VisualEditor facts for kids
VisualEditor logo, set in Gill Sans
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VisualEditor's text formatting menu
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| Developer(s) | Wikimedia Foundation and Fandom, Inc. |
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| Written in | JavaScript, Node.js, PHP |
| Operating system | Cross-platform |
| Platform | MediaWiki extension |
| Type | Wiki |
| License | MIT |
VisualEditor (often called VE) is a special tool for editing wiki pages. It works on wikis that use MediaWiki software, like Wikipedia. VisualEditor lets you edit pages by showing you exactly "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG). This means you can see how your changes will look right away.
The Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, worked with Fandom to create VisualEditor. It became a standard editing option on many large Wikipedia sites in July 2013. People at the Wikimedia Foundation thought it was their most challenging project ever. The Economist magazine even called it Wikipedia's "most significant change" in 2011.
At first, some users had complaints about VisualEditor. So, in September 2013, on the English Wikipedia, users had to choose to turn it on if they wanted to use it. However, after more improvements, it became available by default again for new users in October 2015. Since September 2020, VisualEditor has been included with every new version of MediaWiki software.
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How VisualEditor Helps Editors
Before VisualEditor, people edited Wikipedia using a "Source editor." This editor was like a plain text box. To make changes, you had to learn a special code called wiki markup. This code uses symbols and words to format text, add links, or include pictures.
Many people thought learning wiki markup was too hard. It stopped some people from helping to edit Wikipedia. The Wikimedia Foundation wanted to make editing easier for everyone. They hoped VisualEditor would encourage more people to join in. This was also an effort to help with a drop in the number of editors that happened between 2007 and 2011.
The goal was to let people choose how they wanted to edit. They could still use the old wiki markup editor or try the new VisualEditor. The Wikimedia Foundation hoped this would help get more contributions from people who speak languages like Arabic, Portuguese, and Indic languages.
Why VisualEditor Was Needed
The Wikimedia Foundation explained that many people didn't edit because wiki markup was too complex. They wanted VisualEditor to help smart and helpful people edit, even if they weren't experts in wiki markup. They also hoped that experienced editors would find VisualEditor useful for some of their tasks.
In 2012, Sue Gardner, who was in charge of the Wikimedia Foundation, said that VisualEditor alone wouldn't solve all the challenges. But Jimmy Wales, one of Wikipedia's founders, called it "epically important."
When VisualEditor Was Released
VisualEditor was planned to be released first on smaller wiki websites. Then, it would come to the English-language Wikipedia for people with accounts, and later for anonymous editors (people who edit without logging in).
- An early test version was given to a few users in December 2012.
- It became available to all registered users in April 2013.
- In July 2013, it was the main editor for logged-in users on the English Wikipedia.
However, because of some problems and complaints, it was changed back in September 2013. Users on the English Wikipedia had to choose to turn it on. But it stayed active on most non-English Wikipedias. By 2015, VisualEditor was fully developed and available on English Wikipedia again.
How VisualEditor Works Technically
The Wikimedia Foundation worked with Wikia (now Fandom) on this project. Making VisualEditor work was tricky because wiki markup is very complex. It has grown over 12 years with many features. It was hard to make sure the visual editor showed the final article exactly as it would appear.
The technical team had to improve how MediaWiki understood and converted wiki markup into a format that VisualEditor could use. They created a special server program called Parsoid. Parsoid's job is to change wiki text into a format for VisualEditor and back again. The Wikimedia Foundation said VisualEditor was their most challenging technical project ever.
VisualEditor is a MediaWiki extension. This means it's an add-on that server operators can download. It usually needs the newest version of MediaWiki. As of MediaWiki version 1.35, released in September 2020, VisualEditor is included automatically.
What is a Rich-Text Editor?
The VisualEditor team wanted to create a "reliable rich-text editor" for MediaWiki. A rich-text editor is a program that lets you format text (like making it bold or italic) and add things like pictures or links, all while seeing how it will look. VisualEditor is designed to be "WYSIWYG-like," meaning "what you see is what you get."
The VisualEditor is made of two main parts:
- A "core" rich-text editor that can work on its own.
- A MediaWiki extension that connects the core editor to MediaWiki.
See also
- List of HTML editors § WYSIWYG editors
