Community noticeboard

Discussion: Central notice changes
This is for the sake of having an open discussion on the changes proposed in this RfC, though I won't really touch much on the last proposal that was added by another person (of course, you're welcome to talk about that as well nonetheless). Hopefully this comment will at least make it clear what the proposals I brought up are intended to mean. Also, please ask nicely if you would like clarity on anything at all.

The first one to discuss is the following:

Central notices with the purpose of soliciting participation from wiki communities for an event or a discussion should last while that event or discussion is open for people to participate. As in, the central notice would only be removed after the event or discussion has closed.

Let's start by saying that this is not changing what a central notice is made for. It's not saying that every discussion gets a central notice, what it's saying applies in the instance when the people who make central notices decide that a discussion will get a central notice, which is still at their judgement. This talk page comment might show some insight on what such judgement it is, which again they would still retain. What changes is specifically the duration of such particular central notices, in that it would be in relation to the discussion that it would be notifying of.

The discussions being referred to can be gleaned from Special:CentralNotice (click "Show archived campaigns" to see the older ones). It is what is meant to gather people to provide their input and feedback, and this description fits, for example, Requests for Comment or Requests for Stewardship. And if they have yet to be closed by the closer, then the closer presumably decided that it needs more time to gather more comments before a conclusion can be drawn. If so, the methods used to notify of the discussion's existence should get continued use to gather more discussion from people.

Another proposal to discuss is the following:

A campaign type can be set for central notice campaigns, allowing users to opt out of specific campaign types in their preferences, specifically in the "Banners" section. Here is a proposal for what campaign types Miraheze should use:
 * Fundraising
 * Surveys
 * Maintenance
 * Requests for Comment
 * Requests for Stewardship
 * Requests for Community Director

To make it clear how to use preferences to opt-out of campaign types, some text instructing people how to do so should be added to central notices.

In technical terms, campaign types are configured with $wgCentralNoticeCampaignTypes in LocalSettings.php.

This can presumably work with ManageWiki to apply for a whole wiki. To sysadmins, this would presumably be done by using a custom variable to set $wgDefaultUserOptions['centralnotice-display-campaign-type-whatever'] = 0.

Now, in regards to how to decide on the campaign types to be used, I'd say that having the communities' consensus is still relevant, in the case of disputes over what should be grouped together or partitioned. And the RfC does show a dispute over whether Requests for Global Sysop should be included, excluded, or grouped with another type. So it would at least be useful to have some sort of discussion with wiki communities to figure out what's best.

In response to other comments in the RfC: Including Requests for Global Sysop in the list of campaign types does not mean that every single one of that request gets a central notice, it is meant to mean that a RfGS would be allowed to get a central notice, which would still have the judgement of the people who make central notices to actually get one. And people should be able to decide for themselves if they want to opt out of seeing certain central notices, and I figure that if someone desires a tool to stop seeing a certain kind of notification, they likely aren't interested in what's being notified about in the first place. Finally, it was concluded in this RfC that there is consensus for community-oriented posts to be posted on Miraheze's social media accounts, therefore a community-elected role would be appropriate.

Feel free to say your thoughts on any of these topics. K599 (talk) 15:29, 1 December 2021 (UTC)
 * And will there be a way to disable CNotice for some, and leave only fundraising? YellowFrogger (✉ Talk  ✐ Edits ) 15:33, 1 December 2021 (UTC)
 * @YellowFrogger As said in the explanation of how campaign types work, people should be able to go into their preferences and opt-out of the types that they don't want to see. K599 (talk) 16:27, 1 December 2021 (UTC)
 * But there has to be an option to hide it across the whole wiki (not just in preferences), but yes, all visitors to a particular wiki would be better. Nobody is obligated to see CNotice either, so it had to have that. Showing only CNotice for fundraising, which is important for Miraheze to maintain the wikis maintenance, the others don't matter (or only matter in Meta). YellowFrogger (✉ Talk  ✐ Edits ) 19:59, 1 December 2021 (UTC)
 * @YellowFrogger I mentioned above that there's presumably a way to make campaign types work with ManageWiki, though I suppose a sysadmin should comment on the method I talked about. K599 (talk) 20:19, 1 December 2021 (UTC)
 * Note that the list of campaign types proposed in my initial comment is based on past central notices as seen on Special:CentralNotice. Of course, feel free to discuss any desired changes to the list. K599 (talk) 03:04, 8 December 2021 (UTC)
 * For some added context, the banner preferences can be seen in Special:Preferences, where it's currently the extension's defaults. These options have been unused probably due to being unrelated to Miraheze. K599 (talk) 03:46, 22 December 2021 (UTC)
 * This talk page discussion has a review of the proposed list of campaign types. In response:
 * Okay, but I would prefer that "Community Notices" have a page that explains what would fall under this label. Then this page would be linked, if possible, from the related user preference and, if implemented, the related ManageWiki setting proposed in the community wishlist proposal. K599 (talk) 01:29, 2 January 2022 (UTC)
 * I think it'd be useful to consider above suggestions like the instructions thing as well. K599 (talk) 03:25, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

