Template talk:AOL

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This template was considered for deletion on 2007 March 7. The result of the discussion was weak keep.

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I changed the AOL template from {{sharedip|[[America Online|America Online (AOL)]]}} to {{subst:sharedip|[[America Online|America Online (AOL)]]}} thus eliminating the need for the servers to call up the sharedip template. I assume that then using {{subst:AOL}} should actually reduce strain on the servers instead of seeming like it would. We would have to change the Template:AOL when Template:Sharedip changes, but that won't be that often or hard to do. What do others think? MicahMN | Talk 15:42, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

If there isn't a category for AOL users with shared ips, then how am I suposed to keep track of all of them?? and follow all their edits? and find out personal information about them??? do you guys ever think before you resrict my right to spy on other people over the internet--152.163.100.139 01:53, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

By using Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:AOL if really necessary. Not that finding AOL tags would bring you to all AOL users. The template is for informing the user, posters, and admins.. I believe categorization is for encyclopedia articles, not users. Surely maintaining a large category like AOL may become seems a waste of server resources.. --Mysidia 02:59, 12 August 2005 (UTC)

Also, many times when I put up a template like this one, I use {{subst:AOL}} so that less strain is placed on the wikipedia servers. FYI: adding subst before template basically pastes the contents of the template as it stands into the page, instead of calling up the template every time the page is loaded. I just found that out recently. -- MicahMN | Talk 02:30, 21 August 2005 (UTC)

Actually this is not true - a commonly used template like {{AOL}} will be cached and then brought up quickly without additional hits on the database. Using the actual template instead of {{subst:AOL}} will allow the quick adding of information for changing wikipeida policy towards anonymous AOL users without having to track down everywhere it was substituted. The demand templates place on the server are often exagerrated. 205.188.117.74 02:20, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

1 Reverse lookups
2 AOL
3 Discussion
4 Categories
5 Talk pages
6 WHOIS
7 Probably not be seen by the correct user
8 Encouraging them to get a username
9 Turning over a new leaf
10 on whether or not this should also be a welcome template
11 I give up
12 Time for an analogy
13 The word likely and semi static ranges
14 172.x.x.x addresses
15 Hundreds/Thousands
16 172s, RUs, and other things that shouldn't have {{AOL}}
17 Humor that is only understood by Biology students
18 Message changed to reflect open proxy blocks

[edit] Reverse lookups

For the sake of interest, here are IP lookups on the IP addresses currently marked with this template, combined with approximate geolocations as given by http://www.hostip.info/ -- Anon, 09:18, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

