RationalWiki:Technical support/Archive16

Error 503
Error 503 Backend fetch failed

Backend fetch failed

Guru Meditation:

XID: 46334979

Varnish cache server ClickerClock (talk) 11:49, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
 * 17:46, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
 * have you had this issue again? 03:11, 17 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Paging  22:43, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * ClickerClock vanished on the 9th of July, went from making over 50 edits a day to nothing. Christopher (talk) 10:02, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

"About RationalWiki" broken.
And.... It seems that the about page is now broken:

[INSERT REQUEST CODE HERE] 2017-07-13 06:08:18: Fatal exception of type MWException PD: Psst.. HTTPS ;)

agucova 06:12, 13 July 2017 (UTC)


 * Please do not redact the thing you are calling a request code. -- Tim Starling (talk) 00:07, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Halp! Redirects are turning into numbered lists!

 * 1) On a whim, I tried to add a redirect of Gary Kilgore North to Gary North, only to find the thingamabob that parses numbered lists is now taking precedence over the whirligig that parses redirects (and makes them actually, ya know, redirect).
 * 2) #REDIRECT Gary North I tried first, using the very syntax the click-to-insert pane gives you (in fact by clicking there), and then I tried changing the space in the in-wiki link part of it to an underscore, then making "REDIRECT" lowercase, then finally even removing the extra line the editor always adds in by default (even when editing a page that has had it specifically removed; one is given to believe it was never really saved into any other page either, especially when going by byte counts).
 * 3) No dice.
 * 4) Here's where it gets weird, (as well as very goat,) though: I managed to demonstrate that the problem can manifest in an otherwise healthy redirect when it is changed and then remade as exactly what it was before, but this was only after fully blanking the page; the partial edit earlier didn't trigger it when I changed it back before the full-blanking test.
 * 5) Weirdest of all, I managed to restore the G.O.A.T.S. redirect with a manually edited Undo, not even a Rollback! And then when I checked the page's edit history again, it said the undo had actually removed something, something, something that was only a single byte (and not a zero-width character, since that would show up in ya common tinker-y "press Home then tap the right arrowkey until you hit the end of the line (and then tap it a few more times for good measure and finish it with a leftward tap)" test).
 * 6) While writing all this, I managed to suss out the problem with the help of the file-comparing function of my favorite code editor ever (the most popular freeware editor, Notepad++). The click-to-insert pane, however, definitely still needs to be changed, and this probably isn't the only insertable that doesn't work anymore. Kinda hoping you can have some fun figuring it out too, but you can ask me if you need to.
 * 7)  13:30, 17 July 2017 (UTC)


 * MediaWiki:Edittools has " ". According to mw:Extension:CharInsert, &lt;nowiki> should be used around spaces, rather than replacing them with &amp;nbsp;. Do I get a prize? -- Tim Starling (talk) 02:52, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Let it be noted that ugggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggh. 22:35, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Can you confirm that #REDIRECT now works? 23:05, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Bravo! Have a cookie! 23:28, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * No rest for the wicked-awesome, though; O Great Hairy Feline Tuber, thoust's use of the ping template had no effect on either my "Your alerts" or "Your messages" counters, and left nothing in mine Special:Notifications log. In this very log, however, I do see a ping by Christopher. Maybe it's all in the capitalization? 23:42, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Now? 01:57, 21 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Nadda. The template does say that it's redundant when linking to their userpage, so does this do anything, at least? 17:43, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

Been logged out, RW won't let me log in
Bicycle Wheel here. I've just ben unlogged by the system,now it's not accepting my log in. What's gone wrong? 92.20.166.189 (talk) 17:27, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
 * I see you've managed to log in but for future reference what did it say when you tried to log in? Christopher (talk) 17:41, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
 * it said: "There seems to be a problem with your login session; this action has been canceled as a precaution against session hijacking. Go back to the previous page, reload that page and then try again." in a pink square. My username and password are there but it won't accept them. And as you can see it's done it again. 92.20.166.189 (talk) 17:46, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Can you try clearing your browser cache? (CTRL-H accesses history on most browsers). 23:16, 22 July 2017 (UTC)


