[WikiEN-l] Page move vandal - there is a feature that can help with it ...

Sun Mar 6 14:11:03 UTC 2005

Just had the following conversation with Tim Starling on
#mediawiki. Log quoted with permission.

Basically: there is a feature. Present version is unsubtle
in its restriction (last 10% of created accounts, which is
possibly a bit harsh to get consensus. A timed version
would be nice, but someone interested in it will have to
write the code.

Of course, if that restriction isn't considered too onerous
for the moment, it can just be switched on, and it will stop
Willy On Wheels! in his tracks.

<DavidGerard>	a question on page move vandalism: is there a good technical 
reason why e.g. checking a user has been around for a time before doing a 
move is infeasible? or is it just that no-one's coded it yet?
<DavidGerard>	(I assume there's a bug on the subject)
<TimStarling>	DavidGerard: yes, we wrote code for that when Wik was running 
his vandalbot
<TimStarling>	it's currently switched off
<DavidGerard>	ok - does it need a vote or something to ratify switching it on?
<DavidGerard>	TimStarling: and is the code in question production quality, 
of course? I plan to mention it on wikien-l, where it's been asked about, 
and then start a discussion and vote page, if it's usable
<TimStarling>	the checkuser code? it's ready for use
<TimStarling>	if there's anything wrong with it, we'll fix it when problems 
come up
<DavidGerard>	the page move checker. what time limit does it set, or is that 
configurable?
<DavidGerard>	(I'm asking all this because I don't want to present you with 
consensus for something not quite possible ;-)
<DavidGerard>	(ideally for somethng that's no more work than switching it on)
<TimStarling>	the current code just denies access to the move page function 
for anyone who satisfies the isNewbie() condition
<TimStarling>	which generally meant one of the last 10% of user accounts created
<DavidGerard>	what's that set to?
<DavidGerard>	ah
<DavidGerard>	no particular time limit then
<TimStarling>	of course Wik then created 5000 user accounts on meta, good 
for him
<TimStarling>	so we made an account creation throttle as well
<TimStarling>	no particular time limit
<DavidGerard>	how much work to put in a settable time limit? off the top of 
your head
<DavidGerard>	(i'm thinking what is likely to be comprehensible and play well)
<TimStarling>	the sign-up date is not recorded
<TimStarling>	it's not in the schema, we were just using the user ID
<DavidGerard>	oh, so how is the 90 days calculated for votes?
<TimStarling>	by finding the first contribution, but that's an expensive query
<DavidGerard>	ew. yes.
<DavidGerard>	i shall mention it on wikien-l that it's possible at least ;-)
<TimStarling>	possible to do it by sign-on date? Yes, it's possible if 
someone wants to write the code
<TimStarling>	it just means a schema change
<DavidGerard>	that's what i thought ;-)
<DavidGerard>	mind if I c'n'p this conversation to a wikien-l mail?
<TimStarling>	no I don't mind
<DavidGerard>	cool :-)

- d.