User blog:Rosalaun/My hopes for the UCP update

I know my thoughts and comments are going to be buried along with many others who have expressed their concerns about the UPC update.

I wanted to reiterate what I had commented on another blog post.

I firstly wanted to say, I am disappointed that user feedback was not taken into consideration when creating this update. The way this was rolled out almost feels like there was no real testing put behind it. The amount of bugs, missing key features which were present before that are now missing, and the general layout seem sloppy and rushed.

As an admin of two mildly active wikis, I would have the Special Activity bookmarked and would visit them to ensure that editing was going smoothly. It was convenient to see what edits were made, especially edits that involved images. Now, not only can I not easily see these edits, there are now three separate, and unnecessary, categories to scroll through. It's extra steps that were not needed. Edits have also been compacted to the point where it makes it difficult to see who has made what edits especially ones involving images. Previously it would show the image itself that was added but now it only shows a link to the image/images. Which means I have to go through each image to make sure it is relevant to the page. Again, and extra step that was not needed.

Secondly I would like to address the new layout of the editor. I have found it nearly impossible to edit now. I have a computer with a smaller screen meaning things are cramped already, but adding tool bars to the top and bottom has left me with little to no editing space. I am left with around 5-8 lines of text on the page at a time, even after I zoom my page out. Whereas the old editor, that had most everything displayed on the side, gave me around 20 lines of text.

The other thing I would like to mention are the features, or now, lack of features. With the old editor everything was clearly displayed. I could easily identify the features and what they did. With the new drop down menus it makes it difficult to find the right thing I need. Photo Galleries are also lacking features that were present in the previous editors such as photo orientation on the page, custom photo sizing, and spacing between photos. I know other users have pointed out other missing features and bugs with the update but quite frankly I think this blog is getting a bit lengthy.

Overall, I understand 100% trying to make a layout that is both friendly to desktop and mobile users, especailly since wikia has been gaining more mobile editors. However, this update does this exact opposite. It makes it tedious for casual and experienced users to edit, and frustrating and unfriendly for new editors.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I don't think we will see the site revert back to what it was anytime soon, or possibly ever. The best we as editors can do is try to adapt to what we have, but I really hope wikia/fandom listens to the feedback of their users about this. The way I see it, if it is not improved upon, this site may lose many of it's editors. I know as it is I have lost the motivation to continue editing.