Extension:InputBox

This extension comes with MediaWiki 1.21 and above. Thus you do not have to download it again. However, you still need to follow the other instructions provided.

MediaWiki extensions manual

InputBox Release status: stable
Implementation	Tag , Page action , Search
Description	Allows users to add predefined HTML forms to wiki pages
Author(s)	Erik Möller Leonardo Pimenta Rob Church Trevor Parscal Daniel Schuba
Latest version	Continuous updates
MediaWiki	>= 1.43
Database changes	No
License	MIT License
Download	Download extension Git [?]: Download Git master browse repository (Phabricator · GitHub) commit history repository contributors (GitHub) code review
Tags <inputbox>
Hooks used MediaWikiPerformAction ParserFirstCallInit SpecialPageBeforeExecute
Quarterly downloads	232 (Ranked 24th)
Public wikis using	10,897 (Ranked 10th)
Translate the InputBox extension if it is available at translatewiki.net
Issues	Open tasks · Report a bug

The InputBox extension adds already created HTML forms to wiki pages. Users can "complete" a form (entering text, selecting menu items, etc.) by entering text into the box.

InputBox was originally created by Erik Möller for the purpose of adding a Create an article box to Wikinews.

Installation

• Download and move the extracted InputBox folder to your extensions/ directory.
  Developers and code contributors should install the extension from Git instead, using:cd extensions/
git clone https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/mediawiki/extensions/InputBox
• Add the following code at the bottom of your LocalSettings.php file:

  wfLoadExtension( 'InputBox' );
  

•  Done – Navigate to Special:Version on your wiki to verify that the extension is successfully installed.

Example

Box for starting a new article.

Wiki code

<inputbox>
type=create
width=30
break=no
</inputbox>

General syntax

Input boxes are constructed like this:

<inputbox>
type=
bgcolor=
width=
page=
default=
preload=
editintro=
buttonlabel=
hidden=
searchbuttonlabel=
fulltextbutton=
labeltext=
break=
namespaces=
prefix=
placeholder=
minor=
nosummary=
summary=
id=
inline=
dir=
preloadparams[]=
searchfilter=
useve=
usedt=
arialabel=
</inputbox>

The type parameter is mandatory. All other parameters are optional. preloadparams[] can appear more than once.

Box types

The default location of the “Submit” button(s) is below the input box.

The “Submit” button can be moved to the right by using the line break parameter to eliminate the line break between the box and the button: break=no.

Having the “Submit” button to the right is useful for search boxes when search suggestions would otherwise cover up a search button below the search box.

type	Example	Description
search		Creates a search box which has a default width of 50 characters. Information added in the text box is searched for exact page title (first button) or text in articles (second button).
create		Creates a new page. Information added in the text box is the name of the page to be created (or page to edit if it already exists).
comment		Adds a new section to the bottom of the page specified in the text box (creates the page if new).
commenttitle		Adds a new section with the section header typed into the text box. The title can be specified with default= parameter. The page has to be specified with page= parameter. For some reason this does NOT work when using the extension by invoking it with {{#tag}}, only when using ‎<inputbox>. (introduced in rev:47203)
fulltext		Search only with the fulltext search button, without the exact match button (“Go” button). (introduced in rev:45269)
move		Move a page to a different name. This also doesn't work when creating it by invoking a tag. (introduced in gerrit:97559)

For type=search2, the default location for the search button is inline to the right. Currently, it does not seem to be possible to add other parameters to this type of input box. This search box searches the entire wiki that it is placed on.

type	Example
search2

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Scope	Compatibility	Example	Result
arialabel=	Supply the aria-label attribute to the inputbox to allow generated markup be accessible to screen readers	All types	≥ 1.35 Gerrit change 572050	<inputbox> type=search arialabel=Search the Wiki </inputbox>
bgcolor=	Sets the table background color (HTML color values). Do not use quotes.	All types	?	<inputbox> type=search bgcolor=#eeeeff </inputbox>
width=	Sets the width of the InputBox in characters.	All types	?	<inputbox> type=create width=24 </inputbox>
default=	Default text to put in the InputBox.	All types	?	<inputbox> type=comment default=User talk:Eloquence </inputbox>
preload=	The page under this title will be preloaded (see Manual:Creating pages with preloaded text ) into the blank editbox when a new page is created.	create, comment, commenttitle	?	<inputbox> type=create preload=Log </inputbox>
Enter the title of a non-existent page in the example InputBox above or below, and click "Create page" or "New section" respectively to test this effect.
editintro=	The page which is given under this parameter will be shown, as instructions, above the editing window.	create, comment	?	<inputbox> type=comment editintro=MediaWiki:Missingcommenttext </inputbox>
buttonlabel=	This label will be used for the main button of the form.	All types	?	<inputbox> type=comment buttonlabel=Add new rumor </inputbox>
hidden=	This specifies that there is no InputBox. It is used with parameter default, now not being a default, but the fixed value of the name of the page. Any value means yes/true.	create, comment	?	<inputbox> type=comment editintro=Extension:InputBox/editintro comment preload=Extension:InputBox/preload hidden=yes default=Extension talk:InputBox buttonlabel=Post a comment on the talk page </inputbox>
searchbuttonlabel=	This label will be used for the "Search full text" button of the search form.	search, fulltext	?	<inputbox> type=search searchbuttonlabel=Dig deeper </inputbox>
fulltextbutton=	Show the full text search button on search2 form	search2	?	<inputbox> type=search2 searchbuttonlabel=Dig deeper fulltextbutton=true </inputbox>
labeltext=	Text to display beside the button	search2	?	<inputbox> type=search2 searchbuttonlabel=Dig deeper labeltext=Look for: </inputbox>	Look for:
break=	Whether or not to insert a line break between the input box and the button(s). Defaults to yes (use a line break).	All types	?	<inputbox> type=create width=24 break=no </inputbox>
namespaces=	Support for namespace checkboxes in fulltext search. With "Main**", main article namespace is checked by default.	search, fulltext	?	<inputbox> type=search namespaces=Main**,Help </inputbox>	Main Help
prefix=	Narrow down search to pages beginning with certain prefix. Note this only works with certain search back-ends, currently only Extension:CirrusSearch . Defaults to empty string (search all pages). Create new page beginning with a certain prefix. In type=move, the prefix is prepended to the default parameter. Remark: underscores aren't recognized as spaces.	search, fulltext, create	?	<inputbox> type=search prefix={{FULLPAGENAME}}/Archive </inputbox>	The button below prefixes the name with Special:Mypage/.
placeholder=	Define placeholder text that will display in the input box when it is empty.	All types	≥ 1.19	<inputbox> type=search placeholder=Search this Wiki </inputbox>
page=	Page to posts comment to, or page to move.	comment, move		<inputbox> type=comment page=Project:Sandbox </inputbox>
minor=	Minor edit.	comment, create		<inputbox> type=comment page=Project:Sandbox minor=true </inputbox>
nosummary=	Edit summary (headline) not required for new comment.	comment		<inputbox> type=commenttitle page=Special:Mypage/inputbox test nosummary=true </inputbox>
summary=	Edit summary or move reason.	create, move		<inputbox> type=create default=Special:Mypage/inputbox test summary=Foo </inputbox>
id=	id attribute for <form>.	All types	≥ 1.23 for some types	<inputbox> type=comment page=Project:Sandbox summary=Foo id=bar </inputbox>
inline=	Make the InputBox be an inline element (no line break at beginning). Any value means yes/true.	search2		Text here: <inputbox> type=search2 inline=true width=10 </inputbox>	Text here:
dir=	Right to left (rtl) or left to right (ltr). Defaults to directionality of the page's language.	All types		<inputbox> dir=rtl type=comment page=Project:Sandbox summary=Foo </inputbox>
preloadparams[]=	Specify parameters to the preload text. See Creating pages with preloaded text.	create, comment, commenttitle	≥ 1.25	<inputbox> type=create preload=Log preloadparams[]=param1 preloadparams[]=param2 </inputbox>
searchfilter=	Specify parameters to append to the search	search, fulltext	≥ 1.30	<inputbox> type=search searchfilter=insource:foo </inputbox>
useve=	When creating a page the input box will use the new visual editor, if the extension is installed, and this parameter is set to any value.	create, comment		<inputbox> type=create break=no useve=true </inputbox>
usedt=	When adding a new section, the input box will open the DiscussionTools new topic tool, if the extension is installed, and this parameter is set to any value.	comment, commenttitle		<inputbox> type=commenttitle page=Project:Sandbox usedt=true </inputbox>

Applying create to an existing page simply gives the edit page. In that case preload is ignored. Applying comment for a new page works.

The texts taken from the MediaWiki: namespace are of course only examples, any existing page can be used for editintro or preload. Unfortunately preload does not yet work for the Upload summary.

Alignment

If you want to create an inputbox on the right side of the page, do something like:

<div style="float:right; width:42em">
<inputbox>
type=create
</inputbox>
</div>

Gives:

Parser function

Using InputBox in a template

In order to create many similar input boxes, InputBox can be used in a template. However, passing template parameters to InputBox parameters only works if the ‎<inputbox>...‎</inputbox> tag is written as {{#tag:inputbox | ...}} inside the template.

The following example is a template to create a new wiki page from a named template:

{{#tag:inputbox |
type=create
buttonlabel=Create new {{{1|article}}}
preload={{{2|Template:Article}}} }}

When instantiating the template, the first parameter gives the item that is created (default: article) as spelled out in the button, the second parameter gives the name of the template used to create the item (default: Template:Article).

E.g., the code for an input box to create a new project from a project template might look like this:

{{Template:CreateNew|project|Template:Project}}

See also

• Extension:Create Page