Meta:Babel/Archives/2019-02

Update of Deletion Policy

Meta:Deletion policy has been updated in accordance with this RfC. StevenJ81 (talk) 18:05, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

@StevenJ81: The different subcategories of types of deletions should still be numbered for ease of reference (preferably they should keep their numbers from before the update for consistency if possible) and MediaWiki:Deletereason-dropdown should be updated to match. Nihlus 11:06, 22 February 2019 (UTC)

I've made a partial update of the MediaWiki message. That's simple than to renumber the whole Deletion Policy IMHO. I'll continue updating the MediaWiki message later unless someone else wants to continue (and I do not object). —MarcoAurelio (talk) 12:32, 22 February 2019 (UTC)

No objections, thanks for closure of RFC and all that contributed, it's long overdue. For the numbering is a little odd but I think we will get used to it. Thanks all for the efforts.--Cohaf (talk) 06:01, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

The issue with a renumber is that it changes all the historical blocks. Maybe just ditch the numbering in the drop down and just have the reasoning.  — billinghurst sDrewth 06:50, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

Which is why the original numbering should be kept and anything additional assigned to higher numbers. Nihlus 06:52, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

yes, that, or the removal of the numbering from the dropdowns.  — billinghurst sDrewth 12:51, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

I don't think that would be beneficial to users, especially if they read the site in a different language. The numbers provide an easy reference to the actual reason listed. Nihlus 15:18, 23 February 2019 (UTC)

I'll be boldy updating these unless someone has a good reason not to. Nihlus 13:45, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

(Outdent) Go ahead, I like Nihlus' idea. — regards, Revi 13:56, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

Done. Someone who is more familiar with the translation markup might want to double check to make sure nothing was messed up in my edit. Nihlus 14:24, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

Thanks for the update, seems fine.--Cohaf (talk) 15:44, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

I have updated the delete reason dropdown accordingly. Thanks. —MarcoAurelio (talk) 21:25, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

Partial blocks on Meta-Wiki

Hello Meta contributors,

Anti-Harassment Tool team's is doing ongoing work to improve Special:Block. Last month partial block was introduced on Italian Wikipedia and is now being used on on a regular basis to address vandalism and other kinds of abusive edits. During this first month, the majority of partial blocks set on Italian Wikipedia were to ip contributors and newly created named accounts that are doing vandalism and other common types of abuse. There were also a few partial blocks of ip range blocks making similar abusive edits. Partial blocks makes it possible for the block to be targeted to specific pages and prevent collateral damage that can happen with range blocks.

Since Italian Wikipedia found partial blocks useful and there are no serious known issues or bugs, our team is planning to slowly introduce partial blocks into more Foundation wikis. Our team decided to prioritize deploying to Meta before other wikis because there is the added benefit of giving Meta admins the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the best uses for partial blocks before it comes to their local wiki. Of course, the primary reason for deploying on Meta is so that Meta admins can get the full benefit of all Special:Block's features.

It is scheduled to SWAT deploy to Meta on Thursday, February 21 at 00:00–01:00 UTC (Wednesday 16:00–17:00 PST.) The interface will change and the new partial block function will be added. I anticipate that the most common uses will be similar to requests for blocks made on Meta:Requests for help from a sysop or bureaucrat. Since currently Meta does not have a detailed policy about blocks, more documentation and discussion about partial blocks uses is probably not needed before the feature is introduced.

For anyone interested in a more detailed policy or guideline, Italian Wikipedia wrote a page that explains the use of partial blocks. Something similar could be added to Meta.

Let me know if you have any questions or thoughts about introducing partial blocks on Meta. For the Anti-Harassment Tools team. SPoore (WMF) Strategist, Community health initiative (talk) 23:17, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Just my 2 cents: You can't be a BS in one part of the project and a constructive contributor in another place. This sounds like you can be tolerated in a project as long as you are behaving well on some part of a project while being a BS on some other part of the project. — regards, Revi 00:51, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

@-revi: Yes, though we know that we have certain ranges where the dipsticks hang out who like to vandalise certain pages, and we don't block these ranges due to collateral damage. This could allow better-tuned restrictions on pages like SRP, SRG and some user talk pages.  — billinghurst sDrewth 01:37, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

@-revi: and @Billinghurst:, thank you both for considering the possible new uses for partial block. We are collecting metrics about its use that we will make public. And I'm reviewing the logs every few days to get a sense of how it is being used. It is mostly being used to block ip contributors and newly created named accounts that are vandalizing. Also some range blocks. A few for copyright violations. As billinghurst says, a partial block allows for a more targeted use that can limit collateral damage. Over time we'll see how else the use evolves. SPoore (WMF) Strategist, Community health initiative (talk) 17:16, 27 February 2019 (UTC)

@SPoore (WMF): The one thing that I would love to see is the ready ability to block an IP address/account from a page itself, probably from the page history and diffs (admin gadget possibility?). On a page history/diff, one click "partial" and it prefills the page name, partial block, and removes the other fields. [Some clarity would be helpful around ticking "stop account creation" with a partial block as that seems a little weird, and only relevant to full blocks.]  — billinghurst sDrewth 00:14, 28 February 2019 (UTC)

@Billinghurst:, I'll verify with Trevor and the developers about how the "stop account creation" should be working with partial block added and make sure that it is working as expected and the documentation is accurate. During the next 3 or 4 months, our team plans to finish adding the basic level of functionality for pb and fix the bugs that significantly interfere with its use. Then we can begin prioritizing the addition of more improvements like the one that you're suggesting. In all likelihood, more major work won't happen until after we finish work on a new User reporting system. But we will need to begin collecting and prioritizing ideas about more blocking improvements well in advance so keep on thinking about ways that pb can be better integrated into admin and functionary workflows. SPoore (WMF) Strategist, Community health initiative (talk) 15:30, 28 February 2019 (UTC)

Changes related to the checkbox for "stop account creation" should go out this week. See Phab ticket T208510 for the working we are doing. I think it will address the issue you raise. SPoore (WMF) Strategist, Community health initiative (talk) 16:44, 28 February 2019 (UTC)