Project:Support desk/old

Powerpoint Viewer Extension ?
Is there an extension which displays powerpoint slides in wiki pages such as the graphviz-extension does?

Thanks, Chitarup (chitarup at chitarup dot de)

-- 07:54, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Thumb and pixel options have no effect when embedding images
I am running MediaWIKI 1.9.3 on IIS6, PHP 5.2.1, MySQL 4.1.22, and everything working as expected including ImageMagick.

But when I embed an image into an article and use the |thumb or |200px options with the image they have no effect. The |frame option works perfectly, as do |right, |left, etc. and the alt text options.

To confirm ImageMagick works, if I access a category that contains images, ImageMagick successfully thumbnails these automatically (when I put a typo into the $wgImageMagickConvertCommand value, this thumbnailing fails with an appropriate error), so I know this works OK.

Just can't understand why the |thumb and |200px options don't work - do these even use the ImageMagick convert application?

Can anyone help find the cause of this, or know a fix please?

Thanks, Ben.

I have also the same problem when I resize images like "image:learn.jpg|300px" it doesn't show any image (thumbs) and doesn't give me any error ...just an empty rectangle of the thumb size (300px) with X sign at the top left of that empty rectangle !!! .... I tried something I found in one of the forums, to commented these lines (in \wiki\includes\Image.php):

And instead add this : $cmd = $wgImageMagickConvertCommand. " -quality 85 -background white -geometry {$width} ". ($this->imagePath). " " . ($thumbPath); It works with them but didn't work with me!!!
 * 1) $cmd = $wgCustomConvertCommand;
 * 2) $cmd = str_replace( '%s', $src, str_replace( '%d', $dst, $cmd ) ); # Filenames
 * 3) $cmd = str_replace( '%h', $height, str_replace( '%w', $width, $cmd ) ); # Size

directory I found thumbs with the sizes I've tried on. and the whole directory that contains the the "convert" ....    which is the right path to the thumb
 * I'm sure that the converter works because when I opened the image/thumb
 * I gave permission for both the IUSR_* and IWAM_* on both the Image directory
 * and when I view the source of the page, the path of the thumb is

waiting for your help regards, Butmah

Similiar problem for me. Error message in place of the thumbnail: "/usr/bin/convert: Unrecognized option (-thumbnail)"
 * SuSE Linux 8.2 (Shared Hosting, no root access)
 * Apache/1.3.36 (Unix) PHP/5.2.0 with Suhosin-Patch FrontPage/5.0.2.4803 mod_fastcgi/mod_fastcgi-SNAP-0404142202 mod_ssl/2.8.27 OpenSSL/0.9.6i
 * MySQL 5.0.22
 * Path ImageMagick 5.5.4: /usr/bin/, Path Convert (ImageMagick): /usr/bin/convert
 * MediaWiki 1.9.3, AddHandler php-fastcgi .php .php4

Upload and everything else goes. Strange is that I use a MediaWiki 1.6.5 system on the same hosting where thumbnailing works. I was not able in the last hours to find a solution even searching all the web and are now frustrated.

Thanks for indications. Chrus. 2007-04-29

Similar problem for me. Environement Details:
 * Windows 2003 SP2
 * IIS 6.0
 * PHP 5.2.1 (isapi)
 * MySQL 5.0.37-community-nt
 * ImageMagick 6.3.4-9-Q16-windows-dll

ImageMagick is installed in "/images/imagemagick"; (this is the location of the convert.exe command.

ImageMagick renders the images just fine, until I want to utilize the thumbnailing feature. The error I get is "error creating thumbnail:"

One thing I did notice is that if you turn ImageMagick off and let the GD library create it, then when you re-enable ImageMagick it uses the thumbnail created by GD, however it is driving me absolutely nuts, especially since the GD library doesn't deal with transparent backgrounds very well and I get black where it should be transparent.

Any ideas or help would be GREAT!!

Respectfully, Stalling

High CPU usage
I'm using Mediawiki on "Second Life Italia" website (secondlifeitalia.com), it's working fine but CPU usage on the web server is TOO high. Any page request require 20%-50% on w3wp.exe; same situation with Apache for Windows (httpd.exe). On the other hand, MySQL load is really low and at normal levels. Turning caching on/off seems to change anything. What I can do? Thank you in advance.


 * User:Robchurch/Performance tuning discusses installing APC, which might be helpful. robchurch | talk 00:58, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

How can i find out the most searched words on my mediawiki site?
I need to get a report of what words, and how many times a word has been used for searchs during a period of time! Is that possible?

I've been looking aroung for addons or some sort of report but no luck yet.

Regards

Andy

Error in Setup.php
Hi all,

I have a problem. I get this error on the top of the page: "Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach in /data/web/mysite/www/wiki/includes/Setup.php on line 94" Please help me, what can be the problem? --Erdsiger 09:12, 14 May 2007 (UTC)


 * What is line 94 of /data/web/mysite/www/wiki/includes/Setup.php in your case? robchurch | talk 15:30, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

These are the lines: 87 # Useful debug output 88 if ( $wgCommandLineMode ) { 89 	wfDebug( "\n\nStart command line script $self\n" ); 90 } elseif ( function_exists( 'getallheaders' ) ) { 91 	wfDebug( "\n\nStart request\n" ); 92 	wfDebug( $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] . ' ' . $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] . "\n" ); 93 	$headers = getallheaders; 94 	foreach ($headers as $name => $value) { 95 		wfDebug( "$name: $value\n" ); 96 	} 97 	wfDebug( "\n" ); 98 } elseif( isset( $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] ) ) { 99 	wfDebug( $_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] . ' ' . $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] . "\n" ); 100 } --Erdsiger 15:31, 18 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Seems like getallheaders is returning nothing, which might be a bug, or a configuration issue. However, the code above does not need to be successful in order for MediaWiki to run, as it's for debugging purposes. You could comment out lines 88 through 100 inclusive and see if things work after that. robchurch | talk 14:29, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Yes, the comment works! I hope there won't be any other problem. Thanks for your help! --Erdsiger 20:11, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Internal Error: #1033 / Database.php on line 708 and 825
Hi, I'm suddenly getting an error (despite not changing anything inside the DB beyond people editing or adding entries and nothing in the files inc. database.php):

Original exception: exception 'DBQueryError' with message 'A database error has occurred Query: SELECT value,exptime FROM `objectcache` WHERE keyname='DBNAME:messages-hash' Function: MediaWikiBagOStuff::_doquery Error: 1033 Incorrect information in file: './DBNAME/objectcache.frm' (localhost) ' in /DBLOCATION/includes/Database.php:708 Stack trace:
 * 1) 0 /DBLOCATION/includes/Database.php(665): Database->reportQueryError('Incorrect infor...', 1033, 'SELECT value,ex...', 'MediaWikiBagOSt...', false)
 * 2) 1 /DBLOCATION/includes/BagOStuff.php(396): Database->query('SELECT value,ex...', 'MediaWikiBagOSt...')
 * 3) 2 /DBLOCATION/includes/BagOStuff.php(296): MediaWikiBagOStuff->_doquery('SELECT value,ex...')
 * 4) 3 /DBLOCATION/includes/BagOStuff.php(236): SqlBagOStuff->_query('SELECT value,ex...', 'DBNAME...')
 * 5) 4 /DBLOCATION/includes/MessageCache.php(206): SqlBagOStuff->get('DBNAME...')
 * 6) 5 /DBLOCATION/includes/MessageCache.php(442): MessageCache->load
 * 7) 6 /DBLOCATION/includes/GlobalFunctions.php(420): MessageCache->get('mainpage', true, true)
 * 8) 7 /DBLOCATION/includes/GlobalFunctions.php(379): wfMsgGetKey('mainpage', true, true, true)
 * 9) 8 /DBLOCATION/includes/GlobalFunctions.php(328): wfMsgReal('mainpage', Array, true, true)
 * 10) 9 /DBLOCATION/includes/Title.php(275): wfMsgForContent
 * 11) 10 /DBLOCATION/includes/Wiki.php(74): Title::newMainPage('mainpage')
 * 12) 11 /DBLOCATION/index.php(17): MediaWiki->checkInitialQueries
 * 13) 12 {main}

Exception caught inside exception handler: exception 'DBUnexpectedError' with message 'Error in fetchObject: Incorrect information in file: './DBNAME/page.frm' (localhost)' in /DBLOCATION/includes/Database.php:825 Stack trace: Paths renamed for security reasons. When I check out the DB and try to repair it (doesn't work btw) I see that the table objectcache is giving out an SQL #1033 error. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this? 84.67.189.245 14:23, 15 May 2007 (UTC)
 * 1) 0 /DBLOCATION/includes/MessageCache.php(315): Database->fetchObject(false)
 * 2) 1 /DBLOCATION/includes/MessageCache.php(252): MessageCache->loadFromDB
 * 3) 2 /DBLOCATION/includes/MessageCache.php(442): MessageCache->load
 * 4) 3 /DBLOCATION/includes/GlobalFunctions.php(420): MessageCache->get('databaseerror', true, false)
 * 5) 4 /DBLOCATION/includes/GlobalFunctions.php(379): wfMsgGetKey('databaseerror', true, false, true)
 * 6) 5 /DBLOCATION/includes/Exception.php(18): wfMsgReal('databaseerror', Array)
 * 7) 6 /DBLOCATION/includes/Database.php(212): MWException->msg('databaseerror', 'Database error')
 * 8) 7 /DBLOCATION/includes/Exception.php(109): DBQueryError->getPageTitle
 * 9) 8 /DBLOCATION/includes/Exception.php(76): MWException->htmlHeader
 * 10) 9 /DBLOCATION/includes/Exception.php(95): MWException->reportHTML
 * 11) 10 /DBLOCATION/includes/Exception.php(171): MWException->report
 * 12) 11 /DBLOCATION/includes/Exception.php(205): wfReportException
 * 13) 12 [internal function]: wfExceptionHandler(Object(DBQueryError))
 * 14) 13 {main}


 * Since posting this I dropped the table and recreated it to the correct structure. Of course it's now empty, and I'm getting a different error:

A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:

(SQL query hidden)

from within function "User::loadFromDatabase". MySQL returned error "1033: Incorrect information in file: './DBNAME/user.frm' (localhost)".

The user.frm part of the error changes randomly between user.frm, job.frm and page.frm

Any ideas? It seems there's a whole bunch of questions on here and very little in the way of support. Do we take it that mediawiki is unsupported software? I'll encourage people to avoid using it if that's the case.


 * Nice attitude. The implication from the error above is that one or more tables in the database have become corrupted, which means there's a MySQL issue, so visit http://www.mysql.org or search the web, e.g. . robchurch | talk 14:27, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Spider (Swish-E or other external program) Authentication on MediaWiki
Hello -- I am attempting to use Swish-E to spider a local MediaWiki-based intranet that uses default database authentication to access its pages. I am trying to figure out a way to authenticate the spider (so it can proceed with the spider job) without having to whip up something special inside of the wiki (the installation doesn't "belong" to me). (The spider software saves cookies, btw).

The MediaWiki login page uses a POST method -- a GET-based alternative may work, but can't find any info on it.

