Author: jra

Description:
The magical installer script for 1.11 is just a bit unclear around the username/password fields for the MySQL interface, to people who don't work with either package much.

There are two sets of username/password fields, and the first does double duty: you can use it to *create* a non-admin MySQL account for MW to run against, or merely to specify one.

If you're doing the second, a MySQL administrator is expected to have already created said account. If the former and you should *not* specify the second set of username/password; if the latter, then you are assumed to be creating the runtime account on a DBMS you administer yourself, and the script will create that runtime account.

I would suggest relabelling the first box something like

"MediaWiki uses a MySQL (or whatever) username and password to connect to the database to create its tabels at setup time, and also to use those tables at runtime. Unless some database administrator has provided you credentials you must use, leave these at the defaults, and this installer script will create that account." (and supply some useful defaults)

In the second box, the label could read:

"If you have not been provided with a username and password by a database administrator, and you need this installer script to create a runtime account in your DBMS, then you must supply the already existing administrator account name and password here, and the script will use them to create the new runtime user."

This is admittedly very slightly more complicated in tone than the current wording, but it has the advantage of being both technically correct, and much clearer (IMHO) than the language in the 1.11 installer currently. (I dont' know if this was already changed in 1.12; I was not in a rc-acceptable environment.

At the least, if this penalizes some users, it's not the smart ones. :-)

Version: 1.11.x
Severity: minor
OS: Linux
Platform: PC