User talk:Borderman

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Latest comment: 9 months ago by Imamy in topic Commons Categorization Reform

Wiki created[edit source]

Hello, I would like to tell you that I have created your wiki. You can now access it at https://thelonsdalebattalion.miraheze.org. You should automatically have been granted founder rights (administrator and bureaucrat), if that's not the case then please leave a notice on Stewards' noticeboard so we can fix it immediately. Do not hesitate to ask questions if your question was not answered in our FAQ. Also, if you want a extension, gadget, or anything else, please ask us here. Thank you for choosing Miraheze, and we wish you good luck with your wiki! Reception123 (talk)(contribs) 18:57, 6 July 2016 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Wiki creator[edit source]

Hi. As you've been helping out here on Meta with various things and you've been active in global discussion I was wondering if being a wiki creator would interest you. If yes, please read the Meta:Wiki creators guide and tell me so I can grant you the rights. Reception123 (talk) (contribs) 15:26, 26 December 2016 (UTC)Reply[reply]

@Reception123: At the moment I am happy to continue editing on Meta. Creating wikis is currently out of my comfort zone and I prefer to see instructions done visually (in a video etc.), that way I won't fear of making a hash of things. Thanks, however, for considering me as a possible candidate to create wikis. I will certainly consider it for the future when I become a bit more confident on Meta. Borderman  talk | contribs | email 19:24, 30 December 2016 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Coding help[edit source]

After your inquiry on Meta, I visited Lonsdale to offer coding help, did see the "annoying cookie message" which I am sure I could remove, but was listed as "Guest" rather than logged-in automatically, so I assume this is not a Miraheze wiki. You need to point me to the Miraheze one before I can contribute further. Spıke (talk)16:07 14-Sep-2017

@Spike the Dog: The cookie message was something I asked for a while back and was implemented via a phabricator ticket so removing it isn't an issue. I can ask for it to be removed via phabricator any time. In it's place, however, I would like a link to be placed in the footer (as mentioned on the community noticeboard). The wiki you visited is a Miraheze wiki, the custom domain version of this: http://thelonsdalebattalion.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page Not sure why you weren't logged in automatically though as others have
The cookie notice is very basic but it still serves a purpose so having a link to that page from the footer is all I need. Cheers. Borderman (Talk) 16:33, 14 September 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
I'm logged in at your site on .miraheze.org but not logged in at .uk--However, even at Miraheze, your wiki gives me a Permission Error when I try to create my own Common.js.
For starters, create your own Common.js on your own Miraheze wiki and type this:
$("DIV#footer LI#footer-info-copyright").html("<a href=https://thelonsdalebattalion.co.uk/wiki/The_Lonsdale_Battalion:Cookies>Read about Cookies</a>")
That replaces the copyright notice with the link and the descriptive text. Works for me in the Firefox Web Console, no guarantees. Spıke (talk)17:00 14-Sep-2017
PS--Have you read about cookies yourself? They are files on the user's computer that a web page and its script can call on to get context about that user (rather than have to transact back to the host to find out who the user is). The relevant point here is that, for security reasons, each cookie is in the name of a single URL. If anything at miraheze.org dumps a user onto a website at .uk, that cookie is inaccessible; that is, the user is logged out! It doesn't matter whether "it is the same website" (that is, the same set of pages); to the browser, it is a different URL and there is no way that one can read the Miraheze cookie. Spıke (talk)17:27 14-Sep-2017
@Spike the Dog: I already have a common.js page using code copied for other things. I don't want to alter the copyright notice "Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike unless otherwise noted." I need that, especially as I have media/text on my site that is copyright. My copyright notice has additional information that covers this and is required. Yes, I do have a basic understanding of how cookies work I just didn't know it made a difference between the Miraheze-specific and the custom site addresses. I only ever edit on the custom domain site and pages from that site are the only ones that show up in web searches. Borderman (Talk) 19:45, 14 September 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Then you would be interested in using something along the lines of: $('#footer-places').append('<li id="footer-places-cookies"><a href="'+mw.util.getUrl('The Lonsdale Battalion:Cookies')+'" title="The Lonsdale Battalion:Cookies">Cookies</a></li>')
Of course, this will simply put it at the end of the current set of footer items, but that can be changed if you want. -- Void Whispers 20:08, 14 September 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
@Void: That did the trick, thanks. It's not massively important but I would prefer it in-between "Terms of use" and "Mobile view". How is that achieved? Borderman (Talk) 20:24, 14 September 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
That can be achieved by replacing the piece I gave you with $('#footer-places-termsofservice').after('<li id="footer-places-cookies"><a href="/wiki/The_Lonsdale_Battalion:Cookies" title="The Lonsdale Battalion:Cookies">Cookies</a></li>'); (I replaced mw.util.getUrl due to an odd error that is easier handle like this). -- Void Whispers 20:35, 14 September 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
@Void: That sorted it. Appreciate your help, many thanks. Borderman (Talk) 20:53, 14 September 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]

(reset indent) Much seems to have happened while I was out on a wild-goose chase! Void's coding seems to finesse the issue of URL and direct you to the Cookies instruction file at whatever website in whatever country you were at previously. One thing that might remain unclear: If that code is in User:Boardman/Common.js, it affects the presentation to only you. To affect the presentation to all visitors, type it into MediaWiki/Common.js on your wiki. Spıke (talk)01:58 15-Sep-2017

@Spike the Dog: Wild goose-chase? Hope you didn't waste too much time looking into this for me. Sorry, if you did. You had me thinking for a second that I may have put the code in the wrong place but after checking I did put it in MediaWiki:Common.js. The cookie link shows up whether you are logged in or not. Borderman (Talk) 07:48, 15 September 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
No, it was a futile shopping trip. Glad the code is working for you! Spıke (talk)11:02 15-Sep-2017

Template as a sign[edit source]

Hi!

English Wikipedia, which is perhaps the wealthiest-resourced wiki in the world, prohibits using {{User:Example/sig}} in signature, and I ask you if you can do same for us (and you). There are few good reason, which I'll paste from enwiki:

  • Signature templates are vandalism targets, and will be forever, even if the user leaves the project.
  • Signature templates are a small but unnecessary drain on the servers. Transcluded signatures require extra processing—whenever you change your signature source, all talk pages you have posted on must be re-cached.
  • User mention notifications will not work if the mentioning user's signature is contained in a template.

I think mentioning malfunction should be enough reason to consider you not using template as a sign. If you wish, I can do the one-time substitution using my bot (so it doesn't flood RC). Thanks! — revi 12:29, 30 November 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]

As my signature is pretty basic to look at anyway, can I still use the following:
[[User:Borderman|<span style="color:#0645ad;">Borderman</span>]] <small><sup>[[User talk:Borderman|<span style="color:#709963;">'''(Talk)'''</span>]]</sup></small>
in the signature box on the preferences page and keep "Treat signature as wikitext" checked? Borderman (Talk) 14:43, 30 November 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
You have to keep "Treat signature as wikitext" ticked. Try pasting the wikitext in signature box, and if that is too long and mediawiki strips some of the text [mediawiki strips the signature at around 200 characters], you can continue using it, but you'll have to have "SUBST:" in front of the page, so {{SUBST:User:Borderman/signature}} in that case. — revi 14:50, 30 November 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
My signature is already using SUBST and has done for some time. The signature seems to fit in the box but I noticed on the wikipedia signature page about pipes used in signatures breaking templates on pages where the signature is used. It states: "If you wish to include the pipe (|) or equals (=) characters, these must be escaped, or they will break templates unexpectedly when your signature is present. To escape the | symbol, you can use | and to escape the = character, = will work." I just tried to escape the | symbol but it broke my signature. I think if using SUBST is ok, I'll keep using that for now. Borderman (Talk) 15:21, 30 November 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
It's currently ending up with {{User:Borderman/signature}} as you can see above in wikitext. Have you tried {{!}}(renders as |) ? — revi 15:27, 30 November 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Good point. I never noticed before. If it looks like this in my preferences {{SUBST:User:Borderman/sig}} but comes out without the SUBST, what's happening? Borderman (Talk) 18:35, 30 November 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Borderman/sig is transcluding Borderman/signature. So it subst'ed /sig thus transcluding /signature. Just use /signature in signature field in preferences. — revi 00:41, 1 December 2017 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Discussion notifications[edit source]

As you have probably noticed by now, Site updates have not been sent/updated for a while. The main reason for this is the fact that there was not an interest in it, and there was not enough information that was worth sending to users monthly.

I am sending this message to the Site updates list because I would like to propose a trying out a different type of notice sent to users. Instead of monthly updates of a limited number of statistics (which can be consulted by users anyway), staff would instead notify interested users if there is an interesting discussion (on Community noticeboard or Stewards' noticeboard) or if there is a local vote on Meta. Currently, there is no incentive for many users to visit Meta and check recent changes to see if there is anything they would be interested in, so this system would fix that and notify users of that so they can join in the discussion whenever there is one.

In order to subscribe to these notifications, please add your name in the same format to Discussion notifications/List, and you will start being notified on your talkpage. If there is interest in these notifications, they will be continued.

Also, please note that at least for the time being Site updates will be discontinued (since all the statistics are available anyway).

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:18, 3 May 2019 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Reception123, Miraheze System Administrator

Commons Categorization Reform[edit source]

How can I help? Raidarr told me at June 01 2023 Meeting that you would be the one to speak to about assisting with redeveloping the categorization at the Commons

---Imamy (talk) 15:46, 1 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]

@Imamy I haven't been on Commons for a while since starting my 2nd wiki, however, if you would like to help out that would be great. I would suggest going to Category:Commons media and simply scroll through the photos that have been dumped in that category. It is far too generic and doesn't help anyone browsing for images. Currently there are 1,335 images in that category that should really be in topic-based categories to allow for better navigation through the category structure.
  • If an image is of a landscape, think about what the landscape is depicting and look for a category in Category:Topics by expanding through the different levels, or searching for it with the search bar. If it does not exist, create the category and rename the "Commons Media" category on the image page to the new category.
  • Images can have multiple topic categories. An image of a Gothic-styled building could go into "Category:Gothic buildings", "Category:Buildings in <city name>", "Category:Buildings built in <year>" categories.
  • Also, please be aware that categories are hierarchical, so the new category you created might need to go inside a parent category, for example: "Category:Footbridges" can be a child category of "Category:Bridges", which can be a child category of "Category:Buildings and structures".
  • The "Topics" category should really only have sub-categories and Not pages as well. The pages listed there should really be inside other categories.
Just drop me another message if you have any queries, cheers. Borderman (Talk) 08:10, 2 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Awesome! I'll take a look.
Is there an existing Category for problematic images? eg. the images shouldn't be there but they are, but adding them to this Category would allow for review by someone? Imamy (talk) 13:38, 2 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
@Imamy Not that I know of, but it is a good idea as this will act as a holding area until the "problem" is resolved. I guess it all depends on how you define "problematic". If this was to be done properly there should really be a policy in place to define different types of problems with images, but as far as I know there isn't one other than the general Commons:Policy, which covers admin roles more than anything else. There is the Miraheze content policy, so images that contravene anything there would count.
As there isn't a specific policy in place on Commons for this, you could place images in "Category:Problematic images" until they are resolved. Depending on the issue, I would recommend using child categories that define the "problem" further, otherwise how would anyone else know why the image was problematic unless you left a reason why on each image's discussion page? No one wants to do that!
If one of the reasons is an image meets the criteria for deletion (based on the criteria listed in Commons:Policy), then place the image in something like "Category:Images for deletion" or something like that.
Other categories could include "Category:Vandalism issues", "Category:Copyright issues", "Category:Advertising issues" etc., or words to that effect.
Any images held in these categories can, as you say, be reviewed and acted on accordingly. Borderman (Talk) 15:10, 2 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]
Good ideas. I'll use the Category framework as a guide. Thank you! Imamy (talk) 15:57, 2 June 2023 (UTC)Reply[reply]