EPIC

Welcome to EPIC's talk page!

Post new topics at the bottom of the page. Don't forget to sign your posts with four tildes. (~~~~) It is fine to post criticism or in any other way criticise me. I like criticism as it is a wonderful way of knowing what I should improve, but be aware of the etiquette. Watch your language, and no personal attacks. If you are replying in an ongoing discussion, indent your comments with ":" If you post me a message here, most of the time I will answer you here and not on your own talk page. Therefore, a tip is to watch this talkpage until I have answered you. Regarding emails I will choose myself whether I should answer them. Most of them are answered on this page, unless it does not regard a more private nature. I have some understanding of other languages, but my knowledge of writing or speaking them are too low for me to be able to hold conversations in them. If you post a message in Swedish I will likely answer you in Swedish, but otherwise other than English I'm likely not going to answer you in a different language. ⇒ Click here to start a new discussion.

Archives 2019-2023 2024

Welcome to Meta!

Hello, EPIC. Welcome to the Wikimedia Meta-Wiki! This website is for coordinating and discussing all Wikimedia projects. You may find it useful to read our policy page. If you are interested in doing translations, visit Meta:Babylon. You can also leave a note on Meta:Babel or Wikimedia Forum if you need help with something (please read the instructions at the top of the page before posting there). Happy editing!

Block

Dear user Epic, I'm reaching out to you with a request. I have been active on Wikipedia since January 2009, have started hundreds of articles, but have also knowingly violated the rules about not using more than one Account. I've had 4 accounts over the years (1 for german language, 1 for international, 1 for commons etc); two of them have been inactive for years. For the last few years I have been using 'Donald1972' on en-Wikipedia and Commons and 'Brederode' on de-Wikipedia and other wikis (unless I made a login error). Since I would like to continue writing on Wikipedia, I would like to request the global unblocking of an account, that of Brederode or Donald 1972. I sent this to a steward on 8/9/24, but no response to date. I look forward to feedback. Ticket link: 58671ce30edac92c51630539b95cee0246bb9c4e3d64af1bb5e1a52c065164a0103a87ccae6b789eb35c8e80a91059343724c3240683d84a7fe7c316488286e5 User:Brederode 109.178.170.151 22:42, 16 September 2024 (UTC)

Your appeal has been received and will be handled in a matter of time.

I'd also like to note, however, that using other accounts to evade your lock while you are still locked (as you have been doing) is not a smart idea and may contribute to your appeal being declined. EPIC (talk) 06:48, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

thank you! I ve created Graeffworldwide to upload images. My fault. I know a little break would probably be good for me. How ever.. Regards User:Brederode

ticket to check

Hi EPIC, please take a look at ticket:2024091610009383 when you have a moment. Thank you, — xaosflux ^Talk 00:06, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

@Xaosflux: Thanks, just had a look and responded there. EPIC (talk) 06:46, 17 September 2024 (UTC)

The account you locked

Nagirakitan (talk • contribs • block • xwiki-contribs • xwiki-date ^(alt) • CA • gblock • ST • lwcheckuser)

Edits do not look like that of a spambot to me... ClumsyOwlet (talk) 20:59, 20 September 2024 (UTC)

I think this was just a user who happened to be locked in a spambot farm, unlocked the account now. EPIC (talk) 21:18, 20 September 2024 (UTC)

IndyProgressive01 (talk • contribs • block • xwiki-contribs • xwiki-date ^(alt) • CA • gblock • ST • lwcheckuser)

EagleEthan (talk • contribs • block • xwiki-contribs • xwiki-date ^(alt) • CA • gblock • ST • lwcheckuser)

ClumsyOwlet (talk) 14:37, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

Done EPIC (talk) 14:40, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

Translations:Global locks/10/bn

Can you delete this? Cactus🌵 ^{spiky ouch} 06:39, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

Done but note that you can use {{delete}} to bring it to the admins' attention since that will automatically put it in the speedy deletion category. EPIC (talk) 06:42, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

Okay Cactus🌵 ^{spiky ouch} 06:48, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

