Wikipedia talk:Sockpuppet investigations

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First stab at combined sockpuppet template

OK, I took a stab at it. The results are here User:Avraham/Sandbox, the template itself is User:Avraham/Sandbox/SP. It leaves "1" as the (unnamed) parameter for the master. Parameter "2" is gone, replaced by a switch accepting (proven, confirmed, checked). "Proven" is there for historical reasons and is identical to "confirmed". There is a new tag, "blocked" which when set to "yes" adds the "blocked indefinitely" language. (It is possible that a sockpuppet, confirmed or checked, is not blocked, so I wanted to separate it out). It retains the "evidence" tag, but that is no longer defaulted to 3, and will have to be remapped for cases where it sits in the third slot. It also takes "casename" (for the old RFCU pages) and "spipage" for the current version. This does give rise to a bit of funky grammar when there is both evidence AND spi/RFCU, and I'm still working on the spacings, but I wanted y'all to weigh in before I do more work and work out a mapping. Thanks. -- Avi (talk) 01:58, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Oh yes, it also picks the appropriate picture too. -- Avi (talk) 02:03, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

The "spipage=" tag was never tied to "status=checked" However, the text read "Checkuser results." Per Synergy's request (which makes a BOATLOAD of sense), it now reads "Sockpuppet results" UNLESS status=checked, in which case it reverts to "Checkuser results". Keep the ideas coming! -- Avi (talk) 02:12, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

I haven't checked the code yet, so maybe it does, but does this also accept SSP pages? §hep^Talk 02:15, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

You mean the old ones? No, not yet. I guess I could add a new tag "ssppage" or something. Can you point me to a canoncial example, please? -- Avi (talk) 02:16, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

I started looking, and the first example I came across (User:Excel 2008) linked to SSP through the evidence param. Seems I was confused about what the evidence param is for. Sorry, §hep^Talk 02:23, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Technically, the "evidence" tag is all one needs. I thought to keep it similar to Sockpuppeteer, which has spipage and casename. I'd deprecate "evidence", but it is used too many times :) -- Avi (talk) 02:27, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Would this be appropriate to convert to {{ombox}} or one of the other mboxes? §hep^Talk 02:43, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Will that work with all of the coding inside the template? I guess I can try later, but I'm not certain it would mesh well. -- Avi (talk) 04:14, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Heh, that's why I asked. :D I don't have a clue, but figured it might be worth a shot? §hep^Talk 04:39, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Take 2

At the suggestion of Shep, I've tried putting these in {{ombox}} form. I think all the coding works. Please compare User:Avraham/Sandbox/SPTest with User:Avraham/Sandbox/SPOMTest (where OM stands for ombox). The actual code resides, for now, at User:Avraham/Sandbox/SP and User:Avraham/Sandbox/SPOM respectively. Thank you. -- Avi (talk) 04:58, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Everything looks the same except for the widths (Good). Is it that major enough of a change to not use ombox though? Happy to see the meta template worked. §hep^Talk 05:05, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Anyone else have comments? -- Avi (talk) 18:12, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

It looks like, if we want the widths to stay the same, the width of the baner can be set with |style=, ie |style = width: 400px; §hep^Talk 01:30, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Ready for replacement?

So, Nix, I gues your silence indicates approval of the new template schema. Who has a bot ready to do the thousands of renames necessary and can handle the logic of remapping? -- Avi (talk) 18:00, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

Lol, nah my silence simply indicates that I have not had the time to check wikipedia in the last... oh 4 days? I have been busy with midterms and various exams plus my part time job. I likely won't have much time to implement anything until next week. As long as you guys have a decent mapping scheme (I'm sure you do) I'll be able to run it past bag and get a bot going. The actual coding part is not difficult, just requires an hour or so of time that I just don't have atm. —— nixeagle^{email me} 13:30, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

No prob. The Puppeteer mapping is shown above; Shep offered to do it too. We can wait on the puppet one for a while. Good luck on exams! -- Avi (talk) 15:17, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

See my comments ^^ above (very top). Thanks, §hep^Talk 23:08, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

(← Restored from archive.)

