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18:04, 12 September 2016 (UTC)

22:08, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

18:07, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

21:30, 3 October 2016 (UTC)

20:30, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

16:42, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

2016 ArbCom Election EC

Hi Mdann52,

I was going to poke you to see if you were interested in being on the EC again, but I see you haven't been active for a while. So I guess probably not. But if you know you're going to resume activity by November, and you're interested, the page is here. We can always use some institutional memory. --Floquenbeam (talk) 16:53, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

FYI. --Floquenbeam (talk) 13:41, 24 October 2016 (UTC)

Badr Jafar

According to a comment at Talk:Badr Jafar#Shia origins revert, OTRS ticket 2016050310022619 concerned Badr Jafar, and it seems you handled that issue. You made this edit on 28 May 2016. After a bit of fuss, that particular issue was settled. However, a new comment (Talk:Badr Jafar#Jafar Jafar) says the same ticket asserted that "Jafar Dhia Jafar was not his uncle, but a distant relative". Currently, the article Badr Jafar includes "His uncle, Jafar Jafar, is a nuclear physicist who lead Iraq's nuclear programme under Saddam Hussein". The sources have a string of statements from which "uncle" can be inferred, but have no direct "uncle" assertion. Are you able to comment on the talk page and state what the OTRS ticket has to say on the matter? Also, you might comment on what the normal procedure would be in response to such a situation, although I know that there may be no "normal". Johnuniq (talk) 22:57, 10 November 2016 (UTC)

@Johnuniq: My edit refers only to the changes in this edit, and doesn't appear to be related to the previous change. Usually, when I make changes to articles in response to OTRS tickets, these are only done when sourcing does not support the content. Mdann52 (talk) 18:22, 11 November 2016 (UTC)
Thanks, and I'm sorry to put you to more trouble, but the specific question is whether OTRS ticket 2016050310022619 contains an assertion that Jafar Dhia Jafar is not the uncle of Badr Jafar. Johnuniq (talk) 23:11, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

ArbCom 2016 - MassMessage

Hi Mdann52,

Glad you're active again and helping out at the EC. I understand you were involved last year in organizing the MassMessage to eligible voters? If not, then (a) aaaacckkk! and (b) do you know who was? If so, then please see my close of Wikipedia:Requests for comment/Arbitration Committee Elections December 2016#Should we continue or modify the practice of notifying eligible voters by mass message?. The consensus was to do this again, but (due to some kind of snafu that sent out more than the planned number of messages last year) limit it to people who:

  1. are eligible to vote, i.e.:
    1. are not currently blocked
    2. registered an account before 00:00 UTC, 28 October 2016
    3. made at least 150 mainspace edits before 00:00 UTC, 1 November 2016
  2. have edited at least once after 00:00 UTC, 1 November 2015 (i.e. in the last year)

It looks like last year we started to send it out a day or two before voting began, so somewhere around 20 November this year would be good.

The text approved at the RFC is at Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2016/MassMessage, but the EC may want to review and tweak it if they feel there's a need to do so.

Can you coordinate with whoever you coordinated with at WMF last year to get the list of names who meet this criteria, once 1 November has passed? And then arrange the MassMessage? Or should I be talking to someone else? --Floquenbeam (talk) 19:35, 26 October 2016 (UTC)

@Floquenbeam: Yep, that was me. I'll have to check about the implementation - this should be possible, provided I get the list off the WMF soon enough! Just to check (as I noticed that the "if blocked" condition wasn't included in the close!), would it be correct to implement "blocked" as "blocked long-term"? Thanks, Mdann52 (talk) 17:00, 30 October 2016 (UTC)
Hmmm... The "are not currently blocked" wasn't included in the RFC close because it's not a separate criterion, but an integral part of "eligible to vote". But, of course, that means it's an interesting question about implementation, because of the edge case where someone is blocked when the notice goes out, but whose block would expire before voting is over. I don't think we want to make the WMF's job too complicated by having them calculate whether a blocked user's block would expire during the voting period. And better to err on the side of sending a dozen too many notices rather than a dozen too few. So personally, I think either "is not indef blocked" or "not blocked long-term" are good-enough-for-gov't-work solutions; if you and the other EC's think differently I have no objections. --Floquenbeam (talk) 17:39, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
This should also skip (user groups containing bot). — xaosflux Talk 16:00, 12 November 2016 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Mdann52 bot 11

Please see a question at Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Mdann52 bot 11. — xaosflux Talk 15:59, 12 November 2016 (UTC)

Task 11 has been approved for trial with adjustments to original scope. — xaosflux Talk 22:50, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

New Page Review needs your help

Hi Mdann52,

As an AfC reviewer you're probably aware that a new user right has been created for patrolling new pages (you might even have been granted the right already, and admins have it automatically).

Since July there has been a very serious backlog at Special:NewPagesFeed of over 14,000 pages, by far the worst since 2011, and we need an all out drive to get this back down to just a few hundred that can be easily maintained in the future. Unlike AfC, these pages are already in mainspace, and the thought of what might be there is quite scary. There are also many good faith article creators who need a simple, gentle push to the Tea House or their pages converted to Draft rather than being deleted.

Although New Page Reviewing can occasionally be somewhat more challenging than AfC, the criteria for obtaining the right are roughly the same. The Page Curation tool is even easier to use than the Helper Script, so it's likely that most AfC reviewers already have more than enough knowledge for the task of New Page Review.

It is hoped that AfC reviewers will apply for this right at WP:PERM and lend a hand. You'll need to have read the page at WP:NPR and the new tutorial.

(Sent to all active AfC reviewers) MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:33, 15 November 2016 (UTC)

New page reviewer granted

 

Hello Mdann52. Your account has been added to the "New page reviewers" user group, allowing you to review new pages and mark them as patrolled, tag them for maintenance issues, or in some cases, tag them for deletion. The list of articles awaiting review is located at the New Pages Feed. New page reviewing is a vital function for policing the quality of the encylopedia, if you have not already done so, you must read the new tutorial at New Pages Review, the linked guides and essays, and fully understand the various deletion criteria. If you need more help or wish to discuss the process, please join or start a thread at page reviewer talk.

  • Be nice to new users - they are often not aware of doing anything wrong.
  • You will frequently be asked by users to explain why their page is being deleted - be formal and polite in your approach to them too, even if they are not.
  • Don't review a page if you are not sure what to do. Just leave it for another reviewer.
  • Remember that quality is quintessential to good patrolling. Take your time to patrol each article, there is no rush. Use the message feature and offer basic advice.

The reviewer right does not change your status or how you can edit articles. If you no longer want this user right, you may ask any administrator to remove it for you at any time. In case of abuse or persistent inaccuracy of reviewing, the right can be revoked at any time by an administrator. Kudpung กุดผึ้ง (talk) 10:03, 19 November 2016 (UTC)

Subashini

Dear User:Mdann52 Thanks for your continuing support for WiKipedia

here are the references about subashini

http://www.tamilheritage.org/old/ec/ec.html https://www.facebook.com/subashini.tremmel https://www.youtube.com/user/ksuba100 http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/initiative-to-preserve-promote-tamil-culture/article485592.ece

http://warnborough.edu/update/wcca-2015-a-clear-success/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Thiagupillai (talkcontribs) 09:15, 20 November 2016 (UTC)

ArbCom Elections 2016: Voting now open!

Hello, Mdann52. 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)

MassMessage distribution

Hi, message is getting delivered twice! All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 22:17, 21 November 2016 (UTC).

@Rich Farmbrough: I'm aware - I can't block the bot, so nothing I can do. I've reached out on IRC, and fixed the issue causing this. Mdann52 (talk) 22:20, 21 November 2016 (UTC)
Ok, to expand on the issue here, when sending this out, I unfortunately overlooked an issue that occurred in my script, but did not show up in my dry runs, where I couldn't start from anywhere but the start. When I started up my script, it appears to have sent out 4000 duplicate messages to pages that had already received one. As soon as I noticed what had happened, I requested the bot was blocked (as there is no way to stop the bot once it has started other than blocking), and fixed the issue in the script before restarting. Mdann52 (talk) 22:36, 21 November 2016 (UTC)

ArbCom election mass message

Just saw the thread at the top of the talk page. Since it seems my concerns have already been brought up and addressed, feel free to disregard. Mz7 (talk) 20:26, 19 November 2016 (UTC)
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.

