User talk:Staraction

“ I have been bent and broken, but — I hope — into a better shape. ” — Pip, Great Expectations

A barnstar for you!

	The Barnstar of Diligence
	Thank you for your excellent sockpuppetry reports. Toadspike [Talk] 08:40, 30 April 2026 (UTC)

Thanks Toadspike, glad I could be of assistance. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) (please ping on reply) 08:50, 30 April 2026 (UTC)

+1!! theleekycauldron (talk • she/her) 18:26, 30 April 2026 (UTC)

Your draft article, Draft:Equestrian at the Summer Youth Olympics

Hello, Staraction. It has been over six months since you last edited the Articles for Creation submission or draft page you started, "Equestrian at the Summer Youth Olympics".

In accordance with our policy that Wikipedia is not for the indefinite hosting of material, the draft has been deleted. When you plan on working on it further and you wish to retrieve it, you can request its undeletion. An administrator will, in most cases, restore the submission so you can continue to work on it.

Thank you for your submission to Wikipedia, and happy editing. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 17:47, 2 May 2026 (UTC)

Question from NewUser263497 (01:41, 5 May 2026)

how can I find if my edit was erased? --NewUser263497 (talk) 01:41, 5 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @NewUser263497, it does look like a few of your suggested edits have been undone by other editors. You can take a look yourself at the page history by clicking "View history" next to the title, or by looking at your contributions and seeing the "Reverted" tag next to them.

I'm no expert on the field but at a glance your first edit to Lentiviral vector in gene therapy looked appropriate (although perhaps "have been explored" would be better phrasing). However, I will caution you against citing your own work, and only your work, repeatedly in your edits because academics and scientists using their editing privileges primarily to add citations to their own work can be considered spamming, which is not appropriate here on Wikipedia. I have a hunch this is why @Deacon Vorbis (courtesy ping!) reverted your edits, since you seem to have made multiple edit requests citing your own work on multiple relevant pages, but we can take a look at what he says if/when he replies here.

If you'd like to continue in helping build our encyclopaedia with us, we very much need academics and scientists to help maintain some of our articles. What if you try and make some edits to the articles you're interested in, citing work other than your own? I'll be happy to help you through them if you'd like. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) (please ping on reply) 04:28, 5 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Staraction,

Thanks for the clarification. I understand the concern about spamming and self-citation, and I’ll avoid making further direct edits to those pages.

There is still one remaining edit on the page that I submitted previously. I’m happy to withdraw it or reframe it here if that is more appropriate under Wikipedia guidelines. Please let me know the preferred approach. NewUser263497 (talk) 20:39, 5 May 2026 (UTC)

@NewUser263497: it'd be lovely if you could reframe it, perhaps if you use some other sources. If need be, feel free to put what you have here and I'd be glad to take a look. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) (please ping on reply) 20:54, 5 May 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for your guidance. I just wanted to clarify that I wrote the highlighted sentence in the paragraph:

"Lentivirus is primarily a research tool used to introduce a gene product into in vitro systems or animal models. In experimental settings, T cells could be modified to produce lentiviral vectors, transferring genes to cancer cells in vitro. Large-scale collaborative efforts are underway to use lentiviruses to block the expression of a specific gene using RNA interference technology in high-throughput formats. Conversely, lentivirus are also used to stably over-express certain genes, thus allowing researchers to examine the effect of increased gene expression in a model system."

Could you let me know if this phrasing is okay for Wikipedia, or if it still needs adjustment?

Thanks so much for your help! NewUser263497 (talk) 00:02, 6 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @NewUser263497, I'm not a subject matter expert but I don't think there was anything wrong with your text in the first place, just the citation you're using to support it. Are there other sources that you could use, that you did not write yourself? Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) (please ping on reply) 00:09, 6 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi

@Staraction

, Thanks for your feedback. I've looked for more sources to support this sentence, but I couldn't find any that discuss this specific approach. What would you suggest is the preferred approach for this sentence at this point?

NewUser263497 (talk) 02:34, 7 May 2026 (UTC)

If you're unable to find a source other than your own to support the sentence then it might not merit inclusion in the article, since all information on Wikipedia has to be verifiable. You are welcome to add other information relevant to the subject of the article, though, making sure to support what you add with reliable sources as you do. I've left you a welcome message on your talk page with more information. Do let me know if you have any more questions. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) (please ping on reply) 02:36, 7 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Staraction, Thank you for the clarification and guidance. Since I could not identify additional independent reliable sources supporting this specific statement beyond my own work, I will withdraw this proposed addition and keep these sourcing considerations in mind for future edits. I appreciate the help. NewUser263497 (talk) 17:43, 8 May 2026 (UTC)

Sounds like a plan @NewUser263497, do keep in touch and I am glad to answer any other questions you might have. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) (please ping on reply) 17:55, 8 May 2026 (UTC)

A kitten for you!

Thank you for your great close of and helping to restore Category:American people of English descent! More broadly, you have no idea how happy I feel every time I get that little notification that says "Staraction replied in Non-admin closure requests (9 May 2026)"—the speed at which you've managed to pick everything up is awe-inspiring. Finally, I have been smiling at kitten pictures nonstop for the past hour or so—never stop keeping them coming. It's been great getting to know you over the past bit, whether that's through CfD or while tearing our hair out hunting socks. Stay awesome! :)

GoldRomean (talk) 21:47, 11 May 2026 (UTC)

Aww, thank you so much for your kind words @GoldRomean, I've been very glad to get to know you as well! You do awesome work here, and have been quite the inspiration. Here's to many more collaborations ahead Staraction (talk · contribs) 21:57, 11 May 2026 (UTC)

New Page Patrol Newsletter - May 2026

Hello Staraction,

New Page Review queue November 2025 - May 2026

Backlog update

At the time of this message, there are 15,282 articles and 32,951 redirects awaiting review.

After the January–February drive the article backlog was reduced to 15,179 articles and the redirect backlog to 19,053 respectively. Great job! However, both queues are growing rapidly and any additional reviews are highly appreciated.

2024 and 2025 NPP Awards

JTtheOG was selected as the NPP reviewer of the year for both 2024 and 2025, for reviewing the most articles amongst all reviewers.

Hey man im josh and MPGuy2824 won the Redirect Ninja Master Award for 2024 and 2025 respectively, for reviewing the most redirects.

Overall in 2024, one Platinum, two Gold, eight Silver, 12 Bronze and 45 Iron Barnstars were awarded. Additionally, 66 reviewers got the NPP barnstar for doing more than 100 reviews through the year. In 2025, one Platinum, ten Silver, 13 Bronze and 38 Iron Barnstars were awarded. Additionally, 38 reviewers got the NPP barnstar for doing more than 100 reviews through the year.

