How to resolve the problem of IP and user blocks in African editathons

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More Administrators from Africa are needed ASAP.

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@Semmy1960 there are several issues that are related but mixing them doesnā€™t help finding solutions. Also, I donā€™t think anyone is trying to marginalize anyone else, but if this would be happening it should be reported and investigated.

Iā€™m not an expert in any of these topics, but in case it helps moving the discussion further, there are some problems one can find in this discussion:

Editathon organizers facing problems with IP blocks. It seems that you donā€™t need administrators to prevent this problem. Wikipedia:How to run an edit-a-thon - Wikipedia explains how to prevent problems with IP blocks and (I believe) the use of th Programs & Events Dashboard - Meta also helps.

What channels are you using? Are these public reports i.e. in an admins noticeboard? Can you share the links?

Yes! How do we achieve this together? These future administrators need to come from Africa, and for that volunteers in Africa need to step in. How can the rest of us in or outside Africa help find and support these future administrators?

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I think through more Awareness campaigns

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I have moved the posts specific to @Semmy1960 to a new topic specific to this personal case, to keep the discussion here focused on finding general solutions to the problem of IP and user blocks in African editathons.

Training for new administrators is always welcome and perhaps there are precedents that could be reused for a training in Africa? There is nothing specifically regional about administrators work, if materials for administratorsā€™ training exist somewhere else, they should be recyclable. Then again, having African administrators on Wikidata (or any project) shouldnā€™t be required to solve the problem of blocks in editathons.

Good preparation by editathon organizers is easier to achieve. You already have editathon organizers). Wikipedia:How to run an edit-a-thon - Wikipedia explains how to prevent problems with IP blocks.

Sharing a notice about an incoming editathon in the administrators noticeboard and requesting help to prevent accidental blocks is also easy to do, at least to ask. This should help prevent surprises, and if anything happens this notice should help show that you did all correctly on your end, so the accidental blocks should be easily lifted.

Finding allies among the admins of the project you are supporting should be possible too. Most admins want to help, this is why they become admins. Finding an admin in your time zone willing to help you prepare a block-free editathon shouldnā€™t be very difficult, or at least less difficult than bringing a new generation of African administrators.

Please donā€™t get me wrong, the idea of having admins from Africa (and any region) needs to be pursued, itā€™s the most sustainable solution. Iā€™m just pointing out that there are other solutions that editathon organizers can apply here and now.

Question: does anyone know when and where is the next editathon organized in Africa? What if we take it as a pilot to try all the ideas discussed here?

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Yes, indeed we are experiencing difficulties in editing these days.

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Welcome @Uncle_Bash007. I hope you enjoy your stay here. It is a very engaging platform with a lot to learn. sit back and enjoy the ride!

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Thank you Semmy1960, and I love adventurešŸ˜‡

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Some of these problems were reported on wiki earlier this year: Talk:No open proxies/Unfair blocking - Meta

I would be very interested in having links to other discussions/reports of similar problems.

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Hello. I think you should check out this link āš“ T309328 Range IP blocks should not block trusted logged-in users (autopatrol, bot, sysop) for more information on IP Blocks

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