New beta feature: Syntax Highlighting!

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Danny Horn

3 Aug 2017 3 Aug '17

10:21 p.m.

Hi everyone, WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects! Syntax Highlighting was the #6 request in this year's Community Wishlist Survey [1] -- a way to help editors parse the wikitext in the edit window by using color, bolding, italics and size to make it easier to see which parts are article text, and which are links, templates, tags and headings. It's easy to separate the link target from the actual link text, section headings are bigger, and adding bold and italics actually changes the way it looks in the edit window. Plus -- thanks to the amazing performance optimization done by volunteer developer Pastakhov -- it loads a lot faster than previous versions of syntax highlighting. Unfortunately, the feature isn't available in RTL languages yet; we're working on some bugs, and we'll release it as soon as we can. We're also hoping to improve the Syntax Highlighting performance for people who also use the "New wikitext mode" Beta feature. You can find Syntax Highlighting under the Beta features tab in Preferences. I hope you all love it and find it useful! If you've got feedback, you can click on the Discussion link in Beta features, or leave comments and questions on the Community Tech project talk page. [2] Thanks! Danny Horn Senior Product Manager WMF Community Tech [1] Community Wishlist Survey: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey/Results [2] Project talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/Wikitext_editor_syntax_…

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Danny Horn

3 Aug 3 Aug

10:30 p.m.

Oh, a PS: We're going to post an announcement on some village pumps, but please feel free to share this with your community. Thanks! On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 3:21 PM, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

Hi everyone, WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects! Syntax Highlighting was the #6 request in this year's Community Wishlist Survey [1] -- a way to help editors parse the wikitext in the edit window by using color, bolding, italics and size to make it easier to see which parts are article text, and which are links, templates, tags and headings. It's easy to separate the link target from the actual link text, section headings are bigger, and adding bold and italics actually changes the way it looks in the edit window. Plus -- thanks to the amazing performance optimization done by volunteer developer Pastakhov -- it loads a lot faster than previous versions of syntax highlighting. Unfortunately, the feature isn't available in RTL languages yet; we're working on some bugs, and we'll release it as soon as we can. We're also hoping to improve the Syntax Highlighting performance for people who also use the "New wikitext mode" Beta feature. You can find Syntax Highlighting under the Beta features tab in Preferences. I hope you all love it and find it useful! If you've got feedback, you can click on the Discussion link in Beta features, or leave comments and questions on the Community Tech project talk page. [2] Thanks! Danny Horn Senior Product Manager WMF Community Tech [1] Community Wishlist Survey: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey/Results [2] Project talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/Wikitext_editor_syntax_highlighting

James Heilman

11:05 p.m.

Great to see this work going forwards. Can we make the colors more like those used in WikEd? We have build instructions based on the coloring of text created by WikEd to help guide our translation folks. James On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:30 PM, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

window

by using color, bolding, italics and size to make it easier to see which parts are article text, and which are links, templates, tags and

headings.

It's easy to separate the link target from the actual link text, section headings are bigger, and adding bold and italics actually changes the way it looks in the edit window. Plus -- thanks to the amazing performance optimization done by volunteer developer Pastakhov -- it loads a lot

faster

than previous versions of syntax highlighting. Unfortunately, the feature isn't available in RTL languages yet; we're working on some bugs, and we'll release it as soon as we can. We're also hoping to improve the Syntax Highlighting performance for people who also use the "New wikitext mode" Beta feature. You can find Syntax Highlighting under the Beta features tab in Preferences. I hope you all love it and find it useful! If you've got feedback, you can click on the Discussion link in Beta features, or leave comments and questions on the Community Tech project talk page. [2]

Thanks!

Danny Horn Senior Product Manager WMF Community Tech [1] Community Wishlist Survey: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey/Results [2] Project talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/Wikitext_editor_syntax_highlighting

-- James Heilman MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine

Andy Mabbett

11:06 p.m.

On 3 August 2017 at 23:21, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects!

I'm all in favour of having syntax highlighting - I teach people to edit wikicode, and I find it helps them to learn it more quickly. I've been using the syntax highlighting gadget en.Wikipedia: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot/Syntax_highlighter for some time now. I've just disabled, it, and instead enabled the new beta feature. My first impression is that it is lacking in contrast - it's far harder, now, to differentiate the various types of content. Indeed the colour pairs used (e.g. #8800CC vs. #AAAAB3) fail WCAG web accessibility guidelines for colour contrast. I realise that choice of styling colours is a "bikeshed" matter, but contrast ratio is a quantifiable and objective accessibility issue. Also, because the script does not load immediately, the larger headings cause the page to "dance" as the script kicks in. What plans are there to either receive and act on feedback such as this, or to provide greater user-customisation options?

Danny Horn

11:23 p.m.

Hi Andy, Thanks for sending your thoughts, that's the kind of feedback that we need. People can either write responses in this thread, or post it on the project's talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/Wikitext_editor_syntax_… We'll respond as comments come in, making bug fixes and then making a plan for changes as we see what people have to say. Thanks again. Danny On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:07 PM Andy Mabbett <andy(a)pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote:

...

On 3 August 2017 at 23:21, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects!

Danny Horn

23 Aug 23 Aug

6:41 p.m.

Hi everyone, I've got some good news -- wikitext syntax highlighting is live again, and I'm almost completely sure it's staying live. :) You can now enable it as a Beta feature on all LTR wikis. On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:23 PM, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

Hi Andy, Thanks for sending your thoughts, that's the kind of feedback that we need. People can either write responses in this thread, or post it on the project's talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/ Wikitext_editor_syntax_highlighting We'll respond as comments come in, making bug fixes and then making a plan for changes as we see what people have to say. Thanks again. Danny On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:07 PM Andy Mabbett <andy(a)pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote:

On 3 August 2017 at 23:21, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects!

I'm all in favour of having syntax highlighting - I teach people to edit wikicode, and I find it helps them to learn it more quickly. I've been using the syntax highlighting gadget en.Wikipedia: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot/ Syntax_highlighter for some time now. I've just disabled, it, and instead enabled the new beta feature. My first impression is that it is lacking in contrast - it's far harder, now, to differentiate the various types of content. Indeed the colour pairs used (e.g. #8800CC vs. #AAAAB3) fail WCAG web accessibility guidelines for colour contrast. I realise that choice of styling colours is a "bikeshed" matter, but contrast ratio is a quantifiable and objective accessibility issue. Also, because the script does not load immediately, the larger headings cause the page to "dance" as the script kicks in. What plans are there to either receive and act on feedback such as this, or to provide greater user-customisation options? _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Peter Southwood

24 Aug 24 Aug

9:31 a.m.

Good news indeed. Is there a way we can stop it from crashing in mid edit and giving unhelpful advice like get a faster computer or a faster connection? I would not mind waiting a little longer for it to finish the job. It would be helpful if there were a user setting which allows longer wait time for those of us who cannot get a faster computer or connection for economic or geographical reasons. Cheers, Peter -----Original Message----- From: Wikimedia-l [mailto:wikimedia-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Danny Horn Sent: Wednesday, 23 August 2017 8:41 PM To: Wikimedia Mailing List Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] New beta feature: Syntax Highlighting! Hi everyone, I've got some good news -- wikitext syntax highlighting is live again, and I'm almost completely sure it's staying live. :) You can now enable it as a Beta feature on all LTR wikis. On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:23 PM, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

...

Hi Andy, Thanks for sending your thoughts, that's the kind of feedback that we need. People can either write responses in this thread, or post it on the project's talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/ Wikitext_editor_syntax_highlighting We'll respond as comments come in, making bug fixes and then making a plan for changes as we see what people have to say. Thanks again. Danny On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:07 PM Andy Mabbett <andy(a)pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote:

On 3 August 2017 at 23:21, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects!

I'm all in favour of having syntax highlighting - I teach people to edit wikicode, and I find it helps them to learn it more quickly. I've been using the syntax highlighting gadget en.Wikipedia: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot/ Syntax_highlighter for some time now. I've just disabled, it, and instead enabled the new beta feature. My first impression is that it is lacking in contrast - it's far harder, now, to differentiate the various types of content. Indeed the colour pairs used (e.g. #8800CC vs. #AAAAB3) fail WCAG web accessibility guidelines for colour contrast. I realise that choice of styling colours is a "bikeshed" matter, but contrast ratio is a quantifiable and objective accessibility issue. Also, because the script does not load immediately, the larger headings cause the page to "dance" as the script kicks in. What plans are there to either receive and act on feedback such as this, or to provide greater user-customisation options? _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Danny Horn

5:45 p.m.

Hi Peter, This is the first time I've heard about that happening, thanks for bringing it up. Can you say more about what you're experiencing? I don't think syntax highlighting gives an error message like that, so I'm not sure what you mean. Danny On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 2:31 AM, Peter Southwood < peter.southwood(a)telkomsa.net> wrote:

...

