User talk:Andrew Davidson/Archive 1

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

BL editathon

Hi Andrew! It was good to meet you today - thank you for all your help, information on Wikipedia and editing guidelines. I have created my own user page and therefore talk page. It will probably take me a while to get used to the syntax and I appreciate your help. Thanks! LCB1974 (talk) 15:30, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Contribution Team

Hi Andrew Davidson! Thanks for joining the contribution team. Could you take a look at Wikipedia:Contribution_Team/Backlogs? We're trying to make a big effort to reduce these for the rest of the month. Thanks! ⇒SWATJester ^{Son of the Defender} 20:50, 19 November 2010 (UTC)

Hi there! This is a message sent to all members of the Contribution Team. We're letting you know that there has been a rather major update - you can read more about it at Wikipedia talk:Contribution Team#Backlog Drive Update And Other News. Kind regards, Panyd and Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (talk) 23:24, 10 December 2010 (UTC)

The Contribution Team cordially invites you to Imperial College London

All Hail The Muffin Nor does it taste nice... 14:09, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

UK IRC community meeting

Just a quick reminder about the IRC meeting at 1800 UTC tonight to bring together the Wikimedia community in the UK to help the growth and success of the UK chapter and community activities. For information see wmuk:Community_IRC_meetings

Many Thanks

Joseph Seddon

User:Seddon

Delivered by WMUKBot (talk) on 17:26, 7 December 2010 (UTC)

London Wikimedia Fundraiser

Good evening! This is a friendly message from Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry, inviting you to the London Wikimedia Fundraising party on 19th December 2010, in approximately one week. This party is being held at an artistic London venue with room for approximately 300 people, and is being funded by Ed Saperia, a non-Wikipedian who has a reputation for holding exclusive events all over London. This year, he wants to help Wikipedia, and is subsidising a charity event for us. We're keen to get as many Wikimedians coming as possible, and we already have approximately 200 guests, including members of the press, and some mystery guests! More details can be found at http://ten.wikipedia.org/wiki/London - expect an Eigenharp, a mulled wine hot tub, a free hog roast, a haybale amphitheatre and more. If you're interested in coming - and we'd love to have you - please go to the ten.wikipedia page and follow the link to the Facebook event. Signing up on Facebook will add you to the party guestlist. Entry fee is a heavily subsidised £5 and entry is restricted to over 18s. It promises to be a 10th birthday party to remember! If you have any questions, please email me at chasemewiki at gmail.com.

Hope we'll see you there, (and apologies for the talk page spam) - Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry (talk) 17:58, 12 December 2010 (UTC)

Barnstar

File:Britishlibrary.gi		The British Library barnstar
		Thank you for joining and contributing the British Library editathon, you definitely earned this barnstar! Fæ (talk) 23:26, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

• Don't forget to drop me an email so we can help coordinate GLAM task force activity. Cheers Fæ (talk) 23:26, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

British Library follow-up

Thank you for participating in the English and Drama Editathon at the British Library on June 4. I hope you enjoyed the day and got something useful out of it.

If you are new to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, I hope you had any questions or problems answered and maybe found being a contributor as addictive as many of the regulars do. If you've got any questions or need help, please feel free to ask any of us on our talk page or by e-mail (Fæ, Tom Morris, Sadads, James F., RHaworth, The Land, AdamBMorgan), ask on the British Library collaboration page or through the Wikipedia Help Desk.

If you are interested in working on Wikipedia, you might want to consider joining one of the WikiProjects. These are places where team work between editors interested in a particular topic can be coordinated. Some suggestions for WikiProjects that may be of interest to you as a participant in the event on Saturday include Literature, Poetry or Science Fiction. A full list of literature and language related WikiProjects can be found here, and a list of all WikiProjects is here. The WikiProjects often have things that need doing, and if you need help you can often ask in their talk page.

But there are other places you can get involved. If you are interested on working on images, such as improving image descriptions, categorisation or uploading new media, consider getting involved in Wikimedia Commons. Wikisource also needs people willing to help make available original source material, and Wikiquote is trying to compile a directory of quotes which you may be able to contribute to.

If you want to continue some of the work we got started on Saturday, here are a few potential things to help with:

• Following on from work on Ella D'Arcy on Saturday, work has started to make all of The Yellow Book available on Wikisource. If you go to the page on Wikisource and pick a volume then click on 'scan index' you can start helping to proofread pages from the journal - simply click on the page you want to work on, and go through to check that the text on the left reflects the text on the right. If you need any help with getting started, please ask User:Tom Morris.
• If you created any new articles at the event, you might want to submit them to Did you know?.
• If you are able to translate into other languages, why not pick one of the articles we worked on, translate it and post it on another language version of Wikipedia: there are now versions in hundreds of languages. On Wikimedia Commons, it is also possible to provide multilingual descriptions of images and categories: this enables editors on the other language versions to better find images and media files they can use in their project.
• If you need images from the British Library to illustrate articles, please add them to the image requests page. If you would like a British LIbrary curator to help collaborate on an article, please add it to the collaborations page.
• You might also be interested in attending GLAMcamp London.
• To explore more articles related to the British Library, visit Portal:British Library.

Whatever you do, please tell us about the positive and negative experiences you have. On behalf of the organisers of the event, thanks again.

—Tom Morris (talk) 11:23, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Alan Gillett

Is the surveyor notable? Cos if not there is absolutely no point in having a disambiguation page. GiantSnowman 19:31, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Yes. I am currently writing the article which will contain adequate references to establish this. Andrew Davidson (talk) 19:36, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

OK - I've fixed all the broken links to the football coach as well. GiantSnowman 19:39, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

Backwell Karate

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for your advice. I've added in references from numerous sources, including websites, newspapers and a magazine. Because of the age of some of the references many of them are not online, but there are quite a number that are. Hope this helps? --Nailseabackwellresident (talk) 20:43, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

Elizabeth II

Thank you, Andrew Davidson! How reasonably you put your case! Amandajm (talk) 17:52, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

You're welcome. Andrew Davidson (talk) 20:55, 2 June 2012 (UTC)

Having got support from 3 other editors, I rewrote, according to the plan I had put forward to the "owners" of the page some months ago, using current Jubilee website, and a quote from Boris (God Bless Him!) It was immediately reverted By DrKeirnan with the every-so-reasonable suggestion that every point needs to be individually discussed.

Problem is, today is the day. It's only 8.45 in London, and the page has had 200,000 hits already.

I cannot simply keep reverting to the changes that I have made. Edit warring doesn't work!

I need reinforcements!

Amandajm (talk) 06:47, 3 June 2012 (UTC)

Still working on this article. Still being reverted at every turn. This is my latest message. I need back-up.

Amandajm (talk) 15:41, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

• I have responded at the article's talk page. Andrew Davidson (talk) 12:34, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

Your suggestion that every change should be discussed seems perfectly reasonable. However, it is extraordinarily difficult to achieve; hence my frustration and the lengths that I have gone to. The editors with whom I am dealing are far from reasonable. Every improvement to the intro (as it now is) has cost an argument, some of which started a year ago, (often with points being made that are frankly ridiculous) and multiple deletions. They only gave way when its was pointed out that several other people had wanted it changed, and even then chopped out a lot of the stuff (including deleting mention of the wars).

The same people, particularly DrKiernan, are now being just as difficult over the rest of the article. The preciousness with which they resist change is extraordinary!

No-one can afford to be that precious. I know that I can't!

I usually work on major art/architecture articles and have almost entirely written (or rewritten) a number of them. See Leonardo da Vinci, Ancient Greek architecture, Romanesque secular and domestic architecture, Renaissance architecture, Italian Renaissance painting. While this has been happening, I have been working on Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant which has been in every way pleasantly cooperative! Amandajm (talk) 16:50, 14 June 2012 (UTC)

Dan Leno

I think you're probably right. Thank you for spotting it. I've just re-added the minor grammatical change I was trying to add before. Tim riley (talk) 13:58, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Hi, I see you have made a number of edits to the above and I want to thank you for your time in doing so. However, I must stress that as the article is currently today's featured article and any edits go live immediately. As the co-nominator at it's FAC I ask of you to hold off making any major changes to it and instead take any desired edits to its talk page. I really don't want warring on such a special day. Everything can be discussed tomorrow with a view of in corporating your contributions if you wish to discuss then. I will be reverting the article again to its original form as it's that version which enabled it to get to a FA in the first place. Many thanks and I hope to see you there. -- Cassianto^Talk 14:05, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Sorry, there was an edit conflict. Where are we now with this? I see you have spoken to Tim on the matter. Incidentally, thanks for the stub. I will happily help expand. -- Cassianto^Talk 14:13, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

• My understanding is that Tim was making a minor grammar change but inadvertently reverted a bunch of other changes too. We seem to have worked that out already and I have no plans to make any more edits to the article today. Andrew Davidson (talk) 14:44, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Sorry, it was a result of the edit conflict that things got a bit confusing. All the best! -- Cassianto^Talk 14:51, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Oh, Lord! My hamfistedness has caused a right brouhaha. Apologies all round! Tim riley (talk) 17:49, 21 June 2012 (UTC)

Dunhuang Project event

Hi Andrew,

Good to see you've signed up for the event! It's running over four days, and you're welcome to attend any or all; we're hoping to be working on it more or less continually through the period.

