Jump to content

User talk:HouseBlaster/Archive 6

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archive 1 ← Archive 4 Archive 5 Archive 6
Skip to top
Skip to bottom

Tech News: 2024-20

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • On Wikisource there is a special page listing pages of works without corresponding scan images. Now you can use the new magic word __EXPECTWITHOUTSCANS__ to exclude certain pages (list of editions or translations of works) from that list. [1]
  • If you use the user-preference "Show preview without reloading the page", then the template-page feature "Preview page with this template (what's this?)" will now also work without reloading the page. [2]
  • Kartographer maps can now specify an alternative text via the alt= attribute. This is identical in usage to the alt= attribute in the image and gallery syntax. An exception for this feature is wikis like Wikivoyage where the miniature maps are interactive. [3]
  • The old Guided Tour for the "New Filters for Edit Review" feature has been removed. It was created in 2017 to show people with older accounts how the interface had changed, and has now been seen by most of the intended people. [4]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 14 May. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 15 May. It will be on all wikis from 16 May (calendar). [5][6]
  • The Special:Search results page will now use CSS flex attributes, for better accessibility, instead of a table. If you have a gadget or script that adjusts search results, you should update your script to the new HTML structure. [7]

Future changes

  • In the Vector 2022 skin, main pages will be displayed at full width (like special pages). The goal is to keep the number of characters per line large enough. This is related to the coming changes to typography in Vector 2022. Learn more. [8]
  • Two columns of the pagelinks database table (pl_namespace and pl_title) are being dropped soon. Users must use two columns of the new linktarget table instead (lt_namespace and lt_title). In your existing SQL queries:
    1. Replace JOIN pagelinks with JOIN linktarget and pl_ with lt_ in the ON statement
    2. Below that add JOIN pagelinks ON lt_id = pl_target_id

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 23:56, 13 May 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 16 May 2024

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:57, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

Request to reopen CFD

Hi, you asked for my opinion yesterday at Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2024_May_6#Category:Deaths_from_food_poisoning, then closed it before I had saved my !vote. I have comments that I think are worth contributing. Please would you reopen the discussion? – Fayenatic London 09:00, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

@Fayenatic london: my apologies. Not sure how I overlooked that you had not commented.  Reopened. HouseBlaster (he/him) 11:33, 15 May 2024 (UTC)
Cheers. Please could I also ask for Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2024_May_4#Category:Egyptian_films_by_year, as the rationale is partly incorrect – there are other national siblings within Category:20th-century films. – Fayenatic London 16:17, 18 May 2024 (UTC)
@Fayenatic london: Sure.  Reopened. HouseBlaster (he/him) 17:42, 18 May 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-21

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • The Nuke feature, which enables administrators to mass delete pages, will now correctly delete pages which were moved to another title. [11]
  • New changes have been made to the UploadWizard in Wikimedia Commons: the overall layout has been improved, by following new styling and spacing for the form and its fields; the headers and helper text for each of the fields was changed; the Caption field is now a required field, and there is an option for users to copy their caption into the media description. [12][13]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 21 May. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 22 May. It will be on all wikis from 23 May (calendar). [14][15]
  • The HTML used to render all headings is being changed to improve accessibility. It will change on 22 May in some skins (Timeless, Modern, CologneBlue, Nostalgia, and Monobook). Please test gadgets on your wiki on these skins and report any related problems so that they can be resolved before this change is made in all other skins. The developers are also considering the introduction of a Gadget API for adding buttons to section titles if that would be helpful to tool creators, and would appreciate any input you have on that.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 23:02, 20 May 2024 (UTC)

FlagIOC

Would you like me to finish the job and add spaces to the rest of the Flag templates? (please do not ping on reply) Primefac (talk) 06:06, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

That would be awesome! Thank you so much :) HouseBlaster (he/him) 11:33, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
Cool. Will save me an additional 50 watchlist notification emails :) Primefac (talk) 11:45, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
Also, if you're keen on expanding compact/vague template names, I have a list of acronyms that need expansion. Primefac (talk) 11:54, 21 May 2024 (UTC)
I love the title of that page :) Let me see what I can do. HouseBlaster (he/him) 11:57, 21 May 2024 (UTC)

Feedback request: Politics, government, and law request for comment

Your feedback is requested at Talk:Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on a "Politics, government, and law" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

Message delivered to you with love by Yapperbot :) | Is this wrong? Contact my bot operator. | Sent at 14:31, 22 May 2024 (UTC)

Feedback request: Politics, government, and law request for comment

Your feedback is requested at Talk:Deep state in the United States on a "Politics, government, and law" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

Message delivered to you with love by Yapperbot :) | Is this wrong? Contact my bot operator. | Sent at 23:30, 24 May 2024 (UTC)

Notice of reliable sources noticeboard discussion

Information icon There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. The thread is The Telegraph and trans issues. Thank you. I am informing you because you have commented on a prior RfC on a similar issue. Chess (talk) (please mention me on reply) 02:48, 27 May 2024 (UTC)


Category question

Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2023 September 3#Category:Video games with AI-versus-AI modes

Hi! Hope you are doing well. I was wondering if you had sources in mind for Draft:List of video games with AI-versus-AI modes? At Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2023 September 3#Category:Video games with AI-versus-AI modes, you suggested Category:Video games with AI-versus-AI modes be listified, but I am not finding sources which indicate it meets WP:LISTN. See also this discussion at WT:VG. Thanks! HouseBlaster (talk · he/him) 11:50, 15 May 2024 (UTC)

Hi. Thanks for the note.
Looking these over, most seem to fall under Category:Fighting games, though honestly, this could apply to any game that has at least 1 AI opponent. The feature in question also being known as autoplay, or more commonly "demo mode". The latter is what I found most when doing a quick search.
I think you're probably right that this might be shaky ground for a stand-alone list. But I think it's info that could probably be merged to List of fighting games, or other such lists. (Maybe by use of a universal footnote for those that have the feature?)
As an aside, thinking about this further, I see that I had mentioned Category:Video game lists by technology or feature. Looking at that category now, I think it probably needs to be re-thought. It seems a catch-all, and not a very good one. I think the word "feature" is looking like it's a bad word to use for categorization, because in computer software, that can mean a very broad grouping of things. I think there probably should be a split/merge in that category's future.
I hope this helps. - jc37 19:22, 27 May 2024 (UTC)
@Jc37: thank you for your reply! I am currently leaning towards letting the CFD bot delete the category, and adding the contents of the category at Talk:List of fighting games for future incorporation into the list as a universal footnote. Does that work for you? HouseBlaster (he/him) 19:31, 27 May 2024 (UTC)
Sounds like a plan : ) - jc37 19:35, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

Awesome :)

Just want to make sure this is okay with Marcocapelle before listing at WT:CFDW? HouseBlaster (he/him) 19:38, 27 May 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-22

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • Several bugs related to the latest updates to the UploadWizard on Wikimedia Commons have been fixed. For more information, see T365107 and T365119.
  • In March 2024 a new addPortlet API was added to allow gadgets to create new portlets (menus) in the skin. In certain skins this can be used to create dropdowns. Gadget developers are invited to try it and give feedback.
  • Some CSS in the Minerva skin has been removed to enable easier community configuration. Interface editors should check the rendering on mobile devices for aspects related to the classes: .collapsible, .multicol, .reflist, .coordinates, .topicon. Further details are available on replacement CSS if it is needed.

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 28 May. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 29 May. It will be on all wikis from 30 May (calendar). [16][17]
  • When you visit a wiki where you don't yet have a local account, local rules such as edit filters can sometimes prevent your account from being created. Starting this week, MediaWiki takes your global rights into account when evaluating whether you can override such local rules. [18]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 00:13, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

Question from Rachel Kufreabasi (00:47, 28 May 2024)

How do I create and publish an article on a personality --Rachel Kufreabasi (talk) 00:47, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

@Rachel Kufreabasi: hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! Who do you want to write about? HouseBlaster (he/him) 00:51, 28 May 2024 (UTC)

Question from ACP Writer (04:59, 29 May 2024)

Hi HouseBlaster,

Did you get your Wiki name because, you work in demolition or something? I tried submitting an article, but it got refused. Not sure if you can see what I tried to contribute Anyway, I am trying to contribute another, If you get a chance, please take a look and I would appreciate any tips you can offer. Thanks. --ACP Writer (talk) 04:59, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

@ACP Writer: The story of how I got my username is not that deep: it is the pseudonym I came up with when I was around 8 years old. (I registered for Wikipedia many years later, but I have kept using the name.) The first thing I have to ask is if you have a conflict of interest? (A very incomplete list of why you might have a COI includes having a spouse which works at the company.) If you do, you are strongly encouraged to disclose the COI. A particularly important type of COI is paid editing, which is when you are being compensated for your edits. If you are a paid editor, you are required by the Terms of Use to disclose the paid editing. You can do so by following the instructions at Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure#How to disclose. The second thing I have to ask you is to change your username. Usernames must identify you as a person, not just your role or company (you can file a request to do so at Wikipedia:Changing username/Simple). Something like "ACP John" or "Jane at ACP" is okay, but "ACP Writer" or "ACP rail" is probably not. Once you have done those two things, I would be happy to help you with the article you are trying to write! Best, HouseBlaster (he/him) 11:49, 29 May 2024 (UTC)
Thank you for the quick reply. It looks like changing the username would not be an easy thing to do because I do not have any edits under my username yet. Basically, they suggest to just open another account.
Have you ever submitted an article in which you have a COI or was paid for it? In Wikipedia, are articles written by paid writers treated fairly or the bias automatically becomes a hindrance for the article being accepted? ACP Writer (talk) 00:05, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

@ACP Writer: you would be changing your username because it violates the username policy, so they will let you rename the account. If you don't change your username, there is a chance you will be blocked from editing.

Like the vast majority of editors, I have never submitted a COI/paid article. Most of us are volunteers, just like people who volunteer at their local animal shelter or to pick up litter off the sidewalk. It is certainly harder to get an article accepted if you are paid, though I wouldn't say it is due to higher standards. Rather, people with COIs tend to write about topics which do not qualify for articles, so we are very careful to make sure that they are writing about topics which satisfy our inclusion guideline.

However, with all due respect, you are not answering my questions: do you have a conflict of interest? Are you a paid editor? HouseBlaster (he/him) 00:48, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

Feedback request: Politics, government, and law request for comment

Your feedback is requested at Talk:2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election on a "Politics, government, and law" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

Message delivered to you with love by Yapperbot :) | Is this wrong? Contact my bot operator. | Sent at 22:30, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

CfD nomination and closure

If I had noticed earlier that the Category:People_from_Imperial_China_by_religion has been populated in the past few days I would have withdrawn my nomination at Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2024_May_22#Category:People_from_Imperial_China_by_religion. Should we re-open the discussion? Marcocapelle (talk) 19:42, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

@Marcocapelle:  Reopened. I will let you explain why; if you could ping the other participants so they can respond to your comment (in all likelihood, agreeing that the nomination should be withdrawn) that would be great. Thanks, HouseBlaster (he/him) 23:02, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

Appointment as trainee clerk

Hi HouseBlaster. We have added you to the list of clerks and subscribed you to the mailing list (info: WP:AC/C#clerks-l). Welcome, and I look forward to working with you! To adjust your subscription options for the mailing list, see the link at mail:clerks-l. The mailing list works in the usual way, and the address to which new mailing list threads can be sent is clerks-l@lists.wikimedia.org. Useful reading for new clerks is the procedures page, WP:AC/C/P, but you will learn all the basic components of clerking on-the-job.

New clerks begin as a trainee, are listed as such at WP:AC/C#Personnel, and will remain so until they have learned all the aspects of the job. When you've finished training, which usually takes a few months (and a maximum of one year), then we'll propose to the Committee that you be made a full clerk. As a clerk, you'll need to check your e-mail regularly, as the mailing list is where the clerks co-ordinate (on-wiki co-ordination page also exists but is not used nearly as much). If you've any questions at any point of your traineeship, simply post to the mailing list.

Lastly, it might be useful if you enter your timezone into WP:AC/C#Personnel (in the same format as the other members have), so that we can estimate when we will have clerks available each day; this is, of course, at your discretion. Again, welcome! Regards, Dreamy Jazz talk to me | my contributions 19:38, 30 May 2024 (UTC)

Hello, HouseBlaster,
I was an Arbitration Clerk for two years and learned a lot. I hope you find it a satisfying assignment, it's very different from other work on the Project. It all depends on how busy the Arbitration Committee is and for the past few years, it seeem like the workload has been manageable. The most important element of being an artibration clerk, I found, is finding out where all of the relevant templates are becuase much of your work involves posting templates, setting up cases and notifying editors of the status of cases. All involve templates! Good luck! Liz Read! Talk! 03:46, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
Thank you for the words of encouragement, Liz! HouseBlaster (he/him) 15:16, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Template editor granted

Your account has been granted the "templateeditor" user permission, allowing you to edit templates and modules that have been protected with template protection. It also allows you to bypass the title blacklist, giving you the ability to create and edit editnotices. Before you use this user right, please read Wikipedia:Template editor and make sure you understand its contents. In particular, you should read the section on wise template editing and the criteria for revocation.

You can use this user right to perform maintenance, answer edit requests, and make any other simple and generally uncontroversial edits to templates, modules, and edinotices. You can also use it to enact more complex or controversial edits, after those edits are first made to a test sandbox, and their technical reliability as well as their consensus among other informed editors has been established. If you are willing to process edit requests on templates and modules, keep in mind that you are taking responsibility to ensure the edits have consensus and are technically sound.

