Wikipedia talk:About the sandbox/Archive 3

i love the sandbox
how did it get so awesome? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.104.32.5 (talk) 21:07, 3 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Because of editors just like you. :-) Graham 87 06:08, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
 * LOL. 71.146.20.62 (talk) 01:17, 11 November 2011 (UTC)

i like the sandbox too. this is my first wikipedia edit. i am just testing. i hope i am in the right place. manuel — Preceding unsigned comment added by Olebrussels (talk • contribs) 11:19, 3 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, you're in the wrong place. The correct place for testing is the actual Wikipedia sandbox. Graham 87 14:59, 3 January 2012 (UTC)


 * Sandbox documentation sucks. Seligne (talk) 23:33, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

Looking good — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lucyhonan (talk • contribs) 15:33, 2 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Me too --79.241.193.238 (talk) 16:11, 31 December 2017 (UTC)

i love the sandbox toSerenity278 (talk) 02:03, 23 August 2018 (UTC)me

'''sandboxes are awesome!!! Abdullahok (talk) 08:46, 26 September 2018 (UTC) '''

How do I delete sandbox pages?
Hi! I frequently use my sandbox to demo pages, and for organization purposes I make them subpages of my main sandbox. However, in cases like this, this, and this, the article they corresponded to was made and thus I don't need them anymore. They're just sitting there, blank. How do I delete my own sandbox subpages? DanielleTH (Say hi!) 19:39, 20 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Add to the top of the user page you want to delete, and it will signal an administrator to delete the page. Bsherr (talk) 02:05, 21 October 2018 (UTC)

Inappropriate picture
When I left the sandbox I was greeted by a photograph of someone's butt-hole. Was that necessary? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.164.146.3 (talk) 09:30, 18 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Where did you go when you left the sandbox? That sort of thing can sometimes happen, but it's usually undone quickly. Graham 87 09:58, 18 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Sorry, but I do not believe you. -- Genoskill (talk) 19:31, 14 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Genoskill, you can be respectful or you can leave. Ridebuilder575 (talk) 00:26, 27 October 2018 (UTC)
 * WP:Vandalism happens. We do our best to delete it, and WP:REVDEL it.  That kind of vandalism gets the editors blocked fairly quickly.. 7&amp;6=thirteen (☎) 02:23, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

How to remove the From User Sandbox on a published page?
OliverBellKarate (talk) 09:47, 16 December 2018 (UTC)
 * That concern is irrelevant now, because I've deleted both your attempts at making an article about yourself at Draft:Oliver Bell (Karate Athlete) and User:OliverBellKarate/sandbox, to save another admin the trouble of doing so later. Writing really, really bad idea because by definition you have an extreme conflict of interest. Graham 87 14:34, 16 December 2018 (UTC)

After sandbox ?
Hi. I have finished a new page (article) in sandbox. I pressed publish button etc Is my article will be visible in Wikipedia? Do I have to wait ? Or do I have to do something else ? Thanx in advance Dnb174 (talk) 11:33, 12 February 2019 (UTC)
 * Please ask on the help desk, not here. Also see the conflict of interest guideline; if you are or are friends with the subject of the article, you shouldn't be working on it. Graham 87 14:34, 12 February 2019 (UTC)

Sandbox Deletion
Somehow I try to find a way to delete my sandbox which is in here. I did the deletion template but it didn’t work because it was in javascript. It was a waste of time creating that sandbox. So can you help me by deleting that sandbox please?  Fire Blade 708  21:42, 25 April 2019 (UTC)
 * The deletion template still worked and the page has now been deleted for you. Graham 87 01:43, 26 April 2019 (UTC)


 * Thanks :)  Fire Blade 708  11:04, 26 April 2019 (UTC)

Talk page sandbox?
I'm trying to test a template that has particular behavior in the Article Talk namespace. Is there a sandbox in that namespace I can use to test the template? Wugapodes [thɑk] [ˈkan.ˌʧɹɪbz] 17:52, 22 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Nope, I'm pretty sure there isn't. Graham 87 02:46, 23 June 2019 (UTC)
 * , you could probably test at Wikipedia talk:Sandbox, by swapping      to       and then back. —⁠andrybak (talk) 23:02, 24 June 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks, that's what I wound up doing in my user space. Wugapodes [thɑk] [ˈkan.ˌʧɹɪbz] 01:01, 25 June 2019 (UTC)

