The main page of the Usability wiki ( http://usability.wikimedia.org ) says that it's discontinued and the whole wiki appears to be locked for editing. I don't remember this being discussed, although i may have missed it.
I understand that after completing the Vector rollout and the using up of the grant that particular project is over, but it certainly must not mean that all the usability problems have been solved and that the Foundation won't work on usability anymore. Quite the contrary, usability should be one of the Foundation main concerns - it makes sense in general and it is also directly related to four out of five movement priorities as listed at the main page of the Strategy wiki ( http://strategy.wikimedia.org/ ; the only priority to which usability is not directly related is "Focus on quality content"). I have dozens of ideas for much-needed usability improvements that will benefit both beginning and experienced editors, even before anyone mentions WYSIWYG, and dozens of ideas for new rounds of usability testing, which, without a doubt, will occur one day. And i am sure that i am not the only one.
I suggest unlocking the Usability wiki and re-opening it as a community hub for ideas about usability. It should be a completely unlocked wiki, with anonymous users allowed to edit etc.; if spam becomes a problem, editing can be allowed for registered users only.
Of course, such discussions can take place on Meta or on the Strategy wiki, but since the Usability wiki already exists, it can be recycled as a site focused on these matters.
-- Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי http://aharoni.wordpress.com "We're living in pieces, I want to live in peace." - T. Moore
On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 9:24 PM, Amir E. Aharoni amir.aharoni@mail.huji.ac.il wrote:
The main page of the Usability wiki ( http://usability.wikimedia.org ) says that it's discontinued and the whole wiki appears to be locked for editing. I don't remember this being discussed, although i may have missed it.
That was decided by the usability team, whom were the main users of that wiki, with plans to import the usable information (such as some of the extension documentation onto Mediawiki wiki).
...snip... I suggest unlocking the Usability wiki and re-opening it as a community hub for ideas about usability. It should be a completely unlocked wiki, with anonymous users allowed to edit etc.; if spam becomes a problem, editing can be allowed for registered users only.
I must disagree with that, fragmenting discussions all over the place just makes things worse, It would be much better to keep these discussions centralized on somewhere like Meta or Mediawiki wiki (or possibly Strategy as well) instead of scattering them onto obscure wikis where they don't have as much viewage.
-Peachey
I think it would be more productive to import the usability content into Meta, close down the usability wiki if it's served it's intended purpose, and continue the discussion at meta.
On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 6:35 AM, K. Peachey p858snake@yahoo.com.au wrote:
On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 9:24 PM, Amir E. Aharoni amir.aharoni@mail.huji.ac.il wrote:
The main page of the Usability wiki ( http://usability.wikimedia.org )
says
that it's discontinued and the whole wiki appears to be locked for
editing.
I don't remember this being discussed, although i may have missed it.
That was decided by the usability team, whom were the main users of that wiki, with plans to import the usable information (such as some of the extension documentation onto Mediawiki wiki).
...snip... I suggest unlocking the Usability wiki and re-opening it as a community
hub
for ideas about usability. It should be a completely unlocked wiki, with anonymous users allowed to edit etc.; if spam becomes a problem, editing
can
be allowed for registered users only.
I must disagree with that, fragmenting discussions all over the place just makes things worse, It would be much better to keep these discussions centralized on somewhere like Meta or Mediawiki wiki (or possibly Strategy as well) instead of scattering them onto obscure wikis where they don't have as much viewage.
-Peachey
foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Greetings,
Le samedi 29 janvier 2011 à 21:35 +1000, K. Peachey a écrit :
I must disagree with that, fragmenting discussions all over the place just makes things worse, It would be much better to keep these discussions centralized on somewhere like Meta or Mediawiki wiki (or possibly Strategy as well) instead of scattering them onto obscure wikis where they don't have as much viewage.
Yes, that was exactly the rationale behind the closing of the usability wiki. I can try to elaborate a bit, since concerns were raised.
The usability wiki was historically created as a work space for the Wikipedia usability initiative. The end of both usability grants provided an opportunity to revisit the decision to have a whole separate wiki.
Of course the Wikimedia Foundation is continuing to work on usability, and I don't think anyone would argue that "all usability problems are solved" :) Far from it. But usability is now an integral part of all WMF-supported engineering work and features.
As such, it makes sense to use mediawiki.org as the main workspace for Wikimedia developers, rather than to have a separate wiki. It might also help paid developers "mix" more with volunteers developers.
In a nutshell, the usability wiki is being replaced by the strategy wiki (for strategic product discussions, where Amir's and others' "dozen of ideas" will be most welcome) and mediawiki.org (for specific project management and implementation).
