Following anRfC, a change has been made to theadministrators inactivity policy. Under the new policy, if an administrator has not made at least 100 edits over a period of 5 years they may be desysopped for inactivity.
A public status system for WMF wikis has been created. It is located athttps://www.wikimediastatus.net/ and is hosted separately to WMF wikis so in the case of an outage it will remain viewable.
Arbitration
Remedy 2 of theSt Christopher case has been rescinded following amotion. The remedy previously authorised administrators to place a ban on single-purpose accounts who were disruptively editing on the articleSt Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine or related pages from those pages.
Administrators using the mobile web interface can now accessSpecial:Block directly from user pages. (T307341)
TheIP Info feature has beendeployed to all wikis as a Beta Feature. Any autoconfirmed user may enable the feature using the "IP info" checkbox underPreferences →Beta features. Autoconfirmed users will be able to access basic information about an IP address that includes the country and connection method. Those with advanced privileges (admin, bureaucrat, checkuser) will have access to extra information that includes the Internet Service Provider and more specific location.
The New Pages Patrol queue has around 10,000 articles to be reviewed. As all administrators have the patrol right, please consider helping out. The queue ishere. For further information on the state of the project, see the latestNPP newsletter.
An RfC has been closed with consensus to add javascript that will show edit notices for editors editing via a mobile device. This only works for users using a mobile browser, so iOS app editors will still not be able to see edit notices.
An RfC has been closed with the consensus that train stations are not inherently notable.
Administrators will now see links on user pages for "Change block" and "Unblock user" instead of just "Block user" if the user is already blocked. (T308570)
Arbitration
The arbitration case requestGeschichte has been automatically closed after a 3 month suspension of the case.
Miscellaneous
You can vote for candidates in the2022 Board of Trustees elections from 16 August to 30 August. Two community elected seats are up for election.
Wikimania 2022 is taking place virtually from 11 August to 14 August. The schedule for wikimania is listedhere. There are also a number ofin-person events associated with Wikimania around the world.
Tech tip: When revision-deleting on desktop, hold⇧ Shift between clicking two checkboxes to select every box in that range.
A discussion is open to define a process by which Vector 2022 can be made the default for all users.
An RfC is open to gain consensus on whetherFox News isreliable for science and politics.
Technical news
The impact report on the effects of disabling IP editing on the Persian (Farsi) Wikipedia has been released.
The WMF is looking into making aPrivate Incident Reporting System (PIRS) system to improve the reporting of harmful incidents through easier and safer reporting. You can leave comments on the talk page by answering thequestions provided. Users who have faced harmful situations are also invited to join a PIRS interview to share the experience. To sign upplease emailMadalina Ana.
Arbitration
An arbitration case regardingConduct in deletion-related editing has been closed. The Arbitration Committeepassed a remedy as part of the final decision to create a request for comment (RfC) on how to handle mass nominations at Articles for Deletion (AfD).
The arbitration case requestJonathunder has been automatically closed after a 6 month suspension of the case.
Miscellaneous
The new pages patrol (NPP) team has prepared an appeal to the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) for assistance with addressing Page Curation bugs and requested features. You are encouraged to read theopen letter before it is sent, and if you support it, consider signing it. It is not a discussion, just a signature will suffice.
Following an RfC, consensus has been found that, in the context of politics and science, the reliability ofFoxNews.com is unclear and that additional considerations apply to its use.
TheArticles for creation helper script now automatically recognises administrator accounts which means your name does not need to be listed atWP:AFCP to help out. If you wish to help out at AFC, enable AFCH by navigating toPreferences →Gadgets and checking the "Yet Another AfC Helper Script" box.
Arbitration
Remedy 8.1 of theMuhammad images case will be rescinded 1 November following amotion.
AnRfC is open to discuss having openrequests for adminship automatically placed on hold after the seven-day period has elapsed, pending closure or other action by abureaucrat.
Tech tip: Wikimarkup in a block summary is parsed in the notice that the blockee sees. You can use templates with custom options to specify situations like{{rangeblock|create=yes}} or{{uw-ublock|contains profanity}}.
Hello! Voting in the2022 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 12 December 2022. Alleligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
TheArbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting theWikipedia 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 imposesite bans,topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. Thearbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.
An RfC on the banners for the December 2022 fundraising campaign has been closed.
Technical news
A new preference named "Enable limited width mode" has been added to theVector 2022 skin. The preference is also shown as a toggle on every page if your monitor is 1600 pixels or wider. When disabled it removes the whitespace added by Vector 2022 on the left and right of the page content. Disabling this preference has the same effect as enabling thewide-vector-2022 gadget. (T319449)
Arbitration
Eligible users are invited tovote on candidates for the Arbitration Committee until 23:59 December 12, 2022 (UTC). Candidate statements can be seenhere.
Tech tip: A single IPv6 connection usually has access to a "subnet" of 18 quintillion IPs. Add/64 to the end of an IP inSpecial:Contributions to see all of a subnet's edits, andconsider blocking the whole subnet rather than an IP that may change within a minute.
Voting for theSound Logo has closed and the winner is expected to be announced February to April 2023.
Tech tip: You can view information about IP addresses in a centralised location usingbullseye which won the Newcomer award in the recentCoolest Tool Awards.
Voting in the2023 Community Wishlist Survey will begin on 10 February 2023 and end on 24 February 2023. You can submit, discuss and revise proposals until 6 February 2023.
Tech tip:Syntax highlighting is available in both the 2011 and 2017 Wikitext editors. It can help make editing paragraphs with many references or complicated templates easier.
TheTerms of Use update cycle has started, whichincludes a[p]roposal for better addressing undisclosed paid editing. Feedback is being accepted until 24 April 2023.
Therollback 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.
Arequest for comment about removing administrative privileges in specified situations is open for feedback.
Technical news
Progress has started on thePage Triage improvement project. This is to address the concerns raised by the community in their2022 WMF letter that requested improvements be made to the tool.
Followingan RfC, editors indefinitely site-banned bycommunity consensus will now have all rights, including sysop, removed.
As a part of the Wikimedia Foundation'sIP Masking project, anew policy has been created that governs the access to temporary account IP addresses. Anassociated 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 ofIP masking. IP masking will not be deployed to any content wiki untilat least October 2023 and is unlikely to be deployed to the English Wikipedia until some time in 2024.
Arbitration
The arbitration caseWorld 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.
A "bare URL andmissing title" error. References show this error when they do not have a title. Please edit the article to add the appropriate title parameter to the reference. (Fix |Ask for help)
Followingan RfC,TFAs will be automatically semi-protected the day before it is on the main page and through the day after.
A discussion atWP:VPP about revision deletion and oversight fordead 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.
TheSmallCat dispute case has closed. As part of the final decision, editors participating inXfD have been reminded to be careful about forminglocal consensus which may or may not reflect the broader community consensus. Regular closers ofXfD forums were also encouraged tonote when broader community discussion, or changes to policies and guidelines, would be helpful.
Miscellaneous
Tech tip: The "Browse history interactively" banner shown at the top ofSpecial:Diff can be used to easily look through a history, assemble composite diffs, or find out what archive something wound up in.
Hi Jason Quinn! As this userspace essay has a quotation mark at the start of its title, it is currently being sorted around the top ofCategory:User essays, rather than under Y. Because of this, would you object if a{{DEFAULTSORT}} magic word was added?
Followinga motion, the contentious topic designation ofPrem Rawat has been struck. Actions previously taken using this contentious topic designation are still in force.
Followingseveral motions, multiple topic areas are no longer designated as a contentious topic. These contentious topic designations were from theEditor conduct in e-cigs articles,Liancourt Rocks,Longevity,Medicine,September 11 conspiracy theories, andShakespeare authorship question cases.
Followinga motion, remedies 3.1 (All related articles under 1RR whenever the dispute over naming is concerned), 6 (Stalemate resolution) and 30 (Administrative supervision) of theMacedonia 2 case have been rescinded.
Followinga motion, remedy 6 (One-revert rule) of theThe Troubles case has been amended.
An arbitration case namedIndustrial agriculture has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case close 8 November.
Miscellaneous
TheArticles 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 inthe Gadgets settings.Sign up here to participate!
