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Community ban appeal for Barts1a
- Barts1a (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log) (user notes this as original account)
- aka Twitbookspacetube (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)
- Link to CBAN discussion
Appeal carried over-- "I have questioned if this appeal is even worth it. I’m so disconnected from Wikipedia at this point that if I was successful I would be starting from scratch. I have not been successful in talking myself out of this so here we go. TL;DR at bottom. I started my Wikipedia saga in October 2006 under the username Doggie015, later renamed to Barts1a due to lessened insult potential. Over the years I slowly built up edits, complaints, blocks, and editing restrictions until I decided I should try to start fresh under a new account. To this day I cannot tell you the logic behind this decision; but in October 2012; I created the user account PantherLeapord, making it clear that I was also the guy operating Barts1a with my first edit. I was evading my editing restrictions from day 1 on that account, and I had become convinced that some time off to let the heat die down could let me return with a clean slate, so in November 2016 I created the user account Twitbookspacetube, which was readily linked to the Barts1a and PantherLeapord accounts, But I was still the same naïve fool and in September 2017 the community bought the hammer down as a community ban.
I made a few appeals of my community ban under the delusional beliefs listed below and obviously they were denied, which caused me to become disinterested in contributing to Wikipedia and take time to truly reflect on what I did. It's a long and complicated saga spanning 11 years, and there is no way to properly sum up the whole thing without writing a biography-length breakdown. But I’m not here to tell you the story, I’m here to appeal the community ban, And to address the various reasons that added up to this outcome.
First of all; I would like to present a list of what I believe to be the reasons that ultimately added up to this. I’ve had 6 years to reflect on this but even then I don’t think I got everything. Repeated lies, manipulation, being too eager to do what I see as "helping" regardless of who gets hurt along the way, being like a metaphorical bull in a china shop for filing at ArbCom, failed/Invalid WP:CLEANSTART, Being on what I now see as a false crusade against "Corrupt admins" where none exist, and generally being annoying.
I realize that there are some things I would have missed here, and if I have, or you want something further explained; feel free to point it out and I’ll do my best to expand on it. Repeated lies & Manipulation: I didn’t see myself as doing these things at the time, but now that I’ve had time to think about it I can see where these accusations come from. I did my best to work around restrictions I viewed as punitive and overbearing. Every time I would be seen as reformed, and even once managed to get some restrictions lifted, I fell back into my old behavior assuming that the lifting of the restrictions was a final victory against my fictional “corrupt admins” and when they were reimposed, I ignored them because I saw that as proof of these fictional “corrupt admins” retaliating against me. It was done to prevent my antics from damaging the encyclopedia, and the actions of all admins involved would pass any level of scrutiny.
Eagerness to help, consequences be damned: I saw myself as a “Hero” of Wikipedia who would lead the encyclopedia into a new golden age without vandalism and disruption. I realize now how stupid I was to assume I could do anything like that. And as I did my “Hero” work, I ignored everyone who I got in the way. I ran through every barrier and every person with no regard for what I did to them. I don’t think I can apologize to everyone, I suspect that a lot of them have left the encyclopedia project, but to those you still able to read this; I humbly apologize for what I did, and I hope I can make up for it.
ArbCom bull in a china shop: I was eager to help take down the fictional “Corrupt admins” so in the brief time my restrictions did not include a ban from noticeboards; I looked for cases of bad admin behaviour, posed the question to the community if there were any objections, and upon receiving none; I filed cases at ArbCom. I was assuming that no objections meant the path was clear, even if it proved to be anything but. I should have slowed down and thought about what I was doing and why, but I didn’t. I apologize for the ArbCom time wasted as a result of this, and to the community for bringing these cases without explicit approval.
Failed/Invalid WP:CLEANSTART: I assumed that WP:CLEANSTART applied to my case as a “Get out of jail free” card, ignoring that it only applies to accounts without any editing restrictions and active blocks. I was thoroughly mistaken about it and for that, I apologize. I will be sticking to the Barts1a account in the interest of transparency, should the community see fit to give me yet another chance.
The false crusade: Underlying all this behavior was my false belief that Wikipedia administrators personally hated me and wanted to do everything possible to prevent me from being the “Hero” of the encyclopedia. This delusion was the driving force behind these actions. I now realize how wrong this belief was and I apologize for it. I cannot undo the many wrongs I have committed, but hopefully, I can make up for them.
Being annoying: There’s not a lot to say on this one. I was annoying. I hope that I can be given a chance to prove that I can stop being annoying.
I cannot truly express my deep regret for my actions, and I hope that the community can forgive me. I can understand if this forgiveness is denied. And hopefully, this wall of text is not too intimidating.
Barts1a / Talk to me / Help me improve 10:39 pm, 14 January 2024, last Sunday (2 days ago) (UTC−5)
TL;DR: I started here in 2006, and attempted to evade sanctions and restrictions by changing usernames multiple times, which led to this community ban imposed in 2017. Upon reflection, I truly realize how I was dishonest, and manipulative, and overzealous, and annoying. I have addressed what I view as the major mistakes in the wall of text above. If you find a point I failed to address, let me know. Barts1a / Talk to me / Help me improve 8:26 pm, 15 January 2024, last Monday (2 days ago) (UTC−5)
Additional: I completely forgot about the Sir Uncle Ned account. I had intended to use that account as yet another WP:CLEANSTART attempt, but I couldn't bring myself to so it so I sent an email to TonyBallioni admitting this, and they got the sockpuppet tagged and blocked. Barts1a / Talk to me / Help me improve 10:51 pm, 14 January 2024, last Sunday (2 days ago) (UTC−5)"
Carried over by me, -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 14:07, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
- Comment Currently awaiting a response to some questions I left on their talk but leaning towards support per WP:SO and WP:ROPE. This would be conditional on no block evasion within the last few years which would need to be confirmed by a CU. After reading their full throated mea culpa, and IF they have respected their block for the last few years, I think I'd be willing to give them another chance. Obviously, it would be with the understanding that they would be on a very short leash for a while. -Ad Orientem (talk) 18:49, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
- They recently created a sock User:Sir Uncle Ned as recently as June 2023. While they admitted what they did, I wouldn't say that is "respecting the block". RickinBaltimore (talk) 19:45, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
- They created a sock, however he doesn't appear to have actually used it to make any edits. If a sock falls in the forest and confesses before actually socking, is it still evasion? WP:BANPOL does state
forbidden from making any edit, anywhere on Wikipedia, via any account or as an unregistered user, under any and all circumstances
and it does not look like that account violated the ban except by existing. The WordsmithTalk to me 20:11, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
- They created a sock, however he doesn't appear to have actually used it to make any edits. If a sock falls in the forest and confesses before actually socking, is it still evasion? WP:BANPOL does state
- Conditional Support based on their answers to my questions on their talk page and what looks like an honest confession above. Subject to a CU finding no evidence of recent block evasion. I'm prepared to overlook their creation of the sock account last summer as they do not appear to have used it and declared its existence. All of which said, I would add that any disruptive behavior should result in a swift reblock. There has been a lot of time expended on this user in the past and I have no inclination to go down that road again. -Ad Orientem (talk) 23:23, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
- They recently created a sock User:Sir Uncle Ned as recently as June 2023. While they admitted what they did, I wouldn't say that is "respecting the block". RickinBaltimore (talk) 19:45, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
- Comment I also left some questions on the user talkpage, and we are still pending a Checkuser. The appeal itself seems pretty sincere and thorough. I'm not taking a firm position just yet without more information, but if everything checks out I could see myself endorsing it. The WordsmithTalk to me 20:14, 17 January 2024 (UTC)
- Support Unblock after thinking on it more. There would need to be an understanding that this is an absolute final chance; if there is any future disruption the ban will be reapplied and another appeal would be very unlikely. Second chances are cheap, third ones are very rare. The WordsmithTalk to me 20:31, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Oppose their original appeal to me via email (which I shared with the functionaries list since I'm no longer a CU or admin) was clearly written by ChatGPT or something similar. That plus the nonsense of their last appeal where they intentionally vandalized logged out in order to attract attention to their appeal has me convinced they are a bad faith user who should never be unblocked. TonyBallioni (talk) 02:18, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- Noting for the record that the previous appeal (presumably) referred to by Tony is located at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Archive297#Ban appeal by Twitbookspacetube. Dylan620 (he/him • talk • edits) 19:49, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Support unblock. The request itself seems harmless. Seems nothing wrong with giving another chance. Lorstaking (talk) 05:50, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- Leaning oppose Barts1a/Twitbookspacetube has a number of editing restrictions, currently at Wikipedia:Editing_restrictions/Archive, which are: not allowed to use Huggle, subject to a 1RR restriction, topic banned from all noticeboards, including ArbCom case requests and cases, and topic banned from all contentious articles and their talk pages. I question whether it is worth the potential risk to unblock an editor with so many restrictions. I remember the disruption caused by the Twitbookspacetube account, and while six years is a long time, it's not encouraging that they admit to making "disruptive edits as an IP in late 2022 or early 2023". There's also precious little indication of how they would be a productive editor going forward. -- Pawnkingthree (talk) 22:07, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- I am sympathetic to TonyBallioni's concerns and am dismayed to hear about the IP editing referred to above by Pawnkingthree, but on balance, I support an unban here. I recall seeing some good work from Barts1a (even if I can't recall precisely what, given it was over a decade ago – I was inactive for long stretches of the 2010s). In light of that, and what I view as a thorough and self-reflective appeal above, I believe that the potential exists for Wikipedia to benefit from this user's return. That said, it should be made clear that this would be an absolute final chance; any more disruption at all would lead to a swift reban. If this appeal is unsuccessful, then I encourage Barts1a to contribute constructively to other projects—his work on the Simple English Wikipedia is scant but seems promising, and certainly the Simple English Wiktionary could do with some plugging of its holes in coverage—and file another appeal in six to twelve months. Dylan620 (he/him • talk • edits) 19:50, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Note This has now been open for a week or so. Although participation has been a bit light, I'm thinking it might be time for an uninvolved admin to close the discussion. -Ad Orientem (talk) 15:27, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
Closure review request for the RfC on the "Airlines and destinations" tables in airport articles
Closer: ScottishFinnishRadish (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log)
Notified: [1]
Reasoning: The issue the closer was to decide was whether Wikipedia should maintain complete, current lists of airlines and their destinations in articles about airports. In closing, they said the lists may only be included when reliable, independent, secondary sources demonstrate they meet WP:DUE. They also said on their talk page that they believe WP:NOT makes it clear that the threshold for inclusion for content that would normally not be part of the encyclopedia is inclusion in independent secondary sources
. However, while such sources are required to show that a topic deserves its own article (WP:GNG), the same requirement cannot be applied to the content of an article (WP:NNC). Therefore, in order to avoid creating a new standard for content inclusion that is not rooted in policy, I believe the closure should directly state that per the consensus, the lists should not be included because of WP:NOT.
In addition, ScottishFinnishRadish wrote that their closure was partly based on a common thread that they had identified in people's comments. I believe there is a similar, longer thread in the RFC that actually supports the following idea: Individual routes can be described if reliable sources demonstrate they meet WP:DUE. Since my list of quotes from contributors to the RFC is somewhat long, here is a link to it in my sandbox.
In short, I think the first paragraph of the closure should be reworded as follows (my text in italics): "After reviewing the !votes and discussion, it is clear that there is consensus that airlines and destination tables should not be included in articles because of WP:NOT. Individual routes can be described if reliable sources demonstrate they meet WP:DUE. There is not a consensus for wholesale removal of such tables". — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sunnya343 (talk • contribs)
- Superseded by my !vote below. Sunnya343 (talk) 01:35, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
RFC non-participants (airlines and destinations RFC)
- Not a huge fan of this close either for the reasons you mentioned, but if it's overturned, it shouldn't be to a stronger consensus against inclusion; there's no such consensus present in the discussion. I find weighing the WP:NOT arguments so heavily in such a discussion unconvincing; we can choose what content we want to cover and WP:NOT wasn't handed down by god. Elli (talk | contribs) 04:22, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'm confused. The primary close line "airlines and destination tables may only be included in articles when independent, reliable, secondary sources demonstrate they meet WP:DUE." seems rather novel. WP:DUE is mainly focused on neutrality (the first word in the section) and majority/minority/fringe opinions or interpretations, not something like a schedule, which is a hard, cold fact. I'm struggling to understand exactly how WP:DUE plays into whether or not an exhaustive list should or shouldn't be included, which is an editorial decision, based on whether WP:NOT applies or doesn't. Maybe it is just me, but again, I'm confused. Dennis Brown 2¢ 04:54, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- I think that might have intended to be a reference to WP:BALASP? People often conflate WP:DUE and WP:BALASP - I’m not actually sure why they are distinct, it would make sense to me to merge them into one. BilledMammal (talk) 04:59, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- While that (on the surface) looks closer to the situation, I don't think that was the intent in creating that policy. The entire policy it falls under is called "Neutral point of view", so I can't see the policy applies in any way, shape, or form, to the (dis)allowing a list of all flights. That appears to fall directly into WP:NOT. I'm not commenting on the merits at this point, I'm just saying I think it is a mistake to use any part of WP:NPOV as guidance in the close. Neutrality isn't at issue, the only issue would seem to be "is this level of detail appropriate, or not?" which exactly what Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not was created to define. The closer should be taking all the votes based on WP:NOT and deciding if they are appropriate interpretations of the policy, not only as written, but in spirit as well. I can't fathom how you can weigh neutrality in the inclusion. There may be other policy considerations, but anything related to NPOV (ie: DUE or BALASP) isn't one of them. Dennis Brown 2¢ 05:25, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- I would disagree with that; in my opinion as written BALASP clearly applies to all aspects of the article, even when those aspects - in the view of editors - are impartial.
- Indeed, BALASP says as much;
For example, a description of isolated events, quotes, criticisms, or news reports related to one subject may be verifiable and impartial, but still disproportionate to their overall significance to the article topic.
BilledMammal (talk) 05:34, 18 January 2024 (UTC)- But that is very different from a table of schedules, be it train/air/bus, or say a sports teams schedule, or other "hard facts" that can't possibly be "Not neutral". Describing isolated events, or select news reports CAN make an article biased. Obviously adding quotes or criticisms can skew the article and make it violate NPOV. Adding a schedule can not, in any way, skew the bias for or against the airline. This is why schedules are specifically not listed in the policy on Neutrality. It simply does not apply here. I see WP:DUE misused in this context by editors somewhat regularly, but not in a close. It's an honest mistake, but it is a mistake. Dennis Brown 2¢ 05:50, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- What I see NPOV doing is telling editors to follow the sources, in all aspects - even when editors believe that a certain aspect has no bearing on neutrality.
- For example, a recent dispute came by dispute resolution where editors were arguing how much prominence to give John De Lancie’s role in My Little Pony compared to his role in Star Trek. Both of those roles are “hard facts” that can’t possibly not be neutral, but to decide how much weight to give either in his article is based entirely on NPOV - to interpret NPOV otherwise would effectively turn resolving such a dispute into “which aspect do Wikipedians think is more important” rather than “which aspect do reliable sources think is more important”
- The same is true of schedules.
- However, these aspects can have a direct bearing on an articles neutrality. For example, giving excessive weight to “hard facts” can result in giving improperly low weight to important controversies - indeed, this is a common tool of the better paid editors, who don’t remove controversies but instead bury them in verifiable facts. BilledMammal (talk) 06:16, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- I will just leave it for now. I don't think they are the same, and obviously I think this is stretching WP:DUE too far to use in this particular instance. The issue at hand is one of appropriateness, not bias. Again, I have no comment on the merits of the discussion itself. Dennis Brown 2¢ 06:20, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- But that is very different from a table of schedules, be it train/air/bus, or say a sports teams schedule, or other "hard facts" that can't possibly be "Not neutral". Describing isolated events, or select news reports CAN make an article biased. Obviously adding quotes or criticisms can skew the article and make it violate NPOV. Adding a schedule can not, in any way, skew the bias for or against the airline. This is why schedules are specifically not listed in the policy on Neutrality. It simply does not apply here. I see WP:DUE misused in this context by editors somewhat regularly, but not in a close. It's an honest mistake, but it is a mistake. Dennis Brown 2¢ 05:50, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- While that (on the surface) looks closer to the situation, I don't think that was the intent in creating that policy. The entire policy it falls under is called "Neutral point of view", so I can't see the policy applies in any way, shape, or form, to the (dis)allowing a list of all flights. That appears to fall directly into WP:NOT. I'm not commenting on the merits at this point, I'm just saying I think it is a mistake to use any part of WP:NPOV as guidance in the close. Neutrality isn't at issue, the only issue would seem to be "is this level of detail appropriate, or not?" which exactly what Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not was created to define. The closer should be taking all the votes based on WP:NOT and deciding if they are appropriate interpretations of the policy, not only as written, but in spirit as well. I can't fathom how you can weigh neutrality in the inclusion. There may be other policy considerations, but anything related to NPOV (ie: DUE or BALASP) isn't one of them. Dennis Brown 2¢ 05:25, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- DUE also mentions "aspects", but it's true that it focuses primarily on viewpoints. I would say that use of "DUE" as shorthand for "worth including in the article per the NPOV policy as a whole" is commonplace, and BALANCE is underused as a link, though one participant in the RfC did reference it specifically. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 13:27, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- I think that might have intended to be a reference to WP:BALASP? People often conflate WP:DUE and WP:BALASP - I’m not actually sure why they are distinct, it would make sense to me to merge them into one. BilledMammal (talk) 04:59, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse. A major part of the objection rationale is a declaration that GNG doesn't apply to article content. This reads as a non-sequitur, since GNG was not mentioned in the close. The guidance to rely primarily on sources that are secondary and independent is not restricted to GNG. It appears, for example, in our NPOV and OR policies and the RS guideline. These were all cited in the RfC. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 13:25, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse. This seems pretty clear cut. If someone is arguing that content should be included without regard for its weight in reliable secondary sources, that's a fundamental misunderstanding about how content is managed on Wikipedia and such !votes are not going to be taken seriously. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 19:01, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse. The RfC asks
whether airport articles should mention every single flight that the airport offers (no matter the way that the information is presented)
. The answer was very clearly "no" based on WP:NOT. I think the way the close was phrased is within closer discretion and that we should avoid micromanaging a close. That said, I read many of the !votes based on WP:NOT to be against inclusion of any tables at all, but that wasn't the question the RfC was asking. voorts (talk/contributions) 22:46, 18 January 2024 (UTC)- Clarification: the tables list every destination, not every flight. --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 08:50, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse. The close is a reasonable summary of the consensus embodied by the RfC responses, and this is not a venue to re-litigate the arguments. Bon courage (talk) 05:18, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn based on Wikipedia policies. I was not involved in the RfC but I have studied it and discussed it since with several people.
- The closer correctly noted the the Oppose/keep !voters were in the majority but made weak arguments. The closer then cited 3 policies in their decision to limit list items to those that are secondarily sourced. Lets look at what those 3 policies say:
- WP:BURDEN: the lead sentences of WP:BURDEN, a section of WP:VERIFY, say
”All content must be verifiable. The burden to demonstrate verifiability lies with the editor who adds or restores material, and it is satisfied by providing an inline citation to a reliable source that directly supports[b] the contribution.”
- WP:PRIMARY, a section of WP:NOR, allows the use of primary sources to satisfy verifiability subject to criteria. There are 6 requirements; these are the ones salient to this discussion:
"Primary sources that have been reputably published may be used in Wikipedia, but only with care, because it is easy to misuse them."
. These table's editors cite material directly from airlines and airports. Neither publishes fake destinations."Any interpretation of primary source material requires a reliable secondary source for that interpretation."
Destination information provided by airlines and airports consists of simple facts requiring no interpretation."A primary source may be used on Wikipedia only to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the primary source…"
"Do not analyze, evaluate, interpret, or synthesize material found in a primary source yourself…"
"Do not base an entire article on primary sources, and be cautious about basing large passages on them."
Destination tables make up <10% of most airport articles' text.
- WP:ONUS, a section of WP:VERIFY, says:
”While information must be verifiable for inclusion in an article, not all verifiable information must be included. Consensus may determine that certain information does not improve an article. Such information should be omitted or presented instead in a different article. The responsibility for achieving consensus for inclusion is on those seeking to include disputed content."
- The majority of the !voters at the RfC said the tables were valuable
- At the one article where Sunnya343 deleted a destination table, opposition to deletion was unanimous on the article talk page. The opposers found the table valuable.
- The majority of the !voters at the RfC said the tables were valuable
- WP:NOT. An RfC was conducted to specifically amend WP:NOT to exclude all transportation destination tables (not just airports):
-
- Outcome:
"There is a clear consensus against the proposed addition to WP:NOTDIR."
- WP:NOT does not exclude these tables.
- WP:NOT does not exclude these tables.
- Outcome:
-
As I see it, a majority supported inclusion and the closer misapplied the 3 policies they cited. Simple facts from reliable primary sources support simple facts in these accurate, very well-maintained tables. --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 07:56, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- I have a few gripes with some of these points:
Primary sources that have been reputably published may be used in Wikipedia, but only with care, because it is easy to misuse them.
– Misuse in this context doesn't mean posting false information. It means drawing inappropriate conclusions based on the existence of primary sources. This would include the prominence of information in the article relative to its actual weight in reliable sources.Do not analyze, evaluate, interpret, or synthesize material found in a primary source yourself…
– You cut off the second half of this sentence:instead, refer to reliable secondary sources that do so.
Deciding that the content is important independently of its weight in reliable secondary sources is evaluation.Do not base an entire article on primary sources, and be cautious about basing large passages on them.
– You're correct that it's not the "entire article", but you ignore the portion about "large passages", which is critical here. The point of having that expectation is because we don't want primary sources to determine what type of content goes into the article. When primary sources are used (which should be sparingly), they should be in conjunction with secondary sources, not in a section of the article dependent exclusively on primary sources.The majority of the !voters at the RfC said the tables were valuable
– Consensus is not determined by head-count, and it's not fair to say that consensus to include was reached.opposition to deletion was unanimous on the article talk page.
– This is a valid point until it was overruled by the RfC. Site-wide consensus overrules WP:LOCALCONSENSUS.WP:NOT does not exclude these tables.
– That an RfC did not support a specific wording, in large part on procedural grounds, does not invalidate WP:NOTDIRECTORY, where the very first point disallowsSimple listings without contextual information showing encyclopedic merit.
- Thebiguglyalien (talk) 16:53, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- I have a few gripes with some of those points:
It means drawing inappropriate conclusions based on the existence of primary sources. This would include the prominence of information in the article relative to its actual weight in reliable sources.
Every route announcement nowadays - and likely in the past as well - gets announced in the media somewhere. A mere mention in a table is probably exactly the amount of prominence the information needs to receive.Deciding that the content is important independently of its weight in reliable secondary sources is evaluation.
We're getting really into the weeds here. Lots of factual information already on an airport article will already be sourced to primary sources, such as latitude and longitude, runway length, elevation... evaluation in this context does not mean inclusion.not in a section of the article dependent exclusively on primary sources.
The assumption here is that every airline route article is primary, which is not the case.it's not fair to say that consensus to include was reached
It's also not fair to say consensus to remove was reached. Furthermore, this discussion was about whether this information is encyclopaedic, and if it had advertised to the community which actively maintains the information a different consensus may have been reached, since many of us view it as encyclopedic....simple listings without contextual information showing encyclopedic merit.
without contextual information showing encyclopedic merit - notwithstanding WP:NOTDIRECTORY does not apply here - we could deliver this information in prose, but it's far easier to understand and contextualise in a tabular format - this was rebutted in the RfC by the premise that destinations from shipping ports were routinely included in print encyclopedias, showing there is clearly encyclopedic merit to these tables. There are two valid arguments here: whether this is encyclopedic, and whether it is WP:NOT. SportingFlyer T·C 18:05, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Finally, none of these are specifically about the close, but all get into a rehashing of the RfC. SportingFlyer T·C 18:05, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- I have a few gripes with some of those points:
- I have a few gripes with some of these points:
- Overturn per A. B., but also because the close was not supported by the discussion: out of over 50 participants, only a small number discussed sourcing, and fewer than five discussed sourcing to the level of detail to which the closer drew their conclusion. The easiest thing here would be to overturn to simple no consensus. (There are also a lot of users who gnome in this area who may not have been notified about the discussion, myself included.) SportingFlyer T·C 13:19, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse. I agree with Bon courage that the close is a reasonable summary of the discussion. JBL (talk) 21:09, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn A closer is supposed to summarize the discussion. This doesn't mean counting votes, but counting votes can be pretty illuminating for which direction the discussion is going. Reading the discussion, there's a small but pretty clear majority for keeping the tables. It's possible for a sufficient policy-based reasoning to overcome this, but despite what the closer said, I'm not seeing it. Both sides appear to be making policy-based arguments: the argument that a piece of information has encyclopedic value and therefore it should be kept is not merely WP:ILIKEIT, it's a perfectly reasonable argument against deleting a piece of content. A second reason I doubt either side was making non-policy compliant arguments is that there were several admins and lots of long-standing users on both sides of this argument, which implies that neither side was ignorant of policy. It feels to me like the closer made a WP:SUPERVOTE because the "no" arguments were more convincing to them personally rather than closing based on the actual discussion. Loki (talk) 08:28, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Here are a few !votes from the slim majority to include the tables:
The tables are fine if they are based in secondary sources rather than original research using booking systems and the like.
Secondary sourcesYes, the tables should stay – from a user standpoint, I've found them very helpful.
Yes. WP:V, WP:RS and WP:NPOV can cover relevant concerns.
Yes.
- The "common thread" quotes in my close were all from those supporting inclusion. This is why counting bolded votes is not illuminating in many cases. Additionally, some supporting inclusion cited WP:READERSFIRST, which is an essay, not a policy or guideline. WP:Closing discussions is pretty clear that arguments based on policies get more weight, and responses
based on personal opinion only
or thatshow no understanding of the matter of issue
should be discarded. Arguments based in part on personal opinion or rebutted by policy based arguments should be weighed less than those with a strong policy basis. I covered this in the close, explaining why some responses were downweighted. The arguments based on encyclopedic value without any evidence are strongly rebutted by those citing NPOV/DUE while discussing using sources to establish weight statesThe relative prominence of each viewpoint among Wikipedia editors or the general public is irrelevant and should not be considered.
So stating "it's encyclopedic and should be included" while not providing any rationale that rebuts the requirement that sources be provided to demonstrate something is DUE and meets NPOV is a weak argument. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 16:40, 21 January 2024 (UTC)- Only one user cited WP:DUE and only one user cited WP:NPOV, out of over 50 participants, without any substantive discussion of how either apply!! SportingFlyer T·C 16:52, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
demonstrating that they are not significant enough to merit inclusion in an article
- link to NPOV/BALASPYes, airport articles should include such tables when including a table would be due
- invokes DUEOf course, all the usual guidelines relating to weight and reliable referencing (I'm thinking specifically of WP:BURDEN and WP:ONUS) should still be considered,
- invokes DUEAlso if no other sources are describing this information, beyond primary sources, then are they WP:DUE.
links to DUEI cannot see how these lists/tables of the airlines/destinations serviced by an airport provide so much utility and encyclopedic value as to override our policies on indiscriminate info, NOTDB, BALANCE, NOTNEWS, and OR.
