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I'm about to rollback the community wiki answer on

Database schema documentation for the public data dump and SEDE

It was seriously overhauled in revisions 75 and 76 but I had to do a partial patch in revision 77 because in the process we lost the PostHistory table and the editor didn't respond to our calls.

The content of that answer need to be generated based on instructions offered as editor notes, for example:

I used this XLSM Template to help generate the markdown including ToolTips: http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=36027958558653296420 Make changes mostly on tab 'SEDE All Tables`, then copy cell [Q1] to Notepad to replace "" with " , then paste in here. Please help improve it! Update the link above with most recent version (maybe save old links too?)

That is where the first problem starts, that XSLM file is no longer available. Editing that answer has now become a headache, as you need to rely on external offsite resources and tooling not everyone is accustomed with.

I admit that post struggled with layout before the recent revisions but I'm not sure if these latest changes are an improvement. Personally I find it cumbersome I have to hover over the PostTypeId fields and VoteTypeId fields to see which values are available:

hover

but maybe others like the tidiness of this view and the higher information density.

I realize there are only a few users editing and maintaining that answer but it gets referenced a lot (194 times on MSE but I'm sure there will be incoming links from around the network) so I rather keep the usefulness and correctness of that answer up to par.

Before I destroy value only because I dislike the editing process that is now forced on me and the layout it offers, can you share how you would like to see we go forward with that post? Answers can maybe elaborate how we can keep the high information density while only relying on tooling available to all of us.

I'll interpret down votes on this question as No, don't rollback, it is fine, you deal with it in case you don't want to write an answer or leave a comment. (up votes don't mean go ahead, write an answer or leave a comment instead).

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2 Answers 2

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Edit:

The post in question has been rolled back to the OP's last edit.

Issue solved.

Community Wiki's are for "everyone". Should anyone (especially high-rep users such as those involved in this convo) ever have an issue with a wiki, please do not hesitate to edit or rollback as necessary. No need to create a discussion about it.

I'd do the same for anyone else's posts, without hesitation.

(Okay I hesitated for a couple weeks before fixing one of Atwood's posts that was out-of-date, but that's different.)

There's no shortage of wikis, posts, and everything else that need attention.

Original Post:

I don't understand why this was posted as a question.

On the other hand, if it was to be a matter of discussion, even hinting at ill-intent, why not ask the source directly? (I'm not hard to find on SO/SE.)

I'm a newbie compared to many of you, so perhaps I'm misunderstanding:

  • I believe SO to be generally community-moderated, and with earned-reputation comes the privilege to take initiative in many forms, be it an up-vote, or an edit to a community wiki.
  • In the same way, others have the ability to change or rollback my edits.

The SEDE ad-hoc documentation was extremely messy, tough to follow, missing information and so on. I started going through and tidying. Corrections led to discovery of more inconsistencies, and I ended up dedicating a number of hours to organizing. Reviewing my edit comments will show I was had concern about others approving of the change but with no negative feedback (and so little recent traffic) the edits seemed welcome and thus, a non-issue.

2+ months later, a member (who's made his dislike of me obvious in the past) happens to notice the change and moreover who made the change, then makes an issue of it discussing it here and elsewhere, thus involving several others.

Why?

Just roll it back to your edit, and be done with it! If I (or anyone) should choose to, I can change it again* — but IMO the time wasted discussing a rarely used post could have been better spent in the review queue, or welcoming a newbie, or ... organizing a wiki any way you wish.

* Note: Now that I know how strongly a fellow community member feels about this post in particular, I'll steer clear of it. There are a few million others to keep me busy in my karma-based hobby of learning, while helping others learn on this amazing site that we are all very fond of.

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Please roll that back. (I would, but now that you've started a meta discussion I don't know if I should before some resolution is reached.) The new version is much less accessible than the old one in two ways (at least):

  • Important information is hidden behind a mouse gesture instead of being in the page proper. I assume there's a tablet solution, but it messes up screen readers and in-page search.

  • The fonts all got a lot smaller.

I appreciate the intent, but the implementation has problems in addition to being harder to maintain.

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  • We'll give it 6 to 8 something and then execute whatever the resolution will be. I don't mind if it is you or me doing the rollback as long as there is some consensus. So far it is looking good ...
    – rene
    Jun 27, 2018 at 19:39
  • @Monica :I agree with you, someone should've just rolled it back, I would have if the roles were reversed; it's not like anything is lost, and nobody (hopefully) believe that "there's only one right answer!" -- And you're also correct in my key oversight: while part of the goal was to stretch SO formatting to it's limit, mobile devices did not enter my mind. The fact that it took 2 months to hear a word led me to believe nobody used it or else it functioned fine. Alas, lesson learned... a couple, apparently.+1
    – ashleedawg
    Jun 28, 2018 at 23:11
  • @rene - how patient of you to allow me two whole hours to respond to a post of which I was not informed. You make it sound like you're calling a witness to the stand, to face judgment and sentence.,. yet in today's private chat you say you have no issue with me. If you have issue, why beat around the bush, your options are simple, (1) get it off your chest now (I'm far from perfect and will always have room to grow/improve), or (2) Don't. ...I'm fine with either option but the scheming behind one's back is childish (and as you know, everything's recorded around here.).
    – ashleedawg
    Jun 28, 2018 at 23:29
  • @ashleedawg thanks for understanding, and sorry for the effort you invested only to have it rolled back. I access the SEDE documentation infrequently, but when I do I might be using either a desktop computer or a tablet. (Not a phone for that, so far -- a phone isn't practical for actually writing SEDE queries, at least for me.) BTW, did you mean to address that other comment to rene and not someone else?
    – Monica Cellio
    Jun 28, 2018 at 23:46
  • @MonicaCellio Wasted effort? Far from! During that process I learned about SEDE inside-out, and that Excel can manipulated to produce table/column style tooltip-heavy linked markdown docs- and also that heavily formatted markdown is not mobile friendly. (Besides i still have my own copy. Maybe the post will retain the downloadable/printable quick-references sheets I included. IMO a thorough resource for new SEDE users. However this time I'll skip the followup.
    – ashleedawg
    Jun 28, 2018 at 23:53
  • @ashleedawg great! I'm glad you got something out of it. (And I gather there's more context for my last question, which I didn't know at the time and don't need to know now. Sorry 'bout that.)
    – Monica Cellio
    Jun 28, 2018 at 23:54
  • @MonicaCellio Yeah I suppose there was context - sry :)
    – ashleedawg
    Jun 29, 2018 at 3:14

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