Hey Mdann52. I posted this at WT:COORD16, and with about a day left before the voting period, I thought to let you know here too since you wrote up the ACE2015 mass message last year. Participants at the pre-election RfC thought the mass message was a good idea, but there were some wording suggestions and a consensus to only send out the message to users who have made at least 1 edit before the start of this year's nomination period (i.e. 6 November 2015). I'm definitely not an expert in the MassMessage extension – would that be technically possible? Additionally, I've drafted a message at Template:2016 ArbCom election notice based on the suggested wording changes at the RfC and your wording from last year. Feel free to make amendments to it as you see fit. Mz7 (talk) 20:22, 19 November 2016 (UTC)

(edit conflict)@Mz7: This is not directly possible through the extension, no, however I have written a script which should check this (it actually gets the recent changes list from the date starting at 1.11.161.11.15, and if anything is returned adds them to a local distribution list). I hope this answers the question! Mdann52 (talk) 20:27, 19 November 2016 (UTC)
Ah, it does. Thanks! Mz7 (talk) 20:27, 19 November 2016 (UTC)
I did some voter stats last year and was going to do the same this year, but I'm slightly confused by the above. (I'm easy to confuse ;) AFAIK the recent changes table only goes back 30 days. My interpretation of the RfC close was that messages would be sent to any user who had made at least one edit in the year before nominations opened (i.e. since 6 November 2015). Your description above sounds like your script selected any user who had made at least one edit in November 2016. Which part am I misunderstanding? Opabinia regalis (talk) 04:52, 22 November 2016 (UTC)
@Opabinia regalis: That was my bad, it queries for any contributions (using the API version of Special:Contributions back to 1.11.15 (I typo'd!) In case you're interested, I sent out a total of 55,725 messages according to my logs, which is to 45.0% of eligible voters! It's worth noting this figure includes blocked users - I couldn't find a reliable way to exclude those who would be unblocked in time, so I decided to just distribute the message to all of them; This is something I will review if I do this again next year. Mdann52 (talk) 07:34, 22 November 2016 (UTC)
Told you I was easy to confuse; I don't know why "typo in the year" didn't occur to me ;) Thanks! The percentage of eligible voters that got the message is interesting - I would've guessed much lower. Opabinia regalis (talk) 07:58, 22 November 2016 (UTC)
@Opabinia regalis: same here! I'm presuming the fact I didn't exclude blocked users might be a part of it - however I'm not running the script again to find out, as it usually takes up around 18 hours of my computers time to completely run (assuming there's no lag on the WMF's end!) If you would like me to run it to get any more stats for you though, drop me an email with what you'd like to know, and I'll get it running on ToolLabs for you. Mdann52 (talk) 08:02, 22 November 2016 (UTC)
Thanks! I'll probably just run the same script I used last year (using the API is a bit faster when you only look at actual voters, not eligible ones :) but if anything comes up that's worth more digging I'll give you a poke. Opabinia regalis (talk) 21:42, 22 November 2016 (UTC)

User:Mdann52_bot/spamlist

Hello. Is there any way I can avoid being added to User:Mdann52 bot/spamlist whenever it is populated? Thanks. --AlastairIrvine (talk) 07:48, 22 November 2016 (UTC)

@AlastairIrvine: This is just a one-time-run, and those lists will shortly be removed. This year, I populated those lists directly from the list generated by the WMF to decide those eligible to vote - I don't see me populating it again before next years election. However, I'll raise the issue of opt-outs when we discuss how to implement this again next year. Mdann52 (talk) 07:51, 22 November 2016 (UTC)
We could add some small text at the bottom of the message, saying something along the lines of If you do not wish to receive messages related to Arbitration Committee elections in the future, add your name to this list. However, this won't have any real effect until the 2018 election, and it also won't reach users who join Wikipedia between elections. This is the first solution that popped into my head, there are probably better ones. Mz7 (talk) 04:47, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

Trout

  Whack!

You've been whacked with a wet trout.

Don't take this too seriously. Someone just wants to let you know you did something silly.

For arranging for me to have not 1, not 2, but 3 copies of the same message on my talk page. Please take more care in future ;) — Martin (MSGJ · talk) 10:52, 22 November 2016 (UTC)

