Community noticeboard

A question about category extensions
First of all, having this community noticeboard is a great idea. I've wanted to ask just general stuff before now but there was never a place to post them. I know my question isn't directed at Meta but it is Miraheze related. I was wondering if anyone knows how the categories work on All the Tropes. I have noticed the same or similar on Public Test Wiki. I use categories extensively and the category system in place, especially on ATT, seems like the perfect tool. What is it called and is it even a possibility to get something like that installed on my wiki? If yes, I'll ask in the appropriate place, thanks. Borderman  talk 21:12, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
 * 'Sup Borderman. I'm pretty much responsible for all of the All The Tropes categories.  But I have no idea what you mean when you say "the category system".  There are a few things in play.  One is an extension I wrote called Highlight Links in Category, which is responsible for the green links.  Another extension is Category Tree which is enabled on all* of our wikis here.  Finally, there's HotCat, a gadget that allows you to easily add categories from the comfort of your page's category box.  Was there something else you see about ATT that you want? Anything from Category:Category extensions? --Labster (talk) 23:47, 22 July 2017 (UTC)
 * What I am interested in is the HotCat gadget to allow for easier adding, removing and editing of categories from the category box. This is what I meant by the "category system" (probably not the best wording on my part). I haven't used gadets before so don't really know how they work or are implemented. Are they set up by staff or are they something I can do in-wiki? There are a couple of other things I have seen on ATT that I like the look of but I'll ask about them in due course (probably message you direct if that's ok). Thanks.  Borderman   talk 07:11, 23 July 2017 (UTC)
 * It can be done by users. All you need to do is copy the contents of files included here. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 07:23, 23 July 2017 (UTC)
 * More specifically "MediaWiki:Gadget-HotCat.js", "MediaWiki:Gadget-HotCat", and "MediaWiki:Gadget-definitions". Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 07:45, 23 July 2017 (UTC)
 * I've copied the contents and all seems to be working. Thanks for your help. Borderman   talk 09:08, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

Suggestions on Noindex issues
I was just wondering if someone could educate me why the pages where I have included the __NOINDEX__ tag aren't showing up in my Noindexed pages tracking category. I know Manual:Noindex states there are several ways to do this, one of which is directly on individual pages but none are showing up in the category. To make this work does $wgExemptFromUserRobotsControl need adjusting? I'd have though this option would automatically be available for the 'main' namespace. Thanks. Borderman  talk 13:22, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * the opposite is actually true. By default the robots control applies to everything except $wgContentNamespaces. I think content namespaces should always be indexed (real content) where other pages it depends. -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 13:45, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * So can I actually use the __NOINDEX__ tag in the main namespace on a Miraheze wiki? I agree content pages should be indexed but only when they have contain real content worth looking at. I don't really want redirects, certain admin categories etc. showing up in indexes. Borderman   talk 16:15, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * I think redirects and hidden categories aren't indexed. If they are and you want to use noindex in the main namespace you'll have to request an edit to the config option you mentioned, telling us where those tags should be disallowed. -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 16:33, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Ok, thanks. If redirects and hidden categories aren't indexed that's fine. It was only those I was particularly bothered about. I haven't found any Mediawiki documentation yet that says for certain they aren't indexed. I noticed on Meta that templates, user and user talk pages have noindexed pages. Is this a global setting or unique to individual Miraheze wikis? Just trying to learn more about it. I realized that, even though I used to run a Mediawiki website a few years ago (with the help of someone who knew a lot more about it than me), I never really learnt the majority of it's functions - something I want to remedy. Borderman   talk 17:02, 24 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Those pages are noindexed because of the keyword. By default, those 3 namespaces (and more) ate allowed to use those tags, since none of them are content namespaces. I believe all of Miraheze currently uses the MediaWiki default. If you'd like it changed you can ask, or read more about it. -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 18:07, 24 July 2017 (UTC)

WikiForum: has anyone used it and when will it be "fixed"?
As the title suggests, I was wondering if any Miraheze user has WikiForum installed, what is like as a wiki-based forum and if anyone knows when the captcha issues will be resolved. I am currently archiving the majority of forum topics/posts from an old phpbb3 forum I administer but it is closing down in January 2018 because of soaring hosting costs (and one or two other reasons). I would like to be able to offer another forum to those who were regular users and I really like the ideas of an in-wiki forum. Any comments about the extension and when it might be fixed? Thanks. Borderman  talk 22:49, 26 July 2017 (UTC)
 * There is currently a Phabricator task for this issue. The problem is this is an upstream issue caused by some bad defining there, so it is up to the authors of the extension to fix it. Though, a volunteer at the WMF (Wikimedia Foundation) has made a change to MediaWiki core itself which could work, but things like this take a long time to merge at the WMF, due to requiring many reviewers, etc. So, therefore I can't really give you an estimate on when it "will be fixed". All I can say is that I will keep trying and asking around about the fix, and that I hope it gets fixed as soon as possible. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 05:09, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
 * Ok, thanks for letting me know. Do you know of any alternative extension that would the same or similar requirements of a forum? Borderman   talk 08:40, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
 * The closest I can suggest is Flow, but it's not exactly a "forum". I'm not currently aware of another forum extension existing besides WikiForum. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 11:30, 27 July 2017 (UTC)
 * I'd already looked at flow but it isn't really a suitable option as a forum replacement, thanks anyway. I'll wait and hope the developers fix the issue. Cheers. Borderman   talk 12:49, 27 July 2017 (UTC)

Login error for all new users
I added new users today and they all received this error message when logging in:

[78f6951e12248e54ad506ef5] 2017-07-31 21:31:12 Fatal exception of type "Exception"

It also redirects the out to the miraheze.org login page where this error is displayed. But when they go back to our wiki page they are logged in.
 * This error occurs occasionally when system administrators make configuration changes in Miraheze. Usually do not usually last long because they are detected and solved easily. Regards. —Alvaro Molina (✉  - ✔ ) 03:06, 1 August 2017 (UTC)
 * That is not exactly the case. It seems like an error with CentralLogin. Normally there are other errors when logging in, but I haven't seen exceptions yet. If you are still experiencing this issue please create a task here. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 05:25, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

special:userlogout
2 from 59 image wikis are currently down. (%) 83.24.17.137
 * I don't understand what you mean. Could you please be more specific? Which wiki(s) are you talking about? Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 11:37, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
 * some image don't loads 83.24.17.137

Template with optional parameter
Hello, i'm creating a template and i want to make one line in table optional - when there's no data it doesn't shown. I used example from mediawiki:


 * label1=Text


 * data1=

It works correctly, but when i define a "|text" in article label and data are shown to. Like <<|text=abcde>> and it shows like <> What's wrong and how to show clear "text" without showing label and data? Thanks.

Permission by default
I was wondering if there is such an option that lets me give the permission to edit/delete/create/upload and every other ones only to myself, instead of being an open source to everyone who visits the wiki? (Metrocka (talk) 11:51, 20 August 2017 (UTC))
 * That is possible, yes. Edit can be disallowed for users and anonymous users. Which wiki would you like this on? Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 12:04, 20 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Pocket Monsters (Metrocka (talk) 12:13, 20 August 2017 (UTC))
 * ✅. If you have any other feature requests please request them on Phabricator. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 13:37, 20 August 2017 (UTC)

Question about restricting page view
Hello,

I have a question. I'm building my first wiki (it's a private Wiki). The wiki is for documentation purposes so, I'd like:


 * Create 3 sections: 1 for SupportStaff, 1 for Sales Representatives and 1 for Customers;
 * Each person will have their own login but:
 * 1) if the login is listed inside SalesRepresentative, can view Sales Representative pages and Customer Pages, but the SupportStaff pages should denied from access (read only)
 * 2) if the login is listed inside SupportStaff, can view all sections (read only)
 * 3) If it is a customer login, the user can only access to Customer Area. SupportStaff Pages and Sales Representative Pages should be denied

Is there a way to do that in only one wiki?

I'm trying to understand, since I'm new, but I have different ideas that don't match.

Thank you very much for your help!

