Extension addiction: Pimp my Wiki

MediaWiki is the world’s best-known wiki software. Most of us are familiar with it because it runs Wikipedia, the world’s sixth most visited website. What’s more, anyone can download and use MediaWiki for free because it’s open source. Upon downloading the latest version of MediaWiki, however, you may well find yourself a little disappointed. It’s a bit like buying a new car and finding you only got the base model. No air con, no sat nav, no electric windows. All the best things are added extras. This is why, after getting to grips with wiki basics, you’ll want to start installing some exciting new extensions.

Here is my top five list of extensions I’ve added to my website, wikicoach.org.uk…

Number 5: EmbedVideo

If, like me, you love YouTube, this is the extension for you. It allows you to embed videos into your pages rather than just creating boring old links. It’s very smooth and easy to use and, most impressively, it’s compatible with just about every video streaming service on the web.

Number 4: WikiEditor

More form than function this one. The basic software comes with a reasonable editing toolbar that appears at the top of a page when you click into edit mode. This extension is a slight upgrade that looks much better and has a few extra functions (for drawing tables and other things that can be a bit tricky with wiki markup). If your site is likely to be used by wiki novices, this extension is a must.

Number 3: ConfirmEdit/SpamBlacklist

This should probably be number one on the list as spam protection is a major necessity of any wiki. The strength of a wiki – its openness – is also its Achilles heel. The ConfirmEdit extension is particularly useful as it allows you to add a CAPTCHA to the login page, preventing pesky spam bots from infiltrating your defences. I hate those spam bots!

Number 2: W4G RatingBar

A great extension if you want your wiki to develop into an ‘economy of ideas’ type thing. This extension allows you to add a small rating bar to the bottom of each page, allowing users to rate one another’s efforts. Even better, it allows you to generate custom lists of top rated pages so you can have a constantly updating list of the wiki’s best pages on your home page (or wherever you like).

Number 1: AddThis

Whether we like it or not, we live in an age of social networking where everything on the web has to be compatible with Twitter and Facebook and Google+ etc. This extension automatically adds a toolbar to every page (and your menu) so that people can ‘like’ or tweet or +1 a page with ease. There are also extensions that allow people to login to your wiki using a Facebook login, but they were too complicated for me to figure out I’m afraid. Hopefully you’ll have better luck.

Now go on… pimp that wiki!