"WP:OP-ED" redirects here. For the guideline on not editorializing in article content, see MOS:OP-ED. For the policy on op-eds and original research, see WP:NOROPED. For the guideline on citing op-eds as sources, see WP:NEWSOPED.
Please propose Signpost stories you want to write (or have already begun writing). Submitted stories are published subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief, JPxG. We value the involvement of Wikipedians, and appreciate your submissions. If you have ideas or questions that don't fit neatly into this framework, don't hesitate to address us on our user talk pages, by email, or as a last resort, on the general Signpost talk page.
The Signpost's content guidelines may be useful to aspiring writers. We encourage you to contact us early in the process of developing a story. Different writers have varying levels of interest in editorial input, and we pride ourselves on finding the right balance with each writer; but in most cases, a brief discussion early on can help all parties shape our expectations, and can help produce a strong finished piece. We aim to support Wikimedians wishing to share news with their peers, and look forward to working with you.
On the perils of believing everything you read online. This is partially inspired by the Stephen ColbertWikiality bit and also a short story by B. J. Novak. Written with quite a bit of assistance from ChatGPT.
Humour is hard! This is a much better first try than the large majority that I've seen. Different people have different senses of humour than others, so I'll encourage others to join in and give their opinions, but I'll suggest that it should be rejected and you should be encouraged to try again. Some aspects of my opinion. Wikiality is a 20 year old concept - I doubt that even Colbert thinks it is relevant now. Also using the real name Jimmy Wales is problematic, using a different name - even if everybody will recognize it as J.W. avoids most of these problems. The problems? Jimmy would never do and think what you have him doing and thinking. He might rightly be offended. Colbert wouldn't have as many problems - he's an entertainer and people realize that what he does on the screen isn't the real him. But he should actually say something funny! Also using ChatGBT, IMHO, should be avoided. But that's just quibbling - pick a different topic and send us your next try. Sincerely, Smallbones(smalltalk)20:52, 28 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: This piece is about the Wednesday Index, which has used PAC’s Wikidata tool to measure the gender diversity in the biographies linked from a set of 26 English Wikipedia pages — from ‘Reality’ to ‘Universe’, ‘Science’ to ‘Justice’ —for the past two years to get a sense for both the extent of citation bias on Wikipedia and how quickly it changes. In addition to data visualizations and discussion, the piece links to related research and the two previous posts about the Index. After I published this piece on Medium, I was referred to the Signpost, as it has a large audience in the Wikipedia community. I read the submission guidelines and understand that you prefer to work with writers earlier in the writing process, but I wanted to touch base to see if there was a place for the work in your publication. OpenSexism (talk) 21:41, 7 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: I'm, uh not an WP Signpost writer nor editor, but I'm interested to make an Wikipedia crossword, which will have relevant information from the articles I have come across. This will also have Wikipedia terms, obviously, and words that are related to intresting information.Spongebob796 (talk) 02:03, 9 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: I'm playing with the idea of putting together a WikiProject report with a slight spin on the usual format. Instead of interviewing participants from a single project, I'd like to get a representative each from some of the most successful WikiProjects (I'm thinking WP:WOMRED, WP:MILHIST, WP:MED – suggestions welcome) to discuss how you grow and maintain activity in a project over the long term.
I've nothing concrete yet. Before starting anything, I wanted to check whether that format deviation would be okay, and make sure I'm not stepping on any toes – I'm not sure if there's a designated subeditor for the WikiProject reports column? – Joe (talk) 09:26, 6 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Among all of these, d:Wikidata:WikiProject Video games is the only one to have major participation and organization in Wikidata. Medicine, LGBT+, and math get a lot of data administrative questions without major content creation, and for military and women in red it is the reverse with a lot of Wikidata content creation but less administrative development. Bluerasberry (talk)16:01, 17 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Highlights from the fiscal year 2023-2024 Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Endowment audit reports
Discussion: This piece will present comprehensive highlights from the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Endowment audit reports for fiscal year 2023-2024 to give insight into how funds were raised and used during this timeframe. ELappen (WMF) (talk) 17:27, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It looks like this is basically identical to this recent Diff post, something that should be disclosed both as part of a submission and in the version published here. Basically every publication that solicits submissions will want to know whether they are getting original content or a syndication of something previously published elsewhere. I would think that most communications professionals know this, but perhaps it is worth clarifying it in this page's header (which currently already strongly hints that republication of finished pieces from elsewhere is not the norm, e.g. We encourage you to contact us early in the process of developing a story etc).
I'm still curious how the "News from the WMF" slot transformed from something for which the Signpost's editorial team would independently select a post from the WMF's Diff blog for republication to something that the WMF apparently sees as their prerogative to fill proactively. Having said that, the current submission does cover an important topic, and given that the Signpost's independent coverage of these audit reports by User:Jayen466 has often been highly negative, I totally understand the desire to get ahead of it this time.
