Hello

An update concerning Filters on RecentChanges and Watclists. 
TL;DR: filters on RecentChanges will be released by default for all users, starting October 4.

Concerning RecentChanges

After receiving feedback raising up speed issues on RecentChanges pages using the new filters, we have postponed the release of those filters until October 3 minimum. 

We have investigated on the speed issue. This was due to a performance issue related to Wikidata (T171027) which has spiked at the same time the release announcement has been made (and many people have tried the Beta). That slowness was not due to the filters.

However, we have made some speed tests and improved the code. Filters now load twice faster (T176250). The speed fixes are available since a week in the Beta feature on all wikis. Users who have reported the speed issues have told us that the difference is notable.

We have then decided to rollout the filters on RecentChanges by default for all users, starting October 4.

The rollout is not targeting yet wikis that use FlaggedRevisions. For those wikis, we will first integrate FlaggedRevisions as a proper filter.

Tip: refresh the RC page takes less time but there is a faster way to update the list of results for a given set of filters. We advice users to keep the RecentChanges page open while they are patrolling, and open the pages they want to visit in a new tab. When they will come back to the RC page, they can click on the "View newest changes" link to instantly update the list of results.

Concerning Watchlists

Filters for Watchlists are still in Beta. We have received very interesting feedback about it and we are working on some improvements.

The speed issue on RecentChanges was shared by the Watchlists. The fix also improves Watchlist performances.

The Beta is using bold and filled list dots to show unseen changes. Some wikis use gadgets that custom Watchlists, removing bold on unseen changes. To make the two options compatible, an edit on a message system is required. 

Don't forget to test all gadgets and scripts that improve Watchlists, to see if they are compatible with the Beta improvements. If you watchlist is broken when you enable the Beta, you can identify possible incompatible gadgets/scripts and ask their authors or gadgets maintainers to fix them.



Please share this announcement with your communities, and please ping me if you have questions!

On behalf of the Global Collaboration team, 
Benoît


On Fri, Sep 22, 2017 at 6:14 PM, Benoît Evellin (Trizek) <bevellin@wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hello

After receiving feedback raising up speed issues on RecentChanges pages using the new filters, we are postponing the release of those filters until October 3 minimum.

Some features are under improvement, especially the ones about speed.

I'll send you an update when the new release schedule will be ready. Until then, please share this announcement with your communities.

Please ping me if you have questions!

On behalf of the Global Collaboration team,
Benoît

On Wed, Sep 6, 2017 at 2:21 PM, Benoît Evellin (Trizek) <bevellin@wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hello

We are postponing the deployment New filters for Edit review release by default by one week, to fix some details and provide the best experience for everyone.

The new schedule is:

  • Phase 1: Catalan Wikipedia, French Wikipedia and Hebrew Wikipedia (and any other wiki that wants to have the Filters on Recent Changes earlier) delayed to September 19.
  • Phase 2: All communities except those with valid reasons why not, delayed to September 26
  • Phase 3: Holdover from phase 2, still scheduled on week of October 1.
More details about the schedule and dependencies on https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T164489.

Thanks,
Benoît

On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 3:38 PM, Benoît Evellin (Trizek) <bevellin@wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hello!

(This a quite long email, because it is super detailed.)

Some of you have certainly tested the New filters for Edit review, which improve Recent Changes review experience. At the moment, those filters are available as a Beta feature on all wikis.

We have received a lot of positive feedback about the filters, so we are going to move most of those features out of Beta next month. This email to introduce to you the features that will become default and the planned schedule.

What is released by default?

You can discover all improvements made on the project page.

When the deployment will be done, it will be possible to keep the Recent Changes pages like they are now by default through an option in your preferences.

Will be released by default:

When will it happen?

We have defined 3 phases for the release:

  • Phase 1: Catalan Wikipedia, French Wikipedia and Hebrew Wikipedia, on week of September 12.
Phase 1 wikis have been chosen by the development team for an early release. They will receive messages soon about this change. 
That early release is done to check if all is going good. We have repetitively tested the new features and we do not expect major issues.
If your community wants to be included in Phase 1, please let us know (we may refuse if we have too much requests).
  • Phase 2: All communities except those with valid reasons why not, week of September 19
Communities with specific concerns or internal discussion can request to have the deployment to their wikis delayed to phase 3 (see below) if they have sensible, consistent with the project, actionable, realistic feedback to oppose (at the development team's appreciation). 
  • Phase 3: Holdover from phase 2, week of October 1.

If your community have comments or requests concerning the deployments, please let us know (please provide links to community discussions).

[Reminder] The release of the New Filters on Watchlists (as a Beta feature) is independent from these phases and will happen on September 5 on all wikis.

What can I do to help?

First of all, you can share this schedule with your community. I'll send this announcement  in the coming weeks, to main wikis and wiki-thematic User Groups. Your wiki may not be on my list, or people may miss one message: that's why your help is necessary! :)

You can report bugs or suggest improvements anytime, directly to me or on Phabricator (#Edit-Review-Improvements-Integrated-Filters). Future improvements are listed on the project board on Phabricator.

You can also check the documentation to see if there is things to translate.

Please tell me if you have questions. 

Thank you for your help!
Benoît

-- 

Benoît Evellin (Trizek)
Community Liaison
Wikimedia Foundation



--
Benoît Evellin (Trizek)
Community Liaison
Wikimedia Foundation



--
Benoît Evellin (Trizek)
Community Liaison
Wikimedia Foundation



--
Benoît Evellin (Trizek)
Community Liaison
Wikimedia Foundation