Encyc:Community portal

Welcome to the Encyc community portal. This page serves as a central meeting place where Encyc users can get together and learn about current activities, group projects, and news.

Archives

• Encyc:Community portal/Archive 1
• Encyc:Community portal/Archive 2

Does this site

...Have an interwiki table? For reference it is generally found at Special:Interwiki, and only editable by adding $wgGroupPermissions['emperor']['interwiki'] = true; to the LocalSettings.php file. Dysklyver (talk) 09:51, 9 November 2018 (CST)

Well, Auggie no longer uses the Emperor account but let's not be too nitpicky ;) Alexander (talk) 10:14, 9 November 2018 (CST)

I think back when I set up the site I opted to go with the defaults rather than worrying about maintaining another table. I could look into it if you want to add something. What site were you thinking? Auggie (talk) 12:34, 9 November 2018 (CST)

I was doing interwiki links for wikilivres.org and I was wondering what sites (if any) you guys linked to, then got confused because the interwiki special page didn't exist! (p.s. if you used that code then a user-right called "emperor" would be created, members of which could edit the interwiki table. You may also need to add wfLoadExtension( 'Interwiki' ); because Extension:Interwiki is bundled with the version of MediaWiki this site uses but does not appear to be switched on.) I guess you could link wikilivres, but in no way is it essential. Dysklyver (talk) 13:44, 9 November 2018 (CST)

Cool. I think we're better off leaving it the way it is for now because it automatically updates with the defaults from MediaWiki. Auggie (talk) 20:47, 13 November 2018 (CST)

Extension:Collection

Is anyone using this? I am thinking of discontinuing it. Auggie (talk) 20:19, 21 January 2019 (CST)

Update notice

We just updated the Mediawiki installation. As usual, if anyone notices any problems, please let me know. I ended up keeping the Collection extension. Auggie (talk) 12:27, 12 February 2019 (CST)

SSL Certificate

Encyc now has an SSL certificate. There is something going on in images that is still triggering a warning, but I am hoping it will sort itself out as caches are cleared. It might have something to do with how the parser generates links. Auggie (talk) 14:00, 12 February 2019 (CST)

ok I figured out that last glitch. All parts of Encyc are now secure and should present with a padlock and say your connection is secure. Please report any problems. Auggie (talk) 11:12, 4 March 2019 (CST)

Some interesting statistics

Mobile clicks and desktop clicks are about even for this site. Please keep this in mind when writing articles. Use concise prose and simple formatting. Avoid huge tables such as this example: Wikipedia:Monofloral honey. We have a real opportunity here to be the mobile-friendly wiki that Wikipedia never was.

Another cool stat. Les Golden is our most viewed page other than the main page. It is closing in on 200,000 views. Congratulations and thank you, Les.

Auggie (talk) 09:53, 19 February 2019 (CST)

New "Editor" group

Following Abd's suggestion, I have created a group called "editor". This group is exempt from CAPTCHAs. In the future maybe it will have additional powers. Auggie (talk) 15:31, 21 May 2019 (CDT)

A very good idea. Dysklyver (talk) 18:34, 16 June 2019 (CDT)

Visual editor

I highly suggest that at some point users can have access to a different editing tool known as the "visual editor". Wikipedia and many other wiki projects use it, and it is a better way to edit with more advanced tools to use. DoveWindsor (Talk to me!) 05:52, 7 June 2019 (CDT)

Three reasons I've passed on the Visual Editor so far. The first is because pretty much everyone hates it. The critical community has numerous threads pointing out its shortcomings, and the acceptance rate on Wikipedia is very low. The second is because sometimes it introduces bugs to the wiki code that can be difficult for humans to clean up. The third is technical. It requires another extension and a Parsoid parser service.

further reading: https://wikipediocracy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2616 Auggie (talk) 07:38, 7 June 2019 (CDT)

Libregamewiki

Hello, fellow Encyclopedians! I started a new wiki project recently on 3 June 2019. So far, my wiki, Libergamewiki, has around 36 articles so far. I don't want to be the only editor there. I would truly appreciate it if anyone would be interested in volunteering to improve this new encyclopedia. The website link address is at: Official website My username there is User:Libregamewiki. I would love to have some admins on board to patrol the wiki site, which I have the power to do. See you then!

