On Fri, Feb 6, 2015 at 4:01 PM, Risker <risker.wp(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On the surface, I'd agree. The problem is that many of the people whose
usernames get changed will have them changed because someone else is
usurping the original username, so it's not acceptable to redirect the
(original) userpage to the "new" name; it will now belong to someone
else.This will become increasingly complex as users elect to use the global
userpage that's now being tested per a separate email to this list today.
Those old signatures will link to the wrong user, so there is now a much
more valid reason to update them.
I do agree with both Brad and John that it's not really been considered all
that acceptable in the past on enwiki, but then again in almost all cases
I'm aware of, the user was changing hundreds or even thousands of signature
lines, as a result of an entirely voluntary change in username. I suspect
that, with careful communication, even the enwiki community would come to
see this as a net benefit for username changes related to the SUL
finalization specifically.
What would be needed is some script or bot that changes the signatures from
prior to the date of username change, in particular, so that signatures by
the "new owner" of the username won't be changed.
Risker/Anne
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This.
If anyone is interested, do let me know. The idea for this tool is
completely optional, just as its use, but I think it's one well worth
pursuing. With SUL finalization and global userpages, as Risker points out,
the English community might be willing to change its mind in the near
future.
And I'm not even speaking specific to the English Wikipedia, this is a
global consideration. If there's a bot with a web UI hosted on labs I'd
expect it go through the same bot approval process as any other bot as
needed, per-wiki to see if the communities accept it as an opt-in.
--
Keegan Peterzell
Community Liaison, Product
Wikimedia Foundation