Would it be possible to add a parser that checks for an SSP and RFCU subpage and displays nothing if they don't exist? Since new uses of the template most likely won't have either an SSP or an RFCU it would cut down on redlinks and the number of links in general. §hep^Talk 01:26, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

I now see that every parameter needs called. §hep^Talk 01:27, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

You have me confused... btw do we still need me to run a bot to correct the existing templates to the new template model? —— nixeagle^{email me} 18:21, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

No, the name of the puppeteer does not need to be called; it is still mapped to 1. -- Avi (talk) 18:33, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

I know I'm not losing my mind (or would that statement be denial?). I saw a userpage that had this template on it. It had links to SPI, SSP, and RFCU...the only page that existed was the SPI and SSP and RFCU were redlinks. I can't find the page now though, so just ignore anything I've said above. Are we going to make the switch to this "new" template version? §hep^Talk 17:35, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Stale cases

I just saw stale cases get added... could someone explain to me how that category works? Plus could someone explain to me how attending to "stale" cases is any more important then attending to any one part of the backlog? —— nixeagle^{email me} 02:53, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

At present, it doesn't seem to work! call it an experiment that didn't work out as I hoped. The idea was that it would flag up any case that hadn't seen any action in 24 hours. Ah well, back to the drawing board! Mayalld (talk) 15:07, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

If you guys want this, I *can* have the bot identify cases without edits after X days and keep an updated list. That list would likely be more useful then what is there anyway. (Also note that old cases and cases without an edit to them in a while are *always* at the bottom of the bot's list on WP:SPI. Whenever an edit is done to the case, the case gets moved to the top of the list. —— nixeagle^{email me} 15:48, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

As I see it, there are two categories of "Stale" cases;

• Cases that have been open for some extended (2 weeks?) period of time, without resolution.
• Cases that haven't been edited in some shorter (3 days?) period of time, and which don't seem to be moving forward.

In terms of passing admins, cases that have been open for weeks, but which are still active don't need somebody to take them on. Cases that have stagnated do.

The stale cases thing works by comparing the current time to the last saved time, and categorises as stale if more than 3 days have passed. Unfortunately, a null edit is needed to make it work (must be truly null otherwise it updates the time stamp). I null edited everything this morning, and we have over 20 cases where nobody has commented in the last 3 days. If this categorisation is useful, it might be useful to have the bot null edit cases daily to categorise them. For now, I'll use AWB from time to time to do the null edits. Mayalld (talk) 12:00, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Interesting really to be honest its the cases that have been open forever that matter the most, we really ought to attempt to close those. (All of the really old ones just need someone to take 30 minutes to close them). Also so you know, another way to tell which cases have not been modified in a while is just to look at the order of the bot's list in the open cases section. Cases at the top are new/modified recently and the ones at the bottom are old/not modified in a while. —— nixeagle^{email me} 15:45, 13 March 2009 (UTC)]

Also IMHO our problem right now is not people knowing which cases are old or anything like that. Our problem is simply being backlogged and not having very many admins interested in reviewing caess. That means work on the process itself should be focusing towards making the directions clear and advertising that we need help in places where admins might be hanging around. —— nixeagle^{email me} 15:49, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

I agree. Cases that have been around a long time are equally problematic. We can see those (as you say) from the order of the queue. However, cases don't get shifted around in the queue as they are modified. If I put a note on the oldest case, it won't jump to the top. Also, it appears that those admins who are patrolling seldom look at the CU declined queue. Should we merge the CU not required and CU declined queues? Mayalld (talk) 16:21, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Mayalid they do get shifted around the queue if they are modified (I think, if not I can make a small change to the bot to have it shift them), go try it :) Don't forget to purge too. —— nixeagle^{email me} 16:51, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Just remember that some cases might be there, awaiting arb com decisions (and this will obviously take quite a bit of time, usually). There should be some type of marker drawn up, to show why its still sitting there. Another reason, is when the a CU states that it will in fact, take some time to process. Synergy 19:52, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Bot TODO list

Can you guys help me figure out exactly what is left as far the bot being feature complete? I've got the following:

1. Fix bug with bot not removing {{checkip|master}} where master is the case title. The bot removes {{checkuser|master}} already without problems. (The "master" or page title username is already linked and having more confuses the bot when it goes to generate the report for WP:SPI/C.

   done —— nixeagle^{email me} 05:25, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

2. Fix reports - Requires a re-write in perl of a php script I wrote.
3. Have the bot notify all listed socks that they have been mentioned. (notice message should be nice/informative/inform them the notice came from an automated process).

