The green iguana (Iguana iguana), also known as the American iguana, the common green iguana, or simply the iguana, is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana. The species is native to a large geographic area, from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico. It grows to 1.7 metres (5.6 feet) in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than 2 metres (6.6 feet) with weights upward of 20 pounds (9.1 kilograms). Green iguanas possess a row of spines along their backs and tails, which helps to protect them from predators. Their whip-like tails can be used to deliver painful strikes, and like many other lizards, when grabbed by the tail, iguanas can allow it to break, so they can escape and eventually regenerate a new one. This green iguana was photographed in Palm Beach County, Florida, where the species has been introduced.Photograph credit: Rhododendrites
Following consensus at the 2021 RfA review, the autopatrolled user right has been removed from the administrators user group; admins can grant themselves the autopatrolled permission if they wish to remain autopatrolled.
The functionaries email list (functionaries-enlists.wikimedia.org) will no longer accept incoming emails apart from those sent by list members and WMF staff. Private concerns, apart from those requiring oversight, should be directly sent to the Arbitration Committee.
The October drive reduced the backlog from 9,700 to an amazing 0! Congratulations to WaddlesJP13 who led with 2084 points. See this page for further details. The queue is steadily rising again and is approaching 2,000. It would be great if <2,000 were the “new normal”. Please continue to help out even if it's only for a few or even one patrol a day.
2022 Awards
Onel5969 won the 2022 cup for 28,302 article reviews last year - that's an average of nearly 80/day. There was one Gold Award (5000+ reviews), 11 Silver (2000+), 28 Iron (360+) and 39 more for the 100+ barnstar. Rosguill led again for the 4th year by clearing 49,294 redirects. For the full details see the Awards page and the Hall of Fame. Congratulations everyone!
Minimum deletion time: The previous WP:NPP guideline was to wait 15 minutes before tagging for deletion (including draftification and WP:BLAR). Due to complaints, a consensus decided to raise the time to 1 hour. To illustrate this, very new pages in the feed are now highlighted in red. (As always, this is not applicable to attack pages, copyvios, vandalism, etc.)
New draftify script: In response to feedback from AFC, the The Move to Draft script now provides a choice of set messages that also link the creator to a new, friendly explanation page. The script also warns reviewers if the creator is probably still developing the article. The former script is no longer maintained. Please edit your edit your common.js or vector.js file from User:Evad37/MoveToDraft.js to User:MPGuy2824/MoveToDraft.js
Redirects: Some of our redirect reviewers have reduced their activity and the backlog is up to 9,000+ (two months deep). If you are interested in this distinctly different task and need any help, see this guide, this checklist, and spend some time at WP:RFD.
Discussions with the WMF The PageTriage open letter signed by 444 users is bearing fruit. The Growth Team has assigned some software engineers to work on PageTriage, the software that powers the NewPagesFeed and the Page Curation toolbar. WMF has submitted dozens of patches in the last few weeks to modernize PageTriage's code, which will make it easier to write patches in the future. This work is helpful but is not very visible to the end user. For patches visible to the end user, volunteers such as Novem Linguae and MPGuy2824 have been writing patches for bug reports and feature requests. The Growth Team also had a video conference with the NPP coordinators to discuss revamping the landing pages that new users see.
Reminders
Newsletter feedback - please take this short poll about the newsletter.
Voting for the Sound Logo has closed and the winner is expected to be announced February to April 2023.
Tech tip: You can view information about IP addresses in a centralised location using bullseye which won the Newcomer award in the recent Coolest Tool Awards.
Hello, thanks for all your work on references. I see hundreds of articles about species often have the same references and some (most?) seem added by you so hopefully you can help me understand: would it be ok to convert them to {{cite journal}} usage? Sometimes the links break and it would be nice to automatically add links to archives, but that's hard if the citations aren't templated. For example doi:10.1111/zoj.12431 is currently broken (classic OUP) but the citation would be still usable if we had added an archive. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyu055 is cited on over 800 articles and is also available at https://hal.science/hal-02458202 . Nemo21:38, 31 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Voting in the 2023 Community Wishlist Survey will begin on 10 February 2023 and end on 24 February 2023. You can submit, discuss and revise proposals until 6 February 2023.
Tech tip: Syntax highlighting is available in both the 2011 and 2017 Wikitext editors. It can help make editing paragraphs with many references or complicated templates easier.
Following a request for comment, the Portal CSD criteria (P1 (portal subject to CSD as an article) and P2 (underpopulated portal)) have been deprecated.
The Terms of Use update cycle has started, which includes a [p]roposal for better addressing undisclosed paid editing. Feedback is being accepted until 24 April 2023.
Hiya! Sorry to bother you but I saw you in the recently active admins list and I thought I would see if you could help me with a burgeoning dispute (on a minor page, all things considered). User:TheWikiholic has twice reverted my edits on Forbes list of the world's highest-paid dead celebrities. There is a small group of editors on that page that have continuously sought to list Michael Jackson's cause of death as homicide, which I argue contradicts the page on his death. I tagged the article for contradiction, but the user in question reverted the tag without engaging with me on the talk page. I know this is petty all things considered, but I thought it would give it a shot
Sorry for not being more clear, but the main issue with the argument is that homicide is not a cause of death, it is a manner of death (see here for an explanation of the distinction). That's the reason it is listed as what it is on the page I referenced. RedPandaWatcher (talk) 14:17, 21 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
In the future, please add attribution when copying from public domain sources: simply add the template {{PD-notice}} after your citation. I have done so for the above article. Please do this in the future so that our readers will be aware that you copied the prose rather than wrote it yourself, and that it's okay to copy verbatim. Thanks, — Diannaa (talk) 15:31, 26 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The rollback of Vector 2022 RfC has found no consensus to rollback to Vector legacy, but has found rough consensus to disable "limited width" mode by default.
A request for comment about removing administrative privileges in specified situations is open for feedback.
Technical news
Progress has started on the Page Triage improvement project. This is to address the concerns raised by the community in their 2022 WMF letter that requested improvements be made to the tool.
Following an RfC, editors indefinitely site-banned by community consensus will now have all rights, including sysop, removed.
As a part of the Wikimedia Foundation's IP Masking project, a new policy has been created that governs the access to temporary account IP addresses. An associated FAQ has been created and individual communities can increase the requirements to view temporary account IP addresses.
Technical news
Bot operators and tool maintainers should schedule time in the coming months to test and update their tools for the effects of IP masking. IP masking will not be deployed to any content wiki until at least October 2023 and is unlikely to be deployed to the English Wikipedia until some time in 2024.
Arbitration
The arbitration case World War II and the history of Jews in Poland has been closed. The topic area of Polish history during World War II (1933-1945) and the history of Jews in Poland is subject to a "reliable source consensus-required" contentious topic restriction.
The database AnimalBase "provides copyright-free open access to zoological works, and provides manually verified lists of names of zoological genera and species as a free resource for the public. The public use of AnimalBase data is not restricted or conditioned. Those who contribute voluntarily data or pictures to AnimalBase do this under the understanding of contributing to a free public resource. age authors). If you download content from AnimalBase please make sure that you attribute the source (in cases of downloaded books, the library, and in cases of downloaded pictures, the image authors). The legal term for this is CC BY-SA." [1]
Since I have made that deep link to AnimalBase, I can't see any infringement on copyright. Furthermore, the description of species is very specific. Any alteration, and you may be describing another species. JoJan (talk) 12:51, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Hi JoJan, thanks for clarifying the copyright status of the source, I missed it when I checked the website earlier. I've marked the report as a false positive. Sorry for the trouble Nobody (talk) 13:00, 15 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself. LizRead!Talk!05:23, 17 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself. LizRead!Talk!05:25, 17 June 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Redirect drive: In response to an unusually high redirect backlog, we held a redirect backlog drive in May. The drive completed with 23851 reviews done in total, bringing the redirect backlog to 0 (momentarily). Congratulations to Hey man im josh who led with a staggering 4316 points, followed by Meena and Greyzxq with 2868 and 2546 points respectively. See this page for more details. The redirect queue is steadily rising again and is steadily approaching 4,000. Please continue to help out, even if it's only for a few or even one review a day.
Redirect autopatrol: All administrators without autopatrol have now been added to the redirect autopatrol list. If you see any users who consistently create significant amounts of good quality redirects, consider requesting redirect autopatrol for them here.
WMF work on PageTriage: The WMF Moderator Tools team, consisting of Sam, Jason and Susana, and also some patches from Jon, has been hard at work updating PageTriage. They are focusing their efforts on modernising the extension's code rather than on bug fixes or new features, though some user-facing work will be prioritised. This will help make sure that this extension is not deprecated, and is easier to work on in the future. In the next month or so, we will have an opt-in beta test where new page patrollers can help test the rewrite of Special:NewPagesFeed, to help find bugs. We will post more details at WT:NPPR when we are ready for beta testers.
Articles for Creation (AFC): All new page reviewers are now automatically approved for Articles for Creation draft reviewing (you do not need to apply at WT:AFCP like was required previously). To install the AFC helper script, visit Special:Preferences, visit the Gadgets tab, tick "Yet Another AFC Helper Script", then click "Save". To find drafts to review, visit Special:NewPagesFeed, and at the top left, tick "Articles for Creation". To review a draft, visit a submitted draft, click on the "More" menu, then click "Review (AFCH)". You can also comment on and submit drafts that are unsubmitted using the script.
You can review the AFC workflow at WP:AFCR. It is up to you if you also want to mark your AFC accepts as NPP reviewed (this is allowed but optional, depends if you would like a second set of eyes on your accept). Don't forget that draftspace is optional, so moves of drafts to mainspace (even if they are not ready) should not be reverted, except possibly if there is conflict of interest.
Pro tip: Did you know that visual artists such as painters have their own SNG? The most common part of this "creative professionals" criteria that applies to artists is WP:ARTIST 4b (solo exhibition, not group exhibition, at a major museum) or 4d (being represented within the permanent collections of two museums).
Reminders
Newsletter feedback - please take this short poll about the newsletter.
To opt out of future mailings, please remove yourself here.
New pages patrol needs your help!
New pages awaiting review as of June 30th, 2023.
Hello JoJan,
The New Page Patrol team is sending you this impromptu message to inform you of a steeply rising backlog of articles needing review. If you have any extra time to spare, please consider reviewing one or two articles each day to help lower the backlog. You can start reviewing by visiting Special:NewPagesFeed. Thank you very much for your help.
This month has seen an incredible amount of activity creating high quality content, with 3 FAs, 3 FACs, and a veritable flood of GAs and GANs, not to mention the FLs and FLCs. To help maintain this high level of activity going forward, WikiProject Tree of Life is starting a new monthly rolling contest, inspired by the contest run by WikiProject Military History. This contest should hopefully help incentivize editors to contribute in ways that are less daunting than writing articles that are GA and FA-quality. Even improving articles from stub to start class, or helping other editors by reviewing their work at GAN, FAC, or FLC, gets you points, with bonus points for articles with especially high page views. Make sure to participate in any way you can, and help improve the 'pedia while having fun and winning Barnstars!
Following an RfC, TFAs will be automatically semi-protected the day before it is on the main page and through the day after.
A discussion at WP:VPP about revision deletion and oversight for dead names found that [s]ysops can choose to use revdel if, in their view, it's the right tool for this situation, and they need not default to oversight. But oversight could well be right where there's a particularly high risk to the person. Use your judgment.
The SmallCat dispute case has closed. As part of the final decision, editors participating in XfD have been reminded to be careful about forming local consensus which may or may not reflect the broader community consensus. Regular closers of XfD forums were also encouraged to note when broader community discussion, or changes to policies and guidelines, would be helpful.
Miscellaneous
Tech tip: The "Browse history interactively" banner shown at the top of Special:Diff can be used to easily look through a history, assemble composite diffs, or find out what archive something wound up in.
New Page Review article queue, March to September 2023
Backlog update:
At the time of this message, there are 11,300 articles and 15,600 redirects awaiting review. This is the highest backlog in a long time. Please help out by doing additional reviews!
October backlog elimination drive:
A one-month backlog drive for October will start in one week! Barnstars will be awarded based on the number of articles and redirects patrolled. Articles will earn 4x as many points compared to redirects. You can sign up here.
PageTriage code upgrades:
Upgrades to the PageTriage code, initiated by the NPP open letter in 2022 and actioned by the WMF Moderator Tools Team in 2023, are ongoing. More information can be found here. As part of this work, the Special:NewPagesFeed now has a new version in beta! The update leaves the NewPagesFeed appearance and function mostly identical to the old one, but updates the underlying code, making it easier to maintain and helping make sure the extension is not decommissioned due to maintenance issues in the future. You can try out the new Special:NewPagesFeed here - it will replace the current version soon.
Notability tip:
Professors can meet WP:PROF #1 by having their academic papers be widely cited by their peers. When reviewing professor articles, it is a good idea to find their Google Scholar or Scopus profile and take a look at their h-index and number of citations. As a very rough rule of thumb, for most fields, articles on people with a h-index of twenty or more, a first-authored paper with more than a thousand citations, or multiple papers each with more than a hundred citations are likely to be kept at AfD.
Reviewing tip:
If you would like like a second opinion on your reviews or simply want another new page reviewer by your side when patrolling, we recommend pair reviewing! This is where two reviewers use Discord voice chat and screen sharing to communicate with each other while reviewing the same article simultaneously. This is a great way to learn and transfer knowledge.
The first edition of our new monthly contest had perhaps a little less participation than I hoped for, but it still resulted in a huge amount of content work, mainly focussed on de-stubbing articles on little-known species, although we did also see two GAs for Holozoa and Hypericum perforatum. Overall, over 60 articles were improved, with most going from stubs or redlinks to fully fleshed out articles. The winner this month was Simongraham, who improved 21 articles about spiders, mainly to B and C class, and racked up 70 points, over twice the next highest. Hopefully, we'll continue to see such great work next month, with even more participants and even more articles improved.
Also anyone who wants to help coordinate the contest can just drop by at the talk page, I really need help.
September DYKs
Republicopteron douseae fossil
Male Phallichthys fish
Mimodactylus reconstruction
Adult ashy flycatcher
... that with all known Palaeorehniidae fossils (example pictured) being incomplete, the relationships of the family are uncertain? (September 2)
... that butterfly collector Ian Heslop was once required to supervise an execution? (September 3)
... that Phallichthys (literally 'penis fish') species are so called because the males (example pictured) have "comparatively huge" sex appendages? (September 8)
... that merry widows like soft bottoms? (September 10)
... that Mimodactylus(reconstruction pictured) is the first complete pterosaur from the Afro-Arabian continent? * ... that small Poecilia gillii males have longer sex organs than larger males, to facilitate mating with females that flee from them? (September 12)
An RfC is open regarding amending the paid-contribution disclosure policy to add the following text: Any administrator soliciting clients for paid Wikipedia-related consulting or advising services not covered by other paid-contribution rules must disclose all clients on their userpage.
Technical news
Administrators can now choose to add the user's user page to their watchlist when changing the usergroups for a user. This works both via Special:UserRights and via the API. (T272294)
WikiProject Articles for creation is holding a month long Backlog Drive!
The goal of this drive is to reduce the backlog of unreviewed drafts to less than 2 months outstanding reviews from the current 4+ months. Bonus points will be given for reviewing drafts that have been waiting more than 30 days. The drive is running from 1 November 2023 through 30 November 2023.
The second edition of our monthly contest was even better than the last month, with 80 articles improved spanning the entire tree of life. The winner this month was Quetzal1964, who contributed to 47 articles, mainly relating to marine fish, and racked up 81 points in the process. In second place was simongraham, who got 60 points from 14 articles on various species of jumping spiders. simongraham is still at the top of our overall standings, with 130 points, and Quetzal1964's close behind on 108. The November edition of the contest is now open: feel free to drop by and participate if you work on any TOL-related articles this month.
October DYKs
Illustration of swordtail mollies
Lycorma meliae
Illustrations of the front foot (A) and hind foot (B) of Diplobune quercyi
... that the swordtail molly(examples pictured) and the Petén molly have been named and renamed so often, one even ending up with the other's name at one point, that the swordtail molly's current scientific name means 'confusion'? (October 8)
... that the early big cat Pachypanthera may have weighed as much as 142 kilograms (313 lb) and had teeth similar to a hyena's? (October 9)
... that ancient Greek philosopher Xenophon thought the alopekis was part dog, part fox? (October 11)
... that the wings of Lycorma meliae(example pictured) undergo multiple color changes throughout their lives? (October 16)
... that the three-toed species of Diplobune(fossils pictured) were mammals of the order of "even-toed ungulates"? (October 17)
... that although fossils of the extinct mammal Asiavorator were first found in 1922, the genus was not named until 73 years later, in 1995? (October 18)
... that in aquariums, the humpbacked limia is known to cannibalise the young? (October 21)
Following a motion, the contentious topic designation of Prem Rawat has been struck. Actions previously taken using this contentious topic designation are still in force.
Following several motions, multiple topic areas are no longer designated as a contentious topic. These contentious topic designations were from the Editor conduct in e-cigs articles, Liancourt Rocks, Longevity, Medicine, September 11 conspiracy theories, and Shakespeare authorship question cases.
Following a motion, remedies 3.1 (All related articles under 1RR whenever the dispute over naming is concerned), 6 (Stalemate resolution) and 30 (Administrative supervision) of the Macedonia 2 case have been rescinded.
Following a motion, remedy 6 (One-revert rule) of the The Troubles case has been amended.
An arbitration case named Industrial agriculture has been opened. Evidence submissions in this case close 8 November.
Miscellaneous
The Articles for Creation backlog drive is happening in November 2023, with 700+ drafts pending reviews for in the last 4 months or so. In addition to the AfC participants, all administrators and New Page Patrollers can conduct reviews using the helper script, Yet Another AFC Helper Script, which can be enabled in the Gadgets settings. Sign up here to participate!
Hello! Voting in the 2023 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 11 December 2023. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.
The third edition of our monthly contest saw Quetzal1964 win for the second month in a row, scoring 68 points from 39 articles about a variety of marine fishes. In second place for the month is Olmagon, who scored 45 points from 10 articles on extinct crustaceans and geckoes. In the overall standings, Quetzal1964 leapfrogged over simongraham into first place, with 176 points from 109 articles; simongraham is now in second place with 136 points from 37 articles. The December edition of the contest is now open: feel free to drop by and participate if you work on any TOL-related articles this month.
New newsletter!
Now, this newsletter is technically not new, but I have only recently become aware of its existence and am only a month late, so it still counts. Wikiproject Fungi's Lichen task force has a new newsletter that is very nicely formatted and also features much better writing than this newsletter. Anyone interested in receiving the newsletter can add their name here.
November DYKs
A bacterium that thrives in the deep ocean
Georges Cuvier's reconstruction of Anoplotherium commune
Paroedura maingoka
Field of Wyethia amplexicaulis in bloom
An adult dwarf pufferfish
Adult Balkan terrapin
Planocarina marginata, a hyalospheniid amoeba
... that a variety of the Connecticut field pumpkin is known as "the original commercial jack-o'-lantern pumpkin"? (November 1)
... that insects not only destroyed the personal plant collection of John Hunter Thomas, but also bear his name? (November 3)
... that life exists in every part of the biosphere, from the deepest parts of the ocean (bacterium pictured) to altitudes of up to 64 km (40 miles) in the atmosphere? (November 6)
... that Sivapardus was larger than a leopard, smaller than a lion, and had a face like a cheetah? (November 7)
... that in 1822, the Paleogene mammal Anoplotherium commune(reconstruction pictured) was the first fossil species to be subjected to a brain cast study? (November 12)
... that the gecko Paroedura maingoka(pictured) imitates venomous scorpions to discourage predators? (November 13)
... that the scenic fields of northern wyethia(pictured) found in the western United States are sometimes a sign that an area has been overgrazed? (November 15)
... that at a maximum standard length of roughly 2 cm (0.8 in), dwarf pufferfish are some of the smallest pufferfish in the world? (November 18)
... that the authors of The Neanderthals Rediscovered learned that their book proposal had been accepted on the same day they took their twin sons home from hospital? (November 20)
... that hatchling Balkan terrapins are only 3 to 4 centimetres (1.2 to 1.6 in) in length, while adults (example pictured) can grow as long as 25 cm (9.8 in)? (November 21)
Following a talk page discussion, the Administrators' accountability policy has been updated to note that while it is considered best practice for administrators to have notifications (pings) enabled, this is not mandatory. Administrators who do not use notifications are now strongly encouraged to indicate this on their user page.
Arbitration
Following a motion, the Extended Confirmed Restriction has been amended, removing the allowance for non-extended-confirmed editors to post constructive comments on the "Talk:" namespace. Now, non-extended-confirmed editors may use the "Talk:" namespace solely to make edit requests related to articles within the topic area, provided that their actions are not disruptive.
The Arbitration Committee has announced a call for Checkusers and Oversighters, stating that it will currently be accepting applications for CheckUser and/or Oversight permissions at any point in the year.
And so ends the fourth edition of the monthly rolling contest, as well as the 2023 Tree of Life Contest as a whole. This month saw simongraham win with a very impressive 120 points from 27 articles. Quetzal1964 was second with 74 points from 37 articles. The annual contest was a close race between simongraham and Quetzal1964; simongraham won first place with 256 points from 64 articles, and Quetzal1964 was second with 250 points from 146 articles. Snoteleks was third with 79 points from 33 articles. Congratulations to everyone who won this year and my gratitude to everyone else who helped raise the quality of articles in our little corner of Wikipedia this year. Additionally, a very Happy New Year to everyone in the project and here's looking forward to continuing our good work in 2024!
