Page MenuHomePhabricator

Reply button has reverted to different design
Open, Needs TriagePublicBUG REPORT

Description

Steps to replicate the issue (include links if applicable):

  • Go to a page like 1

What happens?: Notice that the design of the reply button looks like this:

Wikipedia-talk-Growth-Team-features-Wikipedia-01-26-2026_08_46_PM (2).png (87×171 px, 8 KB)

What should have happened instead?: The reply button previously looked like this:

Wikipedia-Village-pump-technical-Wikipedia-02-07-2026_06_00_PM.png (80×190 px, 11 KB)

It's unclear whether this is an expected change or not. Personally, I like the bracketed design as it matches the look of the [ edit section ] button which is a similar spot in the interface. But it does result in the removal of the additional ... menu which currently holds the "Thank" option.

Other information (browser name/version, screenshots, etc.): I first noticed this happening a few weeks ago on my Sdkb-WMF account on pages like 2, which were still using the bolded design on my Sdkb account. But I noticed the bracketed design with my Sdkb account at the initial example in this ticket, and the bracket also appears when logged out. Pages like 3 currently have the bolded design for Sdkb but the bracketed design for Sdkb-WMF and logged out.

Event Timeline

This happens when a discussion takes place outside of a talk namespace and without __NEWSECTIONLINK__ magic word. This isn't the result of a recent change, it has been this way since the release of the new version of the reply button.

Hmm, that partially explains what I observed (in the "other information" section), but not the discrepancy between my accounts. And overall it doesn't seem optimal to have one design in some places but another in other places.

@Sdkb did you disable the "show discussion activity" preference on your Sdkb-WMF account? That button-style is part of the "new talk page appearance" that it references.

CleanShot 2026-02-07 at 21.24.59@2x.png (118×1 px, 32 KB)

That setting is enabled on my volunteer account (left). On my staff account (right), it oddly appears to not exist:

Screenshot 2026-02-08 112644.png (862×1 px, 246 KB)

I created my staff account on Meta, tend to access it through an incognito window, and have tried to keep its settings as close to the defaults as possible (CSS coloring exceptions). It does look like the places where I'm seeing that have the old design also lack the other new talk page features (e.g. "Latest comment" under the heading), so it seems related to that.

Hopefully this is something that's affecting others and not just me inadvertently using Phabricator as glorified tech support 😅 But since I never deliberately set out to change this setting, it seems plausible it may be affecting others. And overall it would probably benefit us/simplify things to unify around a single design.