He only wanted you to be triple aware of the elections :P -- samtar talk or stalk 11:03, 22 November 2016 (UTC)
@MSGJ: sorry! Looks like you ended up on the WMF's list twice somehow (and I sent a load twice too), so I'll apologise and look into this :P Mdann52 (talk) 12:56, 22 November 2016 (UTC)
Several other people on my watchlist got messaged twice, in some cases (e.g. Steamybrian2) just a few minutes apart. Here's what I would do, given a list called "recipients":
sort recipients | uniq > recipients2 ; mv recipients2 recipients
--Redrose64 (talk) 15:29, 22 November 2016 (UTC)
If your public sock's (or bot's) talk page redirects to yours, you might get more than one notice --Guerillero | Parlez Moi 05:04, 23 November 2016 (UTC)
@Guerillero: Not the case with Steamybrian2 whose talk page has no redirects. --Redrose64 (talk) 09:57, 23 November 2016 (UTC)
@Redrose64: I made a mistake when restarting the script that lead to a load of messages being sent out twice - so it's my bad entirely! Mdann52 (talk) 23:35, 23 November 2016 (UTC)
I also got two :-( No big deal, only slightly spammy and annoying and, I guess that is not your fault at all, the second year in a row that something goes wrong with this message. If going for Redrose64's idea, you probably better keep a backup of the original list. Insert cp recipients recipients-bak before the mv You never know when something goes wrong :-) - Nabla (talk) 10:17, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

@Nabla: I did keep a backup - the issue was I ran the script over a few lists twice (and didn't realise until they were in the queue for distribution!) The way MassMessage works, I had to save the lists to Wikipedia before I could send the message - so it was also backed up on the site. Mdann52 (talk) 20:11, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

  • I got two messages — never mind, I understand — and Bishzilla was very pleased to get her own message.[27] Always sensible to keep her in a good mood! She immediately voted, with good judgment, I'm sure. Bishonen | talk 20:21, 24 November 2016 (UTC).
I was not referring to whatever happened with the mass mailer. I was, half serious, half jokingly, pointing that if one runs something like redroses64's commands, one better keep a backup of the original list, just in case some typo blows it away just before we overwrite the original. :-) - Nabla (talk) 21:46, 24 November 2016 (UTC)

Notification that access to AutoWikiBrowser may be temporarily revoked due to inactivity

Hello Mdann52(alt)! This message is to inform you that due to editing inactivity, your access to AutoWikiBrowser may be temporarily revoked. If you do not resume editing within the next week your username will be removed from the CheckPage. This is purely for routine maintenance and is not indicative of wrongdoing on your part. You may regain access at any time by simply requesting it at WP:PERM/AWB. Thank you! MusikBot II (talk) 19:50, 25 November 2016 (UTC)

New Page Review - newsletter

Hello Mdann52,
 
Breaking the back of the backlog
We now have 820 New Page Reviewers! Most of you requested the user right to be able to do something about the huge backlog. Now it's time for action.
 
Mid July to 01 Oct 2016

If each reviewer does only 10 reviews a day over five days, the backlog will be down to zero and the daily input can then be processed by each reviewer doing only 2 or 3 reviews a day - that's about 5 minutes work!
Let's get that over and done with in time to relax for the holidays.

Second set of eyes

Not only are New Page Reviewers the guardians of quality of new articles, they are also in a position to ensure that pages are being correctly tagged for deletion and maintenance and that new authors are not being bitten. This is an important feature of your work. Read about it at the new Monitoring the system section in the tutorial.

Getting the tools we need - 2016 WMF Wishlist Survey: Please vote

With some tweaks to their look, and some additional features, Page Curation and New Pages Feed could easily be the best tools for patrollers and reviewers. We've listed most of what what we need at the 2016 WMF Wishlist Survey. Voting starts on 28 November - please turn out to make our bid the Foundation's top priority. Please help also by improving or commenting on our Wishlist entry at the Community Wishlist Survey. Many other important user suggestions are listed at at Page Curation.


Sent to all New Page Reviewers. Discuss this newsletter here. If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:16, 26 November 2016 (UTC) .

POV tags

Hi. I noticed that you added a POV tag to the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, but didn't leave any details as to what you saw as objectionable. I'm trying to help the students who wrote the article clean it up, and that would be easier if I had more specifics. Thanks. Guettarda/Ian (Wiki Ed) (talk) 18:41, 2 December 2016 (UTC)

BAGBot: Your bot request Mdann52 bot 11

Someone has marked Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Mdann52 bot 11 as needing your input. Please visit that page to reply to the requests. Thanks! AnomieBOT 01:55, 4 December 2016 (UTC) To opt out of these notifications, place {{bots|optout=operatorassistanceneeded}} anywhere on this page.