WP:BALANCE is part of NPOVWP:V, WP:RS and WP:NPOV can cover relevant concerns
links to NPOVSo we get WP:NOTABILITY, WP:UNDUE, etc. weighing in too.
links to UNDUETMI is a WP:ESSAY, WP:NPOV is a WP:POLICY.
link to NPOV
- These are some of the explicit mentions. There's also plenty of discussion that covers the same ground without explicitly invoking or linking. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 17:37, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Whether or not arguments based on encyclopedic value are rebutted by other policies at all, let alone strongly, is a matter for the discussion. Encyclopedic value, while a somewhat vague idea, is definitely not any of the list of things WP:DISCARD says should be discarded. It's not a personal opinion nor does it show no understanding of the issue because it's clearly intended as a counterargument to the principle behind WP:NOT.
- Whether it's a strong counterargument to WP:NOT or not is a matter of how convincing that argument is to the participants in the discussion. It's your job as closer to represent the conclusion the discussion reached on that and not your own opinion. I can't see any way of reading that discussion that concludes that it reached the consensus you're drawing. Loki (talk) 19:08, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Only one user cited WP:DUE and only one user cited WP:NPOV, out of over 50 participants, without any substantive discussion of how either apply!! SportingFlyer T·C 16:52, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Here are a few !votes from the slim majority to include the tables:
RFC participants (airlines and destinations RFC)
- There's been several discussions following the close, and although I don't agree with all of them the restriction on PRIMARY sources seems off to me. Before commenting at the RFC a check several tables and the sourcing for many of them was bad. Certainly such tables need proper sourcing (especially after they have been challenged), but I don't see why this can't be from a primary source (as long as it's a stable reliable source). Yes there's a separate discussion on whether they are due in the article if they are not mentioned in secondary sources, but that's separate from if they can be sourced from primary sources. That specific part of the close appears to merge those two separate points into one. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 13:35, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- This is what I was getting at. User:A.B. explained in dispute resolution that primary sources are acceptable for this type of information - Airline X flies from city A to city B - and I agree with their analysis. The close of this RFC is confusing because it makes it seem as though a piece of information requires independent secondary sourcing to show that it can be included in an article. This May, Condor will begin a flight from San Antonio to Frankfurt, San Antonio's first nonstop service to Europe. Naturally there are only WP:PRIMARYNEWS sources about this route currently. Does that mean this flight does not meet WP:DUE and should not be mentioned in the article on the San Antonio airport? Sunnya343 (talk) 21:59, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- Well once it is reported in a newspaper, rather than just an airline or airport website, then we get a secondary source. Once there is more than one of these, the close statement says it can be included. That is fair enough in my opinion, and I endorse the close. (even though my vote would have supported weaker inclusion criteria). Graeme Bartlett (talk) 23:46, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- A newspaper article is not always a secondary source. See WP:PRIMARYNEWS. Sunnya343 (talk) 00:06, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Indeed newspaper content is most usually primary (and where it isn't, it's quite often not very reliable). WP:SECONDARY content is characterized by analysis, synthesis and commentary directed to primary material, and is not secondary simply by being an extra 'layer'. That is a very common misconception on Wikipedia. Bon courage (talk) 05:24, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- And it's a misconception that was pervasive in the RFC, which is why it was closed wrongly and why Sunny has been applying it inappropriately. There was consensus support for keeping the tables but adding more independent sources beyond the airlines' timetables (which prior discussions found to be acceptable), even if misstated by some in the RFC as secondary/primary. Reywas92Talk 21:22, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- Indeed newspaper content is most usually primary (and where it isn't, it's quite often not very reliable). WP:SECONDARY content is characterized by analysis, synthesis and commentary directed to primary material, and is not secondary simply by being an extra 'layer'. That is a very common misconception on Wikipedia. Bon courage (talk) 05:24, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- A newspaper article is not always a secondary source. See WP:PRIMARYNEWS. Sunnya343 (talk) 00:06, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Information in an article should be weighted by it's inclusion in secondary sources. So if no secondary sources has ever reported on such information it probably shouldn't be included. But this is a separate issue to referencing.
To put it mote distinctly for this specific issue. Secondary sources are needed to show that there should be a table at all, but the entries in that table should be able to use primary sources for referencing. The former is a discussion on article content, the latter is to show the data is verifiable. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 13:43, 19 January 2024 (UTC)- I see, thank you for the clarification. Though I have a question about
Secondary sources are needed to show that there should be a table at all
. Practically speaking, how do we apply this idea to the lists? Do you need to find a secondary source that mentions all or most current flights? Or do you need to cite a secondary source for each destination, over 50% of the destinations, etc.?Those questions made me think of something else as well. The objective of the tables is to list every airline and destination that an airport currently has. Isn't it paradoxical to talk about the need for secondary sources, which
[provide] thought and reflection based on primary sources, generally at least one step removed from an event
, for a list that is only accurate as of today's date?I'm starting to feel like I have to do mental gymnastics to explain the relevance of WP:NPOV to this debate, whereas the WP:NOT argument is much more clear. Sunnya343 (talk) 02:14, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- Secondary sources need to show that destination data is relevant. You don't necessarily need them for each exact detail, primary sources could be used for that. So no you don't need secondary sources to mention all flights and destinations.
The objective of the article is to show what is relevant balanced by secondary sources, any objective of the table has to start from that. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 21:11, 20 January 2024 (UTC)- I might still be misunderstanding you. Are you saying that it is OK to cite a primary source (like an airline timetable) for the individual destinations, but you need a secondary source to show that the entire table has encyclopedic significance? Would you mind explaining how, say, the Heathrow Airport table should be sourced based on what you said? I don't see where you would cite the secondary source if you are citing primary sources for all the destinations. (Sorry if it seems like I'm badgering you, but I believe clarity is needed here, or else I do not know how to implement the RFC close as written.) Sunnya343 (talk) 02:18, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- I think your misunderstanding comes from being unable to unlink the requirement for secondary sources from referencing. Referencing is there for the purpose of verification, and a primary source could be used for that.
The secondary sources could be used for referencing, or they could be used in a talk page discussion on whether the table is due or not. They are required to show that the destination from Heathrow are something that people outside of Wikipedia care about, they shouldn't necessarily be required for the purposes of verification. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 13:32, 21 January 2024 (UTC) - Or a more simple explanation. The secondary sources are need for the "should it be in the article?" part (due), it should be allowable to use primary or secondary sources in the "is it verifiable?" part (referencing). -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 13:37, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Understood. What you're saying is that, for instance, secondary sources show that the first flight from Las Vegas to Asia is due ([2], [3]), but I can cite a primary source in the article to verify that fact ([4]). That makes sense.
However, I still think this idea is difficult to apply to the tables of destinations. Secondary sources by their nature are published some time after events occur; they look back in time and draw on primary sources to comment on those events. They identify which details ended up being more significant than others in the long run. For example, our article on the war in Gaza is pretty much entirely based on primary sources. In 20 years, by which time numerous secondary sources on the war will be available, some of the facts in that article may be removed or given less weight based on their prominence in those secondary sources. Pardon me if I appear to be lecturing you.
With regard to the subject of this RFC, it is unclear to me what sort of secondary source could be found to show that a particular list should be in an article. Maybe you can find a source that discusses the growth of Heathrow's air service during the 2010s or the development of the British Airways hub over the years. But is it possible to find a secondary source that contains
analysis, evaluation, interpretation, or synthesis
of Heathrow's current destinations? I know I'm repeating myself, but that seems inherently impossible.ScottishFinnishRadish, I know we have bothered you enough regarding this RFC, but would you mind commenting on our debate about the bolded portion of the close? Since you as the closer wrote it, you would be able to tell us what exactly you meant and how we would apply it to a particular airport's table. Sunnya343 (talk) 15:53, 21 January 2024 (UTC) Revised 16:10, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- No sorry I'm obviously still explaining bit poorly. Secondary sources are needed to show that the table should exist in the article at all, this is completely independent of any particular flight or destination.
My point is similar to the notability standards for a stand alone list article. You have to show that the list article is notable, and that requires secondary sourcing. But the entries on that list don't need secondary sourcing they just need to be verifiable.
The secondary sources just needs to say that destinations from Heathrow are something of note, not reflect on current destinations from Heathrow.
As to up to the minute content there is no requirement for Wikipedia to carry this, Wikipedia is meant to be a tertiary source. But that's a separate discussion. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 16:55, 21 January 2024 (UTC)- In regard to WP:NLIST, this comparison wades into the territory of notability, which independent secondary sources are required to demonstrate. Here we are talking about content. More specifically, we are discussing the maintenance of current destination data, which I believe falls within the ambit of WP:NOT, not WP:NPOV.
Even if we accept the idea that you just need secondary sources to say that Heathrow's destinations are significant, I would disagree. For any airport in the world, you will likely find a source that discusses the extent of its service (though still, at a particular moment in time). For Heathrow you may find one that says the airport has destinations on all six inhabited continents, etc. I don't think that's enough to justify the inclusion of a complete, constantly updated list of destinations. Maybe that is what you alluded to when you commented on
up to the minute content
. This is what the WP:NOT arguments address.Also, if we were to apply the above idea to the Heathrow list, you would be able to create a new article entitled "List of destinations from Heathrow". But I don't think any of our stand-alone list articles are constantly being revised, with editors adding and subtracting content to remain up-to-date (as you would when Virgin Atlantic begins flights to Bangalore or British Airways stops flying to Funchal from Heathrow). Even with List of presidents of the United States, you are just adding a person every four years.
(By the way, my example of the first flight from Las Vegas to Asia applied to an event that I would describe in the history section of the article, not a data point in the Airlines and Destinations table.) Sunnya343 (talk) 17:53, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- That's why I used it as an example, it's not meant to be exactly what I'm saying. As to content in general it should be based on all significant views published by reliable sources. Policies are overlapping, so just because something falls under one policy doesn't mean it isn't also under another. Finally you are discussing maintenance of the tables, I am discussing both the maintenance and the requirement for having them. My statement of 'up to the minute' was in reply to you example of Wikipedia's war reporting, where editors take to using Telegram channels as sources so the absolute latest details can be included. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested «@» °∆t° 18:58, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- In regard to WP:NLIST, this comparison wades into the territory of notability, which independent secondary sources are required to demonstrate. Here we are talking about content. More specifically, we are discussing the maintenance of current destination data, which I believe falls within the ambit of WP:NOT, not WP:NPOV.
- No sorry I'm obviously still explaining bit poorly. Secondary sources are needed to show that the table should exist in the article at all, this is completely independent of any particular flight or destination.
- Understood. What you're saying is that, for instance, secondary sources show that the first flight from Las Vegas to Asia is due ([2], [3]), but I can cite a primary source in the article to verify that fact ([4]). That makes sense.
- I think your misunderstanding comes from being unable to unlink the requirement for secondary sources from referencing. Referencing is there for the purpose of verification, and a primary source could be used for that.
- I might still be misunderstanding you. Are you saying that it is OK to cite a primary source (like an airline timetable) for the individual destinations, but you need a secondary source to show that the entire table has encyclopedic significance? Would you mind explaining how, say, the Heathrow Airport table should be sourced based on what you said? I don't see where you would cite the secondary source if you are citing primary sources for all the destinations. (Sorry if it seems like I'm badgering you, but I believe clarity is needed here, or else I do not know how to implement the RFC close as written.) Sunnya343 (talk) 02:18, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Secondary sources need to show that destination data is relevant. You don't necessarily need them for each exact detail, primary sources could be used for that. So no you don't need secondary sources to mention all flights and destinations.
- I see, thank you for the clarification. Though I have a question about
- Well once it is reported in a newspaper, rather than just an airline or airport website, then we get a secondary source. Once there is more than one of these, the close statement says it can be included. That is fair enough in my opinion, and I endorse the close. (even though my vote would have supported weaker inclusion criteria). Graeme Bartlett (talk) 23:46, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- This is what I was getting at. User:A.B. explained in dispute resolution that primary sources are acceptable for this type of information - Airline X flies from city A to city B - and I agree with their analysis. The close of this RFC is confusing because it makes it seem as though a piece of information requires independent secondary sourcing to show that it can be included in an article. This May, Condor will begin a flight from San Antonio to Frankfurt, San Antonio's first nonstop service to Europe. Naturally there are only WP:PRIMARYNEWS sources about this route currently. Does that mean this flight does not meet WP:DUE and should not be mentioned in the article on the San Antonio airport? Sunnya343 (talk) 21:59, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse I find the reasoning of this close review unconvincing. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 20:02, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Agreed, the nominator has suggested banning the tables altogether, which would go against the consensus of the RFC, which was actually to maintain the tables but with more sources. Reywas92Talk 21:04, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Dennis Brown: I think you have a point. Let's say that a list meets the requirement for inclusion specified in the RFC close. That means you have appropriately referenced items on a list - e.g. British Airways flies from Heathrow to Aberdeen,[1] Abuja,[2] Accra,[3] ... - as opposed to the description of a particular viewpoint on evolution, or a paragraph discussing John De Lancie's role in My Little Pony to take BilledMammal's example. Does WP:DUE truly apply to the inclusion of data points? Sunnya343 (talk) 02:06, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Firefangledfeathers: What I was trying to say was that our policies do not require independent secondary sources for a fact to be included in an article. It appeared to me that the requirement for such sources in the close was similar to WP:GNG.
I recently sought dispute resolution after facing opposition to my removal of one of these lists. Due to the wording of the close, the discussion at DRN boiled down not to whether the list violated WP:NOT, but to
whether the [list was] attributed to reliable secondary sources
. As I said, however, no policy requires content to be attributed to secondary sources. Sunnya343 (talk) 23:49, 18 January 2024 (UTC) - Response to A.B.'s stance: What I do believe is accurate in the close is
Addressing the arguments, the strongest and by far most common argument put forth by those opposed to the tables is WP:NOTALLSORTSOFSTUFF.
I do not seek to rehash arguments, just to summarize what people specifically said regarding WP:NOT. We argued that airport articles should not provide a:- Directory of current airline services from an airport
- News service that documents the launch and discontinuation of every flight in order to remain up-to-date
- Database of all presently operational flights: Essentially an attempt to duplicate the content of a database like Flightradar24
- Travel guide: Though this is probably not the intention of most editors, the lists can be viewed as travel guides due to the emphasis on providing readers with a list of every city currently accessible via nonstop or same-plane, one-stop flights, and which airlines operate those flights
- The closer added that
There were also no strong arguments against the interpretation of WP:NOT, other than disagreement that it should apply.
Sunnya343 (talk) 01:36, 20 January 2024 (UTC)- To this I would respond:
- Salience: The fundamental measure of a commercial airport is the extent of its service (airlines and destinations) and passenger/cargo volume.
- London Heathrow Airport and Los Angeles International Airport are known for their large volume of travelers and their extensive number of passenger destinations.
- Not their: parking, history, appearances in popular culture or bicycle access.
- Memphis International Airport and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport are two of the world's most important cargo airports because of their cargo volume, number of destinations and carriers.
- Experience shows these tables are maintained and diligently kept current by the editors who enjoy this sort of editing. Over many years, I've found this to be true of not just of major hubs but even tiny airports in truly remote places.
- I find them more reliable than most Wikipedia content. God bless our wikignomes.
- Other information in airport articles also relies on primary sources (passenger traffic, runway length, etc.) from the airports themselves or government air traffic control agencies.
- Secondary sources for airport passenger service -- mostly local news coverage -- are spotty and less reliable. They seldom exist at all for cargo service.
- These tables meet the notability requirements of WP:NLIST. Like many lists, they convey easily understood information in a compact manner.
- WP:NOT does not directly address transportation destinations. An RfC to add them was defeated by the Wikipedia community.
- An RfC like that one on a basic policy establishes a higher level of consensus (WP:CONLEVEL) than an RfC on a set of airport articles, just as an airport RfC trumps local consensus at an article.
- An RfC administrative review should be based on policy, not ILIKEIT or IDONTLIKEIT. The RfC closure misapplied our policies with regards to WP:PRIMARY
- These primary-sourced lists are consistent with the policies discussed here -- WP:NOT, WP:NLIST, WP:CONLEVEL, WP:PRIMARY, WP:ONUS, WP:DUE, WP:BURDEN.
- --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 03:34, 20 January 2024 (UTC) (and tweaked 04:01, 20 January 2024 (UTC))
- This would have been a good response at the RFC. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 03:49, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- @ScottishFinnishRadish, I was unaware of the RfC so I didn't comment. I agree with your comment in the RfC that you were presented with weak policy arguments on the keep side. --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 04:09, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- People wrote in the RFC that it is possible to discuss an airport's air service without supplying an exhaustive, constantly updated list of destinations. Indeed, the closer noted that
There were also arguments that the tables provide an idea of how well served or active an airport is, but those arguments were weakened by pointing out that the context could be provided in prose.
The claim that WP:NOT does not directly address transportation destinations is rebutted by
The examples under each section are not intended to be exhaustive
. Naturally, a policy cannot be expected to address every possible circumstance. What people did in this RFC was apply the principles expressed in WP:NOT to this particular situation. Regarding the RFC on amending WP:NOTDIR, I concur with Thebiguglyalien's statement above.I agree with you about other information in airport articles also relying on primary sources. This is the point I am trying to make: the RFC close implies that information requires secondary sourcing to be included, even though no policy says that. I see no problem with mentioning the length of an airport's runway or how many passengers it handled in 2023, and citing a primary source. However, that is very different from the subject of the RFC, which violates WP:NOT according to the consensus. Sunnya343 (talk) 15:56, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- Putting the context in prose instead of tables means there is less information and the articles are less useful for the countless people who rely on them to see a well-presented list about the airport's core purpose. I agree that the RFC close requiring "secondary sources" is wrong and against policy, but that would be incorrect to say there was a consensus the tables violate NOT. Reywas92Talk 20:40, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- This was not mentioned in the close, but several people in the RFC talked about the importance of taking a long-term, historical view on Wikipedia, which as an encyclopedia is a tertiary source. Therefore, in the context of a Wikipedia article, perhaps the history of an airport - rather than a snapshot of its current destinations - is its most important aspect. This includes the history of its air service, such as the establishment of hubs or the first international flight. Sunnya343 (talk) 01:50, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Sunnya343, you make a good point about the history of airports service although that doesn't have to come at the expense of current information.
- Articles can note major changes as you've noted above: first international flights, hub status, etc.
- Many airports already do this
- Granularity: I don't think we need to note some airline added a flight from Adelaide Airport to Wellington Airport and then cancelled it later that year.
- Wikisavvy readers and future historians can make use of our edit histories to capture a detailed list of an airport's destinations and airline service at a given points in time. The refs will help, too.
- Articles can note major changes as you've noted above: first international flights, hub status, etc.
- --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 02:08, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Sunnya343, you make a good point about the history of airports service although that doesn't have to come at the expense of current information.
- This was not mentioned in the close, but several people in the RFC talked about the importance of taking a long-term, historical view on Wikipedia, which as an encyclopedia is a tertiary source. Therefore, in the context of a Wikipedia article, perhaps the history of an airport - rather than a snapshot of its current destinations - is its most important aspect. This includes the history of its air service, such as the establishment of hubs or the first international flight. Sunnya343 (talk) 01:50, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Putting the context in prose instead of tables means there is less information and the articles are less useful for the countless people who rely on them to see a well-presented list about the airport's core purpose. I agree that the RFC close requiring "secondary sources" is wrong and against policy, but that would be incorrect to say there was a consensus the tables violate NOT. Reywas92Talk 20:40, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- This would have been a good response at the RFC. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 03:49, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- To this I would respond:
- Overturn to no consensus or that destination tables should be included, not OP's request – would endorse the RFC close rather than accepting OP's proposal, as the close does not mean that the tables must be removed. There was in no way a consensus in the discussion to remove/restrict usage of destination tables broadly, with a clear majority preferring to keep the tables, nor to require non-primary/truly secondary sources to be used, which contradicts policy and the usage and intent on primary source guidelines. While there was some support for the use of independent sources beyond just those published by the airport (or the airlines, which are independent of the airport, the articles' subjects), there was no basis to restrict those in the broad category of WP:PRIMARY, which even includes independent news reporting of airline activities but falls short of "generalization, analysis, interpretation, or evaluation of the original information", which is not really possible for such straightforward factual information. This closure (and the OP's application of it) twisted the reasons for avoiding primary sources, certain types of which may have the disadvantages of "propaganda...omit...overstate...prejudices...unaware". However, these cases – the simple facts of which airlines fly where – fall under WP:PRIMARYCARE: "Material based on primary sources can be valuable and appropriate additions to Wikipedia articles, but only in the form of straightforward descriptive statements that any educated person—with access to the source but without specialist knowledge—will be able to verify are directly supported by the source." Further, sources used in these tables (both airline statements and new reporting that incorporates them) comply with WP:PRIMARYNOTBAD: "authoritative, high-quality, accurate, fact-checked, expert-approved, subject to editorial control, and published by a reputable publisher". The closure's mandate on the type of sources to be used is simply inconsist with the relevant guidelines. The OP points to WP:DUE, which is about maintaining neutrality and not overemphasizing fringe viewpoints, and is not relevant here. However, there is plainly substantial independent media coverage of airline routes, particularly when new destinations are announced, providing enough attention and relevance to an airport's destinations as a whole. It is also eminently clear that WP:NOT does not prohibit listing flight destinations, something that has been supported in longstanding consensuses at VPP, Wikiproject Airports, and individual airport articles. These tables are not a directory, not a news service, not a database, and not a travel guide. Reywas92Talk 18:23, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse. I saw SFR's close summary of the "DUE" arguments as a restatement of the NPOV--in particular BALASP--concerns raised by participants, to be used as a reminder that this info really should be sourced to secondary independent media rather than current destination lists on airport websites etc. Although not explicitly stated, this made sense to me as an obvious distinction between the basic, integral material for which we generally consider primary SELF-PUB sources acceptable (e.g. a lot of the stuff that goes in infoboxes gets sourced to the subject's own websites) and the material we don't consider so fundamental that it should be in every article on the topic without any individual indication of secondary independent attention. I think the NOT arguments were what actually designated this material as "non-essential", while the NPOV arguments simply emphasize what that means in this case: destination lists are not exempt from our standard policy of following that specific subtopic's treatment in IRS. If exhaustive, up-to-date lists of destinations are not considered salient enough to receive IRS coverage, then that presentation of the data should not be in the article. JoelleJay (talk) 18:46, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Absolutely, independent sources should be incorporated, but please note the dicussion above regarding the misuse of "primary" and "secondary" in that just because a source is independent new coverage, it is not necessarily "analysis", but this is not the kind of source or facts that needs such special care to avoid disadvantages of propaganda, omission, or overstatement. Your original !vote cited Do not base an entire article on primary sources, and be cautious about basing large passages on them., but that's from Wikipedia:No original research which also says A primary source may be used on Wikipedia only to make straightforward, descriptive statements of facts that can be verified by any educated person with access to the primary source but without further, specialized knowledge., which is the case here, including independent sources that aren't truly secondary. Reywas92Talk 22:55, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn, either to No Consensus, or to Relist.
- I am involved, not because I participated in the RFC, which I did not, but because I started to mediate a dispute at DRN over the removal of airline and destination tables from Harry Reid International Airport. I determined that some of the editors were acting in accordance with the close of the RFC, and some of the editors disagreed with the close of the RFC. DRN is not a forum to dispute the close of an RFC, and the RFC had established a binding rough consensus. So I closed the DRN case, advising the editors either to accept the rough consensus or seek to overturn the RFC. So here we are. (See, or do not see, Job 38:35.)
- I am seldom inclined to overturn a close, either at DRV or of an RFC, but I think that the close was not consistent with the discussion. The closer had a difficult job to do. By my count, there were 31 Yes !votes, 28 No !votes, and 6 statements of some intermediate view, and one of the intermediate statements said that the lists should only be included if they were derived from reliable secondary sources. Other intermediate statements said that the RFC was poorly stated
, which is correct,and should be closed. That is No Consensus, which is always an unsatisfying result, and the closer was in good faith trying to tease a consensus out of it. However, although the conclusion to include the lists of airlines and destinations only when based on reliable secondary sources was based on policy, some of the Yes statements and most of the No statements were also based on policy. The closer reached a conclusion that amounted to a supervote because they were trying to find a consensus when there was none. - The close should be overturned either to No Consensus or to Relist. If the RFC is relisted, it should be reworded, and the closer's conclusion of including lists of airlines and destinations when based on reliable secondary sources may be added as an option. Including the lists of airlines and destinations based on reliable primary sources has been mentioned by User:A.B., and maybe should also be in the revised RFC.
Robert McClenon (talk) 23:22, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Robert McClenon, could you explain why you think the RFC was poorly stated? /gen Sunnya343 (talk) 01:24, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- User:Sunnya343 - Some editors complained that it was not clear whether the RFC was asking if lists of airlines and destinations were allowed or required. On further review, I personally think that the RFC was asking whether they should be allowed. It should be clear that they will not be required, on the principle that stubs and other incomplete articles that can be expanded are generally allowed. I have crossed out one phrase. The question should be reworded because it was clear to some editors and unclear to others. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:46, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse - Solely because I have to reject the CR Review's proposal as raised the requestor Sunnya343 states as part of the reason to Overturn the closure:
I think the first paragraph of the closure should be reworded as follows (my text in italics): "After reviewing the !votes and discussion, it is clear that there is consensus that airlines and destination tables should not be included in articles because of WP:NOT
. In re-reading all of the RfC responses, I don't see support for this polarised revision, it is not supported in the RfC. Now could SFR's statement being improved? Always! (as an aside, could I also thank SFR for his efforts, hopefully this thread isn't reading as a persecution/criticism for your efforts). I am exceedingly interested in SportingFlyer & A._B.'s suggested revisions to the Closing Statement to help increase its value/definitiveness and their logical approach in this discussion is impressive. This explicit request for CR Review to be revised to include this phrase is a binary No in my view; the proposed revising would not be appropriate/supported at all. The other (excellent contributions by multiple well-experienced contributors) in this thread/discussion are all excellent, but many feel to me to be rehashing the RfC topic at hand, *not* the proposed CR Review as stated. To restate in simple terms: This request for reviewing & revising the RFC Closure is not supported by Sunnya343's statement of "[...] airlines and destination tables should not be included in articles because of WP:NOT". DigitalExpat (talk) 10:14, 23 January 2024 (UTC) - Relist - per Robert McClenon. As the person who posted the RFC, I was admittedly unwilling to seriously entertain the concerns that people raised about it while it was taking place. The biggest problem seems to be how the RFC question was phrased. Trovatore, Horse Eye's Back, and others brought this up in the RFC. For example, it appears that some contributors thought the RFC was about how the destinations should be presented: table vs. prose. In the present closure review, I see that Voorts wrote that
[they] read many of the !votes based on WP:NOT to be against inclusion of any tables at all, but that wasn't the question the RfC was asking
, and A. B. said that the RFC question mentioned flights as opposed to destinations.For a controversial issue like this one that affects a large number of articles, it is important to have a discussion centered around a clearly worded question that everyone understands - so we know everyone is answering the same question. Therefore, I support relisting the RFC and working with A. B., SportingFlyer, and any other interested party to design a properly worded RFC on these tables. Sunnya343 (talk) 01:33, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- I’m happy to help. I suggest any new RfC be listed at T:CENT if it wasn’t the last time. Despite your efforts, too many people didn’t know about the RfC. —A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 01:37, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- On further thought, I recommend overturning and just leaving all this alone for a year or two to give the broader community a break.
- We've just had the RfC itself, a dispute resolution discussion, a trip to ANI and now this discussion. This follows 5 previous discussions between 2015 and 2022 (see list below). --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 19:56, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Such a postponement sounds reasonable. Sunnya343 (talk) 01:29, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
- I’m happy to help. I suggest any new RfC be listed at T:CENT if it wasn’t the last time. Despite your efforts, too many people didn’t know about the RfC. —A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 01:37, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
Discussion
- I will say that there are a number of us frustrated with the close of this RfC for the complete opposite grounds of the user initiating this review for several different reasons, and that this user may have initiated the RfC review in order to preempt us from doing so. My ground is that the closer reached a conclusion not supported by the discussion (few people talked about primary/secondary sources in the review, only one discussed WP:DUE) and I believe another argument is that the conclusion goes against WP:PRIMARY sourcing as WP:DUE does not discuss primary sources, but honestly that is not my argument to present, and we weren't quite ready. I don't know if this precludes us from opening a different RfC review now considering how odd this situation is. SportingFlyer T·C 12:18, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- Just to be clear, I would be advocating for the entire discussion to be overturned to a simple "no consensus," which is in reading with the discussion: about half of the participants think the information is not encyclopedic, while the other half think the information is encyclopedic. I am of the latter half - WP:NOT generally lists things that are included in things other than encyclopedias, but the tables in question do not fit into any of those categories (I am not convinced by the WP:NOTTRAVEL arguments because this is not information commonly found in your local bookseller's collection of travel guides, and Wikivoyage has specifically said they do not want to maintain this.) SportingFlyer T·C 12:23, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- About Wikivoyage:
- Wikivoyage only has articles for the world's 91 largest airports; none include destination tables. See: v:Airport articles
- Wikivoyage editors don't maintain those articles like we do. For example:
- v:Beijing Capital International Airport -- 127 edits since the Wikivoyage article creation in 2013 (1 edit/month)
- Beijing Capital International Airport -- 6,343 edits since the Wikipedia article creation in 2003 (26 edits/month)
- A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 08:47, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- About Wikivoyage:
- Just to be clear, I would be advocating for the entire discussion to be overturned to a simple "no consensus," which is in reading with the discussion: about half of the participants think the information is not encyclopedic, while the other half think the information is encyclopedic. I am of the latter half - WP:NOT generally lists things that are included in things other than encyclopedias, but the tables in question do not fit into any of those categories (I am not convinced by the WP:NOTTRAVEL arguments because this is not information commonly found in your local bookseller's collection of travel guides, and Wikivoyage has specifically said they do not want to maintain this.) SportingFlyer T·C 12:23, 18 January 2024 (UTC)
- History:
- There have been multiple discussions about airport destination lists over the years:
- Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Airports/Archive 15#Request for comments on the Airlines and destinations tables:
"Should we get rid of the Airlines and destinations tables in airport articles?"
- December 2016. Initiated by Sunnya343. Multiple options were offered. The preference was for
"Option 3: Keep the tables, but something should be done with regards to references and complying with WP:VERIFY."
- December 2016. Initiated by Sunnya343. Multiple options were offered. The preference was for
- Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Airports/Archive 17#RfC about references for the "Airlines and destinations" tables.
- August 2017. Initiated by Sunnya343
- Decision:
"references must be provided, and 'searchable' websites are suitable for such references."
- Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 141#RFC: Should Wikipedia have lists of transportation service destinations?:
"Should we update WP:NOTDIR to explicitly state that lists of transportation service destinations are outside the scope of Wikipedia?"
- February 2018
- RfC followed the community decision to delete dedicated articles listing airline destinations
- RfC conclusion:
"There is a clear consensus against the proposed addition to WP:NOTDIR."
- Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 167#Airport destination lists
- Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 167#RfC: Ariport destination tables:
"Should tabular listings of destinations in airport articles be removed and replaced with prose descriptions?"
- June 2021
- RfC withdrawn by nominator in the face of strong support for retaining lists
- Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 167#RfC: Ariport destination tables:
- Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Airports/Archive 19#RFC on Maps and Airline & Destination Tables
"Should we consolidate mainline and regional carriers in 'Airline and Destination Tables'?"
- Implicit acceptance of destination lists during this discussion of how to organize them.
- April 2022
- Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)/Archive 187#RfC on the "Airlines and destinations" tables in airport articles:
"Should airport articles include tables that display all the airlines that serve the airport and the cities they fly to?"
- October 2023. Initiated by Sunnya343.
- By my count: 32 wanted to keep the lists, 21 to delete and 9 said something else (of these 9, more tilted negative than positive). I see this as a decent but not overwhelming majority to keep once you factor in the "something elses". (see User:A. B./Sandbox20 for tabulation)
- I am not asserting a majority !vote should carry a discussion but it's also "not 'nothin"
- Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Airports/Archive 15#Request for comments on the Airlines and destinations tables:
- One issue I haven't seen properly addressed is why this information has to be on Wikipedia specifically. A write up on the history of World War II or biographies of current world leaders are valuable information, but people would be understandably irritated if you started posting them on a travel site. Likewise, if you start posting directories and travel guides on an encyclopedia, people are going to be understandably irritated. That's really what's at the crux of the WP:NOT issue here. This could all be resolved if the editors who want to maintain this information went to or started a travel site and maintained it there. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 20:52, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thebiguglyalien, you wrote:
"One issue I haven't seen properly addressed is why this information has to be on Wikipedia specifically."
- My answer: Salience. As I noted above,
"The fundamental measure of a commercial airport is the extent of its service (airlines and destinations) and passenger/cargo volume."
- My answer: Salience. As I noted above,
- Thebiguglyalien, you wrote:
- Just one table has been removed to my knowledge since the RfC. That sparked off a heated discussion at Talk:Harry Reid International Airport that went to the dispute resolution noticeboard and then WP:ANI.
- 1 editor deleted the content and argued for deletion on the talk page.
- 12 editors and 2 IPs objected or reverted the deletions:
"This could all be resolved if the editors who want to maintain this information went to or started a travel site and maintained it there."
- So, go away then?
- --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 22:16, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- Just posting here since my name was brought up, the original reversion by me was before I was ever made aware of the RfC and as stated, I did not take part in it. This was mainly due to not even knowing the RfC existed at the time. I talked with Sunny and while I am against the decision to remove the tables, I left it alone after that. But yes, as stated I was not involved in the RfC. VenFlyer98 (talk) 23:27, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- The biggest assumption here from those opposing inclusion is that this is information that only helps people travel from point A to point B, which is not the case at all - I frequently use this data to see which places are connected to each other by direct flights for geopolitical reasons. SportingFlyer T·C 23:41, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- I just want to note that I tried my best to advertise the RFC widely at the time, as I wrote below the introduction. Sunnya343 (talk) 23:54, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- I make very few edits on Wikipedia and most relate to aviation, so I am not entirely familiar with the dispute resolution process. There is no valid reason to remove the Airlines and Destinations table, as I personally use it for my own knowledge to plan travel and learn about connectivity of certain airports. Although a lot of sources for the Airlines and Destinations table are primary and come from the airline itself, many of the secondary sources cite the airline as their source as that is the primary way to see what routes an airline flies or plans to start or stop service to. I just want to make it known that I am opposed to removing or replacing the Airlines and Destinations list for any commercial airport. Jake (talk) 00:03, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 22:16, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
- Sunnya343, you wrote
"I just want to note that I tried my best to advertise the RFC widely at the time"
. I agree - you went to a lot of effort to advertise the discussion, diligently notifying people on both sides of previous disputes.
- Sunnya343, you wrote
- Nevertheless, 13 out of 15 people on the Las Vegas Airport talk page were surprised. That speaks more to the nature of things on Wikipedia than your exemplary efforts. Most editors aren't following everything everywhere all at once. 6+ million articles, 2 edits/second, 12,000 active editors, a plethora of discussion venues and ongoing discussions — it's a lot. --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 00:21, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- I did undo it the last time. Lucthedog2 (talk) 17:51, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- I see that the subheadings of this review have been changed to RFC Participants and RFC Non-Participants. I made my statement above as an Involved party, but I did not participate directly in the RFC. Should my statement be moved, or left where it is? Robert McClenon (talk) 02:51, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- On a lesser point to main topic at hand in this request - I'm trying to understand the last 8 years of this question being brought up repeatedly in different formats and audiences, inclusive of at least 3 times by the same user. While it should always be every wiki user's indelible right to productively challenge/improve the status quo, the frequency ratio of slightly-reworded-proposals to new-productive-justifications appears to be largely unproductive re-asking a question just because one didn't like the answer received (approaching Argumentum Ad Nauseam fallacy levels). The good faith patience of ActivelyDisinterested and A._B. in their explanations (and many others in re-reading all the historical responses) is impressive. For this matter, the fact that we are now in AN discussing about completely changing a closing statement to the point of changing/challenging the closure - all suggested by the same user, feels more a kin to a crusade (and not solely a quixotic one, but one that could be seen as aiming to tire other contributors with ignorance, feigned or otherwise).
Without sounding too pessimistic, my hope for the next such seemingly inevitable round of RFCs/debate on this topic is that we can have greater isolation of the question than this RFC had (is it the format, the subject, the proper citations? This had all three muddled into one); prevailing logos; and even greater awareness/participation. Cheers! DigitalExpat (talk) 10:23, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
Procedural question
- I and others including A. B. was planning on bringing this here for a completely different reason, but Sunnya343 filed/pre-empted this on completely opposite grounds after noticing our discussion on A. B.'s talk page here: [5]. Am I/are we allowed to write a separate, dissenting opening statement? I really don't think the close was correct, and I would be endorsing the decision on the grounds presented by the nominator, even though I think the close was grossly inaccurate. SportingFlyer T·C 01:53, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
pre-empted this on completely opposite grounds after noticing our discussion on A. B.'s talk page here
- I don't think your timeline is accurate:
- 02:13, 13 January 2024 - Sunnya343 questions the closure on the closers talk page
- 04:01, 15 January 2024 - You question the closure on the closers talk page in a new section
- 04:15, 15 January 2024 - You open a discussion about the closure on A. B.'s talk page
- 00:04, 17 January 2024 - The closer declines to adjust the close as requested by Sunnya343
- 04:07, 18 January 2024 - Sunnya343 opens the close review
- As far as I can tell, the first person to question this close was Sunnya343 - I don't think it's either accurate or appropriate to suggest that they only questioned it after seeing your discussion or to say that they did so to preempt you. BilledMammal (talk) 02:16, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- The fact they posted on A. B.'s talk page and were aware of our concerns still troubles me. SportingFlyer T·C 10:10, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- My request for closure review stems from my experience trying to defend my removal of this list based on the RFC close, dating back to November. In the ANI discussion that I linked on the article talk page, Robert McClenon listed three options for how to proceed with the dispute. The list was nevertheless restored without any changes, i.e. without
[showing] that [it was] supported by secondary sources
. I could have continued to advocate for the removal of the list, but I no longer believe the requirement for secondary sources is appropriate. In short, I have my own concerns about the close, for which I have requested closure review.I have known about A.B.'s intentions to challenge the close since 20 December. So I am well aware that you and others have a very different perspective on this RFC. You are fully entitled to that perspective, just as I am to mine. Once you have formulated your arguments, I see no reason why you should not be allowed to challenge the close on the basis of them. Sunnya343 (talk) 03:07, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Question - Maybe I am making the mistake of expecting editors to explain concisely what the issues are. I see that User:Sunnya343 is challenging the close. I have known since about 21 December 2023 that User:A.B. was planning to challenge the close, since I closed the DRN case. When I closed the DRN case, I said that editors should either accept the rough consensus established by the RFC closure by User:ScottishFinnishRadish or challenge the closure at WP:AN, which is now being done, only one month after the DRN dispute. I am puzzled as to how Sunnya343 and A.B. say that they have different close challenges. If the two of them have different ideas as to how the RFC should have been closed, maybe it might be helpful if they each stated what they think that the close should have said. That is, if one wants the close overturned, what should it be overturned to? Robert McClenon (talk) 05:11, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Robert McClenon, the closer stated
"there is consensus that airlines and destination tables may only be included in articles when independent, reliable, secondary sources demonstrate they meet WP:DUE"
. The closer cited 3 policies to reach this decision; my analysis above shows they misapplied the 3 policies to this situation.diff For this reason, the RfC should be overturned to allow tables based on reliable primary sources. --A. B. (talk • contribs • global count) 08:31, 19 January 2024 (UTC) - @Robert McClenon I second A. B.'s justification but also note the close is inconsistent with the discussion, similar to a supervote argument at DRV. A simple majority of users said yes, the yes votes are grounded in policy, out of 60 participants only one discussed WP:DUE at all, and only four participants distinctly discussed either primary sources or secondary sources in their response, only four or five participants discussed the reliability of sources. The idea there's a clear consensus on sourcing is technically a supervote based on the discussion, and should either be removed, or the discussion overturned to a simple no consensus. This argument is in addition to the misapplication of WP:DUE. SportingFlyer T·C 10:08, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Robert McClenon, the closer stated
- SportingFlyer, could you please move your comments out of the uninvolved section. You can present them in the involved section and make it clear who they are in response to. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 21:17, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- I wasn't involved in the RfC.
- SportingFlyer T·C 21:18, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Sorry SF! Friday afternoon blindness. Sunnya343, could you please move your comments per the above. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 21:28, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Will do. Sunnya343 (talk) 21:52, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
- Sorry SF! Friday afternoon blindness. Sunnya343, could you please move your comments per the above. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 21:28, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
Blocks of various autopatrolled/ECP accounts
Hi all - disappointing news. More information at Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Dentren, but the long and short of it is that I have just indef blocked the autopatrolled account Sietecolores (>10,000 edits), and the EC account Mamayuco (>4,500 edits), along with a couple of other fairly new/low-edit count accounts. They are all confirmed to one another, and I have little doubt that they are all socks of the blocked Dentren. Sorry to anyone who has interacted with them in good faith; I always find cases like this disappointing, since it is obvious that they are capable of doing good work here, but their dishonesty and willingness to flout the behavioural expectations of this project leaves me with little choice. Girth Summit (blether) 23:00, 20 January 2024 (UTC)
Suspicious link on user page
I found a user who has something on their page that has a "Mods click here" link to something unknown and I'm afraid it might lead to something like an IP logger. I tried removing it but the user responded by removing everything off my profile in revenge and reinstated the link. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Coronaverification Pyraminxsolver (talk) 07:29, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- You didn't notify the user of the discussion here, per the instructions at the top. I have done so. I have also removed the suspicious link from their userpage requesting in my edit summary that they not restore the link and instead explain it here. (non admin) Polyamorph (talk) 07:51, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- See Rickrolling and the Rick Roll Link Generator site. Kids today...I blame the parents...etc. Sean.hoyland - talk 07:56, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- I don't click random links, and regardless of the final target, the inclusion of random external links is not appropriate. Polyamorph (talk) 08:01, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Very sensible. It's usually possible figure out what a URL is pointing at without clicking it. Sean.hoyland - talk 08:06, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- It is a rick roll link, don't ask me how I know. v/r - Seawolf35 T--C 08:42, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Very sensible. It's usually possible figure out what a URL is pointing at without clicking it. Sean.hoyland - talk 08:06, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- I don't click random links, and regardless of the final target, the inclusion of random external links is not appropriate. Polyamorph (talk) 08:01, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
I don't see anything about the site more dangerous than any other novelty site. I made my own page there and it gave me an analytics page, but it doesn't contain viewers' IPs or anything like that, just a view counter. Fundamentally, one should never click on a link if one isn't comfortable with the site's webmaster knowing one's IP. If that's something one isn't comfortable with, VPNs are an option. (Wikipedia blocks VPNs, but most have some sort of whitelist setting.) -- Tamzin[cetacean needed] (they|xe) 10:50, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- The issue is not that the target in this case is harmless, it's that placing an obfuscated external link anywhere on wikipedia, even as a harmless prank, is not productive and may indeed be harmful. Not something to be encouraged, IMO. Polyamorph (talk) 11:10, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'm not too convinced that it warrants removal. Yes, we shouldn't encourage it, but it is their user page. If you don't trust the link, don't click on it. It's far easier to IP log/do something malicious with domains with similar names, like the one in this blogpost 0xDeadbeef→∞ (talk to me) 11:22, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- While I would agree with you for most (harmless) userpage content, the WP:USERPAGE guidelines state
Inappropriate internal or external links that unexpectedly direct the reader to unreasonable locations or violate prohibitions on linking may also be removed or remedied by any user.
Polyamorph (talk) 11:37, 21 January 2024 (UTC)- Well, that's weird. It was added in this edit, referring to this discussion, which didn't talk about what links are appropriate on user pages. The external links guidelines should be about articles, and applying them to userspace seems to be overly restrictive. 0xDeadbeef→∞ (talk to me) 12:16, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Johnuniq was active in that 2010 discussion and has posted on the talk page of the user concerned. @Johnuniq: please could you clarify this? Polyamorph (talk) 13:53, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- I don't think I could clarify anything from 2010, however we should not encourage obfuscated external links that might be funny or might compromise your account or computer. Johnuniq (talk) 02:33, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Johnuniq was active in that 2010 discussion and has posted on the talk page of the user concerned. @Johnuniq: please could you clarify this? Polyamorph (talk) 13:53, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Well, that's weird. It was added in this edit, referring to this discussion, which didn't talk about what links are appropriate on user pages. The external links guidelines should be about articles, and applying them to userspace seems to be overly restrictive. 0xDeadbeef→∞ (talk to me) 12:16, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Yep, if you don't trust the link, don't click on it. Fonts are tricky too e.g. google and googIe look identical with my settings, but with monospaced text google vs googIe. Sean.hoyland - talk 11:47, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- While I would agree with you for most (harmless) userpage content, the WP:USERPAGE guidelines state
- I'm not too convinced that it warrants removal. Yes, we shouldn't encourage it, but it is their user page. If you don't trust the link, don't click on it. It's far easier to IP log/do something malicious with domains with similar names, like the one in this blogpost 0xDeadbeef→∞ (talk to me) 11:22, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- The rickroll and use of the word mod, along with the retaliatory blanking and some other purposeful incoherence, indicates a relatively inexperienced user here more familiar with the norms of other sites/forums. Nothing malicious stands out, but I'm not sure what the benefit of allowing obscured external links is. CMD (talk) 15:40, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Wikipedia doesn't block VPNs as a general rule. We block connections that are used abusively, which does tend to converge on "all VPNs" at long enough timescales, but no networks are blocked (by Wikipedia) from reading, and trusted editors with a legitimate need to use anonymizers to edit can request IP block exemption. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 16:23, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- You sure? It's my understanding that we do mass block known VPN IP addresses. User:ST47ProxyBot comes to mind. This happens both at the enwiki level and at the global level. Before I became an admin, when I forgot to turn off my VPN, I was usually unable to edit. –Novem Linguae (talk) 19:07, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- I often use a VPN. As for the editor, interesting filter log. Also edit warring. Doug Weller talk 19:35, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Note that administrators automatically get exempted from IP autoblocks, so any blocks on the VPN IP address wouldn't affect an administrator. 0xDeadbeef→∞ (talk to me) 01:50, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
Yes administrators are automatically granted Wikipedia:IP block exemption except for Tor, so aren't affected by VPN blocks unless editing from a non admin account or well Tor.
More generally, I agree with Novem Linguae here, we proactively hard block VPNs meaning without really requiring evidence for abuse or even use on Wikipedia because history has provided sufficient evidence they will be abused if someone finds one. I'm fairly sure that this includes stuff like colocation sites and webhosts even when we have no evidence that these are actually used for general purpose outgoing connections. Note also this can happen at both the en level and the global level, e.g. Meta:No open proxies and Meta:Apple iCloud Private Relay.
This doesn't mean every VPN IP is hardblocked, it depends on the efforts of those involved in blocking them, the availability of data and whether we have access, etc. (I think sometimes we've paid for that data but don't quote me on that.) So even without IPBE you might find you're editing from an address not yet blocked depending on the service you use. And I'm sure people tend to make much more of an effort when there has been abuse. So while abuse is involved in whether something is blocked in several ways, it's not a specific prerequisite for any block.
While some of these efforts are newish coming significantly in response to the rise of P2P proxies [6] [7] [8], I don't think it's accurate to say it's a new policy. It's really part of Wikipedia:Open proxies which as those blog posts mention go back to 2006.
I'm sure some of us remember when after long controversy over how to handle AOL addresses we hardblocked them indefinitely quickly once they became open proxies Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Archive63#Block of AOL ranges per m:Meta:No open proxies. This didn't last long as AOL began to use X-forwarded-for Wikipedia:AOL#December 2006 but I think it illustrates the point that we've always been willing to just hardblock such IPs.
Note that while we'd always had problems with AOL, I don't think there was any evidence it was worse from AOL. The problem was simply the shared IPs in a days where it was a lot less common made it difficult to deal with. And you can see in discussions about when they made AOL OpenRide available to anyone, the comments weren't we're seeing much more abuse because of this so we're hard blocking them indefinitely, but rather they're now open proxies so there's a potential for abuse so we're hard blocking them.
Also I'd add that even when not proactive, policy IMO often did affect how we handled such blocks. For example, if a sock used a different ISP, a library, whatever; we might block it for a short time or even not at all depending whether we expect the sock to come back to it and how many other good-faith editors might be affected by it. If a sock used an IP which we were fairly sure was an open proxy/VPN, AFAIK we'd generally hardblock it for a long time no matter whether we saw thousands of other edits from this IP with no evidence that any of them were abusive and whether we expected the sock to continue to use it.
(This would also depend on the specific admin, I'm sure a bunch didn't and of course many wouldn't have realised it was a proxy. But the point is if some admin did do so, I don't think there was much room for challenge with the open proxy/VPN except for claiming it wasn't one. In other words, both for the originally blocking admin and for any review, the key question would not be 'evidence for abuse' but 'evidence that this was indeed an open proxy/VPN or webhost, colocation site etc'. If an admin did it with the other IP, they'd need to be able to demonstrate some reason why it was necessary or this block was likely to be reduced or reversed if challenged.)
As reflected in the blog posts and discussions about iCloud's VPN, Meta:Talk:Apple iCloud Private Relay and Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Archive334#Upcoming Apple's iCloud Private Relay (sort-of VPN), there has been some talk about whether we should change how we handle things but so far this hasn't happened. Indeed the prediction that iCloud's service would force some change or lead to lots of complaints doesn't really seem to true. (Actually as pointed out in that discussion, T-Mobile issues while not open proxy related are arguably a bigger deal.)
Even the prediction it would lead to everyone doing it is somewhat unclear. While Google does seem to be implementing something, it's not clear AFAIK whether it would actually apply to Wikipedia. It sounds like Google's efforts are only targeted at known trackers i.e. Facebook etc so I'm not sure they'd relay traffic to our servers.
IMO if there is a change and we stop proactively hardblocking VPNs, it's likely to come from when we start to hide IPs and the tools etc that were developed for that.
- Note that administrators automatically get exempted from IP autoblocks, so any blocks on the VPN IP address wouldn't affect an administrator. 0xDeadbeef→∞ (talk to me) 01:50, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I often use a VPN. As for the editor, interesting filter log. Also edit warring. Doug Weller talk 19:35, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- You sure? It's my understanding that we do mass block known VPN IP addresses. User:ST47ProxyBot comes to mind. This happens both at the enwiki level and at the global level. Before I became an admin, when I forgot to turn off my VPN, I was usually unable to edit. –Novem Linguae (talk) 19:07, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
U4C ratification vote is open
Since it hasn't been properly mentioned yet on enwiki: the vote to ratify the U4C is now open until 23:59:59 on February 2nd. More information about the vote is available on Meta here.
The U4C, or Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee, is a co-equal body with other high-level decision making bodies (e.g. ArbComs and AffCom). Its purpose is to serve as final recourse in the case of systemic failures by local groups to enforce the UCoC
. [1]
As a reminder of the timeline, the Universal Code of Conduct (UCOC) was approved by the Board in December 2020. In March 2022, the Enforcement Guidelines (EG) for the UCOC was subject to a Wikimedia-wide vote. The vote only passed with 57% support, which was recognized as too low, and the guidelines were subsequently amended, passing a second vote in January 2023 with 76% support. This current vote ratifies the policy establishing a committee to investigate failures to enforce the UCOC. Giraffer (talk) 09:46, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Perhaps a watchlist notification? BilledMammal (talk) 15:50, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- I have requested one here. RamzyM (WMF) (talk) 11:49, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- A notification was posted at Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous)#Vote on the Charter for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee on January 19. isaacl (talk) 22:46, 21 January 2024 (UTC)
- Is there any venue where people are discussing the pros and the cons? Cullen328 (talk) 00:34, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'd be interested in this as well. A summary of the UCOC's goals and motivations and effects by someone I trust and in a concise way would be very helpful. Is it just "oh we need a code of conduct like all the other FOSS websites on the internet"? Or is there an actual need for something like this, for example, if there is a lot of anarchy on smaller wikis and the stewards are requesting it? I really have no idea, and metawiki pages are not always very decipherable in how they are written. –Novem Linguae (talk) 11:11, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Some of the UCoC came out of FRAM, where the lack of global expectations was one of the many shortcomings of the WMF, some of it came from the 2030 strategic plan, and some of it came from the experience of volunteers, particularly on small wikis. The UCoC was adopted by the board without any direct community ratification. That was then followed by the Enforcment Guidelines to say how the UCoC would actuallly be enforced, whose history Giraffer noted opening this discussion. One element of the enforcement guidelines was the establishment of the U4C, whose charter is now being discussed and voted upon. Pros/cons of the charter (what Cullen suggested) would be pretty different than the UCoC because they're trying to do different things. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 20:01, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- There has been ongoing discussion since last year at meta:Special:MyLanguage/Talk:Universal Code of Conduct/Coordinating Committee/Charter. isaacl (talk) 17:08, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'd be interested in this as well. A summary of the UCOC's goals and motivations and effects by someone I trust and in a concise way would be very helpful. Is it just "oh we need a code of conduct like all the other FOSS websites on the internet"? Or is there an actual need for something like this, for example, if there is a lot of anarchy on smaller wikis and the stewards are requesting it? I really have no idea, and metawiki pages are not always very decipherable in how they are written. –Novem Linguae (talk) 11:11, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Ah! Well given that I was actively looking for an announcement and couldn't find it, the added visibility here is probably for the better. Giraffer (talk) 08:03, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Just as a note (and not to preclude the posting of further notifications in other places), the miscellaneous village pump is typically where the WMF posts notifications of general interest to the English Wikipedia community. This practice pre-dates the deployment of the WMF village pump, and shortly after its deployment, the WMF said it would continue to use the village pump page of greatest relevance or other specialized venues, as it felt that would reach the widest audience. isaacl (talk) 17:02, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- Is there any venue where people are discussing the pros and the cons? Cullen328 (talk) 00:34, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- I will note the U4C is explicitly not a global arbcom and has equal mandates to investigate failures to enforce the UCoC and to do training and community building so those failures don't happen and so enforcement can be done at a local rather than global level. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 05:36, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- What it is, what it isn't, that is the question — rhetorical: the answer is vague, disconcerting. El_C 06:53, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
References
- ^ As defined in the UCOC Enforcement Guidelines
AngelicDevil29 requests unblock
@ UTRS appeal #83752 The blocking admin, User:Yamaguchi先生, has not edited since July and has not replied to my emails. I'm inclined to unblock, but I'm supposed to consult the blocking admin. But i can't-- Deepfriedokra (talk) 08:38, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse unblocking. My opinion in such cases is that you attempted to contact the blocking admin and gave a reasonable amount of time for them to respond. In cases like this where the user didn't have substantial behavioural problems, I think it's fine to just go ahead and lift the block. I'm not sure my position is supported by policy, and I'd certainly take to the community any request I thought likely to be contentious. Still, it's hard enough to unblock people without making it much more difficult if the blocking admin is no longer around. --Yamla (talk) 10:48, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Policy's demands are actually pretty narrow, recommending
if likely to be objected to, where the administrator is presently available, a brief discussion with the administrator whose action is challenged
(internal parentheses removed). The way I've interpreted that in unblocking is that if an unblock is obviously not objectionable (e.g. undoing a username softblock after rename), no notice is required at all; and if it is, it's enough to wait a few days after an initial ping/talkpage message/email. -- Tamzin[cetacean needed] (they|xe) 06:11, 23 January 2024 (UTC)- I tend to think that way too, but the other side of the coin is WP:BLOCKPOL#Unblock requests,
If the blocking administrator is not available...then a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard is recommended.