BoyTheKingCanDance, Rosiestep, SunDawn, and Vanderwaalforces were inducted into the NPP Hall of Fame for having two separate years of 2,000+ article reviews.

January–February backlog drive

The experimental two-month long backlog drive concluded with 183 reviewers patrolling over 27,761 articles and 35,309 redirects, earning over 36,836 points. Congratulations to JTtheOG, who achieved first place with 6,484.6 points in this drive.

May backlog drive

An article-only backlog drive is currently underway. We are hoping to make a big dent in the backlog. You can read more about it or join at Wikipedia:New pages patrol/Backlog drives/May 2026.

PageTriage

An attempt was made to get the New Pages Feed to sort by date marked as reviewed instead of date created. However we had to revert it due to bugs. We may try again in the future. You can subscribe to the Phabricator ticket if you're interested in following along.

Reminders:

• You can access live chat with patrollers on the New Page Patrol Discord.
• Consider adding the project discussion page to your watchlist.
• To opt out of future mailings, please remove yourself here.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 23:38, 14 May 2026 (UTC)

Need your expert advice Mentor!!!

Hi @Staraction, I hope you're well.

I got this article through the suggested edits tasks and look at this

National Judicial College (Dominican Republic)

The entire article is written in a very bad way and there are no sources attached to it either? I've been trying to find sources to make the article better or see if it accounts for notabiility in the first place. I mean, it is a famous center training judges and government figures I think that's what I've understood so far? I need your guidance on this. Thanks!! Velorblack (talk) 20:49, 15 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Velorblack, glad to see you again!

It looks like the article might have been a translation of the the Spanish Wikipedia article; note its similarity with this revision. I've attributed this translation with this edit. Incidentally, judging by their contributions, it looks like the article creator there also might've been the equivalent of a single-purpose account, which may be relevant to the advert tag on the enwiki page.

Unfortunately the only source cited there was the official website of the institution, which, as you'll know, likely does not establish its notability. Try and see if you can find any (potentially Spanish-language) sources that might be able to establish this notability per the guidelines for organisations (see WP:NSCHOOL) and in general. You can also tag areas with unsourced statements with {{cn}} or {{unreferenced}} as you go. If you are still unable to establish the school's notability after a search you may want to nominate the article for discussion/deletion; take a look at this guide if you decide to pursue this route.

Let me know if you have any more questions, and thanks for your enthusiasm (it's always great to see). Keep up the good work. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 22:41, 15 May 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for the response!

I did view the page history and the prior edits were suspicious. Moreover, I saw through the references of the Spanish Wikipedia article; and it's mostly press releases or legal documents which doesn't provide much information on the history of the institute or its models. Needless to say, I am doing a bit more research into it. If I don't find anything then I'll try and add the tags. Thanks again! Velorblack (talk) 09:34, 16 May 2026 (UTC)

Question from Thatguy 00010 (15:08, 16 May 2026)

how do i add my sandbox article to the mainspace --Thatguy 00010 (talk) 15:08, 16 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Thatguy 00010, take a look at the guide at Help:Your first article to see how to write your first article. Since you're new, you'll have to submit the draft through the AfC process. But please note that you'll have to ensure your article subject meets our guidelines for inclusion, including notability (see general guidelines and guidelines for musicians), verifiability, and neutral point of view. In addition, please do not generate articles with a large language model like ChatGPT.

I recommend you get some practice through editing existing articles first. There should be a "Homepage" portal with some recommended tasks. Why don't you try your hand at those? Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 15:15, 16 May 2026 (UTC)

Have you considered taking up a mop?

You are a remarkable editor in many ways. I think you would be a good administrator, and you appear to be well qualified. You personify an administrator without tools and have gained my support already!

Interested in becoming an administrator? Check out some RfA advice, or ask a nominator about next steps!

* Pppery * _{it has begun...} 02:25, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

And no this isn't some odd quid-pro-quo for you giving me a barnstar or anything. I've for a long time been thinking "would this person make a good admin" whenever I found myself implementing repeated requests for admin actions from the same person, as has been the case here. * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 02:26, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Pppery, thank you for your kind message! I have actually been thinking about a run for a bit now, and have talked to a few admins to consider some details. While I don't know if/when it might happen, I appreciate your confidence in me. Thank you again for all the wonderful behind-the-scenes work you do here! Staraction (talk · contribs) 02:41, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

+1 Destinyokhiria _{(talk / cont)} 04:18, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

+1, and willing to bet we aren't the only two admins sharing this sentiment. Left guide (talk) 02:36, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

+1 GoldRomean (talk) 02:45, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

+1 MCE89 (talk) 03:06, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

@MCE89, @GoldRomean, aren't you two flying a little too close to the sun there yourselves? -- asilvering (talk) 21:17, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

and hey, speaking of flights ... theleekycauldron (talk • she/her) 21:23, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

I will jump on the bandwagon for all three of y'all! Sohom (talk) 01:26, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

+1 ~/Bunnypranav:<ping> 03:28, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

Question from Toyotabonnie (10:40, 18 May 2026)

Hello! I had no idea Wikipedia had mentors. I'd like to know, how can I create an article that doesn't exist yet? And how can I do to not get it removed? --Toyotabonnie (talk) 10:40, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Toyotabonnie, and welcome to Wikipedia! You can find some resources to help you write an article that doesn't exist yet over at Help:Your first article. Ensure that the subject you're wanting to cover merits inclusion in Wikipedia. Also, make sure you're citing independent, reliable sources for all the claims you make, and adhere to a neutral point of view.

As the help page says, [c]reating an article is one of the more difficult tasks on Wikipedia, and you'll have a higher chance of success if you help out with other tasks first to learn more about how Wikipedia works. If you'd like help with anything, feel free to reach out again! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 12:43, 18 May 2026 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

		The Categorisation Barnstar
		Thanks for all your excellent closes at CFD; they are much appreciated! - RevelationDirect (talk) 01:34, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

Thank you RevelationDirect! I'm glad I can help. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 02:50, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

Welcome to the team!

