Forum:"Report a problem"

Report a problem
Hi All. Wikia have made a new feature that may be useful to you. It's a link/tab on each article to "report a problem". This leads to a small form that can be used to give information on what's wrong. Admins then have a special page that allows them to mark each as fixed, not a problem, or to flag it for Wikia staff. The idea is to catch all the people that don't know enough about wikis yet to fix things themselves, or how to find admins to help them. At the moment, we get email from people with problems that would much better be addressed by local admins, maybe this will help fix that!

So, this will be enabled shortly and is on Inside Wikia now. Please have a look at it, try it out, and let us know whether it's something you want. The reports page is at Special:ProblemReports and the link/tab is on each article page. If this won't be helpful to you, we can disable it for your wiki. All feedback gratefully received! Thanks -- sannse (talk) 22:16, 14 September 2007 (UTC)


 * It's not currently working on inside. Please test it on scratchpad instead. I changed sannse's link to point there. Angela (talk) 23:25, 20 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Interesting feature. Though I think I have an issue with the e-mail part. Would it not be best to tie that in with the Emailuser special page? It says that the email is only viewable by staff but as a Inside Sysop I can freely read the e-mail addresses that people put there. Also, someone used an IP to do a report, and the reporter field was left blank. That field should show the ip in that case. What happends if someone decides that it's a good idea to use the report a problem feature to spam up the report page through an ip. It would be nice to know what IP we half to block to stop their spam. Otherwise we have another issue like what was run into with the TaggedImages extension. ~ NOTASTAFF Daniel Friesen (DanTMan, Nadir Seen Fire) (talk) (tricks) (current topic) Sep 15, 2007 @ 05:41 (UTC)
 * Ok, I'm finding more issues, I'll just put this all into a list:
 * IP's don't show up as reporters so we can't block IP's which spam the report page.
 * IP's can freely chose a username, and this username is treated as if it was that user who made the report. So an IP could type in say, Angela's username and spam the report page making it look like Angela is a vandal. O_o
 * Here's my thoughts on what things should be like:
 * The e-mail should say that it is readable only by admins.
 * The e-mail field should not automatically use a user's e-mail because that means that someone can easily reveal their authenticated e-mail which is supposed to be private (even to admins). Instead that should always be blank, and when it is unspecified the @ beside the user name should just link to Emailuser.
 * When a user makes a report it should only be locked to be their username as it currently is.
 * When an IP makes a report, instead of listing who they say they are. It should list that name user inputed name (or list the IP if that was left blank) as a link in italics pointing to the IP's contributions page.
 * The actions such as changing the status of a report should be logged on the page like how Checkuser is logged. It's possible for a bad admin to falsely list a bunch of reports as fixed when they're not, and no one knows who did that.
 * ~ NOTASTAFF Daniel Friesen (DanTMan, Nadir Seen Fire) (talk) (tricks) (current topic) Sep 15, 2007 @ 06:03 (UTC)


 * Nice feature!
 * I'm not a sysop on c:inside and I can view the email address in Special:ProblemReports (clicking the @)
 * The links in the "Wiki name" columns makes me think that in this page one can view reports from all wikis. Is it true? I think it's not useful, except for janitors and staff
 * --Ciencia Al Poder (talk) -WikiDex 09:27, 15 September 2007 (UTC)


 * This has been fixed. Now only staff can see IPs and email addresses. Anyone can view Special:ProblemReports but only admins can use the action buttons that allow the report to be closed as fixed or invalid or escalated to staff. Angela (talk) 23:32, 20 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm having some serious problems with this, on every single Wiki. I'm using Internet Explorer (and I'm probably not the only one), and what I get is a horrible mass of text, rammed directly beneath the existing article with no seperation. The shorter the article, the worse it is. I uploaded an example from Muppet Wiki, here. Is there any possibility of looking into this? As is, there's some bugs which show up mainly in IE (like a huge space separation whenever a picture is used larger than the text section accompanying it) that at this point, seem permanent and unlikely to be fixed, but I'm not happy with the possibility that I'll either have to live with this one, or install Firefox. -- Andrew Leal (talk ) 02:24, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
 * What version of IE are you using ? I'm on Internet Explorer 7 and there's no problem at all. See this screen capture on ImageShack. ;-) TulipVorlax 02:53, 22 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Version 6.0. Anyway, it seems to have gone now, so hopefully someone else caught and fixed it. It was there for several hours. -- Andrew Leal (talk ) 03:15, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Please let us know if this crops up again -- sannse (talk) 21:43, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

This is definitely interesting, and I think it could be a useful way to communicate with new users who haven't learned about talk pages yet. The interface is easy to use -- I like that it pops up, rather than taking you to a new page, and you don't have to type much in order to file a report.

However, I'm not sure how admins are notified that a report has been filed. I assumed that a new problem report would show up on Recent changes, but I just tested it out, and it doesn't. Is the idea that admins will check the ProblemReports page on a regular basis?

If that's the case, I think it's probable that the admins on many wikis will forget -- or not even know that ProblemReports exists in the first place. I think it would be very frustrating for a user to report a problem and then have it ignored, just because the admins don't know to check the page. -- Danny (talk ) 08:08, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
 * There is a widget that shows new problems as you surf, that will be useful to anyone using the new skins. Select the filing cabinet and drag it to the sidebar (no, I don't know why a filing cabinet either).  Perhaps we can add an entry in Recent Changes too, I'm not sure how easy it will be to get the two to interact in that way. -- sannse (talk) 21:43, 24 September 2007 (UTC)


 * There also doesn't seem to be a way to communicate with users who report a problem when they're not logged in. If the user is logged in, then we can see a user name as the "reporter", and we can leave them a message about the problem. If they're not logged in, then that field is blank, and there's no way to talk to them.


 * I assume that the people who are most likely to use this feature are new users who haven't learned how to edit or revert vandalism yet. For them, the best response for the admin would be to fix the problem they're reporting, and then leave them a message that shows them how to do it themselves next time. The admin also may have a question about the reported problem -- but if they don't know the IP address, then they can't ask any questions.


 * The system also doesn't tell the user where to go, to check on the report's status. It just says "The problem has been reported," with no further instructions. I'm not sure how a user is supposed to know whether a problem has been attended to or not, especially if they're not logged in and there's no way for the admins to leave them a message.


 * It also looks like the description of the problem disappears -- I don't see it on the ProblemReports page. So the person filing the report can type a long description of the problem, which then vanishes. If they file the report under "other", which is the default, then there's no way to know what the problem is. -- Danny (talk ) 08:25, 22 September 2007 (UTC)


 * In the next version, the IP will be visible for anons (with their chosen name in brackets). The IP will link to their contributions list.


 * I think we should be able to add more information to the "OK" box. We'll have to think more on the format for that.


 * Clicking on the report number ( 230 » ) gives the text of the report. The » is supposed to indicated that, maybe it's not clear enough?


 * Thanks for this feedback Danny, it's a great help! -- sannse (talk) 21:43, 24 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Oh, good! No, it didn't occur to me to click on the report number, so I guess it wasn't clear enough for me. :)


 * What do you think about leaving a note on Recent changes when somebody files a report? I think that's the most important element... Otherwise, I know that I for one would never bother to check the page. -- Danny (talk ) 01:26, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I've left a message for the guy coding this asking if it's possible. I'm not sure how the two systems will interact, but if it's possible I think it's would be a very good addition -- sannse (talk) 03:21, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I'd think the reason for not having a log of it that would end up displaying in the RC is so that a bunch problem reports don't clutter up the RC for the many people who don't have a use for them. The Problem reports special page itself offers a RSS feed you can subscribe to to be updated when a new problem report shows up. ~ NOTASTAFF Daniel Friesen (DanTMan, Nadir Seen Fire) (talk) (tricks) (current topic) Sep 25, 2007 @ 03:53 (UTC)


 * Well, I would hope that there wouldn't be so many problem reports at one time that it would clutter up the RC -- if there is, then you've got bigger problems on your wiki than just the reports! :) I think it's more likely that there'll just be a report once in a while.


 * That's nice that there's an RSS feed, but I'm actually very computer-experienced, and I don't know how RSS feeds work. I know that there are lots of other wiki admins who also wouldn't know how to use that -- and, unless the problem reports show up on Recent changes, won't even realize that they exist. We need to design the site to work for the average user.


 * My concern here is that if we put extra steps in the way of admins knowing about the problem reports, then it's more likely that new users will file reports that never get seen. -- Danny (talk ) 10:08, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Sorry for the mistake in sig above, that was my account for general screenshots... oops!
 * Macbre thinks that adding this to recent changes should be possible, and he will look at that for version 2 of this feature. So it won't be soon, but it will be added.  I agree that it's important to ensure even the newest founders and admins see the reports, and recent changes is a good place for that.  We can always add a filter for those who don't want to see them, like the bot or logged in user filter in place already -- sannse (talk) 15:55, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Okay, that sounds great. Thank you! -- Danny (talk ) 16:13, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Meanwhile I'd advise you to place a link to the Reports at the top of the Recent Changes page trought the MediaWiki notice. Increases the chances no to forget checking it once in a while.--Rataube 07:21, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

form shown when printing
The report a problem is shown when printing a page. Go for example to c:scratchpad:Scratchpad_Wiki_Labs and go to "Print preview" in your browser. Is shown also in printable version. Only in print preview or when printed, not in the screen. --Ciencia Al Poder (talk) -WikiDex 17:25, 21 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Nice bug find! What browser are you using Ciencia? Thanks -- sannse (talk) 21:08, 21 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Firefox 2.0.0.7 --Ciencia Al Poder (talk) -WikiDex 08:19, 22 September 2007 (UTC)


 * The bug is easy to fix. Add "noprint" to the class of the outer div of the form. --Ciencia Al Poder (talk) -WikiDex 08:25, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Translation ?
Will it be translated someday ? Or can we do it ourselves with some MediaWiki pages ? TulipVorlax 02:17, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes ! We can do it : screen capture I will search to translate the rest of it later. But i doubt it work the same. TulipVorlax 20:28, 22 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I could ony find MediaWiki:reportproblemtext and MediaWiki:reportproblem to translate, anyne knows where's the rest?--Rataube 00:46, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
 * It's here : MediaWiki:Pr describe problem, MediaWiki:Pr email visible only to staff, MediaWiki:Pr no reports, MediaWiki:Pr thank you, etc. They're all beginning by pr_ on Special:Allmessages. TulipVorlax 01:28, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Sidebar
The "Report a problem" link in the wikia box in the side bar (mnobook) doesn't work anymore, it leads to "--error: link target missing--". We don't really need it now anyway. Can it be removed? Nice feature btw, congratulations.--Rataube 00:46, 23 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Where is it that's broken? I see it as OK.  Might be better renamed if nothing else -- sannse (talk) 21:43, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Possible improvements
I think it would be helpful if it listed the name of the admin who checked each problem report.--Rataube 17:34, 23 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a good one for the next step -- sannse (talk) 21:43, 24 September 2007 (UTC)


 * It would be nice if links to nonexistant pages would be red. It would help notice the "vandalized page" ones where someone already dealt with the vandalism. ~ NOTASTAFF Daniel Friesen (DanTMan, Nadir Seen Fire) (talk) (tricks) (current topic) Oct 4, 2007 @ 15:48 (UTC)