User talk:UninvitedCompany/archive23

Technical news

• Starting on December 13, the Wikimedia Foundation security team implemented new password policy and requirements. Privileged accounts (administrators, bureaucrats, checkusers, oversighters, interface administrators, bots, edit filter managers/helpers, template editors, et al.) must have a password at least 10 characters in length. All accounts must have a password:

1. At least 8 characters in length
2. Not in the 100,000 most popular passwords (defined by the Password Blacklist library)
3. Different from their username

User accounts not meeting these requirements will be prompted to update their password accordingly. More information is available on MediaWiki.org.

• Blocked administrators may now block the administrator that blocked them. This was done to mitigate the possibility that a compromised administrator account would block all other active administrators, complementing the removal of the ability to unblock oneself outside of self-imposed blocks. A request for comment is currently in progress to determine whether the blocking policy should be updated regarding this change.
• {{
  RevDel
  checkboxes already filled in.

Arbitration

• Following the 2018 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: AGK, Courcelles, GorillaWarfare, Joe Roe, Mkdw, SilkTork.

Miscellaneous

• Accounts continue to be compromised on a regular basis. Evidence shows this is entirely due to the accounts having the same password that was used on another website that suffered a data breach. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately.
• Around 22% of admins have enabled
  doing so. Regardless of whether you use 2FA, please practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure
  and unique to Wikimedia.

Just wanted to say thanks for the note on my talk page with information for returning administrators. My time available to contribute is limited these days, but I'll definitely check out the links and set up Huggle.  – Jrdioko (Talk) 23:26, 12 January 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2019).

Administrator changes

Enterprisey • JJMC89

BorgQueen

Harro5 • Jenks24 • Graft • R. Baley

Interface administrator changes

Enterprisey

Guideline and policy news

• A
  activity requirements
  for administrators.
• Administrators who are blocked have the technical ability to block the administrator who blocked their own account. A recent request for comment has amended the blocking policy to clarify that this ability should only be used in exceptional circumstances, such as account compromises, where there is a clear and immediate need.
• A request for comment closed with a consensus in favor of deprecating The Sun as a permissible reference, and creating an edit filter to warn users who attempt to cite it.

Technical news

• A
  WP:PERM
  , where historical records are kept so that prior requests can more easily be searched for.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2019 Steward elections will begin on 08 February 2019, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 28 February 2019, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• A new IRC bot is available that allows you to subscribe to notifications when specific filters are tripped. This requires that your IRC handle be identified.

I was looking at Coren's nomination for BAG and came across this which struck me as rather odd. Enigma^msg 07:11, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

There are a number of editors with similar histories. I have a proposal to deal with it around here somewhere, but I'm not sure I like it, or that it's a good idea. UninvitedCompany 22:18, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Last admin action in August 2013. That must be a pretty unique case. Enigma^msg 22:33, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

It's not, there are probably dozens, especially if you exclude admin actions in the admin's own userspace or things they self-revert, and similar stuff. UninvitedCompany 22:35, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Wow. I am sad to hear that. Enigma^msg 02:25, 7 February 2019 (UTC)

Hi UninvitedCompany -- I wish we could move the discussion more towards what might help a mostly retired admin come back and contribute productively again. As I've written in the RfA, the bot-delivered warnings feel unfriendly. I think the wording should take into account the fact that some people are likely to be in the middle of extremely difficult situations, such as serious illness or the death or serious illness of spouse/close relatives. (I had a good laugh the other day when I correlated the date mine arrived with the events in my diary.) I applaud your personalised messages, but earlier similarly personalised messages might be more effective?

For what (little) it's worth, what got me back after a protracted very stressful period in my personal life appears to have been the portal I'd worked on, which provided a very safe space for borderline positive contributions, reconnected me with friends in the wikiproject, got me reassessing articles for the project, and then clicking on 'my' articles and being horrified at the changes that had occurred in my absence. It took some time (~2 months) for me to use the admin tools but the fact that I had (largely accidentally) succeeded in retaining the admin rights probably was a factor in my return -- I felt a duty to Wikipedia that I would not have done if the rights had been removed. Cheers, Espresso Addict (talk) 03:52, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

I saw your request at

Thanks. UninvitedCompany 00:38, 1 March 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2019).

Administrator changes Evad37 There'sNoTime Alex Shih • Brian • Mushroom • Nakon • Oscarthecat • PeruvianLlama • Ragib • Reaper Eternal • Rossami • Tom Interface administrator changes Evad37 • Galobtter Ritchie333

CheckUser changes There'sNoTime Keegan • Ks0stm Oversight changes There'sNoTime Ks0stm • Sphilbrick

Guideline and policy news

• The RfC on administrator activity requirements failed to reach consensus for any proposal.
• Following discussions at the Bureaucrats' noticeboard and Wikipedia talk:Administrators, an earlier change to the restoration of adminship policy was reverted. If requested, bureaucrats will not restore administrator permissions removed due to inactivity if there have been five years without a logged administrator action; this "five year rule" does not apply to permissions removed voluntarily.

