RationalWiki:Technical support

From RationalWiki
Jump to: navigation, search

This page is automatically archived by Pibot
Archives for this talk page: <1>, <2>, <3>, <4>, <5>, <6>, <7>, <8>, <9>

Autogenerated list of users with Tech rights: Special:ListUsers/tech.


Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!

Contents

[edit] Herein goeth anything regarding the technicalities of the wiki

FAQs & Problems:

  • Problems with accessing the wiki
  • Queries about extensions
  • Javascript Help
  • CSS Help
  • Wikitalk Help

If you've written, or are using, some extension or script that either might give others problems or is giving you a problem, then either describe it or link to it on this page.

If you've written some piece of code that you want help with, ask here with linkage.

If your browser acts up with some code,ask here.

In short, anything techy, ask, tell or link on this page.

If you think it is a server-type issue, feel free to email the goat at ttoulouse@gmail.com or touloutm@mcmaster.ca for best results.


[edit] Get SSL

You guys don't want people to plain text their passwords, there's a few sites which offer free certificates let's make rationalwiki secure: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAcert.org https://www.cacert.org/ https://startssl.com/ http://www.openssl.org/ https://www.sslshopper.com/article-free-ssl-certificates-from-a-free-certificate-authority.html https://www.godaddy.com/ssl/ssl-open-source.aspx http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/free-ssl-certificate/ etc — Unsigned, by: Ethanwashere / talk / contribs

[edit] 502 Bad Gateway The server returned an invalid or incomplete response.

Been getting this error message 1/3 to 1/2 of the time when I hit the main page bookmark in my browser ever since the update the other day. Did he doubt/Or did he try? 17:44, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

I am going to attempt to tweak a few things. Please let me know if you continue to see them. Tmtoulouse (talk) 19:50, 11 April 2013 (UTC)
I'm still getting tons of these--"Shut up, Brx." 16:29, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

Any improvement? Tmtoulouse (talk) 20:59, 12 April 2013 (UTC)

I've gotten a few 502's in the last few hours, which I never used to get. Never. A browswer refresh clears it. My bookmark lands me on Recent Changes. Most of the time there is no problem. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 21:07, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
I've yet to see one, which is somewhat more annoying than if it were reliable and reproducible. Trent, what are you tweaking? - David Gerard (talk) 22:06, 12 April 2013 (UTC)
I got two in the last hour. Do you want us to start sending you emails with the time it happened each time? Might clog up your inbox, but I know you asked for that last time there were issues like this. Also, pages might seem to be loading more slowly for me. But I'm not sure if it's just my imagination.--"Shut up, Brx." 03:36, 13 April 2013 (UTC)
Edit and save response is definitely slower. Again, not the end of the world, just noting for the record. VOXHUMANA 04:03, 13 April 2013 (UTC)
I just got one, but before that I hadn't seen any in days. Peter mqzp 02:13, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
Seems to be browser/platform dependent. On Chrome/tablet: 502 every time; elsewhere & even with Chrome: OK. Scream!! (talk) 10:07, 14 April 2013 (UTC)
I've had them with Win7/Chrome, Mac OSX/Chrome and XP/Chrome. Haven't tried any other browsers though (I'm a bit of a Chrome fan) VOXHUMANA 10:57, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

Chromium here, but haven't had one in a few days. If the thunder don't get you/Then the lightning will. 16:54, 14 April 2013 (UTC)

I'm still getting these, though, oddly, only when my desktop browser (Firefox 19/20 on Win7) tries to access it via bookmark and on mobile (Dolphin 9.3.2 on Android 2.3) when it initially tries to load as my homepage. I did get it to load properly as a homepage on mobile once by clearing my cache, then the problem came right back. Star of David.png Radioactive Misanthrope 18:03, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

Is it possible that it's choking on the redirect (rationalwiki.org -> rationalwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page)?--ZooGuard (talk) 18:14, 17 April 2013 (UTC)
The bookmark/homepage in both browsers is to my watchlist. Star of David.png Radioactive Misanthrope 21:42, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

I've had a couple of 502's. The wiki has also been intermittently very slow for me. Wonder if we're getting hammered by something - David Gerard (talk) 22:15, 17 April 2013 (UTC)

As above. Loads of 502s and slow wiki Scherben (talk) 21:58, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
As above, except the 502 errors are less frequent for me--P3A58NT86 22:20, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Account Creation Issues?

A would-be-user came into the irc channel tonight complaining that account creation from his country (Indonesia) is blocked, and, seeing as he was obviously not a spambot, I offered to help him create an account, but found that I was continually getting errors related to a confirmation code being incorrect when I tried (from China) to make the account. Is this a known error? How can I help him out? FeiRuoWa (talk) 15:16, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

Account creation from his country? What happens when he tries to edit as an IP? Is his ISP's proxy open?
Do you have precise timestamps (and time zone) for when this happened, so I can see if the logs show anything? - David Gerard (talk) 16:09, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
I tried a handful of times between 19:12 and 19:14 yesterday, China time. I don't have contact info for him, so I've poked him on irc and am waiting for him to come back in (or check in here himself) to find out about editing as an IP. FeiRuoWa (talk) 09:30, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

I tried to create an account approximately 1-2 hours ago from an iPhone at a friend's house using her Comcast cable wireless network. Got the "confirmation code incorrect" error. Tried on my laptop at my home Comcast wireless network at approximately 19:00 PST 4/22/13. I was able to save an edit, which required a confirmation code, but couldn't create an account, even though the confirmation code question and answer were the same. - — Unsigned, by: 98.234.94.233 / talk / contribs

I know someone had troubles creating an account from their phone, because the phone company proxy was in the open proxy block list. I'm wondering about the open proxy block list and if it should be switched off again - David Gerard (talk) 07:46, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Moar Account Creation Issues

Can one of you guys help me. I cannot create an account. When I try, it reads "Troll-B-Gone". What should I do?--184.6.214.237 (talk) 14:10, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

What it says. B-Gone.--Fergus Mason If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don't put it there. - Anton Chekov 14:29, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

I've been told by the community to get an account. You guys know how to fix it?--184.6.214.237 (talk) 14:43, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

I suggest waiting for some of the regular tech people to chime in. (Hint: Fergus Mason is not one of them.) I've checked the parameters of the last blocks you have received, but it looks like nothing should be blocking account creation.
I suggest clearing your cookies and trying again. What exactly is the error message you receive?--ZooGuard (talk) 15:35, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
This is exactly what it said (I copied it to here):
"Login error
Warning: This action has been automatically identified as harmful. Unconstructive edits will be quickly reverted, and egregious or repeated unconstructive editing will result in your account or IP address being blocked. If you believe this edit to be constructive, you may click Submit again to confirm it. A brief description of the abuse rule which your action matched is: Troll-B-gone"
Note: When I submit again, it says:
"Login error
This action has been automatically identified as harmful, and therefore disallowed.
If you believe your edit was constructive, please report this error. A brief description of the abuse rule which your action matched is: Troll-B-gone"
I have not cleared cookies yet, but i'll try that now.--184.6.214.237 (talk) 15:43, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Just tried after I cleared cookies. Still gives the error message and won't let me through.--184.6.214.237 (talk) 15:51, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

It looks like your registration attempts had triggered the Abuse Filter. Looking at its log, it thinks that you have already created successfully an account as "AnAlternativeView" and you've been trying to register another one.
Try again to log in with that user name, do not click on the "Create an account" link.--ZooGuard (talk) 15:58, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
Okay, standby...--184.6.214.237 (talk) 16:01, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

I just tried to sign in under my username and it said:
"Login error
There is no user by the name "AnAlternateView". Usernames are case sensitive. Check your spelling, or create a new account."
--184.6.214.237 (talk) 16:03, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Oh... wait one second, I think I typed the wrong username. Standby...--184.6.214.237 (talk) 16:04, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Even with the username that you said, it still says:
"Login error
There is no user by the name "AnAlternativeView". Usernames are case sensitive. Check your spelling, or create a new account."
Any ideas?--184.6.214.237 (talk) 16:07, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

No, it was me who made a mistake. And yes, apparently there is no such an user. The edit filter log probably lists the user name from the attempted registration.
I think I got the root of your problem: the filter probably reacts to AnAlternateView. :) Try using spaces between the words or another username.--ZooGuard (talk) 16:14, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
You'd have the same problem at Conservapedia with that filth. Redchuck.gif ГенгисevolvingModerator 16:18, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
When I tried to create an account with a different username, it returned:
"Login error
Incorrect or missing confirmation code."
--184.6.214.237 (talk) 16:22, 25 April 2013 (UTC)
Make sure you get the letters right/count the number of brackets correctly/answer whatever other skill-testing question it gives you correctly. Shall we go, you and I while we can/Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds? 16:35, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Hallelujah!!! Just got it to work! Thanks guys for all your help! Have a great day!--The Debater (talk) 16:39, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Praise be. Shall we go, you and I while we can/Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds? 16:40, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Stupid Squid tricks

The squid3 setup on rationalwiki.org is infuriating me. It lets through rationalwiki.org, it doesn't let through rationalblogs.org, and I have no idea why.

It's Ubuntu 12.04, with the distro squid3. We have a load balancer, which talks to two Squids, which talk to one Apache server. Here's the /etc/squid3/squid.conf . 192.168.162.183 is the Apache server as seen from the Squids.

http_port 80 accel defaultsite=rationalwiki.org vhost
cache_peer 192.168.162.183 parent 80 0 no-query originserver name=rwiki
acl our_sites dstdomain .rationalwiki.org
acl our_sites2 dstdomain .rationalwiki.com
acl our_sites3 dstdomain .rationalwiki.net
acl blog_sites dstdomain .rationalblogs.org
acl privateip dst 192.168.0.0/16
http_access allow all
cache_peer_access rwiki allow our_sites
cache_peer_access rwiki allow our_sites2
cache_peer_access rwiki allow our_sites3
cache_peer_access rwiki allow blog_sites
cache_peer_access rwiki allow privateip
cache_peer_access rwiki deny all
cache_dir ufs /home/squid 15352 16 512
cache_mem 512 MB
icap_uses_indirect_client off
logformat combined %{X-Forwarded-For}>h %ui %un [%{%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S +0000}tl] "%rm %ru HTTP/%rv" %>Hs %<st "%{Referer}>h" "%{User-Agent}>h" %Ss:%Sh
logformat pagehits [%{%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S +0000}tl] %ru
logfile_rotate 999
strip_query_terms off
access_log /var/log/squid3/access.awstats.log combined
access_log /var/log/squid3/access.pagehits.log pagehits
forwarded_for transparent
visible_hostname squid1.rationalwiki.org

What simple stupid thing am I doing wrong?

DNS for rationalblogs.org just changed - it should now resolve to 69.164.223.61 (the load balancer). If you see 50.22.105.163, the update hasn't reached you yet. The Squids are still seeing rationalblogs.org as 50.22.105.163 - could that be it? (I tried putting the correct IP in /etc/hosts, no difference.) - David Gerard (talk) 20:26, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

OK, further testing suggests the load balancer needs testing. Now waiting on Trent - David Gerard (talk) 11:14, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
So can anyone else rouse Trent? 'Cos I evidently can't - David Gerard (talk) 20:36, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
Trent roused, Nutty set G*D*ddy on fucking fire, and now it should resolve for at least some people. HOORAY! - David Gerard (talk) 06:49, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
Thank you - and Trent, and Nutty - for resolving this with such verve.--ADtalkModerator 23:40, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Note to Web Developers: Main page redirection

Hi guys. I have a little tip for you (not sure if you're able to use it for RationalWiki). When going to RationalWiki.org, the browser redirects you to the main page (like it should). The only problem with that is that it uses an old redirection method that is noticed by the browser as an automatic redirection, and some people (like me) set up their browsers so that it blocks and asks whenever that happens. If you are able, you should set up a way for a file named 'index.html' to directly reference the main page (without 'index.html' actually existent. Just a server-side script that directly references the main page). I believe that this would fix the problem. (Note: i'm not an experienced server-side-scripter, but I do a bit of html work)--The Debater (talk) 21:16, 27 April 2013 (UTC)

Either the method shown above, or a little piece of javascript within the file 'index.html' would work as well:
<script="text/javascript">{window.location.href = '(the main page url)';}</script>--The Debater (talk) 16:44, 28 April 2013 (UTC)
Is ANYONE awake here??? I haven't received a reply in 2 days?!--The Debater (talk) 17:02, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
Someone!!! Wake up around here!!!--The Debater (talk) 18:51, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
Chill out. There are only a couple of people with server-side access & they may not always be immediately available for non-urgent issues. In the meantime, I doubt this issue is actually causing any disruption. ωεαşεζόίďWeaselly.jpgMethinks it is a Weasel 19:16, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
Thank you sooo much!!! Another living human!!! Sorry about freaking-out, didn't mean to. Could you fix the issue my friend?--The Debater (talk) 19:22, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
The mustelld is not a tech. Redchuck.gif ГенгисOur ignorance is God; what we know is science.Moderator 19:32, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
Could you tell a tech about this?--The Debater (talk) 20:42, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
I have never heard of having to do such a thing. Do you have links showing anyone else on earth would benefit from this? - David Gerard (talk) 22:34, 29 April 2013 (UTC)
No, but if you want your website to be up-to-date, then you can do this. Plus, you will probably run into other problems if you leave it the way it is (outdated methods). Is it that hard to make a SSS or a file named index.html on the server? Couldn't you telnet over there and fix it remotely?--The Debater (talk) 15:40, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
I can't say I've heard of it, either. Surely, if it was "outdated" as so a major problem, the internet would be practically swimming in these complaints? Scarlet A.pngpostate 16:07, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Bad link on blog network main page

The main RW blog network page has a link to the WIGO blog, but it seems to be missing a trailing slash. Clicking on it, I get an empty window. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 17:54, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

Either somebody just fixed it, or the black box by my left knee suddenly decided to start behaving itself. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 18:03, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
I literally fixed it just this minute. Well spotted! - David Gerard (talk) 18:05, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
Nice to know our best people are on the job... Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 18:08, 2 May 2013 (UTC)

[edit] External links wandals

This action has been automatically identified as harmful, and therefore disallowed. If you believe your edit was constructive, please report this error. A brief description of the abuse rule which your action matched is: External links wandals

Getting this when I try to make any edit. — Unsigned, by: CHRISTMASLIST / talk / contribs

It's content based. We had a vandal spamming external links. It's a shitty filter that gets hit very very rarely so I'm disabling it for you. Nutty Roux100x100 anarchy symbol.svg 21:54, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Thank you. :) — Unsigned, by: CHRISTMASLIST / talk / contribs

YW Nutty Roux100x100 anarchy symbol.svg 21:58, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Cannot create account

Hi. I keep getting the following error when trying to create my account (mschlindwein) here:

Login error

Incorrect or missing confirmation code.

What does the system mean by "confirmation code"?

I'm an active Wikipedia user, and I have relative good know-how on how Wikis work. And, of course, I'm sure I typed my password correctly every time and properly answered the (changing) question to avoid bots. ;o) I also saw above that other users had the same issue in April.

Could you please help? Thanks,

mschlindwein— Unsigned, by: 78.233.158.215 / talk / contribs

I think this is the message one gets after giving a wrong answer to the anti-spam question.--ZooGuard (talk) 14:26, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
If you're using a proxy, you might want to consider using a clean IP address at least to set your account up. I think we're still preventing account creation and editing from a staggering number of proxies because of our last serious attack. Nutty Roux100x100 anarchy symbol.svg 14:37, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
I'm not using a proxy, and I'm giving the correct answer(s) to the anti-spam question(s), which are the same to be able to write here ;o). Any idea? Thanks. mschlindwein
Hmmm... unfortunately, the sysadmin is moving house and out of action for some time so we can't really check if the anti-spam is borked on that end. Scarlet A.pngsshole 15:00, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
Worked fine for me there. I now have yet another sock account I'll never use. Reject (talk) 15:04, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
Is "what is this wiki's name" case sensitive? Because officially it's CamelCase but that doesn't seem to be accepted. Reject (talk) 15:05, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
I type the answers always as they are, ie, case sensitive. And this was not the only question I had, I tried all the other 2 (number of brackets and the first and last letters). I tried with Firefox and with Safari, and I live in France. I have no idea what it can be. Thanks. .
If it can help, I can try to register "mschlindwein" with a default password and set it to you. Scarlet A.pngtheist 15:55, 17 May 2013 (UTC)
Yes, Armondikov, please. Please send the password to my e-mail address: marcelo_schlindwein@yahoo.com. Many thanks, best regards! mschlindwein

I'm having the same problem exactly - same error message, refreshing my browser doesn't help, using TorBrowser to get a new IP address gives the error: Your IP address is listed as an open proxy in the DNSBL used by RationalWiki. You cannot create an account.

I'd like to have an account and contribute, but I'm at a loss. Could someone create an account for me and email the password to chrismlanguage@gmail.com .. account name chris_lang .. I would appreciate it. I'll check back here for any response as well.

I have disabled the CAPTCHA for now. Please see if that allows you to create accounts. 206.192.168.26 (talk) 21:13, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

Yes, it worked for me and I could (finally) create my account. The CAPTCHA seems to be the culprit... Thanks a lot! Mschlindwein (talk) 21:22, 17 May 2013 (UTC)

[edit] Spambots

Whatever was doing such a great job of keeping spambots off the wiki is failing spectacularly tonight. Faced with mysteries dark and vast/statements just seem vain at last. 03:52, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

Didn't we have a link filter? (See two sections above.) Peter mqzp 04:43, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
No, that's not what it did. I turned it back on, but it only checked 3 or 4 external sites, one of which CHRISTMASLIST was trying to link to. It's not a Good Idea to prohibit all linking for unconfirmed editors on a wiki that doesn't require credentials. Nutty Roux100x100 anarchy symbol.svg 05:19, 18 May 2013 (UTC)
Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Community
Toolbox
support