Forum:Enabling the Gadgets extension

Hello,

As some users may know, Wikia has a MediaWiki extension known as Gadgets which can be activated upon request. The extension will allow for us to to add custom JS/CSS scripts that are not part of the wiki-wide interface and are of optional use. The scripts are activated via tickboxes under the "Gadgets" tab on Special:Preferences (which we don't currently have as we don't have the extension installed).

Currently the only way to activate an optional, custom script on the wiki is via editing a user's own personal JS/CSS page, which can be rather time consuming and potentially troublesome. This extension makes enabling a script much easier as the admins can just write it into the MediaWiki namespace under the "Gadget" prefix and the end user can just enable it via their preferences. It's that simple.

So obviously I'm proposing that we enable this here. Pending a favourable consensus, the admin closing the forum should contact Wikia asking for the Gadgets extension to be enabled, with this forum being referenced to say the community generally wants this.

Please discuss this below. 13:37, September 4, 2013 (UTC)

Discussion
Can you give some examples of how these gadgets would be used on the wiki? --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 14:38, September 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * The gadgets have to be written by admins - the extension doesn't actually come with anything. But for example, if I wanted to I could move my Warning/Tempblock buttons script to the extension and any admins who wanted to use it could just go to their personal preferences and tick the box to activate the script on their account if they wanted to use it, as opposed to the traditional method where you would have to edit your personal JS file to use it; the same case scenario applies to any other scripts users may wish to use, such as ChatHacks, custom interface scripts etc.. The extension adds convenience and ease when it comes to using custom scripts to aid the wiki. 14:47, September 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * In that case, I support activating this feature. --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 14:48, September 4, 2013 (UTC)

I support activating this feature as well. --Bleeh (talk!) (edits) 14:57, September 4, 2013 (UTC)
 * I too support activating this feature. Could be handy for all administrators. Beds (parlare - da leggere ) 15:07, September 4, 2013 (UTC)

Seeing as this has dried up with no opposition whatsoever, I've gone ahead and contacted Wikia requesting that the extension is activated. I'll follow up in this thread once I receive a reply from a Wikia staffer. 12:31, September 8, 2013 (UTC)