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Tech News: 2022-07

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

  • Purging a category page with fewer than 5,000 members will now recount it completely. This will allow editors to fix incorrect counts when it is wrong. [1]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 15 February. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 16 February. It will be on all wikis from 17 February (calendar).
  • Advanced item In the AbuseFilter extension, the rmspecials() function has been updated so that it does not remove the "space" character. Wikis are advised to wrap all the uses of rmspecials() with rmwhitespace() wherever necessary to keep filters' behavior unchanged. You can use the search function on Special:AbuseFilter to locate its usage. [2]

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

19:17, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

WP:AFC Helper News

Hello! I wanted to drop a quick note for all of our AFC participants; nothing huge and fancy like a newsletter, but a few points of interest.

  • AFCH will now show live previews of the comment to be left on a decline.
  • The template {{db-afc-move}} has been created - this template is similar to {{db-move}} when there is a redirect in the way of an acceptance, but specifically tells the patrolling admin to let you (the draft reviewer) take care of the actual move.

Short and sweet, but there's always more to discuss at WT:AFC. Stop on by, maybe review a draft on the way? Whether you're one of our top reviewers, or haven't reviewed in a while, I want to thank you for helping out in the past and in the future. Cheers, Primefac, via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:00, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Sockpuppets on Buyeo and more

About Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Zessede, what is an editor supposed to do if new accounts and anonymous users keep making the same edits? I know you said to wait before continuing the investigation, but the page keeps being attacked in the meantime.

After Zessede, Accplc1213, and Aqww did it (as we discussed at the investigation page), this new anonymous user 220.95.101.209 just removed the references and material from Buyeo. The new ones from this week (Accplc1213, Aqww, 220.95.101.209) are ignoring the attempt to discuss this on Talk:Buyeo while continuing to push their Korean nationalist stance.

Am I supposed to keep moving the page back to its original version until this person get bored and stops? Several other editors were also undoing the new Korean nationalist accounts and anonymous users for the past year. I don't mean to sound frustrated, but there must be some other way than having to go back to check the newest account ignoring everyone else to remove the academic mainstream (Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, De Gruyter, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, Antiquity (journal), Asian Affairs, ...).

Thanks again for the help you have already given and any more advice that you might offer. MGetudiant (talk) 02:27, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

I guess Esiymbro just changed it back, so Buyeo is back to normal. But regard my question above as one on general procedure on how to handle the new accounts. Should I keep changing the page back to normal until there is enough evidence to restart the investigation? MGetudiant (talk) 02:36, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
@MGetudiant I'm semi-protected Buyeo which should give some relief. -- RoySmith (talk) 02:37, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
Thanks for answering me so quickly. What exactly does that mean? MGetudiant (talk) 02:38, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
To more specifically answer your question, reverting makes sense (even if it does get old pretty quickly). Once my page protection expires (in a month), keep an eye on that page. If problems persist, asking at WP:RFPP to have the protection extended will probably be a faster way to get a response than at SPI, which tends to be pretty slow. -- RoySmith (talk) 02:40, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
@MGetudiant My apologies for speaking in techno-jargon. There's several different levels of protection that can be applied to a page. The lowest is what we call "semi-protection", which means to edit the page, a user need to have 10 or more edits and the account was created more than 4 days previously. If problems persist, there's stronger measures we can take, but we try to apply the lowest level of protection which will stop disruption. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:22, 15 February 2022 (UTC)
I don't think the protection did much because Aqww and Zessede can still edit war on the page. Can you take a look at the article again?
After the protection, Aqww undid 3 other editors 6 times (isn't that edit warring?), while even using the same exact words as Zessede did: [3] [4]. Then Zessede returned to undo an editor and make the same edit as Aqww: [5]. Then another new account Q1A1Z did the same: [6].
Can I restore the page? Zessede/Aqww/Q1A1Z have not addressed any of the concerns on the talk page (Zessede and Q1A1Z did just comment on it, but without addressing anything substantial while still making their edits). MGetudiant (talk) 18:04, 21 February 2022 (UTC)
@MGetudiant Thanks for the note. There's been a lot more editing since I first look at this case, so I'll reopen it and take another look. -- RoySmith (talk) 18:49, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