Does anyone have any advice as to an approach?

thanks Robin

User.php customisation
I've added some checks on user credentials to loadFromDatabase in Users.php, but right at the start of that function, there's this check: if ( $this->mDataLoaded ) { return; } I'm returning at this point every time - even masquerading as different users and even at the first login after a reboot!. This variable is set further down the function, but I can't find out how it's reset - obviously I could do some dirty hacking, but I'd prefer to get a better understanding of what's going on and "do the right thing".

I'd be grateful for some enlightenment!

How to Dump Raw Wiki text from an Extension??
Does anyone know how to output RAW Wikitext from an Extension? Basically in the edit secton of a wiki page i have 3 headers and then I want to call an extension and have it output a 4th header. I want all 4 headers to be in the page's table of contents. I am able to display the header that the extension returns but it doesnt show up in the table of contents.. Any ideas?? Ex.)
 * See Extending_wiki_markup, it's fairly standard to have a parser function that adds content to a page. -Steve Sanbeg 16:10, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Problems with language transalations
I upgrade mediwiki from 1.9.1 into 1.10.1 and when I am openning special pages I see some messages in polish and some in english (file with messages has correct transalation for polish but it is not show to me!)

Anybody meet such problem and knwo how to solve it?

Is it possible to build one or more structured wikis with the MediaWiki application?
Q1: We are evaluating MediaWiki as a possible candidate for managing the documents of our projects (we are a small University lab). We like the "wikiness" of Mediawiki, it is fast, simple, traceable and very elegant. Our goal is to have several projects with collaborative documents, with separate editors in each. But we don't know if it is possible to structure minimally the contents with Mediawiki (like TWiki do). For instance, assign editors, contributors and readers to each project (we have 5/6 project every two years). Best regards, M. F. Technical University of Catalonia (http://www.upc.es/)


 * A1: What do you mean by "structure"? It sounds like you are talking about access control; Basically, MediaWiki is designed to be open, not restrictive, and access control is contrary to the concept of a wiki. Restricting access is possible to some extend, but see Manual:Preventing access for the gory details. -- Duesentrieb ⇌ 10:27, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Q2 follow up: Thanks Duesentrieb for your wiki answer. Our work is a collaborative research (and open to all community when it is finished) but it needs some basic access control when this work is not concluded or non-tested. A question that is important to me is how to prevent that a mediawiki category can be read for non-registered users?


 * A2: Peter Blaise responds: GREAT IDEA – using MediaWiki "categories" to automatically lock or unlock articles or otherwise assign access permission levels to them: see, read, and edit. Does anyone have any experience in using MediaWiki categories for such an elegant purpose?
 * Getting back to your original question, which I expanded somewhat, " Is it possible to build one or more structured wikis with the MediaWiki application?" yes, but tell us more about what "structured" means to you.
 * Also consider multiple wikis using the same MySQL database, as the can share (or not) "columns" or "tables" in the database. Depending on the complexity of your projects, each can have their own "structure" or "user permission levels", which I think is what you are really after.
 * I have 2 MediaWikis using the same http://www.mysql.com/. I have a simple project where, as sysop, I manually locked the few article pages against editing, but allow registered users to discuss/talk behind them, and anyone to read articles and discussion/talk pages.  On another project, I locked nothing, and I split permissions, where non-registered users can only read, and registered users can edit everything.  You could have any number of MediaWikis under your web server and manage their user permission levels separately:
 * ...\htdocs\mediawiki001\
 * ...\htdocs\mediawiki002\
 * ...\htdocs\mediawiki003\
 * ...\htdocs\mediawiki004\
 * ...\htdocs\mediawiki005\
 * ...\htdocs\mediawiki006\
 * ... and so on, I suggest 3 digits to prepare for years of evolving projects, but you can name then anything, including their start date and department or lead editor's name, or something that sorts nicely by computer and easily findable by computer folk when you ask for support!
 * Also plan for individual export/import for each project, which requires MySQL savvy, may people use the free http://www.PHPMyAdMin.net/ resource to front-end their MySQL management.
 * You have much to explore. Let us know how it goes - please report back.  Peter Blaise peterblaise 15:01, 9 June 2007 (UTC).

Q3 follow up: Dear Peter, thanks for your explanations... Asking to the first question...what is a structured wiki? A structured wiki combines the benefits of plain wikis but offering a hierarchical structure of it's contents. Usually this structure is a tree structure (similar to the computers' file system, with folders and several sub-folders). That means, that you can see your wiki just like your hard drive with folders and files. Each wiki page is a file by itself and can be made to act as a containing folder for more files. Front my point of view: a structured document (as a wiki document) means that its contents have an index and sub-index (as a book).

With regards to your suggestion about the mediawikiNNN solution... after 10 years we will need a wiki to organize our wikiNNNNs set. It will be a nightmare :)

We are considering move out to a commercial wiki that offers this...thanks anyway. M.F. -- 16:16, 14 June 2007 (UTC)


 * A4: Peter Blaise responds: M.F. - please tell us what commercial wiki you settle on. Regrading "structured just like my computer hard drive" I think is a fallacy.  People think of computers as filing cabinets where everything's organized.  I think of computers as washing machines where all your files get thrashed around and occasionally you loose a sock or two.  It's not the computer that does the organizing work, it's the operator of the computer that does the work.  I build tables of contents for dynamic wikis with active links in a few minutes, then the wiki is stable for a while.  Special:Allpages is rather immature, but with a little or a lot of savvy with wiki variables, and pre-structuring your namespaces categories, and it's possible to have your wiki display an automatic living directory of sorts.  Anyway, it sounds like you're comfortable subcontracting the job.  Have your support people report back, and join the mediawikil at http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-l and http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mediawiki-l/ so they can not only get great support, but also tell us what they do ... unless you're using http://twiki.org ! -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 19:19, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

MediaWiki and SAML
I am researching if MediaWiki might be suitable for a central wiki service at the University of Oslo. I have searched the help sites and forums, but can't find any info relating to SAML (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAML). I need to know if Mediawiki works with SAML v. 2.0. Has this been tried anywhere?

Searching for IP Addresses
Hi,

we use mediawiki for internal documentation. Is there a way to search for ip addresses? I know, there are lots of them, but the dot between the numbers splits up my searchstring. So, if i search for 192.168.1.1 there is found everything, what contains "192", "168" and "1". :-(

Any hints for me?

regards, Michael

Can't get access to SVN - Need CheckUser
I can't get access to the SVN. Does anyone know why this is? I have tried using TortoisSVN and also Subversion but both are not working. Am I doing something wrong? I am trying to get the checkuser page, as I need to know an IP address of a user that is posting on my wiki Any help is much appreciated Thanks


 * You will need to provide details of what you're trying to do and any errors you are encountering. robchurch | talk 23:42, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

Why are "my contributions" pages empty?
I noticed that all my "my contributions" pages on my wiki are empty. What could be the problem? The "Recent changes" page is working properly.

I am using MediaWiki 1.10, MySQL 5, PHP 5 and I've made my wiki "private" whereby only the sysop can creat accounts and only logged-in users can view/edit pages.

Any advice, hints or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Show images from Wikipedia Server
Hi! I have established MediaWiki, have loaded Wikipedia's dump into a database, but I can not adjust, that images showed to the user from a site Wikipedia's server (require and loading should be made browser). How I can make it? Thank you! (NetPerson)


 * Wait until the InstantCommons project is completed. robchurch | talk 14:23, 2 June 2007 (UTC)
 * As I have understood, it uses webserver for loading images and they all over again are copied on my server. And directly to load images a browser of the client it is impossible?

Is there such a thing as a trouble free upgrade???
I'm running:
 * MediaWiki: 1.6.10
 * PHP: 4.3.11 (apache2handler)
 * MySQL: 4.1.19-standard

and want to upgrade to a new dedicated server with all the latest versions of the above three. I'm scared to death. Upgrades sound impossible. Has anyone ever done a smooth upgrade? Any tips on where to find info on this upgrade would be insanely appreciated. The php4 platform to php5 platform seems especially touchy. Help Please.

Wikipedia Image Dumps
Where can I get wikipedia Image dumps.

The links and torrents specified in the wiki are either defective or inaccessible. It seems that there is no available image dumps at the moment. Scraping pages is the only option and this will choke wikipedia bandwidth.

Embedded objects. Is it possible?
Is there any way to embed objects like videoclip from Youtube, video.google, etc. into a mediawiki document (or maybe using one of others wiki-engines)  ? I mean that I want to see in my wiki document inner window with a first frame of videoclip and button "Start". When user clicks on thas bar clip playing begins directly on the page without loading site containing this clip.

For example I got html string from youtube for arbitrary clip that can be embedded in html :   

Is it possible? --Makondo 23:15, 23 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Perhaps try one of the YouTube extensions. — color probe — Talk  — Contribs  ☼  08:38, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

How to add an entry to the log?
I am currently using the debug facility to show what my customised login routines are doing, but now that they're almost working, I'd just like to add an entry to the change log with appropriate details if access is denied. I've looked around, searching on log and logging, but although I've found the format of the logging table, I can't find out how to add an entry to the log. I'd appreciate being told how to do it! Thanks in advance.


 * In general, instantiate the LogPage class, passing the log identifier name, then call the appropriate method. You'll want to add values to $wgLogTypes</tt> etc. to provide the correct logging format; have a look at extensions such as Newuserlog and MakeBot which deal with custom log entries. robchurch | talk 14:22, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Side bar?
hey may i know how to add side bars in media wiki


 * Manual:Navigation bar, and please read the FAQ. robchurch | talk 14:22, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Problems...
During the last day or two, I can't edit or preview any block of text that is longer than 500 characters or so, either with or without logging in. When I press "save", I have to wait for five minutes, until the well-known "wikipedia error" message finally appears. I can start a new section (like I do now) but I can't reply to any discussion or edit any article that is longer than two or three lines. It's the same in Opera, Firefox, and IE. The problem affects only Wikimedia projects; I may still post (and preview my messages) in Google Groups. I have to reduce my contributions drastically as long as the glitch persists. What may be the problem? --Ghirlandajo 17:23, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

External access problems
I've just installed MediaWiki and it works fine within my local network. However when I try and access the Wiki externally from work I can get access by going to the ip address and then ~jamessutton/wiki/index.php/Main_Page but if I try and get access by going to the ip address and then ~jamessutton/wiki/ without the index.php?Main_Page I get redirected to www.james-sutton.local. Does anyone know why I get redirected to this local network name on my iMac? My ip address gets generated dynamically so I was wondering whether this might be the cause.


 * In all likelihood, MediaWiki is pulling a value for ServerName</tt> from the Apache configuration which isn't working outside of the local network, which causes problems when the page is redirected to a canonical location. You could attempt to set $wgServer</tt> in LocalSettings.php</tt> to the external IP address and see if it helps. robchurch | talk 14:18, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for that. I set $wgServer to the external IP address and it works fine now. Thanks so much for you help.

session.save_path read/write/exe errors
I am trying to install MediaWiki 1.10 on a Fedora Core Server and I keep getting the good old error

"Your session save path appears to be invalid or is not writable. PHP needs to be able to save data to this location in order for correct session operation. Please check that session.save_path in PHP.ini points to a valid path, and is read/write/execute for the user your web server is running under."

