VisualEditor, the new visual interface to edit Wikipedia pages, has been made available for all logged-in users on English Wikipedia now. The new interface effectively removes the need to learn the complex wiki markup, thereby making editing simpler for both new and experienced editors.
Registered users can now use the new interface without having to actually enable it in their preferences. That said editors will be able to use the classic wikitext source editor for now, to edit both pages and page sections. While Wikipedia wants editors to gradually make the transition to VisualEditor, it admits that the new visual interface “doesn’t yet support the broad range of functionality that raw wikitext allows.”
The Reference dialog on the VisualEditor
“We also appreciate that some editors may prefer to use wikitext; we are happy to stress that there are currently no plans to remove the ability to edit the wikitext source,” the post adds.
Editors should also note that VisualEditor does not support all browsers currently. Supported browsers include the current and recent versions of Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. It does not support Internet Explorer as of now. To help editors find their way through VisualEditor, the Wikimedia Foundation has included a Portal page, list of FAQs, and a user guide with screenshots.
If all goes as per plan, VisualEditor should be made available to logged-out users later this month and to other language editions thereafter. Wikipedians can contribute by giving their feedback as they notice issues with VisualEditor, by updating Wikipedia’s Help pages, by adding Template data and/or by translating and localising the documentation.


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