Technical news

• A new tool is available to help determine if a given IP is an open proxy/VPN/webhost/compromised host.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee announced
  WP:SPI
  ).
  • paid-en-wpwikipedia.org has been set up to receive private evidence related to abusive
    paid editing
    .
  • checkuser-en-wpwikipedia.org has been set up to receive private requests for CheckUser. For instance, requests for IP block exemption for anonymous proxy editing should now be sent to this address instead of the functionaries-en list.

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2019 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Base, Einsbor, Jon Kolbert, Schniggendiller, and Wim b.

Howdy. Why would you restore vandalism, at the Racism in Brazil article? Gonna guess, it was a mistake. GoodDay (talk) 20:53, 10 March 2019 (UTC)

@GoodDay: Thanks for the note. I use Huggle, and one of the drawbacks of that tool is that if you use it to revert a change within a few seconds of someone else's revert, it will revert the topmost change thus restoring the problematic edit. I am sure that's what happened here as the logs show another revert at the same time (rounded to the minute) as my edit. After a Huggle session, I go through my own recent contributions manually to check for these sorts of mistakes. Obviously I missed one. I do strive for 100% accuracy and thank you for your note. UninvitedCompany 02:00, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

Cool :) GoodDay (talk) 02:19, 11 March 2019 (UTC)

You recently moved

Good catch. I'll take care of it. UninvitedCompany 17:13, 15 March 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2019).

Administrator changes Reaper Eternal • ThaddeusB Bogdangiusca • Christopher Parham • Necrothesp • Schneelocke • Siroxo • Sarah Mentifisto → Lofty abyss Interface administrator changes Mr. Stradivarius

Bureaucrat changes DeltaQuad Kingturtle

Technical news

• In Special:Preferences under "Appearance" → "Advanced options", there is now an option to show a confirmation prompt when clicking on a rollback link.
• The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Please see meta:Community health initiative/User reporting system consultation 2019 to provide your input on this idea.

Arbitration

• The Arbitration Committee
  ARBPIA 1RR editnotice
  }} edit notice.

Miscellaneous

• Two more administrator accounts were compromised. Evidence has shown that these attacks, like previous incidents, were due to reusing a password that was used on another website that suffered a data breach. If you have ever used your current password on any other website, you should change it immediately. All admins are strongly encouraged to enable
  two-factor authentication, please consider doing so. Please always practice appropriate account security by ensuring your password is secure
  and unique to Wikimedia.
• As a reminder, according to
  proposed deletion
  (PROD) prior to determining whether it should be relisted.

I've opened a bureaucrat chat for a current RfA. Your input would be most appreciated at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/RexxS/Bureaucrat chat. Best regards, Maxim_(talk) 22:08, 8 April 2019 (UTC)

Administrators must secure their accounts The Arbitration Committee may require a new RfA if your account is compromised. Use strong, unique passwords for your Wikipedia account and associated email Change your password now if your Wikipedia account password or email password is reused on another website, exposed, or weak Enable two-factor authentication now for improved security

View additional information

This message was sent to all administrators following a recent motion. Thank you for your attention. For the Arbitration Committee, Cameron11598 02:53, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

ArbCom would like to apologise and correct our previous mass message in light of the response from the community.

Since November 2018, six administrator accounts have been compromised and temporarily desysopped. In an effort to help improve account security, our intention was to remind administrators of existing policies on account security — that they are

We are sorry for the wording of our previous message, which did not accurately convey this, and deeply regret the tone in which it was delivered.

For the Arbitration Committee, -Cameron11598 21:04, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2019).

Administrator changes HickoryOughtShirt?4 • RexxS Necrothesp Bratsche • Kyle Barbour • Kzollman • Madman Interface administrator changes Pharos

Bureaucrat changes Primefac CheckUser changes Reaper Eternal

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment concluded that creating pages in the portal namespace should be restricted to autoconfirmed users.
• Following a
  WP:GNG
  .

Technical news

• XTools Admin Stats, a tool to list admins by administrative actions, has been revamped to support more types of log entries such as AbuseFilter changes. Two additional tools have been integrated into it as well: Steward Stats and Patroller Stats.

Arbitration

• In response to the continuing compromise of administrator accounts, the Arbitration Committee
  procedures for return of permissions (diff
  ). In such cases, the committee will review all available information to determine whether the administrator followed "appropriate personal security practices" before restoring permissions; administrators found failing to have adequately done so will not be resysopped automatically. All current administrators have been notified of this change.
• Following a
  arbitration policy has been amended (diff
  ). Specifically, the two-thirds majority required to remove or suspend an arbitrator now excludes (1) the arbitrator facing suspension or removal, and (2) any inactive arbitrator who does not respond within 30 days to attempts to solicit their feedback on the resolution through all known methods of communication.

Miscellaneous

• A request for comment is currently open to amend the community sanctions procedure to exclude non XfD or CSD deletions.
• A proposal to remove pre-2009 indefinite IP blocks is currently open for discussion.

