View source for User talk:ScottyWZ

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==Welcome from [[User:Brian0918|Brian0918]]==

'''Welcome!'''

Hello, ScottyWZ, and [[Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers|welcome]] to Wikipedia. Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:
*[[Wikipedia:Five pillars|The Five Pillars of Wikipedia]]
*[[Wikipedia:How to edit a page|How to edit a page]]
*[[Wikipedia:Tutorial|Editing, policy, conduct, and structure tutorial]]
*[[Wikipedia:Picture tutorial|Picture tutorial]]
*[[Wikipedia:How to write a great article|How to write a great article]]
*[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions|Naming conventions]]
*[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]]
*[[Wikipedia:Merge|Merging, redirecting, and renaming pages]]
*If you're ready for the complete list of Wikipedia documentation, there's also [[Wikipedia:Topical index]].
I hope you enjoy editing here and being a [[Wikipedia:Wikipedians|Wikipedian]]! By the way, please be sure to [[Wikipedia:Sign your posts on talk pages|sign your name on Talk]] and vote pages using four tildes (&#126;&#126;&#126;&#126;) to produce your name and the current date, or three tildes (&#126;&#126;&#126;) for just your name. If you have any questions, see the [[Wikipedia:Help|help pages]], add a question to the [[Wikipedia:village pump|village pump]] or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! &mdash; <small>[[User:Brian0918|<b style="color:black;">BRIAN</b>]][[User_talk:Brian0918|<span style="color:gray;">0918</span>]] &bull; 2005-08-13 04:56</small>

==Orphaned fair use image (Image:Protopage-screenshot-small.png)==
Thanks for uploading '''[[:Image:Protopage-screenshot-small.png]]'''. The image description page currently specifies that the image is non-free and may only be used on Wikipedia under a [[WP:FU|claim of fair use]]. However, the image is currently [[WP:O|orphaned]], meaning that it is not used in any articles on Wikipedia. If the image was previously in an article, please go to the article and see why it was removed. [[WP:BOLD|You may add it back]] if you think that that will be useful. However, please note that images for which a replacement could be created are not acceptable under fair use (see [[Wikipedia:Fair use#Policy|our fair use policy]]).

If you have uploaded other unlicensed media, please check whether they're used in any articles or not. You can find a list of 'image' pages you have edited by clicking on the "[[Special:Contributions/{{PAGENAME}}|my contributions]]" link (it is located at the very top of any Wikipedia page when you are logged in), and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any fair use images not used in any '''articles''' will be deleted after seven days, as described on [[wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion#Images.2FMedia|criteria for speedy deletion]]. Thank you. [[User:Gay Cdn]] <small>[[User talk:Gay Cdn|(talk)]] [[Special:Contributions/Gay Cdn|(Contr)]]</small> 02:40, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

==[[WP:MOTD|Motto of the Day]]==
<div style="text-align:center;">
[[Image:Nuvola apps kedit.png|50px|left]]
<p style="font-weight:bolder;">Hi there, ScottyWZ! Thought you might be interested in [[WP:MOTD|Motto of the Day]], a collaborative (and totally voluntary) effort by a group of Wikipedians to create original, inspirational mottos. Have a good motto idea? Share it [[Wikipedia:Motto of the day/Nominations|here]], comment on some of the mottos there or just pass this message onto your friends.</p>

'''MOTD Needs Your Help!'''

<small> Delivered By –[[User:Pjoef|p<span style="color: #802400">joe</span>f]] <small>(''[[User talk:Pjoef|talk]]'' • [[Special:Contributions/Pjoef|contribs]])</small> 08:27, 24 July 2009 (UTC)</small>
</div>

== NowCommons: File:ScottyWZ-s iPhone.jpg ==
[[:File:ScottyWZ-s iPhone.jpg]] is now available on [[Wikimedia Commons]] as [[:Commons:File:ScottyWZ-s iPhone.jpg]]. This is a repository of free media that can be used on all Wikimedia wikis. The image will be deleted from Wikipedia, but this doesn't mean it can't be used anymore. You can embed an image uploaded to Commons like you would an image uploaded to Wikipedia, in this case: <nowiki>[[File:ScottyWZ-s iPhone.jpg]]</nowiki>. Note that this is an automated message to inform you about the move. This bot did not copy the image itself. --[[User:Erwin85Bot|Erwin85Bot]] ([[User talk:Erwin85Bot|talk]]) 21:32, 21 November 2009 (UTC)
<!-- ncnotifier -->
==Thank you==
{| style="border: 1px solid gray; background-color: #fdffe7;"
|rowspan="2" valign="middle" |  {{#ifeq:{{{2}}}|alt|[[File:Modest Barnstar Hires.png|100px]]| [[Image:Modest Barnstar.png|100px]]}}
|rowspan="2" |
|style="font-size: x-large; padding: 0; vertical-align: middle; height: 1.1em;" | '''The Modest Barnstar'''
|-
|style="vertical-align: middle; border-top: 1px solid gray;" | Thanks for your [[Special:ActiveUsers|recent contributions]]! -[[Special:Contributions/129.49.72.78|129.49.72.78]] ([[User talk:129.49.72.78|talk]]) 18:51, 29 April 2011 (UTC)
|}

==VisualEditor newsletter==
Hey ScottyWZ! We've just deployed some fixes to the VisualEditor. These include:
*"Edit" will load the latest version, not the version you're looking at ([[bugzilla:49943|bug 49943]])
*"Edit" will load the latest version, not the version you edited last time if this is your second edit ([[bugzilla:50441|bug 50441]])
*VE edit section links will load the latest, not original, version in diff view preview ([[bugzilla:50925|bug 50925]])
*<nowiki><big><big>Foo</big></big></nowiki> and similar repeated tags will not get corrupted any more ([[bugzilla:49755|bug 49755]])

In the meantime, testing is proceeding well, and hopefully we can get some more fixes out over the next couple of days. If you're interested in helping out, we have [[Wikipedia:VE#How_to_help_out|a set of open tasks]] we'd really appreciate your assistance with :). Thanks, [[User:Okeyes (WMF)|Okeyes (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Okeyes (WMF)|talk]]) 08:07, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

==VE newsletter==
Hey ScottyWZ

We just deployed another VisualEditor release; bugs fixed include:
*Firefox 13/14 has been temporarily blacklisted, to avoid the insertion of broken links <nowiki>[[./that look like this]]</nowiki> ([[bugzilla:50720|50720]])
*Changing a reference in a template should no longer produce the bright red "you don't have a references block!" error ([[bugzilla:50423]])
*Notices are now shown if you're editing a protected or semi-protected page ([[bugzilla:50415]])
*The template inspector will no longer invite you to insert parameters that are already being used ([[bugzilla:50715|50715]])
*Same as above, but with aliases ([[bugzilla:50717|50717]])
*Parameter names in the template dialogue now word-wrap ([[bugzilla:50800|50800]])
*The link inspector will not show in the top left if you hit the return key while opening it ([[bugzilla:49941|49941]])
*Hitting return twice in the link editor will no longer introduce a new line that overwrites the link ([[bugzilla:51075|51075]])
*Oddly-named categories no longer cause corruption ([[bugzilla:50702|50702]])
*The toolbar no longer occasionally covers the cursor ([[bugzilla:48787|48787]])
*Changing the formatting of text no longer occasionally scrolls you upwards ([[bugzilla:50792|50792]])

Not specific bugs, but other things; cacheing is now improved, so people should stop seeing temporary breaking when the VisualEditor updates, and RTL support has received some patches. I hope this newsletter is helpful to people; I'll send out another one with the next deployment :). Thanks, [[User:Okeyes (WMF)|Okeyes (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Okeyes (WMF)|talk]]) 10:17, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

==VE newsletter==
Hey ScottyWZ! Another set of patches :). Today we have:

*Required template parameters are now automatically added to new templates ([[bugzilla:50747|50747]])
*Templates with piped links now display correctly when you alter them ([[bugzilla:50801|50801]])
*If your edit token expires, you're now informed of it ([[bugzilla:50424|50424]]).
*:You still won't be able to save - that's due to be fixed on Monday :).

More on Monday, I suspect. Hope you have a good weekend :). I should also have some news about the IP launch pretty soon. Thanks, [[User:Okeyes (WMF)|Okeyes (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Okeyes (WMF)|talk]]) 13:26, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

(if you're seeing this and aren't the newsletter recipient - please do sign up [[Wikipedia:VE#Newsletter|here]])

==VE newsletter==
Hey ScottyWZ; hope you had a decent weekend :). We've got a pile of patches, some of which went out on Monday, some yesterday:

* If you insert wikitext such as links or section headers, you get a notice in the top right corner (over the save button). It doesn't go away until click, though once dismissed you don't get another one that edit. ([[bugzilla:49820|49820]])
* If your edit token expires, VE fetches a new one for you so you can save.  ([[bugzilla:50424|50424]])
* If the page is empty of content but does have something non-content (like a category or an HTML comment), VE no longer crashes on load - ([[bugzilla:50289|50289]])
* sub tags are no longer removed (([[bugzilla:49873|49873]])
* If you type at the end of links, they now extend
* Templates now only take a single click to insert
* Clear annotations clears links ([[bugzilla:50461|50461]])
* The link inspector stays open when you click to another item ([[bugzilla:50895|50895]])
* Typing after multi-byte characters no longer creats pawn icons ([[bugzilla:51140|51140]])
* Resizing thumbnails that have a default size set now works ([[bugzilla:50645|50645]])
* References made by tag:ref now display properly ([[bugzilla:50978]])
* The VE is integrated with the spam blacklist ([[bugzilla:50826|50826]])
* Feedbacl link goes to the right language ([[bugzilla:47730]])

There are a lot more improvements coming, but that's it for Monday and Tuesday. Thanks, [[User:Okeyes (WMF)|Okeyes (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Okeyes (WMF)|talk]]) 08:27, 17 July 2013 (UTC)

==Disambiguation link notification for July 19==

Hi. Thank you for your recent edits. Wikipedia appreciates your help. We noticed though that when you edited [[In a Time Lapse]], you added a link pointing to the disambiguation page [[Classic FM]] ([[tools:~dispenser/cgi-bin/dablinks.py/In_a_Time_Lapse|check to confirm]]&nbsp;|&nbsp;[[tools:~dispenser/cgi-bin/dab_solver.py/In_a_Time_Lapse|fix with Dab solver]]). Such links are almost always unintended, since a disambiguation page is merely a list of "Did you mean..." article titles. <small>Read the [[User:DPL bot/Dablink notification FAQ|FAQ]]{{*}} Join us at the [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links|DPL WikiProject]].</small>

It's OK to remove this message. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these [[User:DPL bot|opt-out instructions]]. Thanks, [[User:DPL bot|DPL bot]] ([[User talk:DPL bot|talk]]) 11:10, 19 July 2013 (UTC)

==VE newsletter==
Hey ScottyWZ. The newest updates:
* Links now don't extend over space/punctuation/workbreaks when you type ([[bugzilla:51463]])
* Users with the "minoredit" preference set get working functionality ([[bugzilla:51515]])
* You can tab to buttons in dialogs, including the save dialog ([[bugzilla:50047]])
* We now show the <newarticletext> (or <newarticletextanon>) message as an edit notice ([[bugzilla:51459]])
* You can scroll dialog panels like in transclusions' templates' parameter listings ([[bugzilla:51739]])
* Templates that only create meta-data and no display content at all (like [[Template:Use dmy dates]]) now can't be deleted accidentally or deliberately, but still don't show up ([[bugzilla:51322]])
* FlaggedRevisions integration ([[bugzilla:49699]])
* Edit summary will get the section title pre-added if you launched from a section edit link ([[bugzilla:50872]])
Along with some miscellaneous language support fixes. That's all for today; as always, [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback|let us know if you spot more bugs]]. Thanks, [[User:Okeyes (WMF)|Okeyes (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Okeyes (WMF)|talk]]) 22:02, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

== VisualEditor newsletter for 06 August 2013 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Quick tip''':  Need to wikilink a word in VisualEditor?  Select the word and type {{keypress|Control|k}} or {{keypress|Command|k}} to enter VisualEditor's link tool without taking your hands off the keyboard.  See [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Keyboard shortcuts]] for more time-saving keyboard shortcuts.}}

It's been almost two weeks since the last newsletter, and a lot of improvements have been made during that time.  The main things that people have noticed are significant improvements to speed for typing into long pages ({{phab|54012}}), scrolling ({{phab|54014}}) and deleting ({{phab|54013}}) on large pages.  There have also been improvements to references, with the latest being support for [[Wikipedia:List-defined references|list-defined references]], which are <nowiki><ref>s defined inside a <references></nowiki> block ({{phab|53741}}).  Users of [[Opera 12]] and higher have had their web browser removed from the browser black-list, mostly as a result of work by a volunteer developer ({{phab|38000}}).  Opera has not been fully white-listed yet, so these users will get an additional warning and request to report problems.

Significant changes were made to the user interface to de-emphasize VisualEditor.  This has cut the use of VisualEditor by approximately one-third.  You can read about these at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Updates/August 1, 2013]], but they include:

* Re-ordering links to the editors to put "Edit source" first and VisualEditor second
* Renaming the link for VisualEditor to "Edit<sup>beta</sup>"
* Disabling the animation for section editing.
* Changing all labels for the classic wikitext editor to say "Edit source", regardless of namespace.

There have also been many smaller fixes, including these:

* Horizontal alignment of images working correctly on more pages ({{phab|53995}})
* Categories with ':'s in their names (like [[:Category:Wikipedia:Privacy]]) now work correctly ({{phab|53902}})
* Magic JavaScript gadgets and tools like sortable tables will now work once the page is saved ({{phab|53565}})
* Keyboard shortcut for "clear annotations" - now {{keypress|Control|\}} or {{keypress|Command|\}} ({{phab|53507}})
* Fixed corruption bugs that led to duplicate categories ({{phab|54238}}) and improper collapsing when multiple new references were added in a row ({{phab|54228}}).
* Improvements to display elements:  The save dialog in Monobook is restored to normal size ({{phab|52058}}), pop-up notices on save now look the same in VisualEditor as in wikitext editor ({{phab|41632}}), and the popup about using wikitext has a link to the definition of wikitext that now opens in a new window ({{phab|54093}})

Most of the Wikimedia Foundation staff is traveling this week and next, so no updates are expected until at least August 15th.  If you're going to be in Hong Kong for [[:meta: Wikimania|Wikimania 2013]], say hello to James Forrester, Philippe Beaudette, and the other members of the VisualEditor team.

As always, if you have questions or suggestions, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting problem reports at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]] and ideas at [[Wikipedia talk:VisualEditor]].  Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 23:30, 6 August 2013 (UTC)
<!-- EdwardsBot 0590 -->

== VisualEditor newsletter for 21 August 2013 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  [[:mw:Parsoid|Parsoid]] is a tool that translates between the raw wikitext that Wikipedia articles are stored in, and the HTML/RDFa that VisualEditor uses on your screen.  If you see chess pawn (♙) or snowman (☃) icons in an article, it usually means that Parsoid has encountered something confusing in the wikitext markup.  Please report these problems to [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]].}}

Both [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] and [[:mw:MediaWiki 1.22/wmf12|MediaWiki]] were upgraded recently.  For VisualEditor, this is the long-awaited post-[[Wikimania]] update with many bug fixes and enhancements.  Work also continues on '''speed at opening and during use''', as well as on the bugs reported here and at other Wikipedias.  The full report is [[:mw:VisualEditor/status#2013-08-15_.28MW_1.22wmf13.29|at Mediawiki]].

'''References''' are displaying properly, even when nested ({{phab|52749}}) or in image captions ({{phab|2000}}.  Reference lists are now always fully populated with references ([[bugzilla:50094|bug 50094]]).  Firefox users can insert an existing reference in the first paragraph ({{phab|54159}}).  Opera users no longer see corruption of categories when a reference was added ([[bugzilla:50385|bug 50385]]).  

'''Stray spaces''' are being stripped from the start of paragraphs to end one of the common <nowiki><nowiki></nowiki> problems ({{phab|53462}}).  We also fixed a round-tripping bug that caused desirable '''whitespace in templates''' (used to make templates more legible, e.g., by putting each parameter in an infobox on a separate line) to get corrupted ([[bugzilla:51150|bug 51150]]). 

'''Wikilink handling''' was improved.  Users are not allowed to create internal links to invalid titles (titles that are actually impossible due to limits on acceptable character combinations in titles, not redlinks) ({{phab|35094}}).  You can extend wikilinks, but it won't do so over a wordbreak (like a space) (bugs [[bugzilla:49931|49931]] and [[bugzilla:51463|51463]]). 

A handful of fixes to the user interface were made.  The '''toolbar''' doesn't float over personal tools after opening a dialog or the inspector ({{phab|54441}}).  Toolbars were also re-written to be collapsible/expandable, with room for more icons.  Buttons in dialogs can now be activated using the {{key press|Tab}} and {{key press|Shift|Tab}} key commands ([[bugzilla:50047|bug 50047]]).  This saves time for editors, because you don't need to take your hands off the keyboard to click a button.  We fixed a handful of bugs that affected only certain articles or certain browsers, including toolbar buttons in Firefox ([[bugzilla:51986|bug 51986]]) and dialog panels that didn't always scroll correctly ([[bugzilla:51739|bug 51739]]).  Bugs with undo/redo getting confused have been fixed ({{phab|54113}}).

'''Images''', in addition to getting references displaying correctly, also saw improvements with a set-empty {{para|link}} parameter no longer corrupted (51963).  We corrected thumbnail images' display so that they look don't wrong in some contexts ([[bugzilla:51995|bug 51995]]).  Inserted images no longer explicitly set their alignment, but instead inherit the default position in compliance with the Manual of Style ([[bugzilla:51851|bug 51851]]). 

More '''edit notices, warnings, and metadata''' like information about [[Wikipedia:Pending changes|Pending Changes]] on an article now appear as appropriate ([[bugzilla:49699|bug 49699]]).  When new articles are created, users are now shown the ''<newarticletext>'' message ([[bugzilla:51459|bug 51459]]).  VisualEditor now handles templates that set "meta" items (like a category) and nothing else better ([[bugzilla:51322|bug 51322]]).  If the database is locked when a user tries to save with VisualEditor, they now get a message telling them as such and an opportunity to try again, rather than a silent failure ([[bugzilla:51636|bug 51636]]).  

When you '''save the page''', having the default preference set to "mark all my edits as minor by default" no longer overrides the setting in the save dialog ([[bugzilla:51515|bug 51515]]).  If you open VisualEditor from a section edit link, the section's title will be pre-filled in in the edit summary box when you go to save it ([[bugzilla:50872|bug 50872]]).  The size of the save dialog box in the Monobook skin has been fixed ([[bugzilla:50058|bug 50058]]).  Also, wikipage content handlers like '''sortable tables''' are re-run automatically after saving ({{phab|53565}}).

A very early version of the '''mathematics equation editor''' is now available for testing on [[:mw:Mediawiki]].  If you would like to help improve the user interface for math editor, please test out the extension at [[:mw:Mediawiki:Sandbox]] and leave your comments directly at the discussion page for the [[:mw:User:Jiabao wu/GSoC 2013 Project Work/Math Node User Interface|Math Node User Interface]] at Mediawiki.  You should be able to use your regular username and password should to login to Mediawiki.

For other questions or suggestions, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting problem reports at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]] and other ideas at [[Wikipedia talk:VisualEditor]].  Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 17:48, 21 August 2013 (UTC)
<!-- EdwardsBot 0601 -->

== VisualEditor newsletter for September 5 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
<p>You can search for images directly in VisualEditor.  Click the media icon, which looks like this: [[File:VisualEditor - Icon - Picture.svg|24px]]  
<p>Then type a few keywords into the search box.  VisualEditor will search Commons for images or other files whose titles or descriptions contain those words, and will display thumbnail pictures of them for your review.  Click ''one time'' on the image you want to insert in the article.  
<p>For more details, read [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide#Editing images and other media files|VisualEditor's user guide]].}}

This Thursday's VisualEditor update was mostly about stability and performance improvements, and some preparatory work for major planned improvements, along with bug fixes for non-English language support and right-to-left text.  Everything that the English Wikipedia received today has been running on Mediawiki for a week already.

Officially, the problem with the link inspector not '''linking to a specific section''' on a page ([[bugzilla:53219|bug 53219]]) was fixed in this release, although that critical patch actually appeared here earlier.

A number of bugs related to '''copy-and-paste functionality''' were fixed ([[bugzilla:48604|48604]], [[bugzilla:50043|bug 50043]], [[bugzilla:53362|bug 53362]], [[bugzilla:51538|bug 51538]], among others).  Full rich copy-and-paste from external sources into VisualEditor is expected "soon".  

In other fixes, you can no longer add empty ref tags (<code><nowiki><ref/></nowiki></code>) ([[bugzilla:53345|bug 53345]]).  Selecting both an image and some text, and then trying to add a link, previously deleted the selected image and the text.  This was fixed in [[bugzilla:50127|bug 50127]]. There was another problem related to using arrow keys to move the cursor next to an inline image that was fixed ([[bugzilla:53507|bug 53507]]).

'''Looking ahead''': The next planned upgrade is scheduled for next Thursday, and you should expect to find a redesigned toolbar with drop-down menus that include room for references, templates, underline, strikethrough, superscript, subscript, and code formatting.  There will also be keyboard shortcuts for setting the format (paragraph vs section headings).

If you are active at '''other Wikipedias''', the next group of Wikipedias to have VisualEditor offered to all users is being determined at this time.  Generally speaking, languages that depend on the [[input method editor]] are ''not'' going to receive VisualEditor this month.  The current target date is Tuesday, September 24 for logged-in users only.  You can [[:mw: VisualEditor/Portal/Localization|'''help with translating the documentation''']].  In several cases, most of the translation is already done, and it only needs to be copied over to the relevant Wikipedia.  If you are interested in finding out whether a particular Wikipedia is currently on the list, you can leave a message for me at [[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|my talk page]].

For other questions or suggestions, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting problem reports at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]] and other ideas at [[Wikipedia talk:VisualEditor]].  Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] [[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|(talk)]] 21:52, 5 September 2013 (UTC)
<!-- EdwardsBot 0612 -->

== VisualEditor newsletter for September 19, 2013 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
<p>You can edit a page's categories in VisualEditor. Click the "Page settings" button (next to Cancel/Save) in the toolbar to open the category tool.  It will show you a list of the current categories for that page.
<p>To add a category, type the name of the category you want to add in the search field.  To remove an existing category, click on the category in the list and then, in the dialog that opens, click on the "Remove" icon (trash can).  "Options" will allow you to set a [[Wikipedia:DEFAULTSORT|default sorting key]].
<p>For more details, read [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide#Editing categories|VisualEditor's user guide]].}}

VisualEditor has been updated twice in the last two weeks.  As usual, what is now running on the English Wikipedia had a test run at [[Mediawiki]] during the previous week.  

As announced, the '''toolbar was redesigned''' to be simpler, shorter, and to have the ability to have drop-down groups with descriptions. What you see now is the initial configuration and is expected to change in response to feedback from the English Wikipedia and other Wikipedias.  The controls to add <code><nowiki><u></nowiki></code> (underline), <code><nowiki><sub></nowiki></code> (subscript), and <code><nowiki><sup></nowiki></code> (superscript), <code><nowiki><s></nowiki></code> (strikethrough) and <code><nowiki><code></nowiki></code> (computer code/monospace font) annotations to text are available to all users in the drop-down menu.  At the moment, all but the most basic tools have been moved into a single drop-down menu, including the tools for inserting media, references, reference lists, and templates.  {{highlight|The current location of all of the items in the toolbar is temporary, and your opinions about the best order are needed!  Please offer suggestions at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback/Toolbar]].|lightyellow}}

In an eagerly anticipated upgrade to the '''reference dialog''', newly added references or reference groups no longer need the page to be saved before they can be re-used (bugs [[bugzilla:51689|51689]] and [[bugzilla:52000|52000]]).  The 'Use existing reference' button is now disabled on pages which don't yet have any references ([[bugzilla:51848|bug 51848]]).  The template parameter filter in the transclusion dialog now searches both parameter name and label ([[bugzilla:51670|bug 51670]]).

In response to several requests, there are some new '''keyboard shortcuts'''.  You can now set the block/paragraph formatting from the keyboard: {{key press|Ctrl|0}} sets a block as a regular paragraph; {{key press|Ctrl|1}} up to {{key press|Ctrl|6}} sets it as a Heading 1 ("Page title") to Heading 6 ("Sub-heading 4"); {{key press|Ctrl|7}} sets it as pre-formatted ([[bugzilla:33512|bug 33512]]).  {{key press|Ctrl|2}}, which creates level 2 section headings, may be the most useful.

Some improvements were made to '''capitalization for links''', so typing in "iPhone" will offer a link to "iPhone" as well as "IPhone" ([[bugzilla:50452|bug 50452]]).  

'''Copying and pasting within the same document''' should work better as of today's update, as should copying from VisualEditor into a third-party application  ([[bugzilla:53364|bug 53364]], [[bugzilla:52271|bug 52271]], [[bugzilla:52460|bug 52460]]).  Work on copying and pasting between VisualEditor instances (for example, between two articles) and retaining formatting when copying from an external source into VisualEditor is progressing.

Major improvements to '''editing with input method editors''' (IMEs; mostly used for Indic and East Asian languages) are being deployed today.  This is a complex change, so it may produce unexpected errors.  On a related point, the names of languages listed in the "languages" (langlinks) panel in the Page settings dialog now display as RTL when appropriate ([[bugzilla:53503|bug 53503]]).

'''Looking ahead:''' The help/'beta' menu will soon expose the build number next to the "Leave feedback" link, so users can give more specific reports about issues they encounter ([[bugzilla:53050|bug 53050]]).  This change will make it easier for developers to identify any cacheing issues, once it starts reporting the build number (currently, it says "Version [[false]]").  Also, inserting a link, reference or media file will put the cursor after the new content again ([[bugzilla:53560|bug 53560]]).  Next week’s update will likely improve how dropdowns and other selection menus behave when they do not fit on the screen, with things scrolling so the selected item is always in view. 

If you are active at '''other Wikipedias''', the next group of Wikipedias to have VisualEditor offered to all users is being finalized.  About two dozen Wikipedias are on the list for Tuesday, September 24 for logged-in users only, and on Monday, September 30 for unregistered editors.  You can [[:mw: VisualEditor/Portal/Localization|'''help with translating the documentation''']].  In several cases, most of the translation is already done, and it only needs to be copied over to the relevant Wikipedia.  If you are interested in finding out whether a particular Wikipedia is currently on the list, you can leave a message for me at [[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|my talk page]].

For other questions or suggestions, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting problem reports at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]] and other ideas at [[Wikipedia talk:VisualEditor]].  Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] [[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|(talk)]] 21:57, 19 September 2013 (UTC)
<!-- EdwardsBot 0621 -->

== VisualEditor newsletter on 16 October 2013 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
[[File:VisualEditor - Toolbar - Lists and indentation.png|200px]]
<p>You can create and edit multi-level lists in VisualEditor.  The first two icons let you set or remove list formatting.
<p>The last two are used to increase or decrease the indentation level.  This can also be done from the keyboard, by using {{Key press|Tab}} to indent the list and {{Key press|Shift|Tab}} to outdent it.
<p>For more information, read [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide]].}}

VisualEditor is still being updated every Thursday.  As usual, what is now running on the English Wikipedia had a test run at [[Mediawiki]] during the previous week.   If you haven't done so already, you can turn on VisualEditor by going to [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing|your preferences]] and choosing the item, "<code>{{MediaWiki:visualeditor-preference-enable}}</code>".

{{highlight|The '''reference dialog for all Wikipedias, especially the way it handles [[Wikipedia:Citation templates|citation templates]]''', is being redesigned.  Please offer suggestions and opinions at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog]]. |yellow}}  (Use your Wikipedia username/password to login there.)  You can also '''drag and drop references''' (select the reference, then hover over the selected item until your cursor turns into the drag-and-drop tool).  This also works for some templates, images, and other page elements (but not yet for text or floated items).  References are now editable when they appear inside a media item's caption ([[bugzilla:50459|bug 50459]]).

There were a number of miscellaneous fixes made:  Firstly, there was a bug that meant that it was impossible to move the cursor using the keyboard away from a selected node (like a reference or template) once it had been selected ([[bugzilla:54443|bug 54443]]).  Several improvements have been made to '''scrollable windows, panels, and menus''' when they don't fit on the screen or when the selected item moves off-screen.  Editing in the "slug" at the start of a page no longer shows up a chess pawn character ("♙") in some circumstances ([[bugzilla:54791|bug 54791]]).  Another bug meant that links with a final punctuation character in them broke extending them in some circumstances ([[bugzilla:54332|bug 54332]]). The "page settings" dialog once again allows you to remove categories ([[bugzilla:54727|bug 54727]]). There have been some problems with deployment scripts, including one that resulted in VisualEditor being broken for an hour or two at all Wikipedias ([[bugzilla:54935|bug 54935]]). Finally, snowmen characters ("☃") no longer appear near newly added references, templates and other nodes ([[bugzilla:54712|bug 54712]]).

'''Looking ahead:'''  Development work right now is on rich copy-and-paste abilities, quicker addition of citation templates in references, setting media items' options (such as being able to put images on the left), switching into wikitext mode, and [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback/Toolbar|simplifying the toolbar]].  A significant amount of work is being done on other languages during this month.  If you speak a language other than English, you can [[:mw: VisualEditor/Portal/Localization|'''help with translating the documentation''']].  

For other questions or suggestions, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting problem reports at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]] and other ideas at [[Wikipedia talk:VisualEditor]].  Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] [[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|(talk)]] 18:59, 16 October 2013 (UTC)
<!-- EdwardsBot 0642 -->

== VisualEditor newsletter for November 2013 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
[[File:VisualEditor - Toolbar - Cancel-save.png|200px]]
<p>VisualEditor's toolbar has a new feature (currently working only in some browsers), '''"Switch to source editing"'''.  By choosing this item, you can move directly into the wikitext source editor without saving.  This is particularly useful if you need to make significant changes to tables, image galleries, or other elements that are not currently supported.
<p>For more information about how to use VisualEditor, read [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide]].}}

Since the last newsletter, the [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team has worked on some feature changes, major infrastructure improvements to make the system more stable, dependable and extensible, some minor toolbar improvements, and fixing bugs.

A new form parsing library for language characters in Parsoid caused the corruption of pages containing diacritics for about an hour two weeks ago.  Relatively few pages at the English Wikipedia were affected, but this created immediate problems at some other Wikipedias, sometimes affecting several dozen pages.  The development teams for Parsoid and VisualEditor apologize for the serious disruption and thank the people who reported this emergency at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]] and on the public [[IRC]] channel, #mediawiki-visualeditor.

There have been dozens of changes since the last newsletter.  Here are some of the highlights:

*'''Accidental deletion of infoboxes and other items:''' You now need to press the {{Key press|Delete}} or {{Key press|Backspace}} key ''twice'' to delete a template, reference or image.  The first time, the item becomes selected, and the second time, it is removed.  The need to press the delete key twice should make it more obvious what you are doing and help avoid accidental removals of infoboxes and similar ([[bugzilla:55336|bug 55336]]).
*'''Switch from VisualEditor to the wikitext editor:''' A new feature lets you make a direct, one-way editing interface change, which will preserve your changes without needing to save the page and re-open it in the wikitext editor ([[bugzilla:50687|bug 50687]]). It is available in a new menu in the action buttons by the Cancel button (where the "Page Settings" button used to be).  Note that this new feature is not currently working in Firefox.
*'''Categories and Languages''' are also now directly available in that menu. The category suggestions drop-down was appearing in the wrong place rather than below its input box, which is now fixed.  An incompatibility between VisualEditor and [[:mw:Parsoid|the deployed Parsoid service]] that prevented editing categories and language links was fixed. 
*'''File:, Help: and Category: namespaces:''' VisualEditor was enabled for these namespaces the on all wikis ([[bugzilla:55968|bug 55968]]), the '''Portal: and Viquiprojecte:''' namespaces on the Catalan Wikipedia ([[bugzilla:56000|bug 56000]]), and the '''Portal: and Book: namespaces''' on the English Wikipedia ([[bugzilla:56001|bug 56001]]).   
*'''Media item resizing:''' We improved how files are viewed in a few ways. First, inline media items can now be resized in the same way that has been possible with block ones (like thumbnails) before. When resizing a media item, you can see a live preview of how it will look as you drag it ([[bugzilla:54298|bug 54298]]). While you are dragging an image to resize it, we now show a label with the current dimensions ([[bugzilla:54297|bug 54297]]). Once you have resized it, we fetch a new, higher resolution image for the media item if necessary ([[bugzilla:55697|bug 55697]]). Manual setting of media item sizes in their dialog is nearly complete and should be available next week.  If you hold down the {{Key press|shift}} key whilst resizing an image, it will now snap to a 10 pixel grid instead of the normal free-hand sizing. The media item resize label now is centered while resizing regardless of which tool you use to resize it. 
*'''Undo and redo:''' A number of improvements were made to the transactions system which make undoing and redoing more reliable during real-time collaboration ([[bugzilla:53224|bug 53224]]).
*'''Save dialogue:''' The save page was re-written to use the same code as all other dialogs ([[bugzilla:48566|bug 48566]]), and in the process fixed a number of issues. The save dialog is re-accessible if it loses focus ([[bugzilla:50722|bug 50722]]), or if you review a null edit ([[bugzilla:53313|bug 53313]]); its checkboxes for minor edit, watch the page, and flagged revisions options now layout much more cleanly ([[bugzilla:52175|bug 52175]]), and the tab order of the buttons is now closer to what users will expect ([[bugzilla:51918|bug 51918]]). There was a bug in the save dialog that caused it to crash if there was an error in loading the page from Parsoid, which is now fixed. 
*'''Links to other articles''' or pages sometimes sent people to invalid pages.  VisualEditor now keeps track of the context in which you loaded the page, which lets us fix up links in document to point to the correct place regardless of what entry point you launched the editor from—so the content of pages loaded through <code>/wiki/Foobar?veaction=edit</code> and <code>/w/index.php?title=Foobar&veaction=edit</code> both now have text links that work if triggered ([[bugzilla:48915|bug 48915]]).
*'''Toolbar links:''' A bug that caused the toolbar's menus to get shorter or even blank when scrolled down the page in Firefox is now fixed ([[bugzilla:55343|bug 55343]]).
*'''Numbered external links:''' VisualEditor now supports Parsoid's changed representation of numbered external links ([[bugzilla:53505|bug 53505]]).
*'''Removed empty templates:''' We also fixed an issue that meant that completely empty templates became impossible to interact with inside VisualEditor, as they didn't show up ([[bugzilla:55810|bug 55810]]). 
*'''Mathematics formulae:''' If you would like to try the experimental '''LaTeX mathematics tool''' in VisualEditor, you will need to opt-in to [[:mw:Abut Beta Features|Beta Features]]. This is currently available on Meta-wiki, Wikimedia Commons, and Mediawiki.org.  It will be available on all other Wikimedia sites on 21 November.
*'''Browser testing support:''' If you are interested in technical details, the [https://wmf.ci.cloudbees.com/view/r-ve/ browser tests] were expanded to cover some basic cursor operations, which uncovered an issue in our testing framework that doesn't work with cursoring in Firefox; the Chrome tests continue to fail due to a bug with the welcome message for that part of the testing framework.  
*'''Load time:''' VisualEditor now uses content language when fetching [[Wikipedia:TemplateData]] information, so reducing bandwidth use, and users on multi-language or multi-script wikis now get TemplateData hinting for templates as they would expect ([[bugzilla:50888|bug 50888]]).  
*'''Reuse of VisualEditor:''' Work on spinning out the user experience (UX) framework from VisualEditor into oojs-ui, which lets other teams at Wikimedia (like [[Flow]]) and gadget authors re-use VisualEditor UX components, is now complete and is being moved to a shared code repository. 
*'''Support for private wikis:''' If you maintain a private wiki at home or at work, VisualEditor now supports editing of private wikis, by forwarding the Cookie: HTTP header to Parsoid (<code>$wgVisualEditorParsoidForwardCookies</code> set to true) ([[bugzilla:44483|bug 44483]]).  (Most private wikis will also need to install Parsoid and node.js, as VisualEditor requires them.)

'''Looking ahead''':  
* VisualEditor will be released to some of the '''smaller Wikipedias on 02 December 2013'''.  If you are active at one or more smaller Wikipedias where VisualEditor is not yet generally available, please see the list at [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Rollouts|VisualEditor/Rollouts]].   
* Public '''office hours on [[IRC]] '''to discuss VisualEditor with Product Manager James Forrester will be held on Monday, 2 December, at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=19&min=00&sec=0&day=2&month=12&year=2013 1900 UTC] and on Tuesday, 3 December, at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=01&min=00&sec=0&day=3&month=12&year=2013 0100 UTC].  Bring your questions.  Logs will be posted [[meta:IRC_office_hours#Office_hour_logs|on Meta]] after each office hour completes. 
* In terms of feature improvements, one of the major infrastructure projects affects how '''inserting characters''' works, both using your computer's built-in [[Unicode input]] systems and through a planned character inserter tool for VisualEditor.  The forthcoming '''rich copying and pasting''' feature was extended and greater testing is currently being done.  Work continues to support the '''improved [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog|reference dialog]]''' to quickly add citations based on local templates. 
If you have questions or suggestions for future improvements, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting a note at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]]. Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 22:26, 20 November 2013 (UTC)
<!-- EdwardsBot 0667 -->

== VisualEditor newsletter • 19 December 2013 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
[[File:VisualEditor_text_format_menu.png|200px]]
<p>VisualEditor's toolbar has a new drop-down menu that contains all character formatting:  bold, italics, subscript, superscript, strikethrough, computer code, underline, and the ability to remove all formatting from text.
<p>For more information about how to use VisualEditor, read [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]].}}

Since the last newsletter, the [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team has worked on some toolbar improvements, fixing bugs, and improving support for Indic languages as well as other languages with complex characters.  The current focus is on improving the''' reference dialog''' and expanding the '''new character inserter tool'''.

There have been dozens of changes since the last newsletter.  Here are some of the highlights:

*'''Rich copying and pasting''' is now available.  If you copy text from another website, then character formatting and some other HTML attributes are preserved.  This means, for example, that if you copy a pre-formatted suggested citation from a source [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hus/citation.htm like this], then VisualEditor will preserve the formatting of the title in the citation.  Keep in mind that copying the formatting may include formatting that you don't want (like section headings).  If you want to paste plain, unformatted text onto a page, then use {{key press|Control|Shift|V}} or {{key press|Command|Shift|V}}  (Mac).
* '''Auto-numbered external links''' like [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User_guide] can now be edited just like any other link.  However, they cannot be created in VisualEditor easily.
* Several changes to the toolbar and dialogs have been made, and more are on the way.  The toolbar has been simplified with a new drop-down text styles menu and an "insert" menu. {{highlight|Your feedback on the toolbar is wanted [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback/Toolbar#New toolbar, December 2013|here]].}}  The transclusion/template dialog has been simplified.  If you have [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|enabled mathematical formula editing]], then the menu item is now called the formula editor instead of LaTeX.
* There is a new '''character inserter''', which you can find in the new "insert" menu, with a capital Omega ("Ω").  It's a very basic set of characters.  {{highlight|Your feedback on the character inserter is wanted [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback|here]].}}
* '''Saving the page''' should seem faster by several seconds now.
* It is now possible to access VisualEditor by manually editing the URL, even if you are not logged in or have not opted in to VisualEditor normally.  To do so, append <code>?veaction=edit</code> to the end of the page name.  For example, change <code>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random</code> to <code>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random?veaction=edit</code> to open a random page in VisualEditor.  This is intended to support bug testing across multiple browsers, without requiring editors to login repeatedly.
'''Looking ahead:'''  The transclusion dialog will see further changes in the coming weeks, with a simple mode for single templates and an advanced mode for more complex transclusions.  The new character formatting menu on the toolbar will get an arrow to show that it is a drop-down menu.  The [[:mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog|reference dialog]] will be improved, and the Reference item will become a button in the main toolbar, rather than an item in the Insert menu. 

If you have questions or suggestions for future improvements, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting a note at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]]. Thank you!  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 20:47, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
<!-- EdwardsBot 0683 -->

== VisualEditor newsletter for Janaury 2014 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
[[File:VisualEditor reference toolbar transclusion.png|center|180px]]
<p>To add templates, go to the "Insert" menu and choose the "Transclusion" (puzzle piece) item.  Enter the name of the template and click "Add template".  If [[Wikipedia:TemplateData|TemplateData]] exists for the template, then a list of possible parameters will appear.  If not, you can add parameters yourself by typing the  parameter name under "Add parameter".  For unnamed parameters, use numbers ("1" for the first unnamed parameter).}}

Since the last newsletter, the [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team has worked mostly minor features and fixing bugs.  A few significant bugs include working around a bug in CSSJanus that was wrongly flipping images used in some templates in right-to-left (RTL) environments ([[bugzilla:50910|bug 50910]]) a major bug that meant inserting any template or other transclusion failed ([[bugzilla:59002|bug 59002]]), a major but quickly resolved problem due to an unannounced change in MediaWiki core, which caused VisualEditor to crash on trying to save ([[bugzilla:59867|bug 59867]]). This last bugs did not appear on any Wikipedia. Additionally, significant work has been done in the background to make VisualEditor work as an independent editing system.  

As of today, VisualEditor is now available as an opt-out feature to all users at 149 active Wikipedias.

* The '''character inserter tool''' in the "Insert" menu has a very basic set of characters.  The character inserter is especially important for languages that use Latin and Cyrillic alphabets with unusual characters or frequent diacritics. {{highlight|Your  [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback|feedback]] on the character inserter is requested.}} In addition to feedback from any interested editor, the developers would particularly like to hear from anyone who speaks any of the 50+ languages listed under Phase 5 at [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Rollouts|mw:VisualEditor/Rollouts]], including Breton, Mongolian, Icelandic, Welsh, Afrikaans, Macedonian, and Azerbaijani.
* '''[[m:Office hours|meta:Office hours]] on [[IRC]]''' have been heavily attended recently. The next one will be held this coming Wednesday, 22 January at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=23&min=00&sec=0&day=22&month=01&year=2014 23:00 UTC].  
* You can now '''edit some of the page settings''' in the "options" dialog –  <code><nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki></code>  and <code><nowiki>__FORCETOC__</nowiki></code> as selection (forced on, forced off, or default setting; bugs [[bugzilla:56866|56866]] and [[bugzilla:56867|56867]]) and <code><nowiki>__NOEDITSECTION__</nowiki></code> as a checkbox ([[bugzilla:57166|bug 57166]]).  
* The automated browser tests were adjusted to speed them up and bind more correctly to list items in lists, and updated to a newer version of their ruby dependencies.  You can monitor the automated browser tests' results (triggered every twelve hours) live [https://wmf.ci.cloudbees.com/view/r-ve/ on the server]. 
* [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide]] was updated recently to show some new and upcoming features.  

'''Looking ahead:'''  The character formatting menu on the toolbar will get a drop-down indicator next Thursday.  The reference and media items will be the first two listed in the Insert menu.  The help menu will get a page listing the keyboard shortcuts.  Looking further out, image handling will be improved, including support for alignment (left, right, and center) and better control over image size (including default and upright sizes).  The developers are also working on support for editing redirects and image galleries.

Subscriptions to this newsletter are managed at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter]].  Please add or remove your name to change your subscription settings. If you have questions or suggestions for future improvements, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting a note at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]]. Thank you!  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 20:13, 17 January 2014 (UTC)
<!-- EdwardsBot 0692 -->

== VisualEditor Newsletter—February 2014 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
[[File:VisualEditor re-using references search 2014-02-13.png|center|thumb|Click this image to see the details.]]
<p>You can easily re-use references by going to the Insert menu, choosing "Reference", and clicking on "Use an existing reference" in the lower left corner.  A list of all references, their numbers, and their ref names (if any) will be shown.  You can search the list for any author, title, date, or other keyword.  Read [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide#Adding an existing reference to a new place|the user guide]] for more information.}}

Since the last newsletter, the [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team has worked on some small changes to the user interface, such as moving the reference item to the top of the Insert menu, as well as some minor features and fixing bugs, especially for rich copying and pasting of references.    

The biggest change was the addition of more features to the '''image dialog''', including the ability to set alignment (left, right, center), framing options (thumbnail, frame, frameless, and [[Wikipedia:Extended image syntax#none|none]]), adding [[Wikipedia:Alternative text for images|alt text]], and defining the size manually. There is still some work to be done here, including a quick way to set the default size.  

* The main priority is redesigning the '''reference dialog''', with the goal of providing autofill features for ISBNs and URLs and streamlining the process.  Current concept drawings are available at [[mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog]]. {{highlight|Please share your [[:mw:Talk:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog|ideas about making referencing quick and easy]] with the designers. }} 
* A few bugs in the existing reference dialog were fixed.  The toolbar was simplified to remove galleries and lists from the reference dialog.  When you re-use references, it now correctly displays the references again, rather than just the number and name.  If you paste content into a dialog that can't fit there (e.g. <code>==section headings==</code> in references), it now strips out the inappropriate HTML. 
* You can now edit [[Help:Gallery tag|'''image galleries''']] inside VisualEditor.  At this time, the gallery tool is a very limited option that gives you access to the wikitext.  It will see significant improvements at a later date. 
* The '''character inserter tool''' in the "Insert" menu is being redesigned.  Your [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Feedback#Special_characters_39625|feedback on the special character inserter]] is still wanted, especially if you depend on Wikipedia's character inserters for your normal editing rather than [[Help:Entering special characters|using the ones built into your computer]].  
*   You can now see a help page about '''keyboard shortcuts''' in the page menu (three bars next to the Cancel button) ({{phab|54844}}).
*   If you edit '''categories''', your changes will now display correctly after saving the page ({{phab|50560}}).
*   '''Saving the page''' should be faster now ({{phab|61660}}).
*   Any community can ask to test a new tool to edit [[Wikipedia:TemplateData|TemplateData]] by leaving a note at {{phab|53734}}.

'''Looking ahead:'''  The link tool will tell you when you're linking to a disambiguation or redirect page.  The warning about wikitext will hide itself after you remove the wikitext markup in that paragraph.  Support for creating and editing redirects is in the pipeline.  Looking further out, image handling will be improved, including default and upright sizes.  The developers are also working on support for viewing and editing hidden HTML comments, some behavioral magic words like DISPLAYTITLE, and in-line language setting (<code>dir="rtl"</code>).  

If you have questions or suggestions for future improvements, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting a note at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]]. Thank you!  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 04:21, 20 February 2014 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor newsletter—March 2014 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
[[File:VisualEditor - Template editing 2.png|center|thumb|Click this image to see the details.]]
<p>The template dialog has been simplified to make it faster and easier to add parameter data.  Read [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]] for more information.}}

Since the last newsletter, the [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team has mostly worked on changes to the template and image dialogs.        

