Hi,
The latest technical newsletter is now available at <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2017/41>gt;.
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>gt;.
More information on how to contribute is available at <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech/News#contribute>gt;. You can also contact
me directly.
As always, feedback (on- or off-list) is appreciated and encouraged.
———————————————————————————
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>
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<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