The following discussions are requested to have community-wide attention: (refresh)

Biographies

Should the sentence "His political activities and views have made him a polarizing figure." be added to the end of the opening paragraph to further establish context for notability, and to include links to child articles earlier in lead? RFCBEFORE: here and here. Edit: corrected the wikilinks as shown in diff.

Yes/No. Feel free to suggest alternative wording, the above is based on current lead wording.[3] CNC (talk) 11:23, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Elon Musk

Should this page use Infobox officeholder with his position as head of DOGE at the top, or Infobox person with DOGE listed under occupations? Yeshivish613 (talk) 01:17, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Should RFK Jr. Be called an anti-vaccine activist and a conspiracy theorist in the first sentence? Wikieditor662 (talk) 21:10, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Wendy Rogers (politician)

I was recently reverted for removing the label "far-right" and want to hear some more opinions.

Should this article label Wendy Rogers as "far-right" in the opening sentence? 77.22.168.65 (talk) 17:02, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Yasuke

Which image should be used in the Infobox? There has been consistent edit warring and changes to the infobox image since October. [4] A discussion was had on which - or if any - image should be used to depict Yasuke (link to discussion topic) where no consensus was reached. Two of the images (the Sumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu and Rinpa Suzuri-bako) are discussed as possible depictions by sources and discussed on the page already. For more information on the sources, Rotary Engine compiled the current mentions in their comment (here). Another option proposed using a modern artwork depiction by Anthony Azekwoh. Another option was to use no image in the infobox at all. Relm (talk) 09:52, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Malabar Muslims

Is it appropriate to include the statement "In general, a Muslim Mappila is a descendant of Hindu lower-caste natives who converted to Islam"--Imperial ^[AFCND] 14:08, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Lady Gaga

Should we list the upcoming Mayhem album as number 7 or number 8 in Gaga's album numbering scheme, should we refrain from mentioning the number, or should we tell the reader how both numbers have been supported? In any case, should we add an explicit note about the contradictions in the numbering labels given by the media?

Please answer 7, 8, refrain or both, with the optional add note. Binksternet (talk) 06:34, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Kash Patel

Should Kash Patel be called a conspiracy theorist in the first sentence? Wikieditor662 (talk) 23:04, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Ross Ulbricht

We're a week out and this hasn't been decided yet. What should the first sentence of the article read?

A: Ross William Ulbricht is an American who created and operated the darknet market Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013.

B: Ross William Ulbricht is an American man/citizen who created and operated the darknet market Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013.

C: Ross William Ulbricht is an American criminal/cybercriminal who created and operated the darknet market Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013.

D: Ross William Ulbricht is an American entrepeneur who created and operated the darknet market Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013.

E: Ross William Ulbricht is an American who created and operated the illegal darknet market Silk Road from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. (option added by @M.boli)

Other.

guninvalid (talk) 02:55, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Verifiability/SPS RfC

This RfC is to determine the consensus about (1) whether the current explanation of "self-published" in WP:SPS generally serves us well, perhaps with small improvements, or if it should be revised in some significant way, and (2) how editors interpret "self-published," in order to help us revise the explanation if needed.

FactOrOpinion (talk) 21:02, 26 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Jimmy Carter

Should the first sentence of the lead be rewritten to read as follows:

James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924 – December 29, 2024) was ~~an American politician and humanitarian who served as~~ the 39th president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981? Векочел (talk) 00:05, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:U?ur ?ahin

Should the first sentence of this article be changed to include Uğur Şahin's Turkish ethnicity/background, rather than simply calling him "German"? Tserton (talk) 22:20, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

Economy, trade, and companies

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

Is Benzinga [5]:

Option 1: Generally reliable
Option 2: Additional considerations
Option 3: Generally unreliable
Option 4: Deprecate

Chetsford (talk) 19:17, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:ONE Championship

Can the blog Bloody Elbow be used on ONE Championship as the main source for the Controversies and Finance sections?

Yes
No
Yes, but only in certain circumstances. Brucemyboy1212 (talk) 17:50, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

History and geography

Talk:Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip

Given the importance of the bombings of Dresden, Hamburg, and London to the lede of this article, it has been proposed that the combined death toll (102,000) of those bombings be added as well.

See previous discussion here.

No Change
Add "The combined death toll in the WWII bombings of Dresden, Hamburg, and London was 102,000 ^[1]^[2]^[3]" (A Routine Calculation under WP:OR.)
Remove comparisons with WWII bombings

Johnadams11 (talk) 15:57, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Lumbee

Hello, I have recieved information from the Lumbee tribe that may be helpful, however, the info was recently disputed by other editors, like the information relating to the Cherokee. I put a list of websites/sources I recieved below.

Lumbee congress report Timeline of the Lumbee tribe Bill introduced by Richard Hudson to formally recognize the Lumbee tribe The Lumbee Indians: an annotated bibliography Please note that I am NOT affiliated with the Lumbee tribe in any way whatsoever, and I am trying to help them get consensus for this information.DACartman (talk) 21:16, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)

Should we delete order numberings from infoboxes of office holders?

See previous related discussions:

GoodDay (talk) 18:58, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Third Anglo-Afghan War

Considering the prevailing guidance at MOS:INFOBOX, WP:RESULT and the documentation at Template: Infobox military conflict should the result in the infobox be:

Afghan victory;
Afghan victory, see Outcome and negotiation; or,
See Outcome and negotiation.

Where Outcome and negotiation is the section in the article (equivalent to an Aftermath section) where the result of the war is discussed. Cinderella157 (talk) 08:42, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Yasuke

Which image should be used in the Infobox? There has been consistent edit warring and changes to the infobox image since October. [6] A discussion was had on which - or if any - image should be used to depict Yasuke (link to discussion topic) where no consensus was reached. Two of the images (the Sumō Yūrakuzu Byōbu and Rinpa Suzuri-bako) are discussed as possible depictions by sources and discussed on the page already. For more information on the sources, Rotary Engine compiled the current mentions in their comment (here). Another option proposed using a modern artwork depiction by Anthony Azekwoh. Another option was to use no image in the infobox at all. Relm (talk) 09:52, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Malabar Muslims

Is it appropriate to include the statement "In general, a Muslim Mappila is a descendant of Hindu lower-caste natives who converted to Islam"--Imperial ^[AFCND] 14:08, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Russian invasion of Ukraine

The 2023 RFC on this topic can be found here.

