Community noticeboard

Note from SRE Regarding the Swift Migration
On behalf of SRE,

As we have been mentioning for months, we are finally going to be beginning our file storage migration from our current software (GlusterFS) to a new, more modern software (Swift). GlusterFS is an outdated and inefficient technology. It has frequently caused issues with our MediaWiki performance, and some of the sporadic 503s can be attributed to it.

Swift is a much more modern storage software, which is used by the Wikimedia Foundation, and has better performance for the high volume of traffic. We have been working hard to get everything in order, and working with this new storage solution. There should hopefully not be to many user-facing interruptions during this migration, but you could at some points during it experience some issues. If you do, please let us know.

We have already started the migration by first switching over all new wiki creations to use Swift. Soon we will begin switching other wikis over. We will be doing it so that all wikis starting with the letter "a" will be switched over first, then once they are done, all wikis starting with the letter "b" will be switched over, and so on and so forth. We expect the total timeframe of the migration to last around one month before all wikis are switched over.

However, there is one unfortunate side-effect of this: during the migration, and potentially a little bit longer after the migration is done, we have to disable the ability for wikis to generate their own dumps using Special:DataDump. If you need to request a dump before we are able to get it working again, please request so on Phabricator.

— Universal Omega (talk) 20:50, 27 October 2022 (UTC)
 * AdvanceWarsWiki's images uploaded before 18:12 are showing up as errors. . The one I uploaded recently is ok though . OrangeStar (talk) 18:24, 28 October 2022 (UTC)
 * This issue is no longer happening, the first two images returned but the third got lost, I just decided to reupload the third and move on. The migration to swift looks like a success in that wiki, because I feel like the wiki's loading times are reduced notably, but still, it's a wiki that basically I edit and read only myself for now, we'll see how it goes in more famous wikis. OrangeStar (talk) 22:18, 28 October 2022 (UTC)
 * I apologise for the issues that occured earlier. The issue at that time was caused by a configuration change that has been fixed. Please let me know if you encounter any further issues. I will note however, that during this migration there may be times that a few images might not appear correctly. That is because they are still being copied over to Swift. It shouldn't be a highly common occurrence, but it may happen at some times. Perhaps for a few hours to maybe a day or so. Universal Omega (talk) 05:41, 29 October 2022 (UTC)
 * I’m lucky that I was on Googlepedia (mh:google:Main Page). It is editable and loaded content quickly as of now. Silicona (talk) 12:16, 4 November 2022 (UTC)
 * It's going to be hard to migrate to Swift with so many wikis impacted by the db141 issues. Buzzfan120 (talk) 00:50, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The migration is already complete now. Universal Omega (talk) 00:53, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
 * can you show me the link to the migration? Mister Dude 13 (talk) 04:49, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

Db141 update
On 16 November, 2022, we noticed a database server, db141, had gone offline. While investigating, we quickly realised that the problem was not the database server itself but rather the server (cloud14) which hosted it. Cloud14 had entered read-only mode and the db141 database had locked up as it was unable to write data. Log analysis indicated signs of potential disk-related issues. Shortly thereafter, the cloud server restarted but did not come back online.

We immediately went to work to figure out what could be done about the issue and to see how we could bring affected wikis back online. Unlike all the other issues we have ever encountered relating to software, a hardware issue is harder to correct as they require physical intervention. After determining nothing could be done to recover the drives locally, we began arranging to send the drives to a professional data recovery service. We have since shipped out the drives to the professional data recovery service and are awaiting for the results. As of 04:46, 29 November 2022 (UTC) the drives have been shipped to Owen for evaluation before involving a data recovery service.

Backups
For a long time, Miraheze used Backupsy for it's offsite backups. We then moved to using Bacula on an offsite server to backup our data. While this arrangement worked, as we grew, this could no longer accommodate us adequately; using Bacula on an offsite server grew to be very complex and costly. While our user base has grown exponentially and we are ever grateful to our users for this feat, our donations have not. The cost to keep hosting that server was high and with the resources available to us back then, it was unfeasible to keep that solution for a long time. As such, we planned to move to a 'cold storage' solution which would be much cheaper and easier to utilise than hosting an actual server and maintaining the software and configuration.

In the meanwhile however, whenever a database backup was run via Bacula, the entire farm went down as the I/O strain on the database servers was high and that on top of having to serve millions of users a day put a toll on our servers. As such, full database backups were temporarily paused. We planned to switch to our cost efficient 'cold storage' solution once we migrated from OVH, our old provider, to our new hosting provider, ServerChoice. Once we migrated, we began work on this solution as the I/O load would not be as big on our new servers. Unfortunately, we had some difficulties with getting the solution to work properly at that time and this was stalled temporarily while we fully moved off of OVH due to our off-site backups policy which requires the backup server to not be hosted by the same provider, in the same country, and on the same power grid, to maximize redundancy in cases of emergencies. As we planned to use OVH Public Cloud Archive, we could not use OVH until we moved off of OVH completely. This was completed a few months ago in September. Since then however, no volunteer has had the time to look into backups properly. As you know, Miraheze is run 100% by volunteers, no one is paid or has ever been paid even a single cent. Our technical team was unable to revisit backup strategies due to a combination of factors including limited time due to real life commitments such as work, etc.

