User talk:Interstellarity/Archives/2019/December

Pesky banners
So the problem is, there aren't any banners currently showing for me so I can't figure out what exactly needs to be written. I'll write to you the next time I see one, alternatively you can try to use "Right click > Inspect element" to see if the banner has anything similar to, then you could write #i_am_an_annoying_banner { display:none; } in your CSS file. – Thjarkur (talk) 23:15, 1 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Can you take a look at my CSS file to see I did this right? Interstellarity (talk) 23:16, 1 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes it is correct, but it will only work if the banners still have the same CSS identifiers as they did 10 years ago ;) – Thjarkur (talk) 23:18, 1 December 2019 (UTC)
 * , Thank you. Interstellarity (talk) 23:19, 1 December 2019 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – December 2019
News and updates for administrators from the past month (November 2019). Administrator changes
 * Gnome-colors-list-add.svg EvergreenFir • ToBeFree
 * Gnome-colors-list-remove.svg Akhilleus • Athaenara • John Vandenberg • Melchoir • MichaelQSchmidt • NeilN • Youngamerican • 😂

CheckUser changes
 * Gnome-colors-view-refresh.svg Beeblebrox
 * Gnome-colors-list-remove.svg Deskana

Interface administrator changes
 * Gnome-colors-view-refresh.svg Evad37

Guideline and policy news
 * An RfC on the administrator resysop criteria was closed. 18 proposals have been summarised with a variety of supported and opposed statements. The inactivity grace period within which a new request for adminship is not required has been reduced from three years to two. Additionally, Bureaucrats are permitted to use their discretion when returning administrator rights.
 * Following a proposal, the edit filter mailing list has been opened up to users with the Edit Filter Helper right.

Technical news
 * Wikimedia projects can set a default block length for users via MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry. A new page, MediaWiki:ipb-default-expiry-ip, allows the setting of a different default block length for IP editors. Neither is currently used. (T219126)

Arbitration
 * Voting in the 2019 Arbitration Committee Elections is open to eligible editors until Monday 23:59, 2 December 2018 UTC. Please review the candidates and, if you wish to do so, submit your choices on the voting page.

Miscellaneous
 * The global consultation on partial and temporary office actions that ended in October received a closing statement from staff concluding, among other things, that the WMF will no longer use partial or temporary Office Action bans... until and unless community consensus that they are of value or Board directive.

Discuss this newsletter

Subscribe

Archive Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 02:48, 2 December 2019 (UTC)

Australian criminals
Why did you pull my edit to Australian bank robbers it's common knowledge about Raymond Patrick "Chuck"Bennett was one the greatest armed robbers in Australian history there is plenty of sources to check about him TV shows books movies newspapers etc he was the Mastermind of the great bookie robbery at the Victoria club in Melbourne,also why ain't Russell "mad dog" Cox on the list because apart from being one of the best and most prolific armed robbers in Australian history he also broke out of the maximum security (inescapable) katingell prison and was on the run for 11years and still commiting robberies and even signing on the file while on the run..so how do I get to add information to pages please because I'm not someone who just writes anything without checking that my information is 100% accurate Warrenscaff2 (talk) 16:59, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Hello, all information on Wikipedia must cited by an independent, reliable sources that talks about the subject in detail. If you can tell me what source you got it from, I will consider reinstating your edit. Interstellarity (talk) 17:25, 3 December 2019 (UTC)

Problematic editing
Why the US-centrism? Countries are only allowed to be described relative to US states?! Any why is Guyana "on the coast" of South America? Guyana extends 500 miles inland - that's as far from the coast as Nashville.

This isn't OK - facts and reality matter on Wikipedia. Guettarda (talk) 16:17, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
 * , I thought I was giving a better description of the countries. I try not to introduce something that is not true on Wikipedia or unsourced. The reason why I said Guyana was on the coast is because Guyana is not landlocked. Interstellarity (talk) 16:23, 3 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I for one think these edits were an improvement over the previous vague descriptions. – Thjarkur (talk) 22:22, 6 December 2019 (UTC)

Poetic Text
Just to let you know, author being blocked is not a valid reason for speedy deletion unless the page was created in violation of a ban or block (WP:G5). Pages created before the ban or block came into force are not subject to this criterion. However, I deleted Draft:Poetic Text anyway because it seems to be a copyvio. SpinningSpark 21:35, 11 December 2019 (UTC)
 * The author did get blocked from editing. The author did not appear to be here so I thought speedy deletion would apply. Thank you for the message and I will try to be more careful. Interstellarity (talk) 22:42, 11 December 2019 (UTC)

Pending changes to Pacilia (gens)
Hello there! I'm just leaving this note to explain why I reverted the edits that you approved by User:195.110.134.162 to Pacilia (gens). The same editor has been making these edits since September 17, under this address as well as User:2.44.156.165, claiming without evidence that the Pacilii were an "important noble family". The edits are unsourced and contrary to everything that is known about the family: none of its members is mentioned by any Roman writer except for Cicero, who mentions two of them nine years apart, the second of them in passing. All the rest are known only from inscriptions, none of which suggest lasting importance. The family was "obscure", like countless other Roman families, because it is not mentioned in any other source, and because none of its members played any significant role in Roman history; it is plebeian because (as the word was used in the later Republic, and by modern historians) all Romans who were did not belong to the few dozen patrician families were by definition plebeian. Owning a house, even on the Palatine Hill, did not make one a patrician or noble in any way; Quintus Cicero, who wished to buy the house, was a plebeian, and chiefly known to us because his brother was a famous orator; in fact the IP editor names eleven famous persons—among countless thousands—who lived on the Palatine Hill at various points in time: seven of these examples were plebeians.

The anonymous IP editor appears to have no familiarity with Wikipedia policies or procedures; has never created an account, nor responded to edits left on his or her talk pages, nor used the talk page for "Pacilia (gens)". Instead, the editor placed a lengthy argument in the main body of the article, insisting that the edits were "incontrovertible" and demanding that they be left alone. I copied and pasted the argument on the talk page, where I responded to it point-by-point; but the editor never replied. From the fact that the editor's native language does not appear to be English, and the fact that the editor refers to most of the Romans in his argument by Italian names, he or she seems to be Italian, and although one can only speculate about his or her motivations, it seems likely that he or she is trying to make an ancient Roman family sound more important for personal reasons. The editor has previously been blocked from editing this page, and the article has pending edit protection in order to prevent this particular editor from making these edits. I'm sorry if this explanation appears to be excessive; I and another editor have been dealing with the same unresponsive editor for three months, and it seems unlikely that the editor in question can be persuaded to stop, or prevented from reintroducing the same edits again and again. At any rate, that's why I reverted the edits. Best wishes, P Aculeius (talk) 14:39, 12 December 2019 (UTC)
 * It was a long explanation, but it was understandable. I understand that having my edits reverted is a normal part of the editing process on Wikipedia. As long as you give an explanation to why you reverted my edits, it helps me become a better editor so I can be more careful in the future. Interstellarity (talk) 17:33, 12 December 2019 (UTC)

Hi
Thank you! James The Bond 007 (talk) 18:24, 17 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Always happy to help. :-) Someone else will answer your question about committed identity. I am not sure how to answer it. Interstellarity (talk) 18:25, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

sure, and how do I use Twinkle? James The Bond 007 (talk) 18:26, 17 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Twinkle can be accessed by using the TW button next to the More button. If you would like to learn how to fight vandalism, I recommend asking either or  to train you to become a vandal fighter. They are both really great coaches. Interstellarity (talk) 18:29, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

Thanks, and have a happy new year!James The Bond 007 (talk) 18:30, 17 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Happy New Year to you as well! :-) Interstellarity (talk) 18:30, 17 December 2019 (UTC)

Happy holidays to you too!


— python coder (talk &#124; contribs) is wishing you Happy Holidays! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user Happy Holidays, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:Happy holidays}} to their talk page with a friendly message. — python coder (talk &#124; contribs) 23:59, 19 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Thank you. Happy holidays to you as well!! :-) Interstellarity (talk) 00:00, 20 December 2019 (UTC)

God Jul och Gott Nytt År!
 ''User:Gråbergs Gråa Sång is wishing you the season's greetings. Whether you celebrate your hemisphere's solstice or Christmas, Diwali, Hogmanay, Hanukkah, Lenaia, Festivus, or the Saturnalia, this is a special time of year for (almost) everyone.

Please enjoy these messages from our readers! Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 11:31, 20 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I hope you're holiday season is just as well as mine. I hope it is special to you because it is special to me. Interstellarity (talk) 11:38, 20 December 2019 (UTC)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS


--Sir Bond 007 (James The Bond 007) (talk) is wishing you Happy Holidays! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user Happy Holidays, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:Happy holidays}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
 * Thank you. Happy holidays to you as well!! :-) Interstellarity (talk) 13:34, 20 December 2019 (UTC)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 * Thank you. May your Christmas be merry and bright!! :-) Interstellarity (talk) 14:57, 20 December 2019 (UTC)

New Page Review newsletter December 2019


This year's Reviewer of the Year is. Having gotten the reviewer PERM in August 2018, they have been a regular reviewer of articles and redirects, been an active participant in the NPP community, and has been the driving force for the emerging NPP Source Guide that will help reviewers better evaluate sourcing and notability in many countries for which it has historically been difficult.
 * Reviewer of the Year

Special commendation again goes to who ends the year as one of our most prolific reviewers for the second consecutive year. Thanks also to and  who have been in the top 5 for the last two years as well.

