Category talk:Extensions/Archive 2007 to 2013

Where to discuss extensions?
If I would like to ask the community if, a kind of functionality exists in an extension, where would be the right place to ask? And if the answer is that the functionality does not currently exist, where would I request that the developer community consider creating it? Would this page be the right venue, or is there an existing forum? Thanks! — Epastore 18:16, 27 January 2007 (UTC)


 * There is currently no central place - to find an existing extension Google is probably still your best bet. Category:Extensions and meta:Category:MediaWiki extensions are good places to look if you want browsable indexes that may not be terribly complete, and you may want to look into the other sources of communication as well.
 * Regarding 'extension requests' - there is no formal process for making requests, and to be honest any such requests are likely to be ignored, as the volunteer developers will work on the extensions they want to write, not what someone else is asking for. You basically have three options:
 * Log it on bugzilla, though this (as I say) is likely to be ignored unless it is seen as 'very desirable' for Wikipedia or its sister projects.
 * Chat to a developer on IRC or some other forum and persuade them that your idea is really good and worth them spending their time over.
 * Pay someone to write the extension for you.
 * Hope that helps... --HappyDog 00:53, 7 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Maybe, but even if such requests were ignored by most developers, it still might be a good idea to have a page with wanted extension functionality. Sometimes people out there just think it is easy to accomplish and have fun writing such an extension. --GunterS 12:49, 12 March 2007 (UTC)


 * True, so long as it is clear that such requests may not get any response. --HappyDog 12:50, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Recent reversion
Hi, I reverted this edit by Patrick, as this is not the right place to include such a link. It probably needs it's own page in the Extension namespace, but I haven't checked the link in detail so perhaps there is somewhere else it should go as well/instead. --HappyDog 13:43, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Calender Extensions
Maybe all the Calender Extensions could be consolidated under a single link?--Rovo 01:21, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

This is a wiki. You can create a new category "Calendar Extensions" as a subcategory for Extensions and put all calender extensions in that. And yes, it would be helpful. --GunterS 12:44, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Where to put a new extension?
Hi. Where can I submit a new extension I made? actually, more than an extension, I changed some code on the Wiki -thx, Chris


 * Create a page in the Extension: namespace. For example if your extension was called MyExtension then you would create a page at Extension:MyExtension.  The easiest way is to go to Template:Extension and use the box at the bottom of the page. --HappyDog 14:56, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

Extension categorization
I have manually sub categorized the extensions, and put them under category:extensions by category. Would anyone agree with removing category extension and keep only the extension subcategory. It would be easy to sub categorize the extensions that way, because the extensions with sub categories would no longer be in the extension category. Bouncingmolar 23:28, 24 June 2007 (UTC)
 * although I just realised it would be difficult to remove the extension category once a subcategory has been assigned, since the category:extension is embedded into the extension template - Bouncingmolar 23:40, 24 June 2007 (UTC)
 * What I might do is create a duplicate extension template which doesn't include the category:extension for use with sub categorized extensions. that way it could be easily reversed by readding category:extension to the duplicate template Bouncingmolar 01:05, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Sub categorization discussion
Please explain the rationale for changing a large number of extension pages to use a template which, so far as I can see, provides no additional benefit. Examples of this are, , and. robchurch | talk 14:27, 27 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Hi robchurch. Yes I have made a template called extension categorized which is a duplicate of the extension template. The only difference is that it does not contain the category:extension.
 * The rational behind this move is that I have been going through every single extension manually and sub categorizing them and placing them within the subcategory category:extensions by category. I created a duplicate template because it is easy to revert if my work is disputed with the trade off of having an identical duplicate template. However I hope that you can see that I am slowly making progress. Why remove the you may ask? Well the main reason is that it is extremely difficult to sub categorize the extensions because it is hard to tell which ones are already sub categorized. This way the sub categorized ones are nolonger within this category and the uncategorized ones are retained in the extension category. I was using the category convention used in wikipedia. I just assumed it applied to mediawiki as well.
 * "Articles should not usually be in both a category and its subcategory. For example Golden Gate Bridge is in Category:Suspension bridges, so it should not also be in Category:Bridges."
 * I realise this rule doesn't apply to everything so if you think I should revert them all once i've finished sub categorizing everything let me know... however sub categorizing is proving to be a very slow process.
 * -Bouncingmolar 14:48, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

In that case, please make the change to the template in use. We do not wish to encourage forking of templates with an identical purpose, as it doubles the maintenance overhead. I would suggest making a complete list of all pages which need to be processed prior to removing the categorisation from the template, and then updating these. robchurch | talk 14:57, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I see what you are saying Rob; that we don't need identical templates because if a new version of the template is made we have to update both. However the templates are not identical (even if it is only a minor difference). The Main purpose of the alternative template is that it has the removed. The problem with  modifying the original template:extension is that the category:extension information is stored there!(as i mentioned on the category:extension talk page.) :If i remove the extension category from the template then un categorized extensions will not be listed in the main extension category nor the extension subcategories. Which is a problem! So what the modified template does is it allows me to retain the original template structure without removing the category from all of the uncategorized extensions. I hope that makes sense.
 * Bouncingmolar 15:06, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

No, the categorisation difference is trivial. As I suggested above, use a list to store current categorisations and update the pages with them, or keep a list of extension pages which have been updated.

The current behaviour, introducing a useless extra template that will need to be changed back later is disruptive and redundant. You also provided no justification in the form of edit summaries, which is considered courteous in the least. robchurch | talk 15:13, 27 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Ok... making a list in either form as you suggest is easy to say but to do is another story. To illustrate my point I have already today sub categorized approximately 200 extensions. That requires loading each extension page and editing it (as well as reading most of them to understand what category they belong). It has taken me several hours to get this far and I am not even close to completing 1/4 of the extensions listed under the extension category. Unless you have an automated way of doing this I can't see an easier way to do it. Furthermore this is only todays progress. I created the category: extension by sub category and extension by author and some of the extension sub categories which I moved hundreds of extensions into prior to today.
 * I'm sorry that you think that my efforts to sub categorize the extensions is disruptive. but in my opinion it will make it easier for everyone to find the extension with the features they want, which is a huge improvement from sifting through every single extension, many oddly named. On a side note, because I think that the edit summaries is an entirely different and minor issue, I apologize for a lack of edit summaries. Unfortunately I gave up after the first few extensions, but if you have a tool I can use let me know! i'm all ears! Bouncingmolar 15:38, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I just realised. this may be the list you are after? Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:Extension_categorized Bouncingmolar 15:42, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * OK I've figured out where sub categories can be added to the type field in the template:extension but I still have the problem that I can't tell which extensions are already sub categorized. I'm not going to make a list unless there is a way to tell which extensions are uncategorized. Currently if someone added a new extension I wouldn't know. I suggest removing the template that I have created after I have been able to sub categorize everything. Then we can as you have suggested modify the original template to include the sub categories under the 'type' field. But at the moment making a template which will have to be removed later is the easiest way i can think of doing it. Maybe a little help would not go astray. Bouncingmolar 16:13, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Bouncingmolar: The forked template will not be kept. It is unnecessary to fork in this manner - instead a new field should be added to the existing template. All your edits that involve a switch to this new template will need switching back, and adapting to use the new field in the main template. See below for further discussion. I will look at the template and try and fix it to help you figure out what has and hasn't been categorised, but we need to agree to the structure I suggest below (with whatever modifications we choose to make) before I do that. You can hold of making the switch back until Template:Extension is updated though. --HappyDog 17:04, 27 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Happydog: yes I totally agree that removing the template... infact I think i've already said that in the last sentence I wrote. What i also said though was that this is an intermediate step. Since I am currently the only (or was the only) person sub categorizing them I had to do this as an intermediate step. I am perfectly happy to edit all of the template:extension categorized extensions after I have sub categorized them all. more discussion in the discussion below.... Bouncingmolar 10:43, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

How should extensions be categorised?
Here is how I think the extensions should be categorised. The top-level Category:Extensions just contains the sub-cats listed here. Each of the sub-categories (except 'All extensions') also contains only further sub-categories. Any pages in the categories themselves are awaiting classification. This will all be achieved automatically by Template:Extension, once we have agreed the structure.


 * Category:Extensions
 * Category:All extensions (all extensions go in here)
 * Category:Extensions by function/Category:Extensions by purpose (filled in from a new "function" or "purpose" field, whichever makes the most sense - however not "category", as that is just confusing.)
 * Category:Extensions by status (filled in from 'status')
 * Category:Extensions by type (filled in from 'type')
 * Category:Extensions by author (filled in from 'author')

Personally, I don't see any need for the 'by author' category. To me this appears to be categorisation for the sake of it. It might be more useful to have an 'extension authors' category that links to user pages of extension authors. Anyway - if people see a need for this, it is fairly easy to add from the template. Bear in mind that having a 'by author' category will require a lot of empty category pages to be created (in mulitple languages?), often holding just one item...

