Community noticeboard/Archive 3

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Backup
Hi,

Is it possible for me to make my own backups of my wiki? And in that case - how?

/Madelene
 * It is possible to have backups, but these must be done by sysadmins (either manually once, or automatically at set times). Please read Backups and make a request on Phabricator. Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 14:27, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

The function "main" does not exist
Recently I asked for an import of files to my wiki which seemed to break several things. I fixed most of the issues, however it says that the function "main" does not exist, which after some research makes me believe that my wiki's MediaWiki.php file got edited during the import, although I'm not sure. If anyone knows how I can fix this, please let me know! CoolieCoolster (talk) 19:12, 19 February 2018 (UTC)
 * CoolieCoolster ¿conservas el mensaje completo? ha estado ocurriendo algunos problemas de importación, ver solicitud T2693 en Phabricator. Wiki1776 (talk) 19:30, 19 February 2018 (UTC)

Extension reviewing
Extension reviews seem to be the biggest backlog as far as Phabricator requests are concerned. Perhaps Miraheze should hire someone to help review them? CoolieCoolster (talk) 00:50, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, extension reviews are a big issue currently as the two reviewers are both busy. Unfortunately, I do not think we have enough budget to actually hire someone to do these reviews. Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 06:04, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
 * How much time does it take to review an extension? Depending on how much it would cost, perhaps I could hire someone to review several extensions for Miraheze. CoolieCoolster (talk) 11:57, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm not personally sure about how much time it would take to review an extension, but I imagine it does take a while. A reviewer must make sure that there are no security vulnerabilities in the code, and thoroughly analyse it. Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 20:01, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Alright. I will ask a PHP developer how long they think it would take to properly review an extension and will compile a list of the unreviewed extensions on Phabricator, and will then see whether or not it is economically worth paying a PHP developer to review the extensions. CoolieCoolster (talk) 20:56, 8 February 2018 (UTC)

$30 an hour
Here is the list of extensions under review: https://podpedia.org/wiki/User:CoolieCoolster/Miraheze_List_of_Extensions_Under_Review There are quite a few of them, and the PHP Dev charges $30 an hour and said that it would take them about an hour on average to review each extension so we need to pick and choose which ones should be reviewed. I can probably pay for three or four extensions to be reviewed. The extension being made for my wiki will be done in about a week and a half and I want it reviewed ASAP so I can use it, so two or three other extensions should be picked for the dev to review. It seems like some of the Phabricator requests for extensions are for unmaintained wikis, so perhaps some requests should be declined. CoolieCoolster (talk) 18:43, 9 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 30$ is quite a high price tag. I would not be in support of this unless the review of these extensions are absolutely necessary to the smooth running of a community. &#32; Miraheze Logo.svg CnocBride | Talk | Contribs  18:52, 9 February 2018 (UTC)
 * In this case it would just be me paying for it, although perhaps I should look for someone who is willing to do it for cheaper. Cheaper might also mean not as good of a review though, since the person $30/hour person is a MediaWiki expert. CoolieCoolster (talk) 19:11, 9 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I don't think $30 per hour (£22 for those in the UK) isn't overly expensive for something specialist such as PHP developer fees. Of course it would cost a small fortune to get all the extensions/skins reviewed so realistically I can't see that happening but I guess if people are willing to pay or make additional donations to get their requested extensions reviewed sooner it's not a bad idea. I would pay to get my requested skin (Pivot) checked if it meant having it sooner, but sometimes you just have to be a little patient for a service that's free. 21:59, 9 February 2018 (UTC)
 * No, $30/hour is a bargain for consulting by a MediaWiki expert. However, where we left it last episode (Archive 2 § 27) is that certain extensions are not vital for the community (which can certainly "run smoothly" without them) but only for Coolie to induce authors of podcast wikis to come to his Podpedia.  There are many questions languishing in Phabricator and Coolie is welcome to pay to expedite any of them, but this is not a compelling case to use Treasury money.  It would be nice if Stewards review Coolie's choice of developer before he invests any money.
 * In detail: As well as paying a MediaWiki expert to review a technical question (namely, does a given MediaWiki extension jeopardize the health and security of the system?), it is also easy to pay a fake expert to deliver such an opinion as favors the person paying for it.  I read above that we have two Mirahezians who could do such an evaluation and they are busy.  The rest of us presumably do not know how to evaluate an extension.  The consultant will have to do more than report that "This extension is safe"; he would have to enumerate possible threats to Miraheze and explain to those without his skills why the extension does not deliver any of the threats.  If there are technical credentials a professional could provide to certify expertise with MediaWiki, which would people accept?  An agency with a reputation to preserve would be less likely to bang out an opinion to satisfy the payor, but it will charge much more than $30 an hour.   03:33 10-Feb-2018
 * Small correction: Extension decision is up to Labster and his delegates (currently Samwilson). &mdash; revi  05:39, 10 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I am willing to donate to Miraheze or pay Labster or Samwilson for faster extension reviewing if that is at all possible. In a week and a half my extension will be ready and I will need it for my wiki to grow. CoolieCoolster (talk) 06:12, 10 February 2018 (UTC)
 * So, what was the outcome of this? Is this going to be a possible way forward to reduce the increasing number of reviews required. The way it looks now a lot of help is needed to reduce the backlog, some stuff which goes back to last October. 22:41, 21 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I still think that it should be possible to donate to Miraheze to hire someone for faster extension reviewing, however that is just my opinion. CoolieCoolster (talk) 01:42, 22 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Hi guys, reviewer here. I guess I could take a pay cut from my day job to work for $30/hour, but that wouldn't actually increase my free time.  So basically what's happening from my point of view is: my mother had heart surgery, my father had surgery to remove a kidney stone, then my hometown caught on fire for over a month so I was breathing smoke all the time but didn't have to evacuate, and then the family all caught the influenza, and then I had to fly across the country to see my grandmother before she died.  So my Miraheze time has dropped a lot lately, and I don't know quite when it will recover.  I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm still CFO of Miraheze, so paying bills has to come first, or otherwise we don't have servers.  Next we need to do nonprofit incorporation, for which I'm the the point person in the absence of actual legal help.  So if you want reviews to go faster, helping to put together a 501(c)(3) application would be one way of doing it.  Another way would be to ask my boss to hire more developers because the rest of the company just doubled in size and we can't crunch for too long here.  Hiring a developer would possible, but really we're not looking for someone at the $30/hour rate, as that would basically be too low for anyone actually competent at security.  It would probably need to be in the 60-75 USD/h range.  Like seriously, some of these extensions are terrible, and I don't trust just anyone to review it.  I'm not opposed to paying, but I would need to trust the reviewer. Other than that, I don't know what to tell you.  Maybe I'll get some more time next month.  There's no use getting upset over extensions, we're all going to die anyway, and then the stars grow dim and cold as the universe expands forever. --Labster (talk) 08:19, 22 February 2018 (UTC)

(reset indent) Let me be the first to say how sorry I am to hear of the extremely difficult time you have had recently. No one should have to go through that much pressure and emotional strain let along trying to keep things going with work etc. Mate, you should've taken a proper time out from here. Is there really no one else that can deal with Miraheze finances? I understand what you've gone through as the last six months for me have been strangely similar including having an op myself, almost separating my long-term partner and, potentially, losing my house because of it (with the exception of my village being fire) so I know how shit life can be at times. But then I don't have an important role on Miraheze like yourself. A simple message to everyone to say you needed time away for personal reasons would have given you the space to deal with the difficult time you've had of late; I'm sure people would have understood. People can wait for exrensions. Your health and mental wellbeing are more important. I hope things get better for you soon pal. 09:42, 22 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm also sorry to hear about the troubles that you have been facing recently. I hope that I didn't come across as overly demanding with my comments. As far as the $30 an hour is concerned, that is just how much the person who is creating an extension for me charges. I'm not sure what other people charge, however I'd imagine that other people would charge the same to not lose customers. What skills would someone need to review extensions? CoolieCoolster (talk) 12:37, 22 February 2018 (UTC)

Manage a wiki - from private to open
When I started thegreatwar wiki it was private. When I realised it had a lot of potential I decided to make it open by unchecking the "private" option in "Manage a wiki." That was quite a while ago but I have noticed that the site is not being indexed by google and it doesn't appear in Miraheze's wikistats on wmflabs either. My question is if a wiki was original set to private but then changes to open, will search engines etc. eventually find it and start indexing or does the private option prevent this happening (even when the setting is changed at a later date)? 11:22, 21 February 2018 (UTC)
 * WMF labs and their quirky polling of Miraheze data, we discussed briefly at Archive 2 § 19 (conclusion: There is nothing we can do about it). The answer to when Google will feature you in its searches is even neater: When you start paying them.  The fact that you are searching for something at TheGreatWar (especially if you force-feed Google the correct URL) notifies Google that someone is searching for it, but doesn't make it popular.  Your contributions to on-line content here are an arithmetic progression; the growth of Internet materials in general is somewhat more than geometric.  Someone's got to advertise your stuff.  We've discussed that several times.  "Promoted tweets," though I don't want to do it, has been recently explained to me as a way, for short money, to pester a lot of relevant web users about the availability of your content.   13:21 21-Feb-2018
 * Quirky is certainly one way to describe the wmflabs stats, but I already knew it was beyond the control of Miraheze. My other site, The Lonsdale Battalion wiki, appeared on the list very early on so I don't know why The Great war wiki is currently invisible. Regarding google, I've never paid them before to have my sites appear in their indexes. It's never been an issue before either and over the years I have half a dozen different websites including a military forum and they were all indexed relatively quickly without intentionally "promoted tweets" (although some people on my forum had at some point discussed it briefly on other military forums so I guess that would have helped). I don't need the site to "popular" per se and certainly not at this early juncture as I have a lot of work to on it, but it would be helpful if it started to appear in the index to garner some possible interest from other like-minded individuals who may be able to help with the multitude of projects I have on the go. I was simply wondering if it had anything to do with the extension "Manage Wiki" as my site was private but is now open, so I guess my query is directed at, the author. If Manage Wiki has nothing to do with it and google simply needs promoted tweets then I am shit out of luck because I detest pestering other site admins to add links and actively promote a site they know nothing about. 21:59, 21 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Hi, it is indeed because it was private in the past, and Google has skipped indexing it. The simple thing you can do to rectify this is to go to this link and add your URL. Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 20:25, 22 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Better answer than mine; thanks!  22:48 22-Feb-2018

