Save to userspace

List overview All Threads
Download

newer

older

A balanced approach to 20% time

(no subject)

Petr Bena

10 Apr 2012 10 Apr '12

9:57 a.m.

Hi, this is a proposal for a new feature to mediawiki core or a new extension (I would myself prefer an extension, but given that the development process seems to be broken, per my previous email, it's likely not possible for a non-wmf dev to have it deployed) I think many editors had the problem that they were editing a page, but had to leave computer for some reason before they finished and needed to save the work, the only way to handle this is to copy the source code and save it somewhere, but what if you aren't going to use the same computer? The workaround is to copy paste the code of page to some other page on wiki, but that isn't really so easy, for new users and it's annoying. It would be nice to have a feature "save draft to userspace" which would open the new text box with name of new page you want to save source to, which would look like: Special:MyPage/Draft_$ArticleName_$Date Users could change it to some other name of course before saving. Or even they could create a template for name in their advanced preferences. This could make it simpler to save work in progress for newbies.

Show replies by date

Bináris

10 Apr 10 Apr

10 a.m.

Sounds good, Petr! I think many users will love it. -- Bináris

Petr Bena

10:02 a.m.

Also, another cool feature would be auto save, which would periodically save the work somewhere, probably to a separate table and in case your computer would crash, you could recover it. The auto saved revisions would be removed from db after certain time On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 11:00 AM, Bináris <wikiposta(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Sounds good, Petr! I think many users will love it. -- Bináris _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Seb35

10:46 a.m.

Hi, There is already such an extension: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Drafts Last time I played with it (some years ago) it was well-functionning and really practical. Sébastien Le Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:02:09 +0200, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> a écrit:

...

Helder

11:10 a.m.

On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 06:46, Seb35 <seb35wikipedia(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Hi, There is already such an extension: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Drafts Last time I played with it (some years ago) it was well-functionning and really practical.

Indeed. It was already available when the usability initiative did a survey of MW extensions in 2009: https://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Environment_Survey/MediaWiki_Extension…

Petr Bena

11:35 a.m.

This extension isn't really the same as what I proposed, however it was presented years ago but never deployed. Is there any existing extension which can do auto save? On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 12:10 PM, Helder <helder.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 06:46, Seb35 <seb35wikipedia(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Hi, There is already such an extension: http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Drafts Last time I played with it (some years ago) it was well-functionning and really practical.

Indeed. It was already available when the usability initiative did a survey of MW extensions in 2009: https://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Environment_Survey/MediaWiki_Extension… _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Helder

12:22 p.m.

On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 07:35, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Is there any existing extension which can do auto save?

The Extension:Drafts does.

Petr Bena

12:47 p.m.

It isn't stable, maybe someone should take over the work on it... If it was finished it would be nice to have feature, if it was ever deployed of course. On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 1:22 PM, Helder <helder.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 07:35, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Is there any existing extension which can do auto save?

The Extension:Drafts does. _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Marcin Cieslak

11 Apr 11 Apr

9:59 a.m.

...

Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

It isn't stable, maybe someone should take over the work on it... If it was finished it would be nice to have feature, if it was ever deployed of course.

Petr Bena

10:18 a.m.

I have no idea the page of extension say that it isn't stable On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 10:59 AM, Marcin Cieslak <saper(a)saper.info> wrote:

...

Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

It isn't stable, maybe someone should take over the work on it... If it was finished it would be nice to have feature, if it was ever deployed of course.

Can you describe (maybe on a talk page or maybe better in bugzilla) what's wrong with this extension (why it isn't working) and also how would you like to have it changed? It's much easier to start working on the obsolete codebase than from scratch. //Saper _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Chris Grant

10:33 a.m.

Hmm, you could probably do this with a javascript gadget. It would probably be quicker and easier than an extension. - Chris On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:18 PM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

I have no idea the page of extension say that it isn't stable On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 10:59 AM, Marcin Cieslak <saper(a)saper.info> wrote:

Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

It isn't stable, maybe someone should take over the work on it... If it was finished it would be nice to have feature, if it was ever deployed of course.

_______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Benjamin Lees

10:48 a.m.

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:18 AM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

I have no idea the page of extension say that it isn't stable

Because the author of the extension never marked it as stable.

Happy Melon

11:28 a.m.

On 11 April 2012 10:48, Benjamin Lees <emufarmers(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:18 AM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

I have no idea the page of extension say that it isn't stable

https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1 --HM

Petr Bena

3:19 p.m.

...

On 11 April 2012 10:48, Benjamin Lees <emufarmers(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:18 AM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

I have no idea the page of extension say that it isn't stable

https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1 --HM _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Petr Bena

3:30 p.m.

...

So you say person who created it finished the extension to deployment ready status and just forgot to update the extension page for it :-) I will try to review it a bit then On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 12:28 PM, Happy Melon <happy.melon.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On 11 April 2012 10:48, Benjamin Lees <emufarmers(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:18 AM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> > I have no idea the page of extension say that it isn't stable >> > > https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1 > > --HM > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Petr Bena

3:38 p.m.

