And so, descend the Lua gods, from their perch in Programming Heaven in which they oversee, the computer programming world...
Wikia offers the Lua module to be enabled upon request. This could essentially revolutionize templates all across Wikia, or at least on wikis that enable it.
Before, coding complex templates was tedious and hard work. The supposedly simple Wiki-markup became a complex computer programming language when it came to templates.
Lua in MediaWiki is possible through the Scribunto extension, which Wikia has finally finished porting. Lua was designed with logical operations in mind, so it looks much more streamlined and easier to read.
Lua coding is stored in the Module namespace, and can be called into the template namespace via the {{#invoke: Module_name | function_name | arg1 | arg2 | arg3 ... }} function.
"But wait! I don't know Lua..." So what if you don't? There are numerous templates on Wikipedia that use Lua already, such as Template:Convert, which uses Lua to convert values. The coding for the template in Lua is a lot cleaner and more streamlined than if it were done in Wikitext, which would look like spaghetti code and give everyone a headache just looking at it! Plus, Lua supposedly renders much faster. Some of our pages just take too darn long to save or purge, because of the spaghetti-code templates on it!
The extension can be enabled via Special:Contact; an administrator can just ask for the extension to be enabled and Wikia Staff will see to it.
So, The Sims Wiki, should we enable the Lua extension for easier to make templates? --k6ka (talk | contribs) 21:18, August 6, 2014 (UTC)
Discussion[]
Support - LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 21:41, August 6, 2014 (UTC)
Full Support: I find wikitext templates really annoying because we have do so much work just to make sure the templates run properly. Lua will really make things easier. Or at least, if it does what it's advertised to do. ―WikiBuilder1147 (Infinite Histories • Galactic Crucibles • The Sims Wiki • Hallows Maleficent • Why I'm here in the first place) 21:52, August 6, 2014 (UTC)
Support - Ѧüя◎ґ (talk) 23:05, August 6, 2014 (UTC)
Support - I wholeheartedly support this. Wikipedia has been using Lua for templates like {{Navbox}} for quite some time now, we should do the same. EpicJoyBoy (My talk page!) 10:35, August 7, 2014 (UTC)
Support: Per above. Beds (talk - blog) 09:50, August 13, 2014 (UTC)
As consensus appears to be favorable, I have contacted Wikia and asked them to enable the Lua extension. --k6ka (talk | contribs) 12:20, August 25, 2014 (UTC)
Conclusion[]
The Lua extension has been enabled on the wiki. Some notes:
| “ | Thanks for contacting Wikia. I have enabled Lua on your wikia for use. Thanks for being willing to try it out!
Our Lua documentation currently lives on our Wikia Developer's Wiki here: http://dev.wikia.com/wiki/Lua_templating. A good place to start would probably be working on an infobox, using the InfoboxBuilder tool bundled with Lua: http://dev.wikia.com/wiki/Lua_templating/InfoboxBuilder We have also set up a Lua-specific forum on the DEV Wiki here: http://dev.wikia.com/wiki/Board:Lua_Help In addition, over the coming weeks we will be adding live examples and Chat office hours to DEV Wiki to help you branch more into Lua. Have fun and if there's any way we can help you further with this tool, please let me know! |
” |
As we now have Lua enabled on the wiki, this thread is now archived. --k6ka (talk | contribs) 20:57, August 25, 2014 (UTC)