User Talk: BillHPike

Server-side rendered snapshot of this editor's Wikipedia talk page discussions.

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Tech News: 2026-25

<section begin="technews-2026-W25"/><div class="plainlinks">
Latest '''tech news ↗''' from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations ↗ are available.

'''Weekly highlight'''

The Reader Growth team ↗ has launched an Image Browsing ↗ beta feature on the mobile web version of all Wikipedias. The feature shows an image carousel at the top of articles with 3 or more images. Editors can configure this feature with the following controls: to hide a specific image from a page, either use <code>class=notpageimage</code> excluding it from thumbnail previews, or <code>class=noviewer</code> excluding it from MediaViewer. The carousel can also be disabled from a page entirely, with the magic word <code><nowiki>__NOMEDIAVIEWERCAROUSEL__</nowiki></code>. To submit feedback or flag bugs, please visit the project page ↗.

Wikitables ↗ can now be sorted in descending order ↗ on the first click by adding <code dir=ltr>data-sort-order="desc"</code> to the header cell. Previously, by default, clicking a column header for the first time sorts it in ascending order. This addition to a Wikitable gives it more control and flexibility, while the default behavior for subsequent clicks remains unchanged. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T398416 ↗

'''Updates for editors'''

The Article guidance ↗ feature is currently being tested with some editors creating new articles on the Simple English, French, and Turkish Wikipedias. The experiment will soon begin on the Arabic and Bangla Wikipedias as well. This feature ↗ gives editors community-curated guidance to help them create articles that follow community standards. Experienced editors can continue creating or adapting outlines for specific article types that are commonly created by less experienced contributors. The outlines guide less experienced editors in creating high-quality articles. A quick guide to markups used in outlines can be found on this page ↗. Example outlines ↗ that can be adapted and instructions for how to adapt them are on this section ↗ of the project page.

Wikis that wish to replace the "indefinitely" button in Special:Block for temporary accounts (for example, wikis that block temporary users only until account expiration) will be able to do so by creating MediaWiki:ipb-indefinite-expiry-temporary-account ↗ with the block duration they want. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T427125 ↗

12px|link=|class=skin-invert|Recurrent item ↗ View all {{formatnum:41}} community-submitted {{PLURAL:41|task|tasks}} that were resolved last week ↗.

'''Updates for technical contributors'''

By the end of June, a valid user-agent string will be required for automated dumps downloads from the dumps.wikimedia.org website. Automated requests that provide a generic or empty user-agent will be blocked. This extends enforcement ↗ of the long standing user-agent policy ↗. Access to dumps through Wikimedia Cloud Services will not change.

The roll out of global API rate limits ↗ is now complete, with limits enforced across all APIs and at the documented levels for all groups. Bots running in Toolforge/WMCS or with the bot user right on any wiki remain exempt. All bots should continue to follow the documented best practices to avoid being rate limited.

The API Portal wiki ↗ will be read only starting this week (June 15-18). The following week (June 22-25), all API Portal wiki URLs will redirect to Wikimedia APIs on mediawiki.org ↗. Learn more on the project page ↗.

12px|link=|class=skin-invert|Recurrent item ↗ Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki ↗

'''Meetings and events'''

On June 17th at 6pm UTC the WMF will be holding Discord call focused on a code review. We've heard through the Developer Satisfaction Survey ↗ that volunteers are struggling with code review and we'd like to discuss these experiences with the goal of surfacing workable solutions. You can join the call via the Wikimedia Community Discord server ↗.

The Latin American Wikimedia Conference ↗ will host a regional hackathon that will bring together the Wikimedia movement’s technical community including developers, system administrators, data scientists, and users with extended rights. Interested technical contributors can apply for a scholarship ↗ to participate until June 21 at midnight (Bolivia time, UTC-4).

Sign up for Wikimania Team Challenges to join this special event. The Team challenges will take place online and in person from July 21 to 22, before Wikimania conference. Everyone is welcome, regardless of skills or Wikimania registration. Teams will work on 10 important challenges supporting the Wikimedia community. For details, visit the Team Challenges page ↗ and register there ↗. Registration closes on June 20th at 11pm UTC.

'''''Tech news ↗''' prepared by Tech News writers ↗ and posted by bot ↗ • Contribute ↗ • Translate ↗ • Get help ↗ • Give feedback ↗ • Subscribe or unsubscribe ↗.''
</div><section end="technews-2026-W25"/>

<bdi lang="en" dir="ltr">MediaWiki message delivery</bdi> 16:46, 15 June 2026 (UTC)

''The Signpost'': 21 June 2026

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr"><div style="column-count:2;"> {{Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2026-06-21}} </div> <div class="hlist" style="margin-top:10px; font-size:90%; padding-left:5px; font-family:Georgia, Palatino, Palatino Linotype, Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> * '''Read this Signpost in full ↗''' * Single-page ↗ * Unsubscribe ↗ * MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 03:16, 21 June 2026 (UTC) </div></div>

(This message was sent to :User talk:Billhpike ↗ and is being posted here due to a redirect.)

Tech News: 2026-26

<section begin="technews-2026-W26"/><div class="plainlinks">
Latest '''tech news ↗''' from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations ↗ are available.

'''Weekly highlight'''

Growth features ↗ are now available at Wikidata ↗. This update enables access to Mentorship (if configured ↗), Impact module, the Help Panel, and a simplified Newcomer Homepage (without Suggested Edits). Wikidata administrators are still configuring the features through Community Configuration.

'''Updates for editors'''

The special page {{#special:RangeCalculator}} ↗ has been created. It allows users to find an IP range without needing to rely on external tools. Until now, this tool was only available to CheckUsers. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T268429 ↗

Sub-referencing ↗ is a new MediaWiki feature that allows editors to reuse references with different details. It will be deployed to most small and medium-sized Wikipedia language versions on June 23. The FAQ ↗ lists possible actions to take on your wiki to support the deployment. Check the rollout plan ↗ for the next deployment steps. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T428902 ↗

Starting next week, users will get a notification when they are blocked or unblocked from editing, or if this block changes. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T100974 ↗

12px|link=|class=skin-invert|Recurrent item ↗ View all {{formatnum:32}} community-submitted {{PLURAL:32|task|tasks}} that were resolved last week ↗.

'''Updates for technical contributors'''

Starting next week, abuse filters that are set to "require CAPTCHA verification" will begin to also affect users with the <code>skipcaptcha</code> right, which includes most autoconfirmed users. Bots are exempted. This change only affects edits that trigger an abuse filter. The <code>skipcaptcha</code> right will continue to exempt users from having to solve CAPTCHAs in the ordinary course of using the wikis. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T402595 ↗

Reference documentation for the Lift Wing API ↗ has moved from the API Portal to the interactive REST Sandbox ↗.

The API Portal wiki is now closed. For API documentation, see Wikimedia APIs on mediawiki.org ↗. All API Portal wiki URLs (https://api.wikimedia.org/wiki/) will redirect to the mediawiki.org page starting June 22. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T427537 ↗

12px|link=|class=skin-invert|Recurrent item ↗ Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki ↗

'''Meetings and events'''

Join an online call on 25 June at 2:30pm UTC to meet the current Wikimedia interns for Google Summer of Code ↗ and Outreachy ↗. Interns will provide an overview of their projects and a brief demo of their work so far. Attendees are encouraged to share ideas and connections in their community ↗.

'''''Tech news ↗''' prepared by Tech News writers ↗ and posted by bot ↗ • Contribute ↗ • Translate ↗ • Get help ↗ • Give feedback ↗ • Subscribe or unsubscribe ↗.''
</div><section end="technews-2026-W26"/>

<bdi lang="en" dir="ltr">MediaWiki message delivery</bdi> 13:03, 23 June 2026 (UTC)

Tech News: 2026-27

<section begin="technews-2026-W27"/><div class="plainlinks">
Latest '''tech news ↗''' from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations ↗ are available.

