Extension:VisualData
VisualData Release status: stable |
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Implementation | Hook , Special page |
Description | VisualData is a full-fledged metadata management framework based on json-schema able to easily record, organize and query collection of data on your wiki. |
Author(s) | thomas-topway-it (thomas-topway-ittalk) |
Latest version | 1.0.8 (2024-11-23) |
Compatibility policy | Master maintains backward compatibility. |
MediaWiki | 1.35+ |
License | GNU General Public License 2.0 or later |
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Quarterly downloads | 17 (Ranked 112nd) |
Translate the VisualData extension if it is available at translatewiki.net | |
VisualData is a full-fledged metadata management framework based on json-schema able to easily record, organize and query collection of data on your wiki.
It is characterized by a strong emphasis on the UI/UX side and aims to present itself as a lightweight or modern alternative to Semantic MediaWiki and Cargo.
Key-features
edit- Based on json-schema and slots
- forms and pop-up forms auto-generated from json-schema
- Integrated SchemaBuilder to easily create json-schema compliant schemas, with nested items and OOUI widgets
- Forms are validated with industry-standard ajv-validator
- SMW's style inline queries and result formats
- Can import/store/query large amount of data (with hierarchical structure) in specific articles/the entire wiki, and to rebuild them in minutes
check out live demos and Release notes for the latest improvements
UI elements
editThe extension adds the following interface elements to your wiki (some of them only for authorized users and/or sysops)
- A sidebar section where to access all special pages offered by the extension
- The action tab "Edit data" by which to assign schemas to article and fill-in them through automatically generated OOUI forms
- and a namespace tab where to access the slot with json-data registered within an article through the extension
The visibility of each of them can be managed using the global parameters below.
Installation
edit- Download and place the file(s) in a directory called
VisualData
in yourextensions/
folder. - Add the following code at the bottom of your LocalSettings.php
wfLoadExtension( 'VisualData' );
- Run
php maintenance/update.php
(this will install the required tables) - run
composer install --no-dev
in the extension folder. This will install the required libraries[1] - Done – Navigate to Special:Version on your wiki to verify that the extension is successfully installed.
Make sure to run
php extensions/VisualData/maintenance/RebuildData.php
after each update of the extension when indicated in the Release notes. This will drop/recreate the tables based on the data stored on the wiki
Main sections
editRights and privileges
editThe extension creates the following user rights. They can be both included manually in the LocalSettings.php or to be managed through the interface (special page Special:UserRights). Sysops and bureaucrats are assigned with the complete set of permissions by default.
Rights
editright | description |
---|---|
visualdata-caneditdata |
Can edit metadata related to wiki articles by editing/assigning json-schemas to them |
visualdata-canmanageschemas |
Can create/edit/delete schemas through the SchemaBuilder |
Example configuration
edit$wgGroupPermissions['*']["visualdata-caneditdata"] = true;
$wgGroupPermissions['*']["visualdata-canmanageschemas"] = false;
Groups
editgroup | Can edit data | Can manage schemas |
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sysop , bureaucrat |
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visualdata-admin |
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visualdata-editor |
Global parameters
editvariable | description | default |
---|---|---|
$wgVisualDataDisableSlotsNavigation |
hide slots tab on the navigation panel | false
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$wgVisualDataDisableSidebarLink |
hide VisualData's links section on the sidebar | false
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$wgVisualDataEditDataNamespaces |
default namespaces with editable metadata | 0, 4 (Main, Project)
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$wgVisualDataJsonDataTrackingCategory |
add a tracking category to articles with data | false
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$wgVisualDataCreateJobsWarningLimit |
number of jobs created without emitting a notice | 0
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$wgVisualDataDisableVersionCheck |
disable version check of the extension | false
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Known issues
edit- in some MediaWiki versions and configurations, the ResourceLoader may generate syntax errors when bundling the Javascript files. In this case please use
$wgResourceLoaderDebug = true;
in LocalSettings.php, this will include separately each file and should solve the problem. - rename of schemas and properties must be kept in synch with property and schema names hardcoded in parser functions. This will be solved implementing a query and form builder (see #Roadmap)
- queries require that the first printout exists, otherwise the row will not show. This could be solved using DUAL keyword
- the SchemaBuilder and the form processor do not yet support the directives
oneOf
,anyOf
and support for the$ref
keyword
Roadmap
edit- add
oneOf
,anyOf
andallOf
support to form generator and SchemaBuilder (the SchemaBuilder will contain a select on the schema main panel) - add tuple and
$ref
keyword to SchemaBuilder (properties panel, besides 'add field', 'add content block', etc.) - add additional properties to SchemaBuilder (additional panel)
- add query and form builder: this will store queries and forms as json schemas so that rename of schemas or properties can be updated within such schemas, not in the wikitext. The parser function will add queries and forms by their names or code
- UI for bulk-edit of json data in the BrowseData special page
Ajax navigation for datatables, SearchPanesand SearchBuilder
Additionally:
- version control for schemas and related data, so that edits of the schema constrain to the data related to the previous data structure
- version control notice shown through Extension:Echo and/or complying better design practice
- partial editing of schemas and field operations like Firebase's ArrayUnion, ArrayRemove, etc.
- preload json-ld/schema.org entities as json-schemas
- associate json-ld/schema.org vocabulary to user-defined schemas
Release notes
editExtension:VisualData/Release notes
Support & bugs
editPlease post error messages in the Talk page of the extension. Updates will be occasionally posted on the MediaWiki's Wikitech mailing list.
For professional support please write at the email address posted here
See also
edit- Extension:ContactManager (A demo wiki-application built on top of VisualData)
- Extension:Semantic MediaWiki
- Extension:Cargo
- Extension:PageForms
- Extension:FlexForm
- Manual:Managing data in MediaWiki – An overview and comparison
References
editTest it out !
edit- ↑ although the extension works without additional libraries, they are required to handle rename of schemas and properties, and to support preload-data override