Talk:FAQ

How is this being financed?
+	There is no such thing as a free lunch, right?

We are financed by donations and all of our payments are stored here. Reception123  (talk) ( contribs  ) 12:15, 6 September 2015 (UTC)


 * Thank you for the quick explanation. It might be good to explain more of this in the FAQ. SeekTruthFromFacts (talk) 12:22, 6 September 2015 (UTC)


 * I agree. I'm missing "Who are you?", "Why are you doing this?" and "How are you financing this?" on the FAQ. Those are the first three questions I ask when someone is providing a free-of-charge service. ClaesWallin (talk) 16:22, 26 October 2015 (UTC)
 * This is for the founders to decide/add. Reception123  (talk) ( contribs  ) 14:24, 27 October 2015 (UTC)

Miraheze is being financed by donations a list of which can be found here: Finance

The largest donor in 2017 has been Wikimedia Indonesia

Private wiki: main page readable/editable by anonymous user
I just registered a private wiki with you, however, I noticed that the main page is readable and editable by anonymous users. How can I disable both? Is it through you Request features page? Thanks. Shadi
 * Hi, this is expected behavior. You can protect the main page here, and if you want a private main page you could look at this design. OfficeWiki has a publicly readable main page, which links to the 'actual, private main page' and has a link to login to the wiki. Southparkfan (talk) 09:47, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

Other topics

 * what licenses can be used?
 * How do I make a donation?
 * How do I make a backup of my wiki?
 * What is the infrastructure's uptime?

Topics added above by Rsterbal and Samtar -- Samtar talk to me 12:14, 11 August 2016 (UTC)
 * The donation question is already in FAQ and I have added the backup question. For the other two I am not sure, therefore I cannot give a definitive answer. Somebody else will have to answer that. --Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 13:40, 11 August 2016 (UTC)

RobertSter (talk) 14:06, 24 August 2016 (UTC)Can we get a more detailed answer about backups? It seems like we should be automating the process on an opt in basis. Could we have a discussion about the needs for backup somewhere as well?
 * The answer in the FAQ is more or less accurate as-is. We are not going to be automating wiki backups at this stage, it will remain manual. Backups are not stored off-site as there is no need to for simple useless (in our context) XML backups. We're not going to be investing in things which are not necessary to the running, security and redundancy of the entire operation. John (talk) 17:21, 24 August 2016 (UTC)
 * If you want to provide alternative text to put in the FAQ section, please do so. John (talk) 17:22, 24 August 2016 (UTC)

Suggested FAQ item.
I just wasted about an hour of my time searching for how a user creates an account. Since I was logged on, I did not see the words "Create account'' in the upper right corner. It won't be uncommon for people to show friends and colleages Mirahenze and want to help them create accounts.  You have to log out before your friend/colleague can create an account.  Duh!

How do I create an account on Mirahenze?
Look for Create account in the upper right corner. If a user has already logged into their Miraheze account, you need to Log out before you can create an account.


 * End of suggestion.--Guy vandegrift (talk) 15:28, 16 September 2016 (UTC)

Links
Can someone please edit this so that the request links point to Phabricator instead of Request features? MacFan4000 (talk) 16:03, 13 October 2016 (UTC)
 * I'll leave it open for discussion but I'm not going to do it and I'm on the fence about all of your edits. Yes, phabricator is used for requests. No, people shouldn't be told to go to https://phabricator.miraheze.org and figure it out on their own. The reason that the Request features page still exists and is linked to in the side bar is because it should provide users instructions on how to request things, as Phabricator can be confusing. It also gives link to direct forums depending on what is needed, not just a link to the homepage. -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 17:28, 13 October 2016 (UTC)

Update
Vorticity->Labster MacFan4000 (talk) 00:33, 29 October 2016 (UTC)
 * ✅ Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 10:58, 29 October 2016 (UTC)

Steward to add category to FAQ page please
I am currently tidying up the categories on Miraheze and believe the FAQ page would be useful in Category:Miraheze help. Can a Steward add this category to the FAQ page please as I do not have permission to make this edit. Many thanks. Borderman  talk 09:53, 26 December 2016 (UTC)
 * A good idea! I will add it. For the record, Stewards are in generally in charge of global matters and Meta administrators can deal with editing protected pages like this if needed. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 10:44, 26 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Thanks for adding the category. I have seen a few other pages that I cannot add categories to for the same reason so should I use the Administrators' noticeboard instead of the individual talk pages? Borderman   talk 10:58, 26 December 2016 (UTC)
 * No, that is not what I meant. The individual talkpage is a good place for these requests. I just meant that you should have in mind that not only stewards can deal with this sort of thing and if they did they would probably be doing it in their Meta administrator capability rather than Steward. Sorry for the confusion. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 11:00, 26 December 2016 (UTC)
 * Ok, got it! Cheers. Borderman   talk 11:02, 26 December 2016 (UTC)

alternative FAQs
[08:36]  What are the most common questions asked in this channel? [08:37] <+Reception123> One of the ones I've noticed is "When will my wiki request be approved" or similad [08:37] <+Reception123> Similar* [08:38]  That is the first one I added to this page: https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/FAQs [08:38] <+Reception123> Why did you create that page when we have FAQ? [08:39] <+revi> deleted [08:40] <+revi> feel free to modify FAQ [08:40] <+revi> (if protected, ask on wiki for edit [08:40]  do NOT delete my pages [08:40] <+revi> no [08:40] <+Reception123> Your page was a copy of FAQ [08:40]  get oput of my space [08:40] <+revi> you have no authority to order me [08:40]  it was not [08:40] <+revi> thanks. [08:41] <+Reception123> You can't just created a page with the exact same purpose of the other one [08:41]  stop deleting my pages [08:41] <+revi> your space is, stricty speaking, userpages [08:41] <+revi> not main NS [08:41] <Rob-Sterbal> JohnLewis please ask people to stop deletng my pages [08:42] <+Reception123> JohnLewis cannot decide that by himself. [08:42] <Rob-Sterbal> nor should you [08:42] <+Reception123> Me and revi are both Meta administrators and deleting is at our discretion [08:42] <Rob-Sterbal> stop [08:42] <+Reception123> Please explain why you created FAQs when we already have FAQ [08:43] <Rob-Sterbal> because mine would be organized differently [08:43] * ChanServ sets mode: +o revi [08:43] <@revi> I think we had enough drama from you, this is last warning that you'll be banned after one more time you continue causing drama (at ops discretion). [08:43] * revi sets mode: -o revi [08:43] <+revi> officially speaking as an op, so opped
 * There is no "alternative" FAQs. Any idea can be proposed to this FAQ by using this talkpage, so there is no point of an alternative of this page, and it would just confuse people to have to look at two FAQs instead of one. The point of a FAQ page is so that people can easily understand things, not make things more complicated. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#AF91521"> contribs  ) 12:47, 22 April 2017 (UTC)

The point of my page was to have an easy link that could be posted in the channel for questions in the channel that came up repeatedly.

Rsterbal (talk) 19:10, 22 April 2017 (UTC)


 * Then we could make FAQ/IRC but a FAQ out of the current FAQ namespace would not be appropriate. And there should be no need for a channel specific FAQ, as channel questions are similar/the same as on-wiki questions. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#AF91521"> contribs  ) 19:36, 22 April 2017 (UTC)

Of course there is a reason for a separate page. When you send someone a link, it should be relevant from the context they are. In this case a page should be created to explain to the people who use chat (what percentage of users use it?) what the answers are to the most commonly asked questions in the channel. There should also be more exposition for the answers than you would typically do on an IRC exchange.

I'm getting the sense that you only see one way of answering people's questions. Rsterbal (talk) 02:13, 23 April 2017 (UTC)

Chat Policy
Where is the chat policy located?
 * We do not have a chat policy yet. You are free to make a draft for one. Also please sign your talkpage posts with ~ . Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#AF91521"> contribs  ) 13:26, 22 April 2017 (UTC)

Adding a page covering wiki tools
Can we add a link to a page that covers tools (not extensions) that help people author wiki pages?

Two tools that I'd like to see on that page are excel2wiki and WikiUp

Anti spam
How safe are Miraheze wikis from spam. Non-Miraheze/unprotected wikis can get flooded with spam and fake user accounts? Rob Kam (talk) 12:10, 8 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I believe I can answer this. No wiki is safe from spam; even if you make your wiki read-only to non-logged-in users, it still usually takes a human being to distinguish fake user accounts, as Darwinian survival leads them to try to look non-fake.  (Big hints: female full name followed by a number, creates a user page with bad English and glaring inconsistencies while stating personal aspirations.)  Miraheze wikis come with Abuse Filter installed, which lets Admins write Regular Expressions and permaban users who add matching text to any page.  <span style="background-color:navy; -moz-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid yellow; white-space: nowrap"><span style="color:yellow; font-family: Cambria, Palatino, serif">Sp&#305;ke  (talk) 14:15 8-Sep-2017
 * On my non-Miraheze wiki I deny access to IPs blacklisted by Stop Forum Spam. I found the Abuse Filter very effective but multiple fake user accounts still get created so I've taken to moderating new user accounts - unfortunately this might discourage editing. The wikis I've seen elsewhere soon after setting up are quickly flooded by spam-bots. With the wikis I have on Miraheze, after the initial few months I've not noticed any problems. Rob Kam (talk) 17:51, 8 September 2017 (UTC)
 * A majority of the global spam we get is prevented by global abusefilter 14, which simply prevents anon users from creating a user-page. The rest of it is caught by filter 18 (which is currently shockingly simple), although this filter is known to have occasional false positives. So, the majority of the spam I see is actually by IPs. Although filter 19 targets fake user accounts, it doesn't have nearly as many hits as the other anti-spam measures. The spam that does get through the filters I frequently see in the global recent changes feed for all wikis, and I deal with that by hand. On occasion, I have been forced to create filters on a wiki to prevent the spam from becoming overwhelming. -- Void  Whispers 19:39, 8 September 2017 (UTC)

Moving from another host
Is there any way to bring the users over when moving from another host to Miraheze? Rob Kam (talk) 12:13, 8 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I doubt there is, or ought to be, an automated method. I suggest personal invitation.  You ought not to create an account for someone else who doesn't elect to be here.  <span style="background-color:navy; -moz-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid yellow; white-space: nowrap"><span style="color:yellow; font-family: Cambria, Palatino, serif">Sp&#305;ke  (talk) 14:15 8-Sep-2017
 * Since we have shared users, we don't import user tables, but users can just create accounts on Miraheze and they can be linked to previous contributions (from an XML import) by a sysadmin. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 16:58, 8 September 2017 (UTC)


 * Where do we request this? Psephomancy (talk) 15:26, 13 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Really sorry for the late response. If you are referring to transferring users, that should be requested on Phabricator. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 17:53, 25 September 2018 (UTC)

FAQ again
when you write a tutorial and find yourself writing, "What does this all mean?" it is a hint that even you know your intro wasn't clear. Let me try, and you can take whatever you find useful.

What's going on with my main page?
The main page of a wiki is subject to two special rules:
 * It is readable by everyone, even if your wiki is private. (See below.)
 * Mobile devices cannot tap on section headings to get that section to expand. This restriction suits projects of the WikiMedia Foundation but can frustrate some Miraheze users.

One way around both special rules is to have your Main Page redirect to some other page, as explained below.

To overcome the special rule on section headings, you could remove section headings from your wiki's Main Page. You could also make your Main Page's section headings HTML divisions. For example,

And continue as before, but please explain those "other issues." 03:43 16-Jan-2018
 * I wrote this part up pretty late at night, and I knew it needed help. I like the version you created, and will try and get around to cleaning it up shortly. -- Void  Whispers 18:37, 17 January 2018 (UTC)
 * Pretty much done. I created User:Void/Mobile Main Page to explain how one can use HTML divisions and stuff. -- Void  Whispers 19:42, 17 January 2018 (UTC)

That gets it done. I had a suggestion, which I made on the new article's talk page. 21:04 17-Jan-2018

Add a note that if your Main_Page doesn't import successfully, it was probably older than the Miraheze default one, as can be seen in the Main_Page History. So you would need to make a minor edit of it for it to become current. Jidanni (talk) 05:35, 5 November 2019 (UTC)

Question:
How many wikis can a user have active at once? (Just wanted to know) --Brynda1231 (talk) 20:07, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
 * there is no limit, i seem to remember that a user has 5 wikis. I would recommend not having too many Wikis unless it is clear that the topics you want to work on are not related to each other. For example, in a single wiki you could contain topics related to Sports and another wiki one for Video Games. --Wiki1776 (talk) 20:33, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

How to set a new logo and favicon, exactly?
In Special:ManageWiki there are entries for logo and favicon but it's not explained what we're supposed to write there. I tried uploading a logo and then writing there File:Wiki.png (notice how I used the default MediaWiki logo name) but the logo is now blank; I tried inserting the whole URL but that didn't work either.--Wedhro (talk) 13:25, 22 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Please read Tech:Change a wiki's logo. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 14:42, 22 June 2018 (UTC)

Is Special:SiteMatrix now Special:WikiDiscover?
I noticed SiteMatrix was a redlink and knew WikiDiscover was a thing so thought I'd ask that in case it should be changed since I can't edit the page myself. - 2601:801:4100:81BC:0:0:0:4125 16:56, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ -- Void  Whispers 17:05, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Wow! That was fast! Thanks! - 2601:801:4100:81BC:0:0:0:4125 17:11, 21 August 2018 (UTC)

Total Contribs?
How do I check my total contributions (total number of edits) on Miraheze, or at least my total contributions on a Miraheze wiki? Melofors (talk) 02:38, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
 * You can check your total contributions (as well as a breakdown of those total edits across Wikis) from Special:CentralAuth and inputting your username. -- Elaeagnifolia (talk) 06:38, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Hey, If you copy User:RhinosF1/global.js on to User:Melofors/global.js then on every wiki that has global css/js enabled you'll be able to see on User:/User talk: pages:
 * User groups the user is in
 * Account age
 * Number of edits
 * Time since last edit
 * Hope that helps, ~ RhinosF1 - (chat) · CA · contribs · Rights - ) 14:53, 6 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Thank you! Sorry for the late reply. Melofors (talk) 22:19, 17 September 2019 (UTC)

