Wiki Patterns
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EditRegistration Required
What is it?
This pattern refers to the common practice of requiring users to register to edit wiki pages, yet not tying the registration to any meaningful authenticator---just to a password. The result is a wiki that is vulnerable to vandalism and wiki spam, is vulnerable to identity spoofing and other things, yet requires users to create a password-protected identity for their first edit and to log on for subsequent edits.
How do I notice it?
- You have trouble with wiki spammers, in spite of registration.
- You have someone registering slight variants of some trusted user's account for edits ("Barton C Massey" vs "Bart Massey").
- You don't get many drive-by contributions.
How do I fix it?
One way is to adopt an Open-Edit policy, allowing anybody to edit the wiki without registering, and employing alternative effective measures to combat spam.
Another is to use a Clean Permissions scheme, such as Permission Granted or Community Write
Another is to provide an incentive for registering, such as a personal profile space, which gives a person space on the wiki to tell about her/himself, and allows them more flexibility in using the wiki than just contributing to the community space.
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Depending on what a Wiki aims to achieve, there may be reasons why there is a requirement for registration. In Wikiproteins we want to register bio-medical scientific information. Original research is allowed and it is thereby less obvious what makes a genuine edit and a malicious edit. With bio-medical information you run the additional risk that people suffer needlessly as a consequence. To be willing to make use of the information and the opportunity we hope to provide the people who have worked with us are adamant that completely anonymous users will be a big hindrance in gaining trust for our Wiki.
It is for reasons like this that you have to really think through what the reasons are for being less permissive then you would like to be. Patterns are often right, but you have to apply them in a context. The context may require a different pattern.
While registration can really diminish or kill any activity on a wiki, it can help to prevent malicious content on the site; this can be problematic for small wikis or small, upcoming ones. Remember that there are others who place copyrighted material on the wiki; no wiki owner would like to be in court because of copyright infringement. Registration can quickly stop any troller/ hacker and spammer from accomplishing his task. How? By simply banning them from the site.
Oh! And did this pattern consider these: