User talk:HouseBlaster

Welcome to my talk page!

• My pronouns are he/they.
• I prefer to keep discussions unfragmented, so I'll reply where you left me a message.
• I am an administrator—if you need help, please ask! If I am offline, you can find a recently active admin.
• Talk page watchers are welcome to add their input!

Thank you! Leave me a message.

Question from MedillMSJ (19:51, 7 July 2026)

Hello,

I did not know that as a new Wikipedia editor I was paired with a mentor. I just saw this notification. Thanks for your volunteerism.

I am having trouble with a Wikipedia editor who is not on board with including the gay (and other) rights activist for whom I’m trying to create a Wikipedia page.

The editor is delaying the process (by months). I understand that we are all volunteers, but I’ve been a volunteer for decades. You NEVER say, “Hey, I’m a volunteer. I’m not getting paid for this. I don’t have the time.”

If this person doesn’t have the time to review changes to a page that he/she CHOSE to edit, then they need to put it back into the queue (or not claim it in the first place).

Additionally, the editor agrees that Mark Milano was a world-renowned activist who helped change federal laws and policies and helped save millions of lives worldwide, but unlike the countless porn starlets or one-hit song wonders or mediocre athletes in Wikipedia, Milano doesn’t have X number of mentions in the news.

This editor told me that Wikipedia is not about quality, it’s about quantity.

Is this correct?

I found mentions of Milano on the properties of ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX News, the New York Times and other news outlets.

The editor told me that several of my sources were not considered reliable, then after I deleted them, said they could be used, and that I could add them back.

Can you take a look at my Mark Milano page and let me know what you think?

Thanks. --MedillMSJ (talk) 19:52, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi MedillMSJ, and welcome! The editor is correct that Wikipedia can only have articles about topics which pass our notability guidelines (in this case, Wikipedia:Notability (people)). The "golden rule" of Wikipedia is that articles generally require significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the topic—this is both "quality" (the source must be reliable) and "quantity" (the coverage must go in-depth).

You can read about why this is the case at Wikipedia:Notability § Why we have these requirements, but in short: Articles need to meet these criteria to write a policy-compliant Wikipedia article. If a mediocre athlete gets lots of coverage, they are eligible for an article. If a star athlete goes completely unnoticed by sources, they are not eligible for an article.

Can you provide me the three best sources you have on Milano? They should be independent (not written by Milano, his friends, his family, his business associations, etc.), reliable (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX News, the New York Times are all fine), and contain significant coverage of Milano. "Significant" is about the depth of coverage—a full-length article about Milano watching paint dry is "significant", but a one-line mention that Milano saved the world is not. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 21:08, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Can I send you a link to the article, or can only I and the editor see it? MedillMSJ (talk) 21:12, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Everyone, including me, can see the draft at Draft:Mark Milano. I am wondering if you can point me to the three best sources so I can evaluate whether Milano is eligible for an article. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 21:15, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

As far as "name" sources go, these might be the three "best":

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-finds-cosmetic-surgery-firm-violated-disabilities-act-by-denying-procedures-for-men-with-hiv/

https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/friend-friend-dying-hiv-survivors-back-past-30-59468714

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/02/nyregion/faces-of-hiv.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article&region=Footer#:~:text=Mark%20Milano,%2057,and%20one%20in%20my%20kidney.

As far as significant coverage, these might be the best.

https://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2015/12/battling-the-hivaids-stigma/

https://gaycitynews.com/remembering-mark-milano-a-committed-activist-in-the-fight-against-hiv-aids/

https://www.poz.com/article/cosmetic-surgeon-must-pay-375k-damages-hiv-discrimination

Please also Google him to see the extent to which he's been covered and let me know what you think, thanks!

P.S. It's sad to think that a porn star or one-hit wonder is more notable for Wikipedia purposes than one of the world's most famous gay rights and AIDS activists because they have X number of mentions on the internet. I understand that's the policy and your hands are tied, but, wow! MedillMSJ (talk) 21:28, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

@MedillMSJ: To your PS, I agree with you that it's unfortunate that one-hit wonders are more likely to be eligible... though I don't think it's Wikipedia's fault. As our name suggests, we are an encyclopedia, which is a tertiary source. To make a tertiary source, as the name suggests, we summarize secondary sources like newspaper articles. That can only happen if there are newspaper articles to summarize. So I wish that the press cared more about people from disadvantaged backgrounds and less about Hollywood!

Back to Milano: I have prepared a "source assessment table", which is a handy way of assessing a bunch of sources to check whether a topic is eligible for an article. Remember, we need two or three sources to qualify.

Source assessment table prepared by User:HouseBlaster

Source	Independent?	Reliable?	Significant coverage?	Count source toward GNG?
https://gaycitynews.com/remembering-mark-milano-a-committed-activist-in-the-fight-against-hiv-aids/		Unclear whether this qualifies as a reliable source. There was a discussion at our "reliable sources noticeboard" (we have a lot of noticeboards!), which didn't come to clear agreement.		? Unknown
https://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2015/12/battling-the-hivaids-stigma/		thirteen.org is from WNET, part of PBS	This source doesn't really cover Milano as a person—we want coverage about him and his activism, not HIV/AIDS	✘ No
https://www.poz.com/article/cosmetic-surgeon-must-pay-375k-damages-hiv-discrimination		Unclear whether there is a reputation for fact-checking and accuracy	I'd call this borderline but significant	? Unknown
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-finds-cosmetic-surgery-firm-violated-disabilities-act-by-denying-procedures-for-men-with-hiv/			Only a couple short sentences about Milano.	✘ No
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/wellness/story/friend-friend-dying-hiv-survivors-back-past-30-59468714			Lots of information about Milano as a person. This source is eligible!	✔ Yes
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/02/nyregion/faces-of-hiv.html	This source only contains quotes from Milano, and that is not independent of Milano. This is a good example of our rule that context matters—the NYT is normally independent, but in this case, it is not.		~ Borderline	✘ No
This table may not be a final or consensus view; it may summarize developing consensus, or reflect assessments of a single editor. Created using {{source assess table}}.

In my judgment, we have one source which qualifies and two which possibly do. Of the questionable ones, Gay City News seems the most promising. Ground News says that Gay City News is reliable, but I am having a hard time locating how they find their sources or if they have a process for publishing retractions when they mess up. Do you have any more insight into whether that source is reliable? Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 00:22, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks.

As a professional journalist, I use sources to verify individual facts, not provide an overview of a person or business. So, if I say, "Milano disrupted a speech by George W. Bush on Feb. 10, 2001," then the source I use only needs to verify that. One sentence in the article should be fine. Is this NOT how Wikipedia works? MedillMSJ (talk) 09:00, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

If you cite a source, it only needs to verify what you are citing it for. However, you should start with the sources and summarize them—not write an article and then find the sources which back up what you were trying to say. See Wikipedia:Writing Wikipedia articles backward.

For that reason, when assessing whether an article is eligible for an article, we need sources that talk about the topic in detail. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 13:33, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Atthegate (00:56, 8 July 2026)

Hi! I had a question regarding adding images to a page. What is the best/ideal way to add an image of an artwork to an artist's page? I am able to find a photo of the artist in the creative commons but not of the artworks. I understand that the issue of artwork images relates to licensing, correct? What can I do if I can take a photo of the artwork in-person? Or is it suggested that I get an approved photo of the artwork from the artist? Thank you for you help. --Atthegate (talk) 00:56, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

@Atthegate: Welcome to Wikipedia! It depends. Unless a work of art is under discussion, it generally can't be used as non-free content. When you take a photograph of a work of art, the copyright of the photograph and the copyright of the artwork as both applicable. Thus, you need both the photographer and the artist to agree to a free license. Asking for an approved photo of the artwork under a free Creative Commons license (I like CC BY-SA 4.0, which is the license used for Wikipedia's text) from the artist is the best way forward :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 03:53, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for the welcome! Thank you for this information. I will look into asking for an approved photo under the Creative Commons license that you recommended. Atthegate (talk) 00:57, 9 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Jhedesco0212 (13:37, 8 July 2026)

Note: Jhedesco0212's mentor Cassiopeia is away.

Hola cómo estás, quiero saber cómo subo contenido a alguna página. Ejemplo puntual: el cerrito valle. Gracias compa --Jhedesco0212 (talk) 13:37, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Hola @Jhedesco0212, y bienvenido(a) a Wikipedia. Primero, quiero informarte que ésta es la Wikipedia en inglés; debes hablar en inglés aquí. HouseBlaster, quien dudo que domine el español, me pidió ayuda en responderte. ¿Sabías que existe una Wikipedia en español? Quizá será más fácil contribuir ahí para ti. Para subir contenido a un artículo (o una "página" como describiste tú) se hace clic en el botón "Edit" (modificar).

En adición, hay un botón con el símbolo 文 (chino para "idioma"). Haz clic ahí para modificar tus preferencias relacionadas con la idioma del sitio; eso hará las cosas un poco más fácil si quieres contribuir aquí. Si tienes preguntas, por favor envíame un mensaje en mi página de discusión. Gracias, y bienvenido(a) a Wikipedia.

----

Hello Jhedesco0212, and welcome to Wikipedia. First, I want to inform you that this is the English Wikipedia; you must speak in English here. HouseBlaster, who I doubt speaks Spanish fluently, asked me for help in responding to you. Did you know that there is a Spanish-language Wikipedia? It may be easier for you to contribute there. To add content to an article (or "page" as you described it) you click on the "Edit" button.

