MediaWiki Extensions — Adding VisualEditor, Scribunto, and More

In this tutorial, you'll install extensions on your MediaWiki wiki — plugins that add features. This is Lesson 8 of our project: Build Your Own Documentation Wiki.

What You'll Build Today

By the end of this lesson, your wiki will have:

• VisualEditor — a WYSIWYG editor like WordPress or Google Docs
• Scribunto — Lua scripting for advanced templates
• A Lua-based template that shows the current date
• Confirmation that all extensions are working

Your wiki goes from "basic but functional" to "feature-rich."

What Are Extensions?

Extensions are add-ons that add features to MediaWiki. Think of them like apps for your phone or plugins for WordPress. There are thousands of extensions for:

• Editing (VisualEditor, CodeEditor)
• Security (ConfirmEdit, AbuseFilter)
• Search (Elastica, CirrusSearch)
• Import/Export (XMLDump, DataTransfer)
• Multimedia (EmbedVideo, PDFEmbed)
• Social features (SocialProfile, WikiForum)

Step-by-Step: Install and Configure Extensions

Step 1: Understand the Extension Installation Process

Every extension follows the same three steps:

1. Download the extension files into the extensions/ folder
2. Enable it by adding wfLoadExtension('ExtensionName') to LocalSettings.php
3. Configure it (some extensions need additional settings)

That's it. Let's do this for three essential extensions.

Step 2: Install the VisualEditor Extension

VisualEditor lets users edit pages with a WYSIWYG interface — no wikitext required. It's perfect for beginners who are intimidated by wiki markup.

Download VisualEditor:

1. Go to the extensions/ folder in your MediaWiki installation:

cd /opt/lampp/htdocs/mediawiki/extensions

2. Download the extension:

wget https://extdist.wmflabs.org/dist/extensions/VisualEditor-REL1_42-abcdef.tar.gz
tar -xvzf VisualEditor-*.tar.gz

3. VisualEditor also needs Parsoid, a service that converts wikitext to HTML and back. The easiest way is to use the bundled Parsoid with MediaWiki 1.42+:

cd /opt/lampp/htdocs/mediawiki
composer install

If composer is not installed, you can skip VisualEditor for now and come back to it later.

Enable VisualEditor:

Add to LocalSettings.php:

wfLoadExtension( 'VisualEditor' );
$wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-enable'] = 1;

// Enable VisualEditor by default for all users
$wgHiddenPrefs[] = 'visualeditor-enable';

Test it: Log in to your wiki and edit a page. You should see two tabs: "Edit" (wikitext) and "Edit visual" (VisualEditor). Click "Edit visual" — you'll see a toolbar with formatting buttons, just like a word processor.

Step 3: Install the Scribunto Extension

Scribunto lets you write templates in Lua, a real programming language. This makes your templates far more powerful than wikitext alone.

Download Scribunto:

1. Go to the extensions/ folder
2. Download Scribunto from the extension distributor (same site as VisualEditor)
3. Extract it into extensions/Scribunto/

Enable Scribunto:

Add to LocalSettings.php:

wfLoadExtension( 'Scribunto' );

Create a Lua template:

Create a page at Module:Hello (notice: Module, not Template):

local p = {}

function p.hello()
    return "Hello from Lua! The current time is " .. os.date("%H:%M:%S")
end

function p.greeting(frame)
    local name = frame.args[1] or "World"
    return "Hello, " .. name .. "!"
end

return p

Now create a template that calls this module. Create Template:Hello:

{{#invoke:Hello|hello}}

And a template with a parameter. Create Template:Greeting:

{{#invoke:Hello|greeting|{{{1|World}}}}}

Test it:

Edit any page and add:

{{Hello}}

{{Greeting|MediaWiki Learner}}

Save and view. The first line shows the current time. The second says "Hello, MediaWiki Learner!"

Step 4: Install Other Useful Extensions

Here are more extensions worth adding. Each follows the same three-step process.

Page Forms — Create forms for page creation (like a database interface):

wfLoadExtension( 'PageForms' );

After installing, users can create pages by filling out a form instead of writing wikitext. This is great for structured data like bug reports, employee records, or product listings.

EmbedVideo — Embed YouTube/Vimeo videos:

wfLoadExtension( 'EmbedVideo' );

Usage: {{#ev:youtube|VIDEO_ID}}

CodeEditor — Better wikitext editor with syntax highlighting:

wfLoadExtension( 'CodeEditor' );

This gives you a code editor with line numbers and colored syntax when editing templates and modules.

Step 5: Check Which Extensions Are Loaded

Go to Special:Version on your wiki. This page shows:

• MediaWiki version
• All installed extensions with their versions
• PHP and database versions
• Skin information

If an extension appears here, it's loaded correctly. If it doesn't, check that:

1. The extension folder exists in extensions/
2. The wfLoadExtension() line is correct in LocalSettings.php
3. There are no PHP error messages

What You Learned

• Extensions are installed in three steps: download, enable, configure
• VisualEditor provides a WYSIWYG editing interface
• Scribunto enables Lua scripting for advanced templates
• Special:Version shows all installed extensions
• Extensions extend every part of MediaWiki

In the next lesson, you'll learn how to back up your wiki and maintain it over time.

Common Errors

FAQ

How many extensions should I install?

Only what you need. Each extension adds complexity, maintenance burden, and potential security risks. Start with essentials (VisualEditor, Scribunto, ConfirmEdit) and add more as your wiki grows.

Do extensions survive a MediaWiki upgrade?

Most do, but you need to update them. After upgrading MediaWiki, go to Special:Version and check that all extensions show the correct version. If an extension shows "Unknown version" or an old version, download the updated version for your new MediaWiki release.

Can I write my own extension?

Yes. MediaWiki has a well-documented extension API. The simplest extension is a single PHP file with a hook function. Start with the MediaWiki Extension Writing Guide for examples.

What's the difference between an extension and a skin?

• Extensions add functionality (editing, search, security)
• Skins change appearance (colors, layout, fonts)

We'll cover skins in a separate lesson.

An extension broke my wiki. How do I recover?

Comment out the wfLoadExtension() line in LocalSettings.php. This disables the extension without removing its files. Your wiki will work normally again. Then investigate the error and re-enable once fixed.

What's Next

Your wiki is feature-rich with extensions. But all that work can disappear if you don't back it up.

Continue to Lesson 9: Backups & Maintenance — learn how to back up your wiki's database and files, perform upgrades, and keep everything running smoothly.