Difference between revisions of "Miraheze"

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| description = wiki hosting service
| description = wiki hosting service
| logo = Miraheze_Logo.png
| logo = Miraheze_Logo.png
| image = Miraheze 2020-05-29.png
| image = Miraheze screenshot 2024.png
| URL = https://meta.miraheze.org
| URL = https://miraheze.org
| project_status = {{closing}}
| project_status = {{online}}
| archiving_status = {{selfsaved}} (all public wikis irregularly dumped on archive.org)
| archiving_status = {{selfsaved}} (all public wikis dumped monthly on archive.org)
| archiving_type = other
| irc = wikiteam
| irc = wikiteam
| data = {{IA item|wikifarm-miraheze.org-20160930}} <br> {{IA item|wikifarm-miraheze.org-20170402}}
| data = {{IA id|@miraheze}} (self-dumps)<br>{{IA item|wikifarm-miraheze.org-20160930}} (2016)<br>{{IA item|wikifarm-miraheze.org-20170402}} (2017)
}}
}}


'''Miraheze''' is a not-for-profit MediaWiki wikifarm which was set up in August 2015. As of October 2022, they host over 5,500 wikis (including private ones). Its GitHub organisation can be found [https://github.com/miraheze here]; its Phabricator instance can be found [https://phabricator.miraheze.org here].
'''Miraheze''' is a non-profit MediaWiki wikifarm which was set up in August 2015, operated by the WikiTide Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity in the United States. As of 2025, they host over 14,000 wikis (including private ones). Its GitHub organisation can be found [https://github.com/miraheze here]; its Phorge issue tracker instance can be found [https://issue-tracker.miraheze.org here].


Miraheze regularly deletes "inactive" wikis (wikis with over 6 months of no activity) according to its [https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Dormancy_Policy Dormancy Policy] unless wikis are granted an exemption.
Pursuant to their [https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Dormancy_Policy Dormancy Policy], Miraheze regularly deletes wikis that have not been edited in over a year unless wikis are granted an exemption. Inactive wikis are backed up by Miraheze before deletion and are restored on request.


== History ==
== History ==
Based on their Finance page, they operate on a modest budget funded entirely by donations.<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Finance Finance - Miraheze Meta]</ref> They operate their entire data center in-house with colocation services provided by ServerChoice As of October 2022, their whole cluster sits on approximately 158 CPU cores, 457GB RAM and ~7.2 TB of disk space<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Tech:Server_usage Tech:Server usage - Miraheze Meta]</ref>. They currently operate 42 servers for different uses.
Miraheze was founded in August 2015 by John F. Lewis and Ferran Tufan<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Miraheze_history#Beginnings_2 Miraheze history - Miraheze Meta]</ref>, two former [[Orain]] volunteers. It was named after two Wikimedia servers (John worked at Wikimedia at the time) named after stars, "mira" and "heze". Shortly after launch, Orain fell victim to a cyberattack which permanantly brought it down with most major Orain wikis migrating to Miraheze thus establishing it as its de facto successor.
 
Miraheze reached 5,000 wikis in 2021 but began growing too fast which led to server strain and eventually to the failure of a database disk which brought down 1/4 of the farm for a week and a half in November 2022.
 
In June 2023, following discontent with leadership and a dispute over the global ban of a former Steward, core Miraheze volunteers split from Miraheze and formed [[WikiTide]], wiping out over 3/4 of Miraheze's volunteer base and leaving Miraheze unable to sustain itself. This triggered a shutdown crisis which was averted a few days later when some former and inactive volunteers attempted to take over operations. They were unable to and the much more successful WikiTide eventually acquired Miraheze in January 2024 thus bringing the schism to an end when WikiTide was remerged in to Miraheze.
 
== Overview ==
Miraheze is operated by the WikiTide Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity in the United States. It was acquired by WikiTide in early 2024 and the Foundation's flagship WikiTide service was merged into Miraheze.
 
Miraheze operates on a modest budget funded entirely by donations.<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Finance Finance - Miraheze Meta]</ref> They operate their entire data center in-house with colocation services provided by Fiberstate in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
 
As of November 2024, their whole cluster sits on approximately 320 CPU cores, 1.1 TB RAM and ~17 TB of disk space<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Tech:Server_usage Tech:Server usage - Miraheze Meta]</ref>. They currently operate 67 servers for different uses and serve over a 20 billion requests per year.


The wikifarm hosts [https://allthetropes.org All The Tropes], [https://rosettacode.org Rosetta Code] ([[wikipedia:Rosetta Code|Wikipedia article]]), along with various other big wikis.
The wikifarm hosts [https://allthetropes.org All The Tropes], [https://rosettacode.org Rosetta Code] ([[wikipedia:Rosetta Code|Wikipedia article]]), along with various other big wikis.
On June 16th 2023, [https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Board/Policies/20230615-Statement a statement] was released stating that they would close some time between September 1st 2023 and October 1st 2023. According to a [https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Miraheze_is_Not_Shutting_Down later announcement] by aspiring successors, the farm includes 6774 wikis (presumably including private wikis), but it's not clear how this number was produced.


