bawolff wrote: "... Out of curiosity, can you give an example of what can't be currently done in rearranging the styles which you think could or should be done. In my opinion, if you take the time, you can change it to pretty much anything. -bawolff
Peter Blaise responds:
Maybe we're talking about different things.
I'm only suggesting that we put our energy into making the MediaWiki interface itself more capable ... so we don't have to go out and use text editing tools and programming language savvy to change configuration files ... because editing *.php or *.css files (and so on) is an order of magnitude more complex (and off-putting) than the next wave of MediaWiki adopters can successfully handle and self-maintain.
In other words, if we want to reduce the overwhelming (and growing) support demands while expanding the audience for MediaWiki installations, we have to empower the main program itself to be all powerful regarding the installation, setup, configuration, and maintenance of the MediaWiki experience.
Yes, experienced *.php and *.css (and so on) tweakers can tune a MediaWiki installation to a faretheewell. But, the problem is, they have to! And, the uninitiated are either blocked out from enjoying the MediaWiki experience, or try to get started, and then overwhelm the support channels with newbie questions across the spectrum - installation, setup, configuration, and maintenance. We can either say, "Learn (or hire) PHP and css skills," or we can incorporate the tasks into the MediaWiki interface once and for all.
My goal, or the target is: if the admin has to go outside of MediaWiki for anything relating to installation, setup, configuration, and maintenance, then we have more to do to make the MediaWiki interface smarter!
That is all. Of course, there are more words in the list: installation, setup, configuration, maintenance, customization, backup, verify, restore, export, import, make reports, reorganize, language change, make PDFs, repurpose contents, import contents form other sources, automate data exchange, and so on. And, on. And, on.
Am I thinking of MediaWiki version 4 or version 1.12?
-- Peter Blaise