MoinMoin: MoinMoinQuestions/Other

How can I disable CamelCase in version 1.6?

I've tried the nocamelcase.py parser but even after making some changes to it, I couldn't get it to work. Please help?

What is the logo of moinmoin? (the man with big nose and a sheet in his hands)? Who is the author?

That's the mascot. The author of it? JürgenHermann might know that. At least he created the mascot by taking a file from his hard drive and exchanging the text on the .

german support

why there is no place to ask in ? --DetlevLengsfeld MoinMoinFragen

Where can I find MoinMoin consultants ?

Looking for a company that can provide development and support services to large corporation looking into implementing MoinMoin based system. Do such companies exist? Where can find such?

• See http://wikiwikiweb.de/ (or contact ThomasWaldmann), for example.

Mozilla Firefox (sometimes) ignores the CSS stylesheet

Mozilla Firefox does not display MoinMoin pages properly, it ignores the CSS stylesheet.

Solution

Many Apache (and presumably) other web servers send a MIME type of text/plain for CSS files, instead of text/css, which Mozilla Firefox insists on when in strict mode. The Firefox Javascript console will have errors of the form

Error: The stylesheet http://wherever/wiki/classic/css/common.css was not loaded because its MIME type, "text/plain", is not "text/css".

More about this at http://www.astro.uu.nl/~wiersma/dutchguy/archive/computers/cssstylesheetignoredbymoz.html with suggested fixes. In particular, the fix described in http://www.astro.uu.nl/~wiersma/dutchguy/archive/computers/fixingstylesheets.html to use AddType in either srm.conf or .htaccess works well.

• That last link is down - can you explain how to use AddType to fix this?

Automated deletion of revisions

Is there an automated way to delete previous versions of a page? With every minor edit the complete new page is stored, and for a large wiki, that may soon require too much disc space.

• Usually this is no problem as the files are very small. However, if you want to purge them nevertheless, you may make some script using find ... data/backup and purge everything older than x years.

  • This can be done by the "moin" command and the option "reducewiki" - it reduces all pages to the latest revision and renames them to version 0000001

Save deleted attachments

How can I configure MoinMoin to save deleted attachments, so I can restore an attachment that was deleted by mistake?

• There are no attachment backups. If you need attachment backups, keep regular backup of the wiki, so you can restore stuff when you need it. MoinMoin 2.0 will have revisions for all items, including file attachments.

XSLT bug

Q: I want to import external RssFeeds onto a MoinMoin page. MoinMoinSyndication implies that along with making RSS feeds for indices that there is a way to do this. Especially with AdvogatoXslt, and RssChannelXslt. I have followed the advice on HelpOnXmlPages and have Python4Suite installed. The RecentChanges RSS feed for my site works fine. I have turned on xslt in the config file. I have made pages for XsltVersion and all the other xslt scripts I've found here but always get errors about the stylesheet processing instruction. For example, with the XsltVersion page I get: "UriException: Invalid base URI: u'wiki: //Self/XsltVersion' cannot be used to resolve reference u'XsltVersion'" I'm pretty good with XSLT normally so would like to get it working. Any suggestions on what I need to do?

A: I found that the 4Suite-0.11.1-13 throwed an exception because it didn't like the wiki: URI class. A quick fix was to modify the Uri.py source of the 4Suite distribution. Add the string wiki according to below:

DEFAULT_URI_SCHEMES = ('wiki', 'http', 'ftp', 'file', 'gopher', FTSS_URI_SCHEME)

Converting HTML to wiki markup

Could someone, please, explain in more detail how to insert/convert HTML-content into MoinMoin. I found some words about HTML-parser and HTML-macro that should be installed, but I could not figure out how to install and use these.

• In HelpOnEditing you'll see that a few search and replace will do (mostly):

• P -> 2 lines breaks

• EM and I -> double ' (see HelpOnFormatting)

• STRONG and BOLD -> triple ' (see HelpOnFormatting)

• H2 -> =, H3 -> == (assuming H1 used only once for page title, see HelpOnHeadlines)

• A -> JoinCapitalizedWords; brackets and double quotes; url; [url]; [url label] (see HelpOnLinking).

