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This may be one of the least adequate articles on an important topic in Wikipedia

Not only does it not clearly identify what a web browser is, it leaves out major features of all web browsers that the user needs to be aware of.

For example I just made the most minor changes to the lead, and mention cookies, which are managed by browsers and routinely used by companies to track people across the web, and they've been deleted twice in a row. There's HUGE gaps in this article!!!! GliderMaven (talk) 17:52, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Disagree. It clearly identifies what a browser is in the simplest way possible: "a software application for accessing information on the World Wide Web." That's what a browser is in a nutshell.
As I stated in the edit commit reverting your change, you can add Cookies to the Function section. That's where they belong in this article. -Pmffl (talk) 17:54, 19 February 2019 (UTC)
Wikipedia is not about simply identifying things in the simplest way possible, it's about covering things, in depth. GliderMaven (talk) 18:18, 19 February 2019 (UTC)
Just added a statement about cookies in Function. -Pmffl (talk) 18:04, 19 February 2019 (UTC)
I don't think you understand. That is completely, ridiculously, incredibly inadequate. What is a cookie, what is it for, how do browser's maintain, obtain and use them, what are the privacy implications of them? All of these should be addressed in this article, not necessarily in incredible depth, there is an article about them, but there's literally nothing. GliderMaven (talk) 18:16, 19 February 2019 (UTC)
And the whole article is like that. It's supposed to cover what they do, AND how they work, not which buttons you press. The article should probably be at least twice as long, and possibly four times as long. GliderMaven (talk) 18:31, 19 February 2019 (UTC)
The point of a wiki is that subjects can be covered in whatever depth is needed (which will be vary widely by person) simply by following wikilinks. Large sections of text should not be copied between articles; that just makes maintenance more difficult and bloats articles, making it more difficult to find the unique content. -LiberatorG (talk) 18:35, 19 February 2019 (UTC)
There's no such rule, and when an article is as terrible as this one, any content at all is an improvement. Articles inevitably overlap anyway. So the problem never goes away. Simply linking to other articles is almost never adequate. You ALWAYS have to summarise the material from the other article to some extent. GliderMaven (talk) 18:49, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Completely disagree with your opinions here. No, this is an article that should be accessible to a general, non-technical audience. Going "in depth" will convolute it. That's what hyperlinks to other articles are for. -Pmffl (talk) 18:33, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

Most people don't even know what a cookie is, but it's a major feature of a web browser, and there have been laws that have been passed in the EU to control them. Can I safely assume that you don't even know what a cookie is, but have taken it upon yourself to revert all changes that you know nothing about? Because that seems to be what you're doing. GliderMaven (talk) 18:43, 19 February 2019 (UTC)
Cut the condescending tone. I do agree that cookies and their privacy implications are worth adding, so I just did so in a new sub-section. -Pmffl (talk) 18:47, 19 February 2019 (UTC)
What about cacheing? What about the HTTP protocol, and what about that versus HTTPS? What about certificates? I've barely spent five minutes thinking about it. There's all kinds of things that are user visible, and important, but completely not mentioned. You thought that the cookie stuff was bloated, but that's only because there's nothing else that's covered properly in the article. GliderMaven (talk) 18:55, 19 February 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for speedy deletion:

You can see the reason for deletion at the file description page linked above. —Community Tech bot (talk) 15:09, 12 February 2020 (UTC)

icons

Although I can see the icon for each named browser when I correctly mouse-over the name in the list, it would be easier for users to find out the icons by having them present on this page. On a computer screen, the icons might be at the bottom of the screen, but they are not named: I look at the icon and can click on it, but what browser does it represent? If this article had the icons on it, then the answer would be really easy to find. As it is, I have to mouse-over the names one at a time until I come to a matching icon. Kdammers (talk) 04:32, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

No, those Icons definitely don't belong in this article. Hovering over links is convenient enough. I do it too. -Pmffl (talk) 19:55, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

Summary of developer tools

Regarding this removal: If an entire article exists about a browser feature, it seems appropriate to summarize it in a single paragraph, as it would still give lesser familiar readers who don't click through to the dedicated article a quick overview. And it's not like this article is too long like, for example as of writing, Twitter. This is no proposal to put it back again, just a thought. Lapisgaming (talk) 20:38, 29 October 2021 (UTC)

Regarding the edit summary, it is not elaborate, but summarizing. The elaborate knowledge is in the main article. Lapisgaming (talk) 22:41, 29 October 2021 (UTC)

Devtools are a small niche only relevant to professional webdevs and serious hobbyists. The vast majority of people that use a browser don't even know they exist. So a single sentence is appropriate, given that it's a less important feature for the general public than others in the Features section. -Pmffl (talk) 22:45, 29 October 2021 (UTC)
Fine, we'll leave it like this for now, though giving amateur readers a short overview of the tools might help them discover them out of curiosity. Lapisgaming (talk) 12:03, 31 October 2021 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

  This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 23 August 2021 and 3 December 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Amxzhang, AnikaP7, Mooreand, Hbaslam.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 12:47, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 17:04, 16 April 2021 (UTC)

I replaced the image. The new one is a better example anyways. -Pmffl (talk) 19:46, 16 April 2021 (UTC)
@Community Tech bot 36.37.204.106 (talk) 17:16, 25 May 2023 (UTC)

Team-B-Vital Improvement Drive

Hello all!

This article has been chosen as this fortnight's effort for WP:Discord's #team-b-vital channel, a collaborative effort to bring Vital articles up to a B class if possible, similar to WP:Articles for Improvement. This effort will run for up to a fortnight, ending early if the article is felt to be at B-class or impossible to further improve. Articles are chosen by a quick vote among interested chatters, with the goal of working together on interesting Vital articles that need improving.

Thank you!Remagoxer (talk) 02:49, 31 October 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 20 May 2023

103.144.8.82 (talk) 13:33, 20 May 2023 (UTC)

src/_locales/en/messages.yml

  Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Paper9oll (🔔📝) 13:39, 20 May 2023 (UTC)