Research existing MediaWiki extensions

[lucianak]

Research existing MediaWiki extensions to get an overview over what is possible to change easily in MediaWiki and what isn't.

Front-end:

• [x] change fonts?
• [x] change design?

Back-end:

• [x] Change behaviour, e.g. search, article view

[lucianak]

Frontend, UI:

• Display article rating: not sure if we could implement our own code to calculate the rating, e.g. using it to display simplicity of the text, or to provide the result of some automated checks for the teachers review https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Rating
• possibility to create new skins, so we could adapt the look of MediaWiki standard sites to our style guide
  • Probably easiest here: Explore and create skins: https://skins.wmflabs.org/#/
  • Additional help and info
    • MediaWiki skin help pages: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Skins
    • MediaWiki manual: hot make a skin: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:How_to_make_a_MediaWiki_skin
    • MediaWiki skin configuration: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Skin_configuration
    • Hooks for skins: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Hooks#Skinning_Templates

[lucianak]

Question for all extensions: do they have API endpoints? Could we add API endpoints for added features without too much effort?

BackendFrontend:

• Authentication: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:SessionManager_and_AuthManager
• Redirect: might be useful if we switch between our own sites and standard mediawiki sites
  • Standard redirect (only inside mediawiki): https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:CreateRedirect
  • maybe (to be checked for security and compatibility): https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ExternalRedirect
  • Hooks: custom code executed on a specific event https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Hooks
  • list of existing hooks: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Hooks#Hooks_grouped_by_function
• Chat: a MediaWiki chat extension exists, but probably it's best not to use it as the students probably have their own communication tool and we should rather use comments
• Media search: improved media search, might be useful https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:MediaSearch
• CoAuthor: might be interesting for checking student collaboration? But it's not very fast to calculate. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:CoAuthor
• Challenge (could be used for tasks if we don't want to manage them fully ourselves) beta version, not sure if it's supported or not
  • https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Challenge
• SocialProfile: we might also use it if we don't manage something similar ourselves, but we would need to evaluate if the included features fit our needs or not https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:SocialProfile
• Recent Activity: lists all recent activity https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:RecentActivity, related: Patroller: check and approve or reject recent changes https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Patroller
• Drafts: exists, but not actively maintainted
• Moderation: all edits have to be approved, might be useful if we can provide a better interface https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Moderation
• Display article rating: not sure if we could implement our own code to calculate the rating, e.g. using it to display simplicity of the text, or to provide the result of some automated checks for the teachers review https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Semantic_Rating
• Template extension: useful if we want to create our own extension https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:BoilerPlate
• Page content models: useful for including media, or interactive stuff?
  • https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Page_content_models
  • description: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:ChangeContentModel
  • Existing content handlers: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Content_handlers

Some other things that might be useful:

• Magic words: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Magic_words
• Parser function: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Parser_functions
• Tag extensions (return html, but I didn't get exactly what they do): https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Tag_extensions
• Special pages: dynamic pages https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Special_pages

[lucianak]

UX:

• QuizGame: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:QuizGame
• Analytics: Matomo extensions https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Matomo, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:MatomoAnalytics
• ScratchBlocks (tool for kids to experiment with programming), the extension makes it possible to render them on wiki pages https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ScratchBlocks
• Dictionary extension: provides a custom page with explanations for abbreviations or words https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Lingo
• Comments: provides the possibility to provide feedback for an article in form of a comment. We could maybe use this extension, but need to evaluate further (design, how is it displayed...) https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:ArticleFeedbackv5
• Chat: a MediaWiki chat extension exists, but probably it's best not to use it as the students probably have their own communication tool and we should rather use comments
• SocialProfile: provides a profile page and social features, we might want to use it if we don't manage something similar ourselves, but we would need to evaluate if the included features fit our needs or not https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:SocialProfile

[lucianak]

Generic extension info:

• Manual on extensions (overview, how to install, etc): https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Extensions
• All extensions by category: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Extensions_by_category
• Does Wikimini need to work on mobile/tablets? It might not work by default, we need to check that, and there are extensions to make it work better on mobile: List of mobile extensions: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Mobile
• Multimedia extensions, e.g. to embed youtube videos and audio and video players: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Media_handling_extensions

[Ewa032]

Before proceeding with any functionality development, it would be good to check the existing extensions.

@nursedaatopal @Ali-Karaki @quaverous2 @mlavin7 - please get familiar with it