WiKirby:User accounts
While WiKirby does not require users to have accounts in order to edit pages, user accounts are required in order to have access to many of the wiki's functions. Editors are highly encouraged to get accounts, particularly if they have an interest in being part of the community or want a shot at climbing the rank hierarchy.
Activating accounts
Accounts are activated by correctly answering a CAPTCHA question and then confirming an email that would be sent to the email address that was entered on the signup form. Once activated, the account is open indefinitely no matter how much time goes by, unless it is manually deleted by a Bureaucrat (though this only happens to vandals and spam accounts).
Deactivating accounts
Accounts are typically not deleted or removed from the wiki; due to the nature of the database, deleting an account can cause database errors. However, an account may be disabled from use upon request by the account holder. Administrators have the ability upon request to block the account in question until such a time that the user wishes to use it again, preventing its use by anyone else in the interim.
Emails
It is important that users have legitimate email addresses tied to their accounts. Not only is this needed to activate them, but it allows users to recover their passwords if they forget it. Should the option be enabled in the user preferences, it also allows semi-anonymous emails between two users. So it is important to have real email addresses tied to accounts rather than a temporary email address. WiKirby will not spam in-boxes unless the user carelessly watches all the pages they edit.
Renaming accounts
It is entirely possible to rename accounts here. To do so it is simply a matter of requesting it from a bureaucrat. It is recommended that this be done sparingly, as it is a load on the server to change a name. It also turns affected user pages into redirects as it moves them to the new name.
Account rights
- Main article: WiKirby:Ranks
Depending on the user's actions, they may acquire further access to actions and rights on the wiki. The most that the average user can expect to obtain is auto-confirmed rights, but with a lot of time and dedication, the odds can change.
Multiple accounts
Generally speaking, WiKirby prefers that its users operate with only one account. If for whatever reason a user ends up with more than one, an Administrator+ may step in to ask that the user in question choose the one they prefer, resulting in the other one(s) being deactivated. In extreme cases, (which should never happen) it is possible to merge accounts in order to combine their records, but this wreaks havoc on the database, so is only done as a last resort.
Blocking accounts
- Main article: WiKirby:Block policy
There are a number of reasons why an account will be blocked. The amount of time of the block is based upon the reason for the block. Common reasons for blocking include:
- Inserting false information
- Deliberately inserting a large amount of information that is completely false.
- Removing content from pages
- Removing a large amount of content from pages.
- Spamming links to external sites or linking to questionable websites
- Inserting links to external sites for purposes of advertising it, or linking to websites which contain: porn, computer infestation devices, or other questionable content.
- Inserting nonsense/gibberish into pages
- Inserting random content into pages for purposes of causing disruption.
- Intimidating behavior/harassment
- Harassing another user, defiance of the wiki's rules, unacceptable attitude.
- Abusing multiple accounts
- Registering under more than one account to evade a block, vandalize, or other illicit purposes.
- Unacceptable username
- The username contained illegal characters or was simply too long. Users blocked under this reason will be asked to register under a different, more appropriate username.
- Vandalism
- Overall destructive behavior with obvious intent to cause chaos.
Sufficiently troublesome users will be blocked indefinitely, and will not be allowed to edit their talk pages. Their I.P. addresses may also be barred.
User namespace permissions and restrictions
WiKirby has been fairly lenient in regards to user page and superflous user sub pages. While we still allow user pages to be a place where users can creatively express themselves or tell others whatever they feel like; some guidelines are defined and staff need to balance permissions with restrictions. In general, user sandboxes are permitted, as WiKirby allows experimentation. Our desired outcome is for a user's user page to contain whatever they would like to say there, and the user sub pages be either Kirby or wiki related.
What we will allow:
- Sandboxes and experimental subpages.
- Kirby or wiki related subpages that may be beneficial to any reader, such as wiki musings, image editing tutorials, operating system or browser comparison guides, works in progress intended to eventually be in the main namespace.
- A custom signature containing text and/or unicode symbols.
- Up to three images and three audio clips as appropriate to the personal content policy per user that can be displayed on their userpage.
What we will not allow:
- Any inappropriate content such as AdSpam, porn, links to sites of questionable content, or offensive natured writings/imagery.
- User subpages determined to spoof the MediaWiki interface or mock WiKirby policy.
- Content intending to utiliTemplate:Ze WiKirby as a discussion forum for topics unrelated to our project. Such as: Treasure Hunts, Discussion Games/Missions, Fan Fictions, Fan game creation fantasizing, etc.
- Custom signatures that cause a mess on pages.
Enforcement
Any administrator+ may either delete user sub-pages or move the content to the creator's user page as necessary. Other members can deem such pages deletable, and report it to an admin.
