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30 September 2022

News and notes
Board vote results, bot's big GET, crat chat gives new mop, WMF seeks "sound logo" and "organizer lab"
In focus
NPP: Still heaven or hell for new users – and for the reviewers
In the media
A few complaints and mild disagreements
Special report
Decentralized Fundraising, Centralized Distribution
Discussion report
Much ado about Fox News
Interview
ScottishFinnishRadish's Request for Adminship
Opinion
Are we ever going to reach consensus?
Serendipity
Removing watermarks, copyright signs and cigarettes from photos
Recent research
How readers assess Wikipedia's trustworthiness, and how they could in the future
Traffic report
Kings and queens and VIPs
Featured content
Farm-fresh content
Gallery
A Festival Descends on the City: The Edinburgh Fringe, Pt. 2
CommonsComix
CommonsComix 2: Paulus Moreelse
From the archives
5, 10, and 15 Years ago: September 2022
 

2022-09-30

Board vote results, bot's big GET, crat chat gives new mop, WMF seeks "sound logo" and "organizer lab"

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By Andreas Kolbe, Bri, Helloheart, and WereSpielChequers
Could it be the next Wikimedia sound logo?

Wikimedia Foundation: "Join the Organizer Lab beta! Join the first cohort of training for Topics for Impact campaigns"

Climate change and sustainability is the first "topic for impact" selected for an "Organizer lab" designed to teach people to recruit volunteers to address related content gaps in various languages

The Wikimedia Foundation believes that the role of WMF-supported organizers recruiting volunteers to work on the projects is of critical importance to growing content and retaining contributors. To date, it says:

the path to organizing has been very organic, loosely supported by grant-making and the work of our affiliate network. But the Movement Strategy asks us to focus on Investing in Skills and Leadership Development and Identifying Topics for Impact. We need to get more deliberate about asking questions like:

  • How are we inviting the next generation of editors and volunteers to our movement to help us address a universe of knowledge gaps?
  • Are we creating clear pathways for organizers to gain all the skills or knowledge they need to champion the Wikimedia Movement well?

By mentoring and working with organizers over the last three years to understand campaigns around the world, the Campaigns Team at the Wikimedia Foundation has learned how to help organizers design campaigns that bring in the next generation of contributors. We are going to share those lessons and experiences in an Organizer Lab (beta) focused on campaigns and organizing around “Topics for Impact”. Though we hope to expand to support other topics and themes in the coming years, the first cohort will be themed around a topic of rising interest across the movement: Climate Change and Sustainability.

The Organizer lab will be a 9-week online course running from late October to mid-December. For further details, see the Wikimedia blog post. AK

Wikimedia sound logo contest launched

The Wikimedia Foundation has launched a sound logo contest.

Take a note – from 13 September to 10 October 2022, everyone, everywhere is invited to help create a sound logo for the Wikimedia projects.

A sound logo is a brief collection of sounds, often between 2 and 4 seconds long. Sound logos have gained popularity with the rise of audio technology globally; the number of active voice assistant users has grown from 544.1 million in 2015 to 2.6 billion in 2021. Wikimedia projects increasingly power other websites, search engines, and general knowledge queries on voice-assisted devices, but many listeners are not aware because the source of the information is not consistently identified. A sound logo is needed to help listeners identify when they are accessing trusted, verifiable knowledge from Wikimedia projects. In harmony with our values and as always curious to experiment and learn, we will have an open contest for the sound of all human knowledge and invite the world to participate.

AK

Mike Peel, Shani Sigalov elected to WMF board seats

Two seats were open in the Wikimedia Foundation's board, and there were six candidates. With a total of 5,922 votes in the election, the two candidates selected were Mike Peel (Mike Peel) and Shani Evenstein Sigalov (Esh77). During the end in round 5, Mike Peel had been elected with 1,995 votes. The second seat was decided in the final round, when Shani Evenstein Sigalov had gotten approximately 1,835 votes. – H

WikiCleanerBot rolls decs

Check 'em – congratulations to NicoV, whose bot has achieved Wikipedia's 1,111,111,111 GET. An anonymous server kitty is claimed to have said "that's an awful lot of 1s in the same place, hopefully nothing similar will happen for about fifteen years when we expect to need the same number of 2s". The Mayor of Vayres, Gironde is probably unaware of the special status his commune has just acquired in the English speaking world. – W

Community safety and comfort

The results for the English Wikipedia on the safety survey.

In June and July of 2022, the Wikimedia movement released a community safety survey. This was to find out whether or not a user felt safe and comfortable contributing to Wikipedia. The question asked was:

In the last 30 days, have you felt unsafe or uncomfortable contributing to Wikipedia?

The survey was sent to users on five different languages of Wikipedia: the English Wikipedia, the Farsi Wikipedia, the French Wikipedia, the Spanish Wikipedia and the Portuguese Wikipedia. The answers to choose from were "Yes," "No," and "I'm not sure." The results turned out to be that the unweighted results (there were two versions of responses: weighted and unweighted) on the English Wikipedia showed that 75.3% of Wikipedians felt safe and comfortable on Wikipedia, 15.9% of Wikipedians felt unsafe or uncomfortable, and 8.8% of them were not sure. The proportions of users feeling unsafe were somewhat higher on the Spanish (24.4%) and Portuguese (26.0%) Wikipedias. – H

Call for feedback on leadership definition

In February a Call for Feedback was published by the Community Development (CD) team about a Leadership Development Working Group. The Call for Feedback was shared in 42 languages. The Call for Feedback was used to get feedback from the community on the meaning of "leader," the working group's composition, and the need for continued feedback. The Leadership Development Working Group recently published its leadership definition and invited feedback. – H

Brief notes



Reader comments

2022-09-30

NPP: Still heaven or hell for new users – and for the reviewers

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By MB, Novem Linguae, and Kudpung

MB and Novem Linguae took on the task of joint lead coordinators of New Page Patrol this year following the long void left by other coordinators who had moved on. Kudpung was de facto coordinator for many years before retiring from it in March 2017. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not reflect any official opinions of this publication.

Just what is NPP? Why does it need the WMF? Why does it need YOU?

Graph of NPP backlog
The slight downward trend in the backlog from the 2nd week of September is due to the work of just one reviewer returning from an absence of several months due to burn out. On average, the New Pages Feed receives 750 - 1,000 articles every 24 hours.Database: Top new article reviewers

Four years ago, in October 2018, the Signpost article "NPP: This could be heaven or this could be hell for new users – and for the reviewers" reported on the New pages patrol process and the challenges it faces. Today, those issues produce new hurdles to keeping the encyclopedia clean – and the need for upgrades to its software is even more acute.

Earlier this month, in a last ditch attempt to draw the Foundation’s attention to the need for developer work on the PageTriage/Curation tools, an open letter from 444 users and admins was published along with notifications to senior WMF staff, and to the members of the Board of Trustees. In the absence of a more detailed hierarchical organigramme, it is assumed that the Contributors Product Management team subordinate to the 'Product' section headed by new CPTO Selena Deckelmann, is responsible for declining or delaying the urgently needed attention.

Out of a total of 165 open NPP tickets at Phabricator, over half are 4 years old or more with many going back to 2012

A Page Curation tool
A tool in the Page Curation interface of Page Triage
A Page Triage tool
The reviewers' New Page Feed in Page Triage

New Page Reviewers use the page curation system to review new articles and pass them for indexing for search engines, or to propose them for further improvement or deletion. Unfortunately, the community has too few capable and competent people at NPP and despite occasional drives to address it, today's backlog still stands at an untenable level. Software improvements, both bug reports and feature requests, that would help and encourage reviewers do this job have been languishing unaddressed at Phabricator for months and even years. Commenting on the WMF's rejection of ACTRIAL in their 2011 article in The Signpost, users Skomorokh, Jorgenev, and Daniel Mietchen suggest that:

Wikipedia has over 700 New Page Reviewers. Only around 100 are moderately active and only 25 or so perform the majority of the reviews.

Knowing that an appeal was in preparation, a WMF director of product engineering made a pre-emptive post on the task force talk page in which they placed the blame for the lack of software support squarely at the feet of the New Page Patrol team for not having submitted requests to the Community Wishlist. The Wishlist is an annual programme since 2015 where contributors from all Wikimedia projects can ask for those small changes that they would most like to see. Indeed, the NPP group did avail of the process in 2018 and completely swamped it, but that was four years ago. Paradoxically, the response continued by listing other WMF engineering commitments as an explanation of why they don’t have the funds or capacity for NPP. There was also an opaque reference to a need to rewrite the tool: "current projects that we've prioritized above rewriting PageTriage." If they believe it is beyond normal maintenance, that may be another reason why they are providing little support. The WMF's post was made before the letter was published and the NPP team does not consider their comments to be wholly felicitous.

Despite the bold claim in their Annual Plan 2022-2023 Goal #1:

the WMF makes no mention of supporting the trusted knowledge in their flagship project, the English Wikipedia.

How well informed is the Board of Trustees?

During a July live streamed 'Conversation with the Trustees' (see transcript below), in answer to a pre-submitted question from Atsme, a New Page Reviewer: "What is the Foundation doing to protect New Pages Patrol and Articles for Creation from system overload?" the response from the board's vice-chair, Shani Evenstein, stated that PageTriage was 'community developed' (which it was not: Engagement strategy - New Page Triage) and that NPP volunteers should wait for at least six months and request the work through the Wishlist.

While researching for a reply, in contrast to their claim of "...to have honest and meaningful conversations [...] We prepare for these meetings and send an agenda of main topics, and post it on Meta, a week in advance, and make sure to go through these agenda items".[3] they were apparently either misinformed or they misinterpreted the information provided by their source. Insisting that important technical matters are not at all within the board's 'remit', it is interesting to note how unaware the board appears to be of the importance of the flagship encyclopedia to the Foundation's very existence. In a follow up thread on the reviewers' talk page Ms Evenstein offered some words of encouragement, giving hope for future collaboration:

I cannot promise an immediate solution, but I can promise it will be properly discussed. To make sure expectations are realistic, I will add that this topic / issue / problem statement requires further discussions internally, both with our CEO and our new CPTO. As you may know, we have just hired a new CPTO, who will be starting in August. Whatever operational solutions WMF will come up with for this stated problem, it will have to include her. Till she settles in, and till we are able to strategize around this topic (and other related technologically-related topics) further in collaboration with staff, our Product department continues to be aware and continue to work on it to the extent they can; but I hope it is clear that talking about longer-term solutions, a bit more time will be needed to make sure this is properly discussed.

Ms Evenstein has recently been re-elected to the board, while newly elected Mike Peel comes directly from the English Wikipedia community. A user since 2005 and an administrator since 2007, he was one of two candidates campaigning on a platform of more board involvement on the shop floor:

Although there have been hiccups in the past, some serious, the board generally acts within the movement's best interests, but anyone watching the video of the Board of Trustees responding to Atsme's question cannot fail to recognise the board's reply as inadequate and mildly patronising.

No money?

WMF receipts and expenditure up to 2021

Writing in The Signpost Op-ed Wikipedia has cancer about the Foundation's flow of funds, Guy Macon, a financial consultant, states:

…their poor handling of software development has been well known for many years. The answer to the WMF's problems with software development has been well known for decades and is extensively documented in books such as The Mythical Man-Month and Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams […] This failure is almost certainly a systemic problem directly caused by top management, not by the developers doing the actual work.

Macon's more recent essay, an updated version of Wikipedia has Cancer, is a testament to the runaway spending on pet projects and non-core functions while neglecting the volunteers, and still leaving the Foundation with current disposable assets in excess of US$200 million The volunteers are the project's major stakeholder and the NPP team on whose work the reputation of the articles depends, is hoping for a substantive response and one that comes from the Foundation's senior executive staff, especially CPTO Selena Deckelmann, and Maryana Iskander, the CEO. In view of the rapidly growing surplus of donations, the stock justifications for inaction are wearing thin; the community is trusting in offers of serious engagement on quality control, rather than further rejections and intangible reasons why it can't or won't be done.

As of press time, the New Page Review team has received an acknowledgement by email from the Trustees, but no official public response to the letter from them or the WMF. We reached out to the board and the WMF regarding this article in the Signpost. The board pointed out a minor error in the staff which has been corrected, but the WMF has not offered any comment.

