Project:Support desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/008

External editors
I have this problem with ee.pl. Nobody can help me?—B3t 10:24, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

two navigation bars AND custom image in the navigation bar

 * MediaWiki version:i cant find the version number but i downloaded it a month ago
 * PHP version:
 * MySQL version:
 * URL:

hi, am a very new to wikipedia... its a simple question :-) how to get two navigation bars on wikimedia? one left and one right? regards, ar

second question: i would like to add a image to the sidebar like: bild:seitenbanner.jpg
 * navigation
 * Spezial:Alle_Seiten|Alle Seiten
 * mainpage|mainpage-description
 * portal-url|portal
 * currentevents-url|currentevents
 * recentchanges-url|recentchanges
 * randompage-url|randompage
 * Index|Index
 * helppage|help
 * SEARCH
 * TOOLBOX
 * LANGUAGES

the preview shows the image but when i save the sidebar, the picture does not appear. what can i do?

—78.55.33.253 09:22, 20 April 2010 (UTC)


 * For the second question see here. — Matěj Grabovský 20:31, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Novice user needs help backing up Wiki site

 * MediaWiki version: Don't know how to find this out
 * PHP version: Don't know how to find this out
 * MySQL version: Don't know how to find this out
 * URL: Intranet site

Dear colleagues,

I have been ordered to back up a Wiki site used internally on my employer's intranet site.

I found the following link to back up a Wiki :

http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Exporting_all_the_files_of_a_wiki

And a link on this page taking me here :

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:AllPages

Can anyone advise on what I need to fill in on this link? It asks for "Display pages starting at:" and "Display pages ending at:". What do I put in these fields? I tried inserting the url for my wiki site but this did not work.

Unfortunately I have no knowledge whatsoever about Mediawiki so have no idea how to back it up. None of the terminology means anything to me. I don't even know how to find out which version of Mediawiki I'm using! Any help appreciated.

—129.230.248.1 11:20, 4 May 2010 (UTC)


 * To find out the version of MediaWiki that you're using, go to Special Pages in your wiki and then choose the page Version. To backup your database, check Manual:Backing up a wiki. Hamilton Abreu 19:39, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

How do I convert a Mediawiki page to HTML
How do I convert a mediawiki page to HTML? 71.100.1.71 12:22, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
 * See Extension:DumpHTML. — Matěj Grabovský 20:23, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Saving pages in Wiki; possible statistics

 * MediaWiki version: 1.15.1
 * PHP version: 5.2.5 (apache2handler)
 * MySQL version: 5.0.26
 * URL:


 * Is it possible for user to save different Wiki articles as one pdf-file or other file for printing? Or how to do it possible in MediaWiki?
 * Is it possible to make user specific statistics, e.g. to see from which country the changes were made?

Thank you!

—193.103.148.88 09:26, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
 * For the first part, I think you may want Extension:Collection; for the second part, you'll need to use a web analytics software such as Piwik with Extension:Piwik Integration. i Alex  12:23, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

WMF branch sync with trunk

 * MediaWiki version: 1.16wmf4 (r65931)

What's up with the WMF branch? When are updates to the trunk moved to the WMF branch? I see that there are issues fixed in the trunk for a couple of weeks now, but still not in effect in the WMF branch. (Referring to the English wikipedia here.)

Thanks, -Nageh 08:29, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Only few revisions from trunk are merged in the WMF branch (generally important fixes). You will have to wait until next full software update to have these fixes live on Wikipedia (don't ask me when this will happen; I don't know). i Alex  12:19, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Running_MediaWiki_on_Red_Hat_Linux

 * MediaWiki version:
 * PHP version:
 * MySQL version:
 * URL:

The advice on the above page is about useless, RHL hasn't been around for years having beeen replaced by Red Hat Enterprise Linux (and CentOS) and Fedora.

A document that does not cover installing mediawiki and keeping SELInux enabled isn't going to get it installed as securely as it might be.

Documentation addressing RHEL 4,5 and the forthcoming 6 (and CentOS), plus Fedora 12 (11 will become unsupported shortly) and 13 (nearing release) would be useful

—58.6.192.22 07:14, 16 May 2010 (UTC) John Summerfield j20100516@js.id.au

Wiki got spammed
Recently my wiki got spammed. I tried some google searches and couldn't find the exact problem. The problem is basically when someone searches my site on google, some of the result pages link to spam, but if you go to the actual page there is no spam. Searching "site:www.koreanwikiproject.com" on google gives a lot of "Buy cialis" links, and recently I edited a page, and the next page was spam, clicked reload and made it go away (this only happened once for some reason). Could anyone help me identify this problem or how to fix it? Any help would be appreciated, thank you —Bluesoju 01:58, 15 May 2010 (UTC)
 * MediaWiki version: 1.15.0
 * PHP version: 5.2.13 (cgi-fcgi)
 * MySQL version:5.0.88-userstats-log
 * URL: http://www.koreanwikiproject.com/wiki
 * Possibly someone hacked your site, inserted some php code into mediawiki files that triggers randomly (hard to know for sure if thats the issue without looking at the code). (if you have wordpress installed, might have something to do with that as the generator on the spam version of the page is set to wordpress). Perhaps re-install all your files and check for any security issues. Bawolff 04:23, 15 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Should I go with a fresh install? I'm worried it might leave the infected files intact, but also not really sure how i would get it back to my old wiki. I guess copy the uploaded files folder, skins, and reinstall my extensions. You think that will do? I do have wordpress installed, but it seems that only the wiki pages generate spam, so I think it's either my wiki or sql that is generating the spam. --Bluesoju 00:27, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * You have to rescue first what you don't want to lose, but first check if they aren't hacked too. You can still dump your MySQL database (I think). --Diego Grez return fire 01:39, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * By rescue you mean backup right? The problem is, I don't know the source of the hack, so I don't know how to check or where. Which is why I wanted to do a fresh install and load my files i previously uploaded and use the same database --Bluesoju 02:30, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Sure, but check twice if they aren't hacked :) --Diego Grez return fire 02:38, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * I wish I knew how. The odd thing too is these google search results don't take you to the spam actual website, it just brings my page rankings down :( --Bluesoju 02:42, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Do you really need these hacks? If I were you, I should just do a fresh install, to avoid any further problems. Maybe these hacks provoked the unstability of your website that caused the spamming. Just backup the database :) --Diego Grez return fire 02:55, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * What "hacks" do you mean? All I need is the files i've uploaded, because there are thousands. I guess i'll just try a fresh install. Do I just copy and paste the files into the new mediawiki and import my settings file? --Bluesoju 03:28, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

1st step: Download MediaWiki. 2nd step. Upload it to your website. 3rd step. Install it. That is a fresh install. Do not edit any file. That provoked certainly the security hole. --Diego Grez return fire 03:30, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Did a fresh install so we'll see how that goes. Found the source of the evil, it was in the index php file at the bottom, a bunch of compressed text that apparently contains arrays of other junk. This is for anyone else who might get this problem, now idea how the code was injected though. --Bluesoju 12:13, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Even after a fresh install, somehow the code got injected back in a few days later! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh why am I the only one having this problem? --Bluesoju 04:19, 21 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Probably the same way it happened the first time. Check your web server access logs to see what happened. Quite possibly they are attacking some other php script you happen to have installed that is insecure. fix whatever hole allowed the bad people to hack you in the first place (if you can't find one, making sure your webserver and other software is up to date is a good first step). Change passwords on the offchance that the attacker knows your password, etc. Bawolff 02:43, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Import dump and templates problem
I imported a wiktionary dump with mwdumper and templates are broken. I am trying to create a mirror of different wiktionary sites and I am encountering trouble with imported templates. After a fresh install of the necessary components on mac osx (please see below for mediawiki versions and extension info), I am using mwdumper and the swedish wiktionary dump to import the swedish wiktionary db info. The import runs fine. However, when I look at the pages, all the templates are not transcluding. What I am seeing is something like Template:some template, where I should be seeing the transcluded template data.Clicking on the template itself redirects to a page edit page where it is possible to enter in some template data, and when I go back to the original page which has the template and "preview" it on the edit page, the template works. Therefore, it doesn't seem that this is a parser issue... it seems more like problem with the import itself.Furthermore, in looking at the rows in the "page" table of the db, I noticed that all the template entries have a namespace of 14... that seems odd because the template namespace is 10.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? I would really appreciate any information on how to resolve this issue. Thanks in advance!

Product Version MediaWiki 1.15.3 PHP 5.2.12 (apache2handler) MySQL 5.1.46 Extensions Cite (Version r47190) ParserFunctions (Version 1.1.1) Winter (Wiki INTERpreter) (Version 2.2.0)


 * Did you set manual:$wgCapitalLinks to false? . Bawolff 02:35, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Infobox alternating colors
Wookieepedia's infobox templates alternate colors on the lines between white and light grey. Mine refuse to do that, even when I copy the template word for word. I also copied Common.css, Common.js, Monobook.css, Monobook.js, Functions.js, Upload.js completely over from Wookieepedia, and I installed every single extension they have. Still my infoboxes refuses to alternate colors. In fact I don't think any of the java is working. I distinctly remember having this same problem about a year and a half ago with another Wiki and I managed to fix it somehow.. but I don't remember. Any suggestions? -- 69.76.11.171 03:00, 22 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Try contacting one of our more tech-savvy admins such as Xwing328, Darth Culator, or Grunny directly. They should be able to help you out. 76.250.186.216 (Master Jonathan on Wookieepedia) 18:52, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

[RESOLVED] URL variables to automate an edit

 * MediaWiki version: 1.15.3
 * PHP version: 5.2.10-2ubuntu6.4 (apache2handler)
 * MySQL version: 5.0.87-b20-log
 * URL: http://starwars.wikia.com/

Hello. I am trying to create a URL that can open the edit box, autofill the box with a snippet of code, and save the page, all with one click. I remember seeing such URLs on userpages on Wikipedia, but can't seem to find them again to get the code from them. We already have something similar with our vandal reporting template, which uses variables(?) in the URL to set block expiry and other settings on the Special:Block page. Essentially, what I'm looking to do is take step 2 in this template and modify it to provide a URL that would be something like  http://starwars.wikia.com/index.php?title=Wookieepedia:Featured_article_nominations&action=edit&section=new&text=&save=yes . This would simplify that step of the nomination process slightly, but I'm not sure how to code the last two parts. Is this possible, and if so, how? wikia:starwars:User:Master Jonathan 23:28, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Use &preload= to prefil the box. Auto saving you'd need to use javascript. See Manual:Parameters to index.php for a list of url parameters. Consider also using extension:Inputbox Bawolff 02:39, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Never mind, I found the JS code for this on Wikipedia. Since installing that code on a sitewide basis isn't practical, particularly since I'm not an admin, I'll probably just leave it the way it is. Thanks for the help anyway. wikia:starwars:User:Master Jonathan 03:05, 25 May 2010 (UTC)

[RESOLVED] Log in error after installing MediaWiki.

 * MediaWiki version: 1.15.3
 * PHP version: 5.2.13(cgi)
 * MySQL version: 5.0.81-log
 * URL:

After successful installation of MediaWiki, I try to log in with the account information which was entered on the same page as the database information. I enter the username and password then it gives me the error:

Login 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.

I can create a new user and it does the same thing.

Please help! Thank you.

—173.217.106.74 21:21, 23 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Do you have a link or it is intranet? --Diego Grez return fire 21:25, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
 * The URL is www.rocketwiki.org. Feel free to create a new account. Bigone5500 21:48, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I've got the same problem. I hope someone more experienced pops in. --Diego Grez return fire 22:24, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Works fine for me. (if it didn't work fine, I was going to make the guess that perhaps you had something related to session support misconfigured in php.ini) Bawolff 02:32, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
 * How can I get support for getting the php.ini file to be configured correctly? Bigone5500 21:08, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Bigone5500, it seems that the problem was fixed, I managed to login too. Could you try logging in too by yourself? --Diego Grez return fire 21:11, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Guys, this is great. But I really wish I knew what was going on. I like when things start working, but when they fix themselves, it leaves one wondering what happened to begin with. Bigone5500 22:07, 24 May 2010 (UTC)
 * I don't know either :) It is working pretty good --Diego Grez return fire 22:20, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

[RESOLVED] Change default skin for entire wiki

 * MediaWiki version: 1.15.3
 * PHP version: 5.2.13(cgi)
 * MySQL version: 5.0.81-log
 * URL:

How can I make the skin 'Cologne Blue' the default skin for the entire wiki and disable changing it to another? —Bigone5500 21:08, 25 May 2010 (UTC)


 * $wgDefaultSkin. Happy ‑ melon 21:13, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Is this changed in the php.ini file? --Bigone5500 22:34, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
 * No, in LocalSettings.php you add:


 * If you want Vector, you can change it to any other skin, like "nostalgia", "chick", etc. This won't override the user's preferences. --Diego Grez return fire 22:36, 25 May 2010 (UTC)


 * How can I disable being able to change this for registered users? Bigone5500 22:38, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
 * You can't, but most likely people will use the default skin. --Diego Grez return fire 22:39, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks guys! Bigone5500 23:01, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
 * I have added a line in LocalSettings.php to include the above code. I changed the text to cologneblue. I logged out and hit ctrl>F5 and the skin stayed at the default. What do you think I did wrong? Bigone5500 23:24, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Try logging out. And check if you added $wgDefaultSkin = "cologneblue"; --Diego Grez return fire 23:36, 25 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Is there a proper place I should insert this code? —Bigone5500 22:03, 26 May 2010 (UTC)
 * (2 edit conflicts) You should place that everywhere into your LocalSettings.php. --Diego Grez return fire 22:06, 26 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Not to sound really dumb, but what is meant by 'everywhere'? --Bigone5500 22:58, 26 May 2010 (UTC)
 * <_< Place that at the very bottom of your LocalSettings. OK? --Diego Grez return fire 23:00, 26 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Awesome! That did it Diego! Thanks man! --Bigone5500 23:06, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

No problem. Glad to help. --Diego Grez return fire 04:23, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

(resolved/invalid) Mediawiki is friendly to spammers

 * MediaWiki version:
 * PHP version:
 * MySQL version:
 * URL:

This message is about the site/organisation. I posted somewhere here on May 16, using a time-expiring email address. Just as well it expires, it got flooded with spam. Google finds it sitting in clear view

The (now expired) email address I used is j20100516@js.id.au

—58.6.192.22 09:05, 28 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Thats not a mediawiki issue. We can't stop users from doing stupid things like that if they want to. Bawolff 10:09, 28 May 2010 (UTC)

(RESIGNED) Short URLs

 * MediaWiki version: 1.15.4
 * PHP version: 5.2.*
 * MySQL version: 5.0.81-community
 * URL: [www.giantspedia.netai.net]

I'm trying to make Short URLs at my wiki but now my pages are styleless (no CSS). Why? My installation directory is not /w but /public_html but in LocalSettings.php change /w to /public_html have the same effect as making no changes. What I got to do?

—81.190.174.209 13:53, 28 May 2010 (UTC)