This is a summary of recent technology and site configuration changes that affect the English Wikipedia. Note that not all changes described here are live as of press time; the English Wikipedia is currently running version 1.44.0-wmf.12 (8b8c762), and changes with a version number higher than that will not yet be active.
Fixed bugs
- Renaming a user now changes the username in all deleted edits by that user. (r23915, bug 5930)
- Skin-dependent JavaScript is now given correct information about the skin being used in some cases where the useskin= parameter is set (the parameter overrides the skin being used, such as in the previews on Special:Preferences). (r23924, bug 10316)
- Categorised redirects are no longer incorrectly marked with the styling used for pages below the stub threshold (which is 0 by default, but each user can set in their preferences). (r23952, bug 9903)
- It is now possible to transclude a template called Template:R by typing {{R}} (the bug prevented this specific name from working correctly in this case). (r23964, bug 6965)
- Timed redirects (such as the one that went back to the page you logged in from 5 seconds after logging in) have been removed for accessibility reasons; the text "Return to" and a link to where they would have gone is still present. (r23979, bug 9153)
- When a page only has one revision, the 'rollback' link doesn't appear, not even for administrators (it would have no effect because there would be no version to rollback to). (r24033, bug 10552)
- Linking to a section of the parent page of a subpage using the syntax
[[../#section]] now works correctly. (r24046, bug 9151)
A serious bug
A MediaWiki software bug occurred on 10 July, 2007 for slightly over half an hour, causing edits and reverts to numerous unrelated pages across Wikipedia to affect Wikipedia:Wikipedians, rather than the page that the user making the edit was trying to revert to. It started with this edit by Tiago Heitor, which was to an unrelated article. Thinking it was vandalism, KnowledgeOfSelf reverted the edit, but then reverted it back. Shortly after, another completely unrelated revert occurred, to a version that was from another totally unrelated page. After many continuous edits and reverts, KnowledgeOfSelf decided to report the problem to the Admins' noticeboard. The problem persisted while three separate threads were posted to the noticeboard. After some 50 or so strange edits, W.marsh protected the page while it was still in chaos. Although the page was protected, administrators were still accidentally posting edits to the page. The error was fixed when Brion VIBBER notified the village pump that he had accidentally broken it, and that the problem was resolved. Still, users complained that talkpage reversions were taking them into Wikipedia:Wikipedians.
On a technical level, the bug was caused by a typo in r23973, which was fixed immediately afterwards in r23974; Wikipedia:Wikipedians was the page causing trouble because it contained the revision with revision number 1. (This is not Wikipedia's first edit, because other software has been used before MediaWiki in the history of Wikipedia; that page has earlier revisions with higher numbers, and the number given is likely due to the transition to new 'phase II' software during January 2002.)
New features
- A magic word DISPLAYTITLE has been enabled; placing
{{DISPLAYTITLE:correct page name}} allows for changes in how the page's title is displayed, as long as the displayed title is a valid link to that page (therefore, the magic word is mostly useful for lowercasing the first letter of a page's name). (r23393, bug 7255)
- It's now possible to import, export, and edit watchlists as text using the 'View raw watchlist' feature (//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Watchlist&action=raw); this feature was then improved several times after it was first implemented. (bug 7959; first implemented in r23693, most recent version r23895)
- Users whose preferences specify that a preview for a page should appear when they start editing it (as opposed to once 'Show preview' is clicked) can override that for one edit by specifying preview=no in the page's URL (for instance, //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Sandbox&action=edit&preview=no); likewise, users with that preference turned off can turn it on for one edit with preview=yes (for instance, //en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Sandbox&action=edit&preview=yes). (r23972, bug 9936)
- It's now possible to style <gallery> and <math> tags using the same style= attribute as is used on HTML tags like <div> and <span>. (r24065; bugs 10508 and 1962)
- A new interface message MediaWiki:Sp-contributions-explain has been introduced, which adds extra information to Special:Contributions. (r24091, bug 10530)
- Previews of the licence tags available on Special:Upload are now shown when those tags are selected, to provide legal information about what the tag means before the upload. (r24095, bug 10520)
- A link has been provided from Special:Contributions to Special:DeletedContributions (it only appears for administrators, because other users can't access Special:DeletedContributions). (r24141, bug 10535)
Configuration changes
- An index by username was added to the table of deleted edits; this makes it possible to add new features that depend on the deleted edits made by a user (such as the installation of DeletedContributions mentioned below and the changes to renaming).
- The DeletedContributions extension was installed on Wikimedia wikis; administrators can determine the contributions made by a user that have since been deleted by visiting Special:DeletedContributions. (bug 10464)
Other technology news
- Six Wikimedia wikis were closed:
Ongoing news
- Internationalisation has been continuing as normal; help is always appreciated! See m:Localization statistics for how complete the translations of languages you know are, and post any updates to bugzilla.