Clickable email address
How do I make an email addres clickable?


 * What do you mean clickable? Is it your own e-mail? If it is you can use a link to Special:EmailUser. Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 13:41, 23 February 2018 (UTC)
 * You mean [mailto:hey@revi.xyz hey@revi.xyz]? ( [mailto:hey@revi.xyz hey@revi.xyz] - don’t send mail if you’re human: sending mail to this domain will mark your email provider as a spammer.) &mdash; revi  03:16, 24 February 2018 (UTC)

How to make a wiki exemption from the dormancy policy?
I decided not to add more content on TNotes, but I'd like to preserve this site. An exemption of dormancy policy is "Wikis made to be read, where a lot of information is already on wiki and doesn't need to be actively edited.". Do I need to apply for an exemption or something in order not to receive inactive warning or lose this site? --Tiger (talk) 08:57, 24 February 2018 (UTC)
 * If you have content on the wiki that is meant to be read by people, but just not updated regularly, an exemption is possible, yes. Is that the case? Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 11:28, 24 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, exactly.--Tiger (talk) 12:27, 24 February 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 13:46, 24 February 2018 (UTC)

Wiki Creator
Hola. Solicito el permiso de Wiki creators para poder ayudar en las solicitudes de wikis, ya he leído la guía. Llevo un tiempo participando en Meta desde que me registré en mayo de 2017 haciendo comentarios en algunas páginas y quiero seguir colaborando en otras áreas como Creador de wikis y traductor de páginas. Wiki1776 (talk) 22:02, 24 February 2018 (UTC)
 * User is around IRC, and seems to be active in translations on Meta and other discussions, therefore I see no issue with granting wiki creator. Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 18:47, 25 February 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ -- Void  Whispers 18:48, 25 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Wiki1776 (talk) 22:07, 25 February 2018 (UTC)

Wikispaces is shutting down
Wikispaces, a major wiki farm, will begin shutting down in a few months, and its last wikis will shut down on January 31 of next year. Perhaps this is an opportunity for Miraheze to convince customers of the soon-to-be-gone Wikispaces to move to Miraheze? It could be an opportunity to gain more funding since universities and organizations that have paid Wikispaces in the past for their wikis could donate that money to Miraheze instead. Here is a link with information about their shut down: http://blog.wikispaces.com/ CoolieCoolster (talk) 21:03, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I volunteer to be the contact person for any college or university interested in making the switch. I looked seriously at Wikispaces as a possible alternative in case Miraheze ever closed down.  I discovered that Miraheze is in many ways superior because it's syntax so closely mirrors the Wikimedia Foundation.  I am also looking to help out with any grants, especially those involving Quizbank and designing courses compatible with https://openstax.org/ or http://astro.unl.edu/.  Also, there is something called CPR that needs to be made compatible with a wiki.  It was developed as a free resource by UCLA, and then sold to a for-profit organization.  There is no reason why a system like this shouldn't be open source.  For more info on CPR, visit http://cpr.molsci.ucla.edu/Home.aspx.  My CV is at http://www.wright.edu/~guy.vandegrift/shortCV/GVCV.htm.  I am close enough to retirement age that having tenure is not a big deal and would gladly work full-time on soft money to get this effort going. --Guy vandegrift (talk) 15:16, 15 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Here is a list of educational Wikispaces wikis: http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis CoolieCoolster (talk) 19:08, 15 February 2018 (UTC)

