Wiki Upgrade

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Robert Bushman

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Mar 31, 2024, 12:53:40 AM3/31/24
to HeatSync Labs
Like the old saying goes: 4th try's a charm.

I have deployed MediaWiki 1.41.0 (released 2023-12-21) and exported our
content to it: https://heatsynclabs.wiki/

Our current wiki at https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/ is running 1.19.0,
which was released on 2012-02-09. 12 years ago.

It is running on a $7.00/mo Amazon AWS Lightsail instance. I'm happy to
pay for it for the foreseeable future.

If you want to start editing (to kick the tires or because you are as
frustrated with 1.19 as I was), create an account and send me your
username - I'll give you editor privileges.

Running with two servers is a recipe for merge problems, so don't post
anything to the new box at https://heatsynclabs.wiki/ unless you are
comfortable with it being overwritten if the same page on the current
wiki gets updated (or if you're willing to merge the content for any
page you edit on the new wiki).

Eric Ose

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Apr 1, 2024, 12:49:55 PM4/1/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com
Huge thanks!

A couple things stirred my interest in making improvements to the wiki.
1st Nate updated the main page to make sure each station had a link under resources.
2nd Justin F donated leather working tools and wrote up details on the wiki about the tools.

I followed up on Nate's effort and gave each station a better page with details that I could dig up.
I reviewed most pages that linked from the main page and changed at least one thing or more to make it slightly more updated.
I updated the events page to list the recurring monthly events with links were possible.
I've consolidated some pages in cases where data was in multiple places.
 - For instance Events, classes, workshops, and presentations are all on one page. This could use a bit more refinement.
I added info about lab signage on a page.
I created and maintain the Laser FAQ and update it whenever a new question come up.
Some tool safety information from rules have been moved to more relevant pages. More work needs done on that.

Anyway that is some of the things and work continues.

This is why I really appreciate having work done to help improve our wiki.

Eric Ose
Robot Ambassador
Sometimes cool things just happen, but usually you have to plan them.


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Robert Bushman

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Apr 1, 2024, 2:53:49 PM4/1/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com, Eric Ose
Thank you, Eric!

I did the export on 03/30, so I captured all of your changes from 03/28
(and everything earlier). I'll do my best to get it production ready
this week so I'm not slowing you down.

Remaining critical tasks for me:
1. Email setup (in progress, needed for forgotten passwords)
2. Automated backup.
3. Put passwords in keepass
3.a. Find out what keepass is :)
3.b. Get access to keepass
4. Upgrade to 1.41.1 (or .2, if it comes out)
4.a. Document maintenance / upgrade / disaster recovery.
4.b. Schedule maintenance / upgrade / disaster recovery.
5. Get at least one person set up as my backup.

My optimistic path is to have 1, 2, and 4 done by the end of the day on
Tuesday.

If anyone knows our Keepass and can whack me with a clue-stick, I'd
appreciate it.

If any Linux admins are interested in being my backup, especially if
you're familiar with LAMP + MediaWiki, ping me. It's Deb 12.5, if that
matters to you.
> content to it: https://heatsynclabs.wiki/ <https://heatsynclabs.wiki/>
>
> Our current wiki at https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/
> <https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/> is running 1.19.0,
> which was released on 2012-02-09. 12 years ago.
>
> It is running on a $7.00/mo Amazon AWS Lightsail instance. I'm happy to
> pay for it for the foreseeable future.
>
> If you want to start editing (to kick the tires or because you are as
> frustrated with 1.19 as I was), create an account and send me your
> username - I'll give you editor privileges.
>
> Running with two servers is a recipe for merge problems, so don't post
> anything to the new box at https://heatsynclabs.wiki/
> <https://heatsynclabs.wiki/> unless you are
> comfortable with it being overwritten if the same page on the current
> wiki gets updated (or if you're willing to merge the content for any
> page you edit on the new wiki).
>
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Robert Bushman

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Apr 2, 2024, 10:13:17 PM4/2/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com, Eric Ose
Automated nightly backup is working. You can grab a copy here, anytime
you like (passwords scrubbed, ofc):
https://static.heatsynclabs.wiki/backups/wiki-backup.tar.bz2

Restoration is standard:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Restoring_a_wiki_from_backup

Email setup is mostly working. It sends email and SPF is done, I'm
working on DKIM now, then DMARC, then email will be done.

