WikiQueer:FAQ/Technical

This FAQ answers some questions related to the technical workings of WikiQueer, including software and hardware.

Note: If you're trying to get help for a specific technical problem that isn't answered by the FAQs, try asking in WikiQueer:Troubleshooting or at the village pump.

What happens if two or more people are editing the same page?

 * When the second person (and later persons) attempts to save the page, MediaWiki will attempt to merge their changes into the current version of the text. If the merge fails then the user will receive an "edit conflict" message, and the opportunity to merge their changes manually. If multiple consecutive conflicts are noticed, it will generate a slightly different message. This is similar to Concurrent Versions System (CVS), a widely used software version management system.

How do I recover a password I have forgotten?

 * If you entered your e-mail address when you signed up, you can have a new password generated. Click on the "Log in" link in the upper-right corner. Enter your user name, and click the button near the bottom of the page called "Mail me a new password". You should receive an e-mail message with a new random password; you can use it to log in, go to your preferences, and change your password to something you'll remember.

How do I change my password?

 * You can change your password via Special:ChangePassword; you can also find a link to this in your preferences.

How do I report a bug?

 * The developers use the Bugzilla bug tracking tool to keep track of bugs. For more information, see Bug reports.

How do I suggest a new feature?

 * To make an official feature request, use MediaZilla. For information on using MediaZilla, please see Bug reports.

'Bold text'==What software is used to run WikiQueer?==

How big is the database?

 * , database storage took about 700 megabytes.
 * This may include free space inside database storage files, as well as a lot of indexing.


 * Uploaded files took up approximately 1.3 gigabytes, including thumbnails.


 * Compressed database dumps can be downloaded at http://download.wikiqueer.org/.

What kind of markup language does WikiQueer use?

 * WikiQueer uses a very simple markup based on UseModWiki. For more details, see WikiQueer:How to edit a page.

Why not use HTML?

 * The short answer is: for simplicity and security.


 * And now the longer answer. WikiQueer, and wikis in general, are meant to be edited on the fly. HTML is not easy to use when you simply want to write an article. Creating links gives us a particularly dramatic example. To link to the Michigan article using HTML, one would have to type


 * Michigan


 * Using MediaWiki markup is much easier:


 * Michigan


 * A special markup language even allows you to "transclude" special snippets of code, called templates, into wiki pages. (You can also "substitute" the code for that template, effectively copying and pasting it into the document, but this is a waste of space and is obnoxious to other users who try to edit but find that they have to scroll through large amounts of template code. Substitution is, however, preferred in some cases.)


 * Then there's security. Different web browsers have bugs that can be exploited via HTML. Malicious users could also do things like JavaScript popup windows or page redirects if they had full HTML ability on WikiQueer. Several "experimental" sites that allowed full-HTML editing have suffered such attacks, including a couple of other wikis that allowed arbitrary HTML.

So we can't use any HTML?

 * That's not true. Some HTML tags work. Also, HTML table tags were once the only way to create tables (but now it can be done by wiki syntax too). However, there's been some rumbling among the software developers that most HTML tags are deprecated.


 * Also see WikiQueer:How to edit a page.

What about non-ASCII characters, and special symbols?

 * WikiQueer uses Unicode (specifically the UTF-8 encoding of Unicode) and most browsers can handle it but font issues mean that more obscure characters may not work for many users.


 * See http://www.unicode.org/help/display_problems.html for instructions on how to enable Unicode support for most platforms.

What about math topics, which require many special symbols, fonts, and graphics?

 * Just use TeX! See Meta:Help:Formula.

Is it possible to download the contents of WikiQueer?

 * Yes, the complete text and editing history of all WikiQueer pages can be downloaded. See WikiQueer:Database download.

Does WikiQueer use cookies?

 * Cookies are not required to read or edit WikiQueer, but they are required in order to log in and link your edits to a user account.


 * When you log in, the wiki will set a temporary session cookie which identifies your login session; this will be expired when your browser exits (or after an inactivity timeout), and is not saved on your hard drive.


 * Another cookie will be saved which lists the user name you last logged in under, to make subsequent logins just a teensy bit easier. (Actually two: one with your name, and one with your account's internal ID number; they must match up.) These cookies expire after 180 days. If this worries you, clear your cookies after completing your session.


 * If you check the "remember my password" box on the login form, another cookie will be saved with a token that authenticates you to our servers (which is unrelated to your password). As long as this remains valid, you can bypass the login step on subsequent visits to the wiki. The cookie expires after 180 days, or is removed if you log out. If this worries you, don't use the option. (You should not use it on a public terminal!)

Hey! Why was I automatically logged out?

 * This could be a result of your cookie, browser cache, or firewall/Internet security settings. Or, to quote Tim Starling (referring to a question about "remembering password across sessions"):
 * "The kind of session isn't a network session strictly speaking, it's an HTTP session, managed by PHP's session handling functions. This kind of session works by setting a cookie, just like the "remember password" feature. The difference is that the session cookie has the "discard" attribute set, which means that it is discarded when you close your browser. This is done to prevent others from using your account after you have left the computer.


 * The other difference is that PHP sessions store the user ID and other such information on the server side. Only a "session key" is sent to the user. The remember password feature stores all required authentication information in the cookie itself. On our servers, the session information is stored in memcached, a system for non-durable (unreliable) caching. Session information may occasionally be lost or go missing temporarily, causing users to be logged out. The simplest workaround for this is to use the remember password feature, as long as you are not worried about other people using the same computer."


 * In other words: click the "remember me" box when logging in.


 * See also Help:Logging in.

The software that runs WikiQueer is great! Can I use it for my site?

 * You can, but depending on your needs you might be better served using something else; MediaWiki is big and complex.


 * If after scanning that you're still sure you want to use MediaWiki; see the MediaWiki web site for details on downloading, installing and configuring the software.

I have a problem not on this list, where do I go?

 * See Troubleshooting - if it's not on there try the village pump.

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