Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Tag/newsandnotes
Articles tagged: newsandnotes
[edit] News and notes In other news ... see ya in court!
2024-01-10
Let the games begin! The 2024 WikiCup is off to a strong start. With copyright enforcement, AI training and freedom of expression, it's another typical week in the wiki-sphere!
News and notes Beeblebrox ejected from Arbitration Committee following posts on Wikipediocracy
2023-12-04
Just as his term was ending!
News and notes Update on Wikimedia's financial health
2023-11-20
Plus: Sockpuppet investigators asking for help.
News and notes Board candidacy process posted, editors protest WMF privacy measure, sweet meetups
2023-11-06
And three new admins!
News and notes Wikimedia Endowment financial statement published
2023-10-03
Finances during Tides Foundation management of the endowment are shown for the first time.
News and notes Wikimedia power sharing – just an advisory role for the volunteer community?
2023-09-16
Plus: Africa news, funding report, U4C draft, roads fork and another ChatGPT block.
News and notes You like RecentChanges?
2023-08-31
Wikipedia really comes into its own, editorially and artistically.
News and notes Dude, Where's My Donations? Wikimedia Foundation announces another million in grants for non-Wikimedia-related projects
2023-08-15
Jimbo promises more transparency, Wikimania in Singapore, move away from Tides still planned, and Wikifunctions rolls out.
News and notes City officials attempt to doxx Wikipedians, Ruwiki founder banned, WMF launches Mastodon server
2023-08-01
And French gov't proposes legislation to slam Wikipedia, others
News and notes Big bux hidden beneath wine-dark sea as we wait for the Tides to go out?
2023-07-17
Gitz6666 unglocked, Wikimania scholarships given and a new admin anointed.
News and notes Online Safety Bill: Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia UK launch open letter
2023-07-03
... and a new Elections Committee
News and notes WMF Terms of Use now in force, new Creative Commons licensing
2023-06-19
Problems with emergency emails sent to WMF
News and notes WMRU director forks new 'pedia, birds flap in top '22 piccy, WMF weighs in on Indian gov's map axe plea
2023-06-05
Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee Building Committee Commences Command By Convening
News and notes Golden parachutes: Record severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation
2023-05-22
... and a referendum on Jimmy Wales' traditional role as a final court of appeal in arbitration policy
News and notes Staff departures at Wikimedia Foundation, Jimbo hands in the bits, and graphs' zeppelin burns
2023-04-26
Plus: Wikipedians get own Mastodon account, and Wikiprojects move to uniform quality assessment.
News and notes Sounding out, a universal code of conduct, and dealing with AI
2023-04-03
Skynet believed to be in violation of the new Universal Code of Conduct.
News and notes Wikimania submissions deadline looms, Russian government after our lucky charms, AI woes nix CNET from RS slate
2023-03-20
Be part of the Wikimania 2023 program!
News and notes Terms of Use update, Steward elections, and Wikipedia back in Pakistan
2023-02-20
UCoC Enforcement Guidelines pass, Wikimedia Enterprise financials, GPTs gone wild, and a speedy deletion criterion removed.
News and notes Foundation update on fundraising, new page patrol, Tides, and Wikipedia blocked in Pakistan
2023-02-04
As well as the continued rise of the machines.
News and notes Revised Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines up for vote, WMF counsel departs, generative models under discussion
2023-01-16
UCoC draws nearer, alongside the rise of the machines, in mainspace this time.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation ousts, bans quarter of Arabic Wikipedia admins
2023-01-01
Plus admin update and cool tools for the new year.
News and notes English Wikipedia editors: "We don't need no stinking banners"
2022-11-28
Joe Roe's close sows dough woes, manifestos... vetoes? overthrows?
News and notes Wikipedians question Wikimedia fundraising ethics after "somewhat-viral" tweet
2022-10-31
News from Twitter, Commons and the WMF C-Suite.
News and notes Board vote results, bot's big GET, crat chat gives new mop, WMF seeks "sound logo" and "organizer lab"
2022-09-30
Candidates sign off and peel out – Sigalov is on and Peel is in.
News and notes Admins wanted on English Wikipedia, IP editors not wanted on Farsi Wiki, donations wanted everywhere
2022-08-31
jimmy@wikipedia.org donate@wikimedia.org (not a typo?) wants a moment of your time.
News and notes Information considered harmful
2022-08-01
Wikipedia and human rights, publishers and the Internet Archive, Russia and Wikipedia.
News and notes WMF inks new rules on government-ordered takedowns, blasts Russian feds' censor demands, spends big bucks
2022-06-26
Office actions to secretly delete stuff when told to? Well, at least not if they're Putin's.
News and notes Of safety and anonymity
2022-03-27
The diff that resulted in arrest and jail time in Belarus.
News and notes Impacts of Russian invasion of Ukraine
2022-02-27
Plus, the Steward Elections, Leadership Development Task Force and a contest.
News and notes Feedback for Board of Trustees election
2022-01-30
Plus, the incredible shrinking admin cadre.
News and notes Jimbo's NFT, new arbs, fixing RfA, and financial statements
2021-12-28
Wrapping up 2021 with a pair of auctions, activity surrounding administrators, and an audit.
News and notes The sockpuppet who ran for adminship and almost succeeded
2021-10-31
And will the last person to leave the C-Suite please turn off the lights?
News and notes 1,000,000,000 edits, board elections, virtual Wikimania 2021
2021-01-31
Who else but Ser Amantio di Nicolao?
News and notes Year-end legal surprises cause concern, but Public Domain Day is imminent
2020-12-28
New laws in the US and Europe might enable trolls; sad admin milestone for English Wikipedia, or not?
News and notes Jimmy Wales "shouldn't be kicked out before he's ready"
2020-11-29
Arbitration Committee elections begin.
News and notes Ban on IPs on ptwiki, paid editing for Tatarstan, IP masking
2020-11-01
Branding pause, birthday.
News and notes More large-scale errors at a "small" wiki
2020-09-27
With inline parenthetical citations!
News and notes Abstract Wikipedia, a hoax, sex symbols, and a new admin
2020-08-02
Plus lots of affiliations!
News and notes Progress at Wikipedia Library and Wikijournal of Medicine
2020-06-28
Plus Swedish biographies and the big oops!
News and notes 2019 Picture of the Year, 200 French paid editing accounts blocked, 10 years of Guild Copyediting
2020-05-31
Many of these accounts now blocked on the English-language Wikipedia.
News and notes Unbiased information from Ukraine's government?
2020-04-26
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pitches in.
News and notes Six million articles on the English language Wikipedia
2020-01-27
You ain't seen nothing yet.
News and notes What's up (and down) with administrators, articles and languages
2019-12-27
Active administrators and articles achieved are marking milestone metrics, but in diverging directions. Plus, the first time any court has found there exists a constitutional right to read Wikipedia.
News and notes How soon for the next million articles?
2019-11-29
And when will we get the second extraterrestrial edit?
News and notes Documenting Wikimania and our beginnings
2019-08-30
The oldest surviving Wikipedia edit restored to article history, Wikimania, and the mystery of a disappearing Funds Dissemination Committee.
News and notes Wikimedia grants less accessible for travel, equipment, meetups, and India
2019-07-31
WMF grants program changes position on funding random individuals globally and 100 crore people in one region
News and notes Mysterious ban, admin resignations, Wikimedia Thailand rising
2019-06-30
Many administrators resign related to Fram case; Wikimedia Thailand to host Wikimania 2020.
News and notes Wikimania and trustee elections
2019-05-31
Get ready to go to Wikimania in Stockholm where you might meet two new trustees
News and notes An action-packed April
2019-04-30
An Action Packed April: New Administrators, April Fools, our competitors, and other associated updates
News and notes Blackouts fail to stop EU Copyright Directive
2019-03-31
Eight Wikipedias blacked out their pages trying to stop major copyright law changes.
News and notes Front-page issues for the community
2019-02-28
Encyclopedias for Deletion; Corinne; scholarships; partial blocks; and administrators headcount.
News and notes WMF staff turntable continues to spin; Endowment gets more cash; RfA continues to be a pit of steely knives
2019-01-31
Venezuelan woes, and Arbitrator GorillaWarfare explains WMF tumult in post on Wikipediocracy
News and notes Some wishes do come true
2018-12-24
NPP wins the wish list poll; Wikipedia editors will be able to work better at night; new WMF appointments and new arbitrators; and who wants to be an admin?
News and notes Reviewer of the year, WikiCup winner, and the 2019 Wikimedia Summit
2018-12-01
Looking both backward and forward to events concerning the community.
