User talk:Insertcleverphrasehere/Archive 19
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Archive 15 | ← | Archive 17 | Archive 18 | Archive 19 | Archive 20 | Archive 21 | → | Archive 24 |
Administrators' newsletter – May 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2021).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/ANEWSicon.png/150px-ANEWSicon.png)
Interface administrator changes
- Following an RfC, consensus was found that third party appeals are allowed but discouraged.
- The 2021 Desysop Policy RfC was closed with no consensus. Consensus was found in a previous RfC for a community based desysop procedure, though the procedure proposed in the 2021 RfC did not gain consensus.
- The user group
oversight
will be renamed tosuppress
. This is for technical reasons. You can comment at T112147 if you have objections.
- The user group
- The community consultation on the Arbitration Committee discretionary sanctions procedure was closed, and an initial draft based on feedback from the now closed consultation is expected to be released in early June to early July for community review.
Growth Newsletter #18
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Growth_team_logo_-_Icon_only.svg/220px-Growth_team_logo_-_Icon_only.svg.png)
Welcome to the eighteenth newsletter from the Growth team!
The Growth team's objective is to work on software changes that help retain new contributors in mid-size Wikimedia projects.
Structured tasks
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Screen_shot_of_%22add_a_link%22_in_beta_2021-05-02.png/220px-Screen_shot_of_%22add_a_link%22_in_beta_2021-05-02.png)
"Add a link" is now being tested in production and is nearing release on our four pilot wikis (Arabic, Czech, Vietnamese, and Bengali Wikipedias). We'll be doing final tests this week and next week, and then plan to deploy to the four wikis either during May 24 week, or May 31 week. After two weeks, we will analyze the initial data to identify any problems or trends. We expect that this feature will engage new kinds of newcomers in easy and successful edits. If things are going well after four weeks, we'll progressively deploy it to the wikis with Growth features.
News for mentors
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Mockup_of_Mentor_dashboard_-_desktop_-_Mentees_overview_module.png/220px-Mockup_of_Mentor_dashboard_-_desktop_-_Mentees_overview_module.png)
- We are currently working on a Mentor dashboard. This special page aims to help mentors be more proactive and be more successful at their role. The first iteration will include a table that shows an overview of the mentors current mentees, a module with their own settings, and a module that will allow them to store their best replies to their mentees questions.
- We've conducted our quarterly audit on Growth's four pilot wikis to see the activity of mentors. It appears that the vast majority of mentors are active.
Community configuration
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/EditGrowthConfig_on_English_Wikipedia_beta_%E2%80%93_2021-04-20.png/220px-EditGrowthConfig_on_English_Wikipedia_beta_%E2%80%93_2021-04-20.png)
We are working on project to allow communities to manage the configuration of the Growth features on their own. In the past, communities have needed to work directly with the Growth team to set up and alter the features. We plan to put this capability in the hands of administrators, through an easy-to-use form, so that the features can be easily tailored to fit the needs of each community. While we developed it initially for Growth features, we think this approach could have uses in other features as well. We'll be trying this on our pilot wikis in the coming weeks, and then we'll bring it to all Growth wikis soon after. We hope you check out the project page and add any of your thoughts to the talk page.
Scaling
- Growth features are now available on 35 wikis. Here is the list of the most recent ones: Romanian Wikipedia, Danish Wikipedia, Thai Wikipedia, Indonesian Wikipedia, Croatian Wikipedia, Albanian Wikipedia, Esperanto Wikipedia, Hindi Wikipedia, Norwegian Bokmål Wikipedia, Japanese Wikipedia, Telugu Wikipedia, Spanish Wikipedia, Simple English Wikipedia, Malay Wikipedia, Tamil Wikipedia, Greek Wikipedia, Catalan Wikipedia.
- A new group of Wikipedias has been defined for the deployment of Growth features. Please contact us if you have questions about the deployment process, or if your community likes to get the features in advance.
- After discussion with the English Wikipedia community, the Growth features will be tested on a small percentage of new accounts. At the moment, registered users can test the features by turning them on in their preferences.
Growth team's newsletter prepared by the Growth team and posted by bot • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
15:23, 17 May 2021 (UTC)
June 2021 at Women in Red
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--Rosiestep (talk) 18:50, 28 May 2021 (UTC) via MassMessaging
Scripts++ Newsletter – Issue 21
News and updates associated with user scripts from the past four months (February through May 2021).
Hello everyone and welcome to the 21st issue of the Wikipedia Scripts++ Newsletter:
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My apologies for this long-overdue issue, and if I missed any scripts.
Hopefully going forward we can go back to monthly releases - any help would be appreciated. Thanks, --DannyS712 (talk) 13:04, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – June 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2021).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/ANEWSicon.png/150px-ANEWSicon.png)
Ashleyyoursmile • Less Unless
Husond • MattWade • MJCdetroit • Carioca • Vague Rant • Kingboyk • Thunderboltz • Gwen Gale • AniMate • SlimVirgin (deceased)
- Consensus was reached to deprecate Wikipedia:Editor assistance.
- Following a Request for Comment the Book namespace was deprecated.
- Wikimedia previously used the IRC network Freenode. However, due to changes over who controlled the network with reports of a forceful takeover by several ex-staff members, the Wikimedia IRC Group Contacts decided to move to the new Libera Chat network. It has been reported that Wikimedia related channels on Freenode have been forcibly taken over if they pointed members to Libera. There is a migration guide and Wikimedia discussions about this.
- After a Clarification request, the Arbitration Committee modified Remedy 5 of the Antisemitism in Poland case. This means sourcing expectations are a discretionary sanction instead of being present on all articles. It also details using the talk page or the Reliable Sources Noticeboard to discuss disputed sources.
The Signpost: 27 June 2021
- News and notes: Elections, Wikimania, masking and more
- In the media: Boris and Joe, reliability, love, and money
- Disinformation report: Croatian Wikipedia: capture and release
- Recent research: Feminist critique of Wikipedia's epistemology, Black Americans vastly underrepresented among editors, Wiki Workshop report
- Traffic report: So no one told you life was gonna be this way
- News from the WMF: Searching for Wikipedia
- WikiProject report: WikiProject on open proxies interview
- Forum: Is WMF fundraising abusive?
- Discussion report: Reliability of WikiLeaks discussed
- Obituary: SarahSV
Administrators' newsletter – July 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2021).
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- Consensus has been reached to delete all books in the book namespace. There was rough consensus that the deleted books should still be available on request at WP:REFUND even after the namespace is removed.
- An RfC is open to discuss the next steps following a trial which automatically applied pending changes to TFAs.
- IP addresses of unregistered users are to be hidden from everyone. There is a rough draft of how IP addresses may be shown to users who need to see them. This currently details allowing administrators, checkusers, stewards and those with a new usergroup to view the full IP address of unregistered users. Editors with at least 500 edits and an account over a year old will be able to see all but the end of the IP address in the proposal. The ability to see the IP addresses hidden behind the mask would be dependent on agreeing to not share the parts of the IP address they can see with those who do not have access to the same information. Accessing part of or the full IP address of a masked editor would also be logged. Comments on the draft are being welcomed at the talk page.
- The community authorised COVID-19 general sanctions have been superseded by the COVID-19 discretionary sanctions following a motion at a case request. Alerts given and sanctions placed under the community authorised general sanctions are now considered alerts for and sanctions under the new discretionary sanctions.
Articles for Creation July 2021 Backlog Elimination Drive
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/AFC-Logo.svg/75px-AFC-Logo.svg.png)
Hello Insertcleverphrasehere:
WikiProject Articles for creation is holding a month long Backlog Drive!
The goal of this drive is to eliminate the backlog of unreviewed articles. The drive is running until 31 July 2021.
