Board updated to latest phpbb version

[ghisler(Author)]

It seems to have worked fine, Special:Version now shows MediaWiki 1.43.6 and PluggableAuth 7.5.0.

The default skin seems to be set to vector in LocalSettings.php, there is the following line:
$wgDefaultSkin = "vector";
Would it be better to change it to the new one? That would be:
$wgDefaultSkin = "vector-2022";

[white]

It seems to have worked fine, Special:Version now shows MediaWiki 1.43.6 and PluggableAuth 7.5.0.

Confirmed, it seems to work so far. You will were well prepared for this update because of all the maintenance you did previously on other parts of the system.

The default skin seems to be set to vector in LocalSettings.php, there is the following line:
$wgDefaultSkin = "vector";
Would it be better to change it to the new one? That would be:
$wgDefaultSkin = "vector-2022";

Yes, or comment it out (vector-2022 is the new default). The vector skin is a legacy skin, it's better to use the current skin with all its benefits. If users still need the old skin, they can set it in their account preferences or specify the skin in the url.

[white]

It seems to have worked fine, Special:Version now shows MediaWiki 1.43.6 and PluggableAuth 7.5.0.

There is a minor problem where the version page is displaying old commit data. The version page mentions:

PluggableAuth 7.5.0 (06cac8d)
07:19, 11 February 2025

The displayed version number is correct, but the hash and timestamp are not. The correct data is in this file:
https://www.ghisler.ch/wiki/extensions/PluggableAuth/version

An AI model suggests that this could be caused by a leftover .git directory in extensions/PluggableAuth/, but I don't know the value of this suggestion.

[white]

There is a minor problem where the version page is displaying old commit data. The version page mentions:

PluggableAuth 7.5.0 (06cac8d)
07:19, 11 February 2025

Seems OK now:

PluggableAuth 7.5.0 (64604a4)
06:21, 2 December 2025

[ghisler(Author)]

OK, I have removed the $wgDefaultSkin entry.

Do you happen to know how to permanently show the main menu on the side bar?
There is a button "Move to side bar", but I have to press this after each page change. It's not remembered.

[white]

Do you happen to know how to permanently show the main menu on the side bar?
There is a button "Move to side bar", but I have to press this after each page change. It's not remembered.

It is remembered when logged in, but not for anonymous users. This is a known issue. A workaround is mentioned here, but it's not ideal.

Why did you ask? Because you want the interlanguage link to always be visible?

[ghisler(Author)]

Because you want the interlanguage link to always be visible?

Yes, that's the main annoyance! This setting is something that should be remembered with a cookie or URL parameter.

[white]

Because you want the interlanguage link to always be visible?

Yes, that's the main annoyance! This setting is something that should be remembered with a cookie or URL parameter.

I have added a direct link to the bug report now in my previous post. It seems that it is technically challenging to fix without creating other issues and the priority has been set to low.

If it bothers you, you could try the workaround (which, as noted, causes the page to be re-rendered which can impact search engine optimization and user experience).

In the future, when upgrading to MediaWiki version >= 1.44, it might be best to use the UniversalLanguageSelector instead of the link in the main menu.

[ghisler(Author)]

Another problem: Once I hide the sidebar (which is shown by default, but without the main menu), there is no way to get it back by default, except by deleting all cookies for ghisler.ch.

I think I will revert to the old vector theme for now.

[white]

Another problem: Once I hide the sidebar (which is shown by default, but without the main menu), there is no way to get it back by default, except by deleting all cookies for ghisler.ch.

No, that's not true. But due to a combination of factors, it may be harder to move the Table of contents menu to the sidebar on the main page.

There is no option to hide the sidebar. There are options to include/exclude certain menus in the sidebars.

• The left sidebar can contain Main menu and Table of contents menu.
• The right sidebar can contain Tools menu and Appearance menu.

When a sidebar contains no menus, it is hidden.
By default, sidebars are also hidden when space is limited.

When mentioned menus are not being displayed in a sidebar, they are accessible via a button or menu entry. It also includes an option to move the menu to the sidebar if enough space is available. When the menus are not being displayed in a sidebar they are accessible through:

• Main menu button at the top left of the screen.
• Table of content button in front of the page name above the page contents.
  Note: For the Total Commander wiki, the page title was hidden for the main page, which caused accessibility issues for this button.
• Tools menu entry at the right above the page contents.
• Appearance button (glasses) at the top right of the screen.

For the Total Commander wiki, the page title for the main page was hidden (which is not unusual for wikis), causing the Table of contents menu button to appear on the right (this may be a bug). Because of this, the menu displayed by the button partly fell outside the visible area, making the option to move the menu to the sidebar inaccessible.

For now, I have enabled the page title for the Main page for the English wiki only, so you can compare the behavior of the English wiki and German wiki. When using the German wiki and you cannot access the option to move the Table of contents menu to the sidebar, instead of deleting the cookies, you can move the Tools menu or Appearance menu to the sidebar first. Then the option to move the Table of contents menu to the sidebar falls within the visible area.

Note that the page https://www.ghisler.ch/wiki/index.php?title=TotalcmdWiki:Privacy_policy has this issue too, because the title is hidden there too. But it is less of a problem there, because margins are used when enough space is available. Unlike the main page, which by default uses maximum page width.

The option to hide the title on the main page is mentioned in the official manual here. On the Total Commander wiki we use a different method, but the same issue occurs with either one of these methods.

2ghisler(Author)
What do you suggest we do now?

[ghisler(Author)]

There is no option to hide the sidebar.

What I mean is the button "hide" to the right of "Contents" in the side bar. Once I press this, the left side bar disappears and can't be re-enabled by default any more.

[white]

There is no option to hide the sidebar.

What I mean is the button "hide" to the right of "Contents" in the side bar. Once I press this, the left side bar disappears and can't be re-enabled by default any more.

The sidebar only appears when there's content to display in it (and there is enough available space), and hides otherwise. So the concept of "re-enabling the sidebar by default" does not apply directly in this skin; it's more about pinning specific menus to a sidebar.

As discussed, there's a known issue for anonymous users where the pinned status of the main menu (or tools menu) isn't persistent. But this shouldn't affect the TOC menu and Appearance menu. If you're seeing different behavior with the TOC menu, could you share the exact steps to reproduce?

[ghisler(Author)]

As discussed, there's a known issue for anonymous users where the pinned status of the main menu (or tools menu) isn't persistent.

But that's not what happens in this specific case: Once I click on "hide" to the right of "Contents", it permanently hides the "Contents" from the side bar, which makes it disappear. This is persistent and can only be reversed by clearing the cookies. So there is some persistance, but not for what I need...

[white]

it permanently hides the "Contents" from the side bar, which makes it disappear. This is persistent and can only be reversed by clearing the cookies.

I cannot confirm that. After clicking the TOC button and clicking "move to sidebar", the TOC menu is back in the sidebar and this is persistent. Did you do these steps as well and experienced a different outcome?

[ghisler(Author)]

Ah, there it is, I didn't find that button! Yes, this is indeed remembered. Now I wish the same would work with Main menu - Move to sidebar. You mentioned a workaround above but recommended not to use it because it causes a reload. Wouldn't it be possible to implement this the same way as the TOC "Move to sidebar"?