Steward requests/Permissions/2024-09#Reda Kerbouche@shy.wiktionary

Hello,
Thank you EPIC for the flag,
I just want to know again, because last time a steward mentioned that if I have more than 5 votes, I can become a permanent sysop. What do I need to do to obtain permanent sysop status?"
I have 9 votes and if we wait a bit I can have more then 10.. regards Reda Kerbouche (talk) 15:56, 24 September 2024 (UTC)

Hi, as it's mentioned in MVR "The local community must be large enough to require an administrator. The definition of "large enough" is determined by the stewards but can include factors such as the number of deletions, blocks and page protections carried out by stewards or other global users over a significant period of time." Out of 8 voters, all of them have less than 100 edits on the project, and 6 of them with less than 5 edits, and there are only 11 non-bot users with activity in the last 30 days, so the community is unfortunately not large enough for permanent administrators at this time. Thanks and regards, EPIC (talk) 16:10, 24 September 2024 (UTC)

Idea

There's an LTA that's creating/spamming my user-talk pages, for example, fr:User talk:Aafi, pt:User talk:Aafi (see history), sv:User talk:Aafi, etc. Is there a way to prevent this spam? I keep on getting notifications. Among the behaviours of he LTA, trying to login into using my username. I can find multiple notifications of these failures. But still, any idea to prevent creation of these user-talk pages by such LTA IPs? _signed, Aafi ^(talk) 17:39, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

We have a few filters for this LTA (I think XXBlackburnXx is the one maintaining most of them). I think we could potentially update slightly, though I'm not the best when it comes to abuse filters. EPIC (talk) 17:47, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

I hope @XXBlackburnXx responds here given the ping. @SHB2000, do you likely have any opinion around this? _signed, Aafi ^(talk) 17:53, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

Yeah, unfortunately I'm with EPIC that I am not the best when it comes to abuse filters :-(. SHB2000 (t • c) 20:37, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

@Aafi - I've added you to filter 181, which works like semi-protecting your talk and user page, except in places where you're an admin. If you want more projects excluded let me know. - XXBlackburnXx (talk) 00:33, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

@XXBlackburnXx, thank you, seems a good relief however en-wiki should also be excluded. _signed, Aafi ^(talk) 03:16, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Special:WikiSets/12

Hej! Could you please revert your edits ẗo this wikiset? The change is stopping us from doing what we need to do. Sotiale usually adds the new wikis to the wikiset – they're also a new wiki importer, and know when it's safe to do so. :-) Jon Harald Søby (talk) 08:42, 3 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for the heads up! No issue, now done. Reason why I added them was because Toolforge didn't recognize one of the relevant wikis when I tried to grant rights there after an SRP request, which I thought was due to it not being in the wikiset, and because Superpes (who is not a LC member) had also previously added wikis there. EPIC (talk) 08:52, 3 October 2024 (UTC)

Tack! I would be surprised if something on Toolforge relies on this wikiset, but weirder things have happened, so I can't exclude it either. Which tool was that? Jon Harald Søby (talk) 12:42, 3 October 2024 (UTC)

The tool in question was Magic redirect, i.e what the "UserRights" link in the SRP template uses to redirect to the relevant Special:UserRights link. EPIC (talk) 12:48, 3 October 2024 (UTC)

It was a common bug that occurred for a while with new wikis, regardless of Wikiset. I didn't think there was an issue with it, as it was fixed soon after ;) Anyway, since Wikisets are usually changed when the importing work is completely finished and no longer needed, I recommend leaving it as is for 3 months or more if I don't touch it, or asking the importers! --Sotiale (talk) 02:33, 8 October 2024 (UTC)

Please check Special:CentralAuth/Symonds_Gerother

Hello, as a Wikidata admin and a Wikimedia Steward, I want you to check this user. The user has been blocked by Wikidata abuse filter as LTA (Macyway4) (d:Special:Contributions/Symonds_Gerother). Is this the LTA in question? And if so, do you think a lock is needed? The user has been editing simplewiki for a while (their earlier edits can be seen here, including RFD votes and w:simple:WP:AN). If this is a false positive, please unblock the user as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing from you. MathXplore (talk) 07:29, 8 October 2024 (UTC)

Looking at the hit and the filter in question, it might be them, though I'm not sure since I'm not too familiar with this LTA, and it seems that there is also a possibility that it was just a coincidence rather than the LTA in question, also from looking at their user page at simple. Perhaps a simplewiki CU if there is past data? EPIC (talk) 08:11, 8 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for the information and feedback. I have no idea about this LTA, and I'm not sure if they previously appeared to simplewiki, so I will report this to d:WD:AN to hear from other Wikidata admins, and I will also inform user:Vermont and user:Bsadowski1 as soon as possible. MathXplore (talk) 09:18, 8 October 2024 (UTC)

(xwiki talkback) I have an update about this case, please see d:Special:Diff/2261895565 for further information. MathXplore (talk) 00:16, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Thể loại:Chờ xóa

Hello, can you help me delete the pages in the "Thể loại:Chờ xóa" of Vietnamese Wikiquote? Thank you. Pminh141^talk 01:58, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

Deleted the empty categories and two other pages. Waiting with the others for someone else to determine whether they should be deleted or not. EPIC (talk) 07:45, 11 October 2024 (UTC)

w:pnb:علی ظفر

Hey, you declined this deletion request, because it’s connected with other language projects. I can explain what happened here. There’s no relation of w:pnb:علی ظفر with other language projects, this article and other articles on different language are totally different. And this page is similar with pnbwiki:عمر جام, which you've already deleted with spam rational. However, I've already contacted with the local Administrator, there's only one admin, so haven’t received any response yet. :) –TANBIRUZZAMAN (💬) 16:12, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Sorry, Now I got what happened here. This was vandalised and added those spam content long time ago ( this is what I got from the history), so I thought it was created as spam. Now reverted with fixed content. –TANBIRUZZAMAN (💬) 16:19, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for the clarification! No issue, I was simply confused since the article was created in 2017 and there was interwiki to 29 other languages. But I see why you tagged it. EPIC (talk) 16:22, 15 October 2024 (UTC)

Revisiting global lock request of Special:CentralAuth/Trishneet_Kalra

Hello, after my last lock request was declined, the user was blocked in enwiki and their unblock request was rejected. In w:special:diff/1249095256, the user's likely relation with w:Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Viralvilla has been pointed out. What are your thoughts about this? MathXplore (talk) 00:34, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi, I'll have a look in some time. Thank you for informing. EPIC (talk) 03:34, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Advertisment of administrator's vote in Livvi-Karelian Wikipedia

Hello! Unfortunately, I haven't managed to reply directly at steward request's page. The vote in Livvi-Karelian Wikipedia is advertised here now: https://olo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedii:Portualu. We hope that everybody who is interested in this vote can take part in it and discuss everything there. Onegaborg (talk) 10:22, 19 October 2024 (UTC)

@Onegaborg: Thanks for the explanation! Then I'll have to close as not done at the moment, since per MVR the discussion needs to be publicly linked as we otherwise can't verify whether the votes have come from off-wiki canvassing or the like (of course, I'm not saying that this was the case for the your discussion - just noted why it's required).

With that said, if there are no objections, please open a new SRP request on 25 October (a week from your notification) and we will extend your rights again. In the meantime, if you need any help with admin tasks, feel free to request at GSR (for smaller cleanups) or SRM (for more complicated requests), and we'll be happy to help. EPIC (talk) 08:19, 20 October 2024 (UTC)

(Excuse the somewhat belated answer as well, for some reason I didn't see this until now) EPIC (talk) 08:19, 20 October 2024 (UTC)

SRG report

Hi EPIC, Hope you're well, I was just wondering why blocking this user take so long? I didn't know whether I had reported too early or whether It was because the original report wasn't as detailed as my replies after?,

I'm just baffled why it took so long and didn't know if it was anything to do with me or whether It was just a case that it wasn't as important as the rest of the reports?, Btw this isn't a criticism or moan I just want to learn from it and maybe do things differently next time if I was the reason, Thanks, Warm Regards, –Davey2010^Talk 16:24, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

It took more time because it needed more time to be evaluated and also because I had been handling more recent reports in the meantime. The user was only blocked on enwiki when the report was posted and most edits cross-wiki had been unreverted. I checked the edits again some time later and then locked the account. EPIC (talk) 16:44, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Oh okay I didn't realise they were only blocked on one Wikipedia at the time of reporting, okay no worries I'll be more patient and in cases like this will submit more detailed reports in future, Thanks for replying and explaining why, Have a great day, Thanks, Warm Regards, –Davey2010^Talk 17:24, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Question about a user and their edits

Hej! I have a question about a user and their edits as I'm not sure it is enough for a local, let enough a global block. They are editing crosswiki and crossproject in languages they clearly do not know. I have had to revert them on smnwiki and fiwiki for changing existing categories on category pages to categories that do not make sense. They have also been warned on enwiki for the same disruptive behaviour, but not blocked afaik (they have blanked their talk page this summer apparently in an attempt to make it look like they haven't been warned so often). It is possible they have been warned on other wm projects for this too, but I haven't checked. The focus on videogames makes me think it is a user who has likely been blocked under a different account before, but I can't place my finger on what the account was. So, where to start with this mess and should their edits be reverted en masse already now? - Yupik (talk) 11:35, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks for informing! I'll have a look in a while and let you know. EPIC (talk) 11:38, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

Thanks! - Yupik (talk) 12:11, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

@Yupik: Sorry for the slight delay; I just looked into it, and considering that the user has 15,000+ global edits with no local blocks, I'm hesitant to a global block at the moment. However, if local communities explicitly object to the category changes, they can feel free to notify/warn them. If the user still does not adhere to that, the administrators can proceed with placing a local block on them.

Other than that, I haven't found any sign of lock evasion or anything else suspicious, but please feel free to ask further questions if needed. EPIC (talk) 15:37, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

No worries about a delay. Thank you for looking into this; I appreciate it! I'll let you know if the user ends up being blocked on more than one of the projects I work on, which is likely if the unhelpful category edits continue. - Yupik (talk) 15:53, 24 October 2024 (UTC)

Global Ban

Hi! I am really sorry for breaking the rules. I made the entries in good conscience. It would be a real shame to lose my account completely. Please think again about your decision. Vielen Dank Fini85 (talk) 22:22, 28 October 2024 (UTC)

OK, I am willing to give you another chance. I have unblocked your account, so please keep in mind that further cross-wiki abuse will result in a reinstatement of your block. EPIC (talk) 02:02, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

Hi! That's really very kind, thanks. Of course I will not do this again. I hope I don't get another report for my recent cross posts?! Should I try to remove any? Regards Fini85 (talk) 04:06, 29 October 2024 (UTC)

About global blocks

グローバルブロックについて

私はKDDIの無線wifiを使って投稿しています。先ほど106.155.8.0/21の範囲のIPから日本語版ウィキペディアに投稿しようとしたところ権限がないとのことで投稿できませんでした。wifiを再接続して106.154.128.0/17の範囲のIPで投稿しようとしたところ投稿できました。どちらの範囲もあなたによってグローバルブロックされており「匿名利用者のみ」とのことなのですが、106.155.8.0/21のほうは設定がうまくできていないのだと思います。確認して修正をお願いします。

さきほど上記のメッセージを投稿しようとしましたが、投稿できなかったので、KDDIのスマートフォンのテザリングで投稿しています。

About global blocks

I post using KDDI's wireless wifi. I just tried to post to the Japanese Wikipedia from an IP address in the 106.155.8.0/21 range, but I was told I did not have the necessary permissions and was unable to post. I reconnected the wifi and tried posting from an IP address in the 106.154.128.0/17 range, and was able to post. Both ranges are globally blocked by you and are "anonymous users only," but I think the settings for 106.155.8.0/21 are not set up properly. Please check and correct them.

I tried to post the above message earlier, but I couldn't post, so I am posting it using KDDI's smartphone tethering. --製作工房 (talk) 02:09, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

Hello - as you said, both ranges are set to only affect logged out users. The blocks should therefore not affect you unless you are editing logged out. Other than that I don't see any other larger ranges being hardblocked. EPIC (talk) 08:44, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

106.155.8.0/21の範囲のIPから投稿できました。ありがとうございます。 I could post from IPs in the 106.155.8.0/21 range. Thank you.--製作工房 (talk) 14:13, 4 November 2024 (UTC)

