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MediaWiki for a Museum

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The article MediaWiki for a Museum describes the steps to build a wiki for a museum using MediaWiki. It might be helpful to read the article MediaWiki for a Museum (Non-technical issues) as well.

At the National Museums in Berlin, the internal website was replaced by a wiki. It was the intention of the author to update the documentation directly in the new wiki immediately after the installation. Therefore these records can be used as information or instructions manual for similar projects.

Use[]

Basic knowledge about MediaWiki assimilated as user (e.g. as author in MuseumsWiki) should be sufficient.

Copy[]

After the installation of MediaWiki the source code of the referring parts should be copied into the project namespace of the new wiki to make the internal links available:

Replace [project] with the actual name of the project namespace in your wiki. In this way the respective links are preserved and should work below here after pasted:

  • Museums:Installation
  • Museums:Configuration (the page you're reading just now)
  • Museums:Configuration/Setup
  • Museums:Configuration/More

Name of the wiki[]

Instead of the name for the installed wiki you will find 

{{SITENAME}}

in the source code. To copy and paste into another wiki will therefore result in the actual name of the respective wiki (e.g. here: Museums).

Syntax[]

There are specifications necessary, which have to be selected during the installation process. These are italicized. Descriptive parts of the syntax are enclosed in square brackets. Formatting and square brackets (''[]'') have to be removed after the import of the source code into another Wiki to make the links work.

Formatting[]

In order to have tables similar in appearance as here some files might need customization:

MediaWiki:Common.css 

.wikitable
.wikitable th

For sorting in tables see Help:Sorting.

Links[]

For the links to instructions external links were favored over interwiki links, because the prefixes for interwiki links might be different.

Page inclusion[]

In order to provide the complete documentation as one page the different parts are included here by means of page inclusion. This inclusion will work after copying into another Wiki only with the new names of the pages. For this reason the new names are commented out in the source code. Delete the following lines 

{{:MediaWiki for a Museum (Installation)}}
{{:MediaWiki for a Museum (Setup)}}
{{:MediaWiki for a Museum (More)}}

in the source code and remove the code for comments: 

<!-- -->

The lines should look in the source code like this after all: 

{{:{{ns:project}}:Installation}}
{{:{{ns:project}}:Configuration/Setup}}
{{:{{ns:project}}:Configuration/More}}


Customizing the chapter Installation[]

Some of the specifications have to be customized for the installation: 

[local path]
[Name of the intranet directory]
[Domain]

Formatting and square brackets (''[]'') have to be removed after the import of the source code into another Wiki to make the links work.

Installation[]

The following data were documented during the installation of the Page|Museums]] and afterwards pasted in the page Museums:Installation.

  • Packet unpacked, Version 1.10.1
  • Directory (wiki) copied to /[local path]/http_files/[Name of the intranet directory]/docs/
  • Missing packets installed: php5-mysql, mysql-devel, php5-gd

Installation skript[]

  • Start of the installation script (Websetup)
  • Output: MediaWiki 1.10.1 Installation
    • Checking environment...
    • Please include all of the lines below when reporting installation problems.
      • PHP 5.1.2 installed
      • Found database drivers for: MySQL
      • PHP server API is apache2handler; ok, using pretty URLs (index.php/Page_Title)
      • Have XML / Latin1-UTF-8 conversion support.
      • Session save path (/var/lib/php5) appears to be valid.
      • PHP's memory_limit is 8M. Attempting to raise limit to 20M... ok.
      • Couldn't find Turck MMCache, eAccelerator, or APC. Object caching functions cannot be used.
      • Found GNU diff3: /usr/bin/diff3.
      • Couldn't find GD library or ImageMagick; image thumbnailing disabled.
      • Installation directory: /[local path]/http_files/[Name of the intranet directory]/docs/wiki
      • Script URI path: /wiki
      • Environment checked. You can install MediaWiki.

Site config[]

Part Parameter Value
Site config Installation directory /[local path]/http_files/[Name of the intranet directory]/docs/wiki
Site config Script URI path /wiki
Site config Wiki name Museums
Site config Contact e-mail wiki-admin@[Domain]
Site config Language de - Deutsch
Site config Copyright/license GNU Free Documentation License
Site config Admin username WikiSysop
Site config Password [*******]
Site config Shared memory caching No caching
E-mail, e-mail notification and authentication setup E-mail features (global) Enabled
E-mail, e-mail notification and authentication setup User-to-user e-mail Enabled
E-mail, e-mail notification and authentication setup E-mail notification about changes Enabled for changes to user discussion pages, and to pages on watchlists (not recommended for large wikis)
E-mail, e-mail notification and authentication setup E-mail address authentication Enabled
Database config Database type MySQL
Database config Database host localhost
Database config Database name wikidb
Database config DB username wikiuser
Database config DB password [***********]
Database config Superuser account yes
Database config Superuser name root
Database config Superuser password [***********]
Database config Database table prefix mw_
Database config Database charset Backwards-compatible UTF-8

Finish[]

  • File Localsettings.php copied from ~/wiki/config to ~/wiki, ~/wiki/config deleted
  • Test URL: http://testwiki.[Domain].de/wiki
  • Aliases added to file wiki.conf

Additional installations[]

Ploticus[]

see also Museums:Configuration/Setup No. 8

ImageMagick[]

see also Museums:Configuration/Setup No. 9

  • Vers. 6.3.5-8
  • Download ftp://gd.tuwien.ac.at/pub/graphics/ImageMagick/
  • gunzip ImageMagick.tar.gz | tar xvf –
  • cd ImageMagic* | ./configure | make | make install
  • Test (/usr/local/bin/convert logo: logo.gif) failed
    • (error while loading shared li-braries: libMagick.so.10: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory)
    • Fix:
The following should solve the problem:
Edit your /etc/ld.so.conf and add the line:
Code:
/usr/local/lib
Save the file, then run the command:
Code:
/sbin/ldconfig

phpMyAdmin[]

see also Museums:Configuration/Setup No. 10

  • Download Vers. 2.11.0
  • gunzip | tar xvf
  • Directory copied to /[local path]/http_files/admin/phpMyAdmin
  • Rights changed, *.conf edited for apache2
  • config.sample.inc.php copied to config.inc.php
  • Configuration via Web http://testwiki.[Domain].de/wiki/pma/scripts/setup.php
  • Php-Modules php5-mcrypt and php5-mbstring installed additionally


Customizing the chapter Setup[]

Some of the specifications have to be customized for the setup: 

[Domain]
[Domain for e-mails]
[Subdomain of the Wiki]
[OU ICT] (Organizational unit for information and communication technologies)
[Script directory]
[Museum documentation]

Formatting and square brackets (''[]'') have to be removed after the import of the source code into another Wiki to make the links work.

Setup[]

  • The specified links refer to a installation of MediaWiki in English. Other language versions might differ.
  • The Installation was executed for a wiki with the URL http://testwiki.[Domain].de/wiki.

First Setup[]

  • No. 1-27

Setup of a second wiki[]

  • No. 28-51

Many media files in Wikipedia are stored in the Wikimedia Commons. According to this example all media files shall be stored in a second wiki.

In the different language versions of Wikipedia it is possible to manage media files as well. This will be avoided in Museums in order to enable managing large amounts of data separately.

  • Name: Museumsmedia
  • Interwiki prefix: Museumsmedia

Further setup[]

  • No. 52-60

Change to the final domain[]

  • No. 61-63

The existing intranet pages had to be available for the users during the setup of the wiki. Therefore the wiki was installed in the subdomain http://testwiki.[Domain].de/wiki initially. The previous HTML pages were converted into wiki syntax using a HTA script (Conversion from HTML to MediaWiki). Afterwards the Domain Name System of the intranet was adjusted to refer to the new home page. This home page forwards to the main page of the wiki.

Further setup[]

  • No. 64-75

Overview[]

The following overview shows the single steps of the setup.

