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Welcome to my talk page!
  • My pronouns are he/they.
  • I prefer to keep discussions unfragmented. If you leave me a message here, I will respond to it here as an effort to keep the entire conversation in one place. By the same token, if I leave a comment on your talk page, please respond to it there.
  • I am an administrator, which just means I have some extra tools to help you out. If you need help, ask! If I am not online and you need help urgently, you can find a recently active admin using this tool.
  • Talk page watchers are welcome to add their input!
  • I am aware of all contentious topics which exist as of August 23, 2025. (If you don't know what this means, feel free to ignore this bullet point!)
Thank you!

I stumbled on this while patrolling redirects and figured I'd ask someone who understands categories better than I do whether this was a valid category. Strikes me as very weird but I'm not familiar with all the policies here. Rusalkii (talk) 19:16, 17 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have never seen that sort of category before; I have nominated it for deletion. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:38, 17 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Category:Canadian female sprinters

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I don't believe this was a good close. The proposal was changed without the original respondents being pinged/told of such and the BLP argument was just ridiculous. Traumnovelle (talk) 05:58, 18 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I stand by my close. If you think the BLP argument is ridiculous, you need to explain why. There is no obligation to notify participants of a new idea being proposed. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 15:28, 18 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
No, the idea that 'male' and 'female' are BLP violations have implications way beyond the scope of a single CFD and should not be decided based on a single user and a closer.
>There is no obligation to notify participants of a new idea being proposed
When the original nominator says 'OK, I will withdraw this nomination if the support !voters are OK with it to start a new one for the new terminology, which I will do some time this week when I can edit all of the category pages' I am not going to expect the nomination to then to be changed to a different one. Traumnovelle (talk) 19:07, 18 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I don't believe an argument that specific competition categories are causing BLP issues is inappropriate/out of scope for CFD about competition categories. For your argument about notifications I can understand where you are coming from, even if I disagree (given the condition in the offer was not satisfied). You are welcome to take this to WP:DRV if you feel I erred as a closer. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 14:37, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
If its a BLP issue in that category it'd be a BLP issue in every other category, and any other time the term male or female is used when a source uses man/woman instead. Traumnovelle (talk) 21:10, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your close @HouseBlaster, and my sincere apologies for not getting around to creating a clean CfD for the 'women'/'men' phrasing. I think the close was proper. I actually consulted with @Sillyfolkboy before I made that proposal, and I trusted their judgement that a CfD would be a good idea. One argument they brought up that I didn't mention in the CfD was that under current and historical World Athletics rules there are some prominent athletes who compete in "women's athletics" but are genetically male -- I'm not an expert in such topics so I didn't bother bringing it up.
I would tend to agree that it's inadvisable to use 'male' and 'female' terms when the context isn't explicitly biological -- maybe in the future that should be done with proper care on a case-by-case basis. I see at wikt:female#Usage notes there are concerns with using 'female' as a noun (I understand that in this case it was used as an adjective, but I think the usage note can still apply). --Habst (talk) 22:06, 19 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
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Thanks for helping with Template talk:Contentious topics#Licensing issue with File:Commons-emblem-hand.svg on Template:Contentious topics/page restriction editnotice base!

I found another similar case: Template:EV no threaded discussion and Template:Arbitration sectioned discussion both use File:Information black.svg without a link, which is also CC BY and so needs attribution. This one is complicated by the fact that these templates seem to usually be substed, so there are a few editnotices and a bunch of case pages that could use manual cleanup.

The options for fixing it are the same as for the other one: link the image, relicense the image, replace the image, or remove the image. In this case, (derived from , which we use in a lot of places instead of for similar licensing reasons) could be a replacement if you want to go that route. Anomie 15:09, 18 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Replaced in the templates and did a JWB run with my alt to fix the arbspace substitutions. Thank you so much for noticing this :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 15:43, 18 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Came across another one: File:Nuvola apps important blue.svg seems to be being used unlinked in a standard "this case is closed" notice substed onto case pages. File:Ambox warning blue.svg could be a good replacement if the not-linking is desired. Anomie 02:36, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Oh dear. Let me take a bit to investigate if there are any other changes to make at the same time, but obviously we need to comply with our legal obligations. Thank you for catching this. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:43, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
 Done with that, too! HouseBlaster (he/they) 23:39, 29 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Help us decide the name of the new Abstract Wikipedia project

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Copied from Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous) § Help us decide the name of the new Abstract Wikipedia project because this page is listed on Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous)/Subscribe.

