/mediawiki-extension-collection

Primary LanguagePHPGNU General Public License v2.0GPL-2.0

Collection Extension for MediaWiki

About the Collection Extension

The Collection extension for MediaWiki allows users to collect articles and generate downloadable version in different formats (PDF, OpenDocument Text etc.) for article collections and single articles.

The extension has been developed for and tested with MediaWiki version 1.14 and later. Some features may not be available with older MediaWikis that don't have the MediaWiki API enabled.

The extension is being developed under the GNU General Public License by PediaPress GmbH in close collaboration with Wikimedia Foundation and the Commonwealth of Learning.

Copyright (C) 2008-2012, PediaPress GmbH, Siebrand Mazeland, Marcin Cieślak and other contributors

Prerequisites

If you use a render server the MediaWiki API must be enabled (i.e. just don't override the default value of true for $wgEnableApi in your LocalSettings.php).

Install PHP with cURL support

Currently Collection extension needs PHP with cURL support, see http://php.net/curl

Installation and Configuration of the Collection Extension

  • For MediaWiki versions up to and including 1.18: Download the Collection extension matching your MediaWiki version from http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:ExtensionDistributor/Collection and unpack it into your mediawiki extensions directory:

    cd /srv/http/wiki/extensions
tar -xzf Collection-MW1.18-113990.tar.gz -C /var/www/mediawiki/extensions

  • For MediaWiki versions 1.19 and newer: You can checkout the newest code of the Collection extension from the Git repository into the extensions directory of your MediaWiki installation:

    cd extensions/
git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/mediawiki/extensions/Collection

  • Put this line in your LocalSettings.php:

    require_once("$IP/extensions/Collection/Collection.php");

If you intend to use the public render server, you're now ready to go.

Install and Setup a Render Server

Rendering and ZIP file generation is done by a server, which can run separately from the MediaWiki installation and can be shared by different MediaWikis.

If you have a low-traffic MediaWiki you can use the public render server running at http://tools.pediapress.com/mw-serve/. In this case, just keep the configuration variable $wgCollectionMWServeURL (see below) at its default value.

Your MediaWiki must be accessible from the render server, i.e. if your MediaWiki is behind a firewall you cannot use the public render server.

If you can't use the public render server, you have two choices:

1) To install an OCG server, follow the instructions at https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Offline_content_generator

2) To install a mwlib server, you'll have to :ref:`install mwlib <mwlib-install>` and :ref:`run your own render server <mwlib-renderserver>`. See http://mwlib.readthedocs.org/ for more information.

Finally you'll have to set $wgCollectionMWServeURL in your LocalSetting.php:

$wgCollectionMWServeURL (string)

Set this to the URL of either an mwlib or an OCG render server (see above).

The default is http://tools.pediapress.com/mw-serve/, the public mwlib render server hosted by PediaPress.

If you must use a proxy in order to reach the render server, you can prefix the URL with the proxy URL and separate them with |, for example:

http://my.proxy.host:8888|https://tools.pediapress.com/mw-serve/

If you need to use a | character in the URL of your render server, use a blank proxy: |http://my.render.server/path-with-|/.

Password protected wikis

Password protected wikis require some more information. You'll have to set the $wgCollectionMWServeCredentials variable.

$wgCollectionMWServeCredentials (string)

Set this to a string of the form "USERNAME:PASSWORD" (or "USERNAME:PASSWORD:DOMAIN" if you're using LDAP), if the MediaWiki requires to be logged in to view articles. The render server will then login with these credentials using MediaWiki API before doing other requests.

SECURITY NOTICE: If the MediaWiki and the render server communicate over an insecure channel (for example on an unencrypted channel over the internet), please DO NOT USE THIS SETTING, as the credentials will be exposed to eavesdropping!

Advanced Settings

The following variables can be set in LocalSetting.php. Most people do not have to change them:

$wgCollectionMWServeCert (string)
Filename of a SSL certificate in PEM format for the mw-serve render server. This needs to be used for self-signed certificates, otherwise cURL will throw an error. The default is null, i.e. no certificate.
$wgCollectionFormats

An array mapping names of writers on the server to the name of the produced format. The default value is:

array(
    'rl' => 'PDF',
)

i.e. only PDF enabled. If you want to add OpenDocument Text in addition to PDF you can set $wgCollectionFormats to something like this:

$wgCollectionFormats = array(
    'rl' => 'PDF',
    'odf' => 'ODT',
);

On the public mwlib render server tools.pediapress.com, currently the following writers are available:

  • docbook: DocBook XML
  • odf: OpenDocument Text
  • rl: PDF
  • xhtml: XHTML 1.0 Transitional

If you're using your own mwlib render server, the list of available writers can be listed with the following mwlib command:

$ mw-render --list-writers

On OCG render servers, currently the following writers are available:

  • rdf2latex: PDF
  • rdf2text: Plain text
$wgCollectionFormatToServeURL (array)

An array matching writer names with the server which should be used for them. For example, if you wanted to configure an OCG server for PDF only, you might have:

$wgCollectionFormatToServeURL = array(
    'rdf2latex' => 'http://my-ocg-server.com:8000',
);

You can specify proxies in the same way as for $wgCollectionMWServeURL.

