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|logo=VisualEditor-logo.svg.png
|logo=VisualEditor-logo.svg.png
|screenshot=MW1 24-visual-editor-test.png
|screenshot=MW1 24-visual-editor-test.png
|developers=
|author_location=Berlin
|author_location=Berlin
|licences=
|mediawiki=1.24 (or better). However, as of dec 2016, we recommend at least version 1.27. Also, installation and configuration procedures are different for older versions.
|description=
|mediawiki=1.23 (or better)
|dependencies=node.js, parsoid
|dependencies=node.js, parsoid
|related_text=
|discussion=
|languages=
|status=beta
|status=beta
|last_version=0.1.0 (as of June 2014)
|last_version=0.1.0 (as of April 2015). But there are several 0.1.0 subminor versions. E.g. on Dec 2016 it was (9da5996)
|programming language=JavaScript, PHP
|programming language=JavaScript, PHP
|alternative=none
|alternative=none
|website=https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:VisualEditor
|website=https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:VisualEditor
|publication=
|support_website=https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:VisualEditor, https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/VisualEditor,
|support_website=https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:VisualEditor
|last_edit=2015/04/20
|example_website=
|last_edit=2014/06/20
}}
}}
== Introduction ==
== Introduction ==


The MediaWiki Visual Editor (operational since 2013 and more fully deployed on Wikipedia since 2014) is a Wysiwyg editor. It requires two components:
The [[Mediawiki]] VisualEditor is a Wysiwyg editor for Mediawiki versions that came out in late 2014. The system is also deployed in most Wikipedia versions (however since it is still in Beta, only registered users can use it). Installation of this extension is more complex than usual and requires two components:


* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:VisualEditor Extension:VisualEditor]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:VisualEditor Extension:VisualEditor]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Parsoid Parsoid], implemented with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Node_js Node.js]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Parsoid Parsoid], a combined MediaWiki and HTML parser implemented with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Node_js Node.js]


I managed to get this installed and working, both on a test server and in the french version of this wiki. I took me about 3 hours (mostly because I didn't think enough and because I am not a sysadmin ...). Anyhow, it does work on MediaWiki 1.24. It also seems to handle pages that include templates and semantic forms. I don't think that semantic tags will work, but since we always semantic forms that's ok. Will have to do some extra testing however - [[User:Daniel K. Schneider|Daniel K. Schneider]] ([[User talk:Daniel K. Schneider|talk]]) 18:38, 26 June 2014 (CEST)
I managed to get this installed and working, both on a test server and in this wiki. Anyhow, VisualEditor does seem work on MediaWiki 1.24 and 1.25 and 1.27 but the installation is very tricky and the software combination needs to be right. VisualEditor also seems to handle most pages that include templates and semantic forms. I don't think that semantic tags will work, but since we always use semantic forms that is more or less ok. Though, I consider moving forms-based pages into a special name space. Will have to do some extra testing however - [[User:Daniel K. Schneider|Daniel K. Schneider]] ([[User talk:Daniel K. Schneider|talk]]) 18:38, 26 June 2014 / Sept. 2015.


== MediaWiki 1.24 alpha installation notes ==
Notice: This extension sometimes breaks (depending on the combo of installed versions) - [[User:Daniel K. Schneider|Daniel K. Schneider]] ([[User talk:Daniel K. Schneider|talk]]) 15:48, 19 September 2014 -  [[User:Daniel K. Schneider|Daniel K. Schneider]] ([[User talk:Daniel K. Schneider|talk]]) 12:37, 17 April 2015 (CEST). Therefore upgrade your wiki on a test server first, if you are keen to have this working all the time.


'''Made for Ubuntu 12LTS''' (and should be somewhat useful for most Debian systems)
== Installation notes for MW 1.27x under Ubuntu 16.x ==


* I did not manage to make it work for MW 1.23. But you can try. Upgrade the wiki to the latest patches
It seems to be working for now - [[User:Daniel K. Schneider|Daniel K. Schneider]] ([[User talk:Daniel K. Schneider|talk]]) 20:01, 6 December 2016 (CET)
git branch -r


Trying out the alpha version. Not really recommended on production systems, unless you really want this editor....
=== Pre-requisites ===
cd installdir
git checkout master
: or maybe (if you had an old master from previous year...)
git checkout origin/master -B master
: then
git pull


=== Download and install the extension ===
* A node.js server and its npm package manager must be installed on your machine. To check if it exists, type <code>nodjs --version</code>


  cd installdir
  sudo apt-get install nodejs
sudo apt-get install npm


Update your wiki first to the recent patches
* Curl must be installed, including the php library.
git pull
 