== Backups ==
== Backups ==
Miraheze backups all their public wikis irregularly and publishes an XML dump of all of them [https://archive.org/details/@reception123 on archive.org]. Miraheze also makes their own backups of their services regularly to an offsite server.<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Backups Backups - Miraheze Meta]</ref> In April 2019, Miraheze launched and deployed [[mediawikiwiki:Extension:DataDump|the DataDump extension]] on all its wikis, allowing wiki operators to generate and download dumps through the "Special:DataDump" page.<ref>[https://phabricator.miraheze.org/phame/post/view/8/miraheze_launches_self_requested_dumps/ Miraheze launches self requested dumps!]</ref> By default, only admins possess the "view-dump", "delete-dump", and "generate-dump" rights,<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Special:ListGroupRights#sysop User group rights - Miraheze Meta]</ref> but wiki operators can extend these rights to other users through "Special:ManageWiki/permissions" if they so desire.
Miraheze backs up all their public wikis monthly and publishes an XML and image dump of all of them [https://archive.org/details/@Miraheze on archive.org]. Miraheze also makes their own backups of their services regularly to an offsite server.<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Backups Backups - Miraheze Meta]</ref> In April 2019, Miraheze created [[mediawikiwiki:Extension:DataDump|the DataDump extension]] and deployed it on all its wikis, allowing wiki operators to generate and download dumps through the "Special:DataDump" page.<ref>[https://phabricator.miraheze.org/phame/post/view/8/miraheze_launches_self_requested_dumps/ Miraheze launches self requested dumps!]</ref> By default, only admins possess the "view-dump", "delete-dump", and "generate-dump" rights,<ref>[https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Special:ListGroupRights#sysop User group rights - Miraheze Meta]</ref> but wiki operators can extend these rights to other users through "Special:ManageWiki/permissions" if they so desire.


[[WikiTeam]] also managed to grab about 685 public wikis hosted on its cluster in September 2016<ref>[https://archive.org/details/wikifarm-miraheze.org-20160930 Archive.org item]</ref> and in April 2017.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/wikifarm-miraheze.org-20170402 Archive.org item]</ref>
[[WikiTeam]] also managed to grab about 685 public wikis hosted on its cluster in September 2016<ref>[https://archive.org/details/wikifarm-miraheze.org-20160930 Archive.org item]</ref> and in April 2017.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/wikifarm-miraheze.org-20170402 Archive.org item]</ref>


In June 2023, [https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22Miraheze%22&sort=-addeddate new XML exports and image dumps] are being performed by WikiTeam; see the [https://github.com/WikiTeam/wikiteam/issues/465 discussion on issue #465] to help with verifying the archivals and the list of wikis yet to be archived. The WikiTeam collection so far contains dumps for about 2400 Miraheze wikis.
In the midst of the June 2023 shutdown crisis, [https://archive.org/search?query=subject%3A%22Miraheze%22&sort=-addeddate new XML exports and image dumps] were performed by WikiTeam<ref>[https://github.com/WikiTeam/wikiteam/issues/465 discussion on issue #465]</ref>. Following the WikiTide merger, XML and image dumps began to be generated every month.


A public [https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Special:WikiDiscover list of all wikis] is available.
A public [https://meta.miraheze.org/wiki/Special:WikiDiscover list of all wikis] is available.

Latest revision as of 19:48, 17 March 2025

Miraheze is a non-profit MediaWiki wikifarm which was set up in August 2015, operated by the WikiTide Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity in the United States. As of 2025, they host over 14,000 wikis (including private ones). Its GitHub organisation can be found here; its Phorge issue tracker instance can be found here.

Pursuant to their Dormancy Policy, Miraheze regularly deletes wikis that have not been edited in over a year unless wikis are granted an exemption. Inactive wikis are backed up by Miraheze before deletion and are restored on request.

History

Miraheze was founded in August 2015 by John F. Lewis and Ferran Tufan[1], two former Orain volunteers. It was named after two Wikimedia servers (John worked at Wikimedia at the time) named after stars, "mira" and "heze". Shortly after launch, Orain fell victim to a cyberattack which permanantly brought it down with most major Orain wikis migrating to Miraheze thus establishing it as its de facto successor.

Miraheze reached 5,000 wikis in 2021 but began growing too fast which led to server strain and eventually to the failure of a database disk which brought down 1/4 of the farm for a week and a half in November 2022.

In June 2023, following discontent with leadership and a dispute over the global ban of a former Steward, core Miraheze volunteers split from Miraheze and formed WikiTide, wiping out over 3/4 of Miraheze's volunteer base and leaving Miraheze unable to sustain itself. This triggered a shutdown crisis which was averted a few days later when some former and inactive volunteers attempted to take over operations. They were unable to and the much more successful WikiTide eventually acquired Miraheze in January 2024 thus bringing the schism to an end when WikiTide was remerged in to Miraheze.

Overview

Miraheze is operated by the WikiTide Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity in the United States. It was acquired by WikiTide in early 2024 and the Foundation's flagship WikiTide service was merged into Miraheze.

Miraheze operates on a modest budget funded entirely by donations.[2] They operate their entire data center in-house with colocation services provided by Fiberstate in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.

As of November 2024, their whole cluster sits on approximately 320 CPU cores, 1.1 TB RAM and ~17 TB of disk space[3]. They currently operate 67 servers for different uses and serve over a 20 billion requests per year.

The wikifarm hosts All The Tropes, Rosetta Code (Wikipedia article), along with various other big wikis.

Backups

Miraheze backs up all their public wikis monthly and publishes an XML and image dump of all of them on archive.org. Miraheze also makes their own backups of their services regularly to an offsite server.[4] In April 2019, Miraheze created the DataDump extension and deployed it on all its wikis, allowing wiki operators to generate and download dumps through the "Special:DataDump" page.[5] By default, only admins possess the "view-dump", "delete-dump", and "generate-dump" rights,[6] but wiki operators can extend these rights to other users through "Special:ManageWiki/permissions" if they so desire.

WikiTeam also managed to grab about 685 public wikis hosted on its cluster in September 2016[7] and in April 2017.[8]

In the midst of the June 2023 shutdown crisis, new XML exports and image dumps were performed by WikiTeam[9]. Following the WikiTide merger, XML and image dumps began to be generated every month.

A public list of all wikis is available.

See also

References

External links

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