User:SMcCandlish

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This user helped get "Golden Cue" listed at Did You Know on the main page on June 2, 2010.
This user helped get "Ground billiards" listed at Did You Know on the main page on March 25, 2019.
This user helped get "William A. Spinks" listed at Did You Know on the main page on March 2, 2007.
This user helped get "William Hoskins (inventor)" listed at Did You Know on the main page on February 12, 2019.
This user significantly contributed to the "Good Article" status of "Cornershot" become a good article on July 24, 2006.
This user significantly contributed to the "Good Article" status of "Jasmin Ouschan" become a good article on September 12, 2009.
This user significantly contributed to the "Good Article" status of "William A. Spinks" become a good article on April 22, 2016.
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Note: SMcCandlish's comments on Wikipedia are a work in progress, subject to the thread-mode disclaimer.
Self-convenience: sandboxsandbox2sandbox3sandbox4sandbox5sandbox6sandbox7sandbox8sandbox9sandbox10User:SMcCandlish/StatusAll subpages of this pageAll subpages of my talk page.

I keep being told I look like various celebrities:
Coincidentally, I was briefly a tech roadie for Aerosmith (Tyler's band) in 1994; they were probably the first band to do live online chat stuff with fans backstage at shows. A colleague and I were in charge of that.
LOL

 

  On the Radar:  An Occasional Newsletter on Wikipedia's Challenges

— "Comments?" links go to OtR's own talk page, not those of the original news-item sources.
According to WashPo, WMF has tapped a South African nonprofit executive and lawyer to be its new executive director. While I've been saying for a decade that WMF has to stop hiring software- and online-services-industry people to run an NGO, and hire NGO people, this one – Maryana Iskander – is rather cagey and bureaucratic, or comes off that way in the interview.
  • First up is a belief that the WMF Universal Code of Conduct (drafted in supposed consulation with all WMF editorial communities but largely ignoring all their feedback) is the key to diversifying Wikipedia's editorial pool. (And as always in mainstream media, "Wikipedia" means en.wikipedia.org.) The entire UCC is basically a restatement of some key WP (and Commons, and Wiktionary) policies plus some WMF "vision" hand-waving. It's questionably reasonable to expect a largely redundant document, which was created for projects that lack sufficient policy development, and which has and will continue to have little impact on en.Wikipedia, to cause a sea change in who volunteers to edit here. That takes real-world outreach on a major scale. One would think a nonprofit CEO would already get that.
  • Next up, Iskander makes rather unclear reference to section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. This content-liability shield has been much in the US news lately, as a target of the Republican Party in its feud with "big tech", especially social media sites deplatforming far-right writers for anti-democracy propaganda and misinformation about the public health crisis. Iskander is correct that WMF isn't in a danger position in this, but the article strongly implies that Iskander and WMF are keenly interested and involved. Even when prompted, Iskander does not meaningfully elaborate, and just offers an education-is-important dodge. So, we need more actual information on what WMF is doing with regard to efforts to revise section 230.
  • Moving on, Iskander says something alarming: "Wikipedia has seen a huge amount of increased traffic around covid-19, [so has] worked on a very productive partnership with the World Health Organization to provide additional credibility to that work." That's hard to distinguish from a statement that WHO has editorial plants who WP:OWN the relevant articles. But it's cause for concern whatever the truth is. WMF should not be "partnering" with any external body to influence the encyclopedia's content (especially not one that has taken as many credibility hits as the WHO).
  • There's something potentially interesting in here, though devils could reside in the details: "a lot of the basic access issues might technically look different [between SA and US], but how people understand what information is available to them – how they access it – those issues exist everywhere". What is this going to mean on a practical level? Is MOS:ACCESS going to be better-enforced? Is Simple English Wikipedia going to be reintegrated into the main site as alternative articles? Is the mobile version of the site going to stop dropping features? Is WP:GLAM going to turn into a bigger effort? There are a hundred ways (sensible and otherwise) this statement could be made to affect policy, funding, and the end "product" (though one suspects nothing important will change for the better unless the internal culture of WMF's organizational leadership also changes in a major way, such as by diversifying the board of directors, toward more academics and nonprofit people instead of tech-industry rich people).
In short, I have hopes that Iskander's NGO background will make for a better exec. dir. fit than that last two we've had, but right out of the gate she's saying strange, too-vague, and even troubling things. And nothing in the interview actually suggests anything like a fix for WP's editorial diversity problem, which the headline suggested was going to be the focus.  — SMcCandlish ¢ 😼  15:48, 15 September 2021 (UTC)
"It is possible to detect eerie echoes of the confessional state of yore", and today's far left is recycling techniques from fun times like the Inquisition." I've been saying this for years, and the article is a good summary of how "left-wing" and "leftist" do not always align with "liberal". It's an observation too few mainstream writers have been willing to make, but the truth of it explains a great deal of disruptive PoV-pushing on Wikipedia. Illiberal left-wing activism is often harder to detect, and harder for the average editor to publicly resist, than far-right extremism, which we tend to recognize then delete on sight.  — SMcCandlish ¢ 😼  18:51, 10 September 2021 (UTC)
An Information Research survey shows that people's editing motivation is often "their desire to change the views of society", and also that they view Wikipedia as a "social media site". This isn't news to us, and the material doesn't have a huge statistical sample, but I would bet real money that it will be re-confirmed by later studies. This has systemic bias, neutrality, and conflict of interest implications (also not news). What we don't really think much about it is what this means for Wikipedia long-term, as everyone with an agenda becomes more aware that they can try to sneakily leverage Wikipedia articles to boost their side of any story, especially after the Trump 2016 US presidential campaign proved that powerful results can pulled off by organized manipulation of "social media" sites (whether WP really is one or not is irrelevant if the public thinks it is).  — SMcCandlish ¢ 😼  23:28, 1 June 2018 (UTC)
The 2017 Community Wishlist Survey has closed; the results are here, and as disappointing as in previous years. This process is fundamentally flawed, for numerous reasons:
  • Only the top-ten proposals will get any resources devoted to them, no matter how many there are, or how urgent or important they are.
  • It's a straight-vote, canvassing-allowed, no-rationale-needed, short-term "popularity contest" – normal Wikimedian consensus-building is thwarted.
  • This setup encourages people to vote for the 10 things they want most, then vote against every other proposal even if they agree with it. Proposals cannot build support over time.
  • There's no "leveling of the playing field" between categories. Important proposals of narrower interest (e.g. to admins, or to technical people) never pass, only the lowest-common-denominator ones do – and the most-canvassed ones.
  • Too few Wikimedians even know the survey exists or when it is open, which greatly compounds the skew caused by focused canvassing – the intentional spikes actually determine the outcome.
I've drafted some suggestions for making it work better.  — SMcCandlish ¢ >ʌⱷ҅ʌ<  18:08, 19 December 2017 (UTC)

Hi![edit]

I am Stanton McCandlish (often referred to as just SMcC here and some have nicknamed me Mac, which I don't mind). I am a Web developer, IT consultant, nonfiction author, civil liberties activist and nonprofit executive, as well as amateur pocket billiards (pool) instructor, genealogist, former online news editor, policy analyst, archivist, independent publisher, and also an amateur artist, among other things. I have been among the most active, avid Wikipedians. I have a B.A. in anthropology and communication (a custom minor that combines linguistics and broader human communication, including journalism, PR, and media criticism). I am a US citizen, but have lived in England, Ireland, and Canada for extended periods, and learned to read and write in the UK (and I use something of a form of Mid-Atlantic English consequently). I have competence in an odd assortment of topics, like Celtic mythology, English grammar and usage, Manx cats, New Mexican culture, US law in certain fields (freedom of expression, privacy, and intellectual property), salamanders, Web standards, UI usability, albinism, pool and billiards, online media, Art Nouveau, post-punk subcultures, Mac OS X, Highland dress, and various fiction franchises (though about 95% of my reading time is non-fiction), among other subjects. Being an autodidactic polymath, my interests shift over time and are intense. Some of my latest passions are the history of tartan, interface of zoology and anthropology, especially the history and nature of domestication; and shifting patterns of English usage.

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♂This user is male.
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It is approximately 1:31 AM where this user lives.
This editor is older than he looks, but younger than his years.

My current local time is 02:31 AM (reload).

Bio[edit]

Basically, this is my highly compressed CV
Stanton McCandlish is a freelance web developer, systems and network administrator, and online PR/communications consultant; a buyer and seller of collectibles; and a pool instructor. His specialties include advocacy, media relations, information management and architecture, usability, technology policy analysis, and technical writing. His educational background is primarily in cultural anthropology and linguistics.

He was for a while the technology VP and lead developer of a Toronto-based consulting firm. He was previously employed, and later volunteered, as the communications director for the CryptoRights Foundation. As such, he acted as the nonprofit's press and public-relations lead, publications manager, and webmaster, and also participated in mission-critical technical projects.

Stanton was among the world's first professional online activists, and came to CryptoRights after working on issue campaigns, policy, and online communications at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) during its most formative and influential era, from 1993 to 2002, where he also ran one of the most-linked-to websites on the entire Internet, and edited the organization's newsletter, EFFector, one of the largest-subscription online bulletins of the era. He has written a variety of articles and tutorials, been quoted by most major US news publications on Internet policy issues, and is co-author of the privacy and e-activism book Protecting Yourself Online: The Definitive Resource on Safety, Freedom, and Privacy in Cyberspace (with Robert B. Gelman). He also managed production of the updated online editions of Everybody's Guide to the Internet (by Adam Gaffin), including revision, management of multi-language translation, and online distribution.

After studying computer science, technical writing, and anthropology/linguistics at the College of Santa Fe, Eastern New Mexico University, and the University of New Mexico, McCandlish worked as a technical consultant at UNM, while maintaining an early independent electronic bulletin board system (BBS) and operating a small-press publishing operation in Albuquerque. Some of his current areas of (mostly off-WP) interest include electronic privacy, free expression online, preservation of fair use of intellectual property, and protection of the public's interest in the development of technical standards. McCandlish holds a BA in cultural anthropology and communication from UNM.

He likes cats, salamanders, spicy food, art nouveau, post-punk, good girl art, and Skyrim. He lives in Oakland, California.

Contact[edit]

Wikitivities[edit]

Putting my money where my mouth is

This user is a donor to the Wikimedia Foundation. You can be one, too.
This user donated to WebCite, which keeps online source citations working in Wikipedia articles!
US$This editor buys sources, and has spent at least US$ 3,832 specifically to obtain over 189 reliable sources for citing on Wikimedia projects.

The "TL;DR" version[edit]

This user is one of the 281 most active English Wikipedians of all time.
This user has been editing Wikipedia for more than ten years
(18 years, 4 months, and 5 days).
This user has earned the
100,000 Edits Award.

Access levels and roles[edit]

This user has template editor rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has page mover rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has file mover rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has AutoWikiBrowser rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has rollback rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has autoconfirmed rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has autopatrolled rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has pending changes reviewer rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user has new page reviewer rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user is NOT an admin, but acts like one anyway. (verify)
823Admin score: This user is Wikipedia's 43rd highest-scoring non-admin according to the admin scoring tool, as of 4 March 2013.
This user considers themselves a participant in all WikiProjects.
RNAThis user is a rouge non-admin
This editor is not an administrator (verify) and thinks having the mop wouldn't be of much use to him.

Stats[edit]

This user has been on Wikipedia for 18 years, 4 months and 5 days.
281This user is ranked 281 on the list of Wikipedians by number of edits (as of 24 November 2023).
This user has created ~100 articles on Wikipedia.
This user is ranked 3,720 on the list of Wikipedians by articles created.
198,700+This user has made more than 198,700 contributions to Wikipedia, on over 54,400 distinct pages.
62,900+This user has made over 62,900 contributions to Wikipedia mainspace.
Page creations by namespace: article / file / category / template / project / user / help / mediawiki / portal
6,100+This user has logged more than 6,100 moves or other log actions on Wikipedia.
This user has created 469 categories on Wikipedia.
This user has created 233 templates on Wikipedia.
This user has created 12,300 redirects on Wikipedia.
10.8%
auto
Approx. 10.8% of this user's edits were automated with tools, as of November 2023. (Verify)
ESU99.8% for major edits and 99.8% for minor edits. – Last update: November 2023.

Beyond en.wikipedia[edit]

This user is ranked 883 on the list of most-active WikiMedians by number of edits (as of February 2012).
170,800+This user has made over 170,800 contributions to Wikimedia projects.
1,230+This user has made more than 1,230 contributions to MediaWiki Commons.
430+This user has made more than 430 contributions to Wiktionary.

Detailia[edit]

SMcCandlish (talk · message · contribs · global contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · user creation · block user · block log · count · total · logs · edit summaries · email | lu · rfas · rfb · arbcase · rfc · lta · CUreq · spi · socks | current rights · rights log (local) · rights log (global/meta) | rights · renames · blocks · protections · deletions | moves · pending changes log · abuse filter · pages created | RM · XfD · AfD · UtHx · UtE)

AfD-3This user has had 3 pages put up for deletion. Most of the time, they were deleted.
vn-32This editor's user page, talk page, or subpages have been vandalized 32 times.
8.3This user has 8.3 centijimbos.
This user scored 51,617 on the Wikipediholic test.
This user is one in 47,116,878.
#This user was the 378,390th registered editor at English-language Wikipedia
This user has alternative accounts named
McCandlish, Smccandlish, SMcClandish, SMcCandish, SMcClandlish, Temp4590, and one other disclosed to WP:ARBCOM.

What I'm working on now...[edit]

...when time permits:

This user is currently working on
Tartan.
This user is currently working on
WikiProject Cue sports.

Incomplete articles[edit]

"Incubator" of new or maybe-to-be-restored articles in progress

Stuff I occasionally work on, because it's unfinished or it was deleted but could be salvageable with some better sourcing and writing.

Wikipedia-namespace pages[edit]

Stuff I've been largely responsible for or heavily involved in[edit]

Projects[edit]

Articles[edit]

This user has helped promote 3 good articles on Wikipedia.

I devote most of my mainspace time to improving poor articles to be encyclopedic quality, rather than "polishing the chrome" on already-good articles. Both kinds of work are necessary, but I find working on Stub, Start, and C-class articles, to move them toward B, A, and Good class, is a higher priority for the project. (To date, I have little interest in Good-to-Featured improvement; that's a wiki-subculture all its own.)

Overhauled[edit]

Pre-existing pages I've done a lot of work on (over time or all at once); new list started January 2018, so very incomplete:

  • Girls Under Glass – band article which I redid top to bottom, from a broken-English list of bullet points into a comprehensive article (with some help from the German Wikipedia page on them). This cleanup and expansion [3] (about 23K more material) saved it from WP:AFD.
  • Godwin's law – I informally shepherded this page for quite some time, before other editors got more involved in keeping it encyclopedic. (I have a potential conflict of interest, since I worked at the same organization as its namesake back in the 1990s.) I've more recently (2023) returned to cleaning it up, as it started to get crufty again.
  • Jeannette H. Lee – Korean-American businesswoman article. I originally nominated this for deletion, but after it was kept as (marginally) notable, I significantly worked up the article so it will be properly encyclopedic.
  • Khes – iffy article on an Indic fabric type and garment, written by a non-native English speaker, and with poor sourcing. Was already slated for AfD by someone, but I managed to massage it into passable shape (a quality edit more than a quantity one). Still had issues (as of December 2020), but I drew attention to the page at the wikiprojects and noticeboards for India- and Pakistan-related topics.
  • Lynette Horsburgh – British amateur cue-sports champion. Was AfDed, so I improved it (diff includes a few intervening edits by someone else), and it was kept. Not a massive overhaul, but a qualitative one.
  • Mora, New Mexico [4]; Mora County, New Mexico [5]; First Battle of Mora [6]; Second Battle of Mora [7] – were palimpsests of confusing drive-by edits, so I re-did them all with everything where it actually pertains, copyedited, and with some new sources.
  • Nithyananda – a controversial modern guru of India. For a long time, this article was veering back and forth between a WP:BLP-violating attack page and a shameless promotional advertisement by his followers (whom I attempted to dissuade from further WP policy violations, both on-wiki and by contacting his organization directly). I overhauled it repeatedly, and watchdogged it for months until sufficient attention from other neutral editors was drawn to it. (Problems still arise, but they are much more manageable now.)
  • Tartan – totally overhauled from top to bottom, using pretty much every available reliable source.

Wikipedia policies, guidelines, essays, and proposals[edit]

User-space essays[edit]
Major successful proposals[edit]

Key:

  • checkY = Proposal (or its gist) accepted
  • ☒N = Proposal rejected
  • checkY = Partly accepted, or other solution reached
  • ☒N = No consensus, or unclear resolution
Ongoing proposals[edit]
Accepted proposals needing further work[edit]

(That's further work by me or by anyone.)

Log of closed proposals
Changes to WP:POLICY and WP:PROCESS pages[edit]

Expect to see a lot of yellow and red icons in here, since writing and changing policy is hard.

Mergers and splits[edit]
Deletions[edit]
Moves/renames/re-targetings/re-scopings[edit]

This is generally just 2017–2021, since keeping track of it proved tedious.


Changes to template functionality[edit]
Nominations of others for permissions, etc.[edit]

Sockpuppet investigations, requests for arbitration, sanctions/remedies[edit]

</noinclude>

Sockpuppet investigations, requests for arbitration, sanctions/remedies[edit]

I won't list all of them here, just those that "did something". Lots of noticeboard action just archive away without closure, or close as "no action at this time".

Major templates[edit]

Categories[edit]

  • Category:Cue sports (I created and have been one of the most active maintainers of most of its subcategories.)
  • Category:Insular ecology (I didn't write the articles in it, I just noticed they were scattered about and not categorized sanely, so now they are.)
  • Category:Highland dress (No category for this for years for some reason; I organised the articles and have been working on them intensively, starting with Tartan and History of the kilt.)
  • Lots that I'm forgetting.

