Excess at top of editing window.

**InformationNirvana** · August 31, 2008

So far VaultWiki already looks better than NuWiki.
However, I found all the junk at the top of the editing window very cumbersome.
Move it all below the editing window.

Sadly I can't attach items here.
MEH.

http://www.jettmedia.com/images/99_c...diting.box.jpg

**krela** · August 31, 2008

I don't agree, most of it is important stuff that needs to be seen/understood BEFORE editing.

I would agree that the reason for editing could be moved below the main content box though.

**vimto** · August 31, 2008

Originally Posted by krela

I don't agree, most of it is important stuff that needs to be seen/understood BEFORE editing.

I would agree that the reason for editing could be moved below the main content box though.

I would like the reason for editing underneath also.

As for the Reload this tab bit, that goes away anyway when you reload it.

**InformationNirvana** · August 31, 2008

So, you ask the end user to NOT edit the Title, Yet, you stick it right in their face, right at the top, with the title ready to edit ?
The vast majority of edits will not include a Title EDIT, yet this is the most prominently displayed item. If you really dont want it edited, display the Title in a non-editable manner and force the user to click on an [EDIT] button.

http://www.jettmedia.com/images/869_....firefox.3.jpg

This is very inconvenient. Please see how editing mediawiki has a small menu and none of this bloat. Wikis are supposed to be fast, forcing me to use a scrollbar for every edit is going to slow every EDIT down tremendously.

**pegasus** · August 31, 2008

Unfortunately there is a display issue that requires the "AJAX message" box to be at the top. You may think this doesn't have to be increased in height with the message, but you wouldn't believe how many edits have been lost because of accidental BACK commands. Displaying this message at the top reminds users that it is probably a good idea to reload.

As for the other stuff:
I am going to end up moving the title down below the edit window, for the reasons you mentioned. However the Reason is staying above. This is because the "reason" is frequently overlooked while editing. In a wiki context especially, filling this in helps moderators and other users understand why various edits were made.

**InformationNirvana** · August 31, 2008

Originally Posted by pegasus

Unfortunately there is a display issue that requires the "AJAX message" box to be at the top. You may think this doesn't have to be increased in height with the message, but you wouldn't believe how many edits have been lost because of accidental BACK commands. Displaying this message at the top reminds users that it is probably a good idea to reload.

Well ... how about making it as small as possible or only show it when needed ? (i doubt that is possible). Losing information is obviously priority number one, so I can understand your logic here.

However the Reason is staying above. This is because the "reason" is frequently overlooked while editing. In a wiki context especially, filling this in helps moderators and other users understand why various edits were made.

The wiki users have spoken - people dont want to fill the reason in. Making the most important features of a wiki (it is fast and easy to use) crippled because you can't even see the edit window to encourage users to use something they won't use anyway isn't how I would do it. The do gooders that will use the "Reason" are sure to use it if it was displayed below as well.

As you can see,
http://www.jettmedia.com/images/740_...w.for.wiki.jpg
CES wiki .. I can't even see the edit window.

**pegasus** · September 1, 2008

I wouldn't go so far as to say that they don't want to fill it in. In my experience I just don't notice it's there (which is why it had a placement near the top).

Have you seen the Edit window for a Book with more than a few chapters? I bet you'll have a field day with this one. In general though, I have found that most book edits are related to chapter management, so in this case the top has been a good placement. I can only see it becoming a problem if books are over-used in that you have too many books and it just becomes another content namespace of Book-related content. If this happens, it was not really the intended functionality of that namespace.