User talk:Donald Albury/Archive 16
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Administrators' newsletter – March 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2023).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following a request for comment, F10 (useless non-media files) has been deprecated.
- Following a request for comment, the Portal CSD criteria (P1 (portal subject to CSD as an article) and P2 (underpopulated portal)) have been deprecated.
- A request for comment is open to discuss making the closing instructions for the requested moves process a guideline.
Technical news
- The results of the 2023 Community Wishlist Survey have been posted.
Arbitration
- Remedy 11 ("Request for Comment") of the Conduct in deletion-related editing case has been rescinded.
- The proposed decision for the Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 case is expected 7 March 2023.
- A case related to the Holocaust in Poland is expected to be opened soon.
Miscellaneous
- The 2023 appointees for the Ombuds commission are AGK, Ameisenigel, Bennylin, Daniuu, Emufarmers, Faendalimas, JJMC89, MdsShakil, Minorax and Renvoy as regular members and Zabe as advisory members.
- Following the 2023 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Mykola7, Superpes15, and Xaosflux.
- The Terms of Use update cycle has started, which includes a
[p]roposal for better addressing undisclosed paid editing
. Feedback is being accepted until 24 April 2023.
The Signpost: 9 March 2023
- News and notes: What's going on with the Wikimedia Endowment?
- Technology report: Second flight of the Soviet space bears: Testing ChatGPT's accuracy
- In the media: What should Wikipedia do? Publish Russian propaganda? Be less woke? Cover the Holocaust in Poland differently?
- Featured content: In which over two-thirds of the featured articles section needs to be copied over to WikiProject Military History's newsletter
- Recent research: "Wikipedia's Intentional Distortion of the Holocaust" in Poland and "self-focus bias" in coverage of global events
- From the archives: Five, ten, and fifteen years ago
Reverted Edit
Hi Donald, I noticed that you reverted an edit I made on the Jimmy Carter article, and I would like to understand your basis for doing so. My understanding of the MOS regarding geographical references is as follows:
"In geographical references that include multiple levels of subordinate divisions (e.g., city, state/province, country), a comma separates each element and follows the last element unless followed by other punctuation. The last element is treated as parenthetical."
I made two edits, each to place a comma after a city/state reference.
Please advise.
Thanks, Ed
Edward Bednar (talk) 01:23, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
- @Edward Bednar: Ooops! Sorry about that. I've self-reverted to restore your edit. - Donald Albury 12:39, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
- Thanks, Donald. Edward Bednar (talk) 14:04, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 20 March 2023
- News and notes: Wikimania submissions deadline looms, Russian government after our lucky charms, AI woes nix CNET from RS slate
- Eyewitness: Three more stories from Ukrainian Wikimedians
- In the media: Paid editing, plagiarism payouts, proponents of a ploy, and people peeved at perceived preferences
- Featured content: Way too many featured articles
- Interview: 228/2/1: the inside scoop on Aoidh's RfA
- Traffic report: Who died? Who won? Who lost?
The Signpost: 03 April 2023
- From the editor: Some long-overdue retractions
- News and notes: Sounding out, a universal code of conduct, and dealing with AI
- Arbitration report: "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland" case is ongoing
- Featured content: Hail, poetry! Thou heav'n-born maid
- Recent research: Language bias: Wikipedia captures at least the "silhouette of the elephant", unlike ChatGPT
- From the archives: April Fools' through the ages
- Disinformation report: Sus socks support suits, seems systemic
Administrators' newsletter – April 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2023).
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Guideline and policy news
- A community RfC is open to discuss whether reports primarily involving gender-related disputes or controversies should be referred to the Arbitration enforcement noticeboard.
Technical news
- Some older web browsers will not be able to use JavaScript on Wikimedia wikis starting this week. This mainly affects users of Internet Explorer 11. (T178356)
- The rollback of Vector 2022 RfC has found no consensus to rollback to Vector legacy, but has found rough consensus to disable "limited width" mode by default.
- A link to the user's Special:CentralAuth page will now appear in the subtitle links shown on Special:Contributions. This was voted #17 in the Community Wishlist Survey 2023.
Arbitration
- The Armenia-Azerbaijan 3 case has been closed.
- A case about World War II and the history of Jews in Poland has been opened, with the first evidence phase closing 6 April 2023.
The Pentagon
Please guide me to which article should I add this content? Aral90 (talk) 17:19, 12 April 2023 (UTC)
- @Aral90: We already have an extensive article on the documents at United States documents leak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A list of articles and other pages that link to that page is at Special:WhatLinksHere/United States documents leak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Note that a discussion to move the above article to 2023 Pentagon document leaks is underway at Talk:United States documents leak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine#Requested move April 8, 2023. Donald Albury 18:35, 12 April 2023 (UTC)
Philip Wylie
Hi. I'm confused. The edit you apparently reverted did not remove content; it added the listing for The Smiling Corpse (with a source). Did you possibly revert the wrong edit, or am I missing something here? Thanks. Jcejhay (talk) 19:41, 12 April 2023 (UTC)
- @Jcejhay: My bad. I misread that. I have reverted myself. My apologies. Donald Albury 19:49, 12 April 2023 (UTC)
Help
Donald,
Could you please help me. I obviously do not understand the policies of Wikipedia. It is not my intention to do anything improper. I am only attempting to write the correct history of LHPS.
