Last modified: 2010-05-15 14:36:18 UTC
When a person makes an edit while not logged in, a warning msg should appear offering the chance to log-in (without losing the edit) or continue with the edit without logging in. If the user chooses to continue not-logged in, no further warnings should appear in that session (perhaps an "editing not-logged-in" cookie could be set), so that annons need not respond more than once. This idea has found signifigant support at the Village pump on en, see <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia%3AVillage_pump_%28proposals% 29&diff=37859110&oldid=37855556> and related edits.
Wouldn't it be better to check for an existing authentication cookie and only offer the choice of logging in if it's present? Otherwise I expect that this would annoy lots of anon editors, who are relatively unlikely to participate in a Village Pump discussion.
I think this should only happen when a person enters four tildes in an edit they make.
I frequently find myself unexpectedly logged out while editing. i don't know if in such a case there is an "existing authentication cookie". Note that on principle I never check "remember me" or simialr password storage options. Also, at least some people on the pump discussion thought that a once-per-session suggestion to register/log-in would be a goood thing, adn not an excessive burden to annon editors. People doing primarily or exclusively article edits may not type four tildas often, but may want their edits to be proeprly attributed.
Unexpectedly saving an edit marked with your IP address can be considered a privacy issue. A little one-line warning above the edit box when you first get to it would I think be fine.
Created attachment 1364 [details] patch following brion's suggestion This patch adds a warning above the edit box if editing a page anonymously, but not on preview pages.
A default warning probably should be something more like: "You are not logged in; your IP address will be publicly recorded in the page's edit history."
Had this done a while ago but forgot to commit. Now in CVS HEAD.
