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Former New Zealand Wikipedian-at-large Mike Dickison walks us through the slow process of language change on the worlds fifth-most-viewed website, Wikipedia.

Consequently, macrons have quickly spread through publishing and media, spurred by the 2016 Mori Language Act which aimed to revitalise the language and make government departments use it correctly. Almost all news media use macrons, with Stuff starting in 2017 and the NZ Herald in 2018. The Listener, North & South, and Metro adopted macrons in 2018, along with TVNZ. But one of the last bastions of macron resistance for place names is Wikipedia the worlds fifth-most-viewed website. Thats a concern, and some Kiwi Wikipedians want to change this.

Currently Wikipedia is inconsistent. "Mori" is spelled with a macron, and the article "New Zealand pigeon" was recently renamed "Kerer". Place names, though, are a different story. When the style guide for New Zealand English usage on Wikipedia was thrashed out back in 2006, macrons weren't in common use and it was noted the "rules of Maori place names are still under discussion" and there they've remained for 14 years.

Christchurch-based Axel Wilke has put forward a proposal to change those naming conventions to allow macron use for geographic features, based on official names maintained by by the New Zealand Geographic Board. Many place names aren't actually "official", and deciding whether they actually need a macron can involve a lengthy discussion with iwi and hap about what the name means. But in June last year the Board knuckled down and made 824 Mori place names official, and about 300 of those like ptiki, Taup, and Trau use macrons.

If Wilke's proposal is adopted, nearly 300 place names on Wikipedia will need to be updated. Not all those 300 places will have an article on Wikipedia but they'll be mentioned in numerous other articles, and the cascading consequences will require thousands of corrections. This would mark a big change for New Zealand Wikipedia, and the 100200 busy volunteers who keep it up to date in their spare time. Hence there's been some resistance.

"Under discussion" since 2007, the macron debate bubbled to the surface on a Wikipedia noticeboard in 2018 over the appropriate name for Paekkriki / Paekakariki; thousands of words of back-and-forth discussion ensued, even leaking out into the NZ Herald which wrote about Wikipedia's "battle of the macrons", but no real consensus emerged. What was needed was a clear, well-supported proposal to put to the vote, and thats whats happening now.

You might think some editorial board could just declare most New Zealand publications use macrons, so now all Wikipedia articles will too. But Wikipedia change happens through long public discussions on Wikipedia talk pages, and anyone can contribute. Discussions go on and on until consensus is thrashed out. Through 19 years of discussion and debate, Wikipedia has accumulated layers and layers of rules, guidelines, precedents, and style guides, often with cryptic names like WP:COMMONNAME and MOS:DIACRITICS. Youre expected to be familiar with them if you want to contribute, and any proposed changes have to take them into account. All this is invisible to people who just use Wikipedia to look things up, but affects the work thousands of volunteer Wikipedia editors do every day.

If, following discussion, this change is approved, it will bring Wikipedia into line with the way New Zealand English has changed. Years ago, Pkeh used to talk about Maoris and kakapos. Because theres no plural s in Te Reo, New Zealand English usage slowly started using the same word for singular and plural, and now we look a bit askance at someone who talks about the Maoris. Macron usage is making the same journey, to Mori and kkp, and Wikipedia, the world's reference book, looks like it's coming along for the ride.

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Why changing Mori place names on one of the world's biggest websites isn't so simple - Noted

Sunday, 26 January 2020, 11:44 amPress Release: Axel Wilke

The use of macrons in New Zealand English is changing fast.Print and television media, local and central government,they have almost all adopted the macron to indicate longvowels in Mori. Macrons are important: a wt is aninsect, but weta is excrement. Many places inAotearoa now use macrons in their names. But one of the lastbastions of macron resistance for place names is Wikipedia,one of the worlds most-viewed websites. Thats aconcern, and some Kiwi Wikipedians want to change this.

Macrons have been used in Wikipedia for some time: everyuse of the word Mori has its macron, and articlesare increasingly adopting macrons in their names: the NewZealand pigeon article was recently renamed Kerer. But place names have alwaysbeen a sticking point. For some reason, people feelespecially attached to towns and rivers, and resist changingtheir spelling. This applies in the real world see thekerfuffle over the h in Whanganui and the in Taup and its no different in Wikipedia. Wikipedia rules have,for years, stated that place names were underdiscussion, and macrons have not been used in themeantime for place names.

Wikipedia is written byvolunteers, all over the world, including quite a few in NewZealand. Theres no editorial board or committee thatdecides on the formatting or spelling rules and guidelines those have been thrashed out by the volunteersthemselves over the last 19 years, and continue to beamended and improved. Change happens through long publicdiscussions on Wikipedia talk pages, and anyone cancontribute.

Christchurch-based Axel Wilke has putforward a proposal to change Wikipedias namingconventions where geographic features contain a macron,based on gazette notices by the New Zealand GeographicBoard. Mike Dickison, who was New ZealandWikipedian at Large in 201819, is helping.

In June 2019, the New Zealand Geographic Boardreported that 824 Mori place names had been made official,and about 300 place names now include a macron.

If the proposal is adopted, nearly 300 place names onWikipedia would thus be changed to show the macron in thepage title and throughout the text (note that not all 300places will have an article on Wikipedia yet).

Thiswould mark a big change for Wikipedia. The idea was firstraised on Wikipedia discussion pages in 2007 with no clearconsensus. In 2018, a great debate broke out about theappropriate name for Paekkriki / Paekakariki; thousandsof words of back-and-forth discussion ensued, even leakingout into The New Zealand Herald, which wrote aboutWikipedia's "battle of the macrons". Later in 2018,the discussion was revived, but no real consensus emerged.In none of these cases was a clear, well-supported proposalset out and put to the vote. Thats whats happeningnow.

You might think it would be an easy thing tojust declare Most New Zealand publications use macrons,so now all Wikipedia articles will too. But Wikipedia,through years of discussion and debate, has accumulatedlayers and layers of rules, guidelines, precedents, andstyle guides. They often have cryptic names like WP:COMMONNAME and MOS:DIACRITICS; youre expected to befamiliar with them if you want to contribute, and anyproposed changes have to take them into account. All this isinvisible to people who just use Wikipedia to look thingsup, but affects the work thousands of volunteer Wikipediaeditors do every day. Thats why this proposed rulechange, which will affect hundreds of articles and requirethousands of changes, is such a big deal.

If thechange is approved, it will bring Wikipedia into line withthe way New Zealand English has changed. Years ago, we allused to talk about Maoris and kakapos. Becausetheres no plural s in the Mori language, Englishspeakers in New Zealand began using the same word forsingular and plural, and now we might look askance atsomeone who talks about Maoris. More recently, macronshave crossed over from Te Reo into New Zealand English, andrapidly spread through the media, book publishing, legaldocuments, government, and education, which increasingly nowrefer to Mori and kkp. This has been aremarkable and swift change, reaching critical mass only acouple of years ago. So its understandable that Wikipediahas taken some time to catchup.

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Macrons and Wikipedia - Scoop.co.nz

Just days after the Indian government partially lifted its controversial ban on internet services in Kashmir, Turkey has finally started restoring access to Wikipedia in the country after almost three years. According to the Wikimedia Foundation, the development follows a December 26 ruling by the Constitutional Court of Turkey that the long-standing Wikipedia ban imposed by the Turkish government was unconstitutional.

In an official press statement, the non-profit organization said that the judgement will not only pave the way for the people of Turkey to once again participate in the largest global conversation about the culture and history of Turkey online, but will also make Wikipedia a vibrant source of information about Turkey and the world. With the decision today, our editors in Turkey will once again be able to fully participate in sharing and contributing to free knowledge online, said the organization.

According to Katherine Maher, the Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, We are thrilled to be reunited with the people of Turkey. At Wikimedia we are committed to protecting everyones fundamental right to access information. We are excited to share this important moment with our Turkish contributor community on behalf of knowledge-seekers everywhere.

The Turkish government, led by the controversial populist President, Recep Tayyip Erdoan, imposed the blanket ban on all editions of Wikipedia back in April 2017 because of an article related to state-sponsored terrorism that differed from the countrys official stance on the subject. On 26 December 2019, the Constitutional Court of Turkey ruled that the blockade violated human rights of citizens, following which, it was officially lifted on January 15.

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Turkey Lifts Ban on Wikipedia After Almost 3 Years - Beebom

By Alyssa Pereira, SFGATE

25. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)Wikipedia page visits: 11,000,322

Ocasio-Cortez has yet to be in office for a full year, but already the Bronx Representative has garnered interest for her outspoken nature and her proposed Green New Deal.

25. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)Wikipedia page visits: 11,000,322

Ocasio-Cortez has yet to be in office for a full year, but already the Bronx Representative has garnered interest for her outspoken

Photo: (Photo By Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images)

25. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)Wikipedia page visits: 11,000,322

Ocasio-Cortez has yet to be in office for a full year, but already the Bronx Representative has garnered interest for her outspoken nature and her proposed Green New Deal.

25. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)Wikipedia page visits: 11,000,322

Ocasio-Cortez has yet to be in office for a full year, but already the Bronx Representative has garnered interest for her outspoken

From Trump to 'Thrones': These were the 25 most popular Wikipedia pages in 2019

Did you spend 2019 looking up pop culture's biggest moments? You're not alone.

This year, Wikipedia received hundreds of millions of hits to its most popular pages, which spanned politics, movies and TV, music and world events. In turn, the site and its massive community-run encyclopedia library educated the masses about everything from Donald Trump to Jason Momoa.

As the data dictates, this year was a major one for entertainment. "Game of Thrones" ended, and the Avengers series concluded with "Endgame." Veteran stars were celebrated and new celebrities were minted. Both Queen and the Queen were mythologized with a film and television show, respectively, but the real winners were the superheroes who dominated the big screen all year long.

RELATED:The best 25 films of 2019, according to 25 critics' top 10 lists

That's not to say anything of the other major topic for Americans this year: the presidency. Trump continued his divisive White House tenure, appearing in nonstop news headlines. Allies were made and lost, and adversaries emerged on both sides of the aisle.

And Wikipedia was there for all of it, tallying up page visits throughout the year.

See the above gallery of Wikipedia's 25 most-visited article pages for 2019.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGate digital editor. Email: alyssa.pereira@sfgate.com | Twitter: @alyspereira

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From Trump to 'Thrones': These were the 25 most popular Wikipedia pages in 2019 - The Advocate

Clockwise from top left: Getty; Getty; Getty; Benjamin Currie (Gizmodo)

This is it, everyone. 2020 begins this week. A new year, a new decade, a new physical form to inhabit . . .

Anywho, lets see what the Gizmodo team got up to this past week. We talked about how Apples iPad needs some time to really find itself, the dumbest Wikipedia editing face-off of the decade, and how you too, dear reader, can apologize out of both sides of your mouth like a genuine goblin CEO. Folks at io9 declared some of 2019's best and worst movies and broke our brains by calculating Yodas real age. And dont forget to check out our coverage on the best gadgets to get you hyped for the new year, the healthiest food to help you out with those resolutions (as well as the toxic chemicals to stay the hell away from), and whatever the hell is Betelgeuses deal at the moment.

You can find all that and more below:

Despite the privacy concerns, labor strikes, and reports that Amazon is selling literal trash on

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Tech Ghouls, Yoda Theories, and One Dumb Wikipedia War: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week - Gizmodo