It really needs some more work, I didn't find how to use it, it likely doesn't work with latest mediawiki, anyway, the question now is whether it's worth of implementing this to core or making an extension? I would prefer making an extension, but again, implementing it to core will make it easier to deploy + I can't think of any wiki, even non wmf which couldn't benefit from this feature. On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 4:30 PM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

I deployed it to english wikipedia on deployment site for test: http://en.wikipedia.beta.wmflabs.org/wiki/Special:Drafts let's try it ;) if there are no issues found I will ask for a full code review and hopefully it won't take years for it to happen. Anyway I still believe this should be in core, because the extension development process works pretty bad. (Simple and fast core is clearly a benefit, but only so long as it's possible to easily extend it using some plugins, and having any extension deployed to wmf sites is way more complicated than implementing change to core) On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 4:19 PM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote: > So you say person who created it finished the extension to deployment > ready status and just forgot to update the extension page for it :-) > > I will try to review it a bit then > > On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 12:28 PM, Happy Melon > <happy.melon.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> On 11 April 2012 10:48, Benjamin Lees <emufarmers(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:18 AM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>> > I have no idea the page of extension say that it isn't stable >>> >> >> https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1 >> >> --HM >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikitech-l mailing list >> Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Helder

3:47 p.m.

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 11:38, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

It really needs some more work, I didn't find how to use it, it likely doesn't work with latest mediawiki

I noticed this: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_talk:Drafts#Bugs

Petr Bena

3:53 p.m.

Yes it looks like some problem with the het setup, I will try to talk to werdna regarding this. On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 4:47 PM, Helder <helder.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 11:38, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

It really needs some more work, I didn't find how to use it, it likely doesn't work with latest mediawiki

I noticed this: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_talk:Drafts#Bugs _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Petr Bena

4:15 p.m.

Ok, I managed to fix it, anyway there are still some issues: The autosave works after 2 minutes of inactivity. It should work anyway, in case your pc crash there is no way to recover your work, since it's browser which waits 2 minutes for inactivity and not a server and browser crashes together with rest of OS. There should be a way to customize whole interface using MediaWiki: pages, the table with drafts could look better or the style should be customizable using interface of mediawiki. I will try to work on these 2 issues, but if anyone wants to join, please go ahead. On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 4:53 PM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Yes it looks like some problem with the het setup, I will try to talk to werdna regarding this. On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 4:47 PM, Helder <helder.wiki(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 11:38, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> It really needs some more work, I didn't find how to use it, it likely >> doesn't work with latest mediawiki > I noticed this: > https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension_talk:Drafts#Bugs > > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list > Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Chad

4:47 p.m.

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 11:15 AM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

That sounds like something fixable. Personally, I think the best behavior is to save the draft a couple of seconds after the user stops typing.

...

There should be a way to customize whole interface using MediaWiki: pages, the table with drafts could look better or the style should be customizable using interface of mediawiki.

If this is done properly with classes and ids, this should all be customizable by via site CSS/JS. But a sane default UI is important, yes :) -Chad

Petr Bena

5:03 p.m.

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:47 PM, Chad <innocentkiller(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 11:15 AM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

That sounds like something fixable. Personally, I think the best behavior is to save the draft a couple of seconds after the user stops typing.

No, it should save it no matter if user is typing or not. Computer doesn't crash only when you stop typing.

...

There should be a way to customize whole interface using MediaWiki: pages, the table with drafts could look better or the style should be customizable using interface of mediawiki.

If this is done properly with classes and ids, this should all be customizable by via site CSS/JS. But a sane default UI is important, yes :)

Default is nice, but still there should be a possibility to change the layout without having shell access.

...

-Chad _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Chad

5:15 p.m.

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:47 PM, Chad <innocentkiller(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 11:15 AM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote: If this is done properly with classes and ids, this should all be customizable by via site CSS/JS. But a sane default UI is important, yes :)

Default is nice, but still there should be a possibility to change the layout without having shell access.

Not shell access, just done via [[MediaWiki:Common.css]] -Chad

Petr Bena

12 Apr 12 Apr

4:32 p.m.

I made a few changes to extension and I would like to make following changes as well: * Preferences allowing users to disable the feature or change the autosave limits * Options for site administrators to change the UI, via MW pages * Notification area to edit form so that users see when the draft was last saved I think this extension is actually very nice and it would be good if it was deployed and since the work was started by Trevor who is a wmf employee, I think it's quite possible that it could happen. On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 6:15 PM, Chad <innocentkiller(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 12:03 PM, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 5:47 PM, Chad <innocentkiller(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Default is nice, but still there should be a possibility to change the layout without having shell access.

Not shell access, just done via [[MediaWiki:Common.css]] -Chad _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

Tei

10 Apr 10 Apr

10:07 a.m.

On 10 April 2012 10:57, Petr Bena <benapetr(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Special:MyPage/Draft_$ArticleName_$Date Users could change it to some other name of course before saving. Or even they could create a template for name in their advanced preferences. This could make it simpler to save work in progress for newbies.

Or you could have a magic reserved space for users, that works exactly like localStorage, but is serverside. And limited size. Then implement the thing clientside. So the only serverside thing is the ability to save key "Foo" and get key "Foo", for the current logued user. This is more exploitable than just for drafts. Could be used by extensions to store user controlled config. Perhaps to store some browsing story. Or things you can't imagine yet. The evil twin to this, is that if you implement drafs. Can be abused to have a "localStorage serverside" area. -- -- ℱin del ℳensaje.