DKIM is taking longer than expected. Once it is done, it should be a day
to complete documentation and upgrade.

Jeff Sittler

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Apr 2, 2024, 10:21:16 PM4/2/24
to HeatSync Labs
I have concerns with this solution. 

1. Instead of helping upgrade the existing Wiki/infrastructure it is now on yet another service that is not owned by HSL.
2. I am totally against HSL resources being owned by personal accounts.  We have had too many cases where we had problems getting things back under HSL control.  All HSL sites/resources/etc should ONLY be created using HSL accounts.
3. "I'm happy to pay for it for the foreseeable future" How long is that "foreseeable" future? Who pays for it when you decide to no longer pay for it?  Who owns the domain? The AWS account? This is potentially committing the lab into another financial obligation.
4. Who maintains it when you are no longer able to, or lose interest in it?

Also, this should have been discussed further before being implemented without consulting the Ops team.

-Jeff

Robert Bushman

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Apr 3, 2024, 10:07:17 PM4/3/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com, Jeff Sittler
On 4/2/24 19:21, Jeff Sittler wrote:
> I have concerns with this solution.
>
> 1. Instead of helping upgrade the existing Wiki/infrastructure it is now
> on yet another service that is not owned by HSL.

We rely upon outside services. We have dependencies on GitHub, Google
Groups, Google Calendar, Slack, DropBox, PayPal and more. Most of those
have lock-in problems.

This does not have lock-in. This is hosting, only. The server is vanilla
Deb 12, and the backups are published nightly, ready to be restored by
anyone who can do the work. Lift and shift is a snap.

The in-house network is flawed. We do not have the resilience of a
hosted solution. When I tried to work with you on the upgrade, you said
we don't have remote access. We don't have IPv6. It's fun to run our own
machines, and they should be used for fun. They are not production-grade.

They should not be used for mission critical infrastructure.


> 2. I am totally against HSL resources being owned by personal accounts.
> We have had too many cases where we had problems getting things back
> under HSL control.  All HSL sites/resources/etc should ONLY be created
> using HSL accounts.

I started asking for a Wiki upgrade 3.5 years ago. I've documented the
process multiple times. I started discussing it with you 16 months ago.
HSL has had the chance to do this, and has not.

I have no problem with HSL accounts managing the resources, as soon as
HSL has the ability to do so.


> 3. "I'm happy to pay for it for the foreseeable future" How long is that
> "foreseeable" future? Who pays for it when you decide to no longer pay
> for it?  Who owns the domain? The AWS account? This is potentially
> committing the lab into another financial obligation.

I've been a dues-paying member for 13 years, which gives a baseline for
my commitment.

HSL owns wiki.heatsynclabs.org, which should be pointed at the new host,
ASAP. heatsynclabs.wiki is a placeholder. If we can find a good path
forward, I'm happy to transfer it.

My first two events covered the cost of the domain plus six months of
hosting, and I haven't started advertising yet.


> 4. Who maintains it when you are no longer able to, or lose interest in it?

Just like all our other hosted solutions, passwords will be in KeePass.


> Also, this should have been discussed further before being implemented
> without consulting the Ops team.

In September of 2020, I started talking with HSL folks about upgrading
the wiki. Here's my first HSL wiki page on it:
https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/wiki/MediaWiki_On_Lightsail

Here's the 2022-09-01 update, which is the one that I attempted to work
with you on, 6 months ago:
https://wiki.traxel.com/index.php/MediaWiki_Install_2022-09-01

The attached image shows that I've been talking with you about this for
over 16 months.

