Wikit user names

This page is out of date.

May 17, 2004 - There's a new feature to help identify users who make changes to a page.

It's based on cookies.

• Go to , depending on the URL you use for the wiki. Each time, enter your initials (up to 8 letters/digits) and email address.
• You'll receive an email with a confirmation URL in it.
• Visiting that URL will lead you to a page which sets a cookie in your browser.
• From them on, page changes will be tagged with your initials on the Recent Changes page. (You'll know this worked because the Edit pages will have "(you are: your initials)" at the bottom.)

Note:

• If you use wiki.tcl.tk as URL, you'll have to set things up through https://wiki.tcl-lang.org/wru.cgi instead.
• If you use both, you'll need to go through this exercise twice (sorry, that's a cookie limitation).
• This also works with dynamic IP's, the initial origin when registering is not enforced, just mentioned.

FYI:

• The cookie contains initials, email address, IP address of request, and a special checksum.
• It's used for precisely one purpose: to maintain a minimal identity / traceability, in page edits.
• There is no database (just a log), this stores data in your browser, not on this site.
• NOTE THIS LAST POINT! This works based on your browser. So if you use more than one browser, particularly if you don't share cookie files between them, then you need to register once per browser. And if you don't share cookie files between work and home, you need to register both places as well.

RHS 24Nov2004 Is the code to handle this functionality available for public consumption. I see that the newer versions of wikit have code to recognize user names (wru changes), but the wru.cgi and whatever the file named in $env(WIKIT_WRU) are both unavailable. I ask because I'd like to have this functionality for a wiki I help maintain, and I'd rather not have to reinvent the wheel.

RPH 10Apr2005 Yes, I too would like to implement the wru interface for my wiki pages, but there seems to be no documentation on how to implement wru.cgi.

These files can hook into any login/session scheme you use elsewhere on your site, or you can get a canned one from the net.

WIKIT_WRU Looks up a cookie in a database and sets $wru_nick based on that. EG "SELECT name FROM active_sessions WHERE session='$cookie';" (with obvious checks for injection attacks)

WIKIT_WRU_REQ is just a link to the external user management scheme. -- Peter da Silva 08Sep2005

TV I tried this after a system reinstall, but I receive no email! Is the method still valid? Of course I could dig in my backup files for the right cookie but there might be more persons experiencing difficulty!

14jan05 jcw - Yep, the email was rejected by tiscali.nl - I've resent it to you.

TV I don't know what went wrong, I got the email now.

TV I clicked the link, but still no cookie ?!

17jan05 jcw - You need separate cookies for wiki.tcl.tk and mini.net/tcl, could that be what you're seeing?

LES Unfortunately, this system never seemed to work for me, for some reason. LV Others have reported the same thing, though with more detail and directly to jcw so he could see if there were firewalls, etc. blocking things. I know that I have seen, occasionally, my cookies expire or something so that I have to reset them.

10feb05 jcw - There's not much point sending problems to me, I'm afraid. The system requires two things: support for cookies and the ability to receive emails from mini.net - problems with either of these are beyond my powers.

RLH 2006-01-20: Is there someplace we can keep images? Just curious.

SAF 2007-06-05: Doesn't actually send mail to me either.

LV Typically, if you don't get email from the process, that mail is either blocked from reaching your site, filtered to prevent it from arriving, or some such thing. Report the problem note over on wubwikit problems and see if someone can help.

2007-10-25 Ro: I think this page is old and irrelevant with the new wiki as now as you set your initials when you edit a page.