Tech News: 2022-08

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

  • Special:Nuke will now provide the standard deletion reasons (editable at MediaWiki:Deletereason-dropdown) to use when mass-deleting pages. This was a request in the 2022 Community Wishlist Survey. [7]
  • At Wikipedias, all new accounts now get the Growth features by default when creating an account. Communities are encouraged to update their help resources. Previously, only 80% of new accounts would get the Growth features. A few Wikipedias remain unaffected by this change. [8]
  • You can now prevent specific images that are used in a page from appearing in other locations, such as within PagePreviews or Search results. This is done with the markup class=notpageimage. For example, [[File:Example.png|class=notpageimage]]. [9]
  • There has been a change to the HTML of Special:Contributions, Special:MergeHistory, and History pages, to support the grouping of changes by date in the mobile skin. While unlikely, this may affect gadgets and user scripts. A list of all the HTML changes is on Phabricator.

Events

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 22 February. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 23 February. It will be on all wikis from 24 February (calendar).

Future changes

  • The software to play videos and audio files on pages will change soon on all wikis. The old player will be removed. Some audio players will become wider after this change. The new player has been a beta feature for over four years. [10][11]
  • Toolforge's underlying operating system is being updated. If you maintain any tools there, there are two options for migrating your tools into the new system. There are details, deadlines, and instructions on Wikitech. [12]
  • Administrators will soon have the option to delete/undelete the associated "talk" page when they are deleting a given page. An API endpoint with this option will also be available. This was a request from the 2021 Wishlist Survey.

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

19:11, 21 February 2022 (UTC)

Feb 23: ONLINE WikiWednesday Salon NYC

February 23, 7pm: ONLINE WikiWednesday Salon NYC
Welcome to Wikimedia New York City!

You are invited to join the Wikimedia NYC community for our monthly "WikiWednesday" evening salon (7-8pm) and knowledge-sharing workshop. To join the meeting from your computer or smartphone, just visit this link. More information about how to connect is available on the meetup page.

We look forward to seeing local Wikimedians, but would also like to invite folks from the greater New York metropolitan area (and beyond!) who might not typically be able to join us in person!

If there's a project you'd like to share or a question you'd like answered, just let us know by adding it to the agenda or the talk page.

7:00pm - 8:00 pm online via Zoom (optional breakout rooms from 8:00-8:30)

(You can subscribe/unsubscribe from future notifications for NYC-area events by adding or removing your name from this list.)

--Wikimedia New York City Team 19:39, 22 February 2022 (UTC)

Precious anniversary

Precious
Two years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:52, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 February 2022

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:21, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

Asrtyon

You had warned Asrtyon for socking and with this edit he has proven that he is socking. He is not even replying your message here. I think indef block should be made on both accounts and the main account (Asrtyon) should be unblocked only if he promises to adhere to not just WP:SOCK but also WP:COMMUNICATE. Srijanx22 (talk) 07:13, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for your note. I've been keeping my eye on that one, but feel free to open a new SPI report if there's some significant change in activity. -- RoySmith (talk) 15:49, 27 February 2022 (UTC)
Not sure how SPI will help because checkuser was already done and there is no doubt if they are not same person. See their very recent activity here. Srijanx22 (talk) 18:45, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Tech News: 2022-09

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

  • When searching for edits by change tags, e.g. in page history or user contributions, there is now a dropdown list of possible tags. This was a request in the 2022 Community Wishlist Survey. [13]
  • Mentors using the Growth Mentor dashboard will now see newcomers assigned to them who have made at least one edit, up to 200 edits. Previously, all newcomers assigned to the mentor were visible on the dashboard, even ones without any edit or ones who made hundred of edits. Mentors can still change these values using the filters on their dashboard. Also, the last choice of filters will now be saved. [14][15]
  • The user group oversight was renamed suppress. This is for technical reasons. You may need to update any local references to the old name, e.g. gadgets, links to Special:Listusers, or uses of NUMBERINGROUP.

Problems

  • The recent change to the HTML of tracking changes pages caused some problems for screenreaders. This is being fixed. [16]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 1 March. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 2 March. It will be on all wikis from 3 March (calendar).

