Community noticeboard

Question about multi-language support
I am thinking about adding multi-language support to  (this is also discussed on a forum about the wiki's topic starting from this post:  ). (Seems it's not possible to post external links here.)

It seems like mw:Extension:Translate may be a good fit and it is available to enable in ManageWiki (after enabling mw:Extension:UniversalLanguageSelector).

However, the initial wiki request and the current wiki configuration specify just English as the wiki language (and there doesn't seem to be a way to specify multiple) and I'm not sure whether there is any policy regarding having multiple languages in one wiki.

Also, I couldn't easily find examples of other Miraheze wikis (excluding Meta, etc.) that support multiple languages via that extension (though there are examples of a different approach—using completely separate wikis). ImpliedMemory (talk) 20:56, 25 January 2023 (UTC)


 * In Miraheze, multiple languages in the same subdomain are currently not supported, i.e.  and   (Japanese version) cannot exist at the same time. However, you can add language code in front of (or behind) the subdomain name, e.g. wikis with these subdomains exist at the same time:   and   (or , i.e. the French version). You can remain your existing wiki's subdomain not to be changed, and follow above steps to build a foreign language version.
 * Thanks for the information that an approach like  isn't possible.
 * (1) Regarding using different subdomains (, , etc.), that is certainly an option, but it would mean that each language version of the wiki would be completely independent, needs to be requested and created separately, etc.
 * (2) Like I said in my original comment, I see that there's another approach though: using mw:Extension:Translate to translate individual pages (I believe the translated pages are accessible as "subpages" of the original page in that case, which seems like it should be supported on Miraheze). My main question is: is this approach allowed or disallowed on Miraheze by any policy, given that the wiki's language is specified as English? I would also be interested in looking at examples of Miraheze-hosted wikis (apart from Meta, etc.) that are using mw:Extension:Translate to translate their content, if there are any.
 * All that said, I'm not exactly certain whether (1) or (2) is better for the wiki. Approach (2) seems to be easier to set up and add new languages, though. ImpliedMemory (talk) 13:05, 26 January 2023 (UTC)
 * is this approach allowed or disallowed on Miraheze by any policy, given that the wiki's language is specified as English
 * Not at all, you're free to do that.
 * Overall, using the Translate extension is much better than fragmenting yourself across multiple language wikis. I don't really know if any other wiki which uses the Translate extension but I do know that MediaWiki.org uses it which could be useful to analyze. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 13:08, 26 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks! We'll try using the extension then. ImpliedMemory (talk) 16:23, 26 January 2023 (UTC)

How can I disable anonymous edits on my wiki?
Hi! I'm ShawnTehLogoBoi, owner of the Charactapedia reboot which is currently a work in progress. For this reboot, anonymous edits will not be allowed due to fears that anonymous users can vandalize this wiki. Since I'm the bureaucrat of this wiki, how can I disable anonymous edits? ShawnTehLogoBoi (talk) 22:48, 26 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Do not delete the '(everyone)' user group as suggested, this can cause significant issues later on.
 * Instead, there are two routes you can go:
 * Under Manage Additional Settings > Anti Spam, enable Email Confirm To Edit
 * This will require users to log in with email-verified accounts in order to edit the wiki
 * Alternatively, navigate to Manage Permissions > submitting the (everyone) group to modify and remove the Edit permission from this user group
 * If you go this route, make sure that the permission is present on the Users user group to ensure that logged in users (with or without email) can still edit.
 * --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 00:11, 27 January 2023 (UTC)
 * I will take the alternative route. First, I should go to Manage Permissions. What should I do next? ShawnTehLogoBoi (talk) 00:37, 27 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Navigate to Manage this wiki's Permissions
 * Set (everyone) under existing group to edit then click Submit
 * Under Assigned Permissions, uncheck Edit if it is currently present, then save changes
 * Navigate to Manage this wiki's Permissions
 * Set Users under existing group to edit then click Submit
 * Make sure that Edit is enabled under Assigned Permissions
 * If not, go to Unassigned Permissions and check the box for Edit, then save.
 * --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 00:58, 27 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Alrighty! Now anonymous users can't edit here! This is to help prevent vandalism on Charactapedia. I will continue to develop the reboot. Anyway, sayonara! ShawnTehLogoBoi (talk) 01:10, 27 January 2023 (UTC)