The above categories can all be filled in automatically from the existing template, with a few minor tweaks. The newly forked template should be deleted and all changes reverted/incorporated into the existing template.

Thoughts about this before any changes are made?

--HappyDog 17:04, 27 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Very good idea HappyDog, I like it. :-)


 * However, I'd like if you'd drop the Category:Extensions by author - I think it's the best if it will be added manually. Sometimes the author is unknown, or has written only one extension, so we'd end up with dozens of almost-empty categories this way...thoughts? -- Sayuri 17:11, 27 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Well - I don't think we need it at all (whether filled automatically or not). If someone could give an example of why it might be useful (rather than just encouraging authors to list their extensions on their user page) then please say so, otherwise I suggest we omit it entirely. --HappyDog 17:18, 27 June 2007 (UTC)


 * I agree - it can be kept as a parameter on the template, no need for those categories. -- Sayuri 17:42, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Look just to keep the sub category extension by author in context. I didn't actually make the sub category and pull up a bunch of extensions and extract the author information. What actually happened when I was trying to sub categorize everything a few extension authors had made a sub category after their name. These categories were listed directly under the extension category. I also thought they were pointless but I also did not want to anger the authors of the extensions so I retained their categories but moved them under the category:extensions by Author. Go to that category and you will see author categories which I have absolutely nothing to do with creating! If you have a problem with authors creating their own categories then perhaps you should tell them. I was just trying to move them out of the extension category to reduce the clutter to make my sub categorizing easier for my self. In my opinion which you may think does not count for much, I say let them have their small kilobyte of glory, but lets just move it out of the way. Bouncingmolar 10:47, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * by the way I like the proposed extension tree you have created happydog. If you guys make a protocol that you can follow yourself... (ie not just me slogging it out by myself) then I would be happy to help subcategorize everything Bouncingmolar 10:53, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Hi Bouncingmolar. The point about authors was in no way directed at you.  Most author categories exist because the extension pages that were imported from meta included the cat tag and it was never removed here, so given that they were red-linked it is unsurprising that the categories were subsequently created here, and it was helpful of you to organise them in the way you have.  However it seems the general view so far (and one I very much agree with) is that the author cats should be removed entirely.  Once we have agreed the structure (I'd give it a few more days at least, to see if there are any more comments) then I will make the necessary changes to the template and the top-level cats, as well as moving any existing cats to the right place.  I will probably leave the creation of new categories to other people though.  Before that happens, you will need to switch all your changes back to using the standard template, as I will delete that when I make the changes.
 * Re: Purpose/function/whatever - This category will hold sub-cats listing extensions by their pupose/functionality. E.g. 'calendar extensions', 'youtube extensions', 'authentication extensions', etc.  We need to decide (a) what to call this parameter (I think neither 'purpose' nor 'function' are ideal), and (b) how it should be implemented.  Ideally it will simply be a new line "|purpose=calendar" or similar, which will display "Purpose: Calendar" in the infobox and add the extension to Category:Calendar extensions.  However this will only work if extensions belong only to one 'purpose' category.  Are there situations where this is not the case?  If so some other method is needed.  (Bouncingmolar: you may want to wait until this is decided before 'switching back' your pages, as you could then do both (change back, plus add the new field) in one go.) --HappyDog 12:02, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

The physical subcategorization process
I have been thinking about the practicality of the process required. The biggest obstical to assigning categories to uncategorized extensions is being able to tell which extensions have no category. i.e knowing the uncategorized extensions makes an easy shortlist for subcategory addition. So if we are going to use the template modification mentioned by happydog there needs to be a way to separate categorized from non categorized. Otherwise there is always the temporary duplicate template idea which can be deleted again after subcategorization. Bouncingmolar 08:34, 29 June 2007 (UTC)


 * This will be handled by my changes to the extension template. Extensions with no category will 'drop through' to a suitable category which is just for this purpose. The templating system here is pretty advanced - there is NEVER any need for duplicate templates!  --HappyDog 12:05, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Awesome sounds good! Bouncingmolar 13:09, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * When shall I start reverting the extensions with the temporary template? Bouncingmolar 13:11, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Will we also be able to tell these apart from the extensions that have not used the template at all?