It seems like it is dead but for the record, I support your efforts to effect some kind of change. I find it to be a real problem that we have so many admins who haven't engaged in the project or used the tools in years. The reason for having the tools is to use them, not to just keep them for an infinite period with no intent of doing anything. Enigma^msg 18:11, 16 May 2019 (UTC)

Thank you for your interest in the account creation process. I have verified that you have signed the confidentiality agreement for nonpublic information and approved your request.

You may now access the interface here. Before you begin handling any requests, please ensure you have read and understood the account creation guide and username policy to familiarize yourself with the process.

Please subscribe yourself to the private ACC mailing list by clicking here and following the instructions on the page. I also highly recommend that you join us on

Releasing any kind of nonpublic personal data listed in the access to nonpublic personal data policy (such as the IP addresses or email addresses of account creation requests), whether intentionally or unintentionally, is treated as an extremely serious violation of policy and will generally result in immediate suspension of your access to the ACC tool interface. Depending on the severity of the offense, the intent, and the level of misconduct that occurred, the violation and the breach of the confidential information will be reported to the Wikimedia Foundation, which can result in further sanctions and actions being taken against you (such as being blocked, banned, or having your access to nonpublic personal data status revoked). If you have questions about this or aren't sure about anything in regards to this policy, please ask a tool administrator.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any ACC tool administrator or other experienced ACC user if you have any questions. Thank you for participating in the account creation process, and we're glad to have you as part of the group! Welcome to the ACC tool user team! — JJMC89 (T·C) 14:04, 22 May 2019 (UTC)

Just wanted to drop a note to thank you for trying to find a way forward for that deadlocked situation, and to apologize for the sheer volume of text in a single day there. You opened the thread just as I was leaving for a trip, and by the time I was back online there was rather a lot to respond to (and three days worth of mulling it over). If I could have made it briefer I would, but I'm terrible at brevity, so my apologies for that! (I'll try to keep any needed responses briefer, but, again, not good at brevity)

In any case, I think letting that situation keep festering as it had been would be a perfect path to a lose—lose situation for all involved and for the project as a whole, and very much appreciate you trying to nudge it into some kind of constructive forward motion. Whatever the conclusion, so long as there is some kind of conclusion, has got to be better than the status quo. --Xover (talk) 16:01, 1 June 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for the note. I felt an obligation to try to move the conversation forward after removing the "unblock" template. UninvitedCompany 13:10, 2 June 2019 (UTC)

Hi UninvitedCompany, may I kindly ask you to revert your closure at User_talk:Citation_bot. I understand you'd like to clear a backlog, however in this instance the unblock request has not been done by a blocked user. If you are familiar with bot accounts, they are maintained by maintainers. Here, the unblock request was filed (barely 48 hours ago) by the the bot's sole maintainer AManWithNoPlan (who naturally isn't blocked). It would be much more preferable if the discussion was allowed to run its course as the bot is an important work tool for many editors. Regards, — kashmīrī ^TALK 06:42, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Kashmiri, that wasn't a closure of discussion as such. I hope the discussion will proceed, and I am confident that

bot approvals group and follow the processes that group has established. In any case, the unblock procedures don't apply, which is why I marked the request closed. UninvitedCompany

13:08, 23 May 2019 (UTC)

Big thanks for taking time and looking into the matter with an impartial eye. Appreciate especially your comments at AN. — kashmīrī ^TALK 22:32, 5 June 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2019).

Administrator changes

Andonic • Consumed Crustacean • Enigmaman • Euryalus • EWS23 • HereToHelp • Nv8200pa • Peripitus • StringTheory11 • Vejvančický

CheckUser changes

Ivanvector

Guideline and policy news

• An
  WP:OUTING
  should include information on just the English Wikipedia or any Wikimedia project.
• An RfC on WT:RfA concluded that Requests for adminship and bureaucratship are discussions seeking to build consensus.
• An RfC proposal to make the templates for discussion (TfD) process more like the requested moves (RM) process, i.e. "as a clearinghouse of template discussions", was closed as successful.

Technical news

• The CSD feature of
  Twinkle now allows admins to notify page creators of deletion if the page had not been tagged. The default behavior matches that of tagging notifications, and replaces the ability to open the user talk page upon deletion. You can customize which criteria receive notifications in your Twinkle preferences
  : look for Notify page creator when deleting under these criteria.
• Twinkle's d-batch (batch delete) feature now supports deleting subpages (and related redirects and talk pages) of each page. The pages will be listed first but use with caution! The und-batch (batch undelete) option can now also restore talk pages.

Miscellaneous

• The previously discussed unblocking of IP addresses indefinitely-blocked before 2009 was approved and has taken place.
• The 2019 talk pages consultation produced a report for Phase 1 and has entered Phase 2.

For saying what I was thinking this weekend as I caught up on recent events; and for your thoughtful work over the years. I hope to catch up soon. – SJ + 23:17, 29 June 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2019).

Administrator changes

28bytes • Ad Orientem • Ansh666 • Beeblebrox • Boing! said Zebedee • BU Rob13 • Dennis Brown • Deor • DoRD • Floquenbeam¹ • Flyguy649 • Fram² • Gadfium • GB fan • Jonathunder • Kusma • Lectonar • Moink • MSGJ • Nick • Od Mishehu • Rama • Spartaz • Syrthiss • TheDJ • WJBscribe

¹Floquenbeam's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.

²Fram's access was removed, then restored, then removed again.

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment seeking to alleviate pressures on the request an account (ACC) process proposes either raising the account creation limit for extended confirmed editors or granting the account creator permission on request to new ACC tool users.

• In a related matter, the account throttle has been restored to six creations per day as the mitigation activity completed.

• The scope of
  CSD criterion G8 has been tightened
  such that the only redirects that it now applies to are those which target non-existent pages.
• The scope of
  CSD criterion G14 has been expanded slightly
  to include orphan "Foo (disambiguation)" redirects that target pages that are not disambiguation pages or pages that perform a disambiguation-like function (such as set index articles or lists).
• A request for comment seeks to determine whether Wikipedia:Office actions should be a policy page or an information page.

Technical news

• The Wikimedia Foundation's Community health initiative plans to design and build a new user reporting system to make it easier for people experiencing harassment and other forms of abuse to provide accurate information to the appropriate channel for action to be taken. Community feedback is invited.

Miscellaneous

• In February 2019, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF)
  significant community discussion, a request for arbitration (permalink), and, either directly or indirectly, the resignations of numerous administrators and functionaries. The WMF Board of Trustees is aware of the situation, and discussions continue on a statement and a way forward. The Arbitration Committee has sent an open letter to the WMF Board
  .

I've opened a bureaucrat chat for a current RfA. Your input would be most appreciated at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Floquenbeam 2/Bureaucrat chat. Primefac (talk) 19:51, 29 July 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2019).

Administrator changes Johnuniq • Kosack • Valereee Ad Orientem • Ched • Gadfium • Jonathunder • Nick • Yelyos Bald Zebra • Beetstra • Doug Bell • Journalist • Ruud Koot • Splash • Voice of Clam Interface administrator changes Dinoguy1000

CheckUser changes RickinBaltimore Oversight changes Beeblebrox RickinBaltimore

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, the page Wikipedia:Office actions has been changed from a policy page to an information page.
• A
  administrator inactivity policy
  .

Arbitration

• Editors
  alert
  them.

Miscellaneous

• Following a research project on masking IP addresses, the Foundation is starting a new project to improve the privacy of IP editors. The result of this project may significantly change administrative and counter-vandalism workflows. The project is in the very early stages of discussions and there is no concrete plan yet. Admins and the broader community are encouraged to leave feedback on the talk page.
• The
  removal for inactivity
  at a later stage and enables a review of their work before according the right on a permanent basis.

Hello.
Among users with whom I interact for years, of course, both asshats and trustworthy persons are known. But for superficial wiki acquaintances it’s easy to mistake; moreover, persons evolve and many of them rot. Some months ago I voted for two admin candidates on Wikimedia Commons; one deemed a hard-working watcher of everything and another a smart guy – at the time. Eventually the “hard-working watcher” revealed their propensity to harass certain users, whereas the “smart guy” turned a plain power-clinging asshat. Of course, the en.Wikipedian administration and Wikimedia structures are infiltrated by asshats as well. A powerful position is not a marker for integrity and trustworthiness.
Some years ago I wrote

I share many of your thoughts but don't have a list. There are any number of good people who remain involved. There are also many even-handed, intelligent, caring, gentle people who have decided that they cannot gain enough influence here to make participation in the politics worthwhile. UninvitedCompany 22:08, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

No ready-to-use directions? There should be certain technique how cool users see each other, distinguish from the median crowd of waste-makers mutually decorated with barnstars and/or high privileges. I’m sure you must know something about it. During my wiki career I intervened to defend dozens people, but when I applied for a petty privilege here, nobody came to my side. It seems to me that my allies can’t identify me for some reason. Go forth with your known “caring people” and write an essay – I’ll see how intelligent are they. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 08:24, 29 August 2019 (UTC)

An unrelated remark: may I replace your “Old talk archived” hatnote with one of custom navigation tools like {{archives}}? The purposefully built templates have such advantages as embedded search string. Incnis Mrsi (talk) 12:01, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

Sure, go ahead. UninvitedCompany 22:08, 27 August 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2019).

Administrator changes

Bradv • Chetsford • Izno

Floquenbeam • Lectonar

DESiegel • Jake Wartenberg • Rjanag • Topbanana

CheckUser changes

Callanecc • LFaraone • There'sNoTime

Oversight changes

Callanecc • Fox • HJ Mitchell • LFaraone • There'sNoTime

Technical news

• Editors using the mobile website on Wikipedia can opt-in to new advanced features via your settings page. This will give access to more interface links, special pages, and tools.
• The advanced version of the edit review pages (recent changes, watchlist, and related changes) now includes two new filters. These filters are for "All contents" and "All discussions". They will filter the view to just those namespaces.

Arbitration

• A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2019 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.

Miscellaneous

• A global request for comment is in progress regarding whether a user group should be created that could modify edit filters across all public Wikimedia wikis.

