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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gwicke~enwiki (talk | contribs) at 17:40, 3 December 2013 (Can't save a new page!!!). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

VisualEditor is available alongside the original wikitext editor if you opt-in, by changing your preferences. It is temporarily disabled for IE9, IE10 and IE11 users, due to various issues that are being fixed, and it will not be made available for users of IE8 and earlier; such editors should switch to some other browser in order to use VisualEditor. Please note that VisualEditor is currently not available to unregistered users.

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Your feedback about the VisualEditor beta release

This page is a place for you to tell the Wikimedia developers about issues that you encounter when using the VisualEditor here on Wikipedia. It is still a test version and has a number of known issues and missing features. We do welcome your feedback and ideas, especially on some of the user interface decisions we are making and the priorities for adding new functions. All comments are read, but personal replies are not guaranteed.

A VisualEditor User Guide is at Wikipedia:VisualEditor/User_guide.

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Archives: (generated by MiszaBot II)

Messages should reference ability to switch to source editor

Both the notice on first opening VE ("You can keep using the wikitext editor by clicking the "Edit source" tab instead – unsaved changes will be lost.") and the wikitext warning ("Click "Edit source" to edit the page in wikitext mode – unsaved changes will be lost.") need to be changed to reference the newly added ability to switch to the source editor without losing unsaved changes:Jay8g [VTE] 05:09, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

As soon as that one works properly at least. Tested in on User:Fram/sandbox, but doesn't work. Tested it on File:!!! - !!! album cover.jpg, doesn't work either. Tested it on Category:Texas A&M University, doesn't work either. Tested it with or without making changes to the page before attempting the switch, no difference. Firefox 25, Windows 7... Fram (talk) 09:28, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Works fine for me (Vector, Chrome 30, Win7) on all sorts of pages. Some take a little time to load, but all show up with the diff in the preview area, and the changes carried through to the source editor below. My thanks to whoever implemented this feature, that one less bit of custom coding/hacking to load from my common.js - Evad37 (talk) 10:11, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Fram, would you like to test again? It worked for me as well. I'm going to try it in your sandbox :) --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 11:02, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Mmm. Maybe it's FF. Retesting. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 11:07, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Where is the button (or what-ever) to switch back and forth?Kdammers (talk) 09:47, 23 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
(ec)No, still doesn't work. I get the "you are about to change" message, but then the VE page gets "bleached" out, as if an opaque glass is put in front of it, and nothing further happens. I can still use the toolbox at this time, and can edit the article in VE, but it doesn't have the normal look. Probably some preference interfering with it? Fram (talk) 11:15, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
My guess is it's FF, as I can't switch with it as well, and I'm filing a bug right now. Thanks for the catch, --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 11:16, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Now at 56767. Will "bug" devs on IRC as soon as someone wakes up. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 11:26, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for testing and confirming, and my apologies for using such an exotic browser :-D Fram (talk) 11:27, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I had noticed that (in Firefox) and was going to make a note about it, but I guess I forgot:Jay8g [VTE] 20:00, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

No problem. He Who Shall Not Be Named (James :p) knows about this bug, so keep your finger crossed. Happy weekend everyone! --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 20:04, 8 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Elitre (WMF), has a bug be raised to fix the original problems identified in the first comment by Jay8g in this thread? John Vandenberg (chat) 00:40, 14 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hey John. There's no need to raise a bug for that. There are a few bugs about that feature (the first is already patch-to-review while the second, 56835, likely depends on another patch-to review one) that prevent a lot of users from even just testing it. When they are addressed, I (and other liaisons) will be glad to make sure that all the related messages and pages in, well, all languages reflect that this major feature is up and running. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 13:35, 15 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I've filed a bug report anyway. If they don't need it, then they can close it. I think that Fram's point about not necessarily doing this until it works on Firefox is worth considering, but it's on the list of things to be done at some point. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 02:05, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I hadn't, because of 57422. AFAIK, the feature works with FF, but the patch for the IP bug will be effective as of Dec 5th. When it is, sysops can update the messages on en.wp if they want to. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 16:28, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Can't save a new page!!!

I tried to create a new article TWICE but I wasn't able to save it!! The first time I clicked "Preview your changes" to take a look of it (I always do that) but the page kept loading and loading with no result! When I took the decision that nothing was going to happen, I said to give it one more try and start all over again. The second time around I skipped the "preview your changes" and I went straight to the "save"! Again the same thing happened! I left it like that for 20min hoping that it will be saved but nothing! It kept loading and loading! I faced the same issue with the previous article I created but the second time that one was saved and I thought that I just spent to much time to finish it because I left it open for a while and then came back to finish! But this time it was not the case! I am not willing to spend another 1-2hours to try for a third time! If this is a bug please fix it! I lost my work twice and till this gets solved I am not willing to take any risks again to create a page with VE and that makes me really sad because even though I can use the source to create a page with VE is so much easier! I am using Firefox 25, Windows 8. TeamGale 09:05, 16 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

As a stop-gap measure, You can C&P Your work to a word processor.Kdammers (talk) 09:29, 16 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Believe me I did that...but it still needs a little editing when you copy/paste it back to WP! Because the references can't be copy/pasted. Neither the infoboxes etc! Only simple text can be copied! And re-find and add about 10 references takes time. Having said that, I don't believe C&P is the solution... TeamGale 09:45, 16 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

TeamGale, VE isn't intended to really create new pages, use images, use references, use templates, use wikitext, use ... well, anything apparently. You can use it to make some cosmetic or minor changes, but for anything slightly more complicated, you just have to be very lucky to be able to proceed correctly with it. This is intended to welcome new editors, increase editor retention, and keep Bugzilla filled until eternity. The only people really happy with Ve seem to be the people that developed it, I guess that their technical end-of-year target has been met, doesn't matter if anyone uses it or is satisfied with it. It now has been live on enwiki for nearly half a year and we are still at the most basic errors stage, which isn't surprising since the software isn't being tested in any significant way before being deployed. Happy editing! Fram (talk) 08:20, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This is the kind of page you get with the new, intuitive, WYSIWYG editor. The big red error is corrected by the same editor using the wikitext editor[1], indicating how fast people move on from the new, better, editor to the old, much too complicated one. Don't you love irony and meta-irony? Fram (talk) 08:26, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Fram With all do the respect, I am sorry but, I created around 70 articles and since the day I found VE I was only using VE. I created 40 articles out of 70 (more than 50%) with VE without having any problems of saving the page and without getting any errors! (This was my first with VE in case you want to take a look and this the last one I was able to save just 3 days ago!) If you are careful, avoid existing known bugs and don't forget anything, you won't get errors. The pages I am interested in creating, believe me VE can create them perfectly fine. I don't think I am delusional asking for this to get fixed.
To come and tell me after 40 articles that VE is not suppose to create new articles seems kind of funny to me. I might be a minority but, I am one of the few users (and also new user) who are happy with VE and I am using it a lot! I am switching between the two editors very easily and when there is something I know I can't do with VE, I use wikitext. I am not in the category of "how fast people move on from the new, better, editor to the old, much too complicated one", I don't give up easily and yes, I spent time to learn VE like I spent time to learn wikitext. And there were moments I got frustrated but like I said, I don't give up easily and after a while I could work with VE without having any major problems till now.
Anyway, what I am saying is that I was able to save a new page with VE before and now I can't. I don't know if this is a bug or not, but since it was something I could do in the past months and now I can't, I had to report it. Till this gets fixed, I will use wikitext to create any new pages the way I was doing it before VE, not because I prefer it but because right now I am forced to do it. Thanks again and thanks to all the WMF for their hard work these last months! Personally, I appreciate it a lot! TeamGale 10:40, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Good for you. Looking at your VE edits, I'm rather curious about what happened e.g. here Do you remember whether you mistyped somehow or whether VE mangled these? Fram (talk) 11:20, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
That was a bug that was existing at the moment. When someone was trying to add categories with VE it was adding them like that. I missed it on my "review" before saving the edit. I only saw it after the save. I came here to report it but someone else had reported it already. It got fixed now :) TeamGale 16:06, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hi TeamGale,
I'm sorry you're running into problems. Did you create the page you wanted in wikitext? I just created a simple page in my sandbox, so it's certainly possible right now. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 19:41, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Whatamidoing (WMF) Yes, I created the page with wikitext. I don't know if it has to do with how long is the page. I'll give it a try again with my next page using VE and I'll let you know. TeamGale 23:01, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks TeamGale: I'm afraid this might be not completely gone. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 23:06, 18 November 2013 (UTC) PS: On a second thought the two things might be completely unrelated, but yes, if we could come up with more details, that would still be great.[reply]
Hi TeamGale, if you run into this again, please post the name of the page that you ended up creating in wikitext. It's possible (but not very likely, I'd guess) that there is something specific about the page you were trying to create. Mine was quite small and simple (two sentences and a {{db-author}} tag), so perhaps bigger or more complex pages aren't working, even though little ones are. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 23:10, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Elitre (WMF) Hmm...yeah, I am not sure if the two are related because I didn't get any "error" message. Only the load bar loading for about 20min without result.
Whatamidoing (WMF) If that helps to find the issue earlier because I don't when I'll create a new page, that was the page I was trying to save: link. I saved the first half with wikitext and then added the second half with VE without having any problems. TeamGale 23:21, 18 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
This turned out to be an issue with one of the Varnish caches in production. It ran out of backend connections, which caused some requests to fail. Since this was so rare it was fairly difficult to track down. Sorry for the inconvenience. -- Gabriel Wicke (talk) 01:07, 19 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I see. Thanks for clarifying and explaining. That means everything will be OK now? If it happens again I'll let you know. Thanks again :) TeamGale 23:58, 19 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Did you get the same error message as before / did it mention Parsoid? This time the Varnish logs are looking clean, so this might be another issue. -- Gabriel Wicke (talk) 19:11, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
This could be related to the more general saving issue reported at Wikipedia:VPT#Error_message. -- Gabriel Wicke (talk) 20:34, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hello. I am not really familiar with technical terms so I don't know :( What I am getting is a never ending loading bar when I click save. I don't get any error message...nothing...just the bar loading and loading but never saves. It also happens if I click on "review your changes". I tried that too to see if I'll get the same and I do. The bar also loads forever without showing my changes. In case you need it, I use Mozilla 25.0.1, Windows 8 TeamGale 00:45, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the update, TeamGale. Gabriel, do you have any idea what might be going on? Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 02:10, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Any updates of what might be going on? TeamGale 12:16, 2 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

TeamGale, dear, are you asking because this is still happening for you today? For which article? Thanks. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 16:24, 2 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Elitre (WMF) I didn't attempt again since the last time I posted here till I would have any updates of what is might be going on. Losing a work of 4-5hours is not funny :( TeamGale 04:49, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Understood. Pinging User:Ssastry to see if he knows more about what happened then and possibly reassure you - it doesn't look like something easy to reproduce. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 16:05, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Search for '503' in Wikipedia:VPT for current discussion of the general issue. The situation is being monitored, but is not completely fixed yet. The issue is not specific to VE. -- Gabriel Wicke (talk) 17:40, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Stuck in a pop-up

I went to make a simple edit (addition of one word before a blue link) in Osteon, using VE (Firefox/ME7). I wanted to check if the blue-link article (I believe it is 'cortical bone') also needed the edit. After I moused over the blue-link and got a pop-up, I could not do any-thing after that. I couldn't close the pop-up; I couldn't type in the article text; I couldn't save; I couldn't exit. The only way out was to close with-out saving. Kdammers (talk) 06:54, 19 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Is ME7 a mobile/smartphone system? Although it is possible to open VisualEditor on some tablets and smartphones, it is not supported yet. I wouldn't be surprised if very little of it worked, and I wouldn't recommend it. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 20:55, 19 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
No, I meant Windows Explorer in Windows 7 - on a normal PC.Kdammers (talk) 14:10, 20 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The same thing happened this morning when I tried to edit a different page and mistakenly typed in left double brackets. I got an error message for using wikitext, but I couldn't go backqrads or any-thing. I erased the double brackets but I still couldn't save etc. I had to close VE and start again.Kdammers (talk) 09:41, 23 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Kdammers,
I apologize for the delay. Do you mean that you're using Internet Explorer? Windows Explorer doesn't sound like it is relevant. I was under the impression that VE was disabled for IE (precisely because it tends to hang). If you're using IE (what version?) and able to see VisualEditor at all, please let me know. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 02:13, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
VE does not load for me in my IE10. If I reach the VE description in the Beta tab, it will explain:
The following browsers are not supported:msie <= 10
android < 3
firefox <= 14
opera < 12
blackberry
--Elitre (WMF) (talk) 16:32, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Add browser-specific alert

Hi. If a feature does not work with a certain web browser, please have the code detect that browser and disable the broken feature by graying it out.

Best regards, Codename Lisa (talk) 16:17, 23 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

@Codename Lisa: Is there a specific feature that does not work for you in a specific web browser? -- John Broughton (♫♫) 23:01, 24 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, John.
To quote from VisualEditor Newsletter, November 2013: "Switch from VisualEditor to the wikitext editor: [...] Note that this new feature is not currently working in Firefox." True. This feature does not work in Firefox. A white screen appears and remains.
Best regards,
Codename Lisa (talk) 11:10, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hey Lisa. That would be awesome, if VE could automagically diagnose its own problems :) I'll ask around, but I don't think this can happen. Will let you know. Thanks, --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 16:36, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Right now, those bugs are exceptions - I mean, it's not that the feature was designed not to work with FF: we just found out something goes wrong with it. Anyway, I filed your request as an enhancement at 57621. Thanks, --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 21:04, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Also, Codename Lisa, could you please test again? The problem with that feature was solved, so if it still does not work for you (it works for me with FF on both en. and it.wp, for example), I'll need to know your skin and OS. Thanks, --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 14:55, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Can't reply for Lisa, but it works for me as well now. Fram (talk) 15:05, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Transclusion should be renamed to "Add template"

If this is meant to be used by the layman, "Transclusion" isn't a good term for the option of adding a template. Is there an explanation for the word chosen? Nicereddy (talk) 00:47, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

We've already asked for that, and the response was that more than just templates are happening there (or will be), and that "transclusion" is technically correct. I'm adding the bug number, so you can see the response if you want. (It sounds like we might be slowly wearing him down. ;-) Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 02:21, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Fair enough. I'm all for technological accuracy, but it is a bit bothersome that such an uncommon word is being used where a more simplistic term may be helpful in reaching the point of the project, that being Wiki editing by the layman. Hopefully discussion on this issue will continue. Nicereddy (talk) 06:28, 1 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Override default right click behavior while in text editor

When highlighting text in the Visual Editor, if you right click editing of the page could be sped up further by opening the toolbar when right clicking on that text. For example, if I were to highlight text and then right click on said highlighted text a (modified?) version of the toolbar would appear above/next to the text highlighted. This would allow for faster editing without requiring the user moves their mouse across the screen. While I realize this is possible with keyboard commands, it may be preferable for many users.

Similarly, using the right click on any section of the page, regardless of whether or not any text is highlighted, the toolbar would show up as a dialog which would allow for easier use of its various functions. Nicereddy (talk) 00:51, 25 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

What do other people think? I'm such a keyboard-shortcut person that this wouldn't make much difference for me, but would anyone else benefit from this? Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 22:31, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
This page doesn't seem to get much traffic, so I figured I'd reply again. Most modern text editors, e.g. Google Docs, Microsoft Office, iWork, etc. have this feature in some capacity and I find it beneficial for a huge number of reasons. It's a common pattern which many users may expect upon introduction to the VisualEditor, as the VisualEditor is essentially a specialized version of the common text editor. Despite being what most would consider a "power user" I very rarely use keyboard-shortcuts for the majority of programs/websites as they vary so widely across different programs. However, I do use this quite often and I feel like the casual editor may benefit from this as well since keyboard shortcuts aren't something the general public uses, but right-click seems to be a simple-enough feature for most to comprehend.
It isn't something that I would consider a priority, but it would be a very nice feature. I'd prefer if it were added in a similar manner to Google Docs', where it transfers the functions of the toolbar into the right-click dialog one would expect. Nicereddy (talk) 06:36, 1 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Sentinelese language

If I go to Sentinelese language, enter VE, I see four "↵" characters at the bottom of the page. If I select them, and then press delete, they disappear. However, when I go to save and review changes I get the message "Could not start the review because your revision matches the latest version of this page." Firefox 25.0.1; Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit; Monobook skin. --Atethnekos (DiscussionContributions) 01:08, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure what to make of this. The four "↵" characters at the bottom of the page seem to be the line breaks between the names of the categories (each of which is normally presented on a separate line). Three disappeared when I put the cats on one line, and the fourth disappeared when I removed the second blank line after the refs section. But why this article, and not others? Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 22:29, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Changing a non-thumb file into a thumb file.

