Wikinews:Changing attribution for an edit

General Notes
It is possible for a developer to alter the database such that an edit which was attributed to an anonymous IP address is attributed to a username. This is usually requested because either:


 * An editor contributes anonymously for a while, and then creates a username and wants their previous edits attributed to their new name; or
 * A user accidentally logged out before making an edit. (Note that there is a simple way to "reclaim" such an inadvertently anonymous edit, provided you act straight away: While still logged out, revert to the version in the history immediately before the edit. Then log in and re-revert to the version after the edit, re-entering your original edit summary.)

Developers reserve the right to deny requests if they feel that there is any reason to doubt the identity of the contributor.

Please note that it may take some months before a developer has time to carry out your request.

Changed Username
If a user changes from one username to another and wishes all their old edits to be attributed to the new name, see Wikipedia:Changing username. [edit]

Notes on IP addresses
If you wish to change the attribution of an edit in this way, place a request below using the same IP address as you used to make the edit. This is so that we can be sure the IP address was really the user in question. In some cases, an IP address from the same dial-up ISP will be sufficient. Also include the target username, and a link to the diff.

Procedures
Note:You must do this on the computer on which you did the original edits. Please follow procedure, as it will make the process go much faster.


 * 1) Make sure you are not logged in.
 * 2) Create a new heading labeled with your IP address like this: ===1.2.3.4=== at the top of the list.
 * 3) Copy the table below under the new heading, your IP will be automatically entered.
 * 4) Add any notes to the Notes section; otherwise, leave this section blank. If these edits are in a foreign language wiki, note it here.
 * 5) Save the page.
 * 6) LOG IN, and add your user name with Amgine 06:29, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC) to the section "ADD YOUR USERNAME AND TIMESTAMP AFTER YOU LOG BACK IN"
 * 7) Manually remove the User: part from the IP address, so that is is in this format: IP.
 * 8) The last 2 cells are for the user/time stamps of the checkers and database changers. Please delete the text and leave blank.
 * 9) Have patience. The checkers and database changers will get around to it.

If your request is declined for some reason, it may be moved to Wikipedia:Changing_attribution_for_an_edit/Rejected_requests and an explanation given below it. [edit]

Table to Copy

Instructions for developers

 * 1) log on zwinger
 * 2) change to the maintenance/ directory
 * 3) Delete ../attribute.log and ../attribute.sql if they are there from a previous run (they are in the parent directory, not in maintenance/ ).
 * 4) Run script attribute.php . example: php attribute.php en wikipedia 216.103.211.240 "Daniel Quinlan". This will append a log entry to attribute.log, and some SQL statements to attribute.sql. Note that PHP doesn't work on ariel at the moment (2004-07-17). It's acceptable to run attribute.php on a slave machine, as long as the slave is up to date.
 * 5) If necessary, review attribute.sql, and delete any unnecessary SQL statements.
 * 6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each person
 * 7) Send the SQL file into the mysql client, making sure you are using the master database.
 * 8) Copy the contents of attribute.log to the wiki