In September 2012, a set of temporary restrictions was implemented for DYK nominations for Gibraltar-related articles. They involve:

• Restricting who can review Gibraltar-related articles;
• Placing new nominations in a special holding area;
• Requiring new nominations to be reviewed by two editors instead of the usual one;
• Requiring that COI and POV issues be explicitly addressed in the review;
• Restricting the number of such articles appearing on the Main Page to no more than one per day.

This was in response to a controversy about the GibraltarpediA project, part of which involved a competition to write or expand articles about Gibraltar and the surrounding areas of Spain and Morocco. The restrictions were only intended to be a short-term measure to deal with the controversy.

After the restrictions were imposed, the number of Main Page DYK hooks mentioning Gibraltar fell sharply from a peak of 16 in August to 8 in December (see graph 1 below). There was an uptick in January 2013 due to a post-Christmas drive to clear backlogged DYKs on all topics, falling back to 5 in February to date. However, there are now no more Gibraltar-related DYK nominations listed for review. From this point on, there is likely to be only a minimal number of further DYKs in this topic area - likely to be no more than one or two per month at the most, as there is no further impetus for article creation now that the competition has ended. This assumes that more such DYKs will be nominated, which has not yet happened. If there are no further nominations, the monthly rate will fall to zero.

The number of DYK hooks mentioning Gibraltar has always been modest in any case. It has been considerably less than on a number of other topics appearing over the same time period, such as Indonesia, mushrooms, racehorses, the Olympics and Paralympics (see graph 2 below - Gibraltar is represented by the thick orange line). Up to 744 DYKs appear monthly; Gibraltar-related articles have only ever been a tiny proportion of these (see graph 3 below).

Wikimedia UK's involvement with GibraltarpediA was reviewed by independent consultants and a report on its governance was published on 7 February 2013. It can be read here, along with a chronology of events in 2012. The report has received a minimal amount of media coverage and no further controversy.

The original circumstances which led to the restrictions are now no longer applicable:

• The GibraltarpediA article-creation competition ended on 26 December 2012.
• There is no further impetus for article creation in this topic area.
• Since 1 January 2013, only one Gibraltar-related DYK has been nominated.
• There are currently no new Gibraltar-related DYKs at all and no further Gibraltar-related DYKs waiting to appear on the Main Page.
• The number of new DYKs being created in this topic area is likely to be minimal going forward.
• There is no ongoing public controversy about Gibraltar on Wikipedia and there hasn't been for months.
• Not a single Gibraltar-related DYK, at any time, has attracted any controversy during or after its appearance on the Main Page.
• No COI issues have been identified with any Gibraltar-related DYK during the period of the restrictions.
• Victuallers, who was restricted from reviewing these DYKs, has indicated that he will voluntarily refrain from reviewing similar DYKs in the future.
• There is no prospect, nor has there ever been, of Gibraltar-related DYKs overwhelming DYK.

In addition, the restrictions have caused unnecessary collateral damage to at least 27 other WikiProjects, expecially Wikipedia:WikiProject Gibraltar and Wikipedia:WikiProject Spain, both which was established at the same time in February 2007 and have no connection with GibraltarpediA. The overly-broad wording has restricted any DYKs related to Gibraltar, whether or not their creation had any connection with GibraltarpediA or the now-concluded GibraltarpediA contest. (See the map at right for the geographical area covered by the restrictions.) The author of the restrictions has stated that this was unintentional.[1] The restrictions have caused huge delays in reviewing Gibraltar-related DYKs, of up to three and a half months in some cases. This achieved absolutely nothing positive for Wikipedia or the authors.

I am proposing that these restrictions should be lifted in full as they are no longer necessary and are excessively broad. Gibraltar-related DYKs would thus revert to the situation prior to September 2012 of being treated the same way as any other topic. Please indicate below whether you support or oppose this proposal. Please do not post comments in this section - add them in the discussion section below the support/oppose !votes. Prioryman (talk) 21:36, 13 February 2013‎

1. Strong support I am not convinced that extending the restrictions would help the project. Ryan Vesey 21:55, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
2. Support Naturally I support, but I can't see this being successful.♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 21:57, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
3. Support I don't see any reason to continue the restrictions. -- Khazar2 (talk) 22:02, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
4. Support The restrictions are stupid and impede consensus. - Presidentman talk · contribs (Talkback) 22:03, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
5. Support The restrictions at no point actually resulted in a net benefit to any project.--Kevmin § 22:13, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   I admit to raising an eyebrow at the fact that we're back here yet again, discussing Gibraltarpedia and its effect on DYK, again, led by the same person who's been leading most of the discussions about lifting the sanctions, again. At the same time, though, it seems that the article-creation drive and its resultant mass of DYK nominations have passed, and the continuation of the restrictions would affect pretty much only articles not brought about by GBPedia. Given that (and unless there's some aspect of the case I'm missing - if so, someone please point it out to me), it seems to be useless to continue restrictions that will only penalize articles that have little or nothing to do with the apparently-no-longer-extant massive imbalance that led Gibraltar articles to be a problem. That said, however, if the restrictions are lifted I would absolutely expect there to be no new rush to nominate Gibraltar articles that have been banked until this time, and if such a deluge does happen, I would support the restrictions being restored indefinitely (as in, until users can be trusted not to flood the system). A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 22:15, 13 February 2013 (UTC)There are obvious issues at play here that I wasn't aware of, and I'm not comfortable taking a position given that. A fluffernutter is a sandwich! (talk) 01:16, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   There's no "bank" of Gibraltar-related DYKs waiting to be run, mainly because the editor and suburban mom who contributed most of them appears to have been driven away from Wikipedia. Before she quit she was already quite distressed about people harassing her over Gibraltarpedia. Prioryman (talk) 22:23, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   And she was one of the most productive editors we've had in a long time. People don't really have the right to complain about falling editor numbers after driving her away. Silverseren^C 22:30, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

6. Support This has gone on long enough, and was never a great idea to begin with. --BDD (talk) 22:17, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
7. Support Prolonging this after the end of the project is just cruel. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 22:21, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
8. Support This has not been an issue for a while. The problem was external to Wikipedia. The extra controls showed were were addressing th issue. However they have added unneeded creep in our instructions. Graeme Bartlett (talk) 22:23, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
9. Support I think such a restriction was unnecessary in the first place. Thanks for the graph - it pretty much says it all. Jane (talk) 22:25, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
10. Support Doesn't seem any need at all to continue restrictions at this point. The competition is over. There are no longer any Gibraltar nominations. Silverseren^C 22:29, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
11. Support No COI incentive opposed to any other destination anymore now the competition is over.--Gilderien Chat|List of good deeds 22:31, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
12. Support I think such a restriction was unnecessary in the first place. It was an injustice against the Gibraltarian people and a local project. When such a community strives to create pages for a project it is bound to surge but after production there would only be gradual additions. Tonyevans gi (talk) 22:33, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
13. Support I was against the ban in the first place, it can always be re-limited if necessary. μηδείς (talk) 22:35, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
14. Support -- in line with all my previous comments on the issue. The level of quality and involvement demonstrated in the project should be evidence enough for dropping restrictions.--Ipigott (talk) 22:36, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
15. Support For all the reasons listed above. — Maile (talk) 22:44, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
16. Support per above. Sasata (talk) 22:50, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
17. Support DYK should depend on the quality and veracity of the article submitted; nothing else. "Comment on the edit, not the editor". Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 22:53, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
18. Support Thank you for that graph. From what I could glean from the many arguments on the topic was that the main objection was the aura of editing for a physical reward. That is no longer the case and given the backlash will probably not be attempted again anytime soon for other topics. Given all the free publicity the Olympics got in July and the fact that Gibraltar coverage didn't even exceed the 'Great Derby rush of Sept 12' (partly my fault on that one) the restrictions are moot. Froggerlaura ^ribbit 00:02, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Support Gibraltarpedia had some risky business going on. It should have been discussed with the DYK community before it started. I do agree there was an inappropriate relationship between the consultants and the government of Gibraltar, and it was an unethical use of volunteer labour and the DYK process. What we should be doing here is discussing a framework for dealing with editing drives and promotions that involve DYK in the future. I'm not sure much has been learned through all this malarkey. That said, the drive is over, the GP article stream has dried up, and all these restrictions represent now is an unequal treatment for articles from a certain topic area. The Interior (Talk) 00:06, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Need to re-evaluate. The Interior (Talk) 04:51, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

19. Support. Both those graphs are very telling. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 00:28, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    They are also wrong. There were at least 13 Gibraltar hooks in November, 8 in December, 12 in January, and 6 so far in February. Andreas JN466 00:48, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

20. Support If anything, I might keep the Main-Page limit for another few months, but with the end of the official contest, the 'special bureaucracy' is just a needless hassle for us. WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:27, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
21. Support - we're writing an encyclopaedia, we can't let reactionary panic about the possibility of bad press override that goal. WilyD 07:34, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
22. Support per Ryan Vesey, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:58, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
23. Support. The bubble appears to have burst. The issue for me was the involvement of a WMUK board member with a financial interest in these projects, which appears to have been addressed - thanks, to a large extent, to Andreas's vigilance. I don't think I have a problem with Gibraltar articles being over-represented in DYK, provided the individual incentives aren't excessive or predicated on biased coverage. --Anthonyhcole (talk) 09:05, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
24. Support I've never understood the point of singling Gibraltar-related topics out in this way given that the articles are in good quality and the COI concerns seem overblown (some guidelines which prevent a long run of DYKs on a similar topic are in order though), so it makes sense to lift them. Nick-D (talk) 10:17, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
25. Support - I think that these restrictions shouldn't have been placed in the first place, they definitely shouldn't remain in place now that they're no longer necessary. עוד מישהו Od Mishehu 11:21, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
26. Support. The project isn't harming the community like some hope to paint it, and never truly has; nor has it ever been an overwhelming presence other than in the talk pages where a group of editors spent more time complaining about it than it ever spent on the main page. With there now being zero incentive aside from genuine editor interest in the subject to continue writing articles, there's no reason to dissuade them from doing so. GRAPPLE X 12:51, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
27. Support I think it should be because the competition offering the tangible prize is over, which was the main cause for the restrictions. When it comes to the media reports, who really cares what 1 person on 1 online opinion paper writes? If it was widespread criticism in national newspapers then yes I would say it would be premature but 1 opinion in an online opinion paper should not dictate how Wikipedia is run. The C of E God Save the Queen! (talk) 16:22, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
28. Support Standard DYK rules already specify that articles be reviewed for NPOV. The extra rules are excessive, burdensome and contrary to WP:CREEP and WP:AGF. I've not seen any article about Gibraltar which seems anything like as promotional or sleazy as the current FA. Put a cork in it. Warden (talk) 17:16, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
29. Support Major work in improving an area of content in a neutral way that keeps with the pillars of our community should be commended, and not surpressed. If anything other regions should receive this much attention and improvement!--RightCowLeftCoast (talk) 19:25, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
30. Support. Continuation of restrictions does nothing but impede the development of quality articles. Sure, there were problems with the competitive manner that drew criticism, but much of it has been unwarranted, and it's time to let Gibraltarpedia carry on with its work. dci | TALK 00:04, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
31. Support The restrictions have hindered the production of quality content, and nobody has additional off-wiki reasons to create Gibraltar-related content anymore because the contest is over. Nyttend (talk) 01:47, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
32. Support, DYK nominations should be judged on the quality of the hook and the article. If we were to go down the road of rejecting nominations based on a lack of balance topic-wise, it would make much more sense to start excluding hooks about the U.S., sports or music.--Carabinieri (talk) 18:01, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
33. Support - obviously. Thine Antique Pen (talk) 21:19, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
34. Support per Pigsonthewings intelligent "comment on content, not the contributor" comment. Legoktm (talk) 00:06, 17 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
35. Support Why continue to discourage people from contributing to an encyclopedia with their quality articles? The mind boggles. To keep these silly restrictions is quite frankly discrimination against the topic and the people who enjoy writing about it and do a bloody good job! --Gibmetal 77^{talk 2 me} 12:57, 22 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

