A few disparate feature thoughts from recent conversations:
[snip]
** A feature to prepare for the future, but not to apply unless necessary : an "accept but delay" editing patch for new users -- new users can see their own changes to an article; logged-in users can see the "recent newbie edit flag" and also the latest changes; other users see the last version before this edit.
This is a more specific case of the stable version or "Wikipedia 1.0" feature discussed on this list last week and which I hope will go live, in one form or another, relatively soon. Especially since the current failure to distinguish between stable/"official" and in-progress versions of an article exacerbate many problems, both social and technical. If the last revision of an article is no longer pulled by default for most users, then you remove much of the incentive for vandals or spammers since the only people who will see their handiwork are the editors working on the next version of the article. Revision wars likewise cool down as neither side can now seize an article's "prime real estate" (i.e. its default view) by putting their revisions into the latest version of an article. Thus you reduce unnecessary load on the system, and the editing process becomes more deliberate and civil since only through consensus will new edits ever make it onto the stable, or "official" Wikipedia site.
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