Welcome to Meta!

Hello Herbythyme/Arc1, and 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 (please read the instructions at the top of the page before posting there). If you would like, feel free to ask me questions on my talk page. Happy editing!

Az1568 07:38, 12 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

re: thanks

thanks for your help with orphan talk pages --dario vet (talk) 10:57, 17 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

I leave a message to you on commonswiki :) --dario vet (talk) 12:03, 17 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
the solution :) --dario vet (talk) 12:12, 17 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

your deletion request

Would you check please WM:CSD before further tagging? Your idea may reflect your home wiki culture, but a bit different from ours, I'm afraid. --Aphaia 14:49, 17 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Talk:The weather in London tagged for speedy.

I'd tend to favour leaving that one around as it serves the purpose of explaining why the page itself should not be created. I did not revert you, figured I'd just mention it here first. ++Lar: t/c 16:54, 17 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Sorry

I think i delete a part of Aide:Syntaxe wiki and you put it back.

Sorry for this... The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.157.174.134 (talk • contribs) 13:21, 20 Apr 2007 (UTC)

Nurox

You're too quick, that's like four times now that I've gone to a page only to see you already marked it. :P You should probably get adminship here... Yonatanh 14:25, 23 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Beat you that time. :P Yonatanh 14:45, 23 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Blocking

Just noticing your recent request for blocking two anons ... I just wonder you would like to make another request.--Aphaia 10:49, 25 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for your persistent persuation for that anon :) --Aphaia 08:20, 26 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

RfD query

Hi, you think that quality should be listed in RfD? Slade 19:35, 25 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Sysop rights

Hello, Herbythyme
as a result of the election held on this page, you've been granted sysop status. Please list yourself in the sysop box. Thank you, M/ 08:39, 3 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Congrats! --Aphaia 09:24, 3 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
What the hell?! It's been less than a day!!! Well, congrats! :) Cbrown1023 talk 01:23, 4 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
yeah, congrats! :)--Nick1915 - all you want 01:42, 4 May 2007 (UTC)Reply
ditto. = ) --Az1568 01:46, 4 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

IRC cloak request

I am Herbys on freenode and I would like the cloak wikimedia/Herbythyme. Thanks. --Herby talk thyme 12:11, 10 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks

I switched my sig to my meta page and checked the box to enable email. Fair points, both. JzG 09:53, 14 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

RE: welcome

Thanks for the welcome, Herbythyme! I've had an account here for a while now, but don't use it much -- it's pretty much to report links to the spam blacklist. I've been over at en. for over a year now, which is where I spend 99% of my time. Anyhow, thanks again. Cheers! AbsolutDan 12:33, 14 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

User talk:JohanTheGhost/NiceCategoryList extension

I deleted the pages you marked but was not sure what you wanted to do about the talk page here?

Whoops, darn! OK, I've moved the content of the talk page over. Yes, I've lost the history, but there isn't much and the posts are all signed, so I dunno if it's worth the bother. Oh, you've just done it -- thanks! Cheers, JohanTheGhost 16:13, 15 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

reply

you can read this ;) --dario vet (talk) 12:47, 19 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Countervandalism.org

You now have trusted status. :)--Shanel 14:57, 23 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks...

...for being the user who finally noticed me :) Sr13 06:40, 24 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Just thanks :) Mathiastck 15:06, 24 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Woah

You are, like, a sysop everywhere now! Somehow I missed that.  :) --Iamunknown 16:56, 29 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks

Thanks for the welcome Herby, hope all is well with you. Mattb112885 12:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

RfD closing

To my knowledge, RfDs should be closed two weeks, not one week, after they are started. I made the mistake of closing an RfD after one week a few months ago, but I was quickly corrected by another administrator. Nishkid64 (talk) 20:15, 3 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

I'll talk to the other people who are also going by the seven-day closing rule. Nishkid64 (talk) 00:32, 7 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
Well, I think Nick1915's deletion might have been a "speedy close". Eight people wanted the article deleted, so I don't think it's that big of a problem. I guess if there are a good number of people favoring a particular side, then it's fine to close the RfD early. If there are only 3-4 votes, or if there are mixed comments, then it's best to let it run its full course. Nishkid64 (talk) 00:34, 7 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Sorry

Sorry for my harsh word. But I would like you understand the necessity not to change thing at this moment. I know from my experience how newbie English Wikipedians don't understand our works on meta. So please let us work at ease without threat of deletion of choir canvassing from English Wikipedia. I hope we can have a time later, after the events we're now organizing finished. --Aphaia 14:28, 6 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Please do not tag items used for election campaign with unsource, etc.

I removed {{nosource}} tag you added to a such image. I would like you not to delete it at least during the election campaign, and to give an friendly ask them to add more information instead. Thanks. --Aphaia 17:41, 17 June 2007 (UTC)Reply


Stop reverting

Why are you reverting me? Proposals must follow the format and the deatails must be placed in the details page--T-man 10:39, 18 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Good observations. Thanks--T-man 10:45, 18 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

84.45.219.185

Apparently the IP has said they'll give up using Wikimedia projects because someone set up a wiki for them at a wikihost... good or not?? you'll be pleased to know that i think... --Ralsurr 12:37, 18 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

I've been told apparently that someone's sent mail to OTRS regarding this, so if anyone's watching, get them on about this. But my penalty box idea should work. --Ralsurr 12:51, 18 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Mailing list

Do you know how to make a Proposal on Mailing List?? WE need newcomers badly for http://www.pop-cult.org/Wikitainment .--T-man 12:33, 19 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

thanks!

Thanks for the welcome and for taking care of me on Commons too! Good Luck on your CU candidacy for Commons. Epousesquecido 18:33, 19 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Vandalism

Sorry for the spambot stuff. We will behave ourselves here, and anywhere else on Wikimedia. We did wrong, and we're very sorry --84.45.219.185 08:54, 20 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

If you let me know which wiki you wish to create an account on (where I am an admin) I will see what I can do --Herby talk thyme 11:27, 20 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
  • I can create an account on Wikinews, no problem, it's just en.wiki and commons, and en.wikibooks which are problematic, as account creation is disabled. The IP's shared, and I'm sorry about the vandalism emanating from the IP. --84.45.219.185 11:30, 20 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
Ok - en wiki I can do nothing about although I may be prepared to ask someone. Commons & Books I can so I'm going to think it about it seriously. Bear in mind I have access to Checkuser logs - these will show me where a registered user is editing from. If I were to allow account creation and you were to abuse it I would know and act accordingly - are you happy with that? --Herby talk thyme 12:01, 20 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
  • I doubt anyone will abuse account creation, now that a presentation on using Wikipedia was done this morning at 11am, UK time - and it seemed to make people more interested in using it positively. The presentation was about what Wikipedia is, how one should use it properly, and a warning that vandalism isn't acceptable, which most of the people watching seemed to understand. Anyhow... was the presentation a good solution?? --84.45.219.185 12:28, 20 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
As a dedicated vandal fighter you are making me think! The presentation sound like it was a great idea. Minor vandalism will alway be around - however there have been some major vandalism attacked from your IP in the past so I will think about it. If you want to you can mail me on herbythyme at fmail dot co dot uk --Herby talk thyme 12:42, 20 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

SarekOfVulcan pic

I'm confused: why is "taken by Donna Fitzgerald", my wife, considered "no source"?--SarekOfVulcan 19:35, 21 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Spambot

No problem, they're a common nuisance on Wikia, where I'm (more) active. I've seen that spam message over a dozen times this week probably on Wikia... --Roosa (Talk) 09:33, 22 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Spambots - dealing with them....

Shouldn't those spambots' links be added to the Spam blacklist - or are they actually of any encyclopedic use to the Wikimedia Foundation??

Perhaps we should discuss it on the spam blacklist talk page... --WiganRunnerEu 15:30, 22 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

  • From what I saw the website links were either links to radio stations in the UK, women's swimwear sites, a charity for people with autism, and porn linkspam. I'm the only sysop on the Akan Wikibooks, as ak:b:User:SunStar Net. If you want, ask for permissions on the Akan Wikibooks, as I could do with a second sysop to clean up the WoW vandalism we've got there. It's being vandalised fairly often, although it's gone quiet recently... thankfully they've gone for now! --WiganRunnerEu 15:44, 22 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hey,

Meta_talk:Protected_against_recreation#Please_include.... Thanks  :) --Iamunknown 02:27, 23 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Done & thanks --Herby talk thyme 07:02, 23 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

You have new messages

... in your mailbox. Cheers --.anaconda 22:41, 25 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

That IP address

Please see http://ak.wikibooks.org/wiki/User_talk:84.45.219.185 - I've left a notice about that IP address on the talk page. I've also protected the spambot pages for evidence purposes too, so you can see the links they're posting with the /w/index.php pages too. --WiganRunnerEu 21:23, 26 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Wikiquote anime sockpuppetry CheckUser

Herby, the Meta folks and CheckUser stewards seem to take you seriously, so I'd like your advice on my Wikiquote anime-sockpuppetry CheckUser request. It's been nearly a week since I posted it, and there has been no response, even though several other CUs have been quickly executed in the interim. In that time, the list of users and IPs has approximately doubled, and the IP editing pattern suggests that nothing short of several unreasonably large range blocks may slow down this problem until we can get definitive information on who's behind this.

Is my request presented properly? Is it unreasonable or otherwise unacceptable? I want to get this done, because I've been spending nearly all my time on Wikiquote tracking down and blocking suspected anime sockpuppets lately. Besides the inconvenience, the sheer number of blocks of as-yet-unproven suspects bothers me greatly. Thank you for any advice you can provide. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 00:43, 28 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Spambot

Hey Herbythyme, thanks for your advice (and your support on my RFA ;-) ). I wasn't sure whether I should block the IP or not, since I've seen some spambots that used more or less static IPs, and some that just use a different IP every time. But I agree leaving a trace is a good idea, so I'll block next time :-) Cheers, Tangotango 11:23, 1 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Toolserver type query

Hi Herbythyme :) Although I don't know for sure, it's quite possible that gunther's account was disabled for inactivity. The last confirmation was in late May, so if the tool stopped working after this date, this is quite possible. (I asked one of the toolserver admins but they were not sure). What I do know is that gunther's name was on the list of users whose accounts would be disabled if they did not reply to an email back in May; also, I cannot change directory into his public_html directory, something toolserver users can do for most active users' accounts. Also, he hasn't logged into his account for a very long time, so that may also be an indication. Cheers, Tangotango 11:09, 2 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Template

Please see Template:Spambot-block, which I created for use on MediaWiki:Blockedtext. It can be entered into the block as:

Hope this helps! --WiganRunnerEu 10:41, 7 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Re: Big thanks

No need to thank (at least, yet)... I wanted to start the check but the list you've asked the CU for is huge. Is it possible to narrow the CU targets to the most relevant ones? --Paginazero - Ø 14:47, 7 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

heh, thanks :)

Of course it took almost a year for some to welcome me :P. What do you thing of the Wikimedia Pennsylvania stuff?--SB_Johnny|talk|books 14:47, 9 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Yep

Thanks--Nick1915 - all you want 14:11, 11 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Re:Hey

Yep, but it's a nice img! :P--Nick1915 - all you want 18:35, 13 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

XD--Nick1915 - all you want 18:43, 13 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

thankee

Thanks :) White Cat tried to fix it and it looked *better* in IE but still not perfect, and then it was icky in ff too. So. I first downloaded Firefox when someone had a "this page looks best in ff" banner at the top of their userpage and I've loved it ever since, so I figure I might as well spread the love by designing pages that look terrible in other browsers XD </joking, I think> -- Editor at Largetalk 08:25, 19 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Pony

Yay! ^^--Shanel 20:36, 19 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Spam blacklist

Why is wyvernfm.co.uk in the spam blacklist??? --Cornbridge 11:59, 24 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Sysop offer

Hi Herbythyme, you OK?? Hope everything's well on Wikibooks, Wikimedia Commons and Wikiquote!! I hope you've managed to stop those spammers and vandals... you're doing great getting open proxies blocked!

 

A barnstar for you!!

One more thing... I'm a sysop/bureaucrat/steward on a non-Wikimedia run wiki, and I'm offering you the chance to be sysop, steward, bureaucrat and checkuser there! (I know you're already CheckUser on commons and wikibooks, but still, it'd be good to have you there...)

The only reason we need a checkuser is to ensure that there isn't double-voting in petitions and to check IPs are shared too... some IPs often claim on their talk pages that they are shared, yet they're not!

I'm a sysop at http://petitionwiki2007.scribblewiki.com where I'm there under the same username as here... anyhow, if you want to be sysop, steward, bureaucrat and checkuser, then leave me a message on my talk page there!

talk:WiganRunnerEu http://petitionwiki2007.scribblewiki.com/User talk:WiganRunnerEu] is my talk page there.

I hope this isn't spamming, it's just because you're a trusted user with checkuser there

Hope you're OK!  . --WiganRunnerEu 13:07, 28 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

84.45.219.185

The IP seems to have been an open proxy, now closed. per w:User talk:84.45.219.185, it's a shared Ip... --Cornbridge 12:03, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

  • This is the IP I'm using now.

http://www.ripe.net/whois?form_type=simple&full_query_string=&searchtext=84.45.219.185 lists the info --Cornbridge 13:55, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

There will NOT be any more vandalism from the IP address, I can confirm this... --Cornbridge 14:00, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
oh, and one more thing... I have edited from other IPs before this one, usually BT Internet, or Tiscali ones... --Cornbridge 14:16, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Role account

Yes, this is a role account, and we are making an official apology for 84.45.219.185.

Please can we give them the Right to vanish on all projects, and let them come back with a clean slate ?? --84.45.219.185 encyclopedia 14:12, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Can an IP really go through Right to vanish, Herbythyme?? Oh, and 84.45.219.185, stop messing with Wikimedia, please... --88.198.53.107 16:28, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
Do explain what I'm "messing with" won't you - completely meaningless otherwise, thanks --Herby talk thyme 17:11, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
  • It wasn't you that the "messing with" comment was aimed at, it was at another anon, 84.45.219.185 - who has been. No way would I insult you... after all you do have some power on two Wikimedia sites!! Can't fault yer for that!! And can IPs really have a right to vanish?? --88.198.53.107 18:36, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
Oh, and this IP's given up vandalism... bloody idiot schoolkids messing about on it... well, not any more!! --88.198.53.107 18:37, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
  • That IP, 84.45.219.185, seems to have been used by sockpuppets of w:User:Cplot, so anything about vandalism/spam/abuse-related coming from there is him. It's Cplot's style to do this. Cplot did create a few /w/index.php pages on wikibooks and wikiquote. --88.198.53.107 18:42, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
Much less simple than that as is the history of your IP address --Herby talk thyme 19:05, 31 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

That IP address

If you see here, it appears the IP has been used by a different person - it seems to have been only this year they've started vandalising. The edits from 2006 look pretty much to be good faith edits.

I agree with the block, although when it expires there will probably be more vandalism again.... grrr!!

 

A barnstar for you, for all your work on Wikibooks, Meta, Wikimedia Commons, and for blocking vandals.

I'm going to try again for sysop permissions on another Wikimedia project with no sysop... feel free to help me! --WiganRunnerEu 09:50, 2 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks --Herby talk thyme 12:22, 2 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Proxy

Np, this open proxy IP is listened here and blocked infinite on en.wp. Cheers--Nick1915 - all you want 18:05, 3 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

YW :) Nick1915 - all you want 18:57, 3 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Privacy & Identity

Now, while the page itself isn't under much use yet (CheckUser privacy), a few modifications to it and we could incorporate "constant identity" themes and, by extension en:template:User committed identity.

I've been setting up WikiMatrices for people on request, and in fact just made the {{matrix}} template per a suggestion of Lar's that way we can attempt to standardize the matrix concept and have a centralized repository on Meta for community identity.

Got ideas/opinions? Let me know. ~Kylu (u|t) 04:15, 7 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

en:User:Naconkantari/sbl

Hello,
can you please restore that page or at least copy the last revision here? Someone asked a whitelisting on it.wiki but I don't know why that site is blacklisted ("The reasons for adding the links below used to be located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Naconkantari/sbl"). thx --.anaconda 08:12, 14 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Oops. Sorry. --.anaconda 08:16, 14 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Crosswiki spambot

Great! Thank you so much!--Nick1915 - all you want 10:28, 16 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Re: Link

I use it, thanks. Eagle's tool is also useful. --.anaconda 01:29, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Ooops

Herby, I was not directing my comment on Talk:Spam blacklist at you but rather 68.189.221.83. I should have set off your name with parentheses rather than commas:

  • "You're chewing out a volunteer admin (Herby) not someone who's providing you with some paid service."

I am very, very, very sorry about the confusion I caused. --A. B. (talk) 12:38, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Talk:Spam blacklist#Wikislavia

At some point, it would probably be helpful for a neutral, non-Russian admin to close this discussion (or at least start it towards a conclusion.)

Can I interest you? --A. B. (talk) 18:13, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

I nearly did so a couple of times already! Yes I am planning to do so but thought it appropriate to allow a little time for folks to air views --Herby talk thyme 18:22, 20 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Re: Fair Enough :-)

You're welcome :) Thunderhead 11:12, 21 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Can you take a look...

at Template:Rfp-request for me? I think I've got everything right, how does it look? Thunderhead 16:10, 21 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

In action - User:Thunderhead/sandbox Thunderhead 16:10, 21 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
That was because I screwed up with the opening brackets, try it now. Thunderhead 16:15, 21 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
Danke :-) Thunderhead 16:17, 21 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

moving en.wikipedia-only requests off Talk:Spam blacklist

Herby, I've moved every en.wikipedia-only request that I am familiar with to the new en:MediaWiki talk:Spam-blacklist. There are some others left, but I am not familiar enough with them to know if they'd meet my own standards for blacklisting at either location; I don't have time now to dig into them and see how bad they were and if they were x-wiki spammed (many requesters don't know to look x-wiki).

There is one request left, biblewalks, that is definitely x-wiki (he and en) and I recommend blacklisting here.

Thanks for all your work and leadership on this stuff.--A. B. (talk) 15:15, 22 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Polish blacklist

You blacklisted a number of tourist websites in Meta, which promoted themselves in Poland-related articles. That means, I won’t be able to save my edits in an article containing any of those links already. Please, help me pinpoint, which hot link(s) block my work on the article about Krakow. The list of references, which I added over the course of several months contains almost sixty links. I have no idea which one is blocking me from saving the page now, although I searched it already twice. Below are the blacklisted websites about Poland, which I located myself. But there must be another one about Krakow, which I cannot find.

wroclaw-online.eu
warsaw-online.eu
poznan-online.net
cracowonline.com
gdansk-online.eu
zakopane-online.eu
allkrakowhotels.com
torunonline.com
hotelewkrakowie.pl
krakowlife.pl
hotelewtoruniu.pl
hotele-warszawa.eu
noclegi-wroclaw.pl
hotelewgdansku.eu
zakopane-noclegi.eu

Sorry for the trouble. I would very much appreciate your help. And thanks in advance. Poeticbent (Wiki/User_talk) --207.102.64.195 18:16, 22 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

The log of the request is here and this lists the sites that the block was requested for which should help you. The request was from A.B. on en wp so they may be able to assist you. Thanks --Herby talk thyme 18:29, 22 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thanks. I just read your reply in Archives [1] asking about krakow.pl website, which is valid and useful as the city's official website. It is called "Magical Kraków". I linked it more than once I'm afraid. Let me see what happens when I deactivate it. --Poeticbent
I was correct. Deactivating krakow.pl enabled me to save the article again. Please reinstate that link, if you will. It is a handy source of all kinds of statistics, archeological findings, official press releases, etc. It is published by the Municipality Of Kraków, Press Office. Thanks. --Poeticbent
My 6 groszy on this matter:
I concur in removing krakow.pl from the blacklist. I think official links should always be included. Poeticbent has been the main editor on en.wikipedia's Krakow article fighting spam from multiple spam sources, so I trust his/her judgement.
Herby, I'll also note that there are other Polish spam links that have been added to the blacklist in the last year --i.e., there are competing spammers (sometimes also removing others' spam links) that have hit en.wikipedia's Polish articles with different clusters of domains. So when checking the archives and blacklist logs, you're going to find multiple entries.
Thanks again for all you do suppressing spam (you, too, Poeticbent). --A. B. (talk) 13:48, 25 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
  • reset

Need help here \bkrakow\.pl\b (krakow.pl) ain;t on the Meta list?? TIA cheers --Herby talk thyme 13:55, 25 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Non Foundation Spam

Hi Herby,

In response to your message, the general procedure sounds reasonable to me. The only one that doesn't make much sense is the warnings/blocks approach. Warnings are next to useless. The particular bot that does this seems to just generate new 6 letter usernames for each spam edit. While usernames are reused, if they aren't blocked, if you do block them (like we do), they just make a new account. We do block these spambot users currently, and immediately with no warning. If a user has a history of otherwise useful edits then we'll use the warning approach, but the way our wiki is, most users come to it to get information, and few, outside of a small team of experts, add content. We do welcome and encourage users to add content and to edit entries where they are deficient, or wrong, and while we do get a few people helping out, most legitimate users seem to just use the info.

Anyway, blocking spambots immediately seems to be the best policy because that way Bad Behaviour has a much better chance of blocking the IP, and we get a serious reduction in the amount of spam. Each IP only posts one edit rather than 20 or 30 that happens if the spambots aren't blocked.

Looking over the IP block log, Bad behaviour seems to be blocking edits every 3-4 minutes 24 hours a day at the moment, which is an incredible amount of activity for a little wiki like ours.

We're happy to follow procedures over here that make life easier for you guys and can format our requests however you would like them. I'll just need to find the Luxo tool that you refer to. Do you have a link?

