It has come to my attention that Bureaucrats now have access to Special:RevisionDelete. For those that don't know, RevisionDelete allows individual usernames, revision text, edit summaries, log entries, and/or files to be hidden from public view. Since, at this time, only Bureaucrats have access to this tool, Administrators will not (to the best of my knowledge) be able to review/undo any actions taken. As such, I figured that it would be a good idea to modify the deletion policy to reflect acceptable circumstances for this tool's use. I feel that this tool should only be used to remove personally identifiable information. Any other suggestions or comments?
- REDIRECT User:Laser Dragon 21:40, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
Discussion
I have access to that extension on another wiki, and it isn't a big deal. You are correct in that sysops will not be able to see/undo any actions by this, with the exception of viewing the unrevealing log entry in the deletion log. Really, this should just be used to hide/remove cases of rude and bad vandalism from page histories (since our audience is mainly under 18), as well as inappropriate usernames/file names, etc. I agree with you about the personally identifiable info, and really this tool could be restricted to that. This tool can basically be used wherever before an admin deleted/restored a page to clear it's history. Ajraddatz Talk 21:44, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
Comment - The policy on Wikipedia (and don't go RS:NOT#Wikipediaing me) is that oversight (and I believe the 'revisiondelete' right) is given only to those who have provided personal information to the Wikimedia Foundation, similar to the checkuser right. Wikipedia:Oversight —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hello71 (talk).
Comment - Special:RevisionDelete is not oversight; It is simply a faster way of removing certain things from logs/article histories. Oversight uses Special:HideRevision, which is very hard to undo. This is very easy to undo, and leaves a log entry in the deletion log. Ajraddatz Talk 21:57, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
- RevisionDelete (suppressrevision specifically) is the replacement for oversight, but that's beside the point. The fact that Administrators can't unhide entries is the reason I don't believe this should be used for everyday maintenance.
- REDIRECT User:Laser Dragon 22:17, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
- That makes sense, although I personally don't understand why Wikia doesn't want to enable this for sysops. Also, you are not entirely correct about revisiondelete being a replacement; oversight is still used mainly to remove cache issues, as well as some other things that require better hiding. Ajraddatz Talk 22:19, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
- I believe they would enable for sysops, if consensus was reached. I used contact awhile ago, and got an email saying it is a pretty powerful tool, so they want consensus. I don't have the energy to make a thread about it, so it never went anywhere, or so I thought. JZYXJ
rwojy 22:30, May 7, 2010 (UTC) - Also personal info was specifically why I asked for it, as I had to delete a page and then restore all revisions except for it, which is a hassle. OUUArwojy 22:31, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
- I believe they would enable for sysops, if consensus was reached. I used contact awhile ago, and got an email saying it is a pretty powerful tool, so they want consensus. I don't have the energy to make a thread about it, so it never went anywhere, or so I thought. JZYXJ
- That makes sense, although I personally don't understand why Wikia doesn't want to enable this for sysops. Also, you are not entirely correct about revisiondelete being a replacement; oversight is still used mainly to remove cache issues, as well as some other things that require better hiding. Ajraddatz Talk 22:19, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
Comment - In my opinion it should be used in cases of security and privacy (somebody posts an RS username/password, for example), or as common sense otherwise provides. I'm fine with blocking pornography or other obscenity as well since typical users may not want or be expecting to see that when looking through revision histories. Plus our user base is fairly young. Endasil (Talk) @ 07:10, May 8, 2010 (UTC)