The two specific things we do have scheduled are a group of students from SOAS on the Wednesday afternoon (about 3pm, I think) and a smaller group of MA students from UCL on Thursday morning (about 10am). We'll be quite busy at these points, but if you're interested in helping novice contributors learn to use Wikipedia, this would be a good time to come along. Andrew Gray (talk) 19:02, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Hi there. Are you still interested in coming down? If so, please drop me an email so we can arrange a pass for you... Andrew Gray (talk) 09:16, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

I'm quite busy with auditions &c. this week but I'll try to make a flying visit at Thursday lunchtime. More by email. Andrew Davidson (talk) 14:37, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

Images

As of late 2012 the English language Wikipedia has over 4.1 million articles, and Wikimedia's image library Commons has nearly 15 million images.

Much of the time the people who write articles will add appropriate images, but in a volunteer based project where everyone chooses their own tasks we sometimes find things that get forgotten.

So we now are producing lists of articles that don't have images but for which images may be available.

Wikipedia:Articles with UK Geocodes but without images is a list produced by computer of articles about things in the UK, these are articles without images, but because they are in the UK we probably have images if anyone looks.

To add an image to an article.

1. Open three different editing tabs on your PC. One for this page, one for Wikipedia:Articles with UK Geocodes but without images and one for searching Wikimedia Commons
2. On the list find an article without an image.
3. Search Wikimedia Commons for that location.
4. If you find an image that you want to use, click on the link to the article in the list and then click edit on the article.
5. Copy [[file:photograph name.jpg|right|thumb|Your caption here|alt=A description for blind people]] to a new first line of the article
6. Copy the name of the file from Wikimedia Commons and past it over the words photograph name
7. Replace Your caption here with a caption, ideally one that explains the relevance of the image to the article.
8. Replace A description for blind people with a few words that would give a blind person more information than the caption.
9. Put Adding picture in the box marked Edit Summary
10. Click preview to see what the photo looks like in the article
11. If you think it improves the article, click save.
12. Edit Wikipedia:Articles with UK Geocodes but without images and remove the article that you've added a picture to.

Congratulations! you've just transformed a Wikipedia article.

Advanced options

Other languages

On the lower left part of the screen you will see a list of other languages that we have that article in, usually we won't have images in that language either. Feel free to add images to other language versions of Wikipedia, but please leave the caption and alt text blank unless you can write them in that language.

Sometimes one image just isn't enough

For example you might have a waterfall in spate and in drought and you want to put both images side by side

You can do this with the following code:

<gallery>

file:photograph 1.jpg|Caption 1

file:photograph 2.jpg|Caption 2

</gallery>

Sometimes a gallery isn't suitable

We need to remember people with slow connection speeds, so we only want images that illustrate something in the article. Sometimes we have several more images than we use and in those cases it is worth adding a link to the category on Commons.

You can do this by putting the following near the end of the article, usually in the see also section {{commonscat|category on Commons}} Just replace the words "category on Commons" with the name of the category on Commons (if the name is the same this parameter is not needed).

FAQs

Q What does thumb do?

A The thumb parameter makes the image thumbnail size rather than full size. We have other options as well, but thumb works as a good default.

Q What do I do if none of the images are suitable for illustrating that article?

A Sometimes the only image we have for a village is a roundabout, hedge or rusty tractor, if you don't think that any of the images you've found are worth adding then leave that one and check another article (advanced option - edit the list and add the words "no suitable pictures on Commons" and today's date. That way hopefully we can add it to lists we circulate to our photographers).

Q I want to know lots more about adding images, where can I find out about all the possibilities?

A Wikipedia:Picture tutorial

Q How do I add the image into the Infobox rather than above it?

A We may not cover this in today's class. But Help:Infobox picture has all the details.

Q Why do you keep the images in a separate Wiki, wouldn't it be easier if they were in Wikipedia?

A We keep most of our images in a separate image library so that they can be available for use in lots of different projects, including the nearly 300 different language versions of Wikipedia.

Q I keep seeing lots of images with Geograph in the name. What does that mean?

A Geograph is a photography competition in Britain and Ireland, people compete to be the first to photograph somewhere or something. Because they use a compatible license to us we have been able to copy 1.9 million of their images to Wikimedia Commons, and that's the main reason why we usually have an image for every UK village, waterfall, castle, canal or railway station.

Hope you enjoyed the session, please drop me a line if you have any questions or indeed any suggestions as to how we can run this better. ϢereSpielChequers 23:03, 4 December 2012 (UTC)

Thanks

LOL! --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 15:56, 12 August 2013 (UTC)

You may ask here if there are plans to add VE shirts to that initiative or to the shop. In the first case, you might get it if you are nominated :) --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 12:30, 13 August 2013 (UTC)

@Elitre (WMF): Thanks but I don't usually wear T-shirts, myself. The best freebie I got at Wikimania was a pair of sunglasses from the merchandise stand, which were good for the fierce sunshine in the square. Perhaps VE should give rose-tinted glasses :) Andrew Davidson (talk) 10:54, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

Rose is the color, yes :) --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 11:06, 14 August 2013 (UTC)

Ada's Angel Award

		Ada Lovelace Award
		Thank you for all of the effort you put into the Ada Lovelace events in October 2013. This is an award for supporting the events in UK and for inspiring people to join. --Daria Cybulska (WMUK) (talk) 14:09, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

Colonel Warden

You have been blocked indefinitely from editing for violation of WP:ILLEGIT. As an undisclosed alternate account of Colonel Warden , you are not permitted to edit project space or any article is edited by your primary account. The edits made by this account are frequently in project space and are frequently to areas heavily frequented by Colonel Warden, such as "Do You Know" and AFD. Any admin can unblock this account when the editor agrees to publicly acknowledge the linkage between the two accounts and refrain from editing project space of any kind with this alternate account. If you think there are good reasons why you should be unblocked, you may appeal this block by adding the following text below this notice: {{unblock|reason=Your reason here ~~~~}}. However, you should read the guide to appealing blocks first.

—Kww(talk) 03:22, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

This user's unblock request has been reviewed by an administrator, who accepted the request.

Andrew Davidson (block log • active blocks • global blocks • contribs • deleted contribs • filter log • creation log • change block settings • unblock • checkuser (log))

---

Request reason:

This account is my primary account. It was the account which I created first and which I have used most recently. The account name is my real name and so is the most natural and open name to use. But I also created and used the Colonel Warden account to provide some privacy for my real identity. It was my impression that it is common for editors to maintain a pair of accounts of this sort.

My Wikipedia work has been increasingly based around public activity in the real world such as editathons and training - see the userpage for details. I prefer to go by my real name at these as this seems most appropriate when dealing with professionals such as curators and colleagues. Such activity involves posting on event pages and follow-on work such as DYK for the articles which have been created and improved at the events. This has been the general nature of my postings in project space.

Administrator Fram reviewed the activity of the two accounts in August 2012 and found that, apart from one incident, they had been kept quite separate. That incident was the nomination for deletion of an article created by this account. There was no vote-stacking but the Colonel Warden account took over the job of expanding the article from the 1st draft edit made by this one. Fram warned that this was improper so, on the other occasion when editathon activity resulted in an AFD, I used this account to improve and argue for the article in question, so maintaining the separation. I was quite busy doing editathon work in 2013 and notified the Oversight team when this peak of activity resulted in some accidental overlap - see ticket #2013102410017135. I have subsequently consulted members of Arbcom to get their views.

Going forward, it seems best to use this account for all of my Wikipedia activity. In 2014, I expect to be working on the First World War centenary as I started that article and have a particular interest in WW1 history. I also expect to be active in further editathons and there will be another peak of activity later in the year when Wikimania comes to London, where I live.

To avoid further confusion and suspicion, I will retire the Colonel Warden account, using it only when circumstances indicate that it would be more appropriate. Replying to talk page messages and managing its user pages seem likely to be the most common remaining activity and I would expect this to be minimal. If more markup is needed to clarify the relationship and status of the accounts then I will do this when unblocked. Currently, I gather that there is an Autoblock set which would trigger further blocks if I edited. Andrew Davidson (talk) 9:40 am, Today (UTC+0)

Accept reason:

Per Kww's note in the block message and your agreement to retire Colonel Warden and clarify the link between the accounts on their respective userpages, I am unblocking your account. Yunshui 雲‍水 09:56, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

• Thanks. I'll follow up when I have more spare time. Andrew Davidson (talk) 13:24, 20 December 2013 (UTC)

Glad to have you back! BOZ (talk) 19:02, 21 December 2013 (UTC)

User permissions

Hi Andrew. I've granted your account the same userrights as your old User:Colonel Warden account, so you now have rollback, autopatrolled, filemover and reviewer rights again. Since the Colonel is retired, I haven't bothered to remove the permissions from that account, but if you'd like me to do so (or if you don't want them on this account, for whatever reason) then just ask. Happy 2014! Yunshui 雲‍水 11:27, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks for that. These rights don't seem to be a big deal but User:DGG did just review Lester Andrews today and so it makes sense to sync them to save time being wasted on such formalities. NPP reviews must be quite backlogged as that review had been outstanding since July. I must do some more myself to help out.

A Happy New Year to you too. Andrew (talk) 12:12, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Gavin Patterson

The DYK project (nominate) 17:38, 12 January 2014 (UTC)

Most of the credit for this must go to you: I only created a pretty minimal sourced stub, perhaps prematurely, when I saw the unhappy original creator on DGG's and another talk page. The original got un-deleted anyway.

