Difference between revisions of "TNG Integration"

Revision as of 22:39, 10 July 2006

If you are not comfortable with html and php editing, this page may not be for you

Overview

This wiki provides additional background on people and places associated with the McFadyen and Parker genealogy research found at genealogy.mcfadyen.ca It has been categorized into two separate sections: People, and Places.

The Genealogical information is managed through a MySql database and includes management for Births, Deaths, Marriages, Photos, Histories, and their relationships. The Genealogy software package is called The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding © 2001-2006, created by Darrin Lythgoe, Sandy, Utah. (TNG) For more information on this package, follow the link in the previous line of text.

Although the TNG software does not come preconfigured to work specifically with MediaWiki, only a few modifications to the base TNG software are required to achieve a moderate wiki integration. This page includes the information neccessary to make those changes.

Resulting TNG features

1. Within the person pages, an icon ( ) to the right of people's names will be displayed each time a wiki page is found to match the individual's name
2. If the TNG user is logged in as "admin" then a grayed icon ( ) to the right of all possible wiki link points will be displayed
3. Within the person pages, all "places" are examined for string matches to the wiki database. If the start of the place string, up to the first comma matches a wiki page, then that portion of the place string is changed into a link to the applicable wiki page
   • Examples of this may be found on the page: Example Page. Check the place "Tiverton" next to "Died" and the wiki link icon next to a couple of the names.
   • The appearance of the icon or place link is automatic if there is a corresponding wiki page.
4. It is also possible to include links in the notes for pictures and histories, however this is a strictly manual entry (using standard html href=.... language) as in this example - check the History line at the bottom, there is an embedded link.

Mediawiki extensions

Although links to the TNG generated pages can be created using standard wiki html links, a small extension to the MediaWiki language makes this a little easier. A "person" tag was created with the following syntax: <person i=XXX>Description</person> . The TNG person IDs may be determined by examination of the TNG person pages, or hovering you mouse over any TNG person link and monitoring the browser status line.

Requirements

1. A working TNG installation - see The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding
2. A working Mediawiki installation - see MediaWiki Download
3. A backup of your TNG files
4. A backup of your MediaWiki files

TNG Modifications

!CAUTION! This zip contains a modified personlib.php file from TNG version 5.1.4
If you have made any custom modifications, do NOT copy this to your TNG directory, you will lose any customizations to your personlib.php file.

• The zip file contains:
  • new_doc.gif - the grayed down icon for administrators
  • link_wiki.php - the wiki link function for use in personlib.php
  • personlib.php - 4 sections modified (this is a modified TNG 5.1.4 file)

• IF you are running v 5.1.4 and you have NOT made any changes to personlib.php then

1. backup your existing TNG v5.1.4 personlib.php file
2. download this zip (TNG Wiki Package)
3. unzip it, examine the contents
4. modify the 4 variables at the top of the link_wiki.php file to match your wiki setup
5. copy each of the three files to your base TNG directory
   • if you are logged in as admin, you should now see grayed icons next to the names
   • follow one of these links and you should end up at your wiki, create page option

• IF you are NOT running v5.1.4 or you HAVE made changes to personlib.php then, you are on your own, however, the modifications are reasonably straight forward. If you are not completely comfortable doing this sort of update, then try upgrading to TNG v5.1.4 first. If you are still intent on trying it, here's my best guess:

1. backup your existing TNG personlib.php file
2. download this zip (TNG Wiki Package)
3. unzip it, examine the contents
4. modify the 4 variables at the top of the link_wiki.php file to match your wiki setup
5. compare the new personlib.php and your existing personlib.php
   • modify the 4 appropriate sections of code in your copy of personlib.php, each is marked with a reference to the wiki integration modification
6. copy link_wiki.php and new_doc.gif and your newly updated personlib.php to your base TNG directory
   • if you are logged in as admin, you should now see grayed icons next to the names
   • follow one of these links and you should end up at your wiki, create page option

• In the event of a problem with your TNG site

1. copy your backup personlib.php to your base TNG directory
   • all should be well now
2. you may also delete the link_wiki.php and new_doc.gif files

Wiki Language extension

1. download this zip file with the tag extension code ( MediaWiki Person Tags )
2. examine the contents
   • there is only one file, persons.php
   • modify the contents;
     • feel free to change the author's name
     • and change to your favourite url
     • and you MUST change the url in the tag where it has "genealogy.mcfadyen.ca" to your url
3. add the following line at the end of your "LocalSettings.php" file, just before the ?> line
   • include("extensions/persons.php");

• That's it, the wiki should now understand <person> tags

Suggested Wiki Customizations

1. use Categories:
   • at the bottom of each Person Page, add a [[Category:People]] tag
   • at the botton of each Places Page, add a [[Category:Places]] tag
2. modify your sidebar to include shortcuts to these areas
   • go to page: Mediawiki:sidebar (just enter this in the search box)
   • edit this page, if you added
     • Category:Places|List of Places
     • Category:People|List of People
   • as entries on this page, all sidebars will change
     • you may have to delete you page cache before you will see it

Support

1. You're sort of on your own... If you have a specific question, or feel some additional info in the above would help others, feel free to contact me directly. Mail me here
2. There are lots of changes that could be made, alternate ways to strip the place strings, etc, etc...
   • Please post suggestions, or your own flavour of this mod to the forum or list