Help:Extensions

Extensions are features and add-ons developed for MediaWiki, the software platform that Wikia runs on. They are designed by third-party developers (that is to say, not Wikia or MediaWiki staff) for the purpose of either expanding the function of a wiki or overriding a built-in MediaWiki feature for customization purposes.

How to request an extension
First, verify that the extension you are looking for does not exist already on your community. You can check this by going to Special:Version and looking under the "installed extensions" section or checking the extension's parser function or tag against the "tags" and "hooks" section at the bottom of that page. Wikia already has a significant number of extensions enabled by default.

Many other extensions are already in our codebase and can be enabled upon request. You can check what extensions Wikia offers later in this page. Some basic content tools, such as Maps and Variables, are automatically enabled by staff. Other complex extensions, such as DPL, usually have a staff member ask a few questions to ensure that the extension you are asking for is in fact the ideal solution. Other extensions, where site configuration may be dramatically changed (such as Abuse Filter), will be enabled at staff discretion depending on the context of the request.

If Wikia does not offer a particular extension, you may request our engineering staff to investigate installing it by using Special:Contact and linking to the MediaWiki extension page along with some rationale as to why it's needed. Please be aware that our engineering staff may take a few months to review the extension and that most extensions will be rejected. This is mainly due to the amount of rewriting an extension would face to live on the Wikia codebase servers. As such, it's always good to ask yourself when looking at an extension on MediaWiki.org if the extension is up to date, is well-maintained, and allows for a caching layer. If the answer to any of these questions is no, chances are we will not be able to install the extension.

Users and admins

 * Deleted user contributions
 * Gives sysops the ability to browse a user's deleted edits


 * Help:Global CSS and JS
 * Adds global user CSS and JavaScript to a page, fetched from


 * Editcount
 * Displays edit count of a user

Wiki tools

 * CategoryTree
 * AJAX based gadget to display the category structure of a community


 * CharInsert
 * Allows creation of JavaScript box for inserting non-standard characters


 * DPLforum
 * DPL-based forum extension using article pages.


 * EasyTimeline
 * Timeline extension


 * GoogleDocs4MW
 * Adds &lt;googlespreadsheet&gt; tag for Google Docs' spreadsheets display


 * ImageMap
 * Allows client-side clickable image maps using &lt;imagemap&gt; tag


 * Inputbox
 * Allow inclusion of predefined HTML forms


 * Cite
 * Adds  and tags, for citations


 * LinkSearch
 * Search for Weblinks


 * MostPopularArticles
 * Get list of most popular articles


 * MostPopularCategories
 * Get list of most popular categories


 * MultipleUpload
 * Allows users to upload up to 20 files at once


 * ParserFunctions
 * Enhance parser with logical functions


 * Poem
 * Adds &lt;poem&gt; tag for poem formatting


 * Polls
 * Set up single-choice polls.


 * RandomImage
 * Provides a random media picker using &lt;randomimage /&gt;


 * RandomSelection
 * Displays a random option from the given set


 * RSS feed extension
 * Displays an RSS feed on a page


 * TabView and Tabber
 * Methods for having "tabbed" content


 * Timeline
 * Editors can create timelines of events using this tool's syntax.


 * Video Embed Tool
 * Embeds videos from YouTube, Metacafe and many other sites, and adds Video pages


 * WikiHiero
 * Syntax to display hieroglyph


 * YouTube
 * Embeds YouTube and Google Video movies

Spam and blocking

 * AntiSpamInput
 * Simple spambot blocking mechanism


 * ConfirmEdit
 * Simple captcha implementation


 * Regular Expression Name Block
 * Alternate user block (by given name, using regular expressions, controlled globally)


 * Regular Expression Spam Block
 * Filters out unwanted phrases in edited pages, based on regular expression


 * SpamBlacklist
 * Regex based anti url spam tool

Other tools

 * AjaxLogin
 * Dynamic box which allow users to login and remind password


 * ArticleMetaDescription
 * Adding meta-description tag containing snippet of the Article


 * MiniUpload
 * Allow users to upload new files directly from edit page


 * SharedMessages
 * Allows drawing "shared" template messages from the shared DB


 * Shared Help
 * Provides the Help namespace pages from Community Central into all Wikia sites (controlled globally)


 * SiteWideMessages
 * Provides an interface for sending messages seen on all Wikia sites


 * SyntaxHighlight
 * Code syntax highlighter - supports many languages

On request
This is a non-comprehensive list of MediaWiki extensions that are available upon request at Wikia. See also "Extensions enabled on request" category.


 * AbuseFilter
 * Tool for automatically catching non-constructive edits.


 * Calendar
 * Allows for embedding of a calendar into pages.


 * DynamicPageList2
 * Content listing tool, which adds the &lt;dpl&gt; tag


 * Maps Extension
 * Easily create maps with wiki-fied markers


 * Variables
 * Allows you to define a variable on a page then use it later in that same page.

Restricted

 * CheckUser
 * Grants users with the appropriate permission the ability to check user's IP addresses and other information (This is generally a staff-only tool, but some administrators of big wikis also have access to it.)


 * Protect site
 * Allows a site administrator to temporarily block various site modifications (this is enabled as deemed needed)


 * Semantic MediaWiki
 * Used on a few dozen Wikia sites (including some of the biggest) but problematic, never officially supported, and no longer requestable. Its "Help" page on this wiki redirects here, but discussion may be best confined to Semantic MediaWiki's official documentation site.

Further help and feedback
de:Hilfe:Erweiterungen es:Ayuda:Extensiones fr:Aide:Extensions ja:ヘルプ:拡張機能 ko:도움말:확장 기능 pl:Pomoc:Rozszerzenia zh:Help:擴展功能 pt:Ajuda:Extensões