Anonymous user
Template:User committed identity/doc: Difference between revisions
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{{documentation subpage}}
This template gives you a <nowiki>way</nowiki> to later prove that you are the person who was in control of your account on the day this template was placed. This is done by putting a code (called a "hash") on your user page so that, in the event that your account is compromised, you can convince
==Why?==
The intended use of this template is to help in the hopefully unlikely event that your account is compromised. If you published your real-life identity, then that identity could be used to reestablish contact with you if your account were compromised; keep in mind, in this scenario contact could not be established with you through your account, since it may be under the control of someone else. However, many Wikipedia users do not disclose their real-life identities, or disclose little enough of them that it may be difficult to establish their identity.
This is not a replacement for having a [[en:Password strength|strong password]], nor for registering an email address for your account. You should still do everything you can to prevent your account being compromised, including using a strong password and remembering to log yourself out when using a computer others may have access to. If you have one, it may also be helpful to post your [[en:Pretty Good Privacy|PGP]] public key. But even with the best of precautions, your account could become compromised, for instance, via a [[en:trojan horse (computing)|trojan horse]] or a brute-force attack on your password. This is intended to be a last resort.
==How==
The idea is to use cryptographic hashes; you choose a secret string known only to yourself, put it through a one-way [[en:Cryptographic hash function|hash function]], and publish the result somewhere. It is infeasible to determine the secret string corresponding to the hash; hence, an attacker compromising an account presumably would not be able to supply the secret string.
=== Syntax ===
:<code>{<nowiki/>{User committed identity|<var>hash</var>|<var>hash function used</var>|background=<var>[[en:Web_colors#CSS_colors|CSS color]]</var>|border=<var>[[en:Web_colors#CSS_colors|CSS color]]</var>|article=<var>[[en:Article (grammar)|grammatical article]] for the hash function</var>}}</code>
Italicized text should be replaced with appropriate input, or its parameter should be removed. Parameters are represented by 'parameter=<var>value</var>", and separated by vertical bars |.
*Replace "hash" with the hash produced from your secret string. The implicit name of this parameter is "1" (see [[en:Help:Template#Example: numeric parameter substitution|numeric parameters]]).
*The "hash function used" parameter, if not included, defaults to [[en:SHA-512|SHA-512]]. (This hash function is strongly recommended.) If you would like to link the hash function to a wikipedia page, you can supply the interwiki link. For example, using <code><nowiki>[[en:Whirlpool (cryptography)|WHIRLPOOL]]</nowiki></code> will show [[en:Whirlpool (cryptography)|WHIRLPOOL]] in the template
*The "background" parameter, if not included, defaults
*The "border" parameter, if not included, also defaults to #E0E8FF.
*The "article" parameter, if not included, defaults to "a". The other likely value is "an".
For example, if your hash is "ef7c4c55a176bd20ed558aaefde21c4803080195" using [[en:SHA-1|SHA-1]], and you want a light orange box with a black border, use the following code
:{<nowiki/>{User committed identity|ef7c4c55a176bd20ed558aaefde21c4803080195|SHA-1|background=#FC9|border=#000}}
to produce
{{User committed identity|ef7c4c55a176bd20ed558aaefde21c4803080195|SHA-1|background=#FC9|border=#000}}
=== Choosing a good secret string ===
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