A quibble
A quibble: When a university develops a resource for free distribution, then sells it to a for-profit organization (whose own vision of the future might be: profit), the question is not, "Shouldn't it be open-source?" but "Is it open-source?" 16:01 15-Feb-2018
 * I am not certain about this, but I don't think the university "sold" it because for several years they hosted a free version that a colleague of mine used for an online economics course. He was glad the university offered the service because the other one cost something like $500.  My understanding is that the university took down the free version only because they replaced the computer.  CPR is vaguely analogous to the systems of "likes" or "shares" used in social media, except that there is quality control.  A student is unable to submit their essay until the student has correctly assessed other essays that have already been "graded".  And, each student's grade is based partly on how accurately they "grade" recently submitted essays that have not yet been graded.  To keep people from copying each other's essays, all essays must be about a recent news article.  It's a bit more work than the crazy "likes" and "shares" that facebook uses, by my colleague assured me that CPR was a labor-saving device for him.  My argument is that if a robot can drive a car in city traffic, we should be able to teach college courses with a lot less effort (before college they are still children and need real people to encourage them.)--Guy vandegrift (talk) 17:16, 15 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Without a doubt, college could occur "with a lot less effort" and a lot less student debt. There is no magic about the lecture-hall setting; colleges excel not at teaching but at certifying that the student has learned.  As for saving effort, there are institutional forces to the contrary, from teachers' unions to our sudden monopoly on student lending.
 * But your speculation becomes: How to enhance the Wikilove extension ("thanks" for posts) to improve the quality of the votes. Without baking it into the wiki, Uncyclopedia has a system by which authors review each other's articles.  Users are encouraged to submit reviews and not just request them, and one's own reputation is at stake if he is thoughtlessly negative.   18:53 15-Feb-2018
 * (PS—Actually, one's reputation is not at stake but only the reputation of one's user name. And there is no comparable assurance against cribbing someone else's review, except that a typical review request leads to only one review—though the reviewee can "request a second opinion."   19:01 15-Feb-2018 )
 * You are right about the inertia in the system regarding "setting education free". But it doesn't hurt to push in the right direction.  Regarding the "peer review" in CPR, each instructor has complete control over the peer review in the present configuration of CPR.  The instructor selects the papers that the students must successfully review before the article can be submitted, and to all but the instructor, the peer reviews are completely anonymous; neither reviewer nor reviewee know each other's true identity or even username.

Formats for moving an account here
In the past, when wiki.wiki was shutting down, we were open for possible incoming migration, AFAIK there were none. If someone would like to be imported, sure, we can handle it. (PS: We only accept XML backups. (I don't know if they accept this format as export option.) HTML, as explained in their migration doc is not a standard form for MW import. Our server is 100% Unix (in fact, Linux) so you should choose Unix format, too.) I have sort of draft (without knowing this) in Moving wiki to Miraheze, improvements welcome. &mdash; revi  16:49, 15 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I agree with revi. This is a good opportunity, and if anyone wants to migrate from Wikispaces, we would be happy to host them :) We strongly prefer XML dumps, but if the only possibility is SQL dumps, that could also be done, if necessary (and if the version is 1.30). But HTML dumps or anything (as revi said above) are not accepted for technical reasons., thank you for volunteering to be a contact person. Hopefully we will get wikis willing to migrate. Reception123 (talk) ('C' ) 18:08, 15 February 2018 (UTC)
 * As always, the key is advertising, and this time I don't mean a big-budget professional agency. We ought to have a liaison to Wikispaces.  They might be reluctant to give Miraheze an official endorsement, but they are as motivated to give their stranded users information about one fine replacement service, as we are that they do so.  Their closure announcement, linked to above, has the flavor "Have a nice life!" but there is no reason it couldn't include something of the form, "Here is one place you might try!"   18:57 15-Feb-2018

Quick skimming smells like they’re not MediaWiki; I’m not sure. Anyway, if their export tool cannot generate xml file that Special:Import and importDump.php understand, we can’t help them with their ‘backups’. &mdash; revi</tt>  21:26, 15 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Well, I remember when MWZip (another hosting service) shut down, they mentioned Miraheze and another wiki hosting service in their announcement. Either Wikispaces could do that, or they could simply link to a list with all wiki hosting services (such as the one on MediaWiki.org) Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 15:02, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I manage a wiki on wikispaces, and am considering migrating to Miraheze. Their list of export options includes "MediaWiki - this is a conversion of your wikispaces data into mediawiki (mediawiki.org) dialect." -Katherine, 3/2/18
 * That sounds compatible with us. Pick a username here, request a wiki, and see if you can export your stuff onto it in MediaWiki format; if it works, please mention us as an option to the others there.   22:22 2-Mar-2018
 * (minor) Added back as bot archived due to non-standard signature timestamp. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 10:09, 5 March 2018 (UTC)
 * C.F. Autoarchive. &mdash; revi</tt>  10:28, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

Infobox Differences from Wikia
I transferred my wiki from Wikia.com to Miraheze and imported the xml, but the infoboxes on the new wiki don't work. I don't know what changes I have to make to the infoboxes to make them work on miraheze, I thought they were the same for all mediawiki wikis. Can someone tell me the miraheze version of this wikia infobox source code:

