Extension:LiquidThreads

shortcut LQT

MediaWiki extensions manual - list

LiquidThreads Release status: experimental
Implementation	Page action, Special page, API
Description	LiquidThreads extension implements a structured discussion system for MediaWiki. Support for this version is limited, as a project has been started in 2011 to rewrite LiquidThreads.
Author(s)	David McCabe, Andrew Garrett
Last version	2.0
MediaWiki	1.16
Database changes	yes
License	GPL v2
Download	Download snapshot (Git master) Git [?]: repo summary • tree • code changes SVN [?]: checkout-url • tree • code changes README
Parameters $egLqtNamespaceNumbers
Hooks used BeforeWatchlist ChangesListInsertArticleLink MediaWikiPerformAction PageHistoryBeforeList SkinTemplateTabAction SkinTemplateTabs SkinTemplateOutputPageBeforeExec SpecialMovepageAfterMove PageContentLanguage
Check usage (experimental) Bugs: list open list all report

LiquidThreads (LQT) is an extension for MediaWiki that implements a threaded discussion page system.

The original code was developed by David McCabe under sponsorship from the Google Summer of Code 2006, the Commonwealth of Learning, and Wikia. However, David McCabe is no longer involved with this project.

The original LiquidThreads code has been substantially improved and augmented by Andrew Garrett at the Wikimedia Foundation since May 2009. The latest stable release of the LiquidThreads extension is LQT 2.0, described on this page. LQT 2.0 is the version currently being used on several Wikimedia wikis, and was used in the strategic planning process.

In January 2011, work on LiquidThreads 3.0 was begun at the Wikimedia Foundation. LQT 3.0 is currently being developed, with Andrew Garrett as the lead developer.

User documentation

To activate LiquidThreads on a specific page on a wiki where LiquidThreads is opt-in, add

{{#useliquidthreads:1}} 

to the page's source code. To deactivate LiquidThreads on a specific page on a wiki where LiquidThreads is opt-out add

{{#useliquidthreads:0}} 

to the page's source code.

• FAQ and
• Extension help page.

Comprehensive user documentation will be developed when LiquidThreads has a finalised (or remotely stable) interface.

Rationale

Wiki discussion pages have some advantages over web and Usenet forums. They allow use of the entire wiki syntax - from images to wiki links to transclusion. It is possible to refactor entire discussion pages.

Web forums offer a number of advantages over the MediaWiki talk page model:

• Threads can be displayed in different views: flat, nested, sorted by date, subject, etc.
• The user only needs to click a "Reply" button or link in order to respond to a comment. Manual indentation is not required. Quotations from the source comment can be inserted automatically.
• Comments are automatically signed and dated.
• Avatars are possible. (but not yet created)
• The user can watch individual threads or be notified about responses in threads.
• Comments and threads can be displayed individually, without the surrounding page.
• Old comments are archived automatically and invisibly, with permanent links easily available.
• Search for author, subject, date, etc. is possible
• Individual threads can have categories.
• It is relatively easy to manage related discussions in a subject-specific forum, whereas MediaWiki talk pages always follow the "one discussion page per subject page" model.

LiquidThreads aims to unite the advantages of both forum types, and to add some unique discussion features to boot.

Installation

Note: $IP stands for the root directory of your MediaWiki installation, the same directory that holds LocalSettings.php.

1. Download tgz file to your extensions folder $IP/extensions. For non-recent MediaWiki versions (e.g 1.6.x and below) don't use SVN.
2. Extract the downloaded tgz file to your extensions directory $IP/extensions/LiquidThreads
3. Add
   require_once("$IP/extensions/LiquidThreads/LiquidThreads.php");
   to your wiki's $IP/LocalSettings.php (ensure this is added after $IP is assigned)
4. Run update.php script in your MediaWiki maintenance folder $IP/maintenance to create necessary tables in MediaWiki database (your designated database user needs to have CREATE rights on your MediaWiki database):

   $IP/maintenance$ php update.php
   

5. Installation can be verified through Special:Version

API

API documentation

Notes

Warning:

The status of the version in trunk is experimental, not beta, because several parts of the "drag to new location" user-interface are broken and throw javascript errors, for example when you drag a reply to become a new thread, and you did not enter the required subject. A documentation of the problems, or a fix if possible, will follow soon. Users are reminded, that a new version of LiquidThreads is in the status of being developed in a separate project in 2011, and bug-fixes to the version described on this page are done only ad-hoc, i.e. you cannot rely on problems being fixed soon. --Wikinaut 10:10, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Note: This extension does not work in case your LocalSettings.php contains the following two parameter settings: $wgEnableAPI = false; and $wgEnableWriteAPI = false;

Example

• Test Page for playing around with the Liquid Threads interface.

See also

• v:THREADNAV - an alternative project on Wikiversity on structured and threaded discussions, which uses wiki-syntax for structures and the NavFrames JavaScript for display
• Extension:AWC's Forum - allows the display of a standalone forum within MediaWiki.
• Extension:Reflect - implements a novel augmentation of threaded comments.

External links

Sites that use LiquidThreads

• see here for sites that use this extension

Other links

• Bugzilla ticket for LiquidThreads deployment
• English Wikipedia LiquidThreads article
• Wikimedia Commons LiquidThreads pictures