This quarter we want to extend the A/B test to 4 additional communities. We've contacted each with an update letting them know the testing will begin (unless issues or conflicts are identified) in mid to late March.

These four communities are the Arabic, French, German, and Russian Wikipedias. Message to communities are listed below.

ar: https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/ويكيبيديا:الميدان/تقنية#.D8.A7.D8.AE.D8.AA.D8.A8.D8.A7.D8.B1_.D9.86.D8.AA.D8.A7.D8.A6.D8.AC_.D8.A7.D9.84.D8.A8.D8.AD.D8.AB_.D8.A7.D9.84.D8.AA.D9.8A_.D8.AA.D8.B4.D9.85.D9.84_.D8.A3.D9.83.D8.AB.D8.B1_.D9.85.D9.86_.D9.85.D9.88.D9.82.D8.B9_.D9.88.D9.8A.D9.83.D9.8A

de: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Technik/Werkstatt#A.2FB_test_zur_Multi-Wiki_Suchfunktion

fr: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipédia:Le_Bistro/10_mars_2017#Test_A.2FB_pour_les_r.C3.A9sultats_de_recherche_inter-wikis

ru: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Википедия:Форум/Технический#.D0.90.2FB-.D1.82.D0.B5.D1.81.D1.82.D0.B8.D1.80.D0.BE.D0.B2.D0.B0.D0.BD.D0.B8.D0.B5_.D1.80.D0.B5.D0.B7.D1.83.D0.BB.D1.8C.D1.82.D0.B0.D1.82.D0.BE.D0.B2_.D0.BF.D0.BE.D0.B8.D1.81.D0.BA.D0.B0_.D0.BC.D0.B5.D0.B6.D0.B4.D1.83_.D0.B2.D0.B8.D0.BA.D0.B8

Deb, the product manager for search front end, recently published a short update to the technical communities regarding the changes to the search results UI.

https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/discovery/2017-March/001460.html

Next steps are to help the product manager organize a plan for communicating the near to mid-term plans for the proposed UI changes to search. While technical work is ongoing, much of the backend improvements have been made, and UI elements are in a good enough state to start sharing more broadly with folks. We'll be doing the following to start the conversation early with a few of our communities.

• Draft a message to wikimedia-l explaining the next steps coming for search results - the A/B tests underway and planned, what features will be coming to production first, and an opportunity to provide feedback and raise concerns early in the process.
  • We'll also use some of the same language to send a message to the Village Pumps for the top 10 or so Wikipedias again, covering what work has been done, what is next, and our target for the first 'big' changes in the coming months. We'll again open the conversation for input.
• Write up a blog post that covers the next steps and eventual goals, perhaps with less technical detail, to reach the broader Wikimedia audience (and beyond).