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Tech News: 2017-08

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

Changes this week

  • Page Previews will be updated on 23 February. This fixes many bugs. Page Previews can be turned on as the Beta Feature called Hovercards. [2]
  • There has been a problem where the CSS of gadgets has been loading twice. The Gadgets extension has two new options: type and peers. The type option solves this problem. You can use peers to create gadgets with more than one style module. Read more about type and peers. [3]
  • OAuth will handle blocked users in a more consistent way. [4]
  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 21 February. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 22 February. It will be on all wikis from 23 February (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 21 February at 20:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

19:26, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

Non-free reduce

Hi there. Just wondering if there's a way mark a file to prevent it from repeatedly tagged with "non-free reduce"? A file you recently tagged for the second time has been rendered so small as to be utterly useless.[1] I greatly reduced the size after you tagged it the first time, providing that it was just large enough to actually figure out what's going on in the drawing, but that did not prevent it from going through the shrink treatment a second time.

[1] This is actually quite ironic. To state a claim for "fair use," an image must contribute to the article in some significant way. After your resizing, the image in question contributes little more than non-free wallpaper, which is not fair use. Thus, in the name of upholding Wikipedia's non-free content policy, you have actually created a clear violation of said policy.

Anyways, if you can let me know how to make the picture useful again, without having to upload a new version every month, that would be much appreciated. Thanks! --Usernameunique (talk) 07:10, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

@Usernameunique: Tried various manual reductions all not good, so left as original. Tagged with a banner that will stop my system from tagging again. Ronhjones  (Talk) 20:24, 21 February 2017 (UTC)
Thank you! --Usernameunique (talk) 21:28, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

File:Desktop_and_UWP.png

Hello,

This file File:Desktop_and_UWP.png has essentially been reduced to nothing. The original screenshot's file size was already uploaded reduced because it is non-free, the bot did not need to reduce it anymore and make the image unreadable. Now it is just a bunch of blocks of colors. You also deleted the revisions to the file, making it impossible to revert to the usable image. Is it possible for you to fix this? The image is going to be used in the UWP article when it is restored WikIan -(talk) 11:49, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

Made it bigger, and tagged for no more reduction Ronhjones  (Talk) 22:43, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

COI request

Thank you for recently advising me on a COI request for http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Duncan_Selbie. You later advised me that the request was correctly in the queue for attention http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Talk:Duncan_Selbie. I have checked the queue every week or so and this hasn't yet reduced in number. I understand that there is probably a very large volume of work for Wiki editors. Is it acceptable for me to manually add the text suggested in my COI request - it is factual and referenced? Or is it necessary to wait for the request to be processed by an editor. Thank you for your advice S&nwaterloo (talk) 18:22, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

If you read WP:COI is says "COI editing is strongly discouraged on Wikipedia". I can't say if you would be successful, but there is nothing to stop you doing it. Just be transparent. If it gets reverted, don't put it back, try discussing with editor(s). Ronhjones  (Talk) 22:47, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

referring to my talk page- help me

Ronhjones, do you mean like I created an account on wikitionary and I never edit wikipedia? L.S. inc. (talk) 14:27, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

Yup. It does not matter where you create an account - it's a global account, as soon as it's created then all the other wikis will not allow the name. Names used to be local only, and one had to then link them all together (I remember that!) about mid 2015 that all stopped. many inactive accounts got renamed to give a global account to everyone (you may see some user names like User:xxxx~enwiki - that was a forced rename). Ronhjones  (Talk) 14:52, 27 February 2017 (UTC)
It was April 2015 - Wikipedia:Unified login Ronhjones  (Talk) 14:54, 27 February 2017 (UTC)
ok, thanks. L.S. inc. (talk) 14:58, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-09

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Problems

  • On 22 February the wikipedia.org portal did not work for an hour. This was because of a problem with a JavaScript file. [5]

Changes this week

  • You will be able to use <chem> to write chemical formulas in the visual editor. Previously this only worked in the wikitext editor. [6]
  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 28 February. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 1 March. It will be on all wikis from 2 March (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 28 February at 20:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes

  • You can soon upload 3D files to Commons. The file formats are AMF and STL. The plan is for this to work later this week but it could be later. [7]
  • The name "Wikipedia" will be more obvious at the top of the page when you read Wikipedia in the mobile view. This is because many readers don't realize they are on Wikipedia. [8][9]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

19:56, 27 February 2017 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 February 2017

* Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 01:20, 28 February 2017 (UTC)

BAGBot: Your bot request RonBot

Someone has marked Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/RonBot as needing your input. Please visit that page to reply to the requests. Thanks! AnomieBOT⚡ 04:09, 4 March 2017 (UTC) To opt out of these notifications, place {{bots|optout=operatorassistanceneeded}} anywhere on this page.

File:Asterix - Cast.png

I have reverted the size reduction for this file.

The fair use rationale argues why a larger file makes sense here -- the point is to be able to see the characters, which means being able to clearly see and distinguish the different heads. Jheald (talk) 22:58, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

Well you have restored a version that is bigger than the one you said was OK 6 years ago. Maybe a manual reduce back to those sizes will be OK. Ronhjones  (Talk) 00:20, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

File:Futurama-cast.png

I notice that you keep tagging File:Futurama-cast.png with {{non-free reduce}}. While I am one of the biggest proponents of {{non-free reduce}}, there is a problem with it for this file. The smaller size that would be uploaded would reduce the details and make characters impossible to see, which is the point of the file. I remember reading somewhere or another on Wikipedia (can't remember where) that there is an exception to the non-free reduce rule, that when the image's purpose (showing all of these characters) would be ruined by reducing the image it is ok to keep the original size. This is why I have been undoing your tag on this image the past two weeks. Thanks, Elisfkc (talk) 18:43, 5 March 2017 (UTC)