The biggest change in the last few weeks was the '''redesign of the template dialog'''.  The template dialog now opens in a simplified mode that lists parameters and their descriptions.  (The complex multi-item transclusion mode can be reached by clicking on "Show options" from inside the simplified template dialog.)  Template parameters now have a bigger, auto-sizing input box for easier editing.  With today's update, searching for template parameters will become case-insensitive, and required template parameters will display an asterisk (''*'') next to their edit boxes.   In addition to making it quicker and easier to see everything when you edit typical templates, this work was necessary to prepare for the '''forthcoming simplified citation dialog'''.  The main priority in the coming weeks is building this new citation dialog, with the ultimate goal of providing autofill features for ISBNs, URLs, DOIs and other quick-fills.  This will add a new button on the toolbar, with the citation templates available picked by each wiki's community.  Concept drawings can be seen at [[mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog]]. {{highlight|Please share your [[:mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog|ideas about making referencing quick and easy]] with the designers. }}       

* The '''link tool''' now tells you when you're linking to a disambiguation or redirect page.  Pages that exist, but are not indexed by the search engine, are treated like non-existent pages ({{phab|56361}}). 
* '''Wikitext warnings''' will now hide when you remove wikitext from the paragraph you are editing. 
* The '''character inserter tool''' in the "Insert" menu has been slightly redesigned, to introduce larger buttons.  Your [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Feedback#Special_characters_39625|suggestions for more significant changes to the special character inserter]] are still wanted. 
* The '''page options menu''' (three bars, next to the Cancel button) has expanded.  You can create and edit '''redirect pages''', set page options like <code><nowiki>__STATICREDIRECT__</nowiki></code>, <code>__[NO]INDEX__</code> and <code>__</code><code>[NO]NEWEDITSECTION__</code>, and more.  New keyboard shortcuts are listed there, and include undoing the last action, clearing formatting, and showing the shortcut help window.  If you switch from VisualEditor to wikitext editing, your edit will now be tagged. 
* It is easier to edit '''images'''.  There are more options and they are explained better.  If you add new images to pages, they will also be default size.  You can now set image sizes to the default, if another size was previously specified. Full support for upright sizing systems, which more readily adapt image sizes to the reader's screen size, is planned. 
* VisualEditor adds fake blank lines so you can put your cursor there. These "slugs" are now smaller than normal blank lines, and are animated to be different from actual blank lines. 
* You can use the {{key press|Ctrl|Alt|S}} or {{key press|Command|Option|S}} '''shortcuts to open the save window''', and you can preview your edit summary when checking your changes in the save window.   
*   After community requests, VisualEditor has been deployed to the Interlingual Occidental Wikipedia, the Portuguese Wikibooks, and the French Wikiversity.
*   Any community can ask for custom icons for their language in the character formatting menu (bold, italic, etc.) by making a request on Bugzilla or by contacting Product Manager [[mediawikiwiki:User:Jdforrester (WMF)|James Forrester]].

The developers apologize for a regression bug with the deployment on 6 March 2014, which caused the incorrect removal of <code>|upright</code> size definitions on a handful of pages on the English Wikipedia, among others. The root cause was fixed, and the broken pages were fixed soon after.  

'''Looking ahead:'''  Several template dialogs will become more compact.  Looking further out, the developers are also working on support for viewing and editing hidden HTML comments.  You will be able to see the Table of Contents change live as you edit the page, rather than it being hidden.  In-line language setting (<code>dir="rtl"</code>) may be offered to a few Wikipedias soon.  

If you have questions or suggestions for future improvements, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting a note at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]] or by joining the [[meta:IRC office hours|office hours]] on 19 April 2014 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=20&min=00&sec=0&day=19&month=04&year=2014 2000 UTC]. Thank you! [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 22:44, 20 March 2014 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor newsletter—April 2014 ==

{{sidebox
|text= [[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px]]
|below='''Did you know?'''  
[[File:VisualEditor - Page Settings Redirects.png|center|thumb]]
<p>You can '''use VisualEditor to make redirects'''.  First, remove any unwanted content from the page.  Then go to the "{{int:visualeditor-pagemenu-tooltip}}" menu (next to "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cancel}}") and choose the "{{int:visualeditor-settings-tool}}" item.  Click the box to "{{int:visualeditor-dialog-meta-settings-redirect-label}}".  In the box, type in the name of the page that you want to redirect this page to. <p> You can also set or remove categories for the redirect in the "{{int:visualeditor-pagemenu-tooltip}}" menu. Read [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]] for more information.}}

Since the last newsletter, the [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team has mostly worked on performance improvements, image settings, and preparation for a simplified citation template tool in its own menu.         

* In an oft-requested improvement, VisualEditor now displays '''red links''' ([[Wikipedia:Red link|links to non-existent pages]]) in the proper color.  Links to sister projects and external URLs are still the same blue as local links. 
* You can now '''open templates by double-clicking''' them or by selecting them and pressing  {{key press|Return}}.  This also works for references, images, galleries, mathematical equations, and other "nodes". 
* VisualEditor has been '''disabled for pages that were created as translations of other pages using the [[:mw:Extension:Translate|Translate extension]]''' (common at Meta and MediaWiki.org).  If a page has been marked for translation, you will see a warning if you try to edit it using VisualEditor. 
* When you try to '''edit protected pages''' with VisualEditor, the full protection notice and most recent log entry are displayed.  Blocked users see the standard message for blocked users. 
* The developers fixed [[bugzilla:58314|a bug]] that caused '''links on sub-pages''' to point to the wrong location. 
* The size-changing controls in the advanced settings section of the media or '''image dialog''' were simplified further.  VisualEditor's media dialog supports more image display styles, like borderless images. 
* If there is not enough space on your screen to display all of the tabs (for instance, if your browser window is too narrow), the second '''edit tab will now fold into the drop-down menu''' (where the "{{int:vector-action-move}}" item is currently housed). On the English Wikipedia, this moves the "Edit beta" tab into the menu; on most projects, it moves the "{{int:visualeditor-ca-editsource}}" tab.  This is only enabled in the default Vector skin, not for Monobook users. See [[:File:History, editing tabs move into menu.png|this image]] for an example showing the "{{int:visualeditor-ca-editsource}}" and "{{int:vector-view-history}}" tabs after they moved into the drop-down menu.
*   After community requests, VisualEditor has been deployed as an opt-in feature at [[:Meta:|Meta]] and on the [[n:fr:|French Wikinews]].

[[File:History, editing tabs move into menu.png|left|thumb|The drop-down menu is on the right, next to the search box.]]
'''Looking ahead:'''  A new, locally controlled menu of citation templates will put citations immediately in front of users.  You will soon be able to see the Table of Contents while editing. Support for upright image sizes (preferred for accessibility) is being developed.  In-line language setting (<code>dir="rtl"</code>) will be offered as a Beta Feature soon.  Looking further out, the developers are also working on support for viewing and editing hidden HTML comments.  It will be possible to upload images to Commons from inside VisualEditor.  

If you have questions or suggestions for future improvements, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting a note at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]] or by joining the [[meta:IRC office hours|office hours]] on Monday, 19 May 2014 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=18&min=00&sec=0&day=19&month=05&year=2014 18:00 UTC].  If you'd like to get this on your own page, subscribe at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor#Newsletter]] for English Wikipedia only or at [[:meta:VisualEditor/Newsletter]] for any project.  Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]])  20:23, 23 April 2014 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor newsletter—May 2014 ==

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]

'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">
[[File:VisualEditor - Editing References - Cite Pulldown.png|centre|277x277px]]
The cite menu offers quick access to up to five citation templates.  If your wiki has enabled the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cite-label}}" menu, press "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cite-label}}" and select the appropriate template from the menu.  

Existing citations that use these templates can be edited either using the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cite-label}}" tool or by selecting the reference and choosing the "{{int:visualeditor-dialogbutton-reference-tooltip}}" item in the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-insert}}" menu. 

Read [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]] for more information.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[:mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team has mostly worked on the new citation tool, improving performance, reducing technical debt, and other infrastructure needs.           

The biggest change in the last few weeks is the new '''citation template menu''', labeled "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cite-label}}".  The new citation menu offers a locally configurable list of citation templates on the main toolbar.  It adds or opens references using the simplified template dialog that was deployed last month.  This tool is in addition to the "{{int:visualeditor-dialogbutton-reference-tooltip}}" item in the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-insert}}" menu, and it is not displayed unless it has been configured for that wiki. To enable this tool on your wiki, see the instructions at [[mw:VisualEditor/Citation tool|VisualEditor/Citation tool]].         

Eventually, the VisualEditor team [[:mw:Cite-from-id|plans to add autofill features]] for these citations.  When this long-awaited feature is created, you could add an ISBN, URL, DOI or other identifier to the citation tool, and VisualEditor would automatically fill in as much information for that source as possible.  The concept drawings can be seen at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog]], and <mark>your [[:mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog|ideas about making referencing quick and easy]] are still wanted.</mark>         

*  There is a '''new [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|Beta Feature for setting content language and direction]]'''.  This allows editors who have opted in to use the "{{int:visualeditor-annotationbutton-language-tooltip}}" tool in the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-insert}}" menu to add HTML span tags that label text with the language and as being left-to-right (LTR) or right-to-left (RTL), like this:  <code><nowiki><span lang="en" dir="ltr">English</span></nowiki></code>.  This tool is most useful for pages whose text combines multiple languages with different directions, common on Right-to-Left wikis.
*  The tool for '''editing mathematics formulae''' in VisualEditor has been slightly updated and is now available to all users, as the "{{int:math-visualeditor-mwmathinspector-title}}" item in the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-insert}}" menu.  It uses LaTeX like in the wikitext editor.
*  The '''layout of template dialogs has been changed''', putting the label above the field.  Parameters are now called "fields", to avoid a technical term that many editors are unfamiliar with.
*  '''[[:mw:VisualEditor/Portal/TemplateData|TemplateData]] has been expanded''':  You can now add "suggested" parameters in TemplateData, and VisualEditor will display them in the template dialogs like required ones.  "Suggested" is recommended for parameters that are commonly used, but not actually required to make the template work.  There is also a new type for TemplateData parameters:  wiki-file-name, for file names.  The template tool can now tell you if a parameter is marked as being obsolete.
*  Some templates that previously displayed strangely due to absolute CSS positioning hacks should now display correctly.
*  Several messages have changed:  The notices shown when you save a page have been merged into those used in the wikitext editor, for consistency.  The message shown when you "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cancel}}" out of an edit is clearer.  The beta dialog notice, which is shown the first time you open VisualEditor, will be hidden for logged-in users via a user preference rather than a cookie.  As a result of this change, '''the beta notice will show up one last time for all logged-in users''' on their next VisualEditor use after Thursday's upgrade. 
*  Adding a category that is a '''redirect to another category''' prompts you to add the target category instead of the redirect.
*  In the "{{int:visualeditor-dialogbutton-media-tooltip}}" dialog, it is no longer possible to set a redundant border for thumbnail and framed images.
*  There is a '''new Template Documentation Editor for TemplateData'''.  You can test it by editing a documentation subpage (not a template page) at Mediawiki.org: edit [[mw:Template:Sandbox/doc]], and then click "Manage template documentation" above the wikitext edit box.  If your community would like to use this TemplateData editor at your project, please contact product manager [[m:User:Jdforrester (WMF)|James Forrester]] or file an enhancement request in Bugzilla.
*  There have been multiple small changes to the appearance:  External links are shown in the same light blue color as in MediaWiki.  This is a lighter shade of blue than the internal links.  The styling of the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-style-tooltip}}" (character formatting) drop-down menu has been synchronized with the recent font changes to the Vector skin.  VisualEditor dialogs, such as the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-savedialog}}" dialog, now use a "loading" animation of moving lines, rather than animated GIF images.  Other changes were made to the appearance upon opening a page in VisualEditor which should make the transition between reading and editing be smoother.
*  The developers merged in many minor fixes and improvements to MediaWiki interface integration (e.g., edit notices), and made VisualEditor handle [[:mw:Extension:Education Program|Education Program]] pages better.
*   At the request of the community, VisualEditor has been deployed to [[:commons:|Commons]] as an opt-in. It is currently available by default for 161 Wikipedia language editions and by [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|opt-in through Beta Features]] at all others, as well as on several non-Wikipedia sites. 

'''Looking ahead:'''  The toolbar from the [[:mw:Extension:PageTriage|PageTriage extension]] will no longer be visible inside VisualEditor.  More buttons and icons will be accessible from the keyboard.  The "{{int:visualeditor-dialog-command-help-title}}" link will be moved out of the "{{int:visualeditor-pagemenu-tooltip}}" menu, into the "{{int:visualeditor-help-tool}}" menu.  Support for upright image sizes (preferred for accessibility) and inline images is being developed.  You will be able to see the Table of Contents while editing.  Looking further out, the developers are also working on support for viewing and editing hidden HTML comments.  VisualEditor will be available to all users on mobile devices and tablet computers.  It will be possible to upload images to Commons from inside VisualEditor.  

If you have questions or suggestions for future improvements, or if you encounter problems, please let everyone know by posting a note at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Feedback]] or by joining the [[:meta:IRC office hours|office hours]] on Thursday, 19 June 2014 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=10&min=00&sec=0&day=19&month=05&year=2014 10:00 UTC].  If you'd like to get this newsletter on your own page (about once a month), please subscribe at [[:w:en:Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter]] for English Wikipedia only or at [[:meta:VisualEditor/Newsletter]] for any project.  Thank you!  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 22:16, 21 May 2014 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor global newsletter—June 2014 ==

<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]][[File:VisualEditor - Toolbar - Formatting.png|alt=The character formatting menu|centre|frameless|316x316px]]
'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">
The character formatting menu, or "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-style-tooltip}}" menu lets you set bold, italic, and other text styles.  "Clear formatting" removes all text styles and removes links to other pages.

Do you think that clear formatting should remove links?  Are there changes you would like to see for this menu?  [[:mw:Thread:VisualEditor/Feedback/Clearing formatting_and_links|Share your opinion at MediaWiki.org]].

[[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|The user guide]] has information about how to use VisualEditor.
</div></div>
The [[:mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team is mostly working to fix bugs, improve performance, reduce technical debt, and other infrastructure needs.  You can find [[:mw:VisualEditor/status|on Mediawiki.org]] weekly updates detailing recent work.

* They have moved the "{{int:visualeditor-dialog-command-help-title}}" link out of the "{{int:visualeditor-pagemenu-tooltip}}" menu, into the "{{int:visualeditor-help-tool}}" menu.  Within dialog boxes, buttons are now more accessible (via the Tab key) from the keyboard.
* You can now '''see the target of the link''' when you click on it, without having to open the inspector.
* The team also expanded '''[[:mw:VisualEditor/Portal/TemplateData|TemplateData]]''': You can now add a parameter type  "<code>date"</code> for dates and times in the [[w:ISO 8601|ISO 8601]] format, and  "<code>boolean"</code> for values which are true or false.  Also, templates that redirect to other templates (like <code><nowiki>{{citeweb}}</nowiki></code> → <code><nowiki>{{cite web}}</nowiki></code>) now get the TemplateData of their target ([[bugzilla:50964|bug 50964]]).  You can test TemplateData by editing [[:mw:Template:Sandbox/doc]].
* Category: and File: pages now display their contents correctly after saving an edit ([[bugzilla:65349|bug 65349]], [[bugzilla:64239|bug 64239]])
* They have also improved '''reference editing''':  You should no longer be able to add empty citations with VisualEditor (bug 64715), as with references.  When you edit a reference, you can now empty it and click the "use an existing reference" button to replace it with another reference instead. 
* It is now possible to edit '''inline images''' with VisualEditor.  Remember that inline images cannot display captions, so existing captions get removed.  Many other bugs related to images were also fixed.
*  You can now add and edit <code><nowiki>{{DISPLAYTITLE}}</nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki>__DISAMBIG__</nowiki></code> in  the "{{int:visualeditor-pagemenu-tooltip}}" menu, rounding out the full set of page options currently planned. 
* The tool to insert '''special characters''' is now wider and simpler.

=== Looking ahead ===

The VisualEditor team has posted a draft of their goals for the next fiscal year.  You can read them and suggest changes [[:mw:Wikimedia Engineering/2014-15 Goals#Editing|on MediaWiki.org]].  

The team posts details about planned work on [[:mw:VisualEditor/Roadmap|VisualEditor's roadmap]].  You will soon be able to '''drag-and-drop text''' as well as images.  If you drag an image to a new place, it won't let you place it in the middle of a paragraph.  All dialog boxes and windows will be simplified based on user testing and feedback.  The VisualEditor team [[:mw:Cite-from-id|plans to add '''autofill features''']]''' for citations'''.  <mark>Your [[:mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog|ideas about making referencing quick and easy]] are still wanted.</mark>  Support for '''upright image sizes''' is being developed.  The designers are also working on support for '''viewing and editing hidden HTML comments''' and '''adding rows and columns to tables'''.  

=== Supporting your wiki ===

Please read [[:mw:VisualEditor/Citation tool|VisualEditor/Citation tool]] for information on configuring the new '''citation template menu''', labeled "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cite-label}}".  This menu will not appear unless it has been configured on your wiki.   

If you speak a language other than English, '''we need your help with translating [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]]'''.  The guide is out of date or incomplete for many languages, and what's on your wiki may not be the most recent translation.  Please contact me if you need help getting started with translation work on MediaWiki.org.   

VisualEditor can be made available to most non-Wikipedia projects.  If your community would like to test VisualEditor, please contact product manager [[:m:User:Jdforrester (WMF)|James Forrester]] or file an enhancement request in Bugzilla.   

Please share your questions, suggestions, or problems by posting a note at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Feedback]] or by joining the [[:m:IRC office hours|office hours]] on Saturday, 19 July 2014 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=21&min=00&sec=0&day=19&month=07&year=2014 21:00 UTC] (daytime for the Americas and Pacific Islands) or on Thursday, 14 August 2014 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=9&min=00&sec=0&day=14&month=08&year=2014 9:00 UTC] (daytime for Europe, Middle East, Asia).

To change your subscription to this newsletter, please see the subscription pages on [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Meta]] or [[:w:en:Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|the English Wikipedia]]. Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 04:59, 25 June 2014 (UTC)
</div>
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== VisualEditor newsletter—July and August 2014 ==

<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|right|200px]]
''The [[:mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] team is currently working mostly to fix bugs, improve performance, reduce technical debt, and other infrastructure needs. You can find [[:mw:VisualEditor/status|on Mediawiki.org]] weekly updates detailing recent work.''
[[File:VisualEditor - Link editing inline box.png|thumb|Dialog boxes in VisualEditor have been re-designed to use action words instead of icons.  This has increased the number of [[:mw:VisualEditor/TranslationCentral#Translate the VisualEditor interface|items that need to be translated]].

[[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|The user guide]] is also being updated.
|alt=Screenshot of VisualEditor's link tool|240px]]

The biggest visible change since the last newsletter was to the dialog boxes.  '''The design for each dialog box and window was simplified.'''  The most commonly needed buttons are now at the top.  Based on user feedback, the buttons are now labeled with simple words (like "Cancel" or "Done") instead of potentially confusing icons (like "<" or "X").  Many of the buttons to edit links, images, and other items now also show the linked page, image name, or other useful information when you click on them.
* '''Hidden HTML comments''' (notes visible to editors, but not to readers) can now be read, edited, inserted, and removed.  A small icon (a white exclamation mark on a dot) marks the location of each comments.  You can click on the icon to see the comment.
* You can now '''drag and drop text''' and templates as well as images.  A new placement line makes it much easier to see where you are dropping the item.  Images can no longer be dropped into the middle of paragraphs.
* '''All references and footnotes ('''<code><nowiki><ref></nowiki></code>''' tags) are now made through the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cite-label}}" menu''', including the "{{int:visualeditor-dialogbutton-reference-tooltip}}" (manual formatting) footnotes and the ability to re-use an existing citation, both of which were previously accessible only through the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-insert}}" menu.  The "{{int:visualeditor-dialogbutton-referencelist-tooltip}}" is still added via the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-insert}}" menu.
* When you add an image or other media file, you are now prompted to add an '''image caption''' immediately. You can also replace an image whilst keeping the original caption and other settings.
* All tablet users visiting the '''mobile web''' version of Wikipedias will be able to opt-in to a version of VisualEditor from 14 August.  You can test the new tool by choosing the beta version of the mobile view in the Settings menu.
* The '''link tool''' has a new "Open" button that will open a linked page in another tab so you can make sure a link is the right one. 
* The '''"Cancel" button''' in the toolbar has been removed based on user testing.  To cancel any edit, you can leave the page by clicking the Read tab, the back button in your browser, or closing the browser window without saving your changes.

=== Looking ahead ===

The team posts details about planned work on the [[:mw:VisualEditor/Roadmap|VisualEditor roadmap]].  The VisualEditor team [[:mw:Cite-from-id|plans to add '''auto-fill features''']]''' for citations''' soon.  <mark>Your [[:mw:VisualEditor/Design/Reference Dialog|ideas about making referencing quick and easy]] are still wanted.</mark>  Support for '''upright image sizes''' is being developed.  The designers are also working on support for '''adding rows and columns to tables'''.  Work to support '''Internet Explorer''' is ongoing.

=== Feedback opportunities ===

The Editing team will be making two presentations this weekend at '''Wikimania''' in London.  The first is with product manager James Forrester and developer Trevor Parscal on [[wm2014:Submissions/VisualEditor_—_helping_users_edit_more_easily|Saturday at 16:30]].  The second is with developers Roan Kattouw and Trevor Parscal on [[wm2014:Submissions/VisualEditor_—_engineering_against_the_odds|Sunday at 12:30]].     

Please share your questions, suggestions, or problems by posting a note at the [[:mw:VisualEditor/Feedback|'''VisualEditor feedback page''']] or by joining the [[:m:IRC office hours|'''office hours discussion''']] on Thursday, 14 August 2014 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=9&min=00&sec=0&day=14&month=08&year=2014 09:00 UTC] (daytime for Europe, Middle East and Asia) or on Thursday, 18 September 2014 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=9&min=00&sec=0&day=14&month=08&year=2014http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=16&min=00&sec=0&day=18&month=09&year=2014 16:00 UTC] (daytime for the Americas; evening for Europe).   

If you'd like to get this newsletter on your own page (about once a month), please subscribe at [[:w:en:Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter]] for English Wikipedia only or at [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Meta]] for any project. Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 18:14, 8 August 2014 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor newsletter—September and October 2014 ==

<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]][[File:TemplateData GUI editor with two parameters.png|alt=|centre|frameless|230x230px]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">
TemplateData is a separate program that organizes information about the parameters that can be used in a template.  VisualEditor reads that data, and uses it to populate its simplified template dialogs.

With the new TemplateData editor, it is easier to add information about parameters, because the ones you need to use are pre-loaded. 

See [[mediawikiwiki:Help:TemplateData|the help page for TemplateData]] for more information about adding TemplateData.  [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|The user guide]] has information about how to use VisualEditor.
</div></div>
Since the last newsletter, the [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor|Editing]] team has reduced technical debt, simplified some workflows for template and citation editing, made major progress on Internet Explorer support, and fixed [https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/buglist.cgi?list_id=349619&order=priority%252Cbug_severity&product=VisualEditor&query_format=advanced&resolution=FIXED&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-08-14&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-08-21&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-08-28&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-09-04&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-09-11&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-09-18&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-09-25&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-10-02 over 125 bugs and requests]. Several performance improvements were made, especially to the system around re-using references and reference lists.  Weekly updates are posted [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/status|on Mediawiki.org]]. 

