Mastering MediaWiki's Parser Functions: A Developer's Guide
Why parser functions matter
Topic
guides
A collection of 140 articles
Mastering ParserFunctions in MediaWiki: Logical and String Functions for Dynamic Content
ParserFunctions Unleashed: From Simple Logic to String Sorcery
Ever stared at a wiki page that felt as static as a marble statue? Then you probably missed the hidden gears of ParserFunctions humming underneath. Imagine you could ask, “Show this text only if the user is logged in,” or “Trim a
Building Custom Reports in MediaWiki Using Lua Modules
Why Lua modules matter for MediaWiki reporting
At first glance a MediaWiki installation looks like a giant collection of wikitext pages, nothing more than a glorified blog. In practice, though, the platform hides a surprisingly powerful scripting layer called Scribunto. With Scribunto you can write Lua code that lives inside
Introduction to Semantic MediaWiki
What is Semantic MediaWiki?
Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) is a powerful MediaWiki extension that lets you turn a regular wiki into a collaborative knowledge base. By adding simple #set and #ask markup, you can store structured data (properties and values) directly on wiki pages and query that data across the whole
Integrating REST API in MediaWiki: Building Dynamic Applications
Why the MediaWiki REST API matters (and why you might care)
Picture this: you’re building a mobile app that lets people browse Wikipedia articles offline, or a dashboard that pulls the latest revision stats for a set of internal wiki pages. You could hack together a bunch of action=
Best Practices for Backing Up MediaWiki Installations
Why a MediaWiki Backup Is More Than Just “Copy‑Paste”
Imagine you’ve spent months curating a niche wiki about vintage arcade cabinets. One night a power surge knocks the server offline and, when it boots, the latest articles have vanished. The feeling is a bit like watching a favorite
How to Create a Custom CSS Theme in MediaWiki
How to Create a Custom CSS Theme in MediaWiki
MediaWiki separates the skin (the PHP/HTML structure) from the theme (a bundle of CSS that decorates a skin). If you want a unique look for your wiki without touching core files, the recommended path is to create a custom CSS
How to Upgrade Your MediaWiki to 1.45
Upgrading to 1.45 follows the same disciplined process used for any major MediaWiki upgrade, but there are a few version‑specific details you should be aware of
Mastering the Cargo Extension for Structured Data in MediaWiki
Why Structured Data Matters in a Wiki
Ever opened a wiki page and thought, “This could be a spreadsheet, but I’m stuck with plain text”? Yeah, I’ve been there. MediaWiki, at first glance, feels like a giant notebook – you scribble, you link, you hope the reader gets the
How to Use MediaWiki’s API to Build a Custom Search Widget for Your Website
Introduction
MediaWiki powers Wikipedia and thousands of other wikis. Its Action API is a clean, REST‑like interface that lets external sites query a wiki for titles, snippets, images and more. In this guide we walk through the steps needed to turn that API into a lightweight, client‑side search