Tools and main menu do not persist for anonymous users or temporary users
Open, LowPublicBUG REPORT
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Assigned To

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Authored By

	Edtadros
	Jun 9 2024, 12:53 AM

Description

Steps to reproduce

Navigate to an article on beta, or a production wiki as an anonymous user using the Vector 2022 skin.
Click Move to sidebar for the Main Menu and the Tools menu
Click on any link to navigate to a different page

Expected results

The Main menu and Tools menu should stay in the last selected state in the same way that the Appearance menu does.

Actual results

The Main menu and Tools menu go back to the hide state. This behaves differently than the Appearance menu which is persistent.

screenshot 110.mov.gif (902×1 px, 951 KB)

Environments observed

Browser version: Chrome Version 125.0.6422.142
OS version: macOS Sonoma 14.5
Device model:
Device language:

Check any additional observations

Observed on the beta cluster wiki
Observed on a production wiki
Observed on Vector desktop skin
Observed on MinervaNeue responsive skin
Observed while logged in
Observed while not logged in (anonymous)

Stack trace

Console output

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		Status	Subtype	Assigned	Task
		Open	BUG REPORT	None	T366999 Tools and main menu do not persist for anonymous users or temporary users
		Duplicate	BUG REPORT	None	T397680 Vector 2022: side menu state not remembered for temp. accounts

Event Timeline

Edtadros created this task.Jun 9 2024, 12:53 AM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptJun 9 2024, 12:53 AM

Assuming this is about Vector 2022

Jdlrobson moved this task from Incoming to User interface on the Vector 2022 board.Jun 20 2024, 5:19 PM

ovasileva triaged this task as Medium priority.Jul 15 2024, 1:20 PM

ovasileva edited projects, added Web-Team-Backlog-Archived (FY2024-25 Q1 Sprint 2); removed Web-Team-Backlog-Archived.

Jdlrobson edited projects, added Web-Team-Backlog-Archived; removed Web-Team-Backlog-Archived (FY2024-25 Q1 Sprint 2).Jul 15 2024, 5:57 PM

Jdlrobson moved this task from FY2024-25 Q1 Sprint 2 to Incoming on the Web-Team-Backlog-Archived board.

Jdlrobson renamed this task from [Bug] Inconsistent menu persistence for Menu and Tools menu to Tools and main menu do not persist for anonymous users.Aug 29 2024, 5:11 PM

Jdlrobson claimed this task.Aug 29 2024, 11:05 PM

I believe this is just something we never got round to doing.

Jdlrobson removed Jdlrobson as the assignee of this task.Sep 12 2024, 4:53 PM

Jdlrobson subscribed.

Jdlrobson merged a task: T378728: Allow main menu and tools sidebars to 'stick'.Nov 1 2024, 3:35 PM

Jdlrobson added a subscriber: JayCubby.

Jdlrobson edited projects, added Web-Team; removed Web-Team-Backlog-Archived.Nov 13 2024, 11:36 PM

Jdlrobson moved this task from Incoming to Freezer on the Web-Team board.Nov 13 2024, 11:45 PM

Jdlrobson-WMF moved this task from User interface to Groomed on the Vector 2022 board.Feb 6 2025, 10:25 PM

This and being able to set the default state for logged out users would be extremely useful to third party wikis who usually have their main navigation in the main menu. Right not it's hard-coded in the Vector code. See for example https://sanat.csc.fi/ where it looks like the wiki is basically empty because the main menu is hidden.

Jdlrobson-WMF mentioned this in T387154: Enable Vector 2022 in Wikidata.org by default.Mar 18 2025, 2:32 PM

Recent feedback after dewiki switchover:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fragen_zur_Wikipedia#c-216.31.116.156-20250406070100-Hauptmen%C3%BC
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilfe_Diskussion:Skin/Vector_2022#c-79.204.214.7-20250405135400-Daf%C3%BCr_soll_ich_Spendengeld_abdr%C3%BCcken?

I think the behavior should be aligned with the experience for registered users. Otherwise having the buttons doesn't really make sense for anonymous users.

Johannnes89 subscribed.Apr 7 2025, 6:38 PM

DerHexer subscribed.Apr 11 2025, 11:41 AM

bwang added a project: Reader Experience Team.Aug 21 2025, 5:03 PM

Jdlrobson-WMF removed a project: Web-Team.Aug 25 2025, 4:08 PM

Jdlrobson-WMF moved this task from Incoming to Backlog on the Reader Experience Team board.Sep 2 2025, 10:03 PM

Jdlrobson-WMF mentioned this in T397680: Vector 2022: side menu state not remembered for temp. accounts.Sep 4 2025, 8:41 PM

Jdlrobson-WMF added a subtask: T397680: Vector 2022: side menu state not remembered for temp. accounts.

From what I recall this was technically challenging and required rethinking how pinning behaviour works since it would require rendering the menus twice for anonymous users. This would also break even more access keys (e.g. T336211: Find a solution for handling duplicate access keys and access keys of hidden elements (watchlist, login, contributions, search, edit) would become more wide spread) :-(

Jdlrobson-WMF renamed this task from Tools and main menu do not persist for anonymous users to Tools and main menu do not persist for anonymous users or temporary users.Sep 12 2025, 6:59 PM

Jdlrobson-WMF merged a task: T397680: Vector 2022: side menu state not remembered for temp. accounts.

Jdlrobson-WMF added a project: Readers Essential Work 2025.

Jdlrobson-WMF added a project: Temporary accounts.

Jdlrobson-WMF added subscribers: Msz2001, ovasileva, Niharika and 2 others.

Restricted Application added a project: Trust and Safety Product Team. · View Herald TranscriptSep 12 2025, 6:59 PM

I don't see this as a blocker for temporary accounts (if anything it keeps the behaviour consistent)

Jdlrobson merged a task: T407819: DefaultUserOptions works inconsistantly for anonymous users when pinning in vector2022.Oct 21 2025, 1:22 AM

Jdlrobson added a subscriber: MarkAHershberger.

Since settings like $wgDefaultUserOptions['vector-main-menu-pinned'] = 1; currently don't seem to have any effect on anonymous users, is there another way to achieve the default pinned menu state, like on https://sanat.csc.fi/ - maybe via MediaWiki:Common.js?

In T366999#11333997, @Till_Kraemer wrote:

Since settings like $wgDefaultUserOptions['vector-main-menu-pinned'] = 1; currently don't seem to have any effect on anonymous users, is there another way to achieve the default pinned menu state, like on https://sanat.csc.fi/ - maybe via MediaWiki:Common.js?

Never mind, it seems to be that code: https://sanat.csc.fi/w/index.php?title=J%C3%A4rjestelm%C3%A4viesti:Common.js&diff=prev&oldid=2060281

In T366999#11334268, @Till_Kraemer wrote:

In T366999#11333997, @Till_Kraemer wrote:

Since settings like $wgDefaultUserOptions['vector-main-menu-pinned'] = 1; currently don't seem to have any effect on anonymous users, is there another way to achieve the default pinned menu state, like on https://sanat.csc.fi/ - maybe via MediaWiki:Common.js?

Never mind, it seems to be that code: https://sanat.csc.fi/w/index.php?title=J%C3%A4rjestelm%C3%A4viesti:Common.js&diff=prev&oldid=2060281

I took the liberty of adding this approach to the menu pinning options.

aude subscribed.Nov 4 2025, 4:54 PM

kostajh edited projects, added Growth-Team, Product Safety and Integrity; removed Trust and Safety Product Team.Tue, Jan 20, 1:12 PM

Hey @kostajh, would you mind clarifying how can the Growth-Team be helpful here? As far as I can see, it's not happening in code we would be maintaining. Maybe you meant Reader Growth Team?

kostajh edited projects, added Reader Growth Team; removed Growth-Team.Mon, Jan 26, 1:10 PM

Please talk to Reader Experience team if you need help triaging this one.

Tools and main menu do not persist for anonymous users or temporary usersOpen, LowPublicBUG REPORTActions