Hello: I am very new to this, so please forgive me if my terminology is a bit off.

I am an author, currently writing a book on the history of the diffusion of knowledge. I am just coming to the end of the book's Part Three, which is about the storage of knowledge - libraries, encyclopaedias, that sort of thing. I will finish the chapter by talking about the history of Wikipedia.

So - I was happily writing along on the evening of March 27, about the invention of hypertext, and the naming of this concept in 1965 by Ted Nelson. To check on his biography I looked him up on Wikipedia, only to find to my great surprise that he had died, and on the very day, March 27 2022, that I was writing about him. The coincidence was so odd I wrote a footnote on my page, and then a Tweet, saying how odd, and how additionally odd that there were no obits about him, despite his considerable fame in the computer world.

Next morning I found out why. He wasn't dead at all. Nor were some ten other people who had been killed off, as it were, by the same anonymous person. And which led me to you, since your name is up on the page relating to all of this mayhem.

I have many questions - not the least of them: how does one find out the identity of the scoundrel who did this, and presumably gets some bizarre thrill from doing such things. But assuming that is one thing I'll never find out - how can I learn a little more about the process that drives Wikipedia's army of volunteer verifiers or administrators? I would like to know some of the jargon - there are references to socks, for example - and of the hierarchies within the administration who manage to keep Wikipedia clean and accurate and fair, and it generally now seems to be.

Any help you might be able to offer, I'd be most grateful. My email is simonwinchester@mac.com, my Twitter @simonwwriter. Here or anywhere, any help or suggestions would be very welcome. There is a wikipedia entry and just for now it seems more less right. I ope posting this doesn't put it at risk!

Thanks for reading this, if you or anyone else did.

Simon Winchester. Massachusetts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Simonw46 (talk • contribs) 21:08, 31 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Simon, identities are private in Wikipedia, even for vandals. You might find WP:ADMIN, WP:VANDAL, and WP:SOCK useful reading. PhilKnight (talk) 09:03, 1 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (March 2022).

Administrator changes Firefly • Sdrqaz Ad Orientem Geschichte • Ryan Postlethwaite • Sabine's Sunbird • Wassupwestcoast

Interface administrator changes Evad37

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC is open proposing a change to the minimum activity requirements for administrators.

Technical news

• Access to Special:RevisionDelete has been expanded to include users who have the deletelogentry and deletedhistory rights. This means that those in the Researcher user group and Checkusers who are not administrators can now access Special:RevisionDelete. The users able to view the special page after this change are the 3 users in the Researcher group, as there are currently no checkusers who are not already administrators. (T301928)
• When viewing deleted revisions or diffs on Special:Undelete a back link to the undelete page for the associated page is now present. (T284114)

Arbitration

• Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee/Procedures § Opening of proceedings has been updated to reflect current practice following a motion.
• A arbitration case regarding Skepticism and coordinated editing has been closed.
• A arbitration case regarding WikiProject Tropical Cyclones has been opened.

Miscellaneous

• Voting for the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines has closed, and the results were that 56.98% of voters supported the guidelines. The results of this vote mean the Wikimedia Foundation Board will now review the guidelines.

22:53, 15 April 2022 (UTC)

I think it's a WP:DUCK for a Spanish IP blocked by Widr.   –Skywatcher68 (talk) 13:47, 21 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for letting me know. I will extend the block. PhilKnight (talk) 21:09, 21 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi there... you might want to revoke talk page access for IQBAL Hasan JCD, as they're still posting self-promotional content on their user talk page after you blocked them. Thanks. --Drm310 🍁 (talk) 16:12, 28 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, they haven't edited since the block. PhilKnight (talk) 16:26, 28 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi PhilKnight. Just letting you know about this as a courtesy. I think there’s probably no need for further clarification unless you or another oversighter/admin want to explain the specific policies that were applied or the processes that were involved. — Marchjuly (talk) 19:20, 3 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Marchjuly, thanks for letting me know. PhilKnight (talk) 20:29, 3 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

• Congtynemliena
• Timthuoc1
• Babuki
• Dientuhoanghai

Hello. These are probably spambots as well. Kindly take a look. --Minorax^«¦talk¦» 12:39, 5 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. All blocked. 13:01, 5 May 2022 (UTC)

News and updates for administrators from the past month (April 2022).

Administrator changes Colin M David.Monniaux • Fribbler • Grue • Kpjas • West.andrew.g

CheckUser changes Ks0stm Oversighter changes Ks0stm

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, a change has been made to the administrators inactivity policy. Under the new policy, if an administrator has not made at least 100 edits over a period of 5 years they may be desysopped for inactivity.
• Following a discussion on the bureaucrat's noticeboard, a change has been made to the bureaucrats inactivity policy.

