Knowledge Commons

Requirements and Specifications

Revision as of 16:09, 29 August 2026 by Mshell (talk | contribs)

Wiki Farm PARA Mode

Functional Requirements and Technical Specification

Document purpose: This specification defines the first implementation of the structured personal knowledge management ("PARA Wiki") mode for a MediaWiki-based wiki farm. It is intended to be sufficiently explicit for use by a software developer or coding AI.

Status: Draft implementation specification Version: 1.0 Target platform: MediaWiki with Cargo and custom extension code Primary design principle: Preserve normal MediaWiki behavior wherever practical, while adding an optional structured PKM mode.

---

1. Product Scope

1.1 Wiki Modes

When a user creates a new wiki, the system shall support a configurable Wiki Mode.

Initial supported modes:

Mode Description
`standard` Flexible MediaWiki experience with optional starter content. Structured PARA rules are not enforced.
`para` Structured personal knowledge management mode inspired by PARA and extended with Page Type, Page Status, Areas, Projects, Topics, type-specific metadata, and topic-specific metadata.

The architecture shall allow additional modes to be introduced later without redesigning the page metadata model.

The selected Wiki Mode shall be stored at the wiki level, not page level.

The user-facing name shall be PARA Wiki, but documentation should describe it as "inspired by the PARA method" rather than implying that every feature is part of Tiago Forte's original PARA methodology.

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2. Core Concepts

Every normal content page in PARA Wiki mode shall have:

  • exactly one PageType
  • exactly one PageStatus

A page may also have:

  • zero or one ParentArea when PageType=Area
  • zero or more RelatedAreas when PageType!=Area
  • zero or more RelatedProjects
  • zero or more RelatedTopics
  • zero or more type-specific metadata fields
  • zero or more topic-specific metadata fields

Conceptual definitions:

Dimension User-facing question Meaning
Type How will I use this page? The functional role of the page.
Status Is it currently relevant/active? The lifecycle state of the page.
Area What ongoing part of my life does it support? An ongoing responsibility, activity, or intentionally maintained domain.
Project What outcome does it support? A finite outcome or goal.
Topic What is it about? A subject used to connect related pages.

---

3. Page Types

The application shall initially support exactly six Page Types. Users shall not be able to create custom Page Types in version 1.

PageType Description Guidance
`Study` Notes derived from a source or structured learning. Knowledge being acquired from a particular source, class, book, course, lecture, etc.
`Journal` Chronological experience or reflection. What happened or what the user experienced.
`Idea` A concept, conclusion, insight, or synthesized thought. An understanding the user developed rather than merely collected.
`Project` Information supporting an intended finite outcome. Something the user is trying to complete.
`Area` An ongoing part of life that the user maintains or develops. An ongoing responsibility, activity, or domain without a defined end.
`Resource` Information collected primarily for future reference. Information likely to have more use in the future than at the time it is stored.

Recommended stable internal identifiers: 

study
journal
idea
project
area
resource

---

4. Page Statuses

The application shall initially support three Page Status values: 

inception
active
archived

Users shall not be able to create custom statuses in version 1.

PageType Inception Active Archived
Study No Yes Yes
Journal No Yes Yes
Idea No Yes Yes
Project Yes Yes Yes
Area Yes Yes Yes
Resource No Yes Yes

Definitions:

Status Meaning
`Inception` Being considered or developed but not yet committed.
`Active` Currently relevant, maintained, pursued, or available for normal use.
`Archived` Retained but no longer active.

Status shall affect default inclusion in views, selectors, reports, workflows, and search filters.

Status shall not determine authorization, sharing, privacy, or security permissions.

Archived pages shall remain directly accessible to users who otherwise have permission to view them.

---

5. Area Model

5.1 Area Definition

An Area is an ongoing responsibility, activity, or something the user intentionally maintains or develops over time.

Examples include Personal, Family, Household, Learning, Career, Travel & Vacations, Hobbies, Photography, Cooking, and Fitness & Nutrition.

5.2 Parent Area

An Area page may have zero or one ParentArea.

A page whose PageType=Area shall not use RelatedAreas.

