Requesting wiki configuration changes

Often, wikis want particular configuration changes for their project. In order to manage these requests, a bug tracker is used by the Wikimedia system administrators.

In order to get a configuration variable or setting changed on your project:

1. Figure out what you want changed (the documentation at MediaWiki.org can be very helpful for this);
2. Gather local on-wiki community consensus for the change;
3. File a bug in Wikimedia's bug tracker;
   1. Use "Wikimedia" for the product and "Site requests" for the component.
   2. Be sure that the bug includes a URL to the local on-wiki consensus, preferably using a permanent link (click the "Permanent link" link in the toolbox, which should make the URL end in &oldid=...); the URL should go in the main bug description (comment 0) and in the URL field;
   3. Also be sure to add the "shell" keyword to the bug;
4. Be patient; shell bugs can only be processed by a few system administrators; on average, they take a month or two to process; if the request is urgent or has been sitting around for a long time, join #wikimedia-tech^connect and ask about the request

Gaining on-wiki consensus and filing a shell bug does not guarantee that the request will be fulfilled. Ultimate authority lies with the system administrators, and shell bugs may be resolved INVALID or WONTFIX due to performance issues or other considerations.