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5 December 2005

The New Page Reviewer's petition

Dear Wikimedia Foundation and Board of Trustees,
It is our understanding that PageTriage—an essential MediaWiki extension used by the English Wikipedia's New Pages Patrol (NPP)—is not considered an active project within the WMF, and that software support for PageTriage is currently minimal; we cannot expect anything except critical fixes to maintain the present functionality.
New Page Patrolling by the New Page Reviewers is a critical function necessary to keep Wikipedia from being overrun with new articles that don't meet the community's standards for inclusion. While some members of the community seem to be obsessed with growing the number of articles (and many of us feel the WMF shares in that belief), others feel that the reputation of Wikipedia as a reliable and trustworthy repository of knowledge is best served by having "5.5 million good articles, instead of 6.5 million, of which 1 million are junk".
Because having a Wikipedia article today lends credibility to any topic, it has become a valuable commodity. With the rapid increase in availability of the Internet and low cost smart phones, there is always a huge number of articles seeking to promote products, businesses, and people of all professions. Some fear that Wikipedia is headed towards resembling "daisies (good articles) growing in a sewer". There are millions of existing articles that need some kind of improvement, and far too few editors working on these to make significant headway. We must ensure that all further additions at least meet our minimum standards for inclusion in the encyclopedia, as determined by the community consensus, as reflected in its policies and guidelines. This torrent of inferior articles is primarily stopped by the hard work and dedication of a limited number of us, the English Wikipedia NPP reviewers.
The "NPP team" currently has only around 100 people moderately active and only 25 or so that perform the majority of the reviews. For a few years now, a handful of people did a disproportionate number of reviews, and when they left the project, the number of unreviewed articles shot up to nearly 16,000 on a trajectory that indicated potential collapse. A concerted focus averted a crisis and the backlog, although still high, has been reduced. But all NPP volunteers are subject to "burnout" as it is mostly a thankless job, because "passing" an article is mostly a silent action without reward or fanfare, while "failing" one can bring stress and agitation during the deletion process.
NPP must be able to function without short-term herculean efforts by a few editors who inevitably quit at some point, and without periodic crisis modes triggered by runaway backlogs.
What the Foundation can do now to help NPP is: improve the PageTriage software. The software was rolled out ten years ago, and with the exception of some improvements in 2018, has had little attention for several years. There are bugs identified years ago that remain unfixed, and people get by after learning what works and what work-arounds to use. There have been dozens of enhancements requested that would make the system more efficient and easier to use. The plan when PageTriage was designed was that it be self-contained, i.e. provide all the functionality needed during the review process. It is not there yet. A better system will improve the workflow of the relatively small number of active reviewers, as well as potentially keep them engaged and make it easier to recruit new members.
NPP may have other issues that can only be addressed by the community, but we should not be fighting the software. We request that the PageTriage suite of apps be designated an active project with developer resources allocated. A specific WMF software engineer or WMF team should have ownership of it, and their responsibilities should include reviewing patches submitted by volunteers in a timely manner, fixing any and all reproducible bugs, and working on top features requested by NPP. The current status quo of having no maintainer, and with the Growth Team abstractly being the code stewards, while not having the time or resources to provide fixes, enhancements, or even to review and deploy volunteer-submitted patches is problematic.
The English Wikipedia NPP team stands ready to work together to identify and prioritize the issues. Please assign some resources so that we can properly maintain this important tool.
Kind regards,
The undersigned
  1. MB 01:13, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
  2. * Pppery * it has begun... 01:11, 1 August 2022 (UTC)
  3. Kj cheetham (talk) 21:32, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  4. Qwerfjkltalk 21:34, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  5. Osarius 21:39, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  6. KRtau16 (talk) 21:47, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  7. Nick Moyes (talk) 22:05, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  8. 🐶 EpicPupper (he/him | talk) 22:13, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  9. Goldsztajn (talk) 22:15, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  10. CollectiveSolidarity (talk) 22:50, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  11. Complex/Rational 23:16, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  12. Novem Linguae (talk) 23:26, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  13. Extraordinary Writ (talk) 23:59, 6 August 2022 (UTC)
  14. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 02:03, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  15. Compassionate727 (T·C) 02:33, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  16. Insertcleverphrasehere(or here)(or here)(or here) 03:43, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  17. Clovermoss (talk) 03:46, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  18. —Ganesha811 (talk) 04:19, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  19. R E A D I N G Talk to the Beans? 04:24, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  20. DocFreeman24 (talk) 04:39, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  21. Dhtwiki (talk) 05:38, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  22. Alexandermcnabb (talk) 05:55, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  23. SCHolar44 🇦🇺 💬 at 06:08, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  24. Dr vulpes (💬📝) 07:14, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  25. --88.240.155.67 (talk) 09:46, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  26. MarkDask 09:55, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  27. Mccapra (talk) 10:43, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  28. MER-C 10:46, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  29. Onel5969 TT me 10:56, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  30. Regards, User:TheDragonFire300. (Contact me | Contributions). 11:17, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  31. Shellwood (talk) 11:47, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  32. Atlantic306 (talk) 14:16, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  33. ✠ SunDawn ✠ (contact) 16:42, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  34. Geoff | Who, me? 17:15, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  35. Red-tailed hawk (nest) 18:23, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  36. -- John Broughton (♫♫) 21:51, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  37. Ovinus (talk) 22:30, 7 August 2022 (UTC)
  38. PMC(talk) 02:24, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  39. PK650 (talk) 02:44, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  40. The Aafī (talk) 03:46, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  41. – numbermaniac 07:36, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  42. WikiAviator talk 08:23, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  43. Kavyansh.Singh (talk) 08:44, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  44. KevinL (aka L235 · t · c) 17:00, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  45. Curbon7 (talk) 19:02, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  46. PamD 20:00, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
  47. Netherzone (talk) 01:27, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
  48. Thanks,L3X1 ◊distænt write◊ 09:23, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
  49. BennyOnTheLoose (talk) 09:33, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
  50. CX Zoom[he/him] (let's talk • {CX}) 11:20, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
  51. —⁠ScottyWong⁠— 15:07, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
  52. Atsme 💬 📧 15:11, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
  53. Hemiauchenia (talk) 17:12, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
  54. BilledMammal (talk) 23:58, 9 August 2022 (UTC)
  55. Thingofme (talk) 02:09, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
  56. Bilorv (talk) 09:42, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
  57. CactiStaccingCrane (talk) 12:09, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
  58. -- lomrjyo talk 14:33, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
  59. IAmChaos(alt acct - please ping my main) 22:21, 10 August 2022 (UTC)
  60. MaxnaCarta (talk) 01:37, 11 August 2022 (UTC)
  61. Retswerb (talk) 03:35, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
  62. MJL‐Talk‐ 04:13, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
  63. Schierbecker (talk) 06:06, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
  64. -MPGuy2824 (talk) 09:16, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
  65. pythoncoder (talk | contribs) 19:35, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
  66. Danre98(talk^contribs) 19:38, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
  67. Chris Troutman (talk) 20:34, 12 August 2022 (UTC)
  68. Iazyges Consermonor Opus meum 04:37, 13 August 2022 (UTC)
  69. 74.73.224.126 (talk) 15:37, 13 August 2022 (UTC)
  70. BusterD (talk) 00:43, 14 August 2022 (UTC)
  71. Oaktree b (talk) 02:37, 14 August 2022 (UTC)
  72. jp×g 09:11, 14 August 2022 (UTC)
  73. --Tryptofish (talk) 14:56, 14 August 2022 (UTC)
  74. Toadspike (talk) 23:27, 14 August 2022 (UTC)
  75. Narutolovehinata5 (talk · contributions) 07:19, 15 August 2022 (UTC)
  76. Usedtobecool ☎️ 08:24, 16 August 2022 (UTC)
  77. Pichpich (talk) 17:50, 16 August 2022 (UTC)
  78. Galobtter (pingó mió) 07:19, 17 August 2022 (UTC)
  79. Mike1901 (talk) 14:56, 17 August 2022 (UTC)
  80. Zakhx150 (talk) 10:42, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
  81. Tymon.r Do you have any questions? 18:33, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
  82. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 22:01, 18 August 2022 (UTC)
  83. Kurtis (talk) 01:34, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
  84. Fredlesaltique (talk) 02:20, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
  85. BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 04:21, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
  86. (t · c) buidhe 15:37, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
  87. Tol (talk | contribs) @ 00:02, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  88. Seraphimblade Talk to me 02:01, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  89. HouseBlastertalk 02:01, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  90. —usernamekiran (talk) 03:42, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  91. ––FormalDude talk 23:13, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  92. – Pbrks (t • c) 23:14, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  93. Meena • 23:15, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  94. >>> Ingenuity.talk(); 23:16, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  95. Gderrin (talk) 23:17, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  96. Hawkeye7 (discuss) 23:30, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  97. Red Phoenix talk 23:30, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  98. Paradoxsociety 23:32, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  99. Miniapolis 23:35, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  100. --John B123 (talk) 23:37, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  101. — rsjaffe 🗣️ 23:40, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  102. Javert2113 (Siarad.|¤) 23:44, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  103. AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 23:48, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  104. Sirdog (talk) 23:54, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  105. --Finngall talk 23:55, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  106. ubiquity (talk) 23:59, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
  107. Devonian Wombat (talk) 00:05, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  108. Kingsif (talk) 00:07, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  109. ThadeusOfNazereth(he/they)Talk to Me! 00:14, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  110. Dan arndt (talk) 00:22, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  111. Beyond My Ken (talk) 00:25, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  112. ASUKITE 00:27, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  113. Skarmory (talk • contribs) 00:34, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  114. --Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 00:37, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  115. — jmcgnh(talk) (contribs) 00:49, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  116. Troutfarm27 (Talk) 00:50, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  117. --Steve Quinn (talk) 00:51, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  118. Alyo (chat·edits) 01:03, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  119. W42 01:06, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  120. Yeeno (talk) 01:07, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  121. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 01:08, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  122. NoonIcarus (talk) 01:09, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  123. Kb.au (talk) 01:11, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  124. Kerry (talk) 01:12, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  125. MarioJump83 (talk) 01:17, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  126. Jbh Talk 01:21, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  127. weeklyd3 (block | talk | contributions) 01:25, 21 August 2022 (UTC) (I am not a reviewer, but it would be nice if the bugs in Page Curation was fixed. That would make it easier for the reviewers.)
  128. 3PPYB6TALKCONTRIBS — 01:32, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  129. GeoffreyT2000 (talk) 01:42, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  130. signed, 511KeV (talk) 01:59, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  131. Dial911 (talk) 02:09, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  132. P.I. Ellsworth , ed. put'r there 02:12, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  133. originalmesstalk 02:36, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  134. GenQuest "scribble" 02:43, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  135. ukexpat (talk) 03:03, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  136. --IJBall (contribstalk) 03:07, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  137.  — SMcCandlish ¢ 😼  03:11, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  138. Illegitimate Barrister (talkcontribs), 03:16, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  139. Alucard 16❯❯❯ chat? 03:19, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  140. JackFromWisconsin (talk | contribs) 03:24, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  141. Largoplazo (talk) 04:07, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  142. Htanaungg (talk) 04:09, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  143. Hughesdarren (talk) 04:14, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  144. Schwede66 05:03, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  145. Simon Peter Hughes (talk) 05:04, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  146. --Gazal world (talk) 05:33, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  147. · · · Peter Southwood (talk): 05:41, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  148. scope creepTalk 06:14, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  149. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:19, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  150. Zippybonzo | Talk (he|him) 06:46, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  151. Jianhui67 TC 07:34, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  152. Elmidae (talk · contribs) 07:34, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  153. JarrahTree 08:08, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  154. Bogger (talk) 08:23, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  155. Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 08:37, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  156. Cahk (talk)
  157. Padgriffin Griffin's Nest 09:19, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  158. DoubleGrazing (talk) 09:20, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  159. ReyHahn (talk) 09:20, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  160. Pinguinn 🐧 09:33, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  161. Caorongjin 💬 09:35, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  162.  Lefcentreright  Discuss  09:42, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  163. Slatersteven (talk) 09:42, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  164. 1TWO3Writer (talk) 11:03, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  165. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 11:05, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  166. IceWelder [] 11:26, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  167. Paul W (talk) 11:38, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  168. Jingiby (talk) 12:08, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  169. Tow (talk) 12:34, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  170. FULBERT (talk) 12:38, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  171. JFG talk 12:47, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  172. Iztwoz (talk) 13:16, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  173. --Wolbo (talk) 13:17, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  174. Ⓩⓟⓟⓘⓧ Talk 14:13, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  175. Less Unless (talk) 14:51, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  176. JohnThorne (talk) 15:45, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  177.  — Mr. Guye (talk) (contribs)  16:13, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  178. signed, Rosguill talk 16:34, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  179. paul2520 💬 16:40, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  180. JamesG5 (talk) 16:56, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  181. JBchrch talk 17:07, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  182. Lightbluerain (Talk💬 Contribs✏️) 18:11, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  183.  ☆☆☆—PietadèTalk 18:22, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  184. Hey man im josh (talk) 18:28, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  185. -- RoySmith (talk) 18:31, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  186. RickinBaltimore (talk) 18:34, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  187. ;; Maddy ♥︎(they/she)♥︎ :: talk  18:44, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  188. Randy Kryn (talk) 18:48, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  189. GeneralPoxter (talkcontribs) 18:48, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  190. Victor Trevor (talk) 18:58, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  191. Beccaynr (talk) 18:59, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  192. ElKevbo (talk) 19:01, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  193. --Vacant0 (talk) 19:02, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  194. -- LCU ActivelyDisinterested transmissions °co-ords° 19:04, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  195. JSFarman (talk) 19:34, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  196. Rotideypoc41352 (talk · contribs) 19:37, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  197. Indagate (talk) 19:39, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  198. SEMMENDINGER (talk) 19:42, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  199. Lyndaship (talk) 19:43, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  200. Trilletrollet [ Talk | Contribs ] 19:46, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  201. Schazjmd (talk) 19:50, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  202. Lights and freedom (talk ~ contribs) 19:58, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  203. - JCW555 (talk)♠ 20:07, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  204. Trey Maturin has spoken 20:15, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  205. - ThatSpiderByte (talk) 20:28, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  206. - Paradise Chronicle (talk) 20:36, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  207. --Ineffablebookkeeper (talk) ({{ping}} me!) 20:50, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  208. — The Most Comfortable Chair 20:53, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  209. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 21:14, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  210. FlyingAce✈hello 21:18, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  211. --DGaw (talk) 21:32, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  212. NightHeron (talk) 21:42, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  213. Gusfriend (talk) 21:51, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  214. MrsSnoozyTurtle 22:12, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  215. Dave.Dunford (talk) 22:18, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  216. DanCherek (talk) 23:00, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  217. SeoR (talk) 23:02, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  218. JPG-GR (talk) 23:07, 21 August 2022 (UTC)
  219. Glendoremus (talk) 00:09, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  220. Ionmars10 (talk) 00:10, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  221. Sumanuil. 00:17, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  222. Stephen 00:24, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  223. PhantomTech[talk] 00:24, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  224. Innisfree987 (talk) 00:26, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  225. Carrite (talk) 00:51, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  226. Somers-all-the-time (talk) 00:55, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  227. Dan Bloch (talk) 01:14, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  228. FrederalBacon (talk) 01:39, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  229. Tpdwkouaa (talk) 02:08, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  230. ~Gwennie🐈💬 📋⦆ 02:11, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  231. Jschnur (talk) 02:39, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  232. Editor1769 (talk) 02:55, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  233. Robert McClenon (talk) 02:58, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  234. -- Zoo (talk) 03:02, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  235. -- Dane talk 03:19, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  236. NW1223<Howl at meMy hunts> 03:22, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  237. Bensci54 (talk) 03:27, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  238. Dubstar (talk) 03:29, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  239. GeogSage (talk) 03:42, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  240. TheSandDoctor Talk 03:50, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  241. Kleinpecan (talk) 04:19, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  242. 🌊PacificDepthstalk|contrib 05:40, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  243. Ravenswing 05:54, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  244. Vanamonde (Talk) 06:11, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  245. MeegsC (talk) 06:38, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  246. — Tulsi 24x7 06:39, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  247. Xxanthippe (talk) 06:43, 22 August 2022 (UTC).
  248. Abrvagl (talk) 06:59, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  249. 5225C (talk • contributions) 07:01, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  250. Stuartyeates (talk) 07:03, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  251. Dumelow (talk) 07:44, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  252. Dcheagletalkcontribs 07:56, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  253. Ruedi33a (talk) 08:03, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  254. Modussiccandi (talk) 08:14, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  255. Joeyconnick (talk) 08:35, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  256. Curb Safe Charmer (talk) 08:46, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  257. Arado Ar 196 (CT) 09:02, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  258. Polyamorph (talk) 09:05, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  259. Mike Turnbull (talk) 09:33, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  260. A satisfactory review process also retains new editors. ~ 🦝 Shushugah (he/him • talk) 10:07, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  261. ~StyyxTalk? 11:11, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  262. Lineslarge (talk) 12:13, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  263. --Kadı Message 12:31, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  264. Crystallizedcarbon (talk) 12:34, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  265. Wham2001 (talk) 12:36, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  266.  SchreiberBike | ⌨  12:43, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  267. I dream of horses (Contribs) (Talk) 13:23, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  268. Pahunkat (talk) 13:27, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  269. Dps04 (talk) 14:29, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  270. Please do it. North8000 (talk) 14:34, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  271. Indyguy (talk) 14:43, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  272. plicit 15:01, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  273. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 15:15, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  274. WomenArtistUpdates (talk) 15:25, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  275. Dgorsline (talk) 16:18, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  276. Mehedi Abedin 16:30, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  277. Bluerasberry (talk) 16:34, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  278. Jalen Folf (talk) 16:35, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  279. Funcrunch (talk) 17:04, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  280. Turgan Talk 17:05, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  281. SilverTiger12 (talk) 17:10, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  282. ᴢxᴄᴠʙɴᴍ () 17:13, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  283. Slashme (talk) 17:20, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  284. SpookiePuppy (talk) 18:26, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  285. R. S. Shaw (talk) 19:26, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  286. Hitro talk 19:53, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  287. Buckland1072 (talk) 20:06, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  288. Daniel Case (talk) 20:10, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  289. L.tak (talk) 20:11, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  290. Citing (talk) 20:29, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  291. ~ lovkal (talk) 20:33, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  292. whoisjohngalt Whoisjohngalt (talk) 20:47, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  293. Slywriter (talk) 21:01, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  294. Bonusballs (talk) 21:15, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  295. QuincyMorgan (talk) 21:28, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  296. Binksternet (talk) 22:24, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  297. Tweedle (talk) 22:46, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
  298. Zoozaz1 (talk) 00:36, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  299. Neuropsychologist (talk) 00:48, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  300. George Ho (talk) 02:06, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  301. 𓃦LunaEatsTuna (💬) 02:14, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  302. Ravensfire (talk) 02:44, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  303. Zadora13 (talk) 04:56, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  304. NZFC(talk) (cont) 06:26, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  305. — VORTEX3427 (Talk!) 08:34, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  306. Xexerss (talk) 09:06, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  307. MediaKill13 (talk) 09:23, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  308. – robertsky (talk) 09:59, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  309. Dewritech (talk) 10:08, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  310. Justanothersgwikieditor (talk) 10:12, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  311. Cassiopeia talk 10:22, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  312. Jolly1253 (talk) 10:47, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  313. ~Hydronium~Hydroxide~(Talk)~ 11:19, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  314. Mooonswimmer 11:45, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  315. Mvqr (talk) 11:54, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  316. Plumbum208 (talk) 13:05, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  317. AJim (talk) 13:33, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  318. DecorumForum125 (talk) 13:41, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  319. DMacks (talk) 15:00, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  320. Yahya (talkcontribs.) 15:36, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  321. S0091 (talk) 17:07, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  322. DGG ( talk ) 17:26, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  323. Golden call me maybe? 18:06, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  324. The Banner talk 18:09, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  325. eviolite (talk) 20:56, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  326. Lfstevens (talk) 21:25, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  327. StartOkayStop (talk) 21:27, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  328. Signed,The4lines |||| (Talk) (Contributions) 22:48, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  329. Paper Luigi TC 23:31, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
  330. TimTempleton (talk) (cont) 00:23, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  331. Gricharduk (talk) 01:37, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  332. PigeonChickenFish (talk) 03:50, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  333. RDBrown (talk) 06:12, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  334. Musashi1600 (talk) 08:42, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  335. Quetzal1964 (talk) 08:58, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  336. Melmann 09:41, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  337. User:Haraldmmueller 10:10, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  338. Nxavar (talk) 12:21, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  339. Pawnkingthree (talk) 12:42, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  340. Wakelamp d[@-@]b (talk) 13:06, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  341. GreenC 14:28, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  342. SmartSE (talk) 15:33, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  343. Robby.is.on (talk) 16:26, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  344. 199.208.172.35 (talk) 17:45, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  345. --ChetvornoTALK 17:53, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  346. Nyamo Kurosawa (talk) 19:15, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  347. Murgatroyd49 (talk) 20:21, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  348. Jéské Couriano v^_^v a little blue Bori 22:27, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  349. Wil540 art (talk) 23:27, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  350. Megs (talk) 23:33, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
  351. LumonRedacts 00:22, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  352. kashmīrī TALK 02:01, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  353. Tacyarg (talk) 07:58, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  354. Lectonar (talk) 09:38, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  355. Ammarpad (talk) 12:07, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  356. Blue Edits (talk) 12:09, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  357. Poirot09 (talk) 12:54, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  358.  Velella  Velella Talk   13:12, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  359. 0xDeadbeef 15:40, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  360. – Elisson • T • C • 16:40, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  361. Theroadislong (talk) 17:17, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  362. -M.nelson (talk) 21:05, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  363. Josey Wales Parley 21:20, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  364. Maias (talk) 23:33, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  365. LordPeterII (talk) 23:44, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
  366. Marshelec (talk) 00:58, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  367. Ooligan (talk) 01:29, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  368. --Jorm (talk) 02:31, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  369. ಮಲ್ನಾಡಾಚ್ ಕೊಂಕ್ಣೊ (talk) 04:16, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  370. Engineerchange (talk) 04:33, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  371. Stupac88 (talk) 05:26, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  372. Pavlor (talk) 06:42, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  373. Bringingthewood (talk) 06:51, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  374. Edmund Patrick confer 11:56, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  375. Alpha3031 (tc) 13:31, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  376. Donald Albury 14:30, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  377. Cielquiparle (talk) 14:43, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  378. Smokey1232 (talk) 15:05, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  379. Femke (talk) 18:33, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  380. --Noman(Talk) 19:12, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  381. SPF121188 (talk this way) (contribs) 20:18, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
  382. --evrik (talk) 00:36, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  383. Johnbod (talk) 02:31, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  384. Chiswick Chap (talk) 03:30, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  385. Andrew Lenahan - Starblind 03:58, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  386. Alanscottwalker (talk) 07:57, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  387. Andreas JN466 08:03, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  388. JennyOz (talk) 09:28, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  389. Happy days ~ LindsayHello 09:37, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  390. Perryprog (talk) 11:55, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  391. Blue Riband► 12:46, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  392. Asparagusus (interaction) 13:06, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  393. Tube·of·Light 14:08, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  394. Bocanegra (talk) 16:03, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  395. Thosbsamsgom (talk) 20:01, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  396. Intothatdarkness 20:39, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  397. InfiniteNexus (talk) 21:06, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  398. blueskiesdry (cloudy contribs…) 21:31, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  399. --☾Loriendrew☽ (ring-ring) 22:40, 27 August 2022 (UTC)
  400. Levivich 04:11, 28 August 2022 (UTC)
  401. Bduke (talk) 07:30, 28 August 2022 (UTC)
  402. Seloloving (talk) 14:18, 28 August 2022 (UTC)
  403. -- L10nM4st3r (talk) 20:30, 28 August 2022 (UTC)
  404. JML1148 (Talk | Contribs) 00:02, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
  405. Dovaere (talk) 05:40, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
  406. SuperSwift (talk) 07:09, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
  407. -- Mike 🗩 15:39, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
  408. --Joker4lifead (talk) 21:25, 29 August 2022 (UTC)
  409. Cullen328 (talk) 19:13, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
  410. Certes (talk) 10:06, 31 August 2022 (UTC)
  411. Boghog (talk) 12:29, 31 August 2022 (UTC)
  412. Davey2010Talk 00:06, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  413. 🚂Locomotive207-talk🚂 01:42, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  414. SnowRise let's rap 01:51, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  415. --Firestar464 (talk) 02:27, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  416. Graham87 10:42, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  417. Ixtal ( T / C ) Non nobis solum. 12:31, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  418. Remagoxer (talk) 14:22, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  419. ~ ONUnicorn(Talk|Contribs)problem solving 14:28, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  420. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs talk 16:42, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  421. Python Drink (talk) 18:23, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  422. NytharT.C 20:18, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  423. Sage (Wiki Ed) (talk) 21:23, 1 September 2022 (UTC)
  424. SpencerT•C 04:50, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
  425. Kusma (talk) 06:27, 2 September 2022 (UTC)
  426. small jars tc 09:45, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
  427. Volten001 13:31, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
  428. Espresso Addict (talk) 16:47, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
  429. Cryptic 14:15, 4 September 2022 (UTC)
  430. Elli (talk | contribs) 23:47, 4 September 2022 (UTC)
  431. Firefangledfeathers (talk / contribs) 13:48, 5 September 2022 (UTC)
  432. Clayoquot (talk | contribs) 15:54, 5 September 2022 (UTC)
  433. Aza24 (talk) 00:15, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
  434. Generalrelative (talk) 00:44, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
  435. Moneytrees🏝️(Talk) 04:15, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
  436. Redactyll Talk page 18:39, 7 September 2022 (UTC)
  437. Sesamevoila (talk) 08:38, 9 September 2022 (UTC)
  438. Ciridae (talk) 13:01, 9 September 2022 (UTC)
  439. Hanif Al Husaini (talk) 11:57, 11 September 2022 (UTC)
  440. Crouch, Swale (talk) 09:33, 16 September 2022 (UTC)
  441. VickKiang (talk) 11:12, 16 September 2022 (UTC)
  442. -- Missionedit (talkcontribs) 03:16, 19 September 2022 (UTC)
  443. Comr Melody Idoghor (talk) 10:23, 20 September 2022 (UTC)
  444. --Fabrictramp | talk to me 19:00, 25 September 2022 (UTC)
Notes
Transcript of Conversation with the Trustees
"First I would say that the board's role is to guide the foundation in high levels strategic decision making with our global community and movement in general in mind. We are not involved in the day-to-day operations and not involved in particular workflows and decisions that are related to specific projects that are made by different communities.

"That said, I know that this issue is probably very urgent to whoever is asking. So even though it's not within the board's remit I can say a few things from what I know. In this case I believe the question pertains in particular to the English Wikipedia. I do know that there are increasing concerns about backlogs for patrolling new pages on the English Wikipedia. We can and do understand that it can be difficult for editors working hard to moderate the content and handle all this inflow of information.

"It's important to note that the new pages patrol and articles for creation workflows are unique to English Wikipedia and are basically community developed, right. It's something that the community itself decided upon periodically with support from our Product Department, just like in the 2019 new page patrol project from talking to the good people in the Product Department.

"I can say that there is a desire to help ensure that specific projects maintain the ability to request changes they see fit. I know it can be very hard to wait when an issue feels really urgent, but these types of requests are perfect for the Community Wishlist survey, and we encourage you to actually take the concerns there when it opens in January. I hope this answers, and we welcome any further feedback on that, but again, it's not specifically related to the board."
Further reading



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2022-09-30

A few complaints and mild disagreements

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By Andreas Kolbe, Bri, and Smallbones
In some months, the weather can just be disagreeable. In other months maybe it's people who seem to be disagreeable. This month it seems like the media all found something to disagree with, either about Wikipedia's coverage or with our policies. Or maybe we disagree with them. It was that kind of month.

Fox in the outhouse

In Wikipedia’s Fox News Problem (Slate), author Samuel Breslow – who is listed as a long time Wikipedia editor – explains how a novel-length reliable sources debate decided to allow Fox News to be used for non-controversial facts. "If outlets like Fox News are permitted, Wikipedia’s view of the world will look more like Fox's" was part of Slate's distillation of the importance of reliable source determination on Wikipedia content. Major debates (community Requests for Comment) took place in 2010, 2020 and the most recent debate closed this month. The article's author interviewed Wikipedia administrator and member of the Arbitration Committee Kevin Li, who closed the September Request for Comment, for his interpretation of the process, and the article quotes him extensively. – B

A new Wiki-villain?

Placeholder alt text
A new villain or just the same old Snidely Whiplash?

YouTuber and Washington Post columnist J. J. McCullough – a retired Wikipedian who long ago drew the image shown here on the right – has released a 22-minute YouTube video titled "Why I hate Wikipedia (and you should too!)". He criticizes Wikipedia's de facto information monopoly, which he says crowds out other sites and reduces information diversity, and its writing style, complaining about the length and disorganized detail in articles. He really dislikes the anonymity and unaccountability of Wiki-editors – especially of admins and other hard-core editors. He likens Wikipedia to McDonalds: a place to go to get fast, cheap fare when you are hungry but don't really care about quality. There might be some truth in his lengthy and detailed list of complaints, though his description of the editor who has contributed nearly half a percent of all edits to Wikipedia as having written a third of it does seem wildly out.

Indeed, McCullough says that he doesn't read Wikipedia. In the first 30 seconds of the video, he states that in his seven years of creating videos he has never consulted the august online encyclopedia that anyone can edit; that for over a decade he has blocked the site from his browser; and that he uses Google's hide search feature to ensure that he does not see Wikipedia in search results. So how does he know so much about Wikipedia?

In 2008 two articles related to McCullough were deleted: Filibuster Cartoons (his website) and J.J. McCullough. Four further attempts were made to recreate the article about him, either as J.J. McCullough or J. J. McCullough (note the extra space). After the last of these was deleted in 2020, the creation of new articles by those titles was blocked.

The video has attracted detailed comment at the Village Pump, with allegations that McCullough is angry that the biographies of him have been deleted. Others there have speculated that he is a former admin. We reached out to McCullough for further comment, but he has not replied. S

Accurate and reliable, fair and balanced, just and proper

In Evidence suggests Wikipedia is accurate and reliable. When are we going to start taking it seriously? science writer Liam Mannix in The Sydney Morning Herald uses the case of Queen Elizabeth II's death to demonstrate how fast and accurate Wikipedia is.

this is ... not something we should expect. Wikipedia is free. Its editors are volunteers. There is no expertise or academic qualifications required. We are told again and again that we can’t trust it because anyone could be writing it. It should be the worst place on the internet.

Yet published evidence suggests it is reasonably reliable – at least as reliable as its competitor the Encyclopedia Britannica.

