Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Archives/2005

The Wikipedia Signpost is published every Monday. Below are archived stories from 2005.

See also a category-based view.

January

Volume 1, Issue 1, 10 January 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Welcome to the Signpost!

• Portal: Wikipedia website changed to multilingual portal

• Credibility: Broadsheets and blogs debate over Wikipedia

• Features: Articles on major disasters fall short of featured status

• Instapundit: Blog sets off edit war, gets itself protected

• Fundraiser: Foundation fundraising drive postponed

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• QuakeAID: Wikipedians fight possible earthquake aid scam

• Upgrade: Work continues to fix MediaWiki upgrade

• Top 100: Wikipedia moves into top 100 websites

• AMA election: AMA begins plans for new election

• Speedy deletion: Expansion of speedy deletion up for vote

Volume 1, Issue 2, 17 January 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Help wanted

• Server order: New servers to deal with performance issues

• Writing contest: International Wikipedia writing contest proposed

• Country infoboxes: Template debate engulfs country articles

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Fvw: Fvw granted adminship with record support

• Celebrities: Policy on celebrity impersonators revisited

• Features: Featured article candidates on controversial topics struggle

• In the media: Media still probing Wikipedia credibility debate

Volume 1, Issue 3, 24 January 2005

• Mediation Committee: Mediation Committee adds members, new chair nominated

• Nofollow tag: Wikipedia ponders joining search engines in fight against spam

• Taiwan Encyclopedia: Taiwan government models project after Wikipedia

• News and notes: News and notes: Features and contests, new administrators

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Rave Awards: Jimmy Wales nominated for Rave Award

• Performance improvements: Developers work on servers, speed picks up again

• Speedy deletion expanded: Speedy deletion criteria officially expanded

• Veja: Brazilian magazine commits vandalism, writes about it

Volume 1, Issue 4, 31 January 2005

• Webcred conference: Blogosphere reacts to Wikipedia after Harvard conference

• Policy proposals: Enforcement against personal attacks proposed

• Tangshan earthquake: Indian Ocean quake inspires collaboration targeting Tangshan

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Block wars: Administrators fight over two controversial blocks

• Heavy metal umlaut: Heavy metal umlaut made into blog movie

• Tim Starling: Developer Tim Starling leaves Wikipedia

• New features: Given extra time, Cambodia becomes featured article

February

Volume 1, Issue 5, 7 February 2005

• Main page protection: Main page locked down after major vandalism

• 500 featured articles: Featured articles pass 500 mark

• Proxies: Effort to block proxies via bot aborted

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Encarta: Microsoft challenges Wikipedia with Encarta giveaway

• Advocacy groups: Outside groups targeting Wikipedia spur fears about bias

• Three-revert rule: Three-revert rule enforcement practices debated

Volume 1, Issue 6, 14 February 2005

• Google hosting: Wikimedia Board considers proposal for Google to help host content

• Wikipedia portal redesign: Redesign of Wikipedia portal site still being discussed after poll closes

• Music recordings: New project begins to add music recordings to Wikipedia

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Misinformation on Wikipedia: Wikipedia accused of being source for Washington Post error

• Budget and contract: Wikimedia takes over bandwidth contract, sets quarterly budget

• Wikiportals: Subject Wikiportals introduced to the English Wikipedia

• Article hoax: Attempt to foist false article on Wikipedia revealed

Volume 1, Issue 7, 21 February 2005

• Wired feature: Jimmy Wales misses out on Rave Award, settles for magazine article instead

• Feature storm: Perfect storm: article created, then featured after only two weeks

• NPR: Significance of Wikipedia growth explored on NPR

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Gdansk or Danzig: New push to resolve Gdansk

• Googlepedia column: Media speculation and debate about Google and Wikipedia continues

• Fundraising drive: Fundraising drive off to successful start

• Harvard coverage: Wikipedia gets double coverage at Harvard

Volume 1, Issue 8, 28 February 2005

• Power outage: Power outage halts editing for a day, but not donations

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Criticism and reaction: Critiques of Wikipedia remain hot topic, both outside and in

