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This user helped "White Night riots" become a good article.
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This user helped get "The Right Stuff (blog)" listed at Did You Know on the main page.
Don't click on me
This user has been editing Wikipedia for at least fifteen years.
This user has administrator privileges on the English Wikipedia.
This user is a Sockpuppet Investigations clerk on the English Wikipedia.
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Icon This user has been on Wikipedia for 20 years, 4 months and 28 days.
Immediate requests      Purge Entries
Candidates for speedy deletion 13
Candidates for speedy deletion as attack pages 0
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Requests for unblock 68
Wikipedia semi-protected edit requests 5
Wikipedia extended-confirmed-protected edit requests 38
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Wikipedia fully protected edit requests 1
Wikipedia conflict of interest edit requests 145
Requested RD1 redactions 11
Open sockpuppet investigations 87
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A TARDIS for you

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A rouge TARDIS (or the closest thing I could find on Commons), for having made a closure so Rouge that its effects travelled through time and were being challenged before you even issued it.
. . .
But to be serious, I appreciate that you undertook to close, and closed so thoughtfully, such a large and complex discussion even as it was getting international attention and pushback. Someone had to do it; the discussion was open for so long as to suggest no-one wanted to do it; I appreciate you doing it. -sche (talk) 16:08, 21 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@-sche, CommunityNotesContributor, Chetsford, and Starship.paint: Thank you for the kind words, I'm just glad the discussion is finished and we can move on (at least until the next challenge). I'm sure co-closers Tamzin and Theleekycauldron feel the same way. If you've got any recommendations for something more fun to read than that RFC (admittedly not a high bar) I could use a palate cleanser. Otherwise I think I'll pick up The Hobbit again. The WordsmithTalk to me 18:53, 21 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The Hobbit sounds like a great palate cleanser! I was reading his Sea-Bell the other day and learning about the neat words Tolkien coined or resurrected in that and other writings (which might interest you, as a wordsmith, if you don't know them already), like ruel-bone and wikt:eucatastrophe. :o -sche (talk) 21:55, 21 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You are welcome, the Wordsmith.... Project Hail Mary. starship.paint (RUN) 01:48, 22 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, I just bought it for my Kindle. The WordsmithTalk to me 00:12, 23 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@Starship.paint: Thanks for the recommendation, it made excellent beach/pool-side reading. I haven't finished it yet, but I hope to sometime this weekend. The WordsmithTalk to me 18:29, 31 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
You’re welcome! Interesting to have ‘horror’ story reading at the beach! starship.paint (RUN) 05:09, 1 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Amaze The WordsmithTalk to me 18:46, 1 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

A barnstar for you!

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The Admin's Barnstar
Thanks for all the work you've done at SPI the past couple days! Callanecc (talkcontribslogs) 02:52, 13 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Question

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Hey, I have a special interest in improving articles with the 'written with advertisement like language' tag, or similar tags, especially corporate articles written in business talk instead of encyclopedic language. Do you know how I can find a list of such articles, or if there is a wikiproject focused on that? JoeJShmo💌 23:33, 15 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

(talk page stalker) As far as I'm aware, there isn't a WikiProject dedicated to that specifically, but Category:Articles with a promotional tone sounds like what you're looking for. There's 22,000 articles in the category so you shouldn't have a lack of things to do. Clovermoss🍀 (talk) 00:02, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks! Maybe I'll make a wikiproject eventually ;) JoeJShmo💌 19:32, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Just to clarify, there is WikiProject Cleanup that might be of interest though it doesn't focus specifically on promotional articles. The WordsmithTalk to me 19:39, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That sounds like a great idea, and Clovermoss is right about that category. Fixing promotional articles is a great way to dive in and make a difference. The WordsmithTalk to me 18:18, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

policy question

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Hey wordsmith. Hope all is well. I have a question relating to a case I'm involved in. Can a topic ban ever be justified because of a perceived lack of experience and/or policy knowledge? Per ARBPIA, an editor must be EC to edit in certain topics, however, is it up to an admin to determine, even after an editor reached EC, whether that editor has enough experience to be able to edit in that topic? JoeJShmo💌 21:35, 22 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I've just gotten back from a vacation, but it seems like this issue was hashed out elsewhere. The WordsmithTalk to me 18:27, 31 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sockpuppetry

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Hi, about this SPI case you handled: Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/PakistanHistorian/Archive#24 June 2024. You had temp blocked 2407:D000:F:0:0:0:0:0/48, 92.40.0.0/16 (?) but these still appear to be quite active with the sock network and disrupting quite a lot of pages. Can the block be extended here again?

