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.