WikiIndex:Community portal/News

<-- WikiIndex:Community portal

2024-02 thoughts about dead wiki / archiving here

Having run into a bunch of wiki that are no longer with us this year. I started to think that maybe we need a different namespace for wiki that have moved on. So that when people come here and bounce around, they find wiki that are at minimum, online. Also, removing them from all categories would seem prudent. Thoughts? MarkDilley

The defunct or closed or dead status should make it clear, but we could have some color if the infobox has that kind of status and maybe a headline that says so. As for categories, we definitely could have categories about [topic] assume that they are living and any of them that are dead can be a subclass of [topic]. Koavf (talk) 06:18, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

Yes, I remember advocating for keeping dead and defunct wiki in the main namespace. Now I am wondering about that decision again, checking out what folks think and appreciate hearing it. Best, MarkDilley

2022-07 – wiki engine, source code repo

Many wiki engines use or place their source code for download away from their own website to an external repository (such as GitHub or SourceForge). The wiki engine infobox template previously never had an option to clearly indicate this; however, it now does! A new field has been created in said infobox – |source code URL= , so please update wiki engine articles and / or categories accordingly. Thanks. --Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _{Admin / 'Crat} • talk2HH 22:25, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

2022-03 – bye-bye freenode IRC, replacement suggestions

For those not yet emerged from hibernation, the off-wiki Internet Relay Chat (IRC) feature 'freenode IRC' has closed. We therefore need to find a new service provider for our WikiIndex: Chatroom. One popular chat option appears to be the service provided by Discord.[1] Other services are available, though I personally am not proficient with any; therefore, we need to have a community discussion to find a new chat communication service which everyone (or a majority) are content with.

Can we please discuss suggestions, comments, alternatives, pitfalls, etc on our community portal talk page. Thanks in advance! --Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _{Admin / 'Crat} • talk2HH 23:51, 21 March 2022 (UTC)

2018 – bugs and updates

It seems we have a few bugs affecting our WikiIndex wiki, so it would be a good idea to consolidate all known bugs in one place. Furthermore, the MediaWiki software that powers our wiki is a little outdated (version 1.24.2), so it would be prudent to consider upgrading not only the core MediaWiki software, but also any requests for any new MediaWiki extensions. Please report your bugs, raise your requests, or contribute to the discussion in the appropriate page listed below.

• WikiIndex:2018 bugs
• WikiIndex:2018 upgrade requests

2017-12-14 – server move

Folks, we would like to take the site offline and migrate WikiIndex to a new server on Tuesday, December 19th at 1:00PM Pacific Time (21:00 UTC). We anticipate the maintenance period will persist until 3:00PM Pacific Time (23:00 UTC).

Please let me know if this time is problematic. And if folks could take a look afterwards to verify that all plugins and special site features are functioning correctly, that would be great. We don't anticipate any issues.

Thanks Raymond King | talk

Rockin!! ~~ MarkDilley

We've been working on the migration and it turns out that with all the extensions, it's a bit more difficult than we anticipated so we're going to regroup and try again, but probably not for a week or so. Sorry and we'll keep you posted! Raymond King | talk

Update: ETA Tues, Jan 9th around 1 or 2PM PDT for the migration Raymond King | talk

2017-12 – Wiki.Wiki has closed

Homepage of wiki.wiki announces the end of the wiki farm wiki.wiki. Moreover the domain WikiIndex.wiki is unavailable now. --Manorainjan 17:04, 5 December 2017 (PST)

2015-08-16 – server move complete?

The server move is complete and has been for a while. Please address any new or outstanding concerns about how the site is working to my talk page. BrandonCsSanders (talk) 15:20, 16 August 2015 (PDT)

2015-08-10 – new policy on files

See WikiIndex:File deletion policy if you are interested in discussing our guidelines for which files should be allowed or remain on WikiIndex.

2014-11-14 – upcoming ServerMove, please add concerns

Please help create a prioritized list of the most important aspects of WikiIndex that need to be preserved and addressed during the upcoming ServerMove. -- BrandonCsSanders

2014-11-01 – e-mail functionality works as expected

With the help of Emufarmers we got the server configuration right. The E-mail-verification procedure connected to the account creation procedure will work fine now, also with specific email providers like gmx.de or facebook.com. Manorainjan

2014-10-08 – new community tool in the works

This is the Invitation2Invatations ;-) On the new page Invitations to get involved you will find now the entry points of all ongoing work where You can get involved. Manorainjan

2014-09-27 – WikiCon 2014

The annual gathering for German-speaking Wikipedians WikiCon 2014 takes place from October 3 to 5 at Komed, Mediapark, Cologne, Germany. Manorainjan

2014-09-07 – getting the email function to work

We took up this old issue again and are making good progress. First results are this List of domains on a new help page that shows how to work around the problem until it is fixed. Manorainjan

2014-07-28 – Semantic MediaWiki re-enabled

From Emufarmers: I've added a robots.txt file telling bots not to crawl the dynamically generated pages; it looks like in this case it was probably a well-intentioned spider. I've re-enabled Semantic MediaWiki for now, though I can't guarantee that I won't have to disable it again.~~ MarkDilley

2014-07-28 – temporary shut-off of Semantic MediaWiki

From RayKing: Ben shut off that extension because it was somehow being abused and we were seeing problems on ICANNWiki which shares the same server (these are the only 2 sites on this server). I'm cc'ing Jonah (ICANNWiki) and Ben now, having just read the thread in your e-mail to see if there's a resolution to both issues. ~~ MarkDilley

2014-02-24 – domain name .wiki

Thoughts on moving this wiki from WikiIndex.org to Index.Wiki? I'd like to showcase this site as the main wiki directory as the new gTLD .wiki becomes available! Raymond King | talk

2014-02-21 – ConfirmAccount

I added ConfirmAccount permission to sysops as per the Feb 1 discussion below. Let me know if I should undo. ~~ BrandonCsSanders

Yay!! Many thanks Brandon! ~~ MarkDilley

2014-02-17 – spam prevention

Seems like there is a consensus for QuestyCaptcha vs. ConfirmAccount. I can turn off ConfirmAccount and do the Questy questions -- are there suggestions for questions that new legit users can answer and will stop the spammers? Ray King

Semantic-MediaWiki.org seems to have a good system. It removes a random letter from the wiki's name, and asks for a random number. Elassint 17 February 2014

2014-02-01 – ConfirmAccount

Ray King brought up the point again of making this wiki confirm by admin to ok the account, I have previously not liked that... but looking at all the account creation spam am open to reconsidering it... how do other folks feel? Best, MarkDilley

Wholly cow it's gotten bad, thoughts? Shall we and if so who's got the credentials to do it? Ray King

I like my filters blocking most of them :D --YiFei | talk 04:01, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

I think Emufarmers does. ~~ MarkDilley

I think the problem is the capatcha asks for the name of the wiki and nothing else, which the spambots have already memorized. We need something more effective. Elassint 9 February 2014

We use QuestyCaptcha on tfwiki.net too, but we've had to change the questions semi-regularly (every few months or so) because the spammers work out the answer. Once we change the question, it stops them dead again though. --abates (talk) 23:22, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Yea, we should try this simple solution first before trying something different. Elassint 15 February 2014

How do we change the QuestCaptcha? Or stop account creation from being shown in RecentChanges? ~~ ~~

LocalSettings.php has to be edited. 68.57.45.104 01:48, 12 February 2014 (UTC)

We installed ConfirmAccount as a stop gap measure - maybe too draconian but wanted to protect the wiki Ray King

Bad that only 'crats (which we doesn't many active ones) can confirm accounts --YiFei | talk 05:12, 15 February 2014 (UTC)

Yea, if we go so far to require confirmed accounts than we need to either set the permission to sysop or create more crats. Elassint 15 February 2014

Ok, so should we make some more crats or should we turn off the ConfirmAccount and try questy captcha first (and if so how do we determine what are good questions)? Ray King

I like the idea Elassint brought up if we are going to use this one, change the permissions to sysop. ~~ MarkDilley

2014-01-15 – wiki a month

Stumbled onto this idea on the Semantic MediaWiki.org wiki, highlighting a wiki a month? Should like a good idea here? Best, MarkDilley

Sounds good, we could feature it on the home page Raymond King | talk

I agree Let's spotlight some more interesting small wikis and ones that have unique features. We could probably do it on a weekly basis. Koavf (talk) 06:37, 22 January 2014 (UTC)

2013-06-24 – Form:Wiki

I have added Template:Size to Form:Wiki. Now when you add a wiki, you can input the size too. --YiFei | talk 06:13, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

That is great! How easy do you think it would be for wikiFactor? :-) ~~ MarkDilley

What? --YiFei | talk 00:18, 25 June 2013 (UTC)

In the size template, there is also a wikiFactor, you put size into form wiki, can you do the same for wikiFactor? or can you show me? Best, MarkDilley

Already there. See Special:FormEdit/Wiki/WikiIndex:Sandbox. --YiFei | talk 05:26, 2 July 2013 (UTC)

2013-06-20 – gadgets

I installed some basic gadgets for now, didn't want to go too crazy. I added a gadget to display a UTC clock for those who prefer that, a gadget for a purge tab/page refresh option, wikiED (since we don't have the WikiEditor extension, I added this for those who want something similar). I also added an enhanced CharInsert option (you can see the difference when editing pages, as it's enabled by default, makes the custom character insert page a nice looking drop-down menu with easy to select options) and a 'Sandbox' page option for those who want to do test edits (also enabled by default), and navigation popups, which allows people to see snippets of pages when hovering over links, as well as providing some extra editing options.

