This is a summary of recent technology and site configuration changes that affect the English Wikipedia. Note that not all changes described here are necessarily live as of press time; the English Wikipedia is currently running version 1.44.0-wmf.12 (8b8c762), and changes to the software with a version number higher than that will not yet be active. Configuration changes and changes to interface messages, however, become active immediately.
Fixed bugs
- Invalid CSS, HTML and/or XHTML was fixed in many places this week:
- Many fixes were made to the Modern skin:
- The "Justify paragraphs" preference now works. (r34028, bug 13860)
- The "navigation" accessibility link now links to the correct location. (r34036, bug 13168)
- The link to subpages and the 'redirected from' link now show correctly at the same time. (r34038, bug 13185)
- The "powered by MediaWiki" item is now displayed correctly. (r34039, bug 13583)
- Printable versions are now styled correctly. (r34058, bug 13880)
- It's now possible to thumbnail SVG images to more than 1024 pixels wide (the new limit is 2048). (r34061, bug 13885)
- Hidden categories are now listed invisibly on the page even if there are no non-hidden categories; previously they would be listed invisibly only if there was at least one non-hidden category on the page. (r34062, bug 13347)
- Some issues with logging in were fixed on Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 on the Macintosh. (r34083, bug 13905)
Other technology news
- Some code has been added to allow renaming images; however, that code is not currently enabled, pending testing. (r34169, bug 709)
Ongoing news
- Internationalisation has been continuing as normal; help is always appreciated! See mw:Localisation statistics for how complete the translations of languages you know are, and post any updates to bugzilla or use Betawiki.
Candidate presentations open for Board election
Candidates can submit their names for the 2008 Board Elections during the period 8 May to 22 May. As of press time, no candidates had submitted names.
Briefly
- A new criterion for speedy deletion, "I10", was added. The criterion, entitled "Useless media files" allows the speedy deletion of "Files uploaded that are neither image, sound, nor video files (e.g. .doc, .pdf, or .xls files) which are not used in any article and have no foreseeable encyclopedic use."
- The Lithuanian Wiktionary has reached 40,000 articles.
- The Malayalam Wiktionary has reached 2,000 articles.
The Arbitration Committee opened three cases this week, leaving six currently open.
New cases
- Giovanni33: A case involving the accusation of sockpuppetry by Giovanni33. Giovanni33 has not yet commented in the case, but Rafaelsfingers, who has been labeled as a sockpuppet of Giovanni33 by some, has denied the charges.
- Footnoted quotes: A case involving the use of quotes in footnotes; some users allege that Richard Arthur Norton has been using these quotes excessively, and against consensus. Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ), however, has argued for the quotes, and noted that he's "flexible" regarding specific uses of the quotes.
Voting phase
- Homeopathy: A dispute involving a number of editors over the Homeopathy article. Remedies with the support of two arbitrators include banning DanaUllman for one year, the creation of a "Sourcing Adjudication Board" regarding the inappropriate use of citations, and emphasizing the Committee's ability to issue subsequent sanctions in the case, based on reports of "inappropriate conduct" as judged by the Sourcing Adjudication Board. Two versions of another sanction each have the support of one arbitrator, allowing administrators to impose sanctions on editors in the dispute.
- Tango: A case involving a controversial block of MONGO by Tango under this finding. A remedy suspending Tango's use of the blocking tool for six months has the support of six arbitrators, and remedies suspending Tango's adminship, both for one month and indefinitely, have lesser degrees of support.
Motion to close
- Prem Rawat: A case involving the actions of editors on Prem Rawat and related articles. If closed, all remedies would currently fail, due to lack of quorum, though the case is unlikely to close at this point. These remedies place Rawat-related articles on article probation and reminding editors with a possible or perceived conflict of interest to comply with Wikipedia policies on NPOV and conflict of interest. The motion to close was made at a time when the remedies passed, and is currently opposed by two arbitrators.
