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)&usefo… [2] https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MobileFrontend/Feedback#Copy_text _______________________________________________ Mobile-l mailing list Mobile-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mobile-l

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'.

I agree with this! I think this is an entry point of an important (but relatively easy to implement) aspect of the experience of Wikipedia. This is a fabulous opportunity to give thought and heart to the message you send to everyone who uses Wikipedia. There is a habit when we've seen something a bunch of times, to think that it's the “way it's done”. This is sometimes true, especially in contexts with a long history. I don't think this is the case here. I believe there is room to put some more human personality in Wikipedia. Of course WP is not a *corporation* that is trying to coerce or gather people. And the difference here is that you don't *have *to convince people, you have a huge built-in audience that might not even notice robotic language. But I bet they would notice something out-of-the-ordinary. I have no idea if it pertains to the gender gap, but tone of language makes a tremendous difference to me, personally; regarding how I feel about a site, how long I want to stay and whether I want to contribute. I would love to spend some time and consider/discuss this issue. Heather (I've found a lot of content about the structure of Wikipedia articles and contributor behavior but not interface-tone.) the bug that prompted my thoughts: https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=33302 *findings of a cursory web search on the topic:* http://www.alistapart.com/articles/personality-in-design/ http://sixrevisions.com/web_design/designing-websites-with-personality/ funny: http://www.dblums.com/2011/03/31/what-richard-simmons-can-teach-us-about-we… apple doing it: http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=16300 On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 11:17 AM, Tomasz Finc <tfinc(a)wikimedia.org>wrote;wrote: