Forum:Recommend content dumps be made available monthly
Since Orain now has far more server power and resources than it did when it started out, I believe it might not be a bad idea for monthly content dumps to be made available of wikis, at least current revision only dumps (at least for Creative Commons licensed wikis, GDFL requires complete histories), though full history dumps should be made available on request. This can be easily accomplished using the dumpBackup.php script to produce XML dumps, which it should be possible to automate via a cron job given Orain's current resources. Also, the WikiTeam's last complete dump of Orain's wikis was in August 2013, and I do not believe their service would be regular enough to obviate the need for backups should they be requested. Arcane (talk) 00:11, 1 March 2014 (UTC)
- I strongly agree. We should at the very least allow single revision per page dumps to be publicly available on a monthly basis. I would recommend though that this be bumped up to a weekly basis, since it would result in less loss of progress should wikis be required to use them for backup.
- I could also possibly look into creating an extension that would allow bureaucrats to export XML dumps of wiki content on request, possibly with a configurable cap on how often they can do so, to limit server use. This way, bureaucrats would be able to create backups after major editing activity, but there would still be a cap on how often the dump script would be run. Inquisitor Sasha (talk) 23:22, 14 March 2014 (UTC)
- I do support wiki dumps, but I think the frequency of their production should depend on the activity level of a wiki. For example, Wiki A that has 100 edits/day should have dumps made available weekly, vs Wiki B that has about 5 edits/week should get a dump produced every month. Because quite honestly, Wiki A would suffer much more damage from a monthly dump than Wiki B. Wiki B could probably just live without whatever was produced since the last dump, or easily redo whatever was lost, whereas Wiki A would lose a significant amount of data with a monthly dump. Wiki B wouldn't need the weekly dump because there really wouldn't be that much to be gained from such a short interval of time. I do like the idea of an extension, although it would need to be 100% secure, which requires lots and lots of testing. -- Joe G. (Talk) 02:11, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
- For that reason I'd favor an extension. If we're going to make daily or weekly backups, we might as well give the ability to produce them to the bureaucrats so they can make them when needed. Keeping the ability to do backups with them would prevent users from spamming the script. The level of activity on the wiki would still be a limited factor for how often the script would run. Inactive wiki bureaucrats wouldn't be running the script often. I would also recommend that the dumps be publicly accessible since they would contain the work of multiple editors, who should be able to access them. Even though it needs to be tested, I still recommend the extension since it's the best way to do this. Wikis should be able to back up after major changes, not a fixed schedule. Inquisitor Sasha (talk) 14:13, 16 March 2014 (UTC)