MediaWiki Email & Notifications — Email Confirmation, Echo Notifications, and Digest Settings

In this tutorial, you will learn about MediaWiki Email & Notifications. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices to help you master this topic.

Email and notifications in MediaWiki connect users to wiki activity through the Echo notification system, email confirmation workflows, personalized web notifications, and configurable digests — the communication tools Wikipedia uses to keep editors informed about mentions, replies, and page changes.

What You'll Learn

• Configuring email settings for your wiki
• Understanding email confirmation and verification
• Setting up the Echo notification system
• Configuring web and email notifications
• Customizing notification preferences
• Managing digest and frequency settings

Why It Matters

A silent wiki is an inactive wiki. Users need to know when someone replies to their talk page, when a page they watch changes, or when they are mentioned in a discussion. The notification system bridges the gap between wiki activity and user awareness. Without notifications, users must actively check the wiki for updates. With them, the wiki pushes relevant information to users, keeping the community engaged and responsive.

Real-World Use

A DodaTech wiki team lead assigns a new documentation task. They mention the writer's username in a discussion on the wiki. The writer receives a web notification (bell icon) and an email within minutes. The writer clicks the notification, goes directly to the discussion, and responds. The notification system reduces response time from days to hours.

Learning Path

flowchart LR
  A["20: User Groups"] --> B["21: User Rights"]
  B --> C["22: Email & Notifications"]
  C:::current
  D["23: Bots & Automation"]
  E["24: User Preferences"]
  F["25: Extension Installation"]

  C --> D --> E --> F

  classDef current fill#38bdf8,color#0f172a,stroke-width:2px

Email Configuration in MediaWiki

Before users can receive email notifications, the wiki must be configured to send email.

Basic Email Setup

In LocalSettings.php:

// Enable email features
$wgEnableEmail = true;
$wgEnableUserEmail = true;         // Allow users to email each other
$wgEnotifUserTalk = true;          // Notify on talk page changes
$wgEnotifWatchlist = true;         // Notify on watched page changes
$wgEmailAuthentication = true;     // Require email confirmation

// Mail server settings
$wgSMTP = [
    'host'     => 'smtp.gmail.com',
    'port'     => 587,
    'auth'     => true,
    'username' => 'wiki@dodatech.com',
    'password' => 'your-app-password',
];

// From address
$wgPasswordSender = 'wiki@dodatech.com';
$wgEmergencyContact = 'admin@dodatech.com';

Testing Email

After configuration, test email sending:

1. Go to Special:Preferences on a user account
2. Enter an email address
3. Click "Save"
4. Check for a confirmation email

If no email arrives, check:

• PHP's sendmail_path or SMTP configuration
• Server firewall blocking outbound SMTP
• Spam folder
• PHP error logs

Email Confirmation

Users must confirm their email address before receiving notifications.

Confirmation Process

1. User enters an email address in preferences
2. MediaWiki sends a confirmation email with a link
3. User clicks the link to verify ownership of that address
4. A "Email confirmed" message appears in preferences

Resending Confirmation

Users can request a new confirmation email from Special:ConfirmEmail. Administrators can manually confirm a user's email from Special:UserRights.

Requiring Email Confirmation

Some wikis require email confirmation before users can edit:

$wgEmailConfirmToEdit = true;

With this setting, unconfirmed users cannot edit any page. This is useful for combating spam but may deter legitimate users.

The Echo Notification System

Echo is MediaWiki's modern notification system, replacing older notification methods. It is included in MediaWiki 1.42+.

Notification Types

Notification Display

Echo notifications appear in two places:

1. Top-right bell icon: Click to see recent notifications
2. Alert badge: Number of unread notifications

Notifications show:

• Title: Brief description (e.g., "New message on User:Example's talk page")
• Preview: First few lines of the content
• Timestamp: When the notification was triggered
• Link: Direct link to the relevant page or diff

Notification Read Status

• Bold text: Unread notification
• Normal text: Read notification
• Checkmark: Mark as read (click individual or "Mark all as read")
• Archive link: View all notifications, including read ones

Web Notifications

Web notifications appear as a dropdown from the bell icon. They are the primary way users see activity without email.

Customizing Web Notifications

Users configure web notifications in Special:Preferences > Notifications:

Notify me on my talk page:
  ☑ Web notification
  ☑ Email
  ☐ Disabled

Notify me when my edit is reverted:
  ☑ Web notification
  ☐ Email
  ☐ Disabled

Each event type can have separate web and email settings.

