ArchiveLeaf

ArchiveLeaf is a MediaWiki extension which implements essential features for palmleaf.org, including importing from Archive.org and font/input support.

Requirements

• Mediawiki 1.32+
• PHP 7+
• node.js 12+

Installation

1. Clone the repository, or extract the downloaded zip file, into a directory ArchiveLeaf inside the MediaWiki install’s extensions directory.
2. From the ArchiveLeaf directory:
   • Run maintenance/transcriber-install to install the transcriber’s dependencies with npm.
   • Run maintenance/transcriber-build to create a production build of the transcriber React app.
   • Run maintenance/templates-import to import the required Template:Entry and Template:EntryImage pages into MediaWiki.
3. Install the Metrolook skin into the MediaWiki install’s skins directory (as Metrolook).

In order to pull a new version from GitHub and build it, you can run the following command from the ArchiveLeaf directory:

git pull && maintenance/transcriber-install && maintenance/transcriber-build

Configuration

LocalSettings.php

Ensure that the following settings are in the MediaWiki install’s LocalSettings.php file:

$wgAllowExternalImages = true;
$wgAllowImageTag = true;
$wgCapitalLinks = false;
$wgAllowDisplayTitle = true;
$wgRestrictDisplayTitle = false;
$wgAllowCopyUploads = true;
$wgEnableUploads = true;
ini_set('max_execution_time', 0);

# recommended (requires ImageMagick install)
$wgUseImageMagick = true;

# load extension
wfLoadExtension( 'ArchiveLeaf' );

# use Metrolook (required for mobile)
wfLoadSkin( 'Metrolook' );
$wgMetrolookDownArrow = false;
$wgMetrolookUploadButton = false;
$wgDefaultSkin = 'Metrolook';

The following optional settings are also available:

# allow users to import pages (by default only "sysops" allowed)
$wgGroupPermissions['user']['archiveleaf'] = true;

$wgArchiveLeafBaseURL = 'https://archive.org'; # base URL (default shown)
$wgArchiveLeafApiURL = 'https://api.archivelab.org'; # API URL (default shown)
$wgArchiveLeafIiifBaseUrl = 'https://iiif.archivelab.org/iiif'; # IIIF base URL for image enhancement (default shown; NULL to disable)
$wgArchiveLeafTemplateName = 'Entry'; # primary template (default shown)
$wgArchiveLeafTemplateImageName = 'EntryImage'; # per-image template (default shown)

# script to run after importing IA item as a new wiki page. item identifier is passed as an argument.
$wgArchiveLeafImportScript = '/path/to/script';

# target host to rewrite archive.org links to (be sure to include url scheme, as shown)
$wgArchiveLeafArchiveOrgRewrite = 'http://localhost';

If you have set up https://github.com/longnow/icu-transliterator-service, you can use it to transliterate non-Latin scripts that this extension knows about (see data/transliterator.json). You can configure transliteration with the following settings:

# automatically (re-)transliterate non-Latin text every time a page is saved.
# do not allow any manual editing of transliterations.
$wgArchiveLeafAutoTransliterate = true;

# url of icu-transliterate-service server
$wgArchiveLeafTransliterateUrl = 'http://localhost:3000';

Web server

Make sure that /transcriber/static is aliased to the transcriber/build/static directory. Nginx example:

location /transcriber/static {
    alias /var/www/palmleaf/extensions/ArchiveLeaf/transcriber/build/static;
}

Common.css (optional)

To improve page rendering, add the following CSS to the MediaWiki:Common.css page on the wiki:

.mw-jump {
  display: none;
}

.thumbinner {
  max-width: 100%;
}

img.thumbimage {
  width: 100%;
  height: auto;
}

Webfonts (optional)

If you wish to load webfonts from custom locations, you can edit scss/fonts-custom.scss and provide custom values that will override one or more of the variables in scss/fonts.scss. You will need to re-run maintenance/transcriber-build to apply the changes.

Usage

• To import items from Archive.org, navigate to wiki page Special:ArchiveLeaf. When the import completes, a link to the imported page will appear.
• To transcribe a leaf, first navigate to an imported page. Choose a leaf and click Edit to work on it. The transcriber interface will appear.
• When you have finished working on the leaf, close the transcriber by clicking the X in the upper right. The regular MediaWiki edit page will appear, with your transcribed text inside the <transcription> tag.
• Click Save changes to save your work.

Transcriber

The transcriber interface allows for a more seamless transcription experience for users. It overlays on top of the regular wiki edit page and reads and writes to the edit box when opened and closed. It is designed primarily as a mobile interface, but will work fine on desktop machines as well.

The transcriber consists of three sections:

1. The image to be transcribed, which can be zoomed in and out.
2. A text edit box that displays the current working text of the transcriber.
3. An onscreen keyboard.

The transcriber reads from the <transcription> tag within the edit box, and when closed, writes back to the tag. After the transcriber is closed, the user must manually save the wiki edit.

One keyboard layout is currently available: Balinese. More are planned for the future.

Balinese keyboard notes

• The Balinese onscreen keyboard is designed to type any characters found in Balinese, while preventing the typing of malformed sequences.
• To type a consonant-vowel syllable, first type the consonant, and then the vowel marks for that consonant will be displayed in the upper right section.
• Type all vowels after their consonant (in spoken order), even if they are written to the left of the consonant, like "ᬳᬾ".
• To type consonant clusters, type the first consonant, then adeg-adeg (in the vowel marks section), then the following consonant. The keyboard will adjust to demonstrate the character to be typed.
• If an explicit adeg-adeg is needed in a place that would normally cause a consonanant cluster (such as "ᬦ᭄‌ᬪ"), type the first consonant, then the adeg-adeg, then a Zero-Width Non-Joiner (the key to the right of the space bar), then the next consonant. The Zero-Width Non-Joiner blocks the adeg-adeg from creating a consonant cluster.
• Sanskrit-specific consonants and less common vowel marks can be found by pressing the shift key.
• To type numbers and punctuation marks, press the bottom-left key "᭗᭘᭙".

Implementation

Templates

The extension uses two templates on imported pages, which contain the following parameters:

• Primary template (by default Entry):

  • Description: contains general item description.
  • Title: contains Archive.org identifier, for example tutur-smara-bhuwana.
  • Url: contains Archive.org item URL.

• Per-image template (by default EntryImage):

  • EntryID: matches Title of primary template.
  • Title: leaf number, for example 0.
  • LocalFileName: image filename, displayed as 400px thumbnail.
  • ImageBrowse: link to Archive.org image browser, displayed as link near thumbnail.

Imported pages

Imported pages have the following structure:

{{Entry
|Title=…
…
}}
==== Front and Back Covers ====
{{EntryImage
|Title=0
…
}}

<transcription>

</transcription>
==== Leaf 1 ====
{{EntryImage
|Title=1
…
}}

<transcription>

</transcription>
==== Leaf 2 ====
{{EntryImage
|Title=2
…
}}

<transcription>

</transcription>

Transcribed text should be placed in the <transcription> tag. The transcriber does this automatically on, but manual editing is also possible.