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*:::I'd prefer recreating extended mover and deprecating file mover, but I guess either would be fine. [[User:Wugapodes|Wug·]][[User talk:Wugapodes|a·po·des]]​ 00:55, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
*:::I'd prefer recreating extended mover and deprecating file mover, but I guess either would be fine. [[User:Wugapodes|Wug·]][[User talk:Wugapodes|a·po·des]]​ 00:55, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
*::::"page mover" is just local branding for "extendedmover" , just FYI. — [[User:Xaosflux|<span style="color:#FF9933; font-weight:bold; font-family:monotype;">xaosflux</span>]] <sup>[[User talk:Xaosflux|<span style="color:#009933;">Talk</span>]]</sup> 02:00, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
*::::"page mover" is just local branding for "extendedmover" , just FYI. — [[User:Xaosflux|<span style="color:#FF9933; font-weight:bold; font-family:monotype;">xaosflux</span>]] <sup>[[User talk:Xaosflux|<span style="color:#009933;">Talk</span>]]</sup> 02:00, 22 November 2019 (UTC)
* '''Support''' File titles don't seem to be as controversial as article titles. As the permission already implies a level of trust, providing the additional option seems appropriate. [[user:Andrew Davidson|Andrew D.]] ([[user talk:Andrew Davidson|talk]]) 12:15, 22 November 2019 (UTC)


=== Extended discussion ===
=== Extended discussion ===

Revision as of 12:15, 22 November 2019

 Policy Technical Proposals Idea lab WMF Miscellaneous 
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New proposals are discussed here. Before submitting:


RfC on inclusion criteria for lists of political endorsements

We have many stand-alone and embedded lists of political campaign endorsements (see for example, Category:2020 United States presidential election endorsements). The inclusion criteria of these lists are frequently debated, and the lists themselves subject to frequent additions based on unclear language published only on social media. This RfC attempts to create baseline inclusion criteria for such lists, which can be built upon as needed on article talk pages. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 14:27, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Links to some past discussions

Discussions are sprawling across many articles and project pages. This list isn't intended to be exhaustive -- just those which were easily findable.

The scope of this RfC is on lists of endorsements of political campaigns, whether stand-alone or part of another article. It does not apply to endorsements discussed outside of lists.

There are three proposals for inclusion criteria, which should be evaluated separately (one does not depend on the others). (If you would like to add to this list, please start a separate thread rather than add to this one).

1. Lists of endorsements should only include endorsements by notable people or organizations.

Note on #1: Whether or not it is necessary for the person to also have a Wikipedia article can be determined at the article level

2. Lists of endorsements should only include endorsements which have been covered by reliable independent sources.

Note on #2: This means endorsements should not be sourced solely to a Tweet or Instagram post, for example.

3. Lists of endorsements should only include endorsements which are specifically articulated as "endorsements".

Note on #3: Expressions of support, use of particular hashtags, comments about donating to a campaign, and other forms of praise of a candidate is often included as an "endorsement". Support of this criterion would require the endorsement be explicit. In most cases, this would require use of the word "endorsement" by the person endorsing or by media coverage thereof. Other language which can be understood as unequivocal endorsement can be discussed on a case-by-case basis (for example, "I am campaigning for Candidate X" or "I am backing Candidate X").

— Rhododendrites talk \\ 14:27, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Criterion 1: Endorsements should be by notable people or organizations

  • Actually, I have to disagree with this, though I support the sentiment. Vermin may be satirical, but so was George Carlin. Your background is as irrelevant as your given sex, taken without context. Intellectual communities, when not subject to obvious detailed public scrutiny, such as Wikipedia, often thrive on humour. Have you not allowed The Cabal to affect you here on Wikipedia? It's really down to notability and verifability. Vermin himself may or not be notable enough for this sort of thing, but when a personality like this is notable, they must be respected, or bias is institutionalised. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, dash of RFC, a sprinkling of neutrality, there. ~ R.T.G 21:04, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • @RTG: I'll have you know that I don't even know what a mop is and can only make messes. But to my point, perhaps you misunderstand? Vermin Supreme is undeniably notable, however I am definitely not. If Vermin Supreme tweeted out an endorsement of me, that could be included in my list of endorsements because he is notable. If I tweet out an endorsement of Vermin Supreme, that should not be added to his list of endorsements. Essentially, while there is some wiggle room over whether twitter is a reliable source, that an endorsement is sourced is not sufficient for the endorsement to be included. Wug·a·po·des​ 04:30, 26 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support ~ R.T.G 18:33, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - a la LISTN, but I'm happy for additions from those without articles (most likely state/province level politician endorsements) Nosebagbear (talk) 08:55, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - This aligns well with existing policy, and the type of information that an encyclopedia should include (WP:NOTEVERYTHING).- MrX 🖋 12:53, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - as above. Neutralitytalk 19:30, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support but the usual wording for lists of people, is "have an article or be unquestionably entitled to one", and remember that every member of a state or national legislature is presumed to be entitled to a Wikipedia article, whether or not it has been written ,and this is among the strongest of our presumed notabilities--Icannot recall a single exception in the last 10 years. ; this also applies generally to mayors of cites with population > 100,000 or perhaps > 5000 ) , and members of city councils of the largest cities. This will include a very large proportion of the people who tend to be listed DGG ( talk ) 05:09, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support under WP:CSC (first criterion, "Every entry meets the notability criteria") combined with the generally accepted rule of thumb that notability is not inherited. There are simply too many endorsements otherwise. — Newslinger talk 00:12, 28 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support per our various criteria for lists. If our contributors weren't so lazy, they'd develop prose within paragraphs. Chris Troutman (talk) 14:12, 31 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - As stayed by others above, this fits with multiple existing policies and guidelines Blueboar (talk) 14:17, 31 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support 1 & 2 in altenative That is if a notable person makes an endorsement (a clear and explicit endorsement, not "I would support") that is enough for the endorsement to be listed, or if an endorsement by anyone at all is reported in major media, that is enough to be listed. The two together are not required DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 12:46, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support: I should think this is sine qua non, so long as the caveat stated by DGG is heeded. — Javert2113 (Siarad.|¤) 23:37, 6 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support I support adding all three of these proposals to a rule, though I consider this the least important one - if an reliable source reports someone supports, say, Jacinda Ardern, the person supporting will very likely be notable anyways. SportingFlyer T·C 08:23, 7 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose, provided option 2 passes. I understand the thinking behind this proposal and why it has received so much support, but consider this in the context where the "independent reliable sources" requirement passes. This criterion would be used to argue that an endorsement that has received substantial coverage but which is from someone not otherwise considered notable should not be listed; I don't agree with that. We should report any endorsement that has received significant secondary coverage, and should not second-guess sources by saying "sure, the NYT covered this endorsement, but they were wrong to do so because this guy isn't notable." If criterion 2 fails I would reluctantly support this as necessary, but I think relying on our own judgment of whether a endorser is notable is a mistake (and if we rely on secondary sources, then this is made entirely redundant by criterion 2.)--Aquillion (talk) 12:24, 11 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose as redundant and secondly some people may have notable endorsements despite not having notability themselves. For example, if the writer of the anonymous op-ed criticizing the Trump administration decided to endorse a Democratic primary candidate that would be immediately notable and worthy of inclusion, but since the character of the anonymous author of the op-ed isn't notable him or herself it wouldn't be included if this criteria is passed. Grognard Extraordinaire Chess (talk) Ping when replying 07:42, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion of criterion 1

  • I Support 1 & 2 in thee alternative. That is if a notable person makes an endorsement (a clear and explicit endorsement, not "I would support") that is enough for the endorsement to be listed, or if an endorsement by anyone at all is reported in major media, that is enough to be listed. The two together are not required, if either is satisfied, the endorsement can be (not must be) listed. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 12:49, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I just want to co-sign what DESiegel said, i believe that if a person who has their own Wikipedia page (say a youtuber) endorses a candidate on their social media, even if no other independent media reports on that endorsement, i think it would only make sense to have that endorsement be listed! On the other hand, say a regional publication lists the endorsement of a bunch of local politicians for a candidate, so long as it is a reliable source, i say we should include these endorsements as well! (0u0✿) ~MJL's Evil Sister (talk) 01:51, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Just going on record to be clear that I would strongly oppose the above, which would allow inclusion of citations to tweets/social media/personal blogs and would allow the inclusion of non-notable people contra WP:LISTPEOPLE, as long as we don't have them together. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 02:38, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Criterion 2: Endorsements should be covered by independent reliable sources

  • Support - For reasons of WP:WEIGHT as well as RS. Self-published sources can be reliable for someone's own opinion, but the ephemeral sentiments expressed in a Tweet are far from a formal endorsement in most cases. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 14:31, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • (Weak-ish) support I don't think Wikipedia should be engaging in the WP:OR-like behaviour of trawling social media sites to compile lists of people who have tweeted in favour of a candidate. If an endorsement is notable as an endorsement, then it will receive decent secondary source coverage. I say "weak-ish" because I fear this will be difficult to police. Bondegezou (talk) 15:54, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support as the general rule. This is what we want for most content anyway, and we should not be in business of interpreting statements drawn from original research. If #1 and #3 are both clearly satisfied, then maybe an exception could be made, but those cases will typically draw third-party coverage anyway. --RL0919 (talk) 18:11, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Let me preface this by saying that of course having a reliable source for every endorsement would be ideal. However, there are many individuals who are notable enough to have their own Wikipedia articles, but are often not notable enough to have their tweets and political sentiments covered by the media. This is especially true for non-politicians, such as many of the individuals who have endorsed Andrew Yang, Tulsi Gabbard, and others via tweets and social media. It is also worth noting that many of these independent sources are actually based on tweets themselves. Elon Musk is a prime example; he made a three-word tweet, and it was instantly picked up by myriad media sources. Also, per WP:TWITTER: Self-published and questionable sources may be used as sources of information about themselves, usually in articles about themselves or their activities, without the self-published source requirement that they be published experts in the field ... This policy also applies to material published by the subject on social networking websites such as Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, and Facebook. As for the five criteria listed, as far as I'm concerned, none of them are violated by citing tweets that are published by the individuals themselves when they are explicitly endorsements. I agree that sometimes, tweets that are not explicit expressions of support slip in, but these non-endorsements can easily be removed by any editor. I myself have done this extensively on this article for the past few months. Bobbychan193 (talk) 18:13, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • The idea that there are many individuals who are notable enough to have their own Wikipedia articles, but are often not notable enough to have their tweets and political sentiments covered by the media strikes me as a highly problematic reason to include something. Inclusion of, well, anything on Wikipedia should be because it's important enough for independent sources to cover it. It's not the case that once a person becomes notable, whatever they say is worth including in the encyclopedia. (For context, a difference of opinion between Bobbychan193 and me on this point at endorsements in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries‎‎ is what led me down a path searching for past discussions, to try to find precedent for a clear inclusion criteria). — Rhododendrites talk \\ 18:40, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • The whole point of endorsement lists is to list out endorsements. What makes one endorsement more important than another? Only if the media reports it? I disagree with this sentiment. It's not the case that once a person becomes notable, whatever they say is worth including in the encyclopedia. This is not what I am saying. Again, the whole point of endorsement lists is to list out endorsements, and I don't see why we can't do that if an individual tweets out an endorsement. (Other users have mentioned other reasons on that talk page. Some examples: Given the sheer volume of potential endorsements, not every single expression of support is going to be reported on, so it's inevitable that tweets will sometimes be the only place they will be mentioned and a celebrity's personal account tweeting in support has been used frequently as a source for endorsement and it is often without another citation. When they specifically say they support the candidate, it's an endorsement. If not, then remove most of Bernie Sanders' endorsements. The criteria in 2016 was explicit support and/or the campaign hashtag. Just pointing out arguments that other editors have laid out.) Bobbychan193 (talk) 18:49, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
"What makes one endorsement more important than another? Only if the media reports it?" Yes. That's how Wikipedia works. We report what reliable sources say. What makes any event more important than another? Because a reliable source talks about it. Bondegezou (talk) 10:36, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Those were rhetorical questions. My point was that all endorsements are categorically equal. An endorsement isn't "less of an endorsement" just because the media doesn't pick up on it. Think about it, if person A and person B both endorse candidate C, but the media only reports endorsement A, endorsement B is still categorically an endorsement. Sure, some people, like Elon Musk, might be more "important" than others, and that's part of why there are media sources reporting on these endorsements (other reasons: money/clickbait, bandwagon reporting, etc.). But other endorsements wouldn't be considered "lesser" endorsements just because the media doesn't report them. Bobbychan193 (talk) 01:46, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
No, all endorsements are not categorically equal, just as all information is not categorically of equal value on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate container of all facts. We are selective. We are an encyclopaedia. We decide what information merits inclusion with reference to reliable, secondary sources. If you went to an AfD and said an article should be included without secondary source reporting, no-one would listen to you. If some political scandal could only be sourced to some private tweets and wasn't covered by secondary source reporting, we wouldn't add it to an election article. Why should endorsements be treated differently from other facts on Wikipedia? Bondegezou (talk) 15:12, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
When I said "categorically", I meant by definition. An endorsement is by definition an endorsement. Reflexive property. It doesn't matter whether a news source reports on it. An unreported endorsement is still by definition an endorsement. (Also see WP:DUCK) Sure, you can argue that unreported endorsements shouldn't be included, but they are still endorsements by definition. In my view, given the other two criteria (notability and explicitness), we would be selective, and the lists would not be an indiscriminate container of all facts. Why should we cast aside all unreported endorsements? Why shouldn't we make these lists more complete? Bobbychan193 (talk) 05:09, 6 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • this refers to standalone information, and not information itself - Hmm. I don't intend to respond to all the opposers here, but I can't make heads or tails of that this means. Would you mind rewording? — Rhododendrites talk \\ 18:41, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • We have many stand-alone and embedded lists of political campaign endorsements, This RfC attempts to create baseline inclusion criteria for such lists. As to my words, the key is it should be clear this refers to standalone, as even short lists within independent articles, I imagine, will be regularly challenged by invoking this guideline. Maybe I should have said Conditional and demanded that "standalone" be made clear. Or maybe it should pass and wait and see if further clarification is required to avoid creep. I'll keep my eye on it, but I'm flying by this instant, thanks o/ ~ R.T.G 19:33, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Thanks for clarifying. I did intend this to apply to lists of endorsements in both stand-alone and embedded lists, but not article prose. If people would support for one but not the other, that seems like a reasonable distinction to make, which could be factored in at closing. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 19:39, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • You're right, my comment didn't make sense. You did say "embedded". I'm just going to strike from any input here for the moment. Sorry about that. Thanks for pointing out the error. ~ R.T.G 00:11, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose for organizations specifically for media outlets. I'm unsure whether this is the case in the United States, but in the UK and Australia at least it is routine for newspapers to officially endorse a party in elections via an editorial (see here for examples). These are going to be more significant than any endorsement by an individual, but they're rarely going to be covered in an independent RS. Partly because they all come out at the end of the campaign, partly because no one likes writing about the competition unless they've done something embarrassing. --RaiderAspect (talk) 11:31, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I have seen independent reporting of newspaper endorsements. That said, you raise an interesting point. I was presuming that, say, The Times saying who it supported in an editorial would count under this rule. Bondegezou (talk) 15:14, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I'm glad this was raised, but I don't think it's as much of an issue as you'd think. Just looking at the most recent UK general election, it's easy to find coverage of the other papers' endorsements in the Press Gazette, the i and the Guardian. I'm not sure the benefits of such an exception would outweigh the risks of permitting indiscriminate listings of newspapers and blogs. – Arms & Hearts (talk) 11:19, 26 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support as a sensible limit to avoid sprawling lists of unimportant endorsements. For example, a minor comedian tweeting that he likes Tulsi, should not make the list unless an reliable independent publication takes notice. I also endorse RaiderAspect's exception for media outlets, provided that they are notable media outlets.- MrX 🖋 13:00, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support for individuals and organizations, but not on media outlets - If no RS reports on the endorsement, I think it's unlikely it will be very noteworthy. With the ample coverage of modern campaigns, it seems quite likely that nearly all endorsements of any significance at all will have some coverage in RS. For media outlets (i.e., editorials), I view the editorial itself as the RS for its own opinion. Neutralitytalk 19:30, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. Go back to basics. The notability criteria apply to the content of the endorsement; it needs to be covered by reliable, independent third parties. Notable people say all kinds of things, but we don't add it to an article unless it is reported in a reliable, independent source. The notability and reliable sourcing criteria don't change just because someone endorses a politician. If they posted on their personal website that they encouraged people to check out the Chicken Kiev at Notable Restaurant, we wouldn't be putting that in the article about the restaurant. Risker (talk) 05:26, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    • The recent Canadian election featured several candidates and even a major political party claiming endorsements that hadn't actually been given, misquoting notable people to imply that an endorsement had been given, and so on. I have no doubt it is already happening in the US election. We should not rely on any source that hasn't been fact-checked by a reliable source with a reputation for fact-checking. Risker (talk) 04:22, 5 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. If significant, non-independent sources such as op-eds and media outlet endorsements will definitely be mentioned by other independent reliable sources. — Newslinger talk 00:23, 28 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Since many social media users can delete or hide prior posts, we ought not even consider that as a potential source on themselves. Published records are in the hands of consumers (like libraries). Chris Troutman (talk) 14:10, 31 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - If no reliable sources think an endorsement is worth mentioning, why should Wikipedia? Doing so gives the endorsement (and perhaps the endorsee) UNDUE weight. Blueboar (talk) 14:25, 31 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support 1 & 2 in alternative That is if a notable person makes an endorsement (a clear and explicit endorsement, not "I would support") that is enough for the endorsement to be listed, or if an endorsement by anyone at all is reported in major media, that is enough to be listed. The two together are not required DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 12:47, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support for individuals and organizations, but not on media outlets: For the former, of course; the latter is a simple distinction: media outlets are, by and of themselves, the reliable source for the endorsement. — Javert2113 (Siarad.|¤) 23:39, 6 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Absolutely. All endorsements need to be covered by reliable sources independent either the person or organisation making the endorsement. SportingFlyer T·C 08:24, 7 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Strong support. This should be the only criteria, just like anything else. I would go so far as to say that I'm unsure whether this RFC is necessary on this point, since WP:RS / WP:V already applies and is not subject to consensus; an endorsement is a statement about a third party (and therefore never covered by WP:SPS or WP:ABOUTSELF.) Such statements always require a high-quality reliable secondary source, without exception. --Aquillion (talk) 12:24, 11 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion of criterion 2

  • I guess to clarify my stance, my main issue with this is that we shouldn't exclude an endorsement just because a media source didn't report it. Like, if a notable individual has clearly endorsed a candidate (based on our criteria #3) and the media didn't report it, it's still an endorsement. It just doesn't make sense to me to exclude such endorsements. Bobbychan193 (talk) 18:40, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    The endorsement is only notable if it is covered by reliable, independent sources. Notability applies to the content of the edit, not the person who said whatever was said. Risker (talk) 05:22, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    actually, notability only applies to teh existanc or non-existanced of an articel it never applies to selection of article content, and the policy says this explicitly. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 07:38, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Well then obviously I said it wrong. An endorsement by Cousin Becky in the family newsletter should not make it into our article. An endorsement by Senator Foghorn, reported in the New York Times, probably should. Notable person (i.e., someone who has WP article about them) publicly endorsing the candidate as reported in well-regarded reliable source should be the boundary. Risker (talk) 08:51, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
That is cleaer yes. Several people inn the discussion have been speaking about the "notability of the endorsement" which is just not how notability works. Perhaps that was intended only as shorthand, but "notability" is a term of art here on Wikipedia, and it is better not to muddy it. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 12:55, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
That siad, the above is clearer but I disagree with it. If anyone's endorsement is reported by the NY Times, then it should be liated, whether the person has an article or not. And If SAenator Foghorn endor5ses Joe Blow for Gov, that is worth listing even if it is done in a tweet, and not reported in the media. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 12:55, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Ah see, this is where actual practice disagrees. We decide what to include in articles on a daily basis by looking at whether or not the proposed content is "notable". We might very well be able to find reliable sources that say Notable Cousin Becky has a wart on her elbow, but we're not going to include it unless her claim to notability is that she has a wart on her elbow. And I do disagree with you that Notable Senator putting out a tweet endorsing Candidate A should make the list. It should only make the list when an independent third party thinks the endorsement is significant enough to report it. It's okay for us not to agree about this, but I want to make it clear that I don't think any endorsement that is not independently reported should be included; otherwise, it's just an advert. Risker (talk) 19:21, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Would some of the proponents of this be willing to sandbox versions of the articles in Category:2016 United States presidential election endorsements so we can see just what effect this might have? I worry that the US media's tendency to ignore third-party candidates might result in unbalanced articles, where Democratic and Republican candidates have many more "minor" endorsements listed. Anomie⚔ 13:34, 27 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I Support 1 & 2 in the alternative. That is if a notable person makes an endorsement (a clear and explicit endorsement, not "I would support") that is enough for the endorsement to be listed, or if an endorsement by anyone at all is reported in major media, that is enough to be listed. The two together are not required, if either is satisfied, the endorsement can be (not must be) listed. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 12:56, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Criterion 3: Endorsements should be unequivocal and explicit

  • Support - I was surprised to see how many "endorsements" we include are actually just people using a particular hashtag, expressing positive feelings about a candidate, saying they've donated, talking about going to a fundraiser, etc. This also gets at the problem of using only social media as sources. Something published in a reliable independent source would be less likely to pick something like that up and call it an endorsement. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 14:31, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Maybe As per basic principles, if we're claiming X backs Y, we need a source showing that X backs Y and merely expressing positive feelings or attending an event shouldn't cut it. That said, I am wary about requiring specific language, like expecting the word "endorsement". Different countries, even those notionally speaking the same language, use different words and phrases. There is a particular culture of endorsement in the US and we shouldn't be applying how endorsements are done in the US and the language used around them to other countries. Bondegezou (talk) 15:59, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Preferably, but this is the weakest of the three suggested criteria. If there is a consensus of independent reliable sources under criterion #2 above that X has made an endorsement, then we should follow their lead rather than trying to interpret primary-source material. --RL0919 (talk) 18:14, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Donating to a campaign, using particular hashtags, and/or attending any candidate event are not enough to be considered endorsements in isolation. This is because 1. Any individual can donate to multiple candidates or attend the events of multiple candidates (Example: Jack Dorsey donated to both Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard) 2. Hashtags, such as #YangGang, could be interpreted as a way to boost the visibility of a tweet, or attract attention from people who search said hashtag. I think that minor variations of "I endorse xyz", such as "I support xyz", "I am campaigning for xyz", or "I am voting for xyz", are explicit enough to be considered support. (Example: again, Elon Musk's tweet. If myriad independent sources consider this an endorsement, then I don't see any reason we as editors can't similarly interpret other tweets. Why should we wait for a media source to essentially do the same thing?) I agree that this should be discussed on a case-by-case basis, especially for tweets that may be slightly more ambiguous than your standard "I support xyz". Bobbychan193 (talk) 18:25, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Prefer 2. If a reliable independent source calls it an endorsement, we should list it as an endorsement regardless of whether an editor thinks it's equivocal. Obviously we should prefer unequivocal and explicit endorsements, but I'd prefer following RSs over our own judgment on what that constitutes. In the absence of 2, I'd support this, but am otherwise neutral on it. Wug·a·po·des​ 18:30, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • @Wugapodes and RL0919: I agree with both of you. I added this as separate from #2 for two reasons. First, in case #2 doesn't pass. Second, because there's still the question of interpreting the language of reliable sources. If a reliable source says that someone attended a fundraiser, tweeted in support of, used a particular hashtag, praised, etc., do we interpret that as an endorsement, or does the RS need to call it an endorsement? There are some other terms which, to me, are quite close in meaning or allow easy inference like "backed," "declared full support for," "campaigned for," etc. but there, too, I think it's tricky. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 19:17, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Somewhat support - most of the examples should be gone, but I don't think it needs to be as ironclad as "I endorse X for president" etc. On a distinct tack, if a RS says it's an endorsement and it isn't blatantly vague, then that should also suffice. However some filtering is clearly needed - a positive statement doth not an endorsement make Nosebagbear (talk) 08:58, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - It's unfortunate that this has to be documented, but it's surprising what some editors consider endorsements. An endorsement should include the word endorse, or a synonym like support, recommend, back, approve, etc. If a reasonable person questions whether something is an endorsement, then it should not be considered such. Vague comments, shout outs, donations, attending events, and the like should not be interpreted as endorsements. WP:V is the underlying policy. - MrX 🖋 13:17, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - Agree wholly with MrX. Neutralitytalk 19:30, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Given the nuances of the English language, there are many things that sound supportive that aren't endorsements. Let us stick to the explicit and if necessary go behind the RS (who have their own agendas) to look at the statement and see if it really is an endorsement. I agree with Ched that we should not have such lists of endorsements, but am also dubious that they could be stamped out if we wanted to.--Wehwalt (talk) 06:18, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support under WP:V. I agree with MrX here: we cannot extrapolate a claim that is stronger than what is presented in the underlying source. — Newslinger talk 00:19, 28 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support per WP:NOR. Chris Troutman (talk) 14:08, 31 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - Turning a “statement of support” into a full blown “endorsement” would violate WP:NOR. So requiring that the endorsement be explicit makes sense. Blueboar (talk) 14:31, 31 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. "Endorsement" is loaded language if it were used to describe mere passing statements of support. feminist (talk) 12:31, 3 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support this definitely seems justified. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 12:57, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Absolutely agree. SportingFlyer T·C 08:28, 7 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Strong oppose per my logic to criterion 1 (and I strenuously urge the support !votes to step back and consider the implications of having this pass alongside criterion 2) - yes, this proposal sounds appealing, but this is not a call we should be making ourselves. The call on whether a particular statement counts as an "endorsement" is entirely based on how reliable sources characterize it, and should never depend on editors adjudicating whether the statement is "unequivocal and explicit." If this passes, I foresee people saying things like "yes, the NYT, LA Times, etc. describes this as an endorsement, but I personally think their wording was ambiguous, so we can't include it because the RFC required that it be unequivocal or explicit." If WP:RSes say it's an endorsement, then it's an endorsement and ought to be listed. Fullstop. (EDIT: Unless this is interpreted to mean just "the endorsement must be described as such by reliable sources", but that's not how I read it now.) --Aquillion (talk) 12:24, 11 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • @Aquillion: the wording of the proposal (well, specifically, the "Note on #3" just below the bolded bit) says 'In most cases, this would require use of the word "endorsement" by the person endorsing or by media coverage thereof' - I suspect the interpretation of this along the lines of what you describe is uncontroversial, given WP:V and the support for #2 above. I worded it to talk about the endorsement itself, too, because going into this RfC we're still using Tweets, etc. as sources. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 02:38, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion of criterion 3

Examples
  • "Let's win the era! @PeteButtigieg has me excited about the next generation of American government"
  • "I have listened with an open heart and an open mind and time after time, the individual who has continually impressed me with his consistent, thoughtful, and error-free presentation of our values and needs in this country is @PeteButtigieg. He has risen to the top"
  • "Go #PETE !!⁦@PeteForUSA2020 @PeteButtigieg"
  • "@PeteButtigieg i think you have a shot at uniting this country again. i am a big fan and am sending you all my support. if there is anything i can ever do for you pls let me know"
  • "Same" (responding to the one above)
  • "Buona settimana!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!! Feliz semana! 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻 @PeteButtigieg #mayorpete #petebuttigieg #accettomiracoli #aceptomilagros #buonacattivasorte #buenamalasuerte #tzn2020"
  • "This guy is so smart and on point and he wore the 🇺🇸 uniform. Good luck @PeteButtigieg - you are what this country needs."
  • "A candidate for #President that speaks, genuinely, of #unity, #prayer and #reflection. I'm all over that, thanks #PeteButtigieg #PeteForAmerica @PeteButtigieg"
  • "Still believe Mayor Pete is our best candidate for the presidency. His unique combination of qualifications is unbeatable. All our candidates are talented and good, but Mayor Pete stands out. He will be a great president. And we desperately need greatness in the Oval Office"
  • "Please RT. Only 174 $1 donations by midnight to reach goal for @TulsiGabbard !pic.twitter.com/KTOCZp0NNR"
  • “Oh noooooo, @KamalaHarris guess what?! @TulsiGabbard has your number. She is by far the better candidate. Go Tulsi"
  • "A Joe Biden/Kamela Harris ticket or a Kamala Harris/Joe Biden ticket would please me greatly!"
  • "GHosts for @BetoORourke fundraiser tomorrow evening in NYC:"
  • "Bernie @SenSanders or @elizabethforma (Elizabeth Warren) would be two people I would LOVE to see in the White House, as both of them would be capable and ready to fix the damage caused by the @GOP and the Trumpino crime family"
  • "God I wish we weren't a sexist hellscape so she'd get the nomination"
  • "Increasingly all-in for Elizabeth Warren, gotta say"
  • "Here's one very good reason to be for Elizabeth Warren. Wall Street is terrified of her"
  • "Greatest Of All Time! #GOAT twitter.com/ewarren/status/1179851099978846209 …"
  • "Russell Brand will be joining me in Los Angeles on Sept. 15"
  • "We need an uprising of consciousness #Marianne2020.com #JoinTheEvolution #WagePeace A #President who leads with #Love & #Intelligence ."
  • "I was there at his launch party in SF!"
  • "Andrew is actually the "not stuck in the past and open to new good ideas guy""
  • "read up on @AndrewYang. he's the only young candidate addressing issues that nobody else is. his politics are actually good (more than just giving every american $1,000/month), and he has a fun and transparent personality. I uhhhh, i think we ✈️ #YangGang 2020"
  • "It takes an amazing amount of strength to be this vulnerable in public. This display of emotion makes me admire @AndrewYang even more..."
  • "I've actually donated for the first time ever. New podcast with @AndrewYangVFA is up! Check it out on offthepillpodcast! #yanggang"
  • "LFG!!!!! #YANGYANG"
  • "Thanks man. Best of luck future Mr President!"
  • "Yanggang"
  • Full disclosure, I was the one who restored them. It was 50KB worth of removals and certainly a bold edit by size alone, so I reverted them (temporarily) based on WP:BRD. I view this RfC as the "Discuss" phase, and if there is strong community consensus to remove tweets as sources, then I do not oppose the re-removal of these entries. Bobbychan193 (talk) 19:09, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • My first impression of this is that it lacks a third party reliable source stating that each detail is individually notable beyond the fact of endorsement.
  • The endorsement is possibly notable, but saying yah boo fifty seven ways until Sunday about it is not notable at all. Oh how I love thee is notable, that they do. Oh let me count the ways is a bit wandering, unless you can establish the particular commenters way-counting as notable. ~ R.T.G 20:14, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
OR is often bent to provide or enhance simple academic study. This seems to be a deep research of trivial twittes to highlight faces in a crowd who went woop at a certain time, and it may prove harmful to living persons. I mean, apply these precedents to the Trump endorsement page on Wikipedia and see what you get. Bending OR is for like, simple but important primary resources directly relevant to a subject. Endorsements should be directly relevant or presented as a number. People can be notable, but when you cross that notability over to something they aren't notable for, they can mislead you, and if we follow misleading resources, we mislead people, and we don't want to obstruct peoples right to disappear. None of these twittes are authorative. Collectively, they have an individual value, but if we record that value today with a fact checked number, there is no need to save the woops for playback tomorrow. Show me a Trump doing something cruel and unusual, and I'll show you a Democrat playing the other side to prove a bet that the people cannot be trusted. I mean, its my bet, and he's proved it so hard we might not recover... I've defended Trump loads of times for the purpose of revealing the other side, but I've never endorsed him. He's not my president. I'm not even American. ~ R.T.G 07:21, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Clarify that: OR is often bent to connect resources. To make lists, for instance. To provide "See also" sections. To clarify points. This above list however, is like listing woops, to an extent.. And it's not just the trivial nature of the individual items, it's the hotbed of emotion around ongoing events, ~ R.T.G 18:01, 24 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oops didn't reply to the second part of your comment. Although I'm not sure what you mean by why that disqualifies the notability assumed by Criterion 1. It has nothing to do with the notability of the people speaking. It has to do with WP:OR, relying on Wikipedians to interpret someone's words to be an "endorsement". — Rhododendrites talk \\ 19:08, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

General discussion: inclusion criteria for political endorsement lists

  • Personally I'm against ANY list of political support or endorsements in any way shape or form. It's one thing to say "Senator X supported Candidate Y in the past election" in a prose article. To my mind said "lists" or categories of "support political anything" goes against what our project is supposed to stand for and be. It's far too easy to put "list 1" which supports candidate A in a more front and center position than "list 2" which supports candidate B. IMO, there's far too much political POV pushing going on throughout wiki as it is - these "lists" simply add to that, and I can NOT support such things. — Ched (talk) 14:57, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Just to be clear, this RfC isn't about the validity of the lists. Whether we should have them at all may be worth discussing, but at the moment we have oodles of such lists, so let's at least create some baseline rules. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 15:06, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • The sheer number of these lists suggests there's consensus for their existence. I agree with Ched that I'm not sure how useful they are, but I think getting consensus for their exclusion would be an uphill battle that would cause more problems than it's worth. Many of these are suitable as standalone lists per WP:LISTN (FiveThirtyEight for example keeps a running list and ranking of primary endorsements), so if we prohibit inclusion in articles they will and (and maybe should) be spun out. Those that can't will probably be included in the relevant article because the community doesn't agree, and we'll just wind up back where we started or worse: fighting edit wars over stupid stuff and blocking people who could otherwise be useful contributors to politics articles. For better or worse, I think it's best to let the lists be and figure out how to curate them to minimize the negative aspects of such lists. Wug·a·po·des​ 18:44, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • The US has a particular system of political parties and endorsements that doesn't always translate to other countries. I note that on UK endorsement lists for general elections, we don't cover members of a party endorsing that party, as that goes without saying in a UK context. (If a Conservative MP endorsed anyone other than Johnson in a general election, they'd be out of the party very quickly.) In comparison, intra-party endorsements dominate US endorsement lists. Likewise, when considering recent referendums, we didn't include every single SNP politician as endorsing Scottish independence: we just included the party as a whole doing so. Bondegezou (talk) 16:03, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Just to note 2 things: 1. My comment above is in no way a reflection of or on Rhododendrites who I've seen around and I think they do excellent work. (I even appreciate this particular RfC/proposal) 2. I'm aware of the many lists out there - that doesn't mean I think they belong; hence my statement. I also fully aware that there's not going to be any removal of said lists. While I don't usually stick my nose into any of the political stuff - I am aware of it. I just don't care for how our project deals with it. — Ched (talk) 18:51, 23 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • It will go against WP:BLPSPS to use those social media posts outside the article for the publisher of the media posts themselves. It will also go against articles 6 and 7 of WP:DIRECTORY. Hmm.. WP:NOTEVERYTHING? ~ R.T.G 17:00, 31 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    • I mentioned this elsewhere, but per WP:TWITTER: Self-published and questionable sources may be used as sources of information about themselves, usually in articles about themselves or their activities, without the self-published source requirement that they be published experts in the field ... This policy also applies to material published by the subject on social networking websites such as Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, and Facebook. Endorsements are definitely considered part of "their activities". Bobbychan193 (talk) 05:11, 6 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I also have misgivings about such lists for the reasons given above (they do belong in sections of the relevant election's article, but I believe that LISTN should apply for standalone lists). If we do decide to have them, I support all three criteria, with the assumption that criterion #3 will be played by ear as necessary. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 02:01, 2 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • These lists are obviously political campaigning and so should all be deleted per WP:NOTADVERTISING, WP:NOTADVOCACY, WP:NOTOPINION, WP:NOTSOAPBOX, WP:NOTPROMOTION, WP:NOTPROPAGANDA, &c. People's opinions on such matters can change and so they seem too ephemeral to be maintained in a timeless, encyclopedic fashion. Also, in the US, where money talks, celebrity endorsements may be bought. For example, I often see George Clooney promoting Nespresso or Harvey Keitel promoting insurance but don't think we should make lists of such. Only in the rare cases, where the endorsement becomes a cultural icon, should we create a page for it; for example the George Foreman Grill. Andrew D. (talk) 15:54, 4 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I feel that a lot of the people who have !voted support on all three criterion need to stop and think about what they're saying. Do we actually want criterion 1 and 3 to be applied on top of the WP:RS requirement? My feeling is that the only thing we should care about is whether an endorsement has coverage in reliable sources (and is referred to as an endorsement in them); I'm extremely skeptical of the way the wording of the other two criterion would seem to encourage or even require editors to substitute their own judgment for that of the sources. --Aquillion (talk) 12:27, 11 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal to distinguish move and cascade-protect lock colors

Current move (proposed/old version here)
Current cascade

Following the previous thread here on this topic, most of the padlock colors were changed to match with WMF logo colors. Most of the changes were perfectly fine, but I didn't notice until recently that because of the new changes, the padlocks for move and cascading protection look almost the same color-wise, which can be confusing. I propose that:

  1. The cascade protection padlock be changed to the current color of the move protection padlock (i.e. WMF Green30)
  2. The move protection padlock be reverted to its original color

—pythoncoder (talk | contribs) 21:07, 10 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal to change the interface-protect lock color to a redder color

In the interest of getting all the bike shed color proposals out of the way as soon as possible, I also propose that the color of the interface-protect padlock be changed to WMF Red30 (#b32424  ), as it's more in keeping with the historical permanent protection color of red and goes along with the spirit of the RfC mentioned above. The current color is #aa4400  . —pythoncoder (talk | contribs) 21:07, 10 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Per Yair rand's request, I have created a comparison image visible on the right. Changing the interface lock results in little-to-no visible change. —pythoncoder (talk | contribs) 22:22, 18 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Straw poll: clear out the accumulated cruft in the sandbox subpages

Over time, Wikipedia:Sandbox (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs) has accumulated a number of subpages and redirects that appear to be the result of various sandbox experiments. I propose deleting most of them all and making a fresh start. If there is consensus for deletion, I will post MfDs to make it official, but there is no point doing that if the consensus here is to keep them all.