'''Updates for editors'''

As part of the Account Creation Experiments ↗, the Growth team tested adding a user account icon in the mobile web header for logged-out users, providing direct access to "Create account" and "Log in" actions. The experiment increased account creation by about 20% without negatively affecting edit quality or constructive edit rates. The feature will now be rolled out to all Wikimedia Foundation wikis on mobile web in the first week of July. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T428220 ↗

After a successful experiment ↗, logged-in users who did not confirm their email address ↗ when their account was created see a new banner asking them to complete that process. This helps reduce the risk that users get locked out of their account, and makes account email addresses overall more reliable. This is part of the Account Security ↗ project. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T428292 ↗

An update to Search ↗ is refining how the <bdi lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><code><nowiki>-prefix:</nowiki></code></bdi> behaves when used to exclude results. Previously, using <bdi lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><code><nowiki>-prefix:</nowiki></code></bdi> with negation could unintentionally broaden search results by adding the namespaces included in the search scope, leading to confusing behavior for users expecting a straightforward exclusion filter. With the update, <bdi lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><code><nowiki>-prefix:</nowiki></code></bdi> will now strictly exclude matching page titles as intended and may display a warning if the relevant namespace has not been explicitly selected. The behavior of <bdi lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><code><nowiki>prefix:</nowiki></code></bdi> without negation however remains unchanged. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T427443 ↗

12px|link=|class=skin-invert|Recurrent item ↗ View all {{formatnum:33}} community-submitted {{PLURAL:33|task|tasks}} that were resolved last week ↗. For example, an issue where reviewers using the Page Curation toolbar were not automatically subscribed to talk page discussions they started has now been fixed. Reviewers will now receive notifications when someone replies to those discussions. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T329346 ↗

'''Updates for technical contributors'''

Starting June 29th, automated downloads from the dumps.wikimedia.org website will be subject to the user-agent policy ↗. Automated requests that provide a generic or empty user-agent will be blocked. Access to dumps through Wikimedia Cloud Services remains unaffected. This is a follow up to the announcement made in the 2026/25 issue of Tech News ↗.

12px|link=|class=skin-invert|Recurrent item ↗ Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki ↗

'''''Tech news ↗''' prepared by Tech News writers ↗ and posted by bot ↗ • Contribute ↗ • Translate ↗ • Get help ↗ • Give feedback ↗ • Subscribe or unsubscribe ↗.''
</div><section end="technews-2026-W27"/>

<bdi lang="en" dir="ltr">MediaWiki message delivery</bdi> 11:46, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

Administrators' newsletter – July 2026

News and updates for administrators ↗ from the past month (June 2026).

right|150px ↗

20px|alt= ↗ '''Administrator changes'''
:20px|alt=added|Added ↗ {{hlist|class=inline|Chipmunkdavis ↗|TechnoSquirrel69 ↗}}
:20px|alt=removed|Removed ↗ {{hlist|class=inline
|Mlaffs ↗
|SpuriousQ ↗
|Lectonar ↗
|Dennis Brown ↗
|Hog Farm ↗
}}

20px|alt= ↗ '''CheckUser changes'''
:20px|alt=readded|Readded ↗ {{hlist|class=inline
|Giraffer ↗
|TonyBallioni ↗
}}
:20px|alt=removed|Removed ↗ {{hlist|class=inline
|Dbeef ↗
|EdJohnston ↗
}}

20px|alt= ↗ '''Oversight changes'''
:20px|alt=readded|Readded ↗ {{hlist|class=inline
|Giraffer ↗
|TonyBallioni ↗
}}
:20px|alt=removed|Removed ↗ L235 ↗

20px|alt= ↗ '''Guideline and policy news'''

A request for comment ↗ asks whether the criteria for autoconfirmed and extended confirmed should be modified.

A request for comment ↗ proposes an addendum for the Real name section of the Username policy ↗.

20px|alt= ↗ '''Technical news'''

The special page Special:RangeCalculator ↗ has been created for any users to use to find an IP range. (phab:T268429 ↗)

The "indefinitely" button in Special:Block ↗ for temporary accounts can be replaced with a preferred block duration stated on MediaWiki:ipb-indefinite-expiry-temporary-account ↗. (phab:T427125 ↗)

20px|alt= ↗ '''Arbitration'''

Following a series of motions ↗, changes to the contentious topics procedure ↗ to restructure awareness ↗ have been implemented.

