Topic on Talk:Growth/Personalized first day/Structured tasks/Add a link

May I report here problems and suggestions?

10
Misibacsi (talkcontribs)

Sometimes the tool quits without apparent reason, which means I click on the suggested next article, it opens, but the tool does not start.Usually quits after about 8-10 articles.


The window of the tool is too small. Little info is visible when it shows some text from the recommended article.


The algorithm tends to suggest tv-series or movies which have everyday life titles.


The selectable "topics" too wide, it practically allows everything. It has little relevance if I have chosen "Africa" only, the article can be a european city.

Misibacsi (talkcontribs)

I suggest to make the suggestions more accurate.

I use this tool only for 2-3 days, and I noticed that many suggestions are incorrect, pointing to a quite different topic. Of course I did not accept these false suggestions.

However I received notices from other editors (who do not use this tool), that put links to articles "that are not relevant".

So, it would be better to have fewer, but more accurate suggestions to articles.

If it is now 75%, than please make it 90% accurate at least.

MMiller (WMF) (talkcontribs)

Hello @Misibacsi -- thank you for trying out "add a link". I really appreciate these detailed thoughts, especially since we haven't yet heard from Hungarian Wikipedia about how it's going on that wiki. I'm also tagging @Tgr (WMF) who worked on the feature and is familiar with huwiki.

Here are my thoughts and questions for you:

  • Quitting unexpectedly: when the tool quits without apparent reason, is there any kind of box that appears explaining what happened? And where are you at that moment -- are you on the article in "read" mode? Or is the visual editor open?
  • Window too small: I think you're using desktop (not mobile), is that correct? We call that window the "link inspector", and it currently displays the article title and the first sentence of the article. Are you saying you would want to see more of the article in order to decide whether to add the link? If so, how much of the article would you want to be able to see?
  • Everyday life titles: do you mean that maybe if the article says, "The determinant of a square matrix is a number associated to the matrix." then the algorithm might link to "The Matrix"? I've seen that issue, and I will bring it up with the researcher who works on the algorithm.
  • Topics: there are 39 topics available, and I agree that we wish they could be more specific. Topics like "arts" and "sports" are quite broad -- maybe someone is only interested in football or hockey. That's an area for improvement in the future. But it also sounds like you're saying that some articles are wrong -- like a European city under the "Africa" topic. If you see some of those, could you please post the article links here so I can investigate?
  • Accuracy: we believe the algorithm is about 75% accurate. What is your experience? Do you agree that it seems to be right about 75% of the time? In general we think that is an appropriate level of accuracy so that the user feels helpful. If it is too accurate (like 95%), then the user might think, "Why do they even need my help?" It sounds like you are saying that other patrollers are seeing users overlinking, and therefore you think the algorithm should be made more accurate. Is that correct?

Please let me know!

Misibacsi (talkcontribs)
  • Quitting unexpectedly: So the tool is running. I press on the article small window to open it. The article opens, and I am in editing mode in visual editor. Only the "Add a link" tool is not functioning. It happens after about 8-10 correct opening.
  • Window too small: Desktop version, yes. ''Are you saying you would want to see more of the article in order to decide whether to add the link? If so, how much of the article would you want to be able to see?'' Yes, because a little part of the first sentence is not always enough. Sometimes it is a person who has a too long personal name... At least 2x much text would be more helpful from the article. I you can make the "link inspector" window bigger, there would be more space for this.
  • Everyday life titles: Yes, exactly. For example in a historical article you may read "neighboring countries". However in Hungary there was a tv-series sitcom "Neighbors", and the software suggests it for link. There is just formal similarity. It was an everyday sitcom, without relations to historical topics.
  • Topics: Maybe the categories can be used instead? Or if there would be filters such as "no sports", or "no animals", or "no cars". As the car industry becomes more international, the same trademark can be manufactured almost everywhere on Earth. I do not understand what you expect. 1. I choose "Africa" topic, 2. the tool opens an article of a "european city". What should I send? At that moment only the city article is opened. Can you check what topics I chose?
  • Accuracy: more or less it is about 75% relevant, and the totally wrong can be ignored. But in Hungarian Wikipedia there is a rule "Not to put too many links into an article", and "Do not put links that are not relevant". Both are a bit subjective what some editors think of them, and I received such feedback from others that "the links were not relevant", and they undo some of my edits because of this. Maybe they were right and the link was "near relevant". I do not know if I could explain it well now. So, yes, I think " the algorithm should be made more accurate". If not 95, than in-between, for example 80-85%.
Misibacsi (talkcontribs)

Now I encountered a conflict between my selected topic ("South-America") and the suggested article ("Abe no Szeimei" - [[:en:Abe no Seimei]]). The person was Japanese (lived between February 21, 921 A.D. – October 31, 1005). He was not a world traveler or explorer. The article does not mention "America".

I have a screenshot, but it seems I cannot post it here.

Misibacsi (talkcontribs)

Watchlist: it seems that the tool automatically adds the article to my personal Watchlist, although in my personal settings I have set "all my editing are minor edits".

Misibacsi (talkcontribs)

''is there any kind of box that appears explaining what happened? And where are you at that moment -- are you on the article in "read" mode? Or is the visual editor open?''

I forgot to answer to these.

  • No error text, no box, nothing unusual, it jumps to the selected article (by the tool), and it opens in "edit mode".
  • The article is in "edit mode" with Visual Editor. I can edit, but the "Add a link" tool is not active.

I have to go back to my personal "Startpage", and start the tool again.

Misibacsi (talkcontribs)

Sometime only the article page opens, and nothing else happens.

Misibacsi (talkcontribs)

Sometimes the tool does not start.

MMiller (WMF) (talkcontribs)

@Misibacsi -- thank you for writing all these thoughts out. I know you've been talking with @Tgr (WMF) on huwiki, and he has given all the notes to me. I think you'll continue to hear back from him about any next steps. I really appreciate your thorough testing, and I think your notes will help us improve the feature in the future!

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