<s>
VisualEditor	B-Application
(	O
VE	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
online	B-Application
rich-text	I-Application
editor	I-Application
for	O
MediaWiki-powered	O
wikis	B-Protocol
that	O
provides	O
a	O
direct	O
visual	O
way	O
to	O
edit	O
pages	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
"	B-Application
what	I-Application
you	I-Application
see	I-Application
is	I-Application
what	I-Application
you	I-Application
get	I-Application
"	I-Application
principle	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2013	O
,	O
English	O
Wikipedia	O
's	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
was	O
changed	O
from	O
opt-out	O
to	O
opt-in	O
,	O
following	O
user	O
complaints	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
returned	O
to	O
being	O
available	O
by	O
default	O
(	O
for	O
new	O
registered	O
users	O
only	O
)	O
in	O
October	O
2015	O
after	O
further	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
2015	O
study	O
by	O
the	O
Wikimedia	O
Foundation	O
found	O
that	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
failed	O
to	O
provide	O
the	O
anticipated	O
benefits	O
for	O
new	O
editors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
web-based	O
Wikipedia	O
editor	O
provided	O
by	O
MediaWiki	B-Application
is	O
a	O
plain	O
browser-based	O
text	B-Application
editor	I-Application
,	O
also	O
called	O
'	O
Source	O
editor	O
 '	O
,	O
where	O
authors	O
have	O
to	O
learn	O
the	O
wiki	B-Protocol
markup	O
language	O
to	O
edit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
what	B-Application
you	I-Application
see	I-Application
is	I-Application
what	I-Application
you	I-Application
get	I-Application
(	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
)	O
editor	O
for	O
Wikipedia	O
had	O
been	O
planned	O
for	O
years	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
remove	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
learn	O
the	O
wiki	B-Protocol
markup	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
goal	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
is	O
to	O
allow	O
both	O
the	O
former	O
wiki	B-Protocol
markup	O
editing	O
and	O
editing	O
with	O
the	O
WYSIWYG	B-Application
VisualEditor	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Wikimedia	O
Foundation	O
,	O
"	O
There	O
are	O
various	O
reasons	O
that	O
lead	O
existing	O
and	O
prospective	O
contributors	O
not	O
to	O
edit	O
;	O
among	O
them	O
,	O
the	O
complexity	O
of	O
wiki	B-Protocol
markup	O
is	O
a	O
major	O
issue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
's	O
goals	O
is	O
to	O
empower	O
knowledgeable	O
and	O
good-faith	O
users	O
to	O
edit	O
and	O
become	O
valuable	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
community	O
,	O
even	O
if	O
they	O
're	O
not	O
wiki	B-Protocol
markup	O
experts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
We	O
also	O
hope	O
that	O
,	O
with	O
time	O
,	O
experienced	O
editors	O
will	O
find	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
useful	O
for	O
some	O
of	O
their	O
editing	O
tasks.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2012	O
,	O
Sue	O
Gardner	O
,	O
the	O
executive	O
director	O
of	O
the	O
Wikimedia	O
Foundation	O
,	O
said	O
"	O
we	O
do	O
n't	O
think	O
that	O
the	O
visual	B-Application
editor	I-Application
,	O
in	O
and	O
of	O
itself	O
,	O
is	O
going	O
to	O
solve	O
the	O
challenge	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
Wikipedia	O
co-founder	O
Jimmy	O
Wales	O
remarked	O
"	O
This	O
is	O
epically	O
important	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MediaWiki	B-Application
is	O
used	O
by	O
numerous	O
wikis	B-Protocol
,	O
with	O
smaller	O
sites	O
originally	O
conceived	O
as	O
being	O
rolled	O
out	O
first	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VisualEditor	B-Application
was	O
planned	O
to	O
be	O
rolled	O
out	O
on	O
the	O
English-language	O
Wikipedia	O
for	O
editors	O
with	O
registered	O
accounts	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
for	O
anonymous	O
editors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
implementation	O
encountered	O
challenges	O
with	O
the	O
wiki	B-Protocol
markup	O
language	O
(	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
Wikipedia	O
articles	O
)	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
it	O
being	O
continuously	O
extended	O
over	O
12	O
years	O
to	O
include	O
seldom-used	O
rich	O
and	O
complex	O
features	O
making	O
reproduction	O
of	O
the	O
final	O
article	O
appearance	O
dependent	O
on	O
many	O
factors	O
that	O
were	O
not	O
easy	O
to	O
reproduce	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
technical	O
implementation	O
required	O
improvements	O
to	O
MediaWiki	B-Application
in	O
parsing	B-Language
,	O
wiki	B-Protocol
markup	O
