OwenBlacker
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Nomination for merger of Template:BLP nonbinary editnotice
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Template:BLP nonbinary editnotice has been nominated for merging with Template:Pronoun editnotice. You are invited to comment on the discussion at the template's entry on the Templates for discussion page. Thank you. –LaundryPizza03 (dc̄) 22:24, 5 January 2026 (UTC)
The Signpost: 15 January 2026
edit- News and notes: Wikipedia's 25th anniversary is here!
Where does the time go?
- Special report: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call
The internet is booming. We are not.
- Serendipity: The WMF wants to buy you books!
Really! A major triumph.
- WikiProject report: Time for a health check: the Vital Signs 2026 campaign
The campaign to get all of our top-importance medical articles up to B-class or above.
- In the media: Fake Acting President Trump and a Wikipedia infobox
D.J.T. assumes a new position.
- Community view: The inbox behind Wikipedia
What the Volunteer Response Team actually does!
- Recent research: Art museums on Wikidata; comparing three comparisons of Grokipedia and Wikipedia
And other research.
- Traffic report: Tonight I'm gonna rock you tonight
A world in white gets underway.
- Comix: Oh come on man.
Really?
The Signpost: 29 January 2026
edit- Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2025
Everybody had a hard year, everybody had a good time.
- News and notes: Good news... but also bad news for the Public Domain
Benvenuto Betty Boop, arrivederci Italian Photos.
- News from Diff: Solving puzzles together
Maryana Iskander says farewell.
- In the media: Every view on the 25th anniversary of everything
Media about hard-core nerds, a place with paragraphs, baby globes, and wikipedes.
- Comix: Perspectives
Everybody has one.
CS1 error on Nnedi Okorafor
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Hello, I'm Qwerfjkl (bot). I have automatically detected that this edit performed by you, on the page Nnedi Okorafor, may have introduced referencing errors. They are as follows:
- A URL error. References show this error when one of the URL-containing parameters contains an invalid URL. Please edit the article to add the valid URL. (Fix | Ask for help)
Please check this page and fix the errors highlighted. If you think this is a false positive, you can report it to my operator. Thanks, Qwerfjkl (bot) (talk) 23:33, 11 February 2026 (UTC)
Done — OwenBlacker (he/him; Talk) 10:12, 12 February 2026 (UTC)
The Signpost: 17 February 2026
edit- In the media: Global powers see Wikipedia as fundamental target for manipulation
Attempted Wikipedia shenanigans apparent from Epstein, AI, various governments.
- News and notes: Discussions open for the next WMF Annual Plan
Plus, WikiFlix going places, steady progress on older FAs and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- Serendipity: Maintenance crews continue to slog through Wikipedia's oldest Featured Articles
Hundreds of old FAs have been triaged since project began, but thousands remain — and they need reviewers.
- Disinformation report: Epstein's obsessions
The sex offender's attempts to whitewash Wikipedia run deeper than we first thought.
- Technology report: Wikidata Graph Split and how we address major challenges
A personal perspective on a major update to the Wikimedia social machine.
- Traffic report: Deaths, killings, films, and the Olympics
I'll have the usual!
- Opinion: Incoming Incurables
A poem for Wikipedia Day 2026.
- Crossword: Pop quiz
Sharpen your pencil. How well do you really know Wikipedia?
- Comix: herculean
efforts.
The Signpost: 10 March 2026
edit- Interview: Bernadette Meehan, new Wikimedia Foundation CEO
Part 2.
- News and notes: Security testing unleashes computer worm on Meta-wiki
Dormant worm awakes; a sketchy archiving site struck; ether burns.
- Special report: What actually happened during the Wikimedia security incident?
A horrifying exploit took place, which could have had catastrophic and far-reaching consequences if used maliciously; instead, it seems to have happened by accident and was used for childish vandalism. How did this happen, and what did the script actually do?
- In the media: Indonesian government blocks Wikimedia logins; archive site scoured from Wikipedia after owner runs malware
As well as controversy over LLM translations.
- Recent research: To wiki, perchance to groki
Comparisons continue.
- Obituary: Madhav Gadgil, Fredrick Brennan, Mark Miller, Chip Berlet
Rest in peace.
- Opinion: Interface administrators and trusting trust
Potential attacks are the logical consequence of giving a group of users unlimited control over JavaScript.
- Technology report: English Wikipedia deprecates archive.today after DDoS against blog, altered content
After the archive site launched a DDoS campaign against a small blog in January 2026, a request for comment was started, with consensus to deprecate the site used almost 700 thousand times.
- Op-ed: Why is "Trypsin-sensitive photosynthetic activities in chloroplast membranes" cited in "List of tallest buildings in Chicago"?