I looked at the nomination ... and was delighted to be led to the article on Sutton High Street as I went to school about half a mile away, used several of the bus routes mentioned, and probably wouldn't recognise a thing if I saw it again (though the name "Shinners" rang a bell, though I haven't given the department store a thought for a very long time - we left the area a couple of years after I left school). Thanks for the nostalgia trip. PamD 18:19, 12 January 2014 (UTC)

• It was good to help get Gavin Patterson through the DYK process but Sutton High Street is proving more difficult as you'll see at the nomination. I quite like working on London streets such as Mare Street and Hill Street and I've worked on bus routes too but I'm not seeing the best way forward there yet. If you have some local knowledge, perhaps you can help there too. Andrew (talk) 23:19, 12 January 2014 (UTC)

Newport Beach Fire Department

Please do not remove Articles for deletion notices from articles or remove other people's comments in Articles for deletion pages, as you did with Newport Beach Fire Department. Doing so won't stop the discussion from taking place. You are, however, welcome to comment about the proposed deletion on the appropriate page. Thank you. Is there a reason why you did this? Zackmann08 (talk) 22:29, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

• The notice was a PROD not an AFD. Please read the templates that you use. Andrew (talk) 23:46, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

I'm sorry. I am still learning here. Thank you for correcting my mistake. --Zackmann08 (talk) 00:01, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding. I am still learning the processes around here. There is a LOT going on. Forgive the exaggerations but there are like 30 different ways to nominate a page for deletion. I am not trying to "cheat the system" or get around anything. I just wanted to say "hey, this page doesn't look so great. Should we maybe think about deleting it?" If people more educated about the system, and with better knowledge of the process object to it being removed then cool. I don't take it personally and in fact appreciate your patience and time. Thank you. --Zackmann08 (talk) 17:39, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank's for being awesome. Zackmann08 (talk) 17:41, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

Criterion Restaurant

Thanks for your work to improve the Criterion Restaurant article for Wikipedia's readers. Northamerica1000(talk) 14:35, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

• There's more to come and this will help keep me at it. Cheers! Andrew (talk) 14:41, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

Thanks from the wiki and the DYK project Victuallers (talk) 08:02, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

HighBeam

Hi Andrew,

I think I asked you about this before, but since you have a userbox on your userpage indicating that you have a HighBeam account, do you still have access? BOZ (talk) 02:56, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

• The subscription arranged by the Wikipedia Library has expired, it seems - I think it was just for one year. I have access to a variety of periodicals through other memberships and subscriptions but they are mainly UK rather than US and it's a nuisance to keep track of the different login details. I'll take stock as it's more of a problem now that the Google News archives are harder to reach. Is there some particular topic that you want to research? Andrew (talk) 11:44, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Well, anything on this page, for sure. To narrow it down, Adam Jury, Chris Seeman, Paul Hume, and S. John Ross are possibly the closest to being ready to publish back into article space. BOZ (talk) 00:18, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Signature

Just a reminder to please sign your new post at the Rescue list. Thank you for your consideration. Northamerica1000^(talk) 10:26, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

• Please note the instructions for the page at the top, where it states "Sign posts with four tildes ~~~~. Northamerica1000^(talk) 11:58, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

• I didn't "include specific rationale why the article/content should be retained on Wikipedia, and any ideas to improve the content" either. These are suggestions, not hard rules or policy. In this case, the topic speaks for itself and the quotation which is provided as inspiration is properly credited to its true author. Adding my sig would be clutter in my view and so I prefer to omit it. Andrew (talk) 12:23, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

Hare and Billet

Andrew I just did a little editing/expansion and added my 2p at AfD. It is already up for DYK, see: Talk:Hare_and_Billet Edwardx (talk) 23:50, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Wikiversity

“ And setting up explicitly to teach medicine in a pseudo-university sounds quite problematic ”

It is clear from this comment that you do not understand Wikiversity's goals nor the medicine project on there. I wouldn't be surprised if you have never accessed these resources, but ofc that did not stop you from feeling that you were qualified to pass judgement on them. God I love the internet. Lesion (talk) 21:21, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

• I just took a look to see how deletions are managed over there. The equivalent of AFD currently has just one active discussion and it has been open since June of last year. You yourself have only made one edit there this year. My impression is unchanged - that project is moribund. Andrew (talk) 21:43, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

The last year being what, 2014? I have contributions there: [1]. Not only do you not understand what Wikiversity and the medicine project is about, but you are unapologetic about basing your "sound bite" opinion instantly after visiting one page (on deletions, of all things). I strongly suggest you reconsider the importance of your own opinions, because it is clear to others that they are irrelevant.

For the record (because I am done talking to you), Wikiversity does not present itself as a higher education establishment, neither does the medical project present itself as a sole means to become qualified in medicine. Lesion (talk) 22:09, 11 February 2014 (UTC)

Baby Elephant Walk

Greetings. I noticed that you were a recent, significant editor of Baby Elephant Walk. I just listened to it @ Youtube, for the first time in many years. The song is a 12 bar blues. I'm not sure that it would be original research to include this in the article--any remotely musically literate person can corroborate this. Any suggestions/ideas on this? Interestingly enough, all of the Beach Boys' automobile-hit songs incorporate the 12 bar foremat (409, Shut 'Em Down, Little Deuce Coupe). In that instance, my thought is to identify each song as such, but not to identify the pattern--which would be original research. Regards Tapered (talk) 22:29, 17 February 2014 (UTC)

First World War centenary

Glad you'll be able to make it, should be a fascinating event! Yes, do see what your old tutor makes of the article, and we can talk about strategy and tactics on the day... The Land (talk) 12:34, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Hi, why do you think that the title World War I centenary is improper? The main article uses this format too: see World War I. - Anonimski (talk) 15:29, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not a reliable source. The title was chosen to be consistent with the usage of the centenary activity such as found at the Imperial War Museum: link. Andrew (talk) 15:35, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

My idea behind the move was consistency, since World War I is a well-established synonym, and there is a policy of consistent naming of topics that span over several articles (in WP:NC). Anyway, I realise it's better to take that specific thing in a move-discussion. - Anonimski (talk) 15:46, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

The article Logistics in World War I has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

Other than the interesting image there is no content in this article. Any relevant content moving forward should be added to existing articles such as World War I.

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Adam Kriesberg (talk) 18:14, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

• The WW1 article is 230K and so too large already. I have removed the prod. Andrew (talk) 18:33, 13 April 2014 (UTC)

Bicycle

Hi. Would you still be up for collaborating on Bicycle? I've been busy and distracted for the past two weeks, and don't have time to make drastic improvements before the end of the Core Contest. I hadn't realised just how bad much of it is - certainly the mechanical coverage is largely biased and/or dated, and many sections are also completely unsourced. Thanks. James^x12345 22:52, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

• @James I've been busy too and so haven't got very far with my entry either. I put good reading list together but haven't had the time to get to a good library and read through it. But I thought the contest was over at the end of the month so it's good news that we have another week. I might be able to do better with bicycle as I have some good sources in the house and have written around the topic before - e.g. W. H. J. Grout. Let's see... Andrew (talk) 02:40, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

DYK nomination of The Flask, Hampstead

Hello! Your submission of The Flask, Hampstead at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Yoninah (talk) 01:48, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

Well, thank you for the article Victuallers (talk) 16:02, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Upper Flask

The DYK project (nominate) 02:06, 12 March 2014 (UTC)

Leonard Wyburd

Leonard Wyburd is someone I stumbled across who might interest you. Needs an image or two and a decent idea for a DYK hook. Edwardx (talk) 21:53, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Tall Jawa

Hello Andrew, I just wanted to thank you for your help yesterday, it is very much appreciated. I have added some links and included the citations as we discussed. I now have to get a picture.I hope I have signed this appropriately, if not, apologies. Nteli78 (Nteli78 (talk) 20:39, 30 March 2014 (UTC)).

Hi Andrew, Apologies for the late reply, this week has been manic. Thank you for the nomination, I think I should be able to have a picture by Thursday afternoon. Would that fit the time frame for the nomination? Hope you've had a good weekend, all the best nteli78(Nteli78 (talk) 18:39, 6 April 2014 (UTC))

Hi Andrew, I am very grateful for the link for the aerial photos. I had the chance to visit the Centre for Oriental Studies here in Amman and I was given some directions as to the location of the site. I found a site, now comparing it to the aerial photographs and to those of Creighton University what I have found seems to be a different site, but still, not too far from Tall Jawa. Hence for me this is both disappointing but exciting at the same time. I would like to find out what that site is. I know I am running out of time here. I am giving myself a deadline until tomorrow afternoon. I will be in touch with you before then to let you know of the outcome, if any. Could I follow the wiki picture tutorial guidance with regards to uploading images?

I will most certainly get in touch with the British Council. All the best, nteli78 (Nteli78 (talk) 14:36, 10 April 2014 (UTC))

Hi Andrew, I 've made an attempt at adding the image. It's there, seems to be in order. Please let me know if any amendments are needed. I also have more images I have taken of the site. If you think it's worth including more images, I would be happy to do it. Hope all is well with you, Athena nteli78 (Nteli78 (talk) 14:41, 12 April 2014 (UTC)).

HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 22:22, 16 April 2014 (UTC) 00:04, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Hi Andrew, I wanted to thank you for the nomination. The article appears now on the Did you know section and I must say I am really very pleased. I hope you are having a nice Easter break. All the best, Athena, nteli78 (Nteli78 (talk) 06:51, 17 April 2014 (UTC)).

