Extension:WhosOnline

MediaWiki extensions manual

WhosOnline Release status: stable
Implementation	User activity , Special page
Description	Creates a list of logged-in users currently online
Author(s)	Maciej Brencz
Latest version	1.9.0 (December 2025)
Compatibility policy	Snapshots releases along with MediaWiki. Master is not backward compatible.
MediaWiki	1.39.4+
Database changes	Yes
Tables online
Parameters $wgWhosOnlineShowRealName $wgWhosOnlinePerWiki $wgWhosOnlineTimeout
Hooks used BeforePageDisplay LoadExtensionSchemaUpdates
Licence	GNU General Public License 2.0 or later
Download	Download extension Git [?]: Browse repository (GitHub) Gerrit code review Git commit log Download source tarball
Translate the WhosOnline extension if it is available at translatewiki.net
Issues	Open tasks · Report a bug

The WhosOnline extension adds a special page, Special:WhosOnline, which shows the list of all logged-in users currently viewing the wiki. It creates this list by finding all users who last viewed any page on the wiki less than the time ago specified by the setting $wgWhosOnlineTimeout, which by default is one hour.

Installation

• Download and move the extracted WhosOnline folder to your extensions/ directory.
  Developers and code contributors should install the extension from Git instead, using:

  cd extensions/
  git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/mediawiki/extensions/WhosOnline
  

• Add the following code at the bottom of your LocalSettings.php file:

  wfLoadExtension( 'WhosOnline' );
  

• Run the update script which will automatically create the necessary database tables that this extension needs.
• Done – Navigate to Special:Version on your wiki to verify that the extension is successfully installed.

Usage

Users who login after the extension is installed can be seen at Special:WhosOnline. Refresh the page if it is blank. It is possible to transclude the contents of the special page into another page: {{:Special:WhosOnline}}. If you use {{:Special:WhosOnline/10/shownav}} it will only show 10 users and will have the navigation controls.