Belarus is presently listed in the infobox under Russia and North Korea in a section headed "Supported by:". Should this listing of Belarus be removed? FOARP (talk) 16:26, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War

Do the lead and § Hindu victims section of this article:

A. generally satisfy WP:NPOV and accurately reflect the views of reliable sources, or
B. generally fail to satisfy WP:NPOV or accurately reflect the views of reliable sources?

Malerisch (talk) 16:51, 27 January 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

What is the reliability of Tornado Talk?

Option 1: Generally reliable
Option 2: Additional considerations
Option 3: Generally unreliable
Option 4: Deprecate

The Weather Event Writer (Talk Page) 21:46, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Jimmy Carter

Should the first sentence of the lead be rewritten to read as follows:

James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924 – December 29, 2024) was ~~an American politician and humanitarian who served as~~ the 39th president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981? Векочел (talk) 00:05, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Nazi salute

Should we include Elon Musk's gesture?

Yes or no? Wildfireupdateman :) (talk) 05:40, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Polish–Ottoman War (1620–1621)

Problem: One side thinks that only the source which directly mentions the result of the war is valid, while other side thinks that all sources used for Battle of Khotyn (1621) are viable because it was the battle that determined the final outcome.

Therefore, what should the result be:

Polish–Lithuanian victory (side with the source that directly mentions result of the war)
Disputed, see aftermath (due to Battle of Khotyn being divided when it comes to results)
Inconclusive
Something else (suggest)

This is my first RFC so sorry if I set it up wrong. Setergh (talk) 19:45, 20 January 2025 (UTC)

Language and linguistics

Maths, science, and technology

Wikipedia:Fringe theories/Noticeboard

Is the view that transgender identities are, in themselves, a mental illness or otherwise frequently caused by mental illness WP:FRINGE within the bounds of mainstream medicine and international human rights? Your Friendly Neighborhood Sociologist ⚧ Ⓐ (talk) 01:01, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Should RFK Jr. Be called an anti-vaccine activist and a conspiracy theorist in the first sentence? Wikieditor662 (talk) 21:10, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Glacier

How should the Glacier article describe the relationship between rocks and glaciers? Lordgilman (talk) 14:14, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Weather

How should articles deal with damage estimates for weather events? Departure– (talk) 14:46, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Fringe theories/Noticeboard

Is the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine a WP:FRINGE organization? Your Friendly Neighborhood Sociologist ⚧ Ⓐ (talk) 21:52, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

What is the reliability of Tornado Talk?

Option 1: Generally reliable
Option 2: Additional considerations
Option 3: Generally unreliable
Option 4: Deprecate

The Weather Event Writer (Talk Page) 21:46, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

Template talk:Code

There is no point in syntaxhighlighting a word code.

The feature displays text, especially source code, in different colours and fonts according to the category of terms. This feature facilitates writing in a structured language such as a programming language or a markup language as both structures and syntax errors are visually distinct.
— Syntax highlighting

The meaning of 'distinct' is "different from one another." -- Cedar101 (talk) 01:40, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:U?ur ?ahin

Should the first sentence of this article be changed to include Uğur Şahin's Turkish ethnicity/background, rather than simply calling him "German"? Tserton (talk) 22:20, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Polyvagal theory

Should the following sentences be removed from the Lead of Polyvagal Theory?

There is consensus among experts that the assumptions of the polyvagal theory are untenable.^[4] Ian Oelsner (talk) 16:59, 14 June 2024 (UTC)

Art, architecture, literature, and media

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

Should we move the Daily Express from "Generally unreliable" on Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources to "Deprecated"? Helper201 (talk) 00:29, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

What is the reliability of CNET, following its purchase by Ziff Davis in October 2024:

1. Reliable
2. Additional considerations apply
3. Generally unreliable

Hemiauchenia (talk) 23:39, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Should RFK Jr. Be called an anti-vaccine activist and a conspiracy theorist in the first sentence? Wikieditor662 (talk) 21:10, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Lady Gaga

Should we list the upcoming Mayhem album as number 7 or number 8 in Gaga's album numbering scheme, should we refrain from mentioning the number, or should we tell the reader how both numbers have been supported? In any case, should we add an explicit note about the contradictions in the numbering labels given by the media?

Please answer 7, 8, refrain or both, with the optional add note. Binksternet (talk) 06:34, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Film

Per the above thread, regarding the {{Rotten Tomatoes prose}} and {{Metacritic film prose}} templates, what is the best way to handle them?

Leave as-is; no changes are needed.
Change them to subst-only so that the text inserted by the templates can be easily changed in the future.
The templates should be deprecated and/or deleted.

DonIago (talk) 18:52, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Fox News

Should the first sentence of the third lead paragraph read:

Fox News has been characterized by many as a propaganda organization.

Here is a previous discussion. Also see: Fox News#Political alignment in the body. soibangla (talk) 06:03, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

Should the Encyclopaedia Metallum (also known as Metal Archives) be deprecated? Hemiauchenia (talk) 20:09, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Triumph Tour

Per the discussion above, it appears that there is an impasse on which sources should be used for the tour dates section. So, it comes to this question: Which is more reliable and should be preferred? Do we use the books (The Jacksons: Legacy and Michael Jackson FAQ) or the newspapers that claim that shows were on different days. Or should there be a compromise in which both the book(s) and newspapers be used, but in the form of efns that state that the shows were on different days "according to some sources". Please indicate your preference ("Books" or "Newspapers" or "Compromise") with your reasoning. HorrorLover555 (talk) 02:57, 2 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Sinfest

this article contains the following quote “ Over the years that followed he added COVID conspiracies, MAGA support, open discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, lizard and paedophile conspiracies, alt-right propaganda, getting in bed with white supremacists and who knows what else by the time you read this introduction.” I believe that this is good enough to include in the overview section about what sinfest is about. We’ve been having a great deal of difficulty sourcing actual quotes about what it’s about, so this was hard to get. Another user believes since it’s a quote from a quote of an unreliable source, that it’s unusable, but I believe that since a reliable source quoted the unreliable source as fully accurate and true, at least in this case, it’s a good quote. Is the quote usable? Le Blue Dude (talk) 00:59, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Should the "Lead" and "Reception" sections be restored to the version that was established at the dispute resolution noticeboard (DRN)? (I'll copy over the exact prose after opening the RfC per WP:RFCOPEN #3 to avoid statement truncation). Sariel Xilo (talk) 03:24, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

Politics, government, and law

Talk:Elon Musk

Should the sentence "His political activities and views have made him a polarizing figure." be added to the end of the opening paragraph to further establish context for notability, and to include links to child articles earlier in lead? RFCBEFORE: here and here. Edit: corrected the wikilinks as shown in diff.

Yes/No. Feel free to suggest alternative wording, the above is based on current lead wording.[7] CNC (talk) 11:23, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Gaza war

Should the United States be added as a participant under Israel in the infobox?

Option 1: Yes, add the United States as an ally of Israel.
Option 2: Yes, add the United States as a co-belligerent under Israel.
Option 3: No.

Rationale for this RfC: Previous RfC (no consensus) had several issues: the question changed half-way through the RfC, it used "US/UK" implying that the foreign policy of the two countries is the same when that is clearly not the case. This RfC focuses on the question of including the United States only. TurboSuperA+ (☏) 11:15, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Elon Musk

Should this page use Infobox officeholder with his position as head of DOGE at the top, or Infobox person with DOGE listed under occupations? Yeshivish613 (talk) 01:17, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Kevin Roberts (political strategist)

Should the lead of the Kevin Roberts article include a basic sentence on why Project 2025 is controversial, using a sentence such as "which critics accuse of being unconstitutional, anti-democratic, and pro-authoritarian"? Summerfell1978 (talk) 23:21, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Indian National Congress

What should the political position/positions in the infobox be? I'm bringing this up again as the subject has arisen again by another editor without a clear resolution. Please see Talk:Indian National Congress/Archive 5#Centre to centre-left, Talk:Indian National Congress/Archive 5#RFC Political position and Talk:Indian National Congress#Political position sources for prior discussions. Helper201 (talk) 20:28, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip

Given the importance of the bombings of Dresden, Hamburg, and London to the lede of this article, it has been proposed that the combined death toll (102,000) of those bombings be added as well.

See previous discussion here.

No Change
Add "The combined death toll in the WWII bombings of Dresden, Hamburg, and London was 102,000 ^[5]^[2]^[6]" (A Routine Calculation under WP:OR.)
Remove comparisons with WWII bombings

Johnadams11 (talk) 15:57, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:United States

Should Elon Musk's name and title or non-title be listed in some form (the details of which should be determined through a separate discussion) in the list of principal officials in the Government section of the infobox?

A. Yes

B. Yes, if a descriptive sentence exists in the body of the article

C. No

D. Other

Chetsford (talk) 03:50, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Should RFK Jr. Be called an anti-vaccine activist and a conspiracy theorist in the first sentence? Wikieditor662 (talk) 21:10, 13 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Far-right politics

Should the current lead image (as seen to the right) remain?

Wikieditor662 (talk) 21:00, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)

Should we delete order numberings from infoboxes of office holders?

See previous related discussions:

GoodDay (talk) 18:58, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Third Anglo-Afghan War

Considering the prevailing guidance at MOS:INFOBOX, WP:RESULT and the documentation at Template: Infobox military conflict should the result in the infobox be:

Afghan victory;
Afghan victory, see Outcome and negotiation; or,
See Outcome and negotiation.

Where Outcome and negotiation is the section in the article (equivalent to an Aftermath section) where the result of the war is discussed. Cinderella157 (talk) 08:42, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:2028 United States presidential election

Should the potential candidates sections be removed in the article? elijahpepe@wikipedia (he/him) 05:03, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Kash Patel

Should Kash Patel be called a conspiracy theorist in the first sentence? Wikieditor662 (talk) 23:04, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Fox News

Should the first sentence of the third lead paragraph read:

Fox News has been characterized by many as a propaganda organization.

Here is a previous discussion. Also see: Fox News#Political alignment in the body. soibangla (talk) 06:03, 5 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Alliance 90/The Greens

Since the previous discussions above didn't come to a clear consensus. Should the infobox say "centre to centre-left" or just "centre-left"? -- FMSky (talk) 21:05, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Republican Party (United States)

Should center-right be removed from the infobox in the political position section? EarthDude (talk) 04:45, 4 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Killing of Trayvon Martin

Should this article, Killing of Trayvon Martin, be included in the category, Anti-black racism in Florida? Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) [he/him] 13:54, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

Are Erin Reed’s reposted blog pieces reliable and non-SPS if republished by a reputable source such as The Advocate or LA/Wa Blade? Bluethricecreamman (talk) 03:01, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Sinfest

this article contains the following quote “ Over the years that followed he added COVID conspiracies, MAGA support, open discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, lizard and paedophile conspiracies, alt-right propaganda, getting in bed with white supremacists and who knows what else by the time you read this introduction.” I believe that this is good enough to include in the overview section about what sinfest is about. We’ve been having a great deal of difficulty sourcing actual quotes about what it’s about, so this was hard to get. Another user believes since it’s a quote from a quote of an unreliable source, that it’s unusable, but I believe that since a reliable source quoted the unreliable source as fully accurate and true, at least in this case, it’s a good quote. Is the quote usable? Le Blue Dude (talk) 00:59, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Russian invasion of Ukraine

The 2023 RFC on this topic can be found here.

Belarus is presently listed in the infobox under Russia and North Korea in a section headed "Supported by:". Should this listing of Belarus be removed? FOARP (talk) 16:26, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Gaza genocide

Generally speaking, when can views (by experts and "expert activists", such as human rights orgs) be included in the article, and not just in the list? Please vote for the minimal standard you consider due.

Any reliable source
expert or well-known expert activists, such as major rights organizations
2., but only if cited by RS, peer-reviewed, or comparable
2., but only if cited by major RS, peer-reviewed in a major journal that does not primarily publish about the I/P conflict, or comparable
Experts cited by experts within an academic publication

I believe to have mentioned all significant views, but !voters can and should elaborate on destinctions I may have missed. FortunateSons (talk) 08:51, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War

Do the lead and § Hindu victims section of this article:

A. generally satisfy WP:NPOV and accurately reflect the views of reliable sources, or
B. generally fail to satisfy WP:NPOV or accurately reflect the views of reliable sources?

Malerisch (talk) 16:51, 27 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Andrew Jackson

This article's first paragraph currently says "Jackson's legacy is controversial. He has been praised as an advocate for working Americans and preserving the union of states, and criticized for his racist policies, particularly towards Native Americans." Should it say this? Should public opinion be on the first paragraph? DisneyGuy744 (talk) 03:07, 26 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Jimmy Carter

Should the first sentence of the lead be rewritten to read as follows:

James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924 – December 29, 2024) was ~~an American politician and humanitarian who served as~~ the 39th president of the United States, serving from 1977 to 1981? Векочел (talk) 00:05, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

The EurAsian Times (used to have its own article but it was apparently PRODed) is cited in several hundreds of articles, mostly pertaining to Russian military hardware and South Asian issues, but not exclusively. It was mentioned a few times on this noticeboard but only on a surface level.

