Wikitech-l January 2024

wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org

36 participants
35 discussions

Changes to JavaScript documentation tools
by Alexandra Paskulin 13 Nov '24

13 Nov '24

Hi everyone, tl;dr The tools we use to document Wikimedia JavaScript code are changing. In the short term, you can read the complete MediaWiki core JavaScript docs using the 1.41 version[0] while we migrate to the new system[1]. If you use JavaScript documentation on doc.wikimedia.org, please share your feedback on wiki[2]. Wikimedia JavaScript codebases are switching from using JSDuck[3] to JSDoc[4] for documentation. Started in 2016, this migration is necessary because JSDuck is currently unmaintained and does not support the ES6 standard[5]. Several Wikimedia JavaScript codebases, including Vector and GlobalWatchlist, already use JSDoc, while several others, such as VisualEditor and MediaWiki core, still use JSDuck. The migration project consists of two parts: changing the codebases to support JSDoc and improving the usability of the JSDoc WMF theme. For more information, see phab:T138401[6]. == Migrating MediaWiki core to JSDoc == We are migrating MediaWiki core to JSDoc incrementally. While the migration is in progress, the master branch docs will be incomplete, containing only those modules that have been migrated. To read the old JSDuck docs, see the MediaWiki 1.41 docs[0]. To help with migration, choose a module from the list in phab:T352308[7], and follow the guide on phab:T138401[6] to translate the tags from JSDuck to JSDoc. == Migrating other codebases == You can find a list of codebases that use JSDuck on phab:T138401[6]. (Please add any that are missing.) To help migrate a codebase that uses JSDuck, follow the instructions to set up JSDoc[8], and use the guide in phab:T138401[6] to translate the tags from JSDuck to JSDoc. == Improving the JSDoc WMF theme == One of the biggest differences between JSDuck and JSDoc is the HTML interface for reading the docs. The WMF theme for JSDoc is not as full-featured as the JSDuck theme, but to support this migration, the Wikimedia Foundation Web, Design Systems, and Technical Documentation teams are working to prioritize and complete a set of improvements to the JSDoc theme, with the goal of releasing version 1 of jsdoc-wmf-theme in 2024. If you use JavaScript documentation on doc.wikimedia.org, please leave a comment on the JSDoc WMF theme talk page[2] and let us know how you use the docs and which features of the theme are the most important to you. Thank you for reading! Alex, Kamil, Jon, Roan, and Anne [0]: https://doc.wikimedia.org/mediawiki-core/REL1_41/js/ [1]: https://doc.wikimedia.org/mediawiki-core/master/js/ [2]: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:JSDoc_WMF_theme [3]: https://github.com/senchalabs/jsduck [4]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSDoc [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECMAScript [6]: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T138401 [7]: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T352308 [8]: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/JSDoc -- Alex Paskulin Technical Writer Wikimedia Foundation

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Missing Section Headings
by Marc Riddell 13 Sep '24

13 Sep '24

Hello, I have been a WP editor since 2006. I hope you can help me. For some reason I no longer have Section Heading titles showing in the Articles. This is true of all Headings including the one that carries the Article subject's name. When there is a Table of Contents, it appears fine and, when I click on a particular Section, it goes to that Section, but all that is there is a straight line separating the Sections. There is also no button to edit a Section. If I edit the page and remove the "== ==" markers from the Section Titles, the Title then shows up, but not as a Section Heading. Also, I don't have any Date separators on my Want List. This started 2 days ago. Any thoughts? Thanks, Marc Riddell [[User:Michael David]]

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Collect telemetry (using WikimediaEvents) for a gadget
by psnbaotg 09 Jul '24

09 Jul '24

Hi there, I'm User:Diskdance, and recently I'm developing a default gadget for Chinese Wikipedia enhancing MediaWiki's variant handling logic, and under certain circumstances a prompt is shown at page load asking for a user's preferred variant. Consider it as a conditional Cookie notice, and its English screenshot can be found at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VariantAlly-En.png. Iknowthis can be very disruptive on UX, so I tend to be careful about its negative impact on page views. If the gadget can collect telemetry data about the prompt's display frequency and user interactions(using e.g. WikimediaEvents), I can know about its possible impact. Is this possible? It would be much appreciated if anybody could provide assistance. Best wishes,Diskdance

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How to make commits from mirrored Wikimedia repos show up on your GitHub profile
by Bartosz Dziewoński 28 Jun '24

28 Jun '24

I know it has been annoying a couple of people other than me, so now that I've learned how to make it work I'll share the knowledge here. tl;dr: Star the repositories. No, seriously. (And yes, you need to star each extension repo separately.) (Is there a place on mw.org to put this tidbit on?) ------- Forwarded message ------- From: "Brian Levine" <support(a)github.com> (GitHub Staff) To: matma.rex(a)gmail.com Cc: Subject: Re: Commits in mirrored repositories not showing up on my profile Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 06:47:19 +0200 Hi Bartosz In order to link your commits to your GitHub account, you need to have some association with the repository other than authoring the commit. Usually, having push access gives you that connection. In this case, you don't have push permission, so we don't link you to the commit. The easy solution here is for you to star the repository. If you star it - along with the other repositories that are giving you this problem - we'll see that you're connected to the repository and you'll get contribution credit for those commits. Cheers Brian -- Matma Rex

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Research FAQ gets a facelift
by Dario Taraborelli 25 Jun '24

25 Jun '24

We just released a new version of Research:FAQ on Meta [1], significantly expanded and updated, to make our processes at WMF more transparent and to meet an explicit FDC request to clarify the role and responsibilities of individual teams involved in research across the organization. The previous version – written from the perspective of the (now inactive) Research:Committee, and mostly obsolete since the release of WMF's open access policy [2] – can still be found here [3]. Comments and bold edits to the new version of the document are welcome. For any question or concern, you can drop me a line or ping my username on-wiki. Thanks, Dario [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:FAQ [2] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Open_access_policy [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research:FAQ&oldid=15176953 *Dario Taraborelli *Head of Research, Wikimedia Foundation wikimediafoundation.org • nitens.org • @readermeter <http://twitter.com/readermeter>

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[Wikitech-I] Call for Projects and Mentors for Google Summer of Code 2024 and Outreachy Round 28 is OPEN!
by Onyinyechi Onifade 26 May '24

26 May '24

Hello everyone, Wikimedia is gearing up to apply as a mentoring organization for Google Summer of Code 2024 < https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/2024>[1] and Outreachy Round 28 <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Round_28> [2]. Currently, we're crafting a list of exciting project ideas for the application. If you have any suggestions for projects, whether coding or non-coding (design, documentation, translation, outreach, research), please share them by February 5th via this Phabricator task: < https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T354734> [3]. Note that for non-coding projects eligible for Outreachy, slots are limited and will be allocated to mentors on a first-come, first-serve basis. Timeline In your role as a mentor, your involvement spans the application period for both programs, taking place from March to April. During this time, you'll guide candidates in making small contributions to your project and address any project-related queries they may have. As the application period concludes, you'll further intensify your collaboration with accepted candidates throughout the coding period, which extends from May to August. Your support and guidance are crucial to their success in the program. Guidelines for Crafting Project Proposals: - Follow this task description template when you propose a project in Phabricator: < https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/tag/outreach-programs-projects> [4]. You can also use this workboard to pick an idea if you don't have one already. Add #Google- Summer-of-Code (2024) or #Outreachy (Round 28) tag. - Project should require an experienced developer ~15 days and a newcomer ~3 months to complete. - Each project should have at least two mentors, including one with a technical background. - Ideally, the project has no tight deadlines, a moderate learning curve, and fewer dependencies on Wikimedia's core infrastructure. Projects addressing the needs of a language community are most welcome. * Learn more about the roles and responsibilities of Mentors for both programs:* - Outreachy: <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Mentors> [5] - Google Summer of Code: < https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/Mentors> [6] Thank you, Links: [1] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/2024 [2] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Round_28 [3] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T354734 [4] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/tag/outreach-programs-projects [5] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreachy/Mentors [6] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code/Mentors -- *Onyinyechi Onifade * Technical Community Program Manager Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>

