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Watchlist settings by default

I think it would be nice to have these on by default:

• Email me when a page or a file on my watchlist is changed
• Add pages I create and files I upload to my watchlist
• Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist
• (Some setting for emailing for each new edit not only the first one?)

Then newcomers would see emails for reviewer comments etc in their inbox. What do you think, and how do I find out whether these settings are currently enabled by default for new users? Gryllida (chat) 23:16, 28 September 2018 (UTC)

The 'random article' link in the sidebar seems a bit useless for a news site...

...as unfortunately the current tools do not allow to limit it to "random page among 'last couple weeks' submissions". Is this correct?

Interestingly, people read and use the sidebar, as Excoriation helpfully pointed out.

Perhaps the 'random article' link needs to be removed from MediaWiki:Sidebar as this might cause confusion.

Thoughts? --Gryllida ^{chat / how do YOU get started?} 01:51, 2 October 2018 (UTC)

Our archives are a major asset of the project. (The next link after that in the navigation side-bar is an archive splash page that I've been working on upgrading for some time; it's been taking a back seat to other dialog-related upgrades.) I don't see a problem with it. Most people probably won't even notice that link, those that do and take the name of the link literally won't be surprised by what it does, and those that are surprised will only be so for an instant. Providing most-recent articles is a function of the main page, which is at the top of the navigation side-bar. --Pi zero (talk) 12:03, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

Get a notification when any article status changes

I would like to receive a notification --through email or Echo, for example-- each time an article status changes - for any new article - for example this can be addition to {{develop}} or {{review}} or {{tasks}}.

I can watch a category, but this does not generate email notifications.

The gadgets --the action done when people click 'submit for review' in the {{develop}} tag, the ezPR gadget-- could do a ping in edit summary on opt-in basis. If it is via edit summary, a list of opted-in participants may need to be stored at a wiki page.

I am not sure what would be the best approach.

--Gryllida (chat) 04:44, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

@Gryllida: You can subscribe to your watchlist thru RSS. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 05:27, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

I don't know how (think via API, but I had difficulty finding documentation about where to put the watchlist token). --Gryllida (chat) 05:30, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

@Gryllida::

1. Go to Special:Watchlist
2. View source (e.g. Ctrl+U if you are using Firefox)
3. Search for "atom" (e.g. Ctrl+F)
4. Find a string like: "w/api.php?action=feedwatchlist&allrev=1&wlowner=Gryllida&wltoken=[gibberish]&feedformat=atomz"
5. Add the feed "https://en.wikinews.org/w/api.php?action=feedwatchlist&allrev=1&wlowner=Gryllida&wltoken=[gibberish]&feedformat=atom" to your RSS reader.

Let me know if you need more help. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 05:37, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

This looks great. Thank you. Gryllida (chat) 05:50, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

Inherently unhelpful protection message

	You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reason: This page has been protected to prevent editing or other actions.
—Wikinews main page

Consider the Main Page. The message that comes when an user tries to edit it (see left) is pretty generic (infact, it's the Mediawiki default).

	This page is currently protected and can be edited only by administrators.
—Wikibooks main page

That message won't even tell you whether it's semi-protected or fully protected.

Most other Wikimedia sites do it properly; see Wikibooks' main page. It also tells you why the page is protected, and what one can do about it.

Shouldn't the messages be changed (i.e, by importing it from elsewhere) so that they are more helpful? Leaderboard (talk) 16:37, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

@Leaderboard: Makes sense. Do you, perchance, know what the MediaWiki-space hooks are for this?

(In the longer term, I hope to devise a mechanism so that when someone tries to edit a page that's protected, they'll get a semi-automated assistant and may be given an opportunity to "edit" the page thereby generating an editprotected request on the talk page that, in turn, offers a semi-automated assistant to a user with higher privs that they can use to examine the proposal, and accept reject or modify it. This would be a very cool facility. Not there yet.) --Pi zero (talk) 16:53, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

@Pi zero: For Wikibooks, it's here. Hence Wikinews' equivalent is at here, and it's barren, as expected. Leaderboard (talk) 17:54, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

Looking at the hard-to-read code on Wikibooks, and comparing it to the differently obscure code on Wikipedia, it seems clear to me this needs to be done carefully, to modularize it in a way that supports the sort of customizations we'll want for Wikinews. I'll try to focus on this and work it out promptly (though stuff on the review queue tends to take priority). --Pi zero (talk) 19:31, 26 October 2018 (UTC)

@Pi zero: See my sandbox; I've copied the code from Wikibooks and made it more Wikinews-y (though I should note that the template is dynamic and doesn't show its full capabilities inside my sandbox). I've also copied a template (with its documentation) as part of it (you'll need to perform a history merge to it). Leaderboard (talk) 12:45, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

I have some thoughts on this, but am atm in the midst of one of those moments of being overwhelmed with immediate priorities. (Nowadays we don't use the traditional types of boxes at Wikinews; I favor {{xambox}} as a general-purpose device; and there's a very-long-standing low-level debate running here over whether it's okay to import "code"-type infrastructure from Wikipedia, as opposed to content... but really those are side issues.) --Pi zero (talk) 17:21, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

I've tried something. Further customizations should be primarily in template space. --Pi zero (talk) 08:01, 6 November 2018 (UTC)

MediaWiki:Edittools and MediaWiki:Edittools.js still need fixing

I raised an issue early this year about MediaWiki:Edittools and MediaWiki:Edittools.js possibly not working properly. There weren't enough replies here, so five months ago I decided to ask for help or suggestions at MediaWiki.org's Support Desk. I figured that the suggestions there are helpful, but I'm unsure. I wanted to file a Phabricator task about this, but I decide to raise this once more. --George Ho (talk) 08:48, 28 October 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for following this up George Ho.

Why don't they fix it? Edit tools is a part of MediaWiki.

Does this bug not occur at Russian Wikinews or English Wikipedia?

If it does not parse our MediaWiki:Edittools then it is a bug in MW's code?

I do not follow what code needs fixing.

If you don't understand either then we can ask at the topic that you linked. --Gryllida (chat) 09:35, 28 October 2018 (UTC)

I still don't understand codes much, even when using the "F12" key, i.e. developer tools. I tried finding flaws in Elements tab via Google Chrome, but I don't know which code needs fixing. I also couldn't detect "exceptions". --George Ho (talk) 09:51, 28 October 2018 (UTC)

OK thanks George Ho;

@Microchip08, Bawolff, Pi zero: and maybe others; do you have suggestions different from 'this is a bug in MediaWiki which needs to be reported'? --Gryllida (chat) 10:41, 28 October 2018 (UTC)

"Opinions" tab not appearing while using debug=true in a browser's address bar

When I was using "debug=true" (e.g. this one) and developer tools, I noticed that "Opinions" tab is missing. On the other hand, without using "debug=true", the "Opinions" tab appears. Also, when I used the developers tools (F12 key) via Google Chrome, I found one error message (or an "exception"?). --George Ho (talk) 10:04, 28 October 2018 (UTC)

Editing News #2—2018

Read this in another language • Subscription list for this multilingual newsletter

Did you know?

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

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.

Remember to publish your changes when you're done.

You can read and help translate the user guide, which has more information about how to use the visual editor.

Since the last newsletter, the Editing Team has wrapped up most of their work on the 2017 wikitext editor and the visual diff tool. The team has begun investigating the needs of editors who use mobile devices. Their work board is available in Phabricator. Their current priorities are fixing bugs and improving mobile editing.

Recent changes

• The Editing team has published an 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 read the report.
• The Reading team is working on a separate mobile-based contributions project.
• The 2006 wikitext editor is no longer supported. If you used that toolbar, then you will no longer see any toolbar. You may choose another editing tool in your editing preferences, local gadgets, or beta features.
• The Editing team described the history and status of VisualEditor in this recorded public presentation (starting at 29 minutes, 30 seconds).
• The Language team released a new version of Content Translation (CX2) last month, on 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. [1]

Let's work together

• The Editing team wants to improve visual editing on the mobile website. Please read their ideas and tell the team what you think would help editors who use the mobile site.
• The 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 Translators mailing list or contact us directly. We will notify you when the next issue is ready for translation. Thank you!

—Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk)

14:17, 2 November 2018 (UTC)

Open call for Project Grants

Greetings! The Project Grants program is accepting proposals until November 30 to fund both experimental and proven ideas such as research, offline outreach (including editathon series, workshops, etc), online organizing (including contests), or providing other support for community building for Wikimedia projects.

We offer the following resources to help you plan your project and complete a grant proposal:

• Program guidelines and criteria
• Tutorials for writing a strong application
• General planning page for Project Grants
• Scheduled proposal clinics to discuss your proposal and ask questions

Also accepting candidates to join the Project Grants Committee through November 15.

With thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) 19:46, 5 November 2018 (UTC)