Engine room: Difference between revisions

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== Welcoming Lucy Crompton-Reid as CEO ==
==Suggestions of potential events to attend==
From our chair, Michael Maggs:
{{quote|
I am very pleased to be able to announce today that we have been fortunate enough to secure as our new CEO Lucy Crompton-Reid, currently Director of the national live literature charity Apples and Snakes. Lucy brings extensive experience in volunteer engagement, organisational development, working with strategic partners, media, education, and securing external fundraising from trusts and foundations.


Over the course of her career Lucy has worked in both the charitable and public sectors, including most recently Head of Outreach at the House of Lords where she was strategic and operational lead for education and outreach activities. Before that, she worked at Arts Council England, initially developing strategic partnerships before setting up a new area office with local government and schools partnerships. As Refugee Week National Co-ordinator for the British Refugee Council, Lucy chaired the UK steering group of NGOs and charities, led on media activities, and facilitated hundreds of volunteer cultural events each year.  Lucy is passionate about education and learning and is deeply committed to ensuring open access to knowledge and information.
[[Project grants/Photographs covering African cultural events in London]] asks for suggestions of potential events to attend. My suggestion would be classic car rallies. A lot of wikipedia's car photos are taken of parked cars which tends to result in wide angle shots with messy backgrounds which tend not to look that great. Rallies where cars are driven allow you to get shots at longer focal lengths with cleaner backgrounds. A specific recommendation would be Great Dorset Steam Fair. As well as steam they have a lot of cars and bikes. I went there last year and was able to get stuff [[:commons:Category:Great Dorset Steam Fair (2016)|like this]]


Lucy will be joining us in early October. In the meantime, our interim CEO, D'Arcy Myers, will remain in post and will be working with Lucy to ensure a smooth handover.  Please join me in offering Lucy a very warm welcome.
== Confirmation emails not arriving ==


''Michael Maggs''
[[Special:ConfirmEmail]] does not seem to be working for me. How long is the lag, typically? Please [[w:WP:NOTIFY|notify]] me in your reply. Thanks! [[User:Zazpot|Zazpot]] ([[User talk:Zazpot|talk]]) 20:18, 28 June 2017 (BST)
}}


From our CEO-elect, Lucy Crompton-Reid:
:Hi {{ping|Zazpot}}, thanks for letting us know. I've [https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org.uk/show_bug.cgi?id=433 asked our developers to take a look]. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 10:27, 29 June 2017 (BST)
{{quote|
:
I’m delighted to be joining Wikimedia UK this October as the charity’s new Chief Executive, and look forward to working with the staff team, board and volunteer community – as well as national and international partners – to develop the work of the organisation. This is a significant time for Wikimedia and for the open knowledge sector more broadly, with the potential to create unparalleled access to educational content, coupled with threats to limit public access to information and knowledge. With nearly 18 years' experience in the arts, charitable and public sectors, I'm passionate about participation, and excited about the opportunity to facilitate greater public engagement with online content and information through Wikipedia and its sister projects, and other Wikimedia UK initiatives.
::{{ping|Richard Nevell (WMUK)}} thanks for this. Confirmation email still not received. Other emails to the same address seems to be reaching me fine. [[User:Zazpot|Zazpot]] ([[User talk:Zazpot|talk]]) 11:32, 29 June 2017 (BST)
::
:::It hasn't ended up in spam by any chance? It sounds likely that something's broken. Special:PasswordReset is working so the wiki is able to send out some emails, so it might just be an issue with Special:ConfirmEmail. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 12:14, 29 June 2017 (BST)
:::
::::{{ping|Richard Nevell (WMUK)}} no, sadly not. I checked the spam folder before posting here (and have checked it again just now). Pressed the "Mail a confirmation code" button again today, just in case it had started working again, but still no joy. Will try signing up to the Bugzilla instance, so that I can follow up there. [[User:Zazpot|Zazpot]] ([[User talk:Zazpot|talk]]) 21:48, 4 July 2017 (BST)


''Lucy Crompton-Reid''
== Meta: Spam ==
}}
--[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 18:30, 13 July 2015 (BST)


: May I give my congratulations to Lucy and I wish her well in her new role. [[User:CT Cooper|CT Cooper]]<small><span style="font-weight:bold;">&nbsp;·</span>&#32;[[User talk:CT Cooper|talk]]</small> 21:40, 16 July 2015 (BST)
Hi all, heck of a [[:Category:Speedy deletions|lot of spam]] which could do with deleting. Whilst I'm here, could someone rename my account to [[User:There'sNoTime]]? [[User:Samtar|Samtar]] ([[User talk:Samtar|talk]]) 14:36, 4 December 2017 (GMT)
:Oh, and an edit filter would be good eh? [[User:Samtar|Samtar]] ([[User talk:Samtar|talk]]) 14:37, 4 December 2017 (GMT)
::I've renamed your account as requested, and am taking a look at some of the spam. An edit filter would definitely be worthwhile, but I don't know how to set one up. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 17:05, 4 December 2017 (GMT)
:::{{ping|Richard Nevell (WMUK)}} I'm +sysop/EFM on enwp, happy to set something up if you'd like? [[User:There&#39;sNoTime|There&#39;sNoTime]] ([[User talk:There&#39;sNoTime|talk]]) 17:52, 4 December 2017 (GMT)
::::{{ping|There'sNoTime}} Yes please, do you need admin access here to set it up? [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 14:20, 5 December 2017 (GMT)
:::::{{ping|Richard Nevell (WMUK)}} I will do, if that's alright?  -- [[User:There'sNoTime|There'sNoTime]] <sup>([[User talk:There'sNoTime|to explain]])</sup> 14:22, 5 December 2017 (GMT)
::::::{{ping|There'sNoTime}} Absolutely, you're now an admin. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 10:44, 12 December 2017 (GMT)
:::::::Cheers, just testing something now  -- [[User:There'sNoTime|There'sNoTime]] <sup>([[User talk:There'sNoTime|to explain]])</sup> 11:09, 12 December 2017 (GMT)


==Membership management improvements==
== Staff group photo ==
I just thought it might be useful to have a bit of a discussion before the AGM about what people think might be a better way to manage membership. What I would like is access to a secure page where I can review my membership and update my personal details, see a record of my volunteering, check when my next membership renewal is due etc. Something which could be considered is a printable volunteering record, perhaps in summary form, which could help people when applying for jobs, or proving volunteering activity if unemployed. I am sure this can be done in a way which means that once set up it would not require much staff time to keep running effectively. [[User:Leutha|Leutha]] ([[User talk:Leutha|talk]]) 08:46, 14 July 2015 (BST)


== Volunteer strategy gathering registration ==
I've just spotted that the staff group photo is rather out of date - it still features Richard S who hasn't been staff for a couple of years now for example. I suggest someone puts this in the diary for a day when you have a full house in the office and it isn't snowing! [[user:Thryduulf|Thryduulf]] (talk: [[user talk:Thryduulf|local]] | [[w:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wp]] | [[wikt:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wikt]]) 17:29, 2 March 2018 (GMT)
:Agreed. 2015 is a long time ago and there have been several staff changes since then.  [[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 21:48, 8 July 2018 (BST)
::I will try to take one at the Christmas lunch. It's not been easy to get everyone in the same place at the same time! [[User:John Lubbock (WMUK)|John Lubbock (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:John Lubbock (WMUK)|talk]]) 14:44, 5 December 2018 (GMT)


The registration asks you whether you would like to become a member of WMUK for £5. The only options for the answer to this are "yes" and "no" - there is no provision for "I am already a member". I answered "no" as I don't need to renew my membership at the moment, but it does meant that the metrics you get from the answers to this question are going to be unreliable. [[user:Thryduulf|Thryduulf]] (talk: [[user talk:Thryduulf|local]] | [[w:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wp]] | [[wikt:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wikt]]) 17:49, 14 July 2015 (BST)
== Wikimedia VLE ==


==Reminder of deadline for proxy votes at the AGM: This Wednesday at 3pm==
Is the [http://moodle.wikimedia.org.uk/ Wikimedia VLE] dead?  If so, [https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Virtual_Learning_Environment information about it] should be updated.


We hope to welcome as many as possible at [[2015 Annual General Meeting|Saturday's AGM]], where members will be able to vote in person.  Members who are not able to attend can lodge proxy votes, both for the resolutions and for the candidates who are standing for the board.  Voting papers and proxy forms were sent out by post last Wednesday, 15 July, and all members should have received them by now.  This is just to remind anyone who intends to vote by proxy that as stated on the form the deadline for receipt of proxy votes (which can be by email to tellers{{@}}wikimedia.org.uk) is  '''3pm this Thursday, 23rd July''' - 48 hours before the start of the meeting. Instructions for voting by email can be found on the proxy form itself. --[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 20:11, 20 July 2015 (BST)
==Recent changes==
:The [[2015 AGM/Minutes|draft minutes of the 2015 AGM]] are now available for review. --[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 13:54, 18 September 2015 (BST)
Is the wiki going to be updated with the new recent changes interface? [[User:Leutha|Leutha]] ([[User talk:Leutha|talk]]) 11:03, 29 November 2018 (GMT)
::Hi [[User:Leutha|Leutha]], we would love to update lots of things on the wiki. I hope that once we sort out other things with the site we can get around to this, but we probably need assistance fom people who are expert at MediaWiki. [[User:John Lubbock (WMUK)|John Lubbock (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:John Lubbock (WMUK)|talk]]) 12:31, 2 April 2019 (BST)


==QRpedia==
== Watchlist broken ==
I left a message at the water cooler but it doesnt appear to have been seen. Could someone look? [[Special:Contributions/176.227.129.236|176.227.129.236]] 15:10, 20 August 2015 (BST)


== Q2 report card ==
Nothing is showing on my watchlist. In the box, there is the text:
:Below are the last '''0''' changes in the last '''720''' hours, as of 30 November 2018, 12:26.
Under the box, it says
:No changes during the given period match these criteria.
At [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-watchlist|Preferences]], I have the following relevant settings:
*Days to show in watchlist: 30
*Maximum number of changes to show in watchlist: 250
*{{tick|12}} Expand watchlist to show all changes, not just the most recent
*{{cross|12}} Hide minor edits from the watchlist
*{{cross|12}} Hide bot edits from the watchlist
*{{cross|12}} Hide my edits from the watchlist
*{{cross|12}} Hide edits by anonymous users from the watchlist
*{{cross|12}} Hide edits by logged in users from the watchlist
One of my watched pages is [[Events]], which normally attracts at least one edit each week. But not even the last edit (which was at 12:23, 22 November 2018) is showing. Has there been a MediaWiki config change that would affect this? --[[User:Redrose64|Redrose64]] ([[User talk:Redrose64|talk]]; [[:wikipedia:User:Redrose64|at English Wikipedia]]) 12:28, 30 November 2018 (GMT)
:Supplemental: I also have the setting
::{{tick|12}} Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist
:and I made sure that the "Watch this page" checkbox was ticked before I saved; but despite both of those, this page (Engine room) was ''not'' added to [[Special:EditWatchlist]] after I saved the above post. Nor was [[Water cooler]] added after I made [[Special:Diff/80704|this edit]]. This suggests that there seems to be a wider problem. The "watch" star works, but it's an extra step that I don't need to make on other wikis. --[[User:Redrose64|Redrose64]] ([[User talk:Redrose64|talk]]; [[:wikipedia:User:Redrose64|at English Wikipedia]]) 12:44, 30 November 2018 (GMT)
:I think this relates to the Recent Changes not working, which led to my query aboce. [[User:Leutha|Leutha]] ([[User talk:Leutha|talk]]) 12:48, 30 November 2018 (GMT)
:I'm seeing exactly the same issue with both watchlists and recent changes. I'll ping the mailing list as that gets a bit more traffic these days. [[user:Thryduulf|Thryduulf]] (talk: [[user talk:Thryduulf|local]] | [[w:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wp]] | [[wikt:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wikt]]) 12:51, 30 November 2018 (GMT)
::Hi Chris, I'll try to forward this issue on, but it is possible that it is part of the same problem we are having with a lot of our sites at the moment. I'll try to keep you informed when i hear what the problem is.[[User:John Lubbock (WMUK)|John Lubbock (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:John Lubbock (WMUK)|talk]]) 16:14, 30 November 2018 (GMT)


Our report card for Q2 of the 2015&ndash;16 financial year can be found here: [[Strategy monitoring plan/Outcomes/Q2]]. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 16:42, 24 August 2015 (BST)
Any progress to report on this? [[User:TheOverflow|TheOverflow]] ([[User talk:TheOverflow|talk]]) 06:21, 22 July 2019 (BST)
:I thought I would check recent changes by adding this edit . . . [[User:Leutha|Leutha]] ([[User talk:Leutha|talk]]) 07:34, 19 October 2019 (BST)
::. . .  and then seeing if the edit comes up – which it does not, so I think we are left with the old adage of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Soldier_%C5%A0vejk Good Editor Schweik]] "beg to report there is noting to report". [[User:Leutha|Leutha]] ([[User talk:Leutha|talk]]) 07:47, 19 October 2019 (BST)
:::That this has been outstanding for more than a year doesn't reflect well on the charity: most people would expect Wikimedia UK to be able to make its own wiki work... but I suppose that's not a priority any more. [[User:TheOverflow|TheOverflow]] ([[User talk:TheOverflow|talk]]) 09:05, 29 December 2019 (GMT)


== There is a problem with this website's security certificate ==
== Recent changes to MediaWiki namespace files ==


If try to view this wiki with IE, I get the message "There is a problem with this website's security certificate."  With Firefox I get a similar message, but I can add an exception, which allows me to view it.
Hi all - just a courtesy message letting you know I've made some changes to a couple of MediaWiki namespace files (namely [[MediaWiki:Common.js]]). These [[Special:Diff/82763|changes]] ''affect all users'', and were implemented solely due to function depreciation. Please let me know (preferably on [[:en:User talk:TheresNoTime|my English Wikipedia talk page]]) if there are any issues ~[[User:There'sNoTime|TNT]] (she/her • [[User talk:There'sNoTime|talk]]) 14:58, 5 October 2021 (BST)


I don't really know why this is happening.  Does anyone know what might be causing it?
== Installed versions of MediaWiki and PHP are end-of-life ==


[[User:Yaris678|Yaris678]] ([[User talk:Yaris678|talk]]) 12:55, 3 September 2015 (BST)
The currently installed version of MediaWiki ([[:mw:MediaWiki 1.31|1.31]]) went [[:en:End-of-life_product#Computing|EOL]] on the 30th September 2021 - we should urgently upgrade to the latest LTS version ([[:mw:MediaWiki 1.35|1.35]]), and ideally to the latest stable version ([[:mw:MediaWiki 1.36|1.36]]).


I am experiencing the same problem with Chrome.[[User:Leutha|Leutha]] ([[User talk:Leutha|talk]]) 12:22, 4 September 2015 (BST)
We will ''also'' need to upgrade to [[:mw:Compatibility#PHP|PHP]] version 7.3.19 or higher, as our currently installed version ([[Special:Version#sv-software|7.2.30]]) is not supported (and is also EOL).


:Hello Yaris and Leutha. We're working on the problem, you can see updates here: https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org.uk/show_bug.cgi?id=392 [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 13:10, 4 September 2015 (BST)
Have we previously reached out to the Wikimedia Foundation, as I am certain they would happily host this MediaWiki installation? ~[[User:TheresNoTime|TheresNoTime]] <sup>([[User talk:TheresNoTime|to explain!]])</sup> 14:40, 1 November 2021 (GMT)
::It's rather depressing to see this was identified as an upcoming issue nearly a month ago, and then became a live issue 4 days ago, and it still isn't fixed. Given the way modern browsers work, any casual visitor is going to be sacred off coming here - possibly for good - as the big "this website might be fake or trying to steal your credit card data" warning that, for example, Chrome throws, is scary. Not good. [[User:QuiteUnusual|QuiteUnusual]] ([[User talk:QuiteUnusual|talk]]) 12:20, 7 September 2015 (BST)
Could someone from the team please provide an update here? Many thanks.  --[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 14:47, 18 September 2015 (BST)
:This was all fixed a few days ago. Part of the problem was in switching the security certificate from our old staff member's details to my own. This has to be done by faxing or posting a copy of my passport to Europe, along with a copy of our registration certificate, and then waiting for the company concerned to confirm everything, which took a few weeks. We started the renewal process in mid-August, but with the user switching problems and a delay at their end, it took about a week longer than expected. [[User:Richard Symonds (WMUK)|Richard Symonds (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Symonds (WMUK)|talk]]) 15:03, 21 September 2015 (BST)


== Renewing membership online - my experience ==
== Spam ==


I've just renewed my membership online and I thought I'd give a quick rundown of the experience.
Hi, yesterday I stumbled upon a site (off-wiki) that had a spam link pointing to a page of this wiki. Having had a closer look I fell off my chair and added wikimedia.org.uk to my [[commons:User:Achim55/Wikis that are abused by spammers|list of spam servers]] as it is highly contaminated. The account creating rate by spambots has increased here to about 1000 per day. The rate of spam page creations (or edits) is the same. I happen to be the one who is holding the high score of blocks on the Commons and thought about offering some help cleaning up this crap but it's impossible. Deleting or at least tagging tens of thousands of pages and accounts while continuously new ones are created is a joke. One could seriously consider to shut down this wiki. If not, following had to be done ASAP
 
# Restrict the account generation either by adding a captcha on creation or even by using a closed user group (acc creation disabled by default)
*I was prompted to renew by an email reminder saying my membership would expire "this month". ''Much'' better than previously where you had to remember to look at the bottom of a newsletter, but an exact date would have been preferable - 9/10.  
# Get the SBLs running. As I just checked on my tp neither the local nor the global SBL are in effect. And I didn't find a SBL log.
*The form wasn't immediately clear it was to be used for both renewals and new memberships, but it wasn't bad - 7/10.
# A publicly accessible wiki like this one should not be run without any abuse filter, there seems to be no [[Special:AbuseLog]].
*Filling in my email address populated the rest of the form - now I'm not sure whether this was the form doing it or Chrome doing it (I normally use firefox). If the former, then excellent for WMUK but it was an old address that I know I've changed with WMUK (as I got my AGM stuff to the correct address). If this was Chrome then WMUK doesn't have anything to worry about.  
Pinging [[User:TheresNoTime|Sam]], [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard]] and [[User:Mike Peel|Mike]]. Regards, [[User:Achim55|Achim55]] ([[User talk:Achim55|talk]]) 11:59, 12 August 2022 (BST)
*The "small print" about becoming a member would be better placed (or at least linked to) above the submit button.
:Good suggestions, recently raised on https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/EZSPL7QGSVFUCPTBFKRPR4DVZAW3WYDM/ ~[[User:TheresNoTime|TheresNoTime]] <sup>([[User talk:TheresNoTime|to explain!]])</sup> 20:46, 13 August 2022 (BST)
*The question about how I found out about becoming a member wasn't really relevant to my renewing membership but it was I think mandatory still (I just put "this is a renewal" as I can't remember the answer).
:Just noting I've created [[Spam]] [[User:TheresNoTime|TheresNoTime]] ([[User talk:TheresNoTime|talk]]) 19:13, 15 August 2022 (BST)
*The link to paying by paypal went well and that worked as soon as I remembered my password (unless WMUK is offering brain upgrades I don't think you can improve here).
::Sysop action wanted → [[User:Achim55/Spam]]. Cheers, [[User:Achim55|Achim55]] ([[User talk:Achim55|talk]]) 09:44, 10 August 2023 (BST)
*Everything seems to have gone through smoothly and I got a "Thank you for joining!" page which is mostly about new members with a little thankyou at the bottom of the page for those renewing, almost as an afterthought.
*I'm still not clear on the exact date of my membership - I know I paid £5.00 today but it's not clear whether I paid for a year from today or a year from when last year's membership expired (sometime in the middle of the month I think).
Overall, much better than previous years but not perfect yet. [[user:Thryduulf|Thryduulf]] (talk: [[user talk:Thryduulf|local]] | [[w:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wp]] | [[wikt:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wikt]]) 20:48, 4 October 2015 (BST)
 
::I was also really pleased to get a membership renewal email! (I think the form-filling is Chrome, I can't see CiviCRM being clever enough to populate forms for us... ) [[User:The Land|The Land]] ([[User talk:The Land|talk]]) 13:03, 6 October 2015 (BST)
 
:::Hi both, it's always good to hear when things work and your feedback will be helpful in thinking about how to improve them further :-) I've looked into it, and while our database has a field which tells you the date on which your membership enters grace, it doesn't tell you which date it fully expires. I've come up with a workaround which tells when your membership entered grace and that it expires six months after that. It appears in a slightly smaller font for a reason I cannot fathom. On double checking the settings for 'how did you find out about becoming a member' I've found that it's set to optional. As we currently use the same page for people who are renewing or joining for the first time, I can't switch it off for one but not the other. It might be useful if the question was was drop down menu, including a choice along the lines of 'membership reminder'. With your final point, I think you should have got an email receipt. Assuming it's possible, would that be a good point at which to include the new date of when your membership runs until? [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 15:26, 7 October 2015 (BST)
::::I did get an email receipt (although it arrived after I posted my comment above) and that would indeed be a good place to include the new end date of membership. Including it on the success page as well would be even better, but it sounds like this isn't as simple as it sounds. [[user:Thryduulf|Thryduulf]] (talk: [[user talk:Thryduulf|local]] | [[w:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wp]] | [[wikt:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wikt]]) 19:59, 7 October 2015 (BST)
 
== FDC proposal ==
 
Wikimedia UK has applied to the Funds Dissemination Committee for next year's funding. The proposal can be found on meta-wiki: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1/Wikimedia_UK/Proposal_form
 
It is open for comment until 30 October. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 10:39, 15 October 2015 (BST)
 
==Policy reviews==
At its next meeting on 16 November the charity's Governance Committee (Govcom) is intending to discuss some potential governance policy changes. They are particularly intended to make formal provision for non-trustee voting members to sit on the Governance and on the Audit and Risk Committees, as recommended by charitable best practice and as now permitted under the changes to our articles that were agreed at the 2015 AGM.  Following community feedback and discussion, Govcom is intending to make a recommendation to the board at its 12 December meeting.  Feedback is welcome: please comment on the relevant talk pages. Many thanks.
 
===Review of board committee charters===
Recommend modifications for approval at the 12 December board meeting.
* [[Governance Committee Charter/Proposed revision]] (Diff: [https://wikimedia.org.uk/w/index.php?title=Governance_Committee_Charter%2FProposed_revision&diff=68418&oldid=68277])
* [[Audit and Risk Committee charter/Proposed revision]] (Diff: [https://wikimedia.org.uk/w/index.php?title=Audit_and_Risk_Committee_charter%2FProposed_revision&diff=68419&oldid=68279])
Changes are needed to:
* provide for non-trustee voting members, as approved at the 2015 AGM
* clarify delegated powers
* ensure clear voting procedures, to include non-trustee members
* tidy, and align the wording of the two charters
 
===Review of trustee code of conduct and conflict of interest policy===
Recommend modifications for approval at the 12 December board meeting.
* [[Trustee Code of Conduct/Proposed revision]] (Diff: [https://wikimedia.org.uk/w/index.php?title=Trustee_Code_of_Conduct&diff=68420&oldid=67836])
* [[Trustee Conflict of Interest Policy/Proposed revision]] (Diff: [https://wikimedia.org.uk/w/index.php?title=Conflict_of_Interest_Policy&diff=68422&oldid=63138])
Changes are needed to:
* bring the policies into line with more recent Charity Commission recommendations
* ensure compliance with the articles, including changes made at the 2015 AGM
* clarify actions in the event of breach
* improve logical structure and remove duplication
 
===Review of proposed committee member code of conduct and conflict of interest policy===
Recommend new policies for approval at the 12 December board meeting.
* [[Committee Member Code of Conduct/Proposed]]
* [[Committee Member Conflict of Interest Policy/Proposed]]
These new policies are needed to cover non-trustee members who sit on board committees.  They are based on the corresponding policies that apply to trustees, and will need careful consideration. Are the requirements too onerous for volunteers who don't have the legal obligations or powers of trustees, and whose contribution to the work of the charity will normally consist of preparing for and attending one committee meeting per quarter?
 
--[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 17:58, 7 November 2015 (GMT)
 
== Date of 2016 AGM ==
 
Those who follow such things might like to note that the next AGM is expected to be be held on '''9 July 2016''', in London. --[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 13:36, 17 November 2015 (GMT)
 
==Black Cultural Archives==
I am discussing a possible editathon with [http://bcaheritage.org.uk/ Black Cultural Archives] in the new year. Edward Hands has promised to train and I have recruited some other Wikipedians to attend. It would be good to have the support of WMUK in the venture. Once I have agreed the date with them, is there anything I need to do to make it an "official" WMUK event? [[User:Philafrenzy|Philafrenzy]] ([[User talk:Philafrenzy|talk]]) 11:24, 30 November 2015 (GMT)

Latest revision as of 09:45, 10 August 2023

Welcome to the engine room
This is a place to ask about and discuss the inner workings of the charity. To discuss our external projects and activities, see how you can get involved or suggest ideas that could help our charitable mission, head over to the water cooler.
Archives.png
2013
2014
2015

Suggestions of potential events to attend

Project grants/Photographs covering African cultural events in London asks for suggestions of potential events to attend. My suggestion would be classic car rallies. A lot of wikipedia's car photos are taken of parked cars which tends to result in wide angle shots with messy backgrounds which tend not to look that great. Rallies where cars are driven allow you to get shots at longer focal lengths with cleaner backgrounds. A specific recommendation would be Great Dorset Steam Fair. As well as steam they have a lot of cars and bikes. I went there last year and was able to get stuff like this

Confirmation emails not arriving

Special:ConfirmEmail does not seem to be working for me. How long is the lag, typically? Please notify me in your reply. Thanks! Zazpot (talk) 20:18, 28 June 2017 (BST)

Hi @Zazpot:, thanks for letting us know. I've asked our developers to take a look. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 10:27, 29 June 2017 (BST)
@Richard Nevell (WMUK): thanks for this. Confirmation email still not received. Other emails to the same address seems to be reaching me fine. Zazpot (talk) 11:32, 29 June 2017 (BST)
It hasn't ended up in spam by any chance? It sounds likely that something's broken. Special:PasswordReset is working so the wiki is able to send out some emails, so it might just be an issue with Special:ConfirmEmail. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 12:14, 29 June 2017 (BST)
@Richard Nevell (WMUK): no, sadly not. I checked the spam folder before posting here (and have checked it again just now). Pressed the "Mail a confirmation code" button again today, just in case it had started working again, but still no joy. Will try signing up to the Bugzilla instance, so that I can follow up there. Zazpot (talk) 21:48, 4 July 2017 (BST)

Meta: Spam

Hi all, heck of a lot of spam which could do with deleting. Whilst I'm here, could someone rename my account to User:There'sNoTime? Samtar (talk) 14:36, 4 December 2017 (GMT)

Oh, and an edit filter would be good eh? Samtar (talk) 14:37, 4 December 2017 (GMT)
I've renamed your account as requested, and am taking a look at some of the spam. An edit filter would definitely be worthwhile, but I don't know how to set one up. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 17:05, 4 December 2017 (GMT)
@Richard Nevell (WMUK): I'm +sysop/EFM on enwp, happy to set something up if you'd like? There'sNoTime (talk) 17:52, 4 December 2017 (GMT)
@There'sNoTime: Yes please, do you need admin access here to set it up? Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 14:20, 5 December 2017 (GMT)
@Richard Nevell (WMUK): I will do, if that's alright? -- There'sNoTime (to explain) 14:22, 5 December 2017 (GMT)
@There'sNoTime: Absolutely, you're now an admin. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 10:44, 12 December 2017 (GMT)
Cheers, just testing something now -- There'sNoTime (to explain) 11:09, 12 December 2017 (GMT)

Staff group photo

I've just spotted that the staff group photo is rather out of date - it still features Richard S who hasn't been staff for a couple of years now for example. I suggest someone puts this in the diary for a day when you have a full house in the office and it isn't snowing! Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 17:29, 2 March 2018 (GMT)

Agreed. 2015 is a long time ago and there have been several staff changes since then. MichaelMaggs (talk) 21:48, 8 July 2018 (BST)
I will try to take one at the Christmas lunch. It's not been easy to get everyone in the same place at the same time! John Lubbock (WMUK) (talk) 14:44, 5 December 2018 (GMT)

Wikimedia VLE

Is the Wikimedia VLE dead? If so, information about it should be updated.

Recent changes

Is the wiki going to be updated with the new recent changes interface? Leutha (talk) 11:03, 29 November 2018 (GMT)

Hi Leutha, we would love to update lots of things on the wiki. I hope that once we sort out other things with the site we can get around to this, but we probably need assistance fom people who are expert at MediaWiki. John Lubbock (WMUK) (talk) 12:31, 2 April 2019 (BST)

Watchlist broken

Nothing is showing on my watchlist. In the box, there is the text:

Below are the last 0 changes in the last 720 hours, as of 30 November 2018, 12:26.

Under the box, it says

No changes during the given period match these criteria.

At Preferences, I have the following relevant settings:

  • Days to show in watchlist: 30
  • Maximum number of changes to show in watchlist: 250
  • Yes check.svgY Expand watchlist to show all changes, not just the most recent
  • X mark.svgN Hide minor edits from the watchlist
  • X mark.svgN Hide bot edits from the watchlist
  • X mark.svgN Hide my edits from the watchlist
  • X mark.svgN Hide edits by anonymous users from the watchlist
  • X mark.svgN Hide edits by logged in users from the watchlist

One of my watched pages is Events, which normally attracts at least one edit each week. But not even the last edit (which was at 12:23, 22 November 2018) is showing. Has there been a MediaWiki config change that would affect this? --Redrose64 (talk; at English Wikipedia) 12:28, 30 November 2018 (GMT)

Supplemental: I also have the setting
Yes check.svgY Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist
and I made sure that the "Watch this page" checkbox was ticked before I saved; but despite both of those, this page (Engine room) was not added to Special:EditWatchlist after I saved the above post. Nor was Water cooler added after I made this edit. This suggests that there seems to be a wider problem. The "watch" star works, but it's an extra step that I don't need to make on other wikis. --Redrose64 (talk; at English Wikipedia) 12:44, 30 November 2018 (GMT)
I think this relates to the Recent Changes not working, which led to my query aboce. Leutha (talk) 12:48, 30 November 2018 (GMT)
I'm seeing exactly the same issue with both watchlists and recent changes. I'll ping the mailing list as that gets a bit more traffic these days. Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 12:51, 30 November 2018 (GMT)
Hi Chris, I'll try to forward this issue on, but it is possible that it is part of the same problem we are having with a lot of our sites at the moment. I'll try to keep you informed when i hear what the problem is.John Lubbock (WMUK) (talk) 16:14, 30 November 2018 (GMT)

Any progress to report on this? TheOverflow (talk) 06:21, 22 July 2019 (BST)

I thought I would check recent changes by adding this edit . . . Leutha (talk) 07:34, 19 October 2019 (BST)
. . . and then seeing if the edit comes up – which it does not, so I think we are left with the old adage of Good Editor Schweik] "beg to report there is noting to report". Leutha (talk) 07:47, 19 October 2019 (BST)
That this has been outstanding for more than a year doesn't reflect well on the charity: most people would expect Wikimedia UK to be able to make its own wiki work... but I suppose that's not a priority any more. TheOverflow (talk) 09:05, 29 December 2019 (GMT)

Recent changes to MediaWiki namespace files

Hi all - just a courtesy message letting you know I've made some changes to a couple of MediaWiki namespace files (namely MediaWiki:Common.js). These changes affect all users, and were implemented solely due to function depreciation. Please let me know (preferably on my English Wikipedia talk page) if there are any issues ~TNT (she/her • talk) 14:58, 5 October 2021 (BST)

Installed versions of MediaWiki and PHP are end-of-life

The currently installed version of MediaWiki (1.31) went EOL on the 30th September 2021 - we should urgently upgrade to the latest LTS version (1.35), and ideally to the latest stable version (1.36).

We will also need to upgrade to PHP version 7.3.19 or higher, as our currently installed version (7.2.30) is not supported (and is also EOL).

Have we previously reached out to the Wikimedia Foundation, as I am certain they would happily host this MediaWiki installation? ~TheresNoTime (to explain!) 14:40, 1 November 2021 (GMT)

Spam

Hi, yesterday I stumbled upon a site (off-wiki) that had a spam link pointing to a page of this wiki. Having had a closer look I fell off my chair and added wikimedia.org.uk to my list of spam servers as it is highly contaminated. The account creating rate by spambots has increased here to about 1000 per day. The rate of spam page creations (or edits) is the same. I happen to be the one who is holding the high score of blocks on the Commons and thought about offering some help cleaning up this crap but it's impossible. Deleting or at least tagging tens of thousands of pages and accounts while continuously new ones are created is a joke. One could seriously consider to shut down this wiki. If not, following had to be done ASAP

  1. Restrict the account generation either by adding a captcha on creation or even by using a closed user group (acc creation disabled by default)
  2. Get the SBLs running. As I just checked on my tp neither the local nor the global SBL are in effect. And I didn't find a SBL log.
  3. A publicly accessible wiki like this one should not be run without any abuse filter, there seems to be no Special:AbuseLog.

Pinging Sam, Richard and Mike. Regards, Achim55 (talk) 11:59, 12 August 2022 (BST)

Good suggestions, recently raised on https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/EZSPL7QGSVFUCPTBFKRPR4DVZAW3WYDM/ ~TheresNoTime (to explain!) 20:46, 13 August 2022 (BST)
Just noting I've created Spam TheresNoTime (talk) 19:13, 15 August 2022 (BST)
Sysop action wanted → User:Achim55/Spam. Cheers, Achim55 (talk) 09:44, 10 August 2023 (BST)
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