[I'm posting this here because although the experiences described
relate to en.WP, I'm sure it applies to other projects as well]
I have trained over 100 people to edit Wikipedia this year; in around
a dozen different sessions.
Not a single session has occurred, when someone has not had a problem
with our CAPTCHA interface. Often, several editors in a single sesison
are confused.
A user saves an edit, and the system responds with the requirement for
them to complete a CAPTCHA .
Sometimes, they do not realise what has happened (the paragraphs
beginning with the words "Your edit includes new external links..."
seem insufficiently prominent), or they do not understand what is
being asked of them (what words are they being asked to retype?), or
they do not see the very small box where they are supposed to enter
the CAPTCHA (on my screen, in Firefox and signed out, it is
pre-populated with "Enter the words yc", where the "c" is half of a
letter "o").
Naturally I am then able to assist them, but a user editing alone may
simply abandon the task in frustration.
I urge each of you to try this, by editing while logged out
I suggest the WMF conduct some urgent usability tests around this
feature, and either redesign or remove it.
--
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
I'm tempted to point out that this mainly affects new editors who cite their edits, other new editors will get bitten in other ways. But the internet is not the best venue for irony.
More practically, if you have a tame admin on tap then you can reduce this and other problems at editathons by setting those new accounts as "confirmed". And yes I know we also have a shortage of admins, and also that it is likely that only a tiny proportion of the editors we lose through this are at editathons.
Earlier this year as a result of the glam organisers event in Paris I made a proposal at bugzilla for an event organisers useright. This would have allowed us to circumvent this problem at those editathons that are targeted at newbies, and it got widely endorsed by GLAM editors from several languages. Sadly it got marked as resolved because there was something that looked similar to developers, though not of course to potential users. If anyone here knows how to bypass phabricator or how to mark a phabricator request as unresolved and still much wanted, then the link is https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T91928 alternatively perhaps we could persuade the education community to endorse it, it should be just as useful to them and they seem to have more clout with the WMF than the GLAM community.
As for whether the capcha is useful in keeping out spammers, remember there are two capcha steps, one when you open a new account and the other when you use that to add links. Presumably any spam program that can pass the first hurdle can pass the second. But for new good faith human editors each capcha is a possible lost edit/editor. It would be good to test dropping the capcha requirement for adding new links, alternatively perhaps we could whitelist certain domains as likely to be reliable sources and unlikely to be spam.
Regards
Jonathan
>
Yes CAPTCHA is a pain. Yes it prevents bots from spamming us.
The question is does cluebot provide us sufficient defence such that
CAPTCHA is not needed?
--
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
Starting July 2015 I am a board member of the Wikimedia Foundation
My emails; however, do not represent the official position of the WMF
The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
www.opentextbookofmedicine.com
I have just noticed that Damon Sicore's account has been removed from
the Foundation wiki[1] and that his global account has just been
locked on Meta[2].
However, Damon is still marked as the Vice-President of Engineering at
the Foundation's staff page at the time of this writing[3], which
makes the situation a little bit confusing.
I am not aware if the Foundation has any severance policy in place,
but it appears quite concerning that an employee's accounts are being
removed and blocked before any formal announcement are made, which can
only result in needless speculation.
Could someone at the Foundation please clarify Damon's position at the
Foundation at this time?
Thanks!
== References ==
* [1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Special:Log/block
* [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Damon_Sicore_%28WMF%29
* [3] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Staff_and_contractors
--
Tomasz
This press release is also available online here:
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikipedia_receives_Spai…
And as a blog post here:
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/06/17/princess-of-asturias-award/
Wikipedia receives Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award for International
Cooperation
- Prestigious award recognizes contributions to universal human heritage
The Princess of Asturias Foundation has announced that it is awarding
Wikipedia the 2015 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation
<http://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2015-wikipedia.h…>.
The Princess of Asturias Awards (English
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_of_Asturias_Awards>, Spanish
<https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premios_Princesa_de_Asturias>), previously
known as Prince of Asturias Awards, recognize scientific, cultural and
social achievements that form part of the universal heritage of humanity.
“On behalf of our global community of Wikimedians, we are deeply honored to
accept this prestigious award,” said Jan-Bart de Vreede, Chair of the
Wikimedia Foundation’s Board of Trustees. “The Princess of Asturias Awards
recognize achievements and organizations that celebrate and advance our
shared human heritage. As a collective project of shared human knowledge,
we are honored Wikipedia has been recognized today.”
Presented in eight different categories ranging from Arts to International
Cooperation, the Princess of Asturias Awards are considered to be amongst
the most important honors in the world, especially in the Spanish-speaking
world. These awards are intended to acknowledge exemplary and
internationally recognized cultural, scientific and social achievements.
“Wikipedia is an incredible project that has been created by millions of
people from around the world. We are honored to be recognized in the
category of international cooperation, which is at the heart of our
mission,” said Lila Tretikov, executive director at the Wikimedia
Foundation. “This award honors those volunteers—the editors, photographers,
writers, and developers—who make Wikipedia possible.”
Wikipedia is one of the most popular knowledge resources in the world and
is read by nearly half a billion people every month. Today, it offers more
than 35 million articles in 288 languages, including a number of indigenous
languages, all written by volunteers around the world. It represents nearly
fifteen years of cooperation, more than by millions of people around the
world,
According to the jury
<http://www.fpa.es/en/princess-of-asturias-awards/laureates/2015-wikipedia.h…>
of the Princess of Asturias Awards, Wikipedia is an “important example of
international, democratic, open and participatory cooperation—to which
thousands of people of all nationalities contribute selflessly—that has
managed to make universal knowledge available to everyone along similar
lines to those achieved by the encyclopedic spirit of the 18th century.”
"Cooperation is what Wikipedia is all about, and it is a tremendous honor
to be recognized by the Princess of Asturias Awards,” said Jimmy Wales,
founder of Wikipedia. “I hope this inspires more people to become involved
in the mission to share in the sum of all knowledge with the world."
Previous recipients of the Princess of Asturias Award for International
Cooperation include the Fulbright Program, the International Red Cross, the
World Health Organization, Al Gore, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and others.
The ceremony of the Princess of Asturias Awards will take place in Oviedo,
Spain, on the 23rd of October, under the presidency of H.M. King Felipe VI
of Spain. The Prize comprises a Joan Miro sculpture symbolizing the award
and a cash prize of 50,000 euros.
About the Wikimedia Foundation
-
https://wikimediafoundation.org
-
https://blog.wikimedia.org/
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia consists of more than 34
million articles in 288 languages. Every month, tens of thousands of active
volunteers contribute to Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects. With
nearly half a billion monthly users, projects operated by the Wikimedia
Foundation are one of the most popular web properties in the world. Based
in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is a 501(c)(3)
charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants.
Wikimedia Foundation Press Contact
Katherine Maher
-
+1 415-839-6885 ext 6633
-
press[image: @]wikimedia.org
--
*Juliet Barbara*
Senior Communications Manager I Wikimedia Foundation
149 New Montgomery Street I San Francisco, CA 94105
jbarbara(a)wikimedia.org I +1 (512) 750-5677
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