If any of them have content worth keeping I propose moving that content to a single page.

Here is a complete list of sandbox subpages and redirects.

I suggest a Keep, Delete, Move, Redirect or Blank comment. --Guy Macon (talk) 16:14, 14 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Straw Poll

All (comment here for delete all, keep all, etc.) --Guy Macon (talk) 16:14, 14 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]



Wikipedia:Sandbox/Word Association

Wikipedia talk:Sandbox/Word Association/Archive 2


Wikipedia:Sandbox/Word Association/Reverse Radial Ultra Cross


Wikipedia:Sandbox/Word Association/Word before last


Wikipedia:Sandbox/This isn't against guidelines and it will be deleted, but the sandbox is for experimentation

Wikipedia talk:Sandbox/Sub-Page Sandbox

Wikipedia talk:Sandbox/Archive 1

Wikipedia talk:Sandbox/Archive

  • Neutral For some reason, this talk page to a nonexistent page contains a history fragment. This might be a good place to merge the other history fragments if merging to the sandbox history is not feasible. --Guy Macon (talk) 16:14, 14 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]


Wikipedia talk:Historical archive/Earliest sandbox history


Related issue. The sandbox gets a lot of edits and the history is quite large (727,150 edit total, 2,872 in the last 30 days). Would it make sense to set up a history page the years 2000 to 2005, another for 2005 to 2010, etc.? --Guy Macon (talk) 16:14, 14 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Template:Infobox person: proposal - Let's not insult the natives (BLP)

Proposal: remove the string native_name - the name of a parameter - from appearing in the rendered version of the Template:infobox person. The content of the parameter, i.e. the person's name in his/her local script and/or language, would still appear in the rendered version of the template.

Example: (as of 03:42, 15 November 2019 (UTC)) of the problem: top of infobox of Seham Sergiwa; سهام سرقيوة is described to the reader as "native name". This proposal would instead give the appearance of the top of the infobox of Abdalla Hamdok (as of 03:42, 15 November 2019 (UTC)).

Original proposal: This was proposed (by me) a few hours ago at Template_talk:Infobox_person#Let's_not_insult_the_natives_(BLP). I pointed out that the string native_name does not appear in the rendered version of Template:infobox officeholder, and it would be more respectful for it to be absent from Infobox person too, when rendered. (I'm not proposing to change it as a parameter name, where its role is more clearly technical; an editor has to cope with technical aspects of editing, while a reader is not required to understand these.)

Reason: European colonial domination of much of the world over several centuries has resulted in certain words sounding derogatory, especially if used generically without checking context; "native" in certain contexts has this problem, especially when applied to living people in former colonies. See ell.stackexchange question 6881 for example: I think what the writer of that definition was trying to say was that the word "native" as a stand-alone noun to mean a person from a non-Western culture with a low level of technology is now considered offensive. (Jay May 28 '13 at 12:40) ... Native is taken as offensive when applied to non-Europeans, for sound historical reasons. (StoneyB May 28 '13 at 12:49) ... Where I see the offensive nature is when you say simply "Jack is a native", meaning "a primitive, uncivilized person". (Jay May 30 '13 at 15:31) In our situation, "native" is strictly speaking an adjective, but I still think that the risk of misinterpretation, especially in the context of WP:BLP, is a bit too high to take.

Technical side: Example details of how to enact this suggestion technically are given at Template_talk:Infobox_person#Let's_not_insult_the_natives_(BLP).

Why here: The response over at Template_talk:infobox person was to raise this question here in the wider en.WP community, since the expression "native name" occurs quite a bit in en.Wikipedia, and since I didn't give a citation for the risk of the expression being interpreted as pejorative. I'm not proposing a blanket ban on the expression - just a removal of the term from the Infobox person template, where the removal would be easy and convenient and would improve the look of the rendered infobox (though maybe some other situations could be fixed too). Boud (talk) 03:42, 15 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Gosha Kutsenko

Hello https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gosha_Kutsenko&diff=885956883&oldid=855597368 We need to return information about "Myrotvorets"

This information is not propaganda. Returning information will make the pack more informative--Bohdan Bondar (talk) 14:22, 16 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I can see no reason why this argument is on this page. Should be on the article talk page, or possibly discussed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Ukraine, if that is a live project. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 14:49, 16 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Shut down Article Rescue Squadron

In principle, the WP:ARS is a good idea, but in practice it has become an unruly mob run by personalities who seem to relish in WP:CANVASSing AfD to try to avoid the discussions that keep Wikipedia quality control running. I am amazed by this. What do you all think? Should this group be shut down? Reorganized? jps (talk) 14:38, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Can you stay in one area and stop forum shopping all over the place?! You just started this at: Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard#Neutrality_check. Also created a deletion discussion for it [1] days ago that ended in a snow keep. Dream Focus 14:47, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
It was not closed as "snow keep", though. The result, which I find quite questionable since it was only open for several hours was "Cosensus (sic) to Keep and that MfD is not the right solution for the issues raised; no need to prolong." If MfD is not the right solution, why would it be inappropriate to find another venue in search of the right solution? –dlthewave ☎ 22:41, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I think there is a big problem here. We probably need to shut down your baby. Or maybe we could just topic ban you, User:Andrew Davidson and User:Lightburst from ARC? Might that help things? jps (talk) 14:53, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
There has been broad community support for ARS since it started. Your personal disputes with a couple people are disruptive. Your escalations are disruptive. -- GreenC 15:25, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
That seems like a very skewed perception of the history. There may have been community support back in the bad old days when Wikipedia was "rudimentary, and frequently wrong" (to quote Paul Freedman), then a bunch of ARS members got site-banned (or TBANned and left the project), with it now functioning as little more than a place for like-minded editors to get together and talk shit about people they don't like, and occasionally overrule legitimate delete/merge/improvement discussions. Nowadays, the appearance of broad community support (as seen below) is mainly rooted in a misunderstanding of what ARS's activities usually amount to -- the fact that almost all of the current "oppose" !votes are based on the assumption that ARS's main activity is improving articles that are nominated for deletion in the hopes that those articles won't be deleted bears this out. I plan on doing a broad survey of AFDs listed at ARS over the last 21 months or so (since I discovered it) and see how many articles were actually improved to the point that they merited inclusion in the encyclopedia vs. how many articles were "rescued" with ARS members making minimal effort to improve the article but showing up to !vote at the AFD anyway. (And how many times AFDs listed there saw an influx of disruptive comments from ARS members, irrespective of whether the articles wound up being kept or not -- the fact that Andrew Davidson's comments in this discussion and yours in this one failed to prevent either from ending in consensus in delete doesn't mean that both weren't disruptive/misleading/inflammatory.) Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 02:55, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Nothing will come of this thread. It comes up at least once a year and goes something like this:
"can we do something about this page that seems to only serve to canvass keep !votes"
"the general idea of the project is positive, collaborating to find sources and improve articles to save them from deletion"
"but they usually just show up to support keeping, without finding new sources or improving articles. also, the notices are often non-neutral"
"they should be neutral. please work on that, ARS."
"ok"
The problem has never been the idea of ARS, which is why all attempts to shut it down have failed. The problem is when particular users treat it as a keep canvassing club. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 15:47, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The problem is people make accusations without checking the actual edit records. There are things that get listed by a regular member that have no one else show up to comment on such as Wikipedia:Article_Rescue_Squadron_–_Rescue_list#List_of_dimensions_of_the_Discworld. I couldn't find any sources so I didn't participate in that one. Also currently on the list Wikipedia:Article_Rescue_Squadron_–_Rescue_list#His_Dark_Materials which I did find sources for, listed them there, and stated why it should be kept. No one just shows up and says keep every time, they only do it if they believe there are sources to prove it meets the notability guidelines or its a valid list article. Dream Focus 16:26, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
That there have been instances where members have found sources or have not shown up just to !vote isn't much of a counter-argument (to the extent I was even presenting an argument). — Rhododendrites talk \\ 16:42, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment jps has engaged in extremely disruptive editing (edit warring) on the ARS. Then engaged in forum shopping, and attempted to delete the project with an MfD. All the while ජපස refused to discuss anything on the talk page and blanked requests to come to discussion. I finally reported the editor for edit warring this morning. My hope is that the editor will drop the stick and we can all go back to working on the project. This is like Wack-A-Mole. We think the disruptions have ended but they have only moved to another section of the project. Lightburst (talk) 15:51, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment- Yes, the ARS is a canvassing club and always has been. No, the community hasn't got the spine or the stomach to do anything about it. Never have, never will. Reyk YO! 18:26, 17 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment - I agree with the sentiment that ARS often functions as a canvassing board. Regardless of intent, it is quite common for a nomination to result in a number of "keep" !votes with no effort made to improve the article. I believe that greater oversight is the solution, with guidelines written by the community instead of project regulars. –dlthewave ☎ 03:56, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment I actually disagree that the primary problem with ARS is its essentially being a canvassing board. There are too few members left who haven't been site-banned or essentially forced off the project for them to actually swing the tables on most AFDs. The problem is that every time someone brings up how inappropriate some of the group's behaviour is, they start hounding and attacking that person all across the site, and by always moving in a group they make it near-impossible for ANI or the other relevant fora to deal with their disruptive battleground behaviour (I guess whenever they are brought to ANI the vast swath of "average" Wikipedians' eyes glaze over because they think it's an "inclusionists vs. deletionists" dispute -- I know I did until 21 months ago). Thing is, the community seems to be unwilling to shut down a WikiProject because the majority of its members are extremely tendentious, prone to not only attacking anyone who disagrees with personally but also violating Wikipedia copyright policy left, right, and center. So there isn't really anything that can be done. The disruption that has been going on at Talk:Mottainai since roughly February 2018 is one example, and Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Hijiri88 is probably the most blatant recent example. Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 04:53, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment I don't think this will be a very popular opinion, but I think we should reform ARS to be a beneficial part of the project by listing articles that have survived an AfD discussion since sources have been demonstrated in the discussion, but still need WP:HEY/proper cleanup in order to be a sufficient encyclopaedia article, thereby shifting the project's focus from "saving" articles at AfD to providing effective cleanup on articles which have survived AfD. SportingFlyer T·C 09:30, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support I am fully in agreement. From my experience, the Rescue Squaddies I've encountered are extremely disruptive, entirely discourteous and bring zero benefit to the project. I am very active in a very small and narrow area of Wikipedia - that of AfDs for companies/organizations. The problem of the Rescue Squaddies is twofold. The first (as has been pointed out above) is that it really is a cavassing club. I see the same editors follow each other around and !vote to Keep articles often with similar reasoning. It is meat-puppetry, plain and simple. Also, an analysis of their !voting patterns and their stats will support this view. Secondly, this type of block !voting works most times. It is very frustrating to see closing admins ignore well-reasoned analysis of (for example) why various sources fail the criteria for establishing notability and instead lend weight to the Rescue Squaddies commenting in unison that all the sources are good. Many AfD's are closed based entirely on their participation. I've also seen the hounding and vilification an admin when they correctly and properly evaluated the reasoning and deleted the article even though the Keep !votes outnumbered the Delete !votes. I can provide links if anybody is interested but I won't until asked. In summary, while I have no doubt that the Rescue Squad was set up with honorable intentions, it is time to recognize that it is now a rallying and canvassing board to "Keep at all costs" and ignore our policies and guidelines. HighKing++ 14:15, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support per Highking, the removal of any walled garden is never to be pitied. ——SN54129 14:21, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per the 20 or so times it's been nominated for deletion and kept every time, but it's worth exploring whether some of the active members of the project have the right motives (i.e. "oppose all deletion of any content ever for any reason" is not a rational approach to building an encyclopedia). In principle, attracting more eyes to deletion discussions is a good thing, because deletion is disruptive and should be a last resort limited to topics entirely unfit for the encyclopedia, and too often AfD is being used to force article improvements contrary to WP:NOTCLEANUP and WP:NODEADLINE. If ARS results in some of those inappropriately nominated articles being saved from deletion then it's a net positive. Or to put it a different way, the editors crying that ARS participants "never improve articles" should consider dropping this crusade and improving the articles themselves.
Now, if the Article Rescue Squadron is being abused to sway consensus on project-side content discussions, such as Hijiri's SPI MFD, it's being used against its purpose and against WP:CANVASS, and the editors involved should face sanctions. Ivanvector (Talk/Edits) 14:25, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support albeit pointless. I agree that ARS is well-intentioned as a concept, but that the execution of it falls short. However whether it should be shut down or not, how would one "shut it down"? It doesn't need to exist as a concrete entity, it's simply a mindset shared between a few like-minded editors and perhaps a listing of targets. "Shut it down" and it would only re-appear. Off-wiki if needs be.
Maybe the solution is to engage more with it, and to "rescue" based on improvement, rather than weight of numbers? Andy Dingley (talk) 14:38, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • (edit conflict) I actually very much support SportingFlyer's proposal (assuming actually shutting the project down is off the table as Andy above seems to believe it to be), and I suspect if it were presented appropriately most of the community would support it. Every defense I've seen of ARS in the past has taken some form of "The ARS does good work fixing articles" -- non-members who are not especially involved seem to generally believe this to be the case, but even members frequently present this as being the case, apparently knowing that it's the only reason the rest of the community tolerates ARS. But this argument isn't borne out by the behaviour of many of ARS's members, who seem to be more interested in !voting down AFDs, regardless of whether the articles are improved. (Occasionally they show up after the AFDs to shut down redirect/merge proposals,[2] and even rewriting/formatting/compromise proposals,[3] apparently for no reason other than revenge against "deletionists".) Some recent listings have indeed been rescued as a result of delete !votes being retracted or ceasing following a series of edits by some members of ARS rewriting the articles during the AFDs. The ARS members in question have my gratitude and admiration for this, but such instances appear to be outnumbered overwhelmingly by cases where a discussion ended in "no consensus" and no ARS member ever touched the article itself either during or after the listing. All of these problems would be solved, or at least ameliorated, if the rules were rewritten so that either (a) only articles that had been nominated for AFD but with the AFD being closed with some non-deletion result could be listed there or (b) for every X articles listed during AFD discussions Y articles that have been AFDed in the past but not deleted need to be listed and noticeably improved by the members of the project. It would also discourage instances like those linked above where ARS members undermine attempts to improve articles after the fact if they were given explicit encouragement to support such efforts. Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 14:56, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose We just had an AFD for the project close days ago. [4] So why is this being brought up yet again here by the same person who started that deletion nomination? I think the other place was the correct venue for such things, not here. Also note that on the Rescue List right now are two things that were put there by two different regulars that no one but them showed up to vote KEEP at. [5] [6]. Look through archives and this happens many times in the past as well. So obviously we don't all rush over and say KEEP no matter what. That is not a problem. Dream Focus 15:14, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per WP:CLOSEAFD: Consensus is not based on a tally of votes, but on reasonable, logical, policy-based arguments. These AfD discussions are WP:NOTAVOTE, the quality of the arguments presented matter the most. I think editors get confused with which discussions canvassing has the most impact for. If we were lets say talking about a huge discussion with multiple editors taking a # vote (RfA is a good example), then it would matter much more. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 15:45, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose The question to be asked is what is best for the project. All one needs to do is look in the archives: our last archive 12 deleted articles out of 31 to see how difficult it is to save an article - most of the articles had zero participation from ARS members. Additionally there are about 3 editors who follow the ARS and obstinately !vote Delete on nearly every article listed on ARS. Also as every editor knows, an article can be sent to AfD over and over and over again. Yet a recreated article brings editors shouting SALT. This proposal to scrap the whole project in in bad faith and comes from a tendentious and difficult editor who has an extensive block history for: socking, edit warring, disruptive editing, personal attacks, redirecting articles without consensus, etc. I am also not surprised to see the High King here. The High King is smarting over the fact that I spotted them placing an AfD on an article just hours after that article survived AfD. In any event this is a bad faith nomination by a tendentious editor with a long history of disruption on the project. The only question about anything related to the encyclopedia should be: What is best for the project? Lightburst (talk) 15:48, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    • Response This perfectly highlights the problems. Let's break down Lightburst's reaction. First, Lightburst creates a strawman argument saying I am "smarting" over being caught re-nominating an article at AfD. Entirely fabricated view. This is the AfD and I clearly acknowledged that it had only just survived AfD and I provided my reasoning for resubmitting it. It also highlights the meat-puppetery of the Rescue Squaddies as can be seen at that AfD. All three ignore the nomination requesting production of references. The allegations that I have a history of socking, edit warring, disrputive editing, etc are no surprise but not the full picture. If anyone cares to check my block log, the last time I've been "in trouble" so to speak was in 2010. That's 9 years ago and was solely in a single topic area - the "British Isles". I haven't been near that since. But hey, why let facts get in the way of smearing another editor, eh? Not just me either - this is part and parcel of the normal everyday tactics from certain members of the Rescue Squad. Attack everything, especially other editors, but when that doesn't work, attack the policies/guidelines and even the closing admin if results don't go their way. HighKing++ 17:36, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
      • The block log he linked to is the guy who started this bit, he then talking about you after that. You link to something that was not tagged in the Rescue Article List. At Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Hammerax_(2nd_nomination) you accuse the ARS of always showing up and voting keep but that was not mentioned at the Rescue Squadron's list either. Just one member who had been in the previous AFD that ended days before did comment, and then another regular member happened to show up. Dream Focus 17:54, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Apologies if you thought I was referring to you as the one who has a history of socking, edit warring, disrputive editing etc. I thought it was clear I was referring to the OP, User:JPS and I linked to the extensive block log. However you are what we refer to as a deletionist. You almost never !vote keep. Out of 439 !votes at AfD you !voted to keep 28 times. So I am sure it is inconvienient when editors show up to attempt to improve one of your articles targeted for deletion. I think we can all agree it is easier to delete than improve. The OP is also a deletionist - only came across two article worthy of Keeping. Lightburst (talk) 17:57, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • This is a great example of the toxic paranoid nonsense that seems the sole domain of ARS members (which is not to say all ARS members). The scourge of "deletionist" bogeymen who mindlessly !vote delete contrary to policy! Quick, poison the well! The reality, of course, is that HighKing's !votes are out of line with consensus an incredibly low 4.8% of the time. That's the only thing that matters. Just like HK shouldn't care that you're inclined to only get involved at XfD when it's something you think is worth keeping. You, however, miss the mark more than four times as often. People have different kinds of engagement at XfD. Some people only get involved when there are particularly egregious issues in play. Some people only bother with promotional articles. Some people focus on particular topics. Some try to resolve contentious disputes. Some people only bother if they can justify keeping it. These are all perfectly fine as long as we're acting in good faith. Trying to undermine what people say because they're "deletionists" is not doing that. Canvassing is not doing that. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 18:59, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Toxic is a bit harsh. We have an attack on the project several times a year and the attack is from deletionists. You cannot blame the sheep for being weary of a wolf. And even paranoid people can have actual antagonists. It is very easy to be on the "winning side" in an AfD. One can assess the majority opinion and vote the majority. The ARS members usually come to an article after a concerted effort to delete, and !votes have been cast. In any event this is about what is best for the project. And your opinion is clearly stated. Lightburst (talk) 19:23, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Reluctant Support - I think I've opposed this in the past (or maybe abstained) because the central thrust of the oppose arguments is a sensible one: the original idea of the project is not a problem. And I agree with that. Every time we do this, people argue that it's a good project with a good aim, acknowledging that it's often used problematically but that the answer is to set stricter rules or enforce those rules or sanction the problematic editors. But none of that ever happens, and it's still a keep-canvass-club.
It's the exception, rather than the rule, that participants make nontrivial improvements to an article, finding new good sources to keep it based on our guidelines.
Sometimes a user does improve the article (kudos to them, truly), and then uses ARS to canvass keep votes with a "I've improved the article/added a source" notice (again, not what it's for).
Notices are often non-neutral or make no effort to argue why it should be kept, sometimes just making a joke about the subject (because adding something to the list just implies "go keep this").
The people who use the project most operate according to unwritten rules, and those rules are by now well known. Regardless of what it says on the tin, the descriptions of ARS are not what the project is. This isn't a referendum on whether the ARS is a good idea, it's about whether the way it's actually used is beneficial to the project. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 17:01, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support (not that it would do much good) While I'm annoyed that whenever I see the usual suspects swoop into an AfD, one can count on the place being peppered with vague "meets GNG" and superficial Google Book title searches... - being personally annoyed should not be a factor here; and as stated, we are after the good of the project. So here's what I see as the actual damage done by this tag-team: they tend to water down the consensus-building in AfDs by piling on with weak Keep arguments. Raw biomass does tell in closing, however much an experienced closer might intend to weigh quality; a finding of "no consensus" is always easier to make than a "delete" that will clearly tick off several !voters. And "no consensus", after all, is a Win: article not deleted. Whether that's a conscious tactic (I suspect so) or an "innocent" outcome of the totally-not-a-canvassing-board list - it's deleterious to article quality. - However, seeing that this is always the same core of half a dozen editors with a few satellites, I don't see how this behaviour would stop if the ARS page went away. Nothing is preventing them from achieving the same effect by just keeping an eye on each other's contribution lists. It's a personal behavioural issue, exploiting a weakness of the consensus process to force a specific philosophy, too subtle for outright sanctioning. --Elmidae (talk · contribs) 17:41, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Strongly oppose The contributions to the improvement of articles is considerable and demonstrable. There is no merit to the alleged abuse. Indeed, User:HighKing never misses an opportunity to bring up the same arguments whenever and wherever the opportunity is remotely available. He doesn't like the outcome of his stupidly nominated AFDs. He doesn't like when articles and references are improved, and WP:Hey happens. He continues to ignore WP:Before. Repetition of those repeatedly rejected arguments does not undo the WP:Disruptive nature of these efforts. Nor does it make them more worthwhile or credible. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 17:49, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

