Extension:Favorites

What can this extension do?
This extension makes it easy for users to add pages to their personal favorites list with just one click, so they can browse through them again later or share their favorites with others. It creates a new special page that contains a list of Favorites for each user, similar to the Watchlist. It also allows for the list of favorites to be publicly embedded on a page using a tag, so that anyone can use the favorites list.

Installation
Quick 4-step overview:


 * 1) Download a snapshot
 * 2) Upload to your extensions directory
 * 3) Add to LocalSettings.php, and activate your choice of options
 * 4) Update your database

To install this extension, download a snapshot, and place the Favorites extension in your MediaWiki's extensions directory. Then, add the following to LocalSettings.php:

Uncomment the parameters you want to use by deleting the "hash" (#) character in front of them.

The $wgUseIconFavorite parameter will use the same "Star" icon that is included with the Vector Watchlist portion of the Usability Initiative extension. If you are already using the Star icon for your watched items, you may want to set $wgVectorUseIconWatch to false in LocalSettings.php. This parameter will produce a tabbed text link if placed below the require_once line instead of above it. That could be less confusing to people who are used to the star icon being for adding a page to the watchlist.

The $wgFavoritesPersonalURL parameter can add a link to "My Favorites" to the Personal Urls section of MediaWiki right near "My Watchlist".

Since this extension creates a new Special page called Favoritelist, a link to this page can be added anywhere on your wiki. For example, you can add a link to the MediaWiki:Sidebar with this:

**Special:Favoritelist|Favorites

If you do that, keep in mind that the sidebar is normally used for site-wide features, while the personal URLs area is where your users will expect to find personalized information. Using the $wgFavoritesPersonalURL feature is recommended, instead of using the sidebar.

Database Update
This extension also requires a new table in your database, before it can be used.

The easiest way to do this is to run MediaWiki's standard updater (your designated database user needs to have CREATE rights on your MediaWiki database):

php maintenance/update.php

If you do not have command-line access to your server, you can manually apply the favorites.sql file's commands to your database. Remember to use the proper table prefix, if applicable.

Installation can be verified through Special:Version

Uninstalling
Most extensions can be removed by deleting them and editing LocalSettings.php to remove references to it. Since this extension makes changes to your database, removing it additionally requires undoing database changes. It's as simple as removing the favoritelist table from the database.

If you have access to your database using a tool like PHPMyAdmin, you can just delete the table. For commandline access or to use a script, you would use this command:

Usage
Users add items to the Favorite list by either selecting Favorite from the navigation menu, or by clicking the Star icon (if implemented - see Configuration parameters). Conversely, removing a Favorite from the list is a matter of clicking Unfavorite or clicking the Star a second time. Users can also edit their list through the Special:Favoritelist page using the same features included with the Watchlist.

Parser Tag
You can dynamically embed favorites on any page or template using the following tag:

This tag takes the following arguments:

editlink=true userpage=true


 * The "editlink" argument will add a link at the bottom of the list that will allow the user to edit their list of favorites.
 * The "userpage" argument will allow you to display your favorites on your user page. This argument will only work on a user page.  Of course, leaving this argument off will display the logged-in user's own list, even while viewing someone else's user page.
 * If both arguments are combined, the edit link will display, but it will take the user back to their list of favorites, not those of the user they are viewing. Of course, this could get confusing, so it's not recommended.

Examples: