The "Date format" user preference at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-rendering-dateformat should be a drop-down menu. Currently it's radio buttons, but this isn't really necessary and takes up more space than necessary.
Version: 1.23.0
Severity: enhancement
See Also:
https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=63582
| Status | Subtype | Assigned | Task | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | None | T64559 Redesign Special:Preferences (tracking) | |||
| Open | Feature | None | T65580 Change "Date format" part of "Appearance" user preferences into a drop-down menu |
Why do you think it's not necessary? Having them all displayed in this way makes it easier to compare the available options.
Also, note that the options that are displayed there differ based on user's language (this is controlled by the $datePreferences variable in MessagesXx.php). While English only has 4, some languages provide as many as 12 (Serbian in both variants, sr-ec and sr-el; although I honestly have no idea why would you need this many); providing 6 or more is common among non-Latin-script languages (e.g. Persian, Chinese, Kazakh).
(In reply to Bartosz Dziewoński from comment #1)
Why do you think it's not necessary? Having them all displayed in this way
makes it easier to compare the available options.
Honestly, I think this is a very dubious user preference. In my opinion, its screen real estate (or footprint) should be proportionate to its functionality and usefulness.
Also, note that the options that are displayed there differ based on user's
language (this is controlled by the $datePreferences variable in
MessagesXx.php). While English only has 4, some languages provide as many as
12 (Serbian in both variants, sr-ec and sr-el; although I honestly have no
idea why would you need this many); providing 6 or more is common among
non-Latin-script languages (e.g. Persian, Chinese, Kazakh).
Thanks for this. Though now knowing that there can be up to a dozen radio buttons, I want something more collapsed even more. ;-)
(In reply to MZMcBride from comment #2)
(In reply to Bartosz Dziewoński from comment #1)
Why do you think it's not necessary? Having them all displayed in this way
makes it easier to compare the available options.Honestly, I think this is a very dubious user preference. In my opinion, its
screen real estate (or footprint) should be proportionate to its
functionality and usefulness.
Given that in some languages (e.g. Persian, again) this allows you to change the calendar the wiki is using to display the dates [1], I'd say this might be a pretty big deal to some users. That said I speak none of the languages that actually make use of this, we should ask somebody who'd know what they're talking about.
[1] Persian has four options for the [[Gregorian calendar]] and one each for
the [[Hebrew calendar]] and some sort of a [[Persian calendar]].