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General discussion

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Should we be indefinitely semi-protecting this page?

Day in and day out, this page experiences plenty of random edits about completely unrelated topics, by users with about one contribution apiece. As it's fairly unlikely that an unconfirmed user would be suggesting a legitimate improvement to the Main Page, is it time that we begin indefinitely protecting this talkpage? Note that this would not affect ERRORS, as it's a separate page that's transcluded onto here. — RAVENPVFF · talk · 13:52, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Protecting this page would just drive such editors to another talk page, it wouldn't stop them. It's just the way it is. 331dot (talk) 13:54, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

This page has certainly been temporarily protected before. Do you know where they've gone when that has happened? — RAVENPVFF · talk · 13:57, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, the theory has been that this is the very first talk page many potential new users ever see, and if they can't edit it at all, they'll wander off without trying another more appropriate page. And that there are enough people watching so that the silly stuff stays up for about 1 minute.

I'm not 100% sure I buy into that, since such a large percentage of new people who post here are posting something like "Fendlethorpe is AWESOME", and I'm not sure Fendlethorpe is the kind of new editor we're trying to attract. But that's been the theory. --Floquenbeam (talk) 14:00, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Wouldn't it be nice if people would read the screen? Eman235/talk 14:08, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Yeah, but they won't, especially the vandals. 'BASAVARAJ CHINAGI AT- AMARAGOL''''Bold textr unprotect it once and for all, rather than the weekly drama of temporary protection because next week will be different. Art LaPella (talk) 14:18, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

Better for this page to be vandalized than any other. I don't think any protection longer than a few hours is appropriate on this page since this is the front page. We have to keep the door open to accept criticism from the masses. I suspect that most of the recent vandalism traces to a small block of IP addresses. Perhaps a checkuser of some recent vandal user names will yield some info. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 21:12, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

The majority of vandalism on this page appears to originate from India. A checkuser on these "contributions" might show if they are actually the same person(s). Otherwise, a much longer protection of this page will be necessary. David J Johnson (talk) 21:23, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

If you are right, a indefinite block might work but majority of Indians use a shared IP connection (either it's from mobile data or broadband) and therefore their IP changes from time to time. Also I think we can reduce by a range block but that will affect other editors as well. I think the best way to keep this page safe is to indefinitely semi-protect it.Masum Reza 22:26, 26 June 2019 (UTC)

It is very sad to see Wikipedians losing confidence in the open-access model of the "encyclopedia that anyone can edit". This talk page gets between 1,000 and 2,000 page views every day, but it is only edited a handful of time a day, and reverting occasional random vandalism is easy enough at the click of a button. Just go ahead and lock down the entire thing if you are so concerned about keeping it "safe". 213.205.240.239 (talk) 07:04, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

See WP:PAGEPROTECT. This page isn't even in article space, so protecting it would hardly do much in preventing people contributing to the encyclopedia as a whole. Besides, I don't think the vandalism prevalent on this page can really be described as "occasional". Semi-protection is also a fairly low bar (four days and ten edits) that wouldn't affect the vast majority of users seeking to post legitimate topics here. — RAVENPVFF · talk · 10:31, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

You do realize you're replying to an IP who posted here legitimately? :D --valereee (talk) 14:14, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

Well... yeah, but I suppose it's for situations like these that Misplaced Pages advises editors to create an account. — RAVENPVFF · talk · 15:38, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

I would support protecting this page but just to tell you India is the second biggest country in the world so banning people from India editing may not be a good idea as Misplaced Pages I think had once banned the entire country of Qatar from editing in 2007 I believe and it ended up being a disaster. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.222.180.90 (talk) 13:00, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

I don't think anyone was suggesting we ban the entire country of India from editing all of Misplaced Pages. Eman235/talk 13:53, 27 June 2019 (UTC)

• The vandalism here is reverted so fast that I've literally never gotten here in time to revert. Once I thought I got here in time, but by the time I clicked restore version the edit was already gone. --valereee (talk) 14:14, 27 June 2019 (UTC)
• I have to say I support this as there is spam and vandalism from people or at least add a strong filter to block vandalism and spam on this page 71.173.78.82 (talk) 10:16, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

  You realize that would mean you could not make this comment post semi-protection. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 10:37, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

What if we added this to the very top of this page:

Press this button to create a new Misplaced Pages article:

It should handle most of the randomness. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 10:56, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

Coffeeandcrumbs, hahaha I like it! --valereee (talk) 12:35, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

It already says "To submit an article or redirect, please use the article wizard." People seldom read all that stuff, but each line we add makes it less likely that the rest will be read. If one line is judged more important than the others, we should at least remove duplicate instructions. Art LaPella (talk) 14:02, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

It is not obvious enough. Here is the evidence that is not working. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 14:45, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

I think that's less of an article request than an obvious attempt at self-promotion modelled loosely on a Misplaced Pages article. — RAVENPVFF · talk · 14:57, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

Actually, upon closer inspection, it seems to be a partial copy of an existing Misplaced Pages article. — RAVENPVFF · talk · 15:00, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