64.12.112.186       spider-mtc-tb121.proxy.aol.com.          Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
64.12.116.5         cache-mtc-aa01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.6         cache-mtc-aa02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.7         cache-mtc-aa03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.8         cache-mtc-aa04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.9         cache-mtc-aa05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.10        cache-mtc-aa06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.11        cache-mtc-aa07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.13        cache-mtc-aa09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.14        cache-mtc-aa10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.65        cache-mtc-ab01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.67        cache-mtc-ab03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.68        cache-mtc-ab04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.69        cache-mtc-ab05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.72        cache-mtc-ab08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.74        cache-mtc-ab10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.130       cache-mtc-ac01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.131       cache-mtc-ac02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.132       cache-mtc-ac03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.133       cache-mtc-ac04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.135       cache-mtc-ac06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.136       cache-mtc-ac07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.138       cache-mtc-ac09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.139       cache-mtc-ac10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.195       cache-mtc-ad01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.196       cache-mtc-ad02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.197       cache-mtc-ad03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.198       cache-mtc-ad04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.199       cache-mtc-ad05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.201       cache-mtc-ad07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.203       cache-mtc-ad09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.116.204       cache-mtc-ad10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Elizabethtown, PA       
64.12.117.5         cache-mtc-ae01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.6         cache-mtc-ae02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.7         cache-mtc-ae03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.8         cache-mtc-ae04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.9         cache-mtc-ae05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.11        cache-mtc-ae07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.12        cache-mtc-ae08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.13        cache-mtc-ae09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.14        cache-mtc-ae10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.15        cache-mtc-ae11.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.16        cache-mtc-ae12.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.18        cache-mtc-ae14.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI           
64.12.117.19        cache-mtc-ae15.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Milwaukee, WI                   
152.163.100.5       cache-rtc-aa01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.7       cache-rtc-aa03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.8       cache-rtc-aa04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.10      cache-rtc-aa06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.11      cache-rtc-aa07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.12      cache-rtc-aa08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.67      cache-rtc-ab03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.69      cache-rtc-ab05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.72      cache-rtc-ab08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.131     cache-rtc-ac02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.134     cache-rtc-ac05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.136     cache-rtc-ac07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.138     cache-rtc-ac09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.196     cache-rtc-ad02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.197     cache-rtc-ad03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.199     cache-rtc-ad05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.100.200     cache-rtc-ad06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Columbus, OH            
152.163.101.5       cache-rtc-ae01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
152.163.101.6       cache-rtc-ae02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
152.163.101.7       cache-rtc-ae03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
152.163.101.8       cache-rtc-ae04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
152.163.101.10      cache-rtc-ae06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
152.163.101.11      cache-rtc-ae07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
152.163.101.12      cache-rtc-ae08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
152.163.101.13      cache-rtc-ae09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
152.163.101.14      cache-rtc-ae10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Woonsocket, RI          
172.140.60.31       AC8C3C1F.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
172.141.55.83       AC8D3753.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
172.147.127.192     AC937FC0.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
172.154.252.158     AC9AFC9E.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
172.156.166.149     AC9CA695.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Atlanta, GA             
172.166.132.40      ACA68428.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
172.166.159.19      ACA69F13.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
172.188.227.80      ACBCE350.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
172.197.22.251      ACC516FB.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: (Unknown city)          
172.198.8.59        ACC6083B.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Anaheim, CA             
172.212.113.115     ACD47173.ipt.aol.com.                    Country: (Unknown Country?) (XX) City: (Unknown City?)         
195.93.21.40        cache-los-ab08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED KINGDOM (UK)   City: Sudbury                 
195.93.21.68        cache-los-ac04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED KINGDOM (UK)   City: Sudbury                 
195.93.21.104       cache-los-ad08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED KINGDOM (UK)   City: Sudbury                 
198.81.26.39        None                                     Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: APPLE VALLEY, CA        
198.81.26.41        None                                     Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: APPLE VALLEY, CA        
205.188.116.6       cache-dtc-aa02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.7       cache-dtc-aa03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.8       cache-dtc-aa04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.9       cache-dtc-aa05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.11      cache-dtc-aa07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.12      cache-dtc-aa08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.13      cache-dtc-aa09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.14      cache-dtc-aa10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.65      cache-dtc-ab01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.66      cache-dtc-ab02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.67      cache-dtc-ab03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.68      cache-dtc-ab04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.69      cache-dtc-ab05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.70      cache-dtc-ab06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.71      cache-dtc-ab07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.72      cache-dtc-ab08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.74      cache-dtc-ab10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.130     cache-dtc-ac01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.131     cache-dtc-ac02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.132     cache-dtc-ac03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.133     cache-dtc-ac04.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.135     cache-dtc-ac06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.136     cache-dtc-ac07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.137     cache-dtc-ac08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.138     cache-dtc-ac09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.139     cache-dtc-ac10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.171     None                                     Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.195     cache-dtc-ad01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.196     cache-dtc-ad02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.197     cache-dtc-ad03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.201     cache-dtc-ad07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.202     cache-dtc-ad08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.203     cache-dtc-ad09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.116.204     cache-dtc-ad10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Reading, PA             
205.188.117.6       cache-dtc-ae02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.7       cache-dtc-ae03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.10      cache-dtc-ae06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.12      cache-dtc-ae08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.13      cache-dtc-ae09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.14      cache-dtc-ae10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.65      cache-dtc-af01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.66      cache-dtc-af02.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.67      cache-dtc-af03.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.69      cache-dtc-af05.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.70      cache-dtc-af06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.71      cache-dtc-af07.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.72      cache-dtc-af08.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.73      cache-dtc-af09.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
205.188.117.74      cache-dtc-af10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: ALEXANDRIA, LA          
207.200.116.65      cache-ntc-ab01.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Farmington, NM          
207.200.116.139     cache-ntc-ac10.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Farmington, NM          
207.200.116.200     cache-ntc-ad06.proxy.aol.com.            Country: UNITED STATES (US)    City: Farmington, NM

FYI, the location bit doesn't work with AOL, everyone simply looks like they're editing from the location of whatever random AOL server they're on at the moment--205.188.116.203 23:14, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] AOL

Maybe there should be a team defining these ip's, and "locking" them so a giant pile of irrelevant messages don't gum up the works for newbies without an account, and a permanent message - "You are using an AOL ip, if you are a new wikipedian, click HERE" and have it link to an intro message?