• Vertical search: Wikipedia seen as possible competitor in vertical search

March

Volume 1, Issue 9, 7 March 2005

• Fundraiser ended: Wikimedia fundraiser exceeds target, ends early

• FOSDEM: Jimmy Wales asks for more developers at FOSDEM

• Wikipedia citations: Student use of Wikipedia citations debated

• NY Times archive: New York Times moving closer to competing on Wikipedia turf

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Peer review and FAC: Peer review boosts featured article output to new record

• Gdansk or Danzig: Vote on Gdansk

• Block war and desysoping: Block war leads to group being de-sysoped temporarily

• Yahoo anniversary: Yahoo! features Wikipedia in its anniversary celebration

Volume 1, Issue 10, 14 March 2005

• Page moves: Page moves restricted as part of fight against vandalism

• Recycling Troll: Suspicion of banned user's return prompts block war until Jimbo steps in

• Dispute resolution changes: Changes to dispute resolution lead to controversy

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Power outage redux: Another power outage briefly knocks out website

• In the news: In the media: Prolific editors featured, German magazine plagiarizes

• Guanaco adminship: Reinstatement of adminship requested for Guanaco

Volume 1, Issue 11, 21 March 2005

• Half-million articles: Wikipedia reaches milestone with half-million English articles

• Quarto: Second issue of Wikimedia Quarto released in five languages, more to come

• Conference and expo: Wikipedia represented at tech conference and major computer expo

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Best or worst: Wikipedia described as best or worst of the Web, depending on the source

• Database disk space: Overloaded database server forces Wikipedia to shut off editing temporarily

• CC-Wiki license: Creative Commons unveils new license for wikis

• Top admin leaves: Ta bu shi da yu leaves the building

Volume 1, Issue 12, 28 March 2005

• London meetup: London meetup spurs efforts to start UK Wikimedia chapter

• MediaWiki progress: MediaWiki 1.4 released, preparations move forward for version 1.5

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Return of stats: Wikipedia statistics updated for first time in months

• Wikiwax index: Outside sites build more indexes and links to Wikipedia

• Prosecution and de-adminship: Proposed new processes for prosecution, de-adminship provoke uproar

April

Volume 1, Issue 13, 4 April 2005

• April Fool's Day: Hoax articles on April Fool's rub some the wrong way

• Arbitration policy revote: Revote on arbitration policy amendments ends in failure

• Proxy list: New list used to block open proxies

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Syntax standardization: Wiki syntax standardization project proposed

• In the news: News outlets note Wikipedia's rapid updates, jokes

• Plagiarism and comedy: Wikipedia figures in blog's story of student plagiarism

Volume 1, Issue 14, 11 April 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Help needed during upcoming vacation

• Yahoo support: Yahoo! announces support for the Wikimedia Foundation

• Speed feature: New article races to featured status but falls short of record

• DVD releases: Media covers German Wikipedia DVD, plans for English

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Privacy policy: Privacy policy officially adopted

• Encarta editing: Microsoft Encarta announces new editing facilities

• Dot-org boom: Wikimedia Foundation part of "dot-org boom" festival

Volume 1, Issue 15, 18 April 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: New features and plans during vacation

• Andrea Dworkin death: Wikipedia breaks the news of Andrea Dworkin's death

• Lucene search: Internal search function returns to service

• Encarta elaborates: Encarta makes subtle digs at Wikipedia

• Features and admins: News and notes: Features and new administrators

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Tax exempt status: Wikimedia Foundation granted tax exemption in US

• Spoken Wikipedia: Project to record spoken Wikipedia articles is launched

• Template standardisation: Template dispute leads to design contest

• In the news: Press covers Wikipedia after being beaten to the punch

Volume 1, Issue 16, 25 April 2005

• From the editor: From the editor

• Papal scoop: New Pope sparks wave of edits to Wikipedia

• Writing contest: International writing contest results announced

• In the news: Encarta pseudo-wiki debate continues

• The Sanger memoirs: Larry Sanger publishes memoirs

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Features and admins: News and notes: Features and new administrators

