MediaWiki talk:Watchlist-messages/Archive 12

NPP support
Please add The New Page Review team will be asking the WMF for attention to the PageTriage software. Please review the request and if you support it, consider signing it. MB 04:32, 20 August 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ &mdash; Martin (MSGJ · talk) 18:14, 21 August 2022 (UTC)

GOCE September Drive
Please add  Thanks, Zippybonzo &#124; Talk (he&#124;him) 07:51, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
 * till 30 AUG
 * Suggested tweak:


 * made some tweaks, see above. Tried to make it more of an "invitation" than an "announcement"; as this is long and not extremely formal (like an election), the timestamps on the WLN probably aren't necessary, used more standard date formats because a lot of people use things that adjust their display of dates. We have a somewhat undocumented manual of style for these - maybe we'll write it up one day! — xaosflux  Talk 14:15, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
 * @Xaosflux, Thanks, it looks better like that. I wanted to make the request now as I know they take a while to be processed. Zippybonzo &#124; Talk (he&#124;him) 14:53, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
 * — xaosflux  Talk 13:59, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 14:00, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Is the 31 September intentional? XD Rotideypoc41352 (talk · contribs) 14:04, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * I've corrected it. :) DanCherek (talk) 14:08, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * thanks, if it was it is funny - but it certainly can be confusing on WLN - so better to not have it here! — xaosflux  Talk 14:09, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

August Signpost notice
The August edition is now out. jp×g 23:58, 31 August 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ Izno (talk) 19:33, 4 September 2022 (UTC)

Protected edit request on 23 August 2022
Please add the 2022 Board of Trustees elections with the below:

This is consistent with the previous year’s message, with a small tweak to the link due to a different on wiki documentation format this year. Thanks! 🐶 EpicPupper (he/him &#124; talk) 07:07, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
 * your SP link is broken, please review, correct, and reactivate this when confirmed. — xaosflux  Talk 10:36, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
 * @Xaosflux, fixed. 🐶 EpicPupper (he/him &#124; talk) 19:40, 23 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Linking verify to meta:Wikimedia Foundation elections/2022/Voter eligibility guidelines. — xaosflux  Talk 14:07, 24 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Voting has begun in the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees elections! Voting ends at 23:59, 6 September 2022 (UTC). View candidate statements, verify your eligibility, and vote now.
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 14:10, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
 * ,, do we really need this one? There's already a boxed message appearing on the main page and article space for this. Stephen 23:57, 24 August 2022 (UTC)
 * @Stephen, voter participation is quite low in the Wikimedia movement - I believe it was in the low 20 percents last year and the low ten percents the year before. I personally feel that widespread encouragement of voters is crucial to electing a representative Board of Trustees that guides the movement in such crucial times. 🐶 EpicPupper (he/him &#124; talk) 00:13, 25 August 2022 (UTC)
 * @Stephen I think the Central Notice banner was a bit buggy and overly appearing, it will still be around though some people have them suppressed. In general, I agree that we shouldn't overly duplicate things that are on CN with WLN, but there is a history that elections get extra notifications. Even our own arbcom election, we use this banner, plus send out tens of thousands of talk page notices! So, I'm not going to just pull it, however if a consensus of the community finds this useless through discussion I would certainly then.  Perhaps you could start a follow up at Village_pump_(miscellaneous) - or invite people to this request from there. —  xaosflux  Talk 00:28, 25 August 2022 (UTC)


 * voting is open for another 24 hours (until 23:59 UTC 6 September), can the watchlist notice be extended one more day? Thanks, Legoktm (talk) 00:27, 6 September 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 01:02, 6 September 2022 (UTC)

RfC on Vector 2022
I'm wondering if it makes sense to add a link to the RfC here? After all, it's about the interface; seems pretty major for a proposed change? SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 16:21, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Support addition. Not sure how watchlist notifs gain consensus, but this seems like the most obvious way? Anarchyte  ( talk ) 16:38, 22 September 2022 (UTC)


 * @SGrabarczuk (WMF) @Anarchyte do you have suggested language for what the notification would say? Best, Barkeep49 (talk) 16:52, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
 * "You are encouraged to participate in a Request for Comment to determine whether to deploy the Vector (2022) skin as the default appearance on the English Wikipedia." or something similar? Anarchyte  ( talk ) 16:55, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Another idea, less insistent: "A Request for Comment is open to determine whether to deploy the Vector (2022) skin as the default appearance on the English Wikipedia.". Anarchyte  ( talk ) 16:57, 22 September 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ taking some language from the two alternatives presented by . Barkeep49 (talk) 19:17, 22 September 2022 (UTC)

September Signpost notice
The September edition is now out. jp×g 23:58, 30 September 2022 (UTC)
 * ✔️ Dreamy Jazz talk to me &#124; my contributions 12:01, 1 October 2022 (UTC)

Geonotice size
A discussion about changing the size of Geonotices is open at MediaWiki talk:Gadget-geonotice-core.css. Any feedback about this is welcome there. — xaosflux  Talk 13:31, 3 October 2022 (UTC)

GOCE Blitz notice
Please add ‘The Guild of Copyeditors’ October blitz starts on the 16th October. Sign up now.’ Thanks, Zippybonzo &#124; Talk (he&#124;him) 06:27, 12 October 2022 (UTC)


 * see above, is that OK? — xaosflux  Talk 15:10, 12 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, I think that message is a little more engaging. Thanks, Zippybonzo &#124; Talk (he&#124;him) 15:36, 12 October 2022 (UTC)
 * @Zippybonzo one day I'm going to get around to writing up a "style guide" for these! — xaosflux  Talk 15:38, 12 October 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 17:13, 13 October 2022 (UTC)
 * , sorry to be a bother, but can you please replace the comma with a semicolon in order to avoid a comma splice? In other words: "The Guild of Copy Editors' October Blitz runs from Oct 16 to Oct 22; sign up now to join in the effort." Thanks. (a request from a GOCE coordinator emeritus) – Jonesey95 (talk) 07:20, 14 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Done. Stephen 09:33, 14 October 2022 (UTC)

October Signpost notice
The October edition is now out. jp×g 03:40, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ DatGuyTalkContribs 23:11, 2 November 2022 (UTC)

November Signpost notice
The November edition is now out. jp×g 15:38, 28 November 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 15:00, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

Sound logo
Please consider adding the following: There is currently a discussion on the miscellaneous village pump about this and a CentralNotice banner; no objections have been raised so far.
 * Eligible users are invited to vote for the Wikimedia sound logo. It will be used when virtual voice assistants answer queries.

As well, please remove the expired notice.

Thanks! 🐶 EpicPupper (he/him &#124; talk) 04:57, 7 December 2022 (UTC)


 * If it's going to be a CN, we don't also need a WLN. I removed the expired one. — xaosflux  Talk 11:17, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * If this moves forward, I would prefer this language: "Voting is now open on a sound logo that will represent Wikimedia projects on audio devices. Vote until 23:59 UTC, 19 December 2022." Ed Erhart (WMF) (talk) 18:55, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Hi @Xaosflux, our current banner will only reach Meta-Wiki and Commons. We didn't want to disturb the Wikipedia community, but also would like to reach them, hence the thought for the WLN. For us to activate banners on Wikipedia, we would need assurance from more editors that it's ok :) What do you think? MPourzaki (WMF) (talk) 20:52, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @MPourzaki (WMF) these are likely both OK; we usually run these for a week so lets make sure we don't get negative feedback on the other post and can move forward with both the CN and WLN likely. — xaosflux  Talk 21:05, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Also, the campaign appears to include enwiki and 100's of other projects, am I misreading it? — xaosflux  Talk 21:06, 7 December 2022 (UTC) —  xaosflux  Talk 21:06, 7 December 2022 (UTC)


 * advertised Village_pump_(miscellaneous) at WP:VPR, see if there is any feedback. — xaosflux  Talk 11:16, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The CN was activated, it will likely only be "shown once" for editors. We usually run these for a week - so let's see about this one for maybe Monday. —  xaosflux  Talk 10:33, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

Discuss mockups

 * I placed a mock up above. We strive to keep these simple with a single call to action. In this case the call to action it "to vote"; I'm not sure if the "who" wants this to be done is best described as the movement group, the WMF, or someone else though. Any feedback before go-ahead? —  xaosflux  Talk 14:51, 12 December 2022 (UTC)


 * I would change Wikimedia movement to Wikimedia Foundation, otherwise looks good! 🐶 EpicPupper (he/him &#124; talk) 16:25, 12 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @EpicPupper I was thinking that too, maybe Ed or Mehrdad will comment here soon. It seems that "WMF" is who wants to ask for this and will manage this as a trademark, so using Wikimedia Foundation there seems better to me as well. —  xaosflux  Talk 16:43, 12 December 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ added. — xaosflux  Talk 00:56, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I think Wikimedia Foundation is fine there, given the project Meta page's content. Thanks to you both! Ed Erhart (WMF) (talk) 01:57, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
 * +1, thanks to you both. @Xaosflux, what specifications did you go with in the end? Length of time, logged in and out, number of showings? MPourzaki (WMF) (talk) 02:43, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * This is a watchlist notice (so a bit different than a banner, there is no "diet"), so it will show to anyone who is looking at their watchlist, has not hidden watchlist notices, and has not dismissed the message, until it is removed or until the 19th. ( will it show on the day of the 19th?) –xenotalk  04:27, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * It should "stop showing" once it is the 19th, sometimes these act up a bit because the (un)hiding is client side though. — xaosflux  Talk 11:53, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Should it instead display until the 20th then? I guess there would be 1 minute where it might show and a person could not vote, but I think the 23h59m of voting invitations still ongoing during the day would outweigh that offside chance. A looming deadline can be very motivating :). –xenotalk 23:08, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅ sure, we normally run these for 'a week', but this started later anyway. — xaosflux  Talk 04:39, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * This is great information @Xeno thank you. Lastly, I assumed it was only people who had the sound logo page on their watchlist, but now I think not? MPourzaki (WMF) (talk) 19:49, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @MPourzaki (WMF) no, it is any logged in user that goes to Special:Watchlist. We usually use WLN's to advertise things that can be of interest to all editors, mostly: local contests, elections, the monthly Signpost publication. Some editors never go to this page, some use it constantly.  —  xaosflux  Talk 20:33, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * re: this change, the end of voting is at 23:59 UTC on the 19th, not the 20th. :-) Ed Erhart (WMF) (talk) 16:35, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Ooops, transposed! here. —  xaosflux  Talk 16:36, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

Categorizing recurring watchlist notice items with a corresponding CSS class
At Wikipedia talk:Requests for adminship there is a discussion on how to hide the RfA watchlist notice. I suggested one way to enable this would be to add a CSS class to the list item for the notice, so users could customize their CSS file to hide the notice. This could be something to consider for all recurring watchlist notices. I don't know if Display/watchlist is typically used for recurring notices or if they generally have their own special templates (such as RfA watchlist notice and ACEWatchlistNotice); if it is used for recurring notices, perhaps a parameter could be added to support this functionality. isaacl (talk) 23:32, 15 December 2022 (UTC)


 * @Isaacl RfA is really the only "recurring" one that has any volume (maybe signpost, but that one is manual); feel free to request a specific class be added via an edit request at Template talk:RfA watchlist notice. — xaosflux  Talk 04:42, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, I've already [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template_talk:RfA_watchlist_notice&diff=1127657106&oldid=948662667 raised it for discussion] at the talk page. isaacl (talk) 16:34, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The one example I looked at for the Signpost used Display/watchlist, which is why I suggested that perhaps it should have a parameter. But maybe the Signpost notice doesn't sufficiently bother anyone... isaacl (talk) 16:37, 16 December 2022 (UTC)


 * ✅ for the RfX one, see documentation at Template:RfA watchlist notice. — xaosflux  Talk 16:17, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

January Signpost notice
The January edition is now out. jp×g 03:42, 1 January 2023 (UTC)


 * — xaosflux  Talk 13:03, 1 January 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 13:04, 1 January 2023 (UTC)

January Signpost notice
The January edition is now out. jp×g 02:10, 16 January 2023 (UTC)


 * — xaosflux  Talk 14:08, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 14:12, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

Vector 2022 deployment
Hi, I was wondering if a notice about the planned deployment could be added. I think the wording of the banners (which only appear once for every desktop user now) could be reused. It'd be ideal in terms of predictability if the date and hour were added as well:

''January 18 at 15:00 UTC, the new desktop interface will be launched. Try it out and learn more about the project, community participation, and process.''

The reason why I'm requesting this in addition to the banners is that we'd like to use different subtle methods instead of pushing annoying communication through a limited number of spaces. SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 02:23, 13 January 2023 (UTC)


 * @SGrabarczuk (WMF) yes, I think we should. Think this verbiage can be improved, will work something up below. We generally have a few components in these, agree "what is happening" (which can include that opt-in direction), "when is it happening" are important; there is normally one primary "call to action" which I think would be best with a "give feedback" type link. What is the best page for feedback to be left? . — xaosflux  Talk 16:09, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
 * note: I don't love having to send enwiki people to mw:Talk:Reading/Web/Desktop_Improvements. — xaosflux  Talk 16:10, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks @Xaosflux.
 * I'm not sure if we're interested in receiving general feedback because it'd mostly be WP:ILIKEIT/WP:IDONTLIKEIT. I'll discuss with my team mates if we prefer asking for any specific feedback.
 * Regarding sending local people to a different wiki, I understand, that's against habits and feels like a barrier. No one loves having to send outside of their natural habitat. On the other hand though, I think we may take the advantage of the fact that there's no language barrier. People will be able to see what discussions are taking place, learn about the existing viewpoints, see if anyone has raised their issue already, etc. They'd be more informed. That would be more useful both for users and for us. SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 17:20, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
 * @SGrabarczuk (WMF) I was thinking more about trouble reporting, we could use a VPT thread I suppose. — xaosflux  Talk 19:07, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
 * First of all, thanks for your tweaks.
 * I think many people would go to VPT anyway, because that's what they always do (WP:THURSDAY etc.). So now we're instructing them to go there (not that it's in our power to change that, we just accept the reality) and we're suggesting MediaWiki as a place to write about general things, but on the talk page of the local landing page, we're admitting that writing there does also work for us.
 * What do you think? SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 20:33, 13 January 2023 (UTC)


 * mockup above, any issues? — xaosflux  Talk 14:07, 16 January 2023 (UTC)


 * @Xaosflux, that's a good copy. I'm wondering if there should also be info on how to opt-out, next to or instead of this info on how to opt-in. SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 15:40, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * @SGrabarczuk (WMF) is the landing for that Vector_2022? — xaosflux  Talk 15:43, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Noted some more above, there really isn't a good "opt-out" of getting the change force upon you. (Trying to get people to set up a global pref and override is likely to lead them to worse problems). — xaosflux  Talk 19:10, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * @Xaosflux, I was hoping that I'd hear "yeah, global prefs are the best solution and will not fail, that's guaranteed" from my colleagues. But today, because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it's a bit tricky to get the Final and Best TM answers, unfortunately. SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 22:34, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * @SGrabarczuk (WMF) if you get that sorted, just add to the Vector_2022 page perhaps. — xaosflux  Talk 22:47, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * That would be ideal, definitely! SGrabarczuk (WMF) (talk) 23:22, 16 January 2023 (UTC)


 * ✅ can be adjusted as needed. — xaosflux  Talk 19:51, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Any interest in changing or revert once the change is made in preferences to or revert in preferences once the change is made? I find the second one to be clearer. It avoids an issue where the reader associates "in preferences" with the wrong part of the sentence. – Novem Linguae (talk) 21:39, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * @Novem Linguae ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 21:46, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

Watchlist notice request for Feminism and Folklore
Hi, I've requested for a sitenotice for Feminism and Folklore at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard#Sitenotice request! As advised by I’m requesting here for watchlist notice request. Thank you! Warm Regards, ZI Jony  (Talk) 20:20, 16 January 2023 (UTC)


 * @ZI Jony what exactly do you want it to say? You get a sentence or two, which should have only one bolded link as your "call to action" (what you want people to click). —  xaosflux  Talk 21:12, 16 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Feminism and Folklore 2023 writing contest is going on. Participate, write/improve articles and win prizes.
 * Warm Regards, ZI Jony  (Talk) 23:11, 16 January 2023 (UTC)
 * That needs some work, but I've flagged it for processing so it doesn't get skipped over. — xaosflux  Talk 00:53, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Suggestion below. Your sign-up link does not exist by the way &mdash; Martin (MSGJ · talk) 09:27, 17 January 2023 (UTC)


 * The Feminism and Folklore 2023 writing contest will start on 1 February. Sign up to participate, write/improve articles and win prizes.
 * I would not support this request; does not appear to be of sufficient site-wide importance. Stifle (talk) 09:11, 18 January 2023 (UTC)


 * @ZI Jony there has been some opposition as the scope of the editors this may be relevant to appears to be small. Are there any other wikiprojects associated with Feminism and Folklore? Another option would be to massmessage the project members of such projects. —  xaosflux  Talk 11:22, 18 January 2023 (UTC)
 * , WP:WIRED also involved in this, I'll try to get list of users from thier end. Warm Regards,  ZI Jony  (Talk) 20:24, 18 January 2023 (UTC)
 * @ZI Jony perhaps a MMS to WikiProject Women in Red/Members; ask on their noticeboard. Still holding this open for any other feedback. — xaosflux  Talk 20:27, 18 January 2023 (UTC)
 * @ZI Jony any more thoughts on this, the discussion so far seems to suggest that this project is too niche to advertise to all editors on this notice. — xaosflux  Talk 00:07, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
 * thank you for your time. Please close this request, I've dropped a message on that project talk page, However, they have already considered the annual initiative in March. Warm Regards, ZI Jony  (Talk) 03:01, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
 * per above — xaosflux  Talk 03:25, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

Vector 2022 undeployment
There has been an rfc to change the default skin back to vector legacy going on at. I suggest wording like the previous notice, like A request for comment to determine whether to undo the deployment of the Vector (2022) skin as the default appearance on the English Wikipedia is open. Aaron Liu (talk) 00:51, 20 January 2023 (UTC) Also, is this subject good enough to warrant a sitenotice?Aaron Liu (talk) 00:55, 20 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Anything but adding this to the WLN. Without WMF staff acknowledging this as a possibility this is clearly beyond what community consensus can determine WP:CONEXCEPT. This is a WMF decision that is solely in their hands and considering the "vibe" around the deployment it seems beyond unlikely for this to go anywhere. Terasail [✉️] 00:59, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
 * While I agree that this RfC, less than a day after the deployment and not communicated at all within the talk page, was preemptive, the deployment wasn't an office action, if that's what you mean. Aaron Liu (talk) 01:14, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
 * You are looking at the wrong bullet. The right bullet to read is
 * Izno (talk) 01:22, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The skin configuration is not a software feature though. What we want to change is a sitewise configuration that doesn't require any new commits to MediaWiki. Aaron Liu (talk) 01:26, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
 * @Aaron Liu - Changing the skin for a single wiki has been resoundingly rejected before - see Limits to configuration changes on that one. The only exception (as listed) would be to do it Wikimedia-wide. To be quite honest, I think that the RfC is a waste of time and energy. stwalkerster (talk) 23:22, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
 * I would say no to a sitenotice; not even sure that RfC is in good enough shape to be on WLN right now. WP:CENT already has it, and perhaps a top-notice could be put on Vector 2022 - which is already on a WLN? —  xaosflux  Talk 00:09, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Note, the link for this is now Requests for comment/Rollback of Vector 2022. I'm weakly opposed to this, and there isn't much support above - leaving to any other admin to process this request, but will close as no-consensus if it sits open for a few more days just to close the queue (or if thinks withdrawing is appropriate). —  xaosflux  Talk 12:08, 28 January 2023 (UTC)
 * You say: leaving to any other admin to process this request That won’t be me.  Schwede 66  17:52, 28 January 2023 (UTC)
 * That's just because I do 90% of these, but since I'm in the opinions I'm not going to just close it as a not done in my direction unless it just goes stale. — xaosflux  Talk 19:38, 28 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: No consensus — CYBERPOWER  ( Chat ) 20:06, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

February Signpost notice
The February edition (issue 3) is now out. jp×g 21:41, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 15:44, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

GOCE March drive
Hi all, I'm requesting the following notice to go on the watchlist on 1 March (UTC) to whenever it will expire or be replaced. Please shorten or correct is needed. "Sign up here for the ongoing, month-long Guild of Copy Editors' March copy-editing drive. Have fun, improve articles and earn barnstars!" Thank you and cheers,  Baffle☿gab  18:37, 25 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hello? Anyone home?  Baffle☿gab  05:41, 1 March 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ — TheresNoTime (talk • they/them) 13:33, 1 March 2023 (UTC)

February Signpost notice
The February edition (issue 4) is now out. jp×g 17:58, 20 February 2023 (UTC)


 * @JPxG so, we already did a February Signpost, I'm a little wary of banner fatigue for users -- is this going to be twice a month now? — xaosflux  Talk 10:36, 23 February 2023 (UTC)
 * ❌ - no response. — xaosflux  Talk 15:56, 1 March 2023 (UTC)
 * The answer, as it happens, is yes. It's biweekly. Adam Cuerden (talk)Has about 8.2% of all FPs. Currently celebrating his 600th FP! 05:38, 9 March 2023 (UTC)

Aoidh's RfA is closed to further comments
Aoidh's RfA is closed to further comments. If its watchlist notice is still up when an admin checks Bri's request, perhaps it may be prudent to remove the RfA notice? Just to reduce confusion. Rotideypoc41352 (talk · contribs) 22:14, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
 * The RFA watchlist notice is automatic, and is difficult to turn off manually. We'd have to shut down NovemBot Task 7, then edit User:Amalthea/RfX/RfA count to 0. Not sure it's worth it. If anyone has ideas for how to get NovemBot to easily detect when an RFA gets automatically placed on hold (this is currently hard because RFAs getting automatically placed on hold is done with template magic at the moment, resulting in no changes to wikicode), I'm all ears. – Novem Linguae (talk) 22:23, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I spoke too soon—looks like all's well. As for future RfA watchlist announcements, I defer to those knowledgeable on the matter. Thanks anyway! Rotideypoc41352 (talk · contribs) 23:58, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
 * @Novem Linguae I think it would make sense to edit your bot to account for this case in the future? If necessary we could also temporarily remove the RfA template from this page. --Trialpears (talk) 02:21, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the ping. As mentioned above, editing the bot to account for this case is easier said than done. Would probably need to scrape HTML since the template does its work quietly (no changes to wikicode). I can look into this more the next time there is a crat chat. For now, I feel having the watchlist notice up for an extra hour is an acceptable tradeoff. Although I am certainly open to other opinions and suggestions. – Novem Linguae (talk) 02:43, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
 * That should't be necessary? Just look for, take the date and add a week. If it's after that time the RfA shouldn't be included in the list. I don't know how you've implemented it so I may be missing something though. --Trialpears (talk) 02:56, 11 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Current implementation is a regex that counts transclusions on the page WP:RFA. Code is here and here. Your algorithm would probably require a loop with an API call in it, and date math. Pull requests welcome. – Novem Linguae (talk) 03:03, 11 March 2023 (UTC)

March Signpost notice
The March edition is now out. ☆ Bri (talk) 05:38, 9 March 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 15:13, 14 March 2023 (UTC)

March Signpost notice
The March edition is now out. jp×g 11:11, 20 March 2023 (UTC)
 * The March edition is very small and we are going to have another one out in a couple weeks; we do not really need a watchlist notice for this one (the script posts this request automatically). jp×g 18:34, 20 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the note. — xaosflux  Talk 18:48, 20 March 2023 (UTC)

The Core Contest
The Core Contest is running again this year and a watchlist notice would definitely help bring in participants. I'm think something like this (though suggestions/alterations are most welcome):


 * Signups are now open for The Core Contest, where participants aim to improve vital or other core articles from April 15 to May 31

We could possibly also include that it is the contest's eleventh run. Courtesy pings to the other judges, and  –   Aza24  (talk)   00:18, 22 March 2023 (UTC)


 * @Xaosflux, could you possibly take at look at the above?  Aza24  (talk)   16:46, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Suggested tweaks below &mdash; Martin (MSGJ · talk) 11:43, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
 * Editors are invited to sign up for The Core Contest, an initiative running from April 15 to May 31, which aims to improve vital and other core articles on Wikipedia,.
 * we normally run these type of things for a week, would you rather it go up now, or wait until closer to the start? — xaosflux  Talk 09:57, 29 March 2023 (UTC)
 * I think now would be good, to give people the chance to gather sources. —Femke 🐦 (talk) 17:31, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ added. —  xaosflux  Talk 15:49, 31 March 2023 (UTC)

