VisualEditor facts for kids
VisualEditor logo, set in Gill Sans
|
|
VisualEditor's text formatting menu
|
|
| Developer(s) | Wikimedia Foundation and Fandom, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Written in | JavaScript, Node.js, PHP |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Platform | MediaWiki extension |
| Type | Wiki |
| License | MIT |
VisualEditor (often called VE) is a special online tool. It helps people edit pages on MediaWiki websites, like Wikipedia. It works like a "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) editor. This means you can see how your changes will look right away.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, created VisualEditor. They worked with Fandom to build it. In July 2013, it became the main way to edit pages on many big Wikipedia sites. Many people thought it was a very important change for Wikipedia.
Contents
Why VisualEditor Was Created
The first way to edit Wikipedia pages was a simple text editor. To use it, people had to learn a special code called wiki markup. This code tells the computer how to show text, like making it bold or adding links.
For many years, people wanted an easier way to edit. They hoped a WYSIWYG editor would help more people join in. It would make editing less tricky for new Wikipedians. The Wikimedia Foundation wanted to make it easier for people to contribute.
Making Editing Easier
Learning wiki markup can be hard for some people. VisualEditor was made to solve this problem. It lets people edit pages without needing to know the code. This means more people can share their knowledge.
The goal was to help people who are good at writing but not experts in coding. Even experienced editors can find VisualEditor useful for some tasks.
How VisualEditor Was Launched
VisualEditor was first tested on smaller wiki sites. Then, it was planned for the English Wikipedia. At first, only registered users could try it in December 2012. By April, all registered users could use it.
In July 2013, it became the default editor for logged-in users on English Wikipedia. Later, in September 2013, users had to choose to turn it on. This was because some people had problems with it. But by October 2015, it was available by default again for new users.
Behind the Scenes: The Technology
Building VisualEditor was a big challenge. The Wikimedia Foundation worked with Wikia (now Fandom) on the project. Wiki markup is complex because it has grown over many years. It has many features that are hard to show visually.
To make VisualEditor work, a special server called Parsoid was created. Parsoid helps change wiki text into a format VisualEditor can understand. It also changes it back again. This makes sure the visual editor and the code editor work together.
VisualEditor works on many modern web browsers. These include Chrome, Edge, Opera, Firefox, Midori, and Safari.
See also
- List of HTML editors § WYSIWYG editors
