MediaWiki/1.38

MediaWiki 1.38 is the upcoming version of MediaWiki which will be released in Spring 2022. This MediaWiki release will offer several new changes that may affect or benefit your workflow. Miraheze plans to upgrade to it once it comes out, in keeping with our commitment of always upgrading to the most up-to-date version of MediaWiki.

User-facing changes

 * GettingStarted will be removed (T8979) - GettingStarted is no longer maintained and has been undeployed from all Wikimedia projects (T292654). We are evaluating whether it's successor, GettingStarted, is a feasible alternative to it.
 * MagicNumberedHeadings may be removed (T8897) - A change in MediaWiki code will cause this extension to no longer work on MediaWiki 1.38. Alternatives are being explored but it is very likely that the extension will be removed due to incompatibility with no replacement available.
 * Tabber will be removed (T8899) - Tabber is in the process of being discontinued per T271418 (Wikimedia Phabricator) and is already marked as archived on MediaWiki.org. As such, we will have to drop remove it when upgrading to MediaWiki 1.38. Alternatives to the Tabber extension include TabberNeue which offers a sleek new UI and is a drop-in replacement for the original Tabber (meaning no code changes are needed to existing tabs!). We encourage users to migrate beforehand in order to have everything ready by the time we upgrade to MediaWiki 1.38.
 * Vector is getting a huge update! - After nearly a decade, Vector has reached a huge milestone with Vector 2022! This update to the Vector skin is the biggest ever and will mark a departure from Vector's classic look. The new refreshed skin will replace Vector as the default globally so please be in anticipation for that. For more information, please read Vector 2022's documentation page to prepare for this change.
 * $wgUseCategoryBrowser will be replaced by CategoryExplorer (T8798) - A recent change in MediaWiki core code (T298553) removed $wgUseCategoryBrowser from the MediaWiki core and moved it into a new extension. Users of the setting will be migrated over automatically where possible and no real complication should arise from this.

We may update this list as more things pop up and will also continue to notify the community of changes we are making in preparation for MediaWiki 1.38. Stay tuned!