Subversion/USERINFO file

Each MediaWiki developer has a USERINFO file in the MediaWiki Subversion repository which gives a bit of extra information about them. As well as being viewable from within the SVN repository (in the /USERINFO/ folder) these files are used to generate the list of SVN users located at http://svn.wikimedia.org/users.php.

It is the responsibility of all SVN users to create and maintain their own USERINFO file.

Creating a USERINFO file
When you are granted SVN commit access, your first action should be to create your USERINFO file, as described in this section.

Note: Instructions are for the SVN command-line client - if you use an alternative client (e.g. TortoiseSVN) then the exact details may differ, but the steps remain the same.

This example assumes an SVN username of :
 * 1) Checkout the USERINFO folder to your local machine: svn checkout svn+ssh://mysterywizard@svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/USERINFO/ USERINFO
 * 2) Change directory to the USERINFO directory you have just created. cd USERINFO
 * 3) Create a new file and fill in your details (see below).  The file name should be identical to your SVN user name (in this example, the file would simply be called  ).
 * 4) Add the new file to SVN: svn add mysterywizard
 * 5) Make sure the eol-style is set on this new file (see also Subversion/auto-props) svn propset svn:eol-style native mysterywizard Note: Set this manually even if you've already setup auto-props. The USERINFO file has no extension and hence no defaults.
 * 6) Commit your changes to the repository: svn commit --message="Adding my USERINFO file."

If the commit was successful, then you're done. You can now delete the USERINFO directory that you checked out.

Contents of the USERINFO file
The contents of the file should use the following template:

name: Alan Smithee email: mysterywiz@example.com irc: asmith url: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:MysteryWizard project: Core JavaScript since: 20100613 languages spoken: English, Dutch

The URL should ideally be to your user account on this wiki, but may be to your user account on another WMF wiki or even to your own website, if you feel that is more appropriate.

If you have previously committed to SVN under a different user name then you should also add an  line, as described in the next section.

fields description
At the minimum your profile should contains the following fields :


 * name : real name
 * email : your email address which may be obfuscated
 * url : your user page, website, blog or personal homepage (one valid url, otherwise empty)
 * since : the date you have been granted commit rights (format YYYYMMDD)
 * project : extensions you are working on, 'core' if you have commit rights to MediaWiki trunk, branches you maintain, language, 'pywikipedia' for the python wikipedia framework. Fields separated by comma.
 * languages spoken : any languages you understand. Might be useful for mail / chat and general communication among developers.

Some fields are optional and should be filled only when they differs from your username:
 * irc : nickname you are using on freenode if it differs from your name
 * aliases : see below

We are liberal about those fields, so feel free to add more of them. Below is a list of well known additional fields:
 * wiki : URL to your main userpage on one of the Wikimedia projects
 * twitter : your twitter account
 * identica : your identi.ca account

Changes to your user name
If your SVN user name changes then you should rename your USERINFO file appropriately, using an  operation.

You should also add an  line to your USERINFO file (as part of the same commit) linking to your old user name:

aliases: myoldname

If you have had multiple previous IDs, separate them using commas.