This user right gives you access to some of Wikipedia's most important templates and modules; it is critical that you edit them wisely and that you only make edits that are backed up by consensus. It is also very important that no one else be allowed to access your account, so you should consider taking a few moments to secure your password.

If you do not want this user right, you may ask any administrator to remove it for you at any time.

If you were granted the permission on a temporary basis you will need to re-apply for the permission a few days before it expires including in your request a permalink to the discussion where it was granted and a {{ping}} for the administrator who granted the permission. You can find the permalink in your rights log.

Useful links

Happy template editing! Aoidh (talk) 11:17, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

Thank you, Aoidh! HouseBlaster (he/him) 15:18, 1 June 2024 (UTC)

ygm

Moneytrees🏝️(Talk) 03:39, 2 June 2024 (UTC)

Conditional parent categories in templates

Re Template:Bridges completed in the YYY0s category header etc, rather than use "if exists", isn't it better to set a threshold year after which parent categories should exist, as in the case of Template:Synagogues completed in decade category header? That way, when e.g. a year category is created using the relevant template, it will prompt for the parent (decade category) to be created. Conversely, if a too-early decade category is (re)created against prior consensus, it would rightly not be auto-populated by year categories.

I also suggest documenting the related CFD decision on the template, at least in the edit summary. – Fayenatic London 15:55, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

@Fayenatic london: if there is a consensus for a specific cutoff year, I agree that would be a better implementation. In Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 April 27#Judaism by year, you proposed using 1800 as a cutoff year. However, I don't see consensus for a specific cutoff year in Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 May 12#Transport infrastructure by decade, which just said very complicated tree for only a few subcategories about bridges, canals and lighthouses. I would be happy to add a comment about the CFD discussions to the templates which I added {{Category if exists}} to. Does that work for you? HouseBlaster (he/him) 16:09, 29 May 2024 (UTC)
I had not realised that {{Category if exists}} is brand new – well done! – it is surprising that nobody thought of this before. I've added links to it from some similar templates.
How about extending it, or adding a version 2, with a fallback category? This could simplify e.g. Template:Fooian sportswomen.
But let's not overuse "if exists" functionality. I already reverted the first two usages in "Bridges" templates back to required parents. For such Buildings & structures templates, I recommend coding a start year instead, for the reasons stated. The start date can be determined by current usage after the CFD implementations, and explained in the documentation. – Fayenatic London 10:26, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
@Fayenatic london: I was surprised, too! Probably there is something with an opaque name, but I couldn't find it. I will look into adding a fallback option. Still not convinced that using a cutoff date is the best idea when there is no explicit consensus for a cutoff date, but also still open to being convinced. Would you object to pinging some people and asking for their opinions? HouseBlaster (he/him) 22:08, 31 May 2024 (UTC)
@Marcocapelle, Aidan721, Pppery, and Tom.Reding: your views on this would be welcome. – Fayenatic London 21:06, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
Even if a discussion doesn't explicitly codify it, it is determining that there isn't enough content to warrant chronology categories before a certain point - there is some reason people always end these nominations at round-number years, for example. Thus I think having a cutoff point is preferable to ifexist checking. * Pppery * it has begun... 21:10, 1 June 2024 (UTC)
I'm a big fan of category automation (e.g. Module:Category described in year as most relevant to this discussion). However, I haven't done any work related to cat maintenance/creation/deletion surrounding cutoffs.
Generally, it's better to prompt the user to confirm/create the parent cat(s), which would be obfuscated by "if exists". If "if exists" must to be used, and if it fails to display a particular parent, then it would be good to place the active category into a tracking category for followup, to decide whether or not the parent should be created and the threshold changed.
Thresholds & "if exists" could also be used together, where a category is forced above the threshold, and "if exists" used below the threshold and the active cat placed into a tracking cat for followup.
Also, having relevant discussions/CfDs/etc. in the /doc is a good idea so that everyone can stay on the same page.   ~ Tom.Reding (talk ⋅dgaf)  11:05, 2 June 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-23

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • It is now possible for local administrators to add new links to the bottom of the site Tools menu without JavaScript. Documentation is available. [19]
  • The message name for the definition of the tracking category of WikiHiero has changed from "MediaWiki:Wikhiero-usage-tracking-category" to "MediaWiki:Wikihiero-usage-tracking-category". [20]
  • One new wiki has been created: a Wikipedia in Kadazandusun (w:dtp:) [21]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 4 June. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 5 June. It will be on all wikis from 6 June (calendar). [22][23]

Future changes

  • Next week, on wikis with the Vector 2022 skin as the default, logged-out desktop users will be able to choose between different font sizes. The default font size will also be increased for them. This is to make Wikimedia projects easier to read. Learn more.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 22:32, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

Feedback request: Politics, government, and law request for comment

Your feedback is requested at Talk:United States on a "Politics, government, and law" request for comment. Thank you for helping out!
You were randomly selected to receive this invitation from the list of Feedback Request Service subscribers. If you'd like not to receive these messages any more, you can opt out at any time by removing your name.

Message delivered to you with love by Yapperbot :) | Is this wrong? Contact my bot operator. | Sent at 15:30, 4 June 2024 (UTC)

Question from Balgobeen (03:12, 5 June 2024)

Request an article creation --Balgobeen (talk) 03:12, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

@Balgobeen: hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! Before any article is created on Wikipedia, we need to make sure it is eligible for an article. Do you have two or three reliable sources (we have a list of sources alongside their reliability) which are independent of the subject (nothing created by or in collaboration with the subject counts) and cover the subject in detail? HouseBlaster (he/him) 11:41, 5 June 2024 (UTC)

Question from Peewoop 68369 (22:05, 3 June 2024)

Hi, how do I add links in articles? --Peewoop 68369 (talk) 22:05, 3 June 2024 (UTC)

@Peewoop 68369: hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! To add a link, you surround the term you want to link with [[double square brackets]]. You can see more information at Help:Link. Best, HouseBlaster (he/him) 22:08, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
Thank you! Peewoop 68369 (talk) 00:08, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

Deletion review for Category:Dominican Republic people of European American descent

Iñaki Salazar has asked for a deletion review of Category:Dominican Republic people of European American descent. Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. —Cryptic 02:42, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

May 2024 NPP backlog drive – Points award

The Invisible Barnstar
This award is given in recognition to HouseBlaster for accumulating at least 5 points during the May 2024 NPP backlog drive. Your contributions helped play a part in the 14,452 reviews completed during the drive. Thank you so much for taking part and contributing to help reduce the backlog! Hey man im josh (talk) 18:43, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 8 June 2024

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:26, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

Jovana-Aja Panić

Artist and master od criminal law Ajapanic (talk) 14:13, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

@Ajapanic: hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! Do you have a question about editing? HouseBlaster (he/they) 15:55, 8 June 2024 (UTC)

Category:Ezo'la CFD close

Per WP:BADNAC, non admins are not supposed to close discussions when the result requires admin action. Can you revert the close so an admin actually moves the page? Nickps (talk) 16:43, 9 June 2024 (UTC)

@Nickps: hi, it is listed at WT:CFDW where an admin will process the discussion. That is par for the course at CFD. HouseBlaster (he/they) 16:44, 9 June 2024 (UTC)
I didn't know that process existed. I'm sorry about that. Nickps (talk) 16:46, 9 June 2024 (UTC)

CFD categories

Hello, HouseBlaster,

After there is a CFD closure, please do not remove the CFD tag from the category to be deleted. If there is the CFD tag, then when an admin like me deletes the category, the deletion notice will list the relevant CFD discussion so that any interested editor can go and see the discussion. When you remove the CFD tag and just put a normal CSD tag on the page or some anonymous tag, then the CFD discussion won't be automatically listed as the reason for deletion. I regularly run a query for empty categories so if a category has been emptied after a CFD closure, there is a good chance I'll see it. But if you see me reverting an edit of yours on a CFD category, that's why I'm doing this. Thanks. Liz Read! Talk! 01:53, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

@Liz: hi Liz! Is there a particular category where I did that? I don't normally remove the CFD tag before adding a CSD tag (Twinkle adds the CSD tag without removing the CFD tag). HouseBlaster (he/they) 01:57, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
Wait, I now see that it was the now-deleted Category:British LGBT civil servants‬. Not sure why I didn't use Twinkle; I'll consider this a trout Self-trout. Apologies for the confusion! HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:08, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-24

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • The software used to render SVG files has been updated to a new version, fixing many longstanding bugs in SVG rendering. [24]
  • The HTML used to render all headings is being changed to improve accessibility. It was changed last week in some skins (Vector legacy and Minerva). Please test gadgets on your wiki on these skins and report any related problems so that they can be resolved before this change is made in Vector-2022. The developers are still considering the introduction of a Gadget API for adding buttons to section titles if that would be helpful to tool creators, and would appreciate any input you have on that.
  • The HTML markup used for citations by Parsoid changed last week. In places where Parsoid previously added the mw-reference-text class, Parsoid now also adds the reference-text class for better compatibility with the legacy parser. More details are available. [25]

Problems

  • There was a bug with the Content Translation interface that caused the tools menus to appear in the wrong location. This has now been fixed. [26]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 11 June. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 12 June. It will be on all wikis from 13 June (calendar). [27][28]
  • The new version of MediaWiki includes another change to the HTML markup used for citations: Parsoid will now generate a <span class="mw-cite-backlink"> wrapper for both named and unnamed references for better compatibility with the legacy parser. Interface administrators should verify that gadgets that interact with citations are compatible with the new markup. More details are available. [29]
  • On multilingual wikis that use the <translate> system, there is a feature that shows potentially-outdated translations with a pink background until they are updated or confirmed. From this week, confirming translations will be logged, and there is a new user-right that can be required for confirming translations if the community requests it. [30]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 20:18, 10 June 2024 (UTC)

Question from Dinesh Yadav Lohia on Help:Getting started (06:01, 12 June 2024)

Photos --Dinesh Yadav Lohia (talk) 06:01, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

@Dinesh Yadav Lohia: what do you want to do with photos? HouseBlaster (he/they) 16:22, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

Deleting Ninety Nines

Can you explain why you suggested the Category Ninety-Nines for deletion? As a new wikipedia editor, who is trying to improve the content for women's categories, I do not see why my contribution to building this new category was deleted on your suggestion? If there is some Wikipedia rule this new category violates, please let me know, I spent a lot of time to organize this information into something that was useful and applicable. Nayyn (talk) 18:29, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

Hello Nayyn! I did not suggest the category be deleted—I just "closed" the discussion as delete. The job of a "closer" is to assess the consensus in the discussion, not to choose a particular outcome. @Marcocapelle, LaundryPizza03, and Lenticel would be better equipped to tell you why they thought the category should be deleted (perhaps they would be willing to chime in?). Let me know if you have any more questions, HouseBlaster (he/they) 21:16, 11 June 2024 (UTC)
Hi, thank you for the clarification. How many people are required to determine consensus? It just seems like a limited discussion took place in a short time frame and I'm not sure the rationale that closed the category. I am still learning here, but wish to contribute meaningfully and I'm not sure why anyone would have an objection to this. Nayyn (talk) 11:04, 12 June 2024 (UTC)
@Nayyn: first, a bit of terminology: I closed the discussion, which resulted in the category being deleted. Deletion discussions on Wikipedia generally last a week, and there is no fixed number required for consensus. This section of the consensus policy which explains how consensus is determined. Four people is slightly above average participation at a deletion discussion. Now for specifics: categories are for navigation by grouping articles by their defining characteristics. In general, membership in an organization is not considered defining. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 16:32, 12 June 2024 (UTC)

Questions at RfA

I wouldn't race through this first burst of questions. I would take my time and use the opportunity to let !voters into my head. That's what I might do. Opinions vary. The very best wishes in your run. Good noms. Trust them if you have questions. BusterD (talk) 14:11, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

Back in late March....

you nominated a fellow editor for the EotW award. You did fine!!! Thanks and good luck at RfA. Buster Seven Talk (UTC) 18:26, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

@Buster7 and BusterD: thank you both for your words of encouragement; they are sincerely appreciated. HouseBlaster (he/they) 18:54, 16 June 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-25

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • People who attempt to add an external link in the visual editor will now receive immediate feedback if they attempt to link to a domain that a project has decided to block. Please see Edit check for more details. [31]
  • The new Community Configuration extension is available on Test Wikipedia. This extension allows communities to customize specific features to meet their local needs. Currently only Growth features are configurable, but the extension will support other Community Configuration use cases in the future. [32][33]
  • The dark mode beta feature is now available on category and help pages, as well as more special pages. There may be contrast issues. Please report bugs on the project talk page. [34]

Problems

  • Cloud Services tools were not available for 25 minutes last week. This was caused by a faulty hardware cable in the data center. [35]
  • Last week, styling updates were made to the Vector 2022 skin. This caused unforeseen issues with templates, hatnotes, and images. Changes to templates and hatnotes were reverted. Most issues with images were fixed. If you still see any, report them here. [36]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 18 June. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 19 June. It will be on all wikis from 20 June (calendar). [37][38]
  • Starting June 18, the Reference Edit Check will be deployed to a new set of Wikipedias. This feature is intended to help newcomers and to assist edit-patrollers by inviting people who are adding new content to a Wikipedia article to add a citation when they do not do so themselves. During a test at 11 wikis, the number of citations added more than doubled when Reference Check was shown to people. Reference Check is community configurable. [39]
  • Mailing lists will be unavailable for roughly two hours on Tuesday 10:00–12:00 UTC. This is to enable migration to a new server and upgrade its software. [40]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 23:46, 17 June 2024 (UTC)


Questioning the outcome of the discussion

Hi, can you please explain what the result of this discussion is based on? The result you wrote is "keep and populate", but I believe that "populate" is not what follows from the discussion, and leads to the creation of undersized categories. FromCzech (talk) 17:51, 17 June 2024 (UTC)

@FromCzech: stub templates do not always go together with stub categories. For instance, {{Mělník-geo-stub}} does not need to populate Category:Mělník geography stubs‎: it can be set up to feed directly into Category:Central Bohemian Region geography stubs. For that reason, we don't normally delete stub templates. (That way, we can always recreate the stub category and it will be automatically populated by simply updating the templates.) You nominated the templates for deletion, and the result was keep and populate the templates. If you wish to upmerge the categories, you can nominate them directly. HouseBlaster (he/they) 01:54, 18 June 2024 (UTC)

You've got mail!

Hello, HouseBlaster. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

Snowmanonahoe (talk · contribs · typos) 13:07, 18 June 2024 (UTC)

Trouted

Whack!

You've been whacked with a wet trout.

Don't take this too seriously. Someone just wants to let you know that you did something silly.

You have been trouted for: Blehhhhh :3 Skxnteq (talk) 21:50, 21 June 2024 (UTC)

Your request for adminship

Hi HouseBlaster, I have closed your request for adminship as successful. While your candidacy is a success, there was a non-trivial amount of opposition to your request; heeding any advice and concerns expressed would be well advised. That being said...Congratulations! As always, the administrators' reading list is worth reading and the new admin help pages are most certainly available if you feel that you might require some practice with the tools in a safe environment prior to applying them elsewhere on the project. Good luck! Acalamari 02:04, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Thank you, Acalamari! HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:05, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Congratz!

A toast for you!
Congratulations on a successful RfA! As long as you stay out of trouble, I'm sure you'll do a great job. ❤HistoryTheorist❤ 02:13, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

A baton for you!

An AI-generated image of a Coquerel's sifaka lemur running around a dilapidated racetrack holding a relay baton. The new admin baton
I managed to run a couple of laps but you've come along just as I got out of breath. Sprint on!

Congratulations on your successful RfA! Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 10:25, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Congratulations on your RfA! Hawkeye7 (discuss) 01:50, 24 June 2024 (UTC)

Congrats!

WP:RFU Nuclear Medicine Oncology & Radiotherapy Institute Nawabshah

While you did nothing wrong here, there are a number of us who prefer to draftify restorations of soft deletes and PRODs, so that the article doesn't immediately get re-nom'd. Do a search for "draftify" on the RFU page to see how I reply to these such requests. And welcome to the RFUn! :D - UtherSRG (talk) 12:00, 24 June 2024 (UTC)

@UtherSRG: thank you for the note; I will keep it in mind in the future :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 20:44, 24 June 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-26

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • Editors will notice that there have been some changes to the background color of text in the diff view, and the color of the byte-change numbers, last week. These changes are intended to make text more readable in both light mode and dark mode, and are part of a larger effort to increase accessibility. You can share your comments or questions on the project talkpage. [41]
  • The text colors that are used for visited-links, hovered-links, and active-links, were also slightly changed last week to improve their accessibility in both light mode and dark mode. [42]

Problems

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 25 June. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 26 June. It will be on all wikis from 27 June (calendar). [44][45]
  • Starting 26 June, all talk pages messages' timestamps will become a link at English Wikipedia, making this feature available for you to use at all wikis. This link is a permanent link to the comment. It allows users to find the comment they were linked to, even if this comment has since been moved elsewhere. You can read more about this feature on Diff or on Mediawiki.org. [46]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 22:30, 24 June 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 June 26#Category:Articles unintentionally citing retracted publications

Good morning,

I've submitted a new renaming proposal for the above template and a number of linked ones. As you were involved in the previous discussion, I would welcome your views on the new proposal. Mdann52 (talk) 06:18, 26 June 2024 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 June 20#Buildings and structures completed by year, before 1000

Hello, HouseBlaster,

I see that a bot has started emptying these categories and deleting others but the discussion hasn't been closed yet. What's up here? Liz Read! Talk! 02:15, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

@Liz: I forgot to click publish. My apologies; trout Self-trout. HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:23, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Question from GHeavenRubberBandMan (04:44, 28 June 2024)

Hello HouseBlaster.

GHeavenRubberBandMan here. You know that little information box at the top right of every article? How do I adjust the image to take up the width of that box? Do I use the full-sized image or the thumbnail? What px value do I use?

Why doesn't the Image Size field affect anything?

I have lots of questions, but that's a good starting point.

Thank you! --GHeavenRubberBandMan (talk) 04:44, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

I have responded at your talk page. HouseBlaster (he/they) 21:16, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-27

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • Over the next three weeks, dark mode will become available for all users, both logged-in and logged-out, starting with the mobile web version. This fulfils one of the top-requested community wishes, and improves low-contrast reading and usage in low-light settings. As part of these changes, dark mode will also work on User-pages and Portals. There is more information in the latest Web team update. [47]
  • Logged-in users can now set global preferences for the text-size and dark-mode, thanks to a combined effort across Foundation teams. This allows Wikimedians using multiple wikis to set up a consistent reading experience easily, for example by switching between light and dark mode only once for all wikis. [48]
  • If you use a very old web browser some features might not work on the Wikimedia wikis. This affects Internet Explorer 11 and versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari older than 2016. This change makes it possible to use new CSS features and to send less code to all readers. [49][50]
  • Wikipedia Admins can customize local wiki configuration options easily using Community Configuration. Community Configuration was created to allow communities to customize how some features work, because each language wiki has unique needs. At the moment, admins can configure Growth features on their home wikis, in order to better recruit and retain new editors. More options will be provided in the coming months. [51]
  • Editors interested in language issues that are related to Unicode standards, can now discuss those topics at a new conversation space in MediaWiki.org. The Wikimedia Foundation is now a member of the Unicode Consortium, and the coordination group can collaboratively review the issues discussed and, where appropriate, bring them to the attention of the Unicode Consortium.
  • One new wiki has been created: a Wikipedia in Mandailing (w:btm:) [52]

Problems

  • Editors can once again click on links within the visual editor's citation-preview, thanks to a bug fix by the Editing Team. [53]

Future changes

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 23:57, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 4 July 2024

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:38, 4 July 2024 (UTC)

Thanks so much

For your recent edits re the GH to HG categories,

Hello, HouseBlaster. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

JarrahTree 01:52, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Replied. HouseBlaster (he/they) 01:59, 6 July 2024 (UTC)
Thank you ! JarrahTree 02:01, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2024

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2024).

