Topic on Talk:Talk pages consultation 2019/Communication/Announce

(I came here from the English Wikipedia banner)

I realize newbs have a tough time with standard talk pages. But old hands like me have an equally tough time with particular and strange editors. The further removed from a plain text editor the worse it gets. This very talk page style is the perfect example.

Whatever you end up doing, make it **opt-out-able**. There are those of us who prefer source code editing, and where any kind of GUI actually makes things harder and worse.

Signing off because I want to, yours truly CapnZapp (talk) 16:06, 5 March 2019 (UTC)

Why do you want normal wikitext pages?

I am not sure this is the proper venue for this. I merely came here because I wanted to record at least one voice for keeping the option to use wiki markup on talk pages; as opposed to something like what we're using right now, which for most editors was a sudden change with zero choice to opt out. As for the constructive discussion on how to proceed, I'm getting the impression this process isn't at that stage yet. So I respectfully decline to engage in your query. Regards CapnZapp (talk) 09:10, 6 March 2019 (UTC)

For example, Flow still allows use wikicode in posts.

Flow forces an enormous amount of white space on posts, which cannot be deselected for some reason.

Look I am not saying "don't make it easier for newbs" and I'm not talking about the default layout. I'm saying "please retain a compact advanced user-mode" and make it something you can choose.

I think the main reason Flow was rejected by English Wikipedia was that it wasn't optional. It's the "here's XYZ whether you like it or not" philosophy I'm talking about - and against.