MediaWiki extensions manual

AntiSpoof Release status: stable
Implementation	User activity
Description	Prevents the creation of confusable usernames.
Author(s)	Brooke Vibbertalk
Compatibility policy	Snapshots releases along with MediaWiki. Master is not backward compatible.
Database changes	Yes
Composer	mediawiki/anti-spoof
Tables	spoofuser
License	GNU General Public License 2.0 or later
Download	Download extension Git [?]: Download Git master browse repository (Phabricator · GitHub) commit history repository contributors (GitHub) code review
Parameters $wgAntiSpoofProhibitedCharacters $wgAntiSpoofAccounts
Added rights override-antispoof
Hooks used DeleteAccount LoadExtensionSchemaUpdates LocalUserCreated RenameUserComplete
Quarterly downloads	82 (Ranked 64th)
Public wikis using	2,675 (Ranked 190th)
Translate the AntiSpoof extension if it is available at translatewiki.net
Issues	Open tasks · Report a bug

The AntiSpoof extension is an extension for preventing confusable usernames from being created. It blocks the creation of accounts with mixed-script, confusing and similar usernames.

For example, if user John Doe is already registered, the extension will block attempts to register:

• joHn dOE (capital letters in different places)
• Jοhn Doe ("ο" in Jοhn is Greek small letter omicron)
• John Dоe ("о" in Dоe is Cyrillic small letter O)
• Јohn Doe ("Ј" in Јohn is Cyrillic capital letter Je)
• John Đoe ("Đ" in Đoe is Latin capital letter D with stroke)
• Jóhn Doe ("ó" in Jóhn is Latin small letter O with acute)
• John ​Doe (there is a Zero-width space before Doe)
• Jøhn Doe ("ø" in Jøhn is Scandinavian oe)
• J0hn Doe ("0" is the number zero)

etc.

• Download and move the extracted AntiSpoof folder to your extensions/ directory.
  Developers and code contributors should install the extension from Git instead, using:cd extensions/
git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/mediawiki/extensions/AntiSpoof
• Only when installing from Git, run Composer to install PHP dependencies, by issuing composer install --no-dev in the extension directory. (See T173141 for potential complications.)
• Add the following code at the bottom of your LocalSettings.php file:

  wfLoadExtension( 'AntiSpoof' );
  

• Run the update script which will automatically create the necessary database tables that this extension needs.
• In case user accounts are stored in a shared database, add:

$wgSharedTables[] = 'spoofuser';

• Run the batchAntiSpoof.php script from the command line to pre-populate the spoofuser table with your wiki's existing usernames.

php maintenance/run.php AntiSpoof:batchAntiSpoof.php

•  Done – Navigate to Special:Version on your wiki to verify that the extension is successfully installed.
• To verify that it's working, try creating an account for username "Adm1n"; most wikis have an "Admin" account and so AntiSpoof should reject this lookalike username with a message like "The name Adm1n is too similar to the existing account: Admin".

{
	"extra": {
		"merge-plugin": {
			"include": [
				"extensions/AntiSpoof/composer.json"
			]
		}
	}
}

• Equivset (provides the equivalence sets used by AntiSpoof)

This extension is being used on one or more Wikimedia projects. This probably means that the extension is stable and works well enough to be used by such high-traffic websites. Look for this extension's name in Wikimedia's CommonSettings.php and InitialiseSettings.php configuration files to see where it's installed. A full list of the extensions installed on a particular wiki can be seen on the wiki's Special:Version page.

This extension is included in the following wiki farms/hosts and/or packages: Canasta Miraheze ShoutWiki wiki.gg WikiForge This is not an authoritative list. Some wiki farms/hosts and/or packages may contain this extension even if they are not listed here. Always check with your wiki farms/hosts or bundle to confirm.