Extension:GettingStarted
 Release status: stable |
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|---|---|
| Implementation | User interface, API |
| Description | Delivers task suggestions to new editors and shows editors how to complete those tasks |
| Author(s) |
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| Latest version | Continuous updates |
| MediaWiki | 1.25+ |
| License | GNU General Public License 2.0 or later |
| Download | |
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| Translate the GettingStarted extension if it is available at translatewiki.net | |
| Issues | Open tasks · Report a bug |
The GettingStarted extension provides an onboarding process for new editors of Wikipedia.
The extension was deployed by the Growth team circa 2014. However, in October, 2014, the Growth team disbanded and since then a number of the extension's authors have shifted focus. The extension is still maintained by Sam Smith.
Features
- UX/UI described in more detail at Onboarding new Wikipedians
GettingStarted provides several interfaces for suggesting introductory tasks to newly-registered editors, and it uses guided tours to show them how to complete their first edits.
If CentralAuth is installed, GettingStarted users are redirected back to their internal referrer (or the main page, if there was no referrer) post-registration. After users are sent back, they are provided with an invitation to either edit the current page or take a suggestion of something easy to edit.
Without CentralAuth, the above is the same, but the standard core interstitial page letting you change your preferences (or click a link to return) shows. The link to their internal referrer is modified to include a GettingStarted parameter (triggering the above-mentioned invitation).
Installation
- Install the required dependencies:
- EventLogging (for logging)
- GuidedTour (for providing tours and tooltips)
- Redis (for maintaining its lists of articles)
- Download and place the file(s) in a directory called
GettingStartedin yourextensions/folder. - Add the following code at the bottom of your LocalSettings.php:
wfLoadExtension( 'GettingStarted' );
- Configure as required
Done – Navigate to Special:Version on your wiki to verify that the extension is successfully installed.
Done – Navigate to To users running MediaWiki 1.27 or earlier:
The instructions above describe the new way of installing this extension using wfLoadExtension().
If you need to install this extension on these earlier versions (MediaWiki 1.27 and earlier), instead of wfLoadExtension( 'GettingStarted' );, you need to use:
require_once "$IP/extensions/GettingStarted/GettingStarted.php";
Configuration
The following configuration parameters are provided:
$wgGettingStartedTasks$wgGettingStartedCategoriesForTaskTypes$wgGettingStartedExcludedCategories$wgGettingStartedRedis$wgGettingStartedRedisSlave$wgGettingStartedRedisOptions$wgGettingStartedRunTest$wgvTaskRecommendationsExperimentV1StartDate$wgTaskRecommendationsExperimentV1EndDate
API
| gettingstartedgetpages | |
|---|---|
This module cannot be used as a generator. |
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| Prefix | gsgp |
| Required rights | none |
| Post only? | No |
| Generated help | Current |
The extension implements a MediaWiki API query list submodule "gettingstartedgetpages" that supplies
- suggested pages to work on
- or simply related pages.
"Related pages" relies on the morelike: prefix search feature of the Cirrus Search extension.
Suggested pages are optional for the GettingStarted new user experience and they only appear if the wiki has appropriate task categories set.
GettingStarted stores lists of articles in Redis, populating them from on-wiki categories such as English Wikipedia's All articles needing copy edit according to the configuration in $wgGettingStartedCategoriesForTaskTypes. You may also exclude certain categories via $wgGettingStartedExcludedCategories.
On the Wikimedia cluster, configuration settings in InitialiseSettings.php determine their value.
View the generated API documentation for the gettingstartedgetpages API module on English Wikipedia. The following are examples of types of pages you request from the API:
- Get 10 random pages, related to Earth
- Get a single random page that needs copy-editing.
- Get three random pages needing copy-editing, in XML.
Developer notes
- Setting up the environment for automated browser testing
The extension's automated browser tests require that:
- The
$wgGettingStartedCategoriesForTaskTypesvariable has been configured in InitialiseSettings.php; and - The
populate_categories.phpmaintenance script has been run.
For example, if and when the extension's nightly build starts failing because there aren't any suggestions (see https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/diffusion/EGST/browse/master/tests/browser/features/modal_on_editable_returnto.feature$10), then run the populate_categories.php maintenance script on the Beta Cluster, i.e.
ssh deployment-tin.deployment-prep.eqiad.wmflabs
foreachwikiindblist gettingstarted-with-category-suggestions.dblist extensions/GettingStarted/maintenance/populate_categories.php
See also
- List of MediaWiki messages used (English Wikipedia version)
 | This extension is being used on one or more Wikimedia projects. This probably means that the extension is stable and works well enough to be used by such high-traffic websites. Look for this extension's name in Wikimedia's CommonSettings.php and InitialiseSettings.php configuration files to see where it's installed. A full list of the extensions installed on a particular wiki can be seen on the wiki's Special:Version page. |