There were three issues that required urgent fixes: a deployment error that meant that many buttons didn't work correctly (bugs [[bugzilla:69856|69856]] and [[bugzilla:69864|69864]]), a problem with edit conflicts that left the editor with nowhere to go ([[bugzilla:69150|bug 69150]]), and a problem in Internet Explorer 11 that caused replaced some categories with a link to the system message, [[MediaWiki:Badtitletext]] ([[bugzilla:70894|bug 70894]]) when you saved. The developers apologize for the disruption, and thank the people who reported these problems quickly.
</div>

=== Increased support for devices and browsers ===
<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
'''Internet Explorer 10 and 11 users now have access to VisualEditor'''. This means that about 5% of Wikimedia's users will now get an "Edit" tab alongside the existing "Edit source" tab.  Support for Internet Explorer 9 is planned for the future.

'''Tablet users''' browsing the site's mobile mode now have the option of using a mobile-specific form of VisualEditor. More editing tools, and availability of VisualEditor on smartphones, is planned for the future. The '''mobile version of VisualEditor''' was tweaked to show the context menu for citations instead of basic references ([[bugzilla:68897|bug 68897]]).  A bug that broke the editor in iOS was corrected and released early ([[bugzilla:68949|bug 68949]]). For mobile tablet users, three bugs related to scrolling were fixed ([[bugzilla:66697|bug 66697]], [[bugzilla:68828|bug 68828]], [[bugzilla:69630|bug 69630]]). You can use VisualEditor on the mobile version of Wikipedia from your tablet by clicking on the cog in the top-right when editing a page and choosing which editor to use.
</div>

=== TemplateData editor ===
<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
'''A tool for editing [[mediawikiwiki:Extension:TemplateData|TemplateData]] will be deployed to more Wikipedias soon.'''  Other Wikipedias and some other projects may receive access next month.  This tool makes it easier to add TemplateData to the template's documentation.  When the tool is enabled, it will add a button above every editing window for a template (including documentation subpages).  To use it, edit the template or a subpage, and then click the "{{int:templatedata-editbutton}}" button at the top.  Read [[mediawikiwiki:Help:TemplateData|the help page for TemplateData]].  You can test the TemplateData editor [[mediawikiwiki:Template:Sandbox/doc|in a sandbox at Mediawiki.org]].  Remember that TemplateData should be placed either on a documentation subpage '''''or''''' on the template page itself.  Only one block of TemplateData will be used per template.
</div>

=== Other changes ===
Several interface '''messages and labels were changed''' to be simpler, clearer, or shorter, based on feedback from translators and editors. The formatting of dialogs was changed, and more changes to the appearance will be coming soon, when VisualEditor implements the new MediaWiki theme from Design.  (A preview of the theme is [[toollabs:oojs-ui/oojs-ui/demos/index.html#widgets-mediawiki-vector-ltr|available on Labs]] for developers.)  The team also made some improvements for users of the '''Monobook''' skin that improved the size of text in toolbars and fixed selections that overlapped menus.

VisualEditor-MediaWiki now supplies the <kbd><code>mw-redirect</code></kbd> or <kbd><code>mw-disambig</code></kbd> class on '''links to redirects and disambiguation pages''', so that user gadgets that colour in these in types of links can be created.

'''Templates' fields can be marked as '<kbd>required</kbd>' '''in TemplateData.  If a parameter is marked as required, then you cannot delete that field when you add a new template or edit an existing one ([[bugzilla:60358|bug 60358]]). 

Language support improved by making annotations use bi-directional isolation (so they display correctly with cursoring behaviour as expected) and by fixing a bug that crashed VisualEditor when trying to edit a page with a <kbd><code>dir</code></kbd> attribute but no <kbd><code>lang</code></kbd> set ([[bugzilla:69955|bug 69955]]).

=== Looking ahead ===
<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">

The team posts details about planned work on the [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Roadmap|VisualEditor roadmap]].  The VisualEditor team [[mediawikiwiki:Cite-from-id|plans to add '''auto-fill features''']] '''for citations''' soon, perhaps in late October.        

The team is also working on support for '''adding rows and columns to tables''', and early work for this may appear within the month.  <mark>Please comment on the design [[:mw:VisualEditor/Design/Table_editor#Design_Workflow for comments|at Mediawiki.org]].</mark>

In the future, real-time collaborative editing may be possible in VisualEditor.  Some early preparatory work for this was recently done.    
</div>

=== Supporting your wiki ===
<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">

At Wikimania, several developers gave presentations about VisualEditor.  A translation sprint focused on improving access to VisualEditor was supported by many people.  '''Deryck Chan''' was the top translator.  Special honors also go to '''संजीव कुमार (Sanjeev Kumar)''', '''Robby''', '''Takot''', '''Bachounda''', '''Bjankuloski06''' and '''Ата'''.  A summary of the work achieved by the translation community has been [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Translathon#Highlights_from_the_Translathon|posted here]].  Thank you all for your work.      

VisualEditor can be made available to most non-Wikipedia projects.  If your community would like to test VisualEditor, please contact product manager [[m:User talk:Jdforrester (WMF)|James Forrester]] or file an [https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=VisualEditor&component=General enhancement request in Bugzilla].    

Please join the [[:m:IRC office hours|office hours]] on Saturday, 18 October 2014 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=18&min=00&sec=0&day=18&month=10&year=2014 18:00 UTC] (daytime for the Americas; evening for Africa and Europe) and on Wednesday, 19 November at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=VisualEditor+office+hour+for+November&iso=20141119T16&p1=1440 16:00 UTC] on [[:w:IRC|IRC]].

''Give feedback on VisualEditor at [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Feedback|mw:VisualEditor/Feedback.]]  Subscribe or unsubscribe at [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Meta]]. To help with translations, please subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or contact [[:m:User talk:Elitre (WMF)|Elitre at Meta]].  Thank you!''

— [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)#top|talk]]) 00:10, 8 October 2014 (UTC)
</div>
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== VisualEditor newsletter—November 2014 ==

<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]][[File:VisualEditor - moble tablet switching.png|alt=Screenshot on an iPad, showing how to switch from one editor to the other|centre|frameless|230x230px]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">
<span lang="en" dir="ltr">VisualEditor is also available on the mobile version of Wikipedia.  Login and click the pencil icon to open the page you want to edit.  Click on the gear-shaped settings in the upper-right corner, to pick which editor to use.  Choose "Edit" to use VisualEditor, or "Edit source" to use the wikitext editor.</span>  

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">It will remember whether you used wikitext or VisualEditor, and use the same editor the next time you edit an article.</span>  

[[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|<span lang="en" dir="ltr">The user guide</span>]]<span lang="en" dir="ltr"> has information about how to use VisualEditor.  Not all features are available in Mobile Web.</span>
</div></div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr">Since the last newsletter, the [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor|Editing Team]] has fixed many [https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/buglist.cgi?list_id=355757&product=VisualEditor&query_format=advanced&resolution=FIXED&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-10-09&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-10-16&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-10-23%20%281.25wmf5%29&target_milestone=VE-deploy-2014-10-29%20%281.25wmf6%29 bugs and requests], and worked on support for editing tables and for using non-Latin languages. Their weekly updates are posted [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/status|on Mediawiki.org]].  Informal notes from the recent quarterly review were posted [[m:WMF_Metrics_and_activities_meetings/Quarterly_reviews/Editing/October_2014|on Meta]].</span> 
</div>

=== <span lang="en" dir="ltr">Recent improvements</span> ===
<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<span lang="en" dir="ltr">The French Wikipedia should see '''better search results''' for links, templates, and media because the [[:mw:Help:CirrusSearch|new search engine]] was turned on for everyone there.  This change is expected at the Chinese and German Wikipedias next week, and eventually at the English Wikipedia.</span> 

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">The "pawn" system has been mostly replaced.  Bugs in this system sometimes added a chess pawn character to wikitext. The replacement provides better support for '''non-Latin languages''', with full support hopefully coming soon.</span> 

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">VisualEditor is now provided to editors who use '''Internet Explorer''' 10 or 11 on desktop and mobile devices. Internet Explorer 9 is not supported yet.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">The keyboard shortcuts for items in the toolbar's menus are now shown in the menus.  VisualEditor will replace the existing design with a new theme from the [[mediawikiwiki:Design|User Experience / Design group]]. The appearance of dialogs has already changed in one Mobile version.  The appearance on desktops will change soon.  (You can see a developer preview of [[toollabs:oojs-ui/oojs-ui/demos/index.html#widgets-apex-vector-ltr|the old "Apex" design]] and [[toollabs:oojs-ui/oojs-ui/demos/index.html#widgets-mediawiki-vector-ltr|the new "MediaWiki" theme]] which will replace it.)</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">Several bugs were fixed for internal and external links.  Improvements to MediaWiki's search solved an annoying problem:  If you searched for the full name of the page or file that you wanted to link, sometimes the search program could not find the page.  A link inside a template, to a local page that does not exist, will now show red, exactly as it does when reading the page.  Due to a error, for about two weeks this also affected all external links inside templates.  Opening an auto-numbered link node like [http://example.com] with the keyboard used to open the wrong link tool.  These problems have all been fixed.</span>
</div>
=== <span lang="en" dir="ltr">TemplateData</span> ===
<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
'''<span lang="en" dir="ltr">The tool for quickly editing [[mediawikiwiki:Extension:TemplateData|TemplateData]] will be deployed to all Wikimedia Foundation wikis on Thursday, 6 November.</span>'''<span lang="en" dir="ltr">  This tool is already available on the biggest 40 Wikipedias, and now all wikis will have access to it.  This tool makes it easier to add TemplateData to the template's documentation.  When the tool is enabled, it will add a button above every editing window for a template (including documentation subpages).  To use it, edit the template or a subpage, and then click the "{{int:templatedata-editbutton}}" button at the top.  Read [[mediawikiwiki:Help:TemplateData|the help page for TemplateData]].  You can test the TemplateData editor [[mediawikiwiki:Template:Sandbox/doc|in a sandbox at Mediawiki.org]].  Remember that TemplateData should be placed either on a documentation subpage '''''or''''' on the template page itself.  Only one block of TemplateData will be used per template.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">You can use the '''new autovalue setting''' to pre-load a value into a template.  This can be used to substitute dates, as in [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=632356794&oldid=632356402 this example], or to add the most common response for that parameter.  The autovalue can be easily overridden by the editor, by typing something else in the field.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">In TemplateData, you may '''define a parameter as "required"'''.  The template dialog in VisualEditor will warn editors if they leave a "required" parameter empty, and they will not be able to delete that parameter.  If the template can function without this parameter, then please mark it as "suggested" or "optional" in TemplateData instead.</span>
</div>

=== <span lang="en" dir="ltr">Looking ahead</span> ===
<div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">Basic support for '''inserting tables '''and changing the number of rows and columns in tables will appear next Wednesday. Advanced features, like dragging columns to different places, will be possible later. The VisualEditor team [[mediawikiwiki:Cite-from-id|plans to add '''auto-fill features''']] '''for citations''' soon.  To help editors find the most important items more quickly, some items in the toolbar menus will be hidden behind a "More" item, such as "underlining" in the styling menu.  The appearance of the media search dialog will improve, to make picking between possible images easier and more visual. The team posts details about planned work on the [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Roadmap|VisualEditor roadmap]].</span>        

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">The [[mediawikiwiki:Help:VisualEditor/User_guide|user guide]] will be updated soon to add information about editing tables.  The translations for most languages except Spanish, French, and Dutch are significantly out of date.  <mark>Please help [https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Translate&group=page-Help%3AVisualEditor%2FUser+guide&language=&action=page&filter= complete the current translations]</mark> for users who speak your language.  [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Whatamidoing_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new Talk to us] if you need help exporting the translated guide to your wiki.</span>        
    
</div>'''<span lang="en" dir="ltr">You can influence VisualEditor's design</span>'''<span lang="en" dir="ltr">.  Tell the VisualEditor team what you want changed during the [[:m:IRC office hours|office hours]] via [[:en:IRC|IRC]]. The next sessions are on Wednesday, 19 November at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=VisualEditor+office+hour+for+November&iso=20141119T16&p1=1440 16:00 UTC] and on Wednesday 7 January 2015 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=22&min=00&sec=0&day=7&month=1&year=2015 22:00 UTC].  You can also share your ideas at [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Feedback|mw:VisualEditor/Feedback.]]</span><div class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<span lang="en" dir="ltr">Also, '''user experience researcher''' [[:mw:User:ARipstra (WMF)|Abbey Ripstra]] is looking for editors to show her how they edit Wikipedia.  Please [https://jfe.qualtrics.com/form/SV_6R04ammTX8uoJFP sign up for the research program] if you would like to hear about opportunities.</span>      

<span lang="en" dir="ltr">If you would like to help with translations of this newsletter, please subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]]<nowiki/> or contact us directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready.  Subscribe or unsubscribe at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter]]. Thank you!</span>
</div>

— [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 20:41, 6 November 2014 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor newsletter—December 2014 ==

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]][[File:VisualEditor table editing add and remove columns.png|alt=Screenshot showing how to add or remove columns from a table|centre|frameless|230x230px]]

'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

Basic table editing is now available in VisualEditor.  You can add and remove rows and columns from existing tables at the click of a button.

[[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|The user guide]] has more information about how to use VisualEditor.
</div></div>
Since the last newsletter, the [[mw:VisualEditor|Editing Team]] has fixed many bugs and worked on table editing and performance. Their weekly status reports are posted [[mw:VisualEditor/status|on Mediawiki.org]]. Upcoming plans are posted at the [[mw:VisualEditor/Roadmap|VisualEditor roadmap]].   

'''VisualEditor was deployed to several hundred remaining wikis''' as an opt-in [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|beta feature]] at the end of November, except for most Wiktionaries (which depend heavily upon templates) and all Wikisources (which await integration with [[mw:Extension:Proofread Page|ProofreadPage]]).   

=== Recent improvements ===
Basic support for '''editing tables''' is available.  You can insert new tables, add and remove rows and columns, set or remove a caption for a table, and merge cells together.  To change the contents of a cell, double-click inside it.  More features will be added in the coming months.  In addition, VisualEditor now ignores broken, invalid <code>rowspan</code> and <code>colspan</code> elements, instead of trying to repair them.

You can now use '''find and replace''' in VisualEditor, reachable through the tool menu or by pressing <kbd>⌃ Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>F</kbd> or <kbd>⌘ Cmd</kbd>+<kbd>F</kbd>.

You can now create and edit simple <code class="mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><nowiki><blockquote></nowiki></code> paragraphs for quoting and indenting content. This changes a "{{Int:Visualeditor-formatdropdown-format-paragraph}}" into a "{{Int:Visualeditor-formatdropdown-format-blockquote}}".

Some '''new keyboard sequences''' can be used to format content. At the start of the line, typing "<kbd>* </kbd> " will make the line a bullet list; "<kbd>1. </kbd> " or "<kbd># </kbd>" will make it a numbered list; "<kbd>==</kbd>" will make it a section heading; "<kbd>: </kbd>" will make it a blockquote. If you didn't mean to use these tools, you can press undo to undo the formatting change. There are also two other keyboard sequences: "<kbd>[[</kbd>" for opening the link tool, and "<kbd><nowiki>{{</nowiki></kbd>" for opening the template tool, to help experienced editors. The existing standard keyboard shortcuts, like <kbd>⌃ Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>K</kbd> to open the link editor, still work. 

If you add a category that has been redirected, then VisualEditor now adds its target. Categories without description pages show up as red.

You can again create and edit '''galleries''' as wikitext code.

=== Looking ahead ===
VisualEditor will replace the existing design with a '''new theme''' designed by the [[mw:Design|User Experience group]]. The new theme will be visible for desktop systems at MediaWiki.org in late December and at other sites early January. (You can see a developer preview of [[toollabs:oojs-ui/oojs-ui/demos/index.html#widgets-apex-vector-ltr|the old "Apex" theme]] and [[toollabs:oojs-ui/oojs-ui/demos/index.html#widgets-mediawiki-vector-ltr|the new "MediaWiki" one]] which will replace it.)        

The Editing team [[mw:Cite-from-id|plans to add '''auto-fill features''']] '''for citations''' in January. Planned changes to the media search dialog will make choosing between possible images easier.

=== Help ===
* Share your ideas and ask questions at [[mw:VisualEditor/Feedback|mw:VisualEditor/Feedback.]]
* Translations of the [[mw:Help:VisualEditor/User_guide|user guide]] for most languages are oudated. Ukrainian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Dutch translators are nearly current.  Please help [https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Translate&group=page-Help%3AVisualEditor%2FUser+guide&language=&action=page&filter= complete the current translations] for users who speak your language. 
* Talk to the Editing team during the [[:m:IRC office hours|office hours]] via [[:en:IRC|IRC]]. The next session is on Wednesday, 7 January 2015 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=22&min=00&sec=0&day=7&month=1&year=2015 22:00 UTC].  
* File requests for language-appropriate "{{Int:visualeditor-annotationbutton-bold-tooltip}}" and "{{Int:visualeditor-annotationbutton-italic-tooltip}}" icons for the character formatting menu [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/task/create/?projects=PHID-PROJ-dafezmpv6huxg3taml24 in Phabricator].
* The design research team wants to see how real editors work.  Please [https://jfe.qualtrics.com/form/SV_6R04ammTX8uoJFP sign up for their research program].
If you would like to help with translations of this newsletter, please subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready.  Subscribe or unsubscribe at [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Meta]]. 

Thank you! [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|WhatamIdoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]])  23:37, 20 December 2014 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor News 2015—#1 ==

[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|300px|right]]

Since the last newsletter, the [[mw:VisualEditor|Editing Team]] has fixed many bugs and worked on VisualEditor's appearance, the coming Citoid reference service, and support for languages with complex input requirements. Status reports are posted [[mw:VisualEditor/status|on Mediawiki.org]]. Upcoming plans are posted at the [[mw:VisualEditor/Roadmap|VisualEditor roadmap]].   

The Wikimedia Foundation has named [[:mw:Wikimedia_Engineering/2014-15_Goals#Top_departmental_priorities_for_Q3_.28January-March_2015.29|its top priorities for this quarter]] (January to March). The first priority is making VisualEditor ready for deployment by default to all new users and logged-out users at the remaining large Wikipedias. You can help identify these requirements. <mark>There will be weekly '''triage meetings '''which''' will be open to volunteers''' beginning Wednesday, 11 February 2015 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20150211T12&p1=224&ah=1 12:00 (noon) PST] (20:00 UTC).</mark>  Tell Vice President of Engineering [[foundation:User:Damon_Sicore_(WMF)|Damon Sicore]], Product Manager [[mediawikiwiki:User:Jdforrester_(WMF)|James Forrester]] and other team members which bugs and features are most important to you. The decisions made at these meetings will determine what work is necessary for this quarter's goal of making VisualEditor ready for deployment to new users. The presence of volunteers who enjoy contributing MediaWiki code is particularly appreciated. Information about how to join the meeting will be posted at [[:mw:Talk:VisualEditor/Portal|mw:Talk:VisualEditor/Portal]] shortly before the meeting begins. 
 
Due to some breaking changes in MobileFrontend and VisualEditor, VisualEditor was not working correctly on the mobile site for a couple of days in early January. The teams apologize for the problem.   

=== Recent improvements ===
The''' new design for VisualEditor''' aligns with MediaWiki's [[mw:Frontend standards group|Front-End Standards]] as led by the Design team. Several new versions of the [[mw:OOjs UI|OOjs UI]] library have also been released, and these also affect the appearance of VisualEditor and other MediaWiki software extensions. Most changes were minor, like changing the text size and the amount of white space in some windows. Buttons are consistently color-coded to indicate whether the action:
* starts a new task, like opening the {{int:visualeditor-toolbar-savedialog}} dialog: <span style="background-color: #015ccc; color:white">&nbsp;blue&nbsp;</span>,
* takes a constructive action, like inserting a citation: <span style="background-color: #008c6d; color:white">&nbsp;green&nbsp;</span>,
* might remove or lose your work, like removing a link: <span style="background-color: #a7170f; color:white">&nbsp;red&nbsp;</span>, or 
* is neutral, like opening a link in a new browser window: <span style="color: 757575">&nbsp;gray</span>.  
The '''TemplateData editor''' has been completely re-written to use a different design ([[phab:T67815|T67815]]) based on the same OOjs UI system as VisualEditor ([[phab:T73746|T73746]]). This change fixed a couple of existing bugs ([[phab:T73077|T73077]] and [[phab:T73078|T73078]]) and improved usability.

'''Search and replace''' in long documents is now faster. It does not highlight every occurrence if there are more than 100 on-screen at once ([[phab:T78234|T78234]]).

Editors at the Hebrew and Russian Wikipedias requested the ability to use VisualEditor in the "Article Incubator" or drafts namespace ([[phab:T86688|T86688]], [[phab:T87027|T87027]]). If your community would like '''VisualEditor enabled on another namespace''' on your wiki, then you can file a request in Phabricator. Please include a link to a community discussion about the requested change.

=== Looking ahead ===
The Editing team will soon add '''auto-fill features''' '''for citations'''. The '''[[mw:Citoid|Citoid service]]''' takes a [[w:URL|URL]] or [[w:en: Digital object identifier|DOI]] for a reliable source, and returns a pre-filled, pre-formatted bibliographic citation. After creating it, you will be able to change or add information to the citation, in the same way that you edit any other pre-existing citation in VisualEditor. Support for ISBNs, PMIDs, and other identifiers is planned. Later, editors will be able to contribute to the Citoid service's definitions for each website, to improve precision and reduce the need for manual corrections.   

We will need editors to help test the '''new design of the special character inserter''', especially if you speak Welsh, Breton, or another language that uses diacritics or special characters extensively. The new version should be available for testing next week. Please contact [[:en:User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|User:Whatamidoing (WMF)]] if you would like to be notified when the new version is available. After the special character tool is completed, VisualEditor will be deployed to all users at [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Rollouts|Phase 5 Wikipedias]]. This will affect about 50 mid-size and smaller Wikipedias, including '''Afrikaans, Azerbaijani, Breton, Kyrgyz, Macedonian, Mongolian, Tatar, and Welsh'''. The date for this change has not been determined. 

=== Let's work together ===
* Share your ideas and ask questions at [https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=VisualEditor/Feedback&lqt_method=talkpage_new_thread mw:VisualEditor/Feedback].
* Please help [https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Translate&group=page-Help%3AVisualEditor%2FUser+guide&language=&action=page&filter= complete translations of the user guide] for users who speak your language. 
* Join the weekly bug triage meetings beginning Wednesday, 11 February 2015 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20150211T12&p1=224&ah=1 12:00 (noon) PST] (20:00 UTC). Information about how to join the meeting will be posted at [[mw:Talk:VisualEditor/Portal]] shortly before the meeting begins.  Contact [[mw:User:Jdforrester (WMF)|James F.]] for more information. 
* Talk to the Editing team during the [[:m:IRC office hours|office hours]] via [[:en:IRC|IRC]]. The next session is on Thursday, 19 February 2015 at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?hour=19&min=00&sec=0&day=19&month=2&year=2015 19:00 UTC].  

Subscribe or unsubscribe at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter]].  Translations are available through [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Meta]].  Thank you!  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 20:23, 2 February 2015 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor News #2—2015 ==

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

With [[:mw:Citoid|Citoid]] in VisualEditor, you click the 'book with bookmark' icon and paste in the URL for a reliable source:


[[File:Citoid in VisualEditor Screen Shot 2015-04-02.png|alt=Screenshot of Citoid's first dialog|centre|frameless|230x230px]]


Citoid looks up the source for you and returns the citation results.  Click the green "Insert" button to accept its results and add them to the article:  


[[File:Citoid results in VisualEditor Screen Shot 2015-04-02.png|alt=Screenshot of Citoid's initial results|centre|frameless|230x230px]]


After inserting the citation, you can change it.  Select the reference, and click the "Edit" button in the context menu to make changes.