Account creation
Mention:

Thanks. Jidanni (talk) 06:05, 5 November 2019 (UTC)
 * On my wiki, if the user clicks "Create Account", is he creating an account on my wiki, or on Miraheze?
 * I don't want users to create accounts on my wiki. On my Help page I say "email me at x@y.z telling me why you need an account, and I will create one for you." So say how to disable users from creating accounts.
 * My other wiki is for showing off my great grandmother's creative writings. So even if somebody does create an account, I don't want them to edit anything. Mention how to set that setting.
 * All accounts created are global across all of Miraheze. With this system, it is impossible to prevent a user from creating an account. To restrict editing from groups, you can use Special:ManageWiki/permissions to remove the edit permission from the "*" and "user" groups and then assign it to whatever group you wish to be able to edit. -- Void  Whispers 18:29, 9 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Indeed, one observes even just viewing a page on any wiki on Special:WikiDiscover will create a (fresh, date just seconds ago) account there, as seen on that wiki's Special:ListUsers. (To avoid account creation use an incognito browser window.) Jidanni (talk) 14:42, 13 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Note: editing "Special:ManageWiki/permissions to remove the edit permission from the "*" and "user"" will create a nightmare if one ever wants to restore defaults: 1) hundreds of clicks needed. 2) No list of what the defaults were. One can only poke around for somebody else's freshly created wiki to see what they were, (using the same URL path but with different wiki name.) Jidanni (talk) 06:22, 12 December 2019 (UTC)

Returning users
So after upon importing a wiki, users should Create Account with the exact same Username as they had before, and then when they click Contributions, they will see all their pre-Import edits, (and newer post-Import edits, if any yet, all listed together) just as if the wiki had never been moved?

So in theory, if previous User B beats previous User A in the race to Create Account after the move to Miraheze, he could create an account called User A, and then people would think, "Odd, in the past User B supported more welfare cuts, but now he supports less, and odd, has even edited several of his old articles to change his views..."?

(Yes, most users are gentlemen and would not pretend to be somebody else. Jidanni (talk) 17:09, 9 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Pre-import edits are not reassigned to a user's account upon creation. While it is possible to do this manually, we'd like to have some evidence that the returning user is the same as the original. -- Void  Whispers 18:26, 9 November 2019 (UTC)
 * OK, let's work out a procedure, for putting in a wiki's Site Notice or somewhere. 1. User visits wiki and notices he is not logged in anymore. 2. He tries to login but finds his Username/password is invalid. 3. Eventually he figures out he needs to create an account. 4. OK, he creates an account with the same name as his existing contributions (possible?). Or he is told that account already exists? Or he is told that he needs to contact Miraheze staff if he wants to become the owner of that account (that has edits, but never has been logged in)? Best would be me, the wikisysop for that wiki, to somehow step in and approve him... Jidanni (talk) 15:48, 13 November 2019 (UTC)
 * It seems it is possible to have User:Ralph on wiki A and User:Ralph on wiki B, due to imports. But when Ralph tries to create an account, there can be no existing Ralph global account for him to succeed. And then there is the problem of linking the account number to the edits. So confusing. Jidanni (talk) 16:09, 13 November 2019 (UTC)
 * When content is imported, it is not assigned to an account unless there is an already existing account and some flag was set to attribute the imported content to existing accounts. Otherwise, the account name on imported edits is still free to use, as it is not actually in the form of an account name. Usernames on imported contributions tend to be (when they are not assigned to an account) in the form of an interwiki prefix (typically from Special:Interwiki, but it can be whatever the importer specifies) followed by the greater than symbol (">") and then the account name. So  would be an example. Basically though, importing content does not create an account for the contributions to be tied to. --  Void  Whispers 02:15, 16 November 2019 (UTC)

robots.txt
Are previous wikis' robots.txt files relevant on Miraheze? As they are usually for keeping bots out of non-content areas to reduce load, I bet probably not useful, as Miraheze probably has their own methods. Jidanni (talk) 17:13, 9 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Indeed, I see my new wiki comes with a complete robots.txt and even sitemaps! Case closed. Jidanni (talk) 01:47, 16 November 2019 (UTC)
 * Just for your information, if at any time would would like your wiki not to be indexed by search engines you can request that on Phabricator and a sysadmin will change the restricted ManageWiki setting for that. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#DC143C">'C' ) 09:04, 14 December 2019 (UTC)