The Puppeteer 03:40, 30 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Herby, I hope you don't mind me butting in -- I came here to leave a you message about another topic below.
Traditionally on en.wikipedia, we block spambots on sight (no warnings) and then we've taken the spam here to meta for blacklisting. A spambot attacking The Puppeteer's wiki is likely to be a spambot working across the Internet on blogs, our wikis and anything else it can hit. So it helps us to preemptively block them here.
Often they're spamming subdomains of big hosting services like yahoo, narod.ru, ifrance, etc. so it's important to make sure we're not blocking something with other subdomains that are useful.
Spambots are usually working from either open proxies or zombie PC networks. We also preemptively block open proxies, so we're interested in hearing about any open proxies, too. (I think we should always preemptively block zombie PC IPs, but that's another topic). There's not much we can do with a 6-digit user name unless it's already appeared here, but if you find a spambot IP that's an open proxy, let us know with your request here, and we'll pass it on to our open proxy checkers. If you're not already doing this, I suggest you block all known open proxies preemptively. You can use lists of open proxy IPs maintained some of our largest wikipedias; I suggest you just import them wholesale and block them preemptively:
Finally, here are the tool links:
  • Completewhois (note: results need informed interpretation as it can give false negatives. Ignore anything from spews or that only says "dynamic IP".)
  • Just Google search the IP + "open proxy" and see if it shows up on any lists (this is fast and usually reliable)
--A. B. (talk) 12:52, 30 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
Agreeing with all of A. B.'s stuff I'll add in w:Wikipedia:Open proxy detection as somewhere to watch (many of my op blocks come from there) and the same bot is running on Commons too.
And I quite agree with simply googleing the IP (that is how I got Honeypot).
Quality information is always welcome on my page - particularly if it deals with cross wiki disruption (vandals are my specialist subject but spam is merely a subtle form of vandalism IMO). It is also just possible that others might watch this page! Thanks --Herby talk thyme 13:07, 30 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
You guys are legends. Lot's of stuff for me to go through here. With respect to blocking open proxy's, do you normally do it using the standard block page, where you block users, or is there a way to block a list the proxy's quickly?
I'll go through the rest of the stuff, and get back with any questions I have. Lot's to digest here.
The Puppeteer 04:21, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

babyhold.com

I hope you appreciated the link I added to en:Unclean hands. I just wish the article were a bit clearer for non-legal types.

It's my guiding principle for whitelist requests from bad faith spammers! --A. B. (talk) 11:58, 30 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

It was appreciated - made closing that dead easy (& I see Nick did the additional blacklisting). --Herby talk thyme 12:05, 30 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Picture

It's Martin Harnik, an Austrian footballer, playing for Werder Bremen--Dave it 07:59, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hey

Could you delete my old user and user talk pages here too? :) — Moe ε 09:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks a bunch :) — Moe ε 09:40, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
Oh, would you please? I was about to request that, but I wasn't sure if that was allowed or not. — Moe ε 09:42, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
Hate to be a perfectionist.. [2]Moe ε 09:50, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply
Much! I just didn't want it to be so obvious by accessing the history >< Thanks a million :) — Moe ε 09:54, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

hu.wikinews

Please delete this, it was just test, we have to work a lot before we publish this site again: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Hu.Wikinews_Kezd%C5%91lap --Kádár Tamás 09:55, 31 August 2007 (UTC)Reply

User talk:71.60.63.183

Can you block this guy indefinitely (or for at least a year)? He's blocked on en.wikipedia, so he's moved over here. I've got links on his meta talk page to his en.wikipedia history -- it's pretty ugly. Thanks, --A. B. (talk) 17:37, 1 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

***ger of a day! 4 wiki x 1 month blocks placed (I trust you). IF I forget remind me - I need to review this before the blocks end - looks like trouble but I'll like to check properly. (And you beat me to es wiki! - you do know what you should do) Thanks --Herby talk thyme 18:01, 1 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
Ah, I got it. Thanks to cope with! --Aphaia 18:14, 1 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thanks. It turns out en.wikipedia blocked him/her indefinitely after the death threat -- they just didn't note it on the talk page. --A. B. (talk) 01:12, 2 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

RfCU

Hi Herby, although you have my full support, I have decided not to vote due to the debate here about edit count versus voting, unless you really need my support. I don't think you do, though. I appreciate your hard work and dedication to the project and I wish you good luck on your candidacy. - Epousesquecido 16:07, 3 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Archiving

I wonder you are interested in having a bot archive finished/outdated discussions? --Aphaia 06:58, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

We don't have one here yet? Many other wikis have them to great effect (I don't use them myself, I prefer to archive a bit differently but I know lots of people who do, as well as using them on common discussion areas such as admin noticeboards etc.) ++Lar: t/c 10:21, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
Meant to get back to this sorry. Quick answer - depends what on? My talk page - no thanks, most discussion boards etc - yes please, spam blacklist discussion - probably (though I would like it to be set as quite quick to keep the page clean - disheartening for all concerned if we cannot see what has been done & what needs doing?) --Herby talk thyme 10:28, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
To Lar. No. None. LOL. So we are small :)
To Herby. I am intended Babel and similar discussion pages as well as spam blacklist or Interwiki link pages, primary. It was no familiar idea to run a bot to archive user talk page .... (I think I knew English Wikipedia has adopted this habit though). Sebmol is willing to help (see also Meta:Babel). He said if we put necessary information on the talk his bot would arcive and poke him, he would run the bot for us. --Aphaia 11:05, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
Seems very good to me (although some people will miss the opportunity to increase their edit counts :-)). Probably start it on a page somewhere & see how it goes? --Herby talk thyme 12:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
Sounds nice that we have a meta namespace page for bot archiving and guidance :) --Aphaia 12:17, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
I think this would be great. We need to think long and hard about the times though. the Interwiki Link page I think probably is best if it is NOT bot archived... some requests sit for many months... the best thing to do with them is formally close them and archive by hand. Other pages yes very much, auto archiving will be a goodness. ++Lar: t/c 13:49, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
For whoever wants to run it: link to the script (from pywikipedia, what most of the bots use). Cbrown1023 talk 23:11, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

User rename

Actually, thinking back about it, it wasn't really necessary, since no edits were remaining in histories. So basically all I did was adding an entry in the logs with this name... *gah*. guillom 15:08, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Don't mind and thank you for your kindness. :) --Aphaia 15:16, 4 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Re:Thanks

Np ;) --Nick1915 - all you want 17:41, 7 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

br:Dibar:Wantedpages

I don't know whom to ask this, but you may be able to help me. Wantedpages is not updated anymore on the breton wikipedia since the first of september. What is the problem? It is a very interesting and useful page, so it would be great if it could be updated again as it was before (twice a week at least). Thx!Benoni 12:43, 10 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

You're welcome

Always a pleasure :) And thank Majorly for bringing this request to my attention. guillom 13:24, 10 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Congratulations (or condolences?) on your election/appointment as a Meta Checkuser

Per this validation I see you have the bit here now. Well done. ++Lar: t/c 14:51, 10 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Indeed, congrats (very glad I supported this time...) Majorly (talk) 15:09, 10 September 2007 (UTC)Reply
Congrats for your promotion and many thanks for your hard works in advance :)   --Aphaia 15:29, 10 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

To all who supported me thanks, the trust is appreciated. So far just two blocks from using the tool! --Herby talk thyme 18:37, 10 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Regex

Yep, I'm sorry, but I'm very busy (work&study) :( ... btw any of special characters [\^$.|?*+(){} will match themselves only when preceded by a backslash \ (escape character)... Cheers ;)--Nick1915 - all you want 19:03, 10 September 2007 (UTC) PS congratulations for your new flag :)Reply

tinyurl.com is whitelisted on meta

FYI, see:

I note that I can add a tinyurl.com link to meta.[3]

I was unable to add one to en.wikipedia.

I'm assuming that this notice at the top of the meta whitelist is just an artifact of cutting and pasting from enwiki:

"# This is a list of domain names which are whitelisted on en.wiki only. Please check"
"# the guidelines on the talk page when adding entries."


I have no problems with tinyurl.com being whitelisted on meta; anyone spamming meta with tinyurl.com is clearly very hard up for a link.

I thought you'd want to know in case you were ever testing the blacklist using a meta sandbox.
--A. B. (talk) 14:46, 11 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Errr - thanks IIRC I put than in an email I sent you a while back - I found it too and came to the same conclusions. Should have put it on wiki of course, cheers --Herby talk thyme 14:53, 11 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Ayyavazhi

Hai, why you removed the Ayyavazhi article from the list "List of articles every Wikipedia should have? Do you think the article is of poor quality? or of less impportance?

This is one among the Dharmic belief systems in India with a respectfull number of followers. And religiousely its complex in idea and so on. Regarding quality, it was written in summary style the best in wikipedia. - Vaikunda Raja 09:41, 17 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Image:Internet cafe.jpg

I would have liked you to be nice to our bidders as well as Election candidate .... thanks. --Aphaia 13:59, 17 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

If carnivalservice.com is in blacklist, ipanema.com also should be.

I ask that you exclude the portal carnivalservice.com of blacklist or include other commercial sites as ipanema.com in blacklist. The preceding unsigned comment was added by Carnivalservice (talk • contribs) 08:40, 18 Sep 2007 (UTC)

Spam

Nope, first one doesn't cover both... we'd need to keep main domain (gportal.hu)... but it seems to be a sort of "geocities", a common portal... forget it :)--Nick1915 - all you want 09:59, 19 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Ok :)--Nick1915 - all you want 10:11, 19 September 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks, and sorry from Phil

Hi Herby, thanks for your warning, I am new here. I am sorry if I have posted this message in the wrong post, but I will feel rude if I do not thank you for your warning and advice. Have a nice day! :) ~ Phil-the-man

books-by-isbn.com

Welcome back.

When you get your feet on the ground, I suggest you take a look at the blacklist removal request at Talk:Spam blacklist#books-by-isbn.com. It's not clear to me that domain was ever heavily spammed and there are multiple established editors that have requested it be removed. I think it probably should be removed, but that's your call. In any event, the requesters need some sort of answer. --A. B. (talk) 00:09, 2 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks! --A. B. (talk) 15:39, 2 October 2007 (UTC)Reply
Yes, thanks, and welcome back. --KSmrq 20:18, 2 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Details for matrix

Well, yeah! Haha, I have those details. I'm actually doing it all right now. I just wanted to press save to get it started. Hmwith 18:29, 2 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

No worries! =) I just became an admin on the English Wikipedia, so I thought that organizing my accounts would be a good idea. Hmwith 18:53, 2 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

tutorialspoint.com

Hi Admin! As I have mentioned in my apeal I was not aware if this will lead to spam. I was very new to wikipedia and I had added links without understanding anyhthing. I confess on my mistake. All admins have given my only one reason that I did cross spamming and they rejected my apeal.I could not get what punishment would be for me except keeping my site in blacklist forever. So again I beg your pardon, please release my site once and it would not be repeated in future.

So please do something for me if you can.

Thanks in advance. Mohtashim The preceding unsigned comment was added by 122.169.142.67 (talk • contribs) 03:57, 6 Oct 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the welcome

Great to see a familiar name.--Cato 17:48, 7 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

beatbox.be

Ok , I have to admit that may have been my fault as I asked someone to put links to beatbox.be on all subsites of wikipedia. I thought since I was running an international site on beatbox, this was not considered spamming, as there is lots and lots of accurate info on beatbox.be to find.