Hope that helps,
I would hope that in the future, the decision to make a separate wiki for any "subproject" is not taken as lightly, given the concerns about fragmenting discussions - it's much easier to track these things when they are all in one place. :)
On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 8:42 AM, Guillaume Paumier gpaumier@wikimedia.orgwrote:
Greetings,
Le samedi 29 janvier 2011 à 21:35 +1000, K. Peachey a écrit :
I must disagree with that, fragmenting discussions all over the place just makes things worse, It would be much better to keep these discussions centralized on somewhere like Meta or Mediawiki wiki (or possibly Strategy as well) instead of scattering them onto obscure wikis where they don't have as much viewage.
Yes, that was exactly the rationale behind the closing of the usability wiki. I can try to elaborate a bit, since concerns were raised.
The usability wiki was historically created as a work space for the Wikipedia usability initiative. The end of both usability grants provided an opportunity to revisit the decision to have a whole separate wiki.
Of course the Wikimedia Foundation is continuing to work on usability, and I don't think anyone would argue that "all usability problems are solved" :) Far from it. But usability is now an integral part of all WMF-supported engineering work and features.
As such, it makes sense to use mediawiki.org as the main workspace for Wikimedia developers, rather than to have a separate wiki. It might also help paid developers "mix" more with volunteers developers.
In a nutshell, the usability wiki is being replaced by the strategy wiki (for strategic product discussions, where Amir's and others' "dozen of ideas" will be most welcome) and mediawiki.org (for specific project management and implementation).
Hope that helps,
-- Guillaume Paumier Product manager - Wikimedia Foundation Support free knowledge: http://donate.wikimedia.org
foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
Indeed, in 2008/2009 there was a little wave of new wikis by Wikimedia Foundation. It seemed to me as if it was a prestige thing for the new WMF collaborators to get a wiki of their own. :-) We have Meta Wiki and similar general wikis already. A similar tendency we saw in some of the larger chapters. The last new content project of WMF was Wikiversity in 2006. I hope there will come something new in 2011... Kind regards Ziko
2011/1/29 Stephanie Daugherty sdaugherty@gmail.com:
I would hope that in the future, the decision to make a separate wiki for any "subproject" is not taken as lightly, given the concerns about fragmenting discussions - it's much easier to track these things when they are all in one place. :)
On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 8:42 AM, Guillaume Paumier gpaumier@wikimedia.orgwrote:
Greetings,
Le samedi 29 janvier 2011 à 21:35 +1000, K. Peachey a écrit :
I must disagree with that, fragmenting discussions all over the place just makes things worse, It would be much better to keep these discussions centralized on somewhere like Meta or Mediawiki wiki (or possibly Strategy as well) instead of scattering them onto obscure wikis where they don't have as much viewage.
Yes, that was exactly the rationale behind the closing of the usability wiki. I can try to elaborate a bit, since concerns were raised.
The usability wiki was historically created as a work space for the Wikipedia usability initiative. The end of both usability grants provided an opportunity to revisit the decision to have a whole separate wiki.
Of course the Wikimedia Foundation is continuing to work on usability, and I don't think anyone would argue that "all usability problems are solved" :) Far from it. But usability is now an integral part of all WMF-supported engineering work and features.
As such, it makes sense to use mediawiki.org as the main workspace for Wikimedia developers, rather than to have a separate wiki. It might also help paid developers "mix" more with volunteers developers.
In a nutshell, the usability wiki is being replaced by the strategy wiki (for strategic product discussions, where Amir's and others' "dozen of ideas" will be most welcome) and mediawiki.org (for specific project management and implementation).
Hope that helps,
-- Guillaume Paumier Product manager - Wikimedia Foundation Support free knowledge: http://donate.wikimedia.org
foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
-- Faith is about what you really truly believe in, not about what you are taught to believe. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 8:42 AM, Guillaume Paumier gpaumier@wikimedia.org wrote:
Le samedi 29 janvier 2011 à 21:35 +1000, K. Peachey a écrit :
I must disagree with that, fragmenting discussions all over the place just makes things worse, It would be much better to keep these discussions centralized on somewhere like Meta or Mediawiki wiki (or possibly Strategy as well) instead of scattering them onto obscure wikis where they don't have as much viewage.
Yes, that was exactly the rationale behind the closing of the usability wiki. I can try to elaborate a bit, since concerns were raised.
As such, it makes sense to use mediawiki.org as the main workspace for Wikimedia developers, rather than to have a separate wiki. It might also help paid developers "mix" more with volunteers developers.
I want to really underline this point. If it's MediaWiki related, it belongs on mediawiki.org. Moving things elsewhere fragments discussion and planning.
I'm also lazy and don't want to look at other wikis ;-)
-Chad
wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org