Enjoy your new fez! Let me know if you need anything :) HouseBlaster (talk • he/they) 01:49, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

Thank you HouseBlaster! Don't you worry, I'll definitely be asking you a lot of questions! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 02:51, 21 May 2026 (UTC)

@HouseBlaster, filters 1157 and 1170 need to be updated. 45dogs (they/them) (talk page) (contributions) 05:34, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

 Done :) HouseBlaster (talk • he/they • support WWU!) 05:41, 23 May 2026 (UTC)

Edit filter helper granted

Hello Staraction. Your account has been granted the "Edit filter helper" user right, either following a request at the SPI Clerks' noticeboard, or Edit filter noticeboard. Please take a moment to review Wikipedia:Edit filter helper for more information on this user right. If you do not want the edit filter helper right anymore, just let me know, and I'll remove it. Thank you, and happy editing! HouseBlaster (talk • he/they) 04:06, 24 May 2026 (UTC)

CfD closure

Hey, a week ago you closed this CfD discussion as "keep" but the CfD tags are still on the category pages. I guess something went wrong when processing the closure. Marcocapelle (talk) 13:34, 24 May 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Marcocapelle, nice catch & thanks for the reminder! Apologies for any inconvenience. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 15:12, 24 May 2026 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The "caught a big one" barnstar
	Looks like you're doing a great job at SPI: filling thorough cases and the clerking looks good so far! You're making the admin patrolling easy. Thanks for doing good work. Bobby Cohn 🍁 (talk) 20:24, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for your kind words! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 20:42, 27 May 2026 (UTC)

Question from Michelin19 (08:45, 2 June 2026)

Good morning --Michelin19 (talk) 08:45, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Michelin19, welcome to Wikipedia! You can ask me any questions about editing that you would like, and I will try my best to answer. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 11:53, 2 June 2026 (UTC)

Question from Dangiwa (21:12, 5 June 2026)

Hello, how do I create a citation? --Dangiwa (talk) 21:13, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi Dangiwa, welcome to Wikipedia! This slightly depends on the layout you are using. I'm assuming you're using the VisualEditor since you are on mobile. Give the instructions here a try, and see if that helps. If that doesn't work, I can show you how the source editor works (it's a little complicated) or how to switch to the VisualEditor. You can also work through a game we have that will teach you the basics of editing. Let me know how I can help! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 21:58, 5 June 2026 (UTC)

Concern regarding Draft:Your Name Here (novel)

Hello, Staraction. This is a bot-delivered message letting you know that Draft:Your Name Here (novel), a page you created, has not been edited in at least five months. Drafts that have not been edited for six months may be deleted, so if you wish to retain the page, please edit it again or request that it be moved to your userspace.

If the page has already been deleted, you can request it be undeleted so you can continue working on it.

Thank you for your submission to Wikipedia. FireflyBot (talk) 06:06, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Advice needed!

Hello! Hope you're doing well. I'm a non-admin but a regular closer at the AfDs. I noticed that you are also a regular closer at the CfDs but too as a non-admin. Today I tried closing a CfD for the first time. There was a clear consensus to Rename....and so I closed the discussion as Rename using XFDCloser. But I see....the original category - "Category:Sarasvati River" is still there and the renamed "Category:Saraswati River" is still red-linked. Was there any technical error on my part? Am I supposed to fix it? And how and who will rename the page? Thanks! BhikhariInformer‬ 📮 ^{(Ping me or else I won't see it)} 12:19, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Hi @BhikhariInformer, thanks for your close today. You'll have to list the closure at WT:CFDW so an admin can add it to the bot's queue for renaming. It's a little complex to get started with but if you look at the syntax that's already on the page you can copy its formatting. Alternatively, you can use User:Qwerfjkl/scripts/CFDlister to help you do this more efficiently. Let me know if you have any questions! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 14:06, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks a lot for your guidance! I've installed the script and have been able to perform the listing. BhikhariInformer‬ 📮 ^{(Ping me or else I won't see it)} 14:23, 6 June 2026 (UTC)

@BhikhariInformer Make sure you actually have been able to list at WT:CFDW, since it doesn't look like your closures have ended up there. You need to click the "List discussions" button in the menu. Let me know if you have any questions. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 00:08, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

I thought the "one click closure" button was sufficient....cuz after clicking it, it showed two notices....discussion closed and discussion listed. Ummm anyways.....I guess I'll stay away from closing CfDs....it's clearly more complicated than AfDs 😅. Albeit I'll fix the ones Ive closed yesterday. BhikhariInformer‬ 📮 ^{(Ping me or else I won't see it)} 01:45, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

You're welcome to help out more, we certainly need closers (as evidenced by the backlog)! Do let me know if you have any questions. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 01:46, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

Category:Palaces of Valencia

Hello, not to badger you, but you closed the discussion on this category on 4 June with consensus to move to "Palaces in Valencia". Unless I missed a step in my nomination, this hasn't been moved. Thank you. Unknown Temptation (talk) 15:10, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

Hey @Unknown Temptation, thanks for reaching out (and don't fret about badgering!). I've listed the nomination at WT:CFDW and it is awaiting processing by an admin, who will add it to WP:CFDW for a bot to process. In other words, it's in the pipeline, and will be renamed soon. Thanks for your patience, and let me know if you have any other questions! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 15:12, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. CfD is not a usual avenue for me, so I wasn't sure about the procedure. It's good that you've cleared this up. Have a good rest of the day. Unknown Temptation (talk) 15:14, 8 June 2026 (UTC)

CfD closure

Something went wrong with the closure of this discussion. You closed it on 28 May, but the categories still exist. Marcocapelle (talk) 18:24, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

Hey @Marcocapelle, I see it listed at WT:CFDW along with a couple others I closed around that time, am I missing something? Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 19:20, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

• To be honest I never check WT:CFDW. Is there really a backlog of more than two weeks? Wow. It used to be a few days. Marcocapelle (talk) 21:09, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

  Yep, pretty big. There's only a few admins helping out there, I believe. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 23:18, 9 June 2026 (UTC)

Question from Internationally (02:23, 10 June 2026)

Hello @Staraction. I saw that you were my mentor and I'm curious on where I find photos --Internationally (talk) 02:23, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

Hey @Internationally, welcome to Wikipedia! You can find freely-licensed images on Wikimedia Commons that you can use in the articles you edit. If you need anything else, do feel free to reach out! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 02:27, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

Oh ok, thank you! Sorry that second message was sent after you replied. Internationally (talk) 02:32, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

No worries! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 02:37, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

So, I changed an image on the article 2026 United States Senate election in Maine, which was a slightly closer crop of Senator Collins. I thought it would work better because Platner's image is so zoomed in. But someone reverted it and called it "vandalism". Internationally (talk) 02:42, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

Yeah, you were reverted by our anti-vandalism bot, who makes false positive detections sometimes. It looks like @Jamie Eilat (courtesy ping) reverted it back to your version, so you should be all set now! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 02:44, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

@Staraction

Sorry, the first message did not ping you for some reason. Internationally (talk) 02:31, 10 June 2026 (UTC)

Notification of closed clarification request

A clarification request in which you were a party has been closed and archived. This is only a notification, and no action is needed on your part. EggRoll97 ^(talk) 03:04, 19 June 2026 (UTC)

CFD query

Hello, Staraction,

I hope you are having a good weekend. I have a question for you since you seem to be closing most CFD discussions these days. What do you do, as closer, after you close a discussion? Do you see your role as over? Or do you actually take actions to carry out the decisions of the discussion participants?

