Move "Short Descriptions" feature outside of main Wikibase.git code
Open, LowPublic
Actions

Description

This feature was not implemented by the Wikidata / WIkibase team and is not maintained by the team either.
It was introduced in T184000: Magic word on English WP to override display of Wikidata short description and even then it probably should not have been added to Wikibase.git
Right now I would propose that this be moved to some extension controlled and owned by whichever WMF team owns this feature, OR to a package within Wikibase.git that has clearly defined owners.

Quickly looking through the code it would appear that this would be:

definition of 2 magic words
2 config settings
localization messages
The API implementation Wikibase\Client\Api\Description
A hook handler Wikibase\Client\Hooks\DescriptionProviderHookHandler
The parser function handler Wikibase\Client\Hooks\ShortDescHandler
UsageLookup for the feature

And it may also require a new hook or extension mechanism for this usage related bit.

NOTE: Short descriptions should be able to define in different languages (especially for language variants)

Related Objects
Search...

		Status	Subtype	Assigned	Task
		Open		None	T282170 Move "Short Descriptions" feature outside of main Wikibase.git code
		Invalid		None	T282172 Make short description work independent of Wikibase (create new short description extension)

Event Timeline

Addshore created this task.May 6 2021, 5:08 PM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptMay 6 2021, 5:08 PM

Addshore renamed this task from Move "Short Descriptions" outside WIkibase.git to Move "Short Descriptions" outside Wikibase.git.May 6 2021, 5:44 PM

Addshore added a subscriber: Tgr.

Bugreporter mentioned this in T279829: Enable magic word SHORTDESC on German-language Wikipedia.May 6 2021, 5:52 PM

Originally requested in T189154, shortly following the initial representation. That task reflected the fact that placing the "short description" functionality in Wikibase code has been a temporary solution.

There is Extension:ShortDescription which reimplements the same functionality and interface on a non-Wikibase basis. If the maintainer is up to it, maybe the Wikibase-related functionality could be moved over there.

In T282170#7067336, @Tgr wrote:

There is Extension:ShortDescription which reimplements the same functionality and interface on a non-Wikibase basis. If the maintainer is up to it, maybe the Wikibase-related functionality could be moved over there.

@alistair3149: You may be interested to move this extension to Gerrit.

Note as I said in T282172: Make short description work independent of Wikibase (create new short description extension), we need a version that can be co-operated with Wikibase.

In T282170#7067673, @Bugreporter wrote:

In T282170#7067336, @Tgr wrote:

There is Extension:ShortDescription which reimplements the same functionality and interface on a non-Wikibase basis. If the maintainer is up to it, maybe the Wikibase-related functionality could be moved over there.

@alistair3149: You may be interested to move this extension to Gerrit.

Note as I said in T282172: Make short description work independent of Wikibase (create new short description extension), we need a version that can be co-operated with Wikibase.

Thanks for the ping. I don't have any knowledge on Wikibase so I'm unsure how to proceed on the topic. And that I'm not confident if I'm able to maintain the extension for WMF production uses by myself.

Addshore moved this task from Inbox to Investigate & Discuss on the [DEPRECATED] wdwb-tech board.May 7 2021, 8:09 AM

In T282170#7067336, @Tgr wrote:

There is Extension:ShortDescription which reimplements the same functionality and interface on a non-Wikibase basis. If the maintainer is up to it, maybe the Wikibase-related functionality could be moved over there.

Isn't there a WMF team that is responsible for maintaining this API?

I see in the other ticket

maybe WMF Audiences should take ownership of it

Addshore merged a task: T189154: Split out the description API from Wikibase.May 7 2021, 8:40 AM

Addshore added a subscriber: • Mholloway.

In T282170#7068834, @Addshore wrote:

Isn't there a WMF team that is responsible for maintaining this API?

It was created by Product Infrastructure. The corresponding editing API (which btw should probably be also moved, not sure where it lives currently) is being (has been? not sure) worked on by PET. So probably one of them.

Tagging Product Infra for visibility.

AFAIK local descriptions are still only used by English WP, but I think I recently saw some discussion of another wiki being interested in using them.

MSantos added a project: Platform Engineering.May 11 2021, 11:36 AM

MSantos moved this task from Needs triage to Needs investigation on the Product-Infrastructure-Team-Backlog-Deprecated board.

MSantos added subscribers: ssastry, • sdkim.

• AMooney triaged this task as Low priority.May 11 2021, 9:07 PM

• AMooney moved this task from Inbox to Tracking/Watching on the Platform Engineering board.

alistair3149 mentioned this in T225529: Article tagline should be set by a hook, not by code highly coupled with Wikibase.May 20 2021, 6:08 AM

@Tgr @Mholloway I'd be interested in generalizing this as part of T225529 to move the special handling code out of MobileFrontend too. Happy to talk through this and help review code with someone else that's able to work on this.

We could have a hook or service in core for providing a short description for the page, with a null implementation, overridden in Wikibase. That's kind of orthogonal to moving the implementation out of Wikibase, but does seem like a good idea. Whether the short description is used in search etc. could then be up to the skin.

The corresponding editing API (which btw should probably be also moved, not sure where it lives currently) is being (has been? not sure) worked on by PET.

I'm also curious to know where this API is, as I have not seen it!

We could have a hook or service in core for providing a short description for the page, with a null implementation, overridden in Wikibase. That's kind of orthogonal to moving the implementation out of Wikibase, but does seem like a good idea. Whether the short description is used in search etc. could then be up to the skin.

Sounds like a good direction from my side

Maintenance_bot added a project: Wikidata.Jun 10 2021, 12:45 PM

In T282170#7103398, @Tgr wrote:

We could have a hook or service in core for providing a short description for the page, with a null implementation, overridden in Wikibase. That's kind of orthogonal to moving the implementation out of Wikibase, but does seem like a good idea. Whether the short description is used in search etc. could then be up to the skin.

Addshore renamed this task from Move "Short Descriptions" outside Wikibase.git to Move "Short Descriptions" feature outside of main Wikibase.git code.Jul 16 2021, 8:58 AM

Addshore updated the task description. (Show Details)

Tgr mentioned this in T287636: Add a link: link inspector should show article extract, not article description.Jul 30 2021, 5:14 PM

Addshore moved this task from Investigate & Discuss to Triaged Medium (50+) on the [DEPRECATED] wdwb-tech board.Aug 17 2021, 2:42 PM

Sgs subscribed.Feb 23 2023, 11:49 AM

Winston_Sung updated the task description. (Show Details)Feb 26 2023, 8:15 AM

Winston_Sung subscribed.

Addshore unsubscribed.Jun 27 2023, 12:43 PM

Lydia_Pintscher closed subtask T282172: Make short description work independent of Wikibase (create new short description extension) as Invalid.Nov 4 2023, 11:40 AM

Bugreporter mentioned this in T282504: Reconsider the Wikidata short description workflow.Dec 19 2023, 5:28 PM

Reedy mentioned this in T353711: Allow local Short Descriptions on kuwiki.Dec 19 2023, 9:37 PM