Hello Steven, I hope this finds you and yours well. I doubt that I could find another user, at least an active one, who understands what the role of Arbcom should be, or at least what it was intended to be. You were there, you helped design and develop it, you understand the intended role of both Arbcom and the WMF. For all your work in those efforts I do thank you. I don't want this to come across as a "But what have you done for me lately" post - but personally I think it would be great to see you do another stint on AC. I know you've done your time - but perhaps at least think about it? Thanks for your time, best and Cheers. — Ched (talk) 20:38, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

Thank you for your kind words. I've thought about it and am not sure if I can make enough of a difference there for it to be worth the considerable investment of time and emotional energy. I am dismayed by the relationship between WMF and ENWP, and Arbcom cannot fix this. I also have a number of views that are at odds with the "tradition of Arbcom" as it has evolved. I believe that as an institution it is too lenient and believes that people are far more capable of change than they actually are. It has excessive focus on due process. It has a core belief that problems are solvable and consensus can be achieved. I don't think that I can change much of that. I've tried before.

I'm not sure what the answer is.

UninvitedCompany 21:20, 21 September 2019 (UTC)

I agree that 1 individual would be hard pressed to make a difference; but a small collective with the proper skills and determination perhaps could. I must admit that the 'time and emotional energy' issue is one I have no answer for. WMF/ENWP/AC I'll circle back to. Having different views can be a good thing in proper discussion; it offers options that like minded folks might not have thought of. The core of Arbcom is admittedly something I can't speak to. I think that's something that only experience can teach. I do think that the operation of the Arbcom project can be improved with several things. One is the choice of participants, I think that one is a no-brainer. Now one that I personally believe is a factor is age. I don't want to discount the exceptions (who are often exceptional. :)), but in general I don't think that most 20-something aged people have the wherewithal to deal with the more problematic issues that arise on wiki. However 40+ tends to generate a level of experience that can often find solutions to difficult problems. (I won't get in to the 60+ area because ... well, I just won't)

Getting back to the WMF/en-wp issue: I think at one time Jimmy may have had the key to establishing the boundaries, but he doesn't seem to have the desire anymore. Perhaps he doesn't even have the ability authority. (although I doubt that). Being there in the early years, you would have much more insight into that than I would. As for Arbcom, I do commend them in their liaison role in delivering their open letter to the WMF. I think that shows that they can be part of a solution. My biggest fear is that this whole Fram issue is simply a test of sorts. A precursor to establishing a foothold in the governmental and administrative areas of our project. While their intervention into smaller projects may be a good thing, wp-en was established as a self governing body. (yes, I know, you're well aware since you were one of the primary founders of the whole Arbcom project - but sometimes I get started and forget where to quit).

Still, your time and emotions point is well taken, and I'll readily defer to that. I certainly don't have an answer either; but I do appreciate you indulging me in my ramblings. I'll leave it at that and say thank you and best wishes. Cheers UC — Ched (talk) 10:57, 22 September 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2019).

Administrator changes Barkeep49 Beetstra • KillerChihuahua • Kusma Arcadian • Extraordinary Machine • Xeno JamesBWatson → JBW Interface administrator changes Evad37

CheckUser changes Courcelles • SilkTork • Timotheus Canens Oversight changes Courcelles • SilkTork • Timotheus Canens

Guideline and policy news

• Following
  C2F: One eponymous article
  , which applies if the category contains only an eponymous article or media file, provided that the category has not otherwise been emptied shortly before the nomination. The default outcome is an upmerge to the parent categories.

Technical news

• As previously noted, tighter password requirements for Administrators were put in place last year. Wikipedia should now alert you if your password is less than 10 characters long and thus too short.

Arbitration

• The
  2019 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process
  has begun. The community consultation period will take place October 4th to 10th.
• The
  incident
  . It will be open until October 30th.

Miscellaneous

• The Community Tech team has been working on a system for temporarily watching pages, and welcomes feedback.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2019).

Administrator changes GermanJoe • Girth Summit • Kees08 • Nosebagbear DESiegel • GB fan • MSGJ • Voice of Clam • WilyD DeltaQuad • Fang Aili • Pakaran Bureaucrat changes DeltaQuad • Pakaran Interface administrator changes MSGJ

CheckUser changes L235 • Mz7 • SQL • ST47 Ivanvector DeltaQuad Oversight changes L235 • Mz7 • ST47 • Stwalkerster • The Blade of the Northern Lights • Xaosflux DeltaQuad • DGG • Julia W

Guideline and policy news

• An
  resysop criteria
  should be made stricter.

• The follow-up RfC to develop that change is now open at Wikipedia:Requests for comment/2019 Resysop Criteria (2).

• A related RfC is seeking the community's sentiment for a binding desysop procedure.

Arbitration

• Eligible editors may now nominate themselves as candidates for the 2019 Arbitration Committee Elections. The self-nomination period will close November 12, with voting running from November 19 through December 2.

Hello,

Google Code-In, Google-organized contest in which the Wikimedia Foundation participates, starts in a few weeks. This contest is about taking high school students into the world of opensource. I'm sending you this message because you recently edited a documentation page at the English Wikipedia.

I would like to ask you to take part in Google Code-In as a mentor. That would mean to prepare at least one task (it can be documentation related, or something else - the other categories are Code, Design, Quality Assurance and Outreach) for the participants, and help the student to complete it. Please sign up at the contest page and send us your Google account address to [email protected], so we can invite you in!

From my own experience, Google Code-In can be fun, you can make several new friends, attract new people to your wiki and make them part of your community.

If you have any questions, please let us know at [email protected].

Thank you!

--User:Martin Urbanec (talk) 21:59, 23 November 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2019).

Administrator changes

EvergreenFir • ToBeFree

Akhilleus • Athaenara • John Vandenberg • Melchoir • MichaelQSchmidt • NeilN • Youngamerican • 😂

CheckUser changes

Beeblebrox

Deskana

Interface administrator changes

Evad37

Guideline and policy news

• An
  request for adminship is not required has been reduced from three years to two. Additionally, Bureaucrats
  are permitted to use their discretion when returning administrator rights.
• Following
  edit filter mailing list
  has been opened up to users with the Edit Filter Helper right.

Technical news

• Wikimedia projects can set a default block length for users via MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry. A new page, MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry-ip, allows the setting of a different default block length for IP editors. Neither is currently used. (T219126)

Arbitration

• Voting in the
  2019 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 2 December 2018 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page
  .

Miscellaneous

• The global consultation on partial and temporary office actions that ended in October received a closing statement from staff concluding, among other things, that the WMF will no longer use partial or temporary Office Action bans... until and unless community consensus that they are of value or Board directive.

A year ago ...

"prepare for the future"
... you were recipient no. 2085 of Precious, a prize of QAI!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:24, 6 December 2019 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2019).

Administrator changes Dreamy Jazz • Newslinger • Rosguill Deor • Spartaz • Xeno Angusmclellan • clpo13 • Edgar181 • Matthewedwards • NCurse

CheckUser changes Bradv • Casliber • David Fuchs • Maxim • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy • Xeno Oversight changes Bradv • Casliber • DGG • David Fuchs • Maxim • Newyorkbrad • SoWhy • Xeno Someguy1221

Guideline and policy news

• A request for comment asks whether partial blocks should be enabled on the English Wikipedia. If enabled, this functionality would allow administrators to block users from editing specific pages or namespaces, rather than the entire site.
• A proposal asks whether admins who don't use their tools for a significant period of time (e.g. five years) should have the toolset procedurally removed.
• Following a
  Wikipedia talk:New pages patrol/Redirect whitelist
  .

Arbitration

• The fourth case on Palestine-Israel articles was closed. The case consolidated all previous remedies under one heading, which should make them easier to understand, apply, and enforce. In particular, the distinction between "primary articles" and "related content" has been clarified, with the former being the entire set of articles whose topic relates to the Arab-Israeli conflict, broadly interpreted rather than reasonably construed.
• Following the 2019 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Beeblebrox, Bradv, Casliber, David Fuchs, DGG, KrakatoaKatie, Maxim, Newyorkbrad, SoWhy, Worm That Turned, Xeno.

Miscellaneous

• This issue marks three full years of the
  Admin newsletter
  . Thanks for reading!

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2020).

Administrator changes Ergo Sum • Nick Moyes • QEDK • Wugapodes Dennis Brown Aude • BrownHairedGirl • CALR • Jengod • John Reaves • J.smith • Kim Dent-Brown • K1Bond007 • MECU • Refdoc • RHaworth

CheckUser changes Opabinia regalis • Premeditated Chaos Interface administrator changes Ragesoss

Guideline and policy news

• Following a request for comment, partial blocks are now enabled on the English Wikipedia. This functionality allows administrators to block users from editing specific pages or namespaces rather than the entire site. A draft policy is being workshopped at Wikipedia:Partial blocks.
• The request for comment seeking the community's sentiment for a binding desysop procedure closed with wide-spread support for an alternative desysoping procedure based on community input. No proposed process received consensus.

Technical news

• Twinkle now supports partial blocking. There is a small checkbox that toggles the "partial" status for both blocks and templating. There is currently one template: {{uw-pblock
  }}.
• When trying to move a page, if the target title already exists then a warning message is shown. The warning message will now include a link to the target title. [3]

Arbitration

• Following a recent arbitration case, the Arbitration Committee reminded administrators that checkuser and oversight blocks must not be reversed or modified without prior consultation with the checkuser or oversighter who placed the block, the respective functionary team, or the Arbitration Committee.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2020 Steward elections will begin on 08 February 2020, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 28 February 2020, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• The English Wikipedia has reached
  six million articles
  . Thank you everyone for your contributions!