News and notes European copyright law moves forward
2018-10-01
Wikipedia dodges a bullet in Brussels... maybe.
News and notes Communication is key
2018-01-16
Two new WMF Communications department leadership appointments; a new way for Wikimedia communities to communicate their capacities.
News and notes Money! WMF fundraising, Wikimedia strategy, WMF new office!
2017-10-23
The Wikimedia Foundation publishes the latest fundraising report, convenes over the close of the strategic plan discussion, and moves into a new space.
News and notes Departments reorganized at Wikimedia Foundation, and a month without new RfAs (so far)
2017-06-23
While the English Wikipedia community produces no new requests for adminhood in June, the Wikimedia Foundation makes changes to the Product and Technology departments.
News and notes Official WMF rebuke to Trump policy; WMF secures restricted funds
2017-02-06
Foundation's latest foray into political waters, and grants funding structured data and anti-harassment measures, met with enthusiasm and concern
News and notes Strategic planning update; English Wikipedia ArbCom election results
2016-12-22
Strategic planning update; English ArbCom election results: WMF reflects, to some degree, on its past approaches to strategic planning
News and notes Board unanimously appoints Katherine Maher as new WMF executive director; Wikimedia lawsuits in France and Germany
2016-07-04
News from Wikimania and the courts
News and notes Clarifications on status and compensation of outgoing executive directors Sue Gardner and Lila Tretikov
2016-06-15
WMF board chair Patricio Lorente answers questions
News and notes Lila Tretikov a Young Global Leader; Wikipediocracy blog post sparks indefinite blocks
2016-03-23
The outgoing ED to be honored at Davos.
News and notes Wikipedia Zero: Orange mobile partnership in Africa ends; the evolution of privacy loss in Wikipedia
2016-03-16
Parties could not agree on extending the 2009 agreement.
News and notes Katherine Maher named interim head of WMF; Wales email re-sparks Heilman controversy; draft WMF strategy posted
2016-03-09
Controversy, change, and everything between.
News and notes Tretikov resigns, WMF in transition
2016-03-02
A tumultuous time at the Wikimedia Foundation
News and notes Harassment survey 2015; Luis Villa to leave WMF; knowledge engine background
2016-02-03
A survey released, another major departure from the Foundation.
News and notes Geshuri steps down from the Board
2016-01-27
Newly appointed trustee leaves following a community outcry.
News and notes Vote of no confidence; WMF trustees speak out
2016-01-20
Vote of no confidence; WMF trustee speaks out: The continuing controversy over a new Board appointment.
News and notes Community objections to new Board trustee
2016-01-13
A look at community objections to a new Board trustee
News and notes WMF Board dismisses community-elected trustee
2015-12-30
In a monumental move, the Board ousted one of its own
News and notes ArbCom election results announced
2015-12-09
The three scrutineers announced the results, a little more than three days after the close of voting.
News and notes Online harassment consultation; High voter turnout at ArbCom elections
2015-12-02
How the community can have its say on two important matters.
News and notes Fundraising update; FDC recommendations
2015-11-25
Updates on the Wikimedia Foundation.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation finances; Superprotect is gone
2015-11-04
WMF funding and the death and life of a controversial feature.
News and notes English Wikipedia reaches five million articles
2015-10-28
The community reacts to another milestone.
News and notes Wikimedia lawsuit against NSA dismissed; Affiliates mailing list launched
2015-10-21
District court judge decrees that the WMF lacks standing.
News and notes 2015–2016 Q1 fundraising update sparks mailing list debate
2015-10-14
Everyone's talking about money.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation fundraising report, Montreal to host 2017 Wikimania
2015-09-30
A year of fundraising and a controversial decision.
News and notes Flow placed on ice
2015-09-02
The WMF collaboration team announced this week that Flow will no longer be under active development.
News and notes Superprotect, one year later; a contentious RfA
2015-08-12
Superprotect was a novel page protection level implemented on August 10 last year, without warning.
News and notes VisualEditor, endowment, science, and news in brief
2015-08-05
VisualEditor is now on slow roll-out on the English Wikipedia.
News and notes BARC de-adminship proposal; Wikimania recordings debate
2015-07-29
An RFC proposes to create a "Bureaucrats' Admin Review Committee" (BARC) composed of bureaucrats empowered to remove adminship rights.
News and notes Wikimanía 2015 in the books; Lightbreather ArbCom case
2015-07-22
Wikimanía 2016; Lightbreather ArbCom case: Wikimania features remarks from some leading players from the Wikimedia Foundation as well as the free knowledge movement.
News and notes The Wikimedia Conference and Wikimania
2015-07-15
Wikimania 2015 is underway in Mexico City, and one of its sessions—a scheduled follow-up to the annual Wikimedia Conference that was held in Berlin in May—is good reason to provide a retrospective of that Conference.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation annual plan released, news in brief
2015-07-08
Lila Tretikov this week posted an email to the wikimedia-l mailing list announcing the final publication of the Wikimedia Foundation's 2015 annual plan.
News and notes Training the Trainers; VP of Engineering leaves WMF
2015-07-01
Training the Trainers; VP of Engineering leaves WMF: This week The Center for Internet and Society published a promotional blog post highlighting the heritage of the center's creation of the Train the Trainer program.
News and notes Board of Trustees propose bylaw amendments
2015-06-24
The Board of Trustees is the "ultimate corporate authority" of the Wikimedia Foundation and the level at which the strategic decisions regarding the Wikimedia movement are made ...
News and notes Labs outage kills tools, self; news in brief
2015-06-17
A more than usually severe outage Wikimedia Labs occurred after a massive database corruption implosion on June 17.
News and notes Chapter financial trends analyzed, news in brief
2015-06-10
This week saw the publication of the Chapter-wide Financial Trends Report 2013, a now-completed research project that examines the finances and outlays of the 36 movement-affiliated chapters.
News and notes Three new community-elected trustees announced, incumbents out
2015-06-03
Election results for the three vacant seats on the Board of Trustees — Dariusz Jemielnak, James Heilman, and Denny Vrandečić are set to take up their two-year terms on the Board, replacing three incumbents, all of whom stood unsuccessfully: Phoebe Ayers, Samuel Klein, and María Sefidari.
News and notes WMF releases quarterly reports, annual plans
2015-05-27
The Wikimedia Foundation recently switched to a quarterly report structure to better align reporting with the generally quarterly planning and goal-setting processes.
News and notes A dark side of comedy: the Wikipedia volunteers cleaning up behind John Oliver's fowl jokes
2015-05-20
Wikipedia editors logging in on May 19 found themselves walking into an unexpected amount of anti-vandal work to keep the site in line with its extensive biographies of living persons policy. A plethora of Wikipedia articles related to the United States House Committee on Appropriations, and the fifty-one representatives serving on it, have been hit by a raft of anonymous editors making often vulgar edits referencing "chicken fucker," or more creative combinations: "sexual conduct", "sexual congress", "fornicator", "intimate relations", or "trysts with chickens."
News and notes Swedish Wikimedia chapter organizes simultaneous Wikidata contests
2015-05-13
Swedish Wikimedia chapter organizes simultaneous Wikidata contests: This week has been a busy one for the Wikidata project, with nearly simultaneous Wikidata contests, both organized by Wikimedia Sweden, now underway.
News and notes "Inspire" grant-making campaign concludes, grantees announced
2015-05-06
The Wikimedia Foundation this week announced the winning grantees in March's "Inspire" grant-making campaign.
News and notes Wiki Loves Monuments evaluation sees diminishing returns and increasing cost
2015-04-29
The evaluations reveal that in the last three years, WLM has possibly fallen victim to its own success and seen diminishing returns.
News and notes Call for candidates as the movement approaches the Wikimedia Board elections
2015-04-22
The Affiliates Committee this week announced the organization of a community referral for comment, currently open on the meta-wiki, to address upcoming changes to the way that the Affiliations Committee will review movement-affiliated user-groups in the future.
News and notes Erik Möller leaving Foundation; annual plan grants under community review
2015-04-15
The Wikimedia Foundation's vice president for engineering, Erik Möller, will leave the WMF on April 30.
News and notes Advancement department to be created at the Foundation, milestone fixes
2015-04-08
March saw a number of high-level hirings and executive reorganizations in the Wikimedia Foundation.
News and notes New edits-by-mail option will "revolutionize" Wikipedia and its editor base
2015-04-01
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) will announce later today that it will begin accepting edits by mail for all of the projects under its scope, including Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation adopts open-access research policy
2015-03-25
Last week the WMF announced the release of its long-awaited open-access policy.