 * I really don't know how to explain this well but I found a way how to disable it.
 * First you go do manage the wiki’s permissions. Make sure you click “(everyone)” and submit it. Tutorial by Caramel.jpg
 * Now that you got it, click the delete section and delete the user group. Don't worry, this doesn't mean that users won’t edit the wiki, only anonymous users. Tutorial by Caramel 2.jpg
 * Hope this helps!

-- Financier (talk༆) 23:36, 26 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Please do not suggest deletion of groups, this should be done only as a last resort and can break extensions that rely on certain permission groups existing. --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 00:12, 27 January 2023 (UTC)

How to delete a Miraheze wiki
How do you delete a wiki on Miraheze? I wanna delete my wiki imaginaryhistory.miraheze.org as soon as possible. Thanks Havlunwitmydinner (talk) 19:11, 27 January 2023 (UTC)


 * This can be requested on Stewards%27_noticeboard, please file a request for deletion there.
 * --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 19:51, 27 January 2023 (UTC)

How can I import Google fonts to Charactapedia?
Hello again. I'm ShawnTehLogoBoi. I'm planning to add the Gill Sans font to the Charactapedia reboot. It should be noted that a few other wikis, like Trollpasta Wiki, have imported Google fonts onto their mainspace. An example of a font imported onto that wiki uses this text: (@import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Acme&family=Balsamiq+Sans&family=Bebas+Neue&display=swap'). How can I import Google fonts to CP? ShawnTehLogoBoi (talk) 00:10, 29 January 2023 (UTC)


 * You should be able to copy their code and do the same. Once have the @import statement, all you have to do is define what CSS classes should use the font (i.e. normal text or only headers, etc.) Agent Isai  Talk to me! 05:06, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Alright. First, for the Gill Sans font on googleapis, where should I find it? ShawnTehLogoBoi (talk) 15:02, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Dang it, it didn't work. Is there an alternate way to import Google fonts to Charactapedia? ShawnTehLogoBoi (talk) 16:13, 29 January 2023 (UTC)

Revert to MediaWiki 1.38
I understand this is an extreme proposal (and, frankly, I'm not sure it's even possible), but 1.39 is just that broken I feel warranted to suggest it. Even beyond the atrocious new default style, several pieces of formatting just plain old do not work anymore. These include, dropdown bars on the side (when using older styles) and more. This was not ready for "stable" release and I think Miraheze should go back to and stay on 1.38 until this catastrophe is fixed. Agiletek (talk) 02:55, 29 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Part of our commitment, as laid out in our main page, is that we will always upgrade MediaWiki versions when possible. On top of that, as you stated, it is technically impossible to revert back to 1.38, doing so is literally impossible. If you have a specific bug you've encountered, please do tell us so we may forward this to the upstream developers of the extension (Tabber is not a Wikimedia extension so MediaWiki 1.39 itself isn't directly to blame for any bug). Agent Isai  Talk to me! 03:06, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
 * For one, the collapsed sidebars on allthetropes (such as Troping Utilities) no longer function, even when using a legacy style. I'm forced to use Timeless because it removes the collapsing and has it always expanded. Agiletek (talk) 05:52, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
 * That's one issue, Miraheze has bugs a lot that need to be fixed (and wikis sometimes cause those bugs too). Can you think of anything that might have been changed on allthetropes (CSS, JS, gadgets, etc.) that might have broken it? Collei (talk) 05:56, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The upstream developer of CollapsibleVector has been notified. This is a bug due to the way MediaWiki 1.39 deals with skins. I hope it's fixed soon. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 06:14, 29 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Or maybe your best bet is to choose "Switch to old look" in the sidebar if your wiki uses Vector 2022 (or if you're a bureaucrat, choose "vector" in ManageWiki/settings → Styling → Default Skin)? --Routhwick (talk) 04:15, 11 February 2023 (UTC)

Interwiki request


Ora &#38; D (talk) 11:48, 29 January 2023 (UTC)


 * ✅ --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 16:46, 29 January 2023 (UTC)

Adding stylized custom font for use in a wiki
Hi, I would like to ask how if I'm able to upload custom fonts to use in a wiki. The font that I want to upload is taken from a video game with some customs, which means I have to upload it somewhere. I also am not sure if cross-origin will block my font when uploaded to an external server of some sort. I'd like some help, thanks. EthGaming101 (talk) 20:14, 30 January 2023 (UTC)

SRE Vacancy: Software Engineer (Developer) (MediaWiki)
Miraheze is looking for Software Engineers to join our MediaWiki Team to develop code to improve the user experience of Miraheze users, build tools that allow communities to grow, and tools that support our valuable volunteers in managing a dynamic and active global community. If you think this could be you, please do have a look at the Vacancies page which includes further information. Reception123 (talk) ( C ) 07:10, 31 January 2023 (UTC)

DataDump download files
I am trying to test if I can download my wiki at once with DataDump. text seems to work with xml but cannot figure out how to download all files (images) at once. DataDump/File request produces too litle file, whereas I have 1.5 MB in total.

Also, is it possible to download mywiki and open it locally with folder structure; that is; all pages in separate txt file and files linked to it.

Araz (talk) 12:01, 31 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Currently, DataDump cannot dump images, but SRE is working on possibly restoring that functionality. Unfortunately, since MediaWiki is dynamically generated, there's no way to view the page contents of your wiki without importing it into a MediaWiki instance. You can install XAMPP if you want to have a personal wiki on your computer. Make sure that Apache and MySQL are installed and enabled every time you want to run MediaWiki. Tali64³ (talk) 15:44, 31 January 2023 (UTC)

How can I hide the recent changes bar on pages in the Cosmos skin?
Hello once again! I'm ShawnTehLogoBoi, and this time, I want to hide the recent changes bar (which shows 4 recent edits) that is on the left of most of the pages. Note that Polandball Wiki has done the same thing. How can I do so? ShawnTehLogoBoi (talk) 13:42, 31 January 2023 (UTC)


 * The suggestions to push it off edge of screen with a div tag is incorrect. The correct option is found under Manage Additional Settings > Styling > Cosmos Recent Changes Rail Module.
 * Set this to disable and save to remove the recent changes rail.
 * --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 17:04, 31 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks! That should make the pages on the Charactapedia reboot easier to read. ShawnTehLogoBoi (talk) 17:51, 31 January 2023 (UTC)

Sorry, but I believe that there is only one way to take that out, and that's with making a custom background. (Using this code for Chromebook/Macbook:  But I don't think you can actually change it. 《Commetian_Empire》 (talk) 15:42, 31 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Don't use that code. You accidentally made it run here on the community noticeboard, and everybody was unable to interact with literally anything. Collei (talk) 17:02, 31 January 2023 (UTC)

Is there an easy way to have a navbox template auto generate from a list?
At the Simple Electronics Wiki main page is a section "List of topics" - actually six bulleted lists of links. A navbox template at the foot of the page has the same links.

Where the list has === topic === the navbox template has a group and where there's a link in a bulleted list the navbox template lists the same link, (but only the first one of that line).