The Arbitration Committee closed two cases last week. No new cases were accepted, although several new requests for arbitration are currently being considered.
Closed cases
In these cases, the Arbitration Committee announced its final decision last week:
- NYScholar: This case involved the actions of a number of users, including NYScholar and Notmyrealname, in relation to the Lewis Libby article and particularly whether that article should discuss the religious affiliation of its subject. In its decision, the Arbitration Committee recognized the sensitivity of this issue, and granted all involved editors an "amnesty" for past edit-warring, but provided that further misconduct may result in sanctions imposed by an uninvolved administrator.
- Hkelkar 2: This case involved the actions of, among others, Rama's Arrow, Bakasuprman, Dangerous-Boy, and Sbhushan. The dispute arose when Rama's Arrow blocked several users for long periods, alleging that they had acted as meatpuppets of a banned user. While the case was pending, Rama's Arrow elected to be voluntarily desysopped. In the final decision, the Arbitration Committee confirmed Rama's Arrow's desysopping, but noted that he was welcome to seek adminship again through RfA at any time. The committee urged the editors involved to enter into mediation regarding any unresolved content disputes, and emphasized that administrators involved in a dispute should not exercise admin powers such as blocking against others involved in the dispute, but should ask an uninvolved admin to review the matter. The committee also endorsed the principle that off-wiki e-mails should not be posted on Wikipedia without, at least, the consent of the sender. Finally, the Arbitration Committee stated that "all parties are reminded in the strongest possible terms that Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and not a forum for conspiracy, personal attacks, nor the continuation of ethnic disputes by other means."
Evidence phase
These cases are in the evidence stage of consideration, during which editors may submit evidence and workshop proposals for consideration by the arbitrators:
- COFS, a case initiated by Durova based on a discussion at the community sanctions noticeboard. The case involves allegations of tendentious editing by various editors, sockpuppetry, conflicts of interest, and other user conduct issues on Scientology related articles.
- Armenia-Azerbaijan 2: A case alleging misconduct by various editors, some of whom were previously placed on revert parole in an earlier case, on articles relating to Armenia, Azerbaijan, the conflict between them, and related matters.
Under review
The "under review" category refers to situations where the arbitrators are examining a party's compliance with a prior ArbCom decision, without opening a full new case to address the matter.
Voting phase
In these cases, a proposed decision has been drafted and is being voted on by the arbitrators:
- Zacheus-jkb: A case involving the actions of -jkb- and Zacheus. -jkb- alleges that Zacheus has published personal data on him, and has made legal threats. Zacheus denies the allegations, and Thatcher131 alleges on the talkpage that -jkb- has himself revealed personal information on Zacheus. In the proposed decision, the Arbitration Committee would admonish both editors for their previous misconduct against each other but note that the problematic conduct seems to have stopped, and warn the parties not to resume practices such as posting identifying information about other editors or making personal attacks.
- CharlotteWebb: A case arising from the revelation by Jayjg, who has checkuser access, that CharlotteWebb had edited from TOR proxies. This occurred during CharlotteWebb's request for adminship, which then failed to reach consensus. In a proposed decision submitted by arbitrator Kirill Lokshin, the Arbitration Committee would note that CharlotteWebb remains a user in good standing and is welcome to resume editing, and would advise or remind Jayjg to seek to resolve this type of dispute privately before making public statements alleging misbehavior. Other arbitrators have not yet commented on these proposals.
- Abu badali: A case alleging that Abu badali has disruptively tagged non-free images for deletion, even when a valid fair-use justification exists, and has harassed editors who have complained about this behavior. Abu badali denies the allegations. The proposed decision submitted by arbitrator Fred Bauder would place Abu badali on probation for one year. Arbitrator voting on the remedy and some of the findings of fact underlying it is split.
- Piotrus: A case involving User:Piotrus and other editors on Central and Eastern Europe-related articles. In the case, multiple parties have accused one another of edit-warring, incivility, unethical behavior, and biased editing. Arbitrators have proposed remedies ranging from granting amnesty for prior editing problems on these articles to placing "all articles relating to Eastern Europe, broadly defined, on general probation and parole" to banning M.K from these articles for one year. Voting on the proposed remedies is divided.
Motion to close
An arbitrator has proposed closing the committee's consideration and finalizing the decision in this case:
- Miskin: A case involving the actions of Miskin, who was blocked by Swatjester for one month (later reduced to one week) for an alleged violation of the three revert rule following an earlier history of blocks. In a proposed decision submitted by arbitrator Mackensen and having majority support, the committee would advise Miskin to seek consensus on an article's talkpage if his initial edits are reverted, and advise Swatjester to take the length of time since previous blocks into account in deciding on the length of a later block and to treat all editors violating the 3RR fairly.
