GuildWiki:Software and technical issues/Bugs

Please make note of any bugs you encounter in the wiki here. Click edit and follow the directions in the text area that appears.

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GuildWiki is the target of spambot zombies
Page: Many (see recent history)

Problem: A spamminion master has been using his army of zombies to spam his urls everywhere.

Submitted By: 05:22, 28 March 2006 (CST)

Possible Fix: SpamBlacklist


 * I've gotten SBL to install on my test mediawiki installation without too much trouble. 05:22, 28 March 2006 (CST)


 * An easier way to take care of the problem is to disallow anonymous edits. -- James Sumners 22:12, 28 March 2006 (CST)


 * You think that will really help? A load of them post by name. 22:30, 28 March 2006 (CST)


 * Hmm, I hadn't really been keeping up with the spam posted here so I didn't realize they were using accounts. -- James Sumners 00:40, 29 March 2006 (CST)
 * I would estimate that at least 95% of the spam and vandalism is posted from anonymous IPs. Just look at Special:Log/block to see a list of users that have been banned for varying amounts of time. --161.88.255.140 01:03, 29 March 2006 (CST)
 * Of course, if you did require a logged in account, that could just make the spam harder to police. Currently, you can look at the Special:Recentchanges and give special attention to anon postings.  Requiring logged in accounts just requires the spammer to write a script to automatically walk through the set-up screens for creating accounts.  Spam continues, but the likely candidates for extra scrutiny are harder to spot. --161.88.255.140 01:15, 29 March 2006 (CST)
 * Oh yeh, every IP edit I see is a potential spam edit, yay for paranoia! 01:49, 29 March 2006 (CST)
 * Sadly, that is how I react to IP posts. I certainly don't consider all IP posters to be spammers, actually very few IPS posters are spammers, but most spammers are IP posters (and yes, I see the irony in my using an IP address) --161.88.255.140 07:11, 29 March 2006 (CST)


 * I disagree with IP-based blocking on principle. It makes the baby Wikisus cry. Filter the spam, not the potential spammer. 01:07, 29 March 2006 (CST)


 * I agree with Stabber, just look at the flow of Spammer. Has it ceased? Has it decreased? Has all the blocking actually made Skuld feel any safer? :) I don't know what that SBL thing does (and no Stabber I didn't click on the link), but I imagine it basically reviews submitted edits to prevent the Spam edits from taking place, regardless of IPs. --Karlos 07:02, 29 March 2006 (CST)


 * Bump! SpamBlacklist is an utterly trivial 90% solution to spam links. F G 22:42, 6 April 2006 (CDT)
 * Looks like it is included in MediaWiki 1.6. Now if only we could get an upgrade... -- James Sumners 00:18, 7 April 2006 (CDT)


 * We've been using BadBehavior for a long time. Gravewit 04:37, 7 April 2006 (CDT)


 * Interesting, but that doesn't really address the issue of spam zombies. Can I truly not talk you into installing SpamBlacklist? It is simply a matter of:
 * Editing  to add:
 * Editing  to add:

require_once( "$IP/extensions/SpamBlacklist/SpamBlacklist.php" ); $wgSpamBlacklistFiles = array( "http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spam_blacklist&action=raw&sb_ver=1", // Wikimedia's list "DB: guildwiki_db_name GuildWiki:Spam_blacklist",   // our list );
 * Creating Spam blacklist and adding all the stupid spam URLs like the gayhomes.net one.
 * Should take five minutes tops! &mdash; Stabber (talk) 05:16, 7 April 2006 (CDT)


 * For some reason enabling SpamBlacklist gives me the "cannot modify headers" error(s). I've tried it without BadBehavior, and a bunch of other ways, I can't quite get it working. Gravewit 08:46, 9 April 2006 (CDT)


 * Hmm... I did exactly what I said above with a test vanilla MediaWiki 1.6.1 installation and didn't get those errors. Checking the source now to see what would cause "cannot modify headers" errors... &mdash; Stabber (talk) 08:53, 9 April 2006 (CDT)


 * Grepping is drawing a blank. What was the exact error message? &mdash; Stabber (talk) 09:01, 9 April 2006 (CDT)

Selecting skins prevents login
Page: All on site

Problem: I was playing with my account preferences (timezone, etc) and saw the option for skins. I selected one to see what it looked like, and clicked "Save". Now the only way that I can access the site is by deleting the cookie for gw.gamewikis.org. Once I attempt to login again, the cookie is re-created, I am unable to access the site, and I receive the following error message: Fatal error: Cannot redeclare class skinmonobook in /usr/home/guildwiki/public_html/skins/MonoBook.php on line 25

Comments: While I knew to delete the cookies in order to regain access, how many users have done the same as me and did not know to delete the cookie? I realize that for the technical minded out there, it's hard to imagine anyone not knowing to do that; but there are a lot of people whose only thought when cookies are mentioned is wondering if they're penut-butter or chocolate chip. I can't help but wonder how many might be out there that lost access to the wiki due to this bug, and now are effectively blocked from even viewing it anymore. --161.88.255.140 00:45, 8 March 2006 (CST) (username: "161.88.x.x")

Submitted By: --161.88.255.140 06:45, 4 March 2006 (CST) (my username is: "161.88.x.x")


 * PanSola here. I just ran into the same problem, and can't log in to my account anymore...  If this bug isn't fixed I'd have to create a new account... -24.7.179.183 15:00, 17 March 2006 (CST)


 * I posted a note on both Gravewit's and Nunix's talk pages to try to get their attention about this. Unfortunately I don't know what else to do.  --Rainith 15:09, 17 March 2006 (CST)
 * EDIT - And I left him a PM on the GWG forums. --Rainith 15:15, 17 March 2006 (CST)


 * I can't figure this one out. I've been messing with it off and on for awhile, and if you google search it, we show up in the top of the list ; p 71.193.99.44 06:52, 7 April 2006 (CDT)


 * Is this still affecting people? The problem seems to be when you make your own skin but don't change the class name. I can delete the skin you made, and that will fix the login problem. Gravewit 08:53, 9 April 2006 (CDT)

(Not so) Special pages
Page: Special:Specialpages

Problem: The Special pages page seems to be missing all the normal special pages. I see the Admin special pages, but none of the normal ones.

Comments: Someone else mentioned this somewhere, but I wanted to put in an official report.

Submitted By: Rainith 16:56, 12 February 2006 (CST)

Notes:


 * I get this problem too - I cannot see ANY of the Special pages (not an admin). This just seems to be since we moved to the new server... Kidburla 22:52, 13 February 2006 (CST)
 * it was me and I can't remember where. still all blankety -_- 00:06, 20 February 2006 (CST)
 * They're back 04:44, 23 February 2006 (CST)
 * Still having a problem with them. Seems I can get them to show up by refreshing the page a few times.  --Rainith 04:50, 23 February 2006 (CST)
 * I get the same problem. For me it seems to depend on which page I am on when I click the link. Doesnt seem to make sense. --Xeeron 20:24, 23 February 2006 (CST)
 * For me the Special pages page is ALWAYS blank, ever since the problem started. -PanSola 11:21, 1 March 2006 (CST)

In the meantime I figured out what some of them are called, and put them under Specialpages. -PanSola 17:28, 2 March 2006 (CST)


 * This seems to work for me now. It's been working every time since I upgraded to 1.6.1. Can anyone clear their cache, test it, and confirm? Gravewit 08:54, 9 April 2006 (CDT)


 * I'm still having issues with it. Even after clearing my cache.  In fact I can clear my cache and have it change, irregardless of what it was before.  i.e. If I have all the special pages, I clear cache and refresh and they're gone.  If I repeat that, they come back.  --Rainith 19:58, 9 April 2006 (CDT)
 * This is still an issue for me. Fortuneately, I had added most of the ones I needed to my user page; but that doesn't help everyone else. --Barek 20:26, 9 April 2006 (CDT)

Mis-floating Categories
Page: Previewing some pages.

Problem: Sometimes in preview, the bar showing the categories will float on top of the edit box for the article. Adjacent is an example.

Comments: This is reminicent of the old problem we had with the About Disclaimr bar. I am sorry, it does not appear consistently so I cannot pin one article where it always happens.

Submitted by: --Karlos 17:12, 1 November 2005 (EST)


 * Is this still happening occasionally? Gravewit 08:56, 9 April 2006 (CDT)

Missing email reply
Problem: Created a new user account, entered an email address and followed link to confirm email address. Clicked on button which appeared and message claimed a confirmatory email had been sent. None actually received.

Submitted By: Rhess 07:45, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

Problem Continues: Same as above. Checked my profile, my email address is correct there. Is there a problem with the mail-bot?

Submitted By: Purple Recluse 17:45, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Comments: Anyone else have this happen recently (since the server move)? Gravewit 02:40, 23 February 2006 (CST)


 * I changed my mail address a while ago but no confirm ever came through, that could be because I don't have access to skuld@@@simsational,,,co,,uk, my old address, =( 18:36, 20 March 2006 (CST)

Comments: Yes, the page will not send emails to any of my email accounts upon request. (By changing or activation.) --Nilles 01:52, 2 April 2006 (CST)