Thank you. OurRepublicFirst (talk) 23:33, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
- Please read the policies, guidelines, and essays that have been posted on your talk page. And please discuss any changes you would like to see made at "Lake Highland Preparatory School" on the talk page of the article. I did try to warn you about edit warring on your talk page. Donald Albury 23:44, 15 April 2023 (UTC)
Procedural notification
Hi, I and others have proposed additional options at Wikipedia:Village_pump_(policy)#RfC_on_a_procedural_community_desysop. You may wish to review your position in that RfC. TonyBallioni (talk) 02:21, 20 April 2023 (UTC)
You've got mail
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.Doug Weller talk 10:19, 26 April 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 26 April 2023
- News and notes: Staff departures at Wikimedia Foundation, Jimbo hands in the bits, and graphs' zeppelin burns
- In the media: Contested truth claims in Wikipedia
- Obituary: Remembering David "DGG" Goodman
- Arbitration report: Holocaust in Poland, Jimbo in the hot seat, and a desysopping
- Special report: Signpost statistics between years 2005 and 2022
- News from the WMF: Collective planning with the Wikimedia Foundation
- Featured content: In which we described the featured articles in rhyme again
- From the archives: April Fools' through the ages, part two
- Humour: The law of hats
- Traffic report: Long live machine, the future supreme
Help with citations
Hello Mr. Albury
I see you've reverted my edit on dihydrogen monoxide parody. I used the following source: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/33CEF1A9E11B08354941EDB47EEB3D83/S0016756800185036a.pdf/a-question-of-nomenclature-chemical-name-for-h2o.pdf can you tell me how to cite it and if it is reliable? (see page 2 of the link) 68.2.138.130 (talk) 14:57, 30 April 2023 (UTC)
- You will find a lot of information on how add references to Wikipedia at Wikipedia:Citing sources. However, the source you have offered is not suitable. I will discuss the source you wish to use on the article's talk page, Talk:Dihydrogen monoxide parody. Donald Albury 15:48, 30 April 2023 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – May 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2023).
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Guideline and policy news
- A request for comment about removing administrative privileges in specified situations is open for feedback.
Technical news
- Progress has started on the Page Triage improvement project. This is to address the concerns raised by the community in their 2022 WMF letter that requested improvements be made to the tool.
Arbitration
- The proposed decision in the World War II and the history of Jews in Poland case is expected 11 May 2023.
Miscellaneous
- The Wikimedia Foundation annual plan 2023-2024 draft is open for comment and input through May 19. The final plan will be published in July 2023.
ConfirmRollback
I saw your comment about Mr. Stradivarius/gadgets/ConfirmRollback.js - for the script to work properly you should disable the other rollback gadgets in your preferences, as they conflict with my script. See User:Mr. Stradivarius/gadgets/ConfirmRollback § Deactivate conflicting gadgets for the documentation. If you notice any other strange behaviour after doing this, please let me know - the script hasn't been tested with the newest Vector skin, and there might be some bugs that need to be ironed out. — Mr. Stradivarius ♪ talk ♪ 03:35, 3 May 2023 (UTC)
- @Mr. Stradivarius: Cancelling rollback used to work with both the gadget and your script active, and continued to do so after I switched to Vector2022. I lost the ability to cancel rollback some time after I switched to V2022. I have now disabled the gadget, and will see what happens. I didn't mean for this to be a big deal, I just meant to point out that confirmation dialogues can fail unexpectedly, as software changes are introduced weekly, with unanticipated effects. - Donald Albury 14:07, 3 May 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 8 May 2023
- News and notes: New legal "deVLOPments" in the EU
- In the media: Vivek's smelly socks, online safety, and politics
- Recent research: Gender, race and notability in deletion discussions
- Featured content: I wrote a poem for each article, I found rhymes for all the lists; My first featured picture of this year now finally exists!
- Arbitration report: "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland" approaches conclusion
- News from the WMF: Planning together with the Wikimedia Foundation
Sorry to be a pain, but you seem to know about these things...Doesn't the Mary & George article qualify for deletion as unencyclopedic forward publicity per WP:NOT? Sweetpool50 (talk) 22:40, 9 May 2023 (UTC)
- The article is decently sourced, mostly to sources that are generally accepted as reliable. I do question whether it yet meets the requirements of the general notability guideline. Personally, though, I am not willing to nominate it for deletion. Donald Albury 23:08, 9 May 2023 (UTC)
Thanks Donald Albury. I guess my real concern is about an encyclopedia's function and how it differs from a special-interest chat-mag. In my view, a mere intention to do whatever it is falls short of fulfilment and therefore encyclopedic itemisation. I remember back before Covid there was a plan to put on a play in the West End which was announced confidently in an article (I think it was The Watsons), but then the project sank from sight. However backed by journalistic chatter (=WP:RS), if something has yet to happen it's non-news and rumor. I was wondering whether that has been a matter of concern at admin level. Sweetpool50 (talk) 12:47, 11 May 2023 (UTC)
- The relevant policy is Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a crystal ball, which allows articles about notable events that are almost certain to take place, if supported by reliable sources. I strongly suspect that if someone took the article to AfD, the result would be "keep". Donald Albury 15:58, 11 May 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 22 May 2023
- In the media: History, propaganda and censorship
- Arbitration report: Final decision in "World War II and the history of Jews in Poland"
- Featured content: A very musical week for featured articles
- Traffic report: Coronation, chatbot, celebs
On Conching
I checked my original source and much to my surprise it seems that they restored it after having previously taken it down. Here is the link: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/05/13/the-conching-rooms Q1abus (talk) 00:07, 28 May 2023 (UTC)
Is there a forum for editors?