Examples: 

Hobbies
  ParentArea = NULL

Photography
  ParentArea = Hobbies

Cooking
  ParentArea = Hobbies

Career
  ParentArea = NULL

Skills development
  ParentArea = Career

A top-level Area is defined as: 

PageType = Area
ParentArea = NULL

The system shall prevent an Area from being its own parent and shall prevent circular Area relationships.

The Area hierarchy shall support an arbitrary practical depth unless implementation limitations require a documented maximum.

5.3 Related Areas

A non-Area page may have zero or more RelatedAreas.

Each value shall reference an existing page whose PageType=Area.

When assigning an Area through the UI, the default picker shall show active Area pages. The user may enable an option such as Include archived Areas.

The Area picker should display hierarchy where practical.

The system should recommend no more than three Related Areas per page but shall not enforce a hard maximum.

---

6. Project Model

A Project is a page whose PageType=Project.

A Project shall normally have at least one RelatedArea, although this shall be a quality warning rather than a hard validation rule.

A page may have zero or more RelatedProjects.

Each Related Project shall reference an existing page whose PageType=Project and is Active by default in selectors. The picker shall allow archived Projects to be included optionally.

The system shall prevent a Project page from assigning itself as a Related Project.

Project hierarchy / ParentProject is explicitly out of scope for version 1, but the schema shall not preclude adding it later.

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7. Project-to-Area Defaulting

When a Project is assigned to a page:

  1. Read the selected Project's RelatedAreas.
  2. Add any missing Project Areas to the edited page's RelatedAreas.
  3. Do not remove any existing Areas.
  4. Allow the user to remove any newly added Areas before saving.
  5. Once the page is saved, the values are independent.

This behavior is default copying, not dynamic inheritance.

If the Project's Areas change later, existing pages assigned to that Project shall not automatically change.

---

8. Topic Model

8.1 Topic Is Not a Page Type

Topic shall not be added as a seventh PageType. PageType answers How will I use this page? Topic answers What is this page about?

8.2 Topics as First-Class Classification Objects

Topics shall be first-class application objects.

Recommended implementation: 

Topic:<TopicName>

using a dedicated MediaWiki namespace.

Examples: 

Topic:Python
Topic:Programming
Topic:Freshman Courses
Topic:Rome

Topic namespace pages are classification/hub objects and are not ordinary PARA knowledge pages. Topic pages shall not require a PageType.

A Topic should support at least:

Field Requirement
TopicName Required, unique within the wiki
TopicStatus Active or Archived
Description Optional
RelatedTopics Optional/future-safe
MetadataDefinition Optional structured definition of topic-specific fields
CreatedAt System managed
UpdatedAt System managed

Version 1 may omit RelatedTopics and MetadataDefinition UI if necessary, but the data model should allow future implementation.

8.3 Related Topics

Normal content pages may have zero or more RelatedTopics.

Each Related Topic shall reference an existing Topic object. Default picker behavior shall show active Topics, with an option to include archived Topics.

The system should recommend no more than three Topics per page for simplicity but shall not enforce a hard maximum.

8.4 Topic Creation

The RelatedTopics control should allow selecting an existing Topic and optionally creating a new Topic inline, subject to permissions.

The system shall prevent accidental duplicate Topics caused only by case differences or excess whitespace, consistent with MediaWiki title behavior.

---

9. Topic-Specific Metadata

The architecture shall support topic-specific metadata.

For example, Topic:Book could define Author, ISBN, Publisher, and PublicationDate. Topic:Vehicle could define Make, Model, ModelYear, and VIN.

Topic metadata and entity/schema metadata may eventually become separate concepts. Version 1 should therefore implement topic-specific metadata modularly rather than permanently coupling metadata schemas to Topic processing.

Recommended abstraction: 

MetadataDefinition
MetadataField
MetadataAssignment
MetadataValue

---

10. Type-Specific Metadata

Each Page Type may expose additional metadata. The following fields are illustrative rather than mandatory for version 1.

PageType Possible metadata
Study SourceType, SourceTitle, Author, Instructor, Institution, StartDate, EndDate, Progress, URL, ISBN
Journal JournalDate, StartDate, EndDate, Location
Idea IdeaDate, Confidence, SourcePages
Project StartDate, TargetDate, CompletionDate, Outcome, Progress
Area ReviewFrequency, LastReviewed
Resource SourceURL, SourceDate, Author

Potential future Project Outcome values include completed, abandoned, and cancelled. Outcome shall remain separate from PageStatus.

The type-specific metadata subsystem shall be extensible without schema redesign.

---

11. Unclassified Page Rule

Every non-Area page should normally have at least one of RelatedAreas, RelatedProjects, or RelatedTopics.

This shall not be a hard save-time validation rule.

If all three are empty, the page shall be classified as Unclassified for quality/reporting purposes.

The page shall display a non-blocking notification such as: 

This page is not currently associated with an Area, Project, or Topic.

The user's Status / Wiki Health page shall include an Unclassified Pages section and count.

Area pages are exempt from this rule.

---

12. Wiki Health / Status Page

PARA Wiki mode shall include a system-generated or extension-generated Status or Wiki Health page.

Minimum metrics:

Metric Definition
Unclassified Pages Non-Area pages with no Area, Project, or Topic
Active Projects Without Areas Project pages with no RelatedAreas
Top-Level Areas Active Area pages with ParentArea=NULL
Sub-Areas Active Area pages with ParentArea set
Archived Pages Count grouped by PageType
Areas With No Associated Content Areas with no child Areas and no related pages
Active Projects With No Recent Activity Optional if reliable activity logic is available

All metrics should link to filtered page lists.

---

13. Page Metadata UI

Recommended user-facing labels: 

Type
Status
Parent Area
Related Areas
Related Projects
Topics

Recommended internal field names: 

PageType
PageStatus
ParentArea
RelatedAreas
RelatedProjects
RelatedTopics

Do not use numbered fields such as Area1, Area2, Area3, Project1, etc.

For an Area page, show Type, Status, Parent Area, Related Projects if applicable, and Topics. Hide/disable Related Areas.

For a non-Area page, show Type, Status, Related Areas, Related Projects, and Topics. Hide Parent Area.

When PageType changes, the UI shall dynamically re-evaluate valid statuses and applicable fields.

---

14. Cargo Storage Model

Cargo shall be used for structured querying unless implementation testing identifies a technical blocker.

Recommended main table: WikiPages.

Illustrative schema: 

{{#cargo_declare:
_table=WikiPages
|PageType=String
|PageStatus=String
|ParentArea=Page
|RelatedAreas=List (,) of Page
|RelatedProjects=List (,) of Page
|RelatedTopics=List (,) of Page
}}

Requirements:

  • Store page names as Cargo Page values rather than integer IDs unless testing identifies a strong reason otherwise.
  • Use Cargo List fields for RelatedAreas, RelatedProjects, and RelatedTopics.
  • Use Cargo-supported list querying such as HOLDS rather than manually parsing comma-separated strings.
  • Topic references using a dedicated namespace may be stored as full titles such as Topic:Python.
  • Topic data should use a separate Cargo table such as Topics.
  • Type-specific metadata may use separate Cargo tables rather than making the main table excessively wide.

---

15. Data Integrity Rules

Rule Enforcement
PageType required Hard
PageStatus required Hard
PageStatus valid for PageType Hard
Area has at most one ParentArea Hard
Area cannot use RelatedAreas Hard
Non-Area cannot use ParentArea Hard
ParentArea references Area page Hard
RelatedAreas reference Area pages Hard
RelatedProjects reference Project pages Hard
RelatedTopics reference Topic objects Hard
Area cannot parent itself Hard
Area hierarchy cannot contain cycles Hard
Project cannot relate to itself Hard
Non-Area should have Area, Project, or Topic Warning
Project should have at least one Area Warning
More than three Areas or Topics Advisory only

Invalid metadata submitted through APIs or non-UI mechanisms shall be rejected consistently with UI validation.

---

16. Archived Object Behavior

Archived pages remain accessible.

