User talk:Derp00765
Welcome!
[edit]Hello and welcome to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. The following links will help you begin editing on Wikipedia:
- The five pillars of Wikipedia
- Contributing to Wikipedia
- How to edit a page
- Editing tutorial
- Picture tutorial
- How to write a great article
- Naming conventions
- Simplified Manual of Style
- Please bear these points in mind while editing Wikipedia
- Respect copyrights – do not copy and paste text or images directly from other websites.
- Maintain a neutral point of view – this is one of Wikipedia's core policies.
- Take particular care while adding biographical material about a living person to any Wikipedia page and follow Wikipedia's Biography of Living Persons policy. Particularly, controversial and negative statements should be referenced with multiple reliable sources.
- No edit warring or sock puppetry.
- If you are testing, please use the Sandbox to do so.
- Do not add troublesome content to any article, such as: copyrighted text, libel, advertising or promotional messages, and text that is not related to an article's subject. Deliberately adding such content or otherwise editing articles maliciously is considered vandalism; doing so will result in your account or IP being blocked from editing.
- Do not use talk pages as discussion or forum pages as Wikipedia is not a forum.
The Wikipedia tutorial is a good place to start learning about Wikipedia. If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page. By the way, you can sign your name on Talk and discussion pages using four tildes, like this: ~~~~ (the software will replace them with your signature and the date). Again, welcome! -- samtar whisper 14:00, 26 January 2016 (UTC)
The Signpost: 27 January 2016
[edit]- Op-ed: Lila Tretikov: the WMF needs your input in developing our strategy
Participate in the new strategy initiative.
- News and notes: Geshuri steps down from the Board
Newly appointed trustee leaves following a community outcry.
- In the media: Media coverage of the Arnnon Geshuri no-confidence vote
Board turmoil gets the attention of journalists.
- Recent research: Bursty edits; how politics beat religion but then lost to sports; notability as a glass ceiling
Current research involving Wikipedia.
- Traffic report: Death and taxes
Some things never change.
- Featured content: This week's featured content
Newly promoted content.
The Signpost: 03 February 2016
[edit]- From the editors: Help wanted
Help us continue to publish on a weekly (-ish) basis.
- Special report: Board chair and new trustee speak with the Signpost
New member María Sefidari joins the Board of Trustees.
- In focus: The Knight Foundation grant: a timeline and an email to the board
James Heilman speaks out about the events leading up to his dismissal from the Board.
- Op-ed: So, what’s a knowledge engine anyway?
Examining the issues at the heart of recent Board disputes.
- News and notes: Harassment survey 2015; Luis Villa to leave WMF; knowledge engine background
A survey released, another major departure from the Foundation.
- Arbitration report: Catching up on arbitration
More cases, more problems.
- Traffic report: Bowled
Some sort of sporting contest tops this week's traffic.
- Featured content: This week's featured content
Newly promoted content.
The Signpost: 10 February 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Another WMF departure
- In the media: Jeb Bush swings at Wikipedia and connects
- Featured content: This week's featured content
- Traffic report: A river of revilement
The Signpost: 17 February 2016
[edit]- Special report: Search and destroy: the Knowledge Engine and the undoing of Lila Tretikov
Examining the impact of the knowledge engine
- Op-ed: Shit I cannot believe we had to fucking write this month
A new column that examines the articles that are helping to fight systemic bias
- Featured content: This week's featured content
One article, three lists, and five images attained featured status this past week
- Traffic report: Super Bowling
The biggest annual event in America takes over Wikipedia viewership
- Technology report: Tech news in brief
The news for the nerd inside of us
- Blog: Antonin Scalia and the editor tracking his legacy
The American Supreme Court justice's impact on the life of a Wikipedia editor
The Signpost: 24 February 2016
[edit]- Special report: WMF in limbo as decision on Tretikov nears
The Board of Trustees may be deciding the direction of the Foundation.
- Op-ed: Backward the Foundation
Parting words from a WMF employee,
- Traffic report: Of Dead Pools and Dead Judges
Another grim week in traffic statistics.
- Blog: Wiki Loves Africa brings the continent’s fashion to the world
Wiki Loves Africa photo competition focuses on continent’s varied fashion traditions from north, south, east, and west.
- Arbitration report: Arbitration motion regarding CheckUser & Oversight inactivity
Committee motions and business.
- Featured content: This week's featured content
Newly promoted featured content.
- Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.
The Signpost: 02 March 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Tretikov resigns, WMF in transition
A tumultuous time at the Wikimedia Foundation
- Featured content: This week's featured content
Newly promoted articles and images.
- Traffic report: Brawling
Politics and wrestling top the traffic statistics.
- Recent research: Wikipedia and paid labour; Swedish gender gap; how verifiable is "verifiable"?
Current academic research about the encyclopedia and related projects.
- Blog: Wikimedia Foundation details requests to alter or remove content in new transparency report
The WMF reports on incoming requests.
The Signpost: 09 March 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Katherine Maher named interim head of WMF; Wales email re-sparks Heilman controversy; draft WMF strategy posted
Controversy, change, and everything between.
- In the media: Wikipedian is break-out star of International Women's Day; dinosaur art; Wikipedia's new iOS app and its fight for market share
Perhaps we're turning over a new leaf as a front-runner in the fight for equality?
- Op-ed: A modest proposal for Wikimedia’s future
A look at the future of our parent foundation.
- Featured content: Five articles, four lists, a topic, and five images were promoted this week.
This week's featured content
- Technology report: Wikimedia wikis will temporarily go into read-only mode on several occasions in the coming weeks
Finally, a break for the vandalism fighters!
- WikiCup report: First round of the WikiCup finishes
Your detailed look at one of Wikipedia's largest contests.
- Blog: The new alchemy: turning online harassment into Wikipedia articles on women scientists
By night, she smites trolls on the Internet with positive punishment: for each harassing email she receives, one Wikipedia article on a woman in science is created.
- Systemic bias: Revenge of "I can’t believe we didn’t have an article on ..."
Wherein I am STILL fucking angry about systemic bias and am highlighting kick-ass articles we created and improved this month in our never-ending quest to fix it.
- Traffic report: All business like show business
The Oscars, Super Tuesday, and Super Saturday"
The Signpost: 16 March 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Wikipedia Zero: Orange mobile partnership in Africa ends; the evolution of privacy loss in Wikipedia
Parties could not agree on extending the 2009 agreement.
- In the media: Wales at SXSW; lawsuit over Wikipedia PR editing
Two board members on stage at the popular yearly event.
- Op-ed: Hard work needed to address Wikimedia’s leadership challenges
The road ahead for the WMF.
- Discussion report: Is an interim WMF executive director inherently notable?
Wikipedia news sparks editing disagreements.
- Featured content: This week's featured content
Featured content
- Technology report: Watchlists, watchlists, watchlists!
An interview with a MediaWiki developer.
- Traffic report: Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States
Time to move abroad.
- Wikipedia Weekly: Podcast #119: The Foundation and the departure of Lila Tretikov
The popular podcast returns.
- Blog: It “revolutionized the way German-speaking people inform themselves about the world”: Fifteen years of the German Wikipedia
A Deutschland anniversary.
The Signpost: 23 March 2016
[edit]- Interview: Exclusive: interview with interim ED Katherine Maher
The Signpost speaks with the incoming WMF interim executive director.
- News and notes: Lila Tretikov a Young Global Leader; Wikipediocracy blog post sparks indefinite blocks
The outgoing ED to be honored at Davos.
- In the media: Angolan file sharers cause trouble for Wikipedia Zero; the 3D printer edit war; a culture based on change and turmoil
Piracy and controversy.
- Traffic report: Be weary on the Ides of March
Are readers exhausted?
- Editorial: "God damn it, you've got to be kind."
All of us can do better.
- Featured content: Watch out! A slave trader, a live mascot and a crested serpent awaits!
The week in newly promoted content.
- Arbitration report: Palestine-Israel article 3 case amended
Motions from the Committee.
- Wikipedia Weekly: Podcast #120: Status of Wikimania 2016
Discussing the upcoming Italian Wikimania.
The Signpost: 1 April 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Trump/Wales 2016
A surprise political announcement.
- In the media: Saskatoon police delete Wikipedia content about police brutality
Police haul away some article content.
- WikiProject report: Why should the Devil have all the good music? An interview with WikiProject Christian music
Rock out to this interview with project editors.
- Traffic report: Donald v Daredevil
¿Quién es más macho?
- Featured content: A slow, slow week
- Technology report: Browse Wikipedia in safety? Use Telnet!
Set your Wayback Machine.
- Recent research: "Employing Wikipedia for good not evil" in education; using eyetracking to find out how readers read articles
Current research about Wikimedia projects.
- Wikipedia Weekly: Podcast #121: How April Fools went down
A roundtable discussion about current Wikimedia issues.
- Blog: Growing hashtags: Expanding outreach on Wikipedia
Using hashtags to track the results of Wikimedia outreach.
The Signpost: 14 April 2016
[edit]- Op-ed: Should prison inmates be permitted to edit Wikipedia?
They do have plenty of time on their hands
- News and notes: Denny Vrandečić resigns from Wikimedia Foundation board
More turnover in the foundation
- In the media: Wikimedia Sweden loses copyright case; Tex Watson; AI assistants; David Jolly biography
Copyright laws, prisoners, and the future of technology
- Featured content: This week's featured content
Featured content
- Traffic report: A welcome return to pop culture and death
American politics seem to have finally bored people
- Arbitration report: The first case of 2016—Wikicology
The drought is finally over!
- Gallery: A history lesson
A look at political satire, brought to you by Wikipedia and Commons
The Signpost: 24 April 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Lunar project; steering group formed to search for next executive director
Maybe the rover could find an ED on the moon...
- Op-ed: Knowledge Engine and the Wales–Heilman emails
When is competing with Google not competing with Google?
- Special report: Update on EranBot, our new copyright violation detection bot
Help wanted!
- Traffic report: Two for the price of one
What's better than one traffic report? Two!
- Featured content: The double-sized edition
10 articles, 6 lists, and 11 pictures have been promoted in this cycle
- Arbitration report: Amendments made to the Race and intelligence case
When it rains, it pours
The Signpost: 2 May 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Wikimedia Switzerland's board and paid-editing firm; passing of Ed Dravecky
Wikimedia Switzerland board members involved in paid-editing firm
- In the media: Wikipedia Zero piracy in Bangladesh; bureaucracy; chilling effects; too few cooks; translation gaps
More reports surface of pirates' new favorite database: Wikimedia Commons
- Traffic report: Purple
Prince's death breaks traffic report records
- Featured content: The best ... from the past two weeks
Seven articles, six lists, and four pictures were promoted these weeks
- Arbitration report: Two editors unbanned; Wikicology case enters workshop phase; Gamaliel restricted from Gamergate at his own request
Arbitration news
- Recent research: The eight roles of Wikipedians; do edit histories expose social relations among editors?
