In numerous places in the XE1.8m2 interface, the user is exposed to more
information than is necessary, when virtualhosting (
http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/AdminGuide/Virtualization ) is
enabled.
The current virtualhosting implementation seems to assume a shared farm of
wikis where one may want to expose other wikis in the farm. However, one
may also want to use virtualhosting in implementations where there is no
sharing between virtual hosts.
So for example, we have:
(1) the column 'Wiki' in Main.SpaceIndex ( e.g.
http://nielsmayer.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/SpaceIndex?space=Main ) as well as
Main.WebSearch (e.g.
http://nielsmayer.com/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebSearch?text=fedora&x=0&… ) --
shows "host_xe_nielsmayer_dot_com" but it doesn't really need to. (should
be
optional).
(2) in the wysiwyg editor's "link editor" ... there's an option-menu
"Choose
a wiki: " that
exposes the names of all the wikis, and all their database names. (should be
optional: if "standalone" default to current wiki).
For these, and potentially other cases, I think this behavior should be
optional, not default. Most virtual wiki setups would not want their wikis
to "see" each other, IMHO. This includes a fairly common scenario -- the
private/public wiki setup -- people inserting links via wysiwyg in the
public wiki shouldn't see all the link-names and spaces in the private wiki.
Likewise, the notion of global and local users having potential access to
the wiki should be based on whether the virtual-wiki setup is "shared" or
"standalone."
Finally, exposing the database name of the virtual-wiki (to all search
engines as well) is a small, but unecessary security risk. In #2, for
example, the link editor allows people to see the database names of *all*
the virtual hosts. Also, if one ends up choosing unsightly but descriptive
names like host_xe_nielsmayer_dot_com, users shouldn't need to see it.
Niels
http://nielsmayer.com