I have checked the session.save_path and the folder it points to and they are setup correct. The file has read/write/exe privs (777) and I still get this error. Any ideas.

I have the same problem at my server and I just commented out section where this is checked. It's in config/index.php and starts with else { # Something not right? Halt the installation so the user can fix it up dieout( "Your session save path appears to be invalid or is not writable. ... } Installation proceeds and wiki seems to work ok (well I have problem with edit link, which is producing blank page, but I don't think it's because of session.save_path)


 * The check added at install time is a bit dubious in some special cases, and will be corrected or turned into a conventional warning. robchurch | talk 18:19, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Reloading
I have installed Mediawiki 1.6.10 because of the PHP 4 compatible server. And it's a free server, and they have a software not to allow users to hide their ad banner on the top of the page. So Mediawiki is constantly reloading, because it wants a whole window. I heard that at e107 there is a command, which is causing the same problem:

if(parent.frames[0]) { parent.location.href = self.location.href; }

But I couldn't find similar among 1.6.10 files. What should I do now?


 * In your file, find the following:

// Un-trap us from framesets if (window.top != window) window.top.location = window.location;
 * And remove it. After that, clear your cache (ctrl+f5, shift+f5 or some other key combination), then things should work properly. — color probe — <strong style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(130,130,30);">Talk  — <sup style="vertical-align: super; font-size: 60%;">Contribs  <font face="times new roman" style="font-face: times;">☼  15:05, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Oh yes, thank you very much! And have a nice day! :-D


 * After I thought everything is going fine, I had to realize that I exported the XML files from a 1.9.3 Mediawiki system, and it's not compatible with the 1.6.10. And I'm using a Hungarian version of 1.6.10, and there are many small bugs, and the translation is incomplete at all despite 1.9.3 is really much better. Is there a chance to create an improved version of Mediawiki for PHP 4 servers? I know that it's not the least technology, but many server hosts don't like to update their system to PHP 5, telling that it's not enough stable (even though they're not true at all).


 * New features won't be going into old branches, and neither will internationalisation updates or other minor bug fixes. robchurch | talk 14:16, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Wiki site works, but edit, history etc. produces empty page
I installed MediaWiki and it seems to work well, but when I click on edit, history, lock and delete, the link produces empty page. How can I determine what went wrong and get more detailed info about it? And it's version 1.10.0.


 * A completely blank page usually implies a fatal error caught and suppressed by PHP, or possibly the web server software. Check the Apache and PHP error logs to see what's happening. robchurch | talk 18:17, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

I managed to show php errors, but there were none! (I tested it by inserting one and it was shown). Since I don't have access to apache error logs, I had to debug it by inserting echo "I'm here"; into the code line by line. I got to the Skin class and it's static method newFromKey where there is require_once( "{$wgStyleDirectory}/{$skinName}.php" );. It produces path "/home/www/calavera.info/www/wiki.calavera.info/skins/MonoBook.php", but if I insert echo at the first line of this file, it's not shown. I discovered that the file path is ok, because when I insert a wrong one, page displays error message. Well, I can't do anything more:-(.

I tried it again, having some idea, but now I could get over MonoBook.php! It was great until I found out, that the order of function calls is not same as in previous test. It's really silly and I don't have a time for debugging it this way...ohhh.


 * Debugging server-side applications is impossible without access to the error logs. Pester whoever's responsible to make this available; it's essential for running a web site. robchurch | talk 14:15, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

How one creates predefinitions?
How one creates predefinitions? (or templates)


 * A template is just a page and is created in the normal manner, however, templates exist in the "template" namespace, rather than the article namespace. For example, the template "foo" would be located at Template:Foo. robchurch | talk 18:16, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

article counter
how can I get access to the actual article-counter in categories? I would like to use this number in an 'info-box' without correcting it manually each time it changes. something like ...--Ullipurwin 15:27, 27 May 2007 (UTC)


 * There's no magic word that fulfills that function in core. It would be quite straightforward to write a parser function extension to do it, although one should consider the performance implications on a large wiki. robchurch | talk 18:15, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

wiki db transfer from one computer to another
I had set up a personal wiki on my old computer, using the tutorial from Lifehacker (http://lifehacker.com/software/wikipedia/geek-to-live-set-up-your-personal-wikipedia-163707.php). Recently, that computer got seriously infected with a nasty virus/worm, and is going to be reformatted in due course. However, I don't want to do that until I'm sure that I've transferred the data from my personal wiki, if I can help it. I have copied the entire wamp folder (which contained the mywikipedia folder) to my new computer, but thus far I've been unable to get it to run on my new computer. If somebody could help me out, I would really appreciate it. If you want to e-mail me instead of trying to get it taken care of here, my address is MrCheshire01 @ yahoo.com.


 * See Manual:Moving a wiki. robchurch | talk 18:11, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

On a website!
I installed Mediawiki without realizing it would put it on my machine. I want to put it on my website, for all to see on the Internet. How should I do this by means of Filezilla? -Homfrog


 * The method is the same, but steps need to be executed on the server upon which MediaWiki is to be run. Upload the files to the web server and run the installation script there via the browser. robchurch | talk 18:13, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Fatal error: Cannot access protected property OutputPage::$mParserOptions [...]/OutputPage.php on line 47
I get this error if i try to do anything on my newly installed wiki, including clicking on any of the menu links, logging in, or starting a new page. I followed all the instructions in the installation manual and the installation was completed succesfully according to the installation script. Anyone have any idea what might cause this? --81.170.158.69 14:45, 28 May 2007 (UTC) /Kristofer


 * This could be the result of a broken PHP extension such as eAccelerator. robchurch | talk 18:10, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Turned eAccelerator off, fixed it. Anyone know of any good instructions on how to use eAccelerator with WikiMedia. I read through the memcache part of the manual, but i found no usefull information there. Thanks for the help. --81.170.158.69 20:03, 28 May 2007 (UTC) /Kristofer


 * I heard a rumour that some eAccelerator problems were fixed with an upgrade to the latest version. You could also consider using APC, which provides bytecode and object caching facilities, just like eAccelerator; some more information can be found at User:Robchurch/Performance tuning. robchurch | talk 13:41, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

About Frontpage of website mediawiki.org
Hello i tried and installed mediawiki on my site (www.cheplo.com) i liked this too much. on frontpage of mediawiki website there are three boxe (called hubbox) i tried to find related code or material for that so i can implement that on my website... so please anybody help me for that hubbox ( three boxes that have users,administrator,dev field with computer ,terminal and greenboard icon respectively) so please help me to implement this thing on my website. my email address is chheplo(at)chheplo.com or admin(at)chheplo.com

thank you , regards,

pratik desai


 * Please have a look at the Main Page, click the "view source" tab, then you'll notice in there, scroll down, watch out for Template:Main page (that is the approriate template) and look up how it is done there. It's a rather simple table structure. Have a look at Help:Templates in addition if you are not yet used to embedding pages or templates in other pages. Good luck :-) -- :Bdk:  00:27, 29 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks a lot

SVN Access
I can't get access to the SVN through http access. I have tried firefox, IE, Subverion and TortoiseSVN and they all fail. With the browsers I get 404 errors and with the programs I get PROPFIND errors. Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? I'm trying the address http://svn.wikimedia.org/viewvc/mediawiki/trunk/


 * Works fine for me - maybe it was a temporary problem? Anyway, note that with Subversion itself, you need to use the plain repository url: http://svn.wikimedia.org/svnroot/mediawiki/trunk/ -- Duesentrieb ⇌ 11:34, 29 May 2007 (UTC)


 * It's still not working for me. It hasn't been for over a week now and I just don't understand why. I'm now trying to use the plain repository address and I still get PROPFIND errors in Subversion/TortoiseSVN

Do you normally access the web via a proxy? If so, then you will need to tweak the configuration of the Subversion client to ensure that this happens.

For the command-line client, edit the Subversion configuration file (under Windows, this will be somewhere under your Application Data directory, under Unix or Linux, it'll be in ~/.svn</tt>.

For TortoiseSVN, bring up the configuration window and locate the Network tab. robchurch | talk 14:06, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

How to import posts articles from other forums
How can i import articles and posts from other forums or blogs (wordpress or sth) totaly automating the process, which can work as a bot, a extentions that can work like automatic content filler..


 * Well, MediaWiki is a wiki engine that provides free-form page creation. This model doesn't quite mesh with forums or blog engines. You'll need to explain exactly how you envision this working.


 * Ultimately, you're looking at writing some sort of custom maintenance script to process some kind of dump from the forum/blog and create appropriate pages in the wiki. robchurch | talk 14:08, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Cannot display the webpage after save
Hi, for some reason when I save a page my browser says "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage", but the changes are saved. Any way I can correct this?

Hi, this was the problem I was getting, and was solved by changing the server's name. Wiki re-writes the url of the name - which it gets from the host. Apple (in my case) added the name .local to my machine, so externally no lookup existed. This can be checked by browsing with Firefox. This shows the server name modified. Then either change apache to correct the name, or $wgServer to correct the name

How to emulate environment for running Mediawiki
I'm quite sure that my poor technical skills will take me a lot of time to learn how to use mediawiki, so before i start running it on a real server, i'd like to make a try on local harddisk. Are there programs that can emulate mysql or linux on WinXP? Thanks a lot! --Zozzen 20:11, 29 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Opps. I got the answer from google for this question. We can install wampserver to emulate the environment. --Zozzen 09:40, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Cost of hosting mediawiki?
I plan to make a personal-funded wiki. Could anyone share how much you've spent on running a Wiki project? Generally, for a niche site that may attract a few thousand visitors daily, how much does it cost? Thx again! --Zozzen


 * Peter Blaise responds: It's kind of up to your ISP host's cost/pricing scheme, if they charge for data storage volume, data transfer rate per period peak and/or average, and the amount of traffic you get and how much they actually browse once at your site. 1,000 visitors only looking at the home page text versus 1,000 visitors browsing dozens of image-laden pages are very different loads.  Generally, MediaWiki installations are very efficient because the database is incredibly small compared to hard-wired HTML pages of equivalent content, but content and visitor activity is NOT equivalent or comparable across all MediaWiki installations.  I have a mere 45 pages with an incredible 500,000 words (long articles) and no images.  The next install may have 300 pages and "only" 250,000 words but 800 pictures in thumbnail and full size.  Either one of us could get 1,000 visitors a day who stay and read and edit and upload a lot (big load), or only read one article and leave (small load).  Storage requirements are different for each of these example sites, and who knows how to anticipate load?  But it's a good question.  I suppose everyone could respond here and try to list their particulars and then we can see if there's a predictable pattern.  What would we measure?
 * Page count/word count
 * Database size (database size grows due to edit archives even if viewable article contents remains constant)
 * Image count and storage size
 * Visitors per day/length of stay
 * Data throughput per day
 * Are there other measurable criteria? Once there are a few responses, Zozzen, you may be able to see if your planned site corresponds to the measurements of someone else's site, and plan from there.  C'mon, everyone, let's build a MediaWiki Traffic Report page somewhere and fill it up. -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 11:35, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Cost depends on server equipment and bandwidth. If managing your own server, this normally means the cost of the initial box plus additional RAM and storage as time progresses, as well as racking and bandwidth costs. In a shared hosting environment, charges are usually levied for storage and bandwidth exclusively.

