https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=50354
--- Comment #7 from Oliver Keyes <oke...@wikimedia.org> ---
More user suggestions:
After selecting a template and clicking "Add template", the left side of
the box should read (in descending order): (1) Dialog box name (which should be
"New template", not "Transclusion"); (2) the name of the new template [done
now, but this should not be clickable - see (6)]; (3) A title, "Required
parameters" [new], (4) a list of the required parameters [done now; done now],
(5) a title, "Added parameters" [new], (6) A button, "Add a parameter", which
when clicked, changes the right side of the box to the "Add parameter" dialog;
and (7) a list of added parameters [done now; may be blank]. The button should
be greyed out if the editor cannot add any new parameters (the only allowed
parameters are required; all possible added parameters have been added)
After clicking "Add template", the left side of the dialog box highlights
the template name, and always shows, on the right side, the "Add parameter"
dialog. This is wrong if there are any required parameters. What should be
highlighted on the left is the first required parameter. Editors should be
completing the required parameters first, then turning to adding optional
parameters.
When a editor clicks, on the left side, on a parameter, the right side
shows an input box. It isn't clear, after the editor has added the desired
information, what to do. Pressing [Enter] (or [Return]) just puts a newline
character into the box (starts a new line). Clicking on "Apply changes", which
seems like a possible solution, actually saves the template and exits the
dialog box - that's frustrating. There should be a "Done" button that closes
the edit window, and moves the left-side focus to (a) the top-most required
parameter without information, or (b) the "Add a parameter" button/option.
When a parameter listed in the left side of the box gets its information
added by the editor, the visible format of the parameter does not change. This
is a particular problem if there are a lot of mandatory parameters, and the
editor is not adding information linearly. It would be helpful if the text of
the name of the parameter were to turn green once the parameter has been filled
out; that's also positive feedback to an editor looking at anything with more
than a few required parameters.
How to add a parameter is not obvious, as indicated by the frustration
voiced by an editor previously. It looks like an editor can click on a
parameter in the list, and then click the boxed parameter name towards the
right side of the areas that has turned blue (that is, to click on what appears
to be a button with the parameter name within it). But clicking on that
"button" does nothing. Nor does clicking on a parameter result in the name of
that parameter being put into the search box. The secret of adding a parameter
[I guess; I've not been able to figure out anything else] is to ignore the fact
that parameter names can be selected by clicking on them, instead (a) typing
the parameter name into the search box, and (b) pressing [Enter]. I admit to
being baffled by the rationale here: why make (the parameter name) clickable,
yet have the click do absolutely nothing useful? Clicking on a small button
within the parameter description, or double-clicking (or best, either way) is
much more what editors would expect. [I also note that the user guide is not
helpful, saying in its entirety, on this issue: "You can add parameters or edit
those already listed."]
What makes the "type in the parameter name and press enter" approach
particularly problematical is that if you misspell the name of an optional
parameter, you get no feedback that you have done so. That's because VE assumes
you're adding a parameter that's not covered by templatedata, but still is
valid. That's a necessary assumption now, but clicking to add a parameter,
rather than typing to add one, would remove the potential for this problem.
When adding a parameter, the list of parameters includes a description
(e.g., "Full date when the source was published; if unknown, use accessdate
..."). It would be extremely useful if this description was also visible when
the enter enters information for that parameter. (Bug exists for this, I
believe.)
VE should prevent an editor from adding a template to the page text unless
information has been entered for all required parameters. This could be done by
greying out the final button (currently "Apply changes"), or by an appropriate
error message if that button were clicked while a required parameter was still
blank. If the first approach is taken, then it's particularly important to show
the editor his/her progress in filling out parameters (the fourth suggestion,
above), perhaps even turning red the required parameters that still require
information.
The final step, for a different process, adding images, is to click a
button labeled "Insert media". Similarly, the final step for the template
process should be a button labeled "Insert template", rather than "Apply
changes".
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