2025:Program/Parsoid Read Views is coming to all wikis and Wikipedia is next! An overview of one of the biggest MediaWiki platform changes in recent years.
Session title: Parsoid Read Views is coming to all wikis and Wikipedia is next! An overview of one of the biggest MediaWiki platform changes in recent years.
- Session type: Lecture
- Track: Technology
- Language: en
🎥 Session recording: https://w.wiki/FBQf 🎥
Parsoid is coming to your wiki soon!
MediaWiki currently uses two different components to convert wiki markup into HTML for readers: a legacy parser and, since 2011, Parsoid. Parsoid is already used for VisualEditor and for reading Wikivoyage and some Wiktionaries. In this talk, we’ll present the Parser Unification project which aims to use Parsoid for all of Wikimedia’s readers. We’ll highlight the new features Parsoid enables and explain our rollout plan and testing strategy. We’ll also show how you can opt-in early to help try out Parsoid, address your questions, and offer a roadmap for one of MediaWiki’s largest platform changes in recent years.
Description
MediaWiki currently relies on two separate systems to convert wikitext into the HTML content displayed to readers: the legacy wikitext parser and a modern parsing engine called Parsoid. While the legacy parser has served Wikimedia projects for decades, it comes with limitations that hinder progress in areas such as editing, templating, and structured content reuse. Parsoid was developed to address these limitations, and it’s already powering VisualEditor and key content experiences on projects like Wikivoyage, Wiktionaries, and is the core for content rendering for Android and iOS apps. Now, it’s coming to your wiki too.
The session will include an overview of the rollout timeline, with the next milestone being Wikipedia, including how and when your wiki will be affected. We’ll walk through our step-by-step testing and deployment process, showing how we’re ensuring a smooth and safe transition by comparing outputs, monitoring edge cases, and validating behavior across a wide range of content types and languages.
Importantly, we’ll explain how wikis can opt-in early to Parsoid and start benefiting from the unified parser now. Early adopters help identify bugs, edge cases, and missing features, making them valuable contributors to the project’s success. We’ll demonstrate how to enable Parsoid on your wiki, how to test rendering differences, and where to report issues.
This session talks about the Parser Unification project, a major platform evolution that aims to standardize and improve how MediaWiki interprets and renders wiki content. Our ambitious objective is to fully transition Wikipedia and all Wikimedia wikis to Parsoid as the primary parser for all read views, and to have Parsoid as the default parser in MediaWiki 1.47, slated for release in November 2026. This will mark the official deprecation of the legacy parser, bringing a more consistent and modern parsing experience to users and developers alike.
We’ll also explain the motivation behind this unification, highlighting the benefits Parsoid offers in terms of wikitext rendering, support for visual editing, and better integration with templates and extensions. We’ll discuss how Parsoid unlocks new technical capabilities that were previously difficult or impossible with the legacy system, and how this shift aligns with our long-term platform goals.
By the end of this talk, participants will have a clear understanding of: - What Parsoid is and how it differs from the legacy parser - Why parser unification is necessary and how it benefits users, editors, and developers - The roadmap and timeline for full rollout and legacy parser deprecation - How to opt in early and test your the compatibility of your articles and wiki - How we’re ensuring a safe migration through testing and community feedback
Attendees will leave with actionable knowledge on how to prepare their communities for the transition and immediately begin testing Parsoid on their wikis—getting ahead of issues and reducing frustration for editors.
- How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
Although the immediate goal is visual parity with the legacy parser, unifying under Parsoid ensures greater consistency across all wikis and unlocks future improvements. By standardizing behind the scenes, we reduce template quirks and rendering inconsistencies for complex articles or multilanguage wikis—resulting in fewer headaches for editors and a smoother experience for readers worldwide. This is a crucial step toward a more sustainable and scalable platform, even if the visual look largely stays the same from Day 1.
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Some experience will be needed
Resources
Speakers
- Mateus Batista Santos
- Mateus Batista Santos is a bachelor in Computer Science from UNESP (Brazil) and has dedicated his career to the development of technological products in the third sector. He is currently a Product Manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, working in the MediaWiki Engineering Group on the Parsoid project.
- C. Scott Ananian
- C. Scott Ananian is an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation, working on the Parsoid project. He also dabbles with LanguageConverter, and Real-time collaboration in VE.
- Previously, Dr. Ananian was a jack-of-all-trades for the One Laptop per Child Foundation. He received his PhD in computer science from MIT, and before joining OLPC was a local activist and organizer for copyright issues. He's a kernel hacker, part-time khipu researcher, and aperiodic tesselation aficionado. Now he tries to build robust and reliable systems to allow everyone to discover, share, and learn.