Thanks Gotitbro (talk) 13:29, 5 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Can you share a few examples of the disruptive edits from this range after the block expired? I'll check to see if there would be any collateral damage, too. The WordsmithTalk to me 15:54, 5 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Well here is the latest one (needs PP for socking), mere hours after a previous IP sock was reverted. Others that I recently reverted include [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8]. [Most of the recent edits from 2407:D000:F:0:0:0:0:0/48 are from the sock network.]
From the 92.40.194.0/23 range, these include: [9], [10], [11], [12]. The 'census update' edits from the range are also likely the same sock. Gotitbro (talk) 07:29, 6 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not seeing much risk in blocking the IPv6 range for a longer time, so I'll softblock that one. For the IPv4, it looks like there would be a ton of collateral damage there so it would be a bad idea to block the whole thing. What I can do instead is break it into smaller ranges that exclude most of the legitimate edits, I can do Special:Contributions/92.40.194.0/25 and Special:Contributions/92.40.195.0/24. The WordsmithTalk to me 15:53, 7 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Question regarding SPI

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Hi, I see that you've noted that sockpuppetry was a strong possibility in the recent report of AraxesTheThief, but without technical evidence (as CU was declined), you can't be confident to place a block. Can I rerequest CU on that basis, as declining it may potentially let long-term sockpuppetry pass, which you've noted as a strong possibility? Aintabli (talk) 06:27, 9 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately that's not possible. All the known socks are already stale, so the Checkuser tool won't be able to provide any evidence which is why they already declined it. If there's future sock-like activity from that account or others, a new SPI can be opened and the new behavioral evidence can be evaluated as well. Or if their edits are disruptive, that can be handled through the normal channels. The WordsmithTalk to me 13:22, 9 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oh okay. We'll have to wait and see then. Thank you for the explanation. It wasn't clear to me that CU wouldn't be useful either way. Wish you a great Friyay. Aintabli (talk) 13:59, 9 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Sadly the Checkuser tool is more limited than a lot of people think it is. Unless there's another account to compare it to that's edited en.wiki in the last 90 days, the tool is unlikely to show anything except maybe sleepers. After 90 days, IP data for logged-in accounts is generally discarded by WMF policy. For those, behavioral evidence is all we have to go on and we need to be confident in our findings to avoid blocking an innocent editor. Sometimes that unfortunately will result in illegitimate users avoiding blocks, but in my experience they often slip up and give us enough evidence to block sooner or later. The WordsmithTalk to me 15:31, 9 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wisdom-inc

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Thanks for closing the Wisdom-inc SPI. He is still active today on one of the reported IP ranges - Special:Contributions/143.58.176.0/24 10mmsocket (talk) 21:09, 10 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thomas Hope

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I am happy to see you changed Great Britain into US. A foolish mistake by a nitwit.Taksen (talk) 05:55, 11 August 2024 (UTC) Perhaps you can change born in 1704 very childish.Taksen (talk) 05:59, 11 August 2024 (UTC) Also the category 1799 deaths is a mistake.Taksen (talk) 06:03, 11 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I have no idea what this is about. The WordsmithTalk to me 20:03, 12 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry, it is about Thomas Hope (banker, born 1704).Taksen (talk) 08:16, 14 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, that was reverting a sockpuppet who was adding inaccuracies into articles (especially around estimated dates of birth/death). If you're willing to take responsibility for the edits, you're welcome to make the changes again. Though since Henry Hope's son (also named Henry Hope) was born in Massachusetts, it seems like him moving to the US is correct. The WordsmithTalk to me 18:56, 14 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Massive disruption

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Hi, can you have a look at these IP ranges? I think they belong to Anujror as they originated from the same geographical location(Pakistan) and have an obsession with manipulating the result of a page move discussion on Talk:Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty just like the last range that you blocked[13].