Brilliant idea

File:"What a Brilliant Idea!" Original Barnstar.png		What a Brilliant Idea Barnstar
		For this analysis, reducing an overwhelming problem into one roughly one-tenth the size. Adrian J. Hunter(talk•contribs) 10:46, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

By the way, is there any simple way to use your list, perhaps in combination with CatScan, to work out which articles belong to which WikiProject? Adrian J. Hunter^{(talk•contribs)} 10:46, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks, you're welcome. I'm not sure how to get project info for a list like that but will look out for analysis tools which do more. Andrew (talk) 12:40, 15 April 2014 (UTC)

Thanks on the Afd

Thanks for being patient so far on the AfD. I realize now that logging in and viewing my long comments might seem annoying. Maybe I could cut down on the wordiness but my only intention is to enhance the encyclopedia in an organized fashion. I could be wrong - we all are sometimes - but all the same, thanks for discussing the issue professionally (I've seen a lot of people get flamed on AfDs lately). MezzoMezzo (talk) 03:28, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

Motto of the Day Help Request April 2014

Today's motto...

→ It's a perfectly cromulent word.

Nominate one today!

Motto of the Day (WP:MOTD) is in a state of emergency and really needs your help! There are not enough editors who are reviewing or nominating mottos at Wikipedia:Motto of the day/Nominations/In review, and this probably means that you will notice a red link or “This space for rent” as our mottos for the next weeks and months.

Please take a moment to review the nominations and nominate your own new mottos at Wikipedia:Motto of the day/Nominations/In review and Wikipedia:Motto of the day/Nominations/'Specials. Any help would be appreciated! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 09:13, 29 April 2014 (UTC)

This message has been sent by pjoef on behalf of Motto of the Day to all editors of the English Wikipedia who are showing MOTD's templates on their pages, and to all the participants to MOTD: (page, template, and category).

AFD is the way to go

I will AFD these articles because these articles have been left unattended and no show sign of improvement. Dwanyewest (talk) 11:26, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

• WP:NOEFFORT is a weak argument for deletion. Please see WP:BEFORE. Andrew (talk) 11:33, 3 May 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Ladies' Scottish Climbing Club

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 09:39, 10 May 2014 (UTC)

• 1,711 hits. Andrew (talk) 08:35, 24 May 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Will Straw

Good to go, sans the image. See discussion. Thanks, Andrew. NorthAmerica¹⁰⁰⁰ 01:59, 14 May 2014 (UTC)

Y Another editor has promoted the dyk . NorthAmerica¹⁰⁰⁰ 05:18, 15 May 2014 (UTC)

Materialscientist (talk) 00:03, 16 May 2014 (UTC)

DYK for paratarsotomus macropalpis

Request you to please complete the review of DYK Paratarsotomus macropalpis. I have addressed the issues to the best of my abilities. QPQ has also been done, Thanks in advance AshLin (talk) 05:55, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for helping out with Paratarsotomus macropalpis. I was stuck without resources. :)

AshLin (talk) 07:46, 21 May 2014 (UTC)

You're welcome. I have updated the DYK nomination with details of the improvements and reckon it's good to go now. Andrew (talk) 12:28, 21 May 2014 (UTC)

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:20, 23 May 2014 (UTC)

It got 11,822 hits. Andrew (talk) 08:29, 24 May 2014 (UTC)

Cool article! I notice that mite is mite-y sparse too! I mite have to get a book out of the library to flesh that one out. Lepidoptera (talk) 22:02, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Killiechassie

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 14:17, 17 May 2014 (UTC)

It got 9,958 hits. Andrew (talk) 08:32, 24 May 2014 (UTC)

Re: Hawaiian cuisine

I'm curious, what was the purpose of this edit? You have read our article on cuisine of Hawaii? Viriditas (talk) 03:16, 4 June 2014 (UTC)

• The point was to demonstrate the use of ordinary editing to address the nominator's complaint. Thank you for making further edits too which have helped move the matter along. Andrew (talk) 07:58, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

Town Mice

I liked your comment on Blofeld's architecture thingamijig. I've also written up a few London houses, and I'll gladly collaborate with you on anything. I've got some great books as well. I'll take a peek at Carlton House. The Royal palaces in London are also ripe for improvement. Gareth E Kegg (talk) 12:36, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. I too am building up a library of books about buildings in London. If you have trouble with a particular case, feel free to consult me to see if I can help. Andrew (talk) 05:59, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

I've collaborated with both of you on building articles, so that might be an encouraging indicator of future success. For example with Gareth on 22 Parkside (it now has a photo, alas too late for its front page DYK appearance). Edwardx (talk) 09:09, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

• That's an unusual topic. The most recent article I've seen that needs help is High Commission of Saint Lucia, London — a grand place in South Ken. by Ernest George and Harold Peto. I've not much spare time though. Yesterday, I made hay while the sun shone - getting some gardening done rather than going to the Wikimeet. Andrew (talk) 13:01, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

"Speedy Keep per WP:SNOW"

Hi. You recently closed WP:Articles for deletion/Fred Housego and WP:Articles for deletion/Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (2nd nomination) as "Speedy Keep per WP:SNOW." WP:Speedy keep#What is not a speedy-keep (guideline) states that WP:Speedy keep and WP:SNOW are not the same. Would you consider altering your wording to remove "speedy"? Thanks. Flatscan (talk) 04:20, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

• It seems that you wrote that guideline but I'm afraid I don't agree with it, don't see that there's much support for it and so have removed it per WP:CREEP. WP:SNOW is an WP:IAR process and so it is absurdly contradictory to try to constrain it with fussy rules. The point of WP:SNOW is to avoid "long, mind-numbing, bureaucratic discussions". So long as it's clear to everyone what has been done, the exact words seem unimportant. What form of words are you proposing be used instead in such cases? Andrew (talk) 05:56, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

Primary school AfDs

I'm not sure why you continually recycle the same argument in primary school AfDs, iWP:PRESERVE says nothing about not deleting primary schools. It is customary practice to either delete or redirect primary schools, so recycling the same argument doesn't work. several editors point out the weakness of your explanation here Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William Stukeley Church of England Primary School. LibStar (talk) 14:16, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• The essence of WP:PRESERVE is that we should strive to preserve information as we are an encyclopedia. As an encyclopedia, we aim to cover all types of knowledge and that includes schools. It is not our policy to delete articles about schools, especially the notable ones which we have been discussing lately. Andrew (talk) 14:29, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

"It is not our policy to delete articles about schools" is a completely false statement, primary schools are either redirected or deleted, very rarely are they kept. Not one person in an AfD has agreed with you about primary schools. I think you are thinking of WP:ITSNOTABLE. Wikipedia does not cover all types of knowledge, many entities from shopping centres to companies have been deleted. LibStar (talk) 14:37, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• WP:ITSNOTABLE seems more applicable to the nominations in these cases. Notice the characteristic "NN" assertion. Andrew (talk) 14:46, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

WP:PRESERVE is an editing policy not a notability policy, it says absolutely nothing about granting inherent notability to anything. LibStar (talk) 14:41, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• Notability is a guideline not a policy and so WP:PRESERVE is stronger. In any case, the topics in question pass the notability guideline too, as there is significant coverage. Andrew (talk) 14:46, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

why then has no one else voted keep? If it is so obvious it is notable. Again WP:PRESERVE says absolutely nothing about granting automatic notability . Your assertion that all primary schools are notable is false and against the vast consensus in AfDs, you need to realise not deny this. LibStar (talk) 15:08, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

I have been on WP for several years and never seen anyone recycle WP:PRESERVE in AfDs like you, it is not a substitute for establishing notability and convinces no one. LibStar (talk) 15:20, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

I have to admit that I'm disappointed. I was hoping that your use of these debating tactics was solely because you were hiding behind a pseudonym and that you would be too embarrassed to sign your real name to them. Apparently not. How can you claim that http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/120596 or http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/education/03/school_tables/primary_schools/html/925_3167.stm, both of which are mere index listings, constitute sufficient discussion to convey notability?—Kww(talk) 16:38, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• I'm not sure what you mean by "index listings". Like pop charts, you mean? Anyway, there's plenty of meat there and so WP:SIGCOV is satisfied. Andrew (talk) 18:12, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• The sources are intended to provide complete lists of all schools that meet geographic criteria, which means that they can't convey notability to anything described. There's no editorial filter for selection.—Kww(talk) 18:24, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• This idea of "editorial filter" seems to be some invention of yours. There are many types of topic that sources will cover systematically and the more encyclopedic they are, the more likely they are to include all examples. For example, a book about the birds of Europe would aim to include all such birds if it were trying to be a serious reference work. The editorial filter in such cases is set to include all valid cases but this has no effect on the notability of the topic. What we require for notability is independence, detail and reliability. That's what we get for schools because there is a considerable public interest in making detailed information about schools available — to ensure quality and raise standards. Andrew (talk) 18:36, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• Similarly, a phone book attempts to list all people within a given area that have a phone. Certainly you wouldn't argue that conveys notability to the people listed? —Kww(talk) 20:19, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• Phone books are rather quaint now - I haven't used one for some time. As I recall, they would not satisfy WP:SIGCOV because the entries are either lacking in detail or are paid adverts. The sources about schools are much better than that. Andrew (talk) 12:47, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Then why has not one other editor voted keep based on the "sources" you've provided? LibStar (talk) 14:05, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