Non-admin closures[edit]

Just started tracking this in September 2017 (and then forgot until early 2020). I sometimes do non-admin closure of discussions (RfCs, RMs, etc.) and push right up to the boundary of what a non-admin can do, with that I believe are positive results.

Misc.[edit]

Gallery of contributed images[edit]

Some of the images I've contributed under GFDL/CC (and sometimes PD) are displayed as thumbnails in my Gallery Page.

To-do list[edit]

Honestly, I no longer maintain or even look at this; there's so much to do, I just do whatever grabs my attention first.

Wikawards[edit]

Barnometer
The Running Man Barnstar: For your many, many fine cue sport related edits. – Fuhghettaboutit, 23:30, 9 February 2007 (UTC) The Working Man's Barnstar: For all the arduous work on Cue sport – 68.239.240.144, 23:46, 20 February 2007 (UTC) The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar: For sleuthing out sockpuppets being used to subvert WP:RFA – Dgies, 20:05, 11 April 2007 (UTC) The E=mc2 Barnstar: Awarded for your tireless work on articles relating to the field of pigmentation. – Rockpocket, 09:23, 17 April 2007 (UTC) Excellent User Page Award: [...] ask Mr. McCandlish if programmers are users too. Peace and love. – SusanLesch, 03:31, 12 September 2008 (UTC) Barnstar Eaten by a Bear: I regret to inform you that the barnstar that I was going to give you, for your bit of WP:CFD hilariousness about "Category:Celtic sports clubs", was eaten by a bear. Happy editing! – Hamtechperson, 04:46, 24 December 2009 (UTC) The Working Wikipedian's Barnstar: For general template taming goodness. – Ludwigs2, 03:36, 31 December 2009 (UTC) Some Falafel and One Canadian Beer: For being here and to work on the women sport project. – Genevieve2, 20:34, 20 January 2012 (UTC) Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar: For behaving in a genteel fashion, as if nothing were the matter, and for gallantry. – jathinkimacowboy, 03:27, 2 February 2012 (UTC) Heroic Barnstar: For your recent work at WP:MOS: A model of unflagging effort, precise analysis, institutionally broad and historically deep vision, clear articulation, and civil expression under great pressure. Unforgettable. – User:DocKino, 06:14, 7 February 2012 (UTC) Chapeau ... for this one! Cheers - DVdm (talk) 20:20, 31 January 2012 (UTC) Cheers!: For all of the thoughtful posts through the extended discussion at MOSCAPS. I've appreciated it. – User:JHunterJ, 13:52, 10 February 2012 (UTC) The Barnstar Creator's Barnstar: Thank you for your submission of the Instructor's Barnstar. It's now on the main barnstar list. – User:Pine, 15:11, 26 February 2012 (UTC) Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar: This comes as a recognition of your kindness in developing the Firefox Cite4wiki add-on. It has been helpful and a great resource. I was also happy to learn you contribute to Mozilla which I do as well :) User:stephenwanjau, 18:28, 31 August 2012 (UTC) The Socratic Barnstar: In recognition of your general fine work around the 'pedia, and the staunchness and standard of argumentation on style issues. And if for nothing else, I think you deserve it for this comment. Ohconfucius ping / poke 02:07, 13 November 2012 (UTC) The Special Barnstar: It's a bit delayed, but for your rather accurate edit summary here. Keep up the good work on various breed articles! TKK bark ! 18:06, 25 February 2013 (UTC)The Original Barnstar: For your recent work at WP:MOS: A model of unflagging effort, precise analysis, institutionally broad and historically deep vision, clear articulation, and civil expression under great pressure. Unforgettable. DocKino (talk) 06:14, 7 February 2012 (UTC) The Purple Barnstar: You've been putting up with a lot of crap from other quarters; just want to let you know that people out there do, in fact, manage to appreciate your work. illegitimi non carborundum! VanIsaacWS Vexcontribs 04:55, 11 February 2013 (UTC) The Brilliant Idea Barnstar: I couldn't quite find a suitable barnstar for this, but I found it insightful when you brought up the issue of accessibility within TfD#Template:Tn. Maybe it was kind of a small realization you had, but on behalf of the disabled friends I have, thank you for bringing it up. A step in the right direction for making this everyone's encyclopedia. Meteor_sandwich_yum (talk) 02:58, 1 May 2014 (UTC) A cheeseburger for you! Except of course that would be 30 min on the treadmill. But we can still look. Thank you for well measured comments. In ictu oculi (talk) 02:59, 11 May 2014 (UTC) The Fauna Barnstar: For being an enlightening Star in a farmyard Barn – Gregkaye ✍♪ 15:11, 22 September 2014 (UTC) WikiCake: You seem to be among the vanguard in the quest to raise copy editing and style formatting to at least the level of writing barely literate articles. Primergrey (talk) 05:04, 29 March 2015 (UTC) The Special Barnstar: A thank you ... for disagreeing, with reason and cogent arguments backed up by both source and policy as well as logical interpretation of the position you disagree with. In essence for disputing content in a manner that builds consensus. It may seem a little over the top to barnstar for a couple of days work but in an area where there's been entrenched battle ground for so long it has put a huge smile on my face, and moved me on a few of my positions, to be disagreed with in such a consensus building fashion. My faith in wikipedia has been somewhat restored and I can only hope it's a sea change for the way the talk page looks on the articles. SPACKlick (talk) 23:26, 10 July 2015 (UTC) Ten Year Society: I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you to join the Ten Year Society, an informal group for editors who've been participating in the Wikipedia project for ten years or more. Best regards, Sarah (talk) 01:00, 21 August 2015 (UTC) 100,000 Edits Award: Congratulations on reaching 100000 edits. You have achieved a milestone that only 339 editors have been able to accomplish. The Wikipedia Community thanks you for your continuing efforts. Keep up the good work! Buster Seven Talk 15:06, 4 October 2015 (UTC) The Socratic Barnstar: For extremely skilled and eloquent arguments and advice in guiding the overhaul of the very important article Domestication William Harris • talk • 07:47, 4 February 2016 (UTC) Some baklava for you! To fortify you in your marathon task of finding an acceptable form of words to use in our MoS. I admire your patience and stamina and am thinking of proposing you as a Middle East peace envoy... BushelCandle (talk) 00:25, 4 March 2016 (UTC) The Barnstar of Diplomacy: Thank you so much for stepping in on the Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations article, specifically the talk page. You seem to be able to clearly communicate the applicability of guidelines and resolve what might otherwise become a dispute. Excellent job! CaroleHenson (talk) 19:28, 2 November 2016 (UTC) A barnstar for you! Howdy Wkatherine003 (talk) 07:46, 8 November 2016 (UTC) A cup of coffee for you! Thanks for your service to rodents. Bluerasberry (talk) 14:36, 8 December 2016 (UTC) The Barnstar of Integrity: I award you this barnstar ... because you have shown to be a person of integrity and honor. Or, more simply, a stand-up guy. Antidiskriminator (talk) 10:05, 17 January 2017 (UTC)A Dobos torte for you! User:7&6=thirteen (☎) has given you a Dobos torte to enjoy! Seven layers of fun because you deserve it. The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar: For going above and beyond to help with a query — Anakimi talk   20:58, 13 July 2017 (UTC) The Tireless Contributor Barnstar: Thanks you for the Project namespace and TL/SUPPLEMENTAL updates.....been trying to get that wording right for a long time. Would love your CE skills at WP:ESSAYPAGES guideline section and the infopage Wikipedia:Essays. ... Moxy (talk) 17:08, 6 September 2017 (UTC) Your Opinion is More Important than You Think Barnstar: Thanks for your definitive non-admin closure of a RfC, thereby asserting a sane consensus and bringing U.S._Dollar back to congruence with reality. BirdValiant (talk) 06:34, 30 September 2017 (UTC) The Fauna Barnstar: Thanks for the big progress recently on sorting out fauna titles – and other titles, too. Keep it up. Dicklyon (talk) 00:13, 1 October 2017 (UTC) Precious: Thank you for quality articles such as ... William_A._Spinks, for service in 12 years, for thoughts about policy, style and consistency, for an initiative for clarification, - Stanton, cat lover in four dimensions, you are an awesome Wikipedian! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:41, 1 December 2017 (UTC) A beer for you! Thank you for your recent edits to WP:RFAADVICE. When I wrote that page a few years ago, I never dreamed of the tens of thousands of hits it would get and become the default advice for RFA candidates. It's nice to know that someone is watching over it and making useful improvements. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 10:14, 17 December 2017 (UTC) The Barnstar of Diplomacy: I appreciate your contributions regarding my topic ban as well as your thoughts on Arbitration Enforcement. --MONGO 13:23, 10 January 2018 (UTC) Precious six years: Thank you ... for improving article quality in January 2018! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:06, 30 January 2018 (UTC)The Userpage Barnstar: I decided you deserved this for your very interesting and informative User Page ... Tlhslobus (talk) 14:53, 1 March 2018 (UTC) There is a mop reserved in your name: You are a remarkable editor in many ways. You would be a good administrator in my opinion, and appear to be well qualified! You personify an administrator without tools. John Cline 13:29, 22 May 2018 (UTC)The Original Barnstar: For your ongoing and unending effort to tidy up the bureaucracies around the English Wikipedia. Jc86035 (talk) 05:05, 14 July 2018 (UTC) Perhaps it's time... As someone who as bumped into you in various spaces over the years with a generally positive impression resulting, I decided to take a closer look at the scope and caliber of your contributions over the last few days because it has occurred to me that your experience and facility with nuanced policy might make you a good candidate for adminship .... I suspect you would be good with the bit. Snow Rise let's rap 07:40, 16 July 2018 (UTC) The Disambiguator's Barnstar is awarded to Wikipedians who are prolific disambiguators. For applying your expertise in disambiguating the James Addison Baker articles. Oldsanfelipe (talk) 19:02, 24 August 2018 (UTC) The Industrial Barnstar: The Upward Spiral – For your excellent expansion work of the Girls Under Glass article following its AfD nom. Nice work! Lugnuts Fire Walk with Me 18:20, 3 December 2018 (UTC) The Editor's Barnstar – I learned a lot from you about Wikipedia in the Jean_Mill afd. Just wanted to say thanks! Lightburst 23:10, 19 June 2019 (UTC)Fifteen Year Society: I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you to join the Fifteen Year Society, an informal group for editors who've been participating in the Wikipedia project for fifteen years or more. ​Best regards, Chris Troutman (talk) 14:11, 11 August 2020 (UTC)You have been trouted for: having a kick-ass profile. :D Ivario (talk) 02:17, 24 November 2020 (UTC)Thank you for keeping the Nithyananda page clean! ... Wilhelm Tell DCCXLVI (converse) (fings wot i hav dun) 09:33, 22 December 2020 (UTC)You get the Loyalty Award! Please accept this cute little kitten as token of appreciation for being loyal to values, and standing by other editors in need like me! Thank you! Huggums537 (talk) 22:26, 14 February 2021 (UTC)A beer for you! For teaching me something. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 22:44, 21 November 2023 (UTC)For all your help (especially with regard to cursive) and patience. User:JackkBrown (talk) 15:55, 30 November 2023 (UTC)Thanks for helping fight policy creep and forks by proposing the merge of WP:SELFSOURCE and WP:BLPSELFPUB with WP:ABOUTSELF. User:Sdkb (talk) 06:11, 15 December 2023 (UTC)For noting that unencyclopedic detail was inserted into the Brunswick Corporation and taking prompt action, exemplifying scrutiny, precision and community service! gidonb (talk) 14:39, 2 February 2024 (UTC)
