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The Signpost: 2 January 2015

  • News and notes: The next big step for Wikidata—forming a hub for researchers
    Wikidata, Wikimedia's free linked database that supplies Wikipedia and its sister projects, is gearing up to submit a grant application to the EU that would expand Wikidata's scope by developing it as a science hub. The proposal, supported by more than 25 volunteers and half a dozen European institutions as project partners, aims to create a virtual research environment (VRE) that will enhance the project's capacity for freely sharing scientific data.
  • In the media: Study tour controversy; class tackles the gender gap
    A "study tour" by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for the purpose of researching development projects has been the subject of much controversy and criticism in the Indian press... The Indian Express described a government report about the trip as having copied extensively from the Wikipedia articles for Port Blair and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
  • Traffic report: Surfin' the Yuletide
    Unlike last year, Wikipedia viewers seem to have embraced the Christmas spirit, with three topics in the top 10 (and eight in the top 25) focused on the holiday season.
  • Op-ed: My issues with the Wiki Education Foundation
    Chris Troutman has been a campus ambassador for six classes in the Los Angeles area over the past four consecutive semesters. He is currently a Wikipedia Visiting Scholar at University of California, Riverside.
  • Featured content: A bit fruity
    Three articles, three lists, fifteen pictures, and one topic were promoted.

GOCE 2014 report

Guild of Copy Editors 2014 Annual Report
Our 2014 Annual Report is now ready for review.

Highlights:

  • Summary of Drives, Blitzes, and the Requests page;
  • Review the election results;
  • Membership news;
  • Changes around the Guild's pages;
  • Plans for 2015.
– Your project coordinators: Jonesey95, Miniapolis and Baffle gab1978.
To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list. Newsletter delivered by

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:54, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Geopolitical entities not recognised as states

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Wikidata weekly summary #139

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Template talk:Umbrella Movement

You have been randomly selected to receive an invitation to participate in the request for comment on Template talk:Umbrella Movement. Should you wish to respond, your contribution to this discussion will be appreciated. For tips, please see Wikipedia:Requests for comment § Suggestions for responding. If you wish to change the frequency or topics of these notices, or do not wish to receive them any longer, please adjust your entries at WP:Feedback request service. — Legobot (talk) 00:05, 6 January 2015 (UTC)

The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter, Q4 2014

The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter
Volume 7, No. 4 — 4th Quarter, 2014
Previous issue | Index | Next issue

Project At a Glance
As of Q4 2014, the project has:

Content

Project Navigation
To receive future editions of this newsletter, click here to sign up on the distribution list.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:22, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 07 January 2015

  • In the media: ISIL propaganda video; AirAsia complaints
    ISIL hostage quotes Wikipedia in propaganda video; AirAsia articles draw complaints regarding Flight 8501; Article errors reveal US political approaches to Wikipedia editing; Rhode Island Governor numbering debate
  • Featured content: Kock up
    Two lists and twelve pictures were promoted.
  • Traffic report: Auld Lang Syne
    We end 2014 and and start 2015 with the normal array of year-end activities, including movie watching with Bollywood film PK (#1) topping the list, followed by The Interview (#2), 2014 in film (#10), and five other films in the rest of the Top 25, plus a number of articles about the subjects of these films. We celebrated the New Year by singing "Auld Lang Syne" (#11), or perhaps watching Adam Lambert (#9) perform with Queen. But we could not avoid a final tragedy with the crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 (#4) on December 28.

Please comment on Talk:Sri Lankan presidential election, 2015

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Wikidata weekly summary #140

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

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Please comment on Talk:Age disparity in sexual relationships

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The Signpost: 14 January 2015

  • Op-ed: Articles for creation needs you
    Ever since the Wikipedia Seigenthaler biography incident in 2005 triggered the restriction against un-registered editors creating new pages, WikiProject Articles for creation (AfC) has stood in the breach. The WikiProject's purpose is to review draft submissions from IPs (and frequently new registered editors) to sort the wheat from the chaff.
  • WikiProject report: Articles for creation: the inside story
    This anniversary issue, the WikiProject report is returning to WikiProject Articles for creation for one of our largest interviews ever. Last looked at in 2011, AfC is the method used by unregistered or new users to create articles, and provides an effective filtering system to remove all unsuitable or unsourced submissions to save them needing to be found and deleted later.
  • News and notes: Erasmus Prize recognizes the global Wikipedia community
    On the fourteenth anniversary of the founding of the English Wikipedia, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has announced that its prestigious annual Erasmus Prize will be awarded to the worldwide community that has built Wikipedia.
  • Featured content: Citations are needed
    Six featured articles, five featured lists, and sixteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
  • Traffic report: Wikipédia sommes Charlie
    It's a grim certainty what topic most interested Wikipedia viewers this week. The horrific attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine have drawn anger and resolve from around the world, and also the attention of an English-speaking world that had previously never heard of it.

Wikidata weekly summary #141

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

An award for you!

The Consensus Award
Thank you for bravely implementing consensus on pages. Keep it Up! :) Marano fan 06:48, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Trainor

Not that I think you actually care, but I disagree with your reasoning at the Meghan Trainor article. The DRN really needs to be concluded first. There's been no resolution there. You can't forum shop and take the decision or consensus you like better, saying that's the decision of the community. I don't have a problem that there might be a consensus that doesn't support my viewpoint, I care that there are editors ignoring the open and in progress DRN that remains unresolved. If a DRN discussion is opened and talk page discussion goes on anyway, are we supposed to go with the one we like or the one that was opened to actually get a resolution? It seems to me that the latter is the appropriate choice. -- WV ● ✉ ✓ 06:41, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

@Winkelvi: You are wrong as there is no discussion supporting the vice versa. As the consensus on Trainor's talk page is the only one, it shall be followed 'til the DRN is concluded. Marano fan 06:50, 18 January 2015 (UTC)
From my reading of the discussion, there is currently a clear consensus on the article's talk page. Maybe that changes after the dispute resolution process takes place, but that doesn't mean there isn't consensus to call her a singer-songwriter right now. (As Winkelvi correctly noted, the discussion DRN has seemingly fallen through the cracks, for what it's worth.) And I honestly don't know what you mean by forum shopping, because the place to discuss content is the article's talk page. -- Calidum 07:53, 18 January 2015 (UTC)
What I mean is that both Lips Are Movin and MaranoFan are going from forum to forum to get answers they want which will give them permission to edit the article to suit their agenda. That, and getting editors banned, blocked, sanctioned, whatever works to keep those they don't like from editing their pet articles. Last week it was someone else, this week it's me. Both accounts are essentially SPAs -- others have also noted this. It's becoming a complex situation and both accounts (Lips and Marano) are now tag-teaming when it comes to userspace warnings and edit warring. -- WV ● ✉ ✓ 08:01, 18 January 2015 (UTC)
Understood, though I really haven't paid attention to their behavior (or yours) at other articles. If you have particular concerns there are venues to have their actions evaluated. -- Calidum 08:05, 18 January 2015 (UTC)
@Winkelvi: After this, I kindly take back all my positive remarks. Marano fan 08:07, 18 January 2015 (UTC)
I realize that. And have tried those venues (3RR and DRN not withstanding). But I've also tried to ignore them as much as possible because their behavior is really troll-like in nature. Personally, I think there's more to all of it under the surface - and know from experience that with these types of something's-not-quite-right situations, the real picture will emerge eventually. Right now, I'm seeking advice and help from editors I trust and am waiting to see how that pans out. Something has to stop the disruption. It's gone way beyond ridiculous. -- WV ● ✉ ✓ 08:25, 18 January 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:Harassment

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YGM

Hello, Vaulter. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.
-- WV ● ✉ ✓ 03:40, 19 January 2015 (UTC)
Thanks. I sent a reply your way. -- Calidum 04:39, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Bhutanese passport

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The Signpost: 21 January 2015

  • Interview: WWII veteran honors shipmates through Wikipedia editing
    Over seventy years ago, the US destroyer Mahan was patrolling off Ponson Island in the Philippines when eleven Japanese kamikaze aircraft appeared over the horizon and attacked. George Pendergast, who edits Wikipedia with the username Pendright, was eighteen years old when he joined Mahan '​s crew in April 1944.
  • Op-ed: Let's make WikiProjects better
    Our contributor opines that WikiProjects are failing to live up to their potential. WikiProject X is a new project funded by a Wikimedia Foundation Individual Engagement Grant that focuses on figuring out what makes some WikiProjects work and not others.
  • In the media: Johann Hari; bandishes and delicate flowers
    Quotes from Jimbo on Wikipedia in education; net neutrality; preserving musical heritage; Wikipedia in audio; a cheerful vandal credits high school with papal visitations.

The Bugle: Issue CVI, January 2015

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 13:27, 23 January 2015 (UTC)

Twinkle

Hello, Calidum! Re: this edit, I'm not sure if you reverted by accident since you only reverted one of my edits (and with no explanation), I've undone it as there was no organization called "Negro League". Rather, it was a collection of leagues that played Negro baseball; therefore, "league" is not capitalized when referring to general leagues. See the lede of Negro league baseball for clarification. I hope this explains why I undid your reversion. Rgrds. (Dynamic IP, will change when I log off.) --64.85.216.2 (talk) 17:49, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

I had done it intentionally under the impression there was one "Negro League," but after your revert I checked it out and you were right. Sorry about that. -- Calidum 23:16, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #142

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Talk:Human rights in Northern Cyprus

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3RR warning

This was your fourth revert in a row of my simple talk paragraph. You know better. Dicklyon (talk) 18:19, 26 January 2015 (UTC)

You're right though that I could have made my notice more neutral. I have done so now, and extended the notices that I placed earlier. It really does seem important to get some participation by editors of affected articles, as the horse guys are so naturally biased in favor of their own topic. Dicklyon (talk) 18:43, 26 January 2015 (UTC)

Hey, just looked at your user page. My condolences on coming in dead last in ArbCom elections on both tries. Do you think it's because you haven't been around long enough and done enough edits? Or is that you piss off everyone you interact with, having opinions that often diametrically opposed to following guidelines and such? Dicklyon (talk) 20:43, 26 January 2015 (UTC)

Your edit

Not for anything, but before you change the positions of anymore quotation marks, as you did in the Ben Franklin article, please read this section of the Manual of Style. Joys! – Paine EllsworthCLIMAX! 03:44, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. That's a dumb rule. -- Calidum 04:03, 28 January 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Shooting of Michael Brown

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Talk:Tom Brady

Come on, reverting someone's comment with the summary "shit", then replying to their earlier -- it really doesn't look too good. Especially since, after asking for help, the other editor specifically noted they weren't accusing YOU of breaching NPOV, but was expressing an opinion that the article's content may not respect NPOV. Removing their comments serve no useful purpose, so just leave them be, and continue discussing,, mk? I know you're trying to defend WP:BLP and commend your intentions, but getting into a pissing match over some maybe-not-too-relevant-but-harmless comment isn't helping. :) ☺ · Salvidrim! · ✉ 21:01, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. I guess I was a little perturbed by his comment, especially when he decided to title "full disclosure" like I'm being paid to whitewash the article or something. Anyway, it's not worth fighting over. -- Calidum 21:21, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 January 2015

  • Traffic report: A sea of faces
    It is pretty clear what the theme is this week: people.

Please comment on Talk:Charleston, South Carolina

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RfC: Chile world same-sex marriage map

Please join discussion for how Chile should be colored. Prcc27 (talk) 08:11, 1 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #143

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Talk:Head of state

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The Signpost: 04 February 2015

  • Op-ed: Is Wikipedia for sale?
    Hundreds of posted jobs offer money to edit Wikipedia. These jobs appear to be thriving, with tens of thousands of dollars changing hands each month.
  • Traffic report: The American Heartland
    The American heartland appears to dominate the Report this week, with Chris Kyle leading the Report.
  • Featured content: It's raining men!
    Three featured articles, five featured lists, and thirty-nine featured images were promoted this week.
  • Arbitration report: Slamming shut the GamerGate
    One case has been closed, two cases remain open, a third is undergoing a review, and three clarification or amendment requests remain open.
  • WikiProject report: Dicing with death – on Wikipedia?
    A small band of dedicated editors seek to improve articles relating to a less lively topic. If you haven't yet guessed, this week's focus is WikiProject Death.

February 2015 GOCE newsletter

Guild of Copy Editors February 2015 Newsletter

Drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in January's Backlog Elimination Drive. Of the 38 people who signed up for this drive, 21 copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here.

Progress report: We were able to remove August 2013 from the general copyediting backlog and November 2014 from the request-page backlog. Many thanks, everyone!

Blitz: The February Blitz will run from February 15–21 and again focuses on the requests page. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one request article. Sign up here!

Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88.

To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:52, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #144

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.
  • Discussions
  • Events/Blogs/Press
  • Other Noteworthy Stuff
  • Did you know?
  • Development
    • Did more work on Capiunto to get it into a state where it can be deployed to Wikimedia sites.
    • Mourned Titan (phabricator:T88550) as its developers were bought up. Began evaluation for which graph database to use instead for a Wikidata query service (mw:Wikibase/Indexing)
    • Further work on header section redesign
    • Tweaks to the sitelink section
    • Worked on making monolingual text datatype accept more languages
    • Finished showing the language when a language fallback is used
    • Started looking into fixing the existing Guided Tours after Guided Tours extension API changes
    • Worked on implementing Lua convenience functions for rendering arbitrary Snaks. This is useful for displaying references or qualifiers. (phabricator:T76213)
  • Monthly Tasks
    • Hack on one of these.
    • Help fix these items which have been flagged using Wikidata - The Game.
    • Help develop the next summary here!
    • Contribute to a Showcase item
    • Help translate or proofread pages in your own language!

Please comment on Talk:Campus rape

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WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 1

Hi! Thank you for subscribing to the WikiProject X Newsletter. For our first issue...

Has WikiProject X changed the world yet? No.

We opened up shop last month and announced our existence to the world. Our first phase is the "research" phase, consisting mostly of reading and listening. We set up our landing page and started collecting stories. So far, 28 stories have been shared about WikiProjects, describing a variety of experiences across numerous WikiProjects. A recurring story involves a WikiProject that starts off strong but has trouble continuing to stay active. Most people describe using WikiProjects as a way to get feedback from other editors. Some quotes:

  • "Working on requested articles, utilising the reliable sources section, and having an active WikiProject to ask questions in really helped me learn how to edit Wikipedia and looking back I don't know how long I would have stayed editing without that project." – Sam Walton on WikiProject Video Games
  • "I believe that the main problem of the Wikiprojects is that they are complicated to use. There should be a a much simpler way to check what do do, what needs to be improved etc." – Tetra quark
  • "In the late 2000s, WikiProject Film tried to emulate WP:MILHIST in having coordinators and elections. Unfortunately, this was not sustainable and ultimately fell apart." – Erik

Of course, these are just anecdotes. While they demonstrate what is possible, they do not necessarily explain what is typical. We will be using this information in conjunction with a quantitative analysis of WikiProjects, as documented on Meta. Particularly, we are interested in the measurement of WikiProject activity as it relates to overall editing in that WikiProject's subject area.

We also have 50 people and projects signed up for pilot testing, which is an excellent start! (An important caveat: one person volunteering a WikiProject does not mean the WikiProject as a whole is interested; just that there is at least one person, which is a start.)

While carrying out our research, we are documenting the problems with WikiProjects and our ideas for making WikiProjects better. Some ideas include better integration of existing tools into WikiProjects, recommendations of WikiProjects for people to join, and improved coordination with Articles for Creation. These are just ideas that may or may not make it to the design phase; we will see. We are also working with WikiProject Council to improve the directory of WikiProjects, with the goal of a reliable, self-updating WikiProject directory. Stay tuned! If you have any ideas, you are welcome to leave a note on our talk page.

That's all for now. Thank you for subscribing!

– Harej 17:21, 9 February 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 11 February 2015

  • In the media: Is Wikipedia eating itself?
    Edina edit war illustrates disconnect between new and experienced editors; Wikipedia is "astroturf's dream come true"; Canadian government investigating even more Wikipedia editing; academics on Gamergate as "clash of civilizations"?
  • Traffic report: Bowled over
    Wikipedia presents itself as a repository for the world, and while that is a noble sentiment, it is still true that, Conservapedian complaints notwithstanding, the English language Wikipedia is very often the American Wikipedia, and never has that been more apparent than this week.
  • WikiProject report: Brand new WikiProjects profiled
    This week, we bring three of the most recently created WikiProjects to come into being on the English Wikipedia. While many long-established projects are becoming inactive, (as we have covered before), that doesn't stop new ones forming every now and then to cover a topic that a group of editors feel should be better cared for.
  • Gallery: Feel the love
    This week, we feature subjects that are about love of all kinds.

