Tech News 2026 - Issue 29

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Latest *tech news
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News>* from the
Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes.
Not all changes will affect you. Translations
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2026/29> are
available.

*Updates for editors*

   - Revise Tone
   <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Growth/Revise_Tone> h=
elps
   newcomers identify passages in Wikipedia articles that may contain
   non-encyclopedic language and encourages them to consider revising the
   tone. The feature was A/B tested
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:A/B_testing> on the Arabic, English,
   French, and Portuguese Wikipedias, where newcomer task completion
rates increased
   by 38.7%
   <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Growth/Revise_Tone#Ex=
periment_Results>
compared
   to the default Copyedit task, with no decrease in edit quality. The test
   ended on July 9, and the feature is now available for everyone on these
   wikis, configurable via Community Configuration. The plan
   <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T426364> is to release Revise Tone to
   more wikis.
   - The community configuration that allows automatic removal of inactive
   mentors
   <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Growth/Mentorshi=
p#Automated_mentor_list_cleanup>
based
   on configurable criteria will be enabled on Thursday 16, on some wikis
   <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Growth/Deployment> to
   keep mentor lists up to date. Mentors are experienced contributors who o=
pt
   in to help new users on-wiki through the Growth Features
   <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Growth/Feature_summar=
y>.
   Administrators can now prepare the settings via
   Special:CommunityConfiguration/Mentorship
   <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CommunityConfiguration/Mentorship=
>;
   they will take effect starting Thursday.
   - View all 38 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week
   <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Recently_r=
esolved_community_tasks>.
   For example, an issue where some users of the Wikipedia Android app were
   logged out immediately after signing in, preventing them from staying
   logged in and editing pages, has now been fixed. [1]
   <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T316916>

*Updates for technical contributors*

   - Editing a page via user scripts or gadgets was causing watchlist
   labels that the user had assigned to that page to reset. This has now be=
en
   fixed. [2] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T423778>
   - To work around a Safari bug (see phab:T425211
   <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T425211>), on Parsoid-enabled wikis,
   wikilink hrefs now use absolute urls instead of protocol-relative urls.
   REST API output remains unchanged and continues to use protocol-relative
   urls. Gadgets, user scripts, bots, and CSS might need to be adapted if t=
hey
   relied on the presence of protocol-relative urls in wikilink hrefs. [3]
   <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T431358>
   - Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki
   <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.47/wmf.11>

*In depth*

   - The Wikimedia Foundation=E2=80=99s Experiment Platform Team has publis=
hed a
   blog post reflecting on its first year of structured experimentation. It
   highlights successful experiments such as Paste Check, Reference Check, =
and
   Tone Check, which improved editing outcomes and have been rolled out to
   more users, as well as experiments that did not lead to product
changes. Read
   more
   <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/07/07/moving-the-needle-how-we-test-new=
-ideas-across-wikimedia-projects>
   .

*Tech news
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News> prepared
by Tech News writers
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Writers> and
posted by bot
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/User:MediaWiki_message_=
delivery>
=E2=80=A2 Contribute
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News#contribute>
=E2=80=A2 Translate
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2026/29> =E2=
=80=A2 Get
help <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech> =E2=80=A2 Give feedback
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tech/News> =E2=80=A2 Subscribe or uns=
ubscribe
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/Tech_ambas=
sadors>.*