Request to Unblock

I am a very sorry for your inconvenience. I am a very primary editor in Wikipedia, mainly in Bengali Wikipedia but Arabic, Urdu and English as well. I have done more than 500 edits in various platforms of Wikipedia through my Laptop. I admit for some valid reason I had to use a VPN about which I wasn't well informed. For several days there was an Internet blackout by the then-government in my country for which I had to use a VPN to connect with the world. Another reason is when I use my browser, I can get no access to many important websites like web.archive.org, research-gate, academia etc. but when if I use VPN, I can immediately go to those websites for collecting data. So, this might had changed my IP address about what I had a very little knowledge. Additionally, I was not very well known about the detailed terms and conditions for the user here in the Wikipedia. So, I might be mistakenly violet the rules of Wikipedia. I just do translation and spell checking and rearrange the paras in Wikipedia. After learning wiki's conditions, I now well known about its rules and regulations. I have uninstalled all proxy or VPN connections. Now I checked my IP address which is also returned to the actual form. Therefore, I urge your high esteem to unblock my IP kindly from all its sites and give me the chance to contribute to such a great platform. I am assuring to abide by the rules of Wikipedia and forgive for my information lackings or gaps. Your regards, MohdMabroor 58.145.189.238 19:51, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

How to mass delete

Hi! Someone on German Wikibooks (not a GS wiki) asked about mass deletions. Can you tell me how you mass delete files? MGA73 (talk) 20:17, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Hello, I've think I've done it in one of three ways in the past.

1. Using AramilFeraxa's QD script, which gives a special menu at Special:QD to delete all pages/files in a category with a set reason. (quite sure this one only works for GSes/stewards)
2. Using Animum's mass deletion script, which will give a special menu at Special:MassDelete, where one can paste the names of all pages to delete and then delete all of them at once. (this requires one to be a local sysop, so only being a GS/steward doesn't work)
3. Deleting all of them by hand.

EPIC (talk) 20:29, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you! --MGA73 (talk) 20:34, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Uprooting Sjaak and Greta (Mertens) Gielen family from the Netherlands and replanting it in New Zealand.

Why have you EPIC blocked SjefGielen form proceeding with project for this Gielen family in new Zealand? SjefGielen (talk) 22:43, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

Hello. The reason for the block is stated in the block reason. EPIC (talk) 23:15, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

GLock for example account

Please reconsider your response here. As stated, the User:Red link example account is intended to exist solely for documentation and testing purposes. "Ignore all rules" should apply. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 13:16, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

Hello - point is, there shouldn't be a need for a lock if it won't be used. EPIC (talk) 15:41, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

No that is not the point. Elsewhere, I have already had people telling me they will only protect the talk page - it is vital to its purpose that it is not created - if the account is glocked. Glocking it will have zero cost and do zero harm. Glocking will prevent the possibility of the account being compromised; and will reassure editors - admins especially - on other projects that it's not a live account, liable to making edits. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 17:26, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

OK - if you insist on having it locked then I'll go ahead and do it now. We generally don't fulfill self-lock requests, but there's probably no real issue in doing it in this case. EPIC (talk) 18:26, 12 November 2024 (UTC)

CheckUser

Hello, I need some assistance. Currently, there seems to be an increasing number of "puppet accounts" (sockpuppets) on the Uzbek Wikipedia. To help identify and manage these accounts, I would like to request checkuser status. Is it okay to leave a request on the Meta page for this? Abdufattohov Ibrohimjon (talk) 02:07, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

@Abdufattohov Ibrohimjon: Hello - for that you will need to be elected through a local vote in accordance with the CheckUser policy. There also needs to be at least two checkusers on a wiki. With that said, the amount of steward checks at uzwiki already seems to be quite low? EPIC (talk) 11:30, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Yes, currently there are no users on the Uzbek Wikipedia who can use CheckUser, which is why I want to apply for it. After the local election results, I will place my candidacy in the requests. Thank you. Abdufattohov Ibrohimjon (talk) 12:57, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Block request

Hi EPIC, So sorry to ask here but could you block 188.50.146.145 please as It wont allow me to report them at SRG,

I've followed the big red box message and gone to IRC but it wont even let me post there either (⚠ Cannot send to nick/channel) so I'm lost,

The IP is vandalising various projects and trolling, Thanks, –Davey2010^Talk 21:10, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Done EPIC (talk) 21:16, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you it's very much appreciated, Take care, Thanks, –Davey2010^Talk 21:20, 17 November 2024 (UTC)