• HR -> 4 dashes (HelpOnRules)

• UL, OL and DL -> various ways (see HelpOnLists)

• TABLE -> see HelpOnTables.

Note that 1.5 will include native HTML import capabilities.

• How can you import native HTML with 1.5?

  • You have to install the html parser from ParserMarket.

Here's a script I wrote up that might help:

htm_to_moinmoin_converter.sh

Mass replacing

Is there an easy way to do replace one string with another on every page the original string occurs, without having to individually edit every page?

Solution

Just use your tool of choice (sed, awk, etc.) and edit the files in data/pages/*/revisions/*. Note that this changes all revisions, not just the most recent. You'll have to do some skillful scripting to limit your change to the current version only (reflected in data/pages/*/revisions/current). And you'll want a MoinMoinBackup...
Also see SearchAndReplace and SearchAndReplace/FromOutsideTheWiki

Updating links

Is there any way of re-naming a page that also updates references to that page? The existing rename action leaves all references to the renamed page pointing at the old name.

• No. But before you rename, you can click on page title to find all pages pointing there and fix them manually. Automatically globally fixing of references is non-trivial.

• After a page is renamed, you can create a page with the old name containing a `#REDIRECT' processing instruction. It would be nice if there was a checkbox that would do this automatically in the form presented by the RenamePage action.

  • Please add a FeatureRequest about this.

Notification on account creation

How do i make and email appear into my inbox (as an administrator) whenever a new user creates a profile on my frontpage? So that i can decide whether or not i want to give the user the read or write privileges.

• This is not possible without modifying code; it is a good idea, though.

Can I export the Wiki to static html?

Yes, use moin_dump script, it should be in your prefix/bin

• Win32 note (with Moin 1.5): Use <python dir>\Scripts\moin.bat. Also it appears to search for the data dir relative to the current dir, so you should cd to <python dir>\share\moin\mywiki\ (in a default install)

How to create multiple subpages using multiple templates at once

I'd like to be able to automatically create a "batch" of subpages at once using a certain template for each new subpage. For example:

ABCPage (the parent)
 /Subpage1 (based on template page name 1)
 /Subpage2 (based on template page name 2)
 /Subpage3 (based on template page name 3)
 /Subpage4 (based on template page name 4)
 /Subpage5 (based on template page name 5)
 /Subpage6 (based on template page name 6)
 /Subpage7 (based on template page name 7)
 /Subpage8 (based on template page name 8)
 /Subpage9 (based on template page name 9)
 /Subpage10 (based on template page name 10)

I've looked at the NewPage macro, which kind of touches upon the concept, but that really isn't what I'm looking for. It would be great to use some sort of variable for each new subpage name and each template page name (which may also be a subpage), and create all of them at once instead of having to create each page one at a time. Maybe some kind of loop is the answer. Thanks.

• I am not sure if you like to create your pages offline by a batch process. If so you could easily upload them by the PackageInstaller see HelpOnPackageInstaller -- ReimarBauer 2007-05-11 06:58:42

Content Licensing

I've just started a new public MoinMoin wiki (Reluctant Expatriates), and am wondering what others do re: licensing the content. Wikipedia uses the GNU Free Documentation License--are there other possibilities? Need a license be used at all? What are the advantages/disadvantages when using a license?

On a related note, who owns the Wiki content? The original author? Everyone who worked on it? Nobody?

Just thought I'd ask. -- Walter Gildersleeve, Freiburg, Germany

• Most licenses suck for wiki usage. IMHO, the GFDL is much too long and much too paper oriented for a wiki. There also seem to be compatibility issues with other free licenses when using GFDL. Personally I didn't find any great wiki license yet. Maybe have a look at the creative commons stuff and judge yourself. -- ThomasWaldmann 2006-02-02 16:41:18

Knowing what version a bug is fixed in

Often I'll find a bug I'd like fixed in the MoinMoinBugs section, or a feature I'd line (FeatureRequests), and see that it has been implemented. However, I'm not able to tell what version first contains the fix. I need to know this in order to tell if the version I have should contain the fix already, or if it's already released so I can judge whether the upgrade is worth the effort, or if it's not released yet, I'd like some idea of when it might become available.

