Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-168424-20200215003810

A FANDOM staffer (Hypsoline) asked me on a wiki I admin if I had any questions about the UCP, so I asked them and got some answers.

If I had gone to Community Connect, I would probably have given a more detailed report that would have been better, but I didn't go. Hopefully this is useful, nonetheless.

Here are the questions I asked with the answers (by Mira Laime):
 * Q: How much divergence will there be from the latest base MediaWiki engine? Meaning will things like extensions that work with Wikipedia be compatible?
 * A: The UCP will run on the latest MediaWiki version with as few alterations as possible. The whole point of this overhaul is to be able to update to newer versions again in the future much more easily. So we are working on leaving core MW as it is in as many places as possible, while still re-adding those Fandom customizations that we love and want to keep.
 * I don't have an exact number, since we're still making decisions for many features as to how much code alteration is needed, so I can't say "x% of the UCP will be pure, unadulterated MediaWiki". But it is very likely that an extension that works on vanilla MediaWiki will also work on Fandom. If you're thinking of specific extensions you're really excited to use, let us know!
 * Q: Assuming Gamepedia will adopt the UCP, how will cross communication with FANDOM wikis be improved (local cross linking, unified login, search, etc.)?
 * A: Gamepedia and Fandom have already moved closer together, even though they're still separate platforms. Our ads are the same (not the part users get excited about, I know), you can find Gamepedia wikis via search on Fandom already today, and we have implemented Twitch login on Fandom (although I know that you're not exactly excited about that one either). It's already possible to have interwiki links across the two platforms. Once all wikis (Gamepedia wikis included) are on the UCP, there will be unified login options, search and more.
 * Q: Will Discussions be more integrated into the MediaWiki part of UCP (diffs in recent changes, contribs list integrated with wiki contribs, links directly to user profile pages, integrated admin functions, etc.)?
 * A: Discussions being oddly separate has long been something that users are unhappy about, and we're well aware that that needs addressing. We are planning on making more improvements to Discussions this year, including better tie-ins with the wiki. Since moving all wikis onto the same platform is a priority right now, though, Discussions improvements won't happen until later in the process, likely after all wikis are on the same platform and we can take things from there.
 * Q: Will UCP include replacements for page end Comments and Message Walls?
 * A: Yes, it will! Not all feature replacements may be in place in the first iteration of the UCP, mind you, but any wiki that uses them now won't be moved there until the replacements are ready.
 * Q: What will the state of Lua be on UCP? Will it also match closely with Wikipedia? Many users have been tripped up trying to port incompatible Lua modules from Wikipedia to FANDOM. Wikipedia is now heavily dependent on Lua for its templates.
 * A: Lua: It'll be supported on the UCP, just not in its earliest iterations. 