User talk:Richard

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Images?

I just tried uploading in image to Overdrive (Transformers) and it worked. Before I do any more, what sort of licensing is required? Same As Wikipedia? I know you guy don't have the same notability standards, what about non-free image licensing? Same? Stronger or looser requirements? Mathewignash 17:38, 9 July 2011 (MSD)

The site is under public domain licensing (which means stuff posted has no copyright.) However, if you want to publish images from Wikipedia (i.e. under the CCA Share-alike license) that's fine too, as long as you cite the original source of the image and mention that it's under CCA licensing. Govind is adding a new template to help with this. {{image-cca|http://originalsource}} Richard 18:03, 9 July 2011 (MSD)
They are images I uploaded to Wikipedia, but when the articles got deleted, so did the images. If they are no longer on Wikipedia, can they still be shared? I'm not sure how to procede. It might be that the images don't belong on Wikialpha unless they are free.Is licensing like Wikipedia, where they consider all toy images non-free because they are considered "art"? How about a TV series screen capture? Mathewignash 18:06, 9 July 2011 (MSD)
If it's license-free then you can publish it. If it's public domain then you can publish it. If Wikipedia deleted it, then you can publish it. If it's still on Wikipedia then you need to use {{image-cca|http://originalsource}} . If you're not sure where it's from then you can put it up anyway as long as you're reasonably sure it won't cause a copyright issue. TV and movie screenshots are fair-use, since we are a news and encyclopedic publication, and they are being published for educational and/or parody purposes. Any other questions, feel free to ask. Cheers Richard 18:13, 9 July 2011 (MSD)
I'm worried I'd not do it right. If someone loads a screen shot to an article and licenses it, I'll use that as an example. I got in trouble on Wikipedia once for adding images and then using the wrong licensing, and I don't want to be stuck with 20+ images that are licensed wrong. If I wanted to add a screen shot to an existing article, and it's a screen shot I took, what license would I use? Mathewignash 18:25, 9 July 2011 (MSD)
Ok, I hear you. We'll make a {{image-fairuse|source|explaination}} template and if later there are problems we'll help you fix them :) Richard 18:40, 9 July 2011 (MSD)
So does the image licensing for Black Shadow (Transformers) look right? Mathewignash 18:48, 9 July 2011 (MSD)
Yeah looks fine. Govind is creating the template now. Cheers Richard 18:52, 9 July 2011 (MSD)

Deleted:Title?

Do deleted pages imported from Wikipedia have to keep the word "deleted" in their name? Mathewignash 17:53, 9 July 2011 (MSD)

No, please feel free to move them into article space, if you can bring them up to WikiAlpha standards. Richard 18:03, 9 July 2011 (MSD)

You have your first vandal

user:Wikilulz is vandalizing articles. Mathewignash 18:44, 9 July 2011 (MSD)

So we do. Thank you, we've blocked him. Govind is rolling back all his changes. :) Richard 18:47, 9 July 2011 (MSD)

Spambots being used on English Wikipedia

As the administrator of this website, can you please comment at English Wikipedia's Administrator's Noticeboard/Incidents, through your Wikipedia account, regarding the use of spambots to send automated emmails to Wikipedia editors? Singularity42 (talk) 21:13, 9 July 2011 (MSD)

We like to inform people when their articles are being deleted on Wikipedia, and encourage them to retain and improve their article here on WikiAlpha. If you do not wish to receive emails from other Wikipedia users then please disable the User Email feature on that site. As to Wikipedia's policy on blocking and removing members for nonsense reasons, we are familiar with it, and do not care. Thank you. Richard (talk) 21:28, 9 July 2011 (MSD)
If I may chime in, the informative email from WikiAlpha allowed me to know the page I wrote was being copied to their site, and I found that information helpful. I don't think it's "spam" to inform someone via their public email link that you are doing something with a page they wrote. That's just using thier email link for the purpose it's intended. Don't be confrontational though Richard. If there are specific rules on Wikipedia, try to work within them. I think it's better to work WITH them than against them. Mathewignash (talk) 21:38, 9 July 2011 (MSD)
Agreed. We are trying to comply, but their interpretation of their own rules is really sour, and we have no way to talk to anyone who will listen to us. Apparently anything generated by a robot is automatically spam, and that's all there is to it. Richard (talk) 21:45, 9 July 2011 (MSD)

Troll alert

Seems to be a troll user at anon 173.224.217.162 Mathewignash (talk) 02:35, 11 July 2011 (MSD)

False information?

How is it false information? The information is demonstratably provable, as seen on the page itself. when blocked, another account was created to bypass that block, which is against wikipedia policies. you cannot block me, i have dozens of proxies at my disposal, so either stop being a troll and reflect the truth, or spend hours dealing with me and my proxies tearing up your "open" wiki.

Don't you think it's a little ironic that you're spamming us? We never vandalized Wikipedia. You clearly have a different definition to spam than we do. That's fine. Now go away. Richard (talk) 02:43, 11 July 2011 (MSD)
Funny, the same IP is blocked at Wikipedia too. No one wants him there either. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/173.224.217.162 Mathewignash (talk) 02:45, 11 July 2011 (MSD)
It's just a proxy. If it gets out of hand I'll put up some code or find an addon to detect and automatically block them. Richard (talk) 02:47, 11 July 2011 (MSD)
All open proxies are blocked at Wikipedia. Don't bother cross checking my edits there to try to identify me, it won't happen, i dont edit there. and im not going to "go away". You have until the end of the day to change the "appalling manner" language to a more neutral one, or I give your admins lots to do, by either locking down your entire wiki, or spending hours upon hours blocked automated edits by dozens of proxies all over the world. Oh, and dont bother trying to get the Wikipedia to stop me, i got nothing to do with them, and they dont know who i am.
Amazing. Why did we never think of blocking all open proxies? It's not like we've never done this stuff before guy. You keep them coming and we'll keep blocking them. Richard (talk) 02:54, 11 July 2011 (MSD)
We're still waiting for the result of ignoring this 'final warning' of yours. Richard (talk) 03:51, 11 July 2011 (MSD)

[1]. Need any assistance, let me know, okay? It's not like we have never done this before. The Wikipedia community isn't responsible for what a loose cannon does, unless, of course, it is. Wikipedia is far more vulnerable than you, in reality. You can set non-open policies, you can use bot reversion, you can easily, being small and close-controlled, outmaneuver these idiots with too much time on their hands and a habit of coercion and threat. Be careful you don't imitate them, though. Choose, and I recommend you choose openly and clearly. And listen, as you did to complaints about the emails. There is more than one way to bell a cat. Congratulations and good luck. --Abd (talk) 18:11, 11 July 2011 (MSD)

Attribution essay

I started an essay WikiAlpha:Attribution to discuss some of the attribution issues currently being raised. I'd like to get more eyes on it since I might always be wrong... Wnt (talk) 18:55, 19 July 2011 (MSD)

Thanks Wnt, will have a look shortly. Richard (talk) 09:06, 24 July 2011 (MSD)

Can I have permission to edit the main page

There isn't an awful lot on the main page at the moment. If I was given whatever permission I need to do it, I could work on it. Thanks Alicianpig (talk) 19:48, 4 August 2011 (MSD)

I'm curious what you would do with it. Can you make a page in your userspace of what you would add? Mathewignash (talk) 20:49, 4 August 2011 (MSD)
It's up to Govind, he's in charge of mainpage layout, protected templates etc. But I expect he will be welcoming if you have a good plan. Richard (talk) 17:14, 6 August 2011 (MSD)
hi Alicianpig, please leave proposed changes to the Main Page on its talk page and I'll review them. Govind (talk) 08:40, 7 August 2011 (MSD)

We have a spambot

Editor Johnjones here http://en.wikialpha.org/wiki?title=Treadshot&diff=prev&oldid=2371 Mathewignash (talk) 16:07, 6 August 2011 (MSD)

Thanks, he's banned now. Richard (talk) 17:15, 6 August 2011 (MSD)
Another Spambot here User:Robertsmith Mathewignash (talk) 15:00, 10 August 2011 (MSD)

Does Wikialpha host jokes?

