FamilySearch Wiki talk:Moving the Wiki to FamilySearch

General Comments
Here I'll add my "me too" to Jimmy's comments about finding the wiki from the home page. A separate button for wiki would give a clear and accurate message. "Learn" only covers part of what the wiki does. Currently the "Add" button ONLY takes you to a page describing how to share within the wiki, NOT to sharing family information. Charlene Pipkin 15:26, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Nowhere in the new design does the term "Wiki" show up. Does that mean we are dumping the term? If so, that seems a bit contradictory to the "buzz" created at the recent NGS Conference in Salt Lake where most of the speakers were talking up the Wiki. Do we send a mixed message to the world if we now ignore the terminology that they seemingly have endorsed? Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

As I did some testing of the search engine in the Beta test, I discovered that it is definitely not working right. Perhaps that is not a concern if all we are looking at, at this point, is the "look and feel" of the new design. But it must be fixed before it is released to the public. The search engine on the beta site does not return results in the proper priority order. Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Not only does it not return results in the proper priority order for a place search, I find it difficult to get results when doing a subject search.Charlene Pipkin 17:15, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

The design of the "Learn" page is inviting. I have no problem with the layout and look of that page. I actually like leading the users to all the various ways available to them to learn. However, I definitely have a problem with some of the wording and links on that page. Community contributors MUST have the ability to edit the words and links on this page. Or, at least, community concensus must be reached before to content of this page is "locked down." For example, the link on the page in Beta for "Census Records" goes to the special census records for military veterans, not to the actual census. And even more importantly, all the links under "Types of Records" go to descriptions of these records in the United States. If we are going to have links to descriptions of various types of records, they should be generic to several countries, with suggestions to users of the site to look to individual countries for a description of those types of records in that country. For example, census records were kept in many countries and could be described in a generic way. The same is true for almost all record types, even though they go by different names in the various countries. Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Revised page for states and countries
I assume that this is where we comment about "Revised page for states and countries." I used the link from within this article (FamilySearch Wiki: Moving the Wiki to FamilySearch) to get to West Virginia Beta site. So far I like the clean look of the page layout. I wanted to see what happens when one logs in while viewing a page. (Does it return to the page you were viewing or somewhere else?) I tried logging in from the Discussion page and got the message "Internet Explorer cannot display the web page." Using the back button returned me to the regular wiki page for West Virginia and I was then unable to return to the Beta site from within this article. It's difficult to test a process that doesn't work as expected. Charlene Pipkin 14:36, 14 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Charlotte, it worked for me using Firefox. I logged in from this page and it came back to this page after log-in. Jimmy B. Parker 15:12, 14 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Firefox doesn't seem to work any better for me. When I log in to the Beta version it doesn't seem to matter which page I log in from, I get returned to the current wiki so can't explore the edit options.Charlene Pipkin 16:13, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Which unportal page are you talking about here. If you mean the pages for Idaho, for example. I kind of like the cleaner, brief look of the page. It will take some getting used to for us old-timers, but I think new users will find it pleasing to the eye.Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

New spot for the search box

 * I searched for "moderators" and the search results screen moved the search box to the left side of the screen. Click here to see the search results screen --Fran 16:03, 9 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I searched for "Loudoun County, Virginia" and only statewide topics for Virginia displayed. When I followed the county link from the state page, it worked just fine. [I thought it was not fully populated, but it apparently is.] Wilma 9 June 2010
 * Placement of search box is fine with me. Wilma 9 June
 * This page has content (images) that flow into the right column where the search box is located: Choose a Record Type --Fran 18:18, 9 June 2010 (UTC)


 * Add comments here

I don't have a problem with the placement of the search box. But I take definite exception with how it's working in Beta. See my comments under General Comments above. Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

New spot for a table of contents

 * Looks good to me Wilma 9 June
 * Add comments here

I'm OK with the placement of the Table of Contents. Aren't we going to have the option of hiding the TOC as before. If it was like the template for Municipalities in counties, where we can toggle between hide and show, I would like it a lot more. See Adams County, Idaho as an example of the Municipalities template. Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

New spot for the navigational links

 * Add general comments here

I don't mind having to click on the "more" link to get to the navigation links. It kind of makes sense to hide those items from the general user, since most of them will probably never use them and may actually be intimidated by them.Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Home

 * Suggest "Wiki home" to differentiate from the FamilySearch home page. Wilma 9 June
 * Add comments here

I like Wilma's suggestion for having a "Wiki Home Page." We need a "home" for the pages being added in the Wiki format. And we need the counter on that page to show the users and the contributors that the information base is growing. Please do NOT remove the counter entirely. Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Create a page

 * Add comments here

Browse by country

 * Add comments here

Browse by topic

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Why is "Browse by country" on the "Learn" page and not "Browse by topic?" And what will ""Browse by topic" take you to in the new system? Jimmy B. Parker 06:15, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Community Center

 * Add comments here

Community Meetings

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Community News

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Do we want the general user to know about this? If so, it's too well hidden. There should be a link on the "Learn" page. Jimmy B. Parker 06:15, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Forums

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I like the link to forums form the "Learn" page. Jimmy B. Parker 06:15, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Guiding Principles

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Policies

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What links here

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Related changes

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Special pages

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Upload file

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Link to your user page

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I don't like an IP address being displayed as the link to my user page. What's wrong with showing my preferred name here? Jimmy B. Parker 06:15, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Link to your talk page

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My preferences

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My watchlist

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This is going to take some getting used to, but I guess it's all right once you locate it. Jimmy B. Parker 06:15, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

My contributions

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Sign Out

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Other links

 * Add comments here about other links that appear based upon the page you are viewing. P

Help
Having two different help links that go to two different places could be VERY confusing to the user. I understand the designers are trying to use a single word for each link, but sometimes less is more confusing. This needs some work! Jimmy B. Parker 06:15, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Verify all styles are maintained

 * Add comments here

Level 1 and Level 2 headings should be highlighted more, as in the old view. Level one should have some kind of a highlight bar that goes clear across the page to set that portion of the page off from other parts of the page. Font size is NOT enough. Jimmy B. Parker 05:58, 11 June 2010 (UTC)