Serinf.it Roverato (talk) 19:53, 26 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, this is no longer possible. It was done with an extension called AccessControl, only that 1) could cause leaks anyway 2) does no longer work with the newest version of MediaWiki. The only solution I see is created separate wikis. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 05:28, 27 August 2017 (UTC)

Adjusting current time to local country
I was just wondering if anyone knows how to show the correct local time pertinent to individual countries using the  magic word. I am guessing this will have to be done by staff to adjust settings rather than anything I could do in-wiki. The "Time offset" in preferences is set to my local time (+1 hour Europe/London) but the current time magic word is still using the server time. I am in the UK and currently we are in BST, therefore, the time is out by one hour. Also, is there a way that it can automatically change to GMT after daylight saving time ends on 29 October or can the time only be shown in UTC? Thanks. Borderman  talk 10:06, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I have set the time for your wiki (so default unless specified in preferences) to "Europe/London", so the magic word should also display this time now. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 10:17, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your quick response. My main page (top right) still seems to be showing the server time rather than the local time, which should be +1 hour for BST. Plus, the time doesn't refresh unless the page cache is purged, shouldn't it update with a simple page refresh? Or am I just missing something?  Borderman   talk 11:26, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I will have to look into that. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 11:34, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Found it! You need to use "LOCALTIME" instead of "CURRENTTIME" for it to work with your timezone. For the refresh vs. purge the cache I'm not sure, but it might be expected behavior. Reception123 (talk) ( contribs  ) 11:37, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks, appreciate your help. That sorted the correct time, just not sure what to do about the refresh/purge issue. Borderman   talk 13:16, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * If I may kibitz: Wikis tend to use UTC to reflect their worldwide participation. Take a look at the timestamps in just this conversation and imagine the jumble if everyone signed with their local time.  If your wiki is aimed only at the UK, your situation may be different, and LOCALTIME is a solution.  Wiki time is always 4 or 5 hours off for me.  Spike the Dog (talk) 13:18, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * It is perfectly fine to use local time. As an example, Wikipedias (other than enwiki) use local times. If your editors are generally based in one timezone, it's preferable to use that timezone. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#d00404"> contribs  ) 13:24, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * My wiki is generally targeted at the UK simply because the subject matter is about a English battalion and the majority of people that look at it are typically from the UK. I say "typically" because in the past (prior to using Miraheze) I have had queries and research questions regarding descendants of soldiers from that battalion who were born and live in other countries, namely the US, Canada, Australia and NZ. However, that number is minimal and the date/time on the main page is there purely for recognition of a local UK time. Regarding signing comments, I very rarely get comments on talk pages so I don't really see it as an issue. I can, though, see your valid point how having BST/GMT and UTC timezone could get confusing but the point of having indented comments means that one comment usually follows from another regardless of timestamp. Borderman   talk 13:59, 28 August 2017 (UTC)

Reset indent: Would it be worth looking into using the extension MagicNoCache as an option for the caching issue? Using a magic word seems appropriate to stop the main page caching. If so I'll include ticket on phabricator. Borderman  talk 14:16, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Looks like a simple extension. Feel free to make a ticket and review should be pretty quick as the code is really simple. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#d00404"> contribs  ) 14:27, 28 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Extension requested. I have added a temporary fix for now using purge as a link but hopefully this extension will sort the issue out. Cheers. Borderman   talk 14:43, 28 August 2017 (UTC)

Miraheze Best Hosting
Can I ask, how much large the storage miraheze can have? for 2000 wiki? Sptr (talk) 22:17, 30 August 2017 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure what you mean by "2000 wiki" but in theory, you should be able to use as much storage as you need. If there is no more free space left, we upgrade the servers. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#d00404"> contribs  ) 05:34, 31 August 2017 (UTC)
 * Wow.. And how If I will to join in your community or miraheze team? and what the requirement should I have? Sptr (talk) 10:26, 31 August 2017 (UTC)
 * You can be a volunteer. See Contributing. If you need any help or don't understand something feel free to ask me. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#d00404"> contribs  ) 10:50, 31 August 2017 (UTC)

