Per-Wiki Extensions via ManageWiki on WikiOasis Farms

Beyond the globally loaded baseline, WikiOasis gives wiki administrators fine-grained control over which optional extensions are active on their wiki through the ManageWiki extension registry. Every enableable extension is declared as an entry in the $wgManageWikiExtensions array in ManageWikiExtensions.php, and administrators can toggle extensions on or off by visiting Special:ManageWiki/extensions on their wiki. This system means that the farm can host hundreds of different wikis, each with a tailored feature set, all sharing the same MediaWiki installation and the same configuration management infrastructure.

New wikis are created with a set of default extensions pre-enabled. The following extensions are turned on automatically for every new wiki: CategoryTree, Cite, CiteThisPage, CodeEditor, CodeMirror, DarkMode, GlobalUserPage, MinervaNeue, MobileFrontend, SyntaxHighlight, TextExtracts, UrlShortener, and WikiSEO.

The ManageWiki Extension Registry

The $wgManageWikiExtensions array in ManageWikiExtensions.php is the central registry of every extension that can be enabled or disabled by wiki administrators. Each entry is keyed by a lowercase slug (e.g. 'visualeditor', 'cargo') and contains a structured definition that drives both the ManageWiki UI and the installation/removal logic.

Extension Entry Structure

Each extension entry supports the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
`name`	`string`	The canonical extension name as it appears in `extension.json` or `$wgExtensionCredits`. Must match exactly.
`displayname`	`string`	Optional. A human-readable display name or i18n message key shown in the UI when it differs from `name`.
`linkPage`	`string`	Full URL to the extension’s documentation page on mediawiki.org (or GitHub).
`description`	`string`	Optional plain-text description or i18n message key shown in the extension list.
`help`	`string`	Optional additional HTML help text shown below the extension entry in ManageWiki.
`conflicts`	`string\|false`	A string of extension slugs (space- or comma-separated) that cannot be active simultaneously with this extension. `false` means no conflicts.
`requires`	`array`	Conditions that must be met before the extension can be enabled. See below.
`install`	`array`	Actions to perform when the extension is enabled. See below.
`remove`	`array`	Actions to perform when the extension is disabled. Follows the same structure as `install`.
`section`	`string`	The section group this extension belongs to in the ManageWiki UI.

The `requires` Array

The requires key controls who can enable the extension and under what conditions:

Key	Description
`activeusers`	Maximum number of active users a wiki may have to enable this extension.
`articles`	Maximum article count a wiki may have.
`pages`	Maximum total page count a wiki may have.
`extensions`	Array of other extension slugs that must already be enabled.
`permissions`	Array of user permissions required to toggle the extension (e.g. `'managewiki-restricted'`).
`visibility['state']`	Restrict to `'private'` or `'public'` wikis only.

The `install` / `remove` Arrays

These arrays define what happens when an extension is enabled or disabled:

Key	Description
`sql`	SQL table files to run on install, mapped as `table_name => sql_file_path`.
`mwscript`	Maintenance scripts to run, mapped as `script_path => options_array`.
`namespaces`	Namespace definitions to create (id, searchable, subpages, protection, etc.).
`permissions`	User group permission grants to apply to the wiki.
`settings`	ManageWiki settings to update when the extension is toggled, mapped as `variable => value`.
`files`	File copies, mapped as `destination => source`.

Checking Extension State in PHP Config

Within GlobalSettings.php, LocalWiki.php, and any other config files evaluated during bootstrap, the $wi (MirahezeFunctions) object provides three methods for checking whether extensions are active on the current wiki:

// Check a single extension
if ( $wi->isExtensionActive( 'VisualEditor' ) ) {
    // VisualEditor-specific config
}

// Check if any of several extensions are active
if ( $wi->isAnyOfExtensionsActive( 'WikibaseClient', 'WikibaseRepository' ) ) {
    require_once "$IP/config/Wikibase.php";
}

// Check if all of a set of extensions are active simultaneously
if ( $wi->isAllOfExtensionsActive( 'Translate', 'UniversalLanguageSelector' ) ) {
    // Config that requires both
}

Method Reference

Method	Signature	Description
`isExtensionActive`	`isExtensionActive(string $extension): bool`	Returns `true` if the named extension is currently active on this wiki.
`isAnyOfExtensionsActive`	`isAnyOfExtensionsActive(string ...$extensions): bool`	Returns `true` if at least one of the listed extensions is active.
`isAllOfExtensionsActive`	`isAllOfExtensionsActive(string ...$extensions): bool`	Returns `true` only if every listed extension is active.
`getActiveExtensions`	`getActiveExtensions(bool $useConfigCache = true): array`	Returns the full array of currently active extension names for the wiki, optionally bypassing the config cache.

