Signpost Production: Inside Wikipedia's Independent News Hub

When you read about a major Wikipedia policy change, a heated admin election, or a surprise tool launch, you’re often reading something first published by The Signpost, Wikipedia’s volunteer-run newspaper that reports on the inner workings of the encyclopedia. Also known as Wikipedia’s newsroom, it’s the only place where editor debates, vandalism wars, and fundraising battles are covered with the same rigor as a news outlet—but without a single paid journalist. Unlike mainstream media, The Signpost doesn’t cover celebrity gossip or global politics unless they directly impact how Wikipedia works. It’s the inside track on what’s really happening behind the scenes: who got banned, why a new filter was added, or how a small group of volunteers pushed through a major change in how articles are assessed.

The people behind Signpost production aren’t staff—they’re editors who log in after work, during lunch breaks, or late at night. They dig through edit histories, attend community meetings, and interview regular contributors to find the stories no one else sees. Their work connects tools like Huggle, a fast vandalism-reversion tool used by thousands of volunteers, to real-world outcomes. They explain how CentralNotice banners, the fundraising and policy messages you see on Wikipedia are approved, who gets to decide them, and why commercial ads are strictly forbidden. They track how WikiProject tools, the banners and worklists volunteers use to organize article quality help keep millions of pages consistent. And they don’t shy away from hard truths—like declining editor numbers, AI copyright threats, or how misinformation spreads when news outlets treat Wikipedia as a primary source.

Signpost production isn’t about breaking news—it’s about making sense of the noise. It turns raw edit data into context. It explains why a movie’s Wikipedia page spikes in traffic during release week, or how a single correction in a major newspaper can trigger hundreds of updates across Wikipedia. You won’t find headlines like "Celebrity Dies" here. But you will find out why that article got locked, who fought to keep it open, and how the community decided what facts stayed. This is the only place where the people who build Wikipedia tell their own story. Below, you’ll find a collection of articles that show exactly how The Signpost shapes understanding of the encyclopedia—not just for readers, but for the volunteers who keep it alive.