Topic on User talk:Jdforrester (WMF)/Archive 2

Alsee (talkcontribs)

The WMF's discussion of single edit tab has been, at least to me, very confusing and unclear. I've gotten a few responses that the WMF isn't going to be doing X, isn't doing Y, and isn't doing Z. But I'm having trouble finding a positive answer on how single edit tab is planned to work when someone signs up for a new account.

After ruling out all of the X Y and Z that aren't going to happen, the process of elimination seems to indicate:

  • New users will not get a menu
  • A new user will get a single edit button
  • The first time that button is clicked it will go directly into the site default editor
  • The EnWiki site default editor is currently wikitext
  • The EnWiki site default editor won't be changed to VE without asking the community first

Can you either confirm that the plan is to default new users directly into wikitext mode, or clarify how it is planned to work for new accounts? Thanx.

Jdforrester (WMF) (talkcontribs)

Sure:

There will be only one edit tab. When you click on it, an editor will be loaded. Depending on user and system preferences, which editor loads will differ. For users who have no preferences beyond the default, which includes anonymous users, they will get the editor they used last; for logged-in users who've never edited, or logged-out editors who've not edited since their cookies were cleared or expired, they will get the "default" editor.

On "VE primary" wikis (like the Spanish Wikipedia, along with >200 others), the first editor that loads will be the visual editor. As always, first-time editors on opening the visual editor get some educational material welcoming them to the wiki, and about how to use links and references appropriately. Returning editors will get their most recent editor. Returning logged-in editors with a one-time welcome dialog that offers the ability to change their preferences in case they don't like the default settings (e.g. they never want to load the visual editor on clicking 'edit', or they want both tabs). This is hopefully going to go well, but as hope doesn't make a promise we're doing it gradually, starting with one smaller wiki and verifying it works for users there before proceeding.

On "VE secondary" wikis (like the English Wikipedia), the first editor that loads will still be the wikitext editor (if they have JavaScript, like now). Once this is in place, we will be able to run on the English Wikipedia our first ever A/B test with anonymous users (as before offering VE changed the read interface, which isn't permitted for performance reasons), where we will experiment with what the impact of making the wiki "VE primary" will be, and once we have data, discussing what that means for users with the existing editors.

I hope we'll be able to run the A/B test for the English Wikipedia in the next couple of months, but our first duty is to ensure these changes work well on the bigger wikis by VE edit volume.

Alsee (talkcontribs)

It has been a week. I see you have been editing on the 13th, the 18th, the 19th, and today.

Is T132806 being ignored?

Alsee (talkcontribs)

I hope this was simply a bug, but VE was just imposed as Primary editor on EnWiki.

Jdforrester (WMF) (talkcontribs)

Hi there, sorry for the delayed response; I didn't see this until just now (the perils of having dozens of notifications)…

Thanks for your remarks: it appears something is indeed not working as I had expected it to. T133304 for example seems to suggest the cookie system is not behaving in the way described in documentation. We'll address all the issues in due course: CLs will collect more specific details from users who have reported them. Apologies for the inconvenience.

Yours,

Alsee (talkcontribs)

Could you triage Phab T132806 as accepted? Thanx.

Whatamidoing (WMF) (talkcontribs)

They will presumably do the paperwork for that Phab ticket at the next bug triage meeting.

At least with this team, it is not unusual for bugs to be resolved before the paperwork gets done.

Alsee (talkcontribs)

Not resolved. See Village Pump discussion.

I just saw you replied there. Thanx. Reclosing this thread.