User talk:FastLizard4/Archive 12

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Archive 10

The Signpost: 24 December 2014

From the editor: Looking for new editors-in-chief
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In the media: Wales on GamerGate
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Featured content: Still quoting Iolanthe, apparently.
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WikiProject report: Microsoft does The Signpost
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Traffic report: North Korea is not pleased
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The Signpost: 31 December 2014

News and notes: The next big step for Wikidata—forming a hub for researchers
Wikidata, Wikimedia's free linked database that supplies Wikipedia and its sister projects, is gearing up to submit a grant application to the EU that would expand Wikidata's scope by developing it as a science hub. The proposal, supported by more than 25 volunteers and half a dozen European institutions as project partners, aims to create a virtual research environment (VRE) that will enhance the project's capacity for freely sharing scientific data.

In the media: Study tour controversy; class tackles the gender gap
A "study tour" by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for the purpose of researching development projects has been the subject of much controversy and criticism in the Indian press... The Indian Express described a government report about the trip as having copied extensively from the Wikipedia articles for Port Blair and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.

Traffic report: Surfin' the Yuletide
Unlike last year, Wikipedia viewers seem to have embraced the Christmas spirit, with three topics in the top 10 (and eight in the top 25) focused on the holiday season.

Op-ed: My issues with the Wiki Education Foundation
Chris Troutman has been a campus ambassador for six classes in the Los Angeles area over the past four consecutive semesters. He is currently a Wikipedia Visiting Scholar at University of California, Riverside.

Featured content: A bit fruity
Three articles, three lists, fifteen pictures, and one topic were promoted.

Recent research: Wikipedia in higher education; gender-driven talk page conflicts; disease forecasting
A paper titled "Factors that influence the teaching use of Wikipedia in Higher Education" uses the technology acceptance model to shed light on faculty's (of Universitat Oberta de Catalunya) views of Wikipedia as a teaching tool.

The Signpost: 07 January 2015

In the media: ISIL propaganda video; AirAsia complaints
ISIL hostage quotes Wikipedia in propaganda video; AirAsia articles draw complaints regarding Flight 8501; Article errors reveal US political approaches to Wikipedia editing; Rhode Island Governor numbering debate

Interview: Interview with Jakob, one of Wikipedia's more prolific waterway contributors
User:Jakec has been a Wikipedia editor for over two years and has been a writer of many recent Did you know articles on Wikipedia, including multiple articles on rivers and streams in the state of Pennsylvania.

Featured content: Kock up
Two lists and twelve pictures were promoted.

Traffic report: Auld Lang Syne
We end 2014 and and start 2015 with the normal array of year-end activities, including movie watching with Bollywood film PK (#1) topping the list, followed by The Interview (#2), 2014 in film (#10), and five other films in the rest of the Top 25, plus a number of articles about the subjects of these films. We celebrated the New Year by singing "Auld Lang Syne" (#11), or perhaps watching Adam Lambert (#9) perform with Queen. But we could not avoid a final tragedy with the crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 (#4) on December 28.

The Signpost: 14 January 2015

Op-ed: Articles for creation needs you
Ever since the Wikipedia Seigenthaler biography incident in 2005 triggered the restriction against un-registered editors creating new pages, WikiProject Articles for creation (AfC) has stood in the breach. The WikiProject's purpose is to review draft submissions from IPs (and frequently new registered editors) to sort the wheat from the chaff.

WikiProject report: Articles for creation: the inside story
This anniversary issue, the WikiProject report is returning to WikiProject Articles for creation for one of our largest interviews ever. Last looked at in 2011, AfC is the method used by unregistered or new users to create articles, and provides an effective filtering system to remove all unsuitable or unsourced submissions to save them needing to be found and deleted later.

News and notes: Erasmus Prize recognizes the global Wikipedia community
On the fourteenth anniversary of the founding of the English Wikipedia, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has announced that its prestigious annual Erasmus Prize will be awarded to the worldwide community that has built Wikipedia.

In the media: Wikipedia's birthday brings tributes, app, award; Castro death rumors
Wikipedia turned 14 on January 15. A few media outlets took note of the anniversary.

Featured content: Citations are needed
Six featured articles, five featured lists, and sixteen featured pictures were promoted this week.

Traffic report: Wikipédia sommes Charlie
It's a grim certainty what topic most interested Wikipedia viewers this week. The horrific attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine have drawn anger and resolve from around the world, and also the attention of an English-speaking world that had previously never heard of it.

The Signpost: 21 January 2015

From the editor: Introducing your new editors-in-chief
A letter from departing Signpost editor-in-chief The ed17.

Anniversary: A decade of the Signpost
Celebrating and remembering ten years of community journalism.

Interview: WWII veteran honors shipmates through Wikipedia editing
Over seventy years ago, the US destroyer Mahan was patrolling off Ponson Island in the Philippines when eleven Japanese kamikaze aircraft appeared over the horizon and attacked. George Pendergast, who edits Wikipedia with the username Pendright, was eighteen years old when he joined Mahan 's crew in April 1944.

News and notes: Annual report released; Wikimania; steward elections
The municipality of Esino Lario in Italy will host Wikimania 2016.

Op-ed: Let's make WikiProjects better
Our contributor opines that WikiProjects are failing to live up to their potential. WikiProject X is a new project funded by a Wikimedia Foundation Individual Engagement Grant that focuses on figuring out what makes some WikiProjects work and not others.

In the media: Johann Hari; bandishes and delicate flowers
Quotes from Jimbo on Wikipedia in education; net neutrality; preserving musical heritage; Wikipedia in audio; a cheerful vandal credits high school with papal visitations.

Featured content: Yachts, marmots, boat races, and a rocket engineer who attempted to birth a goddess
Nine articles, one list, and ten pictures were promoted.

Arbitration report: As one door closes, a (Gamer)Gate opens
ArbCom's three open cases are GamerGate, Wifione, and Christianity and sexuality.

The Signpost: 28 January 2015

From the editor: An editorial board that includes you
The editorial board is not complete without you. We are looking for Wikipedians with all kinds of experience levels.

In focus: Thirteen editors sanctioned in mammoth GamerGate arbitration case
The English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee has closed the colossal GamerGate arbitration case, whose size—involving 27 named parties—recalls large and complex cases of the past.

In the media: A murderous week for Wikipedia
A murder suspect edits Wikipedia, Russia is kidding when it says it wants to censor Wikipedia.

Forum: Evaluating the Arbitration Committee's handling of GamerGate
Does the committee facilitate stability... or is it a circus. Two users, two perspectives.

Traffic report: A sea of faces
It is pretty clear what the theme is this week: people.

Recent research: Bot writes about theatre plays; "Renaissance editors" create better content
A paper presented at the International Conference on Pattern Recognition last year presents an automated method to improve Wikipedia's coverage of theatre plays.

Special report: Traffic in the fog—most-viewed articles of 2014 include death, Facebook, and Ebola
As with last year, music stars were the majority of celebrities on the list, as their frequent concerts and media appearances keep their flames alight longer than others of their stripe.

Featured content: Like Jack Kerouac's On The Road, this week's issue was written on amphetamines
Ten featured articles, three featured lists, and 22 featured images were promoted this week.

The Signpost: 04 February 2015

News and notes: No men beyond this point: the proposal to create a no-men space on Wikipedia
The Signpost talks with the creator of a grant proposal to create an on-wiki exclusive space for women to discuss issues.

Op-ed: Is Wikipedia for sale?
Hundreds of posted jobs offer money to edit Wikipedia. These jobs appear to be thriving, with tens of thousands of dollars changing hands each month.

In the media: Gamergate and Muhammad controversies continue
Media fallout continues from the January 29 decision in the mammoth Gamergate arbitration case.

Traffic report: The American Heartland
The American heartland appears to dominate the Report this week, with Chris Kyle leading the Report.

Featured content: It's raining men!
Three featured articles, five featured lists, and thirty-nine featured images were promoted this week.

Arbitration report: Slamming shut the GamerGate
One case has been closed, two cases remain open, a third is undergoing a review, and three clarification or amendment requests remain open.

WikiProject report: Dicing with death – on Wikipedia?
A small band of dedicated editors seek to improve articles relating to a less lively topic. If you haven't yet guessed, this week's focus is WikiProject Death.

Technology report: Security issue fixed; VisualEditor changes
The Signpost has arranged to mirror Tech news from the Meta-Wiki.

Gallery: Langston Hughes
A new Signpost feature.

The Signpost: 11 February 2015

From the editors: We want to know what you think!
Please take this survey about the Signpost.

News and notes: One editor faces likely ban for work on Wikipedia; Jimmy Wales awarded $1 million
Also: GLAM-Wiki Conference; Ombudsman Commission announced; Slovak Wikipedia now has 200,000 articles

In the media: Is Wikipedia eating itself?
Edina edit war illustrates disconnect between new and experienced editors; Wikipedia is "astroturf's dream come true"; Canadian government investigating even more Wikipedia editing; academics on Gamergate as "clash of civilizations"?

Featured content: A grizzly bear, Operation Mascot, Freedom Planet & Liberty Island, cosmic dust clouds, a cricket five-wicket list, more fine art, & a terrible, terrible opera...
Two articles, three lists, and twenty five pictures became featured.

Traffic report: Bowled over
Wikipedia presents itself as a repository for the world, and while that is a noble sentiment, it is still true that, Conservapedian complaints notwithstanding, the English language Wikipedia is very often the American Wikipedia, and never has that been more apparent than this week.

WikiProject report: Brand new WikiProjects profiled
This week, we bring three of the most recently created WikiProjects to come into being on the English Wikipedia. While many long-established projects are becoming inactive, (as we have covered before), that doesn't stop new ones forming every now and then to cover a topic that a group of editors feel should be better cared for.

Gallery: Feel the love
This week, we feature subjects that are about love of all kinds.

The Signpost: 18 February 2015

Editorial: Recent retirements typify problem of admin attrition
Go Phightins! shares his thoughts on admin attrition and the size of the administrative backlog.

In the media: Students' use and perception of Wikipedia
The Australian ("Wikipedia not destroying life as we know it", February 11) and Times Higher Education ("Wikipedia should be 'better integrated' into teaching", February 10) reported on a recent study performed at Monash University, titled "Students’ use of Wikipedia as an academic resource – patterns of use and perceptions of usefulness".

Special report: Revision scoring as a service
The authors of this report inform us that the "goal in the Revision Scoring project is to do the hard work of constructing and maintaining powerful AI so that tool developers don't have to. This cross-lingual, machine learning classifier service for edits will support new wiki tools that require edit quality measures."

Gallery: Darwin Day
Darwin Day is observed annually on February 12 to commemorate the life and work of scientist Charles Darwin. Here is a selection of images of life on the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin made key observations leading to his scientific theory of evolution by natural selection.

Traffic report: February is for lovers
This week saw the 57th Annual Grammy Awards (#13 on the Top 25) held on 8 February dominating the traffic chart, as music lovers checked out Sam Smith (#3) picking up four awards, Beck taking album of the year, and performances including Sia (#9), Madonna (#11), and Annie Lennox (#16). But Valentine's Day (#1) proved the perfect time for the release of Fifty Shades of Grey, with the movie coming in at #5, the book of the same name at #2, and the primary actors at #14 and #15.

Featured content: A load of bull-sized breakfast behind the restaurant, Koi feeding, a moray eel, Spaghetti Nebula and other fishy, fishy fish
Five pictures, six lists, and seventeen pictures were promoted

Arbitration report: We've built the nuclear reactor; now what colour should we paint the bikeshed?
The most significant item on ArbCom's agenda this fortnight has been the closure of the Wifione case and subsequent fallout, although the fallout from GamerGate continues to linger.

The Signpost: 25 February 2015

News and notes: Questions raised over WMF partnership with research firm
A report from the external research firm Lafayette Practice has declared that the Wikimedia Foundation is the "largest known participatory grantmaking fund." Several concerns have been raised with the report, the phrase being used (participatory grantmaking), the now-former Wikipedia article on that phrase, and an alleged conflict of interest by WMF staff members.

Op-ed: Text from Wikipedia good enough for Oxford University Press to claim as own
Doc James tells us that "The one good thing that has come out of all of this is that Wikipedia’s content passing a major textbook publisher review processes is some external validation of Wikipedia’s quality."

In the media: WikiGnomes and Bigfoot
Andrew McMillen's February 3 profile of and his quest to rid Wikipedia of the phrase "comprised of" has been one of the most widely circulated and commented upon media stories about the encyclopedia recently.

Featured content: The Moon, Mars, Venus, and Saturn, in no particular order. Also, Kaiser Kong.
Eleven articles and twenty pictures were promoted in the week covered by this report.

Gallery: Far from home
The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme, as well as an article you could help improve. This week, we feature subjects that are "far from home".

Traffic report: Fifty Shades of... self-denial?
An odd juxtaposition this week, as interest in Fifty Shades of Grey coincided with the observance of the Chinese New Year and the annual festival of penance, Ash Wednesday.

Recent research: Gender bias, SOPA blackout, and a student assignment that backfired
A monthly roundup of Wikimedia-related research

WikiProject report: Be prepared... Scouts in the spotlight
This week's project is on a youth activity, one of the largest in the world; its project is commensurately large, containing around 136 active editors. It's WikiProject Scouting, a group of editors whose remit is everything relating to the Scouting movement, which has around 42 million members worldwide and celebrated the centenary of its founding only eight years ago.

Blog: Join the Wikimedia strategy consultation
Editor's note: the Blog will be a recurring Signpost section that will highlight a recent post from the Wikimedia blog, run by the Wikimedia Foundation. This week's installment is written by Philippe Beaudette, the Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy, and focuses on planning for the future of the Wikimedia movement.

The Signpost: 25 February 2015

News and notes: Questions raised over WMF partnership with research firm
A report from the external research firm Lafayette Practice has declared that the Wikimedia Foundation is the "largest known participatory grantmaking fund." Several concerns have been raised with the report, the phrase being used (participatory grantmaking), the now-former Wikipedia article on that phrase, and an alleged conflict of interest by WMF staff members.

Op-ed: Text from Wikipedia good enough for Oxford University Press to claim as own
Doc James tells us that "The one good thing that has come out of all of this is that Wikipedia’s content passing a major textbook publisher review processes is some external validation of Wikipedia’s quality."

In the media: WikiGnomes and Bigfoot
Andrew McMillen's February 3 profile of and his quest to rid Wikipedia of the phrase "comprised of" has been one of the most widely circulated and commented upon media stories about the encyclopedia recently.

Featured content: The Moon, Mars, Venus, and Saturn, in no particular order. Also, Kaiser Kong.
Eleven articles and twenty pictures were promoted in the week covered by this report.

Gallery: Far from home
The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme, as well as an article you could help improve. This week, we feature subjects that are "far from home".

Traffic report: Fifty Shades of... self-denial?
An odd juxtaposition this week, as interest in Fifty Shades of Grey coincided with the observance of the Chinese New Year and the annual festival of penance, Ash Wednesday.

Recent research: Gender bias, SOPA blackout, and a student assignment that backfired
A monthly roundup of Wikimedia-related research

WikiProject report: Be prepared... Scouts in the spotlight
This week's project is on a youth activity, one of the largest in the world; its project is commensurately large, containing around 136 active editors. It's WikiProject Scouting, a group of editors whose remit is everything relating to the Scouting movement, which has around 42 million members worldwide and celebrated the centenary of its founding only eight years ago.

Blog: Join the Wikimedia strategy consultation
Editor's note: the Blog will be a recurring Signpost section that will highlight a recent post from the Wikimedia blog, run by the Wikimedia Foundation. This week's installment is written by Philippe Beaudette, the Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy, and focuses on planning for the future of the Wikimedia movement.

The Signpost: 04 March 2015

From the editor: A sign of the times: the Signpost revamps its internal structure to make contributing easier
We received a large amount of feedback in our survey indicating that our readers found the idea of contributing to the Signpost difficult due to our opaque internal structure.

News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation and OTRS team both publish reports, indicate operating changes
The Wikimedia Foundation released their Quarterly Report last week covering the three months October to December of 2014.

Editorial: Conspiracy theories distract from real questions about grantmaking report
Last week, my colleagues on the Signpost produced a news report covering a minor controversy about a report commissioned by the Wikimedia Foundation. Written by the staff of The Lafayette Practice, a French research firm, it proclaimed the WMF as a leader in the practice of participatory grantmaking.

Traffic report: Attack of the movies
The Report this week is dominated by the Academy Awards, taking the top 4 spots and 13 of the Top 25.

Arbitration report: Bradspeaks—impact, regrets, and advice; current cases hinge on sex, religion, and ... infoboxes
In the first of what the author hopes will become a regular feature of the Arbitration report, the Signpost speaks to veteran arbitrator Newyorkbrad, who recently retired from the committee after almost seven years of arbitrating. The Signpost was keen to hear his thoughts on his time on the committee and on the past, present, and future of ArbCom.

Interview: Meet a paid editor
Before being indefinitely blocked, User:FergusM1970 made more than 4600 edits on the English Wikipedia, spread over eight years. In the last two years, he was paid to edit several articles for clients that included the Venezuelan energy company Derwick Associates. We spoke with him about his experiences.

In the media: Kanye West rebranded; Wikipedia in court; editors for hire
Numerous news outlets are reporting that the domain loser.com now redirects to the Wikipedia article for rapper Kanye West. Page views on West's Wikipedia article skyrocketed to almost 250,000 views on March 2, up from less than 19 thousand the previous day.

Featured content: Ploughing fields and trading horses with Rosa Bonheur
Two featured articles, four featured lists, and 38 featured pictures were promoted this week..

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
The Signpost has arranged to mirror Tech news from Meta-Wiki to supplement the long-form tech coverage in our infrequent Technology report..

Blog: Black History Month edit-a-thons tackle Wikipedia’s multicultural gaps
Black History Month is celebrated annually in the United States in February, to commemorate the history of the African diaspora. For this occasion, Wikipedians worked together to honor black history and to address Wikipedia's multicultural gaps in the encyclopedia, hosting Wikipedia edit-a-thons throughout the United States, from February 1 to 28, 2015.

The Signpost: 11 March 2015

Special report: An advance look at the WMF's fundraising survey
The Wikimedia Foundation gave the Signpost an advance copy of the results of a survey of English Wikipedia readers regarding Wikimedia fundraising, due for official release today.

News and notes: WikiWomen's History Month—meetups, blog posts, and "Inspire" grant-making campaign
The community has arranged a number of commemorative initiatives focused on the gender gap, under the banner "WikiWomen's History Month".

In the media: Gamergate; a Wiki hoax; Kanye West
ThinkProgress tech reporter Lauren C. Williams wrote a long article on how the Gamergate controversy has spilled over onto Wikipedia.

In focus: WMF to NSA: "stop spying on Wikipedia users"
In an effort to protect and maintain the privacy of Wikipedia's thousands of editors, the Wikimedia Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the United States' National Security Agency, Department of Justice, and the Attorney General.

Traffic report: Wikipedia: handing knowledge to the world, one prank at a time
A dull week, with only three new entries in the top 10; a UFC champion, a Google Doodle and a Hindu festival involving people throwing powder at each other (though that does sound fun).

Featured content: Here they come, the couple plighted –
Six featured articles, three featured lists, and forty featured pictures were promoted this week.

Op-ed: Why the Core Contest matters
I continue to be excited about the Core Contest because I see it as a way of encouraging the expansion of broad articles that are typically neglected by our article improvement incentives.

The Signpost: 18 March 2015

From the editor: A salute to Pine
We announce with sadness and gratitude that Signpost publication and newsroom manager Pine will be stepping back to focus on other Wikipedia and Wikimedia-related endeavors.

News and notes: SUL finalization imminent; executive office shake-ups at the Foundation
This process is now entering its long-awaited final phase with the upcoming SUL finalization, scheduled for April 15, less than a month away. ... Wikimedia Foundation chief talent and culture officer Gayle Karen Young announced her retirement from the Foundation this week. Young will be replaced in that role by interim chief operating officer Terry Gilbey. According to the Foundation's job description for the title as it was applied in the past, Gilbey will be in charge of "overall administration and business operations of the Wikimedia Foundation."

In the media: NYPD editing articles regarding allegations of police brutality and misconduct
On March 13, Kelly Weill of Capital New York revealed that numerous Wikipedia edits originated from 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the NYPD. Most of the attention has focused on a number of their edits to articles about incidents of alleged police brutality and controversial police practices.

Op-ed: Does the Wikimedia fundraising survey address community concerns?
The publication of the Wikimedia survey findings on fundraising questions came three months after significant concerns were voiced about the design and wording of the December 2014 fundraising banners and e-mails.

Featured content: A woman who loved kings
Four featured articles, four featured lists, and thirty-five featured pictures were promoted this week.

Traffic report: It's not cricket
If not for Kayne West's dubious repeat at #1, the 2015 Cricket World Cup (#2) would have made the top spot, albeit in a generally slow news week.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:34, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

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The Signpost – Volume 11, Issue 12 – 25 March 2015

News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation adopts open-access research policy
Last week the WMF announced the release of its long-awaited open-access policy.

Op-ed: How my father's railroad image collection now benefits the world: the value of digitization
Once when I was young, growing up in the 1990s, my father pulled his collection of railroad slides out from the basement, set up his projector, and shared a glimpse into American railway history with our family.

Featured content: A carnival of animals, a river of dung, a wasteland of uncles, and some people with attitude
Four featured articles, three featured lists, and twenty-two featured pictures were promoted this week.

Special report: Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year 2014
The Wikipedia Commons annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded, with 6,698 people voting, its largest participation yet.

Traffic report: Oddly familiar
This week's list is reminiscent of lists from the early days of this project: a preponderance of famous faces, Reddit threads, and Google Doodles.

Recent research: Most important people; respiratory reliability; academic attitudes
The authors attempt to answer the question "Who are the most important people of all times?" Their findings clearly show that different Wikipedias give different prominence to different individuals.

Blog: The Wikipedia Library Team reflects on its new Visiting Scholars program
A university gives a top Wikipedia editor free and full access to the university library's entire online content—and the Wikipedia editor, who is unpaid and not on campus, then creates and improves Wikipedia articles in a subject area of interest to the institution.

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:24, 27 March 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost, 1 April 2015

In focus: WMF's latest strategy document shows successes, vagueness, and the need for better data
The Wikimedia Foundation this week released a State of the WMF report, a 38-page "snapshot" of where it is and where it wants to go in the future.

In the media: Wiki-PR duo bulldoze a piñata store; Wifione arbitration case; French parliamentary plagiarism
TruthRevolt targets another editor; edit stage right; the Nine Best Hoaxes to Have Hit Wikipedia

Featured content: Stop Press. Marie Celeste Mystery Solved. Crew Found Hiding In Wardrobe.
Six featured articles, first featured lists, and twenty-four featured pictures were promoted this week.

Traffic report: All over the place
The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention.

News and notes: New edits-by-mail option will "revolutionize" Wikipedia and its editor base
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will announce later today that it will begin accepting edits by mail for all of the projects under its scope, including Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons.

Special report: Pictures of the Year 2015
The Wikimedia Commons' annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded. The first 53 top-voted entries were disqualified because they were all nude.

The Signpost: 01 April 2015

In focus: WMF's latest strategy document shows successes, vagueness, and the need for better data
The Wikimedia Foundation this week released a State of the WMF report, a 38-page "snapshot" of where it is and where it wants to go in the future.

In the media: Wiki-PR duo bulldoze a piñata store; Wifione arbitration case; French parliamentary plagiarism
TruthRevolt targets another editor; edit stage right; the Nine Best Hoaxes to Have Hit Wikipedia

Featured content: Stop Press. Marie Celeste Mystery Solved. Crew Found Hiding In Wardrobe.
Six featured articles, first featured lists, and twenty-four featured pictures were promoted this week.

Traffic report: All over the place
The Report is more of a mix of random topics than usual this week. The top spot is taken by Bhutanese passport, a Wikipedia article which contained a crazed spoken word version which drew widespread attention.

News and notes: New edits-by-mail option will "revolutionize" Wikipedia and its editor base
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will announce later today that it will begin accepting edits by mail for all of the projects under its scope, including Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons.

Special report: Pictures of the Year 2015
The Wikimedia Commons' annual Picture of the Year contest has concluded. The first 53 top-voted entries were disqualified because they were all nude.

The Signpost: 08 April 2015

Op-ed: We are drowning in promotional artspam
Wikipedia has been gravitating towards a vehicle for business and product promotion for too long.

News and notes: Advancement department to be created at the Foundation, milestone fixes
March saw a number of high-level hirings and executive reorganizations in the Wikimedia Foundation.

In the media: Wikipedia on 60 Minutes, Kickstarter, and in the classroom
The venerable CBS news program 60 Minutes profiled Wikipedia and the Wikimedia community.

Traffic report: Resurrection week
How appropriate that the theme of Easter week would be resurrection from the dead.

Featured content: Partisan arrangements, dodgy dollars, a mysterious union of strings, and a hole that became a monument
Four featured articles, seven featured lists, and 23 featured pictures were promoted this week.

WikiProject report: WikiProject Christianity
With Holy Week having recently drawn to a close, it is an apt time to examine WikiProject Christianity, which was created in 2006, and boasts over 200 active members.

Arbitration report: New Functionary appointments
The Committee has voted on the 2015 appointments to the Functionary team.

Technology report: Bugs, Repairs, and Internal Operational News
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community.

The Signpost: 15 April 2015

News and notes: Erik Möller leaving Foundation; annual plan grants under community review
The Wikimedia Foundation's vice president for engineering, Erik Möller, will leave the WMF on April 30.

In the media: Saving Wikipedia; Internet regulation; Thoreau quote hoax
Time profiles Lila Tretikov, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, and paints a grim picture of the challenges faced by Tretikov and the encyclopedia.

Blog: Single-User Login provides access to all wikis
Later this month, everyone will be able to use the same user name on every wiki, thanks to Single-User Login.

Traffic report: Furious domination
If it wasn't for Easter, Fast and Furious related articles would have taken the top four spots this week. The latest installment of the movie franchise, Furious 7, tops the chart for the second straight week.

Featured content: Au-delà de les Alpes, le chien lit de Sainte Bernard. Sous les pavés, les trimes d'argent! Mes enfants, suivez-moi!
Six featured articles, four featured lists, and fourteen featured pictures were promoted this week.

The Signpost: 22 April 2015

Special report: Sony emails reveal corporate practices and undisclosed advocacy editing
A Signpost investigation of the released data has revealed Sony's corporate practices regarding Wikipedia and uncovered what appears to be undisclosed advocacy editing of Wikipedia by Sony employees and possibly by others.

In the media: UK political editing; hoaxes; net neutrality
Wikipedia appears to have been drawn into the drama of the upcoming, hotly contested UK general election.

News and notes: Call for candidates as the movement approaches the Wikimedia Board elections
The Affiliates Committee this week announced the organization of a community referral for comment, currently open on the meta-wiki, to address upcoming changes to the way that the Affiliations Committee will review movement-affiliated user-groups in the future.

In focus: 2015 Wikimedia Foundation election preparations underway
2015 will see through the biennial community election for the three community-elected seats on the Board of Trustees—the "ultimate corporate authority" of the Wikimedia Foundation and the level at which the strategic decisions regarding the Wikimedia movement are made.

Featured content: Vanguard on guard
Six featured articles and fifteen featured pictures were promoted this week.

Traffic report: A harvest of couch potatoes
Couch potatoes rule this week, as 9 of the top 10 slots were taken by either movies, TV, or sports.

Gallery: The bitter end
The Gallery is an occasional Signpost feature highlighting quality images and articles from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons based on a particular theme.

The Signpost: 29 April 2015

Wikimania: Choice of small village for Wikimania 2016 ruffles feathers
Esino Lario is set to host Wikimania 2016, but volunteers and others have raised a host of concerns that raise serious questions about the town's suitability for hosting such a large conference.

News and notes: Wiki Loves Monuments evaluation sees diminishing returns and increasing cost
The evaluations reveal that in the last three years, WLM has possibly fallen victim to its own success and seen diminishing returns.

In the media: Scottish MEP blocked for edit warring; ranking articles by importance
David Coburn, a Member of the European Parliament for the Scotland region for the UK Independence Party, was blocked from editing Wikipedia on April 6.

Featured content: Another day, another dollar
Ten featured articles, nine featured lists, and twenty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.

Traffic report: Bruce, Nessie, and genocide
Though the continued predominance of movies, TV, and sports noted in last week's report largely continues, three additional topics joined the Top 10 this week.

Recent research: Military history, cricket, and Australia targeted in Wikipedia articles' popularity vs. quality; how copyright damages economy
Reader demand for some topics (e.g. LGBT topics or pages about countries) is poorly satisfied, whereas there is over-abundance of quality on topics of comparatively little interest, such as military history.

Technology report: VisualEditor and MediaWiki updates

Resurrection of Southern California Task Force

After moving from Los Angeles County to Kern County to San Luis Obispo County, I am finally realizing that there is life in California outside of L.A. and San Francisco, where I lived and grew up. Oh, I have also lived in San Diego, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Yolo and Sacramento counties, and I earned my undergraduate degree in Riverside County. I am trying to breathe life into the Southern California Task Force, and I hope you will join me. Could you visit our list of participants at the other end of this link and fill out your description of what you are interested in doing for us, assuming that you still want to be in the mix, that is.

In recompense, I will buy you a drink during the Wikipedia Welcome Week I am planning for Morro Bay on the Central Coast in July. Yours sincerely, BeenAroundAWhile (talk) 18:37, 3 May 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 06 May 2015

News and notes: "Inspire" grant-making campaign concludes, grantees announced
The Wikimedia Foundation this week announced the winning grantees in March's "Inspire" grant-making campaign.

Featured content: The amorous android and the horsebreeder; WikiCup round two concludes
Seven articles, three lists, and ten pictures were promoted to "featured" status this week. The second round of the WikiCup has ended.

In the media: Guggenheim image donation; Wiki campaign gets advertising award
artnet and The Next Web report (May 6) that the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is releasing a hundred images of works in its collection under Creative Commons licences in conjunction with a May 19 editathon.

Special report: FDC candidates respond to key issues
Elections have begun for five community members of the Funds Dissemination Committee, the Foundation's volunteer body for judging and recommending millions of dollars worth of annual grants to affiliates in the movement. The election lasts just eight days, from Sunday 3 May until 23:59 UTC on Sunday 10 May, so at the time of publication, voters will need to act promptly.