... that the green colour of bofedales(examples pictured) stands out in the yellow surrounding landscape? (December 6)
... that Desulfovibrio vulgaris can remove toxic heavy metals from the environment? (December 8)
... that Varroa destructor(example pictured), the Varroa mite, is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on honey bees and is one of the most harmful honey-bee pests in the world? (December 11)
... that the Antarctic lichen Buellia frigida has been to outer space? (December 22)
... that the closest modern fern relatives to Dennstaedtia christophelii(fossil pictured) of the Pacific Northwest are tropical species from South America? (December 24)
... that in Icelandic folklore, the Yule cat eats people who do not receive new clothing for Christmas? (December 25)
Following a motion, the Arbitration Committee rescinded the restrictions on the page name move discussions for the two Ireland pages that were enacted in June 2009.
An RfC about increasing the inactivity requirement for Interface administrators is open for feedback.
Technical news
Pages that use the JSON contentmodel will now use tabs instead of spaces for auto-indentation. This will significantly reduce the page size. (T326065)
Arbitration
Following a motion, the Arbitration Committee adopted a new enforcement restriction on January 4, 2024, wherein the Committee may apply the 'Reliable source consensus-required restriction' to specified topic areas.
Community feedback is requested for a draft to replace the "Information for administrators processing requests" section at WP:AE.
A vote to ratify the charter for the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C) is open till 2 February 2024, 23:59:59 (UTC) via Secure Poll. All eligible voters within the Wikimedia community have the opportunity to either support or oppose the adoption of the U4C Charter and share their reasons. The details of the voting process and voter eligibility can be found here.
Community Tech has made some preliminary decisions about the future of the Community Wishlist Survey. In summary, they aim to develop a new, continuous intake system for community technical requests that improves prioritization, resource allocation, and communication regarding wishes. Read more
Our first double issue in almost four years, although we will try to return to a monthly schedule henceforth (incidentally, the last double issue saw Markham's storm petrel at GAN, and this one sees it finally pass FAC).
The March 2024 GAN Backlog Drive starts today; everyone is welcome to participate and help reduce the backlog of GANs.
The January edition of our monthly rolling contest was won by Quetzal1964 with 100 points from 40 articles, mainly related to various species of marine fish. simongraham was second with 80 points from 14 articles on jumping spiders.
The February edition saw Quetzal1964 win for the second time in a row, with 114 points from 43 articles. In second place was Snoteleks, with 21 points from 7 seven articles on various unicellular eukaryotes, including the GA Telonemia.
January DYKs
... that Dacrytherium, literally meaning 'tear beast', was named after its "tear-pit"? (3 January)
... that the wood-pasture hypothesis posits that semi-open wood pastures and not primeval forests are the natural vegetation of temperate Europe? (5 January)
... that until April 2023, when the genusTriassosculda was discovered, the mantis shrimp fossil record contained a gap of more than a hundred million years? (5 January)
... that although Olga Hartman believed that her basic research on marine worms had no practical value, it was applied to experimental studies of oysters? (6 January)
... that Oxford ivy grows towards the light to bloom and then towards the darkness when going to seed? (17 January)
... that S. F. Light(pictured) disliked using his full name? (20 January)
... that the fossil turtle Acherontemys was named for a "river of the fabled lower world"? (26 January)
... that having lived in Central Park for more than a year after becoming homeless, Flaco(pictured) has been accused of being a peeping tom? (19 February)
Hi JoJan,
Thank you for your edits to Callostracon, where you have copied content from a CC-licensed source into the article, which is allowed.
However, please note that you must always add a relevant notice that the content is copied beyond simply citing it, using a template like {{cc-notice}}; I have fixed it for you in the meantime.
Please see this page for further information. Thank you! – Isochrone (talk) 18:59, 29 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The Toolforge Grid Engine services have been shut down after the final migration process from Grid Engine to Kubernetes. (T313405)
Arbitration
An arbitration case has been opened to look into "the intersection of managing conflict of interest editing with the harassment (outing) policy".
Miscellaneous
Editors are invited to sign up for The Core Contest, an initiative running from April 15 to May 31, which aims to improve vital and other core articles on Wikipedia.
Backlog update: The October drive reduced the article backlog from 11,626 to 7,609 and the redirect backlog from 16,985 to 6,431! Congratulations to Schminnte, who led with over 2,300 points.
Following that, New Page Patrol organized another backlog drive for articles in January 2024. The January drive started with 13,650 articles and reduced the backlog to 7,430 articles. Congratulations to JTtheOG, who achieved first place with 1,340 points in this drive.
Looking at the graph, it seems like backlog drives are one of the only things keeping the backlog under control. Another backlog drive is being planned for May. Feel free to participate in the May backlog drive planning discussion.
It's worth noting that both queues are gradually increasing again and are nearing 14,034 articles and 22,540 redirects. We encourage you to keep contributing, even if it's just a single patrol per day. Your support is greatly appreciated!
2023 Awards
Onel5969 won the 2023 cup with 17,761 article reviews last year - that's an average of nearly 50/day. There was one Platinum Award (10,000+ reviews), 2 Gold Awards (5000+ reviews), 6 Silver (2000+), 8 Bronze (1000+), 30 Iron (360+) and 70 more for the 100+ barnstar. Hey man im josh led on redirect reviews by clearing 36,175 of them. For the full details, see the Awards page and the Hall of Fame. Congratulations everyone for their efforts in reviewing!
Recruitment: A couple of the coordinators have been inviting editors to become reviewers, via mass-messages to their talk pages. If you know someone who you'd think would make a good reviewer, then a personal invitation to them would be great. Additionally, if there are Wikiprojects that you are active on, then you can add a post there asking participants to join NPP. Please be careful not to double invite folks that have already been invited.
