Wikinews:Water cooler/technical/archives/2010/April

Applying 'Make lead' to portals
I think we should make it easier to update lead articles in portals (US and Australia, for example) by using something similar to Make lead. Any thoughts? Benny the mascot (talk) 20:51, 30 March 2010 (UTC)
 * NO. Please see discussion elsewhere about deprecating portals until there is a mechanism to ensure they don't go stale. -- Brian McNeil (alt. account) /alt-talk &bull; main talk'' 14:36, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I probably wasn't clear enough. I was talking about portals being actively maintained. (See Portal:United States and Portal:Chile) We have the manpower to update those leads, so I think using a "make lead" type gadget would just make things so much easier. Benny the mascot (talk) 13:46, 4 April 2010 (UTC)
 * The newest lead story on the US portal is three days old. You're making my point for me. Don't have leads where you can't have the majority of them with stories less than 24 hrs old. -- Brian McNeil (alt. account) /alt-talk &bull; main talk'' 14:10, 4 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Since when did that become a requirement? The news on that page are just as important today as they were three days ago. Benny the mascot (talk) 14:15, 4 April 2010 (UTC)
 * What happens if your PC dies? Who is going to update the portal then? The point I'm trying to make is there should be an automatic mechanism to make sure we don't end up with portals having months-stale stories. Once there is a bot dealing with that, then fine, people can maintain portals. Otherwise you're creating a situation where someone has to periodically look for any portal with lead templates in use that might be stale. -- Brian McNeil (alt. account) /alt-talk &bull; main talk 14:40, 4 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Please do not add to this discussion. See Water cooler/proposals. -- Brian McNeil (alt. account) /alt-talk &bull; main talk'' 14:58, 4 April 2010 (UTC)

Grand Unified Wikinews Code Project
I've come to realize that we haves lots of little bots and scripts and apps and things. The problem is that is is stupid that they kept getting lost because: peoples servers went down, no one knew where the source code was, the source code was never published, etc. So I've decided to fix this. I'd like to introduce the Wikinews Code Project. I've started off the SVN Repo with the Android App the irunongames (And I) are talking about, along with a space for wmf4.me code. Yes, I realize we've already got a Wiki, many people already have personal SVN repos, and the WMF has it's own SVN report... but there is a difference. Most of us don't have access to those other repo's. As for the wiki, I dont care if we document the tech stuff here or there, as long as it is somewhere. If anyone wants commit access (check in code), or Contribute credit (you dont get to check in code, but you get your name on the project), just contact me. -- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 06:46, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Per request. Added #wikinews-tech on IRC and Mailing list.-- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 18:22, 3 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Added git: git@github.com:enwikinews/enwikinews.git -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 03:54, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

mediawiki update
Mediawiki got updated, and with that some new toys. Specifically DyanmicPageList has some exciting new features:
 * mode=gallery (Dynamic galleries with category intersections, that ought make commons jealous)
 * nofollow=true option (we could put developing back on main page if we want)
 * Other cool stuff. I'll update the docs soon.

Also all the javascript seems to have come through unscathed (hopefully), Yay!. Bawolff ☺☻ 06:49, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Lovely! -- Brian McNeil (alt. account) /alt-talk &bull; main talk' 08:06, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * What does the gallery thing do? I don't understand your explanation...sorry. :( Benny the mascot (talk) 20:57, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Did you click the link? It's like our standard DPL for latest stories, except it displays the latest images. -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 21:00, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Oooooh! I like it! Commons shall be jealous... Is it possible to exclude certain categories of images? (pictures of contributors, print edition, etc) Benny the mascot (talk) 21:25, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, can use notcategories. The example i did just did most recent images, since we don't have interesting image categories. but you can easily do all images in category X and in category Y but not in category Z, etc. In about ~5 minutes, mw:Extension:Intersection will have better docs on this. Bawolff ☺☻ 21:36, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * mw:Extension:DynamicPageList (Wikimedia) has been updated with new info. Bawolff ☺☻ 22:30, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

