Community Wishlist Survey 2021/Miscellaneous/Private Notes

Private Notes

  • Problem: To make notes that no one else should read, third-party software is required.
  • Who would benefit: All Users
  • Proposed solution: A MediaWiki extension that allows to make private notes.
  • More comments: The extension is not for a Sandbox. It should have minimal formatting options such as bold and italic and Onwikilinks.
  • Phabricator tickets:
  • Proposer: 𝐖𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 👤💬 20:00, 16 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion

  • @WikiBayer: I'd suggest making a more comprehensive description of the problem. What problem does it solve (in terms of the article writing process), how many people/how regularly have people asked for this functionality ? I mean.. my first idea would be.. use the notepad functionality of your computer.. It's easy, its there, you are already familiar with it. As we shouldn't cram the functionality of an entire operating system inside MediaWiki if we can avoid it, why would it be so much better to have it in the MediaWiki software that it would eleviate the burden of making and keeping such basic functionality provided by so many other pre-existing and focused systems ? —TheDJ (talkcontribs) 21:19, 16 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
    en:Signal (software) has self-send functionality which it treats as notes. I know that private messaging in MediaWiki is a perennial, so there's a potential crossover there. --Izno (talk) 22:00, 16 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
Alternative software is always more cumbersome than a function in the Mediawiki. Appropriate programs are required on all PCs/Smartphones. A "interview" by WMF with CheckUsers has also shown that they keep making alternative notes.---𝐖𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 👤💬 08:13, 17 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]
  • @WikiBayer: We'd like some more details about what sort of connections or features these Private Notes would have? Is the desire here to be able to use Wikitext? Link to wiki articles? Do sandbox development in private? We'd like to see the specific use cases be at the heart of the proposal so that it's clearer, more specific, and easier for voters to understand (and support). --AEzell (WMF) (talk) 23:21, 2 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]
@User:AEzell (WMF) The proposal is intended as a pure administrative aid and organizational aid. It is only intended to enable you to take notes and to format them minimally so that longer notes remain clear and can be navigated quickly. It should be possible to create Links to Wiki Articles and write in bold and italic.--𝐖𝐢𝐤𝐢𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 👤💬 08:49, 3 December 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Voting