[[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|The user guide]] has more information about how to use VisualEditor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[:mw:VisualEditor|Editing Team]] has fixed many bugs and worked on VisualEditor's performance, the [[:mw:Citoid|Citoid]] reference service, and support for languages with complex input requirements. Status reports are posted [[:mw:VisualEditor/changelog|on Mediawiki.org]]. The worklist for April through June is available [[phab:project/sprint/board/1113/|in Phabricator]].   

The weekly '''task triage meetings''' continue to be open to volunteers, each Wednesday at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20150401T11&p1=224&am=30 11:00 (noon) PDT] (18:00 UTC).  You do not need to attend the meeting to nominate a bug for consideration as a Q4 blocker.  Instead, go to Phabricator and "associate" the [[phab:tag/editing_department_2014_15_q4_blockers/|Editing team's Q4 blocker project]] with the bug.  Learn how to join the meetings and how to nominate bugs at [[:mw:Talk:VisualEditor/Portal|mw:Talk:VisualEditor/Portal]].

=== Recent improvements ===
VisualEditor is now substantially faster.  In many cases, opening the page in VisualEditor is now faster than opening it in the wikitext editor. The new system has improved the code speed by 37% and [[:mw:RESTBase|network speed]] by almost 40%.

The Editing team is slowly adding '''auto-fill features''' '''for citations'''. This is currently available only at the French, Italian, and English Wikipedias.  The '''[[:mw:Citoid|Citoid service]]''' takes a [[:en:URL|URL]] or [[:en:Digital object identifier|DOI]] for a reliable source, and returns a pre-filled, pre-formatted bibliographic citation. After creating it, you will be able to change or add information to the citation, in the same way that you edit any other pre-existing citation in VisualEditor. Support for ISBNs, PMIDs, and other identifiers is planned. Later, editors will be able to improve precision and reduce the need for manual corrections by contributing to the Citoid service's definitions for each website.

Citoid requires good [[:mw:Help:TemplateData|TemplateData]] for your citation templates.  If you would like to request this feature for your wiki, please post a request in the [[phab:tag/citoid/|Citoid project on Phabricator]]. Include links to the TemplateData for the most important citation templates on your wiki.

The '''special character inserter''' has been improved, based upon feedback from active users.  After this, VisualEditor was made available to all users of Wikipedias on the [[:mw:VisualEditor/Rollouts|Phase 5]] list on 30 March.  This affected 53 mid-size and smaller Wikipedias, including '''Afrikaans''', '''Azerbaijani''', '''Breton''', '''Kyrgyz''', '''Macedonian''', '''Mongolian''', '''Tatar''', and''' Welsh'''. 

Work continues to support languages with complex requirements, such as Korean and Japanese.  These languages use [[w:input method editor|input method editors]] ("IMEs”).  Recent improvements to cursoring, backspace, and delete behavior will simplify typing in VisualEditor for these users.

The design for the image selection process is now using a "masonry fit" model.  Images in the search results are displayed at the same height but at variable widths, similar to bricks of different sizes in a masonry wall, or the [[:mw:Help:Images#Mode parameter|"packed" mode in image galleries]].  This style helps you find the right image by making it easier to see more details in images.

You can now '''drag and drop categories''' to re-arrange their order of appearance on the page.

The pop-up window that appears when you click on a reference, image, link, or other element, is called the "context menu".  It now displays additional useful information, such as the destination of the link or the image's filename.  The team has also added an explicit "Edit" button in the context menu, which helps new editors open the tool to change the item.

'''Invisible templates are marked by a puzzle piece icon''' so they can be interacted with. Users also will be able to see and edit HTML anchors now in section headings.

Users of the TemplateData GUI editor can now set a string as an optional text for the 'deprecated' property in addition to boolean value, which lets you tell users of the template what they should do instead ([[phab:T90734|T90734]]).

=== Looking ahead ===
The special character inserter in VisualEditor will soon use the same special character list as the wikitext editor.  Admins at each wiki will also have the option of creating a custom section for frequently used characters at the top of the list.  Instructions for customizing the list will be posted [[:mw:VisualEditor/Special_characters|at mediawiki.org]].

The team is [[phab:T90666|discussing a test of VisualEditor]] with new users, to see whether they have met their goals of making VisualEditor suitable for those editors.  The timing is unknown, but might be relatively soon.

=== Let's work together ===
* Share your ideas and ask questions at [https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=VisualEditor/Feedback&lqt_method=talkpage_new_thread mw:VisualEditor/Feedback].
* Can you translate from English into any other language?  Please check [https://translatewiki.net/w/i.php?title=Special%3AMessageGroupStats&x=D&group=ext-visualeditor-ve&suppressempty=1 this list] to see whether more interface translations are needed for your language.  [[m:User talk:Elitre (WMF)|Contact us]] to get an account if you want to help! 
* The design research team wants to see how real editors work. Please [https://jfe.qualtrics.com/form/SV_6R04ammTX8uoJFP sign up for their research program]. 
* File requests for language-appropriate "{{Int:visualeditor-annotationbutton-bold-tooltip}}" and "{{Int:visualeditor-annotationbutton-italic-tooltip}}" icons for the character formatting menu [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/task/create/?projects=PHID-PROJ-dafezmpv6huxg3taml24 in Phabricator]. 

Subscribe, unsubscribe or change the page where this newsletter is delivered at [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Meta]].  If you aren't reading this in your favorite language, then please help us with translations!  Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. Thank you!

-[[:en:User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] [[:en:User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|(talk)]], 17:50, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor News #3—2015 ==

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

When you click on a link to an article, you now see more information:
<br><br>
[[File:VisualEditor-context menu-link tool.png|alt=Screenshot showing the link tool's context menu|centre|frameless|230x230px]]
<br>
The link tool has been re-designed:  
<br><br>
[[File:VisualEditor link tool 2015.png|alt=Screenshot of the link inspector|centre|frameless|230x230px]]
<br>
There are separate tabs for linking to internal and external pages.

[[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|The user guide]] has more information about how to use VisualEditor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[mw:VisualEditor|Editing Team]] has created new interfaces for the link and citation tools, as well as fixing many bugs and changing some elements of the design.  Some of these bugs affected users of VisualEditor on mobile devices. Status reports are posted [[mw:VisualEditor/changelog|on Mediawiki.org]]. The worklist for April through June is available [[phab:project/sprint/board/1113/|in Phabricator]].   

A [[m:Research:VisualEditor's_effect_on_newly_registered_editors/May_2015_study|test of VisualEditor's effect on new editors]] at the English Wikipedia has just completed the first phase.  During this test, half of newly registered editors had VisualEditor automatically enabled, and half did not.  The main goal of the study is to learn which group was more likely to save an edit and to make productive, unreverted edits.  Initial [[m:Research:VisualEditor's_effect_on_newly_registered_editors/May_2015_study#Results|results will be posted at Meta]] later this month.   

=== Recent improvements ===
'''Auto-fill features''' '''for citations''' are available at a few Wikipedias through the '''[[:mw:Citoid|citoid service]]'''.  Citoid takes a [[:en:URL|URL]] or [[:en:Digital object identifier|DOI]] for a reliable source, and returns a pre-filled, pre-formatted bibliographic citation.  If Citoid is enabled on your wiki, then the design of the citation workflow changed during May.  All citations are now created inside a single tool.  Inside that tool, choose the tab you want ({{int:citoid-citeFromIDDialog-mode-auto}}, {{int: citoid-citeFromIDDialog-mode-manual}}, or {{int:citoid-citeFromIDDialog-mode-reuse}}).  The cite button is now labeled with the word "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-cite-label}}" rather than a book icon, and the autofill citation dialog now has a more meaningful label, "{{Int:Citoid-citeFromIDDialog-lookup-button}}", for the submit button.

The '''link tool''' has been redesigned based on feedback from Wikipedia editors and user testing.  It now has two separate sections:  one for links to articles and one for external links. When you select a link, its pop-up context menu shows the name of the linked page, a thumbnail image from the linked page, Wikidata's description, and/or appropriate icons for disambiguation pages, redirect pages and empty pages. Search results have been reduced to the first five pages.  Several bugs were fixed, including a dark highlight that appeared over the first match in the link inspector ([[phab:T98085|T98085]]).  

The '''special character inserter''' in VisualEditor now uses the same special character list as the wikitext editor.  Admins at each wiki can also create a custom section for frequently used characters at the top of the list.  Please read the instructions for customizing the list [[mw:VisualEditor/Special_characters|at mediawiki.org]].  Also, there is now a tooltip to describing each character in the special character inserter ([[phab:T70425|T70425]]).

Several improvements have been made to '''templates'''.  When you search for a template to insert, the list of results now contains descriptions of the templates. The parameter list inside the template dialog now remains open after inserting a parameter from the list, so that users don’t need to click on "{{Int:visualeditor-dialog-transclusion-add-param}}" each time they want to add another parameter ([[phab:T95696|T95696]]).  The team added a '''new property for TemplateData''', "{{int: templatedata-doc-param-example}}", for template parameters.  This optional, translatable property will show up when there is text describing how to use that parameter ([[phab:T53049|T53049]]).

The '''design''' of the main toolbar and several other elements have changed slightly, to be consistent with the MediaWiki theme.  In the Vector skin, individual items in the menu are separated visually by pale gray bars.  Buttons and menus on the toolbar can now contain both an icon and a text label, rather than just one or the other. This new design feature is being used for the cite button on wikis where the Citoid service is enabled.

The team has released a long-desired improvement to the handling of '''non-existent images'''.  If a non-existent image is linked in an article, then it is now visible in VisualEditor and can be selected, edited, replaced, or removed.

=== Let's work together ===
* Share your ideas and ask questions at [https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=VisualEditor/Feedback&lqt_method=talkpage_new_thread mw:VisualEditor/Feedback].
* The weekly task triage meetings continue to be open to volunteers, each Wednesday at [http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?iso=20150609T12&p1=224&am=30 12:00 (noon) PDT] (19:00 UTC).  Learn how to join the meetings and how to nominate bugs at [[mediawikiwiki:Talk:VisualEditor/Portal|mw:Talk:VisualEditor/Portal]].  You do not need to attend the meeting to nominate a bug for consideration as a Q4 blocker.  Instead, go to Phabricator and "associate" the [[phab:tag/editing_department_2014_15_q4_blockers/|Editing team's Q4 blocker project]] with the bug.  
* If your Wikivoyage, Wikibooks, Wikiversity, or other community wants to have VisualEditor made available by default to contributors, then please contact [[:meta:User:Jdforrester (WMF)|James Forrester]]. 
* If you would like to request the Citoid automatic reference feature for your wiki, please post a request in the [[phab:tag/citoid/|Citoid project on Phabricator]]. Include links to the [[:mw:Help:TemplateData|TemplateData]]  for the most important citation templates on your wiki. 

Subscribe, unsubscribe or change the page where this newsletter is delivered at [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Meta]].  If you aren't reading this in your favorite language, then please help us with translations!  Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. Thank you!  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)#top|talk]]) 17:31, 6 June 2015 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor News #4—2015 ==

''[[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2015/August|Read this in another language]]  •  [[:w:en:Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Local subscription list]]  •  [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscribe to the multilingual edition]]''

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

You can add quotations marks before and after a title or phrase with a single click.

Select the relevant text.  Find the correct quotations marks in the special character inserter tool (marked as Ω in the toolbar).<br><br>
[[File:VisualEditor Special character inserter quotation 2.png|alt=Screenshot showing the special character tool, selected text, and the special character that will be inserted|centre|frameless|230px]]
<br>
Click the button.  VisualEditor will add the quotation marks on either side of the text you selected.
<br><br>
[[File:VisualEditor Special character inserter quotation 3.png|alt=Screenshot showing the special character tool and the same text after the special character has been inserted|centre|frameless|230px]]
<br>
You can read and help translate [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use VisualEditor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[mw:VisualEditor|Editing Team]] have been working on mobile phone support. They have fixed many bugs and improved language support.  They post weekly status reports [[mw:VisualEditor/changelog|on mediawiki.org]]. Their workboard is available [[phab:project/board/483/|in Phabricator]].  Their [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Current_priorities|current priorities]] are improving language support and functionality on mobile devices.   

=== Wikimania ===
The team attended Wikimania 2015 in Mexico City. There they participated in the Hackathon and met with individuals and groups of users. They also made several presentations [[c:File:How_we_made_VisualEditor_faster.pdf|about VisualEditor]] and the [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AWikimania_2015_–_Editing_Department_–_Beyond_Editing.pdf&page=5 future of editing].   

Following Wikimania, we announced winners for the [https://translatewiki.net/wiki/Project:VisualEditor/2015_Translathon VisualEditor 2015 Translathon]. Our thanks and congratulations to users ''Halan-tul'', ''Renessaince'', ''<span lang="ne" dir="ltr">जनक राज भट्ट</span> (Janak Bhatta)'', ''Vahe Gharakhanyan'', ''Warrakkk'', and ''Eduardogobi''.

For '''interface messages''' (translated at [https://translatewiki.net translatewiki.net]), we saw the initiative affecting 42 languages. The average progress in translations across all languages was 56.5% before the translathon, and 78.2% after ('''+21.7%'''). In particular, Sakha improved from 12.2% to 94.2%; Brazilian Portuguese went from 50.6% to 100%; Taraškievica went from 44.9% to 85.3%; Doteli went from 1.3% to 41.2%. Also, while 1.7% of the messages were outdated across all languages before the translathon, the percentage dropped to 0.8% afterwards (-0.9%).   

For '''documentation messages''' (on mediawiki.org), we saw the initiative affecting 24 languages. The average progress in translations across all languages was 26.6% before translathon, and 46.9% after ('''+20.3%''').  There were particularly notable achievements for three languages. Armenian improved from 1% to 99%; Swedish, from 21% to 99%, and Brazilian Portuguese, from 34% to 83%. Outdated translations across all languages were reduced from 8.4% before translathon to 4.8% afterwards (-3.6%).   

[https://translatewiki.net/wiki/Project:VisualEditor/2015_Translathon#Graphs_(interface_messages_only) We published some graphs] showing the effect of the event on the Translathon page. [[File:Face-smile.svg|18px]] '''Thank you''' to the translators for participating and the translatewiki.net staff for facilitating this initiative.   

=== Recent improvements ===
'''Auto-fill features for citations''' can be enabled on each Wikipedia.  The tool uses the '''[[:mw:Citoid|citoid service]]''' to convert a [[:en:URL|URL]] or [[:en:Digital object identifier|DOI]] into a pre-filled, pre-formatted bibliographic citation.  You can see an animated GIF of the quick, [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/GIFs#Auto-citing_a_source|simple process at mediawiki.org]].  So far, about a dozen Wikipedias have enabled the auto-citation tool.  To enable it for your wiki, follow the [[mediawikiwiki:Citoid/Enabling_Citoid_on_your_wiki|instructions at mediawiki.org]].

Your wiki can customize the first section of the '''special character inserter''' in VisualEditor. Please follow the [[mw:VisualEditor/Special_characters|instructions at mediawiki.org]] to put the characters you want at the top. 

In other changes, if you need to fill in a [[:mw:CAPTCHA|CAPTCHA]] and get it wrong, then you can click to get a new one to complete.  VisualEditor can now display and edit [[mediawikiwiki:Extension:Graph|Vega-based graphs]]. If you use the Monobook skin, VisualEditor's appearance is now more consistent with other software.     

=== Future changes ===
The team will be changing the '''appearance of selected links''' inside VisualEditor. The purpose is to make it easy to see whether your cursor is inside or outside the link.  When you select a link, the link label (the words shown on the page) will be enclosed in a faint box.  If you place your cursor inside the box, then your changes to the link label will be part of the link.  If you place your cursor outside the box, then it will not.  This will make it easy to know when new characters will be added to the link and when they will not.

On the English Wikipedia, 10% of newly created accounts are now offered both the visual and the wikitext editors.  A [[m:Research:VisualEditor's_effect_on_newly_registered_editors/May_2015_study|recent controlled trial]] showed no significant difference in survival or productivity for new users in the short term.  New users with access to VisualEditor were very slightly less likely to produce results that needed reverting.  You can learn more about this by watching a video of the [[mediawikiwiki:Wikimedia_Research/Showcase#July_2015|July 2015 Wikimedia Research Showcase]].  The proportion of new accounts with access to both editing environments will be gradually increased over time. Eventually all new users have the choice  between the two editing environments.

=== Let's work together ===
* Share your ideas and ask questions at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]].
* <mark>Can you read and type in Korean or Japanese?</mark> Language engineer [[mw:User:DChan (WMF)|David Chan]] needs people who know which tools people use to type in some languages. If you speak Japanese or Korean, you can help him test support for these languages. Please see the instructions at [[mw:VisualEditor/IME Testing#What to test]] if you can help.  
* If your wiki would like '''VisualEditor enabled on another namespace''', you can file a request in Phabricator. Please include a link to a community discussion about the requested change.
* Please file requests for language-appropriate "{{Int:visualeditor-annotationbutton-bold-tooltip}}" and "{{Int:visualeditor-annotationbutton-italic-tooltip}}" icons for the styling menu [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/task/create/?projects=PHID-PROJ-dafezmpv6huxg3taml24 in Phabricator].   
* The design research team wants to see how real editors work. Please [https://jfe.qualtrics.com/form/SV_6R04ammTX8uoJFP sign up for their research program]. 
* The weekly task triage meetings continue to be open to volunteers, usually on Tuesdays at 12:00 (noon) PDT (19:00 UTC).  Learn how to join the meetings and how to nominate bugs at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings|mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings]].  You do not need to attend the meeting to nominate a bug for consideration as a Q1 blocker, though.  Instead, go to Phabricator and "associate" the main [[phab:project/profile/483/|VisualEditor project]] with the bug. 

If you aren't reading this in your favorite language, then please help us with translations!  Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact Elitre] directly, so that she can notify you when the next issue is ready. Thank you!  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)#top|talk]]) 00:01, 8 August 2015 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor update ==

[[File:VisualEditor-logo-pacifico.svg|150px|left]]
:<small>''This note is only delivered to [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|English Wikipedia subscribers of the visual editor's newsletter]].''</small>
The location of the visual editor's preference has been changed from the "Beta" tab to [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing|the "Editing" section of your preferences]] on this wiki. The setting now says ''Temporarily disable the visual editor while it is in beta''.
This aligns en.wiki with almost all the other WMF wikis; it doesn’t mean the visual editor is complete, or that it is no longer “in beta phase” though.

This action has not changed anything else for editors: it still honours editors’ previous choices about having it on or off; logged-out users continue to only have access to wikitext; the “Edit” tab is still after the “Edit source” one. You can learn more at the [[Wikipedia_talk:VisualEditor#The_visual_editor.E2.80.99s_preference_has_moved|visual editor’s talk page]].

We don’t expect this to cause any glitches, but in case your account no longer has the settings that you want, please accept our apologies and correct it in the Editing tab of [[Special:Preferences]]. Thank you for your attention, [[User:Elitre (WMF)|Elitre (WMF)]] -16:32, 7 October 2015 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor News #5—2015 ==

''[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2015/October|Read this in another language]]  •  [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]]''

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

You can use the visual editor on smartphones and tablets.<br><br>[[File:Switching edit modes to VisualEditor on Mobile web.png|alt=Screenshot showing the menu for switching from the wikitext editor to VisualEditor|centre|frameless|230x230px]]<br>
Click the pencil icon to open the editor for a page.  Inside that, use the gear menu in the upper right corner to "{{int:mobile-frontend-editor-switch-visual-editor}}".

The editing button will remember which editing environment you used last time, and give you the same one next time.  The desktop site will be switching to a system similar to this one in the coming months.<br><br>You can read and help translate [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use the visual editor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor Team]] has fixed many bugs, added new features, and made some small design changes.  They post weekly status reports [[mw:VisualEditor/changelog|on mediawiki.org]]. Their workboard is available [[phab:project/board/483/|in Phabricator]].  Their [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Current_priorities|current priorities]] are improving support for languages like Japanese and Arabic, making it easier to edit on mobile devices, and providing rich-media tools for formulæ, charts, galleries and uploading.   

=== Recent improvements ===
'''Educational features:''' The first time you use the visual editor, it now draws your attention to the {{Int:visualeditor-annotationbutton-link-tooltip}} and {{Int:visualeditor-toolbar-cite-label}} tools.  When you click on the tools, it explains why you should use them. ([[Phab:T108620|T108620]]) Alongside this, the welcome message for new users has been simplified to make editing more welcoming. ([[Phab:T112354|T112354]])  More in-software educational features are planned.  

'''Links:'''  It is now easier to understand when you are adding text to a link and when you are typing plain text next to it. ([[Phab:T74108|T74108]], [[Phab:T91285|T91285]])  The editor now fully supports ISBN, PMID or RFC numbers. ([[Phab:T109498|T109498]], [[Phab:T110347|T110347]], [[Phab:T63558|T63558]])  These  [[:en:Help:Magic_links|"magic links"]] use a custom link editing tool.  

'''Uploads:'''  Registered editors can now '''upload images''' and other media to Commons while editing.  Click the new tab in the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-insert}} {{int:visualeditor-dialogbutton-media-tooltip}}" tool.  You will be guided through the process without having to leave your edit.  At the end, the image will be inserted. This tool is limited to one file at a time, owned by the user, and licensed under Commons's standard license.  For more complex situations, the tool links to more advanced upload tools.  You can also drag the image into the editor.  This will be available in the wikitext editor later. 

'''Mobile:'''  Previously, the visual editor was available on the mobile Wikipedia site only on tablets. Now, editors can use the visual editor on any size of device. ([[Phab:T85630|T85630]])  Edit conflicts were previously broken on the mobile website. Edit conflicts can now be resolved in both wikitext and visual editors. ([[Phab:T111894|T111894]])  Sometimes templates and similar items could not be deleted on the mobile website.  Selecting them caused the on-screen keyboard to hide with some browsers.  Now there is a new "{{int:Visualeditor-contextitemwidget-label-remove}}" button, so that these things can be removed if the keyboard hides. ([[Phab:T62110|T62110]])  You can also edit table cells in mobile now.

'''Rich editing tools:'''  You can now add and edit '''sheet''' '''music''' in the visual editor. ([[Phab:T112925|T112925]])  There are separate tabs for advanced options, such as MIDI and Ogg audio files. ([[Phab:T114227|T114227]] and [[Phab:T113354|T113354]])  When editing '''formulæ''' and other blocks, errors are shown as you edit.  It is also possible to edit some types of '''graphs'''; adding new ones, and support for new types, will be coming. 

On the '''English Wikipedia''', the visual editor is now automatically available to anyone who creates an account.  The preference switch was moved to the normal location, under [[Special:Preferences]].

=== Future changes ===
You will soon be able to '''switch from the wikitext to the visual editor''' after you start editing. ([[phab:T49779|T49779]]) Previously, you could only switch from the visual editor to the wikitext editor.  Bi-directional switching will make possible a '''single edit tab.''' ([[phab:T102398|T102398]]) This project will combine the "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" and "{{int:visualeditor-ca-editsource}}" tabs into a single "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" tab, similar to the system already used on the mobile website.  The "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" tab will open whichever editing environment you used last time.

=== Let's work together ===
* Share your ideas and ask questions at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Feedback]].  This feedback page uses [[mw:Flow|Flow]] for discussions.
* <mark>Can you read and type in Korean or Japanese?</mark> Language engineer [[mw:User:DChan (WMF)|David Chan]] needs people who know which tools people use to type in some languages. If you speak Japanese or Korean, you can help him test support for these languages. Please see the instructions at [[mw:VisualEditor/IME Testing#What to test]] if you can help, and report it on Phabricator ([[phab:T110654|Korean]] - [[phab:T109818|Japanese]]) or on Wikipedia ([[:ko:위키백과:시각편집기/IME|Korean]] - [//jp.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:ビジュアルエディター/フィードバック/IME Japanese]).  
* Local admins can [[mediawikiwiki:Citoid/Enabling_Citoid_on_your_wiki|set up the Citoid automatic reference feature for your wiki]].  If you need help, then please post a request in the [[phab:tag/citoid/|Citoid project on Phabricator]]. Include links to the [[:mw:Help:TemplateData|TemplateData]]  for the most important citation templates on your wiki.
* The weekly task triage meetings are open to volunteers.  Learn how to join the meetings and how to nominate bugs at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings|mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings]].  You do not need to attend the meeting to nominate a bug for consideration, though.  Instead, go to Phabricator and "associate" the main [[phab:project/profile/483/|VisualEditor project]] with the bug. 

If you can't [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2015/October|read this in your favorite language]], then please help us with translations!  Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. Thank you!

— [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 04:15, 30 October 2015 (UTC)
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== [[WP:ACE2015|ArbCom elections are now open!]] ==

{{Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2015/MassMessage}} [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 13:06, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
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== [[WP:ACE2015|ArbCom elections are now open!]] ==

{{Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2015/MassMessage}} [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 13:32, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor News #6—2015 ==

''[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2015/December|Read this in another language]]  •  [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list]]''

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

A new, simpler system for editing will offer a single Edit button.  Once the page has opened, you can switch back and forth between visual and wikitext editing.      

[[File:VisualEditor single edit tab preference dialog.png|alt=Screenshot showing a pop-up dialog for switching from the wikitext editor to VisualEditor|centre|frameless|230x230px]]If you prefer having separate edit buttons, then you can set that option in your preferences, either in a pop-up dialog the next time you open the visual editor, or by going to [[Special:Preferences]] and choosing the setting that you want: <br>[[File:VisualEditor single edit tab in preferences 2015-12-18.png|alt=Screenshot showing a drop-down menu in Special:Preferences|centre|frameless|230x230px]]<br>
The current plan is for the default setting to have the Edit button open the editing environment you used most recently.  <br><br>You can read and help translate [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use the visual editor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor Team]] has fixed many bugs and expanded the mathematics formula tool.  Their workboard is available [[phab:project/board/483/|in Phabricator]].  Their [[mediawikiwiki:VisualEditor/Current_priorities|current priorities]] are improving support for languages such as Japanese and Arabic, and providing rich-media tools for formulæ, charts, galleries and uploading.   

=== Recent improvements ===
You can '''switch from the wikitext editor to the visual editor''' after you start editing.    

The '''LaTeX mathematics formula editor''' has been significantly expanded. ([[phab:T118616|T118616)]] You can see the formula as you change the LaTeX code.  You can click buttons to insert the correct LaTeX code for many symbols.  

=== Future changes ===
The '''single edit tab''' project will combine the "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" and "{{int:visualeditor-ca-editsource}}" tabs into a single "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" tab, like the system already used on the mobile website.  ([[phab:T102398|T102398]])  Initially, the "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" tab will open whichever editing environment you used last time.  Your last editing choice will be stored as a cookie for logged-out users and as an account preference for logged-in editors.  Logged-in editors will be able to set a default editor in the {{int:prefs-editing}} tab of [[Special:Preferences]] in the drop-down menu about "{{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs}}".   

The visual editor will be offered to all editors at the following Wikipedias in early 2016:  [[w:am:|Amharic]], [[w:bug:|Buginese]], [[w:cdo:|Min Dong]], [[w:cr:|Cree]], [[w:gv:|Manx]], [[w:hak:|Hakka]], [[w:hy:|Armenian]], [[w:ka:|Georgian]], [[w:pnt:|Pontic]], [[w:sh:|Serbo-Croatian]], [[w:ti:|Tigrinya]], [[w:xmf:|Mingrelian]], [[w:za:|Zhuang]], and [[w:zh-min-nan:|Min Nan]]. ([[phab:T116523|T116523]]) Please post your comments and the language(s) that you tested at [[:mw:Topic:St8y4ni42d0vr9cv|the feedback thread on mediawiki.org]].  The developers would like to know how well it works.  Please tell them what kind of computer, web browser, and keyboard you are using.  

In 2016, the '''feedback pages''' for the visual editor on many Wikipedias will be redirected to mediawiki.org. ([[phab:T92661|T92661]])

=== Testing opportunities ===
* Please try the new system for the '''single edit tab''' on [https://test2.wikipedia.org test2.wikipedia.org].  You can edit while logged out to see how it works for logged-out editors, or you can create a separate account to be able to set your account's preferences.  <mark>Please share your thoughts about the single edit tab system at [[mediawikiwiki:Topic:Suspcq0bf5nd3gsd|the feedback topic on mediawiki.org]] or [https://jfe.qualtrics.com/form/SV_6R04ammTX8uoJFP sign up for formal user research]</mark> (type "single edit tab" in the question about other areas you're interested in).  The new system has not been finalized, and your feedback can affect the outcome.  The team particularly wants your thoughts about the options in Special:Preferences. The current choices in Special:Preferences are:
** {{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs-remember-last}},
** {{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs-prefer-ve}}, 
** {{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs-prefer-wt}}, and 
** {{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs-multi-tab}}.  (This is the current state for people using the visual editor.  None of these options will be visible if you have disabled the visual editor in your preferences at that wiki.)  
* <mark>Can you read and type in Korean or Japanese?</mark> Language engineer [[mw:User:DChan (WMF)|David Chan]] needs people who know which tools people use to type in some languages. If you speak Japanese or Korean, you can help him test support for these languages. Please see the instructions at [[mw:VisualEditor/IME Testing#What to test]] if you can help, and report it on Phabricator ([[phab:T110654|Korean]] - [[phab:T109818|Japanese]]) or on Wikipedia ([[:ko:위키백과:시각편집기/IME|Korean]] - [//jp.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:ビジュアルエディター/フィードバック/IME Japanese]).
If you aren't reading this in your favorite language, then please help us with translations!  Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. {{int:Feedback-thanks-title}}

[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]],  00:54, 24 December 2015 (UTC)
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== VisualEditor News #1—2016 ==

''[[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2016/February|Read this in another language]] • [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]]''

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

Among experienced editors, the visual editor's table editing is one of the most popular features.      [[File:VisualEditor table menu move column.png|alt=Screenshot showing a pop-up menu for column operations in a table|centre|frameless|230x230px]]If you select the top of a column or the end of a row, you can quickly insert and remove columns and rows.  

Now, you can also rearrange columns and rows. Click "Move before" or "Move after" to swap the column or row with its neighbor.

You can read and help translate [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use the visual editor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[:mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor Team]] has fixed many bugs. Their workboard is available [[phab:project/board/483/|in Phabricator]]. Their [[:mw:VisualEditor/Current priorities|current priorities]] are improving support for Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Indic, and Han scripts, and improving the single edit tab interface.   

=== Recent changes ===
You can '''switch from the wikitext editor to the visual editor''' after you start editing. This function is available to nearly all editors at most wikis except the Wiktionaries and Wikisources.    

Many local '''feedback pages''' for the visual editor have been redirected to [[:mw:VisualEditor/Feedback]].

You can now re-arrange columns and rows in '''tables''', as well as copying a row, column or any other selection of cells and pasting it in a new location.    

The '''formula editor''' has two options: you can choose "Quick edit" to see and change only the LaTeX code, or "Edit" to use the full tool. The full tool offers immediate preview and an extensive list of symbols.  

=== Future changes ===
The '''[[:mw:VisualEditor/Single edit tab|single edit tab]]''' project will combine the "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" and "{{int:visualeditor-ca-editsource}}" tabs into a single "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" tab. This is similar to the system already used on the mobile website. ([[phab:T102398|T102398]]) Initially, the "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" tab will open whichever editing environment you used last time. Your last editing choice will be stored as an account preference for logged-in editors, and as a cookie for logged-out users. Logged-in editors will have these options in the {{int:prefs-editing}} tab of [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing|Special:Preferences]]:   
* {{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs-remember-last}},
* {{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs-prefer-ve}},
* {{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs-prefer-wt}}, and
* {{int:visualeditor-preference-tabs-multi-tab}}.  (This is the state for people using the visual editor now.)
The visual editor uses the same search engine as [[Special:Search]] to find links and files. This search will get better at detecting typos and spelling mistakes soon. These improvements to search will appear in the visual editor as well.

The visual editor will be offered to all editors at most [[:mw:VisualEditor/Rollouts|"Phase 6" Wikipedias]] during the next few months. The developers would like to know how well the visual editor works in your language. They particularly want to know whether typing in your language feels natural in the visual editor. Please post your comments and the language(s) that you tested at [[:mw:Topic:St8y4ni42d0vr9cv|the feedback thread on mediawiki.org]]. This will affect the following languages: [[:w:ja: |'''Japanese''']], 
[[:w:ko:|'''Korean''']], 
[[:w:ur: |'''Urdu''']], 
[[:w:fa: |'''Persian''']], 
[[:w:ar: |'''Arabic''']], 
[[:w:ta: |'''Tamil''']], 
[[:w:mr: |'''Marathi''']], 
[[:w:ml: |'''Malayalam''']], 
[[:w:hi: |'''Hindi''']], 
[[:w:bn: |'''Bengali''']], 
[[:w:as: |'''Assamese''']], 
[[:w:th: |'''Thai''']], 
[[:w:arc: |'''Aramaic''']] and others.

=== Let's work together ===
* Please try out the newest version of the '''[[:mw:VisualEditor/Single edit tab|single edit tab]]''' on [[test2wiki:Special:Random|test2.wikipedia.org]]. You may need to restore the default preferences (at the bottom of [[test2wiki:Special:Preferences]]) to see the initial prompt for options. Were you able to find a preference setting that will work for your own editing? Did you see [[:c:File:VisualEditor single edit tab preference dialog.png|the large preferences dialog box]] when you started editing an article there?  
* <mark>Can you read and type in Korean, Arabic, Japanese, Indic, or Han scripts?</mark> Language engineer [[:mw:User:DChan (WMF)|David Chan]] needs help from people who often type in these languages. Please see the instructions at [[:mw:VisualEditor/IME Testing#What to test]] if you can help. Report your results on wiki ([[:w:ko:위키백과:시각편집기/IME|Korean]] – [[:w:ja:Wikipedia:ビジュアルエディター/フィードバック/IME|Japanese]] – [[:mw:VisualEditor/Feedback|all languages]]).
* Learn how to improve the "automagical" [[:mw:citoid|citoid]] referencing system in the visual editor, by creating [[:en:Zotero|Zotero]] translators for popular sources in your language! Join the [https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikitech-l/2016-February/084840.html Tech Talk about "Automated citations in Wikipedia: Citoid and the technology behind it"] with Sebastian Karcher on 29 February 2016.
 
If you aren't reading this in your favorite language, then please help us with translations! Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. Thanks!

– [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 17:47, 25 February 2016 (UTC)
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== Do you want one Edit tab, or two?  It's your choice ==

{{multiple image|align = right|direction = vertical|width = 200|header = How to switch between editing environments|header_align=center|image1 = VisualEditor toolbar Page options - Switch to wikitext - Save.png|alt1 = Part of the toolbar in the visual editor|caption1 = Click the [[ ]] to switch to the wikitext editor.|image2 = VisualEditor bi-directional switching pencil icon in wikitext.png|alt2 = Part of the toolbar in the wikitext editor|caption2 = Click the pencil icon to switch to the visual editor.|caption_align=center}}The editing interface will be changed soon.  When that happens, editors who currently see two editing tabs – "Edit" and "Edit source" – will start seeing one edit tab instead.  The single edit tab has been popular at other Wikipedias. When this is deployed here, you may be offered the opportunity to choose your preferred appearance and behavior the next time you click the Edit button.  You will also be able to change your settings in the Editing section of [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing|Special:Preferences]].  

You can choose one or two edit tabs.  If you chose one edit tab, then you can switch between the two editing environments by clicking the buttons in the toolbar (shown in the screenshots).  See [[:mw:Help:VisualEditor/User guide#Switching between the visual and wikitext editors|Help:VisualEditor/User guide#Switching between the visual and wikitext editors]] for more information and screenshots.

There is more information about this interface change at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Single edit tab]].  If you have questions, suggestions, or problems to report, then please leave a note at [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback]].

[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] 19:22, 11 April 2016 (UTC)
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== Editing News #2—2016 ==

Editing News #2—2016
''[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2016/June|Read this in another language]] • [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]]''

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

It's quick and easy to insert a references list.
[[File:VisualEditor References List Insert Menu-en.png|alt=Screenshot showing a dropdown menu with many items|center|frameless|150px]]  

Place the cursor where you want to display the references list (usually at the bottom of the page).  Open the "{{int:visualeditor-toolbar-insert}}" menu and click the "{{int:cite-ve-dialogbutton-referenceslist-tooltip}}" icon (three books).

If you are using several groups of references, which is relatively rare, you will have the opportunity to specify the group. If you do that, then only the references that belong to the specified group will be displayed in this list of references.

Finally, click "{{int:visualeditor-dialog-action-insert}}" in the dialog to insert the {{int:cite-ve-dialogbutton-referenceslist-tooltip}}.  This list will change as you add more footnotes to the page.

You can read and help translate [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use the visual editor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[:mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor team]] has fixed many bugs. Their workboard is available [[phab:project/board/483/|in Phabricator]]. Their [[:mw:VisualEditor/Current priorities|current priorities]] are improving support for Arabic and Indic scripts, and adapting the visual editor to the needs of the Wikivoyages and Wikisources.   

=== Recent changes ===
The visual editor is now available to all users at most [[Wikivoyage:|Wikivoyages]].  It was also enabled for all contributors at the French Wikinews.

The '''[[:mw:VisualEditor/Single edit tab|single edit tab]]''' feature combines the "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" and "{{int:visualeditor-ca-editsource}}" tabs into a single "{{int:vector-view-edit}}" tab.  It has been deployed to several Wikipedias, including Hungarian, Polish, English and Japanese Wikipedias, as well as to all Wikivoyages.  At these wikis, you can change your settings for this feature in the "{{int:prefs-editing}}" tab of [[Special:Preferences]]. The team is now reviewing the feedback and considering ways to improve the design before rolling it out to more people.

=== Future changes ===
The "{{int:Savearticle}}" button will say "{{int:Publishpage}}".   This will affect both the visual and wikitext editing systems.  More [[M:Editing/Publish|information is available on Meta]].

The visual editor will be offered to all editors at the remaining [[:mw:VisualEditor/Rollouts|"Phase 6" Wikipedias]] during the next few months. The developers want to know whether typing in your language feels natural in the visual editor. Please post your comments and the language(s) that you tested at [[:mw:Topic:St8y4ni42d0vr9cv|the feedback thread on mediawiki.org]]. This will affect several languages, including: [[:w:ar: |'''Arabic''']], [[:w:hi: |'''Hindi''']], [[:w:th: |'''Thai''']], [[:w:ta: |'''Tamil''']], [[:w:mr: |'''Marathi''']], [[:w:ml: |'''Malayalam''']], [[:w:ur: |'''Urdu''']], [[:w:fa: |'''Persian''']], [[:w:bn: |'''Bengali''']], [[:w:as: |'''Assamese''']], [[:w:arc: |'''Aramaic''']] and others.

The team is working with the volunteer developers who power Wikisource to provide the visual editor there, for opt-in testing right now and eventually for all users. ([[phab:T138966|T138966]]) 

The team is working on a modern wikitext editor.  It will look like the visual editor, and be able to use the citoid service and other modern tools.  This new editing system may become available as a Beta Feature on desktop devices around September 2016.  You can read about this project in a [[:mw:VisualEditor/Roadmap/Update 2016-06-23|general status update on the Wikimedia mailing list]]. 

=== Let's work together ===
* Do you teach new editors how to use the visual editor? Did you help [[:mw:Citoid/Enabling Citoid on your wiki|set up the Citoid automatic reference feature for your wiki]]? Have you written or imported [[:mw:Help:TemplateData|TemplateData]] for your most important citation templates?  <mark>Would you be willing to help new editors and small communities with the visual editor?  Please sign up for the new [[:mw:Help:VisualEditor/Community Taskforce|'''VisualEditor Community Taskforce''']].</mark>
* Learn how to improve the "automagical" [[:mw:citoid|citoid]] referencing system in the visual editor, by creating [[:en:Zotero|Zotero]] translators for popular sources in your language!  Watch the [[Mw:Citoid/Zotero's Tech Talk|Tech Talk by Sebastian Karcher]] for more information.
 
If you aren't reading this in your preferred language, then please help us with translations! Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. {{int:Feedback-thanks-title}}

[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]), 21:10, 30 June 2016 (UTC)
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== Editing News #3—2016 ==

''[[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2016/October|Read this in another language]] • [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]] • [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscribe or unsubscribe on the English Wikipedia]]''

<div style="float:right;width:230px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

Did you know that you can easily re-arrange columns and rows in the visual editor?

[[File:VisualEditor table editing menu.png|alt=Screenshot showing a dropdown menu with options for editing the table structure|center|frameless|232x232px]]  

Select a cell in the column or row that you want to move.  Click the arrow at the start of that row or column to open the dropdown menu (shown).  Choose either "Move before" or "Move after" to move the column, or "Move above" or "Move below" to move the row.  

You can read and help translate [[:mw:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use the visual editor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[:mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor Team]] has mainly worked on a new wikitext editor.  They have also released some small features and the new map editing tool.  Their workboard is available [[:phab:project/board/483/|in Phabricator]].  You can find links to the list of work finished each week at [[:mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings|mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings]].  Their [[:mw:VisualEditor/Current_priorities|current priorities]] are fixing bugs, releasing the 2017 wikitext editor as a [[:mw:Beta_Features|beta feature]], and improving language support.   

=== Recent changes ===
*You can now set text as small or big.[https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T53613] 
*Invisible templates have been shown as a puzzle icon.  Now, the name of the invisible template is displayed next to the puzzle icon.[https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T141861]  A similar feature will display the first part of hidden HTML comments.[https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T147089]
*Categories are displayed at the bottom of each page.  If you click on the categories, the dialog for editing categories will open.[https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T145267]
*At many wikis, you can now add [[:mw:Maps|maps]] to pages.  Go to the Insert menu and choose the "Maps" item. The Discovery department are adding more features to this area, like geoshapes. You can read more on MediaWiki.org.[https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Discovery#Maps]  
*The "Save" button now says "Save page" when you create a page, and "Save changes" when you change an existing page.[https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T139033]  In the future, the "{{int:Savearticle}}" button will say "{{int:Publishpage}}".  This will affect both the visual and wikitext editing systems.  More [[:m:Editing/Publish|information is available on Meta]].
*Image galleries now use a visual mode for editing.  You can see thumbnails of the images, add new files, remove unwanted images, rearrange the images by dragging and dropping, and add captions for each image.  Use the "Options" tab to set the gallery's display mode, image sizes, and add a title for the gallery.<u>[https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T45037]</u>
=== Future changes ===
The visual editor will be offered to all editors at the remaining 10 [[:mw:VisualEditor/Rollouts|"Phase 6" Wikipedias]] during the next month. The developers want to know whether typing in your language feels natural in the visual editor. Please post your comments and the language(s) that you tested at [[:mw:Topic:St8y4ni42d0vr9cv|the feedback thread on mediawiki.org]]. This will affect several languages, including [[:w:th: |'''Thai''']], [[:w:my: |'''Burmese''']] and [[:w:arc: |'''Aramaic''']].

The team is working on a modern wikitext editor.  The [[:mw:2017 wikitext editor|2017 wikitext editor]] will look like the visual editor and be able to use the citoid service and other modern tools.  This new editing system may become available as a Beta Feature on desktop devices in October 2016.  You can read about this project in a [[:mw:VisualEditor/Roadmap/Update_2016-06-23|general status update on the Wikimedia mailing list]].

=== Let's work together ===
Do you teach new editors how to use the visual editor? Did you help [[:mw:Citoid/Enabling Citoid on your wiki|set up the Citoid automatic reference feature for your wiki]]? Have you written or imported [[:mw:Help:TemplateData|TemplateData]] for your most important citation templates?  <mark>Would you be willing to help new editors and small communities with the visual editor?  Please sign up for the new [[:mw:Help:VisualEditor/Community Taskforce|'''VisualEditor Community Taskforce''']].</mark>
 
If you aren't reading this in your preferred language, then please help us with translations! Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. Thank you!  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]])  18:19, 14 October 2016 (UTC)
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== [[WP:ACE2016|ArbCom Elections 2016]]: Voting now open! ==

{{Ivmbox|Hello, ScottyWZ. Voting in the '''[[WP:ACE2016|2016 Arbitration Committee elections]]''' is open from Monday, 00:00, 21 November through Sunday, 23:59, 4 December to all unblocked users who have registered an account before Wednesday, 00:00, 28 October 2016 and have made at least 150 mainspace edits before Sunday, 00:00, 1 November 2016.

The [[WP:ARBCOM|Arbitration Committee]] is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the [[Wikipedia:Arbitration|Wikipedia arbitration process]]. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose [[WP:BAN|site bans]], [[WP:TBAN|topic bans]], editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The [[Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy|arbitration policy]] describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2016 election, please review [[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2016/Candidates|the candidates' statements]] and submit your choices on '''[[Special:SecurePoll/vote/399|the voting page]]'''. [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 22:08, 21 November 2016 (UTC)
|Scale of justice 2.svg|imagesize=40px}}
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== Editing News #1—2017 ==

''[[:m:Special:MyLanguage/VisualEditor/Newsletter/2017/May|Read this in another language]] • [[:m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]]''

<div style="float:right;width:230px;{{#switch:ltr|rtl=float:left;margin-left:0;|#default=float:right;margin-right:0;}}margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center|alt=VisualEditor]]'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">   

Did you know that you can review your changes visually? 

[[File:VisualEditor visual diff tool - visual diff.png|alt=Screenshot showing some changes to an article.  Most changes are highlighted with text formatting.|center|frameless|245x245px]]When you are finished editing the page, type your edit summary and then choose "{{int:visualeditor-savedialog-label-review}}".  
In visual mode, you will see additions, removals, new links, and formatting highlighted.  Other changes, such as changing the size of an image, are described in notes on the side.

[[File:VisualEditor visual diff tool - toggle button.png|alt=Toggle button showing visual and wikitext options; visual option is selected.|center|frameless|220x220px]]

Click the toggle button to switch between visual and wikitext diffs.

[[File:VisualEditor visual diff tool - wikitext diff.png|alt=Screenshot showing the same changes, in the two-column wikitext diff display.|center|frameless|245x245px]]

The wikitext diff is the same diff tool that is used in the wikitext editors and in the page history. 

You can read and help translate [[:mw:Special:MyLanguage/VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use the visual editor.
</div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[:mw:VisualEditor|VisualEditor Team]] has spent most of their time supporting [[:mw:2017_wikitext_editor|the 2017 wikitext editor mode]] which is available inside the visual editor as a Beta Feature, and adding [[:mw:VisualEditor/Diffs|the new visual diff tool]]. Their workboard is available [[:phab:project/board/483/|in Phabricator]].  You can find links to the work finished each week at  [[:mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings|mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings]].   Their [[:mw:VisualEditor/Current_priorities|current priorities]] are fixing bugs, supporting the 2017 wikitext editor as a [[:mw:Beta Features|beta feature]], and improving the visual diff tool.   

=== Recent changes ===

A '''new wikitext editing mode''' is available as a Beta Feature on desktop devices.  The [[:mw:2017 wikitext editor|2017 wikitext editor]] has the same toolbar as the visual editor and can use the citoid service and other modern tools.  Go to [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures]] to enable the {{int:Visualeditor-preference-newwikitexteditor-label}}. 

A new '''[[:mw:VisualEditor/Diffs|visual diff tool]]''' is available in VisualEditor's visual mode.  You can toggle between wikitext and visual diffs.  More features will be added to this later.  In the future, this tool may be integrated into other MediaWiki components. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T143350]

The team have added [[:mw:Editing/Projects/Columns_for_references|multi-column support for lists of footnotes]]. The <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code> block can automatically display long lists of references in columns on wide screens.  This makes footnotes easier to read.  You can [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/task/edit/form/1/?projects=Cite,VisualEditor,Wikimedia-Site-requests&title=Convert%20reference%20lists%20over%20to%20`responsive`%20on%20XXwiki&priority=10&parent=159895 '''request multi-column support'''] for your wiki. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T33597]

Other changes:
* You can now use your web browser's function to switch typing direction in the new wikitext mode. This is particularly helpful for RTL language users like Urdu or Hebrew who have to write JavaScript or CSS. You can use Command+Shift+X or Control+Shift+X to trigger this. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T153356]
* The way to switch between the visual editing mode and the wikitext editing mode is now consistent. There is a drop-down menu that shows the two options. This is now the same in desktop and mobile web editing, and inside things that embed editing, such as Flow. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T116417]
* The {{int:visualeditor-categories-tool}} item has been moved to the top of the {{int:visualeditor-pagemenu-tooltip}} menu (from clicking on the  [[File:VisualEditor - Icon - Menu.svg|alt="hamburger"|24x24px]] icon) for quicker access. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T74399] There is also now a "Templates used on this page" feature there. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T149009]
* You can now create <code><nowiki><chem></nowiki></code>  tags (sometimes used as <code><nowiki><ce></nowiki></code>) for chemical formulas inside the visual editor. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T153365]
* Tables can be set as collapsed or un-collapsed. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T157989]
* The {{int:visualeditor-specialcharacter-button-tooltip}} menu now includes characters for Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics and angle quotation marks (‹› and ⟨⟩) .  The team thanks the volunteer developer, [[:S:en:User:Tpt|Tpt]]. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T108626]
* A bug caused some section edit conflicts to blank the rest of the page.  This has been fixed.  The team are sorry for the disruption. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T154217]
* There is a new keyboard shortcut for citations:  <code>Control</code>+<code>Shift</code>+<code>K</code> on a PC, or <code>Command</code>+<code>Shift</code>+<code>K</code> on a Mac.  It is based on the keyboard shortcut for making links, which is <code>Control</code>+<code>K</code> on a PC or <code>Command</code>+<code>K</code> on a Mac. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T99299]

=== Future changes ===
* The VisualEditor team is working with the Community Tech team on a syntax highlighting tool.  It will highlight matching pairs of <code><nowiki><ref></nowiki></code> tags and other types of wikitext syntax.  You will be able to turn it on and off.  It will first become available in VisualEditor's built-in wikitext mode, maybe late in 2017. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T101246]
* The kind of button used to {{int:Showpreview}}, {{int:showdiff}}, and finish an edit will change in all WMF-supported wikitext editors.  The new buttons will use [[:mw:OOjs UI|OOjs UI]].  The buttons will be larger, brighter, and easier to read.  The labels will remain the same.  You can test the new button by editing a page and adding <code>&ooui=1</code> to the end of the URL, like this:  https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project:Sandbox?action=edit&ooui=1  The old appearance will no longer be possible, even with local CSS changes.  [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T162849]
* The [[:mw:File:Edit_toolbar_-_2.png|outdated 2006 wikitext editor]] will be removed later this year.  It is used by approximately 0.03% of active editors.  See [[:mw:Editor|a list of editing tools on mediawiki.org]] if you are uncertain which one you use.  [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T30856]

If you aren't reading this in your preferred language, then please help us with translations! Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new contact us] directly, so that we can notify you when the next issue is ready. {{int:Feedback-thanks-title}}  [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 19:18, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
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== ArbCom 2017 election voter message ==

{{Ivmbox|Hello, ScottyWZ. Voting in the '''[[WP:ACE2017|2017 Arbitration Committee elections]]''' is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 10 December. All users who registered an account before Saturday, 28 October 2017, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Wednesday, 1 November 2017 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The [[WP:ARBCOM|Arbitration Committee]] is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the [[Wikipedia:Arbitration|Wikipedia arbitration process]]. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose [[WP:BAN|site bans]], [[WP:TBAN|topic bans]], editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The [[Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy|arbitration policy]] describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2017 election, please review [[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2017/Candidates|the candidates]] and submit your choices on the '''[[Special:SecurePoll/vote/400|voting page]]'''. [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 18:42, 3 December 2017 (UTC)
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== Editing News #1—2018 ==

''[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2018/Feburary|Read this in another language]] • [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for the English Wikipedia]] • [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for the multilingual edition]]''
<div style="float:right;width:270px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]
'''Did you know?'''<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">
Did you know that you can now use the [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/VisualEditor/Diffs|visual diff tool]] on any page?

[[File:Wikitext diff paragraph move correcting vandalism 2018.png|alt=Screenshot showing some changes, in the two-column wikitext diff display|center|frameless|250px]]

Sometimes, it is hard to see important changes in a wikitext diff.  This screenshot of a wikitext diff (click to enlarge) shows that the paragraphs have been rearranged, but it does not highlight the removal of a word or the addition of a new sentence.

If you [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|enable the Beta Feature]] for "{{Int:visualeditor-preference-visualdiffpage-label}}", you will have a new option.  It will give you a new box at the top of every diff page.  This box will let you choose either diff system on any edit.

[[File:VisualEditor visual diff tool - toggle button.png|alt=Toggle button showing visual and wikitext options; visual option is selected|center|frameless|200px]]
Click the toggle button to switch between visual and wikitext diffs.

In the visual diff, additions, removals, new links, and formatting changes will be highlighted.  Other changes, such as changing the size of an image, are described in notes on the side.

[[File:Visual diff paragraph move correcting vandalism 2018.png|alt=Screenshot showing the same changes to an article.  Most changes are highlighted with text formatting.|center|frameless|250px]]

This screenshot shows the same edit as the wikitext diff.  The visual diff highlights the removal of one word and the addition of a new sentence.  An arrow indicates that the paragraph changed location.

You can read and help translate [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Help:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use the visual editor.  
</div></div>

Since [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2017/May|the last newsletter]], the [[mw:Editing|Editing Team]] has spent most of their time supporting [[mw:2017 wikitext editor|the 2017 wikitext editor mode]], which is available inside the visual editor as a Beta Feature, and improving [[mw:VisualEditor/Diffs|the visual diff tool]]. Their work board is available [[phab:project/view/3236/|in Phabricator]].  You can find links to the work finished each week at [[mw:VisualEditor/Weekly triage meetings]].  Their [[mw:Editing team/Current priorities|current priorities]] are fixing bugs, supporting the 2017 wikitext editor, and improving the visual diff tool.

===Recent changes===
*The '''[[mw:2017 wikitext editor|2017 wikitext editor]]''' is [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|available as a Beta Feature]] on desktop devices.  It has the same toolbar as the visual editor and can use the citoid service and other modern tools.  The team have been comparing the performance of different editing environments.  They have studied how long it takes to open the page and start typing.  The study uses data for more than one million edits during December and January.  Some changes have been made to improve the speed of the 2017 wikitext editor and the visual editor.  Recently, the 2017 wikitext editor opened fastest for most edits, and the 2010 WikiEditor was fastest for some edits.  More information will be posted at [[mw:Contributors/Projects/Editing performance]].
*The '''[[mw:VisualEditor/Diffs|visual diff tool]]''' was developed for the visual editor.  It is now available to all users of the visual editor and the 2017 wikitext editor.  When you review your changes, you can toggle between wikitext and visual diffs.  You can also [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|enable the new Beta Feature]] for "Visual diffs".  The Beta Feature lets you use the visual diff tool to view other people's edits on page histories and [[Special:RecentChanges]].  [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T167508]
*[[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Extension:CodeMirror|'''Wikitext syntax highlighting''']] is available as a Beta Feature for both [[mw:2017 wikitext editor|the 2017 wikitext editor]] and the 2010 wikitext editor. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T101246]
*The [[mw:Citoid|citoid service]] automatically translates URLs, DOIs, ISBNs, and PubMed id numbers into wikitext citation templates.  This tool has been used at the English Wikipedia for a long time.  It is very popular and useful to editors, although it can be tricky for admins to set up.  <mark>Other wikis can have this service, too.  Please [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Citoid/Enabling Citoid on your wiki|read the instructions]]. You can [[phab:T127354|ask the team to help you enable citoid at your wiki]]</mark>.

===Let's work together===
*The team is planning a presentation about editing tools for an upcoming [[m:Wikimedia Foundation metrics and activities meetings|Wikimedia Foundation metrics and activities meeting]].
*Wikibooks, Wikiversity, and other communities may have the visual editor made available by default to contributors.  If your community wants this, then please contact [[mw:User talk:Deskana (WMF)|Dan Garry]].
*The <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code> block can [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Contributors/Projects/Columns for references|automatically display long lists of references in columns]] on wide screens.  This makes footnotes easier to read.  This has already been enabled at the English Wikipedia.  If you want columns for a long list of footnotes on this wiki, you can use either <code><nowiki><references /></nowiki></code> or the plain (no parameters) <code><nowiki>{{reflist}}</nowiki></code> template.  If you edit a different wiki, you can [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/task/edit/form/1/?projects=Cite,VisualEditor,Wikimedia-Site-requests&title=Convert%20reference%20lists%20over%20to%20`responsive`%20on%20XXwiki&priority=10&parent=159895 '''request multi-column support'''] for your wiki. [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T33597]
*If you aren't reading this in your preferred language, then please help us with translations! Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Elitre_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new contact us] directly. We will notify you when the next issue is ready for translation. Thank you!

—[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 23:14, 28 February 2018 (UTC)
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== Editing News #2—2018 ==

''[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2018/October|Read this in another language]]  •  [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]]  •  [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor#Newsletter|Subscription list on the English Wikipedia]]''

<div style="float:right;width:270px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]
'''Did you know?'''  
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

Did you know that you can use the visual editor on a mobile device? 
[[File:Mobile editing watchlist star editing pencil.png|alt= Screenshot showing the location of the pencil icon|center|frameless|250px]]

Tap on the pencil icon to start editing.  The page will probably open in the wikitext editor. 

You will see another pencil icon in the toolbar.  Tap on that pencil icon to the switch between visual editing and wikitext editing. 

[[File:Visual editing mobile switch wikitext.png|alt=Toolbar with menu opened|center|frameless|250px]]

Remember to publish your changes when you're done. 

You can read and help translate [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Help:VisualEditor/User guide|the user guide]], which has more information about how to use the visual editor.
 </div></div>

Since the last newsletter, the [[mw:Editing|Editing Team]] has wrapped up most of their work on the [[mw:2017 wikitext editor|2017 wikitext editor]] and [[mw:VisualEditor/Diffs|the visual diff tool]].    The team has begun investigating the needs of editors who use mobile devices.  Their work board is available [[phab:project/view/3236/|in Phabricator]].  Their [[mw:Wikimedia Audiences/2018-19 Q2 Goals#Contributors|current priorities]] are fixing bugs and improving mobile editing.    

=== Recent changes  ===
* The Editing team has published an [[mw:Mobile editing using the visual editor report|initial report about mobile editing]].   
* The Editing team has begun a design study of visual editing on the mobile website.  New editors have trouble doing basic tasks on a smartphone, such as adding links to Wikipedia articles.  You can [[:c:File:Visual Editor Heuristic - Results.pdf|read the report]]. 
* The Reading team is working on a [[mw:Reading/Web/Advanced mobile contributions|separate mobile-based contributions project]]. 
* The 2006 wikitext editor is [[mw:Contributors/Projects/Removal of the 2006 wikitext editor|no longer supported]].  If you used [[:File:Edit toolbar - 2.png|that toolbar]], then you will no longer see any toolbar.  You may choose another editing tool in your [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing|editing preferences]], [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-gadgets|local gadgets]], or [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|beta features]]. 
* The Editing team described the history and status of [[mw:Extension:VisualEditor|VisualEditor]] in [[m:Wikimedia monthly activities meetings/2018-03|this recorded public presentation]] (starting at 29 minutes, 30 seconds). 
* The Language team released [[mw:Content translation/V2|a new version of Content Translation]] (CX2) last month, on [[foundationsite:2018/09/30/international-translation-day/|International Translation Day]].  It integrates the visual editor to support templates, tables, and images.  It also produces better wikitext when the translated article is published.  [https://wikimediafoundation.org/2018/09/30/content-translation-version-two/]

=== Let's work together  ===
* The Editing team wants to improve visual editing on the mobile website.   <mark> Please [[mw:Visual-based mobile editing/Ideas/October 2018|read their ideas]] and tell the team what you think would help editors who use the mobile site. </mark>  
* The [[m:Community Wishlist Survey 2019|Community Wishlist Survey]] begins next week. 
* If you aren't reading this in your preferred language, then please help us with translations!  Subscribe to the [[mail:translators-l|Translators mailing list]] or [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk:Whatamidoing_(WMF)&action=edit&section=new  contact us] directly.  We will notify you when the next issue is ready for translation.  {{int:Feedback-thanks-title}}

— [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 17:12, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
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== ArbCom 2018 election voter message ==

{{Ivmbox|Hello, ScottyWZ. Voting in the '''[[WP:ACE2018|2018 Arbitration Committee elections]]''' is now open until 23.59 on Sunday, 3 December. All users who registered an account before Sunday, 28 October 2018, made at least 150 mainspace edits before Thursday, 1 November 2018 and are not currently blocked are eligible to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The [[WP:ARBCOM|Arbitration Committee]] is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the [[Wikipedia:Arbitration|Wikipedia arbitration process]]. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose [[WP:BAN|site bans]], [[WP:TBAN|topic bans]], editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The [[Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy|arbitration policy]] describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2018 election, please review [[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2018/Candidates|the candidates]] and submit your choices on the '''[[Special:SecurePoll/vote/710|voting page]]'''. [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 18:42, 19 November 2018 (UTC)
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== Editing News #1—July 2019 ==

''[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2019/July|Read this in another language]] • [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]]''

<div style="float:right;width:270px;margin-left:1em;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;padding:1em;">
[[File:VisualEditor-logo.svg|200px|center]]
<big>'''Did you know?'''</big>
<div class="thumbcaption" style="font-size: 90%;">  

Did you know that you can use the visual editor on a mobile device?

Every article has a pencil icon at the top.  Tap on the pencil icon [[File:OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg|frameless|16x16px]] to start editing.  

'''<big>Edit Cards</big>'''

[[File:EditCards-v.20.png|alt=Toolbar with menu opened|center|frameless|250px]]

This is what the new '''Edit Cards for editing links''' in the mobile visual editor look like. You can try the prototype here: '''[[mw:Topic:V394zwrigth8ii7c|📲 Try Edit Cards]].'''
</div></div>

Welcome back to the [[mw:Editing|Editing]] newsletter.    

Since [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2018/October|the last newsletter]], the team has released two new features for the [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile|mobile visual editor]] and has started developing three more.  All of this work is part of the team's goal to [[metawiki:Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan/2018-2019/Audiences#Outcome 3: Mobile Contribution|make editing on mobile web simpler.]]   

Before talking about the team's recent releases, we have a question for you:   

'''Are you willing to try a new way to add and change links?'''

If you are interested, we would value your input!  You can try this new link tool in the mobile visual editor on a separate wiki. 

''Follow these instructions and share your experience:'' 

'''[[mw:Topic:V394zwrigth8ii7c|📲 Try Edit Cards]].'''   

=== Recent releases ===
The mobile visual editor is a simpler editing tool, for smartphones and tablets using the [[Mw:Reading/Web/Mobile#About|mobile site]].  The Editing team has recently launched two new features to improve the mobile visual editor: 

# [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Section editing|Section editing]]
#* The purpose is to help contributors focus on their edits.
#* The team studied this with an A/B test.  [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Section editing#16 June 2019|This test showed]] that contributors who could use section editing were '''1% more likely to publish''' the edits they started than people with only full-page editing.
# [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile#March 1, 2019|Loading overlay]]
#* The purpose is to smooth the transition between reading and editing.

Section editing and the new loading overlay are '''now available to everyone''' using the mobile visual editor.

=== New and active projects ===
This is a list of our most active projects. [[mw:Help:Watching pages|Watch]] these pages to learn about project updates and to share your input on new designs, prototypes and research findings.

*[[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Edit cards|Edit cards]]: This is a clearer way to add and edit links, citations, images, templates, etc. in articles.  You can try this feature now.  ''Go here to see how:'' [[mw:Topic:V394zwrigth8ii7c|📲''Try Edit Cards'']]''.''
*[[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Toolbar refresh|Mobile toolbar refresh]]: This project will learn if contributors are more successful when the editing tools are easier to recognize.
*[[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/VE mobile default|Mobile visual editor availability]]: This A/B test asks:  ''Are newer contributors more successful if they use the mobile visual editor?''  We are collaborating with [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/VE mobile default#26 June 2019 %E2%80%93 Participating wikis and test start date|20 Wikipedias]] to answer this question.
*[[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Usability improvements|Usability improvements]]: This project will make the mobile visual editor easier to use.  The goal is to let contributors stay focused on editing and to feel more confident in the editing tools.

=== Looking ahead ===

* '''Wikimania:'''  Several members of the Editing Team will be attending [https://wikimania2019.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Wikimania] in August 2019.  They will lead a session about mobile editing in the [[wmania:2019:Community Growth/Visual editing on mobile: An accessible editor for all|Community Growth space]].  Talk to them about how editing can be improved.
* '''Talk Pages:'''  In the coming months, the Editing Team will begin [[mw:Talk pages consultation 2019|improving talk pages]] and communication on the wikis.

=== Learning more ===
The [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile|VisualEditor on mobile]] is a good place to learn more about the projects we are working on. The team wants to talk with you about anything related to editing. If you have something to say or ask, please leave a message at [[mw:Talk:VisualEditor on mobile|Talk:VisualEditor on mobile]].

[[mw:User:PPelberg (WMF)|PPelberg (WMF)]] ([[mw:User talk:PPelberg (WMF)|talk]]) and [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 21:25, 15 July 2019 (UTC)
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== Editing News #2 – Mobile editing and talk pages – October 2019 ==

<em>[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2019/October|Read this in another language]] • [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]]</em>

Inside this newsletter, the [[mw:Editing|Editing team]] talks about their work on the [[mw:Mobile visual editor|mobile visual editor]], on [[mw:Talk pages project|the new talk pages project]], and at [[wikimania:|Wikimania 2019]].      

=== Help ===
'''What talk page interactions do you remember?''' Is it a story about how someone helped you to learn something new? Is it a story about how someone helped you get involved in a group? Something else?  Whatever your story is, we want to hear it!  

Please tell us a story about how you used a talk page.  <mark>Please share a link to a memorable discussion, or describe it on the '''[[mw:Topic:V8d91yh8gcg404dj|talk page for this project]]'''.</mark>  The team would value your examples.  These examples will help everyone develop a shared understanding of what this project should support and encourage.

=== Talk Pages ===
The [[mw:Talk pages consultation 2019|Talk Pages Consultation]] was a global consultation to define better tools for wiki communication. From February through June 2019, more than 500 volunteers on 20 wikis, across 15 languages and multiple projects, came together with members of the Foundation to create a product direction for a set of discussion tools.  The [[mw:Talk pages consultation 2019/Phase 2 report|Phase 2 Report]] of the Talk Page Consultation was published in August. It summarizes the product direction the team has started to work on, which you can read more about here: [[mw:Talk pages project|Talk Page Project project page]]. 

The team needs and wants your help at this early stage.  They are starting to develop the first idea. Please add your name to the [[mw:Talk pages project#Getting involved|'''"Getting involved"''']] section of the project page, if you would like to hear about opportunities to participate.

=== Mobile visual editor ===
The Editing team is trying to make it simpler to edit on mobile devices.  The team is changing the [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile|visual editor on mobile]]. If you have something to say about editing on a mobile device, please leave a message at [[mw:Talk:VisualEditor on mobile|Talk:VisualEditor on mobile]].

==== [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Edit cards|Edit Cards]] ====
[[File:Edit Cards-before-v3-comparison.png|thumb|486x486px|What happens when you click on a link.  The new Edit Card is bigger and has more options for editing links.]]

* On 3 September, the Editing team released [[:File:Edit Cards comparison v2 and v3.png|version 3 of Edit Cards]]. Anyone could use the new version in the mobile visual editor.
* There is an [[:File:Edit Cards comparison v2 and v3.png|updated design]] on the Edit Card for adding and modifying links.  There is also a new, [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Edit cards#2 September 2019 - v3 deployment timing|combined workflow for editing a link's display text and target]].
* Feedback: You can try the new Edit Cards by opening the mobile visual editor on a smartphone. Please post your feedback on the [[:mw:Topic:V5rg0cqmikpubmjj|Edit cards talk page]].

==== [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Toolbar refresh|Toolbar]] ====
[[File:Toolbar-comparison-v1.png|thumb|486x486px|The editing toolbar is changing in the mobile visual editor.  The old system had two different toolbars.  Now, all the buttons are together.  [[:mw:Topic:V79x6zm8n6i4nb56|Tell the team what you think about the new toolbar]].]]

* In September, the Editing team updated the mobile visual editor's editing toolbar.  Anyone could see these changes in the mobile visual editor.
** <em>One toolbar:</em> All of the editing tools are located in one toolbar.  Previously, the toolbar changed when you clicked on different things.
**<em>New navigation:</em> The buttons for moving forward and backward in the edit flow have changed.
**<em>Seamless switching:</em> an [[phab:T228159|improved workflow]] for switching between the visual and wikitext modes.
* Feedback: You can try the refreshed toolbar by opening the mobile VisualEditor on a smartphone. Please post your feedback on the [[mw:Topic:V79x6zm8n6i4nb56|Toolbar feedback talk page]].

=== Wikimania ===
The Editing Team attended [[wmania:2019:Program|Wikimania 2019]] in Sweden. They led a session on [[wmania:2019:Community Growth/Visual editing on mobile: An accessible editor for all|the mobile visual editor]] and a session on [[wmania:2019:Community Growth/After Flow: A new direction for improving talk pages|the new talk pages project]].  They tested [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Toolbar refresh#v1 prototype|two]] new [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Edit cards#v3 prototype|features]] in the mobile visual editor with contributors.  You can read more about what the team did and learned in [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile#Wikimania Stockholm: Overview|the team's report on Wikimania 2019]].

=== Looking ahead ===

*'''Talk Pages Project''':  The team is thinking about the first set of proposed changes.  The team will be working with a few communities to pilot those changes. The best way to stay informed is by adding your username to the list on the project page: [[mw:Talk pages project#Getting involved|'''Getting involved''']].
*'''Testing the mobile visual editor as the default''':  The Editing team plans to post results before the end of the calendar year. The best way to stay informed is by adding the project page to your watchlist: [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/VE mobile default|'''VisualEditor as mobile default project page''']].
*'''Measuring the impact of Edit Cards''':  The Editing team hopes to share results in November.  This study asks whether the project helped editors add links and citations.  The best way to stay informed is by adding the project page to your watchlist: [[mw:VisualEditor on mobile/Edit cards|'''Edit Cards project page''']].

– [[user:PPelberg (WMF)|PPelberg (WMF)]] ([[mw:User talk:PPelberg (WMF)|talk]]) & [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[mw:User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]])  16:51, 17 October 2019 (UTC)
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== ArbCom 2019 election voter message ==

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<tr><td style="vertical-align:middle; padding-left:1px; padding-right:0.5em;">[[File:Scale of justice 2.svg|40px]]</td><td>Hello! Voting in the '''[[WP:ACE2019|2019 Arbitration Committee elections]]''' is now open until 23:59 on {{#time:l, j F Y|{{Arbitration Committee candidate/data|2019|end}}-1 day}}. All '''[[Wikipedia:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2019#Election_timeline|eligible users]]''' are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The [[WP:ARBCOM|Arbitration Committee]] is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the [[Wikipedia:Arbitration|Wikipedia arbitration process]]. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose [[WP:BAN|site bans]], [[WP:TBAN|topic bans]], editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The [[Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy|arbitration policy]] describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2019 election, please review [[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2019/Candidates|the candidates]] and submit your choices on the '''[[Special:SecurePoll/vote/{{Arbitration Committee candidate/data|2019|poll}}|voting page]]'''.  If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{tlx|NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 00:05, 19 November 2019 (UTC)
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== Editing news 2020 #1 – Discussion tools ==

<em>[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2020/April|Read this in another language]] • [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list]]</em>

[[File:TalkPages-Reply-v1.0.png|thumb|300px|alt=Screenshot showing what the Reply tool looks like|This early version of the Reply tool automatically signs and indents comments.]]

The [[mw:Editing|Editing team]] has been working on [[mw:Talk pages project|the talk pages project]].  The goal of the talk pages project is to help contributors communicate on wiki more easily.  This project is the result of the [[mw:Talk pages consultation 2019|Talk pages consultation 2019]]. 

[[File:TalkPages-Reply-v2.0.png|thumb|300px|alt=Reply tool improved with edit tool buttons|In a future update, the team plans to test a tool for easily linking to another user's name, a rich-text editing option, and other tools.]]

The team is building a [[mw:Talk pages project/replying|new tool for replying]] to comments now.  This early version can sign and indent comments automatically.  <strong>Please [[mw:Talk pages project/replying/prototype testing#Reply%20version%201.0|test the new Reply tool]].</strong>  

*On 31 March 2020, the new {{Int:discussiontools-replylink}} tool was offered as a [[mw:Beta Feature|Beta Feature]] editors at four Wikipedias:  [[w:ar:Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|Arabic]], [[w:nl:Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|Dutch]], [[w:fr:Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|French]], and [[w:hu:Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|Hungarian]].  If your community also wants early access to the new tool, contact [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)]].
*The team is planning some upcoming changes.  <strong>Please [[mw:Talk pages project/replying#Version%202.0|review the proposed design]] and share your thoughts on the talk page.</strong>  The team will test features such as:
**an easy way to mention another editor ("pinging"), 
**a rich-text visual editing option, and 
**other features identified through user testing or recommended by editors.  

To hear more about Editing Team updates, please add your name to the [[mw:Talk pages project#Get involved|<strong>"Get involved"</strong>]] section of the project page. You can also watch [[File:MediaWiki Vector skin blue star watchlist icon.svg|frameless|16px]] these pages: [[mw:Talk pages project|the main project page]], [[mw:Talk pages project/Updates|Updates]], [[mw:Talk pages project/replying|Replying]], and [[mw:Talk pages project/replying/prototype testing|User testing]].

– [[user:PPelberg (WMF)|PPelberg (WMF)]] ([[mw:User talk:PPelberg (WMF)|talk]]) & [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[mw:User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 15:45, 13 April 2020 (UTC)
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== Editing news 2020 #2 – Quick updates ==

<em>[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2020/June|Read this in another language]] • [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list]]</em>

[[File:TalkPages-Reply-v2.0.png|alt=Mockup of the new reply feature, showing new editing tools|thumb|400x400px|The new features include a toolbar.  [[mw:Talk:Talk pages project/replying|What do you think should be in the toolbar?]]]]

This edition of the [[mw:Editing|Editing]] newsletter includes information the [[Wikipedia:Talk pages project]], an effort to help contributors communicate on wiki more easily.  The [[mw:Talk pages project|central project page is on MediaWiki.org.]]

* [[mw:Talk pages project/replying|<strong>Reply tool</strong>]]: This is available as a Beta Feature at the four partner wikis (Arabic, Dutch, French, and Hungarian Wikipedias).  The Beta Feature will get [[mw:Talk pages project/replying#Version%202.0|new features]] soon.  The new features include writing comments in a new visual editing mode and pinging other users by typing <code>@</code>. You can [[mw:Talk pages project/replying/prototype testing#Reply%20tool%20version%202.0|test the new features]] on the [[mw:Beta Cluster|Beta Cluster]].  Some other wikis will have a chance to try the Beta Feature in the coming months.
* [[mw:New requirements for user signatures|<strong>New requirements for user signatures</strong>]]:  Soon, users will not be able to save invalid custom signatures in [[Special:Preferences]]. This will reduce signature spoofing, prevent page corruption, and make new talk page tools more reliable.  Most editors will not be affected.
* [[mw:Talk pages project/New discussion|<strong>New discussion tool</strong>]]:  The Editing team is beginning work on a simpler process for starting new discussions.   You can [[mw:Talk pages project/New discussion#Design|see the initial design on the project page]].
* [[m:Research:Usage of talk pages|<strong>Research on the use of talk pages</strong>]]:  The Editing team worked with the [[mw:Wikimedia research|Wikimedia research team]] to study how talk pages help editors improve articles.  We learned that new editors who use talk pages make more edits to the main namespace than new editors who don't use talk pages. 

– [[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 18:11, 15 June 2020 (UTC)
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== Editing news 2020 #3 ==

[[File:50 million desktop visual editor edits.png|thumb|On 16 March 2020, the '''50 millionth edit''' was made using the visual editor on desktop.|400px]]

Seven years ago this week, the [[mw:Editing team|Editing team]] made the visual editor available by default to all logged-in editors using the desktop site at the English Wikipedia.  Here's what happened since its introduction:

* The <strong>50 millionth edit using the visual editor on desktop</strong> was made this year.  More than <strong>10 million</strong> edits have been made here at the English Wikipedia.
* More than <strong>2 million new articles</strong> have been created in the visual editor. More than 600,000 of these new articles were created during 2019. 
* Almost <strong>5 million edits on the mobile site</strong> have been made with the visual editor.  Most of these edits have been made since the Editing team started improving the [[mw:Mobile visual editor|mobile visual editor]] in 2018.
* The <strong>proportion of all edits</strong> made using the visual editor has been <strong>increasing every year</strong>.
* Editors have made more than <strong>7 million edits in the 2017 wikitext editor</strong>, including starting <strong>600,000 new articles</strong> in it.  The [[mw:2017 wikitext editor|2017 wikitext editor]] is VisualEditor's built-in wikitext mode.  You can [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|enable it in your preferences]].
* On 17 November 2019, the [https://discuss-space.wmflabs.org/t/first-edit-made-to-wikipedia-from-outer-space/2254 <strong>first edit from outer space</strong>] was made in the mobile visual editor.
* In 2019, <strong>35% of the edits by newcomers</strong>, and half of their first edits, were made using the visual editor.  This percentage has been increasing every year since the tool became available.

[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 02:06, 3 July 2020 (UTC)
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== Editing news 2020 #4 ==

<em>[[m:Special:MyLanguage/VisualEditor/Newsletter/2020/August|Read this in another language]] • [[m:Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this newsletter]]</em>

=== Reply tool ===
[[File:Reply Tool weekly edits- March - June, 2020.png|thumb|333px|The number of comments posted with the Reply Tool from March through June 2020. People used the Reply Tool to post over <strong>7,400 comments</strong> with the tool.]]

The [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages project/replying|<strong>Reply tool</strong>]] has been available as a [[mw:Beta Feature|Beta Feature]] at the Arabic, Dutch, French and Hungarian Wikipedias since 31 March 2020.  The [[mw:Talk pages project/replying#Metrics|first analysis showed positive results]].

* More than <strong>300 editors</strong> used the Reply tool at these four Wikipedias.  They  posted more than <strong>7,400 replies</strong> during the study period.
* Of the people who posted a comment with the Reply tool, about 70% of them used the tool multiple times.  About 60% of them used it on multiple days.
* Comments from Wikipedia editors are positive.  One said, <span lang="ar" dir="rtl">أعتقد أن الأداة تقدم فائدة ملحوظة؛ فهي تختصر الوقت لتقديم رد بدلًا من التنقل بالفأرة إلى وصلة تعديل القسم أو الصفحة، التي تكون بعيدة عن التعليق الأخير في الغالب، ويصل المساهم لصندوق التعديل بسرعة باستخدام الأداة.</span>  ("I think the tool has a significant impact; it saves time to reply while the classic way is to move with a mouse to the Edit link to edit the section or the page which is generally far away from the comment. And the user reaches to the edit box so quickly to use the Reply tool.")[https://ar.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=49242252&oldid=49242144]

The Editing team released the Reply tool as a Beta Feature at eight other Wikipedias in early August.  Those Wikipedias are in the Chinese, Czech, Georgian, Serbian, Sorani Kurdish, Swedish, Catalan, and Korean languages.  If you would like to use the Reply tool at your wiki, please tell [[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)]].

The Reply tool is still in active development.  Per request from the Dutch Wikipedia and other editors, you will be able to [[phab:T249391|customize the edit summary]].  (The default edit summary is "Reply".)  A "ping" feature is available in the Reply tool's visual editing mode.  This feature searches for usernames.  Per request from the Arabic Wikipedia, each wiki will be able to [[phab:T258743|set its own preferred symbol]] for pinging editors.  Per request from editors at the Japanese and Hungarian Wikipedias, each wiki can [[phab:T249861|define a preferred signature prefix]] in the page [[MediaWiki:Discussiontools-signature-prefix]].   For example, some languages omit spaces before signatures.  Other communities want to add a dash or a non-breaking space.

=== New requirements for user signatures ===

* The [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/New requirements for user signatures|new requirements for custom user signatures]] began on 6 July 2020.  If you try to create a custom signature that does not meet the requirements, you will get an error message.
* Existing custom signatures that do not meet the new requirements will be unaffected <em>temporarily</em>. Eventually, all custom signatures will need to meet the new requirements.  You can [https://signatures.toolforge.org check your signature and see lists of active editors] whose custom signatures need to be corrected.  Volunteers have been contacting editors who need to change their custom signatures.  If you need to change your custom signature, then please [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/New requirements for user signatures/Help|read the help page]].

=== Next: New discussion tool ===

Next, the team will be working on a tool for quickly and easily starting a new discussion section to a talk page. To follow the development of this new tool, please put the [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages project/New discussion|New Discussion Tool]] project page on your watchlist.

[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]])  18:48, 31 August 2020 (UTC)
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== ArbCom 2020 Elections voter message ==

<table class="messagebox " style="border: 1px solid #AAA; background: ivory; padding: 0.5em; width: 100%;">
<tr><td style="vertical-align:middle; padding-left:1px; padding-right:0.5em;">[[File:Scale of justice 2.svg|40px]]</td><td>Hello! Voting in the '''[[WP:ACE2020|2020 Arbitration Committee elections]]''' is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on {{#time:l, j F Y|{{Arbitration Committee candidate/data|2020|end}}-1 day}}. All '''[[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2020#Election timeline|eligible users]]''' are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The [[WP:ARBCOM|Arbitration Committee]] is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the [[Wikipedia:Arbitration|Wikipedia arbitration process]]. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose [[WP:BAN|site bans]], [[WP:TBAN|topic bans]], editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The [[Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy|arbitration policy]] describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2020 election, please review [[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2020/Candidates|the candidates]] and submit your choices on the '''[[Special:SecurePoll/vote/{{Arbitration Committee candidate/data|2020|poll}}|voting page]]'''.  If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{tlx|NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. [[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 01:16, 24 November 2020 (UTC)
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== Editing news 2021 #1 ==

<i>[[metawiki:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2021/January|Read this in another language]] • [[wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this newsletter]]</i>

=== Reply tool ===
[[File:Junior Contributor Reply Tool and full page edit completion rate.png|alt=Graph of Reply tool and full-page wikitext edit completion rates|thumb|300px|Completion rates for comments made with the Reply tool and full-page wikitext editing. Details and limitations are in this [https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/wikimedia-research/Discussion-tools-analysis-2020/blob/master/Engagement-Metrics/Reply-Tool-Workflow-Engagement-Metrics.ipynb#Reply-Tool-(Wikitext-and-VE)-vs-Full-Page-Wikitext report].]]
The [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages project/replying|<strong>Reply tool</strong>]] is available at most other Wikipedias. 

* The Reply tool has been deployed as an opt-out [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing|preference]] to all editors at the Arabic, Czech, and Hungarian Wikipedias. 
* It is also available as a [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Beta Feature|Beta Feature]] at almost all Wikipedias except for the English, Russian, and German-language Wikipedias.  If it is not available at your wiki, you can request it by following [[mw:Topic:W1crei3lyn3mvewc|these simple instructions]].

<strong>Research notes:</strong> 

* As of January 2021, <strong>more than 3,500 editors</strong> have used the Reply tool to post about <strong>70,000 comments</strong>.
* There is preliminary data from the Arabic, Czech, and Hungarian Wikipedia on the Reply tool.  [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages project/Glossary|Junior Contributors]] who use the Reply tool are more likely to publish the comments that they start writing than those who use full-page wikitext editing.[https://nbviewer.jupyter.org/github/wikimedia-research/Discussion-tools-analysis-2020/blob/master/Engagement-Metrics/Reply-Tool-Workflow-Engagement-Metrics.ipynb#Reply-Tool-(Wikitext-and-VE)-vs-Full-Page-Wikitext]
* The Editing and Parsing teams have significantly reduced the number of edits that affect other parts of the page.  About 0.3% of edits did this during the last month.[https://dtcheck.toolforge.org/] Some of the remaining changes are automatic corrections for [[Special:LintErrors]].
* [[File:Венов_дијаграм.svg|30px]] <strong>A large [[w:en:A/B test|A/B test]] will start soon.</strong>[https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T252057] This is part of [[mw:Talk pages project/replying#Step%204:%20A/B%20test|the process]] to offer the Reply tool to everyone.  During this test, half of all editors at [[phab:T267382|24 Wikipedias]] (''not'' including the English Wikipedia) will have the Reply tool automatically enabled, and half will not. Editors at those Wikipeedias can still turn it on or off for their own accounts in [[Special:Preferences]].

=== New discussion tool ===
[[File:New Discussion Tool v1.0.png|thumb|380px|Screenshot of version 1.0 of the [[mw:Talk_pages_project/New_discussion|New Discussion Tool]] prototype.]]
The new tool for [[mw:Talk pages project/New discussion|starting new discussions]] (new sections) will join the Discussion tools in [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures]] at the end of January.  You can try the tool for yourself.[https://patchdemo.wmflabs.org/wikis/3e14959a196db0f7b0c32a35c99dc0fc/w/index.php/Project:Teahouse]  You can leave feedback [[mw:Topic:Vzswfe2hn2zuuwtc|in this thread]] or on the talk page.

=== Next:  Notifications ===
[[File:White square with question mark.png|left|frameless|60px]]
During [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages consultation 2019|Talk pages consultation 2019]], editors [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages consultation 2019/Phase 1 report#Notifications|said]] that it should be easier to know about new activity in conversations they are interested in.  The [[mw:Talk pages project/Notifications|Notifications]] project is just beginning.  What would help you become aware of new comments?  What's working with the current system?  Which pages at your wiki should the team look at?  Please post your advice at [[mw:Talk:Talk pages project/Notifications]].

–[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 01:02, 23 January 2021 (UTC)
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== Editing news 2021 #2 ==

''[[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2021/June|Read this in another language]] • [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this newsletter]]''

[[File:Reply Tool A-B test comment completion.png|alt=Junior contributors comment completion rate across all participating Wikipedias|thumb|296x296px|When newcomers had the Reply tool and tried to post on a talk page, they were more successful at posting a comment. ([https://wikimedia-research.github.io/Reply-tools-analysis-2021/ Source])]]

Earlier this year, the Editing team ran a large study of [[mw:Talk pages project/Replying|the Reply Tool]].  The main goal was to find out whether the Reply Tool helped [[mw:Talk pages project/Glossary|newer editors]] communicate on wiki.  The second goal was to see whether the comments that newer editors made using the tool needed to be reverted more frequently than comments newer editors made with the existing wikitext page editor.   

The key results were:

* Newer editors who had automatic ("default on") access to the Reply tool were [https://wikimedia-research.github.io/Reply-tools-analysis-2021/ more likely] to post a comment on a talk page.
* The comments that newer editors made with the Reply Tool were also [https://wikimedia-research.github.io/Reply-tools-analysis-2021/ less likely] to be reverted than the comments that newer editors made with page editing.

These results give the Editing team confidence that the tool is helpful.  

'''Looking ahead'''

The team is planning to make the Reply tool available to everyone as an opt-out preference in the coming months.  This has already happened at the Arabic, Czech, and Hungarian Wikipedias.

The next step is to [[phab:T280599|resolve a technical challenge]].  Then, they will deploy the Reply tool first to the [[phab:T267379|Wikipedias that participated in the study]].  After that, they will deploy it, in stages, to the other Wikipedias and all WMF-hosted wikis.   

You can turn on "Discussion Tools" [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|in Beta Features]] now.  After you get the Reply tool, you can change your preferences at any time in [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing-discussion]].

–[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]])

00:27, 16 June 2021 (UTC)
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== ArbCom 2021 Elections voter message ==

<table class="messagebox " style="border: 1px solid #AAA; background: ivory; padding: 0.5em; width: 100%;">
<tr><td style="vertical-align:middle; padding-left:1px; padding-right:0.5em;">[[File:Scale of justice 2.svg|40px]]</td><td>Hello! Voting in the '''[[WP:ACE2021|2021 Arbitration Committee elections]]''' is now open until 23:59 (UTC) on {{#time:l, j F Y|{{Arbitration Committee candidate/data|2021|end}}-1 day}}. All '''[[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2021#Election timeline|eligible users]]''' are allowed to vote. Users with alternate accounts may only vote once.

The [[WP:ARBCOM|Arbitration Committee]] is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the [[Wikipedia:Arbitration|Wikipedia arbitration process]]. It has the authority to impose binding solutions to disputes between editors, primarily for serious conduct disputes the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the authority to impose [[WP:BAN|site bans]], [[WP:TBAN|topic bans]], editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The [[Wikipedia:Arbitration/Policy|arbitration policy]] describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail.

If you wish to participate in the 2021 election, please review [[Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee Elections December 2021/Candidates|the candidates]] and submit your choices on the '''[[Special:SecurePoll/vote/{{Arbitration Committee candidate/data|2021|poll}}|voting page]]'''.  If you no longer wish to receive these messages, you may add {{tlx|NoACEMM}} to your user talk page. <small>[[User:MediaWiki message delivery|MediaWiki message delivery]] ([[User talk:MediaWiki message delivery|talk]]) 00:02, 23 November 2021 (UTC)</small>
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== Editing newsletter 2022 – #1 ==

<i>[[metawiki:VisualEditor/Newsletter/2022/April|Read this in another language]] • [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for the multilingual newsletter]] • [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Local subscription list]]</i>

[[File:Junior Contributor New Topic Tool Completion Rate.png|thumb|New editors were more successful with this new tool.]]

The [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Help:DiscussionTools#New discussion tool|'''New topic tool''']] helps editors create new ==Sections== on discussion pages.  New editors are more successful with this new tool.  You can [[mw:Talk pages project/New topic#21 April 2022|read the report]].  Soon, the Editing team will offer this to all editors at most WMF-hosted wikis.  You can join the discussion about this tool for the English Wikipedia is at [[Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)#Enabling the New Topic Tool by default]].  You will be able to turn it off in the tool or at [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing-discussion]].

The Editing team plans to '''change the appearance of talk pages'''.  These are separate from the changes made by the [[mw:Desktop improvements]] project and will appear in both [[Mw:Vector 2010|Vector 2010]] and [[Mw:Vector 2022|Vector 2022]].  The goal is to add some information and make discussions look visibly different from encyclopedia articles.  You can see some ideas at [[Wikipedia talk:Talk pages project#Prototype Ready for Feedback]].  

[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]])

23:15, 30 May 2022 (UTC)
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== Editing news 2022 #2 ==

<i>[[m:Special:MyLanguage/VisualEditor/Newsletter/2022/August|Read this in another language]] • [[m:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter]]</i>

[[File:Desktop Topic Subscriptions median response time.png|alt=Graph showing 90-minute response time without the new tool and 39-minute response time with the tool|thumb|The [{{int:discussiontools-topicsubscription-button-subscribe}}] button shortens response times.]]

The new [{{int:discussiontools-topicsubscription-button-subscribe}}] button [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Help:DiscussionTools#subscribe|notifies people when someone replies]] to their comments. It helps newcomers get answers to their questions. People reply sooner. You can [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk_pages_project/Notifications#12_August_2022|read the report]]. The Editing team is turning this tool on for everyone. You will be able to turn it off [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing-discussion|in your preferences]].

–[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|{{int:Talkpagelinktext}}]]) 00:35, 26 August 2022 (UTC)
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== Editing news 2023 #1 ==

<i>[[m:Special:MyLanguage/VisualEditor/Newsletter/2023/February|Read this in another language]] • [[Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Newsletter|Subscription list for this newsletter]]</i>

This newsletter includes two key updates about the [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Editing team|Editing]] team's work:

# The Editing team will finish adding new features to the [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages project|Talk pages project]] and deploy it.
# They are beginning a new project, [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Edit check|Edit check]].

'''Talk pages project'''
[[File:Page Frame Features on desktop.png|alt=Screenshot showing the talk page design changes that are currently available as beta features at all Wikimedia wikis. These features include information about the number of people and comments within each discussion.|thumb|300px|Some of the upcoming changes]]

The Editing team is nearly finished with this first phase of the [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk_pages_project|Talk pages project]]. Nearly all [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages project/Usability|new features]] are available now in the [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-betafeatures|Beta Feature for {{int:discussiontools-preference-label}}]].

It will show information about how active a discussion is, such as the date of the most recent comment. There will soon be a new "{{int:skin-action-addsection}}" button. You will be able to turn them off at [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing-discussion]]. Please [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk:Talk_pages_project/Usability#c-PPelberg_(WMF)-20230215001000-Feedback:_Proposed_Revisions_to_%22Add_topic%22_button|tell them what you think]].

[[File:Daily edit completion rates mobile talk pages.png|thumb|300px|Daily edit completion rate by test group: DiscussionTools (test group) and MobileFrontend overlay (control group)]]

An A/B test for [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk pages project/Mobile|{{int:discussiontools-preference-label}} on the mobile site]] has finished. Editors were [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Talk_pages_project/Mobile#Status_Updates|more successful with {{int:discussiontools-preference-label}}]]. The Editing team is enabling these features for all editors on the mobile site.

'''New Project: Edit Check'''

The Editing team is beginning [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Edit check|a project to help new editors of Wikipedia]]. It will help people identify some problems before they click "{{int:publishchanges}}". The first tool will encourage people to add references when they add new content. Please [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Help:Watchlist|watch]] that page for more information. You can [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Editing_team/Community_Conversations#20230303|join a conference call on 3&nbsp;March&nbsp;2023]] to learn more.

–[[User:Whatamidoing (WMF)|Whatamidoing (WMF)]] ([[User talk:Whatamidoing (WMF)|talk]]) 18:19, 22 February 2023 (UTC)
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