VisualEditor


 * ''For the VisualEditor deployment at the English Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:VisualEditor.

The VisualEditor project aims to create a reliable rich-text editor for MediaWiki. It is being developed so it can be used as a MediaWiki extension, using the Parsoid project to supply HTML+RDFa.

It is currently deployed to various namespaces on this wiki (including the main namespace in which this page exists); more information about this test deployment can be found on [//blog.wikimedia.org/2012/06/21/help-us-shape-wikimedias-prototype-visual-editor Wikimedia's blog], the FAQs, and [ VisualEditor:Welcome] or [ VisualEditor:Test]. Please note that the test deployment only works with the Vector skin. For more information, please visit the VisualEditor Portal.

VisualEditor is one of several rich-text editors.

Rationale
The decline in new contributor growth is the single most serious challenge facing the Wikimedia movement. Removing the avoidable technical impediments associated with Wikimedia's editing interface is a necessary pre-condition for increasing the number of Wikimedia contributors.

Timeline

 * Some level of exploration was done in 2010 by the Wikipedia Usability Initiative.


 * The 2011 product whitepaper published by the Wikimedia Foundation's strategic product team identified rich-text editing as one of the "Great Movement Projects". Work subsequently started in May 2011.


 * The 2011-12 Wikimedia annual plan, released July 2011, states a goal for Visual Editor: "First opt-in user-facing production usage by December 2011, and first small wiki default deployment by June 2012".


 * The 2012-13 Engineering Goals document sets a timeline for VisualEditor's development and deployment up to the end of June 2013.


 * VisualEditor is scheduled to be deployed across Wikimedia projects over the summer of 2013. Below is a schedule for July 2013:

Documentation

 * Generated code documentation

Related pages
For more information on VisualEditor and its design process, see these directory pages:
 * Design and features
 * Planning and testing
 * Software
 * Feedback archives
 * /Presentations/