
Wikipedia and sister projects prepare new, easier interface - rglullis
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikipedia_and_sister_projects_prepare_new,_easier_interface?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WikinewsLatestNews+%28Wikinews+Latest+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
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ugh
Wikipedia has still this cutesy olden times feel to it. A skin with gradients
can’t change that. I kinda like it, but sometimes I wonder whether a optically
sleek Wikipedia would be even better.

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jacobolus
The “skin” is not just appearance. It changes how the editing boxes work. In
particular, it adds a bunch of buttons for common tasks. It also moves
interface elements to new locations (search box, etc.).

Go try editing <http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Sandbox> to see how it works.

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cmelbye
I was rooting for a full WYSIWYG editor, but it doesn't look like they'll be
doing that. I wonder how the new edit toolbar does in real world usability
testing.

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neilk
Hi there. I happen to be on the Wikimedia Usability team, but on a separate
project from the ones discussed here.

The team did their latest formal usability test just last week. Those results
will be posted soon. In the meantime, the results of the October 2009
usability testing are here:

[http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Usability,_Experience,_a...](http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Usability,_Experience,_and_Progress_Study)

In addition, they've been tracking the retention rates of people who try the
beta:

<http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Beta_Feedback_Survey>

As for a WYSIWYG editor -- I can't speak for that team, but pretty much
everyone agrees that this is required if we're going to achieve the goal of an
encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

The WMF has recently instituted some permanent positions related to user
experience, so stay tuned, or, get involved.

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jacobolus
I don’t care so much about WYSIWYG (I’d personally leave it off), but if it
were possible to do some syntax highlighting in the editor boxes I think that
would be tremendously useful.

Not sure where the best place to send feedback is, but one concern I have is
that the text box used for entry breaks/removes Safari’s neat bottom-right-
corner box resizer widget that usually shows up for textarea elements. Anyone
here know what causes it to show up/disappear?

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oldgregg
Can anyone recommend what the best open source or white label wiki platform
is? Something that real people can use?

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Spreadsheet
I would recommend MoinMoin.

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Spreadsheet
This was available a while ago if you had an account (you could turn it on). I
have been browsing with it since.