While full database backups were paused however, XML database backups were not. Every time wikis were deleted for inactivity pursuant to the Dormancy Policy, a full XML database dump of all wikis was also generated. This was not as intensive as a full database backup and was done on a different server hence why they didn't affect the farm as much. This means wiki database dumps were generated every few months. While not something formally mandated, we usually uploaded database dumps of all public wikis on to archive.org so that anyone could download them. We did this several times per year starting from 2017. Since October 2021 however, we had not uploaded them to archive.org due to our focus shifting on other things such as that year's fundraiser, our server migration, technical goals such as improving the performance of Miraheze, and more. We attempted to resume this process and we made a full database dump of all wikis in late October 2022 and attempted to upload them to archive.org. We attempted to upload these database backups 3 times but they all failed near the end due to network issues. We then shifted our focus on developing a script to potentially automate the entire task for us in a much more efficient manner but this was ultimately interrupted and never came to fruition due to the cloud14 issue. While checking for backups, we realised we had made a huge error. The database dumps we had generated 2 weeks earlier for wikis was located on mwtask141, a server on cloud14. As a result, we had no usable backups on hand. This means that at this present moment, we do not have any up-to-date backups of the affected wikis available for us to use to restore the wikis, we only have backups from October 2021.

We must wait for data recovery services to see what data they can recover from the drives. We are currently evaluating our options for data recovery to see what data can be recovered from the drives.

Moving forward
We understand how frustrating hearing that can be and we deeply apologise. This was a massive oversight from our part and such an important thing should not have been put on the backburners. Moving forward, we are working to ensure that such a mistake never happens again. We have revisited our backup strategy and now have a functioning script which automatically creates backups for all public wikis and uploads it to archive.org every first of the month. We are also in the process of re-evaluating solutions and working towards hopefully fully backing up the rest of our infrastructure to cold storage to ensure no data loss in the future. We are taking many steps to prevent this from happening again and developing processes to get Miraheze online faster in case of an event of similar or greater proportions. We are now waiting on data recovery to see what can be done with the drives and hopefully, if all goes well, we can recover all the databases.

We are truly very sorry and we deeply apologise to our affected communities. Despite all being unpaid volunteers, our entire team has worked around the clock, sleeping less than 4 hours in some cases, to ensure that we can do everything possible to help resolve this issue. We are very deeply thankful to our community for their understanding and support these past few days, we cannot stress how much this has helped us and has encouraged us to continue working to resolve this issue diligently. We are also very grateful to the people who have donated over the last few days to help pitch in for the data recovery cost. Miraheze does not have lots of resources available to us to freely spend money so all these donations are very much appreciated. This has been a costly mistake and we are working to ensure this never happens again. Once again, we deeply apologise to the affected communities and we are working as hard as we can to get your wikis back online. If you have any questions, please email us at sremiraheze.org or ask on Discord. Thank you. Agent Isai Talk to me! 17:09, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Amended the above statement to reflect that we have not yet involved a data recovery service. The drives are currently being looked over by Owen. -- Void  Whispers 04:46, 29 November 2022 (UTC)


 * well thanks to that
 * now i get waste of my time because of annoying wiki downtime because disk issues even i just working hard by doing to do stuff on companyball wiki until that wiki was down
 * i just thinking how would be fixed but 3 weeks to get fixed this?? even i am on school Hyebun (talk) 19:42, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
 * While your frustration is understandable, you must remember that this is a volunteer project. Not taking your anger out on the volunteers here is the least you can do to avoid worsening the situation. — k6ka  🍁 ( Talk ·  Contributions ) 23:29, 23 November 2022 (UTC)
 * thanks because i was upset about the database issue Hyebun (talk) 09:41, 26 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Ok now I’m getting a shift to one of our db141 wikis (fohsarchive) so I have a hangout fandom wiki PrincessTricktyy197 (talk) 16:24, 24 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Yeah do what she said SetsunaKnowsTheMatrix (talk) 16:03, 26 November 2022 (UTC)
 * After this disk failure issue, I began to think I should backup the wiki I manage by myself. But DataDump does not work currently. Please fix it also soon. --AkiGoto (talk) 23:31, 24 November 2022 (UTC)
 * It sounds to me like maybe there *should* be paid staff, if current volunteers are short on time. --HiccupJul (talk) 23:34, 24 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Firstly, Miraheze doesn't have the ability to pay staff. The money that's raised by Miraheze goes to keeping our services operational, which is what we're currently doing by fixing our disk issue. Second, if it's your wish to backup your wiki yourself, you're more than welcome to do so. This is a temporary inconvenience, not a permanent deletion of the wikis. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 23:43, 24 November 2022 (UTC)
 * We don't have paid staff because we don't want to, we don't have paid staff because we can't afford it. If you check our Finances page, you'll see with how little we run Miraheze. If more of our users donated, perhaps we could have paid staff but it doesn't seem like that'll be a reality any time soon. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 06:41, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Ah, sorry, it was as silly assumption for me to make that there was necessarily enough money. I don't mean to undermine the work of the volunteers, mistakes happen. --HiccupJul (talk) 19:57, 26 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I know for a fact I used Special:DataDump on a few wikis before, Mariopedia being one of them, so it might not be as early as October 2021 for some wikis. Bawitdaba (talk) 00:36, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Big thank you for this update, Agent, as I was curious as to what has been going on & was somewhat nervous about what was going on. Mariopedia is the only big wiki that I edit (and even then someone else founded that) that was affected by this. As said in another comment below, is there Special:DataDump backup of that wiki as of July 2022? I'm near certain I did a data dump for that wiki. I saw someone back up some Miraheze wikis themselves some time ago (my Nintendo Wiki was among them, tho Mariopedia sadly was not).
 * I do also remember being concerned that October 2021 was the latest for the database dumps because I worried about things such as "what if data loss were to happen". I actually would've backed up my wikis semi-regularly, but (Miraheze) Gaming Services has loads of wikis & there's already a lot to keep an eye on.
 * Also that's a very unfortunate occurrence that October 2022 backups were tried but backed up on to the very SSD's that stopped functioning. Bawitdaba (talk) 00:54, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * 3 more weeks of unavailability from the wikis? Damn. SuperStreetKombat (talk) 01:08, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Alright Miraheze, the clock struck up. Outage will be over in a little minute. SetsunaKnowsTheMatrix (talk) 02:21, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Please try and keep the unnecessary comments to a minimum, . We want to keep this thread available to users who may be seeking information on the current outage, we don't want to create all these messages that will serve no actual use. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 04:40, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I agree with Brandon. PrincessTricktyy197 (talk) 14:47, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep in mind that if a comment is too off-topic, it can simply be reverted/ignored. --Blad  (talk • contribs • global) 21:52, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Yeah you heard me Blad. SetsunaKnowsTheMatrix (talk) 15:27, 26 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I have a question, in the Monday update it was said that the earliest ETA could be early next week, is this still case, or is the ETA been moved since then? LikeHumansDo5 (talk) 01:30, 26 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I have a backup of my wiki on my PC. Can I upload it and reopen my wiki now? (https://opensynth.miraheze.org/ ) --Oxygendioxide (talk) 06:31, 26 November 2022 (UTC)
 * @Oxygendioxide — it is possible to create the wiki at the same URL again, by having SRE drop the URL from the CW database; I believe there was a little bit of chatter in Discord about this, and CosmicAlpha said that he was discussing this with the other members of the team. This may cause complexities in the future, however, so you must be certain that this is the route that you want to take. I believe the correct procedure for requesting this is to open a ticket on Phabricator; although you must be sure that you want to go down this route. (Anyone with more knowledge on this, CA? Agent? feel free to correct my comment) --Original Authority (talk) 07:44, 26 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I have requested on phabricator and Special:RequestImportDumpQueue. Both of them are completed. However, I didn't see any page get imported, such as OpenUTAU. What should I do?--Oxygendioxide (talk) 00:52, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you for this in depth update, One of my wikis is part of that long list and i really appreciate the work everyone is doing to try and recover data.
 * I hope its not too unnecessary to sing your praises. Please make sure you and the team are taking care of yourselves ! NA19 (talk) 20:44, 26 November 2022 (UTC)


