Beta Features/ml



എല്ലാവർക്കുമായി റിലീസ് ചെയ്യുന്നതിന് മുമ്പ് വിക്കിപീഡിയയിലും മറ്റ് വിക്കിമീഡിയ സൈറ്റുകളിലും പുതിയ സവിശേഷതകൾ പരീക്ഷിക്കുന്നതിനുള്ള ഒരു മാർഗമാണ് ബീറ്റ സവിശേഷതകൾ. നിങ്ങളുടെ ക്രമീകരണങ്ങളില്‍ ബീറ്റ സവിശേഷതകൾ പ്രവർത്തനക്ഷമമാക്കാൻ സാധിക്കും; ഓരോ സൈറ്റിനും സവിശേഷതകൾ വെവ്വേറെയായി പ്രവർത്തനക്ഷമമാക്കണം.

ഈ താളിലൂടെ ഈ പ്രോഗ്രാമിനെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള നിങ്ങളുടെ അഭിപ്രായം ഞങ്ങളെ അറിയിക്കാം.

ഉദ്ദേശ്യം
The primary purpose of Beta Features is to allow for Wikimedia designers and engineers (from the Wikimedia Foundation and community alike) to roll out technical improvements in an environment where large numbers of users can test, give feedback, and use these features in real-world settings. The secondary purpose of Beta Features is to provide a path so that helpful, well-designed gadgets and other community code can be integrated into core after vetting, testing, and reviewing by Wikimedia Design and Engineering.

The code to provide features like this is in an extension,. Beta Features' preferences are available in a Preferences tab, accessible via the personal bar at the top of the page for all logged-in users.

Functionality
Right now, users can:


 * manually opt-in to individual features
 * automatically enroll in all additional features as they are subsequently released

To use either function, users should select the appropriate checkbox, then click “”, which will save their Beta Features preferences (like with other preferences). Every now and then new features are made available to users, as outlined at.

Current Beta Features
Here are the current beta features which we are testing with this system:


 * (lead: Amir Aharoni) – A tool to quickly translate pages into your language with side-by-side editor.
 * (lead: James Forrester) –
 * (lead: Lea Voget) –
 * (lead: Ed Sanders) –
 * (lead: James Forrester) –
 * (lead: Johanna Strodt) – Show a preview of a reference by hovering over its footnote marker.

These features are only available on some wikis:
 * (lead: Roan Kattouw) –
 * Flow on user talk (lead: Roan Kattouw) – Enables a new structured discussion system on your user talk page.

We invite Wikimedia product teams and community volunteers who want to test out new features, or significant changes to existing features, to do so through this project.

Creating your own
Do you want to create your own Beta Feature? Great! James is happy to help guide you.

First, you should check that your code meets the following basic requirements:


 * Not significantly degrade site performance;
 * Not noticeably degrade perceived performance of the site, or the user's system;
 * Not crash the user's browser;
 * Not cause data loss, or corruption;
 * Pass basic interoperability with other Beta Features features; and
 * Contribute positively to the user's experience of the site, and be additive in nature. E.g. Beta Features cannot be used to remove site features or functionality without adding features meant to replace what was removed.
 * You should expect to test your new feature on the WMF pre-deploy beta server for at least one week before deploying to production. This testing period is intended to catch any serious bugs before jeopardizing users on production.

If you're happy your code meets these requirements, you should write-up your proposal on the New Features proposal page. As part of creating the Beta Feature, you will be asked for some text copy and an image to represent your feature in the user interface; the Design and Product teams can help you with this.

Appearance
The appearance of the “” tab in Preferences is purposefully different, to both inspire interest and propose a departure from the standard layout and complexity of the existing user preferences.

Here is a screenshot of the “” preferences tab: