Forum:Should we activate new editor now, or wait until it's imposed on us?

As administrators (only) can see at Special:WikiaLabs (but everyone can see at community:User blog:Sarah Manley/Try the New Wikia Editor), a new editor is winding it's way toward us. Currently in what would be called a beta form of development, this new editor will, rest assured, be forced on us by Wikia at some point. Note that this editor is enabled, even if you've chosen to disable the Rich Text Editor in your Special:Preferences. In other words, there's not a way to opt out of it, as there is with the RTE. (At least not in this beta form. There may be a way to opt out once it becomes the default editor.)

The question is, should we switch over to it now, even though it may have flaws, or should we wait until it's just dropped in our laps?

Advantages of adopting now:
 * we can have some influence upon the the final shape of the product
 * we can get used to it now, in the gap between DW seasons, and therefore be of greater use to our user base when they come back in force with the start of the second half of the season.

Disadvantages of adopting now
 * It'll have bugs. Those bugs can't be predicted.

What do we think? 17:29:54 Thu 14 Jul 2011


 * There won't be a way to disable it for normal users. You'll still be in a JS heavy "source mode".  At least, that's the way it'll be for the first release phase.  We had the RTE disabled entirely on MA.  Much easier. -- sulfur 18:28, July 14, 2011 (UTC)


 * Really? Wow, that kinda changes my mind.  So it won't be like it is now, then?  To be forced to use a JS editor would be really . . . bad.   20:51:53 Thu 14 Jul 2011

I think we should change now
* 17:29:54 Thu 14 Jul 2011 I'll make my bias known from the start. I think we should bite the bullet and start getting to grips with it.
 * -- 17:32, July 14, 2011 (UTC) I just like the new editor.
 * -- 21:40:12 Tue 19 Jul 2011 . I think we should, I seen it and tried it and think it works really well and is much easier to use.

I think we should change later
Let's be accurate about this. We can get the beta version and have it explode frequently now, and maybe the developers will listen to us, or we can wait until it's forced on us and have it explode on us later. Somehow, after all the bugs are fixed, there are always more. Me, I'm lazy and think we should avoid problem by letting the eager beavers get caught in more explosions. Boblipton 21:45, July 19, 2011 (UTC)

I think we should consider de-activating the RTE permanently

 * 19:51:00 Fri 22 Jul 2011 In the light of sulfur's revelation, above, that the RTE won't be optional in the new format, I think we should be making a move to disable it completely. We really don't want basic editing to have a Javascript layer on top of it.  It will make editing more sluggish, and sometimes unresponsive, on some machines.  I will support turning it on, however, the moment it becomes an option for the individual users, just as the present editor is.