User talk:Peterdownunder/Archive 14
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I just had a thought
[change source]Maybe MonoBook would be a better skin for people who use Twinkle. (here's an example). I am considering it myself but would also like your opinion. Let me know on my talk page because I'm sending this message to other people as well please. Krett12 (talk) 16:31, 10 December 2015 (UTC)
- I simply prefer vector.--Peterdownunder (talk) 23:51, 10 December 2015 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) @Krett12, I take your point. But really, the preference anyone has for a skin relies on a variety of issues, and there is no possible way we would ever mandate use of MonoBook for Twinkle users as long as Twinkle works well under Vector, which it does. On the whole, I prefer Vector, too. StevenJ81 (talk) 14:46, 11 December 2015 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) @Krett12: My preference is for the Vector skin also and I have no difficulties using Twinkle. User:Rus793 (talk) 22:36, 17 December 2015 (UTC)
- @StevenJ81: I didn't say we would mandate it, I just meant we would recommend it, I am going to switch to MonoBook as I think it is better for twinkle users. Krett12 (talk) 00:15, 18 December 2015 (UTC)
- We don't need to either mandate or recommend a particular skin. People use the skin they want. --Auntof6 (talk) 01:10, 18 December 2015 (UTC)
- @StevenJ81: I didn't say we would mandate it, I just meant we would recommend it, I am going to switch to MonoBook as I think it is better for twinkle users. Krett12 (talk) 00:15, 18 December 2015 (UTC)
Hi Peter, it seems that about the same time I was redirecting Green sea turtles you deleted it. The redirect went through but deleted the original author in favor of me. You may want to delete the redirect also. I'll leave it up to you. Thanks User:Rus793 (talk) 20:34, 16 December 2015 (UTC)
- I wondered what happened. The redirect is fine.--Peterdownunder (talk) 20:45, 16 December 2015 (UTC)
- You and me both. It seems to have been a fluke of perfect timing. Thanks User:Rus793 (talk) 21:59, 16 December 2015 (UTC)
Hey you!
[change source]You can´t block me when i´m doing such a great job helping you guys out. Just look at how many edits i have made. I´m newbie and have lots to learn but i still think you should give me a change before you decide to block me. — This unsigned comment was added by DogPog1000 (talk • changes) at 15:23, 17 December 2015.
because the removal of the article
[change source]Hi Peterdownunder , I wonder why you deleted the page José Rafael Cordero Sanchez I seem to have good sources ? --Tastivy (talk) 23:55, 20 December 2015 (UTC)
- Thanks for your question. The article does not meet our rules for notability, not everyone in the world will be important enough to have an article on Wikipedia. We have the notability rules to help us decide who should have an article, and who does not. One of the things needed is reliable sources - and these need to be independant sources. The sources provided on this article , as far as I could tell without being a Spanish speaker and needing to use Google translate, seems to be the same text in different publications, and they read as if they are a press release. I could not find in the sources reliable, and independant writing about this person. Hope this answers the question.--Peterdownunder (talk) 11:07, 21 December 2015 (UTC)
- Hi Peter. José has recreated his auto-bio a few hours ago as Jose Rafael Cordero and I have tagged it for deletion. May I suggest that you default to salting (creation protect) the titles straight away? Best regards and happy holidays, Sam Sailor (talk) 13:07, 23 December 2015 (UTC)
- Macdonald-ross took care of it, cheers. Sam Sailor (talk) 13:14, 23 December 2015 (UTC)
December 2015
[change source]This is your only warning. If you are a member of this wiki during the holiday season again, you may be be given this holiday card without any more warnings:
Thanks for all your help on the 'pedia! |
Service awards
[change source]Hi Peter. I noticed you've been added welcoming messages to newer users. Osiris used to regularly give out service awards about the time a user had one coming. I'm assuming there is a list of up to date active users with start dates somewhere. Otherwise I don't know how he kept track of who was due for what and when. Is this an admin function and if so is anyone doing it? Thanks User:Rus793 (talk) 22:31, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
- Thanks for the question. There used to be a list that gave edit totals, but sadly it was deleted. So the only way to do it is to check each individual. I have a rollover feature which gives an edit count on a user's name simply and easily. It is not an admin function, so please feel free to do it. I always try to add a welcome message when someone tries to make a positive edit. We could also throw around a few more barnstars too. These are simple little ways to show that someone else has noticed and appreciated your efforts.--Peterdownunder (talk) 22:50, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
- OK, how does the rollover feature work? What about the Wikipedia:List of Wikipedians by number of changes. Is there any way you can think of that it could be updated automatically? Thanks User:Rus793 (talk) 23:58, 30 December 2015 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) It is not an admin function. Anyone can "give" you a service award. You can even give it to yourself. There are no checks to make sure a given award is the "right" one -- it's on the honor system. In case you're interested, there's a service award template that determines which award you're qualified for based on start date and edit count figures that you give it. You just keep updating your edit count now and then, and the award displayed is automatically set to the right one. --Auntof6 (talk) 08:41, 8 January 2016 (UTC)
John Boyega
[change source]Hello there, IP addresses keep adding "traitor" as an occupation to the John Boyega page. I keep reverting the changes but it is persistent. Could you possibly lock the page? Thanks. —Jonny Nixon (talk) 08:31, 8 January 2016 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) I've just semi-protected it for two weeks. For future reference, it's best to make this kind of request at WP:AN so that any available admin will see it. --Auntof6 (talk) 08:45, 8 January 2016 (UTC)
- Thank you. —Jonny Nixon (talk) 09:03, 8 January 2016 (UTC)
Body Systems Project needs an ambassador
[change source]Hi Peterdownunder,
Last year you kindly acted as an ambassador for my class' project, Wikipedia:Schools/Projects/Notable_Female_Authors. We are preparing to launch this year's project (our 4th consecutive year, my third year) on Monday, February 22, 2016 from 4:00pm-6:00pm UTC. I'm not sure what time zone you are in, and if such a time of day would work for you, but I would be delighted if you would consider being our ambassador again.
This year, we are building on a number of lessons we have learned from past experience. I have English teachers on board, and they will be teaching S-V-O sentence structure prior to our day of editing, as well as helping me check the clarity and simplicity of the writing after the students post their articles. While we are still determining the topic, I also think that I have science teachers on board to check the subject matter quality. Although we have always been very careful with regard to the sources the students use for information, this new structure has several advantages: (1) multiple adults checking the quality of the work, (2) another class day (date to be determined, but a few weeks later) where students will be expected to respond to any requests on their pages, giving them an opportunity to enhance the quality of their work.
In any event, I strive to make each year smoother than the last, and I would truly appreciate having you keep an eye out for our project, if the timing works for you.
Thank you, —Castilibrary (talk)
- As always it will be a pleasure to offer whatever assistance maybe needed.--Peterdownunder (talk) 20:33, 28 January 2016 (UTC)
- Thank you so much! We are quite grateful, and students feel so empowered afterwards. —Castilibrary (talk)
- Looking forward to it :) --Peterdownunder (talk) 21:56, 29 January 2016 (UTC)
- Question Peterdownunder (talk) : I see that my library has, in the past, created several user accounts. I'd like to expand our list a bit so that we know we have accounts for students to use each year in class projects. I can also teach them how to make their own, but it would be great to have them use school ones. Any problem with creating a few accounts with similar usernames for this purpose? I know I need to not create many from one IP address at one time, but having a class set really would make things go more smoothly for us. Would this be verboten behavior? Thank you. Castilibrary (talk)
- Looking forward to it :) --Peterdownunder (talk) 21:56, 29 January 2016 (UTC)
- Thank you so much! We are quite grateful, and students feel so empowered afterwards. —Castilibrary (talk)
- One more question: This morning, I was going to create one account, but found that our IP address has been blocked by Wikimedia user Trijnstel (talk). He blocked it back in January, apparently, for the duration of one year. I don't seem to have any problem logging in and working with my own account. I have not created any accounts from this address. It is unclear to me how this block will impact my classes, or why it is in place. Are you able to help me understand this issue, please? Thank you. Castilibrary (talk)
- Project Page is here: Wikipedia:Schools/Projects/Body_Systems_Project -- Castilibrary (talk)
OK, Peterdownunder, we are off and editing. Thanks! --Castilibrary (talk)
Big Weekends?
[change source]Hello Peter, it has been a long time! I hope you are doing well. I have been on a long, long break, focusing on studying (graduating last year) and now doing a Master's degree in Oxford (it feels like such a long time ago that I first started editing here). I have found some time, recently, and even if it's only a few edits a day, I feel it's the least I can do for the project.
I was wondering, do we still have the big weekends, where we would focus on a specific topic, creating and improving articles? Of course teamwork may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I remember it being fun and useful for the project. I look forward to hearing from you. All best, Yottie =talk= 11:18, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
- Just to add to what I said, maybe we could have one that focuses on pages in Category:All articles with unsourced statements? Just a thought, but it would help bring the number down. I would be happy to coordinate the project, I just wanted to know whether there is a new platform other than Big weekends which has been used to help coordinate teamwork recently! --Yottie =talk= 19:15, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) Hi, Yottie. It has been nice seeing you back. We haven't had a big weekend for a while, but I think it's mostly because no one has wanted to coordinate one. We also have a lot of newer users who don't know about them. I've been thinking about them, too, and I think your idea is great! I would definitely participate. --Auntof6 (talk) 19:56, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) Yottie, I saw your comment about Big Weekends and dug around for information about them and what they were. Honestly, they look really cool. If you put together one for the unsourced statements category, I'd love to participate. Just a note of support and all. --Lithorien (talk) 20:02, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
- Thanks for the welcome back, Auntof6. Glad to see there is some interest in this from you and Lithorien. I will wait to hear from Peter, and hopefully organise something soon. Thanks for the feedback, --Yottie =talk= 20:29, 7 February 2016 (UTC)
- Sorry for the delay in replying, but RL is fairly hectic at the moment. I would love to see another Big Weekend. I think Yottie's suggestion of a Big Reference Weekend would be both interesting to do, and be really useful for the project too. When? --Peterdownunder (talk) 22:02, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
- I think we should do it. It sounds fun. An administrator could hand out specific pages or group of pages for certain people can do. It would really help with all the stubs. PokestarFan (talk) (My Contribs) 22:09, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
- @PokestarFan: That's not how it works. The people participating decide what to work on. And this won't have anything to do with stubs: it's for references, not length of articles. --Auntof6 (talk) 23:23, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
- I think this weekend might be too soon, but how about the 19-20-21st? I will create a post on WP:ST. Also, I mentioned Featured February to Only. We had discussed such a possibility back in 2013, but I don't think it ever materialised. I think a longer term project (maybe a month?) to create article here that are Featured on ENXP would be a good idea, but nothing sopts us from having the big weekend at the same time (or maybe just have Mad Featured March instead! --Yottie =talk= 22:28, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
- OK lets go, BRW for Feb 19-21, and a Mad March too.--Peterdownunder (talk) 08:33, 10 February 2016 (UTC)
- I think we should do it. It sounds fun. An administrator could hand out specific pages or group of pages for certain people can do. It would really help with all the stubs. PokestarFan (talk) (My Contribs) 22:09, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
- Sorry for the delay in replying, but RL is fairly hectic at the moment. I would love to see another Big Weekend. I think Yottie's suggestion of a Big Reference Weekend would be both interesting to do, and be really useful for the project too. When? --Peterdownunder (talk) 22:02, 9 February 2016 (UTC)
- Well, first, Wikipedia talk:Big Weekend is the place to have this discussion. And I do have some doubts. The enthusiasm for BWs tailed off notably, and I honestly cannot see fixing pages with no sources as a hot item for most editors! Many are not capable of doing the detailed work needed to check sources and select those which suit our pages. They will probably just copy/paste whatever they find on En wiki.