News and notes SUL finalization imminent; executive office shake-ups at the Foundation
2015-03-18
This process is now entering its long-awaited final phase with the upcoming SUL finalization, scheduled for April 15, less than a month away. ... Wikimedia Foundation chief talent and culture officer Gayle Karen Young announced her retirement from the Foundation this week. Young will be replaced in that role by interim chief operating officer Terry Gilbey. According to the Foundation's job description for the title as it was applied in the past, Gilbey will be in charge of "overall administration and business operations of the Wikimedia Foundation."
News and notes WikiWomen's History Month—meetups, blog posts, and "Inspire" grant-making campaign
2015-03-11
The community has arranged a number of commemorative initiatives focused on the gender gap, under the banner "WikiWomen's History Month".
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation and OTRS team both publish reports, indicate operating changes
2015-03-04
The Wikimedia Foundation released their Quarterly Report last week covering the three months October to December of 2014.
News and notes Questions raised over WMF partnership with research firm
2015-02-25
A report from the external research firm Lafayette Practice has declared that the Wikimedia Foundation is the "largest known participatory grantmaking fund." Several concerns have been raised with the report, the phrase being used (participatory grantmaking), the now-former Wikipedia article on that phrase, and an alleged conflict of interest by WMF staff members.
News and notes One editor faces likely ban for work on Wikipedia; another awarded $1 million
2015-02-11
One editor faces likely ban for work on Wikipedia; Jimmy Wales awarded $1 million: Also: GLAM-Wiki Conference; Ombudsman Commission announced; Slovak Wikipedia now has 200,000 articles
News and notes No men beyond this point: the proposal to create a no-men space on Wikipedia
2015-02-04
The Signpost talks with the creator of a grant proposal to create an on-wiki exclusive space for women to discuss issues.
News and notes Annual report released; Wikimania; steward elections
2015-01-21
The municipality of Esino Lario in Italy will host Wikimania 2016.
News and notes Erasmus Prize recognizes the global Wikipedia community
2015-01-14
On the fourteenth anniversary of the founding of the English Wikipedia, the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation has announced that its prestigious annual Erasmus Prize will be awarded to the worldwide community that has built Wikipedia.
News and notes The next big step for Wikidata—forming a hub for researchers
2014-12-31
Wikidata, Wikimedia's free linked database that supplies Wikipedia and its sister projects, is gearing up to submit a grant application to the EU that would expand Wikidata's scope by developing it as a science hub. The proposal, supported by more than 25 volunteers and half a dozen European institutions as project partners, aims to create a virtual research environment (VRE) that will enhance the project's capacity for freely sharing scientific data.
News and notes Wikipedia article published in peer-reviewed journal; Wikipedia in education
2014-10-01
The argument on Wikipedia over the benefits of crowdsourcing versus the primacy of "expert" contributors stretches back to co-founder Larry Sanger's break with the project to start the alternative Citizendium.
News and notes Wikipedia's traffic statistics are off by nearly one-third
2014-09-17
Wikipedia's traffic statistics are off by nearly one-third: A prominent Wikipedia researcher has discovered that the encyclopedia's widely used article traffic statistics are missing out on approximately one-third of total views.
News and notes Media Viewer—Wikimedia's emotional roller-coaster
2014-08-27
More discussions about Media Viewer, Superprotect, and software development
News and notes Media Viewer controversy spreads to German Wikipedia
2014-08-13
Wikimedia Foundation staff members have now been granted superpowers that would allow them to override community consensus. The new protection level came as a response to attempts of German Wikipedia administrators to implement a community consensus on the new Media Viewer. "Superprotect" is a level above full protection, and prevents edits by administrators.
News and notes "History is a human right"—first-ever transparency report released as Europe begins hiding Wikipedia in search results
2014-08-06
The Wikimedia Foundation has published its first transparency report, covering from July 2012 to June 2014. The move comes on the same day the organization announced that Google, in order to comply with a recent court order upholding the "right to be forgotten", has removed a number of Wikipedia articles from their European search results.
News and notes How many more hoaxes will Wikipedia find?
2014-07-30
Another hoax on the English Wikipedia was uncovered this week—not by any thorough investigation, but through the self-disclosure of an anonymous change made when the editors were in their sophomore year of college. The deliberate misinformation had been in the article for over five years with plenty of individuals noticing, but not one suspected its authenticity. This leads to one obvious question: how many more are there?
News and notes Institutional media uploads to Commons get a bit easier
2014-07-23
Galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs) today are facing fewer barriers to uploading their content onto Wikimedia projects now that the new GLAM-Wiki Toolset Project has been launched. The tool, which is the fruit of a collaboration between Europeana and several Wikimedia chapters, relieves GLAMs from having to write their own automated scripts and gives them a standardized method of uploading large amounts of their digitized holdings.
News and notes Bot-created Wikipedia articles covered in the Wall Street Journal, push Cebuano over one million articles
2014-07-16
The Swedish Wikipedia's prolific Lsjbot, which has created a significant proportion of the site's 1.7 million articles and has nearly single-handedly pushed it to being the fourth-largest Wikipedia, was covered in the Wall Street Journal this week. The newspaper reported that the bot has created 2.7 million articles, which is apparently a reference to the Waray-Waray and Cebuano Wikipedias, where Lsjbot is also active, and that "on a good day", it creates 10,000 articles.
News and notes Echoes of the past haunt new conflict over tech initiative
2014-07-09
As with the troubled release of the Wikimedia Foundation's (WMF) flagship VisualEditor project, the release of the new Media Viewer has also been met with opposition from the English Wikipedia community.
News and notes Wikimedia Israel receives Roaring Lion award
2014-07-02
Wikimedia Israel (WMIL) has won a Roaring Lion in the category of Internet and cellular for its public outreach during the tenth anniversary of the Hebrew Wikipedia in July 2013.
News and notes US National Archives enshrines Wikipedia in Open Government Plan, plans to upload all holdings to Commons
2014-06-25
US National Archives enshrines Wikipedia in Open Government Plan: The US National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) have committed to engaging with Wikimedia projects in their newest Open Government Plan. The biannual effort is a roadmap for how the agency will accomplish its goals in the digital age.
News and notes With paid advocacy in its sights, the Wikimedia Foundation amends their terms of use
2014-06-18
The Wikimedia Foundation has amended its terms of use to ban editing for pay without disclosing an employer or affiliation on any of its websites. The broad scope of these changes will allow the WMF to selectively enforce their terms of use to avoid ensnaring well-meaning editors.
News and notes PR agencies commit to ethical interactions with Wikipedia
2014-06-11
Eleven public relations agencies have declared their intention to follow "ethical engagement practices" in Wikipedia editing. The results were published last Tuesday: a joint statement from the participating PR agencies—representing five of the top ten global agencies and all but one of the top ten in the United States—clarifying their views and practices with regards to the Wikimedia projects.
News and notes Two new affiliate-selected trustees
2014-06-04
New trustee Frieda Briosch from Italy: we face "a couple of headaches", she says: "how to boost editors, which includes the development of the next strategic plan, and how to keep our project always 'glamorous'."
News and notes The English Wikipedia's second featured-article centurion; wiki inventor interviewed on video
2014-05-28
With the promotion to featured article of Grus (constellation) on 17 May, Casliber became Wikipedia's second featured-article centurion, following Wehwalt's groundbreaking achievement last December. Cas's first FA, Banksia integrifolia, a group effort, was promoted on 16 November 2006. His first solo project, Diplodocus, followed in January 2007; he has rarely been off the FAC since. In a second story, Ward Cunningham, an American computer programmer who invented the wiki, was interviewed by the WMF.
News and notes "Crisis" over Wikimedia Germany's palace revolution
2014-05-21
Last Sunday the board of Wikimedia Germany passed 9–1 a vote of no confidence in the chapter's executive director, Pavel Richter, who has held the position since 2009. With more than 50 employees, an annual budget approaching $10 million, and the right to conduct its own fundraising through the Wikimedia Foundation's (WMF) site banners, Wikimedia Germany is the second-largest organisation in the movement after the WMF itself. The decision was announced on the Wikimedia mailing list by the chapter chair, Nikolas Becker.