I've opened a bureaucrat chat for the current RfA. Your input would be most appreciated at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Money emoji/Bureaucrat chat. Cheers, Primefac (talk) 15:01, 18 February 2020 (UTC)

• (Was going to reply at the above-linked discussion which is now closed...) Thank you for your reply in which you wrote that only under unusual circumstances should a discussion with approximately 70% support (I believe it's at 69.86%) be seen as a consensus to promote. However, the community has explicitly asked us to promote candidates between 65% and 75% support. Accordingly, I don't see how promoting a candidate in the middle of the range requires particularly unusual circumstances. I could see it requiring unusual circumstances under the old standards, or to promote a candidate at under 65%, but right in the middle of the range? –xeno^talk 00:17, 23 February 2020 (UTC)

It took some digging to find it, but the actual discussion on widening the discretionary range is here. It was written in the context of an era when there were few successful RfAs, and supporters were divided in their rationale. While there were a minority of supporters who believed that the discretionary range should be elimintated in favor of a strict 2/3 supermajority (or some other numerical standard), I do not read a mandate there that bureaucrats should routinely or automatically approve RfAs that reach 70%. Instead, I read that RFAs ending in the discretionary range, remain at the discretion of the bureaucrats, with consensus as a guide. Moreover, the fact that many recent RfAs have reached over 90% support indicates to me that the problem of ever-escalating standards for adminship has been abated somewhat, as it demonstrates that there is not a shortage of candidates who can achieve broad support. UninvitedCompany 21:07, 24 February 2020 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2020).

Administrator changes Money emoji Athaenara • DeltaQuad Fishhead64 • Kudpung • Mikaey Bureaucrat changes DeltaQuad

CheckUser changes DeltaQuad Oversight changes DeltaQuad

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, the blocking policy was changed to state that sysops must not undo or alter CheckUser or Oversight blocks, rather than should not.
• A request for comment confirmed that sandboxes of established but inactive editors may not be blanked due solely to inactivity.

Technical news

• Following a
  Twinkle preferences
  .

Miscellaneous

• Following the 2020 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: BRPever, Krd, Martin Urbanec, MusikAnimal, Sakretsu, Sotiale, and Tks4Fish. There are a total of seven editors that have been appointed as stewards, the most since 2014.
• The 2020 appointees for the Ombudsman commission are Ajraddatz and Uzoma Ozurumba; they will serve for one year.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2020).

Administrator changes Cabayi • Lee Vilenski Boing! said Zebedee Jonny-mt • MarkGallagher • PeaceNT Money emoji → Moneytrees Bureaucrat changes SilkTork • WereSpielChequers

CheckUser changes NativeForeigner Oversight changes Someguy1221 Daniel Case

Guideline and policy news

• There is an
  ongoing
  request for comment to streamline the source deprecation and blacklisting process.

Technical news

• There is a plan for new requirements for user signatures. You can give feedback.

Arbitration

• Following the
  Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Anti-harassment RfC (Draft)
  and not open to comments from the community yet. Interested editors can comment on the RfC itself on its talk page.

Miscellaneous

• The WMF has begun a pilot report of the pages most visited through various social media platforms to help with anti-vandalism and anti-disinformation efforts. The report is updated daily and will be available through the end of May.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2020).

Administrator changes

Gnangarra • Kaisershatner • Malcolmxl5

CheckUser changes

Callanecc

Oversight changes

HJ Mitchell

Guideline and policy news

• WP:GS/COVID19
  .
• Following a recent discussion on Meta-Wiki, the edit filter maintainer global group has been created.
• A request for comment has been proposed to create a new main page editor usergroup.
• A request for comment has been proposed to make the bureaucrat activity requirements more strict.

Technical news

• The Editing team has been working on the talk pages project. You can review the proposed design and share your thoughts on the talk page.
• Enterprisey created a script that will show a link to the proper Special:Undelete page when viewing a since-deleted revision, see User:Enterprisey/link-deleted-revs.

Miscellaneous

• A request for comment closed with consensus to create a Village Pump-style page for communication with the Wikimedia Foundation.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2020).

Administrator changes

CaptainEek • Creffett • Cwmhiraeth

Anna Frodesiak • Buckshot06 • Ronhjones • SQL

CheckUser changes

SQL

Guideline and policy news

• A
  Unblock Ticket Request System (UTRS)
  should allowed any unblock request or just private appeals.
• The Wikimedia Foundation announced that they will develop a universal code of conduct for all WMF projects. There is an open local discussion regarding the same.

Arbitration

• A
  500/30
  restriction on articles related to the history of Jews and antisemitism in Poland during World War II (1933–45), including the Holocaust in Poland. Article talk pages where disruption occurs may also be managed with the stated restriction.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2020).

Administrator changes Malcolmxl5 John • TheCoffee • Tim! Creffett → GeneralNotability DeltaQuad → AmandaNP

CheckUser changes Bbb23 Interface administrator changes TonyBallioni

Guideline and policy news

• A
  speedy deletion criterion
  .

Technical news

• Protection templates on mainspace pages are now automatically added by User:MusikBot II (BRFA).

Arbitration

• Following the
  banning of an editor by the WMF last year, the Arbitration Committee resolved to hold an RfC regarding on-wiki harassment. The RfC has been posted at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Anti-harassment RfC
  and is open to comments from the community.
• The Medicine case was closed, with a remedy authorizing standard discretionary sanctions for all discussions about pharmaceutical drug prices and pricing and for edits adding, changing, or removing pharmaceutical drug prices or pricing from articles.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2020).

