the Foundation, milestone fixes
March saw a number of high-level hirings and executive reorganizations in the Wikimedia Foundation.
- In the media: Wikipedia on 60 Minutes, Kickstarter, and in the classroom
The venerable CBS news program 60 Minutes profiled Wikipedia and the Wikimedia community.
- Traffic report: Resurrection week
How appropriate that the theme of Easter week would be resurrection from the dead.
- Featured content: Partisan arrangements, dodgy dollars, a mysterious union of strings, and a hole that became a monument
Four featured articles, seven featured lists, and 23 featured pictures were promoted this week.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Christianity
With Holy Week having recently drawn to a close, it is an apt time to examine WikiProject Christianity, which was created in 2006, and boasts over 200 active members.
- Arbitration report: New Functionary appointments
The Committee has voted on the 2015 appointments to the Functionary team.
- Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can read the latest news about VisualEditor.
- You can now use the new translation tool on 22 Wikipedias. You now see the tool the first time you create a new page.
- The list of bad user names on your wiki no longer works. The global list replaces it. You can ask to add rules for bad user names on Meta.
Problems
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 8. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from April 14. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 15 (calendar).
- Developers will start to rename 1.5 million accounts on Wednesday. After that all accounts will be unique and will work on all wikis.
- All users can now test link previews ("Hovercards") on several Wikipedias.
Meetings
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meetings you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 15 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
16:41, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 15 April 2015
- News and notes: Erik Möller leaving Foundation; annual plan grants under community review
The Wikimedia Foundation's vice president for engineering, Erik Möller, will leave the WMF on April 30.
- In the media: Saving Wikipedia; Internet regulation; Thoreau quote hoax
Time profiles Lila Tretikov, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, and paints a grim picture of the challenges faced by Tretikov and the encyclopedia.
- Blog: Single-User Login provides access to all wikis
Later this month, everyone will be able to use the same user name on every wiki, thanks to Single-User Login.
- Traffic report: Furious domination
If it wasn't for Easter, Fast and Furious related articles would have taken the top four spots this week. The latest installment of the movie franchise, Furious 7, tops the chart for the second straight week.
- Featured content: Au-delà de les Alpes, le chien lit de Sainte Bernard. Sous les pavés, les trimes d'argent! Mes enfants, suivez-moi!
Six featured articles, four featured lists, and fourteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- There was sometimes a problem when saving a page in VisualEditor. It is now fixed on all wikis.
- VisualEditor sometimes showed empty warnings for wikis using Flagged Revisions. This is now fixed on all wikis.
- You can get the new version of the Wikipedia app for iOS. With it you can share facts with your friends.
- If you write JavaScript, you should stop using importScript and importStylesheet.
Problems
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 15. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from April 21. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 22 (calendar).
- Developers are renaming 1.5 million accounts. After that all accounts will be unique and will work on all wikis.
- If your wiki has the auto-fill tool for citations, you can now use it when you edit a reference.
- You can now give examples for template options in TemplateData.
Meetings
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 22 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- You will soon be able to add and remove tags on edits.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:30, 20 April 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 22 April 2015
- Special report: Sony emails reveal corporate practices and undisclosed advocacy editing
A Signpost investigation of the released data has revealed Sony's corporate practices regarding Wikipedia and uncovered what appears to be undisclosed advocacy editing of Wikipedia by Sony employees and possibly by others.
- In the media: UK political editing; hoaxes; net neutrality
Wikipedia appears to have been drawn into the drama of the upcoming, hotly contested UK general election.
- News and notes: Call for candidates as the movement approaches the Wikimedia Board elections
The Affiliates Committee this week announced the organization of a community referral for comment, currently open on the meta-wiki, to address upcoming changes to the way that the Affiliations Committee will review movement-affiliated user-groups in the future.
- In focus: 2015 Wikimedia Foundation election preparations underway
2015 will see through the biennial community election for the three community-elected seats on the Board of Trustees—the "ultimate corporate authority" of the Wikimedia Foundation and the level at which the strategic decisions regarding the Wikimedia movement are made.
- Featured content: Vanguard on guard
Six featured articles and fifteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: A harvest of couch potatoes
Couch potatoes rule this week, as 9 of the top 10 slots were taken by either movies, TV, or sports.
- Gallery: The bitter end
The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- All accounts are now unique and work on all wikis.
- You can read a report from experts who tested the security of MediaWiki.
- There was a problem between VisualEditor and an antivirus software. It is now fixed.
- You can help test VisualEditor to see if it works in your language.
Problems
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 22. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from April 28. It will be on all Wikipedias from April 29 (calendar).
- It is now clearer that you can delete several rows and columns when you edit tables in VisualEditor.
- You now see more information when you search for a template in VisualEditor.
- You can now cancel when you add citations on desktop, or edit links on mobile, in VisualEditor.
- You can now see the list of other formats for videos only after they're ready.
Meetings
- You can join the next weekly meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on April 29 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:11, 27 April 2015 (UTC)
Support request with team editing experiment project
Dear tech ambassadors, instead of spamming the Village Pump of each Wikipedia about my tiny project proposal for researching team editing (see here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Research_team_editing), I have decided to leave to your own discretion if the matter is relevant enough to inform a wider audience already. I would appreciate if you could appraise if the Wikipedia community you are more familiar with could have interest in testing group editing "on their own grounds" and with their own guidance. In a nutshell: it consists in editing pages as a group instead of as an individual. This social experiment might involve redefining some aspects of the workflow we are all used to, with the hope of creating a more friendly and collaborative environment since editing under a group umbrella creates less social exposure than traditional "individual editing". I send you this message also as a proof that the Inspire Campaign is already gearing up. As said I would appreciate of *you* just a comment on the talk page/endorsement of my project noting your general perception about the idea. Nothing else. Your contribution helps to shape the future! (which I hope it will be very bright, with colors, and Wikipedia everywhere) Regards from User:Micru on meta.
The Signpost: 29 April 2015
- Wikimania: Choice of small village for Wikimania 2016 ruffles feathers
Esino Lario is set to host Wikimania 2016, but volunteers and others have raised a host of concerns that raise serious questions about the town's suitability for hosting such a large conference.
- News and notes: Wiki Loves Monuments evaluation sees diminishing returns and increasing cost
The evaluations reveal that in the last three years, WLM has possibly fallen victim to its own success and seen diminishing returns.
- In the media: Scottish MEP blocked for edit warring; ranking articles by importance
David Coburn, a Member of the European Parliament for the Scotland region for the UK Independence Party, was blocked from editing Wikipedia on April 6.
- Featured content: Another day, another dollar
Ten featured articles, nine featured lists, and twenty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: Bruce, Nessie, and genocide
Though the continued predominance of movies, TV, and sports noted in last week's report largely continues, three additional topics joined the Top 10 this week.
- Recent research: Military history, cricket, and Australia targeted in Wikipedia articles' popularity vs. quality; how copyright damages economy
Reader demand for some topics (e.g. LGBT topics or pages about countries) is poorly satisfied, whereas there is over-abundance of quality on topics of comparatively little interest, such as military history.
- Technology report: VisualEditor and MediaWiki updates
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now chat with other users in Phabricator.
- There was a rare problem with VisualEditor. The text of another wiki could be added to your edit. The issue is now fixed.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since April 29. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from May 5. It will be on all Wikipedias from May 6 (calendar).
- It is now easier to add a link in VisualEditor. You can see an image and a description about the page.
Meetings
- You can join a meeting with the Language team. The meeting will be on May 5 at 14:30 (UTC).
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on May 6 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join an event in France on May 22−25. You need to sign up before May 8.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:16, 4 May 2015 (UTC)
Reference errors on 7 May
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- On the The Tale of the Princess Kaguya page, your edit caused an unnamed parameter error (help). (Fix | Ask for help)
Please check this page and fix the errors highlighted. If you think this is a false positive, you can report it to my operator. Thanks, ReferenceBot (talk) 00:24, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 06 May 2015
- News and notes: "Inspire" grant-making campaign concludes, grantees announced
The Wikimedia Foundation this week announced the winning grantees in March's "Inspire" grant-making campaign.
- Featured content: The amorous android and the horsebreeder; WikiCup round two concludes
Seven articles, three lists, and ten pictures were promoted to "featured" status this week. The second round of the WikiCup has ended.
- In the media: Guggenheim image donation; Wiki campaign gets advertising award
artnet and The Next Web report (May 6) that the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is releasing a hundred images of works in its collection under Creative Commons licences in conjunction with a May 19 editathon.
- Special report: FDC candidates respond to key issues
Elections have begun for five community members of the Funds Dissemination Committee, the Foundation's volunteer body for judging and recommending millions of dollars worth of annual grants to affiliates in the movement. The election lasts just eight days, from Sunday 3 May until 23:59 UTC on Sunday 10 May, so at the time of publication, voters will need to act promptly.