In light of all this, how would you rate the EurAsian Times?

Option 1: Generally reliable
Option 2: Additional considerations
Option 3: Generally unreliable
Option 4: Deprecate

Thank you. Choucas Bleu 🐦‍⬛ 22:55, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Nazi salute

Should we include Elon Musk's gesture?

Yes or no? Wildfireupdateman :) (talk) 05:40, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:2028 United States presidential election

Which is correct?

A Michelle Obama meets the community's criteria for inclusion in the list of potential candidates [8] ("mentioned as potential 2028 presidential candidates in at least two reliable media sources in the last six months").
B Michelle Obama fails the community's criteria for inclusion in the list of potential candidates [9] ("mentioned as potential 2028 presidential candidates in at least two reliable media sources in the last six months").
C Whether Michelle Obama meets or fails the criteria is irrelevant, speculation in the absence of an announcement by or on behalf of the candidate should not qualify a person for inclusion in the list of potential candidates.
D Other

Chetsford (talk) 03:47, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Department of Government Efficiency

This request for comments concerns the following question: In the first sentence of the article, does the term "Department of Government Efficiency" require a definite article before it, i.e. "the Department of Government Efficiency"?

The sentence in question: Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), officially the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, is a temporary organization under the United States DOGE Service.

Proposed change: The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), officially the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization, is a temporary organization under the United States DOGE Service.

NateNate60 (talk) 17:09, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

Religion and philosophy

Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Islam-related articles

Should the text of MOS:CALLIGRAPHY be

A changed as in proposal A below
B changed as in proposal B below
C changed as in proposal C below
D kept in its current state

☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 11:15, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Malabar Muslims

Is it appropriate to include the statement "In general, a Muslim Mappila is a descendant of Hindu lower-caste natives who converted to Islam"--Imperial ^[AFCND] 14:08, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Society, sports, and culture

Talk:British Pakistanis

Is it appropriate for this article to include the material about grooming gangs currently included here, either in its present form or modified? Cordless Larry (talk) 17:49, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Far-right politics

Should the current lead image (as seen to the right) remain?

Wikieditor662 (talk) 21:00, 9 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Third Anglo-Afghan War

Considering the prevailing guidance at MOS:INFOBOX, WP:RESULT and the documentation at Template: Infobox military conflict should the result in the infobox be:

Afghan victory;
Afghan victory, see Outcome and negotiation; or,
See Outcome and negotiation.

Where Outcome and negotiation is the section in the article (equivalent to an Aftermath section) where the result of the war is discussed. Cinderella157 (talk) 08:42, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Malabar Muslims

Is it appropriate to include the statement "In general, a Muslim Mappila is a descendant of Hindu lower-caste natives who converted to Islam"--Imperial ^[AFCND] 14:08, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Lady Gaga

Should we list the upcoming Mayhem album as number 7 or number 8 in Gaga's album numbering scheme, should we refrain from mentioning the number, or should we tell the reader how both numbers have been supported? In any case, should we add an explicit note about the contradictions in the numbering labels given by the media?

Please answer 7, 8, refrain or both, with the optional add note. Binksternet (talk) 06:34, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Killing of Trayvon Martin

Should this article, Killing of Trayvon Martin, be included in the category, Anti-black racism in Florida? Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) [he/him] 13:54, 31 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:U?ur ?ahin

Should the first sentence of this article be changed to include Uğur Şahin's Turkish ethnicity/background, rather than simply calling him "German"? Tserton (talk) 22:20, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

Talk:ONE Championship

Can the blog Bloody Elbow be used on ONE Championship as the main source for the Controversies and Finance sections?

Yes
No
Yes, but only in certain circumstances. Brucemyboy1212 (talk) 17:50, 3 January 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia style and naming

Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style

How should the gentilic (adjective and noun) form of the country Botswana be written on Wikipedia articles?

A: Botswanan (pl. Botswanans) in all cases, without exception

B: Motswana (pl. Batswana) in all cases, without exception

C: Motswana in articles with strong national ties to Botswana or South Africa, otherwise Botswanan

D: Retain whichever word is used first in the article, either Botswanan or Motswana

―Howard • 🌽³³ 12:02, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Biography

MOS:INITIALS requires stops and spaces between people's initials:

An initial is capitalized and is followed by a full point (period) and a space (e.g. J. R. R. Tolkien).

However, there are seven American political figures known often by their initials in shorthand, and their initials across Wikipedia are used unspaced, in violation of this policy:

FDR for Franklin D. Roosevelt
JFK for John F. Kennedy
JFK Jr. for John F. Kennedy Jr.
RFK for Robert F. Kennedy
RFK Jr. for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
MLK for Martin Luther King Jr.
LBJ for Lyndon B. Johnson

The only exception for spaced initials is given at MOS:BIOEXCEPT, which allows formats such as CCH Pounder but requires that the format be used only when

the person has clearly declared and consistently used a preferred exceptional style for their own name; and

While some (but not all) sources currently write these names unspaced, the and requirement of MOS:BIOEXCEPT still restricts this usage as none of these men styled their names without spaces, preferring to go by their full names in nearly all cases. In John F. Kennedy's case, there is evidence he wrote his name with spaced initials.^[7]^[8]

Some style guides resolve this issue by making a difference in how spaced initials are treated when they are the full name. For instance, Turabian has

Some individuals are known primarily by initials in place of a first and/or middle name. Such initials should be followed by a period and a space. If you abbreviate an entire name, however, omit periods and spaces.
G. K. Chesterton but JFK
M. F. K. Fisher but FDR

A previous discussion at Talk:Robert F. Kennedy Jr./Archive 8 § "RFK Jr." vs "R. F. K. Jr." led to a discussion about modifying BIOEXCEPT at § MOS:BIOEXCEPT: and/or, which was inconclusive.

How should this discrepancy be resolved?

Option 1: No change to the MOS, update all pages to use spaced initials.
Option 2: Modify MOS:INITIALS to add If you abbreviate an entire name, however, omit periods and spaces from Turabian.
Option 3: Modify MOS:BIOEXCEPT to remove the and-test and replace it with or.
Option 4: As these examples are all Americans, deem this a MOS:ENGVAR issue and leave current styles intact.
Option 5 "Ignore the MOS if it is not helpful." (Added by Polygnotus without any explanation of what that's supposed to mean operationally.)
Option 6 ""Periods may be omitted when a person's full name is consistently abbreviated to just their initials, for instance MLK for Martin Luther King, Jr., if the common version of the abbreviation consistently appears without periods." (Added by SportingFlyer.)

— Dan Leonard (talk • contribs) 04:22, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Catholicism

Should we drop the prefix "Roman Catholic" (or "Catholic") from the diocese and archdiocese pages where no disambiguation is needed? 11:08, 6 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Biography

MOS:JOBTITLES currently reads:

Offices, titles, and positions ... are common nouns and therefore should be in lower case when used generically. They are capitalized only in the following cases:
When followed by a person's name to form a title, i.e., when they can be considered to have become part of the name: President Nixon, not president Nixon; Pope John XXIII, not pope John XXIII.

When a title is used to refer to a specific person as a substitute for their name during their time in office, e.g., the King, not the king (referring to Charles III); the Pope, not the pope (referring to Francis).

When a formal title for a specific entity (or conventional translation thereof) is addressed as a title or position in and of itself, is not plural, is not preceded by a modifier (including a definite or indefinite article), and is not a reworded description

Should we simplify MOS:JOBTITLES by removing exceptions #2 and/or #3? Surtsicna (talk) 22:52, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Template talk:Code

There is no point in syntaxhighlighting a word code.

The feature displays text, especially source code, in different colours and fonts according to the category of terms. This feature facilitates writing in a structured language such as a programming language or a markup language as both structures and syntax errors are visually distinct.
— Syntax highlighting

The meaning of 'distinct' is "different from one another." -- Cedar101 (talk) 01:40, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia policies and guidelines

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

Should we move the Daily Express from "Generally unreliable" on Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources to "Deprecated"? Helper201 (talk) 00:29, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

What is the reliability of CNET, following its purchase by Ziff Davis in October 2024:

1. Reliable
2. Additional considerations apply
3. Generally unreliable

Hemiauchenia (talk) 23:39, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Islam-related articles

Should the text of MOS:CALLIGRAPHY be

A changed as in proposal A below
B changed as in proposal B below
C changed as in proposal C below
D kept in its current state

☿ Apaugasma (talk ☉) 11:15, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Salome Zourabichvili

Should Zourabichvili be described as the "incumbent president" given that no formal Georgian institutions recognise her as holding the office?

I suggest to remove the "incumbent" and "disputed" status and insert a footnote to the term end explaining that the presidency is contested [[10]]. Tahomaru (talk) 14:15, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Citing sources

There is currently no rule regarding "[author] ([year])" citing within a sentence. Should there be? 15:53, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Sinfest

this article contains the following quote “ Over the years that followed he added COVID conspiracies, MAGA support, open discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, lizard and paedophile conspiracies, alt-right propaganda, getting in bed with white supremacists and who knows what else by the time you read this introduction.” I believe that this is good enough to include in the overview section about what sinfest is about. We’ve been having a great deal of difficulty sourcing actual quotes about what it’s about, so this was hard to get. Another user believes since it’s a quote from a quote of an unreliable source, that it’s unusable, but I believe that since a reliable source quoted the unreliable source as fully accurate and true, at least in this case, it’s a good quote. Is the quote usable? Le Blue Dude (talk) 00:59, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia talk:Verifiability/SPS RfC

This RfC is to determine the consensus about (1) whether the current explanation of "self-published" in WP:SPS generally serves us well, perhaps with small improvements, or if it should be revised in some significant way, and (2) how editors interpret "self-published," in order to help us revise the explanation if needed.

FactOrOpinion (talk) 21:02, 26 January 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)

Should WP:ATD-R be amended as follows:

Prior discussion: Wikipedia talk:Deletion policy#Amending ATD-R voorts (talk/contributions) 01:54, 24 January 2025 (UTC)

Template talk:Code

There is no point in syntaxhighlighting a word code.

The feature displays text, especially source code, in different colours and fonts according to the category of terms. This feature facilitates writing in a structured language such as a programming language or a markup language as both structures and syntax errors are visually distinct.
— Syntax highlighting

The meaning of 'distinct' is "different from one another." -- Cedar101 (talk) 01:40, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

WikiProjects and collaborations

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

Should we move the Daily Express from "Generally unreliable" on Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources to "Deprecated"? Helper201 (talk) 00:29, 18 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia technical issues and templates

Wikipedia:Village pump (policy)

Should bots like Citation bot be allowed to remove redundant 'raw' PubMed URLs, and raw OCLC URLs when pmid/oclc identifiers are present. Headbomb {t · c · p · b} 09:25, 17 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia proposals

Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)

Should other groups be able to use 2FA by default? ~/Bunnypranav:<ping> 16:13, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard

The EurAsian Times (used to have its own article but it was apparently PRODed) is cited in several hundreds of articles, mostly pertaining to Russian military hardware and South Asian issues, but not exclusively. It was mentioned a few times on this noticeboard but only on a surface level.

In light of all this, how would you rate the EurAsian Times?

Option 1: Generally reliable
Option 2: Additional considerations
Option 3: Generally unreliable
Option 4: Deprecate

Thank you. Choucas Bleu 🐦‍⬛ 22:55, 22 January 2025 (UTC)

Unsorted

User names

Shortcuts

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This page is for bringing attention to usernames which may be in violation of Wikipedia's username policy. Before listing a username here, consider if it should be more appropriately reported elsewhere, or if it needs to be reported at all:

Report blatantly inappropriate usernames, such as usernames that are obscene or inflammatory, to Wikipedia:Usernames for administrator attention.
For other cases involving vandalism, personal attacks or other urgent issues, try Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents; blatant vandalism can also be reported at Wikipedia:Administrator intervention against vandalism, which is sometimes a better option.

Do NOT post here if:

the user in question has made no recent edits.
you wish to have the block of a user reviewed. Instead, discuss the block with the blocking administrator (see also Wikipedia:Blocking policy § Unblocking).

Before adding a name here you MUST ensure that the user in question:

has been warned about their username (with e.g. {{subst:uw-username}}) and has been allowed time to address the concern on their user talk page.
has disagreed with the concern, refused to change their username and/or continued to edit without replying to the warning.
is not already blocked.

If, after having followed all the steps above, you still believe the username violates Wikipedia's username policy, you may list it here with an explanation of which part of the username policy you think has been violated. After posting, please alert the user of the discussion (with e.g. {{subst:UsernameDiscussion}}). You may also invite others who have expressed concern about the username to comment on the discussion by use of this template.

Add new requests below, using the syntax {{subst:rfcn1|username|2=reason ~~~~}}.

Tools: Special:ListUsers, Special:BlockList

Reports

Please remember that this is not a vote, rather, it is a place where editors can come when they are unsure what to do with a username, and to get outside opinions (hence it's named "requests for comment"). There are no set time limits to the period of discussion.

Place your report below this line. Please put new reports on the top of the list.

Tales of Arcadia

The following discussion is an archived debate of the username below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Requests for comment/User names). No further edits should be made to this section.

The result was: user has requested a rename, no strong consensus formed here but they have agreed to change their name in light of some of the opposition camp's arguments. Primefac (talk) 20:31, 16 February 2025 (UTC)

Tales of Arcadia (talk · contribs)

Their username is that of an animated television show franchise, Tales of Arcadia, which they freely admit on their user page. This user mainly edits the German Wikipedia, which has a different username policy that is more accepting of what we would call promotional names. For that reason I attempted to discuss it with them instead of blocking them for what seems a clear violation to me, but they do not wish to voluntarily change their username(likely because it is a valid username on the German Wikipedia). They declined my offer of alternatives(creating a new account for their use here, adding "fan" to their username). I dislike bringing this up, but I feel it's a clear violation. 331dot (talk) 19:06, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

First of all, I would like to make a clear statement at the beginning: I'm willing to any discussion about my username, because I really like to contribute to the Wikipedia project and don't want to leave it (and especially not in this way). But I don't agree with the position of 331dot, so I have proposed that we can start a discussion here if needed.

As I have understand the policy usernames that unambiguously represent the name of a company, organization, website, product, musical group or band, team, club, creative group, or organized event are not allowed. And 331dot has the opinion that Tales of Arcadia which is also the name of a TV franchise is considered as product.

But the word Arcadia itself has a very long history and refers to a "vision of pastoralism and harmony with nature" as well as to different places, movies, games and a lot of more as you can see here. The phrase Tales of on the other hand is used for movies and books very commonly. So in my opinion the term Tales of Arcadia is just a sequence of a commonly title suffix (Tales of) and a mystical place (Arcadia). DreamWorks (the creator of the franchise) wouldn't be able to protect this name as brand or product because it could refer to any of the stories who are telled about the place of Arcadia. They have just chosen this title to awake a mystical tension.

And because of that I don't see where the user policy would forbid this name. Tales of Arcadia (talk) 19:45, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

Note that you were editing articles related to the franchise, and you say on your userpage that your name is based on the franchise, so it's not a coincidence or related to a broader concept. 331dot (talk) 19:54, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

I have never declined that I have edited articles in the past who are related to the franchise. But as everyone can see all contributions were minor changes and none of them were promotional. And I also have edited articles who are not related to the franchise. But my main focus is the German Wikipedia. Tales of Arcadia (talk) 20:06, 11 February 2025 (UTC)

To 331dot, Bishonen, Drmies, 1AmNobody24, Salvidrim! and all other readers. I would like to add some further explanation to my first statement:

When I created my account in the end of 2023 I have choosen my username with a explicit reference to the TV franchise. I've always communicated this clearly as all of you can see on my user page. The justification that my user name consists of the terms Tales of and the place Arcadia shouldn't mean that I'm denying my reference to the franchise rather I only wanted to explain that in my own opinion the name Tales of Arcadia wouldn't be protectable as a product name or brand by DreamWorks or any other company because it consists of a common phrase and a mystical place. Again: I'm not denying that my user name was choosen with reference to the franchise. But I also never have promoted the franchise here or on any other project.

So I think the question we now need to clarify is, how names with reference to fictional content should be handled. Are names who are equal to the title of franchises, movies, series or books allowed or not? What about other fictional content like characters or places? If such names are generally not allowed here, then I fully agree with you and my name needs to be changed? But aren't there also a lot of other users who would needed to be renamed then?

To be honest, what was really shocking for me, is the fact that I have contributed to the Wikipedia a lots of time before now (more than 1 year later) this username warning has reached me. I've become very comfortable with the name and thus I don't wanted to give up my name without a discussion in the community. And this is exactly what we are here for. I don't want to waste the time of anyone here, but please also keep in mind, how frustrating this whole process is for me.

So please let us come back to the root question how we should handle names with a fictional reference. Maybe one of the already voted users may change their mind and hopefully some other users will contribute to this discussion as well.

Finally, a friendly request to all administrators who still think my name is against the policy: Please do not just block my account, without giving my the chance to react once the discussion here is completed. I always was patient with all of you and was respecting every opinion. Sincerely Tales of Arcadia (talk) 21:57, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Since it seems that sadly no further comments are posted here I'm willing to change my username because of most of you have voted to disallow the name. Please give me time till tomorrow evening (German time) to think of a new name. Tales of Arcadia (talk) 21:15, 14 February 2025 (UTC)

Currently I have a few names in my mind. I'll need to think of a bit which one to choose and probably request a rename tomorrow. Keep you updated here. Tales of Arcadia (talk) 22:24, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

Allow Technically it is the name of a product, but it's a creative work. People regularly name themselves after their favourite characters, books, songs, and so on, and I can't see how that causes disruption. They aren't selling something, and it's not promotional in the typical sense we think of on Wikipedia. And it would be a shame to block an active deWiki contributor from resources such as TWL for an issue as trivial as this. GreenLipstickLesbian (talk) 22:40, 11 February 2025 (UTC)
I suggested that they simply add the word "fan" to their current username to resolve this. That's a policy compliant way for them to still indicate their personal interest in this franchise. 331dot (talk) 23:20, 11 February 2025 (UTC)
I can't see how "fan of named creative work" (a username which explicitly promotes a product) is in anyway less problematic than a username which is "named create work".
And @Bishonen, you haven't seen this because it's on their deWiki page, but the argument they've adopted directly a result of a member of the deWiki Arbcom telling them this would work. If you think they should be blocked for it, you may do so, I suppose, but it has no bearing on their username. GreenLipstickLesbian (talk) 23:29, 11 February 2025 (UTC)
Because it indicates an individual. Their current name suggests to those that see it an association with the topic or that they represent the topic. If my name was New England Patriots or Boston Red Sox, the same would apply. It's not disallowed to indicate an interest in a topic. "RedSoxFan" would be completely acceptable. 331dot (talk) 23:40, 11 February 2025 (UTC)
Both the examples you've highlighted would be WP:ORGNAME violations, not because they take their names from products, because they take the names of a coorporations, and in a way that could easily imply shared use. I understand what you're trying to illustrate with them, however, I really do, but I'd like to get back to the user at hand. In this particular case, while the user has taken their name from a product, they have taken their name from a particular subset of products: the subset of creative works. I so understand where you're coming from on this issue - and the name does, fairly obviously, make a reference to a product, I cannot disagree with you there. But there's a reason I'm focusing on the fact that it's a creative work. These are strange, because unlike other products, people may often name themselves after movies, tv shows, poems, songs, characters, without any intent to advertise the product in question. (Yes, characters are products.) Could these be blocked instantly? By the letter of the policy, yes, you could have likely blocked instantly without any need for the RFCUN. Admins do, semi-regularly. You chose not to, so you already accept that there is some difference between this username and other product usernames. (I've been assuming that it's because it's a creative work: is there some other reason?) However, given that they are an active contributor on deWiki, given that they have not engaged in promotional or disruptive editing on any Wiki, and given that there has been no real argument that their username has caused disruption, mislead other editors as to their identity, and given that their editor clearly discloses where their username came from, their lack of personal connection to the movies, and given that this past week of discussion with a goal of trying to force them to make their disclosure in their name has prevented both of you from improving the encyclopedia, would it not be better to WP:IAR and say "it's against the letter of the law, but not the spirit?". And I'm saying this as a stickler for making people follow the exact terms of the Creative Commons licenses and plagiarism policies. GreenLipstickLesbian (talk) 00:20, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
I chose not to block only due to the differing username policies between here and the German Wikipedia. When I've done this with other editors in this situation, they're usually willing to either rename or create an account just to use here. This is the first one I've had decline. And their response here was to claim that this was a coincidence, wiklawyering it. ("I'm from Boston and I wear red socks, so "Boston Red Sox" is okay as my name") 331dot (talk) 00:36, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
Ah, I think there's been a bit of a translation issue here. I don't believe Arcadia is claiming their username is a coincidence, they're more arguing that it is more likely to be perceived as a coincidence than it is to be perceived as promotion. This is most likely due to the fact that our policy places such a focus on "unambiguous". They believe that if they can show their username is not unambiguously that of a product, they can keep it. They like their username, so they're doing that. They've also taken this argument from their mentor at de:Benutzer Diskussion:Tales of Arcadia#Antwort auf deine Anfrage. I still understand that this has produced a somewhat wiki-lawyer-like approach, and I get why that's frustrating to deal with. However, I'd urge you to look past that, if for no other reason that it has no effect on their username.
And apologies if I'm coming across as dismissive of your concerns or arguments. I understand where you're coming from - it's just that I was blocked on svWiki last year for a username violation. I was unblocked rather quickly, thankfully, once another administrator pointed out that I wasn't a creep, just a lesbian and productive enWiki editor. But if I hadn't been unblocked, then it would have actively hampered my ability to edit enWiki articles. Everytime somebody looked at my global contributions they would have seen I was blocked on other Wikis, I would have lost access to the Wiki library, and it would have prevented me from making my occasional minor edits on svWiki. Username blocks are needed, to prevent obviously disruptive usernames that make other editor uncomfortable, to enforce local policies surrounding the use of shared accounts, or as a quick way of getting rid of spammers/accounts which are obviously not here in good faith. This editor is here in good faith, and nobody has made any claim otherwise. Yes, you're right on a technicality. But what good does forcing them to make their name explicitly promotional actually do? GreenLipstickLesbian (talk) 01:21, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Don't allow. Tales of Arcadia, are you aware of the concept of wikilawyering? That's what your argument about "just a sequence of a commonly title suffix (Tales of) and a mystical place (Arcadia) is. 331dot has been extremely patient with you on your own page. Unless you promptly take their good advice (which contains several alternatives for you) without any more messing around, I would recommend them to block you for egregious timewasting. Bishonen | tålk 23:15, 11 February 2025 (UTC).
I think you have misunderstand me. (Maybe because I‘m not a native English speaker.) I have never declined the reference to the TV series. Everyone can read this on my user page. I only wanted to say that the name (in my opinion) is not really a protected product namr which can be considered as product. And again: I was and I‘am always open to a discussion. And I‘ve never posted anything which was promotional. Tales of Arcadia (talk) 12:58, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Don't allow. If 331dot is technically, right, then they're right, no? 331dot made what seems like a perfectly good suggestion, and they were nice enough not to block for what three administrators now think is a violation of our user name policy. The word "Arcadia" is used frequently, but "tales of Arcadia" as a phrase, independent of that show/franchise/whatever, is not, as a Google Books search confirms, delivering nothing but hits for the show. Drmies (talk) 01:27, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Allow. There are many users with the suffix "Tales of..." in their usernames here, indicating that it is commonly used. Some of the names may refer to culture or to places. As an editor of articles on classical antiquity I did not know about the animated series. I thought of the various tales of Arcadia, narrated during the centuries and of the famous paintings, depicting the stories. It may be my fault, but I cannot see an unique name and the promotion of a single product in this name. --Regiomontanus (talk) 03:41, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
Just noting (from a pedantic/administrative point of view) that there are five users with names starting with "Tales of" (which, again pedantically, is a prefix, not a suffix). Primefac (talk) 13:35, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
Disallow Not sure if this is a bit far-fetched, but if they're editing Tales of Arcadia, I'd count the name as a violation of WP:MISLEADNAME #3: Usernames that imply that the account has explicit ownership of certain articles, content, or topic areas. Nobody (talk) 06:21, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
@1AmNobody24 That's an interesting idea; I'd like to hear more. How would you generalise that to usernames in general that make reference to a particular article subject? For example, we have a lot of accounts whose usernames are directly taken from superhero movies/franchises. (Just search User:Superman and see how many you get). Do you believe those are misleading and at risk of scaring off other editors? Thinking more broadly, how about usernames that just, in general, overlap with the article title? GreenLipstickLesbian (talk) 07:26, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
The honest answer is 'It depends'. Would I find Superman editing Superman a misleadname? No. Would I find USA Gov editing Federal government of the United States a misleadname? Yes. There are others were I'm also unsure how I'd handle them, for example: If Swoop edited Philadelphia Eagles would you see the connection with Swoop (Philadelphia Eagles) a misleadname? Nobody (talk) 07:52, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
'It depends' is a perfectly acceptable answer. Interestingly, I'd probably be okay with Swoop (but as an Eagles fan, that could be pure bias =P ), USA Gov directly implies both a real-world, legal, authority over the article content and, as the name of an organization, fails on several fronts. I'm with you on Superman though. Just to take this a bit further, what implications would you get from a user who took their name from a specific movie? Or maybe a specific song? For the sake of argument on the song one, say the editor explicitly named themselves after the song, then edited the article extensively. Would that be misleading to you? If not, then why? GreenLipstickLesbian (talk) 21:21, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
Given that my own user name is partially inspired by a movie, I'd say it depends on the movie title and how they edited the article. This applies for any creative work. Nobody (talk) 06:43, 13 February 2025 (UTC)
I hadn't put that together. Bob Odenkirk was great in that. The argument this user has used, that their name is not immediately obvious as the name of a creative work, actually does apply in your case. To answer GLL query about a song, a song is also arguably a product, but it isn't a franchise. There is no implied authority in naming one self after a single song.

I have to say I don't think I've seen this specific situation before. If someone was named User:LordoftheRings and started editing about Gandalf I'm not so sure we would block them. Beeblebrox ^Beebletalks 21:37, 14 February 2025 (UTC)
I agree that just editing a article that seems related wouldn't probably lead to a block, they'd be asked if theres a COI and move on. I'm more interested in what you'd think if they're edits were clearly promotional. Would you simply think it's a fan or would it cross your mind that it could be a paid editor trying to improve the presentation of their product? Nobody (talk) 07:20, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

But doesn‘t it count how these edits were made? All are minor changes, like fixing links or other small things. I‘ve never promoted anything. Tales of Arcadia (talk) 13:04, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Questioning - Would we allow User:IncredibleHulk to edit Marvel articles? Would we allow User:BladeRunner to edit articles about the franchise? I don't find absolute clarity in the rules about whether usernames that are titles or fictional elements of creative works are allowed or disallowed, and I don't find that this is unambiguously covered under the "product" category. I raise this question with disregard to the pseudoarguments put forward that this is just common "Tales of" prefix with some general "Arcadia" concept, I'm assuming the username is directly named after the series, and still questioning applicable policy. Ben · Salvidrim! ✉ 06:27, 12 February 2025 (UTC)
Yes, I have chosen my name after the franchise. Everyone can read this on my user page. But because it‘s fictional, I haven‘t considered it as product. And no one of my edits were promotional. Tales of Arcadia (talk) 06:38, 12 February 2025 (UTC)

Speaking as someone who is themselves named after a fictional character, I can edit Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy articles all day long if I want to. So yes, we would allow the Incredible Hulk name to edit Marvel articles. I think Blade Runner is arguable as well, as that is the name of the franchise, but also a role,as Deckard was a "blade runner" before he retired. The difference here is that they are clearly not named after a character, they are named after the franchise. The body of work is a product not a character. I don't think there is any ill intent here, but technically the name seems to run afoul of ORGNAME which explicitly mentions product names as usernames. Beeblebrox ^Beebletalks 21:25, 14 February 2025 (UTC)
That being said, I'm not sure a block would really serve to prevent harm to the encyclopedia. If it was "Tales of Arcadia Official" that would imply special authority. I'm not entirely convinced that this does. Beeblebrox ^Beebletalks 22:39, 14 February 2025 (UTC)
Allow per Beeblebrox's explanation that this username isn't disruptive enough to the project and revise WP:ORGNAME to accommodate good-faith usernames named after pop culture works/characters/etc. Indeed, we should not enforce policies to our letter, but rather revise them to their spirit. ミラP@Miraclepine 05:59, 15 February 2025 (UTC)
My main concern here is that the name of the franchise doesn't denote an individual- I already told the user that adding "fan" to their username would be completely satisfactory. 331dot (talk) 09:37, 15 February 2025 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the entries talk page). No further edits should be made to this page.

^ Dresden (2025-02-07). "Dresden historical commission publishes final report". www.dresden.de. Retrieved 2025-02-08.
^ ^a ^b Blakemore, Erin (22 July 2021). "The bombing of Hamburg foreshadowed the horrors of Hiroshima". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021.
^ Richards, Denis. *Royal Air Force 1939–1945: The Fight at Odds*, vol. I, London: HMSO, 1974 (orig. 1953), p. 217. [1]
^ Grossman, Paul (2023). "Fundamental challenges and likely refutations of the five basic premises of the polyvagal theory". Biological Psychology. 180. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108589. PMID 37230290.
^ Dresden (2025-02-07). "Dresden historical commission publishes final report". www.dresden.de. Retrieved 2025-02-08.
^ Richards, Denis. *Royal Air Force 1939–1945: The Fight at Odds*, vol. I, London: HMSO, 1974 (orig. 1953), p. 217. [2]
^ Knudsen, Robert. Book with President Kennedy's initials. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. JFKWHP-KN-20381. J. F. K.
^ Burning Tree Golf Club Bag Tag. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. MO 63.3724.7. Sen. J. F. Kennedy

[1] Dresden (2025-02-07). "Dresden historical commission publishes final report". www.dresden.de. Retrieved 2025-02-08.

[NatGeo-2] Blakemore, Erin (22 July 2021). "The bombing of Hamburg foreshadowed the horrors of Hiroshima". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021.

[3] Richards, Denis. *Royal Air Force 1939–1945: The Fight at Odds*, vol. I, London: HMSO, 1974 (orig. 1953), p. 217. [1]

[Grossman23-4] Grossman, Paul (2023). "Fundamental challenges and likely refutations of the five basic premises of the polyvagal theory". Biological Psychology. 180. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108589. PMID 37230290.

[5] Dresden (2025-02-07). "Dresden historical commission publishes final report". www.dresden.de. Retrieved 2025-02-08.

[6] Richards, Denis. *Royal Air Force 1939–1945: The Fight at Odds*, vol. I, London: HMSO, 1974 (orig. 1953), p. 217. [2]

[J._F._K._book_cover-7] Knudsen, Robert. Book with President Kennedy's initials. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. JFKWHP-KN-20381. J. F. K.

[J._F._K._luggage_tag-8] Burning Tree Golf Club Bag Tag. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. MO 63.3724.7. Sen. J. F. Kennedy

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v t e Requests for comment (All)
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