 * This is possibly a side effect of something or other i did. I fixed it by clearing my RW cookies - David Gerard (talk) 00:44, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

and now it's not letting me log in at all. Prod me on Farcebook when you've sorted this crap out. 79.68.233.43 (talk) 17:20, 30 July 2017 (UTC)
 * @79.68.233.43 Translation: "Complaint withdrawn, I'll see myself out" Reverend Black Percy (talk) 18:22, 30 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Piss off. Complaint reiterated, wanting someone to action the fucking problem. 79.68.233.43 (talk) 18:25, 30 July 2017 (UTC)
 * @79.68.233.43 Translation: "Don't talk to me or my son ever again" Reverend Black Percy (talk) 19:23, 30 July 2017 (UTC)

See your talkpage. 19:29, 30 July 2017 (UTC)

Content box renders poorly on Android (Solved?)
Check out this article summary on a smartphone. What gives? Reverend Black Percy (talk) 12:29, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
 * This article, of similar length, doesn't have that problem. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 12:31, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Solved it by moving the template to after the opening cquote. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 12:34, 27 July 2017 (UTC)

SVG upload of icon
href attributes in SVG files are only allowed to link to http:// or https:// targets, found .

07:35, 24 July 2017 (UTC)


 * answer: "don't do that, then". If necessary, you can edit the SVG file directly, it's just XML. And nothing should be referring to Nx's home directory - David Gerard (talk) 10:47, 26 July 2017 (UTC)
 * All the icons have a link to Nx's homepage -- and it seems to be a new issue, even if absurdly easy to fix. 06:21, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
 * I would guess MW 1.27 is fussier about this stuff - David Gerard (talk) 19:48, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

Reminder to self: Edit all the icons to remove hrefs to directories. 17:12, 31 July 2017 (UTC)

Template error on new page
The new page "In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood" reports the following error message when one tries to edit it: Does anyone know how to fix this? Bongolian (talk) 07:01, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * "Warning: This page contains at least one template argument that has a too large expansion size. These arguments have been omitted."

New message blocked by firewall

 * This discussion was moved here from RationalWiki:Saloon bar.

Someone sent me a new message on my talk page. But I cannot read it, because my talk page is blocked by the firewall of the place I'm connecting from. So I cannot read it, and this yellow alert on the top of the site doesn't go away. The firewall block some pages, but only if they don't use HTTPS. If they use HTTPS, the firewall cannot block them.--200.223.199.146 (talk) 15:14, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I find that hard to believe, especially considering your only other edit (deleted). You can get https but there are some bugs and it still defaults to http technical support has more info.


 * On the off chance you're telling the truth, the message reads:

"Go bug David about it. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 12:44, 17 July 2017 (UTC)"


 * Christopher (talk) 15:23, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * The issue: The site constantly redirects you to the HTTP mirror, even when the previous URL is explicitly HTTPS. 17:45, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Does it? It doesn't for me. Christopher (talk) 17:55, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * More accurate info, since my previous report was inaccurate. I spotted one redirect issue after I logged in. It redirects me to a non-SSL version of the site. 18:05, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * And then got another SSL just now after logged in... If you are redirected to the non-SSL website, the website treats this as another new session and you are treated as a BoNs. 18:08, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Misunderstood you, it redirects to http for me as well. Christopher (talk) 18:12, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Me too, every time I save. So I keep having to click my RW bookmark, which shouldn't really be necessary, and doesn't fill me with confidence re security. Bicycle  wheel Toxic mowse.gif 19:41, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * User:Christopher, why don't you believe me? I can read and edit Rational Wiki, but every Talk Page of the project is blocked by the Firewall. The firewall blocks radio stations, chat rooms, social networks, and, as it seems, Rational Wiki talk pages. On Wikipedia this does not happens, because they have HTTPS and the Firewall is powerless near HTTPS. It seems that the Firewall considers talk pages as chat rooms.--200.223.199.146 (talk) 14:28, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * About 5 seconds after posting that comment I realised my reason for not believing you was bullshit, clicking this link may make the yellow banner go away. Christopher (talk) 14:31, 4 August 2017 (UTC)


 * My high school blocked all of Rational-Wiki as "adult content"... The White Wing Dove (talk) 14:33, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * If 201 is correct and it's a firewall causing issues, that can't be the reason. Firewalls aren't for blocking adult content (I think?) Christopher (talk) 14:39, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I think he's talking about a content filter that his employer or school uses to keep network users from hanging out in chat rooms when they should be working or studying, and the filter is correctly detecting that the talk pages are places he or she should not be. Not to sound mean, but if that's the network policy, you probably shouldn't be editing from there either and you would probably get in trouble/get the wiki blocked if you got caught, just like I got in trouble for editing Wikipedia from the hospital computer. The White Wing Dove (talk) 14:47, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Where do you think I'm editing from? Christopher (talk) 14:49, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * New York City Public Schools? LAUSD? Miami-Dade County Public Schools? The White Wing Dove (talk) 14:53, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I have no idea what I was thinking when I typed that. Christopher (talk) 14:58, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * It's okay, we both need coffee. See y'all later. The White Wing Dove (talk) 15:01, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

If a bot uses "rollback" it shows up in recent changes by default
Why? Christopher (talk) 19:35, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * My bet is that "rollback" performs the revision edit without consideration of whether the user is a bot or not.
 * Archived for now. 14:21, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Problem with reflist|group=note
On the page "In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood", there are a lot of notes, so I'm trying to change it to a smaller font with two columns. It currently uses this format to dump the notes " ", but when I try to change it to this format " ", I get the following error message: Bongolian (talk) 22:39, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Cite error: is missing
 * The sandbox shows that efn and notelist both work -- but they don't work on that page. Curious. 19:27, 5 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Archived for now. 14:21, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

RW emergency maintenance, 0100 UTC Sun 6 Aug
Hardware problems at Linode, they'll be migrating apache3 to a new server.

http://rationalwiki.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/emergency-maintenance-sun-06-aug-2017.html

(about 5h 45m from now as I post this) - David Gerard (talk) 19:17, 5 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Archived. 14:21, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Unsecure media loading
Running Chrome 59.0.3071.115 x64 on Windows 10.0.14393. Console reports several fonts, images, were loaded via http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images*.

Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/b/b3/BrockScript.woff'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. RationalWiki:Technical_support:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/b/be/BrockScript.ttf'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. RationalWiki:Technical_support:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/4/43/Rochester.woff'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. RationalWiki:Technical_support:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/1/13/Rochester.ttf'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. RationalWiki:Technical_support:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure image 'http://rationalwiki.org/w/images/d/d1/Rationalcrystal.png'. This content should also be served over HTTPS. www-embed-player.js:272 GET https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/id net::ERR_BLOCKED_BY_CLIENT le @ www-embed-player.js:272 ke @ www-embed-player.js:262 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:480 J @ www-embed-player.js:160 yh @ www-embed-player.js:477 Jh @ www-embed-player.js:489 Ph @ www-embed-player.js:496 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:517 (anonymous) @ 1Isjgc0oX0s:10 www-embed-player.js:244 GET https://static.doubleclick.net/instream/ad_status.js net::ERR_BLOCKED_BY_CLIENT Td @ www-embed-player.js:244 Qd @ www-embed-player.js:241 Wd @ www-embed-player.js:248 Ee @ www-embed-player.js:284 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:518 (anonymous) @ 1Isjgc0oX0s:10 RationalWiki:Technical_support:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/b/b3/BrockScript.woff'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. RationalWiki:Technical_support:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/b/be/BrockScript.ttf'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. RationalWiki:Technical_support:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/4/43/Rochester.woff'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. RationalWiki:Technical_support:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/1/13/Rochester.ttf'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. VM317:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/b/b3/BrockScript.woff'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. (anonymous) @ VM317:1 G @ VM273:2 f.P @ VM273:2 I @ VM273:2 J @ VM273:2 d @ VM273:2 h @ VM273:2 f @ VM273:2 g.DKS @ VM273:2 g.bg @ VM273:2 Zd @ www-embed-player.js:250 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:249 f @ www-embed-player.js:233 VM317:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/b/be/BrockScript.ttf'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. (anonymous) @ VM317:1 G @ VM273:2 f.P @ VM273:2 I @ VM273:2 J @ VM273:2 d @ VM273:2 h @ VM273:2 f @ VM273:2 g.DKS @ VM273:2 g.bg @ VM273:2 Zd @ www-embed-player.js:250 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:249 f @ www-embed-player.js:233 VM317:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/4/43/Rochester.woff'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. (anonymous) @ VM317:1 G @ VM273:2 f.P @ VM273:2 I @ VM273:2 J @ VM273:2 d @ VM273:2 h @ VM273:2 f @ VM273:2 g.DKS @ VM273:2 g.bg @ VM273:2 Zd @ www-embed-player.js:250 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:249 f @ www-embed-player.js:233 VM317:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/1/13/Rochester.ttf'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. (anonymous) @ VM317:1 G @ VM273:2 f.P @ VM273:2 I @ VM273:2 J @ VM273:2 d @ VM273:2 h @ VM273:2 f @ VM273:2 g.DKS @ VM273:2 g.bg @ VM273:2 Zd @ www-embed-player.js:250 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:249 f @ www-embed-player.js:233 VM317:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/b/b3/BrockScript.woff'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. (anonymous) @ VM317:1 G @ VM273:2 f.P @ VM273:2 I @ VM273:2 J @ VM273:2 d @ VM273:2 h @ VM273:2 f @ VM273:2 g.DKS @ VM273:2 g.bg @ VM273:2 Zd @ www-embed-player.js:250 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:249 f @ www-embed-player.js:233 VM317:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/b/be/BrockScript.ttf'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. (anonymous) @ VM317:1 G @ VM273:2 f.P @ VM273:2 I @ VM273:2 J @ VM273:2 d @ VM273:2 h @ VM273:2 f @ VM273:2 g.DKS @ VM273:2 g.bg @ VM273:2 Zd @ www-embed-player.js:250 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:249 f @ www-embed-player.js:233 VM317:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/4/43/Rochester.woff'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS. (anonymous) @ VM317:1 G @ VM273:2 f.P @ VM273:2 I @ VM273:2 J @ VM273:2 d @ VM273:2 h @ VM273:2 f @ VM273:2 g.DKS @ VM273:2 g.bg @ VM273:2 Zd @ www-embed-player.js:250 (anonymous) @ www-embed-player.js:249 f @ www-embed-player.js:233 VM317:1 Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/RationalWiki:Technical_support' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure font 'http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/images/1/13/Rochester.ttf'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS.

I'm guessing that either mw.config.get OR RWSettings.php is using http:// instead of http:// 23:25, 22 July 2017 (UTC)


 * yes, it will be until we tell it to go live with https:// - look up on mediawiki.org how to do this - David Gerard (talk) 00:46, 23 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Archived. 14:21, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

HTTPS settings in RWSettings.php
See pull 10. I'm certain it's incomplete. 15:59, 23 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Archived. 14:21, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

Fatal exception of type MWException on "Confusion of the inverse"
When I try to open the article about the fallacy Confusion of the inverse I get an error message:

[ef8a17b1b08aadd5e140403b] 2017-08-11 09:11:28: Fatal exception of type MWException

The code in square brackets is different every time when I try to open (or reload) the page. Mad physicist (talk) 09:16, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Works fine for me. Christopher (talk) 11:09, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Strange, now it works fine for me as well. Mad physicist (talk) 12:59, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
 * If everything is fine I'll archive this. Christopher (talk) 13:09, 11 August 2017 (UTC)

127.0.0.1
I think the weirdness with 127.0.0.1 on SSL is that a header isn't being passed from the front-end SSL-Apache to Varnish. Will look more closely tomorrow - David Gerard (talk) 00:22, 10 August 2017 (UTC)


 * Driving me up the wall. Varnish seems to be eating the X-Forwarded-For: from the SSL frontend, and I have no idea why.
 * I've also set up a nginx doing SSL on https://rationalwiki.org:8443 (since that's the way absolutely everyone else does SSL in front of Varnish) and it's doing the same. ARGH.
 * (Did I mention I'm supposedly ill in bed right now, being probably unfit for my day job figuring out just this sort of problem ...) - David Gerard (talk) 16:06, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Summat odd
I made a comment on a talk page (using Google Chrome): no problem, usual IP.

Another talk page and I wish to make another (equally harmless) comment - and the IP has changed to one that is blocked (on grounds that I agree with btw).

Switching to IE I am back to the usual IP.

What happened? 82.44.143.26 (talk) 15:33, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
 * The IP 127.0.0.1 was blocked, which is a localhost IP referring to the current computer you happen to be on.- 16:48, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
 * So is it 'one particular specific computer' or 'one library's computers' and why is it intermittent? 82.44.143.26 (talk) 17:21, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
 * It's pretty much standard across all computers, idk how to explain this.- 18:25, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
 * To clarify the question/add information- the library has 'a generic IP' - so is the block on one particular terminal with its individual IP? 82.44.143.26 (talk) 16:12, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Using a different terminal to the one creating the original problem - the 'first one then a different IP' issue is persisting. 127.0.0.1 (talk) 16:23, 9 August 2017 (UTC)
 * From what I understand, this is a mediawiki bug? 21:31, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

Hi--brand new user, experiencing same problem:tried to anonymously edit a typo, was informed that "my" IP, given as 127.0.0.1 (which is not my IP address, nor that of my router, or modem, or any other networked devices in my vicinity), was blocked from all edits and virtually all features, citing doxxing (possibly of a user named Koi?). It said the block was permanent and began 3 days ago; today is the first time I've visited RW in ages. For some reason, I was able to get around the issue by creating an account, which seemed to be the only thing I wasn't blocked from doing. Is this a bug affecting all visitors to the site who are not logged in as registered users? Speeth (talk) 21:41, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Random tech stuff happened, and yes, creating an account is pretty much the only thing you can do if you're an IP.- 03:13, 14 August 2017 (UTC)

This BoNBoN is anon-non
@Tim Darling: the script that decides what buttons you see when blocking someone is...apparently rather simplistic; "Special:Block/127.0.0.1" gives the options of a BoN, even though that number bunch... clearly isn't. (You know this, of course, but apparently FCP doesn't.) The User Rights Management link also goes poof, but other than discouraging creating BoN-named accounts (something I personally think Cheeseburgerface had a fun idea with when he did, but still something I don't think we need to go out of our way to encourage), that's not as important. 07:13, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Edits from loads of different BoNs are coming from this thing, including the Obamacare spammer and what is obviously 82.44.143.26. I'd leave it unblocked. Christopher (talk) 08:18, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
 * See "127.0.0.1" above - David Gerard (talk) 09:35, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Can't wait to see this dealt with. It's a slight pain in the ass to moderate a multi-user IP I supposedly shouldn't block even when spammed from. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 12:36, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
 * See above for my annoyance notes. I've got the problem, not fixed, but duplicated ... - David Gerard (talk) 16:06, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Well, for now I'll take this as an opportunity to actually use the vandalbrake against a BoN for once; it shouldn't hurt good-faith edits nearly as much as it hurts drive-by vandals. Also of note: 127.0.0.1 has a proper userpage. 16:18, 10 August 2017 (UTC)


 * The problem is that it seems to be a vampire IP - one makes 'a single edit' from any IP (various routes, technicalities not particularly relevant) and then the .0.1 IP takes over and is blocked.
 * No doubt the rest of the Wikiverse benefits from those of us contributing to the sum of human entertainment/knowledge (who wish to skulk around RW in disguise). 109.150.40.244 (talk) 11:04, 11 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Re: "but other than discouraging creating BoN-named accounts (something I personally think Cheeseburgerface had a fun idea with when he did, but still something I don't think we need to go out of our way to encourage". You mean my sig? Changed that option. Originally it was a dumb joke, but I can see how it can trip up sysops. 21:28, 12 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Noooo! I really liked that! Well, I suppose you could theoretically benefit from taking that out of your signature rotation for now, for obvious reasons, but once the 127.0.0.1 deal is fixed... ...Anyway, I thought you had originally created your account as some sort of "BoN-as-username" thing, but had it renamed by a tech (probably since they noticed it was impossible to give you your mop with a name like that)? 22:31, 12 August 2017 (UTC)

All hands, man your battlestations!
It sure took him long enough, but the vandal with a longstanding hatelove relationship with Rationalwiki has finally noticed that he can create accounts as often as he wants. What's more, though, vandalbraking 127.0.0.1 vandalbrakes every account, not just ones made since the bug manifested. 18:05, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

Oop! If anything could, that would do it. (Hordes of half-channers aren't subject to CAPTCHA the way the bot I called his bluff on would be.) So yeah, I've blocked 127.0.0.1, and this is a more serious problem than most websites tend to realize (though I realize RW isn't most sites); as long as this bug remains unfixed, we're not getting any fresh blood in here. We don't want to end up like [insert groupthink-controlled website here], do we? 18:05, 16 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I call bullshit of the 4chan threads. However, from what I can gather without actually having access to the system, this wiki uses a legacy version 1.27.3. 18:43, 16 August 2017 (UTC)

This is fixed!
Our system:

SSL (cache1:443) -> Varnish (cache1:80) > Apache/PHP/MediaWiki (apache3:80)

I traced the headers through the whole system, and verified the X-Forwarded-For was in fact being correctly generated! But it always had a 127.0.0.1 in the line.

Flailing desperately, I tried making the experimental nginx on cache1:8443 call the Varnish at 45.33.90.21 (its public IP), rather than localhost (127.0.0.1). Aaand it worked. So I changed that back, because it's stupid doing it that way, and ... I added 127.0.0.1 to $wgSquidServers. And all was well.

So: add 127.0.0.1 to $wgSquidServers. Bam, everything is lovely.

I hate computers so much, and I hate sysadmin, and I'd like you all to die in a fire and stop asking me about computers. But stuff should work now - David Gerard (talk) 22:09, 17 August 2017 (UTC)

"RW" should be a namespace alias for project space
$wgNamespaceAliases['RW'] = NS_PROJECT;

Needs to be added somewhere. Christopher (talk) 18:25, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * You often have config suggestions -- here's how to implement them:
 * [1] Go to RationalWiki's GitHub (see top of this page). [2] Click rw-config. [3] Click RWSettings.php. [4] Click the pencil icon (top right, next to Raw-Blame-History). [5] Edit the code (either in Github or [recommended] in a text editor like Notepad++) to include your code somewhere. [6] Add a summary. [7] Click "create a new branch". [8] Click commit changes. [9] Click commit changes on the next page, too.
 * And you're done. Someone managing the GitHub will merge your request; someone will shell access will implement it on the wiki. 22:39, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Also: Consider adding equivalents like $wgNamespaceAliases['CP'] = NS_CONSERVAPEDIA;, if you think of any others. 22:41, 20 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Ok, never used GitHub before, the main problem is I don't know any PHP. "CP" wouldn't work because it would conflict with an interwiki. Christopher (talk) 15:19, 21 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Neither do I. But since you're following the format of the manual, it's hard to go wrong. 18:07, 21 July 2017 (UTC)

The second after I proposed the change I realised I probably did it wrong but I've created a pull request. Christopher (talk) 19:57, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
 * I should've used that array thingy right? Christopher (talk) 09:33, 23 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Added a change to add the array. 16:00, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

Closed. 12:10, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

New message blocked by firewall

 * This discussion was moved here from RationalWiki:Saloon bar.

Someone sent me a new message on my talk page. But I cannot read it, because my talk page is blocked by the firewall of the place I'm connecting from. So I cannot read it, and this yellow alert on the top of the site doesn't go away. The firewall block some pages, but only if they don't use HTTPS. If they use HTTPS, the firewall cannot block them.--200.223.199.146 (talk) 15:14, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I find that hard to believe, especially considering your only other edit (deleted). You can get https but there are some bugs and it still defaults to http technical support has more info.


 * On the off chance you're telling the truth, the message reads:

"Go bug David about it. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 12:44, 17 July 2017 (UTC)"


 * Christopher (talk) 15:23, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * The issue: The site constantly redirects you to the HTTP mirror, even when the previous URL is explicitly HTTPS. 17:45, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Does it? It doesn't for me. Christopher (talk) 17:55, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * More accurate info, since my previous report was inaccurate. I spotted one redirect issue after I logged in. It redirects me to a non-SSL version of the site. 18:05, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * And then got another SSL just now after logged in... If you are redirected to the non-SSL website, the website treats this as another new session and you are treated as a BoNs. 18:08, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Misunderstood you, it redirects to http for me as well. Christopher (talk) 18:12, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Me too, every time I save. So I keep having to click my RW bookmark, which shouldn't really be necessary, and doesn't fill me with confidence re security. Bicycle  wheel Toxic mowse.gif 19:41, 3 August 2017 (UTC)
 * User:Christopher, why don't you believe me? I can read and edit Rational Wiki, but every Talk Page of the project is blocked by the Firewall. The firewall blocks radio stations, chat rooms, social networks, and, as it seems, Rational Wiki talk pages. On Wikipedia this does not happens, because they have HTTPS and the Firewall is powerless near HTTPS. It seems that the Firewall considers talk pages as chat rooms.--200.223.199.146 (talk) 14:28, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * About 5 seconds after posting that comment I realised my reason for not believing you was bullshit, clicking this link may make the yellow banner go away. Christopher (talk) 14:31, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * User:Christopher, now I can read the message, but the yellow bar doesn't go away!--200.223.199.146 (talk) 15:06, 7 August 2017 (UTC)


 * My high school blocked all of Rational-Wiki as "adult content"... The White Wing Dove (talk) 14:33, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * If 201 is correct and it's a firewall causing issues, that can't be the reason. Firewalls aren't for blocking adult content (I think?) Christopher (talk) 14:39, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I think he's talking about a content filter that his employer or school uses to keep network users from hanging out in chat rooms when they should be working or studying, and the filter is correctly detecting that the talk pages are places he or she should not be. Not to sound mean, but if that's the network policy, you probably shouldn't be editing from there either and you would probably get in trouble/get the wiki blocked if you got caught, just like I got in trouble for editing Wikipedia from the hospital computer. The White Wing Dove (talk) 14:47, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Where do you think I'm editing from? Christopher (talk) 14:49, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * New York City Public Schools? LAUSD? Miami-Dade County Public Schools? The White Wing Dove (talk) 14:53, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I have no idea what I was thinking when I typed that. Christopher (talk) 14:58, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * It's okay, we both need coffee. See y'all later. The White Wing Dove (talk) 15:01, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
 * User:The White Wing Dove, the filter is incorrectly detecting that Talk Pages are places I shouldn't be at. They are not chat rooms.--200.223.199.146 (talk) 15:06, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

Firewalls are determined by your workplace or school and we have no control over them. 15:33, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
 * User:FuzzyCatPotato, you have control over using HTTPS or not. Rational Wiki is not using HTTPS, so it's vulnerable to this type of blocking. It's a fault on your side.--200.223.199.146 (talk) 11:14, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
 * We're using https now, try the link in the yellow banner again. Christopher (talk) 11:24, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
 * User:Christopher, as I already said, this allows me to check the message, but the yellow banner does not goes away after checking the message. The HTTP version still thinks I have not saw the message. The yellow alert not being alerted that I have already checked the alert is a fault on your side of things. This alert is harassing me. Every page I go, it keeps chasing me.--200.223.199.146 (talk) 11:27, 9 August 2017 (UTC)

If your workplace's or school's firewall blocks non-HTTPS websites, just edit the URL to contain "https://" instead of "http://". If your school's firewall blocks RationalWiki based on keywords, then it's on your side. 13:53, 8 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Closed. 12:10, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

Unable to vote
I am an old guard user who was blocked three years ago in a chicken coop case. I get not wanting blocked users to vote, but voting eligibility doesn't say squat about being vandal binned or being blocked from editing, so is this some kind of unwritten rule that needs to be clarified or am I supposed to be able to vote in the election? I'm actually interested in voting against someone who is running. Ghost of an Old Guard member (talk) 15:00, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
 * What does it say when you try and vote? Christopher (talk) 15:09, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I don't see any edits from you. Are you sure you meet the listed qualifications. 15:15, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I says "you are not eligible to vote." I know that I meet/met the qualifications because I voted numerous times in the past prior to the coop case, so it clearly has something to do with the block. Cheeseburger, of course you won't see anything on this account because this is a sockpuppet. I'm not particularly interested in discussing my past here, I'm just curious if this is a bug or an unwritten rule. Ghost of an Old Guard member (talk) 15:23, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

See here, 150:153: if( !$wgUser->isAllowed( 'eligible' ) || $wgUser->isBlocked ) { $wgOut->addHtml(wfMessage('election-ineligible')->escaped); return; } election-ineligible returns "You are not eligible". As such, blocked users cannot vote. 16:29, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
 * . 16:30, 23 August 2017 (UTC)
 * That should probably be added to EligibleVoters but I don't trust myself to make it accurate. Christopher (talk) 17:25, 23 August 2017 (UTC)

Added. 12:10, 24 August 2017 (UTC)

Can't edit Saloon Bar
An active thread was blanked in the Rome Viharo spam, so I was trying to add it back in and the system wouldn't let me, saying that it matched "a common target for blanking being blanked." This is odd to me because I wasn't removing any content, only adding, so I don't how the system interpreted that as "blanking" unless its jus looking at all edits in general. Lord Aeonian (talk) 19:02, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I also got this message, seemingly erroneously. Bongolian (talk) 20:48, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Same here. 20:51, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

Why can't I edit the saloon bar?
I'm a sysop and I'm not banhammered, so why can't I edit it?
 * What error message do you get? 20:24, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I get this:
 * Filter broke? 20:42, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Filter broke? 20:42, 25 August 2017 (UTC)

Fixed the filter. People need to learn that a misplaced C U R V E B O I is srs bsns. 21:25, 25 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Our hero! Lord Aeonian (talk) 05:46, 26 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Remember people: Every curlyboi needs a curlygril. 16:15, 28 August 2017 (UTC)

Archived. 16:18, 28 August 2017 (UTC)

Hide rename logs
How do I hide rename entries as a sysop to hide doxing in a username? The Reverend said he couldn't find the option. 20:45, 16 August 2017 (UTC)
 * The link to hide log entries has been missing since the update, this is quite important. Christopher (talk) 10:13, 22 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Will look later. (BTW, pings appear to work now! They don't email, but you get a notification on the site.) - David Gerard (talk) 12:16, 22 August 2017 (UTC)
 * , I think this might be useful. ClickerClock (talk) 03:38, 5 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I've made a pull request to try and fix it. Christopher (talk) 11:22, 6 September 2017 (UTC)
 * I couldn't find it in open or closed pull requests so I probably forgot to do something, definitely made one now. Christopher (talk) 18:20, 7 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Is approving a pull request something you'd do at the moment? I don't know whether it requires any effort. Christopher (talk) 18:16, 11 September 2017 (UTC)
 * yeah, then I have to put it on the server, just doing this now - David Gerard (talk) 19:02, 11 September 2017 (UTC)
 * now live, please test - David Gerard (talk) 19:06, 11 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Appears to work fine, archiving. Christopher (talk) 19:14, 11 September 2017 (UTC)