BBC 12-hour Editathon - large influx of new pages & drafts expected

New Page Reviewers are asked to be especially on the look out 08:00-20:00 UTC (that's local London time - check your USA and AUS times) on Thursday 8 December for new pages. The BBC together with Wikimedia UK is holding a large 12-hour editathon. Many new articles and drafts are expected. See BBC 100 Women 2016: How to join our edit-a-thon. Follow also on #100womenwiki, and please, don't bite the newbies :) (user:Kudpung for NPR. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:55, 7 December 2016 (UTC))

BBC 12-hour Editathon - large influx of new pages & drafts expected

AfC Reviewers are asked to be especially on the look out 08:00-20:00 UTC (that's local London time - check your USA and AUS times) on Thursday 8 December for new pages. The BBC together with Wikimedia UK is holding a large 12-hour editathon. Many new articles and drafts are expected. See BBC 100 Women 2016: How to join our edit-a-thon. Follow also on #100womenwiki, and please, don't bite the newbies :) (user:Kudpung for NPR. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:02, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

Dear Mdann52:

I am a new user. I have done two articles that were accepted, and you worked on one of them. Thank you for that! I don't really understand all the ins and outs of Wikipedia, that is clear. I just spent several days editing a Wikipedia (I thought anyone could edit a Wikipedia!) and what looks like a bot returned it to its original version, which had issues and inaccuracies. I do not know what to do. I included a comment early on saying I was going to do a major edit but I clearly did not do that correctly. I could use some help and so I am coming to you. The article was for the Bowers Museum. Thank you for any input or help you can give me. Susan M Anderson (talk) 18:08, 9 December 2016 (UTC)

New Page Review - newsletter #2

Hello Mdann52,
 
Please help reduce the New Page backlog

This is our second request. The backlog is still growing. Your help is needed now - just a few minutes each day.

Getting the tools we need

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT TO VOTE


Sent to all New Page Reviewers. Discuss this newsletter here. If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 06:55, 11 December 2016 (UTC) .

Now I'm curious.

What does it mean that I am on your spamlist? User:Mdann52/spamlist41 IveGoneAway (talk) 15:18, 16 December 2016 (UTC)

@IveGoneAway: these were created for last years ArbCom elections, and I haven't yet been able to get them cleared up (as no one has answered my requests). I'll post on AN about this now however to get them nuked. Mdann52 (talk) 16:59, 16 December 2016 (UTC)
So, was it your ArbCom election mailing list? IveGoneAway (talk) 19:29, 16 December 2016 (UTC)
@IveGoneAway: for the 2015 election, yes. It was one of a subset of lists for all eligible voters. (which lead to User talk:IveGoneAway#ArbCom elections are now open!) Mdann52 (talk) 15:50, 17 December 2016 (UTC)
OK. Thankyou. I wasn't sure I wanted to be marked as a spammer and there was no explanation for the list. BTW, I read the arbitration reports on US Politics 2 and that other guy. I was impressed by the process. But I don't even have time to fully read the one arbitration. IveGoneAway (talk) 18:11, 17 December 2016 (UTC)

Request for comment

One of yours - could you chip in at c:Commons:OTRS/Noticeboard#Ticket.232014030110004864, it looks like a bit of a saga, I think you were loosing the will to live on this one... I answered a subsequent piece, he just didn't understand English I assume. Ronhjones  (Talk) 01:38, 19 December 2016 (UTC)

Merry, merry!

From the icy Canajian north; to you and yours! FWiW Bzuk (talk) 14:34, 24 December 2016 (UTC)  

Fifa Ultimate team 2013 listed at Redirects for discussion

 

An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Fifa Ultimate team 2013. Since you had some involvement with the Fifa Ultimate team 2013 redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion if you have not already done so. — foxj 14:57, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

Your draft article, Draft:Hillel Frankel

 

Hello, Mdann52. It has been over six months since you last edited your Articles for Creation draft article submission, "Hillel Frankel".

In accordance with our policy that Articles for Creation is not for the indefinite hosting of material deemed unsuitable for the encyclopedia mainspace, the draft has been nominated for deletion. If you plan on working on it further, or editing it to address the issues raised if it was declined, simply edit the submission and remove the {{db-afc}} or {{db-g13}} code.

If your submission has already been deleted by the time you get there, and you wish to retrieve it, you can request its undeletion by following the instructions at this link. An administrator will, in most cases, restore the submission so you can continue to work on it.

Thanks for your submission to Wikipedia, and happy editing. 1989 (talk) 16:45, 15 January 2017 (UTC)

Orphaned non-free image File:LTXCredence logo.jpg

 

Thanks for uploading File:LTXCredence logo.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. --B-bot (talk) 18:45, 19 January 2017 (UTC)