In addition, there is a button with the 文 symbol (Chinese for "language"). Click on it to change your site language preferences; this will make things a little easier if you want to contribute here. If you have questions, please send me a message at my talk page. Thanks, and welcome to Wikipedia. Gommeh ^{(talk 🎮 sign)} 14:10, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Gracias, eres muy amable Jhedesco0212 (talk) 10:41, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

De nada, pero ¿no te dije que aquí debes hablar en inglés, no en español? No quiero parecer antipático, pero continuar a hablar en español después de haber sido notificado de eso no es una buena idea. Pero aún así, no se prohíbe hablar en español aquí; se permite incluir una traducción al inglés en adición al español, como lo hago yo en esta mensaje. Espero haber comunicado bien las expectativas. Si tienes preguntas o no estás seguro de algo, por favor dímelo. Para más información, ve WP:ENGLISHPLEASE.

(You're welcome, but didn't I say you need to speak English here, not Spanish? I don't mean to be rude, but continuing to talk in Spanish after being notified of this isn't a good idea. That being said, speaking in Spanish here isn't exactly prohibited; you're allowed to include an English translation in addition to the original Spanish, like I'm doing in this message. I hope I've communicated the expectations well. If you have questions or aren't sure about something, please tell me. For more information, see WP:ENGLISHPLEASE.) In solidarity, Gommeh ^{(talk 🎮 sign)} 13:48, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

June 2026 Good Article Backlog Drive

	The Working Man's Barnstar
	This award is given in recognition to HouseBlaster for accumulating at least 7 points during the 2026 June GA backlog elimination drive. Thank you for your efforts! -- Reconrabbit (talk) 17:18, 9 July 2026 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Paint drying closed

The arbitration case Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Paint drying has been now closed, and the final decision is available at the link above. The following remedies have been enacted:

1. ThisIsaTest (talk · contribs) is site banned for one week.

GoldRomean (talk) 22:30, 9 July 2026 (UTC)

Discuss this at: Wikipedia talk:Arbitration Committee/Noticeboard § Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Paint drying closed

Question from ILoveMyDogFrankie (18:59, 10 July 2026)

Hello, I have a question about the number of edits I can do. I have mainly been adding links in articles ( the easy edits bots choose for me.) If I do more than 3 edits in a row, it says that I have performed all of my edits for the day, and I know this is to prevent bots. I am wondering if there is a way I can do more edits like this without being stopped? Thanks! :D --ILoveMyDogFrankie (talk) 18:59, 10 July 2026 (UTC)

I don't believe there is a way to override that limit, but I'll ask around. In the meantime, you can check out the task center, which lists similar tasks and does not have any limits. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:20, 10 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you! ILoveMyDogFrankie (talk) 19:42, 10 July 2026 (UTC)

@ILoveMyDogFrankie: I've asked some other editors for their thoughts, and there is no way to override the limits just for you. However, you can enable Suggestion mode, which was described to me as like "add a link" but better. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 18:43, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

thank you very much for your help ☺️ ILoveMyDogFrankie (talk) 19:18, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Sheba Deville Briscoe Stone (20:12, 11 July 2026)

Goodday! This is my first time using Wikipedia and posting. Great to meet you. --Sheba Deville Briscoe Stone (talk) 20:12, 11 July 2026 (UTC)

Great to meet you too! Let me know if you need help with anything :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 20:21, 11 July 2026 (UTC)

Absolutely! Sheba Deville Briscoe Stone (talk) 20:22, 11 July 2026 (UTC)

Undelete Page Process

Goodday! My page was deleted. How do I start the process to reverse the deletion? Sheba Deville Briscoe Stone (talk) 03:43, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

Your page will not be undeleted because it is an advertisement for yourself. Please read Wikipedia:Autobiographies. voorts (talk/contributions) 03:46, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from UnobtrusiveRebel (01:41, 13 July 2026)

Can I use social media platforms as sources or references? --UnobtrusiveRebel (talk) 01:41, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Generally no. The one exception is that you can occasionally use a source as a reference about itself. See Wikipedia:Reliable sources § Self-published and questionable sources as sources on themselves for the official guideline. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 01:43, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

OK. Good to know because some editors use this method often in order to reinforce their points. I find it odd because only reliable sources should be used. UnobtrusiveRebel (talk) 01:47, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Its-me-lcbv (14:20, 13 July 2026)

Hi, I would like to change a page name from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watford_F.C._Under-21s_and_Academy to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watford_F.C._B_Team_and_Academy

But I'm not sure how to do it? Thanks for your help. --Its-me-lcbv (talk) 14:20, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi Its-me-lcbv! I've moved the page for you. In the future, you can make a request at Wikipedia:Requested moves/Technical requests. Once you have made ten edits, you'll be able to make these moves yourself :) Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 16:53, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Tech News: 2026-29