This past September, you were amenable to my approach. When I arrived,
you said I could not have access to do the work. Then you said you
didn't want to do it they way I do it. Then you asked me to walk you
through it the way you want to do it.

I could not do that because it is not how I do MediaWiki. But I trusted
you, and I left it to you.

That was 6 months ago.

Now I need a wiki, so I did it.

This is a do-ocracy, not a should-ocracy.
slack-chat-requesting-upgrade-support.png

Eric Ose

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Apr 3, 2024, 11:47:42 PM4/3/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com, Jeff Sittler
I was going to jump in on that response to Jeff, but wasn't sure how best to do so while appreciating everyone's concerns and efforts.

Different topic. Bob what do you like about the upgraded Wiki version? I guess I'm so used to the way things were. The main thing I know about is the WYSIWYG editor. Are there other notable things which you like that are user facing or are they backend things?

My biggest annoyance with the modern wikimedia how the mobile website mode obscures every sub topic. You have to click to expand anything. My typical first thing to do when opening a page is to Control+F to find something specific, but with it hidden you can't do that.


Eric Ose
Robot Ambassador
Sometimes cool things just happen, but usually you have to plan them.

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Robert Bushman

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Apr 4, 2024, 7:39:13 AM4/4/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com, Eric Ose, Jeff Sittler
Those collapsed-by-default sections can be annoying. On Wikipedia, when
on the mobile site, you can turn that behavior off:
1. Click the hamburger menu at the top left (three horizontal lines).
2. Click on Settings.
3. Turn on Expand All Sections
See attached image.

On the new wiki, we don't auto-detect mobiles and switch to mobile mode,
but you can get most of that behavior by going to preferences and
selecting "Timeless" as your skin.

To get everything, including the collapsed sections, we could add the
mobile extension:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:MobileFrontend

The biggest user interface changes I like are the editor improvements
and the ability to move category pages. The biggest admin features for
me are for managing abuse, like vandalism. On the back-end, I like the
bugfixes and security, both in MediaWiki and its dependencies, like PHP.

It has changed a lot over the years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_version_history

That list is focused on the server-side. A lot of the most visible
changes to MediaWiki are in the skins. How the content is presented can
have a big impact on how the site feels.
wikipedia-expand-all.jpg

Jot Powers

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Apr 4, 2024, 9:59:40 AM4/4/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com
The obvious reason that the wiki needed to be upgraded is that the current wiki is jacked, and has been as long as I've been here.

When there was a spam problem 5+ years ago it was apparently cleaned up by deleting things straight from the mysql backend.  The result of that is that there are other files that are blue linked in the wiki, but completely unavailable.  Creating a new instance that is modern and migrating the data should finally clean that up.

I figure half a decade+ of it being broken is a good enough reason.  :)

-Jot

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Robert Bushman

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Apr 4, 2024, 2:56:24 PM4/4/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com, Jot Powers
Ahh - I think I misunderstood the question.

I am most excited, personally, about nightly backups and a disaster
recovery plan that gets tested regularly. I want to invest time and
energy into making pages on the wiki, but I'm not comfortable doing that
without a solid recovery plan.

Second would be regular upgrades for security. Bugfixes for user-facing
issues are nice; the security ones are important.


On 4/4/24 06:59, Jot Powers wrote:
> The obvious reason that the wiki needed to be upgraded is that the
> current wiki is jacked, and has been as long as I've been here.
>
> When there was a spam problem 5+ years ago it was apparently cleaned up
> by deleting things straight from the mysql backend.  The result of that
> is that there are other files that are blue linked in the wiki, but
> completely unavailable.  Creating a new instance that is modern and
> migrating the data should finally clean that up.
>
> I figure half a decade+ of it being broken is a good enough reason.  :)
>
> -Jot
>
> On Thu, Apr 4, 2024 at 4:39 AM Robert Bushman
> <rbb3620...@traxel.com <mailto:rbb3620...@traxel.com>> wrote:
>
> Those collapsed-by-default sections can be annoying. On Wikipedia, when
> on the mobile site, you can turn that behavior off:
> 1. Click the hamburger menu at the top left (three horizontal lines).
> 2. Click on Settings.
> 3. Turn on Expand All Sections
> See attached image.
>
> On the new wiki, we don't auto-detect mobiles and switch to mobile
> mode,
> but you can get most of that behavior by going to preferences and
> selecting "Timeless" as your skin.
>
> To get everything, including the collapsed sections, we could add the
> mobile extension:
> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:MobileFrontend <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:MobileFrontend>
> <mailto:heatsynclabs%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/2bbc11cc-1e14-477e-b8e2-b6681efb202a%40traxel.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/2bbc11cc-1e14-477e-b8e2-b6681efb202a%40traxel.com>.
>
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Eric Ose

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Apr 4, 2024, 3:03:33 PM4/4/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com, Jot Powers
Yes definitely way over due for updating. I was hopeful for some more interesting features for those editing, but it already was working well for that part. I had forgotten about the things that went missing and didn't really know what caused that. For some reason I thought it was from when the network drive broke.

Eric Ose
Robot Ambassador
Sometimes cool things just happen, but usually you have to plan them.

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Nate Caine

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Apr 4, 2024, 4:45:05 PM4/4/24
to HeatSync Labs
This is outside my wheelhouse, but some thoughts anyway:

Why does promoting an event require a revamp of the Wiki? And to an outside host as well?

Other events (such as the various Software Meetups, AZ Haunters, etc.) use the HeatSync calendar, and often include links to their own outside web page for more details. And that affords them a LOT of flexibility over what a wiki can offer. Won't that work for these other "gaming" events as well?

The HeatSync Wiki mainly seems to be about static HeatSync stuff (how to run it, and various departments, and equipment) as opposed to transient events and the like. I think it was decided in the distant past to NOT have personal projects on there.

I think there should have been more input before creating an outside parallel wiki website. Like run it by HYH a few times, and get Board input. Some of these issues could have been addressed then.

Nate Caine

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Apr 4, 2024, 4:49:42 PM4/4/24
to HeatSync Labs

In the past we've had way too many links that were hot buttons at the time and then, once abandoned, become administrative nightmares.

People have shown up at the front door for classes or meetups, that were referenced on outside social media sites that we don't control or that we have long abandoned. (One guy didn't like the HeatSync logo, so he created his own.) Cpro posted a list a year (or two) back, and I think he identified nearly two-dozen sites that we link to, one way or another. Typically created by well-intentioned members, but now dormant sites. We even had Google+ still listed on our own web site, for several years after Google killed it. Personally, I think most those sites should be maintained dormant and just point people to the HeatSync site, where the actual content resides..

In a parallel effort, I know that during his time on Ops, that Jeff has identified and eliminated several paid subscriptions for services that we no longer use (and did that in consultation with NateP, Gabe, and Cpro at times). In some cases Jeff found "free" versions of services available to non-profits, that we previously did not take advantage of. Why pay for an additional outside wiki, that mirrors (or conflicts with) the inside wiki?

A third effort was to eliminate all the embedded names of various HeatSync folks as contacts and instead replace them with contacts to departments. Such as "finances" and "operation" as opposed to the previous names of specific treasurers or current ops person. That makes it a lot smoother when people join or leave the board. Sadly, I'm aware that previous board members (long gone) are still the "contact" person for some city departments, when city notices should have been to HeatSync "board" instead. Things we've missed out on.

Likewise we have a streamlined single points of contact for "events" (for the calendar) and for "photos" that get filtered and posted on Facebook, and elsewhere. Previously this was random email and text messages to private addresses. Who owns/controls the outside wiki. Will be be duplicating entries in two places now?

Eric Ose

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Apr 4, 2024, 7:09:19 PM4/4/24
to HSL Google Group
Nate I hate to say this but I think it's safe for everybody to ignore what you just posted because you've missed what was already said.

Bob is creating a new server because just installing updates on the old one is not feasible. The goal is not to have two websites it will be on our original domain where the wiki currently resides.

Eric Ose
Robot Ambassador
It's just an idea unless there is a date and time included. 

Robert Bushman

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Apr 4, 2024, 7:28:53 PM4/4/24
to heatsy...@googlegroups.com, Eric Ose
Thanks, Eric, for trying to protect me. I know your heart is in the
right place.

I am going to take a few minutes to look through Nate's emails and try
to answer them as best I can. Even if I think I've answered already,
it's a chance for me to maybe add some clarity or re-examine the
question from Nate's perspective. And I think there's some new angles in
there as well.

Thank you, Nate & Eric. I know everyone is trying to make HSL better.
I'll start now and send my replies soon.
> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:MobileFrontend <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:MobileFrontend> <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:MobileFrontend <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:MobileFrontend>>
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/2bbc11cc-1e14-477e-b8e2-b6681efb202a%40traxel.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/2bbc11cc-1e14-477e-b8e2-b6681efb202a%40traxel.com> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/2bbc11cc-1e14-477e-b8e2-b6681efb202a%40traxel.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/heatsynclabs/2bbc11cc-1e14-477e-b8e2-b6681efb202a%40traxel.com>>.
> >
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Robert Bushman

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Apr 4, 2024, 8:24:35 PM4/4/24
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Hi Nate,

I trimmed down and put my answers inline below. I tried to keep the
substance intact. Please let me know if I cut anything out that you'd
like me to address.

Thanks!

On 4/4/24 13:49, Nate Caine wrote:
>
> In the past we've had way too many links that were hot buttons at the
> time and then, once abandoned, become administrative nightmares.

That is a legitimate concern. I would like the end result of this
process to be a single wiki, administered by HSL.

> Why pay for an outside wiki?

A hosted server gets us some resilience and network features that would
be difficult or costly to replicate internally.

> Why have a wiki that mirrors (or conflicts with) the inside wiki?

We shouldn't. We should only keep the one that makes more sense.

> Who owns/controls the outside wiki. Will be be duplicating entries in two places now?

HSL should own and control the outside wiki as soon as it is able. I
will be publishing a disaster recovery doc which will work as a
migration doc. Deploying a replacement server is essentially the same as
recovering from an HDD failure. As soon as the HSL server meets our
needs, I'll kill the one hosted on my account.

> Why does promoting an event require a revamp of the Wiki?

Without resiliency, nightly backups, and a disaster recovery process, I
don't feel comfortable investing time and effort in creating high
quality wiki pages.

> Other events (such as the various Software Meetups, AZ Haunters,
> etc.) use the HeatSync calendar, and often include links to their
> own outside web page for more details. And that affords them a LOT
> of flexibility over what a wiki can offer. Won't that work for these
> other "gaming" events as well?

guestlist.co and the calendar are super-simplified. Web pages require
web development experience.

Wikis offer a middle-ground; more complex content, without having to be
a web developer. I'd like to make it easy for others to contribute to
these events, even though I do web dev.

> The HeatSync Wiki mainly seems to be about static HeatSync stuff
> (how to run it, and various departments, and equipment) as opposed
> to transient events and the like. I think it was decided in the
> distant past to NOT have personal projects on there.

The events I'm developing are not meant to be transient - though time
makes fools of us all.

They are fundraisers benefiting HSL, not personal.

We don't have any other clearly defined fundraisers yet, so there isn't
a direct comparable. But I think the following recurring events are
similar in making appropriate use of the wiki:

https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/wiki/Young_Makers
https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/wiki/Arduino_Night
https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/wiki/Monthly_Laser_Meetup
https://wiki.heatsynclabs.org/wiki/Woodworking_Day

> I think there should have been more input before creating an outside
> parallel wiki website. Like run it by HYH a few times, and get Board
> input. Some of these issues could have been addressed then.

I agree with running it by HYH. That has been and remains my intent. I
built it first because I wanted to make sure the migration would work.
Then I figured I'd get some feedback here.


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