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)