Help:Registering with Judgepedia
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The current procedure for registering is described here.
Choosing a registration name
When you are logged in under a registration name, you will be identified on Judgepedia by your user name. This may be your real name if you so choose, or you may choose to publish under a pseudonym. It is not permissible to register using the name of a judge or a judicial candidate unless you are that judge or candidate.[1]
When using a Username, your IP address will not be available to the public except in cases of abuse, including vandalism of a wiki page by you or by another user with the same IP address.
Providing an email address
One of the options available when you register is to provide your email address. It's just an option, but one you may wish to consider, because if you provide your email address, Judgepedia can arrange to send you email notices about Judgepedia from time-to-time, including special projects or significant developments.
Using your "talk page"
Once you've become a registered user, Judgepedia automatically generates a "user" or "talk page" for you.
Here's an example of a "talk page".
You can put as much or as little (or no) information as you like on your talk page. You can use it to link to articles on Judgepedia you've written, or projects you're starting or working on. You can use it to add hyperlinks to articles that don't currently exist on Judgepedia but which you'd eventually like to write. That kind of list on your user page is a nice way to remind yourself of projects you're working on.
You can also go onto the talk pages of other users, and say hello, ask them questions, congratulate them on an especially good article, and so on.
User data
If you register at Judgpedia and become an editor, each article you edit will contain a history of your edits to it. If you'd like to see what this looks like, go to the top of this page and click on "history". There, you will see a list in reverse chronological order of the registered user names of everyone who has ever made any changes to this page.
Passwords
Judgpedia's value will depend on the reputation and respect that is built up through a history of valued contributions, useful articles and knowledge-building edits over time. User passwords are the only guarantee of the integrity of a user's edit history. All users are encouraged to select strong passwords and to never share them. No one shall knowingly expose the password of another user to public release either directly or indirectly.
Cookies
The wiki will set a temporary session cookie whenever you visit the site. If you do not intend to ever log in, you may deny this cookie, but you cannot log in without it. It will be deleted when you close your browser session.
More cookies may be set when you log in, to avoid typing in your user name (or optionally password) on your next visit. These last up to 30 days. You may clear these cookies after use if you are using a public machine and don't wish to expose your username to future users of the machine. (If so, clear the browser cache as well.)
Related articles
Issues with new user registration
On July 28, 2011, the ability of new users to register a user account on Judgepedia was temporarily turned off.
This was done because the Captcha system in use on Judgepedia to ensure that new users are real people, as opposed to spambots, was at least temporarily overwhelmed by a particularly aggressive spambot program that was creating dozens of new fake users, and new inappropriate articles, every day.
Judgepedia's staff monitored the situation to see if Captcha found a security patch to guard against this new breed of spambom.
If you want to register at Judgepedia but you have been blocked from doing so, we can add you as a new user manually. To cause that to happen, email kfarrell@judgepedia.org with your request. Unless you send your request email in the middle of the night, you should get a response within hours.
Timeline:
- On February 4, 2011, we conducted a test on Judgepedia's sister site (Ballotpedia) for 12 hours with allowing new users to once again register. This test indicated that many spambots were still able to get through Captcha's defenses.
- On February 13-14, 2011, we conducted a test of once again allowing new user registrations on Judgepedia for slightly less than a day. Many spambots were still getting through, so on the morning of February 14, we again turned off the ability of new users to register.
- On February 24, 2011, we re-enabled new user registration.
- On July 28, 2011, we again disabled new user registration, following the appearance of aggressive, new, Captcha-evading spambots.
References
- ↑ Users who register using the name of a judge or candidate will be asked to verify to a Judgepedia staff member by email that they are that person. If this verification is not made available within 72 hours, the user account will be deleted.
