Help:WikiForum
This is a ShoutWiki help page, hosted at ShoutWiki Hub. If you want to suggest changes, leave a message on its talk page. If you want to replace this page with a custom help page for your wiki, click the create button above.
WikiForum is a new extension which provides real forums for your wiki! You can access the forums by going to Special:WikiForum.
If no categories or forums are yet set up for your wiki, please contact a local administrator or forum administrator.
How do I link to a thread?
You can use the syntax [[Special:WikiForum/Thread title]] to link to a thread.
How can I search the forum?
Forum pages have a search box. By entering a search term here, you can search all available forum threads for the given term. Do note that because the forum is a special page, Special:Search cannot be used to search it.
Can I embed a forum thread on a wiki page?
Yes! You can do this with the <WikiForumThread> parser hook. You will need to know the thread ID number, which can be seen on the right side of the first post in the thread. Once you have it, embedding a thread with this parser hook is easy as pie:
<WikiForumThread id=5 />
If you want to show replies to the thread, add the replies parameter:
<WikiForumThread id=5 replies=true />
How can I show a list of the most recent forum threads?
You can do this with the <WikiForumList> tag. By default it shows the 5 most recent forum threads; to change this, supply the num parameter:
<WikiForumList num=10>
Who has administrative permissions to the forum?
Local administrators, forum administrators and ShoutWiki staff all have administrative access to the forum. They can create, edit and delete categories and forums, but also threads and individual replies.
For the technically oriented: there are two separate permissions, wikiforum-admin (which allows only creating, editing and deleting categories and forums) and wikiforum-moderator (which is required for the other administrative operations). By default the above-mentioned three groups have both of these permissions.
How can I configure the forum as an administrator?
You will need administrator access to change some configuration settings, because they are stored in the MediaWiki namespace, which can only be edited by site admins (and ShoutWiki staff).
- MediaWiki:Wikiforum-day-definition-new — a thread is considered new for this many days; default is 3.
- MediaWiki:Wikiforum-max-threads-per-page — number of threads which shall be shown per page on a forum; default is 20.
- MediaWiki:Wikiforum-max-replies-per-page — number of replies which shall be shown per page on a thread; default is 10.
How can I create new forums and categories?
By default the discussion board has no categories nor forums. Someone with the sufficient permissions (site administrator or forum administrator privileges) will need to go to Special:WikiForum and create a category via the "Add category" link. Once there is at least one category, a forum can be created for the category, and users can start posting threads on this newly-created forum. It is also possible to make an announcement-only forum, which is a forum where only site administrators and forum administrators can post.
How can I customize the look of the forum?
WikiForum uses CSS; see extensions/WikiForum/styles.css and customize them as appropriate.
Do note that the icons, such as quote/edit/delete ones, cannot be changed with CSS (yet).
What languages are supported by WikiForum?
Currently WikiForum has been translated into Finnish, Dutch and Polish. If you want to help out with the translation process, please see our Interface Messages Wiki for more information.
Who are the authors of this extension?
The original code was written by Michael Chlebek of Unidentify Studios. Jack Phoenix from ShoutWiki's Customer Support Team made many bugfixes and tweaks to the original code, effectively bringing you the WikiForum you see today.