Barnstars will be given out as awards at the end of the drive.
There is currently a backlog of over 2500 articles, so start reviewing articles. We're looking forward to your help!
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of Wikipedia:WikiProject Articles for Creation at 21:53, 7 July 2021 (UTC). If you do not wish to recieve future notification, please remove your name from the mailing list.
The Signpost: 25 July 2021
- News and notes: Wikimania and a million other news stories
- Special report: Hardball in Hong Kong
- In the media: Larry is at it again
- Board of Trustees candidates: See the candidates
- Traffic report: Football, tennis and marveling at Loki
- News from the WMF: Uncapping our growth potential – interview with James Baldwin, Finance and Administration Department
- Humour: A little verse
Administrators' newsletter – July 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2021).
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- An RfC is open to add a delay of one week from nomination to deletion for G13 speedy deletions.
- Last week all wikis were very slow or not accessible for 30 minutes. This was due to server lag caused by regenerating dynamic lists on the Russian Wikinews after a large bulk import. (T287380)
- Following an amendment request, the committee has clarified that the Talk page exception to the 500/30 rule in remedy 5 of the Palestine-Israel articles 4 case does not apply to requested move discussions.
- You can vote for candidates in the 2021 Board of Trustees elections from 4 August to 17 August. Four community elected seats are up for election.
New_pages_patrol/School
Hello 👋, i am new here in English Wikipedia, and i would like to review New pages and Patrol them, if you have a time, i am honored to be your student, and you as my Trainer thank you --—— 🌸 Sakura emad 💖 (talk) 12:49, 12 August 2021 (UTC)
- (, thank you —— 🌸 Sakura emad 💖 (talk) 21:00, 18 August 2021 (UTC)
- Sakura emad, Sorry but I'm no longer active on the wiki. It would be best to find another trainer. — Insertcleverphrasehere(or here)(or here)(or here) 00:28, 19 August 2021 (UTC)
- (, thank you —— 🌸 Sakura emad 💖 (talk) 21:00, 18 August 2021 (UTC)
NPP flowchart
Hello friend. Thanks for making the NPP flowchart. I was wondering if you still had the original draw.io file and might be willing to share it with me? I am thinking of making some updates and then proposing the changes over at WT:NPPR. Thanks a lot. Looking forward to your feedback. –Novem Linguae (talk) 22:23, 27 July 2021 (UTC)
- Novem Linguae, It was originally made in Draw.io, but the more recent versions were made in Inkscape to allow for clickable links. I can't find the original file (probably lost when I lost the data on my old hard drive). I think it's probably better to continue work in something like Inkscape anyway. Note that Bradv made an update afterwards... not sure what his summary means, but I assume it has to do with his Superlinks script.
- What were the changes that you were looking at proposing? — Insertcleverphrasehere(or here)(or here)(or here) 01:30, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
- Inkscape could work too. I have Inkscape and am comfortable with it. However I downloaded SVGs of a couple different revisions of the file, and I found that the SVG just had an embedded raster image, I was not able to edit the shapes.
- I am thinking of drafting a version with the following changes, and running it by WT:NPPR, and if there are any specific objections or feedback go from there:
-
- Color coded – Something like this.
- Wait 15 minutes for everything, not just A1 and A3. WP:NPP says to wait at least 15 minutes before doing any NPP.
- Add bubble for WP:V – I want to add a bubble somewhere after SNG, that if an article has no independent, reliable, secondary sources, that it should be draftified. Per Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Reviewers#Articles with poor sourcing, it appears to be common practice, but undocumented. Right now following the flowchart, an article that passes SNG but that has all self-published sources etc. could get marked as reviewed. So could an article that passes GNG via Google search but has no GNG citations in the article.
- Add bubble for image copyright – I got feedback from an admin for missing a copyrighted image. It's also taught in WP:NPPSCHOOL.
- Don't mark as reviewed for CSD, PROD, and BLPPROD – Perhaps worth a mention, either in the CSD boxes, or by drawing lines to a box that says "don't mark as reviewed".
- Remove "exclusively" from G11 – In practice, G11 is applied loosely. I saw a fully curated article with one sentence of promo get G11'd the other day.
- Add bubble for WP:BLP – Things like removing birthdates without a citation, removing family member names, etc.
- Remove "blank the article" from G10 – The G10 template blanks the article automatically.
- And probably some other small things. This flowchart was kind of my bible in NPPSCHOOL, and still is, so I'd like to get it as reflective of current practices as possible. Feedback welcome. Thanks. –Novem Linguae (talk) 02:10, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
- I number coded your bullets to be able to respond better: It might be that the whole thing needs a re-make in SVG. I wasn't comfortable with rastor editing software when I first made it, otherwise I would have started it this way. I can look into making some time for a remake of the flowchart, though you are free to do so if you want. I'll have another look when I get home from work for the Draw.io file. I feel like I was working off a google drive file or something, so I might' have it somewhere.
- I like this idea in theory, though I think the colours are too aggressive on the eyes as currently implemented.
- It depends. Sometimes it is clear that the author is finished, and isn't going to be writing more. In this case getting them a quick review can actually be more help than hinderance. This takes some judgement though, so that's why it's recommended to not review stuff younger than 15 min. Some articles (attack pages and such) definitely should be reviewed and blanked immediately.
- This one's tough. There is no one size fits all for draftification. It definitely is not NPP policy to draftify anything that lacks sources. We have to look: if they are there, we should leave it in main space. Draftification can be a useful tool for borderline notability situations, especially where useful prose exists, but it shouldn't be used just to pass the problem on to AfC. NOTE: users can just move it back to mainspace, and then you have to review it some other way anyway (WP:Drafts#Objections).
- Probably good to add to the copyvio section. Maybe just "(check any images)" added to the main Copyright bubble.
- Yes, should be added to the bubbles
- I really disagree here. While some admins might be a bit gung ho, they shouldn't be. We definitely don't want to be encouraging behaviour that is contrary to policy, especially where CSDs are concerned. CSDs should be brightline only. If you ever apply for RfA with examples like this in your CSD log you will get burned badly.
- This isn't part of our tutorial. If this is a serious concern then it should be raised as an addition to that first. Seems more like cleanup stuff to me, and NPP is not cleanup, it's triage.
- Does it do this if manually added, or just via the NPP toolbar? Does it also blank the article if added via Twinkle? If the answer is yes to all, then you might have a point, otherwise the recommendation to blank should remain.
- Very interesting points. It's great that you have dug into the flowchart deeply enough to be able to comment in this depth... it's nice to know that it continues to be useful to people. I agree that it needs some updates. — Insertcleverphrasehere(or here)(or here)(or here) 02:52, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
- Thanks for the detailed feedback. Some of these ideas (3, 4, 6) were prompted by an article I got burned on recently, see discussion at User talk:Novem Linguae#Zillur Rahman. It was about a professor with an h-index of 60 (WP:NPROF #1 pass), but the article had other problems that were not in the flowchart, and an admin ended up G11-ing it after I marked it as reviewed.
- In regards to #1, sure, perhaps we can use calmer, pastel colors. #2 is something I've gotten chided for before, see User talk:Novem Linguae/Archive 2#In NPP School, and it's also stated pretty firmly in Wikipedia:New pages patrol#Care. Although I agree that G10 is an exception. #3 appears to be practiced by some top reviewers, one said so at Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Reviewers#Articles with poor sourcing, another told me via email. #7, BLP is a sensitive area, we should decide carefully on this one. #8, I think the G10 template always blanks the page, the code for it is towards the bottom of {{db-meta}}.
- One of my personal goals here is to get any stuff I've been chided for into the flowchart, so that it doesn't happen to other people, especially newer NPPs.
