Notifications/status

Last update on: 2014-08-monthly

2012-04-26
Andrew Garrett committed first page on the data model. Comments/additions appreciated.

2012-04-27
Andrew Garrett made an initial commit on Echo.

2012-07-01
Official start date of Notifications rewrite.

2012-07-31
Andrew Garrett plans on deploying test Echo prototype on mediawiki.org in early August. It will not include infrastructure parts that depend on JobQueue services. Right now it only supports notifications for talk and Liquid threads.

List of completed cards: 
 * "My notifications" shows new notifications
 * Improve "My notifications" personal URL, added red numerical badge
 * Ensure that non-Echo e-mail notifications are suppressed
 * Split messages referring to a generic talk page from messaging referring to your user talk page
 * Fix issue with notifications popup dismissing itself

2012-07-monthly
Andrew Garrett continued to build this feature and plans on deploying test Echo prototype on mediawiki.org in early August. It will not include infrastructure parts that depend on JobQueue services. Right now it only supports notifications for talk and LiquidThreads.

2012-08-monthly
Andrew Garrett deployed Echo to MediaWiki.org, but it was temporarily turned off pending a bug that has recently been fixed. Vibha Bamba is working on some of the UI backlog.

2012-09-monthly
This month, we started to ramp up planning, design and development for Notifications on MediaWiki (code-named 'Echo') with the aim to have it in limited deployment in early 2013. This month Andrew Garrett worked on getting the Echo extension re-deployed on MediaWiki.org (currently blocked on a timestamp change in Gerrrit) with special thanks to the contributions/participation of Alex Monk (krenair) as well as meeting with Wikia for further collaboration. Vibha and Fabrice are working on auditing the messaging currently done in the system to improve flows and design. Aaron has been working on getting the JobQueue stuff abstracted to support queuing systems that would be able to handle Echo's design. This new infrastructure tool will be developed by Wikimedia's editor engagement team, including Fabrice Florin, Vibha Bamba, Brandon Harris, Ryan Kaldari, Matthias Mullie, Benny Situ, Andrew Garrett, Oliver Keyes, with Terry Chay and Howie Fung.

2012-10-monthly
This month, we expanded our design and development activities for the Notifications project (code-named 'Echo'), to prepare for a first experimental deployment in early 2013. Fabrice Florin, Howie Fung and Vibha Bamba identified product goals, key features and scope for that first release (see ), and discussed them with team members, including our partners at Wikia. We also created new conceptual models and workflows for different use cases, as well as requirements and wireframes for our first features. Ryan Kaldari and Benny Situ started to develop new types of notifications (e.g. edit reversion, new page review), integrating with Andrew Garrett's code (e.g. talkpage message, mention), with support from Alex Monk. Aaron Schulz built a new abstracted version of the JobQueue system to support multiple queuing systems.

2012-11-monthly
<section begin="2012-11-monthly"/>This month, we designed and started building key features of the Notifications project (code-named 'Echo'), towards a first experimental deployment in early 2013. Fabrice Florin wrote detailed feature requirements for our first release, and Vibha Bamba designed the first components of the user experience. Ryan Kaldari and Benny Situ developed the main features of this application, including the notifications flyout, the all-notifications archive, as well as email notifications and preferences. To test our work in progress, visit our first prototype (create an account and post on your talkpage from a separate account). New employee Luke Welling is also starting work on an HTML email module for this project. For more information, visit our project hub, or check our .<section end="2012-11-monthly"/>

2012-12-monthly
<section begin="2012-12-monthly"/>This month, the team continued to develop key features of the Notifications project (code-named 'Echo'), and deployed a first experimental release on mediawiki.org. Fabrice Florin expanded feature requirements for this release, and Vibha Bamba designed more components of the user experience. Ryan Kaldari and Benny Situ developed improved notification flyouts and email digests, as well as new notifications such as page links. Luke Welling built an HTML email module, which will soon be available to other projects as well. We plan to develop more features this month and deploy them for new editors on the English Wikipedia in early 2013. Please help us test these new features to provide feedback and find bugs. We're also looking to hire a software engineer as part of this project.<section end="2012-12-monthly"/>

2013-01-monthly
<section begin="2013-01-monthly"/>This month, we stepped up development on the Notifications project Echo and updated our first experimental release on mediawiki.org. Ryan Kaldari and Benny Situ improved the user experience for core features such as the badge, fly-out, all-notifications page and email notifications, and started developing new features such as bundling, dismiss and web preferences. Luke Welling completed work on HTML email and started development of a more robust job queue. Fabrice Florin led discussions about the Echo product plan, and new features and notifications under consideration, while Vibha Bamba designed new components of the user experience. We plan to develop some of these features and notifications in coming weeks, and are aiming for a first release on the English Wikipedia by the end of March; in the meantime, you can try the current version on mediawiki.org. We are also recruiting for a software engineer to join our team and work with us on this and other editor engagement projects.<section end="2013-01-monthly"/>