Libregamewiki - the free gaming encyclopedia! DoveWindsor (Talk to me!) 16:24, 8 June 2019 (CDT)

Cool. I registered. Auggie (talk) 17:49, 8 June 2019 (CDT)

Pure Wiki Deletion

Thanks to User:Abd for bringing this to our attention. Pure Wiki Deletion was a failed proposal on Wikipedia to give ordinary users more control over the deletion process. links:

• MediaWikiwiki:Extension:PureWikiDeletion
• Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Pure wiki deletion system
• Wikipedia:Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)/Archive_60#Pure_wiki_deletion,_redux

This looks like an interesting idea that never really made it to prime time. What do you think? Auggie (talk) 13:17, 10 June 2019 (CDT)

P2P Foundation Wiki

Feel free to check out this wiki and find me, Dove Windsor on P2P Foundation Wiki.

Update

Thank you everyone for your patience during Encyc's recent maintenance. Encyc has been upgraded and now has Popups, which allows a preview of an article by hovering over a wikilink. Tom (talk) 09:11, 10 December 2019 (CST)

Dark theme

A dark theme for the Vector skin is now available. It makes the screen dark gray and the text white or orange. Some people like it at night or anytime they want a less bright screen. Matter of personal preference.

To use it go to Preferences --> Appearance --> Theme, and then select "dark" from the dropdown box. Tom (talk) 08:59, 21 January 2020 (CST)

Ok we're going to try this as a default for a while, for the desktop version. Mobile is still the same light theme as before. Tom (talk) 08:09, 20 February 2020 (CST)

undid Tom (talk) 08:42, 26 February 2020 (CST)

Let's run this as default for a bit. Don (talk) 18:06, 17 September 2020 (CDT)

And back to light as default. Don (talk) 08:49, 20 October 2020 (CDT)

Page previews

Page previews can be enabled in preferences under the Appearance tab. This means if you hover over a link, a preview appears. Don (talk) 18:56, 8 September 2020 (CDT) Currently they are enabled by default. Don (talk) 08:27, 9 September 2020 (CDT)

Timeless skin

Timeless skin is now available as an option under preferences --> appearance. Don (talk) 11:44, 15 October 2020 (CDT)

Update to 1.35

As of this morning, we are now running Mediawiki 1.35. I'm having a little trouble bringing the dark theme and popups back but everything else seems to be working fine. As always, please let us know if you find problems. Email info@encyc.org. Also check out the new Vector skin by going to preferences and disabling "legacy Vector". Tom (talk) 11:56, 22 October 2020 (CDT)

ok the update went fine except the Theme extension is not working right. Out of the box it was hard to get going on 1.33 so it's possible it just needs some tweaks, but I suspect something changed in 1.35 with how the css is applied. At any rate, this might be a good time to learn how to make a custom skin because that would be a simpler solution. So for the time being Theme will not be reinstalled. Popups will remain off as well. Don (talk) 19:52, 22 October 2020 (CDT)

Dark mode update

I have decided to go a different route this time because it looks like Skin:DarkVector has improved since the last time I looked at it. It is now installed and is an option for those who prefer a dark theme. There are some changes that still need to be made but they are mostly contrast issues in non-essential elements. Look for subtle changes in the next few weeks. Don (talk) 13:48, 26 October 2020 (CDT)

For those who do not wish to register an account, the dark mode can be viewed here: https://encyc.org/wiki/Briolette_of_India?useskin=darkvector Don (talk) 23:57, 26 October 2020 (CDT)

Popups are back

They are working now. Don (talk) 08:43, 10 November 2020 (CST)

User editing

User editing is back on a trial basis. Don (talk) 09:50, 10 November 2020 (CST)

Community Wishlist Survey 2021

Our first ever wishlist survey has begun. Ideas welcome. Tom (talk) 10:21, 25 November 2020 (CST)

Moderation

Sorry but due to chronic vandalism we have had to install the Moderation extension. New users can continue to edit articles, but their changes will not become public until a moderator approves them. Anyone with an established record of responsible editing will be exempt from moderation by being placed in the "automoderated" group. If I have overlooked anyone, please let me know. Tom (talk) 14:57, 2 December 2020 (CST)

IP editing

IP editing. Good idea or bad idea? Don (talk) 10:13, 21 December 2020 (CST)

ok well we're trying it. Anyone can edit! Don (talk) 10:35, 21 December 2020 (CST)

Google hovering

Now if you hover over links on Google searches you can see more of the content from Encyc articles. This is true also for other wikis and other websites. When did this start happening? Tom (talk) 11:52, 25 December 2020 (CST)

Gentle reminder - Encyc BLP policy

See Encyc:BLP

Maintenance advisory

Just like Congress we are upgrading infrastructure. Speed has been increased. Any problems (other than email which we know about) please notify encyc@protonmail.com. Tom (talk) 17:38, 9 August 2021 (EDT)

OK the upgrades have been finished. Speed and page experience are improved. Tom (talk) 08:45, 8 October 2021 (EDT)

About page counts

Encyc pages have a note at the bottom: "This page has been accessed x times."

This used to be core functionality on MediaWiki but it was taken out a long time ago. We have been using the Hitcounters extension to keep page counts. Anyway we have introduced a page caching system which will mean a lot of counts are missed. In particular, visitors who are not logged in will usually be served cached HTML instead of a page generated via PHP and the database. We can still use the numbers as a rough guide to how popular pages are, but the number needs to be viewed as a minimum.

The upside of all this is that page load times are much faster and the overall user experience has been improved. Tom (talk) 16:45, 19 October 2021 (EDT)

Encyc - what is and isn't accepted

Hi Tom and admins,

I get the impression that this site works like https://en.everybodywiki.com/

Is Encyc stricter (or less strict) than Everybodywiki?

I'm trying to find wikis to write about some of my favorite websites and other topics, which Wikipedia wouldn't consider to be notable but would be perfectly fine on Everybodywiki, and hopefully also on Encyc.

I would like to be a productive community member, so let me know how I can help out. Thank you!

Smalltownguy (talk) 22:06, 23 November 2021 (EST)

Hello Smalltownguy and welcome. I think you're on the right track checking out Encyc:Policies and Encyc:Content. In some ways we are similar to Everybodywiki but in some ways different. We are inclusionist in the sense that we have articles about small businesses (or larger ones that may not be recognized by western media outlets). We also cover topics that Wikipedia might call fancruft and push off to Fandom (formerly known as Wikia). It's ok if you want to write about hobbies like stamp collecting, Pokemon, or travel/tourism. On the other hand, our Encyc:BLP policy is the toughest in the business. We don't want to invade anyone's privacy, and so we don't publish articles about living people (with rare exceptions). In this way we are more deletionist than even Wikipedia and nowhere near as inclusionist as Everybodywiki. Overall we try to resemble an old school encyclopedia like Britannica, so if someone is pushing the random button they aren't surprised by spam or things that don't belong. And we really try not to harm anybody, so you might see admins intervene if things become heated or controversial because no one wants Encyc to be used as a platform to hurt anyone's feelings or ruin their fun. We are the "kinder, gentler" encyclopedia. :) Hope this helps. Tom (talk) 10:10, 24 November 2021 (EST)

Thanks! In other words, be super nice and enjoy the inclusionism, but privacy and civility are of utmost importance. Smalltownguy (talk) 23:44, 24 November 2021 (EST)

Update

Hi everybody and happy holidays. Just a quick note that Encyc has been updated to the latest stable version of MediaWiki. The only snag is that some of the Encyc-specific customizations to the DarkVector skin were lost (mainly color choices). Not a big deal and I can probably go back and fix it at some point. Definitely let me know if anyone is using DarkVector because I can make it more of a priority.

If there are any other problems, please let me know. Tom (talk) 11:27, 9 December 2021 (EST)

Extension:Collection

Collection was not working properly so I turned it off. Nobody was using it anyway. Enki (talk) 13:52, 21 December 2021 (EST)

Are wikis dying?

I just got back from some searching around the internet. It's not looking good. Been quiet here, and I don't think it's just us. All the major wikis are facing declining participation. Is it problems with the tech? (e.g. poor organization, "digital tumbleweeds", "crowded attic" syndrome?, bad visual editors?) Is it better alternatives? (what?). Poor mobile accessiblity? Communities too established already? (fear of joining? toxic communities?) I don't know. I'm at a loss. Anyone still stopping in wants to tell me what you think, feel free. Enki (talk) 23:19, 16 October 2022 (EDT)

Happy holidays and an update

We just finished an update. Everything worked except the DarkVector skin, unfortunately. We will try to get that fixed but no guarantees. An alternative dark theme is Citizen, which is installed and running ok.

Thank you to everyone who has participated over the years and to our lurkers too. It has been almost 15 years, believe it or not. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a happy New Year. Enki (talk) 15:37, 23 December 2022 (EST)

Vector 2022

The news is that Wikipedia (en) will be switching their default desktop skin from Vector classic to Vector 2022 tomorrow, January 18, 2023. (wikipedia:Wikipedia:Vector 2022)

Historically, we at Encyc have made efforts to stay as consistent as possible with Wikipedia, to make sharing articles back and forth between our two sites as seamless as possible. However, in practice, we don't really do that all that often.

So we have a choice:

1. Continue with Vector classic, which will undoubtedly start to look a little dated
2. Switch to Vector 2022
3. Switch to Citizen, a good-looking skin that automatically detects user preferences for light or dark mode and adjusts.

I am leaning towards option 3. While trying to be consistent with Wikipedia is nice, I think it can also hold us back a bit. With the Citizen skin, we have the opportunity make the site better-looking and more user-friendly than Wikipedia. Whatever choice we make for the default, registered users will still be able to access all three skins via preferences. Any opinions? Enki (talk) 13:35, 17 January 2023 (EST)

Meh. Let's welcome Vector 2022 with Encyc Vector 2022, a worldwide celebration. It's not every year that Wikipedia gets a new skin. Cool. Enki (talk) 22:37, 17 January 2023 (EST)

Cool new Microsoft Edge browser feature

So this last week we've been testing Encyc on various browsers. Found this nifty feature on Microsoft Edge. Type encyc.org france into the browser bar and it will take you directly to our France page. This works not only for Encyc, but for other mediawiki sites like Citizendium and Rationalwiki. Enki (talk) 15:36, 20 January 2023 (EST)

Citizen skin tip

For fans of the Citizen skin, there is a keyboard shortcut to search. Type "/" to search. No need to click the magnifying glass anymore. Enki (talk) 11:55, 3 February 2023 (EST)

Miraheze

The wiki farm Miraheze is going through some turmoil. There was an announcement that the site would be shutting down by the end of September 2023, which was quickly followed by an announcement that some former volunteers would be attempting to save the site or at least most of the content.

• Miraheze not shutting down notice
• WikiTide

Miraheze has been part of the wiki community for around eight years. Although I never participated there, I am sad to see another MediaWiki site experiencing troubles. We share some common goals as free educational resources. Enki (talk) 09:24, 19 June 2023 (EDT)

website crawling but not indexing issue

facing the issue with the website https://www.techradarto.com search engine crawling the entire site but some pages are not index .

using the google search console and check all technical things of site but not resolve. robot.txt is not blocked .

Affiliate links

Participation here has slowed down a bit so I'm going to run some affiliate links to help defray running costs. Not expecting any significant money but if it turns into something we'll reevaluate. Enki (talk) 16:35, 14 August 2023 (EDT)

Update

We just updated to MediaWiki 1.39.5. This is a long term support, or LTS version.

The Citizen skin went through a number of revisions and is looking really good, particularly in dark mode. If you haven't checked it out, take a look.

As usual, report any problems here or to encyc@protonmail.com. Enki (talk) 21:55, 29 September 2023 (EDT)