Approving new users
Translatewiki.net does not use the regular sign-up form of MediaWiki. We use a custom process:
- The user selects the languages they know, choose their user name and password, and provide their email.
- The user is asked to do some example translations.
- A human checks the application and approves or declines it.
Alternatively, developers can sign-up by leaving a note what they develop.
The goals of this process are to keep out spam accounts and vandals.
The general guidelines for approving new users are:
- the new user provides translations which are not gibberish (assume good faith for languages you don't know);
- approve requests for developer sign-ups;
- send a reminder if the user hasn't provided any translations within a couple of hours;
- send a second reminder if the the user hasn't provided any translations within a day.
It is a known issue that the sign-up process can be confusing, so use your judgement. For example if you see a common name or email address from a known person, you can still approve the account.
The new user approvers should coordinate with each other, for example if there are vandals that try to sign-up repeatedly. In some cases you might want to defer to a system administrator who can run a “CheckUser”.