*Reluctant, but full, support. In theory, the ARS should be a useful place to improve articles. In practice, the ARS has become a place for people to canvas votes that automatically, and uncritically, vote keep at deletion discussions without any work, forethought, or intention to actually rescue the articles they claim to want to. As a concept, we should have a working ARS. As it works in practice, it needs to be shut down. --Jayron32 18:16, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

  • Please back up the accusation with some diffs of ARS members votes that automatically, and uncritically, vote keep. Anyone can go through the archives or the present ARS page. You should be able to support these wild claims with diffs. As a member of ARS I have nominated many articles that not one single member !voted on. Lightburst (talk) 18:26, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Change to Weak oppose. The chart below provided by SportingFlyer is a good analysis, and has provided me enough evidence to change my vote here. I still think there is too much uncritical voting going on to my liking, but that chart shows that, on the balance, most articles brought to the ARS have attracted some positive editing, which is enough for me. However, I would like to encourage a culture change at ARS that, perhaps, ARS members should refrain from voting on any article brought to ARS, and should instead only improve articles with perhaps a brief note on the AFD regarding improvements they have made. If the organization were used exclusively for editing articles, and avoided issuing opinions in AFD discussions at all it would go a long way towards ameliorating many people's concerns. --Jayron32 18:13, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Jayron32 Thanks for reconsidering. Lightburst (talk) 18:29, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I don't intend to respond to all the opposers here (it's likely a futile exercise, after all), but I find it particularly disheartening to see an arb drop a drive-by straw man into a discussion. Nobody has argued anything like "editors trying to preserve content is a problem". I don't actually expect this to pass, but mainly because of people doing what you're doing -- looking at the purpose of ARS, saying "it looks great!" and moving on. That was my perspective at one point, too. ARS is not a problematic canvassing club by nature. It is a problematic canvassing club by nurture, per what I wrote above. It's a good idea executed in a way that far too often gets away from its intended purpose. If delsort and article alerts got to that point, we could discuss how to remedy it, but it's extremely unlikely because the reason those processes are great is that they're all about attracting participation based on knowledge of the subject/sourcing, not based entirely on their likelihood to !vote a particular way. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 19:16, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
@Rhododendrites: Please don't just assume that I'm arguing from a position of ignorance. I've participated in and closed several thousand AfDs. I know what the ARS is and I don't see a systemic problem with it. I didn't see the point in making an extended argument, but I'll happily elaborate if you want.
AfD has several layers of notifications that in my opinion balance out nicely. The template notifies editors watching the article; delsort and WikiProject article alerts notifies other subject-matter experts; the standard logs tend to bring people who are inclined to delete unless they're convinced otherwise; ARS brings people who are inclined to keep if they can. None of these are canvassing. They're appropriate notifications to potentially interested editors. In the case of ARS, it's notifying editors interested in preserving content, which is a Good Thing explicitly favoured in both the deletion and editing policies. All listing there says is "can you save this?" not "back me up no matter what".
Yes, there AfD regulars who always vote the same way and that can be frustrating if you're trying to make a reasoned opposing argument. But tough: suck it up, make a better argument, and trust the closer to recognise the "usual faces" on both sides. Deleting other people's work is not easy by design. – Joe (talk) 07:03, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
All listing there says is "can you save this?" not "back me up no matter what". Have you read the listings there? They have all the rhetorical flourish of a battlecry. User:Dream Focus: Find people who ignore the facts and keep spreading rumors about it, and ban them from Wikipedia until they stop their relentless slanderous lies., User:Lightburst: 7th nomination. Apparently the dissenting voices must be scrubbed from the internet. Can we save the minority voices? Should we? Or must we all speak with one voice? Perhaps we can demonstrate the usefulness of WP:LISTN by organizing the dissenters?.... jps (talk) 11:11, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Not to mention peevish edit summaries such as dissenting voices have been scrubbed[7], which misrepresent both the discussion and the close. Reyk YO! 11:39, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose The OP doesn't provide any evidence and the supporters don't seem to have either. What we just seem to have are groundless personal attacks, aspersions and falsehoods. So, there's no case to answer. A couple of points while I'm here though:
  1. The ARS has a huge nominal membership which has accumulated over the years – over 400. It would be good if more of these were to participate at AfD so that the few die-hards don't have to try to cover everything. This is a general problem with AfD and other patrolling activities – the number of active volunteers is dwindling and so the remainder get over-stretched and fractious. And it doesn't then help if attacks of this sort are made. I'd quite like to be focussing on other activities like editathons, the six millionth article and many topics of interest. So, I am combing through the ARS membership list to establish who is still active and may then send them out a newsletter, as is done for the New Page Patrol or AfC projects, which have similar issues of overstretch.
  2. For a fresh example of an article being rescued, see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Standard (unit). Initially, a long list of editors said that there was nothing to be found; that the topic was probably a hoax. I wasn't convinced and spent some time digging into it. I found sources that other editors had missed and got the article back on track. Another editor has picked up the baton and continued to improve the article and so we have a good consensus now that it should be kept rather than deleted. Now, the key point here is that this work isn't easy. Few editors are capable of performing such work to a level of WP:HEY. Uncle G is a good example but he likes to do his own thing and doesn't tend to edit much now. If the nay-sayers think they can do better, then they should try it.
Andrew D. (talk) 18:51, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose I believe that I am listed as a "member" of the ARS, althoguh i ahve not been active in their internal discussions. But I have, from time to time, used the ARS list of 'threatened" articles to select ones to try to source and 'escue" and successfully doing so has been among my prouder and more rewarding contributions here. My "rescue" efforts have normally taken the form of finding and adding good sources, although sometimes also of debating the value of sources already found, or the meaning of specialized notability guidelines. I have certainly not engaged in 'tag-teaming" nor have I observed such behavior from the ARS, although it may have occurred. I am thinking of such articles as Tolu Ajayi, Revolutionary Anti-Racist Action, The Narrative (band) , and 500 Miles High, all of which i was involved in sourcing while at AfD. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 19:43, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I have taken a number of articles that were proposed for deletion on to be WP:DYKs on the main page. This is part of what you now want to destroy.
Can you say, "Vendetta"? 7&6=thirteen (☎) 20:01, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. I prefer to plough my own furrow and so occasionally see an article that looks like it's going to be deleted but can find sources myself to stop that happening, or, probably just as often, I look for sources but can't find them and say so. Others prefer to collaborate on such things. I think that the supporters above are only seeing the small minority of cases where people may have given rather dodgy "keep" opinions, rather than the majority where the sourcing of articles has been improved without any fuss. Phil Bridger (talk) 20:18, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Question - Can someone help me to see where I'm going wrong here? I'm taking up a lot of space in this thread, admittedly, but I feel like I agree with the underlying reasons given by several of the opposers here (and although I find ARS folks frustrating at times, I do value a lot of the work the users do). So please help me to understand. As per WP:CAN, "Canvassing is notification done with the intention of influencing the outcome of a discussion in a particular way". It therefore seems important to distinguish posts which seek to improve an article and find sourcing from posts which simply influence the outcome of a discussion in a particular way. Nobody will dispute that when someone improves an article and finds sources that it is a very positive thing for Wikipedia. And I won't dispute that has happened via ARS (just like the same happens through the various other mechanisms we have to advertise deletion discussions). My question is about when that's not what it's used for -- what its purposefunction is influencing the outcome of a discussion in a particular way. There are two scenarios that seem to me most fraught:
(1) Regarding the person posting to ARS: Cases where someone posts about a discussion to ARS just to turn the tide of an AfD. Maybe the person has added sources themselves and thinks it should be kept, maybe they think the people !voting delete are wrong, maybe they just like it, etc. Regardless of the reason, the function is to influence the outcome by attracting people who will agree with you (or, at minimum, certainly won't disagree with you). Is ARS exempted from this kind of canvassing? Is there some way that it is not canvassing? Is it sufficient to issue a catch-all "no, I want them to improve the article, and it's not my fault if they just show up to !vote keep"?
(2) Regarding those responding to posts at ARS: The more complicated one, and complementary to the first scenario. Given that the audience at ARS are people who are likely to !vote keep and will almost never !vote delete, if you learn of a discussion through ARS without the crucial step of finding additional sources or improving the article, and just show up to !vote keep, that would be considered canvassing on basically any other forum on Wikipedia where people are likely to !vote a particular way. Am I wrong? Maybe an easy provision to avoid the problematic responses would just be to make explicit somewhere that if you learn of a discussion through ARS (and we'll take you on good faith as to whether you did or not), you should only act on it if you're going to participate in the rescue beyond !voting keep.
What am I missing? — Rhododendrites talk \\ 21:05, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I try to improve articles to the extent I can. I can't make sources up.
Sometimes I vote. Sometimes I don't.
Posting on ARS invites others (sometimes with better access to relevant sources than I me) to help improve the article. I've seen it happen. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. And sometimes they put the sources into the AFD discussion (See WP:Before), but don't bother putting them into the article. I wish they would follow through. But I can't control how editors (they are a cantankerous herd of cats) choose to respond.
In some respects, the Modest proposal of mandating contributions by a particular set of voters at AFD sounds like a Poll tax. Or Voter Identification laws. Clearly not neutral; clearly set up to disadvantage those who want to keep an article.
If we are going to condition participation in AFD discussions, what rules should be imposed on those who seek deletion? WP:Sauce. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 21:16, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
This is all well and good indeed, but when it's about finding sources and putting them in the AfD and/or in the article, that's uncontroversial. Where I'm unclear is about those cases when people don't bother with the sources/improvement and instead just !vote keep. It seems often that it's a matter of dispute whether the sources are sufficient to keep, or when someone feels strongly that an article should be kept due to sourcing that's been found, and ARS is a venue where one is most likely to find people to fall on the keep side of those disputes (i.e. cases when posting to ARS isn't about improving the article or improving sourcing, but about supporting the idea that the sourcing is good enough). Regarding rules about those who seek deletion, I'm having trouble thinking of an equivalent on the "other side". Feel free to suggest something? We should impose the same canvassing rules on everyone. The question here is about the extent to which there should be an exception to those rules. There's obviously broad support for advertising articles to people with subject-based interests, but there's no other venue where the common interest is a particular outcome independent of subject. There is no deletion equivalent to ARS (nor should there be). Outside of ARS, everyone follows the same rules for canvassing, and if there's a venue where that's not true, I'd appreciate learning of it so I can make the same arguments there. We do have the language of the deletion policy and WP:BEFORE, in terms of conditions put on those seeking deletion, but this is all about canvassing, and I don't think there's an equivalent worth talking about. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 21:33, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
ARS posts should be worded neutrally, and if they aren't that should be fixed. Usually IME they are. There is nothign stopping a person who tends to favor deletion from reading the ARS lists, going to the AfD pages, and posting in favor of deletion. Therefore, i don't see ARS posts as canvassing at all. They are either calls to help find and add sources to an article, or to evaluate the sources already there and give an opinion on whether they are sufficient. Both are perfectly acceptable. A call to "vote keep on XYZ, you don't need to know why" would be improper, but I trust ARS isn't doing anything of that sort. Any specific person doing that can and should be warned and eventually sanctioned. DES (talk)DESiegel Contribs 21:44, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

ARS posts should be worded neutrally, and if they aren't that should be fixed. How do you propose one goes about doing that? The wagon circling prevents any attempt to fix that. I think the problem here is that the ARS group refuses to take onboard any criticism. The concept in and of itself is not problematic. It's the way this particular group operates that has become the issue. jps (talk) 21:50, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose – I periodically check in on the article rescue squadron, and I'm consistently impressed by the good work they do improving articles. I've popped into a number of deletion discussions where the article has greatly expanded since the discussion began. Clearly a positive to Wikipedia and not seeing any diffs to prove otherwise.Patiodweller (talk) 22:25, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Concerns have been raised in the past to no avail. Several recent dicussions [8] [9] (a proposal to amend the project "guidelines" and a concern about inappropriately-worded entries) show project members unwilling to accept or address valid concerns about their own conduct. Even in this discussion, language alluding to "attacks on the project" and something about wolves and sheep show a battleground mentality among participants. –dlthewave ☎ 22:55, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Needs more evidence, oppose till then - for what is a fairly aggressive argument, which would also have to be coupled with significant accusations at a number of users of canvassing (at best, unintentional poor canvassing) I need a significant amount of evidence for this. A review of the last 10-20 AfDs where at least one active ARS editor was involved: did the threatened article get improved, or did a number of editors get summoned, drop keep (!(?))votes and leave? Evidence requirements have not been met by those advocating change. Nosebagbear (talk) 22:33, 19 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I think asking editors to always contribute to an article when commenting to keep an article if they learned about the discussion via the rescue squad is essentially a disincentive for people to use the rescue squad's resources. While I'm sure some of those calling for its disbandment wouldn't mind, I don't think is fair to the squad to allow it to continue yet constrain it in that way. Personally I think since the decision to delete or keep should be made based on the suitability of any uncovered sources, or the potential of there being sources not yet found, the question of who brought forth the evidence is in theory of a lesser concern. This is where in the past I'd talk about English Wikipedia discussions being straw polls in reality, but knowing some people will pull out examples where this didn't happen, I'll just say that many discussion closures are influenced by numbers. We need to have more closures not worry as much about numbers and be based on the sources. isaacl (talk) 00:36, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

  • Comment I like the idea of a group of editors bringing scrutiny to deletion discussions that are slipping under the radar. I've seen a bunch of deletion discussions where there are only about two delete !votes, so if those two people have an agenda (and they sometimes do) then there's a problem. I like the idea of a noticeboard specifically for that situation. I won't cast a !vote here because I can't speak to whether ARS is serving that function, or if it's just a place to go when you feel like The Cabal has it in for you. But I like the idea, and think the idea is useful. ApLundell (talk) 01:39, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    • Huh. I see that on the talk page, there's two discussions about whether or not it's ok to ignore the anti-canvassing rules and have non-neutral posts on their noticeboard, and they've apparently come to the conclusion that it's fine. Lovely. Perhaps instead of deleting a potentially useful noticeboard, individual users could be TBANed? ApLundell (talk) 02:27, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose partly due to WP:Forumshop. It seems a little silly to be discussing this just days after the ARS page was unanimously kept during a miscellany for deletion discussion. I do disagree that ARS members engage in canvassing, but this isn't really even the time to talk about it. This was already dealt with in detail during the deletion discussion a few days ago, and we ought to wait at least another year for consensus to potentially change before we re-litigate this. Worldlywise (talk) 04:55, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I don't see how that argument makes sense. Not only did that MFD see hardly anything discussed in detail, but deleting the "Rescue List" and shutting down the project are different issues. Several editors have historically opposed deletion of the RL on procedural grounds that the project would need to be formally shut down first ("putting the cart before the horse", so to speak), so having this discussion now makes perfect sense. Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 05:15, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support
    1. The XfD was ruled not to be the correct forum. It was closed, not as "Keep", but as the wrong place.
    2. I recall only one instance where ARS involvement ended up in improvement of the article, and many where ARS involvement lead to a "Keep" result in spite of no actual arguments against deletion. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 07:06, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Deleting ARS seems like something that should be listed at PEREN. I personably disagree with some of their stated goals, but there is no harm of the project as given as long as they are engaging in the "R" part of their name, rescuing articles from deletion. What normally becomes the problem is specific editor behavior, which generally includes canvassing to try to get !votes at the AFD, rather than actually working on the article to improve it. Certainly not all members of ARS do that, so you target the bad applies, not the entire barrel here. --Masem (t) 07:34, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
How does one target the bad apples when it looks like there are now at least four who seem to act in consort? The adage is, after all, one bad apple spoils the bunch. What do you suggest? Some sort of omnibus WP:AN thread? A WP:RfC at WP:ARS? A request for arbitration? There doesn't seem to be precedent for dealing with an entrenched group like this who produces evidence in this very section about how they coordinate attacks on their enemies. jps (talk) 11:03, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
You collect evidence that show the select few routinely using CANVASSing and gaming the system, and present that as ANI or the like to seek action. I would have to search but I'm pretty sure that ARS has been warned broadly about CANVAS but even if not , that's a PAG that all WP editors should be aware of. --Masem (t) 15:10, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment It seems like there is a problem with certain members ignoring the project's code of conduct and the instructions listed at the top of Wikipedia:Article Rescue Squadron – Rescue list, not the project as a whole. Since those editors have been ignoring efforts to actually enforce those guidelines (per dlthewave's comments above), it seems like it's more time for an ArbCom case to be opened against those editors than yet another easily canvassed community discussion. --Ahecht (TALK
    PAGE    ) 14:58, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment I don't know much about the ARS but I think the OP's attack is at best the pot calling the kettle black. The OP seems to be a strong supporter of WP:FTN which I think does what they say ARS does and far worse, see WP:FTN#Articles on scientists from the list. That noticeboard has long discussions about articles and go off to delete them without bothering to put any notice on the talk page and seem to think that is a good idea bucause having editors from fringe article involved would promote drama. At least the ARS board mainly seems to be links to deletion article without much discussion. Because of that FTN experience I am thinking of having an RfC here to make giving notice of discussions about articles on noticeboards but I wouldn't include the short notices like I see at ARS and I think in general noticeboards are okay that way though I'd be asking for it to be a general guideline. Dmcq (talk) 15:12, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • This discussion is still ongoing and it seems best to do one thing at a time, rather than shopping the issue to numerous forums as the OP has done. See also the discussion below where false claims are made that the ARS makes frivolous appeals at DRV. We don't do that. Andrew D. (talk) 13:06, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Question @Lightburst: et. al.: can you tell me what an inappropriate notice would be for ARS? I think the notice that set off this discussion was clearly inappropriate, and I still can't quite wrap my head around why there was so much resistance to just rewording it. It sounds like many ARS regulars would like it if the project had more contributors, but hostile comments like this one are the sorts of things that make people want to steer clear of a project. I don't understand why participants in the project wouldn't want to be more accommodating. Nblund talk 19:35, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • The general rule on such pages is that you don't mess with other editors' comments and formal nominations. Per WP:TPOC, "The basic rule ... is to not edit or delete others' posts without their permission. Never edit or move someone's comment to change its meaning..." This is necessary so that we don't have chaos in which it is not clear who said what. For example, Nblund created the AfD nomination in question. I considered their nomination to be biased, disruptive and erroneous, misrepresenting the facts of the matter and our policies and restarting a discussion which had been had numerous times before without any new evidence. But I didn't try to alter, amend or suppress Nblund's nomination because that would be out of order. Instead, I started my own entry in which I responded to the nomination – point and counterpoint. That's the way we do things and the same applies to ARS entries. They are not meant to be extended discussions but if you have some point to make, you can append it as an indented observation. But you don't get to change the OP's initial entry, especially if you're involved as a rival nominator. This is elementary wikiquette. Andrew D. (talk) 21:52, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose disbanding, support renaming or otherwise addressing problems. Almost everyone seems to agree with an "Article Rescue Squadron" in principle; some disagree with the way ARS operates in practice, and some of those editors think disbanding ARS is the only solution. The question, it seems to me, isn't "Should we have an ARS?" but rather "Is ARS being disruptive?". I personally don't think so, but here are two examples of something I think is a problem:
    • Gage Creed was nominated for AfD. It ended up at DRV and the DRV close said ... it will be in order for any editor to begin a fresh AfD about this Stephen King character at any time, including immediately after this close ... as an alternative to re-running the whole process, editors may wish to consider discussing the possible merge/redirect targets on the talk page and reaching a consensus there (maybe proceeding to RfC if that discussion stalls or becomes entrenched). So I started a merge proposal at Talk:Pet Sematary#Gage Creed merge proposal. Here's how some oppose !voters commented at the merge discussion:
      • This is like a Stephen King story: the discussion that will not die and keeps resurrecting to enthrall and torment its victims. It's time to put it to sleep – "no fair, no fair, no fair..." ... The key policy here is WP:NOTPAPER and we're proving it by starting numerous additional pages for these discussions.
      • ... this nomination is a blatant failure of WP:DELAFD, WP:PRESERVE and WP:JDL. This is the second time after an AfD that this article has been nominated to try and achieve a new outcome. It’s just ridiculous at this point. It’s obvious the article needs improvement. So rather than constantly trying to delete the article in hopes of a new result, might I suggest assisting in bettering the article?
      • ... That you couldn't get the article deleted (twice) within the last two weeks should govern the outcome here.
    • Tantive IV's AfD was closed with the closer writing The result was no consensus. That is, no consensus between merge and keep. Nobody agrees with deletion. Whether this content should be merged is perhaps better further explored on the article talk page than in an IVth nomination. Piotrus started the merge discussion at Talk:Tantive IV#Notability and merge. Here is how some oppose !voters commented at the merge discussion:
      • That discussion established that there was no consensus for merger let alone deletion of anything. WP:FICTION is an essay which also lacks consensus. Persisting with this is disruptive per WP:FORUMSHOP; WP:DELAFD; WP:STICK, &c. The nominator appears to be here to promote the interests of Wookiepedia – a commercial website which exists to sell advertising and make profits for its shareholders.
      • We've already been through this in the AFD, no sense repeating it here. There is no consensus to delete/merge this article.
      • Please refer to the AFD. There is not a consensus.
      • New forum, new form; old story. Old wine in new bottles. Same result.
    • In both cases, ARS members !voted keep in the AfDs, the AfDs closed with no consensus, with the closers explicitly suggesting a merge discussion, a merge discussion is started, and basically the same ARS members show up at the merge discussion accusing the nominators of being disruptive for starting the merge discussion. In my opinion, making an unfounded accusation of disruption, is itself disruptive.
    • Still, I don't think disbanding ARS is the answer. I think one of the problems is in the name and the mindset. If you're "rescuing" an article, who are you rescuing it from? The evil AfD nominator? That, right there, begins the battleground mentality. When you say your mission is to rescue the articles that are falling through the cracks at AfD, you're presupposing that AfD !voters basically can't be trusted to determine which articles should be deleted, and so they need the watchful supervision of ARS. Again, it's a premise that leads to battleground mentality. So I would rename it to the "Article Improvement Squad", and keep in mind that, sometimes, improving the encyclopedia means deleting an article. Sometimes, it means merging two articles. Sometimes, it means finding more sources and expanding an existing article. All of those methods (and more) can improve the encyclopedia, and the point of AfD and merger and other such discussions isn't to "rescue" or save an article from evil or incompetent deletionists, but rather to get together and discuss how to best improve the encyclopedia. It seems too often that too many ARS members show up to discussions ready to do battle, quick to sling accusations of disruption and ALLCAPSPOLICY violations, etc. I hope they'll consider a change in mentality and approach, because at bottom, like others, I think the principle is a great (and necessary) cause, even if the way it's practiced could use some rescue improvement. – Levivich 19:59, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • There's already a separate Articles for Improvement project – see WP:AFI. I get the impression that it is fizzling out as it hasn't had a nomination since August. That's probably because one of its main coordinators – Northamerica1000 – has been busy trying to rescue lots of portals, instead. Why is he having to do that? It's because yet another set of "improvers" are trying hard to delete them all... Andrew D. (talk) 00:17, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    Nobody is trying to delete all portals. Characterizing a group of editors that way is just casting aspersions and "othering". More battleground mentality. – Levivich 07:10, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • There was a recent proposal to delete portal space right here at the Village Pump – see WP:ENDPORTALS2. This followed a similar proposal in 2018 – WP:ENDPORTALS – which specifically stated that "This would include the deletion of all portal pages". Levivich didn't attend the first proposal; presumably because they only started editing in 2018. In the second recent proposal, Levivich's position was that "I support deleting almost all portals, too...". Q.E.D. Andrew D. (talk) 09:00, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The above is yet more flagrant and deliberate misrepresentation by Andrew Davidson. The quote provided includes no diff, as he clearly hopes no one will click the archive link he provides and Ctrl+F the quote. The actual diff is here, and expresses support for a proposal to delete most portals (original proposal here: These eight mainpage-linked portals [...] should be kept). Levivich even explicitly distinguished between what he supported and what Andrew misquotes him as supporting in the exact same comment, saying he supported removing the portal namespace, which actually isn't the same thing as deleting all portals. Note also Andrew's repeatedly putting words in my mouth and accusing me of lying a bit further down this page.[10][11] Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 10:20, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Many WikiProjects fall short of their goals and ideals. So does this entire encyclopedia. I can think of egregious examples of ARS involvement (e.g. [12] springs to mind), but I can also think of examples of articles I have personally rescued at AfD that probably should have been deleted (e.g. Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra, as if Milwaukee wasn't bad enough without adding a herd of mandolins). Yes, members have provably engaged in conflict and poor behavior. They have also been blocked and warned, just like other editors who engage in conflict and poor behavior. Of course it would be great if editors could just, you know, improve articles and convince AfD participants that way. Improvement without aggression would be more pleasant for other editors, certainly. But not everyone is capable of improving articles in that way, and some editors need more reinforcement from others as they do their work. In short, while some ARS activities may offer good reasons to laugh and say "Ok boomer", that's true of a lot of Wikipedia editing, and it's not enough reason to shut down a well-intentioned WikiProject. Indignant Flamingo (talk) 00:40, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
@Indignant Flamingo: Yes, I too have rescued articles like Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Matsuya (department store) and sympathize with the stated goals of ARS, but in reality 90% of what they do is not improving articles to rescue them from deletion but rather whinging about "deletionists" (see here for the most recent example -- four ARS members show up to an MFD, not of an article to be rescued but of an attack page, and manage to warp an unambiguous consensus for deletion into "no consensus", simply because they don't like the editor the page was attacking) and preventing each other from being "blocked and warned". Ctrl+F this discussion for not supported by evidence and More false claims, two deliberately misleading and inflammatory statements that the editor who made them has refused to retract, and then check the last time that editor was blocked -- six years ago. Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 01:16, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Since you pinged me: I think that MfD is a bit petty, particularly given that one of the !voting editors was previously the recipient of generosity from admins who blocked their AfD socks and warned them about socking but didn't file an SPI. I also think that your ability to contribute with specialized language and cultural knowledge is important to the project, and that the encyclopedia will survive even if Randy in Boise gets his way sometimes. Indignant Flamingo (talk) 04:10, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
...not if Randy in Boise follows to constructive editors around constantly and makes editing the encyclopedia miserable for them. I see no reason to believe the same thing won't happen (hasn't happened?) to everyone else who gets the Big Four angry. Yeah, I change careers shortly after my first interaction with ARS and so was busy in real life for like a year (then got a new and better but busier job), but the only two editors who ever temporarily forced me off the project before 2018 were this stalker and [[Special:Contributions/WPPilot|this litigious problem] -- I'm not saying any one of the Big Four as as bad as JoshuSasori or WPPilot by themselves, but it's still shocking to me that all of them have avoided being site-banned thus far. Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 04:47, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

ARS - Thinking outside the box

If the problem isn’t the goal of ARS, but how it functions... then perhaps we need to change how it functions. Here is an idea: When an article is up for deletion, and an ARS member feels that there is potential for “rescuing” it...

  1. the rescue squad issues an “ADOPTED” notification (NOT a “keep” or “delete” !vote) at the AFD stating that they think it can be brought up to standard.
  2. the AFD is closed with “ADOPTED” (NOT “keep” or “delete”)
  3. the “rescue squad” will then have a set amount of time to improve the article.
  4. at the end of the time allotted, if there has been improvement, great... but if there has been no improvement, a second AFD discussion can be held, and closers will be told to give that lack of improvement negative weight in determining whether keep or delete.

I think this (or something like this) would preserve the positive goal of ARS, while also making ARS accountable for performing its positive function as well. Blueboar (talk) 00:01, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose as wrongheaded. Deletion is not clean up; either a topic is notable or it is not. No amount of cleanup can make something pass the WP:GNG so unless the idea is to give the ARS more time to find sources (which is what anyone should be doing during an AfD) this isn't going to fix anything. Wug·a·po·des​ 00:33, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Meh... clean up can help demonstrate that an article topic meets GNG. You have to find sources... AND add them to the article with some context (to show that they are relevant). Blueboar (talk) 00:41, 20 November 2019 (UTC)Blueboar (talk) 00:38, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
WP:N Notability is a property of a subject and not of a Wikipedia article. If the subject has not been covered outside of Wikipedia, no amount of improvements to the Wikipedia content will suddenly make the subject notable. Conversely, if the source material exists, even very poor writing and referencing within a Wikipedia article will not decrease the subject's notability. Wug·a·po·des​ 00:43, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose proposal, but support the meaning behind it. AfDs should not be used as cleanup, but if a cleanup happens because ARS comes in with decent sources during the AfD and saves it, then WP is better for it. I think pausing the AfD itself is counterproductive as there is already a deadline by simply having an AfD in the first place. Add the sources to the discussion to support GNG, then add them to the article if the consensus is they make the topic meet GNG (or an SNG if applicable). I feel that there will be more WP:EFFORT-based Keeps even if the sources and content added to the article don't meet GNG. (This comment after a deletion comes to mind, which led to this deletion review. Maybe a limited occurrence, but it was based off an AfD where no extra sources were added by Keep !voters at the time.) Yosemiter (talk) 02:29, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    Note that that AFD was not tagged for Rescue, just one regular editor in the ARS happened to go there on his own and didn't tag it asking for help. I don't recognize the names of the others who said it should be kept. So this has nothing to do with the ARS. Dream Focus 02:36, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    Never said it was tagged. I am also not opposed to ARS. Just pointing out something that I have seen in general when it comes to claims of WP:EFFORT and it is just the most recent one like that. Yosemiter (talk) 02:40, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • @Yosemiter: That is disingenuous. I went to that AfD on my own and I evaluated the article per WP:NEXIST. I then subsequently produced those multiple RS in the deletion review. You were just of a mind to delete and rejected the reliable sources. That fact that I did not insert them in the article is not what is required when !voting in an AfD and by deletion review the article was deleted. Reasonable editors can disagree about notability but there were four editors arguing for keeping and four arguing for deletion. Clearly that is why I took it to deletion review. But yes, it has nothing to do with ARS. Here is the exact entry with the sources. So diminishing my WP:EFFORT is the height of hyperbole other sources also exist. Waco Tribune Herald, Dallas Morning News, Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year, Red Cup News, NBC Sports Lightburst (talk) 04:00, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support This proposal would force the ARS to put their money where their mouth is. A lot of the "oppose" !votes above are based on the assumption that ARS does good work rescuing articles by improving them, but I am not seeing it on anything approaching the rate at which they show up and disrupt otherwise civil AFD discussions with personal attacks and aspersions against the nominators (and other random parties) and bogus "I found all these GBooks hits and I assume they include significant coverage, hence notable" !votes. Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 05:12, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
In particular, points 3 and 4 would prevent frivolous shit-posting about any AFD (nominator) that this or that ARS member doesn't like, by saying that the more articles that are "adopted" the more work ARS members actually have to do and discouraging the listing of articles that have no chance. They would also help prevent cases where articles that should have no chance are kept by default because a few ARS !votes swung a consensus to delete over to "no consensus". Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 09:07, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support something that might make ARS productive. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 06:58, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Anyone can post they need more time and ask the AFD to be relisted. You can also ask for an article to be moved to draft space to work on. So this is a rather pointless thing and not really enforceable anyway. Dream Focus 09:18, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose This sounds like the Incubator which was a failure. Draft space is a similar idea and that's not working either. I occasionally try userfication and that's useful in cases where the history is important. The trouble with all these ideas is that creating content is hard work and most editors would rather goof off to discussion pages like this where they can pontificate at length without the inconvenient requirement for citations to support their opinions. Andrew D. (talk) 10:31, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose the sheer rate at which AfDs are placed makes this unworkable. Today by 9am central time there are already there are 56 articles nominated for deletion and 101 were listed yesterday. The ARS chooses maybe one article from those 157 articles. We can evaluate the references and article quality, or add references, or determine of they exist. In regard to the chart SportingFlyer made, I thank him for doing so. In my opinion it does not highlight any issues. Certainly no mass canvassing efforts. In addition I have asked the editors at deletion review to move articles to draft space and was soundly rejected or ignored...SportingFlyer you were in that review and I got nothing but crickets from you at the suggestion that I would take the article and improve it and submit it - so we will never know if it could be saved. In another situation, after the ARS spent major energy improving the article - maybe more than any other effort we have made, the AfD ended in deletion. I asked to allow a draft and the involved administrator said I will not have this article "linger" in draft space. As I pointed out above, there are those on the board who have a fundamental belief that articles must be deleted. From the chart that SportingFlyer displayed one could see I was rather upset that many articles got zero participation from ARS. You can see in my ARS summaries. "Bye Bye Bombshell" and "Canadian Business College Another one bites the dust." Also it is interesting that I see SportingFlyer is still lamenting the keep of Air Canada Flight 018 Stowaway Incident It was a major overhaul which anyone can see...and a Keep at AfD. Sportingflyer appealed and got the close overturned and had the article relisted for more AfD time only to get another strong keep. (this was wasted community time)...and he is still grinding about it? We do our best here. We might save 5-10 articles out of 500. We are building an encyclopedia. Lightburst (talk) 15:02, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

ARS evidence

I've gone through and looked at the last 20 articles listed at ARS. There's a couple articles which were clearly improved to notability, a couple articles which were straight up canvassing, a couple articles where a reference or two was added during the AfD. I cannot view deleted articles, so no notes on those - feel free to update or add to this table. I have tried to note my own biases when making the table because apparently I've !voted in a lot of those same discussions.

