Context

The initiative to create a design system for Wikidata/Wikibase started to materialize in 2019, when the first steps were taken towards the creation of WiKit.

WiKit is a design-oriented library of UI components and styling tokens. The solution was implemented by WMDE, and responded to Wikimedia's decision to adopt Vue.js as our new JavaScript framework. One of WiKit's main goals consisted on the optimization of design and implementation processes, thanks to the creation of standard and consistent Vue components that could be shared among WMDE products.

WiKit, though, was not the only solution created in response to the described context. The Wikimedia Foundation worked on their own prototypical component library, WVUI. Both teams, aware of the need to consolidate efforts and concentrate them in the implementation of a single, central design system solution, reached an agreement to build a new component library: Codex.

Codex is Wikimedia's design system, now established as the official source of standard, reusable components for our Vue-based products. Given the new status quo, WiKit entered its deprecation path.

Main objective

Migrate the products built using WiKit components to Codex. Said products are:

• Query Builder (T327680)
• Mismatch finder (T327683)
• The new version of Wikidata's core page Special:NewLexeme (T327684)

The migration involves, specifically:

• Replacing existing components 1:1, making sure that all functionality is preserved
• Replacing current styling using Codex style tokens and mixins
• Ensure that product requirements such as internationalization, accessibility and responsiveness (which is currently a blocker T302889) are met

Implications

WiKit's deprecated status implies that no effort will be dedicated from this moment onward to update or improve the library, nor its components and utilities. Except in extraordinary circumstances, such as to correct issues that might have an impact on accessibility or dramatically disrupt the workflow of users.