You need to determine roughly how popular you feel your wiki is going to be, initially, and work out whether shared hosting is sufficient, or whether it's worth looking into something with a bit more control, such as VPS, dedicated server or plain old colocation. If traffic and wiki size increase, then your needs will typically grow. robchurch | talk 14:13, 2 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Peter and Robchurch, thanks a lot! I'm currently not quite sure the future traffic. Some plans offer me unlimited storage but limited data transmission(like http://www.siteground.com/), some others offer unlimited transmission but only a few GB storage. I think i'll choose the later one first, as i expect the image size of my wiki won't be really big. --Zozzen 18:41, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

How to change metadata field as in HTML
i am newbie for wiki..i used to put metadata field in HTML pages..but i dont know how to do that in WIKI.

thank you. pratik
 * MediaWiki adds the keywords meta automatically. I think that other meta fields too. --195.74.50.26 14:55, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

toolbar edit ?
After installing MediaWiki for the first time, the toolbar edit doesn't exist. I check in preferences if I put show toolbar. I test with Konqueror 3.5.5, Internet Explorer 6, iceweasel 2.0.0.2 but it doesn't works. Have you an idea ? Thank you very much for your help.


 * Peter Blaise asks: What's a "toolbar"? -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 13:33, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

When you edit this page, you can use the toolbar edit which permits to have bold or italic text, to add external or internal links... I don't have this toolbar when I edit pages from my wiki. I don't understand why! Have you an advice, please? Thank you.


 * Peter Blaise responds: Yes, I'd call it a "toolbar" also, though "edit toolbar" is probably more unambiguously accurate, and you did say "toolbar edit". What does MediaWiki call it?  I can find no "names of parts" display on MediaWiki.org.  For instance, when the screen says "navigation" that's the "sidebar", and when we click on "discussion" that's the "talk" page.  So, I'm not sure how to help you find the answer you seek since I cannot even finds common "MediaWiki" words to describe your problem!  Sorry.  Anyone else? Without knowing the MediaWiki names for parts, how can we search for solutions? -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 14:33, 30 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I think it is called the Edit Toolbar (see meta:Customizing:Edit Toolbar) SCEhardt 02:24, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Peter Blaise responds; FOUND IT: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Edit_toolbar ! I'm confused - what's "meta"? (http://meta.wikimedia.org/) What's "wikimedia"? (http://www.wikimedia.org/)  I'm continuously lost trying to organize the various resources locations, let alone the names of parts of the software itself!  Are YOU having any luck, iceweasal?  At this point, I'd recommend remove and reinstall until you get a working MediaWiki (the product - http://www.mediawiki.org/).  Please report back what solves your missing "edit toolbar" - let us know what you find.  Thanks.  -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 11:11, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * FYI meta.wikimedia.org is the old location of the site / information about the software MediaWiki. It is gradually being moved over to here, www.mediawiki.org, the new location.  Since that process takes time, some documentation is still present on meta. --Dr DBW 23:25, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * … and, not to forget, have a look at Glossary or its "old" shorter version to complete the confusion ;-) -- :Bdk: 23:41, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Peter Blaise says: My install if MediaWiki has NO word "toolbar" in any file. Where'd you put show toolbar in preferences?  Please follow up and share how you resolved this - thanks.  -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 11:33, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

Hm. It's possible the edit toolbar is incompatible with some versions of Konqueror, but it should work fine with IceWeasel (Mozilla) and Internet Explorer, so I'm not sure what the problem could be. What version of MediaWiki is this? Do other edit toolbars on other wikis work, e.g. on this wiki? robchurch | talk 14:10, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

I am also having the same issue. I installed MediaWiki, and even though I have the Use Edit Toolbar checked in my user prefrences, it does not show up. I have used IE, Safari, Firefox, and Camino Boromirofborg 03:48, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

Updaate to above, the toolbar does work on Wikipeida in all of the above, however does not on my install. I just tried Camino again, and it appears to work on my site as well. Hmm. Boromirofborg 03:50, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

Names of standard namespaces
How to change names of standard namespaces? --195.74.50.26 14:48, 30 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Use $wgNamespaceAliases. 86.92.94.171 15:32, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

I don't have access to server's files because it's server. Is it another method? --195.74.50.26 16:49, 30 May 2007 (UTC)


 * No. robchurch | talk 13:38, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

errore on create
I'm Jacklab72, and I've tryed to install the mediawiki 1.10, but it give me this error



Can you help me? --Jacklab72 13:34, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * The error indicates that the supplied database user does not have permission to create tables in the named database. This is a common problem when creating database user accounts and suggests that the account has insufficient permission to set up the database.


 * Either grant CREATE permissions to the account, or provide the details of a superuser account which has permission to create the database and tables ("all" permissions works fine) in the appropriate section on the installation page. robchurch | talk 13:38, 31 May 2007 (UTC)


 * thank you but if I use the super account I recived this error:
 * --87.8.123.243 13:41, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

[
I tried to type in the character "[" and make a Redirect to an article about Brackets. My aim is to represent all characters of the International Alphabetic Alphabet (IPA), where this character shows the start of the phonetic transcription. But it didn't work. How can I achieve this? --Reiner Stoppok 17:22, 31. Mai 2007 (CEST) See for example "ˌ" (U+02C8).

need help on Manual:Installing MediaWiki on Windows Server 2003
can any one help me in Manual:Installing MediaWiki on Windows Server 2003.

i am stuck on point number 2 on the manual mention on the wiki site. please assist on how to create the virtual directory.

sachin


 * Peter Blaise asks: IIS, right? NOT Apache, right?  And, LINKS please!!!  http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Installing_MediaWiki_on_Windows_Server_2003#2._Create_a_virtual_directory says
 * 2. Create a virtual directory
 * Extract the MediaWiki distribution into C:\wiki\mediawiki and, using IIS Manager, create a virtual directory (virdir) pointing to it.
 * So ... a Google search for [iis create virtual directory] at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=iis+create+virtual+directory&btnG=Google+Search has 1,100,000 responses, including http://support.microsoft.com/kb/172138 directly from Microsoft, including much, like this:


 * Create Virtual Directories in IIS 5.1


 * 1. Click Start, point to Programs, click to select Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Services Manager.


 * 2. Expand the server name.


 * 3. In the left pane, right-click Default Web Site, point to New, and then click Virtual Directory.


 * 4. In the first screen of the Virtual Directory Creation Wizard, type an alias, or name, for the virtual directory (such as MyWebData), and then click Next.


 * 5. In the second screen, click Browse. Locate the content folder that you created to hold the content. Click Next.


 * 6. In the third screen, select Read and Run scripts (such as ASP). Make sure that the other check boxes are cleared. Click Finish to complete the wizard.


 * 7. For ASP content, you may want to confirm that an application was created. To do this, right-click the new virtual directory, and then click Properties.


 * 8. On the Virtual Directory tab, make sure that the virtual directory name is listed in the Application Name box under Application Settings. If it is not, click Create. Note that the application name does not have to match the virtual directory alias.


 * 9. Close the Properties dialog box.


 * Does this help? More at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/5adfcce1-030d-45b8-997c-bdbfa08ea459.mspx?mfr=true for IIS v6. Please report back here and let us know how it works out for you.  Also, just for my info, are you planning in Intranet or Internet access to this computer?  -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 10:41, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

hi peter, not sure i am still not able to get out of this.... i am referring to http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Installing_MediaWiki_on_Windows_Server_2003

in this i am stuck on point 2. i am trying to setup wiki on intranet for my team in our office. can you help me the same..... point 2 [NOW] says:


 * 2. Create a virtual directory
 * Extract the MediaWiki distribution into C:\wiki\mediawiki and, using IIS Manager, create a virtual directory (virdir) pointing to it. See http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/5adfcce1-030d-45b8-997c-bdbfa08ea459.mspx?mfr=true for IIS v6, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/172138 for earlier IIS versions.
 * Grant the permissions Read and Execute to this virtual directory by opening the Properties for the virdir, selecting the "Virtual Directory" tab, and making sure both Read and **** are checked in the "Local path:" section.
 * Ensure that the virtual directory has the .php extension enabled. (Note: The PHP installation should have already configured this.) To do this, select, right click on the web site with the virdir, select Properties. In the resulting dialog, select the "Virtual Directory" tab, and finally click the "Configuration..." button. In the "Application extensions" window, scroll down to verify .php is listed and the path to php-cgi.exe is correct.
 * Ensure the default document is set to index.php. To do this, select, right click the virdir and select Properties/ In the Properties window, select the "Documents" tab, and in the "Enable default content page" verify index.php is at the top of the list.
 * Finally one must change the Execute Permissions of the Virtual Directory "virdir". Go to the virdir properties > Virtual Directory Tab > In the Execute Permissions Drop Down Box, select Scripts and Executables. Click Apply, and OK

can you help me in this grant.....and further i am not able to get this things


 * Peter Blaise says: Hi again, sachin. Do you have a web server installed?  Have you installed Microsoft IIS first?  IIS is not installed by default out of the box on new computers, but through the Windows Start / Control Panel / Add-Remove Programs / Add-Remove Windows Components you should see "Internet Information Services (IIS)" - you may need your original Windows Server 2003 Installation CD - I copy the \i386 directory from the CD to the hard drive as C:\i386 - your computer maker may have already done so.  You need to install a web server first (and reboot?).  Install Microsoft's IIS web server OR install free Apache web server from http://www.apache.org/.  If you have installed IIS and still cannot get to the controls as directed by

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/5adfcce1-030d-45b8-997c-bdbfa08ea459.mspx?mfr=true
 * for IIS v6 then I think you may need to address your challenge to the Microsoft support environment - either Microsoft and or the maker of your computer. Let us know how it works out.  And get your keyboard fixed while you're at it - the [Shift] key also appears broken!  ;-) -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 11:49, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

hi peter,

i am now stucked on step no:6. can you help.

Can I setup the Wiki before the domain is registered? How to confirm that my ISP has a working MySLQ/PHP and so on to support MediaWiki?
Q1: I keep getting "Internet Explorer cannot display the web page" after the setup of mediawiki-1.6.10 has been completed. Can this be caused by the fact that my domain has not been registered yet? Setup was run from the number-address instead, which didn't lead to any error messages. I tried pasting the full number-address into the LocalSettings, but that made no difference. 62.251.30.182 22:41, 1 June 2007 (UTC)


 * A1: Peter Blaise asks: How are you trying to access the Wiki computer?


 * (a) To access the Wiki computer from the computer itself, in your browser, use http://localhost or, the Network ID, for example, http://joespentium or http://ws01419


 * (b) To access the wiki computer from an intranet computer that is networked to the wiki computer, in your browser, use the computer's NetworkID, such as, for example, http://joespentium or http://ws01419


 * (c) To access the wiki computer from the Internet, in your browser, use the registered web address, such as http://www.yourregistereddomainname.com/ (which you say hasn't arrived yet, right?)


