Wikimedia Forum/Archives/2021-01

2021 Ombuds Commission nomination process now open!

Hi everyone! It's coming close to time for annual appointments of community members to serve on the Ombudsman commission (OC). This commission works on all Wikimedia projects to investigate complaints about violations of the privacy policy, especially in use of CheckUser and Oversight tools, and to mediate between the complaining party and the individual whose work is being investigated. They may also assist the General Counsel, the Executive Director or the Board of Trustees in investigations of these issues. For more on their duties and roles, see Ombuds commission.

This is a call for community members interested in volunteering for appointment to this commission. Volunteers serving in this role should be experienced Wikimedians, active on any project, who have previously used the CheckUser/Oversight tools OR who have the technical ability to understand these tools and the willingness to learn them. They are expected to be able to engage neutrally in investigating these concerns and to know when to recuse when other roles and relationships may cause conflict.

Commissioners are required to identify to the Wikimedia Foundation and must be willing to comply with the appropriate Wikimedia Foundation board policies (such as the access to non-public data policy and the privacy policy). This is a position that requires a high degree of discretion and trust.

If you are interested in serving on this commission, please write me an email at kbrownwikimediaorg to detail your experience on the projects, your thoughts on the commission and what you hope to bring to the role. The commission consists of ten members; all applications are appreciated and will be carefully considered. The deadline for applications is end of day on 31 December, 2020.

Please feel free to pass this invitation along to any users who you think may be qualified and interested. Thank you! Kbrown (WMF) (talk) 14:05, 1 October 2020 (UTC)

Wikipedia logo

Is there someone that could kindly help me for the typing the words of the Wikipedia-logo-v2-mnc-mong.svg? Thanks in advance!!! --2001:B07:6442:8903:114C:5B64:1525:4643 11:46, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I believe it says WIKIPEDIA, THE FREE ENCYCLOPEDIA. - BlackWidowMovie0 (talk) 11:56, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Appointment & Removal policy for AFH

There is an ongoing proposal to add appointment and removal policy for the abuse filter helpers global group, see Talk:Abuse filter helpers#Appointment & Removal. Thanks! -- CptViraj (talk) 15:34, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Translating Wikipedia 20 at Wikimedia Foundation's website

Hey! I wanna translate this to Finnish. Is it possible? Jnovikov (talk) 10:58, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

@Jnovikov Thanks for offering that. Yes, you can! Send an email to Wikipedia20Wikimediaorg and we will share the materials for your use. Per the Wikimedia Foundation website CC license, you can also copy and modify the site content for new use. --Selsharbaty (WMF) (talk) 20:19, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

Great! I sent email. Jnovikov (talk) 20:30, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

It's time for Timeless ?

Hello,

I come to you in order to open a debate on the skin. Is the Vector skin still suitable for our time and uses ? Wouldn’t Timeless skin do a better job than Vector skin ? In order to keep a graphical consistency between all Wiki projects and all languages, I think it would be more interesting to start this discussion directly at the meta project. Excuse me for my English. Menthe 555 (talk) 14:54, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

@Menthe 555: Hi. You might be interested in the ongoing mw:Reading/Web/Desktop Improvements project. :) Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 19:58, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

Huge video at Wikipedia 20 page https://wikimediafoundation.org/wikipedia20/

The video at https://wikimediafoundation.org/wikipedia20/ is huge, more than 300 MB for a two minute video. Is that a mistake? Vpab15 (talk) 18:30, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi @Vpab15! You can find the video here on Commons. It should be smaller in size, if you would like to download it. Hope that helps. --Selsharbaty (WMF) (talk) 20:05, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

Yes you're right Vpab15, it's about 340 MB. Must be a mistake, and it should be corrected swiftly because for some people it can be very expensive. Nemo 20:25, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

Sorry about that. We're looking at the reason behind the video size on the website right now. Thank you for flagging this!--Selsharbaty (WMF) (talk) 21:00, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

The video is still unplayable for me. It takes ages to load. Not everybody has an ultrafast internet connection. Vpab15 (talk) 12:31, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