- Traffic report: The grim ship reality
Like colliding ocean liners, rousing entertainment and harsh reality merged ungainly in this week's top 10 list. The much heralded pay-per-view pummeling of Manny Pacquiao by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. dominated the list's top slots, giving this list one of its highest total view counts in months.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now make charts and maps on your wiki with the new "graph" tool. If you have an old browser, you will see images instead. It uses a tool called Vega; you can learn how to use it and write help pages for your wiki. You can use the Vega edit tool to make charts and copy the code to your wiki. Charts and maps use complex code and you should put them into templates. In the future, you will be able to create charts with VisualEditor.
- You can apply for technical jobs to develop tools for the community.
- The logos of all wikis are now in a new place. It will make pages load faster. You can still ask to change the logo. You can also use local CSS for brief changes.
Problems
- There was a problem that caused slow editing.
- Pages were sometimes removed from your watchlist in VisualEditor. This problem is now fixed.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since May 6. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from May 12. It will be on all Wikipedias from May 13 (calendar).
- You can now use data from Wikidata on more pages. The page doesn't need to be linked to the Wikidata item. It works on a few wikis and more wikis will be added soon.
- You should get fewer errors when you add files to Commons.
- When you use an external link to link to a wiki page, VisualEditor now converts it to a wiki link.
- When you add a link in VisualEditor, you see pages that match what you type. It is now easier to see where they match.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on May 13 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:50, 11 May 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 13 May 2015
- Foundation elections: Board candidates share their views with the Signpost
Three community-elected seats on the Board of Trustees—the ultimate governing authority of the Wikimedia Foundation—will be decided by Wikimedians in the election to be held 17–31 May.
- News and notes: Swedish Wikimedia chapter organizes simultaneous Wikidata contests
This week has been a busy one for the Wikidata project, with nearly simultaneous Wikidata contests, both organized by Wikimedia Sweden, now underway.
- Traffic report: Round Two
Casual viewers may think I've posted the same list twice. But no, readers just happen to be really interested in May 2's Big Fight. In fact, last week was just the weigh-in and the trash talk. This week, the numbers actually increased.
- In the media: Grant Shapps story continues
Grant Shapps, who was the co-chairman of the UK's Conservative Party until this week, has been accused of maliciously editing the Wikipedia biographies of his party's rivals.
- Op-ed: What made Wikipedia lose its reputation?
There is a public misconception of Wikipedia: that any anonymous editor can edit Wikipedia at any time, and cannot be tracked or identified.
- Featured content: Four first-time featured article writers lead the way
Eight articles, one list, and five pictures were promoted to featured status on the English Wikipedia in a slow week.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can watch a video about the new graph tool.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since May 13. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from May 19. It will be on all Wikipedias from May 20 (calendar).
- References are now always in the right order. Also, the reference list now only shows references used on the page.
- You can no longer create an account with a colon ':' in it. If you already have one, it still works.
- The toolbar in VisualEditor now looks different. It is easier to see the icons.
- You won't be able to use e-mail lists for a few hours on Tuesday.
- UploadWizard now shows better matches when you add a category to your file.
- A test about VisualEditor will start on the English Wikipedia on Thursday.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on May 21 at 15:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join a technical meeting in France this week.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:27, 18 May 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 20 May 2015
- From the editor: Your voice is needed: strategic voting in the WMF election
The Wikimedia Foundation's bi-annual Board of Trustees election is open for voting. Of the ten seats on the board, three are elected representatives of the global Wikimedia community—you.
- In focus: The awful truth about Wikimedia's article counts
The article counts of many Wikimedia wikis suddenly changed on 29 March 2015: as the Signpost reported at the time, sixty-five wikis fell below milestones tracked at the Wikimedia News Meta page, and three increased to new milestones.
- Traffic report: Inner Core
The list is topped this week by Danish scientist Inge Lehmann, thanks to a Google Doodle celebrating her 127th birthday. Lehmann discovered in 1936 that the Earth has a solid inner core. It is sometimes surprising to realize how recently such basic scientific knowledge of the Earth, which we now take for granted, was discovered.
- News and notes: A dark side of comedy: the Wikipedia volunteers cleaning up behind John Oliver's fowl jokes
Wikipedia editors logging in on May 19 found themselves walking into an unexpected amount of anti-vandal work to keep the site in line with its extensive biographies of living persons policy. A plethora of Wikipedia articles related to the United States House Committee on Appropriations, and the fifty-one representatives serving on it, have been hit by a raft of anonymous editors making often vulgar edits referencing "chicken fucker," or more creative combinations: "sexual conduct", "sexual congress", "fornicator", "intimate relations", or "trysts with chickens."
- Featured content: Puppets, fungi, and waterfalls
Three articles, seven lists, and seven pictures were featured on the English Wikipedia.
- In the media: Jimmy Wales accepts Dan David Prize
Jimmy Wales and five others accepted the 2015 Dan David Prize at Tel Aviv University on May 17. The prize comes with US$1 million, ten percent of which goes to doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships.
- WikiProject report: Cell-ebrating Molecular Biology
This week, we had the pleasure of interviewing WikiProject Molecular and Cellular Biology, which has come a long way since our last interview in 2008. Like most projects, it has a long member list, but only a small subset of that group regularly contributes. With 28 featured articles and 58 top-importance start class ones, the project has clearly had some success, but has a ways to go. We talked to three regular project contributors.
- Arbitration report: Editor conduct the subject of multiple cases
The Arbitration Committee has an unusually large case load at present. Although perhaps not on a par with the high-profile, multi-party cases seen towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year, with five open cases the arbitrators are likely to be kept busy for the next several weeks.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Problems
- VisualEditor was broken for 30 minutes on Tuesday. The problem was due to a tool it uses.
- Some Labs tools had issues last week.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since May 20. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from May 26. It will be on all Wikipedias from May 27 (calendar).
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on May 28 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
- You can add your ideas of new tools to help active users like you.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
16:23, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Problems
- Many wikis were slow for a few hours on Wednesday due to a code error. Sometimes the pages did not load at all and showed an error.
- Some tools in Labs were broken on Wednesday and Thursday.
- Edit tags added by the software were broken on all wikis from May 23 to May 28.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki has been on test wikis and MediaWiki.org since May 27. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from June 2. It will be on all Wikipedias from June 3 (calendar).
- You won't be able to use e-mail lists for a few hours on Tuesday.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on June 3 at 18:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:39, 1 June 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 03 June 2015
- News and notes: Three new community-elected trustees announced, incumbents out
The Wikimedia Foundation's volunteer election committee has announced the election results for the three vacant seats on the Board of Trustees. Dariusz Jemielnak, James Heilman, and Denny Vrandečić are set to take up their two-year terms on the Board. They will replace the three incumbents, all of whom stood this time unsuccessfully: Phoebe Ayers, Samuel Klein, and María Sefidari.
- Blog: How Wikipedia covered Caitlyn Jenner’s transition
Caitlyn Jenner—the American hero of the 1976 Olympics, a film actor, and prominent member of Keeping Up with the Kardashians—may now be the most famous openly transgender person in the world.
- Discussion report: The deprecation of Persondata; RfA – A broken process; Complaints from users on Swedish Wikipedia
Since the dawn of Wikipedia, or at least since 22 December 2005, the template named Persondata has existed.
- Featured content: It's not over till the fat man sings
Two featured articles and ten featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Technology report: Things are getting SPDYier
Over the past few weeks, developers have been working on improving Wikimedia's performance when users connect to it using SPDY.
- Special report: Towards "Health Information for All": Medical content on Wikipedia received 6.5 billion page views in 2013
Wikipedia appears to be the single most used website for health information globally, exceeding traffic observed at the NIH, WebMD, WHO et al..
- In the media: Anonymous Australian editing targets football player, shooting victim
More UK government vandalism; legend has it; minding the gender gap
- Traffic report: A rather ordinary week
The traffic report is nothing unusual this week, with a Google Doodle for astronaut Sally Ride topping the list, the accidental death of famous mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. at #2, and the normal fare of recent popular American movies and television.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from June 9. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from June 10. It will be on all Wikipedias from June 11 (calendar).
- If you use the Monobook skin, the buttons and other controls now look more the same in VisualEditor and other tools.
- When you edit links and other items in VisualEditor, you now need to apply your change before closing the tool.
- The title of dialogs is now easier to see when it is near long buttons.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on June 9 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join a meeting with the Language team. The meeting will be on June 10 at 14:30 (UTC).
Future changes
- If you have a bot, you may need to fix it. The default continuation mode of the API for
action=querywill change at the end of June.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
17:03, 8 June 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 10 June 2015
- News and notes: Chapter financial trends analyzed, news in brief
This week saw the publication of the Chapter-wide Financial Trends Report 2013, a now-completed research project that examines the finances and outlays of the 36 movement-affiliated chapters.
- Traffic report: Two households, both alike in dignity
"Happy families are all alike," Leo Tolstoy said, "but unhappy families are unhappy after their own fashion."
- In the media: Arbitration case attracts media coverage; Wikipedia in Israel
UK media covers Wikipedia Arbitration case; Lila Tretikov visits Israel.
