Requests for comment/Global bits and pieces

The following request for comments is closed. The request was eventually archived as inactive.

There should be a common repository for templates and other bits and pieces such as CSS and JavaScript. How exactly should this work?

Scope

Identity (mw:OpenID Provider)
User pages (mw:GlobalProfile; mw:Extension:GlobalUserPage)
Gadgets in JavaScript and CSS (phab:T22153, mw:Extension:Gadgets/Roadmap, mw:Gadgets 2.0)
User JavaScript and CSS (bugzilla:57891; mw:Extension:GlobalCssJs)
Scribunto modules (mw:Requests for comment/Global scripts; bugzilla:39610 and bugzilla:50329)
Wiki templates (depends on bugzilla:4547)
User watchlists (bugzilla:3525)
User notifications (bugzilla:1066 or bugzilla:35306)
Datasets (RFC Open Datasets, DataNamespace, bugzilla:62555)
User preferences (mw:Extension:GlobalPreferences)

We need to put a lot more thought into where each of these items will/should end up, so that we avoid creating a real mess. We currently have three big global Wikimedia projects (Meta-Wiki, Commons, Wikidata). There are proposals for creating new wikis, but this really ought to be avoided, if possible.

Existing

Global spam blacklist (Extension:SpamBlacklist) - MediaWiki wide, on Meta
Global title blacklist (Extension:TitleBlacklist) - Wikimedia wide, on Meta
Commons image repository (InstantCommons) - MediaWiki wide, on Commons
Wikidata data repository (mw:Wikibase) - Wikimedia wide, on Wikidata
Global user CSS/JS (Extension:GlobalCssJs) - Wikimedia wide, on Meta
Global user pages (Extension:GlobalUserPage) - Wikimedia wide, on Meta

Locations

Currently we have

wikidata.org - is for structured data
commons.wikimedia.org - is for media
meta.wikimedia.org - is for discussing the WMF projects
MediaWiki.org - is the documentation wiki for the MediaWiki software

Plus...

login.wikimedia.org

Background

Other MW wikis templates are either written from scratch or XML exported from Wikipedia.

Problem

Similar scripts and templates are developed on more than one project leading to branching and inconsistencies.
Non-WMF wiki administrators are having to write and debug templates. This is an extra level in difficulty from just install MW, configure slightly and then add extensions.
Small or new wikis frequently don't have templates because they don't know it's a feature or because these are difficult to implement and maintain.
Wikipedia specific features and the logo are frequently included in non-WMF wikis.
After upgrading MW to most recent stable version, following with templates and other bits and pieces is not a trivial task to get neat and tidy results.

How to implement?

What would this central repository need to work smoothly?
Not just templates, CSS, JavaScript and what else to include?
JavaScript gadgets, Scribunto modules, Lua modules, templates, CSS JavaScript, user pages ...
Where would this central repository be held?
Are these interwiki transcluded or installed like extensions and updated in sync with MW releases.
With interwiki transclusion (bug 9890) there ought to also be a way to avoid name clashes.
How to make selectable which templates, bits & pieces to include and handle interdependencies.
The wiki calling a template might not want or require all the available permutations, enhancements or intricate feature richness.
Localisation of each template or module in many languages. Each debug needs to do the same in all languages.
Licensing.

Proposed a new project

Global bits and pieces