Hi everyone,
In 2019, the German-speaking wikis selected “Make working with templates
easier” as the focus area of Wikimedia Deutschland’s Technical Wishes
project. Since then, our team has made improvements in different areas, to
help template creators as well as users of the wikitext editor and
VisualEditor. Our work on this focus area is coming to an end, so I’d like
to summarize what happened and lay out the next steps:
Two changes from our Templates project have been available on all* wikis
for a while already:
-
A new attribute “suggested values” was introduced to help you clarify
what values a parameter may expect. [1]
-
Line numbers are shown in the “Template” namespace when syntax
highlighting (CodeMirror extension) is turned on. [2] A few wikis have
these line numbers in _all_ namespaces. If you want this for your wiki as
well, please reach out to us.
Several other changes were deployed to a small group in the past months. A
big thanks to Catalan, Turkish, Greek, Malay, Twi, French, Hungarian,
Hebrew, Finnish, Dagbani and German Wikipedia, to English Wikivoyage and
Nauruan Wiktionary as well as Wikitech wiki for testing these changes and
giving feedback to help us improve these projects. These changes are now
coming to more wikis:
-
Finding and inserting templates will become easier with an improved
search (in the TemplateWizard & in the template dialog of VisualEditor and
New Wikitext mode). [3]
-
In VisualEditor, you’ll be able to remove a template from a page via the
context menu, just like removing a table or an image. [4]
-
In VisualEditor, the template dialog will become bigger and descriptions
will be more visible. [5]
-
When using syntax highlighting (CodeMirror extension)*, matching
brackets will be highlighted [6] and the color scheme will be updated
for better readability [7].
The planned deployment date for all of these changes is March 9 (and March
16 on English Wikipedia).
A few weeks later, we’ll be deploying the last improvements from our
Templates project:
-
For syntax highlighting (CodeMirror extension), a colorblind-friendly
color scheme will be added. You’ll be able to activate it via a user
setting.
-
A range of fundamental changes to the VisualEditor template dialog will
be deployed. They will make it easier to understand what is expected from a
template, to navigate the template dialog, and to add parameters to a
template.
Feedback on all the projects is much appreciated on their respective talk
pages. Thanks a lot on behalf of the Technical Wishes team,
Johanna, Community Communications Technical Wishes
---
* All improvements in the CodeMirror extension, which provides syntax
highlighting, only apply to wikis that have the extension installed. This
is generally true for left-to-right language wikis, because unfortunately
the extension doesn’t work sufficiently for right-to-left languages yet
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Suggested_values_for_…
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Line_Numbering
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Finding_and_inserting…
[4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Removing_a_template_f…
[5]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/VisualEditor_template…
[6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Bracket_Matching
[7]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Improved_Color_Scheme…
Hello!
Did you know that the new interface (Vector 2022) is almost ready? Let's
talk about this project. The meeting will take place on 29 March (Tuesday)
at 18:00 UTC on Zoom.[1]
We will present the state of the project and the latest prototype,[2] and
answer any questions you may have. See the details about the agenda and
format of the meeting.[3]
About the project
The goals are to make the interface more welcoming and comfortable for
readers while keeping the utility for advanced editors. The changed
interface makes it easier to read and learn, navigate within the page,
search, switch between languages, use page tabs and the user menu, and
more.
The improvements are already default on almost 30 wikis. We would love to
see these changes become default across all wikis. We plan on beginning
conversations on the largest wikis in the coming months.
If you'd like to learn more, see the announcement on the English Wikipedia
Village Pump.[4]
[1] https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/82719061969
[2]
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Reading/Web/Desktop_Improvements/Fourth_prot…
[3]
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Reading/Web/Desktop_Improvements/Updates/Tal…
[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(technical)#Desktop_Im…
See you on Tuesday!
Szymon Grabarczuk (he/him)
Community Relations Specialist
Wikimedia Foundation
Hello everyone!
Your friendly neighborhood Hackathon committee is thrilled to announce the
2022 Global Wikimedia Hackathon! We invite you to join us for three days of
collaborating, interactive sessions, and social fun from May 20-May 22. The
Hackathon will be held online and there will be grants available to support
local in-person meetups around the world. You can find more information
about this on our MediaWiki.org page
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022>, which will
continue to grow over the next few weeks. For more details, read below.
