[Mediawiki-l] Best practices for extensions surviving MediaWiki updates?

[Daniel Barrett]

Thanks Jim.  One comment on what you wrote:

>Avoid modifying MediaWiki core code LIKE THE PLAGUE (there, fixed that
>for you).  If you find you can't do what you need to given existing
>hooks, either ask on a list like this one, or insert a new
>wfRunHooks() call and hook into it - then ask someone in the group to
>commit it for you.

I agree that one should avoid modifying the MW core code, but in practice, it can be done well, very robustly. I have been working with a modified codebase for over a year and MW upgrades are still trivial.  I usually need ~15-30 minutes to merge the 2-3 modifications that don't merge automatically.  And 30 minutes every 3 months is a good investment.  In my upcoming MW book, I describe the method (but still warn in big letters not to modify the core code).

I do like your idea to ask the MW team to commit a few hook entry points.

DanB