User talk:Ruby2010/Archive 13
Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and GothaI enjoyed your entry on Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. I have a question if I may - on 05:27, 4 September 2010 you added "KJ" to his honors and titles for The Order of Saint Joachim. Do you recall the source of this reference? Many thanks, Vienna1971 (talk) 04:50, 1 January 2014 (UTC)Vienna1971 Your GA nomination of Crown DuelHi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Crown Duel you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. Your GA nomination of The Thing You Love MostHi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article The Thing You Love Most you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. The Signpost: 01 January 2014
In fact, the majority are relatively evenly split between three themes: people of interest, television, and websites.
In 2013, the arbitration committee closed 10 cases, 9 amendment requests, and 26 clarification requests.
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.
Dariusz Jemielniak's book is the newest about Wikipedia, published in Poland in 2013 and with an English edition forthcoming in 2014.
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.
Current discussions on the English Wikipedia and around the Wikimedia movement include...
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.
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).
2013 saw a lot of changes to MediaWiki software and Wikimedia infrastructure.
Your GA nomination of The Thing You Love MostThe article The Thing You Love Most you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold DYK for Elizabeth Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick
The DYK project (nominate) 16:03, 4 January 2014 (UTC) A favor...Hey, I have a favor to ask. I don't know if you watch the show Adventure Time, but I've been working on getting the episode list up to FL. Is there anyway you could pop on over to the page and vote/comment etc? I'm having a hard time getting anyone to comment on it, and I based it off of similar lists, like the one for The X-Files. Thanks!--Gen. Quon (Talk) 16:24, 4 January 2014 (UTC)
Your GA nomination of The Thing You Love MostThe article The Thing You Love Most you nominated as a good article has passed Your GA nomination of The Price of GoldHi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article The Price of Gold you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. Your GA nomination of Crown DuelThe article Crown Duel you nominated as a good article has passed The article 7:15 A.M. you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold Wikipedia Day Meetup on January 18![]() In the area? You are invited to the upcoming Minnesota meetup in commemoration of Wikipedia Day.
For more info and to sign up (not required), see the meetup talk page. This invitation was sent to users who were interested in past events. If you don't want to receive future invitations, you can remove your name from the invite list. —innotata 04:14, 10 January 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 08 January 2014
Public Domain Day—January 1, 2014—gives me an opportunity to reflect on this important asset, mandated by the Constitution of the United States.
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.
MediaWiki developers will be meeting in San Francisco on January 23–24 for an Architecture Summit.
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.
At the very start of the new year, 2014's WikiCup—an annual competition which has been held on Wikipedia in various forms since 2007—began.
This week, we spent some time with WikiProject Television.
Twelve articles, three lists, seven pictures, and a portal were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia in the last two weeks.
Your GA nomination of The Price of GoldThe article The Price of Gold you nominated as a good article has passed Lesser GACHi Ruby, wanted you know that I just finished addressing your feedback at Talk:Gerald S. Lesser/GA1. Thanks, I appreciate you taking the time to work on the review. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 20:21, 12 January 2014 (UTC)
Can you merge this article into A Beautiful Mind (film) without repetition? --George Ho (talk) 00:45, 13 January 2014 (UTC)
DYK for Lady of Sherwood
— Nyttend (talk) 03:23, 13 January 2014 (UTC) 00:38, 14 January 2014 (UTC) DYK for Georgiana Spencer, Countess Spencer
Orlady (talk) 08:23, 14 January 2014 (UTC) Your GA nomination of Snow FallsHi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Snow Falls you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. Your GA nomination of That Still Small VoiceHi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article That Still Small Voice you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. Your GA nomination of Snow FallsThe article Snow Falls you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold DYK for The Memoirs of Cleopatra
Harrias talk 08:02, 18 January 2014 (UTC) Your GA nomination of That Still Small VoiceThe article That Still Small Voice you nominated as a good article has been placed on hold The Signpost: 15 January 2014
Wikimedia Germany, the largest national affiliate, has authored an extensive critique of the Funds Dissemination Committee's process for issuing funding recommendations for the various large organizations in the movement.
