Community noticeboard/Archive 35

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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)

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 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)