Future changes

  • Working with templates will become easier. Several improvements are planned for March 9 on most wikis and on March 16 on English Wikipedia. The improvements include: Bracket matching, syntax highlighting colors, finding and inserting templates, and related visual editor features.
  • If you are a template developer or an interface administrator, and you are intentionally overriding or using the default CSS styles of user feedback boxes (the classes: successbox, messagebox, errorbox, warningbox), please note that these classes and associated CSS will soon be removed from MediaWiki core. This is to prevent problems when the same class-names are also used on a wiki. Please let us know by commenting at phab:T300314 if you think you might be affected.

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

22:58, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Likely sockpuppets

Hi, regarding the Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Zdnf I strongly oppose your withholding of check user as this editor has a long history of using multiple sockpuppets so there is every chance there are unknown live sockpuppets and sleeper accounts. I would also request you discuss this checkuser request with other more experienced checkuser admins, regards Atlantic306 (talk) 23:05, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

@Atlantic306 Everything in the case is long stale; there's no data to compare to. -- RoySmith (talk) 23:41, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
Ok, so the ip data from 2017 is not available ? Atlantic306 (talk) 23:45, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
Correct. Data is only kept in the CU system for 90 days, then it disappears. It is possible to manually preserve information for future reference beyond 90 days; if you see people talking about "notes in cuwiki", that's what they're talking about. But, in this case, no such notes exist. -- RoySmith (talk) 23:49, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
Thanks for the info, perhaps there should be a change to require all info to be kept permanently either automatically or manually. I'm pretty sure that some clerks are very scrupulous about keeping notes but unfortunately they weren't involved in the 2017 case, regards Atlantic306 (talk) 23:53, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
I'm totally with you about wanting better preserving of data. The 90 day expiration window is due to WMF privacy policy, driven by legal requirements. The notes in cuwiki help, but they require CUs to manually upload the data, so it doesn't happen nearly as often as one might hope. -- RoySmith (talk) 00:03, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – March 2022

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2022).

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

Arbitration

Miscellaneous

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:47, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Jorg De Pelecijn

Heyo, I came across a few editors doing the same thing as each-other with similar names and when visiting their talk page I came across your message linking to this Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Jorg De Pelecijn. Just a heads up two of the accounts that I can see are active again. This time with cycling Honors and refs. The users are User:Jorg De Pelecijn and User:Dplcnjrg. Paulpat99 (talk) 10:23, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for the note, I'll take a look. -- RoySmith (talk) 15:24, 2 March 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for the flag.

Some IP vandal dropped this on my talk page recently, presumably thinking I would be offended or something. I was offended by some of the other things, but not this, so I've decided to keep it.

-- RoySmith (talk) 02:45, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Tech News: 2022-10

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

Problems

  • There was a problem with some interface labels last week. It will be fixed this week. This change was part of ongoing work to simplify the support for skins which do not have active maintainers. [17]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 8 March. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 9 March. It will be on all wikis from 10 March (calendar).

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

21:15, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Two masters

Hi Roy, this is a bit novel for me. I've blocked and tagged Biu12 as a suspected sock of ZestyLemonZ and of 2021biu. The master and sock in the latter are both stale, although there should be CU log data. You recently ran a check in the ZLZ case and didn't uncover Biu12, so I'm dubious. Could you look into it? Thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 01:36, 9 March 2022 (UTC)

@Bbb23 Hmmm, not sure what to say there. From the CU data alone, I'd have to say that Biu12 is just barely possible to Zesty; same very wide IP range but that's about it. I would say the same thing about how Biu12 is related to 2021biu except of course the user name similarity is pretty obvious. -- RoySmith (talk) 02:20, 9 March 2022 (UTC)
Not just the name similarity, but they both edited Draft:Ellington Primary School. Seems unlikely that it's coincidence, and I assume you don't have UA information for the stale accounts. I'll remove the ZLZ tag and leave the more obvious one. Thanks for helping out.--Bbb23 (talk) 03:18, 9 March 2022 (UTC)

March 2022

Information icon Hello and welcome to Wikipedia. When you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, such as at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case, (but never when editing articles), please be sure to sign your posts. There are two ways to do this. Either:

  1. Add four tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment, or
  2. With the cursor positioned at the end of your comment, click on the signature button located above the edit window.

This will automatically insert a signature with your username or IP address and the time you posted the comment. This information is necessary to allow other editors to easily see who wrote what and when.

