This is a Wikipediauser page. This is not an encyclopedia article or the talk page for an encyclopedia article. If you find this page on any site other than Wikipedia, you are viewing a mirror site. Be aware that the page may be outdated and that the user whom this page is about may have no personal affiliation with any site other than Wikipedia. The original page is located at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Arcticocean.
Hello! You can contact me by leaving a message at the relevant article talk page or on my user talk page. You can also email me.
I am one of Wikipedia's administrators. If you have questions, comments, or concerns about my actions as an administrator, please do not be reluctant to raise them with me. I promise to listen carefully and try to address the problem. Feedback really is a gift (as the saying goes) and even if not completely correct, it's rarely wrong.
Previously, I was a checkuser and later an arbitrator on the English Wikipedia. These days, I am also active within the global Wikimedia community, where I am a privacy ombudsperson, and you can also contact me on my user talk page at Meta-Wiki.
Participation in the featured article process is an excellent way to contribute to high-quality content in a supportive capacity. By carefully choosing the articles reviewed, it can also be a good way to improve personal general knowledge and your own writing abilities. The process is welcoming to new reviewers and advice is linked in the section above at 'FA', 'FAC', and 'FAR'.
19:2519:25, 20 March 2026diffhist−90Thomas FriedensenSpeedy deletion declined. Criterion G12 does not apply: Not an unambiguous copyright infringement, or there is other content to save (CSDH)
Wikipedia:Please do not bite the newcomers means "Treat newcomers with kindness and patience". Many experienced editors use patience but omit the kindness. Wikipedia is a complex website with a steep learning curve. Someone vandalising or writing draft articles about their business is a potentially new editor entitled to the anti-biting policy's benefit. Kindness could require assuming that apparently disruptive edits are an effort to "see how this works". Even if the aggregate effect of this policy is the less efficient disposal of disruptive users, we pay this price for treating newcomers with kindness.
"I know you may have been taught it's polite to use honorifics, but that isn't necessary on the English Wikipedia. No one will think you're rude if you don't call them sir/ma'am, and doing so risks calling women 'sir'." – Valereee (talk·contribs), 15:23, 25 January 2025 (UTC)
"When I am asked why I have volunteered my time for so long, my answer is simple: I believe in our project. I believe in our vision, that of a world in which every person has free access to the sum of all human knowledge. I believe that our work makes the world a better place every day, and as long as I believe that I will dedicate my time and energy to this project." – L235 (talk·contribs), 03:40, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
[At the top of a retired user's talk page] "Please use the space below to tell me why you hate my redirects and templates." – Gurch (talk·contribs), 2018
"[Why do I…] keep leaving or retiring, then coming back? … After not editing Wikipedia for a while, I realized that my brain has not been as sharp. Apparently, taking the time to [propose] and make corrections to various aspects of Wikipedia has been stimulating my brain quite a bit. I found that over the past month…, I just have not been as motivated or encouraged to proactively engage in thoughtful conversation or research. …[I]t seems Wikipedia has been a glue… keeping my mind intact". – Steel1943 (talk·contribs), 2025
Wikipedians don't care if you withhold a donation, or say that you're going to do so. Assuming that they do indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of Wikipedia and its community culture. See also: Wikipedia:Not gonna donate.
The Wikipolitician is an experienced volunteer prone to the belief that anybody else cares about positions they have adopted or opinions they have repeatedly articulated. You'll see them comment about how they have "repeatedly" voted a certain way. You'll see them comment on how they have been doing so "for a long time". They are unaware that this is an act of self-indulgence and inevitably, they over-estimation their true influence or power. Wikipedia is an online community, comprised of volunteers. None of us are ranked as senior; at best, some of us have considerable experience and have perhaps been elected or appointed to do a particular duty. That does not mean we have a political system, or that people are forming detailed impressions of your personal policies and positions over time. At best, people know who you are and may have some memory of specific situations where you demonstrated some level of skill or competence. That does not excuse you from a duty in each situation to take decisions fairly, dispassionately, and with the minimum possible fuss. Inevitably, self-branding gets in the way of that. Politicians are not needed on Wikipedia.
External links
MakeRef at Wikimedia Toolforge: generate the right form of citation for a reference, useful for avoiding the need to read Template:Citation/doc, which is surely from one of the circles of hell.
IPA is another probable component of the circles of hell, and https://ipa-reader.com will read out any IPA pronunciation fragment for English and the other major western languages.
https://www.cereproc.com[dead link], the website for proprietary software, provides a free "voice demo" tool that supports Gaelic pronunciation. From the first slide on the carousel on the homepage, select "Gaelic" as the language and Scottish Gaelic as the voice, then type or paste the Gaelic word or sentence to have it read back accurately.
https://dsl.ac.uk is a Scots language dictionary, useful (among many uses) for dealing with works of pre-Union Scotland.
Featured Article Candidate (FAC) assessments: 
FA Review (FAR) and FA Removal Candidate (FARC) reviews: 