Who: The Hackathon is for anyone who contributes (or wants to contribute
to) to Wikimedia’s technical areas - as code creators, maintainers,
translators, designers, technical writers and other technical roles. You
can come with a project in mind, join an existing project, or create
something new with others. The choice is yours! Newcomers are welcome.
We will send out more information on how to schedule a session in the
program soon. You can also add yourself to the participants list
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022/Participants>, and
mention if you would like to help with tasks such as facilitation or
welcoming newcomers. There will be scholarship stipends available- please
stay tuned for more information.
What: A Wikimedia Hackathon <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Hackathons> is
a space for the technical community to come together and work together on
technical projects, learn from each other, and make new friends.
When: May 20-May 22. The schedule will be announced shortly. We are trying
to plan events so that people in all time zones can participate
comfortably. There will be core hours several times a day when most events
will occur, and online social and hacking spaces open 24 hours a day
throughout the three days.
Where: The Hackathon will primarily be held online. However, very soon we
will share an application for local affiliates to apply for grants to host
in-person local meetups. Meetups can be anything from social gatherings
with food, to a party for watching the opening or closing ceremony, to a
pre-event workshop, to renting a venue where people can participate
together in the online event. Grants can range from 500-5000 USD. Stay
tuned for more information!
How (can you help)?:
1.
We are seeking another committee member! The commitment is around 3
hours per week. If you are interested, please contact hlepp(a)wikimedia.org
2.
We have an ideas page.
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022>What are
you interested in? What would you like to see or do in this year’s
hackathon? Please share your ideas with everyone! This is a community
Hackathon and we will work together to put on a great event.
3.
Do you have any accessibility or translation requests? Please contact
hlepp(a)wikimedia.org
Cheers,
Your Hackathon Committee
Andre <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:AKlapper_(WMF)>
Haley <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:HLepp_(WMF)>
Jay <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Jayprakash12345>
Lucas <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Lucas_Werkmeister>
Marios <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Magioladitis>
Neslihan <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Flanoz>
Selene
<https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=User:SYang_(WMF)&action=edit&re…>
Hello again, Wikimedia Hackers!
We invite technical community members and affiliates to apply for Rapid
Fund grants to host local meetups during or around the Hackathon. Grants
can be between 500 and 5,000 USD. Please note that we cannot go above 5,000
USD per grant, so plan accordingly. The deadline to apply is March 20,
2022. This is a quick turn-around, so note that proposals do not have to be
extensive or complex.
Examples of requests include:
-
Food for community meetups before, during, or after the online Hackathon
(please keep meetups within a month of the Hackathon dates).
-
Venue rental for attendees
-
Transportation or commuting expenses
-
Scholarships to help local community members attend, which can include
data packages, childcare costs, or transportation
-
The Foundation offers this list of eligible expenses
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Learn> (e.g., you
can use this grant money to pay for direct expenses like supplies, but you
cannot use funds to pay for an event coordinator). You cannot pay
honorariums to speakers you have at your events but you can give material
gifts (gift cards, etc.).
-
Note that at this moment, in-person meetups of 10 people or fewer can be
held without extra approval; if your meetup will be larger please follow
the steps listed for Risk Assessment.
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Risk_assessment_during_COVID-19>
Eligibility:
-
Proposals should support the achievement of Wikimedia’s mission
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mission> and be related to the
Hackathon (this cannot support edit-a-thon projects for example).
-
There are some countries to which the Foundation cannot disburse funds.
If you have been ineligible for WMF funds through other opportunities,
please email hlepp(a)wikimedia.org to verify your eligibility for this
application.
-
Both individuals and organizations are welcome to apply.
-
Someone in your group must have access to a bank account which can
receive international wire transfers.
-
The Code of Conduct for Wikimedia's Technical Spaces
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Code_of_Conduct> will
be in effect throughout the event, on all platforms and at local meetups.
Please have a look at it and ensure you are willing and able to follow it.
How to Apply: Start your application
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Apply#Other> in the
yellow box marked “Other”. Enter the title of your proposal: Hackathon +
[Institution/Group/Individual Name] (e.g., Hackathon University of Ghana
Legon) and click “Start my application”. Submit the application. Any
questions can be sent to hlepp(a)wikimedia.org.
Cheers,
Your Wikimedia Hackathon Committee