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Updates for editors

• Revise Tone helps newcomers identify passages in Wikipedia articles that may contain non-encyclopedic language and encourages them to consider revising the tone. The feature was A/B tested on the Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese Wikipedias, where newcomer task completion rates increased by 38.7% compared to the default Copyedit task, with no decrease in edit quality. The test ended on July 9, and the feature is now available for everyone on these wikis, configurable via Community Configuration. The plan is to release Revise Tone to more wikis.
• The community configuration that allows automatic removal of inactive mentors based on configurable criteria will be enabled on Thursday 16, on some wikis to keep mentor lists up to date. Mentors are experienced contributors who opt in to help new users on-wiki through the Growth Features. Administrators can now prepare the settings via Special:CommunityConfiguration/Mentorship; they will take effect starting Thursday.
• View all 38 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, an issue where some users of the Wikipedia Android app were logged out immediately after signing in, preventing them from staying logged in and editing pages, has now been fixed.

Updates for technical contributors

• Editing a page via user scripts or gadgets was causing watchlist labels that the user had assigned to that page to reset. This has now been fixed.
• To work around a Safari bug (see phab:T425211), on Parsoid-enabled wikis, wikilink hrefs now use absolute urls instead of protocol-relative urls. REST API output remains unchanged and continue to use protocol-relative urls. Gadgets, user scripts, bots, and CSS might need to be adapted if they relied on the presence of protocol-relative urls in wikilink hrefs.
• Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

In depth

• The Wikimedia Foundation’s Experiment Platform Team has published a blog post reflecting on its first year of structured experimentation. It highlights successful experiments such as Paste Check, Reference Check, and Tone Check, which improved editing outcomes and have been rolled out to more users, as well as experiments that did not lead to product changes. Read more.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 16:09, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from ILoveMyDogFrankie (00:06, 14 July 2026)

Hello, I have a question about the easy edits. Since I now have 150 edits, I cannot add links, which is part of the easy edits. I want to ask if this is always the case as I make more edits? Also sorry for the amount of questions. Thanks! --ILoveMyDogFrankie (talk) 00:06, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

At a certain point, the system tries to nudge you to more advanced stuff. But you are welcome to continue adding links! I believe the suggested edits (which I linked above) should still work :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 00:10, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Sandbox Deletion

hello ,I noticed that you deleted my sandbox draft, why is that? as far as I remember, I did not publish it to the enclycopedia and always kept it a draft. this isn't intended to be on Wikipedia, but rather a roleplay by my friends, accessible through the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Amazighpro2/sandbox. if you can ,please restore my draft, it is only intended for me and my friends,if I accidentally released it to the public or anything,let me know and ill make sure its only in my drafts. thank you @Amazighpro2 Amazighpro2 (talk) 06:28, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Anything published on Wikipedia is inherently public, including your own drafts. We do not permit hosting roleplay content on Wikipedia, even in drafts. I am happy to email you the page so you can publish it elsewhere on the internet, but I won't be undeleting it on Wikipedia. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 06:31, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

okay then please send me the draft per email . besides, I noticed that the flags i uploaded on wiki commons got deleted, was it you? because its not an offense to upload fictional / alternate flags , especially if its explicitly mentioned in the description. Thank you, Amazighpro2 (talk) 18:56, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

It looks like you have email disabled. Please follow the steps at Wikipedia:Emailing users § Enabling and disabling sending and receiving of user email and let me know when you have done so.

I did not touch anything you did on Wikimedia Commons. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:07, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from ILoveMyDogFrankie (18:34, 14 July 2026)

Hello! Could I have some tips on creating an article on a song? I have noticed that many songs from albums don't have their own Wikipedia page, and I would like basic information on how to create a page for it. Thanks :) --ILoveMyDogFrankie (talk) 18:34, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Help:Your first article explains how to create a new article. In particular, articles need to meet certain criteria to be eligible for an article. To read the criteria for particular songs, check out Wikipedia:Notability (music) :) Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:25, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Ibraheem1985 (04:12, 15 July 2026)

Hello HouseBlaster, Glad to know that i am in a good hand now. May i know if my edits are not up to the standard way or not. As of currently, i decided to make wiki page neutral page about the company i work for. as a personal efforts to enrich the wikipedia. And i put some suggested wording about conflict of interest. is this all i need to do? is there anything else ? --Ibraheem1985 (talk) 04:12, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

As long as you have declared the conflict of interest, you are fine—though editing with a conflict of interest is generally discouraged by the community, and most editors would rather you find another topic. If you decide you really want to, see Help:Your first article for more advice. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 13:51, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for the clarification. I understand that editing a subject connected to my employer is discouraged, even after disclosing the conflict of interest.

I will continue working only through the Articles for Creation draft process and will avoid directly publishing or making promotional edits. The draft was recently declined because it relied too heavily on primary sources, so I will focus on finding independent, reliable secondary sources before making further changes or resubmitting.

Thank you for your guidance. --Ibraheem1985 (talk) Ibraheem1985 (talk) 15:16, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from GlueGreen (06:58, 15 July 2026)

How do I edit a photo? --GlueGreen (talk) 06:58, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

@GlueGreen: Welcome! There is no built-in way to edit a photo. What you can do is:

1. Download the photo (make sure you select the highest resolution available)
2. Edit it as you please
3. Upload it

Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 13:55, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Video game character redirects to lists

Hi, per the discussion at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2026 May 12#Category:Video game character redirects to lists, we can't only change this category and its subcategories because the template that assigns these categories, {{R from fictional character}}, is also used for television, film literary, comics and other types of characters. My last count included around 1230 subcategories that would need to be moved. Just moving the video game characters without updating the template would leave the new categories empty, and updating the template without moving the non-video game categories would leave all of them empty and add redlinked categories to the files.— TAnthony^Talk 15:21, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

I think those can be added to the WP:CFDS nomination. Do you have a list of categories that need to be nominated? I can take care of tagging them. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 15:23, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

I extracted this list using AWB, there are 1235 entries. Would these be moved manually? — TAnthony^Talk 15:41, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you so much! I plan move them with User:Ahecht/Scripts/massmove. I've listed the new categories at CFDS, so we'll be all set in ~48 hours to update the code. Are you able to sandbox the coding changes required? Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 15:54, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

 Done here.— TAnthony^Talk 16:00, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

I'll update the documentation when this is complete. Thanks! — TAnthony^Talk 16:02, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Speedy deletion nomination of Luciano Valente (disambiguation)

If this is the first article that you have created, you may want to read the guide to writing your first article.

You may want to consider using the Article Wizard to help you create articles.

A tag has been placed on Luciano Valente (disambiguation) requesting that it be speedily deleted from Wikipedia. This has been done under section G14 of the criteria for speedy deletion, because it is:

• a disambiguation page with a title ending in "(disambiguation)" which lists only one extant Wikipedia page (i.e., there is a primary topic);
• a disambiguation page that lists zero extant Wikipedia pages, regardless of its title; or
• a redirect with a title ending in "(disambiguation)" whose target is neither a disambiguation page nor page that has a disambiguation-like function.

Under the criteria for speedy deletion, such pages may be deleted at any time. Please see the disambiguation page guidelines for more information.

If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and removing the speedy deletion tag. Redireditor ^(talk) 22:17, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Speedy deletion nomination of Category:Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara women

A tag has been placed on Category:Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara women indicating that it is currently empty, and is not a disambiguation category, a category redirect, under discussion at Categories for discussion, or a project category that by its nature may become empty on occasion. If it remains empty for seven days or more, it may be deleted under section C1 of the criteria for speedy deletion.

If you think this page should not be deleted for this reason you may contest the nomination by visiting the page and removing the speedy deletion tag. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 22:20, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Nyakomamaxwell on Dacast (00:28, 17 July 2026)

Hello please how can I create video for money --Nyakomamaxwell (talk) 00:28, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

You cannot do that on Wikipedia. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 00:29, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Speedy Rename query

Hello, HouseBlaster,

First, thank you for spending your time working on some category issues that have been lingering for a long time. It's appreciated.

However, when a tagged category like Category:Somalian sport by year pops up on the Empty Category list (see this link), I'm not sure how it should be handled. Is the bot going to rename this category? Is this a tag for deletion if the category is empty? Am I supposed to wait before deletion and what would that be? I never saw categories with these speedy rename tags in the past but they started popping up this year and particularly recently. Any information you can pass on would be appreciated. Thanks again, so much! Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 00:57, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi Liz! Hope you are doing well :)

A bot will rename these categories in 48 hours—see WP:CFDS for the process. Categories should not be deleted in the meantime. By the wording of WP:C1, they are eligible to be tagged for deletion, but they should be populated before the seven day hold is up. If any of the Somali(an) categories are still empty after they've been moved, feel free to drop by my talk page and I'll look into what might be wrong! Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 01:29, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for the explanation. I have no real idea what project this involves and you are handling. But I see a page like Category:A Bug's Life character redirects to lists and, a) I don't when this 48 period starts or is over and b) this category is empty and the future category has articles/redirects in it so is it ready for deletion? Sorry if I seem over eager but we all manage a multitude of tasks and I like to be able to cross some off my mental list. Thanks again for taking this on.

Plus, do you know of a program/script/tool that can handle a mass UNdeletion of pages? We have several that do mass deletions but should they need to be reverted, what can we use? I know it exists due an unfortunate error on my part 5 or 6 years ago but I don't recall what it was called. Thanks. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 18:47, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

The 48 hour period for Category:A Bug's Life character redirects to lists has expired, so I've deleted that category. You're free to delete when the category is empty and the future category has articles/redirects in it so is it ready for deletion :)

Twinkle can do that! See Wikipedia:Twinkle/doc § Modules for administrators for instructions. I sometimes make a list of pages to (un)delete in my sandbox and then tell Twinkle to do the job. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 18:55, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Well, that is certainly what I'm looking for but I'm not sure what "then invoke the script from this page" means. As for the redirect categories, I should have just waited for you to take care of them all. But with the undeletions, I take like a User sandbox, list the deleted pages and then....? Go to Twinkle mode? Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 19:07, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Exactly—make a list in a User sandbox, click the "TW" tab, and there should be an an "und-batch" option. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:13, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Okay, it's working. Slowly, but it's working. It's hard getting a "clean" list with just the page titles. I have other questions for you but I think I'll send you a note through Wikipedia email system. You've now been identified by my system as "An admin who knows how the gears work here" so I might come to you with other querys. You have both my thanks and advanced apologies for that. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 20:49, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Mb1239 on User:Mb1239/Homegoing (Gyasi novel)/Bibliography (01:41, 17 July 2026)

hello I am trying to make article changes for my bibliography. I don't know how --Mb1239 (talk) 01:41, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

What do you mean by for my bibliography? Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 01:58, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Avaloniadisco (04:13, 17 July 2026)

Note: Avaloniadisco's mentor SamuelNelsonGISP is away.

"Any change affecting an article's meaning is not minor, even if it only concerns a single word." (the help page for minor edits)

...possibly silly question, would changing "howtough" to however count as affecting the articles meaning, or would that be classified as a typo fix? I cannot find a definition for "howtough"...anywhere...so I am 85% sure it is not a real word..

"howtough the walkthrough section of the queue is closed down/removed" --> "However, the walkthrough section of the queue is closed down/removed." --Avaloniadisco (talk) 04:13, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

@Avaloniadisco: Typo fixes are minor edits, so you can mark it as a minor edit if you wish. However, my advice would be: Never click that button! You cannot get in trouble for not clicking it. On the flip side, you can get in trouble for incorrectly clicking it. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 04:22, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Books & Bytes – Issue 75

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 75, May–June 2026

• New partnerships: The Telegraph, Marg, The Tribune newspapers
• Tech tip: Expired partnerships

Read the full newsletter

Sent by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of The Wikipedia Library team – 14:44, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

19th-century literary character redirects to lists

Have you any idea why the entries in Category:19th-century literary character redirects to lists are going to Category:19th century literary character redirects instead of Category:19th-century literary character redirects? I'm not sure how widespread a problem this is. Timrollpickering (talk) 19:45, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

It also seems to affect the 20th and 21st century categories. Timrollpickering (talk) 19:52, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Fixed for those two. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:55, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

(edit conflict) It looks like they were previously in Category:19th century literary character redirects to lists, which was resolved to Category:19th-century literary character redirects to lists. I've fixed the location of the redirect, which should fix this problem. Once JJMC89 bot III finishes the current batch, I'll look at any remaining category redirects with "redirects to lists" in their titles to see if they need to be fixed. CC Bearcat—if you come across any red-linked "redirects to lists" categories, let me know here and I'll take a look :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 19:53, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Will do, but the WantedCategories report isn't scheduled to update until Sunday, and these aren't generally the kind of thing I'm likely to just stumble across independently of the report updates. So I've little doubt that there will be some, but not for at least a couple of days. Bearcat (talk) 20:08, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Category:Wario (series) character redirects to lists has not yet been moved to Category:Wario (series) character redirects, so there's one. -Brainulator9 (TALK) 20:25, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

 Done that one :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 20:31, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks! Now, should Template:R from fictional species be given the same treatment? Because only Category:Pokémon species redirects has been affected; Category:Animorphs species redirects to lists, Category:Dune (franchise) species redirects to lists, and Category:Star Wars species redirects to lists remain as they are. -Brainulator9 (TALK) 20:36, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

I think that would need be the subject of its own CFD. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 20:37, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Agreed, but you went ahead and moved it anyway. -Brainulator9 (TALK) 20:39, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Looks like that was inadvertently included in the batch. My apologies; I will move it back in ~30 minutes (if I do it now, there is a good chance the bot will edit war with me). Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 20:41, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

More categories to be moved, most of which do not have tags on their pages:

• Category:Arrested Development character redirects to lists
• Category:Dark Angel (American TV series) character redirects to lists
• Category:Honkai Impact 3rd character redirects to lists
• Category:Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl character redirects to lists
• Category:My Life as a Teenage Robot character redirects to lists
• Category:The Rookie: Feds character redirects to lists
• Category:Severance (TV series) character redirects to lists
• Category:Succession (TV series) character redirects to lists

-Brainulator9 (TALK) 20:54, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

 Nominated as a supplemental WP:CFDS request. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 21:21, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

One leftover mess - Category:The Fast and the Furious character redirects is populating the redirect Category:The Fast and the Furious characters instead of Category:Fast & Furious characters and I'm not sure how to fix that one. Timrollpickering (talk) 10:14, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

I've nominated it for WP:C2D (the main article is at Fast & Furious). Once moved, it will be in the correct parent. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 16:55, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2026_June_20#Category:Grand_Cru_Champagne_villages

Thanks for closing this, but I think there was a small mistake. The new name should be Category:Grands crus villages in Champagne. "Category:Wine villages in Champagne" is meaningless. All of the villages in Champagne are categorized into crus, with grands crus being the most prestigious. pburka (talk) 22:05, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

Fixed with apologies. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 22:08, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

Articles for Creation backlog drive

Hello HouseBlaster:

WikiProject Articles for creation is holding a month long Backlog Drive in August!
The goal of this drive is to reduce the backlog of unreviewed drafts to less than a month of outstanding reviews from the current 3+ months. Bonus points will be given for reviewing drafts that have been waiting more than 30 days. The drive is running from 1 August 2026 through 31 August 2026.

You may find Category:AfC pending submissions by age or other categories and sorting helpful.

Barnstars will be given out as awards at the end of the drive.
There is a backlog of over 5000 pages, so start reviewing drafts. We're looking forward to your help! MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 00:37, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

• If you wish to opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the mailing list or alternatively to opt-out of all massmessage mailings, you may add Category:Wikipedians who opt out of message delivery to your user talk page.

More Somali/ian categories

Hello, HouseBlaster,

I just wanted to let you know that there are more empty Somali/ian categories you can find right here on the Empty categories list. I want to avoid the CSD C1 "dance" where I tag the categories appropriately and then some other editor needs to come by a day later to untag them all. I'll just not tag them today and point you to where they are listed and you, or any user talk page viewer you ping, can take action when the time comes to deal with them.

Thank you and I hope you are scheduling in some non-Wikipedia time this summer weekend to do something fun! Take care. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 01:12, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

There are also more "redirect lists" categories that I'm leaving alone because they have also gotten the "tag then untag" square dance before. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 01:14, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for reaching out! Those should fix themselves once the relevant WP:CFDS requests are processed—which shouldn't be long now! Hope you have a great weekend, Liz :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 03:22, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from July 18 2026 (06:59, 19 July 2026)

eawfo8u;tijqihf4reilhudfjgnvhbjquhyu89i0wposkmdjlcbghjuEWSDFLPK;;JLEAOW;SDFkdsdsfcrisdj.f, --July 18 2026 (talk) 06:59, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Hello! Please let me know if you have any questions about editing Wikipedia :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 14:30, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Editing User Pages (GoldRomean)

hey there, I'm new to wikipedia and was wondering about the edit you made to GoldRomean's user page 6 days ago. It doesn't seem like y'all're listed in each other's alt accounts, so can you explain the edit? Igtal2dmafy (talk) 13:16, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

GoldRomean is a good friend, so I made a joke (which I knew they would appreciate). We are different people. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 14:29, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Cool, thanks for the explanation, I'm still pretty fuzzy on guidelines/etiquette etc.

So I appreciate it Igtal2dmafy (talk) 19:34, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Redirect categories

Called it. Special:WantedCategories is absolutely slammed today with over 20 "character redirects" or "episode redirects to lists" categories.

• Category:Animated series character redirects
• Category:Chicago Fire (TV series) character redirects
• Category:Comic character redirects
• Category:Warhammer Fantasy character redirects
• Category:The Rookie character redirects
• Category:Arrested Development character redirects
• Category:Wicked (franchise) character redirects
• Category:Play character redirects
• Category:My Life as a Teenage Robot character redirects
• Category:Dark Angel (American TV series) character redirects
• Category:Succession (TV series) character redirects
• Category:Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl character redirects
• Category:Severance (TV series) character redirects
• Category:Honkai Impact 3rd character redirects
• Category:The Rookie: Feds character redirects
• Category:Transformers: Super-God Masterforce character redirects
• Category:Comic book character redirects
• Category:Ms. Marvel (TV series) character redirects
• Category:Ultima character redirects
• Category:Hunter x Hunter character redirects
• Category:Kitchen Nightmares episode redirects to lists
• Category:Rock, Rock, Rock! character redirects

Obviously they all have to be fixed, and can't just be left to simmer in the red, but I'm not about to mess with things if there's a project going on. Bearcat (talk) 15:35, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Alrighty! I've fixed the ones I can; the remainder will be fixed as soon as an uninvolved admin processes the WP:CFDS request (the 48 hour hold has already expired).

• Category:Animated series character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:Chicago Fire (TV series) character redirects (60) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Comic character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:Warhammer Fantasy character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:The Rookie character redirects (25) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Arrested Development character redirects (27) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Wicked (franchise) character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:Play character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:My Life as a Teenage Robot character redirects (11) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Dark Angel (American TV series) character redirects (9) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Succession (TV series) character redirects (9) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl character redirects (8) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Severance (TV series) character redirects (6) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Honkai Impact 3rd character redirects (5) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:The Rookie: Feds character redirects (4) (to lists) At CFDS...
• Category:Transformers: Super-God Masterforce character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:Comic book character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:Ms. Marvel (TV series) character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:Ultima character redirects (0) (to lists) Already done
• Category:Hunter x Hunter character redirects (0) (to lists) Fixed
• Category:Kitchen Nightmares episode redirects to lists (1) (to lists) Already done
• Category:Rock, Rock, Rock! character redirects (4) (to lists) At CFDS...

Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 17:36, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Looks like the CFDS request went through, so this should be sorted. Let me know if there are any more issues :) HouseBlaster (he/they) 06:32, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

May 2026 Administrator Elections – RFC Phase

Copied from Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous) § May 2026 Administrator Elections – RFC Phase because this page is listed on Wikipedia:Village pump (miscellaneous)/Subscribe.

Administrator Elections | RFC phase

The RFC phase of the May 2026 administrator elections has started. There are 20 RFCs for consideration. You can participate in the RFC phase at Wikipedia:Administrator elections/May 2026/RFC phase.

Any questions or issues can be asked on the election talk page. Thank you for your participation. Happy electing.

You're receiving this message because you signed up for the mailing list. To opt-out of future mailings, please remove yourself from the list.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:02, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Tech News: 2026-30

Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Updates for editors

• The Reader Experience team has incorporated community feedback around the placement of watchstar and watchlist buttons for the Reading Lists beta feature, which would allow for saving articles for later reading – a wishlist item to bring the functionality to web. Editors are invited to enable the beta feature to test it out and share their thoughts.
• Suggestion Mode offers edit suggestions within the VisualEditor for improving Wikipedia articles. All suggestions are community-configurable. The TextMatch feature is a way for volunteers to create custom local suggestions. The feature searches in articles for strings of text, and now includes support for regular expressions. This gives volunteers greater precision and flexibility over the kinds of local suggestions they can create. Note: Suggestions can be targeted based on the edit count of the person editing as well as other aspects of the page. You can find examples from other communities for inspiration, including TextMatches that detect: typos, grammar-errors, potential advertisements, clichés, incorrect dash or hyphen usage, non-specific time keywords, outdated names, and more. Any feedback is appreciated.
• View all 27 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week. For example, an issue where the SVG Translate tool could use an outdated version of a file, causing existing translations to be overwritten when new ones were uploaded, has now been fixed. Overall, in the last quarter from April – June 2026 about 337 community tasks were resolved by the Wikimedia Foundation.

Updates for technical contributors

• On Parsoid-enabled wikis, Parsoid now renders a maximum of 1,250 images per page. A new tracking category, "media-limit-reached", will be soon made available to identify pages where this limit is reached, making it easier to find content whose media output may have been restricted during rendering. See phab:T430854 for more information and to provide feedback.
• Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

MediaWiki message delivery 05:44, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from T2TC (02:53, 22 July 2026)

What an honor to be assigned to an arbitrator :)

As a new user, I was instructed to "revise the tone" of Atelier_Bow-Wow.

Just by reading the entry, looking at the references, and reviewing the source material, it was clear that most of the entry didn't meet the standards of neutrality, secondary sourcing, or being about "things made up one day".

I'm too new here to take action on a page like that, but I found myself getting angry that so much of this flagged page has remained up for over a decade without deletion or fixing!

My question: what's the most constructive way for a new user, with my limited experience and tools, to help fix a page like this?

Thanks for your thoughts! --T2TC (talk) 02:53, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

Hello T2TC, and welcome to Wikipedia! I'm glad that you are my mentee—this is an excellent question :)

The most constructive way for you to engage is to be bold! You are welcome to rewrite or remove content which violates our policies. If there are particular bits of information which you want me to take a look at, I'd be happy to help. (Perhaps you can give me a sentence or two, and I'll walk you through my thought process about how I would address it.) Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 10:43, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Pkolo1000 (05:50, 23 July 2026)

Hw do i fix my references --Pkolo1000 (talk) 05:50, 23 July 2026 (UTC)

Hello! Please review this introduction to references. Best, HouseBlaster (he/they) 07:47, 23 July 2026 (UTC)