MediaWiki talk:Spam-whitelist

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Beetstra (talk | contribs) at 07:22, 8 January 2014 (→‎www.mapsofworld.com/country-profile/swaziland.html: re, consider added.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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    The Spam-whitelist page is used in conjunction with the Mediawiki SpamBlacklist extension, and lists strings of text that override Meta's blacklist and the local spam-blacklist. Any administrator can edit the spam whitelist. Please post comments to the appropriate section below: Proposed additions (web pages to unblock), Proposed removals (sites to reblock), or Troubleshooting and problems; read the messageboxes at the top of each section for an explanation. See also MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist.

    Please enter your requests at the bottom of the Proposed additions to Whitelist section and not at the very bottom of the page. Sign your requests with four tildes: ~~~~

    Also in your request, please include the following:

    1. The link that you want whitelisted in the section title, like === example.com/help/index.php === .
    2. The Wikipedia page on which you want to use the link
    3. An explanation why it would be useful to the encyclopedia article proper
    4. If the site you're requesting is listed at /Common requests, please include confirmation that you have read the reason why requests regarding the site are commonly denied and that you still desire to proceed with your request

    Important: You must provide a full link to the specific web page you want to be whitelisted (leave out the http:// from the front; otherwise you will not be able to save your edit to this page). Requests quoting only a domain (i.e. ending in .com or similar with nothing after the / character) are likely to be denied. If you wish to have a site fully unblocked please visit the relevant section of MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist.

    Note: Do not request links to be whitelisted where you can reasonably suspect that the material you want to link to is in violation of copyright (see WP:LINKVIO). Such requests will likely be summarily rejected.

    There is no automated notification system in place for the results of requests, and you will not be notified when your request has a response. You should therefore add this page to your personal watch list, to your notifications through the subscribe feature, or check back here every few days to see if there is any progress on it; in particular, you should check whether administrators have raised any additional queries or expressed any concerns about the request, as failure to reply to these promptly will generally result in the request being denied.

    Completed requests are archived, additions and removal are logged. →snippet for logging: {{/request|589727810#section_name}}

    Note that requests from new or unregistered users are not usually considered.

    Admins: Use seth's tool to search the spamlists.

    Indicators
    Request completed:
     Done {{Done}}
     Stale {{StaleIP}}
     Request withdrawn {{withdrawn}}
    Request declined:
    no Declined {{Declined}}
     Not done {{Notdone}}
    Information:
     Additional information needed {{MoreInfo}}
    information Note: {{TakeNote}}

    Notice to everyone about our Reliable sources and External links noticeboards

    If you have a source that you would like to add to the spam-whitelist, but you are uncertain that it meets Wikipedia's guideline on reliability, please ask for opinions on the Reliable sources noticeboard, to confirm that it does meet that guideline, before submitting your whitelisting request here. In your request, link to the confirming discussion on that noticeboard.

    Likewise, if you have an external link that you are uncertain meets Wikipedia's guideline on external links, please get confirmation on the External links noticeboard before submitting your whitelisting request here.

    If your whitelist request falls under one of these two categories, the admins will be more willing to have the source whitelisted if you can achieve consensus at one of the above noticeboards.

    Proposed additions to Whitelist (web pages to unblock)


    www.mapsofworld.com/country-profile/swaziland.html

    For the article Music of Swaziland (which I'm rewriting currently). I've found two citations for the article and although it remains generally intact without this site, its good to have multiple sources for information. Thanks, ReconditeRodent (talk) 00:39, 25 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    • Article started 16 September 2004 by an editor who primarily worked on music-related articles, who did not provide any references
    • No substantive content editing until the latest edit of 25 October 2013, by the whitelist requestor
    • Their edit summary said "added citations, previously article was just copy & paste from http://ringroundtheworld.org/content/swaziland-music"
    • They must have missed the disclaimer at the bottom that said "Please note that the primary source for the country resources on this website is Wikipedia."
    • So they unintentionally spammed the article. I removed the circular reference to a source which cited Wikipedia as their source — Wbm1058 (talk) 04:46, 8 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    • protection filter: mapsofworld.com - Wbm1058 (talk) 05:28, 8 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    • The reference is a short encyclopedia-like article with a paragraph on music. This would be the first reference for an otherwise citation-less article, and I confirm that the cited information is found in the source. Likely little here that would not be common knowledge for a native of the country.
    • The whitelist requestor seems to be a good-faith editor whose main focus is using WP:REFLINKS to fill in references. I'm wondering how efficient this tool is at finding Wikipedia mirrors and creating circular references. I've never used it. Wbm1058 (talk) 05:53, 8 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    • mapsofworld was blacklisted 16 October 2007, reason: Per request – Wbm1058 (talk) 06:08, 8 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    • MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist/log was started 15:30, 31 October 2007, so this blackllisting pre-dates that log. Wbm1058 (talk) 06:24, 8 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    • But there's always the request-history: special:permalink/164918652#Assorted spamming (diff)
    • Recommendation - whitelist as a valid, albeit very limited-value, source. Consider blacklist of ringroundtheworld.org to prevent circular referencing. See WP:CIRCULAR
    • Trust this is helpful, and I didn't spill any beans – Wbm1058 (talk) 06:46, 8 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    @Wbm1058:. Thanks for the analysis. Seen this, I'd think that I need to 'teach' you a couple of tricks (if you would like to help out more) - you've done a couple of things the 'long' way (I'll drop by on your talkpage).
    consider plus Added. --Dirk Beetstra T C 07:22, 8 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    www.vallenajerilla.com/legadomedievalnajera/librosbibliotecasnajera.htm