Finding a conclusion on campaign types
It would be good to at least have some course of action that outlines whether or not this wikifarm will make use of campaign types, and what those campaign types will be. K599 (talk) 03:51, 26 January 2022 (UTC)
 * There was a talk page discussion that reviewed a list of campaign types, but it seems that no sort of action has been concretely decided on.
 * Reiterating what's been explained before, campaign types refers to Special:Preferences, a user preference that is used to choose what types of central notices to have displayed for your own account.
 * Currently, as can be seen by checking your preferences, the configured campaign types don't particularly reflect how Miraheze uses central notices (see Special:CentralNotice). Hence the suggestion above for a more appropriate list of campaign types. The description for the preference also makes reference to Wikimedia rather than this wikifarm, which probably confuses people.
 * This community wishlist proposal would also need campaign types to be configured to be useful. I'll also note the suggestion of using ManageWiki on a custom variable to set $wgDefaultUserOptions['centralnotice-display-campaign-type-whatever'] = 0.
 * If campaign types do get properly configured and used, it would be helpful to take the suggestion of including some text in central notices that instructs people how to use the user preference and ManageWiki setting, to make it clear that the banner isn't forced to appear.


 * I still want some sort of concrete conclusion on this, as I do think this would be helpful to people. K599 (talk) 23:03, 4 February 2022 (UTC)
 * I'd still like a resolution on this. It would be a useful feature for allowing individual control over what notices are shown to people. K599 (talk) 22:35, 4 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Asking for discussion again. This feature, as it's been explained in the above points, would help improve communication, so please have some consideration. K599 (talk) 22:02, 18 March 2022 (UTC)
 * As stated before, would like a discussion on appropriate options for the "Banners" user preference, as this would be a useful feature, if it were actually implemented. K599 (talk) 22:02, 1 April 2022 (UTC)
 * As much as this would be interesting to realize, it seems clear there is neither traffic nor interest in the topic at any wider level. --Raidarr (talk) 13:17, 3 April 2022 (UTC)
 * Well, the list of campaign types that I suggested above was reviewed in this talk page discussion, but further action has not occurred. What would be needed here is to get to the next step to eventually get these ideas implemented, and that's why I've summarized the details about campaign types in the bullet points above, to discuss implementation of them. K599 (talk) 22:22, 15 April 2022 (UTC)
 * It's a feature that would be useful for people if it were actually implemented, so I would like it to be considered. K599 (talk) 22:24, 29 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I still would be interested in some discussion for making this happen. K599 (talk) 22:22, 13 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Still would like discussion on this, to make this happen sometime. K599 (talk) 22:21, 27 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Noting again the suggestion of having a ManageWiki setting to set $wgDefaultUserOptions['centralnotice-display-campaign-type-whatever'] = 0 for each campaign type. This would be useful by allowing to set a default user preference for individual wikis that makes central notices opt-in for each user, rather than opt-out. K599 (talk) 22:22, 10 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Still requesting action on this. K599 (talk) 22:22, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

Respond to this
Respond to this with any comments. K599 (talk) 22:17, 8 July 2022 (UTC)
 * There has been insufficient response to the request of the described setting. This should not be closed without a proper resolution. Also, removing other people's comments is rude. K599 (talk) 23:28, 8 July 2022 (UTC)

Additional suggestion: Make a page detailing CentralNotice
I would still like a response to the above section on campaign types, and also have another suggestion to make.

If campaign types come into use, a page that details central notices, mainly the campaign types as stated before, would help people understand what these notices are for. Some other info, like what Wikimedia's pages cover, would likely also be a bit helpful. And to allow people to easily find such a page, it should at least be linked from user preferences and any ManageWiki settings related to central notices. K599 (talk) 01:16, 19 February 2022 (UTC)

Revisiting Extension:PdfBook
...now that we're closing in on the MW 1.38 era, and talk of this utility hasn't been touched upon on Miraheze in ages.

This contributor deployed PdfBook in a test run on Saturday, May 21, replacing the promising but much-flawed Display Title in his site's lineup. On-and-off reports of its ineffectiveness elsewhere have diminished its long-term prospects; while preparing this post, rendering with ?action=pdfbook at the end of a wiki URL has led to an error message when trying to view the output. On Android devices with Google Docs (like mine), this reads:


 * Cannot display PDF (Title.pdf is of invalid format)

...thanks to which I'm dropping it for good right after this goes to press. (Alerting developers Aran Dunkley and Igor Absorto, and XPosting this message on the extension's talk page, later on; also paging for any additional word.)

At Phabricator last December, Universal Omega himself remarked on its fate:

"PdfBook is mostly unmaintained, and not on Wikimedia Gerrit, so I don't see any fix happening there. We should consider removal."

A real shame, as something like it would sure come in handy for my future books. Let's hope it actually gets fixed soon enough.... Routhwick (talk) 11:32, 29 May 2022 (UTC) . Hope that helps. Cheers, Matttest (talk | contribs) 10:11, 24 June 2022 (UTC)
 * If they don't have a link in them, and you wish for all content pages to appear in counter, you can change the article count method to "any" in Special:ManageWiki/settings#mw-section-links, by changing the  to "Any" instead of "Link", in order to make it count all content pages, even if they do not contain at least one internal link. Universal Omega (talk) 20:55, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

excuse me. I made a mistake in the URL, but can I change it after creating the site?
excuse me. I made a mistake in the URL, but can I change it after creating the site? Magna scientia era (talk) 12:34, 22 June 2022 (UTC)
 * I assume you would like to change the miraheze subdomain (e.g. from a.miraheze.org to b.miraheze.org), right? If that's the case, you should make a request at Phabricator. If you want a custom domain other than the .miraheze.org urls, please follow this guideline. Cheers, Matttest (talk | contribs) 23:40, 22 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Thank you for telling me.  I will try it. Magna scientia era (talk) 17:16, 30 June 2022 (UTC)

Log in bug
I have a bug where I can't log in to the site, using the latest version of Mozilla Firefox. When I try to log in, it returns a "No active login attempt is in progress for your session." error, and I can only log in after a few attempts. I disabled all userscripts, anti-tracker, and even ad blocker features, but the issue persists. DesperatelyMango (talk) 21:38, 22 June 2022 (UTC)


 * Please disable Total Cookie Protection and try again Agent Isai  Talk to me! 03:49, 23 June 2022 (UTC)
 * A fix was deployed a few days ago to hopefully fix the issue. If you are still unable to login from Firefox (even with total cookie protection enabled), please try clearing your cookies and try again. Universal Omega (talk) 20:53, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

Problems with sidebar menu skin vector
After the upgrade some of the sidebar menus have vanished, only the headers remained. This drove me crazy because I had no more simple access to important links such like toolbox and administration. If you have the same problem try remove the extension collapsible vector, this solved my problem. Lily talk and I will listen · Lilypond Wiki 04:43, 24 June 2022 (UTC)


 * The problem was indeed caused by the CollapsibleVector extension, I deployed a fix for the extension a couple of days ago, and it should now work properly as intended. Universal Omega (talk) 20:50, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

Wiki navigation
I want to customize my wiki’s navigation like Sogou Encyclopedia. How can I do it?
 * Hi there, could you provide a link to both your wiki and Sogou Encyclopedia? Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 16:25, 25 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Require link? It's https://baike.sogou.com . To access the navigation, you MUST access the computer (PC) version.
 * Never mind, it can set in MediaWiki:Sidebar.
 * Glad to hear you solved the issue! Don’t hesitate to let us know if an issue arises in the future! Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 15:22, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

Как настроить вики в Мобильной версии?
Просто Человек (talk) 13:43, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Hi there ! Please go to Special:RequestWiki and form a request for the wiki you’d like to create. Please ensure the description of the wiki is lengthened enough so its scope is clear. A wiki creator will then approve your request and your wiki (along with its unique Miraheze subdomain!) will be created. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 14:26, 27 June 2022 (UTC)


