BetaWiki:Community portal

__NEWSECTIONLINK__ Welcome to BetaWiki community portal! This is where we discuss the operations of BetaWiki. Please help us to set down policies and guidelines, improve articles and more.

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Test
Test community portal... Tau Ceti (talk) 09:58, 10 May 2015 (BST)

Regarding the spammer
AlphaBeta, The IP that has attacked a few users about here should be blocked. The IP's attack behaviour was unacceptable. I know you say it's not spamming. But it's personal attack, which some may consider worse than spamming. Tau Ceti (talk) 10:26, 12 May 2015 (BST)

Main Page
I have restored some of the elements of the Main Page, such as the News section. VIPs are now again able to edit the Main Page, but please restrict that to editing the News section. --AlphaBeta (talk) 13:19, 30 May 2015 (BST)

Windows 10 Update Builds
Should we add all update builds to the Windows 10 page as soon as it RTMs or should we keep it in the current state, perhaps with BLItems instead of ESD filenames? --AlphaBeta (talk) 13:19, 30 May 2015 (BST)
 * Keep it in current state. Otherwise, Windows 10 main page will be cluttery. Tau Ceti (talk) 08:36, 3 June 2015 (BST)

Yet another question
Should we name pages like Windows:Explorer, Windows:DCE according the Guidelines and leave the current state or apply the Guidelines naming system to builds only and rename these pages to Windows Explorer, Desktop Composition Engine and so on? --AlphaBeta (talk) 18:44, 2 June 2015 (BST)

I think we shall apply the Guidelines naming sistem to builds only, because names like Windows:DCE can be quite confusing, since "Windows DCE" never existed.--46.102.69.61 19:24, 2 June 2015 (BST) (ovctvct)

Improvement
I am going to improve the articles on BetaWiki. People, it is not good that some of our pages are merely a few words. They should have more information, so I will add more. We have some very good articles (such as Windows 1 DR5 and Windows 8.1 Preview) but some are underdeveloped. So I will enhance them with content, images, etc. Thanks for your attention. Tau Ceti (talk) 10:48, 5 July 2015 (BST)
 * I have to move several pages because of people not following the guidelines. It says that we are not BA, don't include the timestamp in the article name. Tau Ceti (talk) 11:37, 2 August 2015 (BST)
 * I want to improve the articles about Windows 8 builds. I would like to start with build 7850; does anyone have an ISO in their collection they could provide a link to (on MEGA, preferably, it's more secure)? Callum90ish (talk) 19:58, 15 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * There's something wrong with your signature Callum. Also, I don't have an ISO, but try ftp://oscollect.old-dos.ru. Tau Ceti (talk) 09:15, 15 August 2015 (BST)
 * Unfortunately, there is nothing there on Windows 8. It's going to be difficult fixing up the wiki, when half the builds are only available in Fort Knox (BA FTP). Callum90ish (talk) 20:37, 15th August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Hey, I can help you with several builds. However, I can't provide any builds due to my (lack of) upload speeds. --Recycle.bin (talk) 10:50, 15 August 2015 (BST)
 * What builds can you help me write better articles for? I've got Windows 7 Beta & Pre-beta build 6801, Windows 8 DP and a wide range of Vista builds. Do you have some other builds you can provide information and screenshots for? callum90ish (User talk:callum90ish|talk]]) 11:14, 16 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * I did screenshots of build 5048, you can see them on the build's page. I also have some screenshots of: Windows 98, NT 4, Windows 10 Technical Preview. Tau Ceti (talk) 00:32, 16 August 2015 (BST)
 * What 98 builds do you have screenshots of? Might as well start from the earlier builds, since that's what people look at (in my experience, usually either because I told them too, or because they're more interesting). callum90ish (talk) 11:50, 16 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Hey, I have the following 9x builds, and I can sort them by the difficulty in installing them in VMware or Virtualbox: Easy: 431, 445, 450, 456, 468, 474, 490, 501, all of the leaked 950-r? builds, 1094, 2106-2222A, 2332-2470, 2481-2535. Difficult: 58s-73g, 189-405 (except 346), all leaked 11xx builds, 1411, 1434, 1593, 1619, 1650-1900 (English builds only). Painful: 81-122, 1511, 1518, 1525, 1559. I don't have access to my main right now (and it's going to undergo an upgrade soon, anyway) but I'll try to start on more of these articles ASAP. I already did 1 or 2 of the more boring builds, like 445, as they may literally only have a couple of changes noticeable to normal people.--Recycle.bin (talk) 03:38, 16 August 2015 (BST)
 * Okay, then. If you work on those 9x builds, I'll start work on NT5/6/10 builds. I have quite a few of them. The problem will be getting hold of builds in order to gather information and screenshots. Curse Steve Sinofsky and his obsession with plugging every last leak!!! callum90ish (talk) 15:53, 16 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * [takes jacket off :P] I'll do Windows XP screenshots, earlier ones are a little intimidating at this point but I'll figure it out. Tau Ceti (talk) 06:46, 16 August 2015 (BST)
 * I might start with Windows 7. If anybody wants to help me, download links for ISO's (excl. 6801/7000), screenshots and information are all welcome. callum90ish (talk) 18:05, 16 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Does anyone know a good website for Windows 7 builds? callum90ish (talk) 10:19, 17 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Sadly none exists afaik. BA is the only one who provides ISO's of 7 betas. Olddos.ru only gives a 6780 ISO, plus that ISO is broken(throws error during setup). Would you like a 6936 ISO? But I can only upload it to my google drive. Note: To install 6936 in workstation,select windows 7 x64 as guest, select LSI Logic adapter ONLY, other adapters causes setup to freeze. And download this to enable the superbar and other locked stuff: http://static.squarespace.com/static/514e2905e4b023ca28fd2047/514e2ad8e4b0d528d07c0c96/514e2ae0e4b0d528d07c13b4/1323212437000/BlueBadge_rev3_x64.zip?format=original Wil provid ISO ASAP.--85.122.4.49 06:16, 17 August 2015 (BST) (ovctvct)
 * OK. Tau Ceti (talk) 06:52, 17 August 2015 (BST)
 * Great. If you have any other NT6.x builds, I'd appreciate it if you could upload them. Finding leaked builds, especially in the 6.1-6.3 range, is tricky, and I'm pretty sure we can all agree that torrent sites stink for older leaks, because hardly any of those older builds have any seeders. This is a BIG job. callum90ish (talk) 18:01, 17 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Currently I'm using VBox, which makes any pre-2296 Whistler builds hang at setup :'{ Tau Ceti (talk) 07:07, 17 August 2015 (BST)
 * How about I do those ones? callum90ish (talk) 18:50, 17 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Here's that 6936 ISO : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2CQR48oiPa5eUU1aTgzZ01RZ0U/view?usp=sharing Please tell here when you finished download as it must be removed or some [censored] will DMCA me. --94.176.152.6 11:55, 17 August 2015 (BST)
 * Finished now callum90ish (talk) 17:09, 18 August 2015 (NZD)
 * OK, link is now down. --94.176.159.71 16:37, 18 August 2015 (BST)
 * @callum90ish - No offence, but it seems that you didn't contribute to the 6936 article yet, even though I given you the ISO. Also, you said you have 6801&7000 ISOs, but you didn't even touch the respective pages....Hope you aren't just asking for the ISO's just to play with them and nothing else, if so I will never upload such ISOs again. --94.176.152.83 16:54, 19 August 2015 (BST)
 * I'm not. It simply takes a while to find good information and collate it. Plus, to find interesting differences in a build, a certain amount of "playing with it" is necessary. - callum90ish (talk) - 08:02, 20 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Plus, I've had issues getting 6936 to install. Keeps stalling at "Setup is starting services...". I've started improving the existing article, but can't do much more until I get the build installed. It's been taking up a fair bit of my time trying to get it running, plus I'm really busy at the moment with work. There's not enough time in the day. callum90ish (talk) - 09:47, 20 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Read what I wrote above. Use LSI Logic adapter ONLY, NOT LSI Logic SAS. That way it must work, at least it did for me. Use Windows 7 x64 as guest OS setting. Also, what VMware version do you use? I use 7.1.4 and it works if I select that adapter when making the VM. So, delete the VM and select LSI logic when creating the new one.--85.122.7.11 10:24, 20 August 2015 (BST)
 * Thanks octvt. I've fleshed out the article a bit. Do you have any other 7/8 era ISO's? Builds for those versions are pretty hard to come by. - callum90ish (talk) - 13:09, 2nd September 2015 (NZDT)
 * ATM I don't have any other build, but I can download one just in case. --85.122.6.120 07:04, 2 September 2015 (BST) (ovctvct)
 * Thanks, that would be great. ATM I've only got 7850 from the NT6.2 era, plus the CP... - callum90ish (talk) - 19:31, 2 September 2015 (NZDT)
 * Would you like 7989? (In case you wonder, I am currenly using an ipv4 to ipv6 tunnel, explaining my IP) --2001:470:6E:794:0:0:0:2 18:39, 3 September 2015 (BST)
 * 7989 would be fantastic. That's one of the builds I've wanted to get my mitts on for a LONG time! - callum90ish (talk) - 07:17, 3rd September 2015 (NZDT)
 * Sorry for bloating the page, but three new Windows 8 builds (7973.fbl_core1, 7973.fbl_core2 and 8056.fbl_grfx) have leaked at OSBetaarchive recently. You might want to to check them out as they'e freely available. --Recycle.bin (talk) 16:37, 20 September 2015 (BST)
 * Yeah, I saw that. I'm waiting till I head off to school, because they've got fibre, versus cruddy ADSL2+ here at home. Callum90ish (talk) 21:02, 20 September 2015 (BST)