Hi all. the big video size issue on the website has been solved. Thanks for flagging it and please keep updating us if anything comes up. --Selsharbaty (WMF) (talk) 10:22, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Software in Use

Hello,

I am interested in using Free Software. Is there a overview about the Software that is in use at the Wikimedia Foundation. I want to understand what for propietary Software is used and why. As far as I remember for some surveys there was used Qualtrics. Wikimedia Germany [1] published the source code of some of their tools and they include forms and I think it is possible to use one of their tools and change the content to the specific need. This where a possibility to stop using external services for forms. This brings more trust of the users. --Hogü-456 (talk) 19:22, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

See FLOSS-Exchange, mw:Upstream projects. Nemo 20:23, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

enwiki 20th birthday CentralNotice accessibility

The 20th birthday banner on enwiki is not accessible to users who don't or can't use a mouse – the link to https://wikimediafoundation.org/wikipedia20 is a horrible JavaScript click event listener when it should just be a simple <a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/wikipedia20">, and the close button is a <span> with an event listener when it should be a <button>, or at least have a role="button". I can't find where the banner is kept in order to fix it – it looks like WP20_test4_EveryoneParty, judging by m:Special:CentralNoticeBanners, but I'm "not authorized to preview banners", so I guess I can't. Could this be fixed by someone who has permissions? Sorrel (talk) 02:04, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for sharing this feedback. We have passed this to our colleagues working on the CN banner. --Selsharbaty (WMF) (talk) 19:46, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

Announcing the 2021 Ombuds Commission

The application period for new commissioners for 2021 recently closed. The Wikimedia Foundation is extremely grateful to the many experienced and insightful volunteers who offered to assist with this work.

Because the OC may be asked to provide insights into community governance issues tied into UCoC phase two this year, we are experimenting with expanding the Commission. This year’s OC will consist of ten members rather than eight, with a two-member advisory team who will guide the new commission and also, if necessary, fill in in the event that the OC is unable to act due to incapacity or recusal.

I am pleased to announce the composition of the 2021 OC:

