Wikimedia site requests - Wikitech
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Wikimedia site requests
are requests to configure a Wikimedia project. This page gives an overview of the process for volunteers handling them, and other concerned parties from operations side.
If you do not want to contribute technically, follow
meta:Requesting wiki configuration changes
instead.
If you want to contribute technically, then this is a good way to get familiar and start contributing to software changes. You need
very basic knowledge of PHP
and follow
mw:Gerrit/Tutorial
to create your first software change (a so-called "
patch
"). When you work on these types of tasks you can also look at previous similar software changes. Often you do not even have to have too much understanding of what is going on exactly. But still you can get familiar with code and especially processes!
Lifecycle of a request
A request generally follows this workflow:
The local project discusses the matter in public, in the manner the most appropriated for this project.
A task is filed on Phabricator, in the
Wikimedia-Site-requests
project (or
Wikimedia-Extension-setup
if the change is about enabling an extension). See
meta:Requesting wiki configuration changes
. Please check
Limits to configuration changes
before.
A volunteer writes a software change (patch) to change the relevant files in the
operations/mediawiki-config
code repository, as we do not directly edit the code that is running live on the servers. Then the volunteer proposes this patch in
Gerrit
for review. (If the volunteers follow
Gerrit/Commit message guidelines
, then the Phabricator task will automatically get updated about their patch in Gerrit.)
Optional: Obtain a +1 review for the patch from someone who is familiar with that part of the codebase. This is especially important for more complex patches that a deployer may not be comfortable +2ing on their own.
If no reviewer sees a problem with the patch, then the same volunteer - or if reluctant/absent/busy, another volunteer - schedules it in a
backport window
on the
Deployments
page.
During that backport window
Important
: The developer of the patch is expected to be available on
#wikimedia-operations
connect
during the deployment window to help test the patch
If the deployer sees no problem with the software change (patch), it's merged by the deployer giving it a "Code-Review +2" review and
deployed on the Wikimedia servers
If the deployer finds a problem with the software change, they may ask for revision. Or the deployer may ask for someone to give additional
review of this patch in Gerrit
if they are unable to review the change.
After the backport window, everybody who visits a Wikimedia server will see / experience that change.
Prioritization
Requests are usually handled quickly. We can deploy (make the changes available on the servers) trivial changes three times per day between Monday and Thursday.
Priority on Phabricator
Description
Unbreak now!
The change fixes a problem that must be fixed immediately. You want a deployment right now or in the next hours. That also means you think that your request is more important and urgent than any other requests.
High
The change is needed very soon, ideally in the next backport window, or if not possible, this week (Monday-Thursday).
Medium
The change is helpful, we can do it this week or the next (so in max. 7-10 days). This is the priority assigned to most simple tasks.
Low
The change isn't needed before two weeks or there is nothing actionable before a long time.
Common tasks
Disable throttling of account creations for an IP at events
Often requested by editors who are hosting an
edit-a-thon
, account creation throttle exception are one of the most common tasks which Wikimedia site requests deals with. Such requests should follow
meta:Mass account creation#Requesting temporary lift of IP cap
Make your changes in the file
wmf-config/throttle.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
from
UTC date/time of exception start
to
UTC date/time of exception end
range
IP range(s)
the exception applies to
dbname
wiki(s) this exception applies to
A past example:
$wmgThrottlingExceptions
[]
// T184579
'from'
=>
'2018-01-11T09:00 +5:30'
'to'
=>
'2018-01-11T18:00 +5:30'
'range'
=>
'103.8.192.54'
'186.67.125.0/24'
],
'dbname'
=>
'enwiki'
'mrwiki'
],
'value'
=>
45
// 35 expected
];
If there are
less than 72 hours
before the event, you should run
mwscript resetAuthenticationThrottle.php --wiki=metawiki --signup --ip 1.2.3.4
to purge the memcached key.
See
Increasing account creation threshold
Change the translation of a namespace
Namespace localization must happen in the extension that the namespace belongs to.
Namespace localization can require separate patches in some repositories. See e.g.
in MediaWiki Core.
in Gadgets extension.
in Scribunto extension (for 'Module:`)
To deploy a custom namespace only on Wikimedia sites (and not in the MediaWiki software for everybody), the file to change is
wmf-config/core-Namespaces.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
. This file also allows you to change project namespace (
wgMetaNamespace
).
Change the linktrail
Make your changes to
$linkTrail
in the corresponding messages file for that language code in the directory
languages/messages/
in the repository
mediawiki/core
. You will need some
regex
knowledge for this.
Past examples:
Update the interwiki cache
Process: Run
extensions/WikimediaMaintenance/maintenance/dumpInterwiki.php
script. Then upload the resulting file as a proposed patch to Gerrit.
Past example:
Also see
Update the interwiki cache
Change local group rights
Change/define the group's right under
GroupOverrides
in the file
wmf-config/core-Permissions.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
Change who can grant the group using
(Add|Remove)Groups(Self)
, otherwise, only the stewards will be able to grant/remove it.
