Observation
I was looking for a lining page before I would move a page to another location. But I could not figure out other than to do a full search of the name. We should be able to find out if a page has any pages linking to it. We only can see with OrphanedPages of the page has no liks to it at all. This feature is implemented in MediaWiki for ages. It can be very useful when organizing pages. This feature is also implemented in MoinMoin for ages. One has to click on the page name in the header area (to be exact: the last part of it, if it is a sub page). This is NOT obvious for many users. I consider myself as an experienced Moin user and I did not find it. So I can imagine what newbies have to walk through.
Discussion
This is not about MoinMoin. It is about wikis. One of the few wiki rules that you have to learn. This is one of the few things that nearly every wiki obeys. Of course this is not about supreme usability, but it unites the serious wikis.
Don't talk trash. Wiki is just one invention. "serious" wikis, that is not the way I will discuss things. I am working with hypertext systems long before wikis were invented. Wiki also have to develop. There were times, where there was no graphical web, althougth there was an internet. You can always reduce an application to what some people think are their roots. But I do believe more in progress especially when it comes to usability. I don't think that we can even start to discuss "common" wiki operations if we even do not have a common syntax. A common syntax would help a lot - but better usabiliy is what every Wiki should think about. If it does not, I also could argue that it is not "serious", because developers believe in some kind of wiki-religion. If I would believe that primal wiki is the best I also would use this wiki software and not Moin. I would agree if you would say that a simple wiki is attractive. -- ThiloPfennig 2006-01-25 10:44:36
You can approach this using scientific or statistical methods as well - most wikis are using this way of retrieving the backlinks. This just imposes a more difficult learning curve, but does not decrease usability in general. It is about learning to use the media in this case. -- AlexanderSchremmer 2006-01-27 10:04:18
To move along after such a flameful comment. I have observed this too with unexperienced users: They do not find the feature and therefore do not use it. Once someone explains them what happens if you click on the title the reaction is "oh, why didn't you tell me earlier? This is extremely useful!". I am unsure on which level in the code such a problem could be fixed. Would this be a patch to a theme that adds a "What links here" button to the list of actions? Would this be an option in the config file? -- ChristophKoenig 2007-06-01 15:36:57