Inactive wikis

Inactive wikis are those with few articles and very sporadic edits. They have no community and no users dedicated to editing them. These occasionally accumulate spam and vandalism and waste the valuable time of those users who check these small wikis for such edits but obviously do not really want to do the job in the first place as is indicated by their support of such proposals as this.

Another proposal can be found here, for those who like monitoring inactive Wikipedias.

It is possible for a steward to lock an inactive wiki to prevent it from being edited whilst not removing any existing content.

Procedure for locking an inactive wiki

1. Propose the lock on the wiki's main page, and in the nominations section of this page.
2. Check there is no spam or vandalism or pages that need deleting on the wiki
3. List pages to be deleted at requests for permissions
4. Wait for two weeks
5. Add the following message to the main page of the Wiki in question, preferrably in the native language:

   This wiki has been locked because <reason>.

   It will be unlocked if there is interest in reopening it.

   If you would like to create articles in <language>, please see how to start a new Wikipedia and then ask a steward to unlock the database at requests for permissions.

6. List the wiki in the locked inactive wikis section of requests for permissions so a steward can lock it.

Instructions for stewards

1. Check there is no spam or vandalism or pages that need deleting on the wiki
2. Make youself a "sysop,developer" if pages need deleting or just a "developer" if you only need to lock the database.
3. Go to Special:Lockdb.
4. Enter the same message as was placed on the main page, and sign it (The message is in wikitext, not HTML)
5. List the wiki in the list of locked wikis section of this page.
6. Remove your developer/sysop access from that wiki.

List of locked wikis

• ba:, 6 November, one page existed, no edits in a month. Locked as a test case before this policy created.
  • and the page was in Polish. - Mustafaa
    • Please, unblock the Bashkir Wikipedia. tt:User:Untifler
      • Now unlocked. Angela 13:48, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• tokipona: (wikipedia + wiktionary), 15 November, at Jimbo's request (alternative hosting being looked at).

Maybe this phrase should be in bold: Please see how to start a new Wikipedia and then ask a steward to unlock the database at requests for permissions.

This is now in bold. Angela 15:00, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

In the spirit of multilingualism, whenever possible, an attempt should be made to post such a notice in either the local language or a dominant language known to the speakers. A-giâu 19:02, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Good idea. It would also be good, in my opinion, to make the message more inviting. So that someone become bold in asking the unlocking of a wiki. Tomos 20:50, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Nominations for locking

Wikipedia

• aa:. empty. --Elian 03:45, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• ab:. empty. --Elian 03:45, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • NB: National language of de-facto independent republic of Abkhazia, over 1 million speakers. --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• ak:. no activity. --Elian 03:45, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • NB: National language of Ghana with millions of speakers. --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• arc:. No articles, the language has been dead for centuries and is now used only for scholarly and religious purposes. --Node ue 06:03, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • According to en:Aramaic language#Modern Aramaic:

    "Over four hundred thousand people speak Aramaic to this day. They are Jews, Christians and Mandaeans, living in remote areas and preserving their traditions with printing presses, and now electronic media. The Modern Aramaic languages are now farther apart in their comprehension of one another than perhaps they have ever been."

    Though I'm not sure if they're referring to Aramaic as simply a collection of modern languages. – Minh Nguyễn (talk, blog) 03:46, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• • • Modern Aramaic is also known as "Syriac" and has its own ISO code, SYR. ARC is for ancient Aramaic only, I think. --Node ue 23:43, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

• as:. no articles. --Elian 03:45, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • NB: Regional language of India with millions of speakers and reasonable internet connectivity. --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• ln:. no activity. --Elian 03:38, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • NB: National language of a Central African nation, at least 2 million speakers but I think much more. --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• ps:. no activity. --Elian 03:45, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • NB: National language of Afghanistan with millions of speakers. --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
    • Possible signs of activity: someone designed it a rather nice logo. - 172.186.242.180 14:31, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)
• kj:. no activity. --Elian 03:45, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• mh:. no activity. --Elian 03:45, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • NB: National language of the Marshall Islands. --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
    • 44 000 speakers in the Marshall Islands and Nauru. Keep!!! (Elian, do you know the words "patience" and "give a chance"? Belgian man 17:21, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
• sh:. Locked with the message that one can go to sr:, hr: or bs: instead. - Andre Engels 11:47, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)
• so:. no activity. --Elian 03:45, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • National language of Somalia; many speakers abroad, increasing internet connectivity there.
    • Recent activity, including someone who claims (I believe falsely) to speak Somali), and a couple of tiny articles.
• za:. no activity. --Elian 03:49, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • NB: Minority language of China and South East Asia with over 1 million speakers. --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• tlh:. Very little activity in the last month with the exception of this article which is written in the non-universal unofficial Private Use Range area of the Unicode standard (other fonts may use it for different things, for example my default fonts show the text on that page as Arabic calligraphic ligatures rather than Klingon letters). 48 articles, and a prime candidate for alternative hosting at the Klingon Language Institute website, as is currently being done in a paralell situation for tokipona:. I do not favour a locking-only solution. --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• jbo:. Some level of activity, but again a privately-supported conlang (similar to Toki Pona and Klingon) which is a prime candidate for alternative hosting, probably at the official Lojban website (lojban.org), especially since it has only a small following and is not intended as an intauxlang as are, for example, Ido, Interlingua, Occidental, and Esperanto (all four of which we already have thriving Wikipedias for). --Node ue 22:34, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Lojban has other uses which make it reasonable to attempt to collect a public encyclopedia in it. Besides, the guidelines at the top of the page seem to indicate that the basis for determining if locking is appropriate is whether or not people are available to maintain the language at at least some minimal level, not the utility of the language itself. I've started monitoring jbo via RSS and will probably catch any vandalism until such time as the wiki has gotten very busy. (Which will imply the availability of others to maintain things, as well.) Oh, and, what is a 'privately supported' conlang? Lojban has a 501(c)(3) corporation 'supporting' it, not an individual, nor is any of the intellectual property associated with it owned by a for-profit corporation. (Not to knock Toki Pona or Klingon, but rather, to clarify that Lojban is in a rather different state of affairs.) --Jkominek 04:15, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

1. it has a low level of activity 2. whether or not the language is useful is not a concern. what IS a concern is that 1. it is a conlang with few or no native speakers, 2 the speakers of it generally have another language as their "preferred" language, 3 other organizations have had problems with Lojban in the past 4 Klingon is not supported by an individual or a for-profit corporation, and the point about Lojban being backed largely by a single organization makes it a candidate for alternative hosting. --Node ue 23:43, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Lojban has been proposed as a language to write patents in in Europe, because it is syntactically unambiguous and machine parsable. This shows support from outside Lojban Central.

There is enough activity on jbo: to keep the translation of the week going. I can't handle it all by myself, but would have done en:manatee had someone not gotten to it first, and I've started ca:Muixeranga, and the others are done. -PierreAbbat 13:21, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)

People have proposed lots of things. I could propose Klingon as a language for patents, but what's most relevant is whether or not it got past the proposal phase, and even that's not relevant because this isn't about how good or bad Lojban is. Being machine-parsable is good, yes. But does it nessecitate hosting on Wikimedia servers? --Node ue 23:43, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Wiktionary

• Some Indian languages (no real activity): Yann 13:22, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• http://bn.wiktionary.org
• http://bh.wiktionary.org
• http://as.wiktionary.org
• http://ml.wiktionary.org
• http://mr.wiktionary.org
• http://or.wiktionary.org
• http://sa.wiktionary.org
• http://te.wiktionary.org

• dk.wiktionary.org should not exist or should be a redir to da.wiktionary.org

• http://simple.wiktionary.org (no activity and no reason to exist ever). Angela 03:39, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Wikibooks

• All Indian languages (no real activity): Yann 13:26, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• http://bn.wikibooks.org
• http://bh.wikibooks.org
• http://as.wikibooks.org
• http://gu.wikibooks.org
• http://hi.wikibooks.org
• http://kn.wikibooks.org
• http://ml.wikibooks.org
• http://mr.wikibooks.org
• http://ne.wikibooks.org
• http://or.wikibooks.org
• http://sa.wikibooks.org
• http://ta.wikibooks.org
• http://te.wikibooks.org
• And also:
• http://ur.wikibooks.org Yann 13:30, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

• http://simple.wikibooks.org (no activity and no reason for this not to be part of the English Wikibooks. See Wikibooks:Wikijunior for example). Angela 03:40, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Wikiquote

• All Indian languages (no real activity): Yann 13:26, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
• http://bn.wikiquote.org
• http://bh.wikiquote.org
• http://as.wikiquote.org
• http://gu.wikiquote.org
• http://hi.wikiquote.org
• http://ml.wikiquote.org
• http://mr.wikiquote.org
• http://ne.wikiquote.org
• http://or.wikiquote.org
• http://sa.wikiquote.org
• http://ta.wikiquote.org
• http://te.wikiquote.org
• And also:
• http://ur.wikiquote.org Yann 13:30, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

• http://simple.wikiquote.org (a quote is a quote - you can't simplify that. No reason for this to exist ever). Angela 03:41, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)

---

Statistics

I've put up a list of wikis sorted by date of last edit at Wiki activity statistics. I nominate all wikis which haven't been edited in the last 30 days, and have less than 10 articles. That means the following databases:

aawikibooks - aawiktionary - abwiki - abwiktionary - afwikibooks - akwiki - alswikibooks - alswikiquote - alswiktionary - amwikiquote - amwiktionary - anwiktionary - arcwiki - arwikibooks - aswiktionary - azwiktionary - bawikibooks - bawiktionary - bewiktionary - bhwiki - bhwiktionary - biwikibooks - biwiktionary - bmwiki - bowikibooks - bowiktionary - bswikibooks - cawikibooks - cewiki - chrwiktionary - chwikibooks - chwiktionary - chywiki - cowikibooks - cowiktionary - csbwiktionary - cvwiki - cywikibooks - dawikiquote - dkwiki - dkwikibooks - dkwiktionary - dzwiki - dzwiktionary - etwikiquote - euwikibooks - fawikiquote - ffwiki - fjwiki - fowiktionary - gawikibooks - gawikiquote - gawiktionary - gdwiktionary - gnwikibooks - gnwiktionary - gotwikibooks - guwikibooks - guwikiquote - gvwiktionary - hawiki - hawiktionary - hiwikibooks - howiki - hrwikibooks - hywikibooks - hywikiquote - hywiktionary - hzwiki - iawikibooks - idwikibooks - iewiktionary - igwiki - iiwiki - ikwiktionary - iowiktionary - iuwiktionary - jvwiktionary - kawikibooks - kawiktionary - kgwiki - kiwiki - kjwiki - kkwiki - kkwiktionary - klwiktionary - kmwikibooks - kmwiktionary - kowikibooks - krwiki - kswikibooks - kswikiquote - kvwiki - kwwiktionary - kywikibooks - kywiktionary - lawikibooks - lawikiquote - lbwikibooks - lbwikiquote - lbwiktionary - lgwiki - lnwikibooks - lnwiktionary - lowiktionary - ltwikibooks - ltwikiquote - ltwiktionary - lvwikibooks - lvwiktionary - mediawikiwiki - mgwiktionary - mhwiki - miwiktionary - mkwikibooks - mkwiktionary - mlwikiquote - mlwiktionary - mnwiktionary - mowiki - mowiktionary - mrwiktionary - mswikibooks - mtwiktionary - mywiki - mywikibooks - mywiktionary - nahwikibooks - nahwiktionary - nawikibooks - nawikiquote - ndswikibooks - newikibooks - newiktionary - ngwiki - nnwiktionary - nowikibooks - nywiki - ocwikibooks - ocwiktionary - omwiktionary - orwiki - orwiktionary - pawikibooks - pawiktionary - piwiki - pswikibooks - pswiktionary - quwiktionary - rmwikibooks - rmwiktionary - rnwiki - rnwiktionary - roa_rupwiktionary - rwwiktionary - sawikibooks - sawiktionary - scnwiktionary - scwiktionary - sdwiktionary - sewikibooks - sgwiktionary - shwiktionary - simplewikibooks - siwiktionary - skwikibooks - skwikiquote - slwikibooks - slwiktionary - smwiktionary - snwiktionary - sowiki - sowiktionary - sqwikibooks - sqwikiquote - srwikibooks - srwikiquote - sswiktionary - stwiktionary - suwikibooks - suwikiquote - swwikibooks - swwiktionary - tawikibooks - tewiktionary - tgwiktionary - thwikibooks - thwikiquote - tiwiktionary - tkwiki - tkwiktionary - tlhwiktionary - tlwikibooks - tlwiktionary - tnwiktionary - tokiponawikibooks - tokiponawikiquote - tokiponawiktionary - towiktionary - tpiwiktionary - tswiktionary - ttwikiquote - twwiktionary - ugwikiquote - ugwiktionary - ukwikiquote - ukwiktionary - uzwiktionary - vewiki - vowikibooks - vowikiquote - vowiktionary - wawiktionary - wowiktionary - xhwiktionary - yiwiktionary - yowikibooks - yowiktionary - zawikiquote - zh_min_nanwiktionary - zuwikibooks - zuwiktionary -

-- Tim Starling 05:47, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

zh-min-nan was accidentally created (see Big Red Button, gotta push it kind of thing), not by me, though :) . In any case it is now active. I understand a full dictionary not available elsewhere will be posted as a start. A-giâu 07:23, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)