Hi everybody,
I wrote a little script to split our Global Message Delivery list into an active list [1] (users who have edited in 2020 or later) and an inactive list [2] (users who last edited between 2015 and 2019). I’ve deleted users who last edited before 2015. The Core team’s plan is to send messages only to active users (along with clear instructions on how to remove themselves from that list), but to recheck the inactive list every few years to see if any of those users have returned. I’ve also started a draft Global Message to send out to this list about our Dorothea Dix event [4] — if you have some time, please feel free to have a look and improve it in any way you can!
In terms of other marketing places, a slightly shortened version of our Geonotice [5] should be live as of today, and I’ve added this event to the Wiki Loves Monuments event page under North Carolina [6], but that’s not very prominent.
We still have four more days to put in a request for a CentralNotice banner for the in-person tour component of the event (deadline is 14 days before the event, so this Friday), but I still don’t think that’s the best way to advertise an event in like — I feel like that’s better for month-long events like Wiki Loves Monuments. Any thoughts on that? I was hoping that we could piggyback on the Wiki Loves Monuments campaign, but it doesn’t look like there’s one for the US [7] (yet?).
Does anybody have any other ideas on where we could advertise this event?
cheers, Gaurav
[1] https://github.com/gaurav/wikipedia-global-message-cleanup [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/North_Caroli... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/North_Caroli... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Wikipedians/Global_messages#D... [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Geonotice#Wikipedia:Meetup/NC/Doroth... [6] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_in_the_Unite... [7] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralNotice
Hi everybody,
On Sep 22, 2025, at 11:57 PM, Gaurav Vaidya gaurav@ggvaidya.com wrote:
We still have four more days to put in a request for a CentralNotice banner for the in-person tour component of the event (deadline is 14 days before the event, so this Friday), but I still don’t think that’s the best way to advertise an event in like — I feel like that’s better for month-long events like Wiki Loves Monuments. Any thoughts on that? I was hoping that we could piggyback on the Wiki Loves Monuments campaign, but it doesn’t look like there’s one for the US [7] (yet?).
Actually, I just remembered that Pharos pointed out the following CentralNotice used for the Minnesota Wiknic 2025 [1] and shown only to users in Minnesota. It differs in some ways from our event — such as you don’t need to register — but it could be a model of something we could use.
Looking at the CentralNotice usage guidelines [2], I see that:
You can request a standard banner format https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralNoticeBanners/Edit/Community_banner_templatev2 (preview https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page?banner=Community_banner_templatev2), which allows you to share up to two logos, images, or icons (right and left, square), a one-page link, and up to 50–70 characters of text in up to 1–2 sentences. Text needs to be easily translatable. If you plan to use a custom banner, you must provide the complete banner code (not an image of a banner design) when submitting a request: if you plan to create a custom banner, see guidelines below https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CentralNotice/Usage_guidelines#Customizing_banner_code,_design_and_styling.
50-70 characters is very short (my first attempt [3] is 96 characters long!), but this should be relatively easy to throw together in the next day or two if anybody is interested.
cheers, Gaurav
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CentralNotice/Request/Minnesota_Wiknic_2025 [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CentralNotice/Usage_guidelines [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Wikipedians/Geonotices#Centra...
Gaurav,
Great job on the list/scripting. And I see the notice on my Watchlist: [image: Screenshot 2025-09-24 081321.png]
Also, I agree that a CentralNotice isn't ideal for a one-off event.
-Steve P
On Wed, Sep 24, 2025 at 2:35 AM Gaurav Vaidya gaurav@ggvaidya.com wrote:
Hi everybody,
On Sep 22, 2025, at 11:57 PM, Gaurav Vaidya gaurav@ggvaidya.com wrote:
We still have four more days to put in a request for a CentralNotice banner for the in-person tour component of the event (deadline is 14 days before the event, so this Friday), but I still don’t think that’s the best way to advertise an event in like — I feel like that’s better for month-long events like Wiki Loves Monuments. Any thoughts on that? I was hoping that we could piggyback on the Wiki Loves Monuments campaign, but it doesn’t look like there’s one for the US [7] (yet?).
Actually, I just remembered that Pharos pointed out the following CentralNotice used for the Minnesota Wiknic 2025 [1] and shown only to users in Minnesota. It differs in some ways from our event — such as you don’t need to register — but it could be a model of something we could use.
Looking at the CentralNotice usage guidelines [2], I see that:
You can request a standard banner format https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralNoticeBanners/Edit/Community_banner_templatev2 (preview https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page?banner=Community_banner_templatev2), which allows you to share up to two logos, images, or icons (right and left, square), a one-page link, and up to 50–70 characters of text in up to 1–2 sentences. Text needs to be easily translatable. If you plan to use a custom banner, you must provide the complete banner code (not an image of a banner design) when submitting a request: if you plan to create a custom banner, see guidelines below https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CentralNotice/Usage_guidelines#Customizing_banner_code,_design_and_styling .
50-70 characters is very short (my first attempt [3] is 96 characters long!), but this should be relatively easy to throw together in the next day or two if anybody is interested.
cheers, Gaurav
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CentralNotice/Request/Minnesota_Wiknic_2025
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CentralNotice/Usage_guidelines [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Wikipedians/Geonotices#Centra...
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Hi everybody,
Just a quick reminder to review my Global Message draft for the Dorothea Dix events [1] if you have some time over the weekend! This message will be sent to the user talk page of everybody on our Global Message Delivery list, i.e. people who have expressed an interested in either the North Carolina Wikipedians or WikiProject North Carolina, or have attended a previous event organized by our group. I’ll put in the request to send this Sunday night unless anybody has any objections.
Cheers, Gaurav
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Wikipedians/Global_messages#D... [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/North_Caroli...
On Sep 22, 2025, at 11:57 PM, Gaurav Vaidya gaurav@ggvaidya.com wrote:
Hi everybody,
I wrote a little script to split our Global Message Delivery list into an active list [1] (users who have edited in 2020 or later) and an inactive list [2] (users who last edited between 2015 and 2019). I’ve deleted users who last edited before 2015. The Core team’s plan is to send messages only to active users (along with clear instructions on how to remove themselves from that list), but to recheck the inactive list every few years to see if any of those users have returned. I’ve also started a draft Global Message to send out to this list about our Dorothea Dix event [4] — if you have some time, please feel free to have a look and improve it in any way you can!
In terms of other marketing places, a slightly shortened version of our Geonotice [5] should be live as of today, and I’ve added this event to the Wiki Loves Monuments event page under North Carolina [6], but that’s not very prominent.
We still have four more days to put in a request for a CentralNotice banner for the in-person tour component of the event (deadline is 14 days before the event, so this Friday), but I still don’t think that’s the best way to advertise an event in like — I feel like that’s better for month-long events like Wiki Loves Monuments. Any thoughts on that? I was hoping that we could piggyback on the Wiki Loves Monuments campaign, but it doesn’t look like there’s one for the US [7] (yet?).
Does anybody have any other ideas on where we could advertise this event?
cheers, Gaurav
[1] https://github.com/gaurav/wikipedia-global-message-cleanup [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/North_Caroli... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/North_Caroli... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North_Carolina_Wikipedians/Global_messages#D... [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Geonotice#Wikipedia:Meetup/NC/Doroth... [6] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_in_the_Unite... [7] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralNotice
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