how To Write Feature Suggestions

Adding New Feature Pages to the Wiki

This is just a proposal, but I felt some suggestions on how to write FeaturePages would help to prevent such a chaos as the BigMess.

If you have an idea and this idea is being discussed in the MailingList or it is just too big for NewFeatureSuggestions, then you should create a new FeaturePage for it.

The first thing to do is think of a GoodWikiName. This will be the title of your page. You should keep in mind that if the idea gets implemented, the title should still be valid after the implementation. Currently the Wiki is full of BadWikiNames. An example of a very GoodWikiName is SurvivalOfTheFittest or EditorRating. These names are used in the MailingList and will (probably) still be valid when they have become part of MusicBrainz. SurvivalOfTheFittest is currently a proposal. In two years it might be a page that describes the existing system. The links to it will still be valid.

That way the page can evolve with the feature. This is better than having a page like ModerationImprovements whose title will be out of date when these features have become standard.

I created the pages FutureWork, CurrentWork, and FinishedWork. These only include short descriptions and links to FeaturePages. A Feature will migrate from Future to Present to Past. But all other references in the Wiki to that feature will remain intact.

-- DonRedman