MediaWiki and WordPress both are great tools, and they flawlessly do the work which they were created for. But which one is right for you? Could you integrate MediaWiki and WordPress? Do you need to move your site before it is too late? If you choose to move, how could you move from MediaWiki to WordPress? We will see the answers to questions in this article.
MediaWiki Vs. WordPress
Though they are both excellent tools, we will compare them based on your needs and find the best one for you.
MediaWiki
MediaWiki software is mostly used for websites which mainly focuses on an informative and encyclopedic type of content. The primary purposes of using MediaWiki is for content control. You can restrict content access and editing capabilities to only selected people
You could make robust websites and powerful web projects with MediaWiki software, but it has limited functionality except the features mentioned above.
To use MediaWiki you need to have a good programming background and experience to handle. Its extensions are also that not very easy to use.
WordPress
WordPress is a versatile solution which has content at its core, but it is very much flexible and multifunctional. If your web project will need to add some more functions (maybe even in the future) like a blog, forums, payments, etc.,
WordPress is also more popular and is most easy to learn platform. You don’t need much technical abilities to use it.
WordPress Wiki Plugin – Helpie KB
WordPress gets more interesting when you get to know that it has a wiki extension (plugin) known as Helpie Wiki plugin which is an advanced alternative to MediaWiki software. With Helpie wiki you could combine the wiki functions of MediaWiki software with the versatility of WordPress environment.
It is featured No. 1 WordPress Wiki plugin on ScanWP, a famous WordPress blog.
See the features of Helpie Wiki plugin
Migrating MediaWiki to WordPress
Migrating from MediaWiki to WordPress wiki is not a tough job. You can manually import and export or else you can automate the process.
But before you can migrate, you need to create a WordPress website. See the article to quickly create a WordPress website.
Installing the Wiki plugin
After you have created the WordPress website, you need to buy and install Helpie wiki plugin to give your WordPress website wiki functions. If you don’t install Helpie Wiki plugin before migrating your contents will be moved to WordPress as regular WordPress posts and pages and not as wiki pages and posts.
You can buy Helpie Wiki from here https://helpiewp.com and read this article to Install Helpie Wiki plugin on your WordPress website.
After installing Helpie wiki plugin, you need export contents from MediaWiki and then import it into the new WordPress website. You can export your contents (articles, main page, category page, discussion page, etc.,) using the default MediaWiki export tools which can be used from the front end.
Exporting contents from MediaWiki
MediaWiki has an export tool and the front end with which you can export all your content (articles, main page, category page, discussion page, etc.,) and you get an XML file which you can import on your WordPress site.
source: Hostkox
Importing to WordPress wiki
Different file formats like XML, CSV, Excel, and Docs can be imported into Helpie Wiki.
See the documentation to Import your content to Helpie Wiki
Helpie wiki is the best WordPress alternative for MediaWiki software, and it is the optimal choice for people who want to migrate from MediaWiki to WordPress.
Still not convinced. Here’s what Helpie wiki users who moved from Mediawiki say about Helpie,
Don’t need to believe us. Try Helpie wiki plugin – 7 days free trial and see for yourself!
Want to migrate from MediaWiki to Helpie WordPress wiki? You shouldn’t be afraid of any migration hassles. We are here to help you migrate. Contact our support at support@pauple.com for more details.
Automated MediaWiki to WordPress Migration
To make MediaWiki to WordPress migration totally safe and painless there exists CMS2CMS, a service which transfer content to new CMS and forum platforms within a few minutes fully automatedly. Moreover, it offers to run a Free Demo migration and move some data totally for free. Using this automated content migrator, not only data will be moved, but the relations between entities as well.
What content will be moved using CMS2CMS service?
- Pages
- Posts
- Categories
- Images
- Attachments
- Users
- Comments
- SEO juice and much more
CMS2CMS service is one of the best data converters on the market and having migrated more than 100 000 of web projects, still continue its growth and improvements.
They could also help to move your MediaWiki content to Helpie wiki’s custom post type. So if you choose to move to Helpie you can ask CMS2CMS for a sepcificly for migration to Helpie Wiki.
Self-Migrating with Codes
Some people who migrated from MediaWiki to WordPress in the past have published some custom codes for exporting files from MediaWiki. If you are a developer, you can make use of these codes to automate the migrating process.
- MediaWiki to WordPress in 10 minutes
- MediaWiki to WordPress Converter – An improved code from the former code for converting URLs, images, media, headers bold/italic, tables, etc.,
You might need to tweak the codes a little bit to better suit your purpose. Better try it on a local server or a staging site before importing to a live site.
MediaWiki to WordPress – 301 Redirects
If your MediaWiki website has any SEO (Search Engine Optimization) value, you would want to retain it. And so you need to use 301 redirects from your old MediaWiki site URLs to new WordPress site URLs.
Read More on 301 Redirects.
In WordPress, you have the free Yoast SEO plugin, which you can use to migrate Metadata.
MediaWiki skin and WordPress theme
Some MediaWiki users like the design and appearance of WordPress themes and search for MediaWiki skins which resemble WordPress themes. There are few MediaWiki skins available which look like WordPress themes. But why go for them when you have the option to use thousands of WordPress themes on your WordPress wiki website when you use Helpie wiki.
Integrating MediaWiki and WordPress
Some users try to bridge MediaWiki and WordPress, especially for integration MediaWiki into a WordPress installation. They mainly did it because earlier WordPress did not have the wiki capabilities. But today you have the Helpie wiki plugin, so there is no need to integrate WordPress and MediaWiki.
Other Methods Used
There is a MediaWiki extension called WPMW which is to integrate WordPress and MediaWiki.
You also needed a WordPress plugin called Wkiful MediaWiki Bridge (No longer available) to give the integration an SSO (single-sign-on) option. Some people even used some WordPress social plugins like bbPress and BuddyPress to provide SSO for MediaWiki and WordPress integration.
Bridging takes a lot of time and work. Many times it not so easy and some error always keeps coming.
So quit trying to integrate MediaWiki and WordPress and use Helpie wiki. Save your time and work. Time is money!
Embedding MediaWiki into WordPress
There some WordPress plugins which helps to embed MediaWiki content (from public wiki like Wikipedia) into a WordPress website. WP Wiki Tooltip and RDP Wiki Embed are some free plugins which serve this purpose. They use shortcodes to embed Mediawiki content into a WordPress site. They can also be used with Helpie wiki for better styling and design.
So what are you thinking? Have you tried other ways before? Have you found a new way? Please share in the comments section.