Thank you. --Jax 0677 (talk) 01:00, 10 March 2022 (UTC)

Oh, is that how that works? Good to know, thanks. -- RoySmith (talk) 01:17, 10 March 2022 (UTC)
Did I do it right?

The request you made here

Thanks, RoySmith! I'll check out your entry on the CU wiki and let you know what I think... :-) ~Oshwah~(talk) (contribs) 10:42, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

Sockpuppet

RoySmith Sir , Bbb23 Sir

It's very big network, little attention to here Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Planet Marathi OTT. Everyone who comes here is this Same group people. Right now one id has been active two years later Cinzia007 (talk) 09:07, 9 March 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for your note. I'll keep an eye on it. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:36, 9 March 2022 (UTC)

Right now Mz7 Sir Caught a small group Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/720vikas. Cinzia007 (talk) 10:25, 10 March 2022 (UTC)

Sir, It's both are also same group, attention to these people too

This group has made a lot of articles

All Paid Article

Hi @Cinzia007 I really do appreciate the information, but could you please file these at SPI through the normal channels? Thanks. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:58, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

Sir Tell me process I will make, I have just got to know about wikipedia till 50% 😁 Cinzia007 (talk) 15:03, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

On Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations, see the box where it says, "How to open an investigation". Thanks. -- RoySmith (talk) 15:05, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

Okay Sir I will do that but I will take little time 😁 Cinzia007 (talk) 15:08, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

Sir, Block this one, you have not blocked it yet. Natasshag. Article Asees Kaur ( Original - [28] Archive - [29] Cinzia007 (talk) 15:09, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

My recent edit

Hi Roy, should I open another SPI for the next suspect, is that the best option? HighKing++ 15:24, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

Yeah, if you could just file a new report, that would be the best. Thanks. -- RoySmith (talk) 15:28, 11 March 2022 (UTC)
Taking a closer look, I'm wrong about that one so no need, thanks. HighKing++ 15:29, 11 March 2022 (UTC)
We've got plenty of other cases to work on, so one less isn't going to be a problem :-) -- RoySmith (talk) 15:32, 11 March 2022 (UTC)

Colemanhull

Socks have now migrated to History of Boston (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views). FDW777 (talk) 13:20, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

OK, protected that too, and blocked the /27. If any more pop up, could you file them at the SPI page? That makes it easier to process. Thanks. -- RoySmith (talk) 13:55, 14 March 2022 (UTC)
That's fine, thank you. Just as the previous result was just semi-protecting Boston, wasn't sure if all the paperwork needed filling in or not. FDW777 (talk) 14:27, 14 March 2022 (UTC)
The big advantage of reporting it at SPI is that we then get a permanent record in the archives, which comes in handy during future investigations. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:29, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Paragraph-Based Edit Conflict Interface

It appears that about five days ago, you filed a complaint about a useless error message on an edit conflict, that is, a race condition. I encountered what was evidently the same useless message, and clicked on the same link, and was taken to the same page. The documentation says that the message is disabled for talk pages, and that another version will be available for talk pages later this year. I think that the problem is that the message is disabled for pages in talk namespaces, but not for project pages that are used as talk pages. I got the message at the Teahouse. So I agree that the only useful response is to copy what one has typed, paste it to Notepad or Wordpad, abort the edit, and try again. And, yes, you will get the stupid reminder that you are about to leave the page. So the problem is that they know that the way the race condition is handled is useless on talk pages, but it doesn't know that a project page is a talk page. Robert McClenon (talk) 15:08, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Brad Watson, Miami

He's been active recently. 2601:583:681:8430:d5e7:c08c:d07a:573c (talk · contribs) but also see the history of Talk:Seven Seals. What I'm not sure about is whether to add some IPs to Wikipedia:Long-term abuse/Brad Watson, Miami. @GeneralNotability: you've been involved also, what do you think? Doug Weller talk 16:37, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Sorry, I've pinged both of you at Dennis Brown's page where he and Bish are discussing this. And in the last little while, 50.253.143.113 (talk · contribs). Doug Weller talk 17:22, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Tech News: 2022-11

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

  • In the Wikipedia Android app it is now possible to change the toolbar at the bottom so the tools you use more often are easier to click on. The app now also has a focused reading mode. [30][31]