From the information placed on a fixed bug, I have no idea how to turn it into an actual version number. Example: MoinMoinBugs/OverwriteAttachmentShouldDependOnDeleteRight. The status says fixed in 1.5, but it doesn't say 1.5.8, 1.5.9, etc., and the link doesn't really help me either.

• In this concrete case it has been fixed in the 1.5 branch recently (after 1.5.8). As it is still unclear whether there will be a 1.5.9 release, I can't tell "it will be fixed in 1.5.9" until release of that version comes near. -- ThomasWaldmann 2007-08-10 07:08:36

Is there a reasonable way to do this?

• I think a link to the branch's changeset url (or the changeset id) is the best thing you can do without making too much assumptions about the future. Usually that means, if the changeset is not in release X.Y.Z, but has been fixed in X.Y branch, it will be in X.Y.(Z+1) release, if there ever is one, or, if it has been fixed in X.(Y+1) branch also, it will be in the next release of that branch.

Downgrading MoinMoin

On rare occasions, one might want to downgrade a MoinMoin installation. In my case, it was because I wanted to go from Debian/testing (sort of) to Debian/stable. After doing that, I always got "CacheNeedsUpdate" exeptions, but couldn't figure out why. I already had replaced the underlay directory in my wiki, as well as purging all pre-compiled Python stuff. Since I was in a hurry, I created a backport of a more recent MoinMoin which solved the immediate problem and made the wiki work again, but just in case, is there an official procedure about how to downgrade a MoinMoin installation?

• Well, if you read the upgrading instructions, you have made a backup. So just use your backup. Of course you can also clean the wiki cache to make the CacheNeedsUpdate problem go away. (check the help of the moin command)

cd mywiki
find . -name cache -type d -exec rm -r '{}' \;

• do call moin maint cleancache -- ReimarBauer 2007-10-06 07:22:36

Using "editlink" and "titlesonly"

I try to include the headers from other pages with an include-Statement.
This works great, but i simply cannot manage to add an "edit" Link to those included pages - it seems "editlink" does not work?!?
I already managed to find out, that the "to=" argument needs to be set - contrary to what the documentation says.
He is an example of what i try:

<<Include(^TODO/.*, "Header ...", 3, to='^----', titlesonly, editlink)>>

This shows the headers from all TODO/* pages, does not show "Header ..." and - this is my problem - does not show edit-links :-O
Any idea?

I wanted to have a page that includes the tables of content of many others pages, but for each such page offers an edit-link to directly edit this included page - any other way to reach that?!

Thanx!

• Nobody noticed that "to=" is required and that "titlesonly" does not seem to work together with "editlink"?

Restricting "titlesonly" to level 1 or 2 ...

Is it somehow possible to restrict the "titlesonly" option to the Include-Statement to a certain level of headers?

In our overview-page, i want to include the table of contents of some other pages, so i use an Include-Statement with "titlesonly" - but then, i get ALL the table of content, down to level 5 - this is just too much for the overview pages!

Any other way to handle this?

• It seems, nobody reads this

• I have found <<Include(^FooBar/.*,, to="$", sort=descending, titlesonly)>> works as long as the first line of each child page contains only the title text.

Serious trouble opening the MoinMoinQuestions page here in this wiki

When trying to open the huge MoinMoinQuestions page, IE7 and FF2 (on WinXP with DSL) hang for at least 1 minute (>>1 min!!)! Opening the page with Opera on the same system works fine, takes only about 15s. Using Safari on my Mac (which uses the same DSL modem), it works also neatly. Don't know why this happens on IE7 and FF2. Any ideas? Disabling javascript seems to make some difference (especially for IE) but not a big one. I tested also on http://moinmoin.wikiwikiweb.de (running 1.5.9) but it is the same there as here on this wiki. -- OliverSiemoneit 2008-06-07 22:34:08

Google App Engine

Are there any plans of making MoinMoin compatible with Google App Engine?

