wikidoc:Log in

Logging In
WikiDoc requires that you log in with your full name.
 * Once you are logged in, please provide contact information. In the event that we have questions regarding the content posted, posting your biography would be optimal, however an email is sufficient (telephone or fax is optional)
 * This can be done by clicking on your name, and inserting the information appropriately


 * Click on C Michael Gibson on the user page to see an example or click on this link

Why log in?
Logging in is required for these reasons:


 * 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.
 * Check the privacy policy of the individual site you're visiting.
 * 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
 * The fonts, colours and layout of the site, by using different skins.

How to log in
First, make sure that your browser accepts cookies. Some browsers can accept or reject cookies from individual sites; users of these should configure the browser to accept cookies from each wiki you plan to edit, such as www.clinicaltrialresults.org.

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 haven't logged in before, you will need to enter your password twice.

If you click the box Remember me, you will not have to give your password again when you access MediaWiki wiki from the same computer. This feature will only work if your password was not generated by the Mediawiki software. So change your password please.

Logging in and setting preferences are done separately on each wiki. You may find like to maintain a cross-wiki identity by using the same username on each wiki that you use, if that name is still free.

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 server 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 it uses to keep a person logged in.

In addition to these steps, check to make sure PHP's directory for storing session data is writable. This directory can be found in the php.ini file under the session.save_path setting. Errors in this php.ini setting can also cause other problems. Examples of these errors are referencing a non-existent directory or leaving out " marks around the directory name. Random Wiki pages or edit previews might appear blank in Internet Explorer, but not with other browsers.  Also, the Save Page button might act as if one had pressed the Show Preview button when a user is logged in, but work correctly when one is not 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 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; 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 you did not enter an e-mail address, or the address was out of date, but you are determined to regain access to the account, you might be able to persuade someone with direct access to the database that it is your account, and ask them to retrieve it for you.

Creating an account
To create an account, select Log in (top right of page) then [ create an account. You usually need only provide a username and password. Some wikis require a visual  Users with text, speech, or legacy browsers will be unable to create an account if they can not view this image.

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.

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 MediaWiki 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.

All information on this page is attributed to Wikipedia and its contributors