1. Please let's not start this topic all over again… :( --Aschmidt (talk) 21:51, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
2. Premature. This whole distasteful affair brought considerable disrepute on the project. I have no confidence that the governance changes will have the required impact without seeing that they have done so. In the meantime, keeping the whole mess from having a chance of dominating Main Page once more seems a good idea for another few months at least. What's the rush? --Dweller (talk) 22:07, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
3. I don't think the timing is ideal given the recent press coverage of Gibraltar-related DYKs. -- Tim Starling (talk) 22:54, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   The Register, and Orlowsky, seem to hate Wikipedia's guts. Have you seen their hatchet piece on Wikimedia's finances? — Crisco 1492 (talk) 23:05, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   The Register is greatly biased against Wikipedia, that's true. It also happens to be pointing out things that the above whitewash is saying didn't happen at all. Which is worse? Shenme (talk) 23:11, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   It is specifically an Orlowski issue, not a Register issue; he's been very hostile towards Wikipedia for a very long time (see e.g. this article from 2004, one of many like it). If Orlowski writes anything about Wikipedia you can bet that it will have a fairly rabid tone. Prioryman (talk) 23:13, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   If you were betting on a "rabid tone" for this specific column (Orlowski, Feb 13, 2013), you'd have lost. Bielle (talk) 20:14, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

4. Oppose quietly saying that it was really no controversy at all. The above does not mention the financial COI, does it? It does not mention people resigning posts out of digust at sweeping issues under the rug, does it? Hey, "we're out of the articles now so why restrict them" is an amazing statement. I was surprised you were permitted to publish them at all, given the manipulations exposed. And saying there won't be a controversy now? It's just sick: "he won't stab anybody anymore, your honor, since he's lost the knife. Why punish him?" And that's just as logical as the above whitewash. And you're comparing 238 million population with Gibraltar? Unbelievable. (And the necessary comment to disarm the dismissive: I read DYK usually twice a day. I think it's the best 'hook' we've got.) Shenme (talk) 23:11, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   We don't do punishments. We only take actions to prevent harm to the Encyclopedia. Your oppose reads like you believe that this should be a punishment. Do you believe keeping the restrictions in place prevents harm? Ryan Vesey 23:15, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   There was a competition with prizes and, yes, that was an incentive for people to contribute DYKs on this topic. The competition is over. Gibraltarpedia is done, effectively. There is no incentive to produce further DYKs, no COI and nothing left to restrict. What is the alternative - restrict and ban any Gibraltar-related DYKs forever because there was a brief controversy over them in 2012? Don't forget the restrictions are "Gibraltar-related", not just Gibraltarpedia-related - where does that leave, for instance, someone who wants to write an article about military history involving Gibraltar but who's never heard of Gibraltarpedia? Prioryman (talk) 23:18, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

5. Oppose as premature. Tim Starling has his finger on the issue. Wikimedia UK was recently given a thorough governance review and some serious conflict of interest issues came up, with QRpedia co-owners giving the green light to Gibraltarpedia—a self-serving move that "was not resolved quickly..." The reviewers noted that issues remain unanswered regarding the ownership of QRpedia and the future of such software. (It was suggested that Wikimedia develop its own version of QR software.) Concerns remain regarding "financial impropriety", so we should not act too quickly to loosen controls. The most prudent public relations move is for Wikipedia to continue to limit Gibraltar-related DYKs for another year so that it does not look like we have lost our moral compass. Binksternet (talk) 23:39, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   QRpedia is and always has been free for anyone to use. Neither its "co-owners" nor anyone else involved with it needed to give the green light for its use in Gibraltar or any of the other many instances of it around the globe. Since the review was published, it has been made clear that IP in QRpedia, and its web domains, are being donated to Wikimedia-UK at no cost. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 00:27, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   As someone who thinks Gibraltarpedia has been a clusterfuck and has his !vote firmly in the oppose section, I have to point out that the QRpedia issue is not relevant to the Gibraltarpedia issue. That it took a long time for QRpedia to get transferred over to WMUK is unfortunate. But Gibraltarpedia using QRpedia is not at all important. Andy is right here: anyone can use QRpedia. If I wrote an article about something that had nothing to do with Gibraltar, and I decided I wanted to show my friends, I could spit out a QR code using QRpedia, print it out and pin it to the office noticeboard with "go read my article about X" written above it. Whether that same article also goes to DYK and any COI issues I might have had in writing it is irrelevant as to whether someone has made some QR codes. —Tom Morris (talk) 12:22, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   Regardless of QRpedia's role in the matter, Wikipedia's reputation has taken a drubbing. To repair the reputation, we should not rush to re-engage the Gibraltar DYKs which were identified in the public's eye as being part of the problem. Rather, we should wait for about a year and loosen restrictions at the same time as we launch several more city or regional Wikipedia article drives, per Kaldari. Binksternet (talk) 17:38, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

6. Oppose as Tim Starling and others. --Atlasowa (talk) 00:07, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
7. Oppose as premature at best. Given the small volume of nominations, the extra restrictions would appear to be not particularly onerous - I know there is an argument that the restrictions are creating the small volume of nominations, but if lifting the restrictions creates a 'rush' in Gibraltar nominations then perhaps that is a demonstration that the restrictions are appropriate. Perhaps also it would be appropriate to wait until there is confirmation that whatever financial arrangements are in place around Gibraltarpedia are concluded (not simply the competition portion). TheOverflow (talk) 00:12, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
8. (edit conflict) Oppose This wasn't an issue with numbers, it was an issue with ethics, which are slightly harder to graph, it seems. I'm as of yet unconvinced that this issue has been resolved. Sven Manguard Wha? 00:15, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
9. Oppose It is quite clear from the Compass report into WMUK that Roger Bamkin had an unlawful conflict of interest when he used his position as a trustee and director with WMUK to promote the Gibraltarpedia project for which he was receiving payment. Gibraltarperia has been given far too soft a ride on DYK and elsewhere. Anyone who advocates the loosening of restrictions is condoning Bamkin and co's unlawful and unethical behaviour. I have no intention of doing so.--Peter cohen (talk) 00:25, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
10. Oppose. Note today's report in The Register, which mentions that they have readers writing in to point out the ongoing "Gibraltar plugs". Andreas JN466 00:47, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
11. Oppose Such a breach of confidence needs far more time to get repaired. The Banner talk 01:09, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
12. Oppose Thank you, Prioryman, for notifying me of this discussion. Grateful though I am, I am not persuaded by your arguments. When you present, as points in support of your position, "No COI issues have been identified with any Gibraltar-related DYK during the period of the restrictions" and "There is no ongoing public controversy about Gibraltar on Wikipedia and there hasn't been for months", you are, at best, misleading us. The COI concerns arose, in large part, out of the Gibraltar-related D.Y.K. and has yet, to my knowledge, to be resolved. We would be precipitate in easing any restrictions until such time as we have a resolution. As for the "public controversy", well, as others have pointed out above, it does still continue, and, in my view, would arise again should we let slip the current leashes. It is not good policy to use the short memory of the press or the reading public as a rationale for doing something otherwise inappropriate. Wikipedia has had sufficient bad press and embarrassment over this matter. We should not be encouraging actions that are likely to start the outcry again. Bielle (talk) 01:29, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
13. No: Good grief, this is still an issue in the media as WMUK's issues are being aired. Gibraltar is a tiny place that's had a disproportionate number of mentions on the main page (my home state of Pennsylvania is far larger and more populous, for example), and should be kept off the main page at least until the scandal is not a current event. --SB_Johnny | ^talk✌ 01:35, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
14. Oppose unless the "Restricting the number of such articles appearing on the Main Page to no more than one per day." restriction is retained. After all, if there's no backlog of DYKs or large incoming number waiting to go, that restriction won't matter, will it? No, just simple oppose now. Some people are quite obviously taking the piss here. Obviously the actual solution is to get rid of the stupidity that is DYK full stop, but I'm guessing that won't happen any time soon. Black Kite (talk) 01:37, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
15. Oppose. I think maintaining our stringent protocols for dealing with these hooks should continue for at least a few more months. At worst, we delay some hooks a bit longer for a second pair-of-eyes. Lord Roem ~ (talk) 02:06, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
16. Oppose - This is already going to go down as one of the most shameful Wikipedia debacles of this decade. Carrite (talk) 03:06, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
17. oppose unlessper Black Kite. I don't see how that restriction can be harmful but I can see how it can help. With that restriction in place, I'm neutral. Hobit (talk) 03:55, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
18. Oppose The COIs surrounding Gibralter were very worrying, I'm not comfortable lifting the restrictions just yet. Our ethical integrity was questioned because of the promotional nature of these hooks, and rightfully so. Lifting the restrictions would reoopen the floodgates for more undue promotion of Gibralter. A scandal of this scale can't be forgotten in a few months, maybe in a full year I would support lifting the restrictions. ThemFromSpace 04:31, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
19. OPPOSE It has been a welcome relief with the prospects of not having any more factoids about Gibraltar. I will be happy if for the rest of my days I never hear another DYK about Gibraltar. At a minimum, it's too soon...keep the restriction in place lest someone get the idea that it's open season again. Personally, because of this imbroglio I'd like to see anything regarding Gibraltar be treated akin to how Pete Rose is treated by Major League Baseball ...even though I know eventually Pete Rose will be forgiven and reinstated, I'm not sure Gibraltar should be, and definitely not yet. Major abuse of trusts shouldn't be forgiven easily.--ColonelHenry (talk) 05:48, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
20. Oppose, not for the Gibraltar case in itself, but because the precedent it might create. Tomorrow we can have any other organized lobby using wikipedia to promote their interests. --Ecemaml (talk) 09:50, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
21. Oppose Had I seen any actual reduction in Gib topics, rather than the torch being picked up straight away by editors aggressively proxying on Bamkins behalf, I might feel different. As it is, I consider the behaviour of everyone involved suspect. AGF doesnt remotely allow me to excuse the actions by certain members (Both trustee's, and general membership) of WMUK in this matter. Nor does it allow me to extend good faith when Bamkin is leaving congratulatory messages on Australian editors talkpages RE their AU-based 'Gibraltar' DYK's. Only in death does duty end (talk) 11:55, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
22. Oppose Stop this now. It was a clusterfuck when it started, it is a clusterfuck now. Let's try and emerge from this ridiculous farce with some dignity. That we are having this discussion rather than the discussion which we ought to have had: a proper, community-wide, sane attempt at consensus building around the limits of COI and outreach shows that despite (in this case justified) external criticism the Wikipedia community and chapters like WMUK seem content to keep our collective heads buried in the sand on this. —Tom Morris (talk) 12:13, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    I should probably sketch out my solution. We simply decide as a community to decline all Gibraltarpedia DYKs. Why? Because we can. Nothing created under the remit of the Gibraltarpedia project ends up on the homepage. I know, I'm a horrible, mean person. I don't care. Obviously that sucks for the contributors who may have created articles in good faith. So, here's what we do for them. Each contributor who doesn't get a DYK because of the auto-declined Gibraltarpedia DYKs get a free kick at DYK for something else they create at some point from now on that's not Gibraltar related. There's plenty to do: maybe help fight systemic bias and write a stub about a woman scientist. There. Nice straightforward Solomonic judgment for all. If, as Prioryman says, Gibraltarpedia is now over, and we decline the DYK stubs, we won't have this argument in six months time. We get rid of the continued potential threat to Wikipedia's credibility. We send a message to those in the future who think that we will put up with this. We have a clean break, no dribble of Gib DYKs for the next however-many months, nobody gets to have endless threads on Jimbo's talk page. —Tom Morris (talk) 12:36, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Obviously I disagree, but at least you have tried to put forward a "solution". For the other people who are voting to oppose this, it would help if you could at least state under what circumstances you would be willing to see the restrictions lifted. Prioryman (talk) 12:41, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    • Tom, I love your idea...very Gandalf "you shall not pass". Prioryman: How about we lift restrictions when Gibraltar gets returned to Spain...sound fair?--ColonelHenry (talk) 06:03, 18 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

23. Oppose—Tom Morris and others put it very well. Tony (talk) 13:36, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
24. Oppose - as premature, as disingenuously downplaying the scandal created by the COI mess, and as showing that some folks still don't get what the problem was. Ask again in another year or two. --Orange Mike | Talk 16:54, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
25. Oppose and, based on the recent COMPASS report on the WMUK and the Register article recommend that the restrictions be tightened. Cla68 (talk) 22:46, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
26. Oppose per Tom Morris and Tim Starling. Lifting the restrictions now would be premature. Kaldari (talk) 23:13, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
27. Oppose per comments by Kaldari in the discussion section below. I'm sorry for collateral damage imposed on well-meaning editors, but Wikipedia's reputation comes first and is not worth damaging to reward a handful of editors. There are plenty of other DYK candidates. Calliopejen1 (talk) 01:23, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
28. Oppose, in a past RfC I had suggested limiting Gibraltar-related DYK's to one every two months. The restrictions that were adopted were much more "gentle", if you can really call them restrictions at all. Since there does appear to have been some conflict-of-interest editing in this area, with DYK items used for promotional purposes, I think that whatever mild restrictions are in place should remain. Neutron (talk) 18:18, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
29. Oppose as Tim Starling,Tom Morris, Orangemike and further Wikipedia's reputation comes first and please we need to keep the COI mess from the Main Page.Pharaoh of the Wizards (talk) 19:11, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    You and others above seem to be unaware that the restrictions do not actually stop Gibraltar-related articles appearing on DYK - they just impose arbitrary restrictions and delays on their reviews and scheduling. The question being asked is not "should Gibraltar-related articles appear on DYK", because they already can. Prioryman (talk) 19:35, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

30. Opposse. Hmmm... while there were restrictions, Gibraltar, some one in million of Earth's land surface and population, kept having one in a hundred of the DYKs, now that the restriction may be having some effect, we should raise it?! - Nabla (talk) 22:47, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
31. Oppose lifting restrictions quite strenuously. In my opinion the restrictions need to be stronger, and enforced more vigorously. IMO DYKs about anything Gibraltar-related need to stop, because people need to understand that all the Gibraltar-related DYKs are obviously, uncontroversially, simply UNDUE. Ridiculously UNDUE. Fabulously UNDUE. IMO the fact that more than four Gibraltar-related DYKs appear per year is an appalling affront to the desired, yearned-for dignity and good reputation we want for the encyclopedia. IMO Gibraltar DYKs should be banned for five years. IMO I still think every Gibraltar-related article and image since the start of GibraltarPedia should be deleted and salted for five years, because the entire debacle hurt the encyclopedia's credibility and appearance of independence. IMO the Wikipedia community should take a strong stand against corruption of the goals of the encyclopedia, and against the attempted hijacking of GLAM, and, Prioryman, IMO, you should be topic-banned permanently in re everything Gibraltar-related. It's disruptive, and continues to hurt the encyclopedia in ways which you obviously, stubbornly continue to refuse to comprehend. As long as you advocate for Gibraltar anything, you are an agent of only damage. You should apologize and make amends, but given your past behavior, you cannot. Perhaps Wikipedia isn't the right place for you. --Lexein (talk) 00:38, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Now that you have relieved the stress, do you include ANY geopolitical area in this ban? If not, what makes Gibraltar so much more undo then, as municipalities in the Faeroe islands? Or newly described fossil species of parasitic wasps?--Kevmin § 00:55, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Wow. First, I was referring to WP:UNDUE, as in "undue attention paid". The little matter of Bamkin/GibraltarpediA (and fanbois) is what "makes Gibraltar so much more [undue]". Nobody should get free advertising/DYK/articles on Wikipedia especially after a seedy little conflict of interest or the appearance thereof has hit the damn media, and resulted in an independent ethics investigation. I'm concerned primarily with subjects which have received undue attention due to promotional activities which have negatively affected Wikipedia's credibility and appearance of independence. In case you were wondering, that's GibraltarpediA, and, sadly therefore, Gibraltar: all articles and DYKs about Gibraltar created as a result of GibraltarpediaA are fruit of a poisonous tree. If the Faeroe Islands had new articles written as a result of promotional activities by non-GLAM entities with the appearance of impropriety (as was the case with the GibraltarpediA), then I'd be opposed to undue attention on the front page about the Faeroe Islands. I hope this clears that up. --Lexein (talk) 09:54, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Lexein's comment is the worst case of "doesn't understand the purpose of Wikipedia" that i've ever seen. Apparently, to him, Wikipedia is its own PR company and the only purpose of it is to protect its reputation, rather than to build an encyclopedia. I don't know about the rest of you, but I care far more about building an encyclopedia than about what people in newspapers say about Wikipedia. Silverseren^C 08:20, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    What has building the encyclopedia got to do with running Gibraltarpedia hooks on the main page? Andreas JN466 08:24, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

    Silver seren, do you really like COI editing (and paid editing, and short and long cons) done to place and promote articles at Wikipedia? You should be careful about slinging around language like "doesn't understand the purpose of Wikipedia", especially if you think chapters and editors should engage in (or should support, or should do nothing about) activities which negatively affect the encyclopedia's credibility or appearance of independence. I, on the other hand, think WP should vigorously defend itself, like any living organism, by killing foreign invaders which damage its health: here, the promotional activities instigated for private benefit or the appearance of private benefit, and the products of them (articles/projects/DYKs). Gibraltar itself won't be hurt by the deletion of (GibraltarpediA driven) articles and DYKs about it. Individual editors won't be hurt; their articles-created count won't go down (not their fault the article was deleted, it's Bamkin's); heck, we can userfy the articles under their creators' accounts, if you like. After five years, all that content can be restored. And by the way, I'm not too worried about "what people in newspapers say about Wikipedia" - I'm concerned about the millions of readers of those articles getting a negative impression of how Wikipedia works because of the shady activities of Bamkin and ilk. Don't say they weren't shady; they were. So nice to see you support shady activities and support undoing even the feeblest attempts to reduce the damage. --Lexein (talk) 09:54, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

32. Oppose, I don't feel the situation is close to being resolved.— - dain- talk    03:46, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
33. Oppose, per Lexein, and well, most others who have commented. And oh yeah, the attempted dishonesty in graph 2, particularly irks me. there are obvious differences between other topics and Gibraltar. One significant one though is that all lines are "spikes" - they jump up then when they're topical (for example Olympics) then they revert to normal. Not Gibraltar. That didn't spike, just moved up from a normal level to a sustained higher level which is not coming down. It's only because you're comparing two different phenomenon, a spike, with a general increase in trend, that the latter looks small. But it isn't.Volunteer Marek 08:32, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
34. Oppose - seems to be far too early to lift restrictions.--Staberinde (talk) 10:33, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
35. Oppose - everything I've seen indicates that the problem persists. If anything, the fact that the restrictions have failed to resolve it means they aren't tough enough yet. Robofish (talk) 17:37, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
36. Oppose for so many reasons: per Tim Starling and Tom Morris, and because this still stinks to high heaven. Tom Morris' suggestion is a good one. First Light (talk) 22:31, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
37. Oppose It is obvious from the above comments that it is too soon to lift these restrictions. AIRcorn (talk) 00:19, 17 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
38. Clearly, to me anyway, more time should pass before the restrictions are lifted. Santa Claus of the Future (talk) 13:56, 17 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
39. Oppose Utterly disgraceful. Absolutely not. — Hex (❝?!❞) 16:03, 17 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
40. Oppose. The rate of Gibraltar-related DYKs needs to be limited -- not to zero, but limited -- and keeping the current rules in place seems a reasonable way of doing that. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 18:01, 17 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
41. Weak Oppose. This is premature by about 3 months in my opinion. If the low number of Gibraltar DYK's continued, then it should be removed per instruction creep, but I do not think the trend is there yet.Tazerdadog (talk) 23:54, 17 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
42. Oppose. DYK is boring already. This ridiculous number of Gibraltar-related articles has made it repetitive as well. I am fully aware thay my argument similarly applies to battle ships and to some extent to mushrooms. Those problems also need fixing. Hans Adler 10:43, 18 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
43. Oppose Per Tom Morris and others. Intothatdarkness 20:21, 20 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
44. Oppose on the basis of preventing an appearance of impropriety, and actually preventing further impropriety. Neo Poz (talk) 04:24, 25 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
45. Oppose  TUXLIE  15:36, 25 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
46. Oppose this would not improve the encyclopedia --Guerillero | My Talk 06:23, 26 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
47. Oppose per Tim Starling. Spencer^T♦C 07:00, 26 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
48. Oppose Unless the restrictions are hampering newbies from creating articles, I think it's better to stay the course. From what I've seen, just about all the of the Gibraltar DYKs are the work of very experienced editors, so I doubt the restrictions are driving away newbies or hurting quality article production. In the end we've got to protect the integrity of Wikipedia, and I think the restrictions are still doing that.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 09:39, 28 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
49. Oppose pretty much per User:Brianann MacAmhlaidh. I think it would be prudent to keep these restrictions in place for now. Voceditenore (talk) 18:13, 28 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think that it's rather disingenuous to compare the number of DYKs for Gibraltar (pop. 29,752) with the number for Indonesia (pop. 237,424,363). Phil Bridger (talk) 22:15, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The DYKs for Indonesia (pop. 237,424,363) have been entirely the work of Crisco 1492 (talk · contribs) (pop. 1). What is the population number for mushrooms or racehorses? Prioryman (talk) 22:21, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I have had some Indonesia DYKs too, and a few awaiting approval but yeah, mainly Crisco.♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 15:57, 16 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Have your DYK topic stats above been corrected for multi-hook DYKs? Many of the mushroom-related DYKs I submitted were multi's, and would have taken up fewer Main Page slots than the above numbers indicate (not that it really matters in the long run, but it's annoying to see you distorting the facts to advance your own agenda). Sasata (talk) 22:32, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The numbers have been corrected, yes. I was counting Main Page slots, not the number of DYKs in each slot. Prioryman (talk) 22:34, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

OK, thanks. (p.s. I'd estimate the "population number" for mushrooms to be over 7 billion) Sasata (talk) 22:35, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Species??? Prioryman (talk) 22:38, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

No, number of people in countries where mushrooms are found, and thus might be theoretically interested in reading about them on the front page of Wikipedia in a DYK :-) Actual species of mushroom-forming fungi is about 30,000 known, but probably several times more than that that we don't know about yet (so it will be a while before they all make an appearance on the front page!). Sasata (talk) 22:45, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, that certainly gives you a lot of material to work with, though it's probably best not to nominate them all at once - it could take a while to get through all 30,000. :-) Prioryman (talk) 22:48, 13 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• What is the status of the Gibraltarpedia project? The Challenge seems to be over, but the talk page has recent posts (Wikipedia talk:GLAM/GibraltarpediA). Why hasn't regular collaboration moved back to WP:WikiProject Gibraltar? Is there ongoing activities? I had assumed article production had mostly dried up, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The Interior (Talk) 01:54, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• I don't think one discussion section on the 4th is really ongoing activities. Other than that, it looks like there hasn't been any real article discussion activity on the talk page since back in October. It should probably be folded back into Wikiproject Gibraltar though, yeah. Silverseren^C 02:53, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• As I said in the failed deletion nomination against Gibraltarpedia, that wouldn't work because the latter's scope - covering parts of Spain and Morocco - is far larger than that of WikiProject Gibraltar, which is only about Gibraltar. You can't fold a larger WikiProject into a smaller one. Prioryman (talk) 07:54, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• Prioryman is planning to have History of Gibraltar as Today's Featured Article on the main page on 11 April 2013. In the linked discussion, Roger commented on 8 February 2013, "Oh we are getting ambitious! 700 articles is my current boast, but we seem to be getting a dozen (plus!) new articles a day from the evil genius." Judging by that, it seems that Gibraltarpedia article production is anything but declining. It seems that a fair number of recent article creations within Gibraltarpedia have not been nominated for DYK. If the restrictions are rescinded, nominations might conceivably pick up again. At any rate, my understanding is that content generation for Gibraltarpedia is continuing and still has a lot of potential for expansion. (See e.g. [2][3].) It seems a lot of local enthusiasm has been built. In itself, this is of course a good thing, but I am less enthusiastic about continuing to feature Gibraltarpedia prominently on the main page. Andreas JN466 03:01, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• The hard facts are that nobody has submitted a nomination since 5 January. The idea that there is some hidden bank of DYKs ready to burst onto the Main Page is pure fantasy. If you look at Dr. Blofeld's contributions, he is not writing articles about Gibraltar, he is writing them about Spain, and his new creations appear to be stubs that would not qualify for DYK in any case. Prioryman (talk) 07:54, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • The hard fact is that article generation for Gibraltarpedia continues apace, but that a number of recently created Gibraltarpedia articles, like La Línea de la Concepción Bull Ring, were not nominated for DYK. Who's to say that this will not change as soon as the restrictions are lifted? Dr. Blofeld (talk · contribs) for example has these past few days written articles about the Hotel Tryp Ceuta, the Monumento del Llano Amarillo and the Playa de la Ribera beach in Ceuta – a popular day trip from Gibraltar, just a half hour ferry ride away. La Línea de la Concepción is the Spanish town immediately adjacent to Gibraltar, many of whose inhabitants do a daily commute to Gibraltar. Both of these locations are expressly within the scope of Gibraltarpedia. There is no problem at all with people writing such articles of course – they are welcome – but whether they should appear on the main page is a completely different question. Andreas JN466
    • But as you have just admitted those articles are about Spain, not Gibraltar. You have tried this argument before, and nobody but you thinks it is reasonable to restrict articles that are not even about Gibraltar in the first place. (And there is no ferry between Gibraltar and Ceuta). Prioryman (talk) 08:44, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
      • Yeah, the ferry leaves from a few miles down the road, in Spain. :) You yourself complained above, in the image caption, that the DYK restrictions apply to the entire scope of Gibraltarpedia, including (very small) parts of Spain and Morocco. And now you turn around and claim they don't? Cheeky. Do you even still remember what the truth is? Andreas JN466 09:06, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
        • You've just highlighted one of the central problems of the restrictions - they are very unclear. Your position is that the restrictions apply to the entire scope of Gibraltarpedia, so Ceuta would be covered. But the restrictions don't address Gibraltarpedia - they cover "Gibraltar-related" articles. Ceuta is not Gibraltar-related - it's in another country, on another continent - and has no current or historical connection with Gibraltar. That's why I highlighted the collateral damage that the restrictions are causing. Your intention may have been to restrict just Gibraltarpedia articles but the practical situation is that some Gibraltarpedia articles have been caught by them while others have not, while articles which have nothing to do with Gibraltarpedia have been caught simply because they are "Gibraltar-related". Prioryman (talk) 10:33, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
          • • But that is precisely the point that you claim your own diff above clarifies: you are specifically, and approvingly, quoting the drafter of the restriction as saying we should read "Gibraltar-related" as "Gibraltarpedia". Andreas JN466 10:49, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

(1) Is WMUK resourcing the ongoing creation of Gibraltar articles? (2) Is Gibraltar funding anybody to manage or support the process? (3) Is there a similar Monmouth/Gibraltarpedia project in the pipeline? (4) If so, is it being resourced in any way by WMUK or is anyone being paid to manage it? --Anthonyhcole (talk) 09:42, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

According to both WMF and WMUK, Gibraltarpedia continues to be an active project. Wikimedia UK's future involvement with the MonmouthpediA and GibraltarpediA projects is yet to be defined. As far as I am aware, Roger Bamkin (and possibly others) continue to be paid for managing Gibraltarpedia – not by WMUK, mind you, but by the government of Gibraltar. Andreas JN466 10:35, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

(1) No, (2) No idea, but I don't think so - as far as I know they're just offering moral support, (3) Not that I know of, (4) Assuming (3) is correct, then no. I think it is fair to say that if there is another "placepedia" project, which is a very big if, it would be done differently. But to be honest the lynchmob atmosphere surrounding Gibraltarpedia has probably killed off the chances of another such project. Prioryman (talk) 10:33, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

To be also honest, saying that there's a "lynchmob atmosphere" is totally offensive for all these people not supporting your stance. I do think that such an opposition is the direct result of the lack of clarity and the conflicts of interest that existed when the project was launched and, moreover, your insistence on using DYK for your purposes as project. You aim to create good content about Gibraltar (good) and get, no matter what it costs, exposition for such a content in the front page of one of the most visited web sites in the world (not that good). I haven't found any objection to the former and many to the latter. Maybe some self-criticism from your side would be needed before engaging in personal attacks to those that do not support you. --Ecemaml (talk) 11:30, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Consider it from my point of view. I have been accused, falsely, of taking money to travel to Gibraltar and of being paid to write articles on it. Laura Hale has been accused of the same on this page. Above, Peter Cohen has accused Victuallers of actual criminality. ACP2011 was driven off Wikipedia entirely after people on Wikipediocracy started trying to expose her real off-wiki identity. The common theme has been one of constant harassment, smears and defamations of those involved with these articles. There is nothing, absolutely nothing remotely comparable on the "pro" side. Prioryman (talk) 12:36, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds unduly self-righteous to me. For example, you've just claimed that LauraHale was accused of paid editing on this page—she wasn't. You claimed a few hours ago you had "caught me in a lie again", when in fact you had simply been unable to read what I wrote (you were kind enough to apologise). You accused me the other day of having "largely created this controversy", when I should think you know that it was User:Panyd's complaints that started this ball rolling—all I did was ask Jimbo a question about them, with the result that his very outspoken answer was picked up by Violet Blue (whom I had never even heard of at the time) on CNET, triggering an avalanche of international press coverage. A few months ago, you accused User:Youreallycan of outing you for using your surname on-wiki after a tiff over Gibraltarpedia, only for the community to find at ANI that there was no outing, because your RL name had in fact been common knowledge on-wiki—you had disclosed it here yourself, and had allowed other editors to call you by it over a period of years. Some weeks prior to that, you said that if you met me, you would empty a drink over my head—if that weren't such a waste. When Jimbo dared criticise Gibraltarpedia, you lashed out at him. It's not nothing. So where does that leave us? I don't think—and have never thought—that you (or Dr. Blofeld, or Laura for that matter) are getting paid for Gibraltarpedia work. I firmly believe that to you, it is a labour of love. At the same time, I think you have come to view this situation in terms so adversarial that you have lost a sense of perspective. Take a step back, and see the bigger issue. My opposition to the Gibraltarpedia hooks on the main page is not motivated by spite, or personal animosity. It's based on my conviction that having them is harmful. Maybe you can respect that, even if you don't agree with it. And perhaps we can do a bit better? At any rate, if we should ever come across each other at a meet-up, I don't intend to pour a drink over your head. ;) Andreas JN466 18:36, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I know it's easy to imagine there is some sort of paid editing racket going on all around, but genuinely I wish I was being paid, and you betcha if I was I'd be producing hundreds of quality articles. I'm interested in improving coverage for Spanish buildings in particular, but I'm more motivated to create new articles on Cadiz province, knowing that they would be more appreciated from the Gibraltarpedia guys. I'd be even more motivated if I was being financially compensated for my work I'm being honest, I don't have a problem with paid editing as long as it is neutral. Actually my recent motivation to stub build for Cadiz province and Ceuta was because I thought it was sad that the heavy contributors to Gibraltarpedia seemed to mostly fizzle out after the competition thing ended, and neglecting parts which were supposed to be under the project. Sorry to see that Anne departed.