So how does this help us? Most of the pictures we use are uploaded directly to Commons. Benny the mascot (talk) 23:05, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Maybe something for the print edition? I dunno. I've been too busy to make print editions, anyway. -- Mike moral  ♪♫  01:26, 10 April 2010 (UTC)
 * It doesn't actually help us, I just think its cool :). The part that helps us is the nofollow option for main devel. (although i suppose one could do):

 category=Printedition count=4 imagewidth=150 imageheight=200 mode=gallery gallerycaption=Last 4 Wikinews Print editions  Bawolff ☺☻ 18:14, 10 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Ooh, that looks good. Mike  moral  ♪♫  04:40, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Link to page ratings
The link to the page ratings is currently too obscure. Can we place it in a more prominent location, such as the comments page or at the bottom of the article? Benny the mascot (talk) 04:32, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Well we could, I'm not sure if its exactly a good idea though. Page ratings are meant for internal use primarily, do we really want to have it super-prominent. Having it in the toolbox is pretty prominent imho. Bawolff ☺☻ 04:33, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree with you that page ratings aren't exactly reader-friendly, but IMO we should at least give them as much information as possible, as easily as possible. Benny the mascot (talk) 04:56, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * True, but its not like its hidden. They get the link in a pop up after they rate the page, And its in the sidebar, with the same prominence as similar things like permanent link, and related changes. But I don't have a strong opinion on this. Bawolff ☺☻ 04:59, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Meh, me neither. There are more important things we need to address. Benny the mascot (talk) 05:05, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Improved reader feedback
[note: this was previous discussed somewhat at Water_cooler/technical/archives/2010/January ]

I'd like to activate my attempt at "re-styling" the reader feedback form sitewide. I think its a significant improvement over the current system. Its currently listed as an experimental gadget in special preferences (readerfeedbackhack). The most significant issue (which i think is rather minor) is that the success message is currently oriented towards the older version, but this can be fixed. A second issue with this, is how it should handle the main page (it has a box that normally submits comments to opinion page). Anyways, try it out, what do people think? Bawolff ☺☻ 05:39, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * -- Shakata Ga Nai ^_^ 18:50, 10 April 2010 (UTC)
 * ✅. Tell me if anything breaks. Bawolff ☺☻ 20:13, 10 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Success - http://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Special:RatingHistory&target=Main_Page The red line is the number of people submitting reviews. Look at the spike! roughly a 4x increase (from about 4 reviews a day, to 16) Bawolff ☺☻ 04:43, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Off on a tangent, what's the link to the review stats? -- Mike moral  ♪♫  04:48, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * There should be a link from the sidebar in the "Toolbox" section. Bawolff ☺☻ 04:52, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * All I have is


 * Toolbox
 * What links here
 * Related changes
 * Upload fair use media
 * Special pages
 * Printable version
 * Permanent link
 * Character count
 * On screen edit
 * Shorten URL

Mike moral  ♪♫  04:56, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * What page is this? It only appears on main namespace pages (aka those that have a rating). Bawolff ☺☻ 04:58, 12 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Oh, I see it now. -- Mike moral  ♪♫  05:15, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

--- Further notes, may not handle captcha's in the most graceful fashion (atm asks you to submit your comment twice. hopefully will fix soon). Based on we now have a ~10 fold increase in number of reviews on Main Page, which is amazing. Bawolff ☺☻ 23:56, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Also for anyone interested, - special:ratedpages. Bawolff ☺☻ 00:10, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

Self-containing category
I have just created a category for articles about Montenegro in the Hungarian Wikinews. Although the wikicode does not imply it, the category appears as a subcategory of itself, creating an endless list of subcategories. Could someone help me solve this problem? - Xbspiro (talk) 22:31, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually yes you did, with the interlanguage categories. Fixed. -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 22:39, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks, didn't noticed it. - Xbspiro (talk) 22:42, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Bot delivery of newsletter
I have been asked by to spam out the newsletter at User:Tristan Thomas/WWC2010/Newsletter/5 to the people listed in User:MikemoralBot/spamlist - I have a c# bot to do this task, approved on EN, bot-compliant (with nobots, speed of posting, logging, etc).

I can't see anyone worrying overly about my making 40-ish automated postings, so I'm boldly going ahead. Best, Chzz (talk) 01:50, 19 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I verify I asked via IRC (just in case). I'm giving Chzz the "Bot user" right until he's done. -- Mike moral  ♪♫  01:57, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

"Internal error" on new messages page
Whenever I click on "New messages", the following comes up: Thread 689 has null title

Backtrace:


 * 1) 0 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1736): LqtView->showThread(Object(Thread), 1, 2, Array)
 * 2) 1 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1907): LqtView->showThreadReplies(Object(Thread), 0, 25, true, Array, false)
 * 3) 2 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1736): LqtView->showThread(Object(Thread), 1, 1, Array)
 * 4) 3 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1907): LqtView->showThreadReplies(Object(Thread), 0, 25, true, Array, false)
 * 5) 4 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1736): LqtView->showThread(Object(Thread), 1, 1, Array)
 * 6) 5 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1907): LqtView->showThreadReplies(Object(Thread), 0, 25, true, Array, false)
 * 7) 6 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1736): LqtView->showThread(Object(Thread), 2, 2, Array)
 * 8) 7 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1907): LqtView->showThreadReplies(Object(Thread), 0, 25, true, Array, false)
 * 9) 8 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1736): LqtView->showThread(Object(Thread), 1, 1, Array)
 * 10) 9 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1907): LqtView->showThreadReplies(Object(Thread), 0, 25, true, Array, false)
 * 11) 10 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1736): LqtView->showThread(Object(Thread), 1, 1, Array)
 * 12) 11 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/classes/View.php(1907): LqtView->showThreadReplies(Object(Thread), 0, 25, true, Array, false)
 * 13) 12 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/pages/NewUserMessagesView.php(211): LqtView->showThread(Object(Thread), 1, 1, Array)
 * 14) 13 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/pages/NewUserMessagesView.php(156): NewUserMessagesView->showWrappedThread(Object(Thread))
 * 15) 14 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/extensions/LiquidThreads/pages/SpecialNewMessages.php(74): NewUserMessagesView->show
 * 16) 15 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/includes/SpecialPage.php(559): SpecialNewMessages->execute(NULL)
 * 17) 16 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/includes/Wiki.php(254): SpecialPage::executePath(Object(Title))
 * 18) 17 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/includes/Wiki.php(64): MediaWiki->handleSpecialCases(Object(Title), Object(OutputPage), Object(WebRequest))
 * 19) 18 /usr/local/apache/common-local/wmf-deployment/index.php(117): MediaWiki->performRequestForTitle(Object(Title), NULL, Object(OutputPage), Object(User), Object(WebRequest))
 * 20) 19 /usr/local/apache/common-local/live-1.5/index.php(3): require('/usr/local/apac...')
 * 21) 20 {main}

Anything I can do to fix it? Benny the mascot (talk) 02:15, 19 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Yep, I'm getting that too, I think a bug was filed for it. Don't know what's causing it or how to fix it. Tempodivalse [talk]  02:21, 19 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Yep, mike did it somehow, we really don't know how - 23199. Basically anyone who has commented on the thread on the burrial of the polish prez seems to have the problem (which is you, me and tempo + some ips). From what I gather, (which might be totally wrong) somehow the comment made by mikemoral is not associated with any particular page in the thread namespace (has a root_id of 0), which causes all sorts of problems. Bawolff ☺☻ 02:47, 19 April 2010 (UTC)
 * We're QA monkies. Sometimes our "Betanews" title comes to bite us in the ass.  Oh well.  -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 18:38, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

Category tree?
On Category:United States, the subcategories section says "This category has the following 51 subcategories, out of 122 total." Is there a way to look at all of them on the same page? Is there some sort of "category tree" that we can look at so that we can easily maintain the categories? Benny the mascot (talk) 01:17, 25 April 2010 (UTC)
 * You can just click next 200 articles. Or:

Bawolff ☺☻ 01:25, 25 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Ooooh! That will help a lot once I get started on my maintenance spree! Benny the mascot (talk) 01:28, 25 April 2010 (UTC)