Get and install the VisualEditor extension
git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/p/mediawiki/extensions/VisualEditor.git
cd VisualEditor
Initialize the submodule (whatever that is ...)
git submodule update --init


Backtrack to an older version if your work with an older wiki version ! However, I did not manage to make this work with MW 1_23. If you want to try yourself for MW 1_23, use:
sudo apt-get install curl
  git checkout REL1_23
sudo apt-get install php7.0-curl
sudo apt-get install php-curl
  sudo apachectl restart


=== Download and install the parsoid ===
=== Installation of Parsoid ===


This depends on your OS. For Ubuntu 12.04 LTS you cannot use the official distro as explained in the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Parsoid/Setup official setup] documentation.
Parsoid is a service that will run under node.js server and that will do the backend of the editing process, i.e. parse MediaWiki and HTML.


==== Install Parsoid ====
If you have old developper versions installed it could be a good idea to remove these.
My new install only started working after:
sudo apt-get --purge remove parsoid
rm -r /usr/lib/parsoid
etc.
My system admin skills are fairly low and I cannot explain why I had to remove every trace of an old parsoid...


Firstly edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file:
'''''Installing/upgrading parsoid'''''
deb http://parsoid.wmflabs.org:8080/debian wmf-production/


Then get/install Parsoid
sudo apt-key advanced --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 90E9F83F22250DD7
sudo apt-add-repository "deb https://releases.wikimedia.org/debian jessie-mediawiki main"
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get install parsoid
  sudo apt-get install parsoid


This will create:
'''''Configure parsoid '''''
* a user ''parsoid'' (uid = 118)
 
* A Parsoid server that runs on port 8142
Edit file /etc/mediawiki/parsoid/config.yaml


Check it it runs, e.g.
For each wiki, add two lines likes this under '''mwApis:''', one that defines the URL for the API and the other that gives a domain name (same as the one used in LocalSettings.php). Make sure the the API URL does work !
more  /var/log/parsoid/parsoid.log
        mwApis:
        - # This is the only required parameter,
          uri: 'http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/test/api.php'
          domain: 'test'
        - # This is the only required parameter,
          uri: 'http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/your_wiki/api.php'
          domain: 'your_wiki'


Files:
Restart parsoid:
  /usr/lib/parsoid # the parsoid installation directory
  sudo service parsoid restart
/etc/default/parsoid # default settings for the server (places)
/etc/mediawiki/parsoid/settings.js # Mediawiki(s) configuration
/var/log/parsoid/parsoid.log


==== Install NodeJS ====
=== Installation of the extension ===


Then get a different NodJS first
'''Normal users'''
<source lang="bash">
 
sudo apt-get update
(tested with MW 1.31, Sept. 2018)
sudo apt-get install -y python-software-properties python g++ make
 
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chris-lea/node.js
Take the one from the official [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:ExtensionDistributor/VisualEditor extensions directory] and just extract the archive.
sudo apt-get update
 
sudo apt-get install nodejs=0.10*
For example, '''do not use this, the URL will change'''
</source>
wget https://extdist.wmflabs.org/dist/extensions/VisualEditor-REL1_31-13a585a.tar.gz
 
'''Advanced users'''
cd extensions
git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/p/mediawiki/extensions/VisualEditor.git
cd VisualEditor
git submodule update --init
 
Make sure to select the right version, 'master' probably will not work. Checkout the good version and '''update the submodule again'''
git checkout REL1_27
git submodule update --init
'''but''', as we said above, for once it is a safer bet to get this extension from the distributor and not via git ....
 
In LocalSettings.php:
<source lang="php">
 
# Visual Editor
 
wfLoadExtension( 'VisualEditor' );
 
// Enable by default for everybody
$wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-enable'] = 1;
 
// Optional: Set VisualEditor as the default for anonymous users
// otherwise they will have to switch to VE
// $wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-editor'] = "visualeditor";
 
// Don't allow users to disable it
$wgHiddenPrefs[] = 'visualeditor-enable';
 
// OPTIONAL: Enable VisualEditor's experimental code features
#$wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-enable-experimental'] = 1;


Test if it's there:
$wgVirtualRestConfig['modules']['parsoid'] = array(
<source lang="bash">
// URL to the Parsoid instance
nodejs --version
// Use port 8142 if you use the Ubuntu or Debian packages
v0.10.28
'url' => 'http://your.full.site:8142',
// Parsoid "domain" -- ADAPT TO YOUR NEED, i.e. replace "your_wiki" by the same "domain" name you gave in the yaml.config file.
'domain' => 'your_wiki'
);
</source>
</source>


=== Configure Parsoid ===
=== Allow visual editing in more than default namespaces ===


==== Continue parsoid install ====
Example (adapt to yours)
<source lang="php>
$wgVisualEditorAvailableNamespaces = [
                                      "0" => true,
                                      "2" => true,
                                      "102" => true,
                                      "104" => true,
                                      "106" => true,
                                      "_merge_strategy" => "array_plus"];
</source>
Tip: Look at the HTML source of [[Special:AllPages]]. The HTML options menu will list the numbers for your namespaces.


Go to the Parsoid '''source''' directory
=== Troubleshooting ===
cd /usr/lib/parsoid/src


Type
==== New installation is not working ====
npm install
: This will take a while and will download extra stuff. ''npm'' seems to be a kind of ''node'' management tool (yes I don't understand anything here...)


Test it (again in the src directory)
It is really really crucial to get the URLs right in the various configuration files
npm test


Your will get something like
1) Control if Apache is ok. On the command line, type:
   
  sudo apache2ctl -S
  3206 total passed tests (expected 3206), 1927 total failures (expected 1927)
Depending on your installation you should get something like this (and not some random name that does not match your wiki URL !!)
--> NO UNEXPECTED RESULTS <--
  VirtualHost configuration:
==========================================================
  129.194.7.85:*        edutechwiki.unige.ch (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/mediawiki.conf:1)
WARNING: parserTests.txt not up-to-date with upstream.
Make very sure that in your Apache mediawiki.conf file you get the right name of your Internet alias, for example:
        Run fetch-parserTests.txt.js to update.
  <VirtualHost edutechwiki.unige.ch>
  ServerAdmin ....@.....
        ServerName edutechwiki.unige.ch


==== Configure parsoid install ====
2) Make sure that the Parsoid domain is correct and consistent.


The instructions are a bit confused on the official web sites, e.g. not even the directory locations are clear. According to [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Parsoid/Setup this], if you would like to point the Parsoid web service to your own wiki, go to the parsoid/api directory and create a localsettings.js file based on localsettings.js.example.
3) Uninstall old code and configuration files and start fresh.


However, Ubuntu reads the config file from here:
==== Parsoid did work and stopped working ====
/etc/mediawiki/parsoid/settings.js


because:
This arrived on March 28, 2018, Ubuntu Server 16.04 / Mediawiki 1.27.4. According to [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_talk:VisualEditor a post on Mediawiki] one should install an old version. Firstly make sure that this is the problem
:<code>/etc/init.d/parsoid</code> reads from <code>/etc/default/parsoid</code> the following configuration defaults:
  apt-cache show parsoid
  PARSOID_LOG_FILE=/var/log/parsoid/parsoid.log
If it shows ''pool/main/p/parsoid/parsoid_0.9.0all_all.deb'' then you got version 9 and you could try downgrading. It's probably safer than trying to install a new visual editor that also can break everything, but I just do not know. Also make sure to copy the configuration files in case they go away.
PARSOID_SETTINGS_FILE=/etc/mediawiki/parsoid/settings.js


Therefore do this:
cd /etc/mediawiki/parsoid/settings.js
: Edit <code>settings.js</code> and define <code>parsoidConfig.setInterwiki</code> as in the examples below:
    // parsoidConfig.setInterwiki( 'test', 'http://localhost/test/api.php' ); // does not work
    parsoidConfig.setInterwiki( 'test', 'http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/test/api.php' ); // works
    // parsoidConfig.setInterwiki( 'noconn', 'http://213.127.84.12:80/wikiarst/api.php' );
    //parsoidConfig.setInterwiki( 'disney', 'http://disneychannel.wikia.com/api.php' );


In other installs, you may have to edit file ''/usr/lib/parsoid/src/api/localsettings.js'' to add your wikis (you can use several of these). Of course you also should test if the api.php URL works. If you use server aliases, <code>http://localhost/yourwiki</code> may not work at all.
apt-get purge parsoid
wget https://people.wikimedia.org/~ssastry/parsoid/debs/parsoid_0.8.0all_all.deb
dpkg -i parsoid_0.8.0all_all.deb
apt-mark hold parsoid


After making changes to the config file, '''restart''' the parsoid
Remember what you did here. <code>apt-mark hold</code> prevents installing a new package. Revert this after installing a new evething ...
/etc/init.d/parsoid restart
  apt-mark unhold parsoid


=== Configure the extension ===
=== https support ===


In <code>Localsettings.php</code>, add something like this:
* Is possible, read the [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:VisualEditor#Parsoid_over_HTTPS official manual page] (not tested so far)


<source lang="php">
* Requires getting and installing certificates...
# VISUAL Editor
// If this breaks, then you likely have a version mismatch - downgrade visual editor or upgrade the wiki to alpha code
require_once("$IP/extensions/VisualEditor/VisualEditor.php");
// OPTIONAL: Enable VisualEditor in other namespaces
// By default, VE is only enabled in NS_MAIN
//$wgVisualEditorNamespaces[] = NS_PROJECT;
// Enable by default for everybody
$wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-enable'] = 1;
// Don't allow users to disable it
$wgHiddenPrefs[] = 'visualeditor-enable';
// OPTIONAL: Enable VisualEditor's experimental code features
//$wgVisualEditorEnableExperimentalCode = true;


// Interwiki prefix to pass to the Parsoid instance - must match what you declared in the parsoid settings
== Tips for old version ==
// Parsoid will be called as $url/$prefix/$pagename
$wgVisualEditorParsoidPrefix = 'test';


// Declare the Parsoid - Make sure to get the right port
I had VisualEditor going for MW 1.25. After that it broke. You can browse through the wiki history if you are really interested in that ...
$wgVisualEditorParsoidURL = 'http://localhost:8142';


</source>
[[category: Mediawiki documentation]]

Latest revision as of 16:51, 13 September 2018

Category:MediaWiki extension
VisualEditor
Extension name VisualEditor
About this article / disclaimer [[Has about meta information::The VisualEditor project aims to create a reliable rich-text editor for MediaWiki. [...] The extension relies on the separate nodeJS-based Parsoid parser service to be up and running in order to edit pages. Stable release is planned for 2014.]]
Logo VisualEditor-logo.svg.png
Screenshot MW1 24-visual-editor-test.png
Location of the main author Berlin
Coordinates of the main authors 52.517037, 13.38886
Developers
Licences
Description
Mediawiki requirements 1.24 (or better). However, as of dec 2016, we recommend at least version 1.27. Also, installation and configuration procedures are different for older versions.
Dependencies node.js, parsoid
Related extensions (documented here)
Related extensions
Discussion
Language support
Status beta
First release date
Last release date (as of 2015/04/20!)
Last version number 0.1.0 (as of April 2015). But there are several 0.1.0 subminor versions. E.g. on Dec 2016 it was (9da5996)
Programming language JavaScript, PHP
Alternatives none
Website home page
Publications
Support websites web site, web site
Example websites
Last edited 2015/04/20


Introduction

The Mediawiki VisualEditor is a Wysiwyg editor for Mediawiki versions that came out in late 2014. The system is also deployed in most Wikipedia versions (however since it is still in Beta, only registered users can use it). Installation of this extension is more complex than usual and requires two components:

I managed to get this installed and working, both on a test server and in this wiki. Anyhow, VisualEditor does seem work on MediaWiki 1.24 and 1.25 and 1.27 but the installation is very tricky and the software combination needs to be right. VisualEditor also seems to handle most pages that include templates and semantic forms. I don't think that semantic tags will work, but since we always use semantic forms that is more or less ok. Though, I consider moving forms-based pages into a special name space. Will have to do some extra testing however - Daniel K. Schneider (talk) 18:38, 26 June 2014 / Sept. 2015.

Notice: This extension sometimes breaks (depending on the combo of installed versions) - Daniel K. Schneider (talk) 15:48, 19 September 2014 - Daniel K. Schneider (talk) 12:37, 17 April 2015 (CEST). Therefore upgrade your wiki on a test server first, if you are keen to have this working all the time.

Installation notes for MW 1.27x under Ubuntu 16.x

It seems to be working for now - Daniel K. Schneider (talk) 20:01, 6 December 2016 (CET)

Pre-requisites

  • A node.js server and its npm package manager must be installed on your machine. To check if it exists, type nodjs --version
sudo apt-get install nodejs
sudo apt-get install npm
  • Curl must be installed, including the php library.
sudo apt-get install curl
sudo apt-get install php7.0-curl
sudo apt-get install php-curl
sudo apachectl restart

Installation of Parsoid

Parsoid is a service that will run under node.js server and that will do the backend of the editing process, i.e. parse MediaWiki and HTML.

If you have old developper versions installed it could be a good idea to remove these. My new install only started working after: 

sudo apt-get --purge remove parsoid
rm -r /usr/lib/parsoid
etc.

My system admin skills are fairly low and I cannot explain why I had to remove every trace of an old parsoid...

Installing/upgrading parsoid 

sudo apt-key advanced --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 90E9F83F22250DD7
sudo apt-add-repository "deb https://releases.wikimedia.org/debian jessie-mediawiki main"
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install parsoid

Configure parsoid

Edit file /etc/mediawiki/parsoid/config.yaml

For each wiki, add two lines likes this under mwApis:, one that defines the URL for the API and the other that gives a domain name (same as the one used in LocalSettings.php). Make sure the the API URL does work ! 

       mwApis:
       - # This is the only required parameter,
         uri: 'http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/test/api.php'
         domain: 'test'
       - # This is the only required parameter,
         uri: 'http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/your_wiki/api.php'
         domain: 'your_wiki'

Restart parsoid: 

sudo service parsoid restart

Installation of the extension

Normal users

(tested with MW 1.31, Sept. 2018)

Take the one from the official extensions directory and just extract the archive.

For example, do not use this, the URL will change 

wget https://extdist.wmflabs.org/dist/extensions/VisualEditor-REL1_31-13a585a.tar.gz

Advanced users 

cd extensions
git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/p/mediawiki/extensions/VisualEditor.git
cd VisualEditor
git submodule update --init

Make sure to select the right version, 'master' probably will not work. Checkout the good version and update the submodule again 

git checkout REL1_27
git submodule update --init

but, as we said above, for once it is a safer bet to get this extension from the distributor and not via git ....

In LocalSettings.php: 

# Visual Editor

wfLoadExtension( 'VisualEditor' );

// Enable by default for everybody
$wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-enable'] = 1;

// Optional: Set VisualEditor as the default for anonymous users
// otherwise they will have to switch to VE
// $wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-editor'] = "visualeditor";

// Don't allow users to disable it
$wgHiddenPrefs[] = 'visualeditor-enable';

// OPTIONAL: Enable VisualEditor's experimental code features
#$wgDefaultUserOptions['visualeditor-enable-experimental'] = 1;

$wgVirtualRestConfig['modules']['parsoid'] = array(
	// URL to the Parsoid instance
	// Use port 8142 if you use the Ubuntu or Debian packages
	'url' => 'http://your.full.site:8142', 
	// Parsoid "domain" -- ADAPT TO YOUR NEED, i.e. replace "your_wiki" by the same "domain" name you gave in the yaml.config file.
	'domain' => 'your_wiki'
);

Allow visual editing in more than default namespaces

Example (adapt to yours) 

$wgVisualEditorAvailableNamespaces = [
                                      "0" => true,
                                      "2" => true,
                                      "102" => true,
                                      "104" => true,
                                      "106" => true,
                                      "_merge_strategy" => "array_plus"];

Tip: Look at the HTML source of Special:AllPages. The HTML options menu will list the numbers for your namespaces.

Troubleshooting

New installation is not working

It is really really crucial to get the URLs right in the various configuration files

1) Control if Apache is ok. On the command line, type: 

 sudo apache2ctl -S

Depending on your installation you should get something like this (and not some random name that does not match your wiki URL !!) 

VirtualHost configuration:
129.194.7.85:*         edutechwiki.unige.ch (/etc/apache2/sites-enabled/mediawiki.conf:1)

Make very sure that in your Apache mediawiki.conf file you get the right name of your Internet alias, for example: 

 <VirtualHost edutechwiki.unige.ch>
  	ServerAdmin ....@.....
       ServerName edutechwiki.unige.ch

2) Make sure that the Parsoid domain is correct and consistent.

3) Uninstall old code and configuration files and start fresh.

Parsoid did work and stopped working

This arrived on March 28, 2018, Ubuntu Server 16.04 / Mediawiki 1.27.4. According to a post on Mediawiki one should install an old version. Firstly make sure that this is the problem 

apt-cache show parsoid

If it shows pool/main/p/parsoid/parsoid_0.9.0all_all.deb then you got version 9 and you could try downgrading. It's probably safer than trying to install a new visual editor that also can break everything, but I just do not know. Also make sure to copy the configuration files in case they go away. 


apt-get purge parsoid
wget https://people.wikimedia.org/~ssastry/parsoid/debs/parsoid_0.8.0all_all.deb
dpkg -i parsoid_0.8.0all_all.deb
apt-mark hold parsoid

Remember what you did here. apt-mark hold prevents installing a new package. Revert this after installing a new evething ... 

 apt-mark unhold parsoid

https support

  • Requires getting and installing certificates...

Tips for old version

I had VisualEditor going for MW 1.25. After that it broke. You can browse through the wiki history if you are really interested in that ...

Retrieved from "https://edutechwiki.unige.ch/mediawiki/index.php?title=VisualEditor&oldid=69623"