User talk:Petréa Mitchell/Archive2

No disagreement

Hey, I wouldn't say that we disagree with your ideas about usability. We're just all so busy we don't even have time for our own stuff (look at User:J. Noel Chiappa/ToDo for stuff I proposed months ago and haven't gotten to writing up yet - I'm just now getting around to writing CZ:Article structure which I said I'd do months ago)! I saw your note about your usability sub-page, skimmed it quickly and didn't see anything I wildly disagreed with, then added it to my watchlist so I could get to it at some point and comment, and just haven't gotten back to it yet. I have a related thing I want to push, readability (sigh, didn't have time to even add that one to the ToDo list), and structural changes to make sure our articles are readable by non-specialists (there's a thread on the forums, don't have time to find it). J. Noel Chiappa 13:45, 17 April 2008 (CDT)

Well, there seems to be plenty of spare time available to debate subpage types but no will to actually approve them. Several people had time to create a new public skin which makes things worse. So insofar as design work has been done, I think it is fair to conclude Citizendium's official stance is to not take usability seriously.

It should be noted that this is hardly unusual on the Web, and I'm sure one could compile a list of many respectable professional organizations that feel likewise. Petréa Mitchell 22:15, 20 April 2008 (CDT)

When I have noticed people request them, and there seems to be some support, I have established new ones as an "experimental subpage". That is how CZ:Recipes, CZ:Advanced CZ:Isotopes and CZ:Addendum subpages got added. Unfortunately, I miss some of the discussions. Chris Day 16:52, 21 April 2008 (CDT)

Does this mean these instructions are incorrect? At a quick glance, there are three suggested subpages in a holding pattern at CZ Talk:Subpages waiting for the step where the Editor-in-Chief takes a look and determines whether or not they deserve resolutions or not. Petréa Mitchell 13:28, 26 April 2008 (CDT)

There are just too many things to do, and not enough people to do them. So only the loudest squeaky wheels get greased.

Besides, there is stuff happening with subpages. See CZ:Article-specific subpages, for instance; this is now used to support /Isotopes, because they are a rare enough kind of subpage. The whole subpage thing is still to some degree in a state of flux. J. Noel Chiappa 20:08, 26 April 2008 (CDT)

Wha...?

Petrea, I'm stunned to find that you are so dismayed over this issue that you're leaving, because I was not aware of any serious problems.

Not that I'm the be-all and end-all of conflict solving by any means, but I think that conflict so serious, whatever it is, but especially if it is a project-wide issue as this seems to be, should be brought to the attention of the community-at-large, so the issues can be made clear before people start leaving over them.

Aleta Curry 18:31, 17 April 2008 (CDT)

I looked for a way to do that. Starting from CZ:Home, trying to find a place to bring things to the community at large, I was stumped. Looking at it, there's no obvious place within CZ. There's not even an obvious place to ask where to find something like that. The forums? An e-mail list? A blog comment? What percentage of the community actually reads any of those? In the end, the skin feedback page was the only place I could think of where it would be relatively on-topic. Petréa Mitchell 22:20, 20 April 2008 (CDT)

Petréa, I just noticed your essay on usability. I have to agree with Noel above that the dinosaur moves slowly not for lack of will but for lack of time. I usually try and respond quickly to suggestions, if i have any ability or power to make it work, but I miss a lot. I note that one of your wishes was to be able to add any tab you like, such as "winners", rather than have it hidden in catalogs. I have now done it in response to a comment by Noel in the forums. Actually, that ability was always in the old subpages format but it was not widely known about since it was something I added and was not sure if there was any support for such a feature. I hope you hang around and continue your constructive critiques, it IS valuable in put. Chris Day 16:48, 21 April 2008 (CDT)

I can only reiterate my comment from above that I feel the dinosaur has picked a clear direction to move in. I have accepted that I can't turn it, and all I can do now is try to apply my limited spare time toward something more constructive. I thank you all for the kind words. Petréa Mitchell 14:08, 26 April 2008 (CDT)