My goal on wikipedia long term has always been to try to cover every part of the world evenly and to have in depth coverage of every town on the planet. I'd like to visit anywhere on google maps and for wikipedia to have in depth coverage. Monmouthpedia and Gibraltarpedia, commercial aspects aside, I think are projects which facilitate interaction with the real world and to give people access to knowledge visiting the monuments. I'd like to see that sort of collaboration and coverage for any settlement in the world and I think wikipedia would be eons better as a resource for doing so. The problem is this resentment and suspicion that evil deeds are going on and the tendency for the wikiocracy folk to dream up conspiracy theories and imagine contributors to Gibrlatarpedia sitting on a pile of cash grinning and being sent a cheque every time a DYK goes through. The reality is that very few of the articles ever had any neutrality or "advertising" issues and the idea that a showcasing of a Gibraltar DYK for just a few hours would function as some massive tourist board advertising billboard was always preposterous and blown way out of proportion. I believe it was more of a reaction in disgust to the idea that Bamkin was using wikipedia for his own commercial gain than the articles actually being problematic. And it was never as if wikipedia was losing out from the Gibraltarpedia articles. Our resources have improved greatly and that's really all that matters. Too much emphasis always went on DYK, I could produce several start class articles and not bother to DYK them, to me it wouldn't make any difference aside from me getting a DYK credit. Articles are usually on the main page for what 6 hours? That's hardly ideal for advertising Gibraltar.... ♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 16:28, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think that DYK is a very effective carrot in terms of article creation. I personally couldn't care less whether the majority of the DYKs are on Gibraltar, the US or horses. Gibraltarpedia's article creation has led to us having a very good coverage on Gibraltar-related topics and this (and the DYKs that have followed) should be praised, not suppressed. Zaminamina (talk) 21:25, 24 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Press coverage began in September 2012. At the time, the Wikipedia main page had had

• 7 Gibraltar hooks in July
• 17 Gibraltar hooks in August
• 12 Gibraltar hooks in September
• 11 Gibraltar hooks in October.

Below is what I believe is a fairly complete list of Gibraltar hooks featured on the main page in recent months. Gibraltar hooks have essentially continued to run at the same rate as ever, i.e. roughly a dozen a month:

• 12 Gibraltar hooks in November
• 8 Gibraltar hooks in December
• 13 Gibraltar hooks in January
• 5 Gibraltar hooks in the first half of February.

The figures in the above graphs for recent months are significantly wide of the mark and present a completely misleading picture. The graphs show

• 9 for October (it was in fact 11: Main Guard (26 Oct), José Cruz Herrera (25 Oct), The Rock Hotel (24 Oct), Trafalgar Cemetery (21 Oct), North Front Cemetery (18 Oct), Flat Bastion Magazine (17 Oct), Rosia Water Tanks (16 Oct), Rosia Bay (15 Oct) Nun's Well, Gibraltar (14 Oct), synagogues of Gibraltar (13 Oct), Gibraltar F.C. (12 Oct)),
• 9 for November (it was 12, listed below),
• 5 for December (it was 8, listed below),
• 10 for January (it was 13, listed below),
• 5 for February (there have been 5, and we're not even half-way through the month),
• and the graphic implies 1 for March (crystal ball?).

There was an article in The Register today, drawing attention to the ongoing presence of "Gibraltar plugs" on the Wikipedia main page. They say they have had readers writing in who report them to them. Andreas JN466

Serious question, Andreas, are you one of those "readers" reporting in? Silverseren^C 03:03, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

No, as it happens, though I have spoken to Andrew Orlowski recently, and advised him that the governance review had been published. He mentioned to me then that readers were writing in to The Register; apparently, that's the origin of the screenshot he included in his article. Andreas JN466 03:14, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

So in other words you contacted a journalist known for writing hit pieces on Wikipedia in order to push a story that you knew he would write up as a hit piece on Wikipedia. This is exactly what Jimbo was talking about when he criticised you for deliberately creating bad publicity to further your on-wiki arguments. How utterly manipulative and duplicitous, but unfortunately how typical of you. Prioryman (talk) 08:08, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

His article is more truthful than your stuff above. And let's be fair, what he criticises in his article is exactly what the report commissioned by the Wikimedia Foundation criticised. And note that the Foundation explicitly asked Stevie Benton of Wikimedia UK to inform the press: [4], resulting in these very similar articles: "Wikimedia UK trustees have been 'too involved' to effectively govern charity", "Review urges major overhaul of governance at Wikimedia UK". The Foundation wants this story aired. Andreas JN466 08:45, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Note also that Prioryman is planning to have History of Gibraltar as Today's Featured Article on the main page on 11 April 2013. In the linked discussion, Roger commented on 8 February 2013, "Oh we are getting ambitious! 700 articles is my current boast, but we seem to be getting a dozen (plus!) new articles a day from the evil genius." Judging by that, it seems that Gibraltarpedia article production is anything but declining. Andreas JN466

And the articles are being entirely made by Dr. Blofield, the "evil genius". If you have a problem with him making all those articles, I suggest you go talk with him. Silverseren^C 03:02, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I have no problem with him or anyone else writing Gibraltarpedia articles. As I recently made clear on the Wikimediauk-l mailing list, I consider getting people to write articles for Wikipedia through projects such as Monmouthpedia and Gibraltarpedia a good thing, and fully consistent with the Wikimedia mission. However, it was inappropriate to market these projects as tourism marketing exercises – they were plainly described as such in the press – and it is inconsistent with the Wikimedia spirit of neutrality to leverage the Wikipedia main page as a marketing tool in support of a commercial project. Andreas JN466 03:22, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Andreas, I'm not sure where you're getting your dates, but Merlin's Cave, which you have on February 1, hit the main page on January 31 at 16:00 UTC, and would have been off at midnight, plus or minus a minute, so it's a January hook. Prioryman's 5 is correct, and your 6 is not. Using UTC as a basis, which Wikipedia does, is the reasonable way to count this. Since your November list includes two Wisconsin hooks and one hook (Fratino) that didn't mention Gibraltar at all, I'm not finding your data persuasive. BlueMoonset (talk) 05:38, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Recent_additions – this is the page for the current month, and it includes Martin's Cave. The dates under which articles are listed in the DYK archive do not always correspond to the dates noted on the article talk page. The lists for November through February below show the dates given in the DYK archives for these months. Andreas JN466 08:55, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I know about Recent additions: what the archive page records is the date/time archived—that is, when it is removed from the main page to the archive. It's an honest misinterpretation in your case, but it is incorrect: Merlin's Cave ran from 16:00 to midnight on January 31, and rightfully belongs with January. It is therefore inappropriate for you to state that Prioryman is understating the February number as 5 instead of 6 when it is, to date, 5. BlueMoonset (talk) 18:07, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You are right; on the other hand, that DYK then has to be added to the January tally. And you are correct about the Gibraltar Rock State Park; the total should be decreased accordingly. Andreas JN466 18:41, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding my own data, JN466 is right that I had slightly underestimated the numbers - I was counting the number of DYKs that mentioned Gibraltar in the hook, but this left out a few that didn't. I've updated the graph, though it is still pretty much the same shape (compare File:Gibraltar hooks graph Feb 2013.png and File:Gibraltar hooks graph Jan 2013.png). If you're wondering about the projection for March, it's because I plan to fill in the last red link on Sieges of Gibraltar by doing the Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar. It's therefore a certainty that there will be one article for March. Prioryman (talk) 08:02, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Prioryman, I'd remove March entirely: it's a prediction, not fact, and amounts to WP:CRYSTAL. It doesn't belong on the graph, which is of actual hooks displayed on the main page. BlueMoonset (talk) 18:07, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Is there any possibility that international relations could worsen to the extent that a Fifteenth Siege of Gibraltar is possible between now and the end of March? --Demiurge1000 (talk) 08:31, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I think we're seeing a Fifteenth Siege of Gibraltar here on Wikipedia... Prioryman (talk) 08:51, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Prioryman, it is inappropriate to show a figure of 5 for February. This is the number of hooks for half a month. The mathematically correct way of dealing with this would be to extrapolate, and plot it as a forecast of 10 (I take it you have added Martin's Cave to January). And you seem to assume that no one but you will write or nominate anything for Gibraltarpedia in March ... :) But by plotting a half-month total as though it were a full-month total, and pulling a "1" out of the hat for March, you create a nice downward slope in your graph – which is not based on actual data. Andreas JN466 09:16, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• I have provided a list of Gibraltar hooks from November through February below for your perusal. Several of your figures appear to be wrong, and it is not correct to say that there has been a significant reduction, or a "sharp fall", in Gibraltar hooks since press coverage began. I would be grateful if you could correct your graphs, because as they stand, they are seriously misleading. Andreas JN466 01:32, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• Several of your figures appear to be wrong, or at least misleading, Andreas, based on the analysis of them posted by Ryan below. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 03:32, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • I believe you'll find they're not. As Ryan mentions himself, these articles (Gibraltar High School and the two Australian mountains named after Gibraltar excepted, of course) were considered part of Gibraltarpedia and required two reviews as a result. The totals reflect that. Andreas JN466 04:05, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • That is completely false. The articles did not require two reviews. [5] [6] Prioryman (talk) 07:42, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
      • Bizarre ... I specifically said "Gibraltar High School and the two Australian mountains named after Gibraltar excepted, of course", in the very post you replied to. So why are you linking to their DYK nominations? And with an edit summary accusing me of lying? Andreas JN466 08:11, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
        • I misread your comment. Apologies. Prioryman (talk) 08:13, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

12 (or 14, counting US locations named after Gibraltar) Gibraltar hooks ran in November:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Recent_additions/2012/November

• 29 ... that Princess Amelia's Battery, Princess Anne's Battery and Princess Caroline's Battery in Gibraltar were named after Amelia, Anne and Caroline, the daughters of King George II?
• 26 ... that the 9.2 inch naval gun at O'Hara's Battery, Gibraltar, was capable of firing shells from Europe to Africa?
• 25 .. that the Gibraltar 2 skull (pictured), found in 1926, is that of a four-year-old Neanderthal girl dubbed the Devil's Tower Child?
• 24 ... that Moorish Gibraltar was known as the City of Victory and lasted for over 725 years, far longer than Spanish or British Gibraltar?
• 22 ... that a landscape architect was a major proponent of the preservation of the area that is now known as the Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area?
• 20 .. that two students from Gibraltar High School's Future Farmers of America drowned while taking part in an annual camping trip in 1941?
• 16 ... that the 16th-century King's Chapel was the first church built in Gibraltar after the city was conquered by Spain?
• 13 ... that by the end of the Ninth Siege of Gibraltar the defending soldiers had resorted to eating leather from their garments and plants growing on the garrison walls?
• 12 ... that the Gibraltar Cross of Sacrifice (pictured) commemorates the sailors, soldiers and airmen of the Commonwealth of Nations who died in the two World Wars?
• 8 ... that the Charles V Wall (pictured) was built by Spain to keep the Barbary pirates out of Gibraltar, but ended up being used by the British to keep the Spanish out?
• 6 ... that the Fuerte de Isla Verde was one of the few Spanish military installations in the Bay of Gibraltar not destroyed by the British in 1810?
• 5 ... that the Genoese military engineer Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino designed and built the world's first Martello tower (pictured)?
• 4 ... that the Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club was one of the first yacht clubs to be founded outside of Britain?
• 2 ... that Spain attempted to silence Princess Royal's Battery during the 1727 siege by excavating a mine below it, to be loaded with explosives?