Is there a forum for Wiki editors to discuss the work we do? Grt1718 (talk) 15:07, 29 May 2023 (UTC)
- @Grt1718: There are very many places for discussion on Wikipedia. Discussions about how to improve an article normally take place on the talk page of that article, i.e., Talk:Micanopy, Florida. There are many WikiProjects covering various areas of interest. Wikipedia:WikiProject has some links to lists of WikiProjects that you can search. Some projects are inactive, however, or have a very low level of activity. Questions about how to do something in Wikipedia can go to the Wikipedia:Help Desk. Questions about policies and guidelines can go to the talk page for the policy or guideline, or the Noticeboard, if there is one, such as Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard, where the reliability of sources is discussed. Note, however, that you should read the instructions at the top of a noticeboard before posting, as postings that do not follow the instructions may be treated roughly. Some noticeboards (the prime example being Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents, which is for issues of editor conduct) are referred to as "drama boards" because of the length and intensity of some discussions (I personally do not look at that noticeboard unless I am specifically mentioned or invited into a discussion). Donald Albury 16:06, 29 May 2023 (UTC)
ReferenceExpander
Just a friendly heads-up in case you weren't already aware, since it's installed on your common.js: Careless use of ReferenceExpander has caused serious problems. It's currently at MFD, and a large cleanup project is underway to repair the citations damaged by the script. I and several other users have !voted that the script be deleted or disabled, and I wouldn't recommend using it at all unless you thoroughly check every reference it modifies against the previous revision. If you're interested in a more detailed explanation of the script's issues, Folly Mox has provided an excellent summary at the MFD. — SamX [talk · contribs] 04:56, 1 June 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 5 June 2023
- News and notes: WMRU director forks new 'pedia, birds flap in top '22 piccy, WMF weighs in on Indian gov's map axe plea
- Featured content: Poetry under pressure
- Traffic report: Celebs, controversies and a chatbot in the public eye
Administrators' newsletter – June 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2023).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, editors indefinitely site-banned by community consensus will now have all rights, including sysop, removed.
- As a part of the Wikimedia Foundation's IP Masking project, a new policy has been created that governs the access to temporary account IP addresses. An associated FAQ has been created and individual communities can increase the requirements to view temporary account IP addresses.
Technical news
- Bot operators and tool maintainers should schedule time in the coming months to test and update their tools for the effects of IP masking. IP masking will not be deployed to any content wiki until at least October 2023 and is unlikely to be deployed to the English Wikipedia until some time in 2024.
Arbitration
- The arbitration case World War II and the history of Jews in Poland has been closed. The topic area of Polish history during World War II (1933-1945) and the history of Jews in Poland is subject to a "reliable source consensus-required" contentious topic restriction.
Miscellaneous
- Following a community referendum, the arbitration policy has been modified to remove the ability for users to appeal remedies to Jimbo Wales.
The Signpost: 19 June 2023
- News and notes: WMF Terms of Use now in force, new Creative Commons licensing
- Featured content: Content, featured
- Recent research: Hoaxers prefer currently-popular topics
You've got mail
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.Doug Weller talk 11:35, 23 June 2023 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – July 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2023).
Administrator changes
Bureaucrat changes
Guideline and policy news
- Contributions to the English Wikipedia are now released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0) license instead of CC BY-SA 3.0. Contributions are still also released under the GFDL license.
Technical news
- Discussion is open regarding a proposed global policy regarding third-party resources. Third-party resources are computer resources that reside outside of Wikimedia production websites.
Arbitration
- Two arbitration cases are currently open. Proposed decisions are expected 5 July 2023 for the Scottywong case and 9 July 2023 for the AlisonW case.
The Signpost: 3 July 2023
- Disinformation report: Imploded submersible outfit foiled trying to sing own praises on Wikipedia
- Featured content: Incensed
- Traffic report: Are you afraid of spiders? Arnold? The Idol? ChatGPT?
The Signpost: 17 July 2023
- In the media: Tentacles of Emirates plot attempt to ensnare Wikipedia
- Tips and tricks: What automation can do for you (and your WikiProject)
- Featured content: Scrollin', scrollin', scrollin', keep those readers scrollin', got to keep on scrollin', Rawhide!
- Traffic report: The Idol becomes the Master
The Signpost: 1 August 2023
- News and notes: City officials attempt to doxx Wikipedians, Ruwiki founder banned, WMF launches Mastodon server
- In the media: Truth, AI, bull from politicians, and climate change
- Disinformation report: Hot climate, hot hit, hot money, hot news hot off the presses!
- Tips and tricks: Citation tools for dummies!
- In focus: Journals cited by Wikipedia
- Opinion: Are global bans the last step?
- Featured content: Featured Content, 1 to 15 July
- Traffic report: Come on Oppie, let's go party
Precious anniversary
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--Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:06, 3 August 2023 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – August 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2023).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
Technical news
- The tag filter on Special:NewPages and revision history pages can now be inverted. This allows hiding edits made by automated tools. (T334338)
- Special:BlockedExternalDomains is a new tool that allows easier blocking of plain domains (and their subdomains). This is more easily searchable and is faster for the software to use than the existing MediaWiki:Spam-blacklist. It does not support regex (for complex cases), URL path-matching, or the MediaWiki:Spam-whitelist. (T337431)
Arbitration
- The arbitration cases named Scottywong and AlisonW closed 10 July and 16 July respectively.
- The SmallCat dispute arbitration case is in the workshop phase.
Generative AI and Wikipedia research
Hi Donald Albury,
My name is Dr. Tim Koskie and I am a researcher at the Centre for Media Transition (CMT) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). We are conducting a study on the implications of content-generating AI systems such as ChatGPT for knowledge integrity on Wikipedia, and are approaching you because you have participated in discussions on this topic on Wikimedia pages.
If you are interested, we would like to invite you to participate in our study. It would involve joining either a focus group discussion or an interview (around 1 hour), in person at Wikimania in Singapore if you are going to be there, or online at a future date. At these sessions we would ask you questions about how you think generative AI will impact Wikipedia, as well as about the kinds of work you do on Wikipedia.
The project is funded by the Wikimedia Research Fund grant programme. You can find out more about the project here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Implications_of_ChatGPT_for_knowledge_integrity_on_Wikipedia If you are interested, let me know and I will forward you some more detailed information on the project. Tbkoskie (talk) 01:38, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
Typographical Error
I removed the External links from this topic, because I didn't think they were "relevant" to the article itself. I'm sorry if I "goofed!" 2600:8805:9017:EE00:10E9:5AFF:8ED:900C (talk) 11:50, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 15 August 2023
- News and notes: Dude, Where's My Donations? Wikimedia Foundation announces another million in grants for non-Wikimedia-related projects
- Tips and tricks: How to find images for your articles, check their copyright, upload them, and restore them
- Cobwebs: Getting serious about writing
- Serendipity: Why I stopped taking photographs almost altogether
- Featured content: Barbenheimer confirmed
- Traffic report: 'Cause today it just goes with the fashion
Using AI?
Looking at [1]'s responses to warnings, the English looks very different from other responses on their talk page. Doug Weller talk 06:22, 16 August 2023 (UTC)
- The bit you reverted saying it was unsourced was a copy of an article, I'll give them a copyright warning. Doug Weller talk 06:29, 16 August 2023 (UTC)
- @Doug Weller: I thought something was off, but I haven't taken the time to look into it. Good job finding the copyvio. Donald Albury 12:36, 16 August 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 31 August 2023
- From the editor: Beta version of signpost.news now online
- News and notes: You like RecentChanges?
- In the media: Taking it sleazy
- Recent research: The five barriers that impede "stitching" collaboration between Commons and Wikipedia
- Draftspace: Bad Jokes and Other Draftspace Novelties
- Humour: The Dehumourification Plan
- Traffic report: Raise your drinking glass, here's to yesterday
WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 21
- August 2023—Issue 021
- Tree of Life
- Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
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New contest!
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This month has seen an incredible amount of activity creating high quality content, with 3 FAs, 3 FACs, and a veritable flood of GAs and GANs, not to mention the FLs and FLCs. To help maintain this high level of activity going forward, WikiProject Tree of Life is starting a new monthly rolling contest, inspired by the contest run by WikiProject Military History. This contest should hopefully help incentivize editors to contribute in ways that are less daunting than writing articles that are GA and FA-quality. Even improving articles from stub to start class, or helping other editors by reviewing their work at GAN, FAC, or FLC, gets you points, with bonus points for articles with especially high page views. Make sure to participate in any way you can, and help improve the 'pedia while having fun and winning Barnstars! |
August DYKs
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 Two salt marsh snakes  Blackburnian warbler
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You are receiving this because you added your name to the subscribers list of the WikiProject Tree of Life. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, please remove your name.
Delivered by: MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:14, 31 August 2023 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – September 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2023).
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Guideline and policy news
- Following an RfC, TFAs will be automatically semi-protected the day before it is on the main page and through the day after.
- A discussion at WP:VPP about revision deletion and oversight for dead names found that
[s]ysops can choose to use revdel if, in their view, it's the right tool for this situation, and they need not default to oversight. But oversight could well be right where there's a particularly high risk to the person. Use your judgment
.
Technical news
- Special:Contributions now shows the user's local edit count and the account's creation date. (T324166)
Arbitration
- The SmallCat dispute case has closed. As part of the final decision, editors participating in XfD have been reminded to be careful about forming
local consensus which may or may not reflect the broader community consensus
. Regular closers of XfD forums were also encouraged tonote when broader community discussion, or changes to policies and guidelines, would be helpful
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Miscellaneous
- Tech tip: The "Browse history interactively" banner shown at the top of Special:Diff can be used to easily look through a history, assemble composite diffs, or find out what archive something wound up in.
216.53.201.2
216.53.201.2 (talk · contribs · WHOIS)
Hi, can you block this IP address again? They're still continuing their disruption after your last 3 month block recently expired. Thanks. 2601:601:51C:6C7:A063:2BB9:14AC:69D (talk) 18:26, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
- Nevermind, another admin already did it. :-) 2601:601:51C:6C7:A063:2BB9:14AC:69D (talk) 18:27, 7 September 2023 (UTC)
Question on Lake Worth Beach edit revert
Moved conversation to Talk:Lake Worth Beach, Florida - Donald Albury 18:00, 11 September 2023 (UTC)
I have sent you a note about a page you started
Hello, Donald Albury. Thank you for your work on Perdido Key. User:Tails Wx, while examining this page as a part of our page curation process, had the following comments:
Good work on the article!
To reply, leave a comment here and begin it with {{Re|Tails Wx}}. Please remember to sign your reply with ~~~~. (Message delivered via the Page Curation tool, on behalf of the reviewer.)
Tails Wx 14:19, 11 September 2023 (UTC)
- @Tails Wx: Thank you for the comment. - Donald Albury 18:59, 11 September 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 16 September 2023
- In the media: "Just flirting", going Dutch and Shapps for the defence?
- Obituary: Nosebagbear
- Featured content: Catching up
- Traffic report: Some of it's magic, some of it's tragic
Wattieza
Sorry Dr. Albury, everything I wrote about Wattieza is in the paper BERRY (2000). My only mistake was to write DR. Chris Berry ... I did not know that you can not use that. All the sentences that you erase can be found in the original paper. Thanks AstroboyUltra (talk) 22:25, 19 September 2023 (UTC)
- Sorry, but I do not see the material you added to Wattieza in the Berry paper. Donald Albury 22:38, 19 September 2023 (UTC)
Wild Turkey edit
I did not add any copyrighted material to the wild turkey article, I simply fixed some grammatical and spelling errors in the page and rearranged certain sections. I added no images or anything else that could have been copyrighted. Chumzwumz68 (talk) 23:06, 19 September 2023 (UTC)
WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 22
- September 2023—Issue 022
- Tree of Life
- Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
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Contest results
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The first edition of our new monthly contest had perhaps a little less participation than I hoped for, but it still resulted in a huge amount of content work, mainly focussed on de-stubbing articles on little-known species, although we did also see two GAs for Holozoa and Hypericum perforatum. Overall, over 60 articles were improved, with most going from stubs or redlinks to fully fleshed out articles. The winner this month was Simongraham, who improved 21 articles about spiders, mainly to B and C class, and racked up 70 points, over twice the next highest. Hopefully, we'll continue to see such great work next month, with even more participants and even more articles improved.
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September DYKs
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 Republicopteron douseae fossil  Male Phallichthys fish  Mimodactylus reconstruction  Adult ashy flycatcher
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You are receiving this because you added your name to the subscribers list of the WikiProject Tree of Life. If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, please remove your name.
Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:23, 1 October 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 3 October 2023
- News and notes: Wikimedia Endowment financial statement published
- Recent research: Readers prefer ChatGPT over Wikipedia; concerns about limiting "anyone can edit" principle "may be overstated"
- Featured content: By your logic,
- Poetry: "The Sight"
Administrators' newsletter – September 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2023).
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Guideline and policy news
- An RfC is open regarding amending the paid-contribution disclosure policy to add the following text:
Any administrator soliciting clients for paid Wikipedia-related consulting or advising services not covered by other paid-contribution rules must disclose all clients on their userpage.
Technical news
- Administrators can now choose to add the user's user page to their watchlist when changing the usergroups for a user. This works both via Special:UserRights and via the API. (T272294)
Arbitration
Miscellaneous
- The 2023 CheckUser and Oversight appointments process has concluded with the appointment of one new CheckUser.
- Self-nominations for the electoral commission for the 2023 Arbitration Committee elections opens on 2 October and closes on 8 October.
Escambia High School edit
Your Dec 2021 revision of my edit was incorrect. The article said the Superintendent was Malcolm Thomas, and Malcolm Thomas was no longer superintendent in Dec 2021, when I made the edit. Timothy Smith was superintendent. I included a reference. You removed my edit and put the wrong name back in for superintendent. I know the superintendent should be listed in the school article. I just made the name correct.
Now there is a new superintendent. I changed the name again and included a reference. Kendrafun (talk) 00:19, 19 October 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 23 October 2023
- News and notes: Where have all the administrators gone?
- In the media: Thirst traps, the fastest loading sites on the web, and the original collaborative writing
- Gallery: Before and After: Why you don't need to know how to restore images to make massive improvements
- Featured content: Yo, ho! Blow the man down!
- Traffic report: The calm and the storm
- News from Diff: Sawtpedia: Giving a Voice to Wikipedia Using QR Codes
Yufera people
Hey, just wanted to say I've been working on a page for the Yufera people and was wondering if you had any comments or additions for it. Thank you for your time. KiwiNova (talk) 10:54, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
- Here is the page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft%3AYufera_people?wprov=sfla1 KiwiNova (talk) 10:56, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
- @KiwiNova: I believe that all that I know about the Yufera is what I read in Deagan. You cite him, so I don't have anything to add. - Donald Albury 13:30, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
- I've already included her writings from Tacachele, if there is not other content to add, wouldn't be possible for you to review and approve the article? KiwiNova (talk) 16:55, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
- I'll take a look in a little while. Donald Albury 21:04, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
- I've already included her writings from Tacachele, if there is not other content to add, wouldn't be possible for you to review and approve the article? KiwiNova (talk) 16:55, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
- @KiwiNova: I believe that all that I know about the Yufera is what I read in Deagan. You cite him, so I don't have anything to add. - Donald Albury 13:30, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 23
- October 2023—Issue 023
- Tree of Life
- Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
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Contest results
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The second edition of our monthly contest was even better than the last month, with 80 articles improved spanning the entire tree of life. The winner this month was Quetzal1964, who contributed to 47 articles, mainly relating to marine fish, and racked up 81 points in the process. In second place was simongraham, who got 60 points from 14 articles on various species of jumping spiders. simongraham is still at the top of our overall standings, with 130 points, and Quetzal1964's close behind on 108. The November edition of the contest is now open: feel free to drop by and participate if you work on any TOL-related articles this month. |
October DYKs
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_(20536251169).jpg) Illustration of swordtail mollies
 Lycorma meliae
 Illustrations of the front foot (A) and hind foot (B) of Diplobune quercyi
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The Signpost: 6 November 2023
- Arbitration report: Admin bewilderingly unmasks self as sockpuppet of other admin who was extremely banned in 2015
- In the media: UK shadow chancellor accused of ripping off WP articles for book, Wikipedians accused of being dicks by a rich man
- Opinion: An open letter to Elon Musk
- WikiCup report: The WikiCup 2023
- News from Wiki Ed: Equity lists on Wikipedia
- Recent research: How English Wikipedia drove out fringe editors over two decades
- Featured content: Like putting a golf course in a historic site.
- Traffic report: Cricket jumpscare
Administrators' newsletter – November 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (October 2023).
Administrator changes
Interface administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
Technical news
- The WMF is working on making it possible for administrators to edit MediaWiki configuration directly. This is similar to previous work on Special:EditGrowthConfig. A technical RfC is running until November 08, where you can provide feedback.
- There is a proposed plan for re-enabling the Graph Extension. Feedback on this proposal is requested.
Arbitration
- Eligible editors are invited to self-nominate themselves from 12 November 2023 until 21 November 2023 to stand in the 2023 Arbitration Committee elections.
- Xaosflux, RoySmith and Cyberpower678 have been appointed to the Electoral Commission for the 2023 Arbitration Committee Elections. BusterD is the reserve commissioner.
- Following a motion, the contentious topic designation of Prem Rawat has been struck. Actions previously taken using this contentious topic designation are still in force.
- Following several motions, multiple topic areas are no longer designated as a contentious topic. These contentious topic designations were from the Editor conduct in e-cigs articles, Liancourt Rocks, Longevity, Medicine, September 11 conspiracy theories, and Shakespeare authorship question cases.
- Following a motion, remedies 3.1 (All related articles under 1RR whenever the dispute over naming is concerned), 6 (Stalemate resolution) and 30 (Administrative supervision) of the Macedonia 2 case have been rescinded.
- Following a motion, remedy 6 (One-revert rule) of the The Troubles case has been amended.
- An arbitration case named Industrial agriculture has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case close 8 November.
Miscellaneous
- The Articles for Creation backlog drive is happening in November 2023, with 700+ drafts pending reviews for in the last 4 months or so. In addition to the AfC participants, all administrators and New Page Patrollers can conduct reviews using the helper script, Yet Another AFC Helper Script, which can be enabled in the Gadgets settings. Sign up here to participate!
The Signpost: 20 November 2023
- In the media: Propaganda and photos, lunatics and a lunar backup
- News and notes: Update on Wikimedia's financial health
- Traffic report: If it bleeds, it leads
- Recent research: Canceling disputes as the real function of ArbCom
- Wikimania: Wikimania 2024 scholarships
But I can't find any reference, books and pages, that says Marianne Celeste Dragon was a slave owner, only pages that are written very much in favor of the extreme right or making fun of her. That's why I removed that she was a slave owner.--LaGuairabeach (talk) 19:00, 25 November 2023 (UTC)
- I did find statements that her father was a slave dealer, and that she and her husband were involved in the slave trade, but they are in dissertations below the doctoral level, which are very rarely acceptable as reliable sources, so they can't be used. I will remove the statement about owning slaves, since I didn't find reliable sources supporting that. You can help prevent misunderstanding about why you have made an edit by providing a brief explanation in an edit summary. Donald Albury 00:29, 26 November 2023 (UTC)
Thank you for doing such a good research. I made an explanation in the edit summary friend, you can see it in the Louisiana (New Spain)'s View history page.--LaGuairabeach (talk) 04:01, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
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WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 24
- November 2023—Issue 024
- Tree of Life
- Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
Contest results
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The third edition of our monthly contest saw Quetzal1964 win for the second month in a row, scoring 68 points from 39 articles about a variety of marine fishes. In second place for the month is Olmagon, who scored 45 points from 10 articles on extinct crustaceans and geckoes. In the overall standings, Quetzal1964 leapfrogged over simongraham into first place, with 176 points from 109 articles; simongraham is now in second place with 136 points from 37 articles. The December edition of the contest is now open: feel free to drop by and participate if you work on any TOL-related articles this month. |
New newsletter!
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Now, this newsletter is technically not new, but I have only recently become aware of its existence and am only a month late, so it still counts. Wikiproject Fungi's Lichen task force has a new newsletter that is very nicely formatted and also features much better writing than this newsletter. Anyone interested in receiving the newsletter can add their name here. |
November DYKs
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 A bacterium that thrives in the deep ocean
 Georges Cuvier's reconstruction of Anoplotherium commune
 Paroedura maingoka
 Field of Wyethia amplexicaulis in bloom
.jpg) An adult dwarf pufferfish
,_El-Al_river_(cropped).jpg) Adult Balkan terrapin
 Planocarina marginata, a hyalospheniid amoeba
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The Signpost: 4 December 2023
- In the media: Turmoil on Hebrew Wikipedia, grave dancing, Olga's impact and inspiring Bhutanese nuns
- Disinformation report: "Wikipedia and the assault on history"
- Comix: Bold comics for a new age
- Essay: I am going to die
- Featured content: Real gangsters move in silence
- Traffic report: And it's hard to watch some cricket, in the cold November Rain
- Humour: Mandy Rice-Davies Applies
Pensacola News Journal
Hey Donald, you undid my address changes to the page for the Pensacola News Journal. I don't care if you want to remove my citation to the news journal's website stating their new mailing address, but at least keep the new mailing address in the page. I'm a tenant in the 2 N Palafox building and I watched them take all of their stuff and leave. Aidans2000 (talk) 17:24, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
- As I stated in my edit summary, the address you added was not the one on the paper's website. Donald Albury 23:00, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
- The address I provided had Street spelled out and St. abbreviated. I revised my edit to remove the typo. The new address provided is linked in the citation I added. https://cm.pnj.com/faq-contact-us/ Aidans2000 (talk) 23:54, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – December 2023
News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2023).