- In regards to locating the draw.io file, draw.io gives a bunch of save options, and the first one is Google Drive, so yeah, could definitely be in a forgotten Google Drive somewhere. I guess let's see if the draw.io file turns up, and then decide from there? Thanks for your time, I appreciate it. –Novem Linguae (talk) 04:39, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
- (talk page watcher) The flow chart cannot be a substitute for experience as a Wikipedian and for good judgement as a reviewer. Every new reviewer is going to make some wrong steps. I know I did. So by all means let's improve the flowchart but I'd caution about thinking it's a cure all. Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 04:53, 28 July 2021 (UTC)
- Novem Linguae, Unfortunately I'm certain that the flowchart files were saved on my old computer before a hardrive failure. If you want to continue with a redevelopment, I'd suggest a full Inkscape SVG rework. — Insertcleverphrasehere(or here)(or here)(or here) 20:15, 19 August 2021 (UTC)
- I number coded your bullets to be able to respond better: It might be that the whole thing needs a re-make in SVG. I wasn't comfortable with rastor editing software when I first made it, otherwise I would have started it this way. I can look into making some time for a remake of the flowchart, though you are free to do so if you want. I'll have another look when I get home from work for the Draw.io file. I feel like I was working off a google drive file or something, so I might' have it somewhere.
The Signpost: 29 August 2021
- News and notes: Enough time left to vote! IP ban
- In the media: Vive la différence!
- Wikimedians of the year: Seven Wikimedians of the year
- Gallery: Our community in 20 graphs
- News from Wiki Education: Changing the face of Wikipedia
- Recent research: IP editors, inclusiveness and empathy, cyclones, and world heritage
- WikiProject report: WikiProject Days of the Year Interview
- Traffic report: Olympics, movies, and Afghanistan
- Community view: Making Olympic history on Wikipedia
Nomination of Widom–Larsen theory for deletion
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5f/Ambox_warning_orange.svg/48px-Ambox_warning_orange.svg.png)
The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Widom–Larsen theory until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.
Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article.
jps (talk) 21:57, 31 August 2021 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – September 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2021).
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/ANEWSicon.png/150px-ANEWSicon.png)
- Feedback is requested on the Universal Code of Conduct enforcement draft by the Universal Code of Conduct Phase 2 drafting committee.
- A RfC is open on whether to allow administrators to use extended confirmed protection on high-risk templates.
- A discussion is open to decide when, if ever, should discord logs be eligible for removal when posted onwiki (including whether to oversight them)
- A RfC on the next steps after the trial of pending changes on TFAs has resulted in a 30 day trial of automatic semi protection for TFAs.
- The Score extension has been re-enabled on public wikis. It has been updated, but has been placed in safe mode to address unresolved security issues. Further information on the security issues can be found on the mediawiki page.
- A request for comment is in progress to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the Arbitration Committee election and resolve any issues not covered by existing rules. Comments and new proposals are welcome.
- The 2021 RfA review is now open for comments.
Reply-link officially superseded by DiscussionTools
Hi! Reply-link has officially been superseded by mw:DiscussionTools, which you can install using the "Discussion tools" checkbox under Preferences → Beta features. DiscussionTools, developed by the WMF's Editing Team, is faster and has more features than reply-link, and it wouldn't make sense for me to keep developing reply-link. I think the Editing Team is doing amazing work, and look forward to what they can do in the future. Thank you for using reply-link over the years! Enterprisey (talk!) 06:11, 6 September 2021 (UTC)
New Page Patrol newsletter September 2021
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Wikipedia_New_page_reviewer.svg/70px-Wikipedia_New_page_reviewer.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/13/NPP_backlog_September_2021.jpg/400px-NPP_backlog_September_2021.jpg)
Hello Insertcleverphrasehere,
Please join this discussion - there is increase in the abuse of Wikipedia and its processes by POV pushers, Paid Editors, and by holders of various user rights including Autopatrolled. Even our review systems themselves at AfC and NPR have been infiltrated. The good news is that detection is improving, but the downside is that it creates the need for a huge clean up - which of course adds to backlogs.
Copyright violations are also a serious issue. Most non-regular contributors do not understand why, and most of our Reviewers are not experts on copyright law - and can't be expected to be, but there is excellent, easy-to-follow advice on COPYVIO detection here.
At the time of the last newsletter (#25, December 2020) the backlog was only just over 2,000 articles. New Page Review is an official system. It's the only firewall against the inclusion of new, improper pages.
There are currently 706 New Page Reviewers plus a further 1,080 admins, but as much as nearly 90% of the patrolling is still being done by around only the 20 or so most regular patrollers.
If you are no longer very active on Wikipedia or you no longer wish to be part of the New Page Reviewer user group, please consider asking any admin to remove you from the list. This will enable NPP to have a better overview of its performance and what improvements need to be made to the process or its software.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/New_page_reviewer_of_the_year_cup.svg/50px-New_page_reviewer_of_the_year_cup.svg.png)
Various awards are due to be allocated by the end of the year and barnstars are overdue. If you would like to manage this, please let us know. Indeed, if you are interested in coordinating NPR, it does not involve much time and the tasks are described here.
To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself here. Sent to 827 users. 04:31, 16 September 2021 (UTC)
The Signpost: 26 September 2021
- News and notes: New CEO, new board members, China bans
- In the media: The future of Wikipedia
- Op-Ed: I've been desysopped
- Disinformation report: Paid promotional paragraphs in German parliamentary pages
- Discussion report: Editors discuss Wikipedia's vetting process for administrators
- Recent research: Wikipedia images for machine learning; Experiment justifies Wikipedia's high search rankings
- Community view: Is writing Wikipedia like making a quilt?
- Traffic report: Kanye, Emma Raducanu and 9/11
- News from Diff: Welcome to the first grantees of the Knowledge Equity Fund
- WikiProject report: The Random and the Beautiful
Administrators' newsletter – October 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2021).
- Following an RfC, extended confirmed protection may be used preemptively on certain high-risk templates.
- Following a discussion at the Village Pump, there is consensus to treat discord logs the same as IRC logs. This means that discord logs will be oversighted if posted onwiki.
- DiscussionTools has superseded Enterprisey's reply-link script. Editors may switch using the "Discussion tools" checkbox under Preferences → Beta features.
- A motion has standardised the 500/30 (extended confirmed) restrictions placed by the Arbitration Committee. The standardised restriction is now listed in the Arbitration Committee's procedures.
- Following the closure of the Iranian politics case, standard discretionary sanctions are authorized for all edits about, and all pages related to, post-1978 Iranian politics, broadly construed.
- The Arbitration Committee encourages uninvolved administrators to use the discretionary sanctions procedure in topic areas where it is authorised to facilitate consensus in RfCs. This includes, but is not limited to, enforcing sectioned comments, word/diff limits and moratoriums on a particular topic from being brought in an RfC for up to a year.
- Editors have approved expanding the trial of Growth Features from 2% of new accounts to 25%, and the share of newcomers getting mentorship from 2% to 5%. Experienced editors are invited to add themselves to the mentor list.
- The community consultation phase of the 2021 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process is open for editors to provide comments and ask questions to candidates.
November 2021 backlog drive
New Page Patrol | November 2021 Backlog Drive | ![]() |
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Growth Newsletter #19
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Growth_team_logo_-_Icon_only.svg/220px-Growth_team_logo_-_Icon_only.svg.png)
Welcome to the nineteenth newsletter from the Growth team!
The Growth team's objective is to work on software changes that help retain new contributors in Wikimedia projects.
