There is a task (can't find it now) to add this missing functionality to the standard action=edit&section=new to allow specifying a different edit summary, and it should be possible to continue to do so in the tool

In T270538#6703072, @DannyS712 wrote:

There is a task (can't find it now) to add this missing functionality to the standard action=edit&section=new to allow specifying a different edit summary, and it should be possible to continue to do so in the tool

I couldn't find such a task either, but these two hint at that idea, without quite proposing it:

• T28312: Heading field (section=new) should not use the same name/id as edit summary field (action=edit)
• T54747: Api: Allow creation of new section without header but with summary

This task is about removing the edit summary field from the new discussion tool.

In my personal opinion, we shouldn't have an edit summary field in either the reply or new discussion tool – but, if we have it in one, then we should also have it in the other. It seems to me that all arguments for and against apply the same to both tools.

I would expect folks to want to copy-paste (or summarize) their comment in the edit summary when posting a new topic, just as they want to do that when posting a reply.

Adding some context @matej_suchanek shared on mediaiwki.org [i]:

What I find most problematic is that you are able to change the stuff between /* ... */, which is obviously meant to be nothing but the new topic title. Though I can see there are some means that try to keep it consistent. (Perhaps this is a point for future consultation.)

i. https://w.wiki/rdY

If you must prevent people from changing the summary, then show it but make it disabled/uneditable. At least that way users can see what they are going to get rather than being surprised. It's hidden under Advanced, so the only people who look there are who know and care; you won't be confusing the uninitiated.

(And for the record I would want to see the full summary shown in other interfaces where it currently isn't, like mobile. I already made another ticket for that somewhere.)

Having said that, synching the summary from the subject in the current prototype is shaping up. (Is there a specific task for that?) I hope it means you won't need to disallow editing of the summary.

In T270538#6712001, @Pelagic wrote:

Having said that, synching the summary from the subject in the current prototype is shaping up. (Is there a specific task for that?)

We were talking about synching the contents of the New Discussion Tool's subject field with the the summary field in T270539.

Although, as @matmarex noted in T270539#6705052, the syncing between the two fields seems to be working in ways we consider to be expected.

If you observe it to be behaving in ways that you do not consider to be expected, we would value you boldly re-opening T270539 and commenting the unexpected behavior you are noticing.

I hope it means you won't need to disallow editing of the summary.

We do not have have any current plans to remove the ability for people to edit the summary field from within the New Discussion Tool. With this said, if we notice a pattern where Junior Contributors are becoming confused/distracted by it, we will likely revise this position.

Note: the initial requirements [i] indicate, "Junior Contributors should not become distracted by the custom edit summary functionality nor should they feel an obligation to engage with it."

i. T249391