Extension:InputBox

MediaWiki extensions manual

InputBox Release status: stable
Implementation	Tag , Page action , Search
Description	Allows users to add predefined HTML forms to wiki pages
Author(s)	Erik Möller Leonardo Pimenta Rob Church Trevor Parscal Daniel Schuba
Latest version	Continuous updates
MediaWiki	>= 1.43
Database changes	No
License	MIT License
Download	Download extension Git [?]: Download Git master browse repository (Phabricator · GitHub) commit history repository contributors (GitHub) code review
Tags <inputbox>
Hooks used MediaWikiPerformAction ParserFirstCallInit SpecialPageBeforeExecute
Quarterly downloads	245 (Ranked 23rd)
Public wikis using	10,897 (Ranked 10th)
Translate the InputBox extension if it is available at translatewiki.net
Issues	Open tasks · Report a bug

The InputBox extension adds already created HTML forms to wiki pages. Users can "complete" a form (entering text, selecting menu items, etc.) by entering text into the box.

InputBox was originally created by Erik Möller for the purpose of adding a Create an article box to Wikinews.

• Download and move the extracted InputBox folder to your extensions/ directory.
  Developers and code contributors should install the extension from Git instead, using:cd extensions/
git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/mediawiki/extensions/InputBox
• Add the following code at the bottom of your LocalSettings.php file:

  wfLoadExtension( 'InputBox' );
  

•  Done – Navigate to Special:Version on your wiki to verify that the extension is successfully installed.

Box for starting a new article.

<inputbox>
type=create
width=30
break=no
</inputbox>

Input boxes are constructed like this:

<inputbox>
type=
bgcolor=
width=
page=
default=
preload=
editintro=
buttonlabel=
hidden=
searchbuttonlabel=
fulltextbutton=
labeltext=
break=
namespaces=
prefix=
placeholder=
minor=
nosummary=
summary=
id=
inline=
dir=
preloadparams[]=
searchfilter=
useve=
usedt=
arialabel=
</inputbox>

The type parameter is mandatory. All other parameters are optional. preloadparams[] can appear more than once.

The default location of the “Submit” button(s) is below the input box.

The “Submit” button can be moved to the right by using the line break parameter to eliminate the line break between the box and the button: break=no.

Having the “Submit” button to the right is useful for search boxes when search suggestions would otherwise cover up a search button below the search box.

For type=search2, the default location for the search button is inline to the right. Currently, it does not seem to be possible to add other parameters to this type of input box. This search box searches the entire wiki that it is placed on.

<inputbox>
type=search
arialabel=Search the Wiki
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=search
bgcolor=#eeeeff
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=create
width=24
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=comment
default=User talk:Eloquence
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=create
preload=Log
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=comment
editintro=MediaWiki:Missingcommenttext
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=comment
buttonlabel=Add new rumor
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=comment
editintro=Extension:InputBox/editintro comment
preload=Extension:InputBox/preload
hidden=yes
default=Extension talk:InputBox
buttonlabel=Post a comment on the talk page
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=search
searchbuttonlabel=Dig deeper
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=search2
searchbuttonlabel=Dig deeper
fulltextbutton=true
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=search2
searchbuttonlabel=Dig deeper
labeltext=Look for: 
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=create
width=24
break=no
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=search
namespaces=Main**,Help
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=search
prefix={{FULLPAGENAME}}/Archive
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=search
placeholder=Search this Wiki
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=comment
page=Project:Sandbox
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=comment
page=Project:Sandbox
minor=true
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=commenttitle
page=Special:Mypage/inputbox test
nosummary=true
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=create
default=Special:Mypage/inputbox test
summary=Foo
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=comment
page=Project:Sandbox
summary=Foo
id=bar
</inputbox>

Text here: <inputbox>
type=search2
inline=true
width=10
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
dir=rtl
type=comment
page=Project:Sandbox
summary=Foo
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=create
preload=Log
preloadparams[]=param1
preloadparams[]=param2
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=search
searchfilter=insource:foo
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=create
break=no
useve=true
</inputbox>

<inputbox>
type=commenttitle
page=Project:Sandbox
usedt=true
</inputbox>

Applying create to an existing page simply gives the edit page. In that case preload is ignored. Applying comment for a new page works.

The texts taken from the MediaWiki: namespace are of course only examples, any existing page can be used for editintro or preload. Unfortunately preload does not yet work for the Upload summary.

If you want to create an inputbox on the right side of the page, do something like:

<div style="float:right; width:42em">
<inputbox>
type=create
</inputbox>
</div>

Gives:

Using InputBox in a template

In order to create many similar input boxes, InputBox can be used in a template. However, passing template parameters to InputBox parameters only works if the ‎<inputbox>...‎</inputbox> tag is written as {{#tag:inputbox | ...}} inside the template.

The following example is a template to create a new wiki page from a named template:

{{#tag:inputbox |
type=create
buttonlabel=Create new {{{1|article}}}
preload={{{2|Template:Article}}} }}

When instantiating the template, the first parameter gives the item that is created (default: article) as spelled out in the button, the second parameter gives the name of the template used to create the item (default: Template:Article).

E.g., the code for an input box to create a new project from a project template might look like this:

{{Template:CreateNew|project|Template:Project}}

• Extension:Create Page

This extension is being used on one or more Wikimedia projects. This probably means that the extension is stable and works well enough to be used by such high-traffic websites. Look for this extension's name in Wikimedia's CommonSettings.php and InitialiseSettings.php configuration files to see where it's installed. A full list of the extensions installed on a particular wiki can be seen on the wiki's Special:Version page.

This extension is included in the following wiki farms/hosts and/or packages: BlueSpice Canasta Debian Fandom Miraheze MyWikis ProWiki semantic::core ShoutWiki Telepedia wiki.gg WikiForge This is not an authoritative list. Some wiki farms/hosts and/or packages may contain this extension even if they are not listed here. Always check with your wiki farms/hosts or bundle to confirm.