Members
How can I grant my member into my wiki, which mean, I have many friends at university and I want them can edit my page [] How do I do?
 * Since it is a wiki, by default any user can edit that page. If you want to configure different user rights than are listed here please make a request on Phabricator. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 05:13, 1 September 2017 (UTC)

Pronouncing the name of the wiki farm
Have begun to contribute original material at  and have contemplated resuming recording narrations as I did at Wikia Uncyclopedia. One towering impediment exists: I would have to assemble a new outro, and I do not know how to pronounce "miraheze". Spike the Dog (talk) 02:05, 2 September 2017 (UTC)
 * We have gotten this question before a few times, I believe. I will quote one of the founder's responses, Southparkfan here: "Good question. The 'English' forms some use is my-ra-hez, or my-ra-he-zuh although as a Dutch guy I've also heard Mie-ra-he-zuh." I personally think the first one sounds better, "my-ra-hez" Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 05:47, 2 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks, . I assume those syllables are pronounced like the pronouns.  As the point of the outro is to advise the listener where to go to get more, "he-zuh" seems preferable.  This is truly the Touareg of wiki farms.  <span style="background-color:navy; -moz-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid yellow; white-space: nowrap"><span style="color:yellow; font-family: Cambria, Palatino, serif">Sp&#305;ke  (talk) 13:27 2-September-2017
 * It's quite an unusual word. I always thought it was pronounced Mie-ra-heez. Borderman   talk 14:14, 2 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Well, honestly I don't think there's a "correct" pronounciation and an "incorrect" one. Some people pronounce it in different ways, and since at Miraheze we have users who speak different languages, it is normal that pronounciation will differ between users, so I think any way that makes sense to you of pronoucing it is okay, and there doesn't have to be a single posibility. --Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 15:46, 2 September 2017 (UTC)

(reset indent) This is always super interesting every time it comes up and I just laughed thinking about this. I'm not even sure why but personally I know someone named Mira, like.. meer-uh so I've always pronounced it Meer-uh-heez I don't know if I'm doing the pronunciation things right tho. The "Mira" sounds almost like "mirror" but with an a not an o. -- Cheers, NDKilla ( Talk • Contribs ) 00:48, 4 September 2017 (UTC)

Signature files
Hello again! As you can see, I brought over a signature file; and as you can see in the source code,  is failing; it deposits the contents of the signature file at each signature, rather than the name of the signature file. It seems 's is doing the same thing. Mine failed even better when I tried to use  to isolate the last two digits of the year number at render-time. Are these optional features of MediaWiki? Is it known that these extensions are not supported on Meta? Should they be? <span style="background-color:navy; -moz-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid yellow; white-space: nowrap"><span style="color:yellow; font-family: Cambria, Palatino, serif">Sp&#305;ke (talk) 12:30 3-Sep-2017

