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Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.
You can now add captions to files on Commons. Captions are short descriptions of the file. They can be translated to all languages we use. They can't use wikitext markup.
Earlier a quoted HTML attribute had to be followed by a space. Now it doesn't. This means that some pages could look different when you save them even if you didn't edit that part of the text. [3][4]
Templates with <templatestyles> could not show the difference between the live template and the sandbox version when they were tested. This has now been fixed. <templatestyles> has a new wrapper parameter now. You can use it for selectors like .mw-parser-output <wrapper parameter value> <selector from CSS page>. [5]
Problems
When you see an edit in the recent changes feed or in the history of a page some of them have tags. Some tags are added automatically. You can also add tags manually. Tags for edits that have been added manually can be edited. This didn't work for a little while. This has now been fixed. [6]
Users who could cause more damage to the wikis if someone took over their account have to have more secure passwords. This includes administrators and other user groups. They can't use passwords that are in a list of common passwords. Accounts with common passwords are easy to take over. The list of common passwords was made longer a few weeks ago and has a different error message. Some user groups have been added to those who can't use common passwords. This is to protect all accounts with user rights that could cause damage. [7]
The AbuseFilter variable minor_edit has been removed. It was deprecated in 2016. Now you can't use it. You can fix the filters using it. You can find them if you use the search bar on Special:AbuseFilter.
The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 15 January. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 16 January. It will be on all wikis from 17 January (calendar).
Meetings
You can join the technical advice meeting on IRC. During the meeting, volunteer developers can ask for advice. The meeting will be on 16 January at 16:00 (UTC). See how to join.
Future changes
In the future users can be blocked from editing a page or a namespace. What a "block" means will change. This means that you might have to update tools you maintain that handle blocks. [8]
Names used in an article must match the page title (with exception of few situations, like books with subtitles). The current page title is Jonas Bösiger, so references (to the name) in the article should be that too. If the current title is incorrect you can request for it to be moved through appropriate venues, either WP:RM or WP:RMT. After that, the name used in the article body can be changed. – Ammarpad (talk) 06:35, 10 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
No, if an article is on incorrect title then the incorrect title should be changed by page move. Changing the name in the body but leaving the incorrect title does not make sense and will one day be reverted by someone no matter how long. – Ammarpad (talk) 08:04, 10 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I made some quick search I found usages of both variants in sources, so I can't really decide. Please use a move request process if needed. Also post future requests at WP:RM/TR if necessary as that board is solely created for that. Requests made there also have more visibility there than on my talkpage and can be actioned by a number of people. Thanks. – Ammarpad (talk) 05:59, 13 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Salam, Ammarpad, being part of OTRS team, I was asking if I can upload a picture that was screenshot from Google map. I was creating an article about a place in kaduna. Yours Anasskoko (talk) 19:11, 16 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Hello! I wanted to inform you that there is a discussion going on at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard that you may be interested in. You, I and others have been involved in a contentious editing conflict at Christianity. I posted at the Noticeboard, not in an attempt to report or sanction any editor, but because I truly wish to understand the best course of action per WP policy, and thus gain experience. It appears that I and other well-intentioned editors have differing interpretations of those policies.
Hope you enjoy the Christmas eve with the ones you love and step into the new year with lots of happiness and good health. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!CAPTAIN RAJU(T)12:49, 21 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Hi Ammarpad, sorry about my ambiguous phrasing in explaining my reasoning for removing the image from the reading sidebar. You are of course correct that the sidebar is not shown on mobile. I had tried but failed to communicate that the image itself was/is being shown prominently on mobile on pages that have no other image to display. My thinking was that this created a MOS:LEADIMAGE issue, so thought it best to err on the side of no image at all. Do you see what I mean? Smilingpolitely (talk) 09:39, 29 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the clarification. But I still don't understand what you're trying to do. Template {{Reading}} is not shown on mobile versions at all, and that includes the image in it. So how does MOS:LEADIMAGE issue arise on a non-existing image? (It's nonexisting as per as mobile site is concerned because; 1. It's not directly in any page, but transcluded via template. 2. The template is not shown on all Wikipedia mobile versions). I am currently replying this with mobile, if you can reply with any concrete example of visible problems/MOS:LEADIMAGE issues caused by the image on mobile sites, I can be able to check that. – Ammarpad (talk) 09:57, 29 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for your response. Again I have explained myself poorly! Sorry to try your patience. There are two instances I think that MOS:LEADIMAGE issues might be arising: 1. The “shown prominently” issue I came across was not “on mobile” but actually in the iOS app, where the sidebar image is being used a header, despite the sidebar being - as you point out - non-existent. A representative screenshot attached. 2. The sidebar image is also appearing on mobile Safari (although less prominently) at the base of pages in the Related Articles section. See second screenshot. Do you see either of these as MOS:LEADIMAGE issues? Smilingpolitely (talk) 11:22, 29 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]
Templates with <templatestyles> could not show the difference between the live template and the sandbox version when they were tested. This has now been fixed. <templatestyles> has a new 
The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 15 January. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 16 January. It will be on all wikis from 17 January (calendar).
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