@Elisfkc: I agree, you have just reverted the banner that stops me adding another reduce tag. You might like to undo that. I cannot edit each image one by one - I quickly look through a list of images and then use awb to add the tag - I've set awb is set to not tag under certain conditions - one being the presence of the banner I added 15:48, 5 March 2017‎ Ronhjones  (Talk) 20:32, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
Whoops, misread that. Thanks, Elisfkc (talk) 20:33, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
If you can't "each image one by one" -- or at least read what's written on the file pages and the file history -- then you shouldn't be editing at all.
I happened to catch the Asterix reduction below, because it happened to be on my watchlist, and today I happened to look at that watchlist.
But if you're blindly tagging images without even reading the file pages, how many are being reduced without anybody even realising, by a process that then leaves no track at all of what it has done -- all trace being removed that the larger image had ever existed, so there's not even a clue for somebody to request an image undeletion.
Time was that AWB loaded a preview in a browser, so you could actually see what you were doing. But it no longer does that. Indeed, it sounds from the above is if you are tagging images without even looking at them. That is not acceptable.
If you're going to set yourself up as content police, then the first principle you should take on board is: do no harm. Jheald (talk) 23:11, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
Here's another one, File:Heinrich's_1875_Guide_Map_of_the_Central_Park-1042x409px.jpg, which would have been completely useless if it was made any smaller -- and, it turns out, it's free anyway. You have to have some idea of what the images you're tagging actually are. Jheald (talk) 23:34, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
Images of old-style 8-bit graphic displays should also not be reduced, eg File:Screen_shot_of_an_edit_session_in_Xerox_Ventura_Publisher,_ca._1990.jpg, because there is value in a 1:1 image showing how the designers worked with the fixed resolution and very limited colour palettes of the time. The image should give a true view of that. Jheald (talk) 23:41, 5 March 2017 (UTC)
@Jheald: I never said I did not look at the images first. I said I used awb to add the tag after looking though them. AWB with a proper view would be nice, it would save having to view, and then separately tag in two separate actions. I don't know why you think there is "all trace being removed that the larger image had ever existed" - we have not deleted old versions for years - the current practice is to revison delete all old versions, thus leaving a nice clear history of the sizes previously in use - e.g. File:KNBN Logo.png. A few people have asked for a bigger version back, and I have been quite happy to review and restore, sometimes manual reduce, sometimes no reduce at all. I can't guarantee 100% perfect editing, but I try to be as close to that as possible. Thank you for changing [:File:Heinrich%27s_1875_Guide_Map_of_the_Central_Park-1042x409px.jpg]] to a free image, I've added a move to commons on that. I don't know about File:Screen_shot_of_an_edit_session_in_Xerox_Ventura_Publisher,_ca._1990.jpg, but as you asked, I will try a manual reduce and if not successful will stop reduce. Ronhjones  (Talk) 00:17, 6 March 2017 (UTC)
Okay, I'm glad that the deleted revisions are still visible in the on-screen image history. I didn't know that was now the case, and you're right, that does reduce the cost of false positives.
Also, having sample-checked a few of your last 1500 tags, almost all of the few I looked at did seem entirely reasonable. Though there were three more where I removed your tag, that you might like to also consider: File:Citywide Ferry map.png, File:FortheGloryscreenshot1.png, File:Microsoft Visual Studio 6 screenshot.png. There were also some more, eg some screenshots from games, where a larger image might well have been arguable, to allow the user to judge the typical quality of the 3d rendering. But I'll leave those for others to come back to if they want to.
I was cross last night, and wrong to generalise from an N=1 sample of just the Asterix image that pinged my watchlist. So I think I do owe you an apology.
But please do be careful of images that do have a legitimate reason to be a little larger -- eg old 8-bit screenshots, other images where it is relevant to be able to see the detail or read the text for the images to be best able to add to reader understanding. Jheald (talk) 08:22, 6 March 2017 (UTC)
@Jheald: File:Citywide Ferry map.png, File:FortheGloryscreenshot1.png, File:Microsoft Visual Studio 6 screenshot.png - I think the first one might be replaceable - it's close to a schematic map which could be created; Second one is stated as "for identification and critical commentary" in image page - I see no "critical commentary" - "A preview image of For the Glory showing the map, interfaces, menus, units and Western Europe" does not do that, it's on a sticky wicket; third one - OK, manual reduce, not to excessive. All tagged for no more reduction, as I don't have the time to start deciding about suitability at this time - that's a whole new thing to instigate at some future date. Ronhjones  (Talk) 16:06, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-10

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • You can now search on English, French, Hebrew and Greek wikis and find words even if you forget the diacritics. It also works if you use diacritics in your search but the wiki doesn't. [10]
  • When you use the mobile view and click on a link to an article in another language you will see that article in the mobile view. Previously it changed to the desktop view. [11]

Problems

  • Some watchlist gadgets didn't work for a period of time last week. This has now been fixed. [12]
  • Admins who click on "mass delete" on a user's Special:Contributions will be taken directly to a list pages created by that user. It has worked like this before, but not lately. [13]

Changes this week

  • The way you switch between wikitext and the visual editors in the desktop view has changed. It is now a drop-down menu. This is the same as in the mobile view. [14]
  • The "flag the edit in the abuse log" checkbox will be removed from the abuse filter interface. This is because the edits are always flagged in the abuse log. [15]
  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 7 March. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 8 March. It will be on all wikis from 9 March (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 7 March at 20:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Clarification

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

23:23, 6 March 2017 (UTC)

IP editor leaving 70 AIV reports at once

There is a conversation here[16] regarding this[17]. I see that you left a disapproving message on their talk page, so I thought maybe you'd want to chime in. Boomer VialHolla! We gonna ball! 10:18, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-11

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Changes this week

  • You will be able to show references from <references /> tags in more than one column on your wiki. This is the list of footnotes for the sources in the article. How many columns you see will depend on how big your screen is. On some wikis, some templates already do this. Templates that use <references /> tags will need to be updated, and then later the change can happen for all reference lists. [18][19]
  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 14 March. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 15 March. It will be on all wikis from 16 March (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 14 March at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes

  • Some old web browsers will not be able to use JavaScript on Wikimedia wikis in the future. If you have an old web browser on your computer you can upgrade to a newer version. [20]
  • CSS in templates will be stored in a separate page in the future. [21][22]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

15:26, 13 March 2017 (UTC)

Thanks in advance for RonBot

Thanks for all the work you are doing in connection with RonBot. I thought it sounds like a simple request, but after reading the discussion I see that it is a bit more complicated than I had realized. I look forward to the completion so I can work on something more useful — thanks again for your work.--S Philbrick(Talk) 15:19, 16 March 2017 (UTC)

@Sphilbrick: I'm sure we'll get there in the end. Just taking rather longer than planned.... :-( Ronhjones  (Talk) 23:19, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
No problem. Just a heads up - basketball tournament season starts in a few hours, and my Wikipedia time is severely limited for the next three weeks. I'm sure I'll find some time, but the bot has been adding 4 or 500 a day recently.--S Philbrick(Talk) 23:22, 16 March 2017 (UTC)
@Sphilbrick: Only because I tagged most of them :-). Maybe a large queue will help show the need for the bot. Ronhjones  (Talk) 20:21, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
Is there any question? I get the impression that the request was being bogged down by some details on exactly how it would work. If a large queue will help the cause of be happy to work on something else. The OTRS and copyvio backlogs are long and I probably should work on them anyway.--S Philbrick(Talk) 20:33, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
@Sphilbrick:Not sure. Just seems to be lots of "odd" questions. Hopefully we can get a trial soon. I think the bot will happen, so I don't see a great rush in manually clearing the backlog - as you say there are other backlogs. Pity there is no OTRS bot..., I do despair at some of the questions, thank heavens for the canned answers! Ronhjones  (Talk) 20:48, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

Uncle titlecard

Hi Ronhjones, is there anything that states a file has to be "x by x" or something similar ?, I know Non-free states it should be minimal usage but not having some sort of guide makes it rather hard to know exactly how minimal a file should be ?, Thanks, –Davey2010Talk 21:48, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

@Davey2010: There is always a guide, you just have to know where to find it! The guide is 100,000 pixels or in wikipedia search terms a file resolution of 314 (It's the sqrt of 100,000 - don't ask who invented that idea of "resolution", I don't know!) and that can be used in a search like "incategory:"All non-free media" fileres:>314" in Wikipedia Advanced search (and selecting File space only) - that also shows why a square image always ends up at 314 x 314. There are 247,534 currently over that size - a small percentage will stay bigger (experience is currently showing about 0.1%), where there has been shown to be a real need to keep a bigger image (e.g. the standard reduction scrambles the image). The reducing bot won't do a reduction of less than 5%, so the true max size the bot will reduce is 105000 = file res of 324. The guideline can be found at WP:Image resolution Ronhjones  (Talk) 22:14, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
Ah I understand absolutely none of that, In that case I'll just revert and trust everyone knows what they're doing . Thanks for explaining anyway and for the link, Cheers, –Davey2010Talk 22:28, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

Again, on tagging non-free blindly based on image size resolution

I mentioned to you this about a month ago, and I see @Jheald: has also pointed this out to you [23], but I must caution you from blindly tagging non-free images with "non-free reduce" just because they fall outside of a set of image size resolutions. There is no fixed requirement in NFC that a certain image size must be met , though we do strive for under 0.1 MP for most standard images like television screenshots or movie posters or album covers. Thing is, I am seeing you tag non-standard images, and while you state that you're doing this with AWP and it doesn't bring up a preview, you're still tagging things that shouldn't be changed, for example File:Grim fandango remastered comparison.png (the larger size needed to see the differences between the original and HD Version without being excessively large). So some of your human decisions I'm not really sure about.