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div><p style=3D"margin:0.5em 0px 1em;color:rgb(32,33,34);=
font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px">Latest=C2=A0<b><a href=3D"https://me=
ta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News" class=3D"extiw" title=
=3D"m:Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb=
(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">tech news</a></b>=C2=A0from=
 the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these cha=
nges. Not all changes will affect you.=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://meta.wikimed=
ia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2026/29" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"=
m:Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2026/29" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color=
:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Translations</a>=C2=A0a=
re available.</p><p style=3D"margin:0.5em 0px 1em;color:rgb(32,33,34);font-=
family:sans-serif;font-size:14px"><b>Updates for editors</b></p><ul style=
=3D"padding:0px;color:rgb(32,33,34);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px">=
<li style=3D"margin-bottom:0.1em"><a href=3D"https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki=
/Special:MyLanguage/Growth/Revise_Tone" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"mw:Special=
:MyLanguage/Growth/Revise Tone" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,=
102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Revise Tone</a>=C2=A0helps newc=
omers identify passages in Wikipedia articles that may contain non-encyclop=
edic language and encourages them to consider revising the tone. The featur=
e was=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:A/B_testing" class=
=3D"extiw" title=3D"w:en:A/B testing" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:r=
gb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">A/B tested</a>=C2=A0on th=
e Arabic, English, French, and Portuguese Wikipedias, where newcomer task c=
ompletion rates=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLa=
nguage/Growth/Revise_Tone#Experiment_Results" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"mw:S=
pecial:MyLanguage/Growth/Revise Tone" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:r=
gb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">increased by 38.7%</a>=C2=
=A0compared to the default Copyedit task, with no decrease in edit quality.=
 The test ended on July 9, and the feature is now available for everyone on=
 these wikis, configurable via Community Configuration.=C2=A0<a href=3D"htt=
ps://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T426364" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"phab:T4263=
64" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;bor=
der-radius:2px">The plan</a>=C2=A0is to release Revise Tone to more wikis.<=
/li><li style=3D"margin-bottom:0.1em">The community configuration that allo=
ws=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:G=
rowth/Mentorship#Automated_mentor_list_cleanup" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"mw=
:Special:MyLanguage/Help:Growth/Mentorship" style=3D"text-decoration:none;c=
olor:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">automatic removal o=
f inactive mentors</a>=C2=A0based on configurable criteria will be enabled =
on Thursday 16,=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLa=
nguage/Growth/Deployment" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"mw:Special:MyLanguage/Gr=
owth/Deployment" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);backgr=
ound:none;border-radius:2px">on some wikis</a>=C2=A0to keep mentor lists up=
 to date. Mentors are experienced contributors who opt in to help new users=
 on-wiki through the=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special=
:MyLanguage/Growth/Feature_summary" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"mw:Special:MyL=
anguage/Growth/Feature summary" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,=
102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Growth Features</a>. Administra=
tors can now prepare the settings via=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://en.wikipedia.=
org/wiki/Special:CommunityConfiguration/Mentorship" class=3D"extiw" title=
=3D"w:Special:CommunityConfiguration/Mentorship" style=3D"text-decoration:n=
one;color:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Special:Commun=
ityConfiguration/Mentorship</a>; they will take effect starting Thursday.</=
li><li style=3D"margin-bottom:0.1em">View all 38 community-submitted tasks =
that were=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguag=
e/Tech/News/Recently_resolved_community_tasks" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"m:S=
pecial:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Recently resolved community tasks" style=3D"tex=
t-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">=
resolved last week</a>. For example, an issue where some users of the Wikip=
edia Android app were logged out immediately after signing in, preventing t=
hem from staying logged in and editing pages, has now been fixed.=C2=A0<a c=
lass=3D"external gmail-autonumber" href=3D"https://phabricator.wikimedia.or=
g/T316916" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener noreferrer" style=3D"text-deco=
ration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);border-radius:2px;background:none;padding=
:0px">[1]</a></li></ul><p style=3D"margin:0.5em 0px 1em;color:rgb(32,33,34)=
;font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px"><b>Updates for technical contributo=
rs</b></p><ul style=3D"padding:0px;color:rgb(32,33,34);font-family:sans-ser=
