MediaWiki talk:Sidebar

I've split the "Help/Contact Us" link into separate "help" and "contact us" links. See also MediaWiki talk:Help. Angela . 06:14, July 24, 2005 (UTC)

Is there any objection to adding a "permalink" in this sidebar. Since permanent links to the current version are now possible, I think it would be a useful addition for people who want to link to a version that they can be guaranteed is not vandalism. See meta:MediaWiki:Permalink-url. Angela . 06:29, August 22, 2005 (UTC)

The Permalink is now part of the toolbox instead of the sidebar following discussion at village pump (proposals). Angela . 02:17, August 26, 2005 (UTC)

I'm sorry for adding the link without consulting anyone, but I think a link to a quick form (an an "add new section link" is just that) for reporting errors is something we could use - that's what the readers are more likely to edit, as being given a form to quickly fill in and click "save" in the sidebar is more intuitive to them than writing an e-mail or writing it at a talk page (where often no one will see it). If you think it's a bad idea, remove it, but it's working quite fine at Polish Wikipedia - so far people don't report bugs but actual factual errors in articles which we managed to fix thanks to that. Ausir 02:54, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Firstly, Ausir, my apologies for removing it. I've removed the "Report an error" link because I think it is bound to lead to lots of erroneous bug reports generated from users who don't understand how Wikipedia works. Also, it just presented the user with a blank edit screen to add a section to Wikipedia:Report an error without explaining what sort of thing the user should write there or when they should make a bug report. Thus, I think it is not a good idea to have it there; I think something better would be a good idea, however, perhaps a link to a page which explains what to do if you think you've found a bug. It probably works OK on the Polish Wikipedia due to a lower traffic volume, but I'm a bit apprehensive about having it on en. Best regards, --NicholasTurnbull | (talk) 03:01, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Well, we could always try adding it there for a short period of time to see how the readers will use it - that's what we did at pl: at first, actually. Ausir 03:05, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Proper, that is, well-written and correctly presented, bug reports should be filed on BugZilla. Rob Church ^Talk 03:07, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

It was meant not for bug reports but for reporting factual errors in articles. Ausir 03:08, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Then surely the talk page would be the place to raise them? And a single page for reporting that would become intolerable with a wiki the size of en, since every POV reader in the universe would be moaning on the Report an error function about how their POV was misrepresented. --NicholasTurnbull | (talk) 03:13, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately, since 71% of pages are unwatched, raising concerns on 71% of talk pages is unlikely to result in a response. We do need something like this; maybe a system similar to AFD, with subpages per day (or even per hour, if needed)? —Kirill Lokshin 03:20, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, that's why we introduced it at pl:. Ausir 03:45, 28 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]