 * Tell us more, 62.251.30.182, and let us know how it works out for you. -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 11:57, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

Q1 follow up: (c), Except that like I said the domain is not registered yet, so there is no yourregistereddomainname. There is, however, a yourserveripnumber\yourcreatedaccountname, which works perfectly for ftp-ing, and where I have setup the wiki without error. But when I access the url I get the mentioned IE error message. 62.251.30.182 18:07, 2 June 2007 (UTC)


 * A2: Peter Blaise responds: Ahh, the "more" I was asking for. So, 62.251.30.182, it seems that in your particular situation, your wiki is on a computer hosted by your domain name issuer, right?  So the question you have asked us goes best to them:
 * "How do you see stuff you upload to them before they have successfully registered your domain name through all the DNS servers in the world?"
 * Many ISP/hosts have an alternate address scheme before or underneath your domain name, such as http://yourdomainname.host.com/ or http://www.host.com/yourdomainname/ or http://www.host.com/users/~yourdomainname/ or something not pretty like that. But you may be able to figure it out.  What is the web address you used to upload your stuff in the first place?  Can you tell us that?  If you can, that may lead to a way to figure out how to see your stuff after it's uploaded.  Maybe it's at http://yourdomainname.host.com/mediawiki/ or http://www.host.com/yourdomainname/mediawiki/ or http://www.host.com/users/~yourdomainname/mediawiki/ or something like that.  Maybe you uploaded it to a non "htdocs" directory and it can't be seen because it's not part of the ISP/host sharing that will fall under your domain name!  You'll have to upload your wiki to the web sharing space they offer you, not one of the non-sharing support directories.  Tell us more - and also, tell us what the ISP/host said when you asked them the question above.  Even tell us who the ISP/host is, and maybe someone else here has experience with them!  Good luck, and please report back with details, details, details.  I find that most problems self-resolve if enough details are gathered AND SHARED in the first place!  -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 11:35, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Q1 follow up: Apparently I still wasn't clear enough. I can see my uploaded stuff just fine in a directory listing on http://serveripnumber/~mydomainusername/mediawiki/, and any index.html instead of index.php works properly. Note: I am using a reseller package where I can create new accounts. The ABSOLUTELY ONLY thing that does NOT work is http://serveripnumber/~mydomainusername/mediawiki/index.php after setup. 62.251.30.182 13:55, 3 June 2007 (UTC)


 * A3: Peter Blaise responds: It sounds as if you have no functioning PHP. What does your ISP say when you ask them to install and test and demonstrate a working PHP for you as part of their service support contract?  They should be able to direct you to a working *.php file that tells you what you've got in their support set.  Until you see their own *.php work, you're not troubleshooting in the right place first. Do they expect you to load it yourself?  Get a copy at http://us.php.net/ and give it a try ... but the directory scheme and access privileges at your ISP needs to be carefully thought out so YOU can see PHP to configure it if needed, but your visitors can't touch it's configurations, while your MediaWiki responds to visitor's by using your PHP and MySQL.  Oh, have you also uploaded MySQL from http://www.mysql.com/ source - or is your ISP providing that for you?  This sounds more and more like you need an extended conversation with your ISP.  Let us know what your ISP does to support you.
 * Does anyone else have ISP/PHP/MySQL confirmation experience to inform this challenge on installing MediaWiki on an ISP server? -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 11:47, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Problems with inputbox
I have installed the inputbox extension (I've copied to the folder the php file and corrected the LocalSettings.php), but it makes a fatal error on 1.6.10, even though it should work on this version. And I have still the oppinion that a new Wikimedia should be made to PHP 4...

Oversight question
If you accidentally oversighted a revision, how do you restore it via database again?? note, I'm using WAMP, with phpmyAdmin, if thats of any help. --82.42.237.84 16:21, 3 June 2007 (UTC)
 * See Extension:Oversight. Aaron 19:38, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Error
If I'm login on my wikimedia it give me this

what can I do? --87.5.125.201 13:01, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

navigation sidebar editing
hi,

how can u edit the side navigation bars and customize it? also do let me know how to add rss feed and counters to my wiki page. thanks. its urgent and important. please reply thanks deepak arvind
 * See Manual:Navigation bar.--198.236.58.30 18:02, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

rss feed and drop down boxes
hi i'm not able to add rss feed into my wiki. what is the procedure also please let me know on how to create and add drop down boxes in the wiki or is it possible. kindly help regards deepak arvind


 * Have a look through --Dr DBW 22:11, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Internet Explorer rapid preview/save problem
My problem is that if a user edits a page and hits Preview twice within about 8 seconds, then the preview that gets displayed is completely blank. Similarly, if they hit save within about 8 seconds of a preview, then the blank preview is shown instead of actually saving. It's fine if they wait more than 8 seconds or so and this is only a problem in Internet Explorer 6 (and 7, I think) - Firefox seems to be fine.

The same behaviour can be produced by hitting refresh on the edit page (and saying Retry to the box that pops up asking if I want to resend the data) within 8 seconds. If I then wait another 8 seconds and refresh again and the preview is shown correctly (so that data is still being kept in the browser).

I have tried playing around with the PHP cookie / session settings in php.ini (forcing cookies, no cookies, etc) to no avail.

System setup:
 * MediaWiki: 1.10.0
 * PHP: 5.2.2 (apache2handler)
 * MySQL: 5.0.41-community-nt
 * Apache 2.2.4 (Win32)

It might also be relevant that I'm using the mod_auth_sspi.so apache module and the auth_remoteuser.php extension.

Any ideas? 193.36.230.96 14:04, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Just discovered it's not a problem if I connect to the server by its IP address rather than the DNS name (the server is on a LAN), but clearly I would like a proper fix if possible... 193.36.230.96 08:10, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
 * After a bit of Wireshark usage, I eventually tracked the problem to mod_auth_sspi - seems like it wasn't prompting IE to authenticate properly for some reason. I was using version 1.0.4 and reverting to mod_auth_sspi 1.0.3 fixed the problem. 193.36.230.96 16:47, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Gelöschte Nachrichten werden als neue Nachrichten angezeigt

 * de: Als anonymer IP-Benutzer lese ich immer "Sie haben neue Nachrichten", selbst wenn die Diskussionsseite inzwischen gelöscht wurde.
 * en: As anonymous IP user I frequently see "You have new messages", even if "my" user discussion page has already been deleted before.
 * --84.137.125.139 18:41, 5 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Please see e.g. bug 967, provide more details (which wiki, version, setup, possibly the affected IP … proxy users sometimes report such effects) and consider filing a new bug report if this issue is reproducible. -- :Bdk: 18:59, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Fixed - Error sending email: date.timezone setting
I just finished setting up MW on my local WinXP box using WAMP5. I've also sucessfully setup a local mailserver using Google Apps. Although emails are sent and recieved, I get the below error msg. when using the email confirmation special page. Where should I look and what changes should I make to correct this?

Error sending mail: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. Please use the date.timezone setting, the TZ environment variable or the date_default_timezone_set function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/Denver' for '-6.0/DST' instead.

Thx. in advance,

Lars

Found solution over at mwuser.com. New version of PHP requires entry in PHP.INI file:

you will need to define your timezone in your php.ini using the following format: date.timezone = Europe/London

The supported timezones are listed, in this format, in the PHP manual at http://www.php.net/manual/en/timezones.php.

Can't Enable User to Edit

 * I am trying to enable a user to edit the wiki. When I try to create an account for him to log in, it tells me I have the wrong password. I tried changing his password (in linux) but it still says its wrong. How can I create a user account for him?

Here's my system information
mysql Ver 14.7 Distrib 4.1.11, for redhat-linux-gnu (x86_64) MediaWiki: 1.7.1 PHP: 5.0.4 (apache2handler) MySQL: 4.1.11 Extensions: * Extension functions: o wfBibtexExtension * Parser extension tags: o bibtex and pre Hooks: * ParserAfterStrip: bibtexHook

Importing and Exporting Questions
I have posted some importing and exporting questions on meta, so just posting here pointing to them so if anyone following this page can jump on over and provide some assistance. Thanks :) --Dr DBW 02:33, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
 * What Happens to Previous Content?
 * Namespaces in Export Format
 * Which Tags Required in Export Format

Blank Page
I have installed both the php and mysqual on to my computer and it all went through just that when I go to http://localhost/wiki nothing comes up it is just a blank page.


 * Blank white pages often indicate a fatal PHP error. Enable the PHP error log, refresh the broken page, and then check the error log to see what's happening. robchurch | talk 00:10, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Warning: Language.php on line 1139
I always have 5 lines with this warning when I am viewing a page: Warning: array_slice [function.array-slice]: The first argument should be an array in /var/www/wiki/languages/Language.php on line 1139 What's the problem? I can't find anything on google.

Thanks

-- 10:00, 6 June 2007 (UTC)


 * There are a few possibilities for this, some likelier than others:


 * Out-of-date serialised message files. MediaWiki defaults to reading the supplied translations from various MessagesXX.php</tt> files in languages/messages</tt>, but for performance, it can read serialised cached copies from trunk/serialize</tt>. If MediaWiki is upgraded and these files are not rebuilt, then bizarre errors can occur. Check for old .ser</tt> files in trunk/serialize</tt>, and if present, either rebuild them with make</tt>, or delete them, but don't delete Utf8Case.ser</tt>.
 * Broken parser functions extension. An extension which provides parser functions has to register magic words with the MediaWiki localisation framework using a hook, however, there are some broken extensions which fail to return from hook functions in the correct manner, breaking the hook chain and preventing other such extensions from registering their magic words, which can cause these sorts of errors. Disable custom parser functions extensions and see if the problem disappears.
 * Incomplete upgrade. When upgrading from a previous version of MediaWiki, ensure that all files, including those in languages</tt> are updated with new versions.
 * robchurch | talk 00:08, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

How to add new "menus" on the left
Hello. I don't know his real name, so I will call it "left menus". Same this site has "site", "download", "support", "developement", etc in the left bar, how can I add my ones? Thanks for the help.


 * See Manual:Navigation bar for a detailed help. --— color probe — <strong style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(130,130,30);">Talk  — <sup style="vertical-align: super; font-size: 60%;">Contribs  <font face="times new roman" style="font-face: times;">☼  16:15, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Fatal Error
Fatal error: Call to a member function selectRow on a non-object in /home/.vallorie/samspectre/terethend.com/includes/User.php on line 703

No idea why this just started happening?! Looked inside the User.php file and couldn't find anything odd. Any ideas? If you got any, please [mailto:dennis@horsethieves.com let me know]!

Thanks!