Previously, we chose topics on the basis of "here's something everyone can do", so bridges, airports, forests etc. The idea was that everyone has some of those right near them, and can put them into the wiki. Actually, about 95% or more of the editing here is on biographies and pop culture. We might think about "do five people from your country who should be better known" or some such. BWs to be popular have to tap a wide range of tastes, and be easy to do. Macdonald-ross (talk) 09:18, 10 February 2016 (UTC)
- Projects have a natural life, and maybe it is time to re-energise this one. If this project can make editors aware of the need for suitable references, then it is worthwhile. This is a broad topic, find articles you are interested in and add references, be it bridges or pop stars. Let's try it and see how it goes. --Peterdownunder (talk) 10:31, 10 February 2016 (UTC)
- I'm sorry you see it that way, Macdonald-ross. I thought of it as an all-encompassing project, as it does not even limit users to a specific topic. It is an area which is worth working on and would help improve the wiki. Of course, you are free to take part or not, that is the nice thing about such events, it does not force people to do anything. :) If they want to try and help, they are welcome to and it may help some of us focus on issues which may sometimes be put to one side, such as finding references. My message was initially posted on WP:ST, because posting on WP talk:BW would have led to very few people see the message. I am more than happy for any further discussion to take place on the latter in future, now that people know where to look. All best wishes, --Yottie =talk= 16:08, 10 February 2016 (UTC)
- Well, there's obviously enough support to give it a go. Improving existing pages is obviously a good thing to do. Macdonald-ross (talk) 16:24, 10 February 2016 (UTC)
Your tagging with "no sources"
[change source]Are we changing the parameters of the Big Weekend? It was to be things in Category:All articles with unsourced statements. The tags you added put the pages in Category:All articles lacking sources. One is pages that have inline tags requesting sources for specific statements. The other is articles that have no sources at all. I'm not saying it isn't worth working on that as well, but it isn't what was originally proposed. --Auntof6 (talk) 03:45, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Oh dear, I hadn't thought that closely about the difference. I won't tag anymore, and will try to keep the focus on the original category. Although for the purpose of the weekend, adding sources to any article would be worth including.--Peterdownunder (talk) 04:59, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Well, I wouldn't mind extending it to other source-related categories. I wonder if we should also say that you only get credit if you find a source, not if you just remove the template, even if that's the right solution for a particular case. --Auntof6 (talk) 06:45, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Which other categories are you thinking of? I would probably like to have all reference/citation problems up for fixing. As to credit, it really doesn't matter, the goal is to address the issues and fix them. If a source can't be found, it has to be editor discretion as to whether the claim can not be supported, and therefore should be removed, or whether is simply needs more research and potentially should stay. Perhaps this could be included on the article talk page.--Peterdownunder (talk) 08:45, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Category:All unreferenced BLPs, for one. Maybe also Category:All BLPs needing more sources and Category:Articles lacking reliable references. Maybe others under Category:Wikipedia articles with sourcing issues. As for the issue of not just removing the templates that add the categories, I can see someone doing a bunch of removals just to get their edit count up. If others aren't worried about that, though, I won't worry about it, either. --Auntof6 (talk) 09:20, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Sounds good to me.--Peterdownunder (talk) 11:13, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Category:All unreferenced BLPs, for one. Maybe also Category:All BLPs needing more sources and Category:Articles lacking reliable references. Maybe others under Category:Wikipedia articles with sourcing issues. As for the issue of not just removing the templates that add the categories, I can see someone doing a bunch of removals just to get their edit count up. If others aren't worried about that, though, I won't worry about it, either. --Auntof6 (talk) 09:20, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Which other categories are you thinking of? I would probably like to have all reference/citation problems up for fixing. As to credit, it really doesn't matter, the goal is to address the issues and fix them. If a source can't be found, it has to be editor discretion as to whether the claim can not be supported, and therefore should be removed, or whether is simply needs more research and potentially should stay. Perhaps this could be included on the article talk page.--Peterdownunder (talk) 08:45, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Well, I wouldn't mind extending it to other source-related categories. I wonder if we should also say that you only get credit if you find a source, not if you just remove the template, even if that's the right solution for a particular case. --Auntof6 (talk) 06:45, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
- Oh dear, I hadn't thought that closely about the difference. I won't tag anymore, and will try to keep the focus on the original category. Although for the purpose of the weekend, adding sources to any article would be worth including.--Peterdownunder (talk) 04:59, 13 February 2016 (UTC)
Big weekend edit counts
[change source]I'm curious how the edit counts for the Big Weekend were tabulated? Etamni | ✉ | ✓ 08:00, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
- Good question, I went back through Recent Changes from the start time to the finish, and counted BW edits, and edits where references were improved, and counted them manually. So it is a good calculation, but is prone to operator error. If we could work out an automated method that would be good too.--Peterdownunder (talk) 09:04, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
- OK, I would request that you update the count for me. Please see this edit and this one too. Etamni | ✉ | ✓ 09:13, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
- Easy - our current method of counting is not foolproof.--Peterdownunder (talk) 09:14, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
- Thank you :) Etamni | ✉ | ✓ 09:24, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
- Easy - our current method of counting is not foolproof.--Peterdownunder (talk) 09:14, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
- OK, I would request that you update the count for me. Please see this edit and this one too. Etamni | ✉ | ✓ 09:13, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
The Citation Barnstar | ||
Thanks for your involvement in the Big Reference Weekend 2016! Looking forward to the next one! Osiris (talk) 10:02, 24 February 2016 (UTC) |
Thanks - It was good fun, so I am looking forward to the next one too :)--Peterdownunder (talk) 10:04, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
User:86.142.170.12 vandalism
[change source]Hi, User:86.142.170.12 seems to be vandalizing Wikipedia:Introduction again. --207.164.131.138 (talk) 18:30, 25 February 2016 (UTC)
Ambassador Request
[change source]Dear Peterdownunder,
I'm looking for an administrator who can be an ambassador for a few small class projects that I have in mind. One group of 5 students will be making edits to American Romantic authors. Another group of about 20 students will either be writing stub articles for 1 of the topics in the list of 10,000 expanded articles that doesn't have a page yet OR perhaps a Simple Wiktionary entry for a word that doesn't have a page yet. I've never done this before and my students are English learners, so I don't want to make it too complicated too early for them.
I'm thinking that I'll start with the Wikipedia pillars, rules, and basics of interacting and markup first. Probably around April we'll get around to making actual edits after some sandbox time. Would you be in a position to be an ambassador for this project? I don't really know how to design a spiffy project page. Is there some kind of a template? If I want to bulk create usernames with the same prefix so I can search for a bundle of them at a time to monitor their work, how would I go about doing that? Thanks for considering my request. I've been doing a lot of experimenting and observing to get a sense for what to do, but I think eventually I'm just going to have to jump right in and try, even if we make some mistakes along the way. Swim123blue (talk) 01:17, 4 March 2016 (UTC)
- Hi Swim123blue, I am very happy to help. When I run the training courses for Wikimedia, we start with making a user page first, very basic non-identifying info. We use this page to teach them some basic markup. Get them to create a link to the project page, and maybe to the help page. If you look at my user page you will see it contains lots of links to templates etc which help me edit. I also get them to add a picture from Commons. Next step is the interaction where they send and receive messages from each other on their talk pages. There is our student tutorial they could work through too. I next have them create their own sandbox if they want to create their own articles. Project pages can start as a very basic page - you can add spiffiness as you learn. Just make sure that there is a brief description of the project, and a list of editors is handy too, especially helps you check on their work. See Body Systems project for an example.
You can create up to six new users each day, or an administrator can do it for you. Wiktionary is a separate project with it own rules, but one you have created an account, it can be used on any project. Personally I find writing on Wiktionary much, much harder. One of the easier topics for non-English speaking students, is to have them create an article on something they know a lot about. --Peterdownunder (talk) 02:56, 4 March 2016 (UTC)
- Thank you for being willing to help. I'll follow that process of getting them used to WP user and talk pages, then markup and sandbox. I've spoken with @castilibrary actually and got some guidance from her, looking at her body systems page for a template example. I'm working on that project page now. I'll check back with you in a week or so. Swim123blue (talk) 18:52, 10 March 2016 (UTC)
- Happy to help. The body systems project page is a good one. By adding the editors as a link, it made it easy for me to use the page to check on the edits of each user. I could simply click on the name which took me to their page. Then using the page's side menu, I could click on "user's changes" to see what they had been doing. I didn't have to worry about search filters etc. I will leave a talkback message on your talk page to make sure you see this comment, it is a useful template you could use too. --Peterdownunder (talk) 21:08, 10 March 2016 (UTC)
- I emailed you a message about creating usernames for 26 students at once. What is the best way to go about doing this? Swim123blue (talk) 17:29, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
- Happy to help. The body systems project page is a good one. By adding the editors as a link, it made it easy for me to use the page to check on the edits of each user. I could simply click on the name which took me to their page. Then using the page's side menu, I could click on "user's changes" to see what they had been doing. I didn't have to worry about search filters etc. I will leave a talkback message on your talk page to make sure you see this comment, it is a useful template you could use too. --Peterdownunder (talk) 21:08, 10 March 2016 (UTC)
Dear Peterdownunder,
Would you be willing to be an ambassador again for our class project Wikipedia:Schools/Projects/easell? The format for the project is going to be similar to last year, but smaller in scale. I'll only have about 12 students working on shorter, individual projects rather than the 30+ in groups last year. We really appreciated your help and support last year. Thank you for considering it, Swim123blue (talk) 23:26, 28 February 2017 (UTC)
- Always happy to help.--Peterdownunder (talk) 22:45, 1 March 2017 (UTC)
- Hi, @Swim123blue:. Nice to see you back. Your students work under userids that start with "16chseld", right? I was looking at user pages, and I noticed that there are these sandbox pages that appear to be from your students:
- These user pages don't have a valid user associated with them. Normally we would delete them because of that, but if you want, we can move them elsewhere under a valid user. Just let either Peter or me know, and we can take care of it.
- Good luck with your new class project! --Auntof6 (talk) 05:10, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
- It's good to be back. I'm getting warmed up to wiki markup once again. The above sandboxes are actually orphaned pages. My students' naming protocols include a space between "eld" and their class number. These were made in error and have since been copied over to the correct page. You may delete these. Thank you. Swim123blue (talk) 04:32, 12 March 2017 (UTC)
- Thanks. They are now gone. --Auntof6 (talk) 05:59, 12 March 2017 (UTC)
- It's good to be back. I'm getting warmed up to wiki markup once again. The above sandboxes are actually orphaned pages. My students' naming protocols include a space between "eld" and their class number. These were made in error and have since been copied over to the correct page. You may delete these. Thank you. Swim123blue (talk) 04:32, 12 March 2017 (UTC)
Rhythm
[change source]Please see my comment on the notes (talk) page for Rhythm. Kdammers (talk) 03:57, 18 March 2016 (UTC)
An even longer time between drinks
[change source]Last time I was here, I mentioned that it would hopefully be less than three years before I returned. Alas, that was in 2013. Hoping that you are well. Lankiveil (talk) 07:36, 20 March 2016 (UTC).
- Three years...wow, time does fly. When I saw your edit on the recent changes it reminded me I had lost contact with the Wikimedia group. I need to reconnect.--Peterdownunder (talk) 11:47, 20 March 2016 (UTC)
Nice to meet you
[change source]Hi! Nice to meet you.16chseld 107 (talk) 10:09, 3 April 2016 (UTC)
- Hi, it is nice to meet you too, I hope you enjoy editing on Wikipedia.--Peterdownunder (talk) 21:47, 3 April 2016 (UTC)
Class assignment to improve {{copyedit}} pages
[change source]Next week's assignment is to practice making edits to pages. I'm thinking of directing my students to the "all pages in need of copy edit" page to find one that's already been identified. At what point should I direct my students to remove the {{copyedit}} markup? After a peer or teacher checks their work? Or should that be best left up to an administrator to do? Thanks! Swim123blue (talk) 23:00, 8 April 2016 (UTC)
- Many of the marked pages may have multiple problems, so it may be best to get an experienced editor to check their work and remove the tags. --Peterdownunder (talk) 10:45, 9 April 2016 (UTC)
- Ok, that's probably best. Still, I'll have my students attempt to make it better rather than worse! I suppose there's others watched no the page who'll be alerted to the recent edit and if they're experienced they can evaluate if it merits taking the tag off. Thanks, Swim123blue (talk) 06:13, 10 April 2016 (UTC)
- Certainly get the students to have a go at improving. I looked at a couple of pages to see some of the issues, and they did not look easy. But every improvement helps.--Peterdownunder (talk) 04:52, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
- Ok, that's probably best. Still, I'll have my students attempt to make it better rather than worse! I suppose there's others watched no the page who'll be alerted to the recent edit and if they're experienced they can evaluate if it merits taking the tag off. Thanks, Swim123blue (talk) 06:13, 10 April 2016 (UTC)
Class project banner on previously created stub pages
[change source]Should I direct my students to add a class project banner to the top of the article that they've chosen if that article was previously created by others before them? While their edits are presently being added to the page, not all of the work is attributable to them. Is it sort of commandeering authorship of the article to state that the entire article is part of the class project while it is really just the recent additions? I would plan to have the students remove the banner once their work is done, so is the purpose of the class banner just to alert other WPns that any current edits are to be dealt with using the "don't bite the newcomers" advice? Swim123blue (talk) 19:52, 26 April 2016 (UTC)
- This Class project banner would be fine, it does not try to commandeer the history, it is simply an alert.--Peterdownunder (talk) 21:37, 27 April 2016 (UTC)
Appropriate size of article changes at once
[change source]@Auntof6: and @Peterdownunder: It is now time for my students to add paragraphs of new content as well as references. Some of my students are working on one article in groups of 2-4. I'm debating between two methods:
- having my students all make multi-paragraph additions to one sandbox, check it for mistakes, and then copy/paste the final version to the live article
- having my students write up their paragraphs in Google Docs, then transfer their individual contributions to the live article one at a time
The first option would be cleaner IMO, but I get the sense that WP frowns upon large changes being made at once. The second option would make smaller additions, but would be more work for me to monitor through and probably result in more revisions by the students from not drafting in the sandbox environment. Thoughts? Feedback? Swim123blue (talk) 23:05, 16 May 2016 (UTC)
- Large changes are OK, it is often done when editors want to work on an article without other editors making contributions before they have finished. I would recommend option 1, especially if it makes it easier for you to check too.--Peterdownunder (talk) 11:33, 17 May 2016 (UTC)
- Thanks for the feedback. I'll go ahead with option 1 and make any notes for improving the workflow in the future. Swim123blue (talk) 22:58, 17 May 2016 (UTC)
- One more question: some of my students are ready to move their articles from the sandbox to the live page. Would this action be better done by:
- copy/pasting the wikicode from the sandbox to the live article via "change source" OR
- using the "move" button on a sandbox page and choosing "article" from the drop-down menu and typing in the title of the article page for it to replace?
