Editing MediaWiki Development Services (section)

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

=== What is MediaWiki and what is it used for? ===

MediaWiki is a free, open-source wiki software platform originally developed for Wikipedia. It is used to create collaborative, editable websites where multiple users can create, edit, and organise content. Common use cases include corporate knowledge bases, public encyclopaedias, technical documentation portals, government transparency sites, and community reference wikis.

=== How long does a professional MediaWiki setup take? ===

A standard MediaWiki installation and basic configuration — including server setup, database creation, core installation, and short URL configuration — typically takes one to two days for an experienced developer. A full deployment including custom skin development, extension integration, access control configuration, and content migration may take two to eight weeks depending on project scope.

=== What server requirements does MediaWiki need? ===

MediaWiki requires a Linux server (Ubuntu Server LTS or AlmaLinux recommended), PHP 8.1 or later with extensions including <code>mbstring</code>, <code>xml</code>, <code>intl</code>, and <code>curl</code>, a MySQL 5.7.1+ or MariaDB 10.3+ database server, and a web server such as Apache (with <code>mod_rewrite</code>) or Nginx. Minimum RAM for a small deployment is 1 GB, though 4 GB or more is recommended for production environments.

=== Can MediaWiki be set up as a private, password-protected wiki? ===

Yes. MediaWiki supports fully private wiki configurations by setting <code>$wgGroupPermissions['*']['read'] = false;</code> in <code>LocalSettings.php</code>, which prevents unauthenticated users from accessing any page. Combined with user group configuration and namespace permissions, MediaWiki can serve as a secure internal knowledge base accessible only to registered and approved users.

=== What is the difference between a MediaWiki skin and an extension? ===

A '''skin''' controls the visual appearance and layout of the wiki interface — colours, typography, navigation placement, and responsive behaviour. An '''extension''' adds or modifies functional behaviour — such as adding a visual editor, enabling structured data properties, or integrating an external authentication provider. Skins and extensions are independent packages that can be combined freely.

=== What is VisualEditor and should it be installed? ===

VisualEditor is an official MediaWiki extension that provides a rich-text, WYSIWYG editing interface, allowing editors to format content without writing Wikitext markup. It requires the Parsoid service (available as a Docker image or system service). For wikis with non-technical editors, VisualEditor significantly reduces the learning curve and is generally recommended for production deployments.

=== How is content migrated to MediaWiki from Confluence or SharePoint? ===

Content migration involves exporting source content to XML or HTML, converting it to Wikitext using transformation scripts (often built with Python tools such as Pywikibot or pandoc), and importing the converted content via MediaWiki's XML import function or the <code>importDump.php</code> maintenance script. A professional migration service also handles URL redirect mapping, image migration, and post-migration validation.

=== How often does MediaWiki need to be updated? ===

The Wikimedia Foundation releases new MediaWiki versions approximately every six months, with security and bug-fix point releases more frequently. A well-maintained production installation should be updated at each point release for security purposes, and upgraded to new major versions within the supported lifecycle window (typically 12–18 months per major version). Extensions and skins should be updated in parallel.

=== What is Semantic MediaWiki and when should it be used? ===

Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) is an extension that adds structured, typed properties to wiki pages, enabling content to be treated as data that can be queried, sorted, and exported. It is suitable for wikis that need to manage structured information — such as product catalogues, research databases, equipment inventories, or staff directories — where simple free-text pages are insufficient.

=== Can MediaWiki integrate with external login systems such as LDAP or OAuth? ===

Yes. The '''LDAPAuthentication2''' extension enables integration with LDAP and Active Directory for single sign-on in corporate environments. The '''OAuth''' extension supports OAuth 2.0-based login with external providers. '''PluggableAuth''' provides a flexible authentication plugin architecture for custom identity provider integrations.

=== What are the SEO implications of deploying MediaWiki? ===

Key SEO considerations for MediaWiki deployments include configuring clean short URLs, enabling canonical URL settings to avoid duplicate content, generating and submitting an XML sitemap (via the SitemapGenerator extension), configuring <code>robots.txt</code> to restrict indexing of maintenance and talk namespaces, and adding Open Graph meta tags (via the OpenGraphMeta extension).

=== How is MediaWiki performance optimised for high traffic? ===

Performance optimisation involves enabling APCu for PHP opcode caching and MediaWiki's object cache, configuring a Memcached or Redis cluster for distributed caching, deploying a Varnish reverse proxy or CDN to serve cached page HTML, setting up MySQL/MariaDB read replicas to distribute database load, and enabling MediaWiki's built-in parser cache and file cache in <code>LocalSettings.php</code>.