New subject: [Mediawiki-l] Extension DiscussionThreading V1.3

9 Sep 2008


      I've updated extension DiscussionThreading
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:DiscussionHeading to be compatible
all the way through 1.13.1 and trunk.  As a new feature (thanks to Daniel
Brice), it now automatically indents replies and makes it easier to find
where the editing should begin on replies.  Additionally, it has been
internationalized for more than 20 languages (thanks to siebrand).
This extension has been in several production systems for over two years was
written as a formatting extension to Talk_Pages, rather than a replacement.
The talk pages can still be used as a free-form article pages, but threads
can be incorporated by using the [+] tab or the [edit][new][reply] tags
which now appear in each section header. It also offers the additional
flexibility of allowing threads to be modified or removed, like any other
wiki information set.
There is another extension that is focused more on the "newsgroup" type of
approach, LiquidThreads or LQT
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:LiquidThreads. If you are looking
for a highly structured environment with additional functionality (like
sorting, email notification, . . .), you may want to consider LiquidThreads.
The only consistent issue in the discussions around this functionality that
I can see solved by DiscussionHeading over LQT is the ability to modify
previous threads in a Wikipedia-type approach - something many of the
"founders" are quite insistent upon.  It is also widely tested and
implemented across multiple platforms.
I could use input and help in three areas (on the discussion page
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_talk:DiscussionThreading of
course) :
1) Should this extension be deprecated in favor of LQT?
2) I've had at least one user tell me that in version MW R1_11 there may be
something funky with wfLoadExtensionMessages loading the
internationalisation file
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_talk:DiscussionThreading/doc#Not_wo
rking_in_v11.0.  I don't have access to a R1_11 system, but this doesn't
seem to be a problem with 1.13 on.  If you are experiencing this problem,
could you post on discussion so I can update the installation instructions?
3) DiscussionThreading_Article has been moved to
Extension:DiscussionThreading/doc.  Could someone with admin privileges go
in and delete this redirect page
http://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Extension:DiscussionThread_Artic
le&redirect=no  so that it no longer appears in the Extension matrix?
Thanks!
Jack D. Pond
"It's not what we eat but what we digest that makes us strong; not what we
gain but what we save that makes us rich; not what we read but what we
remember that makes us learned; and not what we profess but what we practice
that gives us integrity." -- Francis Bacon, Sr. (1561-1626)