MediaWiki 1.17/Wikimedia deployment

MediaWiki is the software that runs Wikipedia and all the Wikimedia wikis.

An upgrade to a newer version of MediaWiki (1.17) is scheduled during two deployment windows in the next week
 * First window – This wave will be deployed between Friday, February 11, 6:00 UTC – 12:00 UTC (10pm PST Thursday, February 10 in San Francisco). This first wave will be to a limited set of wikis (see below).
 * Second window – Wednesday February 16 (between 6:00 UTC – 12:00 UTC) – full deployment (tentative)

The most visible change for Wikimedia users will be the deployment of ResourceLoader. The upgrade took place at 13:00, but was rollbacked again due to issues with the servers.

ResourceLoader optimizes the use of JavaScript in MediaWiki, speeding up delivery of JavaScript by compressing it sometimes, and cutting down on the amount of unused JavaScript that gets delivered to the browser in the first place.

The installation of ResourceLoader may cause compatibility issues with existing JavaScript code. If you maintain JavaScript code on your home wiki, please see the documentation linked at ResourceLoader to make sure it continues to work with ResourceLoader.

The tech team have been doing their best to make the upgrade go smoothly, but some issues may arise. Please help us solve them by reporting them (see below).

Thank you for your support and your understanding.

What to do if you encounter an issue

 * Wait a few minutes; the tech team may be already aware of the issue and working on it.
 * Join the #wikimedia-tech channel on Freenode.
 * If you have an IRC client, use this direct link: #wikimedia-tech
 * Otherwise, see IRC or use Freenode's webchat platform.
 * If you encounter an issue after the upgrade, please report it on our bug tracker.

More information

 * http://techblog.wikimedia.org/2011/02/1-17deployment-attempt2/
 * Planned deployment of 1.17 branch on February 8 - Announcement on the Wikimedia Tech blog.
 * 1.17 deployment postponed
 * Draft release notes for MediaWiki 1.17.