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Customized userlogout-temp-moreinfo string renders wiki markup as plain text
Closed, ResolvedPublicBUG REPORT

Description

Steps to replicate the issue (include links if applicable):

  • Enter the "Exit session" page (mobile) or dialogue (desktop) while using a temporary account

What happens?:
The following explanation appears:

Exit session
If you are editing on a shared device like a library or school computer, you can exit this session to prevent other people from using this temporary account. A new temporary account will be created for you the next time you edit.
Please be aware that using multiple temporary accounts to disrupt Wikipedia, evade a [[Wikipedia:Blocking policy|block]] or [[Wikipedia:Banning policy|ban]], or to avoid detection or sanctions, may be against the policy on [[Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry|using multiple accounts]].
Are you sure you want to exit session and log out?
Once you log out, you will no longer be able to access this temporary account.

The wikilinks are displayed in plaintext like they are surrounded in <nowiki> tags.

What should have happened instead?:
The wikilinks should be formatted normally, clickable.

Software version (on Special:Version page; skip for WMF-hosted wikis like Wikipedia):

Other information (browser name/version, screenshots, etc.):
Tested on Mobile, MacOs safari and firefox

imagen.png (1×844 px, 489 KB)

Event Timeline

A_smart_kitten added subscribers: K6ka, A_smart_kitten.

Thanks for the report! Noting that this message has been localised on the English Wikipedia to include these wikilinks (cc @K6ka FYI) — the default text here is just "Please be aware that editing with multiple temporary accounts may be against the rules of this wiki and you could be blocked if this happens frequently.".

…in which case, I guess this might implicitly be a feature request for this system message to be able to contain wikilinks?

Aklapper renamed this task from Wikilinks in "Exit session" page/dialogue broken to Customized userlogout-temp-moreinfo string renders wiki markup as plain text.Nov 8 2025, 1:02 PM

Most system messages can accept wikilinks, so it only makes sense for this one to do the same. Other wikis may want to link policy or help pages in there.

This comment was removed by K6ka.

The messages are actually used in two different places:

  • In the JavaScript popup shown in your screenshot
    image.png (1×1 px, 305 KB)
  • In the no-JavaScript message shown if you visit Special:UserLogout directly
    image.png (1×1 px, 128 KB)

The second one actually parses the wikitext in this message. So it seems to me that not parsing the wikitext in the first one was probably unintended, either it was just overlooked or maybe it was omitted because parsing wikitext in JS has limitations.

Change #1203215 had a related patch set uploaded (by Bartosz Dziewoński; author: Bartosz Dziewoński):

[mediawiki/core@master] Allow basic wikitext in temp user logout confirmation messages

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1203215

Change #1203215 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/core@master] Allow basic wikitext in temp user logout confirmation messages

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1203215

matmarex claimed this task.

The change will be deployed to Wikimedia wikis this week, on the usual schedule.

Please make note of the limitations for wikitext in client-side messages when customizing this message (wikilinks work; templates and most other syntax does not).