Last modified: 2009-08-15 19:23:15 UTC
Currently, there is no default way to input special characters straight from the browser. Wikimedia pages have a box at the bottom containing some characters. A character map (similar to the Character Map programs in Windows XP and Fedora Core) containing numerous Unicode characters could be placed in an out-of-the-way menu, either as a pop-up or in the same window (using Javascript, for example). This would be useful on non-Wikimedia pages using MediaWiki, which often lack the box containing special characters found on Wikipedia and Wiktionary.
There is a heated discussion about this going on right now at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_talk:Edittools#Revert. Perhaps it could be implemented in such a way that a user could toggle it on or off in his/her user preferences.
(In reply to comment #1) Can you not wrap the whole thing in a <div> and have users use custom personal CSS files to hide it?
To the OP: That box can be implemented on most release versions of MediaWiki using the CharInsert extension and the MediaWiki:Copyrightwarning system message.
Rob, the reporter of this bug is apparently aware of that extension, because they mention the box. But I think they're referring to a tool where you could show only a certain set of characters (based on script or language, perhaps) after selecting from a dropdown menu. Also, please read the discussion that denelson has linked to.
This is fixed quite nicely in the new edit toolbar provided by the usability initiative. Non-Wikimedia-Wikis that want this feature just need to install the UsabilityInitiative extension. Therefore I'm closing this bug.
