Forum:Installation of Extension:UserMerge

Extension:UserMerge is a very useful extension which allows wiki users with the usermerge permission (Bureaucrat by default) to merge one Wiki user's account with another Wiki user's account. This can be very helpful against vandalism with multiple accounts where merging them can make managing and blocking easier. I propose to install this extension. - 👁 Image
StizzurpXDD^(talk) 10:18, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

You can request your contributions to be reassigned to another account by contacting Weird Gloop. 103.17.98.165 10:21, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

How does merging an account make dealing with vandalism easier? Mudscape 👁 Image
talk 11:05, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

By merging vandal accounts into one (which are seen to perform the same kind of vandalism), they can be managed or banned in one shot instead of dealing with each account one by one. This extension can also be used in cases of Sockpuppetry to merge multiple accounts controlled by a single user into one. - 👁 Image
StizzurpXDD^(talk) 11:11, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

A bureaucrat would still need to select each account to merge, while they could've just as easily blocked them instead. — BabylonAS 11:17, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

True, but merging accounts helps keep things tidy by consolidating all the vandal's contributions. Blocking is quick, but merging offers long-term management. - 👁 Image
StizzurpXDD^(talk) 11:19, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

There is no point to do that. It has never been complained that there need to be better management. Why would we need to add complexity for admins to deal with vandalism? If you ever moderated wikis with this scale you will know it's not feasible or necessary. It makes it hard to find evidence of sock puppet ery. The blocked accounts are perfectly fine where there are and doesn't need to be merged. 103.17.98.165 11:27, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Fair enough. I get that blocking works fine, and adding more steps might not be worth it. Just thought merging could help with long-term efficiency and managing repeat vandals, but if it complicates things, maybe it's not necessary. Thanks for the feedback! - 👁 Image
StizzurpXDD^(talk) 11:35, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

mw:Extension:UserMerge is incompatible with $wgSharedDB which we use for our shared accounts across all language wikis. -- 👁 Image
MarkusRost (talk) 13:10, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

If that's true, then please update Special:Version as there is no sign of $wgSharedDB anywhere in the entire page. - 👁 Image
StizzurpXDD^(talk) 18:58, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Special:Version lists extensions, $wgSharedDB is not an extension but a core MediaWiki config. -- 👁 Image
MarkusRost (talk) 19:26, 16 November 2024 (UTC)