Template:HD/ip

Editing without logging in:

Occasionally a registered editor will edit while logged out. While not usually an egregious issue, there can be some concerns about attribution and privacy.

• If you made an edit without logging in, you cannot go back and directly tie that edit to your account. If your desire to account for the edit overrides your desire for anonymity, you can log in, make a dummy edit, and add a note in the edit summary about the previous edit.
• It used to be possible to re-attribute edits from IP addresses to named accounts, but not since 2005. However, you can list your contributions made with the IP address(es) on your user page.
• If you make a comment on a talk page without logging in, then your signature will include your IP address. You can log in and edit the comment by replacing the signature; be aware that automated tools have used editing behavior like this to connect your username and IP address in public databases.
• If you feel that the connection between the IP address and your username is an issue, then you can request that the edit be removed; see Wikipedia:Oversight#Policy and Wikipedia:Requests for oversight.
• Wikipedia does show a message box when an unregistered or logged out user edits a page. This may not be obvious— as a visual reminder you can make the Save page button green when logged in by adding this rule to your CSS page:

/* Turn the "Save page" button green when logged in */
INPUT#wpSave {
 background-color:#88ff88;
}

If you use Firefox, you can disable the Save page button while logged out by installing Greasemonkey and the MediaWiki: Prevent anon editing script. This must be applied to each computer you use and will not be available on public computers.