User talk:ZoeCatfu

My feedback
Well, firstly, I'm glad you guys try to reach out. As for what I think about all of this, you can find some of my thoughts in Ursuul's talk page. However, I guess I can offer a few more opinions:


 * 1) Well, as I said, Recent Changes feels a lot less user friendly than Wiki Activity. If it was absolutely impossible to keep it in the new software, you guys should at least have prepared a similar option or replacement before rolling the update. Currently, finding what each user does requires a few more clicks than before, and there's no way to see at first glance what files are being uploaded, making moderation far slower.
 * 2) The "Show changes" and "Preview" options are located at the very bottom of the page. This is fine for shorter articles but long ones mean an editor needs to scroll down, see the preview, edit, see again, etc. It was more accessible before.
 * 3) It seems I need to re-memorize all the templates again, because I don't think any kind of auto fill is being used for them, meaning I have to type them.
 * 4) This could be a problem on my end only but the whole website feels slower.
 * 5) I'll leave this here again. Even if the context is different, I think these are valid points and lessons. Be transparent, listen to users and mostly, don't forget what makes this place what it is.

I'm sure HPZ has more feedback to offer.

As for the censorship issues, I'm okay with reaching a compromise but I'll say it again: It'll be great if we had any type of tool to regulate and facilitate the use of files containing mature themes. I mean, we can hide some of the pictures like we used to hide spoilers but it seems like we simply are required to delete stuff, or at least that's how it looked like back then. Wikis are used for a wide margin of content, from family friendly to dark and disturbing shows, I think it's natural for you guys to offer at least a basic way to include some mature content in a safe and tasteful way. I have seen a website that covers potentially unsafe thumbnails and allows users to hide the content altogether.

Also, I have seen content way more explicit at other Wikis. Again, examples at Ursuul's talk page, so I'm not sure if that is being allowed for any particular reason or simply flew under everyone's radar. But that may point at how some Wikis need a way to properly deal with that kind of things.

And I'm merely thinking about leaving but I'm quite unsure. I'm pretty much aware about how many people may use this site, heck, I have read articles that link to some of our pages. That's THE main reason why I have been here on this website for all this time. Even if I don't like the changes, people still use it, and I'm sure this place is more known than Evageeks' wiki. It would be unfair to the users to leave this place abandoned. But sometimes it feels like higher ups are testing how far can they go before ruining it.

Anyways, this is what I think. I hope to not have come off as rude but I know you guys can do better than this. If this words are useful for something, please share them with whomever may need them. ~ The Maverick  013  05:08, 15 October 2020 (UTC)


 * Hey, thanks for responding! I’ve dug into your last response, and I wanted to share some things with you. Let me share some insight and information, as I think there’s a lot of context that’s missing here that might make a lot of this feel more random or final than it actually is.


 * Wiki Activity and Recent Changes
 * Firstly, we totally understand how you feel concerning Wiki Activity. There’s two core problems that caused us to move away from Wiki Activity.


 * The first core problem is that all of our research suggested that the typical use case for Wiki Activity didn’t really point to it accomplishing its intended function. This was obviously a bit of a blind spot for us, as we found out after the fact that, even if users didn’t use Wiki Activity for its intended purpose, they had developed additional use cases for it. It’s less a case of “we got rid of something without a replacement because we don’t care”, and more a case of “we decided not to port something based upon an understanding that it wasn’t super useful”. We’re actively developing Recent Changes to provide better functionality, though, with the hopes that this assuages the concerns about its lost functionality. Please share the criticisms you have with Recent Changes, as that’s the only way we can improve it.


 * The second core problem, stemming from the first, is that Wiki Activity was built upon the highly custom 1.19 install of MediaWiki that we used to run. What this means in terms of development is that carrying it over the new version isn’t really as simple as implementing a third-party extension or changing a few calls - our custom 1.19 install was so custom that Wiki Activity couldn’t function in the new install without dramatic and significant development time. Given our blind spot with the first core problem, this wasn’t seen as a blocker compared to the rest of the security, functionality, and general improvements that come with upgrading to a more modern MediaWiki install. That being said, again, we are actively pursuing a solution here, because we totally understand that functionality was lost that needs to be restored in some form.


 * Show Changes and Preview Issue
 * Second, the “Show Changes” and “Preview” option issue you’re talking about is actually not a UCP problem - there are a few UCP wikis that you can test this functionality on where it works properly (see Dresden Files as an example https://dresdenfiles.fandom.com/wiki/Molly_Carpenter?action=edit). Our team looked into this, and we’ve identified the problem by removing a bad bit of CSS that didn’t seem to really do anything else - can you verify this is fixed now?


 * Template Auto-Fill
 * This problem is currently known and is in the process of being fixed and integrated into UCP. This is definitely not intended functionality, and we hope to have that fixed ASAP.


 * UCP Speed
 * This sounds like a specific use case issue, and that’s something I’ve heard previously. It seems like people who have a lot of custom JS, slower local CDNs, or a variety of other conditions have experienced this. For what it’s worth, the testing we’ve done shows that UCP is actually faster than legacy, but there’s a few things that give the feeling of sluggishness that we’re investigating solutions for. I’d love to either have myself or Ursuul help troubleshoot why it feels slow for you so we can help narrow down where it occurs - can you give me some examples where you’re seeing this?


 * Development and User Trust
 * We totally agree with that, and that’s why we offered the new user platform contract that I linked last time. I think a big problem we’ve had is the perception that the past dictates the future, and that Fandom isn’t trying to change and do right by the community. We definitely are, which is why we’re asking for some trust - the reality is that some of the things that are right to do by the platform in terms of security, longevity, etc. means that some things which sound like a great idea need to be reconsidered because they’re bad for the platform as a whole. Of course, this is just our perception based upon the technical background of things, so we’re constantly trying to readjust and reconsider, which is why these sorts of conversations are extremely important. We’re trying to do the best we can by as many people as we can, so we only ask that you trust us and continue to work with us to make things better.


 * Censorship
 * The censorship issue is one that we’re keenly aware of, and there’s no real easy solve. The problem is that it’s ultimately a balancing act between documenting content while also providing a place that people can actually find and engage in. That being said, we are definitely pursuing a solution here, and we need you to be involved in finding that as well. I understand that you’ve seen more explicit content elsewhere, but do keep in mind that we’re not the ones flagging the content - we can only respond to user reports and to generated reports, which is what happened in this case. We definitely need to improve our content policy, and we are actively looking into it, but suffice to say we will always need to walk that line between documenting the show while also making sure fans can actually find the wiki by searching for it.


 * ”Testing” the Community
 * I know sometimes it may seem like we’re testing how far we can go, but ultimately, we’re human beings, and we make mistakes. Everything we’ve done in the last two years has been from the perspective of wiki fans trying to figure out how to bring Fandom onto a modern MediaWiki install that delivers excellent performance. There’s some missteps, of course, and not everything we’ve done has been perfect, which is why we’ve stepped back where appropriate, even temporarily pausing migrations before resuming them once we felt the core problems were resolved to the best of our abilities. We want to make sure that Fandom as a platform can evolve and deliver exceptional community support, and that ultimately means that we’ve got to evolve. All we ask is patience while we figure out how to solve these issues and a little bit of trust that we are trying our best.


 * On that note, since Ursuul is your assigned Wiki Manager, I will have him take over most of the communications from this point on. If there is anything explicitly directed towards staff, I am available to elaborate further. Please do continue to submit your feedback, suggestions and issues to either myself or Ursuul, as that is the only way we will be able to improve. ZoeCatfu


 * Thanks for the in-depth answers. I'll gather everyone's opinions and feedback to see what can we do. So far, the Show changes/Preview bug appears to be corrected. ~ The Maverick  013  05:41, 17 October 2020 (UTC)


 * Hey there, just checking in to see how things are going. I understand you have been in some sort of natural disaster. I do hope that things are starting to settle down for you. ZoeCatfu 21:52, 12 November 2020 (UTC)


 * Yes, Hurricane Eta passed over my country, Honduras, and flooded the area. I got really, really lucky, as the specific zone where I live at was only "mildly" affected. The water reached around my ankles but the roads were completely covered. The water was dirty, and it rained three days continuously. And to make things worse, at least one of my days was spent with no power for 24 hours, plus many days without water to clean or use the toilets. Everything is fine for me as of now. But other people...weren't so lucky. I know you probably don't speak Spanish but if you want to see some photos of the aftermath, here are some


 * But guess what, there's another. And it's supposed to come here too. Guess 2020 is the gift that keeps on giving.


 * EDIT:This stopped being funny ~ The Maverick  013  00:22, 13 November 2020 (UTC)