I wasn't sure if this was a legitimate subject, as it's a joke/hoax, seemingly made up by the author. Mathewignash (talk) 17:23, 6 August 2011 (MSD)

Yeah it's allowed, as long as the article is clearly marked as a joke/fiction. We may need a template and infobox etc at some point. Thanks, Richard (talk) 17:43, 6 August 2011 (MSD)
Added {{Joke article}}; please mark all future humorous articles with that. Please note the distinction between intentional jokes and blatant hoaxes; the latter is criteria for speedy deletion. Govind (talk) 08:50, 7 August 2011 (MSD)

Do you regret this scheme now?

[2]

--Divebomb (whom Mathewignash may know from Wikipedia) 00:13, 7 August 2011 (MSD)

Tarc has long been a loud-mouth over on Wikipedia. I don't think anyone cares much what he says. Mathewignash (talk) 02:02, 7 August 2011 (MSD)

No, we hope to find more users like Matt. And I think Tarc is an abusive and destructive person to have around. Best of luck to Wikipedians in dealing with him. Richard (talk) 03:03, 7 August 2011 (MSD)

Drumming up some editors

I had an idea for getting the Wikialpha word out. I listen to several podcasts that do not have Wikipedia articles, because they are not "notable" enough. I started a bare-bones article on Wikialpha (Dragon Page Cover To Cover), then posted on the message board an invite for the listeners of the show to come here fill in the details. http://www.farpointforums.com/showthread.php?tid=4561&pid=59031#pid59031 That might get some editors. Mathewignash (talk) 03:36, 7 August 2011 (MSD)

Good idea. Richard (talk) 07:10, 7 August 2011 (MSD)
Today I scanned though the Wikipedia denied undeletion requests for people who were denied in recreating their articles for being non notable, and I mentioned privately to authors that their article would be welcome on Wikialpha. Mathewignash (talk) 16:33, 13 August 2011 (MSD)
Nice work. Richard (talk) 05:30, 14 August 2011 (MSD)

Possible problems

You might want to look at the article Yaroow‎ and the edits of User:Robertsmith. Mathewignash (talk) 02:26, 18 August 2011 (MSD)

Banned, thanks. Richard (talk) 04:17, 18 August 2011 (MSD)

Question, do we need some proof term exists at all?

Recently user Alicianpig started making article about groups and terms that have no references at all, and I can find no proof they even exist. I know we are not Wikipedia in requiring notability, but do terms need some kind of proof? Anyways, since the pages have no references or Categories, maybe we can at least suggest they get some?Mathewignash (talk) 17:47, 26 August 2011 (MSD)

Unsourced material may be freely challenged and if it is a blatant hoax then tag it for speedy deletion. I'd recommend Googling around to see if the term exists first, and if not, delete it. Govind (talk) 21:51, 26 August 2011 (MSD)

Thanks for the help

Hi Richard. I got your reply. Just wanted to thank you for the help. It's certainly appreciated. Best regards. Web (talk) 14:27, 8 June 2012 (MSD)

Robot plague

I started a subject in the community portal about the current plague of robot members we have. I'd appreciate any comment you have on the subject. Mathewignash (talk) 01:41, 12 July 2012 (MSD)

Classic skin error

The Classic skin seems to have an error. I can't view any pages, and I can't turn it off, because I can't view the pages that changes the skins! I tried creating a new account to edit a page to tell you, but it won't send me a confirmation. I've been told by several people recently that they are not getting confirmation letters from Wikialpha. Maybe that's why you can't get any new users? Anyways, can you fix the skin, or change it for me? Thanks Mathewignash (talk) 13:36, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

Additional - I managed to turn off my Classic skin setting by putting a skin override command in the URL of the preference page. Still, you have 2 problems. Anyone using the Classic Skin gets locked out of viewing pages, and no one seems to be getting confirmation emails. I tried to just email you at richard@wikialpha,org, and that email doesn't work. Is there a support email for wikialpha? Mathewignash (talk) 13:39, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
Fixed. Sorry, it was a mistake I made while trying to set up Google Ads. Govind (talk) 23:48, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
Also, I've tried registering a test account and it works, including email confirmation. Govind (talk) 23:58, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

