Mobile-l April 2012

mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org

22 participants
25 discussions

Re: [WikimediaMobile] Copy text on mobile site
by Maggie Dennis 16 Apr '12

16 Apr '12

Interjecting, I think it's a great idea to try to find the most friendly, effective language to draw people in that we can get. Wish I had expertise myself to help out, but, alas, writing short has never been my strong point. The idea of bringing in community feedback on mobile language is an interesting one. :) We have all kinds of expertise out there, although finding it can be hard. Obviously, we'd just have to be clear that we're bringing in advice from multiple streams, so that people aren't disappointed if the ideas they propose prove unworkable for some reason, such as if they are not accessible to ESL users. I've been trying to think of any discussions that could be useful already on Wiki for this kind of thing, but it's such a different skillset, writing this succinctly. In terms of copy-text experts, there must be somebody out there who teaches people this stuff. Not sure how easy they are to find, though, or if they'd be in budget. Maggie -- Maggie Dennis Community Liaison WikimediaFoundation.org

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Copy text on mobile site
by Jon Robson 16 Apr '12

16 Apr '12

Have we got a copy text writer in the team/community or any copy text guidelines? Currently on the mobile site in beta mode [1] we have the text 'Type your search here...' on the search box before you click on it. This created (IMO) an interesting discussion [2]. Personally I think we have a chance to be more inspiring with the words we use. It would be good to think more about this sort of thing across mobile to strengthen the MediaWiki/Wikipedia brand. Little things like copy text can make all the difference. 'I'm feeling lucky' on Google for instance rather than 'Go to the top search result' is fun and meaningful. Likewise we could imagine our 'Random' button in the main menu saying 'Inspire me' or 'Surprise me'. Facebook 'What's on your mind?' in the update status box is much more interesting than 'type your status here'. Copy text has always been something that interests me so I'd be interested if others have an expertise here... Let me know! ~Jon [1] http://mobile-geo.wmflabs.org/w/index.php?title=Georgia_(country)&useformat… [2] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MobileFrontend/Feedback#Copy_text

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Re: [WikimediaMobile] Copy text on mobile site
by Jon Robson 16 Apr '12

16 Apr '12

I echo all of Heather's comments. Although I understand that copy text will have to take into account non-English speakers it still doesn't need to be robotic. I would never say 'Type your search here' and to follow Jay's advice I can't imagine Wikipedia saying 'Type your search here' . I think of Wikipedia as my favourite, most inspiring teacher who taught me Chemistry in high school, not the strict unfriendly one I had for English :)! As Heather says language does make a huge difference to some people. The goal is to 'imagine a world which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge'. I don't want to disrupt non-English speakers but I'd like to think Wikipedia just by using a different tone could encourage more people to learn and explore. What would be the best way to move forward with this. Are there any copy text experts we could bring in/discuss this with? Are there any existing wiki pages that discuss copy text that we could possibly direct this conversation too? It would be great at the very least to have a set of clear guidelines we can refer to when writing copy text in future. On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 7:24 PM, Jay Walsh <jwalsh(a)wikimedia.org> wrote: > Generally agree, but strongly emphasize that our EN users statistically are > unlikely to be native speakers. Colloquial is not useful. Contractions may > confuse. Simplicity is king. > > I also try to channel the voice of our projects: outside of a talk page, > would Wikipedia 'say' that? As Tomasz says - community input is critical. > They can't just edit this text away as if it were on a wiki :) > > --- > Jay Walsh, Head of Communications > wikimediafoundation.org > +1 415 839 6885 ext 6609 > > On Apr 11, 2012 11:18 AM, "Tomasz Finc" <tfinc(a)wikimedia.org> wrote: >> >> On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 7:53 AM, Jon Robson <jrobson(a)wikimedia.org> wrote: >> > Have we got a copy text writer in the team/community or any copy text >> > guidelines? >> >> CC'ing Jay (our head of communications) as he has the best brains for >> this ... mmm ... brains >> >> > Currently on the mobile site in beta mode [1] we have the text 'Type >> > your search here...' on the search box before you click on it. This >> > created (IMO) an interesting discussion [2]. >> >> Glad to see that my suggestion of "Tap to search" made it onto there :D >> >> > Personally I think we have a chance to be more inspiring with the >> > words we use. It would be good to think more about this sort of thing >> > across mobile to strengthen the MediaWiki/Wikipedia brand. >> >> Do it. Get community members involved BUT keep in mind this *has* to >> get translated and a long text string in english will be exceptionally >> long in other languages. Thus keep it short. Also, were on mobile >> devices here ... anything moderately long even if a word or two longer >> is bad. Thus .. keep it short x2. Make those expectations clear if >> your going to involve more people. >> >> > Little things like copy text can make all the difference. 'I'm feeling >> > lucky' on Google for instance rather than 'Go to the top search >> > result' is fun and meaningful. Likewise we could imagine our 'Random' >> > button in the main menu saying 'Inspire me' or 'Surprise me'. Facebook >> > 'What's on your mind?' in the update status box is much more >> > interesting than 'type your status here'. >> >> +1 >> >> --tomasz

