Feature Proposal: Add Discussion Section to Edit Template Topic

Motivation

For better usability, TWiki should support article mode and discussion mode, as in other leading wiki engines.

Description and Documentation

Wiki content can be written in DocumentMode and ThreadMode. MediaWiki has a discussion page for every article. At TWiki.org we have the convention to have both on the same page, e.g. article first, followed by the discussion.

For usability and familiarity, I suggest we change the TWiki.WebTopicEditTemplate to the TWiki.org convention. Content:

---+!! Topic Title



-- __Contributors:__ %WIKIUSERNAME% - %DATE%

---++ Discussion

%COMMENT%

Impact and Available Solutions

-- Contributors: PeterThoeny

Discussion

-- PeterThoeny - 26 Mar 2007

Clear and simple proposal.

I doubt many have read it so I will insist in this being decided at release meeting.

I personally do not think that the proposed default will fit all uses of TWiki. It is the right thing for twiki.org but maybe not for some very different usage. And for upgraders I think it will be a pain. I do not think this proposal in any way make up for the much smarter discussion feature other wikis have implemented.

Note. I removed the comment field because the COMMENT in above verbatim text screws up the Comment plugin.

-- KennethLavrsen - 08 Apr 2007

I am bringing this simple proposal up for the FreetownReleaseMeeting2007x04x09.

If you cannot make it to the meeting please cast your vote here

-- KennethLavrsen - 08 Apr 2007

I also think this is pre-supposing a topic editing model that degrades poorly. It encourages people to leave comments instead of just editing the point of the topic. (I don't like it on twiki.org either)

-- SvenDowideit - 09 Apr 2007

An alternative approach would be having a mechanism to make it very easy to add a comment box to a topic - i.e. a comment template that adds a comment box to the end of a topic. I have imagined having a "tool-box" set of links in the left-bar that's (by default) only visible to TWikiAdminGroup. One of these links could simply add a comment box to the current topic.

-- LynnwoodBrown - 09 Apr 2007

mmm, if you don't have it on the leftbar, but rather do that via a twiki admin configuration UI like all the php apps do, i think it'd be truly interesting

and if that admin app where a twiki app all the better.

-- SvenDowideit - 09 Apr 2007

Educational purpose: We do need better documentation for users how to make a custom template. And to prevent pitfalls. I am sure we can all add to this as longtime twiki users.

Then we need to link to it from the topic creation page.

-- ArthurClemens - 09 Apr 2007

At the FreetownReleaseMeeting2007x04x09 is was decided that this should not go into the default template.

-- PeterThoeny - 09 Apr 2007

For reference

Proposal rejected 5 votes against - 0 for. The meeting agreed that writing a doc about how to define such a default edit template would be a good thing. Noone took the action (yet). FreetownReleaseMeeting2007x04x09

I add this because I remove same comment from the old TWikiFeature04x02 topic

-- KennethLavrsen - 25 Apr 2007