BettaMeta

2007-02-06T19:29:01Z

1 Introduction
- 1.1 The Problem
- 1.2 A Solution
2 Methodology
- 2.1 Assumptions
3 Implementation
4 Credits
5 Notes
- 5.1 ToDo

Introduction

From the makers of WikiDrops comes BettaMeta.

Using MediaWiki as a content management system (CMS) has some advantages and disadvantages. The pros are wonderful: simple syntax, flexible, community review and editing; however, there are some cons. One of the issues we face is collecting metadata for all content pages.

The Problem

A MediaWiki page may contain a boat-load of usable content; however, to be able to manage that data one needs metadata. Want to be able to find all content by author? date? Metadata has what you need.

A Solution

Allow users to specify the available metadata in an easy to use form. The metadata is tied to the MediaWiki page.

Methodology

Create new table to hold data (bettameta), indexed by the page_id of the associated page. A new meta tab appears to user who have edit priviledges on the given wiki page.

Assumptions

The name of the page is the Title of the resource.
Folks will actually enter the metadata for their published content.

Implementation

A MediaWiki extension has been created and made available.

Get your BettaMeta fix today!

browse source
svn checkout https://sourcecode.extension.org/svn/MediaWiki/BettaMeta/trunk

Installation

Note: BettaMeta now requires PHP 5 or greater.

In LocalSettings.php:

include_once('extensions/BettaMeta/BettaMeta.php');

You may also override the default CSS file to change the display to your liking. Just define BETTAMETA_CSS as a URL to your modified CSS file. eg.

define('BETTAMETA_CSS', 'http://mywiki/styles/meta.css');

If your MediaWiki user has CREATE priviledges, then no additional steps are necessary.

Configuration

MediaWiki 1.6 and newer: none.

Usage

When activated, a meta tab appears in the views list; selecting that tab presents a form to enter the metadata.

To retrieve an XML representation of the metadata, add &mode=feed to the end of the URL while viewing the meta tab. A link is not provided since XML isn't meant to be consumed by humans.

Uninstallation

With WikiSysop priviledges you may add the following to the URL in the address bar and POST the page:

?action=nomometta

If your MediaWiki user has DROP priviledges, then no additional steps are necessary.

There is no additional prompting or verification for using this feature. This will blow away any and all of your metadata. You have been warned.

Credits

The initial code base for this project can be found here.

Initial extension coding done by Ray Kimsey and Joe Zobkiw.

Code clean-up, documentation and release by James E. Robinson, III.

Notes

2006.08.21 - 0.2.8 - new maintenance script to copy metedata between two wikis
2006.06.21 - 0.2.7 - add per-page LOM XML output - now requires PHP 5
2006.06.13 - 0.2.6 - extend field lengths by orders of magnitude
2006.05.31 - 0.2.5 - fix keyword bug with LOM
2006.05.18 - 0.2.4 - fix to allow page deletes
2006.05.03 - 0.2.3 - allow metadata in Image namespace and use some javascript magic on Lifecycle.Contribute.Date
2006.05.01 - 0.2.2 - new CSS handling
2006.04.28 - 0.2.1 - require POST for nomometta
2006.04.28 - 0.2.0 - now with LOM
2006.02.24 - 0.1.1 - modular re-write
2006.02.22 - 0.1.0

ToDo

Usability

Watching: BettaMeta