Default behavior:

  • exclude archived Areas from Area pickers
  • exclude archived Projects from Project pickers
  • exclude archived Topics from Topic pickers
  • optionally exclude archived pages from default dashboards and views
  • allow users to explicitly include archived content
  • direct links to archived pages continue to work

Archived shall not mean deleted and shall not modify sharing/privacy permissions.

---

17. Search and Browse Behavior

PARA Wiki shall support filtering/browsing by PageType, PageStatus, Area, Project, and Topic.

Examples: 

Active Study pages in Learning
Resources related to Plan Italy vacation
Pages about Python
Archived pages in Photography
Unclassified pages

Area browse pages should be able to derive and display child Areas, directly related pages, active Projects associated with the Area, and optionally descendant-Area content.

Project browse pages should display Project metadata, Related Areas, pages assigned to the Project, and status/outcome information when implemented.

Topic pages should display the Topic description, pages assigned to the Topic, counts by PageType, and derived related Areas and Projects.

---

18. Onboarding

When creating a PARA Wiki, onboarding should explain: 

Type: How will I use this page?
Status: Is it currently relevant/active?
Area: What ongoing part of my life does it support?
Project: What outcome does it support?
Topic: What is it about?

The user may optionally import starter pages. Starter pages shall be selectable; users should not be forced to import the entire sample set.

All imported starter pages should default to PageStatus=Active unless explicitly defined otherwise.

---

19. Starter Page Dataset

PageName PageType ParentArea RelatedAreas RelatedProjects RelatedTopics
Personal Area
Long-term goals Resource Personal
Weekly tasks Resource Personal
Gift ideas Resource Personal
Daily Journal Journal Personal
Fitness & Nutrition Area
Tips for healthy eating Resource Fitness & Nutrition
Yoga Area Fitness & Nutrition
Why yoga helps me Idea Fitness & Nutrition
Household Area
Products Resource Household
Household Technology Resource Household
Subscriptions Resource Household
Family Area
Family traditions Resource Family
Family tree Resource Family
Friends & Social Activities Area
Poker night planning Resource Friends & Social Activities
Why Small Gatherings Are More Enjoyable Idea Friends & Social Activities
Volunteering Area
Past volunteering Resource Volunteering
Volunteering opportunities Resource Volunteering
Vehicles Area
Honda Accord 2025 Resource Vehicles
Vehicles being considered for purchase Resource Vehicles
Learning Area
List of schools & courses attended Resource Learning
List of books I have read Resource Learning
Intro to Python Study Learning, Career Complete course on Python Programming, Python
Psychology 103 Study Learning University Degree Freshman Courses
Music Theory 202 Study Learning University Degree Freshman Courses
Travel & Vacations Area
Bucket list Resource Travel & Vacations
Past vacations Resource Travel & Vacations
Spain Vacation Journal Journal Travel & Vacations
Travel loyalty programs Resource Travel & Vacations
Entertainment Area
Concerts I might want to see Resource Entertainment
Concert Journal Journal Entertainment
Movies to rewatch Resource Entertainment
Hobbies Area
Photography Area Hobbies
Canon EOS R10 Resource Photography
Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson Study Photography
Tips for Low Light Photography Resource Photography
Cooking Area Hobbies
Career Area
Skills development Area Career
Potential employers Resource Career
Create family vacation photo book Project Family, Photography
Replace kitchen floor Project Household
Plan Italy vacation Project Travel & Vacations, Family
Hotels in Rome Resource Travel & Vacations, Family Plan Italy vacation
Complete course on Python Project Career, Learning
University Degree Project Learning

Required starter Topics if the corresponding starter pages are imported: 

Programming
Python
Freshman Courses

Starter Project and Topic dependencies shall be handled automatically. No imported starter page may contain a dangling reference.

---

20. Page Creation Workflow

  1. User enters page title.
  2. User selects PageType.
  3. System presents valid PageStatus values.
  4. Default status should normally be Active.
  5. If PageType=Area, show ParentArea and hide RelatedAreas.
  6. Otherwise show RelatedAreas and hide ParentArea.
  7. Show RelatedProjects.
  8. Show RelatedTopics.
  9. Load type-specific metadata fields.
  10. Load topic-specific metadata fields as Topics are selected.
  11. Validate hard rules.
  12. Display advisory warnings separately.
  13. Save page and structured metadata atomically where practical.

