Help:Logging in
Logging in is not required for viewing pages, only for editing them. It also provides additional features.
Contents
Creating an account
You cannot create a login account from the LabVIEW Wiki interface. The LabVIEW Wiki shares the same login info with the LAVA Forums. This allows you to have a single common login account for both sites. This is necessary because the LabVIEW Wiki uses LAVA forum threads for article discussions instead of Talk pages. If you already have a login account on LAVA then you can use that user name and password here.
You must first create a login account over at the LAVA forums. That same username and password can be used on the LabVIEW Wiki login page.
Creating a user account means that you supply a username and a password. The system will reject a username that is already in use. A user account is created only once. You are then "logged in". Next time you log in you supply your username again and demonstrate with the password that you are the same person.
Any edits you make are recorded under your username.
Why log in?
The LabVIEW Wiki has a small number of editors and cannot afford the time and effort to clean up pages that have been vandalized. It's been proven that when a user logs in, they are serious about editing and are more likely to respect the site they're working with.
In addition:
- Other users will be able to recognise you by your username when you make changes to pages. As a "name" an IP address is somewhat clumsy. Also, if you use computers at different locations (home, office, internet cafe, etc.) you have a different IP-address in each case; even in the same location, depending on the Internet connection, the IP-address may be different each time. Therefore a username is better to maintain an identity.
- You will have your own user page where you can write a bit about yourself, and a user talk page which you can use to communicate with other users.
- You will be able to mark an edit as minor, which avoids inconvenience for other users.
- You will be able to keep track of changes to modules you are interested in using a watch list.
- If you choose to give an email address, other users will be able to contact you by email. This feature is anonymous - the user who emails you will not know your email address. You don't have to give your email address if you don't want to.
- You will be able to rename pages.
- You will be able to set your own preferences, to change things such as:
- The number of pages displayed in Recent changes
How to log in
First, make sure that your browser accepts cookies. Some browsers can accept or reject cookies from individual sites; users of LabVIEW Wiki should configure the browser to accept cookies.
Click on the Log in link at the top right of the page. You will then be prompted to enter your username and password.
If you click the box Remember me, you will not have to give your password again when you access LabVIEW Wiki from the same computer.
Log in problems
If you appear to be able to log in, but as soon as you try to look at a page after the 'Log in successful' page you appear logged out again, it is very likely to be a cookie problem. If you are certain that cookies are enabled, make sure that you haven't inadvertently listed https://labviewwiki.org on a list of sites to never allow cookies for (This feature is available in (at least) Mozilla Firebird (Firefox) 0.6 and above and Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 and above). Also make sure your computer's date and time are set correctly; if they are not, cookies may expire before they are supposed to. Note that some firewall and ad-blocking software may interfere with the cookie that LabVIEW Wiki uses to keep a person logged in.
A user may occasionally find him/herself "automatically " logged out in between beginning an edit and saving it, or when switching between multiple LabVIEW Wiki pages open in multiple windows. This can be a result of your browser's cookie, cache, or firewall settings, but due to the nature of the MediaWiki software; some user ID information is stored in the servers and sometimes, especially during heavy server load, the system can "glitch" and your ID information will be misplaced, resulting in a logout. Regardless of the reason for the logout, the simplest solution to the problem is to check the Remember me box. If you do this on a computer that can be accessed by more than one person (i.e. at the library, at work, at school), please find and erase your user ID cookies after your editing session.
If you log in and enabled the cookie feature, a subsequent log in as a different user without the cookie feature enabled will appear as logged out.
What if I forget the password?
If you enter an e-mail address when signing up for the account, or in your Preferences, you can request on the login screen for a temporary password to be sent to that address, which will allow you to retrieve your account. If the address is out of date, contact an Admin: (wiki [at] lavag.org).
How to set preferences
Click on the Preferences link at the top right of the page for various options, including:
- Changing your password.
- Changing the skin, which changes the way that the web pages look.
See Help:Preferences.
Your User page and User talk page
As a logged in user, you will be able to create your own user page and user talk page. When you are logged in, you will see your username displayed at the top right of the page. Click on this to get to your user page, which you can edit in the same way as any LabVIEW Wiki page.
Most users write a little bit about themselves and their interests on their user page.
You also have a User talk page. You can access this by clicking on the Talk link next to your username at the top right of the page. Other people may write messages in your user talk page by editing it, and you can respond.
How to log out
You can log out any time by clicking on the Log out link at the top right of the page.