- Thanks as always for your help, Swim123blue (talk) 04:19, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
- One more question: some of my students are ready to move their articles from the sandbox to the live page. Would this action be better done by:
- Thanks for the feedback. I'll go ahead with option 1 and make any notes for improving the workflow in the future. Swim123blue (talk) 22:58, 17 May 2016 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) Hi, User:Swim123blue. I wonder if you could list the articles your students are ready to move? I took a look at some of the articles they're working on (not knowing if they're the ones they're ready to move) and the ones I saw have some formatting issues. If you could give a list, I'd be glad to tell you what the issues are. --Auntof6 (talk) 05:04, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
- @Auntof6: I've changed the table of articles and authors in our EASELL class project page to identify which users are hosting the sandbox for their article. That should direct you one link away to the pages that are about to be published. Will that be sufficient? Swim123blue (talk) 15:58, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
- Good suggestion above from Auntof6. If the article is completely new, then move is best. If the article already exists then you should use "copy/paste".Peterdownunder (talk) 07:44, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
- @Swim123blue: How can I tell which ones are about to be published? Is it all of them? Where there are issues, would you like them fixed, or explained (possibly on the sandbox talk page) so that the student(s) can fix them? --Auntof6 (talk) 16:13, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
- @Auntof6: Yes, all students are making final edits based on peer feedback. Some are totally done, but others are in the process of making changes to grammar, citing references, and adding a class banner. I haven't emphasized much formatting beyond using phrases for headings and having a references section at the bottom. As for fixing them, if you or others would like to fix them I think that would be a good experience to see the collaborative process by users outside their class. I rarely make changes for them as their teacher to let them learn through doing, but another important element is that their article is subject to change by anyone. Swim123blue (talk) 17:06, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
- @Swim123blue: OK, I'll have time to look at them later today, maybe starting in about 4 or 5 hours. --Auntof6 (talk)
- @Auntof6: Yes, all students are making final edits based on peer feedback. Some are totally done, but others are in the process of making changes to grammar, citing references, and adding a class banner. I haven't emphasized much formatting beyond using phrases for headings and having a references section at the bottom. As for fixing them, if you or others would like to fix them I think that would be a good experience to see the collaborative process by users outside their class. I rarely make changes for them as their teacher to let them learn through doing, but another important element is that their article is subject to change by anyone. Swim123blue (talk) 17:06, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
- @Auntof6: I've changed the table of articles and authors in our EASELL class project page to identify which users are hosting the sandbox for their article. That should direct you one link away to the pages that are about to be published. Will that be sufficient? Swim123blue (talk) 15:58, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) Hi, User:Swim123blue. I wonder if you could list the articles your students are ready to move? I took a look at some of the articles they're working on (not knowing if they're the ones they're ready to move) and the ones I saw have some formatting issues. If you could give a list, I'd be glad to tell you what the issues are. --Auntof6 (talk) 05:04, 2 June 2016 (UTC)
You can take off this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{YGM}} template.
You can take off this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{YGM}} template.
Block on school IP
[change source]You recently blocked IP:203.14.52.146 and added a SchoolIP template to the top of the page. You indicated that the IP is registered to "Education Department of WA" -- Is this correct? WA is a common abbreviation for the State of Washington in the US, but I realize the abbreviation may have other meanings. The Geolocate link traces that IP to Perth, Australia. Etamni | ✉ | ✓ 08:19, 8 June 2016 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker comment): WA would stand for Western Australia in this case. If you click the "whois" info for the IP, it says it belongs to "Education Department of WA" just as Peterdownunder has labeled it. Only (talk) 10:02, 8 June 2016 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) As an American, let me say: Americans can be so provincial sometimes ... StevenJ81 (talk) 13:19, 8 June 2016 (UTC)
Can you please stop Hazard-Bot?
[change source]It is doing bad things! 71.3.137.126 (talk) 13:08, 27 June 2016 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) As noted elsewhere, the bot was resetting the sandbox after the now-globally-blocked IP was blanking it, including portions that were not supposed to be blanked. The bot is working correctly. Etamni | ✉ | ✓ 20:30, 27 June 2016 (UTC)
AWB and the flood flag
[change source]You will need to re-login on AWB for the flood flag to take effect ;) --Chenzw Talk 08:19, 28 July 2016 (UTC)
- Thanks for that, I thought it wasn't working!--Peterdownunder (talk) 08:20, 28 July 2016 (UTC)
Pokemon journey
[change source]I need to catch em all Julio osorio 2007 (talk) 02:02, 13 August 2016 (UTC)
Achraf Baznani
[change source]WP:TRUTHMATTERS [1] in this passage originals all Had a photo of himself in a the middle of a graphic design of Some Kind. In Each box Baznani removed Robinson's picture and REPLACED it with one of himself. The author publishes lies about Baznani and accuses him of doing things that never been, the reality is an Indian artist who is accused of the fact with evidences [2] [3] [4] [5] 41.251.90.131 (talk) 20:45, 1 September 2016 (UTC)
Infobox Australian Electorate
[change source]Hi Peter Would it be possible to have this template updated to include near fields to provide links to adjoining electorates? Thanks.
