The latest technical newsletter is now available at <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2021/39>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;.
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https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech/News#contribute>gt;. You can also contact
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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/2021/39> are
available.
*Recent changes*
- iOS 15 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:IOS> has a new function
called Private Relay <https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212614> (Apple
website). This can hide the user's IP when they use Safari
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Safari_(software)> browser. This is
like using a VPN
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Virtual_private_network> in that we
see another IP address instead. It is opt-in and only for those who pay
extra for iCloud <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:ICloud>. It will come
to Safari users on OSX <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:OSX> later.
There is a technical discussion
<https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T289795> about what this means for
the Wikimedia wikis.
*Problems*
- [image: Advanced item] Some gadgets and user-scripts add items to the
portlets
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Customization:Explaining_skins#Portlets>
(article tools) part of the skin. A recent change to the HTML may have made
those links a different font-size. This can be fixed by adding the CSS
class .vector-menu-dropdown-noicon. [1]
<https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T291438>
*Changes later this week*
- [image: Recurrent item] The new version
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.38/wmf.2> of MediaWiki will
be on test wikis and
MediaWiki.org from 28 September. It will be on
non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 29 September. It will be on
all wikis from 30 September (calendar
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.38/Roadmap>).
- The GettingStarted extension
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Onboarding_new_Wikipedians#New_experience>
was built in 2013, and provides an onboarding process for new account
holders in a few versions of Wikipedia. However, the recently
developed Growth
features
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Growth/Feature_summary>
provide a better onboarding experience. Since the vast majority of
Wikipedias now have access to the Growth features, GettingStarted will be
deactivated starting on 4 October. [2]
<https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T235752>
- A small number of users will not be able to connect to the Wikimedia
wikis after 30 September. This is because an old root certificate
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:root_certificate> will no longer work.
They will also have problems with many other websites. Users who have
updated their software in the last five years are unlikely to have
problems. Users in Europe, Africa and Asia are less likely to have
immediate problems even if their software is too old. You can read more
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/HTTPS/2021_Let%27s_Encrypt_root_expiry>
.
- You can receive notifications
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Notifications>
when someone leaves a comment on user talk page or mentions you in a talk
page comment. Clicking the notification link will now bring you to the
comment and highlight it. Previously, doing so brought you to the top of
the section that contained the comment. You can find more information in
T282029. <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T282029>
*Future changes*
- The Reply tool
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:DiscussionTools#Replying>
will be deployed to the remaining wikis in the coming weeks. It is
currently part of "Discussion tools" in Beta features
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures>
at most wikis. You will be able to turn it off in Editing Preferences
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing-discussion>.
See the list of wikis. <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T288485> [3]
<https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T262331>
*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>
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