I am sure there are only a few exceptions to what you are doing, as most of your tagging is reasonably appropriate, but you need to make sure if you have touched an image and the non-free tag was removed, that you shouldn't add it again, or if you really think it needs to be added, take the image to WP:FFD. The above example is such a case (first, second, and third time) where this now appears to be blindly following some logic rather than recognizing editorial discretion, and that's what has happened in the past with people using automated tools to enforce NFC. I don't want to stop the 99% of the work that is correct, but we need a mechanism here to prevent re-tagging when the tag has been reasonably removed. --MASEM (t) 21:55, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

@Masem: The images may be tagged quickly, but certainly not blindly as I have said before. The viewing of the images takes quite some time previous to the tagging - it's just easier to go through the viewing first and do the tagging later. I'm sorry I had not spotted the reversions on that image, Had I done so I would have marked it up for no more reduction (as I have just done so). Tonight I also similarly marked up 2 images, during my earlier viewing period (File:Office2003 screenshot.PNG and File:JamesMayAutocar.jpg), which I thought would not work with any further reduction. As you say there are only a few (the majority of the images are portraits, posters, album covers, etc.), and I do try to spot the unusual ones that need no more reduction and mark accordingly. Ronhjones  (Talk) 22:42, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
Just noticed, something went wrong with my exclusion list tonight User:Ronhjones/Non Free Reduce Data, hence the tag added to File:Grim fandango remastered comparison.png - not sure what I did to not exclude it, couple of others crept in as well (but not all...) - MS Access should have removed all the matches with the exclusion list, sadly it did not. Adding a tag to the file to not reduce further works far better for me, and I'll stick to that system. Ronhjones  (Talk) 00:04, 18 March 2017 (UTC)
Thanks for checking on that: I want to avoid the situation of BetaCommand/Delta and other editors that used automated tools without careful overview to deal with NFC, which gave NFC enforcement on WP a very very bad name for a few years around 2010-2012. --MASEM (t) 00:49, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

Hamilton C shell images

I do not understand these edits to descriptions of the images of Hamilton C shell: [24], [25] and [26]. I've uploaded emails to the OTRS system from the author of the product, granting permission to use these images under the Creative Commons Attribution shareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Why would there be any need to replace any of these images with smaller versions? But also, your edits indicate the images have already been replaced with smaller versions, but they haven't. They're still the original 1280x800 versions I uploaded 7 years ago. I'm confused. Can you help me out, please? What was your intent? Msnicki (talk) 01:10, 18 March 2017 (UTC)

@Msnicki: I think the template needs a little tweak on the wording. It was to stop anyone applying a non-free reduce template on the page, as it's still set up as a non-free image. The OTRS agent has applied the ticket, but no one has re-set the pages to free images! I've read the ticket and it's fine - so the pages need the WP:FURG removing for a Template:Information and the {{Non-free software screenshot}} needs replacing by {{cc-by-sa-4.0}}. If you are not sure, I can do the changes for you - let me know. Ronhjones  (Talk) 01:20, 18 March 2017 (UTC)
Okay, thank you for explaining. That makes perfect sense. If you have time and care to fix it, that's great. Otherwise, I can do it, but not until next week. I teach and we're at the end of the quarter. I've got a mountain of grading to finish before our registrar's deadline. Again, thanks. Msnicki (talk) 01:36, 18 March 2017 (UTC)
@Msnicki: No problem, I've a hour before bedtime, I'll fix them for you Ronhjones  (Talk) 01:46, 18 March 2017 (UTC)
Thank you for cleaning up those pages. Msnicki (talk) 02:08, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-12

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • The Save page button now says Publish page or Publish changes on the Wikimedia wikis except for Wikipedias and Wikinewses. This change will come to Wikipedias later. The point is to make it more clear that the edit will change the page immediately. Publish page is when you save a new page and Publish changes when you edit an existing page. [27]
  • DMOZ no longer works. Templates that use DMOZ can be redirected to archive.org or another mirror. DMOZ has been removed from the RelatedSites extension on Wikivoyage. [28]
  • You can see monthly page views when you click on Page information in the sidebar. Developers can also get monthly page views through the API. [29]
  • The Linter extension is now on smaller Wikimedia wikis. It helps editors find some wikitext errors so they can be fixed. It will come to other Wikimedia wikis later. The extension will be able to find more errors later. [30]
  • The MediaWiki-Vagrant portable development environment has been updated to use Debian Jessie. This means local development and testing will be more like on the majority of Wikimedia production servers. [31]

Problems

  • On 15 March some interwiki links to other languages were not correctly sorted. This has been fixed. If you still see pages where the interwiki links are not sorted as they should be, they should be fixed automatically with time or you can edit the page and save it without changing anything. If this doesn't work, please report it. [32]

Changes this week

  • When you edit with the visual editor, you will be able to switch the direction you write in from right-to-left to left-to-right as you are editing. This is especially important for editors who edit in languages that write from right to left. You can do this with a tool in the editing menu. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+X on PCs or Cmd+Shift+X on Macs. [33]
  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 21 March. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 22 March. It will be on all wikis from 23 March (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 21 March at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

22:03, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

User talk:Dardn2015

Hi Ronhjones. You previously blocked Dardn2015 for disruptive editing. Although I am not sure of the specifics of that particular block, I noticed that this editor seems to be marking all of their edits as minor, even it when they are clearly not. They were previously advised about this by Qed237, but that does not seem to have any effect? Do you have any suggestions on what to do here? Is there possibly some setting that this editor might have mistakenly checked which is labeling all their edits as minor by default? -- Marchjuly (talk) 05:55, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

@Marchjuly: It's strange all edits are minor... There used to be a "mark all edits as minor" - but that option has long gone. I do wonder if he set it, and now can't unset it... Never bank on wiki software being perfect... I think you will have to try and talk to him. Ronhjones  (Talk) 17:36, 20 March 2017 (UTC)
Thank you for checking on this Ronhjones. I came across this after seeing the editor-question had reverted the removal of a non-free image from an article and marked the edit as minor. -- Marchjuly (talk) 23:57, 20 March 2017 (UTC)

The file I uploaded

I uploaded File:Mercuryturnpike.png to ask a question on the reference desk. Now it is so small it can't be read. I was looking for a way to take the part I was asking about and just use that.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 20:12, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

I tried a crop (and therefore less reduction needed). See what you think Ronhjones  (Talk) 20:33, 22 March 2017 (UTC)
If that is acceptable for copyright purposes, I'm happy.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 13:32, 23 March 2017 (UTC)
Now they're saying it's orphaned. Perhaps I need to either update my question or ask a new one.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 17:23, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

Please restore ISO Master

Kindy restore ISO Master. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mig21 (talk • contribs) 22:56, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

@Mig21:  Done Restored as contested PROD. It's a very poor article though, it will need much improving to keep it Ronhjones  (Talk) 23:05, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

Could you please crop another file?

I need to use File:Askamy.png to ask a reference desk question.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 15:54, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

@Vchimpanzee: OK - by removing the copyright elements (Wikipedia globe) it is now a free file. Please complete the information template I started. Ronhjones  (Talk) 19:31, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
Thanks. It's not different in the way I thought it would be, but there is a difference.— Vchimpanzee • talk • contributions • 15:52, 25 March 2017 (UTC)

Claire Benedict

Why did you delete the page on Claire Benedict? She is a notable British actress - see http://www.britishafrocaribbean.com/index.php/media2/24-claire-benedict and https://bbashakespeare.warwick.ac.uk/people/claire-benedict, and particularly notable for portraying the lead character Mma Ramotswe in the continuing radio adaptations of The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Jim Craigie (talk) 15:10, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

@Jim Craigie: She may be notable, but the article was bad. We have a rule that a article about a living person needs at least one good reference to back up some of the data shown. With no good references the article was tagged as such, waited 7 days for improvement (nothing happened) and then had to be deleted. Ronhjones  (Talk) 19:25, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
Deletion only 7 days after tagging seems absurdly premature to me, and a simple google "Claire Benedict site:thestage.co.uk" would have shown she was notable. Behaviour like that makes me doubt that Wikipedia is worth my time. AFAIK its not an article I have previously edited, but please restore and I will add some refs to prevent this egregious deletion. Jim Craigie (talk) 23:28, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
@Jim Craigie: 7 days is the rule, when the 7 days are up the article appears in the list to delete - Feel free to suggest a policy change at WP:VP. The article must show the nobility with proper text and references. The article was tagged for deletion some 7 days after creation, so the original author would have known about it - they chose not to improve the article. I cannot restore it as an article as it violates WP:BLP - I have to restore it as a Draft - Draft:Claire Benedict Ronhjones  (Talk) 23:44, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
Thanks for restoring. I doubt the original author was aware of your deletion, since this article was first tagged for speedy deletion just 9 minutes after the original author created it in 2014, and only 2 minutes after the original author's last edit, which presumably put the original author off wikipedia for life, since s/he hasn't contributed since. That author had contributed a long (if unstructured) list of Claire Benedict's work which some other editor deleted in response to the speedy deletion trying to create a page for reasonably well known actress Claire Benedict. Novices put off wikipedia by the hostility of deletion zealots.
@Jim Craigie: That tends to be the case when editors create direct. I always tell editors (here and at OTRS), that they should use WP:AfC, otherwise the minute they hit the first save, the page gets added to WP:NPP and dozens of editors swoop in like locusts - and often as not, slap a speedy on it. Personally, I think we should stop novice editors creating direct - most of them think if they do, it will be on Google the next day! - and of course it's not and they have to wait up to 30 days. by which time it's usually gone. Ronhjones  (Talk) 17:24, 25 March 2017 (UTC)

Please review rationale before tagging non-free images for reduction

On March 21 you tagged the non-free file:Big-Boy-Comic-Book-Composition.png (used in Big Boy restaurants) for image reduction; this occurred the next day. I know AWB is a productive tool and perhaps you also visually judge images. I am frustrated because this tagging occurred without reading the rationale or considering the obvious non-standard image.

While the resolution/filesize might seem larger than reasonable, the graphic is a composition of 8 comic book covers, each of which is smaller than covers used elsewhere. I stated this in the rationale and listed/linked four examples of others for comparison. (The filesize of 0.21M is also reasonable given the 8 covers.) That this is a non-standard image is also visually obvious.

On January 26 you similarly tagged file:Progression of Big Boy logos.png. which is a composition of 8 historic logos. Unlike the comic book covers, I considered this tagging not unreasonable (and later manually resized it to 50%). But your tag caused a bot, also not considering that it was a non-standard image, to over-reduce producing an inferior muddy image. These rule based reductions tend to be arbitrary and unsophisticated. The resizing of the comic book covers also caused an artifact in the layout of the Big Boy Restaurants article. As noted, IMO that image resize was unreasonable and it has been reverted.

Thanks for your many efforts but also your consideration to these issues. — βox73 (৳alk) 08:00, 24 March 2017 (UTC) / fix typo — 08:03, 24 March 2017 (UTC)

@Box73: They are all viewed first and tagged later (AWB is useful and quick, but does not show pictures!). It's sometimes hard to guess which ones work well or fail - quite a few I put aside at review time for no reduction, a lot drop into the easy logo / poster / portrait box, there will always be a few which I think will be OK when reduced and then maybe not so. Tagged your two for no more reduction. Ronhjones  (Talk) 19:21, 24 March 2017 (UTC)
Thank you. And sometime back you did a great job reducing the size of the infobox Big Boy logo which was also appropriate. It was an svg containing a raster image and the raster scaling looked good.
My concern was recognizing the image as a composition of many covers, then not judging it as a single cover. I anticipated this issue and made additional efforts to justify it in the non-free rationale. A future improvement might provide a tag or field noting non-standard images which AWB could read.
Lastly, since you're involved with Wikimedia Commons... Editors are encouraged to submit svgs with text as text but the pngs derived look terrible. (Yes, using common fonts.) Submitting text as outlines eliminates this issue but also the benefit of text as text. IMO, if svg-text is desirable, commons should adjust the conversion process, one option being to use a temporary svg-outline file to create the pngs. What would be a good place to voice this? — βox73 (৳alk) 08:58, 25 March 2017 (UTC)
@Box73: Yes, I'm a commons' admin as well. Probably the best place is c:Commons:Village pump Ronhjones  (Talk) 17:32, 25 March 2017 (UTC)

Albert Spanswick edit

Hi you reversed the edit i made as you said it was not constructive. But i am confused as i thought all encyclopaedic content should be verifiable and from a neutral point of view; the comments i removed were not verifiable and were personal opinions which goes against the wikipedia guidelines. I was wondering if you would be able to explain your comment that the edit was not constructive? 86.11.60.51 (talk) 12:12, 26 March 2017 (UTC)

There is a reference given when that whole statement was added. If you believe that the reference is incorrect - then you have to discuss with the editor who added it, you cannot just keep removing data (that starts edit warring, which is not allowed). If you cannot agree, then WP:DR is the place to go. Ronhjones  (Talk) 20:38, 26 March 2017 (UTC)

Mickey Roker birth date correction

Hello, this is concerning the edit I made to the english Mickey Roker wiki page. Roker's birthday is September 3, 1932. It is correctly listed in his german wiki page:

http://de.wiki.x.io/wiki/Mickey_Roker

And also here:

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/birthday.php?pg=247

A previous editor had accidentally switched the month and day (03/09 /1932 - 09/03/1932) so I corrected it. Please let me know how to submit the citation. Thanks.