The Signpost: 14 August 2024

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CaseofGoliath SPI

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Hi The Wordsmith, did you review the evidence I sent to the en-paid queue regarding Elianaisaac? Link WP:Sockpuppet investigations/TheCaseOfGoliath/Archive. S0091 (talk) 17:49, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have access to that queue, but whoever does is free to take action independently of SPI if they determine it is warranted. The WordsmithTalk to me 17:55, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Ok. I wasn't sure if you had access of not. Because it was an open SPI with a CU request, I think they left it up to the CU to review (got a standard response a couple weeks ago before the check) but I will double check. I will be opening up a new one for new socks I found anyway but was waiting until the weekend in case I came across others and might include Elianaisaac again depending on the response I get. Thanks for all the work you do, The Wordsmith. S0091 (talk) 18:10, 15 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Christine-dark

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CU is positive and so is behavioral evidence.[14] Hope you can block as soon as possible. Capitals00 (talk) 02:19, 17 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately SPI is extremely backlogged at the moment. Somebody will get to it as quickly as we can, but if there's vandalism or urgent disruption then the normal venues like WP:AIV are also available and usually have a faster response time. The WordsmithTalk to me 04:12, 17 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – September 2024

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News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2024).

Administrator changes

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Interface administrator changes

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Oversighter changes

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CheckUser changes

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Guideline and policy news

  • 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.
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Arbitration

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The Signpost: 4 September 2024

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Re. future sockpuppet cases

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Hello; given you closed the sockpuppet case I had opened [15], for future reference, what is the threshold of evidence needed to support a finding of IP addresses being used as sockpuppets? The timing and nature of the IPs' actions seemed quite suspicious to me, even though there weren't many instances to point to.

(Also sorry about all the edits). JSwift49 21:11, 18 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The timing is questionable, but not enough by itself. As far as the thresholds for evidence, "more likely than not" is usually enough to at least open an SPI case for either an account or an IP. In addition, the sock or IP needs to actually be doing something forbidden in WP:BADSOCK, rather than something allowed in WP:GOODSOCK or WP:EWLO. Administrators will do their own investigation or ask you for more evidence if needed, but for a positive conclusion the standard is obvious beyond a reasonable doubt that sockpuppetry is occurring. Essentially, if there's another reasonable explanation then we generally need to WP:AGF in the absence of technical evidence.
One other thing that filers don't often ask themselves before opening a case is "What is actually being gained by sockpuppetry here?" In this case, it was two minor rephrasings of a small amount of text, switching from a paraphrase to a quote. It doesn't seem controversial at all, especially in comparison to many of the other contested edits on that page. The IP also has a history of edits, which doesn't have any real overlap with Superb Owl. If he had (for example) been warned for edit warring or approached WP:3RR before the IP started editing, that would be much stronger evidence. As it stands, the more likely explanation is that two people have a similar opinion on how that information should be presented. The WordsmithTalk to me 22:05, 18 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Got it; appreciate the explanation. My rationale at the time was: I had thought the pattern of both IPs (cosmetic edits on random articles, but substantive edits seemingly only on the Electoral fraud or similarly politically charged articles) could be an obfuscation attempt. And I thought they would have something to gain from these edits, as we have devoted a lot of time to disputing phrasing in the article where differences seem relatively minor.[16] JSwift49 13:41, 19 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

SPI Asphonixm

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Hi, could you please review on my recent SPI report on Asphonixm? If you don't have the time to do so, could you at least check whether the report was correctly opened? I'm a bit worried because I messed up the previous one, which was malformed and not properly opened. Thank you. Ckfasdf (talk) 07:18, 25 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I don't have time to fully review the case right now, but it looks like it was opened properly. For the previous one, it was missing the {{SPI case status}} template. That template automatically adds it to the categories that put it on the SPI dashboards.
Personally I think filing SPI cases by hand is too fiddly and unreliable, but it's a complex process so it has to be. WP:TWINKLE has a module that fills in the case request for you; I use that so I don't have to deal with all the manual bits. The WordsmithTalk to me 18:01, 25 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Arbitration case opened

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You recently offered a statement in a request for arbitration. The Arbitration Committee has accepted that request for arbitration and an arbitration case has been opened at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Backlash to diversity and inclusion. Evidence that you wish the arbitrators to consider should be added to the evidence subpage, at Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Backlash to diversity and inclusion/Evidence. Please add your evidence by October 10, 2024, which is when the evidence phase closes. You can also contribute to the case workshop subpage, Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Backlash to diversity and inclusion/Workshop. For a guide to the arbitration process, see Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Party Guide/Introduction. For the Arbitration Committee, SilverLocust 💬 12:23, 26 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 26 September 2024

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Hi there! The trial of the RfA discussion-only period passed at WP:RFA2024 has concluded, and after open discussion, the RfC is now considering whether to retain, modify, or discontinue it. You are invited to participate at Wikipedia:Requests for adminship/2024 review/Phase II/Discussion-only period. Cheers, and happy editing! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:38, 27 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, you closed Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Mayor's_Cup_(Missouri–South_Carolina).

I'm requesting a DRAFT of this article restored to Draft:Mayor's Cup (Missouri–South Carolina) for further development and the addition of new citations to establish notability of the trophy. Will move to article space only upon significant improvement to the article and ensuring it meets GNG.

Significant coverage of this trophy exists that was not discussed in any previous AFD:

Thanks, PK-WIKI (talk) 06:21, 30 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

 Done The WordsmithTalk to me 18:25, 30 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – October 2024

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Peter Middlebrook

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Thank you for your sensible action on the AfD for Peter Middlebrook, and particularly for the note on the AfD page + page protection. I think that should probably handle the disruption. Apologies (also to Izno) if my SPI report was a little bit of a mess. The 1 week timeline at AfD puts some time pressure, but I should've at least requested CU. I'll try to do better next time! Russ Woodroofe (talk) 08:23, 11 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No worries, SPI is a complicated process even for what should be a pretty straightforward case. You didn't do anything wrong with it! Your filing was fine (better than a lot that I see) and had all the evidence available. I think those accounts are either socks and or were canvassed by the article subject or someone very interested in them, but since the CU was negative the 1-2 edits from each don't give me enough behavioral evidence to prove it. The WordsmithTalk to me 15:05, 11 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

SPI investigation clarity

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Hi! Wondering if my earlier report on Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Geminiwebchickenwing/Archive before the last user's report was too detailed - it's the first one I'd submitted and felt like I might have overdone it! Thanks, originalmesstalk 07:49, 18 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

No, I think your report had the right amount of detail. It gave the evidence I needed without me having to spend ages digging up evidence on my own. If all SPIs were that well done, there probably wouldn't be such a backlog at SPI. The WordsmithTalk to me 16:00, 18 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, good to know! It took me a lot of time so it makes sense why there's such a backlog. Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it! originalmesstalk 22:31, 19 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 19 October 2024

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Notice of noticeboard discussion

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Administrators' newsletter – November 2024

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The Signpost: 6 November 2024

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You've got mail!

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Hello, The Wordsmith. Please check your email; you've got mail!
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Spicy (talk) 15:45, 18 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 18 November 2024

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ArbCom 2024 Elections voter message

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A barnstar for you!

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The Tireless Contributor Barnstar
Thanks for your tireless contribution at WP:SPI. Maliner (talk) 12:40, 22 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you! The WordsmithTalk to me 19:08, 22 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – December 2024

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The Signpost: 12 December 2024

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HammerHead (company) deletion

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Hello Wordsmith, regarding the deletion at WP:Redirects for discussion/Log/2024 December 18#HammerHead (company), what was the argument that tipped you in favour of deletion? The last comment did say If SRAM Corporation#Hammerhead exists it remains a reasonable target,.. and it does exist. The only delete vote was based on the nom which was about a gaming company and a different target. Jay 💬 05:46, 1 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry to the belated response, I've been busy off-wiki for a while. Looking back on that RfD, I think I may have actually fat fingered it and closed it as Delete instead of Keep. I'll go back and re-close it accordingly. The WordsmithTalk to me 04:44, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – January 2025

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News and updates for administrators from the past month (December 2024).

Guideline and policy news

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  • 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.

Arbitration

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Nomination of Imakuni? for deletion

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A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Imakuni?, to which you have significantly contributed, is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or if it should be deleted.

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The Signpost: 15 January 2025