Improvement II
Because it was becoming painful to post from there, I'll make this one. Also Callum you can do anything pre-2296 thanks for your help. I'm actually installing them right now, so yes. Tau Ceti (talk) 08:03, 17 August 2015 (BST)
 * Okay, then. Downloading 2250 at the moment. Do you know anyone who might have some Windows 7/8 ISO's? I don't have many of those, thanks to S. Sinofsky and his obsession with plugging leaks. Thank heavens they fired him! callum90ish (talk) 19:40, 17 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * Ha. I don't know, but I'll upload the images tomorrow. Tau Ceti (talk) 09:56, 17 August 2015 (BST)
 * Here's a good collection of NT 6.0 builds for you to start with: --Recycle.bin (talk) 11:46, 17 August 2015 (BST)
 * I am currently improving some NT builds, and one build (5.0.1965) includes an NFO. How do I format and add it properly (like the one in the Windows 8 Build 8888 article)?--Recycle.bin (talk) 13:14, 17 August 2015 (BST)
 * I don't know. Tau Ceti (talk) 06:55, 18 August 2015 (BST)
 * I will be updating less frequently in the coming days. I have to clear out my downloads queue and upgrade to 10514 on my main. I also want to upgrade to 10525 on my secondary.--Recycle.bin (talk) 11:56, 19 August 2015 (BST)
 * Good on you. Everybody needs a break sometimes. callum90ish (talk) - 08:37, 20 August 2015 (NZDT)
 * I'm going to upgrade to 10514 very soon (think 20-30 minutes or so). I will be a bit more active after a few hours. --Recycle.bin (talk) 14:10, 3 September 2015 (BST)
 * Things are done here, but I'll need some time to install my apps/drivers. --Recycle.bin --182.74.246.202 16:26, 3 September 2015 (BST)

The images
I must say, we are getting to reasonable levels of activity here. Tau Ceti (talk) 07:23, 21 August 2015 (BST)

Featured article
I was thinking of an idea to BetaWiki that I've seen at other wikis. The idea is that one of our best article, gets displayed on the main page. It could be an initiative for users to improve articles to FA status. there should be an 'Article of the month', that is well-written and provides a large amount of information. Tau Ceti (talk) 00:48, 8 September 2015 (BST)
 * I doubt it will work anyways, considering how "much" people care about some(actually most) articles. If you post a specific article on the main page that's too neglected it will do nothing but waste time. No chance, people seem to lose interest in betas nowadays. No matter what you do, they don't get interested anyway. So it's pretty much hopeless.--2001:470:1F1A:292:0:0:0:2 08:44, 8 September 2015 (BST)
 * That's like saying this wiki is pointless because the beta community in Sept. 2015, is near to nonexistent. Tau Ceti (talk) 06:58, 10 September 2015 (BST)

Votes for deletion
I'm proposing an idea for BetaWiki: Add a 'votes for deletion' (VfD) process which discusses whether or not a page should be deleted based on community consensus, but not for pages which should be quickly deleted (such as spam/promotion, vandalism, etc.) VfD nominations may be placed in the Delete requests page, and tagged with this template: User:InfinityPlus1/VfD. --InfinityPlus1 (talk) 05:20, 8 September 2015 (BST)
 * Good idea. Tau Ceti (talk) 06:57, 10 September 2015 (BST)

Protection policy (and other protection-related proposals)
Here is my proposed protection policy: User:InfinityPlus1/Protection_policy I am proposing the following along with the policy here:
 * Admin only protection should be called "full protection".
 * Edit-trust only protection should be called "quasi-protection".
 * Registered user only protection should be called "semi-protection".
 * Differently colored lock icons for each protection type:

Note: This page has been protected so that only trusted users can edit it. The latest log entry is provided below for reference: Note: Add support votes under " ===Support=== " but above " ===Oppose=== ". Add oppose votes under " ===Oppose=== " but above " ===Discussion=== ". Add general discussion/comments under " ===Discussion=== ". --InfinityPlus1 (talk) 06:01, 15 September 2015 (BST)
 * The notice that appears when editing/moving a quasi-protected page should be changed to the following:

Support

 * 1) I'm pro. Tau Ceti (talk) 06:01, 18 September 2015 (BST)

Oppose

 * 1) I'm con. User99672 (talk) 00:55, 16 October 2015 (BST)
 * 2) I'm con too. We're not Wikipedia, we don't need those.--Ovctvct (talk) 07:08, 17 October 2015 (BST)
 * 3) Con aswell. AlphaBeta (talk) 22:27, 22 October 2015 (BST)
 * 4) Frankly, I think that this system is unnecessary, and so I'm voting for 'con'. --Recycle.bin (talk) 19:45, 24 October 2015 (BST)

Discussion
I thought there was an issue for a while, in that this wiki concentrates, let's just say 10% on the management of the wiki and 90% on the information contained within. Tau Ceti (talk) 06:02, 18 September 2015 (BST)
 * User99672, what's the issue? You might want to explain why you're contra. Tau Ceti (talk) 05:46, 16 October 2015 (BST)
 * I would've responded to this earlier had there been some form of notification system. Oh well, my apologies. I find it blatantly un-necessary. The amount of traffic and frequency of spammings here just doesn't *warrant* it. User99672 (talk) 18:23, 25 November 2015 (GMT)

Management and voting templates
At the moment I'm working on a series of templates to use in various community discussions, for instance to vote on important matters, or for admin use. Tau Ceti (talk) 23:16, 9 October 2015 (BST)

Database error?
Yesterday I tried to access the site, but there was an issue with the database. Now it is fixed, of course. I wonder if it was actually a client-side issue, because it appears (RecentChanges) other users were correctly able to edit. Tau Ceti (talk) 05:46, 16 October 2015 (BST)
 * I got that too, it could be because the mediawiki is quite outdated(1.23.0),latest is 1.25.--Ovctvct (talk) 07:08, 17 October 2015 (BST)
 * Perhaps that's the case. Tau Ceti (talk) 22:59, 17 October 2015 (BST)
 * It's not really outdated. If you bothered to check, you'd find that 1.23.0 is a LTS release. --AlphaBeta (talk) 01:03, 29 November 2015 (GMT)

Protection
It used to come across to me that this wiki is rather censorship-happy due to protecting pages all over the place. Why don't we have some sort of template which says, 'This page is protected'? Also, for one-off vandalism, temporary protection is better. Tau Ceti (talk) 01:21, 8 November 2015 (GMT)

Civil
Is this a rule yet? ''Be civil to other users, and don't make directly criticising edits. Also don't back-seat sysop.'' Tau Ceti (talk) 09:05, 25 November 2015 (GMT)

Boxes!
I have put some effort and made Wikipedia-alike administration info "boxes". You can check out them there. If there are no objections, I will replace the actual templates with ones using the new Template:Box. --AlphaBeta (talk) 01:03, 29 November 2015 (GMT)

Flow
Just will leave the following link here and let me know what do you think of it and whether should I get it running on BetaWiki... https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Flow --AlphaBeta (talk) 01:17, 29 November 2015 (GMT)