Please comment on File talk:World marriage-equality laws.svg

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Wikidata weekly summary #145

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.
  • Events/Blogs/Press
  • Other Noteworthy Stuff
    • Spiffy new project building on top of Wikidata: inventaire.io. Check out this example entry!
    • You will now see when a language fallback for a label is used on an item or property. The language name will be shown next to it.
    • Automatic descriptions for Wikidata items by Magnus
    • The templates for adding badges (good article, featured article, etc) to articles on Wikipedia in the sidebar are getting removed from articles rapidly in favor of getting that information from Wikidata \o/ German Wikipedia even deleted those templates already. English Wikipedia seems to be getting close.
  • Did you know?
  • Development
    • <3
    • We are hiring! Passionate about Wikidata and know your way around Java Script and co? Apply!
    • We'll spend the next week working with Nik and Stas from WMF to move queries forward in Berlin
    • Worked on implementing a Lua interface for arbitrary Snak rendering. This can be used to render eg. qualifiers or references in Wikipedia infoboxes.
    • Did groundwork for Lua convenience functions that render data in the user’s interface language, rather than the content language (for multilingual wikis, like Commons or Wikidata only)
    • Did further work on making the Lua interface code nicer and share code with the parser functions
    • Removed input method selector in the sitelink input as it was hiding the actual input and not very useful there
    • Fixed some issues in diff views showing new data instead of old data
    • Created a few scripts to make it easier for 3rd parties to install Wikibase
    • Fixed icinga notification that tests if dispatch lag gets high
    • Investigated several issues regarding storage of time values and started fixing them
    • Fixed editing of qualifiers
    • Fixed most browser tests after introduction of new header design
  • Monthly Tasks
    • Hack on one of these.
    • Help fix these items which have been flagged using Wikidata - The Game.
    • Help develop the next summary here!
    • Contribute to a Showcase item
    • Help translate or proofread pages in your own language!

Please comment on Talk:Army Ranger Wing

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Wikimedia Highlights from January 2015

Here are the highlights from the Wikimedia blog in January 2015, covering selected activities of the Wikimedia Foundation and other important events from the Wikimedia movement.

(The Wikimedia Highlights issues from some recent months have not been distributed via this notice, but can be found in the archive.)

About · Subscribe/unsubscribe, 23:17, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Somalis in the United Kingdom

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A kitten for you!

New to Wiki, so, thanks (sorry for the oversight on the media mention but, alas, the undo undid both where the ball went exactly AND the media cite). Glad we got it worked out.

SnowdenFan (talk) 23:39, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for this. And for your edit. I hope you enjoy editing here. -- Calidum 02:31, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Formal mediation has been requested

The Mediation Committee has received a request for formal mediation of the dispute relating to "Covert United States foreign regime change actions". As an editor concerned in this dispute, you are invited to participate in the mediation. Mediation is a voluntary process which resolves a dispute over article content by facilitation, consensus-building, and compromise among the involved editors. After reviewing the request page, the formal mediation policy, and the guide to formal mediation, please indicate in the "party agreement" section whether you agree to participate. Because requests must be responded to by the Mediation Committee within seven days, please respond to the request by 27 February 2015.

Discussion relating to the mediation request is welcome at the case talk page. Thank you.
Message delivered by MediationBot (talk) on behalf of the Mediation Committee. 00:09, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 18 February 2015

  • In the media: Students' use and perception of Wikipedia
    The Australian ("Wikipedia not destroying life as we know it", February 11) and Times Higher Education ("Wikipedia should be 'better integrated' into teaching", February 10) reported on a recent study performed at Monash University, titled "Students’ use of Wikipedia as an academic resource – patterns of use and perceptions of usefulness".
  • Special report: Revision scoring as a service
    The authors of this report inform us that the "goal in the Revision Scoring project is to do the hard work of constructing and maintaining powerful AI so that tool developers don't have to. This cross-lingual, machine learning classifier service for edits will support new wiki tools that require edit quality measures."
  • Gallery: Darwin Day
    Darwin Day is observed annually on February 12 to commemorate the life and work of scientist Charles Darwin. Here is a selection of images of life on the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin made key observations leading to his scientific theory of evolution by natural selection.
  • Traffic report: February is for lovers
    This week saw the 57th Annual Grammy Awards (#13 on the Top 25) held on 8 February dominating the traffic chart, as music lovers checked out Sam Smith (#3) picking up four awards, Beck taking album of the year, and performances including Sia (#9), Madonna (#11), and Annie Lennox (#16). But Valentine's Day (#1) proved the perfect time for the release of Fifty Shades of Grey, with the movie coming in at #5, the book of the same name at #2, and the primary actors at #14 and #15.

The Bugle: Issue CVII, February 2015

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 22:50, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

About Allies of World War II

In my memory, there is a discussion consensus in article ww2 which put USSR in front of US. The original version of Allies of World War II put USSR ahead of US [1] and the previous version of article World War II is also like this [2]. Actually current vision was changed by E-960 [3] without discussion. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.33.242.35 (talk)

The fact that E960 decided to be bold doesn't make him wrong. -- Calidum 02:17, 21 February 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #146

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Talk:Gun show loophole

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Possible meatpuppet regarding Jimthing

Hi there, thank you for your solid contributions regarding the edit war with Jimthing. I noticed you added an SPA tag to the IP editor who posted on the 24 talk page, and I made my suspicions known on Drmargi's talk page. Do you think we should open an WP:SPI about this? Drovethrughosts (talk) 19:08, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

I would wait and see if it happens again. -- Calidum 19:12, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

GOCE March newsletter

Guild of Copy Editors March 2015 Newsletter

Blitz: Thanks to everyone who participated in the February Blitz. Of the 21 people who signed up, eight copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here.

Progress report: The blitz removed 16 articles from the requests list, and we're almost done with December 2014. Many thanks, everyone!

Drive: The month-long March drive begins in about a week. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one article from the backlog. Sign up here!

Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88.

To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:41, 22 February 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Robert Kagan

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Request for mediation rejected

The request for formal mediation concerning Covert United States foreign regime change actions, to which you were listed as a party, has been declined. To read an explanation by the Mediation Committee for the rejection of this request, see the mediation request page, which will be deleted by an administrator after a reasonable time. Please direct questions relating to this request to the Chairman of the Committee, or to the mailing list. For more information on forms of dispute resolution, other than formal mediation, that are available, see Wikipedia:Dispute resolution.

For the Mediation Committee, TransporterMan (TALK) 17:09, 26 February 2015 (UTC)
(Delivered by MediationBot, on behalf of the Mediation Committee.)

The Signpost: 25 February 2015

  • News and notes: Questions raised over WMF partnership with research firm
    A report from the external research firm Lafayette Practice has declared that the Wikimedia Foundation is the "largest known participatory grantmaking fund." Several concerns have been raised with the report, the phrase being used (participatory grantmaking), the now-former Wikipedia article on that phrase, and an alleged conflict of interest by WMF staff members.
  • In the media: WikiGnomes and Bigfoot
    Andrew McMillen's February 3 profile of and his quest to rid Wikipedia of the phrase "comprised of" has been one of the most widely circulated and commented upon media stories about the encyclopedia recently.
  • Gallery: Far from home
    The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme, as well as an article you could help improve. This week, we feature subjects that are "far from home".
  • Traffic report: Fifty Shades of... self-denial?
    An odd juxtaposition this week, as interest in Fifty Shades of Grey coincided with the observance of the Chinese New Year and the annual festival of penance, Ash Wednesday.
  • WikiProject report: Be prepared... Scouts in the spotlight
    This week's project is on a youth activity, one of the largest in the world; its project is commensurately large, containing around 136 active editors. It's WikiProject Scouting, a group of editors whose remit is everything relating to the Scouting movement, which has around 42 million members worldwide and celebrated the centenary of its founding only eight years ago.
  • Blog: Join the Wikimedia strategy consultation
    Editor's note: the Blog will be a recurring Signpost section that will highlight a recent post from the Wikimedia blog, run by the Wikimedia Foundation. This week's installment is written by Philippe Beaudette, the Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy, and focuses on planning for the future of the Wikimedia movement.

Please comment on Talk:2015 Copenhagen attacks

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Wikidata weekly summary #147

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.


Please comment on Talk:Project for the New American Century

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The Signpost: 04 March 2015

  • Editorial: Conspiracy theories distract from real questions about grantmaking report
    Last week, my colleagues on the Signpost produced a news report covering a minor controversy about a report commissioned by the Wikimedia Foundation. Written by the staff of The Lafayette Practice, a French research firm, it proclaimed the WMF as a leader in the practice of participatory grantmaking.
  • Traffic report: Attack of the movies
    The Report this week is dominated by the Academy Awards, taking the top 4 spots and 13 of the Top 25.
  • Interview: Meet a paid editor
    Before being indefinitely blocked, User:FergusM1970 made more than 4600 edits on the English Wikipedia, spread over eight years. In the last two years, he was paid to edit several articles for clients that included the Venezuelan energy company Derwick Associates. We spoke with him about his experiences.
  • In the media: Kanye West rebranded; Wikipedia in court; editors for hire
    Numerous news outlets are reporting that the domain loser.com now redirects to the Wikipedia article for rapper Kanye West. Page views on West's Wikipedia article skyrocketed to almost 250,000 views on March 2, up from less than 19 thousand the previous day.
  • Blog: Black History Month edit-a-thons tackle Wikipedia’s multicultural gaps
    Black History Month is celebrated annually in the United States in February, to commemorate the history of the African diaspora. For this occasion, Wikipedians worked together to honor black history and to address Wikipedia's multicultural gaps in the encyclopedia, hosting Wikipedia edit-a-thons throughout the United States, from February 1 to 28, 2015.

Please comment on Template talk:Infobox officeholder

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Wikidata weekly summary #148

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Talk:Anwar Ibrahim

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The Signpost: 11 March 2015

  • Special report: An advance look at the WMF's fundraising survey
    The Wikimedia Foundation gave the Signpost an advance copy of the results of a survey of English Wikipedia readers regarding Wikimedia fundraising, due for official release today.
  • In the media: Gamergate; a Wiki hoax; Kanye West
    ThinkProgress tech reporter Lauren C. Williams wrote a long article on how the Gamergate controversy has spilled over onto Wikipedia.
  • In focus: WMF to NSA: "stop spying on Wikipedia users"
    In an effort to protect and maintain the privacy of Wikipedia's thousands of editors, the Wikimedia Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the United States' National Security Agency, Department of Justice, and the Attorney General.
  • Op-ed: Why the Core Contest matters
    I continue to be excited about the Core Contest because I see it as a way of encouraging the expansion of broad articles that are typically neglected by our article improvement incentives.

Wikidata weekly summary #149

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Talk:Bharatiya Janata Party

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Talk:Bharatiya Janata Party. Legobot (talk) 00:05, 15 March 2015 (UTC)

Move review for Communist state

An editor has asked for a Move review of Communist state. Because you closed the move discussion for this page, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the move review. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TURTLOS (talk • contribs)

Just a heads up - the MR is here if you're interested: Wikipedia:Move review/Log/2015 March#Communist state Egsan Bacon (talk) 13:24, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, EB. -- Calidum 01:18, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:Good article nominations

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WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 2

For this month's issue...

Making sense of a lot of data.

Work on our prototype will begin imminently. In the meantime, we have to understand what exactly we're working with. To this end, we generated a list of 71 WikiProjects, based on those brought up on our Stories page and those who had signed up for pilot testing. For those projects where people told stories, we coded statements within those stories to figure out what trends there were in these stories. This approach allowed us to figure out what Wikipedians thought of WikiProjects in a very organic way, with very little by way of a structure. (Compare this to a structured interview, where specific questions are asked and answered.) This analysis was done on 29 stories. Codes were generally classified as "benefits" (positive contributions made by a WikiProject to the editing experience) and "obstacles" (issues posed by WikiProjects, broadly speaking). Codes were generated as I went along, ensuring that codes were as close to the original data as possible. Duplicate appearances of a code for a given WikiProject were removed.

We found 52 "benefit" statements encoded and 34 "obstacle" statements. The most common benefit statement referring to the project's active discussion and participation, followed by statements referring to a project's capacity to guide editor activity, while the most common obstacles made reference to low participation and significant burdens on the part of the project maintainers and leaders. This gives us a sense of WikiProjects' big strength: they bring people together, and can be frustrating to editors when they fail to do so. Meanwhile, it is indeed very difficult to bring editors together on a common interest; in the absence of a highly motivated core of organizers, the technical infrastructure simply isn't there.

We wanted to pair this qualitative study with quantitative analysis of a WikiProject and its "universe" of pages, discussions, templates, and categories. To this end I wrote a script called ProjAnalysis which will, for a given WikiProject page (e.g. Wikipedia:WikiProject Star Trek) and WikiProject talk-page tag (e.g. Template:WikiProject Star Trek), will give you a list of usernames of people who edited within the WikiProject's space (the project page itself, its talk page, and subpages), and within the WikiProject's scope (the pages tagged by that WikiProject, excluding the WikiProject space pages). The output is an exhaustive list of usernames. We ran the script to analyze our test batch of WikiProjects for edits between March 1, 2014 and February 28, 2015, and we subjected them to further analysis to only include those who made 10+ edits to pages in the projects' scope, those who made 4+ edits to the projects' space, and those who made 10+ edits to pages in scope but not 4+ edits to pages in the projects' space. This latter metric gives us an idea of who is active in a certain subject area of Wikipedia, yet who isn't actively engaging on the WikiProject's pages. This information will help us prioritize WikiProjects for pilot testing, and the ProjAnalysis script in general may have future life as an application that can be used by Wikipedians to learn about who is in their community.

Complementing the above two studies are a design analysis, which summarizes the structure of the different WikiProject spaces in our test batch, and the comprehensive census of bots and tools used to maintain WikiProjects, which will be finished soon. With all of this information, we will have a game plan in place! We hope to begin working with specific WikiProjects soon.

As a couple of asides...

  • Database Reports has existed for several years on Wikipedia to the satisfaction of many, but many of the reports stopped running when the Toolserver was shut off in 2014. However, there is good news: the weekly New WikiProjects and WikiProjects by Changes reports are back, with potential future reports in the future.
  • WikiProject X has an outpost on Wikidata! Check it out. It's not widely publicized, but we are interested in using Wikidata as a potential repository for metadata about WikiProjects, especially for WikiProjects that exist on multiple Wikimedia projects and language editions.

That's all for now. Thank you for subscribing! If you have any questions or comments, please share them with us.

Harej (talk) 01:44, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 18 March 2015

  • From the editor: A salute to Pine
    We announce with sadness and gratitude that Signpost publication and newsroom manager Pine will be stepping back to focus on other Wikipedia and Wikimedia-related endeavors.
  • News and notes: SUL finalization imminent; executive office shake-ups at the Foundation
    This process is now entering its long-awaited final phase with the upcoming SUL finalization, scheduled for April 15, less than a month away. ... Wikimedia Foundation chief talent and culture officer Gayle Karen Young announced her retirement from the Foundation this week. Young will be replaced in that role by interim chief operating officer Terry Gilbey. According to the Foundation's job description for the title as it was applied in the past, Gilbey will be in charge of "overall administration and business operations of the Wikimedia Foundation."
  • In the media: NYPD editing articles regarding allegations of police brutality and misconduct
    On March 13, Kelly Weill of Capital New York revealed that numerous Wikipedia edits originated from 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the NYPD. Most of the attention has focused on a number of their edits to articles about incidents of alleged police brutality and controversial police practices.
  • Featured content: A woman who loved kings
    Four featured articles, four featured lists, and thirty-five featured pictures were promoted this week.
  • Traffic report: It's not cricket
    If not for Kayne West's dubious repeat at #1, the 2015 Cricket World Cup (#2) would have made the top spot, albeit in a generally slow news week.
* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:34, 21 March 2015 (UTC)
.

Wikidata weekly summary #150

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Talk:Shooting of Michael Brown

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Please comment on Talk:Arab Spring

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The Signpost – Volume 11, Issue 12 – 25 March 2015

  • Traffic report: Oddly familiar
    This week's list is reminiscent of lists from the early days of this project: a preponderance of famous faces, Reddit threads, and Google Doodles.
* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:24, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

The Bugle: Issue CVIII, March 2015

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 09:37, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

Wikimedia Highlights from February 2015

Here are the highlights from the Wikimedia blog in February 2015, covering selected activities of the Wikimedia Foundation and other important events from the Wikimedia movement.
About · Subscribe/unsubscribe, 19:27, 28 March 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #151

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Template talk:F1 driver results legend 2

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Template talk:F1 driver results legend 2. Legobot (talk) 00:04, 30 March 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost, 1 April 2015

  • Traffic report: All over the place
    The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention.
  • Special report: Pictures of the Year 2015
    The Wikimedia Commons' annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded. The first 53 top-voted entries were disqualified because they were all nude.

The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter, Q1 2015

The WikiProject Video Games Newsletter
Volume 8, No. 1 — 1st Quarter, 2015
Previous issue | Index | Next issue

Project At a Glance
As of Q1 2015, the project has:

Content

Project Navigation
To receive future editions of this newsletter, click here to sign up on the distribution list.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:46, 1 April 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 01 April 2015

  • Traffic report: All over the place
    The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention.
  • Special report: Pictures of the Year 2015
    The Wikimedia Commons' annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded. The first 53 top-voted entries were disqualified because they were all nude.

Wikidata weekly summary #152

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

AfD of melee

You voted not to make melee a disambiguation page in a recent move request. Per the discussion, I have suggested the article be deleted due to lack of a relevant, cohesive encyclopedic definition of "melee". Your input would be appreciated. Please see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Melee.

Peter Isotalo 11:41, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

I missed this earlier, but thanks for the heads up. Don't have any strong opinions on what to do with the page, honestly. Calidum ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 04:00, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

hurricane vs typhoon vs cyclone

The lead of tropical cyclone naming does not need a line on what a Hurricane, typhoon etc is, because it is a lot more complex than just hurricane vs typhoon vs cyclone. For example hurricanes are officially known as severe tropical cyclones in the South Pacific and very severe cyclonic storms in the North Indian Ocean. As i said in the edit summuary it jsut opens up a pandoras box on which classifications should be added. Please see Tropical cyclone scales for further details. Thanks. Jason Rees (talk) 22:23, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

You really should read up on slippery slopes before you continue to make this argument. Calidum ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 04:05, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 08 April 2015

  • Traffic report: Resurrection week
    How appropriate that the theme of Easter week would be resurrection from the dead.
  • WikiProject report: WikiProject Christianity
    With Holy Week having recently drawn to a close, it is an apt time to examine WikiProject Christianity, which was created in 2006, and boasts over 200 active members.

Station stuff

Since you participated in the RM discussion at Talk:Greenbelt Station#Requested move 7 February_2015, you may have thoughts worth commenting on at the related RFC at Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (US stations)#RfC: some proper talkin' about station title conventions, including especially the survey at Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (US stations)#Simpler questions / concise survey. If so, please comment there. Dicklyon (talk) 05:25, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for the notification. It's not something I feel strongly enough to comment on at the moment, however. Calidum ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 17:21, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Unintentional

I've been using my tablet for editing today, and the same reversion thing happened elsewhere - totally unintentional and had to be a slip of the finger. Thanks for correcting my error. -- WV ● ✉ ✓ 21:29, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

No worries. I edit from my phone a lot and run into the same issue once in a while. Calidum ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 22:11, 10 April 2015 (UTC)

Happy WikiBirthday

Just saw you've now been a member for exactly 4 years now. Enjoy your anniversary! Snuggums (talk / edits) 16:35, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. I can't believe I've been doing this for four years. Calidum ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 20:42, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #153

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Japan

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Japan. Legobot (talk) 00:10, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

TWL HighBeam check-in

Hello Wikipedia Library Users,

You are receiving this message because the Wikipedia Library has record of you receiving a one-year subscription to HighBeam. This is a brief update to remind you about that access:

  • Make sure that you can still log in to your HighBeam account; if you are having trouble feel free to contact me for more information. When your access expires you can reapply at WP:HighBeam.
  • Remember, if you find this source useful for your Wikipedia work, make sure to include citations with links on Wikipedia: links to partner resources are one of the few ways we can demonstrate usage and demand for accounts to our partners. The greater the linkage, the greater the likelihood a useful partnership will be renewed. For more information about citing this source, see Wikipedia:HighBeam/Citations
  • Write unusual articles using this partner's sources? Did access to this source create new opportunities for you in the Wikipedia community? If you have a unique story to share about your contributions, let us know and we can set up an opportunity for you to write a blog post about your work with one of our partner's resources.

Finally, we would greatly appreciate if you filled out this short survey. The survey helps us not only better serve you with facilitating this particular partnership, but also helps us discover what other partnerships and services the Wikipedia Library can offer.

Thank you. Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) at 16:46, 13 April 2015 (UTC)


Calling all WikiProject X members!

Hello fellow member! WikiProject X needs your help!

We studied the various needs that WikiProjects have, and have come up with some ideas for our first round of WikiProject tool development. These include:

  • An automatically updated WikiProject directory that surfaces WikiProject-related metrics and automatically generates a list of active participants and potential members;
  • A lightweight, optional alternative to WikiProject banners, featuring an option to quickly send a message to the named WikiProjects;
  • A tool that bootstraps WikiProjects; and
  • A worklist generation script for WikiProjects

We are now looking for volunteer coders to work on these projects. If you are interested in developing these tools, or if you would to volunteer for other tasks, check out our new volunteers portal. Thank you for your help!


Cheers, Harej (talk) 20:38, 15 April 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:History of economic thought

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Jr. comma RfC

You're invited to participate in the discussion at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(policy)#RfC:_Guidance_on_commas_before_Jr._and_Sr. Dohn joe (talk) 01:57, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

April 2015 GOCE newsletter

Guild of Copy Editors April 2015 Newsletter

March drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's backlog-reduction drive. Of the 38 people who signed up, 18 copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here.

April blitz: The one-week April blitz, again targeting our long requests list, will run from April 19–25. Awards will be given to everyone who copyedits at least one article from the requests page. Sign up here!

May drive: The month-long May backlog-reduction drive, with extra credit for articles tagged in December 2013, January and February 2014 and all request articles, begins soon. Sign up now!

Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88.

To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:28, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 15 April 2015

  • Traffic report: Furious domination
    If it wasn't for Easter, Fast and Furious related articles would have taken the top four spots this week. The latest installment of the movie franchise, Furious 7, tops the chart for the second straight week.

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:Article titles

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WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 3

Greetings! For this month's issue...

We have demos!

After a lengthy research and design process, we decided for WikiProject X to focus on two things:

  • A WikiProject workflow that focuses on action items: discussions you can participate in and tasks you can perform to improve the encyclopedia; and
  • An automatically updating WikiProject directory that gives you lists of users participating in the WikiProject and editing in that subject area.

We have a live demonstration of the new WikiProject workflow at WikiProject Women in Technology, a brand new WikiProject that was set up as an adjunct to a related edit-a-thon in Washington, DC. The goal is to surface action items for editors, and we intend on doing that through automatically updated working lists. We are looking into using SuggestBot to generate lists of outstanding tasks, and we are looking into additional options for automatic worklist generation. This takes the burden off of WikiProject editors to generate these worklists, though there is also a "requests" section for Wikipedians to make individual requests. (As of writing, these automated lists are not yet live, so you will see a blank space under "edit articles" on the demo WikiProject. Sorry about that!) I invite you to check out the WikiProject and leave feedback on WikiProject X's talk page.

Once the demo is sufficiently developed, we will be working on a limited deployment on our pilot WikiProjects. We have selected five for the first round of testing based on the highest potential for impact and will scale up from there.

While a re-designed WikiProject experience is much needed, that alone isn't enough. A WikiProject isn't any good if people have no way of discovering it. This is why we are also developing an automatically updated WikiProject directory. This directory will surface project-related metrics, including a count of active WikiProject participants and of active editors in that project's subject area. The purpose of these metrics is to highlight how active the WikiProject is at the given point of time, but also to highlight that project's potential for success. The directory is not yet live but there is a demonstration featuring a sampling of WikiProjects.

Each directory entry will link to a WikiProject description page which automatically list the active WikiProject participants and subject-area article editors. This allows Wikipedians to find each other based on the areas they are interested in, and this information can be used to revive a WikiProject, start a new one, or even for some other purpose. These description pages are not online yet, but they will use this template, if you want to get a feel of what they will look like.

We need volunteers!

WikiProject X is a huge undertaking, and we need volunteers to support our efforts, including testers and coders. Check out our volunteer portal and see what you can do to help us!

As an aside...

Wouldn't it be cool if lists of requested articles could not only be integrated directly with WikiProjects, but also shared between WikiProjects? Well, we got the crazy idea of having experimental software feature Flow deployed (on a totally experimental basis) on the new Article Request Workshop, which seeks to be a place where editors can "workshop" article ideas before they get created. It uses Flow because Flow allows, essentially, section-level categorization, and in the future will allow "sections" (known as "topics" within Flow) to be included across different pages. What this means is that you have a recommendation for a new article tagged by multiple WikiProjects, allowing for the recommendation to appear on lists for each WikiProject. This will facilitate inter-WikiProject collaboration and will help to reduce duplicated work. The Article Request Workshop is not entirely ready yet due to some bugs with Flow, but we hope to integrate it into our pilot WikiProjects at some point.

Harej (talk) 00:57, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #154

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Here

[4] You may be interested in this... All About That Bass (A word?? / Stalking not allowed...) 16:12, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Aaron Schock

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Talk:Aaron Schock. Legobot (talk) 00:07, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 22 April 2015

  • In focus: 2015 Wikimedia Foundation election preparations underway
    2015 will see through the biennial community election for the three community-elected seats on the Board of Trustees—the "ultimate corporate authority" of the Wikimedia Foundation and the level at which the strategic decisions regarding the Wikimedia movement are made.
  • Featured content: Vanguard on guard
    Six featured articles and fifteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
  • Traffic report: A harvest of couch potatoes
    Couch potatoes rule this week, as 9 of the top 10 slots were taken by either movies, TV, or sports.
  • Gallery: The bitter end
    The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme.

