User talk:John F. Lewis/Archive 5

Archive 1Archive 3Archive 4Archive 5Archive 6Archive 7

Happy New Year!

Jianhui67 talkcontribs 09:38, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 01 January 2014

  • Traffic report: A year stuck in traffic
    In fact, the majority are relatively evenly split between three themes: people of interest, television, and websites.
  • Arbitration report: Examining the Committee's year
    In 2013, the arbitration committee closed 10 cases, 9 amendment requests, and 26 clarification requests.
  • In the media: Does Wikipedia need a medical disclaimer?
    On New Year's Day, an article by Tim Sampson published in The Daily Dot and republished shortly after on Mashable covered the currently ongoing medical disclaimer RfC.
  • News and notes: The year in review
    This was the year in which one journalist described the flagship site, Wikipedia, as "wickedly seductive". It was the year Wikipedia's replacement value was estimated at $6.6bn, its market value at "tens of billions of dollars", and its consumer benefit "hundreds of billions of dollars". But it was also the year in which one commentator forecast the decline of Wikipedia—that the project is in trouble from its shrinking volunteer workforce, skewed coverage, "crushing bureaucracy" and 90 percent male community.
  • WikiProject report: Where Are They Now? Fifth Edition
    The year 2013 has come and gone, adding 50 new WikiProject Reports to our long list of projects we've had the privilege to meet. Last year saw the continuation of our Babel series, featuring WikiProjects from other languages of Wikipedia. We also expanded our selection of special reports, offering readers a growing collection of helpful tips and tools as they participate in WikiProjects.
  • Featured content: 2013—the trends
    Over the past year 1181 pieces of featured content were promoted. The most active of the featured content programs was featured picture candidates (FPC), which promoted an average of 46 pictures a month. This was followed by featured article candidates (FAC; 32.5 a month). Coming in third was featured list candidates (FLC; 18 a month).
  • Technology report: Looking back on 2013
    2013 saw a lot of changes to MediaWiki software and Wikimedia infrastructure.

The Signpost: 08 January 2014

  • Public Domain Day: Why the year 2019 is so significant
    Public Domain Day—January 1, 2014—gives me an opportunity to reflect on this important asset, mandated by the Constitution of the United States.
  • Traffic report: Tragedy and television
    The various maladies that befall humanity got some well-known faces this week: the death of the well-liked actor James Avery topped the list, but Michael Schumacher, who is in a coma after a skiing accident, also drew attention.
  • News and notes: WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing"
    On 8 January, the Wikimedia Foundation notified the Wikimedia-l mailing list that Sarah Stierch, a popular Wikimedian and the Foundation's Program Evaluation Community Coordinator, was no longer an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, as a result of being paid to create articles on the English Wikipedia.

The Signpost: 15 January 2014

  • Technology report: Architecture Summit schedule published
    The proposed schedule for the MediaWiki Archicture Summit has been published. The two main plenary sessions will be about HTML templating, and Service-oriented architecture.
  • Op-ed: Licensed for reuse? Citing open-access sources in Wikipedia articles
    It is heavily ironic that two decades after the World Wide Web was started — largely to make it easier to share scholarly research — most of our past and present research publications are still hidden behind paywalls for private profit. The bitter twist is that the vast majority of this research is publicly funded, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide each year.
  • Traffic report: The Hours are Ours
    We now can get a far more accurate picture of which short surges in popularity are likely natural and which are not.
  • WikiProject report: WikiProject Sociology
    This week, we studied human social behavior with the folks at WikiProject Sociology.

The Signpost: 22 January 2014

  • News and notes: Modification of WMF protection brought to Arbcom
    The Wikimedia Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy's application of pending changes level two on the article Conventional PCI—an action taken under its rarely used office actions policy—has escalated to the Arbitration Committee after an editor upgraded it to full protection.
  • Featured content: Dr. Watson, I presume
    Fifteen articles, nine lists, twenty pictures, and one topic were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.
  • Special report: The few who write Wikipedia
    On 15 January, Wikipedia turned thirteen years old. In that time, this site has grown from a small site that was known to only a select few to one of the most popular websites on the internet. At the same time, recent data suggests that there is a power curve among users, where the comparative few who are writing most of Wikipedia have most of the edits. The result of this is that there is going to be bias in what is created, and how we deal with it as Wikipedians is indicative of the future of the site. Furthermore, this brings up what we have to do in order to combat this bias, as there are many ideas, but the question is whether they will work or not.
  • Technology report: Architecting the future of MediaWiki
    This week we're interviewing Brion Vibber about the then-upcoming Architecture Summit. Brion is a long time Wikipedian, the first employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, and currently the lead software architect working with the mobile team.
  • Traffic report: No show for the Globes
    While the 71st Golden Globe Awards, held on 12 January, had an impact on the top 25, their presence was largely absent from the Top 10. With the exception of Best Actor winner Leonardo DiCaprio, the only Golden Globe entrants in the Top 10 are films that would have been there anyway.

The Signpost: 29 January 2014

  • Traffic report: Six strikes out
    There are times when this job is hard. As an analogy, imagine navigating in fog at night, except you don't know where you are, you don't know where you want to go, and your flashlight keeps dying on you.
  • WikiProject report: Special report: Contesting contests
    Contests have existed almost as long as the English Wikipedia. Contestants have expanded hundreds of articles and made tens of thousands of edits. Although it may seem as though there aren't any negatives to contests, they have occasionally become a divisive topic on the English Wikipedia.
  • News and notes: Wiki-PR defends itself, condemns Wikipedia's actions
    Wiki-PR, a public relations agency, whose employees used a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts to create, edit, and maintain several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients, has told Business Insider that it was demonized by the online encyclopedia. Jordan French, Wiki-PR's CEO, said he believes the Wikimedia Foundation "painted" his company to look like an "evil entity" that is "scrubbing truths from Wikipedia".

