T304187 introduced a new Add Topic button within the new site-wide sticky header that appears on desktop.
This task involves the work of introducing an equally noticeable and accessible Add Topic button in cases where people do NOT have access to the new site-wide sticky header and the Add Topic button that now appears within it.
Examples of cases where people would NOT have access to the new site-wide sticky header and the Add Topic button that appears within it: desktop talk pages that are not "large enough" (be it b/c of the size of the person's browser window and/or the length of the discussion(s) on the page) for the site-wide sticky header to appear.
User stories
- As a Senior Contributor or Junior Contributor who is arriving to a talk page knowing that they want to start a new discussion, I want to to be able to quickly and easily locate the affordance for doing so, so that I can proceed with drafting what I have in mind with minimal interruption.
Mockups
| Case | Skin | Affordance Design | Mockup | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Vector Legacy (2010). Implementation will happen in T326694 | "Add topic" section at the bottom |  | 1) A new Add topic affordance (container-scaled OOUI button) should appear at the bottom of the talk page, beneath the last section. 2) Once the new button is clicked, the New Topic Tool should open provided the person has the Enable quick topic adding enabled. If the person has the Enable quick topic adding setting disabled, they should be directed to the legacy section=new workflow |
| #2 | Vector (2022) with LangSelect widget | Heading "Add topic" button |  | 1) A new Add topic affordance should appear at the top of the talk page, above the page tools (e.g. Read, Edit, View history, etc.), 2) This Add topic button should appear in the right-most position in LTR interface languages and in the left-most position in RTL interface languages , 3) Once the new button is clicked, the New Topic Tool should open provided the person has the Enable quick topic adding enabled. If the person has the Enable quick topic adding setting disabled, they should be directed to the legacy section=new workflow |
| #3 | Vector (2022) without LangSelect widget | Heading "Add topic" button |  | 1) A new Add topic affordance should appear at the top of the talk page, above the page tools (e.g. Read, Edit, View history, etc.), 2) Once the new button is clicked, the New Topic Tool should open provided the person has the Enable quick topic adding enabled. If the person has the Enable quick topic adding setting disabled, they should be directed to the legacy section=new workflow |
| #4.1 | Vector (2022) | "Add topic" button in Sticky Header (view 1) |  | No changes needed per T267444#8187389 |
| #4.2 | Vector (2022) | "Add topic" button in Sticky Header (view 2: bottom section) |  | No changes needed per T267444#8187389 |
Considerations
- We should be mindful about changing the language and/or appearance of the existing New section / Add topic links for people who have the New Discussion Tool enabled considering the confusion/complexity this could cause. See: T264220#6813101.
Open questions
- What language should appear on/in the affordance for starting a new discussion?
- See T264220#6794016 and consider the empty state work done in T270323.
Volunteer feedback
This section includes links to the calls for feedback we've posted on-wiki
| Wiki | Link to discussion |
|---|---|
| mediawiki.org | mw:Talk: Talk pages project/Usability |
Done
- Mockups are published in ===Mockups
- Requirements are documented in ===Requirements
- Requirements are implemented
i. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Topic:Vwqjpk7gsmy36h71
ii. https://nl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Overleg_Wikipedia:Overleghulpmiddelen&type=revision&diff=57279610&oldid=57277033&diffmode=source
iii. https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Topic:Vx0hv02fcic0rj62&topic_showPostId=vx0hv02fcma2zn4a#flow-post-vx0hv02fcma2zn4a
iv. https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Topic:Vwpwr84naer42ovi&topic_showPostId=vx7brnglaeb6wm9p#flow-post-vx7brnglaeb6wm9p
v. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Topic:Vwszsesi9o4iguw1
vi. https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedie:Pod_l%C3%ADpou#Aktivace_n%C3%A1stroje_%E2%80%9EP%C5%99idat_t%C3%A9ma%E2%80%9C_pro_v%C5%A1echny)
Background
As @AdHuikeshoven, @Akoopal, @Awesome_Aasim, @Julle, @matej_suchanek, and @Vojtech.Vesely [i][ii][iii][iv][v][vi] have noted and previous usability tests have confirmed (T307845), the current "Add topic" / "New section" tab can be difficult for Junior Contributors to identify and all contributors to access, especially on longer pages.
Approaches
Below is a living list of approaches that have been talked about so far, on-wiki and in T249784:
| Intervention | Link |
|---|---|
| Additional links elsewhere on the page | "Ajouter un sujet" (bottom of fr.wiki talk pages), + (bottom of some nl.wiki talk pages) |
| Large blue buttons at the top of the page with custom calls to action | "Ask a question" (en.wiki), "New message" (cs.wiki), "Make a new request" (fr.wiki), |
| "New section" form is preloaded with a template/instructions | "Request to administrators" (fr.wiki), "Request for immediate deletion" (fr.wiki), see T250768#6073965 for more examples |
| Links at the top of the page | "Click here to ask a question" (nl.wiki), "Start a new topic" (~550 people are using this on en.wiki) |
| Instructions within new section form | "You are going to request the immediate deletion..." (fr.wiki), "Instructions for discussion" (cs.wiki) |
| An omnipresent form | F32249808 |
| A button with an accompanying subject field | See the Požádat on this page at cs.wiki |
| An Add topic button at the bottom of the page | See this page at fi.wiki |
| On Meta, the last section heading on a talk page has [ edit / Add topic ] instead of just [ edit ]. | https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meta:Babel |