Technical news

• The ability to undelete the associated talk page when undeleting a page has been added. This was the 11th wish of the 2021 Community Wishlist Survey.
• A public status system for WMF wikis has been created. It is located at https://www.wikimediastatus.net/ and is hosted separately to WMF wikis so in the case of an outage it will remain viewable.

Arbitration

• Remedy 2 of the St Christopher case has been rescinded following a motion. The remedy previously authorised administrators to place a ban on single-purpose accounts who were disruptively editing on the article St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine or related pages from those pages.

Hey! Could you revoke the TPA of the IP 180.253.44.41? They clearly aren't using their talk page to request an unblock (in fact, they removed the warnings and block notice, the block notice has to remain) ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 14:44, 17 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

 Done PhilKnight (talk) 15:04, 17 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! I made a post about this at WP:ANI as well since you were taking a few minutes to respond (understandably) and the IP continued. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 15:09, 17 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Phil, just to let you know that 103.216.213.40 (talk · contribs · WHOIS) that you blocked for 6 months is continuing disruption as 103.216.213.41 (talk · contribs · WHOIS). Cheers, — kashmīrī ^TALK 21:05, 21 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Kashmiri, thanks for letting me know. I have now blocked the IP. PhilKnight (talk) 08:25, 22 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. — kashmīrī ^TALK 09:13, 22 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (May 2022).

Administrator changes Tamzin Barek • Darkwind • Geometry guy • ProcseeBot • RoyBoy • Sean Whitton • Valereee • Visorstuff • WAvegetarian Sn0wflake → VersedFenrir

CheckUser changes Ivanvector

Guideline and policy news

• Several areas of improvement collated from community member votes have been identified in the Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement guidelines. The areas of improvement have been sent back for review and you are invited to provide input on these areas.

Technical news

• Administrators using the mobile web interface can now access Special:Block directly from user pages. (T307341)
• The IP Info feature has been deployed to all wikis as a Beta Feature. Any autoconfirmed user may enable the feature using the "IP info" checkbox under Preferences → Beta features. Autoconfirmed users will be able to access basic information about an IP address that includes the country and connection method. Those with advanced privileges (admin, bureaucrat, checkuser) will have access to extra information that includes the Internet Service Provider and more specific location.

Arbitration

• Remedy 2 of the Rachel Marsden case has been rescinded following a motion. The remedy previously authorised administrators to delete or reduce to a stub, together with their talk pages, articles related to Rachel Marsden when they violate Wikipedia's biographies of living persons policy.
• An arbitration case regarding WikiProject Tropical Cyclones has been closed.

Hello! I wanted to bring this edit summary to your attention. I don't know how to request these things to be redacted, so I figured I would let you know, as it should probably be struck through (I guess that's waht it would be called.) Thank you for your time, and have a great weekend! SPF121188 ^{(talk this way) (contribs)} 19:58, 10 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi SPF121188, I've revision deleted the edit summary. PhilKnight (talk) 20:06, 10 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hello! I see you just commented on this page. Thank you. Please note I sent an urgent email to Oversight for suppression of some personal information on the page that would put the lives of the people mentioned in the article at risk considering the terrorism threats in the area faced by political leaders. I suggested it be removed and historical edit history suppressed as soon as possible. Kindly please can you assist by reviewing. Thank you very much! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Africakenya (talk • contribs) 21:44, 19 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

[1]: you might be interested. Courtesy: DaxServer. Thanks. Dr.Pinsky (talk) 10:05, 27 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

lol 😂 — DaxServer (t · m · c) 10:10, 27 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Just weird. Thanks for letting me know. PhilKnight (talk) 11:33, 27 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (June 2022).

Administrator changes AA • Gwalla • Ioeth • Laurascudder • Moriori (deceased) • Nat • Rfl Drilnoth → AFigureOfBlue Bureaucrat changes Lee Vilenski

Interface administrator changes Nihiltres

Technical news

• user_global_editcount is a new variable that can be used in abuse filters to avoid affecting globally active users. (T130439)

Arbitration

• An arbitration case regarding conduct in deletion-related editing has been opened.

Miscellaneous

• The New Pages Patrol queue has around 10,000 articles to be reviewed. As all administrators have the patrol right, please consider helping out. The queue is here. For further information on the state of the project, see the latest NPP newsletter.