Request for newcomer mentors
In order to grow the number of new users that can gain access to the mentorship modules, we need more existing users to sign up as mentors. Follow up from Wikipedia_talk:Growth_Team_features/Mentor_list. Proposing the following advert:

Mock up

 * — xaosflux  Talk 13:36, 5 April 2023 (UTC)


 * @Xaosflux, are you going to action this? Izno (talk) 17:51, 11 April 2023 (UTC)
 * @Izno likely, mostly making sure no one came by here or there with objections first. — xaosflux  Talk 18:18, 11 April 2023 (UTC)
 * It's been a week and now you have less than a week for it to display as current proposed. :) Izno (talk) 18:21, 11 April 2023 (UTC)
 * This seems like a good idea to me, to leave this up for a week or two. Galobtter (talk) 20:09, 11 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Maybe only show the message to extended-confirmed users, per the mentor requirements. Galobtter (talk) 20:12, 11 April 2023 (UTC)
 * We don't have a mechanism built out for that on the WLN, but I'll replace "expereienced" with extended-confirmed to call it out. — xaosflux  Talk 13:35, 12 April 2023 (UTC)
 * @Xaosflux Does MediaWiki:Group-extendedconfirmed.css not work for the watchlist notice? Also I think the original wording is fine since the requirement of 90 days is more than that of extended confirmed, and extended confirmed is a bare minimum requirement rather than the goal which is experienced users. Galobtter (talk) 03:25, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
 * @Galobtter yes, that isn't built in to the gadget and template that runs it, yes you could hide the text line - but I think it will make a blank notice that will look worse and still need dismissing. — xaosflux  Talk 08:59, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Ah yes, I guessed there'd be some issue with the output still. Galobtter (talk) 09:02, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ as there were no objections. — xaosflux  Talk 09:00, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Now should work properly on mobile
People on mobile (at least those with Reading/Web/Advanced mobile contributions turned on), could see watchlist messages but had no way of dismissing them. Now they should see the messages and have the dismiss button. Let me know if I broke anything anywhere, or if there's any display issues on mobile. Galobtter (talk) 22:48, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

GOCE April Blitz
Something along the lines of this, Zippybonzo &#124; Talk (he&#124;him) 15:16, 8 April 2023 (UTC)
 * The blitz is starting tomorrow and there is not enough time for people to read the message and join the blitz. Zippybonzo &#124; Talk (he&#124;him) 06:54, 15 April 2023 (UTC)

Edit request
Add. * Pppery * it has begun... 01:58, 17 April 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ Galobtter (talk) 02:10, 17 April 2023 (UTC)

Boldly mentioned graph extension issue
I have boldly added a brief mention of the graph extension being disabled due to an ongoing security issue — TheresNoTime (talk • they/them) 12:42, 18 April 2023 (UTC)

Wikimedia Server Switchover
A watchlist message like this might be beneficial.

At 14:00 UTC on the 26th April all Wikimedia servers are going to read only mode, meaning your edits won’t be saved for approximately an hour. See here for more information. Zippybonzo &#124; Talk (he&#124;him) 08:03, 20 April 2023 (UTC)
 * ❌ assuming that every project will be impacted, a Central Notice would be better for this. — xaosflux  Talk 16:49, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

Desysop RfC
Would there be any objection to adding a watchlist notice for the new desysop RfC (Village pump (policy)), as we did the last time this came up? Something along the lines of "A request for comment is open proposing an alternative process for revoking administrative privileges" would be my suggestion, but I'm happy to hear wordsmithing suggestions. Extraordinary Writ (talk) 18:39, 17 April 2023 (UTC)


 * I'd support adding a watchlist notice as an important policy change. Galobtter (talk) 00:31, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Ditto. How about something more specific: "There is a request for comment proposing automatically revoking administrative privileges due to being blocked for more than 28 days" - jc37 00:39, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Since you started an alternative proposal we should probably stick with the original wording. Galobtter (talk) 17:33, 18 April 2023 (UTC)
 * yes, this could merit a WLN. What we need: (a) ensure that the RfC is somewhat stable and is likely to run for a while; (b) probably something even blander, not assuming that any RFC title will be the final verbiage. From my quick read, there is:
 * An RfC
 * To change the Administrators policy
 * Adding a new "involuntary removal" criteria
 * This seems to have already started to fork to be not about that, but about changing the arbcom rules (such as in this section) - or possibly just to be some sort of advisory motion. (Back to the "is this rfc stable" question).
 * A WLN should be short, have one call to action (in this case "participate in this rfc") and be neutral. So the first thing I want to know is how stable is this RFC, and what is the limit to the scope of it before "shoo, go start a new rfc" is called. —  xaosflux  Talk 00:06, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * It's calmed down noticeably in the last few days, although I wouldn't complain if you wanted to wait a bit longer to make sure there are no new proposals. Something like "A request for comment about the process for revoking administrative privileges is open" would probably be broad enough to cover everything that's currently on the table, I think. Extraordinary Writ (talk) 22:53, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * @Extraordinary Writ thanks, will check in about half a day and go with something like that. — xaosflux  Talk 23:50, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ if something seems egregiously wrong in my bland blurbing, any admin please revise. — xaosflux  Talk 22:47, 24 April 2023 (UTC)
 * To me, “RfC… is open for feedback” sounds like the RfC itself is in the works, e.g. still in the idea labs. I think it should be changed to “RfC… is open”. Aaron Liu (talk) 01:11, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Personally, I don't feel it sounds like the RfC is in the works, and prefer the current wording. isaacl (talk) 01:22, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Am alternative could be “A proposal… is open for feedback” Aaron Liu (talk) 01:28, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * It's already "multiple proposals" too, If this was on another page it would be multiple sentences (with statements like ...interested editors are invited to comment at the discussion....), but we try to keep WLN very short to not monopolize the top of the screen. — xaosflux  Talk 10:09, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I don’t see “Multiple proposals” in the watchlist Message Aaron Liu (talk) 12:45, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * @Aaron Liu no I mean the original RFC was proposing one thing, but since it has morphed and is now includes multiple proposals. So the rfc doesn't contain only "A proposal". — xaosflux  Talk 13:42, 25 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Ah. Still, “Multiple proposals” isn’t longer than the current wording. Aaron Liu (talk) 14:07, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

Call for New Members - Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee
Applications are being accepted until 11:59 UTC, 25 April 2023 (UTC) in the call for New Members to join the Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, the group that oversees the community-and-affiliate seat selection process for the Board of Trustees.

This call may attract wide enough interest to be on the watchlist notice as it is related to the trustees election 'standing notice' event. perhaps you have thoughts? Xeno (WMF) (talk) 14:10, 20 April 2023 (UTC)


 * @Xeno (WMF) is the qualification to join this committee "have an account" or something more (link to doc please)? — xaosflux  Talk 00:08, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * no ‘hard’ requirements per se: just knowledge of the movement and movement governance - see full announcement section here. Xeno (WMF) (talk) 11:22, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ - not much time left on this one but it is up. — xaosflux  Talk 11:34, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Any interest in switching from passive voice to active voice, and reducing the number of links?
 * The Wikimedia Foundation Elections Committee, the group that oversees the community-and-affiliate seat selection process for the Board of Trustees, is accepting applications until 11:59 UTC, 25 April 2023 (UTC). – Novem Linguae (talk) 11:59, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * @Novem Linguae go for it. — xaosflux  Talk 13:25, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I am not an admin. Someone else will need to press the button :) – Novem Linguae (talk) 13:54, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I am not an admin. Someone else will need to press the button :) – Novem Linguae (talk) 13:54, 23 April 2023 (UTC)

Dismiss button?

 * P.S. I'm also not seeing a dismiss button. – Novem Linguae (talk) 12:21, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Hopefully I've made it dismissable by adding a cookie number. — Voice of Clam (talk) 12:58, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes, it's dismissible now. Thank you very much. – Novem Linguae (talk) 13:10, 23 April 2023 (UTC)
 * Apologies, bad insert on my part, thanks for the quick fix VOC. — xaosflux  Talk 13:25, 23 April 2023 (UTC)


 * Thank you, , and for your help with this notice. Most of the applications came in during the period it was running, so it must have had a timely impact =). Xeno (WMF) (talk) 17:39, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

GOCE May drive
Hi all, I'm requesting the following notice to go on the watchlist on 1 May (UTC) to whenever it will expire or be replaced. Please shorten or correct is needed. "Sign up here for the ongoing, month-long Guild of Copy Editors' May copy-editing drive. Have fun, improve articles and earn barnstars!" Thank you and cheers,  Baffle☿gab  20:17, 26 April 2023 (UTC)


 * ✅, but only bolded "Sign up here" (call to action) per guidance at Watchlist notices and to hopefully direct editors to the more important link. DanCherek (talk) 14:46, 1 May 2023 (UTC)

April Signpost notice
The April edition is now out. jp×g 13:16, 26 April 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 14:53, 1 May 2023 (UTC)

May Signpost notice
The May edition is now out. ☆ Bri (talk) 04:22, 8 May 2023 (UTC)


 * ✅ DanCherek (talk) 14:03, 8 May 2023 (UTC)
 * These apparently come out twice a month now, and unless dismissed, stay up for a week (50% of the time). I use several devices.  Is there any way for me to add something to my .js or .css file so I don't have to see and/or dismiss signpost spam 6 times a month, without losing the ability to see actually useful announcements? Floquenbeam (talk) 16:11, 8 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Continuing the discussion from : perhaps there could be a template specific for the Signpost watchlist notice that would add an appropriate CSS class? Otherwise, Display/watchlist could have a parameter added to support this functionality. For example, "watchlist-message-" could be prefixed to the value of a category parameter to be used as a CSS class. isaacl (talk) 17:08, 8 May 2023 (UTC)
 * This could happen, but 3 pieces of work have to happen: (1) update the template, etc to include an additional class; (b) admins could add this new class as part of new notices; (c) message requesters would really need to request this class on their message requests because no one will remember it otherwise. — xaosflux  Talk 18:02, 8 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I brought this up at Wikipedia_talk:Wikipedia_Signpost/Archive_14 - and think this is too much notification for signpost in general. Don't think we're at the point to just delist SP from WLN preapproved messages, but the prior approval was based on once a month. — xaosflux  Talk 18:00, 8 May 2023 (UTC)
 * As SP already has T:CENT and a huge mass message distribution, not sure if it really needs to be in WLN anymore though -- normally WLN is a short blurb asking editors to do something, in this case the call to action is mostly "read me". — xaosflux  Talk 18:03, 8 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure whether WLN is needed either. I also see that rescinded the (automatic) watchlist request back in March (diff). Maybe it should just go up for the first edition of each month only? But, I think the publication dates hae been tweaked or delayed for recent editions, so I don't think we could reliably note the publication date for the mid-month edition, as a couple people suggested in the WT:SIGNPOST thread. DanCherek (talk) 22:18, 8 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I also believe that the Signpost notices go up way too frequently. The call to action could or should be seen as "subscribe if you are interested". If so, I suggest that maybe two watchlist messages per year might be an appropriate schedule.  Schwede 66  23:09, 8 May 2023 (UTC)
 * I very much like the general idea of, X times a year, a notice that (a) there's a new signpost, and (b) subscribe if interested in a talk page notice for each issue. My choice of X would be 2-4, but if others want it to be 6, I won't complain, and if they want it to be 12, I'd probably grit my teeth and accept the compromise. Floquenbeam (talk) 13:07, 9 May 2023 (UTC)


 * Yeah -- if I recall correctly, when this came up last time, everyone seemed to like the idea of once a month. It's just that the publishing script automatically adds this section to MWT:WLN... I need to fix a few other things with that, so I will try my best to get on it soon. The only reason I haven't fixed all yhis crap yet is because it is a relatively complicated piece of code, made by someone who isn't around much these days, written in that language that the evil guys speak in Lord of the Rings, the sun is in my eyes, my pants are too tight, I was having a heated gaming moment, etc, blah blah blah. jp×g 01:08, 9 May 2023 (UTC)Specifically, once a month, for a week or a few days or however often; the idea being that it should only be there a decided minority od the time. Having a Signpost notice atop the watchlist 50% of the time is not only a pain in the ass for everyone else, but defeats the purpose of even having one in the first place. jp×g 01:10, 9 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Well, I suggested once a month at the beginning. EpicPupper suggested once a month and alternating between the start of the month and mid-month, which would alternate the gap between messages between two weeks and six weeks. I don't think that's ideal. Other people suggested shorter periods of time, but in terms of annoyance, it still means twice as many notices to dismiss. As suggested by Schwede66, perhaps the focus could be subscription drives instead of notifications for individual issues, and they could happen less often than monthly. In that case, the posting notification request can just be removed from the publication script. I also think a new dedicated template, similar to how RfA notices use RfA watchlist notice, that used a  CSS class would be good to allow users to suppress all Signpost notifications if desired. isaacl (talk) 16:37, 9 May 2023 (UTC)
 * The supressing possibility would be good. I'd also agree that a 3 day notice for signpost releases should suffice. Nosebagbear (talk) 11:26, 17 May 2023 (UTC)

ARBPOL proposed amendment
Hi,

Since the petition succeeded, there is now a live referendum on the proposed ARBPOL amendment. Arbitration/Policy/Proposed amendment (May 2023).

The last proposed amendment was also a watchlist notice, so this is requested as well. It may not take that long, but since a max time is requested...5 days? A week? Nosebagbear (talk) 11:12, 17 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Enqueued for review. At least a week, it can always be taken down if no longer relevant. — xaosflux  Talk 15:09, 17 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Mock up below, verbiage OK ? — xaosflux  Talk 15:12, 17 May 2023 (UTC)
 * @Xaosflux looks good, cheers Nosebagbear (talk) 16:51, 17 May 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ — xaosflux  Talk 18:06, 17 May 2023 (UTC)

May Signpost notice
The May edition is now out. jp×g 08:37, 22 May 2023 (UTC)
 * ❌ already had one this month, the discussion about this really needs to get resolved first. — xaosflux  Talk 09:37, 22 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Fixing the script now. — Preceding unsigned comment added by JPxG (talk • contribs) 21:13, 22 May 2023 (UTC)

GOCE July 2023 drive
Hello,

I'm requesting that the following notice go on the watchlist on 1 July (UTC), to last until it's appropriate for it to expire. Please shorten or correct is needed.

Sign up here for the ongoing, month-long, Guild of Copy Editors' July copy-editing drive. Have fun, improve articles and earn barnstars!

Thank you, Dhtwiki (talk) 04:38, 29 June 2023 (UTC)


 * ✅ DanCherek (talk) 15:21, 1 July 2023 (UTC)

WikiProject Good articles/GAN Backlog Drives/August 2023
Requesting a watchlist notice for the August 2023 GAN Backlog Drive, to run starting late July (29th/30th) until an appropriate time in August -- the drive runs until the 31st, so I'm thinking 23rd or so would be enough that anyone who wants to be involved certainly would be by then. Feel free to drop it somewhat earlier if something pressing comes up.

"Sign up now for the August 2023 Good Article Nominations Backlog Drive. Review articles and earn barnstars!"

(feel free to request any readability/flow changes to that, it's a quick draft)

Thanks in advance! Vaticidal</b><b style="color:#66023C">prophet</b> 11:31, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ We don't really add notices longer than >7 days unless they are of prime importance so it's set to expire on August 1st. <span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS',Geneva,sans-serif"> qedk ( t  愛  c ) 11:47, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
 * Hmm, maybe this should've been added on July 29th (as it seems from the request). Apologies for the early addition, any administrator is free to revert or modify as necessary. --<span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS',Geneva,sans-serif"> qedk ( t  愛  c ) 11:52, 25 July 2023 (UTC)

GOCE September drive
Please add the following notice to the watchlist:

Sign up here for the month-long Guild of Copy Editors' September copy-editing drive. Have fun, improve articles and earn barnstars!

Thanks very much and all the best,  Mini  apolis  13:23, 27 August 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ <span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS',Geneva,sans-serif"> qedk ( t  愛  c ) 15:14, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

WikiProject Women in Green - October Good Article Editathon
I'd like to request that this notice be added to the watchlist -- one week would be perfect. If the message length needs adjusting, I'm happy to make edits.

"Sign up here for WikiProject Women in Green's 'Around the World in 31 Days' Good Article (GA) editathon, running through October 2023. Learn new GA skills, help improve articles about women and women's works, and earn a special barnstar!"

Thank you, Alanna the Brave (talk) 22:12, 26 September 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ &mdash; Martin (MSGJ · talk) 10:58, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

NPP October drive
I'd like to request that the following notice be added to the watchlist:

"Sign up now for the October 2023 New Page Patrol Backlog Drive. Review articles and redirects and earn barnstars!"

Thank you, Hey man im josh (talk) 16:42, 29 September 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ <span style="font-family:'Trebuchet MS',Geneva,sans-serif"> qedk ( t  愛  c ) 16:53, 29 September 2023 (UTC)

AfC backlog drive
I'd like to request the following message to be added to the watchlist:

– robertsky (talk) 09:25, 27 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Sign up now for the November 2023 Articles for Creation Backlog Drive. Review drafts for barnstars!
 * ✅ &mdash; Martin (MSGJ · talk) 08:52, 29 October 2023 (UTC)

GOCE November drive
Please add the following watchlist notice:

Sign up here for the month-long Guild of Copy Editors' November copy-editing drive. Have fun, improve articles and earn barnstars!

Thank you. Dhtwiki (talk) 09:11, 30 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Already done. — xaosflux  Talk 15:43, 30 October 2023 (UTC)

RFA cookies
So does anyone else get double-noticed with every single new RFA, first immediately after User:Amalthea/RfX/RfA count increases, and then again when the cookie number is manually updated here? Or is it just me? —Cryptic 15:29, 23 October 2023 (UTC)
 * @Cryptic you shouldn't - but it may seem like this if this is the scenarion:
 * A new RFA cookie ID gets set
 * You don't dismiss it
 * Or for any reason you don't store or keep stored that dismissed ID's locally
 * Eventually that RFA ends so it doesn't show anymore
 * A new RFA opens and it shows it to you (using the OLD cookie ID)
 * We increment the cookie ID for the new RFA
 * You "double-notice" it


 * Do you think a situation like that applies to you? — xaosflux  Talk 15:50, 23 October 2023 (UTC)
 * I dismiss it every time, and it's been happening consistently for years. No, I don't see how it possibly could either.  Which is why I wanted to know if I was the only one. —Cryptic 16:08, 23 October 2023 (UTC)
 * @Cryptic check your gadgets here: Special:Preferences, make sure you have "Display watchlist notices" and "base style for watchlist notices". Next, if you are still using cologneblue try checking your settings in User:Cryptic/cologneblue.css about the watchlist-messages class, you have some !important in there about the padding, which your browser could be getting confused about when it is already in display:none. — xaosflux  Talk 17:46, 23 October 2023 (UTC)
 * I have no "base style for watchlist notices" gadget, but don't see anything of relevance in MediaWiki:Gadget-WatchlistBase.css anyway. "Display watchlist notices" is checked - I had forgotten it was a gadget, and thought it was in mediawiki core (or at worst an extension), and didn't have the energy to go searching for it there.  mw.storage.get('hidewatchlistmessages') does give me just "[594]", and the twisty little maze of parserfunctions at RfA watchlist notice looks like it'll not emit the li element at all if there's no live rfa, which in turn would get the old cookie value expunged; but if so, it would be affecting everyone.  Bleah.  I don't see how removing the padding and margins could affect this either - or if it did, why it wouldn't keep the notices from being dismissable at all - but I'll try to remember to view with safemode=1 next rfa. —Cryptic 19:31, 23 October 2023 (UTC)
 * So after the last rfa closed but before I viewed my watchlist, mw.storage.get('hidewatchlistmessages') gave me "[596,597,598]" - the cookie numbers for the RFA, AFC, and GOCE messages. After going to Special:Watchlist but before the AFC item expired, it was just "[597,598]", and after that expired and I viewed my watchlist again, it's now "[598]" - there's no li.watchlist-message items with class .cookie-ID_596 or .cookie-ID_597, so expungeOldNotices removes them.  (If there's no li.watchlist-message item at all, addDismissButton returns early and so expungeOldNotices never gets called.)  When RFA's no longer empty and so RfA watchlist notice starts emitting a li again, before the cookie's updated, I'm pretty sure it's going to be visible immediately; and then if the cookie's bumped, it'll become visible again even for people who've dismissed the newly-resurrected li.watchlist-message.cookie-ID_596.So - unless there's something really screwy going on and the cookie's not getting removed for anybody else (perhaps the July 2021 fix discussed at MediaWiki talk:Gadget-watchlist-notice-core.js worked for me but it's still broken for almost everyone else?  Seems dubious) - there's a couple potential solutions here:
 * Change when the cookie's bumped here: instead of "whenever a new RFA is listed" to "whenever the last RFA is delisted, and whenever a new RFA is listed when there's already one on the page". Which is clumsy to put into text, but works out to change incrementing the cookie from "#/rfas changes from 0→1, 1→2, 2→3, etc" to "#/rfas changes from 1→0, 1→2, 2→3, etc".
 * Have the RFA-counting bot emit a cookie value on its own. No idea if the non-gadget version of watchlist messages needs cookies to be digits-only (nothing stopping the gadget version from using arbitrary strings except the regex in addDismissButton) or, if so, they need to be strictly increasing.
 * Stop trying (and failing) to be clever in Template:RfA watchlist notice. Increment the number of rfas in the watchlist message manually, the same time the cookie is incremented.
 * Comment out the RfA watchlist notice transclusion here after the last active RFA closes; uncomment it when bumping the cookie number.
 * As a bonus, either of solutions #2 and #3 will fix the scenario where the cookie is incremented between RFA's #1 and #2, someone views their watchlist with it saying "2 current RFAs" and dismisses, the cookie is increased for the second RFA, and the person sees "2 current RFAs" again. #3 and #4 also let the first new RFA have a delay before being watchlisted, like the edit notice says it will, instead of displaying immediately.  (#2 will always display RFAs immediately; and #1 - like now - displays the first RFA immediately, and subsequent concurrent ones when someone bumps the cookie.  Just not display the first RFA a second time if the previous RFA cookie was expunged.) —Cryptic 20:04, 5 November 2023 (UTC)
 * So far you are the only person that has reported this issue. There is a purposeful delay from when we a new RFA exists to when we increment the cookie by design, to avoid bothering people for ones that will be SNOW closed. What skin are you using? If it is cologneblue, do you have this problem with other skins? There could be something odd there, it is a very rarely used skin. — xaosflux  Talk 20:39, 5 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Most people won't know to ask here.I use Cologne Blue, yes, but I am 100% certain it's irrelevant. Identical html is emitted for ul#watchlist-message in monobook, and vector, and vector-22, and I didn't test them but I'm sure it does for MinervaNeue and Timeless too, because it's defined here (via Watchlist-messages) and not by MediaWiki.  There's currently exactly one list item in it, .watchlist-message.cookie-ID_598, and MediaWiki:Gadget-watchlist-notice-core.js::addDismissButton very plainly says to remove all non-current cookies from mw.storage if there's at least one li.watchlist-message.  This is easily verified by plopping   into a console.If you've dismissed the current messages and get just "[598]" like me, what do you think that's going to immediately result in when User:Amalthea/RfX/RfA count changes and so  starts emitting <li class="watchlist-message watchlist-message-RfX cookie-ID_596"></li> }} again?  And if you're getting something else, how are you not seeing that as problematic after this edit you made explicitly so that those values get removed? —Cryptic 22:04, 5 November 2023 (UTC)
 * If you're the only one encountering this error, Cryptic, it is far more likely that it's something on your end vs. something on Wikipedia's end. Most people would ask this question on WP:VPT; are you seeing any similar questions in its archive? (I'm not, but I've only tried a couple searches.) Ed [talk] [OMT] 22:28, 5 November 2023 (UTC)
 * any insight to the above? — xaosflux  Talk 00:00, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

Edit request 11/22/23
I was wondering if the wikilink for the ArbCom questions could be changed to the actual questions page, which is Arbitration Committee Elections December 2023/Questions. Thanks! - 🔥𝑰𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆 (𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌)🔥 11:54, 22 November 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅. I moved the bolding and shortened it a bit. Hopefully this addresses your concerns, even though I did not add or remove any links. – Novem Linguae (talk) 12:14, 22 November 2023 (UTC)