Several newer editors have done a lot of work with CAPTAIN MEDUSA and DannyS712 (who has also written bots which have patrolled thousands of redirects) being new reviewers since this time last year.

Thanks to them and to everyone reading this who has participated in New Page Patrol this year.

(The top 100 reviewers of the year can be found here)

A recent Request for Comment on creating a new redirect autopatrol pseduo-permission was closed early. New Page Reviewers are now able to nominate editors who have an established track record creating uncontroversial redirects. At the individual discretion of any administrator or after 24 hours and a consensus of at least 3 New Page Reviewers an editor may be added to a list of users whose redirects will be patrolled automatically by.
 * Redirect autopatrol

Set to launch early in the new year is our first New Page Patrol Source Guide discussion. These discussions are designed to solicit input on sources in places and topic areas that might otherwise be harder for reviewers to evaluate. The hope is that this will allow us to improve the accuracy of our patrols for articles using these sources (and/or give us places to perform a WP:BEFORE prior to nominating for deletion). Please watch the New Page Patrol talk page for more information.
 * Source Guide Discussion

While New Page Reviewers are an experienced set of editors, we all benefit from an occasional review. This month consider refreshing yourself on Notability (geographic features). Also consider how we can take the time for quality in this area. For instance, sources to verify human settlements, which are presumed notable, can often be found in seconds. This lets us avoid the (ugly) 'Needs more refs' tag. Delivered by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) at 16:10, 20 December 2019 (UTC)
 * This month's refresher course

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Happy Holidays text.png Hello Interstellarity: Enjoy the holiday season and winter solstice if it's occurring in your area of the world, and thanks for your work to maintain, improve and expand Wikipedia. Cheers, CAPTAIN RAJU (T) 17:16, 20 December 2019 (UTC)


 * Spread the WikiLove; use {{subst:Season's Greetings}} to send this message
 * Thank you. Merry Christmas to you as well!! Interstellarity (talk) 18:43, 20 December 2019 (UTC)

Happy Holidays to you too :)


~ ToBeFree (talk) is wishing you Happy Holidays! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user Happy Holidays, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:Happy holidays}} to their talk page with a friendly message.
 * Thank you. May your holidays be filled with nothing but joy, health, and prosperity!! :-) Interstellarity (talk) 00:15, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Cheers

 * Thank you. It's always nice to receive holiday greetings from my friends on Wikipedia. Thanks for all you do here. Interstellarity (talk) 14:29, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Apologies.
I apologise. I did not read that very carefully. Attic Salt (talk) 14:41, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * It's alright. We all make mistakes. Interstellarity (talk) 14:41, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Massachusetts
See MOS:COMPASS.  General Ization Talk  17:15, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Please see the article Northeastern United States. The first sentence capitalizes Northeastern United States. If you want to change the first sentence in that article to lowercase, I'll be happy to do that. Please let me know your thoughts on this. Interstellarity (talk) 17:21, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * And "Eastern central United States"? There is no such region.  General Ization  Talk  17:25, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I wanted to be precise on where the states were on the map. That's why I chose that particular short description. Interstellarity (talk) 17:27, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * The article Northeastern United States is a discussion of the characteristics of the region, made up of US states that share certain common characteristics (including but not limited to their location in the northeastern United States). The phrase "northeastern United States" in the short description of Massachusetts is used a) to identify that it is located in the United States and b) more specifically in the northeastern part of that geographic entity.  It is not, in this case, referring to its being a member of the group of states in that region.  Please follow the MOS recommendation.  General Ization  <i style="color: #000666;">Talk </i> 17:41, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * That's clear to me. I try to follow editing standards here. Thank you for educating me. Interstellarity (talk) 17:44, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I also fixed the other state's descriptions as well. Interstellarity (talk) 18:02, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I realize the difference is semantic and open to interpretation, but the current format follows the general principle contained in our MOS and most other stylebooks.  <span style="font-family: Gill Sans MT, Arial, Helvetica; font-weight:140;"> General Ization  <i style="color: #000666;">Talk </i> 19:00, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

Short descriptions in place articles
Hi Interstellarity,

I'm not sure whether you were aware, but the infoboxes in a lot of place articles already add a short description. Adding another one strikes me as confusing the issue. Look for the "short_description" field in the infobox rather than adding a short description template.

If you configure your preferences to show the short description, as described here, the effect will be easier to judge.

Thanks, Trovatore (talk) 21:34, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Hi . I use the Shortdesc helper gadget in my preferences to fix the short descriptions. I wasn't aware of the setting you described until you told me about it. I just have a question. What is the difference between Shortdesc helper and "Show page description beneath the page title (not compatible with Page assessments gadget)"? Interstellarity (talk) 21:39, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't know. I haven't used "shortdesc helper".
 * I wanted to add that I think if you don't specify a short_description field, the place infoboxes generate one automatically from some combination of the other fields. If you want to override that, you should set the short_description field rather than using the template. --Trovatore (talk) 21:46, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Do you recommend that I remove the short description template and let the infobox generate a short description? Interstellarity (talk) 21:49, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes. If the autogenerated one is suboptimal for some reason, I recommend overriding it in the infobox   field. --Trovatore (talk) 21:52, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I also found that if I removed the short description to New York City (which I didn't), the short description would just be City which is not a very specific short description. I feel that the shortdesc helper allows you to be specific with the short descriptions rather than letting the infobox determine the short description. Interstellarity (talk) 21:57, 21 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Well, I still think it's better to override using the  field rather than using the short description template.  The problem with using the template is that the article then has two short descriptions.  Exactly what problem that's going to cause, other than for those of us who have our prefs set to show the short description, I'm not sure, but it seems like bad coding practice. --Trovatore (talk) 22:11, 21 December 2019 (UTC)

NPP School Graduate

 * Thank you for teaching me all about NPP. I learned so much from the course and I look forward to seeing you around on Wikipedia. Interstellarity (talk) 11:44, 23 December 2019 (UTC)

Merry Christmas (and kudos!)
— Preceding unsigned comment added by Nosebagbear (talk • contribs)
 * Thank you. I learned a lot from the NPPSCHOOL program. Merry Christmas to you as well. :-) Interstellarity (talk) 14:43, 24 December 2019 (UTC)

One of these days, I'll update my list for accuracy and check it twice. Ho-Ho-Ho!

 * Thank you. Happy holidays to you as well!! Love the jokes!! :-) Interstellarity (talk) 19:15, 24 December 2019 (UTC)

Block That User
User:YashodhanGanu

He Always Add Hate Speech The User And Me Belongs To India

He Always Support An Political Alliance And Adding False Information You Can See His Talk He will Not Respond To Any Talk KumarVenati (talk) 16:55, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

User:Yashodhan Ganu KumarVenati (talk) 16:56, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

Thank You KumarVenati (talk) 16:56, 25 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I feel it would be best to have an admin look at this. This is beyond my expertise. I have requested admin help below.
 * Interstellarity (talk) 16:59, 25 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Note to administrators: Please see this thread: Teahouse. Interstellarity (talk) 17:00, 25 December 2019 (UTC)
 * , I looked at the recent edits of User:Yashodhan Ganu I did not see any obvious vandalism. I did see a number of edits to the party membership of various legislative bodies in India. It is possible that some of these are incorrect, or not supported by sources, but other editors do not seem to have reverted these changes. Please identify the specific changes which, in your view constitute vandalism or other improper behavior. If possible, please indicate the sources which indicate factual errors or intentional misstatements. In future please do not request blocks or accuse editors of improper actions without citing specific edits that you can honestly say are incorrect and problematic. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 18:19, 25 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks for helping the editor. Merry Christmas!! Interstellarity (talk) 19:04, 25 December 2019 (UTC)

The Signpost: 27 December 2019
<div class="hlist" style="margin-top:10px; font-size:90%; padding-left:5px; font-family:Georgia, Palatino, Palatino Linotype, Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> * Read this Signpost in full * Single-page * Unsubscribe * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 12:37, 27 December 2019 (UTC)

Speedy deletion declined: Draft:सोहन नायक
Hello Interstellarity. I am just letting you know that I declined the speedy deletion of Draft:सोहन नायक, a page you tagged for speedy deletion, because of the following concern: The reason given is not a valid speedy deletion criterion. Thank you. Primefac (talk) 19:37, 27 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Thank you. I just have a question. If a page in mainspace or draftspace is written in a foreign language, does it qualify for deletion? Interstellarity (talk) 19:48, 27 December 2019 (UTC)
 * WP:A2 covers articles written in a foreign language, but there is no similar criteria for the draft space. If it's part of AFC, then it should be declined as being non-English. If it's not submitted, then the creator should be notified and otherwise it will be deleted in six months. Primefac (talk) 01:52, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * That's clear. Thank you so much for helping me. Interstellarity (talk) 01:56, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Always happy to help. Primefac (talk) 03:57, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Ways to improve Bahamas Life
Hello, Interstellarity,

Thank you for creating Bahamas Life.

I have tagged the page as having some issues to fix, as a part of our page curation process and note that:

"It would be good if you could find some independent, reliable sources to help support the notability of this show - the Country Living article was the best I could come up with, but I'm not ideally placed since a lot of US media sites are blocked in the UK for legal reasons - if you can find a couple of good sources, I'd be happy to see the tags removed. Cheers"

The tags can be removed by you or another editor once the issues they mention are addressed. If you have questions, leave a comment here and prepend it with. And, don't forget to sign your reply with. For broader editing help, please visit the Teahouse.

Delivered via the Page Curation tool, on behalf of the reviewer.

Girth Summit <sub style="font-family:script;color:blue;"> (blether) 15:23, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * How about this source: https://www.backstage.com/casting/bahamas-life-164057 ? Sometimes, you can use a VPN or proxy to access US sites from the UK. I live in the US and I'm not sure which country has more websites blocked. Please let me know your thoughts on this site. Interstellarity (talk) 15:28, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Does it meet the notability guidelines to have an article? Interstellarity (talk) 15:28, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * , hi there. I've never really investigated using VPNs/proxies - sounds a bit too technical for my liking! I'm afraid that source looks a directory listing - and it looks like the listing was paid for by the company behind the program. What you are looking for is something genuinely independent, giving the subject significant coverage. A review in a respectable newspaper, or on a website that meets WP:RS would be a good bet. If you can find a couple of them, then notability would be covered. Cheers Girth Summit <sub style="font-family:script;color:blue;"> (blether)  15:34, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I did a Google search here and I'm not sure these sources are independent, reliable, and discuss the topic in detail. Does the topic meet notability criteria? Interstellarity (talk) 16:21, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Hi - no, I'm afraid that nothing in that search looks suitable. Briefly:
 * IMDB is UGC - unreliable, doesn't add to notability
 * HGTV is affiliated - not independent, doesn't add to notability
 * TV Guide is just a listing, rather than a review - trivial rather than significant coverage, doesn't add to notability
 * I was hopeful about the TV Over Mind website to begin with, since it's a reasonably detailed review - however, on closer inspection, it's UGC - the piece is written by a 'contributor', rather than a staff write. You can see more discussion of this kind of thing at RSP - take a look at what it has to say about Forbes.com 'contributors'. This doesn't add to notability.
 * Amazon.com is selling it - not independent - doesn't add to notability...
 * You can see where I'm going with this - I did a search like that myself, the best thing I found was the Country Living ref. Try being a bit more inventive with your search terms though - "Bahamas Life" + Review for example, see if you can find any independent reviews in reliable media - that's really your best bet. Cheers Girth Summit <sub style="font-family:script;color:blue;"> (blether)  16:29, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * It can be hard to do a search sometimes because when I do a Google search on this topic, I can get results related to the TV series or what life is like in the Bahamas. I did a search for something like "Bahamas Life TV", I get a lot of sources that are either user generated or not independent of the subject. Interstellarity (talk) 16:37, 28 December 2019 (UTC)
 * , yeah - searching for sources can be tricky! Set Google to show you more links per page, so you can scroll past the rubbish more easily, and try a few different search terms. Perhaps consider also searching Google News, rather than regular Google - it might not give you anything, but sometimes it provides reviews that appear in newspapers, or something that might be helpful. Good luck. Girth Summit <sub style="font-family:script;color:blue;"> (blether)  16:39, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Regarding the page named Driving License (film)
Please remove both the tags Megastar and Complete Actor from the characters portrayed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suresh Krishna respectively since more than two decades. These are the tags used by Mollywood actors Mammootty and Mohanlal (you can check on Google). Neither of the characters were so called in the movie. AKSHAY KANHANGAD (talk) 16:23, 30 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Please make a new edit request and someone else will answer it. Interstellarity (talk) 16:28, 30 December 2019 (UTC)

Feedback
I made some lengthy comments on the thread you started at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Editor Retention since I was pinged, and I'm commenting here to let you know. I'd be thankful for any thoughts or feedback about my ideas. Clover moss (talk) 23:21, 31 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I have commented there. Interstellarity (talk) 23:34, 31 December 2019 (UTC)