He links to academic studies on six specific subject areas – mostly medical but also one on general political coverage. All of these studies confirm Wikipedia's accuracy. He links to two broader (and older) studies that give Wikipedia better than passing marks. And a linked 2014 meta-analysis of 110 studies concludes '"Wikipedia is generally a reliable source of information" across almost all domains studied.' – S

"Deaditors"

The term "deaditors"—Wikipedia editors who memorialize the pages of notables who have recently died—was previously mentioned on this page in The Signpost in 2018. As Annie Rauwerda explains in Input, the term started with an article written by a Dutch Wikipedian, which was then reported on in Slate. The term has also been used recently in a few foreign-language reports (Italian, Spanish, Czech).

Other media covering the phenomenon this month include Gizmodo, Metro UK, Yahoo! (which says deaditors are also known as "WikiJackals"), The Sydney Morning Herald, NPR, Kim Komando [4] and The Wall Street Journal.

Most of the reports reflect a sense of wonder, or even awe, at how well Wikipedians perform this task.

Was ex-CEO Maher a Monty Python encyclopedia salesman?

Simon Garfield in The death of the door-to-door encyclopaedia salesman in inews recalls a 2020 email from Katherine Maher asking for a £20 donation for Wikipedia. In 2017 he had donated £2, and then he got the email asking for more. At that point Garfield took at least one amazing action. He compared Maher's position to that of an encyclopedia salesman in a 1967 Monty Python comedy sketch.

Of course the self-identified thief later turns out to be an encyclopedia salesman, who would rather people think him a thief.

Garfield is a professional writer who uses Wikipedia extensively. He's written a history of encyclopedias, All The Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopaedia. He thinks that "Wikipedia is one of the greatest things on the internet".

After talking with Maher, he donated £12.

Maher is now a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab. She was recently appointed a member of the US Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, an advisory panel established a decade ago by Hillary Clinton.

Runiversalis is back

Will the real anti-Nazis please stand up? Still striving for that Nazi-free vibe on Runiversalis.
Euronews reports that Runiversalis, Russia's Wikipedia alternative, is now back online, having weathered cyberattacks. While "search engines are now forced to inform online users in Russia that Wikipedia violates the country’s legislation", Runiversalis "repeats the Kremlin's narrative that Russia wants to 'denazify' and 'demilitarise' Ukraine. The website also states that its authors will only promote 'traditional values' on subjects such as gender and sexuality, raising concerns from the LGBTQ community."

The Atlantic Council's abovementioned Digital Forensic Research Lab also reported on Runiversalis. Its article, published on Medium, described the new site as "an attempt to spread Russian propaganda and disinformation in the guise of a wiki. Beyond using the underlying software architecture employed by Wikipedia, it’s a wiki in name only." Runiversalis, meanwhile, has apparently repurposed Wikipedia's "Did You Know?" section into an "I Knew It!" section with trivia such as "American politicians, political scientists, and journalists admit that United States turned into empire of lies". The Medium article also states that Runiversalis, unlike Wikipedia, "does not provide editing options for the general public; when the site still allowed user registration, a message would appear after registration, informing the user, 'You do not have permission to create this page.' It openly acknowledges it operates under Russia's restrictive media laws."

The overarching pattern here, bearing in mind China's own huge internet encyclopedias, Baike.com and Baidu Baike, is that governments everywhere – unsurprisingly, perhaps – take a keen interest in having user-generated encyclopedias that propagate their respective views of the world. Thank God the United States government has never done anything to mess around with Wikipedia... AK

Banned in Texas, or unregulated, or something

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Did judge Andy Oldham rule that WP can't monitor its content?

Wait, shit! Speaking of user-generated encyclopedias that propagate their respective views of the world, Judge Andy Oldham of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Texas House Bill 20 in mid-September. The law restricts some content providers' ability to moderate (or censor, depending on your point of view) public speech hosted on their sites based on viewpoint, with some exceptions for public safety and compliance with federal laws. Sites that are covered under the law operate in Texas, have "an Internet website or application that is open to the public, allows a user to create an account, and enables users to communicate with other users for the primary purpose of posting information, comments, messages, or images" and over 50 million active U.S. users a month.

The Techdirt analysis "Did The 5th Circuit Just Make It So That Wikipedia Can No Longer Be Edited In Texas?" questions whether Twitter – one of the three companies the state testified was targeted by the law – qualifies, with its many bot accounts. But then Techdirt speculates that Wikipedia might qualify. If so, according to the analysis, the site's owners – Wikimedia Foundation – may not be able to regulate some of the encyclopedia's content without violation of the Texas law.

Given that WMF so rarely directly interacts with site content it's not clear to this editor what the net effect of the ruling would be – assuming they don't block Texas editors to avoid running afoul of HB 20. It's also completely speculative that any judge would view the creation of a fact-based encyclopedia as protected viewpoint speech. – B

In brief

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Is the dissemination of free information "catnip for the Supreme Court"?



Do you want to contribute to "In the media" by writing a story or even just an "in brief" item? Edit next month's edition in the Newsroom or leave a tip on the suggestions page.




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2022-09-30

Decentralized Fundraising, Centralized Distribution

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By Wikimedia Deutschland
Decentralized Fundraising, Centralized Distribution

The Wikimedia Deutschland Movement Strategy & Global Relations Team has published Paper #2 in the WMDE-authored series on Movement Strategy topics.

Titled Decentralized Fundraising, Centralized Distribution, this research report describes the fundraising and distribution practices of eight large international NGO confederations and networks, and puts them in the context of the changing Wikimedia Movement.

2030 Movement Strategy calls on us to change many things - among them how we generate and share funds among regions, affiliates and communities. Subsidiarity, equity, and participation are just some of the key values and principles to be incorporated.

The paper deliberately refrains from recommendations. In addition to the research, it does provide an overview of the history of Wikimedia resource development, discusses the elements of movement strategy related to funding, and finally poses a series of questions helpful to frame the further conversation.

Executive Summary

This paper, published in the context of the Wikimedia Movement’s deliberations around its Movement Charter and the implementation of 2030 Movement Strategy, provides an overview of financial practices of comparable large international nonprofit/nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) which are organized as confederations or networks.

Based on interviews and information sharing with staff of eight organizations, including Amnesty International, Oxfam International, CARE International, World YWCA, Greenpeace and the International Cooperative Alliance, the research asks about key practices in the areas of fundraising, decision-making about fund allocation, and in particular, about redistribution policies and mechanisms. This latter topic was given particular focus, because Movement Strategy emphasizes equity in funds distribution across an economically unequal international movement. Yet it leaves open how this should be structured.

The main findings of the research show that the Wikimedia Movement differs significantly in its practices from the screened organizations: All of the organizations are based on their affiliates fundraising independently, online and offline. In several cases the INGO specifically invests in the fundraising capacity of affiliates. Yet fundraising is highly strategic rather than diversified, in terms of markets, fundraising affiliates, and revenue sources.

With one exception, the international entity collects membership dues and is in part funded by them. The international entities have a diversity of roles, with acting as a secretariat and coordination being the most common ones. Only a minority of international entities engage in their own fundraising or fundraise for the movement. Notably, grantmaking from international entities to the affiliates is not a practice, and occurs only in few exceptions when there is third party program funding. Participation in funding decisions, which has been previously researched in a report commissioned by the MS 2030 Resource Allocation Working group, is practiced mostly through democratic and equitable governance and committee structures. While these structures vary greatly, both reports conclude that governance and funding systems are inseparably linked.

Finally, three of the organizations have distinct, policy-based, central funds redistribution mechanisms. These are discussed in some detail, in terms of their principles, formulas and review periods.

The results of this research can be summarized as follows: International NGO confederations practice decentralized fundraising, and those that redistribute funds for equity do so in a centralized manner, based on policies agreed upon by the democratic governance bodies of the confederation. The affiliates that fundraise in strong markets thus support the affiliates in smaller markets.

The research part concludes with a list of insights for the upcoming deliberations of the Wikimedia Movement. In the second part of the paper, readers can find a short history of Wikimedia revenues and resources, and an overview of the elements of 2030 Movement Strategy relevant to revenue generation and distribution. The appendices provide a list of guiding questions for the Movement deliberations to follow, and an overview of the structures of the INGOs in the sample.



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2022-09-30

Much ado about Fox News

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By FormalDude and Bri
This report was written with the assistance of GPT-3, OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model. More information on Signpost GPT-3 articles can be found here. Upon generating draft language, the authors reviewed the text and take ultimate responsibility for the content of this publication.

Reliability of Fox News for politics and science

Y'all heard about politics? The closure of this RSN discussion, which stretched to 637,011 bytes – long enough to get media attention in this month's In the media – has left the community divided on the reliability of the web publications of the famously contentious Fox News. Some believed that the online version of Fox News should be considered generally unreliable, while others believed that it is only marginally reliable. All believed that posts online were of great importance. The community did not reach a consensus on the matter, aside from agreeing that the reliability of Fox News is unclear and additional considerations apply to its use. The debate is likely to continue.

Open letter to the WMF about new page patrol

This letter is from the English Wikipedia New Page Patrol team to the Wikimedia Foundation and Board of Trustees. They express their concern that the PageTriage software, which is essential to their work, is not being given the attention it needs. They explain that the software is outdated and full of bugs, and that there are many enhancements that have been requested but not implemented. They argue that if the software was better maintained, it would improve the workflow of the relatively small number of active reviewers and make it easier to recruit new members.

See related Signpost coverage this month at In focus.

Reliability of Royal Central and one of its authors

The request for comment is about whether or not to deprecate the entire website Royal Central because it lacks editorial oversight and has been found to plagiarize from Wikipedia articles. There is consensus amongst editors that the website should be deprecated.

This village pump request for comment is about whether to keep the old icon or use the new icon for external links. Closer ScottishFinnishRadish said "There is consensus to keep the old icon, and a weaker consensus that the old icon isn't very good either. I think the real consensus here is that the community would prefer approving a new icon, or having input on the design, before implementation."

Ongoing discussions




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2022-09-30

ScottishFinnishRadish's Request for Adminship

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By FormalDude

The recent RfA of ScottishFinnishRadish saw 331 votes with 72% supporting his becoming an admin, making it the fifth most attended RfA since 2006.[1] Here's their firsthand account of the process which eventually resulted in them being handed the mop.


1. How would you describe your experience being a candidate at RfA?

It's a mixed bag. On one hand, it's wonderful to see the amount of support and positive feedback about your editing, and to see that the work you do is appreciated. On the other hand, there's the obvious negative of seeing the negative opinions and views. There's also plenty of valid and constructive criticism from both groups as well as the neutrals.

The worst part about it is not having any real avenue to address things you see as plainly wrong. Responding to opposes would be considered badgering, so you're left hoping someone challenges the oppose or someone asks a question regarding it. That, in part, contributes to the adversarial nature of an RFA between supporters and opposers. A lot of the time you're left just shrugging and leaving incorrect assumptions or false statements unchallenged. Maybe that's part of it? Making sure you can sit and take abuse, because that is a common position for admins to find themselves in. When you have to block, topic ban, or otherwise sanction editors they're often going to be upset and lash out. A contentious RFA is great practice for that, and a decent way to show editors that you can handle it.


2. Does your experience give you any ideas on how to improve the RfA process?

First, have a bot or any admin close the discussion right when it's over. If you've been sitting through a week of contentious RFA, that end point is a light at the end of the tunnel. Let's have a bit of sympathy on someone who's endured a stressful week-long experience and just cut it off. Having an end to look forward to helps, and watching it go by without actually ending does not help at all. That seems like the least contentious change you could make to RFA to make it a little better.

On a larger scale, a week-long question and answer/discussion period followed by a private poll might make some people more likely to run, and I think it would be more constructive overall. Having the back and forth, the discovery of diffs, the explanations and all that complete before voting opens makes sure everyone has access to all of the information before supporting or opposing. Also framing it as a discussion without the supporting or opposing might make it a bit less adversarial.


3. Do you have any advice for editors considering running for adminship?

Read contentious RFAs closed in the discretionary area and decide if that's how you want to spend eight or ten days of your life.


3a. What made you decide to spend eight or so days of your life doing this?

Well, mostly because I didn't assume it was going to be quite the experience it was. I was also interested in helping out in more ways. I went into a bit more detail in question 6, but there were a few harassment sprees on user pages that put me over the edge into deciding it was worthwhile. If going through a contentious RFA is what it takes to stop editors from being called racists or baby-killers on their talk pages, I'll accept that.


4. Do you think RfA is too harsh towards good-faith candidates?

It can be, but that's on a process level. I'm sure each person contributing believes what they're saying, and view their concerns as valid. That's why fixing parts of RFA is difficult. It's about trust more than anything and "I think they may be lying about having a prior account," even without evidence, is directly a trust issue. As long as the main criteria is "do you trust this editor," there will be contentious RFAs like mine.

Back when John Kerry was running for president of the US I had a friend who said he couldn't vote for Kerry because "his face looks like a horse." You can't convince someone you don't actually look like a horse, and as long as RFA is about how people feel about you, there's not a whole lot that can be done. To be clear, this is common on the support side as well, supporters just have the benefit of anything without an explanation being read as "per nom."


5. Do you think RfA is too harsh towards non-"content creators"?

It can be, depending on if people are looking for a way to avoid saying the candidate looks like a horse. Everyone is allowed to come up with their own criteria, and to be honest, I thought 5000 mainspace edits, two GAs, eight articles rescued from WiR declined drafts, and over a thousand edit requests implemented would have been reasonable to show that I create content, and am familiar with it. Others obviously disagreed. My bigger concern is the disdain often shown for content curation. At this point, curating the content on the encyclopedia is on par with creating new content in terms of necessity. Vandalism, NPOV, COI, UPE and all of the other acronyms are big problems on an encyclopedia with too few people to keep an eye on it. There are 14,000 transclusions of the COI template alone. Spam is constantly added to articles and talk pages, and administrator tools are often necessary to deal with this disruption and the ancillary disruption around it.

Editors get harassing and obscene messages on their talk pages because of their views on content. LTAs commit vandalism and harass editors. BLP violations are added all the time. Why would the people who are primarily responsible for reverting this not qualify to have the tools to deal with it fully? Would we ask the janitors and guards in a museum to create sculptures or paintings in order to qualify to keep the place clean and kick out vandals? Additionally, contentious articles require significant discussion and compromise to produce high quality, neutral articles. Viewing talk space edits as anything other than content related seems out of place to me.