Comment please

Hey,

Are you getting all the notifications from this conversation? NickCT (talk) 12:08, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

I hadn't been getting them. Calidum T|C 18:17, 25 April 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:Proposed deletion (drafts)

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The Bugle: Issue CIX, April 2015

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

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If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 07:32, 26 April 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #155

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Hillary Rodham Clinton - Move Discussion

Hi,

This is a notification to let you know that there is a requested move discussion ongoing at Talk:Hillary_Rodham_Clinton/April_2015_move_request#Requested_move. You are receiving this notification because you have previously participated in some capacity in naming discussions related to the article in question.

Thanks. And have a nice day. NickCT (talk) 18:33, 26 April 2015 (UTC)

Issue at the move discussion

I'd rather just leave it. Calidum T|C 21:25, 26 April 2015 (UTC)
k Softlavender (talk) 21:27, 26 April 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Paul Singer (businessman)

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WinkelviBan

I see that they reverted your reversion. Do you want to go for a block on Winkelvi? I would certainly support and a lot of others would. I don't want to make it seem like I have a problem with him but what he is doing is blockable. Just wanted to ask. Thanks so much for the barnstar by the way. All About That Bass (A word?? / Stalking not allowed...) 07:55, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

MaranoFan, I'm not really interested in pursuing anything against him at this time. But if Thing 1 and Thing 2 decide to try something again at ANI, I'm prepared to provide some evidence that would show both sides of the story. Calidum T|C 04:17, 1 May 2015 (UTC)
Can please everyone
Can please everyone
Illustration for "The Man That Pleased None" from Baby's Own Aesop, a children's edition of Aesop's fable Cheers! WordSeventeen (talk) 16:27, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 29 April 2015

  • Featured content: Another day, another dollar
    Ten featured articles, nine featured lists, and twenty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.
  • Traffic report: Bruce, Nessie, and genocide
    Though the continued predominance of movies, TV, and sports noted in last week's report largely continues, three additional topics joined the Top 10 this week.

Please comment on Talk:Agatha Barbara

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Wikidata weekly summary #156

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

SPI

Hey, Calidum! What do you think should be the action taken against WV once the SPI fails? All About That Bass (A word?? / Stalking not allowed...) 18:20, 3 May 2015 (UTC)

ANI. Calidum T|C 18:20, 3 May 2015 (UTC)
I've sort of lost faith in ANI, because supporters seem to pop out of nowhere for Winkelvi. But these bogus reports need to stop. I was thinking maybe arbitration? All About That Bass (A word?? / Stalking not allowed...) 18:23, 3 May 2015 (UTC)
Arbitration is the place of last resort, so go to ANI first where you can seek an WP:IBAN between each respective editor. I would start by looking for threads about you Wink and Chase started at each other's talk pages. You can also use the editor interaction analyzers for you and Wink and you and Chase to look for patterns or evidence of harassment (specifically WP:HOUND). Calidum T|C 18:31, 3 May 2015 (UTC)

Wikimedia Highlights from March 2015

Here are the highlights from the Wikimedia blog in March 2015.
About · Subscribe/unsubscribe, 01:34, 4 May 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Scott Walker (politician)

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Drake

Discuss on the talk page. I wasn't the one to change it back to mixtape. I've been blocked for a month. If you look on the talk page of the mixtape, consensus appears to be mixtape. -- Joseph Prasad (talk) 01:23, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Well I got that part wrong, but it's not relevant whether it's a mixtape or not. See my comment on talk:Drake (rapper). Calidum T|C 01:36, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Melee

There was recently move debate in which you took part Talk:Melee#Requested move 9 March 2015. The debate continues in a slightly different form on the same page, your participation in it might help build a consensus. Please join the debate on whether it is appropriate to include the maintenance {{coatrack}} in the article Melee. --PBS-AWB (talk) 17:41, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Notice

Information icon There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. The thread is Proposed site ban for User:MaranoFan. Thank you. –Chase (talk / contribs) 18:13, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Courtesy notification

Hi Calidum, I just wanted to let you know that I linked to one of your previous comments, during a current WP:AN discussion [5].--BoboMeowCat (talk) 21:19, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. I planned on chiming in on that discussion at some point, but it looks like the community agrees (so far) Chase and Wink are part of the problem here too. Calidum T|C 21:23, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 06 May 2015

  • Special report: FDC candidates respond to key issues
    Elections have begun for five community members of the Funds Dissemination Committee, the Foundation's volunteer body for judging and recommending millions of dollars worth of annual grants to affiliates in the movement. The election lasts just eight days, from Sunday 3 May until 23:59 UTC on Sunday 10 May, so at the time of publication, voters will need to act promptly.
  • Traffic report: The grim ship reality
    Like colliding ocean liners, rousing entertainment and harsh reality merged ungainly in this week's top 10 list. The much heralded pay-per-view pummeling of Manny Pacquiao by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. dominated the list's top slots, giving this list one of its highest total view counts in months.

New question raised regarding Talk:Hillary Rodham Clinton/April 2015 move request

Some opposers of this move have now contended that there is a "Critical fault in proposal evidence", which brings the opinions expressed into question. Please indicate if this assertion in any way affects your position with respect to the proposed move. Cheers! bd2412 T 04:36, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

The thing should have closed days ago. Now it's just the same editors arguing with eachother. Sigh. Calidum T|C 17:13, 8 May 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #157

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Talk:Poland

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Talk:Poland. Legobot (talk) 00:04, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Question

Hey, can I borrow a few of those templates you have on your user page, like the edit count? -- Joseph Prasad (talk) 06:16, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Absolutely. Calidum T|C 07:10, 10 May 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:The Federalist (website)

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Wikimedia Highlights from April 2015

Here are the highlights from the Wikimedia blog in April 2015.
About · Subscribe/unsubscribe, 01:24, 14 May 2015 (UTC)

RfC: Guidance on commas after Jr. and Sr.

Following the closure of a recent RfC you participated in, I have started an RfC on the separate but related issue of commas after Jr. and Sr.. Please see Wikipedia:Village pump (policy) § RfC: Guidance on commas after Jr. and Sr. and feel free to comment there. Thanks! —sroc 💬 06:03, 14 May 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:United Synagogue

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The Signpost: 13 May 2015

  • Foundation elections: Board candidates share their views with the Signpost
    Three community-elected seats on the Board of Trustees—the ultimate governing authority of the Wikimedia Foundation—will be decided by Wikimedians in the election to be held 17–31 May.
  • Traffic report: Round Two
    Casual viewers may think I've posted the same list twice. But no, readers just happen to be really interested in May 2's Big Fight. In fact, last week was just the weigh-in and the trash talk. This week, the numbers actually increased.
  • In the media: Grant Shapps story continues
    Grant Shapps, who was the co-chairman of the UK's Conservative Party until this week, has been accused of maliciously editing the Wikipedia biographies of his party's rivals.

Wikidata weekly summary #158

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.
  • Discussions
  • Events/Blogs/Press
    • Using Wikidata to Improve the Medical Content on Wikipedia
    • Past: Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing) spoke about authority control in Wikidata (and sister projects) at the World Digital Library's Arab Peninsula Regional Group Symposium, organised in conjunction with the Qatar National Library, in Doha on 13 May. His slides, with an Arabic translation, will be online soon.
    • Past: Wikidata editing workshop at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin
    • Past: Wikidata workshop for archivists of Catalan City of Justice
    • Upcoming: MediaWiki hackathon in Lyon
  • Other Noteworthy Stuff
  • Did you know?
  • Development
    • Prepared for deployment of arbitrary access on more wikis
    • Graph extension will be enabled on Wikidata later today
    • Improvements to calendar handling
    • More work on RDF export for query service
    • Continued work on usage tracking and arbitrary access for multilingual wikis
    • Addshore investigated and started fixing abuse filter issues
  • Monthly Tasks
    • Hack on one of these.
    • Help fix these items which have been flagged using Wikidata - The Game.
    • Help develop the next summary here!
    • Contribute to a Showcase item
    • Help translate or proofread pages in your own language!
    • Add labels, in your own language, for the new properties listed above.