-- 02:09 UTC, 7 June 2007

Link to All Pages in Namespace Listing
How do you link to the Special:Allpages when it is not the main namespace, for example Extensions, Special%3AAllpages&from=&namespace=102, when using internal links? The address that it shows up with, which I have used here, doesn't work as an internal link, but does if an external. So, is it possible to do via internal link? --Dr DBW 21:06, 7 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Peter Blaise says: Agreed. I'd like to link to all talk pages, which I believe is -1 namespace, for instance.  How? -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 16:50, 10 June 2007 (UTC)


 * OK, found out how it works. You use something like  Special:Allpages/Extensions:  which becomes Special:Allpages/Extensions:.  So it isn't going to the namespace exactly, but pages starting with Extensions:, which is actually what the namespace is anyway.  Added these details to meta for future reference, m:Help:Special_page --Dr DBW 05:23, 12 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Something like  </tt> would do Special:Allpages for the talk namespace (-1 is the Special namespace). robchurch | talk 00:29, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Special Page links with parameters
When one makes a special page it is easy enough to have it process HTTP parameters (ie. Special:MyPage?param1=foo&param2=bar). However, how does one make a wikitext link with the parameters included?

When I edit a page and try "some wikitext Special:MyPage?param1=foo&param2=bar more text blah blah", it thinks the WHOLE thing is one page and clicking the link sends you to the edit page for "Special:MyPage?param1=foo&param2=bar" because that page doesn't exist yet!!!

Does anyone know how to get around this? Oh and I guess my problem is basically the same theme as the post above Thanks, Daniel


 * In some cases a single parameter is allowed, after a "/", see m:Help:Special_page.--Patrick 09:48, 8 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Quick solutions for those interested (Daniel):


 * In wiki text, one can add the link to the special page with parameters through an external link. Using will make sure it is always the correct domain. but the local part will need to be added manually ex:
 * /w/mywiki/NewSpecialPage?param1=2&param2=hello would give /w/mywiki/NewSpecialPage?param1=2&param2=hello
 * The whole thing can also go in a link  and be renamed (piped). ex:
 * [/w/mywiki/NewSpecialPage?param1=2&param2=hello testing] would give [/w/mywiki/NewSpecialPage?param1=2&param2=hello testing]
 * Generating the link dynamically, in PHP one can get the local path to the special page as well, making it fairly safe:
 * $mytitle = Title::makeTitle( NS_SPECIAL, "NewSpecialPage" );
 * Generating the link dynamically, in PHP one can get the local path to the special page as well, making it fairly safe:
 * $mytitle = Title::makeTitle( NS_SPECIAL, "NewSpecialPage" );

$mytitlelink = $mytitle->getLocalUrl( 'param1=2&param2=hello' ); ... generating html/wiki output $output .= "[' . $mytitlelink . " testing]";
 * And finally, one can make the links appear to be local, by removing the little link icon. Do do this, wrap the link  with the style modification
 * Hope this helps some others --Daniel, 9 June 2007
 * Hope this helps some others --Daniel, 9 June 2007
 * Hope this helps some others --Daniel, 9 June 2007


 * A general Wiki text solution (Daniel - I just discovered this...):
 * using templates you can simply write in wiki text:
 * . This url can then be wrapped in plainlinks to remove the external linksymbol.
 * . This url can then be wrapped in plainlinks to remove the external linksymbol.

URL-decoded links in print version
When printing out the icelandic wikipedia page on Árni I noticed that the printer-friendly version displays the url-encoded link to the page, i.e. Af „http://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81rni“. (Af = from). I looked at the Help:URL page but didn't figure out from it how I could make the printer-friendly footer display the decoded name of the page, ie. Af „http://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/Árni“ which looks much friendlier! --Stalfur 13:39, 8 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a (not too fatal) bug in the code. You could report it at the bug tracker, Bugzilla. --— color probe — <strong style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(130,130,30);">Talk  — <sup style="vertical-align: super; font-size: 60%;">Contribs  <font face="times new roman" style="font-face: times;">☼  08:52, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Bug 10206 --Stalfur 14:35, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

How can I insert image from commons?
Such as in a Wikipedia, I'd like to insert the link and take the image from commons. How can I do it? --82.58.78.51 06:33, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I think Commons doesn't allow this kind of "hotlinking" outside the Wikimedia wikis. I guess you'll have to copy all the files, description pages, and license templates you need manually. :( --— color probe — <strong style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(130,130,30);">Talk  — <sup style="vertical-align: super; font-size: 60%;">Contribs  <font face="times new roman" style="font-face: times;">☼  08:57, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
 * That's correct, at the moment. However, a project known as "InstantCommons" is under development (no ETA, I'm afraid) which will enable third parties to use Commons images. robchurch | talk 00:01, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

How I remain myself uptodate?
I downloaded mediawiki 1.9.3 and I installed it on my sever. I scare always about hack.How can I get patches and all security and update issues of this version?


 * MediaWiki 1.9.x is no longer the most recent branch, so I'd recommend upgrading to 1.10.0, which is (as of time of writing) - instructions on upgrading can be found at Manual:Upgrading to 1.10
 * In general, being aware of new versions will allow you to prepare and execute a plan to upgrade to them as needed. We have a dedicated, low-traffic mailing list - mediawiki-announce - which is used for release notifications, so I'd advise subscribing to that.
 * robchurch | talk 23:59, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Captcha implementation
Hello everyone, Surprisingly I have found very little info on implementing a way to validate users, either by manual approval or by using a captcha module... Could anyone help? Thanks!


 * CAPTCHAs are available for MediaWiki via the ConfirmEdit extension, which can trigger a test during user registration, when a user adds new external links to a page, on all editing (if desired), etc. and works with a number of plug-in backends. robchurch | talk 00:00, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

The file you uploaded seems to be empty.
Hi all...

I recently migrated my wiki to a new server, since then everything seems to be fine, except I've just noticed I can't upload images anymore... I get this error: The file you uploaded seems to be empty. This might be due to a typo in the file name. Please check whether you really want to upload this file.

any ideas?

--pete

no response :( oh well.. must be a bug in the wiki... nasty.... I'll see if there is another wiki engine that allows you to upload images.

--pete


 * If it was actually a bug, then why does it work for a large number of wikis using this software? No idea on the error, try doing a Google search using the text, see if it comes up.  Another thing to try is go through the installation and set up for it step by step again, ensure haven't missed anything. --Dr DBW 02:20, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

Anti-spam measures
Hello to anyone who is willing/able to help or can point me in the right direction. I'm an editor at CPDL (ChoralWiki) and we've been suffering a huge amount of spam attacks from what we believe to be automatically generated accounts by a bot. The wiki is set so that only registered users can edit pages but these vandalbots have managed to sign themselves up automatically. I have noticed that Wikipedia and this wiki employ some (seemingly successful) spam protection by asking new users to enter letters/numbers from a blured/distorted image and I wondered if anyone could help me implement that protection at CPDL? Many thanks and apologies if this is not the right place for my query. --Bobnotts 09:42, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
 * The plugins installed on Wikipedia can be found on this page. You probably want to look at Extension:ConfirmEdit
 * Thanks very much for your reply. I will attempt to implement that extension. --Bobnotts 16:30, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

How to trim a variable
A simple question but I did not find howto do it...

If I have a like "Media/wiki"... How can I have only the wiki part ?


 * May be look at Extension:ParserFunctions (extended) or something ? --Dr DBW 05:32, 12 June 2007 (UTC)


 * If it's an actual subpage (MediaWiki recognises it as such, and shows "breadcrumbs" at the top of the page), then  </tt> will also do the job. robchurch | talk 00:11, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Formatting of templates not working
I have been attempting to use templates, but the template formatting (i.e. colors, borders, etc) don't appear in the finished template or the actual pages. Am I missing something? -- eappleby --69.138.65.143 18:35, 11 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Not direct help for you, but I have noticed that using the Monobook skin means that coloured backgrounds with tables does not render at all. Set up tables etc using ColgneBlue on our wiki, but now looking to move to the Monobook skin and all the coloured tables no longer work.  I suspect there is something set in the skin that overrides the formatting.  No idea what it is though. --Dr DBW 23:32, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Error with function dir
My wiki doesn't work due to an attack probably. I saw that i'm not alone : http://www.google.fr/search?hl=fr&q=wiki+%22%5Bfunction.dir%5D%3A+failed+to+open+dir%3A+No+such+file+or+directory+in%22+skin&btnG=Rechercher&meta=

We have an error message like : Warning: dir(.../wiki/skins) [function.dir]: failed to open dir: No such file or directory in .../wiki/includes/Skin.php on line ...

Why we have this error and how resolve it. Thanks Loic


 * You should probably fix  to a correct path in you LocalSettings.php. — color probe  — <strong style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(130,130,30);">Talk  — <sup style="vertical-align: super; font-size: 60%;">Contribs  <font face="times new roman" style="font-face: times;">☼  10:27, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Blank index page
I followed the instructions and got this at the end of a bunch of lines:

" Creating LocalSettings.php...     Installation successful! Move the config/LocalSettings.php file into the parent directory, then follow this link to your wiki."

I moved it like it said and now just get a blank page with just "�". What did I do wrong? Is it because I used Go Daddy's free hosting with my domain name? Please help! 75.64.242.197 01:54, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

System logs (mediawiki 1.9) no longer record activity
The special:logs page on my site has stopped recording edits 1 month ago. I cannot find reference anywhere as to what may be wrong. Thanks for any assistance. John F 134.148.5.118 02:30, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

How to add columns to pages? I've tried multicol but am having issues...
I did some searching and found the template multicol, but the instructions on how to add a template are very vague. I did a copy and paste of the templates I found, but I'm having problems with too many divs showing up at the bottom of the columns. Is there an easier way to add columns to the pages???


 * Help:Tables --Dr DBW 05:33, 12 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks, Dr DBW. I had tried html for a table, but it didn't work. Now I know the proper codes to use!  :)

After installation Safari says (NSURLErrorDomain:-1005)
This is my installation log:

Checking environment... Please include all of the lines below when reporting installation problems.

• PHP 5.2.1 installed

• Found database drivers for: MySQL PostgreSQL

• PHP server API is apache2handler; ok, using pretty URLs (index.php/Page_Title)

• Have XML / Latin1-UTF-8 conversion support.

• Session save path appears to be valid.

• PHP's memory_limit is 8M. Attempting to raise limit to 20M... ok.

• Couldn't find Turck MMCache, eAccelerator, or APC. Object caching functions cannot be used.

• Found GNU diff3: /usr/bin/diff3.

• Found GD graphics library built-in, image thumbnailing will be enabled if you enable uploads.

• Installation directory: /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/mediawiki

• Script URI path: /mediawiki

• Environment checked. You can install MediaWiki.

• Generating configuration file...

• Database type: MySQL

• Loading class: DatabaseMysql

• Attempting to connect to database server as root...success.

• Connected to 5.0.37

• Attempting to create database...

• Created database wikidb

• Creating tables... done.

• Initializing data...

• Granting user permissions to wikiuser on wikidb...success.

• Created sysop account WikiSysop.

• Creating LocalSettings.php...

• Installation successful! Move the config/LocalSettings.php file into the parent directory, then follow this link (http://localhost:8888/mediawiki/index.php) to your wiki.

I then moved the file LocalSettings.php to the parent directory

after that i click the link(http://localhost:8888/mediawiki/index.php)safari says dropped network connection error (NSURLErrorDomain:-1005)

I'm running MAMP with succes(I have a couple of sites that uses the mysql db, and they work like a charm)

Is there anyone who nows what this error means?

I've tried to empty my buffer in safari with no succes...

