[Wikipedia-l] Re: [Wikitech-l] Feature Proposal: Certification

[erik_moeller at gmx.de]

Matthew,

> If you allow significant changes to be hidden from you, you will have
> to get used to pages changing wildly when you press the 'edit the
> latest version' button

in general I would not suggest using the certified mode if you plan to do  
edits (*if* we want to have it as a mode at all, and not just optional  
information displayed on the page linking to the last certified revision).  
That is also the reason I think it should never be the default. A cert  
mode is good primarily for two purposes:

  * Using Wikipedia as a reader only : not everyone is a contributor, some  
people never will be, and Wikipedia hopefully will be also distributed in  
non-interactive form (paper, CD-ROM etc). Even contributors sometimes are  
just looking for good, trustworthy information. While being friendly to  
writers, we should also be friendly to readers. The certified mode, while  
optional, seems like a good way to showcase our hardest and best work.
  * Using the cert system to find current low quality revisions that need  
work. This is something I had not originally intended, but which seems to  
make sense -- random page is only so helpful, *especially* if most of our  
articles are actually of high quality at some point in the future.

I understand concerns about the certified mode, it is not a core part of  
my proposal, but I would really like to send my Mom a link to a Wikipedia  
article knowing that she won't accidentally she the notorious goat-man.  
Still, the proposal would function without it, and we could decide to only  
do actual Wikipedia-wide filtering in Wikipedia offsprings (other media,  
other sites etc.).

Regards,

Erik