Please comment on Talk:Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University

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The Bugle: Issue CX, May 2015

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 23:04, 20 May 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 20 May 2015

  • In focus: The awful truth about Wikimedia's article counts
    The article counts of many Wikimedia wikis suddenly changed on 29 March 2015: as the Signpost reported at the time, sixty-five wikis fell below milestones tracked at the Wikimedia News Meta page, and three increased to new milestones.
  • Traffic report: Inner Core
    The list is topped this week by Danish scientist Inge Lehmann, thanks to a Google Doodle celebrating her 127th birthday. Lehmann discovered in 1936 that the Earth has a solid inner core. It is sometimes surprising to realize how recently such basic scientific knowledge of the Earth, which we now take for granted, was discovered.
  • News and notes: A dark side of comedy: the Wikipedia volunteers cleaning up behind John Oliver's fowl jokes
    Wikipedia editors logging in on May 19 found themselves walking into an unexpected amount of anti-vandal work to keep the site in line with its extensive biographies of living persons policy. A plethora of Wikipedia articles related to the United States House Committee on Appropriations, and the fifty-one representatives serving on it, have been hit by a raft of anonymous editors making often vulgar edits referencing "chicken fucker," or more creative combinations: "sexual conduct", "sexual congress", "fornicator", "intimate relations", or "trysts with chickens."
  • In the media: Jimmy Wales accepts Dan David Prize
    Jimmy Wales and five others accepted the 2015 Dan David Prize at Tel Aviv University on May 17. The prize comes with US$1 million, ten percent of which goes to doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships.
  • WikiProject report: Cell-ebrating Molecular Biology
    This week, we had the pleasure of interviewing WikiProject Molecular and Cellular Biology, which has come a long way since our last interview in 2008. Like most projects, it has a long member list, but only a small subset of that group regularly contributes. With 28 featured articles and 58 top-importance start class ones, the project has clearly had some success, but has a ways to go. We talked to three regular project contributors.
  • Arbitration report: Editor conduct the subject of multiple cases
    The Arbitration Committee has an unusually large case load at present. Although perhaps not on a par with the high-profile, multi-party cases seen towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year, with five open cases the arbitrators are likely to be kept busy for the next several weeks.

Infobox linking RfC

Since you commented on the recent FDR infobox linking, there is a broader based RfC going on at Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)#RfC concerning the infobox linking of all political offices. Please comment if it is of interest to you. Thanks. Fyunck(click) (talk) 07:40, 21 May 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Zeitgeist (film series)

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Page move request: Houghs Neck

Hi, I noticed your page move request for Hough's Neck to Houghs Neck. Just wanted to give you a tip that you could add to your reasoning, most websites use the title without the apostrophe and even Google will ask "Did you mean: 'Houghs Neck'" when you type in the title with the apostrophe. This would further support your requested page move. Nick Mitchell 98 (talk) 05:57, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks. If for some reason the technical request isn't done, I plan on providing more evidence. At this point I don't think it's necessary though. Calidum T|C 05:59, 23 May 2015 (UTC)
And it was just moved. Calidum T|C 06:36, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #159

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.
  • Events/Blogs/Press
Wikimedia Hackathon 2015

Please comment on Talk:Embraer E-Jet E2 family

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Talk:Embraer E-Jet E2 family. Legobot (talk) 00:04, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

Comprised of (sic)

Greetings, Calidum. About your recent edit to "Shining Star (Jerry Garcia Band album)", check out User talk:Giraffedata#"Comprised of" in direct quotes. — Mudwater (Talk) 01:19, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and put the hidden sic tag back, here. Feel free to let me know if you have any comments or questions. — Mudwater (Talk) 23:34, 27 May 2015 (UTC)
Thanks. Sorry I didn't respond sooner. Calidum T|C 23:36, 27 May 2015 (UTC)


it is the last one, that is the 7, just like 2 is the original. SingingJoseph4MusicalFilmFans (talk) 13:13, 29 May 2015 (UTC)

I really don't know what you're trying to say, but I suggest you read WP:CRYSTAL to see why we don't include unannounced products and other such speculation. Calidum T|C 13:40, 29 May 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 May 2015

  • News and notes: WMF releases quarterly reports, annual plans
    The Wikimedia Foundation recently switched to a quarterly report structure to better align reporting with the generally quarterly planning and goal-setting processes.
  • Discussion report: A relic from the past that needs to be updated
    To many, Internet Relay Chat is an old relic, but not to Wikipedia. Wikipedia currently has an IRC help channel designated to help and assist editors with editing Wikipedia.
  • Traffic report: Summer, summer, summertime
    As usual for the time of year, pop culture rules this week. The start of summer vacation in the US means a focus on summer movies, particularly blockbuster sequels Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road.
  • Technology report: MediaWiki blows up printers
    ...allegedly. In a post to wikitech-l, Steven Walling pointed out that the TV show CSI: Cyber had used a screenshot of MediaWiki's HTML output and claimed it was responsible for blowing up printers.

Please comment on Talk:Central Intelligence Agency

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Wikidata weekly summary #160

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Your GA nomination of Bill Belichick

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Bill Belichick you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of SNUGGUMS -- SNUGGUMS (talk) 23:00, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Talk:Moscone–Milk assassinations

The discussion you closed at the above page was reopened, by which I mean the editor who initially launched the discussion reverted your close. I believe this is inappropriate, and reverted them, but they in turn reverted my re-closure. I'm reluctant to take further action at ths point but felt you should be aware. DonIago (talk) 14:01, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Thank you. Calidum T|C 14:13, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

War of the Triple Alliance / Paraguayan War

I have proposed an alternative formulation, you may wish to comment. WCMemail 20:26, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Death of Freddie Gray

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GOCE June 2015 newsletter

Guild of Copy Editors June 2015 News

May drive: Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's backlog-reduction drive. Of the 38 people who signed up, 29 copyedited at least one article, and we got within 50 articles of our all-time low in the backlog. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here.

Coordinator elections: Nominations are open through June 15 for GOCE coordinators, with voting from June 16–30. Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged.

Thank you all again for your participation; we wouldn't be able to achieve what we have without you! Cheers from your GOCE coordinators Miniapolis, Jonesey95, Biblioworm and Philg88.

To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:57, 5 June 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 03 June 2015

  • News and notes: Three new community-elected trustees announced, incumbents out
    The Wikimedia Foundation's volunteer election committee has announced the election results for the three vacant seats on the Board of Trustees. Dariusz Jemielnak, James Heilman, and Denny Vrandečić are set to take up their two-year terms on the Board. They will replace the three incumbents, all of whom stood this time unsuccessfully: Phoebe Ayers, Samuel Klein, and María Sefidari.
  • Technology report: Things are getting SPDYier
    Over the past few weeks, developers have been working on improving Wikimedia's performance when users connect to it using SPDY.
  • Traffic report: A rather ordinary week
    The traffic report is nothing unusual this week, with a Google Doodle for astronaut Sally Ride topping the list, the accidental death of famous mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. at #2, and the normal fare of recent popular American movies and television.

Please comment on Talk:List of ethnic minority politicians in the United Kingdom

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Wikidata weekly summary #161

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Hi

Hey. I feel like you can understand what is going on here. What do you suggest I do? I honestly don't have the energy to through ANI/3RR and such petty dramas with the user all over again. - Lips are movin 23:57, 9 June 2015 (UTC)

You could try WP:ANI or WP:AN3 but I doubt you'd get the desired the result. I truly appreciate the honesty of him calling you two dicks in that edit summary though; that gave me a good laugh. Calidum T|C 00:40, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

Your reversion of my edits

Hello. I refer to the article on the Who's "You Better You Bet", in which I lowercased the definite article in the group's name (i.e., from "The Who" to "the Who"). Your comment was "Something like this needs to be discussed first". I think you'll find that my edits were in perfect conformance with Wikipedia's Manual of Style/Music for definite article usage in names and to English convention--e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style. Urgos (talk) 00:58, 10 June 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:March Against Monsanto

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Wikimedia Highlights from May 2015

Here are the highlights from the Wikimedia blog in April 2015.
About · Subscribe/unsubscribe, 19:27, 11 June 2015 (UTC)

Regarding your edit at Hillary Clinton

[6] Can you please tell me what part of the template says to use the common name? --Anthonyhcole (talk · contribs · email) 16:00, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

Looks like you answered your own question on the talk page. Calidum T|C 18:34, 12 June 2015 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Bill Belichick

The article Bill Belichick you nominated as a good article has failed ; see Talk:Bill Belichick for reasons why the nomination failed. If or when these points have been taken care of, you may apply for a new nomination of the article. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of SNUGGUMS -- SNUGGUMS (talk) 13:01, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 10 June 2015

  • News and notes: Chapter financial trends analyzed, news in brief
    This week saw the publication of the Chapter-wide Financial Trends Report 2013, a now-completed research project that examines the finances and outlays of the 36 movement-affiliated chapters.
  • Featured content: Just the bear facts, ma'am
    Four featured articles, two featured lists, one featured topic, and twenty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.
  • Technology report: Wikimedia sites are going HTTPS only
    Today it was announced that Wikimedia sites are going to become HTTPS only, finishing up 10 year effort of rolling out HTTPS.

