User talk:MarkDilley

Please click here to leave me a public message at my main wiki or Public wiki message here at the UniversalEditButton wiki additional contact info

Good luck Mark!
Awesome to see this come together. Yes, I'll probably do a blog post on this, it's about time for something lighthearted and techy on my blog...it's gotten so serious lately ;) -Peteforsyth 04:00, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

V ?.1
Hi Mark, when I go to the extensions section I have an item listed as "wiki auto-discovery button 1.1" --Walter 21:07, 20 June 2008 (UTC)
 * you are right! was thinking of it differently the whole day yesterday :-) MarkDilley

site icon
Sorry I didn't quite get what you meant.. You asked me if I think that people new to the idea of editing would be confused... with what, exactly? Waldir 11:06, 21 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, I understand your concerns. Perhaps some other icon (among the proposed ones?) should be used, even though that might not be quite consistent... I mean, if there was an rss.org page, for instance, wouldn't you expect its favicon to be the rss symbol? --Waldir 17:27, 21 June 2008 (UTC)


 * While reverting some vandalism, I just noticed I have now rollback permissions, and went to investigate: this log entry tells me you granted me sysop rights on june 20... well thanks, even though you didn't warn me.. lol. Waldir 02:42, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

suggestion
Hi Mark, how do you think we can go about accepting the link type I suggested over here? I can get this integrated into Confluence, but I'd like to get the link format sorted out first. --Matt 11:37, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

thanks
Hi Mark. Thank you for telling me about this Universal Edit Button wiki. --DavidCary 20:39, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Screenshot
I've uploaded id screenshot: Image:Tombol Suntingan Universal.jpg. Bennylin 04:32, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Main image in Spanish
Hi Mark, I already did it, but maybe not with the best type and size of characters :) > http://universaleditbutton.org/Image:400px-UWEBinaction_es.png --Esenabre 09:10, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

spam
It's not a big deal, I activated the email notification for changes in my watchlist, and from time to time I visit Special:UnwatchedPages and add all the entries listed there to my watchlist. Lately, since I am not sure other pages, even if watched, are being maintained, I added the RC RSS feed to my feed reader. I can't think of anything that would spectacularly improve spam fighting over my current method, but perhaps you could update the mediawiki version. I believe the more recent versions show a list of protection durations (right now one has to enter that manually and I didn't bother going looking for the correct syntax, so I left it blank when I protected En, for instance -- hoping the default would be indefinite duration). And probably there are other enhancements as well. Cheers :) --Waldir 10:24, 26 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Quite a coincidence: Brion Vibber (Wikimedia's CTO) posted today about the AbuseFilter extension: http://leuksman.com/log/2009/01/26/testing-abusefilter-extension/ -- you might want to give it a try sometime soon :) --Waldir 09:23, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

I just tried a simple edit, unlogged, and it asked me to solve a ReCaptcha. I don't think those are easily decipherable by machines, so I guess maybe the spam we're having is from a farm that's using human captcha solvers. I don't know what could be an efficient counter-measure here. I wonder if the abuse filter, mentoned above, would be useful... maybe you should ask the WMF techies or at least someone closer to their level than me :) --Waldir 08:27, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for compliments
@ my page. I don't know what's happening but my intent uploading the svg source was to provide and diffuse the actual source, however some bug (feature?) prevents that. So I've put the in the page so you can copy/paste it in a text editor and get a vector version of the logo/icon, of course the intent is to place this picture under appropriate license.

WikiFur UEB removal
Hello! Sorry to see wikiFur stop using the Universal Edit Button. Can you let me know what your thoughts are around it? What do you mean "it takes up a bunch of header space per page"? Have you seen this video Best, MarkDilley
 * Hi Mark! My original thought was "that's cool", so I eagerly added it, but on reconsideration:
 * We already have a big bold edit button on every page that can be edited
 * Most people know it can be edited because it is quite clearly a wiki (it even looks like Wikipedia)
 * Those that don't know this are incredibly unlikely to be using a custom Firefox plugin to tell them it can
 * The extension requires MediaWiki to emit a header into every page, delaying the presentation of useful content to the reader and causing pages to occupy additional cache space (it was about 1% gzipped; our pages are shorter than Wikipedia's)
 * Compounding this, MediaWiki is now designed to emit two separate headers (which I've filed a bug over - pick one, damnit! ;-)
 * While patching MediaWiki to emit just one header for the feature, I decided it made more sense just to remove it entirely.
 * To make it clear, I'm not just picking on UniversalEditButton - I also removed MediaWiki:Print.css (merged to commonPrint.css), the Content-Type, Content-Style-Type, generator, apple-touch-icon and copyright headers, the RSS/Atom feeds (again, two headers - and they're not even page-specific!), parser cache/debug comments, licensing/MediaWiki logos, the printfooter, and the http: from our interwiki links (which, while perfectly valid, broke several crawlers as well as MediaWiki itself). Individually none of these were significant, but together they total about 1.5Kb/page, or closer to 700 bytes gzipped. Our average gzipped page size is about 7kb, so this is a 10% reduction that affects our squid cache, parser cache, and - importantly for usability - the time taken to deliver and display each page to the user. (We also made plenty of other changes). GreenReaper 06:07, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Changes
Hi there, Mark. I just made a bold edit and I thought I'd let you know, in case you disagree. I added a "Who's using it?" link on the sidebar, since I believe it might be a good incentive for new wikis to add the button.

Also, I was thinking that the page could use some sorting, e.g. like what's done in http://wikipedia.org. We could have, for example, a section for the largest wikis, another for intermediate ones, and a third one for the smallest. This could be made even more visually pleasant if the page had logos for each wiki, and the images' size was adjusted according to the number of users they have. What do you think? Cheers, Waldir 09:33, 3 September 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, I think that would be a good idea. However, I tried to find a reference for the size/popularity of each of the wikis listed there, but couldn't find any that included them all. Maybe we could use Alexa rank, what do you think? --Waldir 18:00, 15 September 2009 (UTC)


 * WikiFactor is a cool concept, but it would have to be calculated for most of the wikis on the list, and also we don't know how to calculate it for non-mediawiki wikis. I thus agree that it would be best to start out with alexa. I'll try to find some time to do it soon. --Waldir 22:34, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

nospam?
Hi Mark! I realized there hasn't been any spam edits since December 31, 2009. It's been two months now... Did you add a new extension, or something? I'm curious to know what's been so effective :) --Waldir 11:23, 24 February 2010 (UTC)

Re: Wikipedia
I figured it would be better than having red links (They showed up in Special:ListUsers). I understand your concerns. A more neutral targed would be MediaWiki.org -- I'll change that, but let me know if you still prefer something else. Cheers, Waldir 18:34, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Suggestions
Hi Mark,

I think it would be advisable to upgrade this wiki to 1.15.4. Additionally I would delete the file "headbg.jpg" found at "[path to MediaWiki]/skins/monobook/" which makes this wiki appear a bit quaint. After deletion the background is all white.

Cheers --kgh 13:50, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Bug 24496
Hi Mark, thanks for voting on this bug. Cheers --kgh 23:32, 22 July 2010 (UTC)


 * We just found out that the UEB is being activated out of the box. The information you got about it was correct! In this case it is not necessary and advisable to ask for it during installation. I am sorry for not checking properly before filing the bug. Cheers --kgh 09:09, 23 July 2010 (UTC)


 * As a little compensation I started to make some minor changes to the wiki. Additionally the German translation of the main page is now available. Cheers --kgh 19:50, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Bookmarking
Hi, I inserted the bookmarking again into the social media template. This site should offer all channels. Hoping that this is ok. Otherwise... Cheers --kgh 11:25, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Main page
Hi Mark, what do you think of the front page as it is now. I updated the pictures so they show the new icon now. Cheers --kgh 11:29, 25 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Good to here this. I was afraid that my changes might be to big to be done without consultation. Cheers --kgh 12:52, 26 July 2010 (UTC)


 * That is true! Cheers --kgh 17:41, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Flat wiki space conversation
Hi Mark, by inserting a page like this   you are "transforming" a regular page into a template. Thus it is always better to call the page Template: right away. A big advantage of doing so is that a person gets only shown interesting content pages when using Special:Allpages instead of every single boring template. Cheers --kgh 12:31, 27 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks - I did know that :-) - This is a cultural issue between wiki people from Wikipedia and wiki people from flat wiki - I think :-)  I kinda like that people see the work of the wiki.  But am up for collaboration!  MarkDilley
 * How did you guess, that I am a Wikipedian? ;-) However in the meantime I evolved an I see myself more as being a "Wiking". Your intention is good, but to my experience it will not make any difference. :-( People tend to appreciate things and efforts only after they have done some work of their own and not before. Thus they are more familiar with the system and able to differentiate between pages, templates and so on an so forth. That is when they get kicked into wiki mode. I am afraid that too many unfamiliar pages rather make them scare off. :-( I am very sad to write this, but editing is still an elite thing to do. This is one reason why I think that the UEB initiative is utterly necessary!! Cheers --kgh 17:37, 27 July 2010 (UTC)
 * The power of Google gave me some indications :-)  I hear your concerns about people seeing strange pages - I just don't have those concerns :-)  Am happy to leave them as is.  Cheers, MarkDilley
 * Fair enough :-) Let us do it like that. Cheers --kgh 10:05, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

In the News
Hi Mark, this one was too easy. :-) Thanks for helping out on this one! Cheers --kgh 21:30, 28 July 2010 (UTC)

What do you think about the edit tab?
As a test I changed its appearance. Cheers --kgh 13:48, 3 August 2010 (UTC) PS I am a CCS noob. That is why it took me a couple of edits to get there.


 * I am glad you like it. :) You will not believe it, but it is truly the same colour. You may compare the code on MediaWiki:Common.css with Image:UEB.svg. It is the same one (#00A228). First I too thought there may be a mistake. But if you compare the large svg version of the button you will have proof. Cheers --kgh 21:50, 3 August 2010 (UTC) Doing it the other way around, green letters and white background, is by far not as striking. --kgh 21:59, 3 August 2010 (UTC)


 * I do believe it :-)


 * :-) --kgh 08:55, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

People
Hi, it is ok to me that you have changed it. Normally it is the other way around, but this time German provides better distinction, in this case between user and user. One is called Benutzer which I do not like at all though it is frequently used, the other is called Nutzer which is that you want to convey with people and what I use. :-) Cheers --kgh 21:56, 3 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Ah, I did not know about this. Good to know. Though I think that it only works in small communities in which the people are somewhat familiar with each other. --kgh 08:57, 4 August 2010 (UTC) PS My Wiki life started pretty late in March 2004 :-)


 * Awesome - do you know your WikiBirthday? :-) Best, MarkDilley


 * I made first contact on March 5, 2004. And on Mai 23, 2009 "my" first public Wiki rolled out. Thanks for giving me a hint about this page! Cheers --kgh 21:33, 5 August 2010 (UTC)

UEB add-on for Firefox 4.0
Heiya Mark, I just installed the freshly released Fx 4.0 an realised that version 1.2.1 of the add-on is not compatible with it. It would be very cool if someone updated the add-on. I am sure you have some contacts which can do this. Probably you already know about it. I just want to make sure that you are aware since it is even more important than the technical update of this website. Cheers --kgh 23:30, 24 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the note - I will see if Splitbrain is up for it! :-) Best, MarkDilley
 * You are welcome. Hopefully he can do it. I would love to see it back working again. Cheers and happy WikiBirthday --kgh 11:54, 25 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Hi Mark, I just saw that you are still looking for somebody to update the Firefox add-on for 4.0. As I understand Brion Vibber likes the idea of the UEB, too. Perhaps it would be a good idea to ask him if he has contact to somebody who might be able to help the cause. Since you were already in contact with him before I might be better if you contact him rather than me. Cheers --kgh 10:47, 28 April 2011 (UTC) PS He is back at MediaWiki as the lead developer.
 * Good idea, Brion is an original developer of this - I will ask him to put a call out for help. Best, MarkDilley
 * Hi, I did not even know that he was an original developer. This should improve the situation dramatically. Cheers --kgh 18:35, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Houston, we have a problem!
Hi Mark, our problem with spam is out of control. :( I suggest to change this wiki to read-only mode until we have a chance to effectively fight spam. Cheers --kgh 10:02, 30 April 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm sure there are better solutions to keep spam in check. This is supposed to be a wiki, not a regular, "webmaster-operated" website :(
 * Possibly upgrading the wiki may help (but let's wait for v1.20). Other than that, what are the spam control mechanisms in place? We need to review them and assess their efficacy. --Waldir 12:11, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

Google BUZZ → Google +
Heiya Mark, I removed the buzz thing today since it is defunct. In the meantime there is the Google + service available. Perhaps you may arrange something here. Cheers --kgh 22:16, 25 September 2012 (UTC)