Problems

  • There was a problem with the collection of some page-view data from June 2021 to January 2022 on all wikis. This means the statistics are incomplete. To help calculate which projects and regions were most affected, relevant datasets are being retained for 30 extra days. You can read more on Meta-wiki.
  • There was a problem with the databases on March 10. All wikis were unreachable for logged-in users for 12 minutes. Logged-out users could read pages but could not edit or access uncached content then. [32]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 15 March. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 16 March. It will be on all wikis from 17 March (calendar).
  • When using uselang=qqx to find localisation messages, it will now show all possible message keys for navigation tabs such as "View history". [33]
  • Access to Special:RevisionDelete has been expanded to include users who have deletelogentry and deletedhistory rights through their group memberships. Before, only those with the deleterevision right could access this special page. [34]
  • On the Special:Undelete pages for diffs and revisions, there will be a link back to the main Undelete page with the list of revisions. [35]

Future changes

Events

  • The Wikimedia Hackathon 2022 will take place as a hybrid event on 20-22 May 2022. The Hackathon will be held online and there are grants available to support local in-person meetups around the world. Grants can be requested until 20 March.

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

22:06, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Possible sockfarm back again

Sir, it is in relation to this LTA case at ANI. Looks like it is back in this specific article, though it claims to revert the edits done by this very specific LTA, I suspect it is a case of misleading to and fro (good hand bad hand) edits and reverts as demonstrated by the various IPs and puppets of the sockfarm. This very IP engaged in it before [37], [38], [39], ultimately settling in with a version it reverted claiming to be from the LTA [40] and also claims to have discussed that in the talk page but apparently not [41]. This IP is from central Asia but judging by it large range [42], I believe it may be them. Since the case started at ANI with a concern about the protection of this particular article, I thought of notifying you/continuing here. Thanks. - Fylindfotberserk (talk) 08:20, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

Please file a report at SPI, thanks. -- RoySmith (talk) 13:39, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

Mar 27: Wiki-Tent Brunch in Brooklyn

March 27, 11am-2pm: Wiki-Tent Brunch in Brooklyn
Wiki-Tent Brunch location, Sahadi’s – Courtyard 3/4 in Industry City.

You are invited to join us for a planned outdoor gathering between the local Wikimedia NYC community and visitors from the global Wikimedia Foundation at Sahadi's tent in Brooklyn's Industry City.

All attendees are subject to Wikimedia NYC's Code of Conduct. In addition, to participate in person you should be vaccinated and also be sure to respect others' personal space, and we may limit overall attendance size if appropriate.

11:00am - 2:00 pm
(Industry City, Brooklyn)

(You can subscribe/unsubscribe from future notifications for NYC-area events by adding or removing your name from this list.)

--Wikimedia New York City Team 04:14, 18 March 2022 (UTC)

Another Raxythecat sock

SkyeriseLies (talk · contribs · deleted contribs · nuke contribs · logs · filter log · block user · block log). Skyerise (talk) 16:37, 18 March 2022 (UTC)

Tech News: 2022-12

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

New code release schedule for this week

  • There will be four MediaWiki releases this week, instead of just one. This is an experiment which should lead to fewer problems and to faster feature updates. The releases will be on all wikis, at different times, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. You can read more about this project.

Recent changes

Future changes

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

16:00, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/AnonymousIndiaz

I have filed a new SPI with evidences. 112.79.72.43 (talk) 17:48, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

WikiWednesday tonight + Sunday Wiki-Tent Brunch

Online and in-person events

You are invited to join us for:

(You can subscribe/unsubscribe from future notifications for NYC-area events by adding or removing your name from this list.)

--Wikimedia New York City Team 13:24, 23 March 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Prespa78

Hello Roy. Regarding your decision in Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Prespa78, maybe i am wrong, but the way i see it User:Prespa78 violated WP:ILLEGIT. He/She obviously didn't forget his/her password, because as aforementioned, just minutes prior of creating the new account he/she thanked me for my revert with the former account. It appears that he/she logged out to create a new account, in order to avoid scrutiny; a quick review of the new account's edits, shows that without exception, they are all disruptive and with a nationalist overtone. He/She is clearly not here to build an encyclopedia. This is also a misuse of a clean start. I know you used Template:Nto; if you can provide some additional explanation i would appreciate it. Again, maybe i have misunderstood something, and that's ok; honestly, i am trying to understand the relevant policies and guidelines better. Demetrios1993 (talk) 15:36, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for your note. You are certainly correct that creating a new account isn't a free pass to continue to be disruptive. In this case, it's certainly possible, but it wasn't clear enough to me. The general rule is, "if in doubt, don't block". If they're really a sock, it'll become obvious soon enough and we can always go back and take another look if problems persist. And, if an account is being disruptive, there's certainly nothing that prevents an admin from blocking them on that basis regardless of the outcome of a SPI. -- RoySmith (talk) 15:50, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
Thanks for the additional explanation; i appreciate your time. By the way, User:Arion Murati (new account) continued with the disruptive editing today (new account's contributions). This includes the article George Tenet, that was vandalized by User:Prespa78 (former original account); this is obviously the same user. Even though an essay, isn't WP:DUCK relevant in this case? Demetrios1993 (talk) 16:29, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
OK, I'll take a look at Arion. Could I ask that you file a new SPI; that makes it easier to process, thanks. -- RoySmith (talk) 16:32, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
Oh, never mind, I'll just reopen the existing one. -- RoySmith (talk) 16:33, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
Well, I took another look. I'm afraid I see this as a content dispute about whether Tenet is Greek or Albanian. From looking at Talk:George Tenet#Ethnic roots of George Tenet, it appears this isn't the first time this debate has come up. I don't see that it quite rises to the level of vandalism. The best I can suggest is try to engage with them and other editors on the talk page and work towards consensus. WP:3O may be of some value. -- RoySmith (talk) 16:43, 25 March 2022 (UTC)

But there was consensus in the aforementioned thread, and the content is after all referenced. On the other hand, User:Prespa78/User:Arion Murati has been disrupting the article by removing referenced content and adding WP:OR with an edit war approach. Isn't this vandalism? He/She has already been warned by three different editors (User:LouisAragon, User:M.Bitton, and myself), yet continues with the same mentality. Demetrios1993 (talk) 19:14, 25 March 2022 (UTC)

I just ran my own checks and I agree with Amanda's "possible" finding. As I said earlier, they may indeed be the same person but I'm not seeing enough to convince me that's the case. I don't have a crystal ball, all I can do is go by my best judgement. I'm sorry, but I don't have anything better I can give you. Perhaps somebody at WP:RFPP would be willing to apply page protection. -- RoySmith (talk) 20:00, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
It's ok Roy; i understand. Your approach of requiring certainty before enforcing any particular sanction is reasonable. Thank you once again for your time. Demetrios1993 (talk) 20:10, 25 March 2022 (UTC)

ANI closure

Thank you, Roy. Yellow card accepted and, as you say, 'nuff said. All the best. No Great Shaker (talk) 10:13, 26 March 2022 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 March 2022

  • Eyewitness Wikimedian, Vinnytsia, Ukraine: War diary
* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 20:51, 27 March 2022 (UTC)

Tech News: 2022-13

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

  • There is a simple new Wikimedia Commons upload tool available for macOS users, Sunflower.

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 29 March. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 30 March. It will be on all wikis from 31 March (calendar).
  • Some wikis will be in read-only for a few minutes because of regular database maintenance. It will be performed on 29 March at 7:00 UTC (targeted wikis) and on 31 March at 7:00 UTC (targeted wikis). [46][47]

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

19:53, 28 March 2022 (UTC)

Sleepers of Nittin Das

Another way (I believe) to spot a sleeper account of Nittin Das is to see which accounts revert specific reverts of one of their sock's edits to Nepalese Civil War and Deobandi. See my recent contributions to Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Nittin Das for more details. CentreLeftRight ✉ 05:43, 31 March 2022 (UTC)


SPI

Hi RoySmith, it's interesting that they accused me of being a ScrupulousScribe. Please can you unarchive SPI reports on editors involved in this one year old dispute between Thucydides411 and Atsme [48]? I have long believed there is MEAT connection between editors involved in CCP topics, and I now suspect Xoltered is similarly involved. I can share evidence with you by email. CutePeach (talk) 17:23, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

