User:Frostly/Account-required editing

  • Issues with IP editing:
    • Additional maintenance burden on developers
    • Privacy concerns
    • Issues with shared devices
    • Communicating with an IP on a screen can feel impersonal; usernames are a form of creative expression
  • The Wikimedia Foundation's IP masking proposal:
    • Editors without accounts would still not have permissions to complete many actions, access many tools, modify their preferences, etc.
    • Additional maintenance burden on developers
  • Potential solution: require accounts for editing + easier account creation workflow
    • Account creation is embedded into the editing interface, after "Publish edit" is clicked
    • Passwords and email addresses are optional. If they are not used, browser cookies are used to access the account. The account can be solidified into one with a password/email at any time
    • Passkeys might be able to be leveraged
    • Username suggestions are presented (a la GitHub)
    • There is no expectation that an account is "permanent"; casual readers might create passwordless accounts and forget about them.
      • Sockpuppetry concern?
  • Concerns presented:
    • Communications/PR. If this is implemented well, it should be barely noticeable.