• They don't seem interested in the sources. All they seem to cite is WP:OUTCOME but that is a circular argument which reminds me of the WW1 refrain "We're Here Because We're Here". But I notice that link takes us to an album of modern music, rather than an article about the songs of WW1. This place is saturated with drivel about recent music in place of more respectable topics such as education and history. And just look at the sources for that article - a pile of trash. Not one of those sources has the quality of the sources available for the schools which we are discussing. Who hates school with a passion but dotes on popular music? Naughty children... Andrew (talk) 23:04, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

• I look around for an appropriate article and find Music of World War I. This rings a bell and, sure enough, I find that saved this from a PROD two years ago. And it had an orphan tag too! Never mind. It's being so cheerful as keeps me going... <whistles Colonel Bogey>... Andrew (talk) 23:26, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

you don't seem to realise, there is no consensus (or agreement) for primary schools being inherently notable as you state several times. recycling the WP:PRESERVE argument sways no one. LibStar (talk) 00:03, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

• So what are you worried about? Andrew (talk) 00:05, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

your consistent belief that all primary schools are notable. LibStar (talk) 00:35, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

Orphan tag

Hello. It appears that you have been canvassing—leaving messages on a biased choice of users' talk pages to notify them of an ongoing community decision, debate, or vote—in order to influence Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Log/2014 June 14#Template:Orphan. While friendly notices are allowed, they should be limited and nonpartisan in distribution and should reflect a neutral point of view. Please do not post notices which are indiscriminately cross-posted, which espouse a certain point of view or side of a debate, or which are selectively sent only to those who are believed to hold the same opinion as you. Remember to respect Wikipedia's principle of consensus-building by allowing decisions to reflect the prevailing opinion among the community at large. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 16:55, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

If I had realised that you had not contacted everyone on the you had not contacted everyone who expressed an opinion in Proposal to move the Orphan tags to the talk page, I would have cautioned you (show me a fool for not checking). In my opinion Andrew The best way out of this mess is to quickly send a brief non-biased message to everyone who took part in the December RfC in the chronological order in which opinions were expressed. -- PBS (talk) 17:17, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

I am not aware of any partisan aspect to this. I was mainly concerned that the TfD was being speedily closed due to a misunderstanding and sought to engage a couple of editors who had been prominent on the talk page for the template and seemed to know more about the matter. To ensure that the matter gets good attention from the community in general, I subsequently added the discussion to the centralised list. Andrew (talk) 17:23, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• Which I have reverted because TfDs are not of a scale of interest that belongs on T:CENT. If you wish to advertise with T:CENT, you would either need to withdraw your deletion nomination and start a new discussion on the template's talk page or at one of the village pumps and mark it as an RfC. I do believe based on the existing comments, !votes, and consensus in that deletion discussion it wouldn't be far removed to expect it to be SNOW kept with overwhelming support, so you may save a little grace by withdrawing your nomination. If you are interested in starting an RfC, I would be happy to help you set up a nice neutral RfC in the proper place (despite myself being on the entirely opposite side of the fence for what you want), and help you set it off and make notifications. I actually have a JavaScript I wrote stored on my local machine that will help me make a mailing list to mass message everyone that has participated in the previous discussions on the topic and other interested parties that may have not commented (like WikiProject members directly affected). If you are interested in this, please withdraw you current nomination and let me know here and we will start drawing things up. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 17:33, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• As we already have an open discussion, I'm not seeing the point of starting another one yet. Let's see how this one turns out. And I disagree with you about the use of centralised discussion. That is for "ongoing discussions, specifically those which have potentially wide-ranging impacts and therefore require input from the community at large." I shall look into that further... Andrew (talk) 17:45, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• user:Andrew Davidson It will turn out as a keep (because the only question is where to put it not whether to keep it as it is needed for the hidden categories it generates for maintenance purposes) -- you may as well request that it is closed it now. -- PBS (talk) 18:05, 15 June 2014 (UTC)
• Technical 13, I think it is much better to place invitations on talk pages rather than using off site methods. Also those involved in the orphan project are unlikely to be representative of all editors who expressed an opinion in the December RfC, as it is likely that they look at Orphan pages and this template differently from readers (See my comments from 2007 about this issue) and some/many? other editors. -- PBS (talk) 18:05, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• Technical 13 wants to restrict the discussion to the Orphanage project (which was notified yesterday)? This is obviously unacceptable. For a precedent, consider the case of the rescue tag which was used by the WP:ARS project. That was placed at the top of article pages, just like the orphan tag. Discussions about the use and fate of that tag were certainly not restricted to members of that project. The idea seems absurdly one-sided. Andrew (talk) 18:18, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• I never said such a thing. I am suggesting that you make a proposal for changes to the template on the template's talk page and mark it as an WP:RfC (open to everyone and even has it's own bot to notify random editors interested in the generic topic), or at VPR which is also open to everyone. I never said restrict it. There is no way to restrict it to WP:ORPHANAGE and achieve any consensus greater than the existing ones and would fall under WP:LOCAL. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 18:34, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• I started the TfD because it seemed that the talk page discussion had stalled and there had been no action for several months. If we have another discussion then Village Pump seems a better place, as that's where previous discussions seem to have gotten most attention. Andrew (talk) 18:39, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• That is fine, and I'll happily help you set up a neutral (they really are more productive for reaching a consensus on the topic) RfC in that location. I just need you to withdraw your current nomination for deletion, and we'll set up a draft page for the RfC. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 18:53, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• If you would like to build bridges, I suggest you start by withdrawing your complaint at ANI. I have other things to do this evening (BST) and so will sleep on the matter and see what the morrow brings... Andrew (talk) 19:05, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• I have no problem closing the WP:AN/I discussion, as that discussion wasn't requesting action or sanctions against you, as long as you understand what you did, why it wasn't appropriate, and that when you post to other users talk page requesting their input on a discussion, there needs to be a relatively even balance of such talk page posts on those for and against your position. Even if the post to {{CENT}} had stayed, it still would have been canvassing without you posting on all the talk pages of all the other participants in those discussions. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 19:40, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• PBS, mass message (Special:MassMessage) is an on-site method that posts to users' talk pages, so I'm not sure what you are talking about. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 18:34, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

Its a language misunderstanding "mailing list" usually means a list of smail or email addresses, (and as one does not have access to the smail address of Wikipedia uesers) it follows it means email. Messaging also has a common meaning: txt messaging. If you are going to be involved in such a page then other terms which can not be misunderstood would be better such as "list of users" and "user talk page message" or "user talk page post". -- PBS (talk) 20:17, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

perhaps, but mass message was linked for clarity and to prevent such a language misunderstanding... — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(e • t • c)} 21:09, 15 June 2014 (UTC)

• Someone has snow-closed the TfD discussion now. But, by coincidence, I find there's another discussion at DYK. I shall continue there when I have a moment. Andrew (talk) 12:43, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
  • Sigh. I added Keith Martin to List of University of Cambridge members#Scientists, technologists and mathematicians. Now the article is no longer an orphan. What was so hard about that? But really, what we need is an article about biofabrication. All we have is an academic journal titled Biofabrication. Maybe start a stub that links to the biographies of all the prominent researchers in this new field of study? Wbm1058 (talk) 12:55, 16 June 2014 (UTC)
    • I am a member of the University of Cambridge myself but am not very interested in that list. But, if you want to update it, that's fine and much more productive than adding a tag to make it someone else's problem. Well done. Andrew (talk) 13:03, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Moving on from the TFD

Well I see that the TFD has been closed as keep, unfortunate as your arguments are correct. I have started on a little experiment; I will do a statistical comparison between articles that have been tagged and ones that have not been focusing on the rate at which orphan articles become unorphaned. I assume they will be exactly the same. If so I will seek to reopen the matter, with solid evidence of the templates uselessness in hand. Antrocent (♫♬) 19:33, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

• It would indeed be good to see some evidence. I would like to see some evidence as to whether having orphan status or not makes any difference to the traffic that an article gets. But why should we care? I track the hits which my articles get. Some articles get a lot more than others and this is to be expected. Are we supposed to drive traffic to the unpopular, obscure articles? If I want to do that, I nominate it for DYK... Andrew (talk) 22:43, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Hi, Andrew

Thanks for your vote in favor of Limiting case (philosophy of science). This was a much needed article. --Damián A. Fernández Beanato (talk) 23:29, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

• You're welcome. Andrew (talk) 07:38, 26 June 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Keith Martin (ophthalmologist)

Hello! Your submission of Keith Martin (ophthalmologist) at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Skr15081997 (talk) 02:52, 16 June 2014 (UTC)

Gatoclass (talk) 00:03, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Denmark Street

Gatoclass (talk) 08:02, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

File:Stub Original Barnstar.png		The Stub Barnstar
		Thanks for creating the new Gioconda cafe article, and for expanding Wikipedia's coverage about London-related topics. NorthAmerica1000 11:45, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks. I've not seen that barnstar before but I like it as stubs seem too unappreciated. I also like the stub templates. With their cute little pictures and polite invitation to expand the article, they seem far more gentile than most cleanup tags. I'll do a bit more on the article now. Andrew (talk) 12:09, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks for the nice reply. Yes, stubs create opportunities, in both expanding the encyclopedia's coverage of topics and providing editors with expandable articles. NorthAmerica¹⁰⁰⁰ 12:23, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

	The Teamwork Barnstar
	For your help in improving Denmark Street from a dismal start-class article of trivia to a good article! Ritchie333 (talk) (cont) 13:46, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

Thanks and well done everybody. There's more to do now though — I just heard a trailer for a Danny Baker show about the street which will be aired on Monday. I wonder how much of our material they will use...? Andrew (talk) 08:37, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Rock on Top of Another Rock

