The normal VE edit summary has that checkbox so it would be trivial to unhide it.

As for respecting the user preference, unfortunately it defaults to false (and MediaWiki doesn't differentiate between a default value and the user manually selecting the same value) so that would just mean not adding the articles to the watchlist.
In theory, respecting the user preference but making it default to true would be a nice solution and there has been some community support for it in the past, but it might be tricky to do (see T38316: Set "Add pages I edit to my watchlist" and "Add pages I create to my watchlist" to true by default on Wikimedia wikis (only for new users)).

This needs design / product specifications.

In T289547#7344451, @kostajh wrote:

This needs design / product specifications.

I've added the proposed design but needs prioritisation from @MMiller_WMF as to whether this is done after the initial Add images release.

I wonder if the default should depend on whether the user is about to make an edit (as opposed to just rejecting recommendations)? In general I'm not sure how useful it is to add things to the new editor's watchlist, but if they didn't make an edit, it seems even less so.

Today i faceing this issue, and I reported in here. This option is really needed.

Hi @MMiller_WMF @RHo, a few clarifications:

• What are the options for the dropdown next to the checkbox?

• This should be only for when there are accepted suggestions, correct? (I guess for add image, with T295929: Add an image: After rejecting an image, the user should be taken directly to the post-edit dialog this won't matter)

In T289547#7551545, @mewoph wrote:

Hi @MMiller_WMF @RHo, a few clarifications:

• What are the options for the dropdown next to the checkbox?

We should aim to reuse whatever the standard options are available for this option when shown in Summary in VE (on enwiki beta the options are Permanent, 1 week`, 1 month, 3months,6months):

• This should be only for when there are accepted suggestions, correct? (I guess for add image, with T295929: Add an image: After rejecting an image, the user should be taken directly to the post-edit dialog this won't matter)

Yes, that's right thanks

Thanks for confirming @RHo!

@MMiller_WMF @nettrom_WMF should this checkbox and dropdown (if it's present) be instrumented as well?

Change 745304 had a related patch set uploaded (by MewOphaswongse; author: MewOphaswongse):

[mediawiki/extensions/GrowthExperiments@master] Structured task: give users options for watchlist

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/745304

Change 745304 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/GrowthExperiments@master] Structured task: give users options for watchlist

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/745304

Add link (desktop)

Add link (mobile)

Add image (mobile)

Checked in betalabs - all look/works according to the specs. Moving for Design review.

Notes:
(1) The default state for the setting "Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist" in Preferences-Watchlist is disabled. In the discussion topic Why articles added in watchlist (mentioned in this comment above), the reason for previous behavior (i.e. edits on structured tasks would make an article to be automatically added to newcomers' wachlist) was to help new editors become involved into Watchlsit activities.
Now, a user with the default setting for "Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist" needs to click on "Watch this page" to add an edited article to their watchlist. In a sense, it might help to make Watchlist more discoverable, but please confirm that it is a desired behavior.
Default state:

(2) (minor) the license info for non-structured edits publish popup is placed below "Watch this page" controls. For structured tasks, the license info is placed above.

In T289547#7588640, @Etonkovidova wrote:

Checked in betalabs - all look/works according to the specs. Moving for Design review.

Notes:
(1) The default state for the setting "Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist" in Preferences-Watchlist is disabled. In the discussion topic Why articles added in watchlist (mentioned in this comment above), the reason for previous behavior (i.e. edits on structured tasks would make an article to be automatically added to newcomers' wachlist) was to help new editors become involved into Watchlsit activities.
Now, a user with the default setting for "Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist" needs to click on "Watch this page" to add an edited article to their watchlist. In a sense, it might help to make Watchlist more discoverable, but please confirm that it is a desired behavior.
Default state:

Thanks @Etonkovidova for point this out. @MMiller_WMF please note that in my design proposal in the task description, I had assumed we would default to "add to watchlist" on per our existing behaviour for structured tasks. But seems like we should in fact let the global user preference/default stand (which would be not selecting the add to watchlist option by default). Is this fine with you?

(2) (minor) the license info for non-structured edits publish popup is placed below "Watch this page" controls. For structured tasks, the license info is placed above.

Ooh good catch @Etonkovidova thank you - this is not a blocker but I've filed a new task T300049 to swap the order for consistency.

@RHo @Etonkovidova -- I actually do think we should default that checkbox to "on" for all users the first time they are doing a structured task. For users who have confirmed email addresses, an edit to an article they are watching may send them an email. Therefore, we want to give them an opportunity to get an email and re-engage.

Since this task is mostly encountered by newcomers who don't know much about their preferences, I doubt many users will take issue with the checkbox being in conflict with their preferences. How does this sound?

Also, I just want to confirm that this is sticky across tasks? Like if I do a link task, see that this checkbox is "on", uncheck it, and then go do an image task, it will be unchecked there, too, right?

In T289547#7649822, @MMiller_WMF wrote:

@RHo @Etonkovidova -- I actually do think we should default that checkbox to "on" for all users the first time they are doing a structured task. For users who have confirmed email addresses, an edit to an article they are watching may send them an email. Therefore, we want to give them an opportunity to get an email and re-engage.
Since this task is mostly encountered by newcomers who don't know much about their preferences, I doubt many users will take issue with the checkbox being in conflict with their preferences. How does this sound?
Also, I just want to confirm that this is sticky across tasks? Like if I do a link task, see that this checkbox is "on", uncheck it, and then go do an image task, it will be unchecked there, too, right?

While I agree with having it continue to be selected by default for structured tasks for the reasons you say @MMiller_WMF, it seems quite confusing that there is a pseudo preference being stored to remember the last selection for this structured-task specific watchlist feature that is different to the global preference but not stated anywhere. I wonder if it is also technically hard to implement @mewoph ?

Is it the case that we are seeing further engagement from newcomers via these watchlists or could their appearance in the impact module be utilised instead for this re-engagement opportunity?

In addition to the question Rita asked @mewoph about feasibility, it would also be helpful to know whether newcomers would really receive emails because of this. @Etonkovidova -- could you check if, by default, newcomers who have watchlisted articles will get an email when the article changes? Or only an on-wiki notification?

In T289547#7649822, @MMiller_WMF wrote:

@RHo @Etonkovidova -- I actually do think we should default that checkbox to "on" for all users the first time they are doing a structured task. For users who have confirmed email addresses, an edit to an article they are watching may send them an email. Therefore, we want to give them an opportunity to get an email and re-engage.

What about the unexpected avalanche of emails people would get? We don't know. :)
I feel that we rely a lot on these emails without knowing about their impact.

How good are these emails? Aren't they a source of confusion?
On thing I have in mind is the fact that if something changes on the page, users will be asked to check on the change through wikitext. Also the change may not be related to what they've done.

Since this task is mostly encountered by newcomers who don't know much about their preferences, I doubt many users will take issue with the checkbox being in conflict with their preferences. How does this sound?

I agree with you on this.

Hi @RHo @MMiller_WMF @Etonkovidova @Trizek-WMF — I updated the task description to account for the default state of the checkbox based on our discussion in the team standup. Feel free to add if I'm missing anything.

Change 757061 had a related patch set uploaded (by MewOphaswongse; author: MewOphaswongse):

[mediawiki/extensions/GrowthExperiments@master] Structured Task: Set the default state of wpWatchthis checkbox based on watchdefault preference

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/757061

Change 757061 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/GrowthExperiments@master] Structured Task: Set the default state of wpWatchthis checkbox based on watchdefault preference

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/757061

In T289547#7650128, @mewoph wrote:

Hi @RHo @MMiller_WMF @Etonkovidova @Trizek-WMF — I updated the task description to account for the default state of the checkbox based on our discussion in the team standup. Feel free to add if I'm missing anything.

Thanks @mewoph - and I can see the watchlist checkbox now follows the global preference on testwiki:

Preference off	--> Review edit off
Preference on	--> Review edit on

Design-wise this LGTM so @Etonkovidova please resolve directly if all is good in your more detailed QA!

In T289547#7649860, @MMiller_WMF wrote:

In addition to the question Rita asked @mewoph about feasibility, it would also be helpful to know whether newcomers would really receive emails because of this. @Etonkovidova -- could you check if, by default, newcomers who have watchlisted articles will get an email when the article changes? Or only an on-wiki notification?

There are no notifications (on-wiki or email) for edits on watchlisted articles.

In T289547#7650015, @Trizek-WMF wrote:

In T289547#7649822, @MMiller_WMF wrote:

@RHo @Etonkovidova -- I actually do think we should default that checkbox to "on" for all users the first time they are doing a structured task. For users who have confirmed email addresses, an edit to an article they are watching may send them an email. Therefore, we want to give them an opportunity to get an email and re-engage.

What about the unexpected avalanche of emails people would get? We don't know. :)
I feel that we rely a lot on these emails without knowing about their impact.

How good are these emails? Aren't they a source of confusion?
On thing I have in mind is the fact that if something changes on the page, users will be asked to check on the change through wikitext. Also the change may not be related to what they've done.

Creating a notification for edits on watchlisted articles is a new-feature request.

Checked on betalabs
(1) Preference "Add pages and files I edit to my watchlist" (local or global) is reflected in the "Watch this page" checkbox in the "Publish changes" dialog.

(2) The "Watch this page" option in the "Publish changes" dialog is not sticky - which is expected and consistent with VE editing practice.

(3) two edge cases filed as T300419: Structured task - "Watch this page" checkbox does not reflect watchlisted article state