Chapter 3. Your User Identity
Most MediaWiki sites can be browsed anonymously, but there are advantages to signing up as a registered user.[19] Before you fret, “Oh no! Not another username and password to memorize,” consider the benefits of creating an account: tailoring the behavior of the wiki to your liking, keeping track of your edits over months or years, monitoring other people’s changes to your articles, and, of course, that warm, fuzzy sense of community. (Assuming the community members are getting along!)
In this chapter, we’ll discuss MediaWiki’s features for registered users, including the following:
- Creating an account
How to sign up and have an identity on the wiki
- Your user page
A personal wiki page just for you (although anyone else can edit it)
- The Toolbox menu for users
Special links that appear on user pages
- Communicating via user talk pages
Sending messages to other wiki users
- Your watchlist
Monitoring changes to selected articles
- Your contributions
Listing all the edits you’ve made
- Setting preferences
Tailoring your wiki experience
- User CSS and JavaScript
Writing custom code to change the behavior of the wiki
Many of these features are reachable from the user options menu found on every wiki page (see User Options Menu).
Creating an Account
To create an account (assuming you aren’t logged in already):
Click the link “Log in/Create account” on any wiki page.
On the login page, click “Create an account”.
Follow the simple directions. Creating your account will automatically log you ...
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