Administrator changes

added
removed

Technical news

Miscellaneous

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 07:58, 6 July 2024 (UTC)

Congrats

Congrats for a successful RfA. Take it easy and use the tools wisely. Ask plenty of questions; all of the existing admins will only be too happy to give advice. Welcome to the team. Schwede66 01:10, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Thank you! HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:05, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Felicitations!

-Ad Orientem (talk) 02:06, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

I'm about to leave for my vacation, but I wanted to stop by here first to say congratulations! I hope your adminship goes well. QuicoleJR (talk) 09:55, 23 June 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-28

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

Problems

  • A problem with the color of the talkpage tabs always showing as blue, even for non-existent pages which should have been red, affecting the Vector 2022 skin, has been fixed.

Future changes

  • The Trust and Safety Product team wants to introduce temporary accounts with as little disruption to tools and workflows as possible. Volunteer developers, including gadget and user-script maintainers, are kindly asked to update the code of their tools and features to handle temporary accounts. The team has created documentation explaining how to do the update. Learn more.

Tech News survey

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 21:29, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

That CFD

See [54] an editor that shouldn't be on the CFD page, how did they even get there I wonder? Also their talk page and [55] Doug Weller talk 10:54, 8 July 2024 (UTC)

@Doug Weller no idea... they are also here. Hopefully the latest messages at the talk page are enough? HouseBlaster (he/they) 00:10, 9 July 2024 (UTC)
Hopefully. Doug Weller talk 07:26, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

Question from Crissi708 on Vogue (cigarette) (14:51, 9 July 2024)

Hello my question is why do vogue not make menthol infusion cards like Rizla and Swan I currently use Rizla to try to make my vogue cigs menthol but they’re just not as smooth as the original vogue menthe I used to be able to buy until they banned them everywhere. --Crissi708 (talk) 14:51, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

@Crissi708, I am here to answer questions about editing Wikipedia, not about how to get cigarettes. Though I would very much encourage you to watch this video from Kurzgesagt. HouseBlaster (he/they) 20:49, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

Question from Lahsim Niasoh (15:17, 9 July 2024)

How to write romanized text in wikipedia? please help --Lahsim Niasoh (talk) 15:17, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

@Lahsim Niasoh I am not sure what you mean. Would you be able to give me an example? HouseBlaster (he/they) 20:54, 9 July 2024 (UTC)
I understand it now (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sheikh_Hasina&diff=prev&oldid=1233569908), Thanks for your reply. Lahsim Niasoh (talk) 21:02, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

Template:Cat

I was looking at the merge discussion for {{Cat}} and saw your note about about {{Category link/core}} saving expensive processing. Is this due to width-first evaluation of the top template resulting in fewer/no calls to the expensive function in the sub-template? Or did I misunderstand? — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 16:57, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

@GhostInTheMachine it is even more simple than that. Certain parser functions are considered WP:EXPENSIVE (i.e., computationally intensive) and therefore there is a limit of 500 "expensive" calls on any given page. {{PAGESINCAT:FOO}} is one such expensive parser function, and calling it multiple times counts as multiple expensive function calls. We can't declare a variable on a page, so to get around this we call a new "helper template" (think of calling a helper function/method in coding) with the desired "variable" as an input. It helps for the same reason you use variable to avoid calling the same function on the same inputs more than once. Cheers, HouseBlaster (he/they) 22:21, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
OK, so other way around. Evaluate the expensive function once in the parent template and pass it to the child as a template parameter so that the child can use the value multiple times — GhostInTheMachine talk to me 22:29, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
@GhostInTheMachine: Exactly. You put it much more eloquently than I did :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 22:30, 11 July 2024 (UTC)

Closed clarification request on desysoppings

The clarification request that you initiated regarding desysopping has been closed and archived. Among the participating Arbitrators, there was a rough consensus that the requirement to "submit a new request for adminship" covers the elections process in addition to conventional RfAs, with no motion being proposed. However, some members were open to having an amendment to procedures following the elections trial's conclusion. For the Arbitration Committee, SilverLocust 💬 05:32, 12 July 2024 (UTC)

Question

Hi HouseBlaster,

I would like to request restoration of the three professional wrestler categories that were deleted at this discussion. I didn't notice that they were lumped in there too, but pro wrestlers aren't actually sportspeople, they're actors. This has caused a problem at Category:Professional wrestlers, where there are 19th and 21st century categories but no 20th century. This has also caused Category:Male professional wrestlers and Category:Female professional wrestlers to only have a 21st century category, meaning that all of the 20th-century pro wrestlers are no longer listed as male or female due to the bot removing the deleted gender-specific century categories. Thanks, ~WikiOriginal-9~ (talk) 08:07, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Reasonable objection; I will restore the category. HouseBlaster (he/they) 15:55, 13 July 2024 (UTC)
Thank you. I appreciate it. ~WikiOriginal-9~ (talk) 18:21, 13 July 2024 (UTC)
@WikiOriginal-9, technically, there is an element of sport to it. Someone from another sport can train to be a wrestler, but not all of them will be good at it. To say their not actual sportspeople is short sided and ignorant. A lot of wrestlers have transitioned from American/Canadian football (that being most of where wrestlers can from during the territory days and into the 1990s), MMA, gymnastics, etc.. Mr. C.C.Hey yo!I didn't do it! 01:33, 14 July 2024 (UTC)

Tech News: 2024-29

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Tech News survey

Recent changes

  • Advanced item Wikimedia developers can now officially continue to use both Gerrit and GitLab, due to a June 24 decision by the Wikimedia Foundation to support software development on both platforms. Gerrit and GitLab are both code repositories used by developers to write, review, and deploy the software code that supports the MediaWiki software that the wiki projects are built on, as well as the tools used by editors to create and improve content. This decision will safeguard the productivity of our developers and prevent problems in code review from affecting our users. More details are available in the Migration status page.
  • The Wikimedia Foundation seeks applicants for the Product and Technology Advisory Council (PTAC). This group will bring technical contributors and Wikimedia Foundation together to co-define a more resilient, future-proof technological platform. Council members will evaluate and consult on the movement's product and technical activities, so that we develop multi-generational projects. We are looking for a range of technical contributors across the globe, from a variety of Wikimedia projects. Please apply here by August 10.
  • Editors with rollback user-rights who use the Wikipedia App for Android can use the new Edit Patrol features. These features include a new feed of Recent Changes, related links such as Undo and Rollback, and the ability to create and save a personal library of user talk messages to use while patrolling. If your wiki wants to make these features available to users who do not have rollback rights but have reached a certain edit threshold, you can contact the team. You can read more about this project on Diff blog.
  • Editors who have access to The Wikipedia Library can once again use non-open access content in SpringerLinks, after the Foundation contacted them to restore access. You can read more about this and 21 other community-submitted tasks that were completed last week.