Wikialpha is getting famous in the toy world

Little something neat. I've written so many toy articles on Wikialpha that it's starting to become known for them. I had a Chinese toy company contact me with an email attaching the first pictures of their new toy coming out called "Rhinohorn Aces Version" with them wanting me to write an article about it on Wikialpha! So I wrote the article, and linked it to collector sites.. and it's making the news section. http://www.fullmetalhero.com/content/keith-s-fantasy-club-rhinohorn-aces-version-6277/ Mathewignash (talk) 16:50, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Very nice. Keep up the good work :) Richard (talk) 01:33, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

Robot invasion

The last 2-3, this site has been invaded by spam inserting robots. Has the security against robots joining been removed since the wiki was updated? They are literally adding nonsense articles with spam limbs at a rate of more than one a minute! Mathewignash (talk) 01:04, 30 January 2016 (UTC)

Fuming at Govind at the moment. I forwarded him your email as I was taking a few days rest from work and he didn't fix this. I've fixed it now. I'll have to figure out some way to remove all the spam pages/users. Richard (talk) 16:54, 30 January 2016 (UTC)
Sorry, I tried, but all I could do is watch. They were making new pages faster than I could deleted and block them individually. Can you block any new user who joined in the last 72 hours, and delete any pages created by them?Mathewignash (talk) 17:06, 30 January 2016 (UTC)
Not your fault at all. Recaptcha plugin was replaced with ConfirmEdit and it was not clear that the new plugin needed additional configuration when I did the changeover. There were a lot of edits by spam bots and I mean a lot. They made 12,000 user accounts. I'm trying to clean it up now. Richard (talk) 17:14, 30 January 2016 (UTC)
Update on this. I'm merging all the spam users into a single user via a script. However the process is CPU intensive so it will take a while. (Approximately 12 hours by my calculation.) Once they are all a single user I can nuke an perm delete their edits quite easily. Richard (talk) 18:14, 30 January 2016 (UTC)
Sounds like a plan, I will stop individually deleting their work then. Mathewignash (talk) 18:17, 30 January 2016 (UTC)
Yep don't worry about spam unless they start joining/getting through again in which case let me know ASAP. This will all be completely cleaned up by the end of tomorrow. Cheers Richard (talk) 18:26, 30 January 2016 (UTC)
So I've re-added our second, custom signup challenge to the signup page and finished merging and deleting the spam accounts and pages. I also fixed the front page listing although its not quite as good as it used to be. Let me know if anything else needs fixing. Cheers Richard (talk) 13:17, 31 January 2016 (UTC)

Request to be admin/patroller/ rollback/page reviewer or any

Greetings, Hope you are safe and indoors.

I'm a contributor in WikiAlpha since 2017 and I have been created and edited many articles with sources. Previously, I worked in Wikipedia for over 2 years as a contributor. I know most of process and rules of Wiki.

I was thinking if it's possible to get another role on WikiAlpha. As for now, I'm only contributor and can't work on the platform properly. I believe my contribution will improve more if I have any other roles rather then only contributor.

Here is summery of edits made by me: [Here]

Regards

Save Article is broken

Is save article supposed to be broken? When I try to save an article an error code saying "preg_match failed!" pops up. If you can fix it, thank you! Rhode (talk) 13:12, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

Dövé Windsor and Tirsiak Smith

Hi, could you please delete the following pages:

Thank you! --SilvaFoxx (talk) 23:26, 27 March 2021 (UTC)

Sysop/Maintenance tools

Hi Richard, I've been doing volunteer maintenance work on WikiAlpha for several months now. Sysop tools might make things easier. Let me know your thoughts whenever you are free (I know you're quite busy in real life). WritingSnowman (talk) 15:47, 21 August 2021 (UTC)

Donation

Hi Richard,

Could you verify that the Bitcoin address at Special:Donate is still valid?

I'd be happy to help with some of the bills, which I assume are recently increasing due to all the extra bandwidth needed to keep WikiAlpha online.

Please also let me know if there is a better way to reach you, since it seems like you are not very active on WikiAlpha anymore.

