Here's the latest *tech news https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News* from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2024/29 are available.
*Tech News survey*
- Please help us to improve Tech News by taking this short survey https://wikimediafoundation.limesurvey.net/758713?lang=en. The goal is to better meet the needs of the various types of people who read Tech News. The survey will be open for 3 more days. The survey is covered by this privacy statement https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Tech_News_Survey_2024_Privacy_Statement. Some translations are available.
*Recent changes*
- [image: Advanced item] Wikimedia developers can now officially continue to use both Gerrit https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Gerrit and GitLab https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/GitLab, due to a June 24 decision by the Wikimedia Foundation to support software development on both platforms. Gerrit and GitLab are both code repositories used by developers to write, review, and deploy the software code that supports the MediaWiki software that the wiki projects are built on, as well as the tools used by editors to create and improve content. This decision will safeguard the productivity of our developers and prevent problems in code review from affecting our users. More details are available in the Migration status https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/GitLab/Migration_status page. - The Wikimedia Foundation seeks applicants for the Product and Technology Advisory Council https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Product_and_Technology_Advisory_Council/Proposal (PTAC). This group will bring technical contributors and Wikimedia Foundation together to co-define a more resilient, future-proof technological platform. Council members will evaluate and consult on the movement's product and technical activities, so that we develop multi-generational projects. We are looking for a range of technical contributors across the globe, from a variety of Wikimedia projects. Please apply here by August 10 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Product_and_Technology_Advisory_Council/Proposal#Joining_the_PTAC_as_a_technical_volunteer . - Editors with rollback user-rights who use the Wikipedia App for Android can use the new Edit Patrol https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Apps/Team/Android/Anti_Vandalism features. These features include a new feed of Recent Changes, related links such as Undo and Rollback, and the ability to create and save a personal library of user talk messages to use while patrolling. If your wiki wants to make these features available to users who do not have rollback rights but have reached a certain edit threshold, you can contact the team https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Apps/Team/Android#Contact_us. You can read more about this project on Diff blog https://diff.wikimedia.org/2024/07/10/%D9%90addressing-vandalism-with-a-tap-the-journey-of-introducing-the-patrolling-feature-in-the-mobile-app/ . - Editors who have access to The Wikipedia Library https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/The_Wikipedia_Library can once again use non-open access content in SpringerLinks, after the Foundation contacted https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T368865 them to restore access. You can read more about this and 21 other community-submitted tasks that were completed last week https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech/News/Recently_resolved_community_tasks .
*Changes later this week*
- This week, dark mode will be available on a number of Wikipedias https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Reading/Web/Accessibility_for_reading/Updates/2024-07_deployments, both desktop and mobile, for logged-in and logged-out users. Interface admins and user script maintainers are encouraged to check gadgets and user scripts in the dark mode, to find any hard-coded colors and fix them. There are some recommendations for dark mode compatibility https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Recommendations_for_night_mode_compatibility_on_Wikimedia_wikis to help.
*Future changes*
- [image: Advanced item] Next week, functionaries, volunteers maintaining tools, and software development teams are invited to test the temporary accounts https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Trust_and_Safety_Product/Temporary_Accounts feature on testwiki. Temporary accounts is a feature that will help improve privacy on the wikis. No further temporary account deployments are scheduled yet. Please share your opinions and questions on the project talk page https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Trust_and_Safety_Product/Temporary_Accounts. [1] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T348895 - Editors who upload files cross-wiki, or teach other people how to do so, may wish to join a Wikimedia Commons discussion. The Commons community is discussing limiting who can upload files through the cross-wiki upload/Upload dialog feature to users auto-confirmed on Wikimedia Commons. This is due to the large amount of copyright violations uploaded this way. There is a short summary at Commons:Cross-wiki upload https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Commons:Cross-wiki_upload and discussion at Commons:Village Pump https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump/Proposals#Deactivate_cross-wiki_uploads_for_new_users .
*Tech news https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News prepared by Tech News writers https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Writers and posted by bot https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/User:MediaWiki_message_delivery • Contribute https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News#contribute • Translate https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2024/29 • Get help https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech • Give feedback https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tech/News • Subscribe or unsubscribe https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/Tech_ambassadors.* You can also get other news from the Wikimedia Foundation Bulletin https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Foundation_Bulletin.