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This is a general, non-technical introduction to the WikiMedia software.
=== MediaWiki, Wikimedia, and Wikipedia ===
; ''MediaWiki'' : MediaWiki is the software program that runs Wikipedia [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia] and other Wikimedia projects [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia].
; ''Wikimedia'' : Wikimedia is the over-arching nonprofit foundation that coordinates all contributions to the growing GNU FDL text base assembled by the donors using the Wikipedia, Wiktionary and other projects managed by the foundation [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia].
; ''Wikipedia'' : Wikipedia is the Encyclopedia project, that initiated the development of the MediaWikiSoftware. For a project's description and its history see here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_basic_information] and here [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Wikipedia]. There are several more or less official Sister projects like Wiktionary [http://wiktionary.org/], Wikibooks, [http://wikibooks.org/], Wikinews [http://wikinews.org], and Wikiquote, [http://wikiquote.org/], as well as "unofficial" derivates, all of them using the MediaWiki software.
; ''Wikimedia Meta-Wiki'' : Wikimedia Meta-Wiki (formerly Meta-Wikimedia or MetaWikiPedia) is a wiki meant to work alongside the main Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Meta can be used for several Wikimedia-related purposes [http://meta.wikipedia.org/].
=== What is MediaWiki? ===
'''MediaWiki''' is the software program released under the GNU GPL that runs '''Wikipedia'''[http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia] and other Wikimedia projects [http://meta.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia]. It is developed by contributors to these projects.
MediaWiki is a [[w:en:WikiWiki|WikiWiki]], meaning that anyone can easily edit any article and have those changes posted immediately. The software contains a lot of [[Help:Contents|Documentation]], also. If you want to learn more about editing and other aspects of the user's point of view, you might want to read
* [[Help:Reader]] or
* [[Help:Editor]].
The name "MediaWiki" was coined by Wikipedia contributor Daniel Mayer as a play on Wikimedia [http://mail.wikipedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-l/2003-July/010966.html]. Before that, the software was known as "Wikipedia software Phase III".
The MediaWiki Project has its own [http://svn.wikimedia.org/viewvc/mediawiki/trunk/phase3/ subversion repository]; if you're interested in the code, you might want to read
* [[Help:Hacker]].
=== What else can MediaWiki do? ===
'''While MediaWiki is not designed to do these things, it can be used as...'''
'''...Content Management System (CMS) software'''
'''...Forum or Bulletin Board System (BBS) software'''
'''...Groupware, Messaging, or Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) software'''
'''...a Workflow Management System (WfMS)'''.
See [[m:Wiki Uses]] for further description and discussion of these items.
== Architecture ==
The current MediaWiki software is built on top of an ''AMP'' environment; in this case, this means that MediaWiki utilizes:
* the [[w:en:Apache HTTP Server|apache]] [[w:en:Web server|web server]] for delivering web pages,
* the [[w:en:DBMS|relational database management system]] [[w:en:MySQL|MySQL]] as a database backend for storing the content, and
* the [[w:en:Scripting language|scripting language]] [[w:en:PHP|PHP]] for the application logic that glues together these components.
== System Requirements ==
The MediaWiki software typically runs in a [[w:en:LAMP (software bundle)|LAMP]] environment on the i386 and SPARC platform. (This is the primary/reference platform.) It is also possible to run the MediaWiki software efficiently under SUN, Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X.
=== Software ===
Everything you need to run a MediaWiki server is available as Open Source Software.
* Operating system: Several platforms are possible, including GNU/Linux, BSD, Sun, Microsoft Windows, and Apple MacOS X. The software is being developed under GNU/Linux, and the recommended environment is a GNU/Linux distribution, also; we recommend Debian GNU/Linux, because this comes closest to the ideals of the Wikipedia, but in this area you are free to choose.
* Apache httpd, version 1.3 or 2.0 - Open Source.
* MySQL daemon, version 4.x - Open Source.
* PHP scripting environment, version 4.3 - Open Source.
* MediaWiki software - Open Source.
* Some web browser - lots of options are available as Open Source.
=== Hardware ===
* x86 hardware architecture (Intel, AMD etc.) recommended, some other architectures are possible (e.g. PowerPC w/ Mac OS X/ SPARC).
* Memory - depending on the planned usage everything is possible starting with about 96 MB of RAM (?); for best performance, the complete database should fit into the RAM.
* Disk space - also depending on your requirements; if you want to start a small WikiWikiWeb on your own, a few Megabytes of disk space will be enough. If you want to completely mirror the English Wikipedia with all images, you'll need at least 3 Gigabytes (?)
* Network Interface Card (NIC) - anything that is supported by your operating system can be used.
=== Networking ===
* The MediaWiki software can run locally on a computer without a network connection. You might use MediaWiki this way to serve as a powerful [[w:en:Personal Information Management|Personal Information Management]] (PIM) system.
* MediaWiki can run on a [[w:en:Local Area Network|Local Area Network]] (LAN) computer. This is useful as a enterprise wide collaboration tool for universities or corporations..
* For public access, MediaWiki must run on a computer connected to the [[w:en:Internet|Internet]]. The computer may use a [[w:en:static IP address|static IP address]] defined in a [[w:en:Domain Name Server|Domain Name Server]] (DNS) entry or a [[w:en:dynamic IP address|dynamic IP address]] registered with a [[w:en:Dynamic DNS|Dynamic DNS]] service.
== Licensing ==
Before you decide to use the Wikipedia script, please do take a look at other Wiki Engines and see if one of them might meet your requirements better. For small wikis, [http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl UseMod] is always a safe bet -- it supports <nowiki>[[free links]]</nowiki> (as opposed to [[m::en:CamelCase|CamelCase]]) and does not need (or support) a database. This is, of course, also a bottleneck in terms of functionality.
=== Look and feel ===
*'''[[m:Sidebar |Side bar]]''': A bar on the left or right of the screen with short-cuts
*'''[[m:Skins |Skins]]''': Different ways to present the site.
* '''"Stub" threshold''': Users can see links to articles below a certain size rendered in a different color
* '''Printable versions''' of articles can be generated
*'''Auto-number headings''' in an article (optional)
*'''Generate a table of contents''' for long articles (optional)
* Automatically turn '''ISBN numbers''' into links to an editable list of booksellers
=== Multimedia and extensions ===