WikiIndex:2013-2014 bugs and upgrades

For earlier upgrading discussions from 2006, see: WikiIndex:Upgrade Discussion.

For discussions from 2011, see: WikiIndex:Spring 2011 Upgrade Path.

WikiIndex:Upgrades needed — this page is to be used for raising suggestions and discussing strategies for upgrading our MediaWiki software used by WikiIndex. It can typically include any of the published, and stable, MediaWiki Extensions; or any other applicable and workable strategies. Please add any suggestions or offerings in any of the subheadings below (or create a new subheading), and discuss.

MediaWiki version

Need - upgrade to 1.19.5

Want -

Are we on the best version, would that be part of an update of extensions? Best, MarkDilley

Right now (14:41, 22 December 2012 (PST)) WikiIndex is running MW 1.19.1; the newest stable version is 1.20.2 and 1.19.3 is the newest version of the 1.19.x branch. So yes, an upgrade could be nice. :) --Jack Phoenix (talk) 14:41, 22 December 2012 (PST)

Update: 1.20.4 is the very latest version, and 1.19.5 is the latest of the '1.19' branch. 1.19.5 seems to include a few security updates over our current version. If you arn't inclined to go down the latest 1.20 version, then at least upgrade to 1.19.5 -- :) Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 12:28, 21 April 2013 (PDT)

Images

1. Favicon - — Pro - it is awesome; Con - Can it be keys?
   1. Keys would be lost in an image which is 6mm (quarter inch) square. And who outside of regular WikiIndex editors/readers would understand what the keys meant? Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 01:55, 22 April 2013 (PDT)
2. http://wikiapiary.com/w/images/wikiapiary/b/b4/Monitored_by_WikiApiary.png — WikiApiary:Monitored by
   1. Why???
3. We need a mini-banner like that WikiApiary which states something like "Indexed on WikiIndex" - to be used as a kind of voluntary banner exchange on other sites which we've indexed.

LinkSpam / WikiSpam / Vandalism

Need -

1. mw:Extension:AbuseFilter — Pro: as discussed here and Jack suggested using this. - Con: needs mw:Extension:AntiSpoof (which we don't currently have)
2. mw:Extension:SimpleAntiSpam — Pro: Jack suggested using this
3. mw:Extension:CheckUser — Pro: used for checking IP addresses - Con: Any?
   1. It's beyond me how come, as of 2013 (sic), CheckUser still isn't a part of MediaWiki core; and why on Earth isn't this extension installed on WikiIndex already?! --Jack Phoenix (talk) 14:41, 22 December 2012 (PST)
   2. I think it is really important, since some admins spend almost a whole day blocking new accounts. --Zhuyifei1999 (talk) 02:45, 13 April 2013 (PDT)
4. mw:Extension:NoBogusUserpages — Pro: - would obviate the need to police User: (IP address) pages since they cannot be created by anyone except the legitimate user of the IP - Con - would not stop spammer from posting spam on the User IP page if that is their actual IP.
5. mw:Extension:AntiSpoof — Pro: we need this if we also want mw:Extension:AbuseFilter

Want -

1. mw:Extension:Nuke — Pro: allows sysops to delete numerous pages as one - Con: Not necessary, since those spams are from different usernames and IPs. --Zhuyifei1999 (talk) 21:29, 13 April 2013 (PDT) - so I will strike this if this is correct.
   1. Comment: can't agree Zhuyifei1999 - we have had many instances in the past where certain prolific religious spammers create masses of pages from one user account (though I accept we seem to have this under control at the moment). Just because we have a particular extension installed, it doesn't mean we have to actually use it! Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 01:49, 22 April 2013 (PDT)