WritingSnowman (talk) 00:23, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Hi WritingSnowman I've updated the donation page thanks for the kind thoughts. It's true I'm not very active on the wiki itself, but I do maintain the servers if there are problems. If you'd like to discuss mediawiki changes (they're probably well overdue) then please email richard at wikialpha with your discord ID and I'll come find you. Richard (talk) 18:50, 7 September 2022 (UTC)

Fake information: Ansspvt

Someone has created a fake page about Ansspvt, "He was nominated and rewarded as a professional photographer from Boston Harvard University and other Boston colleges." Most of the info added is fake and really it should not exist, all wikis has deleted this page. Sprinterere (talk) 18:35, 8 September 2022 (UTC)

  • Other contributors gave me a heads-up that User:Sprinterere's activities consisted solely of vandalism and attack pages, so I blocked them. Geo Swan (talk) 13:31, 17 September 2022 (UTC)

Copyrighted Images from a Website

Can I upload copyrighted Images from a website if I disclose the source and all the details regarding that image? The image is from a website/company that the person co-owns

I noticed two unusual things this weekend

  1. Uploading images isn't working, or, at least, it is not working, for me...
  2. Mathewignash and I are the only people who have edited this weekend. This is very unual. Usually I would expect to see half a dozen or a dozen new user creations, and at least one hundred edits by half a dozen people.

If I thought I could figure out the image upload issue, I would look into it. But I wouldn't know where to start.

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 23:31, 13 November 2022 (UTC)

Hmm, we moved to a new host so maybe there are teething issues. Thanks for the heads up. Investigating! Richard (talk)
I think both issues should be resolved now! Thanks for bringing them to my attention! I'll check back soon to see if there are further issues Richard (talk)

Wikigems - The Free Gemstone Encyclopedia

If you wanna be an admin on my wiki, let me know! https://editthis.info/wikigems --SilvaFoxx (talk) 05:57, 17 May 2023 (UTC)

Email

Hi Richard,

Your email richard at wikialpha is not working. The "Email this user" function is also not working.

I would like to talk about issues regarding the support and maintenance of WikiAlpha. Please let me know the best way for me to send you my Discord ID. My email is writingsnowman a t protonmail dot com, and my Discord ID is writingsnowman#5792.

WritingSnowman (talk) 21:26, 19 May 2023 (UTC)

Connect on Discord

Hi Richard,

Could you connect with me on Discord? Email also works (writingsnowman a.t protonmail.com)

My Discord ID is writingsnowman#5792.

WritingSnowman (talk) 16:40, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

Trusting WritingSnowman

Richard, I'd like to tell you I trust User:WritingSnowman. He has been carrying a lot of the burden of fighting vandalism here - for years. When it comes to actually blocking vandals, he gives me a heads-up. I've told him I'm grateful. And I have told him that, if you are considering whether he could be entrusted to use administrator authority, I would tell you I am confident he would exercise that authority wisely, fairly and cautiously.

I think he has established a very long, reliable track record.

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 19:13, 5 October 2023 (UTC)

Thanks a lot to Geo Swan for his adminship endorsement. Geo Swan and I work together quite well on WikiAlpha, and we haven't had any disagreements. I do recognize that admin tools must be exercised fairly and cautiously, and should be treated as maintenance tools. Most of all, I'd like to make sure that WikiAlpha continues to be a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for all. WritingSnowman (talk) 12:41, 8 October 2023 (UTC)
  • Richard, let me repeat my heads-up that WritingSnowman has been carrying a lot of the load of countering vandalism on Wikialpha. Let me repeat he has earned my trust.
Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 03:30, 19 January 2024 (UTC)
Thanks Geo Swan! I get along with everyone here and cooperate perfectly with Geo Swan. We would all make a great team. WritingSnowman (talk) 05:13, 8 February 2024 (UTC)

I'm mystified...

There is an odd image: File:HStsdyhB.jpg. As you can see, from File:HStsdyhB.jpg#File usage, it is being transcluded on some templates, and about 2 dozen articles... although I don't see it being particularly called from those articles.

Further, it renders funny -- either overlaying the text, making it hard to read, or being repeated multiple times.

I considered simply deleting it, but I thought it would be better to draw it to your attention, in case it was a symptom of something more serious.

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 02:46, 3 February 2024 (UTC)