- Not sure, will need to look into it, as templates are not one of my skills.--Peterdownunder (talk) 11:56, 20 September 2016 (UTC)
Thanks
[change source]Thanks for the message you gave me --MASTERMATES (talk) 07:33, 23 October 2016 (UTC)
About LInks
[change source]Hi Peter,
why is that "Sea Peoples" for example could not find a page through the search , while there is a wiki page for sea people in https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age_collapse
is it because the page for Sea Peoples is not in simple.wikipedia.org whereas it is there in en.wikipedia.org ?
what is the difference between simple and en ?
--Samson
- Hi Samson, Simple English Wikipedia and the English Wikipedia are two separate projects. The Simple English Wikipedia is designed to be a resource written in simple, easy to understand English. We do not directly link between the two projects in articles. There is a link between articles on the left side of the page under the heading "Languages". This lists the different language Wikipedias that have a version of the article, including English and Simple English. In the example where you were wanting to create a link to "Sea Peoples", the page does not yet exist on Simple English, and so the link would be red. We do not link to the version on the English Wikipedia. There are four ways that this can be fixed: the easiest is to leave the link red and eventually one of the other editors will find it and make the page. Another way is to add "Sea Peoples" to the list of wanted pages and it will be found more quickly and added. The other two ways are to create the page yourself, you can do this by writing the page, and many editors do this. Or you can copy and paste the English Wikipedia article and then simplify it to our guidelines. As a first step, articles need only be two or three sentences long, and other editors will add content over time.--Peterdownunder (talk) 00:37, 31 October 2016 (UTC)
Thanks
[change source]Thanks for your changes, and sorry about not leaving a message MiloDenn (talk) 11:52, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
- Always happy to help someone adding useful content.--Peterdownunder (talk) 23:05, 23 December 2016 (UTC)
Thanks!
[change source]Hi, thanks for you note, I usually sign all my note but as you told I probably forgot one :) DARIO SEVERI (talk) 11:28, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
- That's OK, none of us, even me, is perfect all the time.--Peterdownunder (talk) 11:35, 16 February 2017 (UTC)
Hi. Please consider again protecting Dominican Republic. Thank you. — Jeff G. ツ 05:05, 22 February 2017 (UTC)
Ambassador for School Project?
[change source]Hi Peter--You have kindly been our ambassador in the past for school projects. We were wondering if you would kindly assist us once more? This year, we are once again building on Subject-Verb-Object lessons in English, with Notable Female Scientists selected by our science teachers.
This time, students will write entries one day, edit/improve someone else's the next. The project will run from 3/28 to 3/31.
Not sure if this works for you/is of interest to you?
Project page: Wikipedia:Schools/Projects/Notable Female Scientists Thank you. --Castilibrary2 (talk)
- Anything that increases or improves the number of articles about female scientists is a great idea.--Peterdownunder (talk) 00:05, 20 March 2017 (UTC)
- Hi there, sorry I've been offline for a few days while on the road. May I write your down as our ambassador, in this case? It is not a specific time (or rather, it is more specific times than I might ask you to cover, as it totals eight class periods over three days), but we would love for you to have our backs, if possible. Mostly, we always worry that we are all working at one IP rage. Though now, it should only by eight computers at a time--but that will be happening about four times a day over a series of days. Thanks for considering. Castilibrary2 (talk)
- I will do what I can to help.--Peterdownunder (talk) 11:13, 27 March 2017 (UTC)
- Thank you, as always. Castilibrary2 (talk) 05:30, 29 March 2017 (UTC)
- I will do what I can to help.--Peterdownunder (talk) 11:13, 27 March 2017 (UTC)
- Hi there, sorry I've been offline for a few days while on the road. May I write your down as our ambassador, in this case? It is not a specific time (or rather, it is more specific times than I might ask you to cover, as it totals eight class periods over three days), but we would love for you to have our backs, if possible. Mostly, we always worry that we are all working at one IP rage. Though now, it should only by eight computers at a time--but that will be happening about four times a day over a series of days. Thanks for considering. Castilibrary2 (talk)
Old class project drafts
[change source]Hi, Peter. I'm looking at these pages that appear to be old class drafts for a project you might have been involved with:
There is also the related template Template:APSWI assignment. None of these seem to have been edited in over 3 years. I was going to RfD them, but I thought I'd run them by you first. Do you think the three draft pages and the template could be deleted? The articles from the drafts all exist. Thanks. --Auntof6 (talk) 04:57, 19 March 2017 (UTC)
- I don't see any problem in deleting these pages.--Peterdownunder (talk) 00:05, 20 March 2017 (UTC)
You've got mail!
[change source]Message added 07:09, 22 March 2017 (UTC). You can take off this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{YGM}} template.
Auntof6 (talk) 07:09, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
Trouble unblocking a legit user
[change source]One of my students, user:17chseld_111a had trouble initially logging in to his account and his IP address 204.102.39.83 was blocked. I have sent a message to User:Gilliam but he hasn't responded or unblocked. It has been almost a month and this student needs to catch up with his assignments to make small careful edits to learn how to be a useful Simple English editor. Can you help? Swim123blue (talk) 17:07, 6 April 2017 (UTC)
- I have put a local block exemption on his account, so it should be Ok. I haven't been able to find any blocks on the account or the IP. --Peterdownunder (talk) 06:01, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
- Thank you. Actually, I think his account was user:17chseld_111 when it was blocked, so I made a new account but it was still blocked anytime he used a class computer. Not sure if that makes a difference. I will have him try again today. Swim123blue (talk) 12:51, 7 April 2017 (UTC)
- Both accounts are unblocked, so I hope it worked.--Peterdownunder (talk) 00:34, 8 April 2017 (UTC)
- Thank you. I've added one more user, but created the account from a school computer whose IP address is probably still blocked. The user is User:17chseld_112. Anything you could do to help? Swim123blue (talk) 16:54, 15 June 2017 (UTC)
- The account was created successfully, and should be working.--Peterdownunder (talk) 07:49, 16 June 2017 (UTC)
- Thank you. I've added one more user, but created the account from a school computer whose IP address is probably still blocked. The user is User:17chseld_112. Anything you could do to help? Swim123blue (talk) 16:54, 15 June 2017 (UTC)
can someone please block this user?
[change source]This user, 87.20.132.89 has created bad pages, vandalized my talk page and damaged other pages. They should be blocked, pronto. Angela Maureen (talk) 14:30, 19 June 2017 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) @September 1988: I blocked the user a while after you left this message, but not because I saw this message. If you leave messages like this on user talk pages, it's likely they won't be seen very soon. You can leave them there, but please also leave them on the pages we have set up for the purpose. Besides getting quicker attention, it helps us have a record of reports all in one place. Thanks. --Auntof6 (talk) 04:09, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
You will probably be interested in this:
Indigenous rock shelter in Top End pushes Australia's human history back to 65,000 years Genelle Weule for ABC Science and Felicity James for ABC Darwin. ABC NEWS
It should probably also be 'copied' over to 'Big word' Wikipedia, where it seem to not have a page. 220 of Borg (talk) 02:56, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
Misblock apologies
[change source]When I was attempting to block a vandal, I accidentally blocked you by mistake. I looked at the vandal's block log and must have just glanced quickly at the "block" link next to your name instead of next to its IP. My apologies! Only (talk) 01:39, 6 August 2017 (UTC)
- My first "block"... :) --Peterdownunder (talk) 12:12, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
Thanks
[change source]Thank you very much Peter, as to my plan of helping Wikipedia with the rollback rights. I'll surely raise queries whenever I have. Shukran from Nairobi, KE--DJ Perez (✉ - ✔) 12:06, 16 August 2017 (UTC)
A copy of my deleted article
[change source]Hi,
My article about Human geography was deleted today. What would be needed so that I can get a copy of that article on a user talk page? I am thinkig about working further on the article. Sju hav (talk) 18:04, 21 August 2017 (UTC)
- (talk page stalker) @Sju hav: It cannot be restored to a user talk page, but it can be restored to a user page. Just ask any admin. Note that it's often best to ask at WP:AN when you need admin help. --Auntof6 (talk) 18:14, 21 August 2017 (UTC)
Suspect mass vandalism - reverting as we speak.
[change source]Hi Peterdownunder. Sorry for the interruption, could you possibly help me with User:Levi Gonzalez please? He is removing quite a lot of info across multiple articles, deleting people from material and I'm not sure where to go with it. I asked him to discuss it with me on his talk page, which has been ignored. Can I seek your help please? Many thanks, DaneGeld (talk) 22:15, 9 September 2017 (UTC)
- Thanks for the message. Some of his edits are positive, but others seem to be deleting without reason. I have put a temporary block on his editing, to see if we can get him to communicate and explain his actions.--Peterdownunder (talk) 22:44, 9 September 2017 (UTC)
- From what I can see, the removals were removing redlinked individuals/events. So there's good faith behind it, though it's not our practice to remove those entries. @DaneGeld: his edits like this one were not vandalism and were not incorrect. Contrary to popular assumption, a century or millennium begins in the XXX1 year and ends in the YYY0 year. The reason is that there is no year 0. The calendar went 1 BC to 1 AD. So the first millennium/century began in year 1 AD, hence why the second millennium was 1001 AD, and the third millennium is 2001 AD. Only (talk) 23:16, 9 September 2017 (UTC)
- That's news to me! Everywhere that celebrated the new millennium in 2000 got it wrong then! I guess what I got was the first block of edits I undid appeared to be deletions, I tried to get him to communicate and got nowhere, so I started going through the rest and they all looked wrong. Which is why I started asking for help, because it looked a large task and I was unsure as to do what, with what I had in front of me. DaneGeld (talk) 23:21, 9 September 2017 (UTC)
- From what I can see, the removals were removing redlinked individuals/events. So there's good faith behind it, though it's not our practice to remove those entries. @DaneGeld: his edits like this one were not vandalism and were not incorrect. Contrary to popular assumption, a century or millennium begins in the XXX1 year and ends in the YYY0 year. The reason is that there is no year 0. The calendar went 1 BC to 1 AD. So the first millennium/century began in year 1 AD, hence why the second millennium was 1001 AD, and the third millennium is 2001 AD. Only (talk) 23:16, 9 September 2017 (UTC)
- Thanks for the message. Some of his edits are positive, but others seem to be deleting without reason. I have put a temporary block on his editing, to see if we can get him to communicate and explain his actions.--Peterdownunder (talk) 22:44, 9 September 2017 (UTC)