6. Some editors brought up that it seemed like you wanted to be an admin. What role does perceived "eagerness" play in the RfA process? Do you think administrator is a desirable position?

I don't know, on a grand scale, what role perceived eagerness plays in the process. I haven't really studied it enough to make an educated statement on it. I'm not really certain why people thought I was aiming to be an admin, and when Vanamonde93 first reached out to me I told them I wasn't interested. After some discussion, they said they would reach back out to me in a few months. When they reached back out I had recently been dealing with a few LTAs and talk page harassment and I thought the tools would be worth it just to stop that disruption quickly. I felt that I had a reasonable use for them, and what the hell, might as well give it a whirl. Being an administrator, for me, is desirable the same way any other tool is. I never had any other permissions because I had no need for them. I requested rollback at one point, but after using Twinkle I realized I didn't need it and removed my request.


7. Do you think changing the lifetime tenure of admins would lower the high stakes atmosphere of RfA?

Possibly, although it doesn't seem like recall criteria generally swing any voters. There may be some slight reduction of stakes, but then you're asking editors to go through slightly less stress initially, but then repeat it. It may work out, or it may not, I just don't know.


7a. Perhaps because recall isn't binding and if I recall correctly there's never been a successful one. What would you think of making recall binding?

I don't think it would matter that much to most of those taking part in RFA, but I'm not really an expert. I think that in most circumstances where a recall would be successful the admin would likely be at Arbcom anyway. Also, in general, admins aren't making that many wildly incorrect calls. I'm sure there's a place to find the number, but I'm sure there's an enormous amount of admin actions taken daily. The actual percentage of problem admin actions, and problem admins is very low.

As far as actually making it binding, I'd be fine with that. If you're giving the community another reason to trust you at RFA, it stands to reason that you shouldn't be able to break that trust without repercussions.


8. What do you think of "No need for the tools" as a reason for opposing an RfA?

It depends on what "no need for the tools" means. I don't expect most people who run for RFA have no plans for what they would do with the tools once they have them. There's even a whole question about it.

When I first bought my house I didn't have a chainsaw. I didn't need one. But there were some things that I could only do once I had one, so I went out and got one. I do much more chainsawing now that I have one, and my property is better for it. If someone does a good job with whatever they're doing, giving them another tool isn't likely to make anything worse.


9. Was your candidacy worth it?

Yes. The constructive criticism and the outpouring of support from other editors were worth it. That said, if there were no consensus I would not run again. If I knew how it would have been before running without knowing the outcome, I would have to give it a lot of thought.

See also

Category:Wikipedia RfA debriefings

Footnotes

  1. ^ Statistic from User:FormalDude/RFAs




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2022-09-30

Are we ever going to reach consensus?

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By Helloheart
A collage of many AfD comments.
No consensus?

Wikipedia has lots to explore, especially for editors. When I was only a reader of Wikipedia, I would just look at the information and not really bother to look further. Now as an editor, I've found that there is so much to be discovered, like Wikiprojects and the Teahouse. But I had never wondered what would happen if an article had to be deleted. In fact, I'd thought all articles were perfect — Featured Article status – so they would never have to be deleted. Articles for deletion has so much to discover. Most of the time, it's only a few people participating, but sometimes, it can turn into a long line of comments and opinions...

So, what happened?

I was just scrolling one day to find some Articles for Deletion discussion pages when I came across a discussion for the article on the Death of Mikhail Gorbachev. Now, when I first saw the title of the article, I was a bit skeptical. What's an important topic doing at AfD? Then I started to read the nominator's argument, and I looked at the article itself, and so I said to myself: wait a minute, they actually had a good reason for nominating this! There were quite a few opinions there already on what to do, more than I normally saw, so I decided I should have a voice. After making my decision on what to do, I had my say.

Anyway, I like to check up on the discussion after I !vote on an Articles for Deletion discussion. When I clicked the page, here's what I found:

There were so many !votes!

This continued for the next couple of days. More !votes, and more, and more. Eventually the discussion closed, with the result being "no consensus." I didn't think there was going to be any, anyway. I checked recently, and the article is like this now.

But why did this take so many !votes?

Most articles for deletion discussions aren't like this. They have a couple of !votes, and that's it. Like this one:

Example AfD

Then some are longer.. but not super long like the Death of Mikhail Gorbachev article.

Example AfD

Some are really, really long!

Example AfD

This deletion discussion is also super long, and I found this one while I was writing this article. It's from when the talk page at WikiProject User Rehab got nominated for deletion. (Which is kind of ironic, because actually I'm a participant in Wikiproject User Rehab, so if this had been deleted then I could have never joined.) The final result to this discussion was "no consensus."

But you've already seen the Death of Mikhail Gorbachev article, and you too saw that it had also reached no consensus. Why did these two not reach consensus? I think it has to do with the amount of !votes. Coming to an agreement is really hard when you have so many people voicing their opinions. It's a bit like having a speech and debate contest- except for one person against another there are fifty people on each side. Would it be hard then for the judge (in Wikipedia's case, an administrator), to decide what to do? Yes. That might be why we don't reach consensus with these Article for Deletion discussions... but why do so many !votes get there in the first place? I think the reason why some Articles for Deletion discussions have lots and lots of !votes is because the article nominated for deletion gets lots of views— like a newsworthy item. We can kind of come up with a rule of thumb:

The more views an article that is nominated for deletion gets, the more !votes it will get on its deletion discussion page.

Obviously the Death of Mikhail Gorbachev was a newsworthy event, so the Death of Mikhail Gorbachev article got a lot of views, which led to a lot of !votes. But even though these discussions get a lot of !votes, your !vote still counts. So !vote. If you're an administrator, all I can say in these scenarios is— you're going to be scrolling down for quite a while! Thank you.




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2022-09-30

Removing watermarks, copyright signs and cigarettes from photos

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By Vysotsky

I like to add photographs to Wikipedia articles. The addition of a visual aspect improves the quality of an article, and gives a better view on a subject. If the photo isn't reflecting reality, it can also influence the opinion of readers. That’s why many Wikipedians try to improve the quality of photos. I have seen astonishing improvements of photographs, but also weird effects. Some photographs are beautified so much, that the new photograph is an improved version of reality.

Watermarks, scratches and cigarettes

I have to admit: I crop photographs. I also remove watermarks, or ask skilled colleagues to make that happen (thank you, Wikipedians at the Graphics Lab). I don’t particularly like scratches and blurs, but where’s the limit? Clearing a background, removal of persons or buildings, image restoration: it all happens at Commons. There’s one line I won’t cross: changing the characteristics of a photograph. Yes, I have seen cigarettes removed from the lips of one of my cultural heroes (“just a small retouch”), and the retouched photograph was used in 10 language versions of Wiki, over a period of six years. I pushed the original photograph back in.

Vanity of vanities! All is vanity

When money is involved, attitudes change. The management of The Weeknd wanted his image to change in 2020, and thus wanted to abolish the then current photo in Wikipedia. They hired a company to take legal action via a request for removal of this 2017 photograph in Wiki (DMCA Removal Request, 2020). The result was devastating for Commons: not only was the photograph removed, but two great administrators resigned during the resulting row.

I love removing watermarks and copyright signs from photos in Commons– if permitted by the license. Most photographs in Wikimedia Commons have either a PD or a CC-BY-license, and both permit removing watermarks. At the same time, I like to respect photographers. The rules in Wikipedia regarding removal of watermarks are quite clear. I'm inclined to adhere to the most likely interpretation (in short: removal of (copyright) watermarks is in line with CC-BY-SA and not a legal violation), because CC-BY permits changing of files and removal of watermarks. Some Wikipedians say this issue is not an issue of copyright, but is about ethics. They say it would be disrecpectful or insulting to remove the copyright claims. My simple answer: if you don’t want your photo to be touched by others, don’t bring them under a CC-BY-license.

My suggestion: the proposed Commons guideline should also promote removal of visible copyright signs of images under a CC-BY license.




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2022-09-30

How readers assess Wikipedia's trustworthiness, and how they could in the future

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By Tilman Bayer

A monthly overview of recent academic research about Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, also published as the Wikimedia Research Newsletter.

"Why People Trust Wikipedia Articles: Credibility Assessment Strategies Used by Readers"

OpenSym 2022, "the 18th International Symposium on Open Collaboration" took place in Madrid earlier this month. While the conference had started out back in 2005 as WikiSym, focused on research about Wikipedia and other wikis, this year only a single paper in the proceedings covered such topics - but won the conference's "OSS / OpenSym 2022 Distinguished Paper Award". In the abstract[1] the authors summarize their findings as follows:

"Through surveys and interviews, we develop and refine a Wikipedia trust taxonomy that describes the mechanisms by which readers assess the credibility of Wikipedia articles. Our findings suggest that readers draw on direct experience, established online content credibility indicators, and their own mental models of Wikipedia’s editorial process in their credibility assessments. "

They also note that their study appears to be "the first to gather data related to trust in Wikipedia, motivations for reading, and topic familiarity from large and geographically diverse set of Wikipedia readers in context–while they were actually visiting Wikipedia to address their own information needs."

"Prior to visiting this article today, how familiar were you with the topic of this article?"
"How much do you trust the information you are reading in this article?"

The research project (begun while one of the authors was staff member at the Wikimedia Foundation) first conducted two online surveys displayed on English Wikipedia readers in early 2019, asking questions such as "How much do you trust the information in the article you are reading right now?." Among the topline results, the researchers highlight that, consistent with some earlier readers surveys

"Overall, respondents reported a very high level of trust in Wikipedia. 88% of respondents to the first survey reported that they trusted Wikipedia as a whole "a lot" or "a great deal". 73% of respondents to the second survey reported that they trusted the information in the article they were currently reading "a lot" or "a great deal" (94% in the first survey 6 ). In contrast, less than 4% of respondents in the second survey reported distrusting the information in the current article to any degree."

Survey participants were also asked about their reasons for trusting or distrusting Wikipedia in general and the specific article they had been reading when seeing the survey invitation. The researchers distilled these free-form answers into 18 "trust components", and present the following takeaways.

The four components that respondents find most salient (highest agreement) relate to the content of the article: assessments of the clarity and professionalism of the writing, the quality of the structure, and the accuracy of the information presented. The next four highest-ranked trust components focus on one aspect of the article’s context, the characteristics of the article writers: their motivations (to present unbiased information, fix errors, help readers understand) and their perceived domain expertise. Intriguingly, readers do not seem to consider the "wisdom of the crowd" to be a particularly salient factor when making credibility assessments about Wikipedia articles: the three lowest-ranked trust components all relate, in one way or another, to the relationship between crowdsourcing and quality (search popularity, number of contributors, and number of reviewers). This finding suggests that, at least nowadays, reader trust in Wikipedia is not strongly influenced by either its status as one of the dwindling-number of prominent open collaboration platforms, or its ubiquity at the top of search results.

In a third phase (detailed results of which are still to be published on Meta-wiki), a sample of survey participants were interviewed more in-depth about their previous answers, with the goal of "gain[ing] a deeper understanding into the factors that mediate a reader’s trust of Wikipedia content, including but not limited to citations." Combining results from the interviews and surveys, the researchers arrive at a refined "Taxonomy of Wikipedia Credibility-Assessment Strategies", comprising 24 features in three overall categories: "Reader Characteristics" (e.g. familiarity with the topic), "Wikipedia Features" (e.g. its "Pagerank" or its "Open Collaboration" nature), and "Article Features" (e.g. "Neutral Tone", "Number of Sources").

Lastly, the paper offers some more speculative exploratory analysis results "to spark discussion and highlight potential areas of future research":


"Templates and Trust-o-meters: Towards a widely deployable indicator of trust in Wikipedia"

This paper, presented earlier this year at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)[2] opens by observing that

"[...] despite the demonstrable success of Wikipedia, it suffers from a lack of trust from its own readers. [...] The Wikimedia foundation has itself prioritized the development and deployment of trust indicators to address common misperceptions of trust by institutions and the general public in Wikipedia . [... Previous attempts to develop such indicators] include measuring user activity; the persistence of content; content age; the presence of conflict; characteristics of the users generating the content; content-based predictions of information quality; and many more. [...] However, a key issue remains in translating these trust indicators from the lab into real world systems such as Wikipedia."

The study explored this "'last mile' problem" in three experiments where Amazon Mechanical Turk participants were shown versions of Wikipedia articles modified by artificially adding warning templates (both existing ones and a new set designed by the authors, in several difference placements near the top of the page), and lastly by "a new trust indicator that surfaces an aggregate trust metric and enables the reader to drill down to see component metrics which were contextualized to make them more understandable to an unfamiliar audience." Participants were then asked various questions, some designed to explore whether they had noticed the intervention at all, others about how they rated the trustworthiness of the content.

Three of the 9 existing warning templates tested produced a significant negative effect on readers' trust (at the standard p=0.05 level):

"As expected, several of the existing Wikipedia templates significantly influenced reader trust in the negative direction. This is unsurprising, as these templates are designed to indicate a serious issue and inspire editors to mobilize. The remaining templates, ‘Additional citations’, ‘Inline citations’, ‘Notability’, ‘Original Research’, ‘Too Reliant on Primary Sources’ and ‘Too Reliant on Single Source’ did not result in significant changes. It is possible that the specific terms used in these templates were confusing to the casual readers taking the survey. Particularly strong effects were noted in ‘Multiple Issues’ (-2.101; ‘Moderately Lowered’, p<0.001), ‘Written like Advertisement’ (-1.937, p<0.001), and ‘Conflict of Interest’ (-1.182, p<0.05)."

Four of the 11 notices newly created by the researchers also significantly affected trust: "The strongest negative effects were found in ‘Editor Disputed References’ (-1.601 points from baseline, p<0.001), ‘General Reference Issues’ (-1.444, p=0.002), ‘Tone and Neutrality Issues’ (-1.184, p=0.012), and ‘Assessed as Complete’ (-1.101, p=0.017)."

There was also strong evidence for "banner blindness", e.g. in one experiment

"The percentage of readers who had not seen the intervention completely was 48.5%. We found this surprising, as our notices (including existing Wikipedia templates) were placed in a high visibility location where current Wikipedia templates reside and multiple task design elements were put in place to help participants focus on them."

