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

[Han Dao]

MediaWiki is not low-tech. MediaWiki is one of the most advanced wiki
engine, if not the most advanced in the world.
I am not a web programmer...but....

What I think you're calling for need some javascripts. It might be really
difficult to get it look right in every browser, especially browsers like
IE.
Anyway, options are bad. It would be a bad idea to have many options. It may
allow for more bugs and make it harder for programmers and users in general.
The last thing MediaWIki need is tons of bugs interfering with the operation
of Wikimedia sites.

On 1/6/07, Virgil Ierubino <virgil.ierubino at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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.
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