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ships/Guidelines

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Wikidata weekly summary #162

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Talk:French colonial empire

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Talk:French colonial empire. Legobot (talk) 00:05, 17 June 2015 (UTC)

re: chg on Warren G. Harding page

To Whom it May Concern:

While I do not make changes often, many of my changes in the past (particularly on Eastern Catholic/Byzantium Rite Churches, the Eastern European diaspora in NE Pennsylvania, and a little-known minority that I am part of - Rusyns - have enhanced Wikipedia's knowledge in these areas.

One of our current national treasures, Jon Stewart, made a comment about adding comments to his page. I never do such things normally; however, given Stewart's imminent retirement, I thought it would be funny, and was planning to remove it myself within a half-hour.

Given my previous editing background and how long I have been a member and contributed to wiki, I would have appreciated a talk message rather than a page splash. One shoe does not fit all, even in a Perl/Python script.

Thanks -

Eileen winterlongone 20:23, 17 June 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Winterlongone (talk • contribs)

WikiProject X Newsletter • Issue 4

Newsletter • May/June 2015

Hello friends! We have been hard at work these past two months. For this report:

The directory is live!

For the first time, we are happy to bring you an exhaustive, comprehensive WikiProject Directory. This directory endeavors to list every single WikiProject on the English Wikipedia, including those that don't participate in article assessment. In constructing the broadest possible definition, we have come up with a list of approximately 2,600 WikiProjects. The directory tracks activity statistics on the WikiProject's pages, and, for where it's available, statistics on the number of articles tracked by the WikiProject and the number of editors active on those articles. Complementing the directory are description pages for each project, listing usernames of people active on the WikiProject pages and the articles in the WikiProject's scope. This will help Wikipedians interested in a subject find each other, whether to seek feedback on an article or to revive an old project. (There is an opt-out option.) We have also come up with listings of related WikiProjects, listing the ten most relevant WikiProjects based on what articles they have in common. We would like to promote WikiProjects as interconnected systems, rather than isolated silos.

A tremendous amount of work went into preparing this directory. WikiProjects do not consistently categorize their pages, meaning we had to develop our own index to match WikiProjects with the articles in their scope. We also had to make some adjustments to how WikiProjects were categorized; indeed, I personally have racked up a few hundred edits re-categorizing WikiProjects. There remains more work to be done to make the WikiProject directory truly useful. In the meantime, take a look and feel free to leave feedback at the WikiProject X talk page.

Stuff in the works!

What have we been working on?

  • A new design template—This has been in the works for a while, of course. But our goal is to design something that is useful and cleanly presented on all browsers and at all screen resolutions while working within the confines of what MediaWiki has to offer. Additionally, we are working on designs for the sub-components featured on the main project page.
  • A new WikiProject talk page banner in Lua—Work has begun on implementing the WikiProject banner in Lua. The goal is to create a banner template that can be usable by any WikiProject in lieu of having its own template. Work has slowed down for now to focus on higher priority items, but we are interested in your thoughts on how we could go about creating a more useful project banner. We have a draft module on Test Wikipedia, with a demonstration.
  • New discussion reports—We have over 4.8 million articles on the English Wikipedia, and almost as many talk pages as well. But what happens when someone posts on a talk page? What if no one is watching that talk page? We are currently testing out a system for an automatically-updating new discussions list, like RFC for WikiProjects. We currently have five test pages up for the WikiProjects on cannabis, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and Ghana.
  • SuggestBot for WikiProjects—We have asked the maintainer of SuggestBot to make some minor adjustments to SuggestBot that will allow it to post regular reports to those WikiProjects that ask for them. Stay tuned!
  • Semi-automated article assessment—Using the new revision scoring service and another system currently under development, WikiProjects will be getting a new tool to facilitate the article assessment process by providing article quality/importance predictions for articles yet to be assessed. Aside from helping WikiProjects get through their backlogs, the goal is to help WikiProjects with collecting metrics and triaging their work. Semi-automation of this process will help achieve consistent results and keep the process running smoothly, as automation does on other parts of Wikipedia.

Want us to work on any other tools? Interested in volunteering? Leave a note on our talk page.

The WikiProject watchers report is back!

The database report which lists WikiProjects according to the number of watchers (i.e., people that have the project on their watchlist), is back! The report stopped being updated a year ago, following the deactivation of the Toolserver, but a replacement report has been generated.


Until next time, Harej (talk) 22:20, 17 June 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 17 June 2015

  • Arbitration report: An election has consequences
    The Arbitration Committee delivered its final decision in a case that reached the attention of the UK national press.
  • Featured content: Great Dane hits 150
    Six featured articles, seven featured lists, and seven featured pictures were promoted this week.
  • WikiProject report: Western Australia speaks – we are back
    It wouldn't be the WikiProject report if we didn't feature an Australian topic once in a while, so this week we're looking at the left side.

Please comment on Talk:Ask.com

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Talk:Ask.com. Legobot (talk) 00:05, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #163

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.
  • Discussions
    • German language Wikipedia closed its RfC on usage of Wikidata data. As a result Wikidata data can be used on the project as long as it happens through a template and it has a non-Wikimedia reference.
  • Events/Blogs/Press
    • Past: Office hour on IRC. We talked about cool things that happened around Wikidata over the past 3 months got an update on upcoming developments and Freebase and more. You can read the log.
  • Other Noteworthy Stuff
  • Did you know?
  • Development
    • Made a small API breaking change to wbeditentity and wbgetclaims modules. Details can be seen in the commit message of https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/c/217885/
    • Worked more on unit support
    • Fixed an issue where you'd sometimes select the wrong value when entering a statement unintentionally (phabricator:T98471)
    • Switched the whole code base to make use of DataModel 3.0
    • The concept of “claims” no longer exists in Wikibase, as all places in the software work with statements. We are making this more and more explicit in the code.
    • The autoloading mechanism of the extension changed, see phabricator:T100813
    • More work on getting the Wikibase Quality extensions ready for deployment. They'll improve constraint checking and provide checks against 3rd party databases.
    • Special:UnconnectedPages had to be reworked (thanks Amir!) because of huge performance issues. Because of this it loses some functionality (being able to specify where the list starts and limiting the list to pages that have local interwiki links). We're working on bringing functionality back without the performance penalty.
    • Bene* created a SPARQL abstraction layer for PHP called Asparagus: https://github.com/Benestar/asparagus
    • Enabled arbitrary access on arwiki, cawiki, eswiki, huwiki, kowiki, rowiki, ukwiki, viwiki, and usage tracking on dewiki, ruwiki, cswiki and all s3 wikis. (ruwiki and cswiki get arbitrary access on June 23)
    • Finishing work on improved handling “invalid” values and statements with deleted properties.
    • Small breaking DOM change: Wikibase no longer adds its own h1 tag but uses MediaWiki's default .firstHeading element. (phabricator:T93534)
  • Monthly Tasks
    • Hack on one of these.
    • Help fix these items which have been flagged using Wikidata - The Game.
    • Help develop the next summary here!
    • Contribute to a Showcase item
    • Help translate or proofread pages in your own language!
    • Add labels, in your own language, for the new properties listed above.

The Bugle: Issue CXI, June 2015

Full front page of The Bugle
Your Military History Newsletter

The Bugle is published by the Military history WikiProject. To receive it on your talk page, please join the project or sign up here.
If you are a project member who does not want delivery, please remove your name from this page. Your editors, Ian Rose (talk) and Nick-D (talk) 13:38, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

Please comment on Talk:Hillary Clinton

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Talk:Hillary Clinton. Legobot (talk) 00:04, 25 June 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 June 2015

  • From the editor: The Signpost tagging initiative
    Over more than a decade of weekly publication, The Signpost has accumulated an incredibly lengthy and detailed record about the issues, controversies, successes, and failures of the English Wikipedia community and the movement at large.
  • News and notes: Board of Trustees propose bylaw amendments
    The Board of Trustees is the "ultimate corporate authority" of the Wikimedia Foundation and the level at which the strategic decisions regarding the Wikimedia movement are made ...

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:Notability (films)

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Wikipedia talk:Notability (films). Legobot (talk) 00:05, 28 June 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #164

Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata over the last week.

Please comment on Wikipedia talk:Handling trivia

The feedback request service is asking for participation in this request for comment on Wikipedia talk:Handling trivia. Legobot (talk) 00:05, 1 July 2015 (UTC)

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