    vallenajerilla.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com I would like to add this Spanish-language page (title: Libros y librerías en la Rioja altomedieval) as a reference to Visigothic script. Eastmain (talk • contribs) 22:40, 29 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    filmgola.com/movie/

    filmgola.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    In Swamy Ra Ra, Prema Katha Chitram and many similar pages related to Telugu movies section, i have noticed that the information from this link can be very useful, as it contains reviews from various users around the world who follow telugu films. It gives us the accurate result about how the movie is received by audience and telugu movie critics in general and this information can be very useful under reception section of a telugu movie page. I have noticed the same kind of information is available for many English / Hollywood movies on their pages, but for telugu movies it is not. This is the only site that provides this kind of reliable information for telugu movies. Hence requesting to white list the movie url alone.

    I have read the details present in the /Common requests page. Raghusri (talk) 19:53, 31 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    cypress.com

    I would the four links above whitelisted for the page: List_of_common_microcontrollers#Cypress_Semiconductor. I understand that Cypress have behaved badly in the past and should stay blacklisted as a site, however, those links point to specific product pages that seem legit to me (and are relevant to the article). 00prometheus (talk) 17:05, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    museomagazine.com/DAN-GRAHAM

    museomagazine.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    I saw that that the Wikipedia article for the magazine had been deleted, with the mention that it had been part of a spam campaign. The article from the magazine is a specific, relevant and encyclopedic interview with Dan Graham, which I had attempted to add to his article as part of expanding his biography. As the link was tagged as being on the blacklist, the reference is still there with the link removed. This article would benefit from access to this link, as would the article for Winfield Township, New Jersey, where he had resided. I'm not sure that there is any residual issue with the website in its entirety and I would argue that the entire site should be removed from the blacklist, but for the purposes of this request I only seek to have access to this one page. Alansohn (talk) 19:35, 12 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    earlnoahbernsby.hubpages.com/hub/norman-p-rockwell-bio

    earlnoahbernsby.hubpages.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    I understand why HubPages was blacklisted as a whole, as it is a user generated content site and quality varies widely. However, the individual article cited is of high quality and contains proper citation for all facts presented. I feel that this article would provide a proper resolution to the "Citation Needed" for footnote no. 10 on the article Norman Rockwell. Bsr1980 (talk) 14:29, 13 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.scriptureearth.org/00i-Scripture_Index.php?sortby=lang&name=emp&ROD_Code=00000#

    scriptureearth.org: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    I'm working on the page for the Emberá people, in which I mention the bible translation into the Emberá language. In addition to citing the publication directly, I use this website as a gateway to sources of information about it, including sample readings.--Sublimesam (talk) 15:27, 17 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    archive.is/T5OAy

    archive.is: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    This is an archive of https://bancdebinary.com/terms-of-use/ for which the Internet Archive and WebCite don't work correctly. I want to (continue to) use it in the Banc De Binary article. —rybec 20:52, 20 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    There was an RFC in which it was decided that archive.is should be blacklisted. —rybec 22:35, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    • These are not contradictory concepts. Archive.is was blacklisted primarily because an unapproved bot was adding piles of rubbish links to it. I think whitelisting this is OK. Stifle (talk) 18:58, 24 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    moneymorning.com

    • I'm not entirely sure why moneymorning.com was blacklisted, but I want to use the following article from it. Oh ffs I can't post the link i want to whitelist because its blacklisted! wtf! Let me see what I can do here: moneymorning.com/2013/01/31/paul-krugman-may-be-the-worlds-last-flat-earth-economist/

    It should be fairly obvious that its not spam..

    Fresheneesz (talk) 00:06, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Note: Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam/2008_Archive_Oct_2#Agora_Publishing_spam_on_Wikipedia it was quite a spam .. . The specific link may be fine, however. --Dirk Beetstra T C 08:20, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Second note: now I see a second request below here regarding Agora websites, and that leads me to think there the spamming did not stop completely, and there may be active editors around. May I ask you where you want to use this link, Fresheneesz? --Dirk Beetstra T C 08:02, 27 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Oi, I see now that this can be misread - both requests are legitimate, the spamming seems to be by others. --Dirk Beetstra T C 09:02, 27 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Agora Inc. seems to be back using paid advocates to spam Wikipedia as they did back in 2008. I would advice extreme scrutiny, and a thorough search for alternatives before allowing their links. --

    www.cbronline.com/news/western_digitals_paradise_has_vga_compatible_boards

    In Super video graphics array, this is a reliable source for the fact that Paradise Inc. was among the early SuperVGA manufacturers, specifically its PVGA1 model in 1987 which offered maximum monochrome resolution of 1,024×768 and maximum colour resolution of 800×600. Wbm1058 (talk) 17:22, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.cbronline.com/news/dec_announcements_3

    In DECsystem, this is a reliable source for DEC's 11 July 1989 announcements – Wbm1058 (talk) 20:10, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.cbronline.com/news/dec_pulls_multi_user_mips_risc_rabbit_out_of_uniforum_hat

    In DECsystem, this is a reliable source for DEC's 02 March 1989 announcements – Wbm1058 (talk) 20:10, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.lesbelleslettres.com/

    Ai, Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Spam/2008_Archive_Oct_2#Agora_Publishing_spam_on_Wikipedia - looking into this, I see some accounts who are questionable here. It looks like Agora Inc. has returned to spamming (I just encountered another, similar request regarding Agora Inc.).
    Notwithstanding, if this article is notable, it may need its homepage whitelisted and needed references whitelisted. --Dirk Beetstra T C 07:51, 27 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Yes, I know nothing about Agora, but Les Belles Lettres is definitely notable. There is also Collection Budé, which might not be entirely justified as an article on the main line of books published by the company, but which is currently defaced by an automated tag because it includes links to the company website. Yngvadottir (talk) 21:31, 27 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    OK, Agora Inc. was caught spamming in 2008, and as it turns out, they are back spamming (maybe indirectly through paid advocates/SEO companies). It strongly looks like the article in question, Les Belles Lettres, was also created by one of their paid advocates, and edited further by paid advocates (see Special:Contributions/Kipthoot, Special:Contributions/Srivatsan_m, Special:Contributions/Tk_icepick, and many others. The article needs extreme scrutiny for promotional language. I advice extreme caution with the use of material from Agora Inc.
    Collection Budé needs a cleanup (does not seem to have the Agora paid editing problem, though), not sure if the links all need to be there (those listings are encyclopedic enough to be incorporated, though then need to be referenced, maybe to the same site, but preferably to an independent source). Please file a separate request for that.
    I would agree to linking to the two documents, and likely to their about.htm ('official link' in the external link section, avoiding their landing page per /Common requests). --Dirk Beetstra T C 07:13, 28 November 2013 (UTC) (adapted, did not look all the way back, strikeout of part of comment --Dirk Beetstra T C 12:39, 28 November 2013 (UTC))[reply]

    moneyweek.com/brian-hunter-from-hero-to-zero-in-two-years/

    This link is used as reference [5] in the wikipedia article entitled "List of trading losses" and is triggering a "blacklisted link" warning. See also request 1.13 above Mdutch2001 (talk) 13:30, 30 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.washoequiltshoppe.com/history.html

    This link is to one of the few establishments still operating in Washoe, Montana, population 21. It is a useful reference because it has historical information and photos of what was once a mining town of 3,000. It is not related to the "shoequiltshoppe.co" which tripped the spam filter. Djembayz (talk) 01:57, 1 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.ascendercorp.com/index.html

    For use on the main Ascender Corporation page, per the general exceptions clause. An alternative to be whitelisted would be www.ascendercorp.com/about/, but its focus on the merger (rather than the site itself) might not be the best, and I see nothing particularly spammy on the front page. — trlkly 04:54, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    cbronline.com

    I want this one whitelisted for several pages, with the same rationale: cbronline.com has the archives of the former trade journal Computer Business Review, which can be found nowhere else online (see MediaWiki talk:Spam blacklist#cbronline.com for previous discussion). I hope a batch request is in order.

    • www.cbronline.com/news/unix_international_reviews_the_unix_system_v4_story_so_far

    For use on UNIX System V.

    • www.cbronline.com/news/venturcom_ships_real_time_venix386

    For use on Venix.

    • www.cbronline.com/news/dialog_signs_multi_million_deal_with_fujitsu
    • www.cbronline.com/news/maid_signs_hotel_internet_provider_deal_with_granada — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.221.16.5 (talk) 15:11, 31 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_aims_new_microvax_3300_3400_at_as400_new_disk_bus
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_france_does_fault_tolerant_microvax_ii_configuration
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_hits_at_as400_with_mvax_3800_3900_pricing
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_launches_three_microvaxes_designed_and_made_in_ayr
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_puts_old_wine_into_new_bottles_with_microvax_2000
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_rushes_to_rescue_of_vax_users_with_four_new_models
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_unveils_real_time_microvax_board_run_time_vaxeln
    • www.cbronline.com/news/us_prices_for_decs_new_microvaxes

    For use on MicroVAX.

    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_adds_alphas_for_personal_computers_control
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_describes_its_alpha_risc_kubota_discloses_its_plans
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_reveals_more_on_alpha_challenges_hewlett_packards_precision_architecture_risc
    • www.cbronline.com/news/dec_slashes_alpha_axp_chip_prices_by_up_to_31
    • www.cbronline.com/news/microprocessor_reports_annual_chip_awards_declare_motorola_88110_the_part_least_likely_to_1
    • www.cbronline.com/news/mitsubishi_electric_is_ready_to_sample_its_first_alpha_at_last

    For use on Alpha 21064.

    TIA, QVVERTYVS (hm?) 18:08, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    I think these are all fine. --Dirk Beetstra T C 05:51, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    I have a few more:

    • www.cbronline.com/news/novell_formally_announces_the_unix_systems_group
    • www.cbronline.com/news/novell_releases_version_11_of_unixware_1
    • www.cbronline.com/news/santa_cruz_hp_novell_carve_up_unix_between_them
    • www.cbronline.com/news/sco_data_center_unixware_to_debut_at_cebit
    • www.cbronline.com/news/sco_gemini_to_debut_as_unixware_compaq_gets_chummy
    • www.cbronline.com/news/unix_labs_and_novell_plan_joint_venture_reveal_bones_of_mass_distribution_alliance

    For use on UnixWare. QVVERTYVS (hm?) 11:28, 13 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    • In order to speed up processing of your requests, please can you create a text document (in your userspace or elsewhere) with each of these as a regex? For example, www.cbronline.com/news/novell_formally_announces_the_unix_systems_group becomes \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/novell_formally_announces_the_unix_systems_group\b — that is, prefixing and suffixing with \b and escaping the .s with a \ before. No need to escape the forward slashes. Stifle (talk) 19:02, 24 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/western_digitals_paradise_has_vga_compatible_boards\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_announcements_3\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_pulls_multi_user_mips_risc_rabbit_out_of_uniforum_hat\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/unix_international_reviews_the_unix_system_v4_story_so_far\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/venturcom_ships_real_time_venix386\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_aims_new_microvax_3300_3400_at_as400_new_disk_bus\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_france_does_fault_tolerant_microvax_ii_configuration\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_hits_at_as400_with_mvax_3800_3900_pricing\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_launches_three_microvaxes_designed_and_made_in_ayr\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_puts_old_wine_into_new_bottles_with_microvax_2000\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_rushes_to_rescue_of_vax_users_with_four_new_models\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_unveils_real_time_microvax_board_run_time_vaxeln\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/us_prices_for_decs_new_microvaxes\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_adds_alphas_for_personal_computers_control\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_describes_its_alpha_risc_kubota_discloses_its_plans\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_reveals_more_on_alpha_challenges_hewlett_packards_precision_architecture_risc\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dec_slashes_alpha_axp_chip_prices_by_up_to_31\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/microprocessor_reports_annual_chip_awards_declare_motorola_88110_the_part_least_likely_to_1\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/mitsubishi_electric_is_ready_to_sample_its_first_alpha_at_last\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/novell_formally_announces_the_unix_systems_group\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/novell_releases_version_11_of_unixware_1\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/santa_cruz_hp_novell_carve_up_unix_between_them\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/sco_data_center_unixware_to_debut_at_cebit\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/sco_gemini_to_debut_as_unixware_compaq_gets_chummy\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/unix_labs_and_novell_plan_joint_venture_reveal_bones_of_mass_distribution_alliance\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/dialog_signs_multi_million_deal_with_fujitsu\b \bwww\.cbronline\.com/news/maid_signs_hotel_internet_provider_deal_with_granada\b

    Thank you, Wbm1058 (talk) 06:28, 31 December 2013 (UTC); Wbm1058 (talk) 16:45, 31 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    dyingscene.com/news/glasseater-announce-reunion-show/

    dyingscene.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    This article contains information about the reunion of the band Glasseater. I've added the information to their page and I'd like to add this article as a reference.

    Strummer25 (talk) 23:08, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    dyingscene.com/news/mathias-farm-talks-about-new-millencolin-album/

    dyingscene.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    This article contains information about the band Millencolin working on a new album. I've added the information to their page and I'd like to add this article as a reference.

    Strummer25 (talk) 23:17, 8 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    dot.tk

    dot.tk: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    This is an appropriate link in the articles Tokelau and .tk, as revenue from the domain forms a significant part of the Tokelauan economy. I have no problem with it being blacklisted on all other articles. It may be sufficient to whitelist only www.dot.tk/en/doc_tcfree_v360.pdf (the terms and conditions document) for Tokelau, but both this and the base url are needed for .tk.-gadfium 00:48, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Please see /Common requests - we need a index.htm or about page (I prefer not to use the pdf as the landing page, that may be a bit too much, though if you need it as a reference, then we add that as well). Thanks. --Dirk Beetstra T C 05:40, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    www.dot.tk in general should be whitelisted as it is run by a government entity. The landing page is a place users can register, the PDF and other links as noted in the .tk page are of use to potential users as well as casual users. Furthermore, it should be argued that .tk in general should not be globally blacklisted as it is a valid normal TLD and it is discouraging to potential users to have it blanket-blacklisted rather than building a more appropriate blacklist of offending links. 198.164.211.229 (talk) 20:49, 3 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    outsiders.org.uk

    A couple of links: <www.outsiders.org.uk> and <www.outsiders.org.uk/helpline> have been blocked because parts of these URLs match a blacklisted site. The links in question are nothing to do with the blacklisted site and are important details in the content of the page. Please unblock these links. Steve.kimberley (talk) 19:03, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.indianetzone.com/28/ajitesh_bandopadhyay_indian_theatre_personality.htm

    indianetzone.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com There are few web resources for information on the great actor-director Ajitesh Bandopadhyay of the Bengali stage of the 1950s-1970s; and this one is among them. Very hard to reference the Ajitesh page unless this is allowed to be used as a reference. Naturally, no request to unblock the whole domain or any subdomain in full - only this one page. Thanks. Gassing (talk) 20:12, 9 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.cbronline.com/news/anger_and_fear_as_domain_firm_slowly_implodes

    User:Nagle added the former URL for this reference, /article_news.asp?guid=F4D808F5-530F-4F5B-BECF-F87EA05CBF15, while expanding the Domain privacy article with a new section (diff). Several editors were suspected of spamming for this domain in 2010, but Nagle was not one of those editors and Nagle's addition does not appear to be spam. The former URL has become a dead link, and I am attempting to repair it by substituting the new URL, /news/anger_and_fear_as_domain_firm_slowly_implodes. Matt Fitzpatrick (talk) 20:31, 11 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.examiner.com/article/alabama-bureaucrats-squander-away-alabama-state-defense-force

    examiner.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com I'm editing Alabama State Defense Force to include information about the unit's stand-down. This hasn't been widely reported in the media, and the Examiner piece is one of two articles on it. It's also the better-written one (the other is a letter to the editor of a paper) SSaint04 (talk) 07:02, 17 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    two gayot.com links

    gayot.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    • gayot.com in the article André Gayot‎ — valid official link per WP:EL. The link in question remains in the article, but an editor objects[1] to use of a template parameter to hide a spam notice from main page of the article unless the link is whitelisted.
    • gayot.com/restaurants/features/nouvellecuisine.html in article Nouvelle Cuisine for similar reasons. The article contains a valid supporting citation (as opposed to a primary citation) to a significant article on the subject of the cited facts, but editors are apparently insisting[2] that the citation footnote should not actually link to the article it cites unless white-listed. The link in question used to be part of the citation, but editors deleted it because the site it is on was blacklisted.

    Please note the history here — gayot.com is a food, wine, and hospitality website formerly associated with the Michelin Guide, that split off under the ownership of André Gayot‎. Although the site itself is a legitimate publication and arguably notable and significant, its usefulness on Wikipedia was compromised and the site blacklisted when editors presumed to be the blusher added many external links and references using various sockpuppets. Subsequent whitelist requests by the site publisher were denied. However, prior to blacklisting, a number of legitimate editors had added citations to the various articles and awards on the site. These citations were entirely legitimate (though, like all citations and links, subject to editorial discretion as to their reliability and relevance) but for the subsequent discovery of COI editing. We could use some clarification as to whether prior links to a URL that is later involved in spamming may be maintained, or alternately whether the blacklist is a "death sentence" for any existing links to the site. - Wikidemon (talk) 23:03, 23 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Please provide an about.htm or index.htm (see /Common requests) for the first. Question: is gayot.com the direct official homepage of André Gayot, or of a product of him .. ??
    No, blacklisting is not a 'death sentence', we have a whitelist exactly for the reasons you mention. The blacklist is to stop the spamming, pushing when other methods are deemed insufficient (or, better, have shown to be insufficient - but when we are talking sock-farms, other methods are simply insufficient). Of course, although previous additions may not have been spam, a consideration whether the link is really appropriate and/or suitable should be made (as you do for the two requests here). --Dirk Beetstra T C 11:36, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    This site does not appear to have an about, index, or other similar landing page. Is there some reason why it's better to point to a random subpage rather than the main page as we do for other articles? It's not a spam link. If blacklisting is not a death sentence are you saying that editors were wrong to scrub the encyclopedia of links to the site? May I simply restore the various links that were not added by the spammer? If you need a complete list I can see about making one. - Wikidemon (talk) 13:53, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    If we whitelist 'gayot.com', it simply negates the blacklist or allow the homepage to be linked everywhere. That is why we generally suggest an about-page if the official page is needed somewhere - like www.gayot.com/aboutus/main.html. As the aim is to have a link to identify the subject, that will suffice. Yes, we do link to the base domain on other pages, but if something gets spammed and needs these drastic measures to stop it, one needs sometimes to find alternatives that do not allow continuance.
    Having blacklisted links on a page is a problem that needs to be resolved - as editors don't recognise that (you normally don't notice when editing a page), it is often prudent to remove all to avoid those problems (if they need to be there, someone will notice the removal and seek resolution). Of course, the best would be to notify editors that pages they have on their watchlist or are editing regularly have blacklisted links on them, and let them decide whether those links should go or be whitelisted (or whatever faith). That means either tagging, or 'spamming' (random) editors who may know more about the page. We now have a bot leaving those notifications, which I think is a better solution than blanket removal (and I don't know whether earlier removed links were actually spammed, or just precautionary removed). --Dirk Beetstra T C 14:05, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Maybe gayot.com/aboutus/whoweare.html is even better? There are a couple of 'about' pages listed at the bottom of the pages. --Dirk Beetstra T C 14:06, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Yes, the whoweare.html page works. But is there anything wrong with just leaving the link to gayot.com as-is? The problem seems to be a shortcoming in the blacklist / whitelist functionality, not anything wrong with linking to the site. - Wikidemon (talk) 15:06, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    Yes, there is. As long as nothing related to the external link gets edited, it is fine, but say that someone 'breaks' the page (forgets a closing </ref> halfway the page, e.g.), removes the link or vandalises (blanks parts of) the page so the link is not there anymore. A next editor (or a bot, notifying a problem with the page) comes and does something unrelated. At that point, the edit that broke the page can not be undone, reverted or whatever, because that, formally, would result in the addition of a blacklisted link. This happened to me in April, where I had to use emergency whitelisting, reverting, de-whitelisting and opening/responding to a request. It is better that it gets properly resolved now by someone familiar with the page where the 'offending' links are. Some cases are obvious (like here, though I doubt that this is the personal homepage of the subject, I think it is the homepage of their company and hence I question if it belongs on the wikipage of the person - WP:ELNO, indirect).
    If you have significant reason to believe that the site is good and the spamming has stopped, then de-blacklisting is probably the best, otherwise seek for proper links and get them whitelisted (note that I just blocked an editor who spammed for 3 months (including being blocked and spamming again), who got his links blacklisted 5 months ago after they returned, and who is still at it today - some do not get the message). --Dirk Beetstra T C 15:21, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.examiner.com/article/reaper-miniatures-bones-kickstarter-changes-the-industry

    examiner.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com The reference is wanted in the article on Reaper Miniatures. While Examiner is listed among the Self-written commission-paying sites that suffer requests that are often denied, the autor Michael Tresca is an experienced author on tabletop gaming, a field that get little coverage in mainstream media, and he bring some outside light on a sentral theme in the article on the company's recent history which is not sufficiently covered elsewhere. While his analysis can be discussed he brings some interesting information to light. I'm not affiliated with the writer nor the site. Oslomin (talk) 21:03, 28 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    www.myretrotv.com

    myretrotv.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    This is the official website of Retro Television Network and I can't see any reason why it should be blacklisted from the article on same. 63.196.158.105 (talk) 04:04, 1 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    The link was blacklisted after extensive spamming - Have you read /Common requests, we do not whitelist the whole domain, please find an about page. Thanks. --Dirk Beetstra T C 04:30, 1 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    www.tvrage.com

    tvrage.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    I understand that the website was blacklisted due to regular editors, but I am only requesting that a single article be whitelisted. The interview is written by Kimberly Ainsworth, who is on the website's news staff. That interview would help me in the article I am currently writing, Zachariah (Supernatural). A link to the interview can be found at www.tvrage.com/news/6702/exclusive-a-conversation-with-kurt-fuller-part-1-of-2 .

    Thanks. Ωphois 23:18, 1 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    mangauk.com

    mangauk.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple - wikt:en - wikt:fr • Spamcheck • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • meta • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

    They are a distributor for anime in the UK. I need them to source releases. Please only whitelist the products (www.mangauk.com/item.php?s=), everything else is useless for Wikipedia. If ranges can't be whitelisted, I only need these three links (www.mangauk.com/item.php?s=code-geass-lelouch-of-the-rebellion-complete-season-1-blu-ray), (www.mangauk.com/item.php?s=code-geass-lelouch-of-the-rebellion-complete-season-2-dvd), (www.mangauk.com/item.php?s=code-geass-lelouch-of-the-rebellion-complete-season-2-blu-ray) DragonZero (Talk · Contribs) 05:10, 2 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Approved requests

    Denied requests

    Expired requests (not done due to lack of reply)

    Withdrawn, malformed, invalid, or stale requests

    Proposed removals from whitelist (sites to reblock)

    Troubleshooting and problems

    Discussion

    Criteria for whitelisting

    Is there a guideline for determining whether a whitelisting request is a good and legitimate request? What are the valid grounds for whitelisting? How is it determined whether the criteria, if there are criteria, have been satisfied? I don't see much in the way of guidance on this page. Thanks, Wbm1058 (talk) 02:29, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

    Hmm, hey. I think you're right - this has never been put into a guideline (or did I miss that as well). The closest there is is /Common requests (which could nicely be used as a start). Time to start Wikipedia:Spam-whitelist? --Dirk Beetstra T C 04:10, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    They do somewhat overlap with the de-blacklisting requirements I would say (though for specific links the 'risk that they get spammed/abused again' is smaller). --Dirk Beetstra T C 04:14, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Right, see Special:PrefixIndex/MediaWiki_talk:Spam-whitelist, /review seems abandoned. The /Common requests page focuses on what is denied. We need something that focuses on what is accepted, in particular what might be speedily accepted vs. potentially controversial whitelistings requiring discussion. Wbm1058 (talk) 17:06, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Though I agree we need a guideline, there is not much that is speedily accepted (the obvious mis-catch is one of the few things) - for the rest, it either requires knowledge or finding and interpreting the reasons it got blacklisted. A way to get things through fast is in a way described - describe in full why and what you want whitelisted, show the old cases and describe why you think whitelisting is appropriate, that there are no alternatives (even better, show that) and hope that there are enough admins to actually whitelist the stuff. I think it is more a 'do this and you have a good chance it goes fast', then a 'this type of material goes fast'. Do take into account that some of us work with keeping WP:BEANS (don't show our ways of finding someone is a spammer) and WP:OUTING (if there is a named account in the past, we do not always regurgitate it, just WP:AGF that we saw it or look for it yourself) into account - some information is findable if you know how to find it, it is not always obviously or clearly linked. That may hamper speedy-ness on this page (you need the admin to do the research). --Dirk Beetstra T C 17:15, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Take a look at WP:ELN#Source for which I have a legitimate reason that it meets Wikipedia's guideline on external links. I started that thread some time ago in response to what I read below. Are you suggesting that even in a case like this, you would still expect an admin/checkuser to do "secret research" on the creator of this article to verify that they were not a spammer? If not, what other reasons are there to go slow? How does one "prove" that alternative sources don't exist? It's hard to prove a negative. Wbm1058 (talk) 19:05, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Well, some admins are at an advantage, they have the experience.
    I'm not sure about the thread you started there. I would say, that if a link is genuinly good, you just post here, if you have your reservations, you go to the RSN or ELN, and ask something along the lines 'I have this link, do you guys think that it is fine?' - you however put it there more matter-of-factly, and while you apparently were already convinced it complied with the guidelines.
    That a link was not put there by the spammers (sometimes difficult to prove whether an editor is a spammer, but if it is a regular it is generally not) is not necessarily a reason that it really needs to stay either. We do remove links at some point, even if they are added by a 10-year admin if they start failing the basis of WP:EL / WP:NOT - does it add to the data already there, maybe better overviews have come, etc. Questions to keep in mind. But lets say it is still warranted. Then it is a matter of asking here and get it whitelisted (which you did).
    The problem here is, and I keep repeating this, this page is understaffed by volunteers, and there are hardly any non-admin-editors who help in researching, preparing etc. either It is almost always 'word of the requester against the word of the one admin who handles it' (so much for consensus building). Some admins try to help, in good faith, but it really needs research and understanding as a recent case of such help showed (sorry, some competence is required, though it can be learned by watching, discussing and taking an occasional revert on your admin action from someone with more experience). That means that even speedy requests, really, really blatantly obvious cases stay sometimes for weeks, not because it takes us so long to actually search for it, just because there is no manpower (and sometimes we do ask for some more information, and get no response for weeks too). Unlike blacklisting (not blacklisting speedily damages Wikipedia sometimes bigtime), whitelisting generally affects only one page, which often not even gets damaged because of the lack of the link, it just did not improve further (and for the links that have been tagged by Cyberbot, they were there, they have a potential of damaging the page, but they do not make the page worse). (somehow I thought you were aware of my lack-of-admin-manpower-on-the-spam-blacklist-and-spam-whitelist-pages-and-xfd's-are-so-much-cooler-and-important-rants already - some request require research, and even if they don't, there is a lack of manpower problem). --Dirk Beetstra T C 19:47, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Regarding other sources - for examiner.com you will be surprised how often a simple Google search gives you a handful of good other sources stating the same. You may also see from the history of this page, that some requesters did that extra mile for an examiner.com article, and they show it is quite unique. Indeed, it often does not mean that the info is really not available elsewhere, but often, it is worth a try to look for it. And if I remember the business-review-case (really, I may be wrong) - were some, if not all, of those sites not agglomerate sites (practically regurgitating info published by the company: "CompanyX: We made a new smartphone" -> review-site: "CompanyX announced that they made a new smartphone" .. hmmm .. how is that reliable and unique information - a genuine editor may have found such a document and used it to create the article, one could question whether it is really appropriate, and one can question whether it is unique/replaceable). --Dirk Beetstra T C 19:57, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    See MediaWiki_talk:Spam-whitelist#www.examiner.com.2Farticle.2Falabama-bureaucrats-squander-away-alabama-state-defense-force for a case where the editor did go the extra mile (yes, there are other sources, but they got it from examiner.com), MediaWiki_talk:Spam-whitelist/Archives/2013/09#Denied_Requests shows a couple of denied examiner.com links: one suspected case of COI (!), and a couple where Google search resulted in alternate sources (from really reliable sites) that do show the same info as the examiner.com publication. Not saying that your request needs that same scrutiny, but it shows a bit what is done/needed. --Dirk Beetstra T C 20:07, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Another recent example of research - quite speedy-type of requests: requests for delisting for some official homepages for their subject pages on Wikipedia - obvious that they need their links, isn't it? You see the first, think .. hmm, looks reasonable (regular requesting it), you do some research, massive spam campaign x years ago, but the particular subject is notable alright .. other request, that looks reasonable as well (same, official site of subject, different requester, but also a regular). You do the research .. turns out a massive spam campaign x years ago ... wait .. the same massive spam campaign x years ago. You start digging, why do we have those pages, who edit it. Yep. The spammers of x years ago are still here editing ('cleaning') those pages (sometimes even creating those pages) but carefully not adding their external links, or primary references (well, they could not!). And they applied the standard SEO tricks, right out of the book. What would YOU do? --Dirk Beetstra T C 20:19, 6 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    Other projects with active whitelists
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