Problem:
Placeholder texts should be placeholders for actual data, but currently in Wikibase we abuse them as usage instructions: “enter a label”, “enter a description” and “enter some aliases” are not typical labels, descriptions or aliases.
Example:
We could copy the label/description/aliases of any item we want (yay CC0) or invent terms for a fictional sample item, e. g.:
- example item
- an example item to demonstrate some aspects of {{SITENAME}} items
- sample item|example entity
However, this may result in users describing regular items as e. g. “item for the British author Douglas Adams”, so perhaps some other kind of example entity would be better, such as:
- John Doe
- name commonly used for fictional example persons
- J. Doe|Jane Doe
This also avoids using “item” in the placeholders, which is nice if we want to continue using the same placeholders for items and properties.
BDD
WHEN I visit Special:NewItem or Special:NewProperty
THEN the placeholders contain actual sample/placeholder data, demonstrating typical content and syntax of their respective fields, guiding me to fill them in correctly
AND as I begin typing and the placeholder vanishes, important information remains visible