The description of the WebPreferences have been removed. I find this too cryptic:

• Set WEBTOPICLIST = Welcome  |  Register  |  Changes  |  Topics  |  Index  |  Search  |  Go
• Set WEBBGCOLOR = #FFD8AA
• Set SITEMAPLIST = on
• Set SITEMAPWHAT = Welcome, Registration, and other StartingPoints; TWiki history & Wiki style; All the docs...
• Set SITEMAPUSETO = ...discover TWiki details, and how to start your own site.
• Set WEBFORMS = TWikiPreferencesForm

Also, the anchor link in all WebPreferences to TWikiPreferences#Default_web_preferences is broken.

-- PTh

Isn't this nitpicking? The link is TWikiPreferences#Default_Web_Preferences (uppercase first letter in word issue) and can easily be changed by anybody with SVN access.

-- FJ

Its all very well for people who are used to it but occasional admins and new users of TWiki will find the loss (or absence) of explaiantion and references & linkages adds to the complexity and obscurity of TWiki and difficulty of administration.

KISS.

-- AJA

The reason I did this was because of the WebPreferences were so crowded that is was very difficult to see what was being set, and what was a default value. Also, because all the settings were present in every WebPreferences topic, the preferences mechanism was handling twice the number of preference settings it needed to. Worse, the local settings were overriding site defaults, meaning that a site-wide change required visitng every WebPreferences topic. I have run into this case several times.

By narrowing down individual WebPreferences topics to just the settings actually changed in the web, admin is easer, not harder, as you can see local changes at a glance. It is much better to centralise the documentation of the settings and one place, and reduce the duplication and risk of confusion.

CC

Crawford did the right thing to remove redundant WebPreferences settings.

Nevertherless, I do not think that removing help text (with link to help text) is userfriendly for new users. Therefore I am reopening this (I will fix this if nobody else does it)

-- PTh

I really, really think that's a bad idea. New webs still inherit the full documentation from _default. Only admins should be fiddling with settings in the shipped webs, and they are perfectly capable of following the link to the documentation. By all means refine the documentation in _default, or if you think the settings in any of the shipped webs need to be better justified, then add comments; but please don't just do a cut and paste; it adds nothing, except more maintenance.

CC

I agree with CC, WebPreferences in _default is very useful as is. People looking to Main, TWiki and Sandbox for example preferences will see that they can re-arrange the preferences at the page just as they feel like - and I believe it will work as an inspiration more than add to the confusion.

I don't think this should have normal priority, degrading to Enhancement as other docs are more important at this stage, imho.

Fixed link error originally reported, added "in shipped webs" to summary.

SVN 8548.

-- SP

The descriptions belong in the furniture around the page, where they can be viewed translated during edit and upgraded on the installation of a new version of TWiki, not in the text intermingled with the settings.

This is the same issue as settings on the person's home page.

-- MC

There is enough disagreement here that a review in Codev is required. I am setting no-action until the issue has been raised and discussed (if necessary).

CC