Change user groups and restriction levels
Make your changes under
wgRestrictionLevels
in the file
wmf-config/InitialiseSettings.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
Past examples:
phab:T225896
and its patch in
Enable or disable extensions on a wiki
Check first that the request followed
meta:Requesting wiki configuration changes
, that a link to a community consensus is present, that the request is not against
meta:Limits to configuration changes
, and that the requested extension has a
maintainer/steward
Check that the extension is already deployed on Wikimedia servers in
and
. If the extension is not already deployed, then the request is blocked and the extension must first go through
mw:Review queue
Make your changes in the file
wmf-config/InitialiseSettings.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
: There must be an array called
wmgUseNameOfTheExtension
(replace
NameOfTheExtension
accordingly) and a line
'nameOfTheWikiDatabase' => true
or
false
Past examples:
phab:T230390
and
Change import sources
Make your changes to
wgImportSources
in the file
wmf-config/InitialiseSettings.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
Past examples:
phab:T217104
and
phab:T228607
and
Convert digits (numbers) into a different script
Make your changes to
$digitTransformTable
in the corresponding messages file for that language code in the directory
languages/messages/
in the repository
mediawiki/core
Past example:
phab:T212221
and its patch in
Remove a namespace from being indexed by internet search engines
For example, when a community does not want User pages to be indexed by Yandex or Google.
Make your changes in the file
wmf-config/core-Namespaces.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
Past example:
phab:T245787
and
Change the default timezone for a wiki
Make your changes in the section
wgLocaltimezone
in the file
wmf-config/InitialiseSettings.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
Past example:
phab:T255531
and
Add additional letters to the special characters toolbar
Make your changes in the file
/resources/src/mediawiki.language/specialcharacters.json
in the repository
mediawiki/core
Past example:
phab:T185918
and
Add a wiki to a dblist
See
Configuration files#dblists
Areas in the MediaWiki code base itself
These tasks are about the general MediaWiki code base itself, and not about the configuration of MediaWiki on Wikimedia servers like the tasks above.
Replacing deprecated functions
These functions could be found by
phan checks
or a good
IDE
with static analytic code checks.
Past examples:
Upgrading dev libraries
This is sometimes done by a bot, but that is not always and not everywhere the case.
Past examples:
Alphabetize stuff
Past examples:
Common tasks that need a maintenance script
This section is meant to document site requests that require a maintenance script to be executed shortly after deploying the patch, to ensure the configuration change takes the intended effect. See also
Backport windows/Deployers#Maintenance_scripts
Adding or changing a custom namespace alias
Namespace aliases provide alternative names for namespaces (e.g., Project, Help, File), enhancing multilingual support, accessibility, and compatibility with older names. Before implementation, ensure the alias is necessary, has broad community consensus, and does not conflict with existing namespaces.
Add or modify an existing namespace in the file
wmf-config/core-Namespaces.php
in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
. This file defines custom namespace configurations (e.g., Project, Help, User, File, Portal). If necessary, also alias old names in the file. In the namespace name, make sure to replace spaces (
) with underscores (
). Add inline comments as needed to reference the relevant Phabricator task(s) for specific configurations. See past example:
phab:T382087
'madwiki'
=>
'Berkas'
=>
NS_FILE
// T382087
'Templat'
=>
NS_TEMPLATE
// T382087
'Kategori'
=>
NS_CATEGORY
// T382087
If the alias applies to all MediaWiki installations, not just Wikimedia wikis, changes may be needed in the MessagesXX.php files (e.g., MessagesEn.php for English, MessagesFr.php for French) in the
mediawiki/core
repository. See
phab:T366271
Script
: After the change has been deployed (merged), run
namespaceDupes.php
to ensure no page will be left unaccessible. Learn more:
Adding Namespaces on Wikitech
Verify that the changes have been deployed correctly. For example: check alias recognition via URL (e.g.,
). Test editing or linking pages using the alias.
See also:
mw:Manual:Using custom namespaces
Change category collation
Make your changes in the file
wmf-config/InitialiseSettings.php
(under
wgCategoryCollation
) in the repository
operations/mediawiki-config
Past example:
and
phab:T329815
Script
: After config change, run
mwscript updateCollation.php --wiki=xxwiki --previous-collation=uppercase
to ensure the change takes effect.
NOTE: In most cases, the previous collation is
uppercase
, but double check that before running the script.
Change the logo of a Wikimedia wiki
Please follow the instructions in
the logos directory of operations/mediawiki-config
for converting a Commons SVG into the correctly compressed PNGs and updating the PHP files.
Read
meta:Logo
, especially the
Temporary logo variants
section.
You can test how a new logo will look at
(replace
xyz.wikipedia.org
and
FilenameOnCommonsOfTheNewLogo.svg
accordingly)
Past examples:
Script
: Run
echo 'https://en.wikipedia.org/static/images/project-logos/XXwiki.png' | mwscript-k8s --attach purgeList.php -- --wiki enwiki
(the domain is always
en.wikipedia.org
, even for other wikis). The command needs to be executed for each HD version (-1.5x.png and -2x.png suffixes), or any other file changed in the /static folder. See also
Backport windows/Deployers#Purging
Useful links
Current configuration settings for each Wikimedia wiki:
Current configuration settings shared for all Wikimedia wikis:
Configuration files
- A general `about our configuration files` page
How to deploy code
c:File:Improving MediaWiki what to do, when you're new.pdf
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