This article is a great candidate for WP:TNT. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 19:40, 29 June 2019 (UTC)

Anyway, my point was that none of the instructions are working. It may be worthwhile to emphasize one of them more strongly; just recognize that it pushes everything else further down into TLDR territory. Art LaPella (talk) 17:53, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

Well, they probably work, just not 100% of the time. It's not like the Teahouse takes a poll at the door asking where one found that page. Eman235/talk 21:54, 28 June 2019 (UTC)

This is one of the most watched pages on Misplaced Pages. A few of the edits are vandalism, a few more are tests, and even more are legitimate. There are enough editors keeping an eye out that edits from the three categories are easily discerned, and corrected when needed. A brand new, potentially valuable contributor may try their first edit here. Why would we discourage that? WP:Protection policy Orville1974 22:09, 29 June 2019 (UTC)

In all fairness, considering that edits from the first two categories are almost immediately reverted (being unrelated to the Main Page), I'm not sure it's all that encouraging for a new user to make one test edit here and then receive a notification about its reversal just seconds later. My hope is that page protection would at least make some users who would otherwise make some irrelevant edit here read the box at the top and be directed to a more suitable place. — RAVENPVFF · talk · 00:07, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Is Misplaced Pages a White Male Supremacist Publication?

How about we make a conscious decision not to have nothing but white guys (not to mention nothing but white guys pictured) on the front page? Mr. Assassinated Ethiopian does not adequately balance out the Implicit Associations triggered. It's 2019 guys, we need to do better than that.Fb2ts (talk) 09:41, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

The main page content is created by separate sections of the community. No one person oversees the overall balance. Sometimes we might end up with four images of women. It's just chance. The Rambling Man (talk) 09:43, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Like I said, it's 2019. If we can't get a human or two to watch the front page, then how do we overhaul the system to curate the evolution? We'd have to tag for ethnicity and gender, right? Male, Female, African, American (not European American), Asian, Australian (not European Australian) and European. It's more than a paragraph in the Manual, I'm sure. But impossible? So impossible that we can't even think about it? Fb2ts (talk) 10:00, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

If you don't like what is posted to the Main Page for whatever reason, you should participate in the processes that determine what goes on it. No need for an overhaul or affirmative action program. 331dot (talk) 10:08, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Even apart from that the OP is completely wrong that we have "nothing but white guys... on the front page", as the featured items include Panggilan Darah, Wei Shoukun, Eunice Eloisae Gibbs Allyn, Tadao Takashima, Etika and Bahia Bakari. Hut 8.5 10:10, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Point taken. Thank you. I feel better now. Fb2ts (talk) 10:18, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

The main page is mostly just reflective of the material available to it at that time. If you want a change, Fb2ts, go create some brilliant featured pictures of non-white subjects, write some new articles for inclusion in Did You Know, a featured article, or some well-written date-specific topics, for inclusion in "on this day". Don't complain, just get busy!  — Amakuru (talk) 10:12, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Yes. That's the way to approach the problem, for sure. Thank you. Fb2ts (talk) 10:24, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

(edit conflict)

Also, why do Ambachew Mekonnen and Se'are Mekonnen not count? Seems like a bit of a White Male Supremacist opinion there... Chaheel Riens (talk) 10:26, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Yes. White. Not Male. True that. Fb2ts (talk) 10:51, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

What do we need to do to replace that picture of Se'are Mekonnen with one of Carola Rackete? Is it a question of getting an image marked for reuse/modification? Fb2ts (talk) 10:30, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Fb2ts, I think what you're asking is why is the Carola Rackete story not included in the news? You can suggested ITN stories at Misplaced Pages:In_the_news/Candidates ETA: But it doesn't look like we have a photo of Rackete; someone needs to upload one they own themselves at Wikimedia Commons for it to be used on the main page. valereee (talk) 10:53, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

(ec) Fb2ts, that would be a first step. Then you have to nominate a blurb about a current news event at WP:ITNC to go with it.

Or you can wait 14 hours for the white guys to be replaced by the British flag, a plate of poutine, a walkman, Edgar Allan Poe and an Eastern grey squirrel. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 10:52, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

I must read the ITN page. That much is clear. :-)

There's no picture of Se'are Mekonnen on their page - and Google doesn't have one. I suppose it will show up tomorrow. Is it too noobie to ask how I look to see where that picture came from? How does your average joe editor get their hands on an image like that? Fb2ts (talk) 11:20, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Flickr. They got it from Flickr. Interesting . . . So much to learn . . . Fb2ts (talk) 12:05, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

I have left a message on your talk page. If you have more questions feel free to ask there. You can get my attention by typing {{Ping|Coffeeandcrumbs}}~~~~ but I will be watching your talk page for a while if you need assistance. --- Coffeeandcrumbs 13:41, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Thanks! I've been deleting those cookies for years. :-) I hope it's not too rude. It's been years (and several avatars) since someone thought I needed a plate of 'em. I appreciate your support. Fb2ts (talk) 14:24, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

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