Hello. Please help pick a name for the new Abstract Wikipedia wiki project. This project will be a wiki that will enable users to combine functions from Wikifunctions and data from Wikidata in order to generate natural language sentences in any supported languages. These sentences can then be used by any Wikipedia (or elsewhere).

There will be two rounds of voting, each followed by legal review of candidates, with votes beginning on 20 October and 17 November 2025. Our goal is to have a final project name selected on mid-December 2025. If you would like to participate, then please learn more and vote now at meta-wiki. Thank you!


-- User:Sannita (WMF) (talk) 11:42, 20 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-43

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MediaWiki message delivery 19:32, 20 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 20 October 2025

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And the "Global Resource Distribution Committee" emerges.
Two shortlisted WMF Board candidates removed from the ballot.
Who was bumped and why?
...while Musk prepares to launch "Grokipedia".
Serial-killer miniseries, deceased scientist, government shutdowns and Sandalwood hit "Kantara" crowd the tubes.
Don't get too excited before you read this.

A barnstar for you!

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The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
With great humility, thanks HouseBlaster for your very generous and kind words at Wikipedia:Thank you to Fuzheado and Pharos. Pharos Fuzheado | Talk 16:38, 21 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you so much! You both truly deserve the appreciation you are getting, and I mean every word I wrote on the letter :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 16:49, 21 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
It is also worth mentioning Jake Orlowitz (en:user:Ocaasi), though I don't know if he would appreciate the limelight :-) Jake acted with deep compassion in a crisis by going up as the man was being restrained, kneeling by him, and talking to him calmly to help de-escalate the situation. I deeply thank Pharos Fuzheado and Jake for their timely actions. Mary Mark Ockerbloom (talk) 14:43, 23 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Growth News #35

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10:23, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
Your contributions on Wikipedia have changed this encylopedia. Thank you for your work and help here. ~Rafael (He, him) • talkguestbookprojects 16:34, 23 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, Rafaelthegreat! HouseBlaster (he/they) 16:42, 23 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from DavidGPace1961 (16:31, 24 October 2025)

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How important is it to justify an edit with some form of citation? For example, in my father's page George W. Pace, a professor of religion at BYU, someone has written that a notorious public attack on him by a Mormon church authority was "presumably" connected to my father. I've changed it to "directly" connected to my father.

There is no doubt. In the attack that the church authority literally quoted my father's book, word-for-word.

Thanks --DavidGPace1961 (talk) 16:31, 24 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi DavidGPace1961! There is never a bad time to supply an inline citation, but it is only required by policy in four cases:
  1. When you are quoting something
  2. When it is a contentious claim about a living person
  3. When another Wikipedia editor challenges the claim
  4. When the claim is "likely" to be challenged by another Wikipedia editor
If you are correcting information, it is almost certainly a case of number 4 (because the person who wrote the incorrect information obviously thought it was correct), so you should supply a citation. You can see the guide to adding citations. Now, because this is about your father, you have a conflict of interest regarding the article. We have a simple guide to conflict-of-interest editing, and we recommend you use the edit request process so a neutral third party can double-check what you want to add. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 22:17, 24 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Shah Of Nowhere (02:18, 25 October 2025)

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Please answer this [4]. --Shah Of Nowhere talk! 02:18, 25 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Replied :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:21, 25 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Leinyuy Jude Fonbah on User:Leinyuy Jude Fonbah (05:31, 27 October 2025)