May

Volume 1, Issue 17, 2 May 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: New feature ideas

• Commons donation: 10,000 art images donated to Wikimedia Commons

• Wikipedia in print: Directmedia announces plans to print Wikipedia content

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Features and admins: News and notes: Features and new administrators

• In the news: Press coverage this week

• Wikimedia elections: Wikimedia Board elections underway

Volume 1, Issue 18, 9 May 2005

• From the editor: From the editor

• Features and admins: News and notes: Features and new administrators

• In the news: Press coverage this week

• Brockhaus plagiarism suspected: Brockhaus plagiarism suspected

• Meetings and events: Recent meetings and events

Volume 1, Issue 19, 16 May 2005

• From the editor: From the editor

• Board meeting: Board meeting and elections this week

• In the news: Press coverage this week

• MediaWiki 1.5: MediaWiki 1.5 is released, undergoes testing

• Image uploading: New software for finding and uploading images

• Other news sources: Wikipedia news sources flourish

• Features and admins: Recent features and new administrators

• Skanwiki proposal: New Norwegian language policy settled

Volume 1, Issue 20, 23 May 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Happy to be back

• Noncommercial images: Ban on images with restrictive licenses announced

• Radio show: New radio show records pilot episode about Wikipedia

• Proceedings of Wikitech-l: MediaWiki nominated for prize, new database dumps available

• In the news: In the news: Wikipedia serves as supplement to science, BBC

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• German scandal: Political scandal engulfs German Wikipedia

• Dating system: Debate over designation of years yields inconclusive result

• Librarians project: Invasion of librarians spawns new WikiProject

• Traffic growth: Traffic growth in US second only to baseball

• Wikijunior needs you!: Wikijunior project appeals for help

Volume 1, Issue 21, 30 May 2005

• Foundation official positions: Wikimedia names seven to official positions

• Laotian Rock Rat: Rapid response to rock rat revelations

• Features and admins: Featured article citation rules discussed, featured lists invented

• Substubs and templates: Substubs deprecated, templates standardized

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• In the news: Wikipedia featured in Time Magazine

• Wikimedia Board election: Start of election delayed again

• Vandal fighter: Recent changes patrol adds new tools against vandalism

• Free software trophy: MediaWiki wins free software trophy

June

Volume 1, Issue 22, 6 June 2005

• Global downtime: Downtime scheduled Tuesday for server relocation

• Content arbitration: Content arbitration, reform of mediation process discussed

• Features and admins: Debate over whether all content has feature potential

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Password security: Password security upgraded after Slashdot furor

• Wales meets Brockhaus: Wales and Brockhaus CEO meet the press together

• Lists and rankings: Wikipedia named one of 2005's best products

• In the news: Press coverage this week

Volume 1, Issue 23, 13 June 2005

• Server status: Main server cluster relocated, more machines coming online

• Features, removal, admins: Process for removing featured articles debated

• In the news: Wikipedia inspires fight against disease, newspaper "wikitorials"

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Apple and reputations: Apple-Intel fallout both good and bad for Wikipedia

• ESA meeting: Wikimedia representatives to meet with European Space Agency

• New syntax draft: Initial draft of revised wiki syntax floated

Volume 1, Issue 24, 20 June 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: A new feature

• Wikitorials and Wikipedia: Abortive wikitorial project sparks more debate on Wikipedia's merits

• Features and admins: Featured status removal still being discussed as license policy hits images

• Wikimedia elections: Technical change in voter eligibility announced while candidates trickle in

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• 100 times 100: 100 Wikipedias have 100 articles

• Podcasting problems: Biased editing on podcasting turns into public spat

• In the news: Media focus on collaboration includes Wikipedia

Volume 1, Issue 25, 27 June 2005

• MediaWiki 1.5: Wikipedia upgraded to MediaWiki 1.5

• Article blocking: Blocking users by article pondered after block triggers admin's departure

• Animation contest: Contest held to produce history-animation tool

• KDE integration: Wikipedia integration into KDE desktop announced

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Directed donations: Earmarking of donations considered, trustees election starts

• University Challenge: Wikipedia is answer to TV quiz show question

• Features and admins: Featured picture process tweaked, changes to adminship debated

• Spoken article feed: Spoken Wikipedia project moves into podcasting

July

Volume 1, Issue 26, 4 July 2005

• Bugs break watchlists: Work proceeds on bugs in MediaWiki upgrade as watchlists break

• Mailing list moderation: Mailing list moderation efforts hiked

• Features and cricket: Cricket Wikiproject turns out extensive featured material in June

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Admin milestones, debate: Admin milestones reached, process debated

• In the news: Media turn to experts for evaluation of Wikipedia

• Games on Wikipedia: Squabble over propriety of games on Wikipedia

• News and notes: News and notes: Quarto, German award, meetup

Volume 1, Issue 27, 11 July 2005

• London bombings article: Bombings article tracks breaking news with record editing pace

• Access, traffic statistics: Statistics indicate where Wikipedia is most popular

• Mixed blog reactions: Wikipedia prompts compliments, analysis, and call to action from blogs

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Speedy deletion changes proposed: New effort to overhaul deletion being voted on

• Award and press citations: Even without London events, Wikipedia draws media coverage, award

• Features and admins: Changes in displaying featured pictures discussed

• News and notes: News and notes: Possible main page redesign

Volume 1, Issue 28, 18 July 2005

• Wikimedia board elections: Trustees re-elected, but exact results delayed

• Features and admins: Picture of the day debuts on main page

• Folksonomy and GNAA: Two articles draw crowds on votes for deletion

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• In the news: Media praises, pans Wikipedia, uses it for corrections

• Harry Potter: Harry Potter book boiled down for article

• News and notes: News and notes: Page rank drops

• German Wikipedia bounties: German Wikipedia introduces incentive scheme

Volume 1, Issue 29, 25 July 2005

• Market share report: Wikipedia earns top market share for reference sites

• Britannica editorial board: Britannica announces new editorial board

• In the news: Wikipedia praised in media, including by competitor of sorts

• Theory of Wikipedia: Theoretical underpinnings of Wikipedia explored

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Speedy deletion expansion: Criteria for speedy deletion expanded

• Joke turned rumor: Wikipedia-inspired joke turns into blog rumor

• LinuxFund donation: New source of funding added

• News and notes: News and notes: Features, admins, etc.

August

Volume 1, Issue 30, 1 August 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Help wanted with Wikimania coverage

• Featured content: Outside sources monitoring featured articles

• In the news: Wikipedia becomes authoritative source on film profanity

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Votes for deletion: Deletion process gets noticed by media

Volume 1, Issue 31, 8 August 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Suspending operations

• Deletion deletion: Deletion of Votes for Deletion shocks system

• Hype over no announcement: Media hypes Wikimania announcement that wasn't

• Wales blogs for Lessig: Jimmy Wales blogs for Lawrence Lessig

• Greenlighting Cyrus Farivar: Hoax exposé prompts attempt to delete author

• In the news: Press cautious, but notes breadth of detail on Wikipedia

• Features and admins: Attempt to feature notorious article causes controversy

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 32, 15 August 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Operations continued with temporary editor

• Slate vfd watch: Slate again generates VfD controversy

• News and notes: News and notes: Deletion reform and milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia citations abound; Wikimania article published

• Features and admins: Twelve new admins mark a week of records

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 33, 22 August 2005

• Wikiproject decency vfd: VfD spurs controversy, record vote count

• G4 and Jamie Kane: Wikipedia for promotional purposes?