The Signpost: 29 January 2014

  • Traffic report: Six strikes out
    There are times when this job is hard. As an analogy, imagine navigating in fog at night, except you don't know where you are, you don't know where you want to go, and your flashlight keeps dying on you.
  • WikiProject report: Special report: Contesting contests
    Contests have existed almost as long as the English Wikipedia. Contestants have expanded hundreds of articles and made tens of thousands of edits. Although it may seem as though there aren't any negatives to contests, they have occasionally become a divisive topic on the English Wikipedia.
  • News and notes: Wiki-PR defends itself, condemns Wikipedia's actions
    Wiki-PR, a public relations agency, whose employees used a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts to create, edit, and maintain several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients, has told Business Insider that it was demonized by the online encyclopedia. Jordan French, Wiki-PR's CEO, said he believes the Wikimedia Foundation "painted" his company to look like an "evil entity" that is "scrubbing truths from Wikipedia".

recall

I am contacting you today as one of the users listed at User:Secret/recall. In case you were not aware, Secret has once again resigned his admin status and is once again about to ask for it back. I am concerned that this behavior constitutes the sort of erratic behavior that this recall mechanism was designed to deal with and am asking all other users listed there to add their opinion at the talk page of the recall subpage. Beeblebrox (talk) 00:17, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Responded and stalking talk page. John F. Lewis (talk) 00:31, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 12 February 2014

  • In the media: WikiVIP; Art Feminism; Medical articles; PR manipulation; Azerbaijani Wikipedia
    As reported in various media outlets this week, including The Next Web and The Daily Dot, this past week, Wikimedia Commons and various language Wikipedias are working together to encourage subjects of Wikipedia articles to record a 10-second clip of their voice to be appended to their Wikipedia article.
  • Technology report: Left with no choice
    Software evolution does not always mean that features are being added. It also means that old fat is being trimmed. It is no different for MediaWiki.
  • News and notes: WMF bites the bullet on affiliation and FDC funding, elevates Wikimedia user groups
    In a bold move, the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees has announced a major change in policy concerning affiliated groups in the worldwide movement, and FDC funding levels to eligible chapters and thematic organizations over the next two years. Both decisions were published last Tuesday after considerable post-meeting consultation with the FDC and the Affiliations Committee (AffCom). The core of the first decision is
  • Featured content: Space selfie
    Thirteen articles, three lists, and twenty-five images were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia from 19 January to 1 February.
  • Traffic report: Sports Day
    Two great sporting events, the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics, collide in one week, transforming the top ten into a festival of flying feet, a carnival of colliding caraniums and a bacchanal of bouncing balls, combined to influence Wikipedia's most popular articles last week.
  • WikiProject report: Game Time in Russia
    In celebration of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, we revisited the team at WikiProject Russia to learn how the project has changed since our first interview in 2011.

The Signpost: 19 February 2014

  • Technology report: ULS Comeback
    Runa Bhattacharjee has notified the community that the Foundation is ready to turn the Universal Language Selector back on.
  • WikiProject report: Countering Systemic Bias
    WikiProject Countering System Bias aims to combat imbalanced coverage while encouraging neglected cultural perspectives and points of view, both in articles and in the larger Wikipedia community. As you'll see from the varied experiences and motivations of our nine respondents, the biases that the folks at WP CSB tackle run the full gamut of human characteristics and dispositions. The interview that follows unveils many of Wikipedia's greatest shortcomings.
  • Featured content: Holotype
    Five articles, seven lists, forty-three pictures, and two portals were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia in the last two weeks.
  • Traffic report: Chilly Valentines
    Valentines Day got a somewhat muted reception this week, overshadowed by continuing coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi and the death of Shirley Temple.

Please comment on changes to the AfC mailing list

Hello John F. Lewis! There is a discussion that your input is requested on! I look forward to your comments, thoughts, opinions, criticisms, and questions!

If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list or alternatively to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Opted-out of message delivery to your user talk page.

This message was composed and sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) on behalf of {{U|Technical 13}} (t • e • c) 18:18, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

Hello John F. Lewis:

WikiProject AFC is holding a month long Backlog Elimination Drive!
The goal of this drive is to eliminate the backlog of unreviewed articles. The drive is running from March 1, 2014 to March 31, 2014.

Awards will be given out for all reviewers participating in the drive in the form of barnstars at the end of the drive.
There is a backlog of over 1100 articles, so start reviewing articles! Visit the drive's page and help out!

A new version of our AfC helper script has been released! It includes many bug fixes, new improvements and features, code enhancements, and more. If you want to see a full list of changes, visit the changelog. Please report bugs and feature requests there, too! Thanks.
Posted by Northamerica1000 (talk) on 02:12, 28 February 2014 (UTC) using MediaWiki message delivery (talk), on behalf of WikiProject Articles for creation

The Signpost: 26 February 2014

  • Forum: Should Wikimedia modify its terms of use to require disclosure?
    About a week ago, the Wikimedia Foundation proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' terms of use to specifically ban paid editing, by adding a new clause titled "Paid contributions without disclosure". We have asked two users, one in favor of the measure (Smallbones) and one opposed (Pete Forsyth), to contribute their opinions on the matter.
  • Featured content: Odin salutes you
    Eight articles, three lists, and nine pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
  • Special report: Diary of a protester: Wikimedian perishes in Ukrainian unrest
    Ukraine has been gripped by widespread protests over the past three months. Due to a decision by former president Viktor Yanukovych—at Russia's urging—to abandon integration with the European Union, the country was (and in many ways still is) split between the Europe-favoring Ukrainian-speaking western half and the Russian-speaking east and south. Hundreds have died during the unrest, leaving thousands of family members and friends to bury their loved ones. This week our Wikimedian colleagues in Ukraine are facing that challenge after the death of one of their own.
  • News and notes: Wikimedia chapters and communities challenge Commons' URAA policy
    Following a trend started by Wikimedia Israel, Wikimedia Argentina has published an open letter challenging the recent deletion of hundreds of images from the Commons under its policy on URAA-restored copyrights, relating to the United States' 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
  • Traffic report: Snow big deal
    The 2014 Winter Olympics had more of an impact on the Top 25 than the Top 10, which had to shoulder old stalwarts like the death list, Reddit threads, TV shows and the eternal presence of Facebook; still, with four slots, it's the most searched topic on the list.