There is GAE support now in moin2, see http://hg.moinmo.in/moin/2.0 "gae" branch. Contributions for this are welcome! -- ThomasWaldmann 2012-10-07 04:11:35

Specifying a font for a section, a page or a whole wiki

I want to use something like <font face="MS comic sans">blablabla</font> ... Is it doable ? @-- JosefZelhar 2008-12-23 18:11:14@

-- JosefZelhar 2008-12-23 18:14:46

Don't ever use font as html tag.. it is "depraced" and ugly anyway. you could simple write someting like

{{{#!wiki comicfont
blablablabla
}}}

and add then in your common.css or screen.css something like this:

.comicfont {
font-family: "MS comic sans", serif;
}

But be aware using different and non standards fonts is not a good style and maybe also not working with different browser/os.

Add watermark to page and/or load specific css sheet for a single page

I'm trying to find a way to add a watermark (Same as when you hit preview for a draft) to a page using a simple macro or calling a different css sheet that would use an image file in moin directory. I guess implementing the same function as the preview button to a macro would be the simplest and cleanest way to do it, but I don't have any knowledge of how to do it.

Is it possible or do I need to ask for a feature request?

By now I will use the Icon macro and add a banner, at the beginning and at the end of the page, to identify the page as "Work in progress" or whatever.

-- SamRoy 2009-04-16 15:05:28

Why do I have to click twice to download attachments, e.g. pdf?

For attachments that are not (usually) rendered in preview (e.g. pdf) the attachment page shows nothing useful, and can be confusing, because a second click on download is needed to view the image. The reasons for this are in UnifyPagesAndAttachments and the associated Discussion, and one solution is do=get.

[[attachment:my.pdf|my paper|&do=get]]

• For better markup compatibility to future moin versions, a normal link needs to link to the "rendered view" of an item (attachment), not directly to the download. If you need a direct download link, use this:

[[attachment:foo.txt|...|&do=get]]

Recent Performance Issue -- moinmoin's fault or not?

I have been running moinmoin happily for a couple of years for a project that I shut down over the summer. I actually removed the directories from the machine. The other day I restored the directories and started moinmoin up. It seemed to start OK (no error message), but performance is horribly bad. Maybe a minute to load a page (using firefox). And some browsers (chrome) can't access moinmoin at all. I might have messed something up when removing/restoring the installation, but I think it's more likely that some software I installed since I last used moinmoin is getting in the way. Any ideas? -- PaulBerglund 2009-09-14 12:47:08

Which moin version is that?

For a fresh install (empty data/cache/) it can take a while until moin has rebuilt the cache contents. That means that especially the first access or the first backlink search can be rather slow. One should just wait until that access finishes though (and not cancel it), so it can rebuild the cache completely. If you run CGI and it times out, maybe try the standalone server or something else that is a persistent (long running) server (and does not time out).

Also please check whether moin has full permissions (esp. write perms) to everything below the data/ directory.

If that doesn't help, try cleaning the cache and retry.

-- ThomasWaldmann 2009-09-14 17:17:13

It turned out not to be a moin issue. It was firefox. I'd recently upgraded firefox and there must have been a problem with the install. I uninstalled and reinstalled it and now everything is fine. -- PaulBerglund 2009-09-16 18:17:44

What version of MoinMoin is installed on my PC?

Is there an easy way for a user to tell what version of MoinMoin is installed? I cannot find information on the wiki itself ("MoinMoin Powered" but no version information), and MoinMoin.__version__ is not available.

Call the page SystemInfo (example: http://localhost:8080/SystemInfo ) -- MarcelHäfner 2009-12-21 16:08:13