$wgCollectionCommandToServeURL (array)

An array matching server commands with the server which should be used for them. For example, to use the public pediapress POD server, you might have:

$wgCollectionCommandToServeURL = array(
    'zip_post' => 'http://tools.pediapress.com/mw-serve/',
);

Again, proxies can be prefixed to the URL, separated by |, in the same way as for $wgCollectionMWServeURL.

$wgCollectionContentTypeToFilename (array)

An array matching content types to filenames for downloaded documents. The default is:

$wgCollectionContentTypeToFilename = array(
        'application/pdf' => 'collection.pdf',
        'application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text' => 'collection.odt',
        'text/plain' => 'collection.txt',
);
$wgCollectionPortletFormats (array)

An array containing formats (keys in $wgCollectionFormats) that shall be displayed as "Download as XYZ" links in the "Print/export" portlet. The default value is:

array( 'rl' );

i.e. there's one link "Download as PDF".

$wgCollectionHierarchyDelimiter (string or null)

If not null, treat wiki pages whose title contains the configured delimiter as subpages.

For example, to treat article [[Foo/Bar]] as subpage of article [[Foo]] set this variable to "/". This makes sense e.g. on wikibooks.org, but it's questionable on wikipedia.org (cf. [[AC/DC]]).

The (only) effect is that the display title for subpages in collections is set to the title of the (deepest) subpage. For example, the title of article [[Foo/Bar]] will be displayed/rendered as "Bar".

The defaul value is null, which means that no hierarchy is assumed.

$wgCollectionArticleNamespaces (array)

List of namespace numbers for pages which can be added to a collection. Category pages (NS_CATEGORY) are always an exception (all articles in a category are added, not the category page itself). Default is:

array(
  NS_MAIN,
  NS_TALK,
  NS_USER,
  NS_USER_TALK,
  NS_PROJECT,
  NS_PROJECT_TALK,
  NS_MEDIAWIKI,
  NS_MEDIAWIKI_TALK,
  100,
  101,
  102,
  103,
  104,
  105,
  106,
  107,
  108,
  109,
  110,
  111,
);
$wgCommunityCollectionNamespace (integer)

Namespace for "community collections", i.e. the namespace where non-personal article collection pages are saved.

Note: This configuration setting is only used if the system message Coll-community_book_prefix has not been set (see below).

Default is NS_PROJECT.

$wgCollectionMaxArticles (integer)

Maximum number of articles allowed in a collection.

Default is 500.

$wgCollectionLicenseName (string or null)

License name for articles in this MediaWiki. If set to null the localized version of the word "License" is used.

Default is null.

$wgCollectionLicenseURL (string or null)

HTTP URL of an article containing the full license text in wikitext format for articles in this MediaWiki. E.g.

$wgCollectionLicenseURL = 'http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License&action=raw';

for the GFDL. If set to null, the standard MediaWiki variables $wgRightsPage, $wgRightsUrl and $wgRightsText are used for license information.

If your MediaWiki contains articles with different licenses, make sure that each article contains the name of the license and set $wgCollectionLicenseURL to an article that contains all needed licenses.

$wgCollectionPODPartners (array or false)

Array of parameters needed to define print on demand providers:

$wgCollectionPODPartners = array(
        'pediapress' => array(
                'name' => 'PediaPress',
                'url' => 'http://pediapress.com/',
                'posturl' => 'http://pediapress.com/api/collections/',
                'infopagetitle' => 'coll-order_info_article',
        ),
);

(This is the default.)

name, url and posturl are mandatory parameters to display information on the list of available providers.

If infopagetitle is present, it will be interpreted as the MediaWiki message that contains the name of the short information on particular provider. For example, it can be coll-order_info_mypress and if the message contains Help:Books/MyPress order information, a contents of this page will be used. The message itself can be localized for different languages.

Setting $wgCollectionPODPartners to false disables ordering interface altogether.

$wgEnableWriteAPI

If you want to let users save their collections as wiki pages, make sure $wgEnableWriteAPI is set to true, i.e. put this line in your LocalSettings.php:

$wgEnableWriteAPI = true;

(This is the default.)

There are two MediaWiki rights that are checked, before users are allowed to save collections: To be able to save collection pages under the User namespace, users must have the right 'collectionsaveasuserpage'; to be able to save collection pages under the community namespace (see $wgCommunityCollectionNamespace), users must have the right 'collectionsaveascommunitypage'. For example, if all logged-in users shall be allowed to save collection pages under the User namespace, but only autoconfirmed users, shall be allowed to save collection pages under the community namespace, add this to your LocalSettings.php:

$wgGroupPermissions['user']['collectionsaveasuserpage'] = true;
$wgGroupPermissions['autoconfirmed']['collectionsaveascommunitypage'] = true;

You may also want to configure some of the following:

  • As the current collection of articles is stored in the session, the session timeout should be set to some sensible value (at least a few hours, maybe one day). Adjust session.cookie_lifetime and session.gc_maxlifetime in your php.ini accordingly.

  • Add a help page (for example Help:Books for wikis in English language).

    A repository of help pages in different languages can be found on Meta-Wiki.

    The name of the help page is stored in the system message Coll-helppage and can be adjusted by editing the wiki page [[MediaWiki:Coll-helppage]].

  • Add a template [[Template:saved_book]] which is transcluded on top of saved collection pages. An example for such a template can be found on the English Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Saved_book

    The name of the template can be adjusted via the system message Coll-savedbook_template, i.e. by editing [[MediaWiki:Coll-savedbook_template]].

  • To enable ZENO and Okawix export, uncomment the corresponding lines in $wgCollectionFormats (file Collection.php). These exports are devoted to the Wikimedia projects and their mirrors.

    They cannot be used on other wikis since they get data and search engine indexes from the cache of wikiwix.com.

Customization via System Messages

There are several system messages, which can be adjusted for a MediaWiki installation. They can be changed by editing the wiki page [[MediaWiki:SYSTEMMESSAGENAME]], where SYSTEMMESSAGENAME is the name of the system message.

  • Coll-helppage: The name of the help page (see above).

    The default for English language is Help:Books, and there exist translations for lots of different languages.

  • Coll-user_book_prefix: Prefix for titles of "user books" (i.e. books for personal use, as opposed to "community books"). If the system message is empty or '-' (the default), the title of user book pages is constructed as User:USERNAME/Books/BOOKTITLE. If the system message is set and its content is PREFIX, the title of user book pages is constructed by directly concatenating PREFIX and the BOOKTITLE, i.e. there's no implicitly inserted '/' inbetween!

  • Coll-community_book_prefix: Prefix for titles of "community books" (cf. "user books" above). If the system message is empty or '-' (the default), the title of community pages is constructed as NAMESPACE:Books/BOOKTITLE, where NAMESPACE depends on the value of $wgCommunityCollectionNamespace (see above). If the system message is set and its content is PREFIX, the title of community book pages is constructed by directly concatenating PREFIX and BOOKTITLE, i.e. there's no implicitly inserted '/' inbetween. Thus it's possible to define a custom namespace 'Book' and set the system message to 'Book:' to produce community book page titles Book:BOOKTITLE.

  • Coll-savedbook_template: The name of the template (w/out the Template: prefix) included at the top of saved book pages (see above).

    The default is: saved_book, and there exist translations for lots of different languages.

  • Coll-bookscategory: Name of a category (w/out the Category: prefix) to which all saved book pages should be added (optional, set to an empty value or "-" to turn that feature off).

  • Coll-book_creator_text_article: The name of a wiki page which is transcluded on the "Start book creator" page (the page which is shown when a user clicks on "Create a book").

    The default is: {{MediaWiki:Coll-helppage}}/Book creator text i.e. a subpage of the configured help page named "Book creator text"

  • Coll-suggest_enabled: If set to 1, the suggestion tool is enabled. Any other value will disable the suggestion tool.

    The default is: '1', i.e. the suggestion tool is enabled.

  • Coll-order_info_article: The name of a wiki page which is included on the Special:Book page to show order information for printed books.

    The default value is: {{MediaWiki:Coll-helppage}}/PediaPress order information i.e. a subpage of the configured help page named "PediaPress order information".

    This wiki page is used only if included in the $wgCollectionPODPartners configuration.

  • Coll-rendering_page_info_text_article: The name of a wiki page with additional informations to be displayed when single pages are being rendered.

  • Coll-rendering_collection_info_text_article: The name of a wiki page with additional informations to be displayed when collections are being rendered.