Making sense of Wikipedia's social network
The Signpost: 17 May 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Affiliates' nomination of WMF trustees announced; FDC's straight talking to WMF
Christophe Henner and Nataliia Tymkiv respond to the Signpost's questions
- Op-ed: Swiss chapter in turmoil
Paid-editing controversy
- In the media: Wikimedia's Dario Taraborelli quoted on Google's Knowledge Graph in The Washington Post
Citations needed
- Featured content: Two weeks for the prize of one
Nine featured articles, eight featured lists, and six featured pictures
- Traffic report: Oh behave, Beyhive / Underdogs
Prince gives way to Captain America
- Arbitration report: "Wikicology" ends in site ban; evidence and workshop phases concluded for "Gamaliel and others"
News from two arbitration cases
- Wikicup: That's it for WikiCup Round 2!
35 competitors move on to round 3
The Signpost: 28 May 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Upcoming Wikimedia conferences in the US and India; May Metrics and Activities Meeting
Dates and venues for WikiCon USA 2016, WikiCon India 2016, 2016 Glam Boot Camp and 2016 Wikimedia Diversity Conference
- Special report: Compensation paid to Sue Gardner increased by almost 50 percent after she stepped down as executive director
Sue Gardner appears to be earning more money as the WMF's special advisor than she did as its executive director
- In the media: The perils of Wikipedia's monopoly; Wikipedians' fragility; Street Sharks hoax
Not everything you read online is fact
- Featured content: Eight articles, three lists and five pictures
Another eight featured articles, three featured lists and five featured pictures
- Op-ed: Journey of a Wikipedian
Mental health carries a powerful stigma. The more we are open about it, the less that weighs all of us down
- Arbitration report: Gamaliel resigns from the arbitration committee
Gamaliel and others case nears its end, and there are new 30/500 rules
- Recent research: English as Wikipedia's Lingua Franca; deletion rationales; schizophrenia controversies
Round-up of recent Wikipedia research
- Traffic report: Splitting (musical) airs / Slow Ride
We've recently come into possession of a new tool.
- Blog: Freely licensed magic at Eurovision
Albin Olsson has been right there with them, capturing dramatic images of singers from around the world.
The Signpost: 05 June 2016
[edit]- News and notes: WMF cuts budget for 2016-17 as scope tightens
The Signpost analyzes the WMF's revised annual plan
- In the media: Jimmy Wales on net neutrality—"It's complicated"—and his $100m fundraising challenge
Recent press interviews
- Featured content: Overwhelmed ... by pictures
One article, one list, and seven images were featured this week
- Traffic report: Pop goes the culture, again.
Film and television maintain a strong grasp on Wikipedia's readership
- Arbitration report: ArbCom case "Gamaliel and others" concludes
The final results of the heated case
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Video Games
We sat down with the writers of some of the most vistied Wikipedia articles
The Signpost: 15 June 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Clarifications on status and compensation of outgoing executive directors Sue Gardner and Lila Tretikov
WMF board chair Patricio Lorente answers questions
- Special report: Wikiversity Journal—A new user group
Wikimedia enters academic publishing
- Featured content: From the crème de la crème
Eleven featured articles, nine featured lists and fourteen featured pictures
- In the media: Biography disputes; Craig Newmark donation; PR editing
Recent media coverage of Wikipedia and Wikimedia
- Op-ed: Commons Picture of the Year; Wikidata licensing
Two for the price of one—do the popular Commons image contest and Wikidata licensing serve the community as well as they should?
- Traffic report: Another one with sports; Knockout, brief candle
Wikipedia's most read articles in the last two weeks
- Blog: Why I proofread poetry at Wikisource
Poetry: “it is the stuff of the soul; it speaks to the body, the mind, and the spirit alike.” Sonja Bohm worked for years to get all of Florence Earle Coates’ poetry online, and now proofreads poetry on the English Wikisource, the free library. We asked why.
The Signpost: 04 July 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Board unanimously appoints Katherine Maher as new WMF executive director; Wikimedia lawsuits in France and Germany
News from Wikimania and the courts
- Op-ed: Two policies in conflict?
Paid-contributions disclosure vs. outing
- In the media: Terrorism database cites Wikipedia as a source
Reliability worries
- Featured content: Triple fun of featured content
Six articles, nine lists, one topic and thirteen pictures promoted
- Traffic report: Goalposts; Oy vexit
European football and politics dominate the top-10
- Blog: Jimmy Wales names Emily Temple-Wood and Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight as Wikipedians of the Year
From the Wikimedia Foundation blog
The Signpost: 21 July 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Board faces diversity and skill-base issues in new FDC appointments
Four seats to be filled in top WMF grantmaking body; General Counsel and Secretary Geoff Brigham leaves Wikimedia
- Discussion report: Busy month for discussions
New ArbCom restrictions; genetically modified food safety
- In the media: Women in science editathon gets national press; Wikipedia "shockingly biased"
Female scientists in India; Cracked.com probes Wikipedia's weaknesses
- Featured content: A wide variety from the best
Promotions in four featured-content forums
- Traffic report: Sports and esports
Northern summer makes sport the winner
- Arbitration report: Script writers appointed for clerks
Plus a clerk appointment and two motions
- Recent research: Using deep learning to predict article quality
Plus navigating the Chinese Wikipedia, and talkpage sentiment
The Signpost: 04 August 2016
[edit]- Editorial: Wikipedia policy suppresses sharing of information
And the Signpost loses and gains a co-editor-in-chief
- News and notes: Foundation presents results of harassment research, plans for automated identification; Wikiconference submissions open
WMF and Alphabet are developing an algorithm designed to detect personal attacks
- In the media: Paid editing service announced; Commercial exploitation of free images; Wikipedia as a crystal ball; Librarians to counter systemic bias
Plus Android and Taylor Swift
- Obituary: Kevin Gorman, who took on Wikipedia's gender gap and undisclosed paid advocacy, dies at 24
Condolences are being left on his English Wikipedia talk page
- Traffic report: Summer of Pokémon, Trump, and Hillary
Pokémon Go led the chart for two weeks running
- Featured content: Women and Hawaii
Eight articles, two lists and fourteen pictures were promoted
- Recent research: Easier navigation via better wikilinks
Plus: new Wiki Studies journal, Wikipedia usage on Twitter and more
- Blog: All-new notifications page helps Wikimedians focus on what matters most
WMF announces enhancements to the notifications system
- Technology report: User script report (January to July 2016, part 1)
New user scripts and other tech news
The Signpost: 18 August 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Focus on India—WikiConference produces new apps; state government adopts free licenses
Conference draws highly diverse and productive participation, and several years' advocacy pays off in a new government policy
- Special report: Engaging diverse communities to profile women of Antarctica
Guest post recaps in-depth engagement of experts to address Wikipedia gender gap while improving coverage of their field
- In the media: The ugly, the bad, the playful, and the promising
Wikipedia coverage ranged from sobering to playful in this issue's roundup
- Featured content: Simply the best ... from the last two weeks
Eight articles, eleven lists, one topic and five pictures were promoted
- Traffic report: Olympic views
Politics gives way to sports, TV and film
- Technology report: User script report (January–July 2016, part 2)
A review of numerous useful Wikipedia customizations
- Arbitration report: The Michael Hardy case
New case opened, and a reminder to administrators not to impose blocks based on private information
The Signpost: 06 September 2016
[edit]- News and notes: AffCom still grappling with WMF Board's criteria for new chapters
The Board’s two-year moratorium on new chapters and thematic organisations has expired; presentation of new criteria is reigniting smoldering controversies and introducing new ones
- Special report: Olympics readership depended on language
A comparison of the 15 most-read articles related to the Olympics, in seven language editions of Wikipedia
- In the media: Librarians, Wikipedians, and a library of Wikipedia coverage
Wikipedia gaining ground in credibility among librarians; and a healthy helping of media coverage
- WikiProject report: Watching Wikipedia
An interview with WikiProject TV member CAWylie
- Featured content: Entertainment, sport, and something else in-between
Twelve articles, eight lists and four pictures were promoted
- Traffic report: From Phelps to Bolt to Reddit
An update on two weeks of Wikipedia traffic, based on a new and improved tracking tool
- Technology report: Wikimedia mobile sites now don't load images if the user doesn't see them
New scripts and technical news
- Recent research: Ethics of machine-created articles and fighting vandalism
One study encounters critique of its ethics from Wikipedians; another critiques the ethics employed by Wikipedia
- Blog: Upload of free photos from Swiss library underway
Switzerland's largest public science library is uploading 134k photos
The Signpost: 29 September 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Wikipedia Education Program case study published; and a longtime Wikimedian has made his final edit
Medical school class's Wikipedia contributions profiled as case study; and a remembrance of Ray Saintonge, Wikimedian since 2002
- In the media: Wikipedia in the news
This edition's roundup of media coverage
- Featured content: Three weeks in the land of featured content
Nineteen articles, eleven lists, one portal and twelve pictures were promoted
- Arbitration report: Arbcom looking for new checkusers and oversight appointees while another case opens
TRM, CUOS '16, R&I, RfC
- Traffic report: From Gene Wilder to JonBenét
Four weeks of Wikipedia's most popular articles examined
- Technology report: Category sorting and template parameters
Titles with numbers now sort numerically, and a new tool to check how template parameters are used
The Signpost: 14 October 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Fundraising, flora and fauna
Wikimedia Foundation reports on fundraising challenges and new initiatives; Indian botanists rally to build Wikimedia Commons' photo collection
- Discussion report: Cultivating leadership: Wikimedia Foundation seeks input
A new "peer academy" is proposed to find and support leadership in volunteer communities
- In the media: A news columnist on the frustrations of tweaking his Wikipedia bio
And this edition's roundup of media coverage
- Technology report: Upcoming tech projects for 2017
A new editor, a new parsing algorithm, and another server switch
- Featured content: Variety is the spice of life
Twelve articles, twelve lists and twenty-one pictures were promoted
- Traffic report: Debates and escapes
Donald Trump remains a view-magnet, others change their channel
- Recent research: A 2011 study resurfaces in a media report
We explore the study, which sought insights from Wikipedia metadata into global events
The Signpost: 4 November 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Finally, a new CTO; trustee joins Quora; copyright upgrade impending
Victoria Coleman to fill long-vacant CTO role; Trustee Kelly Battles joins Quora executive team; last week for community input on Creative Commons 4.0 license
- In the media: Washington Post continues in-depth Wikipedia coverage
Plus our roundup of recent media stories
- Wikicup: WikiCup winners
Winners of the tenth annual WikiCup competition announced and profiled
- Discussion report: What's on your tech wishlist for the coming year?
