Beta Features/Release Plan

Here is the 2013 release plan for the Beta Features project.

Announcement
Here is the recommended announcement which we invite you to adapt when introducing Beta Features to your community.

We would like to let you know about Beta Features, a new program from the Wikimedia Foundation that lets you try out new features before they are released for everyone.
 * Introducing Beta Features

Think of it as a digital laboratory where community members can preview upcoming software and give feedback to help improve them. This special preference page lets designers and engineers experiment with new features on a broad scale, but in a way that's not disruptive.

Beta Features is now ready for testing on MediaWiki.org. This Thursday, it will also be released on Wikimedia Commons and MetaWiki. Based on test results, the plan is to release it on all wikis worldwide on 21 November, 2013.

Here are the first features you can test this week:
 * Media Viewer — view images in large size or full screen
 * VisualEditor Formulæ — edit algebra or equations on your pages
 * Typography Refresh — make text more readable (coming Thursday)

Would you like to try out BetaFeatures now? After you log in on MediaWiki.org, a small 'Beta' link will appear next to your 'Preferences'. Click on it to see features you can test, check the ones you want, then click 'Save'. Learn more on the Beta Features page.

After you've tested Beta Features, please let the developers know what you think on this discussion page -- or report any bugs here on Bugzilla. You're also welcome to join this IRC office hours chat on Friday, 8 November at 18:30 UTC.

Beta Features was developed by the Wikimedia Foundation's Design, Multimedia and VisualEditor teams. Along with other developers, they will be adding new features to this experimental program every few weeks. They are very grateful to all the community members who helped create this project — and look forward to many more productive collaborations in the future. :)

Enjoy, and don't forget to let developers know what you think!

Schedule
Here is the current schedule for upcoming releases of Beta Features in November 2013.

The goal is to release a first barebones version of Beta Features in November, with a couple features to start with.

Here are our target dates for the first release:
 * 5 Nov - Pre-announce Beta Features on all wikis
 * 7 Nov - Release on Commons + Meta, test extensively
 * 8 Nov - IRC office hours chat + start Commons/Meta discussions
 * 19 Nov - Review all final features before launch
 * 20 Nov - Pre-release last minute bug fixes and features
 * 21 Nov - Release to all Wikis (via platform train)
 * 21 Nov - Post anouncements, socialize
 * 22 Nov - IRC office hours chat
 * 22 Nov - Start on-wiki discussions

We may adjust this schedule as needed, based on our progress with deliverables, and subject to team and community review.

To learn more about Beta Features, please visit this main project hub -- and leave a note on its discussion page with any questions.

Sites
We are working with community champions and team members to make personal announcements on these sites in November:
 * English Wikipedia
 * French Wikipedia
 * German Wikipedia
 * Italian Wikipedia
 * Persian Wikipedia
 * Polish Wikipedia
 * Portuguese Wikipedia
 * Spanish Wikipedia
 * Swedish Wikipedia
 * Indic Wikipedias
 * Arabic Wikipedia
 * Catalan Wikipedia
 * Chinese Wikipedia
 * Czech Wikipedia
 * Danish Wikipedia
 * Dutch Wikipedia
 * English Wikivoyage
 * Finnish Wikipedia
 * Greek Wikipedia
 * Hebrew Wikipedia
 * Hungarian Wikipedia
 * Japanese Wikipedia
 * Korean Wikipedia
 * Russian Wikipedia
 * Serbian Wikipedia
 * Turkish Wiipedia
 * Ukrainian Wikipedia
 * Wikimedia Commons

We will also automatically post announcements on these 600+ sites in early November.