The answer is slop.
- Essay: The pursuit of a button click
Volunteering for Wikipedia has its rewards. The thank-button, for example.
- In focus: Short descriptions: One year later
A discussion of the challenge set forth to the Wikipedia community one year ago!
- WikiProject report: Unreferenced articles backlog drive
Unreferenced articles in English Wikipedia - help us in the backlog drive!
- Community view: Speaking of planning ...
The WMF planning process is underway.
- Traffic report: Over the mountain, kissing silver inlaid clouds
Death and the Winter Olympics.
- Crossword: "It will never happen"
Want to take a break?
- Comix: BRIEn't
Or is it.
The Signpost: 31 March 2026
edit- News and notes: Entirety of Wikinews to be shut down
All languages to be shut down in May; first AI agent blocked; new name for AfD?
- In the media: AI ban, newspapers disrupt archiving; and antisemitism complaints
Perennial challenges with AI, demographic representation, and attacks from people buying media influence.
- Community view: Videos from WikiConference North America 2025 in NYC
In attendees' own words.
- Disinformation report: Cleaning up after Jeffrey Epstein, Peter Nygard, and Mohamed Al-Fayed
Countering the edits of the rich and dangerous.
- WikiConference report: WikiConference North America 2025 in NYC review
About the conference series, and this conference particularly.
- Obituary: Dr. Subas Chandra Rout
Rest in peace.
- Traffic report: Call in the dogs of war, soldier of fortune
Though of course the picture needs to be Chuck Norris...
- Gallery: Canadian Rangers participate in Operation Enduring Encyclopedia
Analogies between how Wikipedia works and how Canada works.
- Comix: n00bsitting
...!
You are invited to participate in the Destubathon of the Americas, a contest/editathon which will run from May 1 to May 31. The goal is to destub as many of our 475,000+ stubs for the Americas (from Alaska down to Chile) as possible. A good chance to have fun in expanding many of our old stale stubs and win up to £2000 ($2680) in Amazon vouchers for expanding stub articles. Sign up in the Contestants/participants section on the contest page if interested. Even if not interested in prizes you are still warmly welcome to participate in it as an editathon! Hopefully we can achieve something significant in the month of May together! ♦ Dr. Blofeld 17:24, 15 April 2026 (UTC)
The Signpost: 21 April 2026
edit- News and notes: Six Serbian Wikipedia editors banned following controversy about political bias
Plus, new bans for AI-generated content in place, a new drop in active admins, pranks on pranks, May admin election, and other news from the Wikimedia world.
- In the media: Could Wikipedia be involved in Massachusetts' proposed social media ban for minors?
Another regulate-the-internet attempt casts a wide net.
- Gallery: March equinox
The progression of seasons in March.
- Traffic report: Time to change my galaxy in case, we outta space!
What catches the reader's eye? Death and film, per usual, and a loop around the moon per unusual.
- Comix: Of skirts and articles
When significant coverage is only skin deep.
Happy First Edit Day!
edit| Happy First Edit Day! Hi OwenBlacker! On behalf of the Birthday Committee, I'd like to wish you a very happy anniversary of the day you made your first edit and became a Wikipedian! DaniloDaysOfOurLives (talk) 11:10, 22 April 2026 (UTC) |
Happy First Edit Day!
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Have a very happy first edit anniversary!
From the Birthday Committee, CAPTAIN RAJU(T) 15:56, 22 April 2026 (UTC)
Happy First Edit Day!
edit| Happy First Edit Day, OwenBlacker, from the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Have a great day! ☘︎☘︎☘︎ALEXHammeke (talk | guestbook | sandbox) 16:32, 22 April 2026 (UTC) |

A tag has been placed on Category:Articles containing Island Carib-language text indicating that it is currently empty, and is not a disambiguation category, a category redirect, under discussion at Categories for discussion, or a project category that by its nature may become empty on occasion. If it remains empty for seven days or more, it may be deleted under section C1 of the criteria for speedy deletion.
If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and removing the speedy deletion tag. Liz Read! Talk! 03:31, 8 May 2026 (UTC)
- We recently changed the display name for the ISO 639 code
crb, so this category is obsolete now; see Category talk:Articles containing Island Carib-language text — OwenBlacker (he/him; Talk) 13:23, 8 May 2026 (UTC)
The redirect American Mock Trial Association has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Anyone, including you, is welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2026 May 12 § American Mock Trial Association until a consensus is reached. consarn (talk beige) (count ribs) 13:18, 12 May 2026 (UTC)
You may be eligible to vote in the U4C election
editI am contacting you because you previously voted in elections related to the Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee (U4C). You may be eligible to vote in the current U4C election, which is open now and closes on 2 June 2026. You can find out more about the candidates and the election on the election page on Meta, and from there you can access the vote itself. Your participation in these elections is important to the governance of Wikimedia communities, and your time spent learning about the candidates and voting is appreciated.
-- In cooperation with the U4C, Keegan (WMF) (talk)
The Signpost: 22 May 2026
edit- News and notes: Offline: Osama Khalid still in prison
He has been imprisoned since 2020 for his Wikipedia edits. A fresh campaign is calling for his release.
- In the media: Indonesian editors, you shall return!
And lawspam, may you be away.
- Disinformation report: Who is a typical paid editor? Who are their typical clients?
Remember the golden rule!
- Recent research: WikiLambda the Ultimate
Does Abstract Wikipedia help fight "One ring to rule them all" solutions for knowledge access - or does it implement one itself?
- Traffic report: This is where I'll be, so heavenly, so come and dance with me Michael!
A real off the wall thriller, invincible, can't beat it, or is it dangerous and just bad?
- Forum: WikiAnnotate: help us build a dataset of article quality evaluations
A research project to build better automated article assessment tools.
- In focus: Demystifying the 2026-27 Annual Plan
A guide to WMF's Tech Annual Plan for the next year.
- Opinion: Wikipedia isn't a battleground. So why does it feel like one?
Do we really have to fight?
- Serendipity: Wikinews: Into the Wikiverse
The early suggestions for what the wiki could have been.
- Special report: Wikimedia Foundation closes Wikinews after 21 years
Displaces 700 active editors among 31 language editions.
- Community view: Wikipedia's traffic drop: more on languages and freshness
Which topics are dropping, and is the pattern the same everywhere?
- Gallery: Earth Day and Mother's Day
Earth Day was on 22 April, and Mother's Day was on 10 May (in the US and many other countries).
- Comix: Brother, can you spare a page?
What would you say?
CS1 error on Juridical person
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Hello, I'm Qwerfjkl (bot). I have automatically detected that this edit performed by you, on the page Juridical person, may have introduced referencing errors. They are as follows:
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Requested move at Talk:Silesian language
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An editor has requested that Silesian language be moved to Upper Silesian language. Since you had some involvement with 'Silesian language', you are invited to participate in the move discussion. Fortek67 (talk) 23:56, 24 May 2026 (UTC)
Question about rules clarification for translations
editI saw you recently updated the translation rules so I have a question, are we allowed to remove bits that are no longer verifiable? I removed that María Barrier was born in Palma de Mallorca since the source link would just take me to an Instagram account's front page instead of a anything saying that's where she was born (I checked the internet archive just in case but no luck.) Is that alright? Urchincrawler (talk) 10:27, 4 June 2026 (UTC)
- Removing content that is verifiable is sensible; hopefully you shouldn't be penalised for that — OwenBlacker (he/him; Talk) 18:39, 4 June 2026 (UTC)
How to contact judges for Wikipedia Loves Pride event regarding organizer error?
editHi, organizers of the event made an error by including foreign language articles under 300 words in the Suggested Articles section of the event. Although the rules say full translations are each worth 1 point, User:Freddy eduardo said in this discussion that full translations under 300 words would not count even if they were suggested articles, saying that their inclusion was a mistake on the part of the organizers. I haven't gone through every translation so I don't know everyone impacted. I know at the very least, the translations of GoGo for the Gold, María Barrier, and Hidden Mistake as well as User: Tony Polari's translation of Alejandra Menjívar (note: he expanded the article after I pinged him on the issue) and User:Magentic Manifestations translation of Murder of Wendy Calle would no longer count. I would like to request the following of the judges:
- Clarify the rules that translations under 300 words, even if they are complete translations of suggested aricles, do not count.
- To still count translations under 300 words of suggested articles made prior to that clarification. That or some kind of alternative like each still counts for half a point, that way those who did longer translations or who will go back to extend short ones after the clarification will be adequately rewarded, but complete translations of suggested articles under 300 words aren't rendered worthless point-wise.
How can I contact the judges regarding this situation? Thanks! Urchincrawler (talk) 17:13, 4 June 2026 (UTC)
- It would be useful if you could post on Event talk:Wiki Loves Pride 2026 rather than directly to me, as other people will also be able to reply there. Posting there will get the attention of the judges. — OwenBlacker (he/him; Talk) 18:40, 4 June 2026 (UTC)
It was a mistake, I would bring it down, am a new editor so a tender an apology for that and will take note next time, thank you for the correction Xaynarb (talk) 15:53, 5 June 2026 (UTC)
The Signpost: 21 June 2026
edit- From the editors: Ways for beginners to support The Signpost community journalism
Pointing the way to your contribution to The Signpost!
