Re: [Wikipedia-l] [Foundation-l] Why is MediaWiki so low-tech?

-----Original Message----- From: foundation-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:foundation-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Virgil Ierubino Sent: Sunday, January 07, 2007 12:31 AM To: wikitech-l(a)wikimedia.org; wikipedia-l(a)wikimedia.org; foundation-l(a)wikimedia.org Subject: [Foundation-l] Why is MediaWiki so low-tech? Why is MediaWiki so low-tech? I understand the imperitive for maximal accessibility, but is it not also true that, these days, fewer and fewer people are using browsers that can't handle advanced features? The fact of the matter is that a website's *usability* is improved by taking advantage of the higher-tech architecture that modern browsers allow you to use. Can't MediaWiki default to its current state, but offer a per-user preference to turn on advanced options? Look at a site like Facebook, (http://www.facebook.com), for example, which is possibly one of the most beautifully constructed websites I have ever encountered. It is simple in layout and ridiculously easy to use on account of very good design, and the use of advanced code generating popups, immediate editing, etc. Furthermore their code is pristine; I have never seen an error, even in the advanced features, on any browser. The kind of MediaWiki advanced features I'm talking about could be something like instant editing. Think about if you're reading a long section of an article, and midway down there's a spelling error. There are so many reasons to not fix it: you'd have to scroll up to click the edit link on that section, you'd have to wait for it to load, you'd have to find the place again in the edit box, you'd have to wait for it to load again, and all this time you won't be able to continue reading your article, and you'll have lost your place. What if you could just click next to the relevant paragraph, turning it into an edit box on the same page - no loading - edit it, save it, and never once have to switch page. Something similar to the way you can edit posts in vBulletin without having to change pages. I know for sure that a feature like this would double the speed at which (and the likelihood of which) articles are improved. Obviously once you accept the usage of advanced elements like this there's no stopping how much easier you can make the site, and how user friendly. If the only grounds to not include this kind of feature are accessibility, just put each feature on a switch in user preferences. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l