(Note that Gibraltar High School and Gibraltar Rock State Natural Area are in Wisconsin, United States.)

8 (or 10, if you count geographical features named after Gibraltar) Gibraltar hooks ran in December:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Recent_additions/2012/December

• 31 ... that in 1906, ties between England and Spain were sufficiently strong that King Edward VII and King Alfonso XIII became joint patrons of the Royal Calpe Hunt?
• 29 ... that the Gibraltar Heritage Trust is a non-profit charity responsible for preserving and promoting Gibraltar's manmade and natural heritage?
• 28 ... that Gibraltar's North Bastion and South Bastion were built by Spain to protect the city against attacks from either direction?
• 23 ... that by the end of the Third Siege of Gibraltar in 1333, the city's inhabitants were reduced to eating their shoes because the town's governor had stolen the money meant to pay for food?
• 21 ... that climbing routes on Gibraltar Rock include Crime of Passion, Illusions of Grandeur, and Rooster Carnage?
• 17 ... that the 9.2-inch gun at Gibraltar's Spur Battery was transferred to the Imperial War Museum Duxford in Project Vitello?
• 11 ... that Upper Rock Nature Reserve (pictured) in Gibraltar is famous for its population of Barbary Macaques, the only wild monkeys in Europe?
• 9 ... that the site chosen for Operation Tracer during World War II was in close proximity to Lord Airey's Battery?
• 2 ... that the Gibraltar Ranges predate the Great Escarpment?
• 1 ... that the Levant Battery on Windmill Hill was named after the Levanter cloud, below which it is situated?

(Two, Gibraltar Range and Gibraltar Rock, of these 10 hooks are not about Gibraltar, but only have features named after Gibraltar in them.)

13 Gibraltar hooks ran in January:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Recent_additions/2013/January

• 31 ... that Martin's Cave (pictured) is named after the man who found it when he fell off the Rock of Gibraltar?
• 29 ... that the Fifth Siege of Gibraltar came to a sudden end in March 1350 when King Alfonso XI of Castile (pictured) became the only monarch to die in the Black Death?
• 28 ... that Green's Lodge Battery was so successful during the Great Siege of Gibraltar that the British decided to construct what became Rock Gun Battery above it?
• 27 ... that the keys of Grand Casemates Gates are a symbol of office of the Governor of Gibraltar?
• 24 ... that the Soldier Artificer Company (members pictured in working dress) was the British Army's first unit of military artificers and labourers?
• 23 ... that the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party proposed that a main road in Gibraltar should be Devlin's instead of the Devil's?
• 20 ... that during the eighteenth century, guards posted at Middle Hill Battery on Middle Hill, Gibraltar, to prevent desertion sometimes deserted themselves?
• 19 ... that Abd al-Malik Abd al-Wahid, the one-eyed son of Moroccan sultan Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman, captured Gibraltar in 1333 but fell victim to a Castilian ambush six years later?
• 18 ... that the 9.2-inch gun of Spur Battery, one of fourteen once mounted on Gibraltar, was moved to Imperial War Museum Duxford after its role was taken over by Exocet missiles?
• 8 ... that O'Hara's Tower was built in the mistaken belief that it would enable the garrison at Gibraltar to spy on ships massing at Cadiz?
• 6 ... that the top secret, World War II dual observation post of Operation Tracer was constructed in the tunnel system of Lord Airey's Shelter?
• 4 ... that William Green, who served as chief engineer throughout the Great Siege of Gibraltar, was later depicted in two paintings of the siege by John Singleton Copley and George Carter?
• 1 ... that the Spanish nobleman and soldier Luis Bravo de Acuña played a key role in improving the defences of Gibraltar in the 17th century?

5 Gibraltar hooks have so far run in February:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Recent_additions

• 12 ... that civilian government in Gibraltar only emerged in the 20th century because its governors gave priority to its role as a military fortress?
• 8 ... that tourism in Gibraltar was boosted when the territory's first marina (Ocean Village pictured) was built in 1961?
• 6 ... that the 9.2 inch Mark X gun at Breakneck Battery (pictured) was described as one of the "crowning glories" of the defences of Gibraltar?
• 4 ... that although the Fourth Siege of Gibraltar ended with Muhammed IV of Granada still in control of Gibraltar, he was assassinated by his nobles soon after?
• 2 ... that Bruce Cooper was the last surviving member of a six-man team who volunteered to be sealed in a World War II observation post discovered by the Gibraltar Caving Group in 1997? Andreas JN466 00:55, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• I love that you include this one "that two students from Gibraltar High School's Future Farmers of America drowned while taking part in an annual camping trip in 1941?" which is about a High School in Gibraltar, Wisconsin. And "that the Genoese military engineer Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino designed and built the world's first Martello tower (pictured)?" whose only relation to Gibraltar was that he once built a wall there. The Royal Calpe Hunt one is directly related to Gibraltar, but it's history. At least you warned us when you listed Gibraltar Rock (Western Australia) and Gibraltar Range (also in Australia), but there's no reason for you to list them. You list a number of sieges of Gibraltar, also historical events and you list William Green (general). It's a bio, he's Scottish, he's the nephew of Adam Smith. Seriously, there's zero reason to complain about him being listed at DYK. Soldier Artificer Company is also purely historical (most of these are). Abd al-Malik Abd al-Wahid died in 1339, it's absolutely nonsensical that Template:Did you know nominations/Abd al-Malik Abd al-Wahid needed two reviews. Luis Bravo de Acuña is also a historical biography, he's slightly more related to Gibraltar than Giovan Giacamo Paleari Fratino though. Fourth Siege of Gibraltar is yet another example of a historical article. Ryan Vesey 01:23, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • I clearly pointed out that Gibraltar High School is in the States – before you posted this – and did not include it in the overall count. As for history, other tourist locations in the world besides Gibraltar, with its population of 30,000, also have historical sites of interest. Nothing in what you have said justifies this pro-Gibraltar bias on the main page, in support of what has been plainly described as a tourism marketing project by those supporting and running it. Andreas JN466 01:42, 14 February 2013 (UTC).[reply]
    • My post spanned a large number of edits; however, you have not "clearly pointed out that Gibraltar High School is in the States". Not even close. And changing your statement to 13(or 14)≠not including it in the overall count. Ryan Vesey 01:47, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
      • See diff, timed 1:05: "(Note that Gibraltar High School is in the US.)" In product placement, people may pay just for the mention of their brand name. It could be something as simple as having a character named Smirnoff in a movie. But we needn't debate that point: these three hooks make no significant difference to the numbers, and they are only included in brackets. I thought it fair to mention them though, since these DYKs seemed to have arisen out of the context of the Gibraltarpedia discussion, and the push-back from some DYK regulars resenting the very notion of moderation. Andreas JN466 02:06, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
        • Andreas, Please retract the accusation that I was paid to mention Gibraltar as a form of product placement unless you have some proof to back up this accusation. No one connected asked me to write any DYKs. I write about topics that interest me. I have never been contacted by anyone in Gibraltar, nor by tourist people in Australia nor by anyone in Wisconsin to promote them. --LauraHale (talk) 11:49, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
          • I have not accused you of that at all and I do not believe you were paid for any articles on Australian landscape features named after Gibraltar. I always assumed you wrote them because you wanted to provide moral support to Roger's project, and annoy those who opposed its use of the main page. Andreas JN466 12:17, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• If Gibraltar is not significant in respect of any of the articles linked, then why is it named in the hook? I thought that was the point: there is an overburden of Gibraltar-related hooks, not articles however tangentially related, but hooks. And if the relationship is tangential, then lose the name "Gibraltar" in the hook. Bielle (talk) 01:58, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• For the ones that don't actually have to do with Gibraltar the territory, it looks like LauraHale made a few of them because she was annoyed at how riled up everyone was getting about the Gibraltarpedia situation, so she specifically looked for unrelated notable topics that had Gibraltar in the name. Do note that she isn't a member of the Gibraltarpedia project. The feelings behind it seem similar to why I made the article Ninth Siege of Gibraltar when i'm not a member of the project either. Silverseren^C 02:49, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• And yet, wall builder Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino's article is part of Gibraltarpedia and wikiproject Gibraltar. William Green is similarly claimed. TheOverflow (talk) 02:23, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• A Wikiproject can claim any article as under its umbrella, even if the connection is very tangential. Silverseren^C 02:41, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• If an article is claimed by a project, then it is a project-related article, right? It doesn't seem to me that one can have it both ways: related for article coverage but not related for a D.Y.K. restriction. Bielle (talk) 03:34, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• That's a good question and it's why a DYK restriction was such a batty idea in the first place and why it has interfered with the articles in a number of other Wikiprojects. Silverseren^C 03:35, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• And I see it the other way around. Connecting all the uses of the Gibraltar name under one umbrella for restrictive purposes keeps control of the marketing of the name (which is what was being sold) and does not allow it to monopolize the main page. Bielle (talk) 04:22, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• By that logic, the hooks Andreas lists as running on November 2, November 5, December 1, December 9, December 31, January 6, and January 24 wouldn't actually count. You can't have it both ways. (Also, what's with "monopolize"?!? The number of Gibraltar hooks as a proportion of total hooks run in any month has always been absolutely tiny - and, as pointed out in the graphs, dwarfed by hooks on other topic areas.) --Demiurge1000 (talk) 08:28, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• I have added File:Gibraltar hooks proportions.png to demonstrate your point about proportions. Prioryman (talk) 08:54, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Where can I find a list of the Gibraltarpedia Challenge winners? Bielle (talk) 02:05, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know if there's a winners page, but you can see the individual people and the points they got here. It looks like all the people with the highest points are on other language Wikipedias, assuming the page was updated to the end of the competition. This seems to be because translating an article counts as making a new article in terms of points. Not sure if I agree with such a system, but it is what it was. Just from comparing scores, it looks like User:Bill william compton was the winner with 351 points from a number of articles translated to Hindi Wikipedia. Though he did make a few articles on English Wikipedia as well. Silverseren^C 02:37, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, I just noticed this as the actual scoreboard. Yeah, looks like Bill won. Silverseren^C 02:39, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Bielle (talk) 03:31, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• Prioryman, you are creating the impression that the Gibraltarpedia project has concluded, and that content generation has stopped. Nobody at WMUK or WMF says that is the case: on the contrary. Roger & Co. are still working on it, and more Gibraltarpedia articles within the scope affected by the DYK restrictions, as shown on the map – Gibraltar and very small parts of Spain and Morocco – are being created every week. I note that recently created articles within that scope have not been nominated for DYK – but they easily could have. I have given examples below.
• Articles created as part of the Gibraltarpedia project were placed under DYK restrictions for good reasons: one of them being that the project was plainly described in the press as a low-cost marketing campaign designed to boost local tourism. The use of the main page in support of that marketing campaign caused significant adverse press for Wikimedia, along with a loss of credibility. Nothing about that has changed. Andreas JN466 10:00, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• The downward slope on the right of graphs 1 and 2 is not based on actual data. These graphs plot a half-month tally for February (5) as though it were a full-month tally, and imply that there will only be one Gibraltarpedia hook in March – which is something we really cannot know on February 14. The tally for February should be shown as ten, using a dotted line to mark it as a prediction, based on the reasonable assumption that the second half of the month will probably turn out similar to the first. No figure should be given for March. We do not have a crystal ball. Andreas JN466 10:18, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
• Looking at the monthly figures, the number of DYK hooks has not fallen at all, let alone "fallen sharply". The monthly average for July–September is almost exactly the same as for the period October–mid-February (about a dozen per month on average). Andreas JN466 10:23, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