noob involved been around veteran seen it all older than the Cabal itself
Gratuitous
The Running Man Barnstar The Working Man's Barnstar The Defender of the Wiki Barnstar The E=mc2 Barnstar Excellent User Page Award
For your many, many fine cue sport related edits.
--Fuhghettaboutit 23:30, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
For all the arduous work on Cue sport
68.239.240.144 23:46, 20 February 2007 (UTC)
Awarded to SMcCandlish for sleuthing out sockpuppets being used to subvert RfA.
—dgiestc 20:05, 11 April 2007 (UTC)
Awarded for your tireless work on articles relating to the field of pigmentation.
Rockpocket 09:23, 17 April 2007 (UTC)
[...] ask Mr. McCandlish if programmers are users too. Peace and love.
-SusanLesch (talk) 03:31, 12 September 2008 (UTC)
Barnstar Eaten by a Bear The Working Wikipedian's Barnstar Some Falafel and One Canadian Beer The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar The Heroic Barnstar
I regret to inform you that the barnstar that I was going to give you for this bit of hilariousness was eaten by a bear. Happy editing!
Hamtechperson 04:46, 24 December 2009 (UTC)
For general template taming goodness.
Ludwigs2 03:36, 31 December 2009 (UTC)
For being here and to work on the women sport project.
--Cordialement féministe ♀ Cordially feminist Geneviève (talk) 20:34, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
For behaving in a genteel fashion, as if nothing were the matter, and for gallantry.
--Djathinkimacowboy 03:27, 2 February 2012 (UTC)
For your recent work at WP:MOS: A model of unflagging effort, precise analysis, institutionally broad and historically deep vision, clear articulation, and civil expression under great pressure. Unforgettable.
DocKino (talk) 06:14, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
Chapeau Cheers! The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar The Socratic Barnstar The Special Barnstar
for this one! Cheers - DVdm (talk) 20:20, 31 January 2012 (UTC) For all of the thoughtful posts through the extended discussion at MOSCAPS. I've appreciated it.
JHunterJ (talk) 13:52, 10 February 2012 (UTC)
This comes as a recognition of your kindness in developing the Firefox Cite4wiki add-on. It has been helpful and a great resource. I was also happy to learn you contribute to Mozilla which I do as well :) ₫ӓ₩₳ Talk to Me. Email Me. 18:28, 31 August 2012 (UTC) In recognition of your general fine work around the 'pedia, and the staunchness and standard of argumentation on style issues. And if for nothing else, I think you deserve it for this comment  Ohconfucius ping / poke 02:07, 13 November 2012 (UTC) It's a bit delayed, but for your rather accurate edit summary here. Keep up the good work on various breed articles! TKK bark ! 18:06, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
The Original Barnstar The Purple Barnstar The Brilliant Idea Barnstar A cheeseburger for you! Fauna Barnstar
For your recent work at WP:MOS: A model of unflagging effort, precise analysis, institutionally broad and historically deep vision, clear articulation, and civil expression under great pressure. Unforgettable. DocKino (talk) 06:14, 7 February 2012 (UTC) You've been putting up with a lot of crap from other quarters; just want to let you know that people out there do, in fact, manage to appreciate your work. illegitimi non carborundum! VanIsaacWS Vexcontribs 04:55, 11 February 2013 (UTC) I couldn't quite find a suitable barnstar for this, but I found it insightful when you brought up the issue of accessibility within TfD#Template:Tn. Maybe it was kind of a small realization you had, but on behalf of the disabled friends I have, thank you for bringing it up. A step in the right direction for making this everyone's encyclopedia. Meteor_sandwich_yum (talk) 02:58, 1 May 2014 (UTC) Except of course that would be 30 min on the treadmill. But we can still look. Thank you for well measured comments. In ictu oculi (talk) 02:59, 11 May 2014 (UTC) For being an enlightening Star in a farmyard Barn Gregkaye 15:11, 22 September 2014 (UTC)
WikiCake The Special Barnstar The Socratic Barnstar Some baklava for you! The Barnstar of Diplomacy
You seem to be among the vanguard in the quest to raise copy editing and style formatting to at least the level of writing barely literate articles. Primergrey (talk) 05:04, 29 March 2015 (UTC) for disagreeing, with reason and cogent arguments backed up by both source and policy as well as logical interpretation of the position you disagree with. In essence for disputing content in a manner that builds consensus. SPACKlick (talk) 23:26, 10 July 2015 (UTC) For extremely skilled and eloquent arguments and advice in guiding the overhaul of the very important article Domestication William Harristalk • 07:47, 4 February 2016 (UTC) To fortify you in your marathon task of finding an acceptable form of words to use in our MoS. I admire your patience and stamina and am thinking of proposing you as a Middle East peace envoy... BushelCandle (talk) 00:25, 4 March 2016 (UTC) Thank you so much for stepping in on the Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations article, specifically the talk page. You seem to be able to clearly communicate the applicability of guidelines and resolve what might otherwise become a dispute. Excellent job! CaroleHenson (talk) 19:28, 2 November 2016 (UTC)
A cup of coffee for you! The Barnstar of Integrity A Dobos torte for you! The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
Thanks for your service to rodents. Blue Rasberry (talk) 14:36, 8 December 2016 (UTC) I award you this barnstar ... because you have shown to be a person of integrity and honor. Or, more simply, a stand-up guy. Antidiskriminator (talk) 10:05, 17 January 2017 (UTC) 7&6=thirteen () has given you a Dobos torte to enjoy! Seven layers of fun because you deserve it. For going above and beyond to help with a query — Anakimitalk   20:58, 13 July 2017 (UTC) Thanks you for the Project namespace and TL/SUPPLEMENTAL updates.....been trying to get that wording right for a long time. Would love your CE skills at WP:ESSAYPAGES guideline section and the infopage Wikipedia:Essays. ... Moxy (talk) 17:08, 6 September 2017 (UTC)
Your Opinion is More Important than You Think Barnstar The Fauna Barnstar Precious A beer for you! The Barnstar of Diplomacy
Thanks for your definitive non-admin closure of a RfC, thereby asserting a sane consensus and bringing U.S. Dollar back to congruence with reality. BirdValiant (talk) 06:34, 30 September 2017 (UTC) Thanks for the big progress recently on sorting out fauna titles – and other titles, too. Keep it up. Dicklyon (talk) 00:13, 1 October 2017 (UTC) Thank you for quality articles such as ... William A. Spinks, for service in 12 years, for thoughts about policy, style and consistency, for an initiative for clarification, - Stanton, cat lover in four dimensions, you are an awesome Wikipedian! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:41, 1 December 2017 (UTC) Thank you for your recent edits to WP:RFAADVICE. When I wrote that page a few years ago, I never dreamed of the tens of thousands of hits it would get and become the default advice for RFA candidates. It's nice to know that someone is watching over it and making useful improvements. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 10:14, 17 December 2017 (UTC) I appreciate your contributions regarding my topic ban as well as your thoughts on Arbitration Enforcement. --MONGO 13:23, 10 January 2018 (UTC)
The Userpage Barnstar There is a mop reserved in your name The Original Barnstar Perhaps it's time... A Baker Barnstar
I decided you deserved this for your very interesting and informative User Page ... Tlhslobus (talk) 14:53, 1 March 2018 (UTC) You are a remarkable editor in many ways. You would be a good administrator in my opinion, and appear to be well qualified! You personify an administrator without tools .... --John Cline (talk) 13:29, 22 May 2018 (UTC) For your ongoing and unending effort to tidy up the bureaucracies around the English Wikipedia. Jc86035 (talk) 05:05, 14 July 2018 (UTC) As someone who as bumped into you in various spaces over the years with a generally positive impression resulting, I decided to take a closer look at the scope and caliber of your contributions over the last few days because it has occurred to me that your experience and facility with nuanced policy might make you a good candidate for adminship .... I suspect you would be good with the bit. Snow let's rap 07:40, 16 July 2018 (UTC) The Disambiguator's Barnstar is awarded to Wikipedians who are prolific disambiguators.
For applying your expertise in disambiguating the James Addison Baker articles. Oldsanfelipe (talk) 19:02, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
The Industrial Barnstar The Editor's Barnstar Trouted The Tireless Contributor Barnstar A beer for you!
The Upward Spiral: For your excellent expansion work of the Girls Under Glass article following its AfD nom. Nice work! Lugnuts Fire Walk with Me 18:20, 3 December 2018 (UTC) I learned a lot from you about Wikipedia in the Jean Mill afd. Just wanted to say thanks! User:Lightburst 23:10, 19 June 2019 (UTC) You have been trouted for: having a kick-ass profile. :D Ivario (talk) 02:17, 24 November 2020 (UTC) Thank you for keeping the Nithyananda page clean! [...] Happy editing! Kind regards, Wilhelm Tell DCCXLVI converse | fings wot i hav dun 09:33, 22 December 2020 (UTC) For teaching me something. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 22:44, 21 November 2023 (UTC)
The Special Barnstar The Guidance Barnstar The Barnstar of Diligence
For all your help (especially with regard to cursive) and patience. JackkBrown (talk) 15:55, 30 November 2023 (UTC) Thanks for helping fight policy creep and forks by proposing the merge of WP:SELFSOURCE and WP:BLPSELFPUB with WP:ABOUTSELF. {{u|Sdkb}}talk 06:11, 15 December 2023 For noting that unencyclopedic detail was inserted into the Brunswick Corporation and taking prompt action, exemplifying scrutiny, precision and community service! gidonb (talk) 14:39, 2 February 2024 (UTC)
Automatically assigned
Fifteen Year Society Ten Year Society 100,000 Edits Award Supreme Gom, the Most Exalted
Togneme of the Encyclopedia
Good Article


I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you to join the Fifteen Year Society, an informal group for editors who've been participating in the Wikipedia project for fifteen years or more. ​Best regards, Chris Troutman (talk) 14:11, 11 August 2020 (UTC) I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you to join the Ten Year Society, an informal group for editors who've been participating in the Wikipedia project for ten years or more. Best regards, Sarah (talk) 01:00, 21 August 2015 (UTC) Congratulations on reaching 100000 edits. You have achieved a milestone that only 339 editors have been able to accomplish. The Wikipedia Community thanks you for your continuing efforts. Keep up the good work! Buster Seven Talk 15:06, 4 October 2015 (UTC) This editor is entitled – for 18+ years & 150K+ edits – to display this Senior Vanguard Editor Badge, associated ribbons, and "floor plan of The Great Library of Alecyclopedias with carrying tube". This is very silly. This user helped promote the article CornerShot to Good status (promoted 24 July 2006)
Good Article Good Article Good Article "Did You Know?" Article "Did You Know?" Article
This user helped promote the article Jasmin Ouschan to Good status (promoted 12 September 2009) This user helped promote the article William A. Spinks to Good status (promoted 22 April 2016) This user helped promote the article William Hoskins (inventor) to Good status (promoted September 24, 2021) On March 2, 2007, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article William A. Spinks, which you created and substantially expanded. On June 2, 2010, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Golden Cue, which you created and substantially expanded.
"In the News" Article "In the News" Article The Original Barnstar The Barnstar Creator's Barnstar Precious six years
On 5 May 2009, In the news was updated with a news item that involved the article Shaun Murphy (snooker player), which you substantially updated. On 5 May 2009, In the news was updated with a news item that involved the article John Higgins (snooker player), which you substantially updated. This barnstar is awarded to everyone who – whatever their opinion – contributed to the discussion about Wikipedia and SOPA. Thank you for being a part of the discussion.
Presented by the Wikimedia Foundation. 20:37, 21 January 2012‎.
Thank you for your submission of the Instructor's Barnstar. It's now on the main barnstar list.
Pinetalk 15:11, 26 February 2012 (UTC)
Thank you ... for improving article quality in January 2018! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:06, 30 January 2018 (UTC)
[This one updates monthly.]
"Did You Know?" Article "Did You Know?" Article
On February 12, 2019, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article William Hoskins (inventor), which you created and substantially expanded. On March 25, 2019, Did you know? was updated with a fact from the article Ground billiards, which you created and substantially expanded.
Reciprocal
The Angry Tarsier of Appreciation! A Barnstar Point A Barnstar Point A barnstar for you! A kitten for you! The Loyalty Award
For awarding me a barnstar, I hereby giveth unto you one angry tarsier of appreciation. Thanks!
--Fuhghettaboutit 21:29, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
This barnstar point is awarded to SMcCandlish for giving me a barnstar point!
GracenotesT § 01:12, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
I, Λυδαcιτγ, award Stanton McCandlish the Minor Barnstar Point for the creation of said Barnstar. Howdy Wkatherine003 (talk) 07:46, 8 November 2016 (UTC) You get the Loyalty Award! Please accept this cute little kitten as token of appreciation for being loyal to values, and standing by other editors in need like me! Thank you!Huggums537 (talk) 22:26, 14 February 2021 (UTC)
Hostile
"Anti-awards" like this are a great example of what not to do on Wikipedia just because you disagree with someone:
Consider yourself duly admonished
I hereby award this barnstar for your disruptive MFD nomination.
freak(talk) 13:00, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
Incidentally, the Wikipedia:Fromowner "placeholder image" junk did get deprecated by the community just as I suggested and predicted, about a year later (by which time the admin who posted the above display of incivility had quit the entire project anyway). I wasn't disruptive, just a little before my time. — SMcCandlish [talk] [cont] ‹(-¿-)› 00:12, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

What I'm up to in general on Wikipedia[edit]

On Wikipedia, I mostly do the following in lieu of large-scale article authorship (though I do have some major ones planned and three under my belt):

  1. Resisting poorly-thought-out attempts to change the WP:Manual of Style and other policies and guidelines
  2. Neutralizing (sometimes subtle/crafty) PoV-pushing by tagteams of editors with a conflict of interest who try to bend Wikipedia into a promotional or advocacy outlet
  3. More broadly, reverting and repairing vandalism and other intentionally anti-encyclopedic edits, especially those by religious or other zealots, slanderers, the foul-mouthed, and the discriminatory
  4. Making substantial contributions to existing articles (and sometimes creating new ones) on topics I know a lot about
  5. Shepherding the growth and health of some particular articles that need it (and, in some but not all cases, about which I care a lot)
  6. Correcting typos, grammar errors and readability problems
  7. Weeding out unverifiable, or incredible and unsourced, claims
  8. Adding missing salient information
  9. Moving articles that violate the WP article naming conventions
  10. Correcting outright factual errors
  11. Improving cross-references, categorization, etc.
  12. Improving consistency of formatting
  13. Removing redundant wikilinks
  14. Removing pointless (Wikipedia is not a dictionary!) wikilinks – everyone already knows what "eye" and "the sun" mean, in most contexts in which they appear
  15. Removing minor, childish quasi-vandalism (smart-aleck remarks in articles, etc.) – I like to document these in the Talk pages, since they often are actually funny
  16. Tagging outright vandals' talk pages with countdown-to-blocking warnings
  17. Repairing semi-vandalism edits in the form of deletions of long-standing passages without explanation, or the inexplicable addition of large chunks of questionably relevant or unsourced alleged facts, especially attacks against living article subjects, fanwanking and crackpotism.
  18. Copyediting, encyclopedizing and formalizing any juvenile, colloquial, non-neutral or poorly thought out language in articles
  19. Fixing miscellaneous "bad stuff" - vanity/marketing language, crystalballing, etc.
  20. Proposing (and sometimes performing) merges of redundant articles
  21. Adding obvious missing redirects and making sure they go to useful places
  22. Educating misinformed arguments (per logic or Wikipedia policy) on talk pages
  23. Trying to resolve circular disputes on talk pages
  24. Defending articles from AfD when the reasoning for the deletion is specious, especially "NN per nom" me-tooism.
  25. Nominating truly atrocious crap for AfD (or for SD, or just prod'ing them)
  26. Learning a lot concerning things I didn't know about, on all sorts of topics
  27. Having a good time!

Wikitivities userboxes

This user is a
Rouge editor
.
This user values third opinions and occasionally provides one.
This user is a member of the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial Team.
This user is a participant in WikiProject Spam.
{{inline}}This user is a member of WikiProject Inline Templates.
This user participated in the Article Creation and Improvement Drive.
This user is a member of the
Counter-Vandalism Unit.
This user is a member of
the Guild of Copy Editors.
linkspamThis user despises linkspam, and will terminate it on sight, as well as any other spam by the contributor.
This user integrates Wikipedia.
This user fixes double redirects.
Logo of WikiProject Usability, a green dot with a red oval above it to make an exclamation mark and two light blue ovals to the upper left and upper rightThis user is a participant in
WikiProject Usability.
This user participates in
WikiProject Abandoned Articles.
5This user is a WikiAdult.
This user is a member of
WikiProject Cleanup.
tyop
typo
This user is a member of the
Wikipedia Typo Team.
This user is part of the Cleanup Taskforce. His desk is here.
This user is signed up for the Feedback Request Service.
This user is a proud member of the WikiFun Police.
Beware! This user's talk page is monitored by talk page watchers. Some of them even talk back.

Topical WikiProjects userboxes[edit]

fireflyThis user is a member of the WikiProject Television Firefly task force.

Wikipedia tools userboxes[edit]

[[]]This user uses the source editor as his primary editor.
This user has AutoWikiBrowser rights on the English Wikipedia. (verify)
This user cites online sources with the help of Cite4Wiki!
This user watches over Wikipedia with the help of Twinkle!
This user keeps citations to online sources working with the help of WebCite!
HThis user had access to HighBeam through The Wikipedia Library.

Wikiphilosophy[edit]

On the non-"political" side, I am largely an exopedianist with little interest in the socializing aspects - I get that from other aspects of my life. I'm largely a WikiGnome but shapeshift into other forms of WP:WikiFauna at will, sometimes for long stretches. I have taken part in some quite extensive policy debates, spent a lot of time on visual improvement of articles, wallowed in sourcing troublesome articles, buried my nose in copyediting, become a template master, and obsessed over the perfection of certain articles, as well as gotten into pointless arguments, while also created barnstars. I'm really just not pigeonholeable.

Wikiphilosophy userboxes[edit]

This user is bold, but not reckless, in updating pages.
This user believes that process is important on Wikipedia and is opposed to its circumvention.
This user tries to do the right thing. If they make a mistake, please let them know.
<ref>This user recognizes the importance of citing sources.
<ref>This user would like to see everyone using inline citations. Please...
This user is a member of Wikipedians against censorship.
metaThis editor is a metapedianist.
darThis editor is a darwikinist.
This user is a member of the Association of Structurist Wikipedians.
This user is a member of the Association of Mergist Wikipedians.
immThis editor is an immediatist.
exoThis editor is an exopedian.
This user believes that common sense trumps all other arguments.
FlexibleThis user deals with edits, deletion, and creation of pages individually instead of unilaterally and encourages others to do so.
-admin+This user feels that gaining administrator status is not about what you know, but about who you know.
ZTThis user supports a strict zero tolerance policy on vandalism.

WikiFauna userboxes[edit]

I am a chimera, frequently shapeshifting.

This editor is a WikiGnome.
This user is a WikiJanitor.
This user is a WikiKnight,
valiantly protecting the Five Pillars of Wikipedia.
This user is a WikiDragon: making massive, bold edits everywhere.
This user is a WikiOgre.
This user is a WikiChef.
This user is a Creator Elf.
This user is a WikiFairy.
Beware! This user is a known talk page stalker.

Critics who think I make valuable contributions but get into conflict with me frequently would probably classify me as a cross between a WikiPlatypus and a WikiPuma.


Licensing rights granted to Wikimedia Foundation
I grant non-exclusive permission for the Wikimedia Foundation Inc. to relicense my text and media contributions, including any images, audio clips, or video clips, under any copyleft license that it chooses, provided it maintains the free and open spirit of the GFDL. This permission acknowledges that future licensing needs of the Wikimedia projects may need adapting in unforeseen fashions to facilitate other uses, formats, and locations. It is given for as long as this banner remains.


Where I am in Wikispace[edit]

Host wiki Account User page User talk Contributions Logs Edits
Wikipedia (en) Rollbacker, AutoReviewer, Reviewer, FileMover, PageMover, TemplateEditor User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Meta-Wiki Editor User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Commons Editor, FileMover User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Wiktionary Editor User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Wikibooks Editor (incative) User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Wikinews Editor (inactive) User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Wikiquote Editor User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Wikisource Editor (inactive) User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Wikiversity Editor (inactive) User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Mediawiki Editor User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
Wikipedia (simple) Editor User:SMcCandlish User talk:SMcCandlish Contribs Logs Count
  • To see contributions in all Wikimedia projects, click here or here

Potential conflicts of interest[edit]

Just as a matter of full disclosure, there are certain articles I should not heavily edit (i.e., other than to revert vandalism, provide sources, or otherwise adjust in an entirely neutral manner), because of unintentional potential for conflict of interest or non-neutral point of view. Other editors may wish to examine carefully any edits I ever make to any of the following topics:

  • Stanton McCandlish – Me; while I might conceivably pass WP:GNG and WP:BIO, I have no article, have never had one, and don't want one - that would be a bit creepy to me, and friends with articles say they just cause trouble for them (personal attacks, misinformation, etc.), and I helped one get theirs deleted to protect their privacy. McCandlish Consulting is also me (d/b/a) and also non-notable.
  • Protecting Yourself Online – I co-authored a book by this title, ISBN 9780062515124; it has no article and is surely not notable enough to have one.
  • Wilcox–McCandlish lawsomething amusing that a colleague (Bryce Wilcox) and I came up with in the 1990s. Someone else created an article about it here, before I even became a WP editor; it was subsequently deleted on notability grounds, and should probably stay that way, though it might make a good WP:Essay, as it applies to talk pages here.
Things I could vaguely, conceivably have a conflict of interest on, due to past connections
  • Too many clients to individually list here (and some are covered by NDAs anyway); I know better than to edit articles about them.
  • CryptoRights Foundation (CRF) – I was their volunteer CCO/Communications Director for several years, starting 2003; it bugged me somethin' fierce that it did not have an article until recently, but it seemed grossly inappropriate to even start a "just the facts" stub on it, and someone else finally did)
  • Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) – Held various job titles there, including Program Dir., Communications Dir., etc., and was editor of their EFFector newsletter, and the webmaster of eff.org, 1993–2002.
  • Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign – This was largely my brainchild, as a part of my professional life at EFF; it was an EFF project not a personal one.
  • University of New Mexico (UNM) - Alma mater, 1991–1993 and 2007–2010; former employer, 1992–1993.
  • Double Rainbow (ice cream) – Former employer, 1991.
  • Wal-Mart – Former employer, late 1980s.
  • Cannon Air Force Base, United States Air Force – Former employer, late 1980s; I was a civilian worker, not military personnel.

