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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