Last modified: 2014-03-01 00:12:52 UTC
At https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:VisualEditor/Feedback&oldid=568194420#I_can.27t_edit_the_references it has been proposed that it would be helpful to editors if they could edit references in the reference list, as well as where they appear inline. "As just about every object you see on a page is directly editable with the VE, of course having the reflist not editable is counter-intuitive. " This proposal would make bug 52736 either unnecessary or just a "workaround"/interim measure, depending on the timescale to implement.
Adam Cuerdon comments: I'd suggest popping up a note telling the user what he or she is doing at least the first time, though. Something like "This reference is used to document the source of text in the article. You can also edit it by clicking on the number after the text. Please make sure that you don't accidentally break documentation with your edit. Thanks for your work!" We don't want to have a situation where newbies, for example, try to alphabetise the list, say. Personally, I'm not sure "documentation" is the right word, but otherwise it seems like a good suggestion.
The alphabetising problem could perhaps be reduced by making the references only limitedly editable. i.e. Only individually editable in a dialog that allows for the editing of the template/parameters only.
