Theosophy Wiki:Privacy policy: Difference between revisions

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'''Theosophy Wiki''' arose from an idea that Pablo Sender expressed to Janet Kerschner in the [[Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library]] in May 2009. Both were employed in the headquarters of the [[Theosophical Society in America]] - Pablo in the library and Janet in the archives. They saw potential for a collaborative encyclopedia to be highly useful as a reference and research tool, and as a repository for historical information. [[Wiki software|"Wiki"]] software was selected to facilitate cooperation among editors working on encyclopedic content worldwide. [[The Kern Foundation]] supported development efforts and hardware expenses. Mediawiki software, widely known as the platform for Wikipedia, was installed in 2011, and the infrastructure was established.  
'Theosophy Wiki is committed to respecting and protecting the privacy of its users and editors.  


The '''blue lotus''' in our logo is a symbol of knowledge.
== Visitors to the wiki ==


Early in 2012, the team realized that the wiki could serve as a tool for study of the [[Mahatma letters|Mahatma Letters]]. The TSA Archives had a set of about 1300 color slides that had been purchased by [[George Linton]] from the British Library in 1984. The slides had been scanned as a preservation measure, and the images turned out to be stunningly realistic. Viewing them brings a sense of immediacy, a connection to the writers and their time that is inspiring. The wiki format provided an excellent opportunity to make these high-quality images of the letters available for study by people who might never be able to view the originals in London. After consultation with Vic Hao Chin, Jr., editor of the ''The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett Chronological Edition'', and other scholars who were visiting the Olcott campus, a three-column format was selected to show the images of the letters with transcriptions to the left and notes to the right. Physical description, publication history, context, and commentary sections were added, along with intra-wiki and external links to more information. Letters missing from the original set of slides have almost all been replaced with black-and-white images taken from microfilm through laborious work by Jon Knebel, who also provided the [[Cosmological Notes]] and the [[Maha Chohan Letter]]. Ernest Pelletier has also graciously provided images from the collection of color slides belonging to the TS in Edmonton, Canada.
Theosophy Wiki will set a temporary session cookie whenever you visit the site, but that cookie will be deleted when you close your browser session. Other users and adminstrators will not be able to see which pages you visited.


On July 22, 2012, the Theosophy Wiki was demonstrated to the membership of the Theosophical Society in America at the 126th Summer National Convention.
== Editors ==


Originally this resource was named the '''TS Wiki''', but when the opportunity came in the summer of 2014 to use a '''.wiki''' extension on the World Wide Web, the more descriptive name '''Theosophy Wiki''' was adopted. TS Wiki references redirect to www.theosophy.wiki pages.
Authors and editors of articles cannot be anonymous in Theosophy Wiki under its policy of openness and transparency. You give up a measure of privacy when you take on the responsibility of becoming a Theosophy Wiki editor. '''Editing is a public activity, and submissions by editors are voluntary.'''  


In December 2015, the wiki was expanded to add Spanish, French, and Russian platforms. In May 2017, Italian was added.
Changes to articles are tracked automatically by the Mediawiki software, with the editor's user ID and a timestamp listed in the History for the article. History can be viewed by anyone, using the “View history” tab at the top of the article. To avoid a messy edit history, we recommend use of the "Show preview" feature and an individual  [[Help:Sandboxes|sandbox]].


'''SEE ALSO [http://theosophy.wiki/en/Theosophy_Wiki:Community_portal#Plans_and_announcements Plans and announcements] in the Community portal'''.
A "persistent" cookie is set when you first log in, to store your user name so that it will be remembered for your next visit, saving you keystrokes. These cookies last up to 30 days, but can be cleared easily.
 
== More about cookies ==
 
Use of cookies is extremely common in the Internet, because they facilitate navigation and help to customize the user's Web experience. Cookies are small data files that Web sites write to your hard drive. A cookie file can contain information such as a user ID that the site uses to track the pages you visited, but the only personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. Adding a cookie to your computer does not give TS Wiki access to any part of your computer (except the cookie itself), or to personal information stored in other Websites' cookies.
 
== Clearing cookies ==
 
You can clear cookies by clearing the browser cache. Here is how to do this as of June 2018 for several popular browsers:
 
* '''Chrome''' – click '''three vertical dots''' on Menu Bar; select '''Settings'''; then '''Clear browsing data'''.
* '''Firefox''' – click '''three parallel bars''' on Menu Bar; then '''Clear Recent History'''.
* '''Edge''' – click '''three vertical dots''' on Menu Bar; select '''Options'''; then '''Privacy'''; then '''clear all current history'''.
* '''Opera''' – click on '''Opera logo''' on Menu Bar; then '''Settings'''; then '''Privacy & security'''; then '''Clear browsing data'''.
 
The following browsers are no longer being tested with Theosophy Wiki:
 
* '''Internet Explorer''' – click '''Tools''' on Menu Bar; then '''Delete browsing history'''.
* '''Safari''' – click '''gear icon'''; then '''Reset Safari'''.
 
== Passwords ==
 
Editors are encouraged to establish strong, complex passwords. '''Passwords should never be shared.''' It is important to the integrity of the wiki for each editor to be identified individually and to accept responsibility for the editing that is done using his or her user ID and password. If you forget your password, contact one of the [[Help:Administrators|administrators]].
 
== E-mail addresses of editors ==
 
A valid e-mail address is needed for each editor. Occasionally the administrators may need to make an announcement to all editors by e-mail, but addresses will be blind-copied to keep them from being revealed to other editors. E-mail addresses will not be used in any other kind of mailing list or revealed to anyone without permission.
Other logged-in users may send e-mail to you through the wiki, unless you disable this in your Preferences. Your address will not be revealed to them unless you respond, or possibly if the email bounces.
== Deletion of content ==
 
Deleting text from Mediawiki articles does not delete it from History. In normal articles, anyone can look at a previous version and see what was there. Only administrators can delete articles, and even then it is possible for people with “sysop” rights to view the deleted articles.
 
== Use of statistics ==
 
The administrators may need to study user traffic patterns from time to time, in order to optimize system performance. We do not intend to correlate this information with data about individual users, except in the case of malicious attacks on the system.

Latest revision as of 13:31, 15 March 2024

'Theosophy Wiki is committed to respecting and protecting the privacy of its users and editors.

Visitors to the wiki

Theosophy Wiki will set a temporary session cookie whenever you visit the site, but that cookie will be deleted when you close your browser session. Other users and adminstrators will not be able to see which pages you visited.

Editors

Authors and editors of articles cannot be anonymous in Theosophy Wiki under its policy of openness and transparency. You give up a measure of privacy when you take on the responsibility of becoming a Theosophy Wiki editor. Editing is a public activity, and submissions by editors are voluntary.

Changes to articles are tracked automatically by the Mediawiki software, with the editor's user ID and a timestamp listed in the History for the article. History can be viewed by anyone, using the “View history” tab at the top of the article. To avoid a messy edit history, we recommend use of the "Show preview" feature and an individual sandbox.

A "persistent" cookie is set when you first log in, to store your user name so that it will be remembered for your next visit, saving you keystrokes. These cookies last up to 30 days, but can be cleared easily.

More about cookies

Use of cookies is extremely common in the Internet, because they facilitate navigation and help to customize the user's Web experience. Cookies are small data files that Web sites write to your hard drive. A cookie file can contain information such as a user ID that the site uses to track the pages you visited, but the only personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. Adding a cookie to your computer does not give TS Wiki access to any part of your computer (except the cookie itself), or to personal information stored in other Websites' cookies.

Clearing cookies

You can clear cookies by clearing the browser cache. Here is how to do this as of June 2018 for several popular browsers:

  • Chrome – click three vertical dots on Menu Bar; select Settings; then Clear browsing data.
  • Firefox – click three parallel bars on Menu Bar; then Clear Recent History.
  • Edge – click three vertical dots on Menu Bar; select Options; then Privacy; then clear all current history.
  • Opera – click on Opera logo on Menu Bar; then Settings; then Privacy & security; then Clear browsing data.

The following browsers are no longer being tested with Theosophy Wiki:

  • Internet Explorer – click Tools on Menu Bar; then Delete browsing history.
  • Safari – click gear icon; then Reset Safari.

Passwords

Editors are encouraged to establish strong, complex passwords. Passwords should never be shared. It is important to the integrity of the wiki for each editor to be identified individually and to accept responsibility for the editing that is done using his or her user ID and password. If you forget your password, contact one of the administrators.

E-mail addresses of editors

A valid e-mail address is needed for each editor. Occasionally the administrators may need to make an announcement to all editors by e-mail, but addresses will be blind-copied to keep them from being revealed to other editors. E-mail addresses will not be used in any other kind of mailing list or revealed to anyone without permission.

Other logged-in users may send e-mail to you through the wiki, unless you disable this in your Preferences. Your address will not be revealed to them unless you respond, or possibly if the email bounces.

Deletion of content

Deleting text from Mediawiki articles does not delete it from History. In normal articles, anyone can look at a previous version and see what was there. Only administrators can delete articles, and even then it is possible for people with “sysop” rights to view the deleted articles.

Use of statistics

The administrators may need to study user traffic patterns from time to time, in order to optimize system performance. We do not intend to correlate this information with data about individual users, except in the case of malicious attacks on the system.

Retrieved from "https://theosophy.wiki/w-en/index.php?title=Theosophy_Wiki:Privacy_policy&oldid=53496"