The easiest in VE I found to change an image that's not a thumb into an image that is a thumb (e.g., [[File:Philbar.png]] into [[File:Philbar.png|thumb]] was to resize the image, then go to save and review changes, then I can see the file name for the image, then I go through the regular method of inserting an image now that I have the file name, and it inserts it as a thumb, and then I delete the old, non-thumb image. Is this the easiest way? Firefox 25.0.1; Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit; Monobook skin.--Atethnekos (DiscussionContributions) 01:33, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

In VE? That's probably the easiest (or even only) way there, indeed. Now try the reverse :-) Fram (talk) 08:27, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The easiest method I found for doing the reverse (change a thumb file into a non-thumb file) I think is similar, but it takes two VE sessions. So again, open VE, resize the image, and then review changes, this gives the filename. Then type "<br></nowiki>[[Filename.png]]". Then save, then open in VE again and delete the "<br>" and the "</nowiki>" which are on either side of the image, and delete the thumb image as well. --Atethnekos (DiscussionContributions) 08:43, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
To be clear, you type that string "<br></nowiki>[[Filename.png]]" into VE where you want the non-thumb image. You get a "Wikitext markup detected" warning, but it works after saving. --Atethnekos (DiscussionContributions) 08:46, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Neat. Not very "intuitive" or "visual", but neat nevertheless! Of course, in these cases doing it in wikitext editing probably makes more sense :-D Fram (talk) 09:08, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Images and other media files are being worked on. They're looking to add better controls for size, location, type, alt text, alignment, links, and borders within the next few months. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 23:04, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Categories moved into ref tags

I've reported several examples of categories moved by VE into ref tags in frwiki: Indicateur de développement durable, Famille de Montesquiou, Dan Flavin. --NicoV (Talk on frwiki) 09:51, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That's a pretty significant problem. Have you asked any of these people if they remember what they were doing? Do you know how to reproduce this? Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 23:06, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I've just reported the problems as I found them, but I've not tried to reproduce them or to contact the people who made the edits. --NicoV (Talk on frwiki) 06:48, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, I'm going to file this and other. NicoV, no need to report bugs here as well, several editors at fr.wp are really helpful with tests there, so keeping everything in just one place helps :) Thanks! --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 16:20, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
(For the record that would be 57753. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 16:09, 2 December 2013 (UTC))[reply]

Portals and books

VE now works for portal space (which was hardly a priority, but anyway...). Looking at e.g. Portal:Current events, you start with an edit notice that isn't valid in VE (you can't paste the code given there in VE and expect it to work). Apart from that, there is very little I can do here, as the page exists of other subpages. So I look at the subpages, e.g. Portal:Current events/News Browser. Hmm, not a lot I can do here... Oh, I can move the documentation above the globe bar, instead of below it. This is fun! Luckily I use preview and know some wikicode before I save this, because moving the documentation moves it from inside "noinclude" to outside "noinclude" tags, creating a totally different result. Useful!

Another subpage is Portal:Current events/2013 November 26. In wikitext editing, you start with a full screen of notes and warnings; none of these is visible in VE though. Then again, you can't do anything here either with VE, even though the contents are here, not on another subpage! So, while this technically seems to work, the actual usefulness of this (and need for it) seem to be absolutely minimal.