language	O
,	O
the	B-General_Concept
DOM	I-General_Concept
and	O
final	O
HTML	B-Language
conversion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
necessary	O
component	O
is	O
a	O
parser	O
server	O
called	O
Parsoid	O
which	O
was	O
created	O
to	O
convert	O
in	O
both	O
directions	O
between	O
wikitext	O
and	O
a	O
format	O
suitable	O
for	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Wikimedia	O
Foundation	O
considered	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
its	O
most	O
challenging	O
technical	O
project	O
to	O
date	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
supported	O
web	B-Application
browsers	I-Application
include	O
modern	O
versions	O
of	O
Chromium	B-Language
(	O
Chrome	B-Application
,	O
Edge	B-Application
,	O
Opera	B-Application
)	O
,	O
Firefox	B-Application
,	O
Midori	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
Safari	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
MediaWiki	B-Application
extension	B-Application
is	O
available	O
for	O
download	O
by	O
server	O
operators	O
and	O
typically	O
requires	O
the	O
latest	O
version	O
of	O
MediaWiki	B-Application
,	O
it	O
is	O
bundled	O
since	O
MediaWiki	B-Application
1.35	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
the	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
team	O
,	O
the	O
aim	O
is	O
"	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
reliable	O
rich-text	B-Application
editor	I-Application
for	O
MediaWiki	B-Application
"	O
,	O
a	O
"	O
visual	B-Application
editor	I-Application
"	O
which	O
is	O
"	O
WYSIWYG-like	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
implementation	O
is	O
split	O
into	O
a	O
"	O
core	O
"	O
online	B-Application
rich-text	I-Application
editor	I-Application
which	O
can	O
run	O
independently	O
of	O
MediaWiki	B-Application
,	O
and	O
a	O
MediaWiki	B-Application
extension	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Responses	O
to	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
the	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
have	O
greatly	O
varied	O
,	O
with	O
The	O
Economists	O
L.M.	O
</s>
<s>
Irish	O
Wikipedia	B-Application
administrator	I-Application
Oliver	O
Moran	O
,	O
echoing	O
concerns	O
of	O
other	O
editors	O
,	O
said	O
that	O
users	O
may	O
feel	O
belittled	O
by	O
the	O
implication	O
that	O
"	O
certain	O
people	O
"	O
are	O
confused	O
by	O
wiki	B-Protocol
markup	O
and	O
therefore	O
need	O
the	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
,	O
comparing	O
the	O
learning	O
of	O
wikitext	O
favorably	O
to	O
Twitter	B-Application
's	O
hashtag	O
and	O
@	O
(	O
at	O
sign	O
)	O
mention	O
syntax	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Three	O
months	O
after	O
the	O
rollout	O
of	O
the	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
to	O
the	O
English	O
Wikipedia	O
,	O
The	O
Daily	O
Dot	O
reported	O
that	O
the	O
Wikimedia	O
Foundation	O
had	O
experienced	O
backlash	O
from	O
long-time	O
editors	O
who	O
deemed	O
the	O
editor	O
"	O
buggy	O
and	O
untested	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Following	O
discourse	O
between	O
the	O
community	O
and	O
the	O
foundation	O
,	O
Wikipedia	B-Application
administrator	I-Application
Kww	O
overrode	O
the	O
foundation	O
's	O
rollout	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
opt-in	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
opt-out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Foundation	O
did	O
not	O
revert	O
the	O
change	O
,	O
instead	O
committing	O
to	O
further	O
improving	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Softpedia	O
ran	O
an	O
article	O
titled	O
"	O
Wikipedia	O
's	O
New	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
Is	O
the	O
Best	O
Update	O
in	O
Years	O
and	O
You	O
Can	O
Make	O
It	O
Better	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Aaron	O
Halfaker	O
,	O
a	O
research	O
scientist	O
at	O
the	O
Wikimedia	O
Foundation	O
,	O
ran	O
a	O
controlled	O
study	O
on	O
the	O
effects	O
of	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
in	O
May	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
study	O
found	O
that	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
did	O
not	O
increase	O
editor	O
productivity	O
,	O
however	O
reducing	O
the	O
burden	O
upon	O
existing	O
editors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Editing	O
took	O
18	O
seconds	O
longer	O
with	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
before	O
hitting	O
save	O
,	O
and	O
new	O
editors	O
were	O
less	O
likely	O
to	O
save	O
their	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
previous	O
June	O
2013	O
controlled	O
test	O
—	O
when	O
VisualEditor	B-Application
was	O
less	O
mature	O
—	O
showed	O
similar	O
neutral	O
and	O
negative	O
results	O
.	O
</s>
