2017 wikitext editor/Feedback

Post your feedback about using the first iteration of the 2017 wikitext editor as a Beta Feature. While you can disable it by unchecking the New wikitext mode checkbox in your Preferences (Beta tab), the Contributors team welcomes your feedback and ideas, especially on user interface decisions and the priorities for adding new features. All comments are read, in any language, but personal replies are not guaranteed: the team will try and go through reports here at least once a week. Need more attention? Report directly in Phabricator. You can learn how to structure well your submission.

If you are reporting a problem directly on this page, please include your web browser, computer operating system, and wiki skin (usually Vector, sometimes Monobook). Also, while editing to reproduce a problem, please try to append &safemode=1 at the end of the URL; if the problem disappears, you are using a gadget or script that interferes with the editor.

We are trying to keep the page tidy by providing links to relevant tasks while closing threads. You can help by adding {{tracked|T######}}. By all means, feel free to re-open a thread if you need to!

See also:

View open developer tasks – Complete workboard – Report a new bug in Phabricator – Join the IRC channel

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T184786

Steps to reproduce

1. Try to source edit the template protected page,en:Template:Static_IP, without the "template editors" right. This should display the "This page is currently protected ... message which should also contain the "Submit an edit request" button.
2. Tap on the "Submit an edit request" button.

Expected results

The editor loads for creating a new section with the pre-filled topic "Template-protected edit request on DD MONTH YYYY" and some content in edit box.

Actual results

The editor fails to load showing the "The editor will now load. ... message. The browser's console shows the error "TypeError: Argument 1 of Window.getComputedStyle is not an object." for the mangled code line var l = window.getComputedStyle(t).

Further, if the page is re-loaded using the link found in the message displayed in the page, a different page is loaded which appears to be in an inconsistent state as the UI contains parts of both the 2017 wikitext editor and the OWE.

I believe that the seemingly "inconsistent state" of the icons is the result of https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T191031, which changed the 2010 WikiEditor's toolbar yesterday.

I'm not pretty sure how this issue is related to the one in task T184786. IIUC, this issue is about editing the talk page corresponding to a template protected page, with pre-loaded content and the issue in task T184786 is about creating a protected page. Regardless, the errors I see in the browsers console for both the issues are the same.

I didn't refer to the icons in the edit toolbar when I said "inconsistent state" (They don't appear to be using OOUI, at least not yet). See this screenshot.

I noted another surprising thing just recently. When I turn off the "Wikitext syntax highlighting" beta feature, a partial inconsistent state is seen. To add to the surprise, the text in the OWE editor window is syntax highlighted despite the fact that I turned off the beta feature.

Note: I corrected the link for "source edit" in the topic description.

Exactly what it says. There can be a serious lag when typing on long pages like w:Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals).

yes the problem is there +1

Are you sure that the page has finished loading? Are you trying to edit the whole page or just a section?

@Whatamidoing (WMF) it's loaded, and I was trying to edit the full page. :-)

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T192605

Generally, it is possible to make a copy of a text passage using drag and drop and pressing the CTRL key while moving the mouse. In this case, a + appears next to the mouse pointer. In the 2017 wikitext editor the + also appears next to the mouse pointer, but the text is moved, not copied (it is deleted from the old position).

Interesting, never knew about that shortcut. I doubt the average user even knows it exists, and even then, Ctrl + C , Ctrl + V is generally way faster than a combo of keyboard and mouse.

Personally, I prefer Linux's approach to copy paste, simply select and middle mouse click to paste. Either way, it seems reasonable to add that functionality, assuming that it isn't complex do to so.

Ctrl + C , Ctrl + V is also a combo of keyboard and mouse, even more keyboard, and mouse to the same extend (i.e. moving from the start position to the target position)

I normally select text with no mouse/pointer at all. At least on my Mac, you hold down the shift key while pressing the arrow keys to select text. I find it to be faster and easier than using a mouse, but other people might prefer other options.

And I thought everybody knows this.

What web browser and operating system are you using?

Windows 7 (home) and 8 (office), Mozilla Firefox 59.0.2

I find confusing that the Cancel button everywhere is just text in red color and not a button, it looks like a red link. I also find strange that if I want to "Preview changes" I have to press on "Publish changes" first, it should be called "Manage changes" or something like that instead. Then there is the dialogue called "Save your changes", which has a very random organization... I don't know what was the rationale for such arrangement but for me it doesn't make sense to have 4 buttons, when you could have only 3 and a cross to close the dialogue. The title "Save your changes" is also superfluous when the button says specifically "Publish changes". And there should be also a tooltip on each button with the shortcut that executes the action.

@Micru: The matter doesn't relate to the newest 2017 WikiEditor, which is available as one of the Beta Features. Moreover, the 2017 wikitext editor doesn't have the "Cancel" button. You can discuss this at meta:Tech. Meanwhile, why not experience the beta mode of the feature? Oh, and it was discussed at English Wikipedia previously

It does relate to the 2017 WikiEditor. I have it enabled, and now I cannot disable it. Whenever I go to the beta features, I unclick "New wikitext mode", but when I save it is clicked again...

I believe you mean the ones seen at w:en:Help:Edit summary, right?

No, when you activate the beta feature "New wikitext mode", and then you edit a page, there is a button that says "Publish changes", if you click that button a dialogue appears. Anyway, I want to disable it and now I can't.

To which wiki were you referring? I see that you have contributed to Catalan- and English-language wikis, so I can't figure out which one. Either I can help you disable the feature, or you can go to the Support Desk for more help.

Does it matter? And what is the point of having this page for feedback if it is not taken into consideration?

I re-read the OP, and I'm so sorry about my earlier misinterpretations and misunderstandings. Even though I don't work for WMF, this is no excuse for my earlier error. I hope you'll forgive me for those.