Hello! Voting in the2023 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 11 December 2023. Alleligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
TheArbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting theWikipedia 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 imposesite bans,topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. Thearbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.
Following atalk page discussion, theAdministrators' accountability policy has been updated to note that while it is considered best practice for administrators to havenotifications (pings) enabled, this is not mandatory. Administrators who do not use notifications are now strongly encouraged to indicate this on their user page.
Arbitration
Followinga motion, theExtended 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 hasannounced 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.
Following amotion, the Arbitration Committee rescinded the restrictions on the page name move discussions for the two Ireland pages that wereenacted in June 2009.
We have a huge problem about Matthew Perry right now. Some user named, Rowing007, had added a warning label about the 17 Again talk page that no one is allowed to add Matt's final film role. It causes an overwhelming edit problems and I need you to remove the warning labels as well as adding back the ones that have been relevant. If that user continues to make Matt upset, the whole page will become a nightmare.182.255.41.207 (talk)12:23, 5 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
AnRfC 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 amotion, 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 isrequested for a draft to replace the "Information for administrators processing requests" section atWP:AE.
A vote toratify the charter for theUniversal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) is open till 2 February 2024, 23:59:59 (UTC) viaSecure 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 foundhere.
Community Tech has made some preliminary decisions about the future of theCommunity 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 Toolforge Grid Engine services have been shut down after the final migration process from Grid Engine to Kubernetes. (T313405)
Arbitration
Anarbitration case has been opened to look into "the intersection of managing conflict of interest editing with the harassment (outing) policy".
Miscellaneous
Editors are invited tosign up forThe Core Contest, an initiative running from April 15 to May 31, which aims to improvevital and other core articles on Wikipedia.
Partial action blocks are now in effect on the English Wikipedia. This means that administrators have the ability to restrict users from certain actions, including uploading files, moving pages and files, creating new pages, and sending thanks.T280531
Local administrators can now add new links to the bottom of the site Tools menu without using JavaScript.Documentation is available on MediaWiki. (T6086)
Users wishing to permanently leave may now request "vanishing" viaSpecial:GlobalVanishRequest. Processed requests will result in the user being renamed, their recovery email being removed, and their account being globally locked.
Following anRfC, there is a newcriterion for speedy deletion:C4, whichapplies to unused maintenance categories, such as empty dated maintenance categories for dates in the past.
The arbitration caseHistorical Elections is currently open. Proposed decision is expected by 3 September 2024 for this case.
Miscellaneous
Editors can now enter intogood article review circles, an alternative for informalquid pro quo arrangements, to have aGAN reviewed in return for reviewing a different editor's nomination.
Followinga discussion, the speedy deletion reason "File pages without a corresponding file" has been moved from criterionG8 toF2. This does not change what can be speedily deleted.
The Wikimedia Foundation is conducting a survey of Wikipedians to better understand what draws administrators to contribute to Wikipedia, and what affects administrator retention. We will use this research to improve experiences for Wikipedians, and address common problems and needs. We have identified you as a good candidate for this research, and would greatly appreciate your participation in thisanonymous survey.
You do not have to be an Administrator to participate.
The survey should take around 10-15 minutes to complete. You may read more about the study on itsMeta page and view itsprivacy statement .
Please find our contact on the project Meta page if you have any questions or concerns.
Mass deletions done with theNuke tool now have the 'Nuke' tag. This change will make reviewing and analyzing deletions performed with the tool easier.T366068
I recently invited you to take a survey about administration on Wikipedia. If you haven’t yet had a chance, there is still time to participate– we’d truly appreciate your feedback. The survey is anonymous and should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. You may read more about the study on itsMeta page and view itsprivacy statement.
Hello! Voting in the2024 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 2 December 2024. Alleligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
TheArbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting theWikipedia 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 imposesite bans,topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. Thearbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.
Followingan RFC, thepolicy on restoration of adminship has been updated. All former administrators may now only regain the tools following a request at theWikipedia:Bureaucrats' noticeboard within 5 years of their most recent admin action. Previously this applied only to administrators deysopped for inactivity.
Following arequest for comment, a new speedy deletion criterion,T5, has been enacted. This applies to template subpages that are no longer used.
Arequest for comment is open to discuss whether admins should be advised to warn users rather than issue no-warning blocks to those who have posted promotional content outside of article space.
Technical news
The Nuke feature also nowprovides links to the userpage of the user whose pages were deleted, and to the pages which were not selected for deletion, after page deletions are queued. This enables easier follow-up admin-actions.
Administrators can nownuke pages created by a user or IP address from the last 90 days, up from the initial 30 days.T380846
A 'Recreated' tag will now be added to pages that were created with the same title as a page which was previously deleted and it can be used as a filter inSpecial:RecentChanges andSpecial:NewPages.T56145
Arequest for comment is open to discuss whether AI-generated images (meaning those wholly created by generative AI, not human-created images modified with AI tools) should be banned from use in articles.
A new filter has been added to theSpecial:Nuke tool, which allows administrators to filter for pages in a range of page sizes (in bytes). This allows, for example, deleting pages only of a certain size or below.T378488
Non-administrators can now check which pages are able to be deleted using theSpecial:Nuke tool.T376378
An RfC was closed with consensus to allow editors to opt-out of seeing "sticky decorative elements". Such elements should now be wrapped in{{sticky decoration wrapper}}. Editors who wish to opt out can follow the instructions atWP:STICKYDECO.
An RfC has resulted ina broad prohibition on the use of AI-generated images in articles. A few common-sense exceptions are recognized.
AnArticles for Creation backlog drive is happening in June 2025, with over 1,600 drafts awaiting review from the past two months. In addition to AfC participants, all administrators and new page patrollers can help review using the Yet Another AFC Helper Script, which can be enabled in theGadgets settings.Sign up here to participate!
Administrator elections will take place this month. Administrator elections are an alternative toRFA that is a gentler process for candidates due to secret voting and multiple people running together. The call for candidates is July 9–15, the discussion phase is July 18–22, and the voting phase is July 23–29. Get ready to submit your candidacy, or (with their consent) to nominate a talented candidate!
Hi.This edit by you which "improved Fejes Tóth ref" actually broke it. There is now no source "Fejes Tóth 1953" in the article. Thereis now "Fejes Tóth 1972". So, you either need to change "{{harvtxt|Fejes Tóth|1953}} to {{harvtxt|Fejes Tóth|1972}}, but this will produce misleading text suggesting that the approach was suggested in 1972 not 1953, or actually cite the 1953 publication. Alternatively you could abandon the use of harvtxt, and say something like "approach suggested by Fejes Toth in their 1953{{sfn|Fejes Tóth|1972}}".DuncanHill (talk)11:51, 23 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Followinga request for comment, there isa new policy outlining the granting of permissions to view the IP addresses oftemporary accounts. Temporary account deployment on the English Wikipedia is currently scheduled for September 2025, and editors canrequest access to the permission ahead of time. Admins are encouraged to keep an eye on the request page; there will likely be a flood of editors requesting the permission when they realize they can no longer see IP addresses.
South Asia (WP:CT/SA) is designated acontentious topic. The topic area is specifically defined asAll pages related to the region ofSouth Asia (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal), broadly construed, including but not limited to history, politics, ethnicity, and social groups.
Wikimania 2025 is happening inNairobi,Kenya, and online from August 6 to August 9. This year marks 20 years ofWikimania. Interested users can join the online event. Registration for the virtual event is free and will remain open throughout Wikimania. You canregister here now.
An RfC is open on whether use ofemojis with no encyclopedic value in mainspace and draftspace (e.g., at the start of paragraphs or in place of bullet points) should be added as a criterion underG15.
An RfC is in progress to amend the structure, rules, and procedures of the Arbitration Committee election and resolve any issues not covered by existing rules.
Someone just emailed me using your name offering to edit an article about me for pay, and saying that previous drafts (which I had nothing to do with) had been slated for removal. Was this actually you? I can provide the emails.
