[Wikipedia-l] Re: Stable versions policy

Fri Dec 30 03:36:14 UTC 2005

I'm starting to think, more and more, that a "reader mode" and an 
"editor mode" separation would be a good thing for Wikipedia.

Basically:
If not logged in as a user, people see the "reader mode" view- less 
edit-specific stuff on the page. (The interface really is a bit daunting 
for people just trying to read articles.) Probably wouldn't display red 
links, no section-edit links, etc. Still keep the "edit this page" link, 
which prompts for login, then sends on to edit of that page... the 
"reader mode" would display stable by default with a prominent link to 
the current "draft" version (I really like that suggestion of calling it 
a "draft"- it's exactly the right description.). I could see a change in 
the format of Image: pages for this, too- they look a bit... internal 
right now, and throw some people off.

If logged in, they get "editor mode" view, the full thing. They'd see 
current version by default. (Though user-preferences should allow them 
to switch that back, of course.)

Of course, the second organization taking care of Wikipedia publication 
idea is a very good one as well. In that case, they'd handle "reader 
mode" for the most part, and core-Wikipedia would be pretty much 
strictly an editing project.

-- Jake Nelson