Mediawiki installation, customization and operation

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Installation

The Madagascar Mediawiki installation consists of:

  • A SQL database back-end, that holds text, images, history and user data
  • A set of PHP scripts, that dynamically generate the HTML pages
  • Auxiliary files uploaded directly to the server

Advanced web hosting providers offer "one-click" installs of Mediawiki, but database migration and PHP customization must still be performed.

Customization

Footer

To insert the images/links to the Ohloh, Sourceforge and Cafepress, edit includes/Skin.php to replace the default function getPoweredBy() with:

<php>

       function getPoweredBy() {
               global $wgStylePath;
               $ohloh = '<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.ohloh.net/p/348236/widgets/project_thin_badge.js"></script>';
               $sf1='<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/rsf">';
               $sf2='<img src="http://sflogo.sourceforge.net/sflogo.php?group_id=162909&type=13" width="120" height="30" border="0" ';
               $sf3='alt="Get Madagascar at SourceForge.net. Fast, secure and Free Open Source software downloads"/></a> ';
               $sourceforge = $sf1.$sf2.$sf3;
               $url = htmlspecialchars( "$wgStylePath/common/images/poweredby_mediawiki_88x31.png" );
               $banner = htmlspecialchars( "/wikilocal/style/store.png" );
               $store = '<a href="http://www.cafepress.com/m8r">
               <img src="'.$banner.'" width="88" height="31" border="0" alt="Madagascar Store" /></a> ';
               $img = $ohloh.$sourceforge.$store.'<a href="http://www.mediawiki.org/"><img src="'.$url.'" alt="MediaWiki" /></a>';
               return $img;
       }

</php>

Operation

Backups

Backups should cover the wiki installation (SQL backups must be made by proper script, not by simply copying a file!), as well as a static copy of a wiki to be used in case the database is corrupted during file transfer.

Defending against spammers and vandals

Allowing only registered users to edit the wiki

This is a measure that was deemed necessary after two years of daily undo-and-block warfare against spammers. To set or unset it,

Disabling registration of new users

This is a temporary measure, to be used as a stopgap against large attacks, until a permanent effective measure has been found.

Disabling media uploads

To disable uploads via the web interface, set <php> $wgEnableUploads = false </php>

in LocalSettings.php .