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Search bar in iOS app
by Axel Boldt 16 Apr '12

16 Apr '12

Am 11.04.2012 22:39 schrieb "Philip Chang" <pchang at wikimedia.org>: > We are considering ways to hide the top bar and calling it up easily, but > the thought is to show it initially. > > For example, the Pinterest app hides toolbars when scrolling down a page, > and reveals them when scrolling up starts. > > Another idea, based on the Kindle, is to show the toolbar initially and > let it fade away, then a tap anywhere reveals it. > > Yet another idea is to keep the toolbar at the top of the screen, then > after scrolling down a page, a tap on top status bar of the phone scrolls > quickly to the top of the page. I think all three options are good; it's basically a matter of taste. Here's my taste: My concern with the Kindle way is that you may find yourself on a page with lots of links or a big image, and there won't be a safe place to tap anywhere. The Kindle doesn't have that problem, but we do. I like the third option for two reasons: people will know it from Safari, and it gives them a quick way to jump to the beginning of an article, which we currently lack. The downside is that some users will never figure out the tap-on-top shortcut, so they will constantly have to scroll like crazy up through long articles just to search. So I wonder whether combining the Pinterest and Safari methods might be feasible? Best of all possible worlds, and all that. Cheers, Axel

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Replacement for vertical-dots icon
by Axel Boldt 14 Apr '12

14 Apr '12

Steven Walling: > At first glance, I thought the vertical dots were just a separator bar, not > an action button. Brandon Harris: > I don't think a standard "document" icon is going to work well. Most people > see those and think things like "save" or "new document" or such. It's an > overloaded icon. > > We had been using a "Puzzle Piece" icon to represent an article in various > mockups, but that might not work with the public. Philip Chang: >I think someone else suggested this, but what about a big down arrowhead? >That would correlate with the down arrow in the section headings. > >I am also thinking about symbols that imply action, or extending the >reading of the article in some way. Maybe a tool icon would work. Usually if I can't find some action in an app, I look under tools. Example: http://km.support.apple.com/library/APPLE/APPLECARE_ALLGEOS/HT4088/HT4088_t… Axel

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First draft of new mobile navigation UI
by Philip Chang 13 Apr '12

13 Apr '12

Folks, Lindsey just posted the first draft of the new mobile navigation UI: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Mobile_design/Wikipedia_navigation#Initial_me… Please look at Design Comps in particular. The wireframes are also useful. For example, the initial view is with the search bar open. These are very much drafts and not intended as final renderings, but there is enough detail to generate specific discussion. Looking forward to your comments. Phil -- Phil Inje Chang Product Manager, Mobile Wikimedia Foundation 415-812-0854 m 415-882-7982 x 6810 -- Phil Inje Chang Product Manager, Mobile Wikimedia Foundation 415-812-0854 m 415-882-7982 x 6810

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Nav UI movie
by Philip Chang 13 Apr '12