What else? If you guys mentioned stuff or I said I'd do something and I have not done it... its because I forgot ;) Please add it to the list above. Feel free to add more features. —— nixeagle^{email me} 02:58, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

• Handling of completed CU cases. When a CU case is flagged as complete by a CU, it moves to the CU not needed or completed queue. However, if anybody other than a CU or clerk edits it subsequently, it moves back to the waiting approval queue. Mayalld (talk) 15:10, 12 March 2009 (UTC)
  • Right, I thought I fixed that one... if its still an issue let me know (eg it happened sometime in the last... 2 days or in the future). —— nixeagle^{email me} 15:55, 12 March 2009 (UTC)
    • Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Test Created a case as endorsed. The bot put it in the CU queue. Set it checked. The bot moved it to the ordinary queue. Added a comment whilst logged out. The bot moved it to the awaiting clerk approval queue. About 5 minutes ago. Mayalld (talk) 08:21, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
      • Struck out the request, its fixed and verified as fixed by myself. (Just did it about 15 minutes ago). Nuclearwarfare also did a check and it is confirmed as fixed —— nixeagle^{email me} 04:09, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Bot notify stuff is in progress. —— nixeagle^{email me} 23:37, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Banner removal

Hello! Here is the situation. Back in August, User:MarkRae was called a sockpuppet, and banned for 24 hours, as evidenced by this SSP form. However, the above user e-mailed AGK, the one who had banned him, and admitted to the admin that he was that I.P. and had only used it when he would accidentally forget to log-in. AGK had promised the user that he would remove the SSP banner on MarkRae's page, ("He said that he would remove the sockpuppet banner on 30 August because he felt that I'd 'learned my lesson', but I guess he's decided not but AGK retired before he could [remove it]"). MarkRae didn't know if he should've deleted the SSP banner or not, since the admin had retired before he could, so I decided to go bold and remove it myself. However, recently, the user who had reported MarkRae for sockpuppetry has reverted my edit and re-added the SSP banner. I want to ask you guys this: If an admin has said that they would remove the banner but retired and left Wikipedia before they could do so, would it be correct of me to go bold and remove the banner myself? I was wondering if I was able to remove it, or if MarkRae could, or if an admin could remove it themselves. Thank you and have a nice day! :) CarpetCrawler (talk) 07:01, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

I've asked User:BGC to comment here. He is the person who most recently restored the banner to MarkRae's user page. EdJohnston (talk) 19:04, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Since the sock issue is now old (August 2008), the user has not continued the behavior, and his recent edits seem helpful, I went ahead and removed the sock template from his user page. EdJohnston (talk) 15:47, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Wonderful! Thank you very much for helping this user out. :) CarpetCrawler (talk) 17:45, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Thank you very much for all your invaluable assistance in this matter - I really appreciate it. MarkRae (talk) 20:26, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Instructions in case a case already was investigated and new socks appear

I'm not knowledgeable in SPI matters and so I was quite confused when I came across User talk:Gonzonoir#Help request. I would like to ask someone here to answer this user's question if possible. Generally speaking, I think it would be a great idea if someone were to add detailed instructions to WP:SPI as to what to do in case someone suspects an user to use new socks after the previous case was closed. Regards SoWhy 10:47, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

There are two possible scenarios;

1. Additional socks when a case is open (or indeed when it is "pending close" - Just add the extra socks to the case, and leave a note in the case that you have done so.
2. Additional socks after a case is archived - File a new case using the buttons.

Anybody care to pretty that up as nice instructions? Mayalld (talk) 11:41, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Just to add that we DON'T use case numbers. All cases are filed under the name of the potential master account, and the bot archives as required. Mayalld (talk) 11:42, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

It should work exactly the same as creating a fresh page, the only difference is that the bot removes the case and sends it to its own article. So in other words, the same process applies, whether a fresh case, or an old one. I'll look more into it, and hopefully post soon. Synergy 19:56, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Help needed to file a Sockpuppetry Report

Can some one help me to file a report regarind the banned User:Kuntan ?. Here are the suspected sockpuppets of User: Kuntan, Anonymous User with IP address 59.91.253.113, 59.91.253.110, 59.91.254.63, 59.91.254.38, 59.91.253.112, 59.91.253.70, 59.91.253.225, 59.91.254.94, 59.91.254.8. He was silent for some months now and again sprang up suddenly. One another editor emailed me and told that he is one Mr. P. Krishnakumar from a city called Calicut in Kerala. This man is involved in serious mutilation of a particular wikipage of SUCI. His personal vengance to the party is evident from him edits for the last 2 years. He is also using abusive language on this editor and others. One of this puppet IP is already banned. Please help.--Radhakrishnansk (talk) 15:27, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

A new puppet User: 59.91.253.27. He is again abusing other editors--Radhakrishnansk (talk) 16:45, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Go to Wikipedia:SPI#Instructions for instructions on creating a new case. Understand that providing diffs of the behavior that makes you suspect socks will result in faster case processing. —— nixeagle^{email me} 16:49, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Automated "suspected sock/master" notification by User:SPCUClerkbot

I am very close to having this feature complete. I still need to program in a few safegaurds to prevent the bot from double notifying someone but other then that we are mostly go. For the time being I have the bot maintaining a commented out list after ;Suspected sockpuppets on a case... This is used by the bot as a quick way for it to know who it has already spoken to. It will also do checks to make sure that it won't double post, but if the bot does not have to load the page it won't. You can see the list at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Test. The bot will be maintaining lists on all cases for the time being until this gets approved for trial.

Anyway regardless I need some clerks/interested users to come up with a nice sounding message for the bot to post. See the redlink on User:SPCUClerkbot (the bot's userpage has a list of all templates it uses) and make the link blue please.

I will have to request permission from WP:BAG before we can turn it on for real, but getting a notice for the bot to hand out is an important step that needs to be done. Thanks to whoever takes this one up ;). —— nixeagle^{email me} 07:24, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Should we try to incorporate parts of {{Socksuspectnotice}} and {{Uw-socksuspect}}, or should those not come into mind? Also, what specific links do you guys think need to be included? I'm thinking there's only a need for the "suspect notes" but I may be missing a useful link? §hep^Talk 01:36, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

You can look at those two templates, but IMHO it should not start off with "You have been accused of sockpuppetry...". Generally the bot should be giving a notice that simply says that there is a case mentioning the account and relevant links. Obviously a link to the case, and a link to the instructions for them. Go ahead and make a first draft of the template if you like, its not like the bot is going to be using it for a few days anyway.

On a second note, so you guys know the following criteria will apply for the bot to actually go and do the notifications:

1. The reporter of the case must have more then X edits where X is some value between 50 and 250 (I've not made my mind up on what value is most appropriate).
2. The suspected sock(s)/master must not already have a mention of the casename on their talk page (if there is the bot will assume that they have already been notified). (Also if one of the two templates above are on the page referencing the case name it will not post for the same reason).
3. The suspected sock(s)/master must not be blocked for longer then 1 month. If they are, the bot presumes that they have merely been referenced as an example of the case behavior (it happens) and therefor the bot does not leave a notice. They can't reply to it anyway.

Please please comment on this, let me know if I forgot a criteria etc. —— nixeagle^{email me} 01:43, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Parserfunction problem

If we can, can a clerk get through and close the 6 pending close cases sometime soon and revert the changes to the SPI template so that we can have the show/hide boxes back on the main page. Our problem is just that we got backlogged fairly badly earlier. We are doing better now :) —— nixeagle^{email me} 07:46, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Make that 8 pending close. —— nixeagle^{email me} 07:49, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

Spaces missing in example?

In the bluely backgrounded instructions I read the following:

"Eg, if the case name is about User:John Doe or the existing case is at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/JohnDoe, then you should enter Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/JohnDoe in the box."

Shouldn't that be

"Eg, if the case name is about User:John Doe or the existing case is at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/John Doe, then you should enter Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/John Doe in the box."

? DVdm (talk) 18:10, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

How many puppets IS an editor allowed?

TheRedPenOfDoom has declared the use of a puppet Notnotkenny. But and dispite this declaration, both accounts have been editing the same pages. When asking about use of two accounts, RedPen was given the go-ahead by User:Mazca diff. However, and though I appreciate this transparency, I can determine no good reason for both accounts to edit the same page as this gives the uninitiated an impression of a sense of consensus to actions per actions by both accounts on

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8_Simple_Rules_for_Buying_My_Teenage_Daughter

A_Hero_Sits_Next_Door

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And_the_Wiener_Is...

