Interwiki integration

This page is for proposing and discussing interwiki integration ideas.

Create wikispaces and langspaces
Add database fields to the page table and related tables for wikispaces and langspaces in addition to the existing namespaces. Combine all local wikis into one big wikifarm.

All configuration settings will need to be unified for the one big wikifarm. This is not necessarily a disadvantage from the point of view of efficiency, but will mean that it's not possible to experiment on a per-wiki basis, unless the configuration setting system is revamped to allow this.

Advantages

 * Allow for integrated watchlists, integrated RecentChanges, interwiki page existence detection, etc.

Disadvantages

 * Less ability to run isolated tests on small wikis without risking crashing the entire wikifarm?
 * Could be hard to implement, requiring hundreds of changes to the core

Create central database/website as clearinghouse for interwiki data sharing
Create a central database/website as a clearinghouse for interwiki data sharing. Have local wikis retrieve data from it (e.g. for producing interwiki watchlists, recentchanges, and existence-detecting links) via the backend, and allow remote wikis to pull data from it.

Advantages

 * Might be easier to implement, since aside from the clearinghouse implementation code, it would only require creating extensions that link into existing hooks.

Disadvantages

 * Might not be as elegant a solution as creating wikispaces and langspaces.