On Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:20:51 +0100, Platonides wrote:
Also note, doing little plaintext changes expose the users to the syntax, so they would be slowly getting more familiar with it.
Yes, visual editor is really useful only for totally "technically disabled" users. At long last, most of the internet users successfully use BBCode on the forums - why they can't use wikitext?..
If big changes can only be done with plaintext, there's something wrong in your Visual Editor.
I mean plaintext is always more convenient for doing something big. For example, it's just faster to enter '''text''' instead of mouse-clicking [B], then switching back to keyboard, entering "text" and again clicking [B]. If you have keyboard shortcuts, then it will be Ctrl-B text Ctrl-B, which is not easier than entering '''text''' but involves switching between some modes (bold/not bold). Visual editor may be usable and may have cool features (for example, inplace editing), but I'm sure there is a lot more implementation issues and usability problems with it than with plain text. If I were MW, I would keep being simple, but if MW want to experiment - again, PLEASE experiment CAREFULLY...