Did something change with how VE generates category link tags? For one, I don't remember but weren't new link tags being added to a specific section of the DOM rather than where the cursor is. For another, it looks like Parsoid isn't recognizing these links are "new" category links (we would still serialize the link tags where they were, but on a new line by itself -- whereas here, it seems to be rendering inline, which we only do for original links found in wikitext to prevent dirty diffs).

Roan: can you take a look?

Meanwhile, independently, for all new tags, Parsoid should stop relying on clients to add new category link tags at the beginning/end and instead collect them and serialize them in a specific area. This would be a low priority task if this was just something that changed in VE that can be readily fixed.

Parsoid shouldn't be recognizing these cats as "new", because they aren't. All of those diffs show categories being moved out of its correct location and stuffed into a nonsensical one. There are no new categories being added here.

This is very likely a VE issue then -- the HTML for these categories probably got moved out of their original correct location to where they were found (and which Parsoid serializes).

If not new, then Parsoid cannot arbitrarily move them from where they showed up in the DOM to a different place since that could introduce dirty diffs.

On irc, Roan thinks this is a VE/data-corruption bug. Re-assigning.

Any news on this ?
It's still happening, and once it started it seems to be worse at the next edit:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_Colombes_du_Roi-Soleil&diff=prev&oldid=108398195
https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_Colombes_du_Roi-Soleil&diff=next&oldid=108398195

(In reply to NicoV from comment #5)

Any news on this ?
It's still happening, and once it started it seems to be worse at the next
edit:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_Colombes_du_Roi-
Soleil&diff=prev&oldid=108398195
https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_Colombes_du_Roi-
Soleil&diff=next&oldid=108398195

That's not the same bug – it's clearly an issue in Parsoid, and a much more severe one than some trivial (if unhelpful) moving around of valid wikitext. I've created bug 72591 for that.

Please, in future, open a new bug when a bug's symptoms are suddenly significantly different. That bug needs much more urgent attention than this, and it's only because I was reviewing our overall set that I even saw this. :-(

(In reply to James Forrester from comment #6)

(In reply to NicoV from comment #5)

Any news on this ?
It's still happening, and once it started it seems to be worse at the next
edit:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_Colombes_du_Roi-
Soleil&diff=prev&oldid=108398195
https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Les_Colombes_du_Roi-
Soleil&diff=next&oldid=108398195

That's not the same bug – it's clearly an issue in Parsoid, and a much more
severe one than some trivial (if unhelpful) moving around of valid wikitext.
I've created bug 72591 for that.

Please, in future, open a new bug when a bug's symptoms are suddenly
significantly different. That bug needs much more urgent attention than
this, and it's only because I was reviewing our overall set that I even saw
this. :-(

Belay that; I got confused by people shouting at me in IRC and giving me multiple links at once.

Well, I don't see any real difference between the first edit reported in my comment (#5), and the third example reported in the description of this bug by WhatamIdoing. They both involve categories moved in a reference, in a middle of an external link who has been split in two...

I was the one who reported the problem 2 weeks ago on enwiki, it already seemed severe to me at the time.

Any news on this bug that keeps damaging articles?

https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indicateur_ordinal&diff=109016166&oldid=101347848

NicoV, do you know how to make this happen? Bugs that can be consistently reproduced are usually easier to solve (and it's always easier to know that you have actually solved them).

Not the slightest idea, just tired of fixing articles.

Adding recent example, https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nancy_Juvonen&diff=prev&oldid=110406585&diffonly=1&unhide=1 .

The easiest way to see the issue

• have some Categories on a page
• have the template(the attached screenshot refers to 'Infobox settlement') inserted on the page
• insert another template, e.g. 'Infobox person'
• in VE drag 'Infobox person' to place it lower than 'Infobox settlement'
• check the diff - look at the screenshot.

The markup for 'Infobox settlement' for which reproducing the issue was most reliable:

{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Portal, Arizona
|settlement_type = [[Unincorporated area|Unincorporated community]] 
|nickname = 
|motto =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline = 
|imagesize = 
|image_caption = 
|image_flag = 
|image_seal =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map = 
|mapsize = 
|map_caption = 
|image_map1 = 
|mapsize1 = 
|map_caption1 = 
|pushpin_map = Arizona

<!-- Location -->
|coordinates_region = US-AZ
|subdivision_type = [[List of countries|Country]]
|subdivision_name = [[United States]]
|subdivision_type1 = [[Political divisions of the United States|State]]
|subdivision_name1 = [[Arizona]]
|subdivision_type2 = [[List of counties in Arizona|County]]
|subdivision_name2 = [[Cochise County, Arizona|Cochise]]

<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes = 
|government_type = 
|leader_title = 
|leader_name = 
|leader_title1 = 
|leader_name1 = 
|established_title = 
|established_date =

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref  =  
|area_footnotes = 
|area_magnitude = 
|area_total_km2 = 
|area_land_km2 = 
|area_water_km2 = 
|area_total_sq_mi = 
|area_land_sq_mi = 
|area_water_sq_mi =

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of = 
|population_footnotes = 
|population_total = 
|population_density_km2 = 
|population_density_sq_mi =

<!-- General information -->
|timezone = [[Mountain Time Zone|Mountain (MST)]]
|utc_offset = -7
|timezone_DST = 
|utc_offset_DST = 
|elevation_footnotes = 
|elevation_m = 
|elevation_ft = 4760
|latd = 31 |
latm = 54 |
lats = 49 |
latNS = N |
longd = 109 |
longm = 08 |
longs = 29 |
longEW = W |
coordinates_display=%

<!-- Area/postal codes & others -->
|postal_code_type = 
|postal_code = 
|area_code = [[Area code 520|520]]
|blank_name = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank_info = 9657<ref name=gnis>{{gnis|9657}}</ref>
|blank1_name =
|blank1_info = 
|website = 
|footnotes = 
}}

Here's another: https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Procès_de_Nuremberg&diff=111949556&oldid=111845162

This one moves the category and also moves some of the <!-- HTML comments --> that were placed after a ==Section heading==. The bug that rearranges the one might be moving the other, too.

In T74048#1050680, @Whatamidoing-WMF wrote:

Here's another: https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Procès_de_Nuremberg&diff=111949556&oldid=111845162

This one moves the category and also moves some of the <!-- HTML comments --> that were placed after a ==Section heading==. The bug that rearranges the one might be moving the other, too.

That's a diff between two different pages; I think there might be a typo in the URL there?

The link works for me when I click on it. If it doesn't work for you, then
look at this user's edit on 18 February 2015:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spécial:Contributions/Quentin1098

Change 194194 had a related patch set uploaded (by Catrope):
Work around Array.prototype.splice being broken in Safari

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/194194

Change 194194 merged by jenkins-bot:
Work around Array.prototype.splice being broken in Safari

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/194194

Doesn't seem to work in all situations:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liste_des_op%C3%A9rateurs_de_r%C3%A9seau_mobile_en_Europe&diff=112473699&oldid=112316892