[edit] Discussion

Figured this might help sum up AOL for people unfarmiliar with the issue--205.188.116.203 23:13, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

Can someone involved in that discussion please copy and paste a synopsis of it into this page for future reference. It is very good information. Including your demonstration of how dynamic IPs are assigned by page (assuming that was you?). Regards, --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 20:41, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

Please use Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:AOL for finding AOL users. Categories are for encyclopedic content not tracking user groups. --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 16:48, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

If there is some reason that absolutely requires these to be in a category please say why. For the record I don't think that having to write more code in your watch bot is a valid reason since it is easy enought to use whatlinkshere. --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 17:02, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Since noone has contested this in the last month I will remove it now. Remember that we already have both the IP range list and the whatlinkshere mechanism to track these people. The category is redundant. --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 21:44, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Talk pages

Has anyone considered adding a notice to this template that reminds people that not only are AOL user 'unlikely' to recieve the message directed at them, that is virtually, if not 100% impossible for them to receive them at all--205.188.116.203 15:42, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

For instance, right now the new message bar on the top of my page is lit up, [1], which is my ip as I'm editing this page now, which will change before I can even hit submit, by the time I could ever click on the new message I'd be on a different talk page, looking at a different message, left for a different user--205.188.116.203 15:42, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

I originally phrased it this way when I added the message. But it kept getting rewritten. I have no idea why they wanted a less accurate wording, but IK suspect it is simply cause noone knows exactly how the AOL system works they add weasel words. For the record this notice has been deleted once as well. It appeared to be a revert accident. But since people still keep adding Warn3s to AOL pages I readded it. It does no good to scare off new contributers with random warnings that don't apply to them. --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 20:31, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] WHOIS

http://ws.arin.net/whois/?queryinput={{PAGENAME}}+

seemed like a good thing to add, works alright but someone might want to fancy up the formating a bit and make it look pretty, also won't work well for international IP users, since it only references ARIN, but it should be a good way of double checking who is or isn't a real AOL user--{anon iso − 8859 − 1janitor} 18:07, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

could also seeing it work well if integrated into a more general template, like template:vandal for instance--{anon iso − 8859 − 1janitor} 18:07, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

see User:43734731/workspace for reference, 64.12.112.186 (talk • contribs • WHOIS • block user • block log) using the first AOL ip on the above list as an example, again, would be problematic for international users who wouldn't be registered in ARIN, I'll try and generalize a little more--{anon iso − 8859 − 1janitor} 18:07, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

as an offshoot of this research, i have created template:IPvandal--{anon iso − 8859 − 1janitor} 18:14, 7 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Probably not be seen by the correct user

This is incorrect. Any non-business non-static AOL user (99%) will always change IP with every page loaded, the caching system chooses IPs based on a hash of the pagename and address. Simply changing a single character or waiting for 5-10 minutes will change your IP, this includes characters used by php scripts so an AOL user's IP will change between article and discussion pages of the same name. See [2] for a discussion and evidence. --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 21:23, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Encouraging them to get a username

I know it is a big template already - but I think a very important point is left out. We need to use this template to encourage the anonymous editor to get a username! That is the best for us (since we can associate people with their actual contributions) and the best for them (since they can better participate in collaborative editting). Johntex\^talk 15:34, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Turning over a new leaf

Removing old warnings, per WP:AN, also, in the same spirit, also turning over a new color, it's now off white, instead of orange--AOL account (205.188.116.200) 17:31, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Also, I have now complied a more recent list of all tagged AOL users..--AOL account (205.188.116.200) 17:42, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

Great big list of nearly every AOL IP ever used to edit wikipedia

- Hope you like the addition of the links 64.12.117.13 21:50, 19 July 2006 (UTC)
  - I do--AOL account (205.188.116.200) 21:59, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] on whether or not this should also be a welcome template

Why not? A good portion of the AOL related vandalism that goes on around here are people who stuble onto a wiki for the first time in their lives, and make very small or trivial changes. Given the sheer number of new users who see this template I don't see why it shouldn't also include some very simple instructions on creating an account and so on--152.163.101.13 12:59, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Because if you're going to add this silliness to this template, you might as well add it to Template:sharedip, sharedipEDU, and others. It's very silly to be an addition to such a template anyway, and there are already instructions on what to do to avoid this so-called "problem" in the first place. --Pilotguy ^{(roger that)} 19:58, 22 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree with pilotguy for whats its worth, this template is information aimed primarily at non-aol users. The welcome template is specifically for newly created usernames. --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 04:00, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] I give up

AOL talk pages are pointless, everything other than the native semi static ranges (the 172s) cannot receive messages, but since vandalism warnings are required before vandals can be blocked, a sort of due process of sort, people have a hard time understanding that any contact they have with AOL users prior to blocking will be completly random. The only other thing I can think of, is, as other people have suggested, a complete redirect of all AOL talk pages to a central talk page, and some sort of media wiki fix to allow this notify them of new messages. Then everyone can experience warnings the way AOL IPs do, one big long random list of complaints that have no order, no context, and no rational order or causation--AOL account 00:03, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Time for an analogy

Everything else has failed, so let me try and make this as simple as I can: AOL doesn't use unique XTP Headers, there is no mechanism what so ever to allow a message on an AOL talk page to reach the correct user, it's roughly akin to dropping a letter in a mailbox without any postage, and without an address, and saying that it may not reach the correct person--AOL account 00:14, 1 August 2006 (UTC)

I agree, and since there is evidence given here on the talk page and since Ryulong does not want to participate in the conversations it is perfectly fine to revert him. He stated two reasons for his changes in the change descriptions, 1 that there is no evidence, this is false he should have read the talk page. 2. that "it's best to be unsure about this than to be definiite". This is against wiki policy. Never use weasle words, See wikipedia:avoid weasel words. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Darkfred (talk • contribs)

How are you to be so sure that there are not some AOL IPs that are not dynamic? There have been AOL editors who have consistently gone back to the same page and vandalized it under the same IP address, and just because there are dynamic IPs doesn't mean that there's the chance that the random AOL editor will get the messages directed to them. And Weasel words are only for the article space, not the templates. Ryūlóng 00:59, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

The reason they get the same IP vandalising the same page is because the IP is set based on the pagename. Since the talkpage has a different name no messages will get to that IP. Did you even read the template before you changed it, it says all of this in there. --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 14:29, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The word likely and semi static ranges

The ranges of AOL which are not proxied through the normal system are well known. We should simple use the IP address template for these as they have no AOL specific quirks. (And since they are business addresses mostly, the users are probably unaware of the AOL affiliation). (172.* for the record). Therefore the word likely is completely unecessary in the template, I am looking at you Pilotguy. --Darkfred ^{Talk to me} 14:51, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

How come this template says the exact opposite of WP:AOL?--152.163.101.13 02:20, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

WP:AOL says that AOL still doesn't use XFF headers, this template implies that they do--152.163.101.13 02:21, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

Can someone please correct it?--152.163.101.13 02:21, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

I can't edit it, it looks sprotected, could someone else fix it please?--152.163.101.13 02:25, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 172.x.x.x addresses

I have now removed this template from all pages corresponding to IP addresses in the 172.x.x.x range: none of these are shared proxies, according to AOL, and are mostly (all?) dynamically assigned IP addresses, which should be treated identically to dynamically-assigned addresses from any other ISP. I have also reworded the template to reflect this. -- The Anome 18:25, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

someone added a non AOL to that cat, i removed it and corrected the whois info--172.134.163.209 23:45, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

There are a dozen or so 172s currently in that category, are they not supposed to be there?--152.163.101.13 17:01, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I removed this template from three or four 172.x.x.x talk pages tonight. They were properly deleted by anon editors on August 22, but it happened right in the middle of a huge {{deletedpage}} vandalism attack, and some AOL IP addresses that are shared proxies participated in that attack and _also_ deleted this template from some 172.x talk pages. A couple of us on RC patrol (including me) mistook the template deletions for vandalism, and reverted them. I think I've got this template removed from all 172.x.x.x addresses now, and the edit summary I used referred to this section of this talk page. Sorry about the misunderstanding. Baseball,Baby! ^balls^•^strikes 03:56, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

They've grown back, as any change I try to make on my own, is of course seen as vandalism, you might want to go back and remove them yourself, because I'm just going to be reverted if I do it myself--152.163.101.13 12:55, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hundreds/Thousands

"may be shared by hundreds of AOL users at any given time"

"are shared among thousands of AOL users"

Doesn't that sound strange? How about unifying them? Aran|heru|nar 06:39, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 172s, RUs, and other things that shouldn't have {{AOL}}

Ok, how hard is it to just not tag any 172s? There's no reason to label them as proxies when they're perfectly stable, not to mention, why are there usernames in this cat? people must be tagging RUs with Template:AOL--AOL account 11:46, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

All replaced with {{AOL-static}}--AOL account 21:41, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Humor that is only understood by Biology students

I LOL'D. ~ Flame vip e r ^{Who's a Peach?} 01:56, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Message changed to reflect open proxy blocks

As I understand it, with the release of the free AOL client software, all of these addresses have now been range-blocked as open proxies, and should not be showing up. Instead, those AOL users using proxies that correctly implement XFF should be visible as editing from their XFF addresses. -- The Anome 13:29, 21 February 2007 (UTC)