The arbitration case ''Michael Jackson ↗'' has been closed.

20px|alt= ↗ '''Miscellaneous'''

The 2026 Developing Countries WikiContest ↗ will run from 1{{nbsp}}July to 30{{nbsp}}September. '''Sign up now ↗'''!

10 candidates have been appointed ↗ to the U4C.

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{{center|{{flatlist|

Discuss this newsletter ↗

Subscribe ↗

Archive ↗

}}}}
{{center|1=<small>Sent by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:06, 2 July 2026 (UTC)</small>}}

Concern regarding Draft:Lumper ↗

25px|alt=Information icon ↗ Hello, BillHPike. This is a bot-delivered message letting you know that Draft:Lumper ↗, a page you created, has not been edited in at least five months. Drafts that have not been edited for six months may be deleted ↗, so if you wish to retain the page, please edit it ↗ again or request ↗ that it be moved to your userspace.

If the page has already been deleted, you can request it be undeleted ↗ so you can continue working on it.

Thank you for your submission to Wikipedia. FireflyBot (talk) 17:10, 2 July 2026 (UTC)

Happy 4th of July!

<div style="border-style:solid; border-color:blue; background-color:#fff; border-width:2px; text-align:left; padding:8px;" class="plainlinks">185px|left ↗95px|right ↗

Colman2000 (talk) is wishing you a Happy 4th of July ↗! On this day, we recognize our independence from Great Britain with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which ultimately paved the way to our freedom. Celebrate this day in many different ways, such as hosting a barbecue, watching baseball games, or even attending a fireworks show! Happy Independence Day, fellow American! <br />

{{center|''Share this message by adding {{tls|Independence Day}} to a fellow American's talk page.''}}
</div> Colman2000 (talk) 21:08, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Tech News: 2026-28

<section begin="technews-2026-W28"/><div class="plainlinks">
Latest '''tech news ↗''' from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations ↗ are available.

'''Updates for editors'''

12px|link=|class=skin-invert|Recurrent item ↗ View all {{formatnum:34}} community-submitted {{PLURAL:34|task|tasks}} that were resolved last week ↗. For example, an issue where the search bar results on Wikidata, showed English results instead of using the correct language fallback for users of language variants, has now been fixed. Search suggestions will now follow the expected language fallback chain. https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T429769 ↗

'''Updates for technical contributors'''

In preparation for Celebrate Women campaign ↗ planned for March 2027, the Wikimedia Foundation’s Content Enablement team ↗ has launched a 22-question survey to better understand technical contributions by women+ (anyone who identifies as a woman) across Wikimedia projects. The survey takes approximately 15–20 minutes to complete and will remain open until 20 July 2026. The questions ↗ are also available on-wiki for review in advance.

The Score extension ↗ now supports rendering music scores as SVG images in addition to PNG, addressing a long-standing feature request ↗ and resolving historical image quality issues. Both formats are now provided to clients, with PNG in the <bdi lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><code><nowiki>src</nowiki></code></bdi> attribute and SVG in the <bdi lang="zxx" dir="ltr"><code><nowiki>srcset</nowiki></code></bdi> attribute.

The new Parsoid ↗ parser continues to be deployed to additional wikis ↗, making it easier to introduce new reading and editing features. It was enabled on French Wikipedia, bringing total progress to covering 78.9% of Wikipedia page views. Rollout to English Wikipedia desktop will progress through this week.

12px|link=|class=skin-invert|Recurrent item ↗ Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki ↗

'''In depth'''

The Wikimedia Hackathon 2026 recap blog post ↗ is now live. It highlights the projects, sessions, and social activities from this year’s event, and shares initial plans for the 2027 Wikimedia Hackathon.

'''''Tech news ↗''' prepared by Tech News writers ↗ and posted by bot ↗ • Contribute ↗ • Translate ↗ • Get help ↗ • Give feedback ↗ • Subscribe or unsubscribe ↗.''
</div><section end="technews-2026-W28"/>

<bdi lang="en" dir="ltr">MediaWiki message delivery</bdi> 13:54, 6 July 2026 (UTC)