 * - Вопросы тут лучше конкретизировать.
 * Имеется ввиду настройка именно мобильной версии вики, как она выглядит? Зависит от скина, а если в самом низу есть кнопка "мобильная/настольная версия", значит подключено расширение MobileFrontend - к сожалению с ним вики всегда будет иметь белый дизайн по умолчанию на мобилах (и настроить иначе не получается). Альтернатива - отключить его и использовать адаптивный скин, например Cosmos или Timeless.
 * Имеется ввиду как настраивать саму вики через мобилу? Если подключен тот MobileFrontend, админское меню (оно же ManageWiki) не будет отображаться, по-моему - не могу сейчас проверить, и придется переключаться на настольную версию. Альтернативное решение то же.
 * KatozzKita (talk) 14:39, 27 June 2022 (UTC)


 * Возможно ли отключить MobileFrontend в мобильной версии?


 * - Попробуй зайти на такую ссылку на своей вики:
 * .../wiki/Special:ManageWiki/extensions#mw-section-other
 * Найди в списке MobileFrontend, сними галочку, потом сохрани.
 * Или переключись на настольную версию прямо в мобиле (кнопка в самом низу, как и на этой вики), и сможешь найти админское меню. Когда отключишь, твоя вики будет только в одном скине, таком же, как на компе, и если ты не изменил его после создания (по-умолчанию Vector), будет немного трудно ориентироваться и нажимать по ссылкам (вообще, конечно, админить сайты без компа сложно).
 * И не забывай оставлять подпись после своего коммента здесь (в исходном коде ~ ), чтобы легче было другим отвечать, и показывать, что коммент твой.
 * KatozzKita (talk) 08:13, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

Articles no showing
How to enable the display in the article counter of all articles in the main namespace? Викикот (talk) 07:21, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
 * There is magic word which you can insert anywhere, for example on main page. Or you can try skins which imitates FANDOM's design - Cosmos (previous, Oasis) and Evelution (current) - they have article counter in the top right corner.
 * KatozzKita (talk) 08:23, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
 * No, you misunderstood. They are displayed, but their actual number is not shown. At the same time, if add link toapage,then it startto becounted in the article counter. Викикот (talk) 09:07, 28 June 2022 (UTC)


 * Possibly cash thing, on wiki or browser, try empty edit or purge pages where number is wrong? (or I misunderstood you again, мб по-русски?)
 * KatozzKita (talk) 09:41, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Please check out this manual. A page is only counted as a content page when:
 * it's in the main namespace;
 * it contains at least one internal wiki link;
 * it isn't a redirect.
 * To change the above definition of content pages, you can modify it at . Hope that helps. Cheers, Matttest (talk | contribs) 10:04, 28 June 2022 (UTC)
 * You can change the article count method to "any" in Special:ManageWiki/settings#mw-section-links, by changing  to "Any" instead of "Link", in order to make it count all content pages, even if they do not contain at least one internal link. Universal Omega (talk) 20:48, 28 June 2022 (UTC)

How to change styles depending on skin preference?
I have been working on the main page of my wiki. It looks decent in the default medik, but in Minevra and Citizen, not so much. How can I make it so different skins have different CSS styles on my main page? Thanks! LetraSeca (talk) 13:36, 29 June 2022 (UTC)


 * You can refer to mw:Manual:Interface/Stylesheets. You can use MediaWiki:skinname.css to make the css style apply to that specific skin. Cheers, Matttest (talk | contribs) 13:48, 29 June 2022 (UTC)
 * I only want it to make it apply to the main page only. So how can i apply styles to only a specific page? Also, when I click preview no results show. LetraSeca (talk) 14:00, 29 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Nvm. I think i found a way after looking at es-wiki's source code. Thanks for the resource! LetraSeca (talk) 14:23, 29 June 2022 (UTC)

Wiki decline request
Hello, I need a wiki creator to decline the wiki request #25408 because ot is nothing useful. Cigaryno (talk) 15:49, 30 June 2022 (UTC)


 * A wiki creator will evaluate the request in due course and accept or decline the request as they see fit. I have not had a chance to look at the request yet but if it is truly nothing useful, it should be a quick decline whenever someone gets around to it. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 18:38, 30 June 2022 (UTC)
 * As a note, this type of request should not be placed in any noticeboards, since wiki creators always patrol it. Furthermore, if users subject to a challenge, they should reopen the request and give comments there, before bringing the issue here. Cheers, Matttest (talk | contribs) 03:02, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I would say if wiki requests are being handled inadequately (unreasonable instructions, a wrong approval, etc) to bring the issue to the Stewards' noticeboard for review, only here if the issue is a general activity issue which requires community discussion. Raidarr (talk) 13:25, 3 July 2022 (UTC)

Hosted by Miraheze SVG is glitched on the left side
Hosted by Miraheze is cut off on the left side of the SVG. It looks unclean. I made a corrected version of the SVG and uploaded on Discord. I can upload it here if needed. SchizoidNightmares (talk) 22:15, 1 July 2022 (UTC)


 * That’s odd. I’m looking at the icon and am not seeing an issue. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 22:25, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
 * The "shadow" outline (it is actually just a gradient) is cut off on the left of the button. SchizoidNightmares (talk) 22:28, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Ah. I believe that’s intentional. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 22:34, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I disagree. The shadow outline is fully visible if the SVG is modified. In other words, it exists. It is not clean and should be corrected. SchizoidNightmares (talk) 22:39, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Please feel free to join us at on IRC and a better qualified volunteer will assist you. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 23:13, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I referred this user from Discord onto here actually for a discussion on this. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 23:17, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Ah, thank you for letting me know. I wasn’t aware of that. Rest assured I have no clue how to rectify the issue. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 23:24, 1 July 2022 (UTC)
 * ✅, thanks for fixing this! Please note that depending on both local and server cache, this change may take a while to appear on some pages but I can see it reflect across various pages now. Agent Isai  Talk to me! 23:42, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

Is it possible to merge accounts?
Close to a year ago, I made the account I'm using right now and had my old account locked. Looking back at this, however, was a bit of a mistake on my part since I essentially have to go back and forth between the two accounts when looking at edits I've made in the past, making for a tedious experience. Knowing that this extension exists, would it be possible for me to merge my current account to my old account? --Blazikeye535 (talk) 03:53, 3 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, while it was possible with MediaWiki version 1.36 and possibly 1.37, too, the UserMerge extension is not compatible with MediaWiki 1.38, so this is, unfortunately, ❌ to merge your accounts. If you still have access to your old account, though, you could request an unlock of your old account? Dmehus (talk) 04:09, 3 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Alright, never mind then. I can wait until it's compatible with version 1.38. --Blazikeye535 (talk) 02:14, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Meme Battle Royale
My new wiki, located here needs some contestants. You can add some, providing you follow the rules. Garfnoblade (talk) 18:54, 3 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Hi . Please refrain from pinging random users as it can be disruptive to them. I am confident users will see this and if interested, will notify you. Thanks - BrandonWM (talk • contribs • global • rights) 22:43, 4 July 2022 (UTC)

Babel - change of configuration (proposal)
Hello all! I propose change of Babel's extension configuration from default to: $wgBabelCategoryNames = [ '0' => 'User %code%-0', '1' => 'User %code%-1', '2' => 'User %code%-2', '3' => 'User %code%-3', '4' => 'User %code%-4', '5' => 'User %code%-5', 'N' => 'User %code%-N', ]; and $wgBabelMainCategory = 'User %code%'; While we are not WMF, i think this categorization is better/clearer than just. Please comment if you have other ideas about Babel or want express your support/oppose opinion. (If this change will be approved, i will do necessary related on-wiki work) Thanks,--MrJaroslavik (talk) 18:04, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I would support this change, it's far cleaner and more descriptive than our current setup. — Chrs (talk) 18:10, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I would also agree with changing this as it's quite weird to have it in the way it's currently set up. Reception123 (talk) ( C ) 16:31, 9 July 2022 (UTC)

Technical Director elections
Hi everyone, Please note the election period for the Technical Director position is currently taking place. This page provides for more details. Unlike Community Directors who represent the community, the Technical Director represents SRE and Technical Volunteers and as such only they are able to participate and vote. Reception123 (talk) ( C ) 17:55, 9 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Then there was no real reason to post it on the community noticeboard, then :/ Naleksuh (talk) 18:15, 9 July 2022 (UTC)
 * I agree it's definitely not the best place but I wasn't sure where else to put it to get the attention of the users concerned. Reception123 (talk) ( C ) 18:20, 9 July 2022 (UTC)
 * It can be put in the sitenotice for notification if it’s really important. Cheers, Matttest (talk | contribs) 05:22, 10 July 2022 (UTC)