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.
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.
Wikipedia's recent decline in readership, possibly due to Google's Knowledge Graph. ... Judith Newman in the New York Times asks "What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page?"
We now can get a far more accurate picture of which short surges in popularity are likely natural and which are not.
This week, we studied human social behavior with the folks at WikiProject Sociology.
This week's article for improvement
Hey Ruby, thank you again for your review of List of plantations in West Virginia. I made your suggestions and addressed your comments at the FL nom talk page. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions to improve this to FL status! Thanks for everything! -- Caponer (talk) 22:09, 21 January 2014 (UTC)
Your GA nomination of Snow FallsThe article Snow Falls you nominated as a good article has passed January 2014
WikiProject Good Articles December 2013 Backlog DriveHi everyone, I've noticed that a few of you haven't updated your totals as several reviews have passed but on the backlog page, it still says that the article is under review or on hold. Please update your totals and continue to do so until February 1. If the status of a review is under review or on hold according to the backlog page, even though the article may have passed/failed, it will not count towards your final total. For those that made pledges during the drive, the final donation amount will be determined sometime in February. Thank-you.Sent by Dom497 using MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:17, 23 January 2014 (UTC) DYK for List of Minnesota state symbols
— Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:02, 24 January 2014 (UTC) FLC for World Fantasy Award for Best NovellaHi, I've addressed your concerns at Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/World Fantasy Award for Best Novella/archive1; would you consider returning to the nomination to support? Thanks, --PresN 19:37, 24 January 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 22 January 2014
A particularly esoteric anthology of speculative fiction, filled with imaginary Wikipedia entries from, as the introduction puts it, "the many Wikipedias across the Multiverse."
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.
Fifteen articles, nine lists, twenty pictures, and one topic were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.
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.
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.
An article in USA Today announced that a European-funded project called RoboEarth that is designed to give robots a mechanism by which to access information to dispense.
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.
Your GA nomination of That Still Small VoiceThe article That Still Small Voice you nominated as a good article has passed This week's article for improvement
DYK for Elizabeth Smith-Stanley, Countess of Derby
Orlady (talk) 16:01, 31 January 2014 (UTC) WikiCup 2014 January newsletterThe 2014 WikiCup is off to a flying start, with, at time of writing, 138 participants. The is the largest number of participants we have seen since 2010. If you are yet to join the competition, don't worry- the judges have agreed to keep the signups open for a few more days. By a wide margin, our current leader is newcomer
Featured articles, featured lists, featured topics and featured portals are yet to play a part in the competition. The judges have removed a number of submissions which were deemed ineligible. Typically, we aim to see work on a project, followed by a nomination, followed by promotion, this year. We apologise for any disappointment caused by our strict enforcement this year; we're aiming to keep the competition as fair as possible. Wikipedians interested in friendly competition may be interested to take part in The Core Contest; unlike the WikiCup, The Core Contest is not about audited content, but, like the WikiCup, it is about article improvement; specifically, The Core Contest is about contribution to some of Wikipedia's most important article. Of course, any work done for The Core Contest, if it leads to a DYK, GA or FA, can earn WikiCup points. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 19:54, 1 February 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 29 January 2014
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.
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.
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 Kafziel case has been closed, with Kafziel losing his administrator status as a result.
An author experimented with "a promising type of assignment in formal translator training which involves translating and publishing Wikipedia articles", in three courses with students at the University of Warsaw.
This week's article for improvement (week 6, 2014)
The Signpost: 29 January 2014
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.
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.
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 Kafziel case has been closed, with Kafziel losing his administrator status as a result.
An author experimented with "a promising type of assignment in formal translator training which involves translating and publishing Wikipedia articles", in three courses with students at the University of Warsaw.