• This issue has never been about "content generation of articles" in general but specifically about DYK nominations of articles about Gibraltar. Nobody but you gives a toss about articles on Ceuta, Tarifa, Algeciras and other places in Spain. No nominations of any Gibraltarpedia article or any Gibraltar-related article have been made since 5 January. The graph is based entirely on hard data - it shows the number of DYK nominations that have appeared and for March the number that I know for sure will appear (one which I will be writing). I have not extrapolated for the rest of February because I have no basis for making such an extrapolation. All but one of the 5 DYKs appearing so far this month were nominated between October-December 2012 and are remnants of the pre-Christmas backlog. That backlog has been entirely cleared. Absent further nominations, there is no reason to expect any more to appear this month. Prioryman (talk) 10:38, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • Prioryman, you have no data at all for March. Please delete the point for March altogether. As for February, someone could nominate 5 Gibraltarpedia articles the day after tomorrow, with two weeks left in the month, and then what? It's not like none have been written in recent days. If you are not prepared to make an extrapolation for the second half of February, delete February as well. You do not have an end-of-month figure, and won't have one for another two weeks; posting a half-month tally as a full-month tally to prove a downward trend is completely disingenuous. And could you please in the meantime add a note to your introduction above that the graphs and various other assertions, such as that of a "sharp fall" in DYKs per month, are contested? Because you keep removing any comments added to that section. Do you insist on people voting being only allowed to read what you wrote? Andreas JN466 11:04, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  • As you admitted below, your original numbers for November through January were wrong, and underrepresented the true number of recent Gibraltarpedia DYKs, creating a misleading graph. (By the time you acknowledged your mistake and fixed the numbers for these months in graph 1, 22 people had registered support votes.) Graph 2 is even now still based on the wrong figures. Will you please fix the graphs? Andreas JN466 11:52, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    • I will fix graph 2, though it will make next to no visual difference, but I stand by graph 1. I have already explained why it is correct and I see no reason to indulge your temper tantrums any further. And kindly STOP posting your comments as part of my proposals. There is a comments section here. Use it. Prioryman (talk) 12:39, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
      • If you want this to count as an RfC, it should have a neutral introduction, not a skewed and tainted one. That is something you should agree with other editors. Note for example that the area that is within the Gibraltarpedia scope is not a "large area", as you claim in the image caption, but a very small one: The distance between Tanger and Ceuta is less than 30 miles. So we are talking about a strip of land 30 miles long and at most ten miles wide, as far as Morocco si concerned! In Spain, it is perhaps 15 miles of coastline. that is not a large part of Spain. You still claim that there has been a sharp fall in Gibraltarpedia DYKs, and that is patently untrue: the average number of hooks per month has hovered constantly at 11 and a bit, from July to February. You still insist on plotting a half-month tally as a full-month tally to manufacture a downward trend ... and compare Gibraltar, a few square miles with less than 30,000 inhabitants, to a country like Indonesia. Why do you resort to such obviously disingenuous means? You just think you can get away with it? Andreas JN466 12:52, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"Why do you resort to such obviously disingenuous means? You just think you can get away with it?" Forgive me if I'm mistaken but there was me thinking we were all trying to build an encyclopedia... DYK does not matter, it is merely icing on the cake to showcase expanded articles. Most of the articles I create are not DYKed, it shouldn't matter. The reality is that even if Gibraltar DYKs appear sporadically as they do nowadays, it is hardly the "advertising" system you and others delude yourself with. If it was Gibraltar government's idea for advertising. they got knocked. As for the articles existing, improving coverage of Gibraltar and surrounding areas neutrally is a win-win situation for everybody.♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 21:19, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, then it won't matter if we don't have a dozen or more Gibraltar articles on the main page each month, will it. Andreas JN466 21:47, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I agree in part, but I think you're missing the point. Why should Municipal Museum of Algeciras have to undergo silly tight regulations for reviewing just to be a DYK and what benefit really would the Gibraltar government have for having it on the front page of wikipedia for 6 hours? I think its a decent starter article, interesting, why should we be punished and not DYK just for the sake of it? From my perspective such articles are clearly suitable for DYK and improve it. Sure, I could let it pass and not bother to nominate it but it seems to be decent enough so why not DYK it? What harm will it do? ♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 21:53, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The point is that these articles are generated as part of a project plainly described, by those running and promoting it, as a low-cost tourist marketing exercise. Assume the Volkswagen Auto Museum hire a Wikipedia consultant to brush up Wikipedia's coverage of Volkswagen models, Volkswagen vehicle platforms, etc., and the project, Volkswagenpedia, is widely described in the press as a marketing project designed to build brand awareness and brand appreciation, and promote Volkswagen sales. We get wonderful photographs of old Volkswagens out of it, superb graphics of old and recent engines, clever animations that illustrate the most varied aspects of Volkswagen engineering, and our articles look spick and span. Now, you may be comfortable with Wikipedia having a dozen or more Volkswagen articles on the main page each month. That is your right. I am not comfortable with that. Andreas JN466 22:05, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I see your argument, but I consider it offensive that you think the sole purpose for creating that article was to pat the Gibraltar government on the arse and say "here boy", this'll get you 69 and a half tourists to visit Gibraltar next month". OK, the article falls within Gibraltarpedia's scope, but your view takes away the spirit of contributing to wikipedia which many of us genuinely share, regardless of whatever Roger or his project may be involved in. And whatever he allegedly did, your view spoils it for the rest of us who believe it or not are motivated to contribute to articles which are wanted as a part of a project and not working for the "company". I would agree with you that Gibraltar articles don't have to be DYKs, but I would also disagree with the idea that any article within the scope whether some cavern in northern Morocco or museum in Spain should NOT be a DYK just because you think it is Gibraltar advertising.♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 22:52, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Andreas's complaints about the opening statement and the graphs are valid. As for DYK not mattering: it would matter if you were pitching Andorrapedia to Andorra. Pointing to ongoing mentions of brand Gibraltar on our front page would help with that pitch. DYK is now part of the [region]pedia commercial service package. So it's important to those who are making money from it, and important to those that are paying for it. --Anthonyhcole (talk) 22:39, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

More to the point, the Wikipedia main pages were actually a prominent part of the sales pitch that this project is based on. See and listen to multiple references to the main page from time code 12:22 of the TEDx presentation which the Gibraltarpedia project was based on. Andreas JN466 22:49, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I would say that people have made thousands of dollars out of my work to date for wikipedia. Am I happy with it? No, it makes it worse that I've never received a penny in return for my efforts. But that's what it is. People, companies, whatever do try to use wikipedia as a marketing tool or at least to draw attention to themselves. There's not much we can do about it expect try to keep articles neutral. Do I like the idea that Bamkin is supposedly manipulating wikipedia and its editors to gain financially himself as part of a government agreement to promote tourism on here? Honestly I don't, but I think you need to look beyond this at the wider scope, the articles are neutral, and appearing on the main page for such a short time is hardly a good advert. The articles existing are adverts in themselves, but you could argue that about any place. I've created articles on luxury hotels in Asia, pretty sure making it interesting on wikipedia has helped tourists visiting it but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter as the articles do meet guidelines and people will always profit from the goodwill put in on here from innocent individuals.♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 23:02, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Blofeld, I get it that writing articles as part of a project is more companionable than chugging away by yourself on some hotel in Hong Kong, without so much as a word of appreciation from anyone. But in a sense, it’s exploitative; you’re led to believe you are contributing within the spirit of the Wikimedia movement, but you are also manipulated into serving a commercial agenda.

What’s worse, it is not just you who is being manipulated, but the project itself. Neutrality is a fundamental pillar of this project. Why should this project give visible precedence to barely notable features of Gibraltar, when we have substantial gaps elsewhere? Why should Gibraltar be given extra attention and the densest coverage, when Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, St Lucia or the British Virgin Islands are not? Where is the neutrality in that – is it so easy to manipulate Wikipedia: just start a project, and a competition with some token prizes, and off you can go and bend Wikipedia out of shape, so Wikipedia is kind to your town and you get a few extra tourist dollars?

Now, before you condemn me as an out-and-out cynic – of course this is not the whole story. A project like Monmouthpedia or Gibraltarpedia can also serve as an inspiration to other towns and cities. You can rightfully argue that Wikipedia has to start somewhere: you make one area really nice, and then other areas may follow suit, inspired by the example you have set, and the encyclopedia wins, gaining quality coverage of more and more places. When cities are modernised, this is how it is done: you start in one corner, make it nice, and eventually the nice corners coalesce. So, Gibraltar is just the beginning!