Things and stuff[edit]

Funniest things I've seen on Wikipedia[edit]

[emphasis added when salient]
  • Wikipedia:Not everything needs a navbox
         The content itself isn't funny, but the fact that more than 50% of the content of the page is a huge navbox is hilarious.
  • "WP:ANI is like a huge orgy. It's fun to watch, and sometimes it's fun to join in, but like any orgy, the larger it gets, the greater the chances are that someone will eventually try to stick a dick in your ass."
         — Slakr (talk), at 03:52, 19 March 2009 (UTC), User:Slakr/Admin coaching [25]
  • 11:07, 26 March 2007 83.253.36.136 (Talk) (→Performance of FAT 32 - moved spam down)
         An edit summary from Wikipedia:Village pump (policy). Needless to say, the next editor's summary read "deleted spam".
  • A diff that must be seen to be believed
         Someone upset about grammar flames that were wasting people's time and being a distraction posts a distracting time-waste in the form of a longwinded and meticulously-researched grammar flame about it (plus a second shorter one!), all in support of the grammar flaming of the starter of the grammar flame; in the process, re-opening debate to yet more grammar flaming in the pointless sub-thread being complained about (dormant for over a day), and to which the poster was not even a party to begin with. I couldn't make this stuff up!
  • 05:46, 21 February 2007 Gracenotes (Talk | contribs) (→Template:Barnstars - *stabs kittens*)
         An edit summary in response to "no, don't delete the barnstars!" panic replies to a TfD on a useless template simply relating to barnstars. I awarded Gracenotes a Barnstar Point for that one.
  • "Hotel Wikipedia"
         A song parody by various Wikimedians (to the tune of The Eagles' "Hotel California"). I hate filk, with a passion, yet I somehow loved this.
  • Possibly the worst ever of my own typos. (See edit summary used.)
         I think I was channeling Ancient Finnish or something.
  • "Karl Marx, founder of modern Marxism ...."
         in Animal Farm, as of 13 January 2010 version (we all know that ancient Marxism was of course founded by Marxus Aurelius, right?)
  • From the "unclear on the concept" department
         Rather remarkable definition of "watch your language".
  • Hairy ball theorem
         Perhaps the funniest real article name on Wikipedia. (It's a real math/physics theorem, and not intrinsically funny, though a bit amusing.)
  • Unbelievably selective evidence
         Someone concerned about overlinking in articles actually used the Professional wrestling article as alleged smoking-gun "proof" of rampant overlinking across Wikpedia, requiring (naturally) much more stringent anti-linking wording in WP:LINKING. Of course that article in particular would have overlinking, along with just about every other noob error, except when periodically cleaned up by experienced, neutral editors who don't believe in fairytales. The article is clearly indicative of nothing but the nature of that topic's fanbase (and thus its most frequent editorial pool).
  • "Presumably we're talking about Life on Mars (TV series) here? John Carter 20:56, 13 April 2007 (UTC)"
         A comment posted at WP:COUNCIL/P, on a proposal for a "WikiProject Life on Mars"; if you don't get why this is hysterically funny, just move on – it's an old-school sci-fi geek thing.
  • Very strange font activism vandalism of my sig at a talk page
         Did you know ... that there are not just regular vandals but ones with really, really weird agendas lurking in Wikipedia?
  • http://www.well.com/~mech/WP/FunnyWikipediaCaptcha.jpg
         I'm not sure Wikipedia's account-creation CAPTCHA database should include every word... >;-)

Smartest things I've seen on Wikipedia[edit]

Just a few particularly well-thought-out bits by other editors. They aren't necessarily mindblowing or anything, just insightful and well-put.

  1. "We must always do what is best for the readers, without exception. Per WP:IAR if a 'rule' prevents you from improving the encyclopaedia, ignore it ... and if you put your personal preferences above the readers then Wikipedia is not the project for you."
         — Thryduulf (talk), at 10:52, 4 June 2018 (UTC) [26] in user talk, and in that instance about deleting redirects that are actually useful to readers but which don't quite fit someone's preferred formula.
  2. "My impression is that we shouldn't allow users going against a policy to affect how it is written. People going around changing articles against policy isn't a good reason to have that policy be rewritten"
         Lee Vilenski (talkcontribs) 10:40, 30 October 2023 (UTC) [27]. Slightly copyedited for clarity.
  3. "Unless you can reliably and usefully tell editors how to identify a problematic case, it's generally not helpful to mention it in a policy. It ends up backfiring, as editors make up their own, mutually incompatible definitions and proclaim that their interpretation is the true one."
         WhatamIdoing (talk) 22:07, 3 December 2023 (UTC) [28]
  4. "Tony, your writing guides were what prompted me to start getting articles up to GA back in mid-2012. I've done over 100 since (still waiting to actually get a FAC passed solo, maybe next decade) ...."
         — User:Ritchie333 (talk), at 21:57, 2 January 2018 (UTC) [29]. While this is well-deserved praise for the how-to essay series in support of WP:MOS by Tony1 (which starts here), this also gets at why style on Wikipedia is not trivia or trivial.
  5. "I ... had no problem whatsoever learning wikicode when I started writing and improving encyclopedia articles in 2009. I do not want to learn new software features that are less productive and less intuitive than old software features. I welcome any upgrades that are entirely intuitive and non-disruptive to existing editors. I will oppose ill-conceived and poorly-implemented make-work projects for professional programmers. This is not an employment program for coders. It is an encyclopedia created by volunteers, who are article writers and researchers."
         — Cullen (talk), 18:40, 29 November 2015 (UTC), Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Breakfast#RFC - Remove Flow from WikiProject Breakfast? [30] (commenting on how testing WP:Flow, WMF's new forum software intended to replace talk pages, pretty much destroyed the wikiproject that agreed to test it.
  6. "I reverted to the version before the diff you cited [i.e., the addition of disputed material], but was reverted. Changes pushed through without consensus are likely to be ignored or constantly disputed, so there's actually no point in doing this."
         — SarahSV (talk) 04:51, 27 January 2016 (UTC) Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Images#RfC: Should the guideline maintain the "As a general rule" wording or something similar? [31]
  7. "Revert rules should not be construed as an entitlement or inalienable right to revert, nor do they endorse reverts as an editing technique.
         Passed 9 to 0."

         — Arbitration Committee, 22:47, 23 March 2012 (UTC) Article titles and capitalisation, Final Decision
  8. Perhaps the most cogent explanation to date of what wikiproject banners are really for (and it's not advertising projects) by WhatamIdoing, at WP:Arbitration/Requests/Enforcement, 06:00, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
  9. Roughtly 95%-accurate Observations on Wikipedia behavior by Antandrus, 12 March 2016 (may have been revised since then)
  10. "A small group is more likely to develop a self-reinforcing delusion that their position is reasonable, even when a large number of people outside the group are telling them otherwise."
         — Gigs (talk · contribs), 12 June 2013, in Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-06-12/Op-ed, "The tragedy of Wikipedia's commons".
  11. "Nearly all our policies are driven by the need to prevent ... abuse of Wikipedia. Policies on biographies of living people are driven largely by those who would abuse Wikipedia for purposes of defamation. Policies on neutrality and verifiability have been largely driven by the need to address those who were here to push a political agenda or promote their fringe viewpoints. What Wikipedia is not is pretty much a chronicle of all the things that people have tried to use Wikipedia for that the community has decided are detrimental to a quality encyclopedia. ... This isn't censorship, it's curation."
         — Gigs (talk · contribs), 12 June 2013, in Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2013-06-12/Op-ed, "The tragedy of Wikipedia's commons".
  12. "[C]onsensus is an outcome of discussion, not a type of discussion. Editors' comments contribute to the consensus-building process."
         — David Levy (talk · contribs), 11:49, 6 March 2012 (UTC), at Wikipedia talk:Today's featured list#Renaming and re-stylizing Today's Featured List?, accessed March 11, 2012
  13. "If rules make you nervous and depressed, and not desirous of participating in the wiki, then ignore them entirely and go about your business."
         — Koyaanis Qatsi (talk · contribs), 04:00, 18 September 2001 (UTC); it is the original formulation of WP:Ignore all rules.
  14. "Any pile of bullshit decomposes naturally."
         — Wikipedia:Ignore all dramas (as of this version), on ignoring instead of responding to wiki-stupidity. Later versions had it as the far less pithy "Even the largest pile of bullshit will decompose on its own." The original formulation was "The most copiously deposited bullshit decomposes on its own." I reverted it to the concise version on 10 August 2011‎ and it seems to have stuck.
  15. "Removed older logo. One logo is sufficient. Logos are copyrighted and Wikipedia should not serve as a gallery for logos."
         — Farine (talk · contribs), 05:59, 6 May 2008 (UTC) (edit summary at Data East)
  16. "Anyone who adds material to an article, but cannot be bothered to cite any sources, is being discourteous to the other editors who later have to try to find reliable sources."
         — Dalbury (talk · contribs) 11:42, 24 January 2007 (UTC) (Wikipedia talk:Speedy deletion criterion for unsourced articles#Userfy is a good option, accessed January 31, 2007)
  17. "Of course, the point of style is to give coherence and consistency, deviations from which can detract from the publication's voice (in this case, an encyclopedic voice)."
         — Ninly (talk · contribs), 06:38, 8 May 2009 (UTC) (Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style, accessed June 2, 2009), on the real purpose and value of the Wikipedia Manual of Style.
  18. "Show the door to trolls, vandals, and wiki-anarchists, who, if permitted, would waste your time and create a poisonous atmosphere here."
         — WP co-founder Larry Sanger, on Wikipedia:Etiquette
  19. "[N]o need for bullet points – detail here is no more important than others"
         — SilkTork (talk · contribs), 10:19, 27 June 2011 (UTC) (edit summary at Wikipedia:Article size), on the problem that too many editors create bulletized lists from normal prose, as if Wikipedia were a giant PowerPoint presentation.
  20. "While the title should be recognized as a reference to the article topic by someone familiar with the topic, for the uninitiated, it is the purpose of the article lead, not the article title, to identify the topic of the article."
         — Born2cycle (talk · contribs), 17:25, 26 January 2012 (UTC), Wikipedia talk:Article titles thread "Common names"
  21. "The reason Wikipedia has policy pages at all is to store up assertions on which we agree, and which generally convince people when we make them in talk, so we don't have to write them out again and again. This is why policy pages aren't "enforced", but quoted; if people aren't convinced by what policy pages say, they should usually say something else. The major exception to this stability is when some small group, either in good faith or in an effort to become the Secret Masters of Wikipedia, mistakes its own opinions for What Everybody Thinks. This happens, and the clique often writes its own opinions up as policy and guideline pages."
         — JCScaliger (talk · contribs), sockpuppet of Pmanderson (talk · contribs), 03:57, 3 February 2012 (UTC), Wikipedia talk:Article titles thread "Request for edit, Poll". While Anderson made this point in a WP:POINTy way, sockpuppeting in a discussion he was trying to control (and arguing against me on the details of the issue) he's precisely right, and this was well articulated.
  22. "If a high-profile [Wikipedian] poll is conducted that brings in widespread participation from editors who had previously stayed away from [the] venue, and the holdouts who had been stonewalling and preventing progress merely slouch, stuff their hands in their pockets, and walk away, then that proves that they knew full well that their arguments were not sufficiently persuasive, or didn’t have sufficient numbers, or both. ... Trying to now torpedo the current consensus by stating that certain people somehow didn’t have an opportunity to participate is nothing but sour grapes .... On Wikipedia it’s called ‘wililawyering’ which is disruptive and mustn’t be rewarded."
         — Greg L (talk · contribs), 00:49, 10 February 2012 (UTC) Wikipedia talk:Article titles thread "Why no action on implementing community consensus"
  23. "Some editors seek to be totally neutral, which means they invariably catch the most flak from everyone else."
         — User:Collect (talk), at 11:38, 30 November 2010 (UTC) [32], as a salient point in the essay WP:Sex, religion and politics.
  24. "[C]onsensus does exist absent an administrator to interpret it."
         — User:Mackensen (talk), at 04:03, 28 January 2008 (UTC) [33], commenting at a deletion review, on the fact that an XfD or other consensus process does not require formal closure if its decision is clear.

Smartest Wikipedia-relevant things I've seen from off-site[edit]

For me, pronouns are always placed within context. I am female-bodied, I am a butch lesbian, a transgender lesbian—referring to me as "she/her" is appropriate, particularly in a non-trans setting in which referring to me as "he" would appear to resolve the social contradiction between my birth sex and gender expression and render my transgender expression invisible. I like the gender neutral pronoun "ze/hir" because it makes it impossible to hold on to gender/sex/sexuality assumptions about a person you're about to meet or you've just met. And in an all trans setting, referring to me as "he/him" honors my gender expression in the same way that referring to my sister drag queens as "she/her" does.

  1. ^ Tyroler, Jamie (28 July 2006). "Transmissions – Interview with Leslie Feinberg". CampCK.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.

Allegedly sensible or clever things I've come up with here[edit]

  • Wikipedia policies are what are required for the project to operate at all; guidelines are what help it operate smoothly; high-acceptance essays are what help its operators not make fools of themselves; and miscellaneous essays are part of the community mindshare that helps shape all of the above over time.
         (At WT:Don't bludgeon the process, in a "guidelines vs. essays" thread; 23:31, 30 November 2020 (UTC) [34].
         It's a nutshell version of something I've said, in various words, many times since the late 2000s.)
  • As of right this moment, Wikipedia (the encyclopedic content, excluding other material like talk pages) is calculable to be approximately 95.84 times the size of Encyclopædia Britannica.
         (The bulk of the math is from User:Tompw/bookshelf/assumptions, but at the time it only calculated how many volumes of EB would be filled by WP.)
  • "WP is a bad place to engage in labelling that isn't absolutely integral to international public perception of the subject."
         (In an essay/tutorial at WT:Categorization, 15:39, 9 June 2018 (UTC) [35]. Someone suggested[36] framing it on their wall! The idea eventually developed into the essay WP:Race and ethnicity.)
  • "[O]ur articles are palimpsests stirred together by a global assortment of geniuses, crackpots, and everyone in between, sometimes citing great stuff, sometimes poor stuff, and sometimes nothing".
         (At WT:Manual of Style, 16:49, 24 December 2017 (UTC) [37]. This was in the context of readers wanting to verify our content with claim-by-claim inline citations not "general references".
         Someone else nominated it as a mot juste and "a gem" [38].
         It was later quoted on someone's user page [39] along with one by Stephen Fry and another by Neil Gaiman. Pretty good company; I'm honored.)
  • "An attempt at disambiguation that introduces another ambiguity is a failure."
         (I say this frequently. I'm not aware of anyone quoting me on it verbatim, but I've seen a rise in the same argument made in other words, and it is having the desired effect on article titles debates at WP:Requested moves.
  • "If MoS does not already have a rule on something, then it almost certainly doesn't need one."
         (Included as a corollary at EEng's "If MOS does not need to have a rule on something, then it needs to not have a rule on that thing" essay.
  • "No line item in our Manual of Style is supported by 100% of editors, and no editor supports 100% of its line items. The same situation is true of all style guides and their scopes and audiences in the wider world. The purpose of a stylebook is to set some ground rules (often arbitrary) so that the ballgame of writing can continue instead of the players standing around on the field brawling about trivia."
         (Summary of what I've said in variant wording probably 100 times in style disputes. No one ever tries to refute it.
         This awareness is what keeps our MoS from being a nightmare of editwarring about specific rules, over-inclusion of rules we don't need, deletion of ones we do just because someone doesn't like them, and pretense that no rules are needed.)
  • "The next-to-last resort of someone who cannot muster a rational response to an opposing argument is to wave away that argument as something impossible to respond to (the last resort being ad hominem attacks)."
         (In particular, if you say "TL;DR" to refuse to respond to a cogent argument because it takes work to do so, you are at the wrong site – this one consists almost entirely of millions of pages of detailed and particular text, so if you can't parse a few paragraphs you are incompetent to work on this project.)
  • "If one grinds an axe long and hard enough, there is no axe any longer, just a useless old stick."
         (A quasi-Taoist response to cranky complaints that relate to incidents so long ago no one should care any more. Compressed version: "Grind axe too long: no axe.")
  • "Two words: tea pot. ~~~~"
         (A response to angry accusations of wrong-doing that self-evidently apply at least equally and usually much more accurately to the ranter.
         More recently, I've used it as a mantra for myself, when I feel wikistressed. It eventually led to the WP:HOTHEADS essay.)

Nifty Wikipedia tools[edit]

Kind of hard to find unless you already know about them:

Resources[edit]

  • Wikimedia Labs at Mediawiki.org, for general info.
  • The Tool Labs at WikiTech.Wikimedia.org, where anyone can create an account to develop tools.
  • This page indicates lost tools and other problems after the demise of the old ToolServer.
  • OAuth applications list

Stats tools[edit]

Internal tools[edit]

Editing tools[edit]

This user cites sources using refToolbar.

Coding tools[edit]

Lua programming and Scribunto modules

Cleanup tools[edit]

  • Reference citation consistency checker (use in sandbox or talk page): {{ref info|Manx cat|style=float:right}}

Visualization tools[edit]

Help and info[edit]

Editor interaction analysis[edit]

  • Editor Interaction Analyzer by Sigma, compares the edits of two to three specified editors to see which articles overlap, sorted by minimum time between edits by both users. Only works on the English Wikipedia. Speed: slow.
  • Intersect Contribs, compares the edits of two to eight editors at any WMF wiki to see which articles overlap. Speed: fast.
  • Intertwined contributions, merges the contributions of two editors at any WMF wiki into a single list. Speed: fast.

Unsorted additions[edit]

Outdated due to the demise of the ToolServer
  • Search through a page's history for edits made by a particular user [45]
  • List contributors to an article, ranked in order of activity [46]
  • Find images for a given article, using interwiki links [47]
  • What pages have you and another edited? [48]
  • User's across-projects contributions [49]
  • Who wrote that? (Wiki blame) [50]
  • Fix bare url reflinks [51]
  • X!'s edit count [52]
  • 3RR tool [53]
  • Soxred93's thorough edit counter
  • Snottywong's tools – an array of user & editing statistics and search tools
  • Snottywong's tools – an array of user & editing statistics and search tools

Search sites[edit]

Interesting layouts[edit]

It's possible to do some nice layouts with CSS – carefully – inside the "shell" that MediaWiki provides. Just of use on project and user pages, of course. We don't do stuff like this in articles.

Security[edit]


Committed identity: a6d331de87bb595541d03acf814f68f05abde44b5c3c79e078a3b79ceabf093696dcb01a3570d6eceedb21c6e8c33f4d41649bf9c05864a474974fcc4eec54be is a SHA-512 commitment to this user's real-life identity.

Bureaucracy[edit]

Systemic mega-dramas of 2020 onward[edit]

ArbCom[edit]

Some of the more nebulous WMF bureaucracy[edit]