The "trust gauge" designed by the authors, including the "scoring explanations" displayed in experiment 3

In the third experiment, readers were shown articles first without and then with the newly designed trust indicator, which displayed various quantitative ratings (e.g. "Quality rating: official evaluation given by reputable editors", "Settledness: length of time since significant edits or debates"). They were told that it "shows the trustworthiness score of the article, calculated from publicly available information regarding the content of the article, edit activity, and editor discussions on the page", and then asked to rate the article's trustworthiness again (among other question). This resulted in

"reliable increases in trust at top indicator levels [...] This suggests that a trust indicator can provide system designers with the tools to dial trust in both positive and negative directions, under the assumption that designers choose accurate and representative mappings between indicator levels and article characteristics."

Interestingly, neither of the two studies about Wikipedia readers' trust reviewed above appears to have been aware of the other research project's findings, even though both were at least partly conducted at the Wikimedia Foundation.


Wikimedia Research Fund invites proposals for grants up to $50k, announces results of previous year's round

Logo of the Wikimedia Research Fund

Until December 16, the Wikimedia Foundation is inviting proposals for the second edition of its Wikimedia Research Fund, which provides grants between $2k and $50k "to individuals, groups, and organizations with research interests on or about Wikimedia projects [...] across research disciplines including but not limited to humanities, social sciences, computer science, education, and law."

This is the second edition of the research fund, whose inaugural edition had closed for submissions in January 2022. Earlier this month, the Wikimedia Foundation also publicly announced funding decisions about proposals from this 2021/2022 edition, and published the full proposal texts of finalists (while inviting the community to "review the full proposal"). The funded proposals are:


Other recent publications

Other recent publications that could not be covered in time for this issue include the items listed below. Contributions, whether reviewing or summarizing newly published research, are always welcome.

"Accounts that never expire: an exploration into privileged accounts on Wikipedia"

This study[3] found that a 2011 English Wikipedia policy change to remove the rights of inactive administrators did not reduce the (already low) frequency of admin accounts being compromised.

References

  1. ^ Elmimouni, Houda; Forte, Andrea; Morgan, Jonathan (2022-09-07). "Why People Trust Wikipedia Articles: Credibility Assessment Strategies Used by Readers". Proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Open Collaboration. OpenSym '22. New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–10. doi:10.1145/3555051.3555052. ISBN 9781450398459.
  2. ^ Kuznetsov, Andrew; Novotny, Margeigh; Klein, Jessica; Saez-Trumper, Diego; Kittur, Aniket (2022-04-27). "Templates and Trust-o-meters: Towards a widely deployable indicator of trust in Wikipedia". CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. CHI '22: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New Orleans LA USA: ACM. pp. 1–17. doi:10.1145/3491102.3517523. ISBN 9781450391573.
  3. ^ Kaufman, Jonathan; Kreider, Christopher (2022-04-01). "Accounts that never expire: an exploration into privileged accounts on Wikipedia". SAIS 2022 Proceedings.




Reader comments

2022-09-30

Kings and queens and VIPs

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By Igordebraga, YttriumShrew, Kingsif, ElijahPepe
This traffic report is adapted from the Top 25 Report, prepared with commentary by YttriumShrew (August 28 to September 24), ElijahPepe (August 28 to September 10), Igordebraga, Kingsif (September 4 to 17), and SSSB (September 11 to 24).

ElijahPepe created an useful tool to make gathering the data for these mostly automated again. And right in the second week with that, the expected surge of British royalty views that would come in November arrived early thanks to London Bridge falling down.

So I'm packing my bags for the Misty Mountains (August 28 to September 3, 2022)

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes/about
1 The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power 1,564,791 The prequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit, premiered this week in the form of a television series. Although the first two episodes have received generally positive reviews, the series has received less critical acclaim than Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Amazon's marketing for the series has even extended to video games.
2 Serena Williams 1,542,068 After a truly stellar career in tennis, Serena Williams's career ended at the US Open after a loss to Australian player Ajla Tomljanović. She retires as the greatest woman tennis player of her generation.
3 Mikhail Gorbachev 1,481,729 The last leader of the Soviet Union died this week from complications related to a long illness according to Russian media at the age of 91. Gorbachev, widely known for his paradigms of glasnost and perestroika, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and as the subject of "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!", was widely praised in the West, although his reception in Russia and the Balkan states is less positive. A funeral for Gorbachev was held later this week, and although he received elements of a state funeral such as a guard of honor, Gorbachev was not granted a state funeral. Many were there, but current Russian president Vladimir Putin was notably not in attendance.
4 House of the Dragon 1,425,144 The prequel to the hit HBO show Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon's second episode "The Rogue Prince" aired this week with—if Rotten Tomatoes numbers are anything to go by—a slightly less positive critic response than last week's episode.
5 Nanjing Massacre 1,250,999 In 1937 the Japanese Army committed brutal atrocities in the Chinese capital of Nanking after capturing it, which ultimately amounted to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the rape of tens of thousands. We think it's here because a pawn shop owner from Minnesota found a bunch of photos of the event and it became major news. Hopefully he'll upload them to Commons.
6 2022 Asia Cup 939,057 After a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this biennial cricket tournament continued this week. I've always found it funny how the tournament is meant to be for all of Asia but is usually just India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. This year, though, something weird happened: Afghanistan beat both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh! Most of the viewers here are probably Indian though, so it likely doesn't bother them as much.
7 Deaths in 2022 926,588 Just a few more weary days and then
I'll fly away
To a land where joy shall never end
I'll fly away
8 Asia Cup 828,554 It's always annoying when two similar articles get split by one other article and we have to do separate comments. It's especially annoying when it's an article we don't even do proper writeups for. I couldn't find a photo of much to do with it, so here's... an Asian Cup! Get it?
9 Liger (film) 816,750 This MMA Bollywood film released last week to an overwhelmingly negative box office performance and critical reception.
10 Manti Te'o 812,067 The release of Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist, the sixth part in the nine-part Untold series, renewed interest in this linebacker and his clandestine relationship to a fictitious woman.

The Queen is dead, boys, and it's so lonely on a limb (September 4 to 10)

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes/about
1 Elizabeth II 16,073,459 After an extraordinarily long 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II died this week at the age of 96. If there's one thing that can be said about her, it's that she was a constant; many had never known another monarch. She was also something of a unifying figure for the United Kingdom and, to a lesser degree, the other countries where she was monarch (even those who became republics). Thus it is natural that her death would inspire a huge reaction around the world and especially in the UK, with endless tributes, large-scale mourning, and wall-to-wall news coverage.
2 Charles III 9,376,455[a] #1's eldest son, who spent decades waiting to be king, during which he married twice, to #8, mother of his children (#5, 17), and #9, and unlike his grandfather (#6) chose to keep his first name for his regal one, making him sort of a successor to the Merry Monarch. He'll start in the new job at the ripe age of 73!
3 Liz Truss 3,423,676 The UK got a shiny new prime minister, whose first days in office were soon completely overshadowed by a royal succession and a period of national mourning. Given that, it's probably worth going into some detail. Liz Truss previously served as Foreign Secretary during Boris Johnson's premiership and was also a part of the cabinets of both Theresa May and David Cameron, notably giving an infamous speech regarding pork markets in 2014. She became the PM after defeating former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership election, held after Johnson was forced out in July. She ran a campaign centred around a right-wing laissez-faire economic pitch and a decent dollop of social conservatism; highlights included her dissing her high school and cosplaying as Margaret Thatcher. Truss has a daunting economic downturn and the seemingly never-ending Ukraine war to deal with, and expectations are pretty low, if polling is anything to go by. Truss has also come under fire for a video that was made during her career as a teenage Liberal Democrat, in which she called for the monarchy to be abolished.
4 Operation London Bridge 3,200,256 London Bridge is falling down. With the Queen's death, many learned about the "secret plan" prepared years ago for these very days. Admittedly it had been an open secret for quite a while, and had been the subject of a lot of media attention, which explains why it had an article in the first place.
Yes, that really is London Bridge. It's quite underwhelming, isn't it?
5 William, Prince of Wales 2,994,105[b] With Charles now on the throne, William is the new heir apparent, and the new Prince of Wales, as everyone moves one space up the line of succession. Let's hope he doesn't die before his dad, because next after him is a nine-year-old.
6 George VI 2,959,304 #1's father who she succeeded as monarch.
7 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 2,739,342 The husband of the late Queen, who died over a year prior in April 2021. The loss of Philip has often been speculated as a major cause of the Queen's declining health before her death.
8 Diana, Princess of Wales 2,630,955 The very famous royal death, the ex-wife of #2. Most of her attention isn't exactly positive for the late monarch, coming in the form of people comparing the outpourings of grief and, in select circles, making memes about how Diana plans to greet Elizabeth II in the afterlife (you can imagine).
9 Camilla, Queen consort of the United Kingdom 2,081,610[c] The new Queen (consort).
10 Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva 1,943,982 Narrowly preventing a top-ten monopoly for Britain is the latest big Bollywood film, which looks remarkably similar to many recent Hollywood ventures (big budget, superpowers, world-scale setting and plot, plans for a shared universe, mixed to positive critical reception). Evidently the influence of the MCU is spreading into other film industries. It opened at #1 in India, #3 in the UK and #2 in the US of A (the highest position ever occupied by an Indian film).

God save the Queen, 'Cause tourists are money (September 11 to 17, 2022)

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes/about
1 Elizabeth II 6,224,957 Following her death, the coverage has been turned down some-what, with some normal scheduling returning to British TV, but it's also not over yet. But, before we look to the week ahead, let's take a look back.
On September 11, the Queen left Balmoral on the way to Edinburgh, where she stayed for two nights, the first at Holyroodhouse, and the second lying in state and St. Giles Cathedral, where 33,000 people filed past to pay their respect, and the Queen's children (#2, 6, 12 and 15) held a Vigil of the Princes. On September 13, the Queen was flown from Edinburgh to London, which became the most tracked flight in history. Since September 14, the Queen has been lying in state at Westminster Hall (leading to the local phenomenon The Queue), and will remain there until 6:30 BST on Monday, the day of her funeral. While there, both her children and grandchildren have performed the Vigil of the Princes.

On the day of the funeral itself, the Queen's coffin will leave Westminster Hall at 10:44 with the funeral service being held at 11:00, a two-minute silence will be held at the end of the funeral, with several major airports even suspending flights during this period. The Queen will then be taken to Windsor, arriving at 15:10, with a second service happening at 16:00 at St. George's Chapel, ending at 16:45. It won't be till 19:45, during a private family service, when the Queen will be buried alongside her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (#7).

2 Charles III 4,139,056 He's had a tough few days. On some good news, he has already exceeded the reign of the (albeit disputed) nine-day Queen.
3 George VI 2,670,912 #1's father and the previous King, born in 1895, and King from 1936 to 1952.
4 Diana, Princess of Wales 2,584,814 #2's first wife. Her funeral, in 1997, holds the viewing figure record within the UK, at 32.1 million people (nearly 55% of the population at the time). The Queen's funeral is widely expected to beat this.
5 Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva 2,502,254 This Bollywood film is again the only thing preventing a top-ten monopoly for the British royals, which I imagine Indian readers will find rather amusing. It is also the only article to appear in this report that is unrelated to the British royal family. Ayan Mukerji's attempt to replicate the MCU in India has gotten off to an okay start, although still faces a daunting task to recoup its massive budget.
6 Anne, Princess Royal 2,151,398 The Queen's second child and only daughter.
7 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 1,811,670 Described as the love of her life, Prince Philip was Elizabeth II's husband, the father of the new King, and the longest serving royal consort in history. Philip and Elizabeth were married from their marriage 1947 until Philip's death in 2021, a year prior to Elizabeth's death.
8 William, Prince of Wales 1,800,986 The oldest child of the new King, which makes him the heir-apparent. He also received a promotion to Prince of Wales, a title held by his father until his accession.
9 Edward VIII 1,774,375 The Queen's uncle, who was King for 11 months in 1936. He abdicated his position in order to marry Wallis Simpson, nicknamed the abdication crisis. The Duke of Windsor, as he was known after his abdication, served his life in de facto exile in France until his death in 1972.
10 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon 1,766,856 The Queen's younger sister, who died in 2002.

The evil that men do lives on and on (September 17 to 24)

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes/about
1 Jeffrey Dahmer 8,365,786 An infamous serial killer who haunted the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for years, during which time he killed and desecrated seventeen people. I'd go into more detail, but I don't really need to; for one, it's awful; for two, you could just watch the Netflix series about him (or read his Wikipedia article, as eight million people did this week). Neither are for the faint-hearted.
2 Elizabeth II 4,177,027 After 10 days of mourning, the erstwhile Queen was laid to rest in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, marking a definitive end to the second Elizabethan era.
I'm not so keen on the services, but the synchronised marching and music was nice to watch (in a respectful way, of course)
3 Charles III 1,992,713 So I guess this is it. Charles is now the King. That's really weird, isn't it?
4 George VI 1,989,940 #2's father and sister.
5 Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon 1,732,233
6 Christopher Scarver 1,684,441 #1 isn't alive anymore, not because he was executed, but because this fellow convicted murderer beat him to death with a metal bar in prison, allegedly motivated by racial grievances.
7 Edward VIII 1,378,696 #2's uncle, daughter and ex-daughter-in-law.
8 Anne, Princess Royal 1,356,536
9 Diana, Princess of Wales 1,306,363
10 House of the Dragon 1,257,174 <checks data> Yeah, it's still here.

Exclusions



Reader comments

2022-09-30

Farm-fresh content

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By Adam Cuerden and Bri
Landscape Arch by Der Wolf im Wald is one of this month's featured pictures.

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted in August. Quotes are generally from the articles, but may be abridged or simplified for length.

Well, here we are in September. Well, you are, anyway. I always do these things ridiculously far in advance because I panic if I wait until the last minute. Or, apparently, for the issue before this one to be out. I just like the feeling of knowing that everything's in hand and I can just take it easy. Anyway, this is the first Featured Content report to benefit from an upgrade to FACBot: see, Wikipedia has a central archive for featured content promotions, Goings-on, a series of weekly pages that go back to 2004, with a new page created every Sunday. Unfortunately, if something was promoted late on a Saturday, but the new Goings-on page was created before the bot ran, it used to just throw an error and ignore the content, and it might end up left out of the Signpost, as nearly happened with three lists last month. It would have affected six lists this month, but thanks to the update, it instead put them into the Goings-on page for August 14th, and then deleted my talk page six times in a row while trying to tell me about the issue.

Luckily, this month my talk page also benefits from a second upgrade to FACBot where it doesn't do that last thing anymore.

Adam Cuerden

Twenty-eight featured articles were promoted this period.

Sally Ride
Sally Ride, nominated by Hawkeye7 and Askeuhd
Sally Kristen Ride was the first American female astronaut, first astronaut known to have been LGBT, and later a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego and director of Cal Space. She was selected as a mission specialist astronaut with NASA Astronaut Group 8, the first class of NASA astronauts to include women. After completing her training in 1979, she served as the ground-based capsule communicator (CapCom) for the second and third Space Shuttle flights, and helped develop the Space Shuttle's robotic arm. She spent a total of more than 343 hours in space.
A.C. Monza, nominated by Nehme1499
Associazione Calcio Monza is a professional football club that is based in Monza, Lombardy, Italy. The team plays in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football, following promotion in the 2021–22 Serie B season.
Back to the Future, nominated by Darkwarriorblake
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis. Set in 1985, the story follows Marty McFly (Fox), a teenager accidentally sent back to 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean automobile built by his eccentric scientist friend Emmett "Doc" Brown (Lloyd).
Toa Payoh MRT station, nominated by ZKang123
Toa Payoh MRT station is an underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the North South line (NSL) in Toa Payoh, Singapore.
Rachel Dyer, nominated by Dugan Murphy
Rachel Dyer: A North American Story is a Gothic historical novel by American writer John Neal. Published in 1828 in Maine, it is the first bound novel about the Salem witch trials. Though it garnered little critical notice in its day, it influenced works by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Walt Whitman.
Angel Locsin, nominated by Pseud 14
Angelica Locsin Colmenares (born April 23, 1985) is a Filipino actress and humanitarian, known for her dramatic roles and portrayals of heroines and mythological characters in film and television.
Betsy Bakker-Nort, nominated by Edwininlondon
Bertha "Betsy" Bakker-Nort (8 May 1874 – 23 May 1946) was a Dutch feminist, lawyer, and politician. At age 34, Bakker-Nort started studying law at the University of Groningen, after realising that the fight for women's rights required a thorough understanding of the law. In the 1922 general election, the first in which women were allowed to vote, she was elected to parliament and became the VDB's first female representative. She was re-elected four times and, during her time in the chamber, mainly argued the case for more women's rights with respect to marriage law and labour law.
Artist's conception of the extinct Kelenken guillermoi
Kelenken, nominated by FunkMonk
Kelenken is a genus of phorusrhacid ("terror bird"), an extinct group of large, predatory birds, which lived in what is now Argentina in the middle Miocene, about 15 million years ago. The only known specimen was discovered by high school student Guillermo Aguirre-Zabala in Comallo, in the region of Patagonia, and was made the holotype of the new genus and species Kelenken guillermoi in 2007.
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, nominated by Epicgenius
The Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (originally the New York Custom House) is a former custom house, a government building, and a museum at 1 Bowling Green, near the southern end of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by Cass Gilbert in the Beaux-Arts style, it was erected from 1902 to 1907 by the U.S. government as a headquarters for the Port of New York's duty collection operations.
Speak Now, nominated by Ippantekina
Speak Now is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 25, 2010, through Big Machine Records. Inspired by her transition from adolescence into adulthood, Speak Now is a loose concept album about love and heartbreak; a few songs are about her public image. Speak Now was nominated for Best Country Album, and its third single "Mean" won Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance.
Anna Wilson (basketball), nominated by Therapyisgood
Anna Christine Wilson (born July 12, 1997) is an American former college basketball player for the Stanford Cardinal of the Pac-12 Conference. A guard, Wilson holds the team record for most games played over a career with 160, the fourth-most in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). At the 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship for Women, Wilson won a gold medal as a part of Team USA.
Apollo 10, nominated by Wehwalt and Tyrol5
Apollo 10 (May 18 – 26, 1969) was a human spaceflight, the fourth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, and the second (after Apollo 8) to orbit the Moon. NASA described it as a "dress rehearsal" for the first Moon landing,[1] and designated it an "F" mission, intended to test all spacecraft components and procedures short of actual descent and landing. While NASA had considered attempting the first crewed lunar landing on Apollo 10, mission planners ultimately decided that it would be prudent to have a practice flight to hone the procedures and techniques.
2016 World Snooker Championship, nominated by Lee Vilenski
The 2016 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 16 April to 2 May 2016 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. After beating Robert Milkins 10–6, Sam Baird 13–11, Kyren Wilson 13–8, and Marco Fu 17–15, Selby defeated Ding Junhui 18–14 in the final to claim his second World title, having won the 2014 event previously.
Branford Steam Railroad, nominated by Trainsandotherthings
The Branford Steam Railroad (reporting mark BSRR) is 7.2-mile (11.6 km) standard-gauge industrial railroad that serves the Tilcon Connecticut stone quarry in North Branford, Connecticut, in the United States. It was founded in 1903 by Louis A. Fisk, a businessman from Branford, Connecticut, to transport passengers to a trotting park for horses, though passenger service soon ended in favour of freight. The company has hauled trap rock from the Totoket Mountain quarry in North Branford continuously since 1914. Its last steam locomotive was retired in 1960, leaving the company a steam railroad only in name, but name was retained to distinguish the company from the Branford Electric Railway, a museum dedicated to streetcars also located in Branford.
Donkey Kong Country, nominated by TheJoebro64 and Jaguar
Donkey Kong Country is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a reboot of Nintendo's Donkey Kong franchise and follows the gorilla Donkey Kong and his nephew Diddy Kong as they set out to recover their stolen banana hoard from the crocodile King K. Rool and his army, the Kremlings. It was one of the first home console games to feature pre-rendered graphics, achieved through a compression technique that allowed Rare to convert 3D models into SNES sprites with little loss of detail. Donkey Kong Country re-established Donkey Kong as a popular Nintendo franchise and is credited for helping Nintendo win the console war of the 1990s and maintaining the SNES's popularity into the fifth generation of video game consoles.
BTS, nominated by ErnestKrause, Wehwalt, and Btspurplegalaxy
BTS (Korean방탄소년단; RRBangtan Sonyeondan) is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produces much of their own material. Originally a hip hop group, their musical style has evolved to incorporate a wide range of genres; their lyrics have often discussed mental health, the troubles of school-age youth and coming of age, loss, the journey towards self-love, and individualism. Their work also frequently references literature, philosophy and psychological concepts, and includes an alternate universe storyline.
1988–89 Gillingham F.C. season, nominated by ChrisTheDude
During the 1988–89 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Third Division, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the 57th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 39th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. Gillingham began the season well, with two wins in the first three Third Division games, but then lost ten consecutive league games to slip close to the bottom of the league table. Gillingham finished the season 23rd out of 24 teams in the division and were relegated to the Fourth Division.
Offham Hill, nominated by Mike Christie
Offham Hill is a causewayed enclosure, near Lewes in East Sussex. Causewayed enclosures were built in England from shortly before 3700 BC until about 3300 BC; they are characterized by the full or partial enclosure of an area with ditches that are interrupted by gaps, or causeways. Their purpose is not known; they may have been settlements, meeting places, or ritual sites.
Title (album), nominated by MaranoFan and Lips Are Movin
Title is the debut major-label studio album by American singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor, released on January 9, 2015. Inspired by past relationships and her insecurities about body image, Trainor wrote songs she wished existed before she attended high school. The songs on the album explore themes such as female empowerment, self-respect, and self-awareness.
Eadwig, nominated by Dudley Miles
Eadwig (c. 940 – 1 October 959), was King of the English from 23 November 955 until his death. Eadwig and his brother Edgar were young children when their father was killed trying to rescue his seneschal from attack by an outlawed thief on 26 May 946. As Edmund's sons were too young to rule he was succeeded by his brother Eadred, who suffered from ill health and died unmarried in his early 30s. Eadwig became king in 955 aged about fifteen and was no more than twenty when he died in 959. He clashed at the beginning of his reign with Dunstan, the powerful Abbot of Glastonbury and future Archbishop of Canterbury, and exiled him to Flanders. He later came to be seen as an enemy of monasteries, but most historians think that this reputation is unfair. In 956 he issued over sixty charters transferring land, a yearly total unmatched by any other European king before the twelfth century, and this is seen by some historians as either an attempt to buy support or rewarding his favourites at the expense of the powerful old guard of the previous reign.
"Bad Romance", nominated by FrB.TG
"Bad Romance" is a song by American singer Lady Gaga from her third extended play (EP), The Fame Monster (2009). Following an illegal demo leak, Gaga premiered the song's final version during the finale of Alexander McQueen's 2010 Paris Fashion Week show in October 2009 and released it as the lead single from The Fame Monster later that month. Musically, it is an electropop and dance-pop song with a spoken bridge. Inspired by German house and techno, the song was developed as an experimental pop record. Lyrically, Gaga drew from the paranoia she experienced while on tour and wrote about her attraction to unhealthy romantic relationships.
Hrabri-class submarine, nominated by Peacemaker67
The Hrabri class consisted of two submarines built for the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes—Yugoslavia from 1929 on—by Vickers-Armstrong in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1927, the boats were named Hrabri (Brave) and Nebojša (Fearless). Their design was based on that of the British L-class submarine of World War I, and they were built using parts from L-class submarines that were never completed. The Hrabri-class were the first submarines to serve in the Royal Yugoslav Navy (KM), and after extensive sea trials and testing they sailed from the UK to the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia, arriving in April 1928. They were armed with six bow-mounted 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes, two 102 mm (4 in) deck guns, one QF 2-pounder (40 mm (1.6 in)) L/39 anti-aircraft gun and two machine guns. Their maximum diving depth was restricted to 55 metres (180 ft) by Yugoslav naval regulations.
"I Need You" (Paris Hilton song), nominated by Aoba47
"I Need You" is a song recorded by American socialite Paris Hilton rekeased on February 14, 2018, though an earlier version leaked in 2010. . Michael Green produced the song and co-wrote it with Hilton and Simon Wilcox, based on 1950s music. It is a doo-wop and pop ballad that features holiday-related puns about love. Critics praised "I Need You", partially as a departure from Hilton's previous dance-oriented and EDM songs.
David (son of Heraclius), nominated by Iazyges and Haukurth
David' (Greek: Δαυίδ, born 7 November 630), was one of three co-emperors of Byzantium for a few months in late 641 (or until early 642), and had the regnal name Tiberius. After the death of Emperor Heraclius in February 641, when David was 10 years old, a power struggle ensued between different branches of the imperial family. As part of a compromise, David was raised to co-emperor, ruling with his brother Heraklonas and their nephew Constans II. All three emperors were children and the Empress Dowager Martina acted as regent, but was deeply unpopular due to her incestuous relationship with Heraclius and her unconventional habits. Her regime was deposed in a rebellion, probably by January 642. She and her sons were exiled to Rhodes and, in an early example of Byzantine political mutilation, Martina's tongue was cut out and the noses of her sons were cut off. There is no further historical record of Tiberius.
Corinna, nominated by Caeciliusinhorto
Corinna or Korinna (Ancient Greek: Κόριννα, romanizedKorinna) was an ancient Greek lyric poet from Tanagra in Boeotia, at an unknown time between the beginning of the fifth century to the late third century BC. Corinna's works survive only in fragments: three substantial sections of poems are preserved on second-century AD papyri from Egypt; several shorter pieces survive in quotations by ancient grammarians. They focus on local Boeotian legends, and are distinctive for their mythological innovations. Corinna's poetry often reworks well-known myths to include details not known from any other sources. Though respected in her hometown, Tanagra, and popular in ancient Rome, modern critics regard her as provincial and dull.
Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56, nominated by Mathsci and Gerda Arendt
Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (lit.'"I will gladly carry the cross-staff"'), BWV 56, is a church cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 19th Sunday after Trinity. It was first performed in Leipzig on 27 October 1726. The composition is a solo cantata because, apart from the closing chorale, it requires only a single vocal soloist (a bass). The text was written by Christoph Birkmann, and describes, in the first person, a Christian willing to "carry the cross" as a follower of Jesus.
Rupert Downes, nominated by Hawkeye7
Major General Rupert Major Downes, CMG, KStJ, VD, FRACS (10 February 1885 – 5 March 1945) was an Australian soldier, surgeon and historian. He was commissioned as a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps in 1908, and after the outbreak of the First World War he joined the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in 1914 as its youngest lieutenant colonel. He served in the Gallipoli campaign, and was appointed Assistant Director of Medical Services (ADMS) of the newly formed Anzac Mounted Division in 1916, which he combined with the post of ADMS AIF Egypt. In 1917, he became Deputy Director of Medical Services (DDMS) of the Desert Mounted Corps. After the war, he wrote articles on medical aspects of the Sinai and Palestine campaign, and the section on the campaign for the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. In 1934 Downes became Director General of Medical Services, the Australian Army's most senior medical officer, with the rank of major general. He oversaw the construction of major military hospitals in the capital cities. In 1944 he accepted a commission to edit the medical series volumes of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1939–1945 but he was killed in a plane crash in March 1945, before he could begin the work.

Twenty-one featured pictures were promoted this period, including the images at the top and bottom of this article.

One featured topic was promoted this period, nominated by MaranoFan

Twenty-two featured lists were promoted this period.

Elephantulus rupestris in Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa – and List of macroscelids
List of macroscelids, nominated by PresN
Elephant shrews, "big noses", get it? Here are 20 subspecies for your perusal, and where they come from, all in Africa by the way.
GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Video Game, nominated by PanagiotisZois
The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Video Game is an annual award that honors video games for excellence in the depiction of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes. It is one of several categories of the annual GLAAD Media Awards, which are presented by GLAAD—an American non-governmental media monitoring organization founded in 1985—at ceremonies in New York City; Los Angeles; and San Francisco between March and June.
List of Los Angeles Chargers first-round draft picks, nominated by Harper J. Cole
The Los Angeles Chargers are an American football franchise who play in the National Football League (NFL). They began play in Los Angeles in 1960 as charter members of the American Football League (AFL), switched cities to San Diego the following season, and returned to Los Angeles in 2017. The AFL was formed as rivals to the established NFL, though the leagues would later merge, with all AFL teams including the Chargers officially joining the NFL in 1970.
List of songs recorded by Kyla, nominated by Pseud 14
Filipino singer Kyla has recorded material for nine studio albums and one extended play (EP). She has also collaborated with other artists on duets and featured songs on their respective albums. Known in the Philippines as "the Queen of R&B", her work has earned her several achievements, including a star on the Walk of Fame in the Philippines, and MTV Video Music Award, twelve Awit Awards, four MTV Philippines Music Award, and six MYX Music Awards. She was honored by the Philippines Society of Composers, Singers, and Publishers for her contributions to music as one of the first pioneers of R&B music in the country.
Frances McDormand on screen and stage, nominated by Cowlibob
Frances McDormand is an American actress and producer who made her film debut in the Coen brothers' neo-noir Blood Simple (1984) and also made her Broadway debut in the revival Awake and Sing! in the same year. McDormand received critical acclaim and won her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of a pregnant Minnesotan police chief in the Coen brothers' black comedy Fargo. She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as a single mother in Good People (2011). McDormand garnered critical acclaim and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie for playing the title character of an abrasive schoolteacher in Olive Kitteridge (2014) which she also produced. McDormand won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and her second Best Actress Oscar for her role as a mother seeking justice in the Martin McDonagh-directed crime drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017). For her performance as a vandwelling nomad in the Chloe Zhao-directed 2020 drama Nomadland she received her third Best Actress Oscar and second BAFTA for Best Actress. She also produced the film and received both the Academy Award for Best Picture and the BAFTA Award for Best Film.
List of Music Bank Chart winners (2021), nominated by EN-Jungwon, Ladidadida123, and Ïvana
The Music Bank Chart is a record chart established in 1998 on the South Korean KBS television music program Music Bank. Every week during its live broadcast, the show gives an award for the best-performing single on the South Korean chart. The chart includes digital performances on domestic online music services (65%), album sales (5%), number of times the single was broadcast on KBS TV (20%), and viewers' choice from online surveys (10%), a methodology that has been used since November 2020.
List of songs written by Marius Moga, nominated by Sebbirrrr
omanian singer, songwriter and producer Marius Moga has written songs for himself, his duo Morandi and for other singers such as Akcent, Andreea Bălan, Anna Lesko and Paula Seling in Romania, and Maroon 5, Train, and Allie X internationally. He began earning money by writing songs during his teenage years. The first recognition he received was in high school when his band Talk to Me had their song "Noaptea" picked up by several radio stations in his hometown Alba Iulia. His breakthrough came when Romanian group Akcent's founder Adrian Sînă invited him to produce the band's second album when he was 19.<The album, titled În culori, for which he wrote every song, was released in January 2002 and received a platinum certification later that year from the Uniunea Producătorilor de Fonograme din România (UPFR).
List of World Heritage Sites in Italy, nominated by Tone
Italy has has 58 sites listed by UNESCO, more than any other country. The sites range from prehistoric "scenes from agriculture, navigation, war, and magic" to a 19th century railway serving St. Moritz.
Manga Taishō, nominated by Morgan695
Japanese manga award first presented in March 2008 and annually thereafter. It is selected by a volunteer group of roughly one hundred "manga lovers from all walks of life", primarily bookstore workers who manage in-store manga sections.
Melon Music Award for Song of the Year, nominated by Nkon21
Awarded since 2005, with live ceremonies began in Seoul starting in 2009, this is one of the awards from the annual Melon Music Awards, using data from Melon's streaming service. You can guess who has won the most (hint: it's BTS).
52nd Academy Awards, nominated by Birdienest81
Hosted by Johnny Carson in 1980, it received a mixed reception with critics praising his hosting performance but criticising the pacing and predictability of the ceremony.
List of commanders of the British 1st Armoured Division, nominated by EnigmaMcmxc
An armoured division of the British Army formed in 1937, and disbanded twice – in 1945 and again in 1947 after a brief reconstitution. It had general officers commanding who ranked from lieutenant colonel to two star general.
List of Hyouka episodes, nominated by Takipoint123
From April to September, 2012, this Japanese animation pumped out 22 episodes. Find out all about them here, and the spinoff Drama CD (voice adaptation) and other ancillary lists too as a bonus.
List of roles and awards of Oscar Isaac, nominated by FrB.TG and Chompy Ace
Not just an X-wing pilot, Oscar Isaac possibly became the first Latino actor to play Hamlet in a major US production. And has a thing for science fiction roles. Just read the list.
59th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, nominated by RunningTiger123
The best in artistic and technical achievement in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2006, until May 31, 2007, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Dominated by Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee with five wins from 11 nominations.
List of accolades received by Despicable Me 2, nominated by Chompy Ace
Did you know Pharrell Williams' "Happy" was an original song for this movie? Well, it was, and it got nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song because of it. It won one of ten nominations at the 41st Annie Awards, and got two nominations at the 86th Academy Awards including the one just mentioned.
List of Billboard number-one R&B songs of 1952, nominated by ChrisTheDude
The list is broken down by based on sales in stores and plays in jukeboxes, as were the Billboard data. Yeah, jukeboxes, they didn't have Internet streaming in 1952. But they did have new B.B. King music, so life wasn't so bad.
List of Billboard Tropical Airplay number ones of 1997, nominated by Erick
Tropical music (Spanish: música tropical) is a term in the Latin music industry that refers to music genres deriving from or influenced by the Spanish-speaking areas of the Caribbean. The first salsa song to top the Hot Latin Songs chart was the final one of this list, "Y Hubo Alguien" by Marc Anthony, and it spent eight weeks in that position.
Gray opossum with white face
Have you seen this child?
List of didelphimorphs, nominated by PresN
They're opossums, okay? And all over North and South America. Adorable or not, depends on your point of view, and whether they have colonized your attic. If you want to know which one's 6 centimeters (2.4 in) long, you will just have to read the list.
List of prime ministers of New Zealand, nominated by YttriumShrew
The preamble to the list informs us that James FitzGerald is often regarded as New Zealand's first prime minister, although a more conventional view is that neither he nor his successor (Thomas Forsaith) should properly be given that title, as New Zealand did not yet have responsible government when they served. Henry Sewell, who served during the 1856 2nd New Zealand Parliament, with full independence, may be regarded as New Zealand's first premier. Beginning with Sewell, forty individuals have so far held the premiership.
List of snooker Triple Crown finals, nominated by Lee Vilenski
Wikipedia is proud to tell you that that snooker Triple Crown is the achievement of winning three specific events: the UK Championship, the Masters, and the World Snooker Championship. Here are all the times that amazing feat occurred, including seven wins by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 29 appearances at the world championship finals.
List of songs written by Ricky Vela, nominated by AJona1992
American songwriter Ricky Vela is credited with over three dozen popular songs from "Dame un Beso" for Selena in 1986 to "Contigo" written for Kumbia Kings in 2003.
Another featured picture: NGC 2014 and NGC 2020 by NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope



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2022-09-30

A Festival Descends on the City: The Edinburgh Fringe, Pt. 2

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By Adam Cuerden

Last month's Gallery was on the subject of the annual Edinburgh festival, and this one is more of the same. But different.

Venues

66,000 square foot Teviot Row House or a 10 foot caravan (that's "trailer" on the other side of the pond) – take your pick.

Shows

I will say that a lot of the shows from past years were not particularly well documented on Commons. Hopefully, I can document them before publication.



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2022-09-30

CommonsComix 2: Paulus Moreelse

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By Adam Cuerden

Paulus Moreelse's self-portrait makes a vandal's comic artist's job almost too easy:

But never let it be said that the Signpost avoids cheap gags!

Note: CommonComix no. 1 appeared in the 31 August 2022 issue's humour column.



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2022-09-30

5, 10, and 15 Years ago: September 2022

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By Adam Cuerden
From the archive: The monkey selfie copyright dispute concluded in early September 2017. David Slater put out photographic equipment for monkeys to use, and one named Naruto took this selfie. Slater claimed copyright on the image, PETA sued Slater, saying Naruto owned the copyright (and they should administer it for him because that's how they think this works). Wikipedia said, (correctly, according to judges), that you can't claim a copyright on behalf of an animal photographer, and uploaded the image to our servers, and Slater told us to take it down. We didn't.

Yep, we're back again for a structured look into Wikipedia's history...

Five years ago

Two issues came out in September 2017, as the continually delayed production finally caught up, moving The Signpost from publishing around the 6th of every month to nearer the 26th, but other than a slight obsession with chickens, the only things of note in the second issue was the conclusion of the monkey selfie lawsuits and the start of a sustainability initiative, so we'll focus on the first issue.

September started with appallingly bad news: the extrajudicial death of Palestinian Syrian Wikipedian Bassel Khartabil. It seems only right to start with The Signpost's tribute to him, written by Bluerasberry:

Bassel had been arrested on 15 March 2012 and held in detention until September 2015 when his communication was cut and the Syrian prison system ceased communication about him. The Wikimedia community and others participated in a campaign asking #WhereIsBassel. The recent announcement confirmed that Bassel was missing because he had been executed outside of any legal process for activities including his engagement with Wikipedia and similar educational projects. A close friend of Bassel's remarked to Wikipedia that Bassel continually hid his on-wiki editing history and accounts for fear of his safety, so Wikipedians cannot review his work history.
At Wikimania 2017 in Montreal an Editathon for Bassel celebrated his life. There was also a Basselpedia Party at which attendees shared what they knew of Bassel and discussed his work and the circumstances of his death. Many media outlets reported on Bassel's death. Wikipedia participants wishing to demonstrate condolences may edit the Wikipedia articles about Bassel and his work, read FreeBassel.org for news on next steps, or take action as they deem respectful in his memory.

Even the September 6 "Traffic report" was rather dark in tone:

Godwin's Law states that any internet discussion that goes on too long will eventually have a Nazi comparison. Well, things have gotten so ugly in America that Godwin himself says there is a valid comparison to be found in the Unite the Right rally, led by white supremacists (#5) and featuring protesters carrying swastika flags and doing the Nazi salute. Understandably, anti-fascism groups (#7) appeared to counterprotest. And it all started because of a threat to remove a statue of General Robert E. Lee (#2), showing the Civil War he fought is unfortunately resonant today.

Indeed, outside of an actual joke article, the funniest thing in the September 6th report was a brief mention in "In the media":

The second Confederate President: The list of President of the Confederate States of America was briefly vandalised by an IP to include Donald Trump. First reported on by Business Insider on August 15, several other media outlets picked up on the vandalism.

I'd like to think our readership is above WP:BEANS issues, so please don't make me have to be more careful for future issues..

Ten years ago: September 2012

Putting this here for layout reasons: September 2007 had what may be my favourite WikiWorld comic.

We're back onto weekly issues of The Signpost as we go back ten years, but each issue is much shorter. In 2012, we reported on Wikipedia's switch to HTML5 and to provide support for IPv6. Author Philip Roth attacked Wikipedia for an inaccuracy in reporting on his book The Human Stain, and Oliver Keyes (Ironholds) explained how Wikipedia can't just change things because someone asks us to.

But by far the most awkward thing was Internet Brands, then-owner of Wikitravel, suing Doc James (James Heilman) and Wrh2 (Ryan Holliday) for luring editors away to the new site Wikivoyage. From the article "Two Wikipedians may face jury trial" by Tony1 and The ed17:

In dramatic events that came to light last week, two English Wikipedia volunteers—Doc James (James Heilman) and Wrh2 (Ryan Holliday)—are being sued in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Internet Brands ("IB"), the owner of Wikitravel.org. Both Wikipedians have also been volunteer Wikitravel editors (and in Holliday's case, a volunteer Wikitravel administrator). IB's complaints focus on both editors' encouragement of their fellow Wikitravel volunteers to migrate to a proposed non-commercial travel guidance site that would be under the umbrella of the WMF (Signpost story "Tough journey for new travel guide").
Disenchantment within the volunteer Wikitravel community appears to concern an intensification of advertising on the site, IB's technical management, and the company's treatment of the volunteers who have built the CC-licensed content over many years. In today's New York Times article, "Travel site built on wiki ethos now bedevils its owner", veteran journalist Noam Cohen writes that, according to Heilman, "as many as 38 of the 48 most experienced and trusted volunteers at Wikitravel have said they will move to the Wikimedia project". The migration of the remaining Wikitravel volunteers to the foundation would come six years after German-speaking Wikitravel editors walked out of the project soon after Internet Brands acquired it, forking into a new Wikivoyage site, followed soon after by their fellow Italian-speaking editors. The non-profit association that runs Wikivoyage voted three months ago to join the proposed travel-related WMF project.
After months of community-led discussion on Meta, last Thursday the WMF's Deputy General Counsel, Kelly Kay, announced that the board "is moving forward with the creation of this new project", and had filed a lawsuit "seeking a judicial declaration that IB has no lawful right to impede, disrupt or block" the creation of a new WMF travel website.

In March 2013, we announced Wikimedia's victory in the lawsuit, and the acquittal of the two Wikipedians.

Fifteen years ago: September 2007

In September 2007, English Wikipedia hit two million articles (it now has about six and a half million); Jimbo Wales being interviewed was a huge event, hyped up the week before it happened (Pity the actual interview is a difficult-to-read clash of red and blue); Wikipedia was blocked in China again, a state that would continue off and on to present day. Reporting on WikiScanner continued, with more embarassing conflicts of interest found.

However, perhaps most interesting was that in 2007, some basic features of Wikipedia were still being worked out, hence standardisation of basic article message boxes, such as now-familiar "The neutrality of this article is disputed" message, {{POV}}. They've gained a lot more words since, but the standardisation has held strong. I thought it'd be interesting to look into the three boxes seen in the 2007 report ({{POV}}, {{Wikify}}, and {{Current}}), and look at a before, after, and present day. However, Wikify has been depreciated since then, so, for the present-day example, I used {{Format}}, created in 2012, as the nearest variant still in use.

And to briefly explain {{Wikify}}: See, in the early days of Wikipedia, it was not uncommon to see articles with no formatting whatsoever: No links to other articles, no headers, nothing. Nowadays, that's usually more of an indication something's probably a copy-pasted copyright violation, but it took a while for people to learn wikimarkup. And then we got VisualEditor, and, a bit later still, VisualEditor became functional and useful.

Before standardisation (I used the last version from 2006 for each):

The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.
This article may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article, especially its introduction, section layout, and relevant internal links. (help)
This article documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.


2007 standardisation

The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.
This article or section lacks formatting.
Please wikify it as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style.
This article documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

Present-day:

TheDJ wrote an article in 2012 about his memories of the changeover, and, while the whole article is worth reading, to summarise: He credits the idea of the colour bars to Flamurai and says the implementation was spearheaded by David Göthberg, and states that it was a "very collaborative effort" and specifically notes this included "well known names" such as MZMcBride, Anomie, Happy-melon, David Levy, Quiddity, RockMFR, Remember the dot, Ilmari Karonen, Father Goose, Ned Scott and says there were about three dozen people who worked on it in total.



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  1. ^ Press Kit, p. 1.



       

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