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Tikipedia

Trackers Items
Status
Closed
Theme name
Tikipedia
Submitter
Gary Cunningham-Lee
Author
Zukathemes (Gary Cunningham-Lee)
Included in Tiki package
No
Website
https://zukathemes.com
License
GPL
Screenshot image
dl210
Description (full)

To many people, when you say "wiki", what comes to mind is "Wikipedia", since this is probably the most well-known wiki on the Internet. Wikipedia is great, but the MediaWiki software that powers it isn't the best solution for every wiki website, especially for what might be called a "wiki plus" (see https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:What_is_MediaWiki%3F#Some_things_MediaWiki_doesn.27t_do_so_well...). And, unlike Mediawiki sites, Tikipedia on Tiki implements responsive web design - a single HTML page for all device sizes - so there's no need for a separate mobile site. For websites where the well-known Wikipedia layout and appearance would be appropriate, but that need more features and power than MediaWiki provides, the Tikipedia theme is now available for Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware.

Not every detail is identical. Low-level template file customization and so on was avoided in order to ensure continuing compatibility with the Tiki software and easy version updates. But overall the visual similarity is pretty close.

MediaWiki site administrators and editors will find that Tiki uses some different wiki syntax and page elements, so there will be a bit of a learning curve. There is a migration script to bring MediaWiki content into a Tiki site, available since Tiki 4, but current functionality should be checked.

Beyond the wiki, Tiki of course has a range of other features including blogs, galleries, "tracker" database functionality, and so on, so a Tikipedia site will really be a "wiki plus".

Theme installation

As with other "add-on" themes, just put the unzipped Tikipedia directory into the themes directory. Directory access permissions (chmod) may need to be set similar to those of the other theme directories. Then reload tiki-admin.php?page=look, to find Tikipedia in the list of available themes.

Site configuration (for a Wikipedia-like layout)

  • "Fixed width" should not be activated, since MediaWiki sites are the full width of the browser window.
  • Layout templates (Look and Feel Admin - tiki-admin.php?page=look)
    • Basic Bootstrap - works as expected (The "conventional" layout templates - that is, those that don't have a fixed top navbar - all work with this theme but look the same since the left and main column widths are hard-coded to replicate the Wikipedia page.)
    • Classic Tiki - works as expected
    • Fixed top navbar 1 - works in the sense that the page isn't broken but, as of this writing, there has been no testing or special CSS configured regarding the top navbar.
    • Wider side columns - works as expected
    • Fixed top navbar 2 - works, although the navbar menu appearance doesn't conform so much to the Wikipedia look.
  • Wiki settings
    • On the wiki admin page (tiki-admin.php?page=wiki), these configuration settings are made:
      • Wiki action bar location = top
      • Wiki navigation bar location = top
  • Module settings (tiki-admin_modules.php)
    • "Top'' module zone - empty (contains no modules).
    • "Left" module zone - the logo module is in the top position.
    • "Topbar" module zone
      • The horizontal menu (navbar) should be assigned with these parameters:
        • type = horiz
        • navbar_toggle = y
        • navbar_brand= (path to site icon - no leading forward slash)
        • nobox = y
        • topclass ("Containing class") = tikipedia_menu (positioning of the menu, etc. is handled via this CSS class).
        • The menu should be Bootstrap type, to be properly responsive in small displays. However, this means any menuSection0 links (top-level "parent" items) are used only to show and hide their child links rather than for navigation, so the menu should be designed accordingly - note the example on this site.
      • Log in module, with these parameters:
        • topclass ("Containing class) = col-sm-2 pull-right
        • mode = popup
        • show_user_name = y
        • nobox = y
      • Search module, with these parameters:
        • nobox = y
        • compact = y
        • topclass ("Containing class") = col-sm-3 pull-right
    • "Right" module zone - not supported by the theme at this time, consistent with MediaWiki site layout, which has no right-side column, so this zone should be empty (contain no modules).

Technical notes

Absolute positioning is used to place the menu (class="tikipedia_menu") at the bottom of the topbar module zone. The other modules in the topbar zone are configured normally except for being floated right, to reflect the MediaWiki positioning.

This theme doesn't try to replicate every MediaWiki Vector theme page detail - a balance was struck between similar appearance and ease of maintaining the theme. No Smarty template changes were made; Tikipedia uses only CSS and standard Tiki site configuration to attain this layout and appearance.

Description (brief)
Wikipedia appearance with Tiki's "wiki plus" power
Bootstrap version compatibility
Bootstrap 3
Live demo
http://demo.zukathemes.com/Tikipedia
Theme file package (Bootstrap 3)
dl211
Theme file package (Bootstrap 4)
 
Theme Option 1 name
Theme option 1 screenshot
 
Theme Option 2 name
Theme Option 2 screenshot
 
Theme Option 3 name
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In the case of a theme adapted for Tiki

Section for original theme information.

Source theme author
The MediaWiki contributors
Source theme website
https://www.mediawiki.org/
Source theme license
GPL