Details <group layout="horizontal" show="incomplete"> Combatants

--^Vitiate^ (talk) 04:57, 6 March 2018 (EST)


 * Wikia was energetically re-engineering Infoboxes and frequently nagging wiki administrators to adopt the new coding. Their criteria was smooth operation on mobile devices and rendering in stages to deliver quicker reaction for readers.  Stock MediaWiki, including wikitables, work fine on Miraheze.   22:18 6-Mar-2018


 * Without a visual example, that's rather hard to do. We do have general help for infoboxes (those from Wikipedia) here and a wiki dedicated to templates, which may prove useful. If that doesn't prove useful, then I would need to see a live example of the infobox. -- Void  Whispers 00:16, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Install GlobalUserPage
I propose that we install the GlobalUserPage extension. It is used by the WMF and would be very useful on miraheze. Those who would not want a GlobalUserPage can use or __NOGLOBAL__ on their user page. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 17:52, 3 February 2018 (UTC)

Votes

 * 1)  as proposer. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 19:44, 3 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 2)  as long as abusefilters are setup to prevent global userpages to be used as an advertising place. Zppix (Meta | CVT Member | talk to me) 17:56, 3 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 3)  (as it is currently) My issue with this is the fact that you need to "opt-out" if you don't want it, not that you need to "opt-in" if you do. I would definitely support this if it's disabled by default, as then users decide whether they want a global userpage or not. Reception123  (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 18:03, 3 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 4)  See my previous comments on T1681. —<b style="color: #1406D0;">AlvaroMolina</b> (<b style="color: #137500;">✉</b> -  ✔ ) 18:06, 3 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 5)  Esta función me parece perfecta. La he probado en Wikimedia y la veo útil. Así no tienes que actualizar cada wiki con nueva información o modificar el existente. Solo tienes que ir a Meta y actualizarlo. Wiki1776 (talk) 18:13, 3 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 6)  There is only one of me, and Mirahezians wanting to write to me ought not have to research which wiki has the busier talk page (though there is a hint in my signature).  If users want project-specific user pages, this is easily done and the global user page is an ideal directory of them.  Reception123 is right to be concerned about users getting opted-in involuntarily, but in this case, reacting to it is simple.  I support it with either opt-in or opt-out.   18:47 3-Feb-2018
 * 7)  Would change vote to support if it were opt-in and not opt-out. CoolieCoolster (talk) 19:44, 3 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 8)  I have no problem with this and the caveat isn't an issue for me either as I trust Miraheze admins.  20:28, 3 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 9) I also think this should be opt-in (  opposed to current NOGLOBAL opt-out). &mdash;  revi</tt>  03:07, 4 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 10) For the betterment of the community, I believe that it should be opt-in not opt-out. I thoroughly believe only people interested in using such a feature will actually use it, so there is no need to make it opt-out. I fully support this motion if it is opt-in. &#32;  Miraheze Logo.svg CnocBride | Talk | Contribs  12:20, 9 February 2018 (UTC)
 * 11)  It'd be very useful. -- 11:35, 9 March 2018 (UTC)

Comments/Questions

 * Making the feature opt-in can be achieved by setting wgDefaultUserOptions['globaluserpage'] = false; However, this requires the addition of the global preferences extension as well. -- Void  Whispers 20:47, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
 * Per https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T184643 GlobalPreferences passed WMF security review. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 22:02, 14 February 2018 (UTC)
 * If I remember correctly, wasn't there a performance issue related to GlobalPreferences, pointed out by Labster? Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 19:43, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I would imagine that was GlobalContribs, if only for the reason that WMF is adding GlobalPreferences, while a phab task on GlobalContribs hinted that the performance impact from GlobalContribs would make it impossible to use with more than several hundred wikis. -- Void  Whispers 20:04, 16 February 2018 (UTC)
 * So, today we installed both extensions, and discovered that GUP mo longer integrates with GlobalPreferences. We disabled GUP. We now have three options, if we still want it.
 * 1. Fork the repo and integrate the fork with GlobalPreferences
 * 2. Open a task on WMF phabricator asking to add this feature back
 * 3. Have it be Opt-Out
 * MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 22:00, 8 March 2018 (UTC)
 * As I have also said on IRC, I'd prefer number 1 (since number 2 is unlikely to happen). Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 06:19, 9 March 2018 (UTC)
 * I dislike the idea of forking repos to make non breaking changes. I removed a few forked repos in favour of going back to upstream because it’s nice, cleaner, easier and puts the maintenance onus on someone else completely. The number of extensions declined because x or y which are easy fixes that we’ve never forked show it’s not something we should be doing. Plus we’ve never forked to fix performance issues, instead we work upstream. Why is this any different from everything else? John (talk) 09:23, 9 March 2018 (UTC)
 * I agree that option 1 would probobly be the best, since I am not sure that the devs would add a feature back that they just removed. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 13:42, 9 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Seems like we are going with option 2. We will need somone who is willing to keep the extension updated. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 15:47, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