But it also works for Books! Why? No one knows... Looking at e.g. Book:American comic strips before 1918, in VE it starts with messing up the header, as it is unable to show the links in it correctly... Considering that this header is used in every single book, this again is a rather clear test fail, as usual. Apart from that, the basic features seem to work. Well, until you try them, that is. In VE editing mode, the new line I added as a test was properly indented with the other items, but on saving, it was left aligned, with no possibility to get it aligned with the rest of the items[2]. Seeing that this is the standard layout used by many books (e.g. Book:Adele or Book:Mathematics), this means that no, we can't use VE to create or properly maintain Books. So the point of the announcement in Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Updates/November 20, 2013 totally escapes me, unless the meaning is "we are wasting time on useless aspects of VE, instead of fixing the many truly necessary but buggy ones". Luckily, by not testing these changes properly, you are not wasting too much of your time. Small blessings. Fram (talk) 12:57, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

VisualEditor does not currently support HTML association lists. However, you can use VisualEditor on books for some things, such as updating existing links. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 23:12, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Justr tried in here, and changing a link turned what is now one link into two separate links (with the same target), because VE has trouble handling a partially italicized text in a link apparently. Technically speaking, some things work; practically speaking, it is hard to understand why anyone at WMF thought this was a priority or something to proudly announce, since you can't add items properly, you can't reorder things, the header is a mess... but indeed, you can in some circumstances edit the existing links. What are the odds that people who don't know enough about wikitext (and so need VE) will end up at a book, and not make a mess of it when editing it? Disable it for books and save us a lot of trouble and little benefit. Fram (talk) 08:11, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Works for me.
Please let me know if you see any actual, unintentional damage to a book using VisualEditor. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 19:40, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps I'll first let you know when there is some actual intentional VE edit to a book (or most of the other added namespaces), as these are almost completely absent anyway (hence my question of who thought that this was a priority...). But how did you do that? If I add a ":" or a ";", I get nowikis around it. And the "increase / decrease indentation" tab isn't active. Fram (talk) 07:53, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Help:WikiHiero syntax

We can now also edit Help pages with VE. This seems to work for some pages, if anyone would need it (you know, those people that need to edit help pages but don't know wikitext sufficiently to be editing them directly, a very elusive group indeed); but don't try it with Help:WikiHiero syntax, it has caused FF25 (on W7) to crash twice in two tests. Can someone confirm this, and does it happen with other (help) pages as well? Fram (talk) 14:34, 26 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Works for me in Safari 6/Mac OS 10.7.5. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 23:17, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
In Firefox 25, I get a complaint about an unresponsive script:
But then it opens and seems to be fine. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 23:20, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Just tested it again, and again FF crashes completely. Fram (talk) 08:13, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Fram,
It must be one a Windows-specific problem. It takes me about 30 seconds to get the page open in Firefox, but it opens without any errors. Is your computer short on memory or anything like that? Can you open any page that contains a hieroglyphic, like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_triliteral_signs?veaction=edit?
Can anyone else with Firefox on either Linux or Windows try to open https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Help:WikiHiero_syntax&veaction=edit and let us know the results? Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 19:49, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Just tested it on the page you linked (Egyptian triliteral signs), and no problem there. The Help:WikiHiero syntax page is so far the only one where I have that problem. I'ld indeed like some other people testing this as well, obviously if I'm the only one, and it's only one page I don't need to edit anyway, then this can be ignored, but if there are others with the same problem, then it should be filed as a bug... Fram (talk) 09:59, 2 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

nts transclusion tag not appliable

I'm trying to use the visual editor to mark at numeric field with an tag so that the column sort works properly. I can see the nts transclusion pop up for existing entries but I don't see how to add the same tag to a new entry in the table. There is an option to add a new template but I want to pick an existing template. Is this feature missing or am I missing something? Robertbaertsch (talk) 13:22, 27 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Robert,
Which article are you looking at? VisualEditor's support for tables is pretty limited at the moment, but it would help me to see exactly what you were trying to do. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 23:14, 28 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Pages that go wrong, episode 1547

Can't edit bare URLs

Ralph Day; reference 1 and 3 are not editable in VE. You can open the edit ref box and change them, but you can't see what is actually there at the moment. The same applies in a different way to Gordon Guasco, which has a bare URL, but not as a ref but as an external link. Not editable... Cecilia Östlund has one not as a ref or external link, but in the text. We have currently over 2,000 pages tagged with Template:Cleanup-bare URLs, and many more that don't have the template but that have bare URLs nevertheless (e.g. my examples). Fram (talk) 09:26, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I've reported the problem at bug 57755. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 20:00, 29 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
This was reported again recently, and the relevant bug is patch-to-review. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 16:14, 2 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

"Category:CATEGORY_NAME" is accepted by the Category input

When using the Category dialog I added "Category:Computer humor", which was accepted and caused the page to translate into "Category:Category:Computer humor. Preferably the template would automatically detect the use of a "Category:" tag and remove it. Nicereddy (talk) 23:47, 30 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

You're right. I've reported that problem at Template:Bug. Thanks for letting us know about it. Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 00:06, 1 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Find and Replace in Visual Editor

Please, add "Find and Replace" function to Visual Editor --Xusinboy Bekchanov (talk) 21:02, 1 December 2013 (UTC).[reply]

Welcome to the English Wikipedia, Xusinboy Bekchanov. I see you've been doing a little testing on the Uzbek Wikipedia; thanks!
This seems like a good idea to me. Have you used the one in the regular wiki editing window? I don't use it myself, but is that the sort of thing you'd like? Whatamidoing (WMF) (talk) 22:08, 1 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I use this function occasionally and I think the current source editor "Find and Replace" function would work perfectly fine, albeit it'd be preferable if it got a design makeover. --Nicereddy (talk) 02:18, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, I use. Very useful thing. If it was possible, I would work only with the Visual Editor --Xusinboy Bekchanov (talk) 05:08, 3 December 2013 (UTC).[reply]

With IE 11

Just installed IE11 and decided to check out Visual Editor (according to Wikipedia:VisualEditor, "Internet Explorer 11 users are currently able to use VE", though the message when you actually try to use it "You are using a browser which is not officially supported by VisualEditor" gives a slightly different impression).

Most pages do not load at all, at least within my patience span. The "progress bar" keeps churning around but nothing happens. I managed to get the edit screen up for a three-line article, but when I typed a character and then hit backspace the whole paragraph disappeared and was irretrievable with "Undo". The same happened with "Delete": the whole paragraph is irretrievably deleted. Then I put the cursor on the end of a line and hit "Enter" to create a new paragraph but nothing happened.

Then I highlighted some text and clicked the "bold" button and again the paragraph disappeared. Same with "italic". Sometimes, instead of the paragraph disappearing, nothing happened.

So, basically, the first most trivially simple editing tasks that I tried all failed spectacularly. I assume that either the message "Internet Explorer 11 users are currently able to use VE" has been put up in error, or there is some local configuration issue or other local problem with my setup. 86.129.17.245 (talk) 23:51, 2 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, sorry, my mistake – I forgot to ensure that the blacklist covered IE11 when it came out. IE11 indeed does not work, and is not expected to right now. Have added it to the blacklist which will come out next week in the new version of the code. Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 03:31, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
@Jdforrester (WMF): any word on the timeframe for that James ? Or do the features have priority now over investing into the headache that is IE ? Or are there more fundamental problems with IE support ? —TheDJ (talkcontribs) 08:53, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
@TheDJ: No specific deadline; major features like table editing are more important than IE support, I feel (though I could be convinced otherwise). Jdforrester (WMF) (talk) 16:49, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
In that case could someone please amend the wording at Wikipedia:VisualEditor (and anywhere else it is claimed that IE11 works)? 81.159.107.134 (talk) 12:23, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
I think I did? That information wasn't added by a member of the team, BTW. Thanks, --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 14:39, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Overall Notifiсations for all Wikimedia projects

Impossible to do so, Notifications seemed all at once in the current project? --Xusinboy Bekchanov (talk) 05:15, 3 December 2013 (UTC).[reply]

Unfortunately, I don't believe Global Notifications are possible at the moment. I'd at least like some sort of notification hub if users are worried about getting too many notifications at once. The hub would contain all notifications, the notification badge in the toolbar would only contain notifications for the wiki project you're currently at? --Nicereddy (talk) 06:06, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Remember this is the page for feedback about VE :) There's something about what you are asking for in the top thread at mw:Talk:Echo_(Notifications), anyway. --Elitre (WMF) (talk) 09:38, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Template invisibility

The {{tl}} template doesn't display anything when editing a page in VE. Not really a problem for articles, but is definitely a problem for help pages. For example, look at the "Aliases" section of Help:Template in VE. I'm using Vector/Chrome/Win7. - Evad37 [talk] 06:22, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This is a known problem, Bug 50704. —TheDJ (talkcontribs) 10:56, 3 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]