@Tgr pointed out today that the recent questions and welcome survey responses are loaded on every page, as are all other user preferences. @Catrope found he could increase the size of the JSON blob of options by 7.5% by filling out the welcome survey.
Some options would be:
| Status | Subtype | Assigned | Task | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolved | None | T340453 [Epic] FY 2023-24 Growth Maintenance Work | |||
| Resolved | KStoller-WMF | T347840 [Epic] Q2 FY 2023-24 Growth Maintenance Work | |||
| Open | None | T54777 user_properties table bloat | |||
| Resolved | kostajh | T223645 Consider alternatives to recent questions and welcome survey storage | |||
| Open | None | T304495 Implement database storage for Welcome Survey |
T128602: RFC: Backend for synchronized data from Wikipedia mobile apps is related (it grew out of discussions around the same preferences limitation). See especially T128602#2499662 about problems with user options (not all of which is relevant here).
For WelcomeSurvey and "Recent Questions" feature, it would be reasonable IMO to create two simple tables and continue to store the responses as a JSON blob.
@kostajh — can this task be merged into T304495: Implement database storage for Welcome Survey (or vice versa) or should we keep them separate since this one includes enhancements for recent questions in addition to the welcome survey?
I'll close this task and make one specifically about alternate storage for "Recent Questions".