Baby_Not_On_Board

Barely_Legal_(Family_Guy)

Boys_Do_Cry

Brian:_Portrait_of_a_Dog

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Brian_Goes_Back_to_College

Brian_in_Love

Chick_Cancer

Chitty_Chitty_Death_Bang

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Patriot_Games_(Family_Guy)

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Peter's_Got_Woods

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Talk:List_of_South_Park_episodes

User talk:Notnotkenny

User talk:TheRedPenOfDoom

If such IS found to be acceptable, it will then encourage ALL editors to declare and open multiple accounts to edit the same pages all over wiki, as this will allow the acceptable precedent despite such (false) perception of consensus. Schmidt, ^{MICHAEL Q.} 18:53, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

I have a hard time understanding the rationale behind this pair of accounts as well. It seems inappropriate, even if declared.—Kww(talk) 20:50, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

This does seem inappropriate. As I read everything you can have an alertnate account that you edit under only if the usernames are similar and are for editing in public places, if you don't want your name connected to an article, etc. The sockpuppetry policy and the username policy seem to state pretty clearly that this situation shouldn't be allowed. There might be a good reason for the edits, though I can't come up with one at the moment. §hep^Talk 20:59, 15 March 2009 (UTC)

I would suggest someone going to him/her and asking nicely why they have two accounts. (eg what possible reason they have for it). Then simply evaulate that reason with whatever harm the account is doing. (making it hard for other editors not knowing of the situation to distinguish the two on talk pages and for purposes of 3RR (if the editor is the type that does lots of reverts). —— nixeagle^{email me} 01:24, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

It appears they were questioned at 19:16, 14 March 2009, and they have made a dozen edits since then. Maybe they missed it? §hep^Talk 01:39, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

I would ]ask again nicely one more time, if they can't supply a decent reason and nobody can come up with one for them... I suppose you could open a case... or better may be to report to AN to get some outside opinions outside this echochamber. —— nixeagle^{email me} 01:45, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

With 13 seasons of South Park and 7 season of Family guy there are an incredible number of episodes that are subject to freqent, but improproper editing. Maintaining all of the episodes on my main watchlist means that the little edits on the SP and FG articles frequently swamp the other edits. By maintaining a seperate account with a watchlist focused on the FG and SP articles, a simple check once or twice a week would allow easier maintenance. Adding the hundreds of episodes to the new accounts watch list and removal of the same from my main account have taken place over a few weeks time. The use of the two accounts has not been hidden and has been as transparent as I could make it and there did not appear to be any policy reasons not to allow such a use. Should the community decide that such a use is improper I have no qualms about leaving the other account simply to hold the watch list and do no editing.-- The Red Pen of Doom 00:51, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Assuming dual accounts are allowed (which they're not) any transparency would have to be constant. Each time one of the two identities signs, for instance. There must be a way to identify the master and the puppet as one in the same all the time, not just once a few hours ago. Since Consensus is more a matter of convincing than counting, dual accounts can act in hidden allegiance to sway the collective opinion. Consider---One of the multiple personalities makes a convincing argument and the other waits to fill in the gaps as tho he too was convinced by the eloquence of the statement. Put a few dual accounts together and it will look like a parade of support. But, the consensus will be contaminated. There is no good reason for dual accounts. They undermine goodwill expectations.--Buster7 (talk) 02:43, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Policy agrees with you 100%. Whether in editing or discussions, a use of a sock is a violation per WP:STUFF: "Sock puppets might be used to give the impression of more support for a viewpoint than actually exists" and per WP:SOCK#SCRUTINY: "Using alternative puppet accounts to split your contributions history means that other editors cannot detect patterns in your contributions." Granted, their are limited allowed uses for sockpuppets per WP:SOCK#LEGIT, but their use to perform multiple similar edits over dozens of different articles is not and will not be allowed per WP:SOCK#SCRUTINY: RedPenOfDoom is now aware of this and has foresworn any such use in the future. Further he has clearly marked the account pages of each to acknowledge his use of them as multiple accounts. I do not think further investigation or action is needed at this time, as any further instance of these puppets performing the same edits to the same articles will be an immediate call for action Schmidt, ^{MICHAEL Q.} 03:03, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

If MediaWiki allows 2 or more sets of watchlists, problem would bee solved. OhanaUnited^{Talk page} 13:18, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Asking for sockpuppet investigation

I tried to use the templates to ask for a sockpuppet but they only work for administrators, of which I am obviously not one, so I am asking using the this discussion page.

There have been a couple of sockpuppets that have repeatedly tried to change of portion of the Second Amendment article in pretty much the same manner. I would like to know if they are the same person.

