Thread:Feedback/Recent changes display

I have the following issues with the way recent changes and user contributions are currently shown:


 * It focuses too much on the internal mechanics of the system, as opposed to the nature of the discussion. For example, there's no link in the recent-changes line to the discussion page that a thread is part of. We should ask ourselves, under what circumstances is it useful for a user to end up on a thread page? You lose the context of the discussion as a whole, and it makes it much harder to find your way back to the article. IMO almost all links should go to talk pages, anchored into the right place of the discussion, as opposed to thread pages.
 * In cases of replies, the link goes to the fragment of the discussion without the parent visible. While the above is at least debatable, I cannot see any reasonable argument why I ever would want to jump to a fragment, as opposed to the whole thread context, as a default action.
 * It does not offer useful context into the discussion, such as comment excerpts.

I'm not convinced that the Thread: namespace should even be visible anywhere except for the URL of the specific pages where it's needed.

The previous recent-changes implementation for LQT was designed to address both of those issues. It used natural language ("Reply to .. on Talk:Foo") as opposed to namespaces and code, and it showed excerpts from the discussion. IMO going back to a wiki-style recent-changes display is a major usability regression that makes it much harder to understand what's going on. It makes the recent-changes page essentially only useful for wiki experts.

I understand if expert users found the previous recent-changes display too cluttered. I wonder if there's some reasonable middle ground. For example, we could use the old system, but show thread excerpts only when an "expand" link is clicked or hovered.

As I discussed briefly with Andrew, the Recent Changes page as a whole is a bit of a usability nightmare. I'm in favor of a holistic redesign, but I do think a simplified display for LQT changes right now would be an immediate improvement.