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[action requested] Technical Decision-Making Retrospective Survey
by Moriel Schottlender 23 Apr '24

23 Apr '24

Hello all, The Technical Decision-Making Forum Retrospective team <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Technical_decision_making> invites you to complete a survey about Wikimedia's technical decision-making processes. While there will be more ways to participate, this is the first and most important step in our data collection. It aims to gather information about your experience, thoughts, and needs regarding the process of making technical decisions across the Wikimedia technical spaces. This survey will be used for gathering information about the process and the needs around technical decision-making that touches our production systems. You can find the survey link here: https://wikimediafoundation.limesurvey.net/885471?lang=en Who should take this survey? People who do technical work that relies on software maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) or affiliates. If you contribute code to MediaWiki or extensions used by Wikimedia, or you maintain gadgets or tools that rely on WMF infrastructure, this survey is for you. What is the deadline? *August 7th, 2023 * What will the Retrospective team do with the information? The retrospective team will synthesize the collected data and publish an anonymized analysis that will help leadership make decisions about the future of the process. We will collect anonymized information that we will analyze in two main ways: - Sentiments based on demographic information: these will tell us whether there are different needs and desires from different groups of people. - General needs and perceptions about decision-making in our technical spaces: This will help us understand what kind of decisions happen in the spaces, who is involved, and how to adjust our processes accordingly. Is the survey the only way to participate? The survey is the most important way for us to gather information because it helps us gather input in a structured manner. But it will not be the only way you can share your thoughts with us - we will have more information soon about upcoming listening sessions where you can talk with us live. In the meantime, you are always welcome to leave feedback on the talk page: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Technical_decision_making/Technical_Dec… Where can I see more information? There are several places where you can find more information about the Technical Decision-Making Process Retrospective: - The original announcement about the retrospective from Tajh Taylor: https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org/… - The Technical Decision-Making Process general information page: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Technical_decision_making - The Technical Decision-Making Process Retrospective on MediaWiki: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Technical_decision_making/Technical_Decision… - Phabricator ticket: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T333235 How to contact the retrospective core team: - Write to the core team mailing list: tdf-retro-2023(a)lists.wikimedia.org - The Technical Decision-Making Process Retrospective on MediaWiki talk page: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Technical_decision_making/Technical_Dec… Thank you, Moriel, on behalf of the TDMP Retro Core Group Core group: - Moriel Schottlender (chair) - Daniel Kinzler - Chris Danis - Kosta Harlan - Temilola Adeleye -- Moriel Schottlender (she/her <https://pronoun.is/she>) Principal Software Engineer Wikimedia Foundation https://wikimediafoundation.org/

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Changes in schema of pagelinks tables
by Amir Sarabadani 15 Apr '24

15 Apr '24

(If you don’t work with pagelinks table, feel free to ignore this message) Hello, Here is an update and reminder on the previous announcement <https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org/…> regarding normalization of links tables that was sent around a year ago. As part of that work, soon the pl_namespace and pl_title columns of pagelinks table will be dropped and you will need to use pl_target_id joining with the linktarget table instead. This is basically identical to the templatelinks normalization that happened a year ago. Currently, MediaWiki writes to both data schemes of pagelinks for new rows in all wikis except English Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons (we will start writing to these two wikis next week). We have started to backfill the data with the new schema but it will take weeks to finish in large wikis. So if you query this table directly or your tools do, You will need to update them accordingly. I will write a reminder before dropping the old columns once the data has been fully backfilled. You can keep track of the general long-term work in T300222 <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T300222> and the specific work for pagelinks in T299947 <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T299947>. You can also read more on the reasoning in T222224 <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T222224> or the previous announcement <https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org/…> . Thank you, -- *Amir Sarabadani (he/him)* Staff Database Architect Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>