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Hello, This article I wrote for touristic and geographical reasons about a locality in Cameroon is not featuring in the search. I wish to know if I followed the right procedure, and why it's not online. Thanks --Leinyuy Jude Fonbah (talk) 05:31, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Leinyuy Jude Fonbah: you have not published your draft to the main article area yet. Add {{subst:submit}} (including the double curly braces) if you want a reviewer to check it out. Note that all places must satisfy our requirements for an article. It looks like your draft might satisfy the criteria, but it is not worded neutrally enough, and there are not enough citations to reliable sources. Check out Help:Your first article to get some advice for fixing this. Some specific lines which I feel are not neutral enough: describing the social life as attractive and listing sites [w]orthy of sight-seeing. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 12:33, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for the directives. I will go back and check Leinyuy Jude Fonbah (talk) 14:14, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please find herewith attached a barnstar

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All-Around Amazing Barnstar
I have realized that I have been grossly flouting the Wikipedia:Etiquette guideline by failing to, among other things, "Give praise when it's due" and "Request a list of other articles to work on, provided by SuggestBot". To cover my bases, and because there are many things you do that are praise-worthy, I would like to thank you for everything – and to hereby formally request that SuggestBot provide me a list of articles to work on. (And I wish to stress that this applies with regard to any contentious topic where it would be mandatory to "comply with all applicable policies and guidelines" such that my failure to give such praises or to request such lists might be sanctionable.)

For illustration, I would like to thank you (1) for your incessant kindness and diligence and (2) for your endeavors in such fields as helping newcomers; managing the unbearable boringness (IMO) of category discussions; moving templates to titles with standard spelling, spacing, and (eek!) capitalization; improving and streamlining policies and guidelines; and otherwise making Wikipedia more accessible. The enumeration in this template, of certain virtues, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the recipient. ~ Jenson (SilverLocust 💬) 09:16, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You are the best, Jenson. Thank you, thank you, thank you. HouseBlaster (he/they) 12:34, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Rima.Wikii (10:38, 27 October 2025)

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Hi HouseBlaster! Thank you for your kind message and encouragement. I’ve been working hard on several articles that are currently in draft status. I’ve put a lot of effort into researching and writing them, and I would really appreciate it if you could take a look and consider moving them to the mainspace once you review them.

I’ve also edited some existing short or incomplete articles and added more accurate information with proper sources. Please take a look at those as well when you have time.

Thanks again for your time and help!

Best, (Rima.wikii) --Rima.Wikii (talk) 10:38, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Rima.Wikii! To request that someone review a draft, please add {{subst:submit}} (including the double curly braces) to the draft. Your other edits look good; well done adding sources when you add information! Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 12:37, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Question from Daxman2196 (11:05, 27 October 2025)

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Hello, I can't seem to finish a CAPTCHA after editing a page. I will greatly appreciate your help! --Daxman2196 (talk) 11:05, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Daxman2196: I am also comically bad at CAPTCHAs, so I know where you are coming from. If you make ten edits and your account has existed for 96 hours (exactly four days), you will automatically be exempt from CAPTCHAs. In the meantime, only certain types of edits trigger the CAPTCHA (e.g. adding external links). If you are trying to make specific edits, please let me know and I can try making them on your behalf. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 12:45, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Tech News: 2025-44

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MediaWiki message delivery 19:28, 27 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

empty citation

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Hello,

Citation 1 at the top of the page is an empty citation and I have been unable to remove it. Can you help? Thank you. Daicar (talk) 18:35, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

 Fixed. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:37, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you so much! Daicar (talk) 19:42, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Of course! Welcome to Wikipedia, and let me know if you need anything else :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:44, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Seeking volunteers to join several of the movement’s committees

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Copied from Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous) § Seeking volunteers to join several of the movement’s committees because this page is listed on Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous)/Subscribe.

Each year, typically from October through December, several of the movement’s committees seek new volunteers.

Read more about the committees on their Meta-wiki pages:

Applications for the committees open on October 30, 2025. Applications for the Affiliations Committee, Ombuds commission and the Case Review Committee close on December 11, 2025. Learn how to apply by visiting the appointment page on Meta-wiki. Post to the talk page or email cst(_AT_)wikimedia.org with any questions you may have.

For the Committee Support team,


- MKaur (WMF) 14:12, 30 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Guide to temporary accounts

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Hello, HouseBlaster. This message is being sent to remind you of significant upcoming changes regarding logged-out editing.

Starting 4 November, logged-out editors will no longer have their IP address publicly displayed. Instead, they will have a temporary account (TA) associated with their edits. Users with some extended rights like administrators and CheckUsers, as well as users with the temporary account IP viewer (TAIV) user right will still be able to reveal temporary users' IP addresses and all contributions made by temporary accounts from a specific IP address or range.

How do temporary accounts work?

Editing from a temporary account
  • When a logged-out user completes an edit or a logged action for the first time, a cookie will be set in this user's browser and a temporary account tied with this cookie will be automatically created for them. This account's name will follow the pattern: ~2025-12345-67 (a tilde, year of creation, a number split into units of 5).
  • All subsequent actions by the temporary account user will be attributed to this username. The cookie will expire 90 days after its creation. As long as it exists, all edits made from this device will be attributed to this temporary account. It will be the same account even if the IP address changes, unless the user clears their cookies or uses a different device or web browser.
  • A record of the IP address used at the time of each edit will be stored for 90 days after the edit. Users with the temporary account IP viewer (TAIV) user right will be able to see the underlying IP addresses.
  • As a measure against vandalism, there are two limitations on the creation of temporary accounts:
    • There has to be a minimum of 10 minutes between subsequent temporary account creations from the same IP (or /64 range in case of IPv6).
    • There can be a maximum of 6 temporary accounts created from an IP (or /64 range) within a period of 24 hours.

Temporary account IP viewer user right

How to enable IP Reveal

Impact for administrators

  • It will be possible to block many abusers by just blocking their temporary accounts. A blocked person won't be able to create new temporary accounts quickly if the admin selects the autoblock option.
  • It will still be possible to block an IP address or IP range.
  • Temporary accounts will not be retroactively applied to contributions made before the deployment. On Special:Contributions, you will be able to see existing IP user contributions, but not new contributions made by temporary accounts on that IP address. Instead, you should use Special:IPContributions for this (see a video about IPContributions in a gallery below).

Rules about IP information disclosure

  • Publicizing an IP address gained through TAIV access is generally not allowed (e.g. ~2025-12345-67 previously edited as 192.0.2.1 or ~2025-12345-67's IP address is 192.0.2.1).
  • Publicly linking a TA to another TA is allowed if "reasonably believed to be necessary". (e.g. ~2025-12345-67 and ~2025-12345-68 are likely the same person, so I am counting their reverts together toward 3RR, but not Hey ~2025-12345-68, you did some good editing as ~2025-12345-67)
  • See Wikipedia:Temporary account IP viewer § What can and can't be said for more detailed guidelines.

Useful tools for patrollers

  • It is possible to view if a user has opted-in to view temporary account IPs via the User Info card, available in Preferences → Appearance → Advanced options → Tick Enable the user info card
    • This feature also makes it possible for anyone to see the approximate count of temporary accounts active on the same IP address range.
  • Special:IPContributions allows viewing all edits and temporary accounts connected to a specific IP address or IP range.
  • Similarly, Special:GlobalContributions supports global search for a given temporary account's activity.
  • The auto-reveal feature (see video below) allows users with the right permissions to automatically reveal all IP addresses for a limited time window.

Videos

Further information and discussion

Most of this message was written by Mz7 (source). Thanks, 🎃 SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 02:47, 31 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

(This message was sent to User talk:BlasterOfHouses and is being posted here due to a redirect.)

Welcome to the drive!

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Welcome, welcome, welcome HouseBlaster! I'm glad that you are joining the November 2025 drive! Please, have a cup of WikiTea, and go cite some articles.

Cielquiparle (talk) 06:39, 1 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]