[wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

ookpik · 2005-12-02 12:01:43

Dear TextBook admins,

This new accounts page on TextBook doesn’t tell me how to get a new account unless I want to help with translation. (I infer that I should email… someone?) There’s also no prompt telling me how to get a new account if I hit “edit” or try to “create new account or login”.

I know these things because I’ve run into those pages 10-15 times in the last 6 months, and each time they’ve crushed my will to help out. It took me months to take any action about this, but if I’d managed to sign up the first time, I’d have made 10-15 little improvements to TextBook by now. (And I’m not just some yahoo, honest.)

I really think that making TextBook registration simpler— self-serve even— would lead to great improvements in the documentation. You’d get more registered users, more of the impulse-edits that wikis are so good for (spelling, added links…), and probably more participation from registered users since they could sign up when they were expressly in the mood to edit.

There would be more moderation work if you allowed open registration, but there would be less writing for each person to do. I think it would balance out to a net benefit. It’s at least worth testing. Maybe you have?

As it is, I get this “we hate wikis! we don’t want your help! we wish no one could edit this page!” vibe whenever I use Textbook. Hence the 6 month gap in doing anything about it. I see registration turned off, and I think “oh… they’re being elitist about the documentation. i guess contributing to textbook is a big commitment and not worth it for this one detail that i just spent an hour tracking down in the forums.”

Mary · 2005-12-02 12:47:38

What are you talking about? That page does too tell you what you need to know and do. I even re-checked in case it had been changed recently. It hasn’t. Re-read.

Accounts are setup by hand to keep spam out.

NXArmada · 2005-12-02 13:03:57

Only people with existing Textpattern Support Forum accounts will be granted user accounts in the wiki. Your Forum username will be your wiki username.
You will need to provide an email address to setup the account, which will be added to your account preferences, and will be used by the the wiki system to automatically send you a new password should you forget what your initial password is.
If you are requesting an account to help with language translation efforts, contact the language lead, Language “Go-Tos” (LGTs), for your language and they will establish an account for you. If no LGT exists for the language you need, then contact Destry, hakjoon, or Remillard. Read numbers 1 and 2 above!
Your account details will automatically be emailed to you by the wiki. Change your password upon first login.

And is setup by hand for spam reasons. also What mary said.

Last edited by NXArmada (2005-12-02 13:04:45)

Destry · 2005-12-02 14:30:58

There would be more moderation work if you allowed open registration, but there would be less writing for each person to do. I think it would balance out to a net benefit. It’s at least worth testing. Maybe you have?

In actuality, ookpik, I wish we could make it that easy, really, that is the true spirit of a wiki afterall; but as indicated already, we have tried the open edit route, and it failed miserably because there just isn’t enough people to police the wiki against spam on a second-by-second scale like, say, Wikipedia, which has millions of users that watch it like a hawk. In our case, there is no balance at all.

I’m sorry you had such a hard time with the instructions, but contrary to your accusations, the wiki has always been promoted to accept any and all contributions, however little. TextBook needs all the help it can get, definitely. Believe me, all sysops would like nothing better than to not have to create user passwords for people, it’s a thankless role. Case in point.

So, dare I say it, do you still want a TextBook account, or has your world been turned upside down?

EDIT: I’ve made clarifications on that page, which should be a step in the right direction.

NXArmada · 2005-12-02 16:49:41

U can create me an account NXArmada at gmail dot com

ookpik · 2005-12-05 23:08:01

Destry, the edited page is much more clear. Thanks! And thanks all for not totally burning me for that late night rant. Sorry about that. I should know by now not to try to helpful when I’m frustrated.

My point was really that I’ve seen a lot of lamentations about low TextBook registrations and contributions, and I figured the new account instructions were a sticking point for more people than me. So I hope the addition of something closer to a “click here to request a new account” link will help.

I think that linking the sign-up instructions from the login page would help even more. Especially since that’s where the “create account or login” links land.

Anyway. Just ideas.

Last edited by ookpik (2005-12-05 23:09:36)

Destry · 2005-12-06 15:21:01

NXArmada and ookpik…you both have accounts, as you probably know by now.

