Contents

User:Herostratus

I'm Herostratus, I'm a Wikipedia editor and have been since 2005.

My user name was taken in ironic memorialization of the original Herostratus, the greatest vandal of all time, who destroyed the Temple of ArtemisatEphesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

I created the Wikipedia Service Awards, which I conceived, wrote, made the images for, published, and shepherded thru deletion attempts. (Other talented editors and better artists have since expanded and improved the awards, of course.)

If I should ever abruptly stop editing, the explanation is probably related to this.

Editor[edit]

Areas of activity[edit]

I have no particular focus and perform a number of random tasks depending on fancy: translating articles from the Russian Wikipedia, writing articles, article cleanup, watching pages, participating in discussions, closing an occasional RfC, and other stuff. I have no areas of content expertise, and write, translate, and edit articles on a wide variety of subjects.

Articles[edit]

I've written or started about 330 articles. 320, 340, something like that.

Places[edit]

Things[edit]

Almost all of these are pretty short, but on the other hand I greatly expanded or effectively rewrote a few articles, too (Baby Huey (singer), Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe, SpinnWebe, Battle of annihilation, Child sexuality, Ansel Franklin Hall, George Frazier, William Turnbull (artist), Kostroma River, Julia Pirie, 2 Rossi Street, List of Katy Perry songs, Bergen Davis, Gırgır, Trud (newspaper), Curtis Gans, Press-Telegram, Forest Tennant, American Pie Council, James Cox (labourer), Bob Emery (broadcaster), Bishops and archbishops of Bolnisi, Edward Aswell, Kennedy Report on the Reserve Army, Neo-American Church, Lafayette Place Mall, Karin Hübner, Charles Feltman, Battle of Volochayevka, Bouncy ball, Judy Valentine, Kekionga Ball Grounds, Ox Eckhardt, Sailor Song, Castlewood State Park, Loudest band, Steve Sesnick, Edward Whitehead, Wikipedia:Alphabetical order (article names), Aloe Plaza, Hugh James (RAF officer), Turkish coup d'état, others).

Two articles I started did become Good Articles (Revolt of the Lash and Village East by Angelika) but obviously all I did on those was get the ball rolling. (I think the GA/FA program is a fine thing, it just don't seem to grab my interest; I guess starting articles or improving articles from "not really all that good" to "not so bad", and working on my own, suits me better.) I have 12 DYKs: . Most of my stuff is serious, but I do have at least two articles at Wikipedia:Unusual articles.

Translations[edit]

I've translated 120 articles from the Russian Wikipedia.

Places

Things

Graphics[edit]

I've drawn or patched together a few article graphics, and graphics for internal use such as vandal-warning templates. I mean I'm no artist (I have been informed) and some of them were made in PC-Paint, but still, I made them and I might as well own up to them I guess.

         

Small craft advisory. (Low to moderate level of vandalism) 2.95 RPM according to EnterpriseyBot08:10, 21 June 2024 (UTC) change

(In the last one, I only added the dollar bill and the "no" circle-slash to an existing graphic of a handshake.)

Former administrator[edit]

I'm a former administrator on the English Wikipedia. I was made an admin in 2006 but I was recalled for cause in 2010, which is how it's supposed to work. My admin logs: block, deletion, protection. When I stopped keeping count, I had the following AfD contribution stats: of 607 AFD comments, 32% were "Keep" and 68% were "Delete"; but 25% of the articles on which I voted "Keep" were deleted, while only 16% of the articles on which I voted "Delete" were kept. These stats indicate that I'm slightly more inclusionist than the general population. UPDATE: found this cool tool which seems to show that I'm just about at the center of the deletionist–inclusionist bell curve.

I guess was an OK admin... I don't believe I got any complaints for any of my blocks, discussion closes, page protections, or any other admin actions, or for being uncivil. If I am recalling correctly, which possibly not. I did close one requested move wrongly, when this was pointed out I undid it. I was never taken to deletion review or (if I recall correctly) WP:ANI for any admin actions I don't think. (After I was kicked out of the admin corps I figure I don't have to be be so agreeable so I've been in various arguments and hassles for various things, and been hauled to ANI more than once, and sometimes yelled at altho never sanctioned.)

Modo aliquid addere debebam ut insigne not tatam paginae format, sic hic accedit.

Solus editor sum, qui se sponte obtulit ad revocandum et processum usque ad finem secutus. Unicus. Sperabam fore ut haec praxis interdum regularus fieret et auxilium impediret vel saltem tardaret, ah processu cui omnes humanae consociationes subiciuntur.

Certe nigrum novum non fiebat, quod dissapointum sed non miror, et non est futurum etiam si vellemus. Vides ergo ubi sumus, aut fortasse non. Alioqui homines, et de eo nimium solliciti esse non potes.

Iuppiter, imple vacuum. Recte igitur hoc: "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua... tristique senectus. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames. Et malesuada fames ac turpis... Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet... memento mori." -- Ethan Shredlew

Recognition[edit]

Barnstars[edit]

I've had the good fortune to have been awarded 45 barnstars.

Of these 8 (*) are arguably questionable as 1) logrolling (barnstars received from someone to whom one has given a barnstar), 2) barnstars from a Wikifriend, 3) barnstars in excess of one received from the same person, or 4) barnstars received from someone whom one has supported on some issue or in some situation.

Post-WikiLove barnstars[edit]

Of these 2 (*) are arguably questionable as 1) logrolling (barnstars received from someone to whom one has given a barnstar), 2) barnstars from a Wikifriend, 3) barnstars in excess of one received from the same person, or 4) barnstars received from someone whom one has supported on some issue or in some situation.

And this was nice: "Herostratus: you are doing great work here." -- Jimbo Wales, Nov 24 2010

Not Barnstars[edit]

Useful Links[edit]

To clarify, this is stuff I find useful in my work. I'm not saying that these are necessarily useful to anyone else.

• Wikipedia:List of policies and guidelines
• Wikipedia:Backlog | Wikipedia:Contribution Team/Backlogs | Wikipedia:Page Curation

[[File: | thumb | upright | right | alt= | caption ]]

<ref>{{cite web
 |url= 
 |title= 
 |author= 
 |date= 
 |website= 
 |publisher= 
 |access-date= 
}}</ref>

<ref>{{cite journal
 |last1= 
 |first1= 
 |last2= 
 |first2= 
 |date= 
 |title= 
 |journal= 
 |volume= 
 |issue= 
 |pages= 
 |publisher= 
 |doi= 
 |url= 
 |access-date= 
}}</ref>

<ref>{{cite book
 |last= 
 |first= 
 |author-link= 
 |title= 
 |publisher= 
 |series= 
 |date=  
 |doi= 
 |isbn= 
}}</ref>

<ref>{{cite book
 |last1        = 
 |first1       = 
 |last2        = 
 |first2       = 
 |author-link1 = 
 |author-link2 = 
 |editor       = 
 |title        = 
 |trans-title  = 
 |url          = 
 |access-date  = 
 |edition      = 
 |series       = 
 |volume       = 
 |date         = 
 |publisher    = 
 |location     = 
 |isbn         = 
 |doi          = 
 |page         = 
 |pages        = 
 |chapter      = 
}}</ref>

{{convert|original_value|original_unit|conversion_unit|abbr=on}}

{{convert|orig_val1|range|orig_val2|original_unit|conversion_unit|abbr=on}}

{{convert|60|and|170|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
{{convert|18|°C|°F}}
{{convert|3.21|kg|lb}}

<ref name="NAMEOFREF" />

{{blockquote |text= |sign= }}

<blockquote>
<p>QUOTED PARAGRAPH</p>
<p>NAME, SOURCE, REFERENCE</p>
</blockquote>

{{About|USE1}}

{{About|USE1||PAGE2}}

{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2}}

{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4|USE5|PAGE5}}

{|
|-
! scope="col" |COLUMN1
! scope="col" |COLUMN2
|-
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" |COLUMN1
! scope="col" |COLUMN2
|-
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align: left;margin:0px;"
|- 
! style="width:20em;" |COLUMN1
! style="width:20em;" |COLUMN2
|- 
|ROW1
|ROW1/COL2
|-
|ROW2
|ROW2/COL2
|-
|}

{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-break|width=}} 
{{col-end}}

 * {{subst:uw-vandalism1|PageName}} ~~~~ (unintentional vandalism/test)
 * {{subst:uw-delete1|PageName}} ~~~~ (unintentional removal of content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism2|PageName}} ~~~~ (suitable for intentional nonsense or disruption)
 * {{subst:uw-delete2|PageName}} ~~~~ (variant for removal of content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism3|PageName}} ~~~~ ("please stop" for use after level 2 warning)
 * {{subst:uw-delete3|PageName}} ~~~~ (please stop removing content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism4|PageName}} ~~~~ (last warning for vandalism)
 * {{subst:uw-delete4|PageName}} ~~~~ (last warning for removing content)
 * {{subst:uw-vandalism4im|PageName}} ~~~~ (only warning; for severe or grotesque vandalism only)
 * {{subst:uw-delete4im|PageName}} ~~~~ (only warning; for many blankings in a short period of time)

{{rp|page=}}

• <ref>{{cite web |url= |title= |author= |date= |work= |accessdate=June 21, 2024}}</ref>
• <ref>{{cite web |url= |language=Russian |title= |trans-title= |author= |date= |work= |accessdate=June 21, 2024}}</ref>
• <ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |title= |url= |accessdate=June 21, 2024 |year= |publisher= |isbn= |page=}}</ref>
• <ref>{{cite journal |last1= |first1= |date= |title= |url= |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |doi= |access-date=}}</ref>

{{sfn | Smith| 1924 | p=3}} or pp=3,7-13 additional names after Smith {{rp|37}} for lots of citations to 1 book

url-access=subscription

{{xt|text}} give green text

• reference generatator | article link checker | webcite (request that a URL be archived)
• Category Tracker | Dashboard | Feedback requests | Open RfC's
• {{citation needed span|text=dubious text |reason= |date=June, 2024}}

• {{#tag:ref|inline text|group=note}} {{reflist|group=note}} OR {{efn|name=FOO}} {{efn|name=FOO | footnote text}}

• Template:Sfn (for multiple page refs) | {{notelist}} and {{efn}} for notes

• {{Better source|reason=|date=June 2024}} {{rp|[page]}}

• {{subst:DNAU|[days]}} {{subst:Bump|[days]}}

• Round robin page move

''{{interlanguage link|Hooglede town hall|nl|Gemeentehuis van Hooglede}}'' gives "[[Hooglede town hall]] [nl]" which points to the Dutch Wikipedia article "Gemeentehuis van Hooglede"

Google Trends shows google searches for a term Google Ngram scrapes a plethora of books for a term

{{WikiProject FOOBAR}} for new articles

{{Do not move to Commons}}, used when the file would violate Commons policy {{Keep local}}, used when the file is probably eligible for Commons but you prefer that a local copy be kept too

{{Annual readership|days=90|expanded=true}} editor interaction analyzer

Patrol[edit]

editing, formatting, etc.[edit]

tools[edit]

pix[edit]

• [[File:Wikipe-tan head.png|60px]]
• [[File:Wikipe-tan do not.png|80px]]
• fish

More Patrol[edit]

Categories[edit]

BLP[edit]

Discussions[edit]

Editing tips[edit]

Rules[edit]

Wikipedia[edit]

Dispute resolution[edit]

Admin stuff[edit]

Miscellaneous Essays Etc.[edit]

Essays[edit]

Herostratus writes essays.

• WP:HARDCORE
• WP:HURTS
• Wikipedia:Ref vetting checklist
• User:Herostratus/Deep vetting
• WP:FAILSAFE

Userspace essays[edit]

• User:Herostratus/Understanding SCHOOLOUTCOMES
• WP:NOT EVIL. I wrote this quite a long time ago, as a kind of attempt to deal with some of the issues that were eventually addressed by WP:BLP (which was being created around the same time). I actually proposed it as a policy (rejected), which is why it is bound about with weasely exceptions, in an attempt to be adopted. I wouldn't write it that way now.
• WP:AEO
• User:Herostratus/"Notable people" sections
• User:Herostratus/7 Virtues
• User:Herostratus/Wikipedian's Meditation

Allegedly "humorous" essays[edit]

• WP:GUYINBAR
• Primogeniture
• Biographies of dead persons,
• Guidelines for uploading photographs
• Wikipedia:Lobster
• Content Disclaimer Parody (I wouldn't have written this on Meta, which IMO is for Serious Business, but this page already existed there, and it wasn't funny, and they wouldn't delete it, so I had to do something.)

Holding pen[edit]

• User:Herostratus/The Hundred
• User:Herostratus/Understanding SCHOOLOUTCOMES
• User:Herostratus/Email chain

Quotes[edit]

Some quotes (by other people, not by me) that I find interesting or instructive.