Account creation protection

Need -

1. mw:Extension:ConfirmAccount — Pro: can be used to stop spambots from creating accounts, think of this ethos of having a door bouncer on guard at a nightclub – Con: needs active Sysops/Bureaucrats to monitor new account requests (but surely it is better to prevent trouble, rather than letting everyone in, and then stopping the mess and clearing up spam and vandalism) Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 01:48, 15 March 2013 (PDT)
   1. Question: can this be toggled on and off? MarkDilley
      1. Don't think so. The default config is for only Bureaucrats to control this, but permissions can also be granted to Sysops - so as long as we have a regular patrol of sysops - this should work well. Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 02:01, 22 April 2013 (PDT)

Want -

1. mw:Extension:TitleBlacklist — Pro: can be used to stop spambots from creating accounts – Con: looks complicated
2. mw:Extension:Renameuser — Pro: allows people who registered under an alias to have account changed to RealName and maintain edit histories – Con: none
3. mw:Extension:User Merge and Delete — Pro: Rename changes the name of one account, whereas this can merge or combine two accounts into one, and deletes the account not needed. – Con: Very dangerous, can permanently delete user accounts (but this can be set for 'crat permission only)

General housekeeping

Need -

1. Change default email for WikiIndex messages. Right now it is it coming from John Stanton's personal email and he is not active here anymore.
2. mw:Extension:Admin Links — Pro: anything to help sysops has gotta be a bonus - Con: grumpy sysops if you don't :p

Want -

1. mw:Extension:WikiEditor — Pro - More user friendly editing interface, simpler to understand and has many features to assist inexperienced editors Arcane (talk) 15:17, 21 January 2013 (PST)Arcane
   1. I'm not sure if this is really needed. And more importantly, is this compatible with Semantic MediaWiki? Are there any SMW sites which use this? Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 02:39, 22 April 2013 (PDT)
2. mw:Extension:Translate — Pro: would help make this wiki open for all languages. - Con: Any?
   1. Seems to be quite buggy. The three sites which currently use it have far more active software developers that we do here at WikiIndex. Whilst I agree with the ethos, I fear this may be more of a hassle and can of worms :( Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 02:39, 22 April 2013 (PDT)
3. mw:Extension:Maps — Pro: this would be really good for our City-Wiki entries, uses maps from more than one source (Google, Yahoo, OpenStreetMaps, etc) - Con:
4. mw:Extension:SpecialUserScore — Pro: it just lists edit counts of people (something interesting for stats geeks) and it helps people to see who is building WikiIndex - Con: probably doesn't add any real value to WikiIndex
5. mw:Extension:Labeled Section Transclusion — Pro: would help select a part to transclusion and we need it for the relationship among Template:Wiki,Template:Wiki boilerplate, Template:NewWiki boilerplate, and Community Portal.--Zhuyifei1999 (talk) 05:00, 13 April 2013 (PDT) - Con: Any?
   1. I'm not convinced. This seems to work well on Wikipedia, which relies heavily on linking between articles. Here on WikiIndex, we rarely link between articles, and Template:NewWiki boilerplate is obsolete (whichever 'boilerplate' is used, be they the Wikia version or any of the language-specific versions, they all call on just one template - Template:Wiki to render the infobox). So not needed. Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 02:39, 22 April 2013 (PDT)
6. mw:Extension:LastUserLogin — Pro: would let us know a person's activity. - Con: Any?
   1. Why????? Either use Special:RecentChanges, or if you want to watch a specific user, add them to your watchlist :/ Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 02:39, 22 April 2013 (PDT)
7. mw:Extension:NewUserMessage — Pro: would automatcally place a welcome message. - Con: The effort of personally welcoming someone is what builds community I think. I am afraid that a robot generated welcome message would deter from a welcoming environment. It certainly would place information on a person's talk page, not sure how valuable that is though. Best, Mark
   1. No way. If we as a community can't manage a personal welcome for the few genuine new users we get, then we should bury our collective heads in shame :-((((( Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 02:39, 22 April 2013 (PDT)
8. mw:Extension:CategoryTree — Pro: this would be really helpful in seeing how our categories are constructed - Con: IIRC CategoryTree is broken on the most recent version(s) of MediaWiki, as per mw:Extension talk:CategoryTree. --Jack Phoenix (talk) 14:41, 22 December 2012 (PST) - Check to see if still broken
   1. Sadly still seems to be broken. Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 02:39, 22 April 2013 (PDT)
9. mw:Extension:IconLink — Pro: as raised here - Con: The code could do with a bit of updating (and preferrably a security review, too). --Jack Phoenix (talk) 14:41, 22 December 2012 (PST) - Striking out because we don't have capacity to update code or do a security review. ~~ MarkDilley
10. mw:Extension:FaviconLink — Pro: - Con: The code is a mess and in the past, there was a XSS vulnerability in it. --Jack Phoenix (talk) 14:41, 22 December 2012 (PST) Striking out because we don't have capacity to update code or do a security review. ~~ MarkDilley