13 Apr '12

About the new navigation UI: Lindsey has created an animated prototype that illustrates more clearly how the new design is supposed to look and feel. This is a QuickTime movie. Phil -- Phil Inje Chang Product Manager, Mobile Wikimedia Foundation 415-812-0854 m 415-882-7982 x 6810

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Betatesting of iOS app; Why not use a service like Testflight?
by Jan Piotrowski 12 Apr '12

12 Apr '12

Hey everyone, I saw you use manual collection of UDIDs and then sending out notifications about the beta test. Have you thought about using a service like Testflight [1] where you can manage the beta testers (and their UDIDs) more easily, collect the UDID automatically and even notify the testers automatically if there is a new build for them? Actually, there are many more great features that I grew to love during my day-to-day work with lots of beta versions of different apps. Like for example the service being free. (I'm quite new here, hope this discussion wasn't had before) Regards, Jan [1] https://testflightapp.com/ PS: No connection to Testflight, just a very happy user with our company.

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Wikipedia for iOS app v3.1.2 RC2 available.
by Yuvi Panda 11 Apr '12

11 Apr '12

Hello everyone. Another (and hopefully final!) RC for the Wikipedia for iOS app. (See previous RC announcement[1]) This should go to the app store and help kill a few (lot?) of the 1 star reviews, so testing would be much appreciated. http://dumps.wikimedia.org/iOS/Wikipedia-3.1.2-RC2.ipa Download the ipa, drag it into iTunes, and sync! NOTE 1: If you haven't given us your UDID then this IPA will NOT work for you. We need to have your IPA before we build a new version in order for it to work. If your try the IPA and find that it wont install then follow these instructions and then send us your UDID (http://www.innerfence.com/howto/find-iphone-unique-device-identifier-udid) Specific things to test: 1. Sharing via RIL, Twitter and Facebook. Share to Twitter will now appear only on supported devices (5.x+) 2. Hide the nav bar when showing any overlay (History, Saved Pages, nearby). This fixes issues with the UI being inconsistent with the back button. 3. Fix bugs with URLs in About page 4. 'Open in Safari' feature added. 5. Show feedback (spinning circle) when saving pages, rather than make the app look hung 6. Minor tweaks to the search autocomplete to make it feel more responsive Please provide us feedback by writing to mobile-feedback-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org or editing http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Projects/WikipediaMobileiOSFeedback. Thanks! [1]: http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/mobile-l/2012-April/005486.html -- Yuvi Panda T http://yuvi.in/blog

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iOS App v3.1.2 Release Candidate available for testing
by Yuvi Panda 10 Apr '12

10 Apr '12

Hello everyone! Our iOS app was released last week, and has been found wanting in a lot of areas. We've been working hard at fixing the bugs encountered and have fixed a good number of them. Please help us test it out by testing this Release Candidate. http://dumps.wikimedia.org/iOS/Wikipedia-3.1.2-RC1.ipa Download the ipa, drag it into iTunes, and sync! NOTE 1: If you haven't given us your UDID then this IPA will NOT work for you. We need to have your IPA before we build a new version in order for it to work. If your try the IPA and find that it wont install then follow these instructions and then send us your UDID (http://www.innerfence.com/howto/find-iphone-unique-device-identifier-udid) iOS 4.2 and 4.3 were the ones majorly affected, so testing on those would be rewarded with large amounts of developer-smiles. Things to specifically test for: 1. Scrolling issues. We had major scrolling issues in 4.2 and 4.3 which have now been fixed. 2. Search. Try it out and see if it feels 'natural' and not too 'laggy'. 3. Styling issues with navboxes in articles. They should look the same as on the mobile site on safari. 4. General speed/slowness issues. Also stress test all the other features present (interwiki language links, change font settings, save pages, look up nearby articles). You can provide us feedback by either editing this page: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Projects/WikipediaMobileiOSFeedback or by replying on list. Thanks! -- Yuvi Panda T http://yuvi.in/blog

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Mobile-l April 2012