Maybe that needs to be reworded: generally speaking I think WP:RAAA's standard is high enough for this sort of thing. Extraordinary Writ (talk) 07:08, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I tend to think that way too, but the other side of the coin is WP:BLOCKPOL#Unblock requests,
- Policy's demands are actually pretty narrow, recommending
- Concur with Yamla - you made the attempt. Let's proceed. - UtherSRG (talk) 13:36, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Assuming you don't mean that you emailed them ten minutes ago, yeah, go for it. Admins don't own their blocks - if you made a reasonable effort to contact the blocking admin and didn't get a response then proceed how you think best. Don't do that if it's a functionary block, of course. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 16:17, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks, y'all. I will proceed. -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 16:41, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- It's a courtesy, but we're not magicians. Adding to the pile on of endorsing proceeding without waiting further. Star Mississippi 17:33, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse from a "commoner". Buffs (talk) 19:22, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
Can someone mass-revert my edits?
I was using AWB to change spellings from "focused" to "focussed" and then realised that I misread the source that I was using. The change that I was making was incorrect. Is there a tool to mass-revert these changes? There's about 70 of them. —Panamitsu (talk) 09:56, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Panamitsu
Done where you had the latest revision. Might be worth double checking to make sure everything looks right. WindTempos (talk • contribs) 10:23, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks! There were two edits that were incorrectly reverted but I've easily fixed them. —Panamitsu (talk) 11:00, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Ah oops, sorry about those, I hadn't clocked the edits with bigger changes. Glad I could help in any case. WindTempos (talk • contribs) 11:13, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks! There were two edits that were incorrectly reverted but I've easily fixed them. —Panamitsu (talk) 11:00, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
Close Review requested for RFC at Talk:Donald Trump
Requesting a review of the close of this RFC (with parent discussion here), by Vanderwaalforces. The underlying content debate was whether or not we should include a single sentence mention of the Abraham Accords article in the 'Foreign policy' section of Donald Trump.
There were many issues with the closer's rationale, which I pointed out to them at their Talk page (please see the link, as I don't want to reproduce all of that here). Cessaune agreed that many of my concerns were valid, and said they would've closed the discussion as "no consensus." Iamreallygoodatcheckers also mentioned they thought a "no consensus" close was more appropriate. In response, Vanderwaalforces said they would re-review the discussion and amend their close. After 4 days of no changes to the close, and no replies from Vanderwaals despite active editing, they said they'd "changed their mind" and wouldn't be engaging with the close review.
One of the more salient points about the original discussion: Of the editors who made reasonable attempts in the discussion, 13 voiced Support for the proposal and 9 voice Opposition. I know RFCs aren't a vote, but there was no policy-based reason to rule this discussion on the side of the minority. In addition, more users than myself have questioned the closer about their rationale on their talk page, and they've hardly responded at all. I think at a minimum, this close needs to be overturned; and ideally, someone can find it in their heart to re-close it. PhotogenicScientist (talk) 20:08, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
RFC non-participants (Trump RFC)
- Overturn This clearly falls under the purview of POTUS and, in that role, it was notable. A single sentence does not surpass WP:UNDUE. Moreover, the !votes seem to be clearly in favor. As I've stated at other RfC results, while it isn't vote counting, you cannot seriously look at something with a 3:2 majority opinion and conclude that consensus is the opposite is incorrect. It would be much more appropriate to say "no consensus". Without doing so, you are literally giving the minority the authority of the majority. While we are not a democracy, deciding an outcome like this and siding with the minority as a "consensus" is antithetical to general western principles when assessing what the "consensus" is. To be blunt, the closer of this decided "these arguments were better", not "what was the consensus in the discussion". Buffs (talk) 22:22, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- I didn't !vote and I don't wish to speak for those who did. But I'm fairly certain the UNDUE arguments were about increasing the subsection's word count by
52%.52%. Anyway, per Wikipedia:Closing discussions#Challenging other closures, closure reviewshould not be used as an opportunity to re-argue the underlying dispute
– even for uninvolved editors. ―Mandruss ☎ 23:03, 22 January 2024 (UTC) (Last sentence improperly inserted after reply, per REDACT.) ―Mandruss ☎ 04:24, 23 January 2024 (UTC)- If that was in fact their argument, it's not a very good one - the 'Israel' subsection two sentences long. In the broader scope of the article, the proposal would've resulted in a 0.069% expansion of the Presidency section, and a 0.036% expansion of the article. PhotogenicScientist (talk) 22:52, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Agree to disagree on that. I think DUE can apply within the context of a single subsection. Per sources, how significant are the Accords compared to what's already there? Significant enough to justify a 52% increase? Maybe, maybe not. I have no opinion, just saying it's a very legitimate argument. ―Mandruss ☎ 23:13, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- If that was in fact their argument, it's not a very good one - the 'Israel' subsection two sentences long. In the broader scope of the article, the proposal would've resulted in a 0.069% expansion of the Presidency section, and a 0.036% expansion of the article. PhotogenicScientist (talk) 22:52, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- I didn't !vote and I don't wish to speak for those who did. But I'm fairly certain the UNDUE arguments were about increasing the subsection's word count by
- Overturn. While I have some reservations about the specific wording of the RfC, a majority of the oppose !votes related to the fact that the Accords were criticized or that they were deemed unsuccessful. These should have been given less weight, not more. The support !votes were backed by reliable sources, while the oppose !votes were not. A more pressing issue is that the WP:BLUDGEONING was allowed to get as bad as it was, including a few editors for and against who picked fights with a significant number of !voters who they disagreed with and are continuing to bludgeon at User talk:Vanderwaalforces#Close at Trump. A lot of the discussion was stifled by this, making any sort of consensus impossible. It should have been brought to ANI a month ago, and it's still ongoing. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 21:41, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- concur Buffs (talk) 22:27, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- uninvolved Comment: I am concerned that the close focused on how the various arguments convinced the closer, rather than how they convinced other editors in the discussion. Weight should be assigned based on reasonable application of policy by those responding and supporting sourcing, rather than which content argument the closer found better. A close against a 60% majority should focus on why the policy based arguments of the minority were sufficient to not only override a rough consensus by the numbers, but to swing consensus to the minority. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 23:01, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn (uninvolved): I basically agree with Thebiguglyalien and Buffs. I count a 12/10 support/oppose vote count. This I'd normally read as a "no consensus", but especially strong arguments on one side or the other could sway it, especially towards support as support has the slim majority. The closer instead swung towards oppose, and I read the oppose arguments as actually particularly weak for the reason Thebiguglyalien and Buffs listed above: the Accords being criticized or unsuccessful is not a policy-based reason not to include a mention of them. That Trump's personal involvement in them was relatively slight is slightly stronger, but not good as we regularly include information about things an administration did in the articles about presidents, and Trump's administration definitely did do a lot of the work on the Accords per the sources. Personally I would have closed as a rough consensus for inclusion, and I see a no consensus close as also very reasonable, but not a consensus for exclusion. Loki (talk) 23:06, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn to no consensus to include. That close simply doesn't reflect the discussion that gave rise to it. There was certainly not a consensus to exclude; and I would say that consensus to include has a higher than normal bar in that case, because of WP:ONUS and the sheer number of times that similar ideas have been rejected on that talk page in the past.—S Marshall T/C 23:19, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- I don't think I'm involved. I do recall editing that talk page once, when I closed this RfC, but I don't recall ever participating as an editor.—S Marshall T/C 23:22, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Overturn to include (uninvolved) basically agree with the comments of the other overturn voters so I won't repeat them in detail. In sum, the support side should have been given more weight as their sources applied WP:BALASP and were better-quality sources as well, as can be seen from the examples in the closing statement. The oppose side focused more on the significance of the event itself rather than on whether the event was a significant-enough aspect of Trump's presidency to mention in his wikibio (and no policy suggests it needs to be a unique or defining aspect to be included -- WP:BALASP says something different); these are weak arguments that should result in downweighing of votes. So after weighing the votes, the majority is stronger than the numbers suggest. Also the bludgeoning and general hostility in the pre-RFC, RFC, and post-RFC closer's talk page discussion was really noticeable. WP:CCC, there was nothing procedurally wrong with the RFC. Levivich (talk) 01:19, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- Comment I'm surprised that I seem to be the first person to note this, but shouldn't the IP's comment have been struck or even removed? While the general topic of Donald Trump is fine, the RfC seems to be clearly related to the Arab-Israeli conflict, I mean the lead of Abraham Accords says "
The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization
". And even if we put aside one of the countries being call United Arab Emirates, there are several editors who refer to Arab countries (or similar) and Israel in their reply. The IP's comment is clearly not an edit request. So I don't quite get why people not only failed to strike their comments or at least note they shouldn't be participating but were even replying to them (directly or indirectly). I don't think it makes a difference to the result, as they look to be the only non extended confirmed editor involved but still let's remember there's a reason why arbcom decided to limit non extended confirmed editors from participating in anything related the conflict besides edit requests and so we should generally enforce it especially at this time and in a case where it so clearly relates to the conflict as this. (Note while the discussion relates to stuff before the recent extreme flareup in the conflict, the IP specifically brought up the flareup.) Nil Einne (talk) 05:05, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
RFC participants (Trump RFC)
- (involved) Overturn close - The close has two parts to it: a summary of both sides and a decision rationale. The former is mostly good from my reading with the exception of a couple problems, mentioned by PhotogenicScientist at User talk:Vanderwaalforces. The main issue with this close is the decision rationale where they conclude there to be a consensus against including the Abraham Accords. They sum it as "
The opponents have provided more convincing and substantiated reasons for their position, and have addressed the points raised by the supporters more effectively
." This is not about number of arguments per se or even how many were rebutted; though, it should be pointed out that the discussion demonstrated that the support side was far more diligent on addressing the points made by the oppose side. PhotogenicScientist also addressed this well when they said: "Just from a quick scan of the discussion, for votes that were ANSWERED in some way, 2 were Supports and 8 were Opposes; for votes that went largely UNANSWERED, 8 were Supports and 1 was an Oppose. How on earth do you look at that discussion, and think that the Oppose voters are being more responsive and receptive to discussion?
Anyway the rest of the meat of their decision rationale are based on (1) WP:WEIGHT in scope of the size of the article and (2) demonstration of personal relevance. Firstly, both of these points are fairly subjective and lie in the gray areas of content decision making; so for a closer to find a consensus for the minority position (the vote was 13 support, 9 oppose), the minority reasoning should be clearly superior or proof that the majority was not within policy and guideline. Ultimately, both sides provided reasonable and policy/guideline-grounded arguments with reliable sourcing. The WEIGHT argument is weak since the one sentence proposed is so negligible to the totality of the article, and frankly any true decision based on the subjective personal relevance to Trump is not a evenhanded decision-making its a super vote, especially when made against the will of the majority. Iamreallygoodatcheckers talk 20:57, 22 January 2024 (UTC)- well-stated Buffs (talk) 22:28, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse as it appears to be just WP:IDONTLIKEIT. ValarianB (talk) 21:01, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Did you actually read any of the points I made at their talk page? Would you like to answer to at least one of them? PhotogenicScientist (talk) 21:02, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- Really? This bears no similarity to the examples at WP:IDONTLIKEIT. ―Mandruss ☎ 21:12, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- I concur Buffs (talk) 22:24, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- The irony is that this endorse vote does bear a similarity to the examples at WP:IDONTLIKEIT. Levivich (talk) 01:09, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- It would appear that ValarianB !voted against an argument that they didn't read on the basis of an essay that they haven't read. LEPRICAVARK (talk) 04:46, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- it would appear there's a gaggle of hens clucking about opinions they do not like. be better, as our former first lady once aid. ValarianB (talk) 16:11, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- In your defense, dismissing all contrary input as some form of 'IDONTLIKEIT' is much easier than crafting a well-reasoned response. That is, as long as you don't care about being taken seriously. LEPRICAVARK (talk) 21:08, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- Be careful what you link to, Grasshopper, lest you shoot down your own argument. ―Mandruss ☎ 21:39, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- it would appear there's a gaggle of hens clucking about opinions they do not like. be better, as our former first lady once aid. ValarianB (talk) 16:11, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- The 3rd option IMO the close was within a closer's discretion, but S. Marshall's point above is quite reasonable, as there is clearly no consensus to include. If we want to re-close it that way I'd find that acceptable. The fact that the proposed addition has perennially failed to gain consensus is important. Zaathras (talk) 23:39, 22 January 2024 (UTC)
- As Zaathras has said, there was clearly no consensus to include -- so this review is about a distinction without a difference. SPECIFICO talk 03:04, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- So, you now think this "very thorough and thoughtful" close was in fact closed incorrectly? Intriguing.
