Manual talk:LocalSettings.php

Back It Up
Make sure you back this file up. I recently had a power failure while uploading a modified version resulting in a 0 byte LocalSettings.php both local and remote. The only way I could find to restore the file was to reinstall the wiki and try to remember what had been changed.

Latex Equations
I believe there are some missing steps in the Latex equations enabling instructions in this page.

I have miktex intalled and latex is in the path. I edited LocalSettings as explained but I still receive the message: Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.)

I have seen the file but still could not make it work. I think I should have texvc executable in the math directory, but I could not make "Make" works. Is there any texvc.exe already compiled for windows? --Fredguth 18:59, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Thumbnails
Isn't $wgUseImageResize = true; also required for thumbnails? Is ImageMagick required or can MediaWiki's internal thumbnailer also be used? 203.117.95.42 06:43, 22 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Linking to an external file
Is it possible to Link to a file on an external device? Like file:\\\myserver.org\MyDocs\Letter.doc ?

(Newbie) 09 Jun 2005

yes -add file: protocol to the supported list in localSettings.php (the list definition may need to be copied from defaultSettings.php - never edit defaultSettings.php!) - bk

One user-db for multi mediaWiki's?
Hello, I will install multi mediaWiki's on my homepage, but i don't like that, the user must be regisrie/login of all my wiki's. How can/must be chance the LocalSettings.php to use one 'user'-DB?

I know/think must use
 * a one mySQL-IP (???.???.???.???)
 * a one mySQL-DataBase-Name (DB????)
 * a one mySQL-DataBase-Tabel for the user-name/-password ('user')
 * and for all wikis must set a prefix ('en_????', 'de_????', and so....)

Ok, but now? what must chance for all wikis? to use the 'user'-tabel in all wikis? How chance the prefix for 'user'-DB from 'en_user', 'de_user', ..... -> TO -> 'user' without a prefix for the 'user'-DB ?

Please can you write me onto my page discussion-page.

Thanks --FireDragon 21:03, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

OK, I have found Single login/IMSoP Now I have tempted to set the $wgSharedDB var in the LocalSettings.php, but I've got a mistake: ...(SQL query hidden)... Function "User::idFromName". MySQL ... Table 'db2000.de_user' doesn't exist (localhost)". Thats right, because I have rename the tabel 'de_user' to 'user'  In the DefaultSettings.php is: > $wgSharedDB = null; < and I write in the LocalSettings.php > $wgSharedDB = "user" or $wgSharedDB = array('user')  Please can anybody help me? I don't understand the var setting --FireDragon 10:46, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)


 * Oki, I think I have found a Bug for this problem! see more on my user-page or Bug2396 at2396 --FireDragon 21:05, 12 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Logo
The Logo section says to use the relative URL, however I had to use the full canonical URL... What gives?

$wgLogo = "$wgStylePath/common/images/wiki.png"; Should be: $wgLogo = "{$wgStylePath}/common/images/wiki.png"; and you need to define $wgStylePath not as "/var/www/html/wiki/skins/" (or whatever, that's the path from / on my machine), but as the URL path (and thanks to YOUR clue, whoever you are, I found that): $wgStylePath = "/wiki/skins/" This works like a charm for me, so I'm going to edit the Manual:LocalSettings.php so others with no previous knowledge of mediawiki setup will not be lead astray the way I was. Cheers!
 *  did you have to use the full URL? Maybe you were having the same problem I was... I think:

-Tzf 02:02, 2 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, Tzf, I'm glad it works so well for you . Though I've been a wiki admin for quite a while, I never needed more than the old wikimedia interfaces before. Now my duties in developing a new wiki involve working with LocalSettings.php, and that setting sure screwed me up. I'm not touching the article because I know that I don't know enough to do it. Ever call in to tech support with a problem and hear "Well, it works all right on my machine"? -- Thnidu 19:02, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

After a couple of hours of tinkering with the LocalSettings.php file, resizing my logo.png to below 135 x 135 px, and reloading several times, I finally found out that I had done everything done correctly the second attempt. I just hadn't cleared by browser cache so it looked like I continued to fail. LFMF, and clear that cache. Greggem 00:31, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

