[Wikipedia-l] Re: Blocking

Sat Nov 8 09:44:41 UTC 2003

Tim Starling <ts4294967296 at hotmail.com> writes:
> I was discussing possible measures against this guy on the IRC
> channel. I came to the conclusion that the best feature to implement
> would be a method for quickly rolling back page creation. Possibly,
> sysops could have a column of checkboxes on RC.

I like this idea. IMO, a better implementation idea would be to add rollback 
checkboxes to every top edit displayed on their contributions page (maybe 
with non-top edits automatically grayed out). At the top there simply would 
be a "select all" option. However I still can do 2-3 rollbacks a second when 
the server is running fast (gotta love scroll wheels on Linux - press them on 
a link and it opens in a new window). So I wouldn't benefit much from such a 
feature, but from a few frustrating experiences using rollback on a massive 
scale at work (on MS Windows), I know it isn't as easy for many people 
(whoever thought it would be a good idea to have 'auto-scroll' enabled when 
pressing down on the scroll wheel should be shot!).  

What I would love to see is the addition of diffs to user contrib pages. That 
would make checking of anon edits go much faster (you can't just assume that 
every edit ever made by a vandal's IP is also a vandalism). 

Anything that gives us the upper hand against vandals is a good thing; if it 
is easier for us to repair damage than it is for vandals to create it, then  
that removes much of the incentive for vandals to make a mess of the place  
and gives us tools to make cleaning up any mess when it does happen much 
easier. It also allows us to keep our doors wide open. All good things. 

-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)