Wikia/Fandom may be in trouble
To whom it may concern: Recently, Wikia/Fandom went a little too far (again) with ads, deciding to insert their own custom videos at the tops of high-traffic pages on some wikis. A lot of users aren't happy with the staff's aggressive nature in rolling out these videos, especially when some of them were out-of-date, out-of-touch, and pieced together from other youtubers' footage. The biggest barrier against them forking, however, is that they feel depressed about overcoming their own wiki's SEO. But maybe you guys have some experience in coaxing people to fork, idk. This is a good time to offer this wiki farm as a good option. Relevant links: One, and two. I would have contacted the admins here, but they don't seem to be readily active. So hope they see it here anyway, by themselves or if someone notifies them. --UltimateKuriboh (talk) 01:23, 8 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Wikia Uncyclopedia forked in 2013 over a jihad against butt-crack photos and a cover-their-ass content warning that spoiled the satire encyclopedia concept. Admins have continually lamented the "cookie-cutter approach" in which authors are subordinated to a random theme devised by non-participants; mobile users are confronted by a series of content not by contributors, and a 2015 vandal hack resulted in a grand crackdown on the innocent.  Since then, Wikia has twice disinvited users of legacy browsers.  Your citation of a Wikia forum doesn't even render for me, but I took time to read the code and, yes, this crap happens all the time.  Since doing my individual fork, I have been pleased at how this farm just exists, and my writing is not put at the service of some San Francisco corporate awareness-raising concept.  Whether Wikia is "in trouble" I cannot say; even Twitter continues to thrive despite putting a Tweet from Velveeta at the top of everyone's timeline.  But past social sites choked the moment they tried to wring money out of their contributors.  Yes, it could be a recruitment opportunity for Miraheze, but you don't get web traffic without advertising; and hiring a marketing bureaucracy could be the beginning of the end.  <span style="background-color:navy; -moz-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid yellow; white-space: nowrap"><span style="color:yellow; font-family: Cambria, Palatino, serif">Sp&#305;ke  (talk) 01:53 8-Sep-2017
 * I am not quite sure if I understood what you meant, but any "advertising" for Miraheze would just have to be done by volunteers, and definitely not paid, as we are a non profit. If there are any users who are looking to move to another wiki farm (i.e. Miraheze) anyone is free to tell them about it and I or another sysadmin will be happy to help with the transfer. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 06:29, 9 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Word-of-mouth, though welcome, will not grow the website as quickly as will Wikia's payment to Google to goose it in web searches, nor even as quickly as non-MediaWiki alternatives for socializing/publishing/collaborating emerge on the Web. (I found you in the list of wiki farms on Wikipedia.  If a news outlet has anything to say about Miraheze, someone should document that, with a citation, at Wikipedia.)  Without saying that Miraheze should get anxious about growing quickly, being a nonprofit does not mean you cannot hire professionals.  (Being broke does.)  <span style="background-color:navy; -moz-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid yellow; white-space: nowrap"><span style="color:yellow; font-family: Cambria, Palatino, serif">Sp&#305;ke  (talk) 16:23 9-Sep-2017
 * News coverage is complicated, and would of course be something good for Miraheze, but has not yet happened. If we do have a reliable source, that would help us build a Wikipedia article, therefore more possibilities. Regarding the non-profit status, we're not actually incorporated yet, so the "hiring" part would also be slightly more complicated at the time being (IMO). I also think (I do not deal with the financial part, this is my opinion) that there isn't currently an interest in spending money on advertising/etc. and that users are rather interested in continuity and having enough funds to be able to keep Miraheze running. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 17:29, 9 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Okay; so back to OP's point, the current round of Wikia creative interference with its contributors may be an opportune time to "coax people to fork." (Me, I have just spent 4 years there blocking attempts to coax people to fork, on the theory that it's wrong to use the company's resources to induce its stakeholders to defect.)  <span style="background-color:navy; -moz-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid yellow; white-space: nowrap"><span style="color:yellow; font-family: Cambria, Palatino, serif">Sp&#305;ke  (talk) 17:37 9-Sep-2017
 * So uh... Your words are flying over my head; could you rephrase "on the theory that it's wrong to use the company's resources to induce its stakeholders to defect"? Do you mean you believe it's wrong to hold forking discussions on Wikia/Fandom itself? If not, I am interested (in a simple explanation) as to why you'd help Wikia/Fandom keep its wikis from forking.
 * My original intent here was, "Hey guys, maybe 1 or 2 of you guys want to visit these 'complaint' threads and suggest this wiki farm as an option." Lol, I had no intention of saying miraheze should pay for an advertising division. Also, snagging one of these popular wikis would be good for "advertising" this wiki farm, assuming the relevant wiki has good connections with the community to switch over successfully. Bigger audience = more exposure. Case in point: I found about this wiki farm by visiting the BGO wiki. Then again, this wiki farm is seemingly non-profit(?), so maybe you wouldn't want a lot of traffic. --UltimateKuriboh (talk) 20:57, 9 September 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, I do believe that. I might steal your girlfriend from you, but not at your dinner table if you invited me over.  I do not like what Wikia is doing, and has been doing for years, but would not use its servers to help wreck it.  Snagging 2 wikis might be an accomplishment; not a significant one.  Significant ones generally require serious advertising.  <span style="background-color:navy; -moz-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid yellow; white-space: nowrap"><span style="color:yellow; font-family: Cambria, Palatino, serif">Sp&#305;ke  (talk) 21:23 9-Sep-2017