The system should minimize clicks and avoid repeated confirmation screens.

---

21. Editing Workflow

Existing metadata shall load into the editor.

Changing PageType shall re-evaluate valid statuses, update visible fields, warn before discarding invalid metadata, and never silently destroy user metadata.

Example: changing Area to Resource may safely offer to convert ParentArea to RelatedAreas. Changing Resource to Area with multiple RelatedAreas shall require the user to choose zero or one ParentArea.

---

22. Page Rename / Move Behavior

Because Page-valued metadata references page titles, page moves must preserve referential integrity.

The extension shall test MediaWiki/Cargo behavior for page moves. If Cargo does not automatically update references reliably, custom extension logic shall update ParentArea, RelatedAreas, RelatedProjects, and RelatedTopics as appropriate.

Topic page moves shall similarly update RelatedTopics references.

A maintenance script shall detect dangling references.

---

23. Page Delete Behavior

Deleting a referenced Area, Project, or Topic requires explicit handling.

Preferred behavior:

  1. Display dependency count before deletion.
  2. Provide links to referencing pages.
  3. Do not silently remove relationship values.
  4. Allow administrative forced deletion if MediaWiki permissions permit.
  5. After deletion, Wiki Health shall identify dangling references until repaired.

Future enhancement: reassignment during deletion.

---

24. Permissions and Privacy

PARA classification is independent of access control.

Do not use PageStatus, PageType, Area, Project, or Topic as security boundaries.

All extension-generated lists and Cargo queries must respect MediaWiki read permissions and must not leak page titles or metadata for pages the viewer cannot access.

This applies to Area pages, Project pages, Topic pages, dashboards, autocomplete, selectors, API endpoints, counts, and search results.

---

25. API Requirements

The extension should expose structured operations through MediaWiki's API or a clearly defined REST interface.

Minimum operations: 

Get page classification metadata
Set page classification metadata
List valid PageTypes
List valid statuses for a PageType
Search/select Areas
Search/select Projects
Search/select Topics
Create Topic
Get Wiki Health counts
List Unclassified pages

API validation rules shall match UI validation rules.

Example payload: 

{
  "pageType": "study",
  "pageStatus": "active",
  "relatedAreas": ["Learning", "Career"],
  "relatedProjects": ["Complete course on Python"],
  "relatedTopics": ["Topic:Programming", "Topic:Python"]
}

---

26. Extension Architecture

Recommended implementation: one custom MediaWiki extension responsible for structured PKM behavior.

Working placeholder name: WikiFarmPKM.

Responsibilities:

  • Wiki Mode configuration
  • metadata validation
  • metadata UI integration
  • PageType/PageStatus rules
  • Area hierarchy logic
  • Project default-Area behavior
  • Topic namespace behavior
  • Cargo integration
  • Wiki Health dashboard
  • API endpoints
  • maintenance scripts
  • onboarding support hooks
  • page move/delete consistency logic

Avoid scattering core business rules across templates, JavaScript snippets, and wiki pages. Templates may render data, but the extension should be the validation source of truth.

---

27. Configuration

Recommended wiki-level configuration: 

$wgWikiFarmMode = 'para';

or an equivalent per-wiki application configuration.

Recommended configurable constants: 

AllowedPageTypes
AllowedStatuses
StatusesByPageType
DefaultPageStatus
TopicNamespaceId
RecommendMaxAreas
RecommendMaxTopics
EnableProjectAreaDefaults
EnableWikiHealth

Do not hard-code numeric namespace IDs without a configuration constant.

---

28. Namespace Recommendation

Use a dedicated namespace: 

Topic:

Do not place Topic hub pages in the main namespace.

Topic namespace pages should remain normal MediaWiki pages where practical so they retain revisions, watchability, linking, discussion, search, and history.

---

29. Query Examples

Conceptual Cargo queries: 

RelatedAreas HOLDS 'Photography'

PageType='Project'
AND PageStatus='Active'
AND RelatedAreas HOLDS 'Family'

RelatedTopics HOLDS 'Topic:Python'

Unclassified conceptually means PageType is not Area and RelatedAreas, RelatedProjects, and RelatedTopics are all empty.