- Featured content: Just the bear facts, ma'am
Four featured articles, two featured lists, one featured topic, and twenty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Technology report: Wikimedia sites are going HTTPS only
Today it was announced that Wikimedia sites are going to become HTTPS only, finishing up 10 year effort of rolling out HTTPS.
- Blog: Making Wikipedia’s medical articles accessible in Chinese
The Medical Translation Project, an ambitious attempt to improve and translate Wikipedia’s medical content from English into other languages, began in 2012.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- Users have created more than 5000 articles with the new translation tool.
- Editing a page is now faster. This is because some statistics about edit filters were removed.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 16 June. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from 17 June. It will be on all Wikipedias from 18 June (calendar).
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on June 16 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
- You can join a meeting with the Wikidata team. It will be on June 19 at 16:00 (UTC).
Future changes
- Developers are working on a new tool to get and send newsletters. If you read or write a newsletter, share your ideas about it.
- If you use Pywikibot, soon you won't be able to use
compatanymore.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:04, 15 June 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 17 June 2015
- In the media: Wikipedia wins Asturias Prize; printing out Wikipedia; HTTPS switch
The Princess of Asturias Foundation announced that Wikipedia would be the recipient of the 2015 Princess of Asturias award in the category of International Cooperation.
- Arbitration report: An election has consequences
The Arbitration Committee delivered its final decision in a case that reached the attention of the UK national press.
- In focus: Three weeks to save freedom of panorama in Europe
This would end a long-standing tradition in many countries that the skyline and the public scene should belong to everybody.
- Op-ed: Making a difference in Wikipedia, one GA at a time
We need to be ever-diligent in ensuring that articles remain of high quality.
- Technology report: HTTPS-only rollout completed; proposal to enable VisualEditor for new accounts
The rollout of HTTPS only has now been completed across all Wikimedia wikis.
- Interview: A veteran’s Wikipedia edits help him understand the brutality behind Yugoslavia’s wars
We interviewed an Australian veteran who deployed to the region as a peacekeeper and now writes articles on the region's history to help him understand what he encountered there.
- News and notes: Labs outage kills tools, self; news in brief
A more than usually severe outage Wikimedia Labs occurred after a massive database corruption implosion on June 17.
- Featured content: Great Dane hits 150
Six featured articles, seven featured lists, and seven featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Discussion report: A quick way of becoming an admin
Author's note: This might be a violation of WP:BEANS; read at your own risk.
- WikiProject report: Western Australia speaks – we are back
It wouldn't be the WikiProject report if we didn't feature an Australian topic once in a while, so this week we're looking at the left side.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- Some wikis can now be used only with HTTPS. This includes the English, Russian and Chinese Wikipedias, among others. Soon all wikis will use only HTTPS for all users.
- You can't use HTTPS wikis with Internet Explorer 6 on Windows XP. You need to use another browser.
Problems
- On June 15, search was broken on all wikis for several hours.
- On June 16, images were broken for several hours on wikis that use InstantCommons.
- Many Labs tools were broken for several days. Almost all of them are back now. They may be missing some data for the last 10 days.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from June 23. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from June 24. It will be on all Wikipedias from June 25 (calendar).
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on June 23 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:24, 22 June 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 24 June 2015
- From the editor: The Signpost tagging initiative
Over more than a decade of weekly publication, The Signpost has accumulated an incredibly lengthy and detailed record about the issues, controversies, successes, and failures of the English Wikipedia community and the movement at large.
- Op-ed: Content Translation beta is coming to the English Wikipedia
The Wikimedia Foundation's Language Engineering team plans to introduce Content Translation—a tool that makes it easier to translate Wikipedia articles into different languages—as a beta feature on the English Wikipedia.
- Special report: Small impact of the large Google Translation Project on Telugu Wikipedia
During 2009–2011 Google ran the Google Translation Project (GTP), a program utilising paid translators to translate most popular English Wikipedia articles to various Indian language Wikipedias.
- Featured content: One eye when begun, two when it's done
Four articles and nine pictures were promoted to featured status this week.
- Recent research: How Wikipedia built governance capability; readability of plastic surgery articles
One paper looks at the topic of Wikipedia governance in the context of online social production.
- Technology report: 2015 MediaWiki architecture focus and Multimedia roadmap announced
This past week saw the kick-off of the 2015 MediaWiki architecture focus of improving our content platform.
- News and notes: Board of Trustees propose bylaw amendments
The Board of Trustees is the "ultimate corporate authority" of the Wikimedia Foundation and the level at which the strategic decisions regarding the Wikimedia movement are made ...