2013-02-monthly
<section begin="2013-02-monthly"/>This month, we continued development on the Notifications project (code-named Echo), which is now being tested on mediawiki.org. Ryan Kaldari and Benny Situ developed new features such as bundling, dismiss and web preferences, as well as refactored the code for the fly-out, archive page and email notifications. Luke Welling continued to develop a more robust job queue. Fabrice Florin spearheaded discussions about notifications for both new and experienced users, and updated requirements for this first set notifications for our upcoming release. We will develop these notifications and final features in coming weeks, and are aiming for a first release on the English Wikipedia next month; in the meantime, you can help us test the current version on mediawiki.org. To learn more, read this project update on the Wikimedia blog. If you are a software engineer, check out this job opening to join our team and develop more editor engagement projects like Echo.<section end="2013-02-monthly"/>

2013-03-monthly
<section begin="2013-03-monthly"/>In March, the team continued to deploy new features for the Notifications project (code-named Echo) on mediawiki.org. Ryan Kaldari and Fabrice Florin created a new Thanks notification that lets you express your gratitude to users who make constructive edits by notifying them that they have been thanked (this feature was designed to give positive feedback to new editors during their first steps on Wikipedia). Benny Situ built the User rights notification, which is sent when your user rights are changed (this feature was requested by power users on the English Wikipedia). Luke Welling developed new code to send HTML email notifications, based on designs from Vibha Bamba. Fabrice Florin led discussions about these new features to serve the needs of both new and current users, then updated their feature requirements; he also co-wrote this metrics plan with Dario Taraborelli, as well as a socialization plan and new project pages with Oliver Keyes. We are now completing these final features and are aiming for a first release on the English Wikipedia later this month; in the meantime, you can help us test the current version on mediawiki.org. To learn more, read this project update on the Wikimedia blog.<section end="2013-03-monthly"/>

2013-04-monthly
<section begin="2013-04-monthly"/>In April, we deployed Notifications on the English Wikipedia and mediawiki.org. This first release aims to inform users about new activity that affects them on Wikipedia, such as talk page messages, page reviews, mentions, edit reverts or thanks. Ryan Kaldari developed a new feature that lets users mark all notifications as read, and updated the fly-out and archive page, based on designs from Vibha Bamba. Benny Situ completed the bundling feature and developed some of the first metrics dashboards, in collaboration with Dario Taraborelli. Luke Welling continued to develop HTML email notifications and a notifications mailbox. Fabrice Florin managed the product development and release of this notification system, and coordinated its socialization on the English Wikipedia with Oliver Keyes. We're also grateful to Steven Walling and Matt Flaschen from our E3 team for developing the Welcome and Getting started notifications. To learn more, visit the project portal, read the FAQ page and join the discussion on the talk page.<section end="2013-04-monthly"/>

2013-05-monthly
<section begin="2013-05-monthly"/>In May, we released new features and bug fixes for Notifications on the English Wikipedia and mediawiki.org. Ryan Kaldari, Vibha Bamba and Fabrice Florin collaborated with community members to develop a 'new message indicator', to inform users when someone posts on their talk page. The team also released a new 'Thanks notification' that lets editors show their appreciation to users who make helpful edits, and offers a quick way to give positive feedback on Wikipedia. Benny Situ developed a feature that marks messages as read when you visit your talk page and expanded our first metrics dashboards, in collaboration with Dario Taraborelli and Aaron Halfaker. New team member Erik Bernhardson developed several new features, such as updating talk page notifications to link directly to their sections. Luke Welling continued to develop HTML Email notifications. Fabrice Florin worked with Oliver Keyes to discuss this product with a wide range of community members, and led the team to plan the next steps for Notifications and other editor engagement features. To learn more, visit the project portal, read the FAQ page and join the discussion on the talk page.<section end="2013-05-monthly"/>

2013-06-monthly
<section begin="2013-06-monthly"/>In June, we released more features and bug fixes for Notifications on the English Wikipedia and mediawiki.org. Ryan Kaldari added a confirmation button for the 'Thanks feature', and updated notification fly-outs to show diff links for talk page and interactive notifications, based on a design by Vibha Bamba. Benny Situ continued development of HTML Email notifications and deployed a variety of feature updates. Erik Bernhardson developed a special 'Suppressed' content feature, while Matthias Mullie developed a range of new metrics dashboards. Dario Taraborelli and Aaron Halfaker ran a week-long A/B test of new user activity; results show that new users who received Echo notifications made more edits than those who did not, but their edits were reverted slightly more often. Fabrice Florin led the planning process for Notifications, as outlined in the 2013 roadmap, and hosted a day-long roundtable discussion to improve editor engagement features in collaboration with Wikipedia users (see Echo demo and Q&A video on YouTube). Later this summer, we plan to start deploying Notifications on more wiki projects, starting with Meta and the French Wikipedia. To learn more, visit the project portal, read the FAQ page and join the discussion on the talk page.<section end="2013-06-monthly"/>