Hi Andy, Thanks for sending your thoughts, that's the kind of feedback that we need. People can either write responses in this thread, or post it on the project's talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/ Wikitext_editor_syntax_highlighting We'll respond as comments come in, making bug fixes and then making a plan for changes as we see what people have to say. Thanks again. Danny On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:07 PM Andy Mabbett <andy(a)pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote:

On 3 August 2017 at 23:21, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects!

I'm all in favour of having syntax highlighting - I teach people to edit wikicode, and I find it helps them to learn it more quickly. I've been using the syntax highlighting gadget en.Wikipedia: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot/ Syntax_highlighter for some time now. I've just disabled, it, and instead enabled the new beta feature. My first impression is that it is lacking in contrast - it's far harder, now, to differentiate the various types of content. Indeed the colour pairs used (e.g. #8800CC vs. #AAAAB3) fail WCAG web accessibility guidelines for colour contrast. I realise that choice of styling colours is a "bikeshed" matter, but contrast ratio is a quantifiable and objective accessibility issue. Also, because the script does not load immediately, the larger headings cause the page to "dance" as the script kicks in. What plans are there to either receive and act on feedback such as this, or to provide greater user-customisation options? _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

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Anders Wennersten

5:50 p.m.

Thanks, it is a great feature! Especially to easily find the Ref tags. And it work just fine for me, technically. Anders Den 2017-08-23 kl. 20:41, skrev Danny Horn:

...

Hi Andy, Thanks for sending your thoughts, that's the kind of feedback that we need. People can either write responses in this thread, or post it on the project's talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/ Wikitext_editor_syntax_highlighting We'll respond as comments come in, making bug fixes and then making a plan for changes as we see what people have to say. Thanks again. Danny On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 4:07 PM Andy Mabbett <andy(a)pigsonthewing.org.uk> wrote:

On 3 August 2017 at 23:21, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects!

I'm all in favour of having syntax highlighting - I teach people to edit wikicode, and I find it helps them to learn it more quickly. I've been using the syntax highlighting gadget en.Wikipedia: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot/ Syntax_highlighter for some time now. I've just disabled, it, and instead enabled the new beta feature. My first impression is that it is lacking in contrast - it's far harder, now, to differentiate the various types of content. Indeed the colour pairs used (e.g. #8800CC vs. #AAAAB3) fail WCAG web accessibility guidelines for colour contrast. I realise that choice of styling colours is a "bikeshed" matter, but contrast ratio is a quantifiable and objective accessibility issue. Also, because the script does not load immediately, the larger headings cause the page to "dance" as the script kicks in. What plans are there to either receive and act on feedback such as this, or to provide greater user-customisation options? _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

Natacha Rault

3 Aug 3 Aug

11:15 p.m.

Great news, thank you! Nattes à chat

...

Le 4 août 2017 à 00:21, Danny Horn <dhorn(a)wikimedia.org> a écrit : Hi everyone, WMF's Community Tech team team is happy to announce that Wikitext Editor Syntax Highlighting has been released as a beta feature today on all LTR Wikimedia projects! Syntax Highlighting was the #6 request in this year's Community Wishlist Survey [1] -- a way to help editors parse the wikitext in the edit window by using color, bolding, italics and size to make it easier to see which parts are article text, and which are links, templates, tags and headings. It's easy to separate the link target from the actual link text, section headings are bigger, and adding bold and italics actually changes the way it looks in the edit window. Plus -- thanks to the amazing performance optimization done by volunteer developer Pastakhov -- it loads a lot faster than previous versions of syntax highlighting. Unfortunately, the feature isn't available in RTL languages yet; we're working on some bugs, and we'll release it as soon as we can. We're also hoping to improve the Syntax Highlighting performance for people who also use the "New wikitext mode" Beta feature. You can find Syntax Highlighting under the Beta features tab in Preferences. I hope you all love it and find it useful! If you've got feedback, you can click on the Discussion link in Beta features, or leave comments and questions on the Community Tech project talk page. [2] Thanks! Danny Horn Senior Product Manager WMF Community Tech [1] Community Wishlist Survey: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey/Results [2] Project talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Tech/Wikitext_editor_syntax_… _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>

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Anders Wennersten
Andy Mabbett
Danny Horn
James Heilman
Natacha Rault
Peter Southwood