GAN Backlog Drive Award
DYK for Crown Duel
Allen3 talk 18:30, 5 February 2014 (UTC) Pride & PrejudiceI'm translating your article Pride & Prejudice (2005 film) to Chinese Wikipedia at here, but I found a little problem at the refs: 1. this link already dead: Ruhlmann, William. "Pride & Prejudice [Original Score] Album Reviews". Billboard. Retrieved 2002-05-11. 2. this line has been redirect, the author went to William Ruhlmann, not Jon O'Brien anymore: Ruhlmann, William. "Pride & Prejudice [Original Score]". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2013-06-24. Retrieved 2014-02-07. I'm consider change the link NO. 2 to replace NO. 1, but I can not found the article written by Jon O'Brien, could you help me out here? Thank you so much.--Jarodalien (talk) 09:42, 7 February 2014 (UTC)
This week's article for improvement (week 7, 2014)
DYK nomination of A Beautiful Mind (soundtrack)
The Signpost: 12 February 2014As 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.
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.
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
Thirteen articles, three lists, and twenty-five images were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia from 19 January to 1 February.
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.
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.
DYK for A Beautiful Mind (soundtrack)
The DYK project (nominate) 05:38, 14 February 2014 (UTC) This week's article for improvement (week 8, 2014)
Elizabeth HomeGreetings! I'm looking over your DYK submission. I have JSTOR access, so I'm able to read both Lewis and Pocock & Cook. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see anything in either source for James Lawes being "the richest," although we certainly have support for "most eligible."— alf laylah wa laylah (talk) 23:55, 17 February 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 19 February 2014
The Wikimedia Foundation has proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' Terms of use to specifically ban undisclosed paid editing. ... Dimitris Liourdis, a lawyer in training who moonlights as an administrator on the Greek Wikipedia, is embroiled in a legal dispute with a Greek politician over alleged edits made to his Wikipedia article.
Runa Bhattacharjee has notified the community that the Foundation is ready to turn the Universal Language Selector back on.
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.
Five articles, seven lists, forty-three pictures, and two portals were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia in the last two weeks.
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.
March 2014 GAN Backlog DriveIt's that time again! Starting on March 1, there will be another GAN Backlog Drive! There will be several changes compared to previous drives:
Also, something that I thought I would share with all of you is that we raised $20.88 (USD) for the WMF in the December 2013 drive. It may not sound like a lot but considering that that was raised just because we reviewed articles, I would say that's pretty good! With that success, pledges can be made for the upcoming drive if you wish. More info regarding the drive and full descriptions regarding the changes to this drive can be found on the the drive page. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a message on the drive talk page. I look forward to your participation and hope that because of it, some day the backlog will be gone! --Dom497 --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:58, 22 February 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 26 February 2014About 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.
Eight articles, three lists, and nine pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
This week, we found three Ph.D.s willing to give us a crash course on WikiProject Neuroscience.
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.
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.
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.
The monthly roundup of recent academic research about Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, edited jointly with the Wikimedia Research Committee.
WikiCup 2014 February newsletterAnd so ends the most competitive first round we have ever seen, with 38 points required to qualify for round 2. Last year, 19 points secured a place; before that, 11 (2012) or 8 (2011) were enough. This is both a blessing and a curse. While it shows the vigourous good health of the competition, it also means that we have already lost many worthy competitors. Our top three scorers were:
Other competitors of note include:
After such a competitive first round, expect the second round to also be fiercely fought. Remember that any content promoted after the end of round 1 but before the start of round 2 can be claimed in round 2, but please do not update your submission page until March (UTC). Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page. Remember, if two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points equally. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 00:01, 1 March 2014 (UTC) GAN March 2014 Backlog DriveThe March 2014 GAN Backlog Drive has begun and will end on April 1, 2014! Sent by Dom497 on behalf of MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:01, 1 March 2014 (UTC) DYK for Wilhelmina FitzClarence, Countess of Munster
Thank you from the DYK project and me Victuallers (talk) 16:01, 2 March 2014 (UTC) WikiCupWell, I've already been eliminated from the competition, so I now wish you the best of luck! Any works in progress related to Fiona Apple, or the Fringe (season 4) and Once Upon a Time (season 1) good topics? If so, I'll be watching! :) --Another Believer (Talk) 18:55, 5 March 2014 (UTC)
LostYou might have noticed that I've decided to continue with your old Lost project (after some user with with similar intentions contacted me - you might want talk to him as well), and nominated The Cost of Living (Lost) to the GA - can take a look at it while I wait the review? Thanks. igordebraga ≠ 04:51, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
Your GA nomination of Skin Deep (Once Upon a Time)Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Skin Deep (Once Upon a Time) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. Your GA nomination of Girl with a Pearl Earring (film)Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Girl with a Pearl Earring (film) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. (test) The Signpost: 05 March 2014
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.