Someone needs to take away his internet access but I suppose just taking away his TPA may do. PRAXIDICAE🌈 19:31, 22 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

TheresNoTime has revoked talk page access. PhilKnight (talk) 06:58, 23 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Didja forget to actually block this one? --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 04:47, 26 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. PhilKnight (talk) 08:16, 26 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (July 2022).

Administrator changes

Valereee

Anthony Appleyard (deceased) • Capitalistroadster • Samsara

Guideline and policy news

• An RfC has been closed with consensus to add javascript that will show edit notices for editors editing via a mobile device. This only works for users using a mobile browser, so iOS app editors will still not be able to see edit notices.
• An RfC has been closed with the consensus that train stations are not inherently notable.

Technical news

• The Wikimania 2022 Hackathon will take place virtually from 11 August to 14 August.
• Administrators will now see links on user pages for "Change block" and "Unblock user" instead of just "Block user" if the user is already blocked. (T308570)

Arbitration

• The arbitration case request Geschichte has been automatically closed after a 3 month suspension of the case.

Miscellaneous

• You can vote for candidates in the 2022 Board of Trustees elections from 16 August to 30 August. Two community elected seats are up for election.
• Wikimania 2022 is taking place virtually from 11 August to 14 August. The schedule for wikimania is listed here. There are also a number of in-person events associated with Wikimania around the world.
• Tech tip: When revision-deleting on desktop, hold ⇧ Shift between clicking two checkboxes to select every box in that range.

Thanks for the blocks here. I just wanted to make sure you did not miss blocking his third account Abdullagh, otherwise he'll probably just keep trying to make autobiographies with that one. Uhai (talk · contribs) 17:06, 7 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Now blocked. PhilKnight (talk) 17:11, 7 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Phil, the IP 185.53.198.141 who you just blocked for 48 hrs is now making legal threats on their talk page [User talk:185.53.198.141]. Netherzone (talk) 06:08, 14 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Reverted and talk page access revoked. PhilKnight (talk) 06:16, 14 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you Netherzone (talk) 06:17, 14 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Same just occurred on IP 185.53.199.29 too. Zinnober9 (talk) 18:33, 14 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. PhilKnight (talk) 18:35, 14 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Philknight Sock of Iamsilax is back now as Samir Bishal mostly same edits and interested in bengali articles also created Articles without Draftify articles which is same as previous sock [2].117.226.155.138 (talk) 19:51, 24 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest you file a WP:SPI. PhilKnight (talk) 15:10, 25 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hey, I can't file SPI cause the main account Kolkatacine there are no SPI page created about that account, if you create an SPI page for that account then I can file. 117.227.98.27 (talk) 18:43, 25 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry for the delay. I have created Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Kolkatacine. PhilKnight (talk) 11:12, 27 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Philknight: I can't file the SPI cause there are error of automated filter, can you file it ? 117.227.50.66 (talk) 12:51, 27 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Given that another admin has blocked you for harassment, I am not going to help any further. PhilKnight (talk) 08:13, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

• Phil, if you're going to leave that shell you created, it would be helpful if you'd comment. At the moment, it looks like a mistake.--Bbb23 (talk) 13:14, 27 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the tip Bbb23. PhilKnight (talk) 15:05, 27 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Given your latest comments, I've deleted the shell SPI per WP:G6. If that was wrong, please feel free to restore, although it was already creating some confusion for others.--Bbb23 (talk) 13:40, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks Bbb23. PhilKnight (talk) 14:51, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

No problem. Not sure if you know, but generally when an IP wants to create a new SPI, they create the SPI Talk page and request that it be moved to the project page. In that way, they can create the entire SPI including the required evidence before the SPI is created.--Bbb23 (talk) 15:01, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the advice. PhilKnight (talk) 13:11, 29 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

• For what it's worth, I'm fairly sure the IP is Blogs19 --Blablubbs (talk) 15:53, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

• Your views on who is a sock are generally worth quite a bit.--Bbb23 (talk) 16:05, 28 August 2022 (UTC)[reply]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (August 2022).

Administrator changes DanCherek • DatGuy • Femke • Z1720 Aldux • Graham Beards • Nyttend

Interface administrator changes Mr. Stradivarius

Guideline and policy news

• A discussion is open to define a process by which Vector 2022 can be made the default for all users.
• An RfC is open to gain consensus on whether Fox News is reliable for science and politics.