Traffic report: The grim ship reality
Like colliding ocean liners, rousing entertainment and harsh reality merged ungainly in this week's top 10 list. The much heralded pay-per-view pummeling of Manny Pacquiao by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. dominated the list's top slots, giving this list one of its highest total view counts in months.

The Signpost: 13 May 2015

Foundation elections: Board candidates share their views with the Signpost
Three community-elected seats on the Board of Trustees—the ultimate governing authority of the Wikimedia Foundation—will be decided by Wikimedians in the election to be held 17–31 May.

News and notes: Swedish Wikimedia chapter organizes simultaneous Wikidata contests
This week has been a busy one for the Wikidata project, with nearly simultaneous Wikidata contests, both organized by Wikimedia Sweden, now underway.

Traffic report: Round Two
Casual viewers may think I've posted the same list twice. But no, readers just happen to be really interested in May 2's Big Fight. In fact, last week was just the weigh-in and the trash talk. This week, the numbers actually increased.

In the media: Grant Shapps story continues
Grant Shapps, who was the co-chairman of the UK's Conservative Party until this week, has been accused of maliciously editing the Wikipedia biographies of his party's rivals.

Op-ed: What made Wikipedia lose its reputation?
There is a public misconception of Wikipedia: that any anonymous editor can edit Wikipedia at any time, and cannot be tracked or identified.

Featured content: Four first-time featured article writers lead the way
Eight articles, one list, and five pictures were promoted to featured status on the English Wikipedia in a slow week.

The Signpost: 20 May 2015

From the editor: Your voice is needed: strategic voting in the WMF election
The Wikimedia Foundation's bi-annual Board of Trustees election is open for voting. Of the ten seats on the board, three are elected representatives of the global Wikimedia community—you.

In focus: The awful truth about Wikimedia's article counts
The article counts of many Wikimedia wikis suddenly changed on 29 March 2015: as the Signpost reported at the time, sixty-five wikis fell below milestones tracked at the Wikimedia News Meta page, and three increased to new milestones.

Traffic report: Inner Core
The list is topped this week by Danish scientist Inge Lehmann, thanks to a Google Doodle celebrating her 127th birthday. Lehmann discovered in 1936 that the Earth has a solid inner core. It is sometimes surprising to realize how recently such basic scientific knowledge of the Earth, which we now take for granted, was discovered.

News and notes: A dark side of comedy: the Wikipedia volunteers cleaning up behind John Oliver's fowl jokes
Wikipedia editors logging in on May 19 found themselves walking into an unexpected amount of anti-vandal work to keep the site in line with its extensive biographies of living persons policy. A plethora of Wikipedia articles related to the United States House Committee on Appropriations, and the fifty-one representatives serving on it, have been hit by a raft of anonymous editors making often vulgar edits referencing "chicken fucker," or more creative combinations: "sexual conduct", "sexual congress", "fornicator", "intimate relations", or "trysts with chickens."

Featured content: Puppets, fungi, and waterfalls
Three articles, seven lists, and seven pictures were featured on the English Wikipedia.

In the media: Jimmy Wales accepts Dan David Prize
Jimmy Wales and five others accepted the 2015 Dan David Prize at Tel Aviv University on May 17. The prize comes with US$1 million, ten percent of which goes to doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships.

WikiProject report: Cell-ebrating Molecular Biology
This week, we had the pleasure of interviewing WikiProject Molecular and Cellular Biology, which has come a long way since our last interview in 2008. Like most projects, it has a long member list, but only a small subset of that group regularly contributes. With 28 featured articles and 58 top-importance start class ones, the project has clearly had some success, but has a ways to go. We talked to three regular project contributors.

Arbitration report: Editor conduct the subject of multiple cases
The Arbitration Committee has an unusually large case load at present. Although perhaps not on a par with the high-profile, multi-party cases seen towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year, with five open cases the arbitrators are likely to be kept busy for the next several weeks.

Quixotic plea

You are invited to join the discussion at Wikipedia talk:Wikipediholism test. Thanks. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 05:26, 23 May 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 May 2015

News and notes: WMF releases quarterly reports, annual plans
The Wikimedia Foundation recently switched to a quarterly report structure to better align reporting with the generally quarterly planning and goal-setting processes.

In the media: Scrubbing Parliamentary biographies; Wikipedia's invisible history
British media reports on Wikipedia editing to articles of Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom prior to the May 7 United Kingdom general election from IP addresses assigned to Parliament.

Discussion report: A relic from the past that needs to be updated
To many, Internet Relay Chat is an old relic, but not to Wikipedia. Wikipedia currently has an IRC help channel designated to help and assist editors with editing Wikipedia.

Featured content: When music was confined to a ribbon of rust
Fifteen featured articles, four featured lists, and six featured pictures were promoted this week.

Recent research: Drug articles accurate and largely complete; women "slightly overrepresented"; talking like an admin
Wikipedia's articles on drugs are pretty good – good enough to impress even doctors. A new research study adds some substance to that impression.

Traffic report: Summer, summer, summertime
As usual for the time of year, pop culture rules this week. The start of summer vacation in the US means a focus on summer movies, particularly blockbuster sequels Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road.

Technology report: MediaWiki blows up printers
...allegedly. In a post to wikitech-l, Steven Walling pointed out that the TV show CSI: Cyber had used a screenshot of MediaWiki's HTML output and claimed it was responsible for blowing up printers.

The Signpost: 03 June 2015

News and notes: Three new community-elected trustees announced, incumbents out
The Wikimedia Foundation's volunteer election committee has announced the election results for the three vacant seats on the Board of Trustees. Dariusz Jemielnak, James Heilman, and Denny Vrandečić are set to take up their two-year terms on the Board. They will replace the three incumbents, all of whom stood this time unsuccessfully: Phoebe Ayers, Samuel Klein, and María Sefidari.

Blog: How Wikipedia covered Caitlyn Jenner’s transition
Caitlyn Jenner—the American hero of the 1976 Olympics, a film actor, and prominent member of Keeping Up with the Kardashians—may now be the most famous openly transgender person in the world.

Discussion report: The deprecation of Persondata; RfA – A broken process; Complaints from users on Swedish Wikipedia
Since the dawn of Wikipedia, or at least since 22 December 2005, the template named Persondata has existed.

Featured content: It's not over till the fat man sings
Two featured articles and ten featured pictures were promoted this week.

Technology report: Things are getting SPDYier
Over the past few weeks, developers have been working on improving Wikimedia's performance when users connect to it using SPDY.

Special report: Towards "Health Information for All": Medical content on Wikipedia received 6.5 billion page views in 2013
Wikipedia appears to be the single most used website for health information globally, exceeding traffic observed at the NIH, WebMD, WHO et al..

In the media: Anonymous Australian editing targets football player, shooting victim
More UK government vandalism; legend has it; minding the gender gap

Traffic report: A rather ordinary week
The traffic report is nothing unusual this week, with a Google Doodle for astronaut Sally Ride topping the list, the accidental death of famous mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. at #2, and the normal fare of recent popular American movies and television.

The Signpost: 10 June 2015

News and notes: Chapter financial trends analyzed, news in brief
This week saw the publication of the Chapter-wide Financial Trends Report 2013, a now-completed research project that examines the finances and outlays of the 36 movement-affiliated chapters.

Traffic report: Two households, both alike in dignity
"Happy families are all alike," Leo Tolstoy said, "but unhappy families are unhappy after their own fashion."

In the media: Arbitration case attracts media coverage; Wikipedia in Israel
UK media covers Wikipedia Arbitration case; Lila Tretikov visits Israel.

Featured content: Just the bear facts, ma'am
Four featured articles, two featured lists, one featured topic, and twenty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.

Technology report: Wikimedia sites are going HTTPS only
Today it was announced that Wikimedia sites are going to become HTTPS only, finishing up 10 year effort of rolling out HTTPS.

Blog: Making Wikipedia’s medical articles accessible in Chinese
The Medical Translation Project, an ambitious attempt to improve and translate Wikipedia’s medical content from English into other languages, began in 2012.

The Signpost: 17 June 2015

In the media: Wikipedia wins Asturias Prize; printing out Wikipedia; HTTPS switch
The Princess of Asturias Foundation announced that Wikipedia would be the recipient of the 2015 Princess of Asturias award in the category of International Cooperation.

Arbitration report: An election has consequences
The Arbitration Committee delivered its final decision in a case that reached the attention of the UK national press.

In focus: Three weeks to save freedom of panorama in Europe
This would end a long-standing tradition in many countries that the skyline and the public scene should belong to everybody.

Op-ed: Making a difference in Wikipedia, one GA at a time
We need to be ever-diligent in ensuring that articles remain of high quality.

Technology report: HTTPS-only rollout completed; proposal to enable VisualEditor for new accounts
The rollout of HTTPS only has now been completed across all Wikimedia wikis.

Interview: A veteran’s Wikipedia edits help him understand the brutality behind Yugoslavia’s wars
We interviewed an Australian veteran who deployed to the region as a peacekeeper and now writes articles on the region's history to help him understand what he encountered there.

News and notes: Labs outage kills tools, self; news in brief
A more than usually severe outage Wikimedia Labs occurred after a massive database corruption implosion on June 17.

Featured content: Great Dane hits 150
Six featured articles, seven featured lists, and seven featured pictures were promoted this week.

Discussion report: A quick way of becoming an admin
Author's note: This might be a violation of WP:BEANS; read at your own risk.

WikiProject report: Western Australia speaks – we are back
It wouldn't be the WikiProject report if we didn't feature an Australian topic once in a while, so this week we're looking at the left side.

The Signpost: 24 June 2015

From the editor: The Signpost tagging initiative
Over more than a decade of weekly publication, The Signpost has accumulated an incredibly lengthy and detailed record about the issues, controversies, successes, and failures of the English Wikipedia community and the movement at large.

Op-ed: Content Translation beta is coming to the English Wikipedia
The Wikimedia Foundation's Language Engineering team plans to introduce Content Translation—a tool that makes it easier to translate Wikipedia articles into different languages—as a beta feature on the English Wikipedia.

Special report: Small impact of the large Google Translation Project on Telugu Wikipedia
During 2009–2011 Google ran the Google Translation Project (GTP), a program utilising paid translators to translate most popular English Wikipedia articles to various Indian language Wikipedias.

Featured content: One eye when begun, two when it's done
Four articles and nine pictures were promoted to featured status this week.

Recent research: How Wikipedia built governance capability; readability of plastic surgery articles
One paper looks at the topic of Wikipedia governance in the context of online social production.

Technology report: 2015 MediaWiki architecture focus and Multimedia roadmap announced
This past week saw the kick-off of the 2015 MediaWiki architecture focus of improving our content platform.

News and notes: Board of Trustees propose bylaw amendments
The Board of Trustees is the "ultimate corporate authority" of the Wikimedia Foundation and the level at which the strategic decisions regarding the Wikimedia movement are made ...

In the media: Turkish Wikipedia censorship; "Can Wikipedia survive?"; PR editing
The Hürriyet Daily News reports that the Turkish Wikipedia has posted banners on the top of the encyclopedia to warn users that a number of articles are being blocked by the Turkish government.

Blog: 7,473 volumes at 700 pages each: meet Print Wikipedia
After six years of work, a residency in the Canadian Rockies, endless debugging, and more than a little help from my friends, I have made Print Wikipedia.

Arbitration report: Politics by other means: The American politics 2 arbitration
Clausewitz' pithy summary of warfare as "politics by other means" seems to be the motto of some Wikipedia editors.

The Signpost: 01 July 2015

News and notes: Training the Trainers; VP of Engineering leaves WMF
This week The Center for Internet and Society published a promotional blog post highlighting the heritage of the center's creation of the Train the Trainer program.

In the media: EU freedom of panorama; Nehru outrage; BBC apology
A week now remains until the vote, expected on 9 July, when the European Parliament will express either its approval, disapproval, or lack of opinion on the question of freedom of panorama in the European Union.

WikiProject report: Able to make a stand
Here to share their wisdom are Dodger67, Penny Richards, LilyKitty, and Mirokado of WikiProject Disability

Featured content: Viva V.E.R.D.I.
Four featured list and twelve featured pictures were promoted this week.

Traffic report: We're Baaaaack
For the week of June 21 to 27, 2015, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages.

Technology report: Technical updates and improvements
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community.

Blog: These Texans are on a quest to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of their state’s revolution
Like many editors of the world's largest encyclopedia, Karanacs was browsing the site's articles and found that they were of relatively poor quality—and that the traditional narrative she'd learned was not necessarily accurate.

The Signpost: 08 July 2015

Editorial: So you want to get your message out. Where do you turn?
It seems like a good time to discuss the various communications channels available to community members.

News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation annual plan released, news in brief
Lila Tretikov this week posted an email to the wikimedia-l mailing list announcing the final publication of the Wikimedia Foundation's 2015 annual plan.

In the media: Wikimania warning; Wikipedia "mystery" easily solved
The mayor of Esino Lario warns that Wikimedia 2016 is "at risk of disappearing".

Traffic report: The Empire lobs back
It's July 4 weekend and on this list that means only one thing: Wimbledon. Sure, the American Independence Day gets noticed too, but it can't hold a candle to that staggeringly British sporting event.

Featured content: Pyrénées, Playmates, parliament and a prison...
12 featured articles, 2 featured lists, and 15 featured pictures were promoted this week.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community.

The Signpost: 15 July 2015

Op-ed: On paid editing and advocacy: when the Bright Line fails to shine, and what we can do about it
"How long will this take?" This is one of the first questions new clients ask. They come to us because the Wikipedia entry about the company at which they work is wrong, incomplete, or even just outdated. The answer varies ...

Traffic report: Belles of the ball
However coy they may be about it in public, Americans love to win. And when they do, they make no secret of it.

WikiProject report: What happens when a country is no longer a country?
We return this week with an interview with a historical project that's still fairly active, WikiProject Former countries.

In the media: Shapps requests WMUK data; professor's plagiarism demotion
In The Register, Andrew Orlowski reports that three weeks ago, Grant Shapps filed a request with Wikimedia UK (WMUK) under the Data Protection Act 1998 "for all data relating to him".

Blog: Wikimedia Foundation releases third transparency report
The Wikimedia Foundation is pleased to announce the release of our latest transparency report.

News and notes: The Wikimedia Conference and Wikimania
Wikimania 2015 is underway in Mexico City, and one of its sessions—a scheduled follow-up to the annual Wikimedia Conference that was held in Berlin in May—is good reason to provide a retrospective of that Conference.

Featured content: When angels and daemons interrupt the vicious and intemperate
One featured article, seven featured lists, and 14 featured pictures were promoted this week.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community

The Signpost: 22 July 2015

From the editor: Change the world
We want to take a moment to ask you to consider contributing to the Signpost.

News and notes: Wikimanía 2016; Lightbreather ArbCom case
Wikimania features remarks from some leading players from the Wikimedia Foundation as well as the free knowledge movement.

Wikimanía report: Wikimanía 2015 report, part 1, the plenaries
WMF's Executive Director, Lila Tretikov, gave the opening plenary address.

In the media: Novelists annotate Wikipedia; Wales promotes TPO; Working for free
Three novelists "have found a way to control the Wikipedia narrative" by using the annotation website Genius to annotate their own Wikipedia articles.

Traffic report: The Nerds, They Are A-Changin'
Summary:When I was a kid, being a nerd meant wanting to go to Pluto.

WikiProject report: Some more politics
WikiProject Politics of the United Kingdom

Featured content: The sleep of reason produces monsters
Three featured articles, two featured lists, and 29 featured pictures were promoted this week.

Gallery: "One small step..."
46 years ago this week, humanity set foot on the Moon.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

The Signpost: 29 July 2015

News and notes: BARC de-adminship proposal; Wikimania recordings debate
An RFC proposes to create a "Bureaucrats' Admin Review Committee" (BARC) composed of bureaucrats empowered to remove adminship rights.

Op-ed: My life as an autistic Wikipedian
Two years ago, I discovered that I was on the autism spectrum.

Recent research: Wikipedia and collective intelligence; how Wikipedia is tweeted
An article argues that Wikipedia displays some key characteristics of a collective intelligence process.

In the media: Is Wikipedia a battleground in the culture wars?
"Editors representing rival political tribes [are] frequently attempting to impose their respective narratives as the official version of one or another cultural controversy."

Featured content: Even mammoths get the Blues
Five featured articles, five featured lists, and sixteen featured pictures were promoted this week.

Traffic report: Namaste again, Reddit
For the first time since this list began, India-related topics have claimed both the top two slots.

The Signpost: 05 August 2015

Editorial: Wikipedia better equipped to deal with systemic bias than traditional publishers
That particular artists would be omitted through oversight or happenstance is reasonable, but that one of the world's leading publishers of art books is completely unaware of their major omissions is startling.

Op-ed: Je ne suis pas Google
The public interest in remembering the facts about trials and convictions is, in my view, at least as strong as any "right to be forgotten."

News and notes: VisualEditor, endowment, science, and news in brief
VisualEditor is now on slow roll-out on the English Wikipedia.

WikiProject report: Meet the boilerplate makers
The Report checks in with WikiProject Templates.

In the media: Probe into Nehru edits launched; dangers of the right to be forgotten
The Indian government has launched an investigation into the source of Wikipedia edits regarding Jawaharlal Nehru that caused outrage in that country.

Traffic report: Mrityorma amritam gamaya...
Death is no stranger to this list, but it has never cast such a pall as this week, when for the first time half the slots in the top 10 were devoted to it, including the top 3.

Featured content: Maya, Michigan, Medici, Médée, and Moul n'ga
Three featured articles, seven featured lists, and twenty-two featured pictures were promoted this week.

Blog: Get help editing Wikipedia with the new “Co-op” mentorship program
What if there was a gathering place on Wikipedia for newer editors to find a mentor?

The Signpost: 12 August 2015

News and notes: Superprotect, one year later; a contentious RfA
Superprotect was a novel page protection level implemented on August 10 last year, without warning.

In the media: Paid editing; traffic drop; Nicki Minaj
The Atlantic discusses "The Covert World of People Trying to Edit Wikipedia—for Pay".

Forum: Community voices on paid editing
The community speaks out on paid editing.

Wikimanía report: Wikimanía 2015, part 2, a community event
Our ongoing Wikimanía coverage.

Traffic report: Fighting from top to bottom
The charts are led this week by UFC women's champion Ronda Rousey, who won her last match at UFC 190 (#9) in 34 seconds.

Featured content: Fused lizards, giant mice, and Scottish demons
Watch out for icebergs.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Wikimedia technical news.

Blog: The Hunt for Tirpitz
During World War II, the German battleship Tirpitz was a major threat to Allied convoys travelling across the North Atlantic and Arctic Sea.

The Signpost: 19 August 2015

Op-ed: WP:THREATENING2MEN: The English Wikipedia's misogynist infopolitics and the hegemony of the asshole consensus
Nothing makes Wikipedians more angry than a discussion of gender and feminism on Wikipedia.

In the media: Politically controversial science; "Wikipedia hates women"
A new article in PLOS ONE about Wikipedia's science coverage has attracted media attention.

Featured content: Dead parrots, live frogs, a symbolic kiss and what do we get? Enrique Iglesias!
This week's featured content.

Travelogue: Seeing is believing
Tony the Tiger tours New York City.

Traffic report: Straight Outta Connecticut
It's a long way from the leafy bowers of Greenwich, Connecticut to the concrete barrens of Compton, California.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

Blog: How Wikipedia responds to breaking news
Wikipedia is capable of covering news like any news agency.

The Signpost: 26 August 2015

In focus: An increase in active Wikipedia editors
Does the data mean good news for the encyclopedia?

In the media: Russia temporarily blocks Wikipedia
The Russian Wikipedia is blocked, more blocks may be on the on the horizon.

Op-ed: Wikimania—can volunteers organize conferences?
Should paid event staff supplement the work of volunteers?

News and notes: Re-imagining grants
The Wikimedia Foundation's grant structure.

Featured content: Out to stud, please call later
This week's featured content.

Arbitration report: Reinforcing Arbitration
The recently closed Arbitration Enforcement case.

Recent research: OpenSym 2015 report
A look at the research presented at the OpenSym 2015 conference.

The Signpost: 02 September 2015

Special report: Massive paid editing network unearthed on the English Wikipedia
Nearly 400 accounts blocked in largest paid-editing bust ever.

News and notes: Flow placed on ice
The WMF collaboration team announced this week that Flow will no longer be under active development.

Discussion report: WMF's sudden reversal on Wiki Loves Monuments
A conflict regarding fundraising banners on the Italian Wikipedia is resolved.

Featured content: Brawny
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 16 August to 24 August.

In the media: Orangemoody sockpuppet case sparks widespread coverage
Also vital statistics regarding Ja Rule.

Traffic report: You didn't miss much
The late-summer smash success of Straight Outta Compton remains the chief talking point of the English-speaking world, interrupted only by the welcome return of a Google Doodle.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

The Signpost: 09 September 2015

Gallery: Being Welsh
The National Library is now releasing some of the nation's most treasured collections to Wikimedia Commons for everyone to use and enjoy.

Featured content: Killed by flying debris
Tony1 interviews a prolific featured content participant, Ian Rose.

Op-ed: DYK, or proudly displaying incorrect information on the Main Page with alarming regularity
Fram tells us why DYK is a problem.

News and notes: The Swedish Wikipedia's controversial two-millionth article
First bot-created article generated from Wikidata; the Orange Bar of Doom has finally met its doom; active editor numbers still on the rise; arbitrator to resign; ne templates added in wake of Orangemoody case

Traffic report: Mass media production traffic
This week's theme in popular articles revolved entirely around mass media productions.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
section begin "tech-newsletter-content"

In the media: Calling all scientists!; More Wikipedia editors in the Netherlands than all of Africa combined
A recap of Wikipedia in the media this week

The Signpost: 16 September 2015

Editorial: No access is no answer to closed access
On Wikipedia's commitment to open access and its obligations to readers and editors.

News and notes: Byrd and notifications leave, but page views stay; was a terror suspect editing Wikipedia?
WMF CFO to depart, notifications come and go, and questions about the possible editing by a recently arrested terrorism suspect.

In the media: Is there life on Mars?
Probably not. Also, Whitehall still editing Wikipedia.

Featured content: Why did the emu cross the road?
This week's featured content.

Traffic report: Another week
No particular trends to spot in this week's top article traffic.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

The Signpost: 23 September 2015

In the media: PETA makes "monkey selfie" a three-way copyright battle; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
PETA launches a copyright lawsuit over the infamous photograph.

Op-ed: Can we please stop bashing Wikipedia?
No, really, just stop.