  • Date: the dates correspond with the actual progress of the project. Because the setup was not executed continuously, it is not possible to derive details on the effective expenditure of time.
  • Admin: In many cases it is necessary to have administrative rights (sysop) to execute the regarding tasks. The two abbreviations wikiadmin and mediawikiadmin refer to the different wikis (see: Setup of a second wiki). The webadmin needs the respective rights for the web server.
No. Date Sort key Administrator Manual Purpose Test Notes
1 31.08.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Short URL shortening of the URL successful also .httpd.conf has to be edited by the webadmin
2 31.08.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin User rights allow no editing before setup is completed successful
3 31.08.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extensions required for the use of extensions successful
4 31.08.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: Cite extension: footnotes successful
5 03.09.2007 MediaWiki: Common.css wikiadmin Common.css in Wikipedia table formatting wikitable/prettytable, standard colors, footnotes successful
6 03.09.2007 MediaWiki: Common.js wikiadmin Common.js in Wikipedia table sort successful
7 03.09.2007 namespace Museums wikiadmin Wikipedia sandbox testing area for Museums successful Wanted pages
8 13.09.2007 Ploticus webadmin EasyTimeline activation activation of timeline function partially successful see also: Installation Ploticus; umlauts in timelines are not displayed properly
9 13.09.2007 ImageMagick webadmin Image thumbnailing with ImageMagick automatic creation of thumbnails see also: Installation ImageMagick
10 13.09.2007 phpMyAdmin webadmin Quick Install administration of MySQL databases successful see also: Installation phpMyAdmin
11 20.09.2007 User login: ICT staff as new users wikiadmin familiarization, skills for later user support, support for developing the operational concept and setup successful e-mails to new users were sent repeatedly, probably because the composed address includes the user name (user name includes a comma which seems to be interpreted as a separator); can be ignored, because e-mails are sent at least once correctly
12 21.09.2007 MediaWiki: Passwordremindertext wikiadmin System message correction and customization
13 21.09.2007 MediaWiki: Sitenotice wikiadmin Interface: Sitenotice customization of user interface successful
14 22.09.2007 MediaWiki: Anonnotice wikiadmin Interface: Sitenotice customization of user interface successful
15 22.09.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Changing the Interface, $wgLogo customization of user interface successful own logo
16 22.09.2007 MediaWiki: Sidebar wikiadmin Interface, Sidebar customization of navigation successful [[Portal:[Museum documentation]]] added, Donate removed
17 22.09.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: Cite/ Special: Cite.php Cite (provides citation info), setup: MediaWiki:Cite text successful from the HTML files of the installation directory the PHP files in the column Rev. have to be selected and downloaded using the download link
18 22.09.2007 MediaWiki: Sitesubtitle wikiadmin Extra Subtitle used in Cite successful also used in the skin Cologne Blue (cf. Wiki on a stick)
19 22.09.2007 MediaWiki: Sidebar wikiadmin Interface, Sidebar customization of user navigation successful Cite added
20 27.09.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Using custom namespaces creating namespace for portals and corresponding talk namespace successful [[Portal:[Museum documentation]]] and more portals for projects or organizational units
21 27.09.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin $wgNamespacesWithSubpages allow subpages in portal namespace and corresponding talk namespace successful
22 27.09.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin $wgNamespacesWithSubpages allow subpages in project namespace (Museums) successful
23 27.09.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin protected namespace for [OU ICT]: [[[OU ICT]:Portal]] successful Security issues with authorization extensions; see also: [[[OU ICT]:Portal/Security|Security in namespace [OU ICT]]]
24 28.09.2007 SpecialSearch.php wikiadmin rev:21821 don't show excerpts from non-readable articles on search results successful installation file renamed in SpecialSearch_installed.php; see also: [[[OU ICT]:Portal/Security#Table of common security extension limitations|Table of common security extension limitations]]
25 28.09.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: ParserFunctions (extended) required for Parser functions in templates partially successful see also: Extension: Parser function extensions, ParserFunctions, additionally: SprintfDateCompat.php; some parser functions seem not to work
26 28.09.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: Linksearch, Linksearch special page to search for external links External links cf. Wikipedia: External links
27 02.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: NamespacePermissions only sysops can create and move portals successful rights in namespace for portals and corresponding talk namespace restricted
28 04.10.2007 Wiki Installation webadmin Wiki family (EN) pool-wiki for Mediapool successful [Domain.de/p Museumsmedia]
29 04.10.2007 .httpd.conf webadmin Short URL shortening of the URL successful /p (for pool)
30 04.10.2007 LocalSettings.php (Museumsmedia) wikiadmin Short URL shortening of the URL successful
31 04.10.2007 MediaWiki: Passwordremindertext mediawikiadmin correction and customization successful see System messages
32 05.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: Special page to work with the interwiki table, Interwiki linking manipulation of the interwiki table successful View and manipulate interwiki data
33 05.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: Special page to work with the interwiki table, Interwiki linking Museumsmedia (Mediapool) in interwiki table successful Log
34 05.10.2007 LocalSettings.php (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin Extension: Special page to work with the interwiki table, Interwiki linking manipulation of the interwiki table successful
