Contributors/Projects/Removal of the 2006 wikitext editor



The 2006 wikitext editor is being removed from production on WMF sites. If you do not know which editor you use, then please look at the list of editors to see screenshots for most of the editing environments in use.

Data indicates that very few active editors are using this, so it doesn't make sense to commit further resources to maintaining it. At the English Wikipedia, only about 50 editors use it (about 1 in 3,000 of the active editors there). Other wikis have even fewer editors using it.

What will happen
During June or July 2017 (date to be determined), the code for this wikitext editor and associated preference options will be removed from production.

When this editor is removed, the editors that are using it will default to the 2003 wikitext editor, which has no buttons or toolbar. The team chose this option because the editors who are still using this old toolbar regularly tend to be high-volume editors, and the 2003 wikitext editor will load more quickly than the alternatives. All editors are free to change their editing preferences at any time by going to Special:Preferences and choosing from among the options.

Alternatives
The toolbar could be converted to a Javascript-based user script by any volunteer developer that is interested in doing so. Please leave a note on the talk page if you are interested in doing this.

For third-party wikis
This was deprecated in MediaWiki 1.29 and will be removed during 1.30. See T30856 for more information about how this might affect your wiki.