Hi,
The report covering Wikimedia engineering activities in April 2014 is now
available.
Wiki version:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_engineering_report/2014/April
Blog version:
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/14/engineering-report-april-2014/
We're also proposing a shorter, simpler and translatable version of this
report that does not assume specialized technical knowledge:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_engineering_report/2014/April/summ…
Below is the HTML text of the report's summary.
As always, feedback is appreciated on the usefulness of the report and its
summary, and on how to improve them.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Major news in April include:
- the change of
format<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/04/10/mediawiki-localization-file…
of
MediaWiki localization files from PHP to JSON, and the associated
modernization
of the LocalisationUpdate
extension<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/04/03/modernising-mediawikis-l…
;
- the move of Wikimedia
Labs<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/04/04/migrating-wikimedia-labs-to-a…
to
a new data center;
- the “Heartbleed” security
vulnerability<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/04/10/wikimedias-response-…
and
how the Wikimedia Foundation’s team responded to it;
- an explanation of how the Mobile team uses
Trello<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/04/15/agile-and-trello-the-planni…
to
plan their development sprints;
- a project report on a grant to create “gadgets” for
VisualEditor<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/04/22/visualeditor-gadgets/…
.
*Note: We’re also providing a shorter, simpler and translatable version of
this report
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_engineering_report/2014/April/summary>
that
does not assume specialized technical knowledge.*
VisualEditor<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/VisualEdi…
In April, the VisualEditor <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/VisualEditor> team
worked to improve the stability of the editor, adding some new features and
improving usability so that users can create and edit pages more swiftly
and intuitively with VisualEditor than before. When users edit templates,
only a few parameters are now shown at first rather than all possible ones
(some often-used templates like those for citations or infoboxes can have
dozens of parameters). It now also feels more natural to set the size of
images, and the page settings tool includes the complete set of page
options. The next version of the citation dialog was tested and simplified;
"suggested" parameters are now always added, like "required" ones.
Finally,
a careful audit of all Wikimedia wikis led to fixing broken local
community-written code, to ensure that VisualEditor runs on all of them.
The Parsoid <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Parsoid> team continued to fix
bugs and tweak code; Parsoid is the parsing program that works behind the
scenes of VisualEditor to convert wikitext to annotated HTML, and vice
versa. Two areas in particular received a lot of attention: templates
encapsulation and link handling. Template encapsulation refers to how
content generated by wiki templates is tagged as such, in order for the
post-editing wikitext to be consistent; this is particularly important for
templates that interact with tables. We fixed many issues with how links
are handled, notably image links and their edge cases. In addition to bug
fixes, we also improved Parsoid's performance: some pages like *Barack
Obama <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>* should now parse 30%
faster than before. Last, April saw additional progress providing support
for visual editing of transclusion parameters.
Editor engagement <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/New_editor_engagement>
This month, the Flow <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Flow> team focused on
behind-the-scenes changes to improve moderation and history viewing, as
well as implementing new JavaScript interface templates to make Flow more
responsive and easier to add new features onto. We released the ability to
close and summarize topics, which will allow users to manage active
discussions and end ones that have come to a resolution. Flow is now the
default discussion tool for many Beta Features discussions on
mediawiki.org,
and the team is accepting requests to enable Flow on more pages on that
wiki to test complex multi-user discussions.
The Growth <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Growth> team started to focus on
a new experimental area: anonymous editor
acquisition<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Anonymous_editor_acquisition&…on>.
The team prepared its first two experimental interface changes, aimed at asking
anonymous editors to register
accounts<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Anonymous_editor_acquisition/Sig…
to be launched in early May). The team also will be conducting basic
research into the role anonymous editors play in Wikipedia − more at
Research:Anonymous
phenomena <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Anonymous_phenomena>
and Research:Anonymous editor
acquisition<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Anonymous_editor_ac…
.
Mobile <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Mobile_engineering>
<https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=File:2014-05-01_Mobile_Metrics.pdf&page=10>
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:2014-05-01_Mobile_Metrics.pdf?page=10>
Presentation slides on mobile usage (by the Analytics team, from the
monthly metrics meeting)
The Mobile Apps <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Apps> team
continued to work on the rebooted Wikipedia App for Android and iOS. The
team focused on bug fixes, editing refinements, and interface improvements.
Several issues related to keyboard, navigation bar, edit summary, and abuse
filter were fixed. The app now uses the newly-created Wikifont, which
reduced the size of the app and the number of images used Articles should
now look even closer to their mobile web counterparts.
The Mobile web <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Mobile_web_projects> team
added history and contributions pages, as well as an updated watchlist
view, for all users. We also released two new features geared toward
"humanizing" Wikipedia for readers and new editors: a prominent "last
modified" banner that indicates when articles haven't been edited in a
while and may need some attention, and a user profile feature to provide a
mobile-friendly snapshot of users' contributions and activity. For tablets,
we updated typography and layout and worked on adding the ability to add
and modify links via VisualEditor in beta, in preparation for redirecting
tablets to the mobile site later this quarter.
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_Zero_Update_Metrics_May_2014.pdf>
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia_Zero_Update_Metrics_May_2014.pdf>
Presentation slides on Wikipedia Zero from the monthly metrics meeting
The Wikipedia Zero <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Zero> team
continued to set up the Partners portal and work on graceful reduction of
image quality. We continued analytics work on data from the SMS/USSD pilot
program, and generated custom pageview analyses for an operator to
distinguish traffic by high level device access characteristics.
Additionally, the team worked on the alpha version of the Android Wikipedia
app, as well as on the URL format for the forthcoming iOS Wikipedia app to
ensure pageview logging.
Mobile carrier IPKO joined the Wikipedia Zero program in Kosovo, bringing
us to a total of 28 partners in 26 countries. We delivered 68 million free
page views in April. We visited South Africa to meet with MTN (current
Wikipedia Zero partner), prospective partners, members of Wikimedia South
Africa and the Singenjongo High School. This trip was part of a broader
strategy to promote Wikipedia in our partners' corporate social
responsibility (CSR) and education initiatives, increasing awareness and
impact locally. We are identifying new collaboration opportunities with MTN
and local organizations, including the Wikimedia chapter in South Africa
and other mission-aligned nonprofits. Additionally, we will continue to
support the local initiative created by Sinenjongo High School teachers and
students.
--
Guillaume Paumier
Technical Communications Manager — Wikimedia Foundation