Wikibooks:Reading room/Administrative Assistance/Archives/2013/January

Semi-protect User:Sawickib
For whatever reason, this userpage has been created repeatedly by an IP over the course of a few days. Suggest semi-protect for a month. Kayau (talk · contribs) 22:40, 9 January 2013 (UTC)


 * Seems reasonable. ✅  I note, btw, the content most recently created there comes through google translate (from Russian) as "Del, sorry there is not written".  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 22:57, 9 January 2013 (UTC)

Recent Changes Patrol via IRC
Anyone who uses IRC will have noticed that the dedicated countervandalism network channel for Wikibooks, #cvn-wb-en, has had no bot running in it for several weeks. This is due to a technical problem with the server. Given there's only a couple of people who monitor Wikibooks via IRC, the CVN staff have moved the monitoring bot to #cvn-sw (the Small Wiki channel) where it can be more effectively monitored by Global Sysops and Global Rollbackers. Ryu-Bot-sw3 is monitoring Wikibooks in that channel. QU TalkQu 20:27, 19 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Amazing that we still use IRC after all these years. How effective is it, I wonder, as an anti-vandalism tool?  I'm asking because I often come across obvious vandalism many hours after it was made - or is the moving of this bot very recent?--ЗAНИA [[Image:Flag_of_Estonia.svg|15px]]talk 20:42, 19 January 2013 (UTC)
 * It was moved today. Until then it was very rare for there to be anyone other than me in the channel. IRC is very effective for the Small Wiki Monitoring Team in covering other small wikis. There are usually 30+ Global Rollbackers from the SWMT idling in their channel and it is the only way they see vandalism on those wikis. We are a small wiki open to Global Sysops, etc., so it makes sense for us to be covered in the same channel. Of Wikibooks regulars, you'll often find darklama and thenub314 in  QU TalkQu 23:52, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

Requested edit
Protected page Please add Wikivoyage to Main_Page/Sisters. Thanks. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 06:58, 20 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Well, I tried. The ordering of projects looks semi-random, to me.  (One template at Wikinews, though not the one on the main page, orders the sisters alphabetically excluding the wiki- (or wik-) prefix.)  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 11:47, 20 January 2013 (UTC)
 * When I added Wikivoyage to the navibar last week I just put it at the end of the list but before Commons so that at least all those starting with wik- were together. Doesn't seem to be any real order but I guess Wikipedia is first as it's a wee bit more popular.  Should Wikispecies not be on the navibar list too?--ЗAНИA [[Image:Flag_of_Estonia.svg|15px]]talk 12:13, 20 January 2013 (UTC)
 * It should. Either reduces each entry to 9%, or calls for two rows.  Alpha order has the benefit of helping to keep track of which sisters are there; I would have done it when adding Wikivoyage, except it would have put Wikinews second (after Commons) and I hesitated to appear partisan (although on that en.wn template I was mentioning, , alpha order means Wikibooks comes first :-).  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 13:03, 20 January 2013 (UTC)

MediaWiki edit request
Special:RelatedChanges currently reads:

Below is a list of changes made recently to pages linked to from this one. Changes to pages on your watchlist are shown in bold.

Please insert 'and/or' between 'to' and 'from'. Thanks. Kayau (talk · contribs) 11:02, 21 January 2013 (UTC)


 * That wouldn't be the intended meaning. The text is correct as it is.  The pages are linked to, and "from this one" is how they are linked to.  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 12:25, 21 January 2013 (UTC)
 * red faced* In that case, I think the 'to' should be cancelled:
 * a list of changes made recently to pages linked to from this one
 * a list of changes which were recently made to pages that are linked to from this one
 * a list of changes which were recently made to pages that are someone has linked to from this one (?)
 * Kayau (talk · contribs) 08:43, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree that it is a confusing sentence and possibly ambiguous and I think we would often avoid such repetition of prepositions in English even if the sentence is correct. Changes could be made however the second possibility you listed above also includes the to from phrase!--ЗAНИA [[Image:Flag_of_Estonia.svg|15px]]talk 10:52, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Although I see nothing at all unclear or ambiguous about it, I do see that others are having trouble with it. And passages can often be improved by switching from passive voice to active voice.  So how about
 * a list of changes made recently to pages that this page links to
 * --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 13:09, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

I've deployed an alternative wording. If there's a problem with this alternative, we'll have to devise another. --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 13:24, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
 * @Xania: I wasn't really making suggestions, simply 'breaking down' the original sentence. :P
 * @Pi zero: I think yours is nice and more understandable than the original. We should probably keep that. :)Kayau (talk · contribs) 13:26, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
 * OK. Well it's all fixed now. But maybe someone will come along soon and complain about Pi zero ending a sentence with a preposition? :) --ЗAНИA [[Image:Flag_of_Estonia.svg|15px]]talk 17:39, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Heh. Well, should someone be that... unwise... I could give 'em a lecture on English grammar; but my favorite commentary on the matter is an anecdote I heard years ago.  A US student is flying to to the UK, and is seated on the plane next to an English student.  Trying to be friendly, he says to the English student, "What school do you go to?"  The English student looks down his nose at the American, and replies "I am from Eton, where we are taught not to end a sentence with a preposition."  To which the American says, "Okay, what school do you go to, asshole?"  --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 21:25, 22 January 2013 (UTC)
 * (I'm bemused to see I mildly mangled the anecdote; oh well, I never was all that good a joke-teller.) --Pi zero (discuss • contribs) 21:52, 22 January 2013 (UTC)