News and notes 'Ask a librarian'—connecting Wikimedians with the National Library of Australia; watch 'Cracking Wikipedia'
2014-05-14
'Ask a librarian'—connecting Wikimedians with the National Library of Australia: Editors of Australian-related topics on the English Wikipedia may have noticed an odd addition if they viewed the article's talk pages. For example, on Talk:Darwin, Northern Territory, they might be drawn in by the question mark, nested within what is often a sea of WikiProject templates: "Need help improving this article? Ask a librarian at the National Library of Australia, or the Northern Territory Library." Just what is this?
News and notes New system of discretionary sanctions; Buchenwald; is Pirelli 'Cracking Wikipedia'?
2014-05-07
The English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) introduced the first form of what are known as the "discretionary sanction" (DS) in 2009. A new DS regime, called Discretionary sanctions (2014), is the result of an elaborate review process involving both the community, since last September, and the committee, for more than a year.
News and notes WMF's draft annual plan turns indigestible as an FDC proposal
2014-04-30
Like hammering a square peg into a round hole, the Wikimedia Foundation has submitted a draft annual plan for 2014–15 to its own Funds Dissemination Committee. Unlike the WMF's submission to the FDC's inaugural round in October 2012, the "proposal" does not seek funding.
News and notes Wikimedian passes away
2014-04-23
Cynthia Ashley-Nelson, who edited as "Cindamuse" on the Wikimedia projects, passed away in her sleep at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin on 10 April.
News and notes Round 2 of FDC funding open to public comments
2014-04-09
Community review is open for the four applications in the second and final round of applications to the WMF's Funds Dissemination Committee for 2013–14. Three eligible organisations have applied for funding under the newly named "annual program grants": Wikimedia France, Wikimedia Norway, and the India-based Centre for Internet and Society, which last November was recognised as eligible to apply for FDC funding purposes.
News and notes Wikimedia conferences—soul-searching about costs, attendance, and future
2014-04-02
The run-up to the conference has seen the unfolding of two fractious threads on the Wikimedia public mailing list, both of which may serve as background for the last session at Berlin: "Future of the Wikimedia Conference".
News and notes Commons Picture of the Year—winners announced
2014-03-26
Results for the two-stage 2013 Commons Picture of the Year have been announced. This year's winning photograph (above) shows a lightbulb that has been cracked, allowing inert gas to escape—and oxygen to enter, so that the tungsten filament burns. From the flames rise elegant curls of blue smoke.
News and notes Foundation-supported Wikipedian in residence faces scrutiny
2014-03-19
One of the first university Wikipedian in residence positions, hosted at Harvard University in 2012, has jumped back into the spotlight amid questions about its ethical integrity.
News and notes Wikimedians celebrate International Women's Day and Women's History Month
2014-03-12
Wikimedians celebrate International Women's Day, Women's History Month: Wikimedians around the world gathered to celebrate Women's History Month and the associated International Women's Day by holding editathons. If you lived in the United Kingdom, you had the opportunity to attend Wikimedia UK's event at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, part of University College London and host to one of the largest collections of Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts in the world.
News and notes Wikipedia Library finding success in matching contributors with sources
2014-03-05
This week, the Signpost caught up with the Wikipedia Library (TWL), which aims to connect reference resources with Wikipedia editors who can use them to improve articles. Funded through the Wikimedia Foundation's Individual Engagement Grants program, TWL has a new "visiting scholars" initiative and a microgrants program in the works.
News and notes Wikimedia chapters and communities challenge Commons' URAA policy
2014-02-26
Following a trend started by Wikimedia Israel, Wikimedia Argentina has published an open letter challenging the recent deletion of hundreds of images from the Commons under its policy on URAA-restored copyrights, relating to the United States' 1994 Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
News and notes Foundation takes aim at undisclosed paid editing; Greek Wikipedia editor faces down legal challenge
2014-02-19
The Wikimedia Foundation has proposed to modify the Wikimedia projects' Terms of use to specifically ban undisclosed paid editing. ... Dimitris Liourdis, a lawyer in training who moonlights as an administrator on the Greek Wikipedia, is embroiled in a legal dispute with a Greek politician over alleged edits made to his Wikipedia article.
News and notes WMF bites the bullet on affiliation and FDC funding, elevates Wikimedia user groups
2014-02-12
In a bold move, the Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees has announced a major change in policy concerning affiliated groups in the worldwide movement, and FDC funding levels to eligible chapters and thematic organizations over the next two years. Both decisions were published last Tuesday after considerable post-meeting consultation with the FDC and the Affiliations Committee (AffCom). The core of the first decision is
News and notes Wiki-PR defends itself, condemns Wikipedia's actions
2014-01-29
Wiki-PR, a public relations agency, whose employees used a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts to create, edit, and maintain several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients, has told Business Insider that it was demonized by the online encyclopedia. Jordan French, Wiki-PR's CEO, said he believes the Wikimedia Foundation "painted" his company to look like an "evil entity" that is "scrubbing truths from Wikipedia".
News and notes Modification of WMF protection brought to Arbcom
2014-01-22
The Wikimedia Foundation's Director of Community Advocacy's application of pending changes level two on the article Conventional PCI—an action taken under its rarely used office actions policy—has escalated to the Arbitration Committee after an editor upgraded it to full protection.
News and notes Wikimedia Germany asks for "reworking" of Funds Dissemination Committee; should MP4 be allowed on Wikimedia sites?
2014-01-15
German chapter asks for "reworking" of Funds Dissemination Committee; should MP4 be allowed on Wikimedia sites?: Wikimedia Germany, the largest national affiliate, has authored an extensive critique of the Funds Dissemination Committee's process for issuing funding recommendations for the various large organizations in the movement.
News and notes WMF employee forced out over "paid advocacy editing"
2014-01-08
On 8 January, the Wikimedia Foundation notified the Wikimedia-l mailing list that Sarah Stierch, a popular Wikimedian and the Foundation's Program Evaluation Community Coordinator, was no longer an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, as a result of being paid to create articles on the English Wikipedia.
News and notes The year in review
2014-01-01
This was the year in which one journalist described the flagship site, Wikipedia, as "wickedly seductive". It was the year Wikipedia's replacement value was estimated at $6.6bn, its market value at "tens of billions of dollars", and its consumer benefit "hundreds of billions of dollars". But it was also the year in which one commentator forecast the decline of Wikipedia—that the project is in trouble from its shrinking volunteer workforce, skewed coverage, "crushing bureaucracy" and 90 percent male community.
News and notes IEG round 2 funding rewards diverse ambitions
2013-12-25
A significant move by the Wikimedia Foundation has been to broaden the types of activities it funds to develop several different programs for judging and allocating that funding, and to set up volunteer committees that initially assess applications for funding.
News and notes Nine new arbitrators announced
2013-12-18
A little more than six days after the close of voting, the results of the annual Arbitration Committee (ArbCom) elections have been announced. Of the 22 candidates, 13 managed to gain more supports than opposes, though only one gained the support of more than half of the voters. Eight were elected to two-year terms, and a ninth will serve for one year.
News and notes Wiki Loves Monuments—winners announced
2013-12-11
Amid great anticipation the international prize winners have just been announced for the fourth annual Wiki Loves Monuments, now the world's largest photographic competition and one of the biggest events on the Wikimedia movement's calendar. ... The first prize has gone to David Gubler's photograph of a Swiss train crossing a viaduct.
News and notes One decade of Wikisource; FDC recommendations raise serious questions
2013-12-04
The sister project Wikisource, the digital library that hosts free-content primary sources, is now a decade old. Wikisource, which now has versions in 63 languages, is the sixth type of project to reach ten-year milestone and will be the last until 2016. The Wikimedia Foundation's volunteer Funds Dissemination Committee has published its recommendations to the Board of Trustees on 11 new applications for annual grants by 11 WMF-affiliated organisations. The maximum total budget for the current and upcoming March rounds is US$6M.
News and notes Foundation to Wiki-PR: cease and desist; Arbitration Committee elections starting
2013-11-20
The Wikimedia Foundation has sent a formal cease and desist letter to Wiki-PR—the public relations agency accused of breaking Wikipedia policies and guidelines by creating, editing, and maintaining several thousand articles for paying clients through a sophisticated array of accounts. The Foundation's attorneys, Cooley LLP, have demanded that Wiki-PR's employees abide by the site's Terms of Use and the language of a community ban from the English Wikipedia.
News and notes Trademark at issue again with the Italian Wikipedia and wikipedia.it
2013-11-13
The Italian-language Wikipedia community has overwhelmingly voted to request the Wikimedia Foundation's assistance in recovering wikipedia.it, a website that has been frequently confused with the Italian Wikipedia.
News and notes Alleged "outing" of editor's personal information leads to Wikipedia ban
2013-11-06
As part of the second major "outing" controversy to hit the English Wikipedia in less than a year, the Chelsea/Bradley Manning naming dispute was dragged into the spotlight yet again when the English Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee ruled by motion to remove the administrator tools from and ban long-time Wikipedia contributor Phil Sandifer.
News and notes Sex and drug tourism—Wikivoyage's soft underbelly?
2013-10-30
In January we raised several potentially troublesome issues for the Wikimedia movement in taking on Wikivoyage, including the apparent inadequacy of the English Wikivoyage sex-tourism policy, hurriedly strengthened against mention of child sex after our inquiries. However, both sex-tourism and illegal-activities policies remain equivocal about how the site should treat entries about sex tourism more generally, and drugs that are classed as illicit in almost every country. Yet the Signpost has found it remarkably easy to locate material in Wikivoyage that violates both the spirit and the letter of the policies.
News and notes Grantmaking season—rumblings in the German-language community
2013-10-23
The next twice-yearly round of Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) grantmaking is soon to close for community questioning and commentary. Ten nation-based Wikimedia chapters and one thematic organisation are asking for a total of more than US$5M of donors’ money from the Foundation’s renamed annual plan grant process. Aside from Wikimedia UK ($708k), the three biggest asks are from the German-speaking chapters: Wikimedia Germany is asking for $2.4M and Wikimedia Austria $311k; and the German-language-related Swiss chapter is applying for $500k.
News and notes Vice on Wiki-PR's paid advocacy; Featured list elections begin
2013-10-16
Media coverage on Wiki-PR, the multi-million-dollar US-based company that has broken several policies and guidelines on the English Wikipedia in its quest to create and maintain thousands of articles for paying clients, continued this week with a feature story by Martin Robbins in the British edition of Vice magazine.
News and notes Wiki-PR's extensive network of clandestine paid advocacy exposed
2013-10-09
Extensive network of clandestine paid advocacy exposed: An investigation by the English Wikipedia community into suspicious edits and sockpuppet activity has led to astonishing revelations that Wiki-PR, a multi-million-dollar US-based company, has created, edited, or maintained several thousand Wikipedia articles for paying clients using a sophisticated array of concealed user accounts.
News and notes WMF signals new grantmaking priorities
2013-10-02
In what will be remembered as a game-changing week for Wikimedia grantmaking, the Foundation's executive director, Sue Gardner, published a forthright and in places highly critical statement, Reflections on the FDC process, and grantmaking staff revealed that the WMF will significantly strengthen its targeting of optimal impact in funding.
News and notes Last call for Wiki Loves Monuments; Community–WMF tension over VisualEditor
2013-09-25
On 30 September, Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM), the Wikimedia community's global photo competition, will reach to the end of its submission period. The proceedings have been underway since the first of this month; national juries will start reviewing submissions for the first round of selections after it closes ... Community aggravation with one of the Wikimedia Foundation's signature initiatives, the VisualEditor, came to the fore again this week with the announcement and implementation of code blocking the tool.
News and notes Third time's the charm: the FDC's newest round of funding requests
2013-09-18
The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC), the volunteer-led body that evaluates chapter and (for the first time) thematic organizational annual plan grant requests to the Wikimedia Foundation, is preparing for its third round of public proceedings to deliberate on the distribution of several million US dollars of Wikimedia movement funds.
News and notes As deadline approaches, Individual Engagement Grants looks for ideas
2013-09-11
The deadline for proposals to the Individual Engagement Grants (IEG) volunteer committee on Meta will pass on 30 September. The program is designed to fund projects that tackle long-term problem and have a significant editing community impact; it has previously supported solutions like The Wikipedia Library, which improves Wikipedian access to online reference sources like JSTOR (see Signpost coverage).
News and notes Privacy policy debate gears up
2013-09-04
On September 3, the Wikimedia Foundation launched the second stage of the process to improve the privacy policy implemented on most Wikimedia sites, including Wikipedia and its sister projects, by publishing a policy draft.
News and notes Looking ahead to Wiki Loves Monuments
2013-08-28
Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM), Wikimedia's annual volunteer-driven and the world largest photo contest, is gearing up to be conducted throughout September 2013. The event, originally developed in the Netherlands in 2010, has gone global with 34 countries taking part last and 49 this year.
News and notes Wikipedia's Manual of Style marches into Manning's coming out as transgender
2013-08-21
Wikipedia's Manual of Style marches into Manning's sex change: In one of the more surprising turns of events surrounding the WikiLeaks saga, US soldier Bradley Manning announced a change in his sexual identity last Thursday.
News and notes "Beautifully smooth" Wikimania with few hitches
2013-08-14
About a thousand Wikimedians journeyed to Hong Kong this week for the annual Wikimania conference, the annual gathering of the Wikimedia movement. Wikimania, which has been held since 2005, serves as the principal physical meetup for Wikimedians around the world.
News and notes Chapters Association self-destructs
2013-08-07
The opening days of the annual Wikimania, referred to as the "pre-conference", are not typically newsworthy. This changed dramatically when the Chapters Association council met on Thursday.
News and notes Gearing up for Wikimania 2013
2013-07-31
The ninth annual Wikimania conference will open in just over a week at the Jockey Club Auditorium, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Wikimania is for people worldwide who have an interest in Wikimedia Foundation projects. It features presentations and discussions on those projects, on free knowledge and content, and on related social and technical issues.
News and notes Wikivoyage turns ten, but where to now?; Wikipedia Zero expands into India
2013-07-24
Contributors to Wikivoyage, the sister project adopted by the Wikimedia Foundation last year, are celebrating their 10th anniversary this week. ... The Wikimedia Foundation has announced via press release that it has partnered with Aircel to provide free mobile access to Wikipedia.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation's new plans announced
2013-07-17
Last week the Wikimedia Foundation released its annual plan for July 2013 to June 2014. It provides a surprisingly frank view—of past achievements and failures, and future goals and risks—that could be afforded only by a non-profit that is confident and beholden to no commercial or political interests.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation Board appoints world expert in women's issues, global south
2013-07-10
In apparent acknowledgment of the urgency of two issues facing the Wikimedia movement—the need to engage both women and the global south—the WMF Board has appointed Ana Toni as one of its four expert members. Toni will bring rare expertise to the movement, and the Signpost understands that her skills in advocacy and her key roles in international NGOs are likely to be a natural match with the WMF as the hub of disseminating free knowledge around the world.
News and notes Wikipedia's medical collaborations gathering pace
2013-07-03
Wikimania 2013 is to start in five weeks, and includes a presentation by James Heilman of Wiki Project Med and Lori Thicke, president of Translators Without Borders (TWB).
News and notes Election results released
2013-06-26
Less than three days after the close of voting, the volunteer election committee posted the results on Meta. The worldwide Wikimedia movement has elected three WMF trustees for two-year terms on the 10-seat Board: Samuel Klein (supported by 43.5% of voters), Phoebe Ayers (38.3%), and María Sefidari (35.6%). The new trustees will take their seats at a critical time for the movement: one of the first tasks in their terms will be to help the Board to find and approve the new executive director to take up the top job when Sue Gardner departs.
News and notes Swedish Wikipedia's millionth article leads to protests; WMF elections—where are all the voters?
2013-06-19
With erysichton elaborata, the Swedish Wikipedia passed the one million article Rubicon this week. While this is a mostly symbolic achievement, serving as a convenient benchmark with which to gain publicity and attention in an increasingly statistical world, the particular method by which the Swedish site has passed the mark has garnered significant attention—and controversy.
News and notes How Wikimedia affiliates are spending $8.4 million; PRISM scandal
2013-06-12
Late last year, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) awarded $8.4 million in donors' money to 11 Wikimedia entities, including the Wikimedia Foundation and 10 nationally defined chapters. Under this arrangement, these organisations are required to issue quarterly reports on how far they have progressed towards their declared programmatic and financial goals. The FDC has now announced that all 11 completed and submitted their reports by the 1 April deadline, and have responded to each.
News and notes "Cease and desist", World Trade Organization says to Wikivoyage; could WikiLang be the next WMF project?
2013-06-05
"Cease and desist", World Trade Organization says to Wikivoyage; Could WikiLang be the next WMF project?: On 31 May, the Wikimedia Foundation's Legal and Community Advocacy team announced that the Wikivoyage logo would have to be replaced, because it has become the subject of a cease-and-desist letter from the World Trade Organization (WTO).
