On 12/12/06, Gregory Maxwell gmaxwell@gmail.com wrote: <snip info about cookie-based blocking>
The current behavior blocks all uploads and edits by the impacted browser, but it would be fairly trivial to make the function more like regular blocking... or even more fine grained with per-namespace or per article blocks. The current behavior also renews the block for 24 hours every time the user *views* a page while logged in as the blocked user. This too could be trivially changed.
This is interesting.
A comment in the code says "If the user logs on while this is in their js, their browser gets a 24hour cookie block." which seems rather different to "The current behavior also renews the block for 24 hours every time the user *views* a page while logged in as the blocked user." The latter comment I don't entirely understand. Is it that the block is only activated once they log in? If so, I think that could be a very useful feature for Commons, where users don't always regularly log in. Short blocks are good to get a user's attention (generally re: uploading copyivos), but if they don't even try to log in while they're blocked then they go basically unnoticed.
If this could be changed to create permanent (or timed) uploading-only blocks, Commons would start using this straight away, I feel certain. :) ( http://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4995 )
BTW: I think something like this would be good in its own MediaWiki page, it is easier to track changes to it and refer to it instead of jumbled in Monobook.js.
cheers, Brianna user:pfctdayelise