Hello! Your submission of Rock on Top of Another Rock at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Yoninah (talk) 01:14, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

Please see new note on DYK template. Yoninah (talk) 23:27, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 03:02, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Nice one! Can you add the coordinates? Please put a description in the commons image page of what it is and where it is and categorise it!♦ Dr. Blofeld 08:40, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

BTW, would you or @Ritchie333: be interested in getting Kensington Gardens up to GA?♦ Dr. Blofeld 08:43, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Kensington Gardens is a big topic but I'll put it on my watchlist and see how it goes. I'm not very adept with coordinates though. My camera doesn't have GPS so I will have to get familiar with using my phone to record them. Andrew (talk) 10:12, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

A couple of recent GAs, of which Denmark Street is one, have whetted my appetite for some more geography stuff, so I'll see what I can do. I'd quite like to help out with Hyde Park, London and the first thing will be to see if I should fire up a requested move to Hyde Park. Quite like to improve Mersea Island too in time for its annual boat-race. Decisions, decisions. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 11:38, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

• I too have a growing backlog of places and features that I'd like to write up. For example, I was at Northolt Manor yesterday and see that someone recently started an article about it. I'd have to 5x that to get it to DYK now. That's doable but there are higher priorities. I notice that Rock on Top of Another Rock got over 6000 hits and that's quite good, in my experience. I'm not sure what worked there -- the picture or the hook. I must also analyse my DYK stats in my copious free time... Andrew (talk) 12:42, 7 July 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Writer's Barnstar
	Rectal dilator Hell in a Bucket (talk) 08:23, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Thanks. It's a dirty job but someone's got to do it. Andrew (talk) 08:37, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

LOl nop problems I was feeling lazy and didn't write anything but it really was a compliment lol! Based on the name I had expected it to be vandalism and was pleasantly surprised it wasn't! By the look of your wall you are doing awesome keep it up Hell in a Bucket (talk) 08:40, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

! Antrocent (♫♬) 08:42, 5 July 2014 (UTC)

Barbican area streets

Thank you for unprodding Beech Street. When visiting WMUK last week, we discussed creating articles for streets near the Barbican Centre, in advance of Wikimania. I've just "saved" Fann Street (Fann Street Foundry is rather notable), but Golden Lane, London and Monkwell Square also have PRODs. With the Golden Lane Estate, Golden Lane is surely notable, and even Monkwell Square has more going for it than Beech St. Edwardx (talk) 11:53, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

• The PROD process is for uncontroversial deletion and "...must only be used if no opposition is to be expected." It should therefore not be used for articles which have been newly created by an experienced editor such as yourself. You should not hesitate to remove such tags and I have taken care of the examples that you list above. Andrew (talk) 12:04, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

• Note also that there's a profile option to be notified when someone links to an article that you created. I recently turned that on and so have been getting notifications that editors such as yourself have been linking to Theobald's Road which I created. I must create some more London streets to help keep my finger on the pulse of this activity. Andrew (talk) 12:10, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

• For once, I'm ahead of you - I've had that option turned on for some time. No matter how many street articles we start, there will still be plenty left for others. Edwardx (talk) 12:31, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Ethics of Hinduism

Hopefully, you will have got a ping from my linking to you at Talk:Ethics of Hinduism. I realise that you added the briefest of leads but you seem fundamentally to have just restored the work of a prolific pov-pushing sock who, among other things, has a history of misrepresenting sources. You will have seen the SPI link at the AfD and, frankly, I'm a bit astonished. - Sitush (talk) 16:24, 14 July 2014 (UTC)

Unusual and unknown

I invite you to read the close of the RFC: "given the clear policy arguments in support of a normal WP:V approach, the clear policy based consensus is to keep this list only to those deaths for whom there are reliable sources (as noted by one person, these need to be high quality sources, not tabloid journals who regularly fling around these words for fun) that the death is in someway exceptional. All other entries (those for whom someone might say "Come on, this is obviously strange") should be removed. Editors who still wish to assert an IAR exemption to this article or who believe that somehow our total policies trump the plain reading of WP:V are welcome to pursue further dispute resolution."

I've lived by that consensus, and have not removed any material where multiple reliable, high-quality sources have described the death itself as unusual. I've been pretty lenient in terms of quality, rejecting only things like pop-music magazines and tour guidebooks.—Kww(talk) 00:40, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

• Overagainst demands "multiple reliable sources" too. The symmetry seems perfect and that is why it caught my eye at ANI. Anyway, the cat's-eye matter is best resolved at the article's talk page where currently no-one is agreeing with your position. Andrew (talk) 07:24, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

It's been discussed extensively there. The only arguments in favor are the arguments rejected by the RFC, so those opinions have no weight.—Kww(talk) 13:19, 18 July 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Arthur Beale

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 19:45, 21 July 2014 (UTC)

Rationality and Skepticism on the Internet editathon

		The Wikimedia UK Barnstar
		Thanks for your help at the editathon - especially for getting your table working on an important topic. Jonathan Cardy (WMUK) (talk) 10:41, 25 July 2014 (UTC)
		this WikiAward was given to Andrew Davidson by Jonathan Cardy (WMUK) (talk) on 10:41, 25 July 2014 (UTC) for contributions to the UK chapter

DYK for Spectra (installation)

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 01:51, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

Please do not remove the disputed template again until the dispute is resolved. LGA _talk^edits 21:27, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

• The dispute seems resolved now. Andrew (talk) 11:09, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Hawksmoor (restaurant)

Hello! Your submission of Hawksmoor (restaurant) at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! BlueMoonset (talk) 02:34, 8 July 2014 (UTC)

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 06:51, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Ginger Pig

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 06:52, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

Stanley Rubinstein

I've been looking for something to confirm that Stanley Rubinstein who appeared on DID was the same Stanley Rubinstein from Rubinstein Nash & Co; do you have a source for that, please? Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 15:25, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

• I have added some citations to the article. I have also helped out at Henry Wheeler (signalman). Please let me know if there are any more castaways in need of rescue. Andrew (talk) 18:24, 31 August 2014 (UTC)
  • Thanks, will do. I'd found a lot of that (The Times' archive is rich), but couldn't be sure to connect the two identities. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 19:14, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Henry Wheeler (signalman) and Robert Pitcairn (midshipman)

My apologies if this is getting tiresome for you, but I'd be very grateful if you could point me towards the various newspaper reports on Wheeler that you have found, as I requested at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Henry Wheeler (signalman). As I mentioned at the AfD, I have looked for some sources on him and turned up nothing substantial. Thanks. Ferma (talk) 18:41, 8 September 2014 (UTC)

• I have added search links to the article's talk page with a keyword selection similar to the ones that I tried. Google News doesn't do newpaper archive searches in the way that it used to but the find template has a workaround for this. Andrew (talk) 12:03, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for that, but I still can't see anything new in those links. At the AfD, you said you had "no trouble finding coverage in newspapers — both contemporary coverage in 1945/6 and more recently" and I was hoping that you might have something specific and indeed more substantial than a death notice or a programme listing. I've searched in various online archives (The Times, FT and ProQuest UK Newspapers, JSTOR) and I can't find anything more, except a very brief mention in The Telegraph a few years ago ("When Plomley invited Signalman Henry Wheeler on the programme, you have the sense it was partly to demonstrate that his choices weren't so different from Lady Eleanor Smith's." - note, incidentally, that she already had an article because she is notable for her achievements outside of the programme, and he is being contrasted with her as an unknown man-in-the-street).

I have written articles on some more and less obscure people - for a recent example, see Robert Pitcairn - and I would like to be convinced of Wheeler's notability, but I just don't see it yet. Sorry. Ferma (talk) 17:38, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

• Robert Pitcairn is topical as there's a new play about the island - I read a review recently. It's a good first draft and I have added some images. The article has been nominated to appear on the front page as a DYK. Andrew (talk) 07:18, 10 September 2014 (UTC)

Hello! Your submission of Robert Pitcairn (midshipman) at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! NorthAmerica¹⁰⁰⁰ 06:49, 14 September 2014 (UTC)

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 00:03, 23 September 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Léonard Autié and Jean-François Autié

Hello! Your submission of Monsieur Léonard at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! BlueMoonset (talk) 18:48, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Hello! Your submission of Monsieur Léonard at the Did You Know nominations page has been reviewed, and some issues with it may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath your nomination's entry and respond there as soon as possible. Thank you for contributing to Did You Know! Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:44, 16 September 2014 (UTC)

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 12:02, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

 — Crisco 1492 (talk) 12:03, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

Medical Translation Newsletter Aug./Sept. 2014

Medical Translation Newsletter
Issue 2, Aug./Sept. 2014
by CFCF

sign up for monthly delivery

Feature – Ebola articles

Electron micrograph of an Ebola virus virion

During August we have translated Disease and it is now live in more than 60 different languages! To help us focus on African languages Rubric has donated a large number of articles in languages we haven't previously reached–so a shout out them, and Ian Henderson from Rubric who's joined us here at Wikipedia. We're very happy for our continued collaboration with both Rubric and Translators without Borders!

Just some of our over 60 translations:

• Xhosa
• Northern Sotho
• Zulu
• Tsonga
• Venda
• Hausa
• Igbo
• Yoruba
• Kinyarwanda
• Swahili
• Tigrinya

New roles and guides!

At Wikimania there were so many enthusiastic people jumping at the chance to help out the Medical Translation Project, but unfortunately not all of them knew how to get started. That is why we've been spending considerable time writing and improving guides! They are finally live, and you can find them at our home-page!

New sign up page!

We're proud to announce a new sign up page at WP:MTSIGNUP! The old page was getting cluttered and didn't allow you to speficy a role. The new page should be easier to sign up to, and easier to navigate so that we can reach you when you're needed!

Style guides for translations

Translations are of both full articles and shorter articles continues. The process where short articles are chosen for translation hasn't been fully transparent. In the coming months we hope to have a first guide, so that anyone who writes medical or health articles knows how to get their articles to a standard where they can be translated! That's why we're currently working on medical good lede criteria! The idea is to have a similar peer review process to good article nominations, but only for ledes.

Some more stats

• In July, 18 full article translations went live (WP:RTT), and an additional 6 simplified versions went live (WP:RTTS)!
• We have a number of new lead integrators into Dutch, Polish, Arabic and Bulgarian, with more to come in smaller languages! (Find them here old sign up page)
• We were mentioned in a Global Voices Online report by Subhashish Panigrahi at Doctors and translators are working together to bridge Wikipedia's medical language gap
• New medical professionals have started, dedicated to working in Odiya and Kinyarwanda!

Further reading

• Translators Without Borders
• Healthcare information for all by 2015, a global campaign

-- CFCF 🍌 (email) 13:09, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Fair enough

Okay, touché. I didn't mean to single out your remarks, and I apologize if it seemed personal; it wasn't. SteveStrummer (talk) 20:08, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

• It is good of you to say so - such gentility is most welcome. For my part, I do not mean to give offence either; I just hope to give the topic a good defense by arguing for toleration in the spirit of live and let live. Andrew (talk) 21:41, 25 September 2014 (UTC)

No, Honestly

Hi Andrew. I see you would prefer to use WP:RS for Lynsey de Paul's date of birth. But how do we explain the FreeBMD entry exactly? I wonder could you add a comment on the Talk Page, so that we all know why we have the year 1950 and age 64? Many thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 20:36, 5 October 2014 (UTC)

Books and Bytes - Issue 8

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 8, August-September2014
by The Interior (talk · contribs), Ocaasi (talk · contribs), Sadads (talk · contribs)

• TWL now a Wikimedia Foundation program, moves on from grant status
• Four new donations, including large DeGruyter parntership, pilot with Elsevier
• New TWL coordinators, Wikimania news, new library platform discussions, Wiki Loves Libraries update, and more
• Spotlight: "Traveling Through History" - an editor talks about his experiences with a TWL newspaper archive, Newspapers.com

Read the full newsletter

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 04:51, 7 October 2014 (UTC)

Proposal to move pronunciations and other info from lead

I'm posting here to follow up on the recent Village Pump discussion, archived here, to move pronunciations and other info out of article lead sections. I'm inviting editors who participated in that discussion to comment on the Manual of Style:Lead section guideline. If you would like to participate, please add your comments to the discussion. Cheers! Ivanvector (talk) 20:09, 20 October 2014 (UTC)

Royal Ballet editathon

There is a link to the Commons category at the bottom of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ballet/October 2014 editathon, if you would kindly like to upload your photos. Your Dance and Dancers image looks a bit better than mine, so I won't bother to upload one. Edwardx (talk) 22:51, 27 October 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks but I can't find the link. I'm still digesting the photos I took. Andrew (talk) 12:14, 28 October 2014 (UTC)

• Bottom right hand corner. Or here: commons category Edwardx (talk) 09:50, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

⚠

Thanks for uploading File:Dance and Dancers - June July 1980 - last issue at Hansom Books.jpg. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a claim of fair use. However, the image is currently not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. You may add it back if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable for use on Wikipedia (see our policy for non-free media).

Note that any non-free images not used in any articles will be deleted after seven days, as described in the criteria for speedy deletion. Thank you. Diannaa (talk) 01:19, 30 October 2014 (UTC)

Margaret Greig and fiber arts

In view of the way the aricle on Margaret Greig begins, I have linked to it from the article titled Mathematics and fiber arts. If you know of any others that should be linked in the latter article, could you add those too? Michael Hardy (talk) 19:04, 29 October 2014 (UTC)

Science museum

I should be at tomorrow's meeting. In the meantime certain technical issues are being discussed here:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Administrators'_noticeboard#account_creator

©Geni (talk) 12:34, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks - I have commented there. Andrew D. (talk) 14:05, 18 November 2014 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: November 2014

This Month in GLAM – Volume IV, Issue XI, November 2014 Headlines Australia and New Zealand report: ALIA partnership goes countrywide Belgium report: Workshops for collection holders across Europe; Founding event of Wikimedia Belgium; Wiki Loves Monuments in Belgium & Luxembourg; Plantin-Moretus Museum; Edit-a-thon at faculty library in Ghent University; Image donation UGentMemorie; Upcoming activities France report: Wiki Loves Monuments; mass upload; Musée de Bretagne Germany report: Facts, fun and free content Ireland report: Ada Lovelace day in Dublin Italy report: National Library Conference; Wiki Loves Monuments; Archaeological Open Data; BEIC Netherlands report: Video challenge; Wikidata workshop and hackathon; Wikipedia courses in libraries; WWII editathon Norway report: Edit-a-thon far north at the Museum of Nordland (Nordlandsmuseet) Spain report: Picasso, first Galipedia edit-a-thon, course in Biblioteca Reina Sofía and free portraits South Africa report: Wiki Loves GLAMs, Cape Town Sweden report: Use, reuse and contributions back and forth UK report: Medals, maps and multilingual marvels Special story: ORCID identifiers Open Access report: Open proposal: Wikidata for Research; Open Access signalling Tool testing report: Tools for references, images, video, file usage; Popular Pages Calendar: December's GLAM events Read this edition in full • Single-page To assist with preparing the newsletter, please visit the newsroom. Past editions may be viewed here.

Subscribe/Unsubscribe · Global message delivery · Romaine 22:30, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Nominations for deletion

Transferable skill

If this is the first article that you have created, you may want to read the guide to writing your first article.

You may want to consider using the Article Wizard to help you create articles.

Hello, I noticed that you recently created a new page, Transferable skill. First, thank you for your contribution; Wikipedia relies solely on the efforts of volunteers such as you. Unfortunately, the page you created covers a topic on which we already have a page – Skill. Because of the duplication, your article has been tagged for speedy deletion. Please note that this is not a comment on you personally and we hope you will continue helping to improve Wikipedia. If the topic of the article you created is one that interests you, then perhaps you would like to help out at Skill – you might like to discuss new information at the article's talk page.

If you think the article you created should remain separate, you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and clicking the button labelled "Click here to contest this speedy deletion". This will give you the opportunity to explain why you believe the page should not be deleted. However, be aware that once a page is tagged for speedy deletion, it may be removed without delay. Please do not remove the speedy deletion tag from the page yourself, but do not hesitate to add information in line with Wikipedia's policies and guidelines. If the page is deleted, and you wish to retrieve the deleted material for future reference or improvement, then please contact the deleting administrator, or if you have already done so, you can place a request here. Additionally if you would like to have someone review articles you create before they go live so they are not nominated for deletion shortly after you post them, allow me to suggest the article creation process and using our search feature to find related information we already have in the encyclopedia. Try not to be discouraged. Wikipedia looks forward to your future contributions. Tchaliburton (talk) 09:38, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

List of strange laws

A discussion is taking place as to whether the article List of strange laws is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of strange laws until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. Sjö (talk) 08:13, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Wikimeet training

Hello, this is Sabah - we're at the London Wikimeet, working on the article about the big game hunter. Thanks for the help. Mauladad (talk) 19:35, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

	The Real Life Barnstar
	Thanks for making the time for Newbie training at the London meetup. ϢereSpielChequers 12:57, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

• You're welcome. It was a pleasure because they were especially enthusiastic and quick on the uptake. I hope they continue to come to the meets. Andrew D. (talk) 13:20, 15 December 2014 (UTC)

Hoary on hostility

You wrote in WP:AfD/Botella (measurement) (after markup-stripping):

I was training a new editor recently and was surprised at the level of hostility which was immediately shown to her. Without my assistance, her first experience of Wikipedia would have been very negative and we would have lost yet another editor. [...] Anyway, that other editor was User:Mauladad and it remains to be seen whether she will stick with it or is now quite intimidated.

That interested me. I took a look.

The editor has so far only worked significantly on a single article, "Bali Mauladad". The subject name and username show a striking resemblance. Anyway, in this edit, User:Loriendrew added the COI and Notability templates, with a neutral edit summary. At that point, reference and external link aside, the article consisted of one (1) sentence, viz:

Mohamed Iqbal Mauladad known as Bali Mauladad was a big game hunter in Kenya.

I would say that yes, COI looks likely and notability was not established. The article did have a reference, and the reference came complete with a quotation, one that's oddly relevant to units:

"Mohamed Iqbal Mauladad, 'Bali' as he was always called, was a huge man. Born in the mid-1920's he stood six foot one (two meters) in his socks, weighed 250 lbs (113 kilos) and sported a magnificent moustache."

Er, what? I stand nearly six foot one in my socks, but far short of two meters.

It's good that you are working to rescue articles, but you seem curiously prone to see "hostility" where I see mild and justifiable irritation.