News and notes First community election for FDC positions
2013-05-27
First-ever community election for FDC positions: Alongside the Signpost's interviews with WMF Board candidates, we asked the candidates for the Funds Dissemination Committee and its Ombudsperson position a series of questions relating to the positions they may be taking on.
News and notes Spanish Wikipedia leaps past one million articles
2013-05-20
On 16 May, the Spanish Wikipedia became the seventh Wikipedia to cross the million article Rubicon, a symbolic yet important achievement.
News and notes WMF–community ruckus on Wikimedia mailing list
2013-05-13
The removal of administrator rights from all volunteers on the Wikimedia Foundation's official website sparked a highly emotional reaction on the Wikimedia-l mailing list—one of the largest off-wiki methods of communication for the Wikimedia movement.
News and notes Candidates nominating for Foundation elections; Looking ahead to Wikimania 2014
2013-05-06
Although not yet in great numbers, candidates are coming forward for Wikimedia Foundation elections, which will be held from 1 to 15 June.
News and notes Chapter furore over FDC knockbacks; First DC GLAM boot-camp
2013-04-29
The Funds Dissemination Committee released its recommendations to the WMF board last Sunday. The news that the Hong Kong chapter's application for US$212K had failed was followed by a strongly worded resignation announcement by Deryck Chan on the public Wikimedia-l mailing-list.
News and notes Milan conference a mixed bag
2013-04-22
The Wikimedia Conference, for the first time, included groups that wish to be considered for WMF affiliation as thematic organisations.
News and notes Another admin reform attempt flops
2013-04-15
The most recent move to reform the requests for adminship process on the English Wikipedia has failed, after a complex and drawn-out three-step procedure for community input was subject to decreasing participation as time wore on and came up with no clear consensus.
News and notes French intelligence agents threaten Wikimedia volunteer
2013-04-08
Last Friday, the Wikimedia movement awoke to news that one of their number—Rémi Mathis, a French volunteer editor—had been summoned to the offices of the interior intelligence service DCRI and threatened with criminal charges and fines if he did not delete an article on the French Wikipedia about a radio station used by the French military.
News and notes Funding for the Wikipedia Library and six other projects; April Fool's Day ructions
2013-04-01
Grants given for Wikipedia Library, six others; April Fool's Day ructions: The first round of individual engagement grants (IEGs) have been awarded, disbursing about $55.6k (€42.7k) to seven applicants.
News and notes Sue Gardner to leave WMF; German-language Wikipedians spearhead another effort to close Wikinews
2013-03-25
Sue Gardner to leave WMF; German Wikipedians spearhead another effort to close Wikinews: Ranked as one of the most powerful women in the world by Forbes, Gardner is widely associated with the rise of the Wikimedia movement as a major custodian of human knowledge and cultural products.
News and notes Resigning arbitrator slams Committee
2013-03-18
Just two months into his second term as an arbitrator on the English Wikipedia, Coren resigned from the Committee with a blistering attack on his fellow arbitrators, saying "it can no longer do the job it was ostensibly elected for".
News and notes Finance committee updates
2013-03-11
During March, three of the Wikimedia Foundation's grantmaking schemes on Meta will reach important crossroads, which will shape how both the editing communities and Wikimedia institutions handle the distribution of donors' money across the movement.
News and notes Outing of editor causes firestorm
2013-03-04
"WP:OUTING", the normally little-noticed policy corner of the English Wikipedia that governs the release of editors' personal information, has suddenly been brought to wider attention after long-term contributor and featured article writer Cla68 was indefinitely blocked last week. This snowballed into several other blocks, a desysopping by ArbCom, and a request for arbitration.
News and notes "Very lucky" Picture of the Year
2013-02-25
The Wikimedia Commons 2012 Picture of the Year contest has ended, with the winner being Pair of Merops apiaster feeding, taken by Pierre Dalous. The picture shows a pair of European Bee-eaters in a mating ritual—the male bird (right) has tossed the wasp into the air, and he will eventually offer it to the female (left).
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation declares "victory" in Wikivoyage lawsuit
2013-02-18
Wikimedia Foundation declares 'victory' in Wikivoyage lawsuit: On February 15, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) declared 'victory' in its counter-lawsuit against Internet Brands (IB), the owner of Wikitravel and the operator of several online media, community, and e-commerce sites in vertical markets. The lawsuit clears the last remaining hurdles for the WMF's new travel guide project, Wikivoyage.
News and notes UK chapter governance review marks the end of a controversial year
2013-02-11
Wikimedia UK, the non-profit organization devoted to furthering the goals of the Wikimedia movement in the United Kingdom, has published the findings of a governance review conducted by Compass Partnership.
News and notes Article Feedback tool faces community resistance
2013-02-04
Article Feedback Tool faces community resistance: Article feedback, at least through talk pages, has been a part of Wikipedia since its inception in 2001. The use of these pages, though, has typically been limited to experienced editors who know how to use them.
News and notes Khan Academy's Smarthistory and Wikipedia collaborate
2013-01-28
To many Wikimedians, the Khan Academy would seem like a close cousin: the academy is a non-profit educational website and a development of the massive open online course concept that has delivered over 227 million lessons in 22 different languages. Its mission is to give "a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere." This complements Wikipedia's stated goal to "imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge", then go and create that world. It should come as no surprise, then, that the highly successful GLAM-Wiki (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) initiative has partnered with the Khan Academy's Smarthistory project to further both its and Wikipedia's goals.
News and notes Requests for adminship reform moves forward
2013-01-21
Various proposals, ranging from as large as a transition to a representative democracy to as small as a required edit count and service length, have been debated on the RfA talk page in the last three weeks.
News and notes Launch of annual picture competition, new grant scheme
2013-01-14
On January 16, voting for the first round of the 2012 Wikimedia Commons Picture of the Year contest will begin. Wikimedia editors with 75 edits or one project are eligible to vote to select their favorite image featured in 2012. ... On January 15, the foundation launched its latest grant scheme, called Individual Engagement Grants (IEG).
News and notes 2012—the big year
2013-01-07
The movement, now in its second decade, is growing apace in its international reach, cultural and linguistic diversity, technical development, and financial complexity.
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation fundraiser a success; Czech parliament releases photographs to chapter
2012-12-31
On 27 December the Wikimedia Foundation announced the conclusion of their ninth annual fundraiser, which attracted more than 1.2 million donors. The appeal reached its goal of US$25 million, even though fundraising banners ran for only nine days.
News and notes Debates on Meta sparking along—grants, new entities, and conflicts of interest
2012-12-24
The WMF is reforming its grant schemes and the community is invited to look at proposals for a new scheme — for now called "Individual Engagement Grants" — due to kick off on January 15.
News and notes Arbitrator election: stewards release the results
2012-12-17
Of the 21 candidates, 13 managed to gain positive support-to-oppose ratios, and the top eight will be appointed to two-year terms on the committee by Jimbo.
News and notes Wobbly start to ArbCom election, but turnout beats last year's
2012-12-10
At the time of writing, this year's election has just closed after a two-week voting period. The eight seats were contested by 21 candidates. Of these, 15 have not been arbitrators (Beeblebrox, Count Iblis, Guerillero, Jc37, Keilana, Ks0stm, Kww, NuclearWarfare, Pgallert, RegentsPark, Richwales, Salvio giuliano, Timotheus Canens, Worm That Turned, and YOLO Swag); four candidates are sitting arbitrators (David Fuchs, Elen of the Roads, Jclemens, and Newyorkbrad); and two have previously served on the committee (Carcharoth and Coren). Four Wikimedia stewards from outside the English Wikipedia stepped forward as election scrutineers: Pundit, from the Polish Wikipedia; Teles, from the Portuguese Wikipedia; Quentinv57, from the French Wikipedia; and Mardetanha, from the Persian Wikipedia. The scrutineers' task is to ensure that the election is free of multiple votes from the same person, to tally the results, and to announce them. The full results are expected to be released within the next few days and will be reported in next week's edition of the Signpost.
News and notes Wiki Loves Monuments announces 2012 winner
2012-12-03
The global jury of Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM), the world’s largest photo contest, announced its results on 3 December.
News and notes Toolserver finance remains uncertain
2012-11-26
On November 24, a general assembly of Wikimedia Germany (WMDE) voted on the fate of the Wikimedia Toolserver, a central external piece of technical infrastructure supporting the editing communities with volunteer-developed scripts and webpages of various kinds that are assisting in performing mostly menial tasks.
News and notes FDC's financial muscle kicks in
2012-11-19
The WMF's Funds Dissemination Committee has published its recommendations for the inaugural round 1 of funding. Requests totalled US$10.4M, nearly all of the FDC's budget for both first and second rounds. The seven-member committee of community volunteers appointed in September advises the WMF board on the distribution of grant funds among applying Wikimedia organizations. The committee, which has a separate operating budget of $276k for salaries and expenses, considered 12 applications for funds, from 11 chapters and from the WMF itself for its non-core activities. The decision-making process included community and FDC staff input after October 1, the closing date for submissions. Taken together, the volunteers decided to endorse an average of 81% of the funding sought—a total of $8.43M, which went to 11 of the 12 applicants. This leaves $2.71M to be distributed in round 2, for which applications are due in little more than three months' time.
News and notes Court ruling complicates the paid-editing debate
2012-11-12
Last week, media outlets reported a ruling by a German court on the problem of businesses using Wikipedia for marketing purposes. The issue goes beyond the direct management of marketing-related edits by Wikipedians; it involves cross-monitoring and interacting among market competitors themselves on Wikipedia. A company that sells dietary supplements made from frankincense had taken a competitor to court. The recently published judgment by the Higher Regional Court of Munich, in dealing with the German Wikipedia article on frankincense products, was handed down in May and is based on European competition law.
News and notes Wikimedian photographic talent on display in national submissions to Wiki Loves Monuments
2012-11-05
The results of most of the national heats for Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM) have been published on Commons. A maximum of 10 images have been submitted by all but eight of the 34 participating countries, and the international jury for what is the largest competition of its type in the world is set to announce the global winner in four weeks' time.
News and notes First chickens come home to roost for FDC funding applicants; WMF board discusses governance issues and scope of programs
2012-10-29
The first round of the Wikimedia Foundation's new financial arrangements has proceeded as planned, with the publication of scores and feedback by Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) staff on applications for funding by 11 entities—10 chapters, independent membership organisations supporting the WMF's mission in different countries, and the foundation itself. The results are preliminary assessments that will soon be put to the FDC's seven voting members and two non-voting board representatives. The FDC in turn will send its recommendations to the board of trustees on 15 November, which will announce its decision by 15 December. Funding applications have been on-wiki since 1 October, and the talk pages of applications were open for community comment and discussion from 2 to 22 October, though apart from queries by FDC staff, there was little activity.
News and notes Wikimedians get serious about women in science
2012-10-22
It is well known that women are underrepresented in the sciences, and that high-achieving female scientists have often been excluded from authorship lists and passed over for awards and honours solely on the basis of gender. Also significant has been the underplaying in the academic literature, news reporting, and online, of women's current and historical contributions to science.
News and notes Chapters ask for big bucks
2012-10-15
The volunteer-led Wikimedia Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) and interested community members are looking at Wikimedia organization applications worth about US$10.4 million out of the committee's first full year's operation, in just the inaugural round one of two that have been planned for the year with a planned budget of US$11.4M.
News and notes Education Program faces community resistance
2012-10-08
Wikipedia in education is far from a new idea: years of news stories, op-eds, and editorials have focused on the topic; and on Wikipedia itself, the Schools and universities projects page has existed in various forms since 2003. Over the next six years, the page was rarely developed, and when it did advance there was no clear goal in mind.
News and notes Independent review of UK chapter governance; editor files motion against Wikitravel owners
2012-10-01
Following considerable online and media reportage on the Gibraltar controversy and a Signpost report last week, the Wikimedia UK chapter and the foundation published a joint statement on September 28: "To better understand the facts and details of these allegations and to ensure that governance arrangements commensurate with the standing of the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia UK and the worldwide Wikimedia movement, Wikimedia UK's trustees and the Wikimedia Foundation will jointly appoint an independent expert advisor to objectively review both Wikimedia UK's governance arrangements and its handling of the conflict of interest."
News and notes UK chapter rocked by Gibraltar scandal
2012-09-24
In the second controversy to engulf Wikimedia UK in two months, its immediate past chair Roger Bamkin has resigned from the board of the chapter following a growing furore over a conflict of interest.
News and notes Tens of thousands of monuments loved; members of new funding body announced
2012-09-17
The world's largest photo competition, Wiki Loves Monuments, is entering its final two weeks. The month-long event, of Dutch origin, is being held globally for the first time after the success of its European-level predecessor last year. During September 2011 more than 5000 volunteers from 18 countries took part and uploaded 168,208 free images. This year, volunteers and chapters from 35 countries around the world have organised the event. The best photographs will be determined by juries at the national and finally the global level.
News and notes Researchers find that Simple English Wikipedia has "lost its focus"
2012-09-10
In its September issue, the peer-reviewed journal First Monday published The readability of Wikipedia, reporting research which shows that the English Wikipedia is struggling to meet Flesch reading ease test criteria, while the Simple English Wikipedia has "lost its focus".
News and notes World's largest photo competition kicks off; WMF legal fees proposal
2012-09-03
Last year's Wiki Loves Monuments event resulted in the submission of an extraordinary 168,208 images from 18 countries, the world's largest photographic competition. The 2012 event — just opened and running for the full month of September — has required input from chapters and volunteers in 35 countries.
News and notes Tough journey for new travel guide
2012-08-27
Wikimedia editors have been debating a community proposal for the adoption of a new project to host free travel-guide content. The debate reached a new stage when a three-month request for comment on Meta came to an end, with a decision to set up the first new type of Wikimedia project in half a decade. The original proposal for the travel guide unfolded during April on Meta and the Wikimedia-l mailing lists, centring around the wish of volunteer contributors to the WikiTravel project to work in a non-commercial environment.
News and notes Core content competition in full swing; Wikinews fork taken offline
2012-08-20
The Core Contest is a month-long competition among editors to improve Wikipedia's most important "core" articles—especially those that are in a relatively poor state. Core articles, such as Music, Computer, and Philosophy, tend to lie in the trunk of the tree of knowledge; by analogy, featured-and good-article processes generally attract more specialist topics out on the branches.
News and notes Bangla-language survey suggests the challenges for small Wikipedias
2012-08-13
The Bangla language, also known as Bengali, is spoken by some 200 million people in Bangladesh and India. The Bangla Wikipedia has a very small active community of about ten to fifteen very active editors, with another 35–40 as less active editors. The project faces particular challenges in being a small Wikipedia, and Dhaka-based WMF community fellow User:Tanvir Rahman is working to understand these challenges and to develop strategies that can improve small wikis that have strong potential to expand their editing communities.
News and notes FDC portal launched
2012-08-06
On August 1, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) portal was launched on Meta. The FDC will implement the Wikimedia movement's new grant-orientated finance structure in accordance with the WMF board's recent resolutions. As a volunteer committee, the FDC will make recommendations to the WMF board on a $11.4 million budget for 2012–13.
News and notes Wikimedians and London 2012; WMF budget – staffing, engineering, editor retention effort, and the global South
2012-07-30
Wikimedians and London 2012; WMF budget – staffing, engineering, editor retention effort, and the global South; Telegraph{{'}}s cheap shot at WP: Wikimedia Foundation published its Annual Plan, focusing on technical improvements, editor retention, and structural reforms over the coming year. The movement's total revenue, including almost all chapter funding, is slated to rise by 35%, from $34.2 million to $46.1 million, and global spending to more than $42.1 million. The foundation's own core spending will grow by 15% to $30.2 million in 2012–13.
News and notes Chapter head speaks about the aftermath of Russian Wikipedia shutdown
2012-07-23
Two weeks ago the Signpost reported that the Russian Wikipedia had just begun a 24-hour blackout in protest at a bill that was before the Russian parliament that proposed mechanisms to block IP addresses and DNS records. The protest, implemented after on-wiki consensus was reached during the preceding days, concerned the potential of the amendment to the information law to allow extra-judicial censorship of the internet in Russia, including the closure of access to the Russian Wikipedia. Among the questions now are how effective the blackout was and where we go from here in terms of internet freedom in one of the world's biggest and most influential countries.
News and notes WMF enacts reforms at Wikimania; main page redesign; 4 millionth article milestone
2012-07-16
During Wikimania (July 12-15), the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) board finalized and enacted long-discussed reforms of the movement's financial structures, and considered procedures for creating new ways for Wikimedians to organize themselves into offline communities. The board moved on the controversial image filter issue, approved the 2012–13 annual plan, and issued a statement on the wikitravel proposal. It also appointed the two new chapter-selected trustees and elected the four office-bearers.
