https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2010-December/063225.html
I just found back this post by David Gerard from 2010 and was struck by how
dead-on the discussion and analysis was and how far we have actually come
with VE 5 years later, even though we still did not pass the finish line
just yet.
Also interesting is some of the follow up to it, which points out that the
usability of Templates is also a real problem in itself, not easily
solvable with WYSIWYG, but probably just as important.
I think VE is really close now to being usable in production, but I think
that we are FAR from done on this front. Like was stated, templates are a
real problem. A UI problem, and one that VE doesn't really solve. Citoid
sort of does, but just for one small subset of templates.
I think it is important to remember that VE is a framework. The piece that
will open up other possibilities, but that we will need to still do a lot
of work to find what those possibilities are, how they can make page and
article authoring more usable etc...
The post starts with a quote of Fred Bauder: "There has to be a vision
though"
So I'm asking: What is the vision for this next step ?
- What ideas do people have with regard to usability and templates.
- What examples of good editors can we find that also deal with
templates/objects etc.
- What are our unique challenges ?
- What kind of research and development would be needed to deliver this ?
I would love it if we could end up with a discussion and summary as we had
back then. A guide for us towards solving this next problem within another
5 years. We and the WMF can probably not start on this tomorrow, but we can
start thinking about it.
DJ
Dear Wikimedia Team,
I am Prastut Kumar, a CS undergrad hailing from India and currently
pursuing my Bachelors in Computer Science and engineering from VIT
University, Chennai Campus.
Wikipedia has always been a source of knowledge for people like me hailing
from nations where information, valuable information cannot be found.
"Knowledge shared is knowledge earned".
Most of the time, while browsing through wiki, I have always thought of
donating but couldn't due to economic reasons. But as I was going through
GSOC voila! I found wikipedia there and also having separate design
section! I wish to contribute to the design and aesthetics of the
wikimedia project and gain essential skills to pursue my career as a web
developer-cum-UI/UX expert.
I know, I know GSOC has started. But there might be some opportunities
which would still be open for a guy like me. I should make this very clear
that I am solely contributing for the sake of contributing, not with any
expectations attached to it.
My question to you guys is, from where do I start contributing? How do I
begin?
Regards
Prastut