- News and notes: Community Tech development team disbanded
And English Wikipedia reaches a milestone in number of highly active editors.
- Disinformation report: PR for the people?
Or, "PR using PR for PR"?
- Recent research: Proposed tagging system for AI involvement; successful and unsuccessful AI tools for contributors
And other new research publications.
- In the media: Who won a 14th century battle and who won the 2026 Iran war?
Media take issue with portrayals of recent and medieval history on Wikipedia. Plus a team supporting Wikipedians gets dissolved, and a few other things.
- Community view: Putting the Wish into the Wishlist
A history of the Wikimedia community's request process to Foundation developers.
- In focus: A global standard for Neutral Point of View
Wikipedians are commenting on a proposed global standard for neutral point of view.
- On the bright side: Flowers, blue helmets, reefs, pride, and Juneteenth
Nice things around the world.
- Op-ed: Breathe, Don’t Panic, there is a different story about Wikimedia + AI futures
We can build a strategy about AI that doesn't just center on readers; there are still plenty of humans to write the encyclopedia and work on diverse global knowledge.
- Opinion: Wikimedia Foundation staff develop union and Wikimedia user community reacts
Why should editors support the Wiki Workers United union drive? Lessons the Wikimedia movement can learn from other labor struggles.
- Technology report: Community Tech team is disbanded, controversy erupts
WMF disbands Community Tech, sparking community backlash over the future of the Wishlist and concerns about unionization.
- Traffic report: 'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
Horror movies and Michael Jackson dominate theaters in the lead-up to the World Cup.
- WikiConference report: Report of Volunteer Supporters Network Annual Meeting 2026
Outreach staff of Wikimedia chapters host a global discussion.
- Comix: Take your turn
In a maze of twisty little edits, all alike.
- Humour: Group of banned T-shirt makers comes out of hiding to sell new Wikipedia-themed merchandise
It ain't WikiProject United Nations, but you will find some PUNs.
CS1 error on Prohibition
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Hello, I'm Qwerfjkl (bot). I have automatically detected that this edit performed by you, on the page Prohibition, may have introduced referencing errors. They are as follows:
- A missing title error. References show this error when they do not have a title. Please edit the article to add a title to the reference. (Fix | Ask for help). Below are the references causing this error:
- . Gore District Council https://web.archive.org/web/20160122014703/http://goredc.govt.nz/our-facilities/arts-and-heritage/hokonui-moonshiners-museum/. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help); Unknown parameter|ttle=ignored (help)
- . Gore District Council https://web.archive.org/web/20160122014703/http://goredc.govt.nz/our-facilities/arts-and-heritage/hokonui-moonshiners-museum/. Archived from the original on 2016-01-22.
Please check this page and fix the errors highlighted. If you think this is a false positive, you can report it to my operator. Thanks, Qwerfjkl (bot) (talk) 14:13, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
Done — OwenBlacker (he/him; Talk) 19:08, 27 June 2026 (UTC)
The Signpost: 13 July 2026
edit- News and notes: An exclusive club
Wikipedia Co-Founder Larry Sanger gets a community ban for canvassing.
- In the media: Battle for a soul – who won?
Commissars, winners and losers, blocks or bans, a Wiki red card, social engineering on wikis, and Swift action!
- Opinion: We need to innovate with Wikimedia decision-making
Rules we can actually read, trust and change!
- Recent research: LLMs and NPOV, 20 years of user blocks, Esperanto and Volapük Wikipedias
And other research findings.
- News from Diff: How to host Wikicurious in your own community
The Wikicurious team shares their approach to Wiki-event organizing.
- Community view: CUNY Newmark Wikimedian-in-Residence Quarterly Brief – April to June 2026
Quarterly update on the activities of the City University of New York's Wikimedian-in-Residence, Richard Knipel.
- Special report: Wikipedia escapes Category 1 designation under the UK Online Safety Act – for now
A possible future recategorization by the UK Government remains an existential threat to Wikipedia.
- On the bright side: Fatherhood, weather, and diplomacy
Father's Day, Canada Day, and the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.
- Op-ed: A Layup Easy Proposal for Wikimedia at 25: Spend 25% of Donations on the Community
If strategy priority 1.1 is supporting the community, can we not increase the support to the community? Increasing grantmaking to 25% of the budget would be a move toward equality in the movement.
- Traffic report: The grass was greener, the light was brighter
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of World Cup.
- Comix: schnozzed
on lollerskates