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Opt new accounts into ReadingLists BetaFeature
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Description

When we launch ReadingLists as a beta feature on web, we want new accounts created after a configurable date to have the beta feature enabled by default, while still allowing users to opt out via their preferences.

We should define a config e.g. $wgReadingListsBetaDefaultForNewAccountsAfter that is a timestamp e.g. '20260301000000' or null (if disabled)

Then, we can use $wgConditionalUserOptions setting in core with CUDCOND_AFTER to set the default value of the ReadingLists beta feature preference to enabled for accounts registered after a configurable timestamp.

To do this, we need to define a registration callback for Setup::onRegistration that sets $wgConditionalUserOptions['readinglistsbeta'].

See: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:$wgConditionalUserOptions

NOTE: Constants::PREF_KEY_BETA_FEATURES is a constant in HookHandler.php in ReadingLists, that can be used instead of hardcoding 'readinglistsbeta'

Event Timeline

Change #1248893 had a related patch set uploaded (by Aude; author: Aude):

[mediawiki/extensions/ReadingLists@master] Conditionally opt new accounts into ReadingLists beta feature

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1248893

aude triaged this task as High priority.Mar 9 2026, 1:29 PM
aude set the point value for this task to 2.
aude moved this task from Incoming to Ready for sprint on the Reader Experience Team board.
aude removed aude as the assignee of this task.Mar 10 2026, 6:08 PM

Change #1248893 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/extensions/ReadingLists@master] Conditionally opt new accounts into ReadingLists beta feature

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1248893

FYI: To QA this on beta, we will need to set some configuration to start opting in accounts to the beta feature there

Change #1251309 had a related patch set uploaded (by Aude; author: Katie Filbert):

[operations/mediawiki-config@master] Set wgReadingListsBetaDefaultForNewAccountsAfter for beta cluster

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1251309

Change #1251309 merged by jenkins-bot:

[operations/mediawiki-config@master] Set wgReadingListsBetaDefaultForNewAccountsAfter for beta cluster

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1251309

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-03-17T20:03:55Z] <aude@deploy2002> Started scap sync-world: Backport for [[gerrit:1251309|Set wgReadingListsBetaDefaultForNewAccountsAfter for beta cluster (T419163)]]

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-03-17T20:06:01Z] <aude@deploy2002> aude: Backport for [[gerrit:1251309|Set wgReadingListsBetaDefaultForNewAccountsAfter for beta cluster (T419163)]] synced to the testservers (see https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mwdebug). Changes can now be verified there.

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-03-17T20:12:48Z] <aude@deploy2002> Finished scap sync-world: Backport for [[gerrit:1251309|Set wgReadingListsBetaDefaultForNewAccountsAfter for beta cluster (T419163)]] (duration: 08m 53s)

aude closed https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/repos/test-platform/catalyst/patchdemo/-/merge_requests/303

Add wgReadingListsBetaDefaultForNewAccountsAfter to opt new accounts into beta feature

Etonkovidova subscribed.

Checked on beta - a new account get the beta feature "Saved pages" enabled

  • Special"Preferences show "Saved pages" enabled
  • every article displays the bookmark icon
  • the user menu has "Saved pages" option

The screenshot is for a new account created on March 30/2026:

Screenshot 2026-03-30 at 1.48.02 PM.png (729×386 px, 121 KB)

Question:

  • no guided tour for new account? I created two new accounts on beta, both got Saved pages beta features, but the guided tour was not present.

With new mw.Api().saveOption( 'we-3-3-4-reading-list-test1', 'treatment', 1); and localStorage.clear(); I was able to see the guided tour, but shouldn't it be present for all new accounts that have the beta feature enabled?

I see the onboarding popover when I create a new account on beta in an incognito session (e.g. nothing in local storage), but I also see another popover that new accounts see:

Screenshot 2026-03-30 at 3.07.51 PM.png (1×1 px, 300 KB)

@aude - yes, you're right. In an incognito window, I got the same - two guided tours - for Special:Homepage and for Saved pages.

Screenshot 2026-03-30 at 3.28.30 PM.png (644×1 px, 213 KB)

Jdlrobson-WMF claimed this task.