- You know full well at least one major difference between a close of "no consensus" versus "consensus against": This item would then not go on that article's "Consensus items" list. PhotogenicScientist (talk) 03:54, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- There's nothing in my brief comment above to suggest that I think the poll was closed incorrectly. As numerous editors have already stated, per WP:ONUS, it is immaterial whether there was a "consensus to omit" or "no consensus to include." I don't see any policy-based criticisms of the close here, just unsupported rehash of the RfC question, minus the discussion of sourcing and context. SPECIFICO talk 14:45, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I mean, you said
there was clearly no consensus to include
and the discussion was closed as there is consensus, so. PhotogenicScientist (talk) 14:57, 23 January 2024 (UTC)- I stated, above, no consensus to include. That is not inconsistent with the close of consensus not to include. Is that clearer now? SPECIFICO talk 16:50, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I see - you actually don't think the discussion should've been closed as no consensus to include, and instead maintain that the close of consensus to exclude was correct. Thanks for clarifying. PhotogenicScientist (talk) 18:48, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I did not say that. Please don't put words into other editors' mouths. I'm confident my words initially (and as clarified in response to your ) are sufficient. My point was/is that this review is pointless. SPECIFICO talk 20:32, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I too found your explanation confusing with respect to the previous discussion. Rephrasing it is one way to clarify your intent. I'm still not 100% sure on your meaning. If there is "no consensus to include" (as you're stating) that is indeed different from the conclusion by the closing admin which was "The consensus is against the proposal". There is indeed a difference. One says there is general agreement it should be excluded. The other is that there is no agreement on inclusion. While both result in the information not being included, one states the community says "don't include it" (affirmative) and the other says "eh, we don't agree on this" (inconclusive). The latter is MUCH easier to overcome in a later discussion ("We finally have agreement!" vs "Now we have two results that conflict"). Buffs (talk) 16:32, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- I did not say that. Please don't put words into other editors' mouths. I'm confident my words initially (and as clarified in response to your ) are sufficient. My point was/is that this review is pointless. SPECIFICO talk 20:32, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I see - you actually don't think the discussion should've been closed as no consensus to include, and instead maintain that the close of consensus to exclude was correct. Thanks for clarifying. PhotogenicScientist (talk) 18:48, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I stated, above, no consensus to include. That is not inconsistent with the close of consensus not to include. Is that clearer now? SPECIFICO talk 16:50, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- I mean, you said
- There's nothing in my brief comment above to suggest that I think the poll was closed incorrectly. As numerous editors have already stated, per WP:ONUS, it is immaterial whether there was a "consensus to omit" or "no consensus to include." I don't see any policy-based criticisms of the close here, just unsupported rehash of the RfC question, minus the discussion of sourcing and context. SPECIFICO talk 14:45, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- As Zaathras has said, there was clearly no consensus to include -- so this review is about a distinction without a difference. SPECIFICO talk 03:04, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
- (involved) "No consensus" is probably the least objectionable close option, but for some bizarre reason the editor chose to force a consensus where there wasn't one. Plus they didn't correctly weigh many of opposition votes which were quite poor. It's disappointing the closer didn't reflect and change this close. I would recommend someone else close it. Nemov (talk) 19:48, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
Help for deceased Wikipedian
Kittybrewster was a delightful and valued contributor, a proper gentleman (I say this as an alumnus of a thousand-year-old school). As a relative of James Arbuthnot, involved in the Horizon scandal, his page is getting some views, but Talk is infested with semi-automated notices. Would some kind soul please help with archiving? I am rusty on this stuff, having edited only rarely since the Before Times. Thanks much, Guy (help! - typo?) 01:10, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- I did some work on this and I think it's in better shape now. Hope it helps. –Novem Linguae (talk) 01:40, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- I'm surprised I don't see a red-dashed underline under that name. —Jéské Couriano v^_^v Source assessment notes 04:06, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
The C of E tban appeal
This is an appeal about my tban from WP:DYK ( ruling here). It has been over 2 years since the ban was created and I have obeyed the decision of the community. I would like to request if I can be permitted to return to DYK under the previous restrictions that I had been under prior (banned from nominating any hooks related to British or Irish politics, Religion, and LGBTQ topics and any user can veto a hook proposed by me).
I sincerely apologise for my actions at DYK that resulted in this. I recognise the harm it did to the community and to users and I am deeply sorry for it. If I am permitted to return, I give my solemn undertaking that I will not return to what I was and ensure that hooks are only created for the betterment of Wikipedia as a whole rather than for any POV on my part. In my time away, I have worked on creating several articles and been involved more in WP:ITN to show I can be a more productive member of the community and not the disruptive, immature POV pusher that I was. I wish to help also with the building of DYK sets and also be able to assist members of the project with any concerns they may have. The C of E God Save the King! (talk) 11:16, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- I think the ban came out of juvenile behaviour (childish double-entrendres and the like) rather than POV-pushing. I guess to lift it comments from others on whether they have seen any re-occurrence of this over the last 2 years would be relevant. I haven't, but I haven't gone looking. DeCausa (talk) 12:25, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- @DeCausa: Yes, I worded it wrong so I have clarified by rewording by adding "immature" to the above. The C of E God Save the King! (talk) 13:23, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- @The C of E: Can you please list your previous appeals of this ban, so that editors can see the full context? – Joe (talk) 12:42, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Of course @Joe Roe: 1 and 2 of this one. The C of E God Save the King! (talk) 13:02, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
report on sock
டாக்டர் வா.செ.செல்வம் (talk · contribs · logs) has a sock தென்னை மருத்துவர் (talk · contribs · logs) and it is good to delete both users' edits as they are promotional. Both are blocked in ta.wiki. I report for admin intervention. AntanO 14:33, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Draft:Coco Doctor V C Selvam is already deleted from his edits. --AntanO 14:37, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
Closure review for RFC at Talk:Lucy Letby
Following BilledMammal's close of Talk:Lucy Letby#RFC on Lead sentence, they responded to objections and another draft text with "I suggest that editors discuss it informally here, and if there is clear agreement that D is more suitable than C then switch to it; otherwise, remain with C. If you're not certain whether there is clear agreement, please ping me again and I'll be happy to assess in the context of the RfC."
[9] An editor has now opened a subsection with another option, Talk:Lucy Letby#Option 4, pinging previous participants and saying "Please review the above close and following discussion about Option 4."
[10]
Would it be more appropriate to overturn the close and re-open the RFC so that the new proposal can be considered within it, formally assessed and closed? Should the close be reviewed here? Or what?
(Disclosure: the close found that neither option A nor B had consensus and that something I'd written but not proposed did represent consensus, which was unexpected, flattering even, but I'm more worried about how we establish and respect consensus, especially when feelings are strong, than I am about my text.) NebY (talk) 19:23, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- The new version of the lead is within the scope of the close and was created by Jfire who endorsed the close. If that version doesn't find consensus then the version adopted by BilledMammal will remain. I don't understand why you brought this topic up here. Nemov (talk) 19:40, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- "Option 4" isn't in accord with the close and isn't the "Option D" that the closer referred to in comments afterwards. It's irrelevant that its drafter endorsed the close. The invention of a new way to review and modify RFCs is problematic and uninvolved guidance would be welcome. NebY (talk) 20:33, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- This is why I asked you what your specific objection was because Option 4 is a variant of Option D. I mistakenly labeled it 4 (I was going to fix it, but you linked to it here so it'll break links) in the new survey, but it's where the discussion about D ended up. If you don't like D/4 just oppose it. Bringing it here is a waste of time. Nemov (talk) 20:43, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- My 2¢: even though I endorsed it, I agree that the nature of the close was not typical of RFC closures, and I would welcome some guidance from fresh eyes about how to best proceed. I did draft the variant that's now receiving discussion and agree that it's within the scope of the close, but as I wrote on the talk page, I am also sympathetic to the argument that we should let the matter sit for a while, letting the wording from the RFC closure stand for now. Happy to accept doing that if it's the consensus on how to best proceed. Jfire (talk) 20:44, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- "Option 4" isn't in accord with the close and isn't the "Option D" that the closer referred to in comments afterwards. It's irrelevant that its drafter endorsed the close. The invention of a new way to review and modify RFCs is problematic and uninvolved guidance would be welcome. NebY (talk) 20:33, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- I don't see a problem with either BilledMammal's close or with discussing a new proposal right after it. Consensus can change, sometimes quickly. – Joe (talk) 21:32, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- It's a bit of an "odd close" (and by the way I'm not sure characterising it as "the close found that neither option A nor B had consensus" is quite right: BM found "there is a clear numerical majority for A, and A is not incompatible with policy"...aka rough consensus). There's maybe an argument that there was a super-vote for an unsupported half-proposal. But, meh, on reflection (I supported option A in the RfC), the close was not unreasonable, let's move on. DeCausa (talk) 22:59, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
Unblock decline review Raja Atizaz Ahmed Kiyani
Raja Atizaz Ahmed Kiyani (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · page moves · block user · block log)
I'd've posted to Wikipedia:Administrator review, but it's inactive. User contends I declined his unblock because I'm friends with the blocking admin. I'm afraid that's not the case, but he saw this conversation on my talk page with @Bbb23:, and came to that conclusion. .
The dif's for the decline and discussion is HERE. Please review my decline for the sake of keeping everything above board and in order. (Yamla removed TPA, so replies might be hard.) Thanks, -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 22:04, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse but, Wikipedia:Administrative action review, let's go! El_C 22:16, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks, I think that's what I was looking for though. It's hard to tell using this damn phone -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 22:57, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Hey, I have +10K blocks and +10K protections and I only became aware of it the other week. But a forum is a forum, I suppose. So long as people know it exists! El_C 23:01, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- And Joe Roe just closed it. Unlucky. Oh well. Can't fairly represent em all. But I agree that this is a nothing-burger. El_C 23:16, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Hey, I have +10K blocks and +10K protections and I only became aware of it the other week. But a forum is a forum, I suppose. So long as people know it exists! El_C 23:01, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks, I think that's what I was looking for though. It's hard to tell using this damn phone -- Deepfriedokra (talk) 22:57, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse We can handle it here, or there, but we are already here. Pretty easy case to review and the actions by all admins involved seem pretty run of the mill standard for a disruptive sockpuppet. Dennis Brown 2¢ 22:58, 24 January 2024 (UTC)
- Endorse The editor did not make a convincing case to be unblocked, and their assumption that two administrators are friends just because one made a quip in a discussion with the other is pretty strange. I try to be friendly with other administrators but only a handful are actually friends. The evidence would have to be much stronger than a brief joke about jump starting a car. Cullen328 (talk) 07:05, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
Arbitration enforcement action appeal by Crash48
Procedural notes: The rules governing arbitration enforcement appeals are found here. According to the procedures, a "clear and substantial consensus of uninvolved administrators" is required to overturn an arbitration enforcement action.
To help determine any such consensus, involved editors may make brief statements in separate sections but should not edit the section for discussion among uninvolved editors. Editors are normally considered involved if they are in a current dispute with the sanctioning or sanctioned editor, or have taken part in disputes (if any) related to the contested enforcement action. Administrators having taken administrative actions are not normally considered involved for this reason alone (see WP:UNINVOLVED).
- Appealing user
- Crash48 (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log) – Crash48 (talk) 11:00, 25 January 2024 (UTC)
- Sanction being appealed
- Topic ban from Ukrainian language, imposed at Special:PermanentLink/1192419798#Rsk6400
- Administrator imposing the sanction
- Callanecc (talk · contribs · blocks · protections · deletions · page moves · rights · RfA)
- Notification of that administrator
- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=1198915963
Statement by Crash48
The reason for TBAN was as follows: Crash48's contributions to the mediation are filled with sections where they demonstrate a battleground mentality. For example Third statement and Fourth statement. <...> Both editors also engaged in (slow) edit warring at the Ukrainian language article.
Callanecc further explained at his talk page that Engaging in discussion where you have a focus on 'winning' and instead of discussing content you focus on the conduct of other editors isn't compatitible with the collaborative nature of the project.
First of all, WP:DRNC#How to respond to a "no consensus" edit summary advises, upon not receiving any response on the talk page from the revertor within a few days, to reapply the change, prior to taking the dispute to other forums. This recommended course of action that I followed was nevertheless assessed by Callanecc to amount to "slow edit warring".
More importantly, one can clearly see that my contributions to the mediation, including the two statements selected by Callanecc as a "demonstration of a battleground mentality", were focussed on the disputed content and not on the conduct of other editors. In particular, during the mediation I wrote a draft for the section that the other party suggested creating but never contributed even a single edit to. At the same time, none of Rsk6400's contributions to the mediation related to the disputed content. Noting this, the moderator Robert McClenon warned him several times that failing the mediation is likely to result in TBAN(s). Contrary to Callanecc's assessment that I was "threatening" Rsk6400, the warnings about the possible sanctions for non-participation in a discussion of the content originated not from myself but from the moderator (and rightly so).
Rsk6400 ignored the moderator's warnings until his eleventh statement, when he wrote: You never accused me of anything specific that might merit a topic ban.
In response to that, I specified the relevant accusations against Rsk6400, so as to explain why the prospect of sanctions is real, and urged him to avoid an ANI case by engaging in a discussion of the content. Contrary to Callanecc's assessment of this as "a focus on winning", one can clearly see that it was exactly the opposite: trying to avert an imminent mediation failure and follow-up sanctions on any of the participants.
Some background of the content dispute can be found at User talk:Robert McClenon#Ukrainian language where I asked him for advice on how to deal with Rsk6400's unwillingness to explain his opposition against my additions into the article. Robert McClenon's advice was to go to DRN and open a case request. When the other editors decline to participate, I can accept the case as a one-person request for an RFC. If anyone accepts the case, then we will have moderated discussion.
While Callanecc is correct when he comments that Mediation isn't mandatory, editors can choose not to participate
, Rsk6400 accepting a mediation as an alternative to an RFC, then refusing to participate in the moderated discussion of the content, was a clearly bad faith attempt to obstruct an RFC on the content dispute.
I posted the RFC immediately after the mediation failed, as advised by Robert McClenon; but the TBAN imposed on me precludes my participation in my own RFC. While Callanecc is correct when he comments that the other party also receieved a sanction for their conduct
, the imposed TBAN effectively endorses Rsk6400's stonewalling of the content dispute, by suppressing discussion of the content that Rsk6400 didn't want to discuss in the first place.
Statement by Callanecc
Statement by (involved editor 1)
Statement by (involved editor 2)
Discussion among uninvolved editors about the appeal by Crash48
Statements must be made in separate sections. They may not exceed 500 words and 20 diffs, except by permission of a reviewing administrator.
Administrators may remove or shorten noncompliant statements. Disruptive contributions may result in blocks.
Statement by (uninvolved editor 1)
Statement by (uninvolved editor 2)
Result of the appeal by Crash48
- This section is to be edited only by uninvolved administrators. Comments by others will be moved to the sections above.