User talk:Simon Burchell/Archive 17

DYK for Título C'oyoi

On 14 May 2016, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Título C'oyoi, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the 16th-century K'iche' language document Título C'oyoi contains an account of the death of the K'iche Maya hero Tecun Uman during the Spanish conquest of Guatemala? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Título C'oyoi. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Título C'oyoi), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 13:11, 14 May 2016 (UTC)

DYK for Central Acropolis

On 22 May 2016, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Central Acropolis, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the Central Acropolis of the ancient Maya city of Tikal, built during the Late Preclassic period, served as a residence for Tikal's royal families? You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Central Acropolis), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:01, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 23, 2016

I've raised the issue with David that I don't think it's a good idea to delete images on the day an article is due to hit the Main Page. Personally, I don't keep up with image issues, and I don't know what the problem was. Do you have other images that might work? - Dank (push to talk) 14:42, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks @Dank:, how about one of the maps? Simon Burchell (talk) 19:07, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Which one do you like? - Dank (push to talk) 19:08, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

@Dank: How about the one with the Yucatan Peninsula, with invasion arrows - it is then immediately evident where the events took place - I'm using an Android at the moment, so not easy for me to copy and paste filenames, it's about half way down the page. Simon Burchell (talk) 19:13, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

Looks like File:17th century Spanish routes to Petén flat.gif, I'll pass that along. - Dank (push to talk) 19:28, 22 May 2016 (UTC)

The image is relevant to the area's geography (the context in which it's presented in the article), but it provides no meaningful illustration of anything mentioned in the blurb (which, to be clear, isn't indicative of any problems therewith).

Please see my talk page for additional thoughts on the matter. —David Levy 03:53, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Byzantine navy

Hi Simon! Regarding this edit, can you please point me to where it has been mentioned? As the main author, I'd like to see what it's about :). Cheers, Constantine ✍ 14:12, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Cplakidas: - it was mentioned here on the Independent website. Best regards, Simon Burchell (talk) 14:15, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

Thanks a lot! Constantine ✍ 14:21, 23 May 2016 (UTC)

DYK for K'atepan

On 6 June 2016, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article K'atepan, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the small Maya archaeological site of K'atepan in Guatemala is said to have been the home of the Tojolabal Maya, a group now found in neighbouring Mexico? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/K'atepan. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, K'atepan), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:01, 6 June 2016 (UTC)

Reference errors on 7 June

Hello, I'm ReferenceBot. I have automatically detected that an edit performed by you may have introduced errors in referencing. It is as follows:

• On the Central Acropolis page, your edit caused a broken reference name (help). (Fix | Ask for help)

Please check this page and fix the errors highlighted. If you think this is a false positive, you can report it to my operator. Thanks, ReferenceBot (talk) 00:15, 8 June 2016 (UTC)

Books & Bytes - Issue 17

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 17, April-May 2016
by The Interior, Ocaasi, UY Scuti, Sadads, and Nikkimaria

• New donations this month - a German-language legal resource
• Wikipedia referals to academic citations - news from CrossRef and WikiCite2016
• New library stats, WikiCon news, a bot to reveal Open Access versions of citations, and more!

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:36, 16 June 2016 (UTC)

TWL Questia check-in

Hello!

You are receiving this message because The Wikipedia Library has record of you receiving a one-year subscription to Questia. This is a brief update to remind you about that access:

• Make sure that you can still log in to your Questia account; if you are having trouble feel free to get in touch.
• When your account expires you can reapply for access at WP:Questia.
• Remember, if you find this source useful for your Wikipedia work, make sure to include citations with links on Wikipedia: links to partner resources are one of the few ways we can demonstrate usage and demand for accounts to our partners. The greater the linkage, the greater the likelihood a useful partnership will be renewed.
• Write unusual articles using this partner's sources? Did access to this source create new opportunities for you in the Wikipedia community? If you have a unique story to share about your contributions, email us and we can set up an opportunity for you to write a blog post about your work with one of our partner's resources.

Finally, we would greatly appreciate if you filled out this short survey. The survey helps us not only better serve you with facilitating this particular partnership, but also helps us discover what other partnerships and services The Wikipedia Library can offer.

Thanks! 20:25, 19 June 2016 (UTC)

FAC voluntary mentoring scheme

During a recent lengthy discussion on the WP:FAC talkpage, several ideas were put forward as to how this procedure could be improved, particularly in making it more user-friendly towards first-time nominees. The promotion rate for first-timers at FAC is depressingly low – around 16 percent – which is a cause for concern. To help remedy this, Mike Christie and I, with the co-operation of the FAC coordinators, have devised a voluntary mentoring scheme, in which newcomers will guided by more experienced editors through the stages of preparation and submission of their articles. The general format of the scheme is explained in more detail on Wikipedia: Mentoring for FAC, which also includes a list of editors who have indicated that they are prepared to act as mentors.

Would you be prepared to take on this role occasionally? If so, please add your name to the list. By doing so you incur no obligation; it will be entirely for you to decide how often and on which articles you want to act in this capacity. We anticipate that the scheme will have a trial run for a few months before we appraise its effectiveness. Your participation will be most welcome. Brianboulton (talk) 21:51, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

Many thanks for signing up. The response from would-be mentors has been most encouraging. Schemes like this are often slow to take off, and it may be a while before we know if it's working. But with this level of support, including that of many of our most experienced FA editors, I think it has every chance. Brianboulton (talk) 17:01, 30 August 2016 (UTC)

Books & Bytes - Issue 18

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 18, June–July 2016
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi, Samwalton9, UY Scuti, and Sadads

• New donations - Edinburgh University Press, American Psychological Association, Nomos (a German-language database), and more!
• Spotlight: GLAM and Wikidata
• TWL attends and presents at International Federation of Library Associations conference, meets with Association of Research Libraries
• OCLC wins grant to train librarians on Wikimedia contribution

Read the full newsletter

The Interior via MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:25, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

Do you still perform spotchecks for Spanish-language sources?

Hello Simon! I was wondering if you still do spotchecks for Spanish-language sources for featured articles candidates. Thanks! Erick (talk) 22:06, 30 September 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Erick: - yes I am still willing to do Spanish-language spotchecks when I have the time. Did you have a particular article in mind? Simon Burchell (talk) 10:04, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Yes. I have nominated Aries (album) for FAC which, like my previous nominations, has a large amount of Spanish-language sources. Thank you Simon. Erick (talk) 13:40, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

Latin American 10,000 Challenge invite

Hi. The Wikipedia:WikiProject Latin America/The 10,000 Challenge ‎ has recently started, based on the UK/Ireland Wikipedia:The 10,000 Challenge and Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The 10,000 Challenge. The idea is not to record every minor edit, but to create a momentum to motivate editors to produce good content improvements and creations and inspire people to work on more countries than they might otherwise work on. There's also the possibility of establishing smaller country or regional challenges for places like Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Argentina etc, much like Wikipedia:The 1000 Challenge (Nordic). For this to really work we need diversity and exciting content and editors from a broad range of countries regularly contributing. At some stage we hope to run some contests to benefit Latin American content, a destubathon perhaps, aimed at reducing the stub count would be a good place to start, based on the current Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The Africa Destubathon. If you would like to see this happening for Latin America, and see potential in this attracting more interest and editors for the country/countries you work on please sign up and being contributing to the challenge! This is a way we can target every country of Latin America, and steadily vastly improve the encyclopedia. We need numbers to make this work so consider signing up as a participant!♦ Dr. Blofeld 16:48, 21 October 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Doc. I seem to be really busy off-wiki these days, but I'll see what I can do. Best regards, Simon Burchell (talk) 12:25, 24 October 2016 (UTC)

Thanks.♦ Dr. Blofeld 18:11, 26 October 2016 (UTC)

Latin American 10,000 Challenge invite

Hi. The Wikipedia:WikiProject Latin America/The 10,000 Challenge ‎ has recently started, based on the UK/Ireland Wikipedia:The 10,000 Challenge and Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The 10,000 Challenge. The idea is not to record every minor edit, but to create a momentum to motivate editors to produce good content improvements and creations and inspire people to work on more countries than they might otherwise work on. There's also the possibility of establishing smaller country or regional challenges for places like Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Argentina etc, much like Wikipedia:The 1000 Challenge (Nordic). For this to really work we need diversity and exciting content and editors from a broad range of countries regularly contributing. At some stage we hope to run some contests to benefit Latin American content, a destubathon perhaps, aimed at reducing the stub count would be a good place to start, based on the current Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The Africa Destubathon. If you would like to see this happening for Latin America, and see potential in this attracting more interest and editors for the country/countries you work on please sign up and being contributing to the challenge! This is a way we can target every country of Latin America, and steadily vastly improve the encyclopedia. We need numbers to make this work so consider signing up as a participant!♦ --Ser Amantio di Nicolao^{Che dicono a Signa?}_{Lo dicono a Signa.} 00:52, 27 October 2016 (UTC)

Books and Bytes - Issue 19

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 19, September–October 2016
by Nikkimaria, Sadads and UY Scuti

• New and expanded donations - Foreign Affairs, Open Edition, and many more
• New Library Card Platform and Conference news
• Spotlight: Fixing one million broken links

Read the full newsletter

19:07, 1 November 2016 (UTC)

Interview invitation from a Wikipedia researcher in University of Minnesota

Hello Simon Burchell,

I am Bowen Yu, a Ph.D. student from GroupLens Research at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. Currently, we are undertaking a study about turnover (editors leaving and joining) in WikiProjects within Wikipedia. We are trying to understand the effects of member turnovers in the WikiProject group, in terms of the group performance and member interaction, with a purpose of learning how to build successful online communities in future. More details about our project can be found on this meta-wiki page.

I would like to invite you for an interview if you are interested in our study and willing to share your experience with us. The interview will be about 30 - 45 minutes via either Skype or Google Hangout. You will receive a $10 gift card as compensation afterwards.

Please reach me at bowen@cs.umn.edu if you are interested or have any questions.

Thank you,

Bowen

Hello, Simon Burchell. You have new messages at Bobo.03's talk page.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

ArbCom Elections 2016: Voting now open!

Hello, Simon Burchell. Voting in the 2016 Arbitration Committee elections is open from Monday, 00:00, 21 November through Sunday, 23:59, 4 December to all unblocked users who have registered an account before Wednesday, 00:00, 28 October 2016 and have made at least 150 mainspace edits before Sunday, 00:00, 1 November 2016.

The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2016 election, please review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:08, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

DYK for Beatriz de la Cueva

On 3 December 2016, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Beatriz de la Cueva, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Beatriz de la Cueva, the first female colonial governor in the New World, died in a September 11 disaster two days after taking office? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Beatriz de la Cueva. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Beatriz de la Cueva), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 00:01, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

DYK for Carazamba

On 6 December 2016, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Carazamba, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the criollista novel Carazamba may be seen as an allegory of the incorporation of the remote Petén Department into the Guatemalan nation? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Carazamba. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Carazamba), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:01, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

DYK for El Progreso Department

On 13 December 2016, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article El Progreso Department, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that El Progreso Department in Guatemala was dissolved 12 years after its creation, only to be recreated 14 years later? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/El Progreso Department. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, El Progreso Department), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:01, 13 December 2016 (UTC)

Books and Bytes - Issue 20

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 20, November-December 2016
by Nikkimaria (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), UY Scuti (talk · contribs), Samwalton9 (talk · contribs)

• Partner resource expansions
• New search tool for finding TWL resources
• #1lib1ref 2017
• Wikidata Visiting Scholar

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:59, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

Precious five years!

