MediaWiki/Installing and managing extensions

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Installing Extensions

MediaWiki extensions are small bits of code that you can install (in your own MediaWiki install), that add functionality to MediaWiki. The way they are installed is by copying the *.php file of the extension over to [Your wiki-domain name]/extensions/ directory (see above), and then appending the following code to your [Your wiki-domain name]/LocalSettings.php.

include( "extensions/[Insert php filename here]" );

Other Extensions

• query.php
• rss.php
• ParserFunctions are the set of extensions that permit the relatively more complex if/then expressions, which are helpful with templates and transclusion. meta.wikimedia.org includes the php files and very brief, simple instructions for install.

Modifying the .css file

With MediaWiki, you can change or add features to the look of an article by changing the default css file. Each skin has its own css file, and there is also a common css file for all skins. To open any of these files for editing, simply search in the wiki for "MediaWiki:[Name of skin].css" (no quotes), or for the common css file search for "MediaWiki:Common.css" (no quotes).

Example

A fairly useful addition to the Common.css class is the Infobox. By changing the common.css code, you can add a small floating information table on the right hand side of the article, without interfering with its contents. To do so, take the following steps:

1. Open the common.css file for editing by searching for "MediaWiki:Common.css" (no quotes) within the wiki itself.
2. Add the following code:

/* Infobox template style */

.infobox {
   border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;
   background-color: #f9f9f9;
   color: black;
   margin-bottom: 0.5em;
   margin-left: 1em;
   padding: 0.2em;
   float: right;
   clear: right;
}
.infobox td,
.infobox th {
   vertical-align: top;
}
.infobox caption {
   font-size: larger;
   margin-left: inherit;
}
.infobox.bordered {
   border-collapse: collapse;
}
.infobox.bordered td,
.infobox.bordered th {
   border: 1px solid #aaaaaa;
}
.infobox.bordered .borderless td,
.infobox.bordered .borderless th {
   border: 0;
}

.infobox.sisterproject {
   width: 20em;
   font-size: 90%;
}

/* styles for bordered infobox with merged rows */
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedtoprow th {
   border: 0;
   border-top: 1px solid #aaaaaa;
   border-right: 1px solid #aaaaaa;
}

.infobox.bordered .mergedrow td,
.infobox.bordered .mergedrow th {
   border: 0;
   border-right: 1px solid #aaaaaa;
}


/* styles for geography infoboxes, e.g. countries, national subdivisions, cities, etc. */

.infobox.geography {
   border: 1px solid #ccd2d9;
   text-align: left;
   border-collapse: collapse;
   line-height: 1.2em; 
   font-size: 90%;
}

.infobox.geography  td,
.infobox.geography  th {
   border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9;
   padding: 0.4em 0.2em 0.4em 0.8em;
}
.infobox.geography .mergedtoprow td,
.infobox.geography .mergedtoprow th {
   border-top: solid 1px #ccd2d9;
   padding: 0.4em 0.2em 0.2em 0.8em;
}

.infobox.geography .mergedrow td,
.infobox.geography .mergedrow th {
      border: 0;
      padding: 0 0.2em 0.2em 0.8em;
}

.infobox.geography .mergedbottomrow td,
.infobox.geography .mergedbottomrow th {
   border-top: 0;
   border-bottom: solid 1px #ccd2d9;
   padding: 0 0.2em 0.4em 0.8em;
}

.infobox.geography .maptable td,
.infobox.geography .maptable th {
      border: 0;
      padding: 0 0 0 0;
}

Now you can take advantage of the new .css class, just like how Wikipedia uses it in the Infobox Template.