There were no references to the birthday - it was challenged in an e-mail to the Foundation. With no ref it was removed. The e-mail said it should be September 3, 1932. But we can't use that as a reference. We can't use de-wiki as a ref either. You could use https://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/mickeyroker (linked from you link above) - feel free to add it back with a ref. Ronhjones  (Talk) 20:44, 26 March 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-13

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • When you edit with the visual editor, you can see a visual diff as well as a wikitext diff when you review your changes. [34]

Problems

  • Special:AllPages was disabled for two days due to some performance issues. It is back, but the filter for redirects is gone as the cause of the performance problem. It still needs to be fixed. [35][36]

Changes this week

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

14:47, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

A query

Randy Quaid real name

I reopened the discussion, because I found multiple sources where Randall without Randy is his given name. I was suspicious about "Randy Randall" being his given name in the first place, given that Randy is a nickname. It would be like naming someone "Billy William" etc. Arbor to SJ (talk) 23:25, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

@Arbor to SJ: He has sent in full evidence of his name to OTRS that clearly shows it as "Randy Randall Rudy Quaid", and always complains when it gets changed. However there is no way of showing that document as anything sent to OTRS is private. Ronhjones  (Talk) 23:34, 28 March 2017 (UTC)
Then how do you explain Blue Rasberry's comment from Feb. 2016, "This person's representative wants these names used or not used...", which indicates that the "Randy Randall" form the representative considers "unacceptable"? Arbor to SJ (talk) 00:22, 29 March 2017 (UTC)
@Arbor to SJ: Ask User:Blue Rasberry. There are so many tickets at OTRS - both these ticket:2016081110017195 and ticket:2017032810012844 show the real name in an attached document. Every time the name gets changed, the subject writes in and complains. Ronhjones  (Talk) 01:05, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

Happy First Edit Day

Happy First Edit Day, Ronhjones, from the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Have a great day! UNSC Luke 1021 (talk) 10:14, 29 March 2017 (UTC)

Request

I'd appreciate it if you'd pitch in as described at Wikipedia_talk:Files_for_discussion#Category:Non-free_files_with_orphaned_versions_more_than_7_days_old, as I believe your AWB tagging runs to reduce the resolutions of non-free images has been partially responsible for the unusually high number of files needing revisions deleted. ~ Rob13Talk 09:40, 30 March 2017 (UTC)

A few days ago, you blocked User:Mother bear for 31 hours for adding external links to articles. He or she has come off the block and returned to the same editing pattern. Maybe a longer block is in order...? ElKevbo (talk) 18:56, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

@ElKevbo: He obviously has some axe to grind. Ronhjones  (Talk) 19:04, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

Restoration of Megan Amram

Could Megan Amram be restored, please? I was off Wikipedia for a while, but it's been on my cleanup list for even longer. I don't remember the quality of the page being amazing, but I don't know if it should have been entirely deleted. Thanks. Zingiberal (talk) 00:12, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

@Zingiberal: Only deleted as WP:PROD, so can be restored as contested PROD. WIll do in a minute or two. Ronhjones  (Talk) 02:03, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-14

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • The Save page button now says Publish page or Publish changes on most Wikipedias. The point is to make it more clear that the edit will change the page immediately. Publish page is when you save a new page and Publish changes when you edit an existing page. [37]
  • The tracking category Category:Pages with template loops is now added when a template loop is found. A template loop is for example when a template tries to use a second template that uses the first template. [38]
  • English Wikipedia now has cookie blocks. It will come to more wikis in the future. This is an extension to the autoblock system so when a user is blocked, the next time they visit the wiki a cookie will be set. This means that even if the user switches accounts and to a new IP address the cookie will block them again. [39]

Problems

  • Wikidata descriptions, aliases and labels that used some characters could not be saved. This has now been fixed. [40]

Changes this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 4 April. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 5 April. It will be on all wikis from 6 April (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 4 April at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.
  • You can join the next office hour with the Wikidata team. The meeting will be on 5 April at 16:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes

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17:53, 3 April 2017 (UTC)

New article(s) pasted-in from previous (deleted) version(s) by business owners

Gooday Ron. A new article has been pasted-in from previous (deleted article) editing-pane, breaking the chain of editing history but quoting the 'old' dates when references were added. Be Wiser Insurance was deleted when targeted as a business-promotion, I suspect it was nominated by an IP associated with One-Call, from memory. I did some work on the motorcycle sport sponsorship in the old article.

What to do? Way beyond my Ken. There is no talk page notice relating to re-creating a previously deleted old version, as I got with Talk:Steve Henshaw

The same goes for One Call Insurance also a new article showing no talk page but old-dates on refs - second look, this might be totally new. Insurance-broker wars, eh?--Rocknrollmancer (talk) 21:28, 1 April 2017 (UTC)

@Rocknrollmancer: At least the names are the same. If you think they are going to survive, the old history can be easily undeleted, and then the full history shows through. Ronhjones  (Talk) 00:21, 2 April 2017 (UTC)
Second one only has 2 deleted edits and they are not very big in size. Ronhjones  (Talk) 00:22, 2 April 2017 (UTC)
OK, ta, I'll keep an eye on 'em.--Rocknrollmancer (talk) 02:23, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

Orphaned .png's

Ronhjones: I uploaded two images, and I am grateful that that one was reduced to screen resolution and reposted in order to not violate restriction on the quality of free postings. Now a Bot has identified the images as not actually appearing in any article and has indicated they will be deleted. I have not had luck contacting an actual person about this so I am posting here. I uploaded two screen images from Star Trek Fan movies specifically to document the name of the Starship and the NCC number associated with that name, for the two Fan series: Starship Exeter and Starship Farragut. I don't think it is worth including those images directly in the Wiki article, but I don't want to post an assignment of NCC number for a web series without having some documentation for that claim. The article is: "Star Trek fan productions". The two images are: USS-Exeter-NCC-1706.png and USS-Farragut-NCC-1647.png. The article only makes reference to the images and does not display them. Is that a legitimate use, or are the only options to either display the images in the article or delete the images from the Wikipedia Commons? I am not aware of any other images already in the Commons that would serve the purpose, and I'm not really sure how to search for such images either. The original source is a video rather than an image, so unless a person goes to the specific frame in the video, the documentation aspect is lost. Also, it's not enough to find an image that indicates that in the "Star Trek Universe" those ships have those NCC numbers. The images really should be pulled from each series individually, as the ones that I posted do. PoqVaUSA (talk) 06:15, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

@PoqVaUSA: The images are not on commons - they are on en-Wikipedia, as non-free images have to be. The rules for WP:NFCC are that the images (which should be <100000 pixels) have to used in the article. One non-free image is normally allowed in the infobox (which many article have at the top right), any other non-free images should have some commentary about them in the article - just adding a non-free image to the article, which no mention of why it is there, will fail the policy. Any non-free image that is not used will be found - B-bot is a script that slowly goes through every non-free image in turn, checking that it is used. Ronhjones  (Talk) 19:45, 31 March 2017 (UTC)
Thank you for responding. This comment isn't directed at you personally. I'm just trying to figure out how things are supposed to work. So, is there a way to substantiate that the Star Trek Fan movies are using a certain NCC number in association with the name of their Starship, of do the NCC numbers themselves go undocumented or themselves get deleted? It just seams to be counter-productive. The funny thing is that, by their very nature, the people who do the Fan movies don't get paid for what the do, and would probably be very glad to get more circulation for what they do as a labor of love. The Wiki policy seems to be trying to protect their interests without even considering what their interests are. On some level I really don't care what Wikipedia does with the edits. PoqVaUSA (talk) 01:44, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
@PoqVaUSA: - Nothing to stop you using the source of the images as a reference - so instead of File:USS-Exeter-NCC-1706.png - you use "http://starshipexeter.com (episode "The Tressaurian Intersection", frame 0:01)" as the source of the data, same for File:USS-Farragut-NCC-1647.png - use "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJKQ1FHQc68 (frame 2:57)". NB:One can normally get YT links in when they are part of a reference (put as stand alone in External Links and they get chopped...) Ronhjones  (Talk) 18:08, 1 April 2017 (UTC)
@Ronhjones: - Ok, thanks! PoqVaUSA (talk) 22:06, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

User talk:BosnaSWE

Hey. I would like to ask if the Bosnian football player Kerim Memija could finally get his official wikipedia player page? His current page is blocked and can only be created by a admin. This summer he has signed for the Danish football club Vejle and has played his first matches for the new team. Ronhjones (talk) 17:06, 30 March 2017 (CET) — Preceding unsigned comment added by BosnaSWE (talk • contribs)

@BosnaSWE: Since the article has been officially deleted twice then the best route to to create a draft at WP:AfC. Once written, it can be reviewed by an AfC reviewer, and if the page passes, then they will move it to the correct place. Ronhjones  (Talk) 00:04, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-15

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

Changes this week

  • Some older web browsers will not be able to use JavaScript on Wikimedia wikis from this week. If you have an old web browser on your computer you can upgrade to a newer version. [43]
  • New filters for Recent changes will come to Wikidata and Persian, Russian, Turkish and French Wikipedia on 11 April. The schedule has been changed to fix the user intent prediction filters for some wikis. User intent prediction means the filter tries to make it easier for editors to determine if the edit was made in good faith or not. Other wikis will get it later. [44]
  • The list of special characters in the wikitext editor and the visual editor will now have a group of Canadian Aboriginal characters. [45]
  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 11 April. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 12 April. It will be on all wikis from 13 April (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 11 April at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes

  • Because of a data centre test you will be able to read but not edit the wikis for 20 to 30 minutes on 19 April and 3 May. This will start at 14:00 (UTC). You might lose edits if you try to save during this time. You can read more about this.
  • RevisionSlider will change how you move between revisions. This will be available on the test wiki from 11 April. It will come to other wikis later if users like the change. You can test it and give feedback.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

18:35, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-16

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

  • You can add ?safemode=1 to the end of the URL on Wikimedia wikis to disable your personal CSS and JavaScript. Example: http://en.wiki.x.io/wiki/Literature?safemode=1. This means you can test if a problem is because of your user scripts or gadgets without uninstalling them. [46]
  • You can now see a list of all autoblocks on Special:AutoblockList. [47]
  • The Wikiversity and Wikinews logos are now shown directly from the configuration and not from [[File:Wiki.png]]. If you want to change logo or have an anniversary logo, see how to request a configuration change. This is how it already works for other projects. They can request logo changes the same way. [48]

Problems

  • Because of a data centre test you will be able to read but not edit the wikis for 20 to 30 minutes on 19 April. This will start at 14:00 (UTC). You might lose edits if you try to save during this time. You can read more about this. This will also happen on 3 May.

Changes this week

  • There is no new Mediawiki version this week. This is because of the data centre test.

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 18 April at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes

  • stats.wikimedia.org will be replaced. You can see the new prototype. You can leave feedback on this change.
  • Page Previews will be turned on for logged-out users on a large number of wikis in May. It could be postponed and happen later. Page Previews shows readers a short part of a linked article when they rest their mouse pointer on the link. This is to help them understand what it is about without leaving the article they are reading. Page Previews used to be called Hovercards. Users who have tested the feature can give feedback. [49]
  • From next week, user scripts using very old deprecated wikibits functions will show errors. These functions have not worked since 2013. You should fix or disable broken scripts. You can see examples of how to upgrade scripts. [50][51]

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19:32, 17 April 2017 (UTC)

Deletion of image 'Jugpreet Bajwa.jpg'

I am a Senior Journalist. The image 'Jugpreet Bajwa.jpg' was shot by the Author (i.e. me) during a photo-shoot in Mumbai in 2016, and this fact has been shown at the relevant place in Wikipedia's "Upload" Page. Moreso, the rights of the Author were also released by inserting the appropriate Code in Wikipedia's Page. Please check & recheck before deleting. Anyway, please restore back the image now, and oblige. Gitakrishna (talk) 13:37, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

@Gitakrishna: All users on Wikipedia are effectively anonymous. We have no way of verifying your claims. As the image was found at http://simplybhangra.com/albumcovers/2014/Jun14/juggybajwa_video.jpg dated 01 May 2015 22:05:45, it gets deleted as a copyright violation. If you want to use a picture on Wikipedia then if it's not uploaded here first, then there is a mountain to climb. You will have to go via OTRS (see Wikipedia:Declaration_of_consent_for_all_enquiries) to donate the copyright and prove that the image is yours. They will then undelete the image and apply a OTRS ticket. There is no easy way. Ronhjones  (Talk) 19:33, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

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Tech News: 2017-17

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

Problems

Changes this week

  • The GuidedTour extension will be enabled on all wikis. This is a tool to explain to new users how to edit. [55]
  • Wiktionary will handle interlanguage links in a new way. The Cognate extension will automatically link pages with the same title between Wiktionaries. For this to work all old interlanguage links have to be removed. You can read more about this. [56]
  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 25 April. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 26 April. It will be on all wikis from 27 April (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 25 April at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

16:40, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

File:MSRT Screenshot.png

Hey. DatBot has severely damaged File:MSRT Screenshot.png. Can you please recover one of the older high-res versions so that I can downsize it properly? FleetCommand (Speak your mind!) 04:42, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

@FleetCommand: Temp undeleted - it will last for 7 days. Note - DatBot uses a good image reduction library, I suspect that any manual reduction to get to the guideline in WP:image resolution will be the same (the text colours, and font are rather bad choices for reduction, I think.) Therefore you have three choices...
  1. Reduce to guideline and try to enhance/sharpen image or maybe sharpen before reduction.
  2. Add {{non-free no-reduce}} to the image and don't reduce. That will drop it into Category:Non-free images tagged for no reduction - this is unlikely to be a permanent - it where other editors can come and decide if reduction is to be done or send for WP:FFD.
  3. Crop. Does it need all the blank space followed by the standard buttons? Not sure if that would be enough to stop any subsequent reduction from upsetting the text.
Ronhjones  (Talk) 16:26, 24 April 2017 (UTC)
Well, it seem your "good reduction library" just got owned. FleetCommand (Speak your mind!) 22:50, 25 April 2017 (UTC)
It works well most of the time :-(. I suppose there will never be a perfect reduction for jpgs - even my trial with PhotoShop CS6 on the PC was not that good. Ronhjones  (Talk) 23:35, 25 April 2017 (UTC)

File:Microsoft Management Console (Windows 2000).png

Hey. We have a case of low-quality image downsizing by bot here. Practically nothing is left of the image. Can you help? FleetCommand (Speak your mind!) 06:56, 27 April 2017 (UTC)

@FleetCommand: It's badly set up - with so much white space. It needs to be re-created with really tight window cropping and careful placement of the upper windows on top. I tried 50% reduction in PhotoShop - the text used does not reduce. It's very oversized. Even though MS allow its use, the license clearly states "However, the use of this screenshot in Wikipedia must comply with Wikipedia Non-free Content Criteria policy" - clearly it does not. It's now in Category:Non-free images tagged for no reduction - this is not designed to be permanent, it's a holding pen for oversized images that need some manual intervention to get to a suitable non-free size. Ronhjones  (Talk) 19:25, 27 April 2017 (UTC)
I've cropped it. It is enough. I can't risk further downsizing because what we'd like to show in the article is already small. FleetCommand (Speak your mind!) 07:22, 28 April 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-18

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

Problems

  • Because of a data centre test you will be able to read but not edit the wikis for 20 to 30 minutes on 3 May. This will start at 14:00 (UTC). You might lose edits if you try to save during this time. You can read more about this.

Changes this week

  • There is no new MediaWiki version this week. This is because of the data centre test.

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 2 May at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes

  • All Wikimedia wikis will have cookie blocks from May 8. This is an extension to the autoblock system so when a user is blocked, the next time they visit the wiki a cookie will be set. This means that even if the user switches accounts and to a new IP address the cookie will block them again. [60]
  • The Publish changes, Show preview and Show changes buttons will look slightly different. This is to fit with the OOUI look. Users can test scripts, gadgets and so on to see if they work with the new interface by adding &ooui=1 to the URL. [61]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

19:50, 1 May 2017 (UTC)

Happy birthday!

Warm regards, Mz7 (talk) 05:08, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

Happy birthday! :D --TheSandDoctor (talk) 21:19, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

Question regarding AIV reports

Hi there, I just have a quick question regarding two reports I made in AIV (one of which you declined and the other you accepted). You accepted my report of Jame w2017 for vandalism (Special:Contributions/Jame_w2017) and rejected my report of Irzam28 for vandalism/adding factually incorrect information (Special:Contributions/Irzam28). In the latter case your declination of the report stated that they (Irzam28) had not been correctly/sufficiently warned but you accepted the other report (which was warned to the same level etc)? I am slightly confused by this. Please also note that I mean no disrespect in asking this. Thanks for your time. --TheSandDoctor (talk) 21:18, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

@TheSandDoctor: It a fine line of judgement, and the result will depend who looks at the report! :-) The norm is 4 warnings - 1 through to 4 and the 5th instance is block (Vandal fighters using things like Huggle will automatically follow that system). Two edits of a "newbie" are a bit low, one has to consider that they might have not seen the first message - however, sometimes it is obvious (Jame w2017) that they are not there to learn how Wikipedia works, they have another, much more disruptive agenda. Ronhjones  (Talk) 22:11, 4 May 2017 (UTC)

SOCK at Goji

Hello: please revisit the edit history here for a persistent vandal with a changed user name whom you have already blocked. Thanks. --Zefr (talk) 05:29, 5 May 2017 (UTC)

Not a bright choice of user name :-) Ronhjones  (Talk) 11:39, 5 May 2017 (UTC)

Korea was a tributary state of China

Korea was indisputably a tributary state of China from the Han dynasty up until the late 19th century following the China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895, please read these sources:

1.) Korea Herald. (2004) Korea now, p. 31; excerpt, "The Chinese also insist that even though Goguryeo was part of Chinese domain, Silla and Baekje were states subjected to China's tributary system."

2.) Kwak, p. 99., p. 99, at Google Books; excerpt, "Korea's tributary relations with China began as early as the fifth century, were regularized during the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), and became fully institutionalized during the Yi dynasty (1392-1910)."

3.) Seth, Michael J. (2006). A concise history of Korea, p. 64, p. 64, at Google Books; excerpt, "China found instead that its policy of using trade and cultural exchanges and offering legitimacy and prestige to the Silla monarchy was effective in keeping Silla safely in the tributary system. Indeed, the relationship that was worked out in the late seventh and early eighth centuries can be considered the beginning of the mature tributary relationship that would characterize Sino-Korean interchange most of the time until the late nineteenth century;"

4.) According to the Book of Later Han vol. 85, Records of Three Kingdoms vol. 30 and Book of Jin, vol. 97, 2 tribute missions in 1st century, 4 tribute missions in 3rd century, 10 tribute missions in 5th century was sent to Imperial China.

5.) Kang, David C. (2010). East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute. Columbia University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-231-15318-8. "thus, between 1637 and 1881, Korea sent 435 special embassies to the Qing court, or an average of almost 1.5 embassies per year."

6.) Gundry, R. S. "China and her Tributaries," National Review (United Kingdom), No. 17, July 1884, pp. 605-619., p. 605, at Google Books

7.) Kang, David C. (2010). East Asia Before the West: Five Centuries of Trade and Tribute, p. 59., p. 59, at Google Books

8.) Shambaugh, David L. et al. (2008). International Relations of Asia, p. 54 n15., p. 54, at Google Books citing the 1818 Collected Statutes of the Qing Dynasty (DaQing hui-tien)

9.) Fogel, p. 27., p. 27, at Google Books; Goodrich, Luther Carrington et al. (1976). Dictionary of Ming biography, 1368-1644, p. 1316., p. 1316, at Google Books; note: the economic benefit of the Sinocentric tribute system was profitable trade. The tally trade (kangō bōeki or kanhe maoyi in Chinese) was a system devised and monitored by the Chinese -- see Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric et al. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia, p. 471.

10.) Yoda, p. 40., p. 40, at Google Books; excerpt, "Japanese missions to the ... Tang Dynasties were recognized by the Chinese as bearers of imperial tribute; however, in the middle of the ninth century -- the early Heian Period -- Japan rescinded he sending of missions to the Tang Empire. Subsequently Japan conducted a flourishing trade with China and for the next five hundred years also imported much of Chinese culture, while nevertheless remaining outside the tribute system."

11.) Imperial envoys made perilous passages on kentoshi-sen ships to Tang China "The cross-cultural exchanges began with 5 missions between 600 and 614, initially to Sui China (on kenzuishi-sen), and at least 18 or 19 missions were sent to T’ang China from 630 to 894 although not all of them were designated kentoshi."

12.) Kwak, Tae-Hwan et al. (2003). The Korean peace process and the four powers, p. 100., p. 100, at Google Books; excerpt, "The tributary relations between China and Korea came to an end when China was defeated in the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895."

13.) Chisholm, Hugh. (1911). The Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. 15, p. 224, p. 224, at Google Books

14.) Pratt, Keith L. (1999). Korea: a historical and cultural dictionary. p. 482.

185.29.167.118 (talk) 21:13, 7 May 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia pages are not made by the decisions of one editor, they are by consensus. If another editor does not agree then discuss on the talk page - see WP:BRD or go to dispute resolution WP:DR, endless edit-warring will always result in blocking. Ronhjones  (Talk) 00:23, 8 May 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-19

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Problems

  • Some users have a problem with the watchlist. Some changes in categories make the watchlist a blank page. The developers are working on this. Until this is fixed you can try some things that have helped other editors if you have this problem. You can turn on Hide categorization of pages in your watchlist preferences. You can turn off Expand watchlist to show all changes, not just the most recent in your watchlist preferences. You can remove problematic categories from Special:EditWatchlist/raw. [62]
  • There was a problem with the visual editor for several days. You could not save edits that triggered a CAPTCHA. This would for example be when a new user added external links in references. This was fixed on 2 May. [63]

Changes this week

  • When you edit you can switch between the visual editor and the wikitext editor. This works if the wiki you edit has the visual editor. The menu will now say Visual editing and Source editing instead of Switch to visual editing and Switch to code editing. This is because it was confusing when the menu said you could switch to the editor you were already using. [64]
  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 9 May. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 10 May. It will be on all wikis from 11 May (calendar).

Meetings

  • You can join the next meeting with the VisualEditor team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 9 May at 19:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes

  • You will be able to get a notification when a page you created is connected to a Wikidata item. This will come to Wikivoyage on 9 May. If there are no problems it will come to most Wikipedias on 30 May. It will come to other projects and English, French and German Wikipedia later in the summer. It will be opt-in for existing users and opt-out for new users. [65][66]
  • Markup that looks like code for language variants might need to be fixed. If -{ is used in transclusions or web addresses it has to be escaped appropriately. You can use -<nowiki/>{ for transclusions and %2D{ in web addresses. A transclusion could for example be when you use -{ in a template: {{1x| sad :-{ face }}. This is because of some code fixes to the preprocessor and affects all wikis. [67][68]

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02:25, 9 May 2017 (UTC)

Watergate scandal

Hi,
I thought you protected the page for three days, but I just realised it is procted till August. So, has it been protected for three months? Thanks for the protection. :-) —usernamekiran(talk) 03:10, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

@Usernamekiran:I like 3 months - it lets the dust settle and the article usually gets nicely sorted during that time :-).  Ronhjones  (Talk) 13:51, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

City Council of Rijeka

Hi, I don't understand why you have deleted the article. There was no copyright infringement. The cited page is public domain and the city of Rijeka is the most transparent city in Croatia. It most certainly is not a primary source. So I don't see the problem. Thanks in advance. --Tuvixer (talk) 12:45, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

@Tuvixer: The cited page clearly has "© 2017. City of Rijeka" at the bottom of them page - thus it is not suitable for re-use.  Ronhjones  (Talk) 13:48, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
Ok, but as a documet/web page of a unit of local self-governemen in Croatia, citizens have the right to cite, copy and use documents that are made and published by units of local and regional self-governemen as they want. I dont want to argue, can you please just make it possible for me to see the article so I can write it in my own words and to find additional sources. Please, so that I don't have to write the whole infobox from scratch. Thanks in advance. --Tuvixer (talk) 13:54, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
@Tuvixer: Maybe they do, but it won't allow full commercial re-use as we do. Sent by e-mail Ronhjones  (Talk) 18:34, 12 May 2017 (UTC)

Non-free reduce bot

Hi Ron. By any chance, do you know if we have a bot that finds oversized non-free files and tags them with {{Non-free reduce}}? If not, is this something that you would find useful? Thanks, FASTILY 01:32, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

@Fastily: Sadly there is no bot. I've a feeling that BetaCommandBot may have done this years ago and caused some trouble? What I do is use is http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Special:Search&limit=2000&offset=0&profile=images&search=incategory%3A"All+non-free+media"+fileres%3A>540+filetype%3Abitmap - this shows all oversized non free files with a fileres:>540 - I've just done this setting. Working 20 units down at a time to the goal of 324 - 324 is 316 + 5% - DatBot6 won't reduce less that that). That gives me a list of images to view, I slowly scan down the pages of 2000 images at a time (it takes ages) to see if I think any need to be missed out (and tag with {{non-free no reduce}}), then with AWB I use these settings...
  • A wikisearch (all NS) for "incategory:"All non-free media" fileres:>540 filetype:bitmap"
  • A Regex skip set to "(non-free no reduce|non-free manual reduce|Orphaned|non-free reduce|Di-|ffd)"
  • Prepend "{{non-free reduce}}" to the page
And the start clicking the save button - I assume a bot would be able to run AWB and do away with the mindless clicking?
The next day I check to see what has been reverted, and why, and act accordingly. The only problem here that not everyone uses the revert, so I don't know the image page has been changed, and end up tagging again - e.g. see http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=File:Jeremy_Bamber_police_log.JPG&action=history which only came to like when SV pinged me from the talk page. Currently there 96 files in Category:Non-free_images_tagged_for_no_reduction - not sure that some could not be reduced or are they even necessary in the articles? (something to sort out later) But that is all the problem files out of about 50,000 files I've tagged, a pretty low percentage. Ronhjones  (Talk) 14:58, 15 May 2017 (UTC)
See previous discussions about a tagging bot: Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/Fbot 9, Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Tasks/Archive 4#Big Job and Wikipedia talk:Bots/Requests for approval/Archive 9#Fbot 9.
Another problem is that the reduction bot isn't able to reduce GIF files, so Category:Wikipedia non-free file size reduction requests for manual processing is full of those. --Stefan2 (talk) 20:25, 15 May 2017 (UTC)
That category can fill with gif / svg / pdf for now. When I've finished all the easy tagging, I plan to have a go at them with PhotoShop (for GIF) / Inkscape for SVG (method as User:Ronhjones/SVGreduce) / and Acrobat for PDF. But that is still a while away.

Tech News: 2017-20

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

Problems

  • The mediawiki.util library does not load automatically any more. Your Special:MyPage/common.js may use it. If you have technical problems that started a couple of weeks ago you can try adding mw.loader.using( 'mediawiki.util' ).done(function(){ as the first line in the file and }); as a last one. Tech News wrote about this in the 2017/18 issue. [71]

Changes this week

  • The RevisionSlider extension will be a default feature on all wikis. RevisionSlider is an easier way to move between changes in the page history. It has been a default feature on German, Arabic and Hebrew Wikipedia and a beta feature on all wikis. You will be able to turn it off in your preferences. [72]
  • There is no new MediaWiki version this week.

Future changes

Older unreported changes

  • Your Meta user page is shown on all wikis where you don't have a local user page. You can now add the magic word __NOGLOBAL__ to your Meta user page to stop this. [77][78]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

21:48, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

OTRS

I began an investigation into issue raised in ticket:2017050410011163, but then realized you were actively working on the issues, as a result of a different ticket. I closed the ticket I was handling, and urged the subject to use the ticket number you are handling for any subsequent issues. Good luck, it is complicated.--S Philbrick(Talk) 13:44, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

Wow, thanks... Ronhjones  (Talk) 22:08, 15 May 2017 (UTC)

Tech News: 2017-21

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Changes this week

  • The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 23 May. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 24 May. It will be on all wikis from 25 May (calendar).
  • There will be a <div> tag around HTML from the MediaWiki wikitext parser. Gadgets with code that does not follow recommendations could have problems with this. You can report new problems you think are related to this. [79]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

22:17, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

File:St. Paul's School (2016) Logo.png

Hi. It is possible to delete my files for St Paul's School, Brazil's logo was uploaded. {{Orphaned non-free revisions|date=22 May 2017}}. チータ１∅２３ (ぽい?) 04:16, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

Just leave it - the automated systems will sort it all out without intervention. Ronhjones  (Talk) 23:28, 22 May 2017 (UTC)

User:Formatit

I just advised the user of adding unsourced material. I noticed they were recently blocked for that reason. I looked at other recent contributions. They seem to be right back to be doing the same thing. Reb1981 (talk) 22:31, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Looks like it. Ronhjones  (Talk) 23:05, 23 May 2017 (UTC)
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