35 05.10.2007 LocalSettings.php (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin Extension: Special page to work with the interwiki table, Interwiki linking Museumsmedia (Mediapool) in interwiki table successful
36 05.10.2007 Interwiki, Interwiki (Museumsmedia) wikiadmin Wiki family (EN) upload files for Museums to the Mediapool (Museumsmedia) and include files from Museumsmedia in Museums successful Upload in Museumsmedia
37 05.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin allow upload of files only in Museumsmedia successful upload deactivated, otherwise there is still a link for upload visible in the (skin) CologneBlue in Museums, also the Special page still can be used
38 05.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Image thumbnailing with ImageMagick automatic creation of thumbnails successful
39 05.10.2007 MediaWiki: Sidebar wikiadmin link for upload of files successful
40 05.10.2007 MediaWiki: Sharedupload wikiadmin Wiki family (EN) remark about inclusion from Museumsmedia successful
41 05.10.2007 MediaWiki: Shareddescriptionfollows wikiadmin separator above description from Museumsmedia for included file successful
42 05.10.2007 LocalSettings.php (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin user rights like in Museums, temporary sysop until organizational review successful
43 05.10.2007 LocalSettings.php (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin Configuring file uploads, Image Administration checking file types, determine permitted file types partially successful appending to existing array of permitted types doesn't work, therefore different solution
44 05.10.2007 MediaWiki: Sidebar (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin like in Museums, additional link to Museums successful see System messages
45 05.10.2007 MediaWiki: Sitesubtitle (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin successful see System messages
46 05.10.2007 MediaWiki: Common.css (Museumsmedia) wikiadmin copy source code from Museums successful
47 05.10.2007 MediaWiki: Common.js (Museumsmedia) wikiadmin copy source code from Museums successful
48 11.10.2007 PHP webadmin Configuring file uploads, Set maximum size for file uploads define maximum size for upload successful $wgUploadSizeWarning in LocalSettings.php not changed
49 11.10.2007 LocalSettings.php (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin Extension: ParserFunctions (extended) copy from Museums successful
50 11.10.2007 MediaWiki: Uploadtext (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin instructions for upload of files successful see also: Template: Information, Template: Information/info, Template: Information/usage, Template: Description missing; not successful: automatic paste (JavaScript) of Template Information in the summary during Upload of files (see versions dating 11.10.2007 of Upload.js and Common.js)
51 12.10.2007 PHP webadmin Exif Functions, $wgShowEXIF display of Exif data for image files successful display is activated (DefaultSettings.php), when supported by PHP
52 12.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin EasyTimeline activation activation of timeline function partially successful umlauts in timelines are not displayed properly
53 12.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: CategoryTree dynamic display of categories (Category Tree and more functions) successful cf. Category tree in Wikipedia
54 12.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Timezone determination of the standard timezone
55 12.10.2007 E-Mail postmaster availability of the addresses wiki-admin@[Domain for e-mails].de and wikipool-admin@[Domain for e-mails].de successful created earlier, test: 12.10.2007
56 19.10.2007 MediaWiki: Mediawarning wikiadmin customization according to Security rules for the mediapool successful
57 19.10.2007 MediaWiki: Mediawarning (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin customization according to Security rules for the mediapool successful
58 19.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Site customization: $wgPageShowWatchingUsers display number of watching users successful
59 19.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Recent changes: $wgRCShowWatchingUsers display number of watching users (recent changes, watchlist) successful UPO (user-preference option): only when selected in user preferences (recent changes), the display is activated
60 29.10.2007 directory wikiadmin directory for scripts not permitted for upload in Museums: [Script directory/ /wiki/[Script directory]/] successful [Script directory/ html_to_mediawiki.HTA]
61 31.10.2007 DNS webadmin setup for intranet in the domain [http://[Subdomain of the Wiki].[Domain].de [Subdomain of the Wiki].[Domain].de] successful see also: setup for intranet
62 31.10.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin see no. 36 setup for intranet in the domain [http://[Subdomain of the Wiki].[Domain].de [Subdomain of the Wiki].[Domain].de] successful see also: setup for intranet
63 31.10.2007 Interwiki, Interwiki (Museumsmedia) wikiadmin see no. 36 setup for intranet in the domain [http://[Subdomain of the Wiki].[Domain].de [Subdomain of the Wiki].[Domain].de] successful Log Museums, Log Museumsmedia
64 02.11.2007 [[[OU ICT]:Toolserver|Toolserver]] wikiadmin availability of CGI scripts ant other tools in the new domain successful see also: [[[OU ICT]:Toolserver/Documentation|Documentation for Toolserver]]
65 08.11.2007 Confirmemail subject, Defemailsubject, Emailccsubject, Passwordremindertitle, Confirmemail subject (Museumsmedia), Defemailsubject (Museumsmedia), Emailccsubject (Museumsmedia), Passwordremindertitle (Museumsmedia) wikiadmin standard subject field for automated e-mails Museums email address confirmation; Museums email from user "$1" Copy of your message to $1: $2 New temporary password for Museums
66 08.11.2007 Passwordremindertext, Passwordremindertext (Museumsmedia) wikiadmin link to Help page for logging in in e-mail with password Someone (from IP address $1) requested a new

password for Museums ($4). A temporary password for user "$2" has been created and was set to "$3". If this was your intent, you will need to log in and choose a new password now. Your temporary password will expire in $5 days.

If someone else made this request, or if you have remembered your password, and you no longer wish to change it, you may ignore this message and continue using your old password.

67 08.11.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: Random Selection enable random selection from different options successful see: Current recommendation
68 20.11.2007 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin see no. 27 rights changed, see Namespaces Portal and Portal Talk
69 21.11.2007 Summary wikiadmin link to help page Edit summary added successful Wiki syntax is not applicable, therefore use HTML syntax, variable {{FULLURL}} and class=internal necessary
70 31.01.2008 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: EditCount statistic summary of use (edits) partially successful parser function (Parser) works, special page not available
71 31.01.2008 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: TopTenPages statistic summary of use (ranking) successful
72 31.01.2008 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Extension: TransformChanges Special:Recentchanges organized as table successful allows export in CSV or similar
73 31.01.2008 MediaWiki: Common.css wikiadmin see no. 5 special CSS styles for Extension: TransformChanges successful see: Extension: TransformChanges, CSS Styles
74 08.02.2008 MediaWiki: Copyright wikiadmin copyright limitations for distribution and use outside of Museums successful see no. 69
75 20.02.2008 MediaWiki: Nolinkstoimage (Museumsmedia) mediawikiadmin reference to the copy of the description in Museums, if no file links in Museumsmedia exist (as a rule) successful see no. 69


Customizing the chapter Additional configuration[]

Some of the specifications have to be customized for the additional configuration: 

[OU ICT] (Organizational unit for information and communication technologies)

Formatting and square brackets (''[]'') have to be removed after the import of the source code into another Wiki to make the links work.

Additional configuration[]

The following configurations might be necessary additionally where appropriate:

No. Date Sort key Who Manual Purpose Test Notes
1 urgent content page Museums:Help cf. How to edit a page, Help:Editing (MetaWiki)
2 urgent content create pages according to the list of wanted pages (namespaces Help, Museums) cf. corresponding pages in Wikipedia to use as example (Help in Wikipedia): like in Wikipedia the namespace „Help“ should refer to the current use of Museums, whereas „Museums“ provides rules and Museums internals
3 urgent template reference to corresponding page in Wikipedia (namespace Help or Wikipedia) create link with Template:Wp, cf. template Wp and template WpDE in MuseumsWiki
4 urgent content customization of navigation Privacy policy, About Museums, Disclaimers, Bug reports, Copyrights; as well in Museumsmedia: Privacy policy, About Museumsmedia, Disclaimers, Bug reports, Copyrights
5 urgent category discussion: Main categories determination of the main categories
6 urgent guidelines and conventions Guidelines and conventions for the test run Museums and Museumsmedia
7 urgent guidelines and conventions specification of the [[[OU ICT]:Portal/Guidelines|Guidelines for the namespace [OU ICT]]]
8 MediaWiki: Copyrightwarning Interface, Copyrightwarning customization of user interface
9 skin wikiadmin How do I change the footer? customization of user interface
10 skin wikiadmin How can I edit / remove the Powered by MediaWiki image in the footer? customization of user interface
11 EditPage.php wikiadmin How can I force users to preview before they save?, Force preview customization of user interface
12 MediaWiki: Edittools wikiadmin How can you add a UTF-8 charset box on an Edit Page, Extension: CharInsert customization of user interface (help for editing) cf. Edittools in MuseumsWiki
13 MediaWiki: Summary wikiadmin Edit summary customization of user interface (help for editing) cf. Summary in MuseumsWiki
14 ImagePage.php medienwikiadmin display file history (versions) as table Question Image history table instead of list at MediaWiki Support desk
15 LocalSettings.php wikiadmin Semantic MediaWiki semantic extensions[1] cf. Semantic MediaWiki

References[]

  1. ↑ cf. Semantic Web


See also[]

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