Structured tasks
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Add_an_image_Concept_B_prototype_2021-10-22.png/220px-Add_an_image_Concept_B_prototype_2021-10-22.png)
- "Add a link" is the team's first structured task. It uses machine-learning to suggest wikilinks as easy edits for newcomers. It was deployed in May 2021 on four Wikipedias and then in July on eight more Wikipedias after we evaluated the initial results. So far, we've seen a high level of engagement from newcomers. Communities that have the feature suggested valuable ideas for improvement. We'll work on improvements and then contact more communities to deploy it.
- "Add an image" is the team's second structured task, currently in development. It is an editing task that suggests Commons images for unillustrated Wikipedia articles. We have conducted many community discussions and tests. Then, we've decided to build a first prototype. We'll first deploy it only to our pilot Wikipedias, to learn whether newcomers can be successful with the task. The project page contains links to interactive prototypes. We are very interested to hear your thoughts on this idea as we build and test the early versions. These prototypes have already been tested by newcomers, in English and Spanish.
News for mentors
- The Mentor dashboard is available at our pilot wikis: Arabic, Czech, and Bengali Wikipedias. It will soon be available at a few more volunteering wikis, as a test. [1]
- At wikis where the mentor dashboard is deployed, a new filter is available for mentors. Mentors can monitor their mentees' activity in Watchlist and RecentChanges, so they can help support their mentees' work. For privacy reasons, this filter can't be accessed by someone else than the mentor itself. This filter only filters mentees assigned to the mentor. This filter is not visible for people who are not listed as mentors [2]
Community configuration
- Communities now have the ability to configure how Growth features behave on their own wikis. At Special:EditGrowthConfig, community members can add a list of volunteer mentors, alter the templates used for suggested edits, update help links, and more. This special page is editable by administrators and interface admins.
Scaling
- We are proud to announce that all Wikipedias now have the Growth features! Thank you to all the community members who helped the team build the features and bring them to their wikis. The only exception is Chinese Wikipedia (zh), for technical reasons. [3]
- The wikis that have Growth features deployed have been part of A/B testing since deployment, in which some newcomers did not receive the new features. Now, all of the newcomers on 280 of the smallest of those Wikipedias have the features. [4][5]
- A test is undergoing at English Wikipedia: 25% of newcomers receive the Growth features. The results from this test will be part of a discussion of how to proceed on that wiki.
- Now that Growth features are available at Wikipedia, the Growth team considers to extend them to other projects. Some Wikisource users have expressed some interest in getting Growth features. There is currently a discussion about implementing them on Wikisource.
News for communities
- Do you have questions about the Growth features? This translatable FAQ contains answers to the most common questions about the Growth team work.
- The Growth features were recently used in a test amongst Latin American donors to give donors the opportunity to learn to edit. You can see the results here.
- Interface translations are important for newcomers. Please help for your language, by translating or copyediting interface translations for the Growth features.
- Help:GettingStarted was a feature developed in 2013, which directed newcomers to articles that needed editing. We recently removed this feature from all wikis, because it has been replaced by the Growth features.
Growth team's newsletter prepared by the Growth team and posted by bot • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.
18:36, 26 October 2021 (UTC)
The Signpost: 31 October 2021
- From the editor: Different stories, same place
- News and notes: The sockpuppet who ran for adminship and almost succeeded
- Discussion report: Editors brainstorm and propose changes to the Requests for adminship process
- Recent research: Welcome messages fail to improve newbie retention
- Community view: Reflections on the Chinese Wikipedia
- Traffic report: James Bond and the Giant Squid Game
- Technology report: Wikimedia Toolhub, winners of the Coolest Tool Award, and more
- Serendipity: How Wikipedia helped create a Serbian stamp
- Book review: Wikipedia and the Representation of Reality
- WikiProject report: Redirection
- Humour: A very Wiki crossword
Administrators' newsletter – November 2021
News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2021).
- Phase 2 of the 2021 RfA review has commenced which will discuss potential solutions to address the 8 issues found in Phase 1. Proposed solutions that achieve consensus will be implemented and you may propose solutions till 07 November 2021.
- Toolhub is a catalogue of tools which can be used on Wikimedia wikis. It is at https://toolhub.wikimedia.org/.
- GeneralNotability, Mz7 and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2021 Arbitration Committee Elections. Ivanvector and John M Wolfson are reserve commissioners.
- Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate themselves to stand in the 2021 Arbitration Committee elections from 07 November 2021 until 16 November 2021.
- The 2021 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process has concluded with the appointment of five new CheckUsers and two new Oversighters.
Boo!
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b0/Wikipedia_Halloween%27s_Day.png/214px-Wikipedia_Halloween%27s_Day.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Halloween_pumpkin_night_puzzle.jpg/246px-Halloween_pumpkin_night_puzzle.jpg)
Hello Insertcleverphrasehere:
Thanks for all of your contributions to improve Wikipedia, and have a happy and enjoyable Halloween!
—usernamekiran • sign the guestbook • (talk) 21:13, 1 November 2021 (UTC)
Alert
This is a standard message to notify contributors about an administrative ruling in effect. It does not imply that there are any issues with your contributions to date.
You have shown interest in discussions about infoboxes and to edits adding, deleting, collapsing, or removing verifiable information from infoboxes. Due to past disruption in this topic area, a more stringent set of rules called discretionary sanctions is in effect. Any administrator may impose sanctions on editors who do not strictly follow Wikipedia's policies, or the page-specific restrictions, when making edits related to the topic.
For additional information, please see the guidance on discretionary sanctions and the Arbitration Committee's decision here. If you have any questions, or any doubts regarding what edits are appropriate, you are welcome to discuss them with me or any other editor.
–MJL ‐Talk‐☖ 23:50, 9 November 2021 (UTC)
NPP
Hi. I hope you're well. Wish List time is coming up again, this time with a deadline in January. I realise that you are very much in semi-retirement - a real life job like yours doesn't leave much time for things like Wikipedia. I am also trying very hard to be semi-retired but there are still a couple of things I shepherded for years and I would like to think I left a positive legacy on them, I therefore find it hard to let go completely and I'm not being very consistent. Barkeep49 who provided excellent support for NPP has taken on additional campaigns and responsibilities which don't leave him with as much time to devote to it as before. As a consequence, with no one in the role of de facto coordinator, NPP is in a bit of a disarray. I'm prepared (very reluctantly) to come partially out of semi-retirement to help organise polling at the Wish List for permanently on going requirements for the NPP tools. Your former contributions to the management of NPP are sorely missed. Nobody else appears to have the institutional memory to pull it off successfully unless we could maybe enlist Scottywong, but I don't believe NPP is his special focus these days. Would you be able to come on board and give me a hand? Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 04:23, 13 November 2021 (UTC)
- Glad to see you get back on your feet here, Kudpung. That's not easy after what this place put you through. NPP demands a bit more time and focus than what I have available to give at the moment. But I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish after coming out of semi-retirement. Let me know if I can help. —ScottyWong— 05:12, 13 November 2021 (UTC)
- Kudpung, I'm afraid that the timing is quite bad for me. New house, new baby, new job. I'm currently barely holding it all together and without time to devote here. I wish I could help more. Wasn't there someone that was asking questions about the coordinator role recently? — Insertcleverphrasehere(or here)(or here)(or here) 07:08, 13 November 2021 (UTC)
- It feels like Rosguill should be an important part of this effort. Bestg, Barkeep49 (talk) 17:17, 13 November 2021 (UTC)
- Barkeep49, I appreciate the ping and would love to be able to help more, but unfortunately the past few months have genuinely been some of my most chaotic that I can remember and I don't think I can commit to taking on additional responsibilities right now. signed, Rosguill talk 17:57, 13 November 2021 (UTC)
A barnstar for you!
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The Barnstar of Diligence |
For your brilliance at NPP! Thank you so much for your service, words can’t express how grateful we are to have you. Celestina007 (talk) 03:19, 20 November 2021 (UTC) |