If you want me to change or remove anything, I'd be happy to. The gadgets that are enabled by default can be easily modified to be optional, and all of these gadgets can be enabled or disabled in the preferences. Arcane (talk) 21:23, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

2013-05-27 – tech news?

Wikimedia Meta-Wiki is organizing information in a really interesting way, both from an information architecture and design view. Tech / News / 2013 / 22 is a nice example. Impressed, MarkDilley

2013-05-20 – lost edits :-(

Edits made after around 2 AM UTC were lost today - Emufarmers has Upgraded software and extensions, still has a few to install, if he decides to. Bug reports need more detail. ~~ MarkDilley

2012-04 – unified Form:Wiki

I have unified Form:Wiki and Template:Wiki, so now, when you click on 'edit with form' tab, the form is autofilled.

Also, I'm creating thousands of new wikis, from Referata, Wikkii, and Wikia. emijrp 04:08, 6 April 2012 (PDT)

Cool. There a Wikia version of Form:Wiki? (in the style of Template:Wikia boilerplate ) --EarthFurst 12:25, 16 May 2012 (PDT)

Template:Wikia boilerplate isn't being used. There's nothing special on Wikia wikis except adding Category:Wikia. --Ciencia Al Poder 14:16, 16 May 2012 (PDT)

The Wikia boilerplate template definitely IS being used - virtually every Wikia entry on here that I've personally edited is based on or updated with the boilerplate. The 'WhatLinksHere' command won't work (nor will it work on any boilerplate) - the boilerplates are simply used as a 'copy and paste' to assist experienced editors. And Wikia wikis have some very unique attributes, which is why the Wikia boilerplate is so useful. Best regards Hoof Hearted • talk2HH 16:20, 31 August 2012 (PDT)

Add Template:Size to Form:Wiki ? --EarthFurst 09:48, 12 June 2012 (PDT)

'edit with form' doesn't seem to work well with 'Show preview'. Tried 'edit with form' and 'Show preview' and gave up after getting no Preview after six minutes. Retried same edit with traditional 'edit' and the 'Show preview' worked fine. --EarthFurst 14:55, 16 June 2012 (PDT)

Edit with form seems to remove editmode line from infobox. Is that intentional? --EarthFurst (talk) 02:01, 14 August 2012 (PDT)

2012-01 – spam fighting

Spam fighting, less spam fighting but it is still here with account spam. Ray King raised the question with me of requiring accounts to be authorized as a way to try and cut spam down to zero. We both loathe this option... but... we wanted to put it out to folks, especially the heros of spam fighting on WikiIndex - to see what you thought about it. Best, MarkDilley

It's nowhere as bad as it once was, so for the moment, I don't think it's necessary. The anon edits were the real pain and they are mostly gone now, so I think that going to a account authorization system would place more of a load on the Admin I think at least. TeraS

From my own experience of discovering and flagging spam, I've noticed that the spammers are now 'registered users'. So, can we say have a minimum edit count (maybe 10 edits) before even registered users can add links . . . or would that put off someone who genuinely wants to add a new valid wiki? --Hoof Hearted • talk2HH 01:26, 26 January 2012 (PST)

I think this is an ok idea, is there a way that we can message around it? Also, I am wondering if we have to do what Ray King asked - do we require people to request accounts? Best, MarkDilley

SOPA fighting. What do folks think about adding WikiIndex to this: http://SopaStrike.com - I would like to if there is general consensus. Best, MarkDilley

• Sounds like a worthy protest. I think WikiIndex should join the strike. --EarthFurst 10:01, 16 January 2012 (PST)

Spam fighting, spam fighting and more spam fighting. Special mention goes to Tera for her spam fighting work the last 6 months (or more) and to many others who carried the torch before. We now have CAPTCHA on account creation and on anonymous edits. Didn't want to have to do it on anonymous edits without a link, but we were getting hit pretty hard the last week. Let's cross our fingers for a less spam 2012. Best to everyone here. ~~ MarkDilley

2010-01 – WikiHorde

Using this wiki to organize other wiki work, an idea, what you think? ~~ MarkDilley

The idea is called WikiHorde and it is a crew of wiki people (checking to see if we can get that domain) - Best, MarkDilley'

That sounds like a cool idea. By the way, is there a place on WikiIndex for discussing ideas for running a wiki? That would include the above "good methods for inviting/advertising people elsewhere to come edit my wiki", etc. Is there a category for wiki where such "wiki on wiki" conversations are welcomed? Conversations such as, for example, the "Building community" guide. --DavidCary 20:47, 30 January 2010 (EST)

David, wiki on wiki is perfect here - however you want to organize it, and I will go for WikiHorde also! Best, MarkDilley

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