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MediaWiki Language Extension Bundle 2024.01
by Kartik Mistry 31 Jan '24

31 Jan '24

We would like to announce the release of MediaWiki Language Extension Bundle 2024.01. This bundle is compatible with '''MediaWiki >= 1.40.0''' and requires '''PHP >= 7.4.0'''. The next MLEB is expected to be released in 3 months. If there are very important bug fixes, we will do an intermediate release. Please give us your feedback at [[Talk:MLEB|https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:MLEB]]. * Download: https://translatewiki.net/mleb/MediaWikiLanguageExtensionBundle-2024.01.tar… * sha256sum: 7f6f39a85aeb6f297b38c50b535e9d5e0d91bb3c0417eee1c53c0e68205658b1 * Signature: https://translatewiki.net/mleb/MediaWikiLanguageExtensionBundle-2024.01.tar… Quick links: * Installation instructions are at: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MLEB * Announcements of new releases will be posted to a mailing list: https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/mediawiki-i18n.lists.wikimedia.… * Report bugs to: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/project/view/1464 == Highlights == * MediaWiki Language Extension Bundle 2024.01 no longer supports MediaWiki 1.39 and requires MediaWiki 1.40 or above. * The hook Translate:GettextFFS:headerFields has been deprecated, use Translate:GettextFormat:headerFields instead. Detailed release notes for each extension are available at: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_Language_Extension_Bundle/2024.01 -- Kartik Mistry | કાર્તિક મિસ્ત્રી kartikm.wordpress.com

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[Breaking Change] Deprecation of indirect calls to IDBAccessObject constants
by Amir Sarabadani 30 Jan '24

30 Jan '24

Hello, For many years, some classes in MediaWiki implemented the IDBAccessObject interface (which only provides several public constants) and then would call them indirectly (e.g. self::READ_NORMAL). Since these constants were public, other parts of MediaWiki started to call them through the implementing class as well (e.g. calling User::READ_LATEST). This is inconsistent with the access pattern of other constants in MediaWiki. it's also confusing (e.g. it's unclear to a newcomer why UserFactory is implementing IDBAccessObject) and it's prone to clashes (e.g. BagOStuff class has a clashing constant). Since it's not possible to trigger a deprecation warning in such cases, It can't follow the usual stable interface policy path [1] and here is the email to wikitech-l as required by the policy. In three weeks we will remove indirect access to these constants by removing IDBAccessObject from implementation. This will take effect from 1.42 release. Classes that won't have those constants anymore are including but not limited to: * User * WikiPage (and its subclasses) * File (and its subclasses) * Title * ActorStore * RevisionStore * UserOptionsManager * And more. To find such cases in extensions you maintain, you can search for "(?<!IDBAccessObject)::READ_" (regex) and check if the constant being used is an indirect call to IDBAccessObject. Be careful that there might be some false positives such as custom defined constants, constants referring to BagOStuff ones and similar cases like that. We have already removed all cases in core and extensions deployed to Wikimedia production. You can follow the work and see examples of how the migration is done in extensions (for example gerrit:993112 <https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/c/mediawiki/extensions/Echo/+/993112>) in T354194 <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T354194>. [1] From the policy <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Stable_interface_policy#Hard_deprecation>: "If it is not reasonably possible for the deprecated code to emit deprecation warnings, hard deprecation can be applied by announcing the removal on wikitech-l in a timely manner." Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience, -- *Amir Sarabadani (he/him)* Staff Database Architect Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>

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Wikitech-l January 2024