MediaWiki

MediaWiki is a collaboration and documentation platform and software, used by websites including Wikipedia and FANDOM.
==Technical details==
MediaWiki's allows users to edit pages without knowledge of HTML or CSS. When a user edits a page, MediaWiki writes it to the database, without deleting the previous versions of the page. This allows easy reverts in the case of vandalism. The revision table holds metadata for every edit on a wiki page. Every edit creates a revision row, which holds information such as the user who made the edit, the time at which the edit was made. MediaWiki can manage image and multimedia files, which are stored in the file system.
MediaWiki is free software, which can be redistributed and modified under a . It is written in the scripting language .
As of 2020, at least eight books have been written about MediaWiki software.
===Extensions===
As of 2022, there are over 1,500 extensions registered at MediaWiki.org. Examples of extensions include:
*Cite, which allows references to be added as footnotes on a page.
*AbuseFilter, which allows behaviour specific restrictions on editing.
*VisualEditor, which allows for editing pages as rich content.
*SpamBlacklist, which prevents the addition of URLs from a list of illegal host names.
Use of a low-quality extension with MediaWiki is one of the most common causes of security issues for MediaWiki.
===Installation===
In addition to the software itself, a standard MediaWiki installation requires a web server, , and a database server. Various optional dependencies are required for the use of certain advanced features.
To install MediaWiki, it must be downloaded and extracted from the archive to a web-accessible computer folder. A browser should be pointed to the directory where MediaWiki was extracted, providing a link to the setup screen. Directory can then be replaced with the path to the extracted MediaWiki folder. If it is being installed on a local machine, domain should be replaced with localhost. If installed on a remote server, domain should be replaced with the server's domain name. On-screen instructions should be provided to complete the process.
===Markup===
MediaWiki’s markup tokens fall into two broad categories: unary tokens (like : or * used at the beginning of a line), which stand alone, and binary tokens (like those for italic or boldface) which must be used in matched pairs surrounding the text to be formatted. Unary tokens may only be preceded by comments or whitespace; otherwise, they will not be interpreted. Equals signs are used for headings, and must be at start of a line. Up to six levels are possible. Square brackets ([[Link text]]) are used for links, including internal, interwiki, language, and category links, and images. vertical bars separate optional parameters, such as display text. Apostrophes are used for formatting. Two on each side of the text form italics, three form bold, and five form both. Curly braces are used for transclusion of templates. Templates can include an unlimited number of optional pipe-delimited parameters, each of which can start with a parameter name before an equals sign (|parameter name = ) MediaWiki includes various XML style tags. <!-- ... --> creates HTML-style comments, which are invisible to those reading a page, but visible in the editing window. A “nowiki” script (<nowiki> </nowiki>) prevents the text within it from being interpreted as markup tokens. <gallery></gallery> is used for a collection of images. In wikilinks and template inclusions, colons set off namespaces and other modifiers.
==Development==
MediaWiki is developed collaboratively by hackers. Main development takes place in the master branch of . test.wikipedia.org is used as a test wiki. MediaWiki developers, have a responsibility to write secure code in a style that is easy to review and audit. contains a MediaWiki administrator’s handbook.
MediaWiki operates on a "continuous integration" development model, where software changes are pushed live to websites on a regular basis. The MediaWiki developers strongly recommend that anyone running MediaWiki subscribe to their low-traffic mailing list for version announcements.
==History==
MediaWiki was announced on August 24, 2001. It was developed for Wikipedia by . The English Wikipedia began to use it in January 2002. In 2002, rewrote the code, keeping the same basic interface, and adding new features. In early 2003, Brion Vibber took over as lead developer and release manager of the software.
In June 2003, the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit to support Wikipedia, was created. The "Wikipedia software" was officially named "MediaWiki" in July, as wordplay on the Wikimedia Foundation's name. This has since become confusing to some users.
Since 2004, MediaWiki has had in-person meetings, conferences and hacking sessions.
===Logo===
The logo for MediaWiki was formerly a sunflower between square brackets. In March 2021, the logo of MediaWiki was officially changed, to a flower design with no explicit core.
==Issues==
Many users have difficulty learning the MediaWiki syntax for formatting information. A multiple-choice question in a 2006 study asked what the hardest part was about using a wiki. 44% found using syntax to be hardest.
MediaWiki has been designed to serve very high-traffic websites such as Wikipedia. It has been optimized for this use and may be unsuitable for smaller sites, where disk space or memory are bigger restrictions than bandwidth. MediaWiki is not designed to be a Content Management System (CMS), or to protect sensitive data, thetefore it does not inherently support strong protection of private content.
==References==
Category:Tech YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2014