[Commons-l] On upload forms

[Brion Vibber]

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For a long time we've had to suffer with an image upload form which was
pretty bare-bones, while attempting to shoehorn more smarts into it
through templates and JavaScript hacks.


Well, I think it's about time we prioritize really doing this thing
right. Commons, and MediaWiki generally, needs an upload form which:

a) Works sensibly

b) Looks good

c) Allows you to upload the file, extract metadata, compare duplicates,
make sure it's sensibly named, and *then* commit it into the system.

d) Handles batch uploads with a minimum of fuss (or at least, as
minimally fussy as one can get with HTML file upload forms :)


Note that this isn't going to be done by tacking JavaScript and
templates onto the existing form; this is going to be a real effort to
redesign it from scratch into something that handles today's actual needs.


I'd appreciate hearing from people interested in helping out in the
following capacities:

* Designing user interface mockups
* Helping code it up in MediaWiki
* Testing the new form under development
* Providing constructive criticism as we work


This effort will probably take from a few weeks to a few months to get
to the point where it's really live; we may even try experiments like
having the old and new forms available side-by-side on the live site so
people really have a chance to bang at it in real usage without forcing
an in-flux test system on everyone.

- -- brion vibber (brion @ wikimedia.org)
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