Thank you for the ping, HaeB. I don't think I have any concerns at the moment: we finally have public, audited accounts for the Endowment, and all the fundraising banners I have read this year seemed on the right side of the red line. (The emails are still a bit pushy, but then that is a slightly different audience.) So as things stand right now, I don't see a reason for writing a critical piece. The 990 forms next May might be more deserving of a standalone piece by the Signpost team. Regards, AndreasJN46618:12, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: An essay on how to measure imbalances between mentions of people from Europe and North America and people from the rest of the world in Wikipedia articles. PAC2 (talk) 04:30, 6 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: This is my first opinion here on The SignPost, I wrote this to express my feelings how they are recognizable now, this includes on being number 1 most popular Wikipedia article in Filipino musicians in 2024. I added who they are, how they formed, the rising of girl group, controversy and my final thoughts or my "real" commentary. RoyiswariiiTalk!05:24, 27 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: I would like to encourage community participation in adding short descriptions to all articles on Wikipedia still lacking one!
This is better than OK. You'll get a [[byline] so you don't need to introduce yourself on the first line. You might just give a short description of a short description as the lede. What rubric should it go under? I think "Tips and tricks" is already taken in this issue, but there are lots of applicable rubrics. Smallbones(smalltalk)15:06, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: I want to provide responsible humor about Elon Musk and his relation/misappropriation of Wikipedia, and at the same time demonstrate the whimsically silly-inner culture of Wikipedia that affects non-wealthy autocrats and link to various corners of our internal policies/discussions. ~ 🦝 Shushugah (he/him • talk) 20:43, 19 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: This article gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at an important tech event--the Wikimedia Foundation’s biannual datacenter server switchover. It might sound routine, but it’s a big deal for keeping the wikis running smoothly and even has an interesting connection to astronomy. The next switchover is coming up next month, right around the solar equinox. And with Listen to Wikipedia, a tool that turns real-time wiki edits into sound, anyone can tune in and experience it live. We’d love to publish this in time for the event so Signpost readers can follow along and see (or hear!) it in action. AEira-WMF (talk) 21:24, 20 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@AEira-WMF: This should be accepted and published before March 19 obviously. @JPxG: we should commit to this. A couple of smaller things. It could be clearer (or with a bit more detail) on why the switchover is needed - I think you are assuming the reader knows something I don't know. Yes, the correct plural of equinox is equinoxes and it should be used once near the beginning. Finally, can you guys predict Easter? Smallbones(smalltalk)04:54, 24 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
@Smallbones Thanks for the helpful feedback. I made a couple of adjustments based on it. Let me know if anything else is needed. Really appreciate your help in getting this published before March 19th. AEira-WMF (talk) 20:24, 25 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Using AI in Russian Wikipedia: Opportunities or Challenges?
Discussion:I am an author on the Russian Wikipedia. I do not speak English and use computer translation systems for communication.
I propose an article discussing the attitude of the Russian Wikipedia community toward large language models (LLMs), neural networks, and so on.
At the end of the article, I make a prediction that deeply concerns me: I believe that Wikipedia is currently on the brink of survival, and it will not endure unless Wikipedia, its community, and its infrastructure undergo significant changes.
I am offering an article for Signpost for the first time. The article was originally written in Russian and translated into English by a contributor named @Victoria
If you deem it necessary to shorten the text, you may do so, but I kindly ask that you ensure the overall meaning remains unchanged: the Russian Wikipedia community does not know how to deal with the emerging problem. --VladimirPF (talk) 06:39, 28 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: WP:MED has reached a key milestone: every {{unref}}d article has been ref'd. Although I thought about a brief announcement, I wrote something much longer. The longer version might be useful for anyone who wants to try doing the same. Ajpolino, my only real regret is not knowing who could be thanked individually. Please let me know if you can suggest any additional names. We had so many people helping. WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:38, 8 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion: This piece covers some of the progress made on the Product & Tech goals in this year's Annual Plan and what that's looked like in the first half of the fiscal year 2024–2025. AEira-WMF (talk) 14:10, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Form 990 released for the Wikimedia Foundation’s fiscal year 2023-2024
Discussion: This piece shares highlights from the Foundation's recently-released Form 990 for fiscal year 2023-2024, linking out for those who want more information. ELappen (WMF) (talk) 21:05, 29 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Wikimedia Foundation brings legal challenge to new UK Online Safety Act requirements
Discussion: I wrote a piece on hunting for sources, with Sweden-related Articles for Deletion discussions as an example, and why it becomes complicated – they don't turn up where people expect them to, and even Swedes are half-blind without media archive accesses. /Julle (talk) 19:26, 8 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Discussion:I was emailed by Svampesky to contribute a debrief, have left a message on their talk page a few days ago, leaving this here as well. Regards, --Goldsztajn (talk) 21:42, 8 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Done jp×g🗯️ 06:32, 27 February 2025 (UTC)
