[Commons-l] Customizable forms using HTMLForm

[Bryan Tong Minh]

[cc commons-l, please keep the discussion on wikitech-l]


As you may know we use ugly uselang hacks on Commons to create our own
distinct upload forms. I want this functionality in MediaWiki.

HTMLForm provides a great way to abstractify form construction by
providing a descriptor that can be transformed into an HTML
presentation. What I want is to have allow Commons admins to create
custom uploads forms by providing a descriptor suitable for HTMLForm,
which is then translated to HTML and accessable via
Special:Upload/formname.

The question is how to allow admins to edit this descriptor. In PHP
this is simply an array. We could allow input as JSON or XML in a
MediaWiki: namespace message, which is then translated to an array and
then fed to HTMLForm. Or it could be only GUI editable via a Special
page and the forms can be stored elsewhere in the database.

Opinions, ideas?


Cheers,
Bryan