(test) The Signpost: 05 March 2014

  • Traffic report: Brinksmen on the brink
    There's nothing like a good old bit of Cold War nostalgia, combined with a suitably scary international incident, to focus our attention on the real world. That said, nothing could stem our outpouring of affection for the beloved comedian Harold Ramis, whose death managed to top the week in the face of those international concerns.
  • News and notes: Wikipedia Library finding success in matching contributors with sources
    This week, the Signpost caught up with the Wikipedia Library (TWL), which aims to connect reference resources with Wikipedia editors who can use them to improve articles. Funded through the Wikimedia Foundation's Individual Engagement Grants program, TWL has a new "visiting scholars" initiative and a microgrants program in the works.
  • Featured content: Full speed ahead for the WikiCup
    The WikiCup competition is ongoing, while six articles, three lists, and ten pictures were promoted to "featured" status of the English Wikipedia this week.
  • WikiProject report: Article Rescue Squadron
    This week, the Signpost delved into the English Wikipedia's Article Rescue Squadron.

The Signpost: 12 March 2014

  • News and notes: Wikimedians celebrate International Women's Day, Women's History Month
    Wikimedians around the world gathered to celebrate Women's History Month and the associated International Women's Day by holding editathons. If you lived in the United Kingdom, you had the opportunity to attend Wikimedia UK's event at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, part of University College London and host to one of the largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts in the world.
  • Traffic report: War and awards
    An intensely busy week, as a confluence of celebratory, curious and urgent topics pushed typical residents like Facebook and Deaths in 2014 out of the top ten entirely.
  • Featured content: Ukraine burns
    Five articles, two lists, and 52 pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.

The Signpost: 19 March 2014

  • WikiProject report: We have history
    This week, we visited WikiProject History, an ancient project with roots dating back to 2001. The project is home to 196 pieces of Featured material and 483 Good and A-class articles independent of the vast accomplishments of its various child projects. WikiProject History maintains a lengthy list of tasks, oversees the history portal, and continues to build Wikipedia's outline of history.
  • Featured content: Spot the bulldozer
    Twelve articles, fourteen lists, and six pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
  • Traffic report: Into thin air
    The utterly mystifying events surrounding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which has not fallen from the sky so much as vanished from it entirely, has left an information-starved public scrambling for precedents, some logical, some... not.
  • Technology report: Wikimedia engineering report
    The Wikimedia engineering report for February 2014 has been published. A summarized version is also available. Major news include

The Signpost: 26 March 2014

  • Comment: A foolish request
    April Fools' Day is rapidly approaching. Every year, members of the community pull pranks and make (or attempt to make) humorous edits to pages across the project. Every year, the community follows April Fools' Day with a contentious debate about whether or not it is necessary to impose limits on April Fools' Day jokes for future years. It is a polarizing issue.
  • Traffic report: Down to a simmer
    Topics like the 2014 Crimea crisis or the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 eased down the list, making way for such traditional topics as St Patrick's Day, Reddit threads and even Google Doodles, which have reappeared after a long absence.
  • Recent research: Wikipedians' "encyclopedic identity" dominates even in Kosovo debates
    Have you wondered about differences in the articles on Crimea in the Russian, Ukrainian, and English versions of Wikipedia? A newly published article entitled "Lost in Translation: Contexts, Computing, Disputing on Wikipedia" doesn't address Crimea, but nonetheless offers insight into the editing of contentious articles in multiple language editions through a heavy qualitative examination of Wikipedia articles about the Kosovo in the Serbian, Croatian, and English editions.
  • News and notes: Commons Picture of the Year—winners announced
    Results for the two-stage 2013 Commons Picture of the Year have been announced. This year's winning photograph (above) shows a lightbulb that has been cracked, allowing inert gas to escape—and oxygen to enter, so that the tungsten filament burns. From the flames rise elegant curls of blue smoke.
  • Op-ed: Why we're updating the default typography for Wikipedia
    On 3 April, we will roll out some changes to the typography of Wikipedia's default Vector skin, to increase readability for users on all devices and platforms. After five months of testing, four major iterations, and through close collaboration with the global Wikimedia community, who provided more than 100 threads of feedback, we’ve arrived at a solution which improves the primary reading and editing experience for all users.
  • Technology report: Why will Wikipedia look like the Signpost?
    As you have probably read on this weeks op-ed, or via various other channels of announcement, 3 April will see the introduction of the Typography refresh (or update) for the Vector skin on all Wikipedias. Other projects like Commons will have this update rolled out a few days prior.
  • WikiProject report: From the peak
    This week, the Signpost interviewed the English Wikipedia's Mountains WikiProject.

The Signpost: 02 April 2014

  • Special report: On the cusp of the Wikimedia Conference
    The annual Wikimedia Conference is about to start in Berlin, hosted by Wikimedia Germany, which won the bid to hold the event over three others. This will be the fifth time the chapter has hosted the Wikimedia Conference—it did so from 2009 to 2012, with attendance ranging from 100 to 180 Wikimedians. This year 160 people are expected at the four-day event, which is mainly for representatives of affiliated Wikimedia organisations. The conference has been built around two themes: Organisation, structures, and grants and Success and impact.
  • Featured content: April Fools
    The Signpost's "Featured content" writers had a bit of fun this week.
  • Traffic report: Regressing to the mean
    The mysterious fate of MH370 still tops the list, but in all other respects our readership has retreated from the real world into its pop-cultural happy place: TV, movies, music, Reddit and Google Doodles all made an appearance.

The Signpost: 09 April 2014

  • News and notes: Round 2 of FDC funding open to public comments
    Community review is open for the four applications in the second and final round of applications to the WMF's Funds Dissemination Committee for 2013–14. Three eligible organisations have applied for funding under the newly named "annual program grants": Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Norway, and the India-based Centre for Internet and Society, which last November was recognised as eligible to apply for FDC funding purposes.
  • WikiProject report: WikiProject Law
    This week, we interviewed the Law WikiProject.
  • Special report: Community mourns passing of Adrianne Wadewitz
    "I remember laughing and talking and laughing and talking at Wikimania 2012. I took this picture of her that she used for a long while as a profile pic. Someone on Facebook said it looked 'skepchickal', which she loved."
  • Traffic report: Conquest of the Couch Potatoes
    Television has always been a topic of choice on this site, but it exploded this week. Fully six slots were devoted to television shows, as the final episode of How I Met Your Mother, one of the most popular Wikipedia searches of the last few years, coincided with the season finale of The Walking Dead and the upcoming fourth season of Game of Thrones. The number rises to 8 if movies released on video and new TV tech are are included.
  • Featured content: Snow heater and Ash sweep
    Five article, five lists, and ten pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.

The Signpost: 23 April 2014

  • Special report: 2014 Wikimedia Conference—what is the impact?
    The annual Wikimedia Conference wound up last Sunday, 13 April—a four-day meeting costing several hundred thousand dollars, hosted in Berlin by Wikimedia Germany and attended by more than 100 Wikimedians.
  • Op-ed: Five things a Wikipedian in residence can do
    Hey you—yeah you, the Wikipedian! Do you want to help a museum, a library, a university, or other organization explore ways to engage with Wikipedia? Great—you should offer your expertise as a Wikipedian in residence!
  • News and notes: Wikimedian passes away
    Cynthia Ashley-Nelson, who edited as "Cindamuse" on the Wikimedia projects, passed away in her sleep at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin on 10 April.
  • Wikimania: Winning bid announced for 2015
    After just over a month of deliberation, the Wikimania jury has selected Wikimedia Mexico's bid to host Wikimania 2015 in Mexico City, with a proposed date of 15–19 July.
  • Traffic report: Reflecting in Gethsemane
    If I were the kind of person who made snap judgments based on flimsy evidence, I'd say our readership is in a funk.
  • Featured content: There was I, waiting at the church
    Fourteen articles, four lists, seven pictures, and one topic attained "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.

The Signpost: 30 April 2014

  • News and notes: WMF's draft annual plan turns indigestible as an FDC proposal
    Like hammering a square peg into a round hole, the Wikimedia Foundation has submitted a draft annual plan for 2014–15 to its own Funds Dissemination Committee. Unlike the WMF's submission to the FDC's inaugural round in October 2012, the "proposal" does not seek funding.
  • Traffic report: Going to the Doggs
    Not much to report this week. The same post-Easter celebrations (4/20, Earth Day) were popular again this year, except last year we were still reeling from the Boston Marathon bombing.
  • Breaking: The Foundation's new executive director
    The Wikimedia Foundation has announced that its new executive director will be Lila Tretikov, until now a chief product officer in Silicon Valley.
  • WikiProject report: Genetics
    This week, we unraveled the mysteries of WikiProject Genetics.
  • Featured content: Browsing behaviours
    Four articles and sixteen featured pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.

Help

There is AFCH error in my page. Please correct it.--prathamprakash29 16:34, 7 May 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Prathamprakash29 (talk • contribs)

The Signpost: 07 May 2014

  • News and notes: New system of discretionary sanctions; Buchenwald; is Pirelli 'Cracking Wikipedia'?
    The English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) introduced the first form of what are known as the "discretionary sanction" (DS) in 2009. A new DS regime, called Discretionary sanctions (2014), is the result of an elaborate review process involving both the community, since last September, and the committee, for more than a year.
  • Traffic report: TMZedia
    For all the claims of Wikipedia bringing the world's knowledge to all who want it, it seems the human race most wants is a tabloid newspaper; a quick source for TV listings, pop culture facts, celebrity gossip and, above all, scandal—with some nice juicy racism thrown in too.
  • In focus: Foundation announces long-awaited new executive director
    In a live video stream on 1 May, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that Lila Tretikov will be replacing Sue Gardner, its executive director. Gardner, who has been in the position since 2007, declared her intention to leave more than a year ago.
  • In the media: Google and the flu; Adrianne
    Boston Children's Hospital postdoctoral fellow David McIver and a team have determined that using page view statistics from Wikipedia, they can track flu progression better than the Center for Disease Control can using Google searches.
  • WikiProject report: Singing with Eurovision
    Formed in 2003, the Eurovision WikiProject boasts four featured articles and 22 good articles. The Eurovision Song Contest 2014 is currently taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark, so we went to the stage to talk with one of the project's members.
  • Featured content: Wikipedia at the Rijksmuseum
    Four articles, two lists, and five pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.

RFA closing procedures

Thank you for partly closing Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/Koavf. A full list of instructions can be found at Wikipedia:Bureaucrats#Promotions and RfX closures. I went ahead and completed the following steps that were missed:

Cheers, Mkdwtalk 17:09, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

Oh sorry. Thanks for telling me and completing them. John F. Lewis (talk) 17:10, 16 May 2014 (UTC)
No problem. I actually noticed you completed a step that wasn't listed at Wikipedia:Bureaucrats#Promotions and RfX closures so I added it to the instructions. Mkdwtalk 17:16, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 14 May 2014

  • WikiProject report: Relaxing in Puerto Rico
    This week, the Signpost jumped over the ocean to chat with the Puerto Rico WikiProject.
  • News and notes: 'Ask a librarian'—connecting Wikimedians with the National Library of Australia
    Editors of Australian-related topics on the English Wikipedia may have noticed an odd addition if they viewed the article's talk pages. For example, on Talk:Darwin, Northern Territory, they might be drawn in by the question mark, nested within what is often a sea of WikiProject templates: "Need help improving this article? Ask a librarian at the National Library of Australia, or the Northern Territory Library." Just what is this?
  • Featured content: On the rocks
    Six articles, seven lists, and four pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia this week.

Notification of a June AfC BackLog Drive

Hello John F. Lewis:

WikiProject Articles for creation is holding a month long Backlog Elimination Drive!
The goal of this drive is to eliminate the backlog of unreviewed articles. The drive is running from June 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014.

Awards will be given out for all reviewers participating in the drive in the form of barnstars at the end of the drive.
There is a backlog of over 1100 articles, so start reviewing articles! Visit the drive's page and help out!

The AfC helper script can assist you in tallying your edits automatically. To view a full list of changes, visit the changelog. Please report bugs and feature requests there, too! Thanks. Sent on behalf of (tJosve05a (c) by {{U|Technical 13}} (t • e • c) using the MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 15:45, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 21 May 2014

  • News and notes: "Crisis" over Wikimedia Germany's palace revolution
    Last Sunday the board of Wikimedia Germany passed 9–1 a vote of no confidence in the chapter's executive director, Pavel Richter, who has held the position since 2009. With more than 50 employees, an annual budget approaching $10 million, and the right to conduct its own fundraising through the Wikimedia Foundation's (WMF) site banners, Wikimedia Germany is the second-largest organisation in the movement after the WMF itself. The decision was announced on the Wikimedia mailing list by the chapter chair, Nikolas Becker.
  • Traffic report: Doodles' dawn
    It's a relief to see Google Doodles having an impact again; their wide coverage means that they inspire curiosity on many subjects which, for reasons of nationality, ethnicity or gender, might not be known in the English-speaking world. It's a shame then, that Wikipedia so often fails to keep up; articles on Google Doodles are almost invariably C-class, and seldom do justice to their subjects. Still, interest in Google Doodles has been waning in recent months—Audrey Hepburn last week was the first to top the list since December—so any rise in popularity is worth celebrating.