Renaming site:Changing $wgsitename
I need to change $wgSitename var in the LocalSettings.php since is started with "MyWiki", but i created documents such as "MyWikipedia". If I change $wgSitename to "MyWikipedia", then all the articles starting with "MyWikipedia" disappear. I want to move the "MyWikipedia" to it's own name space - essentially the sitename. Help... :-) I have a bunch of documents with the namespace of "MyWikipedia:" that want to use as the site/project name.  I'm using MediaWiki 1.5.5.  -Mitch 21:20, 12 January 2006 (UTC)
 * You can move pages into another namespace. Manual:NamespaceDupes.php might help, also see Manual:Using_custom_namespaces. --Jörgi123 (talk) 15:29, 30 April 2014 (UTC)


 * I have a similar problem but maybe a bit trickier. My site's in German, I'd like to change the site's name to something that contains an Umlaut. Doing this in LocalSettings.php I end up with funny characters on the screen, as described elsewhere. (If anybody has a solution to this I'd be very happy.) Additionally, part of the pages disappear as Mitch describes. My approach would be to create a database dump and then reinstall the wiki with a new name, then import the dump. I havent tried it yet because I'd like to find a more elegant way to do this. Any hints? --84.151.189.28 02:40, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Or you just fix the encoding of LocalSettings.php - that would save you some needless work and would also be an option. ;-) --Jörgi123 (talk) 15:29, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Enabling subpages
This article isn't very specific about what should userd change in order to enable the subpages.

Should I copy paste the syntax $wgNamespacesWithSubpages[NS_MAIN] = 1; into LocalSettings.php? --T-man 21:03, 15 November 2006 (UTC) $wgNamespacesWithSubpages[NS_MAIN] = true; &mdash; MrDolomite | Talk 21:16, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, that's the right way, T-man. See Sub-page for the list of namespace name abbreviations to use when adding lines similar to the one below in your   file.

Enabling subpages for all namespaces
Is this correct: $wgNamespacesWithSubpages = array_fill(0, 200, true);
 * 1) Enable subpages in all namespaces

Should I save Localsetting.php as utf8 encoding ?
If I want to use some ExtraNamespaces in Chinese, I have to save Localsetting.php with utf8 encoding. But sometimes some error will occur, for example, the setting in common.css page will be desable and some functions will become unstable.

When I save it with other encoding, like big5 encoding, the ExtraNamespaces in Chinese will be unable.

Now, I save Localsetting.php in English and insert a line like followed: require_once( "$IP/extensions/ExtraNamespace.php" ); The ExtraNamespace.php is a utf8 encoding file and the content of the file is the setting involved with ExtraNamespaces. Then all problems I've met will be solved.

Can I do it by this way? or I should not use any ExtraNamespaces in Chinese. But I've tried to set all ExtraNamespaces in English and change the file .\languages\messages\MessagesZh_tw.php, but I always failed. Perhaps I don't know how to edit the MessagesZh_tw.php. any ideas? --Roc michael 16:12, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Mediawiki 1.9.2 and 1.9.3 in Chinese interface
 * OS windows server 2003
 * The AppServ Open Project - 2.5.7 for Windows
 * Apache Web Server Version 2.2.3
 * PHP Script Language Version 5.1.6
 * MySQL Database Version 5.0.24a
 * phpMyAdmin Database Manager Version 2.9.0.2

wgSpamRegex
This page of the manual ought to have a link to Manual:$wgSpamRegex, which is yet another setting in the LocalSettings.php file. (I would have already added it myself if the page wasn't locked). --DavidCary 23:08, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Specific Details
**require_once( "$IP/extensions/ParserFunctions/ParserFunctions.php" );
 * MediaWiki 1.6.10
 * The two specific php lines I tried using:
 * require_once( "/extensions/Cite/Cite.php" );

Other, Possibly Related, Issues
*Unable to get my changed upper-left logo to appear. It is 135 pixels square and uploaded to the wiki itself with the path reflected in the LocalSettings.php. No logo at all is currently visible.

What has worked?
*I can upload files just fine.

How do I get my domain name to work?
I have an add on domain set up in my cpanel to point to the wiki directory inside my root directory. What do I need to do for newusconstitutionwiki.org to open when the domain name is typed. When I type in newusconstitutionwiki.org I get the following error:

The requested URL /constitutionwiki/index.php5 was not found on this server.

That is the correct name (constitutionwiki) for the directory I have the mediawiki files in!

This is the path I see in the address bar: http://newusconstitutionwiki.org/constitutionwiki/index.php5?title=Main_Page

The index.php5 file is there so what gives?

I have done searches and can't find anything that addresses this situation.

I am totally new to mediawiki!!