Extended content
Acagastya <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Acagastya> Agastya has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2014, and is primarily active on English Wikinews serving as an administrator and has been accredited reporter since 2017. Agastya is also active on Commons, and speaks English, Hindi and Gujarati. AGK <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:AGK> AGK has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2008. He is primarily active on English Wikipedia, where he is an administrator, Checkuser, and Oversighter and has served as an Arbitrator. AGK has been a member of the Ombuds Commission since 2020. Ameisenigel <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ameisenigel> Ameisenigel has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2015. He is primarily active on German Wikipedia, where he serves as an Arbitrator. He is also active as an translation admin on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons and on Meta. Ameisenigel speaks German and English. Emufarmers <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Emufarmers> Emufarmers has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2005. He is a Metapedian who primarily edits the English Wikipedia; he is also a bureaucrat and sysop on MediaWiki.org, and has provided software support to many third-party, non-Wikimedia wikis over the years. He has served as an OTRS administrator since 2015. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2019. Faendalimas <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Faendalimas> Scott Thomson, user:Faendalimas, has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2006. Based in Brazil, he is a taxonomist and evolutionary biologist and his main editing interest is reptiles and amphibians. He is most active on WikiSpecies, where he is a bureaucrat, Checkuser, and administrator. JJMC89 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:JJMC89> JJMC89 has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2015. He is primarily active on the English Wikipedia, where he has more than 300,000 edits and is an administrator and bot operator, and Commons. He also serves as a tool administrator on UTRS. Moheen <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Moheen> Moheen Reeyad, user:Moheen, has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2010. He is active on Commons, Bengali Wikipedia, Wikidata, and English Wikipedia and is an administrator on Commons and Bengali Wikipedia. He is currently a Board member of Wikimedia Bangladesh and lives in Chattogram. Moheen speaks Bengali and English. MrJaroslavik <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:MrJaroslavik>; MrJaroslavik has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2017. He is primarily active on Czech Wikipedia and Meta. MrJaroslavik speaks Czech and English. ProtoplasmaKid <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:ProtoplasmaKid> Ivan has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2006. He is primarily active on Spanish Wikipedia and Spanish Wikinews and as an administrator on both of those projects. He helped found Wikimedia Mexico in 2011 and was the Wikimania 2015 Chief Coordinator. He has participated in a number of movement committees, including Grant Advisory Committee. He speaks English, Portuguese, and Spanish. Superpes15 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Superpes15> Superpes15 has been contributing to Wikimedia projects since 2010. He is primarily active on Italian Wikipedia and are a member of the Small Wiki Monitoring Team. He is an administrator on Italian Wikipedia and serves as a global renamer. He speaks Italian and English. The 2021 OC advisors are: Ajraddatz <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ajraddatz> Ajraddatz has been an active user on Wikimedia since 2010, and has served in various roles of community trust in that time, including as a Wikidata Oversighter since 2013, a steward between 2014 and 2020, and a Meta CheckUser since 2015. Galahad <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Galahad> Carlos, currently editing as user:Galahad, has been contributing to Wikimedia Projects since 2009. He is a member of Wikimedia Venezuela and a founding member of Wikimedia Small Projects User Group. He primarily contributes to Spanish-language projects including Spanish Wikipedia and Spanish Wikivoyage. He has been an administrator and bureaucrat of Spanish Wikivoyage since 2013. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2019. Their willingness to remain, to bring their familiarity with processes and their experience to the new arrivals, is greatly appreciated! Please join me in thanking the following volunteers who are leaving OC, who have given substantially of their time to serve the commission: DeltaQuad <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:DeltaQuad> Amanda has been editing Wikipedia since 2009, when she made her first edits to English Wikipedia. She has served many roles in the past including being a sysop, holding advanced permissions and serving on an Arbitration Committee for 4 years. She will continue to support the English Wikipedia and reach out to global communities through her service and tools she develops. Elmacenderesi <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Elmacenderesi> Elmacenderesi has been working on Wikimedia projects since 2007, primarily on the Turkish Wikipedia. There, he has been a CheckUser and a Bureaucrat since 2008 and an Oversighter since 2011. He is also a member of Wikimedia OTRS and serves as a global outreach coordinator, working with academic institutions and GLAMs, for The Wikipedia Library. He has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2018. Taketa <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Taketa> Taketa has been a Wikimedian since 2008 and has held a number of positions in his time here, including Administrator and Bureaucrat on the Dutch Wikipedia, Arbitrator on Dutch Wikipedia, Administrator on Wikidata, Steward, and member of the Ombuds Commission. He has created about 7000 new articles in several language Wikipedias. He currently serves on the board of Wikimedia Belgium. Teles <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Teles> Lucas became a Wikipedian in 2007 and started to engage with CheckUser rights in 2009, when he became a local CU on the Portuguese Wikipedia. He held both Oversight and Checkuser rights on Ptwiki between 2015 and 2017, when his term with the rights expired. He is currently an administrator on Commons and Ptwiki. His traditional main focus has been on anti-vandalism work. In 2012, the global community elected him as a steward, a position he held until 2020. He served on the Ombuds Commission for 2018. Uzoma Ozurumba <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Uzoma_Ozurumba> Uzoma Ozurumba has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2017. She contributes primarily to Meta, Commons, and the Igbo Wiktionary, of which she is a founder. She is a co-founder of the Igbo Wikimedians User Group and serves as a Strategy Liaison for that group. She served on the OC in 2020. Wikilover90 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wikilover90> Rupika has been editing Wikimedia projects since 2014. A free knowledge advocate, she edits primarily on Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata and is administrator on Punjabi Wikisource. She organizes events such as Wiki Loves Folklore and Wiki Loves Women. She has been supporting in activating the Open Movement in North India via various Open GLAM initiatives such as Heritage GLAM. She has served on the Ombuds Commission since 2019.

I'd also like to say a big thank you to those returning and those coming aboard for the first time, as well as to all those applied. Again, it was an extremely able group of volunteers, and while this mix of users may best serve the need for this year, I hope that those who applied will consider applying again for future commissions. Kbrown (WMF) (talk) 12:40, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

Serbian Wikimedia

Dear Wikipedists and Wikimedists,

a your ago a group of people consisting the Wikimedia of Serbia issued a document which banned a certain person from visiting meetings organized by the Wikimedia of Serbia.

I am providing you with a translation of the document

Dear sir ... ...,

I am addressing you as a legal representative of the Serbian Wikimedia regarding the friendly space policies which was adopted at the 20th extraordinary session of the Assembly of Serbian Wikimedia held on December 9th, 2018.

In the above-cited friendly space policies it is prescribed:

„Harassment also implies displaying vulgar images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, persecution, unwanted tracking, disturbing photographing or recording, constant interruption of conversation or other events, inappropriate physical contact and unwanted sexual attention.“

In this regard, I take the opportunity to inform you that a number of members of Serbian Wikipedia have informed us that your behavior and conduct have got the mark which is not allowed in accordance to the above-cited friendly space policies which represent a general act of Serbian Wikimedia.

Additionally, on February 6th, 2020 at about 10 A. M. without notice you directly came into contact with our legal representative, the lawyer Strahinja Mavrenski in the way that you without notice, standing before the office of lawyer Strahinja Mavrenski, requested a meeting, answers and explanations and you did not act according to warnings of the lawyer despite the fact that the lawyer had warned you that you could not enter the office without notice since the same behaviour would represent a violation of lawyer office and that he was not allowed to advise you since he represented another client who you had conflicting interests with.

No one can invoke their ignorance of law, and not only your behavior may represent a violation of the freedom of advocacy according to the law of advocacy, but it is also contrary to the provision of Article 9 Paragraph 4 Item 2 of the Statute of Serbian Wikimedia on which basis the Serbian Wikimedia adopted its friendly space policies which you violated with your rude behavior

Bearing the above in mind and in accordance with the authorization provided by the above-cited friendly space policies we inform you that you have been denied the right to attend events, meetings, conferences and other kinds of public gatherings organized by Serbian Wikimedia.

If you continue behaving in the same manner and if you, despite this note, come to one of public meetings organized by Serbian Wikimedia, we will be forced to report the mentioned behavior to competent institutions.

Miroslav Loci (m. p.)

So it is clear that the Executive Board of Wikimedia of Serbia hired a lawyer whose main task was to charge the person who had been proclaimed persona non grata by some members of Wikimedia of Serbia. The lawyer was paid for that service with the money provided by the donations made by people around the globe. The lawyer cooperated with the Wikimedia until a some time ago. As far as I know he expected more money for his "services" which I you can see do not have anything in common with the principle of free knowledge.

I can assure you that the banned person is not troublesome. In fact, he befriended a lot of people visiting Wikimedia's meetings and only few poeple which are members of Wikimedia's boards can not stand him due to some reasons. I think that no person can be banned from visiting meetings organized by Wikimedia's, especially those who made contributions to the Wikipedia.--Владимир Нимчевић (talk) 16:03, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

You will need to look up WM Serbia's page(s) look at their constitution and what it allows them to do. Though of course they can prohibit people from their meetings if they so choose and they have followed a due process and their rules allow it.  — billinghurst sDrewth 04:57, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Question

How do I appeal a siteban (community, not ArbCom) on en.wiki, dating back to Christmas Eve 2018? I used to be called “Lojbanist”, but my new SUL account (if I make one; I’m okay with being an IP editor) probably won’t have any variation of that name. I feel like I have matured in these 2 years, and I want to be able to contribute to en.wiki again. Which mailing list or IRC channel do I have to contact to appeal? 2001:569:BD7D:6E00:6DBB:3DCF:E9D8:97C8 01:39, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Follow that local wiki's process for appealing a block/ban in their block/unblock policy.  — billinghurst sDrewth 04:53, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

So UTRS? 2001:569:BD7D:6E00:5042:9D10:682:CD3A 14:49, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

You will need to deal with your global lock first. sulutil:Lojbanist. Since you revealed your password on your own, there is practically no chance you will be unlocked. — regards, Revi 15:02, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Moving Wikimania 2021 to a Virtual Event

Hello. Apologies if you are not reading this message in your native language. Please help translate to your language. Thank you!

Wikimania will be a virtual event this year, and hosted by a wide group of community members. Whenever the next in-person large gathering is possible again, the ESEAP Core Organizing Team will be in charge of it. Stay tuned for more information about how you can get involved in the planning process and other aspects of the event. Please read the longer version of this announcement on wikimedia-l.

ESEAP Core Organizing Team, Wikimania Steering Committee, Wikimedia Foundation Events Team, 15:15, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Logo for Wikifunctions wiki

The upcoming Wikifunctions wiki needs a logo. Please help us to: discuss the overall goals of the logo, to propose design ideas and specific designs, and to give feedback on other designs - until 23 February. More details about design recommendations and ideas are on the talkpage. You can read an explanation about "functions" and the related Abstract Wikipedia initiative on the main project page. Thank you! Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 22:38, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Project Grant Open Call

This is the announcement for the Project Grants program open call that started on January 11, with the submission deadline of February 10, 2021.
This first open call will be focussed on Community Organizing proposals. A second open call focused on research and software proposals is scheduled from February 15 with a submission deadline of March 16, 2021.

For the Round 1 open call, we invite you to propose grant applications that fall under community development and organizing (offline and online) categories. Project Grant funds are available to support individuals, groups, and organizations to implement new experiments and proven ideas, from organizing a better process on your wiki, coordinating a campaign or editathon series to providing other support for community building. We offer the following resources to help you plan your project and complete a grant proposal:

• Weekly proposals clinics via Zoom during the Open Call. Join us for #Upcoming_Proposal_Clinics|real-time discussions with Program Officers and select thematic experts and get live feedback about your Project Grants proposal. We’ll answer questions and help you make your proposal better. We also offer these support pages to help you build your proposal:
• Video tutorials for writing a strong application
  
• General planning page for Project Grants
  
• Program guidelines and criteria
  

Program officers are also available to offer individualized proposal support upon request. Contact us if you would like feedback or more information.

We are excited to see your grant ideas that will support our community and make an impact on the future of Wikimedia projects. Put your idea into motion, and submit your proposal by February 10, 2021!

Please feel free to get in touch with questions about getting started with your grant application, or about serving on the Project Grants Committee. Contact us at projectgrantswikimedia.org. Please help us translate this message to your local language. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:00, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

New Project Proposal (WikiMentor)

I think people will like this project proposal. It's called WikiMentor, and is a place for people to mentor, or to be mentored. Enjoy, and put your name down if you're interested! WikiMentor Link Proposal BlackWidowMovie0 (talk) 20:30, 5 January 2021 (UTC)

Due to differences between project types and between languages, this would be best done "within each project," at least on larger projects. There may be a place for a "multilingual" or "multiproject within one language or set of related language" mentorship system, but it could be hosted here on Meta rather than be its own project. Davidwr/talk 00:32, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

@Davidwr: I would  Support that. BlackWidowMovie0 (talk) 11:58, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

I quite like the idea of having a general Mentorship program that could draw resources from all other projects on Wikimedia as needed. I don't know how mentors would be verified and how the general thing would be structured, but i think this could be interesting if organized well.  Support a mentorship program hosted on Meta,  Oppose an independent project because it would be infrastructure overkill, in my opinion. YuriNikolai (talk) 16:34, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Is the usage of Wikimedia logos in community publication fine?

I seek to use File:Wikimedia logo white.svg in the PDF version of the Wikipedian, one of the zhwiki local Wikimedia community publication. Does the usage of the logo meet Trademark policy#policy-noncommercial? Or I have to apply for a license as Trademark policy#policy-publications says, since PDF is a sort of publication? —— Eric Liu_{（留言．百科用戶頁）} 15:58, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

It depends on how the logo is used in the Wikipedian. Ruslik (talk) 20:02, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

@Ruslik0:If it were solely used as a symbol on the back cover, to show that the Wikipedian is a Wikimedia community publication? —— Eric Liu_{（留言．百科用戶頁）} 09:42, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

@Ericliu1912: See Trademark policy. --ZabeMath (talk) 17:40, 25 February 2021 (UTC)