Create a sitewide iw link to TME?
On Administrators' noticeboard, I requested that  (and  ) be added as an interwiki prefix for The Multilingual Encyclopedia (https://tme.miraheze.org) as a global interwiki. It got no response, so I assume it needs community consensus? Can it happen? -- 11:51, 9 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, for creating a new global Interwiki, there should be consensus. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 08:02, 10 March 2018 (UTC)

Where are Miraheze's servers located?
Where? It doesn't say it in the FAQ. I need it for VandalismWiki's general disclaimer. -- 05:33, 17 March 2018 (UTC)
 * (Please ping me.) -- 05:37, 17 March 2018 (UTC)
 * The location for individual servers can be found by visiting the individual pages (see Category:Servers), but most of our servers are located in the Netherlands, with the exception of Tech:bacula1 and Tech:cp2 which are located in the United States. For your disclaimer, you can probably say "in the Netherlands and the United States". Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 10:41, 17 March 2018 (UTC)
 * P.S.: Also added to the FAQ. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 10:45, 17 March 2018 (UTC)
 * There is a plan for CP3, but only thing we know for sure is it will be located in Asia Pacific. (No final decision about the location has been made) &mdash; revi</tt>  12:16, 17 March 2018 (UTC)

Does Miraheze have a counter to count the number of visitors to a page?
I'd like a counter on just a few pages of my wiki. Does Miraheze have a counter I could use? Or can I install a third party counter somehow? Thank you. Bulrush (talk) 11:37, 30 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Sorry that no one answered until now. We do have a project concerning this, though currently Miraheze users can't view statistics or counters. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 18:15, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

Language errors
The UI language of my wiki is supposed to be Korean, but sometimes it's displayed as English. What's wrong with my wiki? --Glacial HCM (talk) 21:15, 9 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Already reported in T2982 and T2983 Wiki1776 (talk) 22:31, 9 April 2018 (UTC)

Users can't edit, or even read my new wiki even though pages aren't protected
I've set up a new Wiki this week, but I'm hearing from users that they can't edit it. I set up a second log in identity to be able to investigate from a non-admin account, and I can't even read the pages even though I've confirmed that email address. I'm getting the message that only admins or members have permission to see pages but there seems to be no way to request or grant membership. Also, I intended this to be an open-to-anyone wiki!

Please help. What have I done wrong? I literally just edited the intro page and started making a couple of linked pages. I didn't change any default settings. I cannot find help anywhere - all the FAQ and user instructions say it's a simple case of clicking EDIT but this is not an option if people can't even read the page.

Thanks.

~


 * You have requested a private wiki. Please go to Special:ManageWiki on your wiki and uncheck the "private" box, then it will work as a public wiki. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 13:14, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

@Reception123 Thank you for your reply. I have found that and unchecked private. However, I am still unable to read the pages from my test user account. Do you know what else might be the problem? ~
 * I can access pages when I am not logged in. Please refresh the page and try again, if the error still persists please take a screenshot of the error so we can better troubleshoot. Also, when you sign, don't use "nowiki" as that makes your signature with 4 tidles unusable. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 18:14, 13 April 2018 (UTC)

Got a notice that my wiki has been created, but where?
I got this message: "Hello, you've recently requested a wiki at Miraheze and we are happy to tell you that it has now been created by one of our volunteers."

However, I can't seem to find it! There is no link to it that I can see. I may just be dense, could anyone point me in the right direction? Lorcanwolf (talk) 02:12, 17 April 2018 (UTC)


 * Hi, sorry when I created your wiki, I did not realise I had to write on your talk page. I thought once the wiki is created it would do it for me, I was wrong so sorry. Your wiki is located at https://cowofgold.miraheze.org/ Paladox (talk) 02:22, 17 April 2018 (UTC)

How can I change my subdomain name?
I just started my new wiki and now I realized that I should have named it "Syncropedia" instead of "Sincropedia". Is there any chance to change it now that it's already created? Many thanks for your help. Marcocallaghan (talk) 19:28, 17 April 2018 (UTC)
 * For better tracking, would it be possible for you to make a request on Phabricator? Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 17:54, 17 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, I would do it but I'm not completely sure on how to do a request on Phabricator. I already activated my account there, but where I should post my petition? In "Dashboard"? Thanks! Marcocallaghan (talk) 13:23, 19 April 2018 (UTC)
 * By clicking the Phabricator link I linked above (just click on "Phabricator") you should directly be directed to the request form. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 17:06, 19 April 2018 (UTC)

How can I give members access to my wiki?
New members are logged in at miraheze, but how can I give them access to my private wiki?
 * You need to use Special:UserRights and assign them the "member" right. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 16:36, 21 April 2018 (UTC)

Phabricator does not work
When clicking on the phabricator link I get the message: "A Troublesome Encounter! Woe! This request had its journey cut short by unexpected circumstances (Can Not Connect to MySQL)." Can you have a look into that? Thank you.Schatten (talk) 00:52, 22 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Just got fixed. -- Void  Whispers 00:55, 22 April 2018 (UTC)

Importing data in wikimedia dialect (from Wikispaces)
Hi. I have exported data in wikimedia dialect from Wikispaces, and intend to import them here. Is there an easy way to do that? Is it even possible? Loethre (talk) 07:41, 24 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, unless you have an XML file or a SQL file, it currently does not seem possible for you to be able to directly import Wikispaces content. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 14:28, 24 April 2018 (UTC)

Firms
I was trying to update my signature, and I see that there are certain character limits, would not it be better to remove that limit? GOTILON (talk) 19:03, 2 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Signature limits aren't exactly things we have access to change I believe. There is an easy workaround however. If you create a page such as User:GOTILON/sig and then put your signature there, you can put into your preferences, and it will work as your signature. --  Void  Whispers 20:37, 2 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Ok, It worked very well, thanks for the help <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">GOTILON - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Talk  - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Contributions  14:15, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

Extension:Configure
Hi, I'm here to ask if the extension I put as a section title is enabled in Miraheze, and if so, is it editable by bureaucrats or only by system administrators?.....<span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">GOTILON - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Talk  - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Contributions  14:54, 7 May 2018 (UTC)
 * It is not, and will not be available on Miraheze. We are currently working on a similar extension, which you can access on Special:ManageWiki. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 17:25, 7 May 2018 (UTC)
 * In this functionality will the bureaucrats of each wiki or only the administrators of the system have access? Also, will it be possible to change the skins by default of the different wikis? <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">GOTILON - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Talk  - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Contributions  18:18, 7 May 2018 (UTC)
 * It’s available to bureaucrats and sysadmins. To change the default skin, you should open a task on phabricator. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 20:35, 7 May 2018 (UTC)

Request for Wiki Creator by GOTILON
Hello, maybe nobody knows me, I introduce myself, I'm GOTILON, a user with some other knowledge in MediaWiki software, I come here to ask the community for support in my request as Wiki Creator, trying to give my support, in addition to to be able to help Spanish-speaking users who have no idea of English (I am not an English expert but a native Spanish speaker) can see my contributions at this wiki that I founded, I await your comments, questions, support or rejections <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">GOTILON - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Talk  - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Contributions  19:19, 7 May 2018 (UTC)
 * This is fine with me. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 20:33, 7 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Done,please read Meta:Wiki creators guide. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 11:00, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

For the record, leave user right grant to steward and don't do userright on your own. You approve the request, but you don't grant the user right. &mdash; revi</tt>  14:29, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Name change
I have a question that intrigues me, I know that it is allowed to change the name of the users, but is it limited to changes of names or can it be done as many times as one wants? <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">GOTILON - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Talk  - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Contributions  19:41, 8 May 2018 (UTC)
 * There really isn't any set rules on name changes, excepting perhaps our Code of Conduct. Of course, if you ask for a new name every day, I might not be inclined to accept. :) -- Void  Whispers 19:55, 8 May 2018 (UTC)

Warn Message
How can I write a warn message? I wanted something inside a box, maybe an alert or a template. Durval88 (talk) 22:28, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Is this something like what you're looking for? -- Void  Whispers 22:38, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes it's. But I cannot make it work. I tried to copy the source but it didn't work. Durval88 (talk) 22:49, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
 * That's because it also requires Module:Message box, Module:Message box/configuration, Module:No globals, Module:Category handler, Module:Category handler/data, Module:Category handler/blacklist, Module:Category handler/shared, Module:Category handler/config, Module:Yesno, and Module:Arguments. That's quite the rabbit hole. -- Void  Whispers 22:58, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I never used Module here and I couldn't find how to use it. This is my first day editing a Wiki. I was able to require an Extension and use it. Is it similar or not? Durval88 (talk) 23:07, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Modules are pages, like templates, that can be called to produce an effect. To use them, all you need to do is copy the page onto your wiki and then any template that uses it will function. If you need any assistance with that, let me know, and I can get them imported for you. -- Void  Whispers 01:16, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Echo
I know that the Echo extension is enabled in all the wikis, what I do not know is: will the notifications of a specific wiki get to you like this in another wiki ?, if not, it would be great if there was some way to do that!! <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">GOTILON - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Talk  - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Contributions  13:51, 10 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes if you enable the beta feature in your GlobalPrefrences. MacFan4000 (Talk Contribs) 14:48, 10 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Great, thanks once more <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">GOTILON - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Talk  - <span style="color: #F8EFFB; font-family: Harrington; text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px #00A6AE,1px 1px 0px #00A6AE,2px 2px 0px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE,0 0 7px #00A6AE;">Contributions  16:02, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

Can someone give me a hand?
Goodnight: First of all I want to apologize because my English is not very good. Second, a few days ago I created a wiki (eccatonia.miraheze.org) and I have been importing templates from the Wikipedia in Spanish. However, now I get an error and I do not know how to fix it. Could someone tell me what I should do? Thank you (And I'm sorry if you're not in the right place) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Numancia (talk • contribs) 22:14, 13 May 2018‎ UTC
 * On what page are you encountering the error? -- Void  Whispers 00:38, 14 May 2018 (UTC)
 * is in https://eccatonia.miraheze.org/wiki/Uni%C3%B3n_Micronacional_de_Radiodifusi%C3%B3n, it appears "Enlaces a elementos diferentes desactivado", and I don't know what to do. Numancia (talk) 10:47, 14 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Well, that's a start, but the display is still weird. I think you would need wikibase to be enabled to go any further. Although, I can always try to change the output from "Enlaces a elementos diferentes desactivado." to an empty value (that won't display). As an FYI, the infobox is in a weird position with limited formatting because you also need to import MediaWiki:Common.css. -- Void  Whispers 23:57, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

Request requiring admins on another wiki, where both of the admins are inactive
Where is the best place to go if you want an action to be done on a specific Miraheze wiki that requires admin attention? On the Lost Minecraft Miners Wiki, I would like for an edit to be made to the main page, which would require lowering its protection to semi (which may be a possibility, as there has not been a single case of vandalism in the history of the wiki), or an admin making the edit themselves. I notified the only bureaucrat about this on their talk page, and pinged the only admin, but I have not gotten any reply. I do think at some point another admin that's an active editor should probably be promoted so that admin actions will be able to be performed locally. There are also a lot of other requests I would like to have done that require admins - mostly editing the MediaWiki interface, such as the sidebar and the licenses page. I apologize if this is not the best place to put this (I know that it's probably not), but I wanted somebody to be aware of this.Madminecrafter12 (talk) 21:31, 16 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Stewards' noticeboard is the correct place for a request like this. Though I'm sure a steward would read this here and handle it with time. John (talk) 21:35, 16 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the quick reply. I'll request this on the Stewards' noticeboard if a steward doesn't reply to this or the task isn't done for a while.Madminecrafter12 (talk) 21:45, 16 May 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ (that is to say, I've just bumped down the protection level on the main page) -- Void  Whispers 22:01, 16 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Alright, thank you. :)--Madminecrafter12 (talk) 00:02, 17 May 2018 (UTC)

Search Console
He,

I was wondering, is it possible to at a Miraheze wiki to Googles Search Console? Nvda-nl (talk) 18:16, 17 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Hello, I am not sure what you mean by this. Is it that you want your wiki to appear in Google searches? Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 10:02, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * No, I mean adding a wiki to Google Search Console. Nvda-nl (talk) 11:23, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * What is required for adding it? Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 11:44, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * You have to virify that you are the owner of the site by uploading an HTML file or adding a meta tach to the homepage. Nvda-nl (talk) 13:52, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * You can email me the file and I will upload it; then you must add it as soon as you can so I can remove it from the directory. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 15:00, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, Google requires that the file remain on the server. However, I have discovered that I can also virify my wiki by adding a txt record to my domain. I think that is a better solution in this case. Thanks for your help. Nvda-nl (talk) 16:27, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Ok then, happy to help. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 16:29, 20 May 2018 (UTC)

Wiki Creator Request
I'm Coolie, and I joined Miraheze nearly a year ago. Since then, I have been working for the most part on my own wiki, Podpedia. On Meta, I sometimes see wiki requests get unanswered for several hours. As a wiki creator, I will try to reduce the average waiting time between a wiki being requested and created, so people are more likely to recommend Miraheze to others. CoolieCoolster (talk) 00:06, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * We absolutely need more wiki creators to reduce latency, which is going to be a huge factor in determining whether users follow through with creating their wikis. I'd request it myself but I've requested it twice and lost it from inactivity so I'm not requesting it again until I'm confident I'll be staying active. XOF (talk) 04:52, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Have you read and understood Wiki creators guide? Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 10:02, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, I have. CoolieCoolster (talk) 11:31, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * I see no problems so ✅ by me. A steward can assign the rights. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 11:34, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
 * ✅ by John. Reception123 (talk) (<font color="#FF0000">'C' ) 15:47, 20 May 2018 (UTC)