Feature summary (what you would like to be able to do and where):
When using Codex, currently there seem to be no option to create a plain, non-modal dialog window.
https://doc.wikimedia.org/codex/latest/components/demos/dialog.html
Use case(s) (list the steps that you performed to discover that problem, and describe the actual underlying problem which you want to solve. Do not describe only a solution):
- Gadgets for taking notes (and needing to copy something to the window).
- Checking refs in the editor (and needing to be able to interact with the editor below the window). Default gadget on plwiki for refs.
- Write about current article when submitting a nomination (for deletion, for a medal, for did-you-know column). This requires copying quotes etc from the article text beside the dialog window.
- Better rewrite for Wikidata tools (Wikibase extension), which are currently still using jQuery UI (which is good on PC, not on moobile). More specifically, the interwiki dialog mentioned in T287206 would benefit from being a non-modal dialog, allowing users to copy the title of the current article – e.g. when translating to a draft, then publishing, and needing to manually attach the Wikidata item from Wikipedia (that is the window shown in T287206).
For context: I'm speaking here as a JS dev who has probably touched most of the gadgets on plwiki and whose master's thesis was about ECMAScript and MVC variations in JS web development. I'm currently also an interface admin on Meta and Commons.
So these are pain points for me as an experienced JS dev, pain points that I can work around (I did create a dialog library that works on both mobile and desktop), but working around stuff is not really a long-term solution. I'd prefer the long-term solution to be better tools developed in cooperation with WMF teams, so I'd rather use a component library like Codex, but at the moment cannot.
Benefits (why should this be implemented?):
Good for active editors and other power users who still use PCs daily. Note that on PCs (and Macs), most windows are actually non-modal. Also note that while readers tend to use mobile devices, active editors still tend to use desktop computers or laptops to edit Wikipedia.
For example, at the moment I see 73 mobile edits out of 500 actions (486 edits in total) on enwiki on RC (link below). That is about 15% mobile edits and 85% other edits (taking 486 as 100%). It is a random sample, but this is also what I hear from active editors at conferences: people do make edits and perform other actions on mobile, but these are relatively rare – typically when waiting for a train, etc., or when there are no other options for them. Most of the time active users use a larger screen on which windows are not taking the whole screen.