[SPIKE] How might we record when people change the source mode toolbar setting
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	• ppelberg
	Mar 5 2021, 11:27 PM

Description

This is a research spike to determine how the software can be made to record when someone changes the "source mode with tools" setting that was introduced in T275950.

Research question(s)

1. How can the software can be made to record when someone changes the "source mode with tools" setting that was introduced in T275950?

Application

Recording if, when, and how someone engages with the "source mode with tools" setting that was introduced in T275950 is necessary for it will help us ensure people who explicitly turned the setting ON and, at some later point in time, turned the setting OFF do not see the tool automatically reenabled as part of T276609.

Knowing this information will also help us analyze/understand who and how people are engaging with the setting. This is work we will do in T276631.

Done

All Research question(s) are answered

Related Objects
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Status	Assigned	Task
Open	None	T294592 [EPIC] Ensure Talk Pages Project "Phase 1" work is easy to maintain, build upon, and learn from
Open	None	T276607 Converge on a single DiscussionTools source mode
Resolved	• ppelberg	T276608 Offer the source mode with tools as an opt-in setting
Declined	• ppelberg	T276635 [SPIKE] How might we record when people change the source mode toolbar setting

Event Timeline

• ppelberg created this task.Mar 5 2021, 11:27 PM

• ppelberg mentioned this in T257391: Add tools to DiscussionTools' source mode.

The feature use schema records the editor_interface as visualeditor, wikitext, or wikitext-2017 (i.e. source mode with toolbar).

These changes were already implemented in the user preference patch, but I'll separate them out and attach them to this task.

Change 669823 had a related patch set uploaded (by Esanders; owner: Esanders):
[mediawiki/extensions/DiscussionTools@master] Tracking changes from VE source mode

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/669823

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Mar 8 2021, 1:28 PM

Esanders renamed this task from [SPIKE] How might we record if, when and how people engage with the source mode setting to Record if, when and how people engage with the source mode setting.Mar 8 2021, 1:32 PM

Esanders updated the task description. (Show Details)

In T276635#6889436, @Esanders wrote:

The feature use schema records the editor_interface as visualeditor, wikitext, or wikitext-2017 (i.e. source mode with toolbar).

@Esanders: I take the statement above to mean that we already have tracking in place that will enable to know what text editing mode someone used to publish an edit with the Reply or New Topic/Discussion Tool.

Although, this task is asking for something different, I think. It is asking for us to know how and when people interact with the setting that determines whether the wikitext-2017 is available in the New Discussion/Topic and Reply Tools.

Are we on the same page about the above?

Oh, ok, that is different.

In T276635#6894120, @Esanders wrote:

Oh, ok, that is different.

Roger that. Please comment if you think any adjustment need to be made to the task description to better communicate this.

I've updated the description to be clearer.

Knowing this information will also help us analyze/understand who and how people are engaging with the setting.

The original purpose (to my understanding) is so that we can avoid turning the feature on in future for someone who has explicitly turned it off, not to analyse how people are engaging with the setting.

In T276635#6894126, @Esanders wrote:

I've updated the description to be clearer.

Knowing this information will also help us analyze/understand who and how people are engaging with the setting.

The original purpose (to my understanding) is so that we can avoid turning the feature on in future for someone who has explicitly turned it off, not to analyse how people are engaging with the setting.

What you described above matches with what I have in mind as well; thank you for updating the description to make this more clear.

META
Work on this task is blocked on finalizing the approach we would like to take for resolving T275950.

In T276635#6899206, @ppelberg wrote:

META
Work on this task is blocked on finalizing the approach we would like to take for resolving T275950.

Per the conversation @Esanders, @Whatamidoing-WMF, and I had in Slack [i], we're going to "Decline" this task for the following reason:

We do not think the negative impact of people who enabled the experimental toolbar when it is made available as an opt-in setting (T276608), and subsequently turned it off, seeing the toolbar again when it is made available as an opt-out setting (T276609) is large enough [ii] to warrant the effort required to implement what this task is ultimately "asking" for.

i. https://wikimedia.slack.com/archives/GRR5LM0MS/p1615236700018100
ii. We are assuming the number of people who will turn the experimental toolbar On and then Off is relatively small. We also think the effort these people would need to expel to turn the toolbar Off once it is made available by default is low enough that these people can easily resolve any discomfort/frustration this might cause.

• ppelberg added a subscriber: • Whatamidoing-WMF.Mar 26 2021, 5:11 PM

[SPIKE] How might we record when people change the source mode toolbar settingClosed, DeclinedPublicActions