David Chan
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Embracing real-time collaboration
Real-time collaboration (like Google Docs and Etherpad) has many benefits but also imposes certain workflow requirements. There is prototype code that can enable real-time collaboration within VisualEditor. But rolling out collaborative editing requires more than technical work. It will require a coordinated effort to re-imagine what editing is like. We will need mechanisms to create user groups, real time chat mechanisms, mechanisms to temporarily persist collaborative sessions, perhaps even new core mechanisms for describing revisions. We also need to think about social mechanisms and preventing harassment and vandalism of collaborative sessions. In exchange, we will gain improved mechanisms for mentoring, translating long articles, reporting on current events, and assisting non-native speakers.
We should embrace this opportunity to reimagine our platform, starting by organizing a number of trials to gain insights into whether, or how best, a real-time collaborative editing option would benefit our projects.
Sessions in previous Wikimanias / Hackathons / Developer summits identified potential uses, including for:
- Mentoring - Translating long articles - Current events - Assisting non-native speakers
Potential issues identified include:
- How to log authorship - Who decides when to publish - Preventing in-session abuse - Coexisting with non-real-time editors
References
https://wikimania2017.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Waiting_for_Real-Time_Collaboration (Wikimania 2017 panel discussion on real-time collaboration)
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T165941 (Wikimedia Hackathon 2017 showcase including live demo of VisualEditor real-time collaboration)