Precious

Five years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:06, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

Thank you! Simon Burchell (talk) 08:49, 19 February 2017 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Spanish conquest of Honduras

Hi there, I'm pleased to inform you that I've begun reviewing the article Spanish conquest of Honduras you nominated for GA-status according to the criteria. This process may take up to 7 days. Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you might have during this period. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Auntieruth55 -- Auntieruth55 (talk) 21:21, 2 March 2017 (UTC)

Disambiguation link notification for March 11

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DYK for Beacon Hill, West Sussex

On 12 March 2017, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Beacon Hill, West Sussex, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Beacon Hill, on the South Downs in West Sussex, supports the remains of a Bronze Age hillfort, an Anglo-Saxon burial mound, and a late 18th-century telegraph station? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Beacon Hill, West Sussex. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Beacon Hill, West Sussex), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Mifter (talk) 12:01, 12 March 2017 (UTC)

DYK for Blewburton Hill

On 18 March 2017, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Blewburton Hill, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Blewburton Hill in Oxfordshire features unusual lynchets of unknown age and function? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Blewburton Hill. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Blewburton Hill), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 12:04, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

I amended the coords, for three reasons: (i) they weren't shown in the top-right, so I altered |display=inline to |display=inline,title; (ii) they were given to six places of decimals, which according to WP:OPCOORD, implies a precision of 10 cm, or an object about one metre across - so I altered it to three places, or a precision of about 100 metres; (iii) there were no type: or region: parameters, so I added them.

Do you live near Blewburton Hill? I live five miles away from it. You might be interested in a Wikipedia meetup in Oxford tomorrow. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 21:38, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

No worries about the coords - no I don't live locally (2 hours by train), I just had a day off work and went hiking out that way. All the best, Simon Burchell (talk) 21:41, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

DYK for Peñol de Cerquín

On 18 March 2017, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Peñol de Cerquín, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the Peñol de Cerquín, a Lenca fortress in southern Honduras, successfully resisted the Spanish conquistadores for months? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Peñol de Cerquín. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Peñol de Cerquín), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 12:04, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

DYK for King John's Hill

On 26 March 2017, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article King John's Hill, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that King John's Hill, near Alton, Hampshire, is topped by an unusually small Iron Age hillfort, and is thought to have been the site of a hunting lodge of King John? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/King John's Hill. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, King John's Hill), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Mifter (talk) 00:02, 26 March 2017 (UTC)

Books and Bytes - Issue 21

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 21, January-March 2017
by Nikkimaria (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), UY Scuti (talk · contribs), Samwalton9 (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

• #1lib1ref 2017
• Wikipedia Library User Group
• Wikipedia + Libraries at Wikimedia Conference 2017
• Spotlight: Library Card Platform

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:54, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

I agree, but... what is the harm? 'younger then' list

I agree that one should not have to write to a list like that but if the change of a word that does not change the meaning of the sentence and removes a false positive which saves time for the editor working on that list; what is the harm? Thank you for considering another possibility. Bobdog54 (talk) 17:29, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

This is a classic case of the tail wagging the dog. The harm is the insidious creep of writing to keep the bots happy. We do not write articles for the bots/scripts etc. we write them for the general readership. If a false positive is being thrown up, the problem is not the article, it is the script, which should be amended. There was nothing wrong with the phrase as written, and rewording it is painting over the real problem. As for the list itself, it is effectively invisible to the normal readership, and by no means obvious to an experienced editor. There are potentially many, many instances where "younger then", with or without punctuation/capitalisation etc., is not a typo for "younger than". I would argue that word combinations should be removed from such lists altogether - any typos will be picked up by a reader sooner or later. All the best, Simon Burchell (talk) 08:28, 13 April 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for helping me to realize that I was being wagged a bit. Your considered response has given me food for thought. Regards, Bobdog54 (talk) 13:19, 13 April 2017 (UTC)

No problem - thank you for considering my response! All the best, Simon Burchell (talk) 10:29, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

DYK for Sagunto Castle

On 20 April 2017, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Sagunto Castle, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Hannibal sacked the Iberian settlement within the site of Sagunto Castle (pictured), an action that led to the Second Punic War? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Sagunto Castle. You are welcome to check how many page hits the article got while on the front page (here's how, Sagunto Castle), and it may be added to the statistics page if the total is over 5,000. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Mifter (talk) 00:03, 20 April 2017 (UTC)