[Wikimedia-l] Visual Editor "temporary" opt-out

[Richard Farmbrough]

Apparently important.  I am aware, as probably everyone is, that this is 
the first most obvious step to make article editing more accessible, and 
address certain inclusiveness goals.  I am also aware that there is no 
data to support the theory that a visual editor means more inclusive 
editing, let alone that it will result in better content.

I will simply add a couple of observations.

The learning curve for wikitext is one of the shallowest of any 
application.  Press edit, type in the box and press save.  If you can 
type and press edit and save (the latter two of which /are/ HMI issues 
IMHO) you can edit Wikimedia projects.

Secondly, and anecdotally, most full functioned word-processors have a 
plethora of functions that are usually only known about by the same 
"tech-savvy"  group that we currently believe are at home with wiki-text.

Thirdly I vividly remember my first editing experiences - I did not 
think I would /ever /be touching stuff like infoboxes and categories, 
but they made no real obstacle to editing.  (The keyboard only method of 
formatting text took seconds to understand, and saves a huge amount of 
time.)

I would not be surprised if the /choice/ of editor turns out to be the 
reason that editing has fallen off more rather than the VE itself.

On 06/08/2013 08:04, MZMcBride wrote:
> I cannot and will not blame the Wikimedia Foundation for working on 
> this project. It's an important project
...