• From the crooked timber of mankind, no straight thing was ever made. Immanuel Kant. The Wikipedia is populated by human beings. If you were expecting to find a place that did not sometimes have politics, unfairness, nice guys and bastards, stars and outcasts, leaders and toadies, cliques and backbiting and all the rest, Nirvana is down the hall to the left. Look: talking monkeys is your basic bad idea. They should have started straight off with the robots. But we have to deal with what we have.
• I am a man. Nothing human is alien to me. Terence. If I object to your editing, that does not mean that I belittle your circumstance. (Applies particularly to certain editors, you know who you are.)
• To denounce moralizing out of hand is to pronounce a moral judgment. H. L. Mencken said that. You never cease being a moral player on this planet. Never, not for one instant. I said that. Sitting down at a keyboard does not remove you from the moral universe, and "I was only following orders" was ripped to shreds at Nuremburg. Remember that Great Darwin, who lives in the sky, will presently call you to account before His mighty seat of judgment.
• It is incumbent on all ACM members to contribute to society and human well-being, and avoid harm to others. Association for Computing Machinery Code of Ethics.^[1]
• Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public. National Society for Professional Engineers Code of Ethics, First Fundamental Canon.^[2]
• Pornographer: Noun. One who is involved in the creation or dissemination of pornography. Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary.^[3] If this term applies to you, don't blame the dictionary or the person citing it.
• No man can serve two masters [...] You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24. If you're editing the Wikipedia for pay, then either you are subverting the Wikipedia to your client's interest or you are not. If it's the former, you should not be here. If it's the latter, your client should fire you. There is no third path.
• The graveyards are full of indispensable people. Charles de Gaulle. If you have 87 featured articles or whatever but are not willing to abide by the rules, we'll manage without you.
• To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous. Voltaire.
• I will fight it out on this line if it takes all summer. Ulysses S. Grant.
• I don't know. Bob Dylan, on being asked by an interviewer "Are you being deliberately rude, or are you just bored?"
• No. Elvis Presley, on being asked by an interviewer, "Elvis, have you learned anything from all this criticism of you?"
• Don't tell me what you believe, show me what you do and I will tell you what you believe. Ha, great quote to sum up values clarification in one sentence. The only attribution I can find right off is to Alex Trebek and maybe that's right. What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say. (Emerson) is a similar thought.

Volume 20, Issue 8 — 2024-06-08

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation publishes its Form 990 for fiscal year 2022-2023

• Technology report: New Page Patrol receives a much-needed software upgrade

• Deletion report: The lore of Kalloor

• In the media: National cable networks get in on the action arguing about what the first sentence of a Wikipedia article ought to say

• News from the WMF: Progress on the plan — how the Wikimedia Foundation advanced on its Annual Plan goals during the first half of fiscal year 2023-2024

• Opinion: Public response to the editors of Settler Colonial Studies

• Recent research: ChatGPT did not kill Wikipedia, but might have reduced its growth

• Featured content: We didn't start the wiki

• Essay: No queerphobia

• Special report: RetractionBot is back to life!

• Traffic report: Chimps, Eurovision, and the return of the Baby Reindeer

• Comix: The Wikipediholic Family

• Humour: Wikipedia rattled by sophisticated cyberattack of schoolboy typing "balls" in infobox

• Concept: Palimpsestuous

The Landfill[edit]

Old archives, garbage, &c. solely of interest to Herostratus and kept for his personal use.

Hi, I see you're looking for information on [subject]. We could have an article on this subject. In fact we did have an article on this subject, a nice one. But we deleted it! Because, while we are here to provide information, we don't think you should have too much information. But we wish you luck on your Google search on this topic, and we hope and assume that you have time, interest, and skill to re-create the equivalent collection of sourced data on your own (just as all the other people reading this message will have to do individually, unless they just give up or settle for a lesser amount of information). Have a nice day!

• Template:Editnotices/Page/Wikipedia:Service awards
• WP:ENLIGHTENED (to be written someday)
• WP:UNC (to be written someday)
• User:Herostratus/He started it! (under construction)
• User:Herostratus/Understanding WP:NOTCENSORED (under construction)
• User:Herostratus/Wikipedia is enlightened (under construction)
• User:Herostratus/External Barnstars. I actually think this would be a good idea.
• User:Herostratus/Space Lady Sorry, Space Lady, you're probably not notable.
• User:Herostratus/List of non-notable spouses Old rather pointless mini-project, long abandoned.
• User:Herostratus/Gokkun incident Jan 2011 Oy.
• User:Herostratus/Cumfart incidentOygevalt.
• User:Herostratus/wp child I have no idea what this is about.
• User:Herostratus/mints Right, the Periodic Table of the Breath Mints. Never got off the ground.
• User:Herostratus/Interview 3 Don't suppose I'll ever be nominated for admin (ya think?), but I have the interview ready anyway.
• User:Herostratus/List of The Angry Video Game Nerd episodes OMFG. For this I spent three months in college?
• Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (geographic names)/Archives/2014/February#Commas in metro areas Another epic close.
• User:Herostratus/ED page I'm famous, or at least infamous, I guess.
• User:Herostratus/Home My old user page.
• User:Herostratus/Closing censorship-split RfC This is actually a method for using a "jury" to make a difficult close. Not necessarily a bad idea.
• User:Herostratus/Administrator reconfirmation How to do it.
• User:Herostratus/My Back Pages My raw AFD vote data. Worthless.
• User:Herostratus/Ref vetting checklist (essay, now in Wikipedia space; have to keep this redirect for the edit history)
• User:Herostratus/sandbox