Project Wiki Midlife Upgrade

Project Wiki Midlife Upgrade
Status	In progress
Contact	Mark
Last Update	2025-06-21

Wiki Midlife Upgrade

This page collects ideas and notes for a midlife upgrade of the wiki, aimed at improving its look and overall user experience. Some changes are planned to be done, while others are ideas to explore further later.

Mediawiki version update

• To update the Mediawiki version from 1.31 (2018) to 1.43: Upgrades from older versions of MediaWiki have to be performed in multiple steps. To upgrade from 1.31 to 1.43 first upgrade the wiki to 1.35 (or 1.39), and then, you'll be able to upgrade to 1.43. Source: Manual:Upgrading

Skins

We can try out the following skins for a more visually appealing wiki:

• Medik - Example

• Kiwi - Example

• Pivot - Example

• Timeless

• Chameleon

Extra/interesting extensions

• DynamicPageList3 (DPL3) extension: to create dynamic lists of pages from categories, and include thumbnails easily. Automatically generate pages based on tags or categories added to individual tool pages without creating separate templates for each category. Also can provide an overview of all pages with a particular template/sjabloon.

• PageImages extension: allows you to automatically display thumbnails of images from pages.

• VisualEditor: Provides a visual editor interface for editing wiki pages, offering a more user-friendly alternative to wikitext editing

• WikiEditor extension: provides an improved interface wysiwyg (primarily a toolbar) for editing wikitext.

• Invitesignup extension: facilitates sending invitation emails for user signup.

• DynamicPageList extension: create hierarchy with pages that show all the links to pages within a category automatically generated based on categories in sidebar.

• Titlekey extension: case insensitive hoofd letter gevoelig zoek woord suggestie.

• CirrusSearch extension in combination with Elasticsearch: provides more powerful search capabilities and can be configured to exclude certain types of content from the search index zoals wanneer het zoekwoord in de link naar een andere pagina voorkomt, dat zou je kunnen uitsluiten.

• HotCat extension: to be able to quickly add categories

• Content Translation extension or alternativaly GoogleTranslate Extension to auto translate pages from Dutch to English.

• Semantic MediaWiki: be able to search only inside one or multiple categories, provide more refined search options, including category-specific searches.

• MobileFrontend: Optimizes MediaWiki for mobile devices, ensuring a better user experience on smartphones and tablets.

• CategoryTree: Enhances the display of category structures on the wiki, making it easier for users to navigate and explore content.

• PdfHandler: Enables MediaWiki to handle PDF files, providing features like thumbnail generation and embedding of PDF documents into wiki pages.

• MultimediaViewer: Enhances the viewing experience for multimedia files (images, videos) directly on wiki pages.

• SecureLinkFixer: Helps automatically fix broken links caused by changes from HTTP to HTTPS, ensuring secure browsing on your wiki.

• PageForms: Allows users to create and edit wiki pages using forms, making data entry more intuitive and structured.

• UploadWizard: Provides a user-friendly interface for uploading files to your wiki, supporting batch uploads and metadata handling.

• TemplateData: Enhances the usability of templates by providing metadata (such as parameters and descriptions) that can be used by VisualEditor and other tools.

• ReplaceText: Enables administrators to perform batch replacements of text across wiki pages, helping with maintenance and content updates.

• 3D extension: allows users to embed interactive 3D models in various formats directly within wiki pages. This extension supports formats like STL (Standard Triangle Language) and OBJ (Wavefront Object), commonly used for 3D printing and modeling.

Changes in the file LocalSettings.php

• To disable the option 'this is a minor edit', change the following in LocalSettings.php:

- $wgGroupPermissions['*']['minoredit'] = false;

- $wgGroupPermissions['user']['minoredit'] = false;

- $wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['minoredit'] = false;

- $wgGroupPermissions['bot']['minoredit'] = false;

• To hide the tabs 'discussion' and the 'talk', change the following in LocalSettings.php:

- $wgNamespaceProtection[NS_TALK] = ['noedit'];

- $wgGroupPermissions['*']['noedit'] = true;

- $wgGroupPermissions['user']['noedit'] = true;

- $wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['noedit'] = true;

- $wgGroupPermissions['sysop']['noedit'] = true;

