Wikipedia:External links/Noticeboard

www.alternativenation.net

site opens "human verification" with cloudflare logo that asks users to paste text into terminal. text is encrypted script that downloads and runs malicious payload. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-50267-77 (talk) 13:57, 10 October 2026 (UTC)

I'm not getting that result. What link was it? I clicked on one that's in one of the more highly trafficked articles: http://www.alternativenation.net/clone/kiss-accused-of-lip-sync-screw-up-in-video-pathetic/ and it just took me to Cloudflare then a 404 error. -- Reconrabbit (talk) 19:05, 13 October 2026 (UTC)

and it just took me to Cloudflare then a 404 error did you enter any commands or paste anything from "Cloudflare" into a run box or terminal? If so, you got hacked. Clicking on the link you gave (with JavaScript disabled for obvious reasons) and looking at the bottom of the source code (on desktop devices, Ctrl+U or prepend view-source:) shows an obfuscated script starting with !function(){var _0xd8fa=[list of numbers and ending with list of numbers],_0x0c91=106,_0xc3e6='',_0xa9dd=0;for(;_0xa9dd<_0xd8fa['length'];_0xa9dd++)_0xc3e6+=String['fromCharCode'](_0xd8fa[_0xa9dd]^_0x0c91);(new Function(_0xc3e6))()}();. Decoding it reveals an obfuscated script which invokes a smart contract (0xB6bC9e1D0b2fB96Ab7C47E04Cb0BE477410bC1f2, data=0xb68d1809) on the Polygon blockchain to get a domain to construct a script URL; that final URL is hxxps://browse-codes-enter[.]beer/api.php?s=(short hex string). I also found this transaction on the smart contract, which, when decoding the data from hex, reveals the same domain. This is very obviously up to no good, but I did find this page on ClickFix attacks such as these which calls this "etherhiding"; I have no idea if that is a reliable source or not, but does it really matter given this evidence? OutsideNormality (talk) 02:27, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

I didn't copy or enter anything. Rather than removing all links it should probably be archived with url-status=usurped. -- Reconrabbit (talk) 15:02, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

Seems fairly unusual considering they're still publishing news stories as of last week. -- Reconrabbit (talk) 15:04, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

I requested global blacklisting. Thanks for reporting this, @~2026-50267-77. OutsideNormality (talk) 02:33, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

17centurymaths.com

• 17centurymaths.com: Linksearch en (insource) - meta - de - fr - simple • Spamcheck • blacklist hits • MER-C X-wiki • gs • Reports: Links on en - COIBot - COIBot-Local • Discussions: tracked - advanced - RSN • COIBot-Link, Local, & XWiki Reports - Wikipedia: en - fr - de • Google: search • Wikipedia • Domain: domaintools • AboutUs.com

Usurped by a gambling site. Linked in 40 articles as both an external link and as a reference. Noting here because I'm out of Wikipedia time for the day if any one else wants to work on it, otherwise this is a public mental note to myself to look at this tomorrow. • a frantic turtle 🐢 solidarity 13:26, 15 October 2026 (UTC)

This sounds like a WP:JUDI problem. WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:11, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

Ah ha! I either didn't know about JUDI, or did know but had forgotten. Equal likelihood. The site is already on the list, so that's the end of that. Thanks, WhatamIdoing! • a frantic turtle 🐢 solidarity 10:18, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

You're welcome. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:54, 16 October 2026 (UTC)

Unsourced commercial link restoration on Plug.dj article

Hi I am reporting that a user did a commercial undo to get their website back on plug.dj article. On October 7th 2026 I did a cleanup of unsourced website called wavez.fm under alternatives of plug.dj i also added a source to hangout.fm but on October 20th 2026 a user undid my edit and with that removed a valid billboard source for hangout.fm to get their website back on the article. IFOLLOWSPEED (talk) 13:12, 24 October 2026 (UTC)

Hello, @IFOLLOWSPEED, and welcome to Wikipedia. This edit is about whether a reliable source is needed for article content. Strictly speaking, this is a question for Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard. But I don't want to give you the run around; I'd rather just give you the answer:

This kind of content doesn't require a WP:Third-party source. It would be nice if it had a WP:Reliable source, but in this case, the reliable source could be something from the company itself. You found a great source for the last item in the list, and I appreciate you doing that.

If you wanted to improve that article again, one thing you could do is to add a link to the Wikipedia article for Turntable.fm. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:01, 24 October 2026 (UTC)

spring manufacturers

Please can you look into the use of external links by two spring manufactures on the "spring device" article page, neither of who actually supply information on the page but benefit from a commercial link https://www.springmasters.com/sp/door-lock-springs.html and https://www.coilspringsdirect.com/store/entex-compression-springs

many thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by BryanSmith1983 (talk • contribs) 22:10, 26 October 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing those out, @BryanSmith1983. I've removed both spamlinks-masquerading-as-refs. Schazjmd (talk) 22:17, 26 October 2026 (UTC)

thank you for your swift response BryanSmith1983 (talk) 22:19, 26 October 2026 (UTC)

'Japanese Idol' article: possible concern

I have no Wikipedia user account and have never contributed to Wikipedia as an editor. I consider myself to be a mere casual user of the website.

I express a possible concern regarding the 'Japanese Idol' article. From my understanding the subject of the article is the idol industry in Japan, which predominantly employs girls and young women. The article dealt, among other things, with the possible eroticisation and/or objectification of these young women.

My fear would be that some of the links to external sources in the article might potentially include inappropriate content, as they deal with a sensitive subject; particularly since, as the article mentions, there prevails in Japan a somewhat different attitude to content which might be considered to be inappropriate in the West, including some content which might be deemed to be CSAM in Western countries.

I have not actually clicked on or otherwise checked any of the links to other websites in the article, and have not seen anything which I judged to be itself inappropriate; I am merely expressing an in principle concern.

I am of course extremely ignorant of the whole subject; I have never lived in or even visited Japan, and earnestly desire not to be disrespectful towards any aspect of Japanese culture. However, I have two reasons for thinking that this concern is a justified one:

Firstly, from a perusal of the relevant talk page, it appears to me to be the case that your external links policy is comparatively restricted, and I feel sure that it would disallow any links which might even potentially lead to inappropriate content.

Secondly, I believe that the casual user of Wikipedia, such as I am, has the right to a safe and comfortable user experience on the website, and that this entails a right to feel at least reasonably confident of being more than one click away from even potentially inappropriate content. Please remember that such a click could even be accidental.

I do hope that the talk page of the article and the relevant moderators sympathise with these concerns, and feel able to undertake a scrutiny of any relevant links to external websites on the 'Japanese Idol' webpage.

All the best, peace and blessings. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2026-58094-08 (talk) 00:36, 1 November 2026 (UTC)

Your concern is extremely vague. What are the links of concern? I can't see any discussion of specific links on Talk:Japanese idol. Do you mean "further reading" sources? Specific references? The Wiktionary link? -- Reconrabbit (talk) 16:07, 2 November 2026 (UTC)

I doubt that it's a concern about Japanese idol#External links (which is a link to a dictionary definition and to a category on Commons). WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:14, 2 November 2026 (UTC)

I think that most contributors (we're all volunteers; join us!) are sympathetic to concerns about appropriate content. Wikipedia tries to find a balance between being freely informative and not hosting gratuitously offensive material. One of the ways we attempt to achieve our goal is what we call the principle of least astonishment. That is, there are things that we know are upsetting to some people (e.g., offending religious sensibilities, depictions violence, sexual content, and disgusting content), and we try to keep such information only where someone would expect to find it.

For example, the article Artistic depictions of Muhammad has images of artwork depicting him, even though many Muslims believe that such images are inappropriate. We do this because it's not surprising for an article about artwork to show images of that artwork. But we avoid or minimize using such images in most related articles, because it might be surprising to stumble across such an image in other contexts. Similarly, one might expect an article about erotic photography to include examples of erotic photos, but we try to use non-erotic photos for articles about human anatomy. The same image would be inappropriately surprising in one place, but not in the other.

However, when it comes to reliable sources (the ones a volunteer used to find the information for the article), we have a lot less control over the contents, especially when there are different expectations between the culture where the article was published and the culture of the Wikipedia reader. We do our best to make appropriate choices, but it will never be a perfect fit for every culture on Earth. WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:37, 2 November 2026 (UTC)

hexplace.org as an external link for Portuguese and Spanish town articles

Hello. I run hexplace.org, so I have a conflict of interest, and I'm asking here rather than adding any links myself.

hexplace has a page for every town of 1,000 people or more in Portugal and Spain (about 800 and 2,700). Each page brings together public data: average highs, lows, rain and sunshine by month (ERA5-Land reanalysis, checked against IPMA and AEMET station normals); distances to the nearest hospital, train station, airport and beach (OpenStreetMap); and natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods and wildfires. Every value names its source and is labelled for how precise it is (for example "modelled" or "regional"), and the data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

Example: https://hexplace.org/portugal/tavira/ (for the article Tavira).

Would editors consider this a suitable external link for town articles, under point 3 of WP:ELYES (material that can't be integrated because of the amount of detail)? I'm happy to hear either way, and I won't add links myself. Johanmichel2016 (talk) 15:29, 2 November 2026 (UTC)

@Johanmichel2016, I don't know the answer to your specific question.

However, I have a different problem that you might be able to help with. We have climate-related tables at Wikivoyage (e.g., voy:Tavira without the table and voy:Lisbon#Climate with it). But the data is only averages, which are not very informative. For example, it says that Lisbon is 12–18 °C. But it was 24 °C in Lisbon today, which is rather different. Do you have better information? I would like something that says (hypothetically) "usually 12–18, sometimes 5–25". WhatamIdoing (talk) 17:46, 2 November 2026 (UTC)

@WhatamIdoing, yes, I think so. Each town has a page per month that shows the spread around the average. For Lisbon in November, daily highs are usually between about 13 and 22 °C, and the warmest November day each year since 1991 was between 19 and 24 °C, so today's 24 is at the warm end of normal: https://hexplace.org/portugal/lisbon/november/ (there's a CSV too). The numbers come from reanalysis rather than a station, and Lisbon's are marked "regional" because its grid cell runs a bit cool in summer. It's CC BY 4.0, so Wikivoyage can use it with attribution. Happy to pull numbers for other towns; I'd rather not edit the articles myself. Johanmichel2016 (talk) 18:03, 2 November 2026 (UTC)

you right ~2026-58986-84 (talk) 17:09, 6 November 2026 (UTC)

Is there an API or other automated way to retrieve this information?

@SHB, who at Wikivoyage do you think might be interested in Portugal and/or the climate templates? WhatamIdoing (talk) 01:35, 7 November 2026 (UTC)

Hmm, not sure about anyone still interested in Portugal (Nelson Ricardo hasn't been active for a while now). //SHB (talk) 03:11, 7 November 2026 (UTC)

@WhatamIdoing, yes. Every town has a JSON and a CSV file per month at a fixed address, for example https://hexplace.org/portugal/lisbon/november/data.json. It holds the 1991 to 2020 averages, the 10th, 50th and 90th percentile of the daily high for each day of the month, and the warmest day and coldest night of that month in every year since 1991. No key or sign-up is needed. There is also a general JSON API with town search, documented at https://hexplace.org/developers/, and the data now covers 30 European countries, not only Portugal and Spain. It's all CC BY 4.0. If someone at Wikivoyage wants to fill the climate template from it, I'm glad to help with the format, but I'd leave the editing to them. Johanmichel2016 (talk) 07:08, 7 November 2026 (UTC)