User blog:Jpearson/Technical Updates: December 16, 2022

Hey everyone!

Check out the latest Technical Updates since December 2, 2022. We’ll update the editor community on bug fixes and product development updates bi-weekly!

Last update of 2022 and code freeze
2022 is coming to a close, and that means that this is our final Technical Update of 2022. We don’t like to release code too close to the holiday break, since there will be fewer people around to help deal with any potential bugs or code release issues, so we have officially entered into what we call a code freeze. That means we will not be releasing any code until after New Years, when we return to “the office” on January 3rd, though we will of course fix any urgent bugs or release anything that’s absolutely critical.

This is also the final code release onto MediaWiki 1.37, outside of those critical fixes. Back in November, we announced that we will be upgrading to MediaWiki 1.39 in early 2023 so the code freeze on MediaWiki 1.37 ensures that we will not have to do double releases onto both 1.37 and 1.39. As wikis begin migration to 1.39 in the first few months of 2023, the code will be “unfrozen” and migrated wikis will begin to use 1.39 and any additional code we may have released onto 1.39 during the freeze.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We don’t want there to be any confusion, so just to be extra clear, a code freeze does not mean that your wikis can’t be edited. The code freeze is purely on the Fandom backend and is about Fandom code that we add to the platform. You will be able to use your wikis as normal before and after they’re migrated to 1.39.

Known Issues

 * Preference resets. We’ve seen reports from some users that their preferences are being reset without that user making any changes, such as being switched from the 2010 source editor to the 2017 Visual Editor source mode. We’ve set up a new log of preference changes to see when changes are being triggered, and where they’re being triggered from, to see if we can pinpoint the issue and fix it.

Mobile Theming

 * Over 110,000 wikis now have mobile theming enabled, which is a 7,000 wiki increase from our last Technical Update. That’s great to see! That number will be expanded as wikis with contrast issues resolve those and update their theme designers.


 * We are also hard at work prioritizing our plans for 2023, including the first few months of the year, and will be looking at some of the mobile theming feedback that we’ve received to see what we might be able to continue working on (such as background cropping). Also included in those conversations is Mobile CSS and determining a date for when we can enable that for admins to edit.

Discussions Moderation

 * Reported Post Numbers. The reported post section now shows the number of unactioned reports for an additional wiki. This makes it a bit easier for admins and moderators to know when a review is needed.


 * Post/Reply History. The CATs development team completed the work associated with post history and is being tested internally. We hope to have this ready for some select communities to test it live starting next week. This has been far more complex to build than we originally anticipated, causing delays. Since we do not release new features too close to the holidays to avoid issues bothering our users while all developers are on break, we will postpone releasing post history to all communities until January.


 * Report Notifications. Work on report notifications will start in January, and the designs for them are done. Thanks to everyone that contributed their feedback!

Mobile Editing

 * Advanced Mobile Contributions (AMC). We’re still on track to have Advanced Mobile Contributions become default enabled in early 2023, after styling work is done. Thank you to the Fandom Stars who recently contributed to a conversation on Discord where we solicited feedback about this!


 * Performance Improvement. We recently released performance improvements that had a demonstrable impact on mobile editing load times. We still have to do a full analysis to see exactly how much it improved, but the improvements have shown a positive impact on performance. We will have numbers to share with you in the new year.

FanCentral

 * We announced this week that Discussions and ArticleComments are now available as opt-in features on historically Gamepedia wikis. There were also unification steps taken on Special:RecentChanges; wikis with these social features now have Special:SocialActivity displaying as a tab on recent changes, and all Gamepedia wikis have Image Activity (Special:Newfiles) and Map Reports available as tabs as well.


 * We’re working to integrate additional wiki content modules into the FanCentral feed. The recent images module is in code review now, and the recently updated articles module is being worked on now.


 * The user experience for passive fandoms was improved to allow users to more easily follow and unfollow passive fandoms from the feed, giving users more control over their own experience.


 * Part of our planning for 2023 includes deciding what we want to work on for FanCentral next. It will be several weeks of continued planning for all aspects of the product, so we don’t anticipate having anything to share until late February at the earliest, but we’ll keep you updated as we go!

Platform

 * We are now planning to release Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) in early January, as we needed time to make some adjustments after a design review and we don't want to release it during code freeze in case there are unexpected issues.


 * Backend work on the MediaWiki 1.39 upgrade continues and is going smoothly!


 * Extension Review Nominations are underway! We received a lot of recommendations in the past, and we’re excited to bring this voting process to the community on a quarterly basis. Read more about how the nomination process works and submit your nomination for the next extension for our public voting round coming January 2023!

If there’s anything you still think needs to be fixed that hasn’t yet, please be sure to either contact your Wiki Representative or, if your wiki doesn’t have one, send us a bug report!