[cdwg] Wiki Update

[John Carrier]

I'm in favor of your option "C",  which I think is what is used by Wikipedia too.  For example, I can't make an immediate update to Wikipedia without being vetted by someone first. We don't need a moderator, just someone who authorizes access.  I think this model is effective and keeps the churn to a minimum.   

I didn't use foswiki because of the mixed messages about the site redesign.  I didn't want to put any effort into the site if it was going to change.  I have a dummy page I created for testing.  I find mediawiki to be a more intuitive interface for editing than foswiki.  

--jc

-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher J. Morrone [mailto:morrone2 at llnl.gov] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2012 1:27 PM
To: John Carrier
Cc: Nathan Rutman; cdwg at lists.opensfs.org
Subject: Re: [cdwg] Wiki Update

On 11/07/2012 01:08 PM, John Carrier wrote:
> Chris,
>
> When Shay first had the mediawiki set up, there were a couple problems I encountered.  Anyone could register on the wiki regardless of affiliation and anyone registered could add/remove content.  We need to allow the wiki to be moderated before updates get posted.  There were also issues with uploading files (ie they weren't enabled).

First, those issues are just configuration details, not fundamental problems with either Mediawiki or our service level at Dreamhost.  Now more detail:

Permissions: Is that REALLY necessary?  Our opensfs wiki is nearly entirely unused.  You talked about the TWG area on the wiki on a recent call.  But that area is just an empty stub, not an actually used area. 
Why is that?

To make the wiki better, I think Nathan and I are of the opinion that we need to lower the bar for contribution.

But like I said, Mediawiki is configurable.  The main modes are something like:

   A) Anyone can create/modify pages without an account.  Anyone can
      view pages.
   B) Anyone who creates an account can create/modify pages.  Anyone can
      view pages.
   C) Anyone who creates an account, and then someone else authorizes
      that account can create/modify pages.  Anyone can view pages.
   D) Private wiki.  Only those with accounts and authorization can even
      view the wiki.

I selected "B" the first time through configuring it.  That will stop the dumber bots from spaming our wiki.  I think it would be reasonable to wait until people actually start causing problems, or we get bots that are auto-creating accounts on our site and spamming us (although we might also look into captcha to help avoid bots).

But if people are really paranoid, I suppose C would work, and I would just try to authorize all new accounts from recognized names and/or organizations as soon as possible.

Uploads:  I turned them on.  Max file size increased to 64MB.  That can be changed if needed.

Chris