Topic: Wiki Review Process?

[christian]

There seems to be some process whereby new wiki entries are reviewed. But I can't find any documented process for this.

For example, I recently added: http://wiki.contribs.org/Heyu to the How-To's and someone named "ente" added the "Not Reviewed" tag to it.

It's not my first "how-to" but it is the first to get tagged with this. I don't have a problem with this but now it begs the question of what is the process for submission and review.

The closest thing I could find on the process is: http://wiki.contribs.org/Development_Review. However it explains only the expectations and high level content requirements.

Could Ente or someone else let me know where to find the process? Presumably something prompted you do this.

Christian

[e[nt]e]

Hey Christian,

it's me who added that not reviewed template. I added it just because of the fact that there are instructions to compile Heyu from source. You have the instructions there to remove gcc afterwards. But nevertheless I think it's not the best and smoothest way especially for a beginner trying to install a contrib.
The wiki is a place to work together and you say you don't have a problem with me adding that tag so that's fine. Cactus had a look on the page after me and didn't complain about the tag nor the how-to.
That's not meant to say you have complained

Another remark from my side :
Let's use the wiki talk page, which can be reached via the discussion link on top of the page in question, for discussions regarding a wiki page. And bring the Review process in focus of this thread, although that might be handled with in the wiki as well.

Kind regards,
Niklas

[christian]

Thanks Niklas,

Sounds reasonable. But do we have a process, even if it is informal?

I noticed there are about a dozen such wiki entries in this state. How do they get out of this state? Do contributors solicit input? Is there a set of designated reviewers?

Christian

[e[nt]e]

I don't think there are designated reviewers. I myself don't know about a process either. Cactus does a lot of the work in the wiki and adds that tag once in while I guess. About how to get the article out of that state...I guess that depends on the contributer. You for example are curious about it, others don't give a damn as of what I see. If the article is modified or enhanced maybe the original "complainer" removes the tag or the contributer himself does that.
I would love to have a more active discussion about these things on the according talk pages. For example: I added something to a talk page about a possible correction some time ago and till now there's no answer.

Niklas

[christian]

I used to document my changes privately so I could recreate it later if needed and now I do so publicly via our contribs wiki so that others can benefit and share their findings. I think many are now doing this as the wiki is growing! It would be wonderful if others did this more often as it adds to community knowledge and does not require much more effort than doing it privately.

I would love to have a more active discussion about these things on the according talk pages. For example: I added something to a talk page about a possible correction some time ago and till now there's no answer.

hmmm. I note I don't get notifications on wiki entries that I watch for whatever reason. perhaps others have the same issue? I made some setting changes today and will see if it makes a difference otherwise I'll go down the bug tracker route.

[christian]

I made some setting changes today and will see if it makes a difference otherwise I'll go down the bug tracker route.

Actually that seemed to be the issue, the defaults don't necessarily send an email for mods. I checked everything in sight and now I get notifications! 

[e[nt]e]

hmmm. I note I don't get notifications on wiki entries that I watch for whatever reason. perhaps others have the same issue? I made some setting changes today and will see if it makes a difference otherwise I'll go down the bug tracker route.

Go to my preferences and tick the check box in front of "E-mail me when a page on my watchlist is changed"
I guess you would need to enter a valid e-mail adress at well.

EDIT: Allright you got it

[stephen noble]

There is no documented review process,
When we started the wiki we mostly discussed issues on talk then deleted them afterwards
mostly now an editor just adds a tag from http://wiki.contribs.org/Help:Formatting when something looks different
and resolves it on talk

you can add a section on a new review process at http://wiki.contribs.org/Help:Contents
either a new page or probably better just as a section in http://wiki.contribs.org/Help:Editing_pages

if in doubt you can raise a bug, they are more visible than a comment on a talk page which is easily missed

I haven't used watchlists, I'd expect it not to notify you of changes you make yourself

[cactus]

I don't think there are designated reviewers. I myself don't know about a process either. Cactus does a lot of the work in the wiki and adds that tag once in while I guess.

This is a feature we are trying to develop at the moment. Slords asked me to design such a template and it was merely intended for contribs that were in SME Contribs CVS and showed harmfull or bad coding style.

I looked at the howto indeed and wondered why the needs review template was there. I did a review and left the template in as I neede to think about it. I am not sure if it should be there as the instructions are pretty well written as well as the advice to remove gcc afterwards.

About how to get the article out of that state...I guess that depends on the contributer. You for example are curious about it, others don't give a damn as of what I see. If the article is modified or enhanced maybe the original "complainer" removes the tag or the contributer himself does that.

By it's intention as a better release of the packages is made (see my previous reply as well).

I would love to have a more active discussion about these things on the according talk pages. For example: I added something to a talk page about a possible correction some time ago and till now there's no answer.

It might have slipped us as I, for one, am not watching every talk/discussion page.

[e[nt]e]

This is a feature we are trying to develop at the moment. Slords asked me to design such a template and it was merely intended for contribs that were in SME Contribs CVS and showed harmfull or bad coding style.

I looked at the howto indeed and wondered why the needs review template was there. I did a review and left the template in as I neede to think about it. I am not sure if it should be there as the instructions are pretty well written as well as the advice to remove gcc afterwards.

All right then I was a bit hastily maybe, so please remove it if you think it's not suitable here.

It might have slipped us as I, for one, am not watching every talk/discussion page.

That was neither meant to offend anyone nor to ask everyone to set every talk page on his watchlist. But I guess in this matter the Recent Changes page is very useful. If you (plural ) looks at this once in a while you may see newly created talk pages or changes made to existing ones.

Regards,
Niklas

[cactus]

That was neither meant to offend anyone nor to ask everyone to set every talk page on his watchlist.

I certainly did not read it like that.

But I guess in this matter the Recent Changes page is very useful. If you (plural ) looks at this once in a while you may see newly created talk pages or changes made to existing ones.

That is my single entry to the wiki most of the times, I rarely visit the main page, perhaps you already do it, but it might also help to give a short summary before saving your changes to (talk) pages. These appear in the recent changes list, which makes it easier to track what happened and if we need to have a look at the page.

[e[nt]e]

I certainly did not read it like that.

Sure I actually wouldn't have expected you to do so, but there are strange guys out there on the internet

That is my single entry to the wiki most of the times, I rarely visit the main page, perhaps you already do it, but it might also help to give a short summary before saving your changes to (talk) pages. These appear in the recent changes list, which makes it easier to track what happened and if we need to have a look at the page.

Yep although my bookmark doesn't point to it it's my first click nearly everytime visiting the wiki as well...I actually need to modify my bookmark I guess...
Regarding the summary: I do this nearly everytime, unless I forget it

Btw: I guess it was Phpsysinfo I'm referring to...But that's not the topic here.

Niklas

[christian]

Well this has been fun and enlightening!

Based on cactus' explanation of the original intention of the template, I'll remove it from this How-To. At the least it has been reviewed anyway.

Regardless, it is not a bad idea to review How-to's as well as contribs. Contribs are obvious to review as they tend to be black box operations. However, How-to's can teach bad practice.

I have considered whether we should tag a How-to based on the skill required to navigate it (e.g. easy, medium, advanced, expert). For example, heyu may be considered medium (because it requires a compile and the need to create files in /etc/rc.d); and the mythtv How-to may be considered "advanced" because you can run into a number of complexities such as drivers, config, kernel dependencies, etc.

In other words it would serve as a warning to those about to use it.

Christian

[cactus]

Well this has been fun and enlightening!

Based on cactus' explanation of the original intention of the template, I'll remove it from this How-To. At the least it has been reviewed anyway.

Regardless, it is not a bad idea to review How-to's as well as contribs. Contribs are obvious to review as they tend to be black box operations. However, How-to's can teach bad practice.

I have considered whether we should tag a How-to based on the skill required to navigate it (e.g. easy, medium, advanced, expert). For example, heyu may be considered medium (because it requires a compile and the need to create files in /etc/rc.d); and the mythtv How-to may be considered "advanced" because you can run into a number of complexities such as drivers, config, kernel dependencies, etc.

In other words it would serve as a warning to those about to use it.

Christian

I like this suggestion... not sure how easy it might be. I think we should discuss this in a bug, please open one so the dev team can shed there light on it as well.

[e[nt]e]

I like this suggestion... not sure how easy it might be. I think we should discuss this in a bug, please open one so the dev team can shed there light on it as well.

Me too
We'll need to develop a pattern to classify the How-Tos, but once this is done it could be a nice guide for users.

[christian]

Bug http://bugs.contribs.org/show_bug.cgi?id=4680 submitted.

[stephen noble]

We have implemented a 'Skill Level' tag

see http://wiki.contribs.org/Template:Level

this also lets us add like levels to a category, and gives us a new way into pages, see the main page
please add the level tag  to pages

for consistency add a page header if not present...

{{Languages}} optional

==XXX for SME Server==  < not always present
{{Level|medium}}

===Maintainer===
xxx or
===Description===
xxx

[christian]

nice work. I've updated my own How-to entries already. I noticed you have done a large number of them as well.

I also like the fact that you can navigate to the how-to and contribs that match your skill level.