Bugs

Need -

1. Sean can not get his email confirmed, this has happened to a few people.
2. Why are Sysops blocked by our anti-spam tools, but new accounts able to over-ride them at will? Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 02:42, 22 April 2013 (PDT)

Want -

1) Sometimes people get their sidebar reset to MediaWiki standard. I have had it happen myself just recently as well. ~~ MarkDilley

This is most apparent between when you are logged in or logged out. I don't think it is specific to any browser - I use either IE8, Firefox, Chrome or Maxthon 3 - and they all do it. Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 03:49, 20 March 2013 (PDT)

2) Atom feed (on Android devices) - seems to lag a few 'edits' behind current desktop version. Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 03:49, 20 March 2013 (PDT)

3) what to do with My spam blacklist not working... it seems this is working again :/ Sean, aka Hoof Hearted • _Admin • talk2HH 03:43, 20 March 2013 (PDT)

4) From John Vandenberg:

These emails are saying the server is localhost

 From: MediaWiki Mail <[email protected]>
 Date: Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 12:48 AM
 Subject: ThinkiWiki at WikiIndex has been changed by Hoof Hearted
 To: Jayvdb 

 Dear Jayvdb,

 The WikiIndex page ThinkiWiki has been changed on 12 March 2013 by Hoof Hearted, see http://localhost/ThinkiWiki for the current revision.

 See http://localhost/index.php?title=ThinkiWiki&diff=0&oldid=82525 for all changes since your last visit.

 Editor's summary: Text replace - "{{tag|Open Source}}" to "{{tag|open source}}" This is a minor edit

 Contact the editor:
 mail: http://localhost/Special:EmailUser/Hoof_Hearted
 wiki: http://localhost/User:Hoof_Hearted

 There will be no other notifications in case of further changes unless you visit this page.

 You could also reset the notification flags for all your watched pages on your watchlist.

 Your friendly WikiIndex notification system


 To change your e-mail notification settings, visit http://localhost/Special:Preferences

 To change your watchlist settings, visit http://localhost/Special:EditWatchlist

 To delete the page from your watchlist, visit http://localhost/index.php?title=ThinkiWiki&action=unwatch

 Feedback and further assistance: http://localhost/Help:Contents

On the back-burner

This sub-section can be used making suggestions for beta extensions, ie, those we might like to add at a later date once they've evolved into a stable extension

1. mw:Extension:MassEditRegex — Pro: can be used by Sysops for 'bot'-like edits, without the need for creating bot scripts - Con: still in beta phase
   1. The extension status (alpha/beta/stable) means very little in reality...installing and testing it is a better way to see whether it works on WikiIndex's version of MediaWiki. --Jack Phoenix (talk) 14:41, 22 December 2012 (PST)
   2. I can vouch for this. I've used the MassEditRegex extension on my own wiki repeatedly and it has proven quite stable and does what it is intended to do. I highly recommend it. Arcane (talk) 12:43, 25 January 2013 (PST)Arcane
   3. Issue is we don't have a dedicated back end developer to work on WikiIndex, know anyone who can? :-) So I say strike out for now.