• Experimental deletion process 2: New "Experimental Deletion" process started

• News and notes: News and notes: Funding drive, procedural changes, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: New features proposed, record number of articles promoted

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 34, 29 August 2005

• Roll with the changes: Procedural changes this week

• Vandals resurface: Vandals surface again, disrupting Wikipedia

• Portal namespace: Portal namespace created

• News and notes: News and Notes: Funding drive, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Rare request for bureaucratship receives vast support

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

• Errors and omissions: Errors and omissions

September

Volume 1, Issue 35, 5 September 2005

• Statistics released: Delayed Wikipedia statistics released

• News and notes: News and Notes: Funding drive, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Bureaucratship comes to the fore

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 36, 12 September 2005

• New user log: New user log created

• Anti-vandal tools: New vandalism-fighting tools released

• File upload selector: New licensing selector for file uploads

• News and notes: News and Notes: Funding drive, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 37, 19 September 2005

• CSD criteria: New image CSD criterion added

• ArbCom election: A look at the upcoming Arbitration Committee elections

• Esperanza group: New group aims to promote Wiki-Love

• News and notes: News and Notes: Wikimeetup, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 38, 26 September 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Proposed Signpost Redesign

• Wikimedia hire: Wikimedia adds second full-time employee

• ArbCom election: Special Series: Arbitration Committee Elections

• Esquire article: Wikipedia edits Esquire

• Wikipedia applications: Wikipedia used in new applications

• News and notes: News and Notes: Jimbo on C-SPAN, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

October

Volume 1, Issue 39, 3 October 2005

• Speedy copyvios: New speedy deletion criteria added

• ArbCom election: Special Series: Arbitration Committee Elections

• ArbCom resignation: ArbCom member resigns

• 2006 Wikimania bids: Official Wikimania host bids identified, two finalists chosen

• News and notes: News and Notes: Mediation changes, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 40, 10 October 2005

• Breaking news: BREAKING NEWS: Two new arbitrators appointed

• Article quality criticisms: Quality of Wikipedia writing questioned

• ArbCom election: Special Series: Arbitration Committee Elections

• Candidate statements: Candidates join the race for ArbCom

• News and notes: News and Notes: French contributor dies, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 41, 17 October 2005

• Wikipedia growth: Report shows Wikipedia audience growth over past year

• ArbCom election: Special Series: Arbitration Committee Elections

• ArbCom update: Two arbitrators appointed as more candidates join race

• Conflict of interest: Edit warrior traced back to airline

• News and notes: News and Notes: Checkuser proposal, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins: Twenty new admins created

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 42, 24 October 2005

• Answers.com partnership: Wikipedia extends partnership with Answers.com

• ArbCom election: Special Series: Arbitration Committee Elections

• ArbCom update: Jimbo outlines new elections process

• China block: Wikipedia access from China blocked again

• Checkuser controversy: Checkuser proposal causes controversy

• Multilingual redirects: Replacing old links with multilingual pages debated

• Take two: Outside discussion of Wikipedia quality goes another round

• Wikimania: Wikimania 2006 to be held in Boston

• Esperanza election: First Esperanza Advisory Committee election concludes

• News and notes: News and Notes: PageRank, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

Volume 1, Issue 43, 31 October 2005

• China block: New developments in response to China block

• ArbCom election: Special Series: Arbitration Committee Elections

• ArbCom update: Candidates join, withdraw in face of uncertainty

• Image storage: Technical improvements to image storage planned

• Guardian rates articles: Selected articles get expert ratings

• Tim Starling Day: Wikipedia celebrates Tim Starling Day

• News and notes: News and Notes: Encarta article, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation

November

Volume 1, Issue 44, 7 November 2005

• From the editor: From the editor: Newsroom changes

• ArbCom election: Special Series: Arbitration Committee Elections

• ArbCom update: ArbCom member resigns

• News and notes: News and Notes: 800,000th article, milestones

• In the news: Wikipedia in the news

• Features and admins: Features and admins

• Arbitration report: The Report On Lengthy Litigation