One is Conlawgeek and the other is Philo-Centinel. Following are two attempted changes, one per, both attempting to replace the same well sourced material.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution&diff=276987343&oldid=276933228

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution&diff=277422837&oldid=277416822

I also have a sneaking suspicion that SaltyBoatr may be somehow related to those two sockpuppets. Please check on this as well.141.154.12.116 (talk) 12:57, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Go to Wikipedia:SPI#Instructions for instructions on creating a new case. Understand that providing diffs of the behavior that makes you suspect socks will result in faster case processing. You do not need to be an admin to create a case, your case likely won't be looked at here. —— nixeagle^{email me} 18:11, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Can an IP create a new subpage though? §hep^Talk 18:17, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

I don't see a reason why they can't. None of the pages are semi-protected. —— nixeagle^{email me} 18:18, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

I knew IPs couldn't create articles, I wasn't sure if the same rule applied to new subpages or not. Thanks for clarifying, §hep^Talk 20:47, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

It may be that I don't know how to use the templates, but I could not edit anything once I pulled them up. I believe that I am locked out.141.154.12.116 (talk) 23:07, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

An IP can't open an AfD since only logged-in users can create pages. I assumed that this would also prevent an IP from opening an SPI. I left a note for 141.154.12.116 (talk · contribs) suggesting that he create an account, and that he explore some alternatives to an SPI filing. EdJohnston (talk) 16:29, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

you can't have dispute resolution without good faith efforts on both sides to settle the dispute. Considering the past history, I don't think the other side is interested in good faith efforts for dispute resolutions. I am therefore asking for a sockpuppet investigation to see the extent of bad faith by the other parties. 141.154.12.116 (talk) 16:57, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

What username should the case be under? I'll create the page for you and you could then fill it out. §hep^Talk 17:30, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Can it be done under the IP number?141.154.12.116 (talk) 19:41, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, an IP would work as well. §hep^Talk 21:20, 18 March 2009 (UTC)

Shep, I have no objection to your assisting the IP, but I suggest that you look into the matter and verify that you yourself believe that sockpuppetry occurred before entering it. His above remarks about dispute resolution suggest an unwillingness to understand or follow our policies. EdJohnston (talk) 18:01, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

I was just going to create a blank page for whoever to fill out, deny, delete. I'm not going to get in the middle at all...I have my own sock problems. :D

In order to engage in effective dispute resolution you need good faith on both sides. I have reason to suspect bad faith and I am here asking for assistance in order to determine the extent of that bad faith to see how far I can extend trust. Is a little help for that too much to ask?141.154.12.116 (talk) 19:39, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Your theories about bad faith are not enough. You must also have *evidence* to show a violation of WP:SOCK. Good faith editors sometimes perform the same revert when they have the same opinion, even if they are not socks. On an article with extreme left-right polarization, it should not be a complete shock that editors on the same end of the spectrum will perform the same revert. If you have no evidence beyond that, your case is not credible. EdJohnston (talk) 20:14, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Above I have gave you two links to changes made to the same material by two different sockpuppets with the changes being similar. Between these two sockpuppets there have been about ten (perhaps more) attempted changes to that section with the intent of replacing well sourced material with what looks like bogus unsourced material. Do you want me to post links to the other attempted changes as well?141.154.12.116 (talk) 21:00, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

I would be nice if someone gave me some guidelines on what constitutes sufficient cause to ask for a sockpuppet investigation. Frankly I'm starting to think that we will waste mote time getting to the point of doing the investigation then the time it would take to DO the investigation In any case here is another attempted edit of that same section from today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution&diff=278079172&oldid=278026758 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.154.12.116 (talk) 04:48, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Anybody home?141.154.12.116 (talk) 03:07, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

admin-backlog tag

The parser functions that determine whether to display the admin backlog tag are still broken mainly because the category contents are not quite right. Category:Open SPI cases for example as of this moment contains 3 archived cases... which makes the category seem like it is larger then it really is.

ATM by my manual calculation we should have 19 (15 + 4) open cases, that is counting the cases in Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations#CheckUser_either_not_requested_or_completed and Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations#CheckUser_requested_and_declined.

If we can't make the parserfunctions work correctly I'll program the bot to update the top of this page as appropriate as I know it has accurate counts. As of this moment the bot's count is CheckUser cases = 5 :: suspected sockpuppet investigations = 15 :: Pending close = 2 :: Declined cases = 4 :: Awaiting Clerk approval = 1. Let me know if this is required or not. —— nixeagle^{email me} 18:50, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

I am mystified as to how the category managed to contain the Archived cases! The category is applied by {{SPIcat}}, which explicitly prevents archive cases being categorised. Mayalld (talk) 14:37, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Ah, no I'm not! The template was vandalised here which caused archive cases to be wrongly categorised. Mayalld (talk) 14:39, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

SOCK vandal (and counting...)

Regarding this report (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Pararubbas/Archive),

Unfortunately, the "song remains the same". "User" has opened a new account, MNHT08 ("contributions" here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Mnht08), and continues to: operate almost exclusively on Portuguese soccer, glue all sentences into one, creating a very pleasant-to-watch article and, much much more worse, remove all links and refs, just because.

Examples: Rio Ave FC (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rio_Ave_F.C.&diff=prev&oldid=277218083, only glued sentences here), Orlando Sá, Hélio Sousa, Bassey William Andem (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orlando_S%C3%A1&diff=prev&oldid=277163912, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=H%C3%A9lio_Sousa&diff=prev&oldid=275588926, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bassey_William_Andem&diff=prev&oldid=275791155)

Hope this suffices, attentively,

VASCO AMARAL - --NothingButAGoodNothing (talk) 17:17, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

This editor has now filed his complaint in the normal way at WP:Sockpuppet investigations/Pararubbas. No further action on this Talk message is needed. EdJohnston (talk) 22:09, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Can a clerk help to move this case?

Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Pararubbas is now sitting in the queue for 'Checkuser not requested or completed.' Can it be moved to 'Cases awaiting checkuser'? The need for a checkuser is explained in the case itself. Thanks, EdJohnston (talk) 18:08, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

 Done Tiptoety ^talk 19:14, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Can I name an investigation by article instead of user?

There's an astroturfing campaign going on over at Talk:Medical cannabis. The accounts involved so far include:

1. The Pot Snob (talk · contribs)
2. Patriot minds (talk · contribs)
3. Agent Agent (talk · contribs)
4. Hiram408 (talk · contribs)
5. sko1221 (talk · contribs)

The Pot Snob has been at the advocacy game for some time, although he just returned after a long vacation. I don't know who is in control, but Agent Agent and Patriot minds are admittedly the same accounts, so that is settled. Hiram showed up yesterday, and sko1221 has been cheerleading this bad behavior from start to finish, and its a fairly new account as well. I would like to simply file the investigation under the name of "Medical cannabis" so that it can be marked ongoing as each new account shows up on the page to support the edits of the other account. Is this possible, or do I need to file by user name only? Thanks. Viriditas (talk) 23:12, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

If you are unsure which one could be the sock master, simply file using the username that is the oldest (by account creation date). Unfortunately, you can not file a case using anything other than a username as it will mess up the bot, and screw with some of the templates. Cheers, Tiptoety ^talk 23:19, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. What's the procedure for dealing with a controversial article overrun by new accounts making the same bad arguments and trying to form a flash mob consensus? Viriditas (talk) 23:22, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Well, you should file a case. And should you have enough evidence to warrant a CheckUser being ran, request that too. Should the case return positive results of socking, then blocking and/or protection may be in order. If the article is currently under obvious SPA account attack, then I recommend that you protect it now. Hope that helps, Tiptoety ^talk 00:20, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

Yes, it helps, thank you. I'm waiting on new evidence from another editor that could push this case in one direction or the other (and determine the name of the case). I haven't pursued protection because so far, I feel comfortable discussing the issues raised on the talk page and the dispute there hasn't risen to the level of edit warring. Viriditas (talk) 00:37, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

move vandalism and quickcheck request

I am a little puzzled by this. Quickchecks were meant to be for blocking underlying IP addresses of suchlike vandals? Agathoclea (talk) 00:07, 20 March 2009 (UTC)

It is, but this was not stated in your request. Your request appeared to be a sock case, to check for sleepers (This leads me to believe there are more sleeper accounts out there). We file cases for these, and anything not covered in the four bullet points under the quick cases section. To briefly summarize the chain of events; the case was declined by Mayalld, and I removed it, agreeing with his clerk note (only partially, since there may in fact be more sleepers out there, but its very circumstantial). If you'd like to file a proper case, in which case I and most likely Mayalld can recuse from, you may do so with these instructions. But if this is to block an underlying ip, it will most likely be delined again. Best. Synergy 00:28, 20 March 2009 (UTC)