User blog:TK-999/RecentChanges

Special:RecentChanges is an essential special page that gives users up-to-date and detailed information about edits and events on the wiki. Most experienced users and administrators prefer it over Special:WikiActivity, but RecentChanges is actually much more than a list. Here are some of its abilities:

JavaScript improvements
Many wikis equip their RC with so-called "Ajax" autorefresh&mdash;a feature that, when turned on, updates the page every minute to save the time of reloading. It is a piece of JavaScript code; an example can be found here.

If someone has JavaScript enabled, s/he can also make use of "enhanced" RecentChanges, adjustable via Special:Preferences. This adds a blue arrow next to grouped edits&mdash;sequences of edits made to a single page or log&mdash;which shows the actions undertaken in detail when clicked, thus sparing the time of visiting the log page or the page history.

Toolbar
Local administrators and bureaucrats can edit MediaWiki:Recentchangestext to customize the appearance of the top of the page. This can be used to add a list of useful pages or community messages.

RecentChanges also has a built-in bar that can be used to limit the number of actions displayed and the timeframe. The user can also choose to hide minor edits, anonymous users' contributions, his/her own edits, bot edits and log actions and adjust "grouped changes"&mdash;a feature rendered redundant by enhanced RC. The page can also be filtered to only show edits made to a given namespace, or "start blank" and show actions made after the current time.

Color scheme
RecentChanges uses one-letter markers to mark certain edits&mdash;the creation of new pages, bot edits and minor edits. Using cascading style sheets, the colors of these can be adjusted, along with the various auxiliary links displayed.