Current discussions on the English Wikipedia include...
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.
The WikiCup competition is ongoing, while six articles, three lists, and ten pictures were promoted to "featured" status of the English Wikipedia this week.
This week, the Signpost delved into the English Wikipedia's Article Rescue Squadron.
DYK for Olivia Hetreed
The DYK project (nominate) 10:37, 11 March 2014 (UTC) DYK for Girl with a Pearl Earring (film)
The DYK project (nominate) 10:38, 11 March 2014 (UTC) DYK for Evelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 16:53, 13 March 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 12 March 2014Wikimedians 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.
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.
Five articles, two lists, and 52 pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
This week, we interviewed Anaxibia from the Russian-language Entomology WikiProject.
Operation LostHey, I saw you're interested in Lost articles. I'm currently working on a new project codenamed Operation Lost dedicated to all Lost articles. Interested in helping? -Newyorkadam (talk) 01:27, 17 March 2014 (UTC)Newyorkadam P.S. I know you opposed Walkabout (Lost) for FA, but maybe we can work together to get it there :D?
DYK for Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
The DYK project (nominate) 08:01, 19 March 2014 (UTC) DYK for Through a Dark Mist
The DYK project (nominate) 00:02, 20 March 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 19 March 2014Non-US editors and chapters have taken issue with a multitude of image deletions done on the Wikimedia Commons to comply with the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, a US law that brought the country into compliance with the Berne Convention.
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.
In a record-breaker, the English Wikipedia has a new largest good topic: the 71-article Light cruisers of Germany, which concerns the light cruisers used by Germany during the 20th century.
Twelve articles, fourteen lists, and six pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
One of the first university Wikipedian in residence positions, hosted at Harvard University in 2012, has jumped back into the spotlight amid questions about its ethical integrity.
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.
The Wikimedia engineering report for February 2014 has been published. A summarized version is also available. Major news include
Help on Divergent (novel)Hey, so I thought of you as I started working on Divergent (novel) the recent publicity in response to the movie, has been creating a recent surge of views, and the content is rather poor. Would you be interested in helping me work on it> It's a fairly easy read (and can email you an unlocked epub that reads well if you need), and I am starting to ad scholarship and trim the plot now. I am doing this to spend a little time not working on my normal scholarship, (i.e. the Heyer novels, etc). Anyway, hope you are well, and happy editing, Sadads (talk) 19:06, 24 March 2014 (UTC)
Your GA nomination of Girl with a Pearl Earring (film)Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Girl with a Pearl Earring (film) you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. Good morning Ruby! I wanted to touch base with you regarding my nomination of List of plantations in West Virginia for FL. You had originally provided feedback for and supported my earlier nomination at Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/List of plantations in West Virginia/archive1, but because I had more than two nominations at one time, I had to withdrawal that nomination. I've renominated the list at Wikipedia:Featured list candidates/List of plantations in West Virginia/archive2. When you have a moment, could you please re-review and let me know if you see any outstanding issues with the list? I appreciate all your guidance and support! -- Caponer (talk) 11:52, 27 March 2014 (UTC)
Your GA nomination of Girl with a Pearl Earring (film)The article Girl with a Pearl Earring (film) you nominated as a good article has passed The Signpost: 26 March 2014
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.
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.
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.
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.