Administrator changes

Red Phoenix

Euryalus • SQL

Jujutacular • Monty845 • Rettetast • Madchester

Oversight changes

GB fan

Keegan • Opabinia regalis • Premeditated Chaos

Guideline and policy news

• There is an open request for comment to decide whether to increase the minimum duration a sanction discussion has to remain open (currently 24 hours).
• T2 (template that misrepresents established policy) has been repealed following a request for comment
  .
• Speedy deletion criterion
  X2 (pages created by the content translation tool) has been repealed following a discussion
  .
• There is a proposal to restrict proposed deletion to confirmed users.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2020).

Administrator changes

Eddie891

Angela • Jcw69 • Just Chilling • Philg88 • Viajero

CheckUser changes

SQL

Guideline and policy news

• Following a
  site ban
  discussions was increased to 72 hours, up from 24.
• A
  paid editors must or should use the articles for creation
  process.
• A
  alternative to deletion
  processes.

Arbitration

• A request for comment is open to provide an opportunity to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the 2020 English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee election and to resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
• An open request for comment asks whether active Arbitrators may serve on the Trust and Safety Case Review Committee or Ombudsman commission.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2020).

Administrator changes

Ajpolino • LuK3

Jackmcbarn

Ad Orientem • Harej • Lid • Lomn • Mentoz86 • Oliver Pereira • XJaM

There'sNoTime → TheresNoTime

Guideline and policy news

• A
  draftification
  is appropriate, namely 1) if the result of a deletion discussion is to draftify; or 2) if the article is newly created.

Technical news

• The filter log now provides links to view diffs of deleted revisions (phab:T261630).

Arbitration

• The
  2020 CheckUser and Oversight appointment process
  has begun. The community consultation period will take place from September 27th to October 7th.
• Following a request for comment, sitting Committee members may not serve on either the Ombuds Commission or the WMF Case Review Committee. The Arbitration Committee passed a motion implementing those results into their procedures.

Miscellaneous

• The Universal Code of Conduct draft is open for community review and comment until October 6th, 2020.
• Office actions may now be appealed to the Interim Trust & Safety Case Review Committee.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2020).

Administrator changes John M Wolfson Bduke • Nilfanion • Philosopher • Rspeer • Yunshui Interface administrator changes Ragesoss TonyBallioni

CheckUser changes EdJohnston • Oshwah • Yamla Yunshui Oversight changes Anarchyte Yunshui

Guideline and policy news

• WP:GS/PAGEANT
  .

Technical news

• Sysops will
  interface administrators
  when that group was introduced.
• discretionary sanctions
  block and/or template.
• Sysops will be able to use Special:CreateLocalAccount to create a local account for a global user that is prevented from auto-creation locally (such as by a filter or range block). Administrators that are not sure if such a creation is appropriate should contact a checkuser.

Arbitration

• The 2020 Arbitration Committee Elections process has begun. Eligible editors will be able to nominate themselves as candidates from November 8 through November 17. The voting period will run from November 23 through December 6.
• The Anti-harassment RfC has concluded with a summary of the feedback provided.

Miscellaneous

• A reminder that
  American Politics 2 Arbitration case
  ).

News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2020).

Administrator changes

Andrwsc • Anetode • GoldenRing • JzG • LinguistAtLarge • Nehrams2020

Interface administrator changes

Izno

Guideline and policy news

• There is a
  speedy deletion criterion
  or eliminate its seven-day waiting period.

Technical news

• Voting for proposals in the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey, which determines what software the Wikimedia Foundation's Community Tech team will work on next year, will take place from 8 December through 21 December. In particular, there are sections regarding administrators and anti-harassment.

Arbitration

• Voting in the
  2020 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 7 December 2020 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page
  .

Precious

Two years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:11, 6 December 2020 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2020).

Administrator changes Hammersoft Andres • Brion VIBBER • Rkitko • Thatcher

CheckUser changes Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek • Primefac Oversight changes Barkeep49 • BDD • CaptainEek Joe Roe

Guideline and policy news

• T3 (duplication and hardcoded instances) has been repealed following a request for comment
  .

Technical news

• You can now put pages on your watchlist for a limited period of time.

Arbitration

• By motion, standard discretionary sanctions have been temporarily authorized for all pages relating to the Horn of Africa (defined as including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and adjoining areas if involved in related disputes). The effectiveness of the discretionary sanctions can be evaluated on the request by any editor after March 1, 2021 (or sooner if for a good reason).
• Following the 2020 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Barkeep49, BDD, Bradv, CaptainEek, L235, Maxim, Primefac.

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2021).

Administrator changes Hog Farm Mattflaschen • Nandesuka • Savidan • Wangi

CheckUser changes Berean Hunter • Xeno Oversight changes Someguy1221 • Xeno

Arbitration

• The
  standard discretionary sanctions authorized for American Politics were amended by motion
  to cover post-1992 politics of United States and closely related people, replacing the 1932 cutoff.

Miscellaneous

• Voting in the 2021 Steward elections will begin on 05 February 2021, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 26 February 2021, 13:59 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
• Wikipedia has now been around for 20 years, and recently saw its billionth edit!