Currently, most Recent Changes pages display multiple rows of links at the top of the page, right below the page name and above the filtering tools. These links are defined by community members and vary considerably from wiki to wiki. As part of the [[ https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Edit_Review_Improvements/New_filters_for_edit_review | New filters for edit review ]] redesign of Recent Changes, this task proposes a way to manage these links so as to preserve and even improve their utility while displaying them in a manner that's more in keeping with their function on this page.
===The problem
- On many wikis, this bank of links has grown quite large. On [[ https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specjalna:Ostatnie_zmiany?damaging=&goodfaith=&hideliu=0&hideanons=0&userExpLevel=&hidemyself=0&hidebyothers=0&hidebots=1&hidehumans=0&hideminor=0&hidemajor=0&hidepageedits=0&hidenewpages=0&hidecategorization=1&hideWikibase=1&hidelog=0 | Polish Wikipedia ]], for example, there are almost 75 links up there.
- A substantial portion of the links are completely unrelated to the Recent Changes page or even to patrolling generally. Many collections have become just alternate navigation bars, with links to destinations as disparate as Signpost, Wkivoyage, and the general Wikipedia FAQ.
- And yet the links are right under the page name, where they give a miscue to users, adding noise to the design signals trying to communicate what the page is about and how it's used. At a minimum, they add visual complexity to a page that is already complex and, with the redesign, gaining much sophisticated new functionality.
===Goals for a proposed solution
- The links will continue to be readily available to users who find them useful.
- They should be moved to a position that is easily accessible but appropriate to their secondary functionality on this page.
- The selection and wording of links should continue to be editable and under the control of community members.
- Given the large number of links, and the fact that most of those who do use them probably use only a small subset of those available, we can improve these users' experience by letting them promote their favorite links so that they become more easily accessible.
===Proposed solution
- The links will be moved to a "Quick links" menu, prominently placed at top-right of the page. In this way, the links will be readily available for use, but the page will be significantly de-cluttered.
- Contents of this menu will continue to be edited by the community, in the same manner as now.
- A "favoriting" function will enable users to promote their favorites to a section near the top of the menu.
- In addition to the community-defined links, the Quick Links menu will also display filter presets saved by individual users. In this way, users will have one location for all their most useful links.
The screenshots below show the elements of this solution. You can also experience it in [[ http://pauginer.github.io/prototypes/edit-review/extended-filters/index.html | this prototype ]]. (Note that the prototype is a mockup only; some things work and some don't, and not all functions are fully developed.)
**Community-defined links displayed in the Quick links menu **{F7918873}
**Favorited links are displayed at the top of the menu** {F7918870}
**A user saves filter settings as a Quick Link** {F7918871}
**The Quick Links menu showing user settings and favorites** {F7918872}