Hi,
The latest technical newsletter is now available at < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2017/41%3E. Below is the English version.
You can help write the next newsletter: whenever you see information about Wikimedia technology that you think should be distributed more broadly, you can add it to the next newsletter at < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech/News/Next%3E.
More information on how to contribute is available at < https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech/News#contribute%3E. You can also contact me directly.
As always, feedback (on- or off-list) is appreciated and encouraged.
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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/2017/42 are available.
*Recent changes*
- When you edit a template with the visual editor it follows the template's format configuration on how to save it. You can now change the format in more powerful ways https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:TemplateData#Custom_formats if your wiki wants it. [1] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138492[2] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T135667 - The TwoColConflict https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:TwoColConflict extension is a new way to solve edit conflicts. It makes it easier to copy and paste the relevant text to the text field. It has been a beta feature for the last five months. You can now try out the new interface https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Edit_Conflicts/Feedback_Round_Test_Page on a page where you will actually get simulated edit conflicts. You can give feedback https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Edit_Conflicts/Feedback_Round_Test_Page to the developers.
*Problems*
- There is a problem with recent changes pages and your watchlist that show a large number of pages. Until it is fixed, Wikidata edits will not be shown on recent changes or in your watchlist on Commons or Russian Wikipedia. If necessary, Wikidata edits will be removed from all wikis. [3] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T171027 - Notifications are not working for some actions. For example some users don't get a notification when they are mentioned. The developers are working on fixing this. [4] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T177825 - Users on some wikis could not change their preferences. This has now been fixed. [5] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T177478
*Changes later this week*
- Editors and readers who still use Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP will not be able to use Wikipedia from 17 October. Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP can't connect securely to the wikis. When we allow them to do so it means that we get less security for everyone else. If you use Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP you can install Firefox 52 ESR https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/all/ instead. Around 0.1% of the traffic to the Wikimedia wikis comes from Internet Explorer 8 on Windows XP. [6] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T147199 - [image: Octicons-sync.svg] The new version https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.31/wmf.4 of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 17 October. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 18 October. It will be on all wikis from 19 October (calendar https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.31/Roadmap).
*Meetings*
- [image: Octicons-sync.svg] You can join the next meeting with the Editing team. During the meeting, you can tell developers which bugs you think are the most important. The meeting will be on 17 October at 19:00 (UTC) http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=19&min=00&sec=0&day=17&month=10&year=2017. See how to join https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Editing_team/Weekly_triage_meetings. - [image: Octicons-tools.svg] You can join the technical advice meeting on IRC. During the meeting, volunteer developers can ask for advice. The meeting will be on 18 October at 15:00 (UTC) http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=15&min=00&sec=0&day=18&month=10&year=2017. See how to join https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Technical_Advice_IRC_Meeting.
*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/2017/42 • 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.*
//Johan Jönsson
wikitech-ambassadors@lists.wikimedia.org