Manual talk:$wgReadOnly

Where is that message supposed to be seen?
A question from an idiot, shame on me, but I really can't find it... I insert into the settings file this text: "$wgReadOnly= ('some irrelevant explanation');" It works, because no one can edit while it is set - source view opens instead. And it doesn't work, because I don't see my text! May some other setting have interfered with it? Ilana 15:06, 12 July 2008 (UTC)
 * Try  (same as before, but without the parentheses).  i Alex  16:42, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Message not shown while using ÄÖÜ
There is no Message shown when using the German Letters ÄÖÜß within the Text...
 * Tried &amp;auml;, etc. ? --87.79.12.239 11:25, 3 February 2012 (UTC)


 * Wrong encoding of the LocalSettings.php file? --87.123.49.109 14:39, 9 January 2016 (UTC)


 * Indeed, wrong encoding of the LocalSettings.php file! My file was ANSI coded and the message did not pop up. I converted the file to UTF-8 without BOM and now the german umlaut is no problem anymore. --Wgkderdicke (talk) 22:20, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Question
Is it possible for administrators, bureaucrats, and a higher user group (developers) to edit the site when it is read-only?


 * Yes it is, because they've special rights as anons and normal user. But i'm not sure, whether it also applies to developers. Abani79 (talk) 20:13, 15 July 2012 (UTC)
 * Umm, no. $wgReadOnly applies to all user groups. If you want to restict people by group use manual:$wgGroupPermissions. Bawolff (talk) 15:22, 26 March 2014 (UTC)

Also stops log-in
It works as described but what isn't mentioned is that it also stops any log-in with message "There seems to be a problem with your login session; this action has been canceled as a precaution against session hijacking. Please resubmit the form." Which isn't very informative - it would be better if the $wgReadOnly message also appeared there.