Four articles, two lists, and twelve pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
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.
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.
This week, the Signpost interviewed the English Wikipedia's Mountains WikiProject.
WikiCup 2014 March newsletterA quick update as we are half way through round two of this year's competition. WikiCup newcomer With 26 people having already scored over 100 points, it is likely that well over 100 points will be needed to secure a place in round 3. Recent years have required 123 (2013), 65 (2012), 41 (2011) and 100 (2010). Remember that only 64 will progress to round 3 at the end of April. Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page; if two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points equally. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 22:55, 31 March 2014 (UTC) DYK for Elizabeth Home, Countess of Home
Thanks for making April 1st special Victuallers (talk) 08:03, 1 April 2014 (UTC) Disambiguation link notification for April 2Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited List of colleges and universities in Indiana, you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page Anderson University (check to confirm | fix with Dab solver). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. Read the FAQ • Join us at the DPL WikiProject. It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, DPL bot (talk) 08:54, 2 April 2014 (UTC) WikiCup errorHi there- this is just a quick note to apologise for a small but important mistake in the last WikiCup newsletter; it is not 64 users who will progress to the next round, but 32. J Milburn (talk) 18:48, 3 April 2014 (UTC) Hi Ruby, I very much doubt you remember this, but you added an ancestry section to the article, and now it needs to be sourced. Can you remember where you found the info? Thanks, Matty.007 17:25, 4 April 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 02 April 2014The run-up to the conference has seen the unfolding of two fractious threads on the Wikimedia public mailing list, both of which may serve as background for the last session at Berlin: "Future of the Wikimedia Conference".
This week, we visited with WikiProject Germany.
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.
The Signpost's "Featured content" writers had a bit of fun this week.
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.
100 DYK Creation and Expansion Medal
The Signpost: 09 April 2014
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.
This week, we interviewed the Law WikiProject.
"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."
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.
Five article, five lists, and ten pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
Conversation copied from GOCE Requests page. Cheers, Baffle gab1978 (talk) I've just substantially expanded this article and would like a copyeditor to give it a good final polish, as I plan to eventually take it to the levels of a GA and FA. Thanks in advance! Ruby 2010/2013 03:28, 6 March 2014 (UTC)
DYK for Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll
slakr\ talk / 08:27, 15 April 2014 (UTC) DYK for Charlotte Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch
The DYK project (nominate) 17:32, 18 April 2014 (UTC) DYK for In the Shadow of Midnight
Thanks for helping the wiki on Easter Sunday Victuallers (talk) 08:17, 20 April 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 23 April 2014
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.
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!
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.
This week, we visited WikiProject Catholicism.
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.
If I were the kind of person who made snap judgments based on flimsy evidence, I'd say our readership is in a funk.
Fourteen articles, four lists, seven pictures, and one topic attained "featured" status on the English Wikipedia over the last two weeks.
DYK for The Last Arrow
The DYK project (nominate) 23:52, 26 April 2014 (UTC) Hi, Ruby! Given your success in promoting the Minnesota list to FL status, I thought I would point out List of Idaho state symbols. If you are interested, this would be a pretty easy list to complete then nominate for FL status. I was working on it once, but never found time to complete it. I just came across it again and thought of you. Again, just if you are interested and want points for the WikiCup! Best, --Another Believer (Talk) 16:50, 27 April 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 30 April 2014
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.
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.
The Wikimedia Foundation has announced that its new executive director will be Lila Tretikov, until now a chief product officer in Silicon Valley.
This week, we unraveled the mysteries of WikiProject Genetics.
Ed Roley, Associate Director of Integrated Media at the Peabody Essex Museum, talks about GLAM engagement with Wikipedia.
Four articles and sixteen featured pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
Can you predict the number of seasonal influenza-like illness in the U.S. using data from Wikipedia?