Changes later this week

Future changes

  • Advanced item Next week, functionaries, volunteers maintaining tools, and software development teams are invited to test the temporary accounts feature on testwiki. Temporary accounts is a feature that will help improve privacy on the wikis. No further temporary account deployments are scheduled yet. Please share your opinions and questions on the project talk page. [56]
  • Editors who upload files cross-wiki, or teach other people how to do so, may wish to join a Wikimedia Commons discussion. The Commons community is discussing limiting who can upload files through the cross-wiki upload/Upload dialog feature to users auto-confirmed on Wikimedia Commons. This is due to the large amount of copyright violations uploaded this way. There is a short summary at Commons:Cross-wiki upload and discussion at Commons:Village Pump.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe. You can also get other news from the Wikimedia Foundation Bulletin.

MediaWiki message delivery 01:28, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

Question from AMB Abdulhakim Ishaku Adam (19:48, 17 July 2024)

Hello, how do I create a citation --AMB Abdulhakim Ishaku Adam (talk) 19:48, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

@AMB Abdulhakim Ishaku Adam: excellent question. Are you using the source editor or the visual editor? HouseBlaster (he/they) 22:11, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

Question from Pitomadome (16:15, 17 July 2024)

Hey, nice to meet you! I read a lot of literature how to write article for Wikipedia right, and what I need for it. So will do it asap, and will keep fingers crossed :) --Pitomadome (talk) 16:15, 17 July 2024 (UTC)

@Pitomadome: Awesome. Let me know if you need any help! HouseBlaster (he/they) 22:07, 17 July 2024 (UTC)
Thank you! just finished working on the article and published it. So now my fingers is really crossed hh :) Pitomadome (talk) 00:51, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 63

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 63, May – June 2024

  • One new partner
  • 1Lib1Ref
  • Spotlight: References check

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team --12:16, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

ACP Writer's question

"However, with all due respect, you are not answering my questions: do you have a conflict of interest? Are you a paid editor? HouseBlaster (he/him) 00:48, 30 May 2024 (UTC)"

To answer your questions:

Do I have conflict of interest?

No, I believe I do not have any conflict of interest as I have no close affiliation with the company. I am not related, employed or invested in that company.

Am I a paid editor?

Yes, I work for a company which they hired to create a wiki article about them. Despite this, I told them specifically that wikipedia articles (based on my readings) are not something they can control as anyone may edit it.

As for changing the username I do not see any options offered to accomplish. Please see below a snip of my Preferences Page.

ACP Writer (talk) 12:08, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

(talk page stalker) Hi @ACP Writer: weirdly enough, you can't change your username through your preferences. See Wikipedia:Changing username for instructions. Cremastra (talk) 17:18, 20 June 2024 (UTC)
@ACP Writer: Thank you Cremastra explaining how to rename your account; their advice is correct. I will let you follow those directions before proceeding further, though I will note that being paid to edit is inherently a conflict of interest. HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:05, 21 June 2024 (UTC)
Purpose of Wikipedia:
"Wikipedia's purpose is to benefit readers by presenting information on all branches of knowledge. Hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, it consists of freely editable content, whose articles also have numerous links to guide readers towards more information."
If the purpose can be achieved with an article that was written, why should it matter if the person was paid or not to write it? Having such an article deleted even if it did conform with Wikipedia's purpose seems... wrong. So with you or anyone's help, I am hoping it is still possible to get it up there.
Anyway, I submitted the request for name change. ACP Writer (talk) 07:18, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

@ACP Writer: paid editors have a really hard time maintaining a neutral point of view. For instance, the draft article you created contained lines like Using the same booking platform, travelers receive the convenience of booking rail and bus tickets in conjunction with flights, making it easy for travelers to connect from one mode of transportation to another. This is too promotional: we don't describe things as convenient or easy.

Anyhow, while we are waiting for a rename, we need to make sure AccessRail qualifies for an article on Wikipedia. We call this "notability", which is a bit of a misnomer: it has absolutely nothing to do with "fame" or "importance", and everything to do with coverage it has received in reliable sources. You can read the guideline at Wikipedia:Notability (organizations and companies), and you should read the entirety of the "primary criteria" section. Once you have done so, please provide a list of three or four sources which demonstrate notability. HouseBlaster (he/they) 00:12, 28 June 2024 (UTC)

Hi HouseBlaster. I've modified the article taking out the adjectives you mentioned and eliminated the last paragraph mentioning benefits to other companies. What remains is what you see below, would you please see if it is better and may be acceptable for Wikipedia. Thanks.
AccesRail, a division of ACP Rail International, markets and distributes international travel through flights, trains and buses through major airline global distribution systems (GDS(), travel agents, airlines and online platforms.
This company created a platform that provides the travelers the option of booking rail, bus and flight tickets together in one place. [1]
AccesRail Historical events:
2014-01-21: AccesRail signs agreement with Trenitalia to makes its train tickets available on the sales platforms to major airlines of the world. [1]
2020-08-18: Railway tickets becomes available through Etihad Airways [9], [10]
... (more historical events) LFTSOS (talk) 15:51, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
@LFTSOS that is better, but you need to respond to the second paragraph of what I wrote before I can assist you further. HouseBlaster (he/they) 16:29, 11 July 2024 (UTC)
I have read the guideline regarding Notability (organizations and companies). It states that "A company, corporation, organization, group, product, or service is presumed notable if it has been the subject of significant coverage in multiple reliable secondary sources that are independent of the subject."
The sources I provided can be considered newspaper articles and no direct affiliation with AccesRail, so I qualify them as independent. According to the guide newspaper articles can be considered as both primary and secondary source. It seems that in order for an article to be considered as a secondary source they need to comment or provide some kind of analysis about the company. So, being neutral is out of the question. Some of them comments on AccesRail as a good thing for both clients and human transportation companies, That seems to be a comment or voiced opinion qualifying the article as a secondary source. LFTSOS (talk) 23:06, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
@LFTSOS: "Secondary source" is a non-Wikipedia term. Read our page about secondary sources for more information. Please summarize the difference between a primary source and a secondary source (you can learn either by reading Wikipedia's articles about the terms or by doing your own research) so I know you understand it. HouseBlaster (he/they) 23:16, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
I do not understand why you say that "Secondary source" is non-Wikipedia term, it is used so often in Wikipedia's guidelines. Please explain.
"Primary source" is when an information is originally introduced by a someone knowledgeable about the subject. Secondary source gives information about the Primary source which involves providing generalization, analysis, interpretation or evaluation of the original information.
The article needs to show "Notability" (based on Wikipedias's definition) to provide multiple reliable Secondary sources that are independent. Below, three sources which demonstrate notability.
1) Ethiopian enters partnership with AccessRail | Times Aerospace
Likely primary source: News release by Ethiopian Airlines or AccesRail
The article provides generalization and evaluation about Ethiopian Airlines strategy by partnering with AccesRail.
2) Press Release: TAP celebrates air-rail partnership in Europe -Runway Girl (runwaygirlnetwork.com)
Likely primary source: News release by TAP Air or AccesRail
The article interprets or generalize about how profitable this cooperation would be.
3) Aeroporti di Roma promote integrated train-air intramodality (internationalairportreview.com)
Likely primary source: News release by Aeroporti de Roma or AccesRail
Contains evaluation and generalization how the Intermodal product enriches Fiumicino airport by adding rail connections to italian cities. LFTSOS (talk) 07:19, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

@LFTSOS: I said it was a non-Wikipedia term because it was not defined by Wikipedia, even though we use the term in our policies.

