QR Codes

There are many projects within the Wikimedia and MediaWiki universe that include QR Codes. This page summarises these.

There are two broad types of use: projects that are about creating QR Codes regardless of what they're used for; and projects that are primarily about where the user ends up when using a code, for which the QR Code is just a convenient way to share a URL. Some cover both.

QRpedia

• wikipedia:QRpedia
• https://qrpedia.org
• The oldest big Wikimedia QR Code project, started in 2011.
• Generates codes that redirect to Wikipedia articles in the current user's language.
• Only works on *.wikipedia.org domains

QRmedia

• meta:QRmedia
• https://qrwm.org e.g. link to https://qrwm.org/Q1
• Replacement for QRpedia, because of that project's unstability.
• Different from what people would expect from a QR code (which goes to xx.wikixx.org/xx)

2017 Wishlist proposal

• meta:Community Wishlist Survey 2017/Wikidata/Qr codes for all items
• To make it easier to download a QR Code file (PNG) to use in signs etc.
• Bulk creation of QR Codes.
• Use Wikidata IDs rather than page names.

2023 Wishlist proposal

• meta:Community Wishlist Survey 2023/Mobile and apps/Add ability to share QR code for a page in any Wikimedia project
• phab:T329973 Add feature to create a QR code for and on a Wikimedia page: Add a button or link on Wikimedia pages to generate a QR code for that page that you can share.
• TL;DR: https://qrpedia.org/ is mainly for Wikipedia. It works fine, but let's expand the tool for all Wikimedia projects beside Wikipedia.
• Project page at meta:Community Wishlist Survey 2023/Add ability to share QR code for a page in any Wikimedia project.
• A decision was made to add QR Code functionality to Extension:UrlShortener (see below).

Indic-TechCom gadget

• meta:Indic-TechCom/Tools/qrCodeGenerator
• Source code: meta:User:Indic-TechCom/Script/qrCode.js
• Uses a JS library: https://github.com/lrsjng/jquery-qrcode (on-wiki at meta:User:Jayprakash12345/jquery-qrcode.min.js)
• Adds sidebar link that opens the QR Code in the page content area, completely replacing the article.
• Has PNG download button
• Used by ~40 people

QRCode Generator tool

• https://qrcode-generator.toolforge.org/
• Creates QR Codes for any URL (including non-Wikimedia ones).
• They are SVGs and can be downloaded or uploaded directly to Commons.
• This tool partially answers the 2023 Wishlist proposal. The next step would be to integrate it to the Wikimedia projects, as a link, button, etc.

Free Knowledge Portal

• Mobile-friendly overview of a Wikidata item's sitelinks, related and nearby items, and external identifier links.
• meta:Free Knowledge Portal
• https://portal.toolforge.org
• Can create QR Code on the home page. Not visible once viewing an item's page e.g. https://portal.toolforge.org/Q100

Taxon-Info tool

• Creates URLs for use in QR Codes but doesn't create the codes itself.
• https://abbe98tools.toolforge.org/taxon-info/index.php?wikidata=Q428023
• https://github.com/Abbe98/taxon-info

QRLite extension for MediaWiki

• Extension:QRLite
• For embedding QR Codes in wikipages, e.g. {{#qrlite:https://example.org/foobar}}
• Feature request for a special page: https://github.com/gesinn-it/QRLite/issues/4
• Uses the endroid/qr-code PHP library to generate codes

UrlShortener extension for MediaWiki

• Extension:UrlShortener
• Adds Special:QrCode and a link in the tools menu, for downloading a QR Code image.

BlueSpiceQrCode extension for MediaWiki

• Extension:BlueSpiceQrCode
• Adds page action menu item to open dialog containing server-generated QR Code.
• Uses the endroid/qr-code PHP library to generate codes

OATHAuth extension for MediaWiki

• Extension:OATHAuth
• Generates QR Codes for 2FA verification.
• Uses an old(?) version of https://github.com/kazuhikoarase/qrcode-generator/blob/master/js/qrcode.js
• Only client-side generation of QR Codes.
• Currently the only QR Code generator in Wikimedia production.