That person also doesn't speak French, and there was only one warning given (in French), he probably didn't understand and that's why it was ignored. This person was just helping BeatBox.Be out. My sincere apologies for this, and there will never be a link to beatbox.be posted again, unless there is content posted on wikipedia and the link is a reference. If this had come to my attention earlier, I would of acted myself. Could you please look into this again ?

Best Regards BeatBox.Be Team (I posted this article on the proposed removals as well) The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.194.176.85 (talk • contribs) 12:45, 10 Oct 2007 (UTC)

59.93.213.146

Hi, I don't understand why you blocked 59.93.213.146 (talk • contribs • deleted contribs • logs • filter log • block user • block log • GUC • CA) with the reason "Unacceptable username". Maybe you selected the wrong one? Cheers, Korg + + 15:19, 10 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Inauspicious number if I had to guess ... --A. B. (talk) 15:25, 10 October 2007 (UTC)Reply
It is simply an IP address, not a user name. Korg + + 16:06, 10 October 2007 (UTC)Reply
No problem. Thanks for the reblock. Korg + + 16:06, 10 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

77.181.38.201

Block changed. Thank you!--Nick1915 - all you want 19:13, 11 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

It seems he has not only a very limited vocabulary but also a dynamic IP [4], [5], [6], yesterday it was 77.180.47.182, four days ago it was 77.183.121.125, .... best regards, --birdy geimfyglið (:> )=| 20:35, 11 October 2007 (UTC)Reply
Hard to know what to do when it is like that (& I'd dealt with an earlier on on Commons I see from the cross wiki contribs - I dislike attack ips!). Thanks birdy --Herby talk thyme 14:30, 12 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

re:Hah

:) thanks. The problem with the lack of admins is widely known.  
Maybe it is not that frightfully here :) Best regards, --birdy geimfyglið (:> )=| 12:29, 15 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

@IP. hm, it is this Turktelecom-user that is spaming from there often. I have the impression that turktelecom is an internetprovider that does not give static IPs just like some in Germany (clients of those are often causing troubles because You can't block them for long, since they have another IP every time they log on). Best regards, --birdy geimfyglið (:> )=| 13:40, 15 October 2007 (UTC)Reply
:) --blushy roðafyglið (:> )=| 14:16, 15 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

re:Useful template?

Thank You :) --birdy geimfyglið (:> )=| 11:49, 17 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

My Talk

Thank you :)--Nick1915 - all you want 07:38, 18 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Wolof Wikiquote

Could you stop the closure? I want to create articles, I speak Wolof. here. SF-Language 09:57, 20 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

your message on cs.source

Hi. Thanks for your message today [7]. Sure, I know the page for checking accounts. But, if you had a look into s:cs:User:-jkb-/Vandal, you can see, that I could give work to all stewards on meta :-); in fact, there were some requests in the past, and it had no positive result, the vandal (it is one or two persons I guess) uses different IP's i.e. proxies. If I will need a new help I will ask you, don't worry. Thank a lot, -jkb- 16:33, 20 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Re:Spam Logging

I think that #humanthermodynamics.com.2B_humanchemistry.net.2B_endeav.org could be the right solution... (copy/paste section from URL bar). Cheers :)--Nick1915 - all you want 14:56, 22 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

You're welcome! ;) Nick1915 - all you want 22:45, 22 October 2007 (UTC)Reply


borgenproject.org

Wow, fast work! Thanks as always Herbythyme. -- SiobhanHansa 13:02, 24 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Regex

Done. Any of special characters like "=", "?" and, of course, "dot" should be escaped ;) Cheers --Nick1915 - all you want 09:53, 26 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

gportal.hu blacklisting

Hello Herby, yes of course, handle the information as you see fit. I'm not really an expert on spam, but i think blacklisting the domain might be a good idea, there seem to be links to many different pages on this portal inserted as spam. As for the other domain, i included because the IP was quite similar and the domain also from Hungary, so to me it just might be the same person (some page names also are the same). But i can't be sure, and i don't know if this one is transwiki so that it gets blacklisted. There few more IP's i think if you need them. Cheers! - Badseed 19:21, 31 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

Britney

MMM, maybe she could be the real "Britty" who uses open proxy for privacy XD--Nick1915 - all you want 19:32, 31 October 2007 (UTC)Reply

E-mail

I got your e-mail, however my outgoing e-mails for some reason don't go through.

I'd just leave that domain alone and let others fool with it -- you have no obligation to mess with it if you don't want to. However, if I was in your shoes and I was forced to make a decision, then I'd say:

  1. The links are not encyclopedic in English or any other language. We're building encyclopedias (+ dictionaries + some other dry, serious factual stuff).
  2. That site is used to violate editors' privacy. How does that advance encyclopedia-building?
  3. If another project really feels they need to link to this stuff, then they have a whitelist.
  4. No attack sites should be removed from the blacklist unless they all are. That includes the several European sites that have been added over time by other projects. For example: www.wikipediaitalia.blogspot.com (it) or wikipedia.un.mythe.over-blog.com (fr).
  5. Just how do these other projects intend to use these links? How does this help build an encyclopedia?

Thats my two cents --A. B. (talk) 02:57, 7 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Japanese political spams

As for your revert, I suspect if it came from the same user with whom I interacted on Japanese Wikinews. He or she claimed spamming should be allowed on Wikinews, since every newspaper has ad space. We blacklisted some links, since the same spamming had come from several anons. I doubt they are in fact one same person ... same blacklisting was done on Japanese Wikisource and perhaps Wiktionary as far as I know. Just for your information. --Aphaia 10:36, 7 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Should the sites be listed here Aphaia? --Herby talk thyme 10:41, 7 November 2007 (UTC)Reply
I'm not sure ... it is a variant "local listing vs global". The point is, we have currently no way to list the link locally for meta, as far as I understand, so I guess you may be interested in. If he is back with the other IP, blacklisting might be the only effective way to handle those spamming. --Aphaia 10:50, 7 November 2007 (UTC)Reply
Local list is here & I would support you listing it if you wish to, regards --Herby talk thyme 10:53, 7 November 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thank you for pointing it to me. Now this user seems to shift from an ISP to another, seeking to get new URLs we haven't blacklisted ... I listed a new link spammed to Japanese Wikinews today. To track those links, I made a section dedicated ... if you meet another, please list them too or poke me to see the relevancy. Cheers, --Aphaia 16:30, 11 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

expo2010kina.hu, shanghai2010.hu, expo2010china.hu

Hi Herby, Could you tell me whats the problem with these pages? Why do you think those pages are spam? I don't understand why you blocked. Yes, I put it so many place these pages, because I would like to show to everybody. (Some place there is no article for Expo 2010, so some rare language I write articles, use the english language, and put the chinese offical site links and the expo2010kina.hu. I don't think everybody was check the sites, because it seem to me they are just deleted or blocked everything. I mean they are just realized, this is maybe a cross spamming.) These links are shows to the vilagkiallitas.hu (this is in hungarian language, it means worldexpo) So the whole pages is about the Expo 2010 China. This site is the first hungarian language site about the Expo 2010. There are photos, maps,video, webcam, and the latest news in hungarian language. You can say >>> the whole website is hungarian language, BUT those who just want to see some photo, video, webcam, or some maps about Shanghai and the World Expo 2010 very easy can do it. So, please check the website once more and think about to delete the blocking. Thank you. :-) Kewingo The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kewingo (talk • contribs) 01:03, 8 Nov 2007 (UTC)

The blacklisting of your sites (archive of one request is here, another just below) was a result of excessive links being placed on a number of wikis. The sites are not particularly encyclopedic material and Wikipedia does not serve as a directory for website listings I'm afraid. If you want to appeal this then you should create a section here so that others in the community can review it although request from those whose website it is are unlikely to succeed --Herby talk thyme 09:36, 9 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for the response :-) "The sites are not particularly encyclopedic material and Wikipedia does not serve as a directory for website listings I'm afraid." >>> if the situation like that, than I have another question, why we can see the www.expo2010china.com on the Wikipedia??? The www.expo2010kina.hu site is same content as the official site (www.expo2010.china.com), just in hungarian language. So, I think it is a bit discriminative as well ;-) The preceding unsigned comment was added by Kewingo (talk • contribs) 16:00, 11 Nov 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the info - I'll look at blacklisting that site too --Herby talk thyme 16:12, 11 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Re:Hum

Hæ, yes, I saw it but I had to read it twice, since all this talking about some feathered creature confused me :) --some feathered passerine creature geimfyglið (:> )=| 13:55, 8 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

thanks

I love it. I started the daylog since I need to keep track of what I'm seeing and doing, in the case some territorial admin gets mad at me blocking in his wiki, and the report pages are great, but it's a pain to find a reference once a few days passed.

So please, write down anything interesting you see (specially persisten crosswiki spam) drini [es:] [commons:] 17:06, 9 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

I was also going to ask you to sign your additions (since the log is to get my back in case some local admins start making rumble, I need to make clear what is mine and what not ) drini [es:] [commons:] 18:07, 11 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hm... thanks!

Thanks, I guess! I foresee some headaches, though... better stock up on aspirin ;). Cheers, PatríciaR 11:05, 12 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

That's great! Yes please, I had already sent the subscription request, actually. Yep, that's the e-mail :)
I'll for sure annoy more experienced checkusers from time to time if we have doubts, and you're on the list ;) Cheers, PatríciaR 11:53, 12 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

RfA

I didn't expect my RfA to be accepted automatically because I meet the criteria but the criteria should provide a good idea as to what the community will accept. This currently doesn't seem to be the case. We don't need a statement saying that meeting the criteria won't give you automatic admin rights, that's obvious, we just need more realistic criteria or guidance so people don't waste their time requesting admin rights when there is no chance they will be supported. Adambro 20:48, 12 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

re:IP

Hello Herby, thank You, I have changed the block, best regards (and thanks) :) --birdy geimfyglið (:> )=| 13:18, 13 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hello again Herby, I came to a site You might find interesting too: http://nospam-pl.net/rbl.php?ip= (it is in Polish, but selfexplainatory and imho useful)
The problem with the proxychecker of ping.eu is You have to know the port [8] :(
Best regards, --birdy geimfyglið (:> )=| 14:23, 16 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Deletions

Please list No joy in Maddenville, a parable for deletion if you think it's outside the policy. This is certainly not a candidate for speedy deletion. Angela 01:21, 14 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

Actually, I can see how it might seem "off topic" to someone who read it very quickly and missed that Maddenville=Wikipedia.--Ron Ritzman 01:58, 14 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

CheckUser

Oh is it? I thought you need to be an admin in order to be either one of those two, if you are sure that I'm wrong, you may revert my edit with your explanation. --Edmund the King of the Woods! 16:50, 16 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

User:Jcps31/Spambot investigation

Have a read, it's worth it... makes good reading for you admins! --Jcps31 23:48, 18 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

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