@ookpik: I think most people’s beef is simply that they have to ask for an account at all, not really the instructions themselves; but as you now understand, the spam issue is too great to allow open editing. If you followed this thread at all, then you know people have suggested using a CMS, like Textpattern (like what the FAQ is using now), but that doesn’t solve needing an account, and if anything it only restricts the number of people who have access to the documentation not the other way about (FAQs, case in point). Also, a CMS doesn’t allow for the internationalization efforts like a wiki does, at least MediaWiki. So, in the end we have a wiki, and it’s regulated as it is because of the dreaded spam.

Aside from that, we’re always taking suggestions for improving it, and yours idea for linking up the New Accounts info in the login page is a good one. I’ll add it to the Admin list of things to do, which itself needs created somewhere.

Now, if anyone else wants an account, read the New Accounts instructions to ensure your contacting the right person. Do not request an account here!

hakjoon · 2005-12-06 18:39:04

ookpik wrote:
I think that linking the sign-up instructions from the login page would help even more. Especially since that’s where the “create account or login” links land.

This is a very good point. I’ve been meaning to look into that to see if it’s possible without hacking the code. Not everything in MediaWiki is customizable, and finding information on what is customizable sometimes can be difficult.

Let me step it up on on looking for this though because I think it would be helpful. Plus I’ve been pretty slack in my textbook assisting lately.

hakjoon · 2005-12-06 19:15:24

ok I found how to modify the messages on the login screen. Anyone have any suggestions for wording that would be friendly and clear in pointing people to the New Accounts page?

Destry · 2005-12-07 10:16:08

Green text is page element. Black text is how it currently reads. Red text is what I might suggest:

Page Title: <strike>Creat an account or log in</strike> %{color:red}Wiki Log In%
(Note this is a Special wiki page title, so not sure it can be changed or not, but it should be changed if possible for obvious reasons.)

Header 1: Please Log In:

Body:

If you do not already have a TextBook account, please see the New Accounts information about requesting an account (also see note at bottom).

You must have cookies enabled to log in to The TextBook Project.

Username:
Password:

Fields marked with <strike>superscripts</strike> asterisks are optional, but you are encouraged to keep an email address in your profile. Storing an email address enables people to contact you through the website without you having to reveal your email address to them, and it can be used by the wiki system to send you a new password if you forget it, which the admins appreciate.

Your real name, if you choose to provide it, will be used for giving you attribution for your work.

%{color:red}Note to New Account Holders:%
When you receive your temporary log in details, return here, log in, and change your account password. If you are new at using a wiki, you might peruse the information provided in the TextBook Help page.

hakjoon · 2005-12-08 02:44:47

Text updates in place.

I wrote a quick blurb on how to access the system messages in the discussion page for SysOp Communications I figure that’s a good place to start tracking necessary config settings or tricky things we figure out about how to use mediaWiki.

We could move this to the Meta Namespace if it gets big but this seemed like a good place to start.

Last edited by hakjoon (2005-12-08 02:45:03)

visualdensity · 2006-11-01 21:55:39

Hi all,

I’m fairly new to TXP and I’m now totally in love with it after coming from various CMSes like Mambo/Joomla, Drupal and some commercial ones.

While browsing through Textbook, I noticed there are a few pages that are still empty and I thought of contributing to it when I have the time (esp over Christmas holidays). However, following the instructions on New Accouts, I tried to contact hakjoon or Destry but failed miserably because I can’t find their contact on Textbook itself and in the forums, I seem to have permissions problem sending email messages to hakjoon and Destry. I don’t even have the permission to see their profiles.

I already have an account on this forum (I know it’s obvious, but…) with the username ‘visualdensity’. Can someone assist me in this matter? Or is Textbook closed?

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#1 2005-12-02 12:01:43

[wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#2 2005-12-02 12:47:38

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#3 2005-12-02 13:03:57

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#4 2005-12-02 14:30:58

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#5 2005-12-02 16:49:41

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#6 2005-12-05 23:08:01

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#7 2005-12-06 15:21:01

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#8 2005-12-06 18:39:04

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#9 2005-12-06 19:15:24

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#10 2005-12-07 10:16:08

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#11 2005-12-08 02:44:47

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

#12 2006-11-01 21:55:39

Re: [wiki] Making it easier to get wiki accounts for Textbook?

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