I hate to admit that the "Publish changes" popup is very annoying and should be remodeled.

By the way, if it's English Wikipedia, the enabling/disabling of the feature works fine for me in my area. I just click/un-click the feature, or I can un-click the "Automatically enable all new beta features". Do you see it clicked in your Preferences settings? If so, un-click it, so all boxes are automatically un-clicked (if not, then un-click all boxes), and then save your settings.

You are excused, sometimes it is not easy to figure out what is meant just from text alone.

I tried in en-wp, and in wikidata and in both cases I can unclick "New wikitext mode", but then when I save it is clicked again....

You can disable the editor by the also removing the flag from the checkbox that gives you all the new Beta Features automatically. (It's a known bug.)

Re: the Save your changes bit, there are complex design evaluations that you can read about in Phabricator, and https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T189803 appears to be an interim solution that should be applied soon.

Thanks for your message! I was able to disable the NVE for now. I hope the issues get solved.

This has issues, see https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Contact_the_development_team#Copy_pasting_an_item_from_the_searchbox

Unrelated : I also noted that the first suggestion in Wikidata is masked by the blue post button on wikitext edition mode.

Hi, sorry for the late reply. I have read your example but I don't think I grasped the problem.

I would appreciate if you could describe more accurately the steps to reproduce, and in particular what you expect and what happens instead. Thanks.

@Birgit Müller (WMDE), is that second item in your territory?

I've got a bit of an issue with the 2017 wikitext editor. It's entirely possible for me to type too fast and cause the text to come out of sync with the contents - causing multiple lines of greyed text or having the text not reflect what I've typed. A recent example: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_Apollo_missions&diff=828614753&oldid=828614216 - I started typing Access, decided to do publisher first, and it got mangled. I type 72 (or so) words a minute and I am using Firefox Quantum latest version. ~ Matthewrbowker ^{Talk to me} 18:37, 3 March 2018 (UTC)

Forgot some info - I am using MacOS 10.13 on Timeless. Though I've also seen this issue in Monobook. ~ Matthewrbowker ^{Talk to me} 18:39, 3 March 2018 (UTC)

Are you using syntax highlighting as well? We've made some recent improvements to text processing, so maybe check back in a few weeks when that is deployed.

Ed, I thought all our recent work in the area was deployed weeks ago? See another report from Gryllida.

Yes, I'm using syntax highlighting. And I will re-enable in a few weeks, thank you. ~ Matthewrbowker ^{Talk to me} 20:57, 3 March 2018 (UTC)

Hi again. How is it going these days?

Just enabled it again, will give you an update when I get to editing this evening US. ~ Matthewrbowker ^{Talk to me} 16:59, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

A number of weird bugs has been observed and fixed lately. Not sure the fixes are all live. Will revisit next week to see if all's good or not. Thanks for your patience!

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T153534

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T189175 Resolved

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T189322

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T189540

Hello.

While I love the new 2017 wikitext editor because of its expanse, it is impossible to see the full ramifications of the edit before publishing it. This was not the problem with the old wikitext editor. More specifically:

• Accidental misspelling of a category's name is not seen in the preview.
• List of used templates won't get updated.
• The effect of {{lowercase title}} or other title-changing code cannot be previewed.
• Category changes resulting from addition of new templates do not appear in the preview. For example, try inserting a {{Use British English}} template in English Wikipedia.

In January-March 2017 there was an RFC at English Wikipedia to block deployment of the 2017Editor due to preview errors and poor performance. The issue is tracked at Phabricator task T154844. However there has been no progress, and the manager of the project appears intensely opposed to a real fix. The task is rated "LOW priority", which generally indicates little prospects for action in the foreseeable future.

I'll add your cited concerns to the Phabricator discussion.

Hello, Codename Lisa!

The blue-linked cats are a regression. I've re-opened the bug.

Update: It appears that it's a bug that produces the same symptom, but not technically a regression. A fix seems to be on the way, thanks to the ever-awesome User:DLynch.

Please send my best to the awesome User:DLynch. Right now, I have a wallpaper of a cat with a blue link. It took me a while to understand what "blue-linked cat" means.

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T157953 Resolved

When you use editor2017, the menu "(?)"/"leave feedback about software" offered to send feedback on the page visual editor. It was expected that he would send on this page.

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T153306

I'm missing the preview option in this editor. I know it is possible to switch-over to the visual mode, but that is not the same.

1. First, the visual editor can only show an entire document, not a single section. It is therefore not possible to edit a section with the new wikitext editor and have a preview thereof. Starting the text editor in a section and then changing to the visual editor is only possible with the loss of all the amendments.
2. The layout in the visual editor is not the layout of the final document, especially when tables and images are involved. Further, links produced with templates cannot be tested. I tried it, for example, in de:Welterbe in Indien where each line is generated by a template. The visual editor therefore is not a suited replacement for the preview.

Hi Bjs,

In the save dialog there is a 'show preview' button, we are considering ways to make it more prominent. The 2017 wikitext editor does support section editing and previewing within that. The visual editor does still not yet support section editing (T50429), so if you switch to VE it will go back to the full document.

Thank you for the hint, that works fine, also with editing only a section. But, it should really be made more prominent. it is not very intuitive that you first have to press publish before you can select a preview. The selections publish/preview/view changes should be on the same level.

(I'm using German as interface language so i don not know whether the expressions are exactly as above in the English interface, but it should be clear what i mean)

Tracked in Phabricator
Task T85470

If all old WikiEditors have the "Cancel" button, why not the newest editor? To cancel my edits, i.e. exit the editor, I just have to click either "Article" or "Back" (and then "Discard My Edits" if I seemingly haven't undone the changes yet).