Talk:Wizard (front end): Difference between revisions

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This is a really nice concept for the FEs. The FAQs seem general and might want to be put under a template (or another page entirely). Although it is useful information, it is not specific to the Wizard FE. With the drop-down style, some of the internal linking doesn't work very well (for example, Highlighting Strings internal link works, but if everything is not expanded, it appears to do nothing). I would also think for the instructions on downloading it, explicit links would be helpful. In particular, for third-party FEs, one should certainly provide links, thus this would be a general point for consistency. As for the Wizard screen itself, I might mention that it is very easy to arrange the different components (windows, icons), and that the real-estate for the different parts are small. In the past (maybe still) Avalon had each icon as a window with a header and a close/minimize button which wasted up a lot of space. In Storm Front, the user does not have nearly as much freedom to arrange different components of the window. They can even be made to be overlapping and I believe easily re-sized. I think the Wizard can also over-ride OS keybindings, like "Alt+Tab" etc; if this is still true today (I thought it was a setting of some sort to toggle), make sure it is mentioned (perhaps I just missed it). Finally, I would mention something about stamina, since I didn't think the Wizard was updated to show this status (or it's been updated and I haven't used the Wizard in years). Anyway, I think the style and approach are great, and the above are just a couple nit-picking points you may address. [[User:DAID|DAID]] ([[User talk:DAID|talk]]) 04:07, 29 March 2015 (CDT)
This is a really nice concept for the FEs. The FAQs seem general and might want to be put under a template (or another page entirely). Although it is useful information, it is not specific to the Wizard FE. With the drop-down style, some of the internal linking doesn't work very well (for example, Highlighting Strings internal link works, but if everything is not expanded, it appears to do nothing). I would also think for the instructions on downloading it, explicit links would be helpful. In particular, for third-party FEs, one should certainly provide links, thus this would be a general point for consistency. As for the Wizard screen itself, I might mention that it is very easy to arrange the different components (windows, icons), and that the real-estate for the different parts are small. In the past (maybe still) Avalon had each icon as a window with a header and a close/minimize button which wasted up a lot of space. In Storm Front, the user does not have nearly as much freedom to arrange different components of the window. They can even be made to be overlapping and I believe easily re-sized. I think the Wizard can also over-ride OS keybindings, like "Alt+Tab" etc; if this is still true today (I thought it was a setting of some sort to toggle), make sure it is mentioned (perhaps I just missed it). Finally, I would mention something about stamina, since I didn't think the Wizard was updated to show this status (or it's been updated and I haven't used the Wizard in years). Anyway, I think the style and approach are great, and the above are just a couple nit-picking points you may address. [[User:DAID|DAID]] ([[User talk:DAID|talk]]) 04:07, 29 March 2015 (CDT)
:Thanks for the suggestions, Daid. When you say internal link not working, I take it you mean when linking the section in another article for reference? A couple quick tests confirms your perspective - I'll have to work on that, but need a way to detect the link includes the toggle command when the page is called - yay, another challenge! As to the other points, will work on them - right after I decide how best to meet some of the challenges I was handed (expanding the whole text, etc - which the link heads off to as a demo, right now. Will have to edit it out later). I thought the Windows 3.1 ref was a classic myself, though! And the statement that Wizard can't work on Mac OS X, etc. I wonder if a disclaimer is in order. [[User:DOUG|DOUG]] ([[User talk:DOUG|talk]]) 09:41, 29 March 2015 (CDT)
:Thanks for the suggestions, Daid. When you say internal link not working, I take it you mean when linking the section in another article for reference? A couple quick tests confirms your perspective - I'll have to work on that, but need a way to detect the link includes the toggle command when the page is called - yay, another challenge! As to the other points, will work on them - right after I decide how best to meet some of the challenges I was handed (expanding the whole text, etc - which the link heads off to as a demo, right now. Will have to edit it out later). I thought the Windows 3.1 ref was a classic myself, though! And the statement that Wizard can't work on Mac OS X, etc. I wonder if a disclaimer is in order. [[User:DOUG|DOUG]] ([[User talk:DOUG|talk]]) 09:41, 29 March 2015 (CDT)
::Yes, for the "internal links not working"...in principle a link to a section on the same page will move the browser down to that section of the page. However, if linking a section, and most things are condensed, the part being linked may already be visible so the browser focus does not scroll down. This is, essentially, proper behavior, but I can see it confusing some people. Ideally, there may be a way to have that section link expand the section it links to (then the behavior is clear and someone's visual attention was shifted rather than "nothing" appearing to happen in some situations). However, I've no idea how to go about that, or what wiki tricks are required. Also I missed the part about Mac OS X and the Wizard; I thought it could work? (Or maybe a version of this page said it couldn't and was false.) Anyway, I didn't have any specific comments about that, and I'm sure you're the expert here. I technically have access to a laptop running OS X but wasn't planning to do much testing... [[User:DAID|DAID]] ([[User talk:DAID|talk]]) 02:30, 30 March 2015 (CDT)