Article result notes by SportingFlyer and other administrators notes by Lightburst (ARS member)
Marina Quays merge WP:HEY, but sources were still merged. One ARS member did a large amount of improvement. A total of 2 ARS members !voted merge. No other ARS members !voted. The other editors who turned up thought that another article had room, and so the article was merged.
Find My keep 11 sources added by Newslinger during AfD. Three ARS members !voted at AfD. Two brought sources and one brought facts. None edited the article.
List of dimensions of the Discworld delete no improvements made after nomination. Only one ARS member turned up, !voted keep, however not entirely honest to say no-improvements. That ARS member listed sources in the AfD to back up the !vote. No other ARS members !voted.
Standard (unit) keep Three ARS members made additions to the article, and only those three members !voted in the AfD. 17 editors debated that AfD
List of crimes involving a silicone mask keep no improvement during the AfD, 3 keep votes from ARS members out of 8, other votes 2 delete, 1 merge, 2 keeps (one weak). You should realize this list was started by an ARS member and specifically to link to a Air Canada Flight 018 Stowaway Incident which was improved by the ARS.
Bombshell (Transformers) delete No edits during AFD period; only one ARS !voter at AfD, which was only !keep vote. No amount of energy could save this one. An ARS member listed this and !voted keep, but no other ARS members turned up and none !voted, it was doomed.
US Airways Flight 741 stowaway incident delete Listed by ARS member. Also improved by that same editor. Yet the effort of one ARS member could not overcome the subject's WP:NOTNEWS WP:MILL. Other ARS members saw the weakness and made no effort to save the article or !vote.
Kate Marie Byrnes keep I nominated this after seeing it at NPP - I still do not believe she is notable, but I respect consensus. Some improvement of the article after AfD nom. Article was greatly expanded and improved by two ARS members during the AfD. No other ARS members !voted other than the two who improved the article. There were 14 participants at the AfD
List of comic science fiction no consensus references were added during AfD discussion 4 ARS members involved: One ARS member contributed to the article - two brought sources to the AfD and a fourth evaluated the list. So only 4 ARS members participated in the AfD, and there were 16 total participants
The Spurs keep improved during AFD, topic was a band who charted in a Canadian country music chart and so should in theory pass WP:NMUSIC but sourcing is scarce even with the improvement. One ARS member improved the article a great deal of WP:HEY, but it was a hard one. Another ARS member struck their keep !vote, and then later !voted "Keep for now."
Simon Grindrod delete None of the ARS participated in the AfD. None !voted.
Millie (short story) keep no improvement to article, article remains under-sourced and it's not clear it's notable. Only one ARS member turned up to !vote on this one. That member brought sources to the AfD. No other members !voted.
Canadian Business College delete One ARS member did a significant amount of work on the article. That member was the only ARS member to !vote. No other ARS members turned up to work on the article or !vote.
Air Canada Flight 018 Stowaway Incident keep article improved during AfD and DRV - I took this to DRV, it stayed a keep after the relist - I maintain this still fails notnews/wasn't a notable crime, but again, consensus. Article was WP:HEY by ARS members, it was a strong keep at both closings and a very good example of ARS work. SportingFlyer was unhappy with the Keep close so took this to DRV and had the AfD result overturned. The article was relisted and was reaffirmed as a Keep
Tantive IV no consensus ended as no consensus between keep and merge, ARS members all voted keep, only a couple other keep voters, some improvement at AfD. Only three ARS members added to the article during AFD a fourth evaluated the article and all four !voted to keep. There were 13 participants on the AfD 6 keep, 5 merge one redirect and perhaps one delete from the nominator
Ryan O'Donohue keep some improvement though looking through the sources this person is still not clearly notable. Article was nominated by a now blocked editor who targeted voice actors - off and on Wikipedia. The article was improved by three ARS members and !voted on by those same three ARS members. No other ARS members !voted. The AfD was very well attended with 16 participants: there were 9 keep !votes and 7 delete !votes
List of deaths from accidental tree failures in Australia delete !voted on only by only two ARS members and one brought sources to the AfD. 14 participants at the AfD, could have gone either way - entirely based on opinion. In this case more editors favored deletion.
Gage Creed (character) no consensus very small improvement during AfD, currently undergoing a merge discussion. Improved by three ARS members. One brought evidence to the AfD. I count only one AfD !vote from an ARS member. And that one !vote was cancelled out by an ARS antagonist. After the close at AfD an editor took this to DRV where SportingFlyer wanted the keep result overturned. No-consensus at DRV the keep was upheld and then another editor decided it should be merged, so another effort was made to merge. There SportingFlyer provided strong support for a merge. It seems locked in no-consensus, perhaps we can expect another AfD?
Birds Barbershop keep references added during AfD, interestingly all or almost all voters at the AfD were ARS. Unclear whether WP:NCORP is satisfied. 3 ARS members !voted. One ARS member improved the article during AfD and added sources, the other two brought sources to the AfD. No other ARS members !voted
Pedestrian etiquette delete 2 ARS members came to the AfD. One brought sources and !voted. The other only commented without !voting.
Ellen Bryan Moore no consensus some minor additions to the text but not from ARS members - how I feel about this one is clear from my comments at the AfD. 2 ARS members !voted on the AfD. One ARS member improved the article.

SportingFlyer T·C 11:48, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

FWIW, Cage Creed illustrates a fundamental problem with process, quite outside WP:ARS. This article went through 2 deletion discussions within two weeks, which were closed as keep due to "No consensus", and now has a merge proposal. These serial nominations are a mockery of the process, and a waste of valuable editor time. There is no respect for the results of these discussions. The article did not become less notable in the interim. As far as I can see, the only regular ARS participant in this was User:Andrew Davidson in first PROD, who provided an extensive and heavily researched defense of the notability of the subject, and who established that WP:Before was ignored by the nominator.7&6=thirteen (☎) 13:47, 20 November 2019 (UTC) (modified 13:48, 20 November 2019 (UTC))[reply]
(edit conflict) The above is fairly typical of Thirteen's misrepresentation, apparently the result of either (a) an attempt to game the system by clouding the discussion or (b) severe competence issues. Anyone can look at the discussion and see it closed as "No consensus", not as "Keep". Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 13:50, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Also, nothing in Andrew's AFD comment indicated he had done any research -- he did the same thing he always does, which is copy-paste a bunch of titles from a GBooks search, with no effort to find out what was in those books that could be used to build an article. Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 13:52, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Hijiri 88 You have no way of knowing what User:Andrew Davidson did. His entry contradicts your misrepresentation. In any event, Google books is listed at the top of the AFD nomination (it still exists, as does Davidson's comments), and WP:Before is MANDATORY, not discretionary or optional. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 14:03, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
WP:BEFORE is not strictly mandatory. This has been discussed several times in the past. See, for instance, Wikipedia:Village_pump_(policy)/Archive_88#Is_WP:BEFORE_obligatory? and Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_deletion/Archive_71#Give WP:BEFORE some teeth. Consensus has been that it's good practice but not obligatory, and the reason is that it is frequently used, not to improve the quality of AfDs, but to heap abuse and contempt on the heads of nominators. Reyk YO! 14:08, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
If you choose to engage in bad practice, it ill behooves you to complain when someone points out that fact. This is a matter of fact, not "abuse." 7&6=thirteen (☎) 14:10, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for agreeing that WP:BEFORE is not mandatory. Reyk YO! 14:12, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I was going to stay out of this as I would prefer people comment on the table above, but a quick look at the DRV log here shows the continued discussion was specifically endorsed by the DRV closer. SportingFlyer T·C 14:18, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
User:Reyk Thank you for agreeing that WP:BEFORE is good practice and the preferred modus operandi. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 15:02, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
@SportingFlyer: Thank you for your table. Would you please add Standard (unit) (AfD) (diff) which KEEP results were resolved while you were working on the list. It seems more consistent if you add the notes. StrayBolt (talk) 23:49, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment WP:KETTLE This is what actual canvasing looks like. Here the OP and other editors discuss the article which started this whole drama. One editor claims I couldn't find any past AfDs on this, so I went ahead and opened a deletion discussion for the page. FYI there were seven previous AfDs on this article. Perhaps count how many editors participating there subsequently came to sink the AfD. Compare that with the ARS efforts. I posted the article which brought very few participants, but also brought the three editors who routinely vote delete on many ARS posts. Lightburst (talk) 16:17, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    The main purpose of ARS is to keep articles. The fringe theory noticeboard has no such common goal for articles and you'll see votes in both directions (coming here from that noticeboard because someone linked to this discussion). --mfb (talk) 16:24, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I knew nobody would be bothered to count so I did. I Matched the participants on that fringe theory discussion to the AfD.
Every participant on the Fringe theories/Noticeboard. 12 participants, 9 delete !votes, 1 keep and 2 abstain.
  • Hob Gadling Delete
  • Alexbrn Delete and Salt
  • Littleolive Delete
  • mikeu Delete
  • Nblund Delete
  • Agricolae Delete
  • ApLundell Delete
  • Dmcq Keep
  • XOR'easter Delete
  • Guy Macon No participation on the AfD
  • jps Delete
  • Roxy, the dog. Esq. No Participation on the AfD
This clearly looks like a canvass based on the likeminded editors called to the AfD.
From the ARS list I count four editors !voting keep and 2 !voting delete. Lightburst (talk) 18:01, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
You forgot my delete comment, but most people were in favor of deletion independent of where they came from. I count 36 to 14 at the AfD, so if we exclude people who are active on the fringe theory noticeboard that still leaves 26 to 13. You need to find the opposite case. A majority wants to keep it but a small group largely argues in a different direction. --mfb (talk) 00:55, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Exactly. As presented, this list just shows that some WP:FT/N regulars are usefully WP:CLUEful. Alexbrn (talk) 04:17, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Also correlation ≠ causation. I was led to the AfD in question not by FT/N but when it popped up on the that other notorious canvas board, Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Science. Unsurprisingly, many of those who follow DS/S also know a bad article when they see one. Agricolae (talk) 05:58, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Causation is more often than not literally impossible to prove, so we rely on the next best option, correlation, which is still very useful for understanding phenomenon particularly when the pattern holds over time. -- GreenC 07:25, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Like Agricolae, I also came to that AfD via [[Deletion sorting. I do not read FT/N regularly or often; I don't have it watchlisted. I post there occasionally when I see, via some other avenue, an item that seems pertinent. XOR'easter (talk) 17:42, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
How does a list of !votes on one AfD represent a pattern holding over time? My !vote on this particular AfD is in no way best explained by the fact that after I !voted I then made a comment on FT/N, particularly given my voting record on other AfDs, the vast majority of which have been neither preceded nor followed by any interaction with FT/N whatsoever. I struggle to recall more than one instance over the past years in which I !voted on an AfD I first became aware of via FT/N, so my !vote over this single AfD is not really indicative of much of anything, let alone correlating with a pattern that holds over time. Agricolae (talk) 19:01, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
fwiw --mikeu talk 11:14, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I don't think that discussion should have relevance here as it involves one disputed AfD among lots of others that closed without incident. As I stated above, the process works by strength of arguments and not by votes. The ARS in that case failed to convince the closing admin with their arguments. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 16:29, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I can't say it works all the time like it is supposed to and that is a reason why we have WP:DRV. What bothers me though, is that this discussion is turning into one about accusations of WP:CANVASSING. This is a behavior issue that really should be addressed somewhere else if you are looking for resolution. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 18:08, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • So it was clearly not my intent to have the evidence table just randomly edited by ARS members - I was specifically looking for administrators to independently check to see if the deleted articles were WP:HEY as a result of the ARS. However Lightburst went ahead and added their own commentary to the table. Since the purpose of the table was to help users coming to the topic look at the data and try to draw conclusions for themselves based on the data, the fact the table is now presenting one side of the argument is concerning. I've segregated their responses off into another column as opposed to deleting the responses entirely in order to avoid a conflict. SportingFlyer T·C 05:15, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
So, you have a theory (ARS is HEY), you can't prove it exactly, but hint that it exists and try to rope in an admin to go along with you on it. Meanwhile you make a table with a "comment" section containing errors of omission, personal opinions and biases - and when someone tries to correct it you call them out for being biased, ironically. Stick with mathematical measurements and percentages and leave your opinions out of it, otherwise your not presenting data but an argument for a position. -- GreenC 07:25, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
That seems awfully close to WP:ASPERSIONS. Several users above wanted evidence, so I provided the last 20 ARS in tabular form, and as neutrally as possible, calling out my own biases in the process. I did not try to "rope any administrators in" but instead requested any interested administrators to look at the history of deleted articles, as I cannot do so. I would love if you called out any errors of admission or opinions/biases not presented in the table. I do not think it is a stretch to segregate the comments added by a noted member of the ARS project from someone trying to present the information neutrally. For instance, on the Gage Creed AfD, only one ARS member contributed to the nomination during the time in which it was nominated, not three (though some have contributed post-AfD.) SportingFlyer T·C 08:50, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • @SportingFlyer:. I did not expect criticism for doing exactly as you asked regarding the chart. I cannot view deleted articles, so no notes on those - feel free to update or add to this table. I went through each AfD and the articles that and updated the chart because I thought you were requesting that. I see you separated out my comments - perhaps in hopes of diminishing them. However you are welcome to fact check. Sometimes members only post the reliable sources they find in the AfD so while it is factually accurate to say "no improvement during the AfD" it leaves the impression that a member just cast a lazy !vote, and that is not the case. I do not think that was your intent. carry on. Lightburst (talk) 14:22, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Oh my. I see you changed the chart headings as well, to make it look like I was posting in a spot meant for administrators to update your notes section. Tsk Tsk SportingFlyer. ...the record persists. Lightburst (talk) 16:14, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Perhaps someone can hat all of the ARS-unrelated discussion here? Back to the table, it doesn't make sense to base any decision on the most recent cases, during a time of heightened scrutiny (there have been some discussions extending before this thread opened). Any evaluation should really be based on a random sample over the last few years. Maybe the first/last X number from each of the most recent archives. — Rhododendrites talk \\ 19:51, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    Click the archives on the side of the current list. Wikipedia:Article_Rescue_Squadron_–_Rescue_list/Archive_18 you can click on the red links and see how many times one person posted there, even a regular member like myself or Andrew, and no one else showed up to say KEEP. No one goes unless they believe it should be kept. Nothing changes, its always like that. Cherry picking for random examples won't really prove anything. Dream Focus 20:04, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The actual issue is member behavior

THis isn't the right place for this, if you have actual evidence against other editors of WP:BATTLEGROUND then take it to WP:ANI. - Knowledgekid87 (talk) 15:06, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

There are four to five habitual members of the WP:ARS who seem to have fallen into an inveterate WP:BATTLEGROUND mentality. They claim, rightly or wrongly, that they are besieged by the deletionists and that this justifies their tactics. The goal of these members seem to be to prevent as many deletions of content as possible and any action that can thward a delete outcome is one worth taking. This is the culture that I would like to see change.

I'm just spitballing here: Maybe a way to dislodge this and remove the conflict would be to standardize ARS article listings so that non-neutral commentary is judiciously avoided. To enforce this might take an arbitration ruling in favor of discretionary sanctions, however, so that people who see these problems can report them to, say, WP:AE. Another might be to spin off the ARS list entirely and form a new noticeboard outside of WP:ARS space with something like Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Noticeboard where some of the WP:OWN issues that seem to be in place could be avoided.

jps (talk) 14:08, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Clearly the actual issue is your behavior. Your inability to AGF and your incivility. The block log is evidence of your inability to work with others. You refactored or deleted my listing four times. But first you attempted to delete the project with an MfD and then went to two other forums - still not coming to the talk page. You have no credibility based on your actions . Lightburst (talk) 15:06, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
Thank you for the suggestions, see [16] above, I think they could have applicability in another noticeboard. Dmcq (talk) 16:22, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Comment Really, User:Jayron32. Thanks for changing your vote.

However, if I come upon this from ARS and as a member, I am to have my ability to vote at AFDs limited? YGBSM.

But if we put similar limitations on the really problematical notice boards and their participants, e.g., Fringe theories noted above, I might think this a great idea.
In fact, we should start by proposing its deletion, so that we can then transgress to your Modest proposal in that context. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 18:24, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The thing is, we want people to improve articles. That is the goal of ARS. An article is not improved by overwhelming deletion discussions with votes. It is improved by editing the article to make it comply with WP:42 and other policies/guidelines for having an article at Wikipedia. Ultimately, the vote is unimportant. What is important is 1) if an article belongs at Wikipedia, it gets to stay and 2) If an article doesn't belong at Wikipedia, it gets deleted. If an article meets minimum standards for inclusion, it should be kept even if members of the ARS don't vote. If the article doesn't meet minimum standards for inclusion, it shouldn't be kept, even if ARS members do vote. The problem is that the votes influence the discussion in ways that keep articles where the subject doesn't merit one. If instead they focused on editing the article until it becomes blatantly obvious the article shouldn't be deleted, we would all win. If there's no possible way to make it that good, then why are we trying to save it? --Jayron32 18:30, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
There is no empirical evidence to support the accusations or the conclusions.
Articles shouuld stand or fall based on their content, their sources, their potential content and their potential sources. See WP:Before. It is not what is in the article; it is what the article may become. It is not just about the votes, but editor opinions have weight. And AFD closers need to be educated to that standard. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 18:39, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Exactly correct on the point "in the article; it is what the article may become." Which is why I would invite people to improve articles, not tank votes. --Jayron32 19:25, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
It is not just about the votes, but editor opinions have weight. And AFD closers need to be educated to that standard. Then ... maybe cut it out with the frivolous DRVs every time an AFD closer doesn't simply rely on a vote tally but actually weighs arguments according to policy? The problem with ARS is not only the canvassing (as virtually everyone who recognizes that there is a problem seems to agree) but that every time the canvassing doesn't work ARS either moans about it on their own noticeboard or opens a DRV to moan about it there. Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 04:08, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • In the table above, it appears that only one of those cases was taken to DRV and that wasn't by an ARS member; it was by SportingFlyer, who wanted to delete the article in question. In that case, I didn't attend the original AfD nor did I attend the DRV. I did comment when the AfD was relisted after the DRV because the matter had been escalated with a specific request for more input. If the ARS were a canvassing club, as claimed, then why didn't I attend in the first two discussions? Hijiri88's aspersions and insinuations are not supported by evidence and the evidence that we do have contradicts them. Andrew D. (talk) 10:23, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
@Andrew Davidson: My comment was alluding to the tendency among ARS members to DRV any AFD discussion that ends in a redirect or delete consensus without an overwhelming majority in favour of deletion, despite WP:NOTDEMOCRACY. This does not apply to any of the above results, as the closest one that ended in deletion was Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of deaths from accidental tree failures in Australia, where it was a 5-10 majority in favour of deletion. Examples of what I am talking about are here (advertised on ARS here) and here (advertised on ARS here). Now, can you or anyone else present evidence that ARS routinely doesn't file frivolous DRVs when an AFD doesn't go their way and they think they can appeal to a !vote count as supporting a "keep" or "no consensus" result? None of the above-linked AFDs provide such evidence, and all the other first seven redlinked entries on Archive 17 that didn't have a frivolous DRV also had an overwhelming majority of delete !votes. (The closest I could find was Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of cities with the most high-rise buildings, with a 2-1 majority favouring deletion.) Do you want me to go through the entire list? Or are you going to retract your baseless aspersions and insinuations about me? Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 12:19, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • More false claims. For example, the DRV for JK!_Studios was clearly not frivolous as there was a significant procedural issue and the closer stated that "In this DRV, opinions are about 2:1 in favor of having another administrator re-close the discussion because of concerns that the closer was involved in the AfD discussion." And notice that while Hijiri88 posted 5 times in that DRV, I did not post in either the AfD nor the DRV. Another pot of sauce. Andrew D. (talk) 12:42, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Umm... I never said you specifically had been involved in either one, or that I had not? And yeah, when an admin closes an AFD against a substantial minority or majority !vote going the other way it's gonna cause hurt feelings even on the part of non-ARS editors whose !votes hadn't been tendentious auto-keeps.
Anyway, I went through the last 30 red-linked articles on the list (the currently live list, plus archives 17 and 18): 7 had had less than 2/3 majorities in favour of deletion, and of those 7, 2 (linked above) were DRVed by ARS members. (Of the other 23, I didn't count precise data, but if I recall correctly 2 had exactly 2:1 majorities in favour of deletion, and the others were all well over 70%.) Auld and Livix were followed by interrogation on the closing admins' talk pages[17][18] that insisted a close !vote-count merited a "no consensus" close (the latter even featured an explicit statement at ARS that closers should be counting !votes); that leaves 3/7 (List of deaths from accidental tree failures in Australia, Battle bag and Nikita Denise) where a less than 2/3 majority !vote ending in deletion didn't lead to some form of tendentious complaining by ARS members.
So, yeah, it seems pretty obvious that ARS supports the idea that AFDs should be about voting and not about discussion and consensus-building, since most of the time there isn't an overwhelming majority in favour of deletion and the discussion ends in deletion anyway, someone at ARS will start dogging the closing admin and/or complaining at ARS that AFD should be about counting votes.
Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 23:54, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
See also here, where every single member of ARS's "Big Four" is insisting that a no-consensus close is the same as a "consensus to keep" close (something one had already claimed at ARS) and that subsequent merge discussions should be shut down. (Note also that said Big Four also all showed up at the AFD, where they accounted for 4/6 of the "keep" !votes -- without their involvement there would have already been a clear consensus to redirect/merge.) Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 02:53, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
(responding to ping) I concur. ARS is a nice idea. The problem is the behavior of some of its members. Solution is IMHO a selective topic ban for several editors (from deprodding/voting; they could improve article and comment at AFD noting they have done so, without a right to vote). That would solve such issues. Please ping me if there is a proposal about topic bans or such, I can collect some evidence to present. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 01:47, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Agree. Such a topic ban for the chief miscreants sounds like a good way to head off future trouble. Alexbrn (talk) 06:09, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
@Piotrus and Alexbrn: Okay, so how do you propose achieving said topic bans? I've seen multiple attempts (each) on at least three of the Big Four, all of which failed, at least in part, as a result of the other ARS members showing up and derailing the discussion... Hijiri 88 (聖やや) 07:55, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Really, can't we have a discussion?