No, not me. I have no idea what that's about. Sorry that happened to you. Thank you for telling me this. I have put a sign up on my user page to alert people to this scam. Please report the e-mail as fraud/phishing attempt. Yeah, it'd be good to see the e-mail to know just how badly they are impersonating me.Jason Quinn (talk)19:27, 29 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Dear Jason,
You're welcome, Jason. Ok, I have reported and sent the whole email thread to the address you list. WP will not allow me to upload here the whole email thread because it contains addresses. I cannot find your email link in a Toolbox on your profile page. If you direct me, I can send it all. The spammer is using your email address and linking to this page.
Suffice it to say, I was very suspicious, having had past bad experiences, and as I wrote to him:
>Over the past several years I have received probably a dozen offers to create a Wikipedia listing for me for payment. Since I am a regular Wikipedia user and have done some minor editing on listings unrelated to myself, I dug into Wikipedia’s help files. What I found seemed to say that any “pay to play” listing would be disqualified immediately.
If this is another one of those, you would best not waste your time or mine any further.<
He then mentioned that he had authored an article against paid editing (the one linked to your profile page) and...still asked for payment for editing!
Aftera motion, arbitration enforcement page protections no longer need to be logged in the AELOG. A bot now automatically posts protections atWP:AELOG/P. To facilitate this bot, protection summaries must include a link to the relevant CT page (e.g.[[WP:CT/BLP]]), and you will receive talk page reminders if you forget to specify the contentious topic but otherwise indicate it is an AE action.
Hello, Jason Quinn. This message is being sent to remind you of significant upcoming changes regarding logged-out editing.
Starting 4 November, logged-out editors will no longer have their IP address publicly displayed. Instead, they will have atemporary account (TA) associated with their edits. Users with some extended rights like administrators and CheckUsers, as well as users with thetemporary account IP viewer (TAIV) user right will still be able to reveal temporary users' IP addresses and all contributions made by temporary accounts from a specific IP address or range.
How do temporary accounts work?
Editing from a temporary account
When a logged-out user completes an edit or a logged action for the first time, a cookie will be set in this user's browser and a temporary account tied with this cookie will be automatically created for them. This account's name will follow the pattern:~2025-12345-67 (a tilde, year of creation, a number split into units of 5).
All subsequent actions by the temporary account user will be attributed to this username. The cookie will expire 90 days after its creation. As long as it exists, all edits made from this device will be attributed to this temporary account. It will be the same account even if the IP address changes, unless the user clears their cookies or uses a different device or web browser.
A record of the IP address used at the time of each edit will be stored for 90 days after the edit. Users with thetemporary account IP viewer (TAIV) user right will be able to see the underlying IP addresses.
As a measure against vandalism, there are two limitations on the creation of temporary accounts:
There has to be a minimum of 10 minutes between subsequent temporary account creations from the same IP (or /64 range in case of IPv6).
There can be a maximum of 6 temporary accounts created from an IP (or /64 range) within a period of 24 hours.
Temporary account IP viewer user right
How to enable IP Reveal
Administrators may grant thetemporary account IP viewer (TAIV) user right to non-administrators who meet thecriteria for granting. Importantly, an editor must make an explicit request for the permission (e.g. atWP:PERM/TAIV)—administrators arenot permitted to assign the right without a request.
It will be possible to block many abusers by just blocking their temporary accounts. A blocked person won't be able to create new temporary accounts quickly if the admin selects theautoblock option.
It will still be possible to block an IP address or IP range.
Temporary accounts will not be retroactively applied to contributions made before the deployment. OnSpecial:Contributions, you will be able to see existing IP user contributions, but not new contributions made by temporary accounts on that IP address. Instead, you should useSpecial:IPContributions for this (see a video about IPContributions in a gallery below).
Rules about IP information disclosure
Publicizing an IP address gained through TAIV access isgenerally not allowed (e.g.~2025-12345-67 previously edited as 192.0.2.1 or~2025-12345-67's IP address is 192.0.2.1).
Publicly linking a TA to another TA is allowed if "reasonably believed to be necessary". (e.g.~2025-12345-67 and ~2025-12345-68 are likely the same person, so I am counting their reverts together toward3RR, but notHey ~2025-12345-68, you did some good editing as ~2025-12345-67)
Hello! Voting in the2025 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 1 December 2025. Alleligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
TheArbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting theWikipedia 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 imposesite bans,topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. Thearbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.