Wikinews:Water cooler/miscellaneous/archives/2019/October

Bulgarian Wikinews hard-closed and soon to be deleted
For the heads up, Bulgarian Wikinews was technically closed/locked and will be deleted per Meta-wiki proposal discussion, the first Wikinews language project to be closed since Hungarian Wikinews in 2010. A lot of rationales for deletion were made there, including potential bias content, very tiny community, attempts to exclude non-Wikinewsies, etc. Please feel free to comment. --George Ho (talk) 00:12, 24 September 2019 (UTC)


 * Sure looks like the WMF enthusiastically book-burning. --Pi zero (talk) 00:45, 24 September 2019 (UTC)
 * The techs have decided to remove the bg link from wikinews.org portal (phab:T233896). What will you do about the link at Template:wikinewslang? --George Ho (talk) 18:49, 26 September 2019 (UTC)
 * If they want to compound the obscenity of closing it with the further obscenity of erasing the record of what they've done, I'd have no desire to aid their cover-up. However, the purpose of the template is to provide links of use to people viewing the site.  So the question is going to be whether there is anything useful we can provide re Bulgarian Wikinews.  I think we need to wait and see what the situation becomes, before we can answer that question. --Pi zero (talk) 19:08, 26 September 2019 (UTC)
 * If it's deleted, there is no value in providing a link to it. If it's locked, there could be but that would be no use at all. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 03:33, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
 * If it's deleted, and we wanted to provide something of value, that something would presumably have to be something other than a link to what has been deleted because, as noted, a link to what isn't there would not have value. --Pi zero (talk) 03:57, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
 * E.g.? —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 04:59, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
 * This is hypothetical. Off-hand I can think of three functions one could imagine being performed by an entry at the Bulgarian position in the template, if the Bulgarian project has been incinerated.  One could, I think, readily write huge volumes of text about further issues raised by these; just listing the further issues raised would be a daunting task, which goes back to my observation that this is hypothetical.
 * Informing the user that it was there and has been destroyed.
 * Directing the user to the archived discussions leading to the decision to destroy it.
 * Directing the user to where they can make official inquiries regarding the decision.
 * --Pi zero (talk) 13:23, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Are there any known mirrors of bgwn? Not that I think linking to off-Wiki sites is a solution. --SVTCobra 19:17, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Good question. Though I can only agree, it wouldn't be appropriate to link off-wiki in the template. --Pi zero (talk) 19:23, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't see value in linking to Russian disinformation propaganda. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 19:27, 30 September 2019 (UTC)
 * Nothing I've heard has convincingly indicated that's what the site is. --Pi zero (talk) 17:36, 1 October 2019 (UTC)
 * The deletion discussion explicitly says that. Why do you find that unconvincing? —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 17:41, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

Reddit AMA with an investigative journalist
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/dbtthv/im_a_reporter_who_investigated_a_florida/ —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 17:26, 1 October 2019 (UTC)

Tech News: 2019-41
 Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes
 * Octicons-tools.svg The abuse filter function now has a faster parser. This is to shorten the waiting time when you save an edit.

Problems Changes later this week Meetings
 * There is a problem in the visual editor when you copy or delete text with footnotes. It will be fixed soon.
 * Octicons-sync.svg The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 8 October. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 9 October. It will be on all wikis from 10 October (calendar).
 * Octicons-sync.svg Octicons-tools.svg You can join the technical advice meeting on IRC. During the meeting, volunteer developers can ask for advice. The meeting will be on 9 October at 15:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes
 * The Community Wishlist Survey has a new format. It will focus on wikis that typically get less support. It will probably go back to the normal format next year. It is not decided exactly how it will work this year. You can leave feedback.
 * The URL of the Wikimedia wiki main pages could be changed. This is because the current URLs cause several problems. For example  would be   instead. You can tell the developers if this would cause problems for your wiki.
 * There is a new technical community newsletter. You can read more about the work of Wikimedia's technical community. Subscribe to get the information in the future.
 * Octicons-tools.svg Outreachy is an internship program for groups who are underrepresented in free and open-source software. There are seven Wikimedia projects about coding, documentation and quality assurance in the next round. Persons who fit the criteria can apply. The last day to apply is 5 November.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.  15:34, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

GIJN on how to find sources
https://gijn.org/2019/10/07/how-to-dig-into-businesses-that-prop-up-criminal-networks/ —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 22:32, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

What to do if Alan Dershowitz calls you and keeps on breathing
https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/alan-dershowitz.php —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 22:43, 7 October 2019 (UTC)

ProPublica is expanding local coverage
https://www.propublica.org/article/propublica-will-fund-more-local-news-investigations-in-2020 —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 00:07, 8 October 2019 (UTC)

Print edition
For anyone interested, I worked on producing a new print edition issue. Link. It would almost work to produce it as a Wikinews Weekly sort of thing, though, it was rather time-consuming to produce, and I am remembering why my previous attempts at producing any editions died quickly. It's sort of in a magazine format, though, I loosely based it on a newsletter sort of format. I know Acagaatya worker also on PEs, and produced prettier editions than my sort of plain jane style. —mikemoral (talk &middot; contribs) 07:58, 12 October 2019 (UTC)
 * Wow, this takes me back. —Justin ( koavf ) ❤T☮C☺M☯ 09:01, 12 October 2019 (UTC)

Tech News: 2019-42
 Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes
 * You can now use more advanced editing tools on the mobile web. You can turn them on and off in your preferences in the mobile version.

Changes later this week
 * Octicons-sync.svg The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 15 October. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 16 October. It will be on all wikis from 17 October (calendar).

Meetings
 * Octicons-sync.svg Octicons-tools.svg You can join the technical advice meeting on IRC. During the meeting, volunteer developers can ask for advice. The meeting will be on 16 October at 15:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes
 * Internet Explorer 6 and 7 are no longer supported. This means the browsers might start looking a bit weird. They will not get security support. You can't read Wikimedia wikis in Internet Explorer on Windows XP or Windows versions that are older than Windows XP. This is because almost no one uses the browsers anymore. Supporting them made the wikis less secure for everyone else.
 * In the future section headings might have a share link. This is to make it easier to link to the section. You can read more and discuss.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.  23:32, 14 October 2019 (UTC)

Feedback wanted on Desktop Improvements project
. The Readers Web team at the WMF will work on some improvements to the desktop interface over the next couple of years. The goal is to increase usability without removing any functionality. We have been inspired by changes made by volunteers, but that currently only exist as local gadgets and user scripts, prototypes, and volunteer-led skins. We would like to begin the process of bringing some of these changes into the default experience on all Wikimedia projects.

We are currently in the research stage of this project and are looking for ideas for improvements, as well as feedback on our current ideas and mockups. So far, we have performed interviews with community members at Wikimania. We have gathered lists of previous volunteer and WMF work in this area. We are examining possible technical approaches for such changes.

We would like individual feedback on the following:


 * Identifying focus areas for the project we have not yet discovered
 * Expanding the list of existing gadgets and user scripts that are related to providing a better desktop experience. If you can think of some of these from your wiki, please let us know
 * Feedback on the ideas and mockups we have collected so far

We would also like to gather a list of wikis that would be interested in being test wikis for this project - these wikis would be the first to receive the updates once we’re ready to start building.

When giving feedback, please consider the following goals of the project:


 * Make it easier for readers to focus on the content
 * Provide easier access to everyday actions (e.g. search, language switching, editing)
 * Put things in logical and useful places
 * Increase consistency in the interface with other platforms - mobile web and the apps
 * Eliminate clutter
 * Plan for future growth

As well as the following constraints:


 * Not touching the content - no work will be done in terms of styling templates or to the structure of page contents themselves
 * Not removing any functionality - things might move around, but all navigational items and other functionality currently available by default will remain
 * No drastic changes to the layout - we're taking an evolutionary approach to the changes and want the site to continue feeling familiar to readers and editors

Please give all feedback (in any language) at mw:Talk:Reading/Web/Desktop Improvements

After this round of feedback, we plan on building a prototype of suggested changes based on the feedback we receive. You’ll hear from us again asking for feedback on this prototype.

Quiddity (WMF) (talk) 07:14, 16 October 2019 (UTC)

Tech News: 2019-43
 Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes
 * Octicons-tools.svg' prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.]] The API sandbox and help pages now show more clearly when API modules are marked as . API modules marked as internal were probably internal before. It was easier to miss. You should look for non-internal alternatives.

Problems
 * There is a translation tool we use on wikis with more than one language. For a few days it did not create pages for new languages when someone translated a page. The languages did not show in the language bar. This has been fixed.
 * The history and diffs can show wrong content. This is because of a cache problem. It will soon be fixed.

Changes later this week
 * Octicons-sync.svg The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 22 October. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 23 October. It will be on all wikis from 24 October (calendar).
 * Reference Previews will be a beta feature on all Wikipedias and some Wikivoyages. It shows you a preview of the footnote when you hover over or click on the number. It has been a beta feature on German and Arabic Wikipedia since April.

Meetings
 * Octicons-sync.svg Octicons-tools.svg You can join the technical advice meeting on IRC. During the meeting, volunteer developers can ask for advice. The meeting will be on 23 October. See how to join.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.  14:18, 21 October 2019 (UTC)

Tech News: 2019-44
 Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes
 * You can post proposals for the Community Wishlist Survey. The survey decides what the Community Tech team will work on. You can post proposals until 11 November. You can vote on proposals from 20 November to 2 December. This year the wishlist will focus on Wikibooks, Wiktionary, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikiversity, Wikispecies, Wikivoyage and Wikinews. You can read more about the format for this year.
 * Mobile users now have a specific design for their Watchlist.
 * You can share feedback and ideas on the Desktop Improvements project. The goal is to make the interface easier to use for readers and editors without removing any functionality. The Foundation's Readers Web team will work on this over the next two years.
 * Octicons-tools.svg OOUI now allows using  (pixels) instead of   (em) for some specific cases.

Changes later this week
 * Octicons-sync.svg The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from . It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from . It will be on all wikis from (calendar).

Meetings
 * Octicons-sync.svg Octicons-tools.svg You can join the technical advice meeting on IRC. During the meeting, volunteer developers can ask for advice. The meeting will be on at 15:00 (UTC). See how to join.

Future changes
 * There will be no software changes from 19 December to 2 January. The first MediaWiki version next year will come the week of 6 January.
 * Octicons-tools.svg Gadgets and user scripts can access variables about the current page in JavaScript. In 2015, this information was moved from global variables named  to  . The old global variables will be removed later this year. You can know more about it and tell the developers if you want to try this out on your wiki first.

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.  16:09, 28 October 2019 (UTC)