Reviewing tip: Reviewers who prefer to patrol new pages within their most familiar subjects can use the regularly updated NPP Browser tool.
I'd like to extend a cordial invitation to you to join the Twenty Year Society, an informal group for editors who've been participating in the Wikipedia project for twenty years or more.
Partial action blocks are now in effect on the English Wikipedia. This means that administrators have the ability to restrict users from certain actions, including uploading files, moving pages and files, creating new pages, and sending thanks. T280531
The newsletter will not be returning to a monthly format (mainly because the author is busy failing every exam imaginable) and is on a bimonthly schedule for the foreseeable future.
The second round of the WikiCup was very competitive, requiring the highest points total to advance since 2014. Two TOL editors, AryKun and Fritzmann2002, advanced to the third round.
The March edition of our monthly rolling contest was won by simongraham, who amassed 118 points from 21 articles on various species of jumping spider; in second place was Quetzal1964 with 109 points from 53 articles on marine ray-finned fish.
Quetzal1964 and simongraham were also the top two in the April edition, although Quetzal was ahead this time, with 68 points to simongraham's 48. In the annual leaderboard, Quetzal and simongraham are in first and second place respectively, with 291 and 246 points; in third place is Snotoleks, with 76 points.
... that the cherry blossom was used symbolically in Japanese World War II propaganda, with falling petals representing "young soldiers' sacrifice for the emperor"? (8 March)
... that the Kīlauea lava cricket disappears from a lava field as soon as any plants start to grow there? (13 March)
... that Julian Assange's lawyer argued that the rules set by the Ecuadorian embassy requiring Assange to take care of his pet cat Michi were "denigrating"? (13 March)
... that mule deer sometimes prefer the flavor of one Rocky Mountain juniper tree, like "ice cream", over another? (21 March)
... that the skeleton panda sea squirt was known on the Internet for its skeleton-like appearance years before its formal description? (26 March)
... that only one fruit but several thousand seeds were known when Allenbya collinsonae was named? (26 March)
... that while named for alliums, the fossil Paleoallium(pictured) was not necessarily directly related to any allium species? (27 March)
... that the extinct genus Mixtotherium, meaning 'mixed beast', has traits of both extinct primates and hyraxes? (28 March)
... that the fossil fern Dickwhitea was described from a single block of chert? (28 March)
... that only six years after its 2016 discovery, the Meratus blue flycatcher(pictured) was found being sold in Indonesian songbird markets? (30 March)
... that the spirit liverwort is called such because of its proximity to the Māori afterlife? (31 March)
... that cultures of the fungus Lentinus brumalis have been flown on three different satellites? (31 March)
... that the English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper claimed that eating alkanet leaves would make a person's spit deadly to serpents? (31 March)
Eufriesea purpurata
Korowai gecko
Paleoallium billgenseli fossil
Male Meratus blue flycatcher
April DYKs
... that despite its name meaning 'unscented', Hypericum × inodorum can smell strongly of goat? (1 April)
... that color-changing cats(artist's impression pictured) could help us communicate with the future? (2 April)
... that the white-tailed jay(example pictured) found in Ecuador and Peru was once thought to have been brought to Mexico by pre-Columbian trade? (5 April)
Hi @JoJan, I have been following up on new species articles. I have been noticing a trend in your new articles. Often there is an empty external links section, see these edits here and here. Is there a reason for this section?
Additionally, I have noticed that occasionally geographic categories are missing from your articles, see here and here. I have been adding them for a few days now, would it be possible for you to incorporate this in your article drafting process? Cheers, --Classicwiki (talk) If you reply here, please ping me.01:28, 16 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I have been removing those empty sections. I've also been making a series of edits that seem to be common to all of your new articles, JoJan. Please take a look at your recent new articles that I have edited and pick up these changes for future articles. Thanks! - UtherSRG(talk)15:20, 16 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
My changes are more than that. Don't add {{taxonbar}} if there is no Wikidata item; or make the Wikidata item. Use {{BioRef}} instead of a raw URL ref. Add the appropriate stub tag. Etc. - UtherSRG(talk)16:22, 16 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
And yes, ensure all assertions are sourced to a reference. There are plenty of articles you've made where you've asserted a piece of information, but have not indicated where that information comes from. - UtherSRG(talk)16:24, 16 May 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Following up, I have noticed that categories have improved. Thank you! Congrats on making it out of Aegista and beyond.
Some other notes:
You occasionally miss adding periods in your distribution sections.
Some sections you create lack citations. I know that it is likely to be found in the very few sources that are listed, but it would be good to get those citations inline.
If possible/available could you Wikilink the authority name in the infobox? It could be useful to readers.
As a very experienced editor, I am sure you know there are many valid ways to format references. Is there a reason you avoid citation templates? Using {{Cite taxon}}, {{Cite book}}, {{Cite web}}, {{Cite journal}}, etc. could be helpful towards standardising the information.
I am sure @UtherSRG has some thoughts on this front.
I understand you remarks. I'm working in this project pretty much alone, and I thank the occasional collaborators. I'm already of an advanced age and I hope I still have some time left. Furthermore the time I can spend on my computer is limited, but I do what I can. Following all your remarks - justified as they are - would slow me down considerably. There are just so many templates and categories - this is not a piece of cake. Already I have to invest so much time in research for text in public domain and for images (photos or original drawings) in lots of museums and dedicated websites. If I have to follow all your recommendations, this would slow down the creation of new articles or the much needed expansion of already existing stubs. If just we had more collaborators.... JoJan (talk) 09:27, 25 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That's no excuse. Have a scrap book where you have all of the basics ready to just drop in the data. Or have a baseline article that has all of what we are talking about already implemented and use that as a reminder of what to do. There are ways of making it easier. You don't have to remember it all and type it from scratch. Do better. - UtherSRG(talk)10:57, 25 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
----
I get what you are saying @JoJan. I agree that this is a tough undertaking and the research you are doing to prepare these articles must be arduous to comb through. It is amazing that you supply so many images to your articles.
You are not totally alone. As you can see we are trying to improve the articles, but usually they are routine edits that if incorporated into your drafting process, would require less maintenance work from us. However, there is only so much I can do when I see an unsourced statement. I do not have the expertise or the time (or access) to read every book/reference you incorporate into your articles.
On the collaboration front, how is WikiProject Gastropods going? Have you tried writing on the article Talk page and tagging new users in seeking help? You might be able to rustle up some new recruits by posting on WikiProject Tree of Life and related forums. WP:TEAMWORK has some ideas as well. Shake the tree and see what falls out.
Have you experimented with the new ref tools in the Wikipedia editing modules or over at Help:Citation tools lately? You might be surprised about how quick some of these tools can be. Of course, nothing is perfect and some adjustments will need to be made to the title or authors often, but if you already have that info, it can be pretty quick. Additionally, the Insert Template Wizard can be copy-paste. If it is a frequent source, consider making a master template in a userspace and adjusting the page numbers as necessary.
As another user mentioned on your talk page a year or so ago, links break, and having untemplated citations make it difficult to archive. One way to look at this, is that you are setting up future malacologist and malacology-enthusiasts up for better success (and an easier time) in their curiosity and research endeavours if your referencing is parsable and inline. What is that old Greek(?) or Japenese(?) saying about planting trees so that future generations may enjoy the shade?
Tree platitudes aside, you are very experienced and may have considered/know all this. Again, thank you for your hard work and I look forward to the next gastro article. Wishing you good health, --Classicwiki (talk) If you reply here, please ping me.02:57, 26 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your kind words and especially for the useful tips you provided. I must admit I hadn't noticed the "Cite" button in the toolbar before. It's incredibly handy, and I've already used it several times. Regarding finding new recruits, I've sent many invitations over the years. Occasionally, some individuals have started editing, but they often didn't continue. This is understandable, as contributing requires not only a good understanding of gastropod taxonomy but also a thorough knowledge of how to write on Wikipedia, with all its rules, templates, and categories. JoJan (talk) 09:21, 2 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Local administrators can now add new links to the bottom of the site Tools menu without using JavaScript. Documentation is available on MediaWiki. (T6086)
Users wishing to permanently leave may now request "vanishing" via Special:GlobalVanishRequest. Processed requests will result in the user being renamed, their recovery email being removed, and their account being globally locked.
Following an RfC, there is a new criterion for speedy deletion: C4, which applies to unused maintenance categories, such as empty dated maintenance categories for dates in the past.
The arbitration case Historical Elections is currently open. Proposed decision is expected by 3 September 2024 for this case.
Miscellaneous
Editors can now enter into good article review circles, an alternative for informal quid pro quo arrangements, to have a GAN reviewed in return for reviewing a different editor's nomination.
ln 2024 there was a horrable fire in our place.lt was about two(14:00-15:00)when that happen.our parents were not around by that time. We had to protect the herns so so as our previous car not to burn. Some herns has burn.
That fire was made by three man who looked after the cows. They were smoking when the fire burn the bushes after that they run away. No one has been founded by now to be questioned.
Hi. First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on your work on creating articles for lots of animal species. I'd want to let you know about Wikidata. Amongst many other things, it allows to link articles and categories and pages from Wikipedias in lots of languages and other projects within the scope of Wikimedia. If you do nothing about the new articles you create, a bot will eventually come and link them automatically. It's no big deal. However, there are already items on Wikidata for these species, some of them even with images. Linking the article you've recently created will allow to have links to that other version of Wikipedia and also to images in Wikimedia Commons if available. It's very simple. You can see here an example of how I did it with Navarriella, which is now linked there. Do not hesitate to contact me if you require further assistance or you have any doubts - I'll be happy to help. :) And keep up the good work. Kind regards, Alavense (talk) 07:59, 26 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your kind words. But I cannot create a new item in Wikidata. My screen only shows "read" and "view history". Therefore I leave this to a bot. My hands are already full with the creation and expansion of articles in en.wikipedia and uploading new images to the Commons and keep the Commons up-to-date with all the changes in taxonomy. JoJan (talk) 08:24, 26 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Please do not delete categories that are being discussed at WP:CFD. They are immune from CSD C1 tagging. And if you come across an empty category, that is not being discussed at CFD, please do not delete it but tag it CSD C1. This is made easier if you use Twinkle to tag pages. Empty categories are not immediately deleted, they sit for 7 days at Category:Empty categories awaiting deletion in case they have been emptied out-of-process. LizRead!Talk!02:46, 29 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Following a discussion, the speedy deletion reason "File pages without a corresponding file" has been moved from criterion G8 to F2. This does not change what can be speedily deleted.
Hi, I am User:Bookku, On Wikipedia I engage in, finding information and knowledge gap areas in Wikipedia and promoting expansion of related drafts and articles. Previously you seem to have attempted to update article Hagia Sophia. ((xtools))
Hi JoJan. You have been listing this source as Public Domain, but this page shows that that's incorrect. It's acutally CC-by-SA 4.0. So the correct template to add is this one:
{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=bysa4|from this source=yes}}
The Wikimedia Foundation is conducting a survey of Wikipedians to better understand what draws administrators to contribute to Wikipedia, and what affects administrator retention. We will use this research to improve experiences for Wikipedians, and address common problems and needs. We have identified you as a good candidate for this research, and would greatly appreciate your participation in this anonymous survey.
You do not have to be an Administrator to participate.
The survey should take around 10-15 minutes to complete. You may read more about the study on its Meta page and view its privacy statement .
Please find our contact on the project Meta page if you have any questions or concerns.
Would you Please help neutrality RFC to be reopened?
Summary: Can an RfC for improving neutrality in a major US presidential election article be reopened after it was hastily closed by a specific user?
1. There were many opinions that the biased article in the US presidential election article should be improved.
2. An RFC for improving neutrality was started, and when opinions for improving neutrality came in, it was hastily closed less than two days after the RFC was created.
3. I would appreciate it if you could help improve Wikipedia articles by reopening the relevant RfC so that the opinions of users who want to address neutrality can be posted.
Mass deletions done with the Nuke tool now have the 'Nuke' tag. This change will make reviewing and analyzing deletions performed with the tool easier. T366068
I recently invited you to take a survey about administration on Wikipedia. If you haven’t yet had a chance, there is still time to participate– we’d truly appreciate your feedback. The survey is anonymous and should take about 10-15 minutes to complete. You may read more about the study on its Meta page and view its privacy statement.
Hello! Voting in the 2024 Arbitration Committee elections is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on Monday, 2 December 2024. All eligible users are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.
The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.
Hey there, the World Register of Marine Species seems to have deleted the entry on this species. Please replace the citation with something more reliable and still live. Let me know if you have any questions! (please mention me on reply; thanks!)
The tags can be removed by you or another editor once the issues they mention are addressed. If you have questions, leave a comment here and begin it with {{Re|TechnoSquirrel69}}. Remember to sign your reply with ~~~~. For broader editing help, please visit the Teahouse.
Delivered via the Page Curation tool, on behalf of the reviewer.
This article also has no usable references. Please replace it with a valid citation that verifies the existence of this species.
The tags can be removed by you or another editor once the issues they mention are addressed. If you have questions, leave a comment here and begin it with {{Re|TechnoSquirrel69}}. Remember to sign your reply with ~~~~. For broader editing help, please visit the Teahouse.
Delivered via the Page Curation tool, on behalf of the reviewer.
@JoJan, I don't believe G6 is the appropriate deletion in this case, which is why I think @Explicit initially reverted the deletion of this and the article mentioned above. It's unclear to me whether this is supposedly viewed as a hoax (which would be G3), or whether the species has been re-named, or what, but articles should not typically be G6 deleted after existing for 6 years as "Housekeeping and routine (non-controversial) cleanup: not-accepted name". Hey man im josh (talk) 17:12, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Chiming in to agree, although arguably G7 would be reasonable, but again it's been six years so I think maybe some discussion would be beneficial. ~ Amory(u • t • c)18:13, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
To me it sounds like a move / merge / redirect might be best. I'm no species expert, but if there were previously entries in the relevant taxon databases, it should signify something. Hey man im josh (talk) 18:14, 25 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
It is still my opinion this article should be deleted, as Conus cazalisoi is now recognized as an unused combination, It was created by me in 2018 relying on WoRMS. In 2019 in the publication "Illustrated Catalog of the Living Cone Shells - 2018 update supplement" [1] it was stated that the original name was Africonus cazalisoi. This is, in turn, was recognized as a synonym of Conus (Kalloconus) trochulus Reeve, 1844, represented as Conus trochulus Reeve, 1844. This is how taxonomy works. The designation Conus cazalisoi was not a hoax. And merging or redirecting something that does not exist, is certainly wrong. One can discuss the reason for deleting, but in my opinion G6 or G7 seem appropriate. Therefore, if no one objects, I will delete this page again. JoJan (talk) 13:23, 27 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That's fine and all, but that's not what G6 deletions are for. Neither G6 (non-controversial maintenance) or G7 (borderline in this case) seem appropriate. If you don't believe an article that was not solely edited by you no longer belongs on Wikipedia, we send it to AfD, even if only procedural. We typically don't just delete 6 year old articles like this. Please keep that in mind in the future, even though I'm confident your intentions were good and you were trying to save us from some bureaucracy. For all we know someone will come along and point us to a place where a redirect would make more sense or they shed some light that another person was not aware of. Hey man im josh (talk) 13:29, 27 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Alright folks, I know admin accountability is a thing, but I believe the efforts made were in good faith, and I think we should be approaching it as such. Let's give someone a chance to do better :) Hey man im josh (talk) 03:07, 28 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
And as an admin, you are held to a higher standard of behavior. Abusing your admin bit in this way could be cause to having your bit removed. - UtherSRG(talk)15:04, 27 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Following an RFC, the policy on restoration of adminship has been updated. All former administrators may now only regain the tools following a request at the Wikipedia:Bureaucrats' noticeboard within 5 years of their most recent admin action. Previously this applied only to administrators deysopped for inactivity.
Following a request for comment, a new speedy deletion criterion, T5, has been enacted. This applies to template subpages that are no longer used.
A request for comment is open to discuss whether admins should be advised to warn users rather than issue no-warning blocks to those who have posted promotional content outside of article space.
Technical news
The Nuke feature also now provides links to the userpage of the user whose pages were deleted, and to the pages which were not selected for deletion, after page deletions are queued. This enables easier follow-up admin-actions.
.jpg)
_(20536251169).jpg)
.jpg)
,_El-Al_river_(cropped).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