Technical news

• The impact report on the effects of disabling IP editing on the Persian (Farsi) Wikipedia has been released.
• The WMF is looking into making a Private Incident Reporting System (PIRS) system to improve the reporting of harmful incidents through easier and safer reporting. You can leave comments on the talk page by answering the questions provided. Users who have faced harmful situations are also invited to join a PIRS interview to share the experience. To sign up please email Madalina Ana.

Arbitration

• An arbitration case regarding Conduct in deletion-related editing has been closed. The Arbitration Committee passed a remedy as part of the final decision to create a request for comment (RfC) on how to handle mass nominations at Articles for Deletion (AfD).
• The arbitration case request Jonathunder has been automatically closed after a 6 month suspension of the case.

Miscellaneous

• The new pages patrol (NPP) team has prepared an appeal to the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) for assistance with addressing Page Curation bugs and requested features. You are encouraged to read the open letter before it is sent, and if you support it, consider signing it. It is not a discussion, just a signature will suffice.
• Voting for candidates for the Wikimedia Board of Trustees is open until 6 September.

Cheers for ur help guvna! Ur a real Phil-anthropist Stephanie921 (talk) 15:32, 2 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

No problem. PhilKnight (talk) 15:36, 2 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hope my joke made u laugh :) Stephanie921 (talk) 15:37, 2 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, it did. :) PhilKnight (talk) 15:39, 2 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Wonderful, have a lovely day :D Stephanie921 (talk) 15:39, 2 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Dear sir, I noticed some users keep adding many nonsense things to the page WanBi Tuấn Anh, you can read here.
I suspect those are sockpuppets created by one person. Can you please check their IP and block them if they are indeed the same person?
Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
SamNg311 (talk) 17:47, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Sam

Hi Sam, I have blocked Aktm 2019 (talk · contribs) indefinitely. PhilKnight (talk) 17:56, 18 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you so much. Have a good day, sir :D
SamNg311 (talk) 16:08, 19 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

You might wanna remove the TPA of the user you just blocked. ― Blaze Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 15:32, 21 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. PhilKnight (talk) 15:35, 21 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

News and updates for administrators from the past month (September 2022).

Administrator changes ScottishFinnishRadish Staxringold Ahoerstemeier (deceased) • Ched

Interface administrator changes Cyberpower678 CheckUser changes GorillaWarfare

Guideline and policy news

• Following an RfC, consensus was found that if the rationale for a block depends on information that is not available to all administrators, that information should be sent to the Arbitration Committee, a checkuser or an oversighter for action (as applicable, per ArbCom's recent updated guidance) instead of the administrator making the block.
• Following an RfC, consensus has been found that, in the context of politics and science, the reliability of FoxNews.com is unclear and that additional considerations apply to its use.
• Community comment on the revised Universal Code of Conduct enforcement guidelines is requested until 8 October.

Technical news

• The Articles for creation helper script now automatically recognises administrator accounts which means your name does not need to be listed at WP:AFCP to help out. If you wish to help out at AFC, enable AFCH by navigating to Preferences → Gadgets and checking the "Yet Another AfC Helper Script" box.

Arbitration

• Remedy 8.1 of the Muhammad images case will be rescinded 1 November following a motion.
• A modification to the deletion RfC remedy in the Conduct in deletion-related editing case has been made to reaffirm the independence of the RfC and allow the moderators to split the RfC in two.
• The second phase of the 2021-22 Discretionary Sanctions Review closes 3 October.

Miscellaneous

• An administrator's account was recently compromised. Administrators are encouraged to check that their passwords are secure, and reminded that ArbCom reserves the right to not restore adminship in cases of poor account security. You can also use two-factor authentication (2FA) to provide an extra level of security.
• Self-nominations for the electoral commission for the 2022 Arbitration Committee elections open 2 October and close 8 October.
• You are invited to comment on candidates in the 2022 CUOS appointments process.
• An RfC is open to discuss whether to make Vector 2022 the default skin on desktop.
• Tech tip: You can do a fuzzy search of all deleted page titles at Special:Undelete.

Hi, could you tell me what the other accounts are? I blocked for socking without tagging because I didn't know. The user had, somewhat incoherently, admitted to having other accounts, and their behavior was troll-like, but it would be helpful to formally connect (tag) the user appropriately. Thanks.--Bbb23 (talk) 12:45, 24 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, they are Edyn322 (talk · contribs) and C23-13 (talk · contribs). PhilKnight (talk) 16:08, 24 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, I did a little tagging, hope you don't mind.--Bbb23 (talk) 16:21, 24 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect Wikipedia:DEFAULT and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2022 October 29#Wikipedia:DEFAULT until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. 1234qwer1234qwer4 16:59, 29 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]