Thread:VisualEditor/Feedback/Categories/reply (8)

Let's not mix things with other skins. The VisualEditor hs its own interface, and it should more or less mimic the look and feel seen in the default skin, or in the Monobook skin, where editable categories to include/modify remove in the wiki code of the page will be at bottom of page.

The HotCat extension behavior is perfect (and much more practical to use than the very basic (insufficient) interface currently presented in the VE. I also vote for the integration of HotCat in the VE (or something very similar). Except that this edit will be possible without having to open a menu, and nothing will be saved before saving the whole page visually edited.

This should not be hidden in that menu. Make the categories visible and editable at the bottom of pages.

For now I'll stick with HotCat, or with editing them in the wiki code editor.

My opinion is that both editors should be integrated, so that you can switch back and forth between the partially editable preview and the wiki code view during the edition. There would then be later a single "edit" tab on wiki pages (the current working mode would still use the user's preferences, if he only wishes to use the wiki code editor. We should always be able to see at any time every wiki code being modifed by any edit action in the VisualEditor, by just clicking a button.

Also, the editable preview panel (or the wiki code editor) will be scrollable, the interface at top may become a right-side properties pane, fixed on the page and not scrolling (the option buttons will be there in this properties pane.

Still missing as well in the VisualEditor: no support for the very useful characters selector (needed for I18n or for editing IPA and Maths symbols, or some useful punctuations like bullets, rarely present on keyboards). That's another reason why I still prefer not using the VisualEditor by default.

Another reason is that if the VE is your default, there's no way to edit a section in the wiki code editor, only visual editing is present. As long as the two editors are not integrated, we should still have two edit links: "[edit]" and "[edit code]" at end of editable sections, if the VE is enabled in user's preferences.

Lots of template transclusions also offer a specific edit link. Their action uses only the wiki code editor. If both actions "edit" and "editVE" were merged into a single one (with a simple switch to show either the editable preview or the wiki code) it would be simpler. And the "Show preview" button could disappear below the wiki editor (it would just remain a "Save page" button), but the "Save" button could also show the actual rendering without the limitations of the editable preview.