Commalg:Enabling site search autocompletion
Content copied from Ref:Ref:Enabling site search autocompletion. Images used are specific to this site (Commalg).
Site search autocompletion is currently broken by default on this site. This page includes details on how to get it to work, and what's going on.
What's wrong with site search autocompletion and how to fix it
What's wrong
When you start typing something in the site search bar, you'll see it stuck at "Loading search suggestions" as shown in the screenshot below:
Note that the actual search is still working -- you just have to hit Enter after typing the search query and it'll go to the search results page. It's the autocompletion before you hit Enter that is broken.
How to fix it
To fix it, you need to follow these steps:
- Write to vipulnaik1@gmail.com asking for a login to the site. Please include the following with your request: preferred username, preferred initial password (you can change it after logging in), real name (if you want it entered), email address to use (if you want an actual email address by which you can be contacted), and whether you want edit access as well. You don't need edit access for enabling site search autocompletion.
- Log in to the site. Then go to Special:Preferences. Go to the Appearance section and switch the Skin from "Vector (2022)" to "Vector legacy (2010)".
- Make sure to hit "Save" at the bottom.
- Now you can reload the page or load a new page.
Site search autocompletion should now work. Here's an example:
More background
We've recently upgraded the MediaWiki version of this wiki from 1.35.13 to 1.41.2 (see Special:Version). The upgrade allows us to migrate the wiki to a more modern operating system version running PHP 8. With the current setup for MediaWiki 1.41.2, we're in this situation:
- The "Vector legacy (2010)" skin has site search autocompletion working, but it doesn't render well on small screens. Specifically, even on small mobile screens, it still shows the left menu, and doesn't properly use the MobileFrontend extension settings.
- The "Vector (2022)" skin doesn't have site search autocompletion working (see screenshots in preceding section) but it does render fine on mobile devices.
It is possible to set only one default skin (that is applicable to all non-logged-in users and is the default for logged-in users who have not configured a skin for themselves). So, the selection of default skin comes down to whether it's more important for casual users to have the mobile experience working or to have site search autocompletion working. Based on a general understanding of user behavior, we believe that having a usable mobile experience is more important for casual users than having site search autocompletion.
However, for power users who are using the site extensively, site search autocompletion may be important. That's why we've written this page giving guidance on how to set up site search autocompletion.