Batch Notifications

When multiple notifications of the same type occur (e.g., several talk page messages), Echo groups them:

3 new messages on User:Example's talk page
Last message by User3: "Please review the updated section"

This prevents notification overload.

Email Notifications

Echo sends email notifications based on user preferences.

Email Format

Each notification email includes:

Subject: [Wiki Name] New message on User:Example talk page

[User] left a message on your talk page:

"Please review the updated installation guide."

---
Visit https://yourwiki/User_talk:Example to view or respond.
You can change your notification settings at
https://yourwiki/Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-echo

Frequency Options

Users choose how often to receive emails:

Email frequency:
  ☐ Every individual notification (as they happen)
  ☐ Daily digest (once per day)
  ☐ Weekly digest (once per week)
  ☐ Never

Digest Format

Daily digest emails summarize all notifications:

Subject: [Wiki Name] Daily digest — 5 notifications

Pages with changes:
  DodaBrowser (3 edits by User1, User2)
  DodaSync (1 edit by User3)
  User talk:Example (1 message from User4)

Digests reduce email volume while keeping users informed.

Cross-Wiki Notifications

If your wiki is part of a wiki farm (multiple wikis sharing a user database), Echo supports cross-wiki notifications.

Users see notifications from all wikis they participate in, grouped by source wiki:

Notifications from:
  Wiki 1 (3 unread)
  Wiki 2 (1 unread)
  Wiki 3 (0 unread)

This requires the Echo extension to be installed on all wikis and shared user database configuration.

Notification Blacklist

Users can mute specific users or pages:

In Special:Preferences > Notifications > Muted users:

Users you have muted:
  User1
  User2

Muted users' mentions and talk page messages do not generate notifications.

Advanced Echo Configuration

In LocalSettings.php:

// Display notifications in a flyout instead of a separate page
$wgEchoShowNotifications = true;

// Maximum number of notifications to show
$wgEchoMaxNotificationCount = 99;

// Enable email batch (true by default)
$wgEchoEmailDigest = true;

// Digest frequency (seconds between digests)
$wgEchoEmailDigestPeriod = 86400;  // 24 hours

Custom Notification Types

Extensions can add custom notification types. For example:

// Register a new notification type
$wgEchoNotificationIcons['review'] = [
    'path' => 'Review.png',
    'url' => false,
];

Custom notifications require writing an Echo event handler in PHP.

What You Learned

• Email configuration uses SMTP settings in LocalSettings.php
• Email confirmation verifies user email addresses
• Echo provides web and email notifications for wiki events
• Users customize notification preferences per event type
• Digests consolidate notifications into daily or weekly emails
• Cross-wiki notifications work across wiki farms
• Users can mute other users to reduce notifications

In the next lesson, you'll learn about bots and automation.

Common Mistakes

Practice Questions

1. What are the requirements for a user to receive email notifications from a wiki?
2. How does the Echo notification system differ from the old email notification system?
3. What notification frequency options are available, and when would you recommend each?
4. Challenge: Set up a complete notification system. Install and configure Echo if not already present. Configure SMTP settings in LocalSettings.php. Create three user accounts and verify email confirmation works. Have User1 create a page. Have User2 edit that page and mention User1 using [[User:User1]]. Have User3 leave a message on User2's talk page. Verify that User2 receives a web notification for the talk page message and an email notification (if configured). Configure User3's preferences to receive a daily digest instead of immediate emails. Mute User1 from User2's account and verify no notifications from User1 are received.

FAQ

Mini Project

Goal: Build a complete notification and communication system for a team wiki.

1. Configure SMTP email in LocalSettings.php with working credentials
2. Set $wgEmailConfirmToEdit = false (do not require confirmation)
3. Enable all Echo notification types
4. Create 3 user accounts with email addresses
5. Confirm email for all 3 accounts
6. From each account, configure different notification preferences:
   • Account 1: Immediate email for all events
   • Account 2: Web notifications only, no email
   • Account 3: Daily digest
7. Simulate a workflow: Account 1 creates a page, Account 2 edits it and mentions Account 3
8. Verify the appropriate notifications appear for each account
9. Configure Account 1 to mute Account 2 and verify it works
10. Create a "Notification Preferences Guide" page explaining each option

What's Next

Notifications keep users connected. Now let's automate repetitive tasks with bots.

Continue to Lesson 23: Bots & Automation — learn about Pywikibot, AutoWikiBrowser, and bot passwords for automated wiki maintenance.