Moving a wiki to SkyWiki

Moving a wiki to SkyWiki

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                                       Welcome to SkyWiki, we're glad to have you here!

Moving a wiki to SkyWiki is a seamless process. Whether your wiki is self-hosted or hosted on platforms like Fandom, Miraheze, or other MediaWiki-based services, transferring it to SkyWiki is fully supported. With an XML database dump, the transition can be completed efficiently and with minimal effort.

Exporting a wiki

The initial step in the migration process is to generate an XML dump file, also known as a database dump. This file contains all wiki pages, including user pages and image descriptions, though images themselves are stored separately. The process for generating this file may vary depending on the wiki platform.

Moving from Fandom

Fandom (formerly Wikia) provides an XML dump for each wiki, accessible through Special:Statistics on your wiki at Fandom. However, this file is not updated daily and may be outdated. If so, wiki administrators can request a newer version by clicking the "Send request" button. If no active administrators are available, you will need to contact Fandom support to generate the file. Once obtained, proceed to the "Importing a Wiki" section.

 Note: Fandom does not permit wiki closures except in limited cases, such as small or niche wikis. Additionally, mass page deletions and linking to external, non-Fandom wikis on the Main Page are restricted. Recently, Fandom has updated its forking policy—wikis can no longer link to their new site from the Main Page for two weeks, as previously allowed. Once a wiki is forked, all administrators are removed, and links to the new site are only permitted on the forking discussion page.

Moving from Miraheze

Do it yourself

If you're the only editor on a small wiki and don't mind losing page history, you can copy and paste the text from one wiki to another using the source editor.

For very small dumps (under a few kilobytes), you can try using Special:Import on your wiki (not SkyMeta). However, this method does not support importing images. If the dump is small enough, the import should complete successfully, allowing you to use your wiki.

If the import fails, see the section below.

Have us do it

XML (Content) Imports: If your XML dump is large enough that MediaWiki may fail to process it efficiently (over a few kilobytes), a system administrator will need to import it for you. To request an import, go to Special:RequestImport and complete the form

Moving from Wikidot

Moving from Wikidot may pose a more unique challenge. Wikidot does not run MediaWiki; they use a proprietary software solution that is incompatible with MediaWiki.

There are scripts available to convert Wikidot backups into MediaWiki-compatible XML files. One script that has been reported to work in the past is this one. However, it requires an outdated version of Python (2.9) and is a shell script, which might not be user-friendly for those with less technical experience. You may be able to seek help and advice from community members on Discord.

Exporting via maintenance scripts

If you have server access and are transferring an entire wiki, the easiest method is to use a maintenance script to export it. For details, refer to the documentation on dumpBackup.php at MediaWiki.org. Once you have the database dump, proceed to "Importing a wiki."

 This is not the SQL database dump we need, as it is in the wrong format and may include sensitive user account information, which is problematic. If you have any questions, feel free to ask a community member on Discord.

Exporting images via maintenance scripts

If you have server access, you can use the maintenance script dumpBackup.php. Once you have an image dump, skip to "Importing a wiki."

 Apart from the MediaWiki Dump Generator method, none of the methods here export image files. You will have to copy the files, and provide it to the system administrators for processing (via a Phorge ticket)

Image Import

For image imports, please use Phorge (Phorge account required). You can send us your images file in a few different ways:

• On the Phorge task, paste a link to where it can be downloaded from (i.e., Google Drive, Dropbox)
• If it’s small enough, upload it directly to Phorge