I wondered how difficult it is for a new arrival to create articles that do suggest notability and do not suggest COI, so I looked at the articles I created when I was new, back in 2004. Here they are, each in the (horrible) state in which its second editor found it:

• Voigtländer
• Bridget St John
• Jonathan Routh
• Nicholas Luard
• Michael Heath (cartoonist)
• The Establishment (club)
• Dandelion Records
• Cosina

I'd like to think that I wouldn't perpetrate anything like any of them these days. (I now prefer this style.) But I think that each of them shows minor promise, in its crappy way. None was flagged for COI or notability, and I don't think that any risked this.

Are you perhaps too quick to see hostility? -- Hoary (talk) 00:04, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

• Perhaps you don't have the full story? That first draft was put together quickly at the tail-end of the last London meetup. It was part of a crash course in which I was showing the new editor the basics of account creation, talk pages, article editing, &c. We didn't have time to do much but, when I got home, I saw those first two tags and so spent an hour expanding the article to this. That seemed good enough and it was then midnight so I went to bed. In the morning, I found that the article had now been tagged for speedy deletion and, before I could get to it again, it was gone. Both those speedy tags were inappropriate as the article made several reasonable claims of importance (A7) and was not exclusively promotional (G11) as the subject had been dead for over 40 years. Being experienced, I knew how to locate the admin that had performed the deletion and remonstrated with them. The novice editor would have had more trouble dealing with this by themselves because speedy deletion doesn't leave a good audit trail - the page in question has vanished, along with its history. The admin kindly restored the article without more ado — perhaps they realised that the tagging had been excessive. Subsequently, there was more challenging bureaucracy in getting an appropriate photograph added to commons, which required repeatedly contacting and persuading an 80-year old woman in France to log an OTRS ticket, &c. With that done, I did some more expansion to get the page nominated for DYK within the 7-day deadline - yet more red tape which a novice would have found difficult by themselves.

As for your articles, my impression is that you had it easier back in 2004. For example, looking down the list, I recognise the name of Jonathan Routh. I have no complaint myself about this as a topic but notice that your start didn't have any references. As this was then a BLP, you might nowadays find that a {{BLP_PROD}} is slapped on it if it isn't immediately speedily deleted as A7/G11, like the case above. Note that the page is still tagged as lacking adequate citations, 10 years later.

As veteran editors we can now take this aggravation in our stride, but I still reckon that the reception given to novices is too hostile. It's not just me who thinks this — see Encyclopedia Frown:

“The encyclopedia that anyone can edit” is at risk of becoming, in computer scientist Aaron Halfaker’s words, “the encyclopedia that anyone who understands the norms, socializes him or herself, dodges the impersonal wall of semiautomated rejection and still wants to voluntarily contribute his or her time and energy can edit.” An entrenched, stubborn elite of old-timers, a high bar to entry, and a persistent 90/10 gender gap among editors all point to the possibility that Wikipedia is going adrift.

Andrew D. (talk) 13:57, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

New Wikipedia Library Accounts Now Available (December 2014)

Hello Wikimedians!

The TWL OWL says sign up today :)

The Wikipedia Library is announcing signups today for, free, full-access accounts to published research as part of our Publisher Donation Program. You can sign up for:

• Elsevier - science and medicine journals and books
• Royal Society of Chemistry - chemistry journals
• Pelican Books - ebook monographs
• Public Catalogue Foundation- art books

Other partnerships with accounts available are listed on our partners page. Do better research and help expand the use of high quality references across Wikipedia projects: sign up today!
--The Wikipedia Library Team.00:25, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

You can host and coordinate signups for a Wikipedia Library branch in your own language. Please contact Ocaasi (WMF).

This message was delivered via the Mass Message tool to the Book & Bytes recipient list.

Wrap (unit)

When you remove a PROD template, it would be helpful to other editors if you would explain your thinking: why did you object to the deletion of this dictionary definition of a unit so obscure that the Oxford English Dictionary has no record of it? (See discussion at Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Calibre(unit) for one of the many similar articles created by this editor using this one source). PamD 23:26, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

• The WP:PROD process is only meant to be used for "uncontroversial deletion". Using it for a good faith creation supported by a respectable source seems quite inappropriate and uncivil. The process states that "PROD must only be used if no opposition is to be expected." When an article is just a few hours old, you should expect opposition and therefore not use this process. Please see WP:BITE.

• As for the units, they both seem valid. Calibre is the British spelling of caliber — I am surprised that you don't recognise it. The wrap unit does indeed seem more obscure but the OED does actually have relevant entries, e.g. "wrap reel n. a large revolving framework on which yarn can be wound and measured." Please see WP:IMPERFECT.

Andrew D. (talk) 00:05, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

• I have just started an article about wrap reels. There's lots of fascinating material out there about the UK's long tradition of making textiles and so our work is cut out for us (a phrase which likewise relates to such crafts). Andrew D. (talk) 13:38, 21 December 2014 (UTC)

Nomination of Mizpah Creek Incidents for deletion

Hello Andrew, Thankyou for your help with trying to save Mizpah Creek Incidents from deletion. I had never heard of the book Forgotten Fights before, and after you sent the link to me, am now very interested in it, and will get a copy. Thankyou again. Powder River 1876 (talk) 00:41, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

• You're welcome and a Merry Christmas to you. Andrew D. (talk) 16:29, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

Yo Ho Ho

ϢereSpielChequers is wishing you Seasons Greetings! Whether you celebrate your hemisphere's Solstice or Christmas, Diwali, Hogmanay, Hanukkah, Lenaia, Festivus or even the Saturnalia, this is a special time of year for almost everyone!

Spread the holiday cheer by adding {{subst:User:WereSpielChequers/Dec14c}} to your friends' talk pages.

Er, thank you for the animal headed shallow bowl - just what I always wanted. :) A merry yuletide to you too. Andrew D. (talk) 16:26, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

I think it should hold wine, provided the cracks are well sealed. ϢereSpielChequers 16:31, 23 December 2014 (UTC)

Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2015!!!

Hello Andrew Davidson, May you be surrounded by peace, success and happiness on this seasonal occasion. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Sending you a heartfelt and warm greetings for Christmas and New year 2015. Happy editing, NorthAmerica1000 00:39, 20 December 2014 (UTC) Spread the love by adding {{subst:Seasonal Greetings}} to user talk pages with a friendly message.

BOZ (talk) is wishing you a Merry Christmas! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Don't eat yellow snow!

Spread the holiday cheer by adding {{subst:User:Flaming/MC2008}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

I'm wishing you a Merry Christmas, because that is what I celebrate. If you don't like Christmas or just don't celebrate it in any of its forms, then please accept a generic "Happy Holidays". If you celebrate no holidays at this time of year, then hopefully you will be satisfied with an even more generic "Season's Greetings".  :)

GOCE holiday 2014 newsletter

Guild of Copy Editors Late December 2014 Newsletter Blitz: Thanks to everyone who participated in the December Blitz. Of the 14 editors who signed up for the blitz, 11 copyedited at least one article. Final results, including barnstars awarded, are available here. January drive: The January backlog-reduction drive is just around the corner; sign up here! Election time again: The election of coordinators to serve from January 1 to June 30, 2015 is now underway. The voting period runs from December 16, 00:01 (UTC), until December 31, 23:59. Please cast your vote—it's your Guild, and it doesn't run itself! Happy holidays from your GOCE coordinators Jonesey95, Baffle gab1978 and Miniapolis. To discontinue receiving GOCE newsletters, please remove your name from our mailing list.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:43, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Tech News: 2015-01

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Software changes

• There are no technical changes this week.

Feedback about Tech News in 2014

• The writers of the technical newsletter are asking for your opinion. Did you get the information you wanted this year? Did we miss important technical news in 2014? What kind of information was too late? Please tell us at m:Talk:Tech/News. You can write in your language. Thank you!

Tech news prepared by tech ambassadors and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

16:52, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

Copious free time

Here, too. and I can remember other examples. If nothing else, try to remember WP:TPG. - Sitush (talk) 13:11, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

• I'll get to you later, in my copious free time. Andrew D. (talk) 13:57, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

• No idea what the Lehrer reference is intended to be but I'd rather you just didn't comment about me at all in deletion debates. I find those involved with ARS often ridiculously combative and I'd rather just do what I do without having more angst added to my numerous troubles. As for that Slate article, it is mostly nonsense and full of factual errors, as you should know it if you have been following recent events and the comments section of the thing. - Sitush (talk) 14:13, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

• The Lehrer reference is explained here. Andrew D. (talk) 10:01, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

British Newspaper Archive access

Hello, Andrew Davidson. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

Chris Troutman (talk) 02:26, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

I approved your application British Newspaper Archive almost a month ago. I've still not received your information as my e-mail to you requested. If I don't have your information in my spreadsheet by 5 January, I'll archive your application without action immediately thereafter. Chris Troutman (talk) 21:06, 31 December 2014 (UTC)

• Thanks for the reminder - I didn't notice the ygm. I'll look for the email now. Andrew D. (talk) 10:13, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

Happy New Year Andrew Davidson!

Happy New Year!

Andrew Davidson,
Have a prosperous, productive and enjoyable New Year, and thanks for your contributions to Wikipedia. Edwardx (talk) 21:09, 31 December 2014 (UTC) and NorthAmerica¹⁰⁰⁰ 01:58, 1 January 2015 (UTC)

Send New Year cheer by adding {{subst:Happy New Year 2015}} to user talk pages.

• Thanks and a Happy New year to you and everyone here. Andrew D. (talk) 10:13, 1 January 2015 (UTC)