- In the media: Turkish Wikipedia censorship; "Can Wikipedia survive?"; PR editing
The Hürriyet Daily News reports that the Turkish Wikipedia has posted banners on the top of the encyclopedia to warn users that a number of articles are being blocked by the Turkish government.
- Blog: 7,473 volumes at 700 pages each: meet Print Wikipedia
After six years of work, a residency in the Canadian Rockies, endless debugging, and more than a little help from my friends, I have made Print Wikipedia.
- Arbitration report: Politics by other means: The American politics 2 arbitration
Clausewitz' pithy summary of warfare as "politics by other means" seems to be the motto of some Wikipedia editors.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- Long lines in code blocks now look better.
- You can now see graphs in VisualEditor.
- When you read a page on the mobile site, you can now see a link to go to its talk page.
- The code coloring tool has changed. You can now use many more languages. It now also works on mobile.
- You can look at a new site to learn how to reuse data from Wikimedia sites.
Problems
- JavaScript was broken on some wikis due to a code error. VisualEditor and other tools that use JavaScript were broken.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from June 30. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from July 1. It will be on all Wikipedias from July 2 (calendar).
- You can now use a tool in VisualEditor to add and edit code in color.
- When you edit a sentence in the Translate tool, it can show you older translations. They help you save time if they look alike. The older translations should now work better. If you see problems, you should report them.
- If you are an admin or have other special rights, you now need a strong password.
- Bot and JavaScript coders: The old continuation mode of the API for
action=querydoesn't work any more.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on June 30 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:56, 29 June 2015 (UTC)
The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter, Q2 2015
The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter
Volume 8, No. 2 — 2nd Quarter, 2015
Previous issue | Index | Next issue
Project At a Glance
As of Q2 2015, the project has:
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Content
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Project Navigation
To receive future editions of this newsletter, click here to sign up on the distribution list.
The Signpost: 01 July 2015
- News and notes: Training the Trainers; VP of Engineering leaves WMF
This week The Center for Internet and Society published a promotional blog post highlighting the heritage of the center's creation of the Train the Trainer program.
- In the media: EU freedom of panorama; Nehru outrage; BBC apology
A week now remains until the vote, expected on 9 July, when the European Parliament will express either its approval, disapproval, or lack of opinion on the question of freedom of panorama in the European Union.
- WikiProject report: Able to make a stand
Here to share their wisdom are Dodger67, Penny Richards, LilyKitty, and Mirokado of WikiProject Disability
- Featured content: Viva V.E.R.D.I.
Four featured list and twelve featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: We're Baaaaack
For the week of June 21 to 27, 2015, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages.
- Technology report: Technical updates and improvements
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community.
- Blog: These Texans are on a quest to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of their state’s revolution
Like many editors of the world's largest encyclopedia, Karanacs was browsing the site's articles and found that they were of relatively poor quality—and that the traditional narrative she'd learned was not necessarily accurate.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- On the mobile site, you now see more information when you search for a page. It now shows the description from Wikidata.
Problems
- The code of long pages is not colored any more. You may see this problem on the pages of long gadgets.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from July 7. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from July 8. It will be on all Wikipedias from July 9 (calendar).
- The "Page information" tool shows how many users watch the page. You can now see how many are active.
- You can now translate articles into English with the new translation tool.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on July 7 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:13, 6 July 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 08 July 2015
- Editorial: So you want to get your message out. Where do you turn?
It seems like a good time to discuss the various communications channels available to community members.
- News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation annual plan released, news in brief
Lila Tretikov this week posted an email to the wikimedia-l mailing list announcing the final publication of the Wikimedia Foundation's 2015 annual plan.
- In the media: Wikimania warning; Wikipedia "mystery" easily solved
The mayor of Esino Lario warns that Wikimedia 2016 is "at risk of disappearing".
- Traffic report: The Empire lobs back
It's July 4 weekend and on this list that means only one thing: Wimbledon. Sure, the American Independence Day gets noticed too, but it can't hold a candle to that staggeringly British sporting event.
- Featured content: Pyrénées, Playmates, parliament and a prison...
12 featured articles, 2 featured lists, and 15 featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Technology report: Tech news in brief
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now see a list of pages with errors in code coloring.
Problems
- There was a problem with editing on Thursday. Some tools like bots and VisualEditor were broken on all wikis for 10 minutes.
- There was a problem with images on Thursday. They were broken on all wikis for 15 minutes.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from July 14. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from July 15. It will be on all Wikipedias from July 16 (calendar).
Meetings
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:06, 13 July 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 15 July 2015
- Op-ed: On paid editing and advocacy: when the Bright Line fails to shine, and what we can do about it
"How long will this take?" This is one of the first questions new clients ask. They come to us because the Wikipedia entry about the company at which they work is wrong, incomplete, or even just outdated. The answer varies ...
- Traffic report: Belles of the ball
However coy they may be about it in public, Americans love to win. And when they do, they make no secret of it.
- WikiProject report: What happens when a country is no longer a country?
We return this week with an interview with a historical project that's still fairly active, WikiProject Former countries.
- In the media: Shapps requests WMUK data; professor's plagiarism demotion
In The Register, Andrew Orlowski reports that three weeks ago, Grant Shapps filed a request with Wikimedia UK (WMUK) under the Data Protection Act 1998 "for all data relating to him".
- Blog: Wikimedia Foundation releases third transparency report
The Wikimedia Foundation is pleased to announce the release of our latest transparency report.
- News and notes: The Wikimedia Conference and Wikimania
Wikimania 2015 is underway in Mexico City, and one of its sessions—a scheduled follow-up to the annual Wikimedia Conference that was held in Berlin in May—is good reason to provide a retrospective of that Conference.
- Featured content: When angels and daemons interrupt the vicious and intemperate
One featured article, seven featured lists, and 14 featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Technology report: Tech news in brief
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from July 21. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from July 22. It will be on all Wikipedias from July 23 (calendar).
- You now see more warnings in the image viewer. They tell you to be careful when using the image, for example if it shows a person.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on July 21 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
03:05, 21 July 2015 (UTC)
Potential edit warring in When Marnie Was There
Hello, you're invited and express your views on Talk:When Marnie Was There#Edits reverted without adding summary. Jotamide (talk) 18:40, 21 July 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 22 July 2015
- From the editor: Change the world
We want to take a moment to ask you to consider contributing to the Signpost.
- News and notes: Wikimanía 2016; Lightbreather ArbCom case
Wikimania features remarks from some leading players from the Wikimedia Foundation as well as the free knowledge movement.
- Wikimanía report: Wikimanía 2015 report, part 1, the plenaries
WMF's Executive Director, Lila Tretikov, gave the opening plenary address.
- In the media: Novelists annotate Wikipedia; Wales promotes TPO; Working for free
Three novelists "have found a way to control the Wikipedia narrative" by using the annotation website Genius to annotate their own Wikipedia articles.
- Traffic report: The Nerds, They Are A-Changin'
Summary:When I was a kid, being a nerd meant wanting to go to Pluto.
- WikiProject report: Some more politics
WikiProject Politics of the United Kingdom
- Featured content: The sleep of reason produces monsters
Three featured articles, two featured lists, and 29 featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Gallery: "One small step..."
46 years ago this week, humanity set foot on the Moon.
- Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- You can now use redirects to link to JavaScript pages.
- You cannot use the compact user bar any more.
- You can change your options to see bigger images.
- You can watch short videos about how to use VisualEditor.
- You can now edit pages linked in "what links here" more easily.
Problems
- There was a problem with some Lua modules on July 22 and 23. Some pages using them did not list them in "what links here". You can fix those pages with a null edit: edit and save the page without making any change.
- There was a problem with the abuse filter page on big wikis on July 23. It was due to a code error.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from July 28. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from July 29. It will be on all Wikipedias from July 30 (calendar).
- JavaScript authors: You cannot use
wgNoticeUserDatato get edit counts anymore.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on July 28 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:05, 27 July 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 29 July 2015
- News and notes: BARC de-adminship proposal; Wikimania recordings debate
An RFC proposes to create a "Bureaucrats' Admin Review Committee" (BARC) composed of bureaucrats empowered to remove adminship rights.
- Op-ed: My life as an autistic Wikipedian
Two years ago, I discovered that I was on the autism spectrum.
- Recent research: Wikipedia and collective intelligence; how Wikipedia is tweeted
An article argues that Wikipedia displays some key characteristics of a collective intelligence process.
- In the media: Is Wikipedia a battleground in the culture wars?
"Editors representing rival political tribes [are] frequently attempting to impose their respective narratives as the official version of one or another cultural controversy."
- Featured content: Even mammoths get the Blues
Five featured articles, five featured lists, and sixteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Traffic report: Namaste again, Reddit
For the first time since this list began, India-related topics have claimed both the top two slots.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- The ContentTranslation extension has been updated:
- The error page you see when the sites are not working is now simpler and easier to read. It also shows the Wikimedia logo.
- MediaWiki now supports redirects for CSS pages.
- Bots can't guess captchas unlimited times anymore.
Problems
- There was a problem with thumbnails on wikis with local images on July 24 and 25. It was due to a code error.
- We can't search by file type on Wikimedia wikis now.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from August 4. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from August 5. It will be on all Wikipedias from August 6 (calendar).
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on August 4 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:51, 3 August 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 05 August 2015
- Editorial: Wikipedia better equipped to deal with systemic bias than traditional publishers
That particular artists would be omitted through oversight or happenstance is reasonable, but that one of the world's leading publishers of art books is completely unaware of their major omissions is startling.
- Op-ed: Je ne suis pas Google
The public interest in remembering the facts about trials and convictions is, in my view, at least as strong as any "right to be forgotten."
- News and notes: VisualEditor, endowment, science, and news in brief
VisualEditor is now on slow roll-out on the English Wikipedia.
- WikiProject report: Meet the boilerplate makers
The Report checks in with WikiProject Templates.
- In the media: Probe into Nehru edits launched; dangers of the right to be forgotten
The Indian government has launched an investigation into the source of Wikipedia edits regarding Jawaharlal Nehru that caused outrage in that country.
- Traffic report: Mrityorma amritam gamaya...
Death is no stranger to this list, but it has never cast such a pall as this week, when for the first time half the slots in the top 10 were devoted to it, including the top 3.
- Featured content: Maya, Michigan, Medici, Médée, and Moul n'ga
Three featured articles, seven featured lists, and twenty-two featured pictures were promoted this week.
- Blog: Get help editing Wikipedia with the new “Co-op” mentorship program
What if there was a gathering place on Wikipedia for newer editors to find a mentor?
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- MediaWiki can now hide the signature button when you edit a content page.
- The "Your preferences have been saved" message has changed. You can now see more easily what was saved when you change preferences several times.
- You can now play Ogg video files in some browsers that don't support this format. This solution uses JavaScript and works on desktop browsers only for now. It will work on mobile later.
- You can now use the same tools to edit style in VisualEditor on mobile as in desktop browsers.
- It is now easier to see if there is a JavaScript error in a user or site script.
- JavaScript authors:
- You can no longer use the Sajax library. You can see a list of pages to fix.
- You can no longer use
document.writeon Wikimedia wikis. You can see a list of pages to fix.
- The content translation tool now works better. It is easier to use math, and useless tags are no longer added.
Problems
- More edits have been rejected due to loss of session data lately. This is now fixed.
- Importing a Lua module sometimes didn't work. This is now fixed.
- Text was sometimes lost in the content translation tool. One part of the problem is now fixed.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from August 11. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from August 12. It will be on all Wikipedias from August 13 (calendar).
- UploadWizard is getting a new look. The look of buttons and checkboxes has already changed. This week, UploadWizard gets a new date picker. The other text fields will change soon.
- You can now test VisualEditor on mobile devices of all sizes.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on August 11 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
14:58, 10 August 2015 (UTC)
The Signpost: 12 August 2015
- News and notes: Superprotect, one year later; a contentious RfA
Superprotect was a novel page protection level implemented on August 10 last year, without warning.
- In the media: Paid editing; traffic drop; Nicki Minaj
The Atlantic discusses "The Covert World of People Trying to Edit Wikipedia—for Pay".
- Forum: Community voices on paid editing
The community speaks out on paid editing.
- Wikimanía report: Wikimanía 2015, part 2, a community event
Our ongoing Wikimanía coverage.
- Traffic report: Fighting from top to bottom
The charts are led this week by UFC women's champion Ronda Rousey, who won her last match at UFC 190 (#9) in 34 seconds.
- Featured content: Fused lizards, giant mice, and Scottish demons
Watch out for icebergs.
- Technology report: Tech news in brief
Wikimedia technical news.
- Blog: The Hunt for Tirpitz
During World War II, the German battleship Tirpitz was a major threat to Allied convoys travelling across the North Atlantic and Arctic Sea.
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
Recent changes
- Many Wikipedias can now use information from any Wikidata item in any Wikipedia article. Before they could only use the Wikidata item that matched the subject of the article.
- Some auto-saving problems and other issues in the Content Translation tool are now fixed. Please report to the Content Translation feedback page if you still have problems.
Problems
- Older gadgets that are not using ResourceLoader are not loading anymore. They need to be updated.
- On August 12 the machine translation servers and the Content Translation tool didn't work. This was fixed on the same day.
Changes this week
- The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from August 18. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis from August 19. It will be on all Wikipedias from August 20 (calendar).
- You can soon watch when something is added to or removed from a category.
Meetings
- You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs are the most important. The meeting will be on August 18 at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
16:17, 17 August 2015 (UTC)