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Apparent block evasion

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Hello TW. You recently issued a three-month-block to a short IP range that was associated with the activity of sockmaster ByzantineIsNotRoman in the page Persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction (SPI case). However, they appear to be range hopping in order to circumvent their block. Check the similar geolocation of 8.48.3.236, and compare this diff and this diff by sockpuppet Aliy Dawut; likewise, check 47.150.120.119, and notice that they tried to justify the "5.5 million" death toll estimate in the infobox (diff), similar to what was presented in the aforementioned SPI case. This type of activity renders IP blocks and range blocks ineffective. Do you have any suggestion(s) on how to combat this? Maybe some type of protection for that particular page? Demetrios1993 (talk) 13:22, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry for the late response, I've been away for a while. Yes, IP hopping vandals can be frustrating like that. Semiprotection is usually the best option in that case, but I don't see much current activity. If the disruption resumes, WP:RFPP is probably your best bet to get it protected quickly. The WordsmithTalk to me 04:31, 1 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your response; I will follow your advice if this continues. Demetrios1993 (talk) 07:09, 9 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hello again TW. In line with what I mentioned a few months ago, sockmaster ByzantineIsNotRoman apparently continues to evade their block in the page Persecution of Muslims during the Ottoman contraction, using certain IP addresses with a similar geolocation. The aforementioned 8.48.3.236 (IP details) remains active; their last edit was on 18 May 2025 (contribs). Furthermore, 24.24.234.102 (IP details) is obviously associated with 8.48.3.236; besides the similar geolocation, they also added information that had been previously requested by the latter back in January 2025 (diff1, diff2). I know you cannot publicly comment in respect to the IP addresses per WP:CUIPDISCLOSE and WP:MAGIC8BALL, but can you please personally assess the technical information of ByzantineIsNotRoman you have access to as a checkuser, and consider blocking the aforementioned IPs? I don't think there is enough recent activity by them to warrant semi-protecting the page. – Demetrios1993 (talk) 12:02, 25 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately I'm not a Checkuser, only a clerk so I don't have access to the technical data. I can't determine if those IPs are BINR or not, but that article already has a long term history of low-level vandalism/POV pushing so I've gone ahead and semiprotected it for 3 months. The WordsmithTalk to me 17:43, 26 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Excuse the misunderstanding, and thanks for taking the time to deal with this. – Demetrios1993 (talk) 14:53, 5 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Adèle Cutts Douglas

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Hi Wordsmith, Last year you understandably deleted Adèle Cutts Douglas as it was created by a sock puppet. Would it be ok if I made a new page with this title for the Women in Red project or is this page not allowed to be created? Please let me know. Thank you for your help. Nayyn (talk) 14:04, 4 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Go for it! There's no reason a new page can't be created, as long as it isn't being done by a banned user. I'd just be cautious about the sources I use, especially copies of the now-deleted article on Wikipedia mirrors – this particular banned editor, Slowking4, is a prolific sockmaster known for creating massive amounts of articles that have factual errors and/or copyright violations. The WordsmithTalk to me 04:28, 7 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – February 2025

[edit]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (January 2025).

Administrator changes

readded
removed Euryalus

CheckUser changes

removed

Oversighter changes

removed

Technical news

  • Administrators can now nuke pages created by a user or IP address from the last 90 days, up from the initial 30 days. T380846
  • A 'Recreated' tag will now be added to pages that were created with the same title as a page which was previously deleted and it can be used as a filter in Special:RecentChanges and Special:NewPages. T56145

Arbitration


The Signpost: 7 February 2025

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But an open language model is ready to help.
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The Signpost: 27 February 2025

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Administrators' newsletter – March 2025

[edit]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (February 2025).

Administrator changes

removed

CheckUser changes

removed

Oversighter changes

removed AmandaNP

Guideline and policy news

Technical news

  • A new filter has been added to the Special:Nuke tool, which allows administrators to filter for pages in a range of page sizes (in bytes). This allows, for example, deleting pages only of a certain size or below. T378488
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Miscellaneous


Precious anniversary

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Precious
Eight years!

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:32, 11 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Script question

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What exactly does this do? (Since there's no clear explanation beyond the somewhat opaque syntax, and I'm not noticing anything while loaded, if there's supposed to be some echo...) ~Lofty abyss 21:36, 18 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Lofty abyss: Sorry I didn't see your message until now. I don't remember writing that, but it looks like it was supposed to echo the wikilink when you put text inside double brackets. Assuming it worked in the first place, it's very possible that AdiIRC changed something so it may no longer work. The WordsmithTalk to me 23:31, 7 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Sure... you don't happen to know if there's any scripts that open such bracketed text as links? ~Lofty abyss 04:57, 8 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I wouldn't know, sorry; I haven't really used IRC in a long time. Are the enwiki channels even still alive? The WordsmithTalk to me 18:55, 9 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 22 March 2025

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Mikemikev SPI

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Hi there, you recently closed a report of a possible Mikemikev sock as insufficient evidence - but there's two reports on the page. Did you close my report, the other person's report or both? Just asking as I'm unsure whether I can unwatch the page or if I should keep it watchlisted in case of future follow-ups. Simonm223 (talk) 12:31, 27 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The other report was the one I closed, yours is still open. I'm really not sure what to do with that one yet; there doesn't seem to be enough behavioral evidence to block on that alone but there's at least some evidence there. If you happen to have any more evidence showing similar edits or behavioral quirks to Mikemikev or other socks, that might help tip the balance otherwise I'll give it some more thought before endorsing or declining (unless someone else gets to it first). The WordsmithTalk to me 19:47, 27 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
I'll have another look tomorrow and see if I can find something. With so many socks I tried to stick to the obvious stuff - the very specifc POV being pushed - but there may be other evidence. Simonm223 (talk) 20:17, 27 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Alright I've gone back and added some additional evidence. It's not a lot - three diffs really. I'll be honest, with how new the account is, there's not much more to show with them. I've been over literally every article talk comment they've made at this point. So if that's insufficient evidence then you can probably close. Simonm223 (talk) 12:03, 28 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sleeper has awaken

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@The Wordsmith please see: [17][18], the user whom I reported in this SPI seems to be taking my articles to AfD out of personal reasons (revenge?), well it's rather intriguing. Can I ask you to please look into the SPI again? I can surely add up more evidence. Heraklios 15:25, 1 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

CU came back Unrelated, and the behavioral evidence alone wasn't near enough to determine sockpuppetry. In fact, it just barely scraped past the bar for endorsing a CU. The more likely scenario is two people with similar views on Indian military history. You're free to file another SPI, but be aware that unless you can present evidence that is significantly stronger it could potentially be seen as disruptive. The WordsmithTalk to me 17:57, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – April 2025

[edit]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2025).

Administrator changes

added
readded Dennis Brown
removed

Bureaucrat changes

added Barkeep49

CheckUser changes

added 0xDeadbeef

Oversighter changes

removed GB fan
readded Moneytrees

Miscellaneous


The Signpost: 9 April 2025

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Fellow doctor Osama Khalid remains behind bars for "violating public morals" by editing.
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Gadzooks!

The Signpost: 1 May 2025

[edit]
As always, Wikimedia community governance relies on user participation; plus, more updates from the Wikimedia world
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Dr Jemma B King

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Hello, you deleted the page Q120868333, Dr Jemma B King Last year. there is nothing appearing in the deletion log. Is it possible to have teh page reinstated or get some details as to why so we can have it reinstated. Cowoaks (talk) 04:04, 6 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The article Jemma King was deleted because it was created by a sockpuppet evading their block. They also have a history of copyright violations, so I will not restore the article. Can I ask who "we" refers to? The WordsmithTalk to me 17:35, 8 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Administrators' newsletter – May 2025

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News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2025).

Administrator changes

added Rusalkii
readded NaomiAmethyst (overlooked last month)
removed

Interface administrator changes

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Guideline and policy news

Miscellaneous


"Pope Leo XIIV" redirect

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Hi, I see you've fully-protected the Pope Leo XIIV page. I think this is an embarrassing typo that has no reason to exist on Wikipedia, and was about to nominate it for speedy deletion under WP:R3. Please consider deleting it or nominating for deletion. Kwpolska (spam me/contributions) 17:29, 8 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

There was some chaos going on involving multiple page moves and round-robin swaps to incorrect targets (there's also Pope Leon XIIV so I just fullprotected the ones I could find. I have no issues with deleting them, but first I think it would be best to give it at least a little time for the dust to settle so we can take care of it in one go. We also need to make sure none of these pages have history that needs to be retained or histmerged anywhere, so there's no harm in giving it a couple hours to breathe while we get it straightened out and catch anything else.. The WordsmithTalk to me 17:42, 8 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Signpost: 14 May 2025

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Administrators' newsletter – June 2025

[edit]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2025).

Administrator changes

removed

Interface administrator changes

added 0xDeadbeef

CheckUser changes

readded L235

Oversight changes

readded L235

Guideline and policy news

  • An RfC is open to determine whether the English Wikipedia community should adopt a position on AI development by the WMF and its affiliates.

Technical news

Arbitration

  • An arbitration case named Indian military history has been opened. Evidence submissions for this case close on 8 June.

Miscellaneous


The Signpost: 24 June 2025

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Notice

The file File:Traditionalist Worker Party logo.png has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

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While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, pages may be deleted for any of several reasons.

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Administrators' newsletter – July 2025

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News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2025).

Administrator changes

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Interface administrator changes

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Guideline and policy news

Miscellaneous

  • The 2025 Developing Countries WikiContest will run from 1 July to 30 September. Sign up now!
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The Signpost: 18 July 2025

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Endowment tax form, Wikimania, elections, U4C, fundraising and a duck!
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