I'm not sure I followed all that, but sure, you can email me using this link. -- RoySmith (talk) 17:25, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

Requested proxy edits by an IP you blocked

Hi, Roy. Since you blocked [[User talk:|User:107.122.97.14]], I thought I'd let you know that they contacted me on the Commons and one Wikiquote to ask me to make an edit for them on Wikipedia. I didn't understand why they contacted me on projects other than the one on which they wanted my help, especially since I've never used Wikiquote, but then I thought to do some checking, and I see that they were blocked. I thought I'd let you know. Nightscream (talk) 16:55, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

OK, thanks. -- RoySmith (talk) 20:10, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

User:Stacha Mirković

Hello, Roy,

This editor's User page is tagged for cross-wiki abuse but he's not locally or globally blocked so I was hoping you could check on this editor. Thanks! Liz Read! Talk! 03:33, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

Looks like it's been taken care of already. -- RoySmith (talk) 14:26, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

LTA sock using VPN

Hi! I have just reverted a suspected sock edit based on very obvious evidence[49]. It might be worth looking depper into the connection between the VPN and the dynamic home IP of the LTA. If you don't think this is exposing too much IP-related (thus privacy-related) matter, I will bring it to the LTA's SPI page. I could imagine that some of the recent unsuccesful CU's of otherwise obvious ducks might be linked to this VPN. –Austronesier (talk) 19:33, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

I'm not following how you know they're on a VPN. In any case, my generic answer is, "If you think there's socking going on, the best thing to do is file an SPI report". -- RoySmith (talk) 19:37, 4 April 2022 (UTC)
Well, the Proxy Checker at the bottom of the IP contribution page has a Green tickY at "Proxy" and "VPN". Dunno how reliable that is. And thanks for the second part. Albeit "generic", it gives me clear guidance :) –Austronesier (talk) 20:08, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

Tech News: 2022-14

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

Problems

  • For a few days last week, edits that were suggested to newcomers were not tagged in the Special:RecentChanges feed. This bug has been fixed. [50]

Changes later this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 5 April. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 6 April. It will be on all wikis from 7 April (calendar).
  • Some wikis will be in read-only for a few minutes because of a switch of their main database. It will be performed on 7 April at 7:00 UTC (targeted wikis).

Future changes

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

21:00, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

Dusty8686

pls look at my new report; currently trying to game AC as we speak. wizzito | say hello! 22:44, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

edited Taipei 101 and just got reverted. ECP might be needed; but I requested earlier today and got declined. wizzito | say hello! 22:45, 4 April 2022 (UTC)
has been ECP'd. wizzito | say hello! 22:51, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

post script

PS: I meant misclick with the reasoning. —usernamekiran (talk) 20:32, 5 April 2022 (UTC)

User:Zoe3572's NOTHERE block

The user pinged me (and numerous other admins) regarding their block and while that itself made me skeptical of any claim they would have, a quick check shows that the user was engaged in the grunt work of replacing dead reflinks in National Film Awards articles with new and legitimate links. The new links I spot-checked are to documents (eg) on the website of the Government of India body that issues the awards, so there are no spamming concerns either. Am I missing something (possible since I don't edit in this exact area)? Abecedare (talk) 20:48, 5 April 2022 (UTC)

An account created 15 years ago with not a single edit until last week suddenly wakes up, starts editing like crazy (on two different wikis), and files an SPI report? If this isn't a sock/UPE, I'll eat my mop. -- RoySmith (talk) 21:00, 5 April 2022 (UTC)
I just saw the deleted SPI and looking into it, it becomes quite obvious that these are sock-on-sock battles. No issue with the block. Thanks. Abecedare (talk) 21:06, 5 April 2022 (UTC)
@Abecedare: I just found out that they had responded (a few hours ago) to my comment on mrwiki in a very impolite way. Their activity is definitely fishy. —usernamekiran (talk) 21:21, 5 April 2022 (UTC)
Unsurprising. This has reached the I-stage of WP:RBI; not discussing it further since that will only give them more clues on avoiding detection with their next account.<sigh> Abecedare (talk) 21:38, 5 April 2022 (UTC)
And it's not even Friday. --Deepfriedokra (talk) 08:11, 6 April 2022 (UTC)
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