The #OpenID challenge

At #Translatewiki.net a request was made to support OpenID. The beauty of OpenID is that it reduces the number of websites that store your password. This makes browsing the Internet arguably safer.

The translatewiki staff is hesitant to support yet another nice to have extension. It has been burned by accepting LiquidThreads in the past. LiquidThreads is a great idea and it provides a much better user experience but it has not been properly supported. There is a promise for a release somewhere in an unspecified future.

Wikinaut did take over the OpenID extension support. He provided patches updated the documentation and equally important, he runs it on his own MediaWiki wikis. The need for support seems to be fulfilled, the question is not only if translatewiki is interested but also if the WMF is interested in providing improved security.
Thanks,
     GerardM

I do not participate in the Wikimedia Strategy project

Here is why; when you are to be involved in a strategy project, you need the best of breed tools to communicate. The best tool for the job is Liquid Threads. It is a great tool and I am satisfied with its use at translatewiki.net.

I am satisfied because even though we use the latest and greatest of this software, I can live with its occasional hiccups. It works well for us. We get regular updates and necessary fixes take at most a couple of days.

My 310 strategic new messages

At strategy, there have been no regular updates and as I still cannot properly read my "new messages". I have lost interest. Strategy is broken and I prefer practical work; improving and promoting the support for Wikipedia on the mobile phone, getting the localisations for the next release of MediaWiki to all MediaWiki wikis, learning how to support images that are too big for a screen and getting support for the languages of the Indian subcontinent.

LiquidThreads will get fixed on the strategy wiki eventually but when will I know..
Thanks,
     GerardM

The power of leading by example

At translatewiki.net, we adopted LiquidThreads. This is an extension that brings structure to the conversations that happen on talk pages. When Siebrand moved over, he did that for everything, for all types of talk pages.

Our community is faced with new functionality that is there for us to use. Typically the language we localise is the default language in the preferences. LiquidThreads is difficult enough to understand when the software is localised, when it is not, it is hard.

The solution for us is obvious. The solution can be found in what translatewiki.net is there for; you localise the software and it becomes more obvious what is expected; we eat your own dog food.

A video would help for the community we localise for.
Thanks,
GerardM

LiquidThreads is inching its way to the finish

LiquidThreads has developed over a long period of time and, it seems to be getting ready for the "big time" and that is great news.

LiquidThreads replaces the existing talk pages. It will make these conversations manageable. Being able to summarise or move a thread.. to quote from what has been said before.. all this makes it much easier to respond and still be understood. I like the notion that it will be possible to move a thread to the talk page of another article.

As the previous incarnation of LiquidThreads is used by sites like WikiEducator, I suggested to people to look there for a talk page on steroids. I am really happy with all the improved functionality and usability.

When you want to experience what it is all about, LiquidThreads is now installed on one of the prototype wikis.
Thanks,
GerardM

Usability.wikimedia.org

There is a wiki for the Wikipedia Usability Initiative and it has one nice surprise; it uses the Liquid Threads extension for its talk pages.I have started two threads on my user page and I find the way it feeds into the recent changes really intriguing.

The Liquid Threads provide a paradigm shift away from the current talk pages and, I do welcome having more control over the discussions. With the implementation of LQT in the Usability wiki, I think there is no need to have a separate implementation in the labs environment.

I wonder what it takes for a labs implementation to happen. Brion indicated in his FOSDEM presentation, that Semantic MediaWiki is a mature technology, I would welcome a labs implementation. I would love to learn what the procedure is for getting one.
Thanks,
GerardM