Project:Wiki

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Wiki
Description The wiki project oversees and governs the community and the content under the wiki.gentoo.org domain.
Project email wiki@gentoo.org
IRC channel #gentoo-wiki (webchat)
Bugs Related bugs
Lead(s)
Last elected: 2022-07-18
Member(s)
Subproject(s)
(and inherited member(s))
Parent Project Gentoo
Project listing

The wiki project coordinates contributors to help make it easy to write the best possible documentation both for Gentoo users, and for the Unix(like) community at large.

The goal of the Gentoo wiki is to become the best Linux-related resource on the web through contributions from the Gentoo community. The project leverages MediaWiki so anyone can assist in improving documentation for Gentoo: just create an account then click the "Edit" button!

Take a look at the Handbook project page for the part of the wiki project dedicated to the Gentoo Handbook.

Happy improvements!

See also
To anyone new, please check out the contributor's guide and start helping out! See also the page about the wiki and the wiki FAQ.

Statistics

  • 98 active dev and community users on the wiki.
  • 8,793 articles (number is inflated due to translations).
  • 173,584 pages (number is inflated due to translations).

More information can be found on the statistics page.

Roadmap

This section lists things that need to be done around the wiki. Anyone involved in the wiki project is encouraged to pick something and to start working on it.

Past accomplishments can be found in the archive.

See also
There is also the Todo category that details all the known tasks that it would be helpful for people to pitch in with, and a list of common tasks to help out with all the routine things that we need help with.
Note
When taking on a task, please add the {{U}} (in-line user) template with the appropriate username to the end of the corresponding entry below, to show others who is working on what.

Wiki software updates

Database exports

  • Revisit and review: database exports for offline viewing: bug #823860.
    • The vision for this change would be to provide an offline/local XML/HTML copy of the wiki that could ship with our larger live images...
    • In order for to this to work well, we'd want to ensure a web browser is shipped, or that the text of the wiki would be easily viewable and copy/pasta-able from a CLI environment... no links won't work.
    • This would likely mean there'd be date-versioned copies of the wiki. Wiki team would coordinate and perhaps use a developer's staging area on dev.gentoo.org in order to 'host' the sources, until they have been pulled into the mirrors. We'd also need to ship Tyrian and friends as well...
    • In this way, we'd support 'community backups' of the wiki in the event of disaster; granted there still would large chunks of the database that would be missing.
    • Since the User: namespace is the most likely to contain PII and lots of drafted but incomplete articles, we'd consider excluding that namespace from the export... although it's worth noting that the PII uploaded to visible wiki pages is also CC-BY-SA 4.0 licensed.
  • More info: https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Dumps
  • Tools and scripts: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/source/operations-dumps/

MediaWiki extensions

The following extensions may be added to the Gentoo wiki in next round of updates:

Open discussion discovery improvements

Goal: Be able to track open (and closed) discussion items across the wiki in order to have knowledge of how many open discussions exist and where to find them.

  1. How many open discussions are left.
  2. Where to find remaining open discussions.

Create/add a "Has open discussion" and "Has closed discussion" properties to the Talk templates in order for easier (SMW #ask) querying of open discussions within certain namespaces. Ideally we'd want to be able to poll the Project: and Handbook: namespaces for discovering discussions that are not yet answered / closed... perhaps something like {{subpages}} could be used to automatically display open discussions under a certain page prefix. E.g.: properties found under Project:Wiki/* with a status of "open" would be automatically displayed under a section of the wiki's project page, etc.

Could be gathered up into one overview dashboard and listed on reach project page as well.

Todo:

  • Add properties (Done!)
  • Adjust the {{Talk}} template to set properties depending on the if open/closed/done is passed. Investigate the SMW #switch function.
  • Create overview dashboard page for all open discussions.
    • For closed we could just get a total count and not link to all open discussions.
    • Conjure up Handbook and Project SMW ask query to list open and closed discussions in their own sections on the page.
  • Enhance project pages by adding a new automatically generated section that shows open discussions.

GLEP 39 non-complaint project lead query

Remove translations permission?

The comment-streams plugin adds too much inconvenience to enabling translations for individual users. The comment-streams log has to be reviewed in order to find the user.

Options:

  1. No longer require special permission for translations. See comment 10 on bug #801937.
  2. Use a different method for requesting translations.
  3. Other options?

Documentation improvements

Lazy tasks

"Lazy tasks" can be performed as time permits. These tasks are not high priority items, but to require some attention as necessary.

Translations

See Help:Translating and the Translations special pages.

Process translator account requests
For now, each user account must be manually enabled for translation permissions before an account can translate. These are processed in batches - we try to shoot for a monthly basis - but sometimes we get behind.
Mark pages for translation
These pages will need to be proof read for any obvious grammatical or punctuation errors, or incorrect instruction.
Reviewing translations
Users may now review translations using the Review option either on the Action bar or on the bottom of Translate page. Users cannot review their own translations.

Article updates

FAQs

Can I rename my account?

Important
Do NOT create a new account to 'claim' or 'reserve' a new account name. Creating an account with the new name creates problems for wiki admins that cannot be undone, making it difficult to impossible to transfer the old account contents to the desired name.

It is possible to request account renames by following the procedure below. Note that the procedure requires manual intervention by an admin and can take time, so choose account names carefully!

Only the actual account-owner is able to request an account rename, and must be logged-in with the account for which the rename request is being made.

If the desired account name already exists on the wiki, then the name has already been claimed and it is impossible to use that as the new name for an account. A username search can be performed to see what names have already been claimed.

To request an account rename, login to the account to be renamed (the existing account) and write the following text at the top of the user page of that account:

{{UsernameRenameRequest|<LarryTheCow>}}

Where <LarryTheCow> is the desired name after the rename operation. This must be done so that wiki admins can verify the owner of the account to be renamed is the same person asking for the rename.

Tip
If in a hurry or the rename is taking too long, ask in #gentoo-wiki (webchat) if an admin could rename the account, after having followed the procedure above. Be sure to provide a link to the user page for which the request is being made. Wiki admins will eventually review the request.
  Important note to editors
Wiki admins can use the Special:RenameUser page to rename a user account, but only after the owner of the account has edited their user page to add a rename request. Only rename an account after checking in the "user page history" that the account rename request has been issued from that same account.


Accounts waiting to be renamed will be listed on Category:Username_rename_requests (if the request uses the appropriate template, as suggested above).

Can I rename my account to begin with a leading lowercase letter?

Unfortunately there is a technical limitation for MediaWiki does not allow for accounts to be created with a leading lowercase letter. The best workaround presently possible is to add the {{Lowercase title}} template to the user page. This will present the page as lowercase when visiting the page, but does not actually rename the account. There was a bug filed with upstream MediaWiki at one point to enable lowercase starting letters for account names, but to the best of our knowledge, the effort was never completed.

Can I delete/remove my account?

Because Mediawiki software uses a relational database, revision history should not be deleted (even if the account to be deleted/removed has never performed any editing). This creates an inherit problem. The best solution is to merge the account with another account (such as the Anonymous user) that is blocked (prevented from performing actions on the wiki).

Users

Wiki users need to perform the following steps to prepare the account for removal:

  1. Login to the account you would like renamed and write the following text in the user namespace of the account: Hi Gentoo wiki admins, I would like my account permanently removed. I understand this is a one-way action that cannot be undone. Please proceed with removing my account. This must be done so that wiki admins can verify the owner of the account to be removed is the same person asking for the rename in the step below.
  2. Finally, ask someone with an @ symbol next to their IRC nickname in #gentoo-wiki (webchat) to remove the existing account. Be sure to provide the admin with a link to the user namespace with the message mentioned above. Wiki admins will eventually review the request. Admin instructions are below.

Admins

Wiki admins are to perform the following steps to delete/remove accounts:

  1. Confirm the wiki user asking for the account deletion/removal has logged in and left a message on their userspace page as instructed above. Verify via user page history to ensure the request was performed the same username requesting account deletion. This confirms the user's identity as the account holder for the account in question.
  2. Merge the account to be removed with the Anonymous user account. This action is performed with the User Merge tool.
    • Be sure to select the "Delete old user" checkbox.

See the MediaWiki upstream guidance on user deletion.

Does an account need banned?

Users

In case of edits clearly harmful to the wiki, please notify wiki admins using any or all of the contact methods (see above InfoBox: email, IRC, etc.). The team usually keeps a close eye on edits, so please double check that nobody has yet taken action.

Please include links to the abusive changes and to any attempts to mitigate them via discussions on Talk pages. We trust you, our policy is to verify the claim.

Admins

Wiki admins can disable accounts using the Disable Account special page. Do so only have validating the claims are true.

Can I get a dump of the Gentoo wiki database?

No(t yet). Database dumps are not available. We will update this message if database dumps become available in the future.

The Gentoo infrastructure team does an excellent job maintaining the servers and databases used to host the Gentoo wiki. Please raise concerns over data integrity, availability, and confidentiality with the infrastructure team, not the wiki team.

How can I change my email address?

Users

See the change email page or the "Email options" part of the user profile to self-service with this request. A user must be logged-in to the account in order change the associated email address. Users should have no issues self-serving an email address change as long as they can successfully authenticate the account via the login process.

Admins

If manual intervention is necessary, Gentoo infra staff that have access to geese can follow upstream's guide for manual email address change.

Warning
Manual intervention should only be performed after the account has been properly verified. The user should have no reason to not change the email address themself via self-service!

Governance and oversight

The wiki project team exists to govern and oversee the wiki.gentoo.org domain. In doing so we sometimes make decisions on how to handle documentation.

Retired projects

Sometimes it is necessary to retire a project. Instead of deleting the project page, in order to preserve Gentoo project history and make potentially documention more easily discoverable, it is better to move the project page and any sub-pages to the main namespace.

This way the community can continue to see documentation from the decommissioned project effort and can build upon or resume the project at a later date, if desired. It also better aligns with the way project git repositories are archived on gitweb.g.o.

  1. Move the page and any sub-pages into the Main namespace.
    • This preserves the page edit history.
    • If necessary, append the suffix "(project archive)", without the quotes, to the page name.
  2. Modify the page via the "Edit source" button and remove the {{Project}} template and all the content therein, then add [[Category:Archived project]] category to the end of the page.
    • This will make project page more easily discoverable for interested parties who are attempting to find achieved project documentation.
  3. If applicable and/or desired, mark the page with a {{Archived}} template at the top of the page.

See the Sunrise article as an example.

Participation

As with all official Gentoo projects: community participation not only welcome, but highly encouraged. In short, here are a few things that could use some immediate attention:

  • Gentoo_Wiki:Feedback - Review the wiki feedback page. Respond to and close any open discussions here.
  • Open discussions - Help close out open discussions (especially anything open in the Handbook namespace).
  • Todo list - Review other things that need some effort.
  • Translate - Make the Gentoo documentation available in your native language. Become a translator.

As with most Gentoo projects, as you pile on contributions you may be asked if you are interested in joining our wiki project. We are excited to see the ways community members enhance our mass of freely available documentation.

Wiki internal development

  • Project:Wiki/Development — a landing page for development and maintenance of MediaWiki features and enhancements added by the Gentoo wiki project.

Users with significant contributions to the project

  • Alex Legler (a3li) - Official Gentoo wiki founder, administrator, and protector who welded the Ban Hammer with ease. He will never be forgiven.
  • Arne Stäcker (Astaecker) - Arne was around during the wiki's founding. He greatly assisted by creating several templates that are still widely used today, which helped article formatting and better organize wiki data.
  • Sven Vermeulen (SwifT) - Documentation project lead who also authored the Gentoo Handbook (originally in the GuideXML format) and then migrated it, along with many of Gentoo's "HOWTO" guides, to the wiki. He also oversee as an editor to the main namespace on the wiki.
  • Darkcircle - Epic Korean translator who fixed a lot of English (source) documents as well.
  • P.Fox (Ris) - Significant documentation contributions around the wiki.

Archives

See also

  • Article blueprints — created to provide wiki contributors with a pre-made structure, to help focus on quality content, and to promote consistency across articles.
  • Contributor's guide — help anyone quickly get started with simple edits
  • Help pages — provide useful information about using the Gentoo wiki