There is no right or wrong answer here, I'm just trying to do some clean-up after more simpler CFD discussions are closed and it's not clear to me what happens after at CFD after the discussions are closed. I know if you were an administrator, you'd probably move some categories over to Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working with some instructions but, to be honest, I don't fully understand the next steps and I want to be sure I'm not screwing things up. As a non-admin, after closing the discussions do you take further action or just let the discussions be until someone with admin powers notices them? Thanks for any clue you can provide! I've been here 13 years and I'm still learning! Thank you! Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 19:24, 20 June 2026 (UTC)

Hello @Liz, thanks for your message! After most closes I'll list the discussions over at Wikipedia talk:Categories for discussion/Working (made easier via script). An administrator will look over those listings to, as I understand it, ensure that the closures are a) reasonable reading of consensus, and b) workable, before adding it to Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working. (If you'd like to help there, by the way, it'd be very appreciated; we've accumulated quite the backlog!)

If there is manual work required of some sort (e.g. purging, listifying, manual merging), I'll list at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working/Manual first, or I'll do it myself. Once done, I'll list those categories at WT:CFDW as normal. There have sometimes been oversights where closed discussions haven't been listed, but those are hopefully fairly uncommon.

Let me know if this helps at all! Hope you're having a good weekend as well. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 19:56, 20 June 2026 (UTC)

Hello, Staraction,

Thank you for this prompt response. I was trying to come up with an example so you could see what I was talking about and I finally did. In Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2026 June 19#Category:Entertainers from Alabama by populated place, Category:Entertainers from Alabama by populated place was nominated for a Merge but you closed it as Keep which is fine and appropriate. So who goes and untags the category that was nominated but Kept, the closer or the nominator? This is probably part of what prompted by original query because I see this happen fairly often but I got the message that I wasn't supposed to interfere with CFD closures that I didn't perform myself. Thanks! Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 18:23, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Liz, that looks like a goof on my part; it should usually be the closer who is taking care of untagging as far as I'm aware. I usually rely on XFDcloser to do this but it looks like I missed it this time. I've gone ahead and done the untagging manually this time, but I believe "keep" and "no consensus" closures can also be listed at CFDW for processing via bot. I've always appreciated when others remind me about closing steps I might've missed, and have seen people list at WT:CFDW for others when they've forgotten, so I'd personally love it if you were to interfere with CFD closures that I didn't perform myself . Hope this helps, and thanks for the heads-up. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 18:44, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

WikiCup 2026 July newsletter

The third round of the 2026 WikiCup ended on 28 June at 23:59 (UTC). As a reminder, good article nomination reviews now receive 10 points, while peer reviews, which continue to be worth 5 points, are now listed in the same section as featured article candidate reviews, rather than with good article reviews. Everyone who competed in round 3 will advance to round 4 unless they have withdrawn or been banned. No other changes to the round-point system have been made for this year.

Round 3 was competitive. Three contestants scored more than 1,000 round points; eight scored over 500; and thirteen scored over 300. The top three contestants had at least one featured article (two of them with two apiece). The following competitors scored more than 800 round points:

• MCE89 (submissions) with 1567 points, mainly from good and featured articles about Australian people and geography, as well as some article reviews
• Bgsu98 (submissions) with 1547 points, mainly from good articles, featured articles, featured lists, and a good topic about figure skating, along with 20 article reviews
• Reconrabbit (submissions) with 1004 points, mainly from a high-multiplier featured article on European rabbit and several good articles, DYKs, and reviews
• A.Cython (submissions) with 1004 points, mainly from good articles about warfare, along with 22 article reviews
• Generalissima (submissions) with 859 points, mainly from good and featured articles about rivers and East Asian topics

The full scores for round 3 can be seen here. During this round, contestants have claimed 12 featured articles, 12 featured lists, 7 featured-topic articles, 117 good articles, 74 good-topic articles and more than 30 Did You Know articles. In addition, competitors have worked on 13 In the News articles, and they have conducted nearly 180 reviews. The tournament points table has been updated.

Remember that any content promoted after 28 June but before the start of Round 4 can be claimed in Round 4. Invitations for collaborative writing efforts or any other discussion of potentially interesting work is always welcome on the WikiCup talk page. Remember, if two or more WikiCup competitors have done significant work on an article, all can claim points. If you are concerned that your nomination—whether it is at good article candidates, a featured process, or anywhere else—will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews Needed. If you want to help out with the WikiCup, feel free to review one of the nominations listed on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews Needed. Questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup, and the judges are reachable on their talk pages. Good luck! If you wish to start or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove your name from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 13:49, 29 June 2026 (UTC)

Concern regarding Draft:SCANDAL hypothesis

Hello, Staraction. This is a bot-delivered message letting you know that Draft:SCANDAL hypothesis, a page you created, has not been edited in at least five months. Drafts that have not been edited for six months may be deleted, so if you wish to retain the page, please edit it again or request that it be moved to your userspace.

If the page has already been deleted, you can request it be undeleted so you can continue working on it.

Thank you for your submission to Wikipedia. FireflyBot (talk) 19:09, 30 June 2026 (UTC)

Question about associated IPs

Hi, this is regarding Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/ImDeadAsADoornail. I noticed that when checking the contributions of ~2026-37802-34, it says "Temporary accounts from all associated IPs: 2–5." To someone like me who doesn't know anything about this, does that mean there are potentially other temps that IDAAD is using that I didn't find? Raskuly 🐰 00:34, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Raskuly, I believe that to be a correct understanding. From my end it looks like those TAs are all blocked. I think it'd be more obvious which other TAs this is referring to with the TAIV userright, which you may want to consider applying for. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 02:14, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for your explanation. Looking into TAIV, I don't pass the criteria of point 5 as I don't get involved in sockpuppet investigations unless the abuser is someone I've encountered through my edits to Wikipedia and then suspected of sockpuppeting. IDAAD is one such case. I've also never been involved in NPP or CVU. Raskuly 🐰 02:24, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

All good. If you ever find yourself frustrated that you can't see the TAIV information, WP:PERM/TAIV is thataway . Otherwise, you can always report to SPI. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 03:05, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Tags for Wikipedia:Sockpuppet investigations/Caspidarya#02 July 2026

Hi Staraction, thank you for processing the behavioral portion of the 2 July 2026 SPI case filed under Caspidarya. I noticed that the dual-tagging here is a little bit unusual, and I'm wondering if you would like to simplify the tags. There are two ways the tags for this case can be simplified:

1. Accounts including Ramsarian and Check the actual edits first are being dual-tagged as CU-confirmed sockpuppets of Austrian Woman and proven sockpuppets of Caspidarya. For this situation, I usually set all of the relevant information in a single {{Sockpuppet}} tag by using the altmaster and altmaster-status parameters, e.g.:

   {{Sockpuppet|Austrian Woman|confirmed|altmaster=Caspidarya|altmaster-status=proven}}
   

2. The accounts Canada Woman and All the best Sources approve are being dual-tagged as proven sockpuppets of both Caspidarya and Austrian Woman. As Austrian Woman is already tagged as a proven sockpuppet of Caspidarya, the accounts Canada Woman and All the best Sources approve can be simply tagged as sockpuppets of Caspidarya without needing a separate tag for Austrian Woman. Any reviewing editor can examine the SPI case for details on how the account relationships were determined.