How Extensions Are Loaded at Bootstrap

During the MediaWiki bootstrap process, MirahezeFunctions::loadExtensions() is called. It reads the per-wiki config cache file at CACHE_DIRECTORY/{$wgDBname}.php, resolves the current MediaWiki version, and then iterates through all active extensions returned by getActiveExtensions(). For each active extension, it locates the extension’s extension.json (or skin.json) path from a pre-built extension list cache and queues it with ExtensionRegistry::getInstance()->queue(). If the config cache is absent or empty (e.g. for a newly created wiki), bootstrap falls back gracefully without loading any per-wiki extensions.

Read config cache

The per-wiki cache file config-{dbname}.php is read from the cache directory to obtain the list of enabled extensions.

Resolve extension paths

A version-specific extension-list.php cache maps extension names to their filesystem paths. If this cache does not exist, it is built by scanning the MediaWiki extensions directory.

Handle disabled extensions

handleDisabledExtensions() is called to mark any globally disabled extensions in $wgManageWikiExtensions, adding a help notice explaining the reason and restricting re-enablement to managewiki-restricted users.

Queue active extensions

Each active extension name is matched against the path map. Valid extension.json-backed extensions are queued with ExtensionRegistry for deferred loading.

Handling Disabled Extensions

MirahezeFunctions::handleDisabledExtensions() processes the $disabledExtensions static array. For each globally disabled extension, it updates the $wgManageWikiExtensions entry to:

Set the help field to a notice explaining that the extension has been globally disabled and providing the stated reason.
Override requires to require the managewiki-restricted permission, preventing ordinary wiki administrators from enabling it.

This mechanism allows platform administrators to temporarily or permanently disable an extension farm-wide (e.g. due to a security issue or incompatibility) without removing it from the registry entirely.

Some extensions declare conflicts with each other in their conflicts field. If Extension A lists Extension B as a conflict, ManageWiki will prevent both from being active simultaneously. Attempting to enable a conflicting extension will show an error in the ManageWiki UI. Examples include:

DynamicPageList ↔ DynamicPageList3 (mutual conflict)
AuthorProtect ↔ LockAuthor (mutual conflict)
Comments ↔ ProtectionIndicator (mutual conflict)
BlogPage ↔ SimpleBlogPage (mutual conflict)
CirrusSearch ↔ TitleKey (mutual conflict)
UserProfileV2 → SocialProfile (UserProfileV2 cannot be enabled when SocialProfile is active)
Lingo ↔ Newsletter (mutual conflict)
MyVariables → ApprovedRevs (MyVariables cannot be active alongside ApprovedRevs)

Enabling Extensions via Special:ManageWiki

Wiki administrators access extension management at Special:ManageWiki/extensions on their wiki. The page groups all available extensions by section (see Extension Sections for the full breakdown). Each extension is listed with its display name, documentation link, description, and any help text, along with a checkbox to enable or disable it. When an extension is enabled, ManageWiki runs the associated install actions — creating SQL tables, running maintenance scripts, provisioning namespaces, and applying permission grants — before saving the updated extension list to the wiki’s config cache. When disabled, the corresponding remove actions are executed to clean up.

Some extensions require the managewiki-restricted permission to enable. These are typically high-impact extensions (such as Cargo, CirrusSearch, Replace Text, or WikibaseClient) that can have significant performance or data-model implications. Only platform stewards with the restricted permission can toggle these.

Overview

Setup & Configuration

Multi-Wiki Management

Extensions & Skins

Infrastructure

Reference

Per-Wiki Extensions via ManageWiki on WikiOasis Farms

The ManageWiki Extension Registry

Extension Entry Structure

The `requires` Array

The `install` / `remove` Arrays

Checking Extension State in PHP Config

Method Reference

How Extensions Are Loaded at Bootstrap

Handling Disabled Extensions

Enabling Extensions via Special:ManageWiki

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Setup & Configuration

Multi-Wiki Management

Extensions & Skins

Infrastructure

Reference

Documentation Index

​The ManageWiki Extension Registry

​Extension Entry Structure

​The requires Array

​The install / remove Arrays

​Checking Extension State in PHP Config

​Method Reference

​How Extensions Are Loaded at Bootstrap

​Handling Disabled Extensions

​Enabling Extensions via Special:ManageWiki

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

The ManageWiki Extension Registry

Extension Entry Structure

The `requires` Array

The `install` / `remove` Arrays

Checking Extension State in PHP Config

Method Reference

How Extensions Are Loaded at Bootstrap

Handling Disabled Extensions

Enabling Extensions via Special:ManageWiki