Thanks, Mark Lee

how can I remain uptodate? (Version2)
I hacked some php files of mediawiki 1.9.3 and I use several extensions. I sacared if I update to latst version (1.10 for now) I will lose some featurs, then I like to use 1.9.3 for several years and I don't like to upgrade when a new branch released. Then I want to know how I can change only that files that has security problems.is it a strightforward way for knowing how files changed and patched?


 * Extensions shouldn't be affected during an upgrade, unless the extension depends upon a changed interface between branches, in which case, seek an upgrade to the extension itself.


 * As for hacks to the core code, get a fresh tarball of 1.9.3, and diff between the two copies to create a patch file. Revert the hacks, upgrade MediaWiki and apply the patch, correcting as needed. robchurch | talk 00:05, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

How to create a new MediaWiki install, a new MediaWiki project page
Q: I'm really new to all this. My project manager has asked me to create a Wiki for our project, and after reading a bit about this I finally understand what a Wiki is. However, what I do not understand is how I download and set up MediaWiki, I have absolutely no knowledge of MySQL, PHP or anything like that. Is it still possible for me to create a Wiki? If so, how? Really appreciate your response. 195.212.29.179, 2007-06-12 05:06:34

--


 * A1: Peter Blaise responds: I have found that every installation of MediaWiki is custom and has something unique that prevents, so far, anyone from posting a thorough installation script that handles all exceptions.  So, tell us more, 195.212.29.179.  What more is there?  Let's look at some of the variables:


 * Private or Public MediaWiki?
 * Do you mean for in-house intranet ... or


 * ... for public web?
 * Public or Private Computer as MediaWiki Server?
 * In house server |installing mediawiki on your own server... or
 * ... out house ISP |installing mediawiki on your isp?
 * These are searches right there at http://www.mediawiki.org/ but note that there are no pages on MediaWiki.org that are specifically titled with these main, primary organizational categories! Everything documented so far is by volunteers, each with their own scheme and logic.  It's as complete and as (dis)organized as the last person left it!  When you master some of it, please come back and share what you learned!


 * Operating System?
 * Windows 2000/XP/2003 (http://www.windows.com/) ... or
 * ... Linux (http://www.linux.org/) or other |other POSIX Linux/BSD/UNIX-like OS choices.


 * Web Server (needed regardless of public or private MediaWiki):
 * Microsoft IIS Internet Information Server on Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsServer2003/iis/default.mspx) ... or
 * ... Apache web server on any Operating System (http://www.apache.org/ - not .net nor .com)


 * Database?
 * MySQL (http://www.mysql.com/ not .net, but http://www.mysql.org/ is for developers) ... or
 * ... PostgreSQL (post-Ingres, INteractive Graphics REtrieval System) http://www.postgresql.org/
 * See MySWL and PostgreSQL compared.


 * Pre Hypertext Parser? (originally Personal Home Page editor):
 * PHP (http://www.php.net/ not .com nor .org)


 * Wiki?
 * MediaWiki (http://www.mediawiki.com/ and http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Installation and http://sourceforge.net/projects/wikipedia) ... or
 * ... is there any other? ;-)  Other choices:
 * http://www.wikimatrix.org/
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software


 * Extensions and Utilities?
 * Internal MediaWiki Extensions (http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Extensions)
 * External PHPMyAdmin (http://www.phpmyadmin.net/ not .com nor .org), and |many additional add-ons for a truly custom MediaWiki system.


 * No two alike, in the end! In other words, analyze your exact situation details, and share them.  Then we can help you find what you are after.  Actually, the more details you supply, the more accurate can be your own searches at http://www.mediawiki.org/ and http://www.google.com/ to find notes from others with similar situations resources and goals.


 * - In my case, I started with a development MediaWiki on WOS (Web-server On a usb Stick) free from Cornelius Herzog at http://www.chsoftware.net/en/useware/wos/wos.htm?action=download that contains your choice of
 * Apache/MySQL/PHP/MediaWiki
 * (the minimum needed on top of your own Operating System)
 * plus your choices of related and unrelated programs like
 * ImageMagick/Drupal/Joomla/Knowledgeroot/Mambo/Moodle/OS_Commerce/PHPMyAdmin/PunBB/TYPO3/Wordpress.
 * Incredible - all fit and run on a USB flash drive.
 * Once I got one working to my satisfaction on a USB drive, I copied my installation to a directory on my hard drive and used the DOS "SUBST" command to call it a drive letter and shared it from there on my Intranet. The only caveat is that I need to pre-invite visitors to my MediaWiki/WOS by adding their IP address number to a list, so this is not super convenient as a production wiki.  But, WOS is great for initial development, and most importantly to me:
 * this does not require admin rights on my computer,
 * does not need a footprint on my hard drive,
 * I can create as many tries as I have spare USB drives (USB flash drives are quite cheap).


 * - Finally, once familiar with building and breaking a series of development MediaWikis rather quickly, I then built a "real" one on
 * Windows/Apache/MySQL/PHP (also known as WAMP) and MediaWiki
 * ... which does seem to require admin rights. Mine is shared only in-house on our intranet.  I have not shared a MediaWiki with the web yet, nor created one on an ISP computer.  So, as you can see, almost everyone's MediaWiki installation becomes quite custom after only a couple of choices.  I'm confident, though, that with a little experimentation, you will be able to construct and support one to your liking.  Once I got started, I found it to be addictive, and soon, I became the MediaWiki master in my group.


 * - So, tell us more, more, more, and then we can help you more, more, more. Let us know what you do, and please sign and date your posts, thanks!  Also, if you register and log in, you can receive notice of our answers. -- Peter Blaise peterblaise 18:08, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

--

Problem blocking users
I upgraded to MW 1.9.1 a few months back, and now my site is getting spammed by people creating registered users. However, I can't block them, because when I try to, I get the following error:

Database error A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:

(SQL query hidden)

from within function "Block::insert". MySQL returned error "1054: Unknown column 'ipb_enable_autoblock' in 'field list' (localhost)".

I could block users before the upgrade.

* MediaWiki: 1.9.1 * PHP: 5.1.4 (apache2handler) * MySQL: 5.0.22

Any suggestions?


 * Did you run the updater through your browser or through the shell script? Did you notice any errors when updating? The updater should add new columns automatically. Did the updater ask for a file called "AdminSettings.php"? — color probe — <strong style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(130,130,30);">Talk  — <sup style="vertical-align: super; font-size: 60%;">Contribs  <font face="times new roman" style="font-face: times;">☼  10:32, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Switching from absolute paths to relative paths...
Hi, my current host emailed me recently to tell me about a change they are implementing on the server. Apparently, paths in applications hosted on the box need to be made relative reather than absolute. Here is an extract from that email...

''I am emailing you to advise that your web site currently hosted on a Cobalt RaQ will be undergoing essential maintenance between 8.00PM and 1.00AM from 07/05/2007. This will mean that any references in your web site that contain physical links to resources on the RaQ such as

/home/sites/site11/web/_vti_pvt/service.pwd

will need to be updated so they are relative, e.g.

_vti_pvt/service.pwd''

This has broken my current install. In my LocalSettings.php $IP used to be "/home/sites/site3/web/products/onlinehelp". I have changed this to "/products/onlinehelp" (and also the $wgScriptPath vairable too) but it does not work.

The error message I am getting is:

''Warning: dir(products/onlinehelp/skins): failed to open dir: No such file or directory in /home/sites/site110/web/products/onlinehelp/includes/Skin.php on line 27

Fatal error: Call to a member function on a non-object in /home/sites/site110/web/products/onlinehelp/includes/Skin.php on line 30''

I have tried changing $IP and $wgScriptPath seperately and have also tried with and without leading forward slash to no avail.

Can anybody help me?

Thanks in advance,

Simon.


 * The problem here is that $IP</tt> needs to be an absolute path. However, there's a way round this which means you won't need to keep track of changes. Set <tt>$IP</tt> as follows:




 * This should fix the problem for $IP. <tt>$wgScriptPath</tt> should be <tt>/products/onlinehelp</tt> in this case. robchurch | talk 23:57, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Calendar?
Is there a way to put a calendar on the front page of my WIKI?


 * Install an appropriate Calendar extension. robchurch | talk 23:59, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

MS SQL?
We are customizing an instance of MediaWiki for the local government to use to interface with the community. As with many large 'organizations' they have bought into an MSSQL Server license scheme and are hesitant to use a second type of SQL Server. Is there any anticipated support for MSSQL Server in the future?


 * It's being worked on, see bug 9767. No official ETA, though. robchurch | talk 00:02, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Template within a Redirect
Have set up a page, Manual:mdrun, where there is a template used within the redirect: Idea of this is that it will redirect to the current version of the manual page. However, when you go to the Manual:mdrun page, it doesn't redirect you, but instead you simply see the redirect text. Is that how it is meant to happen? Or am I missing something? Is there some manner in which to do this? --Dr DBW 21:25, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
 * 1) REDIRECT Manual:mdrun_


 * There is a separate redirect table containing the targets, so these cannot depend on template expansion.--Patrick 00:22, 13 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Damn! Thanks for the reply.  Would have been nice if it worked that way.  Just found the page on meta stating that it can't be done, MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide:_Using_redirects#Restrictions.  Redirects can't contain variable, template, or parser function. --Dr DBW 02:11, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * OK, so is there a way to do what I want to do? There will be a significant number of manual pages for programs, about 80 or so, that are titled based on the name of the program and the version number of the package.  Then, when a new version is uploaded, which includes new manual pages for each program, I want any redirects for the generic manual page to go to the new version, by using as few edits as possible.  Any suggestions?  Or will I simply have to change the redirect pages by hand?  --Dr DBW 01:42, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Starting to think that may be better to use templates within the original internal links, instead of using a redirect. Not ideal, as means more difficult for people adding future internal links (less intuitive). --Dr DBW 02:14, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Linking to a text range
Is there a simple way to link to a range of text that appears elsewhere in the wiki. I know this can done with RSS, but I'm looking for a way to have certain text that appears on different pages appear on one page based on the text area defined on the individual page.


 * Off the top of my head, templates seem to be a way to do that. No idea if best way though, see Help:Templates. --Dr DBW 02:31, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

PHP 5.0.0 or higher is required
I tried to install MediaWiki 1.10.0, but I get the following error after starting config:

PHP 5.0.0 or higher is required

I use Lycos and Lycos says it's support PHP 4.3 & 5.0

What goes wrong with the setup?

P.S. I have already MediaWiki running on an other domain:

MediaWiki: 1.6.9

PHP: 4.3.10 (cgi)

MySQL: 5.0.24alyceu-log

Retrieved from "http://wikipedia.nvlt.org/index.php?title=Speciaal:Version"

Here you can see that MediaWiki reports PHP 4.3.10.

PHP / MySQL report

MySQL Version: 5

PHP Versie: 4.3.10 (phpinfo) + 5.0.2 (phpinfo)

Is MediaWiki confussed?