:Ok, spent the day sorting through section (as opposed to page) transclusion via link and just with content. Modified the existing FAQ section to show how it works - but have also made a request on the Pump which will greatly ease editing. To see how this is rendered using this techique, see the [[User:DOUG/Sandbox Transclusion Tests]] page. [[User:DOUG|DOUG]] ([[User talk:DOUG|talk]]) 18:43, 29 March 2015 (CDT)
:Ok, spent the day sorting through section (as opposed to page) transclusion via link and just with content. Modified the existing FAQ section to show how it works - but have also made a request on the Pump which will greatly ease editing. To see how this is rendered using this techique, see the [[User:DOUG/Sandbox Transclusion Tests]] page. [[User:DOUG|DOUG]] ([[User talk:DOUG|talk]]) 18:43, 29 March 2015 (CDT)

Revision as of 02:30, 30 March 2015

This is a really nice concept for the FEs. The FAQs seem general and might want to be put under a template (or another page entirely). Although it is useful information, it is not specific to the Wizard FE. With the drop-down style, some of the internal linking doesn't work very well (for example, Highlighting Strings internal link works, but if everything is not expanded, it appears to do nothing). I would also think for the instructions on downloading it, explicit links would be helpful. In particular, for third-party FEs, one should certainly provide links, thus this would be a general point for consistency. As for the Wizard screen itself, I might mention that it is very easy to arrange the different components (windows, icons), and that the real-estate for the different parts are small. In the past (maybe still) Avalon had each icon as a window with a header and a close/minimize button which wasted up a lot of space. In Storm Front, the user does not have nearly as much freedom to arrange different components of the window. They can even be made to be overlapping and I believe easily re-sized. I think the Wizard can also over-ride OS keybindings, like "Alt+Tab" etc; if this is still true today (I thought it was a setting of some sort to toggle), make sure it is mentioned (perhaps I just missed it). Finally, I would mention something about stamina, since I didn't think the Wizard was updated to show this status (or it's been updated and I haven't used the Wizard in years). Anyway, I think the style and approach are great, and the above are just a couple nit-picking points you may address. DAID (talk) 04:07, 29 March 2015 (CDT)

Thanks for the suggestions, Daid. When you say internal link not working, I take it you mean when linking the section in another article for reference? A couple quick tests confirms your perspective - I'll have to work on that, but need a way to detect the link includes the toggle command when the page is called - yay, another challenge! As to the other points, will work on them - right after I decide how best to meet some of the challenges I was handed (expanding the whole text, etc - which the link heads off to as a demo, right now. Will have to edit it out later). I thought the Windows 3.1 ref was a classic myself, though! And the statement that Wizard can't work on Mac OS X, etc. I wonder if a disclaimer is in order. DOUG (talk) 09:41, 29 March 2015 (CDT)
Yes, for the "internal links not working"...in principle a link to a section on the same page will move the browser down to that section of the page. However, if linking a section, and most things are condensed, the part being linked may already be visible so the browser focus does not scroll down. This is, essentially, proper behavior, but I can see it confusing some people. Ideally, there may be a way to have that section link expand the section it links to (then the behavior is clear and someone's visual attention was shifted rather than "nothing" appearing to happen in some situations). However, I've no idea how to go about that, or what wiki tricks are required. Also I missed the part about Mac OS X and the Wizard; I thought it could work? (Or maybe a version of this page said it couldn't and was false.) Anyway, I didn't have any specific comments about that, and I'm sure you're the expert here. I technically have access to a laptop running OS X but wasn't planning to do much testing... DAID (talk) 02:30, 30 March 2015 (CDT)
Ok, spent the day sorting through section (as opposed to page) transclusion via link and just with content. Modified the existing FAQ section to show how it works - but have also made a request on the Pump which will greatly ease editing. To see how this is rendered using this techique, see the User:DOUG/Sandbox Transclusion Tests page. DOUG (talk) 18:43, 29 March 2015 (CDT)