My Sandbox Revision History
Hi there, I wanted to know if it was possible to have my sandbox (more importantly: all my revision history) deleted. I noticed another user had requested this and was granted. Like that user, there are certain past posts in my sandbox's history that I regret and wish to have deleted. Thank you in advance, Kindofleigh (talk) 17:49, 1 July 2019 (UTC)
 * I see you've figured out that the template db-u1 does the trick. Graham 87 01:12, 2 July 2019 (UTC)

2nd sandbox
I was wondering if you can make a second private sandbox for me thanks. Gamerkillerz (talk) 13:45, 27 July 2019 (UTC)
 * You can do it yourself at User:Gamerkillerz/sandbox2. Graham 87 15:16, 27 July 2019 (UTC)

Don’t allow people to edit my sandbox
Can you protect my sandbox from vandals, they are messing up my hard work. Gamerkillerz (talk) 18:01, 27 July 2019 (UTC)
 * It's been deleted. Graham 87 05:25, 28 July 2019 (UTC)

Deleting User page/sandbox drafts
I want to delete a draft for a page in your sandbox or User page. I've removed the title from the list but the link still exists. How do remove it completely? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mortal Aphrodite (talk • contribs) 15:51, 19 October 2019 (UTC)
 * If you place the magic code db-u1 on the unwanted page and save it, an admin will come along and delete the page for you. -- John of Reading (talk) 20:09, 19 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I did but it said it wasn't eligible. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mortal Aphrodite (talk • contribs) 21:11, 19 October 2019 (UTC)
 * I can't think of any reason why it would've done that; the tag would've worked anyway. In any case, I've deleted the page you tried to tag, User:Mortal Aphrodite/Lover Fest Tour. Graham 87 02:13, 20 October 2019 (UTC)

Requested move 10 December 2019

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: page moved. But unfortunately, since the page is move protected, I have to ask for the target page to be deleted so that the move can be completed by an admin. (closed by non-admin page mover) GeoffreyT2000 (talk) 22:09, 23 December 2019 (UTC)
 * I've performed the move. Graham 87 23:38, 23 December 2019 (UTC)

Wikipedia:About the Sandbox → About the sandbox – Sandbox should be lowercased because it is not a proper name. Interstellarity (talk) 17:15, 10 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Support, seems fair enough. Graham 87 03:31, 11 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Support, this is a sensible change. Ralbegen (talk) 01:03, 13 December 2019 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Proposal
Move Draft:Sandbox to Draft:Spambox, to reflect it's most common use.

--moonythedwarf (Braden N.) 22:20, 24 January 2020 (UTC)

A time to kill

 * Excuse the John Grisham reference, it makes a cute metaphor for what I am about to discuss. The information blurb on Sandbox states it is "killed" (erased and replaced by the information blurb) "it is automatically cleared regularly." I think this should be more specific (or maybe "explicit" is a better word) about how "regularly" the page is killed, e.g. the temporary templates X1 through X20 explicitly state they are killed every four hours. The Wikipedia sandbox should say how long it remains intact before killing occurs.
 * Additionally, presuming this is just done by a daemon set up on Wikimedia's servers (and might even be the same one that kills the temporary templates) I would hope the process is based on the age of the page, and not simply a clock value, e.g. if killing is at 12, 4, and 8, woe to the poor bastard who started a test at 3:55!
 * I would like to confirm - or if this is not the case, that the policy be changed - so that the sandbox is killed when the page has been quiescent for the expiration time, not when it was created, e.g. if a page is first saved at 1, is re-saved (as they are testing) at 1:05, 2, 2:15 3:55, 4, 4:30, 5, 6 (stops for dinner) 8 and finally at 9 when they solve the problem that required use of the sandbox, the "kill time" should be some point after 9, not 1.

Paul Robinson (Rfc1394) (talk) 09:09, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * The bot that cleans out the sandbox is cyberbot I, and it does so every hour, on the hour, for the main sandbox and every four hours for the subsidiary ones, according to the sandbox history. Honestly the fact that you, an experienced editor, couldn't have figured that out yourself is more than a little concerning. Also an amnesty on sandbox clearing for new editors would be impractical and unnecessary in almost all cases, which is also clear according to the history. Graham 87 14:50, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

Multiple sandboxes

 * Speaking of the temporary templates, originally there was only one, I think it was X. I personally created X1 through X9 as I felt for a project the size of Wikipedia one test template was not going to be enough, and sooner or later either one person was going to need two separate testbed templates, or eventually two unrelated editors were going to be working simultaneously and independently on test templates and both editors would need test templates. (user"Graham87 will probably recognize the use of subsidiary templates from the template I created "Year article header" to put the standard introductory paragraph on each article about specific calendar years, e.g. 1960, 2020, 2021, etc., where subsidiary templates are used to make the primary template less "hairy" than it already was, I broke it into subsidiary templates.) Now I see that the temporary template space has been increased to 20 temporary templates.


 * So anyway, I think there should be more sandboxes at some point to allow for subsequent need. Yes, I know editors can use their user sandbox, but let's think of the future, where two or more users are working on a collaborative project for an article. Since only one person can edit an article at any time, only one person can do so. "Well, yes" you might say, "but we have the DRAFT namespacce for that." I can say that, first, they might not know about the Draft namespace - I have been an editor since 2003, and only found out about it this month - and second, it might be a class on Wikipedia editing where automatic deletion of the work they are doing a short time later is perfect for what they need.


 * So I think it might be useful to add Sandbox1 through Sandbox9, or alternatively, to have the Wikipedia:Sandbox killer to also assassinate subpages so that people could create sandbox/1, Sandbox/2, and so on, and these subpages would also be automatically "regularly" killed (subject to the same "time to kill" issues I raised in the first item above.) So that in some instances Sandbox or Sandbox/3 might be euthanized (killed for old age) while Sandbox/1 and Sandbox/2 might be too young to be exterminated. (Why does this bring back memories of the movie Logan's Run?) Paul Robinson (Rfc1394) (talk) 09:09, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

[I hereby award myself five demerits for having waaaay too much fun composing the last paragraph.] 09:09, 25 January 2020 (UTC)
 * I think there are quite enough sandboxes already. I am very familiar with Wikipedia's use in education and I've never heard of a class where clearing of an editing space would be useful. Yes, I remember Year article header. Graham 87 14:50, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

Too hard to sync sandboxes to the pages they're for
I use sandboxes to test out edits to templates fairly regularly (e.g. recently Template:Title notice/sandbox for Template:Title notice, but I always have to manually sync them up to the page before implementing my changes. Perhaps there's a way to do this easily I just haven't figured out, but all I see is the "diff" button, which only allows you to compare the two, not actually sync them. Can we make this functionality easier? Which "this is a sandbox" template would we need to edit to do that? &#123;{u&#124; Sdkb  }&#125;  talk 19:25, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * , when /sandbox subpage does not exist, Documentation provides a "mirror" link, which creates a new page with WP:preload of some tricky MediaWiki parsing function, which copies the template exactly. I'm not sure if preload can be used to edit an existing page. But if it possible, perhaps we could add the same "mirror" link to Template sandbox heading next to the diff link. —⁠andrybak (talk) 20:19, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * that sounds like a good idea! I think I'm going to trip up if I attempt it myself, though, since I can't even find where the diff link is at Template sandbox heading. Would you be able to give it a go? &#123;{u&#124; Sdkb  }&#125;  talk 20:24, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * , it works for creating a new page or a new section (usually for discussion pages). But unfortunately it seems that this is not supported for editing existing whole pages. You can prepare summary of the edit, but preload doesn't work. While trying to figure it out, I found an easy enough way to do the syncing: open source editor on /sandbox page, select all, delete, type, save. You can also add it to the CharInsert toolbar. —⁠andrybak (talk) 20:39, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * The documentation page for InputBox (which is the preload extension installed on enwiki) even mentions it explicitly: Applying create to an existing page simply gives the edit page. In that case preload is ignored. —⁠andrybak (talk) 20:44, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Hmm, interesting. I wonder if it'd be possible to use the preload function so that you could click the mirror button and it'd preload a version of the page that's blanked except for . &#123;{u&#124; Sdkb  }&#125;  talk 20:48, 23 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I was wrong, the "diff" link we've been talking about is generated by Module:Documentation. See usage of the key  at line 368. Template sandbox heading is only used on the X series of sandbox templates (X1 ... X52). —⁠andrybak (talk) 20:53, 23 April 2020 (UTC)

documentation
It would be good use something similart to so the sandbox header never can be deleted (specially, if it is protected from edits).

The template can be similar to doc but changing colors and could be called test or whatever else. Best wishes. --BoldLuis (talk) 13:23, 12 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Me too. I clean the sandbox and sometimes edit and sometimes I see the bot adding back the sandbox header in the history section. And I sometimes see a blank page on the sandbox. 3125ATalk!Contributions! 14:30, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

Protected edit request on 26 May 2020
Please change

to

--Stay safe, ◊ PRAHLAD balaji (M•T•A•C) This message was left at 01:34, 26 May 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ Graham 87 02:18, 26 May 2020 (UTC)

About my sandbox
So is my sandbox private to only me or someone else can see it? User3749 (talk) 04:25, 14 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Everyone can see it. Graham 87 06:08, 14 June 2020 (UTC)

EDIT FILTER EDIT REQUEST (User:Sandbox)
missing unlocked userpage template, should be editable by all users (like User:Jimbo Wales) 95.49.85.227 (talk) 21:11, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
 * IP, this is a documentation page about the sandbox. The sandbox that anyone can edit is at WP:Sandbox. Ed6767  talk!  21:14, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Oh, sorry, I didn't note you meant User:Sandbox - I'll add it if it's necessary. Ed6767  talk!  21:18, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
 * Edit filter blocks the addition of this, so an admin might need to come in and fix this issue. In the meantime, you might want to use the sandbox included with your account. Also, when adding edit requests, please use template markup. Ed6767  talk!  21:21, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
 * I have a way to circumvent the filter: as an (auto)confirmed user, try adding . 95.49.85.227 (talk) 21:27, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
 * This filter 803 excludes User:Sandbox, so you shouldn't experience issues in this regard. If you do, you might want to leave a note on the Edit Filter noticeboard. I can't edit it as the filter will block me too. Ed6767  talk!  21:31, 25 June 2020 (UTC)
 * User:Sandbox's page ID has changed. Don't be afraid to try to copy the code I gave you earlier though - I remember (from experience) that the filter checks for conditions before substituting templates. 95.49.85.227 (talk) 21:35 (edited 21:47), 25 June 2020 (UTC)
 * ✅ - filter was updated yesterday. Ed6767  talk!  20:02, 26 June 2020 (UTC)

Please purge my sandbox revision history
Could you please purge my sandbox revision history at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Maxim_Masiutin/sandbox

I think I should have tools to do that myself, hence it is MY sandbox, but unfortunately I didn't find that tool in my disposition.

Thank you in advance!

-- Maxim Masiutin (talk) 19:34, 7 August 2020 (UTC)
 * Done. You could have had it deleted yourself by tagging it with db-u1. Graham 87 04:18, 8 August 2020 (UTC)

"Module talk:Sandbox" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Module talk:Sandbox. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 January 27 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion. 54nd60x (talk) 07:55, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Sandbox Rules
Can a Sandbox be something pointless. Like a copy of the Homer Simpsons page but his name has been replaced with Peter Friggin? 2601:248:8003:8E50:DD1B:3E:9C41:7D95 (talk) 17:44, 22 September 2020 (UTC)
 * No, that doesn't help to write an encyclopedia. Graham 87 04:25, 23 September 2020 (UTC)
 * I'd have to respectfully disagree with Graham87 - the purpose (and definition) of a sandbox is that you can do whatever you want to do on it (except for launching personal attacks etc.). On Wikipedia, I'm under the impression that sandboxes are to be used in order to test editing skills, so if you want to have the Homer Simpsons page but with the name replaced as Peter Friggin, I think you should be able to! However, I am relatively new to Wikipedia so I'm not an expert. — Preceding unsigned comment added by EvanTaylor1289 (talk • contribs) 21:29, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Nope, see the fake article guideline. Graham 87 01:50, 26 February 2021 (UTC)
 * A project sandbox is neither an article nor an article draft. A project sandbox contains temporary content for testing purposes that is intended to be deleted once the testing is complete.  There could be valid reasons for testing such a copy and replace in a sandbox.  To avoid any confusion with a real article though, it would be best to test such content on the project sandbox (which is automatically deleted in regular intervals) and not in a user sandbox (which is not automatically deleted).  Nicole Sharp (talk) 10:00, 26 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you both EvanTaylor1289 (talk) 17:57, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

Why are people removing the header
People keep removing the header and adding the nobots template to stop it from being put back even though it says specifically not to do that. Why? RteeeeKed (talk) 19:25, 5 April 2021 (UTC)
 * It doesn't matter why, it just matters that it shouldn't be done.
 * Anyway, that kind of edit can be considered vandalism and should be reverted on sight. -- littleb 2009 Have a chat? 00:52, 25 May 2021 (UTC)
 * By the way, the reason why is that the people who do that enjoy disrupting Wikipedia.

"Draft: Foo" listed at Redirects for discussion
A discussion is taking place to address the redirect Draft:Foo. The discussion will occur at Redirects for discussion/Log/2021 June 14 until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  - Jay (Talk) 06:57, 18 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Some clarifications that can be made there: Is Draft: Sandbox allowed to redirect to some other page? What happens to editors who try to go to Draft:Sandbox but reach somewhere else, possibly a page in article space? What should the redirect fix bot do for any redirects to Draft:Sandbox, when it itself is redirected?  - Jay (Talk) 07:01, 18 June 2021 (UTC)

Second sandbox (redux)
Hi I'm new to this, so just learning. I created a sandbox and hit publish - all good I think, although awaiting approval. I then looked up to create a second sandbox as I wanted to create a bio page of the author (of the first page I did) - all good I thought, however I don't know then how to submit the bio article and when I attempt to use move, it states I don't have permission or the name already exists on Wiki but it doesn't - any ideas. Apologies if this is really obvious :( — Preceding unsigned comment added by Veracity000 (talk • contribs) 12:25, 4 January 2021 (UTC)
 * You seemed to have created the sandbox OK ... I'm not quite sure where you were trying to move it to though. Please ask further questions at the teahouse, not here. Graham 87 14:24, 4 January 2021 (UTC)

The Second Sandbox, Cheers! 174.214.16.227 (talk) 00:40, 24 August 2021 (UTC)

Should we protect the sandbox from header removal?
People keep vandalizing the sandbox by removing the header and notice. Should we protect this from happening somehow? Maybe make a bot that quickly reverts all edits related to header editing/removal? Thanks! Aequilaterum (talk) 19:50, 2 October 2021 (UTC)

Trying to separate article drafts on sandbox
I have one article on my sandbox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Greg_Dahlen/sandbox then when I work on a second article and put references on it it puts the references on the first article. How do I separate the articles? I want to use Visual Editor. Thank you. Greg Dahlen (talk) 12:40, 3 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Create a new sandbox at User:Greg Dahlen/sandbox2. Graham 87 15:05, 3 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Graham87 (sorry, I can't figure out how to make your username appear as you made it appear.) As I recall, once I wrote an article in my first sandbox, there was a button I could push to send the article to be reviewed for possible publication on Wikipedia. I did write and publish a phrase, along with a citation, on sandbox2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Greg_Dahlen/sandbox2 but I didn't get that button to send the phrase + cite to be reviewed for inclusion. (Not that I would send it to be reviewed because it isn't a real article draft, but I just wanted to see if the button would appear). Would you know why I got it on the first sandbox, but not on this one? Greg Dahlen (talk) 16:25, 3 October 2021 (UTC)
 * There's no need to replicate my signature; all you need to do to reply to someone is use the template replyto. To get the code about submitting an article as a draft, use User sandbox. For more questions like this about Wikipedia, ask at the teahouse. Graham 87 04:37, 4 October 2021 (UTC)

Sandbox for user welcomes?
Hello there, fellow Wikipedians. So, I’m currently using Twinkle right now, and I was wondering: since we already have a sandbox for user warnings, is there a sandbox for user welcomes? I’m asking this since I would like to test out welcoming users as well. Thanks. 3PPYB6 (talk) 17:22, 17 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Nope, you can do it on the user warnings sandbox page. Graham 87 04:41, 18 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Ah, that’s what I thought. Well, thanks for letting me know. 3PPYB6 (talk) 12:07, 18 October 2021 (UTC)

Clearing the sandbox as a user
Could users actually clear the sandbox to help the regular bot that is clearing the sandbox? If users could clear sandboxes, is this rule possible? Severestorm28 (talk) 13:42, 21 November 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes they can. Graham 87 14:43, 21 November 2021 (UTC)

Draft articles
There are many users creating draft articles on the sandbox and there needs to be a warning not to because it is very visible on Wikipedia and is very likely to be vandalised or tested with. 184.19.98.82 (talk) 21:59, 9 January 2022 (UTC)


 * agreed 2603:7080:C53B:6D00:50BF:3886:7C58:D010 (talk) 22:10, 11 April 2022 (UTC)

at what interval is the sandbox reset?
Is it every 10 minutes? 30? It should be stated in the template box thing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:7080:c53b:6d00:50bf:3886:7c58:d010 (talk) 22:09, 11 April 2022 (UTC)
 * The main one is cleared out every hour, per the user page of the current sandbox-clearing bot. However, these bots come and go, so I think it would be unwise to add this information in any template because it would quickly become out-of-date. Graham 87 04:28, 12 April 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 May 2022
remove Module:Sandbox as it is not a sandbox and is template-protected. 67.21.154.193 (talk) 13:26, 18 May 2022 (UTC)
 * I've changed the wording of this entry. As you've pointed out, Module:Sandbox is not a sandbox, but sub-pages of that page are. -- John of Reading (talk) 14:20, 18 May 2022 (UTC)