 * No, MediaWiki is not confused; MediaWiki knows exactly what is going on, namely that it is running under a PHP 4.x environment. You probably need to fiddle about to get PHP 5 working. The advice at User:Robchurch/Getting PHP 5 on a cheap host might help, otherwise, contact the service provider and ask them for instructions on configuring Apache to parse <tt>.php</tt> files using PHP 5. robchurch | talk 05:16, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

error in creation of gallery- display of pic --DJ
hi i'm not able view a thumbnail of the pictures in my wiki gallery it says the following error. can u help me figure what this is about? Incomplete GD library configuration: missing function imagecreatefromjpeg thanks --125.16.138.135 08:17, 14 June 2007 (UTC)DJ

The lower version problems
has the lower versions of mediawiki security holes? If yes why mediawiki.org offer us this versions:

* mediawiki-1.10.0.tar.gz   * SVN: REL1_10_0

Legacy versions

* mediawiki-1.9.3.tar.gz   * SVN: REL1_9_3 * mediawiki-1.6.10.tar.gz   * SVN: REL1_6_10

is it right that we must always upgrade to latest version to prevent hack our website powered by mediawiki ?


 * That is the same with any software. Best security is with the current released version of the software.  Older versions are available, but use at your own peril. --Dr DBW 02:43, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Please read version lifecycle. robchurch | talk 05:14, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

drupal question
is there info on integrating madiaWiki into drupal system beyond the Signin integration issue? if there is - where can i find this info please and if there is not - how can i help make it happen?

thanks in advance for the your work done so far,

QH

How to rename a page?
When I create a new page with the following link:

Product Friendly Name

The link appears as "Product Friendly Name"

When I navigate to the page, the title is "Family Product ProductName".

How do I: 1. Rename the page (or) 2. Get a fix to display the title like I displayed the link?

Thanks


 * Click the link on the page that says "move". --Dr DBW 02:44, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Also see meta:Help:Moving a page--24.22.122.180 08:54, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

Access forbidden from user agent Java/1.5.0_06 ?
Any user agent that claims to be Java/1.5.0_06 obtains a 403 Forbidden from all current implementations of mediawiki (including www.mediawiki.org, en.wikpedia.org etc.). This can be checked e.g. by configuring FireFox to use that string instead of the default (in about:config add a new string named general.useragent.override with value Java/1.5.0_06), which instantly results in being locked out from all wikimedia projects as listed above. Any other string, e.g. "Java/1.5.0-06" or "Java/1.5.0_06 foobar" is accepted. Of course, this suggests a workaround, but the case described seems to be somewhere between odd behaviour and a bug. --Hagman 09:45, 15 June 2007 (UTC)


 * This sounds like a deliberate user-agent block in the Wikimedia Squid configuration. Such blocks are made from time to time to prevent excessive requests or requests from broken user agents. robchurch | talk 05:14, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Red links but pages are not empty
In my wiki (www.solarpedia.es), I've found many red links on pages that are not empty. Clicking on these links it performs 'action=edit'. I also run the php script refreshLinks.php but the problem still remains. (version: )

Internal error
I get an Internal error (a MediaWiki one, not an Apache one) when protecting a page. Version 1.9.3 Steps Internal error There seems to be a problem with your login session; this action has been canceled as a precaution against session hijacking. Please hit "back" and reload the page you came from, then try again.
 * 1) Login
 * 2) Click "protect" on the Main Page
 * 3) Select "Sysop" for Edit and Move
 * 4) Press Confirm (with and without a description)
 * 5) I get the following error:

Note that I configured MediaWiki not to check cookies...since it was having trouble with that also. Could it be a bug or something I didn't do right? Also, just in case anyone wonders, no I'm not hijacking my own wiki :)

Thanks.

Recent Changes won't update on 1.10.0
Sorry. This was a configuration error.

Mburp 09:45, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Substituting
In Wiktionary Template:trans11 there is a problem when substituting. See trans11. How can one advoid the creation of unnecessary headers when using less than 11 items ?. Thanks in advance. --Macv 21:46, 17 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Need to use if statements, so need the Parser Functions extension, --Dr DBW 05:21, 18 June 2007 (UTC)


 * That extension is installed.--Patrick 12:37, 18 June 2007 (UTC)


 * See m:Help:Substitution. You can test whether a parameter is defined with subst: #ifeq:| .--Patrick 12:37, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Square Bracket witin Importing File
Issue I am having is &lt; and &gt; in XML file being imported into a wiki. Know that they have to be shown as & lt; and & gt;, otherwise it is interpreted as being part of the XML and lost. That is fine.

The problem then is, that they are converted into &lt; and &gt; within the wiki text after it is imported. For most situations this is not a problem, however have encountered one where in a text mathematical formula &lt; and &gt; are used around a capital "B". And this is then interpreted as being the HTML code for bold, definitely not what we want.

The XML files are being generated automatically using a script, to make it fast and easy to do since there are about 70 odd pages it is generating, all with similar formats. So would be handy to sort something out so doesn't require human intervention once it is uploaded to fix the issue. Any suggestions? --Dr DBW 00:30, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Comparison of Separate Pages
Is there a manner in to make a comparison of two separate pages? Looking for something like that editing history, when you compare different versions of the same page, but want it to compare two separate pages. --Dr DBW 00:49, 18 June 2007 (UTC)


 * This doable. What you need is the oldid for both the pages you want to compare.  Find this via the Permanent Link in the toolbox menu on the left hand side of the page.  Then you put in the URL: yourdomain.com/index.php?Page_Title&diff2322&oldid888, where 2322 is the Page Titled page oldid which you want to compare to the page with oldid of 888. --Dr DBW 05:24, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

Missing Extension/Parser Functions
I'm trying to make a wiki that functions mostly like Wikipedia and other wikimedia sites but there are a few functions that are missing in the Extension Functions section under my wiki's Special:Version compared to the ones listed at Wikipedia. The missing functions are: wfLogXFF, wfACLBlocks and hrSetup. I'm also missing fundraisinglogo and fundraisingdonor2 under Parser Functions. Which extensions enable these functions? I'm using MediaWiki 1.10.0 with PHP 5.2.1 and MySQL 4.1.14 --KyL416 22:24, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

help reqd in using Extension:SimpleForm
hi i'm not able to create forms in my wiki. i've downlaoded the mootools for ajax and also downloaded from organic designs the following file OrganicDesign:Extension:SimpleForms.php and saved both in my extensions directory. how can i set a path if i'm working from a standalone system. its not working properly. its urgent can u please help me on this. regards deepak--125.16.138.136 09:29, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Postgresql over unix socket
Currently an empty $wgDBserver & $wgDBport will connect over a unix socket.

This patch allows an empty $wgDBserver to be enough to get the socket connection.

--- includes/DatabasePostgres.php.orig  2007-06-19 07:26:26.000000000 -0700 +++ includes/DatabasePostgres.php       2007-06-19 07:27:33.000000000 -0700 @@ -71,7 +71,7 @@                if ($server!=false && $server!="") { $hstring="host=$server "; } -              if ($port!=false && $port!="") { +              if ($port!=false && $port!="" && $hstring!="") { $hstring .= "port=$port "; }

Consider this the only work I'll do on this project as long as a login is required to submit a bug report.

Glad I found out about this stupid policy before I actually did any real work.

"top" - link
Hello,

Is there a possibility to add a "top"-link (a link that goes to the top of the current page) in the line of the "edit"- link ? i have set up a wikipedia for a user manual. sometimes, the content of an article is extremly long, so a link every headline would be very useful.

Thanks a lot.

--

human readable URLs as an option
For non-english Wikis encoding the URLs of articles in URL encoding looks very ugly. Would be important to have an option to use and display URLs in their original encoding, or at least UTF8. You can recognize the encoding used at the client, and also, this could be available only to clients with utf8 support. I know you recognize latin1 and utf8, but please make an option to not redirect to this encoded-url page. It's very irritating that with every new generation of software (desktop, web, ...) non-us crowd is suffering from this simple problem. Just for one minute try to enable url-encoding english-only URLs on Wikipedia, and you'll see the response, and understand the need. :-)

maintain TOC section numbering in Section Header?
I'm new to Mediawiki, and my searches on your help and FAQ haven't been able to answer this question:

I have a long TOC and automatic section numbering has been created (i.e. 1.1 Blah, 1.1.1 Blah-Blah, 1.1.2 More etc.). I want those numbers to show up in the actual section of the page. Is this possible to do? If I type them as part of the section header, they show up twice in the TOC. Any ideas?

Thank you so much for any help you can provide.


 * Heading number is not currently available (to my knowledge). --Dr DBW 22:04, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Generating MediaWiki pages from a script?
Is there a preferred way of generating MediaWiki pages from a script? Suppose I have a set of documents that I want to parse and get into a MediaWiki. Is there a canonical way of doing this?

Thanks very much, - Ben

Navigation tools
Hello, I'm from Brazil and I don't speak English very well, but i'll try...

I'm trying edit the "Navigation Tools". The useful links about Recent Changes, Discussions, Contributions, Related Articles, etc...

I need to remove some of them, but I don't know how and I didn't saw anything in the mediawiki manual.

I'm putting here a link to show what part of layout i want to change. Some things are in portuguese, but i think you will understand.

Please, help me:

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2535/helpch5.jpg

Maybe, the correct name of i want to edit is "Personal Tools" or "User Bar". I really don't know.


 * Hi. I think that this article will help http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Navigation_bar.  Basically you go to MediaWiki:Sidebar on your Wiki and then make the edits.  On the other hand, based on your jpeg, I think that those links are in the skins directory.

Thanks for your help, but it isn't this.

I will put the HTML code from the page. I don't know how to change this bar using MediaWiki or editing the MediaWiki Files.

I need to change some, remove others...

The code:

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/8255/help2qm9.jpg

And the code in the file (I find it, but i don't know how to change)

<ul><li>|</li> <?php if($this->data['notspecialpage']) { foreach( array( 'whatlinkshere', 'recentchangeslinked' ) as $special ) { ?> <li id="t-<?php echo $special?>"><a href="<?php               echo htmlspecialchars($this->data['nav_urls'][$special]['href'])                 ?>"><?php echo $this->msg($special) ?></a> | </li> <?php } } ?> <?php if($this->data['feeds']) { ?> <?php foreach($this->data['feeds'] as $key => $feed) { ?><span id="feed-<?php echo htmlspecialchars($key) ?>"><a href="<?php               echo htmlspecialchars($feed['href']) ?>"><?php echo htmlspecialchars($feed['text'])?></a> <?php } ?> | </li><?php } ?> <?php foreach( array('contributions', 'emailuser', 'upload', 'specialpages') as $special ) { ?> <?php if($this->data['nav_urls'][$special]) {?><li id="t-<?php echo $special ?>"><a href="<?php               echo htmlspecialchars($this->data['nav_urls'][$special]['href'])                ?>"><?php $this->msg($special) ?></a> | </li><?php } ?> <?php } ?>

<?php foreach($this->data['personal_urls'] as $key => $item) { ?><li id="pt-<?php echo htmlspecialchars($key) ?>"><a href="<?php              echo htmlspecialchars($item['href']) ?>"<?php if(!empty($item['class'])) { ?> class="<?php              echo htmlspecialchars($item['class']) ?>"<?php } ?>><?php echo htmlspecialchars($item['text']) ?></a> | </li> <?php } ?> </ul>