It’s a valid argument, and the reason why I think projects like Gibraltarpedia are on balance compatible with the Wikipedia mission. But I draw the line at openly and blatantly selling the Wikipedia main page as part of a marketing pitch. It’s just wrong, and a PR meltdown waiting to happen. Neutrality, not payment-based preferential treatment, is a fundamental pillar of this project. I believe people in the first world will see to it that their cities have good coverage without being promised main page slots. There remain enough SEO advantages from having dense coverage of your locale that we do not have to stoop to selling the main page for product placement. I’d rather see committed Wikipedians being encouraged to work on articles for those parts of the world where people are not so rich that they can afford the equipment and time to edit Wikipedia, or the money for a Wikipedia consultant. I’d rather see the Wikimedia Foundation sponsor prizes for Ghanapedia, or Guyanapedia, and employ a consultant doing essentially what Roger is doing, paid from donations, and on the basis of a needs assessment, i.e. filling gaps in Wikipedia’s coverage. Andreas JN466 23:33, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

" I’d rather see the Wikimedia Foundation sponsor prizes for Ghanapedia, or Guyanapedia, and employ a consultant doing essentially what Roger is doing, paid from donations, and on the basis of a needs assessment, i.e. filling gaps in Wikipedia’s coverage. " Absolutely agree, I've long thought this and think how much better off wikipedia would be for it. Honestly, I don't think a lot of articles for Gibraltar really affects neutrality at all and I think that anybody who contributes to wikipedia for free is being exploited to some extent anyway, the reality is most of us enjoy contributing and collaborating in the spirit of wikipedia, and try not to think much about the "dark side". Wikipedia is inherently biased towards certain topics, especially popular culture and sport and will always have an often grossly uneven coverage of articles. We'll always have more good articles on things like obscure TV episodes and roads that things like major cities and provinces as they're easier to write. It is extremely common to be shocked by the level of detail on some places or topics and equally shocked by how poor development is of really notable ones. Sunset Strip for instance isn't even sourced!! Wikipedia has been constructed in a haphazard fashion with editorial interest dictating what gets covered. I don't think a few hundred articles for Gibraltar will alter the equilibrium in coverage, and given that my ultimate goal for wikipedia is to have Template:Whalsay or Template:Algeciras like detailed coverage on any locale in the world I think see the work on Gibraltar as towards a greater goal in which all the places you mentioned would have similar coverage. The issue of course is that we both want the foundation to be actively seeking agreements with nations and cities and creating new projects to attract new contributors and make contributing more exciting. If you look beyond what you see as "exploitation", "manipulation" and "commercial gain" the actual concept is a wonderful one for generating new content and to directly provide encyclopedic benefit in the real world to people. That should be our ultimate goal in my opinion, but it should be done within this project in a spirit of collaboration and genuine love of sharing knowledge. What I dislike about this is that you Andreas and the Wikiocracy mob place labels upon editors and judge people without really knowing anything about them. Eric Barbour accused me of being Anne simply because I got sick of her user page being red linked! I'm not slating your forum for discussing important wikipedia issues, but you must admit you have a tendency to imagine worse case scenario and dream up conspiracy theories which are mostly not true on that site. And trolls like Barbour and co rarely come up with anything productive to they? Instead of whining about it, the more productive thing would be to try to convince the foundation to get involved with governments and institutions to create projects all over the world which are done on our terms with our own funded prizes, and I'd be the first one to support you if you did make a proposal.♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 11:25, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Well, to some extent I suppose the Foundation delegates the responsibility for initiating such projects to the chapters. But that leaves 2 issues: (1) many countries that lack good coverage in Wikipedia don't have chapters, and (2) as this project has shown, chapters may lack secure, established governance structures. In my view the Foundation should take a more hands-on approach; and their recent thumbs-down for the chapters association implies that their thinking may begin to lean in that direction too. It's not like the Foundation has never done hands-on project management: the public policy initiative was run by Pete Forsyth, who was an employee at the time. The Foundation could extend that model to other topic areas and projects, using freelance consultants as needed This might also provide bona fide career paths for Wikipedians; there is a great passage in the governance review somewhere where they say the lack of career paths for Wikipedians had resulted in them making up their own. We could post something on Meta (where would you suggest?).

The issue with Gibraltarpedia is that it sets up a pay-for-play system for the main page. That was part of the sales pitch, and I don't think it's doing this project any favours—even if viewed objectively, the hooks themselves are not so different from the dozens and dozens of hooks we've had on the Michigan Wolverines, or on Bach cantatas. You can get away with it if it's an enthusiast, but the moment the Bach cantata hooks are coming from a music publisher, the public will perceive it as a problem. The situation with the main page here is completely analogous to the COI policies we have in mainspace. The trick Gibraltarpedia employed was to hire a paid consultant who gets unpaid volunteers to do the majority of the on-wiki work—which doesn't change the fact that the content is part of a project which someone is getting paid for.

Of course people post things that are wide of the mark on Wikipediocracy; they do so here too. Prioryman is making out on Jimbo's talk that I told The Register's Andrew Orlowski the other day to write about the continuing presence of Gibraltar hooks on the main page, so that I would be able to use it as an argument here, and that's nonsense. I sent Andrew links to the governance review, and to the coverage in Governance and Third Sector, because it was a bona fide news story—one that the WMF actually wanted covered, because they told Stevie Benton at WMUK to advise the press of the publication of the review. That was well before this discussion here started. It was Andrew who said their readers keep finding and sending in plugs for Gibraltar, and he sent me the screenshot, not vice versa. But that's free speech for you—people are allowed to sound off, even if they don't get things altogether right, or decide to enter tinfoil territory.

I sure don't agree with the tone and content of everything that's posted on Wikipediocracy, but nor do I feel the need to post a rebuttal to every post I don't agree with. God knows people make enough accusations about others here on Wikipedia as well; just look at any arbcom case. As for Eric: I appreciate Eric, but that doesn't mean I would endorse everything he says, and vice versa. I know there has been needling between you and him; but those issues are for you and him to sort out (or ignore). I flatter myself I am doing okay on not labelling people, and not spouting nonsense about them over there; if you disagree, feel free to drop me an e-mail, or join up over there. You're very welcome to. As far as Gibraltarpedia is concerned though, much of what people said on Wikipediocracy was vindicated by the governance review. It wasn't like people on Wikipediocracy made it all up. Andreas JN466 13:57, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Shown on the right is a histogram reflecting the actual historical data that we currently have for the months of July through mid-February, without predictions. As can be seen, there is no sharp fall in DYK hooks after September. Andreas JN466 21:43, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

How have you managed to get 9 for the first 14 days of February when BlueMoonset has pointed out above that the true figure is 5? Prioryman (talk) 22:03, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

In a histogram, the height of the bars is analogous to the probability density, and the frequency is represented by the area, not the height, of the bars. That's elementary statistics. Andreas JN466 22:08, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You can also think of it this way: the frequency density for 5 hooks in 14 days is the same as that of 10 hooks in 28 days. In other words, the smaller the time gap between hooks, the higher the density, and the higher the bar. That's how histograms are drawn. Andreas JN466 22:11, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It is still deeply misleading, because you're implying that there will be 10 hooks in 28 days - in other words, another 5 hooks in the remaining 14 days of this month. There is no reason to believe that as there has not been a single nomination in the last 5 weeks. Where are these extra 5 hooks going to come from? Your track record of predictions in this area is bad, to say the least. In the last discussion on this in mid-October, you suggested that there could be 200 hooks between then and Christmas. The actual figure was in the order of 21. Prioryman (talk) 22:25, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

If you don't believe me, here is a GCSE revision page that may be helpful. It is not misleading; it simply reflects the data that we actually have. Again, elementary statistics. You are essentially assuming that there will be zero Gibraltarpedia hooks over the next two weeks. You don't know that. You can only know what happened in the past. Andreas JN466 22:29, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

The meaning of the histogram is clear to me. I would have popped the actual number of hooks on top of each bar, though. Can you do that, Andreas? --Anthonyhcole (talk) 22:33, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Andreas JN466 22:42, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Cheers. (You don't need the numbers down the side now.) --Anthonyhcole (talk) 22:44, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Just to be clear: to imply that there will be 10 DYKs in February, the February bar would have to be full-width, covering the whole month, rather than half the month. All the histogram shows is that we have had 5 DYKs in 14 days, which is a fact. Andreas JN466 08:43, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That's a useful presentation. Thank you. Bielle (talk) 22:46, 14 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

If the restrictions were lifted, would that mean that Roger is allowed to nominate and approve Gibraltarpedia DYKs again? Andreas JN466 17:21, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

He has already said that he will not do so, so the question doesn't arise. Prioryman (talk) 22:58, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It's absurd that Wikipedia and WMUK need to suffer continued PR damage so that Gibraltar can continue to get free promotion on Wikipedia's Main Page. I totally support the Gibraltarpedia and Monmouthpedia projects and I'm worried that the continued negative PR caused by these DYKs is going to seriously endanger the future of these and similar projects. Being featured on the Main Page is a privilege, not a right. Let's use it wisely. There's no reason we need to drag this controversy out. Let's put it to rest and get back to writing an encyclopedia. Kaldari (talk) 00:14, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

1. I don't see a problem with featuring the output of a successful project on the main page. dci | TALK 00:23, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
2. Absurd solution being proposed, in my opinion. No moratorium. BlueMoonset (talk) 00:41, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   Why is it absurd? If these DYKs are hurting Wikipedia rather than improving it, why do we need them on the main page? We certainly don't have a shortage of other articles we could use. Kaldari (talk) 00:44, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   I wouldn't characterize your proposal as absurd. I would, however, say that these DYKs aren't really (at least in my opinion) hurting Wikipedia. Quality and relatively interesting (not all the hooks are exactly riveting, but are more so than some of the typical fare on the main page) content does have a place in the main page, even if a lot of it is about Gibraltar. dci | TALK 01:09, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   (edit conflict) You're assuming that they have been hurting Wikipedia over the past several months since the current restrictions were put in place (which was subsequent to Jimbo's quote). I'm not convinced, and using The Register doesn't bolster matters, as witness the discussion in the previous sections. BlueMoonset (talk) 01:13, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   Do you think at this point the WMF (or the chapters) would have 2nd thoughts about funding projects like Monmouthpedia and Gibraltarpedia? If this controversy results in future projects not being able to get off the ground, that certainly hurts Wikipedia. We need to be thinking about the long-term implications, not just the short-term gains. The idea of Wikipedia taking over the world one city at a time is an insanely great idea. Let's make sure that idea has a future by ending this controversy, not digging ourselves into a deeper hole. Kaldari (talk) 01:30, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   You make an excellent point; basically, I read it as this: Gibraltarpedia, etc. are good ideas, but the endless drama around them does nothing but bog them down. But, despite the validity of your theory here, I think that we'd be best off right now letting the project take off again, and try to set a more positive tone. dci | TALK 01:34, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

   I guess I don't understand why DYKs are essential to the success of the project. I've worked on several successful GLAM projects, none of which have required promoting articles as DYKs. Kaldari (talk) 01:44, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

3. I was about to oppose strongly, but see the comment below. μηδείς (talk) 03:39, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]
4. Proposal withdrawn as I don't think it's going to actually help anything at this point. Kaldari (talk) 03:08, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It should be pointed out that there are restrictions in force on all DYK hooks related to Gibraltar at the current time:

1. No more than one Gibraltar hook may be promoted to the front page in any 24 hour period.
2. Gibraltar nominations must be sequestered in a separate section on the nominations page.
3. All Gibraltar hooks must have two separate reviews, and at least one must include a determination as to whether there exists any promotional or COI material. BlueMoonset (talk) 00:41, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Did you miss the immediately preceding request by Prioryman to have these restrictions removed? Bielle (talk) 00:45, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]

No, I didn't, but I thought they were germane in this discussion, to show the status quo. At present, the support for removing restrictions is slightly ahead of retaining them. Even if the ratio shifts somewhat, this vote to increase restrictions to a full-on moratorium very unlikely to prosper. BlueMoonset (talk) 01:13, 15 February 2013 (UTC)[reply]