VisualEditor/2012-13 Q3 forward-look

2012/13 Q2

Quarterly VisualEditor forward-look for 2012/13 Q3

Current

This is the forward-looking plan for the VisualEditor team (including Parsoid) for the 2012-13 Q3 cycle (i.e., from the start of January through to the end of March 2013).

Priorities for this quarter

• Getting the last of the APIs finished (so other/external developers can more easily get involved)
• Extend the core platform to cover all of our target browsers (so it works for as many people as possible);
• Cover more content than at end-Q2 (so editors can create articles with features that are necessary for it to not be deleted); and
• Continue to deploy fortnightly into live (so we can get feedback from users about how we are doing, and so they can use it).

Specific deliverables targetted for end-Q3 or earlier

• Finish the final API work in the data model component (so we can support more content types and other people can more easily get involved);
• Design and build a generic meta-data editor, and specifically for Categories;
• Build and deploy an extension to let users 'hint' how Templates should be used;
• Improve the functionality for our target browsers (particularly, Internet Explorer); and
• Deploy more widely in production to let test users edit real content.

Removed from plan

Parsoid

• C++ implementation for December

  We have decided to focus on speed improvements to the Node/JS prototype of the Parsoid rather than work on a C++ version, at least for now.

Node-handlers

• Table editors

  As for December, this has been pushed back (nominally, to 2013/14 Q1, but this may change); content but not the structure and styling of tables will be editable.

• Citation editors

  This was pushed back from December's release; this is on track for 2012/13 Q4.

Platform functionality

• Integration of collaborative editing work from GSoC student

  As for December, this has been pushed back (nominally, to 2013/14 Q1, but this may change).

Browser matrix

This is not final, but work-in-progress for the VE team

The unofficial rule for Wikimedia's browser support is that we try to support reading (and not necessarily other functions) for all browsers used by at least 0.1% of page hits based on the WikiStats data. However, VE is complex and requires some specific advanced browser features (most specifically, ContentEditable support, but also very wide JavaScript support), which limits the platforms we can support either technically (indicated by being struck through) or resource-wise (indicated with a N).

See also: Compatibility#Browser support matrix.

Short list

As of June 2016:

• N Not supported browsers - The blacklist is currently defined as: Microsoft Internet Explorer 8 and below; below Android 3; Firefox 11 and below; Safari 6 and below; below Opera 12; all Blackberry; all Silk.
•  Supported browsers - The whitelist is currently defined as:  Firefox 12 and up; Iceweasel 10 and up; Safari 7 and up; Chrome 19 and up; Opera 15 and up, Internet Explorer 11 and up; Edge 12 and up.
• Browsers not on either list (such as Internet Explorer 9) are "greylisted"—users will receive a warning, but shouldn't have major issues editing.

Complete list (out of date)

Probable VisualEditor support
Data as of December 2014 - February 2015, from "Editors" section of http://datavis.wmflabs.org/agents/

Browser	Desktop			Mobile
	Overall share	Version	Share	Overall share	Version	Share
Android	N/A	Less than 0.1%		34.12%	5	1.28% ?
					4	31.68% ?
					3	0.03% ?
					2	1.13% ?
Chrome	47.11%	42.0	0.01% ✔	11.61%
		41.0	0.09% ✔
		40.0	8.76% ✔		40.0	4.11% ?
		39.0	33.09% ✔		39.0	7.34% ?
		38.0	1.84% ✔
		37.0	0.75% ✔
		36.0	0.55% ✔
		35.0	0.50% ✔
		34.0	0.32% ✔
		33.0	0.33% ✔
		32.0	0.27% ✔
		31.0	0.36% ✔
		30.0	0.04% ✔
		29.0	0.03% ✔
		28.0	0.01% ✔
		27.0	0.04% ✔
		26.0	0.03% ✔
		25.0	0.01% ✔
		23.0	0.02% ✔
		21.0	0.02% ✔
		16.0	0.01% ?		19	0.06% ?
		11.0	0.03% ?		11.0	0.10% ?
Firefox	33.59%	37.0	0.03% ✔	0.88%
		36.0	0.42% ✔
		35.0	4.84% ✔		35	0.33% ?
		34.0	11.13% ✔		34	0.47% ?
		33.0	13.78% ✔		33	0.08% ✔
		32.0	0.47% ✔
		31.0	1.03% ✔
		30.0	0.34% ✔
		29.0	0.21% ✔
		28.0	0.21% ✔
		27.0	0.06% ✔
		26.0	0.12% ✔
		25.0	0.1% ✔
		24.0	0.24% ✔
		23.0	0.06% ✔
		22.0	0.06% ✔
		21.0	0.07% ✔
		20.0	0.07% ✔
		19.0	0.02% ?
		17.0	0.08% ✔
		16.0	0.13% ✔
		15.0	0.04% ?
		14.0	0.02% ?
		12.0	0.05% N
		11.0	0.01% ?
Mozilla	0.10%	2.0	0.10% N	0.65%	5.0	0.65% N
MSIE	9.53%	11.0	7.05% ✔	2.03%	11	1.14% ?
		10.0	1.04% N		10	0.89% ?
		9.0	1.15% N
		8.0	0.27% N
		6.0	0.002% N
		4.0	0.02% N
Opera	2.23%	27.0	0.28% ?	N/A	0%
		26.0	1.18% ?
		25.0	0.00% ?
		12.x	0.77% ?
Safari	4.96%	8.0	2.07% ?	49.19%	8.0	24.28% ✔
		7.0	1.46% ?		7.0	12.60% ?
		6.0	0.80% ?		6.0	1.75% ?
		5.0	0.63% ?		5.0	0.50% ?
					4.0	0.02% ?
					?	10.04% ?

Notes (out of date):

Android – 4.0+ (no current automated testing)

Android before v. 3.0 does not support ContentEditable, so we will have to fall back to wikitext editing.

Chrome – 19.0+; 29.0+ actively tested

Chrome has auto-update (but rapid version increases); VE team roughly intend to actively support only the current, soon-to-be-current, and two immediately previous versions, though we intend for all versions at 19.0 and above to work without issue (including forks like Iceweasel). Versions below 19.0 may be possible to support if necessary.

Firefox – 15.0+; 23.0+ actively tested

Firefox has auto-update (but rapid version increases); VE team roughly intend to actively support only the current, soon-to-be-current, and two immediately previous versions, though we intend for all versions at 15.0 and above to work without issue (including forks like Iceweasel). There are some technical issues that prevent Firefox 10.0 to 14.0 from being removed from the blacklist; these are solvable if necessary (see bug). Versions below 10.0 lack necessary technological support. Firefox ESR is supported only if the underlying version is supported, so Firefox ESR 10 is not currently supported, but Firefox ESR 17 and Firefox ESR 24 should work fine.

Mozilla – No support

Mozilla itself is an ancient browser, and cannot be supported due to technological issues. Lots of browsers are mis-reported as Mozilla but are in fact much more modern, and should work without issue.

MSIE (Internet Explorer) – 11.0+ (currently suspended)

Each version of MSIE is differently broken, and adds significant support burden. However, as it is still relatively popular, the team intend to support 9.0 and upwards. Versions below 9.0 suffer from a a variety of missing key technologies which mean they cannot be made to work with VisualEditor.

Opera – 12.00+ (no current automated testing)

Opera Desktop (from 12.00 onwards) is a cousin of Chrome, and should work without incident. Opera Mini does not support contentEditable, so VisualEditor can never work on it.

Safari – 5.0+ (no current automated testing)

Safari Desktop is a cousin of Chrome, and should work without incident. Safari on iOS (iPad/iPhone/iPod) has very wide-spread auto-update; VE team roughly intend to actively support only the current, soon-to-be-current, and immediately previous version only.

See also

• User Agent Breakdowns, Wikimedia Foundation

Current browser support matrix

As above for desktop, but lacking Internet Explorer; for tablet and mobile, entirely lacking.