Your Revert

Nuuuu! Thanks for the revert though. --JustBerry (talk) 17:40, 26 May 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 28 May 2014

  • News and notes: The English Wikipedia's second featured-article centurion; wiki inventor interviewed on video
    With the promotion to featured article of Grus (constellation) on 17 May, Casliber became Wikipedia's second featured-article centurion, following Wehwalt's groundbreaking achievement last December. Cas's first FA, Banksia integrifolia, a group effort, was promoted on 16 November 2006. His first solo project, Diplodocus, followed in January 2007; he has rarely been off the FAC since. In a second story, Ward Cunningham, an American computer programmer who invented the wiki, was interviewed by the WMF.
  • Featured content: Zombie fight in the saloon
    Wikipedia editor Sven Manguard's work is quite underappreciated a lot of the time, most likely because people haven't heard of it yet: He's developed good relationships with game companies, and is thus able to get full-resolution screenshots released under a Creative Commons license for use on Wikipedia and elsewhere. This week's trove of new featured items on the English Wikipedia comprises seven articles, three lists, and four pictures.
  • Traffic report: Get fitted for flipflops and floppy hats
    In the US, Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer, and summer is definitely on people's minds this week, with summer films Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past, the apparently designated summer song "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea, and summer TV show, Game of Thrones.
  • Recent research: Predicting which article you will edit next
    Wikipedia in the eyes of its beholders; "Chinese-language time zones" favor Asian pop and IT topics on Wikipedia; and bipartite editing prediction in Wikipedia.

The Signpost: 04 June 2014

  • Special report: IEG funding for women's stories: a new approach to the gender gap
    Individual engagement grants (IEGs) are announced twice yearly by a volunteer WMF committee, the most recent of which we covered last December. The scheme, launched at the start of last year, awards funds to individuals or teams of up to four to produce high-impact outcomes for the WMF's online projects. It favours innovative approaches to solving critical issues in the movement.
  • News and notes: Two new affiliate-selected trustees
    New trustee Frieda Briosch from Italy: we face "a couple of headaches", she says: "how to boost editors, which includes the development of the next strategic plan, and how to keep our project always 'glamorous'."
  • Op-ed: "Hospitality, jerks, and what I learned"—the amazing keynote at WikiConference USA
    I never feel quite adequate trying to paraphrase Sumana's words: she is so articulate. I highly encourage every person who reads this article to directly watch her keynote—it directly speaks to a lot of Wikimedia's most significant issues, made with great eloquence. We have a serious issue with retaining editors, and parts of her speech could serve as a pretty good partial blueprint towards how we could begin to fix that problem.
  • Featured content: Ye stately homes of England
    David Iliff, or Diliff, as he is known on here outside of the file pages for his many, many, excellent photographs, is one of Wikipedia's longest-standing professional-standard photographers. This week, the Signpost salutes him.
  • Traffic report: Autumn in summer
    The northern summer is a time when one is meant to celebrate the exuberance of life; instead, commemoration of the dead was a significant theme this week.

The Signpost: 11 June 2014

  • News and notes: PR agencies commit to ethical interactions with Wikipedia
    Eleven public relations agencies have declared their intention to follow "ethical engagement practices" in Wikipedia editing. The results were published last Tuesday: a joint statement from the participating PR agencies—representing five of the top ten global agencies and all but one of the top ten in the United States—clarifying their views and practices with regards to the Wikimedia projects.
  • Traffic report: The week the wired went weird
    It seems that, more than commemorating the great moments in our history, more than even anticipating great sporting events, what our audience wants is the weird.
  • Paid editing: Does Wikipedia Pay? The Moderator: William Beutler
    William Beutler (WWB), author of the blog The Wikipedian, is a long-time editor and community-watcher. He is also a paid editor (WWB Too). Well—not anymore—because he gave up direct editing of articles in 2011. Instead, for the past three years he has followed Jimmy Wales' Bright Line rule in acting as a researcher and consultant for companies and clients that want to suggest changes to Wikipedia articles and engage on the Talk page.
  • Special report: Questions raised over secret voting for WMF trustees
    Last week we reported the announcement of two new affiliate-selected WMF trustees. The board of trustees is the most powerful and influential body in the movement, and chapters have been permitted to select two of the 10 seats since 2008, for two-year terms that start in even-numbered years.
  • Featured content: Politics, ships, art, and cyclones
    Five articles, one list, twelve pictures, and one topic were promoted to 'featured' status last week on the English Wikipedia.

The Signpost: 18 June 2014

  • Featured content: Worming our way to featured picture
    Five articles, five lists, 22 pictures, and one portal were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
  • Special report: Wikimedia Bangladesh: a chapter's five-year journey
    The Bangladesh chapter of the Wikimedia movement was formed in 2009. They received official local registration from the national authorities on 10 June 2014. The long road in between was subject to much persistence, patience, and luck—along with a good deal of worry.
  • Traffic report: You can't dethrone Thrones
    To the surprise of absolutely no one, the 2014 FIFA World Cup was the main draw this week, taking four slots. People appeared desperate to bone up on their trivia; checking not only this year's World Cup, but the last one. Even so, they still couldn't push Game of Thrones from the top ten. It will be interesting to see what happens come next week's season finale.
  • WikiProject report: Visiting the city
    This week, the Signpost came in from the hinterland to interview members of the Cities WikiProject.

The Signpost: 25 June 2014

  • News and notes: US National Archives enshrines Wikipedia in Open Government Plan
    The US National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) have committed to engaging with Wikimedia projects in their newest Open Government Plan. The biannual effort is a roadmap for how the agency will accomplish its goals in the digital age.
  • Traffic report: Fake war, or real sport?
    Despite the interest generated by its season finale, Game of Thrones still couldn't top the World Cup, which still dominated interest, as evidenced by the fact that this top 10 is virtually identical to last week's, just with a different dead celebrity.
  • Featured content: Showing our Wörth
    Ten articles and eleven pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
  • WikiProject report: The world where dreams come true
    This week, the Signpost visited the land of Disney, blockbusters, explosions, dream sequences, and cultural masterpieces: film.
  • Recent research: Power users and diversity in WikiProjects
    In a recent paper, Jacob Solomon and Rick Wash investigate the question of sustainability in online communities by analysing trends in the growth of WikiProjects.

The Signpost: 02 July 2014

  • In the media: Wiki Education; medical content; PR firms
    The Los Angeles Times highlighted a recent Wiki Education Foundation (WEF) course at Pomona College in their article "Wikipedia pops up in bibliographies, and even college curricula". We interviewed Char Booth, the campus ambassador for the course, for additional details.
  • Traffic report: The Cup runneth over... and over.
    With Game of Thrones over for another year, the World Cup dominated yet again. And that is pretty much that. This list isn't likely to be particularly eventful until the Cup is won.
  • News and notes: Wikimedia Israel receives Roaring Lion award
    Wikimedia Israel (WMIL) has won a Roaring Lion in the category of Internet and cellular for its public outreach during the tenth anniversary of the Hebrew Wikipedia in July 2013.
  • Featured content: Ship-shape
    Six articles, five lists, seventeen pictures, and one topic were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
  • Technology report: In memoriam: the Toolserver (2005–14)
    In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Wikimedia Deutschland's Toolserver project was switched off, marking the end of one of the Wikimedia movement's longest running Chapter-led projects. The Toolserver, which was in fact a collection of servers, first came online in 2005, hosting hundreds of webpages and scripts ("tools") made available for use by Wikimedia readers, editors and administrators.

The Signpost: 09 July 2014

  • Special report: Wikimania 2014—what will it cost?
    Last May, James Forrester announced to the world that London had been awarded the 2014 Wikimania conference. Functioning as the Wikimedia movement's annual conference, it is separate from the chapter-focused Wikimedia Conference. The first, located in Frankfurt, took place in 2005 and had 380 attendees. London, the tenth, is now expected to attract 1500. With Wikimania ambition, attention, and attendance rising significantly over the last nine years, how have this year's monetary costs come to be?
  • Wikimedia in education: Exploring the United States and Canada with LiAnna Davis
    The Wikimedia Education Program currently spans 60 programs around the world; students and instructors participate at almost every level of education. The Education program Signpost series presents a snapshot of the Wikimedia Global Education Program as it exists in 2014.
  • Traffic report: World Cup, Tim Howard rule the week
    Unsurprisingly, the World Cup continued to dominate the English Wikipedia's viewing statistics. In particular, the record-breaking performance of US goalkeeper Tim Howard and the tournament-ending injury to Brazil's Neymar drove large amount of views to their articles.

The Signpost: 16 July 2014

  • Special report: $10 million lawsuit against Wikipedia editors withdrawn, but plaintiff intends to refile
    On the same day the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) announced it would offer assistance to English Wikipedia editors embroiled in a legal dispute with Yank Barry, the lawsuit has been withdrawn without prejudice at the request of Barry's legal team—but this action is being described as "strategic" so that they can refile the lawsuit with a "new, more comprehensive complaint."
  • Featured content: The Island with the Golden Gun
    Eight articles, three lists, and 28 pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
  • News and notes: Bot-created Wikipedia articles covered in the Wall Street Journal, push Cebuano over one million articles
    The Swedish Wikipedia's prolific Lsjbot, which has created a significant proportion of the site's 1.7 million articles and has nearly single-handedly pushed it to being the fourth-largest Wikipedia, was covered in the Wall Street Journal this week. The newspaper reported that the bot has created 2.7 million articles, which is apparently a reference to the Waray-Waray and Cebuano Wikipedias, where Lsjbot is also active, and that "on a good day", it creates 10,000 articles.

Simone Moro

Do you have an eyewitness account, you are finally admitting the Moro. That's what you have sources you need??? Germania Breslau (talk) 12:08, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

Huh? John F. Lewis (talk) 12:08, 19 July 2014 (UTC)

MV arbitration case

Upon checking just now, I find the RfC was also advertised here, which is the usual place for discussions of site-wide interest. It was removed from the template about three weeks later. This should probably be mentioned as well; would you be amenable to adding it? Best, Andreas JN466 03:15, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Sure, I'll amend it shortly. Thanks, John F. Lewis (talk) 11:59, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
 Done John F. Lewis (talk) 14:24, 21 July 2014 (UTC)
Thanks. Andreas JN466 16:07, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Adoption. (Sort of)

Since I'm a Semi experienced editor I was wondering if I could take just your Deletion and both of the vandalism courses you have. I use twinkle.

The Courses: User:John F. Lewis/Adopt/Deletion User:John F. Lewis/Adopt/Vandalism 1.1 User:John F. Lewis/Adopt/Vandalism 1.2

Also quick question: when do you use only warning?

Thanks, Bobherry talk 17:43, 23 July 2014 (UTC)

You're free to read the pages and do the tasks at the end then ask me to look over it all but I'm not really too active with anything outside of account creation here any more :) John F. Lewis (talk) 17:47, 23 July 2014 (UTC)
Thanks Bobherry talk 14:47, 24 July 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 23 July 2014

  • Traffic report: The World Cup hangs on, though tragedies seek to replace it
    Last week I predicted that the World Cup dominance on the report would be over—but I was wrong. The World Cup Final fell on the 13th of July, which was actually the first day of the week covered by this report, not the last day of the last report. Hence, five of the Top 10 this week are again World Cup related-topics.
  • News and notes: Institutional media uploads to Commons get a bit easier
    Galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) today are facing fewer barriers to uploading their content onto Wikimedia projects now that the new GLAM-Wiki Toolset Project has been launched. The tool, which is the fruit of a collaboration between Europeana and several Wikimedia chapters, relieves GLAMs from having to write their own automated scripts and gives them a standardized method of uploading large amounts of their digitized holdings.
  • Forum: Did you know?—good idea, needs reform
    The English Wikipedia's did you know (DYK) section has been a feature of the site's main page since February 2004. From the beginning, the section has served as a place to highlight Wikipedia's newest articles. But over the last few years, the did you know section has gotten steadily larger and more complex, and non-notable or plagiarized articles have occasionally slipped through the reviewing process, leading numerous editors to call for reforms to the system. We asked two editors to share their views.
  • Featured content: Why, they're plum identical!
    Ten articles, five lists, and 25 pictures were promoted to featured status on the English Wikipedia last week.

Another paragraph was removed by an anon here Is this a valid removal or should it be restored? Cheers Jim1138 (talk) 08:48, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Looking at the ticket; seems legit. John F. Lewis (talk) 08:50, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 30 July 2014

  • Book review: Knowledge or unreality?
    In Common Knowledge: An Ethnography of Wikipedia, Dariusz Jemielniak discusses Wikipedia from the standpoint of an experienced editor and administrator who is also a university professor specializing in management and organizations. In Virtual Reality: Just Because the Internet Told You, How Do You Know It's True?, Charles Seife presents a more broadly themed work reminding us to question the reliability of information found throughout the Internet.
  • Recent research: Shifting values in the paid content debate
    Kim Osman has performed a fascinating study on the three 2013 failed proposals to ban paid advocacy editing in the English language Wikipedia. Using a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach, Osman analyzed 573 posts from the three main votes on paid editing conducted in the community in November 2013.
  • News and notes: How many more hoaxes will Wikipedia find?
    Another hoax on the English Wikipedia was uncovered this week—not by any thorough investigation, but through the self-disclosure of an anonymous change made when the editors were in their sophomore year of college. The deliberate misinformation had been in the article for over five years with plenty of individuals noticing, but not one suspected its authenticity. This leads to one obvious question: how many more are there?
  • Traffic report: Doom and gloom vs. the power of Reddit
    We indeed moved far away from football this week, and further into much more serious issues of war and death. The Israel-Palestinian conflict continues to dominate the news, and the top 10, with Gaza Strip, Israel, and Hamas. The top 25 also includes Palestine and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Death also lies behind the popularity of James Garner, the American actor who died on July 19th, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and deaths in 2014.
  • Featured content: Skeletons and Skeltons
    Two articles, four lists, and seven pictures attained featured status on the English Wikipedia last week.

The Signpost: 06 August 2014

  • Technology report: A technologist's Wikimania preview
    As the start of Wikimania proper on 8 August approaches, the Signpost looks ahead to what its dozens of presentations might offer the technologically-inclined, whether attending in person or taking advantage of what promises to be a strong digital offering.
  • Traffic report: Ebola
    Serious news continues to dominate the most popular articles chart on Wikipedia this week, with the Ebola virus disease far and away in the top spot. In the top 25, we see the related articles Ebola virus, which talks about biological aspects, at #18 and 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak at #19.

Media Viewer RfC arbitration case - extension of closure dates

Hello, you are receiving this message because you have commented on the Media Viewer RfC arbitration case. This is a courtesy message to inform you that the closure date for the submission of evidence has been extended to 17 August 2014 and the closure date for workshop proposals has been extended to 22 August 2014, as has the expected date of the proposed decision being posted. The closure dates have been changed to allow for recent developments to be included in the case. If you wish to comment, please review the evidence guidance. For the Arbitration Committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:00, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 13 August 2014

  • Special report: Twitter bots catalogue government edits to Wikipedia
    Slate reports that Tom Scott, co-creator of the emoji social network Emojli, created a Twitter bot called Parliament WikiEdits to automatically tweet a link to any Wikipedia edits made from an IP address belonging to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Scott's bot initially did not tweet any links to edits made from Parliament and, according to Scott, an "insider" reports that their IP addresses changed. Despite this, Scott's Twitter bot has inspired similar creations in numerous other countries.
  • Traffic report: Disease, decimation and distraction
    It's been a grim few weeks. It says something that formerly arresting crises like the war in Ukraine, Boko Haram and the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, despite still being ongoing, have fallen out of the top 10 to make way for the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak and the equally if not more intense conflict against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
  • Wikimania: Promised the moon, settled for the stars
    Wikimania 2014 was held last week in the Barbican Centre in London. Below, the Signpost's former "Technology report" writer Harry Burt (User:Jarry1250) shares his thoughts on a bustling conference.
  • News and notes: Media Viewer controversy spreads to German Wikipedia
    Wikimedia Foundation staff members have now been granted superpowers that would allow them to override community consensus. The new protection level came as a response to attempts of German Wikipedia administrators to implement a community consensus on the new Media Viewer. "Superprotect" is a level above full protection, and prevents edits by administrators.
  • Op-ed: Red links, blue links, and erythrophobia
    Erythrophobia is the fear of, or sensitivity to, the colour red. Recently, I have seen more and more erythrophobic Wikipedians; specifically, Wikipedians who are scared of red links. In Wikipedia's early days, red links were encouraged and well-loved, and when I started editing in 2006, this was still mostly the case. Jump forward to 2014, and many editors now have an aversion to red links.
  • In the media: Monkey selfie, net neutrality, and hoaxes
    The Observer reported (August 2) that Google would "restrict search terms to a link to a Wikipedia article, in the first request under Europe's controversial new 'right to be forgotten' legislation to affect the 110m-page encyclopaedia."

The Signpost: 20 August 2014

  • Op-ed: A new metric for Wikimedia
    Denny Vrandečić argues that "We should focus on measuring how much knowledge we allow every human to share in, instead of number of articles or active editors."

Media Viewer RfC arbitration case - motion to suspend case

You are receiving this message as you have either commented on a case page or are named as a party to the case. A motion has been proposed to suspend the Media Viewer RfC arbitration case for a maximum of 60 days due to recent developments. If you wish to comment regarding the motion there is a section on the proposed decision talk page for this. For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs). Message delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) at 02:33, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 August 2014

  • Traffic report: Viral
    "This was a week when an actual virus, Ebola, competed for attention with several viral social phenomena; most notably the Ice Bucket Challenge..."

The Signpost: 03 September 2014

  • Arbitration report: Media viewer case is suspended
    "On 1 September, the Arbitrators voted to suspend the Media Viewer case for 60 days. After the suspension period is up, the case is to be closed unless the committee votes otherwise. The case suspension comes in response to several new initiatives and policies announced by the Wikimedia Foundation that may make the case moot. In the same motion, the committee declared that Eloquence's resignation of the administrator right was "under the cloud" and that he can only regain the right through another RfA."
  • Traffic report: Holding Pattern
    "This week we saw three of the top ten articles remain in place, with the Ice Bucket Challenge at #1, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at #2, and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant at #5, all for a second straight week..."
  • WikiProject report: Gray's Anatomy (v. 2)
    "This week, the Signpost went out to meet WikiProject Anatomy, dedicated to improving the articles about all our bones, brains, bladders and biceps, and getting them to the high standard expected of a comprehensive encyclopaedia."

The Signpost: 10 September 2014

  • Op-ed: Media Viewer software is not ready
    Last month, I wrote an open letter to the Wikimedia Foundation, inviting others to join me in a simple but important request: roll back the recent actions—both technical and social—by which the Wikimedia Foundation has overruled legitimate decisions of several Wikimedia projects.
  • Traffic report: Refuge in celebrity
    Even though it's not quite 3/4 over, it's safe to say that 2014 will go down as a year of war, mass murder, plane crashes and terrible diseases. While certainly paying it some heed, it's not surprising that Wikipedia viewers tried this week to find any alternative to that litany of tragedy and pain, and their chosen method of escape was, as usual, celebrity.
  • Featured content: The louse and the fish's tongue
    The amazing and strange tongue-eating louse replacing a fish's tongue! Because isopods, the subject of a new featured article, are both awesome and really damn weird!
  • WikiProject report: Checking that everything's all right
    This week, the Signpost decided to have a look around with WikiProject Check Wikipedia a maintenance project not concerned so much with articles' content, but in all the tiny errors that are to be found scattered within them. Their front page gives a list of things they mainly focus on ...

The Signpost: 17 September 2014

  • WikiProject report: A trip up north to Scotland
    As Scotland is deciding its future this week, we thought it might be a good idea to get to know the editors of WikiProject Scotland and talk to them about the project.
  • Featured content: Which is not like the others?
    Four articles, two lists, and 51 pictures were promoted to "featured" status this week on the English Wikipedia.

Thanks for taking care of the issues through OTRS. I have had this article on my watchlist for years. Not only do I coordinate WP:WPSCH but by pure coincidence the place is located in my home town. There is always a lot of local conjecture surrounding the place but the Wikipedia article must be kept neutral. Let me know on my talk page if at any time you would like me to semi protect the page. --Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 15:21, 18 September 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 24 September 2014

  • Featured content: Oil paintings galore
    Six articles, four lists, one topic, and 17 pictures were promoted to "featured" status this week on the English Wikipedia.
  • In the media: Indian political editing, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Congressional chelonii
    The Hindustan Times speculates (September 18) that politicians and their supporters are "sanitizing" their articles in advance of the 2014 Maharashtra State Assembly election. The Times notes the absence of significant controversies in the articles of particular politicians and the presence of heavily promotional language.
  • Traffic report: Wikipedia watches the referendum in Scotland
    This could be the beginning of a new era for this list. Until now, decisions to remove suspicious content have been largely educated guesswork. This week though, we have a new collaborator who can shine a light on the origins and patterns, sorting once and for all the webwheat from the cyberchaff.
  • WikiProject report: GAN reviewers take note: competition time
    A year and a week later, we're with some of the members of WikiProject Good Articles, who wanted to share the news of their upcoming contest within the project, the GA Cup. The aim of this friendly competition, which is held in the same light friendly manner of the WikiCup and the Core Contest, is to reduce the backlog of unreviewed articles at Good article nominations which has been a constant problem for quite a few years for those running the GA process.
  • Arbitration report: Banning Policy, Gender Gap, and Waldorf education
    Banning Policy finishes the workshop phase on 23 September. Parties have proposed findings of fact on the topics of the 3RR, the role of Jimbo Wales, and proxying for banned users. A request for arbitration was posted on 20 September about Landmark Worldwide.

The Signpost: 01 October 2014

  • Dispatches: Let's get serious about plagiarism
    This article was first published in the Signpost in 2009. Written by several long-standing editors, including the late Adrianne Wadewitz, the article was subjected to extensive commentary and ultimately influenced the English Wikipedia's plagiarism guideline. With recent debates about close paraphrasing vis-à-vis plagiarism, we feel that this dispatch retains its relevance and deserves a second airing.
  • WikiProject report: Animals, farms, forests, USDA? It must be WikiProject Agriculture
    This week, the Signpost went down to the farm to have a look at the work of WikiProject Agriculture, which has been in existence since 2007 and has a scope covering crop production, livestock management, aquaculture, dairy farming and forest management.
  • Traffic report: Shanah Tovah
    Jews wished each other Shanah Tovah ("Good year") this week as Rosh Hashanah was our most popular article. It was also a week not dominated by heavy news and tragedies, so aside from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (#2, sixth week in the Top 10), our popular article list runs the gamut of current events including new television series Gotham (#3), the 2014 Asian Games (#4), and Reddit-fueled popularity for German director Uwe Boll (#7).
  • Featured content: Brothers at War
    As the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the American Civil War draws to a close, the race to improve content continues. The Battle of Franklin, fought on November 30, 1864, will, quite appropriately, be Picture of the Day for November 30, 2014, its 150th anniversary. If you want to help commemorate the American Civil War, why not help out at the Military History WikiProject's Operation Brothers at War. Or help out with the World War I centennial, just starting up, Operation Great War Centennial.

The semi protection hasn't worked and a confirmed editor replaced the removed content. I have reverted and placed the article under full protection but you may need to explain at some later stage about the OTRS ticket, without of course disclosing any confidential information. Regards, --Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 01:12, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the update. Will do if necessary within policy. John F. Lewis (talk) 06:42, 6 October 2014 (UTC)

The Signpost: 08 October 2014

  • Traffic report: Panic and denial
    The first case of the Ebola virus on US shores sent people into a tizzy, rushing to their keyboards to try and learn what they could.

The Signpost: 15 October 2014

  • Arbitration report: One case closed and two opened
    The Banning Policy case was closed on 12 October. Arbcom affirmed that users have "considerable leeway" in terms of how their talk pages are managed.
  • Traffic report: Now introducing ... mobile data
    We are pleased to report that the WP:5000 has now been updated to include mobile views, including a column reflecting the percentage of views coming from mobile devices.
  • WikiProject report: Signpost reaches the Midwest
    Today, it's the turn of WikiProject Ohio to give us an interview probing deep into of how they manage to run a project covering one fiftieth of the United States, and the workings of how they manufacture their successes and other articles.