 * Is there a good chance that https://csx.miraheze.org/wiki/ needs to be re-created? that is down... but i see that https://learn.miraheze.org/wiki/Linux_kernal is still up.... thanks. MichaelTen (talk) 20:39, 26 November 2022 (UTC)


 * Only a few wikis were affected hence why that wiki is still up. If you want a wiki to be recreated, please file a Phabricator task. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 22:13, 26 November 2022 (UTC)
 * huh? am i looking at that wrong? it is not loading for me at https://csx.miraheze.org/wiki/ .... or maybe it went back up when you looked, but is back down again? thanks. MichaelTen (talk) 03:37, 29 November 2022 (UTC)


 * I don't want to come across as rude or anything, but Miraheze seems to be constantly not working almost every month, something Fandom does not suffer (Fandom have had a few errors but nothing bad like Miraheze). I have been contemplating move back to Fandom because of this which is a shame because Miraheze was a great idea CWM200202 (talk) 09:35, 27 November 2022 (UTC)
 * That's because Fandom is fully corporate & has thousands and thousands of dollars to keep things running smoothly, although at the cost of their integrity and user choice. Miraheze relies on volunteers and donations & is ad-free. Bawitdaba (talk) 13:30, 27 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the reply, what happened to Fandom's integrity? (genuine question) CWM200202 (talk) 17:54, 27 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Integrity as in they don't give users free choice to customize communities as see fit (e.g. no monobook, vector, or other Wikipedia-like design) Bawitdaba (talk) 18:54, 27 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Ah I see what you mean, sorry for not getting it the first time CWM200202 (talk) 20:09, 27 November 2022 (UTC)


 * Thank you so much for the updates, and make sure to get some sleep!! We at the Downtown Zuzu wiki are eagerly awaiting its return, but as a volunteer-run mod, we get how frustrating and stressful this must be for everyone. --SELI-chan (talk) 20:51, 27 November 2022 (UTC)


 * Any updates on ETA? Do you think you might have it fixed soon? Please let us all know. Buzzfan120 (talk) 02:55, 28 November 2022 (UTC)
 * same ★Giovanna/Xiaochan★ (talk) 09:30, 28 November 2022 (UTC)
 * I just hope I won't lost any data out there. Now I must copy all source texts in order to secure all those data. Eh, worst of all I have nothing to do, not to mention I can't continue my stories. Luckily brain is the last thing I will lose, so I prepared huge number of arts in Word with source code.
 * I hope this will end before 6th December. Usually something good happened those days for me & if db141 ending count as that so I hope all Mirahezes will be recovered. Wish you good luck, folks! That's all what I can for that moment. CreationKeeper (talk) 10:18, 28 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you guys for your tireless work and your immense dedication for trying to fix the issue. As the admin of a small wiki that has gone down I love the service you are providing and I had not realised how difficult it was to keep things running. I think something that might help donations go up is a very low cost subscription service, such as perhaps <$5 a month, but netting you some premium features. I don't know what, but perhaps access to extra tools that make certain tasks easier. I'd certainly be happy to pay a couple bucks a month to support the site's maintenance, and I suspect many more would if there was some minor perk given in exchange for it. OfficialTerracil (talk) 13:28, 28 November 2022 (UTC)