if;font-size:14px"><li style=3D"margin-bottom:0.1em">Editing a page via use=
r scripts or gadgets was causing watchlist labels that the user had assigne=
d to that page to reset. This has now been fixed.=C2=A0<a class=3D"external=
 gmail-autonumber" href=3D"https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T423778" targe=
t=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener noreferrer" style=3D"text-decoration:none;colo=
r:rgb(51,102,204);border-radius:2px;background:none;padding:0px">[2]</a></l=
i><li style=3D"margin-bottom:0.1em">To work around a Safari bug (see=C2=A0<=
a href=3D"https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T425211" class=3D"extiw" title=
=3D"phab:T425211" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);backg=
round:none;border-radius:2px">phab:T425211</a>), on Parsoid-enabled wikis, =
wikilink hrefs now use absolute urls instead of protocol-relative urls. RES=
T API output remains unchanged and continues to use protocol-relative urls.=
 Gadgets, user scripts, bots, and CSS might need to be adapted if they reli=
ed on the presence of protocol-relative urls in wikilink hrefs.=C2=A0<a cla=
ss=3D"external gmail-autonumber" href=3D"https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/=
T431358" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noopener noreferrer" style=3D"text-decora=
tion:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);border-radius:2px;background:none;padding:0=
px">[3]</a></li><li style=3D"margin-bottom:0.1em">Detailed code updates lat=
er this week:=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.47=
/wmf.11" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"mw:MediaWiki 1.47/wmf.11" style=3D"text-d=
ecoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Med=
iaWiki</a></li></ul><p style=3D"margin:0.5em 0px 1em;color:rgb(32,33,34);fo=
nt-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px"><b>In depth</b></p><ul style=3D"paddin=
g:0px;color:rgb(32,33,34);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:14px"><li style=
=3D"margin-bottom:0.1em">The Wikimedia Foundation=E2=80=99s Experiment Plat=
form Team has published a blog post reflecting on its first year of structu=
red experimentation. It highlights successful experiments such as Paste Che=
ck, Reference Check, and Tone Check, which improved editing outcomes and ha=
ve been rolled out to more users, as well as experiments that did not lead =
to product changes.=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://diff.wikimedia.org/2026/07/07/m=
oving-the-needle-how-we-test-new-ideas-across-wikimedia-projects" class=3D"=
extiw" title=3D"diffblog:2026/07/07/moving-the-needle-how-we-test-new-ideas=
-across-wikimedia-projects" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,=
204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Read more</a>.</li></ul><p style=3D=
"margin:0.5em 0px 1em;color:rgb(32,33,34);font-family:sans-serif;font-size:=
14px"><i><b><a href=3D"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/T=
ech/News" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"m:Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News" style=3D=
"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2=
px">Tech news</a></b>=C2=A0prepared by=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://meta.wikimed=
ia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Writers" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"=
m:Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Writers" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color=
:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Tech News writers</a>=
=C2=A0and posted by=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special=
:MyLanguage/User:MediaWiki_message_delivery" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"m:Spe=
cial:MyLanguage/User:MediaWiki message delivery" style=3D"text-decoration:n=
one;color:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">bot</a>=C2=A0=
=E2=80=A2=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguag=
e/Tech/News#contribute" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"m:Special:MyLanguage/Tech/=
News" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;b=
order-radius:2px">Contribute</a>=C2=A0=E2=80=A2=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://met=
a.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2026/29" class=3D"extiw" =
title=3D"m:Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2026/29" style=3D"text-decoration:n=
one;color:rgb(51,102,204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Translate</a>=
=C2=A0=E2=80=A2=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech" class=
=3D"extiw" title=3D"m:Tech" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,=
204);background:none;border-radius:2px">Get help</a>=C2=A0=E2=80=A2=C2=A0<a=
 href=3D"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tech/News" class=3D"extiw" ti=
tle=3D"m:Talk:Tech/News" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204=
);background:none;border-radius:2px">Give feedback</a>=C2=A0=E2=80=A2=C2=A0=
<a href=3D"https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/=
Tech_ambassadors" class=3D"extiw" title=3D"m:Global message delivery/Target=
s/Tech ambassadors" style=3D"text-decoration:none;color:rgb(51,102,204);bac=
kground:none;border-radius:2px">Subscribe or unsubscribe</a>.</i></p></div>=
<div><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_signature" data-smartmail=3D"gmail_sig=
nature"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div><div><font color=3D"#073763"><br></font></div=
></div></div></div></div></div>

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