fyi, I figured it out.... I wanted to lock the database from changes, and
used this command in localsettings.php
$wgReadOnly = 'site maintenance';
Unexpectedly, this is the reason for the problem. Nothing in the MediaWiki
documentation warns that the database will be unusable. I expected that
users could continue to use the site in read-only mode. If anyone has a
reason for this, I'd be interested to hear your explanation.
To solve the issue, I revoked user editing rights to lock it down. All is
well now.
Thanks,
- Evelyn
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Evelyn Yoder
www.longjumpsupport.com