WikiCup 2014 April newsletterRound 3 of the 2014 WikiCup has just begun; 32 competitors remain. Pool G's 192 was our lowest qualifying score, again showing that this WikiCup is the most competitive ever. In previous years, 123 (2013), 65 (2012), 41 (2011) or 100 (2010) secured a place in Round 3. Pool H was the strongest performer, with all but one of its members advancing, while only the two highest scorers in Pools G and F advanced. At the end of June, 16 users will advance into the semi-finals. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, please do your bit to help keep down the review backlogs! Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn (talk • email), The ed17 (talk • email) and Miyagawa (talk • email) 17:57, 4 May 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 07 May 2014The 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.
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 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.
Round 3 of the 2014 WikiCup has just begun; 32 competitors remain.
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.
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.
Four articles, two lists, and five pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia last week.
Your GA nomination of Wilhelmina FitzClarence, Countess of MunsterHi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Wilhelmina FitzClarence, Countess of Munster you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria.
DYK for Violet Manners, Duchess of Rutland
— Crisco 1492 (talk) 02:33, 17 May 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 14 May 2014
On 2 May 2012, the Wikimania jury announced that Hong Kong's bid to hold the 2013 event had beaten four other proposals. Moderator James Forrester wrote: "The Jury has confidence that the Hong Kong bidding team will pull off a magnificent Wikimania,"—and indeed there were positive comments about the event from most attendees.
This week, the Signpost jumped over the ocean to chat with the Puerto Rico WikiProject.
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?
Six articles, seven lists, and four pictures were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia this week.
Eurovision is known for being political, and it was a doozy this week.
The Media Viewer is scheduled to launch on the English Wikipedia next week.
The Signpost: 21 May 2014
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.
Thirteen articles, sixteen pictures, and one topic were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
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 GA nomination of Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of ArgyllHi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria.
Your GA nomination of Wilhelmina FitzClarence, Countess of MunsterThe article Wilhelmina FitzClarence, Countess of Munster you nominated as a good article has passed DYK for Princess Marie Amelie of Baden
Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:20, 1 June 2014 (UTC) The Signpost: 28 May 2014
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.
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.
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.
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 2014Individual 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.
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'."
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.
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.
The month of May saw significant coverage concerning the reliability of Wikipedia's medical articles.
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.
Your GA nomination of Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of ArgyllThe article Elizabeth Campbell, Duchess of Argyll you nominated as a good article has passed The Signpost: 11 June 2014
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.
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.
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.
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.
Five articles, one list, twelve pictures, and one topic were promoted to 'featured' status last week on the English Wikipedia.
Precious againwriters and royalty A year ago, you were the 154th recipient of my PumpkinSky Prize, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:15, 15 June 2014 (UTC)
The Signpost: 18 June 2014
The Wikimedia Foundation has amended its terms of use to ban editing for pay without disclosing an employer or affiliation on any of its websites. The broad scope of these changes will allow the WMF to selectively enforce their terms of use to avoid ensnaring well-meaning editors.
Five articles, five lists, 22 pictures, and one portal were promoted to 'featured' status on the English Wikipedia last week.
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.
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.
This week, the Signpost came in from the hinterland to interview members of the Cities WikiProject.
DYK for My Lord John
— Crisco 1492 (talk) 13:52, 23 June 2014 (UTC) HeyDo you have any tips on getting around with other editors on the site? No one seems to be that charismatic... URDNEXT (talk) 03:24, 25 June 2014 (UTC) DYK for Harriet Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville
Gatoclass (talk) 00:03, 26 June 2014 (UTC) DYK for Lady Augusta Gordon
Gatoclass (talk) 08:03, 26 June 2014 (UTC) A barnstar for you!
The Signpost: 25 June 2014
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.
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.
In her first interview since taking office, Lila Tretikov, the Wikimedia Foundation's new executive director, speaks about grantmaking, the global south, and the gender gap.
Discussions on the English Wikipedia this week include...
Ten articles and eleven pictures were promoted to "featured" status on the English Wikipedia this week.
This week, the Signpost visited the land of Disney, blockbusters, explosions, dream sequences, and cultural masterpieces: film.
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.
|