How to easily auto-generate the navbox template from the list so that the two stay in sync? --Rob Kam (talk) 18:17, 31 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Automatic generation of the template isn't really a thing, but setting up a navbox template to use dynamic page lists (DPL) is possible.
 * It's off-miraheze, but the OpenSUSE wiki makes use of this functionality:
 * https://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=Template:NavboxDPL&action=edit
 * https://en.opensuse.org/index.php?title=Template:Nvidia_navbox&action=edit
 * --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 19:19, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks ... DPL3 looks like a way to do it, except it requires wiki pages with some content and most of this wiki's pages don't yet exist. Rob Kam (talk) 22:06, 1 February 2023 (UTC)

I don't have permissions on my own wiki
I'm revisiting a wiki I created a while ago (it's not deleted) and despite being logged into the account I used to create the wiki, I'm unable to access any of its pages because I don't have permissions. The page implies I'm neither a Member nor an Administrator. What's happening here? Kineticcrusher (talk) 17:50, 1 February 2023 (UTC)


 * It appears you may have been impacted by the November/December wiki outages if your wiki was created between mid-November and mid-December.
 * Please file a request on the Steward's noticeboards under the permissions section, as they're they're the only group that will be able to resolve this issue.
 * --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 19:16, 1 February 2023 (UTC)
 * No need to file a report on SN, this has been ✅. Please let me know if you have any questions by leaving a message on my talk page, I'm always happy to assist. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contributions • global • rights) 04:37, 2 February 2023 (UTC)

I don't have permissions on my own wiki (Separating topic by Josiah Purtree)
I've just logged in today. Josiah Purtee (talk) 15:37, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
 * What's the issue you seem to be encountering? Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contributions • global • rights) 16:17, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Drawn Feet Wiki hasn't been working since January 9. Josiah Purtee (talk) 17:20, 6 February 2023 (UTC)
 * This wiki was set to private by Stewards due to significant copyright claims on images hosted on that wiki. The administrators of that wiki (and only those individuals) have 60 days to resolve copyright issues before closure, if successful the wiki will no longer be mandated as private.
 * --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 18:02, 6 February 2023 (UTC)

Interwiki request for xtexvnetwiki
Hello! I would like to add some interwikis prefixes to XTEX-VNET Wiki( / )

Since this is a wiki that hosts official documentation and handles service requests from outside the team, it is difficult for us to have enough active users (other than members, mostly inactive) to elect local interwiki administrators. Please add these interwikis.

Thanks!

XtexChooser (talk) 14:34, 3 February 2023 (UTC)


 * ✅ --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 16:57, 3 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I didn't make it clear, "he" is an interwiki prefix not an interlingual prefix. XtexChooser (talk) 01:25, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * After some testing, 'he' is getting automatically recognized as an interlanguage prefix, hence the issue. Lacking the option to override I've modified it to bgphe, please let me know if there's a different prefix you'd like me to try.
 * --NotAracham (talk • contribs • global) 05:39, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

How to set a max-width on my wiki?
How do I set a max-width on my wiki and then set a background image behind it? It uses the refreshed skin if that's necessary information. Thanks in advance. Effect-kun (talk) 19:28, 3 February 2023 (UTC)

This request can now be ignored as I've figured it out myself. Effect-kun (talk) 19:32, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

why the purge action not worked
The questions are as follows: I don't know what caused it, because it was working until the Wiki database went down, and the refresh cache action no longer works.

This is a bad situation, which can cause the changed Wiki page to refresh a too many times (including Ctrl+Shift+R refresh), and the page content is still the previous version, which is extremely inconvenient for later maintenance. Sucrose Fans Rosalina129 20:32, 3 February 2023 (UTC)


 * @Rosalina129 Hi there, kindly file a task on Phabricator, so that System administrators can assist you further. --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   11:58, 4 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I've been having the same problem for the past 2 days. (DarkMatterMan4500) --DarkMatterMan4500 (talk) (contribs) 18:46, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Comments regarding draft Wiki governance, voting and local elections RfC
Before publishing this RfC, I invite users who are interested to have a look at this draft and suggesting modifications or adding new/alternate proposals if they think that's necessary. Reception123 (talk) ( C ) 14:54, 4 February 2023 (UTC)

request Interwiki
Please add the following InterWiki to "funa.mirahze.org". Funa-enpitu（talk/Posting Record） 12:04, 5 February 2023 (UTC)


 * This is now ✅ --  Joseph  TB  CT  CA   17:06, 5 February 2023 (UTC)
 * thank you. Funa-enpitu（talk/Posting Record） 03:50, 6 February 2023 (UTC)

Help: It wont let me edit my wikis main page!
I was screwing around with the wiki themes now I can't find the edit button or how to change the theme back to the original. My wiki Strubium (talk) 15:16, 7 February 2023 (UTC)
 * I can't find the edit button it seems it is done via mh:geopol:Special:EditPage
 * How to change the theme back to the original Manage this wiki's extensions - PercyUK (talk) 15:49, 7 February 2023 (UTC)

Interface localization
Hello, I am Vietnamese a Wikimedia translator on Meta-Wikimedia, MediaWiki, and also interface translator. I'm would like to help in translate some of missing interface message into Vietnamese, for example, the "steward" on Special:GlobalUsers. So how can I help? Thanks in advance! Tryvix1509 (talk) 11:25, 8 February 2023 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your interest! We currently use TranslateWiki to translate our interface messages. See translatewiki:Translating:Miraheze and this page for more info. Thank you for volunteering! Agent Isai  Talk to me! 02:32, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

Using Ordnance Survey maps in Mediawiki
As the title suggests, does anyone (staff included please) know if this is even possible and if so, how? As I am currently working on pinpointing my images to locations, and using categories to group things to a particular grid square. I would like to be able to include the Ordnance Survey ratser 1:25,000 scale maps for this as without it, the National Grid system can be a little daunting to first-time users. I have the Maps extension installed using Leaflet, which is a fairly decent map (google maps for me has never worked with this extension), but these don't show the blue grid lines. If it is not possible to integrate, is there another way? Thanks 12:54, 8 February 2023 (UTC)  12:54, 8 February 2023 (UTC)

Public Page on Private Wiki
I have a Private Wiki, but I would like one of the pages (not the Main Page) to be public. I looked in the Editing Settings, and it did not say anything about making it public. Is there a way to make it public? Thanks in advance! 《Commetian_Empire》 (talk) 00:15, 9 February 2023 (UTC)


 * You can make indivdual pages public via  ->   ->  .  Agent Isai  Talk to me! 02:29, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

Okay, it works! Thank you! 《Commetian_Empire》 (talk) 13:28, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

cant open Special:SpecialPages
My wiki has an error and this page (https://prosoudou.miraheze.org/m/8if ) cannot be opened. Error: 'Internal error. [15610fc439d2a7814ddd965d] 2023-02-09 08:07:57: Fatal exception of type "Error"" How do you fix it?　Using $wgShowExceptionDetails = true; seems to show the reason, but miraheze does not seem to have this. Thank you. 守矢之實 (talk) 08:14, 9 February 2023 (UTC)

PDF Embed and CSS styling?
I have the PDF Embed parser hook extension enabled on my wiki, and it works without issue. However, I am wondering is there any way to change some fo the presentation/styling of how the PDF displays on the page via css (or some other method)? I am hoping to do things like changes the default background color, border/margin width, etc. for the display window the PDF is in. Ideally do things like make the background white like the page body, add a rounded border radius to the frame, etc. Thanks in advance. – Mitchell Gore (talk) 01:21, 10 February 2023 (UTC)

Issues about "Mass edit using regular expressions"
Extension:MassEditRegex is far inferior to Extension:ReplaceText. Some issues: Any workaround or better alternatives? Thank you. Revival (talk) 21:00, 10 February 2023 (UTC)
 * 1) There is no way to search and edit all pages (e.g. in Main namespace).
 * 2) The option "Page name prefixes (edit pages having names beginning with this text)" is completely broken. For example input "Friend" but it fails to find the page "Friendship".
 * 3) Preview is limited to the first 20 matches. It shows pages even if it matches nothing. Extension:ReplaceText only lists the pages with match(es).
 * 4) Unlike Extension:ReplaceText, you could not fine-tune and select which parts to apply edits. It must be all or none.