I think User:Lightburst here has given us a good insight into the mindset of some of the ARS afficionados. Look, I get it. The goal is to preserve what can be preserved. Laudable and admirable. And, actually, I don't mind the canvassing so much as long as it occurs in the right fashion. "Let's all get together and improve an article" is a great way to canvass. I have nothing but praise for that approach. What is problematic is the refusal to suffer fools gladly. What I cannot understand is the outright hostility to people who are also trying to improve Wikipedia but have an approach that is rather more of, "let's not put out on the internet every goddamn flight-of-fancy we've got until we're damnsure there is content that is not suffering from the problems that some content in Wikipedia suffers". Yeah, "work in progress" is fine-and-all but sometimes pulling the plug is the right thing to do or whatever.

These two groups are going to be at odds with each other, but they don't have to be at each other's throats. The only way this is going to happen is if the ARS people let others in to fix issues as they arise. Non-neutral postings, requests for work to be done before piling on, avoiding disaparaging remarks? All these seem reasonable. Yet they are met with a barrage of tu quoque, sturm und drang, carrying on. Just look at this thread. We've, for better or worse, fermented a group of half a dozen editors who are outright hostile to any criticism whatsoever. This simply does not bode well.

There must be ways for us to dislodge this problem. Because it's not going to go away just by closing no consensus and waiting for the next brush fire.

jps (talk) 12:07, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

  • Waiting for the next brush fire... Indeed. This from the the editor who spent three days starting fires all over the project. On Wikipedia you are your record of edits and yours edits show that you enjoy fighting, bickering and causing drama. We have all basically wasted three days putting out the fires you started. I encourage you to look at your actions and see how they were unhelpful. Your actions were rightly viewed as attacks because you refused to come to discussion and instead started drama everywhere: lecturing rather than discussing. It is quite difficult to see you as helpful. Lightburst (talk) 14:48, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
WP:DROPTHESTICK, WP:OLIVEBRANCH, etc. I am giving you an opportunity to open up here. jps (talk) 17:07, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
"The problem is that certain type of editors may not want any olive branches and such as they believe they did nothing wrong, and see it all as your fault, for attacking their righteous, pure and innocent behavior. How dare you, eh? More seriously, what I am reading here from people replying to you, after you accused them of misbhehavior, does indeed suggest that the mini-essay of mine I've linked before is relevant, sadly :( --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 01:54, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

In regards to the suicide disclaimer debate

I took a look at the debate. Shouldn't we be helping a lot more people if we put in a suicide banner? Regardless if they are wikipedians or not— Preceding unsigned comment added by New340 (talk • contribs)

New340 It would help a lot of people to put many different kinds of messages in Wikipedia articles; drug addiction help, anti-suicide messages, domestic violence help, and so on. Where do we draw the line as to what messages are appropriate for a project that is supposed to be an encyclopedia? 331dot (talk) 12:23, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

When it turns in don't try this at home. It will work until it starts getting unneeded, as in its obvious. Another thing, most people who visit Wikipedia don't go on the projects, they just look at the articles so it would be test of we add them.

Require Fringe theories Wikiproject to post notifications in any AFD they ask their members to go to

At Wikipedia:Fringe theories/Noticeboard they post messages asking their members to comment at AFDs, but don't post a message in any of those AFDs to inform anyone this has happened. Wikipedia:Fringe_theories/Noticeboard#Craig_Loehle for an example. They have an article alert list but it doesn't include this AFD or various others. Should the Wikiproject not have a proper deletion list like others do, and be required to post a notification in the AFDs they link to on their project page? Dream Focus 19:06, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

And here is a discussion in which Lightburst and Dream Attack vehemently defend blatant canvassing when it's committed by Lightburst. ApLundell (talk) 01:28, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
My first comment in that discussion was "No one has the right to erase someone's message. The message seems neutral to me." That has nothing to do with this discussion, did yo mean to post it in the section above? Dream Focus 01:38, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I meant to post it exactly where I posted it. It provides context. ApLundell (talk) 01:53, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Um, you guys know that isn't a Wikiproject, right? It's just another noticeboard like WP:AN and WP:MCQ. It doesn't have members, and it isn't coordinating anything. It's just a place where anyone can post problems for discussion. Posting notices on open noticeboards is not canvassing, because these are not Wikiprojects. --Jayron32 19:33, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Noticeboard vs. project is arbitrary wikilawyering. The effect is the same. Noticeboards can be just as clubby as any other regularly visited forum. When those forums are active in AfDs there should be rules in place to avoid abuse. -- GreenC 20:23, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Nblund The noticeboard is called "fringe theory" and it is a defacto canvass since the group does not direct participants to !vote on non-fringe theory articles. In regard to the above mentioned List of scientists who disagree with the scientific consensus on global warming - it is clear that you canvassed the participants, and feigned ignorance about previous AfDs on the list. And then of the 12 participants involved in discussion about the AfD you posted on the fringe noticeboard - all but 3 participants came to !vote delete. It is also improper that deletion discussion was taking place on the fringe noticeboard rather than the AfD: The only member to !vote keep mentioned that fact. Might I ask that you discuss at the deletion discussion rather than reinforcing your clique mentality here. Dmcq (talk) The request of Dmcq was dismissed. Lightburst (talk) 20:43, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I didn't "feign" anything. The prior deletion discussions were under a different title. I just missed them. The accusation of canvassing is too silly to debate. You didn't really answer my question.
@GreenC: noticeboards are dedicated to Wikipedia policies that everyone should adhere to - it's not canvassing to bring in editors who are interested in NPOV issues to an NPOV discussion, but it might be canvassing to bring in editors with a specific viewpoint. More importantly, "widely watched" noticeboards are less vulnerable to bad behavior because they're more public. At best, you're arguing that ARS and FRN are exactly the same, so then why are you insisting that posting a message at one venue is canvassing while the other is perfectly fine? Nblund talk 20:53, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Comment User:Nblund You have committed the Fallacy of composition. WP:ARS is not monolithic. For example, User:Hijirii88 is a regular there, and has (for at least 21 months) been an agent provocateur if not an outright project saboteur, for many years. And he is a deletionist by his actions and his postings. You can see his posts written above. I am not maligning him, but his presence belies both your analysis and your conclusion. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 20:31, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The fact that you call that user a "saboteur" seems to imply that they don't share the goals of the project. I'm not arguing that posting at ARS is canvassing per se, but I'm struggling to see how anyone could say adding a notice at ARS is fine while FRN isn't.Nblund talk 20:48, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
It would be a fair statement that he and I are not sympatico. I would say we disagree on most everything; and we no longer interact. Of course, that is not required that we agree. He is as entitled to his opinion as I. My only point is that WP:ARS is open to anyone, and some of us want to build articles and keep them; and some of us don't and want to delete them. I would say our goals are in disharmony. I can't answer as to why any of this happens, but I know it exists.
You pays your money; you takes your chance. I will continue to WP:AGF. 7&6=thirteen (☎) 21:32, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Are there any instances where an AfD notice has been placed at WP:FTN that did not involve a subject that was clearly a fringe theory? BD2412 T 20:53, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    • Sure. All the time. It's common for articles about practitioners of fringe science to show up on FTN. Typically once a quack realizes that Wikipedia won't function as free advertising, they try to quietly get their article deleted, so as to not scare away their suckers customers. ApLundell (talk) 01:09, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose- this is a retaliatory proposal aimed at spiting jps. We shouldn't indulge this. Reyk YO! 21:10, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
    Please assume good faith. I thought it was Wikiproject, but they claim its a noticeboard, but it looks the same and is basically the same as far I can tell, and Wikiprojects do all post a notice in AFDs when they list something. If a lot of people are seeing something listed somewhere and going to vote there because of it, then it should be revealed otherwise its stealth canvassing. Dream Focus 21:14, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose This is a bad-faith proposal by Dream Focus, whose own behavior could use some scrutiny. However, if this is discussion is closed, it should not poison the well against a more serious proposal by other users. User:@Dmcq: recently voiced concerns and I think he or she was considering proposing something along these lines. ApLundell (talk) 22:32, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • MISLABELED PROPOSAL: The heading says "Fringe theories Wikiproject" and mentions "members" but the actual question is about Wikipedia:Fringe theories/Noticeboard. At least one comment above says "I can see no reason why we would treat this notice differently from a WikiProject notice" but wikiprojects and noticeboards have quite different rules. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:37, 20 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Grr it is any possible extended discussions on a noticeboard about an article I'd want a note for at the article page. You don't know how a discussion will end up never mind thet thy'll go off to try and AfD it. Personally I don't have a problem with neutral requests for editors to come to the talk page for an article. See the third paragraph in the introduction to Wikipedia:External discussion for something like what I'd want. The number of things wrong with how this proposal is phrased here is why I was spending some time before bringing it up. Dmcq (talk) 01:15, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Maybe you should ask to close the discussion then? I definitely think you are in a better place to pose it. jps (talk) 01:16, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I definitly support the idea of closing and starting from scratch with less battleground and better idea of the actual mechanics of what is really wanted. I have to go away for some hours now though and that can be an age on this noticeboard. Dmcq (talk) 01:23, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I don't see any reason to just start the same discussion over again because some don't like me or just misread my intentions. Many would then just have to waste time repeating themselves. Dream Focus 01:38, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Discussions about articles on Noticeboards should leave a note on the relevant talk page

In WP:Consensus#Pitfalls and errors the first problem listed is "Off-wiki discussions. Consensus is reached through on-wiki discussion or by editing. Discussions elsewhere are not taken into account. In some cases, such off-wiki communication may generate suspicion and mistrust." Editors who are interested in an article will typically watch the article. However if a discussion about the article takes place on a noticeboad without a notice being left at the article talk page something happens rather like what the policy says. And it most certainly has raised suspicion and mistrust in me! Editors may come to decisions about the article without having the benefit of interested people who probably know more about the topic. This can become very like secret canvassing in some cases.

I know this is typically done in many cases and for WP:ORN and WP:BLPN there are even stronger requirements, but I think it would be right to standardize this as best practice in WP:Noticeboards and those noticeboards which typically talk about article content.

This would not include neutral notifications about discussions elsewhere or quick questions which are more about an application of a policy or guideline - though if such a discussion got extended it would be more likely to come under this guideance. We've got to trust neutral notices on noticeboard to come to a relevant discussion as not canvassing! Typically notifications appear within a discussion saying something like "We don't seem to agree on this so I've raised this question at WP:XYZ#Question about...". Or it might be a separate section outlining a more major concern and saying which noticeboard they are raising the matter with. Dmcq (talk) 12:31, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

This is just mistaken. Discussion on a community noticeboard is not "rather like" secret off-wiki communication. This proposal looks simply unworkable. If somebody mentions (say) five articles as examples of something during a noticeboard discussion, would they be obliged to visit each of those articles' Talk pages to leave a notice? Imagine the bloat. Imagine the processology and complaints from disgruntled AfD participants if some notifications were missed. The only way something like this could work would be if every participant in an AfD was required to disclose how they became aware of that AfD - but this has its own problems and my guess for the percentage chance of the community approving this is about 0%. Alexbrn (talk) 12:37, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
You're the one who said telling editors on an article talk page about a discussion on a noticeboard might needlessy escalate to WP:DRAMA aren't you? Dmcq (talk) 12:57, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Not sure how that's relevant to my point but Yes, that's one factor to take into account. Minimizing dramah is a good thing. Alexbrn (talk) 13:00, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
And you don't think that is '"rather like" secret off-wiki communication? And may generate suspicion and mistrust? Dmcq (talk) 13:07, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
@Dmcq: I think the issue here might be that you don't understand (or want) WP:Consensus. Having more eyes, especially the fresh ones of experienced and wise Wikipedians, is a good thing as it helps maximize consensus. Noticeboards play a key role in resolving issues and keeping and raising quality across the encyclopedia. Secret email exchanges do not build WP:Consensus. Alexbrn (talk) 13:42, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps wise and experienced editors would be better off hearing from people who have worked on an article and don't have to be protected from 'dramah'? And we wouldn't then have wise and experienced but ignorant editors setting off as a group to give their !vote and prejudice any others coming along by stacking the start of a discussion? Dmcq (talk) 13:52, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
That's kind of a paranoid WP:BATTLEGROUND frame of reference. If a discussion is "stacked" with wise opinions that's surely good. Again, it's about building consensus. Alexbrn (talk) 14:02, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Well it certainly helps with consensus! But I see something more akin to social bubble and groupthink, I don't think that is what the WP:Consensus policy wants. Dmcq (talk) 14:18, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
That is because you are giving this a paranoid WP:BATTLEGROUND framing. If you want to make a case that any particular group brings a damaging groupthink you need some actual, you know, evidence. So far the only thing that comes close that I've seen is the WP:ARS, as the long running drama around it demonstrates. In my experience forums come under attack (WT:MED gets this too) when they successfully maintain the WP:PAGs against bad content. So far as I can see, this is all blowback from an obviously bad article (List of scientists who disagree with the scientific consensus on global warming) having been deleted. But this was an in fact an example of where WP:FT/N was helpful in building consensus to a good end result. Alexbrn (talk) 14:42, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I was specifically asked to make it general and not be picky, and I agree with that. A guideline that works in general is what is wanted. Dmcq (talk) 14:53, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
But "works" to what end. So far no problem has been demonstrated. You are asserting problems but I shall apply Hitchen's razor for the time being. Alexbrn (talk) 15:20, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
As WP:CONSENSUS says "does not generate suspicion and mistrust". I think that's a nice way of putting it without prejudice for whether any particular decision was a good one or not. Dmcq (talk) 15:54, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
That is a phrase used about off-wiki communication, and is irrelevant. Back to to the point, you have produced ZERO evidence of any problem. Evidence would take the form of pointing to specific diffs, a specific AfD, or specifying something that actually happened. Without evidence of a problem this is just navel gazing. If you're saying _you_ are full of mistrust I'd suggest taking a look at WP:AGF. Alexbrn (talk) 16:29, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I'll just point at the discussion here and ask editors if they are happy with articles they contribute to being discussed at length away from the talk page by people who don't want them informed about the discussion. No need for me to get involved in the minutae of particular cases or point to anywhere in particular. You can try justifying the practice more if you like! Dmcq (talk) 17:17, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Re: "I will ask editors if they are happy with articles they contribute to being discussed at length away from the talk page by people who don't want them informed about the discussion" I will ask Dmcq why they want a calm reasoned discussion about accupuncture or Donald Trump to be flooded with comments by the same people who are being disruptive on the article talk page (see? two can play that game). There comes a time when the adults who are interested in fringe theories in general need to be able to calmly discuss the latest disruption at creationism without inviting a horde of creationists to join it and disrupt the noticeboard the same way they disrupted the article talk page. Some of them will find it anyway and push their POV, but do we really need to invite all of them? --Guy Macon (talk) 23:00, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
See the second point at WP:CONSENSUS#Pitfalls and errors "Canvassing, sock puppetry, and meat puppetry. Any effort to gather participants to a community discussion that has the effect of biasing that discussion is unacceptable." I think you're just digging an even deeper hole, but pray continue. Dmcq (talk) 23:09, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Getting fresh eyes from a community noticeboard is not biasing a discussion. The fact that you keep twisting the prohibitions about bad things (puppetry, secret comms) to seem as though they apply to what is actually recommended best practice, is just daft. Per WP:APPNOTE, a neutral notice on a noticeboard is explicitly not canvassing. Alexbrn (talk) 06:08, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I'm talking about for instance notes starting a discussion about changing an article without leaving a note at the article talk page. WP:APPNOTE describes leaving a note on an article talk page as an appropriate notification of a discussion. I wish to have some of those appropriate notifications described as 'good practice' rather than as 'an editor may want to draw a wider range'. Dmcq (talk) 11:13, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • I would agree that when an article is the SUBJECT of a noticeboard discussion, good practice is to leave a note on the article’s talk page pointing to the noticeboard discussion. That said, I don’t think leaving a note should be required. Blueboar (talk) 13:38, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
What would you think would be a good reason not to leave a notice on an article talk page if the article is the subject of a discussion on a noticeboard? Dmcq (talk) 14:01, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Example: Something like "I came across article X, is this topic in scope for this noticeboard?" - why notify the article itself (especially if the answer is "no"). Alexbrn (talk) 14:07, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Another example... the noticeboard is discussing an issue with article A, and in the process discusses how the issue is dealt with at article B... no need to leave a note at article B. Blueboar (talk) 14:18, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
The first would comes under "quick questions which are more about an application of a policy or guideline" and in the second article B would not be the subject of the discussion if it is just showing how something is done elsewhere. It would start being a subject if people then started saying they thought article B was wrong and should be changed. I guess there would be some problems with phrasing things well but that's always the case with guidelines. Dmcq (talk) 14:30, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Honestly, I think the other way should be a policy: It would be very rare that it is appropriate to start a discussion at a noticeboard UNLESS extensive discussion had already occurred on the article talk page. At no time should ANY dispute be a surprise by the time it gets to the noticeboard stage. The noticeboards are for handling situations where the talk page discussion has broken down, and should never be the first recourse in solving problems. People who would be interested in a noticeboard discussion on a disputed article should already have the opportunity to be aware of the dispute. --Jayron32 13:47, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Do you think though a note should be left on an article page when it does go to a noticeboard? Dmcq (talk) 13:58, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I would say yes... but it does not need to be anything formal. A comment along the lines of “This needs a wider audience to resolve, I have opened a discussion at WP:Xx/N (link)” is fine. The point is to let people know where the discussion is taking place (and for future reference where it took place). Blueboar (talk) 14:04, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Well that's all I want and it is mostly done. I think it needs to be documented as good practice, some people think it is a bad idea as can be seen earlier in this discussion. Dmcq (talk) 14:34, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I think that letting people know things is best practice. I can't imagine a situation where we would want to make such discussions a secret, or surprise people with them. --Jayron32 15:22, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • All of the above said... best practice (“should”) is not the same as mandated practice (“must”). I have always been opposed to creating “rules” that a lot of people won’t follow (because they find the rule too cumbersome or simply can’t be bothered). While I would support language ENCOURAGING editors to leave notices, I would not support language saying that they MUST do so. Phrasing it as a “must” creates unwanted drama (I can easily see the wikilawyers arguing that a noticeboard discussion is “improper” and that an obvious consensus can be ignored, simply because someone neglected to leave a note). Blueboar (talk) 17:14, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
I was thinking of a guideline rather than policy, perhaps in the WP:TALK page? That might mean someone being snarky about it not happening somewhere but it wouldn't be the end of the world. Repeatedly and deliberately failing to follow it though could be counted as a user behavior problem. After all there are new users all the time for instance so the obvious thing then is for someone else to put in a notice and tell them doing that is the polite thing. Dmcq (talk) 17:32, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
As long as it is phrased as encouragement (best practice) and not as a “must do” requirement, I am on board. Blueboar (talk) 19:21, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment: Right now there is no tool available to easily post a notification of an article being discussed in WP:space on an article's talkpage (unlike, for example, the way the AfD tool handles appropriate notifications). If such a tool existed, I would certainly use it. It would also help with AN/ANI notices if they could automatically inform users too. As usual, I think a lot of these sorts of cultural changes can happen if you make it easier to follow the norms through software development than to go about the old-fashioned clunky way. Just a thought. jps (talk) 17:28, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
A tool to make it easy would be great. Blueboar (talk) 19:21, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
It doesn't seem to be much of a problem to people but I do agree a tool or template that made it easier would be nice. Not much point though having such a tool unless there is a guideline saying something like that shoud be done. What would be lovely I think is some template like {alert page|article}} at the discussion that would be processed as a subst and put a note into the discussion saying 'article' had been alerted to the discussion, and would put a note at the end of the talk page of the article giving the page and section where the alert page template was used. Dmcq (talk) 22:57, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment Would probably support some wording like "If you start a section, consider leaving a notice on the Talk page of any article(s) which it discusses." Editors are then prompted to consider whether that would be a good course of action (or not). Alexbrn (talk) 11:26, 22 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Proposal: Give file movers the "suppressredirect" tool when moving files

I think that all file movers should be given the "suppressredirect" when moving files for the following reasons:

  • It is useful to instantly suppress a redirect when moving a file that shadows another file that is on Commons (WP:FNC#9)
  • It is useful to suppress a redirect when moving a file under WP:FNC#8
  • It is useful to suppress a redirect when moving a file that has a misleading name (WP:FNC#3)

It is the filemover's responsibility to make changes to the filename on articles that use a file that had its redirect suppressed to avoid any broken file links. Most of the file redirects are orphaned so it shouldn't be a problem to suppress them but it should be done only when it is required. Filemovers should not have suppressredirect for any other namespace other than the filespace if they are not an extended mover or an administrator. The suppressredirect tool should not be used for any other purpose other than the three purposes stated above. An alternative plan could be for suppressredirect to only work when the file is orphaned and to make it compulsory to leave a redirect if the file is being used. The suppressredirect tool is already available for filemovers at Commons. I don't expect this proposal to succeed but I thought it would be useful to have a discussion about this. Pkbwcgs (talk) 19:43, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Votes

  • If it (hypothetically) takes 45 seconds for a sysop at PERM to grant page mover to a file mover (being generous), then all they need to do is save 45 seconds worth of work and it's a net positive. That's a pretty low bar. GMGtalk 23:18, 21 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Extended discussion

Some statistics:

  • There are 297 page movers
  • There are 406 file movers
  • There are 75 users that are both page movers and file movers

Users:

User breakdown
User Group(s)
!dea4u filemover
117Avenue filemover
1989 filemover
1997kB extendedmover
72 extendedmover
97198 extendedmover
A1Cafel extendedmover & filemover
A7x filemover
AKS.9955 extendedmover
ANGELUS filemover
Abryn filemover
Adam Cuerden filemover
Adam9007 extendedmover
Adamstom.97 extendedmover & filemover
AddWittyNameHere extendedmover
Addihockey10 filemover
Aditya Kabir filemover
Adrignola filemover
Ahecht extendedmover
Ahunt extendedmover
Alan filemover
Alan Liefting filemover
Aldnonymous filemover & extendedmover
Alex 21 extendedmover & filemover
AlexCovarrubias filemover
Allanon filemover
Alpha Quadrant filemover
Alt.Donald Albury extendedmover
Altairisfar filemover
Ammarpad extendedmover
Andrew Davidson extendedmover & filemover
Andrewmc123 filemover
Andy M. Wang extendedmover
Another Believer extendedmover & filemover
Anotherclown filemover
AntiCompositeNumber filemover & extendedmover
Antiquary filemover
Anupam extendedmover
ArielGold filemover
Armbrust filemover
AroundTheGlobe filemover
Asav filemover
Atlantic306 extendedmover
Atsme extendedmover
Aunva6 extendedmover
AussieLegend filemover
Avanu filemover
Avenue X at Cicero filemover
Avicennasis extendedmover & filemover
Az1568 extendedmover
BB-PB filemover
BaldBoris filemover
Balph Eubank filemover
Banej filemover
Barrylb filemover
Baseball Bugs extendedmover
Bedford filemover
BeenAroundAWhile filemover
Benlisquare filemover
Benstown filemover
Beyond My Ken extendedmover & filemover
Bhall87 filemover
BilCat extendedmover
Bill william compton filemover
Binksternet filemover
Bluebolt94 filemover
Bluerasberry filemover
Bmusician filemover
Bobby131313 filemover
Boleyn extendedmover
Bonadea extendedmover
Bovineboy2008 extendedmover & filemover
Brackenheim filemover
BrandonBigheart filemover
Breawycker filemover
Bri extendedmover
Brianboulton filemover
Britishfinance extendedmover
Brojam extendedmover & filemover
Brycehughes extendedmover
Bsherr extendedmover
Buaidh extendedmover
Buidhe filemover
CAPTAIN MEDUSA extendedmover & filemover
CAPTAIN RAJU extendedmover
CASSIOPEIA extendedmover
CBM filemover
CTF83! filemover
Cabayi extendedmover
Calidum extendedmover
Cameron11598 extendedmover
Captain Assassin! filemover & extendedmover
Carrite extendedmover
Cavarrone filemover
Celia Homeford extendedmover
Chhandama extendedmover
ChocolateTrain extendedmover
Chowbok filemover
Chris troutman extendedmover
Church filemover
Cinosaur filemover
Cloudbound filemover
Coekon filemover
Coffeeandcrumbs extendedmover
Colin filemover
Colonel Warden filemover
Contains Mild Peril filemover
CookieMonster755 extendedmover
Coolguy22468 filemover
Corkythehornetfan filemover & extendedmover
CorporateM filemover
Courcelles is travelling filemover
Cplakidas filemover
CptViraj filemover
Cptnono filemover
Crosstemplejay extendedmover
Crow extendedmover
Cube00 filemover
Cwmhiraeth extendedmover
Cymru.lass extendedmover
DBigXray filemover & extendedmover
DGG (NYPL) filemover
DGGnyc extendedmover
Damien Linnane filemover
Damirgraffiti filemover
Dan Koehl extendedmover & filemover
Dane extendedmover
Daniel Simanek filemover
Danlaycock filemover
DannyS712 extendedmover & filemover
Danski454 extendedmover
Darkwarriorblake filemover
Dave1185 filemover
Davey2010 filemover
Dawnseeker2000 filemover
Daylen filemover
Dee03 extendedmover
Deisenbe extendedmover
Denniss filemover
DerBorg filemover
Dewelar extendedmover
Dipankan001 filemover
Dirtlawyer1 filemover
Disavian filemover
Dismas filemover
Dom497 filemover
Domdeparis extendedmover
Double sharp filemover
Dough4872 filemover
Dr.K. filemover
DragonZero filemover
Dreamy Jazz extendedmover
Drewmutt extendedmover
Drkay extendedmover & filemover
Dssis1 filemover
Dwaipayanc filemover
Dwergenpaartje extendedmover
EatsShootsAndLeaves filemover
Ebe123 filemover
Ebonelm extendedmover
EchetusXe filemover
Ecpiandy filemover
Eddie891 extendedmover
Eeekster filemover
EggOfReason extendedmover
Elahrairah (usurped 2) filemover
Elmidae extendedmover
Elysia (Wiki Ed) extendedmover
Emir of Wikipedia extendedmover
Emufarmers filemover
Epicgenius filemover & extendedmover
Ergo Sum extendedmover
Erik filemover & extendedmover
Esmost filemover
Esrever filemover
EuroCarGT extendedmover & filemover
Eurodyne filemover
Evertype filemover
Faizanalivarya filemover
Faizhaider filemover
Fallschirmjäger filemover
Fasach Nua filemover
Favre1fan93 extendedmover & filemover
Felipe Menegaz filemover
Feminist extendedmover
Fitindia extendedmover & filemover
FleetCommand filemover
FlightTime filemover & extendedmover
FlightTime Phone filemover & extendedmover
FlightTime Public filemover
Floydian filemover
FocalPoint filemover
Fowler&fowler filemover
Frap filemover
Fredddie extendedmover & filemover
FriendlyRiverOtter filemover
Frosty extendedmover
FunkMonk extendedmover & filemover
GDuwen filemover
GSS extendedmover
User Group(s)
GTBacchus filemover
GabeMc filemover
GabrielF filemover
Garam extendedmover
Gderrin extendedmover
GenQuest extendedmover
GeoffreyT2000 extendedmover & filemover
Georgejdorner extendedmover
Gerda Arendt filemover
Ghostwheel filemover
Giants2008 filemover
Ginger Warrior filemover
Glane23 filemover
Gobonobo filemover
Godot13 filemover
Godsy filemover & extendedmover
GreenMeansGo extendedmover & filemover
Grey Wanderer filemover
Guanaco extendedmover & filemover
Guy Macon filemover
Gwillhickers extendedmover & filemover
Gyrobo filemover
Hack extendedmover
Hallows AG filemover
Harrison49 filemover
Hawkeye7 filemover & extendedmover
Headbomb filemover & extendedmover
Hohenloh filemover
Home Lander extendedmover
Hoverfish filemover
Huldra extendedmover
Hylian Auree filemover
I dream of horses extendedmover
IHelpWhenICan filemover
IJA filemover
IJBall extendedmover
IM3847 extendedmover
IVORK extendedmover
IZAK filemover
Ian (Wiki Ed) extendedmover
Iazyges extendedmover
Ibrahim.ID filemover
Iffy extendedmover
Ihardlythinkso extendedmover
IllaZilla filemover
Illegitimate Barrister filemover
Imzadi1979 filemover & extendedmover
In actu extendedmover & filemover
In ictu oculi extendedmover
Indy beetle extendedmover
InfamousPrince filemover
Inks.LWC filemover
Innotata filemover
Insertcleverphrasehere extendedmover
Interchange88 filemover
InverseHypercube filemover
Isarra extendedmover & filemover
Iveagh Gardens extendedmover
JFG extendedmover & filemover
Jacklee filemover
Jaguar filemover
Jake Brockman extendedmover
JalenFolf extendedmover
Jami (Wiki Ed) filemover
Jamietw filemover
Janweh64 extendedmover
Jappalang filemover
Jasper the Friendly Punk filemover
Jbhunley extendedmover
Jcc extendedmover
Jeff G. filemover
Jenniferjuniper extendedmover
Jenova20 filemover
Jerm extendedmover
Jevansen extendedmover
Jianhui67 filemover
Jionpedia filemover
Jjron filemover
Jmajeremy filemover
Joe Gazz84 filemover
Joeyconnick extendedmover
John Cline extendedmover & filemover
JohnnyMrNinja filemover
Johnsmith2116 extendedmover
Jon Kolbert filemover & extendedmover
Jsayre64 filemover
Jtalledo filemover
Juhachi filemover
Jupitus Smart extendedmover
Jweiss11 filemover
K.e.coffman extendedmover
KCVelaga extendedmover
KGRAMR filemover
KGirlTrucker81 extendedmover
KSFT extendedmover
Kailash29792 filemover
Kaini filemover
Kaldari filemover
Karthikndr filemover
Kartoffel07 filemover
Kashmiri filemover & extendedmover
Kelly filemover
KellyDoyle extendedmover
Keraunoscopia filemover
Kevin W. filemover
Kges1901 extendedmover
Kguirnela filemover
Kintetsubuffalo filemover
Klortho filemover
Koavf extendedmover & filemover
Kostas20142 extendedmover
KylieTastic filemover
L293D extendedmover
L3X1 extendedmover
La Pianista filemover
Lachlan Foley filemover
Lambiam extendedmover
Lapablo extendedmover
Launchballer extendedmover
LeoFrank extendedmover
Let There Be Sunshine filemover
Levdr1lp filemover
LightandDark2000 extendedmover
Ligulem filemover
Lil-unique1 filemover
Lingzhi2 extendedmover & filemover
Livelikemusic filemover
LlamaAl filemover
LlywelynII extendedmover
Locke Cole filemover
Logan filemover
Lopifalko extendedmover
Lordtobi extendedmover & filemover
Lugnuts extendedmover
LukeSurl filemover
Lx 121 filemover
Lyndaship extendedmover
M.Mario filemover
M.O.X filemover
MC10 filemover
MJL extendedmover
MONGO filemover
MPJ-DK extendedmover
MRD2014 extendedmover
MRSC filemover
Mabdul filemover
MacMed filemover
Magiciandude extendedmover
Magister Scienta filemover
Magog the Ogre 2 filemover
Mahahahaneapneap filemover
Maky filemover
Malpass93 filemover
MaranoFan filemover
Marcocapelle extendedmover
Marek69 filemover
Mareklug filemover
MargaretRDonald extendedmover
Mark Schierbecker filemover & extendedmover
Markussep extendedmover
Markvs88 filemover
Mathglot extendedmover
MatthewHoobin filemover
Matthiaspaul extendedmover
Mayur filemover
Mdann52 extendedmover
MichaelMaggs filemover
Mifter Public filemover
Mika1h filemover
MikeAllen filemover
Moe Epsilon filemover
Moheen filemover
Mono filemover
Montanabw extendedmover & filemover
Morgankevinj filemover
Morning Sunshine filemover
Moxy extendedmover
Mr. Gustafson filemover
Mr. Smart LION extendedmover & filemover
MrX filemover & extendedmover
Mrschimpf filemover
Music1201 extendedmover
Mxn filemover
My name is not dave extendedmover
N124BC filemover
Nableezy extendedmover
NahidSultan filemover
Nahnah4 filemover
Naraht extendedmover
Narky Blert extendedmover
Narutolovehinata5 extendedmover
Natureium extendedmover
Nbound filemover
NealeFamily extendedmover
Nemesis63 filemover
Neutralhomer extendedmover & filemover
Newslinger extendedmover
Niceguyedc extendedmover
Nick Number filemover
NickW557 filemover
User Group(s)
Nightfury extendedmover
Nihlus extendedmover
Nikthestunned filemover
Nirinsanity filemover
No such user extendedmover
Nohomersryan extendedmover
Nomader extendedmover & filemover
Noq extendedmover
NortyNort filemover
Nsaum75 filemover
Nurg extendedmover
O'Dea filemover
Oculi extendedmover
Omni Flames extendedmover & filemover
Onel5969 extendedmover
Orionist filemover
PC78 extendedmover
Paine Ellsworth filemover & extendedmover
Paintspot extendedmover
PaleoNeonate extendedmover
Path slopu extendedmover
Patient Zero extendedmover
Peter coxhead extendedmover
Petrb filemover
Pharaoh of the Wizards filemover
Pharmboy filemover & extendedmover
PhilipTerryGraham filemover
Phyo WP extendedmover
Piandcompany filemover
Piotrus filemover
Pkbwcgs filemover
Pmlineditor filemover
Pointillist filemover
Polo filemover
Polyamorph extendedmover
Pongr filemover
Power~enwiki extendedmover
Pratyya Ghosh filemover
Praxidicae extendedmover
Pru.mitchell extendedmover
Pudeo extendedmover
Pvmoutside extendedmover
QEDK extendedmover
QuasyBoy filemover
Quentin X filemover
Quoth-22 filemover
Qwerty Binary filemover
RGloucester extendedmover
RP88 filemover
Racconish filemover
RadioKAOS filemover
Raintheone filemover
Ramaksoud2000 filemover
Raymie filemover
Razr Nation filemover
Rcsprinter123 filemover
Rebbing extendedmover
Red Slash extendedmover
Redtigerxyz filemover
Redux filemover
Rhododendrites extendedmover
Rich Farmbrough filemover
Rikster2 extendedmover
RileyBugz extendedmover
RingtailedFox filemover
Rjensen filemover
Rob (Wiki Ed) filemover
Robert McClenon extendedmover
Robert Skyhawk filemover
Robertgombos extendedmover
Rockfang filemover
Rosguill extendedmover
RoslynSKP filemover
Ruby2010 filemover
Rusted AutoParts extendedmover
Ryan (Wiki Ed) extendedmover
Ryk72 extendedmover
Ryoga Godai filemover
Ryūkotsusei filemover
S.A. Julio extendedmover
SMasters filemover
SMcCandlish filemover & extendedmover
SS49 extendedmover
STATicVapor filemover
Sai Raghavendra Puranam filemover
Salavat filemover
Salvidrim! extendedmover
Sam Sailor filemover & extendedmover
SamHolt6 extendedmover
Samee extendedmover
Samuel Wiki filemover
SandyGeorgia filemover
Sanskari filemover
Satellizer filemover & extendedmover
Sawol extendedmover
Sceptre extendedmover
Scope creep extendedmover
Sd2315g86435sdsdg filemover
Secret of success filemover
Seppi333 extendedmover
Serial Number 54129 extendedmover
Seth Whales extendedmover
Shellacked! extendedmover
Shhhnotsoloud extendedmover
Shrike extendedmover
SimmeD filemover
Simplexity22 extendedmover
Sitush extendedmover & filemover
SkyWarrior extendedmover
Smallman12q filemover
Smmurphy extendedmover
Snarfa filemover
Soetermans extendedmover
Some Gadget Geek extendedmover
SounderBruce extendedmover
Soundvisions1 filemover
Souravmohanty2005 filemover
Spesh531 filemover
Spidey104 filemover
Sreejithk2000 filemover
Srnec extendedmover
Ss112 extendedmover & filemover
SshibumXZ extendedmover
St170e extendedmover
StAnselm filemover
Status filemover
Steel1943 extendedmover & filemover
Steel1943 (tester) extendedmover
Stefan2 filemover & extendedmover
Steinsplitter filemover
Steven (Editor) extendedmover
Steven Crossin extendedmover & filemover
StraussInTheHouse extendedmover & filemover
Sturmvogel 66 extendedmover
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