Your definitions are correct, nicely done!

None of those sources contribute to notability. You are correct that they are secondary, but they do not contain significant coverage independent of AccesRail. "Significant" means two or three paragraphs of information about AccesRail. Source 1 has two paragraphs which mention AccesRail, but one of those sources is only quoting someone from AccesRail, does not meet the criteria because it is not significant coverage independent of the subject. Source 2 has one sentence about AccesRail as a company, and source 3 only has one sentence about AccesRail. If there are no such sources, in this case the answer is no and there is nothing you can do to resolve this. No amount of writing, editing, carefully arranging sources, etc. can overcome a lack of notability. HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:49, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

The praise is appreciated Sifu :)
Just writing some more for clarification. Source 1 has 4 paragraphs and AccesRail is actually mentioned in all of them. I understand that the 4th paragraph can be disqualified as independent of the subject because it is mostly a quote from VP of AccesRail. The 2nd paragraph is also a quote, but from the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. Do you consider what the CEO is saying as a primary source? Why doesn't the 1st paragraph count? Does the paragraph only count if it talking only about AccesRail?
The definition of "Significant coverage", based on Wikipedia's Notability Guideline: "addresses the topic directly and in detail, so that no original research is needed to extract the content. Significant coverage is more than a trivial mention, but it does not need to be the main topic of the source material." It does not mention anything about having a minimum number of paragraphs. LFTSOS (talk) 04:30, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

@LFTSOS: I'll start with the easy part: by two or three paragraphs, I mean two or three paragraphs worth of information about AccesRail. That amount of coverage is considered "significant". There are a bunch of asterisks, though. If there are no paragraph breaks in a source, that is fine as long as there is still significant coverage. If a source puts paragraph breaks after every sentence, we need more than two or three of those paragraphs. If there are five paragraphs but they are just rephrasing the same information, that is still not significant coverage. But most sources have paragraph breaks, and it takes two or three standard-length paragraphs to be considered significant coverage. The paragraph count is more of a lie to children which makes grasping the concept of significant coverage easier. (In this case, all three sources you presented had paragraph breaks so I opted to omit that detail.)

Thank you for pointing out that I misread source 1. Paragraph two is not independent because Ethiopian Airlines was working with AccesRail, and is thus not a third party. Paragraph 3 is not really about AccesRail, but about the benefits of the partnership provided to Ethiopian Airlines, and while it is implied that those benefits come from AccesRail's technology, the source does not make it clear what comes from AccesRail's technology and what comes from Ethiopian Airlines's technology. While we can make an educated guess, we are not allowed to use educated guesses on Wikipedia due to our strict policy against original research (that policy encompasses many things, not only going to a science lab and doing experiments yourself but also drawing conclusions from sources). Put differently: it contains coverage about the partnership, but not about AccesRail itself. Paragraph four is not independent, which leaves the single sentence in paragraph 1. Therefore, source 1 does not qualify as a source for notability purposes. And even if it did, we would need multiple sources to establish notability. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 04:56, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

CfD closure

Per Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2024_July_5#Sportspeople_and_century_categories, I would think that Category:20th-century professional wrestlers, Category:20th-century female professional wrestlers, and Category:20th-century male professional wrestlers would be deleted, but it seems like you disagreed. What am I missing? ―Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 07:50, 18 July 2024 (UTC)

And Category:21st-century male professional wrestlers, Category:21st-century professional wrestlers, and Category:21st-century female professional wrestlers. ―Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 23:35, 18 July 2024 (UTC)
@Koavf: Apologies, I thought I pinged you earlier. There was an objection on my talk page above (see § Question), noting that wrestlers are actors rather than sportspeople and that it caused a problem in Category:Professional wrestlers. I restored the categories because the discussion was already a bit of a WP:TRAINWRECK and the concerns were valid enough to merit a full discussion. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 02:56, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
Thanks. ―Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 08:12, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

Revising WP:SCOPING

HouseBlaster, I apologize for the previous edit. I came to your talk page to ask your thoughts on modifying my proposed policy. Instead of limiting only the nominator, what if we make the central focus the rate of article creation/nominations? This approach could help prevent issues caused by mass article creations that overload our backlog for page reviewers. It would spare editors from unnecessary headaches when they have to sift through extensive material from a single contributor. I believe editors who create thousands of articles rapidly overlook the workload they create for reviewers. Therefore, I think there should be restrictions in place.

Additionally, I'm interested to hear your opinion on the idea of allowing up to five concurrent nominations per contributor. This adjustment might be more practical and beneficial on a broader scale. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Cheers! 🂡🂡9t5 21:05, 21 July 2024 (UTC)

@9t5: The premise of WP:SCOPING is that people are misus[ing] Wikipedia's guideline on assuming good faith (WP:GOODFAITH) to justify the covert harassment of another editor, but that is simply not the case. If one cannot "prove" that they are being harassed by targeted nominations, AGF says we should assume that the nominations are not targeted. That is the very premise of AGF: you need to find evidence that someone is being malicious (in this case, that they are specifically targeting you). If you can't find such evidence, AGF is not being misused as justification – it is doing exactly what it is intended to do, cautioning against assuming malicious intent. Any cap on nominations also means that editors would be forced to check who created a page, which necessarily brings the focus onto contributors rather than content.

Lugnuts (the person who created 93,000 articles) was autopatrolled for most of the time he was creating articles, so his creations did not wind up in the queue. The autopatrolled permission is the way we deal with contributors who create massive amounts of good-quality articles. If people create lots of problematic articles, we can ban them from further creation. (In Lugnuts's case, before they were site banned, they were prohibited from creating articles below a certain size to force them to spend time on each creation.) We don't need to create "asshole John rules" to respond to problematic actions by editors; we need to block/ban editors who are problematic. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 00:22, 22 July 2024 (UTC)

The Signpost: 22 July 2024

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:30, 22 July 2024 (UTC)
Retrieved from "https://wiki.riteme.site/w/index.php?title=User_talk:HouseBlaster/Archive_6&oldid=1238815673"