Muppet Wiki talk:User Name policy

Hi, I'm quite concerned about this policy, I think it may have more disadvantages than advantages. The big risk is that you will be driving away good members. A lot of people try out wikis logged out before making an account, sometimes for quite a while. And some people choose never to make an account, and yet are good contributors. I remember seeing an anon on Wikipedia with literally thousands of good edits, but who obviously had a strong preference for not logging in (he had been invited to many times).

There are some other practical concerns with this. I know the shared IP problem has been mentioned, but perhaps I can expand on that. For some providers like AOL (the biggest in the world remember), the IP doesn't only change per session, it may change during a session. So the chances are that the person receiving the message you have left, will be different from the person who made the first five edits, who will be different from the person being blocked. Each of those people is quite likely to get upset at the unfairness of this and leave never to return. That seems a big cost for the benefit of getting people logged in.

There is no doubt that a lot of vandalism comes from IPs, but you are in the great position of having four active admins and an active community. Maybe you could encourage your community to look at recent changes more often and keep any problems to a minimum. I think some level of vandalism has to be accepted on a wiki for the benefits of an editable site. On Wikipedia, which I'm sure you know has a lot of vandalism, it's regarded as a minor annoyance quickly fixed, and this philosophical attitude to the problem makes it a minor part of the site as a whole.

Of course, it is better if people log in, but I wonder if they can be gently persuaded rather than trying to force them into it? I've written a straightforward guide to why accounts are a good idea at Wikicities:C:Starter:Help:Why create an account. Maybe you could put a friendly message encouraging new IPs to join up and linking to a similar page? I think the tone of the current message is quite harsh and unwelcoming, and a block is very unwelcoming! Maybe a welcoming note, with strong encouragement to join up, and a clear description of the benefits would get you just as many new members - without losing those that will never sign up?

Sorry this is so long, but I believe that open editing for all is a vital part of Wikicities, as it is for other wikis. I hope you will look again at this policy and see if it can be modified to be more friendly and kind. Thanks -- sannse (talk) 11:19, 17 March 2006 (UTC) (Wikicities Community Team)