Administrator changes
Guideline and policy news
- Following a talk page discussion, the Administrators' accountability policy has been updated to note that while it is considered best practice for administrators to have notifications (pings) enabled, this is not mandatory. Administrators who do not use notifications are now strongly encouraged to indicate this on their user page.
Arbitration
- Following a motion, the Extended Confirmed Restriction has been amended, removing the allowance for non-extended-confirmed editors to post constructive comments on the "Talk:" namespace. Now, non-extended-confirmed editors may use the "Talk:" namespace solely to make edit requests related to articles within the topic area, provided that their actions are not disruptive.
- The Arbitration Committee has announced a call for Checkusers and Oversighters, stating that it will currently be accepting applications for CheckUser and/or Oversight permissions at any point in the year.
- Eligible users are invited to vote on candidates for the Arbitration Committee until 23:59 December 11, 2023 (UTC). Candidate statements can be seen here.
Congrats and question
Hi Donald, congratulations for creating another great article at Fishing ranchos; well done, as always. Do you know anything about fixing incorrect redirects? That redirect from Territory of East Florida to Republic of East Florida should be corrected, but I don't know how to do it. Thanks, Carlstak (talk) 17:38, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
- Thanks for the comment. I think I found a better target for Territory of East Florida. Donald Albury 21:31, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
- Also, when I get a chance, I'd like to add a bit of content about the diplomacy between the Spanish authorities and the Native groups carried out by Eligio de la Puente for years beginning in 1763, cited, of course. Feel free to remove it, move it around, or alter it as you see fit. Carlstak (talk) 22:34, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
- Go right ahead. There seems to be more out there to draw on than I realized. I only found the Covington source when I linked to the new article today from East Florida. I also hope there is more to find about the ranchos after the Second Seminole War. Donald Albury 22:50, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
- Good deal. It's a fascinating subject. Carlstak (talk) 23:05, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
- And this all started when I thought I would dash off a quick article about Chakaika. I'm still working on that (and Spanish Indian), but the usual rabbit holes opened up. Donald Albury 23:25, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
- Good deal. It's a fascinating subject. Carlstak (talk) 23:05, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
- Go right ahead. There seems to be more out there to draw on than I realized. I only found the Covington source when I linked to the new article today from East Florida. I also hope there is more to find about the ranchos after the Second Seminole War. Donald Albury 22:50, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
- Also, when I get a chance, I'd like to add a bit of content about the diplomacy between the Spanish authorities and the Native groups carried out by Eligio de la Puente for years beginning in 1763, cited, of course. Feel free to remove it, move it around, or alter it as you see fit. Carlstak (talk) 22:34, 21 December 2023 (UTC)
The Signpost: 24 December 2023
- Special report: Did the Chinese Communist Party send astroturfers to sabotage a hacktivist's Wikipedia article?
- News and notes: The Italian Public Domain wars continue, Wikimedia RU set to dissolve, and a recap of WLM 2023
- In the media: Consider the humble fork
- Discussion report: Arabic Wikipedia blackout; Wikimedians discuss SpongeBob, copyrights, and AI
- In focus: Liquidation of Wikimedia RU
- Technology report: Dark mode is coming
- Recent research: "LLMs Know More, Hallucinate Less" with Wikidata
- Gallery: A feast of holidays and carols
- Comix: Lollus lmaois 200C tincture
- Crossword: when the crossword is sus
- Traffic report: What's the big deal? I'm an animal!
- From the editor: A piccy iz worth OVAR 9000!!!11oneone! wordz ^_^
- Humour: Guess the joke contest
WikiProject Tree of Life Newsletter Issue 25
- December 2023—Issue 025
- Tree of Life
- Welcome to the Tree of Life newsletter!
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Contest results
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And so ends the fourth edition of the monthly rolling contest, as well as the 2023 Tree of Life Contest as a whole. This month saw simongraham win with a very impressive 120 points from 27 articles. Quetzal1964 was second with 74 points from 37 articles. The annual contest was a close race between simongraham and Quetzal1964; simongraham won first place with 256 points from 64 articles, and Quetzal1964 was second with 250 points from 146 articles. Snoteleks was third with 79 points from 33 articles. Congratulations to everyone who won this year and my gratitude to everyone else who helped raise the quality of articles in our little corner of Wikipedia this year. Additionally, a very Happy New Year to everyone in the project and here's looking forward to continuing our good work in 2024! |
December DYKs
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.jpg) Snowy plover with chicks
.jpg) Bofedales in the foreground
.jpg) Adult female Varroa mite
 Dennstaedtia christophelii fossil frond
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MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 10:57, 1 January 2024 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – January 2024
News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2023).
Administrator changes
CheckUser changes
Oversighter changes
Arbitration
- Following the 2023 Arbitration Committee elections, the following editors have been appointed to the Arbitration Committee: Aoidh, Cabayi, Firefly, HJ Mitchell, Maxim, Sdrqaz, ToBeFree, Z1720.
- Following a motion, the Arbitration Committee rescinded the restrictions on the page name move discussions for the two Ireland pages that were enacted in June 2009.
- The arbitration case Industrial agriculture has been closed.
Miscellaneous
- The New Pages Patrol backlog drive is happening in January 2024 to reduce the backlog of articles in the new pages feed. Currently, there is a backlog of over 13,000 unreviewed articles awaiting review. Sign up here to participate!
A beer for you!
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For your wonder Spanish Indians article. Cheers! Chanaka L (talk) 14:49, 6 January 2024 (UTC) |
The Signpost: 10 January 2024
- From the editor: NINETEEN MORE YEARS! NINETEEN MORE YEARS!
- Special report: Public Domain Day 2024
- Technology report: Wikipedia: A Multigenerational Pursuit
- News and notes: In other news ... see ya in court!
- WikiProject report: WikiProjects Israel and Palestine
- Obituary: Anthony Bradbury
- Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2023
- Comix: Conflict resolution
The Signpost: 31 January 2024
- News and notes: Wikipedian Osama Khalid celebrated his 30th birthday in jail
- Opinion: Until it happens to you
- Disinformation report: How paid editors squeeze you dry
- Recent research: Croatian takeover was enabled by "lack of bureaucratic openness and rules constraining [admins]"
- Traffic report: DJ, gonna burn this goddamn house right down
Administrators' newsletter – February 2024
News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2024).
Administrator changes
Bureaucrat changes
Guideline and policy news
- An RfC about increasing the inactivity requirement for Interface administrators is open for feedback.
Technical news
- Pages that use the JSON contentmodel will now use tabs instead of spaces for auto-indentation. This will significantly reduce the page size. (T326065)
Arbitration
- Following a motion, the Arbitration Committee adopted a new enforcement restriction on January 4, 2024, wherein the Committee may apply the 'Reliable source consensus-required restriction' to specified topic areas.
- Community feedback is requested for a draft to replace the "Information for administrators processing requests" section at WP:AE.
Miscellaneous
- Voting in the 2024 Steward elections will begin on 06 February 2024, 14:00 (UTC) and end on 27 February 2024, 14:00 (UTC). The confirmation process of current stewards is being held in parallel. You can automatically check your eligibility to vote.
- A vote to ratify the charter for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) is open till 2 February 2024, 23:59:59 (UTC) via Secure Poll. All eligible voters within the Wikimedia community have the opportunity to either support or oppose the adoption of the U4C Charter and share their reasons. The details of the voting process and voter eligibility can be found here.
- Community Tech has made some preliminary decisions about the future of the Community Wishlist Survey. In summary, they aim to develop a new, continuous intake system for community technical requests that improves prioritization, resource allocation, and communication regarding wishes. Read more
- The Unreferenced articles backlog drive is happening in February 2024 to reduce the backlog of articles tagged with {{Unreferenced}}. You can help reduce the backlog by adding citations to these articles. Sign up to participate!
The Signpost: 13 February 2024
- News and notes: Wikimedia Russia director declared "foreign agent" by Russian gov; EU prepares to pile on the papers
- Disinformation report: How low can the scammers go?
- Serendipity: Is this guy the same as the one who was a Nazi?
- Traffic report: Griselda, Nikki, Carl, Jannik and two types of football
- Crossword: Our crossword to bear
- Comix: Strongly
Giovanni Chiesa
Hi, I'm one of two coauthors of "Coal War in the Mahoning Valley: The Origins of Great Youngstown's Italians. In this book we cover the lynching of Giovanni Chiesa, aka as John Church. I'm new editing in Wikipedia. My purpose at the moment is to provide detailed information on the brutal lynching, the first of an Italian on U.S. soil. I don't see the edits that I made to List of lynching victims in the United States. WarrenRicheyKid (talk) 22:17, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
- @WarrenRicheyKid: This is the edit you made to List of lynching victims in the United States. Please be aware that using published material you have written yourself in editing Wikipedia may be considered a conflict of interest. We also advise users to avoid revealing information that would allow others to identify them, as that sometimes may lead to harassment both on Wikipedia and in real life. Donald Albury 22:38, 25 February 2024 (UTC)
- I've created a Wiki article on the Chiesa lynching Draft:The Lynching of Giovanni Chiesa
- that I will try to link to the name "Giovanni Chiesa" here List of lynching victims in the United States
- I would appreciate any suggestions. WarrenRicheyKid (talk) 13:23, 26 February 2024 (UTC)
- @WarrenRicheyKid:, I suggest that you use Wikipedia:Articles for creation for creating the article. Also, do not use only the book as a source. You can cite the sources that were used in writing the book, as citing only a single source, expecially one with which you may have a conflict of interest, may result in opposition to accepting the article. - Donald Albury 03:35, 26 February 2024 (UTC)
- Good ideas. Thanks so much. WarrenRicheyKid (talk) 10:32, 26 February 2024 (UTC)
- I followed your suggestion that I create an article on Giovanni Chiesa using "Wikipedia Articles for creation." After proofreading the draft, I published it.
- But the piece can't be found in a Google search. You can find it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:The_Lynching_of_Giovanni_Chiesa
- If you have the time or inclination, I'd appreciate your take on what's wrong with this article. WarrenRicheyKid (talk) 01:22, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
- Google doesn't index the Draft space. I may try to look at the draft, but I can't guarantee how soon that will be. Donald Albury 02:45, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
Administrators' newsletter – March 2024
News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2024).
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Guideline and policy news
- Phase I of the 2024 RfA review is now open for participation. Editors are invited to review, comment on, and propose improvements to the requests for adminship process.
- Following an RfC, the inactivity requirement for the removal of the interface administrator right increased from 6 months to 12 months.
Technical news
- The mobile site history pages now use the same HTML as the desktop history pages. (T353388)
Miscellaneous
- The 2024 appointees for the Ombuds commission are だ＊ぜ, AGK, Ameisenigel, Bennylin, Daniuu, Doǵu, Emufarmers, Faendalimas, MdsShakil, Minorax, Nehaoua, Renvoy and RoySmith as members, with Vermont serving as steward-observer.
- Following the 2024 Steward Elections, the following editors have been appointed as stewards: Ajraddatz, Albertoleoncio, EPIC, JJMC89, Johannnes89, Melos and Yahya.