Re: Feedback needed: Draft gadget/user script policy

Hey all
Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback on this important topic.
The deadline for feedback has passed, but the document is a wiki page so
feedback is always welcome and this document should continue to evolve.

I am hoping to formalize this document over the next three months and work
with WMF staff to get this over the finish line. You can subscribe to
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T311891 if you are interested in keeping
track of developments here.

Hope everyone has a great weekend
Jon

On Wed, May 18, 2022 at 9:05 AM Jon Robson <[email protected]> wrote:

> [If you don't write gadgets, user scripts or work on MediaWiki code feel
> free to ignore this message]
>
> Hey all!
>
> Given the hackathon this weekend, now seemed like a good idea to talk
> about us having a policy for code we write for gadget and user scripts
> developers and as gadget and user script developers. TDLR: I am proposing a
> policy to guide developers and authors of these kinds of scripts. I would
> like people to read through my first draft
> <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Jdlrobson/Extension:Gadget/Policy#Policy_(draft)>
> [1] and give me feedback on the talk page. Please feel free to share on
> wiki.
>
>
> *What is being proposed*
>
> A policy page that would be editable on wiki and linked to from the
> editing interfaces on gadgets, to guide both parties on how to write code
> that's sustainable and less prone to breakage.
>
> *Why is this needed?*
>
> Despite gadgets and user scripts (which will be referred from now on as
> wiki-based code) being a key component of MediaWiki projects, up until now
> frontend APIs (e.g. how wiki-based code should interact with source control
> provided code) have been ill-defined leading to misunderstandings between
> engineers and wiki-based code developers when wiki-based code break. This
> also leads to code rot, where developers do not feel empowered to make
> changes as it's unclear how their changes will impact wiki-based code
> developers. On top of this, when wiki-based code breaks it's not clear who
> can and will fix them.
>
> To solve this a policy I have been pushing for some time to make the
> contract between MediaWiki developers and wiki-based code developers
> explicit and less confusing.
>
> I hope on the long run a policy would restore trust and good faith between
> the two parties.
>
> *How can you help?*
>
> To contribute to the policy please use the discussion page to raise
> concerns, suggestions, removals or additions.
>
> *What's the deadline?*
>
> I'd like to have all feedback gathered by 30th May 2022
> [1]
> https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Jdlrobson/Extension:Gadget/Policy#Policy_(draft)
>

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