Hi, what is the difference between the 'public' and 'private' wikis mentioned on the Tech:Wiki recreations page? Freighttrain (talk) 15:32, 30 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Public wikis are regular wikis, while private wikis can only be read by those in the members group, which can be added and removed only by that wiki's administrators. OrangeStar (talk) 17:14, 30 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Ok well when I had a look on archive.org, the two public wikis I use only had their Main Page stored there, though I'm not too familiar with using that site, is there more to it? Freighttrain (talk) 19:13, 30 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Does archive.org only show the Main Page of the wikis? Because that's all I could find of the two public wikis I use. Freighttrain (talk) 04:52, 3 December 2022 (UTC)

Clarification on data recovery services
Hi all, please be aware that while the previous communications indicated that the drives had been shipped to a data recovery service, this has not yet happened. The drives were shipped to Owen (and arrived on November 24th) so that they could be reviewed prior to sending them to a data recover service. This error was the result of internal miscommunication within the team and we apologize for the confusion it may have caused. Please be aware that this is a slow process and we do not currently know when more information will be available. We will try to make it available to the community as soon as it is available. In the meantime, for wikis that wish to have the wiki recreated from scratch (i.e. with no content), please see phabricator task T10015 for more details. Please be aware that only the original requester of the wiki will be able to place a request at this time. Thanks -- Void  Whispers 04:46, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

Background on wiki has gone away, what are the settings to get it back?
On my private wiki using the Cosmos skin, I had an image as the background yesterday, one that fitted the screen and stayed still as you scrolled down. I don't know what happened or which setting I chose to get it like this, nor do I know what I changed that made it go away. I have tried every combination of settings, auto, contain, cover, repeat unchecked, repeat checked, fixed unchecked, fixed checked, and it hasn't come back. I've refreshed my browser many times and nothing has changed.

https://imgur.com/a/uMYAXNu This is what it looked like yesterday and what I'd like it to keep looking like. The uploaded background, for context, is simply Background.jpg. It filled the background and stayed still as the page scrolled. I want to start over and would like to know how I would get it back like this. Bonbonyoshi (talk) 22:09, 30 November 2022 (UTC)


 * I don't mean to bug anyone, but I really need help with this. Bonbonyoshi (talk) 15:35, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Nevermind, I fixed it. Please disregard this. Bonbonyoshi (talk) 20:38, 8 December 2022 (UTC)

How can I make page's name that include "_" and "[]"?
I tried to create a document to explain the names that contain "_" and "[]", but I couldn't find it in my ability. Could you tell me about the extension function or additional settings that make the document title include "_" and "[]"? Prkmora (talk) 14:38, 1 December 2022 (UTC)


 * @Prkmora Hello there, you can't do this, it is not possible because it will return a "bad title" error. Click here: https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Community%5Bnoticeboard to confirm. --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   16:39, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
 * you may be interested in the  magic word, see Magic words Sobsz (talk) 15:11, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Request for modifying 2 wikis' local interwiki tables
@Ugochimobi? Ora &#38; D (talk) 09:15, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ora & D Hello there! Thank you for pinging me, this is now ✅. Sorry for getting to it a little bit late. --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   10:35, 6 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ugochimobi I apologize. I've made a few changes & added one of the restored db141 wikis. One last time:

(1) daria.miraheze.org

(2) smallville.miraheze.org

(3) super.miraheze.org Thank you. Ora &#38; D (talk) 14:18, 7 December 2022 (UTC)


 * @Universal Omega? Ora &#38; D (talk) 09:23, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Agent Isai? Ora &#38; D (talk) 07:35, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ugochimobi? Ora &#38; D (talk) 07:40, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
 * 😕 Ora &#38; D (talk)
 * Someone will eventually add the modifications you want, please be patient. OrangeStar (talk) 17:11, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
 * If it's too much trouble, let me modify it myself. I shouldn't have to beg. Ora &#38; D (talk) 17:37, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ugochimobi? Anyone? We can see you're active. Ora &#38; D (talk) 12:08, 13 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Hello @Ora & D Sorry for the pings I missed. But you shouldn't have done this, I mean, deleting the former request I attended to and replacing it with this new one. You should have created a new thread for this new request as this thread has already gone far inside the noticeboard. Please take note of this in the future. However, you can not have the mh:a and mh:sv prefixes because mh: is already a miraheze pseudo interwiki prefix which can be used for any Miraheze wiki in that pattern. For example, I can like to the daria.miraheze.org wiki by doing  which would link to the wiki as observed here. So those two would be ❌.
 * Also, for the previous request you made, is it that you no longer want those previous prefixes? Do you prefer I delete those previously requested prefixes and add the once you requested now?
 * Lastly, I hope you're aware that cv, sv, and tt prefixes are interlanguage prefixes and not normal interwiki prefixes? --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   08:34, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ugochimobi The new prefixes should replace the previous ones. It's only local, what's the harm? These are small wikis (less than 5 active users) and we know what we do. We need short prefixes for highly-used sites. We're aware some of them are interlanguage prefixes, we'll use . Ora &#38; D (talk) 08:49, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ora & D Great! But apart from the fact that mh: is a miraheze pseudo interwiki prefix, you also can not have something-colon-something or something-period-something as a prefix for interwiki. So in a nutshell, you can not have punctuations added to prefixes. It is not a limitation set by the community or administrators, it is a limitation from the Extension:Interwiki. --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   09:03, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ora & D So should I add the sv, s and a prefixes without the mh: prefix? or add them like mhsv, mhs and mha? --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   09:18, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The goal is for a/s/sv to be displayed like internal links (mh:prefix:title vs. prefix:title), otherwise we'll have to add  in every use. Ora &#38; D (talk) 09:30, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * That is exactly what the interwiki prefix does. I think you should explain better. Because the above is pretty unclear to me. If I add the a prefix and you want to link to a page named PAGE, then you'll add it like a:PAGE, if you want the displayed text to be different then you add a pipe charater | the usual way.
 * Plus, from what you did above can you see that the a link is linking to a.miraheze.org? because that's how it has been set to work. --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   09:36, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ugochimobi mh:prefix:title → mh:prefix:title; prefix:title → prefix:title. See? Ora &#38; D (talk) 09:40, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ora & D Oh this is not your wiki, for example when I set the prefix: prefix on dariawiki, you'd see that it would link properly. This is metawiki, the reason the prefix: prefix is showing a redlink here is because metawiki doesn't have the prefix: prefix on its interwiki table. Do you understand? --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   11:43, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * @Ugochimobi Ignore the color. Let's try a different example: mh:gratisdata:title → mh:gratisdata:title; title → title. Ora &#38; D (talk) 11:57, 14 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes, that works, but I don't get the message? --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   16:14, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Question about current restoration (Dec 2022)
I have a few questions about the recent "Take Action" notice. The background is that we are a local history society which had, over 2022 extensively revised our wiki both as regards content and format, I took over as "admin" in March 2022 (and it appears all the backups made prior to that were pdf's).

First: I have looked on archive.org and I see no sign of any August 2022 back-up - does that mean our wiki is not one of those for which this back-up is available? (the most recent one is from before we made very extensive changes and seems incomplete).

Second: given the huge effort it will need to redo the updates from the October 2021 back-up date, we have decided to leave our wiki offline - if we did restore back to Oct '21 will an attempt still be made to restore it as it was when the disk error occurred?

Third: the previous "admin" (I am not in communication with him and have very limited "legacy" notes) seems to have "(made the wiki) private from Special:ManageWiki/core, then give(n) to read right(s) to the user group in Special:ManageWiki/permissions/user". Does this mean we have any back-up at all?

Hooligan2 (talk) 19:52, 3 December 2022 (UTC)


 * On your third point: that may be the reason that there are no newer backups for that wiki. While not really private, because everyone can read it, the software making the backups is likely only looking for the private option in ManageWiki, and excluding from archive.org backups if set.
 * As for your second point: I guess yes, it's still technically possible to restore that wiki to its state previous to the disk failure if data recovery is successful, even if the wiki is restored back to the October 2021 version. OrangeStar (talk) 20:14, 3 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Hello again, I've tried to view a public wiki I use on archive.org, but the Dream Fiction wiki seems to only have the Main Page archived there (https://web.archive.org/web/20221108091213/https://dreamfiction.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page), is there something more to this or do the public wikis only have their Main Page archived there? Freighttrain (talk) 09:25, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * That's the wayback machine, if your wiki has been backed up on archive.org it will be on a collection. In the case of dreamfiction.miraheze.org, it will be in this link (which, by the way, it has been backed up and it's there. The backup is dated 2022-06-26). OrangeStar (talk) 11:17, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Ok so if I wanted to use Phabricator to recreate a wiki, then when the servers come back from repair and have that wiki as it was just before the problem last month, and I want to use the server copy of that wiki instead, how would I go about making it so that the server copy of that wiki is the one that is in use? Freighttrain (talk) 11:38, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Just open a Phabricator ticket and they'll let you know what to do. Keep in mind we don't know whether data recovery will be successful or not. OrangeStar (talk) 11:44, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Though do you know if it is a simple process to put back up the server copy of the wiki, in place of the Phabricator recreated one? Freighttrain (talk) 11:50, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * No, I don't know, sorry. OrangeStar (talk) 11:53, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Who can I contact here about this, without opening a ticket on Phabricator? Freighttrain (talk) 11:55, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Go to the talkpage of one of the users listed at Tech:SRE Volunteers. OrangeStar (talk) 11:57, 7 December 2022 (UTC)

Request to delete the phabricator account related to this account (not the miraheze account itself!)
Hi, I am requesting to delete my phabricator account so that I can create a new one and submit a wiki rebuild request. The old account cannot be used because I filled in a wrong email address when registering, which made me unable to receive the login verification email. Please do not delete the miraheze account itself. Thanks! ShriekingSouls (Email me) 03:50, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

What kind of changes do we need to du since all wikis have been migrated
Do we need to do anything now after the migration? Servcenter (talk) 08:03, 6 December 2022 (UTC)


 * The migration process requires nothing from users. Should be good unless there's an issue. --Raidarr (talk) 13:47, 6 December 2022 (UTC)


 * None, although if you're missing files, you may use Phabicator. Spencers (talk) 23:37, 6 December 2022 (UTC)

Hello, what's update on db141 but i just explain about inactive during db141 outrage
Even there's no ETA for fixing db141

Does companyball wiki and other wikis might delete due to inactive? during db141 issue? ★Giovanna/Xiaochan★ (talk) 04:15, 7 December 2022 (UTC)


 * I hope not. I definitely don't want Webkinz Guide to get deleted. I really hope this issue gets fixed at some point. Buzzfan120 (talk) 05:07, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Yes i agree ★Giovanna/Xiaochan★ (talk) 10:35, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * No. We suspended the dormancy script for all those wikis. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 14:53, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Ok thanks for info ★Giovanna/Xiaochan★ (talk) 18:43, 7 December 2022 (UTC)

It's not clear how to grant checkusers and oversights locally
I am the founder and bureaucrat of theredpionnerwiki. These days I'm looking for ways to grant checkusers and oversights locally, but while I spent some time looking at the documentation on Meta, I couldn't find the exact way to apply.

On the page, it says that granting these permissions requires consensus in the local community and that the conditions of "Stewards" need to be met. At the same time, to apply for Oversights, there must be two Oversights locally at the same time - but there is no second candidate (other than me) on my wiki who meets the requirements (if I'm not mistaken, the requirement is that 1,000 edits must be made). Not many people on my wiki are involved in editing, and many of the users who used to be involved in editing are no longer active. This means that our "consensus" may not consist of the will of many people.

So my questions are:


 * 1) Do I have to wait until the wiki has two eligible candidates before I can apply for a local grant to Oversights?
 * 2) Can I get Checkusers permission now (as this seems necessary for my wiki)?

Thanks. Creeper19472 (talk) 04:20, 7 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Yes, this is because the Checkuser and Oversight logs are not public, so at least 2 of them must be there to check each other's actions and prevent abuse.
 * If you don't have people in those local roles, Stewards act as Checkusers and Oversighters for your wiki. To request a Checkuser, see the relevant section at Stewards' noticeboard. There's no way around a local election, if you were wondering that
 * Only the consensus of those who remain in your wiki matter, so the thoughts of those who have left are technically irrelevant for an election for these roles. If you can't find another person to nominate for Oversight, I'm afraid no local Oversighters are allowed.
 * There's also a little more to the requirements, namely that they must sign an NDA with the Board, so board members will know your real identity, if that's a concern. The election must also at least take as long as the one for Steward, so it must be open to community input for at least 7 days, and at least 20 people must have participated.
 * As for how to apply, it should look like any other election for local roles, except with maybe letting Stewards know that such an election is taking place. Look at Requests for permissions and Requests for Stewardship if you need some inspiration. OrangeStar (talk) 11:31, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * The demonstration of proof for necessity is very high for CheckUser (and oversight): you need to be very clear a) why you need it and why b) it cannot simply be used through trusted avenues, ie, in dealing with standard abuse which Stewards will help with regardless. This is why it is made deliberately just about impossible for wikis that cannot produce a meaningful local election (that isn't just the original person saying "I want it and I agree"), why it requires at least two people by convention (establishing accountability and community scale), and why it also requires an NDA. These rights are among the most sensitive tools a user could access on the platform. It is unlikely you, the sole operator of a very small premise, would be seen has having sufficient need for these rights to be resigned irrespective of the steps you take to deal with prerequisites at a technical level. Nobody has acquired these rights so far who wasn't also a Steward (or in rarer cases SRE/Trust and Safety), which is likely why some of the language is not perfectly updated (ie, the two-person convention between CU and OS). --Raidarr (talk) 13:59, 7 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Stewards are the only ones who may grant the rights. We will never allow a bureaucrat to grant these. The CheckUser page now reflects the requirements for the role. You must have two eligible candidates who meet the 20+ votes/80% support ratio requirement for both CheckUser and Oversight along with an NDA. Stewards also hold ultimate discretion in whether they are comfortable in appointing a CheckUser/Oversighter or not and if the need is not properly demonstrated, Stewards may refuse to grant the right. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 14:51, 7 December 2022 (UTC)

Technical and design issues with wiki
I'm sorry about last time, but this time I really can't figure out what's going on with this on my own.

On my wiki, I'm having issues with the logo, favicon, and the search bar. I've uploaded correct files and pointed to them in the settings, but the logo is only coming up with the wiki title instead of the small icon I want to replace the honeycomb and there is no favicon at all. I've refreshed my browser and nothing changes. I'm also having trouble with the search bar. No matter what I put, even the exact title of a page that exists, it only says 'Search for pages containing (title)'. My wiki is private but I could make it unprivate if it's needed. https://crystalevening.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page Bonbonyoshi (talk) 21:03, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I have figured out the first two problems, but I don't know why nothing is appearing on my search bar, even Main Page won't come up. I feel like I won't be able to edit efficiently or let this wiki be available to the public to read until this is sorted out. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, other wikis using the Cosmos skin let me search their pages fine, but mine doesn't and I don't know what extension I have or haven't enabled or disabled to cause this. Please help me, I don't know much about how the extensions work and I feel really lost. This is an example of what's going on. https://imgur.com/YvAPQtP Bonbonyoshi (talk) 22:15, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I found out the search is working fine for me on mobile and even desktop mode on mobile, but not on desktop. I feel like some other extension needs to be turned on or off, there's search ones in Cosmos but they talk about a $ thing that I can't find in any tab or extension. I'm feeling really lost and impeded by this and I can't really keep editing my wki until someone knows how to fix it. Bonbonyoshi (talk) 07:55, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * People here can't really do anything if a wiki is private, as we can't see anything other than the main page. It may just be the server slowing down for a bit when returning search results, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Try searching for other pages in the wiki and see if they show up on the search bar. OrangeStar (talk) 11:44, 9 December 2022 (UTC)
 * As soon as I make the wiki public, the search bar starts working again. But when I make it private, it doesn't display anything. I guess I'll have to keep it public. Bonbonyoshi (talk) 14:55, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

List of fonts on Miraheze
Is there a complete list of fonts on Miraheze? Thanks. --Blad  (talk • contribs • global) 21:08, 8 December 2022 (UTC)


 * No, but at least on Meta (and at least on my browser) the following fonts are used:
 * sans-serif
 * Sans
 * Linux Libertine
 * Georgia
 * Times
 * serif
 * monospace
 * Comic Sans MS
 * DejaVu Serif
 * Cambria
 * Palatino
 * High Tower Text
 * (see Special:Permalink/289415 if you want to see them in action)
 * As the list of fonts can be modified by extensions like mw:Extension:UniversalLanguageSelector and custom CSS, it's very hard to compile a list of all possible fonts on Miraheze wikis. OrangeStar (talk) 21:46, 8 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks. --Blad  (talk • contribs • global) 22:00, 8 December 2022 (UTC)

MediaWiki 1.39
I was looking at the MW 1.39 release notes and I just realized they're going to add automatic temp-account creation (background on this feature). Is this going to be enabled in Miraheze? OrangeStar (talk) 19:04, 9 December 2022 (UTC)


 * It will not as it's experimental. I discussed this with CosmicAlpha who told me we won't be enabling it for now. I don't know if we'll consider it in the future though. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 22:50, 9 December 2022 (UTC)

When you create an account on Miraheze, do you get an email?
I am planning on creating an account. I just want to know if you get an email from Miraheze when you create it or not. This is not in the FAQ and the FAQ tells me that I should ask this question here. 2001:8003:B1B8:BF00:8C1D:D001:845E:4D5F 06:35, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I will tell you when I get an account. 2001:8003:B1B8:BF00:8C1D:D001:845E:4D5F 06:40, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * You mean email verification? ★Giovanna/Xiaochan★ (talk) 09:59, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Miraheze never told me that. 1.158.238.102 10:39, 10 December 2022 (UTC) I am 2001:8003:B1B8:BF00::/64, my IP changed.
 * You can optionally put your email when registering (or at any moment after registering). If you put it, you'll receive an email to confirm that account is indeed yours. Once added, you can email other users who also have email and will be able to reset your password if you ever forget it/lose it. OrangeStar (talk) 12:31, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

How do I enable Edit and Edit Source Tab together
Is like that, I add the VisualEditor extensions, and set up ($wgVisualEditorEnableWikitext), ($wgVisualEditorUseSingleEditTab) is true,

Also "Use the wikitext mode inside the visual editor" and "Enable the editing two Toolbar" in Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing options are checked

but in the Tab menu above the normal page, only "Edit Source（编辑源代码 in zh-cn Language）" is displayed...

So, what do I have to do to get the "Edit（编辑）" and the "Edit Source（编辑源代码）" right? Sucrose Fans Rosalina129 18:12, 10 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Try setting  to false. OrangeStar (talk) 18:59, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I tried that but doesn't works...
 * but the weird thing is to add to the address bar:, the Visual Editor is works. Sucrose Fans Rosalina129 01:24, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm unable to reproduce what's happening to your wiki, please try disabling and re-enabling the extension. OrangeStar (talk) 21:53, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
 * No, it's settled now, but thanks for the advice! Sucrose Fans Rosalina129 02:04, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Request to add some Interwiki data
Can Stewards please add the following InterWiki data to Unreal_Neo Encyclopedia(unrealneo.miraheze.org)?

Like This. Thanks! Sucrose Fans Rosalina129 18:38, 10 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Hello @Rosalina129, this is now ✅. --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   11:32, 13 December 2022 (UTC)

Deleting a wiki
How do I immediately delete my wiki if I don't want to use the wiki? VolnyiLev (talk) 04:40, 11 December 2022 (UTC)


 * If you are a bureaucrat, or a user that possesses the  permission, you can close your wiki by going to   on your wiki. You can click the box labeled Closed. Your wiki will then become uneditable. After a period of time, members of the SRE team will run the deletion script for all closed wikis, and your wiki will be permanently deleted. As an alternative, if you wish to keep the wiki's content, but not allow it to be visible to the public, you can go to the above location, and check the box labeled Private. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contributions • global • rights) 08:27, 11 December 2022 (UTC)
 * You can request that the wiki be deleted on the Stewards' noticeboard. Tali64³ (talk) 20:16, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Do you have bureaucrat rights on the wiki?Thank you. by Buel ·Talk·e-mail 23:06, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

How can I find out the usernames of the admins of a wiki I was using, that was on one of the problem servers?
Hi, I want to contact the admins of a wiki I was using so that I can know whether they're planning to recreate it on Phabricator, or just wait until the servers come back before deciding what to do, the wiki is dreamfiction.miraheze. Freighttrain (talk) 13:59, 11 December 2022 (UTC)


 * You can find it by going to Special:RequestWikiQueue, input the database name and set status to approved, that will tell you at least who requested the wiki. The database name is the subdomain + wiki, in case of dreamfiction it's . The requestor for that wiki was  and the wiki request was Special:RequestWikiQueue/14612. OrangeStar (talk) 14:29, 11 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Ok thanks again, I'll message him on his discussion page. Freighttrain (talk) 16:20, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

Can Someone Help?
About the chinese version of Uncyclopedia, Can I have User groups in there? I just wan't edit some political articles, and I just wan't to finish it. Guest278 (talk) 08:03, 13 December 2022 (UTC)


 * @Guest278 If you're referring to having a right in the wiki, then I think it's best you request a permission in the wiki, when you do so, an administrator or a crat should be able to action your request appropriately. --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   08:38, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

db141 Waiting
If one opts to wait to see if the data can be recovered, will there be a notification sent out or do I just need to keep checking every day and seeing if anything's changed? Columbiabritannica (talk) 18:42, 14 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Check Tech:SRE noticeboard for latest updates ★Commander Xiaochan from Vaud★ (talk) 23:29, 14 December 2022 (UTC)

Infobox help
Hi everyone! I know nearly nothing about wiki coding, and I want to add a country infobox to my wiki. Can anyone provide help? Thank you! CoolJames (talk) 14:37, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * I use the Wikipedia infobox system. It is like an empty table and just needs adding the wanted rows of information. I can create an infobox for you if can list the information that you want to include. PercyUK (talk)

Question regarding fair dealing law and Youtube screenshots
I'm unsure if it is acceptable under British law to use a screenshot of a Youtube video or a screenshot of a Youtube channel's homepage, in the context of an encyclopedic article about that channel. Can anyone shed some light? Dimpizzy (talk) 14:40, 15 December 2022 (UTC)


 * The thing with copyright law exceptions (and copyright law in general) is that they're very open to interpretation. No-one can for sure say "yes this is allowed" without going through a court case that could take years to finish.
 * Fair dealing allows use of a work if they meet at least one of these 5 conditions:
 * Research and study.
 * Criticism or review.
 * Reporting of current events.
 * Parody, caricature and pastiche.
 * Quotation, which is one of the more vague ones. It allows usage for "criticism, review or otherwise".
 * However, my personal recommendation is to not even try to use works under fair dealing if you're not 100% sure. There's always the option of just sending the youtuber in question an email asking if you can use parts of their work. Sometimes asking the individual whose work you want to use is the easiest way. OrangeStar (talk) 15:08, 15 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Ok thank you. I'll look further into the "quotation" condition because at first glance it seems to cover it. I may use your suggestion to ask them directly as well. Thanks again. Dimpizzy (talk) 15:17, 15 December 2022 (UTC)

Request for feedback: Restricting ability to modify certain core groups without assistance
A perennial issue which pops up every few weeks (both on Discord and on wiki) is someone reporting that they've deleted the bureaucrat or administrator group and have now lost their access to ManageWiki or even worse, locked themselves out of their wiki (in private wikis, it is actually completely possible to 100% lock yourself out if you delete the administrator group). In fact, if you look on the Stewards' noticeboard right now, you'll find 2 requests asking for the bureaucrat group to be recreated because the bureaucrat accidentally deleted the bureaucrat group.

As such, SRE wants users opinions on potentially restricting bureaucrat's ability to delete the bureaucrat and administrator group without the assistance of Stewards. This is mainly a safeguard against bureaucrats and administrators deleting the group without even knowing what doing that does, just for the sake of it because they can. Over the history of Miraheze, there have probably been over 100 requests for the bureaucrat and/or administrator group to be recreated because users accidentally deleted it. I don't see much net benefit in allowing users to delete them but if they want to, that's fine but we want to add a safeguard against these sorts of accidental deletions. We want to hear your thoughts on this and what you think so please let us know what you think about this. Thank you! Agent Isai Talk to me! 02:35, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * One thing I remember is someone said it's not possible to remove read from sysops to avoid locking yourself out of private wikis. This doesn't do much if you can just delete the group entirely. Also, I'm not sure HOW it's possible to delete any group bundled with core, much less why. So this would be sysops, bureaucrats, bots, and interface administrators. As for whether or not it's a good idea, I really don't like the idea of rigidly implementing things like auto-created pages, but in this case since it would be doing what core already should be doing anyway, it makes sense. Naleksuh (talk) 06:43, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Per discussion w/ Agent over other channels and their relayed conversations w/ technical folks, while this isn't possible today it is within the realm of possibility.
 * If other technical folks agree with this assessment, removing the ability to self-delete core groups would be a good idea given the number of new admins with limited administrative experience we have joining from otherwise-turnkey platforms like FANDOM. --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 07:18, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Not all wikis use the standard bureaucrat -> administrator -> everyone else setup, if we're going to introduce something like this it's very important we give them the ability to change this in the future.
 * While it'll take some time to make something like this, one thing that can be implemented quickly is a warning when deleting a group that has the  permission. Perhaps something like this next to the "Delete this user group" checkbox:
 * Warning: You're about to delete a group with permission to access ManageWiki. Deleting this group may lock you out of ManageWiki! Are you sure you want to do this? OrangeStar (talk) 10:21, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Per the proposal, the main goal is just to make sure that users don't delete the group accidentally. Stewards would still delete it if requested, provided that a replacement group exists, one with ManageWiki rights. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 14:00, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * As long as the option exists, I agree with this change. OrangeStar (talk) 16:37, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

How to add two new functions to our wiki?
Our wiki now needs to add the following two functions: Hope to be able to help, thank you!  面朝大海 春暖花开  ⛵ (☎️ 📧) 14:10, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * 1) Reply function on the talk page
 * 2) SecurePoll. To make voting safer and more convenient


 * To enable the first one, go to Special:ManageWiki/extensions -> Other -> Discussion tools. You may need to enable Linter first and refresh the page before you can enable Discussion tools.
 * As for SecurePoll, it is not possible to use it at the moment as it leaks personal information. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 14:21, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your answer!  面朝大海 春暖花开  ⛵ (☎️ 📧) 14:29, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Excuse me, can you tell me how to enable Linter?  面朝大海 春暖花开  ⛵ (☎️ 📧) 14:43, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * It should be available in the same page, in the "Special pages" tab. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 14:56, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Ok, thanks for your reply, I've done it. But how can I also have this function in the main space of a certain namespace?  面朝大海 春暖花开  ⛵ (☎️ 📧) 15:03, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Discussion tools only works on talk pages, like "Talk:", "User talk:" "Project talk:" and so on. It doesn't work on other namespaces. OrangeStar (talk) 16:41, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

How to change Daylight saving time (DST) ?
Hello. I'm in France and I wanna know where I can change the Daylight saving time (DST). Actually, my timezone is Europe/Paris but it's 22:00 instead of 23:00. How can I change this ? Tite Melina (talk) 22:38, 16 December 2022 (UTC)


 * It can be done from Special:ManageWiki/settings on your wiki. by Buel ·Talk·e-mail 23:55, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Mmh, I'm sorry but I can't found where. There is only "Timezone" (Europe/Paris), and some check boxes (American Dates - unchecked, Minerva Always Show Language Button - checked), Enable per page language - unchecked). Nothing about DST =/
 * Even if timezone is set on Europe/Paris, the hour is the summer hour, not winter hour Tite Melina (talk) 12:16, 17 December 2022 (UTC)