Last modified: 2013-09-12 03:05:13 UTC
Splitting this out from bug 46491. It's been pointed out that the current behavior of user pages of users who exist, but who do not have a user page (e.g., <https://test.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Red_Baron>) is a little strange/questionable. There's a generic "this site does not have a page with that name" error that's output, but it's perhaps more logical to output basic info about the user (while simultaneously marking the page as "noindex"). I think this has the potential to upset some users, but it would probably be better than the current behavior. For example, there's a garish red box that appears for users with a deleted user page (cf. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JzG>).
(This bug is about MediaWiki's behavior. But an additional point to consider, specifically for Wikimedia wikis: when unified login is finalized, users may want the ability to establish a global user page that automatically "transcludes" to other projects where a local user page does not exist.)
I have no user page because people behave differently when they see edits with a redlinked username. This is good and bad: users with no user page are often newbies so may well need help correctly framing content, but some people reflexively revert, which is WP:BITEy. Any change won't upset me as it will happen for everyone. I don't really see a problem, though, as this is how Wikipedia handles any nonexistent lemma.
(In reply to comment #1) > (This bug is about MediaWiki's behavior. But an additional point to consider, > specifically for Wikimedia wikis: when unified login is finalized, users may > want the ability to establish a global user page that automatically > "transcludes" to other projects where a local user page does not exist.) See https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global-Wiki
