Wikipedia talk:TWA/Portal/Archive 7

Archive 1Archive 5Archive 6Archive 7

Feedback

Hello, I'm not able to play TWA. I'm stuck on the "Login or create an account" popup, and when I press any button, it shows a blue outline but doesn't redirect me anywhere. Yyeeetlol (talk) 14:20, 17 April 2024 (UTC)

I have the same problem. GoldRomean (talk) 03:57, 3 May 2024 (UTC)
Me too I can't click on the blue button Neko UwUshe/her 23:33, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
@Ocaasi sorry to disturb you, because you're probably really busy, but we can't play TWA. As Yyeeetlol described, I can't press any white buttons; they just show blue outlines. I really want to play this reportedly awesome Wikipedia-learning game! Personally, I've tried 2 browsers (Chrome and Edge), as well as 2 different computers. I've also refreshed and attempted to play on different days. The funny thing is, I tried to play when I first made my account, too, and it worked fine (I just quit). Friendly people at Wikipedia Live Chat pointed me here; but the original message hasn't received a response for almost a week, so I was wondering if you could help. Thank you. Cheers, GoldRomean (talk) 23:57, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
I did indeed miss the original message, but I saw your first "I have the same problem" but didn't reply not thinking I could say anything useful. Anyway, this issue is known about and has been filed on Phabricator as T364062. Given the way Wikipedia's software deployment system works, it will not be addressed until at least next Thursday, more likely the Thursday after next. * Pppery * it has begun... 00:19, 5 May 2024 (UTC)
Ok, TYSM! I'll try again then. GoldRomean (talk) 00:21, 5 May 2024 (UTC)
I've added a warning to the home page to make it clear that it's broken. * Pppery * it has begun... 00:25, 5 May 2024 (UTC)
I can confirm this will indeed start working next Thursday (see WP:Bug reports and feature requests#Software deployment schedule for why this happens on Thursdays). * Pppery * it has begun... 15:47, 12 May 2024 (UTC)
@GoldRomean and Yyeeetlol: This has now been fixed (sooner then I expected because someone decided to backport it rather than waiting for the standard deployment schedule). * Pppery * it has begun... 22:45, 13 May 2024 (UTC)
Fix ping: RoyalSilver * Pppery * it has begun... 22:46, 13 May 2024 (UTC)
Thanks! RoyalSilver 00:31, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
@Pppery forgot to ping RoyalSilver 00:32, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
Yay, I can play now! Tysm for your help. GoldRomean (talk) 17:24, 14 May 2024 (UTC)
Yeah,that happened to me. I got out of it by clicking two times on empty space. Theincredibleoctupus (talk) 16:02, 12 August 2024 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

I liked how TWA covered most of Wikipedia's main points like NPOV and BEBOLD. It's a pretty simple tutorial for new editors.

What I didn't like

Many of the images I had to add to the Earth article didn't seem like images that would be on such an article on the real Wikipedia. This could be misleading. The whole game was also glitchy (for example, on many pages the "talk" "page history" etc. buttons were invisible, so I had to randomly click near the top to access it. Also, I know your progress "saves" after each "level" but I forgot what level I was on so had to start near the beginning.

What I wanted more of

You couldn't actually analyze the citations and had to guess their reliability by their titles. Also, the game provided the actual citation for you. I wanted to learn how to do that formatting myself.

What was unnecessary

The cool "space" design on every page, since it feels different than real Wikipedia.

Any other thoughts you want to share

It's a nice game. Thanks for making it. It's very glitchy, though. There were a few grammar errors.

--GoldRomean (talk) 19:15, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

I've updated the images to ones more relevant to the specific sections they're in, which are either used on the real Earth article or a related one. The rewrite discussed above will teach you how to use an automatic tool to generate citations. I'm not sure what you mean re "talk" "page history" etc. buttons - I don't think you're ever told to click on such a button.
This game has no concept of progress per se - very little will break if you skip missions entirely other than leaving you confused.
If you can point to specific places where the grammar is awkward I would be happy to reword them. And thank you for playing, and sorry that it had so many rough edges. * Pppery * it has begun... 00:15, 20 May 2024 (UTC)
Thanks for taking the time to look at my suggestions. I’ll go in in a couple of weeks and give some more specific examples and stuff. Cheers, GoldRomean (talk) 03:50, 13 August 2024 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

It was straightforward and easy to understand.

What I didn't like

N/A

What I wanted more of

More missions.

What was unnecessary

N/A

Any other thoughts you want to share

There are only two bad things. First of all, there is a bug when I message the talk page, I have to move up the next step in order to pass. Last, I only got 14 out of 15 badges.

--ScarletViolet tc 02:34, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for playing. I have no idea why you didn't get the verifiability badge when you should have, and probably won't ever be able to figure out. * Pppery * it has begun... 03:51, 30 August 2024 (UTC)

bug?

hi i am stuck on mission2 step=5 this part Write your reply

Click REPLY so you can leave your message to Will but i have done that see here Half-kratos21 Half-kratos21 (talk) 07:02, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Bizarre. Anyway, you can skip that step and continue the tour here. * Pppery * it has begun... 15:12, 3 September 2024 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked
This game was entertaining and I really loved it. It teaches children well what Wikipedia is like and this can easily be shown to a school so that the students of said school can play this. Awesome.
What I didn't like
Nothing really?
What I wanted more of
If I were a bit more realistic, instead of creating an automatic user subpage for this game about the Earth, I would say that it would be a topic that you choose, because I don't know, if not, it's too fixed.
What was unnecessary
It was really unnecessary to have the user interact with fake users, as children might misinterpret that these are NPCs or real users, and both interpretations could lead them to misconceptions about Wikipedian' culture.
Any other thoughts you want to share
Nothing, I just wish there was some sort of sequel, or new quests, or something like events, but I understand this is aimed especially at our young Wikipedia editors :) --That Argentinian on da' corner (talk) 20:55, 4 September 2024 (UTC)
Thank you for playing. The topic choice is an interesting idea, but it would be effectively writing the adventure several times over so it's unlikely anyone will actually set that up. The point of the fake users is to provide an example of how real Wikipedians like myself behave, so I see how the second misconception is a misconception at all. And communication is so essential to Wikipedia that it really does need to be demonstrated here. * Pppery * it has begun... 21:04, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

Evening team

I'm kinda stuck on where can I find the Earth page. Should I search Earth or is it suppose to appear in the talk page? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nontombie (talk • contribs) 23:19, 24 September 2024 (UTC)

Apologies for the delayed response. You aren't supposed to find Earth yourself. You're just supposed to follow the prompts in the adventure which will set up your own personal Earth article for you. * Pppery * it has begun... 18:52, 28 September 2024 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

It was a great introduction to Wikipedia, I liked that it not only talked about formatting but also about the policies and social aspects.

What I didn't like

That you couldn't hide the guide box (or I did not see a way how to do it). It was on top of the editor most of the time, which made editing quite difficult.

What I wanted more of

How to know when it is okay to rewrite something or when you should leave it as-is.

What was unnecessary

Maybe the large number of badges on the talk page after completing the full journey, but that is personal preference, they're sort of nice reminders as well.

Any other thoughts you want to share

Thank you for the great guide!

--Rbnvrw (talk) 10:40, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for playing. The positioning of the guiders is a known bug, but it's not easy to fix. Ideally you should be able to drag the box to some out-of-the-way portion of the screen, but that's not practical right now. I think the rewrite to use VE made it worse because the VE UI is more cluttered with small icons as opposed to one text box. * Pppery * it has begun... 05:51, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

A basic introduction to editing is helpful in this regard.

What I didn't like

There was an issue in some of the timings of responses. It primarily appeared when I would respond to a character and then if I go to click the prompt, it reads an issue and doesn't follow for the work I do. I have to follow the instructions first and not the other way around.

What I wanted more of

I would appreciate more specific instructions on how to cite sources. The basic reference set is useful but expanding beyond that needs more clear direction.

What was unnecessary

N/A

Any other thoughts you want to share

Making this Adventure more available for new editors would be helpful.

--WordyTalks (talk) 05:21, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for playing. You used the wikitext version of the adventure - the VisualEditor version of the adventure goes into a bit more detail on how citation formatting works. The specific approach it uses won't work for wikitext, but I could at least take the opportunity to summarize how to cite better rather than spoon-feeding it. I'll consider that the next time I touch this, which probably won't be for a while. * Pppery * it has begun... 05:51, 5 October 2024 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

... Easy to understand contents and guided steps throughout the whole thing.

What I didn't like

... I don't know if this is just me or not but the interface is a little buggy and require a page reload every once in a while.

What I wanted more of

... There's is nothing I wanted more of but a better UI

What was unnecessary

... There are some part of the exercise where I feel like I am doing the same thing over and over again.

Any other thoughts you want to share

... Pretty fun

--Permtin (talk) 14:55, 20 October 2024 (UTC) PT

Feedback

What I liked

How you explained every step in an easy to follow way

What I didn't like

I liked everything

What I wanted more of

Not sure. I think everything was covered well.

What was unnecessary

The sounds

Any other thoughts you want to share

Thank you for making this, it was very helpful and also fun!

--Spots5231 (talk) 20:37, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

You're welcome. * Pppery * it has begun... 21:17, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

Enhancement request: full sig to enable auto-archiving

Could you please add a standard signature to WA discussions added to user talk pages? The current nameless timestamp appears insufficient for archiving bots (Cluebot, at least) to see the sections placed on a User talk page and archive them, so they stay there forever. I noticed this when setting up archiving for Augnablik (talk · contribs), and the oldest discussions on the page are three 'Welcome to The Wikipedia Adventure!' messages, but they were not archived by Cluebot, due, presumably to the nameless signature, or perhaps because the signature was not in last position in the message, or both. (I added {{unsig}} to three requests, so they may be archived by the time you read this, within the constraints of minthreads=4.) For the purposes of this request, I don't think it matters if the sig contains the user's id, or a fake one (User:Example1, etc.). Thanks, Mathglot (talk) 23:58, 9 January 2025 (UTC)

I fixed this already back in May 2024. Of course, there's nothing I can do about substs by older versions of the code. * Pppery * it has begun... 00:01, 10 January 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

Hi I am new to this and I find this Wikipedia Adventure quite beginner friendly and would like to say that it is well created.

What I liked

It is a short, sweet, humorous, and interactive introduction to Wikipedia editing. I liked the interactivity, including the choice-based tasks, and the story-based approach.

What I didn't like

That you cannot move around the pop-up window, and it sometimes gets stuck if you have already completed a task (like leaving a comment in Talk), or does not behave correctly when you try to go back.

What I wanted more of

Overview of more of the tools, including templates and formatting; more of Wikipedia guidelines and principles.

What was unnecessary

To be honest, the sounds part of somewhat out of place; nevertheless, I listened to all of them!

Any other thoughts you want to share

I would still expand the last lesson to add a table and a template.

--Giorgio Giudini (talk) 00:07, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for playing. Yes, you revealed some known issues, which aren't easy to fix. And glad you enjoyed the adventure. * Pppery * it has begun... 01:10, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

I love the theme and the utility of the tutorial! I thought it was engaging, informative, and fun!

What I didn't like

I had an issue with Mission 6 and Mission 7. The cleanup tag in Mission 6 did not show up for me and the page to edit and add section headings does not load for me in Mission 7. I really wanted to finish all the missions but I am unable to because I do not have the page for Mission 7.

What I wanted more of

Even more details of how to edit and create articles! I love this tutorial format.

What was unnecessary

I did not find anything unnecessary.

Any other thoughts you want to share

Other than Mission 7 not working, I thought this was a wonderful beginner's tutorial for editing in Wikipedia. Thank you!

--OrangeAlexx482 (talk) 16:22, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for playing. I've addressed the problems you reported a few sections above. * Pppery * it has begun... 17:59, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Part 7's Earth Wikipage is empty and Part 6 had something missing

Hi! I just joined and I thought I'd go through TWA to know the ropes.
However, there were two issues when I was going through Missions 6 and 7.

Mission 6 - The Uncited tag did not show up when it was "added" by another editor.
Mission 7 - The Earth Wiki shown was this one instead of this one

--RiaDir (talk) 11:55, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

It is intentional that Mission 7 operates on a separate copy of the Earth article from the other missions, but of course it should have created that copy. Somehow the JavaScript that makes automatic edits failed to work properly for you and I have no idea why. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:28, 10 November 2024 (UTC)
I am also having this issue. Is there any way I can reset the missions so that I can play through Mission 7? OrangeAlexx482 (talk) 14:48, 30 January 2025 (UTC)
There's no concept of "resetting the missions" per se - very little will break if you try to play through missions multiple times that isn't already broken. This was a fun bug to track down - it turns out the code adding content to your userspace was being given a CAPTCHA which it (obviously) couldn't solve, meaning non-autoconfirmed users couldn't play. I introduced the Mission 7 bug in May - the Mission 6 bug has always been there. Anyway I've told the system not to ask for a CAPTCHA there, so this should now work if you try it again. * Pppery * it has begun... 17:58, 30 January 2025 (UTC)
It did work! Thank you so much for your quick reply and fix! I really appreciate you taking the time to look into it! OrangeAlexx482 (talk) 19:22, 30 January 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

... very clear instructions and guidance

What I didn't like

... there's nothing i didn't like, everything was exceptional

What I wanted more of

...

What was unnecessary

...

Any other thoughts you want to share

...

--Sifiso Cele (talk) 13:44, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for playing. Glad you enjoyed the adventure! * Pppery * it has begun... 15:17, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

A very friendly, easy to use, step-by-step, interface and tutorial. This is especially helpful for those who have zero experience in coding or even coding-related tasks.

What I didn't like

Some UI flaws, such as having to restart the whole mission to resume it if you accidentally pressed the “X” on the TWA tab—I had to add the “Verifiablity” badge on myself after doing the mission like 2 in a row with no badge received. Although, this is mainly superficial, and doesn't affect the whole experience too much since badges are not the whole point of this experience.

What I wanted more of

The adventure to continue, adding maybe more missions introducing users to tasks of greater difficulty (ex. conflict resolution, uploading to Wikimedia?)

What was unnecessary

Distracting punny usernames.

Any other thoughts you want to share

Overall, the Wikipedia Adventure is a pleasant experience, that would increase any users' confidence to be bold.

Thanks for the experience – EmDashUser002 (Talk | Contribs) @ 02:20, 9 April 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for playing. There are no major changes planned to the adventure right now, and most of what you didn't like are known and hard-to-fix bugs. * Pppery * it has begun... 00:12, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

The tutorials in real-time were very useful

What I didn't like

Some of the user interface was somewhat hard to use if I accidentally refreshed the page or clicked the wrong thing at the wrong time.

What I wanted more of

N/A

What was unnecessary

The quiz panels didn't feel quite as useful as the real-time tutorials

Any other thoughts you want to share

This really helped me be more confident in how to edit.

--AshleyHarden13 (talk) 00:03, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for playing. Different people learn things in different ways, so I suspect that the "challenge yourself below" parts may help others. * Pppery * it has begun... 00:12, 10 April 2025 (UTC)

Bug or purpose

On pages such as User_talk:GoldRomean/TWA, I don't appear to be able to edit it. Is that supposed to be so? The black background covers everything. I don't think the "edit" and "view history" buttons are accessible, which might be a problem; however, I am able to access the Twinkle and UV menus. — Preceding unsigned comment added by GoldRomean (talk • contribs)

I have fixed this for future adventurers by editing Wikipedia:TWA/MyTalk/1. There's nothing I can do about the old pages; you can still edit them in other skins, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:GoldRomean/TWA?useskin=vector shows proper edit buttons. * Pppery * it has begun... 03:48, 14 May 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

...

What I didn't like

Sometimes after completing a task there was no prompt to progress, which is just confusing and will probably lead some users just to close the whole thing out. Also, I don't understand why test pages sometimes include unexplained <div> tags at the bottom of content new users are being asked to edit.

What I wanted more of

...

What was unnecessary

...

Any other thoughts you want to share

...

--Patrick Welsh (test account) (talk) 16:18, 17 May 2025 (UTC)/User:Patrick Welsh

Also, I don't understand why test pages sometimes include unexplained <div> tags at the bottom of content new users are being asked to edit -> the reason for that is that there are opening divs at the top to display the TWA top banner, which need to be closed. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:26, 17 May 2025 (UTC)
Sometimes after completing a task there was no prompt to progress, which is just confusing and will probably lead some users just to close the whole thing out -> it's an intentional design decision (made by the original authors, not by me) that some steps don't have a next button and you can only continue by taking some action in the UI. I think that's a good thing; it makes it an interactive tour, not a slideshow. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:27, 17 May 2025 (UTC)

Help...

Hey! I've notice a problem on Mission 5; when you "reply", the "Wikipedia Adventure" does not let you move forward; I've tried many times to fix this, but I can't, and I need help getting to the end of Mission 5. — Preceding unsigned comment added by PawPatroler (talk • contribs) 01:09, 2 July 2025 (UTC)

Pppery has already answered you, and as he is probably one of the editors most knowledgable about TWA, it's unlikely that anyone else can give a better answer, sorry. And remember to sign your posts. GoldRomean (talk) 03:31, 3 July 2025 (UTC)
I’m stupid, this is a different part. Same thing probably applies, though. GoldRomean (talk) 03:46, 3 July 2025 (UTC)
@PawPatroler. GoldRomean (talk) 03:35, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

There is no reply button

Title explains it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bebo12321 (talk • contribs) 07:25, 12 August 2025 (UTC)

Make sure you have "enable quick replying" checked at Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-editing-discussion. * Pppery * it has begun... 14:11, 12 August 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

Hey! I've notice a problem on Mission 2; when you "reply", the "Wikipedia Adventure" does not let you move forward; this might be a bug, but I need help getting to the end of Mission 2.

--PawPatroler (talk) 01:33, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

Can't reproduce the issue; it works fine for me. In any event skip that step and continue the tour here. * Pppery * it has begun... 05:05, 30 June 2025 (UTC)
Just to add I also had this problem. I think it's something to do with being signed in as when I signed out it fixed. I had it working on Chrome. Try turning off any privacy related extensions too but I'm pretty sure it's being logged in. Jellie06 (talk) 08:38, 5 August 2025 (UTC)
I couldn't reproduce it logged in either, though.
There must be something about the adventure UI that I subtly know because I wrote the code and others don't. * Pppery * it has begun... 15:00, 5 August 2025 (UTC)
I appreciate your response. Thank you for checking. My original comment was that it was happening logged out not in but as I said it's probably privacy related extensions ❤️. Jellie06 (talk) 16:55, 13 August 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

It taught me how to edit and it was fun!

What I didn't like

???

What I wanted more of

more missions!

What was unnecessary

???

Any other thoughts you want to share

Thank you for making this, it gave me a... well fun game AND tutorial on wikipedia!

--STARTER'usercontribs anyone? 09:16, 7 September 2025 (UTC) I HAD SO MUCH FUN

You're welcome. And thank you for playing! * Pppery * it has begun... 14:54, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked
The Earth article is useful for learning and understanding the concept and the science. I even get to participate on editing and leaving talk page messages.

...

What I didn't like
There are multiple bugs and errors, such as trying to complete mission 2.

...

What I wanted more of
More than just Earth article, culture, arts, and histories.

...

What was unnecessary
There is none, besides using VisualEditor.

...

Any other thoughts you want to share
My thoughts on this was so amazing, and information to me, since it shows on editing basics and how to use a skill for anything. But that kind of software needs to updated to fix errors and outdated information.

...

-->^CreativeLibrary460 /access the library revision\ 06:10, 21 August 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for playing the adventure. Re VisualEditor, actually the adventure silently works with whatever editor you've specified in your preferences - if you load VE it will tell you how to use it, and if you load the source editor it will tell you how to use it too. Re multiple bugs and errors, I can't help you without more details. Re more topics, an interesting idea but probably not something I will get around to coding. * Pppery * it has begun... 01:42, 12 September 2025 (UTC)

Mission 5

I have REPLY to GaiaGirl but nothing has changed, it seems like a bug, so what should I do? Please help. JohnDavies9612 (talk) 14:30, 13 September 2025 (UTC)

People have reported this bug many many times but I've never been able to reproduce it. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:10, 20 September 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked
It was a good way to guide us through the various things we need to know. I found it very useful.

...

What I didn't like
It felt very slightly patronising in places - the applause, for instance

...

What I wanted more of
I noticed there were some editing glitches in the final text so I was expecting to go on to a phase at the end when we would be invited to proofread the text thoroughly, but that didn't happen. Also, at the very end of Mission 7 I would have liked some kind of "You have completed all Missions!" message instead of just finding that there was no longer a way to go forward and only a way to go back. That seemed like an anti-climax or something missing.

...

What was unnecessary
All seemed necessary and well thought out.

...

Any other thoughts you want to share
1. The instruction box was right off the right side of my screen and at first I couldn't even see it, which made things confusing at the start. Perhaps add something to ensure the user knows it's there if they are using an older monitor that isn't as wide as average. (I am on desktop, Windows 10, Chrome, with old shape monitor)

2. In some of the missions the small pointer that was part of the top of the instruction box didn't point at "edit" but at "edit source" which threw me because on other occasions it pointed accurately at the right button. I was unsure which to use and using "edit source" would presumably have been a bad plan.

3. I think it might be good to change the line "How do I get there?" to "How do I get to the Earth page?" (or similar) because the user is established within the narrative as living on Earth so suggesting that we are trying to get to Earth doesn't really make sense. Specifying "page" clarifies what's going on for the learner.

4. There were some tweaks that could be made to the initial text used in the mission. "Earth is the only place in the galaxy THAT is known to support life" would be better than using "which" in that sentence. (Not hugely important but worth considering.) In the sentence after that one there was a semicolon and comma arrangement that felt a bit clunky and could be replaced with a simple comma. (I'm afraid I can't remember exactly what that was but I did edit it in my mission. I know these are pernickety things but if they were fixed it would prevent distractions or uncertainty for anyone who noticed them and thought they might be part of the test.) The part about Earth being the only planet known to have water could be tweaked ("currently known to exist") but is probably factually outdated anyway as I think they have now found water on Mars!

5. In Mission 5 we were not shown how to go to a talk page, which would have been in line with the other instructions, which generally showed us where things were.

6. In Mission 6 there is a typo "leap day IS added" and I think some other text issues which I didn't note down because I imagined we would return to them at a later stage.

7. When learning about citations, it says "Let's head to Earth to find out" - this doesn't work for me, as mentioned above. The user is already on Earth, within the story. I'm sorry to sound like a killjoy - it's just the internal logic that feels off, not the light-heartedness!

8. When learning section heading formatting we were told to "highlight the section title "Shape and structure", but when I looked at the article, this wording was not apparent in the text (it was quite some way down), so I assumed we were being asked to highlight those words from the instruction box text, and then copy them to paste in, which sent me off on the wrong track and I got in a mess adding titles that were already there and I had to remove them and figure out how to reset the formatting. Also the instructions didn't include having to click on "edit" each time for each heading, so I think the instructions at that stage could be improved: Click on "edit". Find the section title "Shape and structure" IN THE TEXT and - etc (And then remind us to select edit each time, otherwise the highlighting is lost. NOTE: in retrospect, this may have been happening for me because I published each change as I went along and I think at the end I was told to publish but I already had done so, so maybe instead tell us not to publish until all changes are made so we wouldn't have to keep re-selecting edit.)

Sorry about the formatting of this post not all being indented - it was such a long post I wanted to separate parts and I don't yet know how to make sure it's all indented the same way.

Sorry to add so many suggestions but it's such a useful tool for beginners and deserves to be the best it can. I appreciate all your fantastic work! ...

--Gateteller (talk) 10:18, 20 September 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for playing, and leaving so many suggestions. I'll address these one by one.
Re The instruction box was right off the right side of my screen and at first I couldn't even see it, which made things confusing at the start. Perhaps add something to ensure the user knows it's there if they are using an older monitor that isn't as wide as average. (I am on desktop, Windows 10, Chrome, with old shape monitor) - I don't think I can give that much useful advice because every monitor is different. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:55, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
Re Also, at the very end of Mission 7 I would have liked some kind of "You have completed all Missions!" message, the very end of the adventure should be here, which says "You Made It!!!!". It also says "the adventure begins", which I could see as kind of misleading but it means the true Wikipedia adventure - your experience as an actual editor, not the tutorial. If you have wording suggestions I'm happy to take them. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:13, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
In some of the missions the small pointer that was part of the top of the instruction box didn't point at "edit" but at "edit source" which threw me because on other occasions it pointed accurately at the right button. I was unsure which to use and using "edit source" would presumably have been a bad plan. Actually both work just fine. Until about a year ago only the source editor worked, but the current version of the adventure will tell you how to use the visual editor if you select the visual editor but is just as happy to tell you how to use the source editor instead if you select the source editor so you can use whatever editor you're happy with and I'm intentionally not declaring one or the other the preferred editor - although maybe I'm a source editor luddite and everyone else just thinks VE is great. The edit tab config is a mess - depending on what you select in Special:Preferences you can either have two edit tabs - the setting you chose - or one that gives VE, or one that gives source editor, so I'm not sure what better I can do. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:17, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
I think it might be good to change the line "How do I get there?" to "How do I get to the Earth page?" (or similar) because the user is established within the narrative as living on Earth so suggesting that we are trying to get to Earth doesn't really make sense. Specifying "page" clarifies what's going on for the learner. - sure, done.
There were some tweaks that could be made to the initial text used in the mission. "Earth is the only place in the galaxy THAT is known to support life" would be better than using "which" in that sentence. (Not hugely important but worth considering.) In the sentence after that one there was a semicolon and comma arrangement that felt a bit clunky and could be replaced with a simple comma. - Sure, done both. It turns out someone notices the odd comma/semicolon wording in 2013 and fixed it in one place but for arcane technical reasons left it unfixed in two other places, and then when rewriting the adventure last year I didn't notice the mistake and copied the same text to a fourth place - I've copied that change over to the four places that sentence is hardcoded in the adventure. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:38, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
The part about Earth being the only planet known to have water could be tweaked ("currently known to exist") but is probably factually outdated anyway as I think they have now found water on Mars! - suggestions for better wording welcome. Would Earth is the only place in the Solar System where large quantities of liquid water are known to exist work? I don't think "currently" is needed. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:38, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
In Mission 6 there is a typo "leap day IS added" - fixed that typo. Not sure how it crept in given the identical content of the text in previous missions didn't have it. Happy to address any other specific wording changes you can bring up. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:38, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
When learning about citations, it says "Let's head to Earth to find out" - this doesn't work for me, as mentioned above. The user is already on Earth, within the story. I'm sorry to sound like a killjoy - it's just the internal logic that feels off, not the light-heartedness! - I changed it to Let's head back to the Earth page to find out and the button to "Learn citations". * Pppery * it has begun... 16:55, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
NOTE: in retrospect, this may have been happening for me because I published each change as I went along and I think at the end I was told to publish but I already had done so, so maybe instead tell us not to publish until all changes are made so we wouldn't have to keep re-selecting edit. Yes, indeed that was the intent. I've made the wording slightly clearer here, adding "in the text" and "Then, without publishing," where relevant. * Pppery * it has begun... 16:55, 20 September 2025 (UTC)
Wow. Thanks for replying so quickly and in such detail! The edits are great.
The issue I found with the ending of the final mission I now realise was caused by the way I published each section heading individually - this meant when I reached the instruction window asking me to publish, I had already done so and was unable to progress to the next stage (adding pictures - I didn't even realise that was still to come) because I was stuck with an instruction window that had no "next" arrow button. The publish button wasn't available because I'd already used it and the window gave me no other option but to go back. That was when I assumed the mission was over. I'm not sure if this matters now, since you've edited to tell people not to publish until the end, though if they're feeling confident they may still anticipate the need to publish after adding all the headings in one go. So there's probably a slim chance that people could get stranded as I did. The only way to get past is by going back to create another heading or edit. I played through the final mission again and the end pages are great - no problem with those now I've seen them.
When I mentioned the arrow pointing at "edit source" instead of "edit", I didn't realise that those two things were alternative ways to edit. I thought "edit source" would have been editing the mission instructions at a deeper level! But I understand now, and it explains why I had a feeling the editing seemed more complicated last time I did these missions (many years ago - I've been inactive for a long time and was redoing the learning stuff to refresh my memory). So that makes perfect sense and it's hard to add any additional information about the options because it will look different for different users according to what choice they made in their preferences. I'm not aware of having made any choice about the options of editing styles - I hadn't done anything to my preferences and I had both options available. I didn't understand what "visual editor" was until I read your response here. I chose "edit" rather than "edit source" because "edit" was precisely the instruction I had been given in the box and "edit source" was something I didn't understand. If you don't think it would be too clunky, maybe the instructions could say something like "(You may see "edit", "edit source" or both options. These are different ways to edit Wikipedia.)" That would have helped me understand that I was making a choice. I will probably go through the missions again using edit source so I can get on top of that.
Yes, the line about Mars and water is a good fix.
A couple of things from my latest go at Mission 7 - in the Linus' Law instruction window the buttons seem transposed.
I wondered if it would be worth changing "kilometers" to "km" in the text, because it drew my attention when my spellchecker put a red line under it. I think this led me to wonder if it might be best to choose words that don't have spelling variations where possible in these missions. I noticed "urbanisation" uses the British spelling. I just wonder if it's worth trying to avoid making anyone think about those kind of complications because we're trying to convince them that editing is simple and fun! Just a thought.
I appreciate all your work and attention. Gateteller (talk) 14:06, 23 September 2025 (UTC)
Okay, made the intro in Mission 1 explain edit source slightly clearer, did the Mars thing, and fixed the Linus' Law oddity (I have no idea why it happened, so I hacked around it). I disagree with you re spelling variations; I would prefer to subtly nudge at the fact that Wikipedia has no preferred variety of English, so you may find articles that aren't in your variety and have to deal with it. * Pppery * it has begun... 18:02, 23 September 2025 (UTC)

Feedback

What I liked

The galactic character themes, the narration, the choice of topics covered.

What I didn't like

Technical inflexibility. Having to remember and choose the stage you have previously been on instead of that information automatically gathered from our profile.

What I wanted more of

A variety of articles, apart from Earth. Such that policy discussions would be better exemplified.

What was unnecessary

Badges for every little thing.

Any other thoughts you want to share

...

--Kingsacrificer (talk) 10:19, 10 September 2025 (UTC)

Thank you for playing the adventure. Both of those (have a way of figuring out what mission you are on based on your badges, and using other topics rather than earth) are interesting ideas for improvements, but I doubt I or anyone else will have time to implement them any time soon. * Pppery * it has begun... 01:40, 12 September 2025 (UTC)
I also had an idea to improve the adventure, with the "choice selection" segments, that aside from the one "best" option, there could also be a "good, but could be better" option. Just to show that there's more than one way to do Wikipedia. Might need expanding the options to more than 3, though Hal Nordmann (talk) 20:30, 8 October 2025 (UTC)
Nice idea, but not something I'm inspired to implement myself. * Pppery * it has begun... 18:42, 10 October 2025 (UTC)