https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=13742


Philippe Verdy <[email protected]> changed:

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--- Comment #6 from Philippe Verdy <[email protected]>  2009-11-14 16:13:43 
UTC ---
Adding a gadget and activating it by default is a known source of problems.
Somtimes it even breaks the clear intent of users, notably when the
functionality breaks or invades their privacy.

For example, some gadgets have been activated in discussion pages that
automated sending emails to users to inform them that a page "of interest" had
been changed. This option was activated by default, and many users have
complained that they now received tons of emails, just because in the past they
had worked on many pages, even though they had set all their other preferences
to NOT send them any email, but instead made their user page on all wikis to
inform other users that they could be contacted in the Talk page of their
"home" wiki. This activation caused MediaWiki sites to be reported as really
SPAMMING (which it really was: the effect of enabling this option by default
was completely equivalent to forcing users to subscribe to a new mailing list
without their consent, assuming that they could "opt out" something that is not
as easy as you think because the preferences panel is sometimes not usable when
it is displayed by default in a language or script that they can't easily
decipher and where even the language default is not so easy to locate and
change).

Remember this: activating by default a new function that changes the behavior
of the site MUST NOT be activated by default, unless there's a clear decision
that the new behavior is MANDATORY FOR ALL (in which case there's not even the
need for this option), or if the fact of not activating it for all will cause
problems for working and supporting users that have not activated it.

Please let users decide by themselves which option they want, but in all cases,
do not change the behavior for all users that already have an account where the
option was not set.


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