2013-07-monthly
<section begin="2013-07-monthly"/>In July, we released our final features for Notifications on the English Wikipedia and mediawiki.org and meta.wikimedia.org. Benny Situ completed development of HTML Email notifications, as well as improved notifications, based on designs by Vibha Bamba. Fabrice Florin managed the release of these final features, and prepared this release plan to deploy Notifications on more wiki projects, starting with French and Polish Wikipedias in August. Dario Taraborelli and Matthias Mullie updated our new metrics dashboards, while Aaron Halfaker completed his report on our A/B test of new user activity. To learn more, visit the project portal, read the FAQ page and join the discussion on the talk page.<section end="2013-07-monthly"/>

2013-08-monthly
<section begin="2013-08-monthly"/>In August, we released Notifications on the French, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish Wikipedias, after extensive testing on the English Wikipedia, as well as mediawiki.org and Meta-Wiki. This engagement tool was well received by our new communities, especially social features such as Mentions and Thanks, which enable users to communicate more effectively than before. Benny Situ led the engineering work for this deployment and fixed a number of bugs, with the help of Erik Benhardson and Matthias Mullie. Fabrice Florin managed community relations for these new releases, updating this release plan and reaching out to more projects, to prepare for worldwide deployments on all wiki projects in coming months. To that end, we teamed up with Philippe Beaudette, Maggie Dennis, Patrick Earley, Jan Eissfeld, Anna Koval, Keegan Peterzell, and Sherry Snyder to coordinate these releases with the communities they serve. Dario Taraborelli created new metrics dashboards for French, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese and Swedish Wikipedias. Lastly, we presented our work on Notifications in two talks at Wikimania 2013, with both a general overview and a technical presentation (see slides). We are very grateful to all our community champions for each language and look forward to more collaborations in the future. Our next major deployment to non-English Wikipedias will take place on Sep. 17, to be followed by weekly releases throughout the fall, as outlined in our release plan. To learn more, visit the project portal, read the help page and join the discussion on the talk page.<section end="2013-08-monthly"/>

2013-09-monthly
<section begin="2013-09-monthly"/>In September, we released Notifications on more Wikipedias, such as the Dutch, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Fabrice Florin and Keegan Peterzell managed community relations for these new releases, and are reaching out to more projects. Our next deployments will take place every other Tuesday. Developer Benny Situ was responsible for these deployments and fixed a number of bugs, with the help of Erik Benhardson and Matthias Mullie. Community response has been very positive so far, across languages and regions. For each release, we reached out to community members weeks in advance, inviting them to translate and discuss the tool with their peers. As a result, we have now formed productive relationships with volunteer groups in each project, and are very grateful for their generous support. To learn more, visit our project hub, read the help page and join the discussion on the talk page.<section end="2013-09-monthly"/>

2013-10-monthly
<section begin="2013-10-monthly"/>In October, we released Notifications worldwide on about 800 different sites, including most of the remaining Wikipedia wikis and 'sister projects'. Fabrice Florin and Keegan Peterzell managed the community outreach for these final releases, while Benny Situ proceeded with the technical deployments. Community members we've spoken to generally find this tool helpful, across languages and world regions. Notifications are also available on mobile devices, and seem to be adding value on these platforms as well. We now plan a final release of Notifications on the German and Italian editions of Wikipedia at the end of November. To learn more, visit our project hub, read the help page and join the discussion on the talk page.<section end="2013-10-monthly"/>

2013-11-monthly
<section begin="2013-11-monthly"/>In November, we deployed Notifications on the German and Italian Wikipedias, completing our worldwide release of this tool. Fabrice Florin, Denis Barthel, Jan Eissfeldt, Erica Litrenta and Keegan Peterzell managed the community outreach for these final releases, while Benny Situ oversaw the technical deployments. Community response to Notifications has been generally favorable on all wikis. While feature development has now ended for this project, we expect new notifications and features to be developed by other teams in coming months. To learn more, visit our project hub, read the help page and join the discussion on the talk page.<section end="2013-11-monthly"/>

2014-08-monthly
<section begin="2014-08-monthly"/>In August, the Core features team is improving Echo notifications of changes to Flow boards and topics that a user is watching. The list of notifications in the Echo flyout scrolls. If you have Flow notifications the flyout has a separate "Messages" tab for them, and these notifications remain in an "unread" state until you view the topic, click "mark all as read" or "x" them out individually. The rest of your notifications appear in an Alerts tab and keep the current behavior of being marked as read as soon as the flyout displays the notification. Plus miscellaneous improvements to Echo code and tests.<section end="2014-08-monthly"/>