Administrators' newsletter – April 2017

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News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2017).

  Administrator changes

  TheDJ
  XnualaCJOldelpasoBerean HunterJimbo WalesAndrew cKaranacsModemacScott

  Guideline and policy news

  • Following a discussion on the backlog of unpatrolled files, consensus was found to create a new user right for autopatrolling file uploads. Implementation progress can be tracked on Phabricator.
  • The BLPPROD grandfather clause, which stated that unreferenced biographies of living persons were only eligible for proposed deletion if they were created after March 18, 2010, has been removed following an RfC.
  • An RfC has closed with consensus to allow proposed deletion of files. The implementation process is ongoing.
  • After an unsuccessful proposal to automatically grant IP block exemption, consensus was found to relax the criteria for granting the user right from needing it to wanting it.

  Technical news

  • After a recent RfC, moved pages will soon be featured in a queue similar to Special:NewPagesFeed and require patrolling. Moves by administrators, page movers, and autopatrolled editors will be automatically marked as patrolled.
  • Cookie blocks have been deployed. This extends the current autoblock system by setting a cookie for each block, which will then autoblock the user if they switch accounts, even under a new IP.

17:53, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

Returning sockpuppet

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Permabanned user A Nobody is back using one of his old IPs. Could you please block it for a longer duration? Thanks, Reyk YO! 07:47, 4 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

Unfortunately, with a simple grammatical change like that, we can't really tell if they're still the same user; there's a reason why we don't indef IPs. As the recent edits are not harmful anyways, I'd rather err on the side of caution. -- King of 03:47, 5 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

could you please explain...

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You closed Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Queen Street East Your closing summary was "The result was redirect to List of roads in Toronto#Queen Street. Sources not provided."

You and I are long term contributors. When we started contributing we didn't delete any article on any notable topic, merely because the current version of the article suffered from weaknesses. Weaknesses like lapses from NPOV, or the recent addition of copyright material, or a lack of references, were seen as solvable problems. NPOV passages could be rewritten. Recent additions of copyright material could be excised. A lack of references can be fixed by the simple addition of references.

If a topic itself is genuinely notable, then there are references, by definition.

We modified this practice. But, unless I am mistaken, we only modified it for articles about living persons -- BLPs. BLP articles are deleted if there are no references. But, unless I am mistaken, articles that aren't about living persons are evaluated under the old standard, where an article on a notable topic is marked for improvement, if it has passages that lapse from NPOV, or if it needs (more) references.

So, what am I missing? Even the nominator doesn't dispute that the street itself is highly notable. Is there some special reason you treated this article on a street, as if it were a BLP? Geo Swan (talk) 00:01, 8 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

"Queen Street east is the unnotable half of a possibly notable road" - to say that the nominator doesn't dispute that the street is notable would be having the segment WP:INHERIT notability from the whole street. The issue is that references supporting the notability of the topic were not mentioned in the AfD, and it is the burden of those wishing to keep to provide them. They need not be actually added to the article to establish notability, but at the very least they must be presented at the AfD. -- King of 20:12, 8 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

18:35, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

April 19: WikiWednesday Salon and Skill-Share NYC

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Wednesday April 19, 7pm: WikiWednesday Salon and Skill-Share NYC
 
 

You are invited to join the Wikimedia NYC community for our monthly "WikiWednesday" evening salon (7-9pm) and knowledge-sharing workshop at Babycastles gallery by 14th Street / Union Square in Manhattan.

We will include a look at the organization and planning for our chapter, and expanding volunteer roles for both regular Wikipedia editors and new participants.

We will also follow up on plans for recent and upcoming edit-a-thons, museum and library projects, education initiatives, and other outreach activities.

We welcome the participation of our friends from the Free Culture movement and from all educational and cultural institutions interested in developing free knowledge projects.

After the main meeting, pizza/chicken/vegetables and refreshments and video games in the gallery!

7:00pm - 9:00 pm at Babycastles gallery, 137 West 14th Street

We especially encourage folks to add your 5-minute lightning talks to our roster, and otherwise join in the "open space" experience! Newcomers are very welcome! Bring your friends and colleagues! --Pharos (talk) 18:30, 15 April 2017 (UTC)Reply

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

19:32, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

16:40, 24 April 2017 (UTC)