Re: [WikiEN-l] Time Zone using 24-hour clock instead of number of hours

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Re: [WikiEN-l] Time Zone using...

Time Zone using 24-hour clock...

Rowan Collins

15 Jan 2005 15 Jan '05

4:18 p.m.

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 17:42:13 +0530, Rohan Sharma <gates.plusplus(a)gmail.com> wrote:

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On the message-changing: I don't know, I take it this that has not been a common issue?

Well, as you said in your original mail, there aren't many places in the world which *require* anything other than a number of hours. I've certainly never come across anyone else *mentionning* the problem/confusion, but it's hard to tell how many people will have shrugged and assumed it's not possible. Since it *is* possible, though, and since, according to Tim, you can enter "1.5", which is still a "number of hours", I'd say it's not exactly a high priority to change the message. -- Rowan Collins BSc [IMSoP]

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Nicholas Knight

15 Jan 15 Jan

4:41 p.m.

New subject: Time Zone using 24-hour clock instead of number of hours

Rowan Collins wrote:

...

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 17:42:13 +0530, Rohan Sharma <gates.plusplus(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On the message-changing: I don't know, I take it this that has not been a common issue?

I've long noticed that when websites let you choose a UTC offset, there's frequently no provision for going in anything other than one-hour increments. I'd imagine that Newfies and the like may be prone to assuming they can't enter something other than a number of hours, especially when the text on the page implies they can't.

...

Since it *is* possible, though, and since, according to Tim, you can enter "1.5", which is still a "number of hours", I'd say it's not exactly a high priority to change the message.

Unless you're a programmer, you're unlikely to think of "1.5" when told "a number of hours", especially if you're used to dealing with poorly-written and <somecountry>-specific software that breaks if you treat it as remotely intelligent (see also: most web applications). I think the message should be changed to "amount of time (hh:mm)", which is both more correct and more explicit.

Rowan Collins

10:39 p.m.

New subject: Time Zone using 24-hour clock instead of number of hours

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 08:41:14 -0800, Nicholas Knight <nknight(a)runawaynet.com> wrote:

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That's a very good point. Few though they are, it would be nice to make things obvious for the newbies from those parts of the world which have non-integer time zones.

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Unless you're a programmer, you're unlikely to think of "1.5" when told "a number of hours"

Yes, that particular comment was bordering on the facetious/pedantic - most people will likely assume "a number of hours" means the same as "a whole number of hours", as that's how it's generally used.

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I think the message should be changed to "amount of time (hh:mm)", which is both more correct and more explicit.

That would be better, yes. As I say, low priority, but in an ideal world it would be like that (as Tim points out, getting *all* the translations up-dated is hard work). ---- A far higher priority, just to plug it to anybody who fancies correcting some, are all the messages that have blatantly incorrect information about clearing/by-passing your cache (e.g. 'clearyourcache', 'usercsspreview', 'userjspreview') - currently, most messages give key combinations for *normal* refreshes, rather than for *forced* refreshes, which are necessary for clearing the cache in these circumstances. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_talk:Clearyourcache for links to the relevant information. And if anyone can shed light on exactly how Opera behaves in this respect, please explain on that talk page... -- Rowan Collins BSc [IMSoP]

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Nicholas Knight
Rowan Collins