Hi Yaron, >> it just seems like too much work to makes users do Well, their is not much wiggle room in making the Special:Ask layout UI somewhat sane. On the one hand we want people immediately recognize the content that is inherent in an option selected and on the other hand by doing so puts the whole screen under scrutiny for being "unorganised".
>> one possibility is just to display them in a smaller font I did a quick test using text (altering the font size did not change much) beneath the input box but depending on the individual text length and a formats available option pool, the Special:Ask becomes a two-page option mine-field where you hardly can focus on the option due to text that is cluttered amongst all options and one scrolling between query and option input. Please have a look at [1], [2] and compare for yourself. >> parameter names by themselves are pretty cryptic Nothing much one can do here. >> I'm really not sure about that hover thing Me neither but what else is there left, if this is not an option? Another option would be to introduce a user preference where one can opt-in/out of the text display but do we really want to do this? [1] https://github.com/mwjames/docs/raw/master/smw-core/special-ask-table-without-text.png [2] https://github.com/mwjames/docs/raw/master/smw-core/special-ask-table-with-text.png Cheers mwjames On 7/25/12, Yaron Koren <ya...@wikiworks.com> wrote: > Hi James, > > I just tried this code out now, and I regret not having looked at it > before. I'm really not sure about that hover thing - as Jeroen notes, it > has usabiility issues, and beyond that, it just seems like too much work to > makes users do. It would be one thing if the hover were just clarifying > what was already on the page, but in this case the parameter names by > themselves are pretty cryptic - and they're always in English, so if people > don't speak English then they're forced to hover over every parameter. > > Was the issue that the parameter descriptions were taking up too much of > the page? If so, one possibility is just to display them in a smaller font > instead - that might help readability as well (ironically), since it > wouldn't look as much like a sea of text. > > -Yaron > > On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 6:07 AM, Jeroen De Dauw > <jeroended...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> Hey James, >> >> I just merged in your changes, and they are looking great :) >> >> One usability suggestion I have is adding a line of text at the top of >> the >> "other options" box explaining what they are, in particular that you can >> cover over their names to get their associated description (as this might >> not be obvious). >> >> And this only occurred to me now, but the WMF has a usability policy >> discouraging use of hover-only features, as they do not work on most >> mobile >> devices. Not sure how to address this issue here though. >> >> >> Cheers >> >> -- >> Jeroen De Dauw >> http://www.bn2vs.com >> Don't panic. Don't be evil. >> -- >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> Live Security Virtual Conference >> Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and >> threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions >> will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware >> threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ >> _______________________________________________ >> Semediawiki-devel mailing list >> Semediawiki-devel@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/semediawiki-devel >> >> > > > -- > WikiWorks · MediaWiki Consulting · http://wikiworks.com > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Semediawiki-devel mailing list Semediawiki-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/semediawiki-devel