• To change the maximum number of items shown per category in MediaWiki from maximum 50 to maximum 500, change the following in LocalSettings.php:
  • $wgCategoryPagingLimit = 500;

• And add similar for the for the DynamicPageList extension:
  • $wgDPLSettings['maxresults'] = 500;

• To be able to add the Fusion 360 machine configuration file for the Large CNC cutter we can add the '.mch' file extension to the allowed file extensions:
  • $wgFileExtensions = [ .... ,'mch'];

Changes in CSS

To change the CSS go to the page MediaWiki:Common.css: https://wiki.makerspaceleiden.nl/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Common.css:

/* To hide the "last edited" text in the footer on every page: */
#footer-info-lastmod {
   display: none;
}

/* To hide the "About MakerSpace Leiden" text in the footer on every page: */
#footer-places-about {
   display: none;
}

/ * To hide the "Discussion" tab: */
#ca-talk {
   display: none;
}

/* Hide the toolbox in the sidebar */
#p-tb {
   display: none;
}

/* Optional: To round the border lines:  */
{
   border-radius: 10px;
}
h1, h2 {
   border-radius: 0px;
}

/* Optional: To hide the default vector menu in the sidebar (with the links: "Main page, Recent changes, Random page, Help about MediaWikia."): */
#left-navigation .vector-menu {
 display: none;
}

/* Optional:  To hide the default page tab: */
#ca-nstab-main {
 display: none;
}

/* Optional: To increase the fontsize: */
body {
 font-size: 110%
}

Changes in the file php.ini

By default, the configuration code in php.ini limits the size of files to be uploaded to 2 megabytes (and the maximum size of a post operation to 8 megabytes). To allow uploading of larger files, edit these parameters in php.ini:

• post_max_size, 8 megabytes large by default
• upload_max_filesize, 2 megabytes large by default

Sidebar customizations

To customize the MediaWiki:Sidebar on a wiki, you need first to be logged in with a user that has the editinterface permission. For administrators this is enabled by default.

You can access MediaWiki:Sidebar by either:

• Going to https://wiki.makerspaceleiden.nl/wiki/index.php?title=MediaWiki:Sidebar&action=edit in your browser.

• Typing MediaWiki:Sidebar in search bar, and validating with Enter.

Organize pages and titles

• Done: Create a user-friendly sidebar menu.

• Done: Establish a new category structure: Wiki category hierarchy

• Done: Ensure all project-related pages include "project" in their titles.

• Done: Consider including both Dutch and English terms in page titles where applicable.

• Done: Convert titles from Pascal case to regular titles with spaces for better readability.

• Done: Create dedicated wiki pages for each chore, titled with "chore -"

Merge pages

• Merge the pages: Lathe_or_Drive_Dog and Meenemer_met_lip

• Merge the pages: Fire_Workplace and Instructies_Vuurwerkplaats

• Merge the pages: Diamond_dresser_/_Ritser and Ritser

• Merge the pages: Pensleutel / Stiftsleutel / Pin spanner and Pensteeksleutel / Pin(wrench)spanner

• Merge the pages: Add a new tool to the wiki and Create a new wiki page

• Done: Merge the pages: Ultimaker 3D Printer, 3D-printers, Ultimaker 2

• Done: Merge the pages: Node Metal Mitre Saw and Node Mitre Saw Metal

• Done: Merge the pages: Ventilatie and Central Air Extractor / Centrale Afzuiging Ventilatie

• Done: Merge the pages: Dopsleutelset_/_Socketwrenches and Proxxon_Dopsleutelset_Socket_wrenches

• Done: Merge the pages: Lijmtangen Houtwerkplaats and Clamps

• Done: Merge the pages: Warmtebeeldcamera and FLIR_camera

• Done: Merge the pages: Grote_Metaal_Knippert/Metal_Shears/Knipschaar/Peddinghaus and Metaal_Knipschaar

• Done: Integrate all pages from the category DisplayBoardsSchiphol Categorie:DisplayBoardsSchiphol with integrated tabs into the page "Radar_Boards_Schiphol_Control," integrating tabs in the same manner as on the "Lasersaur Laser Cutter" page.

• Done: Merge the pages: Stappen_Boor_StepDrill, Stappenboor/Stepdrill, and Step-drill/getrapte_boor.