I also see that Austrian Woman is dual-tagged as a CU-confirmed sockpuppeteer and a proven sockpuppet of Caspidarya. In contrast to the two previous types of situations, there is no single template that designates an account as a CU-confirmed sockpuppeteer and a non–CU-confirmed sockpuppet at the same time, so this instance of dual-tagging cannot be simplified.

What do you think about these suggestions? — Newslinger talk 16:22, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Hey @Newslinger! Regarding (1), it was my intention to use a singular template, but it looks like I configure SPI-D properly. I've gone in and modified those manually. I've also modified (2) accordingly. Thanks for your message & for double-checking my work! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 16:29, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Excellent! Everything looks great. Thanks for taking care of this so quickly. — Newslinger talk 16:31, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Category:Age controversies

Hi Staraction, someone noticed that the CfD closure hasn't been implemented yet at Category:Age controversies. Can this be listed at CFD/W? Extraordinary Writ (talk) 20:52, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Yup, @Extraordinary Writ this looks like something I should've listed. Thanks for the heads up. I've done it now, sorry for any inconvenience. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 03:17, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Velorblack (15:45, 5 July 2026)

Hello Staraction!

I hope you're doing well. I wanted to ask you something. Couple of months ago, I created a draft for an article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Muhammad_Burhan_Mirza

Someone has translated an english version of the French Wikipage here and I think there's possible COI involved. How should I go about working on this article? I've found some sources to add in on the article.

Here is the present article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burhan_Mirza --Velorblack (talk) 15:45, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

Hey @Velorblack, nice to see you again & hope you're doing well too. I saw the AfD @ Burhan Mirza. I think you should operate based on the AfD result (e.g. make edits to the existing article to improve it if it is kept, keep working on your draft if the mainspace article is deleted, etc.). Perhaps WP:TNT is an applicable essay here for you. If you think there's a COI and you have evidence WP:COIN is the relevant noticeboard. Good luck and feel free to let me know if you have any questions . Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 17:40, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

CfD processing backlog

Surely Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2026_May_25#Portuguese_Malacca should have been processed by now? You closed it June 1st. The same applies to several other discussions on the same page. Marcocapelle (talk) 20:55, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

@Marcocapelle: not sure what happened there but I've just listed the ones that seem to have been missed. Nice catch and let me know if you find any more. Thanks for the heads-up. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 22:40, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

• Thank you very much! Marcocapelle (talk) 05:53, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Prisca mulandi on Toy balloon (16:18, 8 July 2026)

Galvanised smaller one of the time maybe knowing Morgan maybe opposite knowing noodles unless you want maybe awoke --Prisca mulandi (talk) 16:18, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Prisca mulandi on Toy balloon (16:19, 8 July 2026)

Mosquito and equipment and I don't know how is it was there that would make Mosquito issues with the time you have vowed --Prisca mulandi (talk) 16:19, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

@Prisca mulandi I'm not sure what you mean? Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 19:24, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Another barnstar

		The Anti-Spam Barnstar
		We've interacted perhaps 3 times, and I honestly don't understand how you aren't an administrator yet. Looking at your talk page it's clear I'm not the first to think this, but I thought I'd chip in with yet another thing. Your first WPSPAM reports were comprehensive and easy to follow while not revealing anything we don't want the LTAs to know, and I would be happy to see you blocking such accounts for yourself. lp0 on fire () 21:46, 8 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for your kind words, lp0 on fire. I've seen you do great work 'round here too, keep it up! Looking forward to learning from & working with you more at WPSPAM . Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 00:07, 9 July 2026 (UTC)

I could definitely learn a lot from you as well. If you feel like emailing me with details of how you found xchief.com, wikibusines.com, &c. I'd be really interested. Thanks for all your brilliant work here (: lp0 on fire () 08:44, 10 July 2026 (UTC)

The gist is that I noticed a behavioural pattern amongst the socks in the SPI case I referenced that extended beyond those specific accounts, and I ended up running some (manual) searches to find more accounts. Feel free to send me an email, and I'll reply, if you're interested. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 13:11, 10 July 2026 (UTC)

Hello, Staraction. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.— lp0 on fire () 12:35, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

You're invited to the Mentorship noticeboard

Hi, Staraction. You are cordially invited to the brand new Wikipedia:Mentorship noticeboard. I get the impression sometimes that we mentors are each toiling in our own little cubbyhole, quietly answering mentee questions with little to no interaction with other mentors. I think we have a lot to share and learn from each other, and I know it will make me feel better just having the opportunity to interact with you and other mentors there, and I hope it will for you, too. Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Please take the § Survey when you get there! Mathglot (talk) 00:20, 9 July 2026 (UTC)

TFL notification

Hi, Staraction. I'm just posting to let you know that Colorado's congressional delegations – a list that you have been heavily involved with – has been chosen to appear on the Main Page as Today's featured list for July 31. The TFL blurb can be seen here. If you have any thoughts on the selection, please post them on my talk page or at TFL talk. Regards, Giants2008 (Talk) 21:19, 9 July 2026 (UTC)

Precious

Congressional delegation

Thank you for quality articles around U.S. congress such as Colorado's congressional delegations and other such lists, for John A. Tibbits and others, for 1863 Maine gubernatorial election and other, for The Chick, for reviewing, - you are an awesome Wikipedian!

You are recipient no. 3037 of Precious, a prize of QAI. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:38, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you Gerda! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 15:37, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

The Admin's Barnstar

Staraction, thank you for all of the behavioral analysis you have contributed to sockpuppet investigation cases this year. A few months ago, when the backlog contained numerous cases that had been pending for far too long, it was difficult to imagine the list of open cases shrinking to the reasonable length that it is now. Editors who depend on SPI owe it to you that their filings are now reviewed and processed promptly. I am thrilled to see that you are running for adminship, which would enable you to handle certain types of SPI cases more efficiently, and I offer my enthusiastic support. — Newslinger talk 12:16, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for your kind words Newslinger! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 15:37, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Failure to remove CfD tags after closure

You seem to have closed many CfD's initiated in May 2026 without implementing the outcomes or removing the tags on discussions closed as keep. XfDcloser will automatically remove tags. Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard#Backlog_of_CfD_tags_on_closed_discussions is about the issue of which you are culpable, possibly in entirety. –LaundryPizza03 (dc̄) 05:15, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Hey @LaundryPizza03, I have been using XfDcloser, in conjunction with CFDlister, ever since I've been involved in CfD (e.g. keep close, category still with tags). I'm not sure why this is happening, but it seems to have been inconsistently occurring for the past two months (e.g. following this close, Category:Angry Birds spinoff games was not detagged properly, but following this close, it seems to have processed properly detagging and talk archiving). Given what I've seen I will dive through my CfD closures for the past few months and list anything that wasn't detagged properly at WT:CFDW. Thanks, Staraction (talk · contribs) 05:47, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Maybe check if you checked the box for de-tagging closed discussions? –LaundryPizza03 (dc̄) 05:51, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

@LaundryPizza03: I have that box checked by default, yes.

Also, could you please refrain from removing the tags from category pages & revert your edits that have removed the tags? Utilising WT:CFDW for detagging would be preferable because it would also add the Old cfd template to the talk page of the categories that were kept. Thanks, Staraction (talk · contribs) 06:15, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Good pitch, maybe go to WP:VPR for that? Reverting de-tags is counterproductive; it would be easier to just place the Old CfD tag manually. –LaundryPizza03 (dc̄) 06:19, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

@LaundryPizza03: if you think so, could you please place Old CfD manually on the talk pages for categories where you removed tags? Thanks, Staraction (talk · contribs) 06:24, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

It's getting late where I am but I'll continue repairing these in the morning. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 06:55, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Deletion review for Category:Medical scandals in the Republic of Ireland

An editor has asked for a deletion review of Category:Medical scandals in the Republic of Ireland. Because you closed the deletion discussion for this page, speedily deleted it, or otherwise were interested in the page, you might want to participate in the deletion review. –LaundryPizza03 (dc̄) 05:38, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Incorrect country spelling

Hi there. As the closer of this discussion, I want you to know that there is an error in the moving of the categories. There is no country called Canda. The category "Radio networks in Canda" is misspelt in all instances, and should be "Radio networks in Canada". If the bot can be retasked to clean this typo up. Cheers. Canterbury Tail talk 13:09, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Hey @Canterbury Tail, I've listed this at CFD/S. Thanks for the heads up! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 14:06, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

No prob. It was incorrect in the original request, so not your fault. Canterbury Tail talk 14:09, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Newmexicorunner (02:56, 17 July 2026)

Hi, Elle, and thanks for the offer. I'll probably need some help at some point. Have you read We The People by Jill Lepore? Listening to the audiobook on Libby now. --Newmexicorunner (talk) 02:56, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

Hey @Newmexicorunner, welcome! I have not yet read We The People but it's (now!) on my list, and one of my friends who's read it said he enjoyed it too. Gotta check it out at some point. Do let me know if you have any questions, and happy editing!

P.S. writing a new article from scratch is usually not recommended for new editors, but if you find the book interesting and get some experience, it doesn't seem like we have an article on the book yet, despite it probably meeting our guideline for inclusion (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). So, something to look forward to, if you are interested Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 03:06, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

I've gotten behind with the book and it's pretty deep in the weeds. Newmexicorunner (talk) 23:35, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

No rush. Hope you're finding it interesting at least. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 01:42, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Articles for Creation backlog drive

Hello Staraction:

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) 00:38, 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.

Your request for adminship

Hello there, Staraction (cool name, by the way!), I have closed your request for adminship as successful. Well done!

As always, the administrators' reading list is worth reading and the new admin help pages are most certainly available if you feel that you might require some practice with the tools in a safe environment prior to applying them elsewhere on the project. And there are plenty of fellow admins to ask for help from if you require it. Good luck! Acalamari 01:04, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi Acalamari, thank you for the close and for the advice! (I love your username too, even though you aren't a squid.) Staraction (talk · contribs) 01:06, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Mandatory admin uniform, wear it with pride

Congrats Staraction! I know you'll do well! Left guide (talk) 01:35, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for your kind words, and for the uniform! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 01:36, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

The community made the right decision by a very large margin. Congratulations, Staraction! — Newslinger talk 03:11, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

A baton for you!

The admin baton!

... or, well, one half of it. You see, when it learned that two new administrators had been elected at the same time, it got so excited that it broke in two. Alarmed, I asked it if it was okay, but it said to me, "As was prophesized in revision histories before the dawn of MediaWiki, the years of being held in worthy hands have granted me the ancient power of reversion. In the light of the next newly minted mop, shining with the power of community consensus, I will be reforged. Also, I'm good, dude; I'm a baton." I asked the baton how it was able to talk, not to mention how it had linked a spoken phrase, but it was WikiBroken, and was already on WikiBreak. I suppose we may never know. And so I humbly bring you this half of the fabled baton to continue its long line of succession. Just as you and MCE89 ran the gauntlet together, so you are bound to run your leg of this race together. And when the time comes, bring the two (incredibly realistic) halves together, pass it on, and fulfil the prophecy.

In all seriousness, though, congratulations! I am incredibly excited to see all the good work you'll be doing with a mop in hand. —TechnoSquirrel69 (talk) 05:28, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

MCE89 and I will ensure that the baton is, indeed, good, dude. I need to learn how it can speak links, that'd be quite the useful skill. Thank you kindly for the (remnants of the) baton, and for the kind words! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 05:38, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Vasilystepanov (10:36, 20 July 2026)

Hi there, I want to learn editing and to attach Link citation source for any article which I want to create. And i hope sir/madam you will help me . --Vasilystepanov (talk) 10:36, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi Dangiwa, welcome to Wikipedia! Give the instructions here a try, and see if that helps. You can also work through a game we have that will teach you the basics of editing. Let me know how else I can help! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 12:22, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

thank you sir/madam. Vasilystepanov (talk) 17:30, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Madam for me. Feel free to reach out with any other questions. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 17:34, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

i will staraction:) Vasilystepanov (talk) 17:39, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

RPPP Batch

Congrats on admin!! When you have a chance, would you be able to look at my pending requests at RPPP batch? There are many more articles I want to request page protection for there, but I want to wait for the current batch to be finished first (including some articles recently edited by non-ECR users, such as Caoimhe Butterly. EaglesFan37 (talk) 16:00, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks @EaglesFan37. I looked a bit (and processed a couple) but there are several more "borderline" cases that I'd like to mull over a bit more. I'll work on it . Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 16:01, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

@Staraction Makes sense. I can explain my rationale for any of the borderline cases. EaglesFan37 (talk) 16:03, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

I'll let you know if I require clarification on any! Thanks, Staraction (talk · contribs) 16:04, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

@EaglesFan37: on Salim Ayyash, for instance, is there anything related to Israel other than how he died (which is not the major focus of the article, so not strictly within the conflict area)? I'm not seeing the persistent disruption that would require Staraction (talk · contribs) 22:32, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

I'm not sure if being a Hezbollah member automatically makes ECR apply or not. EaglesFan37 (talk) 22:33, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

I'd wager no. Assassination of Rafic Hariri would be the more general topic here and it is not protected, I would guess because it is related to relations between Lebanon & Hezbollah, and doesn't broadly involve Israel. I'll decline protection here. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 22:36, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

That's fair. EaglesFan37 (talk) 22:47, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

I disagree and have protected here. I believe the military part of Hezbollah is categorically part of the Arab-Isreali conflict so every article related to it should be ECP-ed. * Pppery * _{in solidarity} 04:10, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

@Pppery Could either you or @Staraction please add the ECR blue lock? EaglesFan37 (talk) 04:16, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

We have bots for that. * Pppery * _{in solidarity} 04:16, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

@Pppery Guess the bot just didn't get to it yet. I'm sorry. EaglesFan37 (talk) 04:18, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Fair enough. I'll keep in mind for the future, thanks Pppery. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 04:32, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

AELECT RFC

I just flipped a heading because it was the opposite of the question being asked. Feel free to revert, it just felt time-sensitive to me, otherwise I would have asked first. SarekOfVulcan (talk) 17:02, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Good change. Thanks @SarekOfVulcan. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 17:04, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Ok, thanks. I just realized I forgot to flip the subheadings, so I'll do that too. SarekOfVulcan (talk) 17:06, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Congratulations

Congratulations on your successful RfA!
Wishing you all the best as an admin 🧹. In solidarity, Destinyokhiria _{(talk / cont)} 18:12, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, Destinyokhiria! Staraction (talk · contribs) 18:14, 20 July 2026 (UTC)

Another congratulations from me too, you deserve it! <3 QuicoleJR (talk|edits) 23:39, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you! Staraction (talk · contribs) 23:54, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Congartulations from me as well; if I hadn't been on a wikibreak during your RfA you would definitely have seen an enthusiastic support from me (not that you needed it). Cheers, -- Ponyo^{bons mots} 22:46, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks Ponyo, I appreciate it a lot coming from you. Hope your wikibreak went well. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 23:55, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Breadfiend20 (22:40, 21 July 2026)

Hi -- I'm a little unsure what to do when I find a number of unsourced sentences that I then can't verify. Should I delete them all? Or just leave them be with a note in my editing comments? --Breadfiend20 (talk) 22:40, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Hey @Breadfiend20, welcome to Wikipedia! I would say this is a judgement call. A clear case where you should delete unsourced statements is in biographies of living (or recently died) persons because those articles may significantly affect their subjects' reputations. On the other hand, if you think a sentence is probably verifiable, but you just don't have access to a source, you can leave the citation needed template by writing {{cn}} after each unsourced sentence, or if an entire section is unsourced, the unreferenced section orange banner template. Let me know if you have any other questions! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 23:54, 21 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks -- super helpful. Will try to get the feel for it! Breadfiend20 (talk) 00:07, 22 July 2026 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Original Barnstar
	Thanks for stopping the vandals here! Beyoncé and Rihanna's navy 🐝🪖 23:23, 23 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for the barnstar. Just FYI I would not recommend engaging with them if they are clearly up to no good (e.g. here) since it only wastes your time. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 23:24, 23 July 2026 (UTC)

Your common.js page

Hi Staraction! Congratulations on your successful RFA! If you run into any questions regarding the toolset or if there's anything I can assist you with, please don't hesitate to let me know. ;-)

I'm just giving you an FYI that I modified your common.js page to add commented backlinks for the scripts that you added. The changes have no effect on how the scripts function; those backlinks simply populate the Special:WhatLinksHere page, which makes it easier for me to communicate with anybody that uses them if any issues are found (for example). I didn't add them to my own common.js page after I created and published them, so if anything - it's my fault that you didn't do so either. ;-)

Please don't hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions or issues with any of the scripts I wrote, and I'll be more than happy to help! :-D Enjoy! ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 05:57, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you Oshwah! Staraction (talk · contribs) 05:59, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

It looks like you removed those backlinks I added while reverting your common.js page to remove the QuickBlockScript I wrote. Don't worry! The QuickBlockScript isn't scary once you get used to it, though it could probably use a few updates with new blocking templates and reasons. It adds a lot of items to your "more" menu (which can cause a startle or scare, understandably), but trust me - they're very nice to have! ;-) Those backlinks I added are only a convenience thing; it's not imperative that they stay. I'll leave it to you if you'd like to add them back, and I won't edit the page again to do so. ;-) Cheers - ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 06:05, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

I restored the backlinks, since I didn't realise you'd edited the page! I uninstalled QuickBlockScript since a couple of the options are checkuser blocks and those seem like nuclear bombs for a non-checkuser. It does seem quite convenient, though; maybe I'll fork it at some point. Thanks Oshwah :) Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 06:08, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

I saw that, and I appreciate it! :-) You make a good point; I didn't anticipate that anyone would care about the scripts I've written, let alone use them. :-D Non-checkusers would be able to use the script without any issues, since a "checkuser block" only involves adding a note or a template like {{Checkuserblock-account}} or {{Checkuser block}} to the blocking summary. However, I understand your position of not using it, since it introduces the possibility of accidentally adding one. Your response gave me a great idea: I'll put this script on my to-do list and update it so that those options don't display for non-checkusers. It might require some refactoring of the important part of the code, but shouldn't be too difficult to implement. If anything, that code could use a good re-write, cleanup, and update. ;-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 06:19, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

I'd appreciate that a lot. Do let me know if you update the code! Thanks, Staraction (talk · contribs) 06:20, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

Alright, this should do the trick! The script should now skip displaying the block options that are checkuser blocks. If you're up to it, you should be able to use the script now. Let me know if you re-import it and if what I did fixed the issue. :-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 06:48, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

Looks like it did the trick. I'll test it out. Thanks Oshwah :) Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 06:49, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

You bet! I'm always happy to help. :-) ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 06:50, 24 July 2026 (UTC)

A beer for you!

Another day, another game of whack-a-troll, cheers to you for doing the dirty work keeping this place functioning! This round is on me. ♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 01:32, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you @Hurricanehink! I owe you a beer at some point though: back when I was just getting serious with Wikipedia you helped review one of my FLC noms, for which I am very grateful. It's been good to still see your name around, I hope you're doing well! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 04:10, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from Saqijanlewy on Frank Card (12:24, 25 July 2026)

Saqi Jan lewany --Saqijanlewy (talk) 12:24, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Staraction (talk · contribs) 14:24, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

Block of 129.232.237.211

Hi Staraction! I hope you're having a great day! I saw that you blocked the IP address 129.232.237.211, but the block log here shows that you applied it to the /32 CIDR range. For IPv4 addresses, a CIDR of /32 refers only to one IP; you can just apply the block to 129.232.237.211 and omit the /32 CIDR part. The block applies exactly the same whether or not you include the /32, but I thought I'd let you know that it isn't necessary. ;-) Cheers - ~Oshwah~^{(talk) (contribs)} 21:37, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

Gotcha, thanks for the info Oshwah! Hope you're having an amazing day as well. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 21:56, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

A salamander for you :)

Metromutt has given you a salamander! Salamanders show appreciation, and hopefully this one has made your day better. You can brighten someone's day by giving them a WikiCritter on their talk page with a friendly message, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend.
To give a salamander: {{salamander|message=Your message here. ~~~~}}

I know I'm about a week late, I haven't been active lately, but I saw you got promoted to admin! Thank you for being my first guiding force on the wiki, you more than deserve it :) — METROMUTT ❯❯❯ "Talk to me Goose." 07:21, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Awh, thank you for the little guy, Metromutt! I appreciate it a lot. Feel free to ask if you've got any more questions! Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 15:23, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Missed CfDW entry

Hi Staraction (and congratulations on the recent RfA). I was just looking through my XfD log and noticed that the 19th-century debut works CfD seemingly never got listed at (WT:)CFDW (Category:1874 directorial debut films et al). The 18th-century debut works entry just below it got listed here so I'm assuming some sort of script error. (Incidentally I've just closed a couple of CfDs myself for the first time recently so please let me know if there's any conventions I'm missing for NACs there, I'm mostly just trying to match what's already there since it doesn't as if much is particularly documented.) Thanks, ScalarFactor (talk) 18:14, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @ScalarFactor, thanks for the heads up; I've just listed the missed entry at WP:CFDW. I haven't looked too carefully but your NAC listings look good and it looks like another admin's already added them. Thanks for the helping hand, and happy editing. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 18:38, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Interesting account

Just fyi there is an account named @Staraction had sex with Yue and Tsubaki. Might be of interest to you. ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 19:46, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, blocked. No clue how nobody's found it yet. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 19:47, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

I only found it through the search system when trying to ping you. ✶Quxyz✶ (talk) 19:48, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Question from JMazing1 (22:17, 26 July 2026)

Hello, where can we find pages that need editing it pages that need answering. I'd rather be a contributor, helping to achieve the true understanding of curious topics, with my vast knowledge --JMazing1 (talk) 22:17, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @JMazing1, welcome to Wikipedia! The content at Special:Homepage that is suggested for you is a lot of what we need to improve on Wikipedia, and is a good place to get started. If you're looking for a specific type of issue to fix, you can check out Category:Clean-up categories, which will get you, for instance, Category:Articles needing examples from August 2018. Otherwise you can find topics we need coverage on at Wikipedia:Requested articles. Happy editing and let me know if you have any more questions. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 22:20, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

Thank you Staraction JMazing1 (talk) 22:22, 26 July 2026 (UTC)

July 2026

Thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia. Regarding your recent edits to Partypoker when you modified the page, you introduced unknown parameters. Just because you specify |some_param=some_variable does not always mean that variable will display. The |some_param= must be defined in the template. You can look at the documentation for the template you are using but it is also helpful to use the preview button before you save your edit; this helps you find any errors you have made and ensure that the values you have added are displaying correctly. Below the edit box is a Show preview button. Pressing this will show you what the page will look like without actually saving it. It is strongly recommended that you use this before saving. Note I have likely fixed the error by now so check the history of the page to see how it was fixed. If you have any questions, contact the help desk for assistance. Thank you. Zackmann (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 02:28, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Hi @Zackmann08 -- thanks for the notice. I've been careful to restore intermediate edits with the WPSPAM reverts but seemed to have missed this one (probably because the parameter fixes were in the problematic edit itself). I have the preview automatically loaded so I'll be sure to look out for the red param notices in future. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 02:34, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Sounds good! Thanks for fighting the spam! Zackmann (^{Talk to me}/_{What I been doing}) 02:42, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Question about SPI

Apologies for the ping, but I didn't want to take up more space in the active SPI. If a clerk has marked the SPI from new to open, does this mean that it is currently being investigated, or does it mean that investigation hasn't started yet? I posted what I believe was a smoking gun, but I haven't heard back from any admin about the status of the investigation after three days. –GM 17:06, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Hey @GregariousMadness -- "open" means someone's looked at it and decided it isn't immediately / obviously actionable. SPI's unfortunately well-known for having a large backlog; we'll get to the case as soon as we can. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 17:11, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

@Staraction: Thank you for the quick reply. The person I reported to SPI for harassing me over the last two years has been continually harassing me as a result of the SPI, so would it be bad etiquette to ping the closing admins of the previous archived SPIs of the same case, as they would be more familiar with the case than a completely new admin? –GM 17:18, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

No need for pings -- at least two of them are probably well-aware of the case. We'll get it handled...eventually. Best, Staraction (talk · contribs) 17:19, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Another Stephanie89T89 sock

I believe I have found another sock of Stephanie89T89: Hexnomad. This user's only edits are targeting Encyclopedia45 on other Wikipedias in the exact same manner as ForbiddenTales and Sailingacrosstheorion. Could you block that one too? Also, we should probably globally lock all their socks from now on. Link20XX (talk) 17:08, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

*sigh*. Yeah, you're right. Thanks for the report. Staraction (talk · contribs) 17:16, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

Your draft article, Draft:SCANDAL hypothesis

Hello, Staraction. This message concerns the Articles for Creation submission or draft page you started, "SCANDAL hypothesis".

Drafts that go unedited for six months are eligible for deletion, in accordance with our draftspace policy, and this one has been nominated for deletion. If you plan on working on it further, or editing it to address the issues raised if it was declined, simply , and remove the {{db-afc}}, {{db-draft}}, or {{db-g13}} code.

If your submission has already been deleted by the time you read this, you can request its undeletion. An administrator will, in most cases, restore the draft so you can continue to work on it.

Thank you for your submission to Wikipedia! DreamRimmer bot II (talk) 19:26, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

A beer for you!

Thanks for helping with this game of whack-a-troll. This LTA is trying to wear down our patience, but seeing some so passionate about harming Wikipedia just makes me want to edit more, and to thank fellow Wikipedians who are making this a better place. Cheers and thanks again. ♫ Hurricanehink (talk) 17:11, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks Hurricanehink -- & likewise, for you! Staraction (talk · contribs) 17:32, 29 July 2026 (UTC)