Template talk:Task heading

Whether to use this template

Quoting from the discussion at Talk:Search_a_list_of_records#Overhauled task:

Also, I much prefer   (for this task and other tasks being changed)   the old form of the task's preamble where all the section headers are in bold   (which makes it much easier to find the relevant sections).

— Gerard Schildberger (talk) 23:21, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

Hm, one of the reason why I made this template was that I found that the bold headers (without increased font size and spacing), didn't stand out well enough as headings, especially in task descriptions that already use bold font to highlight passages inside normal text. Are you sure it's not just because it's still unfamiliar, and you're still used to looking for ;bold: headings when skimming tasks?

I suppose we could make them bold in addition to being larger and have more spacing than normal text, but I quite like them having the same style as the "Contents" heading of the table of contents. I think I'll put in a request to have the site CSS adapted to make the TOC heading bold, and if it is accepted, adapt this template accordingly.

In any case, using a dedicated template for these headings makes it easy to change things about them (without having to update all task pages each time). So that's another advantage. The ;bold: syntax was never meant for section headings, nor is it specific to them - it is actually part of the wiki syntax for definition lists.

--Smls (talk) 04:49, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

Also, I think all those   [edit]   thingys just obscure the readability of the task's preamble.

— Gerard Schildberger (talk) 23:21, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

But it is like that for all section headings on the wiki. Do you think that the edit links also obscure the readability of the stuff below the table of contents? If so, maybe put in a request at MediaWiki_talk:Common.css to have them styled less obtrusively. For example, they could be made to float right - that way they'd stick to the right edge of the page, rather than immediately following the section title.

You're right, however, that we don't need multiple edit links in the task description as long as they all give us the whole task description to edit (due to a technical limitation for which I haven't found a work-around). I've now updated the template to only show the edit link for the primary "Task" heading, not for other ones like "Test cases" or "See also".

--Smls (talk) 04:49, 23 August 2016 (UTC)

If somebody wants to edit the task's requirement(s), description, related tasks, examples, etc.,   they can use the   Edit   tab entry   (at the top, just like always).

— Gerard Schildberger (talk) 23:21, 22 August 2016 (UTC)

No, that's not nearly as convenient. When you edit the whole page, with all solutions, then each time you click "Preview" it tends to involve a lot of scrolling, both in the previewed page and in the edit box, to get back to where you were and continue editing. And you also won't automatically get /* Task */ pre-filled in the Edit Summary field, which means that people who edit the task description will often forget to mention that in the summary, and people watching Special:RecentChanges will miss such changes.

Those are also the reason why the wiki software adds the edit links to all normal headings, and I don't why these headings should be different (except for the technical limitation mentioned above).

--Smls (talk) 04:49, 23 August 2016 (UTC)