Featured content: Inside Duke Humfrey's Library
This week's featured content.

WikiProject report: Dancing to the beat of a... wikiproject?
This time of year features the Latin Grammy Awards, so here for an interview are WikiProject Latin music.

Traffic report: ¡Viva la Revolución! Kinda.
This week, drug lord and wannabe Bolivar Pablo Escobar was joined by a whole host of somewhat more primetime-friendly political insurgents.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

The Signpost: 30 September 2015

News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation fundraising report, Montreal to host 2017 Wikimania
A year of fundraising and a controversial decision.

In the media: Irish legislative editing; coffee quarrel; more sports vandalism
More Wikipedia editing in the news.

Op-ed: Wikipedia needs more administrators
Low numbers of active admins and high standards for adminship make a troubling combination.

Recent research: Wiktionary special; newbies, conflict and tolerance; Is Wikipedia's search function inferior?
A look at newly published Wikipedia research.

Tech news: Tech news in brief
Community technical news

The Signpost: 07 October 2015

Op-ed: Walled gardens of corruption
Kazakhstan and Wikipedia: A marriage made in hell.

Traffic report: Reality is for losers
English speakers, like most of humanity, are primarily a northern-hemispheric people, and as autumn draws close and the days grow shorter, as a group we tend to huddle around our flickering screens and remember what matters: TV, movies, sports and, of course, crazy doomsday prophecies.

Featured content: This Week's Featured Content
Some of Wikipedia's newest featured content.

Gallery: Winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2015 in Pakistan
These winners of the Wiki Loves Monuments Pakistan 2015 contest were shared with the Social Media mailing list recently.

Arbitration report: Warning: Contains GMOs
A new case was opened for ArbCom as the Genetically modified organisms case was accepted and opened on 28 September.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
A reproduced version of the Wikimedia tech newsletter.

In the media: Jailed Saudi blogger wins award; PR editing and Wiki-embarassment; Pakistan's third-richest person?
A summary of Wikimedia's mentions in the media.

The Signpost: 14 October 2015

Op-ed: WikiConference USA 2015: built on good faith
We believe that human interaction can only make Wikipedia stronger.

WikiConference report: US gathering sees speeches from Andrew Lih, AfroCrowd, and the Archivist of the United States
Three days at the US National Archives.

Editorial: Why the news media needs a Wikipedian in residence
The news coverage we usually see about Wikipedia is neither in-depth, nor specialized, nor systematic.

News and notes: 2015–2016 Q1 fundraising update sparks mailing list debate
Everyone's talking about money.

Traffic report: Screens, Sport, Reddit, and Death
For the second consecutive week, the most viewed article had less than one million views, the only two weeks that has happened in all of 2015.

Featured content: A fistful of dollars
This week's featured content.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

Blog: Third Wikimedia Spain conference takes place in Madrid
On September 25, 26 and 27, Wikimedia Spain celebrated its third Wikimedia Conference at the Colegio Mayor Universitario Isabel de España in Madrid.

The Signpost: 21 October 2015

Editorial: Women and Wikipedia: the world is watching
Time to clean up our mess.

News and notes: Wikimedia lawsuit against NSA dismissed; Affiliates mailing list launched
District court judge decrees that the WMF lacks standing.

In the media: "Wikipedia's hostility to women"
"The lunatics are running the asylum."

Special report: One year of GamerGate, or how I learned to stop worrying and love bare rule-level consensus
Examining the conflict and its participants.

Featured content: A more balanced week
Featured content

Op-ed: Wikipedia is significantly amplifying the impact of Open Access publications
When given a choice between journals of similar impact factors, editors are significantly more likely to select the “open access” option.

Arbitration report: Four ArbCom cases ongoing
Open cases before the Arbitration Committee.

Traffic report: Hiding under the covers of the Internet
We live in a harsh, uncertain world.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

The Signpost: 28 October 2015

From the editor: The Signpost's reorganization plan—we need your help
A call for volunteers.

News and notes: English Wikipedia reaches five million articles
The community reacts to another milestone.

In the media: The world's Wikipedia gaps; Google and Wikipedia accused of tying Ben Carson to NAMBLA
The week's news coverage about the encyclopedia.

Op-ed: It’s time to stop the bullying
Gangs of bullies and trolls rove the internet and make life difficult for the rest of us.

Arbitration report: A second attempt at Arbitration enforcement
A divisive case before the Committee opens.

Traffic report: Canada, the most popular nation on Earth
What's this all aboot, eh?

Recent research: Student attitudes towards Wikipedia; Jesus, Napoleon and Obama top "Wikipedia social network"; featured article editing patterns in 12 languages
New research about Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects.

Featured content: Birds, turtles, and other things
This week's featured content.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

Community letter: Five million articles
The community celebrates.

The Signpost: 04 November 2015

Op-ed: You are invited to participate in the Community Wishlist Survey
The WMF wants your ideas for technical improvements.

News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation finances; Superprotect is gone
WMF funding and the death and life of a controversial feature.

In the media: Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov: propaganda myth or history?
The difficulties of verifying encyclopedia content.

Traffic report: Death, the Dead, and Spectres are abroad
The week in article traffic.

Featured content: Christianity, music, and cricket
This week's featured content.

Gallery: Princess of Asturias Awards 2015 ceremony
Wikipedia received the 2015 Princess of Asturias Award for global cooperation on October 23.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

The Signpost: 11 November 2015

Op-ed: As one thousand of us requested, Superprotect has been removed
Assessing the end of a controversial feature.

Arbitration report: Elections, redirections, and a resignation from the Committee
It's that time of the year again.

Discussion report: Compromise of two administrator accounts prompts security review
Fallout from a recent security breach.

Featured content: Texas, film, and cycling
Featured content

In the media: Sanger on Wikipedia; Silver on Vox; lawyers on monkeys
Are the inmates running the asylum? Are journalists copying Wikipedia? Are monkeys filing lawsuits?

Traffic report: Doodles of popularity
More doodles, more traffic.

Gallery: Paris
Reflecting on the tragedy in France.

The Signpost: 18 November 2015

Special report: ArbCom election—candidates’ opinions analysed
Our annual election coverage.

In the media: Icelandic milestone; apolitical editing
Icelandic Wikipedia hits 400K articles; how do Wikipedia editors stay neutral?

Discussion report: BASC disbanded; other developments in the discussion world
Discussions around the encyclopedia.

Arbitration report: Ban Appeals Subcommittee goes up in smoke; 21 candidates running
Updates on the Committee. You know, besides the election.

Featured content: Fantasia on a Theme by Jimbo Wales
The week in Featured Content.

Traffic report: Darkness and light
Paris and Diwali.

ArbCom elections are now open!

Hi,
You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability 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, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:57, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

The Signpost: 25 November 2015

Op-ed: Wikidata: the new Rosetta Stone
Wikidata is set to become the main open data repository worldwide.

News and notes: Fundraising update; FDC recommendations
Updates on the Wikimedia Foundation.

In the media: Erasmus Prize awarded to Wikipedia; trouble on the Russian Wikipedia
The worldwide community wins a prestigious award while the Russian community struggles with government interference.

Recent research: Do Wikipedia citations mirror scholarly impact?; co-star networks in silent films
Scholarly research about Wikipedia and related projects.

Featured content: Caves and stuff
Featured content

Traffic report: J'en ai ras le bol
The week's most read articles.

Arbitration report: Third Palestine-Israel case closes; Voting begins
Another long-running case has been closed, while the voting process for this year's Arbitration Committee Elections has begun.

Technology report: Tech news in brief
Community technical news.

Blog: Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Deutschland urge Reiss Engelhorn Museum to reconsider suit over public domain works of art
The suit concerns copyright claims related to 17 images of the museum’s public domain works of art.