How to use interwiki images?
I want to use images on commons in my site. Is this possible. If yes how I can do that? -Redgwan 08:16, 23 August 2009 (UTC)
 * You should use Manual:Image_Administration. --Arseny1992 03:24, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

The Comment #UPO
Can anybody tell my what thet Comment want's to point out? I found it in multiple locations in the LocalSettings.php for example: $wgEnableUserEmail = true; # UPO I couldn't make sense of it. (and it probably is not important, since it is a comment) --153.96.161.212 16:13, 4 November 2009 (UTC)


 * It actually says what it means in the file: “UPO means: this is also a user preference option” --ucc 11:17, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

I want to remove the square brackets on edit links
I'd like to set my edit links to be denoted with CSS styling (which I have done: span.editsection {       -moz-border-radius: 2em;        -webkit-border-radius: 2em;        border-radius: 2em;        border: 1px solid white; } )

However the square brackets in the [edit] links makes this look terrible. I want them gone. I don't see a preference for this, and I cannot easily find where in what file adds these in. Any clues? 69.30.57.81 19:05, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

$wgGroupPermission BEFORE OR AFTER extension calls?
Hope I'm i the right place to ask this. Would like to know what the correct order is between $wgGroupPermission and extension require/include_once calls? Should the permission be granted before the extension is loaded? Or vice cersa?
 * Which of these two is correct:
 * $wgGroupPermissions['group'        ]['function'  ] = true;
 * require_once("$IP/extensions/Folder/File.php");
 * OR
 * require_once("$IP/extensions/Folder/File.php");
 * $wgGroupPermissions['group'        ]['function'  ] = true;

OR does it matter? I have been testing both orders and either seems to work but some extension authors insist one order while another author wants it the opposite. 'Put mine first', 'Put this last'. I just want to know how the MW core system wants. And if every author wants their stuff last what then? Confused 06:16, 11 March 2011 (UTC)
 * Usually the extension installation guides advice to first include the extension and then to set group rights for them. --Jörgi123 (talk) 13:45, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Terms of Use
I try to find out since months how to add the "; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details." phrase. What I have to do to get this text too? --213.47.162.108 12:15, 2 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Edit MediaWiki:Copyright on your wiki and add it to the existing text. Reach Out to the Truth 19:37, 3 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your advice, but it doesn't work for me. MediaWiki's MediaWiki:Copyright has a different text too. --213.47.162.108 22:36, 3 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, it has different text on this wiki. That's because Wikimedia sites override that message with a completely different message. The message isn't used on this wiki, but by default it is. If your wiki is public, can you post a link so I can take a look? Reach Out to the Truth 20:26, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Ok, my bad. The text is changed, but I can't define the reference to $2. I have to use two links (like MediaWiki)--213.47.162.108 15:32, 5 November 2011 (UTC)
 * $1 is replaced by a link to or  with the text of . $2 is not replaced by anything. So yes, you need to put the link in the message manually. Reach Out to the Truth 15:49, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Problem with installer
After walking through the installation, I get the "Complete!" page, telling me that I have successfully installed mediawiki.

The installer has generated a localsettings.php file.

The download offered, and the link on the page throws this error, however:

"Internet Explorer cannot download index.php from localhost. Internet Explorer was not able to open this Internet site. The requested site is either unavailable or cannot be found. Please try again later."

Restarting the installation results in same answer. Without this file I can't get into my wiki because it believes it to be unconfigured.

Suggestions?
 * Most probably some kind of file download problem with IE. Try with another browser. --Jörgi123 (talk) 15:12, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

consequences of disabling $wgNamespacesWithSubpages after having it be enabled
I want to disable the feature of $wgNamespacesWithSubpages so that it will not apply one of my nav templates to subpages. I am worried that it will have more of an effect on my wiki then I care to deal with. Are there any major consequences/issues that will occur if i disable $wgNamespacesWithSubpages after having it be enabled for the entires wiki's life?

Check user permissions before loading extension
Hello. I was wondering if there is a possibility to check the permissions of a wikiuser inside  and depending on the outcome load an extension? Now we are using the below code, this works fine when the wikiuser uses the same laptop or computer all the time but that is often not the case.

If possible, we would like to check if a wikiuser is member of a group like the sysop's and only then load extensionx. If the user is not part of the sysop group the extension is not loaded. Then it does not matter on which computer or laptop the user is working. Regards, --Jongfeli (talk) 07:32, 14 August 2013 (UTC)