Progress on the 2015 Community Wishlist for tech features; and plans for a new Wishlist
- Technology report: New guideline for technical collaboration; citation templates now flag open access content
Proposed best practices for communication and community involvement, and an improvement to Wikipedia's citation infrastructure
- Featured content: Cream of the crop
Fourteen articles, six lists and fourteen pictures were promoted
- Traffic report: Un-presidential politics
Two weeks of insights into the mind of the mob
- Arbitration report: Recapping October's activities
Two cases closed, and an administrator loses editing rights
- Recent research: Why women edit less, and where they are overrepresented; article importance and quality; predicting elections from Wikipedia
A recap of recent research in our realm
The Signpost: 4 November 2016
[edit]- News and notes: Arbitration Committee elections commence
An overview of the English Wikipedia ArbCom election; brief notes as Asian and African initiatives wind down
- In the media: Roundup of news related to U.S. presidential election and more
Election prompts media to explore themes important to Wikipedians, including news literacy, privacy, and data security
- Blog: The top fifteen winning photos from Wiki Loves Earth
115,000 images were submitted as part of the annual competition.
- Gallery: Around the world with Wiki Loves Monuments 2016
A sampling of photo submissions to the annual photography campaign
- Featured content: Featured mix
Eight articles, two lists and nine pictures were promoted
- Special report: Taking stock of the Good Article backlog
A close examination of the efficacy of the GA Cup contest, a longstanding effort to reduce the backlog of articles awaiting review
- Op-ed: Fundraising data should be more transparent
Empowering volunteers and local chapters to engage with fundraising would yield varied benefits
- Traffic report: President-elect Trump
Someone is likely to dominate traffic for a long time
The Signpost: 22 December 2016
[edit]- Year in review: Looking back on 2016
Roundup of the year's news from the Wikimedia world, featuring Wikipedia's 15th anniversary and organizational disarray at the Wikimedia Foundation
- News and notes: Strategic planning update; English ArbCom election results
WMF reflects, to some degree, on its past approaches to strategic planning
- Special report: German ArbCom implodes
The German Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee loses more than half its members amid political feud
- In focus: Active user page filter prevents vandalism and harassment
A proposal from the Inspire Campaign to address harassment was recently implemented to prevent unconstructive and malicious editing on user pages
- Op-ed: Operation successful, patient dead: Outreach workshops in Namibia
Even a well executed outreach event can yield disappointing results
- In the media: In brief: Coverage of gender gap initiatives, banner fundraising, and more
Wikipedia women in the news, and media reacts to 2016 ad banner campaign
- Featured content: The Christmas edition
Twenty-three articles, ten lists and twenty-one pictures were promoted
- Technology report: Labs improvements impact 2016 Tool Labs survey results
And a roundup of recently-added tools
- Traffic report: Post-election traffic blues
Four weeks of popular article analysis
- Blog: Wiki Loves Monuments contest winners announced
Winning photos in world's largest photography contest reveal a world of monuments—and the volunteers who love them
- Recent research: One study and several abstracts
Privacy and Tor, and several other studies
The Signpost: 17 January 2017
[edit]- From the editor: Next steps for the Signpost
Building toward better recruitment and retention
- News and notes: Surge in RFA promotions—a sign of lasting change?
A close look at the history of approving administrators on English Wikipedia, and a roundup of news
- Interview: What is it like to edit Wikipedia when you're blind?
The wiki environment can appear deceptively uniform, but it masks strikingly different editorial experiences
- In the media: Year-end roundups, Wikipedia's 16th birthday, and more
The latest media reports
- Featured content: One year ends, and another begins
Twelve articles, thirteen lists and twelve pictures were promoted
- Arbitration report: Concluding 2016 and covering 2017's first two cases
Various minor developments
- Traffic report: Out with the old, in with the new
If you're reading this, you escaped 2016 alive
- Technology report: Tech present, past, and future
Data sets now available on Commons, wishes to be worked on in 2017, and a recap of the Wikimedia Developer Summit
- Recent research: Female Wikipedians aren't more likely to edit women biographies; Black Lives Matter in Wikipedia
And several other research papers reviewed and summarized
The Signpost: 6 February 2017
[edit]- Arbitration report: WMF Legal and ArbCom weigh in on tension between disclosure requirements and user privacy
The two statements prompt extensive community discussion; plus, our updates on recent ArbCom decisions
- Special report: Wolves nip at Wikipedia's heels: A perspective on the cost of paid editing
Undisclosed paid editing by a financial broker mired in scandal spans years, impacting Wikipedia's editors and readers
- News and notes: Official WMF rebuke to Trump policy; WMF secures restricted funds
Foundation's latest foray into political waters, and grants funding structured data and anti-harassment measures, met with enthusiasm and concern
- In focus: WMF strategy consultant brings background in crisis reputation management; Team behind popular WMF software put "on pause"
Several developments in the $2.5 million strategic planning process explored, and a team within the software production department is sidelined
- WikiProject report: For the birds!
Our second interview with the productive WikiProject Birds crew
- Op-ed: How to make editing workshops useful, even if participants don't stick around
Veteran editing workshop leader responds to a previous Signpost op-ed
- In the media: Presidential politics, periodic table, and our periodic roundup of updates
Wikipedia's response to Trump inauguration and a fruitful, public "edit war" lead our media updates
- Technology report: Better PDFs, backup plans, and birthday wishes
Plus the latest scripts, bots, and tech news
- Traffic report: Cool It Now
Three weeks of the most popular Wikipedia articles
- Featured content: Three weeks dominated by articles
Twenty-eight articles, seven lists, two topics and four pictures were promoted
- Forum: Productive collaboration around coordinated protest marches; Media and political personalities comment on Wikipedia at its 16th birthday celebration
Women's marches on seven continents attracted strong Wikipedia engagement; Media luminaries and a presidential candidate joined WMF boss Katherine Maher at a New York gathering
The Signpost: 27 February 2017
[edit]- From the editors: Results from our poll on subscription and delivery, and a new RSS feed
The Signpost's poll suggests we should take a cautious approach to the Newsletter Extension, under development; and our RSS feed is functional once again
- Recent research: Special issue: Wikipedia in education
This month's edition focuses on research about the role of Wikipedia in education
- Technology report: Responsive content on desktop; Offline content in Android app
Demonstrations of developers' experiments and works in progress
- In the media: The Daily Mail does not run Wikipedia
Is the Daily Mail fake news and your media roundup
- Gallery: A Met montage
A selection of CC0 images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Special report: Peer review – a history and call for reviewers
An overview of English Wikipedia's peer review process
- Op-ed: Wikipedia has cancer
Increased WMF spending every year is not sustainable
- Featured content: The dominance of articles continues
Fifteen articles, two lists, and six pictures were promoted
- Traffic report: Love, football, and politics
They may not mix in life, but they do in popularity
- Blog: WikiIndaba 2017: A continent gathers to chart a path forward
Republished from the Wikimedia blog
The Signpost: 9 June 2017
[edit]- From the editors: Signpost status: On reserve power, help wanted!
Inviting new writers, editors, and ideas
- News and notes: Global Elections
WMF Board election results, and FDC elections begin
- Arbitration report: Cases closed in the Pacific and with Magioladitis
Two cases were closed from 19 February to 27 March.
- Op-ed: Wikipedia's lead sentence problem
Lead sentence metadata is out of control and a serious impediment to readability
- Featured content: Three months in the land of the featured
Eighty-eight articles, forty-three lists, five topics and twenty-two pictures were promoted
- In the media: Did Wikipedia just assume Garfield's gender?
Garfield is male, and other places Wikipedia made the news
- Recent research: Wikipedia bot wars capture the imagination of the popular press
...but are they real?; personality and attitudes to Wikipedia; large expert review experiment
- Technology report: Tech news catch-up
Bots, scripts, tools, and changes from February to June 2017
- Traffic report: Film on Top: Sampling the weekly top 10
Two weeks of film dominance: Baahubali and the Academy Awards
The Signpost: 23 June 2017
[edit]- News and notes: Departments reorganized at Wikimedia Foundation, and a month without new RfAs (so far)
While the English Wikipedia community produces no new requests for adminhood in June, the Wikimedia Foundation makes changes to the Product and Technology departments.
- In the media: Kalanick's nipples; Episode #138 of Drama on the Hill
The anatomy of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's chest area has been the talk of the month. But so have high-profile edits, hacked articles, and one particular newborn growing up.
- Op-ed: Facto Post: a fresh take
Exploring sourcing issues in Wikimedia projects, a solution in Wikidata and fact mining, and a newsletter to continue the conversation.
- Featured content: Will there ever be a break? The slew of featured content continues
22 featured articles, 17 featured lists, 7 featured pictures
- Traffic report: Wonder Woman beats Batman, The Mummy, Darth Vader and the Earth
Summer blockbusters and sports, Trump and world events.
- Recent research: Utopian bubbles: Can Wikipedians create value outside of the capitalist system?
A researcher applies Marxist critiques of political economy to investigate whether gamification, a culture of altruism, and other anti-corporatist influences on peer production can create a sustainable gift economy in a project like Wikipedia.
- Technology report: Improved search, and WMF data scientist tells all
Search now can include sister projects; EpochFail
The Signpost: 15 July 2017
[edit]- News and notes: French chapter woes, new affiliates and more WMF team changes
The English Wikipedia sees its first new admin of the season, discord rocks Wikimedia France, some tweaks to the WMF reorg, and a new WMF annual plan mark this issue's community news.
- Featured content: Spectacular animals, Pine Trees screens, and more
Recently promoted articles, lists, and pictures.
- In the media: Concern about access and fairness, Foundation expenditures, and relationship to real-world politics and commerce
A grab bag of alt-right speech, classical scholars, the dark web, elicited European tourism, $500,000 golden parachutes, forgery, the Great Firewall, net neutrality, nukes, paid editing, porn, and terrorism.
- Recent research: The chilling effect of surveillance on Wikipedia readers
A closer look at the research that found that the 2013 Snowden revelations coincided with a significant drop of pageviews for privacy-sensitive Wikipedia articles
- Op-ed: Why Task Forces are Dying in 2017
...and is there anything we can do to stop it? Opinions and examples from across the project.
- Gallery: A mix of patterns
An interesting mix of patterns and colors to brighten your day...
- Humour: The Infobox Game
Enjoy the Parameters: The Infobox Game can be enjoyed by everyone, not just those interested in water buffalo breeds, volcanic hotspots or the mysterious heteroisoform, and some day just might spawn an important facet of the financial derivatives industry.
- Traffic report: Film, television and Internet phenomena reign with some room left over for America's birthday
Popular interest in celebrities, blockbusters and an upcoming season of a popular television show drive traffic, with a smattering of world events, holidays and a Reddit storm around – surprise – free porn for the U.S. Congress.
- Technology report: New features in development; more breaking changes for scripts
Syntax highlighting, changes to Recent Changes, Wikidata on the enhance watchlist, accessible editing buttons and jQuery upgrade may break scripts.
- Wikicup: 2017 WikiCup round 3 wrap-up
The heat turns up on the 32 contestants who entered round three: 13 featured articles, 82 good articles, 167 DYKs, but we had to pick just eight of them to advance.
The Signpost: 5 August 2017
[edit]- News and notes: Non-English special edition! 99% no news about English-based wiki communities!
Wikimania in Montreal, lawsuit in Sweden, challenges in France
- Recent research: Wikipedia can increase local tourism by +9%; predicting article quality with deep learning; recent behavior predicts quality
Local tourism gains +9% when Wikipedia articles are improved; significant improvements in predicting article quality with deep learning; recent editor behavior is a strong predictor of content quality
- WikiProject report: Comic relief
An interview with a project that is centered around comics.
- In the media: Wikipedia used to judge death penalty, arms smuggling, Indonesian governance, and HOTTEST celebrity
Wikipedia and reliable sources of information continue to define each other
- Traffic report: Swedish countess tops the list
Plus plenty of sports, film, and television
- Blog: Canadian Supreme Court rules against Google in favor of worldwide court orders
The Canadian Supreme Court ruled that Google must remove search results worldwide, dismissing concerns that this may impede freedom of expression for people outside of Canada or inspire other countries to censor speech.
- Special report: Sharing Wikipedia offline medical information in the Dominican Republic
Wikimedia contributors support each other's projects in many unexpected ways
- Featured content: Everywhere in the lead
Recently promoted articles, lists and pictures – with a very heavy one in the mix
- Technology report: Introducing TechCom
The Architecture Committee adopts a new charter and name; and the latest in script, bot, and tech news
- Humour: WWASOHs and ETCSSs
An elite squad of highly insightful editors can lead the way for other editors who may need to retrain their faces into forming a smile.
The Signpost: 6 September 2017
[edit]- From the editors: What happened at Wikimania?
Please share your Wikimania 2017 experiences!
- News and notes: Basselpedia; WMF Board of Trustees appointments
Some of the goings-on from Wikimania 2017.
- Featured content: Warfighters and their tools or trees and butterflies
Take your pick of the best of Wikipedia.
- Traffic report: A fortnight of conflicts
White supremacists v. anti-fascism groups, Mayweather v. McGregor, Moon v. Sun.
- Special report: Biomedical content, and some thoughts on its future
Wikipedia's medical and scientific content has come a long way since 2001. Here are some thoughts on how it may continue to evolve.
- Recent research: Discussion summarization; Twitter bots tracking government edits; extracting trivia from Wikipedia
A list of recent research publications on various topics.
- In the media: Google's Ideological Echo Chamber; What makes someone successful?
Plus the latest reports of vandalism and mistakes in Wikipedia.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject YouTube
WikiProject YouTube is a new project on both English and Simple English Wikipedia.
- Technology report: Latest tech news
Syntax highlighting, failed login notifications, watchlist filters, and more.
- Wikicup: 2017 WikiCup round 4 wrap-up
Ships, typhoons, birds, and more!
- Humour: Bots
They do the things you don't want to do (and sometimes things you don't want done).
The Signpost: 25 September 2017
[edit]- News and notes: Chapter updates; ACTRIAL
News from Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Macedonia, and Wikimedia Israel's; Autoconfirmed article creation trial begins
- In the media: Monkey settlement; Wikipedia used to give AI context clues
Also: Jeopedia, Dubaipedia, shaping science, fake quote reused by scholarly sources
- Humour: Chickenz
The best that poultry has to offer
- Recent research: Wikipedia articles vs. concepts; Wikipedia usage in Europe
Plus the latest research publications.
- Technology report: Flow restarted; Wikidata connection notifications
Plus more tech news, and the latest scripts and bots
- Gallery: Chicken mania
Complimenting this issue's Humour about chickens...
- Special report: Two steps forward, one step backward: The Sustainability Initiative
Finally we're seeing some initial successes, but the Wikimedia movement is still far from being environmentally sustainable.
- Traffic report: Fights and frights
Boxing, hurricanes, clowns, and more!
- Featured content: Flying high
Newly featured birds, planes, and high achievers
The Signpost: 23 October 2017
[edit]- News and notes: Money! WMF fundraising, Wikimedia strategy, WMF new office!
The Wikimedia Foundation publishes the latest fundraising report, convenes over the close of the strategic plan discussion, and moves into a new space.
- Featured content: Don, Marcel, Emily, Jessica and other notables
A variety of topics promoted.
- Humour: Guys named Ralph
If your name is Ralph, well sorry.
- In focus: Offline Wikipedia developed at OFF.NETWORK Content Hackathon
Advocates for sharing offline information gather to make content, software, hardware, and social decisions.
- Blog: The future of offline access to Wikipedia: The Kiwix example
A chat with a developer of open source software which allows users to download web content for offline reading, and the future of offline access to Wikipedia.
- In the media: Facebook and poetry
Fighting fake news and plagiarism.
- Special report: Working with GLAMs in the UK
Wikimedia UK's partnerships and achievements working with GLAM institutions.
- Traffic report: Death, disaster, and entertainment
Readers interested in the the death of Hef, Puerto Rico, films and television.
The Signpost: 24 November 2017
[edit]- News and notes: Cons, cons, cons
The first ever Wikidata conference was a con we wanted. Problematic paid editing while in a position of trust: not so much.
- Arbitration report: Administrator desysoped; How to deal with crosswiki issues; Mister Wiki case likely
Arbitration matters from October and November.
- Technology report: Searching and surveying
A new advanced search interface; the Community Wishlist Survey is back.
- Interview: A featured article centurion
Brianboulton talks about featured articles on his 100th promotion.
- WikiProject report: Recommendations for WikiProjects
A novel approach to recruit members for your project!
- In the media: Open knowledge platform as a media institution
Wikipedia seen as flawed but important; conservative think-tank fellow wants his say; volunteer in Madison wants to close the gender gap.
- Traffic report: Strange and inappropriate
Readers intrigued by the Netflix show Stranger Things, and by sexual assault allegations.
- Featured content: We will remember them
War memorials, soldiers, extinct species, and devastating hurricanes are some of the most recently promoted featured content.
- Recent research: Who wrote this? New dataset on the provenance of Wikipedia text
And other new research publications.
- Humour: Good faith (but still incomprehensible)
The entertainment value of Wikipedia.
The Signpost: 18 December 2017
[edit]- Special report: Women in Red World Contest wrap-up
Global article creation contest/editathon exceeds expectations.
- Blog: Close encounters of the Wikipedia kind
Astronaut is first to specifically contribute to Wikipedia from space.
- Featured content: Featured content to finish 2017
Seventeen articles, twenty-nine lists, three pictures and one featured topic were promoted.
- In the media: Stolen seagulls, public domain primates and more
The media discuss online copyright issues, Wikipedia's coverage of the capital of Israel and creation of a "reasonably clean, honest and reliable" work on Earth and in space.
- Arbitration report: Last case of 2017: Mister Wiki editors
Evidence phase in Mister Wiki editors case is complete; the community is proposing remedies and the Arbitration committee is slated to make a decision by end of year. Meanwhile, voting has closed on 2017 elections.
- Gallery: Wiki loving
Winners of the international photo competitions Wiki Loves Earth and Wiki Loves Monuments.
- Interview: Interview with Charlesjsharp, regular contributor of Wikipedia's Featured Pictures
Looking back on a decade of contributions including over 1,000 images and over three dozen Featured Pictures, Charles shares his wildlife photography experience and tips.
- Recent research: French medical articles have "high rate of veracity"
And other recent research publications.
- Technology report: Your wish lists and more Wikimedia tech
Including improved blocking tools, new user scripts, and the latest technical news.
- Traffic report: Notable heroes and bad guys
We like our heroes and bad guys.
- Humour: On their way to the WMF Incubator
u-nye-loo-lay-doo?Dochvetlh vISoplaHbe’.
The Signpost: 16 January 2018
[edit]- News and notes: Communication is key
Two new WMF Communications department leadership appointments; a new way for Wikimedia communities to communicate their capacities.
- In the media: The Paris Review, British Crown and British Media
Wikipedia manipulated and copied – again
- Featured content: History, gaming and multifarious topics
Historical and pop culture articles promoted.
- Interview: Interview with Ser Amantio di Nicolao, the top contributor to English Wikipedia by edit count
How do you make an average of 3,600 edits a week for over a decade? And what do you learn when you've done it?
- Technology report: Dedicated Wikidata database servers
Plus the latest technology upgrades, tools and news.
- Humour: Why don't we have an article about _________?
Notable missing articles.
- Arbitration report: Mister Wiki is first arbitration committee decision of 2018
In deciding to de-sysop an admin for efforts to evade discussion and review of paid edits made on behalf of a PR firm, Arbitration Committee doesn't significantly change the rules around paid editing, and leaves it up to the community whether to apply special restrictions to administrators.
- Traffic report: The best and worst of 2017
A look back at the most popular articles in a tumultuous and intriguing year.
The Signpost: 5 February 2018
[edit]- Op-ed: Do editors have the right to be forgotten?
Should an editor's block history be a permanent "rap sheet", or does Wikipedia forgive and forget? A reform initiative has begun.
- Featured content: Wars, sieges, disasters and everything black possible
Exemplary content recognized between January 12 and January 20, 2018
- Recent research: Automated Q&A from Wikipedia articles; Who succeeds in talk page discussions?
Also: Polish quality, Russian political mythologization, and multilingual analyses
- Blog: New monthly dataset shows where people fall into Wikipedia rabbit holes
The Wikimedia Foundation's Analytics team compiles a clickstream dataset, now available as a series of monthly data dumps for English, Russian, German, Spanish, and Japanese Wikipedias.
- Interview: Interview with The Rambling Man, Wikipedia's top contributor of Featured Lists
Lessons on Creating a Featured List
- Traffic report: TV, death, sports, and doodles
The most popular articles for January 14 to 27
- Special report: Cochrane–Wikipedia Initiative
A partnership to improve and update Wikipedia's medical content
- Arbitration report: New cases requested for inter-editor hostility and other collaboration issues
Politeness and collegial behavior about to be taken up by Arbcom, and perhaps a revisit of the infobox question.
- In the media: Solving crime; editing out violence allegations
Also, did UCF really win?
- Humour: You really are in Wonderland
Enjoy the humour of another contributor
The Signpost: 20 February 2018
[edit]- News and notes: The future is Swedish with a lack of administrators
Sweden selected for Wikimania 2019; research report on shaping the future; a scarcity of RfAs.
- Recent research: Politically diverse editors write better articles; Reddit and Stack Overflow benefit from Wikipedia but don't give back
There might be good things about an edit war.
- Arbitration report: Arbitration committee prepares to examine two new cases
Editor in self-imposed exile and infobox wars a thorn in the side of arbitration committee.
- Traffic report: Addicted to sports and pain
The Superbowl, the Winter Olympics, death, and accusations of unspeakable things.
- Featured content: Entertainment, sports and history
An eclectic mix of promotions.
- Technology report: Paragraph-based edit conflict screen; broken thanks
And other recent tech news.
- Humour: Impossible and unexplained traffic report
Stubs get a lot of pageviews.
Signpost issue 4 – 29 March 2018
[edit]- Op-ed: Death knell for The Signpost?
Is The Signpost on its last legs?
- News and notes: Wiki Conference roundup and new appointments.
Wikimedia events, group recognition, and individual appointments are ongoing.
- Arbitration report: Ironing out issues in infoboxes; not sure yet about New Jersey; and an administrator who probably wasn't uncivil to a sockpuppet.
Arbcom considers new discretionary sanctions for infoboxes and an extension of 1RR.
- In the media: The media on Wikipedia's workings: the good and not-so-good
Diplomats join Wikipedia for International Women's Day, the perfect "Human", how fringe theories are sustained, and perennial plagiarism from our pages.
- Traffic report: Real sports, real women and an imaginary country: what's on top for Wikipedia readers
Wakanda still fascinates; the Oscars happened; Winter Olympics come to a close; and International Women's Day gets over a million page views.
- Featured content: Animals, Ships, and Songs
A plethora of content.
- Technology report: Timeless skin review by Force Radical.
Reviewing a browser skin providing equal emphasis on both content and editing tools simultaneously.
- Special report: ACTRIAL wrap-up.
Retrospective on article creation trial.
- Humour: WikiWorld Reruns
Nostalgia and trips down Memory Lane.
The Signpost: 26 April 2018
[edit]- From the editors: The Signpost's presses roll again
Following Kudpung's op-ed "Death knell sounding for The Signpost?" in the 29 March issue, user comments encouraged a burst of enthusiasm to keep the newspaper in print.
- Signpost: Future directions for The Signpost
How to revive and evolve The Signpost? Big blue-sky proposals and small concrete proposals from the community and from two regular Signpost contributors.
- News and notes: Photo of Kim Jong-un. Stephen Hawking death tops hits on many Wikipedias.
Finally a free image Kim Jong-un. WMF wins legal battle. Stephen Hawking death tops all Wikipedia hits.
- In the media: The rise of Wikipedia as a disinformation mop
Internet companies use Wikipedia to police truth; Citogenesis proven yet again; early birthday greetings; and trains
- In focus: Admin reports board under criticism
A recent Community Health Initiative survey found only 27% of respondents are happy with the way reports of conflicts between Editors are handled on the Administrators' Incident Noticeboard (ANI).
- Special report: ACTRIAL results adopted by landslide
New major editing policy starting immediately: creation of articles in mainspace is to be limited to users with confirmed accounts
- Opinion: Guideline for Organization Notability revised
The standards have been raised for sources used in judging the notability of nonprofit and for-profit organizations.
- Op-ed: World War II Myth-making and Wikipedia
Wikipedia's myth of the clean Wehrmacht and what you can do about it. Or, how not to be one of "the worst distributors of pro-Nazi perspectives and the Wehrmacht myth".
- Community view: It's time we look past Women in Red to counter systemic bias
Can Wikipedia mobilize the same energy to fill other gaps in coverage?
- Discussion report: The future of portals
What should we do about Portals? Keep them, delete them, or mark them as historical? Or should they be more closely connected with their WikiProject(s)?
- Arbitration report: No new cases, and one motion on administrative misconduct
Quiet month for the Arbitration Committee
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Military History
Combat, weapons, monuments and personalities.
- Blog: Why the world reads Wikipedia
What we learned about reader motivation from a recent research study
- Humour: Our Favorite Places to Whine About Stuff
You might not get all excersized about essays but they can be as fun as talk pages
- Traffic report: A quiet place to wrestle with the articles of March
The most popular articles from March 25 to April 14.
- Technology report: Coming soon: Books-to-PDF, interactive maps, rollback confirmation
Plus the latest tech news and userscripts.
- Featured content: Featured content selected by the community
Material promoted from March 2 through April 20.
- Gallery: A look at some famous and not as well-known border tripoints
Honoring a day in military history, as well as peaceful borders
The Signpost: 24 May 2018
[edit]- From the editor: Another issue meets the deadline
A busy office with minimal staff.
- Op-ed: Has the wind gone out of the AdminShip's sails?
Kudpung has some thoughts on the reasons for becalmed forums and the reluctance of candidates to (wo)man the rigging.
- Opinion: Integrating my many lives on Wikipedia
Thoughts on how looking for the truth on Wikipedia brings out unexpected things in the real world.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Portals
After a recent Village Pump discussion, the Signpost looks at WikiProject Portals.
- Discussion report: User rights, infoboxes, and more discussion on portals
A busy month for discussions on major topics.
- Featured content: Featured content selected by the community
Science, sportspeople, video games, and history feature heavily in the community's picks this month.
- Arbitration report: Managing difficult topics
Has an attempt to prevent historical revisionism become a content battleground?
- News and notes: Lots of Wikimedia
De-recognition of Brazil user groups; brute-force attack on Wikipedia; Wikimedia Conference 2018; and assorted other silly things.
- In the media: Wikipedia in Turkish politics; COI politics in Wikipedia; most cited work
And the burning question of the day, is the monkey selfie going to space with the rest of Wikipedia?
- Traffic report: We love our superheroes
No surprises here as the summer movie season begins.
- Technology report: A trove of contributor and developer goodies
Improved mobile app, searching, citations, inline maps, voting, and more.
- Blog: Why I write about women on Wikipedia
Editor SusunW delves into reasons why she has created hundreds of articles about women.
- Recent research: Why people don't contribute to Wikipedia; using Wikipedia to teach statistics, technical writing, and controversial issues
Too many women still don't know that Wikipedia is editable.
- Humour: Play with your food
Down the rabbit hole into the realm of third-grade mind.
- Gallery: Wine not?
May 25 is National Wine Day in the United States.
- From the archives: The Signpost scoops The Signpost
The dark and twisted world of Wikipedia's most powerful media institution: The Signpost.
The Signpost: 29 June 2018
[edit]- From the editor: The Admin Ship is still barely afloat, while a Foundation project risks sinking
A Wiki not so Simple, a mayor motivating an editathon, a Marshall Plan, and a Wikimania under a cloud of criticism
- Special report: NPR and AfC – The Marshall Plan: an engagement and a marriage?
Further developments on New Page Review and Articles for Creation work sharing
- Op-ed: What do admins do?
Admins volunteer to be abused – or so it seems
- Opinion: Google isn't responsible for Wikipedia's mistakes
So it shouldn't get credit for our work, either.
- News and notes: Money, milestones, and Wikimania
Major grants announced, a new milestone for Afrikaans Wikipedia, a new WMF technical engagement team, an effort to start up a new library, two new admins – or maybe three fewer depending on your math.
- In the media: Much wikilove from the Mayor of London, less from Paekākāriki or a certain candidate for U.S. Congress
Several online battles are juxtaposed with stories about cooperation and good deeds, Arbcom hovering over it all; notwithstanding, a good action movie script is not necessarily found here.
- Discussion report: Deletion, page moves, and an update to the main page
Community discussions include style updates to project-wide icons and the main page, procedural questions on royal names and jettisoning unsuitable drafts, and deeper questions of compliance with European privacy laws and the perennial issue of shrinking admin corps.
- Featured content: New promotions
Enjoy the superb content
- Arbitration report: WWII, UK politics, and a user deCrat'ed
British politics case enters workshop phase and German war effort closes workshop, goes to Arbcom for proposals.
- Traffic report: Endgame
Two celebrities hang themselves, and the FIFA World Cup is underway
- Technology report: Improvements piled on more improvements
An AI assistant comes to watchlists; better mobile compatibility; new bots, tools and scripts; and more
- Gallery: Wiki Loves Africa
Colorful and moving.
- Blog: Wikipedia should be open for editors in Turkey
WMF appeals to Turkish Minister of Transport, Maritime, and Communications Ahmet Arslan to lift the block of all language versions of Wikipedia for over a year.
- Recent research: How censorship can backfire and conversations can go awry
Studying ourselves: 'driven by a sense of mission' according to researchers.
- Humour: Television plot lines
In our next episode...
- Wikipedia essays: This month's pick by The Signpost editors
Some essays are funny, some are serious; some are just, well what exactly?
- From the archives: Wolves nip at Wikipedia's heels: A perspective on the cost of paid editing
Revisiting an editor's warning to count our kidneys and keep the wolves at bay
The Signpost: 31 July 2018
[edit]- From the editor: If only if
Ships and shoes – and if you don't like it here, just go away!
- Op-ed: The last leg of the Admin Ship's current cruise
How admin would-bes run the gauntlet.
- Opinion: Wrestling with Wikipedia reality
Wikipedia referees wag a finger at Professional Wrestling editors.
- News and notes: Another newspaper for Wikipedia; Wikimania 2018 ends; changes at NPR
New admins and Kudpung finally leaves NPP after 7 years.
- In the media: Blackouts in Europe; Wikipedia and capitalists; WMF Jet Set
One secret cabal that watches out for conspiracy theories, and another one out to stymie venture capitalists?
- Discussion report: Wikipedias take action against EU copyright proposal, plus new user right proposals
And more: a new user group for editing code, Women in Red, and arbitrator articles.
- Featured content: Wikipedia's best content in images and prose
Spanning the gamut from warfare and destruction to pop culture to celebrations of nature and humanity's achievements.
- Arbitration report: Status quo processes retained in two disputes
We don't have "state agents" in a political debate, but couldn't talk about it if there were.
- Traffic report: Soccer, football, call it what you like – that and summer movies leave room for little else
Finding the mathematician and Supreme Court nominee in this list is like playing Where's Waldo?.