Implementation shall use exact Cargo syntax appropriate to the installed Cargo version.

---

30. Performance Requirements

Design for at least: 

100,000 normal pages
10,000 Topics
10,000 Areas/Projects combined

without schema redesign.

Selectors/autocomplete must not load all matching objects into the browser. Use server-side search/autocomplete for large lists.

Wiki Health calculations should avoid expensive full scans on every page view. Acceptable approaches include cached counts, scheduled refresh, incremental updates on edit hooks, or indexed Cargo queries. The chosen approach shall be documented.

---

31. Accessibility and UX

All classification controls shall be keyboard accessible. Do not rely on color alone for status.

Multi-select fields should support typeahead search, keyboard selection, removal of values, and visible Area hierarchy where practical.

Warnings shall be clearly distinguishable from hard errors.

---

32. Logging and Auditability

Metadata changes should be visible in page revision history where practical.

At minimum, administrators should be able to determine who changed PageType, PageStatus, Area/Project/Topic relationships, and when.

Avoid storing critical classification changes only in mutable Cargo rows without corresponding revision/audit context.

---

33. Maintenance Scripts

Provide maintenance scripts for: 

Rebuild Cargo PKM tables
Validate all PARA metadata
Detect invalid status/type combinations
Detect dangling Area references
Detect dangling Project references
Detect dangling Topic references
Detect Area hierarchy cycles
Rebuild Wiki Health data
Repair/reconcile metadata after page moves

Scripts should support dry-run mode where corrective behavior is possible.

---

34. Migration and Backward Compatibility

Standard Wiki pages shall not be forced into PARA metadata rules.

If a wiki changes from Standard to PARA mode, provide a migration/onboarding process rather than immediately invalidating all existing pages.

A migration condition such as Needs Classification should be a workflow/report state rather than necessarily a new PageStatus.

If a PARA Wiki changes to Standard mode, preserve existing structured metadata unless an administrator explicitly removes it.

---

35. Explicit Non-Goals for Version 1

Unless separately approved, version 1 does not include: 

Custom user-defined PageTypes
Custom user-defined PageStatuses
ParentProject hierarchy
Automatic dynamic Area inheritance from Projects
AI-based automatic classification
Automatic Topic ontology generation
Security/ACL implementation based on PARA properties
Complex Topic-to-Topic ontology
Goal as a seventh PageType
Capture inbox implementation
Gamification beyond Wiki Health warnings/counts

The architecture should not unnecessarily prevent these future capabilities.

---

36. Acceptance Criteria

Scenario A: Create top-level Area

Create Hobbies with PageType=Area, PageStatus=Active, ParentArea=NULL.

Expected: save succeeds, Hobbies appears in Area selectors, and Hobbies appears under Top-Level Areas.

Scenario B: Create child Area

Create Photography with PageType=Area, PageStatus=Active, ParentArea=Hobbies.

Expected: save succeeds; hierarchy shows Hobbies -> Photography; Photography appears in RelatedAreas selectors; Photography has no RelatedAreas value.

Scenario C: Prevent invalid Area metadata

Attempt to save Photography as Area with RelatedAreas=Hobbies.

Expected: save rejected and user instructed to use ParentArea.

Scenario D: Study with multiple relationships

Create Intro to Python as Study/Active with Areas Learning and Career, Project Complete course on Python, and Topics Programming and Python.

Expected: all relationships persist and query correctly.

Scenario E: Project Area defaulting

Plan Italy vacation has Areas Travel & Vacations and Family. Assign it to Hotels in Rome.

Expected: both Areas are initially added. User may remove Family before saving. Later changes to Project Areas do not modify Hotels in Rome automatically.

Scenario F: Archive Area

Archive Photography.

Expected: existing references remain; it disappears from default picker; Include archived Areas reveals it; direct access still works.

Scenario G: Unclassified page

Create Resource with no Area, Project, or Topic.

Expected: save succeeds; warning appears; Wiki Health count increases; page appears in Unclassified list.

Scenario H: Invalid status

Attempt Resource + Inception.

Expected: save rejected.

Scenario I: Area cycle

Attempt Hobbies.ParentArea=Photography while Photography.ParentArea=Hobbies.

Expected: save rejected with clear cycle error.

Scenario J: Topic behavior

Create Topic:Python, assign it to several pages, then archive it.

Expected: Topic hub lists associated pages; active selector includes it before archive; default selector excludes it after archive; existing references remain intact.

---

37. Open Design Questions

The developer/coding AI shall not invent final behavior for these items without product approval:

  1. Exact type-specific metadata fields for each PageType.
  2. Exact topic-specific metadata definition format.
  3. Whether Topic pages may themselves be assigned RelatedTopics.
  4. Whether Area pages may have Topics and/or RelatedProjects. Current recommendation: yes.
  5. Whether Project pages may have RelatedTopics. Current recommendation: yes.
  6. Exact VisualEditor integration approach.
  7. Whether classification metadata is stored in wikitext templates, a revision-backed slot/content model, or another revision-backed mechanism in addition to Cargo.
  8. Whether Wiki Mode is fixed at creation or can later be changed by an administrator.
  9. Whether a separate EntityType/schema-classification mechanism should eventually exist alongside Topics.
  10. Whether starter content is installed by extension code, Page Exchange packages, XML import, or another mechanism.

---

38. Recommended Implementation Order

Phase 1: Wiki Mode, PageType, PageStatus, Cargo table, basic metadata UI, validation.

Phase 2: Areas, ParentArea, RelatedAreas, hierarchy.

Phase 3: Projects, RelatedProjects, Project-to-Area default copying.

Phase 4: Topic namespace, Topic table, RelatedTopics, Topic hub pages.

Phase 5: Wiki Health dashboard, unclassified warnings, archive filtering.

Phase 6: starter-page onboarding, type-specific metadata framework, topic-specific metadata framework, API, and maintenance tools.

Each phase should include automated tests before proceeding.

---

39. Testing Requirements

Automated tests shall cover at least: 

PageType validation
PageStatus validation
status/type compatibility
ParentArea validation
Area cycle detection
Area selector filtering
Project selector filtering
Topic selector filtering
RelatedAreas list persistence
RelatedProjects list persistence
RelatedTopics list persistence
Project Area default copying
archived object behavior
unclassified detection
permissions-aware query output
page rename handling
page deletion/dangling-reference detection
API validation

Use MediaWiki-supported unit/integration test frameworks appropriate to the installed version.

---

40. Coding Standards

The implementation shall follow MediaWiki extension conventions, use namespaced PHP classes, avoid deprecated APIs, use dependency injection where supported, validate on the server, escape user output, respect CSRF protection, respect MediaWiki permissions, document configuration/schema, provide upgrade logic for schema changes, and include automated tests for core business rules.

Avoid duplicating business rules independently in PHP and JavaScript where a server-side source of truth is practical.

---

41. Naming Standard

Canonical internal names: 

WikiMode
PageType
PageStatus
ParentArea
RelatedAreas
RelatedProjects
RelatedTopics
TopicName
TopicStatus

Recommended user-facing labels: 

Wiki Mode
Type
Status
Parent Area
Related Areas
Related Projects
Topics

Avoid underscores such as Page_Type unless required by a specific external convention. Avoid numbered relationship properties.

---

42. Summary of Core Business Rules

Every PARA knowledge page:
    exactly one PageType
    exactly one valid PageStatus

If PageType = Area:
    zero or one ParentArea
    no RelatedAreas

If PageType != Area:
    no ParentArea
    zero or more RelatedAreas

Any normal page:
    zero or more RelatedProjects
    zero or more RelatedTopics

Topics:
    first-class classification objects
    not PageTypes
    recommended dedicated namespace

Archived:
    lifecycle state
    not security state

Project Area behavior:
    defaults copied at assignment time
    not permanently inherited

Unclassified:
    warning/report condition
    not a save-blocking error

This model shall be treated as the implementation source of truth unless superseded by a later approved specification.

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