News and notes Russian Wikipedia shuts down to fight censorship threat; E3 team and new tools; Wikitravel proposal bogged down
2012-07-09
Russian Wikipedia blackout; WMF tools; Wikitravel proposal revisited: A protest against Russian State Duma Bill 89417-6, a draconian internet censorship bill. "Today, the Wikipedia community protests against censorship as a threat to free knowledge that is open to all mankind. We ask that you oppose this bill."
News and notes RfC on joining lobby group; JSTOR accounts for Wikipedians and the article feedback tool
2012-07-02
News and notes Editors want most funding for technical areas, while widespread ignorance of WMF board elections and chapters persists; voting still live on Commons best picture
2012-06-04
News and notes Wikimedia Foundation endorses open-access petition to the White House; pending changes RfC ends
2012-05-28
News and notes Showdown as featured article writer openly solicits commercial opportunities
2012-04-30
News and notes Projects launched in Brazil and the Middle East as advisors sought for funds committee
2012-04-09
News and notes Berlin reforms to movement structures, Wikidata launches with fanfare, and Wikipedia's day of mischief
2012-04-02
News and notes Controversial content saga continues, while the Foundation tries to engage editors with merchandising and restructuring
2012-03-26
News and notes Chapters Council proposals take form as research applications invited for Wikipedia Academy and HighBeam accounts
2012-03-19
News and notes Sue Gardner tackles the funds, and the terms of use update nears implementation
2012-03-12
News and notes Chapter-selected Board seats, an invite to the Teahouse, patrol becomes triage, and this week in history
2012-03-05
News and notes Update on Global Development, Wikipedia Day NYC is a success, JFK audio on Commons
2012-01-30
News and notes WMF on the looming SOPA blackout, Wikipedia turns 11, and Commons passes 12 million files
2012-01-16
News and notes Anti-piracy act has Wikimedians on the defensive, WMF annual report released, and Indic language dynamics
2011-12-19
News and notes Amsterdam gets the GLAM treatment, fundraising marches on, and a flourish of new admins
2011-12-05
News and notes Arb's resignation sparks lightning RfC, Fundraiser 2011 off to a strong start, GLAM in Qatar
2011-11-28
News and notes Last-minute candidates for ArbCom, the Sue Gardner European Tour hits London
2011-11-21
News and notes ArbCom nominations open, participation grants finalized, survey results on perceptions on Wikipedia released
2011-11-14
News and notes Wikimedia Norway awarded, Halloween on the Main Page, Wikimedia UK recognised
2011-11-07
News and notes Arabic Wikipedia gets video intros, Smithsonian gifts images, and WikiProject Conservatism scrutinized
2011-10-17
News and notes Largest ever donation to WMF, final findings of editor survey released, 'Terms of use' heavily revised
2011-10-10
News and notes Italian Wikipedia shuts down over new privacy law; Wikimedia Sverige produce short Wikipedia films, Sue Gardner calls for empathy
2011-10-03
News and notes Ushahidi research tool announced, Citizendium five years on: success or failure?, and Wikimedia DC officially recognised
2011-09-19
News and notes Foundation reports on research, Kenya trip, Mumbai Wikiconference; Canada, Hungary and Estonia; English Wikinews forked
2011-09-12
News and notes 24,000 votes later and community position on image filter still unclear; first index of editor satisfaction appears positive
2011-09-05
News and notes Abuse filter on all Wikimedia sites; Foundation's report for July; editor survey results
2011-08-29
News and notes Girl Geeks edit while they dine, candidates needed for forthcoming steward elections, image referendum opens
2011-08-22
News and notes Wikimania a success; board letter controversial; and evidence showing bitten newbies don't stay
2011-08-08
News and notes Oral citations; the state of global development; a gentler Huggle; brief news
2011-07-25
News and notes ArbCom database theft; WikiLove to roll out on the English Wikipedia; brief news
2011-06-27
News and notes WMF Board election results; Indian campus ambassadors gear up; Wikimedia UK plans; Malayalam Wikisource CD; brief news
2011-06-20
News and notes Wikipedians 90% male and largely altruist; 800 public policy students add 8.8 million bytes; brief news
2011-06-13
News and notes Board resolution on controversial content; WMF Summer of Research; indigenous workshop; brief news
2011-06-06
News and notes ArbCom referendum goes live; US National Archives residency; financial planning; brief news
2011-05-30
News and notes Geographical distribution of Wikipedia edits; Sue Gardner interviewed; brief news
2011-05-16
News and notes More research on newbie editors; Baidu plagiarism; bin Laden coverage; brief news
2011-05-09
News and notes Picture of the Year voting begins; Internet culture covered in Sweden and consulted in Russia; brief news
2011-05-02
News and notes Survey of French Wikipedians; first Wikipedian-in-Residence at Smithsonian; brief news
2011-04-25
News and notes Commons milestone; newbie contributions assessed; German community to decide on €200,000 budget; brief news
2011-04-18
News and notes Berlin conference highlights relation between chapters and Foundation; annual report; brief news
2011-03-28
News and notes NPG copyright irony; Citizendium's finances; Credo accounts donated; brief news
2011-03-21
News and notes Foundation reports editor trends, technology plans and communication changes; brief news
2011-03-14
News and notes Foundation looking for "storyteller" and research fellows; new GLAM newsletter; brief news
2011-03-07
News and notes Newbies and patrollers: "Every now and then a nun or a tourist wanders in front of the rifle sights"
2011-02-28
News and notes New General Counsel hired; reuse of Google Art Project debated; GLAM newsletter started; news in brief
2011-02-07
News and notes Executive Director travels; DMCA takedowns; fellowship clarifications; brief news
2011-01-31
News and notes Wikimedia fellow working on cultural collaborations; video animation about Wikipedia; brief news
2011-01-24
News and notes Anniversary celebrations; Foundation reports; local language problems; brief news
2011-01-17
News and notes Record fundraiser celebrated and debated; Board-appointed Trustees; brief news
2011-01-03
News and notes Director of Technical Operations hired; South Korean mayor sues; brief news
2010-12-27
News and notes ArbCom tally pending; Pediapress renderer; fundraiser update; unreferenced BLP drive
2010-12-06
News and notes No further Bundesarchiv image donations; Dutch and German awards; anniversary preparations
2010-11-22
News and notes Fundraisers start for Wikipedia and Citizendium; controversial content and leadership
2010-11-15
News and notes Foundation's finances, geodata milestone, interim counsel, museum conference
2010-11-01
News and notes Board resolutions, fundraiser challenge, traffic report, ten thousand good articles, and more
2010-10-11
News and notes French million, controversial content, Citizendium charter, Pending changes, and more
2010-09-27
News and notes Page-edit stats, French National Library partnership, Mass page blanking, Jimbo on Pending changes
2010-09-13
News and notes Pending changes poll, Public policy classes, Payment schemes debate, and more
2010-08-23
News and notes Book publisher apologizes for plagiarizing photos by Wikipedians, brief news
2010-08-16
News and notes FBI requests takedown of seal, Public Policy advisors and ambassadors, Cary Bass leaving, new Research Committee
2010-08-09
News and notes Canadian political edits, Swedish royal wedding, Italian "right of reply" bill, Chapter reports
2010-08-02
News and notes Politician defends editing own article, Google translation, Row about a small Wikipedia
2010-07-19
News and notes Collaboration with the British Museum and in Serbia, Interaction with researchers, and more
2010-06-21
News and notes Pending changes goes live, first state-funded Wikipedia project concludes, brief news
2010-06-14
News and notes "Pending changes" trial, Chief hires, British Museum prizes, Interwiki debate, and more
2010-06-07
News and notes New puzzle globe, feature for admins, Israel's "Wikipedia Bill", unsourced bios declining
2010-05-24
News and notes Berlin WikiConference, Brooklyn Museum & Google.org collaborations, review backlog removed, 1 billion edits
2010-04-19
News and notes Studying German flagged revisions, French library agreement, German court case
2010-04-12
News and notes Usability rollout, downtime, admin phishing, Wikimania scholarships and more
2010-03-29
News and notes A Wikiversity controversy, Wikimedian-in-Residence, image donation, editing contest, WMF jobs
2010-03-15
News and notes New CTO, Britain Loves Wikipedia, Telefónica partnership, Multimedia and more
2010-02-01
News and notes Wikipedia's death report premature, fundraiser, usability, new CSD, noms, and more
2009-12-07
News and notes Article Incubator, Wikipedians take Manhattan, new features in testing, and much more
2009-10-05
News and notes News and notes: Flagged Revisions and permissions proposals, hoax, milestones
2009-01-10