- Technology report: New bots, new prefs
Useful new gadgets.
- Gallery: Independence days, national holidays, and football – all in July
Depictions of July events in several countries.
- Blog: Motivation of two editors
Those who study ancient Egypt.
- Recent research: Different Wikipedias use different images; editing contests more successful than edit-a-thons
And other recent findings, plus a roundup of research presentations at Wikimania.
- Humour: It's all the same
Merge WikiProject Professional wrestling and ANI.
- Essay: Wikipedia does not need you
Get over it!
- From the archives: The pending changes fiasco: how an attempt to answer one question turned into a quagmire
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The Signpost: 30 August 2018
[edit]- From the editor: Today's young adults don't know a world without Wikipedia
Keep straight on – there are trolls in the hedgerows.
- Interview: 2018 Wikimedian of the Year, Farkhad Fatkullin
"Imagine a world in which every single human being is a Wikimedian. That's my commitment!"
- News and notes: Flying high; low practice from Wikipedia 'cleansing' agency; where do our donations go? RfA sees a new trend
WMF pays possible Orangemoody ring for user research, and ditches MediaWiki for publishing its own blog. Knife-edge closures at RfA.
- In the media: Quicksilver AI writes articles
But unfortunately its output is incompatible with open licensing.
- Discussion report: Drafting an interface administrator policy
Plus: Simple English Wikipedia stays open, a discussion on draft header templates, bias blind spot by admins offered cash?
- Featured content: Featured content selected by the community
Astronauts named Armstrong, babes of the Brits, Cortinarius caperatus and all that.
- Special report: Wikimania 2018
"Bridging knowledge gaps, the ubuntu way forward".
- Traffic report: Aretha dies – getting just 2,000 short of 5 million hits
Very high and very low hits; love and loss.
- Technology report: Technical enhancements and a request to prioritize upcoming work
Citation bot and mapframe enhancements; new licenses for Data space; possible hiccup on 12 September; per-user page, namespace, and upload blocking; and miscellaneous new bots and tools.
- Gallery: Leapfrog, historic Thai cave, and a rhythmic beat
Some of the best pictures of 2017.
- Recent research: Wehrmacht on Wikipedia, neural networks writing biographies
Readers prefer the AI's version 40% of the time – but it still suffers from hallucinations.
- Humour: Signpost editor censors herself
Nothing funny about it.
- Essay: Principle of Some Astonishment
Remind you of any Wikipedia articles?
- From the archives: Playing with Wikipedia words
The Wikipedia Plays.
The Signpost: 1 October 2018
[edit]- From the editor: Is this the new normal?
We keep on publishing as long as you keep on reading.
- News and notes: European copyright law moves forward
Wikipedia dodges a bullet in Brussels... maybe.
- In the media: Knowledge under fire
Can Wikipedians help save the world's knowledge and shine a light on current events?
- Discussion report: Interface Admin policy proposal, part 2
Plus: signatures, shortcuts, and reliable sources.
- Arbitration report: A quiet month for Arbcom
No valid new requests for arbitration, no new cases.
- Traffic report: John McCain's death generates over 7 million hits, followed by historical low
Fourth highest view count of the year; lowest view count since 2014; death, sports, and movies ever constant.
- Technology report: Paying attention to your mobile
Plus the latest scripts, bots, and tech news.
- Gallery: A pat on the back
A pictorial ode to the end of summer.
- Blog: After a catastrophic fire at the National Museum of Brazil, a drive to preserve what knowledge remains
As the global community of volunteer Wikimedia editors mourns the destruction of this amazing museum, this post pays tribute to all editors who have contributed restlessly to tell the story of the National Museum, our history.
- Recent research: How talk page use has changed since 2005; censorship shocks lead to centralization; is vandalism caused by workplace boredom?
And other recent research papers.
- Humour: Signpost Crossword Puzzle
What is a four-letter word for...
- Essay: Expressing thanks
You know you should...
The Signpost: 28 October 2018
[edit]- From the editors: The Signpost is still afloat, just barely
A slightly thinner issue, but out on time.
- Op-ed: Wikipedia's Strickland affair
Is a missing article on a Nobel laureate a fail? What if her draft biography was declined as non-notable?
- News and notes: WMF gets a million bucks
And it's richer than ever.
- In the media: Bans, celebs, and bias
Breitbart begone; rescued by archivists; celebrating trolls?
- Discussion report: Mediation Committee and proposed deletion reform
Plus: two pending changes-related discussions, notability, and naming conventions.
- Traffic report: Unsurprisingly, sport leads the field – or the ring
Who's reading what?
- Technology report: Bots galore!
Bots can do anything you want – well, almost.
- Special report: NPP needs you
WMF continues to stonewall development; NPP wishes again relegated to stocking fillers.
- Special report 2: Now Wikidata is six
SPARQL adds sparkle to WMF projects.
- In focus: Alexa
We are all writing for Amazon.
- Gallery: Out of this world!
No special effects here, just beautiful celestial images.
- Recent research: Wikimedia Commons worth $28.9 billion
If it weren't free, of course.
- Humour: Talk page humour
Wikipedia has a long history of talk page tomfoolery.
- Opinion: Strickland incident
The reviewer who declined the article gives his perspective.
- From the archives: The Gardner Interview
The "holy-shit" slide.
The Signpost: 1 December 2018
[edit]- From the editor: Time for a truce
Lay down your verbal weapons.
- Op-ed: Looking back, looking forward: A beginner's experience on Wikipedia
The experiences of a new user on Wikipedia, told in their own words.
- Special report: The Christmas wishlist
What do the WMF devs have in store for the community?
- Opinion: The blogosphere migrates to Galaxy WMF
Suppose they gave a blog and nobody came?
- News and notes: Reviewer of the year, WikiCup winner, and the 2019 Wikimedia Summit
Looking both backward and forward to events concerning the community.
- Reflections: Wikipedia, history, and the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day
A personal reflection on Wikipedia's role as a repository of history.
- In the media: Court-ordered article redaction, paid editing, and rock stars
Real-world news competes with the usual celeb fascination for Wikipedia's commentators.
- Discussion report: Farewell, Mediation Committee
It was a good 15 years. Plus: admins, notability, substubs, and new padlocks.
- Arbitration report: A long break ends
Arbcom takes its first new case since June.
- Traffic report: Queen reigns for four weeks straight
The "Queen" of stage and screen, that is. Is there another?
- Gallery: Intersections
Biology or technology? Form follows function in nature and the constructed world.
- Recent research: Why do the most active Wikipedians burn out?; only 4% of students vandalize
And other new research results.
- Essay: No one cares about your garage band
Nope, don't care!
- Humour: The dark side of our favorite root vegetable
Wonky carrots invoke terror.
- From the archives: Ars longa, vita brevis
ARS might continue, but some Wikipedians might not.
The Signpost: 24 December 2018
[edit]- From the editors: Where to draw the line in reporting?
Tell us what you think!
- Op-ed: Wikipedia not trumped by Trump appointee
Did World Patent Marketing pay to get Wikipedia to include flattering information on their board member, now the Acting United States Attorney General?
- Special report: The Signpost got 380,000+ views in 2018, sounds reasonable enough, right?
A statistical insight into the English Wikipedia's very own online community newsletter.
- News and notes: Some wishes do come true
NPP wins the wish list poll; Wikipedia editors will be able to work better at night; new WMF appointments and new arbitrators; and who wants to be an admin?
- In the media: Political hijinks
Wikipedia says 'ta' to British M.P. and 'buh-bye' to U.S. President's image vandals.
- Discussion report: A new record low for RfA
Plus: reliable sources, notability, and fallout from the self-blocking software changes.
- WikiProject report: Articlegenesis
Discovering how new and unregistered users make articles with the members of WikiProject Articles for Creation.
- Arbitration report: Year ends with one active case
GiantSnowman asked to chill, and other disputes addressed by Arbcom (or not).
- Traffic report: Queen dethroned by U.S. presidents
The band relinquishes its first place hold; Aquaman is swimming into view for late December.
- Gallery: Sun and Moon, water and stone
Happy solstice, and happy New Year!
- Blog: News from the WMF
In and around the WMF and its projects from the WMF's web site.
- Humour: I believe in Bigfoot
Are you a believer?
- Essay: Requests for medication
When the desire to continue to have the privilege of editing Wikipedia overrides the body's innate desire to choke the living shit out of some bastard who really has it coming.
- From the archives: Compromised admin accounts – again
Compromised accounts – especially those of inactive admins.
The Signpost: 31 January 2019
[edit]- Op-ed: Random Rewards Rejected
Lab rats deflate research to be performed on the Wikipedia community.
- In focus: The Collective Consciousness of Admin Userpages
Did you know that there was an admin who thought that the metaphor of the mop was a joke, and now they know it's not?
- News and notes: WMF staff turntable continues to spin; Endowment gets more cash; RfA continues to be a pit of steely knives
Rude or just forgetful? Eight-year WMF manager has disappeared; Facebook gives a million bucks, gets no love.
- In the media: The Signpost's investigative story recognized, Wikipedia turns 18 and gets a birthday gift from Google, and more editors are recognized
Heroes and unsung heroes: many good news stories about the work we are all doing together.
- Discussion report: The future of the reference desk
Plus: plagiarism from Wikipedia, user categories, and admin activity requirements.
- Featured content: Don't miss your great opportunity
Get yourself lost in 1730's Paris, and a wide range of other recently promoted content.
- Arbitration report: An admin under the microscope
Snowman flames newbies? Or just oversensitive snowflakes?
- Traffic report: Death, royals and superheroes: Avengers, Black Panther
The most popular articles of 2018 include a cornucopia of superheroes (Avengers: Infinity War)
- Technology report: When broken is easily fixed
Emergency server switch goes smoothly; technical glitches resolved; a new way to transfer files to Commons.
- Gallery: Let us build a memorial fit for such pain and suffering
A tour of some of the world's greatest memorials courtesy the Prime Minister of India.
- News from the WMF: News from WMF
The world’s largest photo contest, a $1 million gift, Wikipedia’s birthday, WF appoints Valerie D'Costa.
- Recent research: Ad revenue from reused Wikipedia articles; are Wikipedia researchers asking the right questions?
And other new research publications.
- Essay: How
A narrative to get you oriented to how this place works, and to the key policies and guidelines.
- Humour: Village pump
More talk pages you don't want to miss.
- From the archives: An editorial board that includes you
Four years - and nothing changed?
The Signpost: 28 February 2019
[edit]- From the editors: Help wanted (still)
This may be too wordy, verbose and loquacious – and possibly redundant – but as you know, it takes others to check our work, and if there were more people in the Newsroom, we'd be able to double check ourselves and produce a better product for our readership; if you think you are up to it, you are welcome to join us and even copyedit the Editor-in-Chief's article intros.
- News and notes: Front-page issues for the community
Encyclopedias for Deletion; Corinne; scholarships; partial blocks; and administrators headcount.
- In focus: Wikimedia affiliate organizations seek community participation in 2019 board election
This election will select 2 of 10 seats on the board. All Wikimedia users are stakeholders in the election outcome and should participate.
- Discussion report: Talking about talk pages
This month's major discussions include a WMF talk page consultation and a proposed current events noticeboard.
- Featured content: Conquest, War, Famine, Death, and more!
Horsemen of the apocalypse all represented in recently promoted content, alongside new life, pretty birds, great music, and other miscellaneous topics.
- Arbitration report: A quiet month for Arbitration Committee
Snowed in, maybe.
- Traffic report: Binge-watching
Netflix shows and TV sports dominate. A US politician breaks into the top 10.
- Technology report: Tool labs casters-up
Tool labs goes kaput, bots running wild (not really), interface administrators step into the breach, new gadgets and other tech happenings.
- Gallery: Signed with pride
A gallery of user signatures created by Wikipedians themselves.
- Recent research: Research finds signs of cultural diversity and recreational habits of readers
When watchers want the whole truth, they wind up with the wiki! And Cultural Context Content comes out of a complete cartography.
- Essay: Optimist's guide to Wikipedia
Assume good faith even if it kills you.
- From the archives: New group aims to promote Wiki-Love
The creation of the Esperanza group.
- Humour: Pesky Pronouns
Not feeling blurbish right now.
The Signpost: 31 March 2019
[edit]- From the editors: Getting serious about humor
- News and notes: Blackouts fail to stop EU Copyright Directive
- In the media: Women's history month
- Discussion report: Portal debates continue, Prespa agreement aftermath, WMF seeks a rebranding
- Featured content: Out of this world
- Arbitration report: The Tides of March at ARBCOM
- Traffic report: Exultations and tribulations
- Technology report: New section suggestions and sitewide styles
- News from the WMF: The WMF's take on the new EU Copyright Directive
- Recent research: Barnstar-like awards increase new editor retention
- From the archives: Esperanza organization disbanded after deletion discussion
- Humour: The Epistolary of Arthur 37
- In focus: The Wikipedia SourceWatch
- Special report: Wiki Loves (50 Years of) Pride
- Community view: Wikipedia's response to the New Zealand mosque shootings
The Signpost: 30 April 2019
[edit]- News and notes: An Action Packed April
New Administrators, April Fools, our competitors, and other associated updates
- In the media: Is Wikipedia just another social media site?
Harassment, a black hole, the Mueller Report, and Mötley Crüe - just another social media site?
- Discussion report: English Wikipedia community's conclusions on talk pages
Plus: another round of paid editing discussion.
- Featured content: Anguish, accolades, animals, and art
April's admirable additions.
- Arbitration report: An Active Arbitration Committee
Policies and procedures, cases and controversies, and other ArbCom updates
- Traffic report: Mötley Crüe, Notre-Dame, a black hole, and Bonnie and Clyde
Round up the unusual suspects
- Technology report: A new special page, and other news
Welcoming English Wikipedia's newest admin (bot)
- Gallery: Notre-Dame de Paris burns
Photos and videos show the damage
- News from the WMF: Can machine learning uncover Wikipedia’s missing “citation needed” tags?
Wikimedia Foundation data scientists are using machine learning to predict whether—and why—any given sentence on Wikipedia may need a citation in order to help editors identify areas of content violating the verifiability policy.
- Recent research: Female scholars underrepresented; whitepaper on Wikidata and libraries; undo patterns reveal editor hierarchy
And other recent research results
- From the archives: Portals revisited
"The future of portals", a year later
- Humour: Jimbo and Larry walk into a bar ...
Some editors will do anything to get a laugh
- Opinion: The gaps in our knowledge of our gaps
What we know we don't know, and why it might matter more than you might think
- Interview: Katherine Maher marks 3 years as executive director
Maher discusses her tenure as ED, the editing community, harassment and diversity, the WMF's 3-5 year plan, airplane travel, books, and her future.
- Community view: 2019 Wikimedia Summit gathers movement affiliate representatives to discuss movement strategy
An overview of Wikimedia Summit 2019, a working conference to discuss the Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy Process, preparing draft recommendations for Wikimania 2019 in August.
The Signpost: 31 May 2019
[edit]- From the editors: Picture that
The North Face sneaks in advertisements, apologizes after being caught
- News and notes: Wikimania and trustee elections
Get ready to go to Wikimania in Stockholm where you might meet two new trustees
- In the media: Politics, lawsuits and baseball
Wikipedia finds itself up against China, Pennsylvania politicians and the Detroit Tigers
- Discussion report: Admin abuse leads to mass-desysop proposal on Azerbaijani Wikipedia
Neutrality and copyright concerns lead and part 2 of the talk pages consultation.
- Arbitration report: ArbCom forges ahead
Resignations, new cases, administrator security, and more
- Traffic report: Dark marvels, thrones, a vile serial killer biopic, that's entertainment!
Who will be next to fill the throne at the top of the list?
- Technology report: Lots of Bots
Admin bots, approved bots, bots on trial, lots and lots of bots
- News from the WMF: Wikimedia Foundation petitions the European Court of Human Rights to lift the block of Wikipedia in Turkey
The WMF keeps working to stop Turkey from blocking Wikipedia.
- Recent research: Wikipedia more useful than academic journals, but is it stealing the news?
And other new research publications
- Essay: Paid editing
We've been talking about paid editing forever
- From the archives: FORUM:Should Wikimedia modify its terms of use to require disclosure?
A debate from 5 years ago on whether we use to prohibit undisclosed paid editing
The June 2019 Signpost is out!
[edit]- Discussion report: A constitutional crisis hits English Wikipedia
Could this be a new relationship between the Foundation and ArbCom, and between the Foundation and enwiki?
- News and notes: Mysterious ban, admin resignations, Wikimedia Thailand rising
Many administrators resign related to Fram case; Wikimedia Thailand to host Wikimania 2020.
- In the media: The disinformation age
Or is it the information error?
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse.
- Traffic report: Juneteenth, Beauty Revealed, and more nuclear disasters
Readers look for info on what they watch, mostly Chernobyl.
- Technology report: Actors and Bots
Database changes, new scripts, Tech News, and more.
- Gallery: Unlike the North Face, Wiki Loves Earth
Wikimedia photographers surge to contribute to the Wiki Loves Earth campaign even while rogue clothing company The North Face replaces wiki illustrations with advertisements.
- Special report: Did Fram harass other editors?
(DELETED ARTICLE)
- Recent research: What do editors do after being blocked?; the top mathematicians, universities and cancers according to Wikipedia
And other recent research publications.
- From the archives: Women and Wikipedia: the world is watching
"If you don't clean up this mess, the adults are going to come and take your toys away from you."
- Opinion: Why the Terms of Use change didn't curtail undisclosed paid editing—and what might
To reduce the incentives driving undisclosed paid editing, Wikipedia could simplify the process and meet outsiders halfway.
- In focus: WikiJournals: A sister project proposal
Academic peer review meets Wikimedia.
- Community view: A CEO biography, paid for with taxes
How an Irish state-level paid editor tried to turn me into the villain.
- Op-Ed: 2019 Wikimedia Affiliate Selected Board Seats Election Results
Wikimedia community organizations elect two members for the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees.
The Signpost: 31 July 2019
[edit]- News and notes: Wikimedia grants less accessible for travel, equipment, meetups, and India
WMF grants program changes position on funding random individuals globally and 100 crore people in one region
- In the media: Politics starts getting rough
Are we ready for the sharp elbows?
- Discussion report: New proposals in aftermath of Fram ban
Resysop requests on the ’crat board prove controversial; plus, aftermath of Framgate.
- Arbitration report: A month of reintegration
Arbitration begins setting new boundaries after the June blow-up
- Gallery: Classic panoramas from Heinrich Berann
It looks nice and cool up in those mountains
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse.
- Community view: Video based summaries of Wikipedia articles. How and why?
It's easy, education saves lives.
- News from the WMF: Designing ethically with AI: How Wikimedia can harness machine learning in a responsible and human-centered way
Or, how to avoid Artificial Ignorance
- Recent research: Most influential medical journals; detecting pages to protect
And other new research publications
- Special report: Administrator cadre continues to contract
A new record set: fewer than 500 active admins.
- Traffic report: World cups, presidential candidates, and stranger things
and don't forget the movies
- In focus: The French Wikipedia is overtaking the German
Who is growing? Who is not?
The Signpost: 30 August 2019
[edit]- News and notes: Documenting Wikimania and our beginnings
The oldest surviving Wikipedia edit restored to article history, Wikimania, and the mystery of a disappearing Funds Dissemination Committee.
- In focus: Ryan Merkley joins WMF as Chief of Staff
Working with leadership and the community, taking on both operational and strategic responsibilities
- In the media: Many layers of fake news: Fake fiction and fake news vandalism
And the media report it all
- Discussion report: Meta proposals on partial bans and IP users
Can we survive without IP addresses?
- Traffic report: Once upon a time in Greenland with Boris and cornflakes
And some summer flicks with the usual heroes and villains
- Op-Ed: We couldn't have told you this, but Wikipedia was censored
Should we break the law or publish the truth?
- Opinion: The Curious Case of Croatian Wikipedia
Or how to make a concentration camp disappear?
- Community view: Chinese Wikipedia and the battle against extradition from Hong Kong
From streets to Wikipedia - What are editors from Hong Kong facing?
- News from the WMF: Meet Emna Mizouni, the newly minted 2019 Wikimedian of the Year
Emna Mizouni was named the 2019 Wikimedian of the Year.
- Recent research: Special issue on gender gap and gender bias research
A roundup of many recent publications examining Wikpedia's gender gaps in participation and content, and their possible reasons
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse
The Signpost: 30 September 2019
[edit]- From the editors: Where do we go from here?
Our constitutional crisis may continue
- Special report: Post-Framgate wrapup
Summary of actions around a formerly banned former administrator: Arbitration Committee action and withdrawn request for adminship
- In the media: A net loss: Wikipedia attacked, closing off Russia? welcoming back Turkey?
The internet may not be as stable as it seems
- Traffic report: Varied and intriguing entries, less Luck, and some retreads
Luck, Serena, Bianca, 9/11, bad films, mass murderers and other good stuff
- News from the WMF: How the Wikimedia Foundation is making efforts to go green
Wikipedia's footprint is equivalent to 251 average US homes’ energy use. Yes we can go green.
- Recent research: Wikipedia's role in assessing credibility of news sources; using wikis against procrastination; OpenSym 2019 report
And other recent research publications
- Gallery: Finding freely licensed photo collections
Wikimedia Commons is not the only place to find freely licensed photos
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories that are from the Wikiverse
- In focus: Wikidata & Wikibase for national libraries: the inaugural meeting
National libraries are planning to leverage Wikidata to interoperate and to bring information to the public
The Signpost: 31 October 2019
[edit]- In the media: How to use or abuse Wikipedia for fun or profit
Sweden, Poland, Armenia, Russia, the Vatican, and clueless English pubs.
- Special report: “Catch and Kill” on Wikipedia: Paid editing and the suppression of material on alleged sexual abuse
"It's time for Wikipedia to grow up."
- In focus: The BBC looks at Chinese government editing
But they aren't entirely sure they see it
- Interview: Carl Miller on Wikipedia Wars
A discussion on info wars, government editing and our defences.
- Community view: Observations from the mainland
A different point of view
- Arbitration report: October actions
An "unblockable" is blocked; a former arb resigns.
- Traffic report: Wrestling with a couple of teenagers, a Nobelist, and a lot of jokers
Plus a few celebrities.
- Gallery: Wiki Loves Broadcast
The future of public broadcasting has arrived.
- Recent research: Research at Wikimania 2019: More communication doesn't make editors more productive; Tor users doing good work; harmful content rare on English Wikipedia
And other new research publications
- Essay: Wikipedia is in the real world
Editing can have serious consequences.
- News from the WMF: Welcome to Wikipedia! Here's what we're doing to help you stick around
Twenty questions to get you started.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
The Signpost: 29 November 2019
[edit]- From the editor: Put on your birthday best
"We get by with a little help from our friends"
- News and notes: How soon for the next million articles?
And when will we get the second extraterrestrial edit?
- In the media: You say you want a revolution
Everybody wants to change Wikipedia.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
- Arbitration report: Two requests for arbitration cases
Important or imprudent? Pondering portals. And an editor gets transported off-wiki for good.
- Traffic report: The queen and the princess meet the king and the joker
Could this be the end of the Terminator?
- Technology report: Reference things, sister things, stranger things
The latest tech news and updates.
- Gallery: Winter and holidays
Some interesting and unusual winter and holiday images.
- Recent research: Bot census; discussions differ on Spanish and English Wikipedia; how nature's seasons affect pageviews
And other new research publications.
- Essay: Adminitis
Some humor about the otherwise serious subject of burnout.
- From the archives: WikiProject Spam, revisited
Veteran editor: Wikipedia is losing existential battle against spam.
- In focus: An update on the Wikimedia Movement 2030 Strategy
Coming to the end of a long road formulating the strategy.
- Special report: How many people edit in your favorite language? Where are they from?
Only now can we say!
The Signpost: 27 December 2019
[edit]- From the editors: Caught with their hands in the cookie jar, again
You can buy "cleaners" but you might not come away clean.
- News and notes: What's up (and down) with administrators, articles and languages
Active administrators and articles achieved are marking milestone metrics, but in diverging directions. Plus, the first time any court has found there exists a constitutional right to read Wikipedia.
- Special report: Are reputation management operatives scrubbing Wikipedia articles?
Son of Wiki-PR.
- In the media: "The fulfillment of the dream of humanity" or a nightmare of PR whitewashing on behalf of one-percenters?
Praise for possibly pansophic Wikipedia from a Nobel laureate collides head-on with real-world events in December.
- Discussion report: December discussions around the wiki
Regarding integrity of information presented by Wikipedia, as well as the processes and people who ensure it remains trustworthy.
- Arbitration report: Announcement of 2020 Arbitration Committee
ArbCom election results and status of open and requested cases.
- Traffic report: Queens and aliens, exactly alike, once upon a December
We may have scrambled the headlines a bit.
- Technology report: User scripts and more
Customise your Wikipedia experience
- Gallery: Holiday wishes
Messages of holiday cheer from us to you.
- Recent research: Acoustics and Wikipedia; Wiki Workshop 2019 summary
16 recent papers, and other research news
- From the archives: The 2002 Spanish fork and ads revisited (re-revisited?)
A look at different approaches taken by Wikipedia's founders in 2002, as seen from the perspective of nine years when it was written; nearly twenty years ago now.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
- Op-Ed: Why we need to keep talking about Wikipedia's gender gap
There's still a long way to go.
- WikiProject report: Wikiproject Tree of Life: A Wikiproject report
Eight years after our last interview, WikiProject Tree of Life continues to thrive.
The Signpost: 27 January 2020
[edit]- From the editor: Reaching six million articles is great, but we need a moratorium
How long can we ignore Wiki-PR?
- News and notes: Six million articles on the English language Wikipedia
You ain't seen nothing yet.
- Special report: The limits of volunteerism and the gatekeepers of Team Encarta
How to survive the asshole consensus.
- In the media: Turkey's back up, but what's happening with Dot-org and a new visual identity?
Plus politics and other oddities.
- Arbitration report: Three cases at ArbCom
The new arbs have a big load.
- Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2019
As only The Signpost can describe them.
- Gallery: Wiki Loves Monuments 2019, we're all winners
The top 15 international photos.
- News from the WMF: Capacity Building: Top 5 Themes from Community Conversations
Growing our community and our abilities.
- Community view: Our most important new article since November 1, 2015
Well, it's a bit subjective.
- In focus: Cryptos and bitcoins and blockchains, oh no!
Everybody needs to make a buck somehow — just not here, thanks.
- Recent research: How useful is Wikipedia for novice programmers trying to learn computing concepts?
And other new research publications.
- From the archives: A decade of The Signpost, 2005-2015
The first 10 years are the hardest.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Japan: a wikiProject Report
An interview with four members of the WikiProject Japan.
- Humour: Predicting the 6,000,000th article
I may fall in love all over again!
- Obituary: Remembering Wikipedia contributor Brian Boulton
A mentor to us all
The Signpost: 1 March 2020
[edit]- From the editor: The ball is in your court
How to stop abusive commercial editing.
- News and notes: Alexa ranking down to 13th worldwide
Falling behind Chinese websites.
- Special report: More participation, more conversation, more pageviews
A statistical insight into the English Wikipedia's very own online community newsletter.
- In the media: Mapping IP editors, Smithsonian open-access, and coronavirus disinformation
We're all over the map this month.
- Discussion report: Do you prefer M or P?
Wikimedia or Wikipedia?
- Arbitration report: Two prominent administrators removed
Arbitration Committee and the "blue wall of silence".
- By the numbers: How many actions by administrators does it take to clean up spam?
Numbers for vandalism and sockpuppeting included at no additional charge!
- Community view: The Incredible Invisible Woman
No more "Hidden Figures", let's work to make women visible on Wikipedia!
- In focus: History of The Signpost, 2015–2019
Covering Wikipedia for another five years!
- Recent research: Wikipedia generates $50 billion/year consumer surplus in the US alone
And other new research results
- From the archives: Is Wikipedia for sale?
How long has Wikipedia been for sale? When will it stop?
- Traffic report: February articles, floating in the dark
Kobe sets another record.
- Gallery: Feel the love
Renewing our vows.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
- Op-Ed: What I learned as Wikimedia UK Communications Coordinator
Getting across the Wikipedia experience to the press.
- Opinion: Wikipedia is another country
Or: how to best bite a newbie.
- Humour: The Wilhelm scream
WikiWorld is back.
The Signpost: 29 March 2020
[edit]- From the editors: The bad and the good
Getting ready for anything.
- News and notes: 2018 Wikipedian of the year blocked
Wheel war on Tatar Wikipedia.
- WikiProject report: WikiProject COVID-19: A WikiProject Report
An interview with members of the COVID Project.
- Special report: Wikipedia on COVID-19: what we publish and why it matters
Wikipedia presents solid widely-consulted information on COVID-19 and related topics.
- In the media: Blocked in Iran but still covering the big story
COVID-19, Zika, edit-a-thons, and macrons.
- Discussion report: Rethinking draft space
Plus: geonotices, reliable sources, and job titles.
- Arbitration report: Unfinished business
A new case, a case returns from limbo, and an RfC being prepared.
- In focus: "I have been asked by Jeffrey Epstein …"
The twists and turns of Epstein’s portrayal on Wikipedia.
- Community view: Wikimedia community responds to COVID-19
Individually and in organized groups, Wikimedians stand up and make a difference.
- Recent research: Disease outbreak uncertainties, AfD forecasting, auto-updating Wikipedia
New research publications on "the fear of being erased" and other topics.
- From the archives: Text from Wikipedia good enough for Oxford University Press to claim as own
Five years ago with a different crisis.
- Traffic report: The only thing that matters in the world
Going to movies and sport stadiums is history, and readers turn to Wikipedia for crucial medical information and updates.
- Gallery: Visible Women on Wikipedia
Images from the Whose Knowlege? campaign.
- News from the WMF: Amid COVID-19, Wikimedia Foundation offers full pay for reduced hours, mobilizes all staff to work remote, and waives sick time
The WMF responds.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
The Signpost: 26 April 2020
[edit]- News and notes: Unbiased information from Ukraine's government?
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pitches in.
- In the media: Coronavirus, again and again
Plus the importance of language.
- Discussion report: Redesigning Wikipedia, bit by bit
The Wikimedia community discusses modifying or hiding the sidebar on the left of every page.
- Featured content: Featured content returns
Movies, roads, awards and more.
- Arbitration report: Two difficult cases
Even our best editors sometimes disagree.
- Traffic report: Disease the Rhythm of the Night
Coronavirus, coronavirus, and Joe Exotic.
- Gallery: Roy is doing fine and sending more photos
A coronavirus cruise can't stop Roy!
- Recent research: Trending topics across languages; auto-detecting bias
And other new research results.
- Essay: Wikipedia:An article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing
And it could get worse!
- By the numbers: Open data and COVID-19: Wikipedia as an informational resource during the pandemic
What COVID-19 data are available from the WMF?
- Opinion: Trusting Everybody to Work Together
In an increasingly factious world, Wikipedia's approach to collaboration and trust-building point to a brighter future.
- On the bright side: What's making you happy this month?
A selection of good news and encouraging stories from the Wikiverse.
- Interview: Health and RfA's: An interview with Guy Macon
A Wikipedia editor reflects on his recent RfA and the health issues that became part of it.
- In focus: Multilingual Wikipedia
How to better integrate articles across language editions.
- WikiProject report: The Guild of Copy Editors
An interview with members of the WP:GOCE