[WikiEN-l] How lovely, someone deleted the Main Page again

[Charlotte Webb]

On 5/7/07, Stephen Bain <stephen.bain at gmail.com> wrote:
> One option we might consider would be to display some basic default
> content if the page is not present or blank, in the same way that
> MediaWiki messages work. This would make deleting or blanking the main
> page not so much of a problem.
>
> --
> Stephen Bain

Stephen,

It would be easy to make some backup wikitext (basically a copy of the
templates used on the main page), but if somebody is able to
vandalize/delete the main page they would be able to vandalize/delete
the backup too.

The only way the